Perhaps in response to all those people left stymied by Hereafter's Oscar nomination for visual effects (especially when Tron: Legacy got shut out of the category, poor thing), Warner Bros. have released a shot-by-shot reel showing how VFX supervisor Michael Owens and Scanline VFX put together that nine-minute opening tsunami sequence. And when you see how the live-action parts came together combining CG, green screen, water tanks, and on-location photography -- well, "Oscar-nominated Hereafter" doesn't sound so silly anymore.
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The startling beauty of Joel and Ethan Coen's Oscar-nominated True Grit -- and in most Coen brothers films, for that matter -- owes to frequent collaborator and award-winning cinematographer Roger Deakins, who's lensed all but one of their films since 1991's Barton Fink. But as much as the nostalgic Western serves as a throwback to simpler times, simpler heroes (and heroines), and a yearning to stick to one's principles in the face of obsolescence, True Grit could also mark a wistful point in Deakins career -- his last film shot on film.
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Much of the emotional power of Joel and Ethan Coen's Best Picture contender True Grit comes from the contributions of longtime collaborator and nine-time Oscar nominee Roger Deakins, a cinematographer whose compositions and visual choices lend the Western a subtle, nostalgic quality. It's fitting, then, that when Deakins played My Favorite Scene with Movieline recently, he pointed toward a film that also utilizes the understated to great -- but very different -- effect.
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Now that the Super Bowl is over, we can focus on the real cultural event of the year: The Academy Awards! To kick off a very special new series of guest Oscar predictions, Movieline consulted British actor Jamie Bell, the star of this week's The Eagle -- and, at the age of 24, veteran of four Oscar-nominated films -- to see which films he's betting on to take home Oscar gold.
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Earlier today we were tickled by tales of Bob and Harvey Weinstein's genius early '80s sexifying shenanigans, but this afternoon brings allegations of shady accounting and legal chicanery lobbied by none other than former collaborator Michael Moore, who claims the Weinsteins deceived him out of millions in profits from his 2004 documentary Fahrenheit 9/11. Naturally, we wonder: What's this mean for the Oscar race?
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The filmmaking process and a particular studio head's cojones were among the topics of discussion Friday night when director Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth) held a Q&A with Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Inception) to celebrate the 10th anniversary Blu-ray release of Nolan's breakout film, the neo-noir psychological mystery Memento. But while the sold-out crowd at L.A.'s Egyptian Theatre got to witness the playful Del Toro warming up straight-laced Nolan like a looser, geekier James Lipton, a few topics were strictly off-limits.
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The gold standard for bad movies getting Oscar love has to be 2007's multiple Razzie-winning Norbit, which earned an Oscar nod for Best Make-up, and from that moment forward demanded to be called by its rightful name: "The Academy Award-Nominated Norbit." (Shudder.) This year's crop of Oscar-nominated critical duds are cinematic masterworks by comparison -- and most of them can thank the thankless effects, costume, and sound mixing technicians for the profile-boost -- but still... who'da thunk these 8 films would have come this far?
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After a hotly contested debate over whether or not this recent Banksy-themed Oscar mural came from Banksy himself or his Exit Through the Gift Shop subject/protégé Mr. Brainwash -- that is, if they aren't the very same person (duh-duh-duhhhhn) -- comes more evidence that the mysterious Banksy is really just some sort of mad viral marketing genius. Behold: The feline street art expose Exit Through the Pet Shop!
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Best known for his character work on Deadwood and in the indie charmer Me and You and Everyone We Know, John Hawkes earned raves for his quietly menacing performance as the volatile, meth-addicted Teardrop in Debra Granik's Winter's Bone. In addition to nabbing Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay, the Ozarks noir notched an Oscar nod for Hawkes -- his first -- who will vie for Best Supporting Actor against the likes of Christian Bale, Geoffrey Rush, Mark Ruffalo and Jeremy Renner.
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Street artist, notorious recluse, and Oscar-nominated documentarian Banksy may not be doing much in-person press as his Exit Through the Gift Shop gears up to take on the Academy Awards - but is he campaigning nonetheless? Take a look at the Oscar-themed mural that popped up this week in Los Angeles featuring a Banksy-esque Oscar statuette and an army of Storm Trooper guards/production assistants/talking heads.
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If you thought last year's Sundance bounty yielded a strong crop of Academy Award nominees, just wait 'til the 40+ films to get distribution out of Park City hit theaters and start campaigning for Oscar glory. Should breakout star Lizzie Olsen start composing her acceptance speech now? Which film will emerge the Winter's Bone of 2011? Movieline's panel of experts look back on Sundance and weigh in: Which Sundance films will make it to next year's Academy Awards?
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"Do you know the Myers-Briggs Test?"
It's Tuesday morning in Manhattan, and Jacki Weaver awaits an answer. The actress doesn't have all day. She's on a 36-hour stopover here promoting her new film Animal Kingdom -- Weaver's first theatrical feature in 13 years, and quite possibly the movie that will earn the stage/screen/television veteran of nearly a half-century an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, if not the trophy itself. Which is where the Myers-Briggs Test comes in. I ask her to explain.
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