Friday, February 22--------European films and talents are poised for Oscar wins, when the golden statuettes are handed out at the Kodak Theater this coming Sunday in Los Angeles. For the past three months, there has been a lingering cloud of doubt about whether the ceremony was going to happen at all. A strike by the Writers Guild of America, that effectively shut down film and television production and forced the cancellation of the Golden Globe Awards, was only recently settled, in part beca...

It’s hard not to feel some affection – even love – for the Oscars, the biggest film industry awards ceremony. And this year is no exception. The Oscars 2008 will go down in history as the most highly anticipated award ceremony of all time, if only for the drama surrounding whether the event would go ahead at all. And the Oscars wouldn’t be the Oscars without the stars’ dramatic acceptance speeches. With a 45 second deadline and an audience of more than a billion viewers, the pressure ...

After the cancellation of the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards (and with the possibility of a no-show Oscars next month), the Screen Actors Guild Awards held last week in Los Angeles was a return to movie glamour. SAG had gotten a waiver from their fellow union, the Writers Guild of America, which has been on strike since November and has forced other awards shows to cancel their events (actors and directors refused to cross picket lines). In what was a very dignified ceremony, awards...

 Thursday, January 17---------AMPAS, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences,  has unveiled the poster for the 80th edition of the Academy Awards. The poster, designed by veteran illustrator Drew Struzan, brings to mind the STAR WARS films. This is no surprise, considering that Struzan created the one-sheets for all of the STAR WARS films, the most successful film franchise of all time. The poster will be available for purchase via the AMPAS website at: www.oscars.org. The Academy ...

Thursday, July 12---------The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has mailed out the entry forms for the Foreign Language Film competition to 95 countries, in preparation for the 80th Academy Awards. To qualify for the 2007 Awards, a film must be released in the submitting country between October 1, 2006, and September 30, 2007, and be publicly screened in 35mm or 70mm film or in a qualifying digital cinema format for at least seven consecutive days in a commercial motion picture theate...

THE 79th annual edition of the Awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -- commonly referred to in the vulgate as "THE OSCARS" -- did not offer up many surprises this year, as most of the front runners and odds-on favorites came in first in their respective races. Of course, in some races the fix was on, as in the run for Best Director and Best Picture, where it would have been sheer folly to bet against Marty Scorcese, and his piss-poor but dearly beloved neo-Gangsta flick, "Th...

Monday, February 26-----While readers can turn to almost any newspaper, internet site or media outlet to get the results of the 79th Academy Awards (it is, after all, watched by over a billion people worldwide), this story will focus on what were, at least for me, the surprises of the evening….actually the surprises that kept the evening lively and unpredictable.   Among the night's biggest surprises:BEST PICTURE: While the choice of THE DEPARTED is certainly worthy (certainly compared t...

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE and HALF NELSON, two films that had their premieres at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, were the big winners at the Spirit Awards, the annual awards event honoring independent filmmakers, producers and acting talents, sponsored by film organization Film Independent. LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, which may just pull a Best Film Oscar out of its hat tomorrow night, was recognized for Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (for veteran Alan Arkin). HALF NEL...

Tuesday, February 13----Short filmmakers, even those nominated for Academy Awards, can have a hard time showcasing their work for the general public. The heyday of short films being shown in theaters before the main feature have long gone. However, intrepid New Yorkers are in for a treat this coming weekend, when the IFC Center, downtown Manhattan's most dynamic arthouse theater, will present a program of the live-action and animated short films that are up for Oscar gold.Usually, only those...

Santa Barbara is a very upscale seaside paradise a scant 90 miles up the coast from Los Angeles, distinguished more for its socio-economic exclusivity, high rents, distinctive Spanish architecture and sprawling beachfront university than for the modest international film festival to which it has been home since 1985. Slowly building year by year and able to draw easily on Hollywood based talent because of its relative proximity to Tinseltown, the Santa Barbara fest has now come into its own and ...

January 25, 2007 Santa Barbara is a very upscale seaside paradise a scant 90 miles up the coast from Los Angeles, distinguished more for its socio-economic exclusivity, high rents, distinctive Spanish architecture and sprawling beachfront university than for the modest international film festival to which it has been home since 1985. Slowly building year by year and able to draw easily on Hollywood based talent because of its relative proximity to Tinseltown, the Santa Barbara fest has now c...

The screenwriter and director Bobby Moresco (2006 Academy Award®-winner for the screenplay "Crash" with Paul Haggis) has been named chairman of the second annual “LOS ANGELES, ITALIA” FILM, FASHION AND ART FESTIVAL” February 18th to the 24th, 2007 at the Mann's Chinese 6 Theaters at Hollywood & Highland Center. "I'm proud of the chairmanship, which I assume with much respect towards Italian cinema and its traditions, not to mention the emotional ties that I have towards my Ligurian ances...

Santa Barbara is a very upscale seaside paradise a scant 90 miles up the coast from Los Angeles, distinguished more for its socio-economic exclusivity, high rents, distinctive Spanish architecture and sprawling beachfront university than for the modest international film festival to which it has been home since 1985. Slowly building year by year and able to draw easily on Hollywood based talent because of its relative proximity to Tinseltown, the Santa Barbara fest has now come into its own and ...

Santa Barbara is a very upscale seaside paradise a scant 90 miles up the coast from Los Angeles, distinguished more for its high rents, distinctive Spanish architecture and sprawling beachfront university than for the modest international film festival to which it has been home since 1985. Slowly building year by year and able to draw easily on Hollywood based talent because of its relative proximity to Tinseltown, the Santa Barbara fest has now come into its own and has staked out its claim as ...