In 2011, there was an incredibly close race between Batman: Arkham City and Portal 2 between team Bitcast for the Game of the Year award with Portal 2 coming out on top. This year, the conversation went a lot smoother.

While there were lots of games that got our attention to be nominated, there was one game that stood out amongst the crowd as the clear favorite on The Flickcast. Dishonored, Far Cry 3, Journey, Unfinished Swan, Borderlands 2, Mass Effect 3, Slender were all great innovations in gaming in 2012 and all garnered huge followings. But there is one game that proved it was special to people on so many levels that when it came time to cast the final ballot on game of the year, it was a no brainer for the both of us.

Continue Reading →

Welcome to The Flickcast Presents the Best of Gaming 2012. This is going to be a five part series throughout this first week of 2013 concluding with the Game of the Year being awarded on Friday.

Best Use of the PlayStation Network’s Voice Chat – Journey

So any gamer who has a PS3 already knows that people with microphones don’t really exist, especially compared to the plethora of expletive spitting, homophobic prepubescents who have claimed to have slept with our mothers that troll XBox Live. What they may not know is that some of the best communication that has happened in 2012 on the PSN comes from a game that actually doesn’t even allow for voice chat.

In Journey, players are placed in the role of a robed figure who has no voice at all but can make a singing tone. Those connected to the PSN will occasionally be placed in random worlds with other players but have no method of communication other than the singing tone. This means that players are actually tasked with creating their own non-verbal communication.

Continue Reading →

Nominees for the 28th Annual Spirit Awards were announced today and in many of the categories, some familiar names seem to be recurring. Best Feature nominees are Beasts Of The Southern Wild, Keep The Lights On, Moonrise Kingdom and Silver Linings Playbook.

Sean Baker’s Starlet will receive the Robert Altman Award, given to a film’s director, casting director, and ensemble cast. Among distributors, Searchlight leads the way with nine nominations, followed by Music Box with seven and IFC Films, Focus and Sony Pictures Classics with six apiece. Winners will be announced at the ceremony on February 23.

The full list of nominees follows:

BEST FEATURE
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey & Josh Penn (producers)
Bernie
Liz Glotzer, Richard Linklater, David McFadzean, Dete Meserve, Judd Payne, Celine Rattray, Martin Shafer, Ginger Sledge, Matt Williams (producers)
Keep the Lights On
Marie Therese Guirgis, Lucas Joaquin, Ira Sachs (producers)
Moonrise Kingdom
Wes Anderson, Jeremy Dawson, Steven Rales, Scott Rudin (producers)
Silver Linings Playbook
Bruce Cohen, Donna Gigliotti, Jonathan Gordon (producers)

BEST DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom
Julia Loktev, The Loneliest Planet
David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Ira Sachs, Keep the Lights On
Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Continue Reading →

In the wee hours of the morning (on the west coast anyway), the nominations for the 2012 Primetime Emmy’s were announced. As usual the list included some happy surprises, some ludicrous choices and even a few head scratchers.

The Flickcast favorites Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad both got some solid recognition in the Drama categories, while some of our Comedy favs, Community and Parks & Recreation, got snubbed for the most part.

Not listed in the main nominations list, because it is oddly not apart of the main Emmy broadcast, was the Outstanding Animated Series category. Both Bob’s Burgers and American Dad shockingly were recognized for their awesomeness, but the incumbent Futurama should be the odds on favorite to win. Oddly South Park, who lately have dominated this category, is absent.

Speaking of incumbent winners who extra-deserve the award again this year, Peter Dinklage thankfully was recognized for the second year in a row. In season one he was a bad ass, in season two he was downright epic. If there is any justice he becomes a two-time winner in September.

Check out the full list of nominees after the jump, and be sure to hop on the comments and register your biggest snubs and surprises!

Continue Reading →

In an unbelievable feat of suck, Adam Sandler has swept the annual Razzies awards, which showcase the worst films of the previous year.  Sandler’s Jack and Jill has accomplished something no film was able to in the Razzies 32 year history, winning all 10 categories. That includes both a worst actor and actress for win for the titular characters played by Sandler, which is also a Razzie first as it is not often those two categories would overlap.

Sandler wasn’t “honored” alone, as many of his supporting cast in the film went on to win as well. David Spade, Katie Holmes, and Al Pacino all received awards for the part they played in the travesty that is known as Jack and Jill.

The creative team behind the film weren’t free of the crap storm either, with director Dennis Dugan and the screenwriters all taking home awards in their respective categories.

Continue Reading →

With the film and Interactive portions of the South By Southwest Festival over now and the music part getting into full swing, it’s time for some awards. Taking the “Best Narrative Feature” prize in film was director Adam Leon’s Gimme The Loot.

Other winners include Jay Bulger’s Beware Of Mr. Baker, which won the award in the documentary category and Eden, Directed by Megan Griffiths, which won the “Audience Award” for best narrative feature.

Leon’s film was very well received by audiences and critics during the festival and several distributors have reportedly been considering the project. The film is set in New York and tells the story of Malcolm and Sofia, two tough Bronx teens who are up and coming graffiti artists.

When their latest masterpiece is defaced by a rival gang, the two plot to get spectacular revenge and become the biggest writers in the city.

Click through for a complete list of winners.

Continue Reading →

With the Academy Awards still fresh in our minds, we can think of all the great films 20111 brought us. It is easy to forget that year also had tons of stinkers and flops, but the Razzie Awards are here to remind us.

The Razzie Award nominees have been announced, and their aren’t too many surprises. Adam Sandler has a record 11 nominations, and that’s not including nominations that are tied to his Happy Madison productions. Three films by the production company, Buck Larsen: Born to be a Star, Just Go With It, and Jack & Jill, all have multiple nominations each.

The Razzies, or Golden Raspberry awards, were created in 1980 as an antidote to the Oscars. They are usually held on the eve of the Academy Awards, but this year are moving to 1 April. Traditionally, stars do not turn up to collect their awards, but good sports over the years have included Paul Verhoeven in 1996 (worst director and worst picture for Showgirls), Halle Berry for 2005′s Catwoman and Sandra Bullock for 2010′s All About Steve.

Check out the nominations after the jump, and be sure to keep an eye out for these “winners” when they are announced on April 1.

Continue Reading →

Rumors are swirling that have the Academy a bit concerned. The rumor is that on Sunday, Sacha Baron Cohen will come to the Oscars and walk the red carpet. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, but he will most likely come dressed as the title character from his upcoming Paramount comedy The Dictator.

Baron Cohen’s people have proposed the publicity stunt to the Academy members, but it seems everyone involved with the Oscars event is adamantly against it.  It makes sense that the Academy would be against it, as it could be perceived that it makes a mockery of Hollywood’s most prestigious event. It is rumored that Baron Cohen may sneak his character in either way.

The plan would be to come dressed as the dictator and then change into a tux and attend the Oscars. Even though he isn’t not scheduled to present an award, he would be welcome as part of the Paramount contingent. The studio has a Best Picture nominee in the Martin Scorsese-directed Hugo.

Continue Reading →

W.E. is the last of our Golden Globe nominated scores, perfect timing as the show airs this Sunday, and by far the most unexpected. In fact before this nomination I didn’t even know this movie existed. The film is actually directed by Madonna, which is interesting but not all together important for a review of it’s score.

The composer is Abel Korzeniowski and I can see why his excellent work was recognized by the Hollywood Foreign Press. The score is very well put together with an emphasis on large, sweeping strings in a few very choice places. Listening to the music gives me the sense that it probably dominates much of the movie. While I appreciate that sort of heavy handed musical touch, I can also see where it might have played a role in the films less than stellar critical reception.

I am happy to see it nominated though, as there has been a recent trend of nominating more subtle and subdued scores in the last few years. This is far from it, and it plays very nicely to my personal film musical tastes. Strong string work always has a tendency to grip me, and this score delivers that in spades.

Continue Reading →

As with writers, Directors are pretty high on our list of important pieces of the film and TV making puzzle. If writers are the initial creative force that takes an idea from nothing and makes it into something, directors are the force that shapes that something into a clear vision and fulfills its potential for greatness. Or, they get it as close as it’s ever going to get.

With that in mind, the Directors Guild of America President Taylor Hackford today announced the five nominees for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2011.

“The directors nominated this year for the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film Award have each demonstrated an inspired command of the medium. The fact that their prodigious talents have been recognized by their peers is the highest honor a director can achieve,” said Hackford. “I offer my most sincere congratulations to each of the nominees.”

The winner will be named at the 64th Annual DGA Awards Dinner on Saturday, January 28, 2012, at the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland.

The nominees are (in alphabetical order):

WOODY ALLEN
Midnight in Paris
(Sony Pictures Classics)
Mr. Allen’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: Matthieu Rubin, Helen Robin
First Assistant Director: Gil Kenny
Second Assistant Director: Delphine Bertrand

Continue Reading →

For those who immediately tuned out the news about the 2012 Academy Awards after they heard that “retired” host Billy Crystal would be dusting off his tuxedo to get back up on stage, they had no idea what extents the Academy would go to in order to make you think that this isn’t your mom and dad’s Oscar show.

That’s why they pulled out the stops and collaborated with Funny or Die to put together this epic movie-style trailer featuring the likes of Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Josh Duhamel, Megan Fox, William Fichtner and Vinnie Jones.

That’s right. Some pretty big star power. And if that isn’t enough for you to get into the Oscar mood, the team has also put together a pretty extensive YouTube channel, with some of the best monologues, acceptance speeches, and overall best moments.

Take a look at the epic trailer after the jump and be sure to tune in to what should be an entertaining Oscars on February 26th, only on ABC.

Continue Reading →

Even though this website could technically be called a “Blog” and those of us who contribute to it are known as “Bloggers,” we like to think of ourselves as writers. So, when other writers get recognized, as they have by the Writer’s Guild of America’s nominations for it’s awards today, we take notice.

We also take notice when movies that seem an odd choice for awards get nominated anyway. We will leave it to you, good readers, to decide which of the following nominees for Writers Guild awards seems a bit out of place.

Winners will be announced at the 2012 Writers Guild Awards on Sunday, February 19, 2012, during simultaneous ceremonies in Hollywood and New York. Check out all the nominees (and more) from the official press release:

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

50/50, Written by Will Reiser; Summit Entertainment

Bridesmaids, Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig; Universal Studios

Midnight in Paris, Written by Woody Allen; Sony Pictures Classics

Win Win, Screenplay by Tom McCarthy; Story by Tom McCarthy & Joe Tiboni; Fox Searchlight

Young Adult, Written by Diablo Cody; Paramount Pictures

Continue Reading →

In case you didn’t realize it, there’s a lot of groups in Hollywood that like to give awards. From the Screen Actors Guild to the Writers Guild to the big one, the Academy Awards, it often seems that Hollywod loves awards as much as it likes making movies.

Besides the ones mentioned above, there’s another group that gives awards each year: film and TV producers. That group, collectively known as the Producers Guild of America or PGA, has released its nominations today and we’ve got them for you, and the rest of their press release, below. Check it out.

LOS ANGELES, CA (January 3, 2012) – The Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced today the motion picture and long-form television nominations for the 23rd Annual Producers Guild Awards. The categories include: The Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures; The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures; and The David L. Wolper Producer of the Year Award in Long-Form Television. The documentary film category and other television category nominations were already announced by the Guild in December 2011.

All 2012 Producers Guild Award winners will be announced on January 21, 2012 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. This year, the Producers Guild will also award special honors to Leslie Moonves (Milestone Award), Steven Spielberg (David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures), Don Mischer (Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television), Stan Lee (Vanguard Award), and IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY (The Stanley Kramer Award). The 2012 Producers Guild Awards co-chairs are Paula Wagner and Michael Manheim.

Continue Reading →

In what will surely come as a surprise to many people who don’t follow the Internets (also, most likely to mainstream audiences), Terrence Malick’s The Tree Of Life was the top film at the 15h annual Online Film Critics Society Awards. The awards are given out by the Online Film Critics Society, an organization made up of film reviewers, journalists and scholars based in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Latin America and the Asia/Pacific Rim region.

Malick’s film took the top prize for best picture as well as director, supporting actress (Jessica Chastain), editing and cinematography. No other film won more than one award.

Michael Fassbender took best actor for Shame and Tilda Swinton was best actress for We Need To Talk About Kevin. Best supporting actor went to Christopher Plummer for Beginners.

Click through for the full list of winners:

Continue Reading →

While the world of film and TV awards get more and more jaded to the hardcore fans, it’s time to pay more attention to the forms of media that could, very soon, become the new medium to-be. I’m talking about the form of New Media, or “web series”, which is becoming more and more of what kids are talking about these days.

With that comes, of course, a cornocopia of popular awards to give accolades to these hard-working men and women. One of these is for the The International Academy of Web Television, a freshman organization that’s made to bring more attention to the growing medium.

Yesterday, the nomimations for the first year of awards was announced, and as expected, Sean Becker & Felicia Day’s popular web series The Guild, and the excellent drama series RCVR made out like bandits. From Variety.

“RCVR” racked up a dozen nominations. The show focuses on covert government agents that try to suppress the truth about extraterrestrial encounters and hunt humans selected by an alien species to act as channels for advanced technologies. “The Guild,” a long-running Web series that is arguably the field’s most popular, picked up nine nominations.

Voting is currently underway and the show hits on January 12th in Vegas the upcoming CES. Take a look at the full nominees after the jump.

Continue Reading →