It's week three of the 2011-12 Oscar Index, and the latest measurements, readings and conclusions are in from Movieline's Institute for the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics. And aside from a few startling exceptions, they don't look that different than the ones disseminated here last week. But make no mistake: Like it or not, stuff is happening! Read on for the latest developments.
This week's edition of Oscar Index made the point of allowing for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close as an awards contender on paper, while withholding any specific hype until we'd all seen at least a trailer. Hours later, that trailer arrived. But even more interesting than the footage therein? How about the test-screening gossip trickling out around Stephen Daldry's magic-realist 9/11 tearjerker? [Warning: Spoilers ahead.]
A week after its stirring season debut, Oscar Index returns to the scene with the latest scientifically observed developments in the 2011-12 awards race. Indeed, Movieline's Institute for the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics has issued the results from its latest zeitgeist biopsy, and they look... inconclusive. Naturally! It's September.
Believe it: It's awards season. Very early in awards season, to be sure, but time nevertheless for Movieline's Institute For the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics to reopen its doors and initiate the algorithmic sequences and other complex formulas resulting in the latest edition of our annual Oscar Index.
Well, there you have it: Co-producer Brett Ratner asked, his Tower Heist star Eddie Murphy accepted, and the Academy today gave its official blessing for the comic/actor to host the 84th Academy Awards next February.
Rumors abound today that Eddie Murphy may dig out of his extended rut with an Oscar-hosting stint next February. The Web site that broke the story says it's a done deal, while our sister site Deadline reports that co-producer Brett Ratner has a few hurdles to clear at the Academy (quite possibly including his producing colleague Don Mischer). Among them: Convincingly answering the question, "What on Earth is the upside of Eddie Murphy hosting the Oscars?"
Ready or not, the Oscar Equinox is upon us: The Venice Film Festival is underway, the Telluride Film Festival launches this weekend, and the Toronto International Film Festival commences a week from tomorrow. Amid that crop of movies will be the bulk of this year's awards-season contenders, which will compete against an elite class already having opened in theaters and another fistful yet to come this winter. Same game, new players. And Movieline's redoubtable Oscar Index has the preliminary breakdown of who to watch.
It's almost that time again: The fall movie season, when critics sharpen their wits, audiences sniff through Hollywood's fetid miasma of hype, and awards-beat observers recalibrate their Oscarometers for the most precise reads on the encroaching horde of late-year releases. But as recent years have shown us, you don't necessarily need to debut after Labor Day to be taken seriously as an awards contender. In fact, August may as well be the new December where some major categories are concerned. Which brings us to Rachel Weisz.
She won't host, but Oprah Winfrey will take the Oscar stage as one better in 2012: A winner. Or at least a recipient: Winfrey joins actor James Earl Jones and legendary makeup artist Dick Smith among this year's trio of honorary Oscar winners.
Ever since Sundance, we've been contemplating the crop of of films, performances and various other contenders shaping up for this fall's awards-season harvest. But what of those worthy releases from the first part of the year -- the critical and/or commercial darlings who may enjoy some longevity when it comes time for Oscar voting? There are at least a couple every year; now, at 2011's midpoint, join Movieline in parsing out the likeliest among their ranks.
One of the most glorious annual rites of Hollywood passage commenced today as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences extended invitations to 177 esteemed film professionals. Oh, and Beyoncé Knowles.
The film world awoke this morning to news that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had reformulated its Best Picture Oscar rules for the second time in as many years, allowing for anywhere from five to 10 nominees depending on a film's percentage of first-place votes. This is brilliant. It will also fail to fix what's fundamentally wrong with the Oscars.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced to its members that online voting is in the works for next year's Oscar race -- and could possibly be implemented as early as this year. But will the digital move make the Oscars susceptible to hackers and disrupt the Academy Awards race as we know it?
Mark those Google Calendars! The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science announced some very important dates for the 2011/2012 awards season on Tuesday, including just when the 84th annual Academy Awards will take place. Billy Crystal may want to keep that night open. Click ahead for the schedule.
Oscar-winners like Jane Fonda know TV is an ideal medium for actors seeking a challenge, but non-Oscar-winners like us know that TV is also a good way to forward an actor's reputation. Don't want to be a frightening character actress anymore? Join NBC's new legal drama! Want to maintain the prestige of your early career? Take up a lead role on Showtime's new historical series! TV has become such a viable forum for thespian respect that some Oscar-winners are heading to the small screen before taking home the gold (Melissa Leo on Treme, anyone?). Here are the eight stages of Oscar-winners who move to the small screen -- usually with great success.
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