The Hurt Locker caps off its awards run with one more top honor!

This one is from the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film. Here are all the winners it announced:

Ensemble Cast – In the Loop
Production Design – A Single Man
Cinematography - Christian Berger for The White Ribbon
Adapted Screenplay – Gregory Fletcher for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Original Screenplay – Armando Iannucci; Harold P. Manning; Ian Martin; Jesse Armstrong; Simon Blackwell; Tony Roche for In the Loop
Supporting Actor – Peter Capaldi for In the Loop
Supporting Actress – Mo’Nique for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Actor – Colin Firth for A Single Man
Actress – Gabourey Sidibe for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Director – Hirokazu Koreeda for Still Walking
Documentary – The Beaches of Agnes and Herb & Dorothy
Movie – The Hurt Locker
Buried Treasure – Bronson

-What a year for The Hurt Locker...

The Hurt Locker wins 6 Academy Awards!

Behold the winners:

• Best Picture: “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier, Greg Shapiro
• Best Director: “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
• Best Actor: Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
• Best Actress: Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
• Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”
• Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique in “Precious”
• Best Original Screenplay: “The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
• Best Adapted Screenplay: “Precious” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
• Best Foreign Language: “The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos)” Argentina
• Best Animated Film: “Up” Pete Docter
• Best Documentary: “The Cove” Louie Psihoyos and Fisher Stevens
• Best Cinematography: “Avatar” Mauro Fiore
• Best Art Direction: Avatar” Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg, Kim Sinclair
• Best Costumes: “The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell
• Best Editing: “The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
• Best Score: “Up” Michael Giacchino
• Best Song: “The Weary Kind”(Crazy Heart) Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett
• Best Makeup: “Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
• Best Visual Effects: “Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andrew R. Jones
• Best Sound Editing: “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson
• Best Sound Mixing: “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
• Best Animated Short: “Logorama” Nicolas Schmerkin
• Best Live Action Short: “The New Tenants” Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson
• Best Documentary Short: “Music by Prudence” Roger Ross Williams and Elinor

-Some trivia...The Hurt Locker becomes the lowest grossing Best Picture winner in history, Kathryn Bigelow becomes the first woman to ever win Best Director, and all of the 8 major awards were won by first-time honorees (with only Bridges having been previously nominated at all). Congrats to them all!

The controversy regarding one of the producers of 'The Hurt Locker' gets resolved...

...with a slap on the wrist (properly, in my opinion, not making a mountain out of a molehill). Here's the press release:

Beverly Hills, CA — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that, should “The Hurt Locker” be announced as the recipient of the Best Picture award at Sunday’s ceremonies, only three of the picture’s producers will be present for the celebration. The fourth of the film’s credited producers, Nicolas Chartier, has been denied attendance at the 82nd Academy Awards® as a penalty for violating Academy campaigning standards.

Chartier had recently disseminated an email to certain Academy voters and other film industry figures in which he solicited votes for his own picture and disparaged one of the other contending films. Academy rules prohibit “casting a negative or derogatory light on a competing film.” The executive committee of the Academy’s Producers Branch, at a special session late Monday, ruled that the ethical lapse merited the revocation of Chartier’s invitation to the Awards.

The group stopped short of recommending that the Academy governors rescind Chartier’s nomination. If “The Hurt Locker” were to be selected as Best Picture, Chartier would receive his Oscar® statuette at some point subsequent to the March 7 ceremonies.

-Overall, I found this more than sufficient, but that's just me...thoughts?

The Cinema Audio Society Awards honor The Hurt Locker for its sound!

This also throws a monkey wrench into the tech categories (though I've long predicted a split between Avatar and The Hurt Locker). The full winners are here, but with The Hurt Locker taking the Sound Mixing award at this precursor, I could definitely see it winning with Oscar and making my prediction less of a long shot.
-Thoughts?

The American Society of Cinematographers honors The White Ribbon with its top prize!

This is definitely a surprise, as the race was thought to have been between Avatar and The Hurt Locker, though to be fair The White Ribbon has a lot of supporters. The Cinematography category at the Oscars might have just gotten more interesting...
-Thoughts?

Has The Hurt Locker hit a bump in the road to Best Picture?

Likely not, but some people are working overtime to derail the film, so who knows. If anyone isn't familiar with the brewing controversy about one of the producers of the film, check out this article from Rope of Silicon here. I don't think it's a big deal, but no one can know for sure.
-Thoughts?

The Hurt Locker sweeps the BAFTA Awards!

Indeed, it was a great showing for this year's little film that could. Here is the complete list of winners:

Best Film: “The Hurt Locker”
Best Actress: Carey Mulligan, “An Education”
Best Actor: Colin Firth, “A Single Man”
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
Best Foreign Language Film: “A Prophet”
Best Animated Film: “Up”
Best Adapted Screenplay: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, “Up in the Air”
Rising Star Award: Kristen Stewart
Best Production Design: Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg and Kim Sinclair, “Avatar”
Best Original Screenplay: Mark Boal, “The Hurt Locker”
Best British Film: “Fish Tank”
Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique, “Precious”
Best Makeup and Hair: Jenny Shircore, “The Young Victoria”
Best Costume Design: Sandy Powell, “The Young Victoria”
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”
Best Visual Effects: “Avatar”
Best Cinematography: Barry Ackroyd, “The Hurt Locker”
Best Film Editing: Bob Murawski and Chris Innis, “The Hurt Locker”
Best Music: Michael Giacchino, “Up”
Best Sound: “The Hurt Locker”
Carl Foreman Award (Best Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer): Duncan Jones, “Moon”
Best Short Film: “I Do Air”
Best Animated Short: “Mother of Many”
Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema: Joe Dunton

-The Hurt Locker certainly got a big boost...thoughts?

The Writers Guild of America bestows its top prizes on The Hurt Locker and Up in the Air...

...will the Academy follow suit? Here's the winners of the WGA Awards:

Original: Mark Boal for The Hurt Locker

Adapted: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner for Up in the Air

Documentary: The Cove

-Thoughts?

The ACE Eddie Awards are Tonight...

...and the winners have been announced:

Best Editing, Drama: The Hurt Locker
Best Editing, Comedy: The Hangover
Best Editing, Documentary: The Cove
Best Editing, Animated Feature: Up
Best Editing, Miniseries: Grey Gardens
Best Editing, Drama Series: Dexter
Best Editing, Comedy Series: 30 Rock

-This is a slight advantage for The Hurt Locker at the Oscars, but we shall see what ultimate happens...thoughts?

Kathryn Bigelow takes home top honors with the Directors Guild of America...

...and she needs to start preparing an Oscar acceptance speech.

-Thoughts?

The 62nd Annual DGA Awards...

...are being announced at the current moment, and as soon as the winners are let loose, we'll have them for you. So far, all we know is that Louie Psihoyo and The Cove won for Documentary.

Update- Kathryn Bigelow takes the big prize for The Hurt Locker!

-Thoughts?

The PGA Awards are being announced as I type this...

...and The Hurt Locker has taken home the top prize for film, with Up winning for Animated and The Cove for Documentary. Here's the complete winners list:

The Danny Thomas Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Television—Comedy

30 Rock

The Norman Felton Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Television—Drama

Mad Men

The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Non-Fiction Television

60 Minutes

The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Live Entertainment and Competition Television

The Colbert Report

The David L. Wolper Producer of the Year Award in Long-Form Television

Grey Gardens

The Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures

The Hurt Locker

The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures

Up

The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures

The Cove

-Thoughts?

Worried that 'The Hurt Locker' can't win Best Picture because of its low Box Office? Fear not...

...because it's making a proverbial killing on DVD. An article from Reuters (found here) gives a taste of that, but suffice to say, the film will not suffer nearly as much from a small gross as some people think. Will it be able to win Best Picture? Who knows, but it won't lose the race solely due to money, that's for sure.
-Thoughts on what the film's chances look like?

An article on if The Hurt Locker can win Best Picture...

...can be found here, and I think it's a good read. I put it to all of you...regardless of if it should or not, do you think it actually has a legitimate chance to win the big prize? I do...but do you?
-Thoughts?

The Hurt Locker has a good night in Gotham as the 19th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards announce their winners!

Here are the winners in full, but The Hurt Locker was the only film with multiple wins:

Best Feature
The Hurt Locker Kathryn Bigelow, director; Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier, Greg Shapiro, producers (Summit Entertainment)

Best Documentary
Food, Inc. Robert Kenner, director; Robert Kenner, Elise Pearlstein, producers (Magnolia Pictures)

Best Ensemble Performance
The Hurt Locker

Breakthrough Director
Robert Siegel for Big Fan

Breakthrough Actor
Catalina Saavedra in The Maid

Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You
You Won’t Miss Me; Ry Russo-Young, director/producer

-Is this the beginning of a good precursor season for The Hurt Locker?

Variety puts out their annual list of 10 Actors to Watch...

The whole shebang can be found here, but these are the 10 names that they selected for the honor this year:
Laz Alonso
Maggie Grace
Tom Hardy
Nicholas Hoult
Rachelle Lefevre
Jeremy Renner
Alia Shawkat
Emma Stone
Michael Stuhlbarg
Christoph Waltz
-It's an interesting list, without a doubt...thoughts?

The nominations are announced for the Gotham Independent Film Awards!

The precursor season begins:

Best Feature

• Amreeka – Cherien Dabis, director (National Geographic Entertainment)
• Big Fan – Robert Siegel, director (First Independent Pictures)
• The Hurt Locker – Kathryn Bigelow, director (Summit Entertainment)
• The Maid - Sebastian Silva, director (Elephant Eye Films)
• A Serious Man – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, directors (Focus Features)

Best Documentary

• Food, Inc. – Robert Kenner, director (Magnolia Pictures)
• Good Hair – Jeff Stilson, director (Liddell Entertainment and Roadside Attractions in association with HBO Films)
• My Neighbor My Killer – Anne Aghion, director/producer (Gacaca Productions)
• Paradise – Michael Almereyda, director (Post Factory Films)
• Tyson – James Toback, director (Sony Pictures Classics)

Best Ensemble Performance

• Adventureland – Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Martin Starr, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Ryan Reynolds (Miramax Films)
• Cold Souls – Paul Giamatti, Dina Korzun, Emily Watson, Katheryn Winnick, David Strathairn (Samuel Goldwyn Films)
• The Hurt Locker - Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Ralph Fiennes, Guy Pearce, David Morse, Evangeline Lilly (Summit Entertainment)
• A Serious Man – Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed (Focus Features)
• Sugar – Algenis Perez Soto, Rayniel Rufino, Michael Gaston, Andre Holland, Ann Whitney, Richard Bull, Ellary Porterfield, Jaime Tirelli (Sony Pictures Classics)

Breakthrough Director

• Cruz Angeles for Don’t Let Me Drown
• Frazer Bradshaw for Everything Strange and New
• Noah Buschel for The Missing Person (Strand Releasing)
• Derick Martini for Lymelife (Screen Media Films)
• Robert Siegel for Big Fan (First Independent Pictures)

Breakthrough Actor

• Ben Foster in The Messenger (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
• Patton Oswalt in Big Fan (First Independent Pictures)
• Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment)
• Catalina Saavedra in The Maid (Elephant Eye Films)
• Soulémane Sy Savané in Goodbye Solo (Roadside Attractions)

Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You

• Everything Strange and New – Frazer Bradshaw, director; Laura Techera Francia, A.D. Liano, producers
• Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench - Damien Chazelle, director; Jasmine McGlade, producer
• October Country – Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher, directors/producers
• You Won’t Miss Me - Ry Russo-Young, director/producer
• Zero Bridge – Tariq Tapa, director; Tariq Tapa, Josée Lajoie, Hilal Ahmed Langoo, producers

-Thoughts? (By the way, The Hurt Locker and Big Fan led the nominations with 3 each)

Today's Posters: Planet 51 and a foreign poster for The Hurt Locker

Thoughts?

Kathryn Bigelow to be honored at the Hollywood Film Festival

Here's the story in Variety:

Helmer Kathryn Bigelow will be feted with the Hollywood Director Award at the 13th annual Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood awards Oct. 26 in Beverly Hills.

Along with Bigelow, Nora Ephron will be honored with the Hollywood Screenwriter Award while Disney's "Up" and "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" will be presented with the Hollywood Animation Award and the Hollywood Visual Effect Award.

Bigelow's latest pic "The Hurt Locker" bowed this past June to critical acclaim Ephron's latest laffer "Julie and Julia" has brought in more than $90 million at the B.O.

"Transformers" recently surpassed the $400 million mark at the domestic B.O. while "Up" has become the second highest-grossing Pixar film with more than $290 million in box office grosses.

-Congrats to her!

Some more new stuff at The Awards Circuit for you, the readers!

Indeed, we're now in full swing here at the site, and the Main Page is busy as usual. New to the site we have an Awards Profile for The Hurt Locker, which can be seen here. They'll be plenty more of these Profiles, so keep your eyes peeled...
We also have a review of the buzzed about French film A Prophet, which can be looked at here, adding to our growing database of new reviews.
The Tracker page has also had a minor change, with a new addition or two, which can be gazed at here.
Finally, we have an article that details how the Adapted Screenplay has been dominant when it comes to translating to Best Picture glory (even using sports analogies to prove the point). The article can be scoped out here.
-As always, be sure to read and comment!