In Contention

Tag: Helena Bonham Carter

  • Beatty, Bonham Carter among 2011 BAFTA LA honorees

    I’ve never been precisely sure what BAFTA Los Angeles is, or what it is that they do — I do know that I’m wary of any group that is chaired by “So You Think You Can Dance” overlord Nigel Lythgoe, but that could be irrational on my part.

    I do know, however, that have their own annual awards, which have very little to do with the actual BAFTAs over in my part of the world — though that won’t stop many members of the “Harry Potter” cult from flipping out over the news that latter-day franchise helmer David Yates is to receive their John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Excellence in Directing. Pop the champagne corks, if you’re so inclined, while Lynne Ramsay weeps quietly in a corner. Or not, probably.

    In a semi-related win, Helena Bonham Carter will receive the British Artist of the Year award, which seems a tad random even if you include her Oscar-nominated work in last year’s “The King’s Speech.” (What have Tom Hardy and Michael Fassbender done this year, anyway?)

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  • Indie Spirits, HBO and Weinstein party down on Oscar eve

    Yesterday was a bit of a whirlwind.  The Indie Spirits was a lovely affair, though they really need to figure out the show aspect because it kind of fell apart this year.  I didn’t see it on television so maybe it was edited into shape, but in the room, it just felt like chaos.

    I spoke to Aronofsky — for the first time since he finally made my list, he noted.  The guy is paying attention.  I wished him the best of luck tonight but he shrugged it off, knowing much of anything beyond Natalie Portman winning just isn’t in the cards.  Nevertheless, it’s been a long, wonderful journey for the film, especially when you look at those box office numbers.

    Mostly I was stoked to see an old college buddy, “Cold Weather” producer Brendan McFadden.  He and director Aaron Katz are still working on that werewolf buddy cop script we told you about recently, and there’s a western in the cards, too.  Here’s hoping those ambitious projects take off.

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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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  • 2/25 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Carter keeps the season interesting, Gervais’s suggestion, Portman overrated?

    • 10 great things Helena Bonham Carter has done or said to spice up this year’s Oscar race. [Vulture]

    • Ricky Gervais humbly suggests an opening monologue for Oscar hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway. [RickyGervais.com]

    • TCM’s Robert Osborne (my sole company on predicting “Letters from Iwo Jima” four years ago) on Oscar campaigns. [Wall Street Journal]

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  • THE LONG SHOT: A toast to the douchebags

    (Not-quite-final predictions here.)

    176 days from the unofficial opening of my Oscar season — a breakfast-hour press screening of “Black Swan” on the first day of the Venice Film Festival — it’s fair to say I’m ready for the endgame.

    Aren’t we all? Whether you’re delighted or disappointed by where the awards trail has led us thus far, it’s fair to say it offers little further room for discovery. Back in the golden days of September, pundits whittled the race down to “The King’s Speech” versus “The Social Network,” past versus present, comfort versus cred, That Was Then versus This Is My Now. And as much as I clung to the idea that it couldn’t be that simple, they were right.

    The axis may have swung in this narrative across the season, and the side-taking may have become more heated in the post-nomination phase, but the fact remains that the increasingly small world of Oscar blogging has largely revolved around two films for the better part of six months. If you want to know what this looped conversation has done to our collective brains, look no further than the fact that I just quoted Jordin Sparks lyrics in the paragraph above.

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  • Pencils down

    As of this moment, all voting polls are closed, all ballots are due, all campaigning is beside the point.  The 2010 Oscar season is over, with just the pesky formality of the actual Oscar ceremony to come.

    So, any thoughts on what tides may have turned in the final moments?  There are more ballots that show up in the final week of voting than you’d think.

    I think the potential beneficiaries would be Helena Bonham Carter (not Hailee Steinfeld) and Annette Bening.  Some think an overall retaliation to the guild dominance of “The King’s Speech” could kick in, but I think that’s highly doubtful.  It would be one thing if a film they just weren’t high on won all those guilds.  It’s another thing entirely when it’s a safe pick.

    I’ll say this, though.  Here is a story (NSFW!) that I imagine some are happy didn’t pop up earlier.

  • OFF THE CARPET: Heading into the home stretch

    I’m watching CNN’s report of the on-going situation in Libya as I write these comparably pointless words. The “real world” seems so unique, so foreign after having our head in the awards season clouds since September. Now, six months in, victory lane is a mere six days away. And man, it’s been a marathon.

    So let’s dive in one more time.

    The journey for “The Social Network” has been a fascinating one. And now, with wins for Best Film Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay and, potentially, Best Director coming, some are arguing an upset by the film in the Best Picture race is still in the cards. It would be delightful, but it would be considerably more surprising than the moment a number of pundits point to as a bellwether shocker in the Academy’s recent history: “And the Oscar goes to…‘Crash.’ Whoa.”

    Most, however, seem to agree that “The King’s Speech” has it in the bag, and I think that’s sound. The only question is, to what extent has it won over the Academy? Anywhere from three to 11 wins makes perfect sense.

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  • 2/17 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Leo’s faux pas, Bagger chats up ‘Waste Land’ helmer, what to learn from Grammys

    • Nikki Finke chats with Relativity Media honcho Ryan Kavanaugh. [Deadline]

    • Gregory Ellwood thinks Melissa Leo flushed her chances at an Oscar down the drain. [Awards Campaign]

    • Melena Ryzik catches up with “Waste Land” director Lucy Walker. (Oscar Guide on documentary features coming tomorrow.) [The Carpetbagger]

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  • ‘King’s Speech’ nabs seven BAFTA Awards

    I had more interesting things to do at the Berlinale this evening than watch the BAFTAs, so the only commentary I can offer is on the winners list itself. And, well, it doesn’t make for terribly exciting reading. To the surprise of precisely no one, “The King’s Speech” ruled the night with seven trophies, though as I predicted, “The Social Network” barred its way in the Best Director category — with further wins for Adapted Screenplay and Editing bringing its total to three.

    Clearly, Fincher’s Oscar hopes are still alive, though it would be unwise to read too much into this result: as I noted earlier, BAFTA voters split their top two awards more often than not.

    Two of the wins for “The King’s Speech,” however, were widely unexpected. With Geoffrey Rush beating Christian Bale to the Best Supporting Actor award — and Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter both predictably winning their categories — the film becomes only the third in BAFTA history to scoop three of the four acting categories.

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  • Previewing BAFTA

    In the 10 years since they moved up in the calendar to pre-Oscar status, the BAFTAs have hovered uncertainly between complying with awards trends across the pond, thereby establishing themselves as a viable precursor, and stubbornly standing by their own – as in 2007, when they opted out of the Coen Brothers-P.T. Anderson faceoff by picking “Atonement,” despite the film’s only other award coming for Best Art Direction.

    This year, however, offers them the best of both worlds. Rewarding “The King’s Speech” will simultaneously allow them to co-sign a heavy Oscar favourite and preserve their national pride.

    Add in the fact that a vote for the film also represents a vote for the much-mourned UK Film Council – oh, and that it just happens to be a smash hit with British audiences – and the royal biopic would likely have been a lock for the top prize even without the support of major US guilds.

    (More, plus predictions, after the jump.)

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  • SANTA BARBARA: Rush toasted with Montecito Award, ‘King’s Speech’ cast receives ensemble honor

    Last night saw Santa Barbara’s tribute to “The King’s Speech” star Geoffrey Rush.  Looking suave with a cleanly shaved head (for his current role on stage in “Diary of a Mad Man”), Rush held court with trademark affable humor and tales of his comparatively brief Hollywood career thus far.

    I Tweeted this and that from the tribute, but more than anything I was reminded again how much I loved the criminally underrated “The Tailor of Panama.” Discussion naturally flowed from “Shine” to “The King’s Speech” and all points in between, an engrossing reminder of just how rich Rush’s work is no matter the role.

    In a recent interview with The Race’s Tim Appelo (which is, consequently, a great place to start for those who continue to diminish the the directorial attributes of “The King’s Speech”), Tom Hooper had a wonderful take on directing the actor…

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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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  • 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]

  • Helena Bonham Carter slights her own performance

    In last week’s episode of Oscar Talk, one reader cheekily asked Anne and Kris which probable nominee they would most like to see out of the running. After much hemming and hawing, Anne landed upon Melissa Leo, while Kris stumped for (or against, rather) Annette Bening.

    While I’d co-sign neither of those choices, it’s just as well Kris didn’t choose that evening to cold-call me on the podcast, since I could easily have whined for hours on end about other contenders — and Helena Bonham Carter, widely seen as a shoo-in for her turn as the eventual Queen Mother in “The King’s Speech,” would have topped the list.

    An inoffensive wallpaper performance to some, it struck me as distractingly twitchy, mannered work against the crisp, unfussy teamwork of leads Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush.

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  • 12/30 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Pixar postage stamps, ‘Inception’ most-Tweeted, what Hollywood can do better

    • Your favorite Pixar characters soon to grace postage stamps. [USPS]

    • “Inception” tops 2010’s list of most-tweeted movies. [The Independent]

    • Neville Page on his part in designing “TRON Legacy.” [The Wrap]

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  • 11/24 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Kunis on her ‘Machinist’ impression, Hammer talks twinning, bad boy celebrity

    (Ended up unexpectedly taking the day off yesterday.  Not that I’m complaining.)

    • Anne Thompson talks to “Secretariat” star Diane Lane. [Thompson on Hollywood]

    • Mila Kunis on dropping to a bony 95 pounds for “Black Swan.” [E! Online]

    • Dave Karger, meanwhile, wonders if the actress can score an Oscar nod alongside co-star Natalie Portman. [Inside Movies]

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  • The (new) Hollywood Reporter’s actress roundtable

    Featuring Annette Bening, Helena Bonham Carter, Natalie POrtman, Nicole Kidman, Hilary Swank and Amy Adams:

  • LONDON: ‘The King’s Speech, ‘Neds’ and the Brit pack

    Unlike, say, the Venice fest – where the jury’s failure to reward any of the (lousy) Italian films in competition is cause for a media strop — the London Film Festival has often seemed somewhat embarrassed by the homegrown portion of its programme, perhaps granting a big red-carpet date to the odd bit of tony Oscar bait while shoving newer and/or independent British filmmakers into shadowy side slots.

    This year, however, the festival appears to be wearing its flag quite contentedly. This week’s lavish gala screenings have included such big-draw Britpics as “Another Year” and “The King’s Speech” – but rather less predictably, Peter Mullan’s hard bit of Scottish urban realism “Neds” was afforded similar treatment, while tonight’s hot ticket is local TV comedian Richard Ayoade’s Toronto-acclaimed (and Weinstein-acquired) debut “Submarine.” With Joanna Hogg’s bare-bones sophomore feature “Archipelago” also premiering tonight – and unexpectedly shortlisted for the fest’s Best Film award – programmers seem bent on drawing attention to the multitude of approaches in contemporary UK cinema.

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