In Contention

Tag: Black Swan

  • Costume confusion

    Gerard will address this category in tomorrow’s Tech Support column, but I did want to say something about Best Costume Design — partly because the Guild dropped some rather interesting nominations today, and partly because it’s the technical category that’s still prompting the most head-scratching as I work towards my final predictions.

    We all know the Academy favors lavish period productions with corsets and hoop skirts a go-go in this category, but 2010 served up remarkably few possibilities in this vein. Even “The King’s Speech,” the year’s default well-dressed prestige title, is hardly a sartorial showcase in the vein of “Marie-Antoinette” or “The Duchess” — Jenny Beavan’s crisp 1930s wardrobe is functionally stylish rather than spectacular.

    As if to illustrate the lack of conventional historical options, the Costume Designers’ Guild found only three films to nominate in their period category, instead of the usual five — and one of them, I’m thrilled to say, is the 1990s-set “The Fighter,” whose threads I was plugging just the other day.

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  • MPSE last industry organization to nominate

    Save for the Academy, of course.  And you can find sound editors’ picks at The Circuit. Just about every possible competitor was chalked up (and it’s the sound effects and foley category that tends to shed the most light).  Check out the breakdown of hopefuls, as always, at the film’s dedicated Contenders page here.

    “Black Swan” and “Inception” are officially the most-recognized films of the year when it comes to the guild/society circuit.  Each film was chalked up by every group.

  • Updates to The Circuit

    Today “Black Swan” and “Inception” maintained their uniquely perfect guild status (having been cited by every single guild and society) by nailing down nominations in the contemporary category from the Costume Designers Guild. Every frontrunning possibility was chalked up, so the task is still pretty daunting to predict how that will go with Oscar.  That leaves just one industry precursor, the Motion Picture Sound editors, which should announce nominees tomorrow.

    (Someone do the math for me.  Has a film ever been nominated for EVERY industry precursor?  PGA, DGA, WGA, SAG, ACE, ADG, ASC, CAS, CDG, MPSE and VES?)

    Meanwhile, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) spoke up with its list of nominee.  I’ve noted only the three film categories.

  • TECH SUPPORT: Final analysis, part one

    It seems hard to believe that it’s been more than six months since I wrote this year’s introductory Tech Support column ( a dissection of the art direction race). Much has changed since then, naturally, as we are less than a week away from the big day when we find out the nominees for the Oscars this year. Today, I take a final look at the music categories, sound categories and the two categories that have been narrowed down to seven finalists – Best Visual Effects and Best Makeup.

    BEST MAKEUP

    In this utterly bizarre category, virtually any combination of the seven finalists would fail to surprise me as the final three. That said, I’ve had the same top two predicted all year and see no reason to change now: “Alice in Wonderland” and “The Wolfman.” The former had massive box office and very noticeable makeup, whereas the latter is exactly the sort of movie that tends to score here and nowhere else.

    Logic may put “True Grit” or “The Fighter” next in line due to their Best Picture contender status. But as much as these films are loved, they don’t have as showy makeup as the other finalists, and this is a category that often doesn’t care how films are received overall.

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  • POLL: Who gets the fifth supporting actress slot?

    One of the interesting things about this morning’s BAFTA announcement is that it scattered the already fluid Best Supporting Actress category to the winds.  Nominations for Barbara Hershey, Miranda Richardson and Lesley Manville put them in the hunt with contenders like Mila Kunis and Jacki Weaver for what appears to be an up-for-grabs fifth slot.

    Anne and I will probably address this at length in Friday’s final pre-nods Oscar Talk, but it seemed a good bet for a poll update as well.  Surprises happen.  And you risk being crazy to think outside-the-box (as in, last year, when everyone thought I was out to lunch for thinking Maggie Gyllenhaal had a chance).

    In the left sidebar, I’ve listed the five competitors that seem most likely to battle it out for a chance to join Melissa Leo, Amy Adams, Helena Bonham Carter and Hailee Steinfeld (who herself could suddenly fall lead) in the Best Supporting Actress category this year, as well as the NSFC-winning Olivia Williams and an obligatory “other” option thrown in.  Chalk up your vote there and head on back here for your reasoning and hopefully we’ll get some good discussion out of all of this.

    [Photo: Sony Pictures Classics]

  • CONTEST: Win a ‘Black Swan’ music box

    When I got home from holiday vacation two weeks ago, there were a pair of boxes waiting on me.  Both contained handsome music boxes featuring “Black Swan”‘s Nina Sayers on the lid (and I got two because, as usual this time of year, I’m on multiple mailing lists).  Once again, my swag deluge is your gain.  Giveaway!

    Let’s see, what to do?  Hmm……I got it! Darren Aronofsky’s film is very much about duality and the internal struggle of the Yin and the Yang.  So contradict yourself for me.  Tell me why you think the film deserves to win Best Picture and why you think, perhaps, it doesn’t.  Being a true fan is more about balanced consideration than blind acceptance, in my opinion, so give me that Yin and Yang in 50 words or less and the two most well-reasoned entries win.

    They’ll make a nice jewelry case for the special schizophrenic someone in your life.  Images of the prize after the jump.

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  • ‘King’s Speech’ leads BAFTA list with 14 nods

    If you’ve been with us for a couple of years, you’ll know that the BAFTA nominations infuriate me on an annual basis. However, my therapist recently advised me that I need to heal my relationship with BAFTA through forgiveness, so I’ll lead with few the things that pleased me about this morning’s announcement.

    For one thing, though the longlists already tipped us off to most of the “surprises” here, I’m happy to see Julianne Moore finally nominated alongside her “The Kids Are All Right” co-star Annette Bening in a serious Best Actress race. Pete Postlethwaite’s posthumous nomination for “The Town” (his first from BAFTA, unbelievably, and the only one for Ben Affleck’s film) is shamelessly rooted in sentiment, but happily, it happens to come for a striking mini-performance anyway.

    While it was inevitable that Brit hit “The King’s Speech” would lead the field, it’s nice to “Black Swan” close behind with 12 nods, including mentions for its contemporary production and costume design.

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  • BOX OFFICE: ‘Green’ makes green

    The new releases finally took the top spots this week, but “True Grit” is chugging along, “The King’s Speech” went wider and is padding its wallet and “Black Swan” will be one of Fox Searchlight’s top grossers when all is said and done.

    (Courtesy: Exhibitor Relations)

  • Screenplay contest winner!

    With well over 100 entries, the limerick contest was our most popular yet. Either people really dig amphibrachic meter or they really wanted those scripts! Whatever the case, thanks for the deluge.

    It was tough to decide. In the way of honorable mention, I have to give a shout-out to Jim for the commitment to submit so many times, and for his limerick back-and-forth with BobBlake. Also, I have to tip my hat to Joe7827 for finding a way to insert yours truly into his out of competition entry.

    And a pat on the back to John G for attempting to make “cunnilingus” rhyme with “anxious” and “frankness.”  You tried.

    Ultimately, though, I had to tip my hat to SanFranCinema, who cleverly worked the season into his limerick. It doesn’t include aspects of the films’ narratives, of course, but it rang my bell…

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  • OSCAR TALK: Ep. 48 — Armond White vs. Darren Aronofsky, guilds speaking up, ‘True Grit’ box office, awards show/party weekend on the way, supporting actress wide open

    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.

    Today is the final day of phase one this season. Ballots are due by 5pm PT, so everyone needs to pick a chair before the music stops. And we have plenty to discuss as a result, so let’s see what’s on the docket today…

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  • ACE springs for Best Picture frontrunners

    Guy rightly noted yesterday a seemingly “whatever” coagulation of the guild awards circuit into “easy-to-recall season staples.” If you were hoping the American Cinema Editors (ACE) would put an end to that, keep dreaming.

    Of course, ACE historically skews as populist and inside-the-box as the DGA set, which is why the two are often coupled for maximum tea leaf importance when forecasting Oscar. But one at least hoped for a “District 9”-level statement of “we like stuff that has no chance of winning Best Picture,” but it wasn’t to be.

    The “surprise,” for most, will likely be Pamela Martin joining the guild party for “The Fighter,” but given the givens, it’s not such a left-field pick. Season heavy, boxing film (which does well with editors), etc. She’ll probably be an Oscar nominee, too, but I must say, it’s a shame the year’s best job at the Steambeck, “Shutter Island,” was ignored here after an early below-the-line guild showing.

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  • 1/14 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Weinstein on the “Oscar movie,” HFPA sued, more bad ‘Social’ breath

    • Former Golden Globes publicist Michael Russell sues the HFPA two days before its biggest night leveling a boatload of accusations. [The Wrap]

    • Harvey Weinstein himself admits that the stereotype of the classic “Oscar movie” is probably gone. [The Carpetbagger]

    • Still beating David Fincher up over “The Social Network”‘s bad breath. [Slate]

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  • On the costumes of ‘The Fighter’

    When the Costume Designers’ Guild announce their nominees next week, I have no doubt that Mark Bridges’ work on “The Fighter” will show up in their contemporary category — not really the right classification for a film whose lurid early-1990s threads are as meticulously era-specific as any of 2010’s more lavish period spectacles. (If you didn’t cringe and/or chuckle at the first sight of Christian Bale’s balloon pants, chances are you weren’t alive in 1991.)

    Either way, it remains perhaps my favorite costuming of the year, even if the Academy is unlikely to agree. That said, they’ve been warming to more modern work in recent years — with nods for the high-gloss couture of “The Devil Wears Prada” and the cheap 70s duds of “Milk” — even if corsets and hoop skirts invariably eke out the win.

    This year’s Costume Design field, however, is lean enough that a contemporary nominee or two could squeeze in.

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  • 1/13 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: No dice for Winklevi, Alice Ward fights for her life, Weaver keeps making the rounds

    • Away from Oscar and in real life, Micky Ward’s mother is in a hospital fighting for her life… [Boston Globe]

    • …while the Winklevi lose their Facebook settlement appeal. [Paid Content]

    • Is “The King’s Speech” royalist propaganda? [The Guardian]

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  • 1/12 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: ‘Toy Story’ wins Golden Tomato, inside the NSFC vote, Firth loses his voice

    • “Toy Story 3” edges past “How to Train Your Dragon” and “The Social Network” to take this year’s Golden Tomato Award. [Rotten Tomatoes]

    • Louis Virtel, meanwhile, wants to know why “Oscar zealots” aren’t fighting for the film’s Best Picture chances.  Uh, hello? [Movieline]

    • Sex and ballet slippers: the themes of “Black Swan.” [Film School Rejects]

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  • CONTEST: Screenplay giveaway!

    How badly do you want to own the shooting scripts of four of this year’s hottest Oscar contenders?  Well, HOW BADLY?

    We’ve got copies of “Black Swan,” “Inception,” “127 Hours” and “Toy Story 3” to give away this week.  I should have saved that “tell me a story” thing for this, so instead, to riff on the Haiku contest, I thought I’d just be completely ridiculous and introduce a — wait for it — LIMERICK CONTEST!

    That’s right, a limerick contest.  In case you’re unaware of the qualities of a limerick, refresh yourself here.  In a nutshell, though, five lines with an aabba rhyme scheme.  For example:

    There once was a guy with a blog
    Who felt it a daily slog
    But oh what fun
    To almost be done
    With a season that’s become a fog

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  • January winner predictions

    After taking a stab at winner predictions early last month, it seemed now would be a good time to re-assess.  Only three adjustments, though — for Best Picture, Best Film Editing and Best Original Score.  I’ll try my hand at another set post-nominations.

    Best Picture: “The Social Network”
    Best Director: David Fincher, “The Social Network”
    Best Actor: Colin Firth, “The King’s Speech”
    Best Actress: Natalie Portman, “Black Swan”
    Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, “The Fighter”
    Best Supporting Actress: Hailee Steinfeld, “True Grit”
    Best Adapted Screenplay: “The Social Network”
    Best Original Screenplay:     “The King’s Speech”

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  • ‘King’s Speech,’ ‘Social Network’ among ASC nominees

    Well, I was expecting this to drop tomorrow, but the ASC nominees have been announced (catch them at The Circuit), and there are a couple of surprises.

    Okay, well, Jeff Cronenweth getting in for “The Social Network” isn’t a complete surprise, as I mentioned this morning we should watch out for him here.  But Danny Cohen making the cut for “The King’s Speech,” despite the fact that the film has an intriguing visual quality, is a bit unexpected.

    The rest is as we would have thought, though Robert Richardson missing is less of a shock than Enrique Chediak and Anthony Dod Mantle getting the shaft.  I think Cohen gets bumped in favor of something else, though.

    Though maybe Cronenweth is in a precarious position, seeing as the ASC is quicker to nominate digital work than the Academy.  The rest, I should think, are solid.

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