It’s already September, and this means it’s officially awards season. Well, maybe not officially, but the Oscars seem to be a hot topic of discussion all of a sudden. On the one hand, the big fall film festivals kick off tomorrow with the opening of the Venice Film Festival. And Telluride and Toronto are about to begin, too. This means awards contenders will begin to be seen by critics and other buzz-makers.

Prematurely putting things into perspective, Vulture posted some Oscar nomination predictions Sunday evening, despite not yet seeing the majority of their picks, and bloggers at the Los Angeles Times responded with either continued analysis or the complaint that it’s too soon.

Meanwhile, those who aren’t necessarily excited or annoyed with the sudden arrival of the season at least have something to say about the Academy’s latest change of rules. This time they’ve revised the voting process for the Best Picture category — which now will include ten nomineees — in a way that could hurt a lot of films’ chances. The interesting thing is, some people believe the change is bad for The Hurt Locker, while other people think it’s beneficial to the film.

Check out what the film blogs are saying about the season and the new rules after the jump:

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Here’s a story that broke yesterday but has continued to pick up steam through the movie blogs today: The Weinstein Co. is planning to release box office champ Inglourious Basterds on DVD by the end of the year in order to use the discs for a cheap but aggressive Oscar campaign. This isn’t surprising news considering Harvey Weinstein’s Oscar addiction, but it has suddenly made me aware that Basterds is both deserving of and sure to receive a nod for Best Picture, which would be Quentin Tarantino’s first such nominee since Pulp Fiction 15 years ago.

Seriously, if we can be talking about District 9, Star Trek and other genre movies for the top category now that it will include ten contenders, how couldn’t Basterds be seen as a likely nominee? People have celebrated Christoph Waltz’s performance since Cannes, and he’s sure to garner a Best Supporting Actor nod, but few have noted how the film itself is a lock, too. Certainly if Weinstein can get The Reader a surprise Best Picture nomination with only five available slots, he can get this film onto a ballot double the size.

Don’t forget the Holocaust rule; how could the Academy ignore a movie that features vengeful Jews assassinating Hitler and 300 other Nazis all at once in a blaze of glory? Never mind that they didn’t get some of the worst offenders involved in the genocide.

Could Basterds garner more than the two obvious nominations? I doubt Tarantino will receive recognition for either directing or screenwriting, but who knows? Any other performances worthy? Any tech fields? Variety has an interesting article today on the costume design by Anna B. Sheppard. She’s been twice nominated for, interestingly enough, Holocaust films (Schindler’s List and The Pianist), but this time she was presented with more of a challenge. I have a feeling this third Holocaust-related project could be the one to get her the Oscar.

Check out what the other film blogs are saying about Basterds‘ Oscar chances after the jump:

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Obviously it’s ironic to criticize a critic so aggressively, but that’s just what people love to do to infamously contrarian New York Press film critic Armond White, who seems to be getting his worst scrutiny yet over his negative review of District 9. The comments and campaigns against him have been going on all week, but now that Roger Ebert has gotten himself involved, it’s a bigger deal. Especially since Ebert first defended White and then took it back. Yet his initial statement that White is “the ideal critic” who “is often valuable because [his opinion] is outside the mainstream” remains on Roger Ebert’s Journal to contractrict the change of mind.

It’s also a bit ironic that this is all because of a movie about creatures who’ve been segregated against. Would District 9’s fanbase prefer to ghettoize critics who disagree with them? Should there be websites and free weeklies that have “Populist Critics Only” guidelines? I don’t want to side with or against White, becuase there’s no need to, what with freedom of speech and press and everything. I will admit that when I began writing film reviews many years ago, I looked up to White more than anyone and even gave myself the nickname “The Film Cynic” (which I still use for my Twitter moniker at least), because I was a more negative and cynical person back then, and also, I honestly admit, because I thought it’d help get me controversially noticed.

Certainly White gets a lot of notice and publicity for his opinions, too, but the important thing is that he’s an interesting read, and not just for how against-the-grain he is. Even if he is ever intentionally anti-majority just to be anti-majority, he presents reasonable arguments and raises necessary points while doing so. Besides, does anyone really want to live in a world where everybody likes District 9 or Up or The Dark Knight and where nobody has anything fresh, smart and positive to say about Transformers 2? How boring that world would be.

That’s my two cents. Check out a few other film blog responses to the White blackballing after the jump:

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As if this year’s Oscars ceremony wasn’t abnormal enough, next year’s telecast is sure to be even weirder. Today the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced that it’s increasing the number of Best Picture nominees from five to ten. This isn’t a totally odd idea, since the Academy Awards used to nominate ten films for the big prize, but the last time we saw so many candidates was 65 years ago, when Casablanca beat out nine other titles for the win.

The first thing that I thought — and I’m sure I’m not alone — was, “are there actually ten great films made per year?” Certainly we’re a far, 70-year cry from 1939, considered to be the peak of American cinema, when Hollywood released such masterpieces as Stagecoach, The Wizard of Oz, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Ninotchka, Dark Victory, Wuthering Heights, Of Mice and Men, Love Affair and Goodbye, Mr. Chips, all of which ran up against and lost to Gone With the Wind.

The second thing I thought is that the Academy is really slapping both The Dark Knight and WALL-E in the face with this change. Now, comparatively, should Star Trek and Up really be the ones to make up for those “snubs”? They’re good, but they’re not that good.

Check out the rest of the film blogosphere’s reactions after the jump:
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After yesterday’s look at misguided viral marketing, it’s actually refreshing to spotlight a teaser trailer, especially one that presents us with nothing of the movie its advertising. Really, this is all we could ever need as far as marketing goes for Toy Story 3. We’ve got an enjoyable skit featuring all the familiar characters, a release date and, most importantly, no spoilers. I’m guessing this teaser is being shown with screenings of Up, which means it might actually be 3D where applicable. And that makes me excited, knowing we finally get to see our favorite animated toys in this format. Can anyone verify, and tell us what it’s like to see Woody, Buzz and the rest in 3D?

Take a look at what the rest of the web is saying about the trailer (and watch the thing) after the jump:

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Last month, a New York Times article focused on the Wall Street worries over Pixar’s Up. The film lacks commercial appeal, apparently, because it features a 78-year-old protagonist. This is no country for old men (on the big screen), claim the experts. “We doubt younger boys will be that excited by the main character,” says one analyst quoted in the piece.

Even if kids were that anti-elderly (and we don’t believe they are), we can point to many other accessible elements of the film, from talking dogs to a young co-protagonist who serves as an identifiable gateway for adolescent viewers, that allow the target demographic to enjoy the animated film in spite of the cantankerous codger at its center.

Chances are, though, the little ones will also enjoy the character of Carl Fredricksen (voiced by Ed Asner), maybe enough for them to seek out their own elderly person to assist (whether or not its for a merit badge). We’re hoping that it additionally leads to a greater cinematic appreciation of old men. But not just because, as Alonso Duralde writes at MSNBC, we have a shortage of realistic films about old folks. Rather, primarily because we think there’s a number of other old man protagonists that young audiences would like. Meet ten of them after the jump.
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If you saw the Pixar vs. DreamWorks Animation cartoon last week, you probably thought it was making fun of the latter studio. For Wall Street, however, it might well have been an illustration of why DreamWorks is a better investment. All those movies about talking animals make for great merchandising opportunities. Toys, especially. And in addition to DreamWorks’ apparent ease in licensing its characters, the studios’ movies are, as the cartoon points out, simpler and obviously therefore more commercial.

The New York Times has an article by Brook Barnes in today’s Business section, in which Pixar’s latest film, Up, is said to be unpopular with both Wall Street and manufacturers because it follows Ratatouille and WALL-E in the studio’s supposed descent in commerciality. Sure, Up’s relative lack of licensing possibilities seems odd for Disney, which probably wouldn’t have been as successful had Walt and Roy never started the merchandization of Mickey Mouse 80 years ago, but wasn’t it enough that Pixar sold its soul with the very toy-friendly Cars (and Cars 2)? Besides, Up apparently does have talking animals, so there’s no reason for the money men to worry.

See what other blogs are saying about this story after the jump.

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In case you haven’t heard (even though most people were talking about this yesterday — sorry today is that slow), next year’s Oscars will return to the month of March, due the Academy’s need to get out of the way of the Winter Olympics. For some of you, this may mean you have extra time to see the nominees. For most of you, this also means you’ll have more time to complain about how the Academy snubbed Wolverine, Avatar, Up or whatever other movie you think deserved a Best Picture nod. As for us film bloggers, the delay gives us additional time to speculate, predict and otherwise cover awards season to death.

As if this year’s Oscars didn’t seem over-blogged enough, I can only expect there will be even more movie sites, including those specializing in the Oscars, next year. And therefore I can only expect that by the time the Oscar telecast airs on March 7 I will be so sick of the whole film awards concept that I’ll almost not even live-Tweet the big night.

Reactions to the Academy’s announcement from other Oscar bloggers after the jump:

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The filmmakers behind two upcoming animated epics, Bolt and UP, present footage. Highlights:

• Bolt looks like a resolutely family-oriented film about a celebrity dog who thinks he’s at war with cats. Cute!
• UP looks like a Pixar-meets-Miyazaki art film version of About Schmidt. It made fanboys run for the exits.

Full transcript after the jump.

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