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OSCARLAND: Last Chance To Influence Oscar Voters

Posted January 8, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  The polls close for Oscar nomination votes at 5PM today LA time, amid anecdotal reports of many last-minute ballots being cast in a season crowded with contenders.  There is much last-minute maneuvering going on, from the movie ads unusually swelling the LA Times’s Calendar section this midweek, to an insta-controversy about Meryl Streep’s speech […]

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OSCARLAND: AFI Top 10s

Posted December 9, 2013 by Mitch Salem

  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 […]

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OSCARLAND: “American Hustle” Takes Top Prize At the SAG Awards

Posted January 18, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  AMERICAN HUSTLE walked away with the big prize at tonight’s Screen Actors Guild Awards, winning the accolade for Best Ensemble Cast of a Motion Picture.  Although the Ensemble Cast Award is commonly considered SAG’s equivalent of a “Best Picture” honor, it really isn’t, because not every Oscar contender is notable for its ensemble (GRAVITY […]

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OSCARLAND: The SAG Nominations

Posted December 11, 2013 by Mitch Salem

  The Screen Actors Guild Awards are important, because the Actors branch is the largest single constituency of Oscar voters, but they’re also very different from the Oscars.  Their major award isn’t a “Best Picture” prize, per se, but one for Best Cast–this hurts intimate dramas like Gravity and All is Lost, while helping starry […]

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OSCARLAND: Producers Guild Produces a Tie

Posted January 19, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  The Producers Guild of America didn’t clarify much of anything tonight by giving its Best Picture award to both 12 YEARS A SLAVE and GRAVITY.  That provided all 3 of the presumed frontrunners with a prize for the weekend, since SAG gave its top award to AMERICAN HUSTLE last night.  With the Directors Guild […]

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THE SKED: SAG Awards TV Nominations

Posted December 11, 2013 by Mitch Salem

  On the TV side of its fence, this morning’s Screen Actors Awards nominations (a complete list is here) were conservative to the point of being downright boring.  With the exception of House of Cards and the revived Arrested Development, not a single show or performer was nominated for a new 2013-14 series, while 30 Rock, […]

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OSCARLAND: Directors Guild Puts “Gravity” Into Orbit

Posted January 26, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  The Directors Guild of America tonight gave its prize for best film direction to Alfonso Cuaron and GRAVITY. This was not an unexpected result, but it solidifies the sense that this year we have what is (at least) a three-horse race for the Best Picture Oscar:  Gravity, 12 YEARS A SLAVE (which split the Producers Guild […]

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