In Contention

Tag: Michelangelo Antonioni

  • Oscarcast nixes honorary awards

    Jerry Lewis accepting the Jean Hersholt Award at the 81st Annual Academy AwardsAnyone know the reason why the Academy is so restlessly change-happy this week? Not content with doubling the Best Picture field and potentially eliminating the Best Original Song category, they’ve also decided go ahead and cut all honorary awards from the March telecast.

    Instead, the hitherto irregularly awarded Honorary (AKA lifetime achievement), Irving G. Thalberg Memorial and Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Awards will be announced in September and handed out at a private dinner in November. AMPAS  president Sid Ganis explains in the press release:

    “For some years now, the Board has struggled to balance the desire to truly honor worthy individuals with the time limitations that the Oscar® telecast imposes on these honors … By creating a separate event for recognizing these outstanding people in the movie industry, we’re insuring that each honoree will be given his or her full due, without compromise.”

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  • 6/2 Web Round-up

    Alien• With “The Hangover” on the way next weekend, Dave Itzkoff talks to director Todd Phillips. [New York Times]

    • Tom O’Neil remembers Jay Leno’s 12-year Emmy losing streak as the host exits “The Tonight Show.” [Gold Derby]

    • Hey, proper use of the word “exclusive” for a change (and a few days late linking).  Steve Weintraub talks to Tony Scott about the recently announced “Alien” prequel. [Collider]

    • Another late-to-link piece, but it seems Blockbuster Video will dip into the movie memorabilia racket to steer clear of fiscal life support. [Hollywood Reporter]

    • With “Revolutionary Road” making its way to DVD and Blu-ray, a quick Q&A with Oscar-nominated Michael Shannon. [Premiere]

    • 15 pages of silliness to jack up the traffic numbers: “Where are they now?” with the cast of “Friday.” [New York Daily News]

    • A list of…wait for it…the top 10 best movie punches.  Think that’s terribly specific?  Wait until tomorrow’s requisite arbitrary list link. [Rope of Silicon]

    • “Coraline” makes its way to Broadway, with analysis from the Financial District. [Wall Street Journal]

    • First look at James Cameron’s “Avatar”: screenshots from the accompanying video game?  Lame. [/Film]

    • Glenn Kenny writes up the DVD release of Michelangelo Antonioni’s “Zabriskie Point.” [Some Came Running]

  • All over it

    It’s been around for a few weeks now, but since next week is going to be pretty Cannes-heavy (the fest kicks off on Wednesday), this is as good a time as any to say that I want to buy this year’s official, Antonioni-referencing festival poster, frame it, and stick it on my living room wall. Forever. Sheer perfection.

    Official Cannes 2009 poster