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Executive producers Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg have reunited for a third historical mini-series, this time taking to the skies with Apple TV+’s “Masters of the Air.” The series follows the members of the 100th Bomb Group, a Boeing B-17 heavy bomber unit that operated in the Air Force during WWII. This isn’t Hanks and Spielberg’s first war-time series, however. They previously executive produced “The Pacific,” which charted the US Marine Corps’ actions in the Pacific Theater of Operations. Before that, they created “Band of Brothers,” which dramatized the story of the Easy Company of the US Army, who went on a mission in Europe during WWII.

“Masters of the Air” looks to be a major Emmys player this year, particularly as it stars popular actors Callum Turner, Austin Butler, and Barry Keoghan. However, before we look ahead at that series’ Emmy potential, lets look back at...

It's been 22 years since "Band of Brothers" captivated television audiences with its gripping 10-episode tale of a United States paratrooper company's daring, civilization-saving exploits in the European Theater of World War II. And according to its placement on Netflix's top charts, it is as relevant and watchable as ever.

Whether the streamer's subscribers are revisiting the classic miniseries or discovering it for the first time, it's encouraging to know that people are still moved by the heroism of the young soldiers who put their lives on the line to turn back Adolf Hitler's genocidal grab for world domination -- especially as we watch the American Republican party and the country's law enforcement get overrun by the types of white supremacists who contributed to the rise of the Third Reich. We live in perilous times, so it's important to remember how many brave individuals fought and died to eliminate...

Exclusive: Here’s a hot Afm package. I can reveal that Christoph Waltz and Lily Collins will star with Bill Skarsgard in Gilded Rage, a dramatic thriller about the real-life murder of a Manhattan hedge fund manager.

Charlie McDowell is directing. Xyz Films is financing and producing the film with Riva Marker and Jake Gyllenhaal under their banner Nine Stories, Jeremy Steckler, and Conde Nast Entertainment, with Hunter Ryan and David Ryan exec producing.

Xyz is also handling world sales and co-repping domestic with ICM Partners and Endeavor Content. The project will be introduced to buyers at next week’s American Film Market. Shoot is set for spring 2020.

The script was written by McDowell and Justin Lader based on the Vanity Fair article Gilded Rage by Benjamin Wallace that was published in 2015. E. Max Frye penned a previous draft. Story is inspired by events...

Caleb Carr’s first in his Kreizler series of novels, “The Alienist,” introduces a rich world of turn-of-the-century crime-solving. Set in 1896 on the cusp of the introduction of forensic science and psychology in investigations, the story focuses on one man’s perspective of the job in the historic New York City setting. But when Hossein Amini and E. Max Frye worked on adapting the story into a 10-episode limited series for TNT, they knew immediately they had to expand the points of view.

“One of the things that I always loved about the book was the combination of an incredibly dark world with violence and murder and corruption but with almost incredibly innocent characters at the heart of it,” Amini says. “We felt keeping the balance of those tones was important, but it leans on character a bit more than the procedural.”

Traveling Back to the Turn of a Century...

The 10-episode mystery series “The Alienist” concludes on March 26. Will it be remembered by the Emmys when the TV academy votes this summer? Our readers hope so. More than half of the respondents in our recent poll (53%) think the TNT limited series deserves to win across the board. Do you agree? Scroll down to the bottom of this post for our complete poll results.

“The Alienist” is based on the 1994 novel by Caleb Carr and follows the title character, Dr. Laszlo Kreizler (Daniel Bruhl), a psychologist in late-19th century New York City pioneering the field of criminal profiling. Along with an NYPD secretary (Dakota Fanning) and a newspaper illustrator (Luke Evans), he investigates a serial killer targeting poor street children. The series’s executive producers include Emmy winner Cary Joji Fukunaga (“True Detective“), Oscar winner Eric Roth (“Forrest Gump”) and Oscar nominees Hossein Amini (“The Wings of the Dove...

TNT’s “The Alienist” follows the investigation into a series of grisly murders that haunt a team of investigators. In that sense it’s not unlike HBO’s anthology “True Detective.” The first season of that drama won 5 Emmys out of 12 nominations in 2014, including one for Cary Joji Fukunaga‘s direction. Now Fukunaga is an executive producer and writer for “The Alienist,” so will he return to the Emmy race? If so he’ll be migrating to new categories: his season of “True Detective” was entered as a drama at the Emmys, but “The Alienist” is expected to compete as a limited series.

Apart from Fukunaga’s participation and similarities in tone, “The Alienist” is a quite different series, but it might appeal to many of the same television academy members who voted for “True Detective” or other crime series like “Boardwalk Empire” and “The Night Of.” Where season one...

Stars: Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith, Ray Liotta, Dana Preu, Margaret Colin | Written by E. Max Frye | Directed by Jonathan Demme

Jonathan Demme was one of the great names of cinema lost in the terrible artistic purge of 2017. His last film of note might have been the forgettable Ricki and the Flash, but there was a period, between 1986’s Something Wild and Philadelphia in 1993 – via no less than Silence of the Lambs – when the director could do no wrong.

Something Wild begins with New York businessman Charlie Driggs (Jeff Daniels) making a mildly rebellious decision: he chooses to not pay for his restaurant meal. A beautiful stranger, Audrey (Melanie Griffith), calls him out. They argue. They connect. She invites (or possibly kidnaps) him to join her on a crazy road trip, heading south with no destination but the next motel, causing moderate chaos along the way. They’re not quite Bonnie and Clyde,...

Each month, the fine folks at FilmStruck and the Criterion Collection spend countless hours crafting their channels to highlight the many different types of films that they have in their streaming library. This August will feature an exciting assortment of films, as noted below.

To sign up for a free two-week trial here.

Tuesday, August 1

Tuesday’s Short + Feature: These Boots and Mystery Train

Music is at the heart of this program, which pairs a zany music video by Finnish master Aki Kaurismäki with a tune-filled career highlight from American independent-film pioneer Jim Jarmusch. In the 1993 These Boots, Kaurismäki’s band of pompadoured “Finnish Elvis” rockers, the Leningrad Cowboys, cover a Nancy Sinatra classic in their signature deadpan style. It’s the perfect prelude to Jarmusch’s 1989 Mystery Train, a homage to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll and the musical legacy of Memphis, featuring appearances by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and Joe Strummer.

Motion Picture talent agent Dana Harris has movedto CAA from Wme, where she has worked for the past six years and was an agent for the past three. During her stint at her previous agency, she worked with writer E. Max Frye who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original screenplay for Foxcatcher (along with Dan Futterman) and was an Emmy-nominated writer for Band of Brothers. She also worked with Craig Shilowich who was nominated by the Independent Spirit Awards…...

Simon Brew Jan 24, 2017

James Moran, of Doctor Who, Cockneys Vs Zombies and Tower Block fame, chats to us about writers, and whether they're getting a raw deal...

James Moran is a screenwriter, and has been since he was able to quit his full time job, once he sold his first movie script, Severance. He wrote Severance across many, many evenings, and off the back of its success, he's since penned movies (Cockneys Vs Zombies, Tower Block) and TV (Doctor Who, Torchwood: Children Of Earth) as well as moving into directing.

He's a writer working at a point where screenwriting continues to get scant regard in some quarters. Read reviews of a movie, and how often is the writer mentioned? When a press junket comes along for a big production, it's the stars and director that tend to get wheeled out, but what about the person who wrote the words on the page?...

Pacific Rim 2

Guillermo del Toro's "Pacific Rim" sequel is reportedly going by either the code name or subtitle of "Maelstrom," and is currently tipped for a start of filming date in November in Toronto. Charlie Hunnam, Charlie Day, and Burn Gorman are expected to be back in the movie which picks up a few years after the events of the first. [Source: Bmd]

The Alienist

"The Alienist" author Caleb Carr is joining TNT's television adaptation of his best-selling novel as a consulting producer. Pilot and series writer Hossein Amini will serve as consulting producers on the episodes they pen. Gina Gionfriddo, E. Max Frye and John Sayles have also joined the project as writers.

Set in Gilded Age New York, the story follows Dr. Laszlo Kreizler who - with the help of newspaper reporter John Moore and police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt - uses the emerging discipline of psychology to track...

Academy invitee Eddie Redmayne in 'The Theory of Everything.' Academy invites 322 new members: 'More diverse and inclusive list of filmmakers and artists than ever before' The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has offered membership to 322 individuals "who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures." According to the Academy's press release, "those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy's membership in 2015." In case all 322 potential new members say an enthusiastic Yes, that means an injection of new blood representing about 5 percent of the Academy's current membership. In the words of Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs (as quoted in the press release), in 2015 "our branches have recognized a more diverse and inclusive list of filmmakers and artists than ever before, and we look forward to adding their creativity, ideas and experience to our organization." In recent years, the Academy membership has...

©Renzo Piano Building Workshop/©Studio Pali Fekete architects/©A.M.P.A.S.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this week that the Los Angeles City Council, in a unanimous vote, approved plans for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Construction will begin this summer, and ceremonial groundbreaking festivities will occur this fall.

“I am thrilled that Los Angeles is gaining another architectural and cultural icon,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti. “My office of economic development has worked directly with the museum’s development team to ensure that the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will create jobs, support tourism, and pay homage to the industry that helped define our identity as the creative capital of the world.”

“We are grateful to our incredible community of supporters who have helped make this museum a reality,” said Dawn Hudson, the Academy’s CEO. “Building this museum has been an Academy...

Strangely dropping a press release on a historic day where the nation's attention is elsewhere, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed their annual list of new member invitees this morning. For those who criticize the makeup of the Academy there was some good news and the stark realization the organization still has a long way to go. The Academy has spent the last eight to 10 years attempting to diversify its membership and this year's class mostly reflects that. There are significantly more invitees of Asian and African-American descent, but the male to female disparity is still depressing. Out of the 25 potential new members of the Actor's Branch only seven are women. And, no, there isn't really an acceptable way for the Academy to spin that sad fact. Additionally, It's important to realize the 322 people noted in the release have only been invited to join Hollywood's most exclusive club.

Exclusive: Boy, is it a good time to be out there selling material with A-list elements. 20th Century Fox has closed a deal on A Shot In The Eye, a spec script by Dan Futterman. He is the actor-writer who scripted Capote and with E. Max Frye scripted Foxcatcher – and was Oscar nominated for both. The spec is a science fiction action movie in a dystopian setting, but they’re keeping the exact logline under wraps. The film will be produced by Matt Reeves, under his Sixth…...

Take another look @ the complete 'Oscar' nominations list for the 87th Annual Academy Awards, to be presented February 22, 2015 :

Best Picture

"American Sniper"

"Birdman"

"Boyhood"

"The Grand Budapest Hotel"

"The Imitation Game"

"Selma"

"The Theory of Everything"

"Whiplash"

Best Actor

Steve Carell, "Foxcatcher"

Bradley Cooper, "American Sniper"

Benedict Cumberbatch, "The Imitation Game"

Michael Keaton, "Birdman"

Eddie Redmayne, "The Theory of Everything"

Best Actress

Marion Cotillard, "Two Days, One Night"

Felicity Jones, "The Theory of Everything"

Julianne Moore, "Still Alice"

Rosamund Pike, "Gone Girl"

Reese Witherspoon, "Wild"

Best Supporting Actor

Robert Duvall, "The Judge"

Ethan Hawke, "Boyhood"

Edward Norton, "Birdman"

Mark Ruffalo, "Foxcatcher"

J.K. Simmons, "Whiplash"

Best Supporting Actress

Patricia Arquette, "Boyhood"

Laura Dern, "Wild"

Keira Knightley, "The Imitation Game"

Emma Stone, "Birdman"

Meryl Streep, "Into the Woods"

Best Director

Alejandro González Iñárritu, “Birdman”

Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”

Bennett Miller, “Foxcatcher”

Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”

Morten Tyldum, “The Imitation Game...

It was another incredible night at the Academy Awards, as Neil Patrick Harris hosted the 87th running of the awards season pinnacle on Sunday (February 22).

Big wins went to J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) and Patricia Arquette (Boyhood) in the Supporting Actors categories, while Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) and Julianne Moore (Still Alice) took home the golden statues for their work as Leading Actors.

Meanwhile, the night's top prize of Best Picture went to the cast and crew of "Birdman," with the Michael Keaton and Emma Stone starring film also garnering Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography honors.

The star-studded Dolby Theatre held celebration also featured an entertaining lineup of musical performances by Adam Levine, Tim McGraw, Rita Ora, Jennifer Hudson, Lady Gaga and John Legend with Common.

Check out the full list of 2015 Academy Award winners below along with all of the pictures from this year's show!

The 2015 Oscars are in the books and it was Birdman taking home four awards including the coveted Best Picture along with a Best Director win for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu as well as an Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography (Emmanuel Lubezki) win. But Birdman wasn't the only film to take home four Oscars as The Grand Budapest Hotel had a small bit of domination in the below-the-line categories winning for Production Design, Costumes, Makeup & Hairstyling and Original Score (Alexandre Desplat). The only other multiple award winner was Whiplash, which took home Best Supporting Actor (J.K. Simmons), Best Film Editing and Sound Mixing. Otherwise, it was singles across the board and while there were a few interesting wins below the line, the top awards went pretty much by the books. Patricia Arquette took home Boyhood's only Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) won Best Actor over...

The Oscars took place on Sunday with "Birdman" ending up being the big winner of the night with a total of four awards for best picture, best director, best original screenplay and best cinematography. "The Grand Budapest Hotel" also won four awards, but for achievement in the technical departments. "Whiplash" won three, including Jk Simmons for best supporting actor. Meanwhile, Eddie Redmayne won the best actor award for "The Theory of Everything" and Julianne Moore won the best actress award for "Still Alice." Check out the full list of nominees and winners (marked in red) below. And let us know if you think the academy got it right. Best Picture: * Birdman * American Sniper * Boyhood * The Grand Budapest Hotel * The Imitation Game * Selma * The Theory of Everything * Whiplash Lead Actress: * Julianne Moore - Still Alice * Marion Cotillard - Two Days, One Night * Felicity Jones - The Theory of Everything * Rosamund Pike...

The Oscars are over and so here is the full list of winners from The 87th Oscars.

Best Supporting Actor

Robert Duvall – The Judge

Ethan Hawke – Boyhood

Edward Norton – Birdman

Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher

J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

Costume Design

Milena Canonero – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Mark Bridges – Inherent Vice

Colleen Atwood – Into The Woods

Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive – Maleficent

Jacqueline Durran – Mr. Turner

Makeup and Hairstyling

Foxcatcher – Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard

The Grand Budapest Hotel – Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier

Guardians Of The Galaxy – Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White

Foreign Language Film

Ida – Poland; Directed by Pawel Pawlikowski

Leviathan – Russia; Directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev

Tangerines – Estonia; Directed by Zaza Urushadze

Timbuktu – Mauritania; Directed by Abderrahmane Sissako

Wild Tales – Argentina; Directed by Damián Szifron

Short Film (Live Action)

Aya – Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis

Boogaloo And Graham – Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney

Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak...

Oscar 2015 winners (photo: Chris Pratt during Oscar 2015 rehearsals) The complete list of Oscar 2015 winners and nominees can be found below. See also: Oscar 2015 presenters and performers. Now, a little Oscar 2015 trivia. If you know a bit about the history of the Academy Awards, you'll have noticed several little curiosities about this year's nominations. For instance, there are quite a few first-time nominees in the acting and directing categories. In fact, nine of the nominated actors and three of the nominated directors are Oscar newcomers. Here's the list in the acting categories: Eddie Redmayne. Michael Keaton. Steve Carell. Benedict Cumberbatch. Felicity Jones. Rosamund Pike. J.K. Simmons. Emma Stone. Patricia Arquette. The three directors are: Morten Tyldum. Richard Linklater. Wes Anderson. Oscar 2015 comebacks Oscar 2015 also marks the Academy Awards' "comeback" of several performers and directors last nominated years ago. Marion Cotillard and Reese Witherspoon won Best Actress Oscars for, respectively, Olivier Dahan...

And the Independent Spirit Awards have revealed the winners and it's looking a lot like the Academy Awards! "Birdman" beat "Boyhood" for the Best Feature trophy but Richard Linklater took away the Best Director award from Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu.

Is this a sign of what's going to happen at the Oscars tonight?

Stay tuned...

2015 Film Independent Spirit Award Winners (Highlighted) And Nominees

Best Feature

(Award given to the Producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)

Winner: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Producers: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole

Boyhood

Producers: Richard Linklater, Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss, Cathleen Sutherland

Love is Strange

Producers: Lucas Joaquin, Lars Knudsen, Ira Sachs, Jayne Baron Sherman, Jay Van Hoy

Selma

Producers: Christian Colson, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Oprah Winfrey

Whiplash

Producers: Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook, David Lancaster, Michael Litvak

Best Director

Winner: Richard Linklater

Boyhood

Damien Chazelle

Whiplash

Ava DuVernay...

The 2015 Academy Awards have (finally) arrived, and we can't wait to see what happens.

With huge international stars, like Julianne Moore, Reese Witherspoon, Meryl Streep, Eddie Redmayne, and Michael Keaton up for Oscars, and some big movies, like "Boyhood," "Whiplash," "The Imitation Game," "Birdman," and "American Sniper," vying for the top prize, this year's ceremony is as competitive as ever.

Throughout the night, we'll be watching and updating the list below, so come back to see who won (and who didn't) as Hollywood's best and brightest take home the awards.

Best Picture

"Birdman" - Winner

"Boyhood"

"American Sniper"

"The Grand Budapest Hotel"

"The Imitation Game"

"Selma"

"The Theory of Everything"

"Whiplash"

Best Actress

Julianne Moore, "Still Alice" - Winner

Marion Cotillard, "Two Days, One Night"

Felicity Jones, "The Theory of Everything"

Rosamund Pike, "Gone Girl"

Reese Witherspoon, "Wild"

Best Actor

Eddie Redmayne, "The Theory of Everything" - Winner

Steve Carell,...

Film Independent, the nonprofit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards, Los Angeles Film Festival and Film Independent at Lacma, handed out top honors to Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Boyhood, Whiplash and Nightcrawler at Saturday’s 30th Film Independent Spirit Awards. Still Alice, Dear White People, Ida, Land Ho! and Citizenfour also received awards at the ceremony, which was held in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica.

This year’s major category winners were Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance); which won Best Feature, Best Male Lead and Best Cinematography, Boyhood; which won Best Director and Best Supporting Female, Nightcrawler; which won Best First Feature and Best Screenplay and Whiplash; which won Best Supporting Male and Best Editing; Still Alice, which won Best Female Lead; Dear White People, which won Best First Screenplay; Land Ho!, which won the John Cassavetes Award; Ida, which won Best International Film and Citizenfour,...

Just one night before the Oscars take over town, stars flocked to the 2015 Film Independent Spirit Awards on the Santa Monica Beach on Saturday (February 21).

Fred Armisen and Kristen Bell joined forces for co-hosting duties and put on a fabulous show as actors and actresses including Scarlett Johansson, Ethan Hawke, Jessica Chastain, Cate Blanchett, Jared Leto and Emma Stone turned up to lend their star power to the IFC airing ceremony.

As for this year's cream of the crop, Michael Keaton (Birdman), Julianne Moore (Still Alice), J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) and Patricia Arquette (Boyhood) took home top honors in the lead and supporting acting categories.

Meanwhile, in what very well may be an indicator for what's to come tomorrow at the Academy Awards, "Birdman" was recognized as Best Feature while Richard Linklater nabbed Best Director accolades for "Boyhood".

Check out the full list of winners from the 2015 Spirit Awards below!

Best...

The 2015 Spirit Awards were handed out today and it was Birdman taking Best Feature and Best Actor (Michael Keaton) while Boyhood went home a double winner taking Best Director (Richard Linklater) and Best Supporting Actress (Patricia Arquette). However, while that's the result for the two big guns that will be going head-to-head at tomorrow night's Oscars, Nightcrawler was also a double winner taking Best Screenplay and Best First Feature, both awarded to writer/director Dan Gilroy. Otherwise, no big surprises with Julianne Moore (Still Alice) taking Best Actress and J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) taking Supporting Actor, Citizenfour took Best Documentary and Birdman scored a third win for Emmanuel Lubezki for Best Cinematography. Justin Simien (Dear White People) took home Best First Screenplay and, whoa!, Look!, Whiplash was also a double winner, with Tom Cross winning for Best Editing (well deserved!) and anticipated Oscar winner in the same category, Ida won Best Foreign Language Film.

The 30th Independent Spirit Awards was held in Santa Monica Saturday afternoon, and "Birdman" and "Boyhood" were the ceremony's big winners. Hosted by Kristen Bell and Fred Armisen, the more casual Oscar precursor honored the best in independent filmmaking from the past year. Only three films -- "12 Years a Slave," "Platoon," and "The Artist" -- have won best feature at the Spirits and gone on to nab the Best Picture Oscar. Time will tell if this year's Spirit winner will follow in their footsteps. Get a complete list of the nominees with the winners in bold, below:

Best Feature

"Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)" - Winner

"Boyhood"

"Love is Strange"

"Selma"

"Whiplash"

Best Director

Richard Linklater, "Boyhood" - Winner

Damien Chazelle, "Whiplash"

Ava DuVernay, "Selma"

Alejandro G. Iñárritu, "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)"

David Zellner, "Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter"

Best Screenplay

Dan Gilroy, "Nightcrawler" - Winner

Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski,...

The Nominations: Best Original Screenplay

“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo

“Boyhood” Written by Richard Linklater

“Foxcatcher” Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman

“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness

“Nightcrawler” Written by Dan Gilroy

Shoulda Been a Contender: Ruben Ostlund for “Force Majeure”

Sure, it’s certainly not in English, but Ostlund’s superbly written Force Majeure would have been more than welcome here (sadly, he was locked out of the more realistic aim for subtitled films in the Best Foreign Language category).

Should Win: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo for “Birdman”

Hands down, this belongs to the Birdman team.

Could Win: E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman for “Foxcatcher”

Futterman was last nominated as screenwriter for Miller’s Capote, and with...

When the first Academy Awards were handed out on May 16, 1929, at an Academy banquet in the Blossom Room of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, movies had just begun to talk. The attendance was 270 and guest tickets cost $5. It was a long banquet, filled with speeches, but presentation of the statuettes was handled expeditiously by Academy President Douglas Fairbanks.

The suspense that now touches most of the world at Oscar time was not always a characteristic of the Awards presentation. That first year, the award recipients were announced to the public three months ahead of the ceremony.

Today, Oscar pundits and fans alike avidly watch the precursor and guild awards to ultimately make their predictions in the 24 categories. Academy members have cast their ballots, so now it’s our turn for our Oscar picks.

Need some help in that office Oscar pool or at the party you’re throwing at home? Wamg is here to help.

In an awards season dominated by Boyhood and Birdman, the Writers Guild of America on Saturday honoured two different choices with their top film awards: The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Imitation Game. Awards were presented in simultaneous ceremonies in New York and Los Angeles.

In the original screenplay category, Richard Linklater's Boyhood lost out to Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinnessfor their darkly whimsical, candy-coloured fable The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Other nominees in the category included Whiplash, written by director Damien Chazelle, Nightcrawler, written by director Dan Gilroy, and Foxcatcher, written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman.

Anderson and Guinness recently picked up the BAFTA for best screenplay as well and are considered favourites to win the Academy Award.

Birdman was not eligible for the WGA award, but it will be competing with Grand Budapest in the original screenplay category for the Oscar on Feb. 22.

In the adapted screenplay category,...

Indiewire will provide updates of our predictions for the 87th Academy Awards through February 22nd, when the winners are announced. "Birdman" and "Boyhood" might be battling it out for Best Picture, but they are in a genuine three-way race here, with Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness' script for "The Grand Budapest Hotel" pulling ahead with its recent BAFTA win. Any of the three screenplays could win, but something tells us this will end up going to "Budapest." Our prediction below. Check out our predictions in other categories here. The Nominees: "Birdman," Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo "Boyhood," Richard Linklater "Foxcatcher," E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman "The Grand Budapest Hotel," Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness "Nightcrawler," Dan Gilroy Will Win: "The Grand Budapest...

Screenwriters never have it easy, do they? They often complain they are seen as second class citizens to the director. Actors often get credit for improvising a line they wrote and, worse, producers will often play games with the media, insisting they came up with a key storyline or the entire project themselves. Things get even more complicated with the sometimes unfair arbitration rules that often find the wrong writer getting final credit for a project (often because of a contract he or she signed). Frankly, all of this adversity might be one reason why winning an Academy Award means so much to a working Hollywood screenwriter.   This year's crop of Original Screenplay nominees are all worthy of taking home Oscar on their previous merits. Without a true "first-timer" in the group*, it goes without saying whoever wins this year might find the spoils that much sweeter. "Boyhood's" Richard Linklater...

Wes Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel" won the Original Screenplay honor at the recently concluded Writers Guild Awards while Morten Tyldum's "The Imitation Game" took home the Adapted Screenplay trophy. "The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swarts" written by Brian Knappenberger won Documentary Screenplay award. The film is not nominated for an Academy award.

In TV land, HBO's "True Detective" won the Drama Series award and FX's "Louie" received the Comedy Series trophy.

Here's the complete list of winners (highlighted) and nominees of the 2015 Writers Guild Awards:

Feature Film

Original Screenplay

Boyhood, Written by Richard Linklater; IFC Films

Foxcatcher, Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman; Sony Pictures Classics

The Grand Budapest Hotel, Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness; Fox Searchlight Winner

Nightcrawler, Written by Dan Gilroy; Open Road Films

Whiplash, Written by Damien Chazelle; Sony Pictures Classics

Adapted Screenplay

American Sniper,...

With just one week to go until the 87th Academy Awards, the Writers Guild of America has chimed in with the winners of the 2015 WGA Awards. Last year, the top honors in film resulted in Her and Captain Phillips taking home the original and adapted screenplay awards with Stories We Tell taking home the documentary screenplay honors. Last night, it was Wes Anderson winning Best Original Screenplay for the caper The Grand Budapest Hotel and Graham Moore for Best Adapted Screenplay for his work on The Imitation Game, the real-life story of code cracker Alan Turing, based on Alan Turing: The Enigma. Anderson beat out fellow original screenplay nominees like Richard Linklater for Boyhood, E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman for Foxcatcher, Dan Gilroy for Nightcrawler and Damien Chazelle for Whiplash. Don't forget that the latter film in this category is considered an original screenplay by the WGA even though...

The Writers Guild of America announced the winners of the 2015 Writers Guild Awards for outstanding achievement in writing for film, television, new media, videogames, news, radio, promotional, and graphic animation categories.

This is one of the final guilds to announce prior to the close of Oscar voting on Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 5pm pst.

Original Screenplay went to The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness; Fox Searchlight

Adapted screenplay was awarded to The Imitation Game.

Written by Graham Moore; Based on the book Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges; The Weinstein Company

Documentary Screenplay:

The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz, Written by Brian Knappenberger; FilmBuff.

Here’s how the Oscar nominations lineup:

Adapted screenplay

“American Sniper” Written by Jason Hall “The Imitation Game” Written by Graham Moore WGA winner “Inherent Vice” Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson...

The 67th annual edition of the Writers Guild of America awardsfest will be held simultaneously in La and Gotham on Saturday (Feb. 14). Because these kudos only consider screenplays written under the guild's guidelines or those of several international partners, two of the Oscar contenders were ineligible: the original script for "Birdman" and the adaptation of "The Theory of Everything." -Break- The  WGA nominees for Best Original Screenplay are: "Boyhood" Written by Richard Linklater "Foxcatcher" Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman "The Grand Budapest Hotel" Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness;  "Nightcrawler" Written by Dan Gilroy "Whiplash" Written by Damien Chazelle "Whiplash" was bumped to adapted screenplay by the Oscars because it is based, in part, on a short film that w...'...

Here are the nominations for the 87th Academy Awards. I found there to be a couple of surprises this morning such as The Lego Movie not getting a nomination for Best Animated Feature category. Also, the Best Picture category has just 8 titles, this is the first time the category has had less than 9 nominees since its expansion a few years ago; Gone Girl couldn’t have fit in there? I was also surprised to see Jake Gyllenhaal left out of the Best Actor list for his work in Nightcrawler.

The much deserved Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel lead the pack with 9 nominations each, followed by The Imitation Game which landed 8. My favorite movie of the year, Boyhood, came away with 6 nominations.

The Oscars will be air live on ABC Sunday, February 22nd.

Best Picture

“Birdman”

“Boyhood”

“Selma”

“The Theory of Everything”

“The Imitation Game”

“The Grand Budapest Hotel”

“American Sniper...

Chicago – In an unprecedented oversight, especially for the film community in Chicago, film critic Roger Ebert’s biography “Life Itself” was snubbed for Best Documentary as the nominations were announced on Jan. 15, 2015 for the 87th Academy Awards. The films “Birdman” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel” tied for most Oscar nominations with nine.

Michael Keaton in ‘Birdman,’ Which Received Nine Oscar Nominations

Photo credit: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Both “Birdman” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel” were nominated for Best Picture along with “Selma,” “Boyhood,” “American Sniper,” “The Imitation Game,” “The Theory of Everything” and “Whiplash”. The full list of the nominations is below.

Best Picture

“American Sniper”

“Birdman”

“Boyhood”

“The Grand Budapest Hotel”

“The Imitation Game”

“Selma”

“The Theory of Everything” ”Whiplash”

Best Director

Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”

Alejandro González Iñárritu, “Birdman”

Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”

Bennett Miller, “Foxcatcher”

Morten Tyldum, “The Imitation Game”

Best Actress

Marion Cotillard, “Two Days, One Night”

Felicity Jones,...

Earlier today, January 15th, the full list of nominees for the 2015, 87th Annual Academy Awards (The Oscars) were finally revealed and it turns out that "Birdman" and "The Grand Budapest Hotel" led the pack with a whopping nine Oscar nominations each. "The Imitation Game" trailed right behind them with 8 nominations. With no further ado, here is the full, complete list of the 2015 Oscar nominees: For Best Picture: "American Sniper," "Birdman," "Boyhood," "The Grand Budapest Hotel," "The Imitation Game," "Selma," "The Theory of Everything" and "Whiplash." For Best Director: Wes Anderson, "The Grand Budapest Hotel," Alejandro González Iñárritu, "Birdman," Richard Linklater, "Boyhood," Bennett Miller, "Foxcatcher," and Morten Tyldum, "The Imitation Game." For Best Actress: Marion Cotillard, "Two Days, One Night," Felicity Jones, "The Theory of Everything," Julianne Moore, "Still Alice," Rosamund Pike, "Gone Girl," and Reese Witherspoon, "Wild." For Best Actor: Steve Carell, "Foxcatcher," Bradley Cooper, "American Sniper," Benedict Cumberbatch, "The Imitation Game,...

wikipedia

(Spoilers from the start and throughout)

Foxcatcher has opened in cinemas to a rapture of critical acclaim. The story is centred around John DuPont and his eccentric involvement in funding Olympic wrestlers Mark Schultz and Dave Schultz. Despite this being a true story, with several historically accurate scenes, the director Bennet Miller and his team have taken several liberties with the truth. The story, written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman, is very much a work of fiction that incorporates aspects of the real John du Pont / Dave Schultz controversy.

Despite problems with the story, it is still very much a satisfying film. Critics have praised the acting performances of Steve Carrell, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo. It’s an emotionally engrossing film that will please fans who enjoy highbrow movies.

From a more sports orientated point of view, this film is also very satisfying. The wrestling scenes...

Just this morning, the nominations for the 87th annual Academy Awards were announced. You now have the opportunity to read (almost) all of the nominated original and adapted screenplays legally and for free (click on the links below to view and download): Writing – Adapted Screenplay Jason Hall, "American Sniper" Graham Moore, "The Imitation Game" Paul Thomas Anderson, "Inherent Vice" Anthony McCarten, "The Theory of Everything" Damien Chazelle, "Whiplash" Writing – Original Screenplay Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo, "Birdman" Richard Linklater, "Boyhood" E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman, "Foxcatcher" Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness, "The Grand Budapest Hotel" Dan Gilroy, "Nightcrawler" Though the studios make these scripts available for awards consideration, for aspiring screenwriters, these scripts...

It’s going to be another fabulous year at the Oscars, and this morning (January 15) the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled their nominees for the 87th Academy Awards.

All in all, there were no real surprises, with Steve Carell, Bradley Cooper, Eddie Redmayne, Michael Keaton and Benedict Cumberbatch all scoring nods for Best Actor. And predictably the Best Actress hopefuls include Felicity Jones, Reese Witherspoon, Rosamund Pike, Marion Cotillard and Julianne Moore (however, Jennifer Aniston missed out!).

As far as the Best Picture nominees, “Whiplash,” “The Theory of Everything,” “Selma,” “The Imitation Game,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “Boyhood,” “Birdman,” and “American Sniper” are all in the running. The 87th Academy Awards will go live on February 22nd. And the nominees are…

Best Picture

Boyhood

The Imitation Game

Birdman

The Theory of Everything

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Whiplash

Selma

American Sniper

Best Actress

Julianne Moore, Still Alice

Reese Witherspoon,...

Good Morning Oscar fans! Today is nomination day!

Wamg was in the thick of nomination morning fever at the home of the Oscars – the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

Prior to the announcement, A.M.P.A.S. and the show’s producing team, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, gave the press assembled in the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre a first look at the new Oscar promo featuring host Neil Patrick Harris, titled “Anything Can Happen,” and given what went down this morning, that’s certainly the case.

Let’s get right to the big shockers – No Lego Movie for Best Animated Feature or Life Itself in Best Documentary Feature.

Also missing among the presumed nominees were Ava DuVernay (Selma, directing), Clint Eastwood (American Sniper, directing), Jennifer Aniston (Cake, best actress), David Oyelowo (Selma, best actor), Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler, best actor), Ralph Fiennes (The Grand Budapest Hotel, best actor), Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl,...

Sneak Peek the full 'Oscar' nominations list for the 87th Annual Academy Awards, announced January 15, 2015 by "Star Trek" actor Chris Pine, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" director J.J. Abrams, and Oscar-winning "Gravity" director Alfonso Cuarón. The awards will be presented February 22, 2015 :

Best Picture

"American Sniper"

"Birdman"

"Boyhood"

"The Grand Budapest Hotel"

"The Imitation Game"

"Selma"

"The Theory of Everything"

"Whiplash"

Best Actor

Steve Carell, "Foxcatcher"

Bradley Cooper, "American Sniper"

Benedict Cumberbatch, "The Imitation Game"

Michael Keaton, "Birdman"

Eddie Redmayne, "The Theory of Everything"

Best Actress

Marion Cotillard, "Two Days, One Night"

Felicity Jones, "The Theory of Everything"

Julianne Moore, "Still Alice"

Rosamund Pike, "Gone Girl"

Reese Witherspoon, "Wild"

Best Supporting Actor

Robert Duvall, "The Judge"

Ethan Hawke, "Boyhood"

Edward Norton, "Birdman"

Mark Ruffalo, "Foxcatcher"

J.K. Simmons, "Whiplash"

Best Supporting Actress

Patricia Arquette, "Boyhood"

Laura Dern, "Wild"

Keira Knightley, "The Imitation Game"

Emma Stone, "Birdman"

Meryl Streep, "Into the Woods"

Best Director

Alejandro González Iñárritu,...

The nominations for the 87th Academy Awards are in! 2014 was packed full of lots of great movies, and all the films and actors that have been nominated are deserving of it.

Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel and Alejandro Iñárritu’s Birdman and leading the pack and are tied with nine nominations. The Imitation Game comes in third with seven, followed by Richard Linklater’s Boyhood and Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper, each with six. All five of these movies have received Best Picture nominations along with three other films — Selma, The Theory of Everything, and Whiplash.

Neil Patrick Harris is set to host The 87th Annual Academy Awards, which will be held on Sunday, February 22nd, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood and will air on ABC.

I'm pretty happy with the nominations this year, although I am a little disappointed that Guardians of the Galaxy...

Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel topped this year's list of Oscar nominee's, earning nine each, including looks for Best Director for Alejandro Alejandro González Iñárritu and Wes Anderson, as well as Best Picture. The Imitation Game followed closely behind with eight nominations, including nods for its stars, Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley, and director, Morten Tyldum. A complete list of this year's nominees is below.

Also competing for Best Picture against Birdman, Grand Budapest Hotel and The Imitation Game are Boyhood, American Sniper, Selma, The Theory of Everything and Whiplash.

On behalf of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), Chris Pine (Star Trek) and Oscars President Cheryl Boone Isaacs announced the nominees for the 87th Academy Awards. "Birdman" and "The Grand Budapest Hotel" dominated with nine nominations each, including Best Picture and Best Director. "The Imitation Game" followed with eight nominations. Academy Awards, which will be hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, will be presented on Sunday, February 22nd, at the Dolby Theatre, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. And the nominees are: Best Picture: * American Sniper * Birdman * Boyhood * The Grand Budapest Hotel * The Imitation Game * Selma * The Theory of Everything * Whiplash Lead Actress: * Marion Cotillard - Two Days, One Night * Felicity Jones - The Theory of Everything * Julianne Moore - Still Alice * Rosamund Pike - Gone Girl * Reese Witherspoon - Wild Lead Actor: * Steve Carell - Foxcatcher * Bradley Cooper - American Sniper * Benedict Cumberbatch -...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has just finished announcing their nominees for the 87th Annual Academy Awards, with Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel leading the way with nine nominations apiece, followed by The Imitation Game with eight. As usual, there were plenty of surprises to be found this morning, so let’s take a look at a few:

Selma ended up not making as grand a showing as many thought it would, nabbing only two nominations (Best Picture and Best Original Song). In a shocking turn of events, Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl has been snubbed from Best Adapted Screenplay after being the leader throughout awards season, making it a wide-open category. Bennett Miller made a completely surprising appearance in Best Director for Foxcatcher, while Steve Carell managed to squeeze into the incredibly crowded Best Actor category. Bradley Cooper has also managed to sneak into Best Actor for American Sniper.

The 2015 Oscar nominations were announced this morning and while I've already furnished a few thoughts on the omissions and surprises right here I figured we would go down the line and see what stands out. Who and what films were "snubbed", what are the biggest "surprises" and so on and so forth. Rage is sure to follow in the comments and what better time than now to get it all off your chest as we lead up to the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday, February 22c Let's take a look and see what the verdict is on these nominations, which I will ask you to vote on at the bottom of this post. Best Picture No real surprises here as I had all eight of these films getting a nomination for Best Picture. The only difference between this list and mine, however, was I had Gone Girl getting a nomination,...

The 2015 Oscar Nominations for the 87th Annual Academy Awards were unveiled Thursday morning, in which Best Picture nominees Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel lead the crop of nominations with nine nominations a piece. Boyhood and American Sniper followed with six nominations each.

The full list of nominees for Best Picture are: American Sniper, Birdman, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Selma, The Theory of Everything, Whiplash. This makes for the first time that there have only been eight nominees in all for Best Picture.

Chris Pine, J.J. Abrams, Alfonso Cuaron and Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs revealed nominees in all 24 categories Thursday morning.

Among some of the bigger surprises compared to our predictions from Wednesday, American Sniper had a big showing while hopefuls such as Gone Girl and Selma were virtually shut out. Gone Girl missed in the Best Picture category while scoring one nomination in total for Best Actress,...