Visual effects are an often overlooked and underappreciated aspect of film making. It’s surprising that VFX has traditionally been one of the last things considered in budgeting/schedule and VFX houses often get the bad end of the money stick when it comes down to the last minute studio changes. But this year’s VFX Oscar nominees (Avatar, District 9 and Star Trek) are all great examples of how being mindful of the importance of VFX can gain your film box office and Oscar success.

It’s Academy Awards time again, and even though we all know the awards are basically an irrelevant exercise in mutual masturbation it’s still fun to watch. This year sees a wide variety of films gain entry into Oscar history via nominations for Best Screenplay, Original and Adapted. Some deserve the honor, while others are based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire.

Throughout history the film industry has shown its support for civil rights and equality for all. Why don’t they show the same level respect for their own product?

For those around here (almost all of us) who have been rooting for Duncan Jones’ Moon, today is a day for a bit of celebration. Jones led off today’s ceremony for the British Academy of Film and Television Awards (BAFTA) with a win for Outstanding Debut with his first film, the excellent cerebral piece of sci-fi that it was. Reports say that Jones was very emotional in accepting his award, completing a run that began last year at the Sundance Film Festival.

The winners of the 2010 Writers Guild Awards for outstanding achievement in writing for screen, television, radio, news, promotional, and videogame writing were announced last night.Among the big winners were Mark Boal for his work on The Hurt Locker and the team of Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner for their work on Up in the Air.

Need to keep track of your picks for this year’s Oscar night? Want to challenge your friends on Twitter to pick against Sandra Bullock for Best Actress? Well, there’s an app for that.

In this year’s Academy Awards ceremony we will have 10 Best Picture nominees for the first time in 60 years, see how our viewing trends prompted this.

It was a quiet triumph that passed unnoticed by people who don’t follow film all that closely. But many of us took notice, as Kathryn Bigelow brought home the top prize at the DGA awards, solidifying her place in history.

It is quite early in the morning, even here in the Central Time Zone. But so many of us in the movie world were up early, watching as Anne Hathaway unveiled the nominees for the 82nd Academy Awards, which will take place 33 days from now.

he Best Foreign Language Film category at the Oscars is notable for two things year in and year out. First, the winning film is usually one that most Americans have not seen (and will probably never see) for various reasons. And two, the Academy almost always gets it wrong.

The 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards are upon us. And while they are on live on ABC as of 8/7c, you may not be watching them. That’s okay, as I will updating our list with the winners as they are announced.

Put simply, it’s going to be a populist kind of year. Once again, the likes of Avatar and Star Trek, along with The Hangover, are hanging around during awards season.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science has released the list of the seven films that are in the final running for the Best Visual Effects Oscar. We break down the finalists, telling you exactly who may or may not win.

The Directors Guild of America announced the nominees for its 62nd Annual Awards today, honoring outstanding directorial achievement in feature films.

In the online world, our lives wouldn’t be complete without the embattled entity known as the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS). Which means this year’s awards season wouldn’t be complete without this list of winners.

Haven’t heard much talk about Moon this awards season? Mad that it’s not showing up on the lists of your favorite critics? Blame Sony Pictures Classics.

The wonderful group of fine professional film critics and journalists known as the Austin Film Critics Association — a group that includes the membership of yours truly and FSR Managing Editor Dr. Cole Abaius — has announced its award winners for the year 2009.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced the nominations for The 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards. But that’s not all!

It’s been a busy weekend for Awards season, the busiest thus far. The folks at AFI, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and our friends at the New York Film Critics Online group have all weighed in with some big pre-Oscar rewards to some major favorites.

Earlier this week, the Gotham Awards kicked off award season, with the nominations for the Indie Spirit awards following shortly after. And today, we have our next round of honors and for the most part, the first major awards to be handed out.