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. […]
My Thoughts on Your Oscar Thoughts
“Well, at least Tom Hooper is hopefully crying somewhere.” That tweet was the nadir of what’s been an awfully frustrating day for this cinephile. I know it’s too much to ask that, instead of complaining, we celebrate things like the surprise nominations of art-house hero Michael Haneke and first-time director Benh Zeitlin—not to mention the […]
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 […]
The Ten Commandments of Oscar Watching
The Joker asked, “Why so serious?” Today, I ask, “Why so sour?” Seriously, was Tom Hooper’s stewardship over Les Miserables so objectionable? Is a nomination from the Directors Guild of America—which, today, named Hooper one of the five Best Directors of 2012, alongside Ben Affleck, Kathryn Bigelow, Ang Lee, and Steven Spielberg—that big a deal? […]
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 […]
A Golden Morning for Django
Tomorrow, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association will announce what are bound to be some wild Golden Globe nominations. Sure, Argo, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, and the rest of the front of the pack will clean up. But I suspect Quentin Tarantino might have something to say in the morning. I’m looking at several major nominations […]
Argo vs. Zero Dark Thirty
Remember back in October when Ben Affleck’s Argo hit theaters and became the film critics and audiences could actually agree was best? Remember when this historical procedural crossed the $100 million mark at the box office—unfathomable success for a film like this? Remember when Roger Ebert, after viewing the film at the Toronto International Film […]
2013 OSCAR PREDICTIONS: Doc Shortlist Drama
“I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.” Yes, Obi-Wan. Today, the Academy’s documentary branch announced its shortlist, and right on cue, the blogosphere exploded. For good reason? It’s hard for me to say at […]
2013 OSCAR PREDICTIONS: Director and Screenplay
This, for me, is probably the most interesting time of the year as far as Oscars are concerned. In the midst of the fall festival season, anything seems possible, but by the time we close the curtain on the Toronto International Film Festival, it’ll be a just handful of films still left as genuine contenders. […]
2013 OSCAR PREDICTIONS: Early Acting Guesses
Still don’t know where some of these films and performances are really at, but it’s past time to dust the cobwebs off March’s predictions. I discussed the seemingly wide-open Best Picture category not too long ago. Today, I turn my attention toward the four acting categories. Again, I’m going with the five question format. If […]
