Final guesses on this year’s crop of below-the-line contenders.
Tech Support: Final predictions and analysis for 2011, from 'Hugo' to…'Hugo'
Posted by gerardkennedy · 10:25 am · February 23rd, 2012
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
Oscar Guide 2011: Best Film Editing
Posted by gerardkennedy · 9:25 am · February 20th, 2012
Of all the crafts categories, Best Film Editing always tends to parallel the Best Picture race the most, both in the nominations stage and again during the race for the win. This year’s final five fit squarely into that paradigm.
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
Oscar Guide 2011: Best Visual Effects
Posted by gerardkennedy · 9:34 am · February 15th, 2012
After gradually reducing finalists from fifteen to ten to five, the visual effects branch made room for four blockbusters this year – three of them from franchises – as well as the nominations leader. This is hardly the sort of lineup that could be considered shocking. Still, another Best Picture contender was left off, while the fourth entries in three other franchises came up short, as did one additional summer blockbuster.
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
Oscar Guide 2011: Best Music (Original Score)
Posted by gerardkennedy · 8:17 am · February 7th, 2012
While the music branch’s choices (or lack thereof) in Best Original Song could be considered shocking, the opposite was true about their final five in Best Original Score. Three of the titles are Best Picture nominees, the branch’s favorite composer of all time is double-nominated yet again and all but one of the finalists have been nominated previously.
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
Oscar Guide 2011: Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Posted by gerardkennedy · 9:19 am · February 1st, 2012
A script is a film’s blueprint, making it unsurprising that most of the nominees in this category have historically also been nominated for Best Picture. This year was no exception, with three of the final five adapted screenplay contenders also chalked up as the year’s best films. Room was also made for a particularly challenging adaptation of a classic novel and a star-studded film with no other nominations.
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
Tech Support Interview: Stuart Craig and Stephenie McMillan on a decade of designing 'Harry Potter'
Posted by gerardkennedy · 11:48 am · January 26th, 2012
On Tuesday, Stuart Craig and Stephanie McMillan respectively earned the ninth and fifth Oscar nominations of their careers for serving as the production designer and set decorator of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.”
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention · Interviews
Tech Support: 'The Artist,' 'Hugo,' 'Dragon Tattoo' and 'War Horse' feature heavily in Oscar's crafts categories
Posted by gerardkennedy · 1:12 pm · January 24th, 2012
This morning, many crafts artists in Hollywood (and elsewhere in the world) found out that they are heading to the Kodak Theatre for the 84th Annual Academy Awards. The thrill they are experiencing must be difficult to describe.
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
Tech Support: Wrapping up guesses throughout the Academy's craft categories
Posted by gerardkennedy · 1:31 pm · January 19th, 2012
Rounding out my picks in the Academy’s crafts branches, from Best Music to Best Visual Effects.
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
Tech Support: Guessing the nominees throughout the Academy's craft categories
Posted by gerardkennedy · 7:49 am · January 19th, 2012
In five days, the nominations for the 84th annual Academy Awards will be announced. It seems extraordinary that another season has nearly passed. And with a silent film and a somewhat fantastical (not-so-) children’s film poised to dominate the major categories, one realizes how quickly trends can change in Hollywood. But now it’s time to make our final picks across the crafts categories.
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
Tech Support Interview: 'The Artist' costume designer Mark Bridges on building character in black and white
Posted by gerardkennedy · 2:51 pm · January 14th, 2012
For those of us who closely monitor the caliber of film costumes, Mark Bridges’s talent has been apparent for well over a decade, going back to at least Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Boogie Nights.” Efforts such as “Magnolia,” “Punch-Drunk Love,” “Blast from the Past,” “There Will Be Blood” and “The Fighter” have shown Bridges’s ability to design threads for numerous periods and in a vast array of genres. His collaboration with Michel Hazanavicus on “The Artist,” however, has probably presented him with his best chance to date to finally find a place in Oscar’s final quintet.
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention · Interviews
Tech Support Interview: The ubiquitous Alexandre Desplat on living his dream
Posted by gerardkennedy · 9:52 am · December 29th, 2011
When Tech Support first launched at In Contention five years ago, Alexandre Desplat had proven his talents with top-notch scores for “The Girl With a Pearl Earring,” “Birth” and “Syriana.” Today we chat with him about a ubiquitous year doing what he loves to do.
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention · Interviews
Corey Stoll on Ernest Hemingway's complicity in his own myth
Posted by gerardkennedy · 10:58 am · December 12th, 2011
This weekend “Midnight in Paris” star Corey Stoll participated in a unique event at the JFK Library in Boston where he read from Ernest Hemingway’s letters, which have been collected into a 16-volume series by editor Sandra Spanier.
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
Tech Support: John Williams charges back to lead the field of Best Original Score hopefuls
Posted by gerardkennedy · 8:07 am · November 24th, 2011
In this week’s installment of Tech Support, we turn our gaze toward Best Original Score. Those in the hunt include John Williams, Alexandre Desplat, Howard Shore and Alberto Iglesias.
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
Tech Support: 'Hugo' and 'Harry Potter' set the scene for Best Art Direction
Posted by gerardkennedy · 1:24 pm · November 17th, 2011
In this week’s installment of Tech Support, we transition over to Best Art Direction. Films in the thick of it include the period design of “Hugo,” “War Horse,” “J. Edgar” and “The Artist,” as well as the fantasy elements of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” “Thor” and “Captain America: The First Avenger.”
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
Tech Support: 'War Horse,' 'Transformers' in the, uh, mix for Best Sound Mixing
Posted by gerardkennedy · 7:47 am · November 10th, 2011
In this week’s edition of Tech Support, we turn our gaze to Best Sound Mixing. Contenders include “War Horse,” “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” and.. “The Artist?”
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
Tech Support: Best Makeup could go its own way, from 'Green Lantern to 'The Iron Lady'
Posted by gerardkennedy · 7:46 am · November 3rd, 2011
In this week’s edition of Tech Support, we round up the possibilities for Best Makeup. Contenders include summer blockbusters like “Green Lantern” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” as well as Best Picture hopefuls such as “J. Edgar” and “The Artist.”
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
Tech Support: Best Pic hopefuls from 'War Horse' to 'Ides of March' highlight Best Film Editing
Posted by gerardkennedy · 9:19 am · October 27th, 2011
This week our weekly Tech Support column turns its gaze to the Best Film Editing category. Serious possibilities include Steven Spielberg’s one-two punch of “War Horse” and “The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn,” festival favorite “The Artist” and summer blockbusters like “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.”
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
Tech Support: Period pieces from 'Hugo' to 'W.E.' stand out for Best Costume Design
Posted by gerardkennedy · 8:03 am · October 20th, 2011
In Tech Support this week we tackle the category of Best Costume Design. Strong contenders include Madonna’s “W.E.,” Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” and Steven Spielberg’s “The Help,” among others.
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
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