 “The Artist” (Guillaume Shiffman)
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (Jeff Cronenweth)
“Hugo” (Robert Richardson)
“Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” (Hoyte van Hoytema)
“The Tree of Life” (Emmanuel Lubezki)
Read more on American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Announced Nominees!…
Categories: News, Precursors Tags: ASC, Cinematography, Emmanuel Lubazki, Guillaume Shiffman, Hoyte van Hoytema, Hugo, Jeff Cronenweth, Robert Richardson, soldier, spy, tailor, the artist, the girl with the dragon tattoo, The Tree of Life, tinker, tinker tailor soldier spy
 The general Oscar prognostication consensus about ‘Drive’ has been for most of the season that it’s going to be one of the sadder snubs of the year at the Oscars, save for Albert Brooks in Best Supporting Actor. Ryan Gosling has a chance because of the year he’s having, but Picture, Director, and Adapted Screenplay has always seemed like wishful thinking, with the techs a question mark. I’m here to say that we might be underestimating this flick, and I’m pleased to write that it’s still in the race. Scott Feinberg recently tweeted his similar thoughts, writing “This may yet change, but I am now of the opinion that DRIVE will score a best picture Oscar nomination. I think it has 250 1st place votes.” This is something I’ve been saying for a bit, but always with a bit of hesitance, knowing the film was a longer shot than many others currently in the race. Passionately loved films like this could very well get the necessary 1st place votes to score a nomination, but if it doesn’t show up on any other ballots in the 2nd or 3rd slots, then it doesn’t have the widespread support it needs (more on this later). Despite not receiving a nomination from the Producer’s Guild, I see some Oscar love in this flick’s future.
Read more on Are there enough #1 votes for ‘Drive’ to make Best Picture?…
Categories: Article Tags: 2011 releases, Albert Brooks, book adaptation, bryan cranston, Carey Mulligan, Drive, Hossain Amini, Nicolas Winding Refn, Oscar hopeful, oscar isaac, Ryan Gosling
 (SANTA MONICA, CA – January 10, 2012) – The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) has announced that Leonardo DiCaprio and Olivia Harrison will present “Hugo” director Martin Scorsese with the Critics’ Choice Music+Film Award, in addition to a special musical tribute fromBob Dylan at the 17th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards. Hosted by comedians Paul Scheer and Rob Huebel, the show will air live for the fifth straight year on VH1 from the Hollywood Palladium on Thursday, January 12, 2012 at 8:00 PM ET/PT.
The Music+Film Award honors a single filmmaker who has touched audiences through cinematic storytelling, and has heightened the impact of films through the brilliant use of source and original music. In addition to this honor, Scorsese’s film “Hugo” is nominated for 11 Critics’ Choice Awards and he directed the Best Documentary Feature nominee “George Harrison: Living in the Material World.”
Read more on List of Presenters Announced for Critics Choice Movie Awards!…
 The first major awards show of the season officially kicks off tonight with the 38th Annual People’s Choice Awards! For viewers watching at home, the show will air live East Coast Time at 9/8c on CBS. Luckily, I was able to grab tickets over a month in advance, and so I will be presenting the first ever on-site report of the People’s Choice Awards for the Awards Circuit. I will be able to provide an in-depth news coverage of the event, as well as post some pictures and possibly video from my new iPhone 4S. It’s going to be a tremendous evening, where the stars from all various media forms — movies, television, and music — will be attending to receive their awards from the fans at home who voted in large numbers. Yes, the People’s Choice Awards may not hold precedent over the Academy Awards, but if Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two is able to win best film, that momentum and enthusiasm for the critically acclaimed final entry in the Potter series could push Academy voters into reconsidering the film come voting time. Without further ado, I would like to preview the show by listing the following nominations, and stating my opinions on who should win and who will win. Here is the complete nomination list: Read more on Previewing the People’s Choice Awards…
Categories: Article Tags: 38th Annual People's Choice Awards, 84th Annual Academy Awards, adele, Best in Film, Best in Music, Best in Television, Bridesmaids, CBS, Dexter, Fan Voting, Favorite of 2011, first major awards show, George Clooney, glee, Harrison Ford, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, Johnny Depp, katy perry, lady gaga, movie nominees, music nominees, on-site report, People's Choice Awards, taylor swift, television nominees, the hangover part 2, the vampire diaries, Transformers: Dark of the Moon
 Last week I got on Skype with musician/actor Bret McKenzie to discuss his work on the music for ‘The Muppets’. One of these days I’ll be able to share the actual audio with you of my interviews (I have a chat with Mike Mills and one with Jeremy Irvine caught in limbo for that exact reason), but for now, a transcription will have to do. Bret was a lot of fun to talk to, and I hope it comes off in the interview. We spent about 5 minutes making small talk about the wonders of Skype when he called me, so the transcription starts off a few minutes in after that back and forth (don’t think anyone cares about Bret being impressed that I can record the conversation and me betraying my lack of knowledge about my macbook/garage band as well as a recent failing with my iPad), but hopefully it still comes off naturally. Anyway, let’s get to my chat with Bret McKenzie. Enjoy everyone!
Read more on Interview: Bret McKenzie…
 Apologies all for the column not being as prompt as usual this week…it’s been the busiest week or so of my life, so bear with me as we move forward. I won’t ever leave you all hanging, but a delay sometimes might be in the cards, and for that I’m sorry in advance. On the Blu-Ray/DVD front this week, we have one of the best films of the year hitting shelves, along with a few other things, though precious little else is worth real consideration. Lucky for us then that the top choice for home viewing is a real stud. It’s always nice when it’s easy to decide on my PICK OF THE WEEK without it being a choice by default and focusing on quality. This particular flick has quality in spades too, so that’s a real plus. It’s also a major Oscar contender and hitting DVD at the perfect time. I think you all know what movie I’m referring to by now, but in case you don’t, I won’t leave you hanging. It’s:
Moneyball
One of my 10 favorite films of 2011, this is one of the most entertaining flicks to come out last year, and it’s one of the better sports movies in some time. Scribes Stan Chervin, Aaron Sorkin, and Steven Zaillian took a popular non-fiction book by Michael Lewis that many (including myself) thought to be unadaptable, and turned out one of the best scripts of the year. I read a few earlier drafts from before Sorkin came on, and this is the clearest and most effective version that could have been made, so props go out to last year’s Oscar winner for closing out the script (to take a baseball phrase and use it for film). Credit also goes to Bennett Miller’s assured direction and of course Brad Pitt’s stunning lead performance. Factor in Jonah Hill’s career best turn in a supporting role and the excellent technical aspects of the film, and the story of Billy Beane changing the way baseball teams evaluate talent is one of the top notch releases of 2011. It’s in the hunt for Oscar glory, and a high profile home video release this week right before the Golden Globes can only help it. I can’t recommend this one enough!
Read more on Joey’s DVD Picks of the Week (1/10/2012)…
I am hoping that my editor recognizes the importance of this article and puts it out there because I feel a tad attacked for my recent DGA article and my placement of The Artist on my ten best list.
The ten best list has always been just that to me, the ten best films I saw in that particular year.
The top film might be a masterpiece, though not always, while the others in declining order could be equally great to good to down as far as average, it depends on the given year. I found 2011 wanting in great films, though there were several good to average films, some of which made my list, others missing by a hair. This is normal for me and has been since the eighties!! The last year I can think of when the list was crammed with truly great films was 2007, and then we had such works as There Will Be Blood, No Country for Old Men, Michael Clayton, Into the Wild, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Away from Her, Ratatouille, Sweeney Todd and others populating the film year. The difficulty that year was arranging them in the right order after There Will Be Blood because it was simply too challenging!!
Read more on On Ten Bests and Great vs. Good…
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Log in with
|
