At the very end of February, we learned that, after years and years of attempts to get the movie made, Ender's Game had finally begun principal photography at Big Easy Studios in New Orleans, Louisiana.  The Orson Scott Card science fiction novel that has turned countless youngsters into readers and is among the favorite books of so many adults is finally becoming a feature film as I type.  This surreal fact is hammered home by Ender's Game Blog, an aptly-titled and newly-launched official Tumblr from the production.

Good news, everyone.  Ender's Game has actually, really, for realsies begun principal photography.  The adaptation of Orson Scott Card's beloved science fiction novel, which has been attempted as a film by a number of different companies and creative teams, has commenced production under the direction of Gavin Hood.  According to an official press release, the production is underway in New Orleans, Louisiana.

With Oscar ballots due earlier this week, and only a few days to go until the Oscars on Sunday, February 26th, here is how things stand in the race for the gold... 

In a month, awards season will be no more than a memory.  A memory of ecstatic accolades, tuxedo-sporting actors, and actresses clad in dresses so beautiful they'll melt your face off while inspiring impoverished people the world over to weep diamond tears.  Right now, though, we are very much in the middle of awards season.  The latest news comes from the Screen Actors Guild, which has just handed out its annual awards.

With just days to go before the Oscar nominations are announced on January 24th, it is now time to narrow down the predictions to 5 in each category. Rather than list each name alphabetically, the contenders have been listed in the order of their likelihood of receiving the nomination. In each category, the 5th slot could possibly go to a “dark horse” instead…

If the Academy Awards are the most respected, high profile, and sought-after awards in film, the bright center of the awards universe around which so many actors, directors, and assorted film professionals revolve during this time of the year, then the Golden Globes are...also awards.  Despite the Hollywoord Foreign Press Association's reputation for not exactly being on the up and up with these awards, the Golden Globes are probably the second biggest awards show around.  Today the HFPA announced the nominees for the 69th Annual Golden Globes, which will one again be hosted by Ricky Gervais.

Because one seemingly interminable night of bloviating and self-congratulatory pomp just isn't enough, the awards season must span the three months leading up to the Oscar Ceremony in late February.  During those three months, many a critical organization drops their own list of honorees from cinema of the last year, and all of these awards contribute to the narrative of "buzz" for a film or performance film leading up to the Academy Awards.  One such set of honors are the Screen Actors Guild Awards, and today, the nominees for the 18th annual awards were announced, with the winners set to revealed on Sunday, January 29, 2012.

With the 84th Academy Awards only three months away, it’s time to go on record with some Oscar predictions. The race is officially on, with front-runners beginning to take the lead and dark horses waiting in the wings to shake things up. Several movies have still not yet been released, but every film that hopes to qualify for the Oscars will be in theaters by the last day of December. Let's take a look at how the six major categories are taking shape, with the top ten contenders fighting for five coveted slots…

While this summer was populated by the usual hostile aliens, transforming robots, and superpowered mutants, it was bookended by two films starring female ensembles that very few people expected to do big business, yet both went to become big hits.  The first was the unapologetic comedy Bridesmaids, and the second was The Help, a drama based on the bestselling novel by Kathryn Stockett, which spent weeks as the number one movie in America and has earned more than $160 million dollars at the box office. 

Set in Mississippi during the 1960's, the film stars Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer as two domestic employees who agree to share their stories with and aspiring writer played by Emma Stone.  This leads to a much larger project that defies the racial and social injustice that remained entrenched in our culture a century after the Civil War. 

Two months after its release, The Help is still in the midst of its theatrical run, but DreamWorks has announced that it will arrive on Blu-ray, DVD, digital download and On Demand during the Christmas shopping season on December 6th.

Labor Day weekend is generally acknowledged as the symbolic close to summer, a three-day weekend during which American collectively lights the fires on its barbecues and gasses up its station wagons for one last romp in the season of fate's perfection.  Historically, Labor Day began as the result of the Pullman Strike, an 1894 workers' strike that resulted in violence and civilian deaths when President Grover Cleveland dispatched federal troops to dismantle the striking workers of the Pullman Palace Car Co.  Obviously, old Grover needed to subsequently make peace with the unions, and voila (more or less): Labor Day was born.  The holiday weekend here in 2011 saw The Help once again dominating the American box office, with The Debt following in second place.  Like Cleveland dealing with the aftermath of the Pullman Strike, both films thematically grapple with the moral compromises and atrocities of the past.  On a less historical note, both also coincidentally feature actress Jessica Chastain.