In Contention

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  • Animated feature looking like five all over again

    The Missing Lynx: Paws on the RunTwo weeks ago we told you about the animated feature film category’s state of flux and how a little film no one has heard of called “The Missing Lynx: Paws on the Run” could be its saving grace.

    With “Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone” and “A Town Called Panic” currently off the qualification list, and Disney trying hard to pad the field of eligible titles by submitting Robert Zemeckis’s “A Christmas Carol” (when Zemeckis has gone on the record as saying such a thing is a “disservice to the great animators”) and even squeezing in the formerly-straight-to-DVD “Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure,” the magic number of 16 has been too close to call.

    Well, today at 5:00pm is the official deadline for submissions, and prints of qualifying titles are due by November 13.  It’s now or never, and things will start to take shape soon.  But getting back to “The Missing Lynx,” Steve Pond is reporting that the film was officially submitted and gets some great quotes form director Raul Garcia about the situation.

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  • OFF THE CARPET: Looking at the leading gentlemen

    Colin Firth in A Single ManWe’ve taken concentrated looks at the lead actress and supporting actress categories in recent weeks.  Now let’s turn our attention over to the fellas.

    Behind the Best Picture race, of course, the lead actor competition is perhaps the most hotly anticipated award of a given Oscar telecast.  Movie stars are born, Hollywood staples are rewarded and careers leap to the next level.  It makes for an intriguing annual state of the union as it pertains the the film industry’s talent roster.

    This year, one of Hollywood’s brightest stars finds himself right at the front of the conversation.  George Clooney is likely to end up with his third acting Oscar nomination, for Jason Reitman’s “Up in the Air,” and he’ll owe much of that to Reitman’s powerful work on the page.

    Clooney doesn’t give his best performance to date in the film.  But the material is so cleverly built around his persona that one can’t blame the actor for saddling up to a role that fits like a glove.  And there is something to be said for the bravery of taking one’s image on like that.

    Colin Firth, meanwhile, has caused a critical stir with his leading performance in Tom Ford’s “A Single Man.” He has already won the Venice Film Festival’s acting honor and has been tapped for another at February’s Santa Barbara Film Festival.  He is pitch-perfect in the film, giving a refined performance of nuance and gesture.

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  • Enter AFI

    AFI FestI haven’t had a chance to preview/write-up AFI Fest due to some a dizzying weekend and family obligations, but I should probably do that with the festivities entering a fourth day.

    “Fantastic Mr. Fox” kicked things off last week and with the festival moving from the Arclight on Sunset to the historic Chinese Theatre on Hollywood, there is, I’d wager, a glitzier vibe to things this time around.  The galas are coming fast and furious, the most recent being a big spread for “Precious” last night.

    Speaking of which, at an after party for the film at the Chateau Marmont, Oprah Winfrey was on hand to introduce singer Mary J. Blige, who performed original song contender “I Can See in Color” to a standing-room-only crowd.  It was the first time the tune had been performed publicly.

    Tonight I’ll finally cross paths with “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,” one of a slew of films I hope to catch up on at the fest. The only big reveal for me will be “Everybody’s Fine,” which screens tomorrow night and could instantly put Robert De Niro in the thick of the Oscar hunt (more on that in today’s Off the Carpet column).

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  • Matt Damon: A-list character actor

    Matt DamonOver the weekend you heard Anne and I discuss Matt Damon’s Oscar prospects this year for his two films, Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus” (where he’ll be looking to land a supporting actor nomination) and Steven Soderbergh’s “The Informant!” (lead).  Anne isn’t in the minority when she says the latter has faded somewhat from the canvas and that Damon is looking less likely for a notice there, but I remain fairly certain that he’ll be remembered for what is, many will agree, his finest work to date.

    Of the year’s potential double-dippers, Damon has perhaps remained the most likely to see two nominations, and he’ll be right back on the scene a week after the Oscarcast when Paul Greengrass’s “Green Zone” hits theaters nationwide.  The guy is busy, as always, and what makes him special is he is incredibly consistent.

    So it’s not that surprising that the Grey Lady would dedicate a lengthy piece to the actor and his place in modern Hollywood, having forged a career as what the editors and/or writer Dennis Lim are cleverly dubbing an “A-list character actor.”

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  • Helen Mirren talks ‘The Last Station’

    Helen MirrenAfter I saw Michael Hoffman’s “The Last Station” at Telluride, it became quickly apparent that, should the film get a domestic release, actress Helen Mirren would find herself in the thick of the Oscar hunt for Best Actress.  She gives, to my mind, the performance of the film.  And now that Sony Classics has picked it up and begun to build a campaign, well…nothing is “truth” until everyone agrees, I guess.

    Mirren will be representing the established guard in the face of formidable competition from younger, upstart performers such as Gabourey Sidibe and Carey Mulligan.  It should make the race quite interesting, because as much as the media probably wants to frame it as Meryl vs. Carey all the way, there are lots of variables.  And plenty of potential line-ups (especially with contenders like Marion Cotillard on the way and others like Brenda Blethyn and Sandra Bullock jumping into the race as we speak).

    Anyway, in the pages of London’s Daily Telegraph newspaper, Mirren has gone on the record with writer John Hiscock about the role of Sofya Tolstoy, Countess wife to world-renowned author Leo Tolstoy.

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  • 11/2 Oscarweb Round-up

    Gabourey Sidibe• Brian Brooks sits down with “Precious” star Gabourey Sidibe. [indieWIRE]

    • Mark Harris on Penelope Cruz and Pedro Almodovar: cinematic soul mates. [New York Times]

    • Mark Salisbury writes up “The Young Victoria” from across the pond with quotes from actress Emily Blunt and screenwriter Julian Fellowes. [Los Angeles Times]

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  • Damn right

    Sasha Stone at Awards Daily has posted one of the first FYC ads of the year: A Best Picture stab for the Coens’ “A Serious Man”:

    A Serious Man

  • Can you hear me now?

    I’m hearing there may be some issues reading the home page of the site.  It’s showing up fine on my end in Safari and Firefox.  Could be an issue with the new ads.  Let me know.

  • Gabourey Sidibe on Ellen

    Thanks to reader KBJr. for alerting me to this interview, which does a great job of drawing a line between the character and the person:

  • SUNDAY CENTS: That was it?

    Michael Jackson's This Is It*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars

    Michael Jackson’s concert footage was finally released upon the public amid a whirlwind of hype that caused many, including myself, to get a little carried away. The documentary grossed $21.3 million from the three-day weekend, second only to “Fahrenheit 9/11” for docs, and $32.5 million since opening on Wednesday.

    Compared to what Sony must have thought it MIGHT get, this is a disappointing result, but compared to what was spent and what type of product this actually is, it’s still phenomenal. If it wasn’t for the fluke juggernaut that was “Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert,” this would be the biggest result ever for a concert film. As it stands, people like me have egg on their face, but Sony will still be raking in a tidy profit when it’s all said and done as the film grossed a cool $101 million in its first five days worldwide.

    “Paranormal Activity” continued to expand but saw it’s weekend gross decline for the first time with $16.5 million and second place. Halloween landing on a Saturday is usually box office poison, but the supernatural flick bucked the trend somewhat and now has almost $85 mil in the bank. Believe it or not, if it can keep chugging along, it will become the first straight horror movie to top $100 million since “The Grudge” in 2004 and the first R-rated horror to do it since “Red Dragon” in 2002.

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  • OSCAR TALK: Ep. 8 — ‘This Is It,’ music branch, ‘Invictus’ and ‘Avatar’ trailers, the Best Actor race and more

    Oscar TalkWe have a belated edition of Oscar Talk for you today.  We apologize for the lateness, but what better way to kick back on a Sunday afternoon than with yours truly and Anne Thompson of indieWIRE’s Thompson on Hollywood?

    In this eighth installment, we actually covered a lot of ground. This week’s topics:

    • With “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” hitting theaters this weekend, we lead off talking brief about the film (which Anne hasn’t seen).

    • With music on the mind, this leads to another quick discussion about the Academy’s music branch, which caused poor Sad brad Smith to preemptively refrain from submitting his moving track “Help Yourself” from “Up in the Air” for consideration this year.

    • Rumors of Neil Patrick Harris hosting the Oscarcast after doing bang-up jobs at the Tonys and Emmys are circulating, and in the wake of Ricky Gervais being tapped to emcee the Golden Globes this year, we spin our wheels on that topic one more time.

    • “Precious” is opening next week, so with that (and Anne’s recent piece concerning Mo’Nique’s behind-the-scenes drama issues) in mind, we talk about whether the film, or the actress herself, has to win a popularity contest this season to gain the Academy’s attention and respect.

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  • Obligatory horror TV/movie embed post

  • Did I miss this?

    A Baz Luhrmann travel commercial for Australia called “Come Walkabout” starring Brandon Walters.  The spots aired last year but I never saw one until I did on a plane this afternoon.  My first reaction (when I realized it was  a commercial), was that it was a shame to see the single best part of Luhrmann’s indigestible film “Australia” relegated to this.  But I guess with Luhrmann behind things, that makes it kind of okay.

    Anyway, this is SO 2008, but here:

  • Happy Halloween from 38,000 feet

    Happy Halloween

  • New ‘The Road’ trailer

    A vast improvement on the tonally misjudged first effort, though it gives in to bombast halfway through. I wonder if it’ll be enough to sell this prickly package — it’s always hard to judge trailers when you’ve already seen the film at hand, particularly if said film didn’t really work for you anyway. Is this getting you in line?

  • ‘Help Yourself’ from ‘Up in the Air’ becomes the latest music branch rule book casualty

    Sad Brad SmithThe music branch of the Academy sure hasn’t done the hard-working awards team at Paramount any favors lately. You might recall the 2007 fiasco surrounding Johnny Greenwood’s score for “There Will Be Blood,” which left his immaculate (some would say year’s-best) work ineligible due to arbitrary, overly subjective fine print concerning the dilution of the original music by pre-existing material.

    Well, lightning strikes twice, as musician Sad Brad Smith has opted out of submitting his soulful, thematically potent track “Help Yourself” from Jason Reitman’s “Up in the Air.” We featured the song here earlier in the week.

    The reason, I’m told, is that, though unpublished, a portion of the song existed previously in Smith’s repertoire. As such, the track would not qualify due to the fact that it wasn’t rendered, in full, specifically and originally for the film, as the music branch’s rules stipulate.

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  • Academy members weigh in on The Ten

    Jane Campion at the 1993 Academy AwardsIn the four months since the Academy announced its controversial switch from five to 10 Best Picture nominees, you’ve heard a lot of griping (and occasional enthusing) from assorted critics, industry-watchers and schmoes like me.

    What we haven’t heard is too much perspective on the issues from the voters themselves. So USA Today’s Susan Wloszczyna has done some digging, only to find that several prominent Academy members are as unhappy with the idea of The Ten as many pundits are.

    Two-time nominee Willem Dafoe complains that the change “lowers the bar” and “dilutes the exclusivity” of the award, claiming that some years might not have enough deserving contenders to make up a satisfactory list of nominees. Michael Sheen concurs, saying simply, “The more films you have, the less special it becomes.”

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  • What scares Martin Scorsese … and me

    Deborah Kerr in The InnocentsTomorrow, of course, is Hallowe’en — an institution more treasured in the US than it is on my side of the ocean, where it’s principally another excuse to get drunk. (But hey, this year I’ll be getting drunk while wearing a silly hat. Progress!)

    One aspect of the holiday that travels well, at least, is the celebration of horror cinema: Pinewood Studios, for example, is hosting a drive-in double-feature of “The Omen” and “The Shining” on the world’s largest cinema screen.

    Meanwhile, horror DVD marathons will take place in living rooms around the world, so Martin Scorsese (whose own upcoming film looks to have its share of jolts) has helpfully provided his own playlist of the 11 scariest horror films of all time for The Daily Beast:

    1. “The Haunting” (Robert Wise, 1963)
    2. “Isle of the Dead” (Val Lewton, 1945)
    3. “The Uninvited” (1944)
    4. “The Entity” (Sidney J. Furie, 1981)
    5. “Dead of Night” (Alberto Cavalcanti, 1945)
    6. “The Changeling” (Peter Medak, 1980)
    7. “The Shining” (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
    8. “The Exorcist” (William Friedkin, 1973)
    9. “Night of the Demon” (Jacques Tourneur, 1957)
    10. “The Innocents” (Jack Clayton, 1961)
    11. “Psycho” (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)

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