Zoë Saldaña has reportedly signed on to play legendary songstress Nina Simone in an upcoming biopic. The film, which will also star David Oyelowo (‘The Help’), has been in the making for many years now. Originally, Mary J. Blige signed on to portray Nina. However, due to issues with funding, the singer decided to leave the project to focus on other endeavors.

The news of Blige’s departure came as a surprise to fans as she has been extremely vocal about her love and admiration for the late jazz musician. She even went as far as to use a sample of Simone’s “You Know How I Feel,” a single from her seventh studio album, The Breakthrough, featuring music producer will.i.am.

News of Saldaña’s participation in the biopic has stirred mixed emotions. While no one is criticizing Saldaña’s ability to act the part, many are up in arms about her appearance in contrast to Simone’s. Simone was a dark-skinned African-American woman with coarse hair, a wide nose and full lips. Saldaña is an Afro-Latina, but her features may not “African enough” in the eyes of critics.

The decision to cast a woman who, despite being featured in numerous films with largely African-American casts, has largely identified as a Latina does not sit well with African-Americans. Many claim that it is hard enough for African-American actresses in Hollywood to gain respectable roles while competing with one another. Why add a ‘non-African-American’ into the mix and further complicate things?

For what it’s worth, Saldaña is proud of her mixed race. In her September 2011 cover story for Ebony Magazine, she states, “I am proud of my roots.” She goes on to acknowledge, however, that she doesn’t “identify as much with U.S. American History as I do with Latin American History. And so, I have bones to pick with Latin American people. There’s a lot of growing that we still have to do that we aren’t doing. We have to continue accepting our indigenous and our African heritage just as much as we embrace our European [blood].” The cover itself said it all: “Latina, Black, Fierce…”

While she is not ashamed of her heritage, she will not allow it to define her. She rarely speaks of it, which is another reason why some people are unwilling to accept her participation in this film. There are many who are not aware of the aforementioned interview in which she proclaimed that she is, indeed, partially black.

Simone rose to fame as a jazz singer in the late 1950s and became involved in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. She later lived a life of self-imposed exile from a country in which she never felt comfortable in. She died in Europe in 2003.

Production of ‘Nina’ will begin in October.

Image Courtesy of   s_bukley / Shutterstock.com

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Glendale, U.S.A. – DreamWorks Animation SKG announced that Stephen Colbert of “The Colbert Report”, Emmy Award winner Allison Janney from ‘The Help’ and “The West Wing,” Ellie Kemper from ‘Bridesmaids’ and “The Office,” Ariel Winter from “Modern Family” and Stephen Tobolowsky “Californication” and ‘Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax’ have joined previously announced cast members, Emmy Award winner Ty Burrell of “Modern Family” and Max Charles from ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ and ‘The Three Stooges’ in the studio’s ‘Mr. Peabody & Sherman’, which is now scheduled to be released on November 8, 2013. The film had previously been slated for March 14, 2014, a release date now planned for the studio’s ‘Me & My Shadow’.

“These incredible casting additions have elevated Mr. Peabody & Sherman to a new level of excitement and we are truly fortunate to work with so many talented actors,” said DreamWorks Animation Chief Creative Officer Bill Damaschke. “I’m certain that their collective passion and enthusiasm for the film will bring the classic characters of “Mr. Peabody & Sherman” to new life and thrill audiences of all ages when we open in November of next year.”

‘Mr. Peabody & Sherman’ is directed by Rob Minkoff also director of ‘Stuart Little’ and ‘The Lion King’ and produced by Alex Schwartz – formerly involved in ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth”’and ‘Bridge to Terabithia’ – and Denise Cascino – producer of ‘Megamind’ and ‘Shrek the Third’. It is being written by Craig Wright who also wrote ‘United States of Tara’ and “Six Feet Under” and Michael McCullers from ‘Baby Mama’ and ‘Austin Powers in Goldmember’. Bullwinkle Studios’ Tiffany Ward and Classic Media’s Eric Ellenbogen are serving as executive producers on the film along with Jason Clark who is best known for ‘Monster House’ and ‘Stuart Little’.

Based on Jay Ward’s classic cartoon, Mr. Peabody is the world’s smartest person who happens to be a dog. When his “pet” boy Sherman uses their time traveling WABAC machine without permission, events in history spiral out of control to disastrous and comical results. It’s up to this most unexpected of father-son teams to somehow put things back on track before the space-time continuum is irreparably destroyed.

DreamWorks Animation creates visual entertainment, including CG animated feature films, television specials and series, live entertainment properties and online virtual worlds, meant for audiences around the world.

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‘The Descendants‘, George Clooney’s latest movie, tells the story of Matt King (George Clooney), who is living in Hawaii with his wife and two daughters. His wife suffers a massive head injuries during a boating accident and falls into a deep coma. Matt has always been busy with his job and his travelling so he decides to stay with his daughters and tries to protect them from their common tragedy. Meanwhile, Matt discovers the real truth about his wife; that she has been having an affair with a real estate guru. Alongside his daughters, Matt must learn how to deal with his wife’s infidelity, his life, and the meaning of family. The movie is a blend of comedy and serious emotion that will make any heart bleed if it has ever gone through an unexpected personal trauma.

The Descendants has been nominated for some of the main Oscar awards this year; looking at Best Picture, Best Director (Alexander Payne), Best Actor (Clooney), Best Adapted Screenplay (Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash), and Best Editing (Kevin Tent).

The rest of the field for Best Picture is mirrored by different facets of cinema: “Hugo”; “The Artist”; “Midnight in Paris”; “The Help”; “Moneyball”; all have their stronger and weaker points. But the question is: Are the cinematic triumph of The Descendants strong enough to secure any of the five awards it has been nominated for?

George Clooney’s fans and critics believe that his performance is in a league of its own: “Clooney’s performance as Matt may be the best of his career,” says Phil Wallace of Picktainment.com. This seems to be true because he was capable of conveying to the audience the pain, the suffering and the strength of a husband and father who is thrown into the truth about his life. Clooney has never taken on a character like this before. Even thought Matt is vulnerable, a powerless father and a widower, Clooney shows that even a character like this is within his reach as an actor.

This year’s nominations are dominated by Michel Hazanavicius’s ‘The Artist‘, with 10 nominations, and Martin Scorsese’s ‘Hugo‘ with 11 nominations, giving The Descendants tough competition for the win. Although The Descendants may not sweep the winning table, no one can deny Clooney’s hard work and Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rush efforts with their screenplay, which may land them  the award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Image Courtesy © Douglas Kirkland 2012

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Leading online betting firm Sky Bet has updated its full list of Oscars betting [http://www.skybet.com/betting/tv-and-film-specials/oscars/t10003442.html] markets ahead of the 84th Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday. Black and white silent movie ‘The Artist’, which picked up the Producers Guild Award and also won the Golden Globe for Best Comedy/Musical, looks a shoo-in to win Best Picture at 8/1 ON, with the odds having been cut from a pre-Christmas 2/1.

The French tribute to the silent movie received ten Oscar nods, although it was beaten by Scorsese’s 3D charmer ‘Hugo’ (25/1), which received 11 nominations. ’The Artist’ dominates several other categories, with its helmsman Michel Hazanavicius, looking certain to win Best Director at odds of 1/10 after being hailed as outstanding director of the year at the Directors’ Guild of America Awards last month.

The film’s leading man Jean Dujardin shot to favouritism in the Oscars Best Actor betting after winning the BAFTA and now heads the betting at 8/11 (from 2/1). George Clooney was relegated to second favourite to take home the lead actor gong for his performance in comedy-drama ‘The Descendants’ and may now be backed at 11/10, having drifted from 2/5. Gary Oldmanis bidding for his first ever Oscar and is quoted at 20/1 to win for his performance in ‘Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy’.

The lead in the Best Actress race has also changed over the past fortnight, with double Oscar winner and 17-time nominee, Meryl Streep, having been usurped at the top of the betting by ‘The Help’ star, Viola Davis. Davis is odds-on at 4/6 to prevent Streep (out to 11/10 from 1/2) claiming a third Oscar for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in ‘The Iron Lady’. It looks a two-horse race between Davis and Streep, with ‘My Week with Marilyn’ star, Michelle Williams, their nearest rival at 18/1.

Sky Bet’s Oscars betting expert, Helen Jacob, said: “The Artist seems way ahead of its rivals in the race to win Best Picture and Director but the lead acting categories are closer, with the favourites having flip-flopped in recent weeks.”

For Best Supporting Actor, Christopher Plummer (‘Beginners’) looks all but home and hosed at 1/33 and Octavia Spencer at 1/25 (‘The Help’) looks certain to land what could be the best actress double for ‘The Help’.

Sky Bet is also offering a number of novelty special bets on the Oscars ceremony itself, which takes place at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday, February 26th.

Veteran actress Meryl Streep accidentally swore onstage at the Globes and Sky Bet go 7/2 that the Oscars best actress winner turns the air blue again in her acceptance speech. It’s even money that the best actress cries during her speech and 10/1 that any recipient’s address consists of a single ‘Thank you!’

 Sky Bet Odds: Oscars Betting

Best Film

The Artist 1/16

The Descendants 10/1

Hugo 25/1

The Help 25/1

War Horse 40/1

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close 80/1

Moneyball 80/1

Midnight in Paris 80/1

The Tree of Life 100/1

  Best Director

Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist 1/10

Martin Scorsese – Hugo 6/1

Alexander Payne – The Descendants 22/1

Terrance Malik – The Tree of Life 33/1

Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris 50/1

Best Actor

Jean Dujardin – The Artist 8/11

George Clooney – The Descendants 11/10

Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 20/1

Brad Pitt – Moneyball 20/1

DemianBichir – A Better Life 50/1

Best Actress

Viola Davis – The Help 4/6

Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady 11/10

Michelle Williams – My Week With Marilyn 18/1

Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs 40/1

Rooney Mara – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 50/1

Best Supporting Actress

Octavia Spencer 1/25

Berenice Bejo 8/1

Jessica Chastain 25/1

Melissa Mccarthy 25/1

Janet McTeer 40/1

Best Supporting Actor

Christopher Plummer 1/33

Kenneth Branagh 14/1

Max Von Sydow 22/1

Nick Nolte 33/1

Jonah Hill 40/1

Oscars specials

Lead or supporting actress to cry during acceptance speech Evens

Lead or supporting actor to swear during acceptance speech 9/4

Lead or supporting actress to swear during acceptance speech 7/2

Lead or supporting actor to cry during acceptance speech 6/1

Any recipient’s speech to consist of single “thank you” 10/1

Streaker to run on stage and interrupt ceremony 16/1

Any of the 6 major award winners to drop the statuette 16/1

Any winner to fall over on stage 20/1

George Clooney win best actor and Meryl Streep win best actress 6/4

George Clooney win best actor and The Descendants win best picture 9/1

George Clooney to win an Oscar No 8/11 Yes Evens

For the full range of Oscars odds from Sky Bet, click here [http://www.skybet.com/betting/tv-and-film-specials/oscars/t10003442.html]

Image Courtesy of   https://www.facebook.com/TheArtist.TWC

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On the eve of Academy Awards weekend, moviegoers have voted DreamWorks Pictures’ The Help as the Best Picture of the Year in Fandango’s fourth annual Fan Choice Awards. The awards are based on a survey of tens of thousands of film fans on Fandango, the nation’s leading moviegoer destination.

With the majority of the vote (27%), the Oscar-nominated drama The Help beat the wildly popular blockbusters, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (14%) and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 (9%). The awards will be presented at CinemaCon during its 2012 “Big Screen Achievement Awards” Ceremony on Thursday, April 26th in The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

“Fandango’s Fan Choice Awards have previously gone to fantasy and action films, including installments from the Harry Potter and Twilight sagas, so the selection of a Southern period piece, like The Help, is surprising,” said Chuck Walton, editor-in-chief of Fandango. “This could bode well for the Oscar-nominated film, which has captured moviegoers’ attention. Among all major 2011 releases, The Help received the best fan reviews and ratings on our site – there’s clearly an under-served audience hungry for adult entertainment.”

In addition to voting for the Best Picture Award, thousands of Fandango moviegoers rallied behind their favorites in several unusual categories, including:

• Most Mind-Blowing Action Sequences: Transformers: Dark of the Moon
• Best Movie Dog: Snowy – The Adventures of Tintin
• The “Women Behaving Badly” Award: Cameron Diaz – Bad Teacher
• Most Unexpected Surprise – Rise of the Planet of the Apes
• The Cutest Movie of the Year – The Muppets

For more details, go to http://awardswatch.fandango.com.

The Fandango Fan Choice Award best picture presentation will take place at CinemaCon, the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), taking place from April 23 –26, 2012.

“Access Hollywood”s Billy Bush will emcee the Final Night Festivities at CinemaCon 2012, the largest and most important gathering of cinema owners from around the world.

Image Courtesy of   https://www.facebook.com/thehelpmovie

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As Academy Award voters mark their ballots, researchers at the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center released a study measuring a movie’s power to change the behavior of people who see it. Using an innovative instrument developed by the Lear Center, the study of more than 20,000 people found that those who saw the 2010 Oscar nominee Food had significantly changed their eating and food shopping habits.

Food viewers were significantly more likely to:

• encourage their friends, family & colleagues to learn more about food safety
• shop at their local farmers market
• eat healthy food
• consistently buy organic or sustainable food

This was compared to non-viewers who were virtually identical in 17 traits, including their degree of interest in sustainable agriculture and their past efforts to improve food safety.

The Lear Center’s new survey methodology adapts propensity score matching techniques used in clinical research as well as communication studies. It specifically addresses the key problem of “selection bias” among movie viewers: only certain people choose to see certain films, making it very difficult for researchers to expose people randomly to a movie and to determine the actual impact of the film.

The Lear Center’s methodology enables researchers with a large number of survey respondents to create a detailed profile of likely viewers of a film, and to compare very similar viewers who saw the film with those who did not. Unlike typical survey research, this method allows researchers to construct something similar to a classic study design where individuals are randomly assigned to a treatment group and a control group.

“Filmmakers who want their movies to impact people’s opinions or behavior now have a way to find that out,” said Johanna Blakley, managing director and director of research at the Norman Lear Center, and the principal investigator for this study. “Over half of Food viewers said, ‘This film changed my life.’ Our research tells us exactly how those lives were changed.”

“Entertainment affects audiences,” said USC Annenberg Professor and Lear Center Director Martin Kaplan. “The challenge for scholars has been measuring that impact, especially for mass media, without requiring a fortune to spend on valid datasets. With this new Lear Center approach, we’re now able to move ahead with studies of the effects of more movies, both documentaries and scripted features.”

Food, director Robert Kenner said, “As a filmmaker, it’s both encouraging and gratifying to see quantitative results that these films have a profound impact. I am thankful to Blakley and USC for their thoughtful research and analysis.”

Additional findings about Food, viewers included a significantly higher likelihood to contribute time or money to support organized efforts around:

• improving the treatment of animals in the food industry
• improving food and drinks served in schools
• passing legislation that improves food safety
• passing legislation that offers fair wages and job protection to farm workers and food processors

Funding for the study, which was independently designed, conducted and released by the Norman Lear Center, was provided by Participant Media, the company that co-financed Food, as well as the current Best Picture nominee The Help.

The research team included principal investigator Johanna Blakley, PhD, and a team of research analysts: chief research consultant Sheena Nahm, PhD, MPH and USC doctoral students Grace Huang, MPH;Heesung Shin, MPH, and LeeAnn Sangalang.

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Nominations for the 84th Academy Awards were announced today (Tuesday, January 24) by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak and 2010 Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence.

Sherak and Lawrence, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her lead performance in “Winter’s Bone,” announced the nominees in 10 of the 24 Award categories at a 5:38 a.m. PT live news conference attended by more than 400 international media representatives. Lists of nominations in all categories were then distributed to the media in attendance and online via the official Academy Awards website, www.oscar.com.

Academy members from each of the branches vote to determine the nominees in their respective categories – actors nominate actors, film editors nominate film editors, etc. In the Animated Feature Film and Foreign Language Film categories, nominations are selected by vote of multi-branch screening committees. All voting members are eligible to select the Best Picture nominees.

Nominations ballots were mailed to the 5,783 voting members in late December and were returned directly to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the international accounting firm, for tabulation.

Official screenings of all motion pictures with one or more nominations will begin for members this weekend at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Screenings also will be held at the Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood and in London, New York and the San Francisco Bay Area.

All active and life members of the Academy are eligible to select the winners in all categories, although in five of them – Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject and Foreign Language Film – members can vote only if they have seen all of the nominated films in those categories.

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 beginning at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

Nominations for the 84th Academy Awards:

Actor in a Leading Role

• Demián Bichir in “A Better Life”
• George Clooney in “The Descendants”
• Jean Dujardin in “The Artist”
• Gary Oldman in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
• Brad Pitt in “Moneyball”

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Kenneth Branagh in “My Week with Marilyn”
• Jonah Hill in “Moneyball”
• Nick Nolte in “Warrior”
• Christopher Plummer in “Beginners”
• Max von Sydow in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

Actress in a Leading Role

• Glenn Close in “Albert Nobbs”
• Viola Davis in “The Help”
• Rooney Mara in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
• Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady”
• Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn”

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Bérénice Bejo in “The Artist”
• Jessica Chastain in “The Help”
• Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids”
• Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs”
• Octavia Spencer in “The Help”

Animated Feature Film

• “A Cat in Paris” Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
• “Chico & Rita” Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
• “Kung Fu Panda 2″ Jennifer Yuh Nelson
• “Puss in Boots” Chris Miller
• “Rango” Gore Verbinski

Art Direction

• “The Artist” Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
• “Hugo” Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
• “Midnight in Paris” Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
• “War Horse” Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

Cinematography

• “The Artist” Guillaume Schiffman
• “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Jeff Cronenweth
• “Hugo” Robert Richardson
• “The Tree of Life” Emmanuel Lubezki
• “War Horse” Janusz Kaminski

Costume Design

• “Anonymous” Lisy Christl
• “The Artist” Mark Bridges
• “Hugo” Sandy Powell
• “Jane Eyre” Michael O’Connor
• “W.E.” Arianne Phillips

Directing

• “The Artist” Michel Hazanavicius
• “The Descendants” Alexander Payne
• “Hugo” Martin Scorsese
• “Midnight in Paris” Woody Allen
• “The Tree of Life” Terrence Malick

Documentary (Feature)

• “Hell and Back Again” Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
• “If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front” Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
• “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
• “Pina” Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
• “Undefeated” TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

Documentary (Short Subject)

• “The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement” Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
• “God Is the Bigger Elvis” Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
• “Incident in New Baghdad”James Spione
• “Saving Face” Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
• “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom” Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

Film Editing

• “The Artist” Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
• “The Descendants” Kevin Tent
• “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
• “Hugo” Thelma Schoonmaker
• “Moneyball” Christopher Tellefsen

Foreign Language Film

• “Bullhead” Belgium
• “Footnote” Israel
• “In Darkness” Poland
• “Monsieur Lazhar” Canada
• “A Separation” Iran

Makeup

• “Albert Nobbs” Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
• “The Iron Lady” Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Music (Original Score)

• “The Adventures of Tintin” John Williams
• “The Artist” Ludovic Bource
• “Hugo” Howard Shore
• “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Alberto Iglesias
• “War Horse” John Williams

Music (Original Song)

• “Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets” Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
• “Real in Rio” from “Rio” Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Best Picture

• “The Artist” Thomas Langmann, Producer
• “The Descendants” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
• “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” Scott Rudin, Producer
• “The Help” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
• “Hugo” Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
• “Midnight in Paris” Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
• “Moneyball” Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
• “The Tree of Life” Nominees to be determined
• “War Horse” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Short Film (Animated)

• “Dimanche/Sunday” Patrick Doyon
• “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
• “La Luna” Enrico Casarosa
• “A Morning Stroll” Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
• “Wild Life” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Short Film (Live Action)

• “Pentecost” Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane
• “Raju” Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
• “The Shore” Terry George and Oorlagh George
• “Time Freak” Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
• “Tuba Atlantic” Hallvar Witzø

Sound Editing

• “Drive” Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
• “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Ren Klyce
• “Hugo” Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
• “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
• “War Horse” Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Sound Mixing

• “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
• “Hugo” Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
• “Moneyball” Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
• “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
• “War Horse” Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

Visual Effects

• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
• “Hugo” Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
• “Real Steel” Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
• “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
• “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• “The Descendants” Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
• “Hugo” Screenplay by John Logan
• “The Ides of March” Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
• “Moneyball” Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. Story by Stan Chervin
• “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• “The Artist” Written by Michel Hazanavicius
• “Bridesmaids” Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
• “Margin Call” Written by J.C. Chandor
• “Midnight in Paris” Written by Woody Allen
• “A Separation” Written by Asghar Farhadi

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The time for deliberation is almost over. The voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have begun mailing out the nomination ballots for the 84th Academy Awards, scheduled to take place on Sunday February 26 and to be hosted by Billy Crystal.

The ballots themselves, which are to be completed by the 5,783 voting members of the Academy, must be returned by January 13 and will be announced on January 24, at which point firm-favourites and critics-choices will learn if their hopes of award-season glory have been warranted or wasted.

Some of those favorites include Meryl Streep and George Clooney, whose roles in “The Iron Lady“ and “The Descendants”, respectively, have already garnered them nominations from the Hollywood Foreign Press and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).

Other actors expected to receive Academy Award nominations based on prior accolades this season include: Michelle Williams for “My Week With Marilyn”, Ryan Gosling for “The Ides of March” – for which, incidentally, Clooney has received a Golden Globe nomination in the directing field -, Leonardo DiCaprio for the biopic “J. Edgar”, and Viola Davis for Dreamworks’ adaptation of “The Help”.

Statistically, the Golden Globes and SAGs have been shown to be the primary indicators of who will achieve success at the Academy Awards. For example, the 2010-11 awards season saw David Fincher’s “The Social Network” compete against Tom Hooper’s “The King’s Speech” in many of the major categories, with Fincher’s film triumphing at the Golden Globes, Hooper’s film triumphing at the SAGs, and each film ultimately walking away with a handful of Academy Awards.

This ceremony is in fact the last in Hollywood’s award season, so if this year’s voting replicates last year’s, it may go down to the wire as to who will indeed succeed in the Academy’s Best Picture and Acting categories. Therefore, while there may be little in the way of surprises awaiting the Hollywood press on January 24 when the nominations are announced, there will be no doubt added anticipation over whether the voters will sway away from favoring the abundance of high-profile biopics making waves this season.

These are namely: “The Iron Lady”, a study of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; “My Week With Marilyn”, a week in the life of Marilyn Monroe; and “J. Edgar”, a study into the FBI director’s personal life and debated sexuality. Each film has already received multiple nominations from other major award bodies, but this may be a case where there are too many releases from the same genre which ultimately cancel each other out.

Aside from their acting nominations at the Golden Globes, none of the films managed to make the final cut into the Hollywood Foreign Press’ Best Motion Picture selection, so there may still be some spots up for grabs in the final Academy Award shortlist.

Whatever happens, it won’t be long until the public finds out.

Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com

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The 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG Awards), one of the industry’s most prized honors, will take place on January 29 in Los Angeles. The event is well known since it presents thirteen awards for acting in film and television. The awards focus on both individual performances as well as on the work of the entire ensemble of a drama series and comedy series, and the cast of a motion picture.

“The Help,” has scored a total of four nominations, an admired movie about race relations in the sixties that is based on a book by the same title from author, Kathryn Stockett. Viola Davis, who played maid Airbileen Clark, earned a leading role nomination. Other movies that have been given multiple nominations are sensation comedy Bridesmaids, The Artist and romantic comedy Midnight In Paris.

Nominees were announced on December 14, 2011 from the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles.

The full list of nominees:

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Demian Bichir (A Better Life)
George Clooney (The Descendants)
Leonardo DiCaprio (J. Edgar)
Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
Brad Pitt (Moneyball)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs)
Viola Davis (The Help)
Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)
Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin)
Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh (My Week With Marilyn)
Armie Hammer (J. Edgar)
Jonah Hill (Moneyball)
Nick Nolte (Warrior)
Christopher Plummer (Beginners)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Bérénice Bejo (The Artist)
Jessica Chastain (The Help)
Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids)
Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs)
Octavia Spencer (The Help)

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
The Artist
Bridesmaids
The Descendants
The Help
Midnight In Paris

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
The Adjustment Bureau
Cowboys & Aliens
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Transformers: Dark Of The Moon
X-Men: First Class

Tickets are not available to the general public, they are by invitation only. The cost of the tickets are $800 each, and there is a limit of 2 tickets per member. 

Featureflash / Shutterstock.com

The article “The Help” Stands Out in Nominations for The SAG Awards appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.