Features







2007-08 Oscar Calendar



[Monday, December 3, 2007]

Official Screen Credits
Forms Due.


[Wednesday, December 26, 2007]

Nominations ballots mailed.


[Saturday, January 12, 2008]

Nominations polls close
5 p.m. PST.


[Tuesday, January 22, 2008]

Nominations announced
5:30 a.m. PST
Samuel Goldwyn Theater


[Wednesday, January 30, 2008]

Final ballots mailed.


[Monday, February 4, 2008]

Nominees Luncheon


[Saturday, February 9, 2008]

Scientific and Technical
Awards Dinner


[Tuesday, February 19, 2008]

Final polls close 5 p.m. PST.


[Sunday, February 24, 2008]

79th Annual
Academy Awards Presentation
Kodak Theatre

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Enough Foreplay!

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UPDATE (10:41am): CHARTS NOW UPDATED. SEE BELOW.


Boy these August columns can be rough.


So this week a couple of film festival schedules began to fill out nicely, what with the laid-back Telluride announcing some flavor and the big daddy Toronto revealing a number of galas. Again, only after that first week of September will the awards scene begin to make some sense. Though a number of the films finally unveiling I’ve had a chance to see already, my opinion of an Oscar race is obviously no more or less valid than the next guy’s, no matter how much I stomp my feet and shout.


It’s time to hear the congregation speak up, and speak up they shall. But it’s still a ways off. Until then we’re just spinning our wheels, and today’s column will feel somewhat aimless as a result of the lack of anything of consequence to comment or report on. So let’s just think out loud.

First and foremost, Gerard Kennedy will kick off the “Tech Support” column Thursday, a segment of In Contention that I am very excited about. The technical branches of the Academy are terribly unrepresented by the media, and it’s time to lend them some credence. We’ll get into that later in the week.


Nothing much else in the way of “news” has come down the pike in the last few weeks, though some category disputes are beginning to take shape.


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Rumor has it that Dame Judi Dench pressured a lead campaign for her performance in “Notes on a Scandal,” while co-star Cate Blanchett will potentially be relegated to the supporting arena. Both may still go into the lead category at the end of the day, however. Blanchett will be pushed as a lead in Warner Bros.’s “The Good German.” Meanwhile, all performances in “Bobby” will be pushed as supporting, the standout being Sharon Stone from most accounts. Things are still iffy regarding the campaigns of Jennifer Hudson and Beyónce Knowles in “Dreamgirls,” though most seem to think supporting for the former, lead for the latter.


Additionally, talk continues to circle around Peter O’Toole’s performance in Roger Michell’s “Venus,” which will unveil at Toronto. O’Toole is one of the classic cases, if not THE classic case, of an individual due for Oscar recognition in a grotesque manner. The Academy, you’ll remember, decided a few years back to give him the “sorry we never gave you a real Oscar” award, otherwise known as the “Honorary Oscar,” and O’Toole infamously declined initially. He later accepted graciously, however. There was also a film floating around at one point stirring some awards talk for the actor called “The Final Curtain” which went nowhere, and so O’Toole’s Oscar destiny seemed in limbo.


Now with “Venus,” in which O’Toole portrays, according to IMDb, one of a “pair of veteran actors (whose life) gets turned upside down after they meet a brash teenager,” things might be looking up. That synopsis is not much to go on, sure, but with the early word being so positive, Miramax may have a slam dunk on their hands. It’s something to keep an eye on. Leslie Phillips, Vanessa Redgrave and Jodie Whittaker also star.


beethovenharris.jpg


Speaking of the Best Actor race, that Ed Harris vehicle, “Copying Beethoven,” has finally secured distributive backing from MGM and The Weinstein Company. Tackling the role of – you guessed it – Ludwig von Beethoven, Harris could be a formidable contender in the Best Actor arena, should there be a campaign of consequence. No one knows much of anything about the actual film or performance in any case, and that makes the third high profile lead actor possibility for Miramax (along with O’Toole and Richard Gere in “The Hoax”).


That tid-bit brings me to another point of curiosity this year, regarding the ubiquitous biopic of film awards season. What is striking this year is how outbalanced the typical biopic subjects are by the more obscure or otherwise “second-tier” real-life representations.


As mentioned, Ed Harris (“Copying Beethoven”) and Forest Whitaker (“The Last King of Scotland”) will be taking on Ludwig von Beethoven and Idi Amin respectively. In addition, Kirsten Dunst portrays Marie Antoinette in Sofia Coppola’s film of the same name, while Toby Jones takes his own stab at Truman Capote in “Infamous.” Helen Mirren will rock out Queen Elizabeth II in the uber-buzzed “The Queen” and Nicole Kidman as Diane Arbus in “Fur” should be a trippy experience. But as for your “typical” biopics, that’s about it.


However, just take a quick glance at the huge line of somewhat less obvious biopic characterizations coming down the pike:


affleck.jpg


There’s Ben Affleck as haunted television “Superman” star George Reeves in “Hollywoodland,” Richard Gere as Howard Hughes biographer trickster Clifford Irving in “The Hoax,” Jared Leto as John Lennon assassin Mark David Chapman in “Chapter 27” and Vin Diesel as righteous defendant Giacomo DiNorscio in “Find Me Guilty.”


Oh, I’m not done. Don’t forget Viggo Mortensen as famed Spanish mercenary Capitán Diego Alatriste in “Alatriste,” Keisha Castle-Hughes as the Virgin Mary in “The Nativity Story,” Susan Sarandon as tobacco billionaire Doris Duke in “Doris and Bernard,” Renée Zellweger as children’s book author Beatrix Potter in “Miss Potter,” Derek Luke as South African freedom fighter Patrick Chamusso in “Catch a Fire” and, of course, Nicolas Cage and Michael Peña as Ground Zero survivors John McLoughlin and Will Jimenos in “World Trade Center.”


Are you beginning to see my point? It’s as if filmmakers have finally, as a whole, looked to the intricacies of little-known personas for their biopic fix this season. That said, most of these films seem to be lagging behind in the prospective awards derby, with just “World Trade Center” and “Catch a Fire” boasting, at first long glance, any major awards potential of consequence. But things can change on a dime, and no one knows anything, right?


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Most of the films in play will start screening in earnest in the next few weeks. Todd Field’s “Little Children” has been getting a few looks. It’ll run at Telluride and, perhaps, Toronto. “Bobby” will likely get a look or two before that “work in progress” screening at Toronto, and Sony hopefuls “All the King’s Men” and “Stranger Than Fiction” will screen as well, so surely be on the lookout for the typical embargo breakers on those flicks.


In the meantime…there’s nothing to talk about! David Poland surprisingly started his Oscar column last week at Movie City News, kind of proving the point that the air is dry (what with the rehash of everything we’ve been discussing for a number of weeks). Before long, the Variety and Hollywood Reporter special issues will begin editorial preparation, and those rascals at the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times will get their butts in gear as well. It’ll be interesting to see what they do this year, as pointed out in the focus of last week’s column. But I’m going to cut everything short today. Hopefully we’ll actually be somewhere next week.


Main Category Charts
Technical Category Charts
Oscar Predictions Archive
"The Contenders"



Previous Oscar Columns:
080/7/06 - "Don't Knock Masturbation; it's Sex with Someone I Love"
07/31/06 - "Old and New, the Oscar Season Approaches"

Comments

Your Sound Effects Editing and Visual Effects predictions both go up to seven, but you might want to predict ten for Sound Effects Editing. The rules this year have eliminated shortlists for it, so the voting can bring it up to five nominees. I bet it almost certainly will.

Ah yes. I've been predicting three out of sheer habit. Thanks. I'll update as much next week.

Kris, do you know if Blanchett is going Lead or Supporting for Babel?

When are you going to be able to post your review of Little Children....Was looking forward to it! disappointed to hear you didn't think it was great

What made Bobby go up on most your charts...new buzz???

Also, I am still curious why Catch a Fire is your dream child.

I noticed your charts also had Good Shepherd Sliding down the chart...curious why.

I also think Matt Damon's got a better chance at a nom. this year for acting...not sure yet which film.

--RC of strangeculture.blogspot.com

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2008 Year in Advance Predictions


UPDATED: 2/25/2008





Main Charts | Tech Charts



[Motion Picture]

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

“Doubt”

“Frost/Nixon”

“Revolutionary Road”

“The Soloist”



[Directing]

David Fincher
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

Ron Howard
“Frost/Nixon”

Gus Van Sant
“Milk”

Sam Mendes
“Revolutionary Road”

Joe Wright
“The Soloist”



[Actor in a Leading Role]

Benicio Del Toro
“The Argentine”

Jamie Foxx
“The Soloist”

Frank Langella
“Frost/Nixon”

Sean Penn
“Milk”

Brad Pitt
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”



[Actress in a Leading Role]

Vera Farmiga
“Nothing But the Truth”

Angelina Jolie
“Changeling”

Julianne Moore
“Blindness”

Meryl Streep
“Doubt”

Kate Winslet
“Revolutionary Road”



[Actor in a Supporting Role]

Josh Brolin
“Milk”

Russell Crowe
“Body of Lies”

Robert Downey, Jr.
“The Soloist”

Heath Ledger
“The Dark Knight”

Michael Sheen
“Frost/Nixon”



[Actress in a Supporting Role]

Amy Adams
“Doubt”

Kathy Bates
“Revolutionary Road”

Cate Blanchett
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

Catherine Keener
“The Soloist”

Carice van Houten
“Body of Lies”



[Writing, Adapted Screenplay]

“Body of Lies”

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

“Doubt”

“Frost/Nixon”

“Revolutionary Road”



[Writing, Original Screenplay]

“Changeling”

“Hamlet 2”

“Milk”

“The Soloist”

“WALL·E”



[Art Direction]

“Australia”

“Defiance”

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull”

“Red Cliff”

“Revolutionary Road”



[Cinematography]

“Australia”

“The Dark Knight”

“Defiance”

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull”

“Revolutionary Road”



[Costume Design]

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

“Doubt”

“The Other Boleyn Girl”

“Red Cliff”

“Revolutionary Road”



[Film Editing]

“Body of Lies”

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

“Defiance”

“Frost/Nixon”

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull”



[Makeup]

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

“The Dark Knight”

“Red Cliff”



[Music, Original Score]

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull”

“The Soloist”

“Revolutionary Road”

“WALL·E”



[Music, Original Song]

coming soon



[Sound Editing]

“Defiance”

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull”

“Iron Man”

“Speed Racer”

“WALL·E”



[Sound Mixing]

“Defiance”

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull”

“Cloverfield”

“The Chronicles of Narnia:
Prince Caspian”

“WALL·E”



[Visual Effects]

“The Chronicles of Narnia:
Prince Caspian”

“The Incredible Hulk”

“Iron Man”



[Animated Feature Film]

“9”

“Kung Fu Panda”

“WALL·E”



[Foreign Language Film]

coming soon



[Documentary, Features]

coming soon



[Documentary, Short Subjects]

coming soon



[Short Film, Animated]

coming soon



[Short Film, Live Action]

coming soon