In this week’s Oscar Talk podcast Anne and Kris are joined by Guy Lodge from London, who is taking in the London Film Festival and saw Steven Spielberg’s “The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn” recently. We also dig in on the Gotham Award nominations announcement and the NYFCC’s recent surprising twist on the season.
Oscar Talk: Ep. 66 — Gotham Awards, NYFCC's FIRST! move, 'Tintin,' London fest and more
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:00 am · October 21st, 2011
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Review: 'Miss Bala' opens fire
Posted by Guy Lodge · 3:46 pm · October 20th, 2011
Selected as Mexico’s candidate for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar after a wave of festival buzz, Gerardo Naranjo’s “Miss Bala” is a dazzling drug-cartel thriller, revolving around the unlikely political center of the Miss Baja California beauty pageant.
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Review: Toronto winner 'Where Do We Go Now?' needs directions
Posted by Guy Lodge · 4:40 pm · October 18th, 2011
The Lebanese feminist anti-sectarian musical comedy is an underpopulated niche in world cinema. However, after Nadine Labaki’s surprise Toronto champ “Where Do We Go Now?,” it’s probably safe to consider the door on that sub-genre closed.
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The Long Shot: Foreign exchange
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:42 pm · October 13th, 2011
This year, however, the stage has been set for the Academy to make more relevant choices than usual in the often-derided Best Foreign Language Film category. The list of 63 contenders announced today includes many critically beloved festival hits, but will voters take the bait?
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Joshua Marston DQ'd (again) as foreign-language Oscar list hits 60
Posted by Guy Lodge · 2:07 am · October 10th, 2011
American director Joshua Marston’s film “The Forgiveness of Blood” has been disqualified as Albania’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar submission for not being sufficiently homegrown — the same fate endured by Marston’s 2004 debut “Maria Full of Grace.”
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59 films vying for foreign-language Oscar
Posted by Guy Lodge · 2:40 pm · October 5th, 2011
With the deadline having passed two days ago, our list of submissions for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar is complete — and at 59 films, it’s down considerably from the last couple of years, when as many as 67 titles were put forward for consideration. Turkey’s entry, Cannes prizewinner “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia,” heads the list of late entries.
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Does Sony have bigger Oscar plans for 'A Separation' and 'In Darkness'?
Posted by Guy Lodge · 2:28 pm · October 3rd, 2011
Best Foreign Language Film contenders are frequently content to wait until after the nominations to open in US theaters; however, Sony Pictures Classics has scheduled heavyweight contenders ‘A Separation’ and ‘In Darkness’ for December openings, suggesting they may have other Oscar categories in mind.
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Spanish selectors ignore Almodóvar, as Sony picks up Lebanese Oscar hopeful
Posted by Guy Lodge · 4:40 pm · September 28th, 2011
We’ll lead this foreign-language Oscar update with a promising bit of news on a previously announced submission. Lebanon’s entry, Nadine Labaki’s feminist comedy “Where Do We Go Now?” has just been picked up for US distribution by Sony Pictures Classics.
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Oscarweb Round-up: Gurus stake their claim
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 5:18 am · September 28th, 2011
In today’s round-up, the Gurus o’ Gold plant flags post-fests, Jeff Nichols signs Michael Shannon up for a third collaboration and Cirque du Soleil sends up the Oscars on their own stage.
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China and South Africa bring a little English to the foreign Oscar conversation
Posted by Guy Lodge · 3:00 pm · September 23rd, 2011
We talk about name appeal being a factor in the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar race, but no country this year can boast it to quite the same extent as China: not only is their submission, just announced today, directed by three-time Oscar nominee Zhang Yimou, but it stars reigning Best Supporting Actor champ Christian Bale.
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Mexico's terrific 'Miss Bala' leads latest crop of foreign Oscar entries
Posted by Guy Lodge · 1:19 am · September 23rd, 2011
Following an acclaimed festival run that began at Cannes, Fox’s razor-sharp drug-trade thriller “Miss Bala” is named Mexico’s Oscar entry. Israel opts for another Cannes title, the award-winning “Footnote,” while “The Forgiveness of Blood,” American director Joshua Marston’s follow-up to “Maria Full of Grace,” competes for Albania.
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More countries enter foreign-language Oscar race as deadline looms
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:08 pm · September 22nd, 2011
With the deadline for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar submissions on October 1, a number of countries have officially entered the fray in the past week. Among them are France, with a terminal-disease drama that could be a sleeper, and Russia, which has caused an outcry with the selection of an expensive Nikita Mikhalkov bomb.
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Oscarweb Round-up: Taking artists at their work
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 4:00 am · September 22nd, 2011
In today’s round-up, Manohla Dargis argues in favor of considering the work, not the actions, of filmmakers like Lars Von Trier and Roman Polanski, Steve Martin humbly passes along some Oscar emcee suggestions to newly minted host Eddie Murphy and Russia’s foreign language submission stirs up some controversy.
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