With the expansion to ten Best Picture nominees, many thought that “anything has a shot now!” But that is, of course, horrifically incorrect seeing as how the still-five-nominees-Best Director category essentially reveals what the “real” Best Picture nominees are. Read the full story

Many fans of the film Inglourious Bastards are wishing Quentin Tarantino much success at the upcoming Oscars. Aside from Christoph Waltz’s most deserved Supporting Actor nomination, the award the film is best positioned for is arguably Best Original Screenplay. It is undeniable that Tarantino’s writing talents shine through the final cut of the film, but in honor of the screenplay’s nomination, we will now highlight just a few sections from the final draft of the script that did not make it into the film (warning: if you have not seen the film, this will include spoilers): Read the full story

Not to discredit any of the competitors for Best Supporting Actor, but this award is sewn up and delivered.  Christoph Waltz will win the award for playing the quadrilingual villain from Inglourious Basterds.  From the very beginning of the movie, Waltz put his foot in the award circuit door, switching effortlessly from German to English to French to Italian, etching his name in Quentin Tarantino’s evil-doer hall of fame (presumably in whichever language he chooses). But for fairness sake, let’s look at the other nominees. Read the full story

Speaking to the New York Daily News recently (via ComingSoon), Quentin Tarantino, nominated for both Best Original Screenplay and Best Director for Inglourious Basterds (with that also being nominated for Best Picture), said that he has an interest in making a Western. People familiar with him shouldn’t be too surprised as his favorite film is The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, and he even said Basterds was his spaghetti-western. Only it seems this time he plans to make a more literal version of the genre. Read the full story

I love sharing Annie Leibovitz’s photography work in Vanity Fair. We featured a similar showcase last year, now she is back with this year’s Oscar contenders. These include Pedro Almodóvar and Penélope Cruz to James Cameron and his Avatar creations. Check out some examples below, as well as a video highlighting the shoot. Read the full story

Thanks to this article from Anne Thompson over at indieWIRE, it appears that The Weinstein Company has just landed a huge buy. The film is called Blue Valentine, and it’s one of the most highly-buzzed films coming out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The film is directed by Derek Cianfrance, and although he is certainly a respected name in the industry, my excitement for the film stems mostly from the lead actors. Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson) and Michelle Williams (Wendy and Lucy) star in this film as a married couple struggling with their mutual ambition. Based on what I’ve read thus far, it appears that the film cuts between time periods, from when the couple was young, vibrant, and happy, to their current state of misunderstandings and distance.

On top of this, Harvey Weinstein is also going after The Tillman Story, which is one of Sundance’s favorites in the documentary genre. Here is the press release:

The Weinstein Co. nabbed U.S., Canadian and Pan-Asian satellite territory rights to Derek Cianfrance’s romantic drama starring the pair in a low-seven-figure deal.

WME Global chief Graham Taylor was in an anxious huddle at a restaurant off Main Street well after midnight Thursday with “Blue Valentine” producers (and his personal valentine) Lynette Howell, Jamie Patricof and Alex Orlovsky, (the team behind the 2006 Sundance hit “Half Nelson”) as all-night negotiations were going down. IFC Films and Sony Pictures Classics were also said to be in the mix.

After a somewhat rocky 2009, the Weinsteins have to be thrilled with this buy. We all know how bad Nine turned out — both critically and commercially — and although Inglourious Basterds makes up for a lot of the damage, there is still some ground to be made up. I know I couldn’t be more excited for this film, as I think Gosling and Williams are two of the best indie actors working today.

What about you? Do you think this film can help reinvigorate The Weinstein Company, or does it seem like another bust?

The SAG awards just took place tonight and we have the results below. It’s a good indication of what is to come for Oscars since it some of the same voting members. I was personally shocked to Sandra Bullock take home the prize, I guess no one saw An Education. Hopefully the Oscar voters are a bit smarter in their choice. Check out the results below. Read the full story

Oscar season is in full swing with ballots recently sent out and the ceremony less than two months. Today we have two sets of nominees. First comes from the Writer’s Guild Association, with ceremonies held on Saturday, February 20, 2010. Check out the nominees below, followed by the American Society of Cinematographers. Read the full story

The Director’s Guild of America have announced their nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2009. Hitfix has the revealed the list, check it out below. Read the full story

One of the biggest awards that forecast the Best Picture Oscar races comes in the form of the Producers Guild of America. It’s nice to see Up get a picture nom as well as animated and I can’t believe Star Trek made it. It’s a great mix of most of my favorites this year (excluding the obligatory Invictus) and I’m very happy to see District 9 made the cut.. Thanks to Awards Daily we have the nominations below. Read the full story