April 23, 2021
A handful of dead certs, say the Gurus, taking a nod from the last of the guilds voting.
April 16, 2021
The Gurus foresee Nomadland with The Trial of the Chicago 7 not far behind; each guru reveals Thee Little Wishes for wins that would make them grin.
March 5, 2021
Picking top two predictions in acting and directing categories, with the customary top ten for Best Picture and top fives for original and adapted screenplays.
February 25, 2021
It’s the Globes, right? The Gurus spike the drinks, if not the night in their predictions of what the HFPA minds are on.
February 18, 2021
Subtle waves of sentiment shift in the Gurus’ ears: some pictures drop off the charts, while predictions shift in both Best Picture and Best Director.
February 5, 2021
With nutty nominations from the Globes and hot-hot-heat from the SAG, a real race is shaping up.
January 27, 2021
Even as Sundance is a snowball’s throw from setting alight the fireplace of 2021’s release calendar, the Gurus o’ Gold take their first crack at sensing the shape of the extended, elongated, ever-lovin’ 2020 Oscars procession leading to the 93rd awards on April 25.
February 4, 2020
The Gurus call the shots at the close of voting, with a one-two punch of rankings. Pretty solid consensus in the expected categories, like acting, but there’s movement toward Parasite and 1917, after showers of love from the last of the guild awards. The Gurus also offer up their first looks at the three shorts category, with much agreement there as well.
January 28, 2020
Rankings tighten as the Gurus cite three most likely in each category. 1917’s upper lip stiffens after the weekend’s last guild votes. Klaus moves up from 5 to 2 in Animated Feature.
January 21, 2020
Consensus among the Gurus has arrived in eight top categories with some interesting re-ranking by individual Gurus; the biggest move is sentiment that 1917 could top Once Upon A Time … for Best Picture.
January 13, 2020
The Gurus size up the morning’s nominations (with short subjects to come). 1917 is catching fire, while earlier faith in certain performances weakens.
January 6, 2020
The Gurus’ take on Best Picture directly after the Globes: there’s movement in the top five or seven with just a little wiggle room. Plus! Personal favorite underdogs each of the Gurus wouldn’t mind hearing read out loud next Monday morning.
December 20, 2019
After the first Academy shortlists dropped into the water, the Gurus placed their rankings with care in the hopes that Saint Nomination would soon be here. There are subtle movements in all the categories, with rankings largely the same. The biggest absence, aside from love for Kathy Bates, is notice for Clint Eastwood’s latest annual awards latecomer.
December 10, 2019
Interesting little moves ae filtering through all the Gurus’ categories as the last contenders have rolled in and nominations and critics’ groups nods arrive. Reevaluation of actors’ roles is more active than shifts in the big picture contenders, but if these predictions hold through Oscar Sunday, it’s gonna be Netflix and kill.
December 2, 2019
Not much movement before the critics’ groups votes come in: The Irishman noodges just past Once…
November 26, 2019
The Gurus, At Your Service
November 19, 2019
Now The Gurus take on the four acting categories. Netflix represents about a third of the nominations. Two people of color slot in the Top 5s. A surprise in the Supporting Actress Five.
November 18, 2019
The season has started at least a dozen times by now. But today is the day that The Gurus are back. A first look at Best Picture today, with Best Actor & Best Actress coming tomorrow.
-30-
May 1, 2022
"Netflix, the great disrupter whose algorithms and direct-to-consumer platform have forced powerful media incumbents to rethink their economic models, now seems to need a big strategy change itself. It got me thinking about the simple idea that my film and TV production company Blumhouse is built on: If you give artists a lot of creative freedom and a little money upfront but a big stake in the movie’s or TV show’s commercial success, more often than not the result will be both commercial (the filmmakers are incentivized to make films that will resonate with audiences) and artistically interesting (creative freedom!). This approach has yielded movies as varied as Get Out (made for $4.5 million, with worldwide box office receipts of more than $250 million), Whiplash (made for $3.3 million, winner of three Academy Awards), The Invisible Man (made for $7 million, earned more than $140 million) and Paranormal Activity (made for $15,000, grossed more than $190 million).From the beginning, the most important strategy I used to persuade artists to work with me was to make radically transparent deals: We usually paid the artists (“participants” in Hollywood lingo) the absolute minimum allowable by union contracts upfront, with the promise of healthy bonuses based on actual box office results—instead of the opaque 'percentage points' that artists are usually offered. Anyone can see box office results immediately, so creators don’t quarrel with the payouts. In fact, when it comes time for an artist to collect a bonus based on box office receipts, I email a video clip of myself dropping the check off at FedEx to the recipient."
Jason Blum Sees Room For "Scrappier" Netflix
| April 30, 2022
"As a critic Gavin was entertaining, wry, questioning, sensitive, perceptive"
Critic-Filmmaker Gavin Millar Was 84; Films Include Cream In My Coffee, Dreamchild
April 29, 2022
| January 24, 2022
DP/30 Audio: Bombshell, Jay Roach
| December 13, 2019
DP/30 Audio: The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Jonathan Majors
| December 4, 2019
DP/30 Audio: The Mustang, Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre
| December 4, 2019