'Artist,' 'Harry Potter' and 'Hugo' among Academy's makeup finalists

Posted by · 12:13 pm · January 9th, 2012

The Academy has announced seven advancing finalists in the race for Best Makeup, and among the chosen are the Meryl Streep-starrer “The Iron Lady,” which transformed the beloved actress into former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

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David Fincher, Woody Allen make the cut for DGA

Posted by · 9:07 am · January 9th, 2012

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) has announced this year’s slate of nominees for excellence in directing, and chalk another guild citation up for David Fincher, who somehow got in for “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” Also nominated was Woody Allen for “Midnight in Paris,” while Steven Spielberg and Tate Taylor were snubbed for Best Picture contenders “War Horse” and “The Help,” respectively.

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'Tintin,' 'Harry Potter' and 'Transformers' out front with Visual Effects Society nominations

Posted by · 12:37 am · January 9th, 2012

The Visual Effects Society has announced its list of nominees for the organization’s 10th annual ceremony, and leading the way wasn’t one of the live action blockbusters on the whittled-down slate of 10 advancing Oscar contenders. It was Steven Spielberg’s animated offering “The Adventures of Tintin,” which landed six nominations across the feature film categories.

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'Descendants,' Malick, Clooney and Dunst win with Kansas City critics

Posted by · 5:10 pm · January 8th, 2012

The Kansas City Film Critics Circle held its vote this evening and “The Descendants” was named the year’s best. I was somewhat confused that “Hugo” won an award designated for sci-fi/fantasy/horror films, though. How does that perception even happen?

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Oscar Talk: Ep. 76 — Guild announcements, previewing the DGA and the success of 'Bridesmaids'

Posted by · 7:58 am · January 6th, 2012

In this week’s podcast, Kris and Anne discuss the PGA and WGA announcements, preview the DGA nominations and chew on the success of “Bridesmaids” so far this year.

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Predicting the 2011 DGA nominees

Posted by · 11:43 am · January 5th, 2012

On Monday, the most important precursor announcement of them all drops: the Directors Guild of America offers up its list of nominees for excellence in directing.

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WGA nominees include 'Bridesmaids,' '50/50,' 'Dragon Tattoo' and 'Young Adult'

Posted by · 9:33 am · January 5th, 2012

The WGA has announced screen nominees this year, and given the gutted field (due to ineligibilities), it wasn’t hard to figure out which way they’d go.

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10 films shortlisted for visual effects Oscar

Posted by · 1:10 pm · January 4th, 2012

After 15 titles were longlisted for the Best Visual Effects Oscar last month, that number was cut to 10 today: ‘The Tree of Life,’ ‘Hugo’ and ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ are still in the running for a nomination.

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Martin Scorsese to receive BAFTA Fellowship

Posted by · 10:01 am · January 4th, 2012

The news that Martin Scorsese is to receive BAFTA’s highest honor, the Fellowship, at the British Academy’s awards ceremony next month is neither unexpected nor unwelcome — but why in a year when he’ll likely be in the regular BAFTA race for “Hugo?”

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Round-up: What the movies wore in 2011

Posted by · 7:32 am · January 4th, 2012

Also: The darkening of Keira Knightley and Kingsley’s under-acting

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Art Directors Guild nominees include 'Anonymous,' 'Captain America' and 'Drive'

Posted by · 7:12 pm · January 3rd, 2012

The Art Directors Guild and the Costume Designers Guild announced its slate of nominees this evening, and the surprises were few and far between. One of them, though, was the exclusion of “War Horse” in the period category.

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PGA nominees include the usual, plus 'Dragon Tattoo' and 'The Ides of March'

Posted by · 8:20 am · January 3rd, 2012

The Producers Guild of America has announced its list of 10 films competing for the Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award as well as the animated feature nominees that will compete separately.

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Predicting the 2011 PGA nominees

Posted by · 10:57 am · January 2nd, 2012

This year’s PGA nominees will do little to clear up the Best Picture scenario at the Oscars. Why? Because the guild will be chalking up a full slate of 10 nominees once again, despite the fact that the Academy’s final line-up could be anywhere from five to 10. So what will the PGA spring for?

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'Tree of Life' leads the way with Central Ohio critics nominations

Posted by · 9:11 am · January 2nd, 2012

The Central Ohio Film Critics Association should implement different nominating procedures so that ties, etc., don’t leave them with a ridiculous slate of 15 BEST PICTURE NOMINEES. Anyway, it looks like “The Tree of Life” has the most mentions.

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Round-up: Raising a glass to 'Tintin'

Posted by · 7:45 am · December 30th, 2011

Also: the invisibility of Tate Taylor, and the dark horses in the Oscar race

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Jessica Chastain and Howard Shore to be honored at Palm Springs

Posted by · 6:41 pm · December 28th, 2011

The Palm Springs International Film Festival has announced its final honorees for this year’s Awards Gala. Jessica Chastain will receive the Spotlight Award for her work in “The Help,” “The Tree of Life,” “Take Shelter,” “The Debt” and “Coriolanus,” while composer Howard Shore will be feted with the Frederick Loewe Music Award for “Hugo.”

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Austin film critics like 'Hugo,' Refn and Shannon

Posted by · 9:13 am · December 28th, 2011

The Austin Film Critics Association is the latest group to speak up on the year’s best, tapping “Hugo” as the best picture of the year. The film didn’t show up anywhere else on the unique slate of superlatives, though, which included two acting wins for “Take Shelter.”

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'The Artist' triumphs with Phoenix critics

Posted by · 8:22 pm · December 27th, 2011

After recently releasing a slate of nominees, the Phoenix Film Critics Society has named “The Artist” the best picture of the year, but I have to say, I was stopped dead in my tracks by this line of boast at the organization’s official site…

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