Category: Oscar Preview

We had three films releasing this weekend with the potential for Oscar nominations. Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry I don’t have a lot to say about this one. Political documentaries do well with Oscar voters, though docs about artists don’t always. The combination of the two may be a bit too much for Academy members, but…

We had two films releasing this weekend with the potential for Oscar nominations. The Dark Knight Ries The precedents are all there. The first film earned a single nomination for Cinematography. The second film earned eight nominations, including two Oscars and narrowly missed out on a Best Picture nomination due to a rule not being…

We had one film releasing this weekend with the potential for Oscar nominations. Ice Age: Continental Drift I will state up front that I think the Academy will ignore this film like every one of its predecessors. The reason the article is being written is that stranger things have happened. Let’s look back to the…

We had two films that released this weekend with the potential for Oscar nominations. The Amazing Spider-Man The original was nominated for Best Sound and Best Visual Effects. The second film was nominated for the same categories plus Sound Editing and won for Best Visual Effects. The third film didn’t even make the Oscar cut.…

We had four films releasing this weekend with the potential for Oscar nominations. Magic Mike Had this been a dud, director Steven Soderbergh’s latest film might have meant the latest chance for the Academy to snub him, which it still might. Soderbergh has been one of the most Oscar-inconsistent directors, nabbing Oscar nominations for his…

We had four films releasing this weekend with the potential for Oscar nominations. Brave Another of Pixar’s gems and if Disney can get trifles nominated, there should be no problem giving a slot to Brave. Where the questions come up are categories outside of Animated Feature. Could this be another Best Picture nominee for Disney…

We had one film releasing this weekend with the potential for Oscar nominations. Your Sister’s Sister After the disappointing performance of Rock of Ages pretty much assured the film wouldn’t get a Sound Mixing nomination, we were left with only one film that could have a shot at Oscar attention (that’s not including the documentaries,…

We had four films releasing this weekend with the potential for Oscar nominations. Prometheus Before the horror genre became a cesspool of repetitive, visceral thrills lacking the substance of serious films, the genre saw frequent recognition from the Academy. The likes of Psycho, Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist all earned recognition from the Academy in…

We had two films releasing this weekend with the potential for Oscar nominations. Snow White and the Huntsman Tim Burton has mastered the art of squeezing Oscar nominations out of the Academy even when his films are poorly reviewed. Snow White seems like just the kind of film he could have achieved that goal with.…

We had two films releasing this weekend with the potential for Oscar nominations. Men in Black 3 When Men in Black opened 15 years ago, it was a box office hit. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones played an odd couple battling aliens in the modern world as part of a secret, global organization designed…

We had two films releasing this weekend with the potential for Oscar nominations. Battleship What a difference a week can make. When I posited that Battleship was an Oscar contender, a lot was riding on how well it performed at the box office. With a dismal $25 million opening, the film looks poised to become…

We had one film releasing this weekend with the potential for Oscar nominations. Dark Shadows Although his first feature film, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure wasn’t an Oscar contender, his second film, Bettlejuice, began the Academy’s love affair with the twisted world of Tim Burton. Beetlejuice won the Oscar for Best Makeup, which he followed up…

We had two films releasing this weekend with the potential for Oscar nominations. The Avengers Like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 before it, The Avengers is going to get buzz about being a Best Picture nominee later this year. Don’t believe the hype. The Academy simply doesn’t like that style of film.…

The Pirates! Band of Misfits Aardman Animation has a healthy track record with the Oscars. They have four Oscars and six nominations to their credit. While one of those failed wins was to another short from their company, the latter was the first time Wallace and Gromit had lost at the Oscars, a scant two…

Although none of this week’s wide releases seem to be big Oscar contenders, there were two films in limited release that could be on the radar, but probably won’t be. Darling Companion This Lawrence Kasdan film features no fewer than three Oscar winners and another pair of Oscar nominees. Oscar winner Diane Keaton rescues a…