In Contention

WEEKLY WRAP: Precursors begin, ‘Grit’ unveiled and Oscar hosts tapped

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• The biggest news of this busy week may well have been the announcement of James Franco and Anne Hathaway as this year’s Oscarcast hosts.

• Unless you count “The Social Network” dominating the National Board of Review as bigger news, that is.

• Or, for that matter, our first look at the Coen brothers’ “True Grit.”

• Speaking of which, Kris reported on the current eligibility status of Carter Burwell’s score (still up in the air).

• Guy launched a new column humbly asking for consideration of quality work from the first half of the year, beginning with stand-out supporting actresses.

• “Winter’s Bone” led the way with the Indie Spirit nominations…

• …the day after winning two Gotham Awards, including Best Film, on the east coast.

• Also revelead this week were the seemingly arbitrary International Press Academy’s Satellite Award Nominations.

• The Producers Guild of America announced nominees for documentary features.

• Gerard took another dive into the Best Visual Effects race, wrapping up his in-depth looks at the crafts fields.

• And in a similar vein, we offered up an exclusive look at the production design of “Black Swan.”

• Chad’s Life Without Oscar series continued with a look at 1995 and 1996.

• Kris attended Fox’s annual holiday shindig and gathered some quick sound bytes from talent on hand.

• His Off the Carpet column previewed the awards madness set to unfold in the coming weeks.

• He also went on record for the first time with a list of winner predictions (not to be taken too seriously yet, mind you).

• AMPAS narrowed the live action and animated short categories to 10 films each.

• Kris offered a rebuttal to Robert Duvall’s recent Kubrick-bashing in the form of some insightful commentary from actor Leonardo DiCaprio in a preview of his lengthy sit-down with the “Inception” and “Shutter Island” star.

• In more somber news, we said goodbye to director Irvin Kershner and actor Leslie Nielsen.

• And finally, Kris and Anne summed up the week’s goings on in Oscar Talk, joined by indieWIRE’s Peter Knegt.

[Photo: Paramount Pictures]

Comments

5 responses to “WEEKLY WRAP: Precursors begin, ‘Grit’ unveiled and Oscar hosts tapped”

  1. AmericanRequiem Avatar
    AmericanRequiem

    i think its about time for 127 hours to fall out of many categories, it just hasnt played or lived up to the hype.

  2. Robert Hamer Avatar
    Robert Hamer

    I would have agreed with you five minutes ago, AmericanRequiem, except Scott Feinberg’s guest reviewer (and AMPAS member) “Deep Vote” wrote a gushing review of the film today.

    Personally, I usually disagree with Deep Vote’s opinions, but now I wonder if other Academy members share his enthusiasm for the film.

  3. AmericanRequiem Avatar
    AmericanRequiem

    I even see it making the top 10 a stretch now. Not to mention director. It is a turnoff to many audiences because of thhe arm cutting and in my opinion, which may be a bit in the minority, it just isnt that great a movie..

  4. Matthew Starr Avatar

    I want to see The Tree of Life trailer again. It was transcendent. Felt like I was not even in the theater that I was out of space and time.

    If this is Deakin’s year then at the 2012 Oscars, Emmanuel Lubezki will be gracing the podium.

  5. El Duderino Avatar
    El Duderino

    I just saw the trailer for The Beaver. Holy shit Gibson looks good in it. I can’t help but think that if the incident hadn’t happened and it had been released this year, he would be getting some major recognition.