An Open Letter to Oscar Voters on Best Picture Race
February, 14, 2013 12:17 pm | Comments On #Academy Awards, Amour, Awards, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Lincoln, Oscar voting, oscars, preferential ballot, Silver Linings Playbook, Steve Pond, zero dark thirtyA while back -- when the choices in Oscar’s Best Director category seemingly narrowed the field and the guild awards began to single out a favorite -- one professional Oscar-watcher bemoaned the fallout from the endless handicapping and pontificating.
Voters, he warned, would feel that they'd be wasting their Best Picture ballot unless they voted for “Argo” or “Lincoln” or “Silver Linings Playbook,” or one of the small number of movies that was deemed to have a real shot at winning.
A couple of weeks later, after Ben Affleck's movie had continued winning everything in sight (PGA, DGA, SAG, BAFTA ... ), another pundit suggested that the only way for anti-"Argo" voters to stop that film from being named Best Picture was to put "Silver Linings Playbook" at the top of their ballots.
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Read More'Moonrise Kingdom' - Finding the Voice of a Dark-Horse Writing Contender
February, 13, 2013 3:36 pm | Comments On #Academy Awards, Awards, Darjeeling Limited, Moonrise Kingdom, oscars, roman coppola, Wes Anderson, WGA AwardsWes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom" is a dark-horse contender in the original-screenplay category this year -- particularly at Sunday's Writers Guild of America Awards, where the indie film will be going up against the larger, louder likes of "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Flight."
The film, which follows a teenage boy who goes AWOL from his scouting pack to rendezvous with a young girl on an island in New England, is the second collaboration between Anderson and Roman Coppola, who also co-wrote 2007's "The Darjeeling Limited" with Anderson and Jason Schwartzman.
(Left: Coppola and Anderson flanking "Moonrise" stars Jared Gilman...
Oscar Gets Arty With New Best Picture Posters (Photos)
February, 13, 2013 2:37 pm | Comments On #Academy Awards, Amour, argo, Awards, Beasts of the Southern Wild, best picture, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, oscars, Silver Linings Playbook, zero dark thirtyAs part of its ongoing campaign to prove that this isn't your father's Academy, AMPAS has teamed up with pop-culture hotspot Gallery1988 (which "has worked with such luminaries as Stan Lee, Beastie Boys, Weird Al Yankovic and Judd Apatow," says the Academy press release) to commission nine international artists to create new posters for the Best Picture nominees. They'll be on display at the 7021 Melrose Ave. gallery Feb. 14-17, with posters given away free at times announced at nineteeneightyeight.com or on Twitter (@galleries1988) and Facebook (gallery1988). Artwork courtesy of AMPAS and Gallery1988.
Read MoreOscars Rewind: Ben Affleck's First Academy Awards
February, 13, 2013 12:39 pm | Comments On #Academy Awards, argo, Awards, Ben Affleck, Good Will Hunting, gus van sant, Matt Damon, oscars, Robin WilliamsBen Affleck's upcoming trip to the Academy Awards is widely expected to end with the "Argo" director cradling a gold statuette.
But as the 40-year-old actor-writer-director nears his presumed moment of glory on the stage of the Dolby Theatre, it's worth remembering that his first trip to the Oscars ended the same way for the then-25-year-old actor-writer.
And the audience that saw Affleck's first Oscar triumph 15 years ago was no doubt bigger than the one that will watch "Argo" either win Best Picture or suffer a shocking upset at the hands of some other film.
I attended rehearsals from the 70th Oscars show in March 1998, and was backstage during the...
Read MoreTony Kushner, Alan Dershowitz, WGA Editor Blast Congress Over 'Zero Dark Thirty' Criticism
February, 11, 2013 9:23 pm | Comments On #Academy Awards, Alan Dershowitz, Awards, Dianne Feinstein, John McCain, Kathryn Bigelow, Leon Panetta, Lincoln, Mark Boal, oscars, Tony Kushner, zero dark thirty"Lincoln" screenwriter Tony Kushner, lawyers Alan Dershowitz and Norman Siegel, former ACLU Executive Director David Glasser and journalist and WGA magazine editor Richard Stayton are among the 28 people who have signed a letter criticizing U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein, Carl Levin and John McCain for their December comments attacking "Zero Dark Thirty."
"[T]he three Senators telling the producers of 'Zero Dark Thirty' that their film was 'factually inaccurate' and that Sony Pictures had 'an obligation' to conform its film to the Senators' view … as well as their request for Sony Pictures to alter the film's content...
New Oscar Poster Customizes the Statuette 85 Ways (Photos)
February, 11, 2013 4:54 pm | Comments On #Academy Awards, Awards, oscarsThe official poster to commemorate the 85th Academy Awards doesn't have one version of the familiar Oscar statuette -- instead, it has 85, each of them customized to represent a past Best Picture winner. The poster is designed by English artist and designer Olly Moss in collaboration with Gallery1988, and is available for sale at the Oscars website. Here are a few of the individual images; the full gallery of all 85 is available at http://oscar.go.com/photos/themed-galleries/special/oscars-best-pictures-tribute. Artwork courtesy of Gallery1988 and AMPAS.
Read MoreOscars: Are Ben Affleck and 'Argo' Unstoppable? (Video)
February, 11, 2013 4:19 pm | Comments On #argo, BAFTA, Ben Affleck, Emmaneulle Riva, movie video, oscars, Scripter AwardsWith BAFTA and Scripter awards added to the trophy shelf over the weekend, are Ben Affleck and "Argo" unstoppable en route to the Oscars?
Yes, "Argo" keeps collecting awards. Why? Perhaps it's the bandwagon effect? Or maybe Affleck's charm as he makes the rounds on the awards circuit? And "Argo" is a very likeable movie.
And what about Emmanuelle Riva, star of Michael Haneke's gripping "Amour"? Does her Best Actress win at BAFTA signal more honors on Oscars night?
Sharon Waxman and I discuss the Oscar race as we make our way toward the finish line on Feb. 24.
Read MoreHow Oscar Played Matchmaker for a Scandinavian Mutual Admiration Society
February, 11, 2013 2:38 pm | Comments On #A Royal Affair, Awards, Espen Sandberg, Joachim Roenning, kon-tiki, Nikolaj Arcel, oscars, Steve PondTwo Scandinavian directors.
Nikolaj Arcel, nominated for his smart Danish costume drama “A Royal Affair,” and Espen Sandberg, the co-director with Joachim Roenning of the Norwegian epic “Kon-Tiki,” had never met before this awards season -- but when both films were nominated for Oscars and Golden Globes, the two men began to find themselves at the same events in Los Angeles, far from where they grew up.
Is there a kinship between Scandinavian filmmakers?
SANDBERG: Absolutely. It is a small scene, and I think every Scandinavian movie that does well helps me.
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Read MoreAmerican Society of Cinematographers Likes the Look of 'Skyfall'
February, 10, 2013 9:07 pm | Comments On #American Society of Cinematographers, Anna Karenina, ASC Awards, Awards, Game of Thrones, Great Expectations, Hunted, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Skyfall, wilfredRoger Deakins won the top feature-film award from the American Society of Cinematographers on Sunday night for "Skyfall," meaning that "Argo" only went two-for-three on a weekend of film awards ceremonies.
While "Argo" won at the Scripter Awards on Friday and the BAFTA Awards earlier Sunday, it was not even nominated for an ASC Award, where Deakins' work on the James Bond movie "Skyfall" won out over Danny Cohen for "Les Miserables," Claudio Miranda for "Life of Pi," Janusz Kamninski for "Lincoln" and Seamus McGarvey for "Anna Karenina."
All except Cohen are nominated for the cinematography Oscar. In Cohen's...
Read More'Argo' Adds to Its Awards Haul, Wins BAFTAs
February, 10, 2013 1:30 pm | Comments On #Amour, Anne Hathaway, argo, Awards, BAFTA, BAFTA Awards, Ben Affleck, Christoph Waltz, EE British Academy Film Awards, Emmanuelle Riva, Les MiserablesBen Affleck's "Argo" has done it again, continuing its seemingly unstoppable roll through awards season by being named Best Film at the EE British Academy Film Awards in London on Sunday.
In a ceremony that tipped its hand when "Argo" won the award for film editing during the show's first hour, the CIA-meets-Hollywood drama won three awards from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), including Best Film and Best Director, the day after winning the Scripter Award in Los Angeles.
"Argo" has also won top awards from the Producers Guild, Directors Guild and Screen Actors Guild and the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Movie Awards.
To...
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Description
Steve Pond, author of the L.A. Times bestseller The Big Show, has been covering entertainment for more than two decades. He also writes on the awards circuit for TheWrap, in his column "The Odds."
