When Margaret finally arrived in theaters in the fall of 2011, it had been sitting in a can for years. In fact, the prints that screened came with a 2008 copyright mark, and the film was shot in 2005 (going by the theater marquees in the film). It was a wounded bird and it was cut down to two and half hours in ways that felt arbitrary. Kenneth Lonergan’s film is the story of a young girl (Anna Paquin), who witnesses a bus accident that she may have had some part in, and how that changes her life. Margaret was dumped in theaters and barely did any business, but then a funny thing happened: Critics began to champion the film, and Margaret is now on Blu-ray in the both the theatrical cut and an extended edition. And now it’s being hailed as a masterpiece. Our review of the Blu-ray of Margaret follows after the jump.

Fans of Kenneth Lonergan’s emotional marathon Margaret will have something to look forward to. The oft-delayed film won its share of raves when it finally received a limited theatrical release last year, with critics singling out Anna Paquin’s performance as a high-schooler whose innocence is shattered when she believes herself responsible for a fatal bus accident. Several called it the best film of the year. Now comes news that it will receive a limited-time Blu-ray combo pack release on July 10 via Amazon; in that combo pack, you’ll get a bonus DVD featuring a 3-hour extended cut sporting over 30 minutes of added footage. It promises to be at least 20% more devastating than you remember (if you got to see it at all).

Hit the jump for more, including a full press release and the box art. Margaret also stars Mark Ruffalo, Matt Damon, Allison Janney, Jean Reno, Kieran Culkin, and Matthew Broderick.

Another awards ceremony, another The Artist triumph. Michel Hazanavicius’ silent film continues its near sweep of awards season as it took home the Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor prize from the London Film Critics Circle Awards. Surprisingly, the other film to tie The Artist with three awards was the Iranian drama A Separation. The foreign film has been riding a wave of immense positive word of mouth, and the London Film Critics awarded the pic with Foreign Language Film of the Year, Best Screenwriter, and Best Actress.

Nearly shut out of the awards was Britain’s own Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. The espionage drama failed to pick up any major prizes and was sent home with a win for Best Production Design. Elsewhere, We Need to Talk About Kevin was named Best British Film, Anna Paquin shared the Best Actress prize with Meryl Streep for her work in Margaret (quickly becoming the little engine that could), and Michael Fassbender won British Actor of the Year for his stellar work in Shame and A Dangerous Method. Full list of winners after the jump, which includes the critics’ top 10 films of 2011.

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 trailer and poster for Kenneth Lonergan’s Margaret have gone online.  The long-awaited and long-delayed follow-up to Lonergan’s You Can Count on Me, Margaret centers on a high school student (Anna Paquin) who discovers that watching Alison Janney get hit by a bus will really throw you for a loop.  There’s definitely going to be a tough balance here between hitting honest emotions of a teenager who witnesses and feels responsible for a tragedy and going too melodramatic.  Hopefully Lonergan and his excellent cast, which also includes Mark Ruffalo and Matt Damon, can keep the story grounded.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer and poster.  The film also stars J. Smith-Cameron, Jean Reno, Jeannie Berlin, and Matthew Broderick.  Margaret opens September 30th.

More images from Fernando Mierelles 360 and Kenneth Lonergan’s Margaret have gone online.  360 has an impressive cast that features Jude Law, Ben Foster, Anthony Hopkins, and reunites Mierelles with his The Constant Gardner star.  The movie is billed as an “uncompromising dramatic thriller fuelled by the notion of how sexual relationships can transgress social boundaries.”

There are also a couple of new images from the long-delayed Margaret.  The movie will always be described as “long-delayed”.  That’s what happens when you shoot it in 2005 and it sits on a shelf because the director can’t get it out of the editing room and the studio has to call in the lawyers to get it out.  The upside is that movie nerds want to see it out of sheer curiosity.  Having a cast that features Matt Damon, Anna Paquin, Mark Ruffalo, and plenty of other great actors doesn’t hurt either.  Hit the jump to check out the images from both films.  360 will play at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (Sept. 8 – 18th).   Margaret opens in limited released on September 30th.

If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to catch up to a few of the release dates announced over the last week.  My primary motivation: Margaret finally has an official release date!  Kenneth Lonergan was greeted with critical acclaim for his directorial debut You Can Count on Me in 2000, enough to guarantee the director final cut on his follow-up, Margaret.  Lonergan shot the film in 2005 with a top-shelf cast including Anna Paquin, Matt Damon, Allison Janney, Olivia Thirlby, plus You Can Count on Me stars Mark Ruffalo and Matthew Broderick.  Fox Searchlight initially planned for a 2007 release, but Lonergan was unable to find the movie he wanted in the editing bay.  Margaret has been tangled up in legal delays over the last couple years, but its day has come.  September 30, 2011, specifically.  Announcing the release date less than two months in advance usually isn’t followed by heavy promotion and Oscar buzz — I’m just excited that we will finally get to see this thing.

Hit the jump for details on the release dates of The Big Wedding, Turbo, Leafmen, and Walking with Dinosaurs.

One of the films that got rave reviews at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was director Lisa Cholodenko’s (High Art, Laurel Canyon) The Kids Are All Right. The film is about two teenage children Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) and Josh Hutcherson (Journey to the Center of the Earth, Red Dawn) that decide to track down their donor father (Mark Ruffalo) as they were both conceived artificially by their two mothers (Annette Bening and Julianne Moore). Once they locate him, their household will never be the same.  Like I’ve said when I posted my interviews with director Lisa Cholodenko and Mia Wasikowska, I loved this movie and I think it’s going to be remembered at the end of the year during Award season.

Anyway, I recently got to speak with Mark Ruffalo and we talked about got he got involved in The Kids Are All Right, the difference between promoting something you’re proud of and something you’re not, and we also reminisced about one of my favorite movies Zodiac (which he’s great in) and gave me the latest update on Kenneth Lonergan’s long delayed Margaret.  Hit the jump to check out what he had to say: