Category: Precursors

In a very rare 3-way tie, the ASC has selected 7 films to represent itself as the year’s best in cinematography. The Grandmaster is probably the most surprising inclusion while American Hustle missing the list is a bit surprising as well. At least three or four of these will go onto Oscar nominations and likely…

Not a lot of surprises from the Costume Designers Guild, with Dallas Buyers Club being the most modern piece on the Period slate. Several costume dramas, including The Invisible Woman weren’t included, but most of the expected Best Picture contenders are here. The Nominations Best Period Costume Design 12 Years a Slave American Hustle Dallas…

With two extra categories to compete in, it wouldn’t seem that Gravity would be able to turn one acting nomination into a commanding lead, but it did. Topping two bigger Oscar contenders, Gravity brought in 11 nominations (not including its one nomination for Best British Film) topping both 12 Years a Slave and American Hustle.…

Nary a shock to the system with the choices for this year’s DGA nominations. This pretty much guarantees that all five films will be on the Best Picture list at the Academy Awards. It also means that barring a failure to get nominated, if the Academy picks all five films, you will have the five…

After two high profile snubs this past week, the Coen Brothers picked up the National Society of Film Critics prize for Best Picture along with three other awards. This should feel like balm to heal the wounds. Other than the Coens’ dominance here, these names have largely appeared elsewhere, though James Franco has been underrepresented…

First, let’s look at the Oscar contenders that weren’t eligible due to archaic rules that prohibit films written outside of guild contracts from being eligibile. 12 Years a Slave, Fruitvale Station, Philomena, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, In a World…, The World’s End, Blue Is the Warmest Color, The Past, any animated film (Frozen, Monsters…

Boy did this group go early (Dec. 16), so I completely missed their announcement until I checked to see if they had announced yet when they would normally reveal during the very last week of the year. Nothing particularly new here. They voted mostly along current-thought lines. 12 Years a Slave was again the big…

Of the films that needed a PGA nomination to cement their chances for Best Picture consideration, both Dallas Buyers Club and Saving Mr. Banks received them. The Wind Rises did not, but you cannot blame the producers who haven’t been able to see the financial returns the film has made. This is Frozen‘s to lose.…

These were announced December 22, so I’m just over a week late getting them up it seems. Her didn’t seem to play as well for the Vancouver critics as it did many other groups, receiving only a single nomination for screenplay. Meanwhile, 12 Years a Slave continued to rack up nominations and with the most…

A slight change in the narrative saw 12 Years a Slave coming in second in several categories, most frequently to Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity which won the Best Picture prize. Other than The World’s End for Best Original Screenplay, there was nothing out of the ordinary here. These were announced yesterday. Award Tallies (3) Gravity (2)…

Although 12 Years a Slave was named Best Picture in Phoenix, Gravity carried away the lion’s share of awards. The group also went with a few of the more recently-discussed winners like Matthew McConaughey and 20 Feet from Stardom, the but narrative from the critics’ groups is largely set at this point, so this doesn’t…

Today’s final announcement came in yesterday it seems. The Houston critics used to announce nominees, but it that no longer appears to be the case. Here are the winners, which are largely the same with a few newcomers and infrequent citations such as Sandra Bullock for Gravity, The Hunt for Foreign Language Film and 20…