Saturday, January 28, 2017 at 9:26AM 
Two departures to report, both of them Oscar nominees and enduring figures of great cinema. Major British thespian Sir John Hurt and French icon Emmanuelle Riva have died at 77 and 89 respectively...
Tuesday, October 14, 2014 at 3:56PM It's a special "top ten day" to kick off fall film season. Lists all day long. Enjoy!
As we move into awards seasons it's a good time to think positively and hope for the best. Though AMPAS is too high profile to ever get an entirely fair shake (people will always take them to task because one man's treasure is another's junk and because it's easier to remember the gross dereliction of their duties more than their classy moments) they don't screw up all the time. Some Oscar wins are highly deserved no matter how you look at it. Though it seems weird to call this young decade "the Teens" already given that we've just left the pre-teens, that's what it'll surely be called when it wraps in December 2019
MOST DESERVING OSCAR WINS OF 'THE TEENS' (thus far)
2010-2013
Honorable Mention
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables (2012 Supporting Actress)
"I Dreamed a Dream" and its fearful preamble "At the End of the Day" had seismic emotional impact. Performances this raw are always risky (and usually divisive!) but I'll never forget her confrontational mix of anger, sorrow, memory and beauty; a woman staring into the abyss, still stunned she's at the brink of it.
MOST DESERVING OSCAR WINS OF 'THE TEENS' (thus far)
2010-2013
10ish Christian Bale, The Fighter (2010 Supporting Actor)
Christopher Plummer, Beginners (2011 Supporting Actor)
I couldn't decide which of these fine actors I wanted on the list and on an earlier draft I accidentally left both off as a result. Oops. Both are arguably leads, so it felt a bit strange to include them but they are two very fine instances of overdue actors finally winning the top gong. While they probably won at least in part as "whole career" honors, that much derided Oscar tactic that often gives actors Oscars for one of their lesser performances, doesn't always backfire; both were, happily, incredibly deserving.
09 Lupita N'Yongo, 12 Years a Slave (2013 Supporting Actress)
A close call, perhaps, with "It Girl" JLaw nipping at her barefeet. Or maybe not close at all given how much of its operatic sorrow the sometimes cerebral Best Picture owes to her proud wails and immeasurable pain. "I'd rather it be you"
8 more greats after the jump from Gravity to A Separation
Saturday, February 23, 2013 at 10:01PM Look how happy I was guaranteeing Ralitsa that Michael Haneke is going to win an Oscar tomorrow on CNN International's World Report!
I will always discuss Best Foreign Film if people will listen. Also, I desperately had to pee.
Monday, February 18, 2013 at 1:00PM Coming Soon first look at Josh Brolin in Sin City: A Dame To Kill For
Low Resolution Joe Reid returns to his very neglected blog to make a movie trailer for his own awards
The Hollywood Reporter spends time with Emmanuelle Riva who might become the oldest acting Oscar winner in history
Slate discusses the morbid finale of Downton Abbey Season 3. Is it the cruelest show on television?
Pajiba five things you may not have known about Christoph Waltz. Fun - love the Haneke bit.
In Contention Christoph Waltz in Djesus Uncrossed on SNL
Empire Sam Mendes may return for Bond 24. That's crazy if you ask me. How the hell will he top Skyfall? Better to walk away with afterglow.
Cinema Blend Lincoln finally ends slavery.... in Mississippi. WTH?
MNPP Gael García Bernal two (sexy) times
Encore's World the whole collection of "Motifs" articles. This one is on Parents & Children in '12 cinema featuring Brave, Amour, Looper and Moonrise Kingdom
The Film Doctor's one sentence review of A Good Day To Die Hard. One very long (true) sentence.
Greg P Russell working on SkyfallFinally... some last minute awardage. The Writers Guild (WGA) continued Argo's dominance at the guilds... which probably means no Oscar for Tony Kushner's Lincoln. I thank 2012 emphatically for being so hard to predict for so much longer than usual even though now it's snorezzzville again going into Oscar night. At least until earlier this month. Now it's snorezzzville with only Argo deemed worthy of hardware. Which is why I've fallen off the reporting wagon... well that and the lack of FYC ads this year ;) Argo and Silver Linings Playbook took the ACE awards for editing. I say near-sweep because Argo hasn't won everything. It lost the Art Directors Guild prize to Anna Karenina and Sound prizes have also eluded it. Life of Pi was a double winner for the Sound Editors (MPSE) with Wreck-It Ralph and Les Misérables picking up their other trophies... but the Cinema Audio Society felt somewhat differently handing Brave and Les Miz its trophies. All of which is very bad news for perennial sound mixing nominee Greg P. Russell who is up for Skyfall this year... will he really lose again on his 16th nomination! Sixteenth! Tomorrow one more guild announces: the Costume Designers Guild.
Saturday, February 16, 2013 at 2:53PM i09 Monster University has a recruiting ad
i09 and character designs - Helen Mirren being dragon-like as the Dean in this Pixar sequel
Interiors picks a great topic this month: the apartment in Amour. All mapped out.
NPR Tony Kushner's research and characterizatin of Lincoln
Pakoto illustrated tribute to Jurassic Park
Movie|Line talks to the Ryan Gosling of the porn set who keeps getting cast in XXX versions of Gosling hits
Details interviews James Franco on this moment in his career including Oz the Great and Powerful and...
MNPP brilliantly dissects those page 3 answers about deep throating a pistol for his next picture Spring Breakers
Stale Popcorn Naomi Watts on stardom and breakthroughs
Vanity Fair Quentin Tarantino Kill Chart in infographic form. Wow his movies are gruesome
Grantland has a snarky Oscar bracket for worst travesties ever while...
A Blog Next Door has some snark for Grantland's fratboy leanings
/Film Jason Reitman's next live reading of a famous picture is Glengarry Glen Ross. This time it's gender-flipped. Normally I am quite happy to be a New Yorker but these events in LA sound so enticing every time. Alec Baldwin's famous role has yet to be cast but Robin Wright will be doing her best Pacino and Catherine O'Hara gets the plum Jack Lemmon role.
Finally... I wasn't aware of this but Encore Entertainment is hosting a blog-a-thon of some sort called Motifs in Cinema so far I've seen two articles. They are: Motifs: Aging featuring Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises, Hope Springs, and Amour; Motifs Fantasy & Reality featuring Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Hobbit, and Savages;
