Oscar Circuit: Best Cinematography

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

Emmanuel Lubezski
“The Tree of Life”
Oscar Scene: Creation

Janusz Kaminski
“War Horse”
Oscar Scene: Joey running through the battle

February 23, 2012
Categories: Article, Editor, Oscar Circuit . Tags: Cinematography, Editor, Emmanuel Lubezski, Guillaume Schiffman, Hugo, Janusz Kaminski, Jeff Cronenweth, Oscar Circuit, Robert Richardson, the artist, The Tree of Life, war horse . Author: Clayton Davis . Comments: 4 Comments

Oscar Circuit: Best Documentary Feature

Director Charles Ferguson and Producer Audrey Marrs celebrate a win for 2010's Best Documentary, "Inside Job"…

The 2011 Nominees For Best Documentary Feature Film are…

• HELL AND BACK AGAIN • Danfung Dennis, Mike Lerner
• IF A TREE FALLS… • Marshall Curry, Sam Cullman
• PARADISE LOST 3: PURGATORY • Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky
• PINA • Wim Wenders, Gian-Piero Ringel
• UNDEFEATED • TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay, Rich Middlemas

One of the most polarizing categories historically in Oscar’s canon, the Best Documentary Feature prize has been the source of great controversy throughout its existence. Year to year and season to season, the list of films snubbed and/or directors and filmmakers flat out ignored by the Academy’s esteemed documentary branch is an impressive one. Some would say impressive for all the wrong reasons.

Fledgling television network Current TV aired an ambitious program entitled “The 50 Documentaries To See Before You Die” in August 2011 and the show was a well-made talking heads countdown show hosted by Oscar nominated filmmaker Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me). Spurlock counted down 10 films per episode and the list was a solid one, but hardly definitive and capped at films made within the past 25 years. Topping that list was the film that many have cited as one of, if not the greatest documentaries ever made, Steve James’ Hoop Dreams, a 1994 documentary which famously was not even nominated for its genre’s most prestigious trophy.

The controversy and outcry over the Academy failing to nominate Hoop Dreams for Best Documentary (the film did receive a nod for Editing that year) saw a complete overhaul of the Documentary Branch’s standards and practices. Little by little, the category moved away from its Jethro Tull moment (look up the list of Best Metal Recording Grammy winners for the reference) and gained a bit more credibility with its award winners. And still, year to year, the list of films left out of the final nomination list have some eye-raising snubs and surprises. However, when looking at the stretch of winners from the early 2000′s to last year’s recipient, Inside Job, the films at least look and feel the part of a Best Documentary Oscar winner, even if people remain outraged at the failure to nominate films such as Grizzly Man, Touching The Void, The King of Kong, Standard Operating Procedure, Dear Zachary, Anvil! The Story Of Anvil, Metallica: Some Kind Of Monster, and countless others.

February 20, 2012
Categories: Oscar Circuit . Tags: 2011 releases, Best Documentary Feature, Hell And Back Again, If A Tree Falls, Paradise Lost 3, Pina, undefeated . Author: Michael Ward . Comments: 8 Comments

Oscar Circuit: Best Animated Short

Winners of last year's "Best Animated Short Film" for 'The Lost Thing.'

We draw closer and closer to that inevitable and exciting day when the Oscars are announced, seeing how our predictions stack up and whether our favorite films get their deserving honors. Like last week’s Oscar Circuit article on “Best Live Action Short,” the “Best Animated Short” category is often forgotten by moviegoers who just want to see the major awards announced. That’s a shame, because there are some truly innovative animated films out this award’s season whose studios, one in particular this year, have the potential to become major power players in the animation industry. I see animated short films as both poems and experiments. You have small studios like Moonbot Industries and StudioAKA unafraid to showcase their talents with great little stories featuring some often bizarre yet stylistically impressive animation. Everything is so compact and told in such little time, but the emotion that pours through in those brief minutes is often more gripping than a full length feature. The nominees this year are no exception.

The 2012 Nominees for “Best Animated Short Film” Are…

Sunday/Dimanche — Patrick Doyan
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore – William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
La Luna – Enrico Casarosa
A Morning Stroll – Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
Wild Life – Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis

February 17, 2012
Categories: Oscar Circuit . Tags: a morning stroll, amanda forbis, Best Animated Short, Enrico Casarosa, grant orchard, La Luna, moonbot studios, Oscar Circuit, oscar nominations 2012, patrick doyan, Pixar, Sunday/Dimanche, the fantastic flying books of morris lessmore, the fantastic flying books of mr. morris lessmore, wendy tilby, wild life, william joyce . Author: Joseph Braverman . Comments: 2 Comments

Oscar Circuit: Best Original Song

There is clearly something wrong with is category this year. There have always been five songs nominated and now we have two songs. How odd.

And the Nominees Are

• “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets
Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie

• “Real in Rio” from Rio
Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown; Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Let’s be honest here, this category is the weakest category of the bunch this year. I say that not only because of the two songs nominated but because of the songs chosen to be nominated. I’ve had this debate with quite a few people but I never thought much of the song “Man or Muppet”. It is not my favorite song in the movie and it is certainly not the best, “Life’s a Happy Song” is and in my opinion the better one. And as far as Rio goes, out of two nominees, I can’t believe it was the song chosen from a list of so many better songs.

February 16, 2012
Categories: Oscar Circuit . Tags: Best Original Song, Oscar Circuit, rio, The Muppets . Author: Anna Belickis . Comments: 6 Comments

Oscar Circuit: Best Supporting Actress

Melissa Leo in "The Fighter", 2010's Best Supporting Actress…

The 2011 Nominees For Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role are…

• BÉRÉNICE BEJO • THE ARTIST
• JESSICA CHASTAIN • THE HELP
• MELISSA MCCARTHY • BRIDESMAIDS
• JANET MCTEER • ALBERT NOBBS
• OCTAVIA SPENCER • THE HELP

The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress carries a much storied and fascinating history and in an almost distinctive way stands apart from its other acting categories. This category often generates a surprise or two on nomination morning and has dropped jaws more than once on Oscar night.

The infamous 1997 scowl that Lauren Bacall embodied for losing the 1996 Supporting Actress award to Juliette Binoche and The English Patient is one notable example for the playfulness the Academy occasionally levies on this category’s nominees and the surprises that can befall even the most locked in frontrunner.

February 15, 2012
Categories: Oscar Circuit . Tags: 2011 releases, Albert Nobbs, Berenice Bejo, Best Supporting Actress, Bridesmaids, janet mcteer, Jessica Chastain, Melissa McCarthy, Octavia Spencer, Oscar Circuit, Oscar hopefuls, the artist, The Help . Author: Michael Ward . Comments: 19 Comments

Oscar Circuit: Art Direction

And the Nominees Are:
The Artist – Laurence Bennett and Robert Gould
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 – Stuart Craig and Stephanie McMillan
Hugo – Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo
Midnight in Paris – Anne Seibel and Hélène Dubreuil
War Horse – Rick Carter and Lee Sandales

So where I began with Sizing Up has ended with four of my five “Pole Position” contenders (with Midnight in Paris being the sole “Second Tier” to make it from the outside) being nominated for this award. And, rather tediously, the film that I had predicted would the whole thing outright is still way out in front on a seemingly unstoppable course to victory. Barring a huge upset, this will be the third consecutive garishly colorful, CGI-filled spectacle to win this award. I’m starting to feel a little down on this category in the wake of just how show-offy their preferences have become, especially since recent years have yielded some truly creative visual design choices that consistently get passed over. Will future big-budget epics just take the hint and follow suit with less and less subtle visual choices? *Sigh*…okay, enough complaining. Let’s take a look at the nominees:
Read more on Oscar Circuit: Art Direction…

February 14, 2012
Categories: Oscar Circuit . Tags: Best Art Direction, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Oscar Circuit, oscar predictions, Oscar voting trends, the artist, war horse . Author: Robert Hamer . Comments: 5 Comments

Oscar Circuit: Adapted Screenplay

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.

Let’s break down the nominees:

February 13, 2012
Categories: Editor, Oscar Circuit, SCREENPLAYS . Tags: Aaron Sorkin, adapted screenplay, Alexander Payne, Beau Willimon, Bridget O'Connor, Editor, George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Hugo, Jim Rash, John Logan, Moneyball, Nat Faxon, Oscar Circuit, Peter Straughan, predictions, Stan Chervin, Steven Zaillian, The Descendants, The Ides of March, tinker tailor soldier spy . Author: Clayton Davis . Comments: 7 Comments

Check out Jean Dujardin on Saturday Night LIVE!

In case you missed it!

If that Oscar didn’t already look like it’s his.
Read more on Check out Jean Dujardin on Saturday Night LIVE!…

February 13, 2012
Categories: LEAD ACTOR, News, Oscar Circuit, TV/Music . Tags: jean dujardin, Kristen Wiig, Oscar Circuit, saturday night live, taran killam, television, tv, Zooey Deschanel . Author: Clayton Davis . Comments: 2 Comments

Oscar Circuit: Best Documentary – Short Subject

And the Nominees Are:

The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement – Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
God Is the Bigger Elvis – Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
Incident in New Baghdad – James Spione
Saving Face – Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom – Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

An octogenarian recalls the Civil Rights Movement. Turning back on The King for The Lord. One of the Iraq War’s most controversial events. Reconstructive surgery on survivors of acid violence. A study of nature against the backdrop of Japan’s recent tsunami. Prior to the shortlisting announcement, I had never even heard of these films, and I’m one of the film geeks in this country.

But that’s why this category is, in its own way, just as vital as the “major” ones. If the Oscars never existed, George Clooney would still be a major movie star, The Help would still have made over $200 million at the box office, and Martin Scorsese would still be directing movies. But the passionate creators of these short films hold out the hope that they’re seen by more than a tiny handful of people, if any at all, and no validation is more a boon to their film’s exposure than an Academy Award nomination. So while I have not yet seen any of the nominees, I congratulate them and hope that this opens doors for them. Read more on Oscar Circuit: Best Documentary – Short Subject…

February 11, 2012
Categories: Oscar Circuit . Tags: Best Documentary Short Subject, God Is The Bigger Elvis, Incident In New Baghdad, James Spione, Lucy Walker, Oscar Circuit, Saving Face, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement, The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom . Author: Robert Hamer . Comments: 3 Comments

Oscar Circuit: Best Film Editing

And the Nominees Are:

The Artist
The Descendants
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball

Tied into the Best Picture race more than any other tech category is Best Film Editing. Scoring a Best Picture win without at least a nomination here, if not a win, is incredibly rare and almost unheard of. Of late, the field has been almost entirely filled with nominees for the top prize, but at times the Academy has seen fit to cite top notch action here as well. This year, 4 of the 5 nominees are also Best Picture contenders, and that makes this part of the race pretty interesting. We have last year’s winners in play again too (that’s the picture right here to the right, in case you were wondering), plus a legend in the industry at what she does. All this makes for a lot to take in and analyze, but I’m going to do my best! What may seem somewhat clear cut is not quite so, which makes this more fun, of course. Anyway, before we get too deep into it, let’s settle down for a bit of history, shall we?

February 10, 2012
Categories: Oscar Circuit . Tags: 2011 releases, Best Film Editing, Hugo, Moneyball, Oscar hopefuls, the artist, The Descendants, the girl with the dragon tattoo . Author: Joey Magidson . Comments: 11 Comments

Oscar Circuit: Best Supporting Actor

And the Nominees Are:

Kenneth Branagh – My Week with Marilyn
Jonah Hill – Moneyball
Nick Nolte – Warrior
Christopher Plummer – Beginners
Max von Sydow – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

This category has often been dismissed as a way to award “distinguished” (read: old) actors with Oscars to honor their career as opposed to the individual performance in question. While I do have some major gripes with this category, this particular accusation always struck me not only as ageist (what, senior actors can’t legitimately give award-worthy performances?!) but not as backed up by recent history as the reputation would suggest. Christian Bale, Christoph Waltz, Heath Ledger, Javier Bardem, George Clooney and Benicio Del Toro were hardly old vet actors looking for a swan song trophy. In fact, the last elderly “career-honor” winner we had was arguably Alan Arkin is 2006, and even then it was a close call between him and Eddie Murphy. That’s why this year presents an interesting complication to the debate. With the average age clocking in at 62, this year’s Best Supporting Actor slate is the oldest ever, and three of them could legitimately claim this award as a career capper. Read more on Oscar Circuit: Best Supporting Actor…

February 9, 2012
Categories: Oscar Circuit . Tags: Albert Brooks, Beginners, Best Supporting Actor, Christopher Plummer, extremely loud and incredibly close, Jonah Hill, Kenneth Branagh, max von sydow, Moneyball, My Week With Marilyn, Nick Nolte, Oscar Circuit, Warrior . Author: Robert Hamer . Comments: 8 Comments

Oscar Circuit: Live Action Short

Last year's Oscar winners for "Best Live Action Short" for 'God of Love'

Ah yes, the Academy Award’s “Live Action Short” category may turn a blind eye from many who watch the Oscars, even from the most die hard of moviegoers, who neither care nor wish to know about short films that are potential stepping stones for some of the hallmark directors in cinema. Just ask acclaimed director, Taylor Hackford, who won the award back in 1978 for his short film, “Teenage Father.” Hackford has gone on to head some of the best films of the past thirty years, including An Officer and a Gentleman, Dolores Claiborne, and Ray. Did I also forget to mention that Hackford is the current president of the Director’s Guild of America? Yep, this guy ran with his “Live Action Short” victory and took his career to heights that even he probably never would have imagined reaching. It just goes to show you that this award is something especially significant for an up-and-coming filmmaker, ready for their name to be worldly recognized and respected in the motion picture industry. So before we gloss over this award, think about the lasting effects it could have on one’s career in Hollywood, and what that motivational boost could mean for future full length features from these Academy Award recipients…

The 2012 Nominees for “Best Live Action Short” Are…

Pentecost – Peter McDonald and Eimer O’Kane
Raju – Max Zahle and Stefan Gieren
The Shore — Terry George and Oorlagh George
Time Freak – Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
Tuba Atlantic – Hallvar Witzo

February 8, 2012
Categories: Oscar Circuit . Tags: andrew bowler, ciarin hinds, conleth hill, god of love, hallar witzo, Live Action Short Film, max zahle, Oscar Circuit, oscar nominations 2012, Pentecost, peter mcdonald, rahul gandotra, Raju, terry george, The Road Home, The Shore, Time Freak, Tuba Atlantic . Author: Joseph Braverman . Comments: 1 Comment

Oscar Circuit: Best Costume Design

I would love to wake up every morning and already have my wardrobe picked out for me. I guess that’s the beauty of working in the movies. You get to wear all types of amazing outfits and they are all tailored for you and everything. It must be an even better feeling when the costume designers wake up on Oscar morning to find out that the hard work they put in paid off.

It is the job for the costume designer to properly come up with outfits that symbolize who a particular character is and to set the mood right for a certain scene. I think the following nominees did a fantastic job in completing this task.

And the nominees are:

• Anonymous- Lisy Christl
• The Artist- Mark Bridges
• Hugo- Sandy Powell
• Jane Eyre- Michael O’Connor
• W.E.- Arianne Phillips Read more on Oscar Circuit: Best Costume Design…

February 7, 2012
Categories: Oscar Circuit . Tags: anonymous, costume design, Hugo, Jane Eyre, Oscar Circuit, the artist, W.E. . Author: Anna Belickis . Comments: 3 Comments

Oscar Circuit: Best Original Screenplay

And the Nominees Are:

“The Artist” – Michel Hazanavicius
Oscar scene: The opening establishment of the times in Hollywood
“Bridesmaids” – Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig
Oscar scene: The dueling speeches
“Margin Call” – J.C. Chandor
Oscar scene: Jeremy Irons explains how they will survive the crisis
“Midnight in Paris” – Woody Allen
Oscar scene: Corey Stoll’s monologue on death
“A Separation” – Asghar Farhadi
Oscar scene: The opening scene

February 6, 2012
Categories: Oscar Circuit . Tags: 2011 releases, A Separation, Asghar Farhadi, Best Original Screenplay, Bridesmaids, J.C. Chandor, Kristen Wiig, Margin Call, Michel Hazanavicius, Midnight in Paris, Oscar hopefuls, the artist, Woody Allen . Author: Joey Magidson . Comments: 20 Comments

Oscar Circuit: Best Sound Editing

And the Nominees Are:

Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

Just as my colleague and friend Mike Ward detailed the Best Sound Mixing race (the excellent write up can be found here), I’m diving right in and tackling the Best Sound Editing race. I know that there’s often some confusion about which category is which and what exactly they both do. In short, the Mixing category deals with recording and re-recording, while Editing literally has to do with editing or design in terms of sound. This is in some ways the “sexier” category, but both obviously have their place in terms of importance. I’ll freely admit that I sometimes have a hard time predicting this category, though oddly enough my overall percentage is pretty high for Sound Editing in the end. I guess it just takes me a bit longer than in some other categories to come around to the winner. Will it be the same this year or do I already have the race figured out? Well, let’s find out…

February 3, 2012
Categories: Oscar Circuit . Tags: 2011 releases, Best Sound Editing, Drive, Hugo, Oscar hopefuls, technical categories, the girl with the dragon tattoo, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, war horse . Author: Joey Magidson . Comments: 5 Comments

Oscar Circuit: Best Sound Mixing

Last year's Oscar winners for Best Sound Mixing for "Inception" (L to R – Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick). Novick is a nominee again this year for "Moneyball".

The 2011 Nominees For Best Sound Mixing Are…

• THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
• HUGO
• MONEYBALL
• TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON
• WAR HORSE

At my annual Oscar party, invariably some assemblage of attendees always ask questions such as “What is Cinematography?” “How do they judge Art Direction?” and a rather common one, at least in my circles… “What is the difference between Sound Editing and Sound Mixing? How are we supposed to know the difference?”

To the lay movie fan, below-the-line work is often taken for granted and/or rarely, if ever, thought about. If a movie looks great, it looks great, but few people ever remark that the Director of Photography or Cinematographer’s work was fantastic. Sure the movie may look fantastic and the settings quite glorious, but who amongst your friends and loved ones have ever proclaimed that the art direction and set decoration work of [insert name] was exceptional.

And make no mistake, all of that is fine in a general sense. At the end of the day, people go to the movies to escape, to live another life or decompress from their daily affairs. People paying to see Transformers: Dark Of The Moon or Jack And Jill, or even a conventional dramatic Oscar contending film will simply not be concerned with how a film was lensed, how the sets were constructed, or possibly even be aware that the pacing and rhythm and sequencing of shots they enjoy are meticulously planned out and performed by an editor. At the end of the day, people just want to be entertained and not analyze every moment of the story they just experienced.

February 2, 2012
Categories: Oscar Circuit . Tags: 2011 releases, Hugo, Moneyball, Oscar Circuit, the girl with the dragon tattoo, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, war horse . Author: Michael Ward . Comments: 3 Comments

Oscar Circuit: Best Visual Effects

And the Nominees Are:

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″
Oscar scene: The climactic battle between Harry and Voldemort
“Hugo”
Oscar scene: The train crash
“Real Steel”
Oscar scene: The final robot boxing match
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
Oscar scene: The apes rising
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
Oscar scene: The Decepticon wraps around a building

One of the more interesting categories out there for Oscar is Best Visual Effects. Many of the other technical categories are harder for the layman to comprehend and as such feel more exclusionary (Film Editing or Sound Mixing, for example), whereas this particular category is a lot simpler to wrap your head around. This year, we don’t especially have a lower key nominee as in years past (just look at Hereafter scoring a nod last year), so it’s pretty much going to be which film was the best feast for the eyes. Of the 5 nominees, it seems like a 3 horse race to me. Which 3 are they, you ask? Well, let’s dive right in and find out!

February 1, 2012
Categories: Oscar Circuit . Tags: 2011 releases, Best Visual Effects, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, Hugo, Real Steel, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Transformers: Dark of the Moon . Author: Joey Magidson . Comments: 5 Comments

Oscar Circuit: Best Makeup

Makeup is a wonderful thing. I put it on every morning and I am transformed into a better looking version of myself and a happier and hotter Anna. In cinema it’s used to transform an actor into a character, to display wounds and massive injuries or just to make an actor look damn good in the role they are playing.

I actually hate this category because most of the time the films that deserve the nomination don’t receive it, and the winner is usually predictable. The winners the past few years include, The Wolfman, Benjamin Button, La Vie en Rose, and Star Trek. It’s like the most elaborate makeup is the winner and after sometime it gets a little boring. So, Harry Potter pretty much doesn’t stand a chance.

January 31, 2012
Categories: Oscar Circuit . Tags: Albert Nobbs, Best Makeup, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, Oscar Circuit, The Iron Lady . Author: Anna Belickis . Comments: 9 Comments

Oscar Circuit: Best Foreign Language Film

And the Nominees Are:

Bullhead – Belgium
Footnote – Israel
In Darkness – Poland
Monsieur Lazhar – Canada
A Separation – Iran

If I were king for a day…well, a lot of things would happen, but one of them would be to get rid of this damn category and force Academy members to venture out of the U.S. and Britain once in a while! Kidding aside, this is what I would call one of the “ghetto” categories. It’s a way for the Academy to begrudgingly recognize a certain type of film without going through the messy business of actually acknowledging it for one of the major awards (see also: Best Documentary Feature, Best Animated Feature). Further grinding down any vestige of internationality from their competition are the trends of who historically wins in this category. Culturally-specific films that highlight intricate and/or contrasting perspectives of the world rarely win or even get nominated, while compromised films from other countries that fit more comfortably within Hollywood’s myopic sense of “universal” values emerge victorious nearly every year. Not that this means the Foreign Language Film winners are always of inferior quality, necessarily, but it is a depressing exception to the general trend that I observed in my Sizing Up articles.

January 30, 2012
Categories: Oscar Circuit . Tags: A Separation, Agnieszka Holland, Asghar Farhadi, Best Foreign Language Film, Bullhead, Footnote, In Darkness, Joseph Cedar, Michaël R. Roskam, Monsieur Lazhar, Oscar Circuit, Philippe Falardeau . Author: Robert Hamer . Comments: 8 Comments

Oscar Circuit: Best Original Score

And the Nominees Are:
Ludovic Bource – “The Artist”
Oscar Scene: “Bang!” (in the home theater)

John Williams – “The Adventures of Tintin”
Oscar Scene: Tintin and the big chase through the town square.

Howard Shore – “Hugo”
Oscar Scene: Georges Méliès’ movie

Alberto Iglesias – “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”
Oscar Scene: Opening Credits

John Williams – “War Horse”
Oscar Scene: Joey running through the war.

January 29, 2012
Categories: Editor, Oscar Circuit, TECHNICALS . Tags: Academy Award Nominations, academy awards, Alberto Iglesias, Best Original Score, howard shore, Hugo, John Williams, Ludovic Bource, Oscars, oscars 2012, The Adventures Of Tintin, the artist, tinker tailor soldier spy, war horse . Author: Clayton Davis . Comments: 2 Comments

Academy Award Nominated ‘Bullhead’ opens February 17th

Read the Press Release:

Los Angeles, CA – Friday, January 27, 2012 – Drafthouse Films announces that Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award-nominee BULLHEAD will open Friday, February 17 in New York, Los Angeles and Austin in the following theaters and will expand to new markets following its initial limited release.

New York – AMC Empire & Angelika

Los Angeles – Laemmle Santa Monica, Laemmle NoHo, Laemmle Playhouse & The Cinefamily

Austin – Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar & Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek

January 27, 2012
Categories: News, Oscar Circuit, Oscar Tracker . Tags: academy award nominee, academy awards, Bullhead, Drafthouse Films, Foreign Language Film, Oscars, Release date . Author: Clayton Davis . Comments: 2 Comments

ACCA Final Balloting is Open along with Annual Oscar Pool!

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.

January 25, 2012
Categories: ANIMATED FEATURE, Editor, LEAD ACTOR, LEAD ACTRESS, MOTION PICTURE, Oscar Circuit, Oscar Predictions, Precursors, SCREENPLAYS, Staff, SUPPORTING ACTOR, SUPPORTING ACTRESS, TECHNICALS . Tags: academy awards, ACCA, Awards Circuit Community Awards, Oscar Pool, Oscars, Picktainment . Author: Clayton Davis . Comments: 5 Comments

Oscar Circuit: “What the Hell Just Happened” – Editors’ Reactions

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”

January 24, 2012
Categories: Editor, Oscar Circuit, Oscar Tracker . Tags: 84th Annual Academy Awards, Academy Award Nominations, academy awards, AMPAS, Editor, Oscar, oscar nominations, Reactions . Author: Clayton Davis . Comments: 16 Comments

More Oscar Nominee Reactions

Please see Viola Davis’s statement regarding her Oscar nomination for THE HELP:

“It’s an honor to be nominated a second time, it is a personal accomplishment and triumph for women and women of color. I’m so glad the film has been recognized, it was a labor of love from the moment it was conceived and it is rewarding to see the impact it is having.”

OSCAR NOMINATION STATEMENTS FOR ALL TWC FILMS

January 24, 2012
Categories: News, Oscar Circuit . Tags: academy awards, news, Oscar Nominees, Reactions . Author: Clayton Davis . Comments: 6 Comments

ACADEMY AWARD PREDICTIONS

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2011 Oscar Predictions (01/30/2012)

BEST MOTION PICTURE

BEST DIRECTOR

BEST ACTOR

BEST ACTRESS

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

BEST ART DIRECTION

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

BEST FILM EDITING

BEST MAKEUP

BEST SOUND MIXING

BEST SOUND EDITING

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

BEST ANIMATED SHORT SUBJECT

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

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And the Nominees Are:

And the Nominees Are:

And the Nominees Are:

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