Because of the Christmas and New Year’s holidays falling on a Saturday this year, there were no updates those two weeks. This week I are going to do our best to catch up on three weeks of Oscar news, but if something is missed, I apologize.

Oscar News

• The seven films eligible for the Visual Effects award this year are Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I, Hereafter, Inception, Iron Man 2, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Tron: Legacy.  That list will be narrowed down by two for five final nominees.
• The Writers Guild of America released their nominees for the 2010, with notable exclusions The King’s Speech and Toy Story 3 ineligible by guild rules.
• The Producers Guild of America also released their nominees for Best Film, and the ten films looks pretty close to a possible Academy Top 10.
• Among the other guilds to release their nominations are the Art Directors Guild, Cinema Audio Society
• The Online Film Critics Society named The Social Network the Best Film of the Year, with David Fincher, Colin Firth and Christian Bale picking up another award also.
• The USC Scripter nominations were announced, honoring the best adaptations of the year. This years nominees are 127 Hours, The Ghost Writer, The Social Network, Shutter Island and True Grit.
• The National Film Registry announced their 2010 list of 25 Films selected to be preserved, and among the Oscar winning films to make the cut are All the President’s Men, The Empire Strikes Back, The Exorcist and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
• Academy Award winning actor Robert DeNiro will head the jury at this year’s Cannes Film Festival in May.

Review Round-Up

• Mike Leigh, always a contender for several Oscar nominations, is getting some of the best reviews of his career for Another Year. Rotten Tomatoes has the film ranked with a 91%.
• Blue Valentine also received a 91% from Rotten Tomatoes, with critics calling the lead performances from Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling among the best of the year.
• Country Strong was once seen as a Best Actress competitor for Gwenyth Paltrow, but with a 17% from Rotten Tomatoes, those hopes seem to be dashed.
• The Illusionist has the pedigree to be a competitor for a Best Animated Feature nomination, and reviewers are calling the film magical and in the words of Armond White, “a return to the possibilities of animation as Fantasia.” Metacritic gives the film an 81, while Rotten Tomatoes has the film at an 86%.
• Oscar-winner Sofia Coppola isn’t getting the masterful praise for Somewhere that she got for Lost in Translation, but a 75% on Rotten Tomatoes could be enough to push it into Dark Horse status.
• True Grit is setting itself up to be another major contender for Oscar favorites the Coen Brothers, and the critics agree that it is worthy. It has an 80 from Metacritic and an even more incredible 95% from Rotten Tomatoes, with The New York Times comparing it to classics such as The Night of the Hunter.

Oscar Box Office

• True Grit was the holiday’s biggest winner, opening over Christmas at Number One and almost hitting the $100 million mark.
• Another Year grossed only $150,000 in its opening weekend in six theaters, but that is a better opening than Mike Leigh’s last two films, both of which garnered Leigh Oscar nominations.

New Trailers

Believe it or not, no new Oscar trailers were released in the past 3 weeks.

Oscar Farewell

• Pete Postlethwaite, who received a Best Supporting Actor nomination for In the Name of the Father, died at the age of 64. Among his other notable films include The Usual Suspects, The Town and Amistad. A full obituary can be found here.
• Actress Anne Francis, best known for her role in the Oscar-winning film Forbidden Planet, died at the age of 80. Among her other performances include Blackboard Jungle and Bad Day at Black Rock.