• The Academy honored legends Francis Ford Coppola, Eli Wallach, Jean-Luc Godard and Kevin Brownlow at the annual Governors Awards.
• Kris attended a Summit Entertainment holiday party, chatting with the talent in attendance.
• Disney revealed a clever plan geared toward presenting “Toy Story 3” as a legitimate Best Picture contender.
• The Weinstein Company lawyered up on the MPAA rulings on “Blue Valentine” and “The King’s Speech”
Welcome 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.
There have been toasts in honor of talent and in the way of remembrance during this busy, and heartbreaking, week on the Oscar circuit. So as always, there’s plenty to cover. Let’s dive in and see what’s on the docket today…
This weekend the Academy toasted the careers of film historian Kevin Brownlow, French auteur Jean-Luc Godard and character actor Eli Wallach with a trio of Honorary Oscar statuettes and bestowed the Irving Thalberg Award on legendary helmer Francis Ford Coppola.
I didn’t attend the ceremony, but there’s lots of coverage out there. Rather than pack it all into this morning’s round-up, I figured it best to dedicate another post.
Variety had a big spread leading up to the evening. David Cohen writes up Coppola’s life and work with quotes from longtime collaborator and editor Walter Murch, Tatiana Siegel pays tribute to Godard’s independent ways, Bob Verini dives into Eli Wallach’s wide range of roles and Caroline Frick Page makes sure Kevin Brownlow doesn’t get left out with a salute to his borderline obsessive sleuthing and restoration efforts.
In case you weren’t aware, @TheAcademy is Tweeting the Governors Awards experience. Here’s an epic reunion:
Welcome 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.
AFI Fest has concluded, the first Academy Award ceremony of the year hits this weekend and we find ourselves in the thick of things. Between Galas, premieres, parties and the usual, there’s plenty to chew on, so let’s see what’s on the docket today…
• The shortlist of contenders for the documentary Oscar was announced, surprising many — we dug into it a little.
• The season’s first Oscars were handed out, as Lauren Bacall, Gordon Willis, Roger Corman and John Calley were celebrated at the Governors’ Awards.
• This week’s Off the Carpet column broke down the wide-open Best Original Screenplay race.
• The Long Shot lived up to its name, spotlighting a few of the season’s most deserving outsiders.
Welcome to Oscar Talk, your weekly kudocast featuring yours truly and Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood.
On the docket today:
• Anne and I discuss the week’s big Oscar news, the revelation of 15 short list contenders for the Best Documentary Feature category, including discussion of snubs, talk on those we’ve seen and some fleeting expectations on how things could shake out.
• With “That Evening Sun” making its way to limited release, we briefly touch on the film and Hal Holbrook’s wonderful leading performance.
• The Governors Awards took place over the weekend, and Anne was in attendance. She gives us some inside perspective on the festivities.
• Quentin Tarantino is back on the awards circuit with “Inglourious Basterds” facing an imminent DVD release. We talk again about the film’s Oscar chances and the potential for another populist film, “Star Trek,” duking it out with the war romp for a spot in the 10.
Have a listen to this week’s podcast below, with Lauren Bacall’s Honorary Oscar acceptance speech leading the way. As always, you can subscribe to Oscar Talk via iTunes here.
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Roger Corman, Lauren Bacall and Gordon Willis show off the Oscars they received at last night’s Governors’ Awards. (The fourth honoree, John Calley, could not attend.) More pictures and video footage of the presentations are at the official AMPAS site here.
(On a side note, one pic on the Academy site is captioned “Honorary award recipient Lauren Bacall and fashion designer Tom Ford.” Given that they’re likely going to be nominating Ford’s debut film in at least one or two categories come January, might they not do him the courtesy of adding ‘director’ to his description?)
For those of us not important/famous/rich enough to have attended last night’s honorary Oscars presentation, the Governors’ Awards — tickets began at $350, apparently — Steve Pond has a comprehensive report of the proceedings, complete with pictures and some gossipy details.
I’ve complained before about the Academy denying us Joe Public movie fans the chance to see industry titans Lauren Bacall, Gordon Willis, Roger Corman and John Calley finally take a trip to the Oscar podium, but what’s done is done. And to go by Pond’s account, the upshot for them (if not for us) is that they got to bask in the spotlight for longer than the main ceremony would have allowed — though Calley was, unfortunately, too ill to attend.
Indeed, despite featuring only four award presentations, the night ran for three-and-a-half hours, the length of most Oscarcasts. Still, despite some organizational hiccups, a good, relaxed time seems to have been had by all.
As I’ve said before, I’m dismayed by the Academy’s decision to relegate the honorary Oscar winners to a separate, untelevised ceremony, which will take place next Saturday. Even more than the inflation of the Best Picture nominees, it’s a move that betrays desperate self-doubt and compromise on the Academy’s part.
Meanwhile, they only rubbed salt in the wounds by making such roundly well-received choices for this year’s honorees: few would disagree that the likes of Lauren Bacall and Gordon Willis are well due for Oscar recognition, so it truly insults the recipients (not to mention film fans in general) to deny them a public moment in the spotlight.
The press release, in part:
The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted tonight to present the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to producer-executive John Calley, and Honorary Awards to actress Lauren Bacall, producer-director Roger Corman, and cinematographer Gordon Willis. All four awards will be presented at the Academy’s inaugural Governors Awards event on Saturday, November 14, at the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center.
“These four individuals have each, in their own unique way, made lasting impressions on the motion picture industry and audiences worldwide,” said Academy President Tom Sherak. ”I’m thrilled that the Academy’s Board selected them to be honored at our new Governors Awards event, which will be full of memorable moments celebrating their accomplishments.”
The full release here.
