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The Oscars || ||

Oscar Index: Left Out in the Gold

Oscar Index: Left Out in the Gold

Smack in the middle of a two-week frame yielding two awards shows and a pair of nomination announcements that will culminate in this year's Oscar nods, the researchers at Movieline's Institute for the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics have gained minimal insight into where the Academy may take the 2011-12 awards race in next Tuesday's final nominations. Or maybe they're all just sleeping. It's been that kind of year. Let's check their work in this week's Oscar Index.
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Quick Take || ||

Golden Globe Winner Octavia Spencer is So Over the 'Sassy Black Woman' Parts

Now that Golden Globe winner Octavia Spencer's sitting pretty with her Best Supporting Actress trophy, the L.A. Times breaks out a choice quote from an October visit to the set of her Sundance 2012 pic Smashed: "You do a movie like [The Help] to get a movie like this," she said of her new film, which sees her go from spitting retorts and baking special pies as The Help's Minny to helping Mary Elizabeth Winstead battle alcoholism. "It’s nice... to play roles when I'm not just a sassy black woman." Hear, hear. Now let's get Spencer the Oscar, already. [LAT]

Awards || ||

Surprise! 2012 BAFTA Award Nominations Single Out Artist, Descendants (Oh, and Drive)

Surprise! 2012 BAFTA Award Nominations Single Out Artist,  Descendants (Oh, and Drive)

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts came out this morning with its 2012 Orange British Academy Film Awards nominations, which -- wait for it -- look suspiciously like the rest of the worlds 2012 film awards nominations. In fairness, for every nod thrown in the direction of The Artist, we witnessed some refreshing recognition for the likes of Drive, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, We Need to Talk About Kevin and a few select others. But hoo boy -- another Albert Brooks snub? This is getting a little weird. More analysis forthcoming Wednesday in Movieline's Oscar Index; congrats to all the nominees, listed below.
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Quick Take || ||

Sober Golden Globes Winner Botches Tradition

“I’m sorry ya’all, I love you but I have to kick these shoes off. This is the ultimate party and I’m living the dream of so many young actors and actresses out there and I’m having my Diet Pepsi alongside Hollywood’s best and brightest.” Or maybe Octavia Spencer was just being modest? Or introducing the evening's best euphemism for unlimited buckets of HFPA-brand bubbly? As in, "Someone take away Emily Blunt's Diet Pepsi," etc. etc. [LAT]

Awards || ||

Lightning Round: Let's Predict the 2012 Golden Globe Award Winners!

Lightning Round: Let's Predict the 2012 Golden Globe Award Winners!

As yet another incredible season begins to gradually wind down, we're roughly 48 hours away from one of the year's most closely watched, hotly competitive high-stakes all-star showdowns to date. But enough about the New York Giants' journey on Sunday to battle their NFC-rival Green Bay Packers. We've got the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards to predict!
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Awards || ||

A Few Takeaways as The Artist Tops Critics Choice Movie Awards

A Few Takeaways as The Artist Tops Critics Choice Movie Awards

So much for The Artist's fade: Michel Hazanavicius's silent black-and-white throwback won both Best Picture and Best Director at Thursday night's Critics Choice Movie Awards, a nice bit of prime-time validation shared in part by George Clooney and the ladies of The Help. Read on for the full list of winners (and a few takeaways).
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The Oscars || ||

Oscar Index: They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

Oscar Index: They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

What a week at Movieline's Institute for the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics, where the pundits' hustle harmonized with the guilds' bustle to create a heavy-duty wake-up call for some otherwise dormant awards-season underdogs. They also telegraphed danger for a few juggernauts once thought unassailable. What does it all mean as we head into the Critics Choice and Golden Globe Awards weekend? To the Index!
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Awards || ||

Women Film Journalists Favor Artist, The Help, Bridesmaids

"THE HELP"FF-001Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis) overhears the exchange between Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone, center) and her friends in DreamWorks Pictures' drama, "The Help", based on the New York Times best-selling novel by Kathryn Stockett.©DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC.  All Rights Reserved.

Awards! So many awards -- this time around it's the Alliance of Women Film Journalists passing along the EDA Awards, their annual choices for the best, worst, weirdest and otherwise noteworthy films of 2011. Find an old standby at the top of the list, along with a few of the Alliance's customarily female-forward and refreshingly cheeky ("Most Egregious Love Interest Age Difference Award," anyone?) accolades. Congrats to all the winners!
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Awards || ||

Bridesmaids, Dragon Tattoo, Young Adult Snag Writers Guild Award Nominations

Bridesmaids, Dragon Tattoo, Young Adult Snag Writers Guild Award Nominations

The WGA nominations have hit the wires, giving awards watchers more fodder for speculation. Does Bridesmaids' inclusion mean the mainstream hit has more traction in the Oscar race? Will Win Win's nomination mean the Fox Searchlight hopeful has a shot at the big leagues? Should Diablo Cody break out the leopard print couture? Check out the full list of nominations and debate away.
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The Oscars || ||

Oscar Index: Draggin' Tattoo? Don't Bet on It

Oscar Index: Draggin' Tattoo? Don't Bet on It

The first Oscar Index entry of 2012 finds Movieline's Institute for the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics a little hungover from the holidays and lot bored from the protracted inertia of awards season. Not even this week's Producers Guild Award nominations could do much to shake up a contest that appears to be both wide open and solidifying into place at the same time. Let's investigate...
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Newswire || ||

Armond White's 2011 Better-Than List > Pretty Much Every Other Blogger's List

Armond White's 2011 Better-Than List > Pretty Much Every Other Blogger's List

Say what you will about Armond White, at least the iconoclast film critic is a conversation-starter. Over at CityArts White has posted his annual "Better-Than" list, in which he pairs seemingly disparate films of the year to show you why the movies you love/think are great are, in fact, vastly overrated. Example: " Jack and Jill > The Descendants," White insists, in a clear trouncing of "humility" over "sanctity." "Adam Sandler’s affectionate, very broad ethnic satire defies Alexander Payne’s smug denial of America’s ethnic history," he writes. Don't stop there, Armond!
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Awards || ||

Producers Guild Nominations: Bridesmaids, Ides, Dragon Tattoo Make Cut; Tree of Life Snubbed

Producers Guild Nominations: Bridesmaids, Ides, Dragon Tattoo Make Cut; Tree of Life Snubbed

The Producers Guild of America just announced its 2012 award nominees, with a few surprises (The Ides of March? Again?) and noteworthy snubs (sorry, Tree of Life-ers) in the main event. Meanwhile, the animated category dared to recognize the roundly loathed Cars 2, and the documentary voters gave at least on conspicuous Oscar snubbee a break (I'm looking at you, Senna).

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The Oscars || ||

Oscar Index: Giddyup, War Horse!

Oscar Index: Giddyup, War Horse!

Well, this should go pretty fast: The holiday week has offered a dearth of new narratives to trace and pulses to take, with only one film demonstrating any significant mobility in the studies coming out Movieline's Institute for the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics. Let's get to it!

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Awards || ||

Oscar Index: Enough About Bridesmaids, Already

Oscar Index: Enough About Bridesmaids, Already

Screw Christmas. Forget Hanukkah. To hell with New Year's. There is only one holiday we celebrate in the dank, windowless labs of Movieline's Institute for the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics, and that is Oscar Night. Thus the latest edition of Oscar Index, offering all the festive year-end joy you can possibly stand. Let's get to it!

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Awards || ||

Oscar Index: Extremely Artist and Incredibly Horse

Oscar Index: Extremely Artist and Incredibly Horse

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.

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