OSCAR FAVORITE THE ARTIST TRIUMPHS AT CESAR AWARDS

If ever there was a a foregone conclusion it was that Michel Hazanavicius’s The Artist would triumph at this year’s César awards, France’s equivalent of the Oscars. And it did, winning awards from the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma for best film, director, actress (Berenice Bejo), production design (Laurence Bennett), cinematography (Guillaume Schiffman), […]

AND THE NOMINEES ARE …

Several critics described Martin Scorsese’s Hugo as his valentine to the movie business. This morning the movie business sent Scorsese one in return in the form of 11 Oscar nominations, the most for any film of the past year, including best picture and best director. Hugo edged out the apparent favorite, The Artist, which had […]

THE ARTIST LEADS GOLDEN GLOBES NOMINATIONS

Who would ever have thought that a silent movie, in black and white, with no major stars and an unknown director would wind up with the most Golden Globes nominations this year? Well, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which has a long history of surprising nominations, announced early today (Thursday) that The Artist had indeed […]

NY FILM CRITICS CIRCLE NAMES THE ARTIST BEST PICTURE

The New York Film Critics Circle, the first major film group to announce its selections for best picture and performances each year, has given its top honor to The Artist, a black-and-white silent film. Its director, Michel Hazanavicius, was named best director. Meryl Streep received the best actress award for The Iron Lady, in which […]

VON TRIER, WHO JOKED ABOUT HITLER, IS HAILED IN BERLIN

Lars Von Trier, who was declared persona non grata by the Cannes Film Festival last May after joking about Hitler and the Nazis at a press conference, became the leading contender at the 24th European Film Awards over the weekend, when his end-of-the-world film Melancholia was nominated in eight of the competition’s nine categories. Five […]

THE TREE OF LIFE IS A GOLDEN PALM

Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life, starring Brad Pitt, was the controversial winner of the 64th Cannes Film Festival’ top prize, the Palme d’Or, on Sunday. Major critics attending the festival either hailed it or scorned it; few gave it merely so-so reviews. Malick, who shuns the spotlight himself and declined to participate in a […]