While the first half hour or so will keep you wondering where all the accolades came from, once the movie gets rolling (and when it does, you’ll know), it’s worth it.

The separation refers to Nader (Peyman Moaadi) and Simin (Leila Hatami), an Iranian couple living in Tehran with their 11-year-old daughter Termeh (Sarina Farhadi) and Nader’s senile father (Ali-Asghar Shahbazi). Simin wishes for Termeh to leave Iran and seek a better life elsewhere. Nader does not want to leave his father. At least those are the reasons they give, but it’s implied that both are merely using the family as an excuse for their own desires to stay or go. Their refusal to compromise leads to divorce proceedings, with Simin going to live with her parents and Nader left to care for his father by himself.

Unable to hold down a job and tend his father alone, Nader hires a young woman Razieh (Sareh Bayat) to help, though she doesn’t do a very good job. Her deeply held religious beliefs conflict with her duties, such as washing the father; she leaves for hours at a time to do personal errands; and she’s finally relieved from duty when Nader suspects her of stealing. And then something happens.

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The much-deserving winner of the 2012 Academy Award for Best Foreign Picture (in a precedent-making move, it was also nominated for Best Screenplay, the first time a foreign film has won a nomination outside the foreign category), A Separation is as far as can be from those facile Hollywood flicks in which not a single character behaves from any recognizable impulse or motivation. Although set in an Iranian culture that is in many ways truly foreign (for one thing, the judiciary system, in which much of this story is set, operates completely differently from anything I have seen; this is no Law & Order), the complex intent and heart of each character is absolutely clear, if at times mysterious.

The story is set around a marital rift—the Separation of the title—but it is in many ways the larger tale of an Iran separated by religion, class and privilege. An upper-middle class couple seek to separate because Simin (the beautiful Leila Hatami), the wife, wishes to leave Iran for better opportunities for their teenaged daughter Termeh (played with moving intelligence by Sarina Farhadi, writer/director Asghar Farhadi’s daughter). Her husband Nader (Peyman Moaadi) insists on staying in Tehran to care for his aged father, who suffers multiple health problems, including dementia.

Both characters and their motivations are fully sympathetic and diametrically opposed. Stuck at this impasse, Simin goes to live at her parents’ apartment. The family is split, and Termeh chooses to stay with her father and grandfather.

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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.

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Last month we spent time reviewing the Golden Globe nominated film scores, at the time I had only listened to one of them going in so it was a nice way to start award season and catch up on some great scores. Now that the Oscar nominations have been released I was going to do the same thing, only I have already reviewed most of them

Thankfully I spaced out and didn’t review the second of John Williams two nominated scores yet, The Adventures of Tintin, so I can knock out the last of the major nominated scores and be all caught up in time for the big show next month. After this week I will move onto the two films with Oscar nominated songs to spice things up a bit.

The Adventures of Tintin is the second score from Williams this year and in tandem with War Horse showcases the Maestro’s range as a composer, even today. Based on the action/adventure films Williams has composed for in the past, Tintin  marks a bit of a departure as the music is not dominated by specific themes, it is more a collection of classic action music that sets the stage for the impressive animated film.

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At 5:30 AM Pacific Time on Tuesday, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed their nominations for this year’s Oscars.

Hugo leads with 11 total nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. The Artist scored 10 nods.

Some of the nominations were a big surprise, especially in the Best Picture catagory. While films like The Artist and The Descendants were a shoe-in, especially after their performance in the Golden Globes, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and The Help were also recognized. Also curiously, there were only nine pictures nominated as opposed to ten, which we’ve seen the past two years.

Best Director is chock full of veteran Oscar nominees. Woody Allen, Terrance Malick, Alexander Payne, and Martin Scorsese have earned almost 40 nominations all together. Michel Hazanivicus, however, is up for his first nomination.

Most notably absent from several catagories was Drive, for Best Picture, Best Actor for Ryan Gosling’s spectacular performance and Best Supporting Actor for Albert Brooks. It dig snag a nomination for Sound Editing, but I would have liked to see it recognized a bit more.

The Oscar buzz continues until the Academy Awards ceremony airs on Sunday February 26th. You can see the full listing of nominees after the jump, and let us know what you think of the nominations!

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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.

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It’s Oscar day so that means we’re going to try to bring you all the fun, excitement and awards live. We’ve done this once before last year and it met with great success.

This year, we’re doing it a bit differently and using a new interface. So, sit back, relax and check out the fun. Also, be sure yo let us know how we’re doing.

Now, let’s get to it!

On the night of January 16th, Hollywood was split in twine after Ricky Gervais’ performance as the host of the evening’s events. One half felt that Gervais went over the line with his sardonic humor and felt that he was rude and crass, while the other half understood his sense of humor and realized he was doing his job as a “comedian.”

Now, continuing in his trend of bitterness, the original Office star has posted on his blog some suggestions to Oscar hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway, in case they have time they need to fill.

Without further adieu, we present to you Ricky Gervais’ suggested script for this year’s Oscars. We’ve got what we think is a pretty good sample below, and check out the full script full of self-deprecating humor over at Gervais’ official blog.

JF
Thank you. I’m James Franco.

AH
…and I’m Anne Hathaway.

JF
You probably know me from 127 Hours where I play a man trapped in an enclosed space who decides he would rather cut his own arm off than stay where he was. Now that sounds “way out” but wait till half way through this fucking ceremony and you’ll start to identify with him.

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This may be the biggest year for the Academy Awards, as some major Hollywood players are going up against some fresh newcomers. Eyeballs everywhere will be glued to ABC on Sunday, February 27th at 8PM E/5PM P when the awards show goes live. But before that, we decided to do some picking of our own with the staff’s predictions for each award.

For a full list of the nominees, check out our previous article on the subject. Now, on to the predictions.

Best Picture

Shannon Hood-The Social Network. It had early and consistent momentum all year, and the Academy appears to be trying to shake up their stodgy image. This would be the perfect film to put their money where their mouth is.

Matt Raub – True Grit. Not only are the Coens a regular in the “I Have an Oscar” club, but this testament to classic western films is definitely one for record books, between its all-star cast and gritty (no pun intended) visual style, this one definitely deserves the golden statue.

Chris Ullrich – True Grit. Even though this was a pretty great year for movies and there are many excellent choices in this category, True Grit stands on its own as my pick. As an example of pure movie storytelling, this Coen Brothers masterpiece excels on every level and delivers a pure entertainment experience you will want to revisit many more times in the future.

Cortney Zamm – The Social Network. There’s a lot of great films in this category, some of them from my favorite directors and starring my favorite people. But the one that combined all of the essential elements of filmmaking into a truly gorgeous, compelling, and memorable film was The Social Network.

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We all love LEGO. Everybody grew up with them, so they all hold a special place in our collective hearts. Except for those who grew up with Mega Bloks, but nobody liked those kids growing up anyway.

The world of LEGO has been celebrated more lately as franchises like LEGO Batman and LEGO Star Wars have taken over our consoles. Now we get even more of this fully manifested world as one cinema fan has captured some of our favorite Oscar nominated films and turned them into LEGO.

The remade scenes come from LEGO artist Alex Eylar, who has tons of creations over at MOCPaged. This site is completely dedicated to people making stuff out of their favorite LEGOs so it’s particularly awesome.

While you try to ponder that business model, take a look at some of our favorite Oscar nominated scenes after the jump and comment with guesses on which films these scenes are inspired from. Good luck!

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Welcome to another edition of  On the Radar where we delve into all corners of the entertainment, tech and geek Internets for news, views and whatnot that may have escaped our regular coverage during the week. Let is know if we missed something interesting.

Let’s get started!

• What if some of our favorite Oscar nominees had spot-on posters? Well, they may actually make money then…

• James Franco is such a good co-host, he’s even prepared to take Anne Hathaway down in case of an Oscar wardrobe malfunction.

• Nerdy shirts are all the rage these days, but when Star Wars meets Back to the Future, a purchase needs to be made.

• Some things need no introduction…so here’s a bunch of Muppets made out of balloons.

• You know what the world needs? A Russian MST3K ripoff. This is definitely why we won the war…

• Harry Hanrahan has brought us some pretty amazing supercuts in the past, but now….It’s Showtime!

• Why is it the US gets films like No String Attached and Just Go With It when other countries get films like Robot? It’s just unfair.

• And for your list of the week, The 10 Most Obscure Archer Jokes Explained. Enjoy!

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the  nominees for the 83rd annual award ceremony this morning. The King’s Speech was the front-runner with 12 nominations. Overall, there weren’t too many surprises.

Many were disappointed  that Christopher Nolan did not receive a best director nod, but as a consolation prize, Inception was nominated as a contender for best picture.
True Grit did quite well, with Hailee Steinfeld nabbing a best supporting actress nod, and nominations for best picture, best director(s), best actor, and best adapted screenplay. Winter’s Bone was recognized for best actress, best picture, and best adapted screenplay. Dogtooth, Jackie Weaver, and Javier Bardem were nice surprises.

Here are the nominees in the order that they were announced.

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter The King’s Speech
Melissa Leo The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld True Grit
Jackie Weaver Animal Kingdom

Best Supporting Actor

Christian Bale The Fighter
John Hawkes Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner The Town
Mark Ruffalo The Kids Are All Right
Jeffrey Rush The King’s Speech

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