The Oscars are not the Golden Globes.  That appears to be the underlying message of today’s action by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, revoking the Best Original Song nomination of “Alone Yet Not Alone” from the film of the same name.  (According to The Hollywood Reporter, this is just the 2d […]

> The National Board of Review is an organization with a virtually unknown membership that exists in public consciousness for precisely one day per year, and this is their day:  the announcement of their film awards.  Their claim to fame, such as it was, came from being the first ones out of the awards gate–but […]

> Today we wind up SHOWBUZZDAILY‘s introduction of this year’s most promising Oscar contenders (see Part 1 here and Part 2 here, looking at those that could be called Also Eligible–they’re hoping just to get in the race. Also Eligible SHAME (Fox Searchlight – Dec. 2) SHOWBUZZDAILY odds to be nominated:  11/1 Bookie odds to […]

  Today’s shipment of critical praise comes courtesy of the National Society of Film Critics, a small (60-member) but prestigious group, which today gave Michael Haneke’s AMOUR one of its biggest boosts of the season, with awards for Picture, Director and Actress (Emmanuelle Riva).  Oscar nomination voting is now closed, so these prizes will only […]

> For many years, the National Board of Review has been the self-appointed first group on the calendar to announce awards for Best Picture and other categories.  The NBR is sort of like the Golden Globes without super-powers; they’re 110 people tangentially related to the world of film whom you’ve never heard of and whose […]

> And the hits keep on coming for the Academy:  following Brett Ratner’s hurried exit yesterday, Eddie Murphy has packed his host bag and left the building as well.  This isn’t a huge surprise, as Murphy was brought in by his Tower Heist director in the first place (and Heist isn’t proving to be the […]

  There were no surprises of any scale at tonight’s ACADEMY AWARDS (a full list of winners is here) , and that went for the telecast, too.  Neil Patrick Harris was as personable a host as anticipated, and he/his writers were sometimes quick on their feet, as when he had a gag ready about a Documentary […]

  The calendar has turned to 2014, and the critics, for the most part, have spoken.  Now Oscar season is moving into the Guild part of its schedule, and today the Producers Guild announced its Best Picture nominees.  The PGAs have been a fairly accurate precursor of Oscar nominees, with 8 of its picks last […]