• The shortlist of contenders for the documentary Oscar was announced, surprising many — we dug into it a little.
• The season’s first Oscars were handed out, as Lauren Bacall, Gordon Willis, Roger Corman and John Calley were celebrated at the Governors’ Awards.
• This week’s Off the Carpet column broke down the wide-open Best Original Screenplay race.
• The Long Shot lived up to its name, spotlighting a few of the season’s most deserving outsiders.
• Another very limber race, Best Original Score, was the focus of Tech Support this week.
• Regarding next year’s Oscarcast, interesting news landed about both presenters and the show’s director.
• As Jeff Bridges shapes up as a major Oscar threat, the trailer for “Crazy Heart” landed.
• The pile of Best Original Song contenders continues to grow, with news of a Leona Lewis theme for “Avatar” and a U2 track for “Brothers.”
• “Star Trek” used the occasion of its DVD launch for some canny awards-season schmoozing.
• “2012” ruled the box office this week, though “New Moon” looks set to vanquish it.
• The other box office story of the week, “Precious”, can add the PGA’s Stanley Kramer Award to its growing list of accolades.
• We got some insight from Wes Anderson and his “Fantastic Mr. Fox” collaborators.
• Our Great Performances series continued with the turns of 2001.
• The Weinstein Company added another name to the Best Actress mix: Mélanie Laurent for “Inglourious Basterds.”
• Finally, the latter is just one of the topics covered in this week’s edition of Oscar Talk.
9 responses so far
1 11-20-2009 at 7:40 pm
Nicolas Mancuso said...
I don’t know if you guys missed this, but AMPAS has announced the Animated Short shortlist.
2 11-20-2009 at 7:44 pm
Kristopher Tapley said...
Was in a screening, but yeah, saw it. Not really interested, though, because who even knows anything about those films? Worth a post, I suppose.
3 11-20-2009 at 7:51 pm
Nicolas Mancuso said...
I only brought it up because you profiled the Documentary Short shortlist when it was announced. I don’t know anything about those either.
What screening did you see?
4 11-20-2009 at 8:16 pm
Kristopher Tapley said...
Can’t say.
5 11-20-2009 at 8:23 pm
Nicolas Mancuso said...
Oh my. Awards season sure is serious business.
I’d love to be invited to secret screenings.
6 11-21-2009 at 6:03 am
Alex said...
He either went to Invictus or The Lovely Bones. I’m willing to put my money on The Lovely Bones.
7 11-21-2009 at 7:53 am
Guy Lodge said...
I love how eager you guys are for guessing games!
(Of course, I know the answer. Ha.)
8 11-21-2009 at 10:41 am
Alex said...
The Oscar race is more exciting than the presidential election in my opinion – more suspense, more contenders, more intrigue, more espionage (Mr Toback).
9 11-22-2009 at 5:45 pm
Alex said...
I take it back. It was Invictus.