Tag: announcements

Five and a half hours in the car from San Francisco, DMV nightmares, a premiere I may or may not make it to this evening (oh, and a fantasy football weekend dependent on more than a few miracles tonight).  Suffice it to say, I don’t think I’ll be getting around to a column this afternoon, and even if I did, I’m not sure I’d have all that much to say (and certainly wouldn’t expect to change much on the charts; though note a few changes have been made throughout the week, which will be addressed in the sidebar soon).  We’ll let it marinate an extra week.  At least I had a stunning new “True Grit” trailer waiting for me when I got back to this 114 degree weather.  I’ll stand by that Roger Deakins prediction, thanks very much.

Anne has been hustling and bustling from Venice to Toronto and we couldn’t connect last night, missed our window this morning and she’s been in transit the rest of the day.  All of that’s a long way of saying sorry for the lack of a podcast today, but we’ll have it ready for you over the weekend.  So keep checking.

This wasn’t a planned post in the slightest.  I saw that /Film was celebrating its fifth year today, and of course, David Poland celebrated 13 years of The Hot Button/Blog yesterday.  I thought I started the old IC blogspot in September of 2005 but it turns out the first post dropped on August 19, 2005, five years ago last Thursday.  Combine that with next week’s Off the Carpet column marking the start of my 10th year of Oscar coverage and it’s official:

A lot has happened since those humble beginnings, not least of which being the addition of contributors like Guy Lodge, Gerard Kennedy, Chad Hartigan, Blake Rutherford, Brian Kinsley and John Foote along the way, each of which have elevated our game and made this a better destination. I’m thankful to them for the help and to you for the devotion.

I’ve been unplugged since last Wednesday, in the midst of some much-needed laptop-less, sun-soaking, ocean-wading, tequila-slurping and Mexicuisine-gobbling down time in Cabo, so forgive the absence.  A few notes, though.  The season kick-off for the Off the Carpet weekly will be Monday, August 30.  Anne and I will hold off another seven days on the Oscar Talk weekly (Friday, September 3).  And this piece from Scott Feinberg, about how “The Kids Are All Right” ended on paper (and should have ended on celluloid), is well worth your time.  Back to normal tomorrow.

I guess it’s time to get back to work.

I don’t have a beard to my knees but I do feel a bit like Rip Van Winkle dragging himself out of a nice slumber these days.  May is here.  This Friday kicks off the summer movie season with the release of “Iron Man 2,” while Anne Thompson and I will offer up the first of a handful of off-season podcasts the same day.  Then, next week: Cannes.

Guy will be covering all the goings on from the Croisette this year, In Contention’s first time at the fest.  And I’m proud to see our festival coverage steadily increasing.  Things get started next Wednesday, May 12, wrapping up 11 days later on the 23rd.  Monday, May 24th will bring the first detailed Off the Carpet column of the new season, fit with my first (still too early) set of official Oscar predictions.

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I got a second complaint today that the Oscar Talk podcasts are cutting short at six minutes both at iTunes and on the site.  They seem to work well for me on Firefox and Safari, but is anyone else experiencing anything similar?  Meanwhile, I’ve been trying to understand why the iTunes feed only shows 10 podcasts, to no avail, though.  Sigh…

Yes!  It’s going to happen!  Finally!  You can stop emailing me now!

Seriously, though, look for part one on Tuesday, part two on Wednesday.  Sorry for the lateness, but it’s a process.  Hopefully the hype and build-up won’t kill it on arrival.  It’s a different list than the past couple of times we’ve done it.

I’m bogged down in Santa Barbara and have nothing to add at the moment, frankly, so the column will have to wait until next week.  In the meantime, keep checking out the Oscar Guide specials and having your say in our category polls.

People are still sending emails daily on this, so while I’m glad the interest is high, I’d like to point out, once again, that it’s a bit of a task getting 10 cinematographers on the phone to discuss specific elements and get the piece going. So, in the way of an update, I’ve narrowed the list to roughly 13 shots, and have an idea of what the top 10 will look like. I’ve gotten a few folks on the record and am in the process of getting the last few on the horn.

It will come. Probably post-nominations at this point (though I will try my damnedest for Friday.) Patience, young ones.

Anne is in the frozen tundra of Sundance today and my schedule is a bit unorthodox, so we’re going to prime the pump here and hold off until next week for our final pre-nominations podcast. Catch us then.

I haven’t been able to even sit down and think about today’s Off the Carpet column, let alone write it, and I’m off to Sony soon for what should be an interesting sound mixing demo on “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” I’ll have it for you later tonight.  In the meantime, the Contenders and sidebar predictions have been updated.

It’s almost that time.  I’m having a modest gathering at the homestead tonight, contrasting strongly with the 12-head Thanksgiving feast and the week-long trip to New York that dominated the last two holidays.  But before I go about entertaining, before the clock ticks to zero, a few things.

It’s been a good year, and a good decade.  My 20s dominated the frame, so I’ve either learned a lot or have a lot to learn, depending on your perspective.  I’ve enjoyed cultivating a readership and a place of conversation for movie lovers and I’m happy (and feel incredibly lucky) to have done it on my terms throughout.  There are people much more qualified than me looking for work.  It’s difficult not to take note of that and keep things in perspective.

From poorly-designed, unrefined beginnings with the Oscar Central brand in the first part of the decade to the business In Contention has become, I’ve seen a lot and learned even more.  But I know, as always, there is a road ahead, and the dawning of a new decade begins to illuminate that fact: there is always a road ahead.

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I keeping getting asked via comments, email and Twitter, so I’ll just save some breath and make a mention here.  Note the last two installments (2007 and 2008) landed in mid-January at the earliest.  Expect the same this year, as I haven’t even begun to assemble all the shots and get the lensers on the horn for commentary.  Patience.