Film Bitch Award Winners

This site's own prizes, Nathaniel's long-running Film Bitch Awards, the Oscar correlative categories at least, all arrrived before the Oscar nominations this year. I was on schedule for once!

Amy & Jeremy wondering how they only managed one gold medal in the first round of Film Bitch Awards

I'm behind schedule on the "extra categories" which are supposed to be done by now (sigh) but for now, please to enjoy the medal ceremony in the standard categories. If you're a purist and only want winners and not "gold / silver / bronze" which is my personal awards preference because spreading the wealth is the only way to go with awards for things as apples & oranges beautiful as movies, the list of gold medalists is after the jump...

Click to read more ...

"Elle" Wins the César

Huppert's trophy haul from ELLE is getting crazy!This post title was originally "Elle triumphs" but that would be too emphatic a statement. Paul Verhoeven's provocative black comedy about an infamous woman who reacts strangely to a rape did win the top category, oui. But Isabelle Huppert's awards magnet fascinating star turn was its only other win in Best Actress. For the 42nd annual Césars, then, it was a spread the wealth year. Xavier Dolan's all star ensemble It's Only the End of the World, the debut feature Divines, and the acclaimed toon My Life as a Zucchini also won multiple prizes.

The winners and George Clooney's Honorary César acceptance speech are after the jump...

Click to read more ...

A Clean Sweep for "Moonlight" at the Spirit Awards

Moonlight won in every category it was nominated in yesterday in Spirit Award's big tent. That was five prizes as well as a sixth (non-competitive) with their annual Robert Altman award honoring great ensembles. Smartly the prize goes not just to the cast but the director and the casting director. The A24 hit won't be quite that lucky tonight at the Oscars but hopefully it won't go home empty-handed either.

a moment between Mahershala Ali and The Bening at the Spirit Awards

History is full of wonderful films that had big nights at the Spirits as their last hurrah before Oscar shut-outs or Screenplay- only wins (The Wrestler, Far From Heaven, Sideways come to mind). But if you'd like to maintain hope that Moonlight takes Best Picture tonight at the Oscars there is always this factoid: The Spirit Awards Best Film winner has gone on to win the Oscar for Best Picture four out of six times this decade: The Artist (2011), 12 Years a Slave (2013), Birdman (2014), and Spotlight (2015)

The winners list as well as videos of some moments under that famous tent after the jump.

Click to read more ...

Last Minute Drama: Oscar Nomination Rescinded

It wouldn't be the Oscars without drama. Or in this case, draaaaaa-maaaa. The day before the Oscars -- yes, the day before the Oscars -- the Academy rescinded a nomination. Greg P Russell had received his 17th nomination (he's never won) for his sound mixing on 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi but that nomination is no more. The decision was announced yesterday in light of information about phone calls to branch members. Telephone as well as email lobbying is against the rules. The other members of that particular sound team have retained their nominations so there are still 5 nominated films in the category.

Sing along at Greg's house "Alone...Yet Not Alone...♫ " 

For those who recall. The song "Alone Yet Not Alone" from the movie of the same name was the last rescinded nomination just 3 Oscar seasons ago for something similar, emails to branch members. While this is unfortunate, especially considering Russell's long history without a win and big contributions to blockbuster cinema (past nominations include Spider-Man, Transformers, and Skyfall), how do AMPAS members not know not to do this by now?

Review: The Autopsy of Jane Doe

by Steven Fenton 

I’ll start with a confession. I’m not typically the first in line for a horror movie...in fact, I’m rarely in line for them at all. But recently I’ve found myself opening up to the possibilities of the genre, and it feels like I’m not the only one. There’s something in the water (and no, I’m not talking about Blake Lively). This new wave of “sophisticated horror” (for lack of a better term), from high profile festival hits like The Babadook and The Witch and critical sensations like Get Out, has done an amazing job of re-branding the genre for new audiences. So that’s why when I heard one of my favorite festival programmer sing the praises of The Autopsy of Jane Doe, I knew I had to check it out.

Click to read more ...