News

Short films director and VFX artist Seth Larney aims to make his feature writing and directing debut on Subject 14, a futuristic sci-fi survival saga.

The film is set in 2067 when the Earth faces an oxygen crisis after deforestation and nuclear spills into the ocean. The protagonist Ethan Whyte boards a time-machine and embarks on a journey as humanity's last hope for survival.

The producer is Lisa Shaunessy, Larney.s partner in Chaotic Pictures. Michael Rymer, currently working on the Deadline Gallipoli miniseries for Foxtel, will serve as Ep after spending several years consulting on script, genre and methodology with Larney. The project has received script and project development support from Screen Australia, Screen Nsw, Aftrs and the Kenneth B Myer Award, Pixomondo Beijing, Arclight Films and Mushroom Pictures, which will distribute in Oz.

Denson Baker (untitled Jim Loach Film, Paper Planes) will lens the film, with Oscar-nominated editor Luke Doolan (Miracle Fish,...

Short films director and VFX artist Seth Larney aims to make his feature writing and directing debut on Subject 14, a futuristic sci-fi survival saga.

The film is set in 2067 when the Earth faces an oxygen crisis after deforestation and nuclear spills into the ocean. The protagonist Ethan Whyte boards a time-machine and embarks on a journey as humanity's last hope for survival.

The producer is Lisa Shaunessy, Larney.s partner in Chaotic Pictures. Michael Rymer, currently working on the Deadline Gallipoli miniseries for Foxtel, will serve as Ep after spending several years consulting on script, genre and methodology with Larney. The project has received script and project development support from Screen Australia, Screen Nsw, Aftrs and the Kenneth B Myer Award, Pixomondo Beijing, Arclight Films and Mushroom Pictures, which will distribute in Oz.

Denson Baker (untitled Jim Loach Film, Paper Planes) will lens the film, with Oscar-nominated editor Luke Doolan (Miracle Fish,...

Vol. I Issue 10 February 2013

Join us twice weekly. Send us links to your sizzle reels and film sites.

As this last weekend approached I was faced with marking my Academy Award ballot. This process is always really difficult. How does one sort out the “best” film or accomplishment of five or nine in the case of the Best Picture? For me it has been over 30 years of screenings. Thousand of films. Some really great films and many not so great. I also try to think what it means to be one of the nominees. What was the off-screen story but always more importantly what their contribution was to the work and how the film compares to others. What’s great about short films is that they can be made for almost nothing by a few filmmakers without a large budget, crew or cast.

The Academy has three nomination categories for films less than 41 minutes in length: short fiction, documentary and animation. Once nominated, there are public screenings and panels to celebrate the nominated films at the Academy in Beverly Hills. A group photograph of all the nominees is taken with a large Oscar in the lobby of the Academy headquarters. It is really a wonderful experience.

It wasn’t always like that. There were no special celebrations for the short or documentary films until the l980s. While the Foreign Language films had their seminar, nothing was done for these films. We tried to remedy that in the 1980s and started the Direct Cinema receptions and screenings with UCLA, USC and, a few years later, the Ida sponsored “Docuday” and the Academy started doing an annual reception for the shorts and documentary filmmakers. Today the Academy’s evening receptions for the short films, animated features (a relatively new Oscar category) and the documentaries are annual sell-out events. The filmmakers and their works are celebrated and it has become a highlight of the Oscar week for the filmmakers and those associated with the films.

When I first became a member of the Academy the short films and animation branch was headed by a number of extraordinary talents: T Hee, Saul Bass and June Forey. These three remarkable artists represented classic Disney animation (T. Hee), fiction and narrative short films (Saul Bass), and the television and theatrical films (June Forey, who voiced hundreds of characters.)

Saul Bass articulated the branch’s membership policy, “We want them to be part of our branch.” This liberal interpretation allowed documentary filmmakers like Ken Burns as well as voice artists and creatives like Stan Friedberg (and June Forey) to be part of a group that included IMAX filmmakers as well as classic character animation directors, colorists, layout artists, producers and other key short film and animation filmmakers. The animation filmmakers represent both the studio animators and the independent animators who work globally doing personal work as well as studio work. Other governors from 1979 to the present have included Hal Elias, who served on the Academy board for 37 years and was a short film publicist for MGM among other things; Bill Littlejohn, who worked on over 90 films as an animator ranging from Charley Brown, Peanuts Christmas Specials to working with the Hubleys’; Bill Scott, who acted and wrote over a hundred animated films, and Carl Bell, who worked on over 35 films at Disney in its animation department.

Unlike most of the other branches, the Short Films branch screens all of the submitted films in 16mm and 35mm and now in Digital Cinema, in an effort to find and nominate the best short films produced in the world. The branch rules allowed films to qualify in an effort to encourage more international entries in the 1990s by taking a first prize at key festivals in addition to the method that all Academy films can use to qualify, a theatrical week long (now three day for shorts) run in a theater in Los Angeles County. Branch screenings were expanded to New York to permit more members to participate in the nomination process in the 1990s. The final short listed screenings are in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Over one-third of the branch participates in the voting. The best change took place this year, sending DVD screeners to all Academy members of the short live action and animated nominated films. While this still won’t force members to watch them, members can’t claim they can’t see them. This is not only great for the branch but great for the nominated filmmakers. Who would not want to screen their short film for Academy members?

The process of the branch for selecting Nominees has remained unchanged for years—members screen the films in a theater rather than on DVDs, which is how the Documentary branch is dealing with the flood of feature docs and their unwillingness to trust committees. Nothing beats seeing films projected on a large screen with perfect sound and that is now lost. In a two step process, a committee (self selected from the branch membership) screens the films and the 15 films with the highest scores are short listed. The short listed films are then screened again and members vote.

The current Short Film Branch governors are Jon Bloom (pictured with the 2007 nominees), a 1983 fiction short nominee, filmmaker, editor and producer who chairs the branch, animator and Disney Creative Head and multi-Oscar winner, John Lasseter, and William "Bill" Kroyer,an award-winning director of animation and computer graphics commercials, short films, movie titles and theatrical films and faculty member Chapman College.

One of the challenges for the branch is how to grow live action producing members. With the addition of feature animation to the awards and the large number of feature animation films being released, the branch would like to have the most qualified animators to become members. The number of animators grows at a far faster rate than that of the live action filmmakers since only a few live action filmmakers can qualify for membership. The commercial success of animated features, the long production schedules and the large number of animators who work in qualifying positions allows for six plus individuals per picture to be eligible for membership. With five nominees a year, the number of individuals who can play a key role in two or three features becoming eligible for membership can easily approach 30 plus individuals annually. Add in the short animation nominees and competition for the limited new slots allocated to the branch can be brutal. The talent pool of animators is both astonishingly strong and suggests that Hollywood can easily double production from the 15 or so films made annually to 25 or 30 without having to compromise on talent.

Many of the filmmakers in the branch who make their Oscar nominated or winning live action short have made or are interested in making feature length works. A number of recent nominees or winners have made that transition. The following list looks at all of the live action nominees from 2001 to 2011, using the Internet Movie Database I looked up each nominee and listed what they reported they were doing professionally. Obviously, this is not intended to show everything. In each case, I listed credits or summarized credits shown in the IMDb listing.

Some observations about 11 years of Live Action Short Film Academy Award Nominees:

There were 86 nominations (out of a possible 110) This is because in some years only three films were nominated and in some cases only one filmmaker from a film was eligible for a nomination. Non-us based filmmakers dominate this category. Despite the huge number of short films being made annually in the Us, a majority of the nominated films come from filmmakers based abroad. In part this is due to the government subsidies available, but it is also due to the strong training programs, commercial support for the short films and a rich tradition of theatrical shorts. This year (2012) four of the five films in the live action category are from Us filmmakers. This is an unusual year. Few filmmakers have more than one nomination, only a handful of the nominees have made multiple Academy worthy short films. As one might expect, many of the filmmakers have continued their film work in television, some in features. The European Oscar winners (vs nominees) have done better at snagging features after a win than have their American counterparts. Again, this is likely a function of government support for entry features. Perhaps one of the short films seem to have been turned into a feature (or television) film. Some of the short films are intended to be sizzle reels for features, but it is not clear why so few of the nominated short films have been turned into features. A number of the Oscar winners have not continued working in film. No record of future productions are shown on IMDb. It would be interesting to see what they are doing now. Two of the Oscar winners have written critically award winning screenplays, one received two Academy Award nominations for his screenwriting. None of these nominees have gone on to win Oscars in directing or producing for feature films.

The data is from the Academy and the IMDb databases.

Apologies in advance, if credits were missed or other factual errors were made. In a week we’ll be able to add this year's winner.

2001 (74th)

Short Film (Live Action) (* won Academy Award)

*the accountant -- Ray McKinnon: Two Features: Randy and the Mob 2007 and Crystal 2004 Lisa Blount: Produced these features. Copy Shop -- Virgil Widrich Gregor's Greatest Invention -- Johannes Kiefer A Man Thing (Meska Sprawa) -- Slawomir Fabicki, Two Features: Loving 2012, Retrieval 2006 (Also wrote) Bogumil Godfrejow Has shot multiple features Speed for Thespians -- Kalman Apple, Shameela Bakhsh

2002 (75th)

Short Film (Live Action)

Fait D'Hiver -- Dirk Beliën, Anja Daelemans produced Comrade Kim Goes North I'll Wait for the Next One... (J'Attendrai Le Suivant...) -- Philippe Orreindy, Thomas Gaudin Inja (Dog) -- Steven Pasvolsky Feature, Deck Dogz Joe Weatherstone, produced episodic television. Johnny Flynton -- Lexi Alexander, directed 3 features: Lifted, Punisher: War Zone and Green Street Hooligans Alexander Buono as a Dp has shot series and features *This Charming Manon (Der Er En Yndig Mand) -- Martin Strange-Hansen, Mie Andreasen produced both features, series and documentaries.

2003 (76th)

Short Film (Live Action)

Die Rote Jacke (The Red Jacket) -- Florian Baxmeyer Multiple television films and series Most (The Bridge) -- Bobby Garabedian, William Zabka Mr. Zabka has appeared as an actor in numerous films and television shows Squash -- Lionel Bailliu Features: Fair Play and Denis (in post) (A) Torzija [(A) Torsion] -- Stefan Arsenijevic Directed: Lost and Found, Love and Other Crimes, and Do Not Forget Me Istanbul *Two Soldiers -- Aaron Schneider,Asc (Cinematographer numerous credits) and feature, Kiss the Girls, Andrew J. Sacks Series The Closer (98 episodes) and Major Crimes.

2004 (77th)

Short Film (Live Action)

Everything in This Country Must -- Gary McKendry Directed Killer Elite, Joseph and the Girl Little Terrorist -- Ashvin Kumar Produced and Directed features (2) and documentaries (2) 7:35 in the Morning (7:35 de la Mañana) -- Nacho Vigalondo Directed and written multiple films, series, shorts Two Cars, One Night -- Taika Waititi, Acted and directed and written multi television and films Ainsley Gardiner Nz based producer of multiple shorts, television and feature films *Wasp -- Andrea Arnold Actor, director and writer of numbers films, television programs

2005 (78th)

Short Film (Live Action)

Ausreisser (The Runaway) -- Ulrike Grote Ms. Grote has acted in over 42 programs, features, television series and films Cashback -- Sean Ellis, Director/Writer Metro Manila, The Broken Lene Bausager Producer, The Broken, Ginger and Rosa The Last Farm -- Rúnar Rúnarsson, Director/Writer Volcano, Thor S. Sigurjónsson Produced multiple features Our Time Is Up -- Rob Pearlstein, Director/Writer multiple television and a feature Pia Clemente Producer, documentaries *Six Shooter -- Martin McDonagh Writer/Director Seven Psychopaths, In Bruges

2006 (79th)

Short Film (Live Action)

Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea) -- Javier Fesser, no other credits shown Luis Manso Produced multiple features Éramos Pocos (One Too Many) -- Borja Cobeaga Writer, multi films and television series Helmer & Son -- Søren Pilmark no other credits, Kim Magnusso Producer over 100 film, television films (4 Best Short Film Academy Award nominations) Won for Ernst & Lyset The Saviour -- Peter Templeman, no other credits Stuart Parkyn, Producer, multi-short film credits *West Bank Story -- Ari Sandel Director, one short, one documentary

2007 (80th)

Short Film (Live Action)

At Night -- Christian E. Christiansen, Directed, Features and television series Louise Vesth Producer, multi features Il Supplente (The Substitute) -- Andrea Jublin

*Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets) -- Philippe Pollet-Villard Actor and director short films, a television film

Tanghi Argentini -- Guido Thys, Director, Multiple television series Anja Daelemans, nominated for 2 Short Film nominations (Gridlock, 2002) Producer/Pm various The Tonto Woman -- Daniel Barber, Directed The Keeping Room, Harry Brown Matthew Brown Produced 2 shorts

2008 (81st)

Short Film (Live Action)

Auf der Strecke (On the Line) -- Reto Caffi Manon on the Asphalt -- Elizabeth Marre, Director, Television series Olivier Pont Director, Television series New Boy -- Steph Green, Director Run and Jump Tamara Anghie Producer Run and Jump The Pig -- Tivi Magnusson, Producer Over 64 titles many short films, Dorte Høgh Writer multiple series, (Directed The Pig) *Spielzeugland (Toyland) -- Jochen Alexander Freydank Producer of multiple television series

2009 (82nd)

Short Film (Live Action)

The Door -- Juanita Wilson, Director As If I Am Not There James Flynn Multiple Producer credits for over 50 titles, television and theatrical Instead of Abracadabra -- Patrik Eklund, Director, Television film and feature Mathias Fjellström Kavi -- Gregg Helvey Miracle Fish -- Luke Doolan, Multiple credits as editor Drew Bailey Multiple credits as Assistant Director *The New Tenants -- Joachim Back, no other credits shown as a director, Tivi Magnusson This is Mr. Magnusson’s first Academy Award and second nomination. See 2008.

2010 (83rd)

Short Film (Live Action)

The Confession -- Tanel Toom The Crush -- Michael Creagh *God of Love -- Luke Matheny Feature Love Sick and multiple Television series episode Na Wewe -- Ivan Goldschmidt Wish 143 -- Ian Barnes, Multiple directing credits Television Samantha Waite Credits as production coordinator on multiple titles

2011 (84th)

Short Film (Live Action)

Pentecost -- Peter McDonald, Credits as actor Eimear O'Kane Credits as Producer on The Shadows and on television programs. Raju -- Max Zähle, Director, Television series Stefan Gieren Producer-Writer credit on feature film, Kunduz: The Incident at Hadji Ghafur *The Shore -- Terry George, Writer Two Oscar nominations for screenplays In the Name of the Father and Hotel Riwanda Producer and director on films and television series Oorlagh George Numerous credits as Assistant on features, documentaries and television shows Time Freak -- Andrew Bowler Writer and actor in a short film Gigi Causey Production manager, producer shorts, series and films

__________________________________________________________________________________

Credits: Editing by Jessica Just for SydneysBuzz

__________________________________________________________________________________

Mitchell Block specializes in conceiving, producing, marketing & distributing independent features & consulting. He is an expert in placing both completed works into distribution & working with producers to make projects fundable. He conducts regular workshops in film producing in Los Angeles and most recently in Maine, Russia and in Myanmar (Burma).

Poster Girl, produced by Block was nominated for a Documentary Academy Award and selected by the Ida as the Best Doc Short 2011. It was also nominated for two Emmy Awards and aired on HBO. He is an executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Carrier, a 10-hour series that he conceived & co-created. Block is a graduate of Tisch School and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business. He is a member of Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Television Academy, a founding member of BAFTA-la and has been teaching at USC School of Cinematic Arts since 1979. Currently Block teaches a required class in the USC Peter Stark Producing Program.

______________________________________________________________________

©2013Mwb All Rights Reserved All Rights Reserved. All information and designs on the Sites are copyrighted material owned by Block. Reproduction, dissemination, or transmission of any part of the material here without the express written consent of the owner is strictly prohibited.All other product names and marks on Block Direct, whether trademarks, service marks, or other type, and whether registered or unregistered, is the property of Block.

If Magazine's portrait of Oscar-nominated filmmaker Luke Doolan has won the top prize in the London Photographic Association's Let's Face It 8 portrait competition.

The double-page spread, which appeared in If Magazine #142 (August-September 2011), was the vision of Sydney-based photographer Alina Gozin'a.

"Doolan likes the Infinite Monkey Theorem, which suggests that monkeys randomly banging on typewriters for an infinite amount of time would eventually produce the works of Shakespeare," Gozin'a told the Lse. "In this photograph, the same idea is applied for the Australian film industry . which meant only one monkey was afforded and at mates' rates!"

Doolan was nominated for an Oscar for his short film Miracle Fish and has also edited several award-winning films including Animal Kingdom. He is also the head of editing at Aftrs, where the portrait was shot.

More information about Alina Gozin'a can be found at her website. More information about the Luke Doolan portrait and...

It may only be in its infancy, but The MyState Bofa (Breath of Fresh Air) Film Festival in Launceston has already accomplished a significant achievement, with the premiere of Luke Doolan's much-awaited new short, Cryo.   Doolan's previous short, Miracle Fish, received critical and popular acclaim on the festival circuit a couple of years ago, culminating in and Oscar nomination in 2010.

FlickerFest partnered with Movie Extra for another year to broadcast its 2011 selection of films and series 3 of Flickerfest On Extra is now available online for all.

The subsite on Movie Network Channels features not only include the films themselves but animated intros by Picture Drift Studios as well as clips such as explanations and introductions by directors.

Rewatch Dik, fresh from a Best comedy award at Aspen and audience award at Palm Springs festivals. When the Wind Changes (pictured) won Flickerfest/If Audience Award 2011, directed by Alethea Jones and written, produced and acted by Richard Davies and Miracle Fish, the 2010 Academy Award nominee and Flickerfest Movie Extra Special Jury Prize winner, written and directed by Luke Doolan.

To watch the films, visit mnc.tv/flickerfest-2011 and for more information on Flickerfest, visit www.flickerfest.com.au...

Oscar-nominated Miracle Fish director and Animal Kingdom editor Luke Doolan has been appointed head of editing at the Australian Film Television and Radio School.

“I am delighted to welcome Luke to Aftrs. His extensive experience and creative drive will certainly prove to be a real asset for our students. His career path to date has been inspirational, and we feel his hands on experience will translate well into the practical education that Aftrs offers. He is a great addition to our roster of teachers who are all highly experienced working professionals,” said Aftrs CEO Sandra Levy.

Doolan’s editing credits include The Square, Ten Empty and New Skin, as well as the shorts Spider, Crossbow, Lucky and Fuel. He assisted Jill Bilcock on Moulin Rouge and edited previsualisation on both Australia and Baz Luhrmann’s failed project Alexander, as well as the Sydney-shot Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

The collective, made up of six Aussies and one American, hit a high point this past Sunday when Jacki Weaver, star of Blue-Tongue member David Michod’s Animal Kingdom, was among the nominees for Best Actress at the Oscars. Formed by seasoned stuntman Nash Edgerton, his actor brother Joel, and Kieran Darcy Smith, Blue-Tongue began as a group of friends who could turn to each other for guidance and inspiration in all their various film projects. It seems to be working. Last year, member Luke Doolan’s short, Miracle Fish, was nominated for an Oscar and the Brothers Edgerton collaboration, The Square, raked in a bevy of Australian film awards. Now, the collective, which Film Comment hailed as “the next New Wave,” is focusing their attention on Say Nothing, a psychological thriller that is currently shooting in Cambodia under the direction of Darcy-Smith. Lone American member and self proclaimed “wannabe...

Originally posted online on August 11, 2010. Animal Kingdom is nominated for Best Supporting Actress (Jacki Weaver).

Like his stunning short films Netherland Dwarf and Crossbow, David Michod’s terrific and terrifying feature debut, the 2010 Sundance World Dramatic Competition winner Animal Kingdom, is a smoothly photographed, moodily scored tale of a trapped, dim and docile young man who suffers at the hands of a careless and, in this case, criminal family. As in his previous work, Michod relies on an insistent voiceover to provide biting interiority while the unrelentingly grim working-class Melbourne milieu is strikingly depicted in slow-motion shots and even slower push-ins. James Frecheville is stoic and sullen as the lead, who we first glimpse as he’s watching a rancid television gameshow next to an unconscious woman who turns out to be his just recently heroin Od’d mother. Brought into the fold of his criminal clan of uncles by his complicit grandmother,...

Guy Pearce and Aussie veteran Jacki Weaver star in a gritty crime tale that's making Michôd in demand in Hollywood

If your mental picture of Melbourne is dominated by sweaty men chasing variously shaped balls and the sunny soapings of Neighbours, then you've been watching the wrong channel, mate. Turn over and you'll find Australia's second city is infested with bank robbers, drug traffickers, murderous criminal gangs, vengeful coppers and the most notorious history of violence in the southern hemisphere. Melbourne's flipside has become a cultural export of its own, as seen in Eric Bana's portrayal of ear-amputated ex-con Mark "Chopper" Read, or the real-life Chopper's own crime fiction, or TV series Underbelly, a kind of Antipodean Sopranos that was so close to real events it was banned from Melbourne's airwaves, or countless other TV series and true-crime paperbacks the city's grisly history continues to generate.

To be fair,...

Over the past ten days, filmgoers have been heading to Bondi Pavilion to catch short flicks at Australia's long running and only Academy Award - and now BAFTA - accredited short film festival. The always popular event saw 108 films screen in official competition, 11 of which were world premieres and 46 were Australian premieres.   The festivities wrapped up on Sunday at the Closing Night screening, awards ceremony and after party which saw guests including Joel and Nash Edgerton and Barry Otto amongst the VIP guests.   Determining the winners on the night was The Flickerfest Jury, which comprised of a panel of Australian and international film experts including director Hannah Hillard (Franswa Sharl), Australian actress Susie Porter (East West 101) and Academy Award Nominated filmmaker Luke Doolan (Miracle Fish).

Exclusive Interview

Before Animal Kingdom, the Australian crime drama which Jacki Weaver so memorably inhabits as den mother Janine "Smurf" Cody, she was unknown to many American moviegoers including myself. The last time I see her onscreen, perusing a few key scenes from the film prior to the interview, she's training those enormous unblinking peepers on good cop Guy Pearce. They're in a sterile grocery store but the conversation is anything but; the words are loaded and coded. Her stare is equal parts dare, gloating and faux sweetness. "I hope you catch the killers," she tells him, with disingenuous grandmotherly concern, both of them fully aware of who is getting away with murder and why.

In person, what can you expect: An evil granny? A diva actress? A regular woman? When we sit at the Regency for a half hour chat over coffee, Smurf departs leaving only Jacki the "Oscar...

Polish film expert and instigator of the Krakow Film Foundation and the Film Polski Foundation Kryzystof Geirat will head the jury for the 20th Flickerfest Short Film Festival.

The international program jury includes Movie Extra’s Renee Brack and Franswa Sharl director Hannah Hillard. The Australian program includes Eileen Arandiga (Toronto’s Worldwide Short Film Festival), actress Susie Porter and Oscar-nominated Miracle Fish and Cryo director Luke Doolan.

The documentary strand will be judged by Anne Vierhout (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam), Peta Watermayer (National Geographic Channel’s Program and Acquisitions Manager) and director Tom Zubrycki.

The program for the Academy Award-accredited festival is available at www.flickerfest.com.au, and includes

Flickerfest runs from January 7-16 at Bondi Beach Pavillion, Sydney, followed by a national tour.

Everybody knows there is no exact formula to raise the funds necessary to produce a film or television program, but it doesn’t hurt to ask those who have done it successfully, using both traditional and new methods.

(note from the editor: this article was originally published in the November issue of Encore, before Screen Australia released the Drama Production Report for 2009/10)

According to the most recent National Survey of Feature Film and TV Drama Production, in 2008/09 thirteen features were financed mainly by film/TV industry sources (including cash flow against the Producer Offset); 11 were financed “substantially” by Screen Australia, State agencies and the Adelaide/Melbourne festival funds; seven (including three co-productions) were financed mainly from foreign sources; and one was financed mainly from private sources. Private investment dropped from $40m in 2007/08 to $5m in 2008/09, mainly due to the disappearance of the 10Ba model.

Under Screen Australia’s revised Terms of Trade,...

Comprising of Australian industry heavyweights including Nash Edgerton (The Square), Joel Edgerton (Animal Kingdom, The Waiting City, The Square), David Michod (Animal Kingdom) Luke Doolan (Miracle Fish, Animal Kingdom and The Square editor) and Spencer Susser (Hesher), Blue-Tongue Films is a talented, multi-skilled Australian filmmaking collective.   Voting as one body, Blue-Tongue Films have signed on as part of the judging panel at this year's Optus One80Project, joining actress Kat Stewart and other judges still to be announced.   "We are so excited that Blue-Tongue Films will be a part of this year's Optus One80Project," says Blue-Tongue member, director/stuntman Nash Edgerton.

Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey are the director/producer team behind the Oscar-nominated short Miracle Fish. They are currently in post-production for Cryo, a science fiction short that will complement the story – and hopefully help finance – their first feature, Cargo.

Luke: Miracle Fish opened up a lot of doors, especially with the funding bodies in Australia and generating interest from agents and studios overseas. It thrust us into a world we knew in theory, and suddenly we were taking pretty significant meetings. I’ve got several things happening at once and they’re not all going to happen at the same time, so I’m keeping my finger in quite a few pies.

We’ve spent all of this year trying to figure out our options and what to pursue, because by January next year, when the Oscar nominations are announced, nobody is going to care anymore. There’s definitely...

The first images from Cryo, the science fiction short from the team behind the Oscar-nominated Miracle Fish – director Luke Doolan and producer Drew Bailey.

When a journey to another planet goes horribly wrong mid‐flight, an ordinary female engineer finds herself fighting to ensure the future of mankind. Cryo stars Mirrah Foulkes, Brendan Donogue and Henry Nixon.

Cryo was developed and funded through Screen Australia’s Springboard initiative. The short film was devised to complment the feature film Cargo, which Bailey, Doolan and writer Matthew Dabner currently have in development with executive producer Paula Wagner.

Photos by Brad Shield and Drew Bailey.

It's that time once again! Another one of our favorite film festivals, Shriekfest 2010, has unveiled its first round of films for you lovers of indie terror out there, and we got the scoop on what to expect!

Shriekfest Film Festival's 2010 lineup includes such recognizable names as Doug Jones, Lance Henriksen, Danielle Harris, and Tiffany Shepis in the West Coast Premiere of Cyrus: Mind of a Serial Killer; Sybil Danning and Domiziano Arcangeli in the World Premiere of H1N1: Virus X; Robert Picardo and Richard Gross in the World Premiere of The Awakened; John Savage, Bronson Pinchot, Travis Schuldt, and Natalie Zea in From a Place of Darkness; and Brian Krause, Kadeem Hardison, Barbara Nedeljakova, John Gulager, and Richard Gant in the World Premiere of Ashes.

The roster encompasses 36 films and 32 screenplay finalists. Awards will be awarded in many categories, including an award for the Best Feature Film and Best Under 18 film/screenplay.

James Frecheville and Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom

Photo: Sony Pictures Classics David Michod is part of the Australian filmmaking group Blue Tongue Films alongside Nash Edgerton and other up and comers such as Spencer Susser and Luke Doolan. It's a group of filmmakers loaded with potential and some have already started staking their claim. Edgerton released The Square earlier this year, Doolan was nominated for an Oscar for his excellent short film Miracle Fish and Susser has Hesher starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Natalie Portman coming soon. It's a group to keep an eye on to say the least.

As for Michod, Animal Kingdom is his first feature length narrative of which he also wrote. It made a big splash at Sundance earlier this year and was promptly snatched up by Sony Pictures Classics. It's a crime feature of a different sort, centered on the Cody family, which is made...

First-time feature director David Michôd tamed the beasts that inhabit his Animal Kingdom; a Melbourne crime thriller that is the Australian success story of 2010. Miguel Gonzalez reports from Melbourne.

I/E Gus’S Car – Day

J looks down the street. It’s empty. Gus puts the car in drive and moves off. J cranes

around to look out the back window, down the street. Then –

Crack. The car is clipped hard from the front. It spins wildly, then comes to a rest. Through the window J can see Pope behind the wheel of Darren’s car, undoing his seat belt. Pope’s car is jammed between Gus’s car and another parked in the street. Pope can’t open any doors – he’s trapped inside.

J clambers into the backseat, past Gus who is dazed, blood trickling down his forehead. J stumbles out the backdoor into the street. He looks back.

A new company launched a camera and started a revolution. Encore looks at how Red has changed the industry and forced the bigger companies to compete.

For a business founded in 1999, the Red Digital Cinema Camera Company has come a long way – and gained a substantial market share in the process, competing head-to- head with the more established players like Arri, Sony and Panavision.

Founder Jin Jannard wanted to revolutionise the camera industry, which he did with the release of the Red One model in 2007, with the basic body (featuring the Mysterium sensor) costing U$17,500.

Why was Jannard the first one offer such an attractive package? The answer is not just about technology.

“The bigger companies had a stranglehold on the market and they didn’t have to make digital technology affordable,” said Seth Larney from Chaotic Pictures, a Sydney company offering an end-to-end solution for Red, from rental to...

If you haven't experienced a Blue-Tongue Films production, you're gonna wanna get jumping on this bandwagon post haste. Essentially, a group of Aussie stuntmen and actors couldn't get into film school, so they decided "fuck it" and started making their own damn high-octane, cruelly violent, mind-punching films. Already, some of them enjoyed the tickle of the cinema elite's tongue on their taints, getting accolades at Cannes, Sundance, and tons of options and offers. Of all this rowdy crew, perhaps the frontrunners can be considered Joel and Nash Edgerton. You may have seen Joel as young Uncle Owen in Star Wars: Episodes I-iii -- that is, if you aren't a Lucacaust Denier. Nash has been blowing up things since Kurt Cobain sang sad songs so much, but he's recently had crazy success with his short films Spider (a must-see on Netflix Watch Instantly) and Miracle Fish, which just got nominated for an Academy award.

After watching The Square, Nash Edgerton's feature directorial debut, and before sitting down to write my review I took to YouTube to watch Nash's eight short films, or I should say seven as his 2007 short "Spider" will play in front of screenings of The Square just as it did at my press screening.

If you've read my review of The Square you were probably able to tell my impression of that film was highly influenced by not only "Spider" but also from Edgerton's seven earlier shorts, all of which I enjoyed immensely and offer here for you to enjoy as well.

If you were to watch all eight shorts it would run you approximately 80 minutes if you watched from beginning to end and it's hard to show a preference to one or another, though two stand out as my favorites. The Pitch is short and quite comical and will...

David Roberts in The Square

Photo: Apparition Nash Edgerton's feature directorial debut The Square will hit theaters with his 2007 short film "Spider" playing in front of it, and a more apt primer I could not imagine. "Spider" sets expectations exactly where they should be for a film filled with cause and effect madness so extreme it begins to work. How well it works depends on how much you're willing to give in to the crazy and predictable nature of it all, but the more you do the more you'll enjoy what you see.

David Roberts stars as Ray, a construction foreman who's having an affair with Carla (Claire van der Boom), a young beautician who presents Ray with a way the two can escape from their unhappy marriages with some money in hand. Carla's husband (Anthony Hayes), on top of being a tow truck driver is also a small-time...

There were very few surprises last night as The Hurt Locker picked up six Oscars including “Best Picture.” Despite the Academy’s expansion of the category, the Iraq war film had become a forgone conclusion after sweeping most of the ceremonies leading up to Sunday. It’s the lowest grossing movie to ever win the top prize and do so without the usual expensive advertising campaign.

In another first, Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman in the ceremony’s 82 year history to win “Best Director,” beating out strong competition from her ex-husband James Cameron and more. The screenwriter Mark Boal won for its “Best Original Screenplay.”

Jeff Bridges was finally recognized after his fifth nomination and promptly set the record for saying “man” in an acceptance speech. Sandra Bullock had a sense of humor about herself in holding the “Best Actress” Oscar just one night after taking home the Razzie...

With another year’s ceremony come and gone, the 2010 Academy Awards announced the big winners during a ceremony at Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday night (March 7).

Taking home the top prize of Best Picture was “The Hurt Locker,” which ended up winning a total of six Oscar trophies.

As for the actor/actress categories, the Academy bestowed honors onto Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock, Mo’Nique and Christopher Waltz.

The complete list of 201o Oscar winners is as follows:

Actor in a Leading Role

Winner: Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”

George Clooney in “Up in the Air”

Colin Firth in “A Single Man”

Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”

Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

Actor in a Supporting Role

Matt Damon in “Invictus”

Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”

Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”

Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”

Winner: Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

Actress in a Leading...

It’s that time of year again, kids. Dread Central’s 2010 Horror at the Oscars coverage. Horror was indeed present this year and in black-tie. While Roger Corman and Lauren Bacall were honored a few months back at the Governor’s Award Ceremony, it was an unexpected delight to see Corman, recipient of the lifetime achievement Oscar, enjoy a standing ovation on national television.

I was, however, very disappointed that neither of them were allowed to speak. Roger Corman’s contributions to modern cinema are too vast for him to just stand up and wave. James Cameron was one of many Corman acolytes present, and his nomination speaks to Corman’s tremendous legacy. On the Terminator DVD Cameron mentions, "I trained at the Roger Corman Film School.” Jonathan Demme, Martin Scorsese, and Francis Ford Coppola, among many others, were also former students.

The terror continued with a spoof of Paranormal Activity...

We can finally close the book on 2009. The Oscars have come and gone and The Hurt Locker has triumphed, winning Best Picture and five more awards including Best Director and Original Screenplay. I started tracking this season's Oscar contenders way back in July of 2009 and it has been a long road and each year I'd like to think I learn a little something new about the process.

The first thing to realize is that the likelihood the film you believe to be the best of the year most likely will not win Best Picture and may not be recognized at all. What you have to hope for is that quality wins out over mediocrity in whatever category we are discussing. And for that matter I would say this year's Oscars were, for the most part, a triumph (a statement regarding the winners and not the show itself, which was sort...

A couple of Academy crowd-favorites won the top acting awards, and The Hurt Locker got the biggest prize of the night!

Sandra Bullock won her first Best Actress award — and even she seemed surprised by the win. Jeff Bridges didn’t seem overly shocked to nab Best Actor, but he still gave a aww-inducing speech celebrating his eminent show-biz family. We particularly liked the dude with the crazy hair who won for Sound Editing and Sound Mixing (Paul Ottosson of The Hurt Locker) and yawn Sandy Powell won for the third time for costume design (The Young Victoria). And you’re probably looking for all the rest of the winners, neatly formatted …

Best picture “Avatar” “The Blind Side” “District 9″ “An Education” (Winner)”The Hurt Locker” “Inglourious Basterds” “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” “A Serious Man” “Up” “Up in the Air” Best actor (Winner) Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart” George Clooney,...

Oscar winners 2010 list is here.

We already wrote about possible winners and competition between- James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow, so we can say that we’re not at all surprised that this was Kathryn Bigelow’s night.

The Hurt Locker won 6 Oscars, including honour for Best Movie and Best Director.

So, Bigelow became the first woman to win an Oscar for Best Director.

On the other hand, the movie that still sits on the top of box office, James Cameron’s Avatar definetely had a bad luck. The movie won only 3 golden statues in technical categories – Art Direction, Cinematography and Visual Effects.

We can’t help but think that this show really seemed like Bigelow’s sweet revenge.

Sandra Bullock was named best actress for The Blind Side after she proudly attended Razzie 2010 event and took completely different award.

“Did I really earn this, or did I just wear you all down?...

History was made tonight by Kathryn Bigelow for becoming the first female to ever win the Academy Award for Best Director for The Hurt Locker. Shortly after another bomb exploded when seconds after she walked off stage Tom Hanks announced that The Hurt Locker was also the Best Picture, beating out the favorite Avatar and team Cameron. The Iraq War drama earned six total Oscar wins at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing. In the Best Actress/Actor categories, Sandra Bullock beat out Meryl Streep for Best Actress for her role in The Blind Side, and "The Dude" himself - Jeff Bridges took home the Best Actor Award for is role in Crazy Heart. The Best Supporting Actress went to Mo’Nique in Precious, while Christoph Waltz won the Best Supporting Actor Award...

Well, there weren't many major surprises nor many particularly memorable moments, but we still had a lot of fun watching the Oscars here tonight. Thanks to all of you who tuned in for the live podcast and joined us in the live chat over at Ustream [1]. As you may have heard, The Hurt Locker cleaned up, taking home a total of 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director, making Kathryn Bigelow the first female director to ever win the award. James Cameron's Avatar, on the other hand, won only for visual effects, art direction and cinematography. All of the acting categories went off as expected, with Jeff Bridges and Sandra Bullock winning Best Actor and Best Actress, while Christoph Waltz and Mo'Nique won the supporting trophies. If there was an upset at all, it was probably The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos), which beat...

So, this evening I headed to a rather exclusive Oscar party in central London courtesy of Grey Goose and watched the stars arrive on the red carpet followed by the ceremony itself on TV screens scattered around the venue. The evening opened with Neil Patrick Harris performing a stage show number followed by our hosts, Steve Martin and Alec Balwin doing some rather amusing gags. I have to say, the pair of them did a mighty fine job in my opinion. Far better than that of The BAFTA Awards where every joke went down like a lead balloon! The comedy highlight for me was Ben Stiller dressed as one of the Na’vi from Avatar which was just genius!

James Cameron’s Avatar won a few but the big news of the night was that the Kathryn Bigelow has become the first woman to win Best Director for her movie,...

"The Hurt Locker" took home Best Picture and Best Director for Kathryn Bigelow, while Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock, Christoph Waltz and Mo'Nique took home the acting honors.

Best Picture

"Avatar"

"The Blind Side"

"District 9"

"An Education"

"The Hurt Locker"

"Inglourious Basterds"

"Precious"

"A Serious Man"

"Up"

"Up in the Air"

Best Director

Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"

James Cameron, "Avatar"

Lee Daniels, "Precious"

Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air"

Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"

Best Actor

Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"

George Clooney, "Up in the Air"

Colin Firth, "A Single Man"

Morgan Freeman, "Invictus"

Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker"

Best Actress

Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"

Helen Mirren, "The Last Station"

Carey Mulligan, "An Education"

Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious"

Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia"

Best Supporting Actor

Matt Damon, "Invictus"

Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger"

Christopher Plummer, "The Last Station"

Stanley Tucci, "The Lovely Bones"

Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds"

Best Supporting Actress

Penelope Cruz,...

The triumphant ones at the 82nd annual Academy Awards, in bold, alongside their fellow nominees

Actor in a supporting role

Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds

Christopher Plummer in The Last Station

Matt Damon in Invictus

Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones

Woody Harrelson in The Messenger

Animated feature film

Up (Pete Docter and Bob Peterson)

The Princess and the Frog (Ron Clements and John Musker)

Coraline (Henry Selick)

Fantastic Mr Fox (Wes Anderson)

The Secret of Kells (Tomm Moore)

Music (original song)

Almost There, from The Princess and the Frog, by Randy Newman

Down in New Orleans, from The Princess and the Frog, by Randy Newman

Loin de Paname, from Paris 36, by Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas

Take It All, from Nine, by Maury Yeston

The Weary Kind, from Crazy Heart, by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Writing (original screenplay)

The Hurt Locker (Mark Boal)

Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino...

The 82nd Academy Awards complete winners list:

See photos of the Oscar winners:

Best Picture

"Avatar"

"The Hurt Locker" Winner!

"Inglourious Basterds"

"The Blind Side"

"District 9"

"An Education"

"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"

"A Serious Man"

"Up"

"Up in the Air"

Best Director

James Cameron "Avatar"

Kathryn Bigelow "The Hurt Locker" Winner!

Lee Daniels "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"

Quentin Tarantino "Inglourious Basterds"

Jason Reitman "Up in the Air...

The world's most stunning and anticipated glamorous show is on, consisting of endless stars in the Kodak Theatre. And the Oscar goes to .. The 82nd Academy Awards full list of Winners: Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Jeff Bridges – ‘Crazy Heart’- Won George Clooney – ‘Up in the Air’ Colin Firth – ‘A Single Man’ Morgan Freeman – ‘Invictus’ Jeremy Renner – ‘The Hurt Locker’ Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Presented By Penelope Cruz Matt Damon – ‘Invictus’ Woody Harrelson – ‘The Messenger’ Christopher Plummer – ‘The Last Station’ Stanley Tucci – ‘The Lovely Bones’ Christoph Waltz – ‘Inglourious Basterds’ - Won Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Sandra Bullock – ‘The Blind Side’ - Won Helen Mirren – ‘The Last Station’ Carey Mulligan – ‘An Education’ Gabourey Sidibe – ‘Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire’ Meryl Streep – ‘Julie and Julia’ Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Penelope Cruz – ‘Nine’ Vera Farmiga...

The 82nd Academy Awards are now over and "The Hurt Locker" beat out "Avatar" and eight other movies for Best Pictures. Meanwhile Kathryn Bigelow made history by becoming the first woman to win the Best Director Oscar for "Locker." The film ended up winning six out of its nine categories. His fifth nomination proved to be the charm for Jeff Bridges, who was hailed as Best Actor for his performance as a weary country singer in "Crazy Heart." Sandra Bullock scored on her first nomination, taking home the Best Actress award for "The Blind Side." And as predicted, both Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) and Mo'Nique (Precious) won in the Best Supporting Actor/Actress categories. Check out the full list of winners below. Best Picture: * The Hurt Locker * Avatar * The Blind Side * District 9 * An Education * Inglourious Basterds * Precious * A Serious Man * Up * Up in the Air Directing: * Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker...

"The Insider" has your complete list of winners from Sunday night's 82nd Academy Awards! Read on to see who took home an Oscar on film's biggest night (winners' names bolded below)! Best Picture Winner: “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro “Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers “The Blind Side” Nominees to be determined “District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers “An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers “Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers “A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers “Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer “Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers Directing Winner: “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow “Avatar” James Cameron “Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels “Up in the Air...

Here it is at last! The 2010 Academy Awards! Who’s bringing home the Oscars? James Cameron or Kathryn Bigelow, or will Tarantino stage an upset? Will The Dude Lebowski have a best actor win under his belt? The stars are crossing the Red Carpet right now and in a few hours Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin will be hosting 82nd Academy Awards.

Prior the main event, you can check out the AP staff picks for all of the winners and check back often as I’ll be updating all the wins with my own commentary as the evening progresses. Feel free to drop your own guesses and thoughts on the evening as it progresses.

Me, I’m pulling for District 9 for best screenplay!

See you at the Oscars!

Updated! The entire list of winners with my thoughts and earlier predictions below:

— Motion Picture: “The Hurt Locker.”

— Actor: Jeff Bridges,...

Photo: AMPAS You tuned in to the right place as I will be covering the 2010 Oscars with up-to-the-minute live-blogging as well as winner updates in the right-hand-column as they are announced. On top of that, winners will also show up on the RopeofSilicon Twitter page as they are announced as well.

To make sure you are entirely ready you will need the following: A Printable Ballot (Pdf Download) Familiarize yourself with the nominees Take a look at my winner predictions (I'll keep you updated on how I am doing) Take a look at what readers predicted

I will begin the commentary around 3:00 Pm Pacific Standard Time as it looks like that's when the red carpet festivities begin, but that will just be something of a warm up and you should be able to watch the red carpet yourself with the video to the right, however I don't believe that...

Who will win Oscar gold tonight? What do you think of the gowns and evening dresses worn by the celebrities? Who's Oscar speech was the best and who's was the worst?

As time ticks away to the start of tonight's 82nd Academy Awards, Coming Attractions would like for you to attend its own Oscar party. Mingle with the online crowd and leave your predictions as to what movies you think will take home Oscar tonight. When the awards start, CA will be your place to find out what others think of the winners and losers. This page will be constantly updated with the winners throughout all Oscar categories so you'll always be a moment away from finding out a complete list of all Oscar winners for 2010 as well as see what other people are thinking of the show throughout the eve

 

The winners of the 82nd Academy Awards:

 

Best Actor...

Christoph Waltz was named best supporting actor for his performance as a cruelly seductive Nazi in "Inglourious Basterds" as the 82nd Annual Academy Awards got under way Sunday.The Austrian-born actor used his moment in the spotlight to pay tribute to the movie's director, Quentin Tarantino, saying "with his unorthodox methods of navigation, this fearless explorer took this ship ... and brought it in with flying colors and that's why I'm here."Tarantino, though, was denied the best original screenplay Oscar, which went to Mark Boal for "The Hurt Locker.""You honor me and humble me with this," Boal said. Returning as a reporter from Iraq, he had an idea for a movie. But "the results wildly exceeded my expectations," he said -- a fact he attributed to the talent of director Kathryn Bigelow. The writer also offered a word for the troops, present and past, and well as his father,...

The 82 Annual Academy Awards ceremony begins this evening at 5pm Pst / 8pm Est and MakingOf is dedicated to keeping you up to date on Twitter, Tumblr and right here on the MakingOf News Blog. Check back for constant updates including which nominees won big. We will bold the winners names when they are announced. Until then, enjoy clicking on the highlighted nominees below for exclusive interviews, trailers, behind-the-scenes clips and more!

If you haven't picked the winners yet, click here to download your own official Oscar ballot.

Leading Actor

Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”

George Clooney in “Up in the Air”

Colin Firth in “A Single Man”

Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”

Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

Cinematography

Avatar

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

The White Ribbon

Foreign Language Film

Ajami

El Secreto de Sus Ojos

The Milk of Sorrow

Un Prophète

The White Ribbon...

Forget the media-initiated battle between ex-husband and wife, the real face-off at this year's Oscars was between new technology and old-fashioned storytelling... and the victor, we're happy to report, is the latter.

As the dust settles on the gong-giving broo-ha-ha that was the 82nd Annual Academy Awards, it's Kathryn Bigelow's brilliant and brave The Hurt Locker that has emerged the big winner with golden baldies for Best Picture and Best Director among its five statuette haul, while former hubbie James Cameron's Avatar was left holding his rightful prizes for technical prowess in the Art Direction, Cinematography and Visual Effects categories.

After the Academy made its big decision about which movie to put their weight behind (and we do think they went with the right one!), the rest of the big winners were fairly predictable with the likes of Jeff Bridges and Sandra Bullock walking away with Best Actor...

It was the biggest March weekend ever, by a large margin, with the top twelve films earning $186m overall. I looked back ten years and couldn't find a weekend over $150m, so clearly the 3-D razzle dazzle of Alice in Wonderland brought the people to the theater in droves. As for my predictions? Well, I was clearly way off on the top spot... let's break it down! #1 movie predicted correctly: 1 Week In A Row Alice in Wonderland It rocked the March record, it mauled the Spring record, it was the second biggest PG opening ever ($5m behind Shrek the Third). Are the traditional Hollywood dumping grounds going away, or was this film just in the right place at the right time?

I found the film to be very child-friendly, though I was hoping for something more adult and sinister. And 3-D? I'm definitely over it, and I don't feel it...

By reinstituting 10 best picture nominees, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences set out to shake up its 82nd annual awards show and, in the process, ended up making history.

Summit's "The Hurt Locker," with just $14.7 million in domestic grosses, captured a leading six Oscars on Sunday night and defied the odds to emerge as best picture -- defeating five movies that had grossed more than $100 million each domestically, including Fox's "Avatar," the top-grossing movie of all time.

In fact, though the 10 nominees brought a number of studio movies to the party, the indies still ruled with Fox Searchlight's "Crazy Heart" and Lionsgate's "Precious" also winning key awards.

As part of "Locker's" triumphant night, Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to receive a directing Oscar, which was presented to her by Barbra Streisand, who appeared to savor the envelope-opening since her own efforts to break down barriers for female...

This year's crop of live action short nominees is made up of three serious, issue-oriented stories, a Coen Brothers knock-off and a funny Swedish entry about a would-be magician. The Door (Ireland/Ukraine) Filmed on location in Ukraine, The Door is based on the painfully true story of a family victimized by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster. Forced to evacuate quickly, the father later sneaks back to their old apartment in order to steal a door for a sad but important purpose. Miracle Fish (Australia) Teased at school on his eighth birthday because his family is poor, Joe slips into the sick bay and falls asleep. When he awakens, the entire school building is empty, with signs pointing to a sudden mass departure. Joe imagines that his classmates and teachers have been abducted by aliens,...

It’s that time of the year again, folks. The eyes of the world will be focused on the biggest award-giving event in the film calendar on Sunday night. There’s nothing quite like the glitz and glamorama of the Academy Awards. Now in it’s 82nd year, this one’s extra special with James Cameron versus ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow. There will be laughter, cheers, tears, cheesy moments, boring moments, “hurry up and get on with it” moments and by the end of it all – historic moments.

The award ceremony was dreamt up by Louis B. Mayer, ostensibly as an advertising and promotional tool for the industry. Only in time did it turn into the behemoth it is today. Whatever the criticisms levelled at the Academy Awards ceremony – and there are plenty – it doesn’t stop billions across the world tuning in. Not even the Cannes Film Festival can compete with the Oscars.

Photo: AMPAS

Last year I went 16 for 21 in my Oscar predictions. I nailed all the top categories (which pretty much everyone always does) and missed Best Makeup, Score, Sound Editing and Mixing and Foreign Language Film. However, looking back, I would have gotten both Score and Makeup correctly if I had gone more with what I thought the Academy would do based on knowledge of how they work and not due to what I thought to be the logical choice. This year, I am throwing logic out the window, reading the tea leaves and checking the Oscar winds. Outside of a few categories it looks like the majority of these races are all sewn up and while some last minute dirty tactics were employed to derail the current Best Picture front-runner, I still see it sticking it out.

What I have done below is listed my #1 pick in the top...