The Sizing Up Series continues with a look at the slate of Best Supporting Actress contenders. As always, this is as large a grouping of the hopefuls as possible (excluding some no shot contenders and members of bigger ensembles…or else this could have 50 or more people in the article), categorizing them by their assumed likelihood of a nomination come the big morning. Oftentimes, more than a few of the Best Picture nominees wind up with some form of representation here, and this year I think there will be more than a little correlation, but of course absolutely anything is possible with the Academy. We shall see what happens in the end, but enough talk for the time being. I know what you’re all here for, so let’s go right ahead and take a look at the contenders for Best Supporting Actress and size up the field! Read more on Sizing Up: Best Supporting Actress…
Categories: Article Tags: Alicia Vikander, Amanda Seyfried, Amy Adams, analysis, Anne Hathaway, Annette Bening, Bella Heathcoate, Best Supporting Actress, Cate Blanchett, Charlize Theron, Cody Horn, Elizabeth Olsen, Emily Blunt, Emma Watson, Helen Hunt, Isabelle Hupert, judi dench, Julia Stiles, Kerry Bishe, Lorraine Toussaint, Marion Cotillard, olivia colman, Olivia Williams, Oscar hopefuls, Ruby Sparks, Sally Field, Scarlett Johansson, Sizing up, Sizing Up series
 Greetings from the New York Film Festival once again my friends. We of course spent yesterday eagerly awaiting the Secret Screening, but before then I saw and subsequently wanted to highlight the other film that screened earlier in the day. It was the English drama ‘Ginger & Rosa’, a fine new film from Sally Potter made even better by Elle Fanning’s lead performance. Could Fanning shake up the shaky Best Actress race? I have my doubts, but she’s a contender worth taking note of. Obviously all eyes were on ‘Lincoln’ at NYFF, but Clayton already covered that and I’ll be getting to that later. Be sure to follow Clayton and myself on Facebook and/or Twitter to get the latest on the big debut, but in the meantime, let’s move forward and talk a bit about Potter’s flick…
Read more on NYFF: Elle Fanning excels in ‘Ginger and Rosa’!…
 Sources are saying that Imogene, the comedy starring Kristen Wiig and Annette Bening and directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini has been picked up by Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions.
No word yet if the film will be released this year.
Read more on Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions picks up “Imogene”…
 As described in the superb nd telling book, The Men Who Would Be King the excellent story of Dreamworks and the inner power struggles, the studio brought American Beauty (1999) to the festival with little or no hope for the film. It seemed destined for a straight to DVD release, despite the casting of Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening. Only Steven Spielberg believed in the film and admired what director Sam Mendes had created, and to appease Spielberg it was agreed to screen the film in Toronto. The truth might have been that they had no clue how to market the film.
Minutes after the first press screening, the film was the hottest movie of the festival, and there was no more discussion about a straight to DVD release. You could feel the buzz growing as the film unfolded, and by the end, in the hallways of the theaters, everyone who had been in the screening was talking Beauty. I mean everyone. Read more on TIFF Golden Moments Part 3…
Categories: Article Tags: Allison Janney, American film directors, Annette Bening, Chris Cooper, Denzel Washington, Directors Guild of America, Dreamworks, Entertainment/Culture, Fight Club, Films, Kevin Spacey, Mena Suvari, Oscar, Sam Mendes, Shakespeare in Love, Steven Spielberg, The Academy Awards, The Cider House Rules, The Hurricane, Toronto International Film Festival, Wes Bentley
 As beautiful a film as any that I’ve seen so far in 2012, ‘Ruby Sparks’ is a small miracle of a movie, and for a while my favorite of the year (I’d felt this way since I saw it back in June, but have been under embargo until now and ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ has since just ever so slightly stolen that mantle, though in another week or so I might change my mind, so stay tuned there). A cross between the Greek myth of Pygmalion and the films ‘Harvey’ and ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’, there’s really nothing not to like about this flick, which features one of the most ingenious screenplays in years. Not only does this movie establish writer/star Zoe Kazan a future A-lister both in terms of acting (like I’ve been saying for a couple of years now) and writing, it also showcases filmmakers Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris escaping the sophomore jinx in spectacular fashion. For my money, this fantastical romantic fantasy is even better than ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ (which I loved). From the stellar direction by Dayton and Faris to the brilliant script by Kazan to the performances by Kazan and Paul Dano, nearly everything about this movie is flawless. Equal parts humorous, heartbreaking, and heartwarming, this has something for everyone. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll be moved. I hope Oscar notices this little gem, as it’s worth of a few Academy Awards. I’ll be doing my part to raise awareness on the the film since frankly, it just deserves it.
Read more on Ruby Sparks (****)…
Categories: Film Reviews Tags: Alia Shawkat, Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas, Chris Messina, Deborah Ann Woll, Early Review, Jonathan Dayton, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, Oscar hopeful, Paul Dano, Ruby Sparks, Steve Coogan, Valerie Faris, Zoe Kazan
 It’s the first of the month. Not only that, it’s the first day of the second half of the year. Anybody else feel like that was fast? Yet, here we are.
It’s time to start getting serious, Oscar-wise. Not many things have come out, and not many films are looking like Best Picture nominees from the first half. Some will argue The Avengers with a $600 million dollar bank is in talks. Some think the little indie-film Moonrise Kingdom from Wes Anderson could be our “Little Miss Sunshine” of the year. In limited release, Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild has opened and received one of the best word-of-mouth reviews of the year. Is that a contender for the big prize? I’d say it is.
I’m ready to start getting down and dirty with these predictions.
Read more on Oscar Circuit: “Let’s dance…”…
Categories: Article, Editor, Oscar Circuit, Oscar Predictions Tags: alexandre desplat, Amour, Anna Karenina, Anne Hathaway, Annette Bening, Argo, batman, Baz Luhrmann, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Ben Affleck, Benh Zeitlin, Bill Murray, Brave, Daniel Day-Lewis, David Strathairn, Disney, Django Unchained, Editor, Hugh Jackman, Hyde Park on Hudson, Imogene, Jane Fonda, Joaquin Phoenix, Joe Wright, John Hawkes, Julianne Moore, Keira Knightley, Laura Linney, Les Miserables, Lincoln, love, Lucy Alibar, Marvel, olivia colman, Olivia Williams, Oscar Circuit, oscar predictions, Paul Thomas Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, Roger Michell, the avengers, the dark knight rises, The English Teacher, The Great Gatsby, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Master, The Sessions, tobey maguire, Tom Hardy, Tom Hooper, Woody Harrelson
 Directed by: Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini
Written by: Michelle Morgan
Cast: Kriten Wiig, Darren Criss, Annette Bening, Matt Dillon, Natasha Lyonne, June Diane Raphael, Ronald Guttman, Michelle Hurt, Gil O’Brien, Mickey Sumner, and Nathan Corddry
Synopsis (courtesy of the website IMDb): A playwright stages a suicide in an attempt to win back her ex, only to wind up in the custody of her gambling-addict mother.
Read more on Awards Profile: Imogene…
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