The screenplay categories have a strong correlation with past Best Picture winners. In the past few years, “Slumdog Millionaire,” “No Country for Old Men,” and “The Departed” have all won the Adapted Screenplay race that translated to a Best Picture statue. Other winners such as “The Social Network,” “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” and “Brokeback Mountain” have lost Best Picture to an Original work. 2004 was the only year that a triumph occurred here that didn’t align with Oscar. Funny enough it was Alexander Payne’s “Sideways” which triumphed over Clint Eastwood’s winner “Million Dollar Baby.” With this year’s Best Picture race likely going to Michel Hazanavicius’ “The Artist” whoever wins in this category will likely be considered a “consolation” prize. Three out of the five films (The Descendants, Hugo, Moneyball), are nominated for Best Picture. ”Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” had a strong showing on nomination morning when many considered the film dead in the water. Lastly, “The Ides of March” pulled in a last minute mention, likely riding the coattails of George Clooney acting work in “The Descendants,” and made a well-deserved showing.
And because it’s so damn good and Oscar should have noticed. Sure it’s a dark choice for a Valentine’s Day movie but there is a sense of “love” at the center. It’s one of the best scenes and uses of music from 2011. Share your favorite moments from the film.
Best Performance by a Cast Ensemble – “The Help”
Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role – Jean Dujardin for “The Artist”
Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role – Viola Davis for “The Help”
Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role – Christopher Plummer for “Beginners”
Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role – Octavia Spencer for “The Help”
Best Performance by a Cast in a Comedy Series – “Modern Family”
Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series – Alec Baldwin for “30 Rock”
Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series – Betty White for “Hot in Cleveland”
Best Performance by a Cast in a Drama Series – “Boardwalk Empire”
Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series – Steve Buscemi for “Boardwalk Empire”
Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series – Jessica Lange for “American Horror Story”
Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Mini-Series – Paul Giamatti for “Too Big to Fail”
Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Mini-Series – Kate Winslet for “Mildred Pierce” Read more on ‘The Help’ Leads with 3 SAG Wins…
Come join us for the Screen Actors Guild Awards LIVE Blogging tonight and make sure to include your predictions. Check out the predictions also. It begins at 7:45pm sharp. See you there!
Tonight, the Screen Actors Guild will present their winners for the very best in film and television. The SAG awards have presented themselves as the most telling precursor of them all. Last year, they matched up with Oscar 100% in their choices. This year will be even more telling as the race seems wide open in several categories. How will the most popular branch fair tomorrow night?
Sasha Stone of Awards Daily wrote this very passionate piece about racism and the Oscars. I never share opinion pieces with readers but I was very taken by the truth that was said in the piece. Here’s an excerpt and please give it a quick read:
The Oscar Nominations were announced today as you all know. About a week or so ago, we announced the 2011 Awards Circuit Community Awards where “The Artist,” “Drive,” and “Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ led the way with nominations. It’s time to cast your vote in each category. Voting will be open for the next few weeks leading up to the Oscar ceremony. Let your voice be heard and spread the word. You can click on the “ACCA” button on the side or click here.
Also, courtesy of Picktainment, our annual Oscar pool is open. You can click here or go to Picktainment.com and search for the group name: The Awards Circuit. Choose your winners in each category. The winner of course will be handsomely rewarded.
Just in case you missed it, the FULL list of Awards Circuit Community Award Nominations is after the jump. Use the comment section for “FYC (For Your Consideration)” purposes.
Wow…writing this up took all day. Just when we think we’ve figured the Academy out, they throw not just one wrench but many in the mix. Academy Award Nominee Jennifer Lawrence announced the nominees today along with AMPAS President Tom Sherak. Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” led the nominations with eleven including Best Picture and Director and Michel Hazanavicius’ “The Artist” garnered ten nominations. Let’s breakdown each category and see what just happened here.
Best Motion Picture
“The Artist”
“The Descendants”
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
“The Help”
“Hugo”
“Midnight in Paris”
“Moneyball”
“The Tree of Life”
“War Horse”
It’s done. With the Giants game in the background (GO GIANTS!!), I’ve completed my Final Oscar Predictions. Some notable things before I’m crucified.
I’ve stuck with seven Best Picture nominees. A big part of me wanted to exclude David Fincher’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” from the shortlist but if the film would miss a Best Picture nomination, it would be unprecedented. No film has been cited by nearly all the guilds and miss out in the end. It did miss the Golden Globe and SAG nod so it’s very possible to miss. I still believe “War Horse” will make it. Can you imagine an older member of the Academy not checking off his name? I can’t. I’m foreseeing a very low show for Bennett Miller’s “Moneyball,” although I did stick with Jonah Hill but I’m crossing my fingers for him. Even though I respect Scott Feinberg, I still don’t see the “Drive” love coming through to get it nominated. It currently sits at #9 on the predictions but I couldn’t choose the film to be nominated with only one other nomination for Albert Brooks. I think it would need Editing and Cinematography and I don’t see either happening.
After last night’s, I’ll just say average, Golden Globe Awards, and Thursday’s spectacular Critics Choice Movie Awards, we are in full swing of awards season and just nearly one week away from the Oscar nominations. More importantly, the sad thing is that after February 26, 2012, sites like the Awards Circuit, Awards Daily, etc. can become a wasteland. Nothing for us to talk about except next year’s ceremony which can be simply pulling at straws and creating discussion. Obviously on the site we’ll be talking about Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” and Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby” to get us through the year.
The Awards Circuit readership has spoken! The community unveiled their nominees for the 2012 Awards Circuit Community Awards with Michel Hazanavicius’ “The Artist” leading with eleven nominations including Best Picture and Director. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences implemented a new rule that a film requires 5% of first place votes in order to be nominated for Best Picture. The Awards Circuit adopted a similar rule that a film must receive 5% of votes in total to be nominated for Best Picture. Consequently, eight films made the final cut and were nominated for Best Picture.
The Golden Globe Awards are on Sunday which will bestow their statues on the very best that Hollywood has to offer. While it is widely believed, the HFPA have no real effect on the Oscar race, the group does throw one hell of a party especially with Ricky Gervais returning as host. The ceremony takes place on Sunday at 8:00pm ET and with the Oscar ballots going in the mail today, whatever happens on Sunday surprisingly, will have no threat on this year’s race, not that it would anyway.
We will be LIVE Blogging the Awards Show starting at 7:30pmET. Join us here!
Awards season officially kicks off this evening on VH1 as the Broadcast Film Critics Association unveils their best in film for 2011 at the Critics Choice Movie Awards. The show begins at 8:00pm ET with hosts Paul Scheer and Rob Huebel cracking the audience and viewers up with their comedic humor and chemistry. It’ll be a great show!
Probably the most important precursor of them all, the Directors Guild of America announces their nominees tomorrow. With the field of Best Picture anywhere between five and ten, the names called tomorrow morning will be essential to making the final cut in both Motion Picture and Director. Last year, the group chose Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), David Fincher (The Social Network), David O. Russell (The Fighter), Christopher Nolan (Inception), and eventual DGA and Oscar Winner for Director Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech). Four out of the five men were nominated with Christopher Nolan, yet again, missing out at a nomination. Will this year be more telling?
Year-In-Review week ends with the naming of the winners of the 2011 Davis’ Film Awards. It was fantastic sharing this year with all of you so check out the winners, and make sure to include your own choices in the comment section.
As the year stands behind us and we gear up for the upcoming award shows including the Critics Choice Awards which will be broadcast on VH1, Thursday, January 12th @ 8pm ET. Make sure you tune in.
As for our own critics here at the Awards Circuit, I am pleased to present the Staff Writers choices for the Top 10 Best Films of 2011. Having a hand in hiring most of these writers that are on board, I am also eager to see the eclectic tastes as we try to form a non-consensus here at the site. We fully embrace how we are all different and look at film in a different way from our next critic or reader. We respect and we view with curiosity. I sincerely hope the readership of the Awards Circuit will share your Top Ten films in the comment section because I’m eager to hear what you guys and gals loved in 2011 as well.
Putting together a best of the year list can be a daunting task, especially when you have so many films and performances you feel passionate about. There are obvious performances and films I thought I felt one way about, that either grew on me or was forgotten altogether by year’s end. You’ll never find a consensus on these types of citations but you go with your gut and see what you see. Without further ado, here are my choices for the Best in Film for 2011. Read more on Year-In-Review: 2011 Davis’ Film Awards (Editors’ Choices)…
While many notable contenders are ineligible for a citation from the Writers Guild of America, many films that are not in serious contention will likely show up as the group unveils their picks tomorrow. Below are the predicted nominees. Include yours in the comment section.
Best Original Screenplay
“Bridesmaids”
“50/50″
“Midnight in Paris”
“A Separation”
“Win Win”
Alternate: Contagion, Super 8, Warrior
Best Adapted Screenplay
“The Descendants”
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
“The Help”
“Hugo”
“Moneyball”
Alternate: The Ides of March, Jane Eyre, The Muppets
The Year-In-Review continues with some non-traditional citations on certain films and performances that did or did not make head way in 2011. What are your choices for “Limited Performance” of the year? or Most Underrated Film? or share what you thought about the Year-in-TV as I dish out my favorites in Television Drama and Comedies. Read more after jump. Read more on Year-In-Review: Editor’s Specialty Awards…
“Bridesmaids” is a curve ball but I think it’s making some ground. My one alternate is “The Tree of Life” but I don’t think enough votes will make it through. Same goes for “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” which is tanking little by little.
It’s that time of the year, where the focus switches from the critics and on to YOU, the reader. This week is our 2011 Year-in-Review and we kicked it off yesterday with the Honorable Mentions. Tomorrow, I’ll be announcing the specialty categories. The ballots for the 2011 Awards Circuit Community Awards are open and waiting for your votes.
You’ll notice a “ACCA” button on the right sidebar for you to return if you haven’t voted yet.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Keep in mind the following:
You can ONLY vote ONE time.
You can only make five choices per category except for Best Picture, you can make ten.
Ballots close Sunday, January 15, 2011 @ Midnight.
Make your pleas for films and performances either in comment section or the Forum.
And the Nominees Are: Guillaume Schiffman “The Artist” Oscar Scene: Waking up from the sound dream sequence Jeff Cronenweth “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Oscar Scene: Opening credits Robert Richardson “Hugo” Oscar Scene: Traveling through the train station Read more on Oscar Circuit: Best Cinematography… Related content: American Society of Cinematograph […]
The brightest light of Oscar's Best Pictures... Four days left. From time to time during my first year as The Awards Circuit’s staff writer, I have been regarded as the snobby, deliberate contrarian who panned popular movies just to get a reaction. Those kinds of accusations are to be expected in this profession these days, but it also belied the numb […]
Last night the Costume Designers Guild spoke up and gave out their awards. Did they do anything to clear up the Oscar race for Best Costume Design? Well, see below which films the guild chose to honor: Read more on The 14th annual Costume Designers Guild Awards!… No related content found.share […]
As you’re reading this, the Oscar voters have already made their final selections for each category of the Academy Awards, and there’s nothing left to do but wait for the results at the awards ceremony on Sunday. It got me to thinking, what kind of case has each Best Picture contender made for their shot at the award? Below are arguments that could be made, […]
Yes, I know this comes as a real shock to all of you, but a lot of the Academy is made up of older white men. A recent L.A. Times study of Oscar voters and their demographics came up with this result, obviously signaling that the people who choose the best movies of the year don’t mesh demographically with the people who go out and watch the flicks. There’s […]
A action tinged romantic comedy completely devoid of competent action, romance, or comedy, ‘This Means War’ is about as stupid as movies get. I’d say that it’s no surprise considering the director is McG, but I dislike him less than most critics, and actually really enjoyed his “serious” effort ‘We Are Marshall’. Here, he’s being as lazy as possible (and so […]
It’s the most wonderful time of the year… Well, stressful at the same time but hey, it’s the Oscar’s. Now that the Oscar’s are less than a week away all of us here at the Awards Circuit are scratching our heads trying to figure who the winners will be while wishing our favorites *cough* Melissa McCarthy *cough* will win. Our predictions change daily and it’s […]
Most people don’t expect much from the months of January, February, and March…at least when it comes to quality cinema (and in the past they’ve had good reason to think as such). I’m hear to say that this isn’t really the case any longer. Now I’ll concede that these first three months can’t hold a candle to the Oscar season or even the summer blockbuster mon […]
This week we have quite a nice assortment of selections available to you on Blu-Ray and DVD. The field is led by two solid and well acted films, while the rest of the slate is of more mixed quality, but without a shortage of recognizable titles…so there is that. Overall, I’m pleased enough with the choices, so I’m sure you will be as well. In terms of my PIC […]
Welcome to another fun-filled week with NBC’s The Voice. While this episode left me with the weakest impression of auditions this season, there was enough talent on display to convince me that The Voice continues to be a stronger force in quality than its competitor, American Idol. However, Idol’s last “Vegas” themed episode was a bit stronger than this rece […]
