crash/burn

The BBFC blearily rubbed their collective eyes today as they emerged uncertainly into the 21st century by granting controversial short film Visions of Ecstasy an 18 certificate without cuts.

Nigel Wingrove’s 1989 short  was banned upon its release under blasphemy laws for depicting Spanish nun St Teresa of Avila engaged in compromising clinches with Jesus on the cross.  With the axing of the archaic blasphemy laws in 2008, the risk of any libel action against Wingrove was effectively negated, yet it has still taken almost four years for the BBFC to renege on their initial judgement, partly because Wingrove was initially reluctant to resubmit the work for approval.

Who even knew Nunsploitation was a genre?

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So, this week it was the turn of Hollywood’s directors and actors to imply where they want the big Oscar prizes to end up, as the Directors Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild held their respective back slapping ceremonies in LA.

Surprises were somewhat thin on the ground at the DGA gig, with The Artist’s Michel Hazanavicius landing the coveted Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film prize.  Although Hazanavicius was cruelly denied the Golden Globe by Martin Scorcese for Hugo, this latest accolade effectively confers favourite status on both Hazanavicius for Best Director and Best Picture for The Artist.

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Hi all, we’ve had a few…

…in the system the last few days, BUT they have been well and truly…

….so we’re BACK and this time it’s…

On the eve of the announcement of this year’s Oscar nominations, The Artist has muscled its way into a seemingly unassailable position as the firm favourite for Academy glory.

Adding to its clutch of Golden Globes and success at the London Film Critics’ Circle awards, The Artist  landed the portentous Producers Guild award, an accolade that has been afforded to the past four Best Picture winner at the Oscars.  It then swiftly added to its burgeoning trophy cabinet by snaffling the  UK Regional  Critics’ Film of the year award.

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The Artist cemented itself as the Oscar frontrunner at last night’s London Critics’ Circle awards, picking up prizes for film of the year, best director for Michael Hazanavicus and best actor for Jean Dujardin.

It continues the run of awards success that the silent film has enjoyed in recent weeks, having scooped three Golden Globes last weekend.  Its only apparent competition for Academy glory, the Alexander Payne film The Descendants, which also scored three globes, drew a telling blank.

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With the nauseatingly inevitable damp squib that was The Golden Globes boring us all to tears over the weekend, the awards season is most definitely now in full swing.

This week though marks  the turn of the Brits to have their say, or to at least announce their nomination shortlists as both BAFTA and the Evening Standard did yesterday.

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And so first the good news, Avatar 2 has been delayed until 2016. The bad news is that it hasn’t been cancelled altogether.