In Contention

Tag: A Matter of Loaf and Death

  • If YOU had a ballot

    Colin FirthTonight’s the big night, and as we close in on the final hours of the 2009-2010 film awards season, I thought I’d offer up this list (another one!), which reflects how you, the readership, would like the night’s festivities to go.  These are the results of the daily polls that accompanied our Oscar Guide series during the second phase of the season.  Thanks for participating.

    Best Picture: “The Hurt Locker”
    Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
    Best Actor: Colin Firth, “A Single Man”
    Best Actress: Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia”
    Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”
    Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique, “Precious”
    Best Adapted Screenplay: “Up in the Air”
    Best Original Screenplay: “Inglourious Basterds”

    (more…)

  • OSCAR GUIDE: Best Short Film (Animated)

    French RoastThis is one of the few times the animated short category doesn’t have an American in the bunch.  One of the big snubs, in fact, was probably Pixar’s “Partly Cloudy.” So I wouldn’t bank on any domestic bias this time around.

    The animated short films feature a wide array of creative prowess, but it almost seems unfair to have such brief exercises up against longer-form narratives. The shortest entry of the bunch is roughly six minutes long, while the longest is nearly 30. You get vastly different pros and cons when you get that mixture of pace and comedic (since most animated shorts are comedies) timing. Nevertheless, none of them stands out as outright bad, so that’s certainly a plus.

    The nominees are:

    “French Roast” (Fabrice O. Joubert)
    “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” (Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell)
    “The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)” (Javier Recio Gracia)
    “Logorama” (Nicolas Schmerkin)
    “Wallace & Gromit in ‘A Matter of Loaf and Death’” (Nick Park)

    (more…)

  • February winner predictions

    Jeff Bridges in Crazy HeartThese appeared at Movie City News’s Gurus o’ Gold page this morning, so you probably already saw them.  Here they are in any case, since, you know, I guess it’s about that time:

    Best Picture: “The Hurt Locker”
    Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
    Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”
    Best Actress: Sandra Bullock, “The Blind Side”
    Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”
    Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique, “Precious”
    Best Adapted Screenplay: “Up in the Air”
    Best Original Screenplay: “The Hurt Locker”

    (more…)

  • AMPAS announces shortlisted animated shorts

    The Cat PianoVia press release:

    • “The Cat Piano,” Eddie White and Ari Gibson, directors (The People’s Republic of Animation)
    • “French Roast,” Fabrice O. Joubert, director (Pumpkin Factory/Bibo Films)
    • “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty,” Nicky Phelan, director, and Darragh O’Connell, producer (Brown Bag Films)
    • “The Kinematograph,” Tomek Baginski, director-producer (Platige Image)
    • “The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte),” Javier Recio Gracia, director (Kandor Graphics and Green Moon)
    • “Logorama,” Nicolas Schmerkin, producer (Autour de Minuit)
    • “A Matter of Loaf and Death,” Nick Park, director (Aardman Animations Ltd.)
    • “Partly Cloudy,” Peter Sohn, director (Pixar Animation Studios)
    • “Runaway,” Cordell Barker, director (National Film Board of Canada)
    • “Variete,” Roelof van den Bergh, director (il Luster Productions)

    You can watch one or two of these on YouTube I think.  Anyway, thoughts?  Anyone?