Welcome to the 2013-2014 Film Awards Circuit. In Contention will be tracking all the ups and downs of the season right here, from critics awards to industry kudos and more.

Continue reading »

Steve McQueen’s slavery drama “12 Years a Slave” led another batch of nominees today with the St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association, but Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska” and Spike Jonze’s “Her” scored large tallies, too. All three were nominated for Best Film along with “American Hustle” and “Gravity.”

Continue reading »

The Online Film Critics Society has announced 2013 nominees and once again, “12 Years a Slave” is a dominating force on the regional circuit. The film picked up a field-leading eight nominations. The Coen brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis” and Spike Jonze’s “Her” were a few steps behind with six apiece. The line-up includes passion for Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Wind Rises” and Johnnie To’s “Drug War.”

Continue reading »

The Women Film Critics Circle has spoken up and, as ever, offered some interesting color in a precursor circuit that seems to be all about a few particular names. This is certainly an opinionated and thorough list of contenders. “Augustine,” “Enough Said” and “Winnie Mandela” led the way with mentions, though “Mother of George,” “Philomena” and “Hannah Arendt” were favorites as well.

Continue reading »

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival has as of late extended its role call of “Virtuosos” Award winners, an annual tip of the hat to a given year’s stand-out performers not honored elsewhere in its tribute program. And this year’s line-up is as exemplary as ever.

Continue reading »

The New York Film Critics Online also jumped into the fun on a very busy day for the precursor circuit by handing “12 Years a Slave” its Best Picture award. “Gravity” helmer Alfonso Cuarón took Best Director while acting honors went to Chiwetel Ejiofor, Cate Blanchett, Jared Leto and Lupita Nyong’o: the consensus quartet at this stage, I think it’s safe to say. Check out the full list of winners below.

Continue reading »

The Houston Film Critics Society has announced its list of nominees for 2013, and “12 Years a Slave” leads the way with eight nominations. The slate is full of the usual, though there were unique notices for “The Hunt” (Best Actor) and “Man of Steel” (Best Original Score).

Continue reading »

The big screen revival of Andrew Dominik’s 2007 western “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” economically dubbed the “Jesse James Revival” by a passionate young man named Jamieson McGonigle who set the whole thing in motion, kicked off in earnest Saturday night with a presentation of the opus to a sold out crowd at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens.

Continue reading »

It’s safe to say members of the Boston Online Film Critics Association were big fans of Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave.” The group handed the film seven awards Friday including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Best Supporting Actress (Luipta Nyong’o). Cate Blanchett (“Blue Jasmine”) and Jared Leto (“Dallas Buyers Club”) rounded out the acting honors, while “Before Midnight” took Best Screenplay. Check out the full list below.

Continue reading »

Spike Jonze’s “Her,” Alfonso Cuarón’s “Gravity” and especially Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave” turned up great showings in the nominations stage for the Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association this year. All three films were nominated for Best Film along with David O. Russell’s “American Hustle” and the Coen brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis.”

Continue reading »

Sorry, it’s a little ridiculous that “Man of Steel” — I don’t care WHAT you think of the film otherwise — was left off the Academy’s list of seven bake-off finalists for Best Visual Effects. But these things are often about politics, and I imagine there was plenty of that at play here.

Continue reading »

HitFix has the exclusive premiere of the poster for one of the year’s most celebrated documentaries.

Continue reading »

Make it a second film in as many days that I had pretty much figured out of the Academy’s likely grasp that has been given a big boost on the precursor circuit. After the New York Film Critics Circle named David O. Russell’s “American Hustle” the year’s best film yesterday, the New York-based National Board of Review has chimed in today by naming Spiike Jonze’s “Her” the top film of 2013. The group also gave Jonze the Best Director prize.

Continue reading »

David O. Russell’s “American Hustle” was crowned the best film of 2013 today by the New York Film Critics Circle, capping off a nearly five-hour vote and marking the first critics awards announcement of the year. The film also received wins for Best Supporting Actress (Jennifer Lawrence) and Best Screenplay.

Continue reading »

The Academy has narrowed the field of 147 documentary feature contenders to 15, and the key omissions appear to be Alex Gibney’s “We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks,” Martha Shane and Lana Wilson’s “After Tiller” and and Errol Morris’ “The Unknown Known,” among others.

Continue reading »

John Ridley’s adaptation of the trials and tribulations of former slave Solomon Northup, Peter Morgan’s account of James Hunt and Niki Lauda’s Formula One racing rivalry and Ryan Coogler’s testament to the tragically short life of Bay Area father Oscar Grant are just a handful of screenplays that won’t be eligible for nominations from the Writers Guild of America (WGA) this year, HitFix has learned.

Continue reading »

With a big revival screening around the corner, HitFix’s Kristopher Tapley writes up an appreciation of the cinematography of “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” and reflects on the film and the work with DP Roger Deakins.

Continue reading »

The 23rd annual Gotham Independent Awards were handed out tonight at Cipriani Wall Street in New York, and it was the Coen brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis.” However, “Fruitvale Station” walked out with a pair of awards in the breakthrough categories.

Continue reading »