In the days leading up to the 84th Academy Awards, FilmBuffOnline will be offering profiles on all the nominees in the major categories. Some may be well know, others might be new to you, but if you need a refresher on these talented nominees, here it is.

Glenn Close

Nominated for: playing the title character, a woman pretending to be a man in 19th century Ireland, in Albert Nobbs.

Other honors for this role:

Nominated, Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture, The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards.

Nominated, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role , 2012 Screen Actors Guild Award.

Where you might know her from:

Close has had a long and varied career. Her most memorable roles are as Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction, Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil in Dangerous Liasons, and Sunny von Bulow in Reversal of Fortune. Most recently, she is known for her role of Patty Hewes in the TV show Damages.

History with Oscar:

Glenn Close has five prior Oscar nominations.

1983: Best Actress in a Supporting Role, The World According to Garp (lost to Jessica Lange, Tootsie).

1984: Best Actress in a Supporting Role, The Big Chill (lost to Linda Hunt, The Year of Living Dangerously).

1985: Best Actress in a Supporting Role, The Natural (lost to Peggy Ashcroft, A Passage to India).

1988: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Fatal Attraction (lost to Cher, Moonstruck).

1989: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Dangerous Liasons (lost to Jodie Foster, The Accused).

Viola Davis

Nominated for: playing Aibileen Clark, an African-American maid who provides insight into the lives of the black servantry the 1960′s South in The Help.

Other honors for this role:

Nominated, Best Actress, Washington DC Film Critics Association.

Won, Best Actress, 2012 Critics’ Choice Awards.

Nominated, Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture-Drama, The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards.

Won, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role , 2012 Screen Actors Guild Award.

Nominated, Best Actress, 2012 BAFTA Awards.

Where you might know her from:

You might remember her fromher Oscar nominated role of Mrs. Miller in Doubt or from her recurring roles as Donna Emmett on the TV series Law and Order: Special Victims Unit or as Lynda P. Frazier on The United States of Tara television program.

History with Oscar:

Viola Davis has one prior Oscar nomination.

2009: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Doubt (lost to Penélope Cruz, Vicky Christina Barcelona).

Rooney Mara

Nominated for: playing Lisbeth Salander, a computer hacker who investigates a missing persons case in  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Other honors for this role:

Nominated, Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture-Drama, The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards.

Where you might know her from:

Outside of her showy cameo in The Social Network, Mara’s only major screen role was as Nancy in 2010′s Nightmare on Elm Street remake.

History with Oscar:

This is Rooney Mara’s first Oscar nomination.

Meryl Streep

Nominated for: playing controversial British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.

Other honors for this role:

Nominated, Best Actress, Washington DC Film Critics Association.

Won, Best Actress, New York Film Critics Circle.

Nominated, Best Actress, 2012 Critics’ Choice Awards.

Nominated, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role , 2012 Screen Actors Guild Award.

Won, Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture-Drama, The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards.

Nominated, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role , 2012 Screen Actors Guild Award.

Won, Best Actress, 2012 BAFTA Awards.

Where you might know her from:

Her almost yearly appearances on the Oscar telecasts.

History with Oscar:

Meryl Streep has sixteen previous Oscar nominations and two wins. If you need to have a pee break or get a snack, you should probably do so now. This is going to take a while.

1979: Best Actress in a Supporting Role, The Deer Hunter (lost to Maggie Smith, California Suite).

1980: Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Kramer vs. Kramer (Won).

1982: Best Actress in a Leading Role, The French Lieutenant’s Woman (lost to Katharine Hepburn, On Golden Pond).

1983: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Sophie’s Choice (Won).

1984: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Silkwood (lost to Shirley McLaine, Terms of Endearment).

1986: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Out of Africa (lost to Geraldine Page, A Trip to Bountiful).

1988: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Ironweed (lost to Cher, Moonstruck).

1989: Best Actress in a Leading Role, A Cry in the Dark (lost to Jodie Foster, The Accused).

1991: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Postcards from the Edge (lost to Kathy Bates, Misery).

1996: Best Actress in a Leading Role, The Bridges of Madison County (lost to Susan Sarandon, Dead Man Walking).

1999: Best Actress in a Leading Role, One True Thing (lost to Gwyneth Paltrow, Shakespeare in Love).

2000: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Music of the Heart (Lost to Hilary Swank, Boys Don’t Cry).

2003: Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Adaptation (lost to Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chicago).

2007: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, The Devil Wears Prada (lost to Helen Mirren, The Queen).

2009: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, Doubt (lost to Kate Winslet, The Reader).

2010: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, Julie & Julia (lost to Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side).

Michelle Williams

Nominated for: playing a fragile Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn.

Other honors for this role:

Won, Best Actress, Washington DC Film Critics Association.

Won, Best Actress, Boston Society of Film Critics.

Nominated, Best Actress, 2012 Critics’ Choice Awards.

Won, Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy , The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards.

Nominated, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role , 2012 Screen Actors Guild Award.

Nominated, Best Supporting Actress, 2012 BAFTA Awards.

Nominated, Best Female Lead, 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards.

Where you might know her from:

Even though she has been noticed and received much critical acclaim for her work in films such as Brokeback Mountain, Blue Valentine and Shutter Island, she will probably always be remembered for her role of Jen Lindley in Dawson’s Creek.

History with Oscar:

Michelle Williams has two prior Oscar nominations.

2006: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Brokeback Mountain (lost to Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener).

2011: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, Blue Valentine (lost to Natalie Portman, Black Swan).

It’s that time of year again. Tomorrow, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce the nominees for the 84st Annual Academy Awards.

Every year there are snubs and surprises, thrills and controversies. There is no way of knowing who will be nominated, especially in a year when the Best Picture nominees could be 5 films, or ten films, or any number in between.  We here at FilmBuffOnLine, who believe the day nominations are announced should be a National holiday, are going to try and handicap the process for you.

We will try to tell you, in the most non-committal way possible, who we think are Almost Certain to get a nomination, who Definite May Be nominated, and whose nomination is a Outside Shot in the major categories (the four acting categories, Best Director, and Best Picture). We are trying to cover all bases, but don’t come to us if you lose money on your Oscar Nomination pool.

Best Actor:

Almost Certain:

George Clooney, The Descendants; Jean Dujardin, The Artist

Definite Maybe:

Michael Fassbender, Jane Eyre, X-Men: First Class, A Dangerous Method or Shame; Leonardo DiCaprio, J Edgar; Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Outside Shot:

Demián Bichir, A Better Life; Ryan Gosling, Crazy, Stupid Love, Drive, or The Ides of March; Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Clooney and Dujardin have won the most hardware this year, which not only make them a lock to be nominated, but also likely one of them will be taking home the award.

Fassbender has been great in a lot of films (listing X-Men: First Class was a bit of a joke, he’ll most likely get the nod for Shame, but I think he gave an Oscar worthy performance in that film) so he is practically a lock for a nomination. The next two are about 50/50 of getting in. The Academy seems to have something against DiCaprio, and his performance as J. Edgar Hoover while not horrible (he got a lot of nods for other awards for it), was not amazing enough to overcome that film’s lackluster performance critically or financially. Brad Pitt eked out a couple of wins along the way (most notably, the New York and Boston critics), and while Moneyball was well received, I don’t see it as 100% Oscar material.

If DiCaprio and Pitt don’t get nominated, there are worthy choices waiting to take a spot. Bichir was great in a small film with a limited release that opened over the summer. These all work against him, but he is deserving of a nod. Gosling, like Fassbender, was great in a lot of films this year, and has been nominated before, but none of the films he was in seem to pass Oscar muster. Oldman was flat out amazing in Tinker Tailor, but his subtle performance might be lost on Oscar voters.

Best Actress

Almost Certain:

Viola Davis, The Help;  Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady; Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin; Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn

Definite Maybe:

Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs

Outside Shot:

Bérénice Bejo, The Artist; Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene; Charlize Theron, Young Adult

On paper, this seems to be the category that seems to have the least wiggle room. Davis, Streep, Close, Swinton and Williams are all in the type of roles that Oscar voters seem to trip over giving nominations to. But in every round of nominations, there are bound to be surprises, and this category is ripe for one.

Bejo and Olsen have the best chance of breaking in, in my opinion. But Bejo is getting pushed for Best Supporting Actress instead of Lead, even though she essentially had a lead role. Olsen got good notices in her role, but suffers from the same “too early/too small handicap” that Bichir has. Theron has received nods for Best Actress in the Golden Globes (where there are nominations for comedy and drama) and the Critic’ Choice Awards (where there are six nominees). She has an Oscar pedigree, but Young Adult could very well be seen as less than Oscar worthy.

Best Supporting Actor:

Almost Certain:

Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marilyn; Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Definite Maybe:

Albert Brooks, Drive; Jonah Hill, Moneyball

Outside Shot:

Nick Nolte, Warrior; Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method; Andy Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes or The Adventures of Tintin; Armie Hammer, J Edgar; Tom Hardy, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Plummer has won the Golden Globe and Critic’s Choice award Supporting Actor, making him a lock for an  Oscar nomination, if not the actual award. Branagh has been consistently nominated for his apt portrayal of Laurence Olivier, so he could get the nod as well. Slightly less certain but highly possible are nomination of two actors best known for comedy, Brooks and Hill, for playing against type. After that, place your bets. Will Nolte’s “sports mentor” role make the grade? Will Mortensen’s change of pace role as Sigmund Freud catch the Academy’s attention? Will the Academy make a statement and move towards the future by giving Serkis the nod for his superior motion-capture work? Does the Academy like J Edgar more than the critics and the general public do, thereby swing the nod to Hammer? Will Hardy represent Tinker Tailor‘s stellar cast with a nomination? Will it be another cast member? Or will the film be ignored?

Best Supporting Actress

Almost Certain:

Octavia Spencer, The Help; Bérénice Bejo, The Artist

Definite Maybe:

Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids

Outside Shot:

Jessica Chastain, The Help or Take Shelter; Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs; Carey Mulligan, Shame; Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

What I said for Christopher Plummer above also applies to Spencer. The only chance Bejo doesn’t get nominated here is if she gets nominated for Best Actress. But that race is crowded so I think she’ll land here. She is deserving.

The only thing keeping me from making McCarthy almost certain is the Academy’s apparent hatred of the comedy. They do not like to give nominations from comedies, no matter how good the role or film is. This time, though, I think they’ll make an exception.

After that, pick two. Chastain and Woodley might have a slight advantage, but McTeer has a good chance and Mulligan could sneak in.

Best Director:

Almost Certain:

Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist; Martin Scorsese, Hugo

Definite Maybe:

Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris;  Alexander Payne, The Descendants

Outside Shot:

David Fincher, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life; Bennett Miller, Moneyball; Steven Spielberg, War Horse or The Adventures of Tintin; Tate Taylor, The Help

Hazanavicius is definitely most deserving and Scorsese won the Golden Globe, so they should both be nominated. After that, Payne is almost a lock, as is Allen, due to the number of nominations they received. After that, well, ot depends. Fincher got a Directors Guild nomination, Malick has been on a lot of west coast critics awards list, which might be a barometer of how the Academy will go. Miller might ride the surprising accolades Moneyball is getting this award season with a nomination. And months ago, it looked like it wouldn’t be a question if Spielberg would be nominated, but for which film. Now, here he is, a long shot for any nomination at all. Weird. And Taylor has to be consider taking into account the number of great performance that came from that film.

Best Picture:

Almost Certain:

The Artist; The Descendants

Definite Maybe:

Hugo; The Help ; Midnight in Paris

Outside Chance:

The Tree of Life; War Horse; Moneyball; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; The Adventures of Tintin; Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy or just about any other film out there that has a miniscule amount of buzz.

Not having a definite number of nominees beforehand really plays havoc with the prognosticating business. I tried to pick out the five most likely films to get nominated, but with the possibility of five more, well, it could be any film of a certain stature.

So, what do you think? Am I on to something, or totally wrong? I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.

Sam Raimi has finally locked the last major player in the cast for his upcoming Oz: The Great And Powerful with the casting of Michelle Williams as the good witch Glinda.

Williams’ Glinda will be teaming up James Franco as a carnival huckster who has arrived in Oz to battle against her two evil sisters Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Theadora (Mila Kunis) for control of the magical kingdom over the rainbow. The film is a prequel to Frank L Baum’s classic children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, which was adapted in to the classic musical film in 1939 starring Judy Garland, Frank Morgan as the Wizard, Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West and Billie Burke as Glinda.

Raimi has had a rough time solidifying his cast for the film. Originally, Robert Downey Jr was attached to the part of the carnival pitchman who sets himself up as a wizard. He left the project in January 2011 and Johnny Depp was briefly involved before Franco signed on. He also went head-to-head with the studio over the casting of Evanora, before the two finally compromised on Weisz.

But despite all the problems there may have been, the end result is an exciting and solid cast. All three actresses are solid and dependable performers and Franco, however flakey he may come off in interview situations, has always turned in good work as well. I like that the film has more female leads than male ones. It’s a refreshing change from usual blockbuster fare.

And hopefully, William’s Glinda won’t suffer from the same bad eyesight that Burke’s did when she famously said to Dorothy that “Only bad witches were ugly” right after asking her “Are you a good witch or a bad witch?”

With the main casting set, Oz: The Great And Powerful is well on its way towards meeting its July production start date.

Via Variety.

Sam Raimi and execs at Disney are in disagreement as to who shall play the role of the one of the elder witches in their upcoming Oz, The Great And Powerful.

Reportedly, Raimi has been pushing for offering Hilary Swank the role. She has two Academy Awards to her name and has worked with Raimi before on The Gift. The studio, on the other hand, would like to give the job to two-time Oscar nominee Michelle Williams.

Vulture, who broke the story, is saying that the two haven’t reached an impasse yet, but notes that Raimi can be fairly tenacious in situations like this. They point to when the director fought against Sony’s desire to hire American Beauty star Wes Bentley for Peter Parker when he was prepping the first Spider-Man film ten years ago. Raimi got his way, Tobey Maguire got the part and the film went on to make over $403 million in US ticket sales and launch a trilogy that cleared over a billion dollars in just domestic box office receipts.

Casting this film has proved quite a challenge. Originally, Robert Downey Jr was attached to the project to play the role of a Kansas con man who gets flown by balloon to the magical land of Oz and sets himself up as a great wizard. Downey dropped out in January and Johnny Depp briefly was connected with the film before the role finally went to James Franco. More recently, John C. Reilly was in negotiations for a role in the film but wound up backing out in favor of a role in Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games adaption.

Personally, I think either actress here would be a good choice. I liked the work Swank did before with Raimi in The Gift and I’m sure that there is probably a comfortable factor there for him. I’ve been a fan of Williams’s work for years now, and while she has been doing some heavy duty drama of late, such as Blue Valentine, she can certainly handle lighter roles as well. If you don’t believe me, check her out in the indie comedy The Baxter, from actor/writer/director Michael Showalter.

Prior to it’s release, Derek Cianfrance’s drama Blue Valentine stirred up controversy when the Motion Picture Association of America slapped the film with an NC-17 rating, citing a sex scene between stars Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling, which while explicit, oddly enough didn’t show any actual nudity. What got heads scratching was the fact that there was a very similar scene in director Darren Aronofski’s Black Swan between Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis didn’t earn that film a similar NC-17. The film instead received an R rating. Blue Valentine‘s rating was appealaed last month and knocked down to an R, but the question remained as to why the MPAA reacted the way they initially did.

In an interview published at The Daily Beast today, Williams gave her own thoughts on what difference theratings board found between the two films and the scenes in question -

I think maybe it was because her scene was more about a fantasy and mine was more about reality… Maybe it all comes down to my finding the pleasure in it.

So, the reality of sex between two consenting adults is bad and fantasy sex between two consenting adults is less bad? I think the only thing filmmakers can really learn from this is that it doesn’t pay to try and second guess what the MPAA may be thinking when they sit down to rate your film, just be prepared to appeal whatever rating they arbitrarily come up with.

As director Derek Cianfrance’s Blue Valentine goes into release today, we re-present our review of the film from when it screened at the Philadelphia Film Festival this past fall.

Blue Valentine is a devastating portrait of the disintegration of a marriage, a slow-motion car crash where you see things inevitably spinning out of control but are unable to stop the tragic tableau unfolding before you.

Whatever love Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams) had between them is gone. Although they’ve made a home together and are raising a precious little girl, the stresses of their life have taken their toll. Cindy’s dream of being a doctor has been reduced down to a job as a nurse, while the ambitionless Dean seems content with his job as a housepainter. They both know that their marriage is in trouble, but neither know what to do to fix things. In desperation, Dean books them a room in what could be politely described as a “honeymoon motel” with the hopes that they can reconnect on any level.

But as we watch them make a last, fumbling grasp at saving their marriage, the film flashes us back to five years earlier, showing us their chance meeting, courtship and then hasty marriage. Oddly enough, many of these beats can be found in typical Hollywood romantic comedies, but here they are played for a sweet realism, not the cloyingly cute tone endemic to that genre. And given what happens to Dean and Cindy, it is hard not to think that maybe writer/director Derek Cianfrance is critiquing if not outright rejecting the notion of the Hollywood happy ending.

The contrast between the couple then and now is stark and at times jolting, leaving the audience to wonder what happened between the two. While Cianfrance doesn’t show us the intervening years directly, we can make some good guesses as to why things fell apart the way that they did from what we do learn about the pair and their upbringings.

But for all the strength of Blue Valentine‘s script, it is the performances of Gosling and Williams that deliver the emotional heft of the story. The pair manages to simultaneously create a marvelous chemistry in the flashback scenes and an agonizing estrangement in the present day portion of the film. Williams continues to show that she was one of the most underrated actresses working today as she injects into Cindy’s inability to fully articulate the anger and frustration she feels at how her life has overwhelmed her a raw energy. Gosling’s Dean comes across as deeply conflicted, his male ego under attack whenever Cindy tries to voice her complaints to him. The two create a self-sustaining loop of pain from which they can not escape and which is heartbreaking to watch.

Blue Valentine is a devastating portrait of the disintegration of a marriage, a slow-motion car crash where you see things inevitably spinning out of control but are unable to stop the tragic tableau unfolding before you.

Whatever love Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams) had between them is gone. Although they’ve made a home together and are raising a precious little girl, the stresses of their life have taken their toll. Cindy’s dream of being a doctor has been reduced down to a job as a nurse, while the ambitionless Dean seems content with his job as a housepainter. They both know that their marriage is in trouble, but neither know what to do to fix things. In desperation, Dean books them a room in what could be politely described as a “honeymoon motel” with the hopes that they can reconnect on any level.

But as we watch them make a last, fumbling grasp at saving their marriage, the film flashes us back to five years earlier, showing us their chance meeting, courtship and then hasty marriage. Oddly enough, many of these beats can be found in typical Hollywood romantic comedies, but here they are played for a sweet realism, not the cloyingly cute tone endemic to that genre. And given what happens to Dean and Cindy, it is hard not to think that maybe writer/director Derek Cianfrance is critiquing if not outright rejecting the notion of the Hollywood happy ending.

The contrast between the couple then and now is stark and at times jolting, leaving the audience to wonder what happened between the two. While Cianfrance doesn’t show us the intervening years directly, we can make some good guesses as to why things fell apart the way that they did from what we do learn about the pair and their upbringings.

But for all the strength of Blue Valentine‘s script, it is the performances of Gosling and Williams that deliver the emotional heft of the story. The pair manages to simultaneously create a marvelous chemistry in the flashback scenes and an agonizing estrangement in the present day portion of the film. Williams continues to show that she was one of the most underrated actresses working today as she injects into Cindy’s inability to fully articulate the anger and frustration she feels at how her life has overwhelmed her a raw energy. Gosling’s Dean comes across as deeply conflicted, his male ego under attack whenever Cindy tries to voice her complaints to him. The two create a self-sustaining loop of pain from which they can not escape and which is heartbreaking to watch.

It’s that time of year again. This Thursday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce the nominees for the 81st Annual Academy Awards.

Every year there are snubs and surprises, thrills and controversies. There is no way of knowing who will be nominated, but we here at FilmBuffOnLine, who believe the day nominations are announced should be a National holiday, are going to try and handicap the process for you.

We will try to tell you who we think are Almost Certain to get a nomination, who Definite May Be nominated, and whose nomination is a Outside Shot in the major categories (the four acting categories, Best Director, and Best Picture). We are trying to cover all bases, but don’t come to us if you lose money on your Oscar Nomination pool.

Best Actor:

Almost Certain:

Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler; Sean Penn, Milk

Definite Maybe:

Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon; Leonardo DiCaprio, Revolutionary Road; Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Outside Shot:

Colin Farrell, In Bruges; Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino

It seems that this year, if Mickey Rourke didn’t win a Best Actor award, Sean Penn won it. Both men seem to be all but a lock for a nomination. Benjamin Button seems to be role that screams “nominate me,” so Pitt has a good chance. Langella won a Tony for originating the role of Nixon on Broadway, so it seem logical that he’d at least get a nod. The Academy might have something against DiCaprio, since he has been snubbed more than once in the past. That could work against him here. Farrell won the Golden Globe for this role, which gives him a chance. And the Academy might want to reward Eastwood for what could be his last acting role with a nomination.

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