Michelle Williams

CHICAGO – Last year’s slate of Best Actress Oscar-nominees was among the weakest in recent memory. There was no clear front-runner since there was no picture worthy of the exemplary actress at its core. From Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady” to Glenn Close in “Albert Nobbs,” 2011 deserves to be remembered as the year of great female performances trapped in subpar material.

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Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie

CHICAGO – This 26-image slideshow contains a selection of ABC-provided red carpet arrival images from the 84th Annual Academy Awards, which were handed out on February 26th, 2012 on ABC. Celebrities featured include Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Nick Nolte, Shailene Woodley, Rooney Mara, Michelle Williams, Meryl Streep, Berenice Bejo, Natalie Portman, Sandra Bullock, Jennifer Lopez, and many more.

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Ricky Gervais

CHICAGO – This 37-image slideshow contains a selection of NBC-provided images from the 69th Annual Golden Globes, which were handed out on January 15th, 2012 on NBC. Celebrities featured include Ricky Gervais, Laura Dern, Michelle Williams, Kate Beckinsale, Meryl Streep, Claire Danes, Jean Dujardin, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Emily Blunt, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Madonna, Peter Dinklage, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and many more.

CHICAGO – Award season is definitely in full swing and nominations for ceremonies are just starting to be released. For the fan of the indie film, today is a very significant date: the release of the nominations for the 27th Film Independent Spirit Awards.

CHICAGO – Bringing the popular culture past back to life in a movie is always a tricky proposition. No matter what, there are always inevitable comparisons to the real thing.

CHICAGO – Marilyn Monroe will never go away. The iconic actress of a long-gone era is the subject of a new film, “My Week with Marilyn,” directed by Simon Curtis. Ms. Monroe is portrayed during a in collaboration with Sir Lawrence Olivier, and their characters are played with sublime grace by Michelle Williams and Kenneth Branagh.

CHICAGO – Some of the most wonderful diversity within the 47th Annual Chicago International Film Festival can be found in the mid-section of this year’s line-up as virtually-guaranteed Oscar nominees screen next to much-smaller films from around the world. Hopefully, you made it out to see one of our recommendations from the opening act of the fest and are eager for more.

CHICAGO – Kelly Reichardt’s “Meek’s Cutoff” is certainly not a film for everyone. It features long, drawn-out scenes that are not only free of dialogue but basically just feature sorrowful people walking to the rhythm of the wagon wheel and the tune of the blowing wind. For the right viewers, these passages will frustrate but if you give yourself over to this remarkable film, they will build tension inside of you in a unique, discomfiting way.

CHICAGO – “Blue Valentine” director Derek Cianfrance is happily married now with two young children, but the road getting there was turbulent and sometimes still is. While that’s real life, romance films often end with the lucky guy getting the pretty girl and them living happily ever.

Rating: 5.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Very few films have ever conveyed an impending sense of doom as successfully as Kelly Reichardt’s stunningly accomplished “Meek’s Cutoff,” a journey into the past that has resonance for any era. Which way do you go when you’ve lost the map? Who do you trust when you can’t see beyond the horizon? How does man simply keep moving forward when it’s so unclear where we’re going?