 It’s time to dive, dive in deep…well, at least as deep as you can in May. As I attempted to unveil the newest set of Oscar Predictions, I realized how many promising films are left to be seen in the remaining seven months. As of now, the only real Best Picture contender that has the legs to make it until the end of the year would be Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell, and that’s a longshot at best given its genre. You can make arguments for films like The Place Beyond the Pines by Derek Cianfrance and even Mud by Jeff Nichols but those will need a well-placed DVD release with a focused campaign, something I’m not sure the studios are willing to bet on. Cianfrance’s film also has an outside shot for Screenplay and a Supporting Actor mention for Ryan Gosling. If anything, this helps him for Nicolas Winding Refn’s Only God Forgives, if they’re feeling like recognizing him a second time. It feels like eons ago when Gosling was nominated for Ryan Fleck’s Half Nelson (2006) and then later missed other opportunities for Lars and the Real Girl (2007), Blue Valentine (2010), and Drive (2011). Not sure when it will be before he gets back onto the Oscar radar.
Down below, why don’t we start taking a look at the slate by each studio and assess where their money will and should go throughout the season. Read more on Oscar Circuit – The Studio Assessment Part 1…
Categories: Article, Editor, Oscar Circuit, Oscar Predictions Tags: 2014 Oscar Predictions, Academy Awards, Alfonso Cuarón, American Hustle, August: Osage County, Before Midnight, Ben Stiller, Blue Jasmine, Bruce Dern, Cameron Diaz, Captain Phillips, Dane DeHaan, David O. Russell, Editor, Ethan Hawke, Foxcatcher, George Clooney, Gravity, Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, John Wells, Julie Delpy, Kill Your Darlings, Kristin Wiig, Leonardo DiCaprio, Man of Steel, Maria Bello, Martin Scorsese, Matthew McConaughey, melissa leo, Michael Fassbender, Mud, Nebraska, Oscar Circuit, Pacific Rim, Paul Greengrass, Penelope Cruz, Peter Jackson, Prisoners, Richard Linklater, Ridley Scott, Ryan Gosling, Sarah Polley, Shirley MacLaine, Sony Pictures Classics, Steve Carell, Steve McQueen, Stories We Tell, The Counselor, The Great Gatsby, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, The Place Beyond the Pines, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The Seventh Son, The Way Way Back, The Wolf of Wall Street, tom hanks, Twelve Years A Slave, Viola Davis, Woody Allen
 Years from now when I think back on 2012 and what it had to offer, I’m sure the cinematic landscape that was presented will surely stick out as many directors and filmmakers pushed the thematic narrative with breathtaking visuals, stupendous performances, and uniquely driven story structures. One thing that will be near the top was the daunting task the Academy, pundits, and even myself, had in narrowing down the Lead Actor race to five simple slots.
There were debates going back and forth about who deserved a spot, who was miscategorized, and who was given the light of a day for consideration. The Academy did an admirable job and when push comes to shove, these five performances that are nominated are all worthy of citation and acceptable as a Best Actor winner.
The Nominees Are:
- Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
- Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
- Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables
- Joaquin Phoenix - The Master
- Denzel Washington - Flight
Read the breakdown of each nominee below:
Read more on Oscar Circuit: Best Actor…
Categories: Article, Editor, Oscar Circuit Tags: Best Actor, Bradley Cooper, Daniel Day-Lewis, Denzel Washington, Flight, Hugh Jackman, Joaquin Phoenix, Les Miserables, Lincoln, Oscar Circuit, Silver Linings Playbook, The Master
 Personally, I don’t understand the nominations this year! I don’t agree with them! I mean, who, in their right mind, would nominate ‘The Pirates! Band of Misfits‘ (Sony) over ‘Rise of the Guardians‘ (Par/DW) or ‘ParaNorman‘ (Focus) over ‘The Lorax‘ (Uni.)?! I am baffled by the official Oscar nominations for this category. Robbing the Paramount/DreamWorks studios of a nomination, though I do feel ‘Brave’ and ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ (BV) deserve the nominations. And why didn’t ‘Ice Age‘ get nominated? Enough speculation…
And the Nominees Are…
Brave — Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
Frankenweenie — Tim Burton
ParaNorman — Sam Fell and Chris Butler
The Pirates! Band of Misfits — Peter Lord
Wreck-It Ralph — Rich Moore Read more on Oscar Circuit: Animated Feature…
 And the Nominees are…
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?
Read more on Oscar Circuit: Best Supporting Actor…
Categories: Article, Oscar Circuit Tags: Argo, Best Supporting Actor, Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained, Lincoln, Oscar Circuit, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook, The Master, Tommy Lee Jones
 It is the costume designer’s job to properly design a wardrobe of costumes that symbolize the characters in a film and to set the right mood for every scene. The following nominees did a fantastic job completing this task.
And the nominees are…
- Anna Karenina- Jacqueline Durran
- Les Miserables- Paco Delgado
- Lincoln- Joanna Johnston
- Mirror Mirror- Eiko Ishioka
- Snow White & The Huntsman- Colleen Atwood
It’s no lie Oscar voters tend to go for a particular style of costumes. With past winners including Alice in Wonderland, Young Victoria, The Duchess, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Marie Antoniette, and Memoirs of a Geisha, it’s easy to see Oscar voters like elaborate costumes. But sometimes we get fooled and films like The Aviator and The Artist take the top honor. I can’t say I disagree with their voting process; if I was voting I too would vote for the costumes that pay the most attention to detail over a simple suit. This category has been locked up for a while with Anna Karenina winning most of the costume design awards. Let’s review the nominees for Best Costume Design. Read more on Oscar Circuit: Best Costume Design…
Categories: Oscar Circuit Tags: Anna Karenina, Best Costume Design, Colleen Atwood, Eiko Ishioka, Final Oscar Predictions, Jacqueline Durran, Joanna Johnston, Les Miserables, Lincoln, Mirror Mirror, Oscar Circuit, Paco Delgado, Snow White and the Huntsman, The Academy Awards
- 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’s surprise 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)…
Read more on Circuit Round-Up (Week Ending 2/17)…
Categories: Circuit Round-Up Tags: american idol, Argo, BAFTA, Emmanuelle Riva, joeys dvd pick of the week, Oscar Circuit, oscar predictions 2013, Oscars, oscars will win should win, Quentin Tarantino, Skyfall, USC Scripter, WGA Awards
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.
Read more on Oscar Circuit: Best Original Screenplay…
- 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)…
Read more on Circuit Round-Up (Week Ending 2/10)…
Categories: Circuit Round-Up Tags: anna belickis, Argo, Awards Circuit Power Hour, clayton davis, Joey Magidson, joeys dvd pick of the week, Joseph Braverman, Mark Johnson, Mike Ward, Nicole Melkonian, Oscar Circuit, Paul Thomas Anderson, Robert Hamer, Side by Side, Sundance, Terence Johnson, Tiff Chai, Top Gun, ves
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.
Read more on Oscar Circuit: Best Foreign Language Film…
And the nominees are:
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
Read more on Oscar Circuit: Film Editing…
Categories: Oscar Circuit Tags: AMPAS, Argo, Dylan Tichenor, Film Editing, Film Editing Oscar, Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Michael Kahn, Oscar Circuit, Oscar Circuit: Film Editing, oscar predictions, Oscars, Silver Linings Playbook, Tim Squyres, William Goldenberg, Zero Dark Thirty
 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.
Read more on Oscar Circuit: Best Actress…
Categories: Oscar Circuit Tags: Amour, Anna Karenina, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Best Actress, Deep Blue Sea, Emmanuelle Riva, Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain, Keira Knightley, Marion Cotillard, naomi watts, Oscar Circuit, Oscars, Quvenzhané Wallis, Rachel Weisz, Rust &Bone, Silver Linings Playbook, The Impossible, Zero Dark Thirty
 Supporting Actress has proven to be one of the best categories recently for the Academy Awards. For every year there was a clear front runner (Spencer, Monique, Hudson), there was another year when we had no idea who was winning (Leo, Swinton, Weisz, Cruz). Although after a few award shows, it’s clear that this year’s race is shaping up to be one of those “Frontrunner wins everything” years, there’s still an interesting slate of nominees and narratives to discuss.
And the nominees are…
Amy Adams, The Master
Sally Field, Lincoln
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook Read more on Oscar Circuit: Supporting Actress…
Categories: Oscar Circuit Tags: Amy Adams, Anne Hathaway, Film, Helen Hunt, Jacki Weaver, Les Miserables, Lincoln, Oscar Circuit, Sally Field, Silver Linings Playbook, Supporting Actress, Terence Johnson, The Master, The Sessions
- 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)…
Read more on Circuit Round-Up (Week Ending 2/3)…
Categories: Circuit Round-Up Tags: anna belickis, Argo, Awards Circuit Power Hour, Ben Affleck, Christian Bale, clayton davis, DGA, Joey Magidson, joeys dvd pick of the week, Joseph Braverman, Mark Johnson, Michael Ward, Nicole Melkonian, Oscar Circuit, Robert Hamer, SAG, seven psychopaths, Sundance Film Festival, Terence Johnson, Tiff Chai
 New name. Same Category. The Academy Award for Best Production Design celebrates the best in art direction and set design. Production designers have an incredibly difficult role in the making of film. Whether it’s a fantasy film set in far off world or a recreation of a historical building, production designers create the physical building blocks that allow us into the world of the film. Last year this award (called the Academy Award for Art Direction), went to Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo for Hugo.
And the 2012 Nominees are…
Sarah Greenwood – Anna Karenina
Dan Hennah – The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Eve Stewart – Les Miserables
David Gropman – Life of Pi
Rick Carter, Jim Erickson, and Peter T. Frank – Lincoln Read more on Oscar Circuit: Best Production Design…
Categories: Oscar Circuit Tags: Anna Karenina, Dan Hennah, David Gropman, Eve Stewart, Jim Erickson, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Oscar, Oscar Circuit, Rick Carter, Sarah Greenwood, Terence Johnson, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
The 2011 Oscar winners for Best Documentary Feature Film, “Undefeated” – (L-R) Rich Middlemas, T.J. Martin, and Daniel Lindsay.
In a strong and impressive year for movies, 2012 has not only given us the most compelling Oscar race in years, but in terms of documentary filmmaking, one of the most richly rewarding years the genre has ever seen. As many proclaim this to be a new Golden Age for documentaries, with more and more of them finding theaters each year, the incredible rise to prominence of the documentary feature film has given much more renewed scrutiny to Oscar’s nomination process.
New rules implemented for 2012, which forced a film to not only play New York or Los Angeles for at least one 7-day stretch but to also have a review written in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, was intended to make the process easier. However, savvy film and PR agents found a soft spot in the rules and the 2012 documentary season fell into loophole madness. The loophole is a rather obvious one – the PR reps, festival programmers, and theater managers of participating theaters simply booked documentaries for a minimum of one week’s time, invited reviewers from the New York and Los Angeles Times to write and publish reviews. Essentially, they qualified the film.
Famously, Documentary Branch chairman and Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore took to Twitter on more than one occasion during the voting cycle, bashing the process he helped implement and bemoaning the fact that nearly one hundred screeners arrived on approximately the same day, with just a few weeks left in the voting. When he tweeted the final 15 films which made Oscar’s shortlist, he praised the process and heralded the selections. Controversy, politics, and egos aside, these five Best Documentary nominees are unquestionably worthy and important films; the kind which haunt you long after the credits start rolling and/or the television is turned off.
The 2012 Nominees are:
- 5 Broken Cameras – Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi
- The Gatekeepers – Dror Moreh, Philippa Kowarsky, Estelle Fialon
- How To Survive A Plague – David France, Howard Gertler
- The Invisible War – Kirby Dick, Amy Ziering
- Searching For Sugar Man – Malik Bendjelloul, Simon Chinn
Read more on Oscar Circuit: Best Documentary Feature…
 And the Nominees are…
The Avengers – Janek Sirrs, Daniel Sudick, Jeff White, and Guy Williams
Oscar Scene: Hulk smashing
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – David Clayton, Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, and R. Christopher White
Oscar Scene: The introduction to Gollum
Life of Pi – Erik De Boer, Donald Elliott, Guillaume Rocheron, and Bill Westenhofer
Oscar Scene: Any involving Richard Parker
Prometheus – Charley Henley, Martin Hill, Richard Stammers, and Trevor Wood
Oscar Scene: The Opening Scene
Snow White and the Huntsman – Phil Brennan, Neil Corbould, Michael Dawson, and Cedric Nicolas-Troyan
Oscar Scene: The Mirror Man
A category often filled with summer blockbusters, it’s not every day that the Best Visual Effects field has a Best Picture nominee contained within it. That alone makes it one of the more interesting categories, but it’s hardly the only reason for that. Many of the other tech categories are harder for layman to comprehend and as such feel a bit exclusionary (Film Editing or Sound Mixing, for example), whereas this category is a lot simpler to wrap your brain around. This year, happen to have a bit of mix between high octane and low key contenders, which I find unique. Of the 5 nominees, it seems like more or less a 2 horse race. Which are they, you ask? Well, lets dive right in and find out!
Read more on Oscar Circuit: Best Visual Effects…
- As the talk of 2012 slowly comes to an end, The Awards Circuit moves forward by embracing the new film year. Joey Magidson and Terence Johnson spent a full nine days in Park City, Utah getting to know the films and filmmakers that could make a huge impact in 2013. Check out their interviews, reviews and daily video blogs for the latest Sundance reports. Be sure to also glance at the Sundance Award Winners, just announced last night. It’s no surprise that the festival’s big awards champion, Fruitvale, is now in the nurturing yet powerful hands of The Weinstein Company.
Read more on Circuit Round-Up (Week Ending 1/27)…
Read more on Circuit Round-Up (Week Ending 1/27)…
Categories: Circuit Round-Up Tags: anna belickis, Awards Circuit Power Hour, clayton davis, J.J. Abrams, Joey Magidson, Joey's DVD Picks of the Week, Joseph Braverman, Mark Johnson, Mike Ward, Nicole Melkonian, Oscar Circuit, PGA Awards, Robert Hamer, Star Wars, Sundance Film Festival, Terence Johnson, Tiff Chai
 Makeup can be a truly wonderful thing. I apply makeup to my face every morning and I am transformed into a better looking version of myself. In film, a makeup team is put together to transform an actor into their character. This team is compiled of artists with different talents ranging from hair design, to makeup design to creating prosthetics for the actor.
Read more on Oscar Circuit: Best Makeup…
 With two (really one) contender left to be unveiled, this is the most exciting awards race I’ve covered in all my years of Oscar prognosticating. Every category is competitive and with races like this, anything can happen. Along with updating the official Oscar Predictions, I’ve updated the major precursors such as the Golden Globe Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
As New York gets ready to lift on Monday, which I’ve attempted to take a stab at, the National Board of Review and Los Angeles Film Critics will start the chain reaction of the awards season. Before anyone knows the winners, I’m seeing this as a three-horse race between Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables, Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, and Ben Affleck’s Argo, more particularly the first two films. Currently I’m foreseeing Hooper’s film to lead the way on Oscar nomination morning with 13 nominations, assuming lead Hugh Jackman and standout Eddie Redmayne can plow through some of the veterans in their categories.
Read more on Oscar Circuit – Music vs. History…
Categories: Article, Editor, Oscar Circuit, Oscar Predictions Tags: Amy Adams, ang lee, Anne Hathaway, Ben Affleck, Ben Lewin, Bradley Cooper, Christoph Waltz, Daniel Day-Lewis, David Ayer, David O. Russell, Dennis Quaid, Denzel Washington, Dwight Henry, Eddie Redmayne, Editor, Emmanuelle Riva, Entertainment/Culture, Helen Hunt, Helen Mirren, Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain, Joaquin Phoenix, John Goodman, judi dench, kathryn bigelow, Keira Knightley, Leonardo DiCaprio, Les Miserables, Maggie Smith, Marion Cotillard, Mark Boal, Michael Haneke, Michael Pena, naomi watts, Oscar Circuit, oscar predictions 2013, Paul Thomas Anderson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Quentin Tarantino, Robert DeNiro, Sally Field, Samantha Barks, Samuel L. Jackson, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hooper, Tommy Lee Jones, Tony Kushner, Zero Dark Thirty
 As the awards season is underway, multiple scenarios are playing out in my mind suggesting what can occur for the remainder of the year. Films like The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Zero Dark Thirty are still sight unseen with Django Unchained and Promised Land about to get their first set of eyes. Last week Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables debuted a full-length trailer featuring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Eddie Redmayne, and Amanda Seyfried all showing some singing skills. Supporting Actress frontrunner Anne Hathaway was shown singing “I Dreamed a Dream” for the third time in the Universal Pictures marketing, which leads me to my point of the Oscar Circuit.
The trailer for Les Miserables didn’t do the film any favors. The clunky production design, unnecessary wide-angles, and even the live singing on set didn’t seem as great as I’d thought it’d be. In this latest round of Oscar Predictions, I’ve decided to back from Tom Hooper’s film a little bit. Where momentum and prestige is on the side of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln and Ben Affleck’s Argo, big stage musicals transferred to film aren’t always safe bets. What makes this notion of the film failing to impress even more compelling is Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master. If Anne Hathaway were to fall out of the Supporting Actress race, who could win the award in her absence? There are arguably three slots taken in Supporting Actress with Amy Adams (The Master), Sally Field (Lincoln), and Helen Hunt (The Sessions). If it’s between those three for the win, Adams will be on her fourth nomination with the other two ladies having Oscars already. Field herself would be 3 for 3 for Oscar nominations, something hard to envision happening. Hunt has had a hard time post-Oscar win and isn’t as beloved as her competitors. This could all work out for the young Amy Adams. Read more on Oscar Circuit – “Master” of Networking?…
Categories: Article, Editor, Oscar Circuit, Oscar Predictions Tags: Amanda Seyfried, Amy Adams, Anne Hathaway, Anthony Hopkins, Beatrice Straight, Ben Affleck, Bradley Cooper, Christoph Waltz, Daniel Day-Lewis, David O. Russell, Denzel Washington, Eddie Redmayne, Editor, Elia Kazan, Emmanuelle Riva (Amour), Entertainment/Culture, Faye Dunaway, golden globes, Hal Holbrook, Helen Hunt, Helen Mirren, Hugh Jackman, Human Interest, Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain, Joaquin Phoenix, John Hawkes, Karl Malden, kathryn bigelow, Keira Knightley, Kim Hunter, Lead Actor, Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Marlon Brando, Meryl Streep, Michael Haneke, naomi watts, Network, Nicholas Jarecki, Oscar, Oscar Circuit, oscar predictions 2013, Oscars, Paul Thomas Anderson, Peter Finch, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robert DeNiro, Russell Crowe, Sacha Gervasi, Sally Field (Lincoln), Samuel L. Jackson, Sidney Lumet, Steven Spielberg, Supporting Actress, The Hobbit, The Master, the Oscar, Tom Hooper, Vivien Leigh, William H. Macy
 Attempting to keep a pulse on the season has presented some challenges as of late for the 2013 Oscars and its predictions. It can be argued that we don’t have a front runner in any category despite some films having strong showings at festivals.
Best Picture has presented real challenges. Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln finally had its trailer début and all I could think about was War Horse (2011). The film didn’t scream high quality and I still believe Spielberg and the film aren’t rewarded unless it stands next to Saving Private Ryan (1998) and Schindler’s List (1993). The film doesn’t look to be of that caliber. I’ve dropped Spielberg from the Directing predictions for now until some praising reviews come. A “secret” screening in New Jersey suggested that the film is good, not great.
Because this year has looked like a question mark thus far, I’ve been saying to some of my colleagues, we could be in store for something unprecedented. This would be something like Michael Haneke’s Amour winning Best Picture, becoming the first foreign language film ever or Silver Linings Playbook, first dramedy to win the top award since Shakespeare in Love (1998). I’m not ready to go there yet though. I don’t know how the Academy will respond to Amour, a film all too real in this stage of their average 62-year aged life. Perhaps Oscar will listen to the critics for the first time in a while. This could work well for something like Ben Affleck’s Argo or Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, two films that could be critics’ darlings throughout the season. What if our Best Picture winner has already been released?
Read more on Oscar Circuit: “If I Had a Magic Lamp…”…
Categories: Article, Editor, Oscar Circuit Tags: Amour, ang lee, Anthony Hopkins, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Ben Affleck, Cinema of the United States, David O. Russell, Denzel Washington, Editor, Entertainment/Culture, Film, Gus Van Sant, Helen Mirren, Hitler, Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, john krasinski, Jude Law, kathryn bigelow, Leonardo DiCaprio, Les Miserables, Lincoln, Mark Boal, Matt Damon, Michael Haneke, Nick Nolte, Oscar, Oscar Circuit, Paul Thomas Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Zemeckis, Sacha Gervasi, Stephen Chbosky, the 2013 Oscars, The Master, Tom Hooper
 As Telluride and Venice ended and we sit in the heat that is the Toronto Film Festival, I’m updating Oscar Predictions slowly but surely. Screenings are happening daily and the race could change in a matter of seconds. My solution is to update one category per day for the next 20 days. By then Toronto would have ended, and we would be sitting firmly in the clump of the New York Film Festival. I’ve started with the biggest juggernaut, Best Motion Picture, but most importantly I took the opportunity to update the Oscar Tracker with several films and performances added to their respective categories.
Read more on Oscar Circuit: Resistance is Futile…
Categories: Article, Editor, Oscar Circuit, Oscar Predictions Tags: Amy Adams, Amy Ryan, Ben Affleck, Ben Lewin, Christopher Nolan, Cinema of the United States, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, David O. Russell, Director, Emmanuelle Riva, Entertainment/Culture, F. Murray Abraham, Film, Fisher Stevens, Gone Baby Gone, Hugh Jackman, Jean-Louis Tringnant, Jeremy Renner, Joaquin Phoenix, John Goodman, John Madden’s The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, kathryn bigelow, Lead Actor, letters from iwo jima, Life is Beautiful, Lincoln, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Haneke, Nathaniel Rogers, Oscar, Oscar Circuit, oscar predictions 2013, Paul Thomas Anderson, Peter Jackson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Quentin Tarantino, Rian Johnson, Russell Crowe, Slumdog Millionaire, Steven Spielberg, Susan Sarandon, Telluride, Terence Johnson, Terrence Malick, The Godfather Part II, the Oscars, Tom Hooper, Tom Hulce, Toronto, Toronto International Film Festival, Viola Davis
- Another week and more head-scratching at The Awards Circuit. As the awards race begins to really heat up, The AC team tries to come together and figure out this mess, albeit fun mess, that is Oscar season. During our latest episode of Power Hour, we discussed the current state of the race as well as some early Golden Globe predictions. Will the Globes help films on the bubble such as Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, or hurt non-stars like the amazing Quvenzhane Wallis from Beasts of the Southern Wild, who’ll probably be snubbed at this Hollywood-loving awards ceremony? Chances are the Globes won’t reflect the entire spectrum of Oscars 2013, but don’t be surprised if something as small as a Globe win for Meryl Streep in the “Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical” category for Hope Springs translates to a surprise 18th Academy Award nomination. With such a crazy and competitive year, anything is possible.
Read more on Circuit Round-Up (Week Ending 8/26)…
Read more on Circuit Round-Up (Week Ending 8/26)…
Categories: Circuit Round-Up Tags: anna belickis, Around the Circuit, Awards Circuit Power Hour, circuit 3, clayton davis, Daniel Ashtiany, Joey Magidson, Joey's DVD Picks of the Week, John H. Foote, Joseph Braverman, Mark Johnson, Michael Ward, Oscar Circuit, oscar predictions, oscar predictions 2013, Robert Hamer, Sean Connery, Terence Johnson, The Impossible, TIFF
“…no one can get at it except for me” – Daniel Plainview, There Will Be Blood
That’s how I feel about this Oscar race. I feel I see something that no one else does. I’ve been doing this a long time but I’ve never had the overwhelming feeling like I just figured out the Oscar race in August. I was sitting down to do my Oscar predictions like any other month. Making some switches, moving some contenders, and cleaning out films and performances that we thought would be coming out but still have no release date.
I stared at a few names and had an epiphany. It was as if I was Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind, and the code all came off the page and circled my head in an Oscar sensation. On August 25, 2012 I’ve chosen to make my first ballsy prediction of the year. Terrence Malick and his film, To the Wonder wins Best Director and Best Picture at the Oscars 2013. How did I come to this conclusion you ask? I will discuss this in more detail on this week’s Power Hour which premieres on Monday but I’ll attempt to give you the best break down possible in the following thoughts beginning with the Director field: Read more on Oscar Circuit: “There’s a whole ocean of oil under our feet…”…
Categories: Article, Editor, Oscar Circuit, Oscar Predictions Tags: Anne Hathaway, British people, Dave Eggers, Director, Editor, Entertainment/Culture, Film, Good Will Hunting, Gus Van Sant, john krasinski, Keira Knightley, Laura Linney, Lincoln, Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Oscar, Oscar Circuit, Sally Field, Terrence Malick, the Oscar, the Oscars
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