I was just looking at what was playing now, and what opens on Friday and see that there’s a good selection of nominated films playing or opening or being brought back. I live in Chicago of course, and film lovers in a big chunk of the country aren’t lucky enough to live where there are a lot of theaters to choose from, but I thought it would be interesting to see what’s playing where, and what’s on DVD. Rather than list every nomination I’ll just list the major one then + however many others it received. Some movies only received one nomination.
In Chicago:
A Serious Man (Best Picture +1)
A Single Man (Best Actor Colin Firth)
An Education (Best Picture +2)
Avatar (Best Picture +8)
Crazy Heart (Best Actor Jeff Bridges +2)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (Best Animated Film +1)
Invictus (Best Actor Morgan Freeman +1)
Nine (Best Supporting Actress Penelope Cruz +3)
Precious (Best Picture +5)
Sherlock Holmes (Art Direction +1)
The Blind Side (Best Picture +1)
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Art Direction +1)
The Lovely Bones (Best Supporting Actor Stanley Tucci)
The Princess and the Frog (Best Animated Film +2)
The White Ribbon (Best Foreign-Language Film +1)
The Young Victoria (Art Direction +2)
Up In The Air (Best Picture +5)
Opening Friday:
The Last Station (Best Actress Helen Mirren +1)
Expanding theaters Friday:
An Education (Best Picture +2)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (Best Animated Film +1) *(Chicago folks, read the footnote!)
Invictus (Best Actor Morgan Freeman +1)
The Blind Side (Best Picture +1)
I might have missed a couple, and others will probably return or expand next week or the week after. I’m waiting for The Last Station and The White Ribbon to play in theaters I like. If they don’t, I’ll hold my nose and go to the theaters they are playing in. I realize I’m lucky they’re playing at all, but I hate giving money to theaters that stink.
On DVD, depending on where you live:
Bright Star (Costume Design)
Coco Before Chanel (Costume Design)
Coraline (Best Animated Film)
District 9 (Best Picture +3)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Cinematography)
In The Loop (Adapted Screenplay)
Inglorious Basterds (Best Picture +7)
Julie and Julia (Best Actress Meryl Streep)
Paris 36 (Best Song)
Star Trek (Visual Effects +3)
The Hurt Locker (Best Picture +8)
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Sound Mixing)
Up (Best Picture +4)
In Limbo, status unknown (I’m too lazy to research) or yet to be released:
Ajami (Israel) (Foreign-Language Film)
Burma VJ (Documentary Feature)
El Secreto de Sus Ojos (Argentina) (Foreign-Language Film)
Food, Inc. (Documentary Feature)
Il Divo (Makeup)
The Cove (Documentary Feature)
The Messenger (Best Supporting Actor Woody Harrelson +1, gone from theaters but not on DVD)
The Milk of Sorrow (Peru) (Foreign-Language Film)
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (Documentary Feature)
The Secret of Kells (Best Animated Film) (to be released in the US in March)
Un Prophete (France) (Foreign-Language Film) (I know this has not been released in the US yet, because I keep seeing previews for it)
Which Way Home (Documentary Feature)
What’s playing in your neck of the woods?
- (The Brew & View at the Vic Theater will have a great triple feature starting Friday. The Fantastic Mr. Fox, A Serious Man, and Fargo! All for $5.00. Not each, but the entire triple feature! The Vic alternates B&V movies and live concerts so check your local listings for days. It’s not the greatest screen, sound or venue, but for that price and good movies, can’t complain too much. It’s not like I’d go see Avatar there or anything.)