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  • ‘District 9,’ ‘In the Loop’ also ineligible for WGA

    District 9With all the WGA casualties popping up this morning I thought I’d track down the eligibility concerns of a handful of other films in the mix and, lo and behold, some other high-caliber work doesn’t make the cut with the guild.

    Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell’s “District 9,” for starters, is not eligible.  It was not written under the guild’s guidelines and contracts and the writers are not WGA signatories.

    Some people may have thought this mass clearing might have made way for “In the Loop” to show up, but, alas, it is not eligible either.  Ditto (as you might have guessed) “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” along with Pixar’s “Up.” Animation companies do not sign agreements with the guild and are not signatories, even if sometimes the writers of animated films ARE signatories.

    I’m still poking around to see what else might be ineligible, but at this rate, I’ll be damned if I know what the list of nominees will look like now.  I guess we’ll suss that out in a few days when we preview the announcement.

  • Mariah Carey lit up in Palm Springs

    Harmless, but she’ll probably get derided here and there.  I laughed.  What’s more interesting is the fact that I don’t think I’ve ever seen an awards presenter stick around and add commentary to an award recipient’s acceptance speech.

    Anyway, have a look:

    And here’s the AP story declaring this news.

  • Zoe Saldana gets her first awards recognition of the year…

    …from the NAACP (for “Avatar,” that is).  And in supporting.  But I guess that’ll do.  Check out the full list of nominees at our Circuit page.

  • ‘An Education’ ineligible for WGA as well

    Well, just after posting about the Weinstein titles that aren’t eligible for the writers, indieWIRE’s Peter Knegt reports that Nick Hornby’s wonderful work on “An Education” is also ineligible:

    Hornby has been a member of WGA for 10 years, a representative for Hornby told indieWIRE today. But after production of “An Education” was completed, a new rule was instituted that Hornby also had to be a member of his local WGA Great Britain, which he was not.

    *coughbullshitcough*

    In any case, this should make for quite the, uh, unexpected list of nominees.

  • Visual effects bake-off leaves seven

    AvatarAnd they are, via AMPAS press release:

    “Avatar”
    “District 9”
    “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
    “Star Trek”
    “Terminator Salvation”
    “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”
    “2012”

    And the three I still expect to get in are in the mix, so, whew.  I think we all know what will eventually win here, but if there’s a surprise nomination waiting to happen, I’d say it’s “2012.”

    “On Thursday, January 21, all members of the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 15-minute excerpts from each of the seven shortlisted films,” the release reads.  “Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate three films for final Oscar consideration.”

    What are your visual effects predictions?

  • ‘Basterds,’ ‘Road,’ ‘Single Man’ ineligible for WGA

    (from left) Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee in The RoadIt seems Steve Pond was willing to track down the real reason The Weinstein Company hasn’t sent screeners of its Oscar season hopefuls to the WGA, reacting to a story initially run by Kyle Buchanan at Movieline: three of them aren’t even eligible, and one of them (which is all but dead this season) is better viewed on the big screen anyway.

    Writes Pond:

    The Weinstein Company didn’t send out “Inglourious Basterds” screeners because “Inglourious Basterds” isn’t eligible for the WGA Awards.

    Neither is “A Single Man.”

    And neither is “The Road.”

    “Nine,” written by WGA member Michael Tolkin and the late Anthony Minghella, a member of the WGA, East during his lifetime, is the only Weinstein film that’s eligible, according to a spokesperson for the guild. And “Nine” plays much better on a big screen, it’s still in theaters, and it doesn’t really have much chance for a writing nod anyway.

    So Harvey Weinstein didn’t send out screeners to the WGA not because he dropped the ball, but because he understands how the guilds work and didn’t feel like wasting money.

    The reasons? Keep reading…

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  • Speaking of Blomkamp…

    Neill Blomkamp…who just popped up in my DGA predictions, in case you’ve missed it, do yourself a favor and give Geoff Boucher’s three-part interview with the “District 9” director a look.  Boucher did a similarly all-encompassing series with Christopher Nolan last year, and this one is every bit as insightful.

    What we get is a profile of a fresh-faced filmmaker (just 30 years old) who, at least so far, hasn’t taken the Hollywood, sell-your-soul bait. He was only interested in returning the investment of “District 9” to investors in exchange for the room to be creative, rather than eyeball a big profit margin (though boy did the film turn a HELL of a profit). And he’s clearly savvy enough to understand the caveat of tent pole filmmaking and how to hang on to creative control of his projects with modest budgets.

    I’ve gone through and pulled some talking points from the interview, which you can breeze through after the jump. But definitely give the full series a read. Here is part one, part two and part three.

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  • DGA on the way

    J.J. Abrams on the set of Star TrekTomorrow the Directors Guild of America will chime in with its list of nominees for the 2009-2010 film awards season.  Long considered to be the best “predictor” of the Oscar game (as in, the DGA winner typically wins the Oscar for Best Director, and Best Director often matches up with Best Picture), this guild’s shenanigans makes for a heavily anticipated harbinger of the season.

    Then again, maybe not.  In the last few years, names like Christopher Nolan, Sean Penn, Julian Schnabel and Bill Condon have popped up on the list, almost as if the guild was concerned with predicting the Best Picture race as it had done, five-for-five, for four straight years prior.  Those picks reflected the buzz of the early-year hour in each case, but ultimately, the Academy went a different direction with its Best Picture slate.

    That said, “the 10” makes for an entirely different dynamic.  I actually expect (or maybe “hope” is the word) tomorrow’s announcement to inject some intrigue into the proceedings.  I think there will be someone shortlisted who catches a great many off guard.  But who will it be?

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  • ‘Hurt Locker,’ ‘Basterds’ dominate OFCS awards

    Check out the full list of winners at our Precursor Circuit page.

  • 1/6 Oscarweb Round-up

    Sam Mendes• Sam Mendes could clearly use a paycheck, signs up for the new Bond. [Heat Vision]

    • Navigating the season in “For Your Consideration” ads. [Vulture]

    • Rodrigo Perez points out some buried points in another outlet’s coverage, namely that Apparition is aiming for a Cannes bow for Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life.” [The Playlist]

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  • Guy’s top 50 of the decade: #11-20

    Dennis Haysbert and Julianne Moore in Far From HeavenOkay, so I wasn’t expecting “Wolf Creek” to be the most popular inclusion — though in putting it out there, I was glad to see the number of fellow cheerleaders I have for that one. Such sharing is the principal joy of doing such lists.

    I doubt that any titles in today’s group of ten are quite as contentious, though one received a far rougher ride from some major critics upon release than I think it deserved, and has rather disappeared from view in recent years. Keen-eyed readers will also notice my list’s first overlap with Kris’s best-of-decade collective — ironically, on a film that tends to divide opinion rather than unite it.

    Several of you have asked, in comments and via email, about the films that would fill out my Top 100. I thought 50 films more than enough for me to write up, but since some readers are treating the project as the kind of playlist I had hoped for, I could be persuaded to offer an alphabetical, titles-only list of the also-rans.

    The list continues after the cut.

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  • USC Scripter nominations announced

    Cover of Crazy Heart by Thomas CobbThe USC Libraries has announced its list of contenders for the Scripter prize, which honors adapted screenplays, their writers and the source materials and authors that spawned them.

    So, with that in mind, I’m not sure how the “District 9” nod is justified here in the slightest, given the stated intention of the award.* But that’s another feather in the film’s cap regardless.  It could be picking up a big head of steam here.  More on that when we preview the DGA nominations tomorrow.

    A big congrats to Scott Cooper for finally getting some love of his own this Oscar season. I had a hunch he might show up here. Maybe this can help turn the corner for a film too many are quick to chalk up as “performance only.”

    I guess we can probably expect Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner to walk away with the award, but as always, it’s a refreshingly out-of-step line-up from the USC Libraries. Fight on.

    Anyway, check out the nominees, via press release, after the jump.

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  • POLL: Does ‘Avatar’ deserve to win Best Picture?

    Judging from our last poll, most readers seem to think James Cameron’s “Avatar” will rack up the most Oscar nominations in just under a month’s time.  But does it deserve to win the big prize, as a great many prognosticators are currently expecting?  The debate is raging elsewhere, but let us know your cut-and-dry answer in the sidebar poll and feel free to explain your position in the comments section below.

  • ‘Fish Tank’ trailer

    I caught Andrea Arnold’s “Fish Tank” during last year’s AFI Fest and frankly, wasn’t overly impressed by it.  Katie Jarvis is a real find and, of course, Michael Fassbender is and has been going places.  I liked the world it evokes feels very authentic and on the whole, it’s nice to have diversity in the marketplace.  But I just hated the narrative trajectory of the piece and whatever confused ideas it thought it was putting forth.

    But, hey, you know what they say about opinions.  Guy (who didn’t base his list on U.S. release dates) thinks it is one of the year’s very best films.

    Anyway, the domestic trailer has landed via Apple.  Have a look below:

  • Bullock to present Betty White with SAG honor

    Betty White at the Los Angeles premiere of The ProposalOkay, who is Betty White’s publicist and has he or she slept at all this season?

    Seriously, first there were some scattered web ads pushing White’s performance in “The Proposal” for Best Supporting Actress, then there was this massive spread in the trades gunning for the same.  (That ad was lovingly chided by the cut-ups at Vulture this week.)

    It was announced back in September that White would receive the Screen Actors Guild’s lifetime achievement award, but now comes (perhaps totally anticipated) word that Sandra Bullock, “it” girl of the year, will be presenting White with said honor.

    By the way, in case you missed it when Chad brought it up Sunday, Bullock made history this weekend when “The Blind Side” became the first female-driven vehicle to cross the $200 million mark.

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  • Kevin Bacon to receive BFCA’s Joel Siegel Award

    Kevin BaconThe press release, in part:

    The Broadcast Film Critics Associa tion (BFCA) announced today that renowned actor and philanthropist Kevin Bacon will be presented with the third annual Joel Siegel Award by Meryl Streep at the 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards. The ceremony, hosted by Kristin Chenoweth, will air live on VH1 Friday, January 15, 2010 at 9:00 PM ET/PT

    Given annually, this special award pays homage to beloved “Good Morning America” film critic and BFCA member Joel Siegel, who lost his long struggle with cancer in June, 2007.

    Kevin Bacon is one of the foremost actors of his generation and has starred in over 50 films. His talent for balancing starring roles with powerful supporting characters on both film and stage has allowed him to build a varied and critically acclaimed body of work. Kevin has proven his talents in a wide range of film genres from action thrillers to romantic comedies to heavy dramas, and even the occasional musical. Kevin most recently starred in “Taking Chance” for which he received Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations.

  • Two know-it-alls debate ‘Avatar’

    For your viewing pleasure (and congrats to Poland on welcoming his first child into the world over the weekend):

    (Courtesy: G4)

  • 1/5 Oscarweb Round-up

    Pedro Almodovar• Pedro Almodovar tells Pete Hammond that he isn’t down with Spain’s process for deciding its annual Oscar contender.  Ya think? [Notes on a Season]

    • “The Hurt Locker” tops Stephen King’s otherwise singular (and bizarre) top 10 list. [Entertainment Weekly]

    • Steve Pond runs down eligibility numbers per category. [The Odds]

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