> Today, we return to SHOWBUZZDAILY‘s coverage of the Oscar race (see Part 1 here, with an introduction to those contenders best called the Field–these may not be the favorites, but even as longer shots they’re still in the race. FIELD YOUNG ADULT (Paramount – Dec. 9) SHOWBUZZDAILY odds to be nominated:  3/1 Bookie odds […]

  The American Film Institute issued its list of the year’s Top 10 movies (and television shows) today, and their selections have been quite close to the Oscar nominees over the past couple of years, so they’re worthy of some attention.  There were no great surprises in the chosen 10, which AFI lists alphabetically, with […]

  As with Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress, we’re taking a last look at the factors for and against each nominee for Best Actress, with deserving performances assumed and precursor awards put to the side.  Also read about the Best Actor, Best Director and Best Picture races. BEST ACTRESS AMY ADAMS, American Hustle WHY:  With 5 nominations in […]

  After a campaign that’s felt so long it seems like there should be a presidential inauguration at the end of it, here we are.  The 86th Academy Awards are about to begin, and while tedium is inevitable (Ellen DeGeneres, although certain to be less obnoxious than last year’s Seth MacFarlane, isn’t exactly a fount […]

  With a little over 24 hours before polls close for Oscar nomination voting (ballots must be submitted by 5PM tomorrow LA time), the big winners from today’s announcement of the Directors Guild nominees were Martin Scorsese and THE WOLF OF WALL STREET.  While it can never be considered a “surprise” for Scorsese to get […]

  Almost anyone could win Best Supporting Actor this year.  All of the nominees delivered acclaimed performances in highly-praised films, and all are previous winners, so none of them would necessarily take precedence as someone who’s “owed.”  It’s possible to construct plausible cases for and against each one: Tommy Lee Jones, LINCOLN Pros:  Jones is […]

  It’s been a relatively quiet week in Oscarland:  12 YEARS A SLAVE expanded well if not phenomenally, ALL IS LOST continued to struggle at the box office despite superb reviews, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB had a moderately successful debut, while BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR showed little box office range.  Next week will be far more […]

  We’ll never know if this year’s Best Picture race is as close as we think it is, since the Academy has no intention of ever releasing its vote totals (something it did back at the very beginning of Oscar history).  Nevertheless, all signs are that this is the hardest race in years to call, […]