Gotham Awards

The Gotham awards were handed out last night, and The Hurt Locker became the first official Best Feature winner of a major Award ceremony taken into account for the Oscar season. Its cast was also honored for Best Ensemble so this will give Jeremy Renner some notice for the Best Actor category. Chilean actress Catalina Saavedra won the Breakthrough Award for The Maid. Winners in this category for the past 5 years went on to become Oscar nominees so Ms. Saavedra is definitely worth a look on your radar. Robert Siegel took the Breakthrough Director award for Big Fan. Food, Inc. was named Best Documentary Feature, so this will boost its chances for a nomination. Ry Russo-Young's You Won't Miss Me was named Best Film not Showing in a Theater Near You. Among the Special Honorees were producers Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, actors Stanley Tucci and Natalie Portman and director Kathryn Bigelow. So the hunt is on for The Hurt Locker and its cast and crew. What do you think?

Satellite Awards Nominations

Yesterday the International Press Association announced the nominees for the 14th Satellite Awards. The awards are usually awarded mid-December, so this is the 1st major precursor for the Oscar ceremony. Last year it correctly predicted Slumdog Millionaire for Best Picture, WALL-E as Best Animated Feature Film and Danny Boyle as Best Director. The acting awards were a completely different story however (Richard Jenkins and Angelina Jolie for Drama and Sally Hawkins and Ricky Gervais for Comedy) so we'll see how this year's winners will do. Here is the complete list of nominees:

BEST MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA
Bright Star
An Education
The Hurt Locker
The Messenger
Precious
The Stoning of Soraya M.

BEST MOTION PICTURE - COMEDY/MUSICAL
The Informant!
It's Complicated
Julie & Julia
Nine
A Serious Man
Up in the Air

BEST DIRECTOR
Jane Campion - Bright Star
Neill Blomkamp - District 9
Lone Scherfig - An Education
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Rob Marshall - Nine
Lee Daniels - Precious

BEST ACTRESS - DRAMA
Shohreh Aghdashloo - The Stoning of Soraya M.
Emily Blunt - The Young Victoria
Abbie Cornish - Bright Star
Penelope Cruz - Broken Embraces
Carey Mulligan - An Education
Catalina Saavedra - The Maid

BEST ACTOR - DRAMA
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
Hugh Dancy - Adam
Johnny Depp - Public Enemies
Colin Firth - A Single Man
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker
Michael Sheen - The Damned United

BEST ACTRESS - COMEDY/MUSICAL
Sandra Bullock - The Proposal
Marion Cotillard - Nine
Zooey Deschanel - (500) Days of Summer
Katherine Heigl - The Ugly Truth
Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia

BEST ACTOR - COMEDY/MUSICAL
George Clooney - Up in the Air
Bradley Cooper - The Hangover
Matt Damon - The Informant!
Daniel Day-Lewis - Nine
Michael Stuhlbarg - A Serious Man

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Emily Blunt - Sunshine Cleaning
Penelope Cruz - Nine
Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
Mozhan Marno - The Stoning of Soraya M.
Mo'Nique - Precious

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
James McAvoy - The Last Station
Alfred Molina - An Education
Timothy Spall - The Damned United
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Jane Campion - Bright Star
Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber - (500) Days of Summer
Mark Boal - The Hurt Locker
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen - A Serious Man
Pete Docter & Bob Peterson - Up

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell - District 9
Nick Hornby - An Education
Nora Ephron - Julie & Julia
Geoffrey Fletcher - Precious
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner - Up in the Air

BEST ANIMATED or MIXED MEDIA FEATURE FILM
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Princess and the Frog
Up
Where the Wild Things Are

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Broken Embraces (Spain)
I Killed My Mother (Canada)
The Maid (Chile)
Red Cliff (China)
The White Ribbon (Austria)
Winter in Wartime (Netherlands)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Beaches of Agnes
The Cove
Every Little Step
It Might Get Loud
The September Issue
Valentino: The Last Emperor

BEST ART DIRECTION
Terry Gilliam, Dave Warren & Anastasia Masaro - The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nathan Crowley, Patrick Lumb & William Ladd Skinner - Public Enemies
Eddy Wong - Red Cliff
Chris Kennedy - The Road
Ian Philipps & Dan Bishop - A Single Man
Barry Chusid & Elizabeth Wilcox - 2012

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Robert Richardson - Inglourious Basterds
Guillermo Navarro & Erich Roland - It Might Get Loud
Dion Beebe - Nine
Dante Spinotti - Public Enemies
Lu Yue & Zhang Yi - Red Cliff
Roger Deakins - A Serious Man

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Consolata Boyle - Cheri
Monique Prudhomme - The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Colleen Atwood - Nine
Tim Yip - Red Cliff
Sandy Powell - The Young Victoria

BEST FILM EDITING
Julian Clarke - District 9
Chris Innis & Bob Murawski - The Hurt Locker
Greg Finton - It Might Get Loud
Claire Simpson & Wyatt Simpson - Nine
Angie Lam, Yang Hongyu & Robert A. Ferretti - Red Cliff
David Brenner & Peter S. Elliot - 2012

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Gabriel Yared - Amelia
Marvin Hamslich - The Informant!
Elliot Goldenthal - Public Enemies
Michael Giacchino - Up
Rolfe Kent - Up in the Air
Carter Burwell & Karen O - Where the Wild Things Are

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
'The Weary Kind' (T-Bone Burnett & Ryan Bingham) - Crazy Heart
'We Are the Children of the World' (Terry Gilliam) - The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
'Cinema Italiano' (Maury Yeston) - Nine
'I See in Color' (Mary J. Blige) - Precious
'Almost There' (Randy Newman) - The Princess and the Frog
'Down in New Orleans' (Randy Newman) - The Princess and the Frog

BEST SOUND (MIXING & EDITING)
It Might Get Loud
Nine
Red Cliff
Terminator Salvation
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
2012

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
District 9
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Red Cliff
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
2012

BEST ENSEMBLE
Nine

OUTSTANDING NEW TALENT
Gabourey Sidibe

AUTEUR AWARD
Roger Corman

TESLA AWARD (ACHEIVEMENT IN TECHNOLOGY)
Roger Deakins

MARY PICKFORD AWARD (OUTSTANDING ARTISTIC CONTRIBUTION)
Michael York

TEN BEST FILMS OF 2009
Bright Star
An Education
(500) Days of Summer
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Nine
Precious
A Serious Man
The Stoning of Soraya M.
Up in the Air


Well you've probably noticed major absences from the nominations, notably The Lovely Bones and Avatar (we'll have to see the critics to see the buzz). Nine leads the way with 10 nominations so look for this to be the early favorite going into this year's award season. What do you think?

The Last Station Trailer

Here is the trailer for Michael Hoffman's (The Emperor's Club) new film The Last Station. It stars Oscar winner Helen Mirren (The Queen), Christopher Plummer, James McAvoy and Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man, Sideways). What do you think?

New Nine Posters

Check out these new posters for Rob Marshall's next film Nine starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Guido Contini. As you can tell, the ladies that are featured will certainly steal the spotlight. Are they prepping for Oscar glory or what? Are you ready to be Italian? What do you think?

Oscar Music Director

It was announced today by Oscar producers Adam Shankman and Bill Mechanic that 5-time Oscar nominee Marc Shaiman will be the music director for this year's ceremony. He will have a lot of work on his hands with 10 Best Picture nominees to parody. What do you think of the choice?

Animated Short Film Submissions

The Academy announced today the 10 films which will compete for the five spots in the Animated Short Film category. There were 37 films which were submitted for the first round of voting. Here are the films:

1. The Cat Piano - Eddie White, Ari Gibson
2. French Roast - Fabrice O. Joubert
3. Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty - Nicky Phelan
4. The Kinematograph - Tomek Baginski
5. The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte) - Javier Recio Garcia
6. Logorama - Nicolas Schmerkin
7. A Matter of Loaf and Death - Nick Park
8. Partly Cloudy - Peter Sohn
9. Runaway - Cordell Barker
10. Variete - Roelof van der Bergh

What do you think will make the cut?

Documentary Feature Film Candidates

Earlier today the Academy announced the 15 films who are eligible to compete for the Documentary Feature Film category. Five will be selected to be nominees, so which ones do you think will make the cut? Here is the shortlist:

1. The Beaches of Agnes - Agnes Varda
2. Burma VJ - Anders Ostergaard
3. The Cove - Louie Psihoyos
4. Every Little Step - James D. Stern, Adam Del Deo
5. Facing Ali - Pete McCormack
6. Food, Inc. - Robert Kenner
7. Garbage Dreams - Mai Iskander
8. Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders - Mark N. Hopkins
9. The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers - Judith Ehrlich, Rick Goldsmith
10. Mugabe and the White African - Andrew Thompson, Lucy Bailey
11. Sergio - Greg Barker
12. Soundtrack for a Revolution - Bill Guttentag, Dan Sturman
13. Under Our Skin - Andy Abrahams Wilson
14. Valentino the Last Emperor - Matt Tyrnauer
15. Which Way Home - Rebecca Cammisa

It would be important to note a couple of misses here, notably Anvil! which currently has a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was the first film screened 'For Your Consideration' this year for the Academy. Other big documentaries missing are Capitalism: A Love Story by Michael Moore and Tyson by James Toback. Do you think others were snubbed? Make your picks.

Golden Globes New Rule

This year, the Golden Globes will expand their Animated Feature Film category from their usual 3 nominees to 5 nominees this year. This, of course, will happen if at least twelve films qualify to be contenders. If there are less than 8 films that qualify, in that case there will be no award but the films will then run for Best Picture. If the number of films which qualify are between 8 and 12, then only 3 nominees will be presented at the ceremony. What do you think?

Crazy Heart Trailer

Here is the first trailer for Scott Cooper's directorial debut Crazy Heart. There is a lot of buzz for its star, 4-time Oscar nominee Jeff Bridges (Starman, The Big Lebowski). Also starring Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Dark Knight), Colin Farrell (In Bruges) and Oscar winner Robert Duvall (Tender Mercies, The Godfather I & II). Do you think it has what it takes to make the top 10?

Nine Trailer #2

Here is a sample of this year's most talked about musical from director Rob Marshall (Chicago). Expect this song (sung from Kate Hudson no less) to be a favorite for this year's ceremony. What do you think?

Golden Globes Predix

With less than a month until the official announcement of the Golden Globes Award nominees, it is time to offer my first predictions for the ceremony in the movie categories. Here goes:

BEST MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA
An Education
Invictus
The Lovely Bones
Precious
Up in the Air

BEST MOTION PICTURE - COMEDY/MUSICAL
(500) Days of Summer
In the Loop
The Informant!
The Men Who Stare at Goats
Nine

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
George Clooney - Up in the Air
Colin Firth - A Single Man
Morgan Freeman - Invictus
Viggo Mortensen - The Road

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY/MUSICAL
Peter Capaldi - In the Loop
George Clooney - The Men Who Stare at Goats
Matt Damon - The Informant!
Daniel Day-Lewis - Nine
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - (500) Days of Summer

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA
Penelope Cruz - Broken Embraces
Helen Mirren - The Last Station
Carey Mulligan - An Education
Saoirse Ronan - The Lovely Bones
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY/MUSICAL
Marion Cotillard - Nine
Zooey Deschanel - (500) Days of Summer
Maya Rudolph - Away We Go
Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia
Emma Thompson - Pirate Radio

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Matt Damon - Invictus
Alfred Molina - An Education
Christopher Plummer - The Last Station
Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz - Nine
Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
Mo'Nique - Precious
Julianne Moore - A Single Man
Susan Sarandon - The Lovely Bones

BEST DIRECTOR
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Lee Daniels - Precious
Peter Jackson - The Lovely Bones
Rob Marshall - Nine
Jason Reitman - Up in the Air

BEST SCREENPLAY
Nick Hornby - An Education
Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh - The Lovely Bones
Geoffrey Fletcher - Precious
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen - A Serious Man
Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner - Up in the Air

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Paul Englishby - An Education
James Horner - Avatar
T-Bone Burnett - Crazy Heart
Brian Eno - The Lovely Bones
Michael Giacchino - Up

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
''Time for Miracles'' - 2012
''The Weary Kind'' - Crazy Heart
''Cinema Italiano'' - Nine
''100 Percent'' - Precious
''Down in New Orleans'' - The Princess and the Frog

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Coraline
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Ponyo
The Princess and the Frog
Up

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Broken Embraces (Spain)
Mother (South Korea)
Police Adjective (Romania)
A Prophet (France)
The White Ribbon (Germany)

What do you think?

Honorary Oscars

For the first time in Academy Award history, the Honorary Oscars were handed out at a private ceremony and not during the telecast of the official ceremony. Among the winners, legendary B-movie producer/director Roger Corman, 2-time Oscar nominee cinematographer Gordon Willis (The Godfather trilogy, Zelig), Oscar nominee Lauren Bacall (The Mirror Has Two Faces) and producer John Calley was the recipient of the prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Award. The ceremony took place at the ballroom above the Kodak theatre this weekend.

The White Ribbon Trailer

Here is the trailer for this year's Palme D'Or winner at the Cannes Film Festival from director Michael Haneke (Caché). It is currently the favorite to take the Foreign Language Film Oscar. What do you think?

A Single Man Trailer

Here is Tom Ford's feature film debut gaining a lot of buzz for its main actors Colin Firth and Julianne Moore for nominations. Will the film itself make the top ten? What do you think?

Another Honor for Martin Scorsese

Martin Scorsese, the Academy Award winning director for The Departed and numerous classics of modern cinema (GoodFellas, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver to name a few) will receive the Cecil B. DeMille award at the Golden Globe awards ceremony on January 17th. The nominations will be announced on December 15th and so, in three days time, I'll offer my first predictions for the Golden Globe nominees.

Animated Feature Film Submissions

Today the Academy announced 20 titles which will be competing for the five slots for Best Animated Feature Film for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards. This will mark the first time since 2002 that there will be five nominees in this category. Here are the films who will be competing this year:

• Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
• Astro Boy
• Battle for Terra
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
• Coraline
• Disney's A Christmas Carol
• The Dolphin - Story of a Dreamer
• Fantastic Mr. Fox
• Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
• Mary and Max
• The Missing Lynx
• Monsters vs. Aliens
• 9
• Planet 51
• Ponyo
• The Princess and the Frog
• The Secret of Kells
• Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure
• A Town Called Panic
• Up

Which films do you think will make the final cut?

Date Night Trailer

Here is the first trailer for Shawn Levy's (Night at the Museum) next comedy, Date Night, starring NBC's favorite headliners Steve Carell (The Office, 40 Year-Old Virgin) and Tiny Fey (30 Rock, Mean Girls). Also headlining the cast is Oscar nominee Mark Wahlberg (The Departed), Mila Kunis, James Franco, Mark Ruffalo, Ray Liotta and Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). What do you think?

Salt Trailer

Here is the first trailer for Phillip Noyce's new thriller Salt starring Oscar winner Angelina Jolie. Expect loads of action, thrills and sexy moments. What do you think?

Host Announcement

It has yet to be confirmed by the Academy, but according to several reports, it would appear both Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, who will co-star in the upcoming Nancy Meyers romantic comedy "It's Complicated" alongside Meryl Streep, have been chosen to co-host the 82nd annual Academy Awards. These look like very interesting and good choices here. Baldwin is a former nominee for The Cooler and is enjoying success on his hit show 30 Rock (for which he won 2 Emmys and 2 Golden Globes). Martin is arguably "the" SNL alumni who has been nominated for 5 Golden Globe awards and will host the Oscars for the third time (this is his first co-hosting). This will be the first time since 1987 the Oscars will have more than one host, so another interesting change this year. What do you think?

Green Zone Trailer

Two Matt Damon trailers in one day! Reuniting with Bourne director Paul Greengrass, here is their next project slated for a March 2010 release. What do you think?