The 2010 Academy Awards: Live Commentary

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Awards,

When you throw in an extra host, add five more Best Picture nominees, take away the Best Song performances and nominate two formerly married directors—what do you get? A night that will surely be talked about.

Although many believe the 82nd Annual Academy Awards will end with very few surprises, the possibility of an upset is still too great to ignore. Will the box office champ (Avatar) win Best Film as well? Or will The Hurt Locker - or even Inglourious Basterds - take the prize? Is Jeff Bridges a shoo-in for Best Actor…or could BAFTA winner Colin Firth sneak past him? Will Sandra Bullock have to deliver another acceptance speech, or will Meryl Streep take home her first Oscar since 1983?

To find out if the ceremony ends in a world of Hurt or Up in the Air, stay tuned here for the live results!

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Read More | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

2010 BAFTA Award Winners

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Awards,

Avatar may be the overseas (and domestic) box office champ, but how would it fare with the international voters?

This weekend’s Orange British Academy Film Awards ceremony proved James Cameron’s movie might not be a shoe-in at next month’s Academy Awards. In fact, ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow could see her movie, The Hurt Locker, take the Best Film honor from him.

In total, the gritty war drama collected six statues including the first ever BAFTA for a female director. (Avatar and The Young Victoria both took in two awards each.) Meanwhile, the top acting prizes went to two British stars: Colin Firth (A Single Man) and Carey Mulligan (An Education).

You can see a full list of winners after the jump.

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Read More | British Academy of Film and Television Arts

2010 Academy Award Nominations

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: DreamWorks, FOCUS, Disney, Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Weinstein Company, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Biopics, Drama, Family, Music, Musicals, Period, Science Fiction, Comedy, Sports, Thrillers, Awards, Celeb News, Lists,

After the list of Academy Award nominees were announced this morning, two movies rose to the top of the pack. Avatar and The Hurt Locker - helmed respectively by James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow - both lead the field with nine nominations each. Thankfully, the formerly married directors still get along.

Even though this will be the first time since 1943 (when Casablanca won) that ten films will go up for Best Film, this year’s list only revealed a handful of surprises. Those who have been following other ceremonies during this awards season saw very little changes in the acting categories.

Here are some of the noteworthy mentions/omissions from today’s nominations:

• Many had hoped The Hangover, Star Trek and/or (500) Days of Summer would go up for Best Picture. Many were left disappointed.
• Is this the first time Daniel Day-Lewis wasn’t nominated for simply breathing?
• Acting queen Meryl Streep is up now up for her sweet 16th nomination for her role in Julie & Julia. (I believe I will one day see her 20th.)
• Speaking of leading women, there will be three newcomers going up against vets Streep and Helen Mirren (The Last Station): Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side), Carey Mulligan (An Education) and Gabourey Sidibe (Precious)—someone who wasn’t even an actress to begin with!
• Disney/Pixar’s Up will be double-dipping it this year. The feature has been nominated in both the Best Film and Best Animated Film categories.

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Read More | Oscars

2010 Golden Globe Nominations (Film)

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Biopics, Drama, Family, Foreign, Foreign Language, Musicals, Period, Political, Romance, Science Fiction, Comedy, Sports, Awards, Lists,

The 2009-10 awards season kicked into high gear this morning with the official announcement of the Golden Globe nominations. The event - which will be hosted by funnyman Ricky Gervais - will take place just over two weeks before the Academy Award contenders are revealed.

Here are some of the noteworthy mentions from this year’s list of film nominees:

• Up in the Air leads all film nominations with six. The musical Nine follows with five while Avatar and Inglourious Basterds tied with four.
• As expected, Meryl Streep has received another two mentions—unfortunately, they are both in the Comedy category (Julie & Julia, It’s Complicated). On the surprising end, Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side, The Proposal) and Matt Damon (Invictus, The Informant) both have two nominations as well—thankfully, in different categories.
• Talk about drama! An ex-husband and wife will be competing against each other in the Best Director race. (Avatar‘s James Cameron and The Hurt Locker‘s Kathryn Bigelow.)
• Despite backing from both Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey, Precious is not a contender for Best Film. Mo’Nique and Gabourey Sidibe were both recognized for their excellent acting though.

The 67th Golden Globe Awards airs Jan. 17 on NBC.

(You can find the full list of film nominees after the jump. Click here for the TV nominations.)

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Read More | Hollywood Foreign Press Association