With “The Tree of Life” the first Cannes Palme d’Or winner in nine years to receive a Best Picture nomination, and “The Artist” set to join the short list of top Oscar champs that debuted on the Croisette, was the French festival last year’s most important Oscar hunting ground?
Cannes regains its Oscar foresight
Posted by Guy Lodge · 4:43 pm · February 20th, 2012
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
The Long Shot: Language barriers
Posted by Guy Lodge · 9:37 am · February 9th, 2012
This may come as a shock to readers accustomed to my usual tone of weary despair when it comes to the category, but I’m about to write in defense of the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
Oscar Guide 2011: Best Foreign Language Film
Posted by Guy Lodge · 1:10 pm · February 3rd, 2012
Best Foreign Language Film is a category where Academy voters often like to ignore the precursors and go off-script, but with frontrunner “A Separation” so far ahead of its competitors in terms of acclaim and buzz, will they do so again this year? We discuss what will win, and what should.
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
'Bullhead,' 'Pina,' 'A Separation' included on foreign language shortlist
Posted by Guy Lodge · 10:17 am · January 18th, 2012
The biggest surprise about the nine-film shortlist for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar is, well, how unsurprising it is. Seven of the titles I predicted yesterday are on it; the two films I didn’t, Morocco’s “Omar Killed Me” and Taiwan’s “Warriors of the Rainbow,” are the kind of could-have-been-anything choices that we know to […]
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
Predicting the foreign-language Oscar shortlist
Posted by Guy Lodge · 6:42 pm · January 17th, 2012
Tomorrow, the Academy announces a shortlist of nine contenders for the Best Foreign Language Oscar — we take a look at what they might be.
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
Interview: Michael Barker talks 'Midnight in Paris,' 'Take Shelter' and 20 years of Sony Classics
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:28 am · December 6th, 2011
Sony Pictures Classics co-president Michael Barker has seen a lot in his 20 years at that post. This year his company has a typically heavy slate of awards hopefuls, two of them — “Midnight in Paris” and “Take Shelter” — beginning to light up the awards circuit. He recently discussed as much with In Contention.
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention · Interviews
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.
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
Reviewing NYFF across space and time
Posted by Guy Lodge · 10:22 am · October 3rd, 2011
We may not be attending the New York Film Festival, here’s a round-up of the festival titles we’ve already seen and reviewed at In Contention, including such films as “The Artist,” “The Descendants,” “A Separation” and “Carnage.”
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
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.
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
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