Film Independent has released a statement announcing David O. Russell as the Guest Director for the 2013 Los Angeles  Film Festival (along with other programming highlights). Russell is coming off directing the award-winning Silver Linings Playbook, while working on his new film, American Hustle (read Joey’s Awards Profile here). Have a look at the official release after the jump, or visit the Film Independent site, here.
Read more on David O. Russell Announced as the Guest Director for the 2013 Los Angeles Film Festival…
 The MTV Movie Awards have officially (almost anyway…) moved away from the Twilight series into new territory with some of their choices that were seen in last night’s ceremony that hosted by Rebel Wilson, now an MTV Movie Award winner herself. With sketches that included a wink from Oscar host James Franco, the show started off with a singing Wilson in a female-Iron Man suit and it couldn’t be funnier.
What’s disappointing is so many stars, and winners, were not in attendance. Granted, I don’t think this is the most anticipated party for a celebrity, especially for stars like Jennifer Lawrence who went through the awards season hull and is now filming one of many upcoming projects. Marvel’s The Avengers was the big winner of the night winning three Popcorn statues for Best Movie, Best Fight, and Best Villain for Tom Hiddleston. David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook captured just as many awards for Best Male and Female Performances for Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence. The two also won a dual award for Best Kiss, nudging out the cuteness and beauty of The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Moonrise Kingdom couples.
The full winners are listed below. I think it’s safe to say we are OFFICALLY done with 2012 films from now on. If you’re in the post-awards season funk, don’t forget to vote in our Awards Circuit Community Awards for Year 1999.
The full nominees and winners of the MTV Movie Awards are down below: Read more on MTV Movie Awards Goes Big for ‘The Avengers’ and ‘Silver Linings Playbook’…
 And you thought the awards season was over? The MTV Movie Awards have announced their nominations and FINALLY existing (somewhat) in a post-Twilight world, the same group that made edgy choices back in the 90s like awarding Menace II Society (1993) and Se7en (1995) their top award can start looking at some of the cool, ecletic group of pictures and give them their proper citations.
Read more on ‘Django Unchained’ and ‘Ted’ Score Seven Nominations for the MTV Movie Awards!…
 Potentially previewing tomorrow night’s Oscar ceremony, Silver Linings Playbook had an excellent showing at the Independent Spirit Awards. Winning in all but one of the categories that it was nominated for, there’s clearly some love for David O. Russell’s film. You can take issue with the way the Spirit Awards handles its business (including this year giving Best First Feature to someone who’s already made a film, but I digress), but overall they honored a solid crop of winners. I even did much better than I was expecting with my predictions, going 9 out of 13, though if you include my alternate selections, I managed to get them all. Take a gander at the winners below…
BEST FEATURE:
“Silver Linings Playbook”
BEST DIRECTOR
David O. Russell, “Silver Linings Playbook”
BEST SCREENPLAY
“Silver Linings Playbook”
BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to the director and producer)
“The Perks of Being a Wallflower”
Read more on ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ nearly sweeps the Independent Spirit Awards!…
And the nominees are:
Amour – Michael Haneke
Beasts of the Southern Wild – Benh Zeitlin
Life of Pi – Ang Lee
Lincoln – Steven Spielberg
Silver Linings Playbook – David O. Russell
Read more on Oscar Circuit: Best Director…
Categories: Oscar Circuit Tags: Amour, AMPAS, ang lee, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin, Best Director, Best Director Oscar, David O. Russell, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Michael Haneke, oscar predictions, Oscars, Silver Linings Playbook, Steven Spielberg
(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.
Read more on Oscar 2013 Will Win/Should Win Selections (Mark Johnson)…
Categories: Article Tags: Amour, AMPAS, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, oscar predictions, Oscars, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty
 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
Can Argo cross the finish line?
(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.
Read more on Oscar 2013: Will Win/Should Win (Mike)…
Categories: Article Tags: Amour, Anne Hathaway, Argo, Buzkashi Boys, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jennifer Lawrence, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Mondays At Racine, Paperman, Searching for Sugar Man, Silver Linings Playbook, Skyfall, Tommy Lee Jones, Will Win/Should Win, Wreck-It Ralph
(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)…
Categories: Article Tags: Argo, Bradley Cooper, Brave, Daniel Day-Lewis, David O. Russell, Disney, Jacki Weaver, Jennifer Lawrence, Joaquin Phoenix, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Mark Boal, oscar predictions, Paul Thomas Anderson, Prometheus, Quentin Tarantino, Robert De Niro, Roman Coppola, Silver Linings Playbook, Skyfall, Steven Spielberg, the dark knight rises, The Secret World of Arietty, Wes Anderson, Will Win/Should Win, Wreck-It Ralph, Zero Dark Thirty
 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
 As we sit six days before the Oscar ceremony attempting to finalize predictions and racking our brains trying to decipher this race, I find myself thinking of different scenarios for Oscar night. You can choose which one looks good to you and chime in with your own, but it makes for interesting conversations this close to the ceremony, especially since it’s up in the air.
Scenario #1 – Silver Linings Graduate
After the BAFTA Awards, many pundits, including myself, think Emmanuelle Riva is a possible spoiler for Jennifer Lawrence who has won the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards. With Chris Terrio winning the Writers Guild Award yesterday for Argo, Russell looks unlikely to garner an Adapted Screenplay consolation prize for himself.
What if David O. Russell wins Best Director and that’s the only award that represents Playbook? As an unprecedented year for the all awards, Silver Linings Playbook and David O. Russell will now become The Graduate and Mike Nichols.
As I spoke to six Academy voters last week, I was in awe when I saw how many voters were placing Silver Linings Playbook in multiple categories on their Oscar ballots. As David O. Russell and his film gain momentum in the final leg of the race, some are thinking a sweep is a feasible scenario where the film wins multiple awards including Robert DeNiro and Jacki Weaver. While this may be a likely occurence, we are in for some jaw-dropping moments at the ceremony. Although there are some glaring similarities between the 1967 film that won Best Director, there are some obvious differences as well:
Read more on 2013 Oscar Scenarios – Russell Becomes the New Nichols…
(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)
Read more on Oscar 2013 Will Win/Should Win Selections (Young)…
Categories: Article Tags: Amour, ang lee, Anna Karenina, Anna Young, Anne Hathaway, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Ben Affleck, Bradley Cooper, Brave, Chris Terrio, Christoph Waltz, Daniel Day-Lewis, Django Unchained, Emmanuelle Riva, End of Watch, Holy Motors, Inglourious Basterds, Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain, John Goodman, John Hawkes, Joss Whedon, kathryn bigelow, Kerry Washington, Leonardo DiCaprio, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Logan Lerman, Mark Boal, Moonrise Kingdom, oscar predictions, Oscar snubs, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Quentin Tarantino, Robert DeNiro, Samantha Barks, Samuel L. Jackson, Searching for Sugarman, Silver Linings Playbook, Skyfall, Stephen Chbosky, Steven Speilberg, The Academy Awards, the avengers, the dark knight rises, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Impossible, The Sessions, Tommy Lee Jones, Will Win/Should Win, Wreck-It Ralph, Zero Dark Thirty
 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’…
Categories: News Tags: American Cinema Editors, Argo, Best Film Editing, Brave, Breaking Bad, Editing, Larry Silk, news, Nurse Jackie, Oscar hopeful, Richard Marks, Searching for Sugar Man, Silver Linings Playbook, Steven Spielberg, The Newsroom
 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 Les Miserables and Life of Pi were nominated alongside it.
Chris Terrio’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…
Categories: Article, Editor Tags: Argo, Chris Terrio, David O. Russell, Django Unchained, Lincoln, Mark Boal, Moonrise Kingdom, Quentin Tarantino, Silver Linings Playbook, Tony Kushner, WGA, Writers Guild of America, Zero Dark Thirty
Two-time Oscar nominee, Jennifer Lawrence, is the latest star to join David O. Russell’s next project, a film about the 1970s FBI sting operation Abscam, which brought down several corrupt U.S. congressman, marking her second effort with the acclaimed director. Written by Eric Singer and Russell, the picture formerly titled American Bullshit already has Christian Bale and Lawrence’s Silver Linings Playbook co-star, Bradley Cooper, attached.
Read more on Jennifer Lawrence Reuniting with David O. Russell for Abscam Film…
 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…
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.
Read more on Watch the 25th Annual USC Scripter Awards Here Tonight…
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
Not only has Bradley Cooper been Oscar-nominated for his performance in Silver Linings Playbook, but the actor has also been named Best Actor by the ELLE Style Awards. Have a look at the official release after the jump, which labels Cooper as the “Hollywood Man of the Moment.”
Read more on Bradley Cooper Wins ELLE Style Award for Best Actor…
Faithfully and successfully adapting an original source into a workable feature film screenplay often poses itself as a daunting task to even the most seasoned writers. Combined with the constant concern of providing a captivating narrative to drive a story, the added pressure of doing justice to the source increases expectations. Ranging from a stage play to best-selling novels to a sweeping biopic, this year’s nominees tackle their adaptations with the vigor and mastery to propel their respective films into the life-affirming endzone, out of a hostage crisis, within safe distance from ancient aurochs, out of a morally-divisive Civil War, and into a colorful voyage of survival.
The Nominees are:
- Silver Linings Playbook – David O. Russell
- Argo – Chris Terrio
- Beasts of the Southern Wild – Lucy Alibar, Benh, Zeitlin
- Lincoln – Tony Kushner
- Life of Pi – David Magee
In his adaptation of the Matthew Quick novel, David O. Russell provides his Silver Linings Playbook cast with the necessary ammunition to fire off at one another with the electric energy that’s the lifeblood of this human comedy. As one of only two director-writer combos in this category, he exerts a masterful command over the material his actors deliver, coaxing a natural chemistry between them. This marks the first time the three-time nominee–including Best Director for The Fighter in 2011 and this year for director and adapted screenplay– has been in contention for a writing award with the Academy. Read more on Oscar Circuit: Adapted Screenplay…
 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.
Without further ado: Read more on Editor Top Films of 2012 – The Year of the Film…
Categories: Article, Editor Tags: Amour, Arbitrage, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Bernie, chasing ice, Editor, End of Watch, Flight, Jeff, Les Miserables, Lincoln, Moonrise Kingdom, Red Hook Summer, Rise of the Guardians, Searching for Sugar Man, seven psychopaths, Silver Linings Playbook, Ted, The Central Park Five, the dark knight rises, The Grey, the house i live in, The Impossible, The Invisible War, The Master, The Painting, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Sessions, Top Ten of 2012, Top Tens, West of Memphis, Zero Dark Thirty
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