Oh Editing! One of my favorite pastimes. Much of a film can be sculpted in the editing room. You get to take the raw material put forth by the director and crew, to stitch together the story. It’s such a thrill, as the story starts to become clear, and when you can solve problems in Post. Ahhhh yes…FIX IT IN POST!!!

The Artist

Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius

The Descendants

Kevin Tent

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall

Hugo

Thelma Schoonmaker

Moneyball

Christopher Tellefsen

The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement

In the days leading up to Barack Obama’s victory in the 2008 election, a former civil rights activist looks back on the early days of the movement.

Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin – First Academy Award nomination.

God is the Bigger Elvis

In 1963, actress Dolores Hart, best known for her roles opposite Elvis Presley and her performance in the teen drama WHERE THE BOYS ARE, chose to leave Hollywood behind and become a Benedictine nun.

Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson – First Academy Award nomination.

Incident in New Baghdad

U.S. Army Specialist Ethan McCord recalls the tragic incident in Iraq that triggered his debilitating post-traumatic stress disorder and altered his view of the war.

James Spione – First Academy Award nomination.

Saving Face

A British-Pakistani plastic surgeon works to help women who have been injured in acid attacks, while his patients struggle to come to terms with the aftermath of their disfigurement.

Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy – Second Academy Award nomination.

The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom

In the wake of the devastating tsunami in Japan, the people of the region hardest hit by the disaster draw a measure of hope from the annual cherry blossom season as they fight to rebuild their lives.

Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen – Second Academy Award nomination.

Belgium, “Bullhead”

For Jacky, a young man working on his family’s cattle farm in eastern Belgium, the crime ring surrounding the use of banned growth hormones represents both a financial opportunity and the possible exposure of his own troubled past.  With an old friend urging him to agree to an illegal deal, Jacky finds himself drawn into a dangerous web that has already resulted in the death of a policeman investigating the ring.

Michael R. Roskam, director – Sixth Academy Award nomination for Belgium

Canada, “Monsieur Lazhar”

Bachir Lazhar has emigrated from his native Algeria to Canada, where he is awaiting approval of his asylum application.  When he is hired as a substitute teacher at a French-Canadian school, Bachir finds that he is often ill-equipped to deal with his new students and their shock over their previous teacher’s death.

Philippe Falardeau, director – Sixth Academy Award nomination for Canada.

Iran, “A Separation”

When an Iranian couple separate prior to their divorce, a chain of events is set in motion that will affect the future of two families.  After his wife’s departure, Nadar hires a woman named Razieh to care for his elderly father, but complications in Razieh’s own life give rise to an escalating series of problems.

Asghar Farhadi, director – Second Academy Award nomination for Iran.

Israel, “Footnote”

Talmudic scholar Eliezer Shkolnik has devoted his career to an exhaustive study of varying versions of the Jewish texts in an effort to ascertain as nearly as possible the exact form of the original works.  Dismissed by his fellow academics, Eliezer resents the popularity and success of his son, Uriel, whose less rigorous studies have won him wide recognition.

Joseph Cedar, director – Tenth Academy Award nomination for Israel.

Poland, “In Darkness”

As the Nazis begin the deportation of the city of Lvov’s Jewish population, a group of people seeks refuge in the city’s sewers.  With a local sewer inspector who moonlights as a thief serving as their only link to the outside world, the group faces the seemingly impossible task of creating a subterranean hiding place that will protect them for the duration of the war.

Agnieszka Holland, director – Ninth Academy Award nomination for Poland.

Albert Nobbs

In nineteenth-century Ireland, a shy hotel waiter named Albert Nobbs has spent years concealing a secret.  After meeting an outgoing painter who has chosen a different approach to an identical dilemma, Albert begins to consider abandoning a decades-long strategy of solitude and self-denial.

Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston – First Academy Award nomination for both.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

In the final chapter of the story of the boy wizard, Harry Potter faces his greatest challenge in his battle against the evil Lord Voldemort.  As Harry and his friends seek the remaining enchanted items containing parts of Voldemort’s soul, they must also prevent the dark lord from gaining possession of three magical objects — the Deathly Hallows — that would render Voldemort invincible.

Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin – First Academy Award nomination for all.

The Iron Lady

Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s struggle to cope with the vicissitudes of old age is interwoven with an exploration of her stunning rise through the ranks of the British Conservative Party and her long, often controversial tenure as its leader.  While her public life is dominated by her political ideology, the center of her private life remains her loyal husband, Denis.

Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland – First Academy Award nomination for both.

The Adventures of Tintin

When Tintin buys a model of a ship called the Unicorn, his curiosity is piqued by two men who both try to convince him to sell it.  Learning that the ship holds an important clue to the location of a hidden treasure, the boy reporter soon finds himself swept up in a dangerous adventure.

John Williams – This is his Forty-Seventh Academy Award Nomination.

The Artist

As the era of silent films draws to a close, two actors find their careers and their relationship influenced by the coming of talking pictures.  While popular screen star George Valentin resists the transition to sound, young Peppy Miller embodies a modern age that is leaving Valentin behind.

Ludovic Bource – First Academy Award nomination.

Hugo

Hugo Cabret is a young Parisian orphan who lives hidden away in the vast Gare Montparnasse train station.  When he is not eluding the station’s watchful inspector, secretly keeping its many clocks running, or tinkering with a mechanical figure that belonged to his father, Hugo observes the lives of the people who work in the station…including an irascible toy shop owner named Georges Méliès.

Howard Shore – Fourth Academy Award nomination.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

When a botched mission leaves no doubt that Britain’s intelligence agency, MI6, has a double agent among its top men, longtime agent George Smiley is recalled from his forced retirement to undertake an investigation.  Drawing on his years of knowledge and experience, Smiley begins unraveling the threads in the complex skein that makes up the dark world of international espionage.

Alberto Iglesias – Third Academy Award nomination.

War Horse

The horrors of war are seen through the eyes of a valiant horse whose young owner must relinquish him to the army at the start of World War I.  Separated from the farmer’s son who has raised and trained him, Joey enters the war as a cavalry horse and is soon plunged into the nightmarish heart of the conflict.

John Williams – Forty-Sixth Oscar nomination.

“Man or Muppet” from THE MUPPETS

When a puppet named Walter visits Hollywood and learns that an oil baron plans to seize the legendary Muppet Studios and destroy it drilling for oil, he and his brother, Gary, along with Gary’s fiancée, set out to find the original members of the long-disbanded Muppets.

Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie – First Academy Award nomination.

“Real in Rio” from RIO

After bird smugglers capture a Brazilian macaw before he has learned to fly, little Blu falls off a truck in Moose Lake, Minnesota, and grows up as the companion and pet of a girl named Linda.  The arrival of an ornithologist upsets the pair’s quiet life, however, when Blu and Linda learn that he may be the last surviving male of his species.

Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown – First Academy Award nomination for both.

Pentecost

A young Irish boy faces a difficult choice that may leave him at odds with his small community.

Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane – First Academy Award nomination for both.

Raju

A German couple adopts an Indian orphan in Calcutta.

Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren

The Shore

Two boyhood best friends from Northern Ireland reunite after 25 years.

Terry George and Oorlagh George – Third Academy Award nomination for Oorlagh George.

Time Freak

A neurotic inventor hopes to correct his past mistakes by creating a time machine.

Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey – First Academy Award nomination for both.

Tuba Atlantic

With only six days left to live, 70-year-old Oskar wants to put things right with his brother.

Hallvar Witzø – First Academy Award nomination.

Tuba Atlantic Trailer from Hallvar Witzø on Vimeo.

Dimanche/Sunday

A small boy’s Sunday is filled with both ordinary and extraordinary events.

Patrick Doyon – First Academy Award nomination.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

A storm transports a young man to a place where books are living entities.

William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg – First Academy Award nomination for both.

La Luna

A young boy accompanies his father and grandfather to their unusual nighttime job.

Enrico Casarosa – First Academy Award nomination.

A Morning Stroll

When a New Yorker walks past a chicken on his morning stroll, we’re left to wonder which one is the real city slicker…’

Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe

Wild Life

A young Englishman with more enthusiasm than practical experience emigrates to Canada to become a rancher.

Amanda Forbis – Second Academy Award nomination.

Spunky may be remarkably stupid, but he is also cute, which makes his stupidity somewhat endearing. He will eat anything, which saves money on dog food; he drinks his own drool, so you never have to refill his water bowl; he provides permanent housing for a tick and a ringworm, what a nice guy; and he is voiced by Deputy James Garcia of Reno 911!, who also happens to be the voice of the Taco Bell Chihuahua (another month perhaps??). Though sometimes Spunky seems like he might be more trouble than he’s worth, his positive outlook on life (everything is edible) and his loyalty make him worthy of the dog of the month title.

“Spunky is different compared to most fictional dogs, who are ironically more intelligent than their masters. Spunky is far less intelligent than even real dogs. He drools all the time with a vacant expression. One of his humorous actions is drooling into his water dish, mistaking it for more water, and drinking it again, and then repeating this over and over. He also sits limply on his butt, and drags it as he crawls around the house. He is always getting Rocko into crazy situations because of his stupidity. Once, he ended up getting eaten by a big dog (Earl) after carelessly getting thrown out as trash. He also wandered off and was snatched away by a bird at the beach, and once got vacuum packed at the supermarket. Spunky is always safe in the end, thanks to Rocko’s utmost care. Rocko appears to have a loving special bond with Spunky. Even though Rocko treats him like a brother, he does what every pet owner does: he plays with Spunky, feeds him, baths him, and walks him but Rocko never puts him on a leash. Spunky also sleeps with Rocko in the bed.” from wikipedia.org