Oscar Winners

I will be live-blogging throughout the ceremony. Refresh and sick with me through the night for updates and commentary on winners as they are announced.

Academy Award Nominations: What to Expect Tomorrow

Frontrunner "Boyhood" has a lot of momentum going into nomination day. 

We've heard from the Globes, and we're still awaiting on final decisions from SAG, the DGA, the PGA and the Broadcast Film Critics, but we finally have a consensus, at least.

PGA Nominees: Selma Snubbed

When it comes to predicting the Oscar's Best Picture line up, the Producer's Guild is the most important precursor there is. They're usually pretty accurate, though there are often 1 or 2 that miss with Oscar (last year's "Blue Jasmine", 2012's "Skyfall", 2011's "Bridesmaids").

The biggest surprise looking at this year's list of nominees, is in the inclusion of Clint Eastwood's "American Sniper" and Dan Gilroy's "Nightcrawler"  and the exclusion of Ava DuVernay's "Selma". In the case of Nightcrawler, the film seems to be beloved by many; Jake Gyllenhaal's performance has received substantial acclaim and the film itself is popping up in many other Best Picture lists, but it's always been perceived as an Oscar play for Gyllenhaal and not a serious Best Picture play. American Sniper, on the other hand, has received some positive reviews (mainly for leading man Bradley Cooper) and won big with the NBR, but hasn't really popped up anywhere else. Eastwood always registers better with the Academy, however, so I guess it shouldn't be that much of a surprise.

But the fact it made it in over the universally acclaimed Selma, is shocking to me, and hopefully not telling of what's to come with Oscar. Both films have yet to expand in wide release, but have been doing very well at the box office. If anything, I think Selma will eventually edge out Nightcrawler come Oscar morning.

Despite raking in some major money over the holidays, neither Angelina Jolie's "Unbroken" or Rob Marshall's "Into the Woods" could find any love here. In the case of Jolie, her film failed to live up to the monumental expectations dumped upon it as the frontrunner from the moment it was announced. Woods, on the other hand, received some great notices, but not as a Best Picture play. That shouldn't keep it from receiving attention for Meryl Streep and the craft/tech work.

The big winner though, is "The Grand Budapest Hotel", which has been receiving just about every nod it needed to overcome its early release date, including SAG, the Globes and now the PGA. I think it has what it takes to be one of the film's with the most nominations. And "Whiplash", once seen as a vehicle for eventual Best Supporting Actor winner J.K. Simmons, could squeak in on passion as "the little indie that could". It'll be interesting to see what eventually ends up on Oscar's shortlist.

See the full list of nominees below.

Birdman Leads Independent Spirit Award Nominations

Read below to find out which films were nominated and which films were left out.

The Independent Spirit Awards will be held on February 21st, 2015.

New York Film Festival Reveals A Very Buzzy Line Up

The New York Film Festival has been the unveiling point and stateside release for several key films headed into the Oscar race in years past, and this year will be no different. Though it was previously announced that David Fincher's "Gone Girl" will have its world premiere here, the thriller will be joined by the likes of Paul Thomas Anderson's "Inherent Vice", Sundance hit "Whiplash" and Alejandro González Ińárritu's "Birdman" (which will have its official unveiling at Venice weeks earlier).

The festival will take place from September 26, 2014 until October 12, 2014. Stars such as Kristen Stewart, Channing Tatum and Jean-Luc Godard are expected to be in attendance.

Take a look at the full list of films that will play during the festival's duration below. If the film's trailer is available click on the film title to watch the trailer.