• The Academy announces 248 feature films eligible for this year’s Best Picture Oscar. [Oscars.org]
• James Franco’s reps advised him against hosting the Oscars (naturally). [Awards Campaign]
• Mike Fleming, meanwhile, chats with Franco’s co-host (and “Love & Other Drugs” star) Anne Hathaway, [Deadline]
One of the items linked in this morning’s round-up was this David Carr interview with Alex Gibney, director of “Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer.” Here’s a video excerpt:
• Colin Firth talks royalty and “The King’s Speech.” [Awards Campaign]
• Alexandre Desplat named composer of the year. [Variety]
• Scott Kraft chats with “Fair Game” star Naomi Watts and subject Valerie Plame. [Los Angeles Times]
• David Poland sits down with “Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer” director Alex Gibney. [Movie City News]
• On the innovative marketing strategy of “Freakonomics.” [New York Times]
• Xan Brooks and Henry Barnes talk “Made in Dagenham” director Nigel Cole and actress Rosamund Pike. [The Guardian]
I always get a curious thrill from looking down the list of films selected to compete at the Sundance Film Festival — the 2010 batch of which has just been announced by festival directors John Cooper and Trevor Grath.
You know there are at least one or two titles there that we’ll all be talking about in precisely one year’s time, just as “Precious,” “An Education” and “The Cove” have blossomed from festival darlings to surefire awards contenders in the space of 11 months. What’s far harder to tell is which of the 58 titles listed here might be “the one.”
Still, last year I played something of a guessing game with the lineup, singling out one film from each of the competition’s four strands that seemed of particular interest to me: my faith in “An Education” was, obviously, handsomely repaid, while “Big Fan” (a winner at this week’s Gotham Awards), “Afghan Star” (the UK’s foreign Oscar entry) and Doors documentary “When You’re Strange” have done respectably for themselves.
OK, I missed “Precious” — so as far as that particular game goes, I’m going to quit while I’m behind. Still, what follows is a selection of ten titles that I’m keeping an eye on.