It’s that time of the week when we all head to our local stores to spend money on silly circular thingies that put moving pictures on our televisions whenever we don’t want to watch the news. Here’s what I’d buy, rent and ignore. Read the full story

It’s time to finally end this sucker. With the Academy Awards this weekend after a month filled with coverage, who will come out on top? Read the full story

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

Every year there’s one Oscar category that boasts such an evident winner all season that it becomes almost morose to even speak about the subject. This year, comedienne Mo’Nique and her riveting turn as Mary Jones in Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire joins the ranks of Heath Ledger’s Joker, Helen Mirren’s Queen Elizabeth and Charlize Theron’s Aileen Wuornos as an undeniable awards juggernaut.

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The award for Best Adapted Screenplay is undoubtedly one of the most misunderstood categories at the Oscars. Nobody questions that there is skill involved in taking a novel, play, or short story and turning it into screenplay that both retains the essence of the original story and interprets it for a two-hour film. However, what makes this category difficult is the ambiguity surrounding the selection of a winning film. What do the film script and the film itself need in order to deserve the award for Best Adapted Screenplay? According to past results, the film would need the qualities of a Best Picture winner with fifty-nine of the eighty-one winning Best Picture films having been adaptations. This year four of the Best Adapted Screenplay nominees including District 9, An Education, Precious: Based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire and Up in the Air have also been nominated for Best Picture. (In the Loop is the only absent nominee not in this category). Whether one these films wins in both categories or not, the Academy clearly has high expectations when it comes to choosing a winner for the Best Adapted Screenplay. Read the full story

The nominations for the British Academy Film and Television Awards have been announced with Avatar, The Hurt Locker and An Education tied with eight nominations apiece. With these three favorites nominated in almost every category it seems likely that each film will go home with at least one award in hand. However, the competition running alongside these movies in categories such as Best Picture and Best Director, are heated with equally deserving movies such as Precious, Up in the Air, District 9 and Inglourious Basterds. Read the full story

After experiencing an ultra-successful 2009 — not to mention the Oscar possibilities that still lie ahead — it’s safe to say that pretty much everyone has their eye on Jason Reitman. Well, according to this article from /Film, the man behind Up in the Air has lined up his next project. After some speculation that Jay and Mark Duplass were working on a script for Reitman to direct, it turns out that the brothers instead will direct the film themselves, with Reitman on board to produce. 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

2009 was a year filled to the brim with solid films. Unlike last year, when I had trouble finding 20 films to call my favorites, this year it was hard letting a number of them go. In a year defined by the mainstream resurgence of great sci-fi and new technologies ranging from an onslaught of 3D to mass digital projection, here are a list of films that personally resonated with me. Note: Out of the main contenders, I haven’t had the chance to view The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Crazy Heart or A Single Man yet. Let the list begin. Read the full story

For the most recent episode of the The Film Stage podcast Jordan Raup and Dan Mecca are joined by fellow TFS editor Addam Hardy to discuss Sherlock Holmes, It’s Complicated, and Up In The Air. You can stream the episode below or download it here. (right click + save as…) Read the full story