In Contention

Tag: Oscarweb

  • 1/27 Oscarweb Round-up

    Stephen DaldryA late installment today.  Relaxing.

    • Kvetching over the “Dark Knight” slight, with stats to assist.  “The Reader” is officially the worst reviewed Best Picture nominee since 2000 and the lowest grossing as well. [Film.com]

    • The ‘Slumdog’ smear sure is relentless.  It’s just sad to see smart reporters like Dennis Lim taking the bait from publicists and an all-too-convenient backlash. [Slate]

    • Peter Bart dug the SAG Awards. [Peter Bart]

    • Dave Karger runs down some 2008 Oscar trivia, including the Stephen Daldry hat-trick of Best Director nods that, I believe, one of our commenters was all over on Thursday. [Entertainment Weekly]

    • Mickey Rourke is gonna lace up the boots for real at WrestleMania. [MSNBC]

    • David Carr and the value of an Oscar, monetarily speaking. [The Carpetbagger]

    • Patrick Goldstein checks out David Denby and A.O. Scott going at it on Charlie Rose. [The Big Picture]

    • The Weinstein Company brings on Lionsgate honcho Tom Ortenberg.  Hey, that might actually work. [Los Angeles Times]

  • 1/26 Oscarweb Round-up

    Jim Carrey in I Love You Philip Morris• Mark Magnier quotes a few Indians and feels it okay to say a nation disapproves of “Slumdog Millionaire.” [Los Angeles Times]

    • Jeffrey Wells wonders if category confusion could keep Kate Winslet form a lead actress win, especially in the wake of Meryl Streep’s victory last night. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • Tom O’Neil gives poor Anil Kapoor shit for forgetting Simon Beaufoy’s name in his list of appreciations last night.  Give the guy a break, Tom O. [Gold Derby]

    • Beaufoy and Danny Boyle, meanwhile, talk about their film across the pond. [The Times]

    • It looks like there’s just one contender worth banking on. [USA Today]

    • Brad Brevet finally catches up with the Academy’s preferential balloting system.  Knowledge is power, Brad. [Rope of Silicon]

    • Peter Bart writes up Jim Carrey’s recent string of press for risk-taking role choices.  Finally the pendulum is swinging back, ever so slowly. [Peter Bart]

    • Anne Thompson talks this weekend’s screenwriter’s panel from Santa Barbara. [Thompson on Hollywood]

    • Tiffany Hsu on the box office boost for this year’s Oscar contenders still in the marketplace. [Los Angeles Times]

  • 1/19 Oscarweb Round-up

    (from left) Abigail Breslin and Paul Dano in Little Miss Sunshine(It’s kind of hard to find anything with meat on its bones amid all the boring, derivative Sundance coverage.)

    • David Poland spends 30 minutes with genius Charlie Kaufman. [The Hot Blog]

    • Patrick Goldstein comes to Edward Zwick’s defence over a wrong-headed, borderline moronic assessment of his recent film “Defiance.” [The Big Picture]

    • Nathaniel Rogers takes his final Oscar stabs. [The Film Experience]

    • Tom O’Neil catches up with “Reader” makeup head Ivana Primorac. [Gold Derby]

    • Speaking of which, in case you missed it over the weekend, Gerard Kennedy talked to Primorac and the rest of the film’s below-the-line crew in this week’s edition of “Tech Support.” [In Contention]

    • Dave Karger wonders if Meryl Streep’s precursor consistency will nab her a third Oscar.  If pressed to answer today, my money would be on her, too. [Entertainment Weekly]

    • Your chance to be interviewed about “The Dark Knight” and Oscar and a poll asking whether you’d be more inclined to watch the Oscars if the film is nominated for Best Picture. [USA Today]

    • Christopher Campbell takes a look at a Sundance story of yore: “Little Miss Sunshine.” [Spout Blog]

  • 1/16 Oscarweb Round-up

    Roddy Piper in They Live• A brilliant roundtable: wrestlers discussing “The Wrestler.”  It’s just nice that Luger has his faculties about him now. [Fox Searchlight]

    • While we’re on the subject, the top 10 wrestlers in movies.  I’m big on #10 and #3.  Not so much on #1. [The Times]

    • Making the SAG award statuette. [The Envelope]

    • Kate Dailey reports from a SoHo Q&A with “Gran Torino” director and star Clint Eastwood. [Vulture]

    • A nice Leonardo DiCaprio appreciation. [The Guardian]

    • Feel-good films for a global recession. [The Independent]

    • Patrick Goldstein picks up on TV producer Chuck Lorre’s recent post-“Big Bang Theory” vanity card, bemoaning the negativity of this year’s Oscar contenders. [The Big Picture]

  • 1/15 Oscarweb Round-up

    Will Smith• Kim Voynar responds to the foreign shortlist. [Movie City News]

    • Pete Hammond wonders if “The Dark Knight” in dicey waters with the “Reader” surge coming on strong. [Notes on a Season]

    • Tom O’Neil thinks keeping the Oscar presenters a secret until the big night is a mistake.  Eh, I dig it. [Gold Derby]

    • Paula Schwartz catches up with Clint Eastwood at the National Board of Review awards. [The Carpetbagger]

    • Nirpal Dahliwal on why “Slumdog Millionaire” could have only been made by a westerner. [The Guardian]

    • The Press Association gets some Obama inauguration comments from Will Smith at the “Seven Pounds” red carpet across the pond. [The Independent]

    • The only nomination “The Dark Knight” will share with “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” all year long: the Publicist Awards. [Variety]

  • 1/14 Oscarweb Round-up

    Gomorrah• Stop the presses, Tom O’Neil meets the Carpetbagger at the Globes. [Gold Derby]

    • Scott Foundas on the “Gomorrah” foreign committee snub. [LA Weekly]

    • David Poland talks to Mike Leigh and Sally Hawkins. [The Hot Blog]

    • David Carr is stoked about the “new kind of prom queen” Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire” represents. [The Carpetbagger]

    • It’s likely to become a tired (if true) trend: David Gritten calls the film “the first film of the Obama era.” [Daily Telegraph]

    • Patrick Goldstein considers “Gran Torino” reason enough to warrant a Clint Eastwood class on acting career management. [The Big Picture]

  • 1/13 Oscarweb Round-up

    Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight• Tom O’Neil chats with Pete Hammond and Anthony Breznican about possible repeat victors from Sunday night’s Globe ceremony. [Gold Derby]

    • Sasha Stone reminds that Kate Winslet is much more due in 2009 than Sigourney Weaver was in 1988. [Awards Daily]

    • David Carr catches up with Danny Boyle at the Fox Searchlight Golden Globes afterparty. [The Carpetbagger]

    • John Wayne and Heath Ledger make Steve Mason’s list of the best final performances ever. [/Film]

    • Anita Singh reports the Oscar odds in Kate Winslet’s favor. [Daily Telegraph]

    • Danny Boyle says he’ll never be a “proper director.” [The Guardian]

    • Rebecca Ascher-Walsh gives a quick preview of the 2009 film year. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Christopher Campbell goes with Sam Mendes for the lone director spot.  Hmm… [Spout Blog]

  • 1/10 Oscarweb Round-up

    Nicole Kidman in Australia• “Milk” composer Danny Elfman has signed on to score “Terminator Salvation.”  Eh. [MTV]

    • Jeffrey Wells keeps the quoted-out-of-context game running with that Nicole Kidman “squirm” story. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • Regarding said story, Michael Cieply reports it properly, indicating the “perils of candor.” [The Carpetbagger]

    • Alicia Lozano writes up the resurrection of the Golden Globes. [The Envelope]

    • Tom O’Neil has some backstage interviews from Thursday’s Critics’ Choice Awards. [Gold Derby]

    • Anne Thompson reports on Oscar hopes from the AFI Awards. [Thompson on Hollywood]

    • T.L. Stanley stakes a claim for her Golden Globe bets. [Gold Derby]

    • Guy Adams has a preview of the upcoming Globes, with a bit about that Anne Hathaway win slip-up. [The Independent]

    • Exciting times for indieWIRE: a new design and, apparently, a newly imagined site is on the horizon. [indieWIRE]

  • 1/9 Oscarweb Round-up

    Michael Sheen• Patrick Goldstein is happy to NOT talk Oscar at an Oscar party. [The Big Picture]

    • Jeffrey Wells somehow reads “backlash” into a harmless, truthful quote. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • David S. Cohen considers the awards gala glut in the face of economic troubles. [Variety]

    • Tom O’Neil chats it up with “Last Chance Harvey” star Dustin Hoffman. [Gold Derby]

    • Jeremy Kay on films looking for the ticket sales boost of Golden Globe recognition. [The Guardian]

    • Brad Brevet calls Razzie founder John Wilson out on some dubious comments. [Rope of Silicon]

    • Christina Patterson sits down with “Frost/Nixon” star Michael Sheen. [The Times]

    • A brief back-and-forth with the critics’ choice for Best Young Actor Dev Patel. [Daily Telegraph]

  • 1/8 Oscarweb Round-up

    Rebecca Hall• Patrick Goldstein waxes on about why he thinks “WALL-E,” “The Reader” and “The Wrestler” will be Oscar losers (for Best Pic). [The Big Picture]

    • Peter Bart observes Oscar campaign “combat fatigue” at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. [Peter Bart]

    • Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard talk to KCRW’s Jason Bentley. [KCRW]

    • David Carr does some pre-DGA speculating. [The Carpetbagger]

    • Tom O’Neil takes a stab at predicting tonight’s Critics’ Choice Awards. [Gold Derby]

    • While a few online mag staffers take a stab at the Globes. [Premiere]

    • In praise of Clint Eastwood’s…face. [Slate]

    • Xan Brooks wonders what the point of the People’s Choice Awards is. [The Guardian]

    • Rebecca Hall gets some much-deserved ink across the pond for popping up on the BAFTA Best Newcomer shortlist. [Daily Telegraph]

    • Howard Feinstein talks to “Man on Wire” director James Marsh. [indieWIRE]

    • John Horn on the perils of high-brow cinema in the marketplace. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Esther Walker says “Revolutionary Road” will change the obscurity of Richard Yates. [The Independent]

    • Kevin Maher talks to Liev Schreiber about the action hero redefining of his career as of late. [The Times]

  • 1/7 Oscarweb Round-up

    Anne Hathaway• Noah Forrest talks with “Che” scribe Peter Buchman. [Movie City News]

    • David S. Cohen takes a deeper look at the visual effects bake-off. [Thompson on Hollywood]

    • Tom O’Neil chats with Dave Karger and Michael Musto about the seemingly Oscar-locked Heath Ledger. [Gold Derby]

    • Reed Johnson talks to the descendents of “Defiance”‘s Bielski brothers. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Yet another “what’s up with all the movie Nazs” piece. [The Independent]

    • Christopher Goodwin talks to Daniel Craig about his experimentalism. [The Times]

    • Anthony Breznican profiles “Rachel Getting Married” star Anne Hathaway. [USA Today]

  • 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]

  • 1/5 Oscarweb Round-up

    (from left) Bill Condon and Laurence Mark• “Che” tops David Poland’s top 10 list, which also includes…”Mamma Mia!”  That’s originality for ya. [The Hot Blog]

    • David Carr does some number crunching on a few Best Picture contenders. [The Carpetbagger]

    • Michael Cieply spends some time with the producers of this year’s Oscar telecast. [New York Times]

    • Lewis Beale on the Jewish image in Hollywood. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Brad Brevet draws a connection between Walt Kowalski and Ethan Edwards. [Rope of Silicon]

    • Christopher Rosen spotlights performances from “Ghost Town,” “Che” and “The Visitor” as the year’s most overlooked. [New York Observer]

    • Karina Longworth responds to negativity over her dubious review of “Dear Zachary.” [Spout Blog]

    • A week old, but yours truly walks through the acting critics awards landscape at year’s end with a few organization members. [Variety]

  • 1/3 Oscarweb Round-up

    Ralph Fiennes• Patrick Goldstein responds to that B.S. Daily Beast Penn/Rourke thing.  Probably a little too lax but at leat he somewhat lays into the “journalist” responsible for the piece. [The Big Picture]

    • Michael Cieply scopes out tobacco use in the year’s Oscar contenders. [The Carpetbagger]

    • Andrea Hubert catches up with “Slumdog Millionaire” star Dev Patel. [The Guardian]

    • Kevin Maher talks “The Reader,” among other things, with Ralph Fiennes. [The Times]

    • Susan Wloszczyna takes a first journalistic stab at Martin Scorsese’s upcoming “Shutter Island.” [USA Today]

    • A creepily in depth look at the top “Jeffrey Wells moments” of 2008.  Yeah.  We’re the story. [Spout Blog]

  • 1/2 Oscarweb Round-up

    David Fincher• David Poland looks at the race nine weeks out from the angle of release marketing and strategy. [Movie City News]

    • Nathaniel Rogers is knee deep in his annual (extensive) year in review features.  Read it.  Now. [The Film Exerience]

    • Jeffrey Wells passes on some notes from a friend making some dubious comparisons between “Milk” and “Braveheart.” [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • Old news you’ve probably read by now, but Tina Brown’s latest foray into the world of journalism proves just how much of a disreputable rag it can be. [The Daily Beast]

    • David Usborne is quick to dive in the mud with the hacks and bring a respectable UK outlet down there with him. [The Independent]

    • Joe Queenan chats with Mickey Rourke across the pond. [The Guardian]

    • Anne Thompson seems to think a Christmas release hurt “Revolutionary Road”‘s Oscar chances. [Thompson on Hollywood]

    Dave Karger takes a stand with some late-December Oscar predictions. [Entertainment Weekly]

    • David Carr speaks up for “Iron Man” over “The Dark Knight,” calls the latter’s third act a “mess.”  Oy. [The Carpetbagger]

    • Tom Roston sits down with “Defiance” and “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” star Liev Schreiber. [Los Angeles Times]

    • As a David Fincher retrospective cranks up in the Big Apple, Dennis Lim looks back over the director’s career to date. [New York Times]

    • Patty Rhuke spotlights the similarities between “Forrest Gump” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” comparisons certain parties involved would probably rather go away. [USA Today]

  • 12/29 Oscarweb Round-up

    Scarlett Johansson• Anita Singh looks at the upcoming year of the dog for British movie-goers, including “Beverly Hills Chihuahua,” “Bolt,” “Marley and Me” and “Wendy and Lucy.” [Daily Telegraph]

    • “A Christmas Tale” tops Andrew O’Hehir’s list of the 10 best indie films of 2008. [Beyond the Multiplex]

    • Jonathan Miles talks to newly minted Oscar host Hugh Jackman about “Australia” down under in Sydney. [The Times]

    • “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” screenwriter Eric Roth sues his investment manager for “losing a bundle” in businessman Bernie Madoff’s ill-fated Ponzi scheme. [New York Daily News]

    • Speaking of “Button,” Brad Brevet takes a deeper look at two negative assessments of the film. [Rope of Silicon]

    • James Rocchi chats with “Reader” director Stephen Daldry. [Cinematical]

    • Scarlett Johansson: the reluctant sex symbol. [The Times]

    • Susan King chats with Zoe Kazan about her role in “Revolutionary Road.” [Los Angeles Times]

  • 12/28 Oscarweb Round-up

    Viggo Mortensen in Appaloosa• Joe Morgenstern wraps up the year. [Wall Street Journal]

    • Michael Lerman on the most misunderstood films of 2008. [Spout Blog]

    • Jeffrey Wells tries to draw some parallels between the year’s Best Picture hopefuls and the presidential contenders of 2008. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • James Rocchi podcasts it up with yours truly on year-end top 10s, the season’s critical kudos and some lighter fare on a Boxing Day edition of The Rocchi Review. [Cinematical]

    • Rachel Abramowitz corners the “Valkyrie” trio. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Jenny Miller, meanwhile, spends some time with Tom Cruise and Bryan Singer. [Premiere]

    • Leonard Klady charts the year’s best with a rare “Appaloosa” inclusion. [Movie City News]

    • Speaking of top 10s, Paige Newman considers a few of the year’s lists with a much appreciated shout-out to In Contention. [MSNBC]

  • 12/27 Oscarweb Round-up

    Emma Thompson• Lou Lumenick thinks “Revolutionary Road” might be too grim to resonate this Oscar season. [Lumenick on Film]

    • Tom O’Neil chats with “Last Chance Harvey” star Emma Thompson. [Gold Derby]

    • Todd Leopold wraps up the year in a meandering piece that touches on Heath Ledger, Sarah Palin and…Niels Bohr. [CNN]

    • Steve Weintraub sits down with “Wrestler” star Mickey Rourke, thankfully puts a leash on his itchy “exclusive” trigger finger. [Collider]

    • The 50 films that defined the year, across the pond. [Empire]

    • “Anyone Who Doesn’t Choose This As The Best Movie of the Year is Just Being a Jerk” [Premiere]

    • Dave White wonders why we love movie Nazis. [MSNBC]

    • Andrew O’Hehir talks to Ari Folman about the “bad acid trip” of “Waltz with Bashir.” [Beyond the Multiplex]