In Contention

Tag: The Dark Knight

  • CDG nominees

    I’ve been out and about, so apologies for getting to the Costume Designers Guild nominees late:

    Contemporary Film
    “Iron Man” (Laura Jean Shannon and Rebecca Bentjen)
    “Mamma Mia!” (Ann Roth)
    “Sex and the City” (Patricia Field)
    “Slumdog Millionaire” (Suttirat Larlarb)
    “The Wrestler” (Amy Westcott)

    Period Film
    “Changeling” (Deborah Hopper)
    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Jacqueline West)
    “The Duchess” (Michael O’Connor)
    “Milk” (Danny Glicker)
    “Revolutionary Road” (Albert Wolsky)

    Fantasy Film
    “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” (Isis Mussenden)
    “The Dark Knight” (Lindy Hemming)
    “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” (Sanja Milkovic Hays)

    I have to say, while I could understand the classification for, say, the Tim Burton films, I’m increasingly agitated by the “fantasy” classification of Christopher Nolan’s Batman franchise.  And “The Dark Knight” is 10 times more “contemporary” than “Iron Man,” but whatever.  If the false classification means the films find some guild love in the fields of art direction and costume design, so be it, I guess.

    More frankly surprising guild support for “The Wrestler,” while “Slumdog” and “Button” remain the guild champs.  I’m happy “Prince Caspian” finally popped up somewhere.

    I see no real reason to change my Oscar predicitons here based on these results, but we’ll keep an eye on it as always.

  • ACE nominees

    They sure cranked these out early this morning.  Thanks to N8 for posting in the comments section.  This year’s American Cinema Editors (ACE) nominees are:

    Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic)
    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Angus Wall & Kirk Baxter)
    “The Dark Knight” (Lee Smith, A.C.E.)
    “Frost/Nixon” (Mike Hill, A.C.E. & Dan Hanley, A.C.E.)
    “Milk” (Elliot Graham)
    “Slumdog Millionaire” (Chris Dickens)

    Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy or Musical)
    “In Bruges” (Jon Gregory, A.C.E.)
    “Mamma Mia!” (Leslie Walker)
    “Tropic Thunder” (Greg Hayden)
    “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (Alisa Lepselter)
    “WALL-E” (Stephen Schaffer)

    Best Edited Documentary
    “Bush’s War” (Steve Audette)
    “Chicago 10” (Stuart Levy, A.C.E.)
    “Man on Wire” (Jinx Godfrey)

    No surprises whatsoever, really.  Except maybe some love for “In Bruges” and “Tropic Thunder” in the comedy category.  After a discussion earlier this morning about “the five” dominating the guild circuit so far, the dramatic nominees prove to solidify the mixture even more.  I don’t think we’ve ever seen a consensus like this develop, with five clear-cut industry favorites popping up everywhere like clockwork.

  • OFF THE CARPET: From the horse’s mouth

    Kate Winslet at the 66th Annual Golden Globe AwardsThe last two weeks have been a leaf blower to the debris an awards season can accumulate.  Individuals with some real say in the ultimate Oscar picture have finally gone on the record, painting a rather clear picture of the industry’s favorite films of 2008.

    But before diving into the realities of the various guild announcements, it is probably worth touching upon the gleeful diversions of the Critics’ Choice Awards and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Golden Globe Awards.

    These are the two culminating critics soirees, capping off the annual critical kudos sprint through December and early January.  Both proudly declare themselves Oscar harbingers but only one seems to find itself decided from a critical mindset (even if that mindset is still warped by pegging a zeitgeist).  The other is, as always, a drunken time amongst industry friends that goes its own way.

    But dare I say it, this year the HFPA may have actually raised the bar for the Academy.  After years of embarrassing nominations announcements and sometimes bewildering winner choices, the group awarded a slate of contenders last night that stuck out as noble and, shockingly, novel.

    Can the Academy’s membership reach out to Mickey Rourke and meet him half way like he has clearly done this season to an industry that has shunned him for so many years?  Can they find a way to spread the kudos love while an inevitable “Slumdog” sweep pushes through the evening of February 22?

    Moreover, can AMPAS have the balls to follow in the HFPA’s footsteps with a double win for Kate Winslet, arguably deserving this year and a move that would be inarguable as a hell of an apology for years of Oscar losses?  The actress joined Sigourney Weaver last night as one of only two actresses to win a pair of Golden Globe awards for film performances in one evening.  Your move, Oscar.

    (more…)

  • 1/12 Oscarweb Round-up

    Kate Winslet at the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards• Jeffrey Wells responds to last night’s Golden Globe Awards. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • David Carr gets some choice quotes from twofer victor Kate Winslet in the press room. [The Carpetbagger]

    • Guy Adams, meanwhile, comments on the actress’s “downbeat” role choices. [The Independent]

    • Karina Longworth’s eight Globe moments that transcended cynicism. [Spout Blog]

    • Tom O’Neil and Pete Hammond yak about the evening’s surprises. [Gold Derby]

    • Moving away from the circular Globes talk, Gene Seymour takes stock of today’s African-American filmmaking talent. [New York Times]

    • Philip Seymour Hoffman calls his trade “tortuous.” [The Guardian]

    • Welcome to the new indieWIRE. [indieWIRE]

    • Speculation on the fate of Two-Face in “The Dark Knight,” reported plenty in this space, turns up elsewhere. [/Film]

    • Continuing on the geek beat, Geoff Boucher talks “Watchmen”‘s Rorschach with actor Jackie Earle Haley and director Zack Snyder. [Los Angeles Times]

  • Contest winners!

    Congratulations to Eunice, Rob, Justin Gonzalez and Jordan Raup for winning this week’s trio of contests!

    The haiku competition brought in the most entries.  It was the easiest to enter but it showed a love for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” amongst our readership to say the least.  Before mentioning the two winners, I have to give shout outs to Andrew L., for telling the whole story of the film with a series of haikus, and EVE, for writing all of her haikus backwards as well as forward.  Very creative.  But ultimately I settled on entries from Eunice and Rob:

    What if winter comes,
    In the spring of discontent?
    What then, happens next?

    How sad life would be
    To die without the chance to
    Reminisce of Youth

    The “Dark Knight” contest, meanwhile, brought in a slew of contestants.  I was impressed by a number of Batman memorabilia collections (props to Diego ortiz for organizing his collection in the shape of a Bat) and wardrobe ensembles.  But the winner became clear early on.  It takes some dedication to commit the Bat to your skin for life, and Justin has the ink to prove it:

    Dark Knight tattoo

    And finally, Jordan was quickest to the punch, correctly answering our “WALL-E” triva question on the origins of the film way back in the summer of 1994.

    Congratulations once again to the winners!  Emails will be sent shortly requesting mailing addresses.

  • Art Directors Guild Nominees

    The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonPeriod Films
    “Changeling”
    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
    “Doubt”
    “Frost/Nixon”
    “Milk”

    Fantasy Films
    “The Dark Knight”
    “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”
    “Iron Man”
    “The Spiderwick Chronicles”
    “WALL-E”

    Contemporary Films
    “Burn After Reading”
    “Gran Torino”
    “Quantum of Solace”
    “Slumdog Millionaire”
    “The Wrestler”

    Alright, so more surprising guild love for “The Wrestler.”  Very interesting.  But I’m rather shocked at the “Hellboy II” Snub in fantasy.  On the whole, though, does this clear anything up in this category?  I’ve been confused all year long.

    I’d say “Button,” “Skull” and “Slumdog” for the wins.

  • A night at the Critics’ Choice Awards

    Sean Penn at the 14th Annual Critics\' Choice AwardsIt’s an event that keeps on getting better and better, a little awards show that’s escalated into one of the hallmarks of the film awards season, whether the “we’re one of the best Oscar predictors” stuff is annoying or not (which it is).

    The night had a number of surprises, but in a sense, one of those surprises became a foregone conclusion half-way through the show.  The whole room could tell — “Slumdog Millionaire” was going to walk away with the first clean BFCA sweep since “A Beautiful Mind” in 2001.  Nothing for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”  Nothing for “Frost/Nixon.”  Nothing but the usual for the slowly-becoming-silver-medal-bound “The Dark Knight.”

    Two big wins for “Milk” were nice.  Sean Penn’s victory as Best Actor might have been inevitable, even though Mickey Rourke’s portrayal was probably the year’s most critically acclaimed of the year.  I couldn’t help keeping an eye trained on Mickey two tables over, one of the wandering cameras crammed in his face as Penn delivered his acceptance.  Clearly the “Wrestler” gang was a bit disheartened, nabbing only one win — for Bruce Springsteen’s title track.  But Fox Searchlight was beaming nonetheless with it’s five “Slumdog” trophies.

    I did as much mingling as the two minute commercial intervals would allow, but I did manage to finally meet the lovely Kate Beckinsale, nominated tonight for her criminally underseen performance in “Nothing But the Truth.”  She’s a real sweetheart, happy for the few pockets of support she’s been able to find for the film, which was essentially avalanched by the Yari bankruptcy last month.  There’s still Santa Barbara in a couple of weeks.

    I have to say, being in the middle of Heath Ledger’s standing ovation was somewhat emotional.  The win wasn’t surprising in hindsight, but as Laura Dern was opening the envelope, I couldn’t help but think the idea of major awards was suddenly a pipe dream for this performance.  But it all went away quickly and Christopher Nolan gave a touching, spot-on acceptance speech on behalf of the actor.

    (More, plus the full list of winners, after the jump.)

    (more…)

  • DGA nominees

    DGAI think we’re locked and loaded, folks…

    David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
    Christopher Nolan, “The Dark Knight”
    Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”
    Gus Van Sant, “Milk”
    Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”

    What more is there to add at this point?  This is where John Shanley needed to show up if there was any more hope for “Doubt.”  This is where Darren Aronofsky needed to stake a claim if there was any Best Picture juice in “The Wrestler.”  Ditto Stephen Daldry and “The Reader,” I guess.  But with this, I think the consensus has become overwhelming and a bit difficult to ignore.

  • CONTEST: Win a hardcover “Art of ‘The Dark Knight’” companion book by showing off your Bat obsession!

    (I meant to have this up yesterday but I totally forgot.  My bad.)

    Thanks everyone for participating in the “Benjamin Button” contest from Monday.  I’ll be sifting through all those haiku entries to surmise a winner over the weekend.  Today, however, you all have a shot at winning a copy of “The Dark Knight: Featuring Production Art and the Full Shooting Script,” one hell of a dazzling hardcover collectible that you’d better believe is on MY shelf.  (Check out the Amazon page here.)

    I’ve got one to giveaway, however, so let’s have another contest!

    This one is going to require a little more effort on the part of the readership.  Here’s your chance to show me how much of a Bat fan you really are.  Send us a photo demonstrating your Bat-fanaticism — decked to the nines in Bat regalia, perhaps, or simply surrounded by all of your Bat paraphernalia.  And of course, you don’t have to have some big Bat collection to prove your fandom.  The more creative the better.  Something that simply tells me, “Woah, this person is into the Bat.”  Go all out — you only live once.

    Send all entries to ktapley@incontention.com.  We’ll post the winning pic here next week.  Have at it!

    (And check back tomorrow for our final contest of the week, featuring “WALL-E” goodies!)

    Cover of The Dark Knight: Featuring Production Art and the Full Shooting Script

  • ‘Dark Knight’ is the People’s Choice…

    …in every single category it was nominated in (er…maybe not).  Anyway, bravo.

  • Cinema Audio Society nominees

    Cinema Audio Society awardThe five contenders for the 2009 Cinema Audio Society (CAS) Awards are:

    “The Dark Knight”
    “Iron Man”
    “Quantum of Solace”
    “Slumdog Millionaire”
    “WALL-E”

    So this is the second “Defiance” snub that has surprised me so far, following Eduardo Serra coming up short with the lensers earlier today.

    “The Dark Knight,” “Iron Man” and especially “WALL-E” were certainly expected, but the show of support for “Slumdog Millionaire” indicates the deep industry love this film has going for it.  I wouldn’t necessarily expect this to translate to a Best Sound Oscar nomination, given the fates of films like “Finding Neverland,” “Crash,” “Babel” and “Into the Wild,” Best Picture frontrunners that scored with CAS but missed with AMPAS (though “Wild” is something of an anomaly there).

    Then again, “Slumdog” is a much more craftily conceived piece of filmmaking than those efforts.  I thought the sound was amazing, personally.  So perhaps this could be the first year since 2003 that the guild matches the Academy’s picks 5/5.

    The inclusion of “Quantum of Solace” is particularly interesting, though.  “Casino Royale” had a solid showing in the 2006 guild circuit, scoring with the art directors, costume designers, sound editors and even the visual effects artists.  But the mixers in the CAS gave it the cold shoulder where a lot of us thought the film had its best shot.  That the Society would tip its hat to the sequel is somewhat telling, I’d say.

    With that in mind, I’d be tempted to predict this quintet for Oscar as well.  The only Edward Zwick movie to miss a CAS nomination and turn up in the Academy’s tally was “Legends of the Fall” in 1994.  So there is still hope for mixing legends (and branch favorites) Anna Behlmer and Andy Nelson.  But the duo also have two other contenders in play: “Australia” and “Cloverfield,” which might be leaving their colleagues with too many choices.

    There are a number of other possible surprise nominees in the mix, all of them featuring respected sound mixing talent.  Add to the aforementioned “Australia,” “Defiance” and “Cloverfield” (my pick for the best work here in 2008) “Body of Lies” and “Valkyrie,” and you’re still looking at a number of possibilities.  And let’s not forget another Best Picture frontrunner, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” strong in this arena in a number of sequences.  But I would have expected a mention here if it was in the cards for Oscar.

    Like I said, this is a smart list to bet on, with “Defiance” as the spoiler.

  • WGA nominees

    WGAOriginal Screenplay
    “Burn After Reading” (Ethan Coen, Joel Coen)
    “Milk” (Dustin Lance Black)
    “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (Woody Allen)
    “The Visitor” (Thomas McCarthy)
    “The Wrestler” (Robert Siegel)

    Adapted Screenplay
    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Eric Roth; screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord; based on the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
    “The Dark Knight” (Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan; screen story by Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer; based on characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics; Batman created by Bob Kane)
    “Doubt” (John Patrick Shanley; based on his stage play)
    “Frost/Nixon” (Peter Morgan; based on his stage play)
    “Slumdog Millionaire” (Simon Beaufoy; based on the novel “Q and A” by Vikas Swarup)

    Documentary
    “Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story” (Stefan Forbes, Noland Walker)
    “Chicago 10” (Brett Morgan)
    “Fuel” (Johnny O’Hara)
    “Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson” (Alex Gibney; from the words of Hunter S. Thompson)
    “Waltz With Bashir” (Ari Folman)

    So, the lesson?  “The Dark Knight” is in this thing for real now.  As I said last night, this was going to be the real test.  “I wanted to see what you’d do.  And you didn’t disappoint.”  The rest of the adapted screenplay nominees will likely translate to Oscar 5/5, but I somehow doubt the Coen brothers will turn their guild mention into an Oscar berth.  Remember, the WGA likes comedies, so “Burn After Reading” was always going to have a leg up here.

    More love for “The Wrestler,” and though it’s not entirely unexpected, I must say it was a pleasant surprise.  And we all figured Thomas McCarthy would find love with the same group that nomianted him for 2003’s “The Station Agent.”  He may or may not translate that into an Oscar nomination, but it’s certainly a good possibility.

    And remember, animated films are not eligible, so “WALL-E” still has a shot at sliding in.  Maybe.  It is, indeed, the most critically acclaimed film of the year, but it’s a slightly different case than “Toy Story,” “Finding Nemo” and “Ratatouille,” I think.

    Biggest snub: “Rachel Getting Married” (very odd, but frankly, a welcome exclusion)
    Needed this one bad: “In Bruges” (the studio is trying hard); “The Reader” (that Scripter nod might have provided elevated hopes)

    Anyway, I think Christopher Nolan’s DGA nomination is pretty much in the bag tomorrow.  I’d be tempted to call the Best Picture five a done deal after that, but we must always remember “Almost Famous and “Being John Malkovich,” two films that landed nominations from the PGA, DGA, WGA and a grabbed a SAG ensemble mention, yet failed to make into Oscar’s Best Picture five.  And “The Dark Knight” didn’t even get the SAG Ensemble nod, so “Doubt” is still lurking.  It ain’t over yet.

  • The Bagger: “Why so serious, Oscar?”

    This is terrifying in so many ways. But I want one of those masks.

  • Guessing the DGA

    Directors Guild of AmericaSo, with SAG, PGA and ASC out of the way, and with WGA still to come in a matter of hours, I guess it’s worth mentioning that the big daddy guild is announcing tomorrow: the Directors Guild of America (DGA).  Now’s as good a time as any to take a stab at guessing the nominees…

    The DGA has been one hell of an Oscar Best Picture barometer for the last decade or so.  Last year was the first real hiccup as the guild only nailed three of the eventual five nominees with their director choices.  2006 saw one misfire (but we all still figured “Dreamgirls” was in around this time two years ago).  Then it was four years in a row five-for-five until we have another hiccup, Ridley Scott making it in for “Black Hawk Down” and Christopher Nolan (in the mix again this year) for “Memento.”

    After that, the general trend was four-for-five with some 100 percents thrown in here and there, but you get the picture.  This is, more often than not, quite the prognosticative (that’s so not a word) guild.  With the PGA clearly establishing a consensus of sorts (not that those five films haven’t been the obvious contenders for weeks upon weeks), I see no real reason to get creative right now, so I’m going with the following:

    David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
    Christopher Nolan, “The Dark Knight”
    Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”
    Gus Van Sant, “Milk”
    Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”

    There are only two filmmakers that I think have a shot of cracking this quintet: Woody Allen for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” and, perhaps more so, Darren Aronofsky for “The Wrestler.”  John Patrick Shanley and “Doubt” showing up would truly shock me and Andrew Stanton is not eligible for “WALL-E,” so the field is rather thin.

    What are you thinking?

  • Celebrating Heath’s accomplishment

    Heath Ledger in The Dark KnightWhen Johnny Depp first read the role of Captain Jack Sparrow, there was nothing in the script to suggest the performance he would eventually give. That bizarre manner of speaking, sounding slightly stoned, the crazy off-kilter walk, and the way he moved his arms, all but flailing them about. That was an actor’s artistry, plain and simple, and it was something to behold. That is the genius of Johnny Depp.

    When Heath Ledger was given the role of the Joker I was mildly surprised, not because I did not think he could do it.  On the contrary.  It just never occurred to me to consider him for the role. Obviously Christopher Nolan knew something I did not. Then consider the obstacles facing Ledger, the largest being a performance from one of the greatest and most beloved actors in the history of the cinema in the same role back in 1989. “Batman” was still a hot DVD, plenty fresh in the minds of viewers.  Jack Nicholson’s Joker was, at the time, critically acclaimed.  He stole the movie right from under Michael Keaton’s nose — even had top billing.  Yet Tim Burton’s “Batman” was a fantasy, and Christopher Nolan has gone in an entirely different direction with his “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight.”

    Ledger understood this and made the decision to portray the Joker as realistically as possible, as a terrorist, as a murderous maniac with a mind that was pure evil and twisted genius.  He walked differently, he moved differently, he spoke differently. The licking of the lips to soothe the scars of his mouth, the manner of speaking slowly as to challenge the other person, all of this was Ledger. He created something rather extraordinary in the film and that should be celebrated.

    I believe he gave the best performance of the year in 2005 for his breathtaking work in “Brokeback Mountain,” but the Academy thought otherwise.  But I don’t think that will happen this year. This is one of those performances like Marlon Brando in “On the Waterfront,” Nicholson in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” Robert De Niro in “Raging Bull” and recently, Forest Whitaker in “The Last King of Scotland” that is so brilliant, so stunning to watch (and watch again), the Academy has to honor it. This is one for the ages, to be discussed and reviewed for years to come.

    Tom O’Neil is tossing the supporting actor race around with a couple of colleagues over at Gold Derby.  Entertainment Weekly’s Dave Karger brings up the issue of winds of changing, the “dynamic changes in momentum,” as O’Neil puts it.  But let’s face it.  The Academy will look like fools if they don’t hand Ledger this trophy, because this is the most discussed performance of the year.

    The best directors, Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, they hire their actors and trust them to do the job, to come to the set prepared and having created something for the film that will work for the director’s vision.  Nolan did this with Ledger  He smartly stood out of the way and let him go, allowing the actor to enhance the film, give it an edge, bring to it a dark brilliance.  And what could “The Dark Knight” be without the darkest of villains?

  • ASC nominees

    Ralph Fiennes in The ReaderThe American Society of Cinematographers have announced their annual list of nominees, which are:

    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Claudio Miranda)
    “The Dark Knight” (Wally Pfister)
    “The Reader” (Roger Deakins and Chris Menges)
    “Revolutionary Road” (Roger Deakins)
    “Slumdog Millionaire” (Anthony Dod Mantle)

    I’m pleasantly surprised by the “Reader” inclusion.  Though I didn’t care for the film, one of the first things I noted was the sublime photography.  This could carry over to Oscar, but I must say I’m somewhat surprised Eduardo Serra’s beautiful work in “Defiance” was excluded.  Harris Savides, meanwhile, continues to come up short with his peers despite being the best in the game (and many of his peers would say the same thing, which makes it all the more baffling).  And the “Australia” snub is hardly surprising since Mandy Walker’s work never reached the level many anticipated.

    But all this brings me to a question I’ve had racing through my head for some time now: could Claudio Miranda be the one of this lot snubbed of an Oscar nod?  The Academy has shown a bias against digital photography where the guild hasn’t.  “Apocalypto” and “Collateral,” you’ll recall, failed to translate their ASC nomiantions into AMPAS love, so it’s certainly something to consider.

    WGA on the way…

  • Guessing the WGA: the adaptations

    Writers Guild of America Awards(Original screenplay predictions here.)

    The adapted field is a little easier to manage.  But I wouldn’t look to USC’s typically road-less-traveled nominees for much of a barometer for the adapted screenplay race, however.  That’s folly of a different sort.  So we’re left to our own devices.

    Once again, foreign and animated films are not eligible here.  This probably affects “The Class” and “Gomorrah” more than anything else.  I doubt “The Tale of Despereaux” has much in the way of screenplay hopes this season.  Ditto “Let the Right One In,” however vile the idea.

    As mentioned in the originals discussion, the WGA likes its comedies.  “Mean Girls,” “Bridget Jones’s Diary” and “High Fidelity” are a few examples of adaptations to make the cut here while missing with the Academy.  The only problem is…there isn’t really an applicable comedy adaptation in the mix.  Had, say, “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” or “Yes Man” been somewhat more memorable, then maybe.  But that’s about all we have to pull from.  So maybe it isn’t a bad thing.  Anything that makes the guessing game a little easier is fine by me.

    I’d say the safest bets here are the two Best Picture frontrunners: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (written by Eric Roth) and “Slumdog Millionaire” (Simon Beaufoy).  And even though I just finished telling you the Scripter nominees shouldn’t matter, I nonetheless think David Hare’s adaptation of “The Reader” might have a strong foothold here, even if it misses with Oscar (which it might not).  Ditto Justin Haythe’s “Revolutionary Road.”

    That leaves a battle of the plays: “Doubt” versus “Frost/Nixon.”  As I said earlier, there is always at least one eventual Best Picture nominee left off the guild’s slate, even if it manages a nomination with AMPAS writers.  My bet is that’s going to be “Frost/Nixon” this year, so chalk one up for “Doubt.”  But I’m not solid on that either, because…

    …the big question mark is “The Dark Knight.”  I think the PGA nomination was a given and I don’t think a SAG ensemble nod should have really been expected.  The Scripter snub was odd, but meaningless in the face of the awards landscape, because it isn’t an industry organization.  So the first real, true, honest-to-God test for this film and its Oscar hopes comes with tomorrow’s announcement.  I’m strangely expecting a snub, one that might carry over to Oscar even if a Best Picture nomination stays in the cards.  But even so, that’s shaky ground to be on.  Only a DGA nomiantion Thursday could right the ship if WGA takes a pass.

    My predictions:

    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Eric Roth; based on the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
    “Doubt” (John Patrick Shanley; based on his play)
    “The Reader” (David Hare; based on the nivel by Bernhard Schlink)
    “Revolutionary Road” (Justin Haythe; based on the novel by Richard Yates)
    “Slumdog Millionaire” (Simon Beaufoy; based on the novel “Q&A” by Vikas Swarup)

    Other possibilities:
    “The Dark Knight” (Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan; based on characters appearing in DC Comics)
    “Defiance” (Clay Frohman, Edward Zwick; based on the book by Nechama Tec)
    “Frost/Nixon” (Peter Morgan; based on his play)

    What about you?

  • AMPAS narrows the visual effects field to seven

    Iron ManLast month, the Academy whittled the contenders for Best Visual Effects down to 15 hopefuls.  Today, the branch has chipped away at it further.

    And then there were seven:

    “Australia”
    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
    “The Dark Knight”
    “Hellboy II: The Golden Army”
    “Iron Man”
    “Journey to the Center of the Earth”
    “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”

    And from the press release:

    On Thursday, January 15, all members of the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 15-minute excerpts from each of the seven shortlisted films. Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate three films for final Oscar consideration.

    The most surprising omissions are probably “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” and “The Incredible Hulk.”  Maybe “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” if you want to go there, but I don’t.  I can’t believe it made the list of 15, frankly.  And after watching “Hancock” again over the holiday, as well as the visual effects featurette, I was beginning to think it might have a decent shot.  But my guess is that we’re still looking at “Button” and “Iron Man” as sure bets with “The Dark Knight” likely filling in the third and final slot.

    Then again, this show of love for “Hellboy II” could translate to somewhat unexpected nominations both here and in the makeup field.  And I feel like “Journey to the Center of the Earth” has more stroke with this group than many are assuming.