A sad film about a sad woman who pays multiple prices—including, eventually, the ultimate price—for daring to pursue her dream…so sums up Rodrigo García’s Albert Nobbs.  And in that description lays the film’s primary disappointment.

Albert Nobbs stars Glenn Close as the titular character, a woman who has spent decades masquerading as a man to work as a waiter in a posh Dublin hotel.  Going into Albert Nobbs, it is not as if one expects an uplifting film.  But depressing movies with pained heroes are one thing. To be fair, the film is well-written, but what is frustrating about Albert Nobbs is seeing an already pained person pay such a high cost for daring to dream and make her life better.  What sort of theme is punishment for attempts at improvement?  Hit the jump for our Blu-ray review of Albert Nobbs.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Continuing on with our look at the 2012 Oscar race, today we delve into Best Animated Feature and the technical categories. As Pixar’s Cars 2 was the studio’s worst-received feature to date (it currently sits at 38% on Rotten Tomatoes), we’ve got ourselves an actual competition in the Animated Feature category. Not only that, but if all 18 films that were submitted to the Academy are deemed eligible, we’ll have a total of five nominated films. This leaves us to debate the merits of Rango and The Adventures of Tintin against the likes of Puss in Boots and Arthur Christmas.

Additionally, we’ve taken a stab at Best Original Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay, and the technical categories. As these are incredibly tricky to predict this far out (and my picks would be doomed to haunt me come February), I’ve simply listed a couple of frontrunners in each category instead of going in depth. Though it’s still early, we’ve got an overall picture of how things look like they’ll stack up; so hit the jump to check out the state of the race so far. If you missed our previous preview articles, be sure to take a look at our picks for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress, and Best Actor and Best Actress.

Yesterday we unveiled our picks for the top contenders in the Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories for the upcoming 84th Academy Awards. Today, we’re taking on Best Actor and Best Actress. Though it’s still relatively early in the race, we’ve got some surefire contenders and a couple of clear frontrunners for the top acting categories. In addition to Academy darlings like George Clooney and Meryl Streep, we’ve seen some extraordinary performances from relative newcomers likes Elizabeth Olsen and Michael Fassbender. As I stressed yesterday, it’s still pretty early so things can definitely change between now and February, but there are certainly some clear frontrunners in these two races already. Hit the jump to see find out how everyone stacks up.

Glenn Close has spent the last three decades trying to bring Albert Nobbs to the screen after the title role won her an Obie in 1982.  She’s finally succeeded, and we’ve got the trailer to prove it.  Close plays a shy butler with a secret: ” ‘He’ is a woman who has had to behave as a man all her life in order to escape a life of poverty and loneliness.”  Janet McTeer, Mia Wasikowska, Aaron Johnson, and Pauline Collins also star.  Rodrigo Garcia (In Treatment) directed the adaptation from a screenplay by Close and John Banville, based on the short story by George Moore.

I am way too immature for the subject matter, and the film received mixed reviews at Telluride and TIFF.  But the trailer suggests a handsomely shot period piece and a tender approach to the story.  If you’re one of those mature cinephiles, check out the trailer plus two clips after the jump to judge for yourself.

The prestige of the Telluride Film Festival continues to rise each year.  It’s the waypoint between the Venice Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival and it’s a great opportunity to see the hot fall films without travelling internationally.  Last year, Telluride showed off Best Picture winner The King’s Speech, Best Picture nominees Black Swan and 127 Hours, and a variety of other films that picked up Oscar nominations.  The line-up for this year’s festival has been announced and it looks like it will be equally exciting if not more so.  Movies playing at Telluride this year include Alexander Payne’s The Descendants, David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method, the critically acclaimed silent film The Artist, Steve McQueen’s Shame, Werner Herzog’s Into the Abyss, Martin Scorsese’s documentary Living in the Material World, Rodrigo Garcia’s Albert Nobbs, and Lynne Ramsay’s We Need to Talk about Kevin.  And keep in mind that these are only the films with pre-festival buzz.  No one was paying much attention to The King’s Speech until it kicked off at Telluride and landed at TIFF.  Plus there’s the TBA screenings to consider (Black Swan and 127 Hours were both TBA films).

Hit the jump for the line-up.  The 2011 Telluride Film Festival runs from September 2 – 5th.

The announcement of the films playing at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival has brought with it a deluge of first images from major upcoming movies.  After the jump you’ll find the first images from Rodrigo Garcia’s Albert Nobbs (starring Glenn Close and Mia Wasikowska), Todd Solondz’ Dark Horse (starring Selma Blair, Justin Bartha, and Christopher Walken), Terence Davies’ The Deep Blue Sea (starring Rachel Weisz and Tom Hiddleston), and Jennifer Westfeldt’s Friends with Kids (starring Westfeldt, Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, and Adam Scott).

Hit the jump to check out all of the images.  We’ve also provided the synopses.  The 2011 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 8th – 18th.  For all the new TIFF images we’ve posted today, click here.

In my article yesterday about the Venice Film Festival, I made some predictions on which films would make their world premiere at this year’s Toronto Film Festival and not Venice.  It turns out a few of my guesses were only the tip of the iceberg.  Moneyball, 50/50, and The Descendants are all going to premiere at TIFF.  But my lord, does Toronto have an incredible line-up this year.  I’m praying my application gets approved because when you hit the jump and check out this line-up, you’ll understand my agony if I’m stuck in Atlanta while these films are premiering.

Hit the jump for the line-up of Galas and Premieres for this year’s festival.  The 2011 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 8th – 18th.

The first image of Glenn Close on the Dublin set of Albert Nobbs has landed online.  In the film, Close plays an English woman who disguises herself as a male (pretty convincingly, I might add) so as to land a job as a butler in 19th century Ireland.  In addition to starring, Close is also credited as a producer and co-writer.  Joining the five-time Academy Award nominee in the film are Michael Gambon (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I), Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Showtime’s The Tudors), Aaron Johnson (Kick-Ass), and Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland).  Rodrigo García directs (HBO’s In Treatment).

Hit the jump to check out the image as well as an official synopsis.  Albert Nobbs is based on the short story by George Moore and is currently looking at a 2011 release.

Once upon a time, Orlando Bloom and Amanda Seyfried were set to star opposite Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs.  Not so anymore, though Close is still in place as producer, co-writer, and star in the role that won her an Obie back in 1982.  ScreenTerrier [via The Playlist] reports Seyfried’s role has been filled by Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland); Aaron Johnson (Kick-Ass) will replace Bloom as it preps for shooting in the coming weeks.  I’d give the slight edge to Seyfried over Wasikowska here, but Johnson is a major upgrade from Mr. Bloom.  Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Tudors) also stars.

Rodrigo Garcia (In Treatment) directs from a script by Close and John Banville, based on the George Moore short story about a woman (Close) who has been disguising herself as a man to escape poverty.  Hit the jump for the official synopsis.

The saga of will Amanda Seyfried be the star of director Catherine Hardwicke’s The Girl With The Red Riding Hood is officially over, as she confirmed for me at this year’s ShoWest that she’s officially signed on to do the film.  She also confirmed she’s going to be in director Rodrigo Garcia’s Albert Nobbs movie with shooting taking place in Ireland before she begins The Girl With The Red Riding Hood.  Hit the jump to see exactly what she said: