Zero Dark Thirty wins Best Picture at the National Board of Review

Zero Dark Thirty won the Best Picture award at the National Board of Review. The film also won best director and best actress for Jessica Chastain. Silver Linings Playbook also won two awards winning best adapted screenplay and best actor Bradley Cooper. Leonardo DiCaprio and Ann Dowd surprised winning the supporting categories. 

15 films compete for Best Documentary at the Oscars

The Academy has narrowed down the Documentary list to 15 films. 

  "Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry," Never Sorry LLC
   "Bully," The Bully Project LLC
   "Chasing Ice," Exposure
   "Detropia," Loki Films
   "Ethel," Moxie Firecracker Films
   "5 Broken Cameras," Guy DVD Films
   "The Gatekeepers," Les Films du Poisson, Dror Moreh Productions, Cinephil
   "The House I Live In," Charlotte Street Films, LLC
   "How to Survive a Plague," How to Survive a Plague LLC
   "The Imposter," Imposter Pictures Ltd.
   "The Invisible War," Chain Camera Pictures
   "Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God," Jigsaw Productions in association with
       Wider Film Projects and Below the Radar Films
   "Searching for Sugar Man," Red Box Films
   "This Is Not a Film," Wide Management
   "The Waiting Room," Open’hood, Inc.

Argo, Silver Linings Playbook and Zero Dark Thirty leads the Satellite Awards

The Satellite awards announced their nominations with Silver Linings Playbook, Argom Les Miserables and Zero Dark Thirty obtaining nominations for best film. Some surprise snubs include The Hobbit, Rust and Bone as well as Helen Mirren for Hitchcock and Marion Cotillard for Rust and Bone. Sally Field was also snubbed for the best supporting Award. The Sessions picked up some steam with nominations for director and best picture.

Life of Pi Review

Ang Lee's film Life of Pi is truly difficult to describe despite how one might initially perceive it. The film's plot revolves around the journey of Piscine "Pi" Patel through the Pacific Ocean on a lifeboat after a catastrophic shipwreck. His lone companion on board is a ferocious Bengal Tiger and the story tracks Pi's struggle for survival from the hardships at sea. However, the film seeks for something deeper -- an exploration of the dichotomy between faith and reason -- and it is this philosophical insight that elevates this film and makes it such an unforgettable experience.

The film's opening shots reveal to us the zoo in which Pi's family lives and Lee's richly detailed images of the numerous animals indicate a clear delineation of his style for the duration of the film. Despite the film being constrained mainly to one location with one human character, there is always a great sense of abundance and grandiosity throughout the film that reveals awe for the magnificence of the world that is being inhabited. The shipwreck sequence in the film is breathtaking for its scale and size which are of biblical proportions. In a latter sequence, Pi watches the ocean floor illuminated by all the sea creatures before a massive whale jumps up out of the ocean. It is this kind of detail that gives the seeming emptiness of the vast ocean a sense of mystery and wonder that lends a divinity that would otherwise be overlooked or ignored. Continue Reading

Zero Dark Thirty wins the New York Film Critics Circle

The New York Film Critics have announced their awards surprising in many categories including the Best Picture, acting categories and cinematography. Rachel Weisz upset heavy favorites Jessica Chastain and Jennifer Lawrence. Sally Field also won unexpectedly over Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables. Matthew McConaughey has just picked up steam after being overlooked by the likes of Tommy Lee Jones and Alan Arkin. However this may be good for him if he is to pick up an Oscar nomination. Daniel Day-Lewis looks t be the frontrunner everyone was expecting as Lincoln. Also surprising was Kathryn Bigelow winning best director and Zero Dark Thirty winning best picture.

Brave leads the Annie award nominations

The Annie Awards have unveiled their nominations with Brave, Frankenweenie, Paranorman and Wreck it Ralph leading with nominations for the best animated film of the year. The winner of the award usually becomes the frontrunner for the Oscar in the animated film category. 

Best Animated Feature

• Brave – Pixar Animation Studios
• Frankenweenie – The Walt Disney Studios
• Hotel Transylvania – Sony Pictures Animation
• ParaNorman – Focus Features
• Rise of the Guardians – DreamWorks Animation
• The Pirates! Band of Misfits – Aardman Animations
• The Rabbi’s Cat – GKIDS
• Wreck-It Ralph – Walt Disney Animation Studios

Amour wins the European Film Awards

Last night The European Film Awards gave there coveted award to Amour, the austrian film that is frontrunner to win the best Foreign Film at the Academy award.