The Help

THE HUNGER GAMES and BRIDESMAIDS Lead 2012 MTV Movie Awards

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: May 1st, 2012 at 8:04 am

Since the MTV Movie Awards air in the middle of the summer, they’re allowed to pull from successful spring pictures.  This year, they’ve done exactly that and awarded The Hunger Games with eight nominations.  However, MTV didn’t forget the movies of last summer, and also gave eight nods to Bridesmaids.  As for the other nominees, the Twilight series has always dominated the MTV Movie Awards in the past, but The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 only pulled in two nominations this year.  It may be a case of out-with-the-old, in-with-the-new, but it’s worth noting that this was the first year where nominees were chosen by a panel of industry insiders instead of online voting.  I don’t know why MTV made that change (it’s not like anyone can make the awards more respectable), but fans will still get to choose the winners.  While the MTV Movie Awards are really more of a platform for funny sketches and showing clips from upcoming movies, an awards ceremony that allows you to give Drive an award for “A Real Hero” can’t be all bad.

Hit the jump to check out the nominees.  The 2012 MTV Movie Awards air live on June 3rd at 9/8c.

Winners of the 84th Academy Awards; THE ARTIST Wins 5 Including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 26th, 2012 at 8:56 pm

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.

SAG Award Winners Announced; THE HELP Wins Best Ensemble, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 29th, 2012 at 7:13 pm

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).

If 2012 Oscar Nominee Posters Told the Truth

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: January 25th, 2012 at 12:13 pm

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.

2012 Oscar Nominations Announced; HUGO and THE ARTIST Lead the Pack

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: January 24th, 2012 at 6:05 am

The nominations for the 84th Annual Academy Awards have finally been unveiled. Many of the categories have fallen in line just as most have predicted (I fared alright with my predictions, but not great), with Hugo scoring 11 nods, followed closely by The Artist with 10. The biggest surprises are War Horse and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close getting in for Best Picture, the exclusion of The Adventures of Tintin from Best Animated Feature, and The Tree of Life nabbing Best Picture and Best Director nods (hooray!). On the snub side of things, despite landing the most precursor critics awards of any other actor in the race thus far, Albert Brooks was denied a Best Supporting Actor nod for his stellar work in Drive (boo). Additionally, Tilda Swinton was overlooked for giving the best performance of the year in We Need to Talk About Kevin, and AMPAS has no love for Michael Fassbender‘s haunting work in Shame.

There’s still plenty to be happy about, as Gary Oldman has his first ever Oscar Nomination (yes, that’s right) and Melissa McCarthy is a Best Supporting Actress nominee. Hit the jump to check out the full list of nominees. The 84th Academy Awards will be presented by Billy Crystal on February 26th.

Oscars 2012: Adam Predicts the Nominees

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: January 21st, 2012 at 2:38 pm

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.

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, THOR, and HUGO Among Costume Designers Guild Nominees

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: January 19th, 2012 at 9:12 am

Though many are busy finalizing their predictions for the Best Actor and Best Picture Oscar categories, the Costume Designers Guild today announced nominees for excellence in wardrobe. The nods are split into three categories: contemporary, fantasy, and period. Among the films singled out are superhero fare like X-Men: First Class and Thor, blockbusters franchises Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and dramatic critical favorites like Drive and The Descendants. Personally, I’m thrilled to see the excellent work in X-Men: First Class singled out, and I’m still waiting for a reasonably priced way to own Ryan Gosling’s ridiculously cool jacket from Drive.

Hit the jump to see the full list of nominees. The winners will be announced on February 21st, and the nominees for the upcoming 84th Annual Academy Awards will be revealed this coming Tuesday, January 24th.

TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY, HUGO, and THE ARTIST Lead 2012 BAFTA Nominations

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 17th, 2012 at 7:38 am

If you’re in a position to give out prestigious awards, chances are you’re partial to The Artist.  The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) handed out their nominations for 2011′s best films, and leading the pack was Michael Hazanavicius‘ silent film with 12 nominations.  Close behind were Tomas Alfredson‘s spy-thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (11 nominations), and Martin Scorsese‘s Hugo (9 nominations).  However, Hugo is not in the race for Best Film.  The Artist and Tinker Tailor will competed against The Help (boo), The Descendants (expected), and Drive (yay!).  Drive also netted nominations for Best Director (Nicolas Winding Refn), Best Supporting Actress (Carey Mulligan), and Best Editing (Mat Newman), but strangely no nomination for Albert Brooks for Best Supporting Actor.

There are some fun nominations scattered around the BAFTA nods, so hit the jump to check out the full list.  The 2012 BAFTA Awards will be handed out on February 12th.

2012 Golden Globe Winners Announced; THE ARTIST and THE DESCENDANTS Take Top Prizes

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 15th, 2012 at 8:20 pm

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.

THE ARTIST Wins Top Prize at Critics Choice Awards; George Clooney Named Best Actor

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: January 12th, 2012 at 7:52 pm

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.

Writers Guild Award Nominations Announced; YOUNG ADULT, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, and THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Nominated

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 5th, 2012 at 10:39 am

The Writers Guild of America has announced their nominations for the 2012 Writers Guild Awards, and some of their nominations are pretty terrible.  It’s nice to see nominations for Young Adult, The Descendants, and Bridesmaids.  It’s less nice to see nominations for slavish adaptations of poorly written novels like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Help.  There’s also a major snub for awards-season favorite The Artist, and before you mention the “no dialogue” aspect, there’s still a script and the movie was in contention.  The documentary nominations also overlooked the terrific Project Nim in favor of Pina, which is borderline unwatchable for anyone who doesn’t love modern dance.

Hit the jump for the full list of nominees.  Winners will be announced at the 2012 Writers Guild Awards on Sunday, February 19th. [Correction: The Artist was deemed ineligible by the WGA, but it's still a snub since the WGA's rules are kind of stupid in the first place]

2012 Art Directors Guild Award Nominees Include HUGO, HARRY POTTER, DRIVE, and GAME OF THRONES

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: January 3rd, 2012 at 8:56 pm

I like to see the guild awards, because the specificity allows for nominees that you won’t see on more general lists.  The Art Directors Guild is especially interesting because they separate the films into three categories: period, fantasy, and contemporary.  The 15 nominees highlight everything from Oscar favorites Hugo and The Artist, to crowd-pleasers Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Captain America, to poorly received films like Cowboys & Aliens and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.  There’s a similar contrast in the TV nominees between the classy HBO programs you’d expect (Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, and Mildred Pierce) and the critical punching bags American Horror Story and The Playboy Club.  The full list of nominees is after the break.

2012 Producers Guild Awards Nominations for Film and Television Announced; Nominees include THE ARTIST and GAME OF THRONES

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 3rd, 2012 at 9:42 am

The Producers Guild of America has announced the nominees for their 2012 awards.  The PGA chose ten nominees this year for Best picture, but the Oscars will choose between five and ten.  The PGA nominees include the usual suspects (The Artist, The Descendants, Hugo) as wellas movies that have stagnated in the awards race or never really got it into (Moneyball, The Help, The Ides of March).  If you want to get a good prediction for the Best Picture Oscar, the PGAs can be a good barometer.  Follow the PGA choice to the Director’s Guild of America choice to Best Director and finally to Best Picture.

Among the TV nominees were 30 Rock, Modern Family, Game of Thrones, and Mad Men.  I’m going to be generous and assume Breaking Bad was ruled ineligible and that’s why it wasn’t nominated.  Hit the jump for the full list of nominees.

97 Original Scores Up for Oscar; DRIVE and ATTACK THE BLOCK Ruled Ineligible

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: December 23rd, 2011 at 12:04 pm

As the 84th Academy Awards move closer, we’re starting to get a better sense of how things will pan out. We recently shared the 39 songs that will contend for the Best Original Song category, and now the Academy has announced the 97 original scores eligible for the Best Original Score award. AMPAS is notoriously picky when it comes to eligibility in this category, and as we feared the scores for both Drive and Attack the Block have been deemed ineligible. Also disappointing is the ineligibility of Alexandre Desplat’s mesmerizing score for The Tree of Life.

While it’s upsetting to see some of the year’s best work side-lined, there’s plenty to be happy about. I was a huge fan of Howard Shore’s work in Hugo and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s score for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, as well as The Chemical Brothers’ brilliant work in the criminally underseen Hanna. Hit the jump for the full list, as well as who I think will make the cut.

39 Songs Contend for Best Original Song Oscar; Nominees Include THE MUPPETS and CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: December 19th, 2011 at 2:38 pm

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced today that 39 eligible songs will contend for the Best Original Song Oscar this year. Important to note is that a relatively recent rule change states that songs must be judged in the capacity that they appear in each film. In early January the voting body will get together and watch clips from each eligible movie in which the 39 songs are featured, after which they will determine the nominees. The list of eligible songs include three tracks from The Muppets, Sigur Ros frontman Jonsi’s song “Gathering Stories” (which director Cameron Crowe co-wrote) from We Bought a Zoo, and composer/songwriter/eight-time Oscar-winner Alan Menken’s “Star Spangled Man” from Captain America: The First Avenger. I’m partial to Jonsi’s work or “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets, but we’ll see how the Academy’s taste stacks up towards the end of January.

Hit the jump to check out the full list of eligible songs. The 84th Academy Award nominations will be announced on January 24th.

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