• Jeff Wells is a fan of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” but he’s not sure it’s a Best Picture slam dunk for this reason or that. I’d be inclined to agree with him if that guild screening on Saturday hadn’t gone over so well. [Hollywood Elsewhere]
• Meanwhile, Tom O’Neil takes a (probably unfair) swipe at David Fincher’s Q&A etiquette. It’s true, he’s not the sort to get all cerebral for you like a pet monkey, and it’s true, that chilliness might affect him and the film, but don’t all the greats share these traits? [Gold Derby]
• An ambitious list: the top 100 movies based on books. [The Movie Blog]
• Wow, a feature on the return of an Oscar blogger. But I guess the Bagger is that special breed that deserves the copy. Call it blogger envy. [Thompson on Hollywood]
• Having actually seen the film now, Dave Karger jumps on the gravy train for Clint Eastwood’s performance as a Best Actor contender. Mostly he’s reporting everything we told you in our script review a few months back, though. Gruff character but with a great arc that’ll leave them crying, etc., etc. [Entertainment Weekly]
• T.L. Stanley joins the tiny chorus of “Australia” cheerleaders. Maybe it’s not that tiny, but I haven’t heard from them much this week. [Gold Rush]
• John Horn, meanwhile, features director Baz Luhrmann. [Los Angeles Times]
• Patrick Goldstein dissects “Frost/Nixon” scribe Peter Morgan. [The Big Picture]
Comments
3 responses to “11/25 Oscarweb Round-up”
Thank you. I totally agree with your comments on O’Neil’s swipe at David Fincher. All the truly great filmmakers are eccentric as hell (Kubrick for example) and criticizing them for that is pointless and pretty foolish.
Eh, I really don’t want to see Clint in the race AGAIN. But due to his character and the rumor that he is retiring from acting, he’ll most likely be back this year. Can AMPAS not reward or acknowledge anyone else for a change?
An ambitious list: the top 100 movies based on books. [The Movie Blog]
An absolutely ridiculous list with no sense of what a true adaptation is. I enthusiastically scrolled down to the end of the page to see Gone With The Wind at no.1 and its not even on the list. And I have grave doubts about half the films on the list, were they even stories or short stories or anything. Die Hard a novel! I dunno what category such books fall into and whether they can be really considered while discussing good fiction. What an absurd list to attempt in the 1st place.
And I cant believe David Fincher behaves that what in Q&A sessions. I’m beginning to think that everyone’s claim that the movie feels distant might be true. He just doesn’t seem interested in anything the movie has to say and I wonder if it DOES have anything to say. I believe the movie’s alienating air is not a co-incidence but a by-product of Fincher’s direction.
red_wine: That list isn’t the top 100 adaptations. As John explained it to me, it is the top 100 films that happen to be based on books.