Short List for Best Foreign Language Film

The short list for the Best Motion Picture in the Foreign Language Category was released this morning by the Academy, the final short list in this category. These are the nine films from which the final five nominated films will be chosen in the next round of voting for the 84th Academy Awards. I note that the Golden Globe winning Iranian motion picture, A Separation, made the cut. There were 63 motion pictures in the original qualifying list. For that original list, see link on right sidebar of this blog.

Here is the short list from which the nominated films will come, listed in alphabetical order by country with director:

Belgium -- Bullhead, Michael R. Roskam;
Canada -- Monsieur Lazhar, Philippe Falardeau;
Denmark -- Superclásico, Ole Christian Madsen;
Germany -- Pina, Wim Wenders;
Iran -- A Separation, Asghar Farhadi;
Israel -- Footnote, Joseph Cedar;
Morocco -- Omar Killed Me, Roschdy Zem;
Poland -- In Darkness, Agnieszka Holland;
Taiwan -- Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale, Wei Te-sheng.

Foreign Language Film nominations for 2011 are again being determined in two phases:

A. Phase I. A committee, consisting of several hundred Los Angeles-based members, screened the 63 eligible films between mid-October and January 13. The group’s top six choices, augmented by three additional selections voted by the Academy’s Foreign Language Film Award Executive Committee, constitute the shortlist.

B. Phase 2. The shortlist will be winnowed down to the five nominees by specially invited committees in New York and Los Angeles. They will spend Friday, January 20, through Sunday, January 22, viewing three films each day and then casting their ballots.

The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater, with actress Jennifer Lawrence assisting Academy President Tom Sherak.

Academy Awards for outstanding motion picture achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood and Highland Center, and broadcast world-wide to 225 countries, on ABC in the U.S.

Visit the fantastic new Oscars Website by clicking the title of this post. Watch for the new 84th Academy Awards trailer at your local theater.

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All information in this post is copy written, and is posted on this copy written bog with permission from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

Oscar Nomination Ballots for 2012 in the Mail

 How many feature motion pictures will be nominated this year?

Nomination ballots for the 84th Academy Awards on February 26th of next year, were mailed yesterday to the 5,783 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Completed ballots must be returned to PricewaterhouseCoopers (Pwc) by Friday, January 13, 2012, and by 5 p.m., PT, that day. Ballots received after the deadline will not be counted. I can personally attest to that.

Meanwhile, my readers are asking, "How many feature films will be nominated for best picture this year?" A very good question.

Last year, there were 10 feature motion pictures and many of my readers, as well as myself, feel that was too many. Because of the extra five movies, the Academy had to cut some of the more enjoyable features of previous broadcasts. In exchange we got, in essence, five more movie commercials, which we had already seen multiple times. The Academy did not see a spike in viewership because of the additional nominations, either.

So how many this year? It's up in the air. As I understand it, PwC will tabulate the results as usuL, but they will have a bit more work to do this year.

Each Academy voter will number their preferences for the nominations for the best feature motion picture from one to five, and the PWC tabulation will determine the results by determining the movies that have the most votes. They will choose the top five, perhaps the top seven, ten? Who knows?

The rules state that no more than ten motion pictures, and no less than five, shall be nominated for the Best Picture of 2011. So, wait for the surprise Tuesday, January 24th, when the 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater at 5:30 a.m. PT. Check your local national network television stations for broadcast times in your area. ABC's "Good Morning America" on that date is the best bet.

Nominations and final-awards ballots are tabulated by PwC to ensure that all aspects of the balloting process are conducted with fairness and accuracy. Prior to mailing any ballots, the PwC staff administers a thorough verification process to ensure that there are no duplicate ballots and that none are missing. In addition to being counted and sorted, the ballots are numbered to guarantee that each one is addressed to the appropriate Academy voter.

The final Oscar ballots, by which the winners will be determined, will be mailed Wednesday, February 2nd. The best motion picture of 2011 winner will be determined by the nominated feature picture that has the most Academy members marking that motion picture as number one on their final ballot. There are no runner-ups in this contest.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

Composer Thomas Newman Leads with Most Original Music Scores Eligible for Oscar Nomination

Ninety-seven scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures are in competition for nominations in the Original Score category for the 84th Academy Awards.

Composer Thomas Newman

Composer Thomas Newman has the most original scores eligible for nomination. He has four: The Adjustment Bureau, The Debt, The Help, and The Iron Lady starring Meryl Streep. One, or more of these feature motion pictures will get a best picture nod.

Thomas Newman, has exemplary musical pedigree, being the son of composer Alfred Newman; nephew of Lionel Newman and Emil Newman; and cousin of Randy Newman. An accomplished pianist, Newman almost always plays piano on his own scores, typically during slow, moody passages.

He has been nominated for nine best score Oscars, but has never won, not even for such motion pictures as Finding Nemo, Road to Perdition, Little Women, American Beauty, and The Shawshank Redemption. I think 2012 may be this Newman's year.

Composer Alexandre Desplat is not nominated for The Tree of Life. It could be because much of the music for that movie consists of vintage recordings, and that movie score was disqualified. Desplat is nominated for three other scores: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and The Ides of March.

A possible cousin of mine, one of the James among many in the Horner family, this one known as James Roy and an Oscar-winning composer (Titanic, Avatar, Braveheart, etc.), is not nominated this year, either.

The venerable John Williams is nominated for The Adventures of Tintin and War Horse, both collaborations with Steven Spielberg. They have worked together going back to Jaws. Williams won Oscars for Jaws, ET, and Shindler's List. See his full music composition repertoire.

The eligible scores along with the composer(s) are listed below in alphabetical order by film title:

The Adventures of Tintin, John Williams
African Cats, Nicholas Hooper
Albert Nobbs, Brian Byrne
Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, Mark Mothersbaugh
Anonymous, Thomas Wander and Harald Kloser
Another Earth, Phil Mossman and Will Bates
Answers to Nothing, Craig Richey
Arthur Christmas, Harry Gregson-Williams
The Artist, Ludovic Bource
@urFRENZ, Lisbeth Scott
Atlas Shrugged Part, Elia Cmiral
Battle: Los Angeles, Brian Tyler
Beastly, Marcelo Zarvos
The Big Year, Theodore Shapiro
Captain America: The First Avenger, Alan Silvestri
Cars 2, Michael Giacchino
Cedar Rapids, Christophe Beck
Conan the Barbarian, Tyler Bates
The Conspirator, Mark Isham
Contagion, Cliff Martinez
Coriolanus, Ilan Eshkeri, composer
DAM999, Ousepachan, composer
The Darkest Hour, Tyler Bates
The Debt, Thomas Newman
Dolphin Tale, Mark Isham
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
Dream House, John Debney
The Eagle, Atli Orvarsson
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Alexandre Desplat
Fast Five, Brian Tyler
The First Grader, Alex Heffes
The Flowers of War, Qigang Chen
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
The Greatest Miracle, Mark McKenzie
Green Lantern, James Newton Howard
Hanna, Tom Rowlands
Happy Feet Two, John Powell
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2," Alexandre Desplat
The Help, Thomas Newman
Hop, Christopher Lennertz
Hugo, Howard Shore
I Don’t Know How She Does It, Aaron Zigman
The Ides of March, Alexandre Desplat
Immortals, Trevor Morris
In Search of God, Rupam Sarmah
In the Land of Blood and Honey, Gabriel Yared
In Time, Craig Armstrong
Insidious, Joseph Bishara
The Iron Lady, Thomas Newman
J. Edgar, Clint Eastwood Jane Eyre, Dario Marianelli
The Lady, Eric Serra
Like Crazy, Dustin O’Halloran
Margaret, Nico Muhly
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Michael Giacchino
Mr. Popper’s Penguins, Rolfe Kent
Moneyball, Mychael Danna
Monte Carlo, Michael Giacchino
New Year’s Eve, John Debney
Norman, Andrew Bird
One Day, Rachel Portman, composer
Puss in Boots, Henry Jackman
Rampart, Dickon Hinchliffe
Real Steel, Danny Elfman
Rebirth, Philip Glass
Red Riding Hood, Alex Heffes and Brian Reitzell
Restless, Danny Elfman
Rio, John Powell
Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Patrick Doyle
The Rite, Alex Heffes
The Rum Diary, Christopher Young
Sanctum, David Hirschfelder
Sarah’s Key, Max Richter
Senna, Antonio Pinto
Shame, Harry Escott
The Skin I Live In, Alberto Iglesias
The Smurfs, Heitor Pereira
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Rachel Portman
Super 8, Michael Giacchino
Take Shelter, David Wingo
The Thing, Marco Beltrami
Thor, Patrick Doyle
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Alberto Iglesias
Tower Heist, Christophe Beck
W.E., Abel Korzeniowski
War Horse, John Williams
Warrior, Mark Isham
Water for Elephants, James Newton Howard
The Way, Tyler Bates
We Bought a Zoo, Jon Thor Birgisson
We Need to Talk about Kevin, Jonny Greenwood
Win Win, Lyle Workman
Winnie the Pooh, Henry Jackman
X-Men: First Class, Henry Jackman
Young Adult, Rolfe Kent
Your Highness, Steve Jablonsky

A Reminder List of works submitted in the Original Score category will be sent with a nominations ballot to all members of the Music Branch who shall vote in the order of their preference for not more than five achievements. The five achievements receiving the highest number of votes will become the nominations for final voting for the award.

To be eligible, the original score must be a substantial body of music that serves as original dramatic underscoring, and must be written specifically for the motion picture by the submitting composer. Scores diluted by the use of tracked themes or other preexisting music, diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs, or assembled from the music of more than one composer will not be eligible.

The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, 2012, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre at the Hollywood and Highland Center, and televised live by the ABC Television Network.

65 Countries Vie for Best Foreign Film Oscar®

Sixty-five countries, including first-time entrants Ethiopia and Greenland, have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category (BFLF) for the 83rd Academy Awards® to be presented Sunday, February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®. These films will now begin a process of being selected for a nomination in the category.

The 2010 submissions are:

• Albania, “East, West, East,” Gjergj Xhuvani, director;
• Algeria, “Hors la Loi” (“Outside the Law”), Rachid Bouchareb, director;
• Argentina, “Carancho,” Pablo Trapero, director;
• Austria, “La Pivellina,” Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel, directors;
• Azerbaijan, “The Precinct,” Ilgar Safat, director;
• Bangladesh, “Third Person Singular Number,” Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, director;
• Belgium, “Illegal,” Olivier Masset-Depasse, director;
• Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Circus Columbia,” Danis Tanovic, director;
• Brazil, “Lula, the Son of Brazil,” Fabio Barreto, director;
• Bulgaria, “Eastern Plays,” Kamen Kalev, director;
• Canada, “Incendies,” Denis Villeneuve, director;
• Chile, “The Life of Fish,” Matias Bize, director;
• China, “Aftershock,” Feng Xiaogang, director;
• Colombia, “Crab Trap,” Oscar Ruiz Navia, director;
• Costa Rica, “Of Love and Other Demons,” Hilda Hidalgo, director;
• Croatia, “The Blacks,” Goran Devic and Zvonimir Juric, directors;
• Czech Republic, “Kawasaki’s Rose,” Jan Hrebejk, director;
• Denmark, “In a Better World,” Susanne Bier, director;
• Egypt, “Messages from the Sea,” Daoud Abdel Sayed, director;
• Estonia, “The Temptation of St. Tony,” Veiko Ounpuu, director;
• Ethiopia, “The Athlete,” Davey Frankel and Rasselas Lakew, directors;
• Finland, “Steam of Life,” Joonas Berghall and Mika Hotakainen, directors;
• France, “Of Gods and Men,” Xavier Beauvois, director;
• Georgia, “Street Days,” Levan Koguashvili, director;
• Germany, “When We Leave,” Feo Aladag, director;
• Greece, “Dogtooth,” Yorgos Lanthimos, director;
• Greenland, “Nuummioq,” Otto Rosing and Torben Bech, directors;
• Hong Kong, “Echoes of the Rainbow,” Alex Law, director;
• Hungary, “Bibliotheque Pascal,” Szabolcs Hajdu, director;
• Iceland, “Mamma Gogo,” Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, director;
• India, “Peepli [Live],” Anusha Rizvi, director;
• Indonesia, “How Funny (Our Country Is),” Deddy Mizwar, director;
• Iran, “Farewell Baghdad,” Mehdi Naderi, director;
• Iraq, “Son of Babylon,” Mohamed Al-Daradji, director;
• Israel, “The Human Resources Manager,” Eran Riklis, director;
• Italy, “La Prima Cosa Bella” (“The First Beautiful Thing”), Paolo Virzi, director;
• Japan, “Confessions,” Tetsuya Nakashima, director;
• Kazakhstan, “Strayed,” Akan Satayev, director;
• Korea, “A Barefoot Dream,” Tae-kyun Kim, director;
• Kyrgyzstan, “The Light Thief,” Aktan Arym Kubat, director;
• Latvia, “Hong Kong Confidential,” Maris Martinsons, director;
• Macedonia, “Mothers,” Milcho Manchevski, director;
• Mexico, “Biutiful,” Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, director;
• Netherlands, “Tirza,” Rudolf van den Berg, director;
• Nicaragua, “La Yuma,” Florence Jaugey, director;
• Norway, “The Angel,” Margreth Olin, director;
• Peru, “Undertow” (“Contracorriente”), Javier Fuentes-Leon, director;
• Philippines, “Noy,” Dondon S. Santos and Rodel Nacianceno, directors;
• Poland, “All That I Love,” Jacek Borcuch, director;
• Portugal, “To Die Like a Man,” Joao Pedro Rodrigues, director;
• Puerto Rico, “Miente” (“Lie”), Rafael Mercado, director;
• Romania, “If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle,” Florin Serban, director;
• Russia, “The Edge,” Alexey Uchitel, director;
• Serbia, “Besa,” Srdjan Karanovic, director;
• Slovakia, “Hranica” (“The Border”), Jaroslav Vojtek, director;
• Slovenia, “9:06,” Igor Sterk, director;
• South Africa, “Life, above All,” Oliver Schmitz, director;
• Spain, “Tambien la Lluvia” (“Even the Rain”), Iciar Bollain, director;
• Sweden, “Simple Simon,” Andreas Ohman, director;
• Switzerland, “La Petite Chambre,” Stephanie Chuat and Veronique Reymond, directors;
• Taiwan, “Monga,” Chen-zer Niu, director;
• Thailand, “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives,” Apichatpong Weerasethakul, director;
• Turkey, “Bal” (“Honey”), Semih Kaplanoglu, director;
• Uruguay, “La Vida Util,” Federico Veiroj, director;
• Venezuela, “Hermano,” Marcel Rasquin, director.

The 83rd Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 25, 2011, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2010 will be televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

Oscar® Nominations Ballots Due Now

The 5,777 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences must return their completed Oscar nominations ballots no later than 5 p.m., tomorrow, Saturday, 23 January to to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC). Ballots received after the deadline will not be counted.

PricewaterhouseCoopers will tabulate the ballots using the preferential voting system. To view the list of movies eligible for nomination in the Best Motion Picture of 2009 category, and for other categories, see the "Oscar Eligible Films" link on the right sidebar. For more about the Academy Awards®, click title of this post.

The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, 2 February 2010, at 5:30 a.m., PT, in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2009 will be presented on Sunday, 7 March 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 5 p.m., PT, or 8 p.m., ET.