By Maria Esteves - February 2, 2010 The 82nd Academy Awards nominations were announced by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) President Tom Sherak and 2008 Oscar nominee Anne Hathaway, on Tuesday, February 2, 2010. AVATAR, directed by James Cameron and THE HURT LOCKER, directed by Kathryn Bigelow (Cameron's ex-wife) picked up nine Oscar nominations including best picture and best director. The 82nd Academy Awards ceremony presented by AMPAS for outstanding film achieve...

  With the announcement of Oscar nominations this morning and a definitive win at last weekend's Directors Guild of America Awards, helmer Kathryn Bigelow is poised to make history as the first women director to win a Best Director Oscar for her work on the intense Iraq War drama THE HURT LOCKER. Bigelow is only the fourth woman director ever to be nominated in the 85 year history of the awards (her predecessors included Italian director Lina Wertmuller for SEVEN BEAUTIES, Amer...

by Marla Lewin Marla Lewin co-producer Life After War photo by Jimmy Malecki                           Back in 2002 we were in Park City at Sundance with Doug Pray of Scratch. It was four months after 9/11, and we had heard about what was going on in Afghanistan the previous night over dinner. At lunch the next day with Doug we began discussions about p...

by Marla Lewin Sunday marked another milestone in this year’s awards  season as The Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced their winners in television and motion picture productions at their 21st Annual PGA Awards ceremony held at the Hollywood Palladium. The Winners are listed in Bold in each category: Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures:   AVATAR Producers: James Cameron, Jon Landau DISTRICT 9 Produce...

  While most people go to the movies to escape the avalanche of bad news that seeks to overwhelm us, two films with topical subjects are emerging as the frontrunners in the Best Picture Oscar race. THE HURT LOCKER, the much lauded Iraqi War drama directed by Kathryn Bigelow, and UP IN THE AIR, the Jason Reitman-helmed, George Clooney-starrer that has the economy and corporate layoffs as its background motif, are the most honored films of the year so far by a range of critics groups and ...

By Marla Lewin     Directors Guild of America President Taylor Hackford announced the five nominees for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2009.   The nominees are (in alphabetical order): Kathryn Bigelow The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment) James Cameron Avatar (Twentieth Century Fox) Lee Daniels Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire (Lionsgate) Jason Reitman Up In The Air (Pa...