AMAZING VIOLA DAVIS

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: JESSICA CHASTAIN

I don't remember anyone doing a Hollywood entrance so "loud" and so great. I have seen Jessica Chastain in three different roles, so far, this year: THE TREE OF LIFE, THE DEBT, THE HELP. And she has more movies this year. She is absolutely amazing in all of them. And I hope she get recognition for one of them: at least best supporting actress in THE HELP.

"IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY" TRAILER

"THE DESCENDANTS": OSCAR CONTENDER?

Just hope this is a case of bad trailer, great movie. This trailer really doesn't work for me. What's your opinion? Based on the trailer, is THE DESCENDANTS a major Oscar contender?

AND THE BEST BRITISH FILM IS...

EMPIRE magazine wrote here about the 100 best british films. Here's the top 10:

1) LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
2) MONTY PYTHON'S LIFE OF BRIAN
3) THE RED SHOES
4) DON'T LOOK NOW
5) BRIEF ENCOUNTER
6) SHAUN OF THE DEAD
7) KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS
8) TRAINSPOTTING
9) LOCAL HERO
10) WITHNAIL & I

VARIETY ON "ADVENTURES OF TINTIN"

From Variety: "Aside from a crack about a shepherd said to have shown too much enthusiasm for animal husbandry, the humor throughout is resolutely PG-friendly, lacking in the knowing irony and snarky, anachronistic wisecracks that have become such predictable fixtures of other recent blockbusters and reboots. Spielberg largely honors the innocent, gung-ho tone of the original stories, with their air of boyish derring-do (femme characters barely feature at all here), sensibly shunning the racist and anti-Semitic elements that just won't wash with contempo auds. Result is retro without being stodgy or antiquated; Tintin himself, for instance, has a more mischievous glint in his eye than the wide-eyed naif of the strips, which makes him feel more modern, if curiously unplaceable in terms of age.

The worst that could be said of "The Secret of the Unicorn" is that the action is so relentless, it nearly comes to feel like a videogame as it leaps from one challenge to the next. Younger auds will embrace it more than older ones, although even teens may feel it lacks the kitsch majesty that made "Avatar" such a hit.

Toon geeks are likely to be among "Tintin's" biggest fans, so consistently stylish and richly detailed is its design work. With immense sensitivity, the animators have translated Herge's spare, elegant drawings into a multidimensional world that seems realistic (especially in its use of chiaroscuro lighting, which plays wonderfully with sunlight and shadows throughout) yet still charmingly stylized and cartoony. Perhaps the film's sweetest joke comes at the very beginning, when a street artist, modeled on the real Herge, does a quick-sketch portrait of Tintin that looks exactly like one of the original strips"

8 DOC SHORTS ON OSCAR'S 2011 SHORTLIST

Beverly Hills, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that the field of Documentary Short Subject contenders for the 84th Academy Awards® has been narrowed to eight films, of which three to five will earn Oscar® nominations.

Voters from the Academy’s Documentary Branch viewed this year’s 35 eligible entries and submitted their ballots to PricewaterhouseCoopers for tabulation.

The eight films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production company.

"The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement," Purposeful Productions, Inc.
"God Is the Bigger Elvis," Documentress Films
"In Tahrir Square: 18 Days of Egypt's Unfinished Revolution," Downtown Docs
"Incident in New Baghdad," Morninglight Films
"Pipe Dreams," Leslie Iwerks Productions
"Saving Face," Milkhaus/Jungefilm
"The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom," Supply & Demand Integrated
"Witness," Buche
The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, 2012, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

63 COUNTRIES FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGE OSCAR

Beverly Hills, CA – Sixty-three countries, including first-time entrant New Zealand, have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 84th Academy Awards®.
The 2011 submissions are:
Albania, "Amnesty," Bujar Alimani, director;
Argentina, "Aballay," Fernando Spiner, director;
Austria, "Breathing," Karl Markovics, director;
Belgium, "Bullhead," Michael R. Roskam, director;
Bosnia and Herzegovina,"Belvedere," Ahmed Imamovic, director;
Brazil, "Elite Squad: The Enemy Within," José Padilha, director;
Bulgaria, "Tilt," Viktor Chouchkov, Jr., director;
Canada, "Monsieur Lazhar," Philippe Falardeau, director;
Chile, "Violeta Went to Heaven," Andrés Wood, director;
China, "The Flowers of War," Zhang Yimou, director;
Colombia, "The Colors of the Mountain," Carlos César Arbeláez, director;
Croatia, "72 Days," Danilo Serbedzija, director;
Cuba, "Havanastation," Ian Padrón, director;
Czech Republic,"Alois Nebel," Tomás Lunák, director;
Denmark, "Superclásico," Ole Christian Madsen, director;
Dominican Republic,"Love Child," Leticia Tonos, director;
Egypt, "Lust," Khaled el Hagar, director;
Estonia, "Letters to Angel," Sulev Keedus, director;
Finland, "Le Havre," Aki Kaurismäki, director;
France, "Declaration of War," Valérie Donzelli, director;
Georgia, "Chantrapas," Otar Iosseliani, director;
Germany, "Pina," Wim Wenders, director;
Greece, "Attenberg," Athina Rachel Tsangari, director;
Hong Kong,"A Simple Life," Ann Hui, director;
Hungary, "The Turin Horse," Béela Tarr, director;
Iceland, "Volcano," Rúnar Rúnarsson, director;
India, "Abu, Son of Adam," Salim Ahamed, director;
Indonesia, "Under the Protection of Ka'Bah," Hanny R. Saputra, director;
Iran, "A Separation," Asghar Farhadi, director;
Ireland, "As If I Am Not There," Juanita Wilson, director;
Israel, "Footnote," Joseph Cedar, director;
Italy, "Terraferma," Emanuele Crialese, director;
Japan, "Postcard," Kaneto Shindo, director;
Kazakhstan, "Returning to the ‘A,’" Egor Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky, director;
Lebanon, "Where Do We Go Now?" Nadine Labaki, director;
Lithuania, "Back to Your Arms," Kristijonas Vildziunas, director;
Macedonia, "Punk Is Not Dead," Vladimir Blazevski, director;
Mexico, "Miss Bala," Gerardo Naranjo, director;
Morocco, "Omar Killed Me," Roschdy Zem, director;
Netherlands, "Sonny Boy," Maria Peters, director;
New Zealand,"The Orator," Tusi Tamasese, director;
Norway, "Happy, Happy," Anne Sewitsky, director;
Peru, "October," Diego Vega and Daniel Vega, directors;
Philippines, "The Woman in the Septic Tank," Marlon N. Rivera, director;
Poland, "In Darkness," Agnieszka Holland, director;
Portugal, "José and Pilar," Miguel Gonçalves Mendes, director;
Romania, "Morgen," Marian Crisan, director;
Russia, "Burnt by the Sun 2: The Citadel," Nikita Mikhalkov, director;
Serbia, "Montevideo: Taste of a Dream," Dragan Bjelogrlić, director;
Singapore, "Tatsumi," Eric Khoo, director;
Slovak Republic,"Gypsy," Martin Sulík, director;
South Africa,"Beauty," Oliver Hermanus, director;
South Korea,"The Front Line," Jang Hun, director;
Spain, "Black Bread," Agusti Villaronga, director;
Sweden, "Beyond," Pernilla August, director;
Switzerland, "Summer Games," Rolando Colla, director;
Taiwan, "Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale," Wei Te-sheng, director;
Thailand, "Kon Khon," Sarunyu Wongkrachang, director;
Turkey, "Once upon a Time in Anatolia," Nuri Bilge Ceylan, director;
United Kingdom,"Patagonia," Marc Evans, director;
Uruguay, "The Silent House," Gustavo Hernández, director;
Venezuela, "Rumble of the Stones," Alejandro Bellame Palacios, director;
Vietnam, "The Prince and the Pagoda Boy," Luu Trong Ninh, director.
The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, 2012, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

AWARDS 2012 CALENDAR (AKA MERYL'S NIGHTS OUT)

DECEMBER 2011
Wednesday December 14 - SAG Nominations
Thursday, December 15 - Golden Globes Nominations

JANUARY 2012
Sunday, January 15 - Golden Globes Ceremony
Tuesday, January 17 - BAFTA Nominations
Tuesday, January 24 - Oscar Nominations
Sunday, January 29 - SAG Awards Ceremony

FEBRUARY 2012
Sunday, February 12 - BAFTA Awards
Sunday, February 26 - Oscar Ceremony

"ALBERT NOBBS" GETS MORE CLIPS

OUR OCTOBER OSCAR PREDIX

BEST PICTURE
1) WAR HORSE (last month: 3)
2) THE ARTIST (last month: 7)
3) J. EDGAR (last month: 4)
4) EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE (last month: 1)
5) THE HELP (last month: 5)
6) THE DESCENDANTS (new entry)
7) THE IDES OF MARCH (last month: 2)
8) THE IRON LADY (last month: 6)
9) A DANGEROUS METHOD (last month: 10)
10) MONEYBALL (new entry)

BEST DIRECTOR
1) Steven Spielberg, WAR HORSE (last month: 3)
2) Michael Haznavicius, THE ARTIST (last month: 5)
3) Alexander Payne, THE DESCENDANTS (new entry)
4) George Clooney, THE IDES OF MARCH (last month: 1)
5) Stephen Daldry, EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE (last month: 2)

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
1) Leonardo DiCaprio, J. EDGAR (last month: 1)
2) Jean Dujardin, THE ARTIST (last month: 4)
3) Michael Fassbender, SHAME (new entry)
4) Brad Pitt, MONEYBALL (new entry)
5) Thomas Horn, EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE (new entry)

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
1) Meryl Streep, THE IRON LADY (last month: 1)
2) Viola Davis, THE HELP (new entry)
3) Glenn Close, ALBERT NOBBS (last month: 2)
4) Michelle Williams, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (last month: 3)
5) Keira Knightley, A DANGEROUS METHOD (new entry)

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
1) Albert Brooks, DRIVE (last month: 3)
2) Christopher Plummer, BEGINNERS (last month: 1)
3) Kenneth Branagh, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (last month: 2)
4) Max Von Sidow, EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE (new entry)
5) Viggo Mortensen, A DANGEROUS METHOD (last month: 4)

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
1) Octavia Spencer, THE HELP (last month: 2)
2) Janet McTeer, ALBERT NOBBS (new entry)
3) Vanessa Redgrave, CORIOLANUS (last month: 3)
4) Emily Watson, WAR HORSE (new entry)
5) Sandra Bullock, EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE (last month: 5)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
1) J. EDGAR
2) THE IRON LADY
3) THE ARTIST
4) MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
5) LIKE CRAZY

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
1) EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE
2) WAR HORSE
3) THE HELP
4) THE IDES OF MARCH
5) A DANGEROUS METHOD

BEST FILM EDITING
1) EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE
2) DRIVE
3) THE IDES OF MARCH
4) THE ARTIST
5) J. EDGAR

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
1) THE ARTIST
2) WAR HORSE
3) THE TREE OF LIFE
4) J. EDGAR
5) HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS - PART II

BEST ART DIRECTION
1) THE ARTIST
2) J. EDGAR
3) WAR HORSE
4) HARRY POTER AND THE DEAHTLY HALLOWS - PART II
5) THE HELP

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
1) THE ARTIST
2) J. EDGAR
3) THE HELP
4) ALBERT NOBBS
5) JANE EYRE

BEST MAKE UP
1) ALBERT NOBBS
2) J. EDGAR
3) THE IRON LADY

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
1) WAR HORSE
2) THE ARTIST
3) J. EDGAR
4) SUPER 8
5) THE IDES OF MARCH

BEST SOUND EDITING
1) SUPER 8
2) TRANSFORMERS 3
3) CARS 2
4) THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN
5) RANGO

BEST SOUND MIXING
1) SUPER 8
2) TRANSFORMERS 3
3) RISE OF THE PLANET OF APES
4) THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN
5) WAR HORSE

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
1) THE RISE OF THE PLANET OF APES
2) THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN
3) TRANSFORMERS 3
4) SUPER 8
5) HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART II

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
1) THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN
2) ARTHUR CHRISTMAS
3) HAPPY FEET 2
4) KUNG FU PANDA 2
5) RANGO

FIRST LOOK: JULIA ROBERTS AS EVIL QUEEN

"MY WEEK WITH MARILYN" TRAILER