“Lee Daniels’ The Butler” star Oprah Winfrey was feted at the 29th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival Wednesday night with the Montecito Award. She spoke at length about her minimal but accomplished work on the big screen, beginning with the moment that changed her life: Steven Spielberg’s “The Color Purple.”
Oprah reflects on 'The Color Purple,' America's disinterest in news and '12 Years a Slave'
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 12:12 am · February 6th, 2014
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
Oscar Talk: Nominations postmortem (finally) and Sundance chatter
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 3:45 pm · January 24th, 2014
On this week’s podcast, Kris and Anne finally get around to assessing the 2014 Oscar nominations. There is also the 30th annual Sundance Film Festival to consider, players from which we might be discussing this time next year.
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Tom Hanks and Oprah Winfrey lead the list of shocking Oscar snubs
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:55 am · January 16th, 2014
This year’s Oscar nominations announcement brought more surprising omissions than usual, from Tom Hanks to Sarah Polley to Emma Thompson to Lana del Rey. We run through some of the most shock shut-outs.
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
Four films stand atop the industry precursor awards circuit
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 3:40 pm · January 15th, 2014
With the announcement of the Motion Picture Sound Editors’ Golden Reel Awards nominees this afternoon, all of the various industry guilds and societies have had their say on the season. And it’s just under the wire, too, as we’re all preparing for the Oscar nominations announcement tomorrow morning. So how did the various contenders fare?
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'The Butler' leads film nominees at NAACP Image Awards
Posted by Guy Lodge · 6:19 am · January 10th, 2014
In a banner year for black-themed cinema, the NAACP Image Awards had more prestige films than usual to choose from this year, with “The Butler,” “12 Years a Slave” and “Fruitvale Station” all up for gold.
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Tech Support: Final predictions for Best Cinematography, Makeup, Score, Song and Visual Effects
Posted by gerardkennedy · 12:16 pm · January 9th, 2014
Here we go again. A week from today, the nominees for the 86th annual Academy Awards will be announced. Here at Tech Support, we’ve analyzed each of the 10 crafts categories, and interviewed several of the contenders. It’s now a waiting game with final calls to be made. Today, we take a final look at the fields of cinematography, music, makeup and hairstyling and visual effects.
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
Off the Carpet: Will Harvey have his first Oscar off-year since 2007?
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:08 pm · January 6th, 2014
Harvey Weinstein has had a heck of a Best Picture run since getting the Weinstein Company’s engine revved in 2008 with “The Reader.” But does all of that look to come to an end with 2013’s slate?
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
Forest Whitaker reflects on an amazing year at Santa Barbara Kirk Douglas Award fete
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:44 pm · January 5th, 2014
As Forest Whitaker transitioned into 2014 last week, there was certainly plenty for the actor to reflect upon. He stretched himself considerably in 2013 and was a perfect choice for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s 8th annual Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence, which was presented at a fundraising dinner in advance of the fest Sunday night.
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What today's PGA announcement means for Oscar
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 12:11 pm · January 2nd, 2014
HitFix’s awards editor Kristopher Tapley examines this morning’s PGA nominations announcement and assesses how it could be a slightly different story when the Oscar nominations are announced on Jan. 16.
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Roundup: Does 'Mary Poppins' still fly?
Posted by Guy Lodge · 6:05 am · December 24th, 2013
In today’s roundup of notable online news and views, with “Mary Poppins” back in the spotlight, a critic wonders if it really deserves its classic status. Meanwhile, Italian distributors have blundered with their “12 Years a Slave” poster campaign.
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
Jay Z, Coldplay and U2 make the Oscar eligibility cut for Best Original Song
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 3:04 pm · December 16th, 2013
On the heels of our piece detailing the unfortunate ineligibility of “Please Mr. Kennedy” from “Inside Llewyn Davis,” the Academy has announced 75 original songs in competition for the Best Original Song Oscar at the 86th annual Academy Awards.
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'American Hustle,' 'Bad Grandpa' and 'The Lone Ranger' among Oscar makeup and hairstyling finalists
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 2:08 pm · December 14th, 2013
The Academy has announced this year’s bake-off finalists for the Best Makeup and Hairstyling Oscar, and the big omissions appear to be Ron Howard’s “Rush” and Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.” But the Jackass boys have cause for celebration!
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'12 Years a Slave' and 'The Butler' impress African-American Film Critics Association
Posted by Guy Lodge · 3:20 pm · December 13th, 2013
“12 Years a Slave” and “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” were the clear favorites as the African American Film Critics’ Association named their winners, while Sandra Bullock and Oprah Winfrey took their first acting wins of the season.
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Oscar Talk: 'Hustle,' 'Wall Street,' precursors and the 10 best films of 2013
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:00 am · December 13th, 2013
In the latest installment of Oscar Talk, Kris and Anne discuss the final films to screen of the season, the end-of-year precursor circuit that includes critics groups, the HFPA and SAG and their own kudos list: the top 10 films of 2013.
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Globe snubs and surprises: 'Rush' returns, 'Banks' retreats, Lana del Rey is unloved
Posted by Guy Lodge · 6:15 am · December 12th, 2013
We round up the most surprising inclusions and exclusions from this morning’s Golden Globe nominations announcement — including a surprise Best Picture nod for “Rush,” and the underperforming “Saving Mr. Banks.”
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News Update: '12 Years' and 'Dallas' SAG Awards nominations winners
Posted by Gregory Ellwood · 11:48 am · December 11th, 2013
HitFix’s Daniel Fienberg and Gregory Ellwood discuss the 2014 theatrical motion picture SAG Awards nominees.
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SAG winners and losers: 'Breaking Bad,' 'Saving Mr. Banks,' Mariah Carey
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:24 am · December 11th, 2013
I’ve offered my take on this morning’s SAG Awards announcement and Guy has given his thoughts on snubs and surprises on the film side. The nominations brought with them a number of winners and losers in both the worlds of film and television, however, so to which side of the line did your favorites fall? Team HitFix offers thoughts on who’s happy and who’s sad now that the actors have had their say.
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
Redford snubbed and 'Dallas' gets a boost in otherwise unsurprising SAG announcement
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 6:04 am · December 11th, 2013
This morning’s Screen Actors Guild (SAG) nominations announcement wasn’t going to have a lot of surprises. At this stage, most of the players are known. It’s a dense race, however, so the only question was, who was going to get squeezed out?
Filed in: HitFix · In Contention
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