 This week, the top 3 hardest hitters graced the #1 daily charts. ‘Iron Man 3‘ (BV) kept a good stride until ‘The Great Gatsby‘ (WB) drove past it into the daily #1 on Wednesday, May 15th, with ‘Star Trek Into Darkness‘ (Par.) in at #1 this Thursday, May 16th. Internationally, ‘IM3‘ stays at #1 in several box offices, with ‘Star Trek Into Darkness‘ in the others. ‘IM3‘ loses some power in its thrusters, but remains at #1, followed by ‘The Great Gatsby (2013)‘ partying into #2 and the Enterprise landing in at #3. ‘Pain and Gain‘ (Par.) drops to #4, ‘42‘ (WB) at #5, with ‘Tyler Perry Presents Peeples‘ (LGF) in at #6. Taking a bigger hit, ‘The Big Wedding‘ (LGF) sinks to #10, ‘Mud‘ (RAtt.) just ahead at #9, ‘The Croods‘ (Fox) swinging into #8, and ‘Oblivion‘ (Uni.) shooting into #7. This week, ‘Venus and Serena‘ (Magn.) courts into #65, and many new titles further down the charts, like ‘Sightseers’ (IFC) at #70, ‘The Painting (2013)‘ (GK) at #85, with #113, ‘When the Iron Bird Flies‘ (KL), grossing only $61.
Read more on Box Office Results (05.19.13)…
 No big surprises here, ‘Iron Man 3‘ (BV) sits on top at #1 every day at the box office, securing its placement for the weekly count, ‘Pain & Gain‘ (Par.) slips to #2, as ‘42‘ (WB) holds onto #3. ‘Oblivion‘ (Uni.) is bumped down to #4 followed by ‘The Big Wedding‘ (LGF) at #5. ‘The Croods‘ (Fox) which has been doing quite well, takes a swing down to #6, as ‘Mud‘ (RAtt.) rises to #7, bringing ‘Oz the Great and Powerful‘ (BV) up into the top 10. This week’s #9 is ‘The Place Beyond The Pines‘ (Focus) and #10 goes to ‘Scary Movie 5‘ (W/Dim.).
Read more on Box Office Results (05.12.13)…
 Still on top during the week, since its release, ‘Jack the Giant Slayer‘ (WB/NL) leads by a great margin the top 10 during the week. ‘Identity Thief‘ (Uni.) trails by over $20M at #2, ‘21 and Over‘ (Rela.) a close #3, ‘Snitch‘ (LG/S) just behind it at #4, and, widening the gap a bit, ‘The Last Exorcism Part II‘ (CBS) nearly ties with ‘Safe Haven‘ for #5. The cute and spunky, ‘Escape from Planet Earth‘ (Wein.) flies into #7, with the ballroom dancing, awkward, couple at #8, an explosive father-and-son reunion at #9, and ‘Dark Skies‘ (W/Dim.) finishes the top 10. Read more on Box Office Results (03.10.13)…
 A week after the Oscars and the box office reflects the thoughts of the public. However, this week, comedy and romance sit at the top, the more serious of the nominations and movies trailing on. Topping the charts at #1 is ‘Identity Theft‘ (Uni.), followed by the new release, ‘Snitch‘ (Sum.) at #2, and ‘Safe Haven‘ (Rela.) at #3. Last week’s #1, ‘A Good Day to Die Hard‘ (Fox) is down three to #4, kid’s tale ‘Escape From Planet Earth‘ (Wein.) is detained at #5, and new Kerri Russell feature ‘Dark Skies‘ (W/Dim.) takes #6 on its first week on the charts. The much talked about ‘Silver Linings Playbook‘ (Wein.) holds onto #7, just ahead of ‘Warm Bodies‘ (Sum.) at #8, ‘Beautiful Creatures (2013)‘ (WB) at #9, with ‘Side Effects (2013)‘ (ORF) rounding off #10.
Read more on Box Office (03.03.13)…
 If you’re anything like me, you’re still recovering from the Oscar nominations a few days ago. Well, it’s also that time of the year again folks…time for my annual Awards Circuit tradition of talking about the best that the year had to offer in terms of scores and soundtracks! While I didn’t fall in love with too many this year, I still consider it a very solid year for film, musically. One composer in particular had a massive year, but overall the quality was spread around pretty evenly in 2012. I began compiling this last late last month, so I’m finishing this with the knowledge of what wound up with Academy Award nominations, but this only reflects my personal tastes. Below you’ll find my picks for the 10 best movie scores and 10 best movie soundtracks of 2012. Let’s get started, shall we?
Read more on Top 10 Scores and Soundtracks of 2012…
 As we near 12.12.12, the big question of who will be #1 on, the rumored, the end of the world is, currently, up for grabs! Unsurprisingly, ‘Breaking Dawn Part 2‘ (Sum.) has been dethroned in several other countries around the world, being replaced with the happy holiday 3D flick, ‘Rise of the Guardians‘ (P/DW), a personal favorite of mine that I can’t wait to add to my movie collection! ‘Skyfall‘ (Sony) remains on top in many countries, though many stray down the American charts, finding favor with the epic movies about self-discovery like ‘Life of Pi‘ (Fox), which is #1 in China, and ‘Cloud Atlas‘ (WB). Read more on Box Office (12.09.12)…
What a thrill! The international release of ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2‘ (Sum.) has landed at the top of almost all of the charts. Beating out ‘Skyfall‘ (Sony) without a hitch, it also remains #1 during this week’s box office count. Within the top 10, ‘Skyfall‘ follows at #2 and ‘Lincoln‘ (BV) at #3. Recent releases, ‘Life of Pie‘ (Fox) jumps up three to #4, followed by ‘Rise of the Guardians‘ (Par./DW) up to #5. ‘Wreck-It Ralph‘ (BV) drops two to #6, followed by ‘Red Dawn (2012)‘ (FD), a recent release, at #7. ‘Flight‘ (Par.) drops three to #8, the underdog, ‘Silver Linings Playbook‘ (Wein.) floats up four to #9, and ‘Argo‘ (WB) drops one to #10. All in all, many have made several leaps up as older movies fallen at slower rates.
Read more on Box Office (12.02.12)…
 What an extravagant change in the charts! For most of the week, Skyfall (Sony) placed #1 daily and over all in American box offices, grossing over $117 million. Wreck-It Ralph (BV) managed to hold onto #2, followed by Flight (Par.) and then Argo (WB). Staying at #5, Taken 2 (Fox) is followed by Cloud Atlas (WB) and Hotel Transylvania (Sony) drops to #10. New releases during the week included A Royal Affair (Magn.) at # 44, Dangerous Liasons (WGUSA) at #52, and Starlet (MBox) at #54. Internationally, Skyfall (Sony) holds onto #1 in most of the countries, but many expect the international reaction to continue on for some time, this being the first of the Bond series to be released internationally before nationally. Read more on Box Office (11.18.12)…
 Happy 4th of July to all our fellow Americans here on the Awards Circuit. As our readership is full of international men and women from all around the world, we salute any of your independence days if you celebrate it. This is also a special shout out to all our service men and women who continue to protect so I can have the ability to type this very sentence.
There are many films that have come out over the years that celebrate America in all her glory and where she’s come from. Listed below are my ten favorite films (in no particular order) that celebrate independence and America. Feel free to share your own take on the subject either for here or your own country.
Read more on Ten Favorite Films About Independence…
Categories: Article, Editor Tags: All the President's Men, Born on the Fourth of July, Clint Eastwood, Editor, Forrest Gump, Independence Day, letters from iwo jima, Oliver Stone, Rocky, Roland Emmerich, Saving Private Ryan, Steven Spielberg, Sylvester Stallone, To Kill a Mockingbird, tom hanks, Top Ten
 How many times have I done this? One would think that someone so averse to organizing objects of such deeply personal and subjective an art form as cinema into a too-easily quantifiable “top ten list” would stop composing them so often. Yet here I am this week considering the ultimate cinematic ranking – the best films of all time. No matter how often I try to convince myself of the inherent silliness of positioning films in such a manner, my approach to this series has been one of the most carefully considered in my time as a staff member on The Awards Circuit.
I have been blessed with colleagues who quite obviously took this tasking as seriously as I have and drafted up a wonderfully diverse and idiosyncratic chain of articles highlighting their own favorites. What has made them such a joy to read for me is how clearly each list reflects their unique viewpoints of the artform…which I suppose is the reason for my considerable effort in composing my own list. Of course there is no such thing as an “objective” best film of all time and of course no one list is more credible or authoritative than the other. But in a way these top tens are declaring something more important: who we are as film lovers and, more importantly, how we value them.
I have often complained on this site and elsewhere about the current state of modern filmmaking; the rise of “shareholder cinema,” cynical awards season politics, and an increasing gap between popularity and quality, etc. Despite getting on such a curmudgeonly soapbox so often, I am just as frequently inspired by how greatness always seems to find a way to survive – even thrive – year after year. So in narrowing down the literally dozens of films that I seriously considered for my final list, these ten movies most strongly remind me that despite all the nonsense, cinema is still worth it; worth loving, worth defending, worth writing about, worth sharing and discussing with others. So with that, it is my pleasure to introduce my ten favorite movies of all time: Read more on 10 Greatest Films of All-Time (Robert)…
Categories: Article Tags: all time lists, best films ever made, best of lists, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, favorites of all time, masterpiece, Nashville, Persona, Robert Hamer, Ten best films ever made, The Thin Red Line, top 10 films of all time, Top 10 Movies Ever Made, Top Ten, Top Ten lists, Vertigo
I love film, I really do. I love watching film, I love learning the history behind the film, I love hearing how a film broke ground during the time it came out, and I love learning the trivia that goes on during the making of a film. Film is my first love if you haven’t gathered and I wouldn’t change that day in 2001 when I woke up and decided I would begin my obsession.
When I first read my assignment I thought I’d be telling you all about my favorite films of all time. I had my list ready and set to go, and then I was punched in the face by Mark Johnson’s list and article. My heart started racing because my task just became tougher; at 21 years old I was forced to sit down and analyze all the films that have been released throughout the years, years I wasn’t even alive for. Read more on 10 Greatest Films of All-Time (Anna)…
 Planet of the Apes (1968) is a film I will watch over and over, loving every minute of the movie, still gasping aloud when Taylor first sees the apes on horseback, stunned when he finds the Statue of Liberty armpit deep in the sand on the beach, but not for a moment do I believe it to be among the ten greatest films ever made. Certainly I would include it among the best one hundred, but not the ten. Why?
What is a great film? Further, what makes a great film, a greatest film? How do go through the thousands of films you have seen, and decide which are then greatest in your humble opinion. Of course there is nothing humble about the task, which is what makes it fun. Certainly if you choose, a ten greatest films list can be your favorite films, it is entirely up to you because it is your list. However, the list will reflect how you are thought of as a critic or film writer, so it is not something I take lightly, but at the same time I encourage anyone doing it to be bold, to write what your heart tells you, to be honest above all with yourself.
My opinion all, but there are some elements I did indeed consider when creating this list. Read more on 10 Greatest of All-Time (John Foote)…
2011 presented a nice eclectic view of cinema we haven’t seen throughout the years. If we summed it up to a ‘theme’ for the year, “silence” or “origins of cinema” would come to mind. Films like Michel Hazanavicius’ “The Artist” and Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” would fall in line with those thoughts.
When creating my ballots for the Best of the Year, the are obvious categories that are stacked to the brim which would be inevitable for some omissions that in other years would either make the shortlist or be the clear front winner. I’ll address all of these as the week’s ‘Year-In-Review’ winds down but I’ll be curious to hear the thoughts of our readership.
Listed below is the Honorable Mention films ranking my #20 through #11 along with the unranked citations of certain films from the year.
Read more on Year-In-Review (Editor’s Honorable Mentions)…
Categories: Community, Editor Tags: arthur christmas, Best of the year, Bridesmaids, Carnage, Certified Copy, Crazy Stupid Love, Hugo, Like Crazy, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Midnight in Paris, pariah, Super 8, Take Shelter, The Descendants, The Muppets, The Tree of Life, Top Ten, Top Tens, war horse, Warrior, Winnie the Pooh
 The year came and went presenting some of the best works seen by directors, actors, composers, cinematographers, and other craftsman. This week we’ll be recapping the year presenting my choices in the best in film. Since our revamp, the design lends itself to other artistic choices and expansion of categories for both myself and the readership. Giving you rundown of the next few days as we kick of 2012 in Awards Circuit Style!
Sunday – Editor’s Honorable Mentions
Monday – Awards Circuit Community Award Ballots Open!
Tuesday – Editor’s Special Awards (Scenes, Genres, Posters, etc.)
Wednesday – Davis’ Award Nominations for Year 2011
Thursday – Awards Circuit Staff’s Top Ten of 2011
Friday – Editor’s Top Ten and Davis’ Award Winners.
ACCA Ballots will close Sunday, January 15, 2011 @ Midnight ET. Here are some changes (positive ones) to the ballots for this year’s ceremony. Read more on Year-in-Review Kicks Off Tonight!…
Categories: Community, Editor Tags: Awards Circuit Community Awards, Awards Circuit Community Awards 2011, Ballots, Best Motion Picture, Community, Davis Awards, Editor, nominations, Staff, Top Ten
 Continuing on unabated with sharing these lists with you all, I have noticed one thing so far. Each critic has had a distinctly unique list, and for that we can be thankful at least. Some films like Drive have had strong support, but many different works have popped up, and that’s always a plus. Here are a bunch more eclectic lists…starting with the critics from The New York Times:
Read more on More critics Put out their Top 10 lists……
 Our first installment of David Cronenberg Week counts down my favorite films of his. As I mentioned yesterday, Fast Company is the only Cronenberg feature that I have not seen, so I’m fairly confident in calling this top ten my most “definitive” yet. While he has certainly made more than ten good films (and some stinkers in between), I chose the following films based not only on their obvious filmmaking qualities, but which ones best articulate and expand upon his dark fascinations.
Read more on Top Ten David Cronenberg Films…
"Let Mr. Clooney know that I have an Oscar campaign of my own."
The imminent release of Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar reminds us that almost no form of cinematic drama is more tried-and-true than the biopic. There is an added sense of fascination when an audience is told that the amazing or inspirational or tragic story they’re watching is based on true events and real people. As anyone who knows about Oscar history can tell you, the Academy is often obsessed with them as well. Despite Hollywood seemingly lapping up the tales of every interesting person in history, there are a number of incredible figures with potentially ripe cinematic potential not yet realized.
Read more on Top Ten People in Need of Biopics…
"…but what if I told you Anonymous was full of BS?"
So, Roland Emmerich. Word is that he has a new film coming out about Shakespeare and how he was a fraud. Personally, I find the revelation that critics are not overwhelmingly calling his newest a steaming pile far more groundbreaking than a crackpot theory that has not only been roundly debunked, but reeks of offensive class snobbery (“Why, it’s impossible to believe that a mere grammar school graduate could have written the plays and poems attributed to Shakespeare. Wouldn’t it make more sense to suppose that William Shakespeare was only the stand-in for a better educated author?”*). Whatever…I guess just because there’s no truth to it doesn’t mean it can’t be entertaining. I mean, look at JFK.
Anyway, we at The Awards Circuit actually respect history and the contributions of William Shakespeare. Luckily, so do a lot of other filmmakers, so to counteract his desecration by the man who once tried to convince us that alien technology is compatible with Macintosh, here are the top ten films inspired by the Bard of Avon, but first… Read more on Top Ten Films Inspired By Shakespeare…
Categories: Article Tags: anonymous, crimes against art, Kenneth Branagh, Laurence Olivier, masterpiece, Roland Emmerich, Shakespeare in Love, Titus, Top Ten, West Side Story, William Shakespeare
To commemorate the 235th Independence Day of the United States, I decided to celebrate the films that have done the most to invoke feelings of pride in our country. Patriotism, to me, is not defined within the confines of a partisan philosophy or simplistic nationalism. True patriots are loyal not to an individual or political party, but a set of ideas that have come to define us as a nation. The best films reflect those in exciting ways unique to cinema. It’s not enough for a movie to simply say that it loves America; it has to uphold the principles that make America great to make my list. Its artistic quality apart from that played only a small part in formulating this list, though I should note that (if you make allowances for my #9 pick) the movies are all great in of themselves. So without further delay…
10. 25th Hour
How in the world could a depressing drama about a man going to prison possibly bring out feelings of patriotism? Because, as 9/11 demonstrated, our shared tragedies can unite us just as much as our triumphs. 25th Hour is not directly about that fateful day, but it forms the undercurrent of the entire story and uses Monty’s final day of freedom to reflect New York’s – and really the entire country’s – collective grief. And yet, in its affecting conclusion, Spike Lee also shows us that we as Americans have the strength to face such an unthinkable tragedy, overcome it…and keep going.
9. Fahrenheit 9/11
Before the conservatives among you form an angry mob, I should make it clear that I understand some of your gripes with Michael Moore’s anti-Bush documentary. Its accuracy is disputable at times, and I was personally disappointed at how he opted for cheap shots instead of something more genuinely inquisitive. However, I am proud to be part of a nation that allows this kind of film to be created. In the wake of Iran’s inhuman sentence imposed on Jafar Panahi, it’s inspiring to know that we fight for the right for artists to call our then-President a war criminal, and invites debate on polemic filmmaking instead of trying to suppress it.
8. Yankee Doodle Dandy
Even more than Patton, the beauty of Yankee Doodle Dandy owes itself almost entirely to a single performance. The film itself is decent enough; a by-the-numbers biopic with implausible flashbacks, historical inaccuracies, etc. But James Cagney, in one of the greatest performances ever to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, personifies the exuberance of the American spirit. In doing so, he uplifts an otherwise passable picture into becoming a stirring anthem to unapologetic patriotism and old-fashioned sentiment. As Cohan himself said best, “Where else in the world could a plain guy like me come and talk things over with the head man?” Read more on Top Ten Patriotic Films…
It’s no secret by now that I am very excited for Bridesmaids. Not just because of its great reviews or my not-so-secret crush on Kristen Wiig, but also because the film stands for something you rarely see in Hollywood: the great comedic film actress. Not that women haven’t given funny performances in the past, far from it. Throughout the history of cinema, many talented actresses have made us laugh time and time again, but sadly aren’t often recognized for it. In honor of the release of Bridesmaids, I’ve put together a list of the ten funniest female film performances ever given. This all about the laugh factor; you will find no serio-comic or dramedy work here (otherwise Diane Keaton’s performance in Annie Hall would have been a shoo-in). So without further adieu…
Read more on Top Ten Funniest Female Performances of All Time…
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