Features
Headlines
Search
Loading ...
Archives
*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.
“Avatar” has swept aside the entire January schedule with relative ease and is aiming for an eighth weekend at the top of the box office. Considering it dropped only 10% last week despite some direct male competition from Mel Gibson and it now has 9 Oscar [...]
FRIDAY FORECAST: 72 degrees and ‘Avatar’
Posted by Chad Hartigan · 11:26 am · February 5th, 2010
Filed in: Box Office · Friday Forecast
Yes…and more than one movie, actually…
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:44 am · February 4th, 2010
Alright. It must be said. I’m as guilty as anyone, perhaps more than most, at positioning this year’s Oscar race as a two-horse sprint to the finish between “Avatar” and “The Hurt Locker.” But slowly it’s occurred to me that this Oscar race has been boiled down so quickly because it makes for such a [...]
Filed in: Daily
How we did today (not bad) and a year out (not so much)
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 3:04 pm · February 2nd, 2010
I forgot to sit down and take a look at my year-in-advance predictions for this year and see how I did. Not too great.
In the Best Picture field (before the announcement of an expanded category, mind you), the only film I listed that made it through was “The Hurt Locker.” Kathryn Bigelow was also the [...]
Filed in: Daily
Calling the longshots
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 5:47 pm · February 1st, 2010
So this Steve Pond piece, titled “How Oscar Could Surprise — and Scare — Us,” is what we like to call hedging our bets. It’s a chance to address some bubble matters so that we have something to point to and say, “Look, I toldja!”
(Is that officially trademarked by Nikki Finke yet?)
Anyway, I do like [...]
Filed in: Daily
OFF THE CARPET: The time is nigh
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 3:44 pm · February 1st, 2010
In so many words, this is it. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveils it’s slate of nominees bright and early tomorrow morning, and this being the first year with a 10-film Best Picture field, all eyes will be on the top category to gauge which way the wind blew on this AMPAS [...]
Filed in: Off the Carpet
My dream ballot: part one
Posted by Guy Lodge · 7:32 pm · January 31st, 2010
As I did last year, I’m preparing for Tuesday’s announcement of the Oscar nominations by running through my own favorites in each category — following on from the ideal ballots posted by Kris and Chad in the past few weeks.
“Preparing” isn’t quite the word: it implies a link between the processes of predicting and wishing, [...]
Filed in: Daily
UK critics honor ‘Up,’ Mulligan
Posted by Guy Lodge · 2:01 am · January 29th, 2010
The London Film Critics’ Circle Awards may be the most prestigious of British critics’ honors (not saying much, admittedly), but there are critics in the rest of the country too. These regional writers have their say in the Richard Attenborough Awards, which held their fourth annual ceremony last night.
Last year, the Attenboroughs stuck very much [...]
Filed in: Daily
Is there a ‘Precious’ in this year’s Sundance lineup?
Posted by Guy Lodge · 7:16 am · January 27th, 2010
When (at this stage, I think it’s safe to say “when”) “Precious” and “An Education” land Best Picture nods on Tuesday morning, there will be an interesting trivia note to attach to the occasion: they’ll be the first Sundance competition entries since 2001 to make it all the way to Oscar’s top race.
Indeed, “Precious” will [...]
Filed in: Daily
WEEKLY WRAP: Globe awards, BAFTA noms, foreign shortlist
Posted by Guy Lodge · 6:41 pm · January 22nd, 2010
• “Avatar” and “The Hangover” took top honors at a very populist Golden Globes ceremony — Off the Carpet reported from the party circuit.
• The Academy revealed the nine films shortlisted for Best Foreign Language Film; we sized up the race.
• BAFTA announced their nominations, with “An Education,” “The Hurt Locker” and “Avatar” topping the [...]
Filed in: Daily
‘Education,’ ‘Hurt,’ ‘Avatar’ lead BAFTA nominations
Posted by Guy Lodge · 12:00 am · January 21st, 2010
For once, my predictions weren’t too shoddy … though the field-beating haul I anticipated for “An Education” didn’t quite pan out. Instead, Lone Scherfig’s film ties for the lead with Oscar frontrunners “Avatar” and “The Hurt Locker,” all three films securing eight nominations.
“An Education” still looks like the one to beat here, though it’s not [...]
Filed in: Daily
THE LONG SHOT: A little bit of English
Posted by Guy Lodge · 6:41 pm · January 20th, 2010
Yesterday, while talking with one of my sane friends whose thoughts drift to film awards perhaps one day a year, the conversation turned to the BAFTAs, which announce the nominations for their 2009 film awards tomorrow.
“The BAFTAs, they’re like the Oscars for British films, right?” she asked.
“Not quite,” I replied. “They’re open to all films.”
“But [...]
Filed in: The Long Shot
1/20 Oscarweb Round-up
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:33 am · January 20th, 2010
• Melena Ryzik chats with “The Last Station” star Helen Mirren. [The Carpetbagger]
• On the breakthrough performances of 2009. [The Playlist]
• Dave Karger tries to suss out the three slots that seem u[ for grabs at the bottom of Oscar's 10. [Oscar Watch]
Filed in: Daily
THE LONG SHOT: Hollywood fights back
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:45 pm · January 13th, 2010
I may be looking out at my snow-caked garden as I write this, but it was in the spirit of spring-cleaning that I revised my nomination predictions this morning, ridding myself of most of the clinging personal hopes and hunches that lingered when I last updated them a month ago.
It wasn’t the most drastic of [...]
Filed in: The Long Shot
WEEKLY WRAP: Guilds, lists and disqualifications
Posted by Guy Lodge · 4:49 am · January 9th, 2010
• In a big week for precursor announcements, the DGA nominations were the biggest — and least surprising.
• The PGA, meanwhile, found room for all three of the year’s hot sci-fi titles in its nominee slate.
• “The Hurt Locker” triumphed at the National Society of Film Critics Awards, the first film in 12 years to [...]
Filed in: Daily
‘Education,’ ‘Basterds’ lead BAFTA longlists
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:22 am · January 7th, 2010
Two weeks before revealing its nominations, BAFTA reveals longlists of 15 contenders in each category from which the eventual five nominees will be chosen. (Switch those numbers to five and three in the Animated Feature race.)
Vague as the lists are, a couple of telling trends stand out. It’s been clear for some time that “An [...]
Filed in: Daily
