Gary Oldman on investigating, and becoming, Lee Harvey Oswald in Oliver Stone's 'JFK'

Posted by · 6:27 pm · December 5th, 2011

Fifteen minutes really isn’t enough time with a guy like Gary Oldman. I’m sorry, not for me. Only a douche bag would complain about ANY time with Gary Oldman, of course. I’m aware of the navel-gazing. But someone that good, that many times out, and in that many different ways just kind of demands a laundry list of queries per film.

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Camerimage honors DPs of 'In Darkness,' 'A Separation,' 'Wuthering Heights'

Posted by · 1:44 pm · December 5th, 2011

The Polish festival honors the year’s finest in feature film cinematography, but this year’s jury awards saw major lensing showcases like “The Tree of Life” lose out to less showy foreign fare.

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'Artist,' 'Tinker,' 'Shame' and 'Marilyn' among contenders not eligible for WGA

Posted by · 3:52 pm · December 2nd, 2011

As happens every year, a list of potential Oscar nominees is ineligible for WGA consideration due to a number of issues (signatory concerns, paperwork avoidance, etc.). This year, though, the list seems particularly long.

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'Tree of Life' easily tops Sight & Sound's Best of 2011 poll

Posted by · 1:45 pm · November 28th, 2011

Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” was named the year’s best film by a comfortable majority in Sight & Sound magazine’s poll of 100 international critics. Does this bode well for upcoming critics’ awards?

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Tech Support: John Williams charges back to lead the field of Best Original Score hopefuls

Posted by · 8:07 am · November 24th, 2011

In this week’s installment of Tech Support, we turn our gaze toward Best Original Score. Those in the hunt include John Williams, Alexandre Desplat, Howard Shore and Alberto Iglesias.

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Tech Support: 'Hugo' and 'Harry Potter' set the scene for Best Art Direction

Posted by · 1:24 pm · November 17th, 2011

In this week’s installment of Tech Support, we transition over to Best Art Direction. Films in the thick of it include the period design of “Hugo,” “War Horse,” “J. Edgar” and “The Artist,” as well as the fantasy elements of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” “Thor” and “Captain America: The First Avenger.”

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The Long Shot: Big enough for the both of us

Posted by · 3:48 pm · November 9th, 2011

“The Help” star Jessica Chastain is just one of 2011’s strong Oscar hopefuls needing to wrestle attention away from a more heavily hyped co-star: an annual dilemma in the awards race.

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OSCAR TALK: Ep. 68 — 'J. Edgar' and 'Young Adult' finally come out to play

Posted by · 9:03 am · November 4th, 2011

In this week’s podcast, Kris and Anne discuss the AFI Fest premiere of Clint Eastwood’s “J. Edgar,” the pop-up screening strategy of “Young Adult” and “War Horse” and the British Independent Film Award nominations, among other things.

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The Long Shot: Let England shake

Posted by · 11:38 am · November 2nd, 2011

In this week’s Oscar-themed column, I discuss the tricky outlook for Britain’s hard-edged Oscar hopefuls, and update my nomination predictions.

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Off the Carpet: Building the perfect strategy

Posted by · 11:06 am · October 31st, 2011

It takes all kinds. Finding the right strategy to navigate an awards season is a tricky thing and it varies, naturally, from film to film. Whether it’s “Young Adult” of “The Artist” or “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” there is no mold, no skeleton key, no single solution.

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'Shame,' 'Tinker, Tailor' and 'Tyrannosaur' lead BIFA nods

Posted by · 7:36 am · October 31st, 2011

Oscar hopefuls ‘Shame’ and ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” — as well as the less starry indie “Tyrannosaur” — lead the British Independent Film Award nominations with seven nods apiece. “We Need to Talk About Kevin” and “Kill List,” each with six, are close behind.

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Tech Support: Best Pic hopefuls from 'War Horse' to 'Ides of March' highlight Best Film Editing

Posted by · 9:19 am · October 27th, 2011

This week our weekly Tech Support column turns its gaze to the Best Film Editing category. Serious possibilities include Steven Spielberg’s one-two punch of “War Horse” and “The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn,” festival favorite “The Artist” and summer blockbusters like “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.”

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'Harry Potter,' George Clooney, Michelle Williams honored with Hollywood Film Awards

Posted by · 4:02 pm · October 24th, 2011

The Hollywood Film awards were held tonight, marking the first awards ceremony of the season. All honorees were previously announced. George Clooney and Michelle Williams won top acting honors while the public-voted Hollywood Movie Award went to “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.”

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Tech Support: Period pieces from 'Hugo' to 'W.E.' stand out for Best Costume Design

Posted by · 8:03 am · October 20th, 2011

In Tech Support this week we tackle the category of Best Costume Design. Strong contenders include Madonna’s “W.E.,” Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” and Steven Spielberg’s “The Help,” among others.

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Tech Support: 'Tree of Life,' 'The Artist' lead a field of 'pretty' pictures in Best Cinematography

Posted by · 9:55 am · October 6th, 2011

This year’s Best Cinematography category is lively already. Great work from Emmanuel Lubezi (“The Tree of Life”) and Lawrence Bennett (“The Artist”) has already been seen, while still-to-come entries in “J. Edgar” and “War Horse” could easily enter the conversation. We dive into the field in this week’s edition of Tech Support.

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Franchise talk as 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' rules UK box office

Posted by · 7:18 am · September 27th, 2011

Tomas Alfredson’s ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ has topped the UK box office charts for the second week running, sealing the film’s status as a heavyweight BAFTA (and possible Oscar) contender. Meanwhile, it fuels talk of Gary Oldman reprising his George Smiley character in further John Le CarrĂ© adaptations.

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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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Charlize Theron, Gary Oldman and David Cronenberg set for Gotham Award tributes

Posted by · 2:37 pm · September 23rd, 2011

Now is the time of year when publicists jockey for their clients’ positions at tributes throughout the various awards season events. And these three will likely be in the thick of it this season.

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