Category: Precursors

The British Academy of Film & Television Arts (BAFTA) has released their annual longlist of productions. These selections are the only ones from which members may select the final nominees, which gives us a bit of insight into where the BAFTA group’s mindset is and, in tandem, what the Oscars might be thinking. BAFTA, being…

As is usually the case, the big news isn’t what was nominated, but what wasn’t and whether they were even eligible. The WGA is notorious about failing to allow non-guild members and animated screenwriters from participating. Thus, there are no inclusions for films like Rango and The Adventures of Tintin, the two most likely nominees.…

There are a handful of films I would have expected to see here, but didn’t: Albert Nobbs, A Dangerous Method, J. Edgar, Jane Eyre, My Week with Marilyn and War Horse among many others. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy getting a nomination is a fantastic surprise, but one that typically doesn’t transition to the Oscars (but…

The big news here is that War Horse in spite of lukewarm reviews managed to stay in the race with Bridesmaids making the expected “populist” slot that seldom carries over to the Oscars. Films whose chances have diminished or disappeared entirely: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (vanished), Harry Potter (vanished) and Drive (diminished). The Ides…

The Online Film Critics Society, one of the largest film critics organizations in the world, have declared The Tree of Life not only Best Picture, but winner of four other awards (the most confusing of which is Best Editing, an award the film certainly shouldn’t have won considering how plodding it tends to be). While…

When the most prizes you give out is to a film shot in your local area, some of your choices become a bit suspect. That is, if Take Shelter hadn’t already received a handful of prizes elsewhere. This list is fairly straightforward with only Attack the Block coming out of nowhere to earn prizes. It’s…

WHat if your awards were announced five days before and no one could find them. The Utah Film Critics Circle announced winners on December 23, but few of us in the Oscar prognostication field could find it. I happened across these results on a Salt Lake City ABC affiliate’s website. It’s too bad more people…

Going for The Artist in a huge way, the Phoenix critics gave the film ten awards, a staggering number considering most critics groups tend to spread the love. None of their selections (except perhaps Adapted Screenplay) are revelations or shocking selections, which sets this up as a fine example of how the Academy could go…

The OFCS has often run the gamut between popular Oscar contenders and eclectic films. This year’s selections were more towards the populist side than tradition, but names like Lars von Trier (Best Director nominee) and A Separation (Best Original Screenplay nominee) stood out as exceptions. As for Oscar correlation, their best record has been in…

The Phoenix critics have only last year begun to issue nominations in multiple categories beyond their Top 10 lists. Their heaps of praise on more audience-friendly fare cannot go unnoticed in the comparison to the more eclectic choices in other critics groups around the country. In the years of five nominees, this group always picked…

The London Critics have really switched things around this year. Gone are both of the British Supporting Acting trophies and in their place are universal supporting categories. In addition, the British Director category is gone. Also added are a category for documentary and several technical achievement awards. As for statistics. Of course, we only have…

The Florida Critics, an “aging” bastion at 15 isn’t the most Oscar predictive group out there, but Animated Feature, Supporting Actor and Screenplay categories have the best chances at corresponding Oscar glory. On the nomination front, they fare much better with perfect rates in Picture, Animated Feature, Director, Actor, Actress and Supporting Actress with fairly…