• Carolyn Giardina floats the possibility of “How to Train Your Dragon” beating “Toy Story 3” for Best Animated Feature with nothing but those (not unexpected) Visual Effects Society wins to justify it. [The Race]
• James Cameron thinks Christopher Nolan should have been nominated for Best Director this year. [Hollywood Reporter]
• Steve Pond explains the voting procedure of the five categories not on the ballots that went out yesterday. [The Odds]
• Darren Aronofsky and David O. Russell reveal a dislike for filming sex scenes. [Hollywood Reporter]
• Krista Smith, meanwhile, sits down with Russell to talk “The Fighter.” [Little Gold Men]
• Rebecca Keegan and Nicole Sperling write up Scott Rudin vs. Harvey Weinstein. [The Envelope]
• 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]
• $55 million…for an Oscar? [New York Post]
• Move over Natalie Portman. Marion Cotillard is carrying, too. [Us Weekly]
• Are Golden Globes speeches always better than the Oscars? [Movieline]
• Guest blogging for Nathaniel Rogers, Michael C. writes up the apparent death of “Oscar bait” as it pertains to Best Picture winners. [The Film Experience]
• Steve Pond chats with “The Kids Are All Right” writer/director Lisa Cholodenko. [The Odds]
• James Cameron discusses his inspiration for “Avatar” (it won’t go away) in an extended collector’s edition clip. [MTV Movies Blog]
• Pete Hammond talks “I Am Love” with dark horse Best Actress contender Tilda Swinton. [Deadline]
• How DreamWorks Animation is using social gaming to boost “Megamind.” [Hollywood Reporter]
• Meet the characters of “Morning Glory.” [MakingOf]
• AMPAS and mtvU launch the third annual “Oscars Correspondent Contest” for college journalists. [Oscars.org]
• Across the pond, Stuart Heritage counts down the ways “Rabbit Hole” could be an Oscar bet for Nicole Kidman. [The Guardian]
• The Durst family predictably threatens to sue over “All Good Things.” [Deadline]
• Jeffrey Wells reminds of the forthcoming TCM airing of the restored “Metropolis” and one hour documentary “Metropolis Refound.” I’ll…be…there. [Hollywood Elsewhere]
• Steve Pond conveys positive word on Christian Bale and (as reported for months here) Melissa Leo’s performances in “The Fighter” from ShoEast. [The Odds]
• Naomi Watts on “Fair Game,” Valerie Plame and politics in Hollywood. [HitFix]
There has been some debate this morning in the British corner of the Twitterverse about the merits of The Guardian’s inaugural Film Power 100 list, which claims to represent the 100 industry figures current wielding the most power over, and influence on, UK filmgoers.
It’s an ungainly and frequently baffling collection of names, mashing together actors, directors, moguls and journalists, but as readers pick away at the inclusion of this star over that — and non-Brits scratch their heads and wonder who the hell Claudia Winkleman is — few are arguing with the paper’s #1 choice: the long-dormant but mightily resurrected James Cameron. They explain his selection as follows:
[H]e is almost the entire reason why [3D] is no longer viewed exclusively as a sideshow gimmick … No film-maker has taken a more passionate interest and involvement in cinema technology than this Canadian-born writer-director-producer, who pushed 3D and computer-generated character creation to a point of sophistication that would enable him to make his Pocahontas-goes-science-fiction extravaganza.
The press release, in part:
The Producers Guild of America (PGA)…announced today that the legendary Oscar award-winning producer, director, writer James Cameron will be honored with the 2011 Milestone Award. The award will be presented to Cameron at the 22nd Annual Producers Guild Awards ceremony on Saturday, January 22nd at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles.
The Milestone Award is the Guild’s highest honor that recognizes an individual (or team) who has made historic contributions to the entertainment industry. The Producers Guild has paid tribute to such luminaries as Clint Eastwood, Alfred Hitchcock, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Ron Howard & Brian Grazer, and Walt Disney, among others.
“James Cameron is an exceptionally talented producer—a true innovator with the rare combination of technical ingenuity and creative vision,” said Paula Wagner, Chair of the 2011 Producers Guild Awards. “Jim has continued to change the film landscape with his ability to deliver groundbreaking masterpieces that present audiences and the industry with unrivaled beauty, originality and impact.”
[Photo: 42 West]
• Michael Cieply chats with comeback kid Ben Affleck, whose film “The Town” is set to play Venice this week. [New York Times]
• Remember when “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives” won the Palme d’Or? Parisian critics would rather not. [The Guardian]
• Catching up with Julian Schnabel, re: “Miral,” prior to Venice. [Variety]
At Comic-Con, director Guillermo Del Toro announced that one of his next projects would be a remake of Disney’s “The Haunted Mansion.” Del Toro would be co-writing and producing, though, not directing (and boy did that news get a split reaction from movie-goers). He said his next directorial gig would be announced shortly, and today, we get the answer.
Mike Fleming reports at Deadline.com that the “Pan’s Labyrinth” helmer will be a 3D adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s “At the Mountains of Madness,” a project he’s been circling since he set it up at DreamWorks in 2004. Now Universal has stepped in to breathe life into the film once more. But that ain’t the half of it.
As mentioned, it’ll be a 3D film. With that in mind, James Cameron has come aboard as producer, making this instantly an event film to anticipate, given the scope of Cameron’s 2009 3D ground-breaker “Avatar.” I still think one or two event films along these lines every year would have more impact than blindly converting various 2D titles and muddying the waters of potential for 3D filmed entertainment.
There’s zero extras! There’s so few extras that you put it in, you push play, and the movie starts. There are no trailers, there’s no bullshit at the beginning that you have to endlessly go through. I have a deal with the studio and it goes like this: Any movie I make that makes over a billion dollars goes out without a bunch of crap trailers for your other movies.
James Cameron, discussing the DVD/Blu-ray release of “Avatar” (which drops tomorrow).
Check out the rest at Entertainment Weekly.
Fresh off their first Oscar win (Best Costume Design for “The Young Victoria”), fledgling distributor Apparition has picked up a well-regarded Sundance indie that could end up buttressing their 2010 awards campaign for Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life.”
“Welcome to the Rileys,” a domestic drama starring James Gandolfini and Melissa Leo as bereaved parents and Kristen Stewart as the teenage prostitute who comes between them, marks the sophomore directorial outing for Jake Scott, son of Sir Ridley. (His sister Jordan, by the way, made a respectable debut last year with “Cracks.” Busy family.)
Variety reports that Apparition and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group have finalized a seven-figure deal on the film, with a view to an autumn release.
• Elvis Mitchell bemoans the fact that the 10 didn’t leave room for a comedy. [CNN]
• John Horn reminds that the “Oscar boost” isn’t all that prevalent for the films that need it the most: documentaries and foreign language films. [Los Angeles Times]
• James Cameron says he’d have been just fine with the aborted “Avatar” spoof. It still wouldn’t have made the bit any funnier. [E! Online]
This year’s Best Director category has stirred a media frenzy for featuring, along with Best Picture, a face-to-face duel frequently dubbed “the battle of the exes.” Unfortunately the desire to tout that headline has clouded the discussion of the films, their merits and the actual accomplishments of those at the helm. But who cares about that stuff?
Seriously, though, this could be a milestone occasion for two of the filmmakers in question, a return to glory for two other former awards season players and is already the second notch on an exciting young filmmaker’s belt as he continues to make his mark on the industry. Not a bad cross-section.
The nominees are:
“Avatar” (James Cameron)
“The Hurt Locker” (Kathryn Bigelow)
“Inglourious Basterds” (Quentin Tarantino)
“Precious” (Lee Daniels)
“Up in the Air” (Jason Reitman)
• Elysa Gardner catches up with Ryan Bingham in New York. [USA Today]
• John Ratzenberger talks Pixar across the pond. [The Independent]
• Steve Pond chats with “An Education” star Carey Mulligan, who seems to be hitting the pavement a bit late in the game. [The Odds]
• David Poland sits down with Mark Boal and, separately, Paul Ottosson and Ray Beckett to talk “The Hurt Locker.” [The Hot Blog]
• Saoirse Ronan talks “The Lovely Bones” across the pond. [Daily Telegraph]
• Chris Jones profiles Roger Ebert, the man and his thumbs. [Esquire]