AMC Theatres showcases all nine Oscar Best Picture nominees

By Barb Teed (TC Daily Planet) | February 3, 2012

If you haven’t seen the nominees in the Best Picture category for this year’s Oscar race, don’t despair. AMC Theatres is hosting its sixth annual “Best Picture Showcase.”

The Showcase gives movie lovers the opportunity to experience every movie nominated for Best Picture in the 84th Academy Awards over two Saturdays in February. “This is our sixth year running the Best Picture Showcase, and the sixth year we’ve expanded locations. [The Showcase] started at 77 locations six years ago and is now up to more than 120,” said Ryan Noonan, director of public relations for AMC Theatres. “The feedback from guests has been tremendous and it’s something many of our guests look forward to every year.”

The Showcase is divided into two full days to accommodate all nine films, which encompasses 19 hours of film time, said Noonan. Continue Reading

Nominations for the 84th Academy Awards announced

By Barb Teed (TC Daily Planet) | January 25, 2012

Nominations for the 84th Academy Awards were announced by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak and 2010 Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence.Academy members from each of the branches vote to determine the nominees in their respective categories—actors nominate actors, film editors nominate film editors, etc. In the Animated Feature Film and Foreign Language Film categories, nominations are selected by vote of multi-branch screening committees. All voting members are eligible to select the Best Picture nominees.Nominations ballots were mailed to the 5,783 voting members in late December and were returned directly to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the international accounting firm, for tabulation.Official screenings of all motion pictures with one or more nominations will begin for members this weekend at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Screenings also will be held at the Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood and in London, New York and the San Francisco Bay Area.All active and life members of the Academy are eligible to select the winners in all categories, although in five of them – Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject and Foreign Language Film – members can vote only if they have seen all of the nominated films in those categories.Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET.Performance by an actor in a leading roleDemián Bichir in “A Better Life” (Summit Entertainment)George Clooney in “The Descendants” (Fox Searchlight)Jean Dujardin in “The Artist” (The Weinstein Company)Gary Oldman in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” (Focus Features)Brad Pitt in “Moneyball” (Sony Pictures Releasing)Performance by an actor in a supporting roleKenneth Branagh in “My Week with Marilyn” (The Weinstein Company)Jonah Hill in “Moneyball” (Sony Pictures Releasing)Nick Nolte in “Warrior” (Lionsgate)Christopher Plummer in “Beginners” (Focus Features)Max von Sydow in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” (Warner Bros.)Performance by an actress in a leading roleGlenn Close in “Albert Nobbs” (Roadside Attractions)Viola Davis in “The Help” (Touchstone)Rooney Mara in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (Sony Pictures Releasing)Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady” (The Weinstein Company)Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn” (The Weinstein Company)Performance by an actress in a supporting roleBérénice Bejo in “The Artist” (The Weinstein Company)Jessica Chastain in “The Help” (Touchstone)Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids” (Universal)Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs” (Roadside Attractions)Octavia Spencer in “The Help” (Touchstone)Best animated feature film of the year“A Cat in Paris” (GKIDS) Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli“Chico & Rita” (GKIDS) Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal“Kung Fu Panda 2” (DreamWorks Animation, Distributed by Paramount) Jennifer Yuh Nelson“Puss in Boots” (DreamWorks Animation, Distributed by Paramount) Chris Miller“Rango” (Paramount) Gore VerbinskiAchievement in art direction“The Artist” (The Weinstein Company) Production Design: Laurence Bennett, Set Decoration: Robert Gould“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” (Warner Bros.) Production Design: Stuart Craig, Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan“Hugo” (Paramount) Production Design: Dante Ferretti, Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo“Midnight in Paris” (Sony Pictures Classics) Production Design: Anne Seibel, Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil“War Horse” (Touchstone) Production Design: Rick Carter, Set Decoration: Lee SandalesAchievement in cinematography“The Artist” (The Weinstein Company) Guillaume Schiffman“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Jeff Cronenweth“Hugo” (Paramount) Robert Richardson“The Tree of Life” (Fox Searchlight) Emmanuel Lubezki“War Horse” (Touchstone) Janusz KaminskiAchievement in costume design“Anonymous” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Lisy Christl“The Artist” (The Weinstein Company) Mark Bridges“Hugo” (Paramount) Sandy Powell“Jane Eyre” (Focus Features) Michael O’Connor“W.E.” (The Weinstein Company) Arianne PhillipsAchievement in directing“The Artist” (The Weinstein Company) Michel Hazanavicius“The Descendants” (Fox Searchlight) Alexander Payne“Hugo” (Paramount) Martin Scorsese“Midnight in Paris” (Sony Pictures Classics) Woody Allen“The Tree of Life” (Fox Searchlight) Terrence MalickBest documentary feature“Hell and Back Again” (Docurama Films) A Roast Beef Limited Production, Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front” (Oscilloscope Laboratories) A Marshall Curry Production, Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory” An @radical.media Production, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky“Pina” (Sundance Selects) A Neue Road Movies Production, Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel“Undefeated” (The Weinstein Company) A Spitfire Pictures Production, TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard MiddlemasBest documentary short subject“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement” A Purposeful Production, Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin“God Is the Bigger Elvis” A Documentress Films Production, Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson“Incident in New Baghdad” A Morninglight Films Production, James Spione“Saving Face” A Milkhaus/Jungefilm Production, Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom” A Supply & Demand Integrated Production, Lucy Walker and Kira CarstensenAchievement in film editing“The Artist” (The Weinstein Company) Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius“The Descendants” (Fox Searchlight) Kevin Tent“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall“Hugo” (Paramount) Thelma Schoonmaker“Moneyball” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Christopher TellefsenBest foreign language film of the year“Bullhead” A Savage Film Production, Belgium“Footnote” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Footnote Limited Partnership Production, Israel“In Darkness” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Studio Filmowe Zebra Production, Poland“Monsieur Lazhar” (Music Box Films) A micro_scope Production, Canada“A Separation” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Dreamlab Films Production, IranAchievement in makeup“Albert Nobbs” (Roadside Attractions) Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” (Warner Bros.) Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin“The Iron Lady” (The Weinstein Company) Mark Coulier and J. Roy HellandAchievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)“The Adventures of Tintin” (Paramount) John Williams“The Artist” (The Weinstein Company) Ludovic Bource“Hugo” (Paramount) Howard Shore“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” (Focus Features) Alberto Iglesias“War Horse” (Touchstone) John WilliamsAchievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets” (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie“Real in Rio” from “Rio” (20th Century Fox) Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown, Lyric by Siedah GarrettBest motion picture of the year“The Artist” (The Weinstein Company) A La Petite Reine/Studio 37/La Classe Américaine/JD Prod/France3 Cinéma/Jouror Productions/uFilm Production, Thomas Langmann, Producer“The Descendants” (Fox Searchlight) An Ad Hominem Enterprises Production, Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” (Warner Bros.) A Warner Bros. Pictures Production, Scott Rudin, Producer“The Help” (Touchstone) A DreamWorks Pictures Production, Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and    Michael Barnathan, Producers“Hugo” (Paramount) A Paramount Pictures and GK Films Production, Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers“Midnight in Paris” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Pontchartrain Production, Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers“Moneyball” (Sony Pictures Releasing) A Columbia Pictures Production, Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers“The Tree of Life” (Fox Searchlight) A River Road Entertainment Production, Nominees to be determined“War Horse” (Touchstone) A DreamWorks Pictures Production, Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, ProducersBest animated short film“Dimanche/Sunday” (National Film Board of Canada) A National Film Board of Canada Production, Patrick Doyon“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” A Moonbot Studios LA Production, William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg“La Luna” (Walt Disney) A Pixar Animation Studios Production, Enrico Casarosa“A Morning Stroll” (Studio AKA) A Studio AKA Production, Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe“Wild Life” (National Film Board of Canada) A National Film Board of Canada Production, Amanda Forbis and Wendy TilbyBest live action short film“Pentecost” (Network Ireland Television) An EMU Production, Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane“Raju” A Hamburg Media School/Filmwerkstatt Production, Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren“The Shore” An All Ashore Production, Terry George and Oorlagh George“Time Freak” A Team Toad Production, Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey“Tuba Atlantic” (Norsk Filminstitutt) A Norwegian Film School/Den Norske Filmskolen Production, Hallvar WitzøAchievement in sound editing“Drive” (FilmDistrict) Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Ren Klyce“Hugo” (Paramount) Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” (Paramount) Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl“War Horse” (Touchstone) Richard Hymns and Gary RydstromAchievement in sound mixing“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (Sony Pictures Releasing) David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson“Hugo” (Paramount) Tom Fleischman and John Midgley“Moneyball” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” (Paramount) Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin“War Horse” (Touchstone) Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart WilsonAchievement in visual effects“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” (Warner Bros.) Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson“Hugo” (Paramount) Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and  Alex Henning“Real Steel” (Touchstone) Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” (20th Century Fox) Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” (Paramount) Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John FrazierAdapted screenplay“The Descendants” (Fox Searchlight) Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash“Hugo” (Paramount) Screenplay by John Logan“The Ides of March” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon“Moneyball” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin Story by Stan Chervin“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” (Focus Features) Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor & Peter StraughanOriginal screenplay“The Artist” (The Weinstein Company) Written by Michel Hazanavicius“Bridesmaids” (Universal) Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig“Margin Call” (Roadside Attractions) Written by J.C. Chandor“Midnight in Paris” (Sony Pictures Classics) Written by Woody Allen“A Separation” (Sony Pictures Classics) Written by Asghar Farhadi Continue Reading

Oscar co-producer resigns after homophobic slur

By Barb Teed (TC Daily Planet) | November 9, 2011

First-timer Academy Awards telecast producer, Brett Ratner, resigned Tuesday amid controversy surrounding a homophobic slur he made while promoting his film Tower Heist, saying in a Q and A fan session that “rehearsal is for f#gs.”

Ratner got into more trouble after appearing on the Howard Stern radio show, where he described in some detail his sex life. Although apologizing after his derogatory rehearsal remark and radio indiscretion, Ratner decided to give notice to Oscar instead. “He did the right thing for the Academy and for himself,” Academy President Tom Sherak said. “Words have meaning, and they have consequences. Brett is a good person, but his comments were unacceptable. Continue Reading