In Contention

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  • First look at Jennifer Hudson in ‘Winnie’

    Thanks to reader Nicolas Mancuso for tipping me off to this extended promo trailer for “Winnie,” Darrell James Roodt’s Winnie Mandela biopic with Jennifer Hudson in her first dramatic headlining role. I was sceptical of this project when it was announced a year ago, and I’m afraid the trailer has only exacerbated my fears. A big-name screen treatment was always likely to smooth over some of the uglier wrinkles in Ms. Mandela’s personal and political life, but this looks to be a shameless whitewash job: seeing this troubled, charismatic criminal (and arguable murderess) given the fawning violin treatment, complete with laudatory intertitles like “Her Courage” and “Her Strength,” leaves a very sour taste indeed. (More, and the embedded trailer, after the cut.)

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  • LIFE WITHOUT OSCAR: 1991 and 1992

    Catch up with the idea behind this series here.

    1991 was a banner year for the Academy bucking trends. Of course, “Silence of the Lambs” was the big winner, a first for the horror genre and the first time the winning film was available to own on home video before nominations came out. That it was only the third film to win the “big five” was even more impressive.

    Arguably more daring was the Best Picture nomination bestowed upon “Beauty and the Beast,” which remains the only animated film to get the call in a field of five. Also noteworthy is the Best Picture nomination for “The Prince of Tides” and Best Director omission for Barbra Streisand. Many cried sexism since it was the third straight time a female-directed Best Picture nominee failed to also receive a nomination for Best Director.

    Instead, we got John Singleton, our first African American Best Director nominee and our youngest, at age 24! How exciting must it have been to be following the Oscars this year? I wouldn’t know because…

    1992 was the first year I watched the Oscars. I vividly remember Billy Crystal singing and dancing his way through the nominees and Clint Eastwood collecting his gongs for “Unforgiven.” I hadn’t seen a single nominated film from the big categories and since I was living in Cyprus and the show would have been at 4am live, I imagine my Dad must have taped it onto VHS for me, but I remember loving every second of it.

    But enough Oscar nostalgia. The real good films are never nominated anyway and here’s the proof.

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  • Palm Springs fest to honor Portman and Firth

    The Palm Springs International Film Festival may claim independent thought in the rationing of their performance awards, but rather like Santa Barbara, any West Coast fest that takes place in prime awards-season territory can’t claim to be free of the Oscar campaign circuit.

    After all, when their press release states that the two actors being honored with their Desert Palm Achievement Awards (essentially Best Actor and Actress) “deliver Oscar-quality performances,” they’re effectively admitting to being another cog in the machine.

    So it is that for the last three years running, their male Desert Palm Achievement Award winner was gone on to scoop the Best Actor Oscar. These folks know what they’re doing. Try and conceal your astonishment, then, that this year’s honoree is Colin Firth, the unanimously agreed-upon frontrunner (and to my mind, lone contender) for the Oscar. “Colin Firth brings a regal versatility to each of his roles, but his portrayal of King George VI in his latest film, ‘The King’s Speech,’ is extraordinary,” says PSIFF director Harold Matzner.

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  • Sussing out the HFPA’s comedy/musical field

    In the latest Gurus o’ Gold survey, David Poland asked us all to contribute the usual rankings for Best Picture, added in the supporting actor and supporting actress categories, then popped the question regarding the Golden Globes comedy/musical category.  It’s interesting to get perspective on the latter this (relatively) early in the season.

    A couple of things: First of all, three Gurus included “Toy Story 3” in their ranking, which with Gregory Ellwood’s #1 placement was enough for it to be chalked up at #5 on the collective.  Ever since the HFPA instituted an animated feature category, animated features have been ineligible in the Best Picture categories.  So that’s gone.

    The #6 spot went to “Get Low,” but I’ve confirmed that film as a drama consideration for HFPA, so it won’t be in the mix.  Meanwhile, only Steve Pond and myself included “Nowhere Boy,” which is a film that went over really well with the association and will be competing as a musical.

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  • INTERVIEW: ‘Inside Job’ director Charles Ferguson

    I’m getting to that point where the interviews are stacking up and there’s precious little time to transcribe and write them up.  It pains me to resort to audio for these purposes as I enjoy writing them out and giving a narrative interpretation of a persona, but sometimes one’s hand is forced.

    This morning I had the pleasure of chatting with “Inside Job” director Charles Ferguson, who has already stirred a fuss in political and economic sectors with his latest documentary.  The film opens wider this weekend and, hopefully, will reach the audience that really needs to see it: the American public.  Check out the trailer for the film here.

    Forgive dodging the writing duties this time out, but hey, I’m not just lazily throwing the audio up here.  A little editing in and out of the piece was fun and I think the conversation sheds some light on Ferguson and his approach to this film in particular.  It’s a short chat.  Have a listen after the jump.

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  • New ‘Black Swan’ poster

    It’s clearly Poster Revision Day or something, as this new concept for Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan” (you may have heard of it by now) builds and improves on the simple head shot unveiled in August — while maintaining its pristine, counter-intuitive snow-white sheen. Obviously, nothing’s going to top those Art Deco-inspired teaser designs released last month, though it seems this one has at least incorporated a key visual metaphor from one of them. See if you can spot it.

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  • Goodbye Ronni

    I was driving, in between interviews this morning, when I got the tragic news of Ronni Chasen’s random, senseless death. Deadline followed up on an initial Radar Online report and the news spread from there.

    Ronni was a long-time publicist who worked with just about everyone in town at one point or another. She was a driven, persistent professional, amazing at her job but also a truly sweet person. I considered her a friend, and to know she experienced such a horrific death is nearly too much to bear.

    The sad reality is this business, the business she had such a hand in shaping, will take a moment to grieve and then it’ll be taking calls and business as usual. But part of me thinks Ronni, who never slowed down, wouldn’t have it any other way.

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  • US ‘Made in Dagenham’ poster ups the drama

    Well, this is interesting. The newly unveiled US poster for cheery true-life Britpic “Made in Dagenham” points to a tactical turnabout as politically suggestive as its red-to-blue color shift — one that suggests Sony Pictures Classics still harbor serious awards hopes for this 1960s-set underdog story. An initial one-sheet was based directly on the jolly UK design, which foregrounded the fun factor with a grinning Sally Hawkins and that cheeky “We Want Sex” sight gag.

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  • 11/16 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Cooper to remake ‘Carancho,’ Liman talks ‘Fair Game,’ dogpiling on Harrison Ford

    • Scott Cooper set to remake “Carancho.” [Deadline]

    • Erik Childress looks forward to the self-aware “legitimate opinions” of critics groups. [Cinematical]

    • John Lopez writes up Oscar’s longshots. [Little Gold Men]

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  • ‘Frankie & Alice’ poster

    The Halle Berry starrer “Frankie & Alice” screens tonight and throughout the week in Los Angeles.  And Berry may or may not be a contender in this year’s competitive Best Actress race.  (Dave Karger seems to think she is.)  Regardless, I can’t make the screening tonight, but I’ll catch up with it later in the week.  For now, we have a look at the one-sheet for you.  Check out the full image after the jump.

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  • Only 15 films qualify for Oscar’s animated feature race

    I honestly didn’t expect the list to hit so soon on the heels of my item earlier this afternoon, but hit it has.  And it actually appears that “The Dreams of Jinsha” was the other title submitted, not “Chico & Rita.”

    Alas, there are only 15 titles that qualified, meaning we will only see three nominees in the category this year.  “Yogi Bear,” predictably, did not qualify, while “Idiots and Angels,” it turns out, did.  I’d LOVE to see Bill Plympton in an Oscar race.

    The rest are the usual suspects, but it’s a real shame we can’t have a full slate this year.  Speaking solely for myself, I’m liking a lot of feature animation in 2010.  TheGolden Globes, however, could still see five nominees as long as 14 titles were submitted to the HFPA for consideration.  Check out Oscar’s field of animated feature contenders after the jump.

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  • 16 animated features submitted, but what will qualify?

    The Academy will be announcing the list of qualifying films for this year’s Best Animated Feature Film Oscar some time this week.  For now, we know of 16 titles that have submitted.  They are indicated on our dedicated page.

    There was some confusion recently over which film was the 16th submission, but I’m told it was “Chico & Rita,” which bowed at this year’s Telluride film festival (it was the first film I saw at the fest, in fact).  (CORRECTION: Turns out it was “The Dreams of Jinsha” instead, as noted here.)  If all 16 films qualify, then we’ll be looking at a slate of five nominees after all.  But if just one falls out, then it’s back to three.

    The most dubious contenders could be “Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore” and “Yogi Bear,” which may not meet eligibility requirements.  But the language is a bit loose, noting that “a significant number of the major characters must be animated, and animation must figure in no less than 75 percent of the picture’s running time.”

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  • ‘Cowboys & Aliens’ teaser poster

    I have to say, the highlight of Comic-Con this year, for me, was Universal’s “Cowboys & Aliens” panel featuring a 10 minute reel of surprise footage that was enough to have me waiting with bated breath for Jon Favreau’s comic adaptation.  Today, Yahoo! Movies has debuted the teaser poster from the film.  There’s also a countdown clock indicating that the trailer will hit in two days.  I’m totally on board.  Check out the full image after the jump.

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  • No column today

    Off the Carpet will stay in the garage another seven days.  But I have gone through the Contenders section and done some tweaking, as well as updated the predictions sidebar.  Everything is beginning to feel more insular than ever with awards coverage.  Who cares what us blowhard analysts have to offer?  It’s time for industry feedback, already.  Once screeners hit just before Thanksgiving and voters begin catching up on titles, we’ll start to get a much better idea of the season’s path.  Feel free to use this space for your own predictions or other thoughts.

  • Rudin tapped for PGA’s Selznick Award

    It looks to be a pretty good year for producer Scott Rudin.  “The Social Network” has already opened and done quite well for a fall drama (not to mention the awards buzz that keeps piling on).  “The Way Back,” which he executively produced, is another great collaboration with Peter Weir, and the Coens’ “True Grit” is still to come.

    At the end of the day, it could be an even better showing that he had in 2007, when Paul Thomas Anderson’s “There Will Be Blood” and the Coen brothers’ “No Country for Old Men” were duking it out for the Best Picture win.  The latter, of course, took the gold.

    If you’ve been picking up The Hollywood Reporter’s big glossy issues, you probably saw in the latest a big spread with Stephen Galloway interviewing the producer.  Today comes word that the PGA will honor Rudin at this year’s festivities.  Check out the full press release after the jump.

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  • AMPAS honors quartet at Governors Awards

    This weekend the Academy toasted the careers of film historian Kevin Brownlow, French auteur Jean-Luc Godard and character actor Eli Wallach with a trio of Honorary Oscar statuettes and bestowed the Irving Thalberg Award on legendary helmer Francis Ford Coppola.

    I didn’t attend the ceremony, but there’s lots of coverage out there.  Rather than pack it all into this morning’s round-up, I figured it best to dedicate another post.

    Variety had a big spread leading up to the evening.  David Cohen writes up Coppola’s life and work with quotes from longtime collaborator and editor Walter Murch, Tatiana Siegel pays tribute to Godard’s independent ways, Bob Verini dives into Eli Wallach’s wide range of roles and Caroline Frick Page makes sure Kevin Brownlow doesn’t get left out with a salute to his borderline obsessive sleuthing and restoration efforts.

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  • 11/15 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Oscar’s shortest perf, gauging 16 animated submissions, Menken and Moore on ‘Tangled’

    • John Lopez talks to “The Way Back” star and Best Supporting Actor hopeful Ed Harris. [Little Gold Men]

    • From last year, Stinkylulu writes up the shortest performance ever nominated for an Oscar: Herminone Baddeley’s 2 minutes and 26 seconds in 1959’s “Room at the Top.” [Stinkylulu]

    • Scott Feinberg smartly tracks down the HBO doc “High on Crack Street,” featuring prominently in “The Fighter.” [ScottFeinberg.com]

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  • BOX OFFICE: ‘Unstoppable’ stopped by ‘Megamind’ (lamest headline ever)

    It looks like “Secretariat” and “The Social Network” slipped out of the top 10 this week.  The former finally had a drop over 40%.  Did you guys see any of the dreck that opened this weekend?

    (Courtesy: Exhibitor Relations)