20 Weeks To Oscar
It's The Movies, Stupid
by David Poland

Two weeks ago, Capote was "out," behind King Kong. Match Point, and History of Violence. A few guild nominations and Capote is competing for the win and Match Point is dead with Kong monkeyed out of the race.

But what actually changed? Nothing. All that happened is a small percentage of the community was polled. And they found certain answers. We have no idea how close other movies were, how strong the nominees were in vote count, etc. We are still guessing.

The Oscar Charts Quiz
A. A nomination lock... regaining power for a win
B. The second child never gets enough attention
C. Endangered species
D. Really?
E. Would help if he was performing

The Ultimate DVD Geek
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
by Doug Pratt

The 2005 film is messy, with an obtuse beginning and no ending whatsoever, but the twist is spirited enough, and accompanied by enough pyrotechnics, to forge sufficient entertainment, preventing the film from being a complete waste of time. Of course, the movie wants desperately to be a metaphor about marriage and relationships, and it overplays that hand, but the zingy dialog is full of quips that couples will identify with, and the stars are accomplished enough performers to hold up their end no matter how dumb the movie becomes. Either you like them or you don't, and your opinion of the film will conform to that measure.

Crash, Capote, And Amy Adams Return From The Dead To The Top Of The Pops.  And The Gurus wonder what surprises lay ahead in the Oscar race....

Best Picture
Best Supporting Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Surprise Nominations?

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The Hot Button
Munich: In Sequence
by David Poland

I've been looking for the best way to engage in a discussion about Munich. What I have found, as I discuss the film with others, is that people end up citing different scenes that have had an impact on them.

So what I decided to do, as a starting point, is to break the film out, sequence by sequence, which I have done for Act One, Act Two and Act Three. In the process of doing this, a lot of the detail work becomes clearer.

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It's Oscartown, Jake
What A Difference A Day Made
by Kristopher Tapley

Or two days, as it were.

Last week the four major guilds from the film industry announced their nominees (the writers, the directors, the producers and the actors). What we are left with are four films that hit the grand slam, including the Screen Actors Guild's Best Performance by an Ensemble, establishing in the minds of many a collectively "definitive" list of shoo-ins for the Oscar's Best Picture line-up.

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The Weekend Report
by Leonard Klady

The down and dirty Hostel went for the chills and iced the type of impressive first weekend numbers that more than suggest a second offering will be served. Produced for less than $5 million, it’s an instant profit generator even if the bills still have to be processed.

In the course of compiling the 2005 market share I was reminded of something that I had forgotten. There were no great surprises, though perhaps a small blip, that box office declined by 5.4% rather than 6% or 7% had the year end releases continued to underperform.
Weekend Estimates (Full List)
Top Worldwide Grosses - 2005
Domestic Market Share - 2005

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The Updated Scoreboard
31 new critics.. not a single move up or down in the top 16. Brokeback Mountain extends lead... all nine Best Picture candidates in Top 19

The Big Scoreboard Of Bad
Stealth exposed in the Worst Of Year Scoreboard.

The Top Twenty: Batman Flies Into The Top Twenty

The Scoreboard At A Glace
Critics Awards, Top Tens And The Gurus All In A Row

The Individual Lists
The List of Critics
The Worst
Critics Awards Scoreboard

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Digital Nation
The Consumer
Electronics Show
by Gary Dretzka

After eight years of spectacular growth, the sky-rocketing business of renting and selling DVD products has cooled its jets and made a soft-landing back on Earth. In its annual state-of-the-industry report, issued over hors d'oeuvres Thursday night in a Bellagio Hotel ballroom, the Digital Entertainment Group announced that consumer spending for DVDs was up merely 8 percent from last year’s numbers.

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Passive or Active Tense,
and Other Conundrums:
The Best Films of 2005
by Robert Koehler

Like so much else that thinks of itself as writing about film, the most misdirected stream of commentary in 2005 was devoted to the supposed collapse of the moviegoing audience, layered with various helpings of sturm und drang about where “they” have all gone. I was struck at not just how this trendy topic utterly missed the problem, but that missing the problem -- or failing to notice -- characterizes so much film writing and what passes for reviewing right now.

Updated throughout the day
Updated: 6:29 pm

A Film That Pisses Off Arabs

Remember That Guy Who Drove HIs Car Into Q's Pool Hall And Tried To Commit Suicide Who Wrote The Hitcher? Paul Cullum Sums Up The Story

"And Is The Akeelah Blend Smooth Or Harsh?"
If Only They Could Go Back In Time And Cross-Promote Freebie & The Bean

Casablanca, Groucho Marx, And The Warner Brothers
"Even if you plan on releasing your picture, I am sure that the average movie fan could learn in time to distinguish between Ingrid Bergman and Harpo."

The European Trailer For Gael Garcia Bernal And William Hurt In The King

Ray Pride Previews Sundance

The Reeler On The NY Jewish Film Fest And Phoenix & James Grey Reteam

USA Today Launches The O-Factor... Oscar Six Months A Year...Porn From April To September?

As Per Rumors, Former Lions Gater Hegeman Joins The New Rice Order

Anne Thompson On The Year In Leadership

Altman Gets The Honorary Oscar For A Career That Has Reinvented The Art Form

The ASC Nominations Are Here

Memoirs Of A Geisha Brutalized By Fox's MadTV

The Carpetbagger Goes Whole Blog On NBR Dinner With 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Entries
And - Kehr On Same

More Munich Trouble At BAFTA

The Iowa Critics Love Brokeback, Too

Mike Snider On The Ongoing Battle For High-Def DVD Supemacy

Sarris's Favorite Things... And 10 Movies That Others Like But Andrew Doesn't

Observing The Lack Of Female Box Office Stars

The People Have Spoken
The People's Choice Award Winners

Want To Be In A Movie, Little Girl?

Crashing The Image Awards

Another Day, Another Unknown Filmmaker Who May Find Success At A Festival

Rotten Tomatoes Golden Tomato Award Goes To Good Night, And Good Dog

Army Archerd Talks To Terrence Howard About Being Thurgood Marshall

E! Gives The Most Thorough Coverage Of Mr Blackwell's List

Patrick Grades Studios On The Goldstein Curve.. Reasserts Many Box Office Myths That The Media So Loves

Heath Ledger - "I heard a while ago that West Virginia was going to ban it. But that's a state that was lynching people only 25 years ago, so that's to be expected."
And Washington Post - "The last two reported lynchings occurred on Dec. 10, 1931, in Lewisburg, W.Va."

Corliss Gets Worked Up About Four 2005 Performances... 4 Supporting, 2 Leads

AMPAS Announces The Oscars For Scientific and Technical Achievements

The Very Ordinary Eric Bana

Nominations From The Online Film Critics

"No musical numbers. No, really. Seriously." And 14 Other Suggestions For Oscar

The BFCA Critics Choice Awards
Brokeback, Witherspoon, Hoffman, Crash
Scoreboard Update

Academy Sets Seven For Squeal Off For Sound Editing?

If You Can't Negotiate In The Press, What's The Point In Having A Press?
Lesher ParaMentals His Most Excellent Megan Colligan Hire For PC, Publicly Announcing The May '06 Hire In January, Hoping Peter Rice Will Blink, Cut Colligan Loose Early

Is Last Holiday Really Food Network: The Motion Picture

"I regard myself as a Chinese filmmaker. I just happen to be white. Or pink, actually."

Tonight In LA - The Critics Choice Awards, Live On The WB... Who Will Win? Who Will Show? Who Will Dennis Miller Insult?

We're Queens, Light's Green, Get Used To It

Indie Bubbles Over

The Reeler Goes To NYFCC Awards... Lots Of Rose Stemming All Around

Roger Ebert Takes on Scott Foundas Over Crash

It's Crash For The Chicago Film Critics
The Awards Lists So Far

Kong, Narnia, Potter & Star Wars Vie For The Visual Effects Awards

Making Wong Kar-Wai Look Good

Going To The Movies With Your Favorite Drill Instructor

Movies Featuring Fake Products For Sale

The Hard Life Of Stage Dogs

Terrorism + Democracy = Peru

Quiz: Do You Know Your Woody Allen?

St. Louis Gateway Critics Go For Brokeback .. And Wedding Crashers

Emanuel Levy Goes To Palm Springs, Sees Stars

MerMarr Reports That George Soros May Be The DreamWorks Library Buyer

All Joking Aside, A Key Win For Capote's Oscar Nomination Possibilities
The NSFC (Not The Nearly-Forgotten Society Of Film Critics... But Close This Year) Goes Capote, Hoffman, Witherspoon
But Why Is It That Capote Was Ranked So Low Or Not At All On So Many Of The Voters' Top Ten Lists?
And - Tom O'Neil Gets The Voting Details From The NSFC Exec Director
And -The Updated Scoreboard

Happy Musical News
As Confirmed By MCN Sources As Well, Tim Burton Back On Board Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, With Johnny Depp As The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street

Brokeback Curious
Screen Count Projection For BBM On Thursday At 483
Screen Count Actual On Friday Counted As 398 By Leonard Klady
Salt Lake City Theater De-Books BBM, Apparently, Mid-Week
Discuss The Box Office On The Blog

Joe Morgenstern Goes To The Pixar Exhibit

The Future Of TV On Demand

The Sunday Times
Pushing A Filmmaker With No Commercial (Or Sundance) Acceptance
Two Sons Of Francisco... Oscar Bait In America, Smash Hit In Brazil

Heath Ledger Finds Ennis Del Mar
"I wanted the light to be too bright for him and the world to be too loud."

The Professional Projectionist: A Dying Breed

Jim Emerson Rounds Up The Round-Ups Of The Round-Ups

Trouble For Bloodrayne Or Just Growing Pains For A New Distributor?