Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire

Best Picture Poster Porn…

Posted on March 7, 2010 by Darren

Here’s a little treat to get you in the mood for this evening’s festivities. BAFTA hired artist Tavis Coburn to basically design retro-style posters for their own awards – you know, like Turner Classic Movies did last summer. Since there’s significant overlap between the Oscars shortlist and the BAFTA shortlist, it’s a nice way to get yourself geared up for an interesting night. It’s a shame there isn’t an Inglourious Basterds poster, as that movie is arguably the best suited to a retro reimagining, but I guess the recent charity redesigns will have to do.

The posters are below. Click for bigger versions.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: an education, avatar, awards, baftas, best picture, best picture nominees, best picture oscar, chic, design, movie posters, posters, precious, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, retro, the hurt locker, up in the air | Leave a comment »

Reaction to the Best Picture Oscar Nominations…

Posted on February 9, 2010 by Darren

Well, it’s been a week since the nominations were announced. I think I’m as adjusted as I’ll ever be to this year’s crop of Oscar contenders. Am I happy? Relatively. Am I delighted? No. Am I as filled with disappointment and rage as I was last year? Not nearly. Does this mean we can judge the ten horse race a success? I’m not so sure. Let’s take a look at the good, the bad and the worse of this year’s nominations, snubs and just inexplicable nods. I’ll be taking a look at the acting nominations later in the week, because this post just ballooned. Rather fitting given the expansion of the category, no?

Let the speculating and analysis and moaning begin...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: (500) Days of Summer, 82nd academy awards, academy, AMPAS, avatar, best director, best picture, best picture oscar, district 9, favourites, films, inglourious basterds, james cameron, kathryn bigalow, Movies, odds, Oscars, precious, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, slumdog millionaire, the blind side, the blindside, the hurt locker, the reader, up, up in the air, voting | 2 Comments »

And The Oscar Nominees Are…

Posted on February 2, 2010 by Darren

The Oscar nominees have just been announced. In the next few hours, in-depth analysis from all manner of sources will take place and discussions will begin on whether the conversion of the Best Picture Oscar to a ten horse race has made the nomination phase anymore exciting. I don’t think it has – we’ve all been talking about the big five like it were any other year – Up In The Air, Inglourious Basterds, Avatar, The Hurt Locker and Precious – and that doesn’t really seem to have changed. However, there’s been a whole heap of discussion about the remaining places on the list. Though that doesn’t exactly ‘shake up the Oscar race’. Once we get a taste for how the Oscars choose the next five (and I suspect it will be on the same basis as the first five), picking ten will seem as simple as picking five did. But I digress. Nominees and preliminary analysis below. Note I’ll probably offer a more in-depth look at the race tomorrow.

It's that time of year again...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 82nd academy awards, avatar, best director, best picture, best picture oscar, best picture race, best screenplay, ceremony, films, Movies, oscar nominess 2010, oscare nominees, Oscars, oscars 2010, populist, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, the hurt locker, up in the air | 2 Comments »

Can an Indie be too popular for the Oscars?

Posted on October 23, 2009 by Darren

We are well and truly in Oscar season, in case you didn’t pick up on the Toronto International Film Festival as the kick-off of events (in fairness, it’s been going on longer than that – Oscar season is like Christmas advertising, it gets earlier every year. It’s fun the way that (even at this stage) every minor bump in the road for any picture is seen as potentially the end of its run. I’m not an Oscar-ologist, so I will concede I’m outside my field of expertise. It’s stunning that the perceived snubbing of perceived Oscar-lock Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (heck of a title, there) at the Gotham Awards. It’s got a lot of film critics and Oscar-watchers pondering if the mainstream support that stars like new Academy member Tyler Perry and Oscar-nominee Oprah Winfrey may have actually harmed it. Are AMPAS such snobs that a showing of support from Oprah can ground a film’s chances?