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  • Predict the WGA and Scripter nominees

    Also speaking up tomorrow will be the WGA (Writers Guild of America).  The recently revealed list of ineligibilities makes picking this group’s choices much more fun, though it still kinda stinks because you know some of the best scripts of the year will be spectators.

    Last year the beneficiaries of the purge (which ultimately missed with Oscar) were “Crazy Heart,” “Julie & Julia” and “Star Trek” in adapted, “(500) Days of Summer,” “Avatar” and “The Hangover” in original.  From my vantage, there doesn’t appear to be as many options to choose from on the periphery of these races, but I’ll give it a stab.

    Click on through the jump to see my picks in the adapted and original categories, as well as discussion of the USC Scripter Awards.  (I’ll opt out of picking the documentary field from the WGA, which is likely to be a crap shoot, anyway.)

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  • OFF THE CARPET: Counting chickens

    The critics have had their say.  “The Social Network” has enjoyed an impressive kudos haul throughout the month of December.  Game over, call it, throw in the towel, all other comers need not apply, “there is only one.”

    That’s the instinct.  But I embrace caution over haste (and I’m not on the advocacy bandwagon), so sue me if I’m just not there yet.

    One of the more undercooked arguments I’ve read recently that places “The Social Network” in the Oscar frontrunner position is that you should call the race as it stands rather than forecast.  Obviously that goes completely against what it means to prognosticate, but it also ignores the fact that what’s afoot isn’t always represented by what’s in the news, at least at this early stage.

    Yes, the critics predictably went gaga over the film.  But the #2 coming out of that circuit is probably “Black Swan.” So do we then assume the race for Oscar is between those two films?  Of course not.  Because, however overstated the point may be (by necessity, though, given stubbornness), critics don’t vote for Oscars.

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  • CONTEST: Win the ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ score and coffee table book

    More to give away this week as we’ve got something for the animation fans.  Up for grabs: Tracey Miller-Zarneke and Cressida Cowell’s lovely coffee table book “The Art of ‘How to Train Your Dragon’” and a copy of John Powell’s beautiful beloved original score for the film.

    I think I’ll steal shamelessly from Sasha Stone again and give this away by way of a Haiku contest.  So cut loose with your best “Dragon”-inspired Haiku poem (submit up to three, if you like).  Winner gets the goods.

    Also, be sure you refresh your memory on what a Haiku poem actually IS before submitting to your entries.

    [Photo: DreamWorks Animation]

  • Seven years to the day

    Sony’s campaign for “The Social Network” sure is moving along swimmingly.  As if the critics’ groups didn’t give the film enough of a headwind going into the voting frame of phase one, the film is hitting DVD and Blu-ray January 11, a scant three months after theatrical release and right in the middle of the buzz maelstrom.

    Of course, it’s all by design, and a DVD release party being held at Spago in Beverly Hills Thursday night, press naturally invited en masse, will keep the good word spreading.  An Oscar run is all about timing, and so far, this one has it in spades.

    There’s something else that’s key to that date, though.  Film writer William Goss alerted me over the weekend to the fact that, on January 11, 2004, Mark Zuckerberg began this epic, defining journey when he bought the domain (“thefacebook.com”) that would become, after a slight tweak, the most-visited website on the internet.  Coincidence?

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  • Predict the PGA nominees

    Tomorrow the guild circuit launches with the WGA (separate post coming) and PGA nominations.  The critics’ circuit was well and good but this is where crossover memberships begin to give us a tangible view of how the race will fill out.

    Last year the PGA (Producers Guild of America) piggy-backed the Academy’s plan to expand the field of nominees from five to 10.  It also copied the new voting scheme, which uses the preferential balloting system to determine nominees.

    The two films that missed with the guild but made it into the Best Picture 10 were “The Blind Side” (odd that it missed, given its box office take) and the Coens’ “A Serious Man.” In their place: Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus” (why?) and the blockbuster “Star Trek.” What can we expect this year?  Continue after the jump to see what I’m thinking.

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  • Updates to The Circuit

    A few pre-guild honors trickling in. Kansas City goes for “The Social Network” and “Inception” in a big way, while the Dublin set offers a fresh perspective.  Also, Barbara Hershey finally got some more love, this tim from the Central Ohio critics, while the Online Film Critics Society has announced its list of winnerzzzz…

  • 1/3 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Fincher courts select press, Tarantino’s top 10, a dark Oscar season

    • Steve Weintraub sits down with David Fincher (who got really choosy about who he’d talk to last week — again) to discuss “The Social Network” DVD release and other projects. [Collider]

    • Glenn Whipp writes up the dark tales of torment that lurk on voters’ ballots this season. [Variety]

    • Watch a 1991 Alka Seltzer commercial directed by and starring Guillermo Del Toro. [/Film]

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  • NYT offers some pointers to the Academy

    The New York Times has an annual tradition of getting its three top critics — Manohla Dargis, A.O. Scott and Stephen Holden — to craft ideal Oscar ballots, and the results this year point to more scattered affections than the critics’ award trail would have you believe. Interestingly, only one title features on all three critics’ Best Picture lists, and it ain’t “The Social Network” — ironically, it’s Olivier Assayas’s “Carlos,” which, of course, isn’t eligible for Academy consideration.

    Elsewhere, their overlaps are on more expected (and Oscar-favored) candidates: all three agree on Jesse Eisenberg, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale and the Coens’ screenplay for “True Grit.” More interesting are their more idiosyncratic picks: I co-sign Holden’s Best Supporting Actress mention for Charlotte Rampling in “Life During Wartime,” and would never have predicted Scott’s screenplay citation for “Green Zone.”

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  • Pete Postlethwaite (1946-2011)

    Pete Postlethwaite had one of those faces — weathered, folded, kneaded, endlessly interesting — that demanded to be on camera, even as it denied him any possibility of leading man status.

    And yet, in the latter half of his career, Postlethwaite, who sadly passed away yesterday after a lengthy battle with cancer, made a convincing case for the character actor as star. Neither his visage nor his gratifyingly alliterative name threatened more than a career as “that guy,” but somehow we got to know him better than that.

    The turning point, of course, was a hard-earned and wholly unexpected 1993 Academy Award nomination for “In the Name of the Father” (speaking as we were, recently, of nods that came without any precursor warning), his granite-hard and quietly mournful performance as Maguire Seven convict Giuseppe Conlon joining a gallery of performances I cited last year as one of the finest Oscar fields in history.

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  • BOX OFFICE: ‘Grit’ closes in on those ‘Fockers’

    And it’ll blow past $100 million.  Already noted, but hooray for the genre.  Also, the “Black Swan” haul cannot be understated.

    (Courtesy: Exhibitor Relations)

  • CINEJABBER: Should auld acquaintance be forgot?

    Catch up with the idea behind these weekend posts here.

    Welcome to 2011.

    I’m back in Los Angeles (missed the crazy weather on this side of the country) and happy to be home after a two-week vacation that really turned out to be anything but.  Such is life.  And the season is waiting to take hold once more with guild announcements starting Tuesday, so I better put my game face back on.

    There isn’t much to offer in this space today, though if you’re interested, I took a number of Jack and Cokes straight to the face on my flight last night, celebrated the new year three times (time zone changes) and took to Twitter to live-Tweet “Inception” for a solid two and a half hours.  Twas fun.

    I revisited the “Alien” franchise during the holiday, taking in the glorious Blu-ray box set.  That’s a must own, I have to say.  And there’s this “Aliens vs. Predator” video game on PS3.  If you haven’t played it, give it a whirl.  There’s something badass and ninja about creeping around as an alien taking out marines.  You can play as the Predator, too.  Awesome.

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  • 5…4…3…2…1…

    In a short time we’ll be saying goodbye to 2010.  Some areas of the world have already done so.  It’s a year that still doesn’t make a lot of sense in my head (both personally and professionally), and I’m sure I’ll settle on what it’s meant to me some day.  But I will say I’m happy to move forward.

    Personally, at the end of December, I nearly lost my third grandparent in as many years, but she’s in the hospital fighting off the dying light as I type.  I also wrapped up the first year of what will be a very long engagement for my fiancee and me.  It’s been a journey of learning and love so far.

    Professionally, In Contention is more successful than ever, and I know full well who I owe for that: you, the readers, and my scrappy team of contributors.  After kicking the tires last year on what will hopefully come next, I made healthy strides toward those ends in 2010 and hope to inch closer to the dream in 2011.  But for now, this is my place and I’m happy to see us forging ahead, strong as ever.

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  • OSCAR TALK: Ep. 46 — The “frontrunner,” guilds on the way, latter-year releases, Portman preggers and a Happy New Year!

    Oscar TalkWelcome 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.

    After a much-needed holiday week off, we’re back on the case to wrap things up on the final day of the year. There is plenty to chew on, though we kind of meander a bit, shaking off the holiday dust. Let’s see what’s on the docket today…

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  • 12/31 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: ‘Way Back’ last on the scene, 70 votes gets you in, Sparling breaks the rules

    • Peter Weir’s “The Way Back” intentionally hits voters’ doorsteps last, just s ballots are arriving.  Shrewd, given the P&A budget.  Will it pay off? [Deadline]

    • Steve Pond does the Oscar math and discovers that fewer than 70 votes will secure you a nomination everywhere except the four acting categories and Best Picture. [The Odds]

    • Dave Karger reports on Chris Sparling’s gross self-promotion to the Academy in the form of the “Buried” screenwriter’s best Nicolas Chartier impression. [Inside Movies]

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  • Another word on ‘Another Year’

    I’m linking to this Top 20 Films of 2010 list on In Review Online for several reasons. Because I really like the site. Because I really like the list. Because I’m one of the writers they polled to create the list. Because their number one is perfect. And because they were kind enough to invite me to write up Mike Leigh’s “Another Year” (their #19) for the feature. I already had my say on the film way back at Cannes, but since US audience are only now seeing the film for themselves, it seemed a good time to add a few words:

    Stately and considered where its predecessor felt spiky and garrulous, “Another Year” was labelled by many a critic upon its Cannes debut as Mike Leigh’s antidote of sorts to his 2008 character study “Happy-Go-Lucky.” That’s a misjudgment made purely on the basis of tone, given that the two films, perhaps more than any other pair in the Leigh oeuvre, are clear sister works—both comedies of manners examining the effort that goes into the construction of happiness, divided only by which side of the Thames their particular gaggle of chirpy middle-class Londoners reside.

    More, plus the rest of the list, here.

    [Photo: Sony Pictures Classics]

  • THE LONG SHOT: A new year wishlist

    [Guy’s updated predictions here.]

    Okay, I won’t lie to you: I initially conceived this column in my head last week as a Christmas Eve wishlist, but then got too busy mulling wine and Christmas shopping in Dublin snowdrifts to actually write it.

    So a New Year’s Eve wishlist it is, then. Under either name, with the season currently in stasis until January’s Guild awards usher in the next phase of competition, here’s a list of ten open requests (or distant hopes) for Academy members currently hemming and hawing over their ballots.

    Go forth into the world: Okay, I’ve given up my fight for a foreign-language Best Picture contender for yet another year. And despite a banner year for the form, a documentary nominee ain’t happening either. But is it too much to ask the Academy to recognize that not all notable filmmaking happens within U.S. borders? We’re looking at the sad likelihood of 90% of the Best Picture race being given over to American productions, with the lone exception, “The King’s Speech,” about as authentically British as a “Mind the Gap” T-shirt. Wouldn’t “Another Year” or “Animal Kingdom” be slightly more interesting stamps in Oscar’s passport?

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  • Montage 2010: The Year in Cinema Montages

    This ought to provide closure to the onslaught of 2010 film montages.  Courtesy of Badass Digest:

  • The Coens’ ‘True Grit’ a “truly religious movie”

    I gave the Coens’ “True Grit” another look last night with the family.  Hailee Steinfeld’s commanding presence alongside a scenery-chewing Jeff Bridges was as striking as ever.  I’d be lying if I didn’t say my biggest Oscar wish this year is that the Academy’s acting branch sees the performance for what it is: a leading lady showcase.  But we’ll just have to see.

    As for the film, it’s as rich as ever and takes on more textures each time I give it another look.  I can easily see it ultimately being more of a fixture in my DVD player than most other 2010 entries, but it’s really the reverence for Charles Portis that continues to be so rewarding.  There is no question in my mind that the Coens found the thematic pulse of the material more absolutely than Henry Hathaway’s original hokey take.

    Writing in The New York Times, literary theorist and legal scholar Stanley Fish seems to be in total agreement.  And of all the items I’ve come across in response to the film these last few weeks, I’d have to say, for me, it has the most complete understanding of what’s lurking between the lines.

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