I’m off to the airport now for a trip back east, where I’ll (thankfully) be out of La-La-Land’s grip for a solid two weeks. Guy will keep things going here on the ground while I’m in the air (I just noticed “WALL-E” and “The Wrestler” landed Best Picture nominations with the London film critics while Heath Ledger was nominated as a lead — more on that to come). But in the meantime, a question: Is the “featured content” gallery more trouble than it’s worth? I’m quite aware of the slow load, the pictures cascading down the page for a bit before snapping into place. Some have said it’s not a big deal, others have an issue with it. I’m working on something that will keep that from happening, maybe something simpler, but as is, is it a hindrance to the site? I’d love your feedback on that.
Tag: announcements
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By popular demand…kind of
Alright, I’ve buckled and kinda sorta updated the predictions since so many readers have been asking. The list in the sidebar has been updated, however, the charts have not. I’ll hold off on that until Monday’s column, but it made sense to go ahead and bring this stuff up to speed, so there we are.
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Just a reminder
There will be no Oscar column tomorrow, though I may get around to a chart update later in the evening. Instead, tomorrow morning be sure to watch for my annual “best of the year” column, if you, you know, care about those things. It’s been hard chipping away all the crap this year, but I think I’ve settled on a list I’m quite content to call the year’s best. Until then…
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Lots happening next week
If you can believe it, we’re almost at the end of the 2008 film ride. I feel like this one went by pretty fast, but hten again, I was out of the country for the summer, so maybe that affected something. Regardless, the week before Christmas is my perennial showcase of the year’s best offerings, for the scattered few who care about such trivialities.
So here’s a heads up. Monday, December 15, I’ll offer up my “best of the year” column, with extended thoughts on the season that was and a full list of the top 10 films of the year. Traditionally I follow that up with a personal Oscar ballot on Wednesday, so that will land on 12/17, and then Friday, 12/19, the year in superlatives. Awards for best this, best that and everything in between.
We have a slew of contributors this year, of course, but mind you, these columns will be reflective of my own opinion. If the rest of the guys want to take a crack at it, I’m sure they will in this space.
And one more quick note. Some of you might remember my “top 10 shots of the year” post from last year (brought over to the new site here). I’ll be doing that again this year and I’m already hard at work on it, gathering the material, putting the interviews in place, etc. I’m hoping to run that piece sometime during the first week of January. I’m aiming for, oh, let’s call it Tuesday, January 6. Always helps to give myself a deadline.
So mark your calendars. Lots happening over the next few weeks here at In Contention (if a slew of precursor announcements wasn’t enough).
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Technical difficulties
If you encounter a blank page or a “database error” message, it’s because of the spike in traffic today that comes with the NYFCC announcement. It happens. Very sorry for the inconvenience. FYI, and timely indeed, stay tuned shortly for Guy Lodge’s interview with “Happy-Go-Lucky” actress Sally Hawkins.
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Another delayed Oscar column
FYI, with “Gran Torino” bowing tonight in front of Los Angeles press, I thought it best to hold off on a chart update until Tuesday once again. Next week we should be back on the Monday track as “Seven Pounds” unveils later in the week, the final pieces of the puzzle sliding into place.
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Technical problems… please stand by
UPDATED: Seems we’ve solved it. Something went technically awry with the last post … I blame the Golden Satellite Awards, personally. Anyway, we’ll get that information back up for you shortly.
EARLIER: No, your computer isn’t playing tricks on you. Something weird has happened to the formatting on the site — we’re looking into it.
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To you and yours
I’m taking a serious vacation for the next four days. Minimal updates if any. I know, scandalous. A blogger taking the risk of losing traffic by ducking out for more than 24 hours. WTF?? But you know what? I deserve it. And you do too.
So go do what makes you happy and enjoy Thanksgiving. Not to get all corny, but I’m certainly thankful for the spike in interest this year and hope that readers new and old are getting something out of our little contribution. And I’m more than thankful to my modest staff of writers, doing what we can to keep you interested in the mundane particulars that inspire us to write. So thanks to Gerard, John, Guy, Brian and Blake.
We’ll reconvene next week. For now, I’m off to San Francisco for some much needed anti-L.A. time, so be safe, be merry, pop in “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” and soak it up. The Oscar crush is coming.
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Oscar column on the way
Just a note to say it hasn’t slipped my mind. I know some folks get testy when I don’t get that sucker up but fast. With “The Reader” screening yesterday and “Gran Torino” next Monday, I’ve pushed the “Off the Carpet” columns to Tuesdays for these two weeks. It’ll be up shortly.
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Out and about
Mostly silence on my end today. I’m pushing the Oscar column to tomorrow due to a screening of “The Reader” this morning. Might as well get one more under my belt before tackling an update. This time next week “Gran Torino” will be out of the way, then it’s up to Sony when they want to drop the curtain on the season’s offerings. As far as I know, no “Seven Pounds” screenings have been announced.
I’ll touch base briefly with a “Reader” reaction around noon-ish, then back again in the evening.
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Sorry for the drought on my end…
Things have been relatively nuts this week, and for the rest of the day, I’m preoccupied with other matters. Feel free to use this space to talk about whatever, and I promise to get the round-ups back in order next week, plus a new set of charts and a column on Monday.
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Please stand by
Forgive us if things have been a little quiet here the past day or two — as Kris has already explained, he’s snowed under with work, while I’ve had my share of distractions too. However, I will be doing my best to pick up the slack, with a new edition of The Lists on the way later today (a little later than usual — apologies) and other bits and bobs to come.
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And with that, onward…
The final politics-oriented posts of the year have trickled down this evening, I swear. First thing tomorrow, it’s back to movies, Oscar and all the crazy things Hollywood.
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Packing it in
There are three AFI tribute screenings tonight, for Heath Ledger (“Ned Kelly”), Sydney Pollack (“They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?”) and Anthony Minghella (“The Talented Mr. Ripley”). I was going to go to at least the Ledger film, maybe the Minghella (haven’t seen either in a while). Then I was going to sit down and transcribe the two hours of wonderful conversation I enjoyed with Dustin Hoffman at his West L.A. office yesterday. Then I was going to hammer out a Tuesday list. But I really just want to embibe and sit in front of the boob-tube, maybe finish watching “Recount” (which I never caught over the summer). It could be a nail-biting day. So I’m going to go easy on myself.
Hey, you do the same.
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Oops…
The Oscarweb Round-up was posted out of date order this morning. Apologies. It’s down there now, tagged and in the proper place.
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Spam issue
Just a note, if you’ve posted comments and noticed they didn’t pop up, I’ve discovered that the spam filter has been working overtime. Some of our own Gerard Kennedy’s posts were in there. So don’t think we’re censoring here, it just happens that we’ve got an over-zealous filter. Keep trying and eventually it’ll recognize the IP.
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Sorry for the posting drought…
Lots going on today and over the weekend. Hopefully we’ll get a new poll up tonight and ease into the rest of the week.