The Oscars are finally over.  The front-runner, The Artist, won the awards race by picking up Best Picture, Best Director (Michael Hazanavicius), Best Actor (Jean Dujardin), Best Costume Design, and Best Score.  There were also some big upsets as “locks” like The Tree of Life for Best Cinematography and Rise of the Planet of the Apes for Best Visual Effects were no match for Hugo, which ended up taking those categories and three more (Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Art Direction).  As for nice surprises…not really (unless you loved Hugo).

It was a forgettable year for the Oscars, and Billy Crystal, turning in his safe, predictable, and family-friendly routine was the perfect fit for a year that screamed “Don’t rock the boat!”  Last year’s Oscars took a chance on pairing Anne Hathaway and James Franco, and the show was a mess.  This year, they played it safe and the ceremony was still dull.  Quite simply, there was no films to root for and the “upsets” were for the establishment.  It was also funny to have the show and actors celebrate the theater when audiences are moving to OnDemand services, and studios are trying to make the theatrical release window even shorter.   Hit the jump for a full list of the winners, click here for mine and Adam Chitwood’s Oscar predictions (he did way better than me), and click here for my live-blog of the ceremony.

The 2012 Independent Spirit Awards were announced tonight and—you’re not gonna believe this—the voters were smitten with The Artist.  The film won Best Feature, Michel Hazanavicius was awarded Best Director, Jean Dujardin was named Best Male Lead, and they threw in Best Cinematography to Guillaume Schiffman for good measure.  Some of the other winners have a good shot at repeating tomorrow night at the Oscars, like Christopher Plummer for Beginners (Best Supporting Male), Michelle Williams for My Week with Marilyn (Best Female Lead), or the script for The Descendants by Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash (Best Screenplay).  The “independent spirit” was seemingly saved for the unique categories: see Will Reiser’s 50/50 script as Best First Screenplay, Pariah for the John Cassavetes Award, Take Shelter for the Piaget Producers Award.  Hit the jump for the full list of winners.

The 2012 Screen Actors Guild Award winners were announced tonight, and The Help took home the top film prize, “Outstanding Performance By A Cast In A Motion Picture”.  The drama also took home awards for Best Actress (Viola Davis) and Best Supporting Actress (Octavia Spencer).  If you think that’s no big deal in terms of affecting the Oscar race, I have one word for you: Crash.  Granted, The Help didn’t even pick up an Oscar nomination for Best Director, but actors make up the largest block of Academy voters (25 percent).  And as we’ve seen, actors really like movies that make us think we’ve defeated racism, which we totally have.  That’s why all African-American actors pull in huge salaries.  Actors like Will Smith and…Will Smith.  I wouldn’t put The Help ahead of The Artist just yet, but Davis and Spencer should now be considered serious contenders in their respective catagories (Spencer is almost at a lock at this point).

A staple of any awards season is the obligatory “If These Movie Posters Told the Truth” mock-up. However, just because the gimmick is trite doesn’t mean it’s not amusing. This year’s line-up of Academy Award nominees isn’t lacking in Oscar-bait material, with everything from The Iron Lady to The Artist. The fact that films like these so blatantly seem to fit into the category of “Oscar nominee” makes them ripe for this kind of ribbing. We’ve amassed a number of “honest posters” for films like The Artist, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and The Descendants, as well as a few “almost Oscar nominated” films like Shame and We Need to Talk About Kevin. Hit the jump to check them out.

As I’ve been covering awards season pretty extensively here on the site over the past few months, I figured it would be appropriate to (foolishly) try to predict the upcoming Oscar nominations. It’s been a fairly tame year, as a few frontrunners were singled out early in the race and have held their ground throughout the grueling awards season. We haven’t been without a few surprises, as Steven Spielberg’s War Horse took a massive tumble following snubs from most of the major guilds, and David Fincher has surged back into the race bringing his adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with him.

Though there are plenty of safe bets when it comes to the 2012 Oscar nominations, there are still a few wildcards and tricky categories. I’ve put on my prognosticating cap (those interested can purchase one of these nifty hats at your local Target) and compiled a list of who and what I think will make the cut. Hit the jump to see how I think the nods will stack up when they’re announced on January 24th.

I’ve just spent the past three hours watching and live-blogging the 2012 Golden Globe Awards.  My brain feels mushy.  After the jump and presented without comment is a list of this year’s winners. If you don’t even want to hit the jump, The Artist and The Descendants won Best Comedy/Musical and Best Drama, respectively.  If you want to awards prognosticate, I’ll save you the trouble: both were nominated for a Best Picture Oscar.  Those nominations haven’t been announced yet, but they were nominated.  Trust me.  I’m a professional.

Also, feel free to sound off on the winners and losers.  Lord knows I’ve been doing it for the past three hours.

With each passing awards ceremony, it’s looking more and more likely that we’re in for a fairly boring/predictable Oscars this year. The Artist continues to dominate the precursor ceremonies as it took home the Best Picture and Best Director prize at the Critics Choice Awards. On the acting side of things, George Clooney was named Best Actor for his work in The Descendants, and Viola Davis won Best Actress for The Help. The Artist is our clear frontrunner headed towards Oscar night, and I don’t really think anything else will be able to take it down. I can’t really complain about any of the acting wins, though for what it’s worth I think Brad Pitt gave the best performance of the year in Moneyball.

Elsewhere, Drive won Best Action Movie (though it’s really a drama) Bridesmaids won Best Comedy, and Rango was named Best Animated Feature. Hit the jump to see the full list of winners.

Between festivals and theatrical releases, I saw over 100 new films this year.  Some were awful, some were good, and some were mediocre.  And then there were the movies that stayed with me, and more importantly, held up on repeat viewings.  In past years, I’ve usually only had one chance to watch a movie and sometimes the initial positive impression was enough to land it on my annual Top 10 list.  Then I looked back on the list six months later and realized some films shouldn’t have made the cut.  This year, I got to attend major festivals and received “For Your Consideration screeners, which made it easier to double-check movies I enjoyed.  If you’re wondering why movies that originally received an a high rating didn’t make the list, it’s because while I still liked them on a second viewing, their faults became more apparent.  The movies on my Top Ten list became better on repeat viewings and I look forward to watching them again and again over the years.

Hit the jump to check out my picks for the Top 10 films of 2011.

It’s not too often you get to interview a living legend, but sitting across from Christopher Plummer in a hotel room in New York City a few weeks ago, I was smiling like a kid on Christmas.  That’s because before I understood what a movie was, I had already seen his work, as I grew up watching The Sound of Music with my family every holiday season.  And while most eighty year olds might slow down, Plummer has delivered some of his best work these past few years.  If you haven’t seen Mike Mills‘ Beginners, Michael Hoffman‘s The Last Station, Terry Gilliam‘s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus or Pixar’s Up (he voices Charles Muntz), I strongly suggest checking them out.  I’ll be shocked if Plummer doesn’t get nominated for an Oscar for Beginners.

The reason I got to speak with this great actor is for David Fincher‘s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Plummer plays Henrik Vanger, a wealthy old man who’s been haunted by the disappearance of his beloved niece for the past forty years.  As most of you know, Dragon Tattoo is the first in Stieg Larson’s Millennium trilogy and it centers on a disgraced journalist (Daniel Craig) who’s hired by Vanger to investigate the mysterious disappearance.  Rooney Mara plays Lisbeth Salander, a brilliant young hacker who teams up with Craig.  During the interview, Plummer talked about the last few years, acting in films and in the theater, working with Fincher, voicing Charles Muntz in Up, how he almost played Prospero in Michael Powell‘s unrealized adaptation of The Tempest, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to read or listen to the interview.

The Artist is currently the frontrunner in the 2011 awards race, but The Descendants continues to nip at its heels.  Today, the Southeastern Film Critics Association chose The Descendants as the top film of 2011, although The Artist came in second. SEFCA also bestowed The Descendants with Best Actor (George Clooney) and Best Adapted Screenplay, and also pulled runner-up awards for Best Supporting Actress (Shaileen Woodley) and Best Ensemble.

This was my first year as a SEFCA member, and sadly I disagree with most of the association’s choices.  Hit the jump for the full list of winners and my thoughts on them.

The National Board of Review has announced their honors for 2011.  As always, the wide selection allows the NBR to technically have a say in directing awards season, and their picks remain solid.  While I didn’t go nuts over Hugo, a lot of people did and so it’s not surprising NBR gave it Best Picture and named Martin Scorsese as Best Director.  For the most part, I like all of NBR’s choices.  I’m glad any time Drive gets attention, the acting picks are all worthy, and I’m happy Crime After Crime and 13 Assassins got some love.  Notable snubs include Young Adult, Moneyball, and Martha Marcy May Marlene.  Of course, anything Clint Eastwood does has to make NBR’s Top 10 so that’s why a spot is wasted on J. Edgar.

Hit the jump for the full list of winners.

When I received the DVD for Beginners in the mail last week, I was out of my mind excited. After all, Beginners is one of my favorite films of the year. I couldn’t wait to check out the supplemental material and I’m glad to report the disc doesn’t disappoint.

First things first: the film itself. Mike Mills’ semi-autobiographical tale follows Oliver, played wonderfully by Ewan McGregor, at two very different times in his life. The first timeline follows Oliver’s time with his father Hal (an Oscar-worthy Christopher Plummer), who has recently been diagnosed with cancer and come out of the closet. The second timeline follows Oliver as he embarks on a romance with Anna (Inglourious Basterd’s Melanie Laurent), a French actress staying in Los Angeles. Oliver is kept company at all times by his faithful terrier Arthur.  Continue reading for my full review.

The nominations for the 27th Annual Independent Spirit Awards were announced this morning with The Artist and Take Shelter each nabbing five nominations. In addition to The Artist and Take Shelter, Drive, 50/50, The Descendants, and Beginners will duke it out for the top prize. Absent from the Best Feature list is Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, though the film was recognized in Best Supporting Male (Corey Stoll) and Best Cinematography. Also of note, Elizabeth Olsen and John Hawkes landed nominations for Best Actress and Best Supporting Male for Martha Marcy May Marlene, and Ryan Gosling and Woody Harrelson were both singled out in Best Actor for Drive and Rampart respectively.

Hit the jump to check out the full list of nominations. Recognizing the best in independent film, the awards will be handed out on February 25th, the day before the Oscars.

It’s not even December, but awards season has officially with the handing out of awards.  Last night, the Gotham Independent Film Awards had a tie for Best Feature Film with Mike Mills‘ Beginners and Terrence Malick‘s The Tree of Life taking the top prize.  Other winners last night included Breakthrough Director for Dee Rees (Pariah), Breakthrough Actor for Felicity Jones (Like Crazy), Best Documentary for Better This World and Best Ensemble for Beginners.

While the Gotham isn’t a bellwether of how the Oscar race will shake out, it can give an indie picture a welcome boost.  Best Feature winners from the past several years include Frozen River, Winter’s Bone, and eventual Best Picture Oscar-winner The Hurt Locker.  Hopefully, the Gothams have given Beginners and Pariah some awards season momentum (I think The Tree of Life is already on everyone’s radar in terms of awareness).  Hit the jump for the full press release.

Ah, November. Leaves are falling, colder weather is here (depending on where you live), and the 2011 movie season is coming to a close. While angry shoppers and red Starbucks cups generally mean it’s time to start preparing for the many awkward/tense family encounters that are sure to come, it’s also time to start thinking Oscar. We’ve seen a few contenders throughout the year, but a plethora of heavyhitters will be opening over the next 5 weeks.

To aid in your Oscar polls (or to quench your curiosity) we’ve compiled a state of the race preview as of this lovely Thanksgiving week. Granted, a lot can change from now until February, but a good portion of the major players have already been screened and we’re starting to get a sense of how it could all play out. We’ll be examining all the major categories over the next four days, kicking things off with the infamously unpredictable Best Supporting Actor and Actress. Hit the jump to see where things stand.