• The Awards Circuit began with bang at the start of the week! We answered all your diverse and well-thought out questions on our new Awards Circuit Power Hour Episode! Great questions everybody, and please keep them coming! ACCA 2002 and Davis Award Winners were also announced during the podcast, and can I just say I was pretty darn shocked. After Clayton listed win after win of Peter Jackson’s The Two Towers, I was convinced this would be ACCA 2002′s choice for “Best Picture.” Little did I know that the majority of you readers agreed with the Academy, and voted Chicago the best film of that year. Nice suspense there, readers! You nearly had us!
  

• Several new reviews hit the site this week. Michael gave a slightly more positive response in regards to Bully than Joey Magidson, but it seems like the film’s slight flaws may prevent it from nabbing “Best Documentary” at next year’s awards ceremony. That could turn around with a forceful campaign by the Weinsteins. Mike’s distaste for Lockout was quite evident, but let’s salute him for seeing a film so you all won’t have to (hopefully). Joey Magidson provided reviews for HBO’s new Girls (no, not that Zooey Deschanel show) and Disney’s Chimpanzee, the latter of which Mr. Magidson was lucky enough to sit down and listen in on a roundtable session where the filmmakers, alongside famed primatologist Jane Goodall, discussed this project.

• TV Time! Anna and I are clearly some of the best reality television psychics on the planet! Mrs. Belickis’ clairvoyant ability predicted Jaleel White and Gavin DeGraw to be in the Bottom Two on DWTS, and low and behold, not even Miss Cleo herself could have foreseen it was well as Anna! Gavin DeGraw was asked to please pack his knives and go home — er, wrong show! The singer, whose new single “Need You Now” has been making some ruckus on the charts, was unfortunately sent home by the judges after he and Jaleel competed in the Dance-Off. Gladys Knight and Melissa Gilbert have to realize their days are numbered. Meanwhile, I nearly filed for divorce from NBC’s The Voice after America and the judges decided to keep around some of the weaker contestants while letting go two contestants who I thought performed the best  during Monday’s show, RaeLynn and Ashley De La Rosa. You can’t win them all, I guess. The only thing that will salvage the season is if Jamar Rogers rightfully wins the show, but I suspect former Mouseketeer Tony Lucca will reap the title following his public endorsement by Justin Timberlake. On the other side of the spectrum, American Idol and I are clearly in the honeymoon phase considering both of my favorite blondes, Hollie Cavanagh and Elise Testone, found themselves safe after a shocking elimination. I called Colton’s potential boot in my review session, but I think there were other contestants who could have gone before him. Let’s hope my “Save the Blondes” campaign is successful for at least one more week! I ended things off with my song suggestion list for this week’s upcoming Queen-themed performance show! Please producers, let Elise sing “Another One Bites the Dust” with a montage of all the contestants who went home before her featured on that giant on-stage screen. I would howl at the irony!

• Two new trailers were posted up this week: Dustin Lance Black’s Virgina and Ridley Scott’s Prometheus. Okay, so technically the latter clip mentioned isn’t a trailer, but is instead a new viral video that gives us some insight on Michael Fassbender’s Android character, David. Anyone who knows me is well aware  of my aversion to trailers, synopses, or potential spoilers of any kind (minus a few exceptions — Awards Profiles and anything Batman related), so I am taking everyone’s word that this clip is all kinds of awesome!

• Speaking of Fassbender, Joey’s DVD Pick-of-the-Week happens to be my favorite film of last year, Academy Idol Season Five Winner: Shame! How Michael Fassbender missed out on an Oscar nomination for this physically and emotionally demanding role is a mystery not even the great Sherlock Holmes could solve. Thank god our fellow readers had no trouble rewarding it as the Academy Idol winner this year! For his vintage pick, Joey selected the creepily intoxicating American Psycho in honor of ‘The Moth Diaries.’ I can’t say I understood or enjoyed this film as much as everybody else seemed to, but it’s certainly not a film that will ever leave my memory banks. At the very least, it brought an actor to the forefront who would soon go on to play Bruce Wayne in Christopher Nolan’s Batman films, and for that there are no complaints to be had!

• New directors for Mission Impossible 5 and Catching Fire? I couldn’t be more thrilled (thought it’ll be tough saying goodbye to Bird, who delivered one of the best action pictures from the last ten years with MI:4)! Do you think Francis Lawrence is the right man to helm the sequel to Lionsgate’s top movie franchise, Hunger Games? Also, which director should step in to fill Brad Bird’s absence from Mission Impossible 5? Let the speculations and healthy debates begin!

• Robert Hamer was back this week, and provided us with an Awards Profile on Prometheus and an in-depth look at the new Weekend Openings. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Prometheus can follow in the footsteps of Avatar, Star Wars, District 9, and E.T. by being so exquisitely perfect, a refusal to induct this film into the nomination roster for “Best Picture” could potentially result in legal action. I’m joking, but in all seriousness, how great would it be if this film receives terrific reviews, and manages to get an Academy Award nomination for “Best Picture”? It’s not improbable, but it sure is unlikely. As for the Weekend Openings, Robert predicts Jennifer Lawrence will finally be kicked off her podium, as Think Like a Man is sure to be the top film for the weekend. If there is one thing we know about Jennifer Lawrence and the character she portrays in Hunger Games, Katniss, it’s that these women do not go down without a fight.

• As we wrap things up, we must mention the most important event of the week: the introduction of our brand new News Reporter, Terence Johnson! Welcome to the team, Terence, and you’re already doing a terrific job! Please check out his articles if you have not done so already, and make him feel as comfortable and cherished in The Awards Circuit community as you do the rest of our terrific staff. New faces are always great to see on the site, especially if they once were a fellow reader like most of us who’ve been hired on! Our Four-Year Anniversary is fast approaching, and we ask that you continue to stick with us as the revamp goes underway! Thank you all for another terrific week here at The Awards Circuit, and keep on reading!

About Joseph Braverman

My name is Joseph Braverman. I am 24 years old and a recent graduate from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a Bachelor of Arts in Film and Digital Media. I love watching and analyzing films and television shows. I have a huge obsession with "Best Of" or "Top #" lists. I am currently living in Los Angeles, CA, trying to become enmeshed in the movie industry scene in any way possible. Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @JBAwardsCircuit.

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