Awards Daily

We included the notorious Melissa Leo ads — although, frankly, I’m not going to be one of those who sits in judgment at what Leo has done in creating ads for herself, despite the way they have been portrayed. ¬†Look, it’s a dirty business, the Oscar race. For some, a win is more valuable than others. ¬†More of my thoughts on this latest Awards Daily sure-to-be-shitstorm, after the cut.

Meanwhile, here’s a sampling of the new gallery update (thanks Dora!)

(more…)

How to Train Your Dragon wins 10 Annie Awards, including:

Best Animated Feature
How to Train Your Dragon – DreamWorks Animation

Best Animated Short Subject
Day & Night – Pixar

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORIES

Directing in a Feature Production
Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois “How To Train Your Dragon” DreamWorks Animation

Writing in a Feature Production
William Davies, Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders¬†¬†”How to Train Your Dragon”‚Äì DreamWorks Animation

Music in a Feature Production
John Powell “How To Train Your Dragon” ‚Äì DreamWorks Animation

(more…)

• Contemporary feature film: Therese DePrez, BLACK SWAN
• Fantasy feature film: Guy Hendrix Dyas, INCEPTION
• Period feature film: Eve Stewart, THE KING’S SPEECH
• One-hour single camera TV series: Dan Bishop of MAD MEN
• Half-hour single camera TV series: Richard Berg of MODERN FAMILY
• Awards, music or game show: David Rockwell, 82nd ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS
• TV movie or miniseries: Robb Wilson King, SECRETS IN THE WALL
• Multi-cam, variety or unscripted series: SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
• Commercial or music video: Jesse B. Benson, DOS EQUIS commercial

Best Original Screenplay: Christopher Nolan, Inception
Best Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
Documentary Writing: Inside Job
WGA New Media Original Award: Anyone But Me
Best Long form Television, adapted: The Pacific
Long form Original: The Special Relationship
Episodic Drama: Mad Men
Episodic Comedy: 30 Rock
Drama Series: Mad Men
Comedy Series: Modern Family
Comedy/Variety (Talk) Writing Award: Colbert Report
Animation Writing Award: Futurama ‘Prisoner of Benda’

Full list with credits after the cut:

(more…)

In light of the recent twist of this year’s race for Best Picture, I asked a few of the best and brightest in the biz for their input. The participants (in random order):

Damien Bona, Inside Oscar
Dave Karger, Entertainment Weekly
Craig Kennedy, Living in Cinema
Ed Douglas, Coming Soon
Mark Harris, New York Magazine, and Pictures at a Revolution
Pete Howell, The Toronto Star
Katey Rich, Cinemablend
Guy Lodge, In Contention
Susan Wloszczyna, USA Today
Jeff Wells, Hollywood-Elsewhere

1. Do you think The King’s Speech was always going to be the film that appealed to the highest number of voters and that it was only a matter of time before it started winning the big awards? Or do you think it became the stronger pick as an anti-vote to the rest of the more challenging fare?

Bona: After the Toronto Film Festival and even before its Thanksgiving release, The King’s Speech was pegged by most Oscar observers as the movie to beat. In fact, in the last Round Table discussion, a number of us were foreseeing a redux of 1998, with little-known Tom Hooper in the role of Shakespeare’s John Madden watching his movie take Best Picture while he himself loses to this year’s Spielberg, David Fincher.

(more…)

Last night, at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Lesley Manville, Jacki Weaver, John Hawkes and Hailee Steinfeld accepted their Virtuoso awards. More videos of these great performers after the cut (Lesley Manville was ROBBED).

(more…)

I am predicting True Grit will take both of the sound awards, or perhaps just sound mixing. Another great thing worth a read is Kris Tapley’s interview with the sound mixer of Salt, Greg Russell.

SoundWorks Collection: The Sound of “True Grit” from Michael Coleman on Vimeo.