I’ve never attended the Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala. It’s a key stop along the Oscar trail his time of year, very competitive with the Santa Barbara Film Festival. The two duke it out for honorees, one reticent to honor talent that the other has chalked up for an award. Which is obviously silly. But it seemed time to give it a go.
George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Michelle Williams and more turn out for Palm Springs awards gala
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 1:05 am · January 8th, 2012
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'Melancholia,' Dunst and Pitt among National Society of Film Critics winners
Posted by Guy Lodge · 3:30 pm · January 7th, 2012
The National Society of Film Critics can usually be relied upon to go their own way on the precursor trail, and they did so in emphatic fashion today, naming Lars von Trier’s “Melancholia” the year’s best, and star Kirsten Dunst their Best Actress.
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Oscar Talk: Ep. 76 — Guild announcements, previewing the DGA and the success of 'Bridesmaids'
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 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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WGA nominees include 'Bridesmaids,' '50/50,' 'Dragon Tattoo' and 'Young Adult'
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 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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Predicting the 2011 WGA nominees
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:48 am · January 4th, 2012
Tomorrow the Writers Guild of America (WGA) announces its narrative feature and documentary nominees. Something to remember is that a number of this year’s Oscar-contending screenplays are ineligible for the award due to membership or signatory issues, meaning this is just an opportunity for other films that wouldn’t normally have much room to get into the awards conversation.
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PGA nominees include the usual, plus 'Dragon Tattoo' and 'The Ides of March'
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 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 Kristopher Tapley · 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 Kristopher Tapley · 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: 'Tis the season to be… snarky?
Posted by Guy Lodge · 8:20 am · December 24th, 2011
Also: Craig on switching from Bond to Blomkvist, and ‘Moneyball’ tech talk
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Oklahoma critics march in step, spring for 'The Artist,' Clooney and Williams
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 3:11 pm · December 23rd, 2011
The Oklahoma Film Critics Circle has spoken up and added nothing to the precursor conversation, going with a slate of typical winners. Most annoying, they totally got their “Obviously Worst Film” and “Not-So-Obviously-Worst-Film” awards mixed, but whatever.
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Round-up: When is a simple omission a snub?
Posted by Guy Lodge · 6:00 am · December 23rd, 2011
Also: championing Pitt for ‘Tree of Life’ and the year in LGBT characters
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'Drive,' 'A Better Life' and 'Attack the Block' among scores not eligible for Oscar this year
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 5:03 pm · December 22nd, 2011
The Academy has announced a list of 97 film scores eligible for consideration in the Best Original Score category this year. Typically, it’s this announcement that brings the bad news of this or that score either not being submitted or being ruled ineligible for whatever reason.
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Off the Carpet: Setting the field with the precursors so far
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:41 am · December 19th, 2011
In just three weeks we’ve gone from zero to a hundred on the circuit as the film awards landscape has been sculpted into a bit of a consensus in these waning moments of 2011. Let’s see what that consensus appears to be.
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'Tree of Life' wins four awards from Chicago critics, including Best Picture
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:03 am · December 19th, 2011
After Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” led with seven nominations from the Chicago Film Critics Association, it seemed obvious the film was likely to win the group’s Best Picture award. But the film ended up walking away with four big wins in total.
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2011: the year in superlatives
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:11 am · December 16th, 2011
Who am I to complain about the amount of year-end kudos announcements when I had this post coming all along? I know. I’m so hypocritical.
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Detroit critics go with 'The Artist,' Fassbender
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 7:47 am · December 16th, 2011
The Detroit Film Critics Society has joined the chorus of superlatives for “The Artist,” giving the film Best Picture and Best Director after it racked up five nominations from the group. “Take Shelter,” which led the nominees, only won as part of Jessica Chastain’s Breakthrough Artist award.
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San Diego critics pick 'Artist,' Refn
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 5:04 pm · December 14th, 2011
The San Diego Film Critics Society has chosen “The Artist” as Best Picture for 2011 and Nicolas Winding Refn as Best Director for “Drive,” among other honors.
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Will Palm Springs make it five in a row with Brad Pitt's Desert Palm award?
Posted by Roth Cornet · 2:34 pm · December 14th, 2011
Brad Pitt has been selected to receive the Desert Palm Achievement Actor Award for his lead role in “Moneyball” and his supporting role in “The Tree of Life.” As has oft been discussed, Palm Springs tendency towards predictive selections for their honorees has only increased over time.
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