Circuit Round-Up, 08/14

* Last week, our esteemed Editor published his highly anticipated predictions for Best Lead Actor, Lead Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress.

* Joey Magidson’s DVD Pick of the Week was a divisive superhero indie, and promised a very good release in a few weeks.

* Mike Ward reported on the surprising success of Rise of the Planet of the Apes for his Box Office Actuals.

Could Harry Potter be a Best Picture contender?

Possibly, according to E! Online:

Harry Potter was very, very good to Hollywood this past weekend.

Will Hollywood finally be very, very good to Harry Potter at the Oscars?

"Hopefully, it will be given the attention it deserves," Warner Bros. exec Dan Fellman told us Sunday.

The first seven Potter films combined to earn nine nominations and zero wins. More than that, not one of the movies was seriously in contention for Best Picture.

But if the history-making opening weekend of the franchise's finale, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, isn't enough of a game-changer, then the film's critical reception may be.

Said Fellman: "The reviews are sensational."

Circuit Round-Up, 05/19

* Last week, John H. Foote weighed in on The Tree of Life and submitted his Oscar predictions.

* Joey’s DVD Pick of the Week is a, well, terrible movie, but he didn’t have a strong release slate this week at all. On the plus side, we (specifically John) have a quote on the DVD box for True Grit!

* I didn’t fare much better in previewing the new theatrical releases.

* But I suppose I shouldn’t complain; I never gave an amazing performance that was snubbed by the Academy like Maria Bello.

* Okay, okay, no more grouchiness. On the more positive side, Anna Belickis discovers a great actress that she’s unknowingly been a fan of for a long time for this week’s Women in Cinema.

* Also on a very positive note, our online community did a great job distinguishing themselves with some interesting and quality nominees for ACCA 2001. Well done, guys!

* Finally, The Awards Circuit extends its congratulations to Clayton Davis for celebrating his first Father’s Day as a proud parent himself!

Circuit Round-Up, 05/15

* Last week, Mike Ward gave a positive review of Thor, while Joey Magidson wrote a very positive review of The Beaver.

* Joey’s DVD Pick of the Week is hands-down one of the best films of 2010.

* I made a very rare plea in my preview of the weekend releases.

* I wrote two editorials last week; one about my frustration at demands for fidelity in adaptations, the other being worried about Christianity as a theme for mindless action films.

* I also reminisced about some of the brilliant performances of Paul Bettany’s career in Under the Circuit.

* Anna Belickis continues her coverage of "Dancing with the Stars."

* The Top Ten Funniest Female Film Performances are unveiled. What is your favorite comedic performance from an actress?

* Finally, our esteemed Editor Clayton Davis commenced his official predictions for next year’s Academy Awards, starting with Best Picture. Stay tuned for his predictions in the other categories!

The Awards Circuit Staff begin to let loose with some Oscar Predictions!

Yes, we're off and running with Staff Predictions on the Main Page. They may be up later than some of you would prefer, but they're still earlier than the vast majority of other sites, so just keep that in mind. Check out the predictions here, starting with mine (which have changed somewhat from my original ones on the blog...those can be seen here for comparison) and Robert's, with the rest to come very soon! As always, be sure to let us know what you think about them.

-What do you think of our predictions? What are your predictions?

Discuss!

Joey's year in advance Oscar predictions!

Taking a blind stab at next year's Oscar predictions...

It seems like the first thing we Oscar pundits do once the big night is over is begin to fret over next year. It’s a funny thing really, look at anyone’s predictions a year out and they’re bound to be horrifically wrong. For my part, just look at the 10 films I had predicted early on for the 2010 Oscars: Black Swan, Blue Valentine, The Fighter, Get Low, The Kids Are All Right, Love and Other Drugs, Shanghai, Shutter Island, The Social Network, and The Tree of Life. I wound up 4 out of 10, which isn’t bad, but none were the winner. I even managed to pick two that didn’t even come out (though one is going to be a big contender this year) in 2010! Obviously, it’s a fool’s errand, but what kind of prognosticator would I be if I didn’t press on anyhow? As such, I humbly present to you how I see the Oscar nominations going in a few of the big categories, with suitably clueless and half-hearted commentary to boot. This will be funny to look at this time next year, I promise. They always do…

Our annual Will Win/Should Win series continues on...

...with the second installment today, by yours truly. That one can be found here, with John Foote's one here as well.

-Let us know what you think!

Joey's Grandfather makes his annual Oscar picks!

As I do every year, I submit to you my grandfather's Oscar picks. He's 77 years old, retired from the film industry (a former projectionist and Union official), and sees almost as many films as I do. I've asked him to choose his personal choices, along with a runner-up (or in the case of Best Picture, to do preferential balloting), in order to see just how someone who resembles the average Academy member might cast his or her ballot. Here they are:

Best Picture

1. The Fighter
2. Black Swan
3. The Social Network
4. The King's Speech
5. True Grit
6. The Kids Are All Right
7. 127 Hours
8. Winter's Bone
9. Inception
10. Toy Story 3

The rest of his picks after the cut...

Roger Ebert makes his Oscar picks!

Here you go:

Best Picture: On the day the Oscar nominations were announced, I made some quick guesses and toyed with the possibility that “True Grit” might sneak in. I've changed my mind and now agree with the conventional wisdom that “The King's Speech” will be the year's best picture winner. Still, “True Grit” or “The Social Network” could pull off an upset.

Actor in a leading role: Colin Firth for “The King's Speech.” Jeff Bridges is unlikely to win a second year in a row, and although James Franco did a heroic job under his (shall we say) constraints in “127 Hours,” Hollywood loves British history and often gives extra points to U.K. nominees.

Actress in a leading role: In the way that such matters are decided by currents wafting in the air, Natalie Portman has emerged as the consensus choice. She is very good in “Black Swan.” That's beside the point. Everyone is good in this category. But she gets to “act” the most, which to the academy, often means “act out in emotional displays.” She was required to do that by the logic of the role, which had Oscar written all over it.

Actor in a supporting role: Geoffrey Rush. Because it could be a “King's Speech” year. Christian Bale seems to have a good chance, but when a movie gets anointed, its aura shines on its other nominees, as if voters are thinking, “Well, if I voted for ‘The King's Speech,' doesn't that mean I keep voting for it?”

Actress in a supporting role: That tendency won't carry over to this category, however, because while Helena Bonham Carter as the king's wife was splendid, as she almost always is, the role wasn't showy. The academy has a way in this category of anointing a plucky young newcomer, and the winner will be Hailee Steinfeld, who in fact played the lead in “True Grit,” no matter what the academy thinks. Melissa Leo and Amy Adams will split support for “The Fighter.”

Directing: Well, here I'm more or less forced to choose Tom Hooper of “The King's Speech” because he won the Directors Guild Award, and you know the mantra: The DGA winner wins the best director Oscar 90 percent of the time. Contrarian speculation would be risky.