 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
 For a while, I really doubted that Martin Scorsese was ever going to get around to making Silence, a longtime dream project of his that’s always seemed to be the “next” film that he wants to do, only to have one more movie jump to the head of the line (he’s even had casting somewhat set up, notably including Daniel Day-Lewis, Benecio Del Toro, and Gael Garcia Bernal headlining).
Most recently, that happened to the flick with The Wolf of Wall Street, even leading to lawsuits, but in the last few days Scorsese himself has actually declared this to really be his next film. He plans to shoot it next year, which means it most likely will be a 2015 awards contender, but you never know there. For those who don’t remember or know, Silence is an adaptation of a novel by Shusaku Endo that deals with 17th century Jesuits who risk their lives to try to bring Christianity to Japan. Scorsese himself penned the adaptation with Jay Cocks, so this is one that could really be something special. After the jump you can see what the book is about in slightly more detail, but stay tuned for more on this one as Marty might be at Cannes to talk more about it. Fingers crossed that he can get his original cast of Day-Lewis, Del Toro, and Bernal back together for it.
Read more on Martin Scorsese finally making his long passion project ‘Silence’…
 It’s March! We get started right away and over the past few weeks after the Oscar ceremony, I took some brief stabs at some categories. Those have been tinkered with and will be reflected on the actual Oscar Prediction pages in the next couple of days. The full listing of predicted nominees is on the sidebar with the list of contenders on the Oscar Prediction pages for Picture, Director, Lead Actor, Lead Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay, Adapted Screenplay, and Animated Feature.
Obviously categories like Original Song are merely speculation because we don’t know what film will have an eligible song attached. Disney and Pixar films are good for a song or two so that’s always a good place to start. Read more on Oscar Circuit – 2014 Films and Minority Contenders…
Categories: Article, Editor, Oscar Circuit Tags: 2014 Oscar Predictions, A Separation, Academy Awards, Adepero Oduye, Angela Bassett, Antonio Banderas, August: Osage County, Berenice Bejo, Black Nativity, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, Captain Phillips, Chavez, Christian Bale, Ewan McGregor, forest whitaker, Fruitvale, Gwyneth Paltrow, Idris Elba, jennifer hudson, Julia Roberts, Kasi Lemmons, Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, Michael Fassbender, Michael Pena, naomi watts, nicole kidman, Octavia Spencer, Oprah Winfrey, Out of the Furnace, Penelope Cruz, Ridley Scott, Rosario Dawson, Saving Mr. Banks, Steve McQueen, Tahar Rahim, The Counselor, The Grandmaster, The Past, the weinstein company, The Wolf of Wall Street, tom hanks, Twelve Years A Slave, Walt Disney, Woody Harrelson, Zoe Saldana
 Directed By: Martin Scorsese
Written By: Terence Winter (Based on the Jordan Belfort memoir of the same name)
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Matthew McConaughey, Jean Dujardin, Kyle Chandler, Jon Bernthal, Jon Favreau, Rob Reiner, Spike Jonze, Margot Robbie, Kenneth Choi, Joanna Lumley, and Ethan Suplee
Synopsis (From IMDB): A New York stockbroker refuses to cooperate in a large securities fraud case involving corruption on Wall Street, corporate banking world and mob infiltration.
Why It Could Succeed:
Anytime the 21st century’s greatest actor-director duo team up for a motion picture, the world pays attention. At this moment in time, there is no 2013 release that’s as close to the Oscar® podium as The Wolf of Wall Street is. Leo and Marty have a proven track record that’s borderline unstoppable. Three of their four collaborative projects have all gone on to receive an Academy Award nomination for “Best Picture,” and the only film that failed to do so was Shutter Island, whose early release date damaged its awards contention status. The irony? Shutter Island became Martin Scorsese’s highest grossing film of all-time and one of the top earners to come from the dry month of February. The lesson when it comes to Scorsese and DiCaprio: you win some…and then you win bigger.
Read more on Awards Profile: The Wolf of Wall Street…
It’s that time of year when studios begin shuffling dates around to figure out which films will fit best where, to both maximize the return on their investment and/or to provide a film with the best shot of succeeding during the awards season. The strategy on the former has been a May through July release, as of late, where the latter has been shifting earlier and earlier away from December. After the jump, have a look at the new release dates for a few upcoming films.
Read more on Slew of New Release Dates Including ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ and ‘The Hobbit: There and Back Again’…
Before we get too deep into 2013, I wanted to provide a preview on the year to come. As it is the case at the beginning of every new year, there are many, many reasons to be optimistic. Obviously, not every film will live up to expectations (think: Nine, J. Edgar, etc.) and I’m sure a few of these films will get pushed to 2014, but it is still fun to get our hopes up now, while everything is set in front of us. I had planned to run down as many films as I could find, but it became a bit of an overwhelming task, so instead I have compiled a list of the 25 films I am most excited for this year. While we are all knee deep in the end of year awards season for 2012, let’s have some fun looking ahead at the year to come.
Read more on Top 25 Anticipated Films of 2013!…
 I don’t think anyone doubted that the new Martin Scorsese/Leonardo DiCaprio wouldn’t come out during the thick of the Oscar season next year, but we’ve got a bit more of a solid confirmation now with the announcement that Paramount will be distributing ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ in 2013. What little we’ve got on it doesn’t necessary suggest that it’ll be a clear and easy sell for the Academy, but its folly to bet against this pairing now. After the jump you can get a quick refresher on what the flick is about, but stay tuned for lots more on this one, as it’s got over a year to prep us for its release. Read on below for a bit more on Marty’s latest collaboration with Leo…
Read more on Paramount to distribute Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’…
 After playing a tap dancing and smiling his way into Oscars heart in The Artist, Jean Dujardin’s next role will be of a slightly darker hue. The Hollywood Reporter has learned that the Frenchman will be joining Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, and Emmy winner Kyle Chandler in The Wolf of Wall Street. Dujardin will play Jean-Jacques Handali, a money-laundering Swiss banker. The Scorsese directed project, is about a stock broker who served 20 months in prison for participating in a massive 1990s securities fraud that involved widespread corruption on Wall Street and in the corporate banking world, including mob infiltration.
Read more on Academy Award winner Jean Dujardin to join Leonardo DiCaprio in ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’…
 It’s hard to imagine that anyone pegged Jonah Hill as an in demand dramatic actor just a few years ago, but it looks like his Oscar nominated role in ‘Moneyball’ has opened a ton of new doors for him. The Hollywood Reporter has announced here that Hill is now going to co-star with Leonardo DiCaprio in his latest collaboration with Martin Scorsese, the drama ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’. It appears that he’ll be DiCaprio’s friend and someone else who gets roped into the world of fast times and high finance. Hit the jump to read where I think Hill’s career is headed next, but in short…I love this casting choice.
Read more on Jonah Hill joins Scorsese’s ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’…
 Riding high off of the Oscar success of ‘Hugo’, Martin Scorsese might have been inclined to push forward with any of his long in development projects, with the passion project ‘Silence’ chief among them, but according to The Playlist, the temptation to team up with Leonardo DiCaprio again has proven too enticing. Here’s the story…
Well, it looks like Martin Scorsese’s passion project “Silence” — long expected to be his next film — will have to keep waiting, but another film that has been in the works for a while, is now kicked back to life and wil shoot later this year.
Read more on Scorsese’s next film is The Wolf Of Wall Street!…
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