Academy sets Oscar dates

Looks like things are getting earlier.  No objections here!

 Academy moves Oscar nominations even earlier to January 10

via In Contention 

Summer breezes by

There wasn't a ton of big talk about movies this summer.  'The Dark Knight Rises' ended up being quite an impressive technical achievement, but maybe not quite on the level of 'The Dark Knight' in terms of being a hopeful Best Picture nominee.  We all remember the fans who were disappointed a few years ago, and I imagine they will be again.  I just don't see the Academy jumping into the superhero Best Picture thing this year.  I think it will mostly likely pop up in the sound categories.


The one film I'm beating myself up over that I haven't seen is 'Beasts of the Southern Wild'.  I've heard fantastic things from friends and family, and am looking forward to seeing the much talked about performance of Quvenzhané Wallis, who seems poised to become the youngest Best Actress nominee of all time.  It will be out on DVD next month where I will be sure to catch up with it.  

Judi Dench in 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel'

Other possibilities in the summer that may carry over include the hugely successful 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel', 'Moonrise Kingdom', and 'Take This Waltz'.  "Take This Waltz" simply for Michelle Williams if she is campaigned.  She gives some of her best work in the film.

'The Best Exotic...' may strike a chord with the older Academy and I can see Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Tom Wilkinson jumping into weaker supporting categories if the back end of the year doesn't fill them up solidly.  'Moonrise Kingdom', a film which I enjoyed, but wasn't my favorite of Wes Anderson's work, is likely to be a contender for Best Original Screenplay.  I also thought the Production Design was wonderfully quirky and could be remembered.  I don't see it holding on for a Best Picture nomination despite stellar reviews.   I can't remember anything else from the summer which may factor in to awards season, but I'm always ready for a surprise. 

Let the buzz begin

I have to say, it's fairly amusing to look back on my last post before the summer began.  "Gravity" and "The Great Gatsby" are not coming out until 2013 and "The Hunger Games" turned into one of the most successful blockbusters of the year.  Jennifer Lawrence remains as relevant a topic as ever though, with incredible reviews coming out of the Toronto International Film Festival for "Silver Linings Playbook" and Oscar buzz swirling around her performance.  I'm sure her success with "The Hunger Games", (which I quite enjoyed), will only help her as she gears up for another awards season from the sound of things in Toronto. 

The Telluride Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) have given critics and lucky audiences lots to talk about, and the rest of us wait eagerly to get the chance to see the films when they make way their way to us over the coming weeks.  Although I was quiet on the blog for the summer, I'm excited to get back to discussing what I believe will be a great year at the movies.  Film remains one of my greatest passions and I hope to use this space as an area to voice excitement and discussion over new fall film discoveries and awards season.  Call me crazy but I find the whole thing a blast.  Sure, awards season is full of politics and lots of strange, even unfair choices at times, but this is the game I signed up for.  I know what I'm getting into.  I will be back tomorrow with more thoughts on what lies ahead, as well as a few summer films that jumped out to me.