Box Office and the Oscars®

WINTER'S BONE

THE KING'S SPEECH

There is often speculation that motion pictures that do well at the Box Office have more of a chance of winning an Oscar®. I have been an "Oscar watcher" for longer than I shall admit here and, frankly, there does not seem to be a correlation. I would love to research it and do a quantified statistical study. Anyone want to fund it? But, then, there are so many variables.

So, let's get down to crunching some numbers pertaining to this year's nominees for Best Motion Picture and their Box Office numbers just before they were nominated. We will do the winner's stats after the 83rd Academy Awards®, February 17.

Having compared the grosses of the ten nominees on January 24, let us rank them all, highest gross first with the number of their nominations in parentheses:

TOY STORY 3, $414.9M (5); INCEPTION, $292.5 (8); TRUE GRIT, $137.9M (10); THE SOCIAL NETWORK, $95.4M (8); BLACK SWAN, $83.2M (5 ); THE FIGHTER $72.6 (7); THE KING'S SPEECH, $57.3M (12 ); THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT (4 ); 127 HOURS (6); and WINTER'S BONE $6.2m (4). (For more see: Box Office Mojo.)

Please, keep in mind that these movies were released at different times. Some had a longer time to amass Box Office numbers than others but, even so, one can easily see that the Box Office receipts had little impact on the number of nominations a movie received.

To get a better comparison, let's break them down starting with TOY STORY 3, which was leading the Box Office receipts by miles just before the Best Picture nominations were announced. It was the earliest Best Picture nominee to release, June 18, and it's gross was $414.9 Million on January 24. By comparison, the lowest-budgeted independent movie, WINTER'S BONE, released June 11th, with a gross of $6.2M. The highest and the lowest. Yet, WINTER'S BONE is nominated for four Oscars, Toy Story, five.

The second best gross was INCEPTION'S $292.5M, released July 16th. We can compare that to the low-budget nominated movie released only two days before on July 9th, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, which came in at $20.8M.

Moving on to Oct 1st, and to one of the most anticipated movies of the year, THE SOCIAL NETWORK. Its gross was $95.4M.

THE KING'S SPEECH was released November 26th, almost two months later, and grossed $57.3M. Do the math, use an algorithm, whatever, and you see right away that THE KING'S SPEECH was only $48.1M behind THE SOCIAL NETWORK on January 24th and, therefore, THE KING'S SPEECH shows stronger legs than THE SOCIAL NETWORK. Also released in November, 127 HOURS opened on November 5th, and it grossed a weak $11.2M. Wobbly legs at best.

Three nominated movies were released in December. BLACK SWAN opened first, December 3rd, THE FIGHTER on December 10, followed by TRUE GRIT on December 22nd. The last Best Picture nominee to open.

How do their gross totals on January 24 compare? One would think that the last movie opening would have the least gross. Not so. The last film grossed the most behind INCEPTION, which was released five months earlier. The grosses for the movies opening from the 3rd to the 22nd of December were: BLACK SWAN $83.2M, THE FIGHTER $72.6M, and TRUE GRIT $137.9M. I predict TRUE GRIT has legs of a stallion.

Click the title of this post to access the Official 2011 Oscar Web site. See previous posts, below, for more, and there will be many more posts between now and the February 27th 83rd Academy Awards Gala. Next Post: "Acting Nominations Compared to Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards."  The SAG awards will be held tomorrow night.

Discussing More Best Picture Oscar® Nominations

In the Previous post directly below, we looked at the Academy Awards® nominations, announced January 25th. We began with the Best Picture nominee that received the most nominations for the coveted Oscar®, The King's Speech (12), and right behind it, True Grit (10). Next in the order of the number of nominations for Best Picture, are The Social Network, Inception and The Fighter. The Social Network and Inception each received eight nominations.

Besides the Best Picture nod, other nominations for The Social Network are: Best Actor for Jessie Eisenberg’s portrayal of  Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, Director (David Fincher), Adapted Screenplay (Aaron Sorkin) and Original Score (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross). Other Achievement nominations are for Cinematography, Film Editing and Sound Mixing.

The other nominations for Inception are: Art Direction, Cinematography, Original  Score, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Visual Effects, and Original Screenplay (Christopher Nolan). 

The surprise is that the creator of the film and director, Christopher Nolan, was nominated for Original Screenplay, but did not receive a nomination for Best Director. Because Nolan did not get a nomination in that category, and there is no nomination for Film Editing, either, Inception may be hurt in the final voting. The more nominations related to the Hollywood Guilds, the more votes a movie garners. With large Academy memberships are the Screen Actors Guild of (SAG), The Producers Guild of America (PGA) and the Director's Guild of America (DGA). The SAG nominations are this weekend.
 
The Fighter is next with seven nominations. Besides Best Picture, The Fighter received three acting nominations, as did The King's Speech. Christian Bale is nominated for an actor in a supporting role; Amy Adams for an actress in a supporting role; and Melissa Leo for an actress in a supporting role. Other Achievement nominations were: Directing (David O. Russell); Film Editing; and Original screenplay (Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson).
 
Click the title of this post to access the Official 2011 Oscar Web site. There will be many more posts on this blog discussing the nomination categories between now and the February 27th 83rd Academy Awards Gala. Next post? "Box Office and the Oscar".

Best Picture Oscar® Nominations and One Long Shot

I found no surprises in the Oscar nominations announced today by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the 83rd Academy Awards®. I haven't even seen The King's Speech, yet, but I tapped it a month ago to get an Oscar® nomination for the Best Motion Picture of 2010. It received the most nominations, twelve in all.

Actors Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush all received nominations, a stellar lineup. Firth was nominated for Best Actor in a lead role. Rush and Carter were nominated in the acting supporting categories, actor and actress respectively. Director Tom Hooper made the cut for achievement as best director.

The other nine Best Picture slots went to 127 Hours, The Kids Are All Right, Black Swan, The Social Network, Inception, The Fighter, Winter's Bone, Toy Story 3, and True Grit. The King's Speech did exceedingly well in the technical categories to gain a sure footing on the path to a Best Motion Picture Oscar.

Remember boys and girls, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) has the biggest voting block in the Academy. Thus, where SAG goes, the academy usually follows. SAG will give their awards this Sunday (30th).

All the actors nominated for their roles in The Social Network are also nominated for SAG awards in the same categories. Plus, the movie is nominated for the Best Cast award. The others nominated by SAG for best cast are: Black Swan, The Fighter, The Kids Are All Right and The Social Network.

The other directors nominated are: David Fincher (The Social Network), Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), the Brothers Cohen (True Grit) and David O. Russell (The Fighter).

The King's Speech received seven other nominations for achievement in: art direction, cinematography, film editing, original score, original screenplay, sound mixing and costume design.

Getting the most nominations is always commendable in the Oscar race, but movies have racked up the most nominations before, only to go home empty handed. I do not think The King's Speech will experience that problem.

Now, that I have acknowledged True Grit above, I must clarify the statements used in some of the reporting about the movie's lack of even a single Golden Globe nomination. The words, or phrases, used were snubbed, overlooked, passed over, ignored, etc. The truth is, True Grit was not released until December 22, and the Globes ballots were mailed to members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) on December 2nd. The final screening date was the 8th, press conferences the 9th, and ballots were due at Ernst and Young on the 10th for tabulation. Paramount set the HFPA an impossible task.

In not releasing True Grit before December first, Paramount allowed the studio to grab a good box office gross over the holidays, and take the lead in money charts, but it was too late for True Grit to get any Golden Globe nominations. I think that was a bad move by Paramount.

True Grit came in second in the Oscar race with ten nominations, including acting honors for Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld. Also, the aforementioned Cohen brothers directing nomination as well as their nomination for best adapted screenplay. In the other "achievement in" categories, True Grit was nominated for: art direction, costume, cinematography, film editing, sound editing and mixing.

Actor Jeff Bridges (Rooster) is nominated by SAG for best actor. SAG nominated actress Hailee Stienfeld (Mattie) in the best supporting actress category, too. There has been some contention about Stienfeld's supporting actress nod. Some believe that she should have been nominated as best actress.

The best picture long shot? That would be Toy Story 3 (Walt Disney), which I previously suggested would probably be nominated in the Best Motion Picture category, as well as the Best Animated Feature Film category. With it in the last category are: How to Train Your Dragon (Paramount) and The Illusionist (Sony Pictures). If I were voting, I would vote for Toy Story 3 for the Oscar in this category. It is no Fantasia. I think the Best Picture nomination is a "special salute" to Walt Disney and all those who participated in the Toy Story trilogy, and that, in itself, is a good thing.

The same was probably true about the salute to UP last year. I personally felt that the salute was not only for Walt Disney and Pixar, as well as all who participated, but it was an extra special salute to Mr. Edward Asner and Mr. Christopher Plummer.


More posts to follow about the nominations. Next post, "Discussing Three More Best Picture Nominees".

Oscar® Nominations on Internet and Mobile

  

Tomorrow morning, Tuesday, January 25, the 83rd Academy Awards® nominations announcement will be streamed live on the Internet, which will also be available for viewing on mobile devices. As usual, the nominations will be broadcast from the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

According to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Web and Mobile cast will begin at 5:30 a.m. PT with “Road to the Oscars®,” featuring Chris Harrison, host of ABC’s The Bachelor and TV Guide Network’s Academy Awards red carpet show. His co-host will be Dave Karger, senior writer at Entertainment Weekly. Livestream.com will facilitate the stream on behalf of the Academy.

Harrison will introduce several brief segments that celebrate the year in movies as well as the upcoming Oscar® ceremony. Karger will join him in a discussion of movie trends from 2010 and how those trends might be reflected in the nominations.

Academy President Tom Sherak and last year’s Supporting Actress winner, Mo’Nique, will then take the stage in the Samuel Goldwyn Theater at 5:38:30 a.m. PT, to reveal the nominees for 10 categories: Leading Actor, Leading Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Animated Feature Film, Directing, Foreign Language Film, Adapted Screenplay, Original Screenplay and Best Motion Picture.

Immediately following the live announcement, Harrison and Karger will return to discuss interesting facts about the year’s nominees, Academy records that may have been broken, the movies receiving the most nominations and the races that look to be especially compelling.  Additionally, they will be revealing a new piece of information about the Oscar telecast.

In February, “Road to the Oscars” will return exclusively on Oscar.com, the official Web site of the Academy Awards (click title of this post). Harrison will host the 10-episode series, with Karger offering insights about each of the 10 movies nominated for Best Picture.

The January 25 nominations announcement edition of “Road to the Oscars” can be viewed on Oscar.com (click title of this post), Oscars.org, Facebook.com/TheAcademy and Livestream.com/AcademyAwards, as well as on other sites that choose to embed the stream.  The stream will also be enabled for mobile devices.

As usual, numerous television stations and networks will broadcast the 5:38:30 a.m. announcement live. However, the “Road to the Oscars” content before and after the announcement will be available exclusively online and on mobile devices.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2010 will be presented on Sunday, February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live on the ABC Television Network.The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

Three Categories announce Oscar® Race Short Lists

 

The ballots are in for nominations for the 83rd Academy Awards® in the categories for which all Academy members voted. Committees are hard at work choosing the films submitted by certain guilds in the Academy considered having the knowledge to choose those nominees.

 The nominees will be announced live next Tuesday, January 25, 2011, at 5:30 a.m. PT, in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Making the announcement will be Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President, Tom Sherak, and Oscar-winning Academy member, actress Mo’Nique.

The committees choosing the nominees for the Best Foreign Language Film of 2010, the Best Special Effects, and Best Makeup have issued their short lists:

Nine Foreign Language Films Continue in Oscar Race

Sixty-six films originally qualified in this category and now there are nine. The films, listed in alphabetical order by country with director, are:

Algeria, Hors la Loi (Outside the Law), Rachid Bouchareb;

Canada, Incendies, Denis Villeneuve,

Denmark, In a Better World, Susanne Bier;

Greece, Dogtooth, Yorgos Lanthimos;

Japan, Confessions, Tetsuya Nakashima;

Mexico, Biutiful, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu;

South Africa, Life, above All, Oliver Schmitz;

Spain, Tambien la Lluvia (Even the Rain), Iciar Bollain;

Sweden, Simple Simon, Andreas Ohman.

Foreign Language Film nominations for 2010 are again being determined in two phases. The Phase I committee, consisting of several hundred Los Angeles-based members, screened the 66 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 this shortlist.

In Phase II, this list will be winnowed down to the five nominees by specially invited committees in New York and Los Angeles. They will spend today, January 21, through Sunday, January 23, viewing three films each day and then casting their ballots.

Seven Features Vie in Special Effects (VFX)

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, AMPAS®, for short, announced seven films remain in the running in the Visual Effects category for the 83rd Academy Awards.

The films are listed below in alphabetical order:

Alice in Wonderland

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Hereafter

Inception

Iron Man 2

Scott Pilgrim vs the World

Tron: Legacy

All members of the Visual Effects Branch were invited to view 15-minute excerpts from each of the seven shortlisted films on Thursday, January 20. Following the screenings, the members voted to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration. Those five will be announced next Tuesday, January 25.

Seven Advance in Makeup Category

AMPAS has announced that seven films remain in competition in the Makeup category for the 83rd Academy Awards. The films are listed below in alphabetical order:

Alice in Wonderland

Barney’s Version

The Fighter

Jonah Hex

True Grit

The Way Back

The Wolfman

Tomorrow, Saturday, January 22, all members of the Academy’s Makeup Branch will view 10-minute excerpts from each of the seven shortlisted films. Following the screenings, members will vote to nominate three films for final Oscar consideration, and they will be announced with all the nominees on the 25th.

Oscar® Nomination Ballots Due January 14

Voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences must return their completed Oscar® nominations ballots to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) no later than 5 p.m. Friday, January 14. Ballots received after that deadline will not be counted.

 Mo'Nique

The 83rd Academy Awards^® nominations will be announced live Tuesday, January 25, 2011, at 5:30 a.m. PT, in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater, by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak, and Oscar-winning actress and Academy member, Mo’Nique.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2010 will be presented Sunday, February 27, 2011, in the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood and Vine Highland Center^®. The gala will be televised live by the ABC Television Network, and also televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

Possible Feature Film Oscar® Nominees

 

5,755 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences® have received nomination ballots for the upcoming 83rd Academy Awards®. Completed ballots must be returned to PricewaterhouseCoopers by 5 p.m. PT, Friday, January 14, 2011. Ballots received after the deadline will not be counted. See previous post for the complete list of eligible films.

Those of us who follow the movie business, but are not members of the Academy, always like to make our own lists and rate how close we come to picking the nominees and winners. I have managed to complete one nomination list. Here are 12 movies I think stand a very good chance to receive an Oscar® nomination for Best Feature Motion Picture:

• Alice in Wonderland
• Black Swan
• Frankie and Alice
• Inception
• The Fighter
• The Kids Are All Right
• The King's Speech
• The Social Network
• The Town
• True Grit
• Winter's Bone
• 127 Hours

Also, there is buzz for a possible nomination for Toy Story 3, not only for Best Animated Feature Film, but also for Best Feature Motion Picture. It is unusual for animated movies to be nominated in both categories. However, UP (2009) was nominated in both categories last year (2010). It won for Best Animated Feature Film.

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 presented on Sunday, February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood and Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

List of Feature Films In race for Oscar Nominations®

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released a list of films that qualify for this year's nominations for the February 83rd Academy Awards® in the Best Feature Film category. There are 248 films. Here is the list in alphabetical order:

A-TEAM, THE
AGORA
ALICE IN WONDERLAND
ALL GOOD THINGS
ALPHA AND OMEGA
AMERICAN, THE
ANIMAL KINGDOM
ANOTHER YEAR
ANTON CHEKOV’S THE DUEL
APAPORIS
APPLAUSE

BABIES
BARNEY’S VERSION
BIUTIFUL
BLACK SWAN
BLACK TULIP
BLUE VALENTINE
BOOK OF ELI, THE
BOUNTY HUNTER, THE
BROOKLYN’S FINEST
BURIED
BURLESQUE

CAIRO TIME
CASE 39
CASINO JACK
CATFISH
CATS & DOGS: THE REVENGE OF KITTY GALORE
CHARLIE ST. CLOUD
CHLOE
CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER, THE
CITY ISLAND
CLASH OF THE TITANS
COCO CHANEL & IGOR STRAVINSKY
THE COMPANY MEN
THE CONCERT
CONVICTION
COP OUT
COUNTRY STRONG
CRAYON
THE CRAZIES
CYRUS

DATE NIGHT
DAYBREAKERS
DEAR JOHN
DEATH AT A FUNERAL
DEFENDOR
DESPICABLE ME
DEVIL
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID
DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS
DREAMKILLER
DREAMS OF JINSHA, THE
DROOL
THE DRY LAND
DUE DATE

EASY A
EAT PRAY LOVE
EDGE OF DARKNESS
ESSENTIAL KILLING
EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP
EXPECTING MARY
EXPENDABLES, THE
EXTRA MAN, THE

FAIR GAME
FIGHTER, THE
FLIPPED
FOR COLORED GIRLS
FOUR LIONS
FRANKIE & ALICE
FROM PARIS WITH LOVE
FURRY VENGEANCE

GET HIM TO THE GREEK
GET LOW
GHOST WRITER, THE
GIRL ON THE TRAIN, THE
GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEXT, THE
GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE, THE
GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, THE
GOING THE DISTANCE
GREEN ZONE
GREENBERG
GROWN UPS
GULLIVER’S TRAVELS

HAPPY TEARS
HARIMAYA BRIDGE, THE
HARRY BROWN
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1
HEARTBREAKER
HEAVEN’S RAIN
HEMINGWAY’S GARDEN OF EDEN
HEREAFTER
HIDEAWAY (LE REFUGE)
HOLY ROLLERS
HOW DO YOU KNOW
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON
HOWL
HUBBLE 3D

I AM LOVE
I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS
IDIOTS AND ANGELS
ILLUSIONIST, THE
INCEPTION
INSIDE JOB
IRON MAN 2
IT’S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY

JACK GOES BOATING
JACKASS 3D
JOHN RABE
JONAH HEX
JONESES, THE
JUST WRIGHT

KARATE KID, THE
KICK-ASS
KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, THE
KILLERS
KING’S SPEECH, THE
KNIGHT AND DAY

LAST AIRBENDER, THE
LAST EXORCISM, THE
LAST SONG, THE
LEAP YEAR
LEBANON
LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS: THE OWLS OF GA’HOOLE
LEGION
LET ME IN
LETTERS TO GOD
LETTERS TO JULIET
LIFE AS WE KNOW IT
LIFE DURING WARTIME
LIKE DANDELION DUST
LITTLE FOCKERS
LOSERS, THE
LOTTERY TICKET
LOUIS
LOVE & OTHER DRUGS
LOVE RANCH

MACGRUBER
MACHETE
MADE IN DAGENHAM
MAO’S LAST DANCER
MARMADUKE
MEGAMIND
MICMACS
MIDDLE MEN
MISCONCEPTIONS
MONSTERS
MORNING GLORY
MOTHER AND CHILD
MY DOG TULIP
MY NAME IS KHAN
MY SOUL TO TAKE

NANNY MCPHEE RETURNS
NEVER LET ME GO
NEXT THREE DAYS, THE
NIGHT CATCHES US
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET
NOWHERE BOY
NUTCRACKER IN 3D, THE

OSS 117 – LOST IN RIO
OCEANS
ONDINE
127 HOURS
THE OTHER GUYS
OUR FAMILY WEDDING

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2
PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF

PERFECT GAME, THE
PICTURE ME: A MODEL’S DIARY
PIRANHA 3D
PLEASE GIVE
PREACHER’S KID
PREDATORS
PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME
PURE COUNTRY 2: THE GIFT

QUEEN OF THE LOT

RABBIT HOLE
RAMONA AND BEEZUS
RED
RED HILL
REMEMBER ME
REPO MEN
RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE
RESTREPO
ROBIN HOOD
ROZYCZKA
RUNAWAYS, THE

SALT
SAW 3D
SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD
SECRETARIAT
SEQUESTRO
SEX AND THE CITY 2
SHE’S OUT OF MY LEAGUE
SHREK FOREVER AFTER
SHUTTER ISLAND
SICILIAN GIRL, THE
SIX DAYS IN PARADISE
SKYLINE
SOCIAL NETWORK, THE
SOLITARY MAN
SOMEWHERE
SORCERER’S APPRENTICE, THE
SPLICE
THE SPY NEXT DOOR
STEP UP 3D
STONE
SUMMER WARS
SWITCH, THE

TAKERS
TAMARA DREWE
TANGLED
TAQWACORES, THE
TEMPEST, THE
3 BILLION AND COUNTING
TILLMAN STORY, THE
TINKER BELL AND THE GREAT FAIRY RESCUE
TOOTH FAIRY
TOUCHING HOME
TOURIST, THE
TOWN, THE
TOY STORY 3
TRASH HUMPERS
TRON: LEGACY
TRUE GRIT
TWLIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE, THE
TYLER PERRY’S WHY DID I GET MARRIED TOO?

UNBEATEN
UNSTOPPABLE

VALENTINE’S DAY
VAMPIRES SUCK
VIRGINITY HIT, THE

WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN”
WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY
WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS
WARRIOR’S WAY, THE
WATERCOLORS
WAY BACK, THE
WELCOME TO THE RILEYS
WHEN IN ROME
WILD GRASS
WINTER’S BONE
WOLFMAN, THE
A WOMAN, A GUN AND A NOODLE SHOP
WRETCHES & JABBERERS

YOGI BEAR
YOU AGAIN
YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER
YOUTH IN REVOLT 

The rules for eligibility are:

• Films must be feature length (defined as over 40 minutes)
• Publicly exhibited by means of 35mm or 70mm film, or in a 24- or 48-frame progressive scan Digital Cinema format with a minimum projector resolution of 2048 by 1080 pixels
• For paid admission in a commercial motion picture theater in Los Angeles County for a qualifying run of at least seven consecutive days, advertised and exploited during their Los Angeles County qualifying run in a manner considered normal and customary to the industry.
• Films that, in any version, receive their first public exhibition or distribution in any manner other than as a theatrical motion picture release will not be eligible for Academy Awards in any category. (This includes broadcast and cable television as well as home video marketing and Internet transmission.) However, ten minutes or ten percent of the running time of a film, whichever is shorter, is allowed to be shown in a nontheatrical medium prior to the film’s theatrical release.

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 presented on Sunday, February 27, 2011, in 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 200 countries worldwide.

Forty-one Songs Eligible for Oscar® Nomination

Forty-one songs from eligible feature-length motion pictures are in contention for nominations in the Original Song category for the 83rd Academy Awards®, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced a couple of days ago.

The original songs, along with the motion picture in which each song is featured, are listed below in alphabetical order by film and song title:

• "Alice" from "Alice in Wonderland"
• "Forever One Love" from "Black Tulip"
• "Freedom Song" from "Black Tulip"
• "Bound to You" from "Burlesque"
• "Welcome to Burlesque" from "Burlesque"
• "You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me" from "Burlesque"
• "There’s a Place for Us" from "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader"
• "Coming Home" from "Country Strong"
• "Me and Tennessee" from "Country Strong"
• "Despicable Me" from "Despicable Me"
• "Prettiest Girls" from "Despicable Me"
• "Dear Laughing Doubters" from "Dinner for Schmucks"
• "Better Days" from "Eat Pray Love"
• "If You Run" from "Going the Distance"
• "Darkness before the Dawn" from "Holy Rollers"
• "Sticks & Stones" from "How to Train Your Dragon"
• "Le Gris" from "Idiots and Angels"
• "Chanson Illusionist" from "The Illusionist"
• "Never Say Never" from "The Karate Kid"
• "To the Sky" from "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole"
• "What If" from "Letters to Juliet"
• "Life during Wartime" from "Life during Wartime"
• "Made in Dagenham" from "Made in Dagenham"
• "Little One" from "Mother and Child"
• "Be the One" from "The Next Three Days"
• "If I Rise" from "127 Hours"
• "When You See Forever" from "The Perfect Game"
• "I Remain" from "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time"
• "Dream Big" from "Pure Country 2: The Gift"
• "How I Love You" from "Ramona and Beezus"
• "Darling I Do" from "Shrek Forever After"
• "Noka Oi" from "Six Days in Paradise"
• "This Is a Low" from "Tamara Drewe"
• "I See the Light" from "Tangled"
• "Rise" from "3 Billion and Counting"
• "We Belong Together" from "Toy Story 3"
• "Eclipse: All Yours" from "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse"
• "Nothing" from "Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too"
• "A Better Life" from "Unbeaten"
• "Shine" from "Waiting for ‘Superman’"
• "The Reasons Why" from "Wretches and Jabberers"

On Thursday, January 6, the Academy will screen clips featuring each song, in random order, for voting members of the Music Branch in Los Angeles. Following the screenings, members will determine the nominees by an averaged point system vote. If no song receives an average score of 8.25 or more, there will be no nominees in the category. If only one song achieves that score, it and the song receiving the next highest score shall be the two nominees. If two or more songs (up to five) achieve that score, they shall be the nominees.

A DVD copy of the song clips will be made available to those branch members who are unable to attend the screening and who request it for home viewing. A mail-in ballot will be provided.

Under Academy rules, a maximum of two songs may be nominated from any one film. If more than two songs from a film are in contention, the two songs with the most votes will be the nominees.

    

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 presented on Sunday, February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood and Vine; Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

Nominations for 68th Golden Globes Launch Awards Season

Helena Bonham Carter and Colin Firth

With the announcement today by the Foreign Press Association of the nominees for the 68th Golden Globes, the Awards Season to honor the best movies released in 2010 is now officially open. The Golden Globes® will be presented January 16, 2011, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, hosted by Ricky Gervais, and broadcast live on NBC.

First of all, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association enlisted the help of actor Kevin Spacey to announce the 2011's Cecil B. DeMille award winner, actor Robert De Niro. Previous recipients include Martin Scorsese (2010), Steven Spielberg (2009), Warren Beatty (2007) and Anthony Hopkins (2006). Read more.

The British period piece, THE KING'S SPEECH leads the Golden Globes nominations with seven, including best drama and acting honors for Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush. Other best-drama nominees are:

The thriller BLACK SWAN, starring Natalie Portman as a emotionally challenged ballet dancer; the boxing saga THE FIGHTER, starring Mark Walberg; the sci-fi perplexer INCEPTION, starring Leonardo DiCaprio; and the Facebook chronicle THE SOCIAL NETWORK (TSW, for short), starring Jesse Eisenberg.

Eisenberg along with Firth, Portman and Walberg are nominated for best actor / actress in a drama. DiCaprio is not nominated. James Franco is nominated in the best actor category for his role in the survivor tale 127 HOURS, and so is Ryan Gosling for his role in the R-rated, marital-cycle drama BLUE VALENTINE.

Other best actress nominees are: Halle Berry (FRANKIE and ALICE), Nicole Kidman (RABBIT HOLE) and Michelle Williams (BLUE VALENTINE).

THE FIGHTER comes in second with six nominations. On TV, 'Glee' leads with five.

The Golden Globes have another best picture category for feature film besides Drama, that one being Best Musical or Comedy. I personally like this, and for years I have advocated for a similar category for the Oscars® but, so far, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences® will not depart from the one-size-fits-all Best Motion Picture category for feature films. 

Because of the extra Golden Globes category, THE TOURIST is recognized for the movie it really is - - a highbrow comic farce of Mati Hari-like foreign intregue, nothing or no one is what they claim to be movies. It's AIRPLANE for Ivy League graduates. Other movies in the Musical or Comedy category are: ALICE IN WONDERLAND, BURLESQUE, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT and RED.

Also because of that extra category, Johnny Depp has two nominations in the best actor category, one each for THE TOURIST and ALICE in WONDERLAND. Seven other actors and actresses, have a "best" nomination for a Golden Globe. It is likey they would not have been nominated had there been only on feature film  category.

Nominated for best original score in a motion picture is Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor, for THE SOCIAL NETWORK score.  Reznor was recognized alongside A. R. Rahman, nominated for 127 HOURS, and who won an Oscar for SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE; Alexander Desplot for THE KING'S SPEECH; Danny Elfman for ALICE IN WONDERLAND; and Hans Zimmer for INCEPTION. All are heavy-weight award-winning composers.

Click the title of this post to access the best list of all the nominees along with additional information. Golden Globes Official Site.

Next up? The Academy Awards® for outstanding film achievements of 2010 will be presented on Sunday, February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood; Highland Center®, and televised live on the ABC Television Network.

Not Thrilled With Oscar Hosts Picks

Last week, the producers of the 83rd Academy Awards®, Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer, announced that actors James Franco and Anne Hathaway will serve as co-host of the Oscar® telecast in February. The news release admitted that "Both have previously appeared on the telecast but not in hosting capacities."

I searched diligently and could find no one TV show, or anything else, either have hosted, but according to the producers, "James Franco and Anne Hathaway personify the next generation of Hollywood icons— fresh, exciting and multi-talented. We hope to create an Oscar broadcast that will both showcase their incredible talents and entertain the world on Feb. 27."

Oh, joy. Much to look forward to. I have seen two attractive young people giving good performances on the screen, and both have exhibited reasonably good comic timing here and there, Hathaway more so than Franco.

On the screen, they are both candy for the eyes, and are usually enjoyable to watch, but they have no history with the Academy. I wager they know little about the Academy Awards prior to 2000. However, I am sure they will do a credible job of hitting their marks and mouthing their lines.

The only expression that describes what I am thinking about the broadcast this year is, "boring."  I'm sorry, but it is implausible to put two inexperienced young actors on stage and expect them to enhance the Oscar broadcast like Bob Hope, Johnny Caron, Billy Chrystal and so many other seasoned experienced hosts have done. Sometimes, experience and knowledge trump what is "hot" at the moment.

Of course, I wish them both success in their endeavors in their hosting duties.

Lists of Short Films in Oscar® Competition

There are now 10 live action short films that will advance in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' voting process for the 83rd Academy Awards®. Seventy-six pictures originally qualified in the category.

Also, 10 animated short films will advance in the voting process. Thirty-three pictures originally qualified in the category.

The 10 live action films are listed below in alphabetical order by title and director(s).

• Ana’s Playground, Eric D. Howell, director.
• The Confession, Tanel Toom.
• The Crush, Michael Creagh.
• God of Love, Luke Matheny.
• Na Wewe, Ivan Goldschmidt.
• Seeds of the Fall, Patrik Eklund.
• Shoe, Nick Kelly.
• The Six Dollar Fifty Man, Mark Albiston and Louis Sutherland.
• Sma Barn, Stora Ord (Little Children, Big Words), Lisa James Larsson.
• Wish 143, Ian Barnes.

The 10 animated short films are listed below in alphabetical order by title and director(s):

• The Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger, Bill Plympton.
• Coyote Falls, Matthew O’Callaghan.
• Day & Night, Teddy Newton.
• The Gruffalo, Jakob Schuh and Max Lang.
• Let’s Pollute, Geefwee Boedoe.
• The Lost Thing, Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann.
• Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary), Bastien Dubois.
• Sensology, Michel Gagne.
• The Silence beneath the Bark, Joanna Lurie.
• Urs, Moritz Mayerhofer.

The Short Films and Feature Animation Branch Reviewing Committee viewed all the eligible entries for the preliminary round of voting in screenings held in New York and Los Angeles.

The Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members will now select three to five nominees from among the 10 titles on the shortlist. Branch screenings will be held in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco in January 2011.

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.

The Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2010 will be presented on Sunday, February 27, 2011, 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 200 countries worldwide.

Only Three will Accept Governors Award

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, California, has announced that following a two-month-long cordial exchange of correspondence with Academy president Tom Sherak, French director Jean-Luc Godard has regretfully notified Sherak that he will not be able to attend the November 13th Governors Awards and receive his Honorary Oscar® in person.

The November 13th dinner ceremony, produced by Sid Ganis and Don Mischer, will pay tribute to Godard, and others, through film clips and commentary by admirers. The award will be accepted on Godard’s behalf by the Academy and following the event, the Academy will arrange for the Oscar statuette to be delivered to him in Switzerland.

Besides the Honorary Oscar to director Jean-Luc Godard, the Board of Governors of the Academy voted Honorary Awards to historian and preservationist Kevin Brownlow, and to director and actor Eli Wallach. They also voted to present the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to producer-director Francis Ford Coppola.

All four awards will be presented at the Academy’s 2nd Annual Governors Awards dinner at the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center®.The event is by invitation only and will not be televised. However highlights will be shown during the Academy Awards telecast in February.

The Honorary Award, an Oscar statuette, is given to an individual for “extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy.”

The Thalberg Award, a bust of the late motion picture executive, is given to “a creative producer whose body of work reflects a consistently high quality of motion picture production.”

“Each of these honorees has touched movie audiences worldwide and influenced the motion picture industry through their work,” said Sherak. “It will be an honor to celebrate their extraordinary achievements and contributions at the Governors Awards.”

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

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2010 will be presented on Sunday, February 27, 2011, 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 200 countries worldwide.

Lynch to Present at AFI Fest

Director David Lynch will serve as the inaugural Guest Artistic Director at AFI Fest in Los Angeles, November 4 - 11, 2010.

As part of his duties he has picked five feature films to screen in a sidebar, including his own ERASERHEAD, which will screen Saturday, 6 November, on a double bill with Billy Wilder's SUNSET BLVD, and Lynch will present them in person. He made ERASERHEAD as a student at the American Film Institute (AFI).

Also featured in the sidebar are Ingmar Bergman’s HOUR OF THE WOLF, Stanley Kubrick’s LOLITA, Jacques Tati’s MON ONCLE, and Alfred Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW.

The public is invited to tweet questions for Lynch. Responses will take place during the double-bill presentation. Questions should be sent to the AFI Fest Twitter account @AFIFEST).

Click title of post for more.

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.

A New Look

It was a long hot summer, but now it is fall. I have been waiting on Blogger to add new templates, styles and gadgets and they have! My blog is back with a brand new look. It will take some time to add everything I want to add, so stay with me, please.

1. Following those movies that are really worth following.
2. Tracking possible Oscar nominees for best feature movie, best documentary and, of course, best foreign film, etc.
3. Reporting on major film festivals and spotlighting festival winners.

In addition, I hope to be adding video of trailers, and other visual enhancements. So, expect more changes, and I welcome suggestions.

Taking A Break

MIMI AT THE MOVIES

Sorry., but we are having a terrible heat wave which makes it impossible to run my computers except early in the mornings. So, I must go on hiatus until this thing breaks. Weather forecasts do not see any relief until at least next Sunday. Will be back when this is over, and this, too, will pass.

Some Major Film Festivals in June 2010

SERIES: Major Film Festivals

First, three events:

Number one. The Mountain Film Festival in Telluride, Colorado, opened 28 May and closed on the 31st. It began in 1979 as an opportunity for climbers and mountaineers to enjoy the rugged outdoors surrounding Telluride during the day, and watch mainly documentary films about mountains and mountain cultures at night. It has evolved over the intervening decades to embrace a much wider and more diverse audience and the programming now stretches to the leading edges of contemporary social, cultural and environmental issues. The orientation toward activism has not diminished. Watch for it next year. Here is the Festival's Official Site.

Second, the 12th Festival of German Films in Madrid, Spain, is in progress. It opened 1 June and will run through the 5th. Hey, I follow German and Spanish cinema, so I put it here for my own selfish benefit and for others who might like to know.

The Spaniards and Germans have had a surprisingly good relationship since World War II, which is odd since the German Junker airplanes attacked the Basque village of Gernica prior to the declaration of war and almost destroyed it as part of a sick experiment hatched by Franco and the Nazis to test the new German planes on real people. The German's helped finance Franco's overthrow of the elected Republican Government, based in Barcelona, which alas, was soon crushed just like the people of Gernica.

I frequently visited Spain and Germany, including Gernica, Madrid, Barcelona, Munich and Berlin, in the late 1970's and early 80's. I found the Spanish film community mesmerized by the then New German Film, and especially by director Werner Von Fassbinder, considered its Wunderkind. I was in Spain when he died suddenly and the film community in Madrid was devastated.

On the other hand, the German film industry in the 1970's quickly embraced the anti-Franco New Spanish Cinema directors such as Berlanga, Bardem, Borau, and especially Carlos Saura. It was at the 1966 Berlin Film Festival that Saura met Geraldine Chaplin shortly after her role in DOCTOR ZIVAGO. She became his greatest muse, star of nine of his films and mother of one of his sons, Geraldine Chaplin.

This is the 12th Festival of German Film in Madrid, and it will center at the Cine Palafox, Calle Luchana, 15. Tickets cost less than $5.00. The program is funded mainly by Lufthsansa Airlines and the Goethe Institute, with the participation of the Federal Republic of Germany and Kodak, and the Spanish cinema magazine, Fotogramas, which specializes, ironically, in movies extranjera (outside Spain).

Films will include THE TIN DRUM, THE WHITE RIBBON, THE CROCODILES, and the retrospective of the films of German director/ cinematographer Joseph Vilsmaier, whose first three films were HERBSTMILCH (Autumn Milk, 1989), RAMA DAMA (no English title, 1991) and STALINGRAD, 1991. He was the director and cinematographer on those as he is on his latest NANGA PARBAT (no English Title, 2010). German Film Festival in Madrid.

Third, the film Society of Lincoln Center is presenting their "Open Roads: New Italian Film” 3 - 10 June. Info and tickets.

The 64th Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), 16 - 27 June 2010, Edinburgh, Scotland.

The full Festival program was announced yesterday. The 2010 retrospective is 'After the Wave: Lost and Forgotten British Cinema 1967-1979'. There will be a special 3D Gala Screening of Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 3 on Saturday 19 June. Press registration is now open. The Festival will be on Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and Twitter.

There will be 133 features from 34 countries at the Festival. It will open 16 June with a gala screening of THE ILLUSIONIST, directed by from Sylvain Chomet.

The Closing Night Gala on 26 June will be the World Premiere of THIRD STAR, a British tragi-comedy buddy movie from first-time director Hattie Dalton, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Burke.

THE PEOPLE VS. GEORGE LUCAS will screen in competition. Any objections?

Also, if you see the video promo for the festival, the lady says Edinburgh is the oldest continuously running film festival. Technicality. This year will be the Venice Film Festival's 67th year. It is the oldest festival, ever, but not continuously because it had to be suspended when the Nazis occupied Italy during World War II. Hey, Edinburgh cut them some slack and make a true statement!

To see more films in the lineup, click title of this post, and read article in the EdinburghGuide.com.

Other festivals later this month:

The 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival (17 - 27 June); AFI Silver Docs Documentary Festival, Silver Spring, Maryland (21 - 17 June); and screenings at the Tribeca Film Festival at the Laemmle Sunset 5 in West Hollywood, California, "Tribeca in Hollywood" (25 June - 8 July).