 Ryan Gosling’s acting career is so hot right now that any move he makes will be highly anticipated. Which is why it’s pleasantly surprising that the news today isn’t about his acting career, rather his choice to make his directorial debut. The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Gosling is set to direct How to Catch a Monster, from a screenplay he and Sierra Affinity wrote. Described as a fantasy noir, the film will star Ryan’s Drive co-star Christina Hendricks. The film, which Gosling is producing via his Phantasma production company along with Marc Platt and Adam Siegel of Marc Platt Productions and Michel Litvak and David Lancaster of Bold Films, will be shopped to foreign buyers at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Read more on Ryan Gosling and Christina Hendricks to team up for his directorial debut ‘How to Catch a Monster’!…
 ‘Drive’ author James Sallis has been making the rounds on his new book, a sequel called ‘Driven’, and apparently he’s been talking about a new film potentially coming to pass. Collider reports here that Sallis is saying that ‘Driven’ is in the earliest stages of development and that Nicolas Winding Refn is open to directing it at some point in the future. Obviously most of this is speculation and/or wishful thinking, but if he could get Ryan Gosling back in the jacket, who among us would be complaining, right? Anyway, after the jump you can see what the book is about (I’m going to be reading it shortly…the book ‘Drive’ was pretty different from the film, so I expect this won’t be a huge spoiler if it ever happens), and stay tuned for more on this project if/when it develops further!
Read more on Sequel to ‘Drive’ in the works…
 To be sure, an online award voted on solely by the Italian public isn’t exactly a high profile precursor or anything (more than partly due to coming a few months after the Oscars…among other things), but any award that recognizes ‘Drive’ as its Best Picture and Nicolas Winding Refn as its Best Director is good in my book. Throw in other winners like Michael Fassbender for Best Actor and Carey Mulligan for Best Supporting Actress (both for ‘Shame’), and this is well worth sharing. You can see the full list of winners after the jump, but I’ll just say this…if only the Oscars could have looked more like this last year, then we’d all be a lot happier I think. Alas…
Read more on The Italian Online Movie Awards Honor ‘Drive’ with Best Picture!…
 In case you missed the announcement during the LIVE Blog last night, Steve McQueen’s emotionally resonate film, “Shame” won the fifth season of the Awards Circuit’s Academy Idol.
The film starring Michael Fassbender and Academy Award Nominee Carey Mulligan beat presumed early frontrunner, “Drive.” Both films had never been in the Bottom Three or Two during the voting weeks. Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive” is also the second runner-up in history, joining Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight,” to never be in the bottom three and lose the title. This is also the first time that the ACCA winner (“The Artist”) did not make the finale. “Shame” also has the smallest box office of any previous Idol winner.
Thanks to all our readership for a productive and amazing season of Academy Idol. Make sure to join us in November when we do it all over again.
Read more on Academy Idol Winner is…Shame…
 Much like Kris Tapley over at In Contention does his list of the 10 best shots of each year, I like to do something similar as well here at The Awards Circuit. The wrinkle for me is that I go with the best/most memorable scenes of the year. It’s also kind of a tie in/companion piece with my article on what films from 2011 will stand the test of time. I couldn’t limit it to just 10, so I included 5 of the 15 runners-up and came up with 15 different scenes that were my personal favorites. 8 of my 10 favorite films of 2011 are on the final cut of the list (all wound up in the piece though when you factor in the honorable mentions), but overall I think these are going to be widely considered some of the best scenes of the year. Of course, I’m eager to read what you all have to say/view as the best of the year as well, so we’ll get to that at the end. For now, let’s get on with it and talk about the best scenes from 2011!
Read more on Which Scenes from 2011 will you remember?…
Categories: Article Tags: Another Earth, Bellflower, Best of the year, Bridesmaids, Crazy Stupid Love, Drive, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Hugo, Like Crazy, lists, Margaret, Midnight in Paris, Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, Moneyball, random, Red State, Shame, Super 8, the artist, The Beaver, The Descendants, the girl with the dragon tattoo, The Ides of March, The Muppets, The Tree of Life, Warrior, We Bought a Zoo
 The 2011 Awards Circuit Community Awards was one of the most diverse and hottest choices this side of the internet. This is the only site that gives its readership a voice to name his/her favorite films and performances of the year. With a wide open Oscar race, the ACCA race followed suit as you will see from the winners.
“The Artist” led the nomination tally with eleven while Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive” and David Yates’ “Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ both scored nine nominations each. It looked like it was anyone’s game.
Check out the winners on the 2011 ACCA page (with pictures) and make sure to comment either here or on the ACCA page. Read more on 2011 ACCA Winners Announced!…
 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…
Read more on Oscar Circuit: Best Sound Editing…
 Every year, even though the vast majority of movie releases are all but instantly forgettable, we have some films come out that you just know will be still remembered fondly 25 years later. 2011 was no exception. It’s a bit early to know which will survive the test of time, but I’m willing to bet that a number of them will. As much as anything, it’s a situation where you have to imagine what films will be talked about in film school, among scholars, or even just over some dinner among family and/or friends. For example, last year I look at The Social Network and Inception as two films that definitely will be remembered, and they’re hardly the only ons from 2010. For 2011, there’s a half dozen that spring to mind for me, and not all of them are films I particularly love. For example, I love Red State, and while I think it will forever remain a notable entry into Kevin Smith’s oeuvre, for the general film community it’s of little note. There are also films like Bellflower and Margin Call that announced interesting new filmmakers, but likely will be looked back on to a lesser degree than the films to come. I have a half dozen contenders for the “test of time” throne from 2011. Let’s get started, shall we?
Read more on Which Films Can Stand the Test of Time?…
 Thanks to Sasha Stone @ Awards Daily
FEATURE FILMS CATEGORY
BEST SOUND EDITING: SOUND EFFECTS AND FOLEY IN A FEATURE FILM
- Drive
- Fast Five
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
Read more on MPSE Sound Editors Nominees…
Categories: News, Precursors Tags: Drive, Fast Five, Hop, Hugo, Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, news, Precursors, Priest, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, sound, Sound Editing, Super 8, the girl with the dragon tattoo, The Tree of Life, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, war horse
 AlbertBrooks
The “Drive” co-star thanks all of our faithful readers for his Supporting Actor nomination in our annual Community Awards. Congratulations!
Read more on Albert Brooks Thanks the Readers of the Awards Circuit!…
 Excellence in Period Film:
“The Artist” (Mark Bridges)
“Jane Eyre” (Michael O’Connor)
“The Help” (Sharen Davis)
“Hugo” (Sandy Powell)
“W.E.” (Arianne Phillips)
Excellence in Fantasy Film:
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ (Jany Temime)
“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” (Penny Rose)
“Red Riding Hood” (Cindy Evans)
“Thor” (Alexandra Byrne)
“X-Men: First Class” (Sammy Sheldon)
Excellence in Contemporary Film:
“Bridesmaids” (Leesa Evans & Christine Wada)
“The Descendants (Wendy Chuck)
“Drive” (Erin Benach)
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (Trish Summerville)
“Melancholia” (Manon Rasmussen) Read more on Costume Design Guild Nominations…
Categories: News, Precursors Tags: Best Costume Design, Bridesmaids, Drive, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, Hugo, Jane Eyre, Melancholia, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Precursors, the artist, The Descendants, the girl with the dragon tattoo, The Help, Thor, W.E., X-Men: First Class
 Often called “the invisible art” of the movies, editing is a crucial and frequently undervalued (and misunderstood) element of filmmaking. Even more debatable is how to judge what “best” editing entails. Is it more commendable when an editor cuts a mediocre film out of pure garbage, or if they simply make impeccable footage flow well for the finished product? Is a film full of quick cuts more award-worthy than one comprised of long takes? Can we even compare the editing of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol to the editing of The Tree of Life? These are questions that even die-hard cinephiles have a hard time addressing, and Academy members – at least based on their voting habits – don’t really bother with. The rule of “Most” applies here as always; thrillers with tons of cuts and ensemble films split across multiple plot strands have a historical advantage here. More importantly, however, is just how crucial this category is to the Best Picture race. Simply put, it is very rare for a film to win the top prize without a Best Editing nod. The last one to do so was Ordinary People…31 years ago. So with that, let’s see what we’ve got…
Read more on Sizing Up the Best Film Editing Field…
 “The Artist” and “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” lead the way with the BAFTA Nominations. The most exciting is Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive” was nominated for Best Film and Director but Ryan Gosling and Albert Brooks were snubbed in their respective categories. Carey Mulligan will be the sole representation for the acting ensemble with her supporting nomination. Usual British suspects like “The Iron Lady” made a strong showing for both Meryl Streep and co-star Jim Broadbent. ”The Help” made a very strong showing for Best Film, Actress, and double Supporting Actress mentions. Alexander Payne’s “The Descendants” could only get three mentions including Film, Lead Actor, and Adapted Screenplay. Check out all the nominations after the jump.
Read more on ‘Tinker Tailor’ makes a big showing with BAFTA!…
- It was another busy and exciting week here at The Awards Circuit. Perhaps the most important event that came out of the week were the airings of the first two major awards shows of the season, and our coverage of them: The 38th Annual People’s Choice Awards and The 17th Annual Critic’s Choice Awards. While the former awards show rarely has an impact on Oscar season, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 did receive widespread love by the fans by winning the award for “Favorite Movie.” Will Academy voters finally start paying attention, and place the final “Potter” film on the nomination list, announcing January 24th? Time will tell, but we hold our breath in suspense. As for the the Critic’s Choice Awards, The Artist won big, and it was a joyous occasion LIVE blogging with fellow readers, who provided astute, hilarious, and knowledgeable insight in the LIVE blog discussion. Your involvement is always treasured.
Read more on Circuit Roundup (Week Ending 01/15)…
Categories: Circuit Round-Up Tags: anna belickis, clayton davis, Contraband, Declaration Of War, Drive, golden globe predictions, Joey Magidson, John H. Foote, Joseph Braverman, Michael Ward, nbc, Newlyweds, Oscar hopefuls, pariah, Robert Hamer, Steven Spielberg, the artist, the critics choice awards
 The general Oscar prognostication consensus about ‘Drive’ has been for most of the season that it’s going to be one of the sadder snubs of the year at the Oscars, save for Albert Brooks in Best Supporting Actor. Ryan Gosling has a chance because of the year he’s having, but Picture, Director, and Adapted Screenplay has always seemed like wishful thinking, with the techs a question mark. I’m here to say that we might be underestimating this flick, and I’m pleased to write that it’s still in the race. Scott Feinberg recently tweeted his similar thoughts, writing “This may yet change, but I am now of the opinion that DRIVE will score a best picture Oscar nomination. I think it has 250 1st place votes.” This is something I’ve been saying for a bit, but always with a bit of hesitance, knowing the film was a longer shot than many others currently in the race. Passionately loved films like this could very well get the necessary 1st place votes to score a nomination, but if it doesn’t show up on any other ballots in the 2nd or 3rd slots, then it doesn’t have the widespread support it needs (more on this later). Despite not receiving a nomination from the Producer’s Guild, I see some Oscar love in this flick’s future.
Read more on Are there enough #1 votes for ‘Drive’ to make Best Picture?…
 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.
Read more on Awards Circuit Staff Top Ten of 2011…
Categories: Community, Editor, Staff Tags: Beginners, Bellflower, Best of the year, Bridesmaids, Certified Copy, Crazy Stupid Love, Drive, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Horrible Bosses, Hugo, Insidious, Melancholia, Midnight in Paris, Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, Moneyball, Of Gods And Men, Project Nim, Rango, Red State, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Shame, The Adventures Of Tintin, the artist, The Beaver, The Descendants, The Help, The Ides of March, The Interrupters, The Muppets, The Tree of Life, Top Tens, war horse, Warrior, We Need To Talk About Kevin, Weekend, Win Win, Young Adult
 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)…
Read more on Year-In-Review: 2011 Davis’ Film Awards (Editors’ Choices)…
Categories: Community, Editor Tags: Best of the year, Davis Film Awards, Drive, Editor, Editor's Picks, extremely loud and incredibly close, Moneyball, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Shame, the artist, The Help, The Ides of March
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Ryan Gosling’s acting career is so hot right now that any move he makes will be highly anticipated. Which is why it’s pleasantly surprising that the news today isn’t about his acting career, rather his choice to make his directorial debut. The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Gosling is set to direct How to Catch a Monster, from a screenplay he and Sierra Affinity wrote. Described as a fantasy noir, the film will star Ryan’s Drive co-star Christina Hendricks. The film, which Gosling is producing via his Phantasma production company along with Marc Platt and Adam Siegel of Marc Platt Productions and Michel Litvak and David Lancaster of Bold Films, will be shopped to foreign buyers at the Toronto International Film Festival.
