Off the Carpet: Clooney and Pitt lead Best Actor talk, but the real action is elsewhere

Posted by · 8:09 am · September 26th, 2011

This year’s Best Actor race is an odd bird indeed. There are so many wonderful performances out there, but so few seem to fit into the (unfortunate) Oscar paradigm. Hopefully that will mean studios will recognize some opportunity and/or Academy members will venture outside of their comfort zones.

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention

Oscarweb Round-up: Questioning the accuracy of 'Moneyball'

Posted by · 5:19 am · September 26th, 2011

In today’s round-up, Steve Pond writes up the inaccuracies of “Moneyball,” Tom O’Neil kicks off his annual straw pull (with our own Guy Lodge participating) and battle of the half-eaten posters

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention

'The Artist' takes Audience Award at San Sebastian fest

Posted by · 7:20 pm · September 25th, 2011

“The Artist” takes the audience award at the 2011 San Sebastian Film Festival this year as “A Separation,” “Albert Nobbs,” and “Where Do We Go Now?” is among other prize winners.

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention

Tech Support: A new year of crafts coverage

Posted by · 11:37 am · September 22nd, 2011

Welcome back. Today marks the beginning of the sixth year of Tech Support here at In Contention. I am delighted about the new collaboration with HitFix, which will doubtless result in even more comprehensive awards coverage. Over the next 10 weeks, we will analyze each of the “technical” category races in this space: Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, Film Editing, Makeup, Original Score, Original Song, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Visual Effects.

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention

The Long Shot: Where DO we go now?

Posted by · 7:47 am · September 21st, 2011

You’ve got to feel for Nadine Labaki. For months ahead of the Toronto Film Festival, industry pundits have been eyeing up the fest’s lone mentionable prize—the Audience Award—as some kind of mystical key with the power to unlock the opaque maze of this year’s Best Picture Oscar race; a maze, thus far, with no appreciable entry or exit points.

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention

Off the Carpet: The great, appreciated unknown

Posted by · 6:00 am · September 19th, 2011

The Venice, Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals have commenced. But contrary to recent years, there is no unanimous Oscar heavy coming out of that frame.

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention