Golden Globe Awards

The Golden Globes seem to find a way to surprise us every year, and this year was certainly no exception, as James Cameron pulled a double upset taking home the Best Director award over Kathryn Bigelow, who took most of the awards this season, and as a producer for Best Motion Picture - Drama over favorites The Hurt Locker and Up In the Air. This win will guarantee its contendership at the Oscars but it's hard to say if it can still upset Locker at the ceremony itself. We might have to wait for the PGA award to be handed out to have a good idea. Nonetheless, this is a great victory for sci-fi action fans who are still not over the Dark Knight snub. Keeping with the mainstream, it was The Hangover who took home the Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical award, so this will definitely hurt the likes of Nine and It's Complicated. From here, we can only wait for February 2nd when the nominations are announced and until then, we'll keep on speculating. Anyway, here is the complete list of winners:

Best Motion Picture - Drama: Avatar (James Cameron & Jon Landau, producers)

Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical: The Hangover (Daniel Goldberg & Todd Phillips, producers)

Best Actor In a Drama: Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart

Best Actress In a Drama: Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side

Best Actor In a Comedy/Musical: Robert Downey, Jr. - Sherlock Holmes

Best Actress In a Comedy/Musical: Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique - Precious

Best Director: James Cameron - Avatar

Best Screenplay: Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner - Up In the Air

Best Foreign Language Film: The White Ribbon

Best Animated Film: Up

Best Original Score: Michael Giacchino - Up

Best Original Song: ''The Weary Kind'' (T Bone Burnett & Ryan Bingham) - Crazy Heart

What do you think?

Critics Choice Awards

Avatar took 6 awards, Inglourious Basterds won 3, The Hurt Locker was named Best Picture of the year but certainly the highlight was this moment when Sandra Bullock stole a kiss from Hollywood's most respected actress Meryl Streep as they both tied for the Best Actress award, respectively for The Blind Side and Julie & Julia. Kathryn Bigelow also received the Best Director award, thanking Mark Boal and all the men and women who are currently and have served their country overseas. Boal however did not win the Original Screenplay award, as that was won by Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds. The rest of the winners are listed below and I hope you are all looking forward to tomorrow's Golden Globes. Unfortunately I won't be able to report them live but the awards will be listed as soon as the ceremony's finished.

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Best Foreign Language Film: Broken Embraces
Best Documentary Feature: The Cove
Best Animated Feature: Up
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
Best Actress (tie): Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side, Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds
Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique - Precious
Best Acting Ensemble: Inglourious Basterds
Best Young Actor/Actress: Saoirse Ronan - The Lovely Bones
Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds
Best Adapted Screenplay: Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner - Up In the Air
Best Cinematography: Avatar
Best Editing: Avatar
Best Score: Up
Best Song: ''The Weary Kind'' (T Bone Burnett & Ryan Bingham) - Crazy Heart
Best Art Direction: Avatar
Best Costume Design: The Young Victoria
Best Visual Effects: Avatar
Best Sound: Avatar
Best Makeup: District 9
Best Action Movie: Avatar
Best Comedy: The Hangover
Best Picture Made for Television: Grey Gardens

What do you think?

Writers Guild of America Nominations

The final award Guild revealed their nominees earlier today for Best Original, Adapted and Documentary screenplays of the year. You will see some big surprises in each of the categories, notably in the Original category when James Cameron was named as a nominee for Avatar, widely considered by all to be the weakest point of the film. Not surprisingly in the category we find The Hurt Locker, (500) Days of Summer and A Serious Man with Avatar, and completing the category is The Hangover which is fun because there aren't a lot of raunchy comedies that are recognized for their screenplay. In the Adapted category, we find some of the frontrunners in Up In the Air and Precious. Julie & Julia also makes the cut, and a couple of films surprise here, notably Crazy Heart and yes, Star Trek. No doubt this year technical films will be rewarded a lot more than in the past. Here is the complete list of nominees:

Original Screenplay
Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber - (500) Days of Summer
James Cameron - Avatar
Jon Lucas & Scott Moore - The Hangover
Mark Boal - The Hurt Locker
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen - A Serious Man

Adapted Screenplay
Scott Cooper - Crazy Heart
Nora Ephron - Julie & Julia
Geoffrey Fletcher - Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman - Star Trek
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner - Up In the Air

Documentary Screenplay
Richard Trank - Against the Tide
Michael Moore - Capitalism: A Love Story
Mark Monroe - The Cove
Robert Stone - Earth Days
Chris Rock, Jeff Stilson, Lance Crouther & Chuck Sklar - Good Hair
Bill Guttentag & Dan Sturman - Soundtrack for a Revolution

Do you think these films will be nominated at the Oscars?

Makeup Shortlist

7 films have been named today as the finalists for the 3 spots in the Best Makeup category at the upcoming Academy Award ceremony. Members of the makeup branch will watch 10 min. excerpts from each of the films before making their selections on February 2nd. Here are the films which will be competing:

1. District 9
2. Il Divo
3. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
4. Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian
5. The Road
6. Star Trek
7. The Young Victoria

Which films do you think will make the cut?

Directors Guild of America Nominations

Those of you who were expecting Clint Eastwood to pick up his fourth directing nomination of the decade (he is currently tied with Martin Scorsese and Stephen Daldry with 3 each) or a newcoming director to receive a nomination (Neill Blomkamp, Oren Moverman, Tom Ford or Scott Cooper to name a few), you may be disappointed as all the favorites have been nominated for the Directors Guild of America award for Best Director of the year. Kathryn Bigelow is currently the favorite to win for The Hurt Locker as she literally swept the award season in the category. Joining her are James Cameron for the sci-fi epic Avatar, Jason Reitman for the amazing dramedy Up In the Air, Quentin Tarantino for the fan favorite Inglourious Basterds and making history as the first African-American to receive a DGA nomination is Lee Daniels for the family drama Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire. If he receives an Oscar nomination, he would be the second African-American in Academy history to be nominated (John Singleton was the first in 1992 for Boyz N the Hood. He was also the youngest to be nominated at 24.) If Bigelow wins she would be the first woman to receive the award so this might be a historic year for directing.

What do you think?

Producers Guild of America Nominations

With the Oscars upping their Best Picture nominations from 5 to 10, the Producers Guild of America, usually a very good predictor of the Oscars' Best Picture nominees, went and done the same naming their 10 nominees for the Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the year award. 3 of the 10 nominees come from the science-fiction world as Avatar, District 9 and Star Trek were included in the list. Last year, The Dark Knight was nominated by the PGA but didn't make the cut when the Oscars announced their nominees (one of the reasons the Academy raised their nominees from 5 to 10 this year). The winner of this award went on to win Best Picture 13 of the last 20 times, notably last year's Slumdog Millionaire (Little Miss Sunshine was the last one to win the PGA award but not Best Picture at the Oscars). Up is the only film to receive 2 nominations, for Producer of the Year and Best Animated Film. Here is the complete list of nominees:

Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year

Avatar - James Cameron & Jon Landau, producers

District 9 - Peter Jackson & Carolyne Cunningham, producers

An Education - Finola Dwyer & Amanda Posey, producers

The Hurt Locker - TBA

Inglourious Basterds - Lawrence Bender, producer

Invictus - Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Lori McCreary & Mace Neufeld, producers

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire - Lee Daniels, Gary Magness & Sarah Siegel-Magness, producers

Star Trek - J.J. Abrams & Damon Lindelof, producers

Up - Jonas Rivera, producer

Up In the Air - TBA


Best Animated Film of the Year

9 - Timur Bekmambetov, Tim Burton, Dana Ginsburg, Jinko Gotoh & Jim Lemley, producers

Coraline - Claire Jennings & Mary Sandell, producers

Fantastic Mr. Fox - Allison Abbate, Wes Anderson, Jeremy Dawson & Scott Rudin, producers

The Princess and the Frog - Peter Del Vecho, producer

Up - Jonas Rivera, producer


Best Documentary of the Year

Burma VJ - Lise Lense-Moller, producer

The Cove - Paula DuPré Pesman & Fisher Stevens, producers

Sergio - TBA

Soundtrack for a Revolution - Joslyn Barnes, Jim Czarnecki, Bill Guttentag, Dylan Nelson & Dan Sturman, producers


What do you think?

National Society of Film Critics Awards

The awards just keep on coming for Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker as it picked up yet another Best Picture award from the National Society of Film Critics on Sunday. The society, regrouping critics from the country's top publications, also awarded honors for Bigelow and its star Jeremy Renner as Best Actor. Surprisingly there was a tie in the Best Supporting Actor category, as both Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds and Paul Schneider for Bright Star received the same number of votes for the category. Usually the NSFC winners don't reflect necessarily the Academy Awards but their members are still respected nonetheless. Here is the complete list of winners:

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Best Actor: Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker
Best Actress: Yolande Moreau - Seraphine
Best Supporting Actor (tie): Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds & Paul Schneider - Bright Star
Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique - Precious
Best Screenplay: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen - A Serious Man
Best Foreign Language Film: Summer Hours
Best Nonfiction Film: The Beaches of Agnes
Best Cinematography: Christian Berger - The White Ribbon
Best Production Design: Nelson Lowry - Fantastic Mr. Fox

What do you think?

Online Film Critics Society Nominations

The OFCS has released their list of nominations recognizing the year's best in film. The Basterds lead the way with eight nominations ant The Hurt Locker received seven so a big year for war dramas. A pleasant surprise though was the nomination for Best Picture for Up so this will boost its chances somewhat to receive a nomination at the Oscars, making it only the second animated film to be honored that way. You'll notice a lot of the nominees in the acting categories aren't exactly pictured as the favorites for the Oscars but they still gave excellent performances, notably Tilda Swinton for Julia, Jackie Earle Haley for Watchmen and Sharlto Copley for District 9. Anthony Mackie could be gaining ground in the Supporting Actor category with the film's success this season and having seen the film a second time, it could happen. Anyway, here is the complete list of nominees:

Best Picture
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Serious Man
Up
Up In the Air

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Neill Blomkamp - District 9
James Cameron - Avatar
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen - A Serious Man
Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds

Best Actor
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
Sharlto Copley - District 9
George Clooney - Up In the Air
Joaquin Phoenix - Two Lovers
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

Best Actress
Melanie Laurent - Inglourious Basterds
Carey Mulligan - An Education
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious
Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia
Tilda Swinton - Julia

Best Supporting Actor
Peter Capaldi - In the Loop
Jackie Earle Haley - Watchmen
Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
Anthony Mackie - The Hurt Locker
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress
Vera Farmiga - Up In the Air
Anna Kendrick - Up In the Air
Diane Kruger - Inglourious Basterds
Mo'Nique - Precious
Julianne Moore - A Single Man

Best Original Screenplay
Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber - (500) Days of Summer
Mark Boal - The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen - A Serious Man
Bob Peterson - Up

Best Adapted Screenplay
Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell - District 9
Wes Anderson & Noah Baumbach - Fantastic Mr. Fox
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci & Tony Roche - In the Loop
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner - Up In the Air
Spike Jonze & Dave Eggers - Where the Wild Things Are

Best Documentary
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
The Beaches of Agnes
Capitalism: A Love Story
The Cove
Food, Inc.

Best Foreign Language Film
Broken Embraces
Police, Adjective
Silent Light
Summer Hours
The White Ribbon

Best Animated Feature Film
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Ponyo
The Princess and the Frog
Up

Best Cinematography
Mauro Fiore - Avatar
Trent Opaloch - District 9
Barry Ackroyd - The Hurt Locker
Robert Richardson - Inglourious Basterds
Roger Deakins - A Serious Man

Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat - Fantastic Mr. Fox
Marvin Hamlisch - The Informant!
Michael Giacchino - Star Trek
Michael Giacchino - Up
Carter Burwell & Karen O. - Where the Wild Things Are

Best Editing
Alan Edward Bell - (500) Days of Summer
Steve R. Moore, John Refoua & Stephen Rivkin - Avatar
Julian Clarke - District 9
Chris Innis & Bob Murawski - The Hurt Locker
Sally Menke - Inglourious Basterds

What do you think?

Top 10 films of 2009

Happy New Year everybody! Hope your resolutions come to pass this year. With that, here are my top 10 films of the past year:

10. Inglourious Basterds
9. An Education
8. Up
7. A Serious Man
6. Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
5. Antichrist
4. Avatar
3. The White Ribbon
2. The Hurt Locker
1. Up In the Air

What are your choices?

Chicago Film Critics Awards

Featuring notably the great Roger Ebert, the Chicago Film Critics have named Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker as Best Picture of 2009. The film swept the awards picking up 5 including awards for Bigelow, its star Jeremy Renner, its writer Mark Boal and cinematographer Barry Ackroyd as well. There are no real surprises in the other categories so we'll see if the winners will come up on top at the Oscars.





Here is the complete list of winners:

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Best Actor: Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker
Best Actress: Carey Mulligan - An Education
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds
Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique - Precious
Best Original Screenplay: Mark Boal - The Hurt Locker
Best Adapted Screenplay: Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner - Up In the Air
Best Foreign Language Film: The White Ribbon
Best Animated Feature Film: Up
Best Documentary: Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Best Cinematographer: Barry Ackroyd - The Hurt Locker
Best Original Score: Michael Giacchino - Up
Most Promising Performer: Carey Mulligan - An Education
Most Promising Filmmaker: Neill Blomkamp - District 9

What do you think?

Shrek Forever After Trailer

Speaking of first trailers, here is the premiere of the fourth installment of the most successful animated franchise, Shrek Forever After. Returning voicing is Mike Myers, Oscar nominee Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and Antonio Banderas. What do you think?

Screen Actors Guild Nominations

Two days after the GG nominations were announced, the SAG went to work and revealed their choices for the year's best work in acting for films and television this year. Perhaps the biggest surprise you'll find is the absence of Julianne Moore in the Outstanding Supporting Actress category, instead we find Diane Kruger from Inglourious Basterds. Will Kruger manage to sneak in the category at the Oscars edging out one of the favorites? We'll have to keep an eye on this one. Here is the list of nominees:

Outstanding Lead Actor
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
George Clooney - Up In the Air
Colin Firth - A Single Man
Morgan Freeman - Invictus
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

Outstanding Lead Actress
Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
Helen Mirren - The Last Station
Carey Mulligan - An Education
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious
Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia

Outstanding Supporting Actor
Matt Damon - Invictus
Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
Christopher Plummer - The Last Station
Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

Outstanding Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz - Nine
Vera Farmiga - Up In the Air
Anna Kendrick - Up In the Air
Diane Kruger - Inglourious Basterds
Mo'Nique - Precious

Outstanding Cast
An Education - Dominic Cooper, Alfred Molina, Carey Mulligan, Rosamund Pike, Peter Sarsgaard, Emma Thompson, Olivia Williams
The Hurt Locker - Christian Camargo, Brian Geraghty, Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie, Jeremy Renner
Inglourious Basterds - Daniel Bruhl, August Diehl, Julie Dreyfus, Michael Fassbender, Sylvester Groth, Jacky Ido, Diane Kruger, Melanie Laurent, Denis Menochet, Mike Myers, Brad Pitt, Eli Roth, Til Schweiger, Rod Taylor, Christoph Waltz, Martin Wuttke
Nine - Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Daniel Day-Lewis, Judi Dench, Fergie, Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren
Precious - Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Sherri Shepherd, Gabourey Sidibe

What do you think?

Iron Man 2 Trailer

It's finally here! The first official trailer for the return of Tony Stark/Iron Man from director Jon Favreau starring Oscar nominee Robert Downey, Jr. Also returning is Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow, and rounding up the cast are Golden Globe nominee Scarlett Johansson, Oscar nominee Don Cheadle replacing Terrence Howard and as Whiplash, nominee Mickey Rourke. Is this the box office hit of 2010? What do you think?

Original Song Shortlist

The list isn't short with 63 submissions, but here is the complete list of songs eligible for the Academy Awards:

“All Is Love” from “Where the Wild Things Are”
“Almost Over You” from “My One and Only”
“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog”
“AyAyAyAy” from “The Maid”
“Back to Tennessee” from “Hannah Montana The Movie”
“Being Bad” from “Duplicity”
“Blanco” from “Fast & Furious”
“Brothers in Arms” from “Brothers at War”
“Butterfly Fly Away” from “Hannah Montana The Movie”
“Cinema Italiano” from “Nine”
“Colorblind” from “Invictus”
“Depression Era” from “That Evening Sun”
“Don’t Walk Away” from “Hannah Montana The Movie”
“Dove of Peace” from “Bruno”
“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog”
“Fly Farm Blues” from “It Might Get Loud”
“Forget Me” from “I Love You, Beth Cooper”
“God Bless Us Everyone” from “Disney’s A Christmas Carol”
“Here” from “Shrink”
“Hideaway” from “Where the Wild Things Are”
“Hoedown Throwdown” from “Hannah Montana The Movie”
“I Bring What I Love” from “Youssou N’Dour: I Bring What I Love”
“I See You” from “Avatar”
“(I Want to) Come Home” from “Everybody’s Fine”
“If You’re Wondering” from “The Lightkeepers”
“Impossible Fantasy” from “Adventures of Power”
“Innocent Child” from “Skin”
“Invictus 9,000 Days” from “Invictus”
“Legendary” from “Tyson”
“Let Freedom Reign” from “Skin”
“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36”
“Ma Belle Evangeline” from “The Princess and the Frog”
“My One and Only” from “My One and Only”
“Na Na” from “Couples Retreat”
“Never Knew I Needed” from “The Princess and the Frog”
“New Divide” from “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”
“New Jersey Nights” from “Adventures of Power”
“New York Is Where I Live” from “Did You Hear about the Morgans?”
“No Time for Love” from “Simon & Malou”
“One Day” from “Post Grad”
“Only You” from “The Young Victoria”
“Other Father Song” from “Coraline”
“Petey’s Song” from “Fantastic Mr. Fox”
“Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea” from “Ponyo”
“Possibility” from “The Twilight Saga: New Moon”
“Raining Sunshine” from “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”
“Running Out of Empty (Make Ourselves at Home)” from “Lymelife”
“Smoke without Fire” from “An Education”
“Somebody Else” from “Crazy Heart”
“Stu’s Song” from “The Hangover”
“Take It All” from “Nine”
“Through the Trees” from “Jennifer’s Body”
“Trust Me” from “The Informant!”
“Un Bouquet des Violettes” from “New York, I Love You”
“We Are the Children of the World” from “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
“We Love Violence” from “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart”
“When You Find Me” from “Adam”
“Winter” from “Brothers”
“The Word Is Love” from “Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay!”
“You Got Me Wrapped around Your Little Finger” from “An Education”
“You’ll Always Find Your Way Back Home” from “Hannah Montana The Movie”
“You’ve Been a Friend to Me” from “Old Dogs”

The selection committee will receive DVD copies presenting a short clip for each songs and will select their nominees according to the new rules which were submitted earlier this year. Which songs do you think will make the cut?

Robin Hood Trailer

Here is the first trailer for Ridley Scott's next collaboration with Russell Crowe, the retelling ot the story of Robin Hood. The film also stars Oscar winner Cate Blanchett as Maid Marian. What do you think?

Alice In Wonderland New Trailer

Here is yet another trailer for Tim Burton's next film, Alice In Wonderland, starring Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Helena Bonham Carter and Anne Hathaway. What do you think?

Austin Film Critics Awards

The Hurt Locker continues its winning streak as it took home the Best Picture award at this year's Austin Film Critics awards. A big surprise here is the win by Melanie Laurent for Best Actress in Inglourious Basterds, so we'll see if this is simply a one-time fluke. Here is the complete list of winners:

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
Runners-Up:
Star Trek
Up
A Serious Man
Up In the Air
Avatar
Inglourious Basterds
District 9
Where the Wild Things Are
(tie) Moon, The Messenger
Best Foreign Language Film: Cary Fukunaga - Sin Nombre
Best Documentary: Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Best Animated Feature: Up
Best First Film: Neill Blomkamp - District 9
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Best Actor: Colin Firth - A Single Man
Best Actress: Melanie Laurent - Inglourious Basterds
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds
Best Supporting Actress: Anna Kendrick - Up In the Air
Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds
Best Adapted Screenplay: Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner - Up In the Air
Best Cinematography: Barry Ackroyd - The Hurt Locker
Best Original Score: Michael Giacchino - Up
Breakthrough Artist Award: Christian McKay - Me and Orson Welles
Austin Film Award: Me and Orson Welles

What do you think?

Golden Globes Nominations

Since the awards season begun a lot of Oscar watchers were waiting for this: the announcement of the Golden Globe nominees since it is one of the biggest predictors of the upcoming Oscar nominations. For one thing, I am glad this year the Hollywood Foreign Press Association put only 5 nominees for every category, because it was starting to become overkill with 6-7 nominees per category. Jason Reitman's Up In the Air leads the charge with 6 nominations. We have a few actors who managed to pick up double nominations this year, notably Sandra Bullock with a Best Actress in a Drama for The Blind Side and in a Comedy for The Proposal. Matt Damon was also nominated twice, for The Informant! as a Best actor for Comedy and for Invictus in the supporting category. Finally Meryl Streep picked up, as most people predicted, two nominations in the Best actress in a Comedy category for Julie & Julia and It's Complicated, so we can expect her to walk away with that award. A big surprise is the absence of Jeremy Renner in the Best Actor in a Drama category since he picked up a few awards already this season with his film The Hurt Locker. Here he is replaced by Tobey Maguire (in a powerful performance as well) in Brothers, as the usual suspects complete the category. You may also notice Rob Marshall did not pick up a nomination for directing Nine, so he may be on a slippery slope. Saoirse Ronan is also absent for Best Actress in a Drama for The Lovely Bones, but she's been pretty consistent in awards season so we might see her on Oscar night. Another surprise is Nancy Meyers' nomination for her screenplay of It's Complicated as some major films are bumped from the category, notably Precious, Up or An Education. We'll see if that effects the outcome of the screenplay category at the Oscars. A pleasant surprise is to see pretty much everyone's favorite comedy of the year, Todd Phillips' The Hangover nominated for Best Motion Picture - Comedy. With the DVD release today, a lot of people should get it off the shelves. Anyway, here is the complete list of nominees:

Best Motion Picture - Drama
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
Up In the Air

Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical
(500) Days of Summer
The Hangover
It's Complicated
Julie & Julia
Nine

Best Actor In a Drama
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
George Clooney - Up In the Air
Colin Firth - A Single Man
Morgan Freeman - Invictus
Tobey Maguire - Brothers

Best Actress In a Drama
Emily Blunt - The Young Victoria
Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
Helen Mirren - The Last Station
Carey Mulligan - An Education
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious

Best Actor In a Comedy/Musical
Matt Damon - The Informant!
Daniel Day-Lewis - Nine
Robert Downey, Jr. - Sherlock Holmes
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - (500) Days of Summer
Michael Stuhlbarg - A Serious Man

Best Actress In a Comedy/Musical
Sandra Bullock - The Proposal
Marion Cotillard - Nine
Julia Roberts - Duplicity
Meryl Streep - It's Complicated
Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia

Best Supporting Actor
Matt Damon - Invictus
Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
Christopher Plummer - The Last Station
Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz - Nine
Vera Farmiga - Up In the Air
Anna Kendrick - Up In the Air
Mo'Nique - Precious
Julianne Moore - A Single Man

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
James Cameron - Avatar
Clint Eastwood - Invictus
Jason Reitman - Up In the Air
Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds

Best Screenplay
Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell - District 9
Mark Boal - The Hurt Locker
Nancy Meyers - It's Complicated
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner - Up In the Air
Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds

Best Animated Feature Film
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
Up

Best Foreign Language Film
Baaria (Italy)
Broken Embraces (Spain)
The Maid (Chile)
A Prophet (France)
The White Ribbon (Germany)

Best Original Score
Michael Giacchino - Up
Marvin Hamlisch - The Informant!
James Horner - Avatar
Abel Korzeniowski - A Single Man
Karen O & Carter Burwell - Where the Wild Things Are

Best Original Song
''Cinema Italiano'' (Maury Weston) - Nine
''I Want To Come Home'' (Paul McCartney) - Everybody's Fine
''I Will See You'' (James Horner, Simon Franglen & Kuk Harrell) - Avatar
''The Weary Kind'' (T Bone Burnett & Ryan Bingham) - Crazy Heart
''Winter'' (U2) - Brothers

Do you think these are good picks?

Critics Choice Awards Nominations

With the Golden Globes nomination announcement coming tomorrow, the Broadcast Film Critics Association has published their nominations for their best in cinema. Leading the way with 10 nominations each are Rob Marshall's Nine and Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. Where Tarantino picked up a nomination for Directing, Marshall failed to get one so that may hurt his chances at a nomination come Oscar night, but there's still time to make his case. Although Basterds has the most nominations, it is worthy to note that is the case because the BFCA added new technical categories to reward, for which Tarantino's film dominates particularly. Nonetheless Christoph Waltz looks to be the favorite and it also picked up a nomination for Best Original Screenplay, so it may still make its way into the top 10 come Oscar night. Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones continues to get snubbed by the critics (this year's Dreamgirls perhaps?) as it failed to get both a Best Picture nomination and for Best Director as well. Still Saoirse Ronan and Stanley Tucci received nominations as they are the strong points from the film, as agreed by most critics, but we'll have a strong idea tomorrow for which films will make the cut. Avatar is starting to get noticed as it received a nomination for Best Picture as well. After winning the NYFCO award, it looks to start becoming a safe bet to make the top 10 but we'll have a better idea in the following weeks.

Here is the complete list of nominees:

Best Picture
Avatar
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
Nine
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up In the Air

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
James Cameron - Avatar
Lee Daniels - Precious
Clint Eastwood - Invictus
Jason Reitman - Up In the Air
Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds

Best Actor
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
George Clooney - Up In the Air
Colin Firth - A Single Man
Morgan Freeman - Invictus
Viggo Mortensen - The Road
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

Best Actress
Emily Blunt - The Young Victoria
Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
Carey Mulligan - An Education
Saoirse Ronan - The Lovely Bones
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious
Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia

Best Supporting Actor
Matt Damon - Invictus
Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
Christian McKay - Me and Orson Welles
Alfred Molina - An Education
Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress
Marion Cotillard - Nine
Vera Farmiga - Up In the Air
Anna Kendrick - Up In the Air
Mo'Nique - Precious
Julianne Moore - A Single Man
Samantha Morton - The Messenger

Best Young Actor/Actress
Jae Head - The Blind Side
Bailee Madison - Brothers
Max Records - Where the Wild Things Are
Saoirse Ronan - The Lovely Bones
Kodi Smit-McPhee - The Road

Best Acting Ensemble
Inglourious Basterds
Nine
Precious
Star Trek
Up In the Air

Best Original Screenplay
Mark Boal - The Hurt Locker
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen - A Serious Man
Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber - (500) Days of Summer
Pete Docter & Bob Peterson - Up
Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds

Best Adapted Screenplay
Wes Anderson & Noah Baumbach - Fantastic Mr. Fox
Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell - District 9
Geoffrey Fletcher - Precious
Tom Ford & David Scearce - A Single Man
Nick Hornby - An Education
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner - Up In the Air

Best Cinematography
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The Lovely Bones
Nine

Best Art Direction
Avatar
Inglourious Basterds
The Lovely Bones
Nine
A Single Man

Best Editing
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Nine
Up In the Air

Best Costume Design
Bright Star
Inglourious Basterds
Nine
Where the Wild Things Are
The Young Victoria

Best Makeup
Avatar
District 9
Nine
The Road
Star Trek

Best Visual Effects
Avatar
District 9
The Lovely Bones
Star Trek
2012

Best Sound
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Nine
Star Trek

Best Animated Feature Film
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
Up

Best Action Movie
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek

Best Comedy
(500) Days of Summer
The Hangover
It's Complicated
The Proposal
Zombieland

Best Foreign Language Film
Broken Embraces
Coco Before Chanel
Red Cliff
Sin Nombre
The White Ribbon

Best Documentary Feature
Anvil
Capitalism: A Love Story
The Cove
Food, Inc.
Michael Jackson's This Is It

Best Song
''All Is Love'' (Karen O & Nick Zinner) - Where the Wild Things Are
''Almost There'' (Randy Newman) - The Princess and the Frog
''Cinema Italiano'' (Maury Weston) - Nine
''(I Want To) Come Home'' (Paul McCartney) - Everybody's Fine
''The Weary Kind'' (T-Bone Burnett & Ryan Bingham) - Crazy Heart

Best Score
Michael Giacchino - Up
Marvin Hamlisch - The Informant!
Randy Newman - The Princess and the Frog
Karen O & Nick Zinner - Where the Wild Things Are
Hans Zimmer - Sherlock Holmes

What do you think?

New York Film Critics Awards

The Online Critics gave out their awards yesterday as their counterparts from L.A. Today the New York Film Critics Circle agreed with the LAFCA instead of their online critics and awarded their Best Picture award to The Hurt Locker. With an incredible streak going their way, the film is on its way to become the heavy favorite come Oscar night. Unless other films pick up awards in the upcoming ceremonies (including the prestigious Golden Globe Awards for which the nominations will be announced in just under 10 hours), Kathryn Bigelow's latest war film just seems unstoppable at this point, but there's still a long way to go. Here is the complete list of winners:

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Best Actor: George Clooney - Up In the Air & Fantastic Mr. Fox
Best Actress: Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds
Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique - Precious
Best Screenplay: In the Loop
Best Cinematographer: Christian Berger - The White Ribbon
Best Animated Film: Fantastic Mr. Fox
Best Non-Fiction Film (Documentary): Of Time and the City
Best Foreign Film: Summer Hours
Best First Film: Steve McQueen - Hunger
Special Award: Andrew Sarris

What do you think?