Central Ohio Film Critics Association

Amy Adams gets some recognition outside of the Globes for her amazing work in American Hustle. 

Best Film:

• American Hustle
• Before Midnight
• Frances Ha
• Gravity
• Her
• Inside Llewyn Davis 
• Nebraska
• 12 Years A Slave
• Upstream Color
• The Wolf of Wall Street

I'm back! (Sorta) & Academy Award Ballots Go Out

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! I recently just got in to Orlando, FL where I'm staying for the next week. After being trapped in a car for 2 days disconnected from any sort of internet, it's nice to be back.

Oscar ballots went out today, which means voting has begun! Yes, we're in that weird purgatory where we pretty much know how things are going to turn out but we're all still holding out for some surprises/goodwill for our favorites. There's still time for some surprises (as we learned last year, most notably in the Directing category...), and in a year filled with such amazing films, I ask the Academy to consider some things:

Happy Holidays! Free Screenplays, Jennifer Lawrence & More

Hi everyone! I'm just taking this time to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday as I'll be indisposed over the next few days. I'm leaving for Florida with my parents tomorrow shortly after dinner. I also just wanted to thank everyone for the level of support I've received over the last few months with this blog; I never imagined having an audience to share my writing with.

I still have a lot of movies to see before I compile my Top 10 list: Dallas Buyers Club, Her, The Wolf of Wall Street, August: Osage County, Saving Mr. Banks, and Short Term 12 are all among the films that have eluded me up until this point. In a year of such great movies, there's a lot more urgency to see everything; even a lot of the mainstream films such as The Hunger Games have been first rate this year; it's been fantastic for filmmakers.

As it stands right now, we still have yet to hear from the PGA (Producers Guild), DGA (Directors Guild) and WGA (Writers Guild). SAG helped narrow the pool of acting contenders, but it's still up in the air as to what films and what directors will make it in. Remember the guilds pretty much represent the voting blocks of the Academy, so what they pick is very important (though it's also important to remember that the Academy has its own distinct voice and sometimes makes bold choices). We'll hear from the Broadcast Film Critics and the Globes in January.

Other cool things:

• Gravity's Best Picture, Director and Actress nominations have been sealed; they will happen, along with many other craft & tech nominations. But one nomination that has never been certain has been the screenplay. For a movie so visually stunning, people often forget that the script is the blueprint, despite how visual heavy it is. "From Script to Scene" (which you can watch by clicking on those very words) is a 5 minute video demonstrating how Cuaron and his team took the screenplay and made it into the actual film. Fox Searchlight did a similar thing a few years ago with Natalie Portman's ballet training for Black Swan when she was being touted as a Best Actress nominee (and she eventually won).
• Speaking of screenplays, every screenplay from 12 Years A Slave to The Bling Ring is available to read and download here (legally!) from the studios. Just think of it as my Christmas gift to you all.
• Vulture spoke with 12 Years A Slave's screenwriter John Ridley on the toughest scene he had to write in the film; The scene with Mistress Shaw, played by Alfre Woodard.
• The New Yorker lists their top films of the year
• 9 Photos of Jennifer Lawrence That Will Make You Reassess The Scope of the 1986 Vienna Convention On The Law Of Treaties Between States And International Organizations

12 Years A Slave Rakes in the Most Nominations with Vancouver Critics

After being left out of the Gothams, NYFCC & LAFCA, the smaller critics groups have repositioned the Steve McQueen's tale of slavery back on top.

Best Picture:

• 12 Years A Slave
• Gravity
• Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Director:

• Joel & Ethan Coen, Inside Llewyn Davis
• Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
• Steve McQueen, 12 Years A Slave 

Nevada Critics Crown Meryl Streep with Her First Win of the Season

Though she's won key nominations from SAG & the Globes, Streep has received virtually zero support from any of the precursor awards.

Though they certainly do not carry the same weight of the LAFCA, NYFCC, NYFCO, or BFC, The Nevada critics throwing their weight behind Streep's seemingly divisive performance doesn't hurt her (fading) presence in the Best Actress race. With outsiders like Amy Adams and Adele Exarchopoulos looking to snag her spot, any added momentum is useful, no matter how small the group adding it happens to be.

See the full list of winners below.

American Hustle: A Entertaining Mess

Amy Adams & Bradley Cooper strut their stuff in O.Russel's wild caper. 

"Some of this actually happened" David O. Russel tells us at the very beginning of American Hustle before leading into a long take of Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) fixing his, as Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) describes it, "elaborate" comb over. And boy, is it elaborate. But what we'll come to know through Irving's comb over is that he's just as elaborate; not what he seems at all, and consisting of many layers. He's a con man, but he has to be to survive.

And that's what the film is truly about; At the center of American Hustle's loud, obnoxious and zany retelling of the FBI led ABSAM scandal of the 70's, is a survival story.

Utah Critics Association Champion Adele Exarchopoulos & Scarlett Johansson

Best Picture:

1. Gravity
2. 12 Years A Slave

Best Director:

1. Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
2. Steve McQueen, 12 Years A Slave

Best Actor:

1. Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years A Slave
2. Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Actress:

1. Adele Exarchopoulos, Blue Is the Warmest Color
2. Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine & Sandra Bullock, Gravity

Quick Thoughts on The Spectacular Now

I remember sitting in the movie theater waiting for Sofia Coppola's, The Bling Ring to start playing. The last trailer to play before the film began was a brief, and familiar trailer for The Spectacular Now starring Project X's Miles Teller and The Descendants' Shailene Woodley. "Perks of Being A Wallflower 2?" my best friend scoffed, completely disinterested. I, however, remained intrigued. I had heard about the film's premiere at Sundance that recalled the days of praise experienced by Like Crazy, a film I loved very much.

In the later days, I ended up reading the novel of the same name that the film was based on, a little crestfallen because like my friend, I expected this to have a similar story to Perks. However, what I didn't realize, was that this wasn't a bad thing. It wasn't until 3 months later (today actually) when I sat down to finally watch this movie I had been meaning to catch up for months, that this film was not only different from Perks of Being A Wallflower, but many of the high school teen romance movies we have come to know (and dread) as an audience.

Las Vegas Film Critics Prefer Emma Thompson over Cate Blanchett

Best Picture:

• 12 Years A Slave

Best Director:

• Steve McQueen, 12 Years A Slave

Best Actor:

• Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Actress:

• Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks

Catching up with Stoker: An ode to Alfred Hitchcock

Now that school is over for Winter Break, I (finally) have the time to devote to watching some films I've been meaning to catch up with for the longest time. The first one I decided to take a stab at, was Park Chan-wook's English-language debut Stoker. I realize I'm (absurdly, very) late with this, as the film came out in March, and has been on DVD for quite some time already. However, seeing as it is one of the more underrated films to come out this year, I feel it's important to speak about it.

Toronto Film Critics choose Inside Llewyn Davis and Oscar Isaac

Though it may not amount to a lot in the end, it is a nice change of pace from the battle between 12 Years A Slave, Gravity, American Hustle and Her that a group could notice Inside Llewyn Davis and Oscar Isaac, 2 very deserving contenders in their respective categories.

This marks the first major win for the little underdog since the surprising win at the Gotham awards, which proves there is a lot of love for the Coen Bros. latest.

In fact, surprisingly enough, the frontrunner (12 Years A Slave) was ignored completely in every category.

See the full list of winners below.

Phoenix Film Critics Society Winners

Full list of nominees here, winners below

Austin Film Critics Association Awards

Best Film:

• Her, Spike Jonze

Best Director:

• Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

Best Actor:

• Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years A Slave

Best Actress:

• Brie Larson, Short Term 12

Best Supporting Actor:

• Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Supporting Actress:

• Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years A Slave

Best Original Screenplay:

• Spike Jonze, Her

Best Adapted Screenplay:

• John Ridley, 12 Years A Slave

Best Cinematography:

• Emmanuel Lubezki, Gravity

Best Score:

• Arcade Fire, Her

Best Foreign Language Film:

• Blue Is the Warmest Color

Best Documentary:

• The Act of Killing

Best Animated Film:

• Frozen

Best First Film:

• Fruitvale Station, Ryan Coogler

Breakthrough Artist:

• Brie Larson, Short Term 12

Best Austin Film:

• Before Midnight

Special Honorary Award: Scarlett Johanson for her outstanding voice performance in Her

Blue Is the Warmest Color lands its First Major Picture Nomination

The London Film Critics (much like the American critics with the Oscars) do no vote for the BAFTAs (the British Academy Awards). However, much like the American Film Critics, what they vote for can be quite telling of what it is they support.

For a film like Blue Is the Warmest Color to land amongst the Best Picture race can either be shrugged off as a "critics' pick", or you can see that there is support for it that will not only carry into the BAFTA's, but the Oscars when it comes time for the "British contingent" to cast their votes. While it will not likely end up amongst the Best Picture nominees, its place in Foreign Film is almost assured, after there were some doubts as to whether or not the film's explicit sexuality would turn off voters.

Online Film Critics choose 12 Years A Slave, Chiwetel Ejiofor & Cate Blanchett

After being left out of the major film critics' awards, 12 Years A Slave has been cleaning up quite well with the rest of the groups. Though they're tinier, and less influential than the LAFCA and NYFCC, the growing amount of wins doesn't tale away from the film's growing momentum. It'll be interesting to see if after landing 13 nominations from the Broadcast Film Critics, if the film can continue its winning streak.

Cate Blanchett continues her winning streak in Best Actress, while Chiwetel Ejiofor is starting to look like a possible winner for Actor.

The interesting story here is that Michael Fassbender won his first major award of the season, after being upstaged by Jared Leto, and even James Franco from Spring Breakers. It was very clear that 12 Years was very popular with this group.

Check out the rest of the winners below, full list of nominations can be seen here.

Broadcast Film Critics Association Award Nominations

12 Years A Slave and American Hustle led the pack with 13 nominations a piece. Along with the Globes, the BFCA awards are one of the first televised award show events, which help set up winning momentum and offer the winner a chance to charm potential voting bodies with their speeches/personality.

They're also very famous for trying to predict the Oscars in the main categories, and most of the time they're right

Take a look at the nominations below.

Houstin Film Critics pick 12 Years A Slave and Sandra Bullock

Best Picture:

• 12 Years A Slave

Best Director:

• (tie) Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity & Steve McQueen, 12 Years A Slave

Best Actor:

• Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years A Slave

Best Actress:

• Sandra Bullock, Gravity

Best Supporting Actor:

• Michael Fassbender, 12 Years A Slave

Best Supporting Actress:

• Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years A Slave

Houston Film Critics pick 12 Years A Slave and Alfonso Cuaron

Best Picture:

• 12 Years A Slave 
• All is Lost
• American Hustle
• Before Midnight
• Dallas Buyers Club
• Fruitvale Station
• Gravity
• Inside Llewyn Davis
• Nebraska 
• Saving Mr. Banks

Best Director:

• Joel & Ethan Coen, Inside Llewyn Davis
• Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
• Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips
• Steve McQueen, 12 Years A Slave
• Alexander Payne, Nebraska

Best Actor:

• Christian Bale, American Hustle
• Bruce Dern, Nebraska
• Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years A Slave
• Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
• Mads Mikkelson, The Hunt
• Robert Redford, All Is Lost

Best Actress:

• Sandra Bullock, Gravity
• Judi Dench, Philomena
• Brie Larson, Short Term 12
• Meryl Streep, August: Osage County
• Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks

Best Supporting Actor:

• Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
• Michael Fassbender, 12 Years A Slave
• James Gandolfini, Enough Said
• Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
• Matthew McConaughey, Mud

Best Supporting Actress:

• Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
• Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years A Slave
• Octavia Spencer, Fruitvale Station
• June Squibb, Nebraska 
• Oprah Winfrey, Lee Daniels': The Butler

Best Screenplay:

• John Ridley, 12 Years A Slave
• David O. Russell & Eric Singer, American Hustle
• Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke, Before Midnight
• Spike Jonze, Her
• Joel & Ethan Coen, Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Animated Film: 

• The Croods
• Despicable Me 2
• Frozen
• Monsters University
• The Wind Rises

Best Cinematography:

• Sean Bobbit, 12 Years A Slave
• Roger Deakins, Prisoners
• Bruno Delbonnel, Inside Llewyn Davis
• Frank G. DeMarco & Peter Zuccarini, All Is Lost 
• Emmanuelle Lubezki, Gravity 

Best Documentary:

• 20 Feet From Stardom
• The Act of Killing
• Blackfish
• Inequality For All
• Stories We Tell

Best Foreign Language Film:

• Blue Is the Warmest Color
• The Grandmaster
• The Hunt
• Wadjda
• The Wind Rises

Best Original Score:

• Arcade Fire, Her
• Steven Price, Gravity
• Thomas Newman, Saving Mr. Banks
• Hans Zimmer, 12 Years A Slave
• Hans Zimmer, Man of Steel

Best Original Song:

• I See Fire, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Ed Sheeran
• Let It Go, Frozen, Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez
• The Moon Song, Her, Karen O
• Please Mr. Kennedy, Inside Llewyn Davis, Joel & Ethan Coen, T-Bone Burnett, Justin Timberlake, Oscar Isaac & Adam Driver
• Young and Beautiful, The Great Gatsby, Lana Del Rey & Rick Nowels

Christopher Nolan's Interstellar lands its First Trailer

That's right everyone, after his epic conclusion to The Dark Knight Trilogy, Christopher Nolan has assembled an all-star cast lead by Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, and Ellen Burstyn.

Though the trailer isn't big on details (which it more than makes up for with gorgeous cinematography, and a voice-over by McConaughey), the official synopsis released by Paramount and Warner Bros states:

"When a wormhole (which hypothetically connects widely-separated regions of spacetime) is newly discovered, a team of explorers and scientists embark on a voyage through it to transcend previous limitations on human space travel."

The Hollywood Reporter said in addition to the official synopsis, "The plot is believed to involve time travel and alternate dimensions, but other details are being kept under wraps."

The film is slated for a November 7, 2014 release, which puts it smack dab in the middle of the Oscar race. Inception racked up some major nominations back in 2010, and The Dark Knight should've been a Best Picture Nominee was snubbed for Best Picture and Best Director, though it landed some major wins and nominations (including a win for Heath Ledger as The Joker). 

Could it be just a commercial thing though? Or will it actually play into the circuit. McConaughey, Hathaway, and Chastain's involvement doesn't hurt, and Nolan has been close to a Director nomination for quite some time. Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity could lessen the "sci-fi" bias that's existed within the Academy for so long now, as it's a top tier contender this year. 

You can watch the trailer below. 

12 Years A Slave racks up 11 nominations with the San Francisco Film Critics

Best Film:

• American Hustle
• Gravity
• Nebraska
• 12 Years A Slave
• The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Director:

• Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
• Spike Jonze, Her
• Steve McQueen, 12 Years A Slave
• David. O Russell, American Hustle 
• Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Actor:

• Bruce Dern, Nebraska 
• Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
• Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years A Slave
• Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
• Robert Redford, All Is Lost 

Best Actress:

• Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
• Sandra Bullock, Gravity
• Judi Dench, Philomena 
• Adele Exarchopoulos, Blue Is the Warmest Color
• Brie Larson, Short Term 12
• Meryl Streep, August: Osage County

Detroit picks "Her"

Best Picture:

• Her

Best Director:

• Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

Best Actor:

• Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Actress:

• Brie Larson, Short Term 12

Chicago Film Critics Association Nominations

Best Film:

• 12 Years A Slave
• American Hustle
• Gravity
• Her
• Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Director:

• Joel & Ethan Coen, Inside Llewyn Davis
• Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
• Spike Jonze, Her
• Steve McQueen, 12 Years A Slave
• David O. Russell, American Hustle

Blue Is the Warmest Color Review

There are a lot of things you may have heard about Blue Is the Warmest Color. But what you haven't heard, I'm sure, is that behind the acclaim, the raw sex scenes, and the massive running time, is that at its core, this is a film about self-discovery, romance, and all of the complications that come along with it. Much like Alfonso Cuaron put you right in Sandra Bullock's helmet, forcing you to survive space with her in Gravity, director Abdellatif Kechiche places you front and center and take you on a similar ride. However, this isn't a gorgeously terrifying space journey; instead of floating debris, and the threat of depleting oxygen, we're navigating the painful, but beautiful discovery of first love.

Updated Oscar Predictions!

The last few days have been very telling in terms of the awards race. We've heard from both SAG, and the Globes now, some contenders have fallen off the radar, and some have popped up (Daniel Bruhl from Rush and Abdi Barkhad both landed SAG and Globe nominations over Tom Hanks and Jonah Hill).

The Best Actress field seems pretty much locked up as it has for awhile now; Bullock-Blanchett-Streep-Thompson-Dench seem pretty solidified in their slots, while Amy Adams and Adele Exarchopoulos are fighting hard to break in. One wonders if they'll even come close.

The Actor field has 4 solid contenders; Ejifor, Dern, Hanks, and McConaughey. That fifth slot can go just about any which way. Forest Whitaker landed a crucial SAG nomination after being absent from the critics awards, but missed out on the Globes. Redford scored with the critics, missed SAG, and bounced back at the Globes. And then there's Michael B. Jordan who hasn't won any Best Actor trophies, but keeps getting Breakthrough Performance wins (he even beat Oscar front runner Lupita Nyong'o at the Gothams), so one wonders if those will translate to Oscar. But the biggest question mark is Leonardo DiCaprio. SAG passed over him due to not having screened the film in time, so we really can't hold that against him; the Actors in the Academy will have definitely seen Wolf by the time the AMPAS announce their roster. He did score a Globe nomination, and is receiving raves for his work. Redford seems secure, but that SAG omission is telling... DiCaprio could swoop in and steal it.

Oprah's omission from the Globes is a big deal, seeing as she's friggin Oprah, but she has the actors behind her, so I don't think she'll be missing out. Nyong'o still feels like the front runner. They're joined by Nyong'o and Lawrence, and now it seems like Julia Roberts. I don't think Octavia Spencer will be showing up, not even the Globes went for her.

In any event, I've updated my predictions, which you can take a look at here. 

Golden Globe Nominations Announced

Julia Louis Dreyfus FINALLY gets some awards recognition this year for her performance in Enough Said.

The 71st Golden Globe Awards Nominations were announced early this morning. There were some surprises (good and bad) as always to keep things exciting. The full list of nominations is below.

San Diego Film Critics name Spike Jonze's Her Best Picture of the Year

Alfonso Cuaron also won the groups Best Director award.

Best Film:

• Her

Best Director:

• Alfonso Cuaron 

Best Actress:

• Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Best Actor:

• Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis

End of the Semester

It's hard to believe I've been at this for almost 4 months now. Looking back now, I find it quite silly that I hadn't thought about doing this before I started my Online Journalism class at the beginning of the semester. This is what I want to do as a career; writing about and discussing film is my passion. I haven't felt this way about any other potential job I've thought about following in my lifetime.

Over the course of the semester, I've learned a lot about my writing style, fine-tuning it and adapting to write for the online generation. I've taken some much needed constructive criticism, and grown outside my comfort zone. The thought of conducting an interview used to make me so nervous, and yet this semester I nabbed one with one of my idols, The Film Experience's Nathaniel Rogers (which you can read here). I've also seen some great movies (Gravity, Frances Ha) and had the pleasure of publishing some think pieces/analyzations (Emma Watson in The Bling Ring, probably one of the best things I've ever written; Alicia Silverstone in Clueless) to an audience, which is very new to me. Anyone that knows me personally knows I'm very nervous about sharing my work with others. This semester forced me to get over that, and now I have a little bit of a following on this little site that started out as a class assignment, but has turned into so much more.

SAG Nominations

James Gandolfini, a previous SAG winner, was nominated posthumously for his performance in Enough Said.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards are arguably the most important precursor award there is. The Guild is made up of actors who are voting for their fellow actors. They happen to be the largest Guild in the Academy, so their picks are often a sign of what is to come when the AMPAS announce their pick for nominations.

They're some wildcards thrown in each year (Hillary Swank for Conviction back in 2010, Hellen Mirren for Hitchcock last year, etc) that don't make it to the Oscars, but a large amount of these nominees will repeat, same for the winners, though again, a nomination/win is not always a sure thing in terms of winning an Oscar, as nice of a trophy as it is to have behind your campaign.

Anyway, you can read the full list of nominees (complete with my commentary) below. There were some surprises (not all of them good)

Outstanding Performance by a Cast:

12 Years A Slave-

• Benedict Cumberbatch/ Ford 
• Paul Dano/ Tibeats 
• Garrett Dillahunt/ Armsby 
• Chiwetel Ejiofor/ Soloman Northup
• Michael Fassbender/ Edwin Epps
• Paul Giamatti/ Freeman
• Scoot McNairy/ Brown
• Lupita Nyong'o/ Patsey
• Adepero Oduye/ Eliza 
• Sarah Paulson/ Mistress Epps
• Brad Pitt/ Bass
• Michael Kenneth Williams/ Robert
• Alfre Woodard/ Mistress Shaw

American Hustle-

• Amy Adams/ Sydney Prosser 
• Christian Bale/ Irving Rosenfeld 
• Louis C.K./ Stoddard Thorsen
• Bradley Cooper/ Richie DiMaso
• Paul Herman/ Alfonse Simone
• Jack Huston/ Pete Musane 
• Jennifer Lawrence/ Rosalyn Rosenfeld
• Alessondro Nivola/ Federal Prosecutor
• Michael Pena/ Sheik (Agent Hernandez) 
• Jeremy Renner/ Mayor Carmine Polito
• Elisabeth Rohm/ Dolly Polito 
• Shea Whigham/ Carl Elway

August: Osage County-

• Abigail Breslin/ Jean Fordham
• Chris Cooper/ Charles Aiken
• Benedict Cumberbatch/ "Little" Charles Aiken
• Juliette Lewis/ Karen Weston
• Margo Martindale/ Mattie Fae Aiken
• Ewan McGregor/ Bill Fordham
• Dermot Mulroney/ Steve
• Julianne Nicholson/ Ivy Weston
• Julia Roberts/ Barbara Weston
• Sam Shepard/ Beverly Weston
• Meryl Streep/ Violet Weston
• Misty Upham/ Johanna 

Dallas Buyers Club-

• Jennifer Garner/ Dr. Eve Saks
• Matthew McConaughey/ Ron Woodroof
• Jared Leto/ Rayon
• Denis O'Hare/ Dr. Sevard
• Dallas Roberts/ David Wayne
• Steve Zahn/ Tucker

Lee Daniels': The Butler-

• Mariah Carey/ Hattie Pearl
• John Cusack/ Richard Nixon
• Jane Fonda/ Nancy Reagan
• Cuba Gooding Jr./ Carter Wilson
• Terrance Howard/ Howard
• Lenny Kravitz/ James Halloway
• James Marsden/ John F. Kennedy 
• David Oyelowo/ Louis Gaines
• Alex Pettyfir/ Thomas Westfall
• Vanessa Redgrave/ Annabeth Westfall
• Alan Rickman/ Ronald Reagan
• Liev Schreiber/ Lyndon B. Johnson
• Forest Whitaker/ Cecil Gaines
• Robin Williams/ Dwight D. Eisenhower 
• Oprah Winfrey/ Gloria Gaines 

I expected 12 Years, Hustle, and Osage County all to make appearances here, and to a lesser degree, I had a feeling The Butler would show up due to the size of the ensemble. However, the lineup omits key players such as Elijah Kelley and Yaya DeCosta for people such as Mariah Carey, Vanessa Redgrave, and Alex Pettyfir who are onscreen for maybe a minute combined (and in the case of Mariah, there's no dialogue, she stares into the distance and is briefly featured in 2 shots of 2 scenes). I don't expect much of this sudden love for The Butler to translate into any major nominations at the Oscars outside of Oprah and possibly Best Picture, but event that is a long shot. The shocker here is Dallas Buyers Club. It seems there's a lot more support for that film than I had anticipated (the only nod it missed out on was Jennifer Garner, and no one really expected that to happen anyway), which could translate into a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars. The Wolf of Wall Street is noticeably absent, but I don't think SAG was able to screen it in time for nomination deadlines. This award could go any number of ways; I want to say 12 Years takes it but there's a possibility that American Hustle could win . There are some years where they go with the front runner (The Argo, or The King's Speech; this year it would be 12 Years) or sometimes they pick the ensemble they liked better (The Help, Inglorious Basterds; this year it could be Hustle or even The Butler). 

Outstanding Performance by A Male Actor in a Leading Role:

• Bruce Dern, Nebraska
• Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years A Slave
• Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips
• Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
• Forest Whitaker, Lee Daniels': The Butler 

Dern, Ejiofor, Hanks, and McConaughey all seem pretty solid for Oscar; I don't expect much movement in those slots. Forest Whitaker's inclusion makes sense in context, seeing as The Butler was able to score an Ensemble nomination, not to mention Whitaker is a respected actor amongst his peers. However his inclusion comes at the expense of Robert Redford, who I predict will be the fifth nominee at the Oscars depending on how much the AMPAS like Inside Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac shouldn't be forgotten about simply because of his exclusion here; Llewyn Davis was never going to be a big SAG player) and The Butler. I think Ejiofor is gonna take it, but he might face some heat from McConaughey. 

Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: 

• Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
• Sandra Bullock, Gravity
• Judi Dench, Philomena 
• Meryl Streep. August: Osage County
• Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks

.... Yawn. I was hoping for Julia Louis Dreyfus to maybe crack this list, but it seems this set that's seemingly been predicted the whole season is what we'll end up with in the end. Shocking that Amy Adams didn't get in, maybe Globe & Oscar will come through for her, or maybe not. If Adele Exarchopoulos has any hopes of breaking this set, she needs help from the Globes and BAFTA immediately. Otherwise, I think this should be an easy win for Blanchett (unless there's a last minute surge for Sandra Bullock).

Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role:

• Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
• Daniel Bruhl. Rush
• Michael Fassbender, 12 Years A Slave 
• James Gandolfini, Enough Said
• Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Daniel Bruhl and newcomer Barkhad Abdi are the surprises in this category, though I have a feeling that come Oscar time Bruhl will be replaced by Jonah Hill from The Wolf of Wall Street, and there's a chance Abdi could be replaced in favor of Bradley Cooper, though there's a lot of love for Abdi's performance that could help him stick around, and he obviously has support from the Actors that Cooper is missing. There's also the possibility that Hanks could still score for Saving Mr. Banks despite missing out here. At the end of the day, Leto should easily walk away with this trophy though.

Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Actress:

• Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
• Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years A Slave
• Julia Roberts, August: Osage County
• June Squibb, Nebraska
• Oprah Winfrey, Lee Daniels': The Butler

Roberts really needed this boost, and what a boost it is. With the Actors behind her, she could follow Meryl to the Oscars. Winfrey makes her first awards season appearance proving she's still a threat (she was never going to be a critics' darling). I don't think Octavia Spencer is going to happen, though she has gotten some nice notices, in fact things don't seem all that great for Fruitvale Station looking down the future guild nominations. It's a tough call to see who could win this: it could go to Nyong'o, Winfrey, OR they could both cancel each other out and pave the way for Lawrence to take it (again), though that's less likely.... or is it? 

     

San Diego Film Critics Nominations

Best Film:

• 12 Years A Slave
• Gravity
• Her
• Inside Llewyn Davis 
• Short Term 12

Best Director:

• Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
• Destin Cretton, Short Term 12 
• Joel and Ethan Coen, Inside Llewyn Davis
• Spike Jonze, Her
• Steve McQueen, 12 Years A Slave

Phoenix Film Critics Society Nominations

Top 10 Films of 2013 (in alphabetical order):

• 12 Years A Slave
• American Hustle
• Captain Phillips
• Dallas Buyers Club
• Gravity
• Mud
• Nebraska 
• Philomena
• Saving Mr. Banks 
• Short Term 12

Best Director:

• Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
• Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips
• John Lee Hancock, Saving Mr. Banks
• Steve McQueen, 12 Years A Slave
• Alexander Payne, Nebraska 

Golden Globes Preview

Ben Affleck began Argo's march to Oscar last year when he won the Golden Globe for Best Director and Best Picture (he was one of the film's producers). Who will take his place this time?

The Golden Globes are notorious for being (pardon my french) star fuckers. Prime example being their nominations for "The Tourist" (a critical/commercial failure) starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. In other words, they nominate the biggest stars to get them into the ceremony, and most of the times the bigger the star, they more likely they'll win.

Last year, Ben Affleck's Argo instantly became a front runner after its performance at the Globes, where Affleck won over presumed frontrunners Steven Spielberg and Kathryn Bigelow. Some people (myself included) attributed this to the fact that Affleck was the biggest "celebrity" out of the bunch, and it's true. However, he was given a chance to speak, and he did a great job at being charming and likable. This was at the exact moment that Zero Dark Thirty was experiencing a lot of controversy over the torture scenes that happen in the beginning of the film; backlash was ensuing.

Argo began channeling momentum, and a campaign focusing on Affleck's likability and his being an actor-turned director began. Win after win, speech after speech, Affleck continued to charm and ooze likability. Though he was snubbed for Best Director (some feel like voters didn't include him because they assumed he was a shoo in), he took home the Best Picture Oscar. His win at the Globes was an important turning point in the race; it was a weak moment for Zero Dark Thirty, and Argo came in and stole its thunder. This is why these award shows are important; speeches and getting up onstage give you good practice for the Oscars. Voters really do pay attention to all of this little stuff.

So where does that leave us this year? Read my predictions below:

Oscar Season: Where are We Now?

The 4 Frontrunners: (from left to right) "12 Years A Slave", "American Hustle", "Her", (pictured bottom), and "Gravity" (pictures courtesy of rottentomatoes.com)

2013 has been one of the richest years in films; so many filmmakers have brought their A-game, eliciting equally amazing work from their actors. It's refreshingly competitive after the last couple years of complete sweeps (The King's Speech, The Artist, Argo, etc). By this time last year, we had a frontrunner (granted, that frontrunner didn't make it all the way to win an Oscar, but it was a frontrunner no less) in Zero Dark Thirty; it was dominating the critics, picking up wins for Picture, Director Kathryn Bigelow and lead actress Jessica Chastain every which way you looked. There was some heat from Lincoln and Amour, but it seemed like ZDT was going to take it all the way. This year, we have not 1 frontrunner, but 4.

Both American Hustle and Short Term 12 gets a boost from the Detroit Film Critics

Scrappy, indie underdog Short Term 12 tied big player American Hustle in leading nominations from the Detroit Film Critics (both earned 5 nominations including picture and actress). 

The Wolf of Wall Street also showed up (having previously been named as a runner up in a number of races in previous critics awards) with some major notices. 

Full list of nominees after the jump

Online Film Critics spread the Wealth Around with Nominations

The Online Film Critics Society's nominations included usual players such as 12 Years A Slave, American Hustle, and Her. However, they shook things up and included films like Short Term 12, Blue Is the Warmest Color, and Before Midnight in the Best Picture race, while Hayao Miyazaki got Best Director nomination for his animated film "The Wind Rises". Julie Delpy, Brie Larson, and Adele Exarchopoulos also managed to get into the Best Actress category over favorites Sandra Bullock, Judi Dench, or Emma Thompson.

Check out the full list of nominees after the jump.

Nebraska and Her Lead St. Louis Film Critics Nominations

Heading into the race, it was very clear that there were 2 huge frontrunners for every award this season, you know them better as 12 Years A Slave, and Gravity. They established themselves very early with strong critical acclaim and healthy box office performance, and have been very consistent winners/nominees in the early critics awards.

However, films like Alexander Payne's Nebraska and Spike Jonze's Her have been benefitting from the stigma of not being the frontrunner; slowly and quietly building buzz to eventually become very big players in the later races.

Her especially is getting a nice boost from the critics; it won a joint Best Picture award with Gravity yesterday from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and won top honors from the NBR. This will help its small and unconventional profile when it comes to the top prize; the Oscars.

Nebraska was seen as something of a vehicle for leading man Bruce Dern's performance, but it's been being recognized in various other categories from other awards branches. It's very clear that the people who love this film, really love it.

Anyway, you can take a full list of nominees after the jump

12 Years A Slave wins big with Washington DC Critics

After some perceived "backlash" against early-frontrunner 12 Years A Slave, the later critics awards seem to be coming back to bring it back to the front of the pack. After major wins yesterday with the Boston and Online New York Film Critics, the Washington DC critics gave the film their Best Picture, Actor, Supporting Actress, and Screenplay awards.

Surprisingly enough, despite the middling reviews, summer hit The Great Gatsby was nominated for a number of awards, including Leonardo DiCaprio's performance as the mysterious Gatsby.

Full list of winners after the jump.

Cate Blanchett Continues Oscar March with 3 More Critics' Prizes! Plus 12 Years A Slave, Her, and Gravity All Build Momentum

The Los Angeles, Boston, and Online New York critics all announced their respective "Bests" list today. Though all they all spread the wealth around a number of nominees, one person in particular was a winner in each of these races, and that would be Blue Jasmine's Cate Blanchett. Her Oscar win is looking very much like a sealed deal now. This would be her second win but her first in Best Actress (she won a Supporting Actress award for her performance in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator).

Her built on its NBR love by winning the LAFCA's Best Picture award, along with Gravity in one of the many ties that took place in their voting period. 12 Years A Slave built some much needed momentum after losing at the Gothams and the NYFCC by picking up the Boston and Online New York Film critics top prizes. This isn't a year like The Artist or The Social Network, where one film dominates the race; there are a lot of top tier contenders which make the races very exciting.

 Click below to see the full list of winners and runner ups.

Is Oscar Nomination #18 in the Cards for Meryl Streep?

(photo courtesy of Entertainment Weekly)

From the moment it was announced that Meryl Streep was playing Viola Weston in the film adaptation of the acclaimed stage play August: Osage County, people were already predicting that Meryl Streep would win her 3rd Oscar, a trophy that had seemed to escape the legendary actress after being nominated again and again for over a decade. This was despite the fact that Streep was already in a heated Oscar race against Viola Davis, a favorite to win a leading Oscar for her role as maid turned novelist in The Help. Streep herself, a former co-star of Davis' from "Doubt", campaigned for Davis' win. Alas, despite the announcement of the new, buzzy role, Streep's turn as British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was the winning performance that year.

Inside Llewyn Davis: "It's Not Enough To Have A Dream"

As kids, we're told to dream big. As teens, we're told that our dreams will come true as long as we work hard, and do whatever it takes to get into a good school. As young adults, we're pushed off into the big bad world and demonstrate what we learned in school and nab a job, get a house, and start a family, to start the process all over again. Countless films have documented the frustrating purgatory of "getting by" people navigate before their big break. Movies like, "Working Girl" and "The Devil Wears Prada" show the difficult journey of the respective protagonists, partnered with a happy ending; they've gotten what they wanted. But what happens when you don't "make it"? What happens when your dream outruns you even though you do whatever it takes to chase it down? With Inside Llewyn Davis, the Coen Brothers expertly show us that sometimes, what's standing between us and our big break, is ourselves.

The National Board of Review Names Spike Jonze's "Her" as the Best Film of the Year

In a complete turn around from yesterday's "American Hustle"-centric wins at the NYFCC, the NBR answered by giving both of their top prizes to Spike Jonze's film about a man (Jaoquin Phoenix) who falls in love with his computer operating system (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). See the complete list of winners below:

American Hustle wins big at the NYFCC

Though it hasn't even been released yet, David O'Russell's "American Hustle" won Best Picture, Supporting Actress, and Screenplay in the first round of critics awards of the season. See the complete list of winners (with commentary from yours truly) below:

Gotham Awards names Inside Llewyn Davis as Best Picture of the Year

That's right, the Coen Brothers' quiet indie has overcome Oscar favorite "12 Years A Slave" in the first of the many award ceremonies to come this season. Take a look at the full list of winners below:

Upcoming awards, Wolf of Wall Street Screens! & More

Happy December! I've been busy celebrating Thanksgiving and mentally preparing myself for the upcoming final exams, just as things are really starting to heat up.

• Tuesday December 3rd marks precursor season; the NYFCC (New York Film Critics Circle) will announce their winners. They are the first to do so, followed by the National Board of Review, and then by the LAFCA (Los Angeles Film Critics Association), followed by what seems like a million more critics organizations. Awards Daily's Sasha Stone gives insight and makes her predictions and analyzes both the NYFCC and National Board of Review awards (read here).  

• During the onslaught of seemingly endless critics awards, the Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG) will announce their nominees on December 11th, and the next day the Golden Globes will announce their choice. The SAG nominees usually reflect more of what the impending Oscar nominations will look like considering the voting body is made up of actors (the largest voting body in the Academy coincidentally), so they're usually a key factor in deciding upon Oscar predictions. Take a look at this year's contenders (and the pretenders) for the Best Ensemble award here). 

• There really isn't too much time before the pool of contenders starts slimming down and the real nominees start to build upon their respective momentum. The last real surprise of the season seems to be Martin Scorsese's Wolf of Wall Street, which hasn't been officially screened yet, but did play for a small group of guild members over the weekend, to very positive reactions, particularly in the case of Jonah Hill who seems to be a spoiler for the Best Supporting Actor race (you can read a full write up from incontention's Kris Tapley here). 

• It has also been announced that David O'Russell's starry American Hustle is officially being campaigned as a "Comedy" for the Golden Globes. 
• And finally, Sight and Sound get the "End of the year list" rolling by announcing their winners of the Best Films of 2013 poll