Tag: oscar

State of the Race: National Board of Review

What is the National Board of Review? Wikipedia tells us that this is an organization, starting in 1908, made up of critics, film enthusiasts, academics, and filmmakers in the New York Metropolitan area. Despite having “National” in name, the Board is rather regional and has only about 100 members cast ballots for nominees and winners in various categories. So… in terms of overlap to what the Academy does, it’s limited, and shows more correlation than causation. The main point, in terms of the Oscar race, is that the NBR is the first critical body to announce its annual awards. And it’s always fun to have news.

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And Then There Were Ten – Expanding the Best Picture Nominees in 2008

Introduction: Why We Care

Courtesy: Wikipedia.org Free Commons
The Academy Awards. Where white people are finally recognized.

The Academy Awards holds a special place for many people – for some, it is a celebration of cinema, competition and glamour, with warm, family-time memories spent watching tuxedos and sparkling dresses exchange gold statues. For others, it is a backslapping, near-masturbatory, never-ending, annual slog about movies that you do not care about. And for a select portion of the population – it is an afterthought.

For years now, a cottage industry (which is an understatement – more like a mansion industry) has cropped up around prognosticating who gets what on the big night. For the awards nerds out there, the cinema equivalent of the Super Bowl is Oscar Nomination Day. The saying goes, it is an honor to be nominated – and there is truth to that. There are those among us who know when Nomination Day is coming up, and make plans to tune in the live webcast of the announcements early in the morning.

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