The Academy Award nominations are finally out, and the list this year includes quite a few surprises – some snubs in the acting categories, Melissa McCarthy for BRIDESMAIDS, and of course the final amount of Best Picture nominations, since for the first time there could have been anywhere from 5 – 10 titles nominated. Topping this list is HUGO with 11 nominations and THE ARTIST with 10, with MONEYBALL and WAR HORSE a surprising second with 6 nominations each.

As always, many of the films are now playing at your local Angelika so whether you’re trying to see all the Best Picture nominees before the awards ceremony on February 26, or just looking to catch up on a few of the year’s best, we’ve got you covered.

BEST PICTURE
THE ARTIST – Now Playing Angelikas New York, Dallas, Plano, and Hawaii, and the Village East Cinema
THE DESCENDANTS – Now Playing Angelikas Dallas, Plano, and Hawaii
EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE

THE HELP
HUGO
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS – Now Playing at the Village East Cinema
MONEYBALL
THE TREE OF LIFE

WAR HORSE – Now Playing at the Village East Cinema

ACTOR
Demian Bichir, A BETTER LIFE
George Clooney, THE DESCENDANTS
Jean Dujardin, THE ARTIST
Gary Oldman, TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY - Now Playing Angelikas Dallas, Plano, and Hawaii
Brad Pitt, MONEYBALL

ACTRESS
Glenn Close, ALBERT NOBBS – Opens 1/27 Angelikas Dallas, Plano, and Hawaii
Viola Davis, THE HELP
Rooney Mara, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO – Now Playing at the Angelika Dallas
Meryl Streep, THE IRON LADY – Now Playing at the Angelika in Hawaii
Michelle Williams, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
BULLHEAD (Belgium)
FOOTNOTE (Israel) – Opens 3/9 Angelika New York, 3/30 Angelika Plano, 4/10 Angelika in Hawaii
IN DARKNESS (Poland) – Opens 2/10 Angelika New York, 3/2 Angelika Plano, 2/23 Angelika in Hawaii
MONSIEUR LAZHAR (Canada)
A SEPARATION (Iran) – Opens 2/3 Angelikas Dallas and Plano, 2/10 Angelika in Hawaii

DIRECTOR
Michel Hazanavicius, THE ARTIST
Alexander Payne, THE DESCENDANTS
Martin Scorsese, HUGO

Woody Allen, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
Terrence Malick, THE TREE OF LIFE

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Michel Hazanavicius, THE ARTIST
Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, BRIDESMAIDS
J.C. Chandor, MARGIN CALL
Woody Allen, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
Asghar Farhadi, A SEPARATION

CLICK TO VIEW THE FULL LIST

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	MISS BALA Mexico’s official entry to the Academy Awards, which unfortunately didn’t make the Foreign category shortlist this week. Still, it’s impressed a lot of people at Cannes, Toronto, and NYFF, and Manohla Dargis at the NY Times calls it “a first-rate art-house thriller.” Opens today at the Angelika New York.
	CORIOLANUS Ralph Fiennes directorial debut, which Variety said “could easily pass for the work of an accomplished master,” updates Shakespeare’s play about a prideful, tormented tyrant and features a script which retains most of the Bard’s language and syntax. Opens today at the Angelika New York.
	HAYWIRE King-of-cool director Steven Soderbergh’s fresh take on the spy/revenge thriller. Chris Vognar at the Dallas Morning News gave it a B+, and everyone is loving real-life MMA fighter (and Dallas native!) Gina Carano in the lead role. Opens today at the Angelika Dallas.
	THE ARTIST Fresh from it’s Golden Globe Best Picture (comedy/musical) win, THE ARTIST expands to the Village East this weekend. Also playing at the Angelikas New York, Dallas and Plano, and the Angelika in Hawaii at Kahala 8.
	MY WEEK WITH MARILYN Reopens at the Angelika Plano and moves over to the Village East this weekend in honor of Michelle Williams’ Golden Globe win. Of Williams’ stunning performance, Rogert Ebert said: “She evokes so many Marilyns, public and private, real and make-believe. We didn’t know Monroe, but we believe she must have been something like this.”

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After an initial Academy-qualifying run back in December, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN returned to the Angelika New York this weekend to a great audience reception and stellar box office. We were lucky enough to have Ezra Miller, who plays Kevin in the film, stop by to chat about his preparation for this intense role and the lessons he’s learned from working with seasoned actors Andy Garcia (in CITY ISLAND), Liev Schreiber ( in EVERY DAY), and Tilda Swinton, who stars alongside Ezra in this film as Kevin’s uncomprehending mother. For aspiring actors and fans of the craft, this interview is a must-see!

ABOUT WEE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN:
Oscar winner Tilda Swinton (MICHAEL CLAYTON) could earn another trophy for her searing portrait of a heedless, career-minded mother coping with her son’s killing spree in suspenseful and gripping psychological thriller WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN. KEVIN is Scottish director Lynne Ramsey’s first film in nine years, and she takes a poetic, compassionate approach to the potentially sensational subject matter. John C. Reilly co-stars as Kevin’s more attentive father, but the film embraces all its characters with sympathy.

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN is now playing at the Angelika New York, and opens 2/3 at the Angelikas Dallas and Plano.

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Awards season continues with this week’s announcement of the Golden Globes nominations! The Hollywood Foreign Press showed a lot of love for one of our favorites, THE ARTIST – 6 nominations including Best Comedy or Musical and Best Actor – in addition to some Hollywood standards we’re always happy to see recognized (Glenn Close with her opus ALBERT NOBBS, Tilda Swinton for WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN, Clooney, DiCaprio, Woody Allen).

The TV categories were also impressively stacked this year, with big screen stars like Peter Dinklage, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Lange, and Kate Winslet earning nominations for their small screen turns.

With several nominated films now playing at the Angelika, you can start planning your holiday movie viewing now – check out the full list below:

MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
THE DESCENDANTS – Now Playing Angelikas Dallas, Plano, and Hawaii
THE HELP
HUGO
THE IDES OF MARCH
MONEYBALL
WAR HORSE – Opens 12/25 Village East Cinema and Angelika in Hawaii

ACTRESS – DRAMA
Glenn Close, ALBERT NOBBS – Opens 1/27 Angelikas Dallas, Plano, and Hawaii
Viola Davis, THE HELP
Rooney Mara, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO – Opens 12/21 Angelikas Dallas and Hawaii
Meryl Streep, THE IRON LADY – Opens 1/13 Angelikas Plano and Hawaii
Tilda Swinton, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN – Opens 1/27 Angelika New York

ACTOR – DRAMA
George Clooney, THE DESCENDANTS
Leonard DiCaprio, J. EDGAR – Now Playing Angelika Dallas and Hawaii
Michael Fassbender, SHAME – Now Playing Angelika Dallas, Opens 12/16 Angelika Plano

Ryan Gosling, THE IDES OF MARCH

Brad Pitt, MONEYBALL

MOTION PICTURE — COMEDY OR MUSICAL
50/50
THE ARTIST – Now Playing Angelika New York and the Paris Theatre, Opens 12/23 Angelikas Dallas and Plano
BRIDESMAIDS
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS – Now Playing Village East Cinema
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN – Now Playing Angelikas New York, Plano, and Hawaii

View the full list, including the TV noms, after the jump:

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The first nominations of the season were announced today, and many were surprised at the list:

BEST FEATURE
50/50
BEGINNERS
DRIVE – Now Playing Village East Cinema
TAKE SHELTER – Now Playing Village East Cinema
THE ARTIST – Now Playing Angelika New York, the Paris Theatre; Opens 12/16 Angelikas Dallas and Plano
THE DESCENDANTS – Now Playing Angelikas Dallas, Plano, and Hawaii

DIRECTOR
Michel Hazanavicius, THE ARTIST
Mike Mills, BEGINNERS
Jeff Nichols, TAKE SHELTER
Alexander Payne, THE DESCENDANTS
Nicolas Winding Refn, DRIVE

SCREENPLAY
Joseph Cedar, FOOTNOTE
Michel Hazanavicius, THE ARTIST
Tom McCarthy, WIN WIN
Mike Mills, BEGINNERS
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, THE DESCENDANTS

Film Independet’s annual Spirit Awards are given to primarily American-made films of $20 million or less budget. Of note this year is the amount of nominations for THE ARTIST, which some weren’t sure would qualify as a film by a French director and starring mostly French actors; as well as the big names left off the list: George Clooney for THE DESCENDANTS, Woody Allen for MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, Glen Close for ALBERT NOBBS.

Several nominated films are on screen now at the Angelika - click your location below for showtimes and tickets

Angelika New York | Angelika Dallas | Angelika Plano

Angelika in Hawaii at Kahala 8 | the Paris Theatre | the Beekman Theatre | Village East Cinema

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It’s an exciting time of year at the Angelika, as we starting seeing some of the incredible independent films that have been playing at top international film festivals and are likely to be the most interesting Academy Awards candidates this winter. Among those is MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE, a Sundance favorite that continues to impress critics and audiences alike. Adam Conway with the Angelika Blog sat down with writer/director Sean Durkin and actress Elizabeth Olsen to discuss their work on the film, including Durkin’s intensive research into women who have lived within cults which inspired the film.

MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE opens today at the Angelika in Hawaii Kahala 8, and continues through the weekend at the Angelika New York.

ABOUT MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE:
One of the most talked about movies out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE is an intense psychological thriller starring Elizabeth Olsen as Martha, a damaged woman haunted by painful memories and increasing paranoia, who struggles to re–assimilate with her family after fleeing a cult and its charismatic leader (played by Oscar nominee John Hawkes (WINTER’S BONE). Already generating Oscar buzz, writer/Director Sean Durkin’s haunting and impressive debut was honored with the Best Dramatic Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival.

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The critically acclaimed MARGIN CALL has been playing for a few weeks now, and continues to impress movie goers at our theaters. Teale at the Angelika New York recently had the opportunity to sit down with director JC Chandor to talk about his feature directorial debut — Chandor had been working in the industry for years, but his background in real estate and unique perspective on the 2008 financial collapse really inspired him to write this insider’s look at first days of what would turn into one of the largest financial crises this country has faced. Check out the interview below:

MARGIN CALL continues through this weekend at the Angelika New York, Dallas, and Plano, as well as the Angelika in Hawaii Consolidated Kahala 8. Tickets are available online at www.AngelikaFilmCenter.com.

ABOUT MARGIN CALL:
One of the most talked about films of the Sundance Film Festival, MARGIN CALL follows the staff of a high-powered brokerage firm on the eve of the 2008 stock market crash. This methodical, absorbing boardroom thriller unfolds over a tense 24 hour period as a looming real estate crisis threatens the company’s assets. Featuring an all-star cast including Stanley Tucci, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto (STAR TREK), Paul Bettany (MASTER AND COMMANDER), and Kevin Spacey, J.C. Chandor’s debut feature film is an engrossing, unconventional insider’s look the New York Times called “dazzling in its sweep and implication.”

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We can’t think of a better way to spend the long weekend than watching a film described as “CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON meets SHERLOCK HOLMES”. This labor day, head to the Angelika for DETECTIVE DEE AND THE MYSTERY OF THE PHANTOM FLAME - directed by legendary HK director Tsui Hark and starring accomplished martial artist and actor Andy Lau, it’s sure to be amazing.

About DETECTIVE DEE:
A bizarre murder mystery brings together the most powerful woman in China, the soon-to-be-Empress Wu Zetian (Carina Lau, CURIOSITY KILLS THE CAT), and exiled detective Dee Renjie (Andy Lau, HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS) at the infamous Imperial Palace in international action thriller sensation DETECTIVE DEE AND THE MYSTERY OF THE PHANTOM FLAME. Hoping that he will solve the crime before her coronation, Wu appoints Dee Chief Judge of the Empire and implores him to combine his indisputable wisdom with his unparalleled martial arts skills to save the future of her dynasty. Director Hark Tsui (SEVEN SWORDS) teams with legendary stunt director Sammo Huang (IP MAN, KUNG FU HUSTLE) in this heart-pounding, epic thriller inspired by the incredible true story of one of the Tang Dynasty’s most celebrated officials.Check out A. O. Scott’s excellent review of the film, and we’ll see you at the movies this weekend - no parkour in the cafe, please!

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Sundance Film Festival hit GUN HILL ROAD - which opened last weekend as the highest grossing independent film in the nation - continues through this weekend at the Angelika. Director Rashaad Green spent the weekend answering questions and discussing this moving film to sold out audiences every night, and we’re excited to announce he’ll be back for more Q&As!

WEDNESDAY 8/10 following the 6:00PM and 8:00PM shows

THURSDAY 8/11 following the 6:00PM and 8:00PM shows

FRIDAY 8/12 following the 8:00PM and 10:30PM shows

SATURDAY 8/13 following the 8:00PM and 10:30PM shows

SUNDAY 8/14 following the 4:00PM show

Advance tickets are available online.

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Renny Harlin, director of such action classics as DIE HARD 2 and DEEP BLUE SEA, tackles real life modern warfare in 5 DAYS OF WAR - opening August 19 at the Angelika. Check this exclusive letter to Angelika Blog readers, detailing the his interest in the story of 4 civilians trapped in the middle of the Georgian struggle for indepence in 1991, and the incredible process of shooting on location in Tsalka, Georgia:

After a teeth-rattling and bottom-numbing ride of four hours we’d finally arrived. The narrow dirt road that serpentined us to our distant destination had been freshly soaked by torrential rain, an especially nice additional touch considering the 1,000-foot drop that lay only a muddy tire width’s away for most of the journey. In my infinite wisdom I had requested to see this location because of its unique features. First, it was nestled in a breathtakingly beautiful valley. Second, and most importantly, it was home to the ghost town of Tsalka. I had given my producers an unusual yet gratifying task of finding me a town that I could blow up. And so here we were, in August of 2009, in Tsalka, Georgia, as the few inhabitants of the picturesque village were eyeing us with great curiosity and deep suspicion. When I say few, I include the twelve humans, a handful of cows, goats and chickens, and an entire pack of wild dogs that circled our overloaded vehicles.

Now, you might ask how far from Atlanta said mountain village might be located. To clarify, I’m talking about the Republic of Georgia—as in the former Soviet country that won its independence in 1991 when the rusty Iron Curtain finally collapsed…. READ MORE

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