Never Mind Pop Film

Sure this ending may not end on the kiss and swell of Elfman's score, but the low-key happenings and humor of this ending strikes me as a good match too.

Courtesy: MTV

Tonight, Never Mind Pop Film is blogging the Oscars live.
The big talk of the 85th Academy Awards will definitely be whether Argo continues to steamroll into a write-in win for Best Director. Daniel Day-Lewis could make history tonight if he wins Lead Actor for the third time. Also looking to make history is Amour actress Emmanuelle Riva who is poised to become the oldest winner for Best Actress, but in order to so she will have to fend off Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica Chastain. The big question tonight will be what wins Best Picture (the last four years, the winner was a given going into the evening, but tonight is a toss-up).
Tonight is my first attempt at doing this, so here goes nothing...
Seth MacFarlane is doing well thus far. He already made Tommy Lee Jones laugh. Still, taking no prisoners.
And there goes his goodwill...
Captain Kirk! Where was he when James Franco co-hosted?
So no Muppets version of Flight then? Bummer.
Best Supporting Actor Christoph Waltz
Cool! Nice to se…

Sunday night is rapidly approaching and the favorites for the 85th Academy Awards have mostly set themselves apart from the field. Still, favorites have a way of managing to be surprised when the winner's name is announced. These nominees may just benefit from playing the dark horse.

Emmanuelle Riva
For a majority of the season, Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica Chastain had the inside track for Best Actress, but along the way 86 year old Riva upset both actresses at the BAFTAs. Her strong performance may connect with a majority of the voting body that thinks Lawrence hasn't paid her dues and Chastain has many nominations in front of her.

Frankenweenie
Wreck-It Ralph is the hip choice right now, it has swept its respective category for the last several awards, but these two animated features have their own passionate fanbases. Tim Burton has never won an Oscar over his long career and maybe that changes Sunday evening. Either way, Disney will win its first Animated Feature Oscar for…

Judging from videos like the one above, entertainment columnists devoting their columns to the voting selections of octogenarians, and Oscar bloggers grabbing at each other's throats, it must be award season again.

Ideally, award shows should be about the celebration of cinema as all moviegoers get a chance to become acquainted with the nominees. For most people, that is the case, but not for Oscar bloggers. War paint is thoroughly applied, for your consideration ads are placed conspicuously and Twitter turns into a battleground.

The problem with the awards season itself is that it doesn't really strive to provoke interesting conversations, Oscar prognosticators act more like loiterers surrounding a fistfight: they spur on the conflict and get their kicks in when one film gets knocked down. In many ways, it's not that different from The Hunger Games, contestants enter battle to the death and only one is crowned victor.

Read more at Film Annex

Regardless of what the Academy eventually chooses for Best Picture, Director, and Actor over the coming months, some will be shouting "again?!" when the winner's name is announced.

Out of all the nominees, nearly none of the leaders in major categories are new to the Oscar derby. Previous winners like Robert DeNiro, Sally Field, Denzel Washington, Joaquin Phoenix, Helen Hunt and Philip Seymour Hoffman could all add to their totals on Oscar night. And those are only a few names; the entire Supporting Actor category is made up of former winners!

With the exception of Amour and Beasts of the Southern Wild, the majority of the nominated films also have winners behind them. Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty) won Best Director three years ago for Hurt Locker, Steven Spielberg (Lincoln) is a two-time winner for Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List and Ang Lee (Life of Pi) also won a Best Director Oscar previously for Brokeback Mountain.

Read the rest over at Film Annex

Lincoln leads all contenders with twelve nominations to its name, but the big surprise of the morning was Kathryn Bigelow, Ben Affleck and Quentin Tarantino being left off for Best Director. Did not see that one coming. Also worth mentioning, this year has the oldest nominee for Best Actress and youngest ever (Emmanuelle Riva, 85, for “Amour” & Quvenzhane Wallis, 9, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”). And a point for consideration, can we swap Flight for Looper in Original Screenplay? Best motion picture of the year:
"Amour"
"Argo" Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck and George Clooney, Producers
"Beasts of the Southern Wild" Dan Janvey, Josh Penn and Michael Gottwald, Producers
"Django Unchained" Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin and Pilar Savone, Producers
"Les Miserables" Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward and Cameron Mackintosh, Producers
"Life of Pi" Gil Netter, Ang Lee and David Womark, Producers
"Lincoln" Steven Spielberg and K…

Before tomorrow's Academy Award nominations are announced, I would just like to take a second to offer a few predictions about Best Picture.

One of these films will have 10+ nominations
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty

These Films Are Locks
Amour
Argo
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty

They Will Be Happy Just to be Mentioned in Any Way
The Dark Knight Rises
The Master
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook
Skyfall

Let the drunken brawl between Lincoln and Zero Dark Thirty for the shiny gold man commence!

The Critics Choice Movie Awards air January 10, 2013. A fun aside, the BFCA is introducing several new categories including “Favorite Fan Franchise,” where all fans vote for the winner. You can vote over at Awards Circuit!

BEST PICTURE
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
The Master
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

BEST ACTOR
Bradley Cooper – “Silver Linings Playbook”
Daniel Day-Lewis – “Lincoln”
John Hawkes – “The Sessions”
Hugh Jackman – “Les Misérables”
Joaquin Phoenix – “The Master”
Denzel Washington – “Flight”

BEST ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain – “Zero Dark Thirty”
Marion Cotillard – “Rust and Bone”
Jennifer Lawrence – “Silver Linings Playbook”
Emmanuelle Riva – “Amour”
Quvenzhané Wallis – “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Naomi Watts – “The Impossible”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin – “Argo”
Javier Bardem – “Skyfall”
Robert De Niro – “Silver Linings Playbook”
Philip Seymour Hoffman – “The Master”
Tommy Lee Jones – …

The AFI came out with their top ten list of American films this year. It was quite a pleasant surprise to see The Dark Knight Rises make an appearance, although it may have come at the expense of a film like The Master. Lincoln and Zero Dark Thirty at this point have become must-haves for any top ten list for the year. If AFI's selections hold true, December shall bring a great deal of excellent pictures.
ARGO BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD THE DARK KNIGHT RISES DJANGO UNCHAINED LES MISÉRABLES LIFE OF PI LINCOLN MOONRISE KINGDOM SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK ZERO DARK THIRTY

That time is upon us once again, the time where the high caliber films start making waves during awards ceremonies. Silver Linings Playbook and Moonrise Kingdom have landed the first blow with the most nominations for this year's Independent Spirit Awards. The momentum may not carry for Moonrise, but given that SLP is backed by The Weinstein Company, expect a big push for that film.
Keeping my fingers crossed for Jack Black for Bernie, very much deserving of the praise and unlikely to receive its due with Daniel Day-Lewis, Denzel Washington and John Hawkes in the fold.
Best Feature Beasts of the Southern Wild Bernie Keep the Lights On Moonrise Kingdom Silver Linings Playbook
Best Director Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom Julia Loktev, The Loneliest Planet David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook Ira Sachs, Keep the Lights On Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Best Female Lead Linda Cardellini, Return Emayatzy Corinealdi, Middle of Nowhere Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Play…

Of all the franchises in the NFL, the Philadelphia Eagles have the most impassioned fanbase. Wins move the entire city, a loss, particularly at Dallas, could ruin an entire Sunday. Eagles fans' well-being depend on a winning season. The Solitanos are such a family.

Pal Solitano (Bradley Cooper) has no control over the things that come out of his mouth. Everyone is guilty of having their mental filter go on the fritz, but Pat's is permanently stuck on off. He's been working on self-improvement at the clinic he was court-appointed to following a violent conflict between himself, his wife and her lover. His mother Dolores (Jacki Weaver) has decided that eight months is long enough and brings Pat back home.

Pat has a game-plan toward getting his life back in order: get in shape, get his old job and get his wife back. Nikki has since moved on and as a gesture of good faith, filed a restraining order against him. Despite what his friends tell him, he is quite happy in his delus…