In Contention

Tag: Hailee Steinfeld

  • The In Contention Readership Ballot

    Today’s the big day. No more Oscar Guide, no more polls, just a few choice hours left in the season and then, the 83rd annual. (And not a moment too soon.)

    I appreciate everyone participating in the daily polls this month and last, which accompanied each of our Oscar Guide entries. It offers us a nice glance at the majority opinion of how the race SHOULD go down, so I’m happy to offer up, for the second-straight year, the In Contention Readership Ballot.

    There were a handful of frisky choices this year, though not too many. Your big winners were Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” and David Fincher’s “The Social Network” (which is owed Best Picture by your estimation).  Both films racked up five of your wins.  Nothing else was close. And, interestingly enough, the film likely to walk away with the most awards tonight? It only deserves one prize in your book: Best Actor.

    Check out the ballot after the jump, and good luck to your favorites tonight.

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  • The five categories giving me hell

    With a little over 48 hours until the big night, I find myself in an uncommon state of disarray — my crammed Oscar weekend “To Do” list includes viewing all 15 short nominees in order to make an informed dart-throw of a prediction (stickler that I am, I held out for a theatrical screening), preparing copious supplies of food and alcohol for my second annual hotel-suite Oscar party (sorry, the guest list is full) and somehow finding time to write a final predictions piece.

    Before I can check off that last task, however, I actually have to settle on some final predictions — and despite the presence of solid frontrunners in most key categories, this year is giving me more trouble than most. For a race that, only a couple of weeks ago, seemed smothered in blanket affection for a single film, other possibilities have opened up that unusually equalize the possibilities of both a titanic sweep and a widely splintered share-a-thon.

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  • CINEJABBER: The test of time

    Catch up with the idea behind these weekend posts here.

    I was talking with a friend this week about “the test of time,” as it were.  She posited, as have many, that “The King’s Speech” is not the film we’ll remember 10 years from now.  I don’t know that “The Social Network” is either, frankly, but I also don’t subscribe to the law of time’s judgment when it comes to these things, either.

    The film I’m likely to remember most this year?  The one that occupies my mind more than most?  If I’m being honest?  “Biutiful.” I have a lot of respect for what’s going on with that film, but I still believe it has inherent flaws that keep it from a certain pristine quality.  Flaws that won’t take on new characteristics with time.

    I think it’s become a bit facile to go there so quickly.  “Time will tell.”  Etc.  I actually think time can kill a film.  Just look at the revisionism of films that lost the Best Picture Oscar to admittedly greater works.  The haze of hindsight is not always a great lens to look through, and the inherent subjectivity of this stuff means, to me, you’re best bet is an educated take in the moment.

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  • OSCAR TALK: Ep. 51 — The new frontrunner, Santa Barbara tributes and panels, potential Oscar upsets

    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.

    It’s been a little over a week since last we left you, and to say the least, plenty has happened in that stretch. We’re both back in Los Angeles after some festival bouncing and have a number of things to chew on so let’s see what’s on the docket today…

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  • Predict the SAG winners

    This weekend completes the trio of Guild awards with the most bearing on the Best Picture race, as the Directors’ Guild of America and the Screen Actors’ Guild dish out their prizes on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

    Following the Producers’ Guild’s surprise coronation of “The King’s Speech” last week, the next two days could help level the race — most are favoring “The Social Network” to fight back with a DGA gong, but the SAG Awards are more of a wild card.

    A couple of SAG categories, of course, barely require discussion. In the lead acting races, there’s no reason whatsoever to suspect that Colin Firth and Natalie Portman won’t continue their joint march to the Oscar podium on Sunday. (If Annette Bening were to pull off a shocker, she’d be the first two-time Best Actress winner in the 17-year history of the awards, which somehow makes it seem even less likely.)

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  • OSCAR GUIDE: Best Supporting Actress

    Like last year, this year’s Best Supporting Actress race was a free-for-all when it came to the last spot.  Potential category confusion almost had two spots up for grabs.  And there was absolutely no shortage of possible spoilers once the BAFTA had spoken up with a slate of formidable possibilities.

    And great work was still left off the ballot.  Mila Kunis was on track to score, but ultimately fell short.  Veterans Barbara Hershey and Miranda Richardson seemed to be making a play for recognition, too.  In the end, an early campaign made all the difference for one indie contender, while another young hopeful managed to keep her grip in the supporting ranks despite giving a lead performance.

    The nominees are:

    Amy Adams, “The Fighter”
    Helena Bonham Carter, “The King’s Speech”
    Melissa Leo, “The Fighter”
    Hailee Steinfeld, “True Grit”
    Jacki Weaver, “Animal Kingdom”

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  • Post-nod winner predictions (and a new poll)

    Did you hear?  The Oscar nominations were announced this morning.  And there was a lot to chew on.  (And boy can we be grateful for that.)

    With a full slate of contenders in front of us, it seemed only right to go ahead and offer up the latest set of winner predictions.  They are indicated by asterisk in the sidebar and are listed out in full after the jump.

    After roughly a week of falling into the logic (and blaring rhetoric) suggesting “The Social Network” would turn its critics run into Oscar gold, I’m back to my instincts (and, judging by its nomination haul, the will of the Academy) with a bet on “The King’s Speech.” Not only that, but I think we could see a mini-sweep for the film, as a couple of potentially formidable competitors were ousted from the nominations in a few craft fields.

    Of course, things could change.  But I’m sensing a momentum shift, and it’s frankly one we could have expected was around the corner.

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  • OSCAR TALK: Ep. 49 — Final pre-nod discussion

    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.

    We’re moving into the last weekend before the Academy’s big nominations reveal on Tuesday. Anne is calling from Sundance, where the festival is just gearing up, leaving me alone in LA to my devices. But there are a number of things to address in these final pre-nod hours, so let’s see what’s on the docket today…

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  • 1/19 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Affleck’s favorite heist films, Weinstein loves the Jets, Cameron going deep

    • Ben Affleck’s writes up his 11 favorite heist movies. [Daily Beast]

    • The Jets game was the Weinstein priority on Sunday night, not the Globes. [Page Six]

    • Dave Karger gets frisky and sticks with Hailee Steinfeld in lead for his final predictions. [Inside Movies]

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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]

  • 1/18 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Gervais should have been meaner, cut ‘127 Hours’ ending, working class contenders

    • Ricky Gervais on Golden Globes hosting controversy. [Hollywood Reporter]

    • Devin Faraci, meanwhile, thinks the comedian wasn’t mean enough. [Baddass Digest]

    • Naomi Serviss hearts seeing Michael Douglas at the show. [The Wrap]

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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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  • A night at the CCMAs

    It was a good time.  The evening started off with a bit of a surprise as “The Fighter” took in the award for Best Ensemble.  I happened to be seated with Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo, David O. Russell and, a real treat, Jack McGee, so it was an exciting pop to start things off.  No one at that table expected to win that award so they were quite exhilarated.

    Speaking of Bale, I thought he gave the night’s best speech, a touching, loose monologue that is certain to be repeated throughout the season.  And watching Hailee Steinfeld accept for Best Young Actor/Actress, I couldn’t help but picture her with an Oscar in her hand.  Despite Melissa Leo’s strong showing so far, the Best Supporting Actress category is still somewhat up in the air, I think (which Anne and I discussed in yesterday’s podcast).

    I bounced around here and there during the commercial breaks.  Naturally the first thing Darren Aronofsky said when he saw me was, “I finally made your list!  Next time you’ll listen to me.”  Maybe there’s a future in Oscar prognostication for him.  I also exchanged words with Colin Firth for the first time since our lengthy sit-down in Telluride.  Charming as ever.  But most exciting for me?  Honestly?  Meeting Ice Cube.  No, seriously.

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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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  • CINEJABBER: Where’s the exit?

    Catch up with the idea behind these weekend posts here.

    A busy week that one was.  And an even busier one on the way.  DGA and VES Monday, ASC Tuesday, Critics’ Choice Movie Awards and ACE Friday, Golden Globes Sunday — whew!  And today we’ll have the National Society of Film Critics put a bow on the critics awards circuit (well, save for the Iowa Film Critics, but…)

    It’s almost like I’m ready for a vacation again already, though maybe that’s because the holiday “break” wasn’t much of a break for me at all this year.  It’ll all be over in T-minus 50 days.  (50!)

    The Rudin/Steinfeld thread was a hit thanks to a lot of smart discussion from you guys yesterday.  Props to you for that.  And speaking of “True Grit,” Paramount has thrown together a preview screening of the PBS “American Masters” featuring Jeff bridges with a Q&A and reception to follow this evening.  Yep, the circuit is officially creeping into my weekends.

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  • WEEKLY WRAP: Guild onslaught, Postlethwaite passes, more best of 2010

    • The Producers’ Guild of America surprised no one with their list of nominees.

    • The Writers’ Guild, however, threw a few curveballs (aided by assorted ineligibilities), while the USC Scripter Awards surprised some with one of their selections.

    • In sadder news, we said goodbye to esteemed British character actor Pete Postlethwaite.

    • After a few weeks of deliberation, Guy picked his best and worst films of 2010.

    • Continuing this week’s guild run, both the Cinema Audio Society and the Art Directors’ Guild weighed in with their nominees.

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  • Rudin’s reasoning for Steinfeld in supporting

    During last night’s DVD release party for “The Social Network” I ended up in a spirited debate with producer Scott Rudin about the category placement of Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit.” Thankfully it went beyond ideas of the Hollywood star system and strategy and into the philosophy of the narrative itself.

    Since it’s been such a point of discussion as of late (most recently in a heated debate between yours truly and Anne Thompson in this week’s Oscar Talk), I thought I’d pass along his reasoning for thinking the performance a supporting one.  I’m sure he wouldn’t mind, so here goes…

    In a nutshell, Rudin’s argument (and it’s the smartest one I’ve heard in favor of supporting placement yet), is the idea that the Mattie Ross character is really the impetus for change in Rooster Cogburn’s character.  And, most importantly, she doesn’t have an arc, Rudin says, while Cogburn does.  He changes, she doesn’t.  So Mattie is the instigator.  It’s an interesting point, but I’m still not buying it.

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  • OSCAR TALK: Ep. 47 — The guilds so far, Steinfeld as lead vs. supporting, Scripter finalists, goings-on on the circuit, looking ahead to 2011

    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.

    2010 is finally in the rear view mirror. But the season isn’t over yet — not by a long shot. As we enter the new year, and the busiest frame of the circuit (awards-wise), we have tons to chew on today. Let’s see what’s on the docket…

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