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  • Oh, have you heard about Mo’Nique?

    Mo'Nique at the 2010 Golden Globe AwardsYes, more of this.  But for the most part, this Vanity Fair/Little Gold Men piece from Mark Olsen on the season of Mo’Nique is spot on.  It reflects everything that is refreshing about her non-campaign campaign and, in quoting awards nut Tom O’Neil and unbalanced Mo’Nique basher Jeffrey Wells, it addresses the people she’s driven crazy along the way — the people who won’t really matter as her career (if she wants it to) skyrockets post-“Precious.”

    (Seriously, who has Mo’Nique pissed off that can “pay her back someday,” as O’Neil puts it?  The elitist New york Film Critics Circle?  Come on.)

    Knowing Olsen’s personal feelings on the film (he is no fan in the slightest) also makes the piece land just right for me.  Yeah, Olsen is a good journalist who doesn’t let bias show up in the course of his reporting, but I get the feeling he also believes that the need for breathless, saturated Oscar mugging is somewhat tacky, and the idea of someone like Mo’Nique coming along and bucking that trend, it’s exciting.

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  • Mark Harris on Zoe Saldana and performance capture

    Zoe Saldana in AvatarPerhaps I missed it, but I’m surprised there hasn’t been more online conversation about EW writer Mark Harris’s recent critical essay on “Avatar” and performance capture technology.As one would expect from the author of “Pictures at a Revolution,” it’s a thoughtful piece, but one that should stir up considerable dissent.

    He begins by slamming James Cameron for suggesting that performance capture can be used to preserve an actor’s physical features: “Will Smith could still make an action movie when he’s 75 years old, looking like he looks now,” Cameron stated, a thought that makes me as uneasy as it does Harris.

    But the beef of Harris’s argument comes when he turns his attention to “Avatar,” and the widely praised performance of Zoe Saldana, who some (including my esteemed editor) think merits Oscar consideration.

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  • 1/27 Oscarweb Round-up

    Woody Allen• Captain Kirk to host the Annie Awards. [The Independent]

    • Roger Ebert writes a love letter to famed paparazzo Ron Galella in the course of reviewing “Smash His Camera” in Sundance. [Chicago Sun-Times]

    • Carey Mulligan, self-deprecating British actress rejected by three drama schools who went on to star in An Education has Tinseltown at her feet. [The Times]

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  • Is there a ‘Precious’ in this year’s Sundance lineup?

    (from left) Chyna Layne, Amina Robinson and Gabourey Sidibe in PreciousWhen (at this stage, I think it’s safe to say “when”) “Precious” and “An Education” land Best Picture nods on Tuesday morning, there will be an interesting trivia note to attach to the occasion: they’ll be the first Sundance competition entries since 2001 to make it all the way to Oscar’s top race.

    Indeed, “Precious” will be the first Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner ever to score a Best Picture Oscar nod in the festival’s 25-year history.

    These are two interesting stats that aren’t mentioned in AP writer David Germain’s story on the relationship between Sundance and Oscar, which casts a more positive gaze on the number of overlaps between the two. And he’s right to an extent: the past decade alone has given Oscar-watchers plenty of reason to keep a close eye on Sundance.

    In the eight years since “In the Bedroom” became the last Sundance contender to crack the Best Picture lineup,  Sundance has presented a number of future Oscar contenders in acting and writing categories, including “Maria Full of Grace,” “Hustle and Flow,” “Junebug,” “The Squid and the Whale,” “Half Nelson” and, most recently, “Frozen River.”

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  • Stars ‘Howl’ in Sundance

    Our friend Anthony Breznican of USA Today picked up a copy of Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” while in Sundance, and in honor of the Epstein/Friedman film of the same name, starring James Franco as Ginsberg and centered on the poet’s obscenity trial, had a few laughs with some of the stars in attendance at the fest.  Have a look:

  • THE LISTS: Top 10 Oscar nominee fields

    Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's ListIn exactly one week’s time, we’ll have a brand new list of Oscar nominations to pore over, pick apart and eventually file away in our subconscious with the other 81 editions of this annual collective. For Oscar geeks, nomination day is in many ways more exciting than the ceremony itself, celebrating a broader spectrum of work and throwing up far more surprises along the way.

    For all that, once the winners are announced, the nomination list as a whole tends to be disregarded, returned to only by trivia buffs and the geekiest of Oscar geeks. (Guilty on both counts.) And that’s shame, because a field of five nominees can often be more illuminating viewed collectively than even the worthiest of individual champions.

    Today’s list, then, is devoted to that most elusive of Oscar holy grails: the perfect nominee field.

    Yes, more often than not, the Academy will nominate several notable achievements in a single category. But rarer than hen’s teeth are the robust Oscar categories that feature a full house of five outstanding nominees, five contenders that would all be worthy of a win in any other year. No unremarkable coaster nominees sliding in on the coattails of a popular picture. No bad films with an expensively studio-bought  nominations. No filler. No fat. Just five superb achievements.

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  • On the shots column…one more time

    People are still sending emails daily on this, so while I’m glad the interest is high, I’d like to point out, once again, that it’s a bit of a task getting 10 cinematographers on the phone to discuss specific elements and get the piece going. So, in the way of an update, I’ve narrowed the list to roughly 13 shots, and have an idea of what the top 10 will look like. I’ve gotten a few folks on the record and am in the process of getting the last few on the horn.

    It will come. Probably post-nominations at this point (though I will try my damnedest for Friday.) Patience, young ones.

  • Costume Designers Guild nominees

    Sacha Baron Cohen in BrunoA nice guild mention for “Crazy Heart” which establishes some wider-spread love for the film.  It’s still a threat to slide into the 10, I’m telling you.

    I expect this to be the period field minus “Julie & Julia” and add “Inglourious Basterds” (which was surprisingly snubbed) or “Bright Star” (which, the fact that it missed here is a friggin’ TRAVESTY).

    Then again, I suppose Nora Ephron’s film, or even the flashy “Bruno,” are certainly possibilities.  Maybe even the vibrant threads of “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,” my pick for best in show in this category.

    “Avatar” gets another guild boost, while Danny Glicker is cited for “Up in the Air,” reminding me of our discussion of his vision for the threads in Jason Reitman’s film.  Check out the full list after the jump and at The Circuit.

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  • Dear Errol

    The only reason I’m posting this is because Errol Morris was okay with doing the same, but I have to say, it’s hilarious:

    Letter to Errol Morris from Harvey Weinstein re: The Thin Blue Line

  • 1/26 Oscarweb Round-up

    Christoph Waltz• Donna Freydkin talks to man of the hour, Christoph Waltz. [USA Today]

    • Is 27 years without an Oscar too many to deny Meryl Streep in 2010? [Rope of Silicon]

    • We’re happy to be among the top 50 “best blogs for moviemakers.” [MovieMaker Magazine]

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  • Anne Hathaway to perform Oscar nomination honors

    Anne HathawayNo reason to stop the presses or anything, but good to know. If I had to get up at the crack of dawn to watch the nominations announcement (luckily, I don’t), Anne Hathaway’s face is as pleasant a sight to wake up to as I can imagine. (No offence, Forest Whitaker.) Thanks to commenter Ziyad for the tip:

    Nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards® will be announced on Tuesday, February 2, by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak and Oscar-nominated actress and Academy member Anne Hathaway. Sherak and Hathaway will unveil the nominations in 10 of the 24 categories at a 5:30 a.m. news conference at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, where hundreds of media representatives from around the world will be gathered.

  • Tim Burton named Cannes jury president

    Tim BurtonIn a move that should remind some of his more disenchanted fans of the high esteem with which he is still held in the industry, Hollywood’s resident kook-auteur Tim Burton has been tapped to head the jury of this year’s Cannes Film Festival. He said in a statement:

    After spending my early life watching triple features and 48-hour horror movie marathons, I’m finally ready for this … It’s a great honor and I look forward, with my fellow jurors, to watching some great films from around the world. When you think of Cannes you think of world cinema. And as films have always been like dreams to me, this is a dream come true.

    The selection makes him the first full-time American filmmaker to preside over Europe’s most sanctified cinematic institution since Quentin Tarantino in 2004. (Actor-director Sean Penn took the gig two years ago). A more mainstream pick than usual, he’s nonetheless one of the industry’s most identifiable directorial brands, and therefore an obvious candidate for the position.

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  • This again

    (from left) Jason Reitman and Sheldon TurnerWait, did Pete Hammond really say that “the bloggers” are responsible for the whole (sensationalized) Jason Reitman/Sheldon Turner dispute thing without noting that Steven Zeitchik, at Hammond’s own outlet, was the one responsible for spurring the debate without having (or seemingly being interested in) certain facts?

    Anyway, not that Hammond needed to be anything other than a showman when he moderated last night’s WGA post-screening Q&A between Turner and Reitman, but let’s not deflect too much here.  And I think Steve Pond is stretching matters a bit further when he writes that Reitman failed “to thank his credited co-writer” at the CCMAs last weekend.  Reitman clearly said “our screenplay,” gestured to Turner and stepped away for him to speak when he was finished.  He wasn’t conducting the band.

    I wasn’t going to bother with this whole mess because it was built on some sloppy journalism from the outset and serves to point a finger at something that isn’t as big a story as certain parties would like it to be, but, too late.  Here I am doing it anyway.

  • INTERVIEW: Quentin Tarantino

    Quentin Tarantino at the Los Angeles premiere of Inglourious BasterdsNearing the end of January on an awards season run for a film that bowed at Cannes is an odd time to be crossing paths with a filmmaker to talk about the goods, but that’s where I found myself with Quentin Tarantino this year.

    Making the publicity rounds in the wake of the DVD and Blu-ray release of his film “Inglourious Basterds” and, of course, keeping exposure high with Oscar nominations eminent, Tarantino is nevertheless as indefatigable as ever.  Last week he popped up on one of Conan O’Brien’s final episodes of “The Tonight Show,” which the filmmaker says was an honor.  “I’ve always had a fun time doing his show,” he says.

    He was coming off a weekend that yielded Critics’ Choice Movie Awards recognition for his film’s ensemble, supporting actor Christoph Waltz and a screenplay honor for the writer/director himself at the time, but in the week since, Waltz and the ensemble were again rewarded, this time by the Screen Actors Guild.

    The film awards circuit is a much different beast than it was 15 years ago when Tarantino exploded onto the scene with “Pulp Fiction,” even if his long time confidant Harvey Weinstein is still at the campaign’s helm.  So it’s a little difficult not to press him for how those differences strike him, now that he’s back in the season’s good graces.

    Interestingly enough, he’s reminded of a similarity first.

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  • All together now: Awwwwww

    (from left) Jeff Bridges and Susan Geston at the Los Angeles premiere of Crazy HeartI’ve been neck-deep in a Jeff Bridges retrospective of sorts lately as I’m writing a piece on his best performances for Fandango. Currently I’m watching “Rancho Deluxe,” and as I surfed around the net for news and notes on the film, I stumbled across this gem that was so sweet, I just had to pass it along.

    You may have noticed Bridges is always quick to first thank his wife of 33 years, Susan Geston, every time he accepts an award this season.  The two have a rather unmistakable bond.  And to survive this long in this industry, that’s absolutely an accomplishment.  I knew the two met on the set of “Rancho Deluxe.” Geston was a nearby ranch hand.  But I didn’t know about a little keepsake Bridges says he received a some time after:

    About 15 years later, I got a letter from the make-up guy on the movie. He’d taken a picture of me as I am asking out that girl…The picture was in the letter. That is my most precious possession. I carry it with me wherever I go.

  • OFF THE CARPET: David and Goliath

    Jeremy Renner in The Hurt LockerThe stunning PGA victory for “The Hurt Locker” last night not only injected some more excitement into what was a coagulating Oscar race, but it also injected some intrigue and drama as well.

    Some might want to say it wasn’t such a surprise, and if you called it, great.  But it was an against-all-odds victory no matter how you slice it.  The film’s $12 million box office haul is the lowest for a PGA winner, by $50 million, since 1992’s “The Crying Game.”

    The competition we’re now seemingly faced with in “The Hurt Locker” versus “Avatar” couldn’t have been scripted.  And it’s a battle of philosophies more intriguing than the one put forth by Owen Gleiberman a few weeks back.

    It’s low budget, efficient, muscular independent filmmaking versus blockbuster, groundbreaking, high octane studio entertainment.  It’s level-headed political realism versus archetypal political grandstanding.  It’s character versus idea.  It’s measured theatrical meditation versus visceral theatrical experience.

    In a nutshell, it’s everything the cinema is about, it’s a Civil War of the medium, and it just happens to be a battle whose warring factions are led by former spouses.  Drama doesn’t begin to say it.

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  • Eddie Izzard to host Independent Spirit Awards

    Eddie IzzardThe press release, in part:

    Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, is pleased to announce that acclaimed comedian Eddie Izzard will serve as Master of Ceremonies for the 25th Film Independent Spirit Awards. Izzard’s tangential, absurd, bizarre, and surreal comic narratives are lauded for their creativity and wit, which suits the irreverent, laid-back style of the Spirit Awards. The milestone anniversary will be a late-night celebration on Friday, March 5, 2010 at LA Live’s event deck in downtown Los Angeles…

    “Eddie Izzard will bring his hilarious energy to this year’s ceremony, while paying tribute to the independent spirit and artists who have produced some of the world’s best original films,” said Jennifer Caserta, EVP and GM of IFC. “The Spirit Awards are the pinnacle celebration of independent work in the film industry, and we are proud to have been a dedicated partner and television broadcast home for the awards for more than fifteen years.”

  • 1/25 Oscarweb Round-up

    Gone with the Wind• PGA president Marshall Herskovitz says the 10 Best Picture nominees thing is working. We’ll see. [Variety]

    • “Avatar” vs. “Gone With the Wind”: Reflections on James Cameron’s plantation in the sky. [Speakeasy]

    • Guy discusses gender matters in Hollywood with a handful of colleagues. [Showbiz Sandbox]

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