Almost exactly a year ago, I mentioned Ben Affleck’s film Argoas a potential Best Picture winner at the 85th Academy Awards. We had just finished the prior season and with The Artist about to be crowned an Oscar winner, the staff of The Awards Circuit had turned our attention to this potential crop. I wasn’t making any huge claims, but merely saying that it had a shot if things broke the right way. Little did I know what was to come over the course of a year, but we wound up with Argo winning. As fall changed to winter, I wasn’t alone in that line of thinking, but as the calendar changed from 2012 to 2013 and the especially when Affleck was snubbed for Best Director, few stuck with that prediction. The thing is, it was always going to be Argo in the end. We all just over thought things (yes, even I briefly predicted Zero Dark Thirty for a week or two and once even contemplated a Silver Linings Playbook upset) and made the job harder.
Well it happened, ladies and gents! Ben Affleck’s mega-popular Argo “Crash“-ed its way to “Best Picture” victory. Just like Paul Haggis’ come-from-behind champion in 2006, Argo took home the very same wins in the very same categories (Picture, Screenplay, and Editing), in addition to being announced the winner by Jack Nicholson yet again. The Crash deja vu didn’t stop there — Ang Lee sailed past Steven Spielberg to win the “Best Director” prize, with his competing film once again losing to a movie that only garnered three wins total for the night, and again was proclaimed the victor by Jack Nicholson. History repeats itself folks, but in this case I couldn’t have been happier. Affleck’s tearful yet gracious speech, coupled with Argo’s impressive dominance throughout the awards season, made for a fitting end to a very competitive race where we still didn’t fully know what would happen until the last word was uttered by guest-presenter, Michelle Obama. Check out the full winners here, and thanks again for participating in our LIVE Blog and tuning in for Sunday’s last-minute LIVE Power Hour episode. Read more on Circuit Round-Up (Week Ending 2/24)…
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)…
(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)
It’s here, the Big One. The Oscars are finally upon us, generating a frenzy of excitement and a torrent of ever-changing predictions in its path to the big stage on Sunday. This is the highly anticipated annual organized free-for-all when ideals shatter, frustrations bubble over, and sometimes (though not often) pleasant surprises challenge the odds. The final results could go any which way, and especially in such a quality-loaded year, it’s been a dizzying process trying to peg the sway of Academy Voters. Finally dashing aside unrealistically hopeful designs of one candidate over another, I’ve joined my Awards Circuit colleagues in settling on the probable winners, though not without putting up a fight for my preferred winners. In the spirit of the games, here are my “Win Will/Should Win” Oscar Selections: Read more on Oscar 2013 Will Win/Should Win Selections (Melkonian)…
Alan Arkin – Argo Oscar Scene: “Argo fuck yourself”
Robert De Niro – Silver Linings Playbook Oscar Scene: “When life reaches out with a woman like this it’s a sin if you don’t reach back, I’m telling you its a sin if you don’t reach back!”
Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Master Oscar Scene: Lancaster Dodd processing Freddie Quell
Tommy Lee Jones – Lincoln Oscar Scene: Thaddeus Stevens facing off with Mary Todd Lincoln
Christoph Waltz – Django Unchained Oscar Scene: Dr. King Shultz introducing himself to Django
There may be no category as up in the air this time around as Best Supporting Actor. Very few people are confident about their picks, and this is certainly as wide open as any the category has seen in years. It’s also noteworthy for featuring five nominees who are each prior winners, including one actor seeking his third Oscar. At least a three horse race, Best Supporting Actor may very well come down to who actually gave the best performance of the group. There are 100% other factors to consider, but with this tight a contest, it’s conceivable that voters actually took quality into account. The gentlemen nominated all are favorite sons to one degree or another, so lets dive in and take a look at them, shall we?
(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)
We’re just one week away from the 85th Annual Academy Awards, and the love for Argo continues to pile up even in these last few crucial days. In the latest Power Hour, The Awards Circuit staff discussed how the USC Scripter Awards and BAFTAs — both, of course, went for Ben Affleck’s awards sweeper — affects the Oscar® race. It’s a no-brainer where Argo’s headed, but is Emmanuelle Riva’ssurprise victory over Jennifer Lawrence at the BAFTAs a sign that her birthday will be extra special come Oscar night? We shall soon find out. Read more on Circuit Round-Up (Week Ending 2/17)…
Add another guild win to Argo‘s impressive tally, as the American Cinema Editors honored William Goldberg’s work on the film with the Best Edited Feature (Dramatic) prize. The 63rd annual ACE Eddie Awards, held last night, celebrate the best in editing for the year. Also picking up prizes for film editing were Silver Linings Playbook, Brave, and Searching For Sugar Man. Stephen Spielberg, Richard Marks and Larry Silk all received special honors at the ceremony. Check out the full list of winner after the jump! Read more on American Cinema Editors crown ‘Argo’, ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ and ‘Brave’…
The Writers Guild of America will be announcing their winners tomorrow, Sunday, February 17. All season long there have been many instances, which I’m just as guilty of, where we doubt Argo’s chances in an awards show. The BFCA and Golden Globes seemed expected. The Producers Guild of America was cool. The SAG Ensemble win was jaw-dropping. The Directors Guild of America was a fine achievement and something that should have happened anyway. For me, the BAFTA win was very telling since Argo never seemed like it would appeal to an overseas group like BAFTA when films like LesMiserables and Life of Pi were nominated alongside it.
ChrisTerrio’s script is beloved among critics and audiences however, of all the seven nominations that Argo has received with the Academy Awards, the Adapted Screenplay category is clearly a three-horse race with Tony Kushner (Lincoln) and David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook). Please note the WGA is not an indicator of Best Picture like PGA, DGA, and SAG. This is citing the screenplay and the screenplay alone. If that was the case, masterpieces like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) would have had more a shot for a Motion Picture mention. Read more on 2013 Writers Guild of America Preview…
The Oscars are less than two weeks away. It seems everyone and his mother is choosing Argo to take it all in the end, which is perfectly sound since the film did pick up Producers Guild, Directors Guild, SAG Ensemble, Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and – a bit surprisingly – BAFTA. If Ben Affleck had been nominated for Best Director, there would be no argument that the film would be taking it on Oscar night, but Affleck was snubbed, and 2012 was an amazing year for cinema. I suspect Oscar is going to want to spread their love in a lot of areas for different films.
Argo is nominated for seven Oscars, with two of them being in Sound Mixing and Sound Editing – two categories I wouldn’t name as Argo‘s strong points. Terence said it best on this week’s Power Hour, Argo winning Best Picture is an expected achievement, but there are some problems with the thinking that the film could pull in a sweep in categories like Sound Mixing, Original Score, and Adapted Screenplay. The LA Times article that cited the votes of four Academy members had some scratching their heads, as they went for their favorite film in every single category in which it was nominated. Read more on Oscar Predictions – State of the Race and Peaking at Oscar Ballots…
Argo - John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Jose Antonio Garcia
Les Miserables - Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes
Life of Pi - Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill and Drew Kunin
Lincoln - Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Ronald Judkins
Skyfall - Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell and Stuart Wilson
Arguably one of the most competitive years in Oscar history, the Sound Mixing category follows the same suit where any of the five nominated films can win. While there are some nominations that are questionable, there’s no denying the multitude and passion these mixers have for their craft. As many eyes that read this article can easily name the stars of Argo, the person who played Mary Todd Lincoln, not many, I dare to say any, can name any Sound Mixers besides the ones that follow in line with Oscar. If there are unsung heroes of cinema, a Sound craftsman (or woman) is near the top of the list. Read more on Oscar Circuit: Sound Mixing…
Original Score is one of the most interesting categories year in and year out, with the list of films that were disqualified being almost as good of a list as the nominees. This year was not only a great year for film but film music, with the 5 nominees beating out many worthy adversaries to make it in the Oscar lineup.
The nominees are:
Anna Karenina – Dario Marinelli Argo – Alexandre Desalt Life of Pi – Mychael Danna Lincoln – John Williams Skyfall – Thomas Newman
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.”
Ben Affleck’s Argo beat out some incredible competition to win the University of Southern California Scripter Award last night. The film which has picked up a considerable amount of momentum since Oscar nominations were announced January 10, topped the category over presumed frontrunner Tony Kushner for penning Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln.
Oscar ballots were just sent out the past week and one has to wonder if Chris Terrio can manage an upset over Kushner and even David O. Russell in Adapted Screenplay on Oscar night? The USC Scripter Award has predicted the winner of Adapted Screenplay since 2007, with all its winner going on to win Oscar.
We are now officially two weeks away from Oscar Sunday, which only means The Awards Circuit is working double-time to bring you the latest and greatest in awards news. We started off our charitable offerings with some fun yet informative banter on Power Hour, each of us sharing our thoughts on the state of the race (as in: Argo or Lincoln; ignore ALL else). On top of revealing who went home on Academy Idol — the most shocking elimination of the season, by the way — Editor-in-Chief Clayton Davis was proud to announce your 2012 Awards Circuit Community Award nominees! I hope a vast majority of your votes made an impact on this year’s ACCA lineup. Also, don’t forget to keep voting while the polls remain open! Read more on Circuit Round-Up (Week Ending 2/10)…
The USC Scripter awards are tonight and you can watch the live stream here at the Awards Circuit. At the Oscars, the category that will most likely reveal early on what will win Best Picture is Adapted Screenplay, where Tony Kushner (Lincoln), Chris Terrio (Argo), and David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook) will all go head to head. Along with the awards that the Writers Guild of America will present (on February 17th), the Scripter might be one of the last hopes any film not named Argo has at winning the big prize at Oscar. In other words, if Argo takes both Scripter and WGA, it would be the proverbial nail in the coffin. What I really like about the Scripter is that it honors both the original work and the adaptation.
Argo – William Goldenberg Life of Pi – Tim Squyres Lincoln – Michael Kahn Silver Linings Playbook – Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers Zero Dark Thirty – Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg
As Ben Affleck’s Argo builds momentum, some of which many of us didn’t expect, it’s looking more and more likely that the film could be crowned the winner on Oscar night. While many of us are talking about the film being the film since Driving Miss Daisy (1989) to win the top award without a Directing nomination attached. I’m taking it a step further. Argo could be the first film since Grand Hotel (1932) to win Best Picture along with no other Oscar. What makes Grand Hotel a true anomaly is Edmund Golding’s film was only nominated for Best Picture with no acting, directing, screenplay, or editing. A clean sweep so to speak. Argo could be heading for an Oscar win for Best Motion Picture and that’s all. Read more on How ‘Argo’ Looks More Like ‘Hotel’ than ‘Daisy’…
Just when The Awards Circuit thought Argo would put the brakes on its steamrolling of the competition, it shocks us again with key victories at SAG and DGA. It’s now abundantly clear that Ben Affleck’s third directorial outing is the frontrunner heading into the Oscar ceremony. Read more on Circuit Round-Up (Week Ending 2/3)…
The Directors Guild of America will be announcing their winners later today. The big question is Ben Affleck and Argo making the uphill climb to win Best Picture on Oscar night. While, I’m not totally convinced yet, I do believe it is very much in the running with Lincoln.
A lot of money has been put behind Lincoln’s campaign and it is the type of film that usually gains voters attention à la The King’s Speech and Shakespeare in Love. The period piece with an outstanding performance by one of the greatest living actors is sure to pull some votes. If Argo is winning Best Picture though, who is winning Best Director?
Speculation exists that Spielberg could be winning in a walk but I think if Spielberg is winning Director, Picture should come without question. If Lincoln is in fact, losing Best Picture, I’d expect someone like Ang Lee or even more surprising, Michael Haneke or David O. Russell to pull it off.
The DGA will prove Argo’s power. We’ll be talking in-depth analysis on Sunday’s Power Hour, so make sure you stand by for that.
Almost exactly a year ago, I mentioned Ben Affleck’s film Argo as a potential Best Picture winner at the 85th Academy Awards. We had just finished the prior season and with The Artist about to be crowned an Oscar winner, the staff of The Awards Circuit had turned our attention to this potential crop. I wasn’t making any huge claims, but merely saying that it had a shot if things broke the right way. Little did I know what was to come over the course of a year, but we wound up with Argo winning. As fall changed to winter, I wasn’t alone in that line of thinking, but as the calendar changed from 2012 to 2013 and the especially when Affleck was snubbed for Best Director, few stuck with that prediction. The thing is, it was always going to be Argo in the end. We all just over thought things (yes, even I briefly predicted Zero Dark Thirty for a week or two and once even contemplated a Silver Linings Playbook upset) and made the job harder.
Add another guild win to Argo‘s impressive tally, as the American Cinema Editors honored William Goldberg’s work on the film with the Best Edited Feature (Dramatic) prize. The 63rd annual ACE Eddie Awards, held last night, celebrate the best in editing for the year. Also picking up prizes for film editing were Silver Linings Playbook, Brave, and Searching For Sugar Man. Stephen Spielberg, Richard Marks and Larry Silk all received special honors at the ceremony. Check out the full list of winner after the jump! 
Original Score is one of the most interesting categories year in and year out, with the list of films that were disqualified being almost as good of a list as the nominees. This year was not only a great year for film but film music, with the 5 nominees beating out many worthy adversaries to make it in the Oscar lineup.
