The voting has just closed for this year’s Academy Awards, and here at Oscar Central, we are ready to make the following call: Daniel Day-Lewis is going to win the Best Actor Oscar for Lincoln. I know, way out on a limb.  And sure, Buster Douglas beat Mike Tyson, nothing is certain in this […]

  As the last notes of the not-remotely-accidentally-chosen “Fight the Power” fade from the closing credits of the 88th ACADEMY AWARDS telecast, 10 quick thoughts on the show and awards. 1.  Sometimes smart is all but indistinguishable from lucky, and that was the case for the Academy this year, which had chosen Chris Rock to […]

  There are 4 ways an Oscar night can be memorable: A Great Host:  Seth MacFarlane was bad–maybe not James Franco bad, but bad.  The ways he was bad, though, weren’t in any way unexpected.  Meta-gags and courting offensiveness are the things that have made him very, very rich.  When you hire Seth MacFarlane, you’re […]

> Even though the Oscar race has had clear favorites in THE DESCENDANTS, THE ARTIST and THE HELP since last fall, the first 2 haven’t sparked any huge enthusiasm among the general public, where after almost 2 months, Descendants has yet to gross $50M, and Artist, which Harvey Weinstein hasn’t dared put into general release, […]

> Deadline reports that Warners has set the release schedule for its 2 Oscar contenders.  Clint Eastwood’s biography of FBI patriarch (and cross-dresser) J. EDGAR, starring Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role, is opening November 9 in a few big cities, with wide release on November 11; and EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE, the Stephen […]

This is already an Oscars like no other, thanks to the Academy’s decision–at the behest of ABC and its concern over ratings–to give out 8 awards before the telecast begins, with brief taped excerpts to air throughout the show.  (Spoiler alert:  Dune took Original Score, Production Design, Editing and Sound, with Eyes of Tammy Faye […]

  The success of TED having made Seth MacFarlane a legitimate name in the movie universe, the Academy and ABC have decided to make him an unexpected choice to host nest year’s Academy Awards telecast.  This isn’t a crazy idea, although MacFarlane has never done anything like it.  He’s obviously funny, he reaches that elusive […]

  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 […]