The Final Scoreboard

Lincoln and Zero Dark Thirty sit at the top of the Critics Scoreboard for the 2012/3 season.  But on Oscar night the big prize goes to Argo. The final scoreboard is here.

Gurus o’ Gold: The Final Charts… Top 2 Only (2 of 2)

(Charts, 1 of 2) (Charts, 1 of 2)

Gurus o’ Gold: The Final Charts… Top 2 Only (1 of 2)

As the Gurus head off into the Dolby night, magic carpets doing their bidding, one last set of charts for you. We voted for the Top 2 in each of the 24 Oscar categories. And not a lot of surprises at this late date. But there has been some movement, so check it all out. And keep perspective. Way back on October 2, The Gurus have Argo, (and in Part 2) Daniel Day-Lewis and Jennifer Lawrence as the frontrunners, DeNiro in the #2 slot and Anne Hathaway at #3. Sometimes, change is a bit of an illusion.

20W2O: 5 Days To Go (aka The End Is Nigh)

Does it make you feel good about the industry? Is it likely to embarrass you in any way? These are the two key mainstreaming questions. The Academy just wasn’t ready for Brokeback Mountain for all the reasons that Brokeback was so important to many people. And honestly, it would be worse off if it came out today, as all the homophobia is still ingrained in people’s hearts, and the issue no longer rallies people (at least in the big cities) as something on the cutting edge.

Gurus o’ Gold: 9 Days From The Big Show

This week, The Gurus picked their five most likely Best Picture winners and answered a series of questions. They were asked to pick up to two potential upsets and their two personal wishes for surprise winners, then 3 very simple questions.

Next week, we’ll be go through all the nominations one last time, just in time for your Oscar ballots.

Cieply Pores Over Seth McFarlane’s “Q Scores”

Cieply Pores Over Seth McFarlane’s “Q Scores”

20W2O: All Over But The “And The Oscar Goes To”ing

So what is The Academy Awards show? It is a celebration of film and everything that film means to people. People tune in because it presents itself as the definer of quality (however ridiculous that may seem at times). People are interested in the story behind the story… the glamor… what actors are really like behind the mask of performance. People tune in for the race of it all. And people tune in because they are hoping to be surprised in some exciting way in real time.

Gurus o’ Gold: Voting Begins In 2 Days (2 of 2)

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Gurus o’ Gold: Voting Begins In 2 Days (1/2)

The Gurus are ranking all 24 categories for you, just a couple of days before the voting for the finals. From Best Picture to Best Documentary Short, our best guesses are here for you.

Gurus o’ Gold: 8 Days Before Final Oscar Voting Begins

Lincoln still leads the Best Picture race according to The Gurus, with only one Guru voting Lincoln or Argo as anything other than #1 or #2 in the race.

Otherwise, the races haven’t changed much at all since we last saw you. The biggest move is Tarantino’s screenplay for Django Unchained up from #4 to #2 in that race.

20W2O: 27 Days To Oscar – The Racial Thing

The movie about slavery has no Black nominees. The movie about the abolition of slavery has no Black nominees. The movie about Gulf coasters devastated by Katrina has a little girl as its only nominee. And the movie about a young Indian man has 1 Indian nominee, who happened to write lyrics for a song.

I have never felt like racial politics and The Academy Awards go together well. But I also don’t see any step forward in this year’s nominations from any other year.

20W2O: 4 Weeks To Go – Quid Pro Quo, Clarice

I would argue – and have forever – that these groups are following the same bouncing ball as everyone else during the award season. There are years when consensus winners are quite close to undeniable. But there are usually 2 to 3 contenders who would not really be shocking winners of awards. Except for the issue of every award as a stepping stone to the next.

Gurus o’ Gold: A Month To Go

These votes have been sitting around for almost a week… but here we go with the latest Gurus votes for Picture and Director. Argo is the big mover.

A Keen Take On The Experience Of Watching Zero Dark Thirty

“I can’t recall a big, or biggish, budget suspense film so doggedly experiential, so resistant to telling you ‘what it’s about.’” A Keen Take On The Experience Of Watching Zero Dark Thirty

Globes Gold For Argo, Les Mis; Speeches Highlight Night, Including Day-Lewis And Jodie Foster

“Trust me, 47 years in the film business is a long time. But tonight, I feel like the prom queen.” Globes Gold For Argo, Les Mis; Speeches Highlight Night, Including Day-Lewis And Jodie Foster

Gurus o’ Gold: Nominations Morning (Page 2 of 2)

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Gurus o’ Gold: Nominations Morning (Page 1 of 2)

NOW With More Gurus!

The Gurus take on all the Oscar categories, except for shorts. This round, The Gurus have Lincoln winning 7 Oscars, including Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Adapted Screenplay. And Skyfall would be win the second most Oscars, with three. The second page of nominations can be found here.

20W2O: “They” – The Oscar Morning Sequel

While there are people/films out ahead in many categories, they are all still open. And there is now a super-idiot-sized Phase 2 in which the fight can be fought. And fought it will be. The public dissection of Lincoln‘s historic veracity – fair or not – has commenced while you were getting your 7am coffee.

Nominations Day

• The List of Nominations
• Nominations Reactions
• Nominations by the Numbers
• The Nominations Sidebar

20 Weeks to Oscar: Follow the Voting – A rather bizarre list … but not really shocking

20 Weeks To Oscar: Nominations Morning – Follow The Voting

The entire list of nominations is a checkerboard, which speaks to the mess The Academy created with the January 3 date (which subsequently changed to January 4 when The Academy bothered to look at the calendar sometime in December.)

An argument could be made that this is exciting… that the nominations being all over the place, with the exception of Lincoln, makes for a more interesting night. Perhaps.