You know the drill. Cut loose with your queries and we’ll try to address as many as we can. PLEASE KEEP IT TO ONE QUESTION, and as always, steer clear of anything we’ve covered ad nauseam.
Category: Daily
-
Ballots are out
It’s all happening. Via AMPAS press release, in part:Final ballots for the 83rd Academy Awards® were mailed today (February 2) to the 5,755 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Completed ballots must be returned to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) by 5 p.m. Tuesday, February 22. Ballots received after the deadline will not be counted.
Listed on the ballots are nominees in 19 Awards categories. Separate ballots for five categories (Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, Foreign Language Film, Animated Short Film and Live Action Short Film) will be distributed after verification of mandatory member attendance at screenings.
Following the tabulation of the votes, the winners’ names will be placed in sealed envelopes to be opened on Oscar Night®, Sunday, February 27.
-
2/2 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: ‘Hurt Locker’ producers fire back, ‘Gasland’ smeared, Superstitious Harvey
• “The Hurt Locker” producers finally respond to last year’s law suit, and how. [Hollywood Reporter]• SMEAR ALERT: The oil and gas industry has the gall to send a letter to AMPAS urging them to steer clear of the Oscar-nominated documentary “Gasland.” [New York Times]
• Lisa Schwarzbaum shallowly attributes the dramatic success of two scenes in “The King’s Speech” to classical composers, rather than Tom Hooper’s directorial choice to use them in said scenes. [Entertainment Weekly]
-
Woody Allen’s latest to open Cannes
The ever-informed insider Cédric Succivalli broke the news this morning that May’s Cannes Film Festival will kick off with Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” — an ensemble romantic comedy starring, among others, Marion Cotillard, Carla Bruni, Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Adrien Brody, Kathy Bates, Michael Sheen and Léa Seydoux.It’s hardly a surprising choice. Cannes has been good to Allen over the years: recently, “Match Point,” “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” and last year’s “You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger” all premiered on the Croisette, while “Hollywood Ending” also served as the festival’s curtain-raiser in 2002.
Moreover, the strong French flavor of his new project all but assured it a Cannes berth, while all that star power — plus the possibility of a certain Mr. Carla Bruni tagging along — guarantees maximum media coverage on opening night.
-
‘Inception,’ ‘Dragon’ reign at VES awards
Four for “Inception,” three for “How to Train Your Dragon” (which beat out “Toy Story 3” every step of the way). “Hereafter,” meanwhile, took the supporting effects award.Key quote from Christopher Nolan, who received the inaugural Visionary Award:
I know visual effects people pride themselves on doing the impossible. I’d just like to encourage you to say “no” to the unreasonable.
(Courtesy: David Cohen)
Check out the full list of winners at The Circuit.
[Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures]
-
The In Contention Oscar pool
You might recall the last few years we’ve used AwardsPicks.com’s Oscar pool. The site has changed names and is now Picktainment.com, but it’s pretty much the same interface. We’ve already got this year’s pool up and running, so head on over and make your picks.
I haven’t settled on a way to weight the categories yet, so I’m open to suggestions.
-
Relatability
I was talking recently with an Academy member who shall remain nameless and “The King’s Speech” came up. This is what you’d definitely call a “steak eater” voter, if you will, part of a below-the-line branch, real rank and file type with zero connection to the film. I thought I’d share his feelings on the movie because I think they might offer some insight for those wondering how or why the film is resonating so much:I watched that movie and it made me understand why I love movies. I don’t know, humanity, I guess, man. Trusting in another human being and your most vulnerable f***ing thing that you’re the most terrified of and give it to somebody else? I mean, I come from recovery. I’ve been sober for 26 years. The idea to say, “Please help me,” is the transformation of a lifetime if you’re willing and can ever get to that place. For me that movie resonated in so many f***ing ways. I came away going, “Well, that’s my movie. F*** everything else.”
Sure, it’s a specific guy’s thought process. But there is nuance built into that heart/head, see/feel debate raging in this year’s race, and I think these comments do a nice job of illuminating some of that.
[Photo: The Weinstein Company]
-
‘Incendies’ trailer
While some pundits are assuming that Javier Bardem’s Best Actor nomination makes “Biutiful” the film to beat in the foreign-language category — despite the fact that recent Oscar history doesn’t favor the biggest name in the contest — my instincts tell me the real race is between Susanne Bier’s “In a Better World” and Denis Villeneuve’s “Incendies,” both of which Sony Pictures Classics will release in April. I haven’t caught up with either yet, though this new trailer for the latter is making me even more annoyed at myself for sleeping past an early-morning screening at Venice last year. Click on the image to watch the trailer at Apple, or check out the embed after the jump.
-
Someone’s campaigning for Banksy
Following its semi-surprise Oscar nomination last week, “Exit Through the Gift Shop” has received a nifty publicity boost from this prominent Banksy-honoring mural (pictured right, and in more detail after the jump) that went up recently in Los Angeles. Although some were quick to assume it’s the work of the man himself, all signs point instead to Mr. Brainwash — the Banksy-mentored street artist who emerges as the hapless protagonist of the documentary.The resulting is-it-or-isn’t-it discussion neatly echoes the conversation around the film as a whole — and since Banksy can hardly work the campaign circuit himself, at least someone’s doing on behalf of the film.
Meanwhile, the more I think about this particularly Oscar race, the more I think there’s something to Kris’s prediction that it’s the inevitably absent Banksy who will emerge victorious on February 27. This is, after all, a category on which voters are required to see all five nominees before checking off their ballots — a situation where the film’s eccentricity could work in its favor.
-
SANTA BARBARA: Rush toasted with Montecito Award, ‘King’s Speech’ cast receives ensemble honor
Last night saw Santa Barbara’s tribute to “The King’s Speech” star Geoffrey Rush. Looking suave with a cleanly shaved head (for his current role on stage in “Diary of a Mad Man”), Rush held court with trademark affable humor and tales of his comparatively brief Hollywood career thus far.I Tweeted this and that from the tribute, but more than anything I was reminded again how much I loved the criminally underrated “The Tailor of Panama.” Discussion naturally flowed from “Shine” to “The King’s Speech” and all points in between, an engrossing reminder of just how rich Rush’s work is no matter the role.
In a recent interview with The Race’s Tim Appelo (which is, consequently, a great place to start for those who continue to diminish the the directorial attributes of “The King’s Speech”), Tom Hooper had a wonderful take on directing the actor…
-
Doctage 2010
As we all know, 2010 was a great year for non-fiction filmmaking. To celebrate that, Joseph Demme put together a montage covering the year in docs. We thank him for sending this in:
-
2/1 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Wolverine, Iron Man to present, ‘Superman’ snub “reverse McCarthyism,” Franco’s class
• Greg Ellwood shrewdly notes potential motive to announcing Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) first as presenters at this year’s Academy Awards. [Awards Campaign]• Tom Hooper and Geoffrey Rush respond to the notion of cutting “The King’s Speech” to appease a PG-13 rating. [Inside Movies]
• “Master Class: Editing James Franco…with James Franco meets on Thursday afternoons weekly.” [Movieline]
-
Vanity Fair’s Hollywood Issue cover
Fluffy as it is, this is one of my favorite Oscar-season traditions. While they’ve played around with the formula in past years, this is a straight-up glamor spread, and all the better for it. I’m particularly pleased to see a smooth-looking Anthony Mackie in the mix with the bigger names. On another note, I wonder if the magazine’s editors assumed Robert Duvall was a shoo-in for an Oscar nod when they cast him as the lord of this ensemble.
You can check out an embiggened version at the VF site. Nathaniel Rogers, meanwhile, has more detailed musings on the matter.
-
Until Oscar do us part
A few days ago, a reader responded to a trivia note by Steve Pond, about the number of Best Actor nominees whose Christian names begin with the same letter, with the question, “Is this the point at which we are officially over-saturated with Oscar stats?”.Well, if we weren’t there then, we might be now.
Yesterday, the Huffington Post ran an interview with an academic who has invested far too much time looking into the so-called “Oscar Curse” — the unfortunate trend that has seen many a star headed for divorce court shortly after winning the Best Actress Oscar. Recent examples include Sandra Bullock, Kate Winslet, Reese Witherspoon, Hilary Swank and Halle Berry, but a University of Toronto research project (!) suggests the curse goes further back than that.
-
SANTA BARBARA: Women in the biz
I really should take the time to write up Saturday’s women’s panel here in Santa Barbara, not least of all because it seems to have been neglected in most outlets. It’s an undervalued annual program, always moderated with class by Madelyn Hammond and featuring some of the most formidable female talents working in the industry.This year’s group consisted of “Toy Story 3” producer Darla K. Anderson, “Alice in Wonderland” costume designer Colleen Atwood, Skywalker Sound Vice President and general manager Gloria Borders, “Waiting for Superman” producer Lesley Chilcott and “Winter’s Bone” producer Alex Madigan.
The immediate thing that sticks out is how so many of the panelists are producers, and Borders was quick to note as much. “You don’t see that many women that are visual effects supervisors or editors or sound mixers,” she said. “Women are really good producers. We’re really good at getting people to get along and walk in the same direction.”
-
The cinematography of ‘True Grit’
There has been a lingering possibility, I think, of Danny Cohen riding the frontrunner wave to a win for his working shooting “The King’s Speech” lately. It’s possible “Inception” is lurking as a spoiler, but I think the race will come down to those two films. And as much as I find myself in the “pro” camp regarding his lensing of that film, I would be lying if I didn’t say I’m ready to see Roger Deakins holding an Oscar, by God.I spoke with the “True Grit” cinematographer last month about his approach to the Coen brothers’ western, which differs strikingly from the visual identity of their other collaborations but nevertheless has that Deakins flavor. More on that in the upcoming Oscar Guide to the Best Cinematography category.
Paramount has released another featurette on the film’s below-the-line work, this time focused on Deakins’s contribution. It’s a brief but rather enlightening look at his approach. Take a look after the jump.
-
What will be this year’s Sundance story?
I must confess, this year’s Sundance Film Festival kind of passed me by. Admittedly, I’ve been distracted by a busy couple of weeks on the awards circuit, but the Sundance coverage I did follow suggested a high-quality if nonetheless rather quiet festival, one with fewer noisy breakout films than usual.In the last few years, it’s been worth keeping an eye (or an ear, rather) on the Sundance buzz, as the festival has birthed a number of future critical hits, and even awards-season success stories: recent Best Picture nominees “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Precious,” “An Education” and now “The Kids Are All Right” and “Winter’s Bone” all premiered there, as did “Frozen River,” “Blue Valentine” and a plethora of Oscar-nominated documentaries. (No fewer than four of this year’s Best Documentary Feature nominees are Sundance babies.)
So it’s easy to assume at least one film from this year’s Sundance crop is something we’ll still be talking about a year from now — but where the crossover potential for a film like “The Kids Are All Right,” or a performance like Jennifer Lawrence’s, was immediately evident, this year’s potential Sundance “stories” don’t seem quite as obvious.