In Contention

Category: Daily

  • In the trenches with AMPAS

    (from left) Tom Sherak and Anne HathawayI must admit that when I found out Monday night that our friend Anthony Breznican was embedded with AMPAS brass and nominations co-announcer Anne Hathaway for this USA Today feature story (and, therefore, knew the nominees at 9:00 that night), I was incredibly jealous.  But that it yielded such an insightful little piece, well, fine by me.

    Breznican offers a unique first-hand perspective on the Academy’s preparations for the big morning announcement, divulging intriguing little tidbits throughout (like the fact that Oscarcast producers Adam Shankman and Bill Mechanic were happy to see “The Blind Side” shortlisted, while it induced groans and eye-rolling from others in the room).  That PricewaterhouseCoopers accountants go to an “undisclosed location” to tally the votes is just hilarious.  I picture them in some underground bunker like in the denouement of “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.”

    I bet if there’s ever a nuclear holocaust the night before an Oscar announcement, the PwC guys would be survivors, like Burgess Meredith emerging from a bank vault with “all the time in the world.”  Imagine it.  Anyway, I digress…

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  • 2/3 Oscarweb Round-up

    Abbie Cornish in Bright Star• Is it really an honor just to be nominated? [CNN]

    • Nathaniel Rogers notes that, despite the 10, we still ended up with a typical Oscar mixture of “a mix of message movies, epics, dramas and war films.” [The Film Experience]

    • Of Apparition’s dueling period pieces, Anne Thompson wonders what went wrong for “Bright Star” and right for “The Young Victoria.”  Her answer: momentum. [Thompson on Hollywood]

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  • 10 snubs that sting

    A scene from Inglourious BasterdsI’ve already highlighted my favorite aspects of this morning’s Oscar nominations. Still, before we move into Phase Two, I’d like to give one final respectful nod to the could-have-beens — the names that we sadly won’t be talking about anymore in the next five weeks of speculation.

    I listed my true favorites in my dream ballot over the last few days, though many of those were never in the realm of possibility. What follows are 10 contenders who were very much in the mix, and had every reason to be disappointed this morning.

    From my perspective, the race is poorer without the following:

    • Marvin Hamlisch (Best Original Score), “The Informant!”: As a previously honored veteran of the branch, I thought his foot was comfortably in the door. Was his playful score too tongue-in-cheek for the voters? I’d say the movie wasn’t well-liked enough, but these are the guys who nominated “The Village.” (Less surprising but still disappointing: the omission of “A Single Man” composer Abel Korzeniowski.)

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  • How we did today (not bad) and a year out (not so much)

    Brian Geraghty in The Hurt LockerI forgot to sit down and take a look at my year-in-advance predictions for this year and see how I did.  Not too great.

    In the Best Picture field (before the announcement of an expanded category, mind you), the only film I listed that made it through was “The Hurt Locker.” Kathryn Bigelow was also the only director I correctly projected, so that’s 1/10 and 1/5 in the top two categories.

    Morgan Freeman, Carey Mulligan, Matt Damon and Penelope Cruz were the only actors I got correct, while in the screenplay categories it was just “An Education,” “A Serious Man” and “Up.”

    All in all, including the crafts categories, I got 24 nominees of the 88 I predicted in 18 categories.  I’ve lost track of how well I’ve done with this silly experiment over the years, but I don’t think that’s one of the better tallies.  Maybe it is.

    Which brings me to this announcement.  After a lot of consideration I’ve decided to forgo my nearly decade-old process of predicting the nominees a year in advance.  There will be no post-Oscar assessment of the year ahead.  The reasons are plenty.

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  • Come join our awards pool at AwardsPicks.com!

    OscarLast year we tried out AwardsPicks.com‘s Oscar pool and it went well enough, so we’re going back to the well once again this year.

    I’ve altered the scoring system to give more weight to categories that are perceived as a bit more difficult to project.  The winner gets a ton of swag that I’ve accumulated over the year.  Too much stuff to name, but off the top of my head there are the scripts for “(500) Days of Summer,” “The Hurt Locker,” “Julie & Julia” and “Up,” T-shirts featuring “Star Trek” and “A Christmas Carol,” a handsome behind-the-scenes of “Amelia” hardcover book and a big “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” hardcover with production stills and the script inside.

    Lots of goodies.  Head on over to our group’s main page and join it if you haven’t already done so, then join the 2010 Academy Awards game, then click “make picks” and you’re set!

  • The nominees react

    Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy HeartThroughout the morning and early afternoon we took statements from or hopped on the phone with 44 of today’s Oscar nominees.  Their reactions…

    Maggie Gyllenhaal, supporting actress, “Crazy Heart”:

    The thing is, you know, I’m so proud of the movie and I always have been, more proud of it than any of the work I’ve done so far.  But because I wasn’t getting nominated for anything, I wasn’t expecting it.  My phone was ringing so early and I thought, “Wait, maybe!”   I was staying at my brother’s in LA.  He said to me, “Your phone is going to be ringing all day.”  He made me a cup of coffee and then we watched the sun rise.  It was pretty mellow.  But this wouldn’t be happening for Jeff [Bridges] or me if it wasn’t for Scott [Cooper].

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  • The bright side

    Abbie Cornish in Bright StarWell, I’ll start the good news selfishly, by noting that I didn’t entirely embarrass myself with my predictions: not counting the short categories (which I was too cowardly and uninformed to predict) I nailed 78/106, just two points behind Kris’s round tally of 80.

    But while I was pleased to see at least one of my out-on-a-limb guesses come good — seriously, why didn’t more people call that Art Direction nod for “The Young Victoria?” — I was better at predicting what wouldn’t get nominated.

    So, my season-long hunches that Julianne Moore would be frozen out in the supporting race, that “(500) Days of Summer” would be blanked, that “Up in the Air” would miss that crucial Film Editing nod, and so on, were all on the money. And my increasing sense that nobody really liked “Invictus” enough to put it atop their ballot proved right too.

    Now, if I only I’d known what would land in their place. You can’t have it all, I suppose.

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  • ‘Avatar,’ ‘Hurt Locker’ lead Oscar nods with 9 each

    Guy Pearce in The Hurt LockerSo, the AMPAS didn’t embarrass itself TOO much this morning.  At the end of the day, “Invictus” proved to lack the proper passionate support to yield a Best Picture nomination.  The beneficiary of that: “The Blind Side.” Make of that what you will.

    “Avatar” and “The Hurt Locker” — get this — tied with a field-leading nine nominations each.  “Inglourious Basterds” wasn’t far behind with eight, while “Precious” and “Up in the Air” tied with six apiece.  Pixar’s “Up” managed five, while “District 9” and “Star Trek,” the other sci-fi entries in the race, each received four, the former landing a Best Picture nomination and trending on Twitter as I type.  But how the hell it missed in Best Makeup is beyond me.  More on the techs below.

    “The Blind Side” and “A Serious Man” get the “winner of two Oscar nominations, including Best Picture” honors.  But at least the latter made the cut after all.  There was some nervousness for a while there.

    As I look through the nominations, I see nothing particularly eye-catching.  All of the “surprises” seem awfully reasonable and make perfect sense.  First and foremost, I’m kicking myself for blinking on Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart.” In fact, I had that supporting actress category pegged 5/5 24 hours ago.  That’s what I get for over-thinking it.  I’m really happy to see her slide into contention.  She worked it last month and at just the right time.

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  • Guy’s final predictions

    Anthony Mackie in The Hurt LockerRight, there comes a point every year in predicting the Oscar nominations when you realize you’re just shuffling names to dodge commitment. I’ve reached that point, so it’s time to put myself out my misery.

    Kris has already had his say — and stolen some of my best guesses from last week in the process. Okay, I kid because I love. It’s comforting, in fact, to have his very sensible company on calls like Diane Kruger for Best Supporting Actress, or “The Road” for Best Cinematography.

    That said, however, there are still numerous areas of the ballot still driving me crazy. I discussed my uncertainties in last week’s Long Shot column, but the last few days haven’t given me any more confidence when it comes to those pesky final two Best Picture slots.

    Though logic goes against me, I can’t shake the feeling that “Invictus” will miss — how many people are putting it at the top of their ballots? However, between the likes of “The Blind Side,” “The Hangover,” “Crazy Heart,” “Star Trek” and “The Messenger,” no one title emerges as a clear spoiler.

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  • Calling the longshots

    Sharlto Copley in District 9So this Steve Pond piece, titled “How Oscar Could Surprise — and Scare — Us,” is what we like to call hedging our bets.  It’s a chance to address some bubble matters so that we have something to point to and say, “Look, I toldja!”

    (Is that officially trademarked by Nikki Finke yet?)

    Anyway, I do like the guessing game fun, and Pond touches on a couple of things that I would likely mention if I were to do a similar piece.  One we can all understand is his #10, the potential snub of “Invictus” in the Best Picture category.  It has kind of been in the water for a few weeks now that the film just isn’t as strong as it could be, likely lacking passionate top tier votes.  It is, frankly, in the #10 spot on my list of final predictions.

    I do like Pond’s mention of Sharlto Copley as a potential Best Actor spoiler, but failing to even make the longlist with BAFTA (a group that wasn’t shy on the “District 9” love) makes the actor (who gave the year’s best lead actor performance in my book) the darkest of dark horses.

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  • Cornish, Mulligan on cover of Vanity Fair’s Hollywood issue

    Abbie Cornish may have received less than her due this awards season, but she at least has the consolation of gracing the cover of this year’s Vanity Fair Hollywood issue — that annual measure of the screen’s hottest up-and-comers. She’s joined by surefire nominee Carey Mulligan and teen princess Kristen Stewart, so the magazine’s canny editors clearly believe Cornish is going places.

    Vanity Fair 2010 Hollywood issue cover

    Joining those three ladies (far left) on the slightly less prominent foldout pages: (left to right) Amanda Seyfried, Rebecca Hall, Mia Wasikowska, Emma Stone, Evan Rachel Wood and Anna Kendrick. More at Vanity Fair.

  • My dream ballot: part two

    Charlotte Gainsbourg in AntichristYesterday, I began my far-fetched wishlist of nominees for tomorrow’s announcement with a look at the technical categories. Today we move into the big races. And as much as I thought I had my favorites clearly mapped out in my head, a rundown of the eligible titles made for some very crowded races indeed.

    Once again, I’ve mostly played by the Academy’s own criteria, considering only U.S. releases from 2009 — hence the slight discrepancy with my Top 10 from December. But where certain titles seemingly never made it through the administrative red tape guarding Oscar eligibility, I’ve intervened on their behalf. (Films as good as “Summer Hours” can’t go unmentioned, after all.)

    Check out my picks after the cut, and share your own last-minute thoughts and hopes in the comments. My final predictions are coming shortly.

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  • Actors’ beef with ‘Avatar’

    Thanks to Scott Feinberg for pointing us to this Newsweek actors roundtable discussion of “Avatar,” which is certainly illuminating. Morgan Freeman says performance capture is “basically cartoons,” while a more diplomatic Bridges says, “What we do [as actors] is the ultimate special effect.”

  • Gearing up for the pool

    You might remember AwardsPicks.com, an Oscar pool site we participated in last year.  You can join Oscar pool groups and we can play with the weight of the votes, etc.  It’s a lot of fun.

    Well this year the pools will be set tomorrow, according to a press release that just landed.  So head on over and join our group and we’ll set things up post-nods.

    (Speaking of all this, my final predictions are on the way.  I’m looking at end of business, PST, maybe around, oh, 4:00?)

  • Reitman: “Bigelow is going to win and she deserves to win.”

    Over at Roger Ebert’s little corner of the web, the Chicago Sun-Times critics has posted a great conversation with “Up in the Air” director Jason Reitman.  There’s a bit of everything, really, but most noteworthy is his praise of “The Hurt Locker” and “District 9.” He proves he’s a lot more humble than his detractors would like to think he is, I’d say.  Take a look:

    After the jump, he talks about where he sees his career going and again praises his fellow contenders.  But do head over to Ebert’s site for more (including his thoughts on why “The Catcher in the Rye” is probably not a filmable volume).

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  • Reaching the populace with ‘Crazy Heart’

    Jeff Bridges in Crazy HeartWith “Crazy Heart” expanding more throughout the country and expecting, no doubt, a bit of an exposure bump after Tuesday’s Oscar nominations announcement, Fox Searchlight is stepping up its game and doing a nice job of getting the music out there.

    I stumbled across TheWearyKind.com last week, a nifty bit of social networking that allows musicians (of any level of talent, believe me) to upload their cover of Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett’s theme from the film.  The first video on the grid is Bingham performing it at the Los Angeles press day, but the second one I hadn’t seen.  It’s Jeff Bridges performing it in front of Peter Travers (I think).  The rest are user entries.

    Meanwhile, RecordStoreDay.com is offering up a contest whose winner I’d be incredibly jealous of.  The prize: an Epiphone AJ-200S acoustic guitar autographed by Bridges, Burnett and Bingham (suddenly I’m aware of the alliteration on this project).

    We’ll see tomorrow if the film can manage surprise nominations for Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay and/or Best Picture, but for now, the road is pretty well paved for Bridges (who showed up at last night’s Grammys to introduce a performance tribute to Les Paul).

  • 2/1 Oscarweb Round-up

    Kathryn Bigelow• Pete Hammond reports from on the ground at Saturday night’s DGA awards. [Notes on a Season]

    • Dave McNary from the angle of each nominee’s speech detailing the need for maintaining believability in their films. [Variety]

    • On the heels of Kathryn Bigelow’s big win, Kira Cochrane wonders why there are so few female filmmakers. [The Guardian]

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  • ‘Transformers,’ ‘Lost’ lead Razzie nods

    Transformers: Revenge of the FallenI don’t really have much time for the Razzie Awards, since I think they’re a pretty lazy execution of a great idea. By all means single out the year’s artistic underachievers for censure, but why pick such easy targets as Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers?

    If I ran the Razzies, I’d use them to reprimand the really embarrassing projects that fell way short of expectations and/or potential. Pound for pound, is “All About Steve” really a worse film than “Amelia,” which escaped humiliation by virtue of its prestige? Call it schadenfreude if you will, but I’d take more pleasure in the Razzies if they aimed a little higher.

    Anyway, for those of you who enjoy them, this year’s noms are after the cut. The most obvious talking point is the Worst Actress mention for Sandra Bullock. No, Streepoholics, it doesn’t damage her Oscar chances.

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