Watch Leonardo DiCaprio in the first trailer for "The Revenant"

Hot off of his triple win for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture (as a producer) for last year's "Birdman", director Alejandro González Iñárritu is back in the race again, but this time for a Western-thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy.

Not much is known about the film, except that DiCaprio plays a fur trapper named Hugh Glass in the 19th century, out for revenge after his companions rob him and leave him for dead following a deadly accident.

The film's budget, $60 million, is much higher than "Birdman" (only made for about $18 million); it'll be interesting to see what Iñárritu is able to pull off with the added flair. Rumor has it the film is being shot using only natural light; Emmanuel Lubezki is handling the cinematography once again, and based on the trailer alone, he may be adding a third consecutive trophy to the ones he won for "Gravity" and "Birdman".

Watch the intense trailer below. "The Revenant" is set for release on December 25th.

Michael Keaton & Birdman Seem to be Likely Oscar Contenders in First "Birdman" Trailer

The buzzy "Birdman" finally has a trailer. Presumed to be one of the major Oscar players later in the season (specifically in Best Actor for Keaton), it certainly looks like a wild ride.

Watch the trailer below.

Under the Skin is Unlike Anything You Will Ever See; A Modern Masterpiece in Every Way

It’s been 10 years since Jonathan Glazer’s last film, “Birth” starring Nicole Kidman, opened to maddeningly polarized reviews. “Under the Skin”, his third feature, marks his return to the film world. Glazer had planned to direct the film after the release of his debut feature, “Sexy Beast” back in 2000, and originally co-wrote the film to star Brad Pitt as one of two aliens disguised as farmers. However, he ended up choosing to instead tell the story from an alien’s perspective of society, and decided to make that alien a female, scrapping the Brad Pitt character. 

Scarlett Johansson, dressed in a shaggy yet short, brunette wig complete with a fur coat, skinny jeans and cute heels, portrays the mysterious female alien (her name is never given). She drives around various towns and areas in Scotland in her white van, stopping every so often to talk to lonely men walking the streets. Her story for stopping is different with every man she stops for. Sometimes she tells them she’s running an errand, sometimes she’s lost, but no matter what she tells them she’s doing, her intent is to get them into her van, and home with her. Though it’s never explicitly stated, reading between the lines will tell you that there is a promise of sex, which excites her potential suitors. Once their inside, however, it’s clear that sex is not what’s going on. 

7 Days Till Oscar: Rating the Best Picture Nominees' Trailers

That's right ladies and gentlemen, we're 7 days away from the biggest night in film: the 88th Academy Awards. Oscar season always seems like a never-ending circus, and it certainly feels like this season especially has been going on forever. Bur fret not! Soon I'll be able to officially move into the 2014 film season once this madness is over (and once 2014 delivers me a movie worth seeing, though admittedly I have not seen The Lego Movie yet, and probably should).

In any event, until that time comes, I've got to keep you interested in the dog and pony show currently coming to its much needed end: 2013's awards season. Next weekend, I'll be publishing my acting ballot, complete with my personal choices and winners if I were to have the ability to cast a vote. Today, however, I've decided I would rank the Best Picture nominees by their trailers (which in some cases are better than the actual movies themselves).

So, without further adieu, your 2013 Best Picture nominees ranked by yours truly!

BAFTA Winners: 12 Years A Slave Comes Out on Top

What started out as a night for Gravity, ended with a startling comeback for 12 Years A Slave. It's Best Picture hopes just got that much better. 

It seemed like Gravity was getting ready to sweep in a style evident of past winner "The King's Speech" when it won the first 2 big awards it was up for. Then, American Hustle came back swinging hard with wins for actress Jennifer Lawrence and the film's screenplay. 

12 Years A Slave, however, seemed like it was going home empty handed. Had that tie with Gravity at the PGA simply been a coincidence? 

No. In another comeback story, almost exactly like the one at this year's Golden Globes, 12 Years A Slave nabbed the BAFTA's top honor, in addition to an award for leading man Chiwetel Ejiofor. With only a few weeks left till the Oscars, things are looking really good for the film that's momentarily on top in a very competitive race.

It can't be ignored, however, that there was obvious love for Gravity, which won 6 awards. American Hustle won 3 (1 of which, I feel was goodwill for actress Jennifer Lawrence losing to Emmanuelle Riva last year. The win, however, shouldn't be ignored, though the Oscar is still Lupita's to lose); Hustle is still a threat to 12 Years A Slave, but considerably less of a threat than Gravity is... though it now seems that with the PGA and BAFTA behind it, 12 Years A Slave is looking like our Academy Award Winner for Best Picture. 

In the acting races, Cate Blanchett continued her overwhelming (but deserving) dominance by winning Best Actress. That last minute surge for Amy Adams seems to have been just an internet trend; she will most certainly be the bridesmaid (yet again). 

Speaking of a last minute surge, it certainly seemed that Leonardo DiCaprio was on his way to picking up his first BAFTA and challenging the frontrunner Matthew McConaughey (who was not nominated here) for the Oscar. But the BAFTA's choice to go with Ejifor tells me that this is McConaughey's time to win. 

In Supporting Actor, Barkhad Abdi from Captain Phillips won with frontrunner Jared Leto being absent (the BAFTA's clearly did not like Dallas Buyers Club). While I certainly believe Leto has this all sewn up, if this season has taught me anything, it's that no one is safe. Abdi might swoop in Tilda Swinton style with some last minute support and win... but it's more than likely Leto will waltz his way to his first Oscar. 

See the complete list of winners below. You can see the updated awards tally for the entire season here.

Links Links Links

• Sasha Stone of Awards Daily explains 5 different ways the BAFTA's can change the Oscar race, most notably in Best Picture & Actor. Do Gravity and Matthew McConaughey really have this all tied up? 
• Speaking of changing tides, doesn't it feel like Amy Adams is having a last minute charge to the podium over frontrunner Cate Blanchett? Jeffs Wells of Hollywood-Elsewhere certainly seems to think so.
• Probably the most talked about piece of news, Oscar nominated Actress Ellen Paige (Juno, Inception) came out the other night. Watch her beautiful speech at the HRCF's Time to Thrive conference here. The Film Experience's Nathaniel Rogers seems to think that this is going to open up phase 2 of her very promising career as an actress. 

More stories below.

What Could the BAFTA's Do For the Oscar Race? My Predictions

The BAFTA's are the last precursor award we hear from before the Oscars. Unlike the past few years where Best Picture has been prematurely decided before we even hear from the first voting body. 2010 was The King's Speech, 2011 was The Artist, and 2012 was Argo. This year, 3 films have been clearly in the lead: 12 Years A Slave, Gravity and American Hustle, with Her and Captain Phillips nipping at their feet.

Gravity and 12 Years A Slave, however, have the most heat, with American Hustle lurking in the background, looking to swoop in. As I've discussed before, Gravity has the box office and star power, 12 Years A Slave has the prestige and the "important" narrative, with American Hustle having not only the actors behind it, but the fact it's a "lighter" choice than the others.

Here is a breakdown of the last few months in terms of awards (in case you haven't been looking at my awards tally tab):

Toronto Audience award- 12 Years A Slave
New York Film Critics- American Hustle
National Board of Review- Her
Los Angeles- Her & Gravity
Southeastern Film Critics- 12 Years A Slave
Golden Globes- 12 Years A Slave
Critics Choice- 12 Years A Slave
Producers Guild- 12 Years A Slave & Gravity
Screen Actors Guild- American Hustle
Directors Guild- Gravity
Eddies- American Hustle & Captain Phillips
Writers Guild- Captain Phillips & Her
Scripters- 12 Years A Slave

Where will the BAFTA's figure in to all of this?

BAFTA Voter Speaks Up: Hope For American Hustle?

If you thought that American Hustle's chances in the Best Picture race were slim to none against PGA winners 12 Years A Slave and Gravity, you were wrong; it is still very much the 3 way race it's kind of been for the last month or so.

Alfonso Cuaron Wins at the DGA: What Does This Mean for Oscar?

Affleck passes the torch to the director of Gravity.

In a not so surprising announcement (unlike last week's tie at the Producers Guild), Alfonso Cuaron was awarded at the Directors Guild Awards last night. It comes as no surprise, because Cuaron has been the frontrunner in this category since Gravity had been seen. Not to mention, he's won the most awards (the only major award he lost was at the NYFCC to Steve McQueen) out of every director in the category.

With the DGA behind him, it's clear to say that he will win the Oscar. But can Gravity win Best Picture?

It very well could. However, while most people will be quick to say that Gravity will win Best Picture and Director (and a shit ton of tech awards), I think that there will be a split between Picture and Director. It doesn't happen very often, but it can happen.

There is an argument that if you're voting for Cuaron, you recognize that Gravity succeeds because it's his masterpiece, and that's true. Without Cuaron, Gravity would not be the amazing experience we all know it is. But to think 12 Years A Slave is only going home with 1 Oscar (Lupita Nyong'o for Supporting Actress) just doesn't seem right to me. It would be the first predominantly black film to win Best Picture, not to mention it's a masterpiece in its own right. I would be happy if Gravity won, but I think this award belongs to 12 Years A Slave; films like this do not come around that often, and should be rewarded.

It'll be interesting to see where BAFTA goes with their Picture choice. Gravity was the film with the most nominations, so if it cleans up, that's how we'll know it's over for 12 YAS.

Full list of winners below.

Where Are We in the Oscar Race?

Gravity, American Hustle and 12 Years A Slave are duking it out for the title of Best Picture of the Year. Who will the DGA pick? 

In the last month, we've heard from numerous critic's groups (including the BFCA), the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild and Producers Guild. The Directors Guild will announce their winner on Sunday, and ultimately decide the new frontrunner.

But throughout the announcements and the seemingly endless awards shows, there are 3 films that have consistently come out on top each time. These are the 3 films that are currently duking it out for the win, the big prize.

Each film has its own band of supporters, its own narrative and reason for winning; it's going to be a photo finish.

American Hustle, Gravity and 12 Years A Slave have built and maintained substantial heat in the past few months, but which film has enough gas in the tank to make it to the finish line?

Denver Film Critics Anoint Gravity

Some last minute "winning" traction after a big win with the PGA makes for a good Oscar campaign.


Best Picture: 

• Gravity

Best Director:

• Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

Best Actor:

• Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Actress:

• Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Screen Actors Guild Spreads the Wealth

American Hustle predictably wins Best Ensemble

The Screen Actors Guild chose American Hustle as their Best Ensemble winner, the equivalent to their Best Picture award. It was always going to win the ensemble award; the starry cast (including Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper and Christian Bale) is catnip to voters. 

It's important to note that Hustle didn't sweep; Jennifer Lawrence lost Best Supporting Actress to Lupita Nyong'o, who has come back in a big way after losing at the Globes (she also won with the Broadcast Film Critics). 

Argo, last year's Best Ensemble award winner, went on to win Best Picture with the Oscars. Past winners who also went on to win Best Picture include The King's Speech, Slumdog Millionaire and No Country for Old Men. 

The race isn't over yet, however. The Producer's Guild and Director's Guild have yet to announce their winners; expect Gravity to win the DGA, and 12 Years A Slave could very well win the PGA. This is still very much a 3-way race. 

Read the full list of winners (including TV Actors) below:

Critic's Choice Awards: 12 Years A Slave Wins Best Picture

After a victory at the Oscars, 12 Years A Slave wins another Best Picture honor.

The fight for Best Picture isn't over yet; 12 Years A Slave is putting up a good fight against American Hustle, with Gravity hanging in the wings. 

American Hustle won another Comedy Best Picture award, but unlike the Globes, the Broadcast Film Critics have a separate award entirely for Best Picture of the year, where American Hustle was mentioned. However, Steve McQueen's epic won, giving it some much needed gas in its Oscar campaign tank.

American Hustle did win Best Ensemble however, leaving it in a good position to win the same award at the SAG awards on Saturday. 

Gravity won a bunch of technical honors, an actress award for Sandra Bullock and another award for Alfonso Cuaron. There's clear support for all 3 of these films, and it will be interesting to see how the guilds decide what their choices are.

Golden Globe Winners: What Does It All Mean?

American Hustle won 3 of the top awards (including trophies for Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence)

The Golden Globes are a weird case of award show. They take place before the Oscar nominations are announced, but after the voting for nominees has closed. What this means, is that no matter what happens at the Globes, it has nothing to do with a film or person's chances at getting nominated for an Oscar.

Unlike SAG, BAFTA, DGA and PGA, the Hollywood Foreign Press has no association with the Oscars. For example, the members of SAG are all members of the Academy, so their choices for winners are indicative on how the much larger voting body of actors will vote come time to decide a winner. But the HFPA is their own body, with entirely different people voting. And as history will tell you, they love nominating and awarding stars over character actors.

So then, what does it all mean? If this award has nothing to do with Oscar nominations, why is it important? Is it simply just another glamorized but meaningless award ceremony?

Golden Globes: Who Will (and Should) Win?

Jennifer Lawrence won last year's Best Actress: Comedy or Musical award. Who will win this year?

For better or for worse, the Golden Globes are almost upon us. The good thing is that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosting again this year (they'll be hosting next year's Golden Globes too) so it's definitely not going to be a boring ceremony. Personally, I'm glad to see that some of my favorites (Julia Louis-Dreyfus, namely) will be in attendance.

It's a competitive year for awards; American Hustle, Gravity and 12 Years A Slave have all dominated the attention, with Dallas Buyers Club and Her hot on their tails. The Globes don't make it easy to predict frontrunners, however, because they split the drama and comedy categories. Therefore, American Hustle's win is almost assured, but either Gravity or 12 Years A Slave could win. However, it's always good to have a win behind you, whether it happens to be in the Comedy or Drama category. Ex: Jennifer Lawrence won Best Actress in a Comedy last year and walked away with the Oscar; it doesn't always matter which genre you belong to, it's all about momentum, and who has it and who doesn't.

So below you'll find a run through of the major categories (and brief commentary) on who will win, who could win, and who should win on Sunday night. Enjoy!

BAFTA Nominations: Races Are Tightening

Sandra Bullock led Gravity to 11 nominations, more than any other film this year. 

Gravity may be the one to beat at the BAFTAs this year; the Brits loved Alfonso Cuaron's space epic and rewarded it with more nominations than 12 Years A Slave and American Hustle (both of which received a healthy amount of nominations as well).

Surprisingly, Dallas Buyers Club received absolutely no attention, not even for the two sure things McConaughey or Leto. This comes as a shock after the film received stronger than expected guild support with both PGA and WGA nominations. It shouldn't be any cause for alarm, however; the British contingent within the Academy isn't large enough to cause a shut out for Dallas Buyers Club (especially since the film managed an Ensemble nod from SAG).

August: Osage County managed only 1 nomination for Julia Roberts, who is becoming the film's only bid for Oscar it seems; with the late resurgence for American Hustle, Amy Adams might knock Streep out of the race (stranger things have happened).

See the full list of nominations below.

Central Ohio Film Critics Anoint Gravity, Adele Exarchopoulos, James Franco & More

Best Picture: 

• Gravity

Best Director:

• Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

Best Actor:

• Chiwetel Ejifor, 12 Years A Slave

Best Actress:

• Adele Exarchopoulos, Blue Is the Warmest Color

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

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.

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