Welcome to Oscar Talk.
In case you’re new to the site and/or the podcast, Oscar Talk is a weekly kudocast, your one-stop awards chat shop between yours truly and Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood. The podcast is weekly, every Friday throughout the season, charting the ups and downs of contenders along the way. Plenty of things change en route to Oscar’s stage and we’re here to address it all as it unfolds.
2010 is finally in the rear view mirror. But the season isn’t over yet — not by a long shot. As we enter the new year, and the busiest frame of the circuit (awards-wise), we have tons to chew on today. Let’s see what’s on the docket…
• With one more week of balloting in store, three of the four major guilds have announced their nominees (as have a handful of below-the-line guilds). We talk about what it all means.
• Talk of “True Grit” leads to heated discussion on the lead vs. supporting vis a vis Hailee Steinfeld.
• One of the precursor announcements this week was the list of USC Scripter Award finalists. Anne is a member of the esteemed selection committee. She talks about the process and we discuss the list five adaptations in play.
• Campaigns are heating up in the new year. Earlier this week Sony Classics took advantage of an opportunity to put “Get Low” star Robert Duvall’s hands and feet in cement at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, while a DVD release party for “The Social Network” Thursday night kept the fire stoked for Sony and company. We talk about the goings on around town.
• The first podcast of the year seems to be a good opportunity to look ahead to the films in 2011 that have our interest. We give it our best shot.
• And finally, as always, reader questions!
Have a listen to the new podcast below, with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross leading the way again this week (total accident), this time with their rendition of Edvard Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King” from “The Social Network.” If the file cuts off for you at any time, try the back-up download link at the bottom of this post. And as always, remember to subscribe to Oscar Talk via iTunes here.
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Back-up download: Oscar Talk Episode 47
Comments
53 responses to “OSCAR TALK: Ep. 47 — The guilds so far, Steinfeld as lead vs. supporting, Scripter finalists, goings-on on the circuit, looking ahead to 2011”
Anne’s comment about “earning her stripes as an established actress” implies that no debut performance — regardless of age — can ever be considered in lead, which hardly holds up. Emily Watson, anyone?
Man, Anne can’t decide if she has an opinion on True Grit. First she talks about it’s surge reminding her of MDB then she talks about placing it towards the end of the list of possible nominees.
And the comment above, picked up by Lodge is pure nonsense. This isn’t the senate where seniority dicates power and eligibility. It’s not about the actors – it’s about the characters and how well they are played.
all due respect, I’m listening it now and Anne makes no sense on the Hailee thing?! :)
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I completely agree with Kris on Annette Bening. Putting aside my distaste for the film, I think she is rather underwhelming. People are acting like it’s some kind of career-best performance that she should get a lifetime achievement award for. Are you kidding me? Sure, she was good, as she always is, but nothing more. Just good. Moore was so much better in the film, and if we’re being honest with ourselves, there were many better lead actress turns this year, namely, Hailee Steinfeld. Ridiculous that Bening, who in my opinion, is actually a supporting player as much as Mark Ruffalo is in the film, is automatically gifted a lead actress bid because of who she is, when Hailee Steinfeld has to play at the kiddie table and Julianne Moore isn’t even mentioned at all. One day everyone will get over this makeup award bullshit and just nominate the correct performances in the correct films in the correct categories.
Stepping off my soapbox now.
Anne is low on the latest Harry Potter, and yet, I thought it was excellent, and not mired in subplots, at all. If anything, it streamlined to the threesome (main characters). So, I don’t get her comment.
I would also say that Annette Bening (who I LOVE) is overhyped right now.
And as for the whole Hailee Steinfeld thing … guess what … she’s in the BAFTA longlist for Lead.
Methinks that the Brit Block could squeeze Manville in Supporting over someone like a Steinfeld; especially if the Brits and portions of SAG think Steinfeld is Lead.
I also don’t think Bridges & Duvall are sure things with Gosling & Bardem breathing down their necks.
The category is Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Mattie Ross is a lead role.
Done and done.
The category is Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Mattie Ross is a lead role.
Done and done.
If she is included in the lead category, who will get squeezed out? Perhaps Manville and Steinfeld could simply switch places?
I agree with Kris about Hailee’s status as a lead actress. I mean, just look at Gabourey Sidibe. Same story, done right from the start.
I also agree with him about Annette Bening in TKAAR. She was good, but not as great as Moore. However, I’d rather to see Mark Ruffalo get snubbed for best supporting actor. To me he was just okay, but a bit too passive compared to Garfield, Hawkes and Renner.
Fun podcast overall ☺
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I don’t remember exactly what Anne said but she probably meant: young actor AND debut perf.
Of course that doesn’t make a perf supporting but Anne sees it in a practical way. Like the lesser evil: Be considered in the right category and not get nominated or be considered in the wrong cat and get nominated?
It is obviously wrong, theoritically, but Anne is talking pragmatically.
It’s kind of complicated. If the campaign changed, then there would be a confusion with some people voting for her in lead and some in supporting and even though, as a group, they want her to get nominated, she might end up not getting in. It’s not easy to say which is fair NOW that the wrong campaign has been going on for some time.
By the way, I haven’t seen the film and maybe if I do I’ll end up sgreeing with those who don’t think she should be nominated in any category. Who knows?
Totally agree with Kris about both Bening and Steinfeld.
You guys aren’t interested in Soderbergh’s two films this year? Or Dangerous Method, Melancholia etc…
I found it sad that you and Anne had to literally rack your brains before coming up with a name that you think should be snubbed. And both of you picked a performance, and not a film. It might lead people to believe that you two approve of the front-runners in most categories and are in general happy with the Academy slate.
I loved the way Anne described Leo’s performance. Snark is always wittier and better worded than benign conversation.
red_wine: Geez, who pissed in your coffee? Maybe they aren’t as negative as you and actually approve of what’s getting nominated? What a shocker that your marginal opinion isn’t the only one that matters.
It’ll be interesting if they do move Steinfeld to the lead category. I know they did it with Kate Winslet, but Winslet is a star and they were determined to honor her that year (which I still say was for the right film). And Anne was right to say that Keisha Castle-Hughes was the only lead character and so it was less murky water. Perhaps her ultimate category placement will give an indication of how much support True Grit has earned. It could be the BP stealer.
About Hailee Steinfeld I agree with you 100%, it should be about the role and the film, and while I understood Anne’s argument, I’m really surprised she would support that ‘age, first role, supporting if you are in a film with established stars’ crap.
Before I saw The Kids Are All Right, it seemed to me also that Annette Bening was overhyped. However once I saw it I’m afraid I’ll have to disagree with you Kris. IMO she was completely the best and her character and her scenes were the ones that stayed with me the most.
I was quite surprised that people were suggesting that Julianne Moore was better, but I suppose everyone reacts to different things with performances. I for one would’ve picked Garfield as my snub. He’s good and I’m actually a huge fan of him, but what exactly did he give to his character that was so outstanding?
Just downloaded it. I look forward to listening to Oscar Talk tomorrow during my 9 hr flight to Maui.
I am very fond of Bening’s work in TKAAR. Very subtle, very layered, but more involving than the gimmicky work of Portman in BS.
Also, don’t get the hype for Steinfeld, she did well, but one note performance.
I also think Duvall is OUT and Bardem will be in based on BAFTA.
There’s quite a lot of interesting films in the pipeline for this year, if you look a little closer. Steven Soderbergh has two films on the way, as does Spielberg. David Fincher will have The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo out by the end of the year. There are also films from Jim Sheridan (Dream House), Joe Wright (Hanna), Cameron Crowe (We Bought a Zoo) and Andrew Niccol (Now) on the way. Duncan Jones has Source Code coming out, which may be a primarily commercial film but still looks interesting enough. Same with Battle: Los Angeles that’ll come out before the summer. Then there’s the Jane Eyre film by Cary Fukunaga too.
Add to that all the movies we have hardly even heard of. Winter’s Bone probably wasn’t on anyone’s radar before it hit it off big at Sundance.. So I’m not too worried.
The summer season does look terrible though, much like last year. Very little in the way of must-see films. Not even any of the comic book movies look really good, though I agree that Captain America looks the best.. But maybe that’s simply because we haven’t seen a trailer for it yet to ruin any expectations we may have had?
I honestly don’t understand all of the complaints about the Green Hornet. I liked the trailer and I think Gondry (!) and co really found the right vibe for it. Plus, I’m pretty sure I saw a couple of fresh review on RT that later were mysteriously pullled. I’m reamaing optimistic.
red_wine: What the hell are you on about?
Graysmith: Wish I had remembered “Now.” It actually might be my #1 most-anticipated.
By the way, it was a quick glance at a broad list, folks. I’m not going to spend hours looking at every nuance of the 2011 film year to try and come up with a list of films I’m anticipating. Quick gloss, then it was over.
Should have mentioned Alex Payne’s next, though.
I’m terrified for next year. And although I love them, I blame Pixar for setting the bar so low and making a sequel to their consesus “weakest film”. Its all got me worried.
The following people have something to say about 2011 being a bad year for film: Steven Soderbergh twice, Tomas Alfredson, Pedro Almodovar, Lars von Trier, George Clooney, David Fincher, Jason Reitman, Lone Scherfig, The Muppets, Kevin Smith with a horror movie, Lynne Ramsay, Steve McQueen, Woody Allen, Joe Wright, Ralph Fiennes, David Cronenberg, John Requa & Glenn Ficarra, Nicolas Winding Refn, Cameron Crowe, and possibly Kathryn Bigelow, Clint Eastwood, Roman Polanski, Wes Anderson, Francis Ford Coppola and Stephen Daldry. I could probably go on.
And Kris: A quick glance is not a chore.
Someone has to say it: pace Anne, I was disappointed in “The King’s Speech.” I didn’t think it was poorly executed, but had I seen it without hype, I would probably have simply thought it was a mid-level British period piece. I adore both Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter, and they are fine in the film, but I can’t imagine I would have foreseen the publicity they are getting.
And as for potential nominees that I would like to see snubbed, they include the following: “Inception” for best original screenplay, “Inception” for best director, “Inception” for best editing, “Inception” for best picture, “The Kids Are All Right” for best picture, and–agreeing with Kris–Annette Bening for best actress.
The funny thing for me about Anne’s last statement of the podcast was that I saw Winter’s Bone and Black Swan last weekend (and also Master & Commander on DVD), then saw the King’s Speech on Tuesday and was completely underwhelmed by it in comparison to the other two films. I thought it had great performances but I wasn’t lifted up like I thought I was going to be by so much of the buzz that I kept hearing. I rolled my eyes at the whole “I have a voice!” “Yes, you do” bit; almost felt Geoffrey Rush hit that line as if he knew it was going to be the big movie trailer moment and had to deliver it with as much cheese as possible.
Mitchell: It is when you’re buried in 2010 and don’t have a high opinion of 2011 as it is, based on what you already know.
Sorry my lightly considered list of anticipations and chatter on the new year’s offerings was so sub-par. I’ll try harder for 2012. I SWEAR.
I love you on these podcasts, Anne, and I’m a devout reader of your site, but as I said on your website, you are WRONG WRONG WRONG.
Loved hearing your debate on this, though. Great listening!
desired snubs: “The Kids Are All Right”–didn’t get it’; it didn’t do much for me on BP and Bening for Actress
Burlesque in Costumes
“The King’s Speech” in BD and BP
@Kris: I understand what you’re saying perfectly and I knew how busy you are as I wrote that. My problem was that I felt you made a rather drastic comment for admittedly not researching too much. And my list wasn’t entirely directed towards you, it was kind of venting at many people with the same opinion, an opinion which I think is wrong. In fact, I remember a post you made in 2009 about the Best Actress race going on then that was almost the exact same type of post I made. I wasn’t trying to call you lazy or anything like that.
I guess it’s just that typically dubious Hollywood schlock is simply more suffocating than it has been in the past.
I agree, especially because a lot of Most Anticipated lists highlight only tentpole films, and many films I listed(and others that I forgot to) have a TBA release date.
My enjoyment of The King’s Speech rests somewhere between: loving it as if it were released in June to small buzz – and – being disappointed in it because of the insane hype.
I really enjoyed it for what it is. Great performances, yes. Nice technicals, yes. Rousing uplift … um, I guess? To me, it’s BP nomination-worthy, but not win.
All of that said, if it DOES win, I won’t be unhappy at all; as plenty of BP’s have won in the past that I don’t care for, at all.
And I completely understand why the film may win BP, though.
It’s the Oscar machine wheelhouse (British, period, middlebrow, well-acted, well written, well-adorned, great reviews, Firth-mania, making $$, underdog, happy ending), etc., etc., etc.
I get it. I totally get it. And as mentioned, I really liked it. But yeah, not my win.
[…] OSCAR TALK: Ep. 47 — The guilds so far, Steinfeld as lead vs. supporting, Scripter finalists, goin… […]
I caught up with The King’s Speech a couple days ago and all I can muster is “meh.” Not a bad movie by any means, it had a few reasonable laughs and Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush were alright but I didn’t feel any need to jump in the air and cheer at the end and neither did the theater that I was at, which was packed and dead silent. It could be explained away as an Australian audience thing, but I would have thought the film would play better in Australia for obvious reasons. Oh well.
I love Anne, but her thing about Hailee was really unfortunate. There isn’t a clear hypothesis there at all. You can be a young newcomer and be nominated for lead if your movie is – basically – foreign and doesn’t have well-known actors in it? That’s, as Kris said, bullshit. Even if she is supporting Bridges’ character, she’s still the lead. If the role was played by a known actress they’d be campaigned as lead. Everyone knows it.
I have to concur – “The King’s Speech” underwhelmed quite a bit, and I could barely find a pulse in the audience I saw it with (i.e. no applause). On the other hand, my mother absolutely adored it and all her friends loved it just as much. An age thing, perhaps?
I was also shocked to hear what Anne had to say about Melissa Leo! I thought that was one of the best performances of the year, and totally fantastic.
My pick for surefire nomination I wish was snubbed is the screenplay of “The Kids Are All Right.” I find the writing to ultimately let the film down, because otherwise I love the actors. That includes Annette Bening. :)
These comments came from some dipshit hiding behind an anonymous Facebook account, going by the name “Tucker Dimpy.” I don’t know why this person felt the need to spam a personal Facebook page with this nonsense, rather than come here with it, but I thought the perspective worth relating, here, in its proper space:
“I am disgusted at your “Weak sauce” comments on Bening in your little podcast yesterday. How is her performance over hyped when she has lost all the awards to Portman/Lawrence? Your a Portman fan and you used that opportunity to diminish her chief rival. That is weak sauce.
And as a huge Julianne Moore fan NO WAY was she better than Bening and if she were why hasn’t anyone voted for her for anything? You’ve been pushing that crap since Sundance. And clearly the nominating committees DON’T agree with you. Again another out you use to try to diminish her.
You are an example of what is WRONG with the male film critics out there. You need women to whore themselves out on film like Portman basically did to win awards. Oral sex, cheap shock value? That’s whats a “good” performance now? You are the cliche of what is wrong with the people judging these movies. How many times have you watched the Portman/Kunis sex scene? My guess is a lot.
And I am sick and tired of you people getting away with calling ANY performance by a 52 year old woman overrated. Just how many opportunities do you think they get??? They have to fight like animals for whatever decent role is out there that Meryl Streep doesnt want. Obviously a 29 year old is going to have far more opportunities than a 52 year old and her role is going to be far more baity.
I’m sorry that I’ve had to explain basic knowledge to you especially seeing your the big bad film critic.”
And beyond the natural response I gave this person there, I’ll just say it’s beneath me to further address it here. But clearly, there are unbalanced people in the world. No news there.
@Kris – Ok, that’s just fucked up.
Jesus. And I thought red_wine was cranky. Still do, but that’s ridiculous.
That being said, I’ve encountered similar reactions on my blog and it’s exhausting every time. Just gotta take it in stride I guess.
Kris made Warren Beatty mad!
Black Swan has oral sex? Now that is a movie!
But I did love Bening’s performance and I’m tired of Kris not seeing how good she was. #semi-joking
Wow. Some people.
Glenn: I think Anne’s point was rather clear. Steinfeld is in an ensemble film where the focus often shifts away from her, Castle-Hughes wasn’t in an ensemble film and the focus was always with her, I think it’s a valid point.