Blog Archives
Guesting on the MATINEECAST Podcast
In which I discuss with Ryan from The Matinee the Oscar nominations this year, who got snubbed and wax philosophical on dog actors.
You can visit the link above to listen to the podcast, or you can download it here.
84th Academy Awards Nominations Announced
Best Picture:
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse
Best Director:
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Alexander Payne – The Descendants
Martin Scorsese – Hugo
Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris
Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life
Best Actor:
Jean Dujardin – The Artist
Demián Bichir – A Better Life
George Clooney – The Descendants
Brad Pitt – Moneyball
Gary Oldman – Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Best Actress:
Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs
Rooney Mara – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Viola Davis – The Help
Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams – My Week With Marilyn
Best Supporting Actor:
Christopher Plummer – Beginners
Max Von Sydow – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Jonah Hill – Moneyball
Kenneth Branagh – My Week with Marilyn
Nick Nolte – Warrior
Best Supporting Actress
Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs
Bérénice Bejo – The Artist
Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids
Jessica Chastain – The Help
Octavia Spencer – The Help
Best Animated Feature
A Cat In Paris
Chico and Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss In Boots
Rango
Best Adapted Screenplay:
The Descendants – Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
Hugo – John Logan
The Ides of March – George Clooney and Grant Heslov
Moneyball – Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian and Stan Chervin
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughn
Best Original Screenplay:
The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius
Bridesmaids – Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo
Margin Call – JC Chandor
Midnight In Paris – Woody Allen
A Separation – Asghar Farhadi
Best Foreign Film
A Separation (Iran)
In Darkness (Poland)
Footnote (Israel)
Bullhead (Belgium)
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)
Best Art Direction
The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Midnight In Paris
War Horse
Best Cinematography
The Artist – Guillaume Schiffman
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – Jeff Cronenweth
Hugo – Robert Richardson
The Tree of Life – Emmanuel Lubezki
War Horse – Janusz Kaminiski
Best Costume Design
Anonymous – Lisy Christl
The Artist – Mark Bridges
Hugo – Sandy Powell
Jane Eyre – Michael O’Connor
W.E. – Arianne Phillips
Best Film Editing
The Artist – Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
The Descendants – Kevin Tent
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
Hugo – Thelma Schoonmaker
Moneyball – Christopher Tellefsen
Best Makeup
Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
The Iron Lady
Best Score
The Adventures of Tintin – John Williams
The Artist – Ludovic Bource
Hugo – Howard Shore
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Alberto Iglesias
War Horse – John Williams
Best Original Song
Man or Muppet from The Muppets – Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
Real in Rio from Rio – Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett
Best Short Film
Dimanche/Sunday – Patrick Doyon
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore – William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
La Luna – Enrico Casarosa
A Morning Stroll – Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
Wild Life – Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby
Best Short Film (Live Action)
Pentecost – Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane
Raju – Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
The Shore – Terry George and Oorlagh George
Time Freak – Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
Tuba Atlantic – Hallvar Witzø
Best Sound Editing
Drive – Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Ren Klyce
Hugo – Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
War Horse – Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom
Best Sound Mixing
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
Hugo – Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
Moneyball – Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
War Horse – Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson
Visual Effects
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 – Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
Hugo – Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
Real Steel – Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
Rise of the Planet of the Apes – Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier
Best Documentary Feature
Hell and Back Again
If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Pina
Undefeated
Best Documentary Short Subject
The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement – Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
God Is the Bigger Elvis – Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
Incident in New Baghdad – James Spione
Saving Face – Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom – Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen
Jennifer Lawrence to Announce Oscar Nominations
Beverly Hills, CA (January 9, 2012) – Nominations for the 84th Academy Awards® will be announced on Tuesday, January 24, by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak and Academy member and Oscar-nominated actress Jennifer Lawrence.
Sherak and Lawrence will unveil the nominations in 10 of the 24 categories at a 5:30 a.m. PT news conference at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, where hundreds of media representatives from around the world will be gathered. Nominations information for all categories will be distributed simultaneously to news media in attendance and via the Internet on the official Academy Awards website, www.oscar.com.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.
[source]
State of the Race: Updated Precursors Chart, Crunching The Numbers
Below I’ve got an updated look at the precursors chart. I think most, if not all, of the critics groups that give awards have given their awards. After the chart I’ve got the top frontrunners in a handful of categories.
Site Update: It’s Our 2nd Anniversary!
Believe it or not, I have been running this site for two years now. It’s gone through three Oscar races since then (2009 aka Avatar vs. The Hurt Locker, 2010 aka The King’s Speech vs. The Social Network) and now we’re in the heat of 2011, which at this point doesn’t seem to have a vs. (maybe The Artist vs. Hugo, but really everything is so jumbled right now it’s several films’ Oscar to lose this year.)
In the last two years I managed to write about all 83 years of Oscar’s history for Oscar Vault Monday and I’ve had a Movie Quote of the Day featuring over 530 different films (gonna see how long I can go without repeating a film). I’ve also started working a bit with The Warner Archive and have written some great things for YAM Magazine (*cough TCM Film Festival *cough*).
On a personal note, I moved back to San Francisco in May and have been attending the Academy of Art University pursuing an MFA in Film Editing, so that’s exciting. I’ve also seen nearly 1100 new-to-me films for the year (which I have been discussing month-to-month here) and contributed the foreword to the book Lew Ayres: A Conscientious Life by Lesley L. Coffin, which is forthcoming from the University Press of Mississippi.
Basically, this was a great year for me both professionally and personally, and I’m glad I was able to share it with y’all on this site. Thanks for all your support and for reading my work and I look forward to supplying you with more Oscar and film history for another two (or more!) years.
Love,
Marya
William A. Wellman’s “Wings” To Be Released on DVD and Blu-Ray
It’s about freaking time, too. This is the first Best Picture winner – and the last to be released on DVD. I adore this film. It’s not only one of my favorite Best Picture winners, it’s one of my favorite films period. The DVD/Blu-Ray will be released on January 24th. You can read more about the specs here.
Seven Reasons Why The Muppet Oscars Should Happen
With the news breaking this morning that Eddie Murphy has exited as Oscar host after Brett Ratner resigned his post producing the show (due to his use of a gay slur earlier this week) there is much hubbub about who should take over the post.
I like the idea of previous hosts like Hugh Jackman or Billy Crystal, but I LOVE the idea of the Muppets. After the cut are a few reasons why this idea is fantastic
Eddie Murphy No Longer Hosting The Academy Awards
According to the statement released by the Academy, Murphy is no longer hosting because of Brett Ratner’s exit as the show’s producer earlier this year. I understand the whole loyalty thing, but this does not seem like the best move for him, career-wise.
Here’s the statement from the Academy:
Beverly Hills, CA (November 9, 2011) – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak announced that Eddie Murphy has withdrawn as host of the 84th Academy Awards. “I appreciate how Eddie feels about losing his creative partner, Brett Ratner, and we all wish him well,” said Sherak.
Commented Murphy, “First and foremost I want to say that I completely understand and support each party’s decision with regard to a change of producers for this year’s Academy Awards ceremony. I was truly looking forward to being a part of the show that our production team and writers were just starting to develop, but I’m sure that the new production team and host will do an equally great job.”
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar® presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.
[source]
AMPAS puts new limits on pre-Oscar campaigning
Oscar is clamping down on awards campaigning.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced new regulations Wednesday to curtail campaigning for the 84th annual Academy Awards. The new rules eliminate star-studded receptions for films and individual nominees after the Oscar nominations have been announced on Jan. 24, 2012.
There are no restrictions on screenings, receptions or filmmaker panel discussions prior to the nominations announcement, but once the nominees are known, receptions will not be allowed and no individual from any film can participate in more than two panel discussions.
Academy members and Oscar nominees are also prohibited from attending any non-screening events that promote or honor a nominated film or individual after the nominations announcement, but they’ll still be allowed to attend academy-sanctioned events and those held by various guilds and critics groups.
The run-up to the Academy Awards is typically crowded with countless parties and events aimed at courting awards voters. Earlier this year, parties for “The Social Network” and “The King’s Speech” each featured the casts of those films.
The new rules also extend the organization’s ban on negative campaigning to social media, and sets new penalties for violations. Members who break the rules will be subject to a one-year-suspension for their first infraction and possible expulsion for subsequent violations.
The regulations also allow for digital distribution of films to academy members, though academy president Tom Sherak says, “above all, we want academy members to see movies as they were meant to be seen, in a theatrical setting.”
The 84th annual Academy Awards will be presented Feb. 26, 2012.
[source]
Eddie Murphy To Host Academy Awards
Eddie Murphy is hosting the Oscars.
The actor and comedian will host the 84th annual Academy Awards, producers Brett Ratner and Don Mischer said Tuesday.
Ratner called the 50-year-old entertainer “a comedic genius; one of the greatest and most influential live performers ever.”
“With his love of movies, history of crafting unforgettable characters and his iconic performances — especially on stage — I know he will bring excitement, spontaneity and tremendous heart to the show Don and I want to produce in February,” Ratner said.
Mischer called Murphy “a truly groundbreaking performer” whose “quick wit and charisma will serve him very well as Oscar host.”
This will be Murphy’s first time hosting the Academy Awards. He said in a statement Tuesday that he is “enormously honored” to join the ranks of past Academy Awards hosts such as Johnny Carson, Bob Hope, Billy Crystal, Steve Martin and Whoopi Goldberg.
Murphy started his career as a standup comic when he was 15 and has gone on to amass dozens of film credits as a writer, actor and producer. He was nominated for an Oscar for his supporting role in 2006′s “Dreamgirls.”
His stint as Oscar host marks a return to the single-host format the show has employed most often since the mid-1980s. Pairs of actors hosted the two most recent Oscar shows: Anne Hathaway and James Franco helmed the 2011 telecast, and Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin hosted last year.
The 84th annual Academy Awards will be held Feb. 26, 2012 at the Kodak Theatre.
[source]
