George Clooney has been tapped this year for one of Telluride’s three big tributes, and it’s certainly the biggest of the trio. Whether it’s press and patrons schmoozing with the star at yesterday’s Patron Brunch, whispers around town (“Did you hear George Clooney is here?” “I really hope ‘The Ides of March’ is a TBA.”) […]
TELLURIDE: Clooney takes center stage
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 5:43 pm · September 3rd, 2011
Filed in: Daily
THE LONG SHOT: I’m just here for the movies
Posted by Guy Lodge · 6:01 pm · September 22nd, 2010
“You’re the Oscar guys, aren’t you?” asked the spike-heeled PR officer upon eyeing the press badge dangling from my neck, her voice exuding the steely sweetness they teach you on the first day of public relations boot camp. It was midway through the Venice Film Festival and I was too beat — or my mouth […]
Filed in: The Long Shot
Defriending ‘The Social Network’
Posted by Guy Lodge · 3:39 pm · August 22nd, 2010
With David Fincher’s “The Social Network” already accruing positive buzz ahead of its New York Film Festival premiere next month, its handlers would do well to pre-empt the inevitable pushback over matters of factual accuracy — complaints that have already dogged the film’s sloppy source book, Ben Mezrich’s “The Accidental Billionaires” (discussed at length in […]
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Reitman, Cody reteam on ‘Young Adult’
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:02 pm · August 2nd, 2010
Jason Reitman announced shortly after last season’s “Up in the Air” bonanza that his company had acquired the rights to Joyce Maynard’s novel “Labor Day.” But it turns out that, while he’s hard at work on drafts of that adaptation, another original script from “Juno” scribe Diablo Cody is what’s on deck for the director. […]
Filed in: Daily
Paging Rene Russo
Posted by Guy Lodge · 4:11 pm · May 4th, 2010
Honestly, the last time the name “Rene Russo” crossed my mind, I was still wearing school uniform and Bill Clinton was still president of the United States. Even then, it was only fleetingly: if you want the last time she was in a film that actually merited a second thought, we’re looking more at the […]
Filed in: Daily
Center of the universe
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:14 pm · April 23rd, 2010
I wasn’t able to participate in Robert Welkos’s Hollywood News piece on the drama of bloggerdom (which was already covered to some extent by LA Magazine three years ago). Travel and a period of self-imposed distance from this circus kept me off the phone, but even if I had answered a few questions, I don’t […]
Filed in: Daily
Guy’s final Oscar predictions
Posted by Guy Lodge · 8:23 pm · March 6th, 2010
And so it comes to this: more months than I care to count of watching, thinking, sweating, fretting, writing, deleting and occasionally not caring boil down to single predictions in 24 categories. There’s a lot to get through here, and I’m not going to delay things with an introduction. Well, except for this one caveat […]
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Nut up or shut up: final predictions
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:36 am · March 6th, 2010
As I look over my final predictions for tomorrow night’s Oscar ceremony, I notice that I’ve made only one change — in the Best Live Action Short category — since taking my initial stab the day of the nominations. And I haven’t made a single change since I started the Oscar Guide series. Am I […]
Filed in: Daily
OSCAR GUIDE: Best Picture
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:37 am · March 6th, 2010
And here we are. With one day until the Oscar ceremony, we wrap up our Oscar Guide series with a look at the 10 nominations for Best Picture. Yes, 10. The Academy decided to pump up the intrigue by expanding its Best Picture field this year in an attempt at securing some love for more […]
Filed in: Daily
OSCAR GUIDE: Best Directing
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:50 am · March 3rd, 2010
This year’s Best Director category has stirred a media frenzy for featuring, along with Best Picture, a face-to-face duel frequently dubbed “the battle of the exes.” Unfortunately the desire to tout that headline has clouded the discussion of the films, their merits and the actual accomplishments of those at the helm. But who cares about […]
Filed in: Daily
Stab me in the eye
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 7:48 pm · March 1st, 2010
I’m over the moon that “Minority Report” and “Collateral” are finally making their way to Blu-ray, and I look forward to owning “Up in the Air,” but I don’t understand why home video departments feel a need to rape and pillage well-considered and often times singular marketing materials in favor of such generic nonsense as […]
Filed in: Daily
OSCAR GUIDE: Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:17 am · March 1st, 2010
In most cases, the adapted screenplay category of a given Oscar race is packed with Best Picture nominees or contenders. This year, however, there was a nice balance of adapted and original screenplays in the Best Picture category, and in fact, of the “top five” films that trickled down throughout the season, three were original […]
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‘Up in the Air,’ ‘Hurt Locker,’ ‘Cove’ win at WGA
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:29 pm · February 20th, 2010
Insert token analysis here. Longest…Oscar…season…ever.
Filed in: Daily
The top 10 shots of 2009: part one
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 12:49 pm · February 16th, 2010
Assembling the assets for my annual take on the best single shots of the year was more of a chore this time around than ever. Perhaps one need only look to a lackluster list of Oscar nominees in the Best Cinematography category to gauge just how underwhelming much of the work behind the camera was […]
Filed in: The Lists
SANTA BARBARA: Four Vanguards and a Virtuoso
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:52 am · February 13th, 2010
“Precious” star Gabourey Sidibe couldn’t be here last weekend for the Virtuosos presentation, which recognized her, Carey Mulligan, Saoirse Ronan, Emily Blunt and Michael Stuhlbarg, so she was in town this evening as part of the Vanguard presentation. Stanley Tucci, meanwhile, couldn’t be here this week to accept his Vanguard prize, so he was here […]
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OSCAR GUIDE: Best Actor
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:07 am · February 10th, 2010
The Best Actor category solidified pretty early on this year. I imagine the eventual line-up had slid into place as early as November, and after the Screen Actors Guild made things more official, the predictable race unfolded from there. What we have now is a typical mixture of seasoned veterans, solid industry players and newcomers […]
Filed in: Daily
Up, up and away
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:36 am · February 10th, 2010
Back in a November installment of Off the Carpet, I noted that, by my measure, the films of 2009 reflected a particular theme. “I’ve always come back to one thought on this year’s slate of films: catharsis,” I wrote at the time. “With expected exceptions here and there, in one way or another, the bulk […]
Filed in: Daily
On the preferential system
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 6:36 pm · February 9th, 2010
We’ve said it before, but the preferential balloting aspect of this year’s Best Picture race has been somewhat neglected by the media and the insistent positioning of the race as “Avatar” vs. “The Hurt Locker.” I see in one corner of the web that Anne Thompson is still calling that the battle “all the way,” […]
Filed in: Daily