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The field of visual effects contenders didn’t seem to need the annual bake-off reduction to know which way the wind was blowing this year. Three films seemed to be headed for recognition from the outset, and on nomination morning, the category made for one of the least surprising collectives of the day.
Furthermore, it has also [...]
OSCAR GUIDE: Best Visual Effects
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 1:30 pm · February 5th, 2010
Filed in: Daily
10 snubs that sting
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:40 pm · February 2nd, 2010
I’ve already highlighted my favorite aspects of this morning’s Oscar nominations. Still, before we move into Phase Two, I’d like to give one final respectful nod to the could-have-beens — the names that we sadly won’t be talking about anymore in the next five weeks of speculation.
I listed my true favorites in my dream ballot [...]
Filed in: Daily
The bright side
Posted by Guy Lodge · 7:36 am · February 2nd, 2010
Well, I’ll start the good news selfishly, by noting that I didn’t entirely embarrass myself with my predictions: not counting the short categories (which I was to cowardly and uninformed to predict) I nailed 78/106, just two points behind Kris’s round tally of 80.
But while I was pleased to see at least one of my [...]
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
Reitman: “Bigelow is going to win and she deserves to win.”
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:22 am · February 1st, 2010
Over at Roger Ebert’s little corner of the web, the Chicago Sun-Times critics has posted a great conversation with “Up in the Air” director Jason Reitman. There’s a bit of everything, really, but most noteworthy is his praise of “The Hurt Locker” and “District 9.” He proves he’s a lot more humble than his detractors [...]
Filed in: Daily
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
January winner predictions
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:59 am · January 27th, 2010
It’s time for me to go to the well one more time before next week’s big announcement. That’s right, six days and the mystery of the 10 will finally be answered. But first, some blind (since there are no nominations yet) guesses. Just trying to find the right balance here:
Best Picture: “The Hurt Locker”
Best Director: [...]
Filed in: Daily
‘Avatar,’ ‘Star Trek’ lead the way with MPSE
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:13 am · January 22nd, 2010
For the first time I can ever remember, the Motion Picture Sound Editors have announced their list of nominees BEFORE the Academy has announced the Oscar nominees. Because these always came a few days after the big announcement, I have to say, I have never bothered to see how often they match up with the [...]
Filed in: Daily
CAS nominees
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 7:56 pm · January 20th, 2010
Ironic that his release drops tonight just as I’m transcribing an interview with sound mixer Greg Russell for tomorrow’s Tech Support column.
The list of nominees for the Cinema Audio Society doesn’t exactly hold any surprises. The only film on the list that isn’t being predicted in the sidebar as of right now is “District 9″ [...]
Filed in: Daily
The home stretch
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:57 am · January 20th, 2010
Pete Hammond’s story concerning Academy members tapping out before listing a full slate of 10 nominees on their ballots is getting some traction today, but it’s hardly new news. Many voters never even bothered to come up with five nominees, so the switch to 10 was always going to yield a number of incomplete ballots.
However, [...]
Filed in: Daily
‘Avatar’ leads VES nominations
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 5:49 pm · January 18th, 2010
No surprises there. James Cameron’s film landed 11 separate mentions from the Visual Effects Society (some more specifically indicated than others). “2012” and “District 9” each landed three nominations, while “Sherlock Holmes” and “Star Trek” each landed two.
The nominees in the main field, “visual effects in a visual effects driven feature motion picture,” are:
“2012”
“Avatar”
“District 9”
“Star [...]
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
ACE nominees
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 7:23 pm · January 11th, 2010
For me, “District 9” is the biggest and most pleasant surprise for me in this morning’s American Cinema Editors announcement. If ever the film looked like a lock for a Best Picture nomination, now is that time, I have to say. Getting in over presumed Oscar frontrunners “Precious” and, most especially, “Inglourious Basterds,” that’s a [...]
Filed in: Daily
Makeup bake-off leaves seven
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 4:40 pm · January 11th, 2010
Via AMPAS press release, the final group includes:
“District 9”
“Il Divo”
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
“Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian”
“The Road”
“Star Trek”
“The Young Victoria”
Well, there was always one spot in flux for me here and most recently I was giving it to “Cirque du Freak” for some great work by a veteran of the [...]
Filed in: Daily
