In Contention

Tag: NYFCC

  • OSCAR TALK: Ep. 48 — Armond White vs. Darren Aronofsky, guilds speaking up, ‘True Grit’ box office, awards show/party weekend on the way, supporting actress wide open

    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.

    Today is the final day of phase one this season. Ballots are due by 5pm PT, so everyone needs to pick a chair before the music stops. And we have plenty to discuss as a result, so let’s see what’s on the docket today…

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  • 12/14 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: critics’ awards scoop and outrage, the year in posters, Steinfeld’s ‘Grit’

    • Tim Appelo gets the inside scoop of yesterday’s NYFCC vote. [The Race]

    • David Poland, meanwhile, is outraged that critics so far, in their dwindling numbers, have failed to resonate by missing the fertile ground between obscure and obvious. [The Hot Blog]

    • Jenelle Riley sits down with “True Grit” young’un Hailee Steinfeld. [Backstage]

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  • ‘Social Network’ adds NYFCC to its tally

    Well, the (rather predictable) steamroller keeps on going today as “The Social Network” adds the New York Film Critics Circle to its tally of early kudos.  The question now and through the next few weeks will be, is it “L.A. Confidential?” That was the question for “The Hurt Locker” last year, though, and we know how that turned out.

    More notable, I think, is the resurgence of “The Kids Are All Right” after a small speed bump in this morning’s BFCA announcement.  The film won Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Screenplay.  Colin Firth, meanwhile, followed yesterday’s LAFCA win for Best Actor with a tip of the hat from the New York crowd, all prelude to an inevitable Oscar win come February.

    Melissa Leo also continues to have a great showing in the precursor season, as she took home the award for Best Supporting Actress.  And…wait, I’m getting bored already just writing this up.  Just have a look for yourself at The Circuit.

    [Photo: Focus Features]

  • NYFCC on the way…

    Holding pattern.  And maybe it’s time to revamp the ole’ website?  Every time I go there I expect to find that Julian Fellowes has won Best Screenplay for “Gosford Park.” Anyway, the announcement should drop within the hour.

    In the meantime, here are the Southeastern Film Critics Association’s picks.

  • ‘Hurt Locker’ keeps it going with NYFCC

    The Hurt LockerThe New York Film Critics Circle decided not to announce its list of winners in real time this year, which is a shame because it has always been one of my favorite aspects of the season.  What we’re left with is scattered press release reveals, Twitterers scooping the group’s info as emails and phone calls circulated, and basically, the vibe that it’s just another cog in the wheel.

    And that’s before you get to the absolutely uninspired list of winners.

    Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker” took down the Best Picture prize, joining the ranks of “Brokeback Mountain,” “Sideways,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “L.A. Confidential,” “Leaving Las Vegas,” “Schindler’s List” and “Goodfellas” (just to go back 20 years) with the designation of coming out on top with both the Los Angeles and New York critics.

    The rest of the rundown is more of a snooze, other than George Clooney also being cited for “Fantastic Mr. Fox” along with “Up in the Air” for his Best Actor win.  “In the Loop” (a film with a popularity totally lost on me) nabbed the screenplay award, so I guess that’s something new.

    But honestly, the only award that made me say, “Nice,” was the Best First Feature prize for Steve McQueen’s “Hunger,” which was released in Los Angeles last December and landed on my top 10 list as a result, but didn’t make it to New York until 2009.

    The full list of winners after the jump…

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  • Predict the NYFCC Awards

    Tilda Swinton in JuliaAfter surprising myself with the number of LAFCA categories I called yesterday, I’m set to disprove my newfound prescience by predicting today’s New York Film Critics’ Circle awards.

    Many are thinking the New Yorkers’ highbrow urban sensibility will favor “A Serious Man,” — but I don’t know if they’ll want to crown the Coens just two years after they last did so. Others think they may offer “Up in the Air” compensation for its meager showing yesterday, but it seemed more an L.A.-style pick to me.

    It may seem foolhardy to predict a repeat of yesterday’s LAFCA wins in the top two categories, but it wouldn’t be unprecedented: “Brokeback Mountain” nabbed Best Picture and Director honors from both groups in 2005, and the indie edge (and low box-office) of “The Hurt Locker” gives it the feel of a cause that critics’ groups won’t mind joining forces to champion.

    What are your best guesses?

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  • 9/23 Oscarweb Round-up

    Hugh Jackman at the 81st annual Academy Awards• Hugh Jackman speaks out on his Emmy win and whether he’d return as Oscar host. [Vulture]

    • “A Serious Man,” Colin Firth the big winners in a Toronto critics poll. [indieWIRE]

    • Mary Pilon sits down with activist and star of “The Cove,” Ric O’Barry. [Speakeasy]

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  • “How many Oscar bloggers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?”

    When David Carr makes that crack at around the 1:50 mark in this recent Carpetbagger video, surrounded by Gold Derby’s Tom O’Neil and Hollywood Elsewhere’s Jeffrey Wells, I literally choked on my pecans with laughter.  I then proceeded to laugh further at Wells’s attempt at debunking “The Dark Knight”‘s Oscar hopes because of its “interminable third act.”  But even a fan such as yours truly had to give it to Carr’s comeback quip, “How many times did that sucker end?”

    Anyway, the video was shot at the recent New York Film Critics Circle awards and features interviews with Sean Penn, Courtney Hunt, Jenny Lumet, Sally Hawkins and Entertainment Weekly’s Lisa Schwartzbaum.  Take a look.  And someone give this guy a TV show already.

  • 1/6 Oscarweb Round-up

    Jamie Callum• Patrick Goldstein busts Miramax’s balls for fudging a “Doubt” praise quote. [The Big Picture]

    • David Poland analyzes the top 10 collective for Oscar tea leaves. [The Hot Blog]

    • Sam Thielman reports from the NYC Lincoln Center Q&A with David Fincher… [Variety]

    • …and Lane Brown gives the director some more grief for his “charm offensive.” [Vulture]

    • Alex Billington has Jamie Callum’s “Gran Torino” music video (and the balls to state “those of you that have seen this by now know that it’s actually a great movie.”) [First Showing]

    • Paula Schwartz reports from the New York Film Critics Circle awards with a few embarrassing quotes from the always entertaining Rex Reed. [The Carpetbagger]

    • Todd Martens touches on Bruce Springsteen’s favor to Mickey Rourke and Darren Aronofsky. [Pop & Hiss]

    • Anita Singh sits down with “Slumdog Millionaire” star Dev Patel. [Daily Telegraph]

    • Susan King previews the Palm Springs International Film Festival. [The Envelope]

    • Chrissy Iley chats it up with Frank Langella. [The Sunday Times]

  • An unfortunate precedent

    With Sally Hawkins and Sean Penn each picking up a gong from the National Society of Film Critics yesterday, the two actors thus complete the trifecta of major critics’ awards, having already taken the New York and Los Angeles critics’ respective honors. (I know some refer to the ‘big four,’ but we all know the National Board of Review isn’t really a critics’ group.)

    Ordinarily, such a sweep would make both shoo-ins for an Oscar nomination, which is certainly true in Penn’s case. Hawkins, however, continues an unusual awards trajectory — the unequivocal critical favorite who has been unaccountably overlooked by SAG and the Broadcast Film Critics. I remain confident Hawkins will find her way into the Oscar circle, but those peculiar snubs prevent her from being the slam-dunk she should be.

    With that in mind, I did some historical digging to find out if there’s a precedent for an actor taking the ‘big three’ critics’ prizes, and yet missing out on an Oscar nomination. As it turns out, there is one, and his name is Bill Murray.

    His hilarious supporting turn in 1998’s “Rushmore” (which remains, for me, the only element of a Wes Anderson film I’ve ever wholly liked) essentially instigated the revival of Murray’s cool, and was duly rewarded by the NYFCC, LAFCA and NSFC, but neither SAG, nor the Academy, were amused. Chances are the film was too eccentric for their tastes, or Murray was still too prickly a figure for them to embrace as they did (sort of, at least) five years later.

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  • Catching up with ‘Milk’ in the Bible belt

    Sean Penn in MilkIn 1977 Harvey Milk was elected to position as city supervisor in San Francisco. Milk, an openly gay man, was the first of his kind. Rather than concealing his sexual orientation, he wore it proudly, and used his influence in a largely gay section of San Francisco to do good. He became an effective advocate for gay rights across the United States until his assassination, in 1978, by Dan White. Mr. Milk and Mr. White are the subjects of the terrific new film, “Milk,” directed by Gus Van Sant.

    The substantially gifted actor Sean Penn plays the lead role, and he is supported by Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch, Diego Luna and James Franco. The film has generated a fair amount of awards buzz, and it should. It’s one of the best of the year.

    In November, interestingly, the citizens of the state of California went to the polls to vote on Proposition 8, a measure that would abolish the recognition of same-sex marriage in the Golden State. In my home state of Arkansas, voters were asked to determine whether same-sex couples could adopt children or serve as foster parents. In both instances, supporters of gay rights lost.

    If you have seen “Milk” or the exceptional documentary “The Times of Harvey Milk” by Rob Epstein, you know that Milk worked tirelessly to defeat Proposition 6 in 1978, just before his death. Prop. 6 was an effort to prohibit gay people from serving as public school teachers. As I watched “Milk,” after the November elections, I couldn’t help but see the parallels. Both struck at the very foundation of individual liberty.

    Writing for The Huffington Post last month, Mr. Epstein observed, “Although Proposition 8 wasn’t exactly a re-make of Proposition 6, it’s the same disaster movie storyline pitch: any recognition of constitutional rights for gay and lesbian citizens will somehow destroy the natural order and as a result America’s institutions — be they schools or marriage — will crumble.”

    “Milk” is on course for a Best Picture nomination at the Academy Awards early next year. It was selected as the best film by the New York Film Critics Circle and yesterday received a best ensemble nomination from the Screen Actors Guild. And no seems to be surprised by it. 2008 has been a bad one for people in same sex relationships, or who support gay rights. Still, it’s plausible that in the same state that recently approved Prop. 8 by generous margins, a film directed by an openly gay man, about a gay man, his gay friends and gay rights in California could win Best Picture. Wouldn’t that be something?

  • WEEKLY WRAP: Jackman hosting, Globes puzzling, Hawkins rising

    • After months of speculating, we finally have an Oscar host … and his name is Hugh Jackman. Bouquets all round.

    • Obviously, the Golden Globe nominations were the week’s biggest news. They offered their usual dose of wacky surprises — principally the near shut-out of “Milk.”

    • Sticking with the Globes, we got some of the nominees’ reactions here, before offering a subjective take on the rights and wrongs of this year’s slate.

    • Elsewhere in the precursors, the Los Angeles Film Critics threw up the most unexpected — and contentious — pick of the awards race so far, handing their top prize to “WALL-E.”

    • Their New York counterparts played it safer, giving Best Picture to “Milk,” but they had their own surprise package in the shape of “Happy-Go-Lucky.”

    • Meanwhile, the latter film’s star, Sally Hawkins, emerged as a genuine threat in the Best Actress race, taking awards from both groups. We interviewed her here.

    • The Broadcast Film Critics announced their nominations — which were more interesting for what they left out (“Revolutionary Road” in particular) than what they kept in.

    • In a rare mea culpa from the Academy’s music branch, the disqualification of “The Dark Knight”‘s score was thankfully reversed.

    • We chatted to the man who has so far enjoyed the smoothest ride through awards season: “Man on Wire” helmer James Marsh.

    • As the prospect of an acting victory for Clint Eastwood hovers in the background, this week’s edition of The Lists examines which noteworthy actors have won for less notheworthy work.

  • ‘Rachel,’ ‘The Wrestler’ were close; Cruz, Hawkins sit pretty

    Mickey Rourke in The WrestlerAs I suspected, “Rachel Getting Married” and “The Wrestler” were right in the thick of today’s NYFCC voting.  As he does annually, Tom O’Neil runs down the inside scoop on the particulars of the vote.  He gets his info from the New York Post’s Lou Lumenick.

    Apparently “Rachel” was nipping at the heels of “Milk” for Best Picture, while Mickey Rourke came in a relatively close second for Best Actor honors in “The Wrestler.”   Robert Seigel’s script for the latter was also in the conversation, landing in third place.  It’s nice to see Kate Winslet was also in the running for Best Actress (for “Revolutionary Road”), albeit in fourth place.

    The only mentions for “The Dark Knight” were a second place showing for Heath Ledger and a third place showing for Best Cinematography, while the only landslide win looks to have been “Man on Wire” for Best Documentary, 20 points ahead of “Waltz with Bashir.”

    Entertainment Weekly’s Dave Karger, meanwhile, shrewdly points out that “in the last seven years, 11 actors have been recognized by both organizations (LAFCA and NYFCC) and all 11 eleven went on to score Oscar nominations as well.”  The peculiarity bodes well for Penelope Cruz and Sally Hawkins, Karger says, and I’m inclined to agree.

  • ‘Milk,’ ‘Happy’ win big with NYFCC

    Sally Hawkins in Happy-Go-LuckyThe Best Picture victory for “Milk” is going to be the lede for most people as far as today’s New York Film Critics Circle awards is concerned, but the bigger story is “Happy-Go-Lucky,” which finds itself right back in the thick of the Oscar conversation.

    The group handed Mike Leigh and Sally Hawkins honors for Best Director and Best Actress respectively for the film.  This marks the second award in as many days for both.  Leigh won the screenplay award yesterday with the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and Hawkins was also singled out for her performance.

    But back to “Milk,” I was a little surprised to see the film do so well here, also taking honors for Best Actor (Sean Penn) and Best Supporting Actor (Josh Brolin).  It’s a slightly more populist opinion from a crowd that likes to be fringe, though Jenny Lumet’s screenplay win for “Rachel Getting Married” was anything but a shock.

    Penelope Cruz continued her expected steamroll through the Oscar season with yet another supporting actress win (she won with LAFCA as well), while “WALL-E” surprised no one with a victory as Best Animated Film.  Meanwhile, Anthony Dod Mantle, who came in as a runner-up with the L.A. critics for his work behind the camera on “Slumdog Millionaire,” happened to walk away with the honor today.

    “Man on Wire” took honors for Best Documentary, while “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” won for Best Foreign Film.

    It was yet another day of snubs for “Revolutionary Road,” which turned up with zero nominations from the BFCA and no mentions from the L.A. critics.  And a film that has suddenly become a real threat as the first major precursors have begun to arrive, “The Dark Knight,” hit an expected roadblock with the Gotham crew, finding no love in any category.  Slightly more surprising, however, is the lack of recognition for Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler.”  But I have a hunch it was in the hunt throughout, maybe just coming up short in this category or that.

    (Full list of winners after the jump.)

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  • Waiting on the Gotham crowd

    NYFCCAlright, so last year, the NYFCC announcement came down close to 10:00 a.m. PST, so I expect in the next few hours we’ll have some answers.  You can check on the group’s official site to watch the winners clock in as announced (unless something changes this year), but for now, I’ll wager a couple of guesses.

    The way the New York critics vote, with various in-fighting and films left standing eventually crowned victor (which leads to weird Best Picture choices like “United 93” and “Out of Sight”), this group can be an erratic one to predict.  I’m not sensing a “Slumdog” victory or major love for “Milk,” but I think this is the place where, say, “Rachel Getting Married” or even “The Visitor” can claim a piece of the critics awards pie.

    That said, I’m going to guess way out on the fringe and say “The Wrestler,” with a win for Mickey Rourke to accompany it.  Maybe Aronofsky can even slide in for Best Director, or perhaps that’s where Jonathan Demme will get his precursor due.  For actress, I anticipate Anne Hathaway, but a win for Melissa Leo or Kristin Scott Thomas wouldn’t surprise me either.

    Anyway, take a crack at it and give us your NYFCC predictions below.