Happy Birthday to our very own Anna!

Yes, Mrs. Belickis has gotten a year older today (but since she's a lady I won't reveal her age), so let's all wish her the best!

Joey's leaving on a jet plane...

...and while I know when I'll be back again, for the next week I'll only be a limited presence on the site. Essentially, look for my DVD column on Tuesday like normal and sporadic posts to the blog. For me, I'll be in Las Vegas, then on to North Carolina and Virginia for some family business. See you all on the other side!

Today we celebrate our Independence Day...

...from all of us at The Awards Circuit, have an enjoyable and safe 4th of July!

Keep the ACCA votes coming!

With voting coming to an end very shortly, the time is now to get your final say in what the best of 2001 was. You the Awards Circuit reader has always been an interesting voter in the Awards Circuit Community Awards, so keep that trend going! Go here to vote and let your voice be heard. Feel free to use this as a last minute For Your Consideration thread...and once again, happy voting!

The first half of 2011 is in the books...

...and with that, we move on to the latter half of the year, where film really begins to shine. That being said, there were plenty of quality flicks that debuted in January through June. In fact, as you'll see in my annual "Best of the first half of the year" article (look for it soon), there were well over a dozen movies that ranged from very good to masterpiece status. My best (and worst) list will be public knowledge soon enough, but for now...what were your favorite and least favorite films of 2011 so far? Let us know!

-Sound off on the first half of 2011!

Happy Father's Day from all of us at The Awards Circuit!

Be sure to watch a movie with your dad...for some suggestions, here's my father, grandfather (yes, the same one who contributes to the site sometimes), and uncle's 5 favorite films of all time:

My dad Mitch- Soylent Green, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, Planet of the Apes (1968), Desk Set, and The Man with the Golden Gun.

My grandfather Marty- Annie Hall, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Young Frankenstein, The Adventures of Robin Hood, and Red River.

My uncle Scott- It's a Wonderful Life, Blazing Saddles, Kelly's Heroes, The Solid Gold Cadillac, and Batman Begins.

-Happy Father's Day again!

Why 'The Tree of Life' was a disappointment to me...

...or at least a partial disappointment. As you all have no doubt seen by now, my review of the film went up earlier today (you can find it here if you haven't seen it yet), and I obviously do not share in the opinion of some that Terrence Malick has crafted a masterpiece. I recognize the quality elements of the work, but it never came together for me. I figured I'd use this as a place for everyone to comment once more on the film (since it's generating a lot of chatter, not just on the site, too), now that it has been out for more than just a few days and the review is up to read and comment on. Have at it!

The most controversial movie of the year gets reviewed...

...right here at The Awards Circuit! Today's update includes one of the few reviews out there of the uber-controversial movie 'A Serbian Film'. I won't get into anything about the work here, but I will say that the controversy is actually somewhat well-founded, for a change. That review can be found here (definitely check it out, so I don't feel like I saw it for nothing). Lots of other flicks got reviewed as well, including the latest comedy from the Judd Apatow factory...the female centric 'Bridesmaids' (found here), Will Ferrell's small-scale drama 'Everything Must Go' (found here), Werner Herzog's latest documentary 'Cave of Forgotten Dreams' (found here), and the documentary 'The People vs George Lucas' (found here). Check them all out and give us some feedback!

-Do you think you can stand the sight of 'A Serbian Film'? Are you interested in either of the documentaries? What about the other films we reviewed? Let us know!

ACCA 2001 is up and running!

You know what that means ladies and gents...time to vote like you're a member of the Academy. Go here and get started, and feel free to use this as a place to do your FYC campaigns and chat about who and what may or may not get nominated.

-Happy voting!

The Awards Circuit Staff begin to let loose with some Oscar Predictions!

Yes, we're off and running with Staff Predictions on the Main Page. They may be up later than some of you would prefer, but they're still earlier than the vast majority of other sites, so just keep that in mind. Check out the predictions here, starting with mine (which have changed somewhat from my original ones on the blog...those can be seen here for comparison) and Robert's, with the rest to come very soon! As always, be sure to let us know what you think about them.

-What do you think of our predictions? What are your predictions?

Discuss!

Can Mel Gibson salvage his career and image with The Beaver?

Well, that remains to be seen, but the potential is certainly there, considering the script for The Beaver is kind of brilliant. I go over it in my Script Review of the film here, but suffice to say, Gibson has got an Oscar worthy role to play with (not to mention juicy supporting parts for supporting players Anton Yelchin and Jennifer Lawrence). The early word from screenings was very positive as well, so if audiences are willing to pay to see Mel again, this could be not just a critical hit, but a commercial one as well.

Here's an excerpt from our exclusive Script Review:

In terms of awards potential, I’d look at Best Original Screenplay as where the best possibility lies. If the movie is a hit, Best Actor is where the love should go, though don’t count out Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress (Lawrence), or even Best Director. I don’t know that it’ll be the Academy’s cup of tea, but the potential is there.
Overall, ‘The Beaver’ is one of the best scripts I’ve read in a while. It’s different, but not in an off-putting way. It’s incredibly
touching, and while some may not be thrilled with its choice of denouement, I found it perfect and apt. The premise may be a hard sell, but I can assure you, this will be worth your time. I’m very much looking forward to seeing the movie. If the script is properly executed on screen, this could easily be one of the best films of 2011.
--

Go check out the latest Awards Circuit Script Review (the first of 2011 after The Social Network and Buried were two of the prominent ones featured last year) and let me know what you think!

-Can Mel Gibson ever get back to being considered a respected actor, or will he have to move completely behind the camera in the future?