• Eight milestones in the evolution of Natalie Portman. [Movieline]
• Carolyn Giardana notes a rare Best Visual Effects nomination for an animated film at the BAFTAs. [Hollywood Reporter]
• Nathaniel Rogers argues against the notion that Best Director must equal Best Picture. [The Film Experience]
When two guilds have already named certain people they plan to honor in 2010 — unlike the Academy, they don’t feel the need to relegate honorary award recipients to a separate ceremony in November — you know the season is upon us.
The Producers Guild of America recently announced that their next annual Milestone Award will be jointly awarded in January to Sony Pictures chiefs Amy Pascal and Michael Lynton. Considering the studio currently holds the top two spots in the U.S. box office chart, it seems an apt week to make the announcement.
Recent recipients of the award, the PGA’s highest career honor, include Jeffrey Katzenberg, Warren Beatty and Clint Eastwood, while last year’s winners were Ron Howard and Brian Grazer.
• After a quiet week for awards news, this week’s Off the Carpet column contemplated the depth of the Best Actress race.
• A topic that Kris and Anne also debated in this week’s episode of Oscar Talk.
• Speaking of Best Actress, “An Education,” with its nomination-bound performance by Carey Mulligan, finally hit theaters this week.
• And speaking of Mulligan, she placed highly in our list of the Top 10 actors under 30.
This Reuters item, via Forbes, could be the biggest case of leaping before looking in film journo world this week. And it’s only Monday!
Viacom Inc’s Paramount Pictures could merge with Sony Pictures, Universal Studios or another movie studio amid a wave of consolidation in the industry over the next few months, veteran investor Mario Gabelli said in the latest issue of Barron’s.
The chief executive of Gamco Investors Inc, who owns shares of Viacom, said he expects dealmaking among movie studios as they seek to cut costs…
‘Today there are seven or eight motion-picture studios. A round of consolidation will occur in the next six to 12 months because of the costs of financing, prints and advertising, the benefits of globalization and such,’ Gabelli said. ‘We hear talk of something going on.’