OSCAR COUNTDOWN

DUJARDIN AND DAVIS TAKE SAG

2012-01-29T20:48:00.000-08:00

THE HELP won ensemble cast, Dujardin and Davis, Plummer and Spencer for actors. It´s for Meryl to have a new campaign. The BAFTA is on the bag.

FINAL SAG PREDIX

2012-01-29T13:43:00.001-08:00

This is an exciting night. Viola or Meryl? If Meryl wins, a sure Oscar is coming.

Best Ensemble: The Artist
Best Actor: George Clooney, The Descendants
Best Actress: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, The Help

NEW "EW" OSCAR COVER

2012-01-25T06:11:00.000-08:00

WATCH OSCARS 2012 ANIMATED SHORTS

2012-01-24T14:19:00.000-08:00

Here is where you can watch this year's beautiful best short film animated Oscar 2012 nominees on the web:

DIMANCHE/SUNDAY: HERE (**This film will be streaming free online for a limited time only.**)

THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MR. MORRIS LESSMORE: HERE

WILD LIFE: HERE (**This film will be streaming free online for a limited time only.**)

OSCARS 2012 PRINTABLE BALLOT HERE

2012-01-24T09:37:00.000-08:00

DOWNLOAD THE OSCARS 2012 PRINTABLE BALLOT HERE!

OSCAR NOMS! - HUGO LEADS WITH 11

2012-01-24T06:02:00.000-08:00

84th Academy Awards® Nominations Announced

Beverly Hills, CA – Nominations for the 84th Academy Awards were announced today (Tuesday, January 24) by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak and 2010 Oscar® nominee Jennifer Lawrence.

Sherak and Lawrence, who was nominated for an Academy Award® for her lead performance in “Winter’s Bone,” announced the nominees in 10 of the 24 Award categories at a 5:38 a.m. PT live news conference attended by more than 400 international media representatives. Lists of nominations in all categories were then distributed to the media in attendance and online via the official Academy Awards website, www.oscar.com.

Academy members from each of the branches vote to determine the nominees in their respective categories – actors nominate actors, film editors nominate film editors, etc. In the Animated Feature Film and Foreign Language Film categories, nominations are selected by vote of multi-branch screening committees. All voting members are eligible to select the Best Picture nominees.

Nominations ballots were mailed to the 5,783 voting members in late December and were returned directly to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the international accounting firm, for tabulation.

Official screenings of all motion pictures with one or more nominations will begin for members this weekend at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Screenings also will be held at the Academy's Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood and in London, New York and the San Francisco Bay Area.

All active and life members of the Academy are eligible to select the winners in all categories, although in five of them – Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject and Foreign Language Film – members can vote only if they have seen all of the nominated films in those categories.

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 beginning at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

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Nominations for the 84th Academy Awards

Actor in a Leading Role

Demián Bichir in "A Better Life"
George Clooney in "The Descendants"
Jean Dujardin in "The Artist"
Gary Oldman in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Brad Pitt in "Moneyball"
Actor in a Supporting Role

Kenneth Branagh in "My Week with Marilyn"
Jonah Hill in "Moneyball"
Nick Nolte in "Warrior"
Christopher Plummer in "Beginners"
Max von Sydow in "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"
Actress in a Leading Role

Glenn Close in "Albert Nobbs"
Viola Davis in "The Help"
Rooney Mara in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
Meryl Streep in "The Iron Lady"
Michelle Williams in "My Week with Marilyn"
Actress in a Supporting Role

Bérénice Bejo in "The Artist"
Jessica Chastain in "The Help"
Melissa McCarthy in "Bridesmaids"
Janet McTeer in "Albert Nobbs"
Octavia Spencer in "The Help"
Animated Feature Film

"A Cat in Paris" Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
"Chico & Rita" Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
"Kung Fu Panda 2" Jennifer Yuh Nelson
"Puss in Boots" Chris Miller
"Rango" Gore Verbinski
Art Direction

"The Artist" Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
"Hugo" Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
"Midnight in Paris" Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
"War Horse" Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

Cinematography

"The Artist" Guillaume Schiffman
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Jeff Cronenweth
"Hugo" Robert Richardson
"The Tree of Life" Emmanuel Lubezki
"War Horse" Janusz Kaminski
Costume Design

"Anonymous" Lisy Christl
"The Artist" Mark Bridges
"Hugo" Sandy Powell
"Jane Eyre" Michael O'Connor
"W.E." Arianne Phillips
Directing

"The Artist" Michel Hazanavicius
"The Descendants" Alexander Payne
"Hugo" Martin Scorsese
"Midnight in Paris" Woody Allen
"The Tree of Life" Terrence Malick
Documentary (Feature)

"Hell and Back Again" Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
"If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front" Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
"Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory" Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
"Pina" Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
"Undefeated" TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas
Documentary (Short Subject)

"The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement" Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
"God Is the Bigger Elvis" Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
"Incident in New Baghdad"James Spione
"Saving Face" Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
"The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom" Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen
Film Editing

"The Artist" Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
"The Descendants" Kevin Tent
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
"Hugo" Thelma Schoonmaker
"Moneyball" Christopher Tellefsen
Foreign Language Film

"Bullhead" Belgium
"Footnote" Israel
"In Darkness" Poland
"Monsieur Lazhar" Canada
"A Separation" Iran
Makeup

"Albert Nobbs" Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
"The Iron Lady" Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland
Music (Original Score)

"The Adventures of Tintin" John Williams
"The Artist" Ludovic Bource
"Hugo" Howard Shore
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" Alberto Iglesias
"War Horse" John Williams
Music (Original Song)

"Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets" Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
"Real in Rio" from "Rio" Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett
Best Picture

"The Artist" Thomas Langmann, Producer
"The Descendants" Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" Scott Rudin, Producer
"The Help" Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
"Hugo" Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
"Midnight in Paris" Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
"Moneyball" Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
"The Tree of Life" Nominees to be determined
"War Horse" Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers
Short Film (Animated)

"Dimanche/Sunday" Patrick Doyon
"The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
"La Luna" Enrico Casarosa
"A Morning Stroll" Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
"Wild Life" Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby
Short Film (Live Action)

"Pentecost" Peter McDonald and Eimear O'Kane
"Raju" Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
"The Shore" Terry George and Oorlagh George
"Time Freak" Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
"Tuba Atlantic" Hallvar Witzø
Sound Editing

"Drive" Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Ren Klyce
"Hugo" Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
"War Horse" Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom
Sound Mixing

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
"Hugo" Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
"Moneyball" Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
"War Horse" Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson
Visual Effects

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
"Hugo" Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
"Real Steel" Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

"The Descendants" Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
"Hugo" Screenplay by John Logan
"The Ides of March" Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
"Moneyball" Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. Story by Stan Chervin
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan
Writing (Original Screenplay)

"The Artist" Written by Michel Hazanavicius
"Bridesmaids" Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
"Margin Call" Written by J.C. Chandor
"Midnight in Paris" Written by Woody Allen
"A Separation" Written by Asghar Farhadi

WATCH OSCAR NOMINATIONS LIVE HERE

2012-01-24T04:08:00.000-08:00

POSSIBLE OSCAR SURPRISES TOMORROW

2012-01-23T11:22:00.001-08:00

There is always a major suprise when the Oscar nominations are announced. Here is what it can happens:

1) Glenn Close is not nominated for best actress

2) Berenice Bejo moves to best leading actress

3) WAR HORSE has more praise and Spielberg gets a directorial nod.

4) Leonardo DiCaprio don't have a nod.

5) Jessica Chastain is nominated not for THE HELP but for any other movie.

"THE ARTIST" WINS PGA

2012-01-22T03:41:00.000-08:00

THE ARTIST won the Producers Guild of America, just like NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, THE HURT LOCKER and THE KING'S SPEECH. Can THE ARTIST be stop at this point?

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN won for best animated feature, which means that TINTIN can beat RANGO.

OOPSIES AWARDS NOMINATIONS HERE!

2012-01-21T08:54:00.000-08:00

Here they are! The 8th annual Oopsies Awards! Don't forget to vote! LARRY CROWNE lead with 4 nods. Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts have two nods each. Depp and THE RUM DIARY also nominated, just like Jodie Foster and THE BEAVER. Nicolas Cage is back, after his last year's victory.

The OOPSIES are the awards for the worst among those who were supposed to be the best. One rule: only past Oscar winners or nominees can be nominated for an OOPSIE. You really have to vote for a past Oscar winner or contender who sucked badly this year.

We give them the name OOPSIES based on the expression "oopsy-daisy", which is "an exclamation made when encouraging a child to get up after a fall". That is what we want: encourage our great actors and directors to get up after a major flop.

Winners will be announced February 19th!

WORST PICTURE
THE BEAVER
THE BIG YEAR
FIREFLIES IN THE GARDEN
LARRY CROWNE
THE RUM DIARY

WORST DIRECTOR
Tom Hanks, LARRY CROWNE
Jodie Foster, THE BEAVER
Julian Schnabel, MIRAL
Jim Sheridan, DREAM HOUSE
John Singleton, ABDUCTION

WORST LEADING ACTOR
Nicolas Cage, TRESPASS
Matt Damon, THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU
Johnny Depp, THE RUM DIARY
Harrison Ford, COWBOYS & ALIENS
Tom Hanks, LARRY CROWNE

WORST LEADING ACTRESS
Jodie Foster, THE BEAVER
Nicole Kidman, TRESPASS
Helen Mirren, ARTHUR
Natalie Portman, NO STRINGS ATTACHED
Julia Roberts, LARRY CROWNE

WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Alda, TOWER HEIST
Paul Giamatti, THE HANGOVER PART II
Greg Kinnear, I DON'T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT
Tim Robbins, THE GREEN LANTERN
Christopher Waltz, WATER FOR ELEPHANTS

WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Halle Berry, NEW YEAR'S EVE
Toni Colette, FRIGHT NIGHT
Frances McDormand, TRANSFORMERS: THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
Julia Roberts, FIREFLIES IN THE GARDEN
Hilary Swank, NEW YEAR'S EVE

DGA PREDIX

2012-01-21T08:37:00.001-08:00

DGA awards are tonight: I predict THE ARTIST to win.

8TH ANNUAL OOPSIES AWARDS!

2012-01-21T05:23:00.000-08:00

It's time for the 8TH ANNUAL OOPSIES, a OSCAR COUNTDOWN tradition. The OOPSIES are the awards for the worst among those who were supposed to be the best. One rule: only past Oscar winners or nominees can be nominated for an OOPSIE. You really have to vote for a past Oscar winner or contender who sucked badly this year.

We give them the name OOPSIES based on the expression "oopsy-daisy", which is "an exclamation made when encouraging a child to get up after a fall". That is what we want: encourage our great actors and directors to get up after a major flop.

Nomninations will be announced this weekend. Them it's you that have to vote. Winners will be announced February 19th!

Check the past winners:

1st ANNUAL OOPSIES (2004)

PICTURE: ALEXANDER
DIRECTOR: Oliver Stone, ALEXANDER
LEADING ACTOR: Clive Owen, KING ARTHUR
LEADING ACTRESS: Halle Berry, CATWOMAN
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Adrien Brody, THE VILLAGE
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Judi Dench, THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK

2nd ANNUAL OOPSIES (2005)

PICTURE: CRASH
DIRECTOR: Cameron Crowe, ELIZABETHTOWN
LEADING ACTOR: Matt Damon, THE BROTHERS GRIMM
LEADING ACTRESS: Jane Fonda, MONSTER-IN-LAW
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Jamie Foxx, STEALTH
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Shirley MacLaine, BEWITCHED

3rd ANNUAL OOPSIES (2006)

PICTURE: FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
DIRECTOR: M. Night Shyamalan, LADY IN THE WATER
LEADING ACTOR: Paul Giamatti, LADY IN THE WATER
LEADING ACTRESS: Julianne Moore, FREEDOMLAND
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Kevin Kline, THE PINK PANTHER
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Kathy Bates, FAILURE TO LAUNCH

4th ANNUAL OOPSIES (2007)

PICTURE: THE GOLDEN COMPASS
DIRECTOR: Quentin Tarantino, GRINDHOUSE
LEADING ACTOR: Dustin Hoffman, THE MAGORIUM WONDERFUL EMPORIUM
LEADING ACTRESS: Nicole Kidman, THE INVASION
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Robert DeNiro, STARDUST
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jane Fonda, GEORGIA RULE

5th ANNUAL OOPSIES (2008)

PICTURE: THE HAPPENNING
DIRECTOR: M. Night Shyamalan, THE HAPPENING
LEADING ACTOR: Mark Wahlberg, THE HAPPENING
LEADING ACTRESS: Reese Witherspoon, FOUR CHRISTMASES
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Jon Voight, FOUR CHRISTMASES
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Reese Witherspoon, PENELOPE

6th ANNUAL OOPSIES (2009)

PICTURE: AWAY WE GO
DIRECTOR: Peter Jackson, THE LOVELY BONES
LEADING ACTOR: Jamie Foxx, THE SOLOIST
LEADING ACTRESS: Sandra Bullock, ALL ABOUT STEVE
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Thomas Haden Church, ALL ABOUT STEVE
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Kathy Bates, THE BLIND SIDE

7th ANNUAL OOPSIES (2010)
PICTURE: THE TOURIST
DIRECTOR: M. Night Shyamalan, THE LAST AIRBENDER
LEADING ACTOR: Nicolas Cage, THE SORCERCER'S APPRENTICE
LEADING ACTRESS: Angelina Jolie, THE TOURIST
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Jamie Foxx, VALENTINE'S DAY
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Liza Minnelli, SEX AND THE CITY 2

OUR FINAL OSCAR PREDIX (NOW IT IS :)

2012-01-18T08:38:00.000-08:00

THE ARTIST and HUGO will lead with 11 nominations.

BEST PICTURE
THE ARTIST
THE DESCENDANTS
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO
THE HELP
HUGO
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
MONEYBALL
WAR HORSE

if the Academy only choose five: THE ARTIST, THE DESCENDANTS, THE HELP, HUGO and MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

BEST DIRECTOR
Michael Hazanavicius, THE ARTIST
Alexander Payne, THE DESCENDANTS
David Fincher, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO
Martin Scorsese, HUGO
Woody Allen, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

BEST ACTOR
George Clooney, THE DESCENDANTS
Leonardo DiCaprio, J. EDGAR
Jean Dujardin, THE ARTIST
Michael Fassbender, SHAME
Brad Pitt, MONEYBALL

BEST ACTRESS
Berenice Bejo, THE ARTIST
Glenn Close, ALBERT NOBBS
Viola Davis, THE HELP
Meryl Streep, THE IRON LADY
Michelle Williams, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kenneth Brannagh, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
Jonah Hill, MONEYBALL
Albert Brooks, DRIVE
Nick Nolte, WARRIOR
Christopher Plummer, BEGGINERS

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain, THE HELP
Melissa McCarthy, BRIDESMAIDS
Janet McTeer, ALBERT NOBBS
Octavia Spencer, THE HELP
Shailene Woodley, THE DESCENDANTS

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
50/50
A SEPARATION
THE ARTIST
BRIDESMAIDS
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
THE DESCENDANTS
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO
THE HELP
HUGO
MONEYBALL

BEST FILM EDITING
THE ARTIST
THE DESCENDANTS
DRIVE
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO
HUGO

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
THE ARTIST
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO
HUGO
THE TREE OF LIFE
WAR HORSE

BEST ART DIRECTION
ANONYMOUS
THE ARTIST
HUGO
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS - PART II
WAR HORSE

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
ANONYMOUS
THE ARTIST
HUGO
JANE EYRE
WAR HORSE

BEST MAKE UP
ALBERT NOBBS
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS - PART II
THE IRON LADY

BEST SCORE
THE ARTIST
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO
HUGO
WAR HORSE
W.E.

BEST SOUND EDITING
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS - PART II
HUGO
SUPER 8
TRANSFORMERS 3
WAR HORSE

BEST SOUND MIXING
THE ARTIST
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS - PART II
HUGO
SUPER 8
WAR HORSE

BEST SONG
Lay your head down, ALBERT NOBBS
Hello hello, GNOMEO AND JULIET
The living proof, THE HELP
Já não estar, JOSE AND PILAR
Life’s a happy song, THE MUPPETS

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS - PART II
HUGO
SUPER 8
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
THE TREE OF LIFE

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN
PUSS IN BOOTS
RANGO

EW'S FINAL OSCAR PREDIX

2012-01-18T08:31:00.000-08:00

Here they are. EW Dave Karger's final Oscar predictions. He still puts Meryl to lose, so the predix are not that great lolol

BEST PICTURE
1. The Artist (last week: 1)
2. The Descendants (last week: 2)
3. The Help (last week: 3)
4. Hugo (last week: 4)
5. Midnight in Paris (last week: 5)

6. War Horse (last week: 6)
7. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (last week: 7)
8. Moneyball (last week: 8 )
9. Bridesmaids (last week: 10)
10. The Tree of Life (last week: 9)
11. The Ides of March (last week: 11)
12. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (last week: 13)
13. Drive (last week: — )
14. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (last week: 12)
15. My Week With Marilyn (last week: 15)

Falling off: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2

The strong BAFTA showings for Tinker Tailor and Drive raised their stock a bit, but it’s probably too little too late to impact the Academy results. Meanwhile, War Horse has seen its Oscar hopes fade significantly by failing to earn nominations from the Directors Guild or in any major BAFTA races. Below the top five films on my list is a very crowded and evenly matched field of potential contenders, which makes me wonder if any of them will be able to score five percent of the overall No. 1 votes. So at this point, I’m thinking that after all the hype surrounding the Academy’s new voting rules, which allow for anywhere between five and 10 nominees, we may simply end up with five Best Picture candidates next Tuesday after all.

BEST DIRECTOR
1. Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist (last week: 1)
2. Martin Scorsese, Hugo (last week: 2)
3. Alexander Payne, The Descendants (last week: 3)
4. Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris (last week: 4)
5. David Fincher, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (last week: 5)

6. Steven Spielberg, War Horse (last week: 6)
7. Tate Taylor, The Help (last week: 8 )
8. Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life (last week: 7)
9. George Clooney, The Ides of March (last week: 9)
10. Stephen Daldry, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (last week: 10)
11. Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive (last week: 12)
12. Bennett Miller, Moneyball (last week: 11)

It’s never prudent to bet against the DGA. So whether or not Dragon Tattoo lands in the Best Picture race, Fincher is still a great bet for his second consecutive Oscar nod. But if Tate Taylor is able to muscle his way into this category, then The Help will be well within striking distance for the Best Picture win.

BEST ACTOR
1. George Clooney, The Descendants (last week: 1)
2. Brad Pitt, Moneyball (last week: 2)
3. Jean Dujardin, The Artist (last week: 3)
4. Michael Fassbender, Shame (last week: 4)
5. Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar (last week: 5)

6. Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (last week: 8 )
7. Demián Bichir, A Better Life (last week: 7)
8. Michael Shannon, Take Shelter (last week: 6)
9. Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March (last week: 9)
10. Woody Harrelson, Rampart (last week: 10)
11. Ryan Gosling, Drive (last week: 11)
12. Daniel Craig, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (last week: 12)

Finally, Gary Oldman scores his first major nod, making the BAFTA shortlist over DiCaprio. They’re neck-and-neck for the fifth slot.

BEST ACTRESS
1. Viola Davis, The Help (last week: 1)
2. Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady (last week: 2)
3. Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn (last week: 3)
4. Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs (last week: 4)
5. Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin (last week: 5)

6. Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (last week: 6)
7. Charlize Theron, Young Adult (last week: 7)
8. Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids (last week: 8 )
9. Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene (last week: 9)
10. Keira Knightley, A Dangerous Method (last week: 10)
11. Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia (last week: 11)
12. Felicity Jones, Like Crazy (last week: 12)

BAFTA put The Artist‘s Bérénice Bejo in the lead category, but I’m not expecting the Academy to do the same. So consider the top four ladies locks, while Mara seems like the only possible spoiler.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
1. Christopher Plummer, Beginners (last week: 1)
2. Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn (last week: 2)
3. Jonah Hill, Moneyball (last week: 4)
4. Albert Brooks, Drive (last week: 3)
5. Max Von Sydow, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (last week: 5)

6. Nick Nolte, Warrior (last week: 6)
7. Ben Kingsley, Hugo (last week: 7)
8. Armie Hammer, J. Edgar (last week: 8 )
9. Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Ides of March (last week: — )
10. Jim Broadbent, The Iron Lady (last week: — )
11. Patton Oswalt, Young Adult (last week: 9)
12. Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method (last week: 10)

Falling off: Andy Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes; George Clooney, The Ides of March

By including The Iron Lady‘s Jim Broadbent and The Ides of March‘s Philip Seymour Hoffman on its list of five nominees, BAFTA confirmed that this is by far the kookiest category of the year. Plummer, Branagh, and Hill are in. After that, it’s anyone’s guess. Will SAG nominees Nolte and Hammer sneak in? Can critical favorite Brooks mount a comeback after being overlooked by SAG and BAFTA? Or can someone like Von Sydow or Kingsley be the surprise acting nominee of the year? Nothing would make me happier than to see Nolte recognized for Warrior. But I’m going with Brooks and — my way-out-on-a-limb choice, given how much the movie has faded — Von Sydow. So let me have it.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
1. Octavia Spencer, The Help (last week: 1)
2. Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids (last week: 2)
3. Bérénice Bejo, The Artist (last week: 3)
4. Jessica Chastain, The Help (last week: 4)
5. Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs (last week: 5)

6. Shailene Woodley, The Descendants (last week: 6)
7. Vanessa Redgrave, Coriolanus (last week: 7)
8. Carey Mulligan, Shame (last week: 8 )
9. Judi Dench, My Week With Marilyn (last week: — )
10. Carey Mulligan, Drive (last week: — )
11. Sandra Bullock, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (last week: 9)
12. Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life (last week: 11)

Falling off: Judy Greer, The Descendants; Kate Winslet, Carnage

I know I’m getting a lot of static from many of you for putting McCarthy at No. 2 in this race. It’s important to remember that she’s landed on every major list except the Golden Globes, and that oversight is most certainly a direct result of the fact that (as with Taraji P. Henson for Benjamin Button a few years ago) the HFPA chose not to have a press conference with her. There’s a lot of industry affection for Bridesmaids, and though Spencer probably has the win in the bag, McCarthy is a very viable contender. As cool as it was to see Mulligan’s name among the BAFTA nominees, that it was for Drive and not Shame (for which she was a semifinalist in the lead category) probably does nothing except confirm that she won’t get an Oscar nod for either one. The only question in my mind is whether Woodley can capitalize on all the love for The Descendants. But if she does, whom does she displace? If anyone, it may be McTeer.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
1. Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
2. Michel Hazanivicius, The Artist
3. Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids
4. Will Reiser, 50/50
5. Tom McCarthy, Win Win

6. Diablo Cody, Young Adult
7. Asghar Farhadi, A Separation
8. Abi Morgan, The Iron Lady
9. John Michael McDonagh, The Guard
10. Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
1. Aaron Sorkin & Steven Zaillian, Moneyball
2. Tate Taylor, The Help
3. Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash, The Descendants
4. John Logan, Hugo
5. Steven Zaillian, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

6. Richard Curtis & Lee Hall, War Horse
7. Peter Straughan & Bridget O’Connor, Tinker Tailor Solider Spy
8. George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon, The Ides of March
9. Eric Roth, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
10. Lynne Ramsay & Rory Kinnear, We Need to Talk About Kevin

MERYL VS. VIOLA: WHY THE IRON LADY WILL WIN

2012-01-17T04:38:00.000-08:00

This Oscar race have some important locks: THE ARTIST will win best picture and Christopher Plummer will get best supporting actor. I'm not exactly sure if George Clooney is already a lock for best actor - Brad Pitt have a strong chance, just like Jean Dujardin, if THE ARTIST sweeps the Oscar night. And Octavia Spencer can have a problem, with her co-star Jessica Chastain, who, in my opinion, deserves this year's Oscar for best supporting actress (I have to see THE HELP again to confirm my opinion). The best director race is wide open but the DGA awards will give us a clue. Hazanavicius or Scorsese? Can Payne still emerge?

For me, the most exciting Oscar race is the battle for best actress. First, because I'm a huge fan of Meryl Streep and I want to see her with Oscar #3. But I also love Viola Davis and THE HELP. I haven't seen THE IRON LADY yet, but I'm sure Meryl Streep gives a tremendous poweful performance. We can of course forget Michelle, Tilda and Glenn or Rooney. It's Meryl vs. Viola.

Let's predict what can happen next:

1) SAG Awards - A difficult one for Meryl. She won with DOUBT and Viola Davis can win this one. But if Meryl wins this SAG, we have a lock: Meryl will win the Oscar.

2) BAFTA Awards - BAFTA, in the last 5 years, seem to be a better Oscar predictor than the SAG. And Meryl will definitely win the BAFTA for her portrait as Margaret Thatcher. Even if Viola wins the SAG, Meryl can easily gain momentum after the SAG and, with a BAFTA in her hand, she can get her third Oscar.

In both ways, even if Viola gets the SAG, I still think that Meryl will win the Oscar. Oscar predictors, like GoldDerby, are putting the money in Viola. I think they are underestimating 2 things:

1) Academy loves biopics and Meryl plays the real Margaret Thatcher.
2) Harvey Weinstein is always Harvey Weinstein.

THE ARTIST LEADS BAFTA WITH 12 NODS

2012-01-17T04:20:00.000-08:00

BEST FILM
THE ARTIST – Thomas Langmann
THE DESCENDANTS – Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor
DRIVE – Marc Platt, Adam Siegel
THE HELP – Brunson Green, Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Robyn Slovo

DIRECTOR
THE ARTIST – Michel Hazanavicius
DRIVE - Nicolas Winding Refn
HUGO – Martin Scorsese
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – Tomas Alfredson
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN – Lynne Ramsay

LEADING ACTOR
BRAD PITT – Moneyball
GARY OLDMAN – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
GEORGE CLOONEY – The Descendants
JEAN DUJARDIN – The Artist
MICHAEL FASSBENDER – Shame

LEADING ACTRESS
BÉRÉNICE BEJO - The Artist
MERYL STREEP – The Iron Lady
MICHELLE WILLIAMS – My Week with Marilyn
TILDA SWINTON – We Need to Talk About Kevin
VIOLA DAVIS – The Help

SUPPORTING ACTOR
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER – Beginners
JIM BROADBENT – The Iron Lady
JONAH HILL – Moneyball
KENNETH BRANAGH – My Week with Marilyn
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN – The Ides of March

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
CAREY MULLIGAN – Drive
JESSICA CHASTAIN – The Help
JUDI DENCH – My Week with Marilyn
MELISSA MCCARTHY – Bridesmaids
OCTAVIA SPENCER – The Help

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN – Simon Curtis, David Parfitt, Harvey Weinstein, Adrian Hodges
SENNA – Asif Kapadia, James Gay-Rees, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Manish Pandey
SHAME – Steve McQueen, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Abi Morgan
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – _Tomas Alfredson, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Robyn Slovo, Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN – Lynne Ramsay, Luc Roeg, Jennifer Fox, Robert Salerno, Rory Stewart Kinnear

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
ATTACK THE BLOCK – Joe Cornish (Director/Writer)
BLACK POND – Will Sharpe (Director/Writer), Tom Kingsley (Director), Sarah Brocklehurst (Producer)
CORIOLANUS – Ralph Fiennes (Director)
SUBMARINE – Richard Ayoade (Director/Writer)
TYRANNOSAUR – Paddy Considine (Director), Diarmid Scrimshaw (Producer)

DOCUMENTARY
GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD – Martin Scorsese
PROJECT NIM – James Marsh, Simon Chinn
SENNA – Asif Kapadia

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
THE ARTIST – Michel Hazanavicius
BRIDESMAIDS – Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig
THE GUARD – John Michael McDonagh
THE IRON LADY – Abi Morgan
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS – Woody Allen

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
THE DESCENDANTS – Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
THE HELP – Tate Taylor
THE IDES OF MARCH – George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon
MONEYBALL – Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
INCENDIES – Denis Villeneuve, Luc Déry, Kim McGraw
PINA – Wim Wenders, Gian-Piero Ringel
POTICHE – François Ozon, Eric Altmayer, Nicolas Altmayer
A SEPARATION – Asghar Farhadi
THE SKIN I LIVE IN – Pedro Almodóvar, Agustin Almodóvar

ANIMATED FILM
HE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN – Steven Spielberg
ARTHUR CHRISTMAS – Sarah Smith
RANGO – Gore Verbinski

ORIGINAL MUSIC
THE ARTIST – Ludovic Bource
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
HUGO - Howard Shore
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – Alberto Iglesias
WAR HORSE – John Williams

CINEMATOGRAPHY
THE ARTIST – Guillaume Schiffman
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO – Jeff Cronenweth
HUGO – Robert Richardson
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – Hoyte van Hoytema
WAR HORSE – Janusz Kaminski

EDITING
THE ARTIST – Anne-Sophie Bion, Michel Hazanavicius
DRIVE – Mat Newman
HUGO – Thelma Schoonmaker
SENNA – Gregers Sall, Chris King
TINKER TAILOR SOLIDER SPY - Dino Jonsater

PRODUCTION DESIGN
THE ARTIST – Laurence Bennett, Robert Gould
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 – Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan
HUGO – Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana MacDonald
WAR HORSE – Rick Carter, Lee Sandales

COSTUME DESIGN
THE ARTIST – Mark Bridges
HUGO – Sandy Powell
JANE EYRE – Michael O’Connor
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN – Jill Taylor
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – Jacqueline Durran

SOUND
THE ARTIST – Nadine Muse, Gérard Lamps, Michael Krikorian
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 – James Mather, Stuart Wilson, Stuart Hilliker, Mike Dowson, Adam Scrivener
HUGO – Philip Stockton, Eugene Gearty, Tom Fleischman, John Midgley
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – John Casali, Howard Bargroff, Doug Cooper, Stephen Griffiths, Andy Shelley
WAR HORSE – Stuart Wilson, Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson, Richard Hymns

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN – Joe Letteri
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 – Tim Burke, John Richardson, Greg Butler, David Vickery
HUGO – Rob Legato, Ben Grossman, Joss Williams
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES – Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White
WAR HORSE – Ben Morris, Neil Corbould

MAKE UP/HAIR
THE ARTIST – Julie Hewett, Cydney Cornell
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 – Amanda Knight, Lisa Tomblin
HUGO - Morag Ross, Jan Archibald
THE IRON LADY – Marese Langan
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN – Jenny Shircore

SHORT ANIMATION
ABUELAS – Afarin Eghbal, Kasia Malipan, Francesca Gardiner
BOBBY YEAH – Robert Morgan
A MORNING STROLL – Grant Orchard, Sue Goffe

SHORT FILM
CHALK – Martina Amati, Gavin Emerson, James Bolton, Ilaria Bernardini
MWANSA THE GREAT – Rungano Nyoni, Gabriel Gauchet
ONLY SOUND REMAINS – Arash Ashtiani, Anshu Poddar
PITCH BLACK HEIST – John Maclean, Gerardine O’Flynn
TWO AND TWO – Babak Anvari, Kit Fraser, Gavin Cullen

ORANGE WEDNESDAYS RISING STAR AWARD
ADAM DEACON
CHRIS HEMSWORTH
TOM HIDDLESTON
CHRIS O’DOWD
EDDIE REDMAYNE

GOLDEN GLOBES 2012 WINNERS HERE

2012-01-15T17:05:00.000-08:00

BEST PICTURE DRAMA
THE DESCENDANTS

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
Meryl Streep, THE IRON LADY

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
George Clooney, THE DESCENDANTS

BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
THE ARTIST

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Michelle Williams, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Jean Dujardin, THE ARTIST

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
A SEPARATION

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Octavia Spencer, THE HELP

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Christopher Plummer, BEGINNERS

BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE
Martin Scorsese, HUGO

BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE
THE ARTIST

BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE
W.E.

GOLDEN GLOBES 2012 ARRIVALS

2012-01-15T16:11:00.000-08:00

Photos from Yahoo and Justjared

OUR FINAL OSCAR PREDIX

2012-01-15T13:32:00.000-08:00

BEST PICTURE
THE ARTIST
THE DESCENDANTS
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO
THE HELP
HUGO
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
MONEYBALL
THE TREE OF LIFE
WAR HORSE

BEST DIRECTOR
Michael Haznavicius, THE ARTIST
Alexander Payne, THE DESCENDANTS
David Fincher, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO
Martin Scorsese, HUGO
Woody Allen, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

BEST ACTOR
George Clooney, THE DESCENDANTS
Leonardo DiCaprio, J. EDGAR
Jean Dujardin, THE ARTIST
Michael Fassbender, SHAME
Brad Pitt, MONEYBALL

BEST ACTRESS
Glenn Close, ALBERT NOBBS
Viola Davis, THE HELP
Rooney Mara, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO
Meryl Streep, THE IRON LADY
Michelle Williams, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kenneth Brannagh, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
Albert Brooks, DRIVE
Jonah Hill, MONEYBALL
Nick Nolte, WARRIOR
Christopher Plummer, BEGGINERS

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Berenice Bejo, THE ARTIST
Jessica Chastain, THE HELP
Melissa McCarthy, BRIDESMAIDS
Janet McTeer, ALBERT NOBBS
Octavia Spencer, THE HELP

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
50/50
A SEPARATION
THE ARTIST
BRIDESMAIDS
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
THE DESCENDANTS
THE HELP
HUGO
MONEYBALL
WAR HORSE

BEST FILM EDITING
THE ARTIST
DRIVE
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO
HUGO
WAR HORSE

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
THE ARTIST
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO
HUGO
THE TREE OF LIFE
WAR HORSE

BEST ART DIRECTION
ANONYMOUS
THE ARTIST
HUGO
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS - PART II
WAR HORSE

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
ANONYMOUS
THE ARTIST
HUGO
JANE EYRE
WAR HORSE

BEST MAKE UP
ALBERT NOBBS
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS - PART II
THE IRON LADY

BEST SCORE
THE ARTIST
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO
HUGO
WAR HORSE
W.E.

BEST SOUND EDITING
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS - PART II
HUGO
SUPER 8
TRANSFORMERS 3
WAR HORSE

BEST SOUND MIXING
THE ARTIST
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS - PART II
HUGO
SUPER 8
WAR HORSE

BEST SONG
Lay your head down, ALBERT NOBBS
Hello hello, GNOMEO AND JULIET
The living proof, THE HELP
Já não estar, JOSE AND PILAR
Life’s a happy song, THE MUPPETS

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS - PART II
HUGO
SUPER 8
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
THE TREE OF LIFE

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN
ARTHUR CHRISTMAS
KUNG FU PANDA
PUSS IN BOOTS
RANGO

GOLDEN GLOBES: WHO WILL WIN

2012-01-15T10:26:00.000-08:00

BEST PICTURE DRAMA
THE DESCENDANTS
THE HELP
HUGO
THE IDES OF MARCH
MONEYBALL
WAR HORSE

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
GLENN CLOSE - ALBERT NOBBS
VIOLA DAVIS - THE HELP
ROONEY MARA - THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
MERYL STREEP - THE IRON LADY
TILDA SWINTON - WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
GEORGE CLOONEY - THE DESCENDANTS
LEONARDO DICAPRIO - J. EDGAR
MICHAEL FASSBENDER - SHAME
RYAN GOSLING - THE IDES OF MARCH
BRAD PITT - MONEYBALL

BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
50/50
THE ARTIST
BRIDESMAIDS
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
JODIE FOSTER - CARNAGE
CHARLIZE THERON - YOUNG ADULT
KRISTEN WIIG - BRIDESMAIDS
MICHELLE WILLIAMS - MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
KATE WINSLET - CARNAGE

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
JEAN DUJARDIN - THE ARTIST
BRENDAN GLEESON - THE GUARD
JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT - 50/50
RYAN GOSLING - CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE.
OWEN WILSON - MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN
ARTHUR CHRISTMAS
CARS 2
PUSS IN BOOTS
RANGO

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
THE FLOWERS OF WAR (CHINA)
IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY (USA)
THE KID WITH A BIKE (BELGIUM)
A SEPARATION (IRAN)
THE SKIN I LIVE IN (SPAIN)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
BERENICE BEJO - THE ARTIST
JESSICA CHASTAIN - THE HELP
JANET MCTEER - ALBERT NOBBS
OCTAVIA SPENCER - THE HELP
SHAILENE WOODLEY - THE DESCENDANTS

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
KENNETH BRANAGH - MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
ALBERT BROOKS - DRIVE
JONAH HILL - MONEYBALL
VIGGO MORTENSEN - A DANGEROUS METHOD
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER - BEGINNERS

BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE
WOODY ALLEN - MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
GEORGE CLOONEY - THE IDES OF MARCH
MICHEL HAZANAVICIUS - THE ARTIST
ALEXANDER PAYNE - THE DESCENDANTS
MARTIN SCORSESE - HUGO

BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
THE IDES OF MARCH
THE ARTIST
THE DESCENDANTS
MONEYBALL

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE
THE ARTIST
W.E.
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
HUGO
WAR HORSE

BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE
“HELLO HELLO” — GNOMEO JULIET
“THE KEEPER” — MACHINE GUN PREACHER
“LAY YOUR HEAD DOWN” — ALBERT NOBBS
“THE LIVING PROOF” — THE HELP
“MASTERPIECE” — W.E.

VIOLA WINS AND "THE ARTIST" TOPS CRITICS CHOICE

2012-01-13T03:14:00.000-08:00

Best Picture
The Artist - WINNER
The Descendants
Drive
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Best Actor
George Clooney - The Descendants - WINNER
Leonardo DiCaprio - J. Edgar
Jean Dujardin - The Artist
Michael Fassbender - Shame
Ryan Gosling - Drive
Brad Pitt - Moneyball

Best Actress
Viola Davis - The Help - WINNER
Elizabeth Olsen - Martha Marcy May Marlene
Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton - We Need to Talk about Kevin
Charlize Theron - Young Adult
Michelle Williams - My Week with Marilyn

Best Supporting Actor
Christopher Plummer - Beginners - WINNER
Kenneth Branagh - My Week with Marilyn
Albert Brooks - Drive
Nick Nolte - Warrior
Patton Oswalt - Young Adult
Andy Serkis - Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Best Supporting Actress
Octavia Spencer - The Help - WINNER
Berenice Bejo - The Artist
Jessica Chastain - The Help
Melissa McCarthy - Bridesmaids
Carey Mulligan - Shame
Shailene Woodley - The Descendants

Best Young Actor/Actress
Thomas Horn - WINNER
Asa Butterfield
Elle Fanning
Ezra Miller
Saoirse Ronan
Shailene Woodley

Best Acting Ensemble
The Help - WINNER
The Artist
Bridesmaids
The Descendants
The Ides of March

Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist - WINNER
Stephen Daldry - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Alexander Payne - The Descendants
Nicolas Winding Refn - Drive
Martin Scorsese - Hugo
Steven Spielberg - War Horse

Best Original Screenplay
Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris - WINNER
Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist
Will Reiser - 50/50
Tom McCarthy and Joe Tiboni - Win Win
Diablo Cody - Young Adult

Best Adapted Screenplay
Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin - Moneyball - WINNER
Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash - The Descendants
Eric Roth - Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Tate Taylor - The Help
John Logan - Hugo

Best Cinematography
Janusz Kaminski - War Horse - WINNER
Newton Thomas Sigel - Drive
Robert Richardson - Hugo
Guillaume Schiffman - The Artist
Emmanuel Lubezki - The Tree of Life

EW COVERS "THE DARK KNIGHT RISES"

2012-01-12T04:20:00.000-08:00

"THE IRON LADY" OPENS NATIONWIDE

2012-01-11T02:56:00.000-08:00

JENNIFER LAWRENCE TO ANNOUNCE OSCAR NOMINATIONS

2012-01-09T11:23:00.000-08:00

Beverly Hills, CA – Nominations for the 84th Academy Awards® will be announced on Tuesday, January 24, by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak and Academy member and Oscar-nominated actress Jennifer Lawrence.

Sherak and Lawrence will unveil the nominations in 10 of the 24 categories at a 5:30 a.m. PT news conference at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, where hundreds of media representatives from around the world will be gathered. Nominations information for all categories will be distributed simultaneously to news media in attendance and via the Internet on the official Academy Awards website, www.oscar.com.

Last year, for the 83rd Academy Awards, Lawrence received a nomination for her lead performance in "Winter's Bone." She will be seen next in "The Hunger Games" and recently completed work on "The Silver Linings Playbook." Lawrence's other film credits include "The Burning Plain," "Like Crazy," "The Beaver" and "X-Men: First Class."

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.

DGA NOMINEES: FINCHER IN, SPIELBERG OUT

2012-01-09T11:13:00.000-08:00

WOODY ALLEN
Midnight in Paris

DAVID FINCHER
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

MICHEL HAZANAVICIUS
The Artist

ALEXANDER PAYNE
The Descendants

MARTIN SCORSESE
Hugo

So, no love for Spielberg or Mallick. That gives us some clues:
1) WAR HORSE is not the great Oscar contender we thought. THE ARTIST keeps its momentum.
2) Don't underestimate Woody Allen this year.
3) THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO can score a best picture nod and a best actress nod.

OSCAR RECORDS THE ARTIST CAN BREAK

2012-01-08T05:43:00.000-08:00

THE ARTIST can break a lot of Oscar records if the movie wins best picture:

1) The first silent film to win best picture since WINGS (1927), the first picture ever to receive best picture.
2) The first black and white movie to win best picture since THE APARTMENT (1960) [SCHINDLER'S LIST have that girl with the red coat]
3) The first movie about movies to win best picture ever.
4) The first foreign movie to win best picture - a.k.a. neither American or British.
5) Jean Dujardin can become the first French actor to win best actor.

OUR GOLDEN GLOBES PREDIX

2012-01-08T04:53:00.000-08:00

BEST PICTURE DRAMA
THE DESCENDANTS
THE HELP
HUGO
THE IDES OF MARCH
MONEYBALL
WAR HORSE

Will win: Difficult decision, will WAR HORSE gain enough momentum to beat THE DESCENDANTS? I doubt for now.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
GLENN CLOSE - ALBERT NOBBS
VIOLA DAVIS - THE HELP
ROONEY MARA - THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
MERYL STREEP - THE IRON LADY
TILDA SWINTON - WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

Will win: So the battle begins. A movie about Thatcher with Meryl? Meryl will win another Golden Globe. If she doesn't win, Weinstein have to rethink his strategy.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
GEORGE CLOONEY - THE DESCENDANTS
LEONARDO DICAPRIO - J. EDGAR
MICHAEL FASSBENDER - SHAME
RYAN GOSLING - THE IDES OF MARCH
BRAD PITT - MONEYBALL

Will win: The battle of OCEAN'S ELEVEN... The Hollywood Foreign Press Association loves Clooney and Pitt. Clooney wins by a nose. And, between Clooney and Pitt, a third contender can emerge - DiCaprio.

BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
50/50
THE ARTIST
BRIDESMAIDS
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN

will win: Too easy. THE ARTIST

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
JODIE FOSTER - CARNAGE
CHARLIZE THERON - YOUNG ADULT
KRISTEN WIIG - BRIDESMAIDS
MICHELLE WILLIAMS - MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
KATE WINSLET - CARNAGE

Will win: Williams can count with this.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
JEAN DUJARDIN - THE ARTIST
BRENDAN GLEESON - THE GUARD
JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT - 50/50
RYAN GOSLING - CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE.
OWEN WILSON - MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

Will win - Dujardin can easily beat the competition.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN
ARTHUR CHRISTMAS
CARS 2
PUSS IN BOOTS
RANGO

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
THE FLOWERS OF WAR (CHINA)
IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY (USA)
THE KID WITH A BIKE (BELGIUM)
A SEPARATION (IRAN)
THE SKIN I LIVE IN (SPAIN)

Will win: Difficult one. A SEPARATION seems the best one but we can underestimate Angelina Jolie. The HFPA nominated her last year for... THE TOURIST.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
BERENICE BEJO - THE ARTIST
JESSICA CHASTAIN - THE HELP
JANET MCTEER - ALBERT NOBBS
OCTAVIA SPENCER - THE HELP
SHAILENE WOODLEY - THE DESCENDANTS

Will win: We can have a surprise here. Octavia will test her frontrunner status. Can Jessica Chastain beat her. Or can Berenice emerge with the split vote?

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
KENNETH BRANAGH - MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
ALBERT BROOKS - DRIVE
JONAH HILL - MONEYBALL
VIGGO MORTENSEN - A DANGEROUS METHOD
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER - BEGINNERS

Will win: Plummer is the biggest lock this year.

BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE
WOODY ALLEN - MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
GEORGE CLOONEY - THE IDES OF MARCH
MICHEL HAZANAVICIUS - THE ARTIST
ALEXANDER PAYNE - THE DESCENDANTS
MARTIN SCORSESE - HUGO

Will win: No Spielberg, hum? No clue, so I'm going with the french guy.

BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
THE IDES OF MARCH
THE ARTIST
THE DESCENDANTS
MONEYBALL

Will win: Another wild guess. THE DESCANDANTS. But MONEYBALL...

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE
THE ARTIST
W.E.
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
HUGO
WAR HORSE

BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE
“HELLO HELLO” — GNOMEO JULIET
“THE KEEPER” — MACHINE GUN PREACHER
“LAY YOUR HEAD DOWN” — ALBERT NOBBS
“THE LIVING PROOF” — THE HELP
“MASTERPIECE” — W.E.

OUR JANUARY OSCAR PREDIX

2012-01-08T04:08:00.000-08:00

BEST PICTURE
1) THE ARTIST (last month: 1)
2) WAR HORSE (last month: 3)
3) THE DESCENDANTS (last month: 2)
4) THE HELP (last month: 4)
5) HUGO (last month: 6)
6) MONEYBALL (last month: 7)
7) MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (new entry)
8) THE TREE OF LIFE(last month: 10)

BEST DIRECTOR
1) Michael Haznavicius, THE ARTIST (last month: 2)
2) Steven Spielberg, WAR HORSE (last month: 3)
3) Martin Scorsese, HUGO (last month: 5)
4) Alexander Payne, THE DESCENDANTS (last month: 1)
5) Tate Taylor, THE HELP (new entry)

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
1) Brad Pitt, MONEYBALL (last month: 1)
2) George Clooney, THE DESCENDANTS (last month: 2)
3) Jean Dujardin, THE ARTIST (last month: 3)
4) Leonardo DiCaprio, J. EDGAR (last month: 4)
5) Michael Fassbender, SHAME (new entry)

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

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
1) Christopher Plummer, BEGINNERS (last month: 1)
2) Albert Brooks, DRIVE (last month: 2)
3) Kenneth Branagh, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (last month: 3)
4) Nick Nolte, WARRIOR (new entry)
5) Jonah Hill, MONEYBALL (new entry)

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
1) Octavia Spencer, THE HELP (last month: 1)
2) Jessica Chastain, THE HELP (new entry)
3) Berenice Bejo, THE ARTIST (last month: 3)
4) Janet McTeer, ALBERT NOBBS (new entry)
5) Melissa McCarthy, BRIDESMAIDS (new entry)

WHY MERYL DESERVES THE THIRD OSCAR

2012-01-06T15:57:00.001-08:00

A GREAT OSCAR COVER, BUT...

2012-01-05T12:51:00.000-08:00

Entertainment Weekly wow me this week with this beautiful cover. Clooney and Viola couldn't be better. I love love love Viola, not a big big fan of Clooney, but the cover is great. But... he could be even better. Think MR. AND MRS. FOX on the cover:

For those who don't know who the FOXES, from THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX, are (stupid question, everybody knows):

The Iron Lady and the Nespresso guy. What a great cover that would be. Sorry, but Meryl is always my number 1.

PRODUCERS GUILD AWARDS NOMINATIONS

2012-01-03T16:15:00.000-08:00

THE ARTIST
Producer: Thomas Langmann

BRIDESMAIDS
Producers: Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel, Clayton Townsend

THE DESCENDANTS
Producers: Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
Producers: Ceán Chaffin, Scott Rudin

THE HELP
Producers: Michael Barnathan, Chris Columbus, Brunson Green

HUGO
Producers: Graham King, Martin Scorsese

THE IDES OF MARCH
Producers: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Brian Oliver

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
Producers: Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum

MONEYBALL
Producers: Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz, Brad Pitt

WAR HORSE
Producers: Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg

84TH ACADEMY AWARDS POSTER!

2011-12-28T19:10:00.000-08:00

MERYL STREEP, THE OSCAR IS NEAR

2011-12-28T19:09:00.000-08:00

"THE HOBBIT" TRAILER: OSCAR CONTENDER 2012

2011-12-21T06:27:00.000-08:00

MERYL STREEP COVERS NEWSWEEK

2011-12-18T23:49:00.000-08:00

GOLDEN GLOBES NOMINATIONS HERE

2011-12-15T06:29:00.000-08:00

BEST PICTURE DRAMA
a. THE DESCENDANTS
b. THE HELP
c. HUGO
d. THE IDES OF MARCH
e. MONEYBALL
f. WAR HORSE

2. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
a. GLENN CLOSE ALBERT NOBBS
b. VIOLA DAVIS THE HELP
c. ROONEY MARA THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON
TATTOO
d. MERYL STREEP THE IRON LADY
e. TILDA SWINTON WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

3. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
a. GEORGE CLOONEY THE DESCENDANTS
b. LEONARDO DICAPRIO J. EDGAR
c. MICHAEL FASSBENDER SHAME
d. RYAN GOSLING THE IDES OF MARCH
e. BRAD PITT MONEYBALL

4. BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
a. 50/50
Summit Entertainment and Mandate Pictures; Summit Entertainment
b. THE ARTIST
a La Petite Reine – Studio 37 – La Classe Americaine – JD Prod- France3 Cinema -
Jouror Production-uFilms coproduction; The Weinstein Company
c. BRIDESMAIDS
Universal Pictures, Relativity Media, Apatow Productions; Universal Pictures
d. MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
A Mediapro, Versatil Cinema & Gravier Production; Sony Pictures Classics
e. MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
The Weinstein Company; The Weinstein Company

5. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR
MUSICAL
a. JODIE FOSTER CARNAGE
b. CHARLIZE THERON YOUNG ADULT
c. KRISTEN WIIG BRIDESMAIDS
d. MICHELLE WILLIAMS MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
e. KATE WINSLET CARNAGE

6. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY
OR MUSICAL
a. JEAN DUJARDIN THE ARTIST
b. BRENDAN GLEESON THE GUARD
c. JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT 50/50
d. RYAN GOSLING CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE.
e. OWEN WILSON MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

7. BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
a. THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN
Paramount Pictures/Columbia Pictures/ Hemisphere Capital/Amblin
Entertainment/Wingnut Films Production/ Kennedy/Marshall Production A Steven
Spielberg Film; Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures
b. ARTHUR CHRISTMAS
Columbia Pictures & Sony Pictures Animation; Sony Pictures Releasing
International
c. CARS 2
Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios; Walt Disney Pictures
d. PUSS IN BOOTS
DreamWorks Animation; Paramount Pictures
e. RANGO
Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies present A Blind Wink / GK Films
Production; Paramount Pictures

8. BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
a. THE FLOWERS OF WAR (CHINA)
(Jing Ling Shi San Chai)
New Pictures Film Company; New Pictures Film Company
b. IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY (USA)
GK Films; FilmDistrict
c. THE KID WITH A BIKE (BELGIUM)
(Le Gamin au Velo)
Les Films du Fleuve; Sundance Selects
d. A SEPARATION (IRAN)
(Jodaeiye Nader az Simin)
Asghar Farhadi; Sony Pictures Classics
e. THE SKIN I LIVE IN (SPAIN)
(La piel que habito)
El Deseo D.A., S.L.U.; Sony Pictures Classics

9. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A
MOTION PICTURE
a. BERENICE BEJO THE ARTIST
b. JESSICA CHASTAIN THE HELP
c. JANET MCTEER ALBERT NOBBS
d. OCTAVIA SPENCER THE HELP
e. SHAILENE WOODLEY THE DESCENDANTS

10. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A
MOTION PICTURE
a. KENNETH BRANAGH MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
b. ALBERT BROOKS DRIVE
c. JONAH HILL MONEYBALL
d. VIGGO MORTENSEN A DANGEROUS METHOD
e. CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER BEGINNERS

11. BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE
a. WOODY ALLEN MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
b. GEORGE CLOONEY THE IDES OF MARCH
c. MICHEL HAZANAVICIUS THE ARTIST
d. ALEXANDER PAYNE THE DESCENDANTS
e. MARTIN SCORSESE HUGO

12. BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE
a. WOODY ALLEN MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
b. GEORGE CLOONEY, GRANT THE IDES OF MARCH
HESLOV, BEAU WILLIMON
c. MICHEL HAZANAVICIUS THE ARTIST
d. ALEXANDER PAYNE, THE DESCENDANTS
NAT FAXON, JIM RASH
e. STEVEN ZAILLIAN, MONEYBALL
AARON SORKIN

13. BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE
a. LUDOVIC BOURCE THE ARTIST
b. ABEL KORZENIOWSKI W.E.
c. TRENT REZNOR, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON
ATTICUS ROSS TATTOO
d. HOWARD SHORE HUGO
e. JOHN WILLIAMS WAR HORSE

14. BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE
a. “HELLO HELLO” — GNOMEO & JULIET
Music by: Elton John
Lyrics by: Bernie Taupin
b. “THE KEEPER” — MACHINE GUN PREACHER
Music & Lyrics by: Chris Cornell
c. “LAY YOUR HEAD DOWN” — ALBERT NOBBS
Music by: Brian Byrne
Lyrics by: Glenn Close
d. “THE LIVING PROOF” — THE HELP
Music by: Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman, Harvey Mason, Jr.
Lyrics by: Mary J. Blige, Harvey Mason, Jr., Damon Thomas
e. “MASTERPIECE” — W.E.
Music & Lyrics by: Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry

OUR FINAL GOLDEN GLOBES PREDIX

2011-12-15T04:04:00.000-08:00

BEST PICTURE - DRAMA
THE DESCENDANTS
MONEYBALL
WAR HORSE
HUGO
THE HELP

BEST PICTURE - COMEDY OR MUSICAL
THE ARTIST
BRIDESMAIDS
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
CARNAGE

BEST ACTOR - DRAMA
George Clooney, THE DESCENDANTS
Leonardo DiCaprio, J. EDGAR
Brad Pitt, MONEYBALL
Gary Oldman, TINKER, TAILER, SOLDIER, SPY
Michael Fasbender, SHAME

BEST ACTOR - COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Jean Dujardin, THE ARTIST
Owen Wilson, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
Paul Giamatti, WIN WIN
Christopher Waltz, CARNAGE
Joseph Gordon-Lewitt, 50/50

BEST ACTRESS - DRAMA
Meryl Streep, THE IRON LADY
Viola Davis, THE HELP
Tilda Swinton, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
Glenn Close, ALBERT NOBBS
Kirsten Dunst, MELANCHOLIA

BEST ACTRESS - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Michelle Williams, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
Kristen Wiig, BRIDESMAIDS
Berenice Bejo, THE ARTIST
Charlize Theron, YOUNG ADULT
Kate Winslet, CARNAGE

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christopher Plummer, BEGINNERS
Albert Brooks, DRIVE
Kenneth Brannagh, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
Nick Nolte, WARRIOR
Ben Kingsley, HUGO

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Octavia Spencer, THE HELP
Jessica Chastain, THE HELP
Vanessa Redgrave, CORIOLANUS
Shailene Woodley, THE DESCENDANTS
Melissa McCarthy, BRIDESMAIDS

BEST DIRECTOR
Alexander Payne, THE DESCENDANTS
Michel Hazanavicus, THE ARTIST
Martin Scorsese, HUGO
Steven Spielberg, WAR HORSE
Woody Allen, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
RANGO
PUSS IN BOOTS
CHICO
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN
RIO

BEST SCREENPLAY
THE DESCENDANTS
THE ARTIST
WAR HORSE
THE HELP
MONEYBALL

10 LIVE ACTION SHORTS FOR OSCAR

2011-12-14T10:01:00.000-08:00

Beverly Hills, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 10 live action short films will advance in the voting process for the 84th Academy Awards®. One hundred seven pictures had originally qualified in the category.

The 10 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production company:

"Je Pourrais Être Votre Grand-Mère (I Could Be Your Grandmother)," Bernard Tanguy, director-producer (Rézina Productions)
"Love at First Sight," Michael Davies, director and Sandra Gorel, producer (Spellbound Films)
"Pentecost," Peter McDonald, director (EMU Productions)
"Raju," Max Zähle, director and Stefan Gieren, producer (Hamburg Media School/Filmwerkstatt)
"The Road Home," Rahul Gandotra, director-producer and Ameenah Ayub, producer (London Film School)
"The Roar of the Sea," Ana Rocha Fernandes and Torsten Truscheit, directors (Niama Filmproduktion GmbH)
"Sailcloth," Elfar Adalsteins, director-producer (Berserk Films)
"The Shore," Terry George, director-producer (All Ashore Productions Limited)
"Time Freak," Andrew Bowler, director and Gigi Causey, producer (Team Toad)
"Tuba Atlantic," Hallvar Witzø, director (The Norwegian Film School/Den Norske Filmskolen)
The Short Films and Feature Animation Branch Reviewing Committee viewed all the eligible entries for the preliminary round of voting in screenings held in Los Angeles.

Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members will now select three to five nominees from among the 10 titles on the shortlist. Branch screenings will be held in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco in January 2012.

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.

LESSONS FROM SAG NOMINATIONS

2011-12-14T06:50:00.000-08:00

1) THE POWER OF CLINT: Never understimate a Clint Eastwood movie. Not only DiCaprio got a SAG nod, but also Armie Hammer.

2) EXTREMELY QUIET: Don't what is happening? EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLE CLOSE fail to have a major buzz. It seems that they want only to start it in late December. Let's see what happens. It worked with MILLION DOLLAR BABY...

3) WOMEN NEED HELP: Just like I predicted, THE HELP grab two SAG nominations for Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer. That will certainly hurt Spencer's chances. Melissa McCarthy and Berenice Bejo have a chance.

4) VIOLA MORE STRONG: What Weinstein will do? Support his darling Michelle Williams or support the queen of Hollywood Meryl Streep? His strategy can hurt both and Viola Davis emerge as SAG winner and Oscar winner. Meryl Streep don't deserve this.

5) UP AND DOWNS: MONEYBALL is definetly a contender, just like MIDNIGHT AT PARIS. Forget THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO. WAR HORSE lost momentum, J. EDGAR gain, Gary Oldman is down, just like SHAME, Vanessa Redgrave and Michael Fassbender.

6) NO ALBERT BROOKS? Christopher Plummer should be happy!

SAG NOMINATIONS HERE

2011-12-14T06:44:00.001-08:00

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
DEMIÁN BICHIR - “A BETTER LIFE”
GEORGE CLOONEY – “THE DESCENDANTS”
LEONARDO DiCAPRIO – “J. EDGAR”
JEAN DUJARDIN - “THE ARTIST”
BRAD PITT - “MONEYBALL”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
GLENN CLOSE – “ALBERT NOBBS”
VIOLA DAVIS – “THE HELP”
MERYL STREEP – “THE IRON LADY”
TILDA SWINTON - “WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN”
MICHELLE WILLIAMS - “MY WEEK WITH MARILYN”

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
KENNETH BRANAGH – “MY WEEK WITH MARILYN”
ARMIE HAMMER – “J. EDGAR”
JONAH HILL – “MONEYBALL”
NICK NOLTE – “WARRIOR”
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER – “BEGINNERS”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
BÉRÉNICE BEJO – “THE ARTIST”
JESSICA CHASTAIN – “THE HELP”
MELISSA McCARTHY – “BRIDESMAIDS”
JANET McTEER – “ALBERT NOBBS”
OCTAVIA SPENCER – “THE HELP”

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
THE ARTIST
BRIDESMAIDS
THE DESCENDANTS
THE HELP
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

OUR FINAL SAG PREDIX

2011-12-14T03:50:00.000-08:00

BEST ENSEMBLE
THE ARTIST
THE DESCENDANTS
THE HELP
HUGO
THE TREE OF LIFE

BEST LEADING ACTOR
Jean Dujardin, THE ARTIST
George Clooney, THE DESCENDANTS
Brad Pitt, MONEYBALL
Gary Oldman, TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY
Leonardo DiCaprio, J. EDGAR

BEST LEADING ACTRESS
Meryl Streep, THE IRON LADY
Viola Davis, THE HELP
Michelle Williams, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
Tilda Swinton, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
Glenn Close, ALBERT NOBBS

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christopher Plummer, BEGINNERS
Albert Brooks, DRIVE
Kenneth Brannagh, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
Nick Nolte, WARRIOR
Max Von Sidow, EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Octavia Spencer, THE HELP
Berenice Bejo, THE ARTIST
Jessica Chastain, THE HELP
Shailene Woodley, THE DESCENDANTS
Melissa McCarthy, BRIDESMAIDS

EW PREDICTS "THE ARTIST" TO WIN BEST PICTURE

2011-12-13T10:15:00.000-08:00

From EW:

BEST PICTURE
1. The Artist (last week: 1)
2. The Descendants (last week: 2)
3. War Horse (last week: 3)
4. Hugo (last week: 7)
5. The Help (last week: 6)
6. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (last week: 4)
7. Midnight in Paris (last week: 5)
8. The Tree of Life (last week: 10)
9. Moneyball (last week: 8 )
10. Drive (last week: 14)
11. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 (last week: 12)
12. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (last week: 13)
13. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (last week: 11)
14. The Ides of March (last week: 9)
15. J. Edgar (last week: 15)

As each week goes by in this awards season, I’m growing more and more convinced that we could have closer to 10 Best Picture nominees this year than five. At this point, I could easily see the top eight films on my list scoring enough first-place votes to earn a nod. As I alluded to above, if Hugo lands a SAG nod for Best Cast, it will move up to No. 2 in my rankings next week. Meanwhile, Extremely Loud‘s inclusion on the BFCA list means it’s still firmly in the running. One of the biggest winners of the past few days has certainly been Drive, which received eight BFCA nominations. For me, the jury is still out as to whether the Academy will respond to its shocking violence.

BEST DIRECTOR
1. Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist (last week: 1)
2. Martin Scorsese, Hugo (last week: 5)
3. Alexander Payne, The Descendants (last week: 2)
4. Steven Spielberg, War Horse (last week: 3)
5. Stephen Daldry, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (last week: 4)
6. Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life (last week: 7)
7. Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris (last week: 6)
8. David Fincher, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (last week: 8 )
9. Tate Taylor, The Help (last week: 10)
10. Bennett Miller, Moneyball (last week: 9)
11. Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive (last week: 12)
12. George Clooney, The Ides of March (last week: 11)

Scorsese has emerged as a top contender in a race with several big guns all in contention. It seems to me that we have seven men fighting for the five slots at the DGA and the Oscars.

BEST ACTOR
1. George Clooney, The Descendants (last week: 1)
2. Brad Pitt, Moneyball (last week: 3)
3. Jean Dujardin, The Artist (last week: 2)
4. Michael Fassbender, Shame (last week: 4)
5. Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar (last week: 5)
6. Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (last week: 6)
7. Ryan Gosling, Drive (last week: 9)
8. Michael Shannon, Take Shelter (last week: 10)
9. Woody Harrelson, Rampart (last week: 7)
10. Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March (last week: 8 )
11. Demián Bichir, A Better Life (last week: 11)
12. Matt Damon, We Bought A Zoo (last week: 12)

Strangely, The Artist‘s Jean Dujardin has yet to win a critics’ prize, though that’s apt to change in the coming weeks. Gosling’s BFCA nod for Drive, combined with the continued overall downslide of The Ides of March, means he’s a likelier nominee for the former at this point. And despite his exclusion from the BFCA list, Gary Oldman still earned the big-money reviews to keep him in the race… for now.

BEST ACTRESS
1. Viola Davis, The Help (last week: 1)
2. Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady (last week: 2)
3. Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn (last week: 3)
4. Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs (last week: 4)
5. Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin (last week: 5)
6. Charlize Theron, Young Adult (last week: 6)
7. Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene (last week: 8 )
8. Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (last week: 7)
9. Keira Knightley, A Dangerous Method (last week: 9)
10. Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia (last week: 10)
11. Felicity Jones, Like Crazy (last week: 11)
12. Ellen Barkin, Another Happy Day (last week: 12)

The surprise of the day, of course, is Glenn Close’s omission from the BFCA nominees. She desperately needs a SAG nomination to stay in the hunt for her sixth career Oscar nod.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
1. Christopher Plummer, Beginners (last week: 1)
2. Albert Brooks, Drive (last week: 4)
3. Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn (last week: 3)
4. Max Von Sydow, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (last week: 2)
5. Nick Nolte, Warrior (last week: 10)
6. Jonah Hill, Moneyball (last week: 5)
7. Patton Oswalt, Young Adult (last week: — )
8. Andy Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes (last week: 12)
9. Ben Kingsley, Hugo (last week: — )
10. George Clooney, The Ides of March (last week: 6)
11. Robert Forster, The Descendants (last week: 9)
12. Armie Hammer, J. Edgar (last week: 8 )

(Falling off: Christoph Waltz, Carnage; John Hawkes, Martha Marcy May Marlene)

Three surprise BFCA nominees — Nolte, Oswalt, and Serkis — have upended this category. I was particularly glad to see Nolte in there for Warrior, for my money the most underrated film of the year. Will the Academy really recognize Serkis’ motion-capture performance? I’ve been a skeptic to put it mildly, but the actors branch will have to consider him at least. Meanwhile, Hugo‘s strong showing so far means that Kingsley could benefit as well. And I still think that as more Academy members see Extremely Loud, the impressive veteran Von Sydow could be a factor.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
1. Octavia Spencer, The Help (last week: 1)
2. Shailene Woodley, The Descendants (last week: 2)
3. Bérénice Bejo, The Artist (last week: 4)
4. Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids (last week: 6)
5. Vanessa Redgrave, Coriolanus (last week: 3)
6. Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs (last week: 5)
7. Jessica Chastain, The Help (last week: 8 )
8. Carey Mulligan, Shame (last week: 10)
9. Sandra Bullock, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (last week: 7)
10. Judy Greer, The Descendants (last week: 9)
11. Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life (last week: 11)
12. Kate Winslet, Carnage (last week: 12)

The greatest gainer in this race is McCarthy, who’s been racking up the critics’ prizes and scored an all-important BFCA nod. If Chastain is able to leapfrog over Redgrave and McTeer, we’ll have five first-time Oscar nominees in this category.

OUR DECEMBER OSCAR PREDIX

2011-12-12T05:15:00.000-08:00

BEST PICTURE
1) THE ARTIST (last month: 1)
2) THE DESCENDANTS (last month: 3)
3) WAR HORSE (last month: 2)
4) THE HELP (last month: 5)
5) EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE (last month: 4)
6) HUGO (new entry)
7) MONEYBALL (new entry)
8) THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO(last month: 10)
9) HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS- PART II (new entry)
10) THE TREE OF LIFE (new entry)

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

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
1) Brad Pitt, MONEYBALL (new entry)
2) George Clooney, THE DESCENDANTS (last month: 3)
3) Jean Dujardin, THE ARTIST (last month: 2)
4) Leonardo DiCaprio, J. EDGAR (last month: 1)
5) Gary Oldman, TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY (last month: 5)

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
1) Meryl Streep, THE IRON LADY (last month: 1)
2) Viola Davis, THE HELP (last month: 2)
3) Michelle Williams, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (last month: 3)
4) Tilda Swinton, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN (new entry)
5) Glenn Close, ALBERT NOBBS (last month: 4)

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

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
1) Octavia Spencer, THE HELP (last month: 1)
2) Berenice Bejo, THE ARTIST (last month: 3)
3) Vanessa Redgrave, CORIOLANUS (last month: 2)
4) Shailene Woodley, THE DESCENDANTS (last month: 4)
5) Jessica Chastain, THE TREE OF LIFE (new entry)

OUR FIRST GOLDEN GLOBES PREDIX

2011-12-12T04:44:00.000-08:00

BEST PICTURE - DRAMA
THE ARTIST
THE DESCENDANTS
WAR HORSE
HUGO
THE HELP

BEST PICTURE - COMEDY OR MUSICAL
BRIDESMAIDS
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
WE BOUGHT A ZOO
WIN WIN
CARNAGE

BEST ACTOR - DRAMA
Jean Dujardin, THE ARTIST
George Clooney, THE DESCENDANTS
Leonardo DiCaprio, J. EDGAR
Brad Pitt, MONEYBALL
Gary Oldman, TINKER, TAILER, SOLDIER, SPY

BEST ACTOR - COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Matt Damon, WE BOUGHT A ZOO
Owen Wilson, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
Paul Giamatti, WIN WIN
Christopher Waltz, CARNAGE
John C. Reilley, CARNAGE

BEST ACTRESS - DRAMA
Meryl Streep, THE IRON LADY
Viola Davis, THE HELP
Michelle Williams, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
Tilda Swinton, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
Glenn Close, ALBERT NOBBS

BEST ACTRESS - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Rachel McAdams, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
Kristen Wiig, BRIDESMAIDS
Jodie Foster, CARNAGE
Kate Winslet, CARNAGE
Scarlett Johansson, WE BOUGHT A ZOO

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christopher Plummer, BEGINNERS
Albert Brooks, DRIVE
Kenneth Brannagh, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
Jim Broadbent, THE IRON LADY
Max Von Sidow, EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Octavia Spencer, THE HELP
Berenice Bejo, THE ARTIST
Vanessa Redgrave, CORIOLANUS
Shailene Woodley, THE DESCENDANTS
Melissa McCarthy, BRIDESMAIDS

BEST DIRECTOR
Alexander Payne, THE DESCENDANTS
Michel Hazanavicus, THE ARTIST
Martin Scorsese, HUGO
Steven Spielberg, WAR HORSE
Woody Allen, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
RANGO
PUSS IN BOOTS
KUNG FU PANDA 2
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN
CARS 2

BEST SCREENPLAY
THE DESCENDANTS
THE ARTIST
WAR HORSE
THE HELP
MONEYBALL

OUR FIRST SAG PREDIX

2011-12-12T04:11:00.000-08:00

BEST ENSEMBLE
THE ARTIST
THE DESCENDANTS
THE HELP
J. EDGAR
EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE

BEST LEADING ACTOR
Jean Dujardin, THE ARTIST
George Clooney, THE DESCENDANTS
Brad Pitt, MONEYBALL
Gary Oldman, TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY
Leonardo DiCaprio, J. EDGAR

BEST LEADING ACTRESS
Meryl Streep, THE IRON LADY
Viola Davis, THE HELP
Michelle Williams, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
Tilda Swinton, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
Glenn Close, ALBERT NOBBS

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christopher Plummer, BEGINNERS
Albert Brooks, DRIVE
Kenneth Brannagh, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
Jim Broadbent, THE IRON LADY
Max Von Sidow, EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Octavia Spencer, THE HELP
Berenice Bejo, THE ARTIST
Vanessa Redgrave, CORIOLANUS
Shailene Woodley, THE DESCENDANTS
Melissa McCarthy, BRIDESMAIDS

MERYL STREEP COVERS "VOGUE"

2011-12-12T03:10:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah!!! She is probably the oldest women ever to cover US VOGUE. Congrats to VOGUE for choosing her to be the cover. "Move it, Scarlett Johansson, a new hot girl is in town" lol

IRON LADY: EMPIRE FEATURETTE

2011-12-09T09:52:00.000-08:00

AWARDS SEASON IS STARTING FAST

2011-12-08T06:34:00.000-08:00

Awards season will have a major developments the next week. Wednesday, the SAG nominees will be announced. Thursday is time to know the Golden Globes nominations. Stay tune this weekend to our SAG predix, Golden Globe predix and don't forget our Oscar December predix.

NEW IRON LADY TRAILER

2011-12-08T06:22:00.000-08:00

EVEN OBAMA SUPPORTS MERYL

2011-12-05T11:12:00.001-08:00

FIRST PIC: DAY-LEWIS AS LINCOLN

2011-12-02T01:39:00.001-08:00

Daniel Day-Lewis will be President Abraham Lincoln in the upcoming Spielberg's biopic. Tommy Lee Jones, Lee Page and Joseph GOrdon-Lewitt also start. The movie opens December 2012.

MERYL STREEP WINS NEW YORK

2011-11-29T10:58:00.001-08:00

Meryl Streep starts her amazing awards season by winning New York. New York Film Critics announced today the winners. THE ARTIST is the best picture, Meryl Streep the best actress and (totally agreeeeee) Jessica Chastain is the best supporting actress.

Best Picture: “The Artist”
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for “The Artist”
Best Screenplay: Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin for “Moneyball”
Best Actor: Brad Pitt for “Moneyball,” and “Tree of Life”
Best Actress: Meryl Streep for “The Iron Lady”
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks for “Drive”
Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain for Tree of Life, The Help and Take Shelter
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki for “Tree of Life”
Best First Feature: Margin Call
Best Documentary: Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation

MARVELOUS MERYL SO CLOSE TO THIRD OSCAR

2011-11-18T02:49:00.000-08:00

They all seem to praise Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher. She will emerge as Oscar frontrunner 30 years later. Here are some opinions:

FOX NEWS:
Meryl Streep pretty much gets an Oscar nomination just for waking up in the morning. And it looks like she's set to do it again playing Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady."

In early reviews, U.K. critics are loving 62-year-old Streep's performance as the controversial former British prime minister. The Guardian's Xan Brooks said Streep's performance "is astonishing and all but flawless" -- but adds that Streep "is the one great weapon of this often silly and suspect picture." The U.S. release of the film was recently pushed back a couple of weeks to Dec. 30, which also got tongues wagging about how good it is.

GOLDDERBY, Adam Waldowski - It almost seems cliché to declare Meryl Streep the frontrunner in Best Actress for "The Iron Lady." In 2008, she would have won the award for "Doubt" had Kate Winslet not been upgraded from supporting to lead for "The Reader." The same held true in 2009 with "Julie & Julia" before Sandra Bullock ("The Blind Side") gained momentum. But with no clear frontrunner in 2011, Streep at last stands ready to win her first Oscar since 1982's "Sophie's Choice."

This year's Best Actress race certainly has its contenders. But even more than Glenn Close's gender-swapping in "Albert Nobbs," Streep disappears in the role as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. While a lack of resemblance assures that we never quite forget we're watching Michelle Williams -- not Marilyn Monroe -- in "My Week with Marilyn," the illusion is completed here. Though she is not noble like Viola Davis' besieged housekeeper in "The Help," Streep does something far more difficult: she makes us understand one of history's most polarizing figures.

Her performance is at once commanding and witty. After declaring Argentina will rue the day they invaded the Falklands, for instance, Thatcher amusingly asks Secretary of State Al Haig how he'd like his tea. Critics have been quick to point out scripting problems in the film, which is why it's easy to credit Streep with giving the film all its sublime moments.

All the ingredients for an acting win are in "The Iron Lady." It's an important film that defines Thatcher as it spans the decades. Streep would be the first actress nominated for playing an elected official in her first star turn in ages. It's a role unlike any Streep has been cited for before.

David Gritten of The Telegraph raves, "Streep is splendid, giving a detailed, authoritative performance that goes way beyond accurate impersonation to evoke Thatcher’s spirit. One can think of a few talented British actresses who might have acquitted themselves well in the role, but it’s hard to imagine them doing it better than Streep."

GOLDDERBY, Tom O'Neill - Meryl Streep is destined to reap an historic 17th Oscar nomination for her performance as Maggie Thatcher in "The Iron Lady" based upon reactions to its first Hollywood screening, which took place today for a select group of Oscar bloggers.

Just like Streep nailed her portrayal of Julia Child in "Julie and Julia" to receive Oscar bid number 16 two years ago, she tackles an even more ambitious job embodying the stern British Prime Minister now. Her Thatcheristic mannerisms and vocal imitation are spot on, but she digs even deeper, revealing the tragic vulnerabilities of a woman who pretended publicly not to have any. We see her in old age battling dementia and the ghost of her doting husband Dennis who won't quit haunting her. That means we see her age dramatically – complete with an impressive makeup job that makes her look pale and withered in her 80s. Oscar voters are suckers for that. She also gets a big crying scene that she didn't have in recent Oscar-nominated roles. Voters are really big suckers for that.

Can Meryl Streep ("The Iron Lady") win the Oscar for Best Actress over Michelle Williams ("My Week with Marilyn") and Viola Davis ("The Help")? What will win Best Picture? Make your early predictions now -- and make changes later. CLICK HERE!
But can Streep win? She deserves the trophy – this is clearly an Oscar caliber turn and her best performance in recent years – but Streep is suffering a record losing streak. She hasn't prevailed since 1982 (Best Actress, "Sophie's Choice") and she has only one other Academy Award (Supporting Actress, "Kramer vs. Kramer," 1979). This year she faces tough competition from Michelle Williams ("My Week with Marilyn") and Viola Davis ("The Help"). Davis leads, according to the experts polled by Gold Derby. 38% pick her to win, 30% say Streep and 17% say Williams. However, Streep has the best overall odds in the category, according to everyone predicting at Gold Derby: experts, editors and site users -- 19/10 odds (34%). Click here to see the chart breakdown. (Sample snapshot below). Here is the chart showing the experts' rankings in that category. Notice that Dave Karger (Entertainment Weekly), Scott Mantz (Access Hollywood) and Susan Wloszczyna (USA Today) predict Streep will win.

"The Iron Lady" is also a strong contender for Supporting Actor (Jim Broadbent as husbnad Dennis), Best Costumes (Consolata Boyle, nominated for "The Queen"), Music Score (10-time loser Thomas Newman), Art Direction, Makeup and perhaps even Original Screenplay ("Shame" co-writer Abi Morgan).

THERE IS NO STAR LIKE JULIA ROBERTS

2011-11-16T03:52:00.001-08:00

IT'S OFFICIAL: MERYL IS OSCAR FRONTRUNNER

2011-11-14T12:49:00.000-08:00

And a trailer change it all. Meryl Streep emerges in this trailer as Oscar frontrunner. If you doubt it, watch some Youtube moments with the real Margaret Thatcher. THE KING'S SPEECH moment can hurt a bit, but Meryl is strongly running for Oscar gold!

AT LAST "THE IRON LADY" FULL TRAILER

2011-11-14T12:43:00.000-08:00

BILLY CRYSTAL SAYS "I DO" TO OSCAR

2011-11-10T14:54:00.000-08:00

From EW: “Am doing the Oscars so the young woman in the pharmacy will stop asking my name when I pick up my prescriptions. Looking forward to the show,” actor Billy Crystal tweeted this afternoon to his 61,265 followers. The Academy of Motion Picture of Arts & Sciences and Oscar producer Brian Grazer have yet to officially announce the pick, but, if true, the selection of Crystal — who has emceed the show eight times (most recently in 2004) — would instantly bring a sense of stability and familiarity to an Oscar season that has been shaken up by controversy and uncertainty this week with the departure of the planned Oscar producer Brett Ratner and his handpicked host Eddie Murphy. Crystal’s appearance in last year’s show was widely seen as one of the few bright spots in that otherwise critically lambasted telecast, which was hosted by Anne Hathaway and James Franco.

HARRIS PREDICTS "THE HELP" TO WIN BEST PICTURE

2011-11-10T04:29:00.000-08:00

Mark Harris, from EW:

BEST PICTURE: THE HELP
BEST DIRECTOR: Alexander Payne, THE DESCENDANTS
BEST ACTOR: Jean Dujardin, THE ARTIST
BEST ACTRESS: Viola Davis, THE HELP
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer, BEGINNERS
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Melissa McCarthy, BRIDESMAIDS

TOM HANKS WILL HOST THE OSCARS?

2011-11-10T04:23:00.000-08:00

Tom Hanks can be the next Oscar host!!!! That would be great!!!

Beverly Hills, CA – Academy President Tom Sherak announced today that Academy Award®-winner Brian Grazer will join Don Mischer as a producer of the 84th Academy Awards. This will be the first time Grazer has produced the Oscar® telecast.
"Brian Grazer is a renowned filmmaker who over the past 25 years has produced a diverse and extraordinary body of work," said Sherak. "He will certainly bring his tremendous talent, creativity and relationships to the Oscars®."
"I am thrilled to welcome Brian Grazer as my partner and that we will be collaborating to produce an outstanding show," echoed Mischer.
"It’s very gratifying to be part of a show that honors excellence in the medium to which I have devoted so much of my career," said Grazer. "Don is a legend, and I am excited to work with him."
"I too am delighted that Brian will join Don in producing the Academy Awards and I am looking forward to our producers delivering the movie event of the year," commented Academy CEO Dawn Hudson.
Grazer has earned four Academy Award nominations. He won a Best Picture Oscar in 2001 for "A Beautiful Mind." In 1984, Grazer was nominated in the writing category for "Splash," and he received Best Picture nominations in 1995 and 2008 for "Apollo 13" and "Frost/Nixon," respectively. His other film credits include "Spies Like Us," "Kindergarten Cop," "The Nutty Professor," "Liar Liar," "8 Mile" and "Cinderella Man." His current projects include the about to be released "J. Edgar" and the just released "Tower Heist."
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.

OSCAR HOST SHOULD BE... TINA FEY

2011-11-09T14:03:00.000-08:00

My secret wish. She is perfect.

EDDIE MURPHY EXISTS AS HOST - OFFICIAL

2011-11-09T11:10:00.000-08:00

Beverly Hills, CA – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak announced that Eddie Murphy has withdrawn as host of the 84th Academy Awards. "I appreciate how Eddie feels about losing his creative partner, Brett Ratner, and we all wish him well," said Sherak.

Commented Murphy, "First and foremost I want to say that I completely understand and support each party's decision with regard to a change of producers for this year's Academy Awards ceremony. I was truly looking forward to being a part of the show that our production team and writers were just starting to develop, but I'm sure that the new production team and host will do an equally great job."

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.

DiCAPRIO WANTS THE OSCAR

2011-11-09T10:49:00.000-08:00

L. DiCaprio (J. Edgar Parody) - watch more funny videos

"TINTIN": ANIMATED FEATURE FRONTRUNNER?

2011-11-08T10:56:00.000-08:00

Pixar is (almost) out of animated feature race this year. I think CARS 2 will again fail to impress Oscar members. After UP and TOY STORY 3 getting a best picture nod, CARS 2 not only can forget that best pic nod but can also fail to get a animated feature nod. That's bad for Pixar, but I understand: they went for the money (CARS is a huge, major Pixar brand, the kids love Lighting McQueen) and not for the awards.

CARS, part 1, lost the Oscar to HAPPY FEET 1. HAPPY FEET 2 can emerge this year as best animated feature. But a strongest contender this time can be THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN. The movie opened in Europe and the box-office is 125 million. It will depend, of course, on US box-office. TINTIN is not a large phenomenon in US, but Spielberg and Jackson are, with no doubt, two guys that can easily make people go see the movie. TINTIN is a wonderful movie, let's see the US reception.

WILL WEINSTEIN HURT MERYL'S CHANCES?

2011-11-07T14:38:00.000-08:00

The Hollywood Reporter writes today that "The biopic about British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher -- directed by Phyllida Lloyd, who also put Streep through her paces in Mamma Mia! -- had been penciled in for release Dec. 16. But the Weinstein Co. announced in a tweet Sunday night that it will now open Dec. 30. The film will bow in exclusive runs in New York and Los Angeles on that date and then expand wider Jan. 13." THE IRON LADY was postponed.

This fact made me remember an article from Mark Harris. Harris a great Oscar predictor and a wonderful writer. He wrote in Grantland this: "Why keep a Meryl Streep movie out of all fall festivals, then hold it back until the last possible minute? There are many possible answers, none of them cause for optimism. (It only makes that much more room for the Weinstein Company’s other Best Actress hopeful, Michelle Williams.)"

My question is: will Weinstein really support Meryl Streep or he wants Michelle Williams to win? It's almost mid-November. Why haven't we even seen THE IRON LADY trailer? ok, we loved the non-negociatiable pearls... but we can say "Oscar lock" just after see the pearls scene...

Just read this other post, also by Mark Harris, to think a little bit about Weinstein's strategy:

"I’m hammering the Streep prediction because aside from everything else, I think it’s bad guesswork. Meryl Streep is 2-and-14; in other words, she has lost more Academy Awards than any actor in history. She is zero-for-six playing real people. Phyllida Lloyd, The Iron Lady’s director, has made just one previous film, Mamma Mia!, which is not remembered for its acting (at least, not kindly). So overall, there’s little reason to believe Streep will win, especially since it’s now a near-annual ritual for prognosticators to claim that it’s her year — for Doubt, for Julie & Julia, for whatever — and then, when they find that narrative tedious, to start boosting an underdog. I guess it’s just too boring to assume that the best movie actress in the world is going to win another Oscar, which is probably why Streep has only two and not the five or six she deserves. Streep is currently shooting a movie with Tommy Lee Jones called Great Hope Springs. It will be released in December 2012. Allow me to make the fearless prediction that at least six months before that, some premature annunciator will label her “the one to beat!”

It would be infinitely fairer to Streep and to her movie to assume that she’s not the frontrunner, but rather one of several major actresses vying for a nomination. It would also be more accurate, since in the real world of the Academy Awards — the one populated by actual voters — A) nobody is thinking much about this yet, and B) to the dubious extent that any frontrunner exists, it’s not Streep, it’s Viola Davis for The Help. Why? Because people have seen The Help, and believe, correctly, that Davis is unimpeachably great in it. And so for the rest of 2011, as they look at Streep and Charlize Theron and Tilda Swinton and Glenn Close and Rooney Mara and Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams and a couple of other women you’ve heard of and a couple you haven’t — they’ll be asking, “How does this performance stack up against Viola Davis?” That — not track record, nomination history, or the hyperbole of expectation — is what makes a frontrunner.

Of course, being the one to beat isn’t the same as locking up a win or even a nomination. But Davis’s road to what will be her first best actress Oscar competition is both familiar and appealing to Academy voters: Years of great stage work, a number of films about which, even in tiny roles, she was the best thing, then a blazing showpiece performance (in Doubt) in which just a scene or two was enough to win her a best supporting actress nomination, and now, The Help. Actors sometimes cast a vote as a sheer ratification of talent — a way of declaring that in an industry where artistry alone mattered, this person would be carrying movie after movie. That’s where Davis is right now.

To a lesser extent, it’s also where Michael Shannon is — and unlike the contest for best actress, the best actor race currently features a bunch of people in movies you can buy a ticket to see. Like Davis, Shannon is an exciting stage actor; like Davis, he’s just three years past a very brief, high-impact performance (in Revolutionary Road) that earned an Oscar nomination; and like Davis, he’s finally carrying a movie and winning overwhelmingly admiring reviews. Shannon’s film, Take Shelter, is about a working-class husband and father grappling with the apocalyptic prospect of his own impending madness. There’s more to it than that, but I’ll avoid spoilers since not enough people have yet seen this limited-release film. I’ll just say that if they do, Shannon’s expertly calibrated slow build of a performance could make him a serious contender.

Also worth acknowledging are two other actors whose movies opened in the last couple of weeks. 50/50 is a largely successful if strange attempt to glue together two mismatched genres — one the story of a young man’s journey through cancer and the other a bros-before-hos stoner comedy that seems to understand less about adult women than your average Maxim cover line. That the film works as well as it does is due largely to Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who may be the least showoffy American actor of his generation. Everything he does as 50/50’s sick, scared protagonist seems to come from honest interior exploration; he doesn’t have a moment on screen that feels calculated to dazzle you. And then there’s Ryan Gosling, whose work in George Clooney’s political drama The Ides of March as a campaign operative who probably couldn’t find his ethical center even if it came equipped with GPS rounds out a career year that has also included well-regarded work in Drive and Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Playing characters who struggle with illness and decay (mental for Shannon, physical for Gordon-Levitt, moral for Gosling) is a time-tested route into the race. All three actors face roadblocks to nominations — Shannon’s movie needs to break through in a way that most other Sundance films this year have not, a campaign for Gordon-Levitt would need to counter a critical sense that 50/50 is too lightweight, and Gosling has now played so many smirkers, studs and creeps that some voters may be turned off. But The Ides of March is old-fashioned, deep-dish studio filmmaking, the kind of magnificently cast, gleamingly mounted work about which reviewers for Variety used to write, approvingly, “all tech credits are pro.” A number of major critics have roughed it up, but it may not need raves to connect with Academy traditionalists. We won’t know its position in the Oscar race for a couple of weeks, but for now, we can be grateful that it has produced the funniest moment of the campaign season so far — an apparently spontaneous burst of praise from Harvey Weinstein. Weinstein told a Vulture reporter that the film (which he had nothing to do with) is “the toughest, most incisive, no-bullshit movie I’ve seen this year” and predicted Oscar nominations for best picture, director, and actor (for Gosling).

If you checked out The Ides of March this weekend, you know that one of its tastiest lessons in political strategy is that there’s no such thing as an endorsement that’s completely free of ulterior motives. And if you follow the Oscars, you know that nobody plays the game harder than Weinstein. So what should we make of his dewdrop of generosity? Some possibilities:

•Weinstein really likes The Ides of March.
•Weinstein wants to ingratiate himself with George Clooney (for unclear reasons, but, you know, who wouldn’t?).
•Weinstein’s thumbs-up is a way of throwing an elbow at another Sony movie, the better-reviewed Moneyball. One of Moneyball’s producers is Scott Rudin. For more information, Google “Weinstein Rudin rivalry,” and I’ll see you back here in a few hours.
•Weinstein knows that the more attention Clooney gets for Ides (for which he’s eligible to be nominated for Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay and Supporting Actor), the less voters may feel compelled to give Clooney Best Actor for Alexander Payne’s upcoming and already heavily praised contender The Descendants — thus clearing the field for Weinstein’s candidate, The Artist’s Jean Dujardin.
In the Academy Awards, you always, ultimately, have to pick a winner. But in this case, you are allowed to select “All of the above” as your answer. And if you don’t believe that all of the above are possible, then you really should see The Ides of March"

so, what do you think?

KEIRA KNIGHTLEY: HER STRONGEST ROLE YET

2011-11-07T04:49:00.000-08:00

Keira Knightley gives in A DANGEROUS METHOD her strongest performance yet. Octavia Spencer may get some competition if Knightley is consider for a supporting performance, rather than a leading one. A DANGEROUS METHOD is not David Cronenberg's finest hour, but the movie certainly is one of the best pictures of the year, so far. A nod for original score is also possible.

OUR NOVEMBER OSCAR PREDIX

2011-11-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

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

BEST DIRECTOR
1) Alexander Payne, THE DESCENDANTS (last month: 3)
2) Michael Haznavicius, THE ARTIST (last month: 2)
3) Steven Spielberg, WAR HORSE (last month: 1)
4) Stephen Daldry, EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE (last month: 5)
5) David Cronenberg, A DANGEROUS METHOD (new entry)

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
1) Leonardo DiCaprio, J. EDGAR (last month: 1)
2) Jean Dujardin, THE ARTIST (last month: 2)
3) George Clooney, THE DESCENDANTS (new entry)
4) Michael Fassbender, SHAME (last month: 3)
5) Gary Oldman, TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY (new entry)

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
1) Meryl Streep, THE IRON LADY (last month: 1)
2) Viola Davis, THE HELP (last month: 2)
3) Michelle Williams, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (last month: 4)
4) Glenn Close, ALBERT NOBBS (last month: 3)
5) Elizabeth Olsen, MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE (new entry)

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

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
1) Octavia Spencer, THE HELP (last month: 1)
2) Vanessa Redgrave, CORIOLANUS (last month: 3)
3) Berenice Bejo, THE ARTIST (new entry)
4) Shailene Woodley, THE DESCENDANTS (new entry)
5) Keira Knightley, A DANGEROUS METHOD (new entry on supp cat)

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

AMAZING VIOLA DAVIS

2011-10-22T11:38:00.001-07:00

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: JESSICA CHASTAIN

2011-10-22T11:27:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-21T07:48:00.000-07:00

"THE DESCENDANTS": OSCAR CONTENDER?

2011-10-18T04:53:00.000-07:00

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...

2011-10-17T07:06:00.000-07:00

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"

2011-10-17T07:03:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-14T03:21:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-14T03:10:00.000-07:00

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)

2011-10-13T10:44:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-13T08:11:00.000-07:00

OUR OCTOBER OSCAR PREDIX

2011-10-08T02:03:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-06T15:31:00.000-07:00

"MY WEEK WITH MARILYN" TRAILER

2011-10-06T15:30:00.000-07:00

"EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLE CLOSE" TRAILER

2011-09-29T04:03:00.000-07:00

"WAR HORSE" GETS A POSTER

2011-09-29T04:02:00.000-07:00

DEPP AND PFEIFFER IN "DARK SHADOWS"

2011-09-26T03:55:00.000-07:00

"THE IRON LADY" GETS A POSTER

2011-09-23T06:55:00.000-07:00

"WAR HORSE" IS OSCAR FRONTRUNNER, WRITES MOVIELINE

2011-09-22T05:10:00.000-07:00

Movieline started its weekly update Oscar index. Here are their first Oscar predix.

BEST PICTURE
The Leading 10:
1. War Horse
2. The Ides of March
3. The Descendants
4. J. Edgar
5. Midnight in Paris
6. The Help
7. The Artist
8. Moneyball
9. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
10. The Tree of Life

Outsiders: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Iron Lady, A Dangerous Method, Contagion

BEST DIRECTOR
1. Steven Spielberg, War Horse
2. Alexander Payne, The Descendants
3. Clint Eastwood, J. Edgar
4. George Clooney, The Ides of March
5. Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

Outsiders: Stephen Daldry, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close; David Fincher, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo; Bennett Miller, Moneyball; Tomas Alfredson, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris; Tate Taylor, The Help; David Cronenberg, A Dangerous Method; Roman Polanski, Carnage

BEST LEADING ACTOR
1. Michael Fassbender, Shame
2. George Clooney, The Descendants
3. Gary Oldman, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
4. Brad Pitt, Moneyball
5. Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar

Outsiders: Jean Dujardin, The Artist; Woody Harrelson, Rampart; Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March; Tom Hanks, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close; Tom Hardy, Warrior; Michael Fassbender, A Dangerous Method

BEST LEADING ACTRESS
1. Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
2. Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
3. Viola Davis, The Help
4. Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
5. Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

Outsiders: Keira Knightley, A Dangerous Method; Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo; Charlize Theron, Young Adult; Emma Stone, The Help, Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene; Felicity Jones, Like Crazy; Michelle Yeoh, The Lady

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
1. Christopher Plummer, Beginners
2. Albert Brooks, Drive
3. Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
4. Nick Nolte, Warrior
5. Jonah Hill, Moneyball

Outsiders: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Moneyball; John C. Reilly, Carnage; Armie Hammer, J. Edgar; Jim Broadbent, The Iron Lady; Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
1. Octavia Spencer, The Help
2. Vanessa Redgrave, Coriolanus
3. Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
4. Jessica Chastain, The Help
5. Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids

Outsiders: Jessica Chastain, Take Shelter; Mia Wasikowska, Albert Nobbs; Keira Knightley, A Dangerous Method; Sandra Bullock, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

SPIELBERG'S "WAR HORSE" TRAILER

2011-09-22T05:07:00.001-07:00

ACADEMY CLARIFIES CAMPAIGN REGULATIONS

2011-09-22T03:03:00.000-07:00

Beverly Hills, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today issued regulations for how movies and achievements eligible for the 84th Academy Awards may be marketed to Academy members. The most notable change affects screening events that include filmmaker participation. Additional changes address digital delivery of movies to Academy members and public references to competing films or achievements via social media platforms.

"These campaign regulations play an important role in protecting the integrity of the Academy Awards process and the distinction of the Oscar®," said Academy President Tom Sherak. "Above all, we want Academy members to see movies as they were meant to be seen, in a theatrical setting."

Prior to the nominations announcement (January 24, 2012), there are no restrictions on screening events to which Academy members may be invited. These events may include the live participation of individuals involved with the film (Q&A panel discussions, etc.) as well as receptions with food and beverage. After the nominations have been announced, Academy members may continue be invited to screenings that have filmmaker participation elements but receptions are not permitted. While there is no restriction on the total number of screenings of a particular movie, no one individual from the film can participate in more than two panel discussions. Previously, Academy members could not be invited to any screening event that included live participation of the filmmaker(s) or a reception either before or after the nominations had been announced.

Additionally, after nominations are announced and until final polls close, members may not be invited to or attend any non-screening event that promotes or honors a nominated movie or individual nominee. Nominees themselves are also prohibited from attending such events. Academy-sanctioned events and awards ceremonies presented by the various guilds, critics groups and other organizations are exempt.

The regulations now emphasize that viewing motion pictures in a theatrical setting is highly preferred over any other viewing method. The distribution of screeners is still permitted, however, with specific restrictions on packaging and accompanying materials. The digital distribution of movies to Academy members is now acceptable, as long as the delivery method conforms to the regulations.

The long-standing ban on negative campaigning about other nominated films or individuals is now extended to social media platforms, and specific penalties are spelled out. Academy members will be subject to a one-year suspension for first-time violations and expulsion for any subsequent violations. As in the past, any form of advertising that includes quotes or comments – negative or positive – by Academy members is prohibited.

"J. EDGAR" TRAILER

2011-09-20T08:21:00.000-07:00

IS RACHEL McADAMS A BEST SUPP ACTRESS CONTENDER?

2011-09-19T03:38:00.000-07:00

"WE BOUGHT A ZOO" GETS A TRAILER

2011-09-15T07:53:00.001-07:00

BRAD PITT COVERS "EW"

2011-09-15T07:50:00.001-07:00

His MONEYBALL is getting some momentum....

"MARVIN'S ROOM": A MOVIE TO WATCH AGAIN THIS AWARDS SEASON

2011-09-12T04:39:00.000-07:00

Meryl Streep seems to be the best actress frontrunner this year, with THE IRON LADY. Leonardo DiCaprio may finally win his first Oscar with J. EDGAR. Before that happens (crossing fingers), we should watch MARVIN'S ROOM. You, Oscar fan, probably watched it to see the Oscar nominee performance of Diane Keaton. Watch the movie again, just to see Meryl Streep and Leonardo DiCaprio's great performances. She is the mother, he is the son. "Mother" and "son" are now Oscar frontrunners and we can't wait to see it.

"JOSÉ E PILAR" IS THE PORTUGUESE OSCAR CONTENDER

2011-09-12T04:37:00.001-07:00

"FAUSTO" AND FASSBENDER TAKE VENICE

2011-09-12T04:33:00.000-07:00

THE WINNERS
Golden Lion for best film

Faust by Aleksander Sokurov (Russia)

Silver Lion for best director

Shangjun Cai for People Mountain People Sea (China)

Special jury prize

Terraferma by Emanuele Crialese (Italy)

Best first feature

Là-Bas by Guido Lombardi (Italy)

Best actress

Deanie Yip for A Simple Life (Hong Kong)

Best actor

Michael Fassbender for Shame

(Britain)

Emerging performer

Shota Sometani and Fumi Nikaido for Himizu (Japan)

Best screenplay

Alpis (Alps) by Yorgos Lanthimos (Greece)

Best cinematography

Robbie Ryan for Wuthering Heights, directed by Andrea Arnold (Britain)

R.I.P. CLIFF ROBERTSON

2011-09-12T04:27:00.000-07:00

WATCH GLENN CLOSE IN "ALBERT NOBBS"

2011-09-08T14:08:00.000-07:00

"A DANGEROUS METHOD" GETS A POSTER

2011-09-08T04:28:00.001-07:00

IT'S OFFICIAL: EDDIE MURPHY WILL HOST THE OSCARS

2011-09-06T11:57:00.000-07:00

Oscar press release

Beverly Hills, CA – Oscar® nominee Eddie Murphy, whose performing career spans movies, television and the stage, will host this year's Academy Awards show on Sunday, February 26, 2012, telecast producers Brett Ratner and Don Mischer announced today. This will be Murphy's first hosting stint on the Oscars®.

"Eddie is a comedic genius, one of the greatest and most influential live performers ever," said Ratner. "With his love of movies, history of crafting unforgettable characters and his iconic performances – especially on stage – I know he will bring excitement, spontaneity and tremendous heart to the show Don and I want to produce in February."

Commented Mischer, "Eddie is a truly ground-breaking performer, whose amazingly diverse array of roles has won him a devoted audience of all ages. His quick wit and charisma will serve him very well as Oscar host."

"I am enormously honored to join the great list of past Academy Award hosts from Hope and Carson to Crystal, Martin and Goldberg, among others," said Murphy. "I'm looking forward to working with Brett and Don on creating a show that is enjoyable for both the fans at home and for the audience at the Kodak Theatre as we all come together to celebrate and recognize the great film contributions and collaborations from the past year."

Murphy began his career at the age of 15 as a stand-up comedian. In 1980, at the age of 19, he joined the cast of "Saturday Night Live," becoming the show's youngest cast member to that point, and bringing to life many of the show's most memorable characters. His 1983 album "Eddie Murphy: Comedian" won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Recording. It included portions of his groundbreaking HBO special "Eddie Murphy Delirious." In 1987, "Eddie Murphy Raw" was theatrically released and went on to gross over $50 million. Murphy made his feature film debut in 1982 with the classic "48 Hrs." and would go on to star in such box-office hits as "Beverly Hills Cop" and the "The Nutty Professor" and "Shrek" franchises. All told, movies in which he has performed have earned in excess of $7 billion worldwide during their theatrical releases.

Murphy earned an Oscar nomination in 2006 for his supporting role in "Dreamgirls."

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 on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

GLENN CLOSE "NOT OSCAR'S USUAL CUP OF TEA", SAYS STONE

2011-09-05T07:18:00.000-07:00

Very important post to read, this one from Sasha Stone (AwardsDaily). So, it's time for Meryl Streep finally take a cup of tea with the Academy (and obviously, with pearls)?

From Sasha Stone: Glenn Close leads an adept, uncompromising cast in Albert Nobbs, which had its premiere here last night at the Telluride Film Fest in the Galaxy Theater. Because the film, and many of its cast members, have been deliberately kept under wraps, no one knew what to expect. We all assumed we would know what we were going to get but this is a film unlike any other you’ve likely seen. You never quite know where it’s headed and it offers some startlingly beautiful scenes. Close is headed for her sixth Oscar nomination with this her most difficult and accomplished role to date.

But Close’s Albert Nobbs is not Oscar’s usual cup of tea in that Close deliberately holds back much more than she gives away. This is bound to leave some with discomfort and perhaps a feeling of dissatisfaction. But what you’re seeing in that performance is a very deliberate interpretation of this character Nobbs, someone Close has been internalizing and contemplating for thirty years.

Close was also very much the writer on the film, working closely with Rodrigo Garcia, putting her in line for a possible writing nod for her too. What I admired about the film was that it doesn’t pander to its audience or give any easy answers: this is a film meant to make you think. That was why, after leaving the theater, I needed some time to mull it over. There was no doubt that Close’s Nobbs was every bit as haunting as her Sunny Von Bulow or Alex Forest. But Close keeps so much inside for this performance. So much is trapped underneath and yet we’re asked to really invest much of our time with her. To that end, we end up feeling as suffocated and trapped as she does. One thing I know for sure: I will never forget Albert Nobbs.

The other standout here is Janet McTeer, who plays Nobbs’ only real friend. McTeer explodes off the screen and is also headed for an Oscar nomination in supporting – you can bet the bank. But to talk about her character is to give too much away, and the filmmakers have gone to great lengths to keep much of it under wraps.

I’ll be writing more about Albert Nobbs but just wanted to give you a quick take. You will all want to know if Glenn Close wins, finally, this year. She has competition in Viola Davis who, if nominated, could trump all. Meryl Streep, of course, has The Iron Lady coming. But if you put the two together, you’re probably looking at Albert Nobbs being Glenn Close’s Sophie’s Choice where The Iron Lady certainly will not be. It’s already shaping up to be a competitive year in the Best Actress category, which keeps thing interesting – and is far preferable to the alternative.

NEW PICS: MERYL AS THATCHER... WITHOUT PEARLS

2011-09-02T10:14:00.000-07:00

"CARNAGE" IN VENICE

2011-09-02T09:55:00.000-07:00