Golden Globe Nominations

BEST PICTURE (Drama)
Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty

BEST PICTURE (Musical or Comedy)
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables
Moonrise Kingdom
Salmon Fishing on the Yemen
Silver Linings Playbook

BEST DIRECTOR
Ben Affleck, Argo
Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained

BEST ACTOR (Drama)
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Richard Gere, Arbitrage
John Hawkes, The Sessions
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington, Flight 

BEST ACTRESS (Drama)
Jessica Chastian, Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard, Rust & Bone
Helen Mirren, Hitchcock
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea 

BEST ACTOR (Musical or Comedy)
Jack Black, Bernie
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Ewan McGregor, Salmon Fishing on the Yemen
Bill Murray, Hyde Park on Hudson 

BEST ACTRESS (Musical or Comedy)
Emily Blunt, Salmon Fishing on the Yemen
Judi Dench, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Maggie Smith, Quartet
Meryl Streep, Hope Springs 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin, Argo
Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, The Master
Sally Field, Lincoln
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy 

BEST SCREENPLAY
Argo- Chris Terrio
Django Unchained- Quentin Tarantino
Lincoln- Tony Kushner
Silver Linings Playbook- David O. Russell
Zero Dark Thirty- Marc Boal

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Brave
Frankenweenie
Hotel Transylvania
Rise of the Guardians
Wreck-It-Ralph 

BEST FOREIGN FILM
Amour (Austria
The Intouchables (France)
Kon-Tike (Norway)
A Royal Affair (Denmark)
Rust & Bone (France)

BEST SCORE
Anna Karenina
Argo
Cloud Atlas
Life of Pi
Lincoln 

BEST SONG
"For You," Act of Valor
"Not Running Anymore," Stand Up Guys
"Safe and Sound," The Hunger Games
"Skyfall," Skyfall
"Suddenly," Les Miserables

Screen Actors Guild Nominations

Les Miserables nets SAG nominations for Ensemble, Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway and Best Stunts!

ENSEMBLE CAST
Argo
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook 

ACTOR
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
John Hawkes, The Sessions
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Denzel Washington, Flight 

ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard, Rust & Bone
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Helen Mirren, Hitchcock
Naomi Watts, The Impossible 

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin, Argo
Javier Bardem, Skyfall
Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln 

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Sally Field, Lincoln
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy
Maggie Smith, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

STUNT ENSEMBLE
The Amazing Spider-man
The Bourne Legacy
The Dark Knight Rises
Les Miserables
Skyfall

The biggest and most delightful surprise from the Screen Actors Guild comes in the form of recognizing the great performance of Nicole Kidman in the otherwise none so great The Paperboy.  While surely the sight and spectacle of the great actress and movie star to come to the ceremony might have been potential enough for the voting this singular creation, it still stands as a superior move on the part of actors appreciating great acting.  Kidman saunters and teases as a white trash tart in Lee Daniels' mess of a feature with such a confidence and stature and all consuming passion that there's little doubt with whom best of show honors rightfully belong to.  Alongside that, there was little surprises, aside from the Javier Bardem's inclusion for playing villain to James Bond in Skyfall and the prominence of this summer's octogenarian hit The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which netted Ensemble acting mentions alongside Supporting Actress Maggie Smith.  Joaquin Phoenix was shut out for The Master in a tough category, while Marion Cotillard, Naomi Watts and Helen Mirren skirted into the definitely in flux Best Actress category.  Whilst critical favorite Zero Dark Thirty just has Jessica Chastain to claim as nominee, and Django Unchained lies snubbed.  Thoughts?  How do you think they did?

British Independent Film Awards Nominations

BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM

• Berberian Sound Studio
• The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
• Broken
• The Imposter
• Sightseers

DIRECTOR

• Peter Strickland, Berberian Sound Studio
• John Madden, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
• Rufus Norris, Broken
• Bart Layton, The Imposter
• Ben Wheatley, Sightseers

ACTOR

• Riz ahmend, Ill Manors
• Toby Jones, Berberian Sound Studios
• Steve Oram, Sightseers
• Tim Roth, Broken
• Terence Stamp, Song for Marion

ACTRESS

• Judi Dench, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
• Elle Fanning, Ginger & Rosa
• Alice Lowe, Sightseers
• Andrea Riseborough, Shadow Dancer
• Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady

SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Billy Connolly, Quartet
• Domnhall Gleeson, Shadow Dancer
• Rory Kinnear, Broken
• Cillian Murphy, Broken
• Tom Wilkinson, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Olivia Colman, Hyde Park on Hudson
• Eileen Davies, Sightseers
• Alice Englert, Ginger & Rosa
• Vanessa Redgrave, Song for Marion
• Maggie Smith, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

SCREENPLAY

• Berberian Sound Studio- Peter Strickland
• Broken- Mark O'Rowe
• The Iron Lady- Abi Morgan
• Sightseers- Alice Lowe, Steve Oram & Amy Jump
• Song for Marion- Paul Andrew Williams

INTERNATIONAL FILM

• Amour
• Beasts of the Southern Wild
• The Hunt
• Rust & Bone
• Searching for Sugar Man

DOCUMENTARY

• Dreams of a Life
• The Imposter
• London: The Modern Babylon
• Marley
• Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir

Full list here

Weekend Box Office

Hulk continued to smash, as for the third weekend in a row, The Avengers is continuing to smash records and every other film that dares to challenge its supremacy.  A good thing for the films writer\director Joss Whedon, a great talent (just a thought however, why couldn't this level of popularity of been afforded when he was shepherding the brilliant TV series Buffy, the Vampire Slayer?), but onward with the Avengers onslaught, plus co-penning the springs horror hit The Cabin in the Woods, it's safe to safe Whedon can do whatever the hell he pleases for a while which is great news for all, even if...gulp, The Avengers itself isn't the greatest superhero film ever made...I shield from potentially dismaying comments.

1. THE AVENGERS- $55 million \ $457 million total
2. BATTLESHIP- $25.3 million total- the mash-up of Transformers and Battle: Los Angeles got slugged around in much the same sense the Hulk tossed around Loki-- good news for modern filmmaking; bad news for Hasboro stock.
3. THE DICTATOR- $17.4 million \ $24.4 million total- Sasha Baron Cohen's latest was a far cry from Bruno's $30 million opening weekend, but all things considered, this isn't a bad start for the racy provocateur coming off a badly received film.
4. DARK SHADOWS- $12.7 million \ $50.9 million total- Tim Burton's take on the '60s soap opera will hurt given its $150 million production cost; I would like to stand on record that this is a sign both Burton and muse Johnny Depp should take a badly needed break to recharge their once formidable batteries.
5. WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU'RE EXPECTING- $10.5 million total- Not horrible considering the product.
6. THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL- $3.2 million \ $8.2 million total- Fox Searchlight should be placed their senior indie is picking up major steam...landing in the top six on only 356 screens.  Judi Dench is clearly the Hulk of the over fifty crowd.
7. THE HUNGER GAMES- $3 million \ $391 million- Sure, some of its clout has been somewhat diminished with the onslaught of The Avengers, but this film is still on a hell of a ride, down an scant 33% in its 9th weekend of release...should coast by the $400 million mark soon.
8. THINK LIKE A MAN- $2.7 million \ $85 million total
9. THE LUCKY ONE- $1.7 million \ $56 million total- Far more interested in Zac Efron's next film, The Paperboy, debuting at Cannes next week with Nicole Kidman...anyone?
10. THE PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS- $1.4 million \ $24 million total- I saw this picture two weeks ago; I should probably write about it...I liked it.

OTHER NOTABLES:

• BERNIE- Richard Linklater's latest starring Jack Black and Shirley MacLaine is quietly becoming an indie champion averaging $5,000 on 95 screens in 4 weeks of play for a total of $1.1 million so far.
• HYSTERIA- Victorian-era period piece about the invention of the vibrator debuted modestly at $8,000 per-screen on 5 screens for a $40,000 cum so far.  Stars Hugh Dancy and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
• VIRGINIA- Dustin Lance Black's directorial debut, starring Jennifer Connelly and Ed Harris, was butchered when it debuted at the Toronto Film Festival last fall, and promptly earned a limp $6,000 on 5 screens.

Weekend Box Office Avenged!!!

Joss Whedon's The Avengers destroyed nearly every opening weekend record blasting off with an estimated $200 million in its first three days of release.  The assemblage of Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor and Captain America was destined to be huge, but it's number is way above any rational thinking.  The film made more in its first weekend than Hulk, Thor or Captain America made in their entire runs, and will destroy both Iron Mans come next weekend.  It's worth noting that ten years ago in the same first weekend of May, the first Spider-man kick-started the superhero rebirth and made a then-astounding record breaking $100+ million, a number that feels wimpy in the age of 3-D, plus a decades-worth of ticket inflation.  The film, widely critically accepted and with that kind of crushing hype behind it that make The Hunger Games take of $150 million back in March seem not quite as extraordinary, will just make it harder for the rest of the would-be blockbusters of the summer to come.  It's quite remarkable, however, like every other Hollywood anomaly, will hopefully be rightfully considered the exception, not the rule.

1. MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS- $200.3 million
2. THINK LIKE A MAN- $8 million/$73 million
3. THE HUNGER GAMES- $5.7 million/$380 million
4. THE LUCKY ONE- $5.5 million/$47 million total
5. THE PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS- $5.4 million/$18.5 million
6. THE FIVE-YEAR ENGAGEMENT- $5.1 million/$19 million
7. THE RAVEN- $2.5 million/$12 million
8. SAFE- $2.4 million/$12.8 million 
9. CHIMPANZEE- $2.3 million/$23 million
10. THE THREE STOOGES- $$1.8 million/$39 million
11. THE CABIN IN THE WOODS- $1.5 million/$38 million
12. JOHN CARTER- $1.3 million/$70.5 million
13. 21 JUMP STREET- $1 million/$133 million
14. AMERICAN REUNION- $0.8/$55 million
15. THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL- $0.75

Also impressive was the debut of the dame-heavy The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which managed to bring in the biggest opening of the 2012 for a limited film.  The film, directed by John Madden (Shakespeare in Love) and starring Judi Dench and Maggie Smith has already been a huge hit in the UK (where it's scored an impressive $70 million) as was good counterprogramming on the part of Fox Searchlight for a senior alternative to the comic\superhero crowd.