The Broadcast Film Critics Awards announce their nominations Tuesday. In recent years, the BFCA has carved for itself a more prominent role in the Oscar race. In 2001, the BFCA’s launched “A Beautiful Mind” into the frontrunner’s spot by awarding it Best Picture. “A Beautiful Mind” went on to win the Oscar. BFCA releases an annual top ten list of Best Picture nominees. Unlike the AFI’s top ten, which often awards crowd-pleasers (Borat, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Spiderman 2), the BFCAs recognize critically acclaimed, Oscar caliber films. In the past few years, every single Best Picture nominee has cracked…
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“United 93″ pulled an upset by winning best picture over “The Departed” and “Letters from Iwo Jima” at the the New York Critic’s Circle Awards today. If “United 93″ can win outside of New York, it might be time to start penciling it in once again for Oscar contention.

On the acting front, with wins in Los Angeles and New York, Helen Mirren and Forest Whitaker are looking more and more like locks for Oscar nominations. Below is a full listing of the New York Critic’s Circle Awards.

Best Picture: “United 93″
Best Actor: Forest Whitaker, “The…
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The last of the big three announce their awards tomorrow night. First on Wednesday, the National Board of Review shocked everyone by naming “Letters From Iwo Jima” their best film. The LA Film Critics Association followed suit today, confirming “Letters” as an Academy Award Best Picture frontrunner. Now the New Yorkers finally have their say. Can Eastwood pull off the trifecta, or will the NY Film Critics Circle shake up the race even more? In the past two years, one film has dominated the critics’ awards (Brokeback Mountain in 2005, Sideways in 2004). We could be looking at the same…
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As we predicted, “Letters from Iwo Jima” took the top prize at the LA Film Critics Association awards this afternoon. “Letters” is looking more and more like a lock for an Oscar nomination. Below is a full listing of the LAFCA awards courtesy of Variety The Singing Detective trailer .

Picture: “Letters From Iwo Jima”
Runner-up: “The Queen”

Director: Paul Greengrass, “United 93″
Runner-up: Clint Eastwood, “Flags of Our Fathers” and “Letters From Iwo Jima”

Actor: Sacha Baron Cohen, “Borat” and Forest Whitaker, “The Last King of Scotland” (tie) (no runner-up)

Actress: Helen…
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The American Film Institute announced its top ten films of the year today, and, in a surprise, “Borat” made the cut while “The Departed” did not. Like the National Board of Review, the American Film Institute also recognized “Letters from Iwo Jima.” Although “Letters” does not open until December 20, it is generating increasing attention from Oscar prognosticators.

The top ten recognized films, in alphabetical order, are:

“Babel”
“Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
“The Devil Wears Prada”
“Dreamgirls”
“Half Nelson”
“Happy Feet”
“Inside Man”
“Letters from Iwo Jima”
“Little Miss Sunshine”…
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Later tonight, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association will unveil their annual awards. Will they follow in the footsteps of the National Board of Review and honor “Letters From Iwo Jima” or will they vault another film into the upper echelon of Oscar contenders? Historically, the LAFCA has bestowed honors on both Best Picture nominees as well as more obscure, but critically acclaimed movies. Past winners include “Brokeback Mountain,” “Sideways,” “About Schmidt,” “American Splendor,” “In the Bedroom,” and “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.” Here are our predictions:

Best Picture: “Letters From Iwo Jima”

Best Director: Clint Eastwood, “Letters From…
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There will been many comparisons between Darren Aranofsky’s new film “The Fountain” and “2001.” This is not surprising, given that both films are thematically driven sci-fi epics that feature: (1) long voyages through space and (2) monkey cameos.

But tonally, the two films could not be more different. Kubrick’s masterpiece is cinema as mathematics, a ruthlessly rational argument that human evolution has been stymied by our dependence on technology. “The Fountain,” on the other hand, is an unapologetically emotional exploration of love and death; it does not try to make you think. It tries to make you feel…
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The National Board of Review announced their top ten films earlier today and in a bit of a surprise, Clint Eastwood’s yet to be released WWII drama, “Letters from Iwo Jima” snagged the top prize. The film, a companion piece to October’s “Flags of Our Fathers,” tells the story of the battle of Iwo Jima from the Japanese perspective.

The top ten recognized films, in alphabetical order, are:

“Babel”
“Blood Diamond”
“The Departed”
“The Devil Wears Prada”
“Flags Of Our Fathers”
“The History Boys”
“Letters from Iwo Jima”
“Little Miss Sunshine”
“Notes on a Scandal”
“The Painted Veil”…
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Here we go. Tomorrow, the National Board of Review officially kicks off the Oscar season with their annual awards. In the past, the NBR has been an excellent indicator of the Best Picture nominees. Usually, four out of five nominees can be found within NBR’s top ten list. As well, NBR’s top film is virtually a lock to be nominated.

Let’s take a quick look at years past. Last year, “Good Night and Good Luck” snagged the top prize. The year before it was “Finding Neverland” with “Mystic River” and “The Hours” before that. Sounds like a pretty good…
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