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  • Videos du jour

    A number of videos have been making the rounds this week, so I figured I’d consolidate.  Starting with Facebooking Aaron Sorkin’s sharp dialogue:

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  • 11/24 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Kunis on her ‘Machinist’ impression, Hammer talks twinning, bad boy celebrity

    (Ended up unexpectedly taking the day off yesterday.  Not that I’m complaining.)

    • Anne Thompson talks to “Secretariat” star Diane Lane. [Thompson on Hollywood]

    • Mila Kunis on dropping to a bony 95 pounds for “Black Swan.” [E! Online]

    • Dave Karger, meanwhile, wonders if the actress can score an Oscar nod alongside co-star Natalie Portman. [Inside Movies]

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  • ‘Brighton Rock’ trailer

    I’m not sure who at The Guardian called Rowan Joffe’s new adaptation of “Brighton Rock” a “masterpiece,” as this new trailer boasts they did — I like to think they were talking about Graham Greene’s still blood-fresh source novel instead. From where I’m standing, Joffe’s directorial debut, which I reviewed out of the London Film Festival last month, stands as one of the year’s most bewildering disappointments: from its fundamental misread of the text to its tonally scattered ensemble to its egregiously aggressive score. Still, it apparently found enough fans to scoop four BIFA nominations, so there’s no accounting for taste. I’d almost lay money on a 2011 Oscar nod for Best Art Direction, too — that is, if a US distributor ever steps forward. It hits UK screens in February, just in time for BAFTA eligibility.

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  • LIFE WITHOUT OSCAR: 1993 and 1994

    Catch up with the idea behind this series here.

    1993 was the year I first became interested in making movies and tracking box office. There are two words responsible for both and they rhyme with Yourassic Lark. The director of that beast would also helm our Best Picture winner that year, finally earning the Academy’s respect. I’m talking about Steven Spielberg and “Schindler’s List” of course, but if you ask me, “Jurassic Park” is the better film.

    Tom Hanks won Best Actor in both 1993 and 1994, becoming the first person since Spencer Tracy to take the prize two years in a row. I’d begrudge him the honor, but he’s just so darn likable. Honestly though, Denzel Washington should have gotten some love for “Philadelphia” too. This win marks the only time an acceptance speech was adapted into a movie (“In & Out”).

    1993 is also personally notable as the first time I had seen one of the Best Picture nominees by the time of the ceremony (“The Fugitive”).

    1994 was easily won by “Forrest Gump,” despite the presence of what IMDb users consider the greatest movie of all-time being in the mix. Really, IMDb users? “The Shawhsank Redemption?” It was also David Letterman’s one and only shot at hosting, which has been much-maligned but remains one of my favorite turns at the gig. Infinitely better than Whoopi Goldberg in 1993.

    Uma. Oprah.

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  • AMPAS pays tribute to Jeremy Thomas

    It’s not as formal an honor as one of the Governors’ Awards they dished out last week, but nonetheless, Thursday will find the Academy still in a laudatory mood as they cross the Atlantic to celebrate the career of boundary-busting British producer Jeremy Thomas. AMPAS is holding a Thomas tribute evening in London, with Keira Knightley, Stephen Frears and Cannes festival director Thierry Fremaux among those taking part.

    It’s heartening to see the Academy acknowledge a globally-minded career that has largely been dedicated to shepherding milestone films most of their voters wouldn’t touch with a bargepole: Nicolas Roeg’s “Bad Timing,” David Cronenberg’s “Crash” and “Naked Lunch,” Nagisa Ôshima’s “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence,” Jonathan Glazer’s “Sexy Beast” and so on.

    He’s still busy, to: two of his productions, “Essential Killing” and the superb “13 Assassins,” were in competition at Venice in September, while 2011 will see him renew his partnership with Cronenberg for the eagerly awaited (by me, at least) “A Dangerous Method.”

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  • OFF THE CARPET: Giving thanks

    As we move into turkey (or tofurkey, if that happens to be your speed) week 2010, it seems proper, if a tad bit obvious, to take a moment and give thanks. So in lieu of a proper analysis of the season’s progression this week, allow me to express my boundless, breathless appreciation for the following:

    The filmmakers.

    I’m thankful for Mike Leigh’s consistently maturing perspective on life and how he manages to gift that to film audiences each and every time out, for Peter Weir’s tenacity in the face of an unfortunate shift in cinema investment and for Darren Aronofsky’s well-rewarded (in the form of a two-year studio deal) efforts pushing the envelope.

    I’m thankful for Danny Boyle’s energetic perspective on the cinema and his obsession with filling his frame with that passion, as well as for Christopher Nolan’s determination to take studio goodwill and prove that there is an audience and payoff for pricey originality.

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  • Extended ‘Avatar’ is the home video event of the year

    The most exciting Blu-ray/DVD release of the year (perhaps more so than the Criterion release of Terrence Malick’s “The Thin Red Line”) might be the three-disc Extended Collector’s Edition of James Cameron’s “Avatar.”

    I watched the nearly three-hour film this weekend and found it, without a doubt, a better, more fully realized experience than the film we saw in theaters a year ago.  Some of the material was already included in a “special edition” theatrical re-release in August.  Those elements mostly include bits and pieces here and there that certainly fill the film out a bit.

    However, in the early moments of the extended edition (which has been on shelves since Tuesday), we’re met with a sequence set on a ruined earth that provides a visual effects feast different than the rest of the film.  I loved this stuff mostly for the character-building moments provided for Sam Worthington’s Jake Sully.

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  • Listen to Avril Lavigne’s ‘Alice’ from ‘Alice in Wonderland’

    It’s slim pickings in the original song category this year. I didn’t even get around to featuring anything last week and diving back in today, I see there’s just not much to choose from.

    So I’ll go with Avril Lavigne’s “Alice” from Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland.” It’s on the furthest outskirts of contenders for a variety of reasons, not least of them being that it’s simply a credits cue and isn’t used in the film, so that won’t really light the branch’s fire in the screening stage of the process.

    Apparently Lavigne approached Disney to contribute to the film. Personally, it drives me (and my ears) nuts. But it’s one of the qualifying tracks in the hunt so it deserves its moment along with the rest.  Have a listen to “Alice” after the jump, and as always, keep up with the Best Original Song category via our dedicated page here.

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  • Bears repeating

    Some at the reception were disturbed to see The Wrap’s Sharon Waxman, in her trademark blunt style, grilling folks, notebook in hand, about Chasen’s murder. Finally, this cross-section of the film community not only mourned the loss of a friend but of a way of working, a civilized discourse, and the arrival of a more tabloid sensibility in Hollywood coverage, especially of Chasen’s violent death.

    From Anne Thompson’s report of Ronni Chasen’s funeral yesterday.

  • 11/22 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Coen talks ‘Somewhere’ with Coppola, ‘Country Strong’ a drama, no love for Herzog

    • Joel Coen shows up at an east coast screening of “Somewhere” to conduct a Q&A with Sofia Coppola. [Inside Movies]

    • Tom O’Neill reports that the HFPA has classified “Country Strong” as a drama. [Gold Derby]

    • Our own Guy Lodge reacts to the recently released (and apparently unauthorized) “Winnie” trailer. [The Guardian]

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  • Kidman to receive Santa Barbara’s Cinema Vanguard Award

    The press release, in part:

    The Santa Barbara International Film Festival will honor Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman with the Cinema Vanguard Award at the 26th edition of the Fest, which runs January 27 -February 6, 2011, it was announced today by SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling. The Tribute will take place on Saturday, February 5, 2011 at the historic Arlington Theatre.

    The Cinema Vanguard Award was created in recognition of an actor who has forged his/her own path – taking artistic risks and making a significant and unique contribution to film. The award has previously been awarded to Christoph Waltz, Vera Farmiga, Stanley Tucci, Peter Sarsgaard, Kristin Scott Thomas and Ryan Gosling.

    “Honoring Nicole Kidman is so exciting for us here at SBIFF,” comments Roger Durling. “Her work is immensely diverse and with this year’s heart-wrenching and brilliant performance in ‘Rabbit Hole’ – a project she helped develop as well – it is exactly who we should be celebrating with the 2011 Cinema Vanguard Award.”

    [Photo: Lionsgate]

  • BOX OFFICE: ‘Potter,’ ‘Potter,’ ‘Potter’

    The opening weekend for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1” was good enough for sixth-best all time (I don’t use the adjusted stats Chad did) and the best debut for the franchise yet.  But there wasn’t exactly competition with “Megamind” having already been in theaters for two weeks.

    (Courtesy: Exhibitor Relations)

  • CINEJABBER: Way out in the water, see it swimming

    Catch up with the idea behind these weekend posts here.

    The photo to the right represents the early haul on screeners this year.  Usually this time of year I find myself delighting in second and sometimes third viewings of this or that, but oddly enough, I still have some catch-up to do.

    I’m glad the documentary field has been narrowed down, so I can focus on a smaller group, but there are even a number of films from earlier in the year that I haven’t bothered to put in the player yet.  What is it?  Laziness?  Lack of interest?  Too busy?  I don’t know.  My mind is gone.

    It’s a weirdly sluggish year on the whole as advertising has held off until late November/early December for the most part.  This time last year we still had three films to see.  With “TRON Legacy” going before junket press in the last few days, we’re left with just one film to bow: “True Grit.” So Jeff Bridges gets to crash the Oscar party two years in a row.

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  • WEEKLY WRAP: Weinstein takes the gloves off, Hollywood mourns its own, doc and animated fields shortlisted

    • The Academy honored legends Francis Ford Coppola, Eli Wallach, Jean-Luc Godard and Kevin Brownlow at the annual Governors Awards.

    • Kris attended a Summit Entertainment holiday party, chatting with the talent in attendance.

    • Disney revealed a clever plan geared toward presenting “Toy Story 3” as a legitimate Best Picture contender.

    • The Weinstein Company lawyered up on the MPAA rulings on “Blue Valentine” and “The King’s Speech”

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  • Springsteen and Joel open up to Fallon and Stern

    By the way, I wanted to mention, in case there are any music lovers who missed them, this week was a strong week in music interviews solely on the basis of Jimmy Fallon’s one-hour sit-down with Bruce Springsteen and Howard Stern’s even longer chat with Billy Joel (the shock-jock’s long-time friend but first-time guest).  Both interviews, oddly enough, happened on Tuesday.

    Joel’s appearance was perhaps the best interview Stern has ever given, while Springsteen’s made for a unique lengthy session (and The Boss’s only TV appearance to promote the epic re-release of “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” which is accompanied by Thom Zimny’s fantastic documentary “The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town.”)  Stern also had Jay-Z on the show this week, which was another great one-on-one.

    Seek these out if you get a chance.  Great material.  I’m going ahead and posting an embed of Springsteen’s spot after the jump.

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  • INTERVIEW: ‘Blue Valentine’ actress Michelle Williams

    I chatted with “Blue Valentine” star Michelle Williams a few weeks ago and it’s one of a handful of discussions I haven’t yet had a chance to transcribe. But in her case, I think it’s more beneficial to let her answers speak for themselves rather than have them filtered through the perspective and narrative drive of a journalist.

    Williams is a delightful interview subject because she seems to painstakingly search for the honest and fresh answer. She doesn’t naturally lean back on sound bytes and the usual banter even if it does prove impossible not to tread similar water from one interview to the next.

    In the film, she gives a dynamic performance that could well push her into the final five of a lead actress category uncharacteristically competitive this season. Her chemistry with co-star Ryan Gosling, largely a topic of our discussion, is impeccable. Have a listen to our brief chat after the jump.

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  • OSCAR TALK: Ep. 41 — Governors Awards, animated and doc feature shortlists, circuit festivities and remembering Ronni Chasen

    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.

    There have been toasts in honor of talent and in the way of remembrance during this busy, and heartbreaking, week on the Oscar circuit. So as always, there’s plenty to cover. Let’s dive in and see what’s on the docket today…

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  • Tell us what you thought of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1’

    I have no comment or opinion to offer here. I probably should watch the other films once again before diving into the new chapter because they’ve blurred together, frankly, at this point. But “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I” hits theaters this weekend and I’m sure many of you will see it, so come on back here and give us your thoughts when you do.