Venice and Telluride: What We’ve Learned So Far
Click on over to my 2014 Oscar Predictions page to see everything I’m forecasting in the major categories. We’re mere days into the fall movie season, and already the Oscar landscape has changed significantly. I’ve updated my Oscar predictions today, and I will continue to on a weekly basis—every Wednesday—until the season ends. I will […]
The Deep Breath Before the 2014 Oscars Plunge
Click on over to my 2014 Oscar Predictions page to see everything I’m forecasting in the major categories. The signs of fall are all around us. Temperatures are dropping (from sweltering to comfortable). Darkness knocks earlier every night. Most importantly, fantasy football research consumes most of my time. We’ve received a glut of movie news […]
The Fifth Estate: Oscar Sleeper?
Click on over to my 2014 Oscar Predictions page to see everything I’m forecasting in the major categories. We got our first look at Bill Condon’s The Fifth Estate via a slick-looking trailer that’s among my favorites of the year. The film, too, is one I’m anticipating greatly, and since my first round of 2014 […]
2014 Oscar Predictions: What’s Changed?
Click on over to my 2014 Oscar Predictions page to see everything I’m forecasting in the major categories. In the mean time, I’m running down what’s changed over the past few months, since I last updated by 2014 Oscar Predictions just days after the most recent Oscar ceremony. I’ve also listed the few films from […]
And the 2013 Palme d’Or Goes To…
Everyone in Cannes will be wearing blue tonight. Abdellatif Kechiche (and in an unprecedented move, his two lead actresses, Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux) took home the coveted Palme d’Or at this evening’s Cannes Film Festival closing ceremony for his newest film, Blue Is the Warmest Color. It was arguably the best received film of […]
2013 Cannes Awards Predictions
Now that every Competition film has screened, we have but 24 hours to wait for the Palme d’Or and Cannes’ other big awards to be handed out. Here’s where I’m thinking the Spielberg jury might land: Palme d’Or (Best Film): The Past This is arguably the most wide-open Palme race in a number of years. […]
Early 2014 Oscar Predictions
We aren’t but 48 hours removed from one of the better Oscar ceremonies in recent memory, and my eye is already fixed on 2014. Sad, but true. To say these 2014 Oscar predictions should be taken with a grain of salt is the understatement of the year so far, but I’ll say this: Last year […]
Putting the 2013 Oscars to Bed
Sunday night, the film world spoke, and the big winner at this year’s Academy Awards was … uhh … anyone know? Sure, Argo took home the night’s top prize—Best Picture. It was a win for the ages as no film since 1989’s Driving Miss Daisy pulled off a similar feat without a Best Director nomination. […]
Final 2013 Oscar Predictions
The endless speculation ends Sunday night. It’s been a wild year—fun to follow, frustrating at times. I’m the sure ceremony will feel the same way. I’m less confident in my predictions this year than I have been in any year I’ve been following the Oscars. A few locks—Best Actor, Best Original Song, Best Visual Effects—litter […]
Ranking the 2013 Oscar Nominees
It’s become an annual tradition for me to rip off In Contention’s annual tradition of ranking the Oscar nominees from best to worst. I did it in 2011. I did it in 2012. See my 2013 rankings below. But first, a list of the films I regrettably haven’t caught up with yet: Mirror Mirror, Chasing […]
If I Had a 2013 Oscar Ballot
This year’s crop of Oscar nominees is a strong one. And part of the reason this season has been so unpredictable is that there are quite a few films voters seem eager to acknowledge. I encountered the same problem when writing this post. I’m not foolish enough to say something “should” win an award. I […]
2013 Golden Globes Predictions
Ballots for the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards were required to be turned in the day before the Oscar nominations were announced, which means to predict winners, we must revert back to our “Argo and Zero Dark Thirty are frontrunners” mindset. Lincoln, too, can win Best Drama. It’s all pretty wide open, which makes predicting […]
The 2013 Oscar Nominees
It wasn’t Lincoln‘s field-topping twelve nominations nor Silver Linings Playbook‘s sudden ascension from “happy to be nominated” to “genuine Best Picture threat” that dominated headlines today. 

No, it was the genuinely stunning absence of Argo‘s Ben Affleck and Zero Dark Thirty‘s Kathryn Bigelow from the Academy’s eclectic Best Director lineup that rocked Oscar watchers’ world. […]
2013 OSCAR PREDICTIONS: A Truly Wide-Open Race
As good as 2012 was for films in general, it’s been an even better Oscar race. Unpredictability reigns supreme in a field filled with mostly great films. Phase 2 will kick into gear Thursday morning after Seth MacFarlane and Emma Stone announce the official nominees. It was tough, but here’s what I’ve got: Best Picture […]
On the Oscar Bubble
The bubble is not a fun place to live. Just ask Virginia Tech basketball fans. I’m sure every actor or actress would love to be in the position of a Daniel Day-Lewis or Jessica Chastain this year, but the Oscars just don’t work like that. Someone has to be the last nominee in just as […]
2013 OSCAR PREDICTIONS: Official and Unofficial Shortlists
With Django Unchained and Les Miserables finally hitting theaters, we can finally remove a certain amount of speculation from the Oscar race. Audiences everywhere will officially have their say over this year’s crop of contenders, which will ultimately mean crossing some names/films of our lists (and maybe adding a name here and there). In other […]
