• He puts a question mark on it but Dave Karger nevertheless calls “The Ides of March” the year’s first slam-dunk Best Picture nominee. [Entertainment Weekly]
• Steve Pond talks to 2011 “it” girl Jessica Chastain. [The Odds]
• S.T. VanAirsdale gets a bunch of us awards blowhards on the record for a little early discussion on what’s in store this season. [Movieline]
So Fox’s big reveal Thursday was footage of and chatter about “Prometheus,” Ridley Scott’s (hopefully) triumphant return to the science-fiction genre.
Out of the gate, moderator Damon Lindelof asked Scott (who was checking in via satellite from Iceland) why it’s been so long since he saddled back up to “the genre he redefined,” as the marketing material notes triumphantly. Said Scott, “I was too busy doing other movies and exploring other genres. I honestly never thought about science-fiction until there was something of the first ‘Alien’ that no one ever asked a question about. No exploration of that one big question.”
Surely he’s talking about the Space Jockey of the first film, but nevertheless, everyone’s playing coy about the “Alien” connection. Scott said the new film has the DNA of the original film, but that they go off in another direction. Nevertheless, he hinted that by the end of “Prometheus,” you’ll understand the connection.