While still among the elite top-five shoo-ins for Best Picture (the others being Lincoln, Zero Dark Thirty, Silver Lining Playbook, and Les Miserables), I think this picture needs strong showings in the early awards season to make a comeback and really challenge Lincoln and Zero Dark Thirty at this point.
Hollywood actress Jessica Chastain is flying high - her new film Zero Dark Thirty has just landed her a second Oscar nomination and she is enjoying a successful run as the lead in The Heiress on Broadway.
The new film Zero Dark Thirty, about the decade-long search for Osama bin Laden, is the latest example of this phenomenon.
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Unusually, there was a tie in the sound editing category - the Oscar was shared by Zero Dark Thirty and Skyfall.
Big, hit Sony titles coming in 2013 exclusively on pay television to the STARZ channels and services include: The Amazing Spider-Man, 21 Jump Street, Zero Dark Thirty, The Vow, Men In Black 3, and Resident Evil: Retribution.
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Even though its outcome is known, "Zero Dark Thirty" grows increasingly suspenseful over a 156-minute running time that feels no longer than it needs to be.
When Affleck was snubbed for a directing slot, awards analysts initially were counting "Argo" out for the best-picture Oscar, along with Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty" and Tom Hooper's "Les Miserables, " which also missed out on directing nominations.
While nominated for the role of the steely CIA operative responsible for the killing if Osama bin Laden in Zero Dark Thirty, Chastain also has horror, comedy and an off-the-wall Terrence Malick flick on her recent resume making her just the kind of versatile actress audiences love.
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The Pakistan of Zero Dark Thirty is depicted as a series of torture chambers, CIA work-stations, Pushtun elders talking in Arabic and Arab elders talking in English.
Just a day before the official announcement of the Academy Award nominees, all signs pointed toward a Best Picture race between Lincoln and Zero Dark Thirty, with Argo a strong third ready to exploit any voting-splitting between those other two films.
Controversy continues to boost the Kathryn Bigelow-directed drama's profile, but great word-of-mouth seems to be playing just as big of a role in "Zero Dark Thirty's" success.
No women have made it onto the shortlist for best director at this year's Oscars, while Zero Dark Thirty is the only best picture nominee to have been directed by a woman - Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow.
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"Les Miserables, " "Lincoln, " "Life of Pi, " "Zero Dark Thirty, " and "Silver Linings Playbook" all had their moment as "front-runner" with voters, but the inexplicable Affleck dismissal by the Academy's directing branch simply galvanized goodwill that was lying dormant.
In Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty, " which opens in wide release on Friday, she plays Maya, the strong-willed CIA agent who uncovers a trail of information leading directly to Osama bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan.
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