Wednesday, January 16, 2019 at 1:00PM by Nathaniel R
on the set of Solo: A Star Wars Story
The Visual Effects Society have released their nominations for the year. Avengers: Infinity War, Incredible 2, and Lost in Space lead the nominations in the movie, animated movie, and television divisions. The full list of nominations, Oscar predictions, and a few comments follow...
Wednesday, January 16, 2019 at 11:15AM The USC Libraries, chaired by USC professor Howard Rodman, that began in 1988. Though they can signify strength moving into Oscar nominations, it's important to remember that they're a juried award from a college so not connected to the Oscar voting body, though perhaps Rodman himself is a member since he as once president of the WGA.
Their nominations as well as our final predictions for Oscar's Screenplay categories are after the jump...
Sunday, January 13, 2019 at 8:11PM by Nathaniel R
7:30 It took me 15 minutes to find a live stream but I unfortunately found it just in time to see a frankly hideous video mix which used this strange early photoshop spotlight effect on movie clips so the actors were lit up and everything else was blacked out. Taye Diggs was introduced as a 'chocolatey heartthrob'. He launched into a musical performance which was........ ........ ........... ........ .........Yes, Taye Diggs is very handsome!
7:32 Lady Gaga wins Best Song for "Shallow". Who knew Peter Farrelly was such a fan, giving her a standing ovation. She thanks Bradley Cooper profusely and smartly talks about his transformation into Jackson Maine (we need people to talk about this amazing performance. "I was mesmerized both for myself and my character" Wait, they're different people? Kidding.
7:38 Best Young Actor or Actress goes to Elsie Fisher with reaction shots from Thomasin McKenzie and Amandla Stenberg, who both seem unfussed about losing, already pros they are.
As someone who has anxiety, it's exciting to be on this stage right now.
Tee hee. Sadly, though Elsie throws up a peace hand sign, she doesn't say "Gucci" but 'Peace and love, y'all'...
Friday, January 11, 2019 at 1:00PM by Nathaniel R
How many critics groups are left? We honestly lose track!
Today we're looking at two more. First is the Austin Film Critics Association who were the only group brave enough in 2006 to step away from Helen Mirren's inexplicable steamroll for The Queen in a Best Actress year that was insane with great options (their iconoclastic choice that year: Ellen Page in Hard Candy). This year though they haven't strayed very far from consensus except that they gave Roma only one prize (!).
The Alliance of Women Film Journalists also announced their prizes which are an exact carbon copy, down the line, of critical consensus leaders, so it's a good thing they have several unusual categories, too. Here are the results...
Thursday, January 10, 2019 at 12:01PM by Nathaniel R
Paddington 2's great costumes were snubbed by BAFTA last year and the CDG this year. But Lindy Hemming won the Oscar for Topsy Turvy (1999) without either of those nominations so there's still hope.The Costume Design Guild was founded in 1953 with an initial group of 30 members. Today they have an international membership of 700+. They've been giving out awards since 1999 but the categories weren't fully as they are know (period/costume/fantasy) until 2005.
Though their tastes do align with Oscar it's difficult to wholly prognosticate from their awards since the Oscar nominees are generally a mix of their Period and Fantasy nominees with an extra title thrown in (plus every once in a while the costume branch within the Academy will surprise with a contemporary nominee). Much more frequently Oscar will just add one film that wasn't honored at all by the CDG! They do it nearly all the time actually (10 out of the last 12 years). The point is a film is not out of the running if it wasn't honored at CDG, especially if it has a previously Oscar nominated costume designer behind it. That's potentially good news for five well regarded costumers who missed the CDG today: Linda Hemming (Paddington 2), Mary Zophres (First Man), Milena Canonero (The Sisters Brothers), Joanna Johnston (Welcome to Marwen), and Colleen Atwood (Fantastic Beasts: Grindelwald). That's not so good news for Caroline Eselin (If Beale Street Could Talk) who missed a CDG nomination today, since Oscar has yet to notice her.
We'll share the stats after the nominations at the bottom of this post so you'll have a clearer picture. Ready? Let's talk costumes...
Excellence in Contemporary Film
