Mo'Nique to Announce Oscar Nominees

I'm riffing on a conversation from Facebook (sorry Matt & Erik!) here but since Mo'Nique will announce the Oscar nominees on January 25th with AMPAS president Tom Sherak, can she please do it in character as Mary Jones!!?!Frankly, no matter which wonderful film or actor gets a terribly unjust snub that morning (and I know a handful who are in danger), it'd still be the greatest Oscar morning of

WGA Nominees. So Many Disqualifications Make This Hard To Read

The Writers Guild members have spoken. Though their tongues were kinda bound by their rules which prohibit, as I understand it, non-members from receiving nominations (AMPAS members can vote for you even if you aren't affiliated with them or with an American guild). So for what it's worth, here are the nominations. "I heard you were an MTV girl"Alice in The FighterOriginal ScreenplayBlack Swan,

PGA Nominations: No Winter's Bone

And for best Pro Golfer the nomin--- er, oh yes yes.The Producers Guild of America. Righty-o.Best Picture 127 Hours Danny Boyle, Christian ColsonBlack Swan Scott Franklin, Mike Medavoy, Brian OliverInception Christopher Nolan, Emma ThomasThe Fighter David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman, Mark WahlbergThe Kids Are All Right Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Celine RattrayThe King's Speech Iain Canning,

OFCS Winners

The Online Film Critics Society announced their winners this morning. It's the expected winners who've 'worn a groove' as Sasha has been known to say. So everyone votes for them and shall for the rest of the season. For the most part. Hopefully supporting actress will shift towards Leo, Adams or Weaver for the win... all of them actually supporting players, and amazing ones at that. It's been a

A Second Look At "True Grit"

Last night, I began what I thought would be a live-blog of True Grit. I scrapped it without posting as it was basically a series of line quotations; presumably you don't come to the blog to watch me take dictation.It's a testament to the Coen Bros singular voice and gift with language that they can launch a movie with a particularly evocative scriptural quotation "The wicked flee when none

Quentin Tarantino's Top Ten

No, no not mine. Not Nathaniel's. my top ten list is coming. Patience. I was waiting for the new site to be available but it's still coming and going. It apparently fancies itself an online Brigadoon but on a much speedier rotation. But since we love it when people within the movie industry actually reveal their favorites, let's share Quentin Tarantino's.QT's Top Ten of '10Links go to blogposts

Interview: The Return of Kirsten Dunst (A Very Good Thing)

at the NYC premiereof All Good Things.It might sound silly to say, but seeing her in the flesh is something of a shock. Kirsten Dunst has been in the movies for many years, and she's made such indelible mark in them, whether as a child vampire, an unknowable teen dream, a disciplined cheerleader, a superhero's better half and so on; one half expects her to flicker when one meets her,as if she's

Let's Do the Link Warp Again

A note for  impatient readers: My top ten list is coming (I'm aiming for January 1st / 2nd) but first there's a couple year in reviews things and an interview with Kirsten Dunst. The new site will be up soon, too. Hopefully everything will be running smoothly within the next week.Vulture Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu speaks out. Good read. I especially liked the Woody Allen bits./Film Remember when

Toy Story 3's Brilliant Oscar Campaign

[COME SEE THE NEW BLOG]Let's talk about the best FYC campaign of the year. The one where Pixar tries to build a case for Toy Story 3 as the Best Picture of the year, not just a nominee. Pixar won't be happy to just get the annual ghetto Oscar for Animated Feature, they want the big one. Do you believe this is possible? I can't say that I do...Or, rather, it's possible but not bloody likely. A

The Ballots Are Coming. The Ballots Are Coming.

The day has arrived. Today, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences mails out those mythical Oscar nomination ballots to their members. Each member gets to nominate for their branch category(or categories) and for Best Picture. The ballots are due back on Friday January 14th at the latest but supposedly the majority of voters are quick about mailing them back. On the morning of Tuesday,

Make Room For Pearce

Michael C. here from Serious Film to file a complaint.If I were to name the biggest problem currently facing the nation today that problem would be category fraud. Okay, maybe not, but it still irks the hell out of me. Not because, like some political press release, this Oscar-grubbing is treated completely legit despite everyone knowing it's total bull. That's no biggie. No, what bugs me is the

More Critics: Oklahoma, Austin, Women Film Critics...

If you'd like to discuss the latest round of critics awards, have at it.Three more groups have announced and so the usual suspects play the game of musical chairs. The most interesting note right off the bat is that the Women Film Critics Circle have bestowed an award on Black Swan that isn't a flattering one. They've given it "Worst Female Images in a Movie".I understand the impulse behind this

Charting Oscar's Age Preferences.

Please Note: The Film Experience has moved to a brand new home.As an addendum to last week's popular Tribeca Film article on the limited age range of Oscar's taste in Best Actresses and a footnote to the is this Hailee Steinfeld thing really happening (?) gripe,  I thought a few charts were in order to better illustrate the Academy's distinct age biases from category to category. Let's get this

Oscar's Music Branch Might Need Some Fine Tuning.

As you may have heard the Academy's music branch has made some rulings about this year's original score eligibility issues. Variety reports that Clint Mansell's Black Swan score (too much Tchaikovsky), Carter Burwell's True Grit score (too many Protestant hymns), and The Kids Are All Right and The Fighter scores (too many pop/rock songs) are officially out of the running.All of these rulings make

Chicago Critics: Collegiate Men and Serious Little Girls Dominate.

The Chicago Film Critics are the latest critics association to announce their awards and they've gone, like virtually everyone else, with The Social Network. These 52 critics love Sorkin & Fincher's warring young entrepeneurs. They also like their actresses real young and their prizes spread out.Best Picture The Social NetworkBest Director David Fincher, The Social NetworkBest Actress Natalie

Houston, St. Louis & Florida Name Their Favorites

I'm just going to keep using this one photo I concocted below until people stop with the Hailee Steinfeld is a supporting actress in True Grit meme. I've even seen her so labelled IN REVIEWS that have nothing to do with Oscars. Oscar culture has truly distorted all concepts of narrative in our modern society. I realize that I'm the lone ornery voice of dissent but, so what? I'm demonstrating my

Will Amy Adams Have a Happy (Oscar-Winning) New Year?

Amy Adams familiar cheer seems ideally suited to the holidays. It makes perfect sense that's she's all ornamented and mistletoed for Parade magazine. She's even sharing a pumpkin pie recipe. Or her people are. Whichever. We like the celebrity "they're just like us!" illusion from time to time so we're totally willing to pretend that she bakes this exact pumpkin pie herself. Mmmmm pumpkin pie.We

Wimps?

Michael C here trying to piece together some conclusions from this first wave of precursors.One thing we can say for certain. With all the support materializing for Black Swan this past week the message is unequivocal: no discussion of the year’s best work will be complete without Aronofsky’s dance phantasmagoria in the mix. Yet Swan’s place in the lineup isn't the sure thing it should be. Due to

Link You. Link You. And Link You.

GQ Winona Ryder's Black Swan parallels. She's being replaced! "I'm at that age I've been warned my whole life about"Lisanti Quarterly a mysterious top ten list. Such fun. Try to guess the movies ... or even the film year for that matter.In Contention Can that late breaking Fighter overtake the Best Pic frontrunners? Interesting question.Indie Wire Film Comment's top 50 - the tippity top exactly

I Am Love Sour Grapes

Have you seen I Am Love yet? The Globe nominee is available for rental so get on that.Director Luca Guadagnino with Marisa Berenson & Tilda SwintonI read the following quote over at Hollywood Reporter and I found it both amusing, right-on and the kind of thing you shouldn't say out loud. Seems Luca Guadagnino, the man behind the brilliant Globe & BFCA nominated I Am Love is not happy with the