The big prizes this weekend were the Los Angeles Film Critics Association awards, LAFCA has a habit of showcasing its iconoclasm (the organization has only given its Best Picture prize to the eventual Oscar winner once in the past 18 years, for The Hurt Locker), and this year was no exception. Best Picture went […]

  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 […]

  The EMMY AWARDS may never have the sheer glamor of the Oscars, but as the amount of excellent TV keeps rising as new viewing platforms and content providers constantly emerge, it’s now a lot harder to get a nomination for an Emmy than an Oscar.  Lots of deserving candidates were named today, while others […]

  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, […]

> 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, […]

After its Golden Globes win for Best Drama, the odds of winning Best Picture for Argo improved a bit (moving from a $7.50 payout on a $1 wager to $5.25 and moving past Les Miserables into second place).  But the favorite remains Lincoln, which also actually tightened to a $1.29 payout (from $1.40 last week), as Les Miz and especially Zero […]

  The leak on the red carpet has been mopped up, the gowns and tuxes have been scrutinized by at least two networks and a bevy of bloggers, and it’s time for the Golden Globes! In a year crowded with Oscar contenders, these Globes are going to be even more influential than usual… whether they […]

  It was a bad morning for some veterans (Harvey Weinstein, Ridley Scott), and a good one for others (George Miller), as well as for quite a few newcomers.  Let’s dig in: BEST PICTURE The Big Short Bridge Of Spies Brooklyn Mad Max: Fury Road The Martian The Revenant Room Spotlight Neither of the Weinstein […]