I mean, DAME Helen Mirren.  (Photo via Associated Press.  Joke via Oscar co-host, Steve Martin.)
Very happy for Kat B and The Hurt Locker.
Worst Award of the Evening -  The Best Cinematography Award to Avatar.  It should have gone to the great Robert Richardson (Inglourious Basterds), or if not to him, to Christian Berger who was responsible for the ... read more »

The Avatar hype continues.  There was a front-page (!) piece in the L.A. Times today, whining – for lack of a better word – about how “unlike the great majority of best picture nominees, the ‘Avatar’ actors have not nabbed a single major critic’s award, or guild prize. The snubs reflect the apparent ambivalence of the ... read more »

According to today’s Los Angeles Times, filmmaker Herschell Gordon Lewis thinks the Academy ought to create a special category for “Most Heart-Warming Picture.” 
WTF?  Given HGL’s status as the director of such trashterpieces as Blood Feast (see trailer, below), Two Thousand Maniacs!, and The Wizard of Gore, are they sure he didn’t say, “Best Tearing-the-Heart-Out-of-the-Body Picture?” 

That’s precisely what a number of folks are attempting to ascertain in light of the accolades this British/US film (shot in the underbelly of India) is receiving. It very well might take the grand prize at this year’s Academy Award ceremony, although the uproar from Indian intelligentsia (whose criticisms of the film range from “it’s ... read more »

Although the film was completely ignored by the Academy, the Golden Globes, and most U.S. American year-end lists, I am delighted to see that Matt Reeves’ Cloverfield was selected by the venerable French film magazine, Cahiers du Cinema, as one of the 10 Best Films of 2008.
For the record, the Academy’s nominations for the Best ... read more »

All genres are equal, but in the eyes of Hollywood, some genres are more equal than others. This becomes particularly apparent during awards season. (This year’s Academy Award nominations have just been announced here.) Hollywood loves its biopics and its big-budget musicals, but if you really want to make sure your film gets those nominations, ... read more »