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Gold Derby on the Oscars: Watch Out for Spoilers and Surprises

By Gold Derby Staff (Subscribe to Gold Derby Staff's posts), Posted Feb 25th 2011 3:00PM
Filed under: Features, Oscar News, Awards

By Joseph White, Gold Derby associate editor

Nothing ever goes according to script in Hollywood, of course -- and that includes the Academy Awards.

Every year pundits huffily tout their predictions only to be flouted on Oscar night by upsets. Just over the past decade, for example, there were jawdroppers achieved by 'Crash' in the Best Picture race and, in the acting categories, Alan Arkin ('Little Miss Sunshine'), Jim Broadbent ('Iris'), Adrien Brody ('The Pianist'), Marion Cotillard ('La Vie en Rose'), Marcia Gay Harden ('Pollock') and Tilda Swinton ('Michael Clayton'), among others.

What about this Sunday night?
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Gold Derby on the Oscars: How Do the BAFTA Winners Change the Race?

By Gold Derby Staff (Subscribe to Gold Derby Staff's posts), Posted Feb 14th 2011 4:00PM
Filed under: Features, Oscar News, Awards

By Paul Sheehan, Gold Derby Executive Editor

On Sunday, 'The King's Speech' was crowned both Best Picture and Best British Film by the voters of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. This marked the first time one film has won both of those races since the domestic prize was reintroduced in 1992. BAFTA bestowed seven awards in all on the stirring biopic about the efforts of King George VI to overcome a crippling stammer and deliver a rousing address to his empire on the eve of World War II.

Heading into the BAFTAs, 'The King's Speech' was the front-runner at the Oscars with a leading 12 nominations. The film had already won over both the producers and actors guilds, and helmer Tom Hooper took the bellwether Directors Guild Award as well.

However, 'The King's Speech' won just half of its 14 BAFTA bids. Could this be a sign that its Oscar fate is not yet sealed? About 10 percent of the nearly 5,800 Oscar voters also belong to BAFTA.
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Gold Derby on the Oscars: Advice for Three Oscar Contenders

By Gold Derby Staff (Subscribe to Gold Derby Staff's posts), Posted Feb 7th 2011 3:00PM
Filed under: Hot Topic, Oscar News, Awards, Columns
By Matt Noble
Gold Derby Senior Editor


So, 'The King's Speech' looks like it has the Oscar in the bag. The Best Picture award is in danger of becoming "the one that got away" for 'The Social Network' -- and the eight other films in the race. So where to go from here? With only a couple of weeks until ballots are in, how do the big players control the narrative heading into the final stretch?
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Gold Derby on the Oscars: How 'The King's Speech' Became the Oscar Front-Runner

By Gold Derby Staff (Subscribe to Gold Derby Staff's posts), Posted Jan 31st 2011 3:30PM
Filed under: Hot Topic, Oscar News, Awards, Columns


By Paul Sheehan, executive editor of Gold Derby

Just 10 days ago, 'The King's Speech' looked like it would have to abdicate its hope of reigning on Oscar night. It had won no major Best Picture awards. 'The Social Network' was undefeated, from the National Board of Review through the film-critics awards and on to the Golden Globes. And now 'The King's Speech' is considered the front-runner. What happened?

'The King's Speech' staged a palace coup at the guild awards, winning Best Ensemble at the Screen Actors Guild on Sunday night, Best Director at the Directors Guild of America on Saturday night and Best Picture at the Producers Guild of America last week. How did it pull off this sweep?

The answer has to do with the nature of the two types of awards. Virtually all of the trophies won by 'The Social Network' were bestowed by journalists, who notoriously love hip movies with a message and attitude. No sentimentality allowed.
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Gold Derby on the Oscars: Analyzing the 2011 Nominations

By Gold Derby Staff (Subscribe to Gold Derby Staff's posts), Posted Jan 26th 2011 2:00PM
Filed under: Oscar News, Awards, Columns


By Chris Beachum
Gold Derby Senior Editor

Now that Oscar nominations are out, what's next? Since 'The King's Speech' rules with the most nominations (12), does that mean it's stopped 'The Social Network' juggernaut? What will happen this weekend when awards are doled out by the Directors Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild? And will they matter? Here's an update on the state of the derby.
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Gold Derby on the Oscars: Will the Golden Globes Influence the Academy Awards?

By Gold Derby Staff (Subscribe to Gold Derby Staff's posts), Posted Jan 17th 2011 2:30PM
Filed under: Oscar News, Golden Globes News, Awards, Columns


By Robert Licuria, Gold Derby senior editor

Now that the Golden Globes are over, everybody wants to know: What impact will the big wins have on the Oscars?

The Globe has a reputation for being an uncanny Oscar crystal ball, but there are plenty of arguments to suggest that the Globes don't matter. None of the 88 voting members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association overlap with the nearly 6,000 Academy members who vote for the Oscars. In addition, given that the deadline for the first round of Academy Award voting was Jan. 14, whatever transpires at the Globes ceremony cannot influence how the Academy votes for its nominees, which are due to be announced on Jan. 25. By the time the Academy votes for its winners in February, the Globes will be a distant memory for most Oscar voters.
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Gold Derby on the Oscars: Can 'The Social Network' Be Stopped?

By Gold Derby Staff (Subscribe to Gold Derby Staff's posts), Posted Jan 11th 2011 5:00PM
Filed under: Features, Oscar News, Awards


By Chris Beachum
GoldDerby.com Senior Editor

So far this Oscar season, 'The Social Network' has ended up on top of the friends' lists of every major award.

It won Best Picture from all leading trophy groups: National Board of Review, New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Association and National Society of Film Critics. Its juggernaut has two chances to continue, or halt, this weekend -- the Critics' Choice Awards on Friday and Golden Globes on Sunday –- but even if 'The Social Network' loses one or both, award watchers wonder: Is it already destined to win the top Academy Award?

Last year, 'The Hurt Locker' swept most of the critics' awards and went on to the Best Picture Oscar. Will voters heed the critics again or go their own way as they did in 2005 when critics hailed 'Brokeback Mountain' but Academy members chose 'Crash'? Or in 1997 when 'L.A. Confidential' was the overwhelming choice of critics, but 'Titanic' steamed to success at the Oscars?
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