I knew this day would come, and it is with a sense of both excitement and sadness. By the end of my long deployment, I will have earned the most difficult and significant achievement of my life – Surface Warfare Officer Qualification, and finally perform the mission that my ship and I have been training toward for over a year. On the other hand, I must sacrifice the time and effort I have placed into a site that has grown so much in such a short time.
As our Editor himself would agree, what makes me value Awards Circuit is the staff – all the different backgrounds and perspectives on film from all walks of life. To proudly welcome Nicole and Tiff into our family, I will be assisting Clay in integrating them into the staff top tens dating all the way back to 2000 before my departure. After that, for operational security purposes, you will not be hearing from me for a while. But I will not be gone forever! One of my shipmates advised me a long time ago not to let the Navy become my sole identity, and I will hold to that. Come late 2013/early 2014, I will be back to resuming my full staff writer duties. Read more on Oscars 2013: Will Win/Should Win (Hamer)…
Amour – Michael Haneke
Beasts of the Southern Wild – Benh Zeitlin Life of Pi – Ang Lee Lincoln – Steven Spielberg Silver Linings Playbook – David O. Russell
(The annual “Will Win/Should Win” of the Awards Circuit has been our most popular yet most challenging series where each writer let’s their final thoughts be known on the Oscar categories. Each writer will reveal their choices everyday leading up to the Oscar ceremony. Think you can do better? Let your final thoughts be known in the comment section or by joining our Oscar Pool. -CD)
The calendar year for most people runs January through December, but for such Oscar-obsessed people as you will find writing here at The Awards Circuit the year ends with Oscar Sunday. Everything we do at this site leads to and culminates in the big ceremony. We’ve spent countless hours going back and forth trying to figure out just where the pieces fit best into the jigsaw puzzle that the Academy Awards race has become, and I have to tell you, I have never seen a year quite like this.
(The annual “Will Win/Should Win” of the Awards Circuit has been our most popular yet most challenging series where each writer let’s their final thoughts be known on the Oscar categories. Each writer will reveal their choices everyday leading up to the Oscar ceremony. Think you can do better? Let your final thoughts be known in the comment section or by joining our Oscar Pool. -CD)
The most wide-open and unpredictable Oscar season in modern history is set to twilight in less than 100 hours and perhaps the biggest surprise Oscar has in store for us is that there will be no surprises. An anti-climactic ending would be fitting to a season that, for one year at least, has rewritten so many of the hard and fast rules we Oscar pundits and prognosticators have come to rely on in making our predictions.
(The annual “Will Win/Should Win” of the Awards Circuit has been our most popular yet most challenging series where each writer let’s their final thoughts be known on the Oscar categories. Each writer will reveal their choices everyday leading up to the Oscar ceremony. Think you can do better? Let your final thoughts be known in the comment section or by joining our Oscar Pool. -CD)
Best Picture Will Win: Can it be anything other than Argo at this point? When you win the BFCA, Globe, DGA, PGA, SAG, Scriptor and WGA Awards, it’s clear that industry really loves your movie. Should Win:Lincoln ranks one spot higher than Argo on my top 10 films of the year and I would love to see it win on Oscar night. Spielberg teamed up with Tony Kushner to create a biopic that was tightly focused, expertly acted and just executed very well. Should Have Been Nominated: A nomination for Cloud Atlas here would have sent me over the moon but given the support for Skyfall in the Tech categories, I’m amazed it didn’t make it in. Considering they changed the rules to allow for well regarded blockbusters to make it in, you would think the “best” Bond film in the series could have been nominated. Read more on Oscar 2013 Will Win/Should Win Selections(Terence)…
(The annual “Will Win/Should Win” of the Awards Circuit has been our most popular yet most challenging series where each writer let’s their final thoughts be known on the Oscar categories. Each writer will reveal their choices everyday leading up to the Oscar ceremony. Think you can do better? Let your final thoughts be known in the comment section or by joining our Oscar Pool. -CD)
Woody Allen made history when “Midnight In Paris” earned the filmmaker his third Oscar and 15th nomination for screenwriting last year.
Whether viewed as a consolation prize for a well-regarded film that has no chance of winning Best Picture, or a sign that a film in the discussion for the Academy’s highest honor has broad and far-reaching support, the Writing categories – Adapted Screenplay and Original Screenplay are not always that easy to predict. A case could be made that more adventurous films land in the Academy’s screenplay categories, but with regard to the Original Screenplay category, only five films (Thelma & Louise, The Usual Suspects, Almost Famous, Talk To Her, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) have won the Oscar since 1990 without landing a Best Picture nomination. Three Best Picture nominees are competing in this category and it would seem that for the other two nominees, being featured in the clips package will be as close as they get to scoring a win this year.
The Awards Circuit Power Hour generates some lively discussions this week among the staff. I’m joined by Terence, Joey, and Mark to dive into the Oscar race as well as other various topics:
We talk about the BAFTA Awards that took place on Sunday where Argo reigned supreme. How many awards will Ben Affleck’s film win? Does the surprise win for Emmanuelle Riva mean anything? (time of recording was Sunday as I was at the time unaware that she didn’t attend the ceremony)
We take a question via one of our readers, Michael Napoli, that generates some discussion about Daniel Day-Lewis winning this third Oscar. Katharine Hepburn won four Oscars over fifty years while Day-Lewis seems to be winning three over thirty, having an average of one nomination every five films. Could there be an upset in his future?
I deliver your Academy Idol Results. The Top 4 competed during “Scores Week.” With no Bottom Two named, which of the films, Amour, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Silver Linings Playbook, and Zero Dark Thirty, would surprise you with an elimination? Listen for the Top 3 announcement.
Argo wins the USC Scripter award over heavy hitters Silver Linings Playbook and Lincoln. Is Chris Terrio lined up for an Adapted Screenplay win?
Final Oscar ballots are out! When is the best time to make your final predictions?
In light of Nicole Melkonian’s newest series, Writer’s Block, we discuss some of favorite screenplays of all-time. I also announce that the staff will be writing up their “10 Greatest Screenplays of All-Time” following the Oscars light last year’s popular, “10 Greatest Films of All-Time.”
Iran’s historic Oscar win for “A Separation” took home Best Foreign Language Film for 2011.
Always a hot button topic for debate amongst Oscarwatchers and many of us here at Awards Circuit, this year’s nominees for Best Foreign Language Film embody a melting pot of opulence, grit, political commentary, grand and epic adventure, and the true test of a couple’s love and devotion.
This year we don’t have the fortune of knowing exactly who will win Best Actress. We have five nominees that include two frontrunners, one possible upset and two actresses who should be honored to receive recognition for their work.
2012 went in the blink of an eye. By July of last year, I was fearful of how the year would turn out for film. At that point my top two films, Beasts of the Southern Wild and Moonrise Kingdom were very good but nothing that I wanted to be in the top-tier of my annual top ten list since neither received a top-notch review from myself. September rolled around and film after film was blowing audiences, critics, and prognosticators away. There’s always a narrative a critic and blogger tries to write for the year. Is it the year of action films? Is it the year of big studios? While large studios definitely stepped up their games, it was documentaries that pushed the boundaries of storytelling and bringing enigmatic issues to the surface. I can only hope a worthy documentary manages to get their due in the future and hit the cultural zeitgeist that will “allow” Oscar to recognize.
As I unveil my personal ballot over the next few days, looking over the citations as a whole make me very proud of what filmmakers, performers, and studios are choosing to do with their narrative techniques. Of course, our beloved readership will have a different top ten, criticize choices, and scream anarchy for glowing omissions, but that’s what the Awards Circuit is about. Make your choices known not only in the comment section but also in the Awards Circuit Community Awards which are currently underway.
With the Oscar nominations being announced tomorrow morning and all other nominations revealed, it’s that time folks where we all wonder and debate who will be honored with a nomination Oscar morning.
Having emerged as somewhat of the frontrunner in the awards race in recent weeks, Zero DarkThirty opens to special limited engagements this week before nationwide release in January. It’s a pretty strong week in terms of variety, with Judd Apatow’s latest, This Is 40, foreign drama powerhouse, Amour,and Walter Salles’ adaptation of On the Road. Add a natural disaster survival drama, a case of double-dipping with a popular animated feature, and Tom Cruise reaching for justice for a well-stocked long weekend of cinematic entertainment.
Zero Dark Thirty
Language: English
Rating: R
Genre: Action/Drama/History
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, Jason Clarke
“The greatest manhunt in history” follows the decade-long efforts to find Osama bin Laden, spanning from the September 11 attacks to his death at the hands of Navy S.E.A.L. Team 6 in May 2011. See Clayton and Joey’s early reviews. Read more on Weekend Openings: (12/19-12/21)…
The short list for the Foreign Language Oscar race has been announced. There are no incredibly shocking omissions, at least not at first glance. Austria’s Amour, France’s The Intouchables, and Denmark’s A Royal Affair have led the pack for most of the season, and all three remain alive in the race. The other two I have been predicting, Chile’s No and Norway’s Kon-Tiki (distributed by The Weinstein Company) are also still in the running, as is Romania’s Beyond the Hills. See the list of nine after the jump…
San Francisco Film Critics Circle has named The Master the best film of 2012, along with bestowing Joaquin Phoenix their Best Actor prize. Zero Dark Thirty also did well, winning prizes for Kathryn Bigelow in director and Mark Boal in screenplay. I have to say, as a San Francisco native, I was pleased to see the hometown critics pick ParaNorman as the Best Animated Feature. Check out the rest of the winners after the jump!
Via Kris Tapley over at HitFix/In Contention, he took a look at the ballot for the Writers Guild of America upcoming awards and took note of several omissions that include Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables, Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild, and Michael Haneke’s Amour. He counted fifteen in total.
Tarantino has never been a member of the WGA but has found success with his other films Inglourious Basterds (2009) and Pulp Fiction (1994). Tapley has explanations for many of the contenders that won’t be getting a boost from the WGA. I encourage you to take a look. The nominations for the Writers Guild Awards will be announced on January 3, the day Oscar ballots are due. The list of films DISQUALIFIED are listed below and after the jump. Read more on Writers Guild of America Disqualifies Several Films for their Awards!…
Washington Film Critics have announced their winners after just announcing their nominees a day ago. Zero Dark Thirty emerged victorious along with director Kathryn Bigelow.
Washington Film Critics have announced their winners after just announcing their nominees a day ago. Zero Dark Thirty emerged victorious along with director Kathryn Bigelow.
Read the Press Release and check out the full list of winners down below:
Tis the season for critics groups to begin announcing their “Best of 2012″ lists and one of the earliest announcements come from the Sight and Sound critics. Comprised of about 100 international critics, it’s one of the more influential voting bodies, and this year their top spot went to Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master. Other Oscar contenders such as Amour (#3), Beasts of the Southern Wild (#5, tie) and Moonrise Kingdom (#7) made the list as well. Check out the full list after the jump!
With six nominations, Michael Haneke’s Palme d’Or winning film, Amour, leads the recently announced nominees for the European Film Awards. Receiving noms in all the major categories, including two acting nominations, it’s certainly got widespread appeal, could this translate to Oscar? Amour isn’t the only Oscar contender, past or present, included in the nominations with the European Film category including the likes of Barbara, Caesar Must Die, The Intouchables, Shame and The Hunt, the last two of which received five nominations a piece. View the full list of nominees after the jump!
Following screenings of The Sessions and Frankenweenie come two foreign language offerings that both know how to make an impression…
Amour (***)
After seizing the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes, everyone wants to know whether Michael Haneke’s emotionally charged Amour can go all the way to the Oscars. It follows Georges and Anne, a cultured, octogenarian couple whose lives are turned upside down when Anne suffers from a stroke that paralyses one side of her body. Georges must become her full time carer, but is tested by Anne’s swiftly deteriorating mental state.
Oscar is apparently more popular than ever across the globe. A record breaking seventy-one countries have thrown their hat into the race for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, including first time entrant, Kenya (Nairobi Half Life). The usual suspects are there: France’s The Intouchables, Austria’s Amour, Chile’s No, etc., but I’d expect a surprise or two in this category on Oscar Nomination morning. See the full slate of contenders after the jump…
The Awards Circuit staff puts together a packed agenda for your listening pleasure. If this is your first time listening, The Awards Circuit Power Hour encompasses many of the writers getting together to speak about the current affairs of either the Oscar race or films opening by the week. It’s not always business because there’s always room for some fun with our many segments and taking questions from our dedicated readership. A great way to support the Awards Circuit is not only by listening to us here via our website but we are featured on Stitcher Radio, where you can download the app to any mobile or electronic device and take us everywhere. If you can’t find it in your heart (or wallets) to donate directly to the site, downloading the app and putting “AWARDSCIRCUIT” in the promo code will support us in a big way. We greatly appreciate the support. Also, as an added bonus, if you download the app with the promo code, you are automatically entered to win $100. Who can’t use an extra 100 bucks these days? Click on the “Hear Us On Stitcher Smart Radio” button after the jump along with an itinerary of today’s episode! Read more on Awards Circuit Power Hour Episode 23: NYFF Closing, Seth MacFarlane, Original Song category…
San Francisco Film Critics Circle has named The Master the best film of 2012, along with bestowing Joaquin Phoenix their Best Actor prize. Zero Dark Thirty also did well, winning prizes for Kathryn Bigelow in director and Mark Boal in screenplay. I have to say, as a San Francisco native, I was pleased to see the hometown critics pick ParaNorman as the Best Animated Feature. Check out the rest of the winners after the jump!
Via Kris Tapley over at 
