Here’s a brief look at this week’s new Blu-ray releases:

• The Borgias: The Second Season [Blu-ray] – $34.99 (47% off)
• The Collection [Blu-ray] – $16.99 (32% off)
• Jurassic Park (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy + UltraViolet) – $16.99 (51% off)
• Killing Them Softly [Blu-ray] – $19.96 (50% off)
• Lincoln (Two Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack) – $22.99 (41% off)
• Lincoln (Four Disc Blu-ray / DVD + Digital Copy) – $27.99 (39% off)
• Monsieur Verdoux (Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] – $31.99 (20% off)
• Parental Guidance [Blu-ray] – $22.99 (43% off)
• A Royal Affair [Blu-ray] – $24.86 (17% off)
• The Sandlot: 20th Anniversary Edition [Blu-ray]- $14.96 (25% off)
• Veep: The Complete First Season (Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy) – $19.99 (60% off)

Hit the jump for details on the extras included on the aforementioned Blu-rays.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have reduced the number of eligible foreign films to nine.  For those who don’t know how the Best Foreign Language Film category works, every foreign country can submit one movie for consideration.  That list has now been whittled down to nine movies, and five of these nine will get Oscar nominations.  The films on the shortlist are Amour (Austria), War Witch (Canada), No (Chile), A Royal Affair (Denmark), The Intouchables (France), The Deep (Iceland), Kon-Tiki (Norway), Beyond the Hills (Romania), and Sister (Switzerland).

Amour is the frontrunner for the win based on critical acclaim, but I’ll put my money on The Intouchables since I think the Academy will go with the feel-good caretaker movie as opposed to the remind-us-of-our-fragile-mortality caretaker movie.

We’re continuing on with our weeklong preview of the upcoming 85th Academy Awards, and after running down both acting categories it’s time to take look at some of the other races.  Today we’ll be looking at the Best Animated Feature, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Screenplay categories in depth, and I’ll also make some way-too-early quick picks in the technical categories.  The fun begins after the jump.

A Royal Affair, written and directed by Nikolaj Arcel, is a captivating historical tale set in 18^th century Denmark inspired by a true story about forbidden love and a political struggle that changes a nation forever.   The film, which opens November 9^th, centers on the intriguing love triangle between the insane King Christian VII (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard), the royal physician Johann Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen), who is a man of enlightenment and idealism, and the young but strong Queen Caroline Mathilda (Alicia Vikander).

At the film’s recent press day, the Danish filmmaker talked about the challenges he faced getting the project financed, why he found the real story inspiring and sees contemporary parallels, how he shot the visually stunning movie on a limited budget, why he cast an unknown actor in the role of King Christian VII, why he chose a contemporary visual style for a period piece, and how he feels about his film being chosen as the official Oscar entry for Denmark for Best Foreign Language Film.  Arcel, who wrote the original screenplay for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, also revealed that he is currently writing another crime trilogy, the first part of which is now being filmed.  Hit the jump for the interview.

The line-up for the 2012 Telluride Film Festival has been announced.  The program will include Michael Haneke’s Palm d’Or-winning Amour, the Bill Murray-fronted Hyde Park on Hudson, Michael Winterbottom’s Everyday, the Michael Shannon crime thriller The Iceman, Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell, and many more.  The festival will also include some special surprise screenings, with Ben Affleck’s highly anticipated drama Argo rumored to appear.  Additionally, the 2012 Silver Medallion Awards will be given to Roger Corman, Marion Cotillard, and Mads Mikkelsen.

Hit the jump to read the full press release which includes the entire line-up.  The 2012 Telluride Film Festival runs from August 31 – September 3rd.

The line-up for this year’s Toronto International Film Festival has been announced and it is a doozy.  The festival will play host to some of the year’s biggest world premieres including Rian Johnson‘s Looper (which will be the festival’s opening night film), The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer‘s Cloud Atlas, Ben Affleck‘s Argo, David O. Russell‘s The Silver Linings Playbook, Derek Cianfrance‘s The Place Beyond the Pines, Joss Whedon‘s Much Ado About Nothing, Noah Baumbach‘s Frances Ha, and Neil Jordan‘s Byzantium.  Films making their International/North American debuts (which means that they’ll like show up at the Venice Film Festival first) include Terrence Malick‘s To the Wonder, Joe Wright‘s Anna Karenina, Robert Redford‘s The Company You Keep, and Billy Bob Thornton‘s Jayne Mansfield’s Car.

Hit the jump for the first wave of announced films.  The 2012 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 6 – 16th.