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February 21, 2010

BAFTA

Best Film: The Hurt Locker
Best Actress: Carey Mulligan, An Education
Best Actor: Colin Firth, A Single Man
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Best Foreign Language Film: A Prophet
Best Animated Film: Up
Best Adapted Screenplay: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air
Rising Star Award: Kristen Stewart
Best Production Design: Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg and Kim Sinclair, Avatar
Best Original Screenplay: Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
Best British Film: Fish Tank
Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique, Precious
Best Makeup and Hair: Jenny Shircore, The Young Victoria
Best Costume Design: Sandy Powell, The Young Victoria
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Best Visual Effects: Avatar
Best Cinematography: Barry Ackroyd, The Hurt Locker
Best Film Editing: Bob Murawski and Chris Innis, The Hurt Locker
Best Music: Michael Giacchino, Up
Best Sound: The Hurt Locker
Carl Foreman Award (Best Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer): Duncan Jones, Moon
Best Short Film: I Do Air
Best Animated Short: Mother of Many
Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema: Joe Dunton

Posted by dpoland at 03:16 PM | Comments (16)

February 20, 2010

WGA Goes Hurt Locker, Up In the Air and Cove

Anyone surprised?

Posted by dpoland at 06:12 PM | Comments (8)

February 14, 2010

PRESS RELEASE - The Hurt Locker, Up, The Cove Ace The ACEs

“THE HURT LOCKER” WINS BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (DRAMA)
AND “THE HANGOVER” WINS BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (COMEDY/MUSICAL) AT THE 60TH ANNUAL ACE EDDIE AWARDS RECOGNIZING OUTSTANDING EDITING IN 2009
“THE COVE” TAKES TOP DOC PRIZE

“UP” WINS BEST EDITED ANIMATED FEATURE

“30 ROCK,” “BREAKING BAD,” “DEXTER,” “GREY GARDENS,” “THE DEADLIEST CATCH” LEAD THE TV WINNERS
ROB REINER, PAUL F. LaMASTRA, A.C.E., NEIL TRAVIS, A.C.E. HONORED

AVID RECEIVES FIRST-EVER ACE TECHNICAL EXCELLENCE AWARD

Beverly Hills, February 14 – “The Hurt Locker,” (edited by Bob Murawski & Chris Innis) and “The Hangover” (edited by Debra Neil-Fisher, A.C.E.) won Best Edited Feature Film (Drama) and Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy or Musical) respectively at the 60th Annual ACE Eddie Awards tonight where trophies were handed out in nine (9) categories of film, television and documentaries. The black-tie ceremony was held in the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel with over 1,000 in attendance to celebrate the year’s best editing. “Up” (edited by Kevin Nolting) won Best Edited Animated Feature Film and “The Cove” (edited by Geoffrey Richman) won Best Edited Documentary. Television winners included “30 Rock: Apollo Apollo” (edited by Ken Eluto, A.C.E.) for Best Edited Half-Hour Series for Television, “Breaking Bad: ABQ” (edited by Lynne Willingham, A.C.E.) for Best Edited One-Hour Series for Commercial television, “Dexter: Remains to be Seen” (edited by Louis Cioffi) for Best Edited One-Hour Series for Non-Commercial Television, “Grey Gardens” (edited by Alan Heim, A.C.E. & Lee Percy, A.C.E.) for Best Edited Miniseries or Motion Picture for Television, and “The Deadliest Catch: Stay Focused or Die” (edited by Kelly Coskran & Josh Earl) for Best Edited Reality Series.

The Student Editing Competition winner was Andrew Hellesen of Chapman University who beat out hundreds of competitors from film schools and universities around the country.

Rob Reiner received the ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year honor presented to him by friend and longtime collaborator Christopher Guest. Lifetime Career Achievement Awards went to industry veterans Paul F. LaMastra, A.C.E. and Neil Travis, A.C.E. Their careers were highlighted with clip reels and praise from friends

and colleagues during the affair. The evening was presided over by ACE President Randy Roberts, A.C.E. The star of NBC’s “Community” – Joel McHale -- served as the evenings M.C.

Avid received ACE’s first-ever Technical Excellence Award presented by ACE President Randy Roberts.

Other presenters included distinguished industry veterans along with fresh faces paying tribute to the evening’s honorees and nominees including Oscar® nominees James Cameron, Lee Daniels and Gabourey Sidibe, along with Michelle Rodriguez (AVATAR), Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”) and many others.

A full list of winners follows:

BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (DRAMATIC):
THE HURT LOCKER
Bob Murawski & Chris Innis

BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (COMEDY OR MUSICAL):
THE HANGOVER
Debra Neil-Fisher, A.C.E.

BEST EDITED ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
UP
Kevin Nolting

BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY
THE COVE
Geoffrey Richman

BEST EDITED HALF-HOUR SERIES FOR TELEVISION:
30 Rock: “Apollo Apollo”
Ken Eluto, A.C.E.

BEST EDITED ONE-HOUR SERIES FOR COMMERCIAL TELEVISION:
Breaking Bad: “ABQ”
Lynne Willingham, A.C.E.

BEST EDITED ONE-HOUR SERIES FOR NON-COMMERCIAL TELEVISION:
Dexter: “Remains to be Seen”
Louis Cioffi

BEST EDITED MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE FOR TELEVISION:
Grey Gardens
Alan Heim, A.C.E. & Lee Percy, A.C.E.

BEST EDITED REALITY SERIES:
The Deadliest Catch: “Stay Focused or Die”
Kelly Coskran & Josh Earl

STUDENT EDITING COMPETITION
Andrew Hellesen, Chapman University

AMERICAN CINEMA EDITORS

AMERICAN CINEMA EDITORS (ACE) is an honorary society of motion picture editors founded in 1950. Film editors are voted into membership on the basis of their professional achievements, their dedication to the education of others and their commitment to the craft of editing.
The objectives and purposes of the AMERICAN CINEMA EDITORS are to advance the art and science of the editing profession; to increase the entertainment value of motion pictures by attaining artistic pre-eminence and scientific achievement in the creative art of editing; to bring into close alliance those editors who desire to advance the prestige and dignity of the editing profession.
ACE produces several annual events including EditFest (a weekend editing festival in the summer), Invisible Art/Visible Artists (annual panel of Oscar® nominated editors), and the ACE Eddie Awards, now in its 60th year, recognizing outstanding editing in nine categories of film, television and documentaries. The organization publishes a quarterly magazine, CinemaEditor, highlighting the art, craft and business of editing and editors.

For additional information on ACE and the ACE Eddie Awards, please visit the ACE website at http://www.americancinemaeditors.com . Photos available upon request.

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Posted by dpoland at 11:11 PM | Comments (2)

February 08, 2010

HAH!™

47-year old industryite writes: "At Monkey Bar for Sandy Bullock party-- bringing median age down about 30 years."

Add, Tues, 11:50a - Translation - A Sandy Bullock party at the Monkey Bar means Oscar gladhanding. Oscar gladhanding, even more in NY than LA, means older people.

Posted by dpoland at 07:23 PM | Comments (17)

January 25, 2010

All Not Together Now

When I saw this foursome on the SAG Awards (oddly without the present Ms Loren), I was struck by how this group of four women looked as though they had barely ever met. And the movie feels just like that, even though each individual got a wonderful chance to stretch and play.

Posted by dpoland at 05:00 PM | Comments (11)

January 24, 2010

PGA Offers An Actual Surprise In Award Season

The Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures
THE HURT LOCKER
Kathryn Bigelow
Mark Boal
Nicolas Chartier
Greg Shapiro

The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures
UP
Jonas Rivera

The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures
THE COVE
Fisher Stevens
Paula DuPré Pesmen

Posted by dpoland at 07:36 PM | Comments (43)

January 23, 2010

SAG Awards

No surprises at all.

Winners after the jump... for the sake of avoiding spoilers for late West Coast viewers...

Ensemble - Inglourious Basterds
Actor - Jeff Bridges
Actress - Sandra Bullock
Supporting Actor - Christof Waltz
Supporting Actress - Mo'Nique

Posted by dpoland at 07:08 PM | Comments (62)

January 18, 2010

Globes Catch-Up

My take on The Golden Globes this year was a little unexpected.

I thought Ricky Gervais did a solid job that was perfect for The Globes and will never be appropriate for The Oscars. Good call on both teams.

There were a few goofy choices... and that's fine. The only award of any significance was Sandra Bullock in a category that has some great work in it, but is by no means an intensely competitive group of "must votes." The Bullock win (and the co-win at BFCA) will get Academy members who hadn't put the DVD in the player to do just that. The urge to offer a loving hand to a well-liked and high-grossing member of the community may do the rest.

The most significant element of The Globes is always the impression that winners make at these shows with their speeches, Was Mo'Nique's speech genius or a melodramatic bore? Did Jim Cameron come off as a good-natured winner or will Academy members really want to see Kathryn Bigelow speak and make history? That kind of thing.

I went to the parties afterward and was reminded that, indeed, we are all part of a big high school. I am not a studio exec or an actor or director... but I am some kind of member of the family and as such, an evening out at the penultimate high school reunion creates its own perspective. There are so many levels of communication going on at once... so many people whose lives touch, but work on so many different layers of intimacy (or lack thereof).

A night of thousands of indifferent people becomes a lovely thing with a few moments with people you are genuinely happy to see. This is a note to myself for when I get angry about the absurdity of it all. I will always get sucked into rage over hypocrisy. But there is never a real question about why I still work in this world. I love it. And I am lucky to have my passion indulged.

Posted by dpoland at 07:47 PM | Comments (37)

January 17, 2010

Golden Globes BYOB

Have at it if you like... not much for live blogging...

Posted by dpoland at 05:02 PM | Comments (54)

January 12, 2010

PRESS RELEASE - LAFCA's Top 13 Of The Decade

LOS ANGELES FILM CRITICS ANNOUNCE MULHOLLAND DR. FILM OF THE DECADE

LOS ANGELES, January 12, 2009 – The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) named Mulholland Dr., from director David Lynch, the Film of the Decade, as announced today by Brent Simon, President of LAFCA. This is the organization’s inaugural survey of the decade in cinema.

“Famously salvaged from a rejected TV pilot, Lynch’s film stands as both a cautionary tale and a mascot for the triumph of art and personal vision in an industry that, from where we sit, often seems actively devoted to the suppression of both,” the organization said in an essay announcing its choice.

"Deep love, respect and gratitude to the L.A. Film Critics Association for choosing Mulholland Dr. as the film of the decade," said director David Lynch when informed of the distinction. "I am really thrilled by this honor, thank you."

Mulholland Dr. beat out 189 other selected titles, which were chosen by 41 LAFCA members who participated in the vote. In 2001, Mulholland Dr. was the group’s runner-up for best picture, placing second to Todd Fields’ In the Bedroom.

“Carving out a Top 10 list in any given year is tough, but picking from a decade's worth of cinematic masterpieces is an especially brutal exercise. David Lynch's Mulholland Dr. is an especially appropriate choice as Film of the Decade. A beautiful, woozy mystery for the id, portions of its meaning are readily apparent, while others dance along its edges, deliciously up for substantive argument and debate -- which is part of what we as film critics love, after all, “said Simon.

Below please find the top 10 Films of the Decade list from LAFCA:

1) Mulholland Dr. - David Lynch
2) There Will Be Blood - Paul Thomas Anderson
3) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Michel Gondry
4) Brokeback Mountain - Ang Lee
5) No Country for Old Men - Joel and Ethan Coen
Zodiac - David Fincher
6) Yi Yi - Edward Yang
7) 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days - Cristian Mungiu
The Lord of the Rings - Peter Jackson
8) Spirited Away - Hayao Miyazaki
9) United 93 - Paul Greengrass
Y Tu Mamá También - Alfonso Cuarón
10) Sideways - Alexander Payne

THE RULES: Each critic was invited to submit a weighted ballot of 10 films. On ranked ballots, the No. 1 choice received 10 points, No. 2 received 9 points, No. 3 received 8 points, and so on. On unranked ballots, each film received 5.5 points. The organization freely allowed votes for franchises (i.e., The Lord of the Rings trilogy), short films (The Heart of the World), films that premiered at festivals in the ’90s but didn’t play U.S. theaters until the ’00s (Audition), films that premiered at festivals in the ’00s but won’t play U.S. theaters until the ’10s (Wild Grass), and even films that were made four decades ago (Army of Shadows).

Posted by dpoland at 09:47 AM | Comments (10)

January 11, 2010

PRESS RELEASE - ACE Awards For Editing

(embargoed until tomorrow... embargo broken by Variety... embargo no withdrawn)

NOMINEES FOR 60TH ANNUAL ACE EDDIE AWARDS

BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (DRAMATIC):
Avatar
Stephen Rivkin, A.C.E., John Refua, A.C.E. &
James Cameron, A.C.E.

District 9
Julian Clarke

The Hurt Locker
Bob Murawski & Chris Innis

Star Trek
Maryann Brandon, A.C.E. & Mary Jo Markey, A.C.E.

Up in the Air
Dana Glauberman, A.C.E.

BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (COMEDY OR MUSICAL):
500 Days of Summer
Alan Edward Bell

The Hangover
Debra Neil-Fisher, A.C.E.

Julie & Julia
Richard Marks, A.C.E.

A Serious Man
Roderick Jaynes

It’s Complicated
Joe Hutshing, A.C.E. & David Moritz

BEST EDITED ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
Coraline
Christopher Murrie & Ronald Sanders

Fantastic Mr. Fox
Andrew Weisblum

UP
Kevin Nolting

BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY:
The Cove
Geoffrey Richman

Food, Inc.
Kim Roberts

This Is It
Don Broch & Kevin Stitt , A.C.E.

(television after the jump)

BEST EDITED HALF-HOUR SERIES FOR TELEVISION:
30 Rock: “Apollo Apollo”
Ken Eluto, A.C.E.

Curb Your Enthusiasm: “The Bare Midriff”
Steven Rasch, A.C.E.

Entourage: “The Sorkin Notes”
Steven Sprung, A.C.E.


BEST EDITED ONE-HOUR SERIES FOR COMMERCIAL TELEVISION: (First time with 5 Nominees)
24: “8pm-9pm”
Leon Ortiz Gil, A.C.E.

Breaking Bad: “ABQ”
Lynne Willingham, A.C.E.

ER: “And in the End”
Randy Jon Morgan, A.C.E. & Jacque Toberen

Law & Order SVU: “Hardwired”
Karen Stern, A.C.E.

Lost: “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham”
Christopher Nelson, A.C.E.

BEST EDITED ONE-HOUR SERIES FOR NON-COMMERCIAL TELEVISION:
Dexter: “Living the Dream”
Stewart Schill

Dexter: “Remains to be Seen”
Louis Cioffi

True Blood: “Hard-Hearted Hannah”
Louise Innes

BEST EDITED MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE FOR TELEVISION:
Grey Gardens
Alan Heim, A.C.E. & Lee Percy, A.C.E.

Into The Storm
John Bloom & Antonia Van Drimmelen

Taking Chance
Lee Percy, A.C.E. & Brian A. Kates, A.C.E.

BEST EDITED REALITY SERIES:
The Deadliest Catch: Stay Focused Ordie
Kelly Coskran & Josh Earl

Expedition Africa: Stanley and Livingstone
Jonathon Braun, A.C.E., Brad Ley, Sven Pape &
Molly Schock

Top Chef: The Last Supper
Annie Tighe, Alan Hoang, Adrienne Salisbury &
Kevin Leffler

Posted by dpoland at 11:13 PM | Comments (4)

ASC Noms

Barry Ackroyd, BSC for “The Hurt Locker”
Dion Beebe, ASC, ACS for “Nine”
Christian Berger, AAC for “The White Ribbon”
Mauro Fiore, ASC for “Avatar”
Robert Richardson, ASC for “Inglourious Basterds”

I can't complain about any of these.

Dion Beebe did all kinds of great stuff on Nine, even if his director didn't.

Mauro Fiore absolutely deserves this for Avatar, a film whose tech achievements are being overlooked by too many smart people because of the box office story. (The film also deserves nods for make-up and production design that I fear it might not get because of the digital nature of the work.)

Ackroyd and Richardson delivered big time for their directors and their visions.

And Christian Berger did a remarkable, painterly job for Haneke.

Of course there are others whose work is on the level of these cinematographers this year. Picking five for these craft awards is much harder than Best Picture or even some of the acting categories. There is artistry and there is consistent, flawless work for guys like Roger Deakins and magnificent, unshowy work by guys like Javier Aguirresarobe on The Road (while also shockingly stinking up the joint on Twilight: New Moon).

But this list is fine.

Posted by dpoland at 12:39 PM | Comments (15)

Press Release - WGA Noms

2010 Writers Guild Awards Screen Nominees Announced

LOS ANGELES, NEW YORK -- The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) have announced nominations for outstanding achievement in writing for the screen during the past year. Winners will be honored at the 2010 Writers Guild Awards held on Saturday, February 20, 2010, at simultaneous ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
(500) Days of Summer, Written by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber; Fox Searchlight
Avatar, Written by James Cameron; 20th Century Fox
The Hangover, Written by Jon Lucas & Scott Moore; Warner Bros.
The Hurt Locker, Written by Mark Boal; Summit Entertainment
A Serious Man, Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen; Focus Features

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Crazy Heart, Screenplay by Scott Cooper; Based on the novel by Thomas Cobb; Fox Searchlight
Julie & Julia, Screenplay by Nora Ephron; Based on the books Julie & Julia by Julie Powell and My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme; Sony Pictures
Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire, Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher; Based on the novel Push by Sapphire; Lionsgate
Star Trek, Written by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman; Based upon Star Trek, Created by Gene Roddenberry; Paramount Pictures
Up in the Air, Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner; Based upon the novel by Walter Kirn; Paramount Pictures

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Against the Tide, Screenplay by Richard Trank; Moriah Films
Capitalism: A Love Story, Written by Michael Moore; Overture Films
The Cove, Written by Mark Monroe; Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions
Earth Days, Written by Robert Stone; Zeitgeist Films
Good Hair, Written by Chris Rock & Jeff Stilson and Lance Crouther and Chuck Sklar; Roadside Attractions
Soundtrack for a Revolution, Written by Bill Guttentag & Dan Sturman; Freedom Song Productions and Louverture Films

Posted by dpoland at 11:09 AM | Comments (18)

January 07, 2010

DGA Noms

What is there to say?

DGA is remarkably consistent in matching 4 of 5 Oscar nominees.

2009: Oscar nominee Stephan Daldry in for DGA nominee Christopher Nolan
2008: Jason Reitman in for Sean Penn
2007: Clint Eastwood in for Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
Paul Greengrass in for Bill Condon
2006: Exact Match
2005: Mike Leigh in for Marc Forster

2010?

I would guess that Lee Daniels will be the odd man out. I would guess that Clint Eastwood or Lone Scherfig takes the slot. But this could be one of those rare No Change years. Invictus is weak, though its primary appeal is with the older crowd that is better represented in The Academy. (This is also true o Eastwood himself.) Scherfig is a bit of a long shot, as An Education has faded a bit in recent weeks,

Posted by dpoland at 05:17 PM | Comments (34)

January 06, 2010

The WriGAms

ADD: 11:17p - An e-mail landed at 5:44p from a publicist - "You're probably already aware but just in case you're not, wanted to bring to your attention that Disney/Pixar's UP is unfortunately ineligible for DGA and WGA Awards because the filmmakers are not signatory members of either guild."

=======

Nice job by Steve Pond in pointing out the real story on why The Weinsteins didn't chase WGA noms for three of their awards season films. The films just weren't eligible.

Add to that An Education, which was DQed because its WGA member, Nick Hornby, is not a member of the Writers Guild of Great Britain and did not write the Brit-made, non-Sony-funded film under their CBA. To wit;

To be eligible, a theatrical motion picture must have been written under the WGA MBA or under a bona fide collective bargaining agreement of the Australian Writers Guild, Writers Guild of Canada, Writers Guild of Great Britain, Irish Playwrights & Screenwriters Guild or the New Zealand Writers Guild (collectively, “affiliate Guilds”).

I have to say... first instinct is that this kinda stinks. On the other hand, I actually honor the WGA for giving their award to their members and affiliate members and not bending over backwards (morally) to match Oscar noms as closely as possible like, uh, PGA did. It's not a dumb game, like the way AMPAS handles docs and foreign language. It's just, "if you are in our club, you can win something... if not, sod off!" Okay. I can roll with that, no matter how much I like Mr. Hornby, love The Road adaptation, and feel that QT deserves props for IB, for writing more than anything else.

Posted by dpoland at 01:02 PM | Comments (6)

December 19, 2009

Spoke Too Soon... 2009's First Awards Smear Campaign

Leave it to the film critics... you know, the ones who don't really care about celebrity or the ego around it... to be the ones to launch the first serous smear campaign of the season.

Or maybe we should just put this one at the feet of Oscar-ass-hologist, Tom O'Neill and whatever member of NYFCC started taking swipes, under a cowardly veil of anonymity, at Mo'Nique for not choosing to attend the NYFCC dinner next month.

Why did NYFCC decide to do a dinner in NY, four days before BFCA, LAFCA, and HFPA in consecutive nights in LA? I don't know. Why did they move the dinner from Sunday nights to work week Monday nights last year? I don't know.

And I don't know whether Mo'Nique's (boy, am I about done indulging that spelling flourish!) excuses are true or lies. What do I know about why she makes the decision she makes? But the answer to this question is utterly irrelevant.

You don't give a present with the expectation of getting something back... not if you are a sincere gift giver.

Truth is, if Monique skipped out on The Golden Globes, it would cause real talk amongst the Oscar voters, who would then be considering their final vote. But NYFCC is a private event and the only way it could hurt Monique's Oscar chances would be if some smug jerk made a big deal of it and it got picked up by others as a serious issue.

One more thing. NYFCC and NBR give their awards on consecutive nights. Amazingly, this year, there is just one crossover winner between the two... George Clooney... who is the co-winner at NBR with Morgan Freeman. So the trips to NY will be less a matter of efficiency than they often are.

The 30 or so people being awarded by one of the two groups will all have to be on the west coast three days after these two awards dinner in order to get more awards. So they are either being highly inconvenienced by Monday and Tuesday events preceding and Friday event... or they are simply clearing their calendars for more than a full week to run the awards gamut. (This is why BFCA is always close to The Golden Globes and LAFCA somewhere close to those events.)

If Monique is actually taping her show that week, I don't find it in any way offensive that she isn't going out of her way to change her shooting dates... especially if she is on a short week, having to leave Atlanta by noon or so in order to get to LA for BFCA.

She is not "one of us." She is Black. She lives in Atlanta. She is a comic. What kind of arrogance demands that she acts like "us" and makes coming to graciously bow at the feet of NYFCC (or any group awarding her performance) her top priority?

Heck, she could skip BFCA and LAFCA too and not really have a problem. But skipping The Globea would have impact. And skipping more than one "major" event would become a trend story (what O'Neill is trying to do, prematurely... trend of one) and only then would it become a real problem for her Oscar chances.

Posted by dpoland at 04:59 PM | Comments (25)

December 17, 2009

It's The SAGgies!

What is there to say?

If you think you can determine anything about The Oscars by looking at the SAG nominations, you are on crack.

The idea of Best Ensemble as an important reflection of where The Academy will go with Best Picture is mythology made even less real by 10 BP nominees.

And let's not forget 2007... No Country for Old Men, 3:10 to Yuma, American Gangster, Hairspray, Into the Wild. Well... that didn't work out so well.

The acting nods could go a lot like this. Diane Kruger isn't happening. I would bet that at least one actor in each of the male acting categories here will be disappointed on Oscar nomination morning.

Bring on the "shouldn't this award stand on its own" chatter if you must. But SAG is another group that desperately wants to be seen as a precursor. Yes, every honor is a good thing. Yes, I am pleased that a few of the dumb choices not to nom at HFPA are showing up here, if only because hyperactive Oscar analysts would make too much hay of the names being in or out.

So now we can enjoy the holidays before announcements from WGA (Jan 11), DGA (Jan 7) and PGA (Jan 5), which will make everyone's life harder by going to 10 nominees to mirror The Academy.

Posted by dpoland at 10:06 AM | Comments (5)

December 15, 2009

Globezzz

As usual, our happy band of freeloading friends go along to get along, doing what they must to try to mimic Oscar and to get some extra special stars on that red carpet.

Really few surprises... except for Julia Roberts, Robert Downey, Jr, a double-dip for Meryl while leaving out Zooey Deschanel, and a script nod for District 9 over six film nominated for their picture awards.

I am pleased, while still eye-rolling in general, for Tobey Maguire, Matt Damon in The Informant!, and Woody Harrelson. They all deserve to be taken very seriously when the big show rolls into town.

But really... not a bold, brave, or breathtaking stroke in the lot. The log rolls on...

Posted by dpoland at 06:35 AM | Comments (52)

December 14, 2009

NYFCC

It's deja vu' all over again.

The Hurt Locker is the critics' choice (lower case, so as not to impinge on BFCA's awards tag) with the film and director Bigelow taking the awards on both coasts.

In The Loop wins Screenplay in NY and is runner-up in LA.

LAFCA went for the unexpected with Yolande Moreau as Best Actress for Seraphine. NY stuck with Mamma Meryl!

Waltz, Mo'Nique, DP Christian Berger, foreign language candidate Summer Hours went both ways, as did The Fantastic Mr Fox - a title critics are hoping won't get lost by the inevitable Up win and likely BP slot.

And BFCA embarrassed itself by going to six nominees in 6 of the top 7 categories (top category #8, Best Picture, is a firm 10). Also the norm.

Posted by dpoland at 11:17 AM | Comments (8)

December 13, 2009

Who Is AFI?

"AFI" announced the organization's Top Ten today and like so many other fake awards - this one is all about having Oscar nominees come to lunch and offer their authority to AFI for the price of a red carpet perp walk - it comes down to some nice, smart people deciding what seems to be an ORGANIZATION'S voice, over lunch.

"The selections were made through a 13-person jury process involving scholars, film artists, critics and AFI trustees. Two juries — one for film and one for TV — met for two days of debate at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel. Among the film jurors were director Norman Jewison, Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (“Milk”), Leonard Maltin and Claudia Puig of USA Today."

How this makes this honor any more weighty than NBR's lunchtime 13 or Carlos de Abreau's selection of winners is beyond me... and I am a fan of Claudia, Leonard, Jewison, and even young Dusty Lance.

It's like we now have a divisional round made up of contests picked by groups that are small and can be swayed by media hype and internal goals of each organization followed by conference games played by more established groups playing the same games and then, for the finals, we get The Oscars, which feel free to do what the others did not... but nominate from a similarly reduced pool, leaving anything truly adventurous to being a one in two hundred event.

Maybe it's time for the Super Movie Friends Awards. Our motto: "If you can fit around my dining room table, you can vote!"

Posted by dpoland at 04:50 PM | Comments (8)

Left, Right & Center Awards

LAFCA sports about 11 full-time employed critics... NYFCC about double that. Meanwhile BFCA's membership has grown about 25% this year.

Bad times for critics.

MCN's Ray Pride is keeping up with all the tweeting... see, critics are still relevant... they have Twitter accounts...

I don't have the stomach.

The whole thing is now so inside baseball that I am a little queasy pretending to be a piece of twine or rubber or whatever the balls are made out of nowadays.

It took all of one profoundly stupid - and yes, I know the author will be insulted, but he deserves it on this one and should take comfort in the fact that less than 10% of hot blog readers will know that he wrote this unless he outs himself - responses to an award - "black and white doesn't equal award-worthy cinematography. Come on guys." Which is true. B+W does not deserve awards for being B+W. But this is utterly irrelevant when it comes to the masterful work in The White Ribbon.

But that is where we live now. Everyone is a fucking expert in cinematography when very few people I know understand what makes quality cinematography... and sometimes, that even includes me.... but not always. Okay for the author to prefer another choice... but to suggest this work is unworthy is not only ignorant, but... well, mostly it's ignorant... but also petulant. If you had the skills that Christian Berger has, you wouldn't be spending your Sunday twittering over his award.

Nor should I.

The only thing close to a surprise so far is picking District 9 for Production Design over Avatar, meaning that they are happy to award a heavily CGed design... but are out of their minds picking a beautifully done version of the form over one that creates an entire world from scratch just as beautifully, if not more so. Crazy and political. Would have been fine with them picking a "real world" designed movie, but if Avatar is on your table and you are taking it seriously for design, you really kinda have to go there.

See. I got sucked in.

I am picking things to be irritated by... which makes me a bore... but there really isn't anything else to do when nothing interesting is happening. Obviously, they have the right to like what everyone else likes and to give out awards accordingly. In fact, that's 100% fine. But it's still boring.

i will check in again later this afternoon and be, most likely, equally non-plussed. Some angry guy in NY will accuse me of being too angry because I'm not jumping up and down and shouting from the rooftops.

I am really enjoying this season. Lots of new people. Lots of very talented people. And many of them will not win much, even though they did great work. I guess that as I roll along, I am more about honoring the work of the horses than worrying about who will win the races. Parts of the handicapping game are still fun, but I guess I just care less and less about the race that was run 2 months earlier in Saratoga... and I know too much about how that race was fixed. Ignorance was bliss.

And for the record, BFCA, with a wider group of less experienced and involved members, is becoming less and less relevant as well. But more on that some other time.

Later...

Posted by dpoland at 01:27 PM | Comments (23)

December 03, 2009

Press Release (edited): N-Bored-R

The Idiot Awards continue to roll out this week, as the least important players try to position themselves (with the exception of ISAs, which should know better already.)

Today, it's the Nobody But Resthomers group.

They guessed right when the frontrunners were clear last two years. In the decade before that, their Best Picture winner was nominated but didn't win 7 of 10 times and 2 more times, the film wasn't nominated. This year's winner will definitely be nominated. Big grain of salt, folks, even though the millions of Oscar experts flooding the internet these days will drone on about it for days until the next inconsequential event happens.

As suual, they spread the wealth. No mention of the unseen (until HFPA sees it tomorrow... no guests allowed... unlikely to be kept promises of silence) Avatar, Nine, A Single Man, The Road, The Lovely Bones, Crazy Heart. But they love the TV movie.

Okay... enough energy wasted on these needy children. They should be embarrassed, but they have no shame. Maybe they can join HFPA.

UP IN THE AIR
NAMED 2009 BEST FILM OF THE YEAR BY THE
NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW
***
2010 Gala to be held on Tuesday, January 12th with
Meredith Vieira as Mistress of Ceremonies


New York, NY – December 3rd, 2009 – The National Board of Review named Up In The Air the 2009 Best Film of the Year. Directed by Jason Reitman, Up In The Air is the timely odyssey of Ryan Bingham, a corporate downsizer and consummate modern business traveler who, after years of staying happily airborne, suddenly finds himself ready to make a real connection. The film will be released in select theaters on December 4th by Paramount Pictures.

Below is a full list of the awards given by the National Board of Review:

Best Film: UP IN THE AIR
Best Director: CLINT EASTWOOD, Invictus
Best Actor(s):
GEORGE CLOONEY, Up In The Air
MORGAN FREEMAN, Invictus
Best Actress: CAREY MULLIGAN, An Education
Best Supporting Actor: WOODY HARRELSON, The Messenger
Best Supporting Actress: ANNA KENDRICK, Up In The Air
Best Foreign Language Film: A PROPHET
Best Documentary: THE COVE
Best Animated Feature: UP
Best Ensemble Cast: IT’S COMPLICATED
Breakthrough Performance by an Actor: JEREMY RENNER, The Hurt Locker
Breakthrough Performance by an Actress: GABOUREY SIDIBE, Precious
Spotlight Award for Best Directorial Debut:
DUNCAN JONES, Moon
OREN MOVERMAN, The Messenger
MARC WEBB, (500) Days of Summer
Best Original Screenplay: JOEL AND ETHAN COEN, A Serious Man
Best Adapted Screenplay: JASON REITMAN and SHELDON TURNER, Up In The Air
Special Filmmaking Achievement Award: WES ANDERSON, The Fantastic Mr. Fox
William K. Everson Film History Award: JEAN PICKER FIRSTENBERG
NBR Freedom of Expression:
BURMA VJ: REPORTING FROM A CLOSED COUNTRY
INVICTUS
THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: DANIEL ELLSEBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS

Ten Best Films
(in alphabetical order)

AN EDUCATION
(500) DAYS OF SUMMER
THE HURT LOCKER
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
INVICTUS
THE MESSENGER
A SERIOUS MAN
STAR TREK
UP
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

Five Best Foreign-Language Films
(in alphabetical order)

THE MAID
REVANCHE
SONG OF SPARROWS
THREE MONKEYS
THE WHITE RIBBON

Five Best Documentaries
(in alphabetical order)

BURMA VJ: REPORTING FROM A CLOSED COUNTRY
CRUDE
FOOD, INC.
GOOD HAIR
THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: DANIEL ELLSBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS

Top Ten Independent Films:
(in alphabetical order)

AMREEKA
DISTRICT 9
GOODBYE SOLO
HUMPDAY
IN THE LOOP
JULIA
ME AND ORSON WELLES
MOON
SUGAR
TWO LOVERS

Posted by dpoland at 11:19 AM | Comments (19)

December 01, 2009

Indie Spirits Awards Winners

This year will be heavy on "Win on Saturday Friday, Lose On Sunday" with one major exception...

I'll start by offering the film that will win the most ISAs.
PRECIOUS
BEST FEATURE
BEST DIRECTOR
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
BEST FEMALE LEAD
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE (aka, the very possible exception)

And...

BEST SCREENPLAY
(500) Days Of Summer

BEST FIRST FEATURE
The Messenger

BEST MALE LEAD
Jeff Bridges

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Christopher Plummer

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Roger Deakins

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Anvil! The Story of Anvil

BEST FOREIGN FILM
An Education

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD - (Given to one film's director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)
A Serious Man
(This one is announced, not enveloped... because somehow, the film is eligible for everything BUT Best Picture... and they know Precious is winning... so...)

There is a good chance that all but two of these winners will be an Oscar nominee at the time as well.

Anyone wondering about The Hurt Locker should note that they ran it last year, even though it had not yet been released. That should not have been allowed last year. But ironically, it clears the path for Precious and some other categories this year.

RULES FOR ELIGIBILITY
1. All submitted films must be at least 70 minutes long.
2. Cost of completed film, including post, must be less than $20 million. Any variations are at the sole discretion of the nominating committee. (For verification purposes, all films with total budgets exceeding $15 million or films with budgets under $500,000 applying for the Cassavetes Award are required to submit the top sheets from the film's Final Cost Report.)
3. Eligible films must have either:
- Been shown a minimum of once a day for one week (7 days) in a commercial theater between January 1 and December 31, 2009; or
- Been shown in 2009 at one of the following six film festivals: The Los Angeles Film Festival, New Directors/New Films, New York, Sundance, Telluride, or Toronto. Films that have or will have domestic theatrical distribution should be submitted the year of their theatrical run.

You know, the thing is, I think that the folks at FIND are sincere about doing this the right way, especially that people who serve on nominating committees. But with the exception of little Oscilloscope, it's another year of The Dependents & Lionsgate being given another promotional opportunity.

Isn't there a way to give a shout out to the big "indie" movies of the year each year, while still celebrating the true indies in some real way other than with a few non-started nominations and a couple of "it's soooo small' categories? I mean, even the "Best First..." categories are invaded by the bigger movies, which are pretty much assured of winning by what is a popular vote for the wins, as anyone is $95 ($60 for students) away from casting an ISA vote, which is a great bargain on screenings alone.

I imagine I will be in the room, as usual, in March, enjoying the camaraderie and gift bag. I invest a lot of time each year with the people in that room. I support the idea of the Indie Spirits and FIND in a real way. It's just so frustrating that it is so hard to get right. Part of it is the nature of putting on a TV show that funds a significant percentage of your not-for-profit. Part of it is that the FIND board is made up primarily by studio Dependent execs. If you look at the various committees listed in the Indie Spirit press release, it's the same group of people deciding these things every year.

This was not a great year for true indies. I was asked to nominate for a couple of the industry awards and I didn't find it easy to find candidates that stood out this year. It's not that there wasn't good work being done, but as the resulting nominations show, there are only so many ones to watch in most years.

And I am sick of slapping at these nominations every year... which is why I didn't wake up early and go down to see the nominations live. I would have spent 20 minutes afterward chasing my tail, trying to get a direct answer about how A Serious Man qualified for everything but Best Picture. (The answer probably is that it did qualify for Best Picture, but that committee had different priorities than other committees... and a Single Man nod would have made two for Focus, which would piss off Searchlight, Lionsgate, and Sony Classics... and they could never give up the "kinda unreleased" slot that Amreeka gets this year after a 40 screen self-distribution by National Geographic, making it the Great Lost Indie of 2009... and what if A Serious Man upset the ISA apple cart for Precious, which they would like to think could be a Sunday winner this year. But perhaps I am being too cynical and the symmetry, this year as most years, is just a coincidence.)

Congrats to all the nominees. None of you deserve my institutional disdain diminishing your achievements. I just wish I could get through one of these nominations announcements thinking, "Yeah... they pretty much got it right... it feels indie... they haven't left people out... there aren't Oscar nominated English-language films set to steal the foreign film category thunder (even if the film is deserving)... all the players are there... it doesn't feel like the nods were dealt out so much as considered..."

Maybe next year.

(EDIT: I made The Single/Serious Man Error in the next to last graph... now corrected)
(EDIT 2: Much as I love the idea of "reculting," it was a typo.)

Posted by dpoland at 09:47 AM | Comments (22)

November 19, 2009

Screen It 2k+9

I don't want to start reporting every DVD that hits the porch as though it is news, but with WB, Focus, Sony, Fox Searchlight, Sony Classics, and Magnolia landing with Academy members so far, it is interesting, I think, that WB decided not to ship The Hangover, though there will be Globes push. And even with the big DVD release party, no Star Trek for Oscar so far either.

I'm not sure why Searchlight hasn't pulled the trigger on Crazy Heart, a movie that will play better on TV... not coincidentally made for TV.

There will be plenty more DVDs on the way...

Posted by dpoland at 02:48 PM | Comments (6)

November 16, 2009

Twittered By An Academy Member This Morning

where the hell are the screeners???!!!

This is one of the major events of this year's awards season. Magnolia and Sony Classics have shipped. Everyone else... not yet.

And the same is pretty much true of the ad campaigns. Expect a big, fresh wave of ads this week and next. But studios large and small have been playing it very close to the fiscal vest this season so far.

The same is true with the last four big awards films to be seen. Nine junketed this last weekend because they had it planned months ago and they have a big cast of very busy actors. But everyone who saw the film - the soundtrack of which is still two weeks away from being done - including the HFPA, signed agreements not to review or every mention the film on social networking sites.

Avatar, no. Invictus, no. The Lovely Bones, no.

As usual, the one high-profile movie that is being long-lead screened, Sherlock Holmes, is suddenly getting odd awards buzz from the long-lead monkeys. There is even some new buzz around It's Complicated.

Why hasn't every member of The Academy had The Hurt Locker and District 9 and A Serious Man and Inglourious Basterds in their DVD players for weeks now? Not to mention long shots like Star Trek and The Hangover and The Informant!?

The reason is money, it seems... not so much as in no one spending as in studios hedging on their awards spending through a very scary corporate summer and preparing to lock-n-load just before Thanksgiving... some just before Christmas.

All of this is... well... interesting... if hard to analyze. Of the big new movies, you can be sure that Academy members will be drawn to Invictus and Avatar and Nine in a big way. The Lovely Bones may find it more challenging to get older viewers to the theaters (screening rooms and public) and could be very SAG-reliant to get it rolling.

But it may be that the long shots get longer as, literally, dozens of DVDs suddenly pile up on the doorstep next week.

Posted by dpoland at 12:10 PM | Comments (17)

November 05, 2009

Cinema Eye Doc Award Nominations

Posted by dpoland at 02:51 PM | Comments (6)

October 21, 2009

Honorary Awards

PRODUCERS GUILD OF AMERICA TO HONOR JOHN LASSETER WITH
2010 DAVID O. SELZNICK ACHIEVEMENT AWARD IN MOTION PICTURES

LOS ANGELES (October 21, 2009) - The Producers Guild of America (PGA), a national non-profit trade group committed to protecting the rights and credits of producers in film, television and new media, announced today that John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios and Principal Creative Advisor, Walt Disney Imagineering will receive the 2010 David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Motion Pictures. The award will be presented to Lasseter at the 21st Annual PGA Awards ceremony on Sunday, January 24, 2010 at the Hollywood Palladium. Lasseter is the first producer of animated films to be awarded the Selznick Award by the PGA and was the co-recipient of the PGA’s first-ever Vanguard Award in 2002.

AND...

LAFCA will be honoring Jean-Paul Belmondo for his lifetime of work.

Posted by dpoland at 11:29 AM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2009

Why Can't Gotham Get Serious About Movie Awards?

I like IFP. I want to support IFP.

But regardless of how they keep on trying to make The Gotham Awards the first step on the road to Oscar - neck and neck with the idiotic National Board of Review - the event remains a very nice place to be honored... and completely meaningless when it comes to the rest of the award season.

A few years ago, 2004, they figured out how to pick the lowest hanging fruit of the awards tree - awards for actresses - with the "Breakthrough Actor Award" and got behind Catalina Sandino Moreno, then Amy Adams, then Rinko Kikuchi, then Ellen Page, and last year, Melissa Leo.

Best Feature has been less successful in pushing nominees along since the category was launched in 2004. The first two - Sideways and Capote - got in. The last three - Half Nelson, Into The Wild, and Frozen River - did not.

Breakthrough Director Award has gone to Joshua Marston, Bennett Miller, Ryan Fleck, Craig Zobel, and Lance Hammer... only Bennett went on to a nomination (or his film with it).

In the four years of "Best Ensemble," six films have won... only Babel got a Best Picture nod.

Writing and below-the-line awards were dropped over a decade ago.

And so... congrats to everyone who is being honored at this party.

This year, they are putting their bets on A Serious Man and The Hurt Locker. A 10 film Oscar BP list makes this safer than in past.

And for Breakthrough Actor, there is only one actress... which should make Jeremy Renner, the only actor on the list with a shot at an Oscar nod, a little anxious. (I wish him the very best of luck, indeed.)

Onward...

Posted by dpoland at 03:42 PM | Comments (8)

October 15, 2009

Indie Party Catch Up...

The Indie Spirit Awards are adding to the changes. First, it was the move to Friday night instead of Saturday afternoon. Today, they announced that the event will take place downtown in a tent. Oh... and Dick Clark Productions, which made the truly irrelevant HFPA into an awards season institution, is - with Overture chief Chris McGurk's wife, Jamie McGurk, sharing duties - exec producing the show. ( I don't mean to devalue McGurk's producing skills by making the Ovation connection, but it is a very unusual conflict of interest.)

And what's going to be "indie" about it? Well, they are going to be on live at 8p pst, so it will be late in NY. The show will still be in IFC, though with Dick Clark's company involved, you have to know that they are chasing a "broadcast network" for 2010 or 2011.

We'll judge the changes when they happen. But so far, it looks like one more effort by FIND to chase the establishment instead of building something of weight that really can make a difference in the community of indies... that is, for more than one night in a tent of already familiars.

Meanwhile, The Gotham Awards continue their bizarre chase of The Indie Spirits with an OCTOBER 19 list of nominees... excuse me... for what year?

Posted by dpoland at 10:30 PM | Comments (1)

September 21, 2009

PGA Goes To 10 Too!

The Press Release...

PRODUCERS GUILD OF AMERICA AWARDS EXPAND NOMINATIONS IN BEST PRODUCED MOTION PICTURE CATEGORY TO INCLUDE TEN FILMS

LOS ANGELES (September 21, 2009) – The Producers Guild of America announced today that the 2010 PGA Awards nominations in the Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures Category will be expanded from five to ten films. The 10 nominees will be announced on Tuesday, January 5, 2010. The 21st Annual PGA Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, January 24, 2010, and will be held once again at the Hollywood Palladium.

“The PGA board approved the expansion of our Best Produced Picture category nominations to support our colleagues at the Academy, but also because we feel it better represents the unprecedented diversity of films being produced today,” said PGA President Marshall Herskovitz.

“We’re excited to involve even more industry members in this year’s event, as having 10 Best Produced Picture nominees allows us to recognize even more extraordinary films,” said David Friendly and Laurence Mark, co-chairs of the PGA Awards. “The PGA Awards ceremony is the only night of the year that celebrates the meaningful contributions of producers across all mediums.”

So much for pretending that it's not all about The Oscars.

So what does this mean?

Not a lot.

PGA is kind of putting itself in an interesting spot by doing this. The long-standing tradition of PGA has been that their nominees almost always represent 4 of the 5 Oscar nominees... and that if you aren't PGA nominated, winning Oscar is highly unlikely, even though the PGA winner and the Oscar winner often do not match.

PGA started giving a movie award in 1990 and didn't start having 5 nominees until 1998, so the history is brief. In those first 8 years, PGA just gave the award, sometimes with one other nominee, and was 7 of 8 in predicting the Oscar BP winner. In the 12 years since, no film has won the Oscar BO without being PGA nominated, even as the PGA track record vs Oscar BP became just 7 of 12 (58%).

Interesting cases include no PGA nods for Oscar nominees that many felt might have been dark horse Oscar winners like Atonement, Letters From Iwo Jima, Ray, Lost In Translation, The Pianist, The Sixth Sense, and Elizabeth.

Going to 10 along with the AMPAS seems to be a bid to maintain that status as the "must get nominated by" guild if you want to win Oscar. PGA will give out its awards the night AFTER the Oscar nomination voting closes. That's kinda interesting. But as noted, the winner doesn't have that much influence. It's the nominations that Hollywood worries about.

So now there will be 10 nominees. PGA is much less likely to miss a late season shift in status. The guild has already shown itself to be willing to make leaps to animation or foreign language, so their nods are often interesting. I suspect that we may see 2 PGA nominees in animation and at least one foreign language film in their 10 this year... and all 5 front-runners as perceived at the top of the year.

Posted by dpoland at 11:41 AM | Comments (5)

August 12, 2009

Awards Want It Long & Hard

There is nothing that The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences would like better these days than a shorter Oscar show. The ratings slip a little most years and the sense is that a shorter show would be a more popular show and a more popular show would keep The Academy rich, fat, generous, and happy.

But what do you cut?

The Television Academy faced this issue and got tough about it. They made the call. Shorter show... some awards presented before the telecast and acceptance highlights to run during the big show.

BZZZZT!!!

Not so fast, buckaroos! Winning awards on national TV is our entitlement and we're going to fry your asses if you try to minimize that in any way! TV Land Prime here we come!

Okay... perhaps that is pushing it a little far. But what are the awards givers going to say when the answer comes back from the networks on the next contract or the one after that and the nets just say, "2.5 hours and you are off the air"?

As the Super Bowl shows, if they can sell those ads, the networks will whore out untold numbers of hours of television space to that end. This last year, NBC, Fox and ESPN all did two hours of pre-show before NBC took the game... with 20 minutes for show before the kick-off.

The Academies are going in the opposite direction.

I respect that this is a big moment in people's lives and that all the different talent that do great work feel they are due their respect. But as I understood it, this plan by ATAS was to split "the pain" amongst all the disciplines being celebrated. No one has, to my knowledge, ever brought that generous notion up at AMPAS. It's always been about the less-pop branches defending their turf.

Someone's eventually going to have to step up, act like adults, and be less celebrated in the name of keeping the entire organization healthily funded. Maybe next year...

Posted by dpoland at 01:44 PM | Comments (16)

July 27, 2009

Awards Slog

Gothams on December 1.

National Bored Of Review on Dec 3.

Why not November 1 and 3? Really. I so hate the premature first round of the award season.

Posted by dpoland at 03:10 PM | Comments (0)

April 08, 2009

The New Guggenheims Are Here!

The list of 2009 Guggenheim Fellows (press released here) was released today and there were many filmmakers on the rise.

Amongst my faves are Ramin Bahrani, Julia Loktev, and Kelly Reichardt... but I am sure that others would be on that list if I knew more of their work... which, hopefully, these grants will make possible.

Ramin Bahrani (GOODBYE SOLO), Filmmaker, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Adjunct Professor of Screenwriting and Directing, Columbia University: Film.
Danae Elon (PARTLY PRIVATE), Filmmaker, Brooklyn, New York: Film.
Lynn Hershman Leeson (STRANGE CULTURE), Filmmaker, San Francisco, California; Chair, Department of Film, San Francisco Art Institute: Film.
Henry Hills, Filmmaker, New York City: Film.
Sam Kauffmann, Filmmaker, Medfield, Massachusetts; Associate Professor of Film, Boston University: Film.
Julia Loktev (DAY NIGHT DAY NIGHT), Filmmaker, Brooklyn, New York: Film.
Julia Meltzer, Filmmaker, Los Angeles, California; Director, Clockshop: Film.
Arturo Pérez Torres, Filmmaker, Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Film.
Kelly Reichardt (WENDY AND LUCY), Filmmaker, Astoria, New York; Visiting Assistant Professor of Film and Electronic Arts, Bard College: Film.
Federico Solmi, Filmmaker, New York City: Film.
David Thorne, Filmmaker and Artist, Los Angeles, California: Film.

Posted by dpoland at 03:33 PM | Comments (0)

March 27, 2009

LA Press Club's 2nd Annual National Entertainment Journalism Awards

I just got a note than Shawn Edwards and have Russ Simmons won Best TV Film Critic, the second year in the row the the pair have been honored as Best TV Film Critics.

This is the only winner I know of, as the awards winners, given out last night, have not been announced anywhere I can find on the web, including the LAPC website.

In any case, this win made me curious about who was in the running...

THE FINALISTS... As Reported by The LA Press Club on March 8, 2009

A1. NEWS STORY, PRINT
* Alexis Chiu, People Magazine
* Dan Halpern, Playboy
* John Horn, Los Angeles Times
* Oliver Jones, Alexis Chiu, Johnny Dodd, Jennifer Garcia and Brenda Rodriguez, People Magazine
* John Lafayette, Greg Baumann and Tom Gilbert, TelevisionWeek

A2. NEWS STORY, TELEVISION
* Robert Kovacik, Jeffreu Scharping and KhallidShabazz, KNBC-TV
* George Pennacchio, KABC-TV
* George Pennacchio, KABC-TV

A3. NEWS STORY, RADIO
* Claude Brodesser-Akner and Matt Holzman, KCRW
* Rachel Dornhelm, NPR’s Marketplace

A4. NEWS STORY, ONLINE
N/A

B1. FEATURE, PRINT
* Geoff Boucher, Los Angeles Times
* Mike Guy, Playboy
* Claire Hoffman, Rolling Stone Magazine
* J. Rentilli, American Way
* Nancy Rommelmann, LA Weekly

B2. FEATURE, TELEVISION
* Shawn Edwards, Fox 4 News, Kansas City
* Manny the Movie Guy, KMIR6/NBC
* Manuela Hoelterhoff, Zinta Lundborg, Carol Massar, Howard Silver and Alex Graham, Bloomberg
* Nancy Jay, Celebrity Spotliht, AAFES-EXTV
* George Pennacchio, KABC-TV

B3. FEATURE, RADIO
* Soo Ah Youn, KCRW
* Matt Holzman, KCRW
* Brian Lauritzen, Gail Eichenthal and Mark Hatwan, KUSC
* John Rabe, KPCC
* Edgar Treiguts, G.P.B. Radio, Atlanta

B4. FEATURE, ONLINE
* Anil Dewan, Nathan Lubeck, Lincoln Myerson and Ariana Morgenstern, KCRW
* Patrick Goldstein, Los Angeles Times
* John Lafayette and Greg Baumann, TelevisionWeek
* Lisa Martinez, Splash
* Tim Mohr, Playboy Magazine

C1. CRITIC, PRINT
* Doug Elfman, Las Vegas Review Journal
* Peter Rainer, Bloomberg Muse
* Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times
* Ella Taylor, LA Weekly
* Kent Williams, Isthmus, Madison, Wisconsin

C2. CRITIC, TELEVISION
* Shawn Edwards and Russ Simmons, Fox4 News, Kansas City
* Nancy Jay, AAFES-EXTV
* Manny the Movie Guy, KMIR6/NBC
* Sandie Newton. CBS11/TXA21, Texas
* George Pennacchio, KABC-TV

C3. CRITIC, RADIO
* John DeSando and Kristin Dreyer Kramer, WCBE, Ohio
* Matt Holzman, KCRW
* Charles Horak, KTEP, El Peso, Texas
* James Taylor, Theater Talk, KCRW
* Kenneth Turan, KUSC

C4. CRITIC, ONLINE
* Jay Carr, Turner Classic Movies.com
* Shawn Edwards, ILoveBlackMovies.com
* Tim Mohr, Playboy.com
* Tom Tangney, My Northwest.com
* Luke Y. Thompson, LYTrules.com

Posted by dpoland at 12:21 PM | Comments (7)

February 23, 2009

The Weekend That Was

Things have changed a lot over the years…

There is a weird competition between journalists about who is going where and who is invited to what. Silly. But there is the ongoing “which ones are you going to” chatter, which was only overwhelmed this weekend by endless conversations about which ones are going… going to unemployment.

One classic exchange was with Bob Strauss, who was reported in LA Observed to be heading out of the one remaining film critics job at the LA Daily News. But the report went too far. Bob, who may well have released the news today, is heading to business side, but in coverage of the film business for the paper. So for him, the freedom not to see every bad studio film for the sake of a review is, understandably, a bit of a relief. And almost as walking confirmation, Mark Caro of the Chicago Tribune, who was also pushed out of being the #2 critic at that paper, was flown out to L.A. for the weekend activities and continues to be a vital voice for that paper, years after the unhappy transition.

Also working the room was Mike Jones, who was getting a lot of chatter over a piece he freelances for indieWIRE last week.

The happiest man there seemed to be Geoff Gilmore, who seems invigorated by the change to come, including life in The Big City, where his lady love lives and where they have a great home together.

My favorite sideshow was Mickey Rourke, who left the tent after about 10 minutes and rarely re-entered. He smoked, he took photos with fans, he chatted with Santa Monica cops, he hung out on the steps of the trailer-sized portable men’s room... and when Rainn Wilson did his Wrestler song, he watched it from the outside tent, where a bar (which Mickey was not using in any way) stood with some furniture and two TVs.

Shortly after the song ended, a frantic TV production person came running out. “Mickey… you’re category is up!” He waved her off… “Don’t worry about it, honey.” He wasn’t going anywhere. Frantic Fox Searchlighters tried to talk him into it. But he was clearly scared of walking back into that competitive situation.

The show sent a camera out to the outside tent to get him on camera, even if he wouldn’t come in. And that got him to head in… one step too disruptive. And he made it too his seat, half way across the room, seconds before the camera demanded a live shot of him as the nominees were announced.

And he won.

And he was great.

I am told that he was devastated by the Oscar loss, failing to complete his comeback circle. But that’s really a shame. He really couldn’t have asked for more from this last six months. And he should be happy as hell with that… even in light of the very real loss of Loki.

=================

I got a little face time with some of my favorite people, just hanging around. It takes a few years to realize that people you meet and have some kind of pleasant connection with are not friends. But now and again, you get to spend time with people with whom you really do have normal, friendly conversations. And that can be a great delight.

It’s a weird thing, because you’re not always sure they know who you are… or care. And it seems so presumptuous to assume that they will, no matter how much time you spent together.

One guy who I wasn’t sure would remember me was Jon Demme, who not only did, but who was just wonderfully at peace with not being competitive in this competitive situation. I guess he has won enough to not worry about winning more. But he was just so upbeat and energetically positive about keeping it all in perspective. Great.

=================

The Indie Spirits had an off-year, show-wise. But after the weekend ended, it was fascinating just how traditional this once iconoclastic show really was. It was like The Baby Oscars. And The Oscars had more of an Independent Spirit, especially with the Hugh Jackman opening, which was pure ISA.

The post-show party, hosted by IFC, was also cut back a bit… and loud as hell. The cuisine? Heavy-handed poured drinks and tiny hot dogs, hamburgers, and tacos with a side of sushi.

=================

Miramax/Disney is getting to be the best studio at charming, relaxed-feeling parties around award season. Their rooftop soirée at the Beverly Wilshire for The Globes was a dandy and this London (formerly Bel Age) roof topper was also lovely. The Doubt and Wall-E teams were there in full before they all headed out for an evening of running around.

A report from the dinner party for Sony Classics was that it was charming and quiet and profoundly sane.

And Fox Searchlight, which had a great off-hotel party for The Golden Globes last month would go on to have a pretty low-key event last night as well.

Ah.. sanity.

=================

The calmness of the Sunday night Fox Searchlight viewing and party, aka The Winner’s party, was surprising. It was, as most parties are, too loud, and there were too many tight t-shirted aspiring actresses wandering around, looking to hand anyone they could encourage a drink.

Finally, at jut before Midnight, the first of the Slumdog team, AR Rahmin, rolled in with his two Oscars. Then, it was Rothman and Giannopoulos. Then, Dev and Freida, Dev being surrounded by a bevy of young women seeking his attention. Then, Peter Chernin. Then the producer, DP, editor, Peter Rice, Nancy Utley, Steve Gilula, and finally, after a burst of pre-teen, post-teen and under-ten actors from the film burst in wearing adorable outfits and taking photos, was Danny Boyle.

There was swarming, yes. But one got the feeling that there were not a lot of strangers in that room. The love fest was a family fest.

The kids, who finally made the trip to the US, overcoming obstacles like no official birth certificates, which made passports a tough get, are spending one extra day in L.A. going to Disneyland. (I don’t think they made a commercial… but it would have been a great idea for Disney and ABC.)

Favorite movies and all aside, there is something lovely about people who are good and decent and well-intended winning the night. And this group, from top to bottom, qualifies. Good people. Good night.

Posted by dpoland at 05:40 PM | Comments (4)

February 16, 2009

More Slumavation

ACE Awards...

BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (DRAMATIC):
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
Chris Dickens

BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (COMEDY OR MUSICAL):
WALL-E
Stephen Schaffer

BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY:
Man on Wire
Jinx Godfrey

STUDENT EDITING COMPETITION
Junna Xiao – American Film Institute

===============================

American Society of
Cinematographers Awards Awards

FEATURE FILM
Anthony Dod Mantle - Slumdog Millionaire

Posted by dpoland at 01:52 PM | Comments (1)

February 15, 2009

Slumdog Wins Another Award... Shocker, Huh?

Los Angeles 14 February 2009 —The Cinema Audio Society announced winners of its Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing Awards in five categories of film and television during their award ceremonies from the Crystal Ballroom of the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. CAS President, Edward L. Moskowitz, CAS, presided over the awards with Sam Rubin serving as Master of Ceremonies. Production Mixer Dennis L. Maitland, CAS, was presented the highest honor of the CAS, the Career Achievement Award, by director Norman Jewison and Sound Mixer Tod Maitland, CAS. Maria Conchita Alonso and Mark Berger, CAS, presented multi-hyphenate Paul Mazursky with the Filmmaker Award.

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING FOR:

MOTION PICTURES

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
Production Mixer Resul Pookutty
Re-Recording Mixers Ian Tapp
Richard Pryke

Posted by dpoland at 06:52 PM | Comments (33)

February 09, 2009

BAFTA As Predictor

I don't want to spend too much time on this, but...

All four acting slots that won BAFTA the last two years won Oscars.

In both of those last two years, only one of the four slots was really a surprise of any kind... Tilda last year and Alan Arkin the year before. Huzzah - even though guessing the Oscars is not really the point - for them.

Before that, they were about .500 predicting acting wins.

No other categories are reliable in any way.

Thank you for your momentary attention.

Posted by dpoland at 03:24 PM | Comments (4)

Images From A Season

I was really struck by a quick reaction shot of David Fincher at BAFTA yesterday... his face seemed to say it all... "how did we become an also-ran?"...

Thing is, Fincher and everyone at Paramount has been nothing but gracious as the year that was supposed to be theirs became the Year of the 'Dog. In the end, there is nothing more (or less) that they could have done. In the end, in this year as in almost every other one, it is the movies that guide the awards' final destination. And for all the magnificent craft of BB, it seems the awards world's heart belongs to Danny.

Sigh...

Posted by dpoland at 08:30 AM | Comments (12)

February 08, 2009

BAFTA Has Spoken...

Okay... here is a list of winners...

I will comment - 100% SPOLIERS - after the jump...

Not much to say actually…

Was desperately wanting to use “It is blogged” on the last entry, but that would have given the run that Slumdog was on away.

7 wins, losing only three awards it didn’t expect to win – Dev Patel as Actor, Frieda Pinto as Supporting Actress, and Most Outstanding British Film, which went to Man on Wire.

Ben Button got two – effects and make-up.

Rourke, Winslet, Cruz, Ledger.

In Bruges grabbed Original Screenplay… but while deserved, it’s a hometown vote.

I’ve Loved You So Long won Foreign… not nominated here.

Wall-E.

All in all, pretty similar to what I expect in two weeks at The Kodak. Rourke and Winslet are not locked in, but are not bad bets.

The only real difference is that The Dark Knight will likely also grab a couple of tech statues, and Man on Wire will win for Doc instead of Brit Pic.

Posted by dpoland at 01:51 PM | Comments (27)

BAFTA Rolls Along...

The Guardian is live-blogging the event from inside the theater.

Oh, how I hate live-blogging.

It's funny... when I talk to people about Blu-ray BD-Live features, like IMing during a synced movie, they almost always get a vomitty look on their face. But for me, I consider that in that case, kids have almost invariably seen the film over and over again on the Blu-ray or regular DVD and that the interaction is, indeed, of some value. Like a director’s commentary, it is a chance to discuss what has already been consumed or to be distracted when the film is not that interesting.

But to see a film the first time with a director’s commentary on… or IMing… or live-blogging?

Not for me.

Still, in this case, with the BAFTA ceremony tape-delayed on BBC America by 4 hours – for no good reason – this is a source of not only the information, but the color. But like a DVRed show, it is better to click in mid-show, so you don’t have to wait for everything to happen.

I don’t want to spoil any of it for anyone who cares, so I will pass on comment until this evening,not even making any minor puns, since this year, it is too easy to give away almost all of the answers with a word or three.

I think it is a good choice for everyone to assume that COMMENTS WILL INCLUDE SPOILERS… so if you want to stay pure, stay out for now…

Posted by dpoland at 01:19 PM | Comments (2)

February 03, 2009

Gus van Sant Shoots Dustin Lance Black For Vogue Paris pour Hommes

The awards season brings out the weird in many people.

How I came to end up with a copy of what purports to be the Fall/Winter edition of Vogue Hommes International with a photo shoot that Gus van Sant shot and Dustin Lance Black posed for in various states of dress and undress is really not the point.

But to the studio that feels slammed and endangered by the images in this profile, written by Bruce Benderson and Philippe Garnier, it is a low blow meant to derail their movie’s award chances and to spur homophobia in the older Academy membership.

I disagree. And that doesn’t mean that I don’t think that the source of the copy of the magazine that I now possess – as opposed to rumors from many sources about this piece, which have been floating out there for some time – didn’t have mischief in mind. But as I have been saying forever… the vast majority of all sources have mischief in mind. They all have an agenda. And it is not the job of the journalist to disregard the agenda. But you cannot throw the baby out with the bathwater either.

For me, this is the work of the same man I praise for his directorial effort on Milk, as well as Paranoid Park, as well as most of the other movies he has made. I see it as being as significant and insignificant as Kate Winslet showing skin in Vanity Fair or Sean Penn doing his stories in The Nation.

What it is not, to me, is the same as lingering on who Anne Hathaway used to sleep with and what photos were or were not taken during that relationship or a slam piece on Mickey Rourke’s emotional experience of this season, using reporting as a weapon against the question of his sincerity.

That said, the studio is freaked out about it. For them, it seems to be A Beautiful Mind-style smear campaign or, in more recent history, smears around Slumdog Millionaire.

And so, I am pulling the links to the large images of the pages from the magazine for now. They will go back up when the Academy voting period is over.

There was no threat from the studio over advertising or anything, though there was a gurgle about “our future relationship.” If I thought these images were actually news of any kind, 1) I wouldn’t be pulling it, and 2) I would have spoken to the studio before publishing the article to see what their position on it was, and would have taken that into some consideration.

But when emotions are raw, paranoia is high, and people feel a real threat… and there is so little on the line… I feel justified in being generous instead of dogmatic.

Posted by dpoland at 12:37 PM | Comments (11)

January 25, 2009

UNSPOILABLE - The SAG Winners

You know... I am actually thrilled for Slumdog Millionaire, Fox Searchlight, Danny Boyle, et al, and I will soon explain why in greater depth.

But...

It’s not just Slumdog… it’s EVERY award.

Slumdog, Meryl, Sean, Heath, Supporting Kate, Mad Men, 30 Rock, John Adams…

Do we even need to turn on the TV to watch these things?

Every one of these winners is absolutely the right call. And for every supermodel there is some guy who is tired of having sex with her.

Good night, everyone… make sure to tip your waitresses…

Posted by dpoland at 08:01 PM | Comments (13)

January 24, 2009

PGA

The 3 inevitable Oscar winners also win PGA tonight...

Slumdog, Wall-E, Man on Wire.

Need more be said?

Posted by dpoland at 11:10 PM | Comments (22)

January 15, 2009

BAFTA Silliness

Trying to turn BAFTA into a predictor of The Oscars is a fool's errand... heavy on fool.

That is all.

Posted by dpoland at 02:28 PM | Comments (7)

January 12, 2009

The Day After Globes

So... Slumdog wins again.

The real question emerging from last night's Golden Globes is whether the second smackdown - 1 short of a category sweep at both HFPA and BFCA - means that the other likely Best Picture competitors - Universal, Focus, WB, and Paramount - will stand down with severely decreased budgets for Phase II, which starts with nominations on January 22.

This may not mean much to you as a civilian, but how it translates is much as it translated back in 2006, when Crash just kept pushing, while Brokeback Mountain laid back and assumed the winner's position after wining the Globes and Crash not even being nominated for Globes, while Capote, Good Night, And Good Luck, and Munich went into "just happy to be invited" mode.

Who won? The one that kept pushing.

That doesn't mean that this year's Best Picture Oscar is settled or that it is, in some of these cases, still in real play. But the fight is over if, for instance, the parents at GE decide that the next $30 million spent pushing Frost/Nixon is just too much and that they need to just focus on the commercial play... or if Paramount looks at Benjamin Button being, pleasurably and surprisingly capable of being money maker and choose not to chase Best Picture to the tune of $10 million or $20 million more than just running on fumes would cost, perhaps pushing the whole film back into the red... or if The Dark Knight realizes that Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars didn't win and that they should be thrilled to deal to be nominated and let Heath's inevitable win represent... or that Milk is modestly commercial as a movie and Focus needs to keep its finances tight in this marketplace, making a big run at Best Picture too pricey to do and lose when they are so far from the chance of a win.

It's business over art, yes. But it will also shape the last month of the race.

There are fights to be fought on a smaller scale. Sally Hawkins is the one real surprise at The Globes that could convert at The Oscars. Best Actress is an open race. Harvey Weinstein will have to spend very carefully, but Kate Winslet could well win Supporting Actress for the lead role in The Reader if publicized right. Searchlight will now keep the pressure on for a Mickey win. And the battle for the effects and make-up and design Oscars between Dark Knight and Ben Button will be fierce (you can wave your arm in the air and snap when you read that if you like).

A kinder, gentler award season comes from all this agreement. And I can start really enjoying it again. All from a slumdog.

Of course, the biggest problem is, what will journos have to write about for the next six weeks?

Posted by dpoland at 01:02 PM | Comments (75)

January 11, 2009

Globes - Spoiler Space

Use the comments to fight and discuss all you like... uninformed beware!

Posted by dpoland at 08:07 PM | Comments (39)

Globes - No Spoilers Please

I am going to wait until after 11p pacific time to write much about the Globes.

All I can say is... they got out of their own way.

Insiders, who are often wrong, but rarely this wrong, did not see many of these as the answers. But give it to the foreigners... they know how to get out of the way when they are going to be embarrassed by the next set of awards.

4 major surprises on the night... but only two will have any chance of repeating on Feb 22. Actually, only one when you do the math. And that could actually happen... though it will certainly not be because of the Globes, but because of the oddly unclear category.

Anyway... enough for now...

Posted by dpoland at 08:02 PM | Comments (0)

January 08, 2009

DGA Nods... As Expected

Milk
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Slumdog Millionaire

Soderbergh screwed.

(Correction for dumb error uncaught: 3:15p)

Posted by dpoland at 10:01 AM | Comments (23)

DGA Website Note...

... For Those Who Think Oscar Doesn't Matter To Other Awards Givers

Posted by dpoland at 09:59 AM | Comments (3)

January 05, 2009

For The Record...

The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures

MAN ON WIRE
Simon Chinn

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE
Julie Bilson Ahlberg
Errol Morris

TROUBLE THE WATER
Carl Deal
Tia Lessin

The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures

BOLT
Clark Spencer

KUNG FU PANDA
Melissa Cobb

WALL-E
Jim Morris

Posted by dpoland at 09:50 PM | Comments (5)

PGA Nominates...

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

PGA is, as it turns out, a near lock to get 4 of 5 Academy nominees for Best Picture. So as great as it is for all 5 to be nominated, someone has to be nervous and Cynthia Swartz & Scott Rudin have to be a little pleased.

And not much of a history of matching Oscar Best Picture winners....

2008
No Country for Old Men (won)
Juno
Michael Clayton
Le Scaphandre et le papillon
There Will Be Blood

2007
Little Miss Sunshine (won)
Babel
The Departed
Dreamgirls
The Queen

2006
Brokeback Mountain (won)
Capote
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Walk the Line

2005
The Aviator (won)
Finding Neverland
The Incredibles
Million Dollar Baby
Sideways

AND - With due love and respect to Disney and its minders, the reason why Wall-E is out of the Best Picture race is that they didn't fight hard enough for it. Another $20 million or so would have done the trick. They got a great start with ads and a big NYT story... and then, left it to voters and their screeners, while The Dark Knight beat the drum from dusk until dawn. The movie is one of the best... and occassionally miracles happen. But Disney felt like it politely withdrew in December. TDK is not a lock, but if one mega-movie is in, it's that one.

Posted by dpoland at 11:09 AM | Comments (46)

December 18, 2008

SAG Strikes... With Nominations!!!

Dan sag it!!!

Razum frazum foon ba!

Oops… sorry… talking in frontier gibberish.

SAG announced their nominations this morning and there really, really, really was not a single thing that moved the needle a single inch.

Melissa Leo and Richard Jenkins staked their claims… as we all knew they would… and should. Unique congrats also to Amy Adams, Taraji P. Henson (also nom’ed for Ensemble in Boston Legal), and Dev Patel.

The Dark Knight was left out of something… and they are still going to keep marching towards the Oscars with the biggest war chest of all.

The “Honk if you love Robert Downey, Jr.” nomination sham for Tropic Thunder continues to be the biggest black eye on the proceedings with real performances in real movies by Edie Marsan and Paramount’s very own Michael Shannon in most danger of being forgotten in favor of a stunt.

Revolutionary Road was already dead, except for Winslet & Shannon... but those wheels will keep spining as long as, like one or two others, hope remains.

But it does tell you what kind of season it is when last year, SAG’s version of Best Picture, Best Ensemble, missed 4 of 5 versus the Oscars. (A year before it was 3 of 5… year before, 4 of 5… year before, 5 for 5 with 6 nominees). Expect these noms to be fairly close to Oscar, with one or two “misses” in every category.

And here is a special note to SAG… if you decide to strike… cancel your own award show. I know that it would be a showcase for your cause and you would be the only ones with a show for a while, etc… but it would be very ungracious to shut down the industry and to keep partying.

Posted by dpoland at 08:59 AM | Comments (36)

December 11, 2008

Globes

What can one say?

The town drunks are at it again.

The hard part about smacking the HFPA roundly about the head and shoulders is that they sometimes do something smart… like embracing In Bruges.

Then, the idiots give two nominations to Tropic Thunder’s supporting movie stars and not Best Comedy and you remember that this should be called The Golden Whores. (Ironically, I think Cruise was always a better supporting actor stunt candidate than Downey... and if they went that way, he could be Oscar nominated, I think.)

So… details…

I would estimate that in 10 picture nominations, HFPA will match The Academy on 3; Ben Button, Frost/Nixon, and Slumdog Millionaire.

I think that in all the bending over for the non-starting Revolutionary Road, the only sure nomination is the one they missed, for Michael Shannon.

I think that Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, and Taraji Henson all deserve to be angered… and that at least one or two of them will be cleansed of the oversight by The Academy.

I think that Disney should not show up to accept the award for Wall-E, unless the film was DQed by new rules for comedy/Musical since Finding Nemo was, in fact, nominated. (The Globes do have rules... right?)

If I were Clint Eastwood, I would stay home and not sit there giving them star power while losing twice for song and score.

Congrats to Harvey Weinstein for being able to shove anything, with Nadia Bronson’s help, down this organization’s throat.

Looking over the entire list, the only two nominees who I think were actually helped by this were Viola Davis and Marisa Tomei in the very fluid Supporting Actress category… not because they were nominated, but because they were not NOT nominated. This is not a judgment of the work in any way… just the machinery. The nods for these two actresses are reconfirmation.

The most important thing that happened with these nods today is that The Academy should be reminded why it is THE ACADEMY and not just some television game show hosted by people with accents. Those of us whose noses are up against it for months every year are, unfortunately, prone to myopia. In the real world, The Academy is still not a group of panderers. Don’t start pandering for ratings… or trying to… or you too will someday be the lesser of all evils.

Posted by dpoland at 10:33 AM | Comments (35)

December 10, 2008

What It Means

Why is there so much variation in the critics groups?

Well, there are often all kinds of competitive politics involved. And, as we are sure to see tomorrow, with the Golden Globes nods, a lot of managing of votes in some groups.

But my basic instinct this season is that LAFCA and NYFCC and others just don’t have a long list of movies that really raised passions – in a positive way - to choose from. It’s not that these movies aren’t good or even great. But more than I ever remember, there is a nearly balanced group on either side of virtually every movie, loving, hating, and mostly, being ambivalent.

I love that Wall-E is embraced as the best film of the year… but really? Wall-E and The Dark Knight? From a critics group? Likewise, you can be sure that there were some members in NY and plenty of people in LA who would rather cut their wrists than see Milk honored as Best Picture. (I am a fan of the film.)

I do think that if Slumdog Millionaire was seen as an underdog on the level of Happy-Go Lucky that we would have seen a much bigger push for it in one or both of the groups. But it is not. And so, as an overdog, all the urges to take it down a peg get indulged.

But it’s really the entire list. Are they overdogs or underdogs? Ask me today… then ask tomorrow. Who knows what answer you will get each day?

Posted by dpoland at 01:36 PM | Comments (5)

NY Film Critics Circle

The meeting started at 6a, Los Angeles time, and continues on.

The group posts their winners to their website as they as selected, which is a pretty gracious way of not making it about who can Blackberry whom with info first. You know as much as I do when I know it.

So far (last update 9 minutes ago)...

Best Actress Sally Hawkins Happy-Go-Lucky
Best Screenplay Jenny Lumet Rachel Getting Married
Best Cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle Slumdog Millionaire
Best Supporting Actor Josh Brolin Milk
Best Animated Film WALL-E
Best Director Mike Leigh Happy-Go-Lucky

With the exception of Wall-E, it seems like a "Don't Overlook" list as much as anything.

Mike Leigh and Sally Hawkins has been seen as endangered lately. (Leigh was runner-up at LAFCA and Hawkins is now a bi-coastal 2-for-2... suddenly making Kristin Scott Thomas the endangered species in Actress, especially if Kate Winslet The Reader gets voted in as a lead role, as it really should.) Anthony Dod Mantle is seen as fighting for a slot because he is not one of the American regulars... Brolin in Milk... Leigh as Best Director.

Spent a while with Brolin yesterday for a DP/30 that will post over the weekend... couldn't be happier for him. A great, understated performance that, like W., was a tightwire walk.

Anyway... ongoing...

===========
8:54a
Best Supporting Actress Penelope Cruz Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best First Film Courtney Hunt Frozen River

===========
9:26a
Best Foreign Film 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
Best Actor Sean Penn Milk
Best Documentary Man on Wire

==========
9:45a
Best Picture Milk

Posted by dpoland at 08:24 AM | Comments (4)

December 09, 2008

BFCA Nods

Ah... the BFCA...

I considered resigning this week after seeing that this organization chose to embrace the failing hack version of what was once a show about criticism by having Lie-ons and What Would Grandpa Say? announce the award nominations. I haven't. Not yet. As a matter of principle, it is my instinct to do so, but I don’t want to be rash and I do see how all the organizations that deal with studios and networks to broadcast awards show are beholden to the notions of others. We’ll see how things roll. But I am embarrassed, for myself in association, and for my association, humiliating itself.

In any case…

The nominations are, as usual, right in line with the zeitgeist of the season. There are a couple of completely off the charts choices that seem to line up in the “let’s play six” categories, but I don’t want to embarrass anyone by belittling their nominations. I wouldn’t mind attacking those who engineered them, but the latter would do the former, so…

There is not a lot to glean from all this. Slumdog Millionaire will not be the top nomination getter from The Academy… but that doesn’t mean it won’t win. Benjamin Button, the biggest, most expensive film of the lot, will surely get the most Academy nominations, with every crafts group overwhelmed with the size and quality of the work… that that doesn’t mean it is a likely BP winner. (There is the real chance, however, that it will be one of those films that wins 4 Oscars for everything but the major categories.) Frost/Nixon, which didn’t score a nod for Michael Sheen - even as there was room for Robert Downey, Jr. in blackface and two Milk nominations – still scored Picture, Director, and writer… which are the elements of any movie’s success.

The one thing of note, here and in the Gurus voting, is that Doubt, while pushed aside early and often, has moved back up into contention as so many other films have fallen away as serious contenders. I don’t think it will win any Oscars, really. But you could well be looking at a film with 5 or 6 nominations.

The reason that BFCA is a good indicator for Oscar, in terms of nominations, is that the group is completely susceptible to the marketing efforts around the awards movies. Thinking narrows, fairly or unfairly, and the result is the same, year after year, no matter how many scream about the absurdity. The beat goes on.

Posted by dpoland at 10:22 AM | Comments (22)

December 04, 2008

NBoRe

Wow... they read the lists of Oscar frontrunners and added Clint Eastwood twice. How important!

Slumdog Millionaire should be a little concerned about winning Best Picture from this group. 80% of the films film they have given the award to in the last decade have been nominated for a BP Oscar... but only 20% have been winners. They're almost as bad off a an Independent Spirit Award winner.

As always, the wealth has been spread. Some choices I love (like Brolin for Milk) while others are silly.

NBR is the idiot drunk at parties... who also happens to be your first cousin. You can't really pretend it isn't there, but taking it seriously in any way is a sign of brain damage.

Nods after the jump, if you must...

• Best Film: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
• Best Director: DAVID FINCHER, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Best Actor: CLINT EASTWOOD, Gran Torino
• Best Actress: ANNE HATHAWAY, Rachel Getting Married
• Best Supporting Actor: JOSH BROLIN, Milk
• Best Supporting Actress: PENELOPE CRUZ, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
• Best Foreign Language Film: MONGOL
• Best Documentary: MAN ON WIRE
• Best Animated Feature: WALL-E
• Best Ensemble Cast: DOUBT
• Breakthrough Performance by an Actor: DEV PATEL, Slumdog Millionaire
• Breakthrough Performance by an Actress: VIOLA DAVIS, Doubt
• Best Directorial Debut: COURTNEY HUNT, Frozen River
• Best Original Screenplay: NICK SCHENK, Gran Torino
• Best Adapted Screenplay: SIMON BEAUFOY, Slumdog Millionaire and ERIC ROTH, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Spotlight Award: MELISSA LEO, Frozen River and RICHARD JENKINS, The Visitor
• The BVLGARI Award for NBR Freedom of Expression: TRUMBO
• Top Ten Films:
(In alphabetical order)
BURN AFTER READING
CHANGELING
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
DEFIANCE
FROST/NIXON
GRAN TORINO
MILK
WALL-E
THE WRESTLER

• Top Five Foreign Language Films:
(In alphabetical order)
EDGE OF HEAVEN
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
ROMAN DE GUERRE
A SECRET
WALTZ WITH BASHIR

• Top Five Documentary Films
(In alphabetical order)
AMERICAN TEEN
THE BETRAYAL (NERAKHOON)
DEAR ZACHARY
ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD
ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED

• William K. Everson Film History Award: MOLLY HASKELL and ANDREW SARRIS

Posted by dpoland at 11:31 AM | Comments (7)

December 02, 2008

New Awards From BFCA Critics' Choice

The BFCA Critics' Choice Awards have eliminated one category -- Best Family Film (live action). A major reason given by the group for this decision was that studios saw this award as having little value to its recipients and little impact with moviegoers.

But there is a new category to replace it... Best Action Movie.

Quoting the BFCA release, the category reflects "the enormous importance of this genre to moviegoers and studios alike. Just as the BFCA has pioneered the Best Animated Film and Best Comedy categories, we are now happy to spotlight the finest filmmaking in this category which is usually ignored during award season."

Posted by dpoland at 05:57 PM | Comments (5)

Indie Spirit Nods

Why is it that the only real surprises at the Indy Spirit nominations (brought to you by Sony Pictures Classics this year) were what films qualified and what odd choices were made by committees to shoehorn things in?

The questions that emerge from this morning's annoucements are, as usual, about the mainstream features that are in the mix and virtually guarenteed to win because of the ISA voting methods, which are open to anyone who joins FIND. As a result, the most popular choices almost always win. Unless Rachel Getting Married pulls off a big surprise, this will be the first year in many with no Oscar BP nominee in the Indie Spirit race.

This year, the big questions are, why is Hurt Locker (a great take on the Iraq War movie and a possible breakout for Summit when it is releaed in Spring 2009) in this year's race? The simple answer is that it screened at Toronto and that is all that is required to be a nominee. But what possible value is there to anyone in having a film that no one will be able to see again until Sundance 2009 in a competition for last year's best?

And that brings up the other big question... Milk is nominated for 4 awards, so it must have qualified... but no Picture or Director. Huh? Is the film being penalized by a committee for being at the center of a FIND controversy or alternatively, is it being left out because Focus doesn't want to be a film that wins Saturday and loses on Sunday?

Of course, that bit of paranoia brings up why Vicky Cristina Barcelona isn't up for BP or Director either.

In the end, I think that the choice was made to make the Indie Spirits as indie as possible with the foreknowledge that any mainstream movie in the big categories will win... which may also explain the exclusion of The Visitor, which already made its money.

Again, all love to Frozen River and Ballast and my beloved Rachel Getting Married. But I would love to get through one ISA nomination list without wondering why the puzzle pieces don't seem to fit right.

Posted by dpoland at 08:24 AM | Comments (10)

October 22, 2008

Funny...

There is little question, the studios are a bit tighter this year with throwing around the expensive awards season ad buys.

Ironically, Peter Bart, whose Variety ad sales team has done its best to undercut everyone else selling advertising in the awards season world, is the first - and likely only - ad seller to publicly whine about what he sees as "significantly reduced support" in this season.

In his very best McCain, he spins what are surely reduced revenues at the on-the-selling-block Variety into some kind of failure on the part of the studios to support the talent involved with movies. Bzzzt! Reality Check: The belt tightening finally caught up to Variety, in spite of coming close to killing off The Hollywood Reporter and even with the advantage of studios that are being very tight with other outlets still buying at the Gray Drag Queen of Movie Journalism (it works hard to look a certain way from the outside... it is something very different if you look under its journalistic skirt).

Perhaps Mr. Bart feels particularly bend out of shape by the round rejection of his blog as a central hub of $15,000 a month Oscar insight... of course, on top of the ad prices for the rest of Variety and Variety.com.

More likely, Variety is slightly down for the season, as compared to last year, in ad sales, in spite of price hikes across the board.

There should be some relief for Pete & Co. as a few last minute players jump in the water. But this whole public moaning is very dangerous because it may well stick the whole ad buy idea in the faces of the bosses who could wonder aloud, “Spend more? Why are we spending as much as we are? Do we really need a sixth cover with Frank Langella as Nixon when we know that the work itself is likely to get him nominated?”

But this is, indeed, the magic of blogs. Even a guy like Bart, who doesn't post his own stuff by his own hand, and who rarely posts at all, ends up showing his true self in the process of "blogging." We all do. That doesn't mean that my judgment of his is "truth," anymore than your judgment of me is, necessarily, "truth."

As a person with a website that has more readers than Variety.com but no ad sales team pushing the studios every day, demanding world supremacy, it’s hard to be sympathetic. We’re not far off from studios realizing that Special Issues means almost nothing in terms of delivering nominations in the awards season… and then the real shit will hit the fan for the trades. This situation is textbook on why Old Media is dying off. Variety, like so many others, needs too much to deliver too little and with all due respect to the clear #1 trade magazine in this industry, the moment is passing. It’s not that Variety won’t exist in five years, but it will be mostly a web business with limited print distribution and half the staff (or less) than it has now.

And life will go on.

Posted by dpoland at 10:39 AM | Comments (4)

October 20, 2008

The Gothams Deal The Joker

A few things struck me as I looked at the Gotham Awards nominations (which by the way, seem to have been successfully embargoed on the web and elsewhere until this morning…).

First, any pretense that IFP/NY isn’t trying to own a spot in the awards season is out the window with this logo…

Second, I am always struck by all the groups gathering to nominate year-end awards well before the year is over. They give out a “Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You™” award, but the truth is, by the time the awards are given out at the obscenely early December 2 event, one film up for awards will still not be playing at any theater near anyone (The Wrestler), but there will be at least a couple of more movies that may well have been given awards that will have been seen, like The Wrestler, but not yet released… and willfully overlooked, never to be looked at for The Gothams because they don’t go back and look at the films they missed.

The Gothams have turned themselves into an event almost as false as National Board of Review by way of this policy… and much less legit, amazingly, than HFPA’s Golden Globes, which sees movies all year long, often as late as the first week of December. (Hate the players, not the game, in that case.) And I hate saying this, as a supported of IFP/NY and the good work they do, often significantly more filmmaker helpful than Los Angeles’ now-non-IFP FIND.

I like and respect almost everyone on the four nominating committees, but there is no legitimacy in the idea of four film critics defining the year, no matter who they are. This is not the programming of the NY Film Festival, which is Richard Pena’s playground to do with as he wishes, as programming must be.

A friendly suggestion to Michelle Byrd… get out of the trying-to-be-first business, hook up with Scott Foundas and the Village Voice Media critics poll, and do an awards show around that voting, which is as legitimate as legitimate can be. Announce the Top Five (out of order) in each category as nominees as the VVM poll rolls out at the end of December. Be the first event in January, pre-Sundance.

The award will be taken more seriously, it will promote the poll, which is of real value, it will take all the films of the year into account, and nominees and winners will be truly honored by the acknowledgement of being embraced by America’s critics in a serious way.

Or keep being shady and gather four people together to indulge the muse of that week, show bias for films that have turned up in Toronto and/or the NYFF, and keep being also also-ran event.

Third, I was struck a little odd by four different committees deciding on these nominations. I applaud the transparency of naming the committees, which the Indie Spirit Awards does not do to my knowledge. But again, four people don’t cut it.

It was striking that while Ballast, Synecdoche, New York, and The Visitor were selected by the “Nominating Committee for Best Feature and Best Ensemble Performance (Ty Burr, Film Critic, The Boston Globe, Scott Foundas, Film Editor / Film Critic, LA Weekly, Dave Karger, Senior Writer, Entertainment Weekly, and Carrie Rickey, Film Critic, The Philadelphia Inquirer) for both awards, they chose to push The Wrestler and Frozen River into “Best Picture” while limiting Rachel Getting Married and Vicky Cristina Barcelona to “Best Ensemble.”

What this says to me, from the outside, is that the group of four were split on these four movies and settled on a split… which is like the proverbial kiss of one's sister.

For instance, I know that Foundas despises Rachel, Carrie Rickey 3.5 starred it, Ty Burr gave it a positive review, and Karger doesn’t review. But my guess is that Foundas hatred won the day over Carrie’s clear enthusiasm.

On the flip side, Foundas’ extended piece on Mickey Rourke never calls The Wrestler a great film, but does what most people did, embraces a remarkable performance. So what put it in front of Rachel and the Woody Allen picture, as opposed to ensemble?

Truth is, only Synecdoche, New York and Rachel Getting Married are more writer/directors’ pieces than an actors pieces in this group of films. All of the directors and writers of the other films were major factors in getting those performances and crafting the films around them. But the five other films are classic “actors’ films.”

Anyway… in the end, none of this much matters. The final Gotham voting procedure is noted as: “Final award recipients will be determined by separate juries of writers, directors, actors, producers, casting directors, composers and others directly involved in making films.“

So… four critics decide amongst themselves and then they open it up to people who make movies and not to critics at all?

Working through these procedures is difficult. There are all kinds of blind spots. But while I support everything that IFP/NY wants to be doing and the efforts that the revenue from The Gothams allow, if they want to be taken seriously, they have to do better.

You want to know why The Oscars are taken more seriously than anyone else? It’s because their system is the most legitimate… more voters… a wide open voting system for everything but foreign, doc, effects, and shorts (the first two of which they get smacked for every year by people who care)… and no decisions of importance made in back rooms. (If the Academy Board could do as they wished, The Dark Knight would be nominated this year, as would the most commercial “quality” film of the fall/holiday season, whatever that turns out to be... but they can't and The Dark Knight will have to fight its own way into 1000 or so votes in the top three of the year's best pictures for Academy members.)

So long as one person who dislikes a film can push it out of a nomination for Best Picture… or even just appear to do so… you will be suspect.

So I say to the good people of the IFP/NY… Do better.

Posted by dpoland at 12:58 PM | Comments (4)

September 25, 2008

BYOB - 092509

Posted by dpoland at 11:55 PM | Comments (10)

March 04, 2008

Is Focus Dumping The Next Coen Bros Movie?

What appears to be a show of support on the surface is sending up big ol' red flags for me.

Focus announced today that Burn After Reading will be released "wide" on September 12, spun as an expansion of faith in the film's commercial upside.

But the reality is that September is the place where quality movies go to die.

Let's take a look at both angles... box office and awards. First, awards, as it is clearer.

Q: How many movies have opened on over 1000 screens in September and been nominated for a Best Picture Oscar?
A: 1 - Goodfellas, 1990

Q: How many movies have opened to over $5 million in September and been nominated for a Best Picture Oscar?
A: 2 - Goodfellas, with $6.4 million and L.A. Confidential, with $5.2 million

Q: How many Best Picture nominations have come out of September in the last 20 years?
A: 10, 3 of which launched on the last weekend, overlapping into October, including The Queen and Capote, 2 of the 4 September releases to be nominated in the last decade.

In the last three years, 11 films released in September “qualified” for serious Oscar consideration, with $15 million at the domestic box office and the intent to race. The only two that made it to a nomination were The Queen and Capote… both released on the very last day of the month. (3:10 to Yuma, The Brave One, A History of Violence, Across the Universe, Lord of War, The Black Dahlia, Into the Wild, The Last King of Scotland, Eastern Promises all missed… with a wide range of qualities.)

Now...

Focus is surely selling the Lost In Translation run for Best Picture as the template for Burn After Reading. However, Lost never was on more than 882 screens in the entire course of its run and never cracked 500 screens back in September. American Beauty, the only September opener to win the Oscar in the last 20 years-plus, also stayed under 500 screens in September.

Focus also tried a version of this strategy with The Constant Gardener, opening the film on August 31 in 2005... resulting in $35 million and no Best Picture nomination.

So you have to wonder... have The Coens asked to be pulled out of the Oscar race next year? Has the studio seen a first cut of the picture and decided that it wasn't a racer? Or is Focus just going to pull out the stops for Harvey Milk and pushing this high profile distraction out of the way (as in, "Well, we'll get noms for George and Fran and the boys for screenplay and that's enough.")?

Amongst the bloodied in September in recent years: Eastern Promises, The Brave One, All The King’s Men, The Black Dahlia, Hollywoodland, The Illusionist, A History of Violence, Vanity Fair, Matchstick Men, The Four Feathers, City by the Sea, Hearts In Atlantis, Almost Famous, One True Thing, Rounders, Soul Food, In & Out, A Thousand Acres, The Game, The Spitfire Grill, Seven, Clockers, The Usual Suspects, The Last of The Mohicans, Husbands & Wives, Sneakers, and The Fisher King.

And September releases all but disappeared were: The Darjeeling Limited, Lust, Caution, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, An Unfinished Life, Proof, Oliver Twist, A Sound of Thunder, Everything Is Illuminated, and Separate Lies.

On The Financial Side...

Q: How many September wide releases have cracked $50 million domestic?
A: 32... another 18 hit $40m... 20 more when you lower the bar ot $30m.

The Coens had a couple commerical-style releases open to around $12.5 million (The Ladykillers and Intolerable Cruelty) and both passed $35 million at the domestic box office... and the Clooney-fronted film cracked $120 million worldwide. Both films were tagged - to excess - as commercial disappointments.

This last two years, 29 films opened wide in September. Of those, 13 opened to double digits. And 11 of the 29 cracked $35 million total domestic. Still, the only films in the group not looked at askew as "box office dissapointments" are The Illusionist, 3:10 To Yuma, and The Game Plan.

Finally…

Consider this.

In the last decade, only two of the follow-up films from the Best Picture-winning director were NOT seen as disappointments… and that is only because we have not seen another Scorsese film since The Departed or the next Coen Bros film.

Two of the eight films were seriously commercial – Ridley Scott’s Hannibal and Peter Jackson’s King Kong - though both were seen as “not commercial enough.”

The other six were all tagged a self-serious mediocrities that underperformed financially: In The Valley of Elah, Flags of Our Fathers, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Missing, The Road To Perdition, Captain Corelli's Mandolin… though the criticism was excessive and truly unfair in at least a couple of cases.

So perhaps The Coens have just learned the trick of lowering expectations and being satisfied by a decent box office result (likely under $50 million) and less awards pressure.

What this clearly does not represent is anyone’s idea of “going for it” again. And there’s nothing wrong with that… is there?

Posted by poland at 12:01 PM | Comments (37)

February 27, 2008

Is There Something Wrong With Oscar?

Bad ratings once again has brought a plethora of reactive, silly pieces about "what's wrong?"

As you know, I am on a boat, but this morning, it was Old Man Goldstein busy, as he so often does, mistaking his home for a place of importance in the scheme of things. Wrong!

There's nothing more pathetic than Traditional Media, unable to figure out the current marketplace, explaining to others how the current marketplace should work.

What happened to the ratings? It's not complicated. The expected acting winners and the ones who won in upsets were all, pretty much, unknown outside of the arthouse world. Juno was the one major box office hit in the group... but as excellent as Ellen Page is, she was the only acting nominee from the film and has not proved to be a "we have to tune in to see what she says" kind of public personality. The f-ing songs nominated from Enchanted... a movie most loved by the already committed Oscar viewers.

But this is the micro view... not very meaningful.

Paradigm shifts in media are most often driven by micro choices, but those choices are based on the macro view.

James Bond has had three major successful transitions in its 40 year (or so) history. From the serious Connery to the charmingly quippy Roger Moore to the Bond-as-many-think-of-him Brosnan to the rough and tumble hard edge of Daniel Craig. Yes, the actor matters. But the bigger idea of what a Bond is defines the change.

But The Academy Awards is NOT a movie. It is television. Deal with it.

And television is, like most media, narrowing. For everyone, except the Super Bowl, which is a four-quadrant event like Christmas, regardless of who is playing the game. Up a little for NY teams... down a little for small market teams. But the machine is much bigger than the game. And if it stops being that, that event too will become marginalized.

So the question can not be, "How can The Oscars be returned to its glory?" That is a disaster in the making.

The questions can only be, "What is it that makes this idea appealing to people?" and "How do we best design a show to fit that appeal?"

The answer is NOT The Rock... with due respect to the delightful scent of what he is cooking. it' also not loading up the show with every presented under 40 they could scrape up.

None of us know the answer for sure. But my sense is that there are two ways to go... toney or intimate. The Golden Globes was "the intimate choice," but has gotten less so over time. The toney choice is Steve Martin or the like hosting, cool enough to be smart, dry enough to never let them see him sweat... a show of utter elegance and produced in near black & white.

I kinda would like to see them try that multi-headed host thing again... go cross-generational. I mean, would you like to see up there? Let's not see a Judd Apatow Oscars. How about Amanda Bynes, Matt Damon, Sean Penn, and Meryl Streep? Or Amy Adams, Steve Carrell, George Clooney, and Kathy Bates? Or Luke Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Billy Bob Thornton, and Bruce Willis? Or Ian McKellen, Josh Brolin, Helena Bonham Carter, and Jennifer Garner?

Do the musical numbers as covers... serious covers... but serious names... that can seriously be sold after the show.

Add a category or two, like stunts.

And remember why people watch... to see emotion and glamor and the unexpected from people who they only know through their performances.

Or not.

All I am saying is that it might be more fun for Oscar to feel more like that ballroom at the Hollywood Roosevelt again.

Regardless, the ratings are likely to continue dropping until they reach the next natural plateau. It is the nature of the medium. You can make that plateau a little higher or lower, but you can't make this show the massive hit it once was again. It is the nature of niche.

And picking apart silly details - which The Academy itself was nervously doing even before the show this year - is not going to change that.

Posted by poland at 08:31 AM | Comments (33)

February 24, 2008

52 Weeks To Oscar aka My Oscar Yammering

Okay… that did have some surprises… and some good ones… and still, not all that exciting. (The winners)

I thought Jon Stewart was pretty good and the packages pretty mediocre at best. Whoever picked clips was having an odd night, sometimes picking the right scenes, but inevitably, the wrong moments.

The surprises I was most pleased with were Marion Cotillard, who actually deserved the win for La Vie en Rose and Tilda Swinton, whose performance I think was second to Blanchett’s, but who is an actor I have been touting for years, has never given a bad performance, and is daring in ways that are beyond compare. (If you want a Tilda primer, pick up The War Zone, The Deep End, and the last 20 minutes of Constantine, amongst her most mainstream work. And if you want to get why Bardem should already have two more of these on his mantle, check out Before Night Falls, The Sea Inside, and for a wild change of pace, check out Perdita Durango, Alex de la Inglesia’s one film in English and hair even wilder than Anton’s.)

It was also a very international Oscars, with 11 awards going to folks from other countries, including all four acting winners, art direction, costume, make-up, score, and song.

This is only the third time a French actress has won the Best Actress Oscar for and the first time winning for a role in French. (Simone Signoret won for Room At The Top in 1958 and Lila Kedrova in 1964 for Zorba The Greek.)

Cotillard is the 14th non-America to win Best Actress.
Daniel-Day Lewis represents the 18th win in Best Actor for a non-American.
Bardem is the 16th non-American to win Supporting Actor.
Swinton is the 18th non-American to win Supporting Actress.

This is the 19th time that more than one of the acting winners was not America... but only the second time in history that all four were not America. The last time was in 1964 when Peter Ustinov, Lila Kedrova, Rex Harrison, and Julie Andrews all won.

I was also quite pleased for Robert Elswit, though he and Deakins deserve worldwide acclaim as Co-Cinematographers of The Year. Both did magnificent work. And for that matter, Janusz Kaminski deserved to win too. Seamus McGarvey is a very good D.P., but Atonement wasn’t particularly special. The other efforts were.

People shocked by Transformers not bringing home The Gold are focusing, at least partially, on the wrong issue. Early word was that ILM would get behind Transformers and not Pirates… but apparently, there was some split and the single focus Rhythm & Hues vote pushed Golden Compass to the win. Also… I think general Oscar voters just didn’t want to vote for the big, dumb summer movie… which is not how the earlier Pirates and Rings films were seen. They are not analyzing effects.

Alex Gibney, who also produced the expected winner, No End In Sight, while being all things to his Taxi To The Darkside, which won, was eloquent and quite deserving, having been the dominant voice in the category this year. (Still, the most important doc of the year was still Lake Of Fire.) Gibney, who also co-directed Enron: The Smartest Guys In the Room, is the very real thing.

Amy Adams made a misstep by doing "Happy Working Song" without animated animals. It is such a broad piece that she seemed over the top, not like an Oscar nominee, while Kristen Chenoweth got the better of it with a full production number around "So Close."

Speeches were pretty good across the board, including Scott Rudin, who was utterly sweet and charming and clearly moved.

No Country’s 4 wins led the way. Bourne had 3, and La Vie en Rose and There Will Be Blood has 2 each. The other three BP nominees had 1 win apiece.

We also got a glimpse of Roderick Jaynes, though he didn’t seem to be in the room. And when The Coens won the first award, the announcer mentioned that they were nominated for two others… not three.

Overall, a decent night… a good group of winners…

P.S. 12:57 am - People are wondering out there... why no goodbye to Brad Renfro in the obit section?

Posted by poland at 10:37 PM | Comments (76)

February 23, 2008

I've Got Indie Spirit, How About You?

The Spirit Awards are the best they have been in years, in great part because they are the most produced ISAs in years. Someone who is written for and is really a performer is just a better host of a looser show than a comic. And Rainn Wilson has been sublime.

More on the troubles of this being The Searchlight Awards later...

It's not that I don't think this movie, Juno, doesnt deserve the love. It just kinda sucks when one film that already has so much eats all indie films.

(The winners...)

Posted by poland at 03:01 PM | Comments (14)

February 20, 2008

The Deep New Blu

Both No Country For Old Men and Michael Clayton landed on my doorstep today in Blu-Ray... and all I can say is, "Wow."

Neither is exactly a feast of extras. But the images...

We have seen many of these scene over and over and over again. But the image on Blu-ray is profoundly more beautiful, even on shots like The Coen's simply doing a POV of a car zooming down a road.

Also racing into Blu are Ratatouille, 3:10 To Yuma, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, In The Valley Of Elah, Gone Baby Gone, and La Vie En Rose, but only in France. (Persepolis and Enchanted are soon due in the format from their studios and I'm wondering whether Sweeney Todd will delay for Blu-ray to be a Par/DW option.)

(Transformers, The Bourne Ultimatum, and I think, American Gangster are now available in HD only)

For the first time, The Academy membership could have the opportunity to see the films in contention is a format that is close to the quality of going to the movies. It is still not the same and will never replace it for me. But I think, even as HD died, Sony lost the oportunity this season of creating a block of "super delegates" who would spread the gospel of Blu-ray (the same was true of HD when the season started). The people who get screeners are a group in which a high percentage could afford to buy the hardware... but mostly have not, though I would get a significantly larger group than "overall American TV owners" have bought hi-def sets. With a few of the top titles in their mailbox in this remarkable format, not only could Sony have moved a bunch of Blu-ray players, but they had the chance to inspire bland loyalty and a lot of press around the format in the media... especially in a year with little Oscar news to report.

Would The Diving Bell & The Butterfly have gotten further with Blu-rays to watch? With all the problems I have with the third act of There WIll Be Blood, the Blu-ray will be an absolute must-buy, years beyond the 2-dvds it was sent out on by Paramount Vantage. Same with Michael Clayton's 2-disc send out, which was not very well done, even by straight DVD standards.

Me... I'm just thrilled to be looking at these terrific movies, as I once was just getting tapes and then getting DVDs, in such a wonderful way... while the season is still happening. And I am excited that hi-definition has created a greater interest in my life and work again for home entertainment. The ability to experience the work of our greatest filmmakers is this form, especially the catalog stuff - Kubrick is killin' me - is like going back to the revival houses of my college years. Sensational.

Posted by poland at 03:13 PM | Comments (41)

February 12, 2008

Following Julian

I don't quite know where the obsession with beating up on Julian Schnabel started. It kinda pisses me off. The guy has done some very beautiful work, gotten some truly spectacular performances, and is one of the great characters/drama queens of the film world. For me, someone who gets pissed off about a guy who wears pajamas everywhere just has their hat on too tight.

Anyway... it was amusing to me that Page Six was so busy smacking at JS and so uninterested in the story behind the story that they missed the money shot of their piece today. (To be fair, it appears that Schnabel found the book still in galleys, as there is no trace of the book itself on the web.)

Here's the piece...

And here are some images of Rula Jebreal, an Italian immigrant from Palestine, now TV journalist, turned book writer is a thoughtful voice on immigration issues, clearly willing to fight with the men's club in Italy, and simply, one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen in my life. (I had the pleasure of a quick "hello" at a TDB&TB event a few months back.)

I predict international superstardom for a world class beauty with a world class brain with a world class promoter (and talent) like Julian by her side in the fight.

Good for both of them. Of course it is irrelevant on some level that this woman makes mere mortals dumb in her presence... but let's not be naive. If she is everything that has been suggested about her intellectually and she gets to look like a supermodel, she's one in a billion.

Don't be hatin'...

Posted by poland at 02:31 PM | Comments (18)

February 05, 2008

The Vanity Fair Curse?

APRIL 2000: "SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS" Penélope Cruz, Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari, Marley Shelton, Chris Klein, Selma Blair, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, and Sarah Wynter.

Posted by poland at 07:59 PM | Comments (44)

January 28, 2008

Holbrook Before & After

Hal had booked this gig for his 2008 tour as Twain before he realized that he might be nominated. In fact, we talked about it when I went to Houston to "Lunch" with him in November.

And now, he is a sell out machine for regional theaters.

Posted by poland at 10:53 AM | Comments (2)

January 27, 2008

Durnnnn SAG IT!

DId you laugh? Did you cry? Did it matter?

I have to say, even though SAG winners mean little to Academy Voters, the consistency with which Day-Lewis, Christie, Bardem, and No Country For Old Men are winning suggests that they will go on to win on Oscar night. You can't fight city hall.

SAG is usually 3 of 4 for actors and the "ensemble" award is really a toss-up... this year more than ever, with only one Best Picture nominee nominated for the award by the group. (That's a first in the history of this award, though missing a number of BP noms is not.)

I listened to the reports on KNX radio as I drove into LA from Sundance. Surreal. They covered it endlessly as "perhaps the only show this year when actors will get to dress up and party." Uh-huh. And the shredding of Anna Paquin (Pa-queen) Viggo Mortensen's names (Vee-jo) would have been funny... but they weren't.

I will be watching the show later, keeping an eye out for DDL's tribute to Heath Ledger. I'm sure it will be perfectly pleasant and aside from Ruby Dee winning, nothing close to a surprise.

Onward.

Posted by poland at 07:54 PM | Comments (19)

January 26, 2008

Coens Win DGA

Good for them.

Posted by poland at 10:33 PM | Comments (29)

January 22, 2008

Oscar Morning Coming Down

We're 7 minutes from nominations...

==========================

Oscar.com is streaming the nominations... and they seem to be committed to having an announcing team even younger, less knowledgeable, and more vacuous than the E! team. Impressive...

==========================

So... Jason Reitman for directing Juno, Tommy Lee Jones for In The Valley of Elah, the horrible choice of a great actress in Cate for Elizabeth 2: The Mess, and Sarah Polley for writing Away From Here seem to be the surprises.

=========================

Just wrote a quick 20 Weeks that will land on MCN's front page in a while. Running to a morning screening. Please fight amongst yourselves... nicely.

Posted by poland at 05:21 AM | Comments (138)

January 15, 2008

The Weirdest Noms Yet

The handling of docs and foreign language films continue to be an embarrassment to The Academy. With due respect to the excellent films on the foreign language short-list, released today, you have to wonder how these things come to pass.

Not on the list is the most acclaimed and qualified foreign language film of the year, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days and the second most acclaimed qualified foreign language film of the year, Persepolis. I count myself as a fan of a number of these films, but really... puh-leeeeze!

The oddball process continues with 30 Academy members sitting down to watch all 9 of the short-listers next weekend... to eliminate 4.

The four of nine who have taken home Oscars before are: Denys Arcand, Nikita Mikhalkov, Giuseppe Tornatore, and Andrzej Wajda. Sergei Bodrov has been twice nominated, once for a film as writer/director and once as co-writer. None of the other four - Joseph Cedar, Srdan Golubovic, Cao Hamburger, Stefan Ruzowitzky - have gotten nominated in the past, though some have been nominated by their countries.

The great irony of all of this is that the two films left behind were "arty intense" (4 Months) and animated (Persepolis), which is pretty much what The Academy doesn't go for in their main nominations either. So maybe we shouldn't be surprised in the least.

(Corrected for awards error - Tues, 2:03p)

Posted by poland at 12:24 PM | Comments (41)

January 14, 2008

PGA Awards

Same as it ever ("ever" being the last few weeks) was...

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR AWARD IN THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax)
"Juno" (Fox Searchlight)
"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax/Paramount Vantage)
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage/Miramax)

PGA is a pretty damned good 4 of 5 marker... like DGA... and unlike DGA, a pretty horrible 5 for 5 marker. Not once in the last decade, even when expanding to six nominees, have they hit all five Oscar nominees.

Of course, everyone will assume that Diving Bell is the one that should be nervous. But someone should. We'll see who drinks whose milkshake in just 8 days.

Posted by poland at 11:45 AM | Comments (11)

January 13, 2008

LAFCA Photos

DDL and the couldn't-be-nicer Daniel Lupi

Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud

Team Savage: Kirk Honeycutt, Tamara Jenkins, Jim Taylor, Alexander Payne, editor Brian Kates

(photos: Ray Greene/Courtesy of LAFCA)

Posted by poland at 12:39 PM | Comments (1)

LAFCA Quote of the Night

Paul Thomas Anderson didn't win for screenwriting last night - Tamara Jenkins' script for The Savages did - but he got off the line of the night, "If another fucking film critic criticizes one of my movies for being too long, I'm going to remind them of this ceremony."

Still, a good time, if a lot of a good time, was had by all, including the significantly slimmed down Scott Rudin, the contingent from Romania, chiefs from Vantage, Miramax, Searchlight, Sony Classics, and Strand, and a host of others.

Posted by poland at 12:17 PM | Comments (2)

January 11, 2008

Why Films Don't Get Nominated

Analogies of this year's higher profile films that seem set to miss Oscar BP noms to Dreamgirls are pretty off the mark and lazy, really. The media creates these waves and then attacks the movies for them, as though Atonement or Sweeney Todd or Dreamgirls actually did something terribly different in hyping than anyone else.

Dreamgirls (old song) did exactly three events that no one else did last year. None of these films did the blanket buying of ads that Universal traditionally does. None of these films showed their ass as generously as Searchlight has for its push films... which we all choose to perceive as underdogs. None of these films came and went in September and October, as so many do.

The fact remains that getting the "last film in" into the race has been the rarest trick of all in the years since the season was shortened by The Academy. This year, the late entries were Charlie Wilson's War and Sweeney, with a delayed launch of Atonement after releasing it at the September fests. I wrote about it back in November, but whether fair or right, these films were fighting uphill because The First Season is really between Dec 2 and Dec 15... when every group but The Academy commits itself, whether by awards or by nominations.

If you are Steven Spielberg, Marty Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, the strategy works. If not, you are likely shit out of luck (with some very specific exceptions).

Why?

Because voters pay attention to these films regardless of any external forces. Critics groups and guilds didn’t really reward Munich or Letters From Iwo Jima or even Million Dollar Baby… but still, Oscar voters watched them and voted for them. Aside from these films, only Brokeback, made it as a December entry. That film used the September release, then withhold until December strategy, but the film was so high profile that it overcame. This was not a normal event.

If you start showing your film after Thanksgiving, you are dealing with a universe of people who have already started making up their minds and you not only have to impress them, you have to be seen as better than what they already like. If There Will Be Blood and Juno get in this year - one with almost no box office and the other with a lot -it will be The Critics' Hard On and The Public's Hard On (easily the highest grosser in the group), breaking through the muck.

You need to be able to crush the ice somehow. And that is not the same as getting comfortable with voters from an September/October berth.

(And let's not forget... the Oscar nominations are not out yet and almost always have surprises. Then again, notice how quietly the awards media has locked in Michael Clayton after writing it off for a month already... convenient amnesia.)

Mike Nichols hasn’t been a guarantee of an Oscar nod in some time. And Burton, one of the most successful filmmakers of his generation, has never scored a nod for anything but animation. Pride & Prejudice missed, in spite of a lot of support from the media.

All I am saying is, let’s not create these myths about “overhyped” films. You want to make the argument on Dreamgirls, go on. It’s absurd, but there is some evidence that can be reasonably cited in the argument. But Sweeney, which didn’t show footage at Cannes or have Johnny Depp shake hands in September or have a national screening in mid-November or have a week of exclusive shows in LA and NY, seems to be headed in the same direction – except, without the nearly unanimous support from guilds and groups that Dreamgirls had… perhaps without a Golden Globe win… etc.

We in the media tend to define these films based on our perception, not “reality.” And remember, the race is a reduction of the whole thing down to 5 films. There are dozens of films chasing. But we in the media love to tear down the golden calves we built. And we should probably take a little more responsibility for it.

Posted by poland at 09:03 AM | Comments (22)

ACE Nods

Nominees in all categories, as announced by the ACE Board of Directors, are as follows:

BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (DRAMATIC):
The Bourne Ultimatum – Universal
Christopher Rouse, A.C.E.

Into the Wild – Paramount Vantage
Jay Cassidy, A.C.E.

Michael Clayton – Warner Bros. Pictures
John Gilroy, A.C.E.

No Country for Old Men – Paramount Vantage/Miramax
Roderick Jaynes

There Will Be Blood - Paramount Vantage/Miramax
Dylan Tichenor, A.C.E.

BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (COMEDY OR MUSICAL):
Hairspray – New Line Cinema
Michael Tronick, A.C.E.

Juno – Fox Searchlight Pictures
Dana E. Glauberman

Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End – Disney
Craig Wood & Stephen Rivkin, A.C.E.

Ratatouille – Disney
Darren Holmes, A.C.E.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – DreamWorks/Paramount
Chris Lebenzon, A.C.E.

It is very rare for a Best Picture to get an Oscar win without an editing nod. They folks at ACE occasionally miss an Oscar nominee... but almost never the winner.

So... that would suggest that one of the following six films will win Best Picture...
Into the Wild, Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men, Sweeney Todd, There Will Be Blood

Make of that what you will... if it seems to narrow the field in the least.

Posted by poland at 01:45 AM | Comments (11)

January 10, 2008

WGA Nods In Order, Screened, Resurected & Honest

Four things...

First, WGA website gods seem to have developed a bad habit. This is the second year that the Guild has listed nominees in order of vote total. Last year, they fixed it when it was pointed out... and here we are again.

I have adjusted the names in the previous WGA nod entry to match the WGA website... votes came in that order. Congrats to the likely winners.

Next, what did non-WGA-nominees Atonement, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Charlie Wilson's War and Sweeney Todd have in common? No screeners for WGA members. (Sweeney did show up, but only one day before voting closed for many voters... same for many members of BFCA.)

Almost more shocking, statistically, is that there were only fourteen non-doc features sent to WGA members... and nine of the ten nominees came from that group.

The only film nominated by WGA that didn't send a screener was Michael Clayton.

And the five screeners that didn't draw nominations? Away From Her, Dan in Real Life, The Kite Runner, and Margot at the Wedding and 3:10 to Yuma. (In other words, Vantage sent everything, Lionsgate got nothing, and Disney's comedy wasn't up to Knocked Up standards - or in my mind, the Superbad screener that Sony didn't send either.)

Third, has anyone outside of the WGA seen the top doc vote-getter, The Camden 28? The film was release by First Look in July on 1 screen and earned under $10,000. How in God's name did this movie end up being the biggest vote getter at the Guild?

Here is the synopsis at imdb: The Camden 28 explores how and why 28 individuals intentionally placed themselves at risk of arrest and imprisonment while protesting the war in Vietnam. Featuring a treasure of archival materials and current interviews with former FBI agents involved in the case and scholars such as Howard Zinn, The Camden 28 is a story about a potent form of dissent that has special relevance to our current political climate.

And a special relevance to a guild in the midst of a strike, it seems to me.

Finally, it is nice to see Elizabeth Bentley getting her due in the nom for Nanking. As I reported almost a year ago, there was an effort to squeeze Bentley out of her credit for the film by the writer/director/producer and in most press materials, she has been a phantom. She gets her recognition here. (I only wish the movie really deserved a nod at all.)

Posted by poland at 02:30 PM | Comments (12)

WGA Nods

The two "surprises" were Apatow for Knocked Up and Vanderbilt for Zodiac.

"Left out" were Christopher Hampton, Aaron Sorkin, and Kelly Masterson. Plus, you might have expected a Paul Haggis strike vote on top of fans of his film. Nope.

But really, nothing to write home about and way too late to effect Oscar nods. Last year WGA missed on four of ten. The year before, three of ten. This doesn't make a WGA nomination any less valued... just not much of a predictor.

======================

ORIGINAL
Diablo Cody - Juno
Tony Gilroy - Michael Clayton
Tamara Jenkins - The Savages
Judd Apatow - Knocked Up
Nancy Oliver - Lars and the Real Girl

ADAPTED
The Coens - No Country For Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson - There Will Be Blood
Ronald Harwood - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Sean Penn - Into The Wild
James Vanderbilt - Zodiac

DOC
Anthony Giacchino - The Camden 28
Bill Guttentag, Dan Sturman and Elisabeth Bentley - Nanking
Charles Ferguson - No End in Sight
Richard Berge - The Rape of Europa
Michael Moore - Sicko
Alex Gibney - Taxi To The Darkside

The WGA gives out their awards on February 9. Expect pickets by the AMPTP and the support of FoxNews asking talent not to attend.

Posted by poland at 12:45 PM | Comments (33)

January 08, 2008

Couldn't Be Happier, Really

The DGA noms cae in today and, for a change, I find myself emotionally moved by the nominations.

As always, it is likely that DGA will miss Oscar by 1 nominee. And this year, with so many tremendous directing efforts to consider, there is still a chance that there will be 2 to shift.

However, I am pretty damned happy with the five, with a tip of the hat to the boundaries of the awards season realities.

I have issues with Paul Thomas Anderson as a writer on There Will Be Blood, but there is no doubt that his work with Elswit behind that camera is spectacular. The Coens were the one gimme. Tony Gilroy had some chance of missing as a first-timer and a strong personality, but his work in - also with Elswit - is strong and assured in ways that are often underappreciated. Sean Penn's loose camera style often makes people think what he did - with DP Eric Gautie, who is probably best known before here for the simialrly "loose" but amazing The Motorcycle Diaries and Kings & Queen - was easy. It isn't. And Julian Schnabel, in visual partnership with Janusz Kaminski, did truly masterful work... even if it isn't for everyone.

Missing from this group are the two shakiest BP assumptions, Atonement and Sweeney Todd. It's not shocking that Joe Wright hasn't been nominated for either of his two Oscar-chasing films. He is not a local and the films are not breathtakingly visual. Burton, on the other hand, always delivers an eyeful and he is a veteran, though also never DGA or Academy nominated.

The other two that were in heated contention were veterans Sidney Lumet and Ridley Scott.

Two years ago was the rare year when DGA matached both Academy Directors' nods and Best Picture exactly. But last year and three years ago, the DGA nods matched Best Picture in 14 of 15 cases. And no one should be too shocked if that happens again this year.

Last year, the Little Miss Sunshine directors, nom'ed by DGA, were out at The Academy, though the picture was in... and the nomination was filled by a non-BP director (Paul Greengrass).

Three years ago, Finding Neverland director Mark Forster was pushed out at the Academy - though the film made it - by another non-BP director, MIke Leigh.

I would love to see Sidney Lumet in... but I can't say I want to see any of the DGA nominees out.

The most vulnerable are probably Gilroy, Penn and Schnabel, none of who have been nom'ed before. And as I keep saying, it is a year of so many solid films that anything could happen.

(Last 3 years of DGA noms after the jump)

2007
The Departed - Martin Scorsese
Babel - Alejandro González Iñárritu
Dreamgirls - Bill Condon
Little Miss Sunshine - Jonathan Dayton; Valerie Faris
The Queen - Stephen Frears

2006
Brokeback Mountain - Ang Lee
Capote - Bennett Miller
Crash - Paul Haggis
Good Night, and Good Luck. - George Clooney
Munich - Steven Spielberg

2005
Million Dollar Baby - Clint Eastwood
The Aviator - Martin Scorsese
Finding Neverland - Marc Forster
Ray - Taylor Hackford
Sideways - Alexander Payne

Posted by poland at 10:45 AM | Comments (35)

Aside From That, How Were The Critics' Choice Awards, Mrs Lincoln?

It was an odd evening at the Critics' Choice Awards on Monday night, as the talk going in and after amongst the Publicity Class was the cancellation of the parties at The Golden Globes, the one element of the evening that had been set to continue regardless of the strike. Not only were parties cancelled, but deals with The Beverly Hilton to refund part of the deposits had already been done and reservations for next years parties were already set.

In the meantime, The CCAs had the oddest turnout of talent ever, as some of the biggest stars in Hollywood turned up for the show... and many of the talent you would expect to show up no matter what stayed home. Yes, Brad and Angie, George Clooney and Don Cheadle, Daniel Day Lewis, Sean Penn, Eddie Vedder, Brad Bird, and presumed Oscar nominees, Javier Bardem, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page and others turned up.

But not there were CCA award winners Julie Christie, Diablo Cody, Amy Ryan, John Travolta (in ensemble), The Coens, Jonny Greenwood, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, Michael Moore, Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada, anyone more famous than producer level for Enchanted or anyone, really, for Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (graciously accepted by JK Simmons who joked about being #19 on the call sheet).

By my count, there were 13 of 47 nominees in individual categories turned up for the evening and the phrase, "I accept this for...." was pretty much used in 10 of 18 awards acceptances. Yet the evening was counted as a major success by Team BFCA, as the show moved along, big names were there, and no one really expected to see The Coens or Julie Christie anyway (the two big, big names to win).

But the main conversation in the aisles was about The Globes, which had lost the parties just as the cocktail hour for The CCAs had commenced, so a high percentage of the journalists in the room had no idea that the parties had gone down or just what the details of the NBC deal were.

And a little surprisingly, most of the people I spoke to who were directly involved with The Globes situation were not angry at all… just relieved… and in many cases, downright thrilled. It’s the endless battle between micro and macro, as we all understand that the awards season is cotton candy, but a lot of people make a lot of money on this stuff. The financial damage of shutting down The Globes has got to be more than $1 million before you get to The HFPA or NBC. Yet, the stress of waiting for The Answer has for weeks grated on everyone who has to do the dance and having Any Answer is a real relief, even if it ends up costing everyone a few bucks.

One interested party floated the idea that the SAG Awards would be more meaningful, just as some floated the idea that the CCAs would be a greater influencer. (Sorry, those of you who hate me using Oscar as the key to all awards shows… it is all anyone in the actual game of this cares about or talks about.) I dismiss both notions. Oscar nominations close on Saturday. The majority of votes are most likely already in the mail. And once nominations land, Academy members do tend to see the key films they haven’t seen and to decide for themselves to a great extent.

One Oscar talker opined that The Oscars would happen in April, at least six weeks late. I doubt that, but his pleasure at the notion brought to mind the fact that with nominations a couple of weeks away, the first major financial downside could be coming to media companies (like MCN) as uncertainty around an Oscar show could prompt greater conservatism in ad buying for Phase Two… or not. We’ll see.

Posted by poland at 02:40 AM | Comments (10)

January 07, 2008

I Spoke Too Soon?

Now I am hearing from one wag that WGA is still asking actors not to attend the Globes parties... and that some studios are considering, really for the first time, cancelling the actual parties.

As you have read - if you are bothering to read this - the parties seemed to be the one thing that would go on. But if talent isn't willing to show, who knows?

On the other hand, I am now leaving for the Critics' Choice Awards, where all talent is expected to show, in spite of earlier efforts by WGA and SAG to keep them away.

More drama. It will be interesting. There may be blood.

Posted by poland at 04:31 PM | Comments (7)

January 02, 2008

The Top Ten Chart - Jan 2, 213

We're at 213 lists and things aren't changing much.

Here you can see in the workbook, how after the four highly touted art films and Once, Atonement seems to be the next big passion vote with more than a third of its numbered votes coming in the top two boxes. This bodes well for the Oscar nod. Michael Clayton, on the other hand, has the softest top-2-box support amongst the films with over 250 points. A bad omen?

Let the guessing continue!!!

Posted by poland at 01:01 PM | Comments (2)

December 23, 2007

Oscar Competitor Perspective

It's a funny thing... we all want to believe that awards season has a basic legitimacy of "you vote for what you like," but it just isn't that way. It's like finding someone you're attracted to... it doesn't always make so much sense on paper, but it is what it is.

The two $100 million movies in the race, American Gangster and Hairspray, are well liked by many, but as the critics' top tens are showing - placing them, so far, at 28 and 39 - respect is a different achievement. Instinctively, it sometimes seems to me like both are still right in the middle of the race, but objectively, nope.

There is nothing wrong with Sweeney Todd's opening weekend or Atonement's limited release. But suddenly, Atonement is being passed by Juno (albeit on more screens) and one wonders whether they have been a little too precious with their high-toned movie. Sweeney is well off the Dreamgirls opening pace and with two holiday weekends, $40 million is about the top the film can hope for by the start of the new year. Will that be read as a solid start or a dangerous middle road, with any hopes for a $100 million gross completely dependent on Oscar?

The big advantage that Atonement still holds is that it is getting the critical support (#7 on the current Top Ten chart). Sweeney isn't doing bad there either (#13).

But we are still swimming in the same big pool. There Will Be Blood continues to have an odd advantage by not being seen. The Diving Bell & The Butterfly, Into The Wild, and Juno remain in the "right" position to grab somewhat unexpected BP slots, as No Country For Old Men and Michael Clayton go into Christmas as the two most locked-in films... with Atonement and Sweeney Todd a little bit weaker than before.

The thing about Now is that there is almost nothing that really can be done about any of it. The movies are in charge now. Perception of things like box office wil be noticed, but primarily as a confirmation of viability.

There are two objctive standards that seem to hold at this time of the year. The first is that the film needs to be over $15 million gross if it was released before December and needs to appear on its way to success if released slowly in December. The second is that all five films are likely to be in the Top Ten chart's top 21. We have seen films from outside that group move in as more lists are compiled. But we have never gone outside of the Top 21 for a nominee since we've been doing the charts. And the range has become smaller in the last couple of years. American Gangster and 3:10 To Yuma both have the potential to still crack the Top 20. We'll see.

In the meanwhile, Gurus o' Gold's Top 5 are in the Top Tens' top 13... a few in that group are likely to be fiscally blocked - Diving Bell is a problem that way - and things will change as the next 100+ charts come in... and as the grosses roll in over the next week.

In other words, the season remains the same...

Posted by poland at 04:56 PM | Comments (13)

December 21, 2007

Wrath

I'm not sure that I have made this point clearly...

The WGA will not shut down the Oscars.

There is a world of difference between fucking with a 100 “foreigners” with the collective journalistic weight of a sitcom sidekick’s blog and taking on 6000 of the town’s most powerful people.

Gil Cates is already perceived as an anti-WGA guy. But an organization that refused to delay their TV show by a week or two as America went to war five years ago is not going to let a bunch of writers (including the 400 that are in the AMPAS branch) get in their way. If the AMPAS does sit down with WGA, seeking a waiver, you can be sure that the subtext will be thicker and darker than any scene in There Will Be Blood. (Note: Don’t hold the sit down in a bowling alley.)

But besides the brutality that Academy leaders will bring to the table, consider this bigger issue… the AMPAS is more than 65% funded by this annual TV show. The money goes to fund film festivals, to educate, to preserve Hollywood’s legacy, to celebrate the art form, to other charitable efforts, and of course, to give out the Nicholls screenwriting fellowship

The TV show generates about a $30 million net towards The Academy’s annual revenues. Annual Academy administration costs and the upkeep of the library alone cost more than the total of the rest of the revenue coming into the organization. In other words, kill the show and AMPAS has to start firing people and/or cutting back on their most basic services.

The Academy is planning on breaking ground on a $200 million movie museum at Fountain and Vine in 2009… which could be threatened by a major shortfall this year.

And while The Oscars are no longer the cash creator for films that it once was – except for the Best Picture winner, almost exclusively in DVD sales – it is a reach out by the industry to the world, promoting the health of an industry that the WGA seeks to earn its keep from and more.

There will be discomfort if the WGA action shuts down The Golden Globes. But if the union tries to shut down Oscar, they will be messing with something more than money. WGA would really will be tapping into the mass ego of the industry. And however much some writers have convinced themselves that AMPTP is dealing from some angry, emotional place… however much there are mixed feelings in some non-union quarters about whether WGA is handling the strike well… however ambivalent some members are about the strike right now… however some might delude themselves into believing that the earnest support of some actors means that most staying away from The Globes would be about unity and not fear of being branded a scab… the WGA has not been subject to wrath before.

Maybe they don’t fear wrath.

But as the David Letterman talks falling through – as they absolutely had to – show, they probably do. These are not dumb people.

Posted by poland at 07:17 PM | Comments (4)

Not Sure How Well Reported This AMPAS Response Was

Message regarding the Academy and the WGA
(posted 12/18/07, 11 a.m. PT):

To the members of the Academy:

Some reports in the press have stated that the Academy had been denied a waiver by the WGA that would have allowed Guild writers to work on the telecast of the 80th Annual Academy Awards. In fact, the Academy has not requested such a waiver, nor has the Guild told the Academy whether such a request would or wouldn't be viewed favorably.

As it does each year, the Academy recently requested from the WGA a waiver in connection with any film clips and excerpts from past Oscar telecasts that might be shown on the upcoming Academy Awards telecast. The Academy was informed last night that the Guild would not grant that waiver, stating that to do so would not advance the Guild's goals in its current efforts to achieve a collective bargaining agreement. This decision affects only the conditions under which we may use such material, not our ability to do so.

The Academy remains committed to presenting its Awards on February 24, and will continue to work with all parties to achieve that goal.

Posted by poland at 01:29 AM | Comments (1)

December 20, 2007

Oops, They Did It Again

WGA West Statement on Film Independent Spirit Awards

LOS ANGELES -- The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) has issued the following statement regarding the Independent Spirit Awards:
“Film Independent came to us before the strike, and the WGAW Board decided to grant an interim agreement allowing for writing services for the Spirit Awards. The best way to get the awards season back on track is for the AMPTP to return to the bargaining table to negotiate a fair deal with the Writers Guild to get this town back to work.”

More writers working while others picket...

Posted by poland at 10:27 PM | Comments (0)

Lighter...

A rather brilliant move, I think, by Miramax today, sending out hardback copies of No Country For Old Men. It's not a movie-themed cover. It's not the cheaper quality paperback that would have cost them at least a few bucks less per unit to send out. It is a move that says, this is a serious book... a film of literary weight... and not just some movie with a lot of killing.

It is also a tacit call for us to read. Dear God! Read!!!

Then there was the odd delivery of the day. Shipped by Techincolor, Warners delivered the 2-disc "Special Edition" of Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix. There were Warning letters from both WB and WIP about the responsibility of getting screeners... but what we got was the same DVD that is every story in America... even the grocery stores!

Even wilder, this disc has a digital copy included. It's actually quite smart, though the download doesn't work on Apple or, naturally, on iPods. I think this is a part of the future of DVD sales... including a digital version of the film, but specifically for your iPod or iPhone or whatever portable device you own.

But the screener warning letter tickled me as I got, very pleasantly, a shipment that could just as easily come from Amazon.com.

Also landing today... The Golden Compass. Still pending... There WIll Be Blood, Sweeney Todd, and I Am Legend

Posted by poland at 04:43 PM | Comments (14)

SAGinations

What to make of the SAG nominations?

Airplanes? Origami? Another Yuletide log on the fire?

Kidding… but only kinda. It’s not that I don’t respect the SAG Nominating Committee, which is actually more committed to seeing movies and loving actors than any of the other groups, I think. Their screenings are consistently more energetic and full for a wider array of films than any other.

But as I keep saying… saying… saying… we are all fishing out of the same pond and these nominations are much the same.

Of course, Lionsgate wants you to know that getting a Best Ensemble nod is just like Crash, which was written off for dead and then came back after that nomination and eventual win. They will be sending 100,000 discs shortly.

New Line wants you to know that Hairspray got Ensemble and Sweeney Todd didn’t… though they are probably not so excited about John Travolta being ignored just as Johnny Depp was… and unlike Johnny, John did the Nom Com screening rounds.

Ironically, it was SAG’s Depp surge that did actually push the idea that he was Oscar nominate-able for Pirates just a few years ago. And indeed, Lionsgate did get another wind when everyone was reminded how much support in the very large actors’ branch the film had… and yes, they will be shipping 3:10 To Yuma to the 100,000 SAG members now.

SAG is one of the awarding groups that does overlap with actual Academy members, unlike critics groups or pseudo-journalists. But SAG Nom Com, which leads the nomination process, can be less reflective than the final votes, which are more like an Oscar poll, with such a wide spread of votes. Still, these nominations bear closer watching than most.

But there is also this worth noting… in a year with a number of foreign language films made by American companies, there was only one nomination for any film or performance in a foreign language… Marion Cotillard, who is considered by many to be the front-runner to win the Oscar. In fact, the only nominations for any performances shot outside of North America are Cotillard, Jolie, and Blanchett. This reminds us… this is a union voting. And all politics are local.

And it is not irrelevant than Mr. Depp “snubbed” Nom Com this year… or that the film was filled with British talent and shot in England.

It is not irrelevant than while the Atonement team did show up for Nom Com, they didn’t show up until late, which is always a problem, as people in groups like this tend to make up their minds before Thanksgiving and then have to really have their heads turned in order to move off of what they think. This makes things very dangerous for late-comers, since with built up expectation often comes overthinking when They finally see the film. And for SAG Nom Com, that means waiting until talent lands to talk after the film. (This is not to overlook a general mistake in Focus’ strategy on this film, which was to hold it like they did Brokeback, after screening at September fests. Brokeback got a lot of blowback and lost The Oscar, but was locked in for noms because its core was rabid and of some size… Atonement not so much.) Of course, SAG also passed on Keira for Zhang Ziyi a couple years back and Oscar flipped that.

And we should remember that Bobby got both HFPA and SAG noms last year. (And not for nothing, The Great Debaters, another latecomer, Got nothing from SAG this year while getting HFPA love. And no Denzel for Gangster either.)

It is easy to argue circles around these nominations. Ellen Page got a nomination, but Juno did not get ensemble… and in this group, more than AMPAS, television stars like JK Simmons and Alison Janney and Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner mean a lot as beloved members of the community. Cate Blanchett went “both ways” with a lead and a supporting nod… pushing past a half dozen names expected to be Oscar-nom’ed at this point in Lead. No Denzel in Lead or Russell in Support, but Gangster gets Ruby Dee and Ensemble? Michael Clayton gets noms in 3 of 4 acting categories, but not Ensemble?

Really, the only things you can glean for sure from this list of nominations are, 1. Familiarity, and 2. No Country For Old Men is set for the next round.

And for everyone else… the fight rages on…

Posted by poland at 11:52 AM | Comments (17)

December 13, 2007

20 Weeks - Damaged Frontal Globe

I’m here to talk about The Ghoulish Globes…

This season, it really is like picking sides for a kickball match at summer camp. There are a finite number of kids on the field and everyone has to pick their team. Some feelings will be hurt. Some will be elated. But the range of distinction is quite narrow.

”I’ll take Keira!”

”I’ll take the Coens!”

”Give me Clooney, as long as he isn’t riding his cycle to the game!”

Are there any surprises?

Yeah… that Harvey put a gun to Nadia Bronson’s head... who put a French tickler to 30 of the most susceptible HFPA members... who voted for movie so straight-forward that Harvey wouldn’t have anything to do with a film like that five years ago... while all the time he has a masterpiece like I’m Not There in the stable that really needed the help since it doesn’t have Oprah selling it.

Yeah… that Tony Angelotti wasn’t able to get Russell Crowe the Supporting Actor nomination that he didn’t deserve and wouldn’t support.

Yeah… that the Globes didn’t go for Knocked Up as their thirteenth nominee.

The rest...

Posted by poland at 02:13 PM | Comments (6)

The Quick Version

The Globes, as usual, found a way to discount their significance.

Not only did they choose 7 dramas to reward with nominations, they didn’t give a Best Drama nod to The Diving Bell & The Butterfly after rewarding it in the far more competitive – 5 nods instead of 12 – categories of writing and directing. (See: Munich)

ADD - But wait!!! As noted below... and completely forgotten by me at 5:30a... Diving Bell and Kite weren't eligible for Best Picture. Which makes that better... and the choice of 7 even more stupid.

Also oddly missing from the top slot were Into The Wild and The Kite Runner, while Tony Angelotti and Nadia Bronson once again showed that they can feed foreigners like no one else! (Karen Fried had a great morning too, as she got all she could ask for from Atonement and Eastern Promises to boot.)

On a personal level, the group made some choices that made me smile and made the Lunch With David batting average even better – watch for the James McAvoy chat later today or tomorrow. But nice as that is, in spite of some whiners, I don’t think that any of this has anything to do with feeding my ego or pleasure centers.

Nominees list

PS 6:50a - Nearly 90 minutes after the announcements, the HFPA website still has not loaded a complete list of nominees... so that the song nominees are nowhere to be found on the web.

AND PSS - USA Today gets up the songs and full list first... ahead of trades, HFPA, or any websites.

EDITED: 6:27a

Posted by poland at 06:06 AM | Comments (37)

December 12, 2007

There Will Be Fighting

I guess I will throw my twenty cents into the tempest in this week’s teapot… the self-consciousness with which critics groups give out awards.

I’ve had a private dialogue all week with the great Bob Koehler, whom I keep reminding that he is Pope pure as critics go. He really is the kind of guy who says things like, “They gave the award to Amy Ryan for the wrong picture… she’s much better in Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead.” God bless him for that. It makes talking to him about movies both absolutely thrilling and inevitably frustrating every time.

Scott Foundas is also a serious guy… but not quite in the Pope class. At a relatively young age, Scott has managed to move into position as one of the leaders of the Serious Next Gen of film critics. I feel he has earned everything he has, and I suspect, that he will get in the future.

But Scott’s defense of how LAFCA behaves is both completely fair… and quite instructive in explaining why there is not an assumption of purity when it comes to critics giving awards.

Trying to predict the LAFCA and NYFCC awards is idiotic on its face. These groups do meet in a room and discuss/fight over the winners. They have different voting procedures, but year after year, people go in thinking one thing and something altogether other comes out. And really, great! I honor Jack Mathews resigning from NYFCC because he is offended by the voting system. But whatever these groups want to do, so be it. It is theirs to give, however they decide to make their decisions.

But… the groups are made up of human beings. And human beings have human natures. And critics have critics’ natures.

The conversation I had last week in private a half dozen times about the two major early-voting critics groups was, “It’s No Country and Blood… both could go for Blood… no chance both will go for No Country… if one does, the other will go the other way, with the outside chance that NY will go for a local oddity like Lumet’s Devil or Schnabel’s Diving Bell.”

It’s not that complicated a game. I am not claiming some superhuman insight… and you will note, I did not publish any prediction in anticipation. As much as I am tagged as a prognosticator, I have always said, it is not a carny game. I am not guessing. I am attempting to report where things are at a given moment, through the season. And it changes. Every week, I see some of our Gurus and others swaying with the wind of the moment… and most of those winds are real. Attention can be bought with ads. Importance can be taken on for a moment when a group hands you and award. But in the end – and I think this is the genius of the now-shortened Oscar season – the 6000 who vote in the big show can be told to watch a movie, but they will decide whether they love the movie… or not.

And to some degree, the same is true with critics’ groups. Critics think “award” by embracing the palette narrowed by a long season the same as everyone else, whether they want to acknowledge it or not. And that critics’ group palette has been down to No Country, Blood, Zodiac, Diving Bell, Devil, Into The Wild, and I’m Not There for a while now. So is it hard to figure that the big groups will end up going for the one that seems sure to be Best-Picture-nominated and the one that some people still think can be BP nominated because it is SO GOOD even though even its biggest fans seem to acknowledge, goes off the rails so hard in the end that it has only the smallest chance (which is still more than some). The only outside shot that really threatened was Zodiac… and the feel of a wasted vote, which also is a major issue in Academy voting, overwhelmed early passion.

But back to Foundas…

First, I am not saying that the unmitigated passion – however misguided, in terms of lack of mitigation – for There Will Be Blood is false. I believe that Scott really thinks that Blood, “send(s) shock waves through the very landscape of cinema, that instantly stake(s) a claim on a place in the canon. Often, such vanguard works fail to be fully understood or appreciated at the moment they first appear, as some of the initial reviews that greeted Psycho, 2001 and Bonnie and Clyde attest. There Will Be Blood belongs in their company, and I consider myself fortunate to belong to a group with the foresight to recognize it in its own moment.”

It is that peculiar form of ego that makes There Will Be Blood a critic’s wet dream. There is some brilliant filmmaking in the movie, moving the language forward, as it is completely derivative, but completely fresh in how it brings modern tools to those images and ideas. But the “underdog that we can put in the canon” schtick is raw meat to underfed jackals.

But it’s not just that. It is also clear, clean love.

I guess it might be like really loving your wife and really being hot for her at the same time. Sometimes you want to share important and intimate things. Sometimes, you look at her and just want to objectify her brain out… even if you love that synapse-heavy brain. These are not mutually exclusive feelings.

The same kind of issue can be attached to the awards for 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days, which is a great film, acclaimed for month after month. There is no denying that it is deserving. But there is a certain joy for a critic to “going off the reservation” and embracing films that no one else will love quite the right way.

It’s not one or the other.

The seduction, for people who care about awards season, to start getting so myopic that the forest is not only unseen, but burned to the ground so they can get a better look at the trees, is also human nature. I can tell you, with 99% certainty, 7 of the HFPA’s 10 Best Picture picks tomorrow… and the other 3 are like 30% certainty.

But WHO CARES?

I don’t. I will report on the nominations. And I will try to put them in the perspective they deserve. It will be a lovely honor if Knocked Up gets a Best Comedy nomination… and it will have no chance of winning or being Oscar nominated for Best Picture. The beginning and the end. There Will Be Blood has a chance of being a Globes nominee… but it will likely get pushed out by The Great Debaters. Talk about shockways for Scott! So is one film better for having been nominated? And does the fact that neither could win HFPA make them inferior to the eventual Drama winner?

There is nothing wrong with enjoying a good wank or a passionate debate about serious films that your group wants to honor. Vanilla, chocolate, and Antiguan Passionfruit Mosquito Flan… the film world is expansive.

Scott says in a comment on his piece, “The awards handed out by the members of LAFCA serve a single and solitary purpose, which is to recognize those achievements that our members deem to be the most significant in cinema in the previous 12 months. We are doing, I think, a good service to those films.”

But “doing a good service to those films” IS another motive. It’s a good motive, I think. But it is an additional motive to the “single and solitary” one. That’s just human nature.

One of my “sins” in covering all this is that I questioned whether NYFCC was doing the right thing by awarding a film that is well into its DVD life for Best Foreign Language for a second straight year. I do understand that they have the right to do as they like. But Foreign Language and Documentary are really the two areas where critics still have the chance to have a major function in changing the box office fates of films… particularly locally. A foreign language film that will be released in NY in the next six months would be truly advantaged by a NYFCC citation. All it will be for the great The Lives of Others is another trip to NY for Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck on Sony Classics’s tab (if they’ll pay for it). I will always find that unfortunate. Sorry.

One thing is true of the entire season – right after the reality many of us have accepted for decades, that Oscar is not a real definition of “best,” but only of “best for that unique 6000 people, who have very strong age and taste boundaries” – is that it is all taste and it is very, very rare that one movie MUST be the movie for any critic or any group. Maybe Scott and others feel that way about TWBB this year. But like a Top 10 or a favorite film list, moods change, it’s hard to compare films that are so different in tone, and there are hundreds of shades of gray in every opinion not involving Michael Bay.

Human nature. Catch it!

Posted by poland at 04:36 PM | Comments (3)

December 11, 2007

BFCA Piles On

I don’t ever remember Gurus o’ Gold matching anyone’s 10 Best Picture nominations exactly before… but that is pretty much where the season is. 10 movies… maybe 12… all still alive… with 3 or 4 basically locked in and the other 6 or 8 fighting for one spot… or not.

BFCA gave the most nods to Into The Wild. Yet there was not a single nod to the film from LAFCA, NYFCC or any of the five other groups that have announced.

There are six categories with more than five nominees from the generously flexible group (of which I am a member).

Surprises? Viggo Mortensen, Ryan Gosling, and (in a minor key) Amy Adams and Emile Hirsch. Ah, the power of Lunch With David. (Kidding! Really.)

There are minor missing nods, like either Best Actor slot for Phil Hoffman, more than picture/writer/actress for the popular Juno, no Tommy Lee Jones or Josh Brolin, no Helena Bonham Carter, no Travolta, and no McAvoy, screenplay or Saoirse Ronan for Atonement… but Vanessa Redgrave for her 8 minute cameo is in.

The most competitive category in the bunch is Best Comedy, where Hairspray, Juno, Knocked Up, and Superbad will fight so hard that Dan In Real Life could win.

I got a note from one Guru who wanted to change votes this morning after the announcement, but I am wondering why. 123 of 140 possible BO votes this week went for the BFCA’s Top 10. Only 2 Gurus has Into The Wild in their Top 5 this week… maybe that will change. But somehow, I don’t think that these nominations are indicative of a sea change of any kind… any more than LAFCA or NYFCC… or any Gurus vote, for that matter.

I expect more of the same from HFPA on Thursday. With Diving Bell and Kite Runner stuck in Foreign, that leaves five dramas from the BFCA 10, plus Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead, with the HFPA 5 pretty much guaranteed to be from that group of 6 and, like Crash, the 1 left out not remotely dead for Oscar, albeit not helped. And the 2 Comedy/Musicals that BFCA nodded, Juno and Sweeney Todd, surely in with three more, none of which – no matter what they are – likely to have Oscar impact in Best Picture.

Posted by poland at 07:11 AM | Comments (41)

December 10, 2007

Sweeney Sampling

If you want to have a sampling of the entire Sweeney Todd soundtrack, 30 seconds per song, you can find it on the Amazon.com page, where the pre-order for the Dec 18 release of the album is up and running.

Posted by poland at 09:28 PM | Comments (1)

Landing In NY

More no-surprises.

The closest thing to interesting was the choice of Julie Christie and the choice to honor last year’s Oscar-winning Foreign Language film, The Lives of Others… leaving films that are actually needing support from the group hanging, as they did by awarding a decades old film last year.

But again, we are in a circle of the same films, the same performances, and minor nudges one way or another.

I have no great insight into what BFCA will offer tomorrow… except that Marisa Tomei will announce the nominees on VH-1 at 5:30 in the morning and I suspect that the 10 films nominated will come from the 17 on the Gurus o’ Gold list, which includes underdogs like Once and Enchanted that could well be up BFCA’s alley. The big dark horses, to me, are Lars & The Real Girl and The Great Debaters, which actually were viewed by a greater percentage of BFCA members than currently viewed by Academy members because most BFCAers attend junkets and so they have seen the films. Still... long shots.

Gurus Top 10 - No Country for Old Men, Atonement, Sweeney Todd, Michael Clayton, American Gangster, Diving Bell and Butterfly, The Kite Runner, Juno, There Will Be Blood, Charlie Wilson's War

The Next 7 - Into the Wild, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Hairspray, 3:10 To Yuma, The Savages, Enchanted, Once

It might be worth noting that the only films of these 17 that not delivered to BFCA members before the voting deadline (Friday at midnight) were Enchanted and Sweeney Todd.

The voting process is to pick at Top 5, which is weighted, and a Top 10 is the outcome.

Posted by poland at 01:44 PM | Comments (13)

December 09, 2007

Critic Time

The big parade of critics groups – a designation which does not fit National Board of Review in any way – started today, as Boston, NY Online Film Critics, Washington DC, and the first major, LAFCA, landed. NYFCC is tomorrow, BFCA Tuesday, HFPA on Thursday.

So far, it’s exactly as expected. A big blur spread amongst the many well-deserving films of the season.

The Diving Bell & The Butterfly is the most tied/runnered-up film so far, with strong showings There Will Be Blood, No Country For Old Men, Persepolis, and 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days. I suspect that No Country will continue to take critics group hits – aka not winning a dominant amount – because of its front-runner status amongst “art” films in the race to be Oscar nominated.

But this is the list. Expect NY to try to find an angle, but to stay close, but different. It could be any of the films listed above, outside shot to Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead with a taste of ZodiacJunoIntoTheI’mNotThereWild.

It’s just a clusterf**k of quality this year!

Michael Clayton, Sweeney Todd, and Atonement weren’t really expecting love from the critics groups, so don’t get out the crying rags.

It’s funny. A lot of industry people keep talking about the critics being more influential this year. But I think it will be one of the least influential years. They will get credit for what is now looking like an Amy Ryan nomination for Supporting Actress… but you can credit 42 West and a modest Ben Affleck for that, and of course, the performance. But basically, it continues to look like critics will give kudos to films they don’t really think will get the love on Oscar Sunday and hope that one or two less mainstreamed picks will slide in with their help. Nothing wrong with that.

Posted by poland at 04:31 PM | Comments (11)

December 05, 2007

National Bored of Reviewing Dinner Plans

Yes... it's that time again... and NBR still loves having dinner with celebrities they pretty much know will be in the awards race...

That said, I have to admit, it's a lot more like HFPA whoring this time... no really extreme missteps just to get celebs to show.

Notably left out were Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead and American Gangster (even though Universal’s Bourne Ultimatum did get in the 20). Historically, these kinds of oversights have been connected to no-shows by actors or directors, seen as snubs.

All of the acting awards were for possible/likely nominees… but not the front-runners. In NBR-speak, that could be a matter of not knowing whether Depp or Cotillard would show… but will Julie Christie show up? That will be the mystery of their awards dinner.

How exactly does Gone Baby Gone end up with Best Directorial Debut and Best Supporting Actress and no spot in lists of 20 “Best Pictures,” “top” and “indie”?

This is the madness of paying attention to NBR… and I have already said too much… it really is a bad habit to pay attention to anything because it’s FIRST! NBR is truly irrelevant, except as copy. So I guess I am a sucker too.

JUST NOTICED: The ONLY Weinstein Co nod of any kind is for "Freedom of Expression" for The Great Debaters... shared with Persepolis. Ouch. A big change from the good ol' days, when The Weinsteins owned this group.

The complete list

Posted by poland at 12:30 PM | Comments (13)

December 02, 2007

I Hate To Be A Dick About It...

I like much of Atonement... enough to recommend the movie to anyone without a penis and to some with one. But to compare it to Dr Zhivago or Reds or even the more-heady-than-meaty The English Patient is capital-I INSANE.

I do think that the nature of the Oscar season will see the film nominated for Best Picture and for another half dozen awards. It is a step up from Pride & Prejudice for all involved. And the first 30 minutes threatens to offer a classic of the form. But the film doesn't even attempt to match the ambitions of any of the trio of films Anne Thompson is comparing it to... and while at times it matches the fine detail of some of the great Merchant-Ivory films, it doesn't seem to aspire to the inner monologues of those works when push comes to shove either. 20 minutes less might have rebalanced the film that way... but movies are not horseshoes.

Thank you for your time.

Posted by poland at 12:28 PM | Comments (31)

November 30, 2007

Sweenie & The Plasma Factory

There is a freaky embargo on Sweeney Todd, given that it had a junket, unofficial reviews are all over the place, it was reviewed by Harry Knowles a month ago, and I (and most of my colleagues) already know what dozens of people think of the film… but I’m not supposed to tell you.

What I can/will tell you now is that there are truly shocking elements to this film that are every bit as severe as you have heard… lots of paint-thick blood and bodies smashing into the “bake room” below Sweeney barber’s chair. Depp is still likely to win the Oscar ahead of the zealously artful Mr. Day-Lewis… though a shock win of old-school love by someone like George Clooney could emerge. And I think the movie could actually work for the Geek Boys, which has been the sell by Paramount for months now. Add the Gay Men’s Chorus, committed to musicals, and the Depp Posse, and you could see $50 million in the first holiday week. The question after that will be whether it becomes High School Musical of Blood for the teens and/or Oscar bait or a quickly dismissed piffle for the adults. I still think that the real mistake, as regards awards, was waiting so long to show and release the film. (Yes, I know… it wasn’t ready! That’s why you set delivery dates for directors, sir.)

I will say that the film plays a lot better on multiple viewings. The shock of the blood and smashing corpses is diminished, the singing is less energetically picked apart, the giant lump in Sasha Baron Cohen’s pants is less “WTF,” the whole teen storyline feels less out of place, and the story structure, for me, came into much clearer focus… the film felt shorter and more to the point. It is exactly the kind of movie you see once and kinda wonder… then see again and find things in… then throw in the DVD player one more time to check out one scene, and watch the entire film again, it finally sinking in.

This is a very, very hard movie to judge objectively as someone who knows and loves the show… both knowing and loving being key. Yes, we who love it all see it through the prism of what is and isn’t reflected from that stage show, including the singing performances. Yet when Alan Rickman forces out a warble of "Pretty Women" and Burton has him with his head facing to the ceiling, in Sweeney's chair, vulnerable to the world like an animal in restraints, sweet as he has ever been, it is one of the most beautiful images of Rickman I have ever seen on film. And knowing the show… the question of whether we fill in the gaps that have been left or overload the film with the burden of more story... it's just impossible to know. But like I wrote, my sense is that on additional views, it will get simpler to see the movie and not the show.

In any case, more to come… eventually.

Posted by poland at 08:53 AM | Comments (65)

November 27, 2007

I've Got Spirit, How About You?

A rather odd list from the Indie Spirit crew this year. No one can really accuse the group of pandering to celebrity with its version of Best Picture…

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
I’m Not There
Juno
A Mighty Heart
Paranoid Park

Or maybe it can.

Does anyone other than this nominating comittee really think A Mighty Heart belongs on this list over The Savages (nominated for Screenplay, Director, Actor, and Cinematography) or Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead or Rescue Dawn or Lust, Caution?

Can you say Angelina Jolie?

But hey, at least they didn’t jury-rig a more expensive film like There Will Be Blood or No Country For Old Men or Atonement or Into The Wild into the running. On the other hand… the issue of “what is an independent film?” continues with this list, the argument turned on its head, 3 of the 4 of the aforementioned in this graph surely being amongst the Top 7 or 8 indie-minded films of the year.

I think it’s great that ISP is embracing a movie like Paranoid Park, which is barely scheduled for American release, but does this list really represent “Independent Cinema” 2007?

And I have argued the other side of this for years. I have objected as the “indie” budget ceiling has risen to $20 million. But if four of your five BP nominees are going to be films with celebrity appeal and Dependent backing, the whole exercise seems like a half measure. As I have been suggesting for years, why not make a split category for films, with unlimited budgets and under $8 million? That way the big boys can slug it out for the expensive award, FIND gets all the celebrity it can swallow, and smaller, truly undersupported films can get championed with a real award.

All that said, it is kind of a relief that this could well be the year where “wins on Saturday, loses on Sunday” is not the case, since there is a very good chance that none of these ISA nominees will be nominated for Best Picture.

Still, would any film get a real benefit – non-ego – from winning other than Paranoid Park? Nope. And really, the Diving Bell nomination is a bit of a disaster for anyone still holding hope that the film will be Oscar nominated. This is a classic “it’s been loved” situation. Most have long given up on the magnificent I’m Not There getting an Oscar nod in BP. And Juno… well, that is the only one with a chance and the only one that ISPs won’t taint in any way. Still, I would still say that Oscar is a real longshot given the nature of the film.

Also... how did The Diving Bell & The Butterfly get out of the "foreign language" trap? If that's in, where is La Vie En Rose? For that matter, where is Lars & The Real Girl? (Rescue Dawn was also released by MGM.) And was Away From Her punished for being from Canada? (Once is nominated as a "foreign film," although in English.)

Anyway… the doc nominations are much, much smarter… not only than the feature list, but than the Oscar short list. The Monastery is the only film I haven’t seen in the group and the rest are all most deserving.

Crazy Love
Lake of Fire
Manufactured Landscapes
The Monastery
The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair

Posted by poland at 10:10 AM | Comments (12)

November 26, 2007

By Request: The No Country For Old Men Thread

This is a SPOILER comment thread for No Country... it has been asked for, discussed, avoided, and fought about...

If you don't want the ending SPOILED, stay out of the thread. You are warned!!1

Posted by poland at 11:08 PM | Comments (53)

On Blanchett

Ah, the joy of the awards season...

The issue of Ms. Blanchett's intended placement in I'm Not There is at least one step more in the air than suggested to me by a very close source this weekend. In other words, I got played a little... and I was not as careful as I should have been.

At this point, things may well go that way. But frankly, the media blowback coming out of the post the other day is turning heads in various camps and where things land are in play once again.

This much is clear... Ms Blanchett's turn in I'm Not There is one of the five best performances on the year in ALL categories, male or female or dog or cat, if you were going to pick five. It is easily the current crowning achievement of her career. Cotillard, Day-Lewis, and Bardem are, to my eye, the other undeniables... not just great performances (like Swinton, Page, Wilkinson, Jones, Hoffman, Linney, Depp, Hirsch, etc, etc, etc) but singular events.

But whoever said that the political race of award season is exclusively or even primarily about the work?

Posted by poland at 01:17 PM | Comments (20)

November 25, 2007

A Little Less Support In Search Of More

There is good news for the Marisa Tomeis (Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead) Amy Ryans (Gone Baby Gone), Jennifer Jason Leighs (Margot At The Wedding), Kate Winslets (Romance & Cigarettes), Emily Mortimers (Lars), Saoirse Ronans (Atonement), Ruby Dees, and other to-the-edge hopefuls in the race for Best Supporting Actress. After much discussions – weeks of discussion – and the flop of Elizabeth: The Golden Age, the decision has been made to put Cate Blanchett into Best Actress for I'm Not There and not in Supporting.

The one actress who should least like to hear this is Marion Cotillard, who gives the other great transformative performance of 2007 in La Vie En Rose, but who is not quite as Academy-friendly. The question for both of these actresses and their performances is whether, for The Globes, they belong in Musical or Drama. Both films have a lot of music, but neither is a traditional musical in any way, and neither actress sings in their role… which didn’t exactly hurt Jamie Foxx in Ray.

Posted by poland at 08:49 AM | Comments (30)

November 23, 2007

Stuck In The Middle (East) With You

There is an excellent film out there suffering from a publicity problem.

The problem is that it is the Israeli nominee for Best Foreign Language Oscar and all the attention is being paid to the film that was disqualified – fairly or otherwise – from that position, The Band’s Visit.

I don’t want to get into why The Band’s Visit was disqualified, other than to say that it was absurd in process. Some have accused the makers of the new nominee of being behind the effort to DQ the other film. I don’t know. And I don’t really care. The Band’s Visit is in the able hands of Michael Barker and Tom Bernard. They love the movie. Audiences at festivals have loved the movie. It will have its day in the sun.

But the film I am writing about today is not The Band’s Visit, but Beaufort.

Beaufort. Sounds kinda French, huh?

Beaufort is the name of an Israeli army outpost at The Beaufort Castle, a crusader fort in Lebanon, that was held until the very last moments of the Israeli occupation back in 2000. The story centers around one soldier, a 22-year-old commander named Liraz Liberti. But it really is a story, like so many great war stories, about the humanity of the soldiers.

Joseph Cedar, whose first two films, Time of Favor and Campfire, were also nominated to represent Israel in the Best Foreign Language Film race, continues to get better as a filmmaker. In Beaufort, he takes strokes from many directing masters and makes a film that, except for language, would be a powerful standout in any country’s film output. There is more than a little of Kubrick’s Paths of Glory here, as the story focuses on the men in the trenches – here, bunkers – and their anticipation of what they face. There is a touch of Altman, in the darkest moments of M*A*S*H, as well as in those sardonically dry camp announcements, which in Beaufort come down to, “Incoming, incoming!” and “Impact, impact.” There is a bit of Ridley Scott from the opening title sequence, as the claustrophobic spaces that the men run through like rats in cages are a naturalistic combination of the imagery from Alien, as well as Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. And the list continues from there...

The movie, about which I don’t want to say too much in fear of giving away its secrets, is set at the very end of the Lebanese occupation after 18 years of fighting and controversy. Being stuck up there is both and honor and an embarrassment. Some ache to leave, some ache for more serious duty. But the job of the soldier is to follow orders to the best of their ability. And heroes and cowards can be found in any corner of a war zone.

The star of the film is 23-year-old Oshri Cohen, a visual combo of Jason Patric and Hayden Christensen. He plays the highest-ranking officer in the fort, at 22 almost expected to be weak – whether that weakness shows up as indecision or overzealousness - but determined to do the right thing, no matter what it is or what its context. It is a tremendous performance that will have American filmmakers trying to bring him over here in a hurry.

The story of what will be, inevitably, a retreat, has all the angst of worn out warriors stuck somewhere that makes no sense. It is all highlighted by the fact that in Israel, military service is very much a way of life. It is not a choice. Everyone, male and female, serves within age boundaries. But it is also a fine film for Americans in the Iraq era because of the ambivalence of many of the soldiers about the assignment. And in the end, war is war, dead is dead, and honor has its own context.

Beaufort’s road to Oscar attention may be controversial, but it would really be a shame for this film (distribution rights held by tiny Kino International in the US), to get overlooked in the discussion because of how it landed here. I was mixed positive on Cedar’s Campfire, a movie with some terrific performances but a tendency to get stuck in its own head. But this one, after just one viewing, really sticks with me. I have thought of it daily since screening it. And I expect to see it again and encourage others to visit it with blinders to the political football it has become. Beaufort is one of those examples of a foreign film that would really have been lost in America if it wasn’t for Oscar and that we would all been less for having missed.

Posted by poland at 05:07 PM | Comments (4)

Clarification On Once Song Eligibility

From one of the film's publicists -

"To clarify the eligibility of Falling Slowly as I noticed some posts on your blog - the academy rules say a song must be recorded for use in the film prior to any other usage - Falling Slowly was written by Glen Hansard for Once and the film was shot in January 2006. Unsure of whether Once would ever find a distributor or much less have a soundtrack, Glen and Marketa decided to release The Swell Season in Sept 2006 and that album has 4 songs on it that were also in Once. All the songs were recorded expressly for use in the film, but then used later on their album. Luckily, everything changed for them when Fox Searchlight acquired the film at Sundance 2007 and made it into this year's indie success."

And while a publicist is a publicist, you should know that situations like this are cleared with The Academy by studios as the process goes along, so I doubt any of this is just a defensive position. I'm sure that if this is being written for publication, that they have been cleared by The Academy on the issue.

Posted by poland at 10:58 AM | Comments (9)

November 21, 2007

New Idea

This came via e-mail with a 5mg attachment that I can't recreate on the blog. But interesting...

November 20, 2007

Dear Broadcast Film Critic member,

We are pleased to send you a downloadable MP3 of “Falling Slowly” from the film ONCE for your listening pleasure. The film features a collection of 10 original songs written and performed by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova and this song is especially unforgettable.

In addition to winning the World Cinema Audience Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and being one of the best reviewed movies of the year, the story of ONCE has also been a marvelous Cinderella story for director John Carney and the film’s two stars, Hansard (front man of the Irish rock group The Frames) and newcomer Irglova (who makes her screen debut in the film). ONCE reinvents the contemporary movie musical by letting the songs tell the story.

We hope you will take a few minutes to re-live the magic of this film through its music and give the song “Falling Slowly” consideration in the category of Best Original Song.

Sincerely,
Your friends at Fox Searchlight Pictures

Posted by poland at 09:25 AM | Comments (12)

November 16, 2007

The Academy Doc Short List Emerges

6:00p Update

Last night and today is the tome when The Academy lets filmmakers know whether they are on the doc short list. This entry will evolve as more informations comes in...

Already in:
Autism: The Musical
Body of War
Lake of Fire - no official website available
Nanking
No End In Sight
Operation Homecoming
The Price of Sugar
Sicko
Taxi To The Darkside
War/Dance

Next rumor at #11 - The Rape Of Europa

Amongst the "expected by many, but unheard from as of yet":
Crazy Love
For the Bible Tells Me So
I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life & Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal
Jimmy Carter Man from Plains
My Enemy's Enemy
My Kid Could Paint That
Pete Seeger: The Power of Song
Primo Levi's Journey
Sharkwater
Terror's Advocate

And apparently Out are:
Darfur, Now
The Devil Came on Horseback
In The Shadow Of The Moon
The King Of Kong
Manda Bala
Protagonist
Steal a Pencil for Me
We Are Together

Posted by poland at 12:33 PM | Comments (16)

November 15, 2007

Sweeney Tease

The Evening With Tim Burton at Lincoln Center delivered the first real glimpses, outside of Venice, of Sweeney Todd. The choices of what to show were clearly carefully selected.

In the case of “Epiphany,” the musical number, sung mostly by Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd, it is one of the numbers where the power of an actor with Depp’s power truly overwhelms the value of the big voices that have played the role on stage.

STORY SPOILERS

The song, in which Todd thinks he has lost the object of his greatest hatred, is the turning point in the story when Todd decides that he is willing to kill everyone, as in his rage, everyone is complicit. “Even you, Mrs. Lovett, even I,” Sweeney sings. The song contains the two lines actually sung by Depp in the trailer – “I will have vengeance. I will have salvation.”

Depp manages to sing nicely and speak sings a bit of the number, but it really works because of the power of his acting.

What only fans of the show know is that the number takes place after Todd has killed a rival who has tried to blackmail him, which leads he and Mrs. Lovett into one of the four signature songs in the show, “A Little Priest.” It is this number that is likely to define the success of the film for people. The number not only brings a lightness to the proceedings, but it explains a central philosophy of the entire show.

“The history of the world, my love --
Is those below serving those up above!
How gratifying for once to know
That those above will serve those down below!”

In any case…

END SPOILERS

One of the other of three numbers shown at the Lincoln Center event was “My Friends,” which is really Sweeney’s first solo song. He participates in the now-opening “No Place Like London” (Burton & Co have removed the choral “The Tale of Sweeney Todd” except as score.), but he is more flavor to it than the main singer.

“My Friends” is the song Sweeney sings to his blades, which have been saved by Mrs. Lovett, even after Sweeney/Benjamin Barker is long gone. This is where Mrs. Lovett starts to turn the show over to Sweeney. She has the two songs setting this moment up and she gives Sweeney his blades as a form of seduction. His blades are all he has, his family thrown to the winds. When Mrs. Lovett joins him in the song, she is trying to draw him back in, after realizing that by giving him “his friends,” that she has made a mistake in her effort to seduce him.

It’s a challenging song... very emotional. And Depp brings it off with great intensity. His delivery is not as sweet and emotional as some have been in the past, but it is his characterization that varies from the others, not so much his voice.

Finally, they offered up “Johanna,” a love song sung primarily by our young male hero, Anthony, who has caught barely a glimpse of Johanna… but enough to fall in love. In this role, they hired a pretty kid, 19-year-old Jamie Campbell Bower, who sings it beautifully, if not quite as soulfully as you might hope. But man, he's pretty!

All the beautiful darkness that is so apparent in the trailer was on display, but it would have been hard to pick three songs that were less of a test of the entire project. Mrs. Lovett has four major near-solos in the show; "Worst Pies In London," "Poor Thing," "Wait," and "By The Sea." We get a glimpse of "By The Sea" in the trailer, the one image of lightness that’s been offered. Even without a lot of singing, it, like "A Little Priest," is a comic duet for Lovett and Todd that are amongst the most memorable moments in the show.

As for Mr. Depp, the big numbers as a singer are likely to be his loving duet with his enemy, Judge Turpin, played by Alan Rickman, "Pretty Women" and the aforementioned "A Little Priest" with Mrs. Lovett.

And there are the three big numbers by one-off singers in the show. Sasha Baron Cohen’s turn at Pirelli is shown quickly in the trailer, but not at this event. His song, however, has always been a bit of a staccato spoken song with big flair. Johanna has a song that I’ve never loved, but it beloved by many, "Greenfinch and Linnet Bird." And from what I understand, Pirelli’s sidekick who becomes Mrs. Lovett’s ward of sorts, Tobias, is now played by a child, described by Harry Knowles as being out of Oliver!. (For a full version of Oliver!, check out August Rush, which is dead on Oliver Twist with the twist of the birth parents being around.) The kid has one of the show’s strongest numbers, “Not While I’m Around,” another huge moment that has to deliver.

The movie starts screening in earnest in two weeks. The footage at the Burton event was truly no more than an amuse bouche. But it seemed to have done its job for the room, which is to whet the palette for the meal to come.

(Other media coverage of the event includes NY Press and Film Experience. AND The Reeler)

Posted by poland at 11:44 PM | Comments (39)

November 11, 2007

Off The Lot

Thought it was interesting... at least two studios (Fox and Paramount) are moving all guild/Academy screenings off of their lots. This will require an addition of about $25,000 a week to many studio awards screening budgets and will make quality screening rooms a major commodity... even more than normal.

This will also make it an even tougher market for indies, as the studios with money will be chasing screening opportunities - heavy on weeknights and weekend matinees - at The Grove, The Arclight, and the Landmark Pavillion and guild members will start facing, to their dismay, events at the crappier theaters rooms all over town that we all thought were no longer options that anyone would choose.

If the strike lasts into late December, things will get a lot more dramatic, as screens become even more valuable to the exhibitors who own them and the studios who have films in traditional release.

Posted by poland at 10:27 PM | Comments (0)

October 22, 2007

An Oscar Lock?

It seems that the smart folks at Fox Searchlight did qualify the short, Hotel Chevalier, for Oscar before releasing the film on iTunes.

And so the question... how could the film not be nominated? And how could it not win? There are often some terrific shorts out there, but Wes Anderson did the best work of his year in this short... and he is one of our most talented, even when at his most self-indulgent.

Posted by poland at 07:10 PM | Comments (25)

October 17, 2007

Next Academy DVD...

Guess...

Come on...

Guess...

The quote on the letter in the package...
"A cultural event. It feels like one of the key movies of the era..."

Guess...

Okay... you give up...

Find the answer after the jump.

".... a raw, discordant equivalent of The Graduate forty years ago." David Denby

It's Knocked Up. And like Par Vantage's mailing of A Mighty Heart, it's going out in the DVD release packaging to everyone but The Academy.

Posted by poland at 10:25 PM | Comments (16)

October 15, 2007

Next DVD In The Mailbox

Paramount Vantage follows Searchlight's early lead (The Namesake, Once, Waitress) with A Mighty Heart, which started landing on Friday.

Next Up... La Vie En Rose? Ratatouille? Hairspray? Resurrecting the Champ?

Posted by poland at 01:35 AM | Comments (25)

October 10, 2007

Will The Academy Kill Lars’ Academy Chances?

Word is that the AMPAS committee that sets official screenings has taken a pass on Lars & The Real Girl, the Toronto Film Fest phenom starring Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling. This call could well be the beginning of the end for any Best Picture Oscar hopes for this film, which gets a great reaction from audiences who see it and real resistance to the premise from people who have not. A poorly attended official Academy screening can be as bad as none at all... but for a small indie-level release, that foot in the door means a lot.

Of course, good box office momentum, starting with this weekend’s exclusive releases, could turn the trick. Or not.

Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and MGM have a real challenge here… did from the start. And my one real piece of advice here… get those DVDs into Academy mailboxes yesterday. If the DVDs land at Thanksgiving, with 30 other films, it will not be seen and it will not be nominated, even for Gosling’s sterling performance.

It’s hard out there for a real doll loving pimp.

Posted by poland at 11:44 PM | Comments (45)

September 30, 2007

Docs

Kim Vonyar does a nice job starting down the doc road for the year in Cinematical.

But she misses the most important doc of 2007 by a country mile... Tony Kaye's best-ever-in-the-category Lake of Fire.

If you think I am exaggerating, go see the movie. It's no cuddly Moorian tour of abortion clinics with wacky right-wingers out on the lawn, happy to be humiliated by a celebrity.

If you haven’t witnessed an abortion, see this movie… you will have done so by the end, including sorting out the pieces of the fetus to make sure that all the parts are out of the mom. It’s unpleasant enough to make you wonder whether Mr. Kaye is against legal abortion. But the human kindness he shows the women who are shown in the film going through the whole process makes you realize that he is after bigger fish here… he is after truth.

You may see a film designed to demand your opinion on this issue in future. But after seeing Lake of Fire, you will have gathered the detail to consider the issue without someone trying to tell you what to think. And what more could you ever ask from a documentary?

As Shoah is to the Jewish Holocaust… as Ken Burns’ doc series was to the Civil War… as The War Room is to the modern political campaign… Lake of Fire is to the issue of abortion rights. An epic, defining, and singular achievement. And there is no question that it should win Best Documentary come February. It’s not that there won’t be some excellent films, some of which I have not seen yet, that deserve consideration. But surely none will be as ambitious and as successful in fulfilling its aspiration as Lake of Fire.

Also…

It is an annual key to look at the IDA DocuWeek screenings, which usually produce 2 or 3 of the ultimate nominees… and invariably at least one film and filmmaker very few people have seen or heard of (I have included the name of filmmakers who have been Oscar nominated, won, or were short-listed:

The Price Of Sugar
Nanking (Bill Guttentag, Dan Sturman)
War/Dance
Hear And Now
Protagonist (Jessica Yu)
Steps To Eternity
Salim Baba
Sari's Mother (James Longley)
Angel's Fire (Fuego De Angel)
Gene Boy Came Home
Kurt Cobain About A Son
Larry Flynt: The Right To Be Left Alone
We Are Together (Thina Simunye)
Chops
Taxi To The Darkside (Alex Gibney)
In The Shadow Of The Moon
A Promise To The Dead: The Exile Journey Of Ariel Dorfman (Peter Raymont)

Posted by poland at 11:39 AM | Comments (38)

September 27, 2007

Who'll Do It?

It occurred to me last night...

The battle between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD is hot and heavy... both companies are willing to spend millions to get studios to join the effort on one side or the other...

The biggest challenge for the marketers is to get people to, finally, commit to buying these machines.

And what group would be an obvious key demographic for the players involved? How about 6000 members of The Academy and the 9000 or so people who are in guilds, groups, and media who also get screeners?

Of course, the majority of these folks can afford to buy machines if they so choose. But getting them/us off the dime is a challenge.

So what if either Sony, on the Blu-Ray side, and Microsoft on the HD side made a play to make sure that those who get 50+ screeners this awards season get them in traditional DVD AND in the High Definition version of their creation?

If I have 20 of the top movies of the year sitting on my shelf in one of these formats, even if I can just pop in the regular DVD, isn't the temptation to consider a new player increased significantly... especially if I have the hi-def TV, which this demographic has more in larger numbers than most?

It's the old razors and razor blades concept, except that in this case, the cost of the initial razor is what is prohibitive... and if you can get them to buy the razor at all, there is an incremental value to selling these blades instead of the old one... but the bigger issue is not making a fortune on DVD "razors," but market share for these players, which is life and death... especially to the Japanese business model.

Of course - and not entirely unfairly - some of you will think I just want a bunch of free High Definition DVDs on my shelf. Guilty.

But had I not recently joined the hi-def game. After a week with a souped up DVR – 1T hard drive attached to my DirecTV DVR - I already have 13 hi-def movies sitting there that I am looking forward to watching. Do I really NEED a Blu-Ray or HD player?

Is it worth it to a guild or Academy member who isn’t worrying about making rent to spend a few hundred bucks to catch the wave of the moment AND to see Atonement or No Country For Old Men or Across The Universe or Sweeney Todd or Into The Wild in the best way possible over Thanksgiving dinner? Aren’t a lot of those folks right on the edge of making the choice to go HD – unlike people not waiting to buy coded Cinea machines – and isn’t this a great opportunity to push them? And wouldn't this be the best way -other than on a movie screen - for voters to see these movies?

Yes, it would be more expensive and production issues are surely even more problematic than with regular DVDs. (Piracy is mostly a non-issue as the pirates are not in the HD business yet.) But the financial interests on the side of the two manufacturing sides are much bigger drivers than any hindrance. Moving the A-list demographic has got to be too tempting for them to just leave for next year… right?

Posted by poland at 12:25 PM | Comments (24)

September 13, 2007

Can Lars & The Real Girl Be This Year’s Little Miss Sunshine?

I saw just under an hour of Lars & The Real Girl a few days ago, having to run out to see another film whose last TIFF screening I had to catch while here. The film was charming and odd and unexpected… the perfect mix for a surprising Toronto Film Fest success.

But when I got back to the film in full today, I was taken somewhere that the first 55 minutes didn’t prepare me for. Lars & The Real Girl is the Feel Good movie of the season.

The basic set-up is that Lars is a freaky shut-in, so disconnected that he can’t even be drawn into his brother and sister-in-law’s house across the lawn (he co-owns the house, but chooses to live in the separate garage) for breakfast or coffee. Ryan Gosling follows up his shiny performance in Half Nelson with a polar opposite here. You can feel Lars’ shoulders hunching and his avoidant focus in every moment.

But the The Real Doll shows up. And it doesn’t seem to be a sex thing. Lars treats the Real Doll, named Bianca, with love and respect. And in turn, others seem inclined to do the same thing.

That’s where this plot description ends, but that gimmick – she’s a doll and they are playing along – is good for an awful lot of laughs and sighs. And then the film starts exploring what is really going on with Lars… and it goes from really quite amusing to a film that starts moving towards a simple grace that touches greatness.

Ironically, Lars, like Juno, the other hopes-to-be-Little Miss Sunshine film this season, could be accused of being somewhat God loving, aka right leaning. In Juno, the teenage girl carries her baby to term. The argument – which seems to forget the term “choice” – is that somehow not getting an abortion at 16 is an exclusively right wing notion. In Lars, the core of the ice-cold northern Midwestern town (which I don’t think is ever specified, though we see license plates, which I guess I should have registered) that helps Lars with his situation is from his church. They are an accepting group, led by a tough older woman (Nancy Beatty as Mrs. Gruner) who opens her heart with the perspective of someone who has seen so much. And when the priest wonders whether to allow Bianca into the church at all, he wonders What Would Jesus Do… and you can be sure rejection is not the answer.

Even more ironically, Lars was written by Nancy Oliver, who is credited with 8 episodes of Six Feet Under (I don’t know how that shop worked… sometimes 8 episodes is really just 8, sometimes the team works over one another’s scripts and then agree to who gets credit for however many), the show created and exec-ed by Alan Ball, who is unfairly under journalistic machine gun fire for his TIFF film, Nothing Is Private. (More on that film later.) Oliver went sweetly and gently to the heart. Ball took out the straight razor.

The supporting cast of Lars & The Real Girl is sterling. Emily Mortimer and Paul Schneider as Lars’ immediate family are naturally relaxed and comfortable together and Mortimer does pregnancy with ease. (They are also both very funny without selling the comedy too hard.) Patricia Clarkson is the embodiment of sweet, healing understanding as The Doctor (who also does psychology… you have to do that as far north as they are). And Kelli Garner does her best to stick out her teeth past the lips she usually features, shoulder shrugs away her bust, and does anti-make-up to try to be the perfectly iced America geek girlfriend wannabe. (She’s seen here
with a more glamorous look with an unidentified gentleman.) She succeeds and is as sweet as imaginable in the role.

And leading the whole parade is director Craig Gillespie, who must be thrilled to have this to distract from the long-delayed Weinstein release of Mr. Woodcock, his first film. I haven’t seen the other film, but his work here is simple and solid, and he has to get more than a little credit for every performance hitting its mark so solidly.

It would not be shocking to see Ryan Gosling nominated for Oscar for a second year in a row for this completely unexpected turn that becomes more complex as the film continues. (There is a beat where Lars experiences a moment of clarity and you can read it on Gosling’s face in a performance moment that is both tiny and absolutely stunning. The best of what Gosling offers.)

The biggest challenge is to the newly muscular Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, functional distributor MGM, and new Kimmel aesthetic captain, Bingham Ray. Both Fox Searchlight and Paramount Vantage have fully functioning majors behind them and funding is a impulse buy. Last year’s efforts by the Yari Group for the popular The Ilusionist fell short, a year after indie Lionsgate got Crash all the way to the win. So we’ll see.

But I had that warm, glowing feeling as I sat through the third act of this film… it is so gentle and loving and human. And isn’t that what drove the oddball LMS to an Oscar nod and Indy Spirit win last season? At the very least, Nancy Oliver is going to be seeing Diablo Cody at a lot of awards shows for the next five months.

Posted by poland at 03:00 PM | Comments (10)

June 21, 2007

35 Weeks To Oscar (Oy!)

You'll notice no one is pressing their Oscar luck as of the end of June ... not even DreamWorks Oscar powerhouse Terry Press. It's no country for bold talk at 42 West, where Miramax and others get consultation. Charlie Wilson may be going to war, but Tony Angellotti is keeping it in dry dock while QE2 & Ridley's Boys go at it. Karen Fried has 3 or 4 films to Focus on, but she'll let Ang Lee translate himself before she starts doing it for us. And Paramount Vantage isn't babbling in at all, even with four high profile films aiming at the gold ring.

Last year was the year of early hype Front Runner doing everything it was expected to do... except get nominated. So this year's trend will be Silence Is Golden... until that fails some film that seemed inevitable, so next year there will be some other trend.

Make no mistake, Oscar's elves are already well into their cobbling plans. Those named above will be cranky about being named and those not named will be quietly cranky about not being named, as the game is already afoot.

The Rest...

The Chart...

Posted by poland at 10:33 AM | Comments (49)

February 27, 2007

The Dominant Festival

In the entry about Johnny Depp, a few discussions have started up that I see as bait for new entries. So, sorry to be talking awards at all right now, but I think these general issues are worth discussion.

One was the question of my description of the race's markers. I wrote (in a comment):
The end of Cannes marks the end of the first eighth mile. Toronto gets us to the quarter mile. First week of November is the half mile. December 12 or so will be the three-quarter mile marker. Nomination morning is the mile. And the finish line is just a quarter mile from there.

A reader responded that, "The number of Cannes winners to get even a nomination at the Academy Awards in any category was so negligible that I had to also search Toronto and Venice to see how Foreign Language films fared just to make the time I wasted looking at Cannes worth some of the effort."

This is accurate factually. No film that's won Sundance has ever even been nominated for Best Picture either. Brokeback Mountain is the first film since Atlantic City to win Venice and get nominated (none has ever won). Berlin has a few more nominated winners, but they also “cheat” by having the films in competition after they have been set in the Academy race.

That said, the reader is dead wrong about Cannes and festivals in principle. The significance of Cannes in the American award season has not been its award, but the launches that happen there. Here are some details:

Babel, Lost In Translation, Mystic River, The Pianist, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Moulin Rouge! have all launched at Cannes since 2000.

Crash, Capote, Ray, Sideways, and American Beauty launched at Toronto.

In The Bedroom and Little Miss Sunshine are the only Best Picture nominated films that launched at Sundance in that period.

Good Night, And Good Luck is the only title that launched in this period at the New York Film Festival and made it to Best Picture.

Of all these films, only two Sundance titles (Little Miss Sunshine and In The Bedroom), Toronto-acquired Crash, and Cannes-acquired The Pianist were festival acquisitions. But these fests are the launching pads, however significant we may or may not think those launches are.

A lot of Toronto’s power is its date. The only Toronto acquisition in this period to get a BP nod, Crash, waited to launch theatrically for eight months. While the fest is a good launching pad to market an awards hopeful, it is considered too close to year-end to push a freshly acquired film into the race. That is why Away From Her from last year’s fest is sitting and waiting for release.

The only Sundance films that figure in next year’s Oscar race, it seems, are John Cusack’s performance in Grace Is Gone (acquired by The Weinstein Co) and Fox Searchlight’s The Savages, which arrived with the distributor, a release plan, and a lead performance by last year’s Oscar winner.

Cannes is almost 3 months away. Let’s hope there is something unexpected, significant, and accessible to American tastes there... whether it is awards bait or not. That doesn’t mean I don’t want great foreign stuff.

One film that came off the foreign boards at Berlin was Picturehouse’s acquisition, La Vie En Rose, featuring Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf. You can expect Bob Berney to take the Pan’s Labyrinth experience to the next level as he tries harder and earlier to position this foreign language film with great appeal to adult audiences to a nomination.

But that’s another column that I really don’t want to write yet…

Posted by poland at 03:21 PM | Comments (14)

February 11, 2007

Two Times The So What!

You know, I am thrilled for William Monahan and Michael Arndt and Amy Berg. WGA wins couldn’t happen to nicer or more talented people.

And the BAFTA embrace of not a single surprising award winner… again, good, talented folks… and pass the yawn gas.

Maybe someone out there thinks there is something worth discussing. But I am just waiting for Oscar night… there will be a couple of nice surprises, but mostly some dotted “i”s and crossed “t”s and time to think about next year… or at least 300.

Posted by poland at 09:12 PM | Comments (12)

The So Beautiful Season

Adam Gopnik wrote a piece in January 8, 2007 edition of The New Yorker titled, The Unbeautiful Game. It was about the issue of football stats and why they haven’t really become as important to fans as baseball stats and why they are starting to do so now.

In the process, he pulls in theory and quotations from a book called In The Praise of Athletic Beauty by Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht. And it struck me as I read it, that these ideas relate powerfully to the ongoing discussion of why people, professional and civilian, become so obsessed by the Oscar season.

“We watch sports not out of identification with the players but out of a kind of happy absorption in someone else’s ability: ‘The euphoria of focused intensity seems to go hand in hand with a peculiar quietness. I am at peace with the impression that I cannot control and manipulate the world around me. So intensely quiet do I become and so quietly confident, at least during the second when my favorite football team is talking through its next play in the huddle, that I feel I can let go and let come (or not) the things I desire to come.’

In other words, when we watch… what we feel isn’t pathetic and vicarious but generous and authentic: we give up a bit of ourselves in order to admire another. We’re broadened, not narrowed, by our fandom. Our connection with our heroes is through an act of imagination, and the act of imagination, not the connection, is worth savoring and saving.”

The argument that The Oscars are a mostly meaningless and self-indulgent orgy can not be fought. And really, how can we argue otherwise about 22 men or 10/11/12/13 on a field of play? But the passion of how we watch and engage and absorb and imagine is not meaningless.

How those of us who earn a living off of the season behave is a different argument altogether, though there is a fan element there as well. And some day, with some perspective, a sane analysis of how those of us in this game have chosen to position and promote ourselves, sometimes honestly, sometimes otherwise, might be fascinating as well.

Thoughts?

Imagination?

Posted by poland at 03:23 PM | Comments (9)

February 07, 2007

The Wednesday Beat

Another day, another awards season gathering. Today was the Publicist’s Guild luncheon, which I personally consider a pretty much off-the-record event. Publicists and marketers gather, relax a little, tell stories, and watch their own give and accept awards.

As for the show, this year was actually quite quick and on the mark. Bob Barker got an award, though I am still not quite sure why. But he was funny… for an old guy.

There was a great little package by Sony, on the occasional of Pascal & Lynton being feted, that spoofed the process of putting together award reels. This was preceded by a killer intro by Will Farrell (“I’m not just doing this because they hired me… twice… to make two award winning… okay… maybe not award winning… movies this year…”)

Alan Nierob won an award and gave a great off-the-cuff speech. One got the feeling that the entire room was hugging Nierob, who has survived being Mel Gibson’s publicist in the last few years, sticking by his client through thick and thin, in spite of some of the worst publicity for anyone with that level of stardom and offenses that might have caused other Jewish publicists might run.

(ADD - The award was given by Sarah Silverman, who added the idea that the winner would have "giant, hairy balls" to the boilerplate intro on the teleprompter. The first nominee announced was Tony Angellotti, getting an enormous laugh, perhaps the biggest of the day. If the jockstrap fits...)

I didn’t know that AMPAS President Sid Ganis had started out and thrived as a publicist. His best line was, “Being the Academy president is a full time p.r. job if ever there was one.” The laughs in the room were knowing.

And showing the magical relentlessness of Team Vantage, Oscar nominee Adrianna Barazza was out grabbing for a few more votes, handing out the two big awards (Ugly Betty & Borat) with a parade of lovely case of Spanish-induced malapropism, including noms for Warner Bros, pronounced as though she was say hi to her bro… two bros and “nominationses.”

I have to admit… I like publicists. They are, generally, smart, funny, and sexy in the you-can-feel-your-blood-pumping-through-your-brain kinda way. (Maybe you only think sexy is when your blood pumps somewhere else… may the condom be with you.) And the guys are very well dressed too. But seriously, folks… it is their job to keep the media under control, but they are also real people with real feelings about the companies they work for, the films they promote, and the entire universe of people they – and we in the media – deal with daily. There may be, as one of my very favorite people in this game in spite of occasional fits of rage between us said, one person at every table who would rather see me in a casket instead of eating salmon and checking my ticket in the cruise raffle. But the truth is, I do like seeing most of these people. Like any high school, not all of us were meant to be friends. And some publicists, just like some journalists, are braying jackasses.

But I kinda like this particular high school event. There is no pressure on me to report. I am comfortable knowing that this is a group that will never nominate me for their journalistic award. (A few of my personal favorites of e-journalism lost the award today, so I can't say that it’s not lovely to be nominated. I just am not of that particular team and I don't see that changing soon.) And I get to experience a few hundred of my closest comrades in movie arms in a different context for a few hours. Always interesting.

And in a few hours, it’s off to the Three Amigos dinner, which will unfortunately be the Two Amigos dinner, with Alfonso Cuaron lying in bed with a bad cold. But Guillermo and Alejandro should be more than able to keep their end up. I would love it to be like the Babel Mexican wedding sequence, complete with Gael Garcia Bernal ripping the heads off chickens in front of shrieking blondes. But I don't really see that happening at the Sofitel. However, I was intrigued to find out that there will be other Oscar nominees in attendance as well. So I hope to avoid the same old/same old feeling and to enjoy yet another perspective for a few more hours.

Posted by poland at 03:10 PM | Comments (2)

January 28, 2007

SAG Wins....

Here they are...

Have at it...

Posted by poland at 09:48 PM | Comments (90)

January 21, 2007

Winning The PGA

I gather that all five producers of Little Miss Sunshine took the stage at the PGA Awards and that all five spoke. (Hopefully, Ron Yerxa got some stitches and is healing from his Sundance wound.)

Searchlight’s beloved “Little Best Picture” misses being the lowest grossing PGA pick ever, grossing a few million more than Moulin Rouge. But one must point out that the $78 million grossing The English Patient is the lowest grossing PGA winner (in its 17 years) to also win Best Picture. Also, PGA has missed matching the Oscar in 3 of the last 5 years.

Fans of The Departed will linger in the PGA's recent misses, while LMS fans will be thrilled, and Dreamgirls fans will tell you they're not going.

Still, a great moment for all involved with the little miss. And once again, another “precursor” that answers little and leaves many cursing.

Posted by poland at 01:04 AM | Comments (23)

January 16, 2007

Wrapping Globes

As I wrote earlier, I have a plane to catch in the morning. So I’ll keep it brief.

The party scene all over the Globes home hotel, The Beverly Hilton, was lightweight, leading one veteran bad boy to ask, “Where are all the celebrities?”

I had no answer.

The moment of the night for me was Sacha Baron Cohen meeting Steven Spielberg in the middle of a busy walk-thru area at the Paramount party and having a very engaged 10 minute conversation, surrounded by a few choice security guards and the ever-present Marvin Levy. This was the B’Nai Brith calendar moment of the year! Two shy Jewish geniuses.

One of the main men behind The Departed was quick to remember that this awards push is really about Marty Scorsese winning his first Oscar with all else secondary.

The fine folks of Little Miss Sunshine were in fine form, post shutout, simply and charmingly aware that being on this level is a great achievement unto itself, the liquor is free, the company is great… oh yeah, and they still really want to win at The Big Show. And who wouldn’t?

Babel came very close to the 0-for-7 shutout, but pulled out the most important win amongst those for which they were nominated. To say that the team that has been fighting the war for this movie for the last six months is thrilled would be an understatement. I don’t think I am breaking a confidence by describing the experience of one of those hard, heartless marketers upon hearing the word "Babel” read from the envelope as it was described to me… as one of the most emotional of their lives. Alejandro’s megawatt smile lit the room and Guillermo Arriaga and his beautiful wife graciously chatted with all comers as they prepare to hit Sundance with the premiere of a film that Guillermo recently produced.

And Team Dreamgirls was both thrilled and relieved. The craziness that has been going on for the last three days, in which a group of journalists all seemed to decide at the same time that Dreamgirls was “over” was not without impact. Even though the film continues to run ahead of Chicago’s Oscar run that has a similar release strategy… even though it has had all of the precursors of any of the other expected Oscar nominees for Best Picture… even though the film ran right past Little Miss Sunshine’s yellow bus on Saturday to become the second highest grosser amongst the expected nominees… when the media gang up starts, it makes people jumpy. And now, the backlash against the backlash. But the real story remains not the Globes, but Oscar nominations next Tuesday and box office, which looks to be close to $80 million on that morning.

Even at a moment when, perhaps, it seems like Dreamgirls, which I have long said would win The Oscar, is in good shape, I want to point out… if I turn out to be right, I will not consider myself a genius. If I am wrong about what I am predicting right now, I will not consider myself an idiot. We are on a road. And while everything is a guess, it is not about guessing. My work is not a game. It ain’t brain surgery either. But I try to follow what I see as the facts, to not be distracted by brief moments of positive or negative energy, and to keep rerunning the figures in my head, changing my position only when the numbers I believe in somehow change. The obsession with “Right” and “Wrong” as the only answers in a game as complicated as this is unfortunate, regardless of whether my sense of the world ends up being right or wrong.

Anyone who has ever been in or around a high school election realizes that anything can change in a second. Or not. And the Oscars are a popularity contest, first and last. Love it, hate it, it is what it is. So deal with it.

I didn’t see anyone from The Queen, but I always think Peter Morgan should be playing another double-0 in a Bond film.

And so it goes…

Posted by poland at 12:36 AM | Comments (64)

January 15, 2007

Globes...

And so it ends...

Babel & Dreamgirls
3 wins for Dreamgirls
2 wins for The Queen
No one else with more than 1

(8:01p) DRAMA
Babel
(7:53p) Actor (DRAMA)
Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland
(7:45p) Actress (DRAMA)
Helen Mirren - The Queen
(7:37p) MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Dreamgirls
(7:28p) ACTOR (MUS/COM)
Sasha Baron Cohen - Borat
(7:24p) DIRECTOR
Martin Scorcese - The Departed
(30 Minute Break For Beatty)
(6:47p) ORIGINAL SCORE
The Painted Veil
(6:38p) FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
Letters from Iwo Jima
(6:20p) SCREENPLAY
The Queen - Peter Morgan
(6:01p) SUPPORTING ACTOR
Eddie Murphy - Dreamgirls
(5:46p) ACTRESS (MUS/COM)
Meryl Streep - The Devil Wears Prada
(5:43p) ANIMATED FILM
Cars
(5:06p) ORIGINAL SONG
Song of the Heart- Happy Feet
(5:03p) SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls

More...

Posted by poland at 06:05 PM | Comments (39)

Globes Predictions

The media spin to come:

If Dreamgirls wins, it will mean nothing.
If Dreamgirls loses, the film will be "over."

If Babel wins, The Departed & Little Miss Sunshine will still be "the front runners" for Oscar
If The Departed wins, it will be "THE front runner" for Oscar.

If Babel ends up with less than 3 Globes, it will be "HFPA star fucking."
If Babel wins more Globes than any other film, it will be "HFPA star fucking."

If Jack Nicholson wins Best Supporting Actor, it will prove "The Departed is gaining."
If Brad Pitt wins Best Supporting Actor, it will prove "the HFPA loves stars."
If Eddie Murphy wins Best Supporting Actor, it will prove that "Dreamgirls isn't strong in the lead categories."

If any film other than The Departed wins Best Drama, it will "not mean anything."
If The Departed doesn't win and Little Miss Sunshine does, it will be reported as a 2 way race.
If The Departed doesn't win and Dreamgirls wins Best Musical/Comedy, it wil be a "Three way race between The Departed, Little Miss Sunshine, and longshot, Dreamgirls."

Book it.

Posted by poland at 12:18 PM | Comments (22)

January 14, 2007

Falling In Love Again

It is easy to get sick of all this awards season stuff. Thank God for Sundance - which can be a little like trading off a kidney stone with an anal fissure – because knowing that I am leaving town to actually watch new movies for a week in just a few days makes it all seem a little more palatable.

That said, this is also the time when we in the media, in fits and starts, get to spend a little sane, unproductive time with the people who made the year’s movies. And that can quickly soothe the savage breast.

Who wouldn’t be happy to see Guillermo del Toro on two nights in a row, his joyous, generous laugh, his love of his filmmaking brethren, whether amigos or not, and his passion for his stories. Watching him tell Jacqueline Bisset about the evolution of Pan’s Labyrinth from a story in which the young girl was secondary and the mother was the center of the story to the one we have now was doubly fun, as one got the visual pleasure of watching the still-gorgeous Bisset – The Lioness in Leather Pants - watch him.

The whole team from Little Miss Sunshine was just so excited about the whole experience at the Critics Choice Awards. And a few awards and a few drinks into people and you start to see a more gentle/harsh/real side of people. Abigail Breslin couldn’t be better television or a more charming young lady, as you can see a living ven diagram of her mother considering her future. The directors, Jon and Val, couldn’t be more low key and down to earth. (He really hasn’t given as much thought as some to the hat.) Michael Arndt is a mensch. I’m just hoping his excessive modestly maintains as average modesty and never gets broken by his success.

The writers, in fact, of all these films remind me why I am pleased to have my small place in the fraternity. I finally came face to face with William Monahan the other night and really, another great guy. It doesn’t hurt that he was being nice to me, but after a while, you pass that initial love fest moment and just shoot the breeze. I was happy to hear him be clear on the fact that almost everything in the movie came out of his keyboard. I admit, I wondered myself. But he, a Mass. boy, was the bringer of that flavor and so many great lines. (And we both remind you again to rent the Director’s Cut of Kingdom of Heaven. You haven’t seen the movie until you’ve seen that and I don’t know why the cable nets aren’t running that version at least half the time they run the film.)

Steven Spielberg was the biggest star for the filmmakers on Friday night. If you want to see a guy light up, ask Jackie Earle Haley about meeting The Man. You gotta love a guy who’s been in the business as long as Jackie still so thrilled to be back in the game this way. He’s actually surprised when people know who he is. But that performance deserves every embrace it gets an more.

And the pleasure of seeing Todd Fields do the town with as much as his team as he can bring with him to each event is thrilling. I finally got to meet Little Children's editor, Leo Trombetta… another really good man who has danced through a lot of Hollywood and Indiewood history.

I was able to coax a “I just don’t think about it” out of Danny Huston. Always excited to talk to Neil Jordan out of a junket situation… I jumped into the middle of a chat with he and Mike Binder, whose The Upside of Anger is finally opening London this week, just a few weeks before Reign O’er Me, which will open in some international markets day and date with domestic. I finally met Rob McKittrick, who quickly reminded me of his “career suicide,” online in the process of Waiting being released and had a laugh over his survival of it. (He was in the company of a publicist who I always have to remind myself is too smart to be on America’s Next Top Model.) Speaking of which, Ivana Baquero was the “It” girl for a lot of people at one party, as women gushed and grown men took pictures of her just to prove to their young daughters that they met the Pan’s Labyrinth star.

And while this digresses into a gossip column, I actually get quite a lot of pleasure from the relaxed, nothing to pitch, meetings with publicists who I actually like – not all of them, but a surprising percentage of them. I really am thrilled for some of them who have worked so hard for movies they believed in and got somewhere, even if they aren’t my favorite movies. The funny thing about publicists is that they know the truth, even if it is their job to spin the truth. So when you get to situations where everything is a celebration, you can meet funny, intelligent people who can talk about the truth… before they have to go off and spin some piece of shit into fools’ gold.

The competition kind of imposes itself on the pleasure.

It really is nice for me to be in a year where I like all the films in play, some more than others, but embracing them all. To see the excitement in a big, tough guy like Graham King (see him dead in The Departed) when Scorsese won and then again, when the film won… a giddy Peter Rice... Leo DiCaprio there to support Marty more than for himself... Ryan Gosling and McA without "a team" and chatting along happily with popele genuinely thrilled to be seeing them and not just trying to convince them to make a movie with them... Shmuger & Linde looking tan, thin, and ready for the future. Everyone is a kid at this time of year. And isn’t that the magic of the movies?

Posted by poland at 11:08 AM | Comments (6)

A Globes Thread

I assume some of you want to bat it aorund. I will just be happy to see them end so I can get to Sundance in peace.

Here is a link to Gurus, which has all the noms in movie categories...

Posted by poland at 10:21 AM | Comments (9)

January 12, 2007

Can Someone Really Be This Wrong?

Mark Harris is a smart and talented man and I am loath to insult him…

However, his editorial on the AMPAS Oscar season that ends on February 25 this year is probably the single stupidest, honorably-intended piece about Oscar I have read this year or perhaps in years.

Or perhaps it is not all that honorably intended, as I would contend that the ONLY significant victim of a season shortened by a month is Traditional Media and their ad sales. The HFPA’s Golden Globes have also suffered in perceived relevance. And while BFCA’s Critics Choice Awards are in TV jail with E! this year, the expectation is that the group – of which I am a member – will get a deal with one of the broadcast nets or one of the big cable nets in the next few months.

But the real damage? Ad salespeople who, in the entertainment business, see Oscar as The Holy Grail. People pay big premiums, buying ads for many movies that are no longer in theatrical release. CHA-CHING! And the trades rely on these sales to survive, suffering this year in particular.

Another month would be like manna from heaven to all entertainment publications, including this one. My argument is not without consequence to my bottom line. Another month of Oscar might be worth an additional six figures in annual revenues to MCN. It would be worth millions to EW, The LA Times, The NY Times, and the trades.

But let’s even take Mr. Harris’ argument on its face. It is still a false claim based on what must be a convoluted notion that any of the movies he hopes will get Oscar attention are made and released in a vacuum.

Each of the five films he chooses to mention has a history that has nothing to do with the “short” Oscar season.

Children of Men – Premiered at the Venice Film Festival in August, played in Europe all fall

Letters From Iwo Jima – Finished in October, strategically placed in February release date to support Flags of Our Fathers, moved into December late in the game, exclusively to jump into the Oscar race after Flags had turned lame

The Painted Veil – Editing ended in September, before the film was re-edited for two months because the filmmakers wanted the film to clear Chinese censorship intact. Still started screening for critics before Dreamgirls.

Pan's Labyrinth – Premiered at Cannes last May.

Venus – Premiered at Telluride on September 2.

Every one of these films made the choice to go into release in December. Every one of them is supported by very bright studio marketers and Oscar consultants. If Mark Harris or anyone else wants to make the argument that they deserve more awards traction, so be it. But to argue that they were victims of a short season is to be either a sucker or a fool… or to have some ulterior interest.

The only December awards wannabes that actually could not have been released much earlier were The Good Shepherd, Apocalypto, Factory Girl, and Miss Potter. Apocalypto was, apparently, seen enough to be mostly ignored. Factory Girl was still being edited in December and simply should have pushed into 2007. Miss Potter was and is a non-starter, as was The Good Shepherd.

The real situation is usually more like Factory Girl… but the Weinstein forced the issue. Perfume is a film that had no chance in a December release and should have either gone out in October or next year… but the filmmakers forced the issue. The Pursuit of Happyness, a huge hit, should have launched earlier if it wanted to chase awards, in my opinion… but Dec was a great date for the film and the studio had Bond at Thanksgiving.

But I am gilding the lily.

It’s the Oscars, stupid. No one is a virgin here.

Harris claims that studios won’t adjust to the year ending when the year ends because of money. But that doesn’t keep anyone from screening movies en masse before release. And they all do. Unless they choose not to.

And the idea that quality films can only do business in December is simply beyond stupid. The Proposition didn’t make a lot of money because First Look doesn’t have Searchlight’s finesse or money and is still a movie starring actors who few know. The Last King of Scotland, which did have Searchlight’s muscle was never going to be a big hit, no matter what the reviews. It’s a period movie about a fictional doctor and a Ugandan dictator!

The reason “quality” movie clamor for December dates is that they hope free advertising in the form of awards buzz will drive their difficult-to-market films. Same as it ever was.

Studios have made the adjustment to the new dates. The season is shorter. To repeat a theme, the only increase of hysteria this year has been in the media. EW is one of the many Traditional Media outlets that made the effort to expand Oscar coverage. But it seems they couldn’t increase ad sales doing it. Ouch. Don’t blame AMPAS, an organization that would be well served by cutting down the season by another couple of weeks. Awards fatigue is growing every year. Floating your event out into March will not improve that.

And let me say again… what is an Oscar cover doing coming out the second week of January?

Posted by poland at 05:45 PM | Comments (12)

The Peter O'Toole Appearances

Peter O'Toole was finally well enough to come across the pond this week and is doing the rounds in New York.

Until this morning, I have kept the issue to myself, since he has looked very frail and very scripted. On Letterman, he did 8 minutes, much of which had him laughing with style and brio in the way people do when they can't really hear what you are saying and want to appear engaged.

On The Daily Show, he was a little stronger, though when Jon Stewart went off script and noodled, it was mostly clear that O’Toole couldn’t figure out what he was trying to hear.

In both cases, a few good oft-time-told Peter O’Toole stories go a long way. And neither of those two interviewers has much of an idea of how to help a guest tell their story. So these slots were okay, but a little off-putting.

However, this morning on The View, O’Toole was awake and engaged for the first time I have seen him on this round of chats. He spent a full 15 minutes on set, the first time he has stayed for two segments on any of these shows. And in his answers, you could actually see the Peter O’Toole we know and love. It really showed in the small beats. After Walters brought up the fact that he had been nominated so many times and not won and then O’Donnell said there was a lot of talk about him getting nominated this year, he twinkled and said, “I heard.” And then he added, clearly on his own whim, “… the only 8 time loser in the history of the Academy.” That’s O’Toole.

There were no “throw back your head and appear to laugh” moments. When Joy Behar asked a question based on pre-interview that he didn’t pick up on, he leaned over and scanned her card. And for the first time, he had that lilting downtone he gets on the second syllables of words, when he announced his liquor of choice, “whisss-key.”

When it worked around to a Walters question about whether he was having a relationship with someone in their 20s now, O’Toole did a whole run of talking about a JuJube in his mouth, the offering them to the ladies of The View, avoiding the question in a wonderful comedic turn.

This is not really all that surprising for a person dealing with ill health as they age. There tend to be periods of great energy and bad periods every day. And it is hardly unusual for morning to be the time where the energy is its best. If I were on his team, I would be looking to morning shows and places he can do taped pieces. He should do a Jay Walking segment, taped in the morning for Leno and then do 5 minutes on the couch… leave them wanting more and give them your best energy. Sam Rubin & Dorothy Lucey should get the benefit of this in L.A. next week. Get an early call time for Sunday Morning Shootout.

If he can keep this up, take a few weeks off and then do it again in late January, he will be very hard to beat on Oscar night indeed.

Posted by poland at 11:03 AM | Comments (19)

BAFTA Announces

The four presumed Oscar nominees - not Dreamgirls - get Picture, Director & Screenplay, as expected.

FILM
BABEL - Alejandro González Iñárritu/Jon Kilik/Steve Golin
THE DEPARTED - Brad Pitt/Brad Grey/Graham King
THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND - Andrea Calderwood/Lisa Bryer/Charles Steel
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE*
THE QUEEN - Tracey Seaward/Christine Langan/Andy Harries

THE DAVID LEAN AWARD for Achievement in Direction
BABEL - Alejandro González Iñárritu
THE DEPARTED - Martin Scorsese
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE - Jonathan Dayton/Valerie Faris
THE QUEEN - Stephen Frears
UNITED 93 - Paul Greengrass

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
BABEL - Guillermo Arriaga
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE - Michael Arndt
PAN'S LABYRINTH - Guillermo del Toro
THE QUEEN - Peter Morgan
UNITED 93 - Paul Greengrass

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
CASINO ROYALE - Neal Purvis/Robert Wade/Paul Haggis
THE DEPARTED - William Monahan
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA - Aline Brosh McKenna
THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND - Peter Morgan/Jeremy Brock
NOTES ON A SCANDAL - Patrick Marber

The Rest..

Posted by poland at 12:56 AM | Comments (7)

January 11, 2007

Sadly...

We are in one of those periods where, as David Carr puts it, "the plot not only thickens, it morphs by the hour."

Except that it doesn't.

Lots of journalists want it to.

But, it doesn't.

This is that time of year when Crash, The Pianist , and Munich are dead and Million Dollar Baby can't possible beat The Aviator.

This is that time of year when people convince themselves that there is a real race between Felicity Huffman and Reese Witherspoon.

This is the time of year when they tell us that Mystic River has a chance to topple Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.

Fernando Meirelles, Sophie Okonedo, Djimon Hounsou, Jim Broadbent in Iris… all impossible at this juncture.

Whatever flack sold David Carr the bill of goods that Gail Berman’s exit at Paramount had something to do with Dreamgirls alleged awards slippage - the same slippage being used as proof that other films are stronger - has to, a) be buying The Envelope’s flack-driven bullshit about Berman having anything to do with the film or its marketing and b) unaware of the fact that Berman was done with Paramount before Christmas, which every senior exec at the studio knew before New Years.

But that is what morphs by the hour… the spin… the build-up… the tear down… the lies… the truth behind them…

The truth is, none of us in the media are the answer to the question at this point. Whatever was going to change the Oscar race happened weeks ago and will happen weeks from now, after nominations.

But while some people out there just piss me off with their aggression and spin, I am comfortable that they will fine their place in the rear view of history. But when this stuff starts leaking into the trades and LA Times, and New York Times… well, that is something else altogether.

How many times does a lie get told before it starts to take hold?

I almost found myself taking Pete Hammond to task here for weird spin in his The Season column, but the reality is that his brief comments were taken out of context by others to make their personal point. What he actually says is that there were a lot of December movies scrambling for attention and that only Dreamgirls seems to have survived December this year. This is true. What he doesn't say - and really needed to - is that what happened to many of the December movies is that they were not ready to be seen until too late. Release date is not the key. Dreamgirls screened on Nov 15. Children of Men screened on Nov 16... but was finished and released in Europe in August/September. Letters From Iwo Jima on December 1. The Good Shepherd on Dec 4. Factory Girl was screened on Dec 6, but was still being edited and had no business making an Oscar run under those circumstances. Every film has a reason to fail.

Conversely, early release didn't really work for hopefuls Running With Scissors, Little Children, Flags of Our Fathers, Catch A Fire, The Prestige, The History Boys, The Fountain, Bobby, and Stranger Than Fiction.

December release The Pursuit of Happyness is being widely seen and could win Will Smith an Oscar, but did it have enough time to turn the corner on mediocre critical reviews? Wouldn't it have been better off in Novmber, allowing the feel-good time to settle into the hearts of voters? (No studio would give up $126 million and counting for a small drama to chase Oscar, so the point is moot. Sony has already won.)

The answer to all of this, due to the very early critics season that does tend to define the films that are really in the race, is that films need to be ready by Thanksgiving to be in the game. Period. But everyone knew that three years ago when the Oscars moved to an earlier date. The happenstance of this season doesn’t change that. And don’t be surprised when next year or the year after, 3 of the 5 nominees end up being December releases again.

Anyway, I am glad Pete didn't get caught in the crossfire with the raging spinners...

I am not saying… and I haven’t said… that Dreamgirls is a lock to win the Oscar… only to get nominated. But the reality is that all five nominees will push hard to win this year. And we are just at the beginning of the real fight. The Departed is being re-released, The Queen will eventually expand, Babel will re-expand and try to take advantage of a nomination (assuming it gets in), and Little Miss Sunshine is already in high intensity DVD push. Dreamgirls is the only film still looking at a wide release break… even though it will move past Little Miss Sunshine to be the second highest grossing member of The Five tomorrow.

It is absolutely true that Dreamgirls has not become The Return of the King, Forrest Gump, or Schindler’s List. And it won’t become any of those. But Dreamgirls has done a few million more in its limited run of 27 days than Chicago did in its 42 day limited run. And its more than $10 million ahead of A Beautiful Mind's gross to the second Thursday in January (the 10th, in 2002), in spite of ABM having a full week at 1853 screens.

So if that’s not “breaking down the doors” at the box office, what is?

As The Bagger says, the crown does hang heavy. And if Dreamgirls actually does have something less than door-breaking box office over the next month, through expansions, there will be reason for concern. But aside from that, the only unhappy surprise inside the Dreamgirls camp since this all started was the failure to get a Golden Globe directing nod. And that did upset people. But so far, the Guilds have proven that anxiety unfounded.

Still, right now, the organized (and disorganized) campaign by a handful of bloggers and a brilliant consultant or two to make it appear that Dreamgirls is in some sort of trouble has now gotten a little traction in some major Traditional Media. Once The Bagger went on record claiming the LA Times had allegedly been too generous to Dreamgirls, how can he continue to by supportive? But now he's apologizing for his earlier position? Impressive turnaround. Is David Carr really reporting based on reading the boards at Oscarwatch.com?

For the smaller fish, the thrill of “taking down” the frontrunner while these same people see their personal favorites go down for the count is too exhilarating. One is still giddy about his alleged takedown of the Oscar nominated Munich, so filled with hate, that he seeks to infuse failure into the definition of success.

Me? I would be thrilled for The Departed to win – and if you want to claim that I am spinning now, please refer to this blog from Sept 15 -20 – though I don’t think it will. But I was there, pushing positivity, when people claimed it couldn’t even get a Screenplay nomination… Jack only.

My position of The Queen was set on November 2, back when people were saying it was an “actress only” film, when I wrote: “The nature of this conflict is what gives The Queen - quite separately from other small high-quality, oscar-hopeful films like Little Children and Babel - a real shot at a Best Picture nomination from the Academy, a group of mostly older people, many of whom grew up and worked in a more traditional movie era, but who, like Mr. Blair in this film, understand that change has both good and bad points.” As it turned out, Babel got almost no support from critics groups, but still seems likely to get nominated. (Can’t always be right, I guess.)

And Little Miss Sunshine, like Sideways before it, has become The Little Engine That Could. A BP nomination is a huge get for the film.

Just take a breath, people. If the only consensus pick of all three New York Times critics, Letters From Iwo Jima, doesn’t sneak into the race – note that the same people who are now all over The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine were writing about Clint taking “Marty’s” Oscar again just a couple of weeks ago – A.O. Scott jumps to Little Miss Sunshine as a personal favorite and Stephen Holden jumps to Babel and Manohla… well, who knows? But will The Trend of The Week be the key then any more than it has been in the last few weeks?

What if one of the films doesn’t get an A.C.E. nomination? Cynthia Swartz famously noted last year that no Best Picture winner had even not gotten an editing nod. Of course, A.C.E. has 10 noms and AMPAS only 5. And there are still discrepancies, like Cinderella Man not getting an A.C.E. nom last year, but getting an Oscar nom and conversely Brokeback Mountain getting an A.C.E. nom and not an Oscar nod. But wouldn’t some people love to see Dreamgirls left out in that guild?

Be suspect of anyone – including me – that seems to be advocating for a film in award season… and doubly so when they are advocating against a film in award season.

Of course, the amusing part is that the current wave of bile crashing onto the shore will soon, inevitably wash out. That is nature. And those currently on the attack – many willing to do almost anything to get a nomination by tearing down others, regardless if the film has any chance of winning anything – will likely feel the salty sting of the surf coming back with success for the films they tried so hard to drown in early January.

But it still gets me pissed off… and for that, I almost apologize…

(Two Oscar columns in one day… oy.)

Posted by poland at 12:46 PM | Comments (85)

Looking For Meaning In The Guild World

It’s a dark day for fans of the most underappreciated film in the Oscar season…

Children of Men.

Or is it Letters From Iwo Jima?

Or Half Nelson?

Or The Last King of Scotland?

Or Dreamgirls?

Don’t worry too much. Last year, the WGA matched Oscar on 7 of 10 noms, though the winner of both categories won the Oscar. Same in 2005. 70% on noms in 2004, but Adapted Screenplay was different. In 2003, 70% on noms again, but WGA missed both Oscar winners, in no small part because both Oscar winners were foreign, non-WGA members who were not even nominated. 2002 was down to 60% match, but both winners won with both groups. Ironically, that year, The Academy didn’t nominate Moulin Rouge! for screenplay when WGA did, but did give it a Best Picture nod and in reverse, the WGA snubbed In The Bedroom while The Academy gave it both a screenplay and a Best Picture nod.

So what does this mess of stats tell you?

At least 6 of the WGA nominees are likely in for Oscar and it seems likely that the WGA winner will win the Oscar as well. Or not.

Could Children of Men jump into a nom like Y Tu Mama Tambien? Could Half Nelson be this year’s In The Bedroom?

Anyway…

The Cinematographers are a little goofy this year.

Children Of Men and Apocalypto? Sure. Not an issue.

But The Illusionist, The Good Shepherd, and most of all, The Black Dahlia???

Interestingly, it’s not a group of regulars. Only Robert Richardson, with seven noms form the group, has more than 1 nom for film in their history. (Zsigmond got one other TV nod and a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999.)

This is not to say that the cinematographers didn’t do good work… though I thought Black Dahlia looked shockingly bad, especially for a Zsigmond movie.

But you have to wonder what Tom Stern has to do to get a nomination from with ASC or AMPAS after not getting any recognition for Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, and now the double feature of Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima.

Is Guillermo Navarro even going to get his due from anyone?

And what of the great Peter Andrews, who, with a full head of wavy blonde hair and 20/20 vision, did some truly remarkable work in both Bubble and The Good German, the second of which didn’t make for much of a movie, but was far more significant than any stunt it might be accused of being.

But that’s how the lens cap crumbles…

Posted by poland at 11:42 AM | Comments (22)

January 09, 2007

It’s not Chinatown, Jake… But Chinatown’s 10 Minutes Away...

I expect it from Jeff "Anything But The Blings & The Fags" Wells, but seeing a post on The Risky Blog just dropped my jaw. The headline is "DGA: Late Dates Killed 'Pan's,' 'Children'" and the idea is that since Jeff Wells got one e-mail from a director who is clearly in the Three Amigos camp and Sheigh Crabtree had two conversations with DGA members who agreed, we have reached the ultimate truth of 13,400 Academy members. This notion is even more stupid on its face than one old comic and Academy member saying he wouldn't watch Brokeback Mountain being used as proof of rampant homophobia in the AMPAS.

I want to clearly and loudly say, "BULLSHIT."

Every year, December releases are nominated by DGA (including this year). Every year, movies that some people loved but are not serious contenders for Best Picture at the Oscars get overlooked. Sitting here after the fact, spinning yarns about how our favorites – who were expected by almost no one to make it until the last week or so - didn’t make it is silly.

When you look at the entries, notice how Clint Eastwood doesn’t get the same pass that the Tri-Mex Delgation does. Why? Because the people selling this load of crap are not in Eastwood’s camp. And the rage for Todd Field? Nah! He uses a stylistically static camera. Boo!

Thing is, I am not saying that Cuaron and Del Toro didn’t deserve awards or nominations. What I am saying is that these people are raging against the machine, not really dealing with anything remotely approaching reality.

The DGA and PGA nominations were 80% EXACTLY as expected by most people. And that last 20% has been and remains in play, though Babel is looking stronger and stronger.

Sasha Stone did a DGA guessing chart, which I passed on only because I was 100% on three candidates and felt there were 4 legitimate possibilities for the other 2 slots. (I would have missed Eastwood with most everyone else and hit on 4 of 5, like half of the playahs.) Here is how the nominees fared, compared to Sasha's chart:

15 of 15 - Scorsese
14 of 15 – Gonzalez Inarritu
12 of 15 – Frears
9 of 15 - Condon
1 of 15 – Faris/Dayton

Ironically, Mr. Wells, a.k.a. the man who most wants to see Dreamgirls go away, is also the one person who went on record for Faris/Dayton. (He also started his excuse making with a squeal of "xenophobia!," as only he could do after Mexican Gonzalez Inarritu got his first nom ever, alongside the first ever film nom for the UK's Stephen Frears.) The only person who didn’t think Eastwood would get nom’ed was Anne Thompson, who thought Guillermo del Toro would get the slot that went to Faris/Dayton.

And had there been DGA screeners? The argument today would be that the screeners for the beloveds got there too late.

Again, I’m not saying that there are not a half dozen very deserving, moderately mainstream films whose directing work did not get nominated and deserved to be. But let’s be sane, folks. Let’s be fair to those who were nominated. And let’s not get hysterical and rage against the expected.

For years to come, there will be talk in some circles about Universal holding Children of Men out of Toronto and AFI and launching in December after the film premiered in August. Was that bad strategy? Could be. Was it malicious? Absolutely not. But like the "world changing" films hyped before it, I suspect it will be as much of our daily vocabulary in the future as Kill Bill and Sin City... which is to say, not very much. Not Blade Runner. Not Kubrick. Not important. But that is my bias. Truth? Only time will tell. And there will be no excuses.

Posted by poland at 04:29 PM | Comments (122)

DGA Nominees

So what does this mean?

Nothin’.

And now, context.

It doesn’t mean much because it was pretty much as expected.

The one change was Eastwood out, Dayton & Faris in. But even that is no so much of a shock, given that Little Miss Sunshine has settled into being very close to being a Best Picture lock and Letters From Iwo Jima is suffering from being a late entry in the wake of a weak entry (Flags) without screeners going out to DGA members. There are a lot of screenings, but with the holidays and a lot of talent bait screenings to choose from – Iwo Jima hasn’t had many of those in weeks – reaching 13,400 DGA members was no lock. And then there is the quality factor.

The whole Mexican Trio schtick was always a non-issue. I think Pan’s Labyrinth is by far the most successful film of the group, but Babel has the campaign and months of hype and a lot of style and is no real surprise. Lesson: Don’t listen to pundits with agendas.

As always, there is room for one shift for Academy. And Eastwood and Letters From Iwo Jima for Director/Picture are the likely candidate to shift in. If Eastwood doesn’t have enough traction, the most likely other scenario is Paul Greengrass for Director and Babel sticking at Picture.

But as others have pointed out... this list matched the PGA list... so the likleihood of an Oscar match increases.

In a season where almost everything locked in six, seven weeks ago, the biggest feeling out there amongst nominees is relief. The Little Miss Sunshine team is surely dancing in the streets. But even Par Vantage, which has been fighting the good fight for Babel since last May, has to be feeling more of a sense of “Thank F-ing God… we spent all that time and money and to snubbed would have been excruciating” more than euphoria. And for that matter, 42 West, which had had Miramax spending endlessly with Frears’ nominations as a specific target for weeks… and at DreamAmount, where a Bill Condon snub to match the HFPA would have been crushing, given the rare occasion of a film wining Best Picture without having its director nominated. (It’s happened once.)

Only Scorsese rested easy last night.

And probably Eastwood. Though he is pissed this morning, no matter what the NYT spins.

WAG and Editors on Thursday. Irrelevant Critics Choice on Friday night. Oscar noms close Saturday. Irrelevant Golden Globes on Monday. Sundance starts Thursday… where dozens of studio execs will be searching in vain for the next Little Miss Sunshine.

=====================================

Bill Condon, Dreamgirls
Dayton/Faris, Little Miss Sunshine
Stephen Frears, The Queen
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Babel
Martin Scorsese, The Departed

A full list of the noms under the noms

Posted by poland at 10:13 AM | Comments (35)

January 08, 2007

A Look At The Top Tens...

Only three films this year - United 93, The Queen, The Departed - got votes on more than half the Top Ten lists.

Only three films have an average vote - among films with at least 100 points - of over 7 points or an average vote between 3 and 4. They are Army of Shadows (7.722), The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (7.189), Three Times (7.05).

Seven of the Top Eleven average over 6 points per vote, led by United 93's 6.649 average, then Dreamgirls' 6.422, The Departed's 6.328, Letters From Iwo Jima's 6.275, Pan Lanyrinth's 6.258, Children of Men's 6.134, and Babel's 6.056.

The low average title of the films with 100 points was Brick, with 3.147 points from each of its 34 votes.

The top documentary was An Inconvenient Truth, though the film had a surprisingly narrow lead of just 3 votes and 6.5 points over Deliver Us From Evil. The next two docs are well off the pace - Dave Chappelle's Block Party, Neil Young: Heart of Gold - but at least they got more than 10 votes each. After that it thinned out a lot, as When The Levees Broke, followed by Iraq In Fragments, Dixie Chicks: Shut Up & Sing, 49 Up, and Heart of the Game hit the charts with fewer than 10 of 250 votes apiece.

The top 10 foreign language films are Pan's Labyrinth, Letters From Iwo Jima, Volver, Army of Shadows, Death of Mr. Lazarescu, L'Enfant, Three Times, Apocalypto, Climates, and Battle in Heaven. All of them got at least 10 votes. So much for the ascension of the doc.

The English-language True Indies couldn't crack the Top Ten, though ThinkFilm's Half Nelson is in at #12. The next is First Look's The Proposition at #20. Remarkably, David Lynch's self-distributed Inland Empire is at #21. Kino International's Old Joy is at #22.

The Rest...

Posted by poland at 10:38 AM | Comments (27)

January 06, 2007

Nat Soc Film Crix Votes

Almost as if to dot the "i" on the indecision of critics this awards season, The National Society of Film Critics picked one of the year's true beloveds, Pan's Labyrinth, as their film of the year today.

Again, a wonderful choice from a critics group... and another movie hard pressed to dent the Oscar race in any way other than in Best Foreign Language. Not that there is any reason that matters to this group. They are the one major gorup that honors the end of the year before assessing the year.

Consensus continues with Mr. Whittaker and Ms. Mirren. The Best Director award to Paul Greengrass will continue to bolster hopes that Greengrass will pull off the upset at DGA and AMPAS in the weeks to come. Mark Wahlberg's late push in Supporting Actor for The Departed remains an interesting thing to think about. NSFC went with Meryl Streep by 3 points in Supporting Actress for two titles, where she will not compete for an Oscar.

There were tight races for Best Documentary, where An Inconvenient Truth beat out Deliver Us From Evil by 2 votes. The system seems to be that each of the 58 members vote 1,2,3, with each vote valued inversely. So one member, apparently, could have flipped the position of those two films.

Best Actor was an actual tie in the initial vote, broken by a 1 vote margin in a live vote with the 17 members present, with Mr. O'Toole taking the loss in stride.

The most dominant vote getters were Helen Mirren (94), The Queen screenwriter Peter Morgan (67) and Children of Men cinematographer Emmanuel "Chivo" Lubezki (66).

A good rundown of the season and all the specific point totals for the Top 3 in each vote is here on indieWIRE.

Posted by poland at 05:43 PM | Comments (34)

January 04, 2007

The Brief History Of SAG & Foreign Language Performances

In the 13 years of the SAG Awards as we know them now, they have given five nominations to actors giving performances in foreign languages. Catalina Sandino Moreno, nominated two years ago was the first not to be a Weinstein candidate. Penelope Cruz was the second. Both spoke Spanish. Both were already considered front-runners for nomination.

The Weinstein entries were Massimo Troisi, Roberto Benigni, and Salma Hayek.

Over the same period, SAG snubbed three foreign language performances that Oscar embraced - Fernanda Montenegro, Javier Bardem, and Ken Watanabe.

In addition, SAG snubbed Clint Eastwood’s performance in Million Dollar Baby… and The Academy embraced it. That same year, Alan Alda and Clive Owen replaced James Garner and Freddie Highmore in supporting.

Last year, Terrence Howard replaced Russell Crowe from SAG to AMPAS. SAG left out William Hurt. And Keira Knightley stepped in front of Zhang Ziyi.

The significant of being “snubbed” by SAG today is that a lot of actors, the dominant branch of The Academy, didn’t vote you in. It is not insignificant. But it is not The Answer.

Posted by poland at 02:36 PM | Comments (39)

ZzzzzzzAG Noms

Wow... that was... so what?

The only "get" that was really interesting was Jackie Earle Haley getting a slot for Supporting Actor.

Ryan Gosling is no shock for SAG… nom com was one of the few appearances the young charismatic wannanotbe did.

Leo Di was the only Supporting Actor to get in from The Departed.

Two noms for LDi and Djimon for that junk flick, Blood Diamond.

The Babel Twins were pretty well expected.

The Weinsteins show they can still steal a nom with a Bobby ensemble.... are we still desperately looking for something worth writing about?

The 4 of 5 rule seems in play for every single category but Actress, where the same 5 that has been set since September reigned.

And now, going back to sleep... if it’s good enough for SAG, why not me?

Posted by poland at 06:17 AM | Comments (32)

January 03, 2007

PGA Leads The Way To The Expected

ADDITION, 2p - Five Animated Noms, Five Different Studios
Cars
Flushed Away
Happy Feet
Ice Age: The Meltdown
Monster House

I find this fascinating, because you can't really argue that they got it wrong, but what symmetry! I'm sure Open Season and Over The Hedge are bemoaning the fact that PGA hates titles that start with an "O."

===================================

The PGA nominations are in and zzzzzz….

Babel
The Departed
Dreamgirls
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen

The one surprise is that Eastwood missed, but that still basically put Babel in the 5 spot. That same battle will be going on at The Academy and I would count on Eastwood to prevail, but anything is possible. United 93 is still pushing, with another extravagant media buy in the L.A. Times today, so clearly, they are showing faith in a movie that they do love over there.

The one glaring problem is that PGA credits “Marc Turtletaub, David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf; and Albert Berger & Ron Yerxa” for Little Miss Sunshine while The Academy will only accept 3 names for the big show. The elephant has been in the room for months now and how it gets resolved will be interesting. My guess is, one from each side (the first three are kinda teamed up and the last two), actually leaving it to two names for the sake of sanity. Or it could be one of Turtletaub and Saraf, one of Yerxa and Berger and Friendly as the man who put up the first cash. I don’t know. I already got some noses bent out of shape on this issue and I won’t take a side… I wasn’t there.

But for the most part… same as it ever was…

Posted by poland at 12:01 PM | Comments (25)

December 29, 2006

What’s Wrong With Dreamgirls?

Sorry, but this is not going to be an argument against Dreamgirls. I will probably write that in February sometime, but not today

The reason I am writing this is that I am finding myself deeply amused by this week’s trend… questioning whether the film will win Best Picture.

Personally, I see it as a rhetorical question. Dreamgirls will win Best Picture. And part of that is that there really is no other candidate that has the weight or whim to beat a box office winner with a muscular presence in all of the guilds, two actors who are expected by most to win the two Supporting categories, and which is, first and last, a story about making it in show business.

I have been joking – though there is truth in the joke – that if Letters From Iwo Jima was Letters From Auschwitz, it would beat Dreamgirls going away. But in the end Iwo Jima is just too dry and Japanese to win. And everything else is just too small. I can only assume that those now touting The Queen as a possible ‘Girl beater who were calling it a “TV movie” and saying it couldn't get nominated a few months ago are either listening to The Oscar Queen or are a little desperate for a story or both. (For my money, they were wrong about The Queen 3 months ago and are wrong now.) And The Departed, much as I think Marty will win, is simply too violent and too grindhouse to win.

The funniest thing about most of these "Whither Dreamgirls?" pieces is that they now concede that the film will be a box office hit when the same story was probably penciled in with hopes that the grosses in the first four days ($23 million or so on 852 screens) would be disappointing. Okay… can't make that accusation... so concede that box office win (an undersell… the number is actually historic), but use film critics as a basis for argument. You know, the ones who gave Crash one Best Picture citation amongst all of the groups in America last year… the same number as King Kong. Or is it the Golden Globes, which didn’t nominate Crash or Capote or Paul Haggis or Steven Spielberg last year?

There has to be a story, right?

And the only vulnerability Dreamgirls has is with straight, white men… it’s true. They are the point of resistance to all soft movies. But they tend to sway over time, as the very macho Chicago, A Beautiful Mind, American Beauty, Shakespeare In Love, and The English Patient prove.

Of course, only a gay or female mind could think that Catherine Zeta-Jones tits put Chicago over. Firstly, straight men don’t really think that hard about that object of their life-long affection. Interest in one hot woman who is not actually in our lives is quickly replaced by the next one. Something as overt as Halle Berry in Monster’s Ball is one thing. A pretty face is another. And of course, anyone who doesn’t think that Beyonce doesn’t cause crossover erections – especially as Condon and Schliessler shoot her here - is nuts.

Chicago was a classic Oscar movie. Actors doing the unexpected. Show biz. Style. And what was in the way? The holocaust. It may seem crass, but it’s real. In order for the big show biz movie that is certainly well liked if not 100% over the moon to lose, you need another film with major artillery. There is none this year. And the shame of this conversation is that it diminishes the winner because it argues a win as almost a consolation prize. But strategically, that is the reality.

Also note... I was one of those who turned off of Chicago based on the movie and was wrong. I was not alone. But I forgot in that moment that personal feelings about a film have ot be put aside as a journalist. And almost more importantly, one has to remember that this is a marathon, not a sprint.

Seeing the same people who are always looking to get attention, either by campaigning vigorously against the frontrunner, by throwing a kink into the discussion (whither Diana Ross?), or just barreling through with a tiny sliver of insight, spinning at year end on the race is mostly amusing. You gotta write something and being contrarian for a week or two fits just fine.

Again, there is an issue with some straight, white men and Dreamgirls. But it isn’t anything like Brokeback Mountain. I haven’t heard a single voter say, “I hated the film” or “I couldn’t get through the film” or anything much harsher than,”The second half was too long.” There is some resistance out there. But ask them what they think will win instead and 9 out of 10 times, you will get a shoulder shrug or a title that is 99% unlikely to even be nominated. (This is another major difference in the pre-nom discussion.. every movie is still in play for voters who are not obsessing on media prognostication.) Also, I have found that this “issue” still only comes up with about a third of the older white Academy men I’ve spoken to about the film.

But all that said… the idea of encapsulating the Oscar race this week is capital-I idiotic. There is a reason why I didn’t do an Oscar column this week. Variety covers this week are wasted money. Movies are being viewed. Resistance is building and falling. The hype has come and gone. The jury is in the living room and on the ski slopes and on the beached. And now, we are looking at ten days to nominations closing, for all intents and purposes.

The post-nominations race is a completely different animal. If you want a real read on where Dreamgirls or any of the others that we all presume will get nominations are going to be on February 25, you better take a deep breath and wait for the town to get back to business in a couple of weeks.

SAG, PGA, DGA, BFCA, ACE…. They are all coming and they are all more indicative of things than anything we have seen so far… and Oscar nods close on the 13th. And in all likelihood, we will not know any more about who will win in February based on all of that than we do now. But those who are left out from the five I just mentioned will be far more despondent and far closer to not getting nominated. And if Dreamgirls got noms and wins in all of those groups that week… that still wouldn’t be proof of an Oscar win. That is the reality. The truth cuts both ways.

This is the least twisty Oscar season ever on my watch. That doesn’t mean there won’t be twists to come. There always are. Babel for Best Picture, Kazunari Ninomiya, Sacha Baron Cohen, Mark Wahlberg, double nods for the foreign women of Babel, more or less love for one movie or another… all very possible.

Being the winner in the first quarter mile is not the big win. And last year’s paranoia over Brokeback does not this year’s race decide. As the cop said, “Move on… nothing to see here.” Come back in two weeks in you really want to see some blood.

Posted by poland at 12:30 PM | Comments (87)

December 20, 2006

Welcome To Oscarwood

After an afternoon of being yelled at by Oscar consultants, Marcel Giacusa and Tim Webber spent the morning being yelled at by studio executives, member directors and others and… VOILA!

The DGA, which yesterday claimed publicly never to have ever had an unwritten, but often spoken policy against screeners being shipped to members, is back to its original policy, with plans to implement the opportunity for studios to ship screeners to the 13,400 DGA members next season if studios so choose. A press release is being written.

As we close the book on this, a couple of factual clarifications:

1. DreamWorks was not in touch with DGA about sending screeners around Thanksgiving. At that time, DreamWorks, like everyone else, was operating based on the long-held unwritten, but verbalized rule that DGA members could not be sent screeners.

2. The letter requesting that a screener mailing was sent to the DGA by a Paramount employee on December 8. It appears that DGA staffers already had a decision on Dec 12, the day before the Bob Welkos screener-vs-screening story ran in the LA Times, as they told Welkos that DGA was allowing screeners. But DGA had not responded to Paramount, formally or informally. The potential of a DGA mailing was not discussed in awards strategy meetings on the afternoon after the Globes noms, Dec 14.

3. Paramount was informed that they would be allowed to ship on the 15th. And DGA, which held the exclusive oibligation to inform all the other studios, says they faxed and mailed everyone later that day. But only a few studios received these faxes.

4. Miramax did not request or receive a go ahead until Monday of this week. And if they had shipped, they would have been able to ship screeners to DGA’s full membership.

5. We will see what the DGA press release says, but there is still industry-wide unanimity that DGA has indicated annually that screeners being shipped to membership are not an option and that this allowance was a change… and that DreamWorks, Miramax, and anyone else was well within their ethical rights to pursue that opportunity as aggressively as they could.

6. Powerful members of the DGA, as well as top-level studio execs, came down on the DGA management team today with concerns that this situation was not only unfair, but creating havoc.

7. No Dreamgirls DVDs have shipped to DGA members, as was rumored this morning, though they are ready to go and will ship to other groups this week.

8. The greatest cost of this fiasco could be to the studios that were told they could ship to DGA and now cannot, who may not be stuck with thousands of expensive watermarked DVDs for which that they now have no assigned use.

And so, it ends…

Posted by poland at 03:00 PM | Comments (9)

December 19, 2006

Who Let The Screeners Out?

On Friday, the Directors Guild of America decided to allow screeners to be sent to their 13,400 members for the first time in its history. The previous rule had been that studio could send screeners to the DGA and that if members couldn’t get to regular screenings, they would project a DVD for members in the DGA #3 video theater.

So how did it happen?

Well, first things first. The DGA is claiming that this is not a change of policy. And claim it as they might, there is not a single person on the opposite side of the table that agrees. As recently as last year, there was a story in Variety about the Crash screener splurge that pointed out that the only group not to get any of the 130,000+ screeners sent out in January was the DGA because, “The Directors Guild of America does not allow screeners.”

Interested parties from the uber-aggressive Weinstein Miramax to the more passive Warner Bros. have indicated that many efforts and entreaties were made to bring the DGA into the screener group that has generally been between 20,000 and 30,000 industry workers, veterans, and press. And for at least a decade, they have annually been rejected by officials of the DGA.

The whole thing seems to have turned on a single paragraph in Robert Welkos’ LA Times story on voters in various group attending actual screenings less and less. In the piece, he wrote:

“Some people might think that the one bastion of resistance against DVD screeners is the 13,400-member Directors Guild of America. Not so. The DGA, in fact, has made it known to studios and independents alike that the guild will gladly send screeners to its members but will inform the competing studios and indies that someone has requested one to give them an equal opportunity to send a screener out.”

To the average reader, this was just another detail. But this was earth-shaking news to studio publicists, execs, and consultants. But since The Envelope has not become a closely read publication in the industry, most didn’t even see it. A few did.

Stories conflict about how and why the call was made, but late last week, a Paramount employee made a call to the DGA, asked about this seeming change in a long-standing rule, and was told to send a letter making a request. On Friday morning, the request was granted to Paramount, which wanted to send Dreamgirls. By Monday, Miramax had joined in getting approved for The Queen. On Tuesday, Fox Searchlight made arrangements to ship out the already-in-DVD-release, Little Miss Sunshine and the still unreleased, Scott Rudin-produced Notes on a Scandal..

(According to a Hollywood Reporter story, Searchlight will not send to DGA. According to manufacturing sources, they will. Time will tell.)

The DGA claims to have faxed and mailed notices about this to all of the studios. (The rule "clarification" is here.) But about half say they never saw a thing until Tuesday’s mail arrived. Warner Bros says they saw the fax on Monday. And given the fact they have Mr. Eastwood and Mr. Scorsese in the soup, they are not rushing to do anything except enjoy the holiday.

Other studios are a bit more frantic. But the expense of somewhere between $200,000 and $300,000 to duplicate, watermark, and ship to the DGA’s 13,400 person membership – which adds about 50% to the number of screeners floating around each year – is prohibitive for many this late in the game.

As anxiety floated around town on this issue – a combination of “Someone beat us to this,” “Who are these DGA idiots claiming that this was always the rule?,” and “Here is something else that is very expensive and not budgeted for and we have to explain it to the producer, the director, the star, and the studio exec in charge of winning Oscars” – the whiff of conspiracy wafted about.

It didn’t help that Cynthia Swartz is one of the most successful Oscar consultants in the game who rose to power under The Oscar Emperor and has worked her magic this year on The Queen… the second film scheduled to hit DGA mailboxes.

And Dreamgirls was made an object of suspicion in light of Bill Condon’s HFPA snub and the movement to a more aggressive campaign as a result.

What the two films happen to have in common, however, is that they were both in the process of producing watermarked screeners for other groups and could simply switch priorities to the DGA in quick order… no conspiracy or mystery of any kind necessary. Likewise, while Searchlight needs to mass produce copies of Little Miss Sunshine to conform to the new DGA style rules, they don’t need to watermark a film that is already in commercial DVD release. So their turnaround time and cost are cut significantly. Notes, not so much.

Now, other studios will have to decide whether a DGA mailing is worth the cost and effort as Christmas approaches…. not to mention a January 8 close of nominations for DGA. Anyone trying to rev up a shipment today – as with Notes on a Scandal - will probably not be able to ship to DGA until the break between Christmas and New Year’s, though perhaps Notes already has some watermarked discs in process. (I received my second copy on Monday and will happily contribute it to a DGA member if called upon.) At least one of the titles currently expected to ship might still fall out.

And the more people who decide to get on board, the greater the back-up and the less opportunity to deliver in time to make an impact.

Of course, any nominee who doesn’t have discs in DGA hands will probably jump on board after the nominations announcement… except perhaps Eastwood and Scorsese. Their two films, like all the films, are better experienced on a big screen.

And next year, we will start the season with a list of 45,000 watermarked DVDs for each major titles scheduled to go out. That’s a million dollar investment, folks.

Ho Ho Ho.

Posted by poland at 09:50 PM | Comments (20)

December 18, 2006

Awards Time: Blog Shmoozes, His Ego Loses

Reprinted From VANITY

This is Trade Advertising Season in Hollywood -- that frenzied time when back-to-back cocktails and dinners are hurriedly mobilized in order to get studios to buy as many obscenely expensive ads as possible and we can run as many special issues as humanly possible in the hopes of staving off obsolescence. Once the buyers have been fleeced, we also get invited to parties, when all sorts of people, from stars to studio chiefs, suddenly become your best friend.

What accounts for this outburst of conviviality? No, it's not about Christmas. This is kudo time in Hollywood -- the magic moment when Golden Globes, Oscars, critics' awards and endless heavy covered editions of Variety rain down on the entertainment community.

The rules of the game for artists and other contenders are clear: If you're idealistic or egomaniacal enough to believe that you can win without benefit of campaigning and hand-shaking, then stay home. If you have any street smarts, however, you'll be out there on the campaign trail and buying lots and lots of trade covers. And if you are really smart, you will pay particular attention to the tuchus of the editor of the most important trade paper… of the two.

To the uninitiated, the flurry of parties and personal appearances may seem stressful, even chaotic. That's why it's important that they master the Bart Rules as set forth by Peter Bart:

• If you find yourself talking with someone who looks vaguely like Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt, it's probably, in fact, Cruise or Pitt. Everyone turns up during Shmooze Season, so respond with appropriate deference. Or if you are really important, treat them as though they are actual friends who might actually talk to you if they didn’t want something - like avoiding an uncalled for smackdown with the arrogance of an open letter - from you.

• Though movies dominate the conversation, don't indulge yourself by criticizing any of them. The person you're talking to probably wasn’t in the room when Bobby Evans greenlit The Godfather.

• If the invitation suggests an intimate party at an executive's house, that used to mean Variety, The Hollywood Reporter (when they were letting in the help), The L.A. Times and The New York Times. Nowadays, it means the guest list will be filled with the riff raff and you'll find yourself freezing on someone's lawn. Executives don't like the unwashed streaming through their sanctum sanctorum and since they expanded the list, Tom Rothman’s upstairs toilet has been frustratingly off limits.

• If you get lucky and food is served at an event, always assume there will be no place to sit. These kids with their tostadas and sushi are just irritating. Why not just serve them Pop-Tarts and Twizzlers. That’s what those little bastards want! Not one of them knows Tom’s housekeeper by name. Not one!

• If someone looks like he hasn't written anything that anyone’s noticed lately or is afraid for their job, he’s probably a Traditional Media writer. Often, the Traditional Media writers are far more skilled as journalists and more aware of what is going on than the bloggers. Still, they’ll be the ones standing next to the humble bloggers, gossiping about what is actually happening in Hollywood, since their editors won’t let them write the truth, lest a high-priced advertisers be upset. Yes, even bloggers are allowed to talk to Traditional Media during Shmooze Season. And Traditional Media writers are allowed to admit that they use PerezHilton.com and Fleshbot as sources on slow days at the office.

• If you depart a party and see there's a long line waiting for valet parking, turn around and scream “Don’t you know who I am?” at someone who doesn’t speak English very well. They will not know who you are or who you think you are. Then start judging everyone based on the expense of their cars as they are delivered. The bloogers are the ones with the Hondas. The Traditional Media writers are the ones with the low-end Lexuses. The Traditional Media editors-in-chief are the ones with the Mercedes coupes that the company leases for them for $660 a month and take 3 minutes to climb into before they drive down the street screaming for the GPS voice to "Shut up!".

• If you feel you've got nothing left to offer but trivial insults and bilious bromides, write a column. You won't do well on the Trade Ad Sales Circuit if you can’t claim to be much more important, better smelling, more wealthy and a walking legend compared to the next guy who is just trying to do their job.

Posted by poland at 03:26 PM | Comments (1)

December 15, 2006

The British Are Coming

The nominations for the London Critics' Circle Film Awards are in...

Of course, they are on a somewhat different scheudle than we are here, so noms for films like The Squid & The Whale , Good NIght, And Good Luck, and The Upside of Anger are to be found.

On the flipside, they could have nominated Peter O'Toole and didn't, choosing Sacha Baron Cohen, Christian Bale, Jeff Daniels, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Richard Griffiths, Toby Jones, James McAvoy, Timothy Spall, David Strathairn, and Forest Whitaker instead.

There is no Daniel Craig nod either. And given the love for Children of Men, I am surprised they went for Michael Caine in The Prestige instead of COM. (I am rooting for Nighy in Supporting, though Caine is great in both roles.) In the one category that has no Brit-specific version, screenwriting, it is interesting that 4 of 5 are non-Brits (3 American, 1 Mexican).

Also of interest, another Sacha Baron Cohen nod, another foreign language nod to Apocalypto, the inclusion of Paul Verhoeven's Black Book, and a real opportunity for an upset win (in American eyes) in Loraine Stanley for London to Brighton, a black-hearted drama with a very raw, critic-friendly performance.

The big awards... which are split between "Film of the Year" and "British Film of The Year"... have The Queen as the only film in both categories and an embrace of the very American, but directed by a Brit, United 93 and the very Spanish Volver.

The Attenborough Award, British Film of the Year
Children of Men directed by Alfonso Cuaron (UIP/UK)
The Queen directed by Stephen Frears (Pathe)
Red Road directed by Andrea Arnold (Verve Pictures)
The Last King of Scotland directed by Kevin Macdonald (20th Century Fox)
The Wind That Shakes the Barley directed by Ken Loach (Pathe)

Film of the Year
The Departed directed by Martin Scorsese (Entertainment)
Little Miss Sunshine directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (20th Century Fox)
Volver directed by Pedro Almodovar (Pathe)
United 93 directed by Paul Greengrass (UIP/UK)
The Queen directed by Stephen Frears (Pathe)

The group's rep tells me the films eligible for nomination were those released in the UK between February 1, 2006 and February 11, 2007, the date of the Baftas.

Amongst the late year or last year films considered and snubbed for non-Brit awards were Babel, Dreamgirls, The Pursuit of Happyness , Flags of Our Fathers (but not Letters From Iwo Jima), Blood Diamond, Bobby, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, Walk the Line, and Brick.

The rest on MCN

Posted by poland at 04:21 PM | Comments (9)

December 14, 2006

The Battle Of The Publicists

One thing that came out of this morning was a fight between Fox and Paramount about who has more cumulative nods (meaning all divisions)

Here’s my count…

Paramount/Par Vantage/DreamWorks – Claim 15
DRAMA - Babel
MUSICAL OR COMEDY - Dreamgirls
ACTRESS (MUSICAL OR COMEDY) - Beyonce Knowles - Dreamgirls
SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Adriana Barraza - Babel
SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls
SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Rinko Kikuchi – Babel
SUPPORTING ACTOR - Eddie Murphy - Dreamgirls
SUPPORTING ACTOR - Brad Pitt – Babel
DIRECTOR - Clint Eastwood - Flags of Our Fathers
DIRECTOR - Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu – Babel
SCREENPLAY – Babel
ORIGINAL SCORE – Babel
ORIGINAL SONG - Listen - Dreamgirls

DIRECTOR - Clint Eastwood - Letters from Iwo Jima
FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM - Letters from Iwo Jima

20th Century Fox/Fox Searchlight/Fox Atomic – Claim14
ACTRESS (DRAMA) - Judi Dench - Notes on a Scandal
ACTOR (DRAMA) - Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland
MUSICAL OR COMEDY - Borat
MUSICAL OR COMEDY - The Devil Wears Prada
MUSICAL OR COMEDY - Little Miss Sunshine
MUSICAL OR COMEDY - Thank You For Smoking
ACTRESS (MUSICAL OR COMEDY) - Toni Collette - Little Miss Sunshine
ACTRESS (MUSICAL OR COMEDY) - Meryl Streep - The Devil Wears Prada
ACTOR (MUSICAL OR COMEDY) - Sasha Baron Cohen - Borat
ACTOR (MUSICAL OR COMEDY) - Aaron Eckhart - Thank You for Smoking
SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Cate Blanchett - Notes on a Scandal
SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Emily Blunt - The Devil Wears Prada
SCREENPLAY - Notes on a Scandal

ORIGINAL SCORE - The Fountain

All that said, Fox has already repositioned itself based on its dominance in the Comedy category, puting such competitive counting in the rear view.

And Paramount claims world domination!

Posted by poland at 10:52 AM | Comments (8)

Sacha Speaks (via publicist)

STATEMENT FROM SACHA BARON COHEN
ON BEHALF OF RECEIVING TWO GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINATIONS FOR

BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN; FILM NOMINATED FOR BEST COMEDY OR MUSICAL; BARON COHEN NOMINATED FOR BEST ACTOR

“I am extremely honored. I’m very proud as well for my fellow writers as well as our director Larry Charles, and our producer Jay Roach, and am very thankful for the HFPA’s belief and acknowledgment of our film. I have been trying to let Borat know this great news but for the last 4 hours both of Kazakhstan’s telephones have been engaged. Eventually, Premier Nazarbayev answered and said he would pass on the message as soon as Borat returned from Iran, where he is guest of honor at the Holocaust Denial Conference.”

Posted by poland at 09:10 AM | Comments (9)

20 Weeks - The Search For Meaning

Please note that this column was written and posted before this morning's Globes noms... and I feel no need to change a word. Likewise, the coilumns were posted before nominations... the only adjustment was to add a "GG" notation on the nominees and to add the Oscar-impossible noms at the bottom of each list.

The Golden Globe Nominations mean nothing.

Nothing.

Okay… well not nothing.

But pretty close to nothing.

People, professionally prognosticating and not, seem to be anxiously searching out answers at this time of year and particularly this year, when the season was pretty well defined before Thanksgiving.

Change. We need change. Please, does anyone have some change?

And the answer continues to be, "no."

The rest, and the charts...

Posted by poland at 07:03 AM | Comments (25)

Let the Moron-A-Thon Begin!!!

The nominations

Before I say anything about The Golden Globes, just one word (?)... E!

Gotta give it to them for the courage to put amateurs who know nothing on TV.

"Dame Judi Dench... you know her from the Bond movies." Oy.

Okay...

As always, the early results – there was a list of noms that were apparently given out in the press room, but that no one bothered to scroll and which the HFPA and NBC failed to post online. Nothing in the trades so far either. Shows you just how not The Oscars the Globes remain.

If there is any news coming out of the major categories, it’s The Awards Cliché of 2006, double nods. Eastwood got one/two, but somehow, Flags of Our Fathers didn’t make it into the Top Five dramas. Stunt!

Likewise, Leonardo DiCaprio got one/two for The Departed and Blood Diamond… but Blood Diamond couldn’t get a nod. Whoo Hoo! Of course, Eastwood will get one Oscar nod for Letters and DiCaprio has a shot for The Departed, though all the double/double may cause a split that cuts him out completely.

I am rooting for Sacha Baron Cohen – and he has an outside shot – but we could see that magical moment when none of the Globes noms for Comedy/Musical get into the Oscar race. And don’t expect Johnny Depp to show up for this appearance beggar’s nom this time.

They got in all five of the Best Actress front runners… and Maggie Gyllenhaal for Sherrybaby (oy!) pluse love-festers Bening and Zellweger. Beyonce will be happy though. And she’ll add glamour.

Harvey got his meaningless Bobby nomination. Thank God Roger Friedman will have somewhere to sit at the awards.

One has to feel bad for Universal, where the United 93 got no further support. So we’re back to Washington, D.C. and a NYFCC win that has been torn down – which kinda sucks, even as someone who is not in love with the film – by insiders.

More when they bother to announce more..

6:40a – Now that I’ve had a look at the rest of the noms, I once again would shrug my shoulders, if only I wasn’t so bored and tired.

Cars, Happy Feet, and Monster House are actual good noms.

The biggest standout in the laugher category is the Score nomination for Nomad, A Weinstein Co. Gag that won’t be opened until next year and has never been screened for anyone but HFPA, so far as I know.

The Weinstein Company’s only other nods were the Bobby for Best Drama, Renee Zellweger for Best Actress/Comedy and a nod for the Love Theme from Bobby. Will Harvey shell out for his usual party on this basis?

Miramax, btw, under Battsek and award managed by Cynthia Swartz, got six nods.

Poor Ben Affleck (who got Focus Features/Universal’s only nod) will have to get out the tux and listen to people scoffing as he walks the carpet. I think we can expect U to skip the party this year… through they will have to buy at least the one table.

Likewise, Sony got only 4 nods (Monster House, Will Smith, Will Ferrell, Annette Being)

CORRECTION: 2:30p - Sony got 6 noms... apologies to Seal and his song and the very deserving score of The Da Vinci Code.

Warner Indie got one… for score for The Painted Veil.

IFC’s only nod is Maggie Gyllenhaal for Sherrybaby… but they must be thrilled… and raising funds to pay for a table.

7:16a - One More Addition

There were 12 films with more than one GG nomination this morning. They were:
Babel – 7
Departed – 6
Dreamgirls - 5
The Queen – 4
Notes on A Scandal - 3
Little Children – 3
The Devil Wears Prada – 3
Happy Feet – 3
Volver – 2
Thank You for Smoking - 2
The Pursuit of Happyness - 2
Letters From Iwo Jima - 2
Bobby - 2

P.S. Paramount Vantage has done a great job getting eveyrone who wants to see Babel to see Babel.

The only ones rooting almost as hard as Vantage for the film when Oscar noms are announced will be Globes members, who will pray to have some basis for arguing relevance this year.

The film is not Dead for Oscar. But the Golden Globes don't get it off life support any more than they do Bobby because the problem with Babel as an Oscar candidate is not that people haven't seen it and need the Globes ot push them to a screening. The problem is that they don't really like the movie..

Posted by poland at 05:47 AM | Comments (84)

December 12, 2006

Another BFCA Miss

It finally hit me when I was discussing with Academy members this morning how The Lives of Others is amongst their favorite films of the year, not just foreign language, that in spite of 6 nominees, we in the BFCA failed to nominate.

Why?

Because unlike all but one of the nominees - Apocalypto - it was not in our DVD collection this season. Sony Classics missed out. Even though they sent out other films, they didn't send that one. (Or Black Book, which BFCA may well have gone for also) Part of the value of sending the DVD is seeing and appreciating the movie and part of it is simply looking at the pile of more than 60 films sitting on the shelf when you need to come up with 3 to vote for and picking from what is in front of you… especially in BFCA, where foreign language is truly foreign.

And the loss is ours in the BFCA. Because in spite of enormous love out there for Volver (sent by Sony Classics), The Lives of Others is the likely Oscar winner. (Both will be nominated.) Besides which, it is a movie that a lot of BFCA members would love and support with journalistic coverage that might not happen now.

Perhaps SPC has their financial eggs in the Volver basket for now and wanted all the attention on that film. But when we miss films like this, it makes BFCA look less smart and sophisticated than the group actually is... even if we are made up mostly of junketeers.

The other big M.I.A. DVDs this year were both of Fox’s films, Borat and The Devil Wears Prada (neither nominated for Best Picture), Yari Group’s Find Me Guilty (which has a lot of love in the group and could have gotten some noms), DreamAmount’s Perfume, Lionsgate’s Deliver Us From Evil, Magnolia’s Jesus Camp, and of course, New Line’s Snakes on a Plane.

We are also still waiting on – but expecting – December titles. But while we will surely see Dreamgirls on the shelf before X-Mas morning, it is not so clear whether the BFCA unnominated The Good Shepherd, Factory Girl, Miss Potter, and the aforementioned Perfume will show up. But I hope they will… especially Perfume.

Posted by poland at 11:09 AM | Comments (34)

BFCA's Crtitics' Choice Award Nominations

There could be a misstep in there, but generally, BFCA finds the 5... with 10 shots.

So after Dreamgirls, Letters From Iwo Jima, The Departed, and The Queen... pick one...

Babel
Blood Diamond
Little Children
Little Miss Sunshine
Notes on a Scandal
United 93

(The one possible Oscar nominee that I am shocked to see BFCA pass on - it is soooo us - is The Pursuit of Happyness. But there is a very good chance that with the DVD arriving the day before nominations were due in that only a small percentage saw it.)

The Departed, Dreamgirls, Babel, and Little Miss Sunshine each received seven nominations. The Queen has four. Little Children has three, as does Notes on a Scandal. Embarrassingly, so does Blood Diamond. United 93 has two.

Which docs got nominated? The ones that were sent to the membership. Three of the five TV movies that got in were the only three sent to membership.

Whatever chance Borat had at a Best Picture nod - it got Best Comedy - was killed by the film not being sent out.

Apocalypto and Letters from Iwo Jima both got Foreign Language nods... Iwo Jima also got Best Picture.

I believe Will and Jaden Smith are the first father and son nominated in the same year. And I think Leonardo DiCaprio is the first person to get two Best Actor nominations in one year.

The Rest...

Posted by poland at 12:27 AM | Comments (22)

December 11, 2006

When Women Film Journalists Gather...

So, is it Rinko's vagina, Sacha's hairy ass, Kate's parentally matured breasts, Gretchen's petite magnificence, or Maggie hanging all out?

This is what the Alliance Of Women Film Journalists will soon tell us as they vote on:.

BEST DEPICTION OF NUDITY OR SEXUALITY:
1. Babel
2. Borat
3. Little Children
4. Notorious Bettie Page
5. Sherrybaby

The funny thing is, I am at first shocked by this and then I find myself feeling terribly proud of any group that has the balls (or not) to admit that they notice that nudity in movies exists. I think this shows the women in this group have a sense of perspective and humor... though I am sure that Nicholson is enraged that his Departed dildo didn't make it.

Posted by poland at 06:18 PM | Comments (46)

The Letters From Iwo Jima review

What makes Clint Eastwood's Letters From Iwo Jima special is that it never really offers anything like hope… but it never allows its heroes to lose their humanity.

Of course, its heroes are our Far Eastern enemies in World War II, specifically the men on Iwo Jima who were overtaken in 1945. But Eastwood has put the war into the rear view, as he explores what interests him… the lives of men who don't have the freedom to chose otherwise. It is this theme that does connect Letters From Iwo Jima to the earlier release Flags of Our Fathers. But the newer film also makes it extremely clear how Flags failed in a similar goal.

As opposite numbers, Flags seems to want to be about the desperate effort to maintain your humanity in the face of survival, while Letters seems to be about the desperate effort to maintain your humanity in the face of imminent death. But Flags never seems to be able to answer the pressing question of why survival is so hard. It got caught up in some father/son thing that never turned into magic and plays like it is from some other planet than Letters. It doesn't seem to me that the two films had to be direct reflections of one another, but Flags doesn't seem willing to go in for the kill, as it were.

The rest....

Posted by poland at 06:16 PM | Comments (6)

New York Film Critics Circle

ADD, 12:45p: Ebiri reports the inside poop -

A brief silence. Then, the voice of Rex Reed.

"So that's it."

Pause.

"The best film of 2006."

Pause.

"According to the New York Film Critics Circle."

Pause.

"Is UNITED 93."

Long, uncomfortable pause, plus some tittering.

"A film that no one in America wanted to see."

Leah Rozen: "And how did you vote, Rex?"

This reminds us that critics are human too and not just hearts beating for the quality of film, no?

======================================

The ever enterprising Bilge Ebiri has someone Blackerrying him the awards to the moment... (updating as they come)

Best Picture
United 93
Runners-up: The Queen, The Departed

Best Director
Martin Scorsese, THE DEPARTED
(Runners-up: Stephen Frears, THE QUEEN, Clint Eastwood, LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA)

Best First Film
Half Nelson
(Runners-up: Little Miss Sunshine, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints)

Best Actress
Helen Mirren, THE QUEEN
(Runners-up: Judi Dench, NOTES ON A SCANDAL, Meryl Streep, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA)

Best Actor
Forest Whitaker, THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND
(Runners-up: Ryan Gosling, HALF NELSON, Sacha Baron Cohen, BORAT)

Best Foreign Film
Army of Shadows
(Runners-up: Volver, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu)

Best Documentary
Deliver Us From Evil
(Runners-up: 49 Up, Borat, An Inconvenient Truth)

Best Animated Film
Happy Feet
(Runners-up: A Scanner Darkly, Cars)

Best Supporting Actor
Jackie Earle Haley, LITTLE CHILDREN
(Runners-up: Eddie Murphy, DREAMGIRLS, Steve Carell, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE)

Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Hudson, DREAMGIRLS
(Runners-up: Shareeka Epps, HALF NELSON, Catherine O'Hara, FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION)

Best Screenplay
The Queen
(Runners-up: The Departed, Little Miss Sunshine)

Best Cinematography:
Pan's Labyrinth
(Runners-up: Curse of the Golden Flower, Children of Men)

Posted by poland at 08:24 AM | Comments (137)

December 10, 2006

The First Real Day Of Awards

After the first five awards groups that aren’t utterly absurd gave out awards today, the expected scenario of the critics’ season seems to be taking hold. Awards are going to the films that critics most liked this year. There is nothing close to a consensus, except on Helen Mirren and Forrest Whitaker.

The most clear winners so far are United 93, The Queen, and The Departed.

LAFCA, the most significant group to announce today, drew out of the lines only to award Sacha Baron Cohen, Luminita Gheorghiu, and Sergi Lopez in Pan’s Labyrinth.

For me, they completely blew the pooch on documentary, giving the win to the very important but not very well made An Inconvenient Truth and giving runner-up to last year’s Oscar nominee, Darwin’s Nightmare. I consider the Darwin award the more obnoxious, as it denies any film that might be seeking further recognition this year the opportunity to have LAFCA’s support.

The AFI list, which is generally irrelevant, but is often seen as an exclusionary list – as in, “if you’re not on it, you won’t win,” left out The Departed and The Queen, the latter DQed by being British.

In the last 3 years, all five nominees were on the list last year, 3 of 5 the year before, 4 of 5 the three years before that and 3 of 5 in its first year, 2000. AFI only tried picking a winner once in its seven years of giving a movie award. They picked the first Lord of the Rings film over eventual winner, A Beautiful Mind.

But yes, in the last seven years, every eventual Oscar winner has been on that AFI list of 10. Not exactly a challenge with 10 picks.

And if you are wondering, in three previous years of doing this, I have also had every winner in my Top Ten at the comparable time of year, and in 2 of 4 years, my #1 at this time went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture. Crash blew that run for me last year (though my #1 at the time was Munich, not Brokeback Mountain, which was #2). It’s a very short history, so I don’t expect to dine on it… but I do expect to be challenged by some of you, so there it is.

Posted by poland at 07:02 PM | Comments (29)

LA Film Critics Association

And the answer on the left coast is...

Letters From Iwo Jima
Runner Up: The Queen

DIRECTOR
Paul Greengrass, United 93
Runner-up: Clint Eastwood, Flags of our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima

ACTRESS
Helen Mirren, The Queen
Runner-up: Penelope Cruz, Volver

ACTOR:
Tie - Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat and Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

SCREENPLAY
The Queen by Peter Morgan
Runner-up: Little Miss Sunshine by Michael Arndt

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Luminita Gheorghiu, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
Runner-up: Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Michael Sheen, The Queen
Runner-up: Sergi Lopez, Pan's Labyrinth

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Lives of Others directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Runner-up: Volver directed by Pedro Almodovar

DOCUMENTARY/NON-FICTION FILM
An Inconvenient Truth directed by Davis Guggenheim
Runner-up: Darwin's Nightmare directed by Hubert Sauper

The Rest...

Posted by poland at 03:27 PM | Comments (30)

Critics Groups Rolling In...

I'm just going to keep adding to this entry... (most recent update 5:54p)

Washington DC Area Film Critics

Best Film
United 93

Best Actor
Forrest Whitaker, Last King of Scotland

Best Actress
Helen Mirren, The Queen

Best Director
Martin Scorsese, The Departed

Best Foreign Film
Pan's Labrynth

Best Animated Feature
Happy Feet

Best Documentary
An Inconvenient Truth

NY Online Film Critics
Picture
THE QUEEN

Director
STEPHEN FREARS - The Queen

Screenplay
PETER MORGAN - The Queen

Actor
FOREST WHITAKER - The Last King of Scotland

Actress
HELEN MIRREN - The Queen

Supporting Actor
MICHAEL SHEEN - The Queen

Supporting Actress
JENNIFER HUDSON - Dreamgirls (tie)
CATHERINE O'HARA - For Your Consideration (tie)

AFI Top Ten
Babel
Borat
The Devil Wears Prada
Dreamgirls
Half Nelson
Happy Feet
Inside Man
Letters From Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
United 93

Boston Society Of FIlm Critics
Best Picture
The Departed
United 93, runner-up

Best Director
Martin Scorsese, The Departed
Paul Greengrass, United 93, runner-up

Best Actor
Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson, runner-up

Best Actress
Helen Mirren, The Queen
Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal, runner-up

Best Screenplay
William Monahan, The Departed
Peter Morgan, The Queen, runner-up

Posted by poland at 02:51 PM | Comments (6)

December 06, 2006

Nationally Bored Review

This is one of those annual moments of, “We don’t have any respect for this organization at all… but because it is a landmark, we are going to actually pay attention and treat it like it matters, even if we hate ourselves in the morning, tomorrow morning, and for months to come.

Simply put, I would expect no more than two of the films on NBR’s Top Ten to make the Best Picture nominations for the Oscars.

Both Supporting Actors – Djimon Hounsou and Catherine O’Hara – are looooong shots to be Oscar nominated. (And remember, I was the obsessive compulsive who pushed and believed in Djimon for Best Supporting Actor for In America when everyone else had given up on him, including the studio, so this comment is not out of any lack of love for him or his work.)

As for Best Picture, all you need to know is Lord of The Rings (none of the 3 in the NBR Top 10), A Beautiful Mind, Erin Brockovich, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Gosford Park, and In The Bedroom… and that’s just since the 2000/2001 season… more than one missed film per year, with 10 films to project 5… and without the artifice of the HFPA’s Drama vs Comedy/Musical split, which always adds a few titles that are not really Oscar possibles. Two of the last five Best Picture winners were not in NBR’s Top 10… anf those two films were probably the most dominant winners in those five racing years… so really, it probably should be encouraging to Dreamgirls and The Queen.

And there are other oddities, like The Lives of Others not being in their Top 5 Foreign Language films… like The Queen not even making the Top 11 Independent Films… like Thank You for Smoking getting Best Directorial Debut while Top 10 film Little Miss Sunshine’s directors did not… like the only 3 Weinstein Co. nominations being an Indie nod for Bobby, foreign for Days Of Glory, and Shut Up & Sing, while the only Miramax get was Best Actress for Helen Mirren… like only 3 of the 5 Best Documentaries being on the Academy list of 12 semi-finalists (though I am a fan of 51 Birch St and congrats to Doug Block)… Zak Helm for Original Screenplay for Stranger Than Fiction (really!).

The nice thing is that by this time next week, NBR will be nothing but a long forgotten bug on the windshield of the season. As they deserve to be.

(Edit - 2:57p)

Posted by poland at 02:29 PM | Comments (142)

December 02, 2006

Just Sayin'...

I am under embargo... but I just thought I'd offer anyone who gives a damn about the Oscars this thought...

As of this week, there is a very real chance that one of the "new" movies will grab one of the five Best Picture slots, kill off Babel, Little Children, and World Trade Center once and for all, and create a major dogfight between Little Miss Sunshine and The Pursuit of Happyness for the five slot.

So as much as I rail against lust for change for the sake of change... change still happens.

I could be wrong. A second viewing will answer that question more clearly. But as with Dreamgirls, if you feed The Academy a movie that allows them to do what they really want to do, most of the time, they will do it.

Posted by poland at 03:27 PM | Comments (72)

November 28, 2006

What happened to the Indie Spirit Awards?

It’s a rather remarkable turn of events. The Los Angeles based Independent Spirit Awards, which was so busy selling out it no longer could be a party to the national Independent Film Project, is offering a list of nominees that is more “indie” than it has been in a loooooong time. Meanwhile, the hard core New York IFP bent their Gotham Awards over the bar stool to get the deepest commercial penetration possible, with Michelle Byrd finally saying to The Hollywood Reporter’s Gregg Goldstein, “I don't think the Gotham Awards are about independent film.”

Wow.

At first glance, it seemed to me that Film Independent, the re-christened organization in charge of the ISAs, must have made a strategic choice. But then, a more realistic answer hit.

Here are The Gurus list of top Best Actor possibilities...

Forest Whitaker
Peter O'Toole
Leonardo DiCaprio
Will Smith
Ryan Gosling
George Clooney
Sacha Baron Cohen
Derek Luke

So, for the ISAs, DiCaprio, Smith, Luke, and Clooney are out on budget.

But where are Oscar-nom-likelies Whitaker and O’Toole? Well, they did sneak Forest Whitaker in... in IFC’s $25,000 grossing American Gun. (To be fair, they also gave the film Best Film and a Supporting Actress nod for Marcia Gay Harden... getting her to The Dead Girl table, where she and Brittany Murphy should have also been nominated.)

But where is the nom for The Last King of Scotland? In Europe... with the financing. Which is where Venus is too, along with all of The History Boys and Almodovar.

Ditto Mirren, Cruz, and Dench... all DQed by funding in the ever mysterious ISA rulebook.

The American indies that qualified and died were Infamous (aside from Daniel “James Bond” Craig’s contact lens driven performance), Bobby (nothing), The Illusionist (Screenplay), The Painted Veil (Screenplay and Actor), and a few stuck in the Cassavetes Award ghetto (blasphemous, but true) – Old Joy, Quinceanera, and Twelve And Holding.

It’s not that it isn’t great to see the surprisingly American Pan’s Labyrinth and The Dead Girl and Wristcutters: A Love Story getting a lot of well deserved attention.

But as much as I want to embrace this movie back towards truer indies, I have to imagine it will not be repeated next year and I continue to wonder, “What is the real goal here?”

One last thing... word has it that the budget for The Painted Veil is over $30 million... which is well over the ISA limit? What happened there? I can see squeezing credulity with a $23 million reported budget, but over $30m, as high as 38?

Posted by poland at 02:50 PM | Comments (21)

November 24, 2006

Surprise Screening Event?

Very quietly, Warner Bros booked the New Beverly Cinema, L.A.'s only revival house right now, with a double feature of The Good German and Casablanca, including a Good German Q&A, tonight.

They must have told someone, rught?

There may be some group invited, but regular tickets are for sale...

Posted by poland at 05:39 PM | Comments (11)

November 19, 2006

Terribly Important Borat Videos

Yes, Borat fever isn't quite dead yet.

First, Cindy Street shows just how enraged she really is... she her voice crack with anger and see Gloria Allred try to grab 15 more seconds of fame....

And then, for your viewing pleasure, the Love Theme from Borat, which threatens to knock the Dreamgirls, Dixie Chicks, Melissa Etheridge, and Dolly Parton right out of the Best Song race

Posted by poland at 06:48 PM | Comments (2)

Questions For A Sunday Evening

Q: If Notes on a Scandal opens and closes with Dame Dench and Cate Blanchett is the object of her driving force in the film, why would Blanchett be considered a Lead by a voting group?

A: Because they only have 5 nominees in Supporting and 10 in Lead, so she can be assured a nomination.

Q: Is Volver a comedy or a drama?

A: Depends if you think you’re going to keep Penelope Cruz out of your TV show by not giving her a Dramatic Lead nod.

Q: If Volver is a Comedy, could History Boys be a drama?

A: Only if you are going to give some crazy comedy nods and don’t want to look lowbrow.

Q: Aren’t you fucking thrilled that Thanksgiving is here and you won’t have me sputing off like a cranky movie geyser every 3 hours for a few days?

A: Yeah… this one is rhetorical too.

Posted by poland at 06:46 PM | Comments (7)

November 09, 2006

The Good German Push

Anyoe who had any question about whether WB was intending to associate The Good German with their classics, like Casablanca, will find a clear answer in this pakage the studio sent out this week.

More images from the package in the following pop-ups....

Detail of the letter

Cover of the enclosed promo booklet

The players

Detail

Detail

Detail

Posted by poland at 12:40 PM | Comments (24)

November 08, 2006

Yeah... This'll Get Her That Nomination..

She ain't unattractive... but this Vanity Fair topless shot of Sienna Miller appearing to be having a butt after a hard afternoon of "auditioning" ain't the road to Oscar.

Posted by poland at 11:32 AM | Comments (30)

November 06, 2006

The BFCA Takes A Beating

The press release is after the jump...

But the Broadcast Film Critics Association, a group I am a member of, took a big step backwards this year, as the awards glut seems to have finally found its first casualty.

After years of being taped on one night and shown on E! on another night, with low end production values and editing for time, BFCA made the move to a network, albeit a small one (The WB) two years ago. The shows were live. Over those last 3 years, the venue expanded from The Beverly Hills Hotel to The Wiltern to The Santa Monica Civic.

But The WB became the CW and the other WB network stations became MyNetwork… and I guess MyAwardsShow wasn’t going to work.

Yes, televising the Critics’ Choice Awards is a step beyond the many non-televised events. On the other hand, there were so many awards shows last year that there isn’t much sense that any of us, even The Golden Globes, has much significance or traction.

I am proud of the hard work Joey Berlin and John DiSimio put into building the BFCA in recent years and their fight for TV. But tape delay on E! is a return to Critics Gone Wild!

And any of the other groups out there praying for a TV slot that will be a slot machine for the group… bad news… there’s always podcasting…

THE BROADCAST FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION’S 12TH ANNUAL CRITICS’ CHOICE AWARDS
TO BE HELD FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 2007

NOMINATIONS WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2006

(Los Angeles, CA – November 7, 2006) – The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) will hold the 12th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards on Friday, January 12, 2006 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. E! Entertainment Television Network will broadcast this year’s gala on Saturday, January 20th at 9:00pm ET/PT. The nominations for the 12th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards will be announced on Tuesday, December 12, 2006. Additional important dates include:

December 4, 2006 – Nominating ballots out to the BFCA members
December 8, 2006 – Deadline for returning nomination ballots
January 5, 2007 – Final Ballots out to the BFCA members
January 10, 2007 – Deadline for returning final ballots

Along with a special award of merit to be announced, there are 19 Critics’ Choice Awards categories. They are “Best Picture,” “Best Actor,” “Best Actress,” “Best Supporting Actor,” “Best Supporting Actress,” “Best Acting Ensemble,” “Best Young Actor,” “Best Young Actress,” “Best Director,” “Best Writer,” “Best Family Film (live action),” “Best Animated Feature,” “Best Foreign Language Film,” “Best Documentary Feature,” “Best Comedy,” “Best Picture Made for Television,” “Best Composer,” “Best Song,” and “Best Soundtrack.”

The 200 members of the BFCA, the largest film critics’ organization in the United States and Canada, representing television, radio and online critics, select nominees in each of 19 categories. The Critics’ Choice Awards were created by the BFCA to recognize excellence in cinematic achievement. Eligible films were released in 2006. The accounting firm of Gregory A. Mogab will tally the written ballots from the BFCA members. Historically, the Critics’ Choice Awards are the most accurate predictor of the Academy Award nominations.

For more information or to request media credentials to cover this event, contact Andy Gelb or Kelly Stephens of PMK/HBH

Posted by poland at 10:47 AM | Comments (7)

November 03, 2006

The Departed Win Charade

I try to stay out of the Criticizing Pete Hammond business. He’s a good guy, as is Tom Tapp, who owns Hollywood Wiretap. But this last “The Season” article made me scratch my head.

The subject, which has been in play around here quite a bit lately, is how box office affects the awards season. And what makes me get that RCA dog look is that he seems to premise the entire article on a false notion that anyone – ANYONE! – suggests that awards other than Best Picture are directly related to box office.

There are endless examples of performance and craft nominations in small or failed movies. Annette Bening is no more box office challenged in Running With Scissors than she was in Being Julia. The challenge for her is that Scissors is considered a car wreck as a movie in some quarters where Julia was considered flat, but really just a showcase to watch her work brilliantly. But she is not out of the race just because Scissors won’t do much business.

The funny thing about Pete’s example choices - “Transamerica”, “Junebug”, “Mulholland Drive”, “The Contender”, “Shadow Of The Vampire”, “Requiem For A Dream”, “Before Night Falls”, “The Straight Story”, “Sweet And Lowdown”, “Afterglow”, “I Am Sam”. “Affliction”, “Gods And Monsters”, “Iris” and “Pollock” – is that not a single one of them got nominated for Best Picture. There are examples of films that were financially challenged that did make it. Capote, In The Bedroom, Life Is Beautiful, and Il Postino were all BP nominated with between $10 million and $20 million in the bank when nominations closed. The Pianist was at $9 million. Secrets & Lies was at $6 million.

Of course, Topsy-Turvy, which never got to $7 million domestic in spite of winning Best Picture at NYFCC and NSFC, couldn’t get past the bigger banking, friend-of-the-family Chocolat to get into Oscar’s BP race.

And the fact that the list is so small also indicates that a certain low-end of box office success is, in essence, required. As I keep writing, it’s perception of success or failure that matters, not reality. Cinderella Man grossed more than any of last years nominees as of the nominations closing… yet, the perception of failure from the summer was a virtual disqualification, even though the film contained a lot of what Academy members historically cotton to.

The challenge of Forrest Whitaker’s nomination is getting enough people to watch the DVD, not to pay to see the movie. And I don’t know anyone who sees it differently. But the evidence is very clear that The Academy loves a winner. And that is part of the vote.

Finally… I just want to be clear. Anyone who claims that The Departed will be a more serious contender to win Best Picture at $150 million than $100 million is just plain off their nut... or at least, relying too much on statistics instead of thought. The reason The Departed is in the race at all is that it is Scorsese, Nicholson, DiCaprio, Damon and others and that it has been the word of mouth hit of the fall. There was no campaigning. There was no cajoling. There have just been a lot of people who see the movie and come out saying it is their favorite thing they’ve seen all year. And once over that hump, money comes next.

$100 million is a helpful landmark. Being Scorsese’s biggest domestic hit is an important landmark. And $150 million domestic could sink the nomination hopes of a film that has almost zero chance of winning Best Picture. (I like Scorsese to win Best Director.)

If the Academy has a clear money bias, it is against big hits. There are more than a few movies that have missed completely because they became seen as “too commercial.”

Here are all the movies in the last decade that got in with $150 million or more at the box office or with an eventual tally of same after a nod or a win.

2002 – Chicago (post-win) - win
2001 – 2003 Lord of the Rings – 1 win
2001 – A Beautiful Mind (post-nom) - win
2000 – Gladiator - Win
1999 – The Sixth Sense
1998 – Saving Private Ryan
1997 – Titanic – win

As you’ll note, there hasn’t even been one nomination for a $150 million film since Rings III won. And also note… of the winners, all but Gladiator were launched in December, allowing the fever to be at its peak when nominations or final voting was happening. (And of course, that year split any Soderbergh vote between two films, had a rare foreign language entry, and the aforementioned cute-enough-to-nod-but-not-to-win Chocolat, making the split more vulnerable to "The Holylwood Movie")

Of course, this stupid $150 million comment got some media attention because it was audacious… and is easy to run because there is no chance that The Departed will come close to $150 million unless it actually did win the Oscar.

On this, there is no correlation. Please put down the Kool-Aid.

Posted by poland at 02:19 PM | Comments (18)

Will Smith Goes to The Shrink

From Today's Hot Button...

Smith offered a very interesting story about a technique that Michael Mann passed along to him on Ali. In order to find the psychological depth of characters, Mann sends screenplays he is working on to five psychologists/psychiatrists for their analysis. They give him notes about the psychological underpinnings of the characters and their actions. Smith has taken to using the same 5 therapist technique, which he explained has offered him great tidbits with which to build character.

More...

Posted by poland at 10:42 AM | Comments (8)

November 01, 2006

Is This The Image That Ends O'Toole's Oscar Push?

Or is this look the one that makes everyone excited that he is so game?

After the jump, casting makes all the difference...

Posted by poland at 12:28 AM | Comments (16)

October 31, 2006

Interesting Screener Thing

I just threw Little Miss Sunshine into the DVD player for the first time, mostly to make sure the disc was working, and I have had a bit of a baby revelation .

This movie plays a lot better on DVD than on a big screen.

People talk about the number of DVDs and the delivery dates a lot. But a small scale movie with strong performances, a lot of close-ups, and of course, status as a comedy, does seem to have a real advantage on DVD. And in this case, it is a movie with a lot of pastels, which really jump in a different way on the TV screen. The color is dense in a way you rarely see on TV.

I was already feeling like LMS had moved into a likely BP slot. But watching it on TV, even more so. I think that a lot of people who were so-so-on it will see it over the holidays with their families who want to watch it and find themselves surprised by being more engaged.

Posted by poland at 04:11 PM | Comments (29)

October 30, 2006

I'll Show You The Life Of The Penquin!!!

I don’t want to write a lot about it now, but let’s just say that Happy Feet is a pretty clear lock to gross somewhere around $200 million and to win the Oscar for Animated Feature.

It will win and win because it is audacious and in some ways groundbreaking and entertaining for most of its near 2 hour running time, It also has one of the weirdest dramatic constructions for a story like this I have ever seen… not really in a good way. That is why this really isn’t Finding Nemo or The Incredibles.

But what it does offer is more what you might expect from Baz Luhrman than from George Miller…though Miller has always been the kind of groundbreaker you shouldn’t approach with expectations. The music is very Moulin Rouge. But as wild as some of the sequences are, it never goes off the rails into self-parody… even with Robin Williams offering at least two different character voices.

And in the end, this film speaks more directly to children about the importance of respect for the environment in a way you could never imagine coming. There are some truly audacious choices made by Miller in the third act… and they all work.

The audience for the film tonight was half under 10. And with few exceptions, they sat and watched and paid close attention throughout. It was never as bawdy a crowd as in Flushed Away, but the movie is not as much a wacky wild ride either.

I wish Miller had figured out the hero’s journey a little better. That would have put the film, which is another big step in CG animation, into the top Pixar class. But a damned good film and plenty good enough to beat every other animation candidate to the statue this year.

Posted by poland at 09:43 PM | Comments (45)

October 26, 2006

Taking Sides?

Interesting that Time.com (who knows if it will be in print?) decided to run a Jeff Ressner piece mocking Paramount’s cocktail event for World Trade Center this Tuesday.

First of all, it was not anything close to news. This is one of many such events that Ressner and The Oscar Armada has attended, are attending, and will attend. They happened in Toronto. They happened here in town before Toronto. And they have happened since.

Interestingly, the extremely expensive ad buy and DVD distribution by United 93 on Monday was not mentioned. The weekly premieres at The Arclight, unmentioned. And the private parties, where Academy members actually are in play…. Nope.

In fact, Ressner goes into some detail –

In reaction against these campaigns, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in 2003 changed its "guidelines" to "regulations" on what is allowed. Among the rules: "Receptions, lunches, dinners or other events to which Academy members are invited that are specifically designed to promote a film or achievement for Academy Awards consideration are expressly forbidden." To get around that rule, studios sponsor parties disguised as events; academic-like "symposiums" with the cast and crew and "lectures" from stars and directors. Thus, Tuesday night's event was intended to honor Stone for the Hollywood Film Festival. Wink, wink.

- but fails to actually find any Academy voters invited or participating in this cocktail event for fewer than 200 people. That is, aside from the filmmakers and execs involved with World Trade Center.

Without trying to be too dramatic, if Ressner has no factual indication that there actually were Academy members invited to the event as Academy members, the insinuation is close to actionable libel.

There is, obviously, a story/lots of stories to be done about the various ways of skirting Academy rules. I don’t think that “symposiums” and “lectures, which are basically Q&As with talent after screenings of films actually do skirt the rules. Academy members still cannot be targeted/solicited for those, though they are not generally barred from attending. Complicating the matter is that almost every Academy member is a member of a guild or union that does not have any of the restrictive rules of The Academy. So if a third of the DGA members at a DGA screening are also Academy voters, that’s a score for the screening event, but it’s not “skirting the rules… wink wink.”

And most “receptions, lunches, dinners or other events” that involve feeding and drinking are either private or involving groups other than AMPAS. The HFPA demands them. Others accept them. But if this event breached Academy rules, that is a serious accusation and should not be thrown around blithely by Time.com. They are not the Big Media equivalent of Perez Hilton now, are they?

Of fucking course the event was “'Oscar, please, Oscar.” Did anyone in the room think otherwise? Did Ressner cover the Hollywood Film Festival Gala where the “award” for Stone was given? Because if he thinks this cocktail was shady, he must think that those awards are evil incarnate.

I don’t mean to beat on Jeff Ressner. And anyone who is cynical about The Season is well justified. But I suspect that we are about to get into The Media’s Revenge on being forced by their editors to cover the awards season as though it really was life or death. And it is already going past snarky to nasty.

Was it fair for Ressner and his Time editors to target this particular cocktail when there are so many more obvious targets? No. Was it a vote for United 93 or against World Trade Center? Very possible.

But mostly, it is the embodiment of this year’s big media tone - “We are above it.... even though we are milking it for every advertising dollar we can.”

Welcome to the slop, Time Magazine. (As though you haven’t been living there for years.) Wink, wink.

(Edited 4:00p, 10/26 - to a more ambigous expense for the United 93 ad push.)

Posted by poland at 02:06 PM | Comments (9)

October 23, 2006

Cha CHING!!!

Fox Searchlight got Little Miss Sunshine to Academy members first, but Tony Angellotti and Universal Studios gets the prize for the first massive, lavish effort to overspend its way back into the Oscar race with the United 93, which did $31.5 million domestically and $42.5 million, but got excellent reviews when it arrived back in April.

Three full olive green pages in a local newspaper today recreated a promotional piece that was sent out with the DVD, arriving on doorsteps of guild members over the last few days. (Added Note: Academy members, of course, do not get the insert, as The Academy continues to maintain the illusion that their members are not being solicited, ut only received gently marked DVDs for their convenience.)

(The inside and close-up of pull quotes after the jump.)

The big question is whether U has shot the majority of its U93 budget here and now. Could the studio really spend the millions and millions it dropped on buying Seabiscuit a Best Picture nomination in the face of hundreds of layoffs, primarily on the TV side of the company? Will they really spend more in the chase than they donated to the family charities and building funs of the victims of United 93?

Hmmmm…

But the flag has been planted here in Los Angeles. And for one day at least, people are wondering aloud, “Will United 93 get into the Best Picture race?”

Tomorrow… how much will Paramount spend to squash that fantasy in the name of World Trade Center and will the two studios spend each other’s efforts to death?

Bet you didn't know that Stephen King was a major Oscar influencer. And is there any movie that Peter Travers doesn't think is a "monumental achievement"?

Posted by poland at 11:23 AM | Comments (59)

Seriously Dumb

Who allows this to happen?

The L.A.Times, which owns Gold Derby and is desperately trying to sell more advertising by printing a weekly Envelope pullout (Yes, now you can read all that weak content you ignored on the web in print! Wahoo!!!) lost its mind last week and & allowed Tom O'Neill to sell the idea that Diana Ross, who made 3 films in her entire career, the last one 28 years ago, is a potential danger to the awards hopes of Dreamgirls.

There are a lot of arguments that can be made against any film's award hopes. Some are smart. Some are stupid.

But some, especially when stretched to four pages, make you wonder just how far we are willing to go to court non-existent controversy in journalism. This, of course, comes on the heels of O’Neill posting a link to a pirated copy of “I’m Telling You,” the movie’s showstopper… a song which many, including O’Neill, seem to think will win Jennifer Hudson an Oscar..

And yet…

Tommy O asks, “Will Ross publicly oppose the movie? If she does, and her disapproval is expressed passionately or, worse, with outrage, she could hurt it financially and even derail its Oscar hopes.”

More likely, DreamWorks would pay her six figures to come out fighting against the movie.

O’Neill goes right to Crazyville when he compares this tempest in a piss pot to A Beautiful Mind. Not only did that film win in spite of specific allegation of real inaccuracy in a biopic, but it won in spite of a Matt Drudge’s smear campaign against the film, starting with this Christmas Eve piece about John Nash’s gay experiences not being in the film… weeks before nomination ballots were sent and long before final voting.

Let’s not even get started on the Roman Polanski controversy and how that destroyed The Pianist.

Or shall we discuss how the lack of controversy over The Aviator led to one Top 8 category win?

Now, if the Dreamgirls team was half as desperate for attention as Mr. O’Neill… then they really would be in trouble.

Posted by poland at 12:29 AM | Comments (5)

September 13, 2006

The Truth About Toronto & Oscar

The stark reality of Toronto’s Oscar-making machinery this year, as most year, is that there will be a lot more films slaughtered by this year’s festival than helped. And the desperation of some media for a story doesn’t change that.

Please remember that at about this time last year, the Los Angeles Times’ alleged expert on the arena had Memoirs of a Geisha as a dead lock with Rob Marshall's Oscar on his mantle. This year’s dead-in-the-water Traditional Media tout is Bobby. At least Geisha got the craft noms it expected.

(Note also that the embargo break of the week came from Traditional Media's Miami Herald, as Rene Rodriguez cracked the seal on The Departed, all the while acknowledging that he wasn't supposed to do so. It's about time someone started compaining about those damned can't-wait-to-publish reckless newspapers!!!!)

Forrest Whitaker is getting great notices for The Last King of Scotland, but no, they are not anywhere near the raves for Heath Ledger (who was the lock to win at this point last year) and Phillip Seymour Hoffman (who took the lead with critics awards in December). That doesn't mean he won't get nominated, but media hysteria outstrips real hysteria in that case, amongst many.

The truth is, The Toronto Strategy is being reconsidered by the top minds on the industry side. Unless you have “The Movie,” which is to say, the singular buzz movie of the fest (see: Sideways or the less awards successful Far from Heaven), your film may not be helped for award season at all by TIFF orgy week.

For instance, with all the Penelope Cruz hum, you could believe she is a mortal lock. But she is still clearly behind the un-TIFFed Streep, Dench, Mirren, Bening, and the one other TIFF arrival, Kate Winslet, who is an Academy favorite. It is not impossible for her to grab one of these slots, but there is a problematic instinct to make pronouncements in the middle of press-heavy moments like this that throw perspective to the wind.

With due respect to a lot of good movies, when you ask people what they’ve loved here, more often than not, you end up in a conversation about Borat. And while I believe that Sasha Baron Cohen can be and should be a serious Best Actor contender, it is certainly no Best Picture contender.

I love Volver, but the Cannes-premiered film most certainly did not explode at Toronto. The Almodovars were here, as was Penelope, and so was the press. Sony Classics did a good job of keeping things rolling. But everyone is always looking for an explosion. The problem with this kind of overly dramatic thinking is that after the explosion, there are still three full months of cleaning up debris before anyone starts voting on actual nominations.

The odd truth of Toronto this year is that the biggest movie star here, aside perhaps from Pitt & Damon, was Kevin Costner. And he wasn’t even here with a festival film. He came to junket, with Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore (who pitched Bobby a week before it arrived), Disney’s late September release, The Guardian.

The American Beauty of it all is turning because nowadays, there are 10 such films looking for traction. And not all of them can get it. The tools of selling a movie – and in this conversation, an awards movie – are generally more sophisticated than this. Miramax did fine with Venus here, but they are still stronger with The Queen, which wasn’t here. The Weinsteins have lost control of the buzz on Bobby by playing here. Sony found a commercial hit (Stranger Than Fiction) and an awards miss (All The Kings Men) in a hurry, with Pursuit of Happyness still in their quiver. The two presumed big dogs of Oscar this year, Flags of Our Fathers and Dreamgirls, plus The Queen, The Good German, The Good Sheppard, Children of Men, The History Boys, Blood Diamond, Notes on a Scandal, and The Prestige are nowhere to be seen.

Chewing on just what is in front of us is convenient, but it is also lazy, stupid thinking. But perhaps thinking is no longer part of it... just jump on and ride like the wind... and let the reality come to pass when it chooses to... and then ride that.

Posted by poland at 10:46 AM | Comments (68)

September 09, 2006

BORAT II

It’s rare that a sequel is better than the original and Friday night’s second midnight premiere of Borat was that, if only because the film ran from start to finish.

The downside was that Borat himself made no appearance on Friday night, leaving the larger crowd at the Elgin (the first TIFF midnight show to appear at that venue) a little frustrated.

The evening started with some rain, leaving the crowd standing on Yonge Street for more than 30 minutes getting wet. The smell of wet dog was pervasive as they finally entered the auditorium, but it finally passed.

Joining Michael Moore and the celebrities from Thursday night were Dustin Hoffman and Harvey Weinstein. This would prove to be ironic as the aforementioned Midnight Cowboy reference was even funnier for me... and even less acknowledged by an audience that had seen it once before.

But don’t get me wrong. It was a rock-n-roll crowd for the film, with people screaming, singing, and chanting before the film. Larry Charles kicked off the screening with a “Are you ready for a rowdy, raucous, subversive movie?!?!?!” The crowd screamed affirmatively and we were off.

The movie is still, even on third viewing, sheer genius.

I got to argue later in the evening about Sasha Baron Cohen’s Oscar chances in the Best Actor category and I tell you, his work here is not just some comic role that The Academy tends to overlook. This is, in its raw way, Chaplin or Tati. Cohen brings sympathy, empathy, innocence, and unbridled passion to the role amongst the loads of utter insanity. Actors vote for actors. And unlike any other comic role in memory, this is a real one-man show. No actor will take control of you in a movie this year any more profoundly than Cohen. And to overlook him in the name of expectation would be pathetic.

Posted by poland at 04:17 PM | Comments (14)

September 03, 2006

Eastwood's Double Feature

Seeing that Variety went buck wild over the idea - which is still just an idea, according to their one reported story - of Eastwood releasing both Iwo Jima films this year, I wonder what starting gun went off in whose ear.

They have a news story from Pamela McClintock...

There is no rule book to follow for the marketing and publicity execs at Warner Bros. and Paramount who are charged with opening his two Iwo Jima films. Even the rollout campaign is still being worked out.

Execs believe it's critical that the two movies be released within a short time of each other in the U.S. and Japan. However, they don't want the films to crowd each other out.

"Each movie needs its own space. It can't be seen as a stunt," one marketing vet says.

There are also a lot of generals in the mix. DreamWorks and Warner Bros. were the original partners on the films, but once DreamWorks was sold to Paramount, Par became involved.

Par bows "Flags of Our Fathers" (the battle from the American viewpoint) next month in the U.S., while Warners begins opening "Letters From Iwo Jima" (told from the Japanese side and shot entirely in Japanese) in December. Warners is releasing "Flags" overseas, and "Letters" everywhere.

and

The Japanese-language pic bows Dec. 9 in Japan. Warners hasn't set a U.S. release date, but buzz is that the studio could mount a qualifying awards run in December before going wide domestically early in the year.

Then there is the Peter Bart piece...

Clint has two movies coming out before year's end. That is, two separate movies with the same story. Actually, not the same story; not even the same language. Just the same setting.

and

"Flags of Our Fathers," a movie about the battle for Iwo Jima 60-plus years ago, will open Oct. 20. "Letters From Iwo Jima," Clint's Japanese-language movie on the same subject, but from the Japanese point of view, will open two months later.

Thus, the possibility exists that Clint will be the first filmmaker in history to have two films in awards contention in the same year, in two different languages.

Finally, there is a William Goldman appreciation of Clint...

Not ever a career like it.

Not in all movie history.

Anyway...

This all suggests to me that something funky is afoot.

I had heard that the first screenings for any Paramount execs of Flags were to be in the week to come. Perhaps they happened last week. But keep in mind, we're 7 weeks out from a release. Extremely unusual.

But even more unusual is having two movies like this released by two different studios with two different agendas. Paramount/DreamWorks has - if anyone can have this - too many Oscar contenders. Warner Bros hopes they have one in Blood Diamond and think The Departed could surprise. WHo knows what they think about what they have seen of The Good German? But the first two are considered by some to be more thrillers than Oscar bait and the Soderbergh is in black and white and might also be "just" a thriller... which means that after a disastrous summer, the urge to find a possible Oscar solution could be mighty mighty. And Eastwood's allegiance is to WB first, Paramount/DreamWorks... somewhere.

The bottom line on Eastwood is that he tells the studios what's happening. So how this is coming down is hard to read.

There is a range of scenarios.

1) Eastwood could have decided that DreamWorks/Paramount has too many movies and his is going to be de-prioritized by the studio while WB will give it full attention.

2) Eastwood could have simply decided that two people chasing Oscar for him is better than one.

3) Eastwood could have finally been convinced that the show of releasing both films in the same year is a winner for him and the films.

4) Warner Bros could have campaigned with Eastwood for all or any of the above… or he could just have decided.

5) Warners is intentionally willing to fuck Paramount/DreamWorks in order to improve their profile in a tough year and are floating this positive take on the choice they prefer, using Variety as their mouthpiece... perhaps with no Clint knowledge or him taking any definitive position on it at all.

6) Something else I haven't considered.

And here is my concern for him and his films…

Releasing the movies two months apart will be seen as a stunt. Whether it works or fails will have a lot to do with how the first film is received.

Qualifying the second film for awards consideration could destroy the first film’s Best Picture chances. Maybe WB and consultant Michelle Robertson have decided that it’s a soft field this year and they can get two nominations. But I don’t really think so. Maybe the WB team thinks they can outhustle Terry Press and make the Japanese film the nominee.

The truth is, there is a real opportunity here for splitting votes and ending up with nothing. If it turns out that Flags is THE Oscar movie of 2006, all of this will be a footnote after a great deal of media hype. If it turns out that Flags is just another quality contender, the strategy could be a disaster. We’ll see.

Or maybe not.

There is one more scenario. That Variety had their collective ear whispered into and have jumped the gun… which would explain the caution in the reported story by McClintock. Maybe Bart is just rooting. Maybe Warner Bros. not having this as a major contender means a lot less advertising dollars on the cover of Variety.

We'll see.

(EDITED - 3:25p to include The Good German)

Posted by poland at 12:49 PM | Comments (41)

August 15, 2006

The Japanese Trailer For Eastwood's Japanese View Of Iwo Jima

ADDED BY REQUEST...

The Trailer

Posted by poland at 12:51 PM | Comments (58)

May 16, 2006

The Premature Oscar Column

What films are in the running for Best Picture?

"Besides Francis Ford Coppola and Milos forman and Sofia Coppola and Marc Forster, there are ten more Oscar-space directors with eleven more films in play this fall. In alphabetical order, AlmodovarCondonEastwoodFieldGibsonHytnerMinghellaScorseseScottSoderbergh.

That's fifteen films from Academy Award tested filmmakers. Fifteen!"

And my first Oscar Best Picture list...

Posted by poland at 12:13 AM | Comments (42)

April 17, 2006

Oscar… Check Mate?

The Academy announced its dates for 2007 this morning and as disappointed as I am that they haven’t moved the awards themselves a week or two earlier on the February calendar, that’s not where the action is.

The jaw-dropper, for Oscar drumbeaters, is the January 13 poll closing for nominations and the corresponding January 23 nominations announcement.

Not only does the move to a week earlier than nominations have closed in the past create an intensified effort for Oscar consultants getting their films seen in time, but it effectively cordons off all but one Sunday/Monday weekend in which competing awards shows can position themselves to appear to be influencers. The first weekend after the New Year’s weekend - which would this year be the very fast-in-coming January 7 or 8 - has become the BFCA’s Critics’ Choice Awards stomping ground in recent years, which would once again put them before Oscar noms close.

But after that is when it gets interesting. The Golden Globes pretty has to choose between January 14 and 21for its show. One is the day after Oscar polling closes. The other is just two days before Oscar nominations. For all intents and purposes, this boxes the Globes into increased obscurity. The more remote possibility of a move to January 28 (the Super Bowl is on Feb 4) doesn’t help much either.

Last season, as the HFPA completely missed Crash and dissed Best Picture nominees Munich and Capote (ending up matching only 2 Oscar Best Picture nominees with 10 shots to get them), the buzz around the power of The Globes went radio silent once the Oscar nominations put them in their place.

And The Academy couldn’t be happier than to see another year of the same.

Posted by poland at 01:20 PM | Comments (22)

April 08, 2006

The WGA 100

I guess you guys want to discuss it... so here is the list, after the jump...

P.S. If Casablanca is the best screenplay of all time, I am a monkey's uncle. Do you know that "beautiful friendship" was dubbed in after the film was shown to the execs?

Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption are ridiculously high... someone wanted to look cool. And Shakespeare In Love, if on this list at all, should be down at the bottom.

I would have lots of arguments with, but the ability to live with, most of the rest. But you get the feeling that they wanted current scripts represented... and current guild leaders represented.

1. CASABLANCA
Screenplay by Julius J. & Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch. Based on the play "Everybody Comes to Rick's" by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison
2. THE GODFATHER
Screenplay by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola. Based on the novel by Mario Puzo
3. CHINATOWN
Written by Robert Towne
4. CITIZEN KANE
Written by Herman Mankiewicz and Orson Welles
5. ALL ABOUT EVE
Screenplay by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Based on "The Wisdom of Eve," a short story and radio play by Mary Orr
6. ANNIE HALL
Written by Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman
7. SUNSET BLVD.
Written by Charles Brackett & Billy Wilder and D.M. Marshman, Jr.
8. NETWORK
Written by Paddy Chayefsky
9. SOME LIKE IT HOT
Screenplay by Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond. Based on "Fanfare of Love," a German film written by Robert Thoeren and M. Logan
10. THE GODFATHER II
Screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo. Based on Mario Puzo's novel "The Godfather"
11. BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID
Written by William Goldman
12. DR. STRANGELOVE
Screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Peter George and Terry Southern. Based on novel "Red Alert" by Peter George
13. THE GRADUATE
Screenplay by Calder Willingham and Buck Henry. Based on the novel by Charles Webb
14. LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
Screenplay by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson. Based on the life and writings of Col. T.E. Lawrence
15. THE APARTMENT
Written by Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond
16. PULP FICTION
Written by Quentin Tarantino. Stories by Quentin Tarantino & Roger Avary
17. TOOTSIE
Screenplay by Larry Gelbart and Murray Schisgal. Story by Don McGuire and Larry Gelbart
18. ON THE WATERFRONT
Screen Story and Screenplay by Budd Schulberg. Based on "Crime on the Waterfront" articles by Malcolm Johnson
19. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Screenplay by Horton Foote. Based on the novel by Harper Lee
20. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE
Screenplay by Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett & Frank Capra. Based on short story "The Greatest Gift" by Philip Van Doren Stern. Contributions to screenplay Michael Wilson and Jo Swerling
21. NORTH BY NORTHWEST
Written by Ernest Lehman
22. THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
Screenplay by Frank Darabont. Based on the short story "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" by Stephen King
23. GONE WITH THE WIND
Screenplay by Sidney Howard. Based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell
24. ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND
Screenplay by Charlie Kaufman. Story by Charlie Kaufman & Michel Gondry & Pierre Bismuth
25. THE WIZARD OF OZ
Screenplay by Noel Langley and Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf Adaptation by Noel Langley. Based on the novel by L. Frank Baum
26. DOUBLE INDEMNITY
Screenplay by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler. Based on the novel by James M. Cain
27. GROUNDHOG DAY
Screenplay by Danny Rubin and Harold Ramis. Story by Danny Rubin
28. SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE
Written by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard
29. SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS
Written by Preston Sturges
30. UNFORGIVEN
Written by David Webb Peoples
31. HIS GIRL FRIDAY
Screenplay by Charles Lederer. Based on the play "The Front Page" by Ben Hecht & Charles MacArthur
32. FARGO
Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
33. THE THIRD MAN
Screenplay by Graham Greene. Story by Graham Greene. Based on the short story by Graham Greene
34. THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS
Screenplay by Clifford Odets and Ernest Lehman. From a novelette by Ernest Lehman
35. THE USUAL SUSPECTS
Written by Christopher McQuarrie
36. MIDNIGHT COWBOY
Screenplay by Waldo Salt. Based on the novel by James Leo Herlihy
37. THE PHILADELPHIA STORY
Screenplay by Donald Ogden Stewart. Based on the play by Philip Barry
38. AMERICAN BEAUTY
Written by Alan Ball
39. THE STING
Written by David S. Ward
40. WHEN HARRY MET SALLY
Written by Nora Ephron
41. GOODFELLAS
Screenplay by Nicholas Pileggi & Martin Scorsese. Based on book "Wise Guy" by Nicholas Pileggi
42. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
Screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan. Story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman
43. TAXI DRIVER
Written by Paul Schrader
44. THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES
Screenplay by Robert E. Sherwood. Based on novel "Glory For Me" by MacKinley Kantor
45. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST
Screenplay by Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman. Based on the novel by Ken Kesey
46. THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE
Screenplay by John Huston. Based on the novel by B. Traven
47. THE MALTESE FALCON
Screenplay by John Huston. Based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett
48. THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI
Screenplay by Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson. Based on the novel by Pierre Boulle
49. SCHINDLER'S LIST
Screenplay by Steven Zaillian. Based on the novel by Thomas Keneally
50. THE SIXTH SENSE
Written by M. Night Shyamalan
51. BROADCAST NEWS
Written by James L. Brooks
52. THE LADY EVE
Screenplay by Preston Sturges. Story by Monckton Hoffe
53. ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN
Screenplay by William Goldman. Based on the book by Carl Bernstein & Bob Woodward
54. MANHATTAN
Written by Woody Allen & Marshall Brickman
55. APOCALYPSE NOW
Written by John Milius and Francis Coppola. Narration by Michael Herr
56. BACK TO THE FUTURE
Written by Robert Zemeckis & Bob Gale
57. CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS
Written by Woody Allen
58. ORDINARY PEOPLE
Screenplay by Alvin Sargent. Based on the novel by Judith Guest
59. IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT
Screenplay by Robert Riskin. Based on the story "Night Bus" by Samuel Hopkins Adams
60. L.A. CONFIDENTIAL
Screenplay by Brian Helgeland & Curtis Hanson. Based on the novel by James Ellroy
61. THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
Screenplay by Ted Tally. Based on the novel by Thomas Harris
62. MOONSTRUCK
Written by John Patrick Shanley
63. JAWS
Screenplay by Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb. Based on the novel by Peter Benchley
64. TERMS OF ENDEARMENT
Screenplay by James L. Brooks. Based on the novel by Larry McMurtry
65. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN
Screen Story and Screenplay by Betty Comden & Adolph Green. Based on the song by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown
66. JERRY MAGUIRE
Written by Cameron Crowe
67. E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL
Written by Melissa Mathison
68. STAR WARS
Written by George Lucasn
69. DOG DAY AFTERNOON
Screenplay by Frank Pierson. Based on a magazine article by P.F. Kluge and Thomas Moore
70. THE AFRICAN QUEEN
Screenplay by James Agee and John Huston. Based on the novel by C.S. Forester
71. THE LION IN WINTER
Screenplay by James Goldman. Based on the play by James Goldman
72. THELMA & LOUISE
Written by Callie Khouri
73. AMADEUS
Screenplay by Peter Shaffer. Based on his play
74. BEING JOHN MALKOVICH
Written by Charlie Kaufman
75. HIGH NOON
Screenplay by Carl Foreman. Based on short story "The Tin Star" by John W. Cunningham
76. RAGING BULL
Screenplay by Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin. Based on the book by Jake La Motta with Joseph Carter and Peter Savage
77. ADAPTATION
Screenplay by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman. Based on the book "The Orchid Thief" by Susan Orlean
78. ROCKY
Written by Sylvester Stallone
79. THE PRODUCERS
Written by Mel Brooks
80. WITNESS
Screenplay by Earl W. Wallace & William Kelley. Story by William Kelley and Pamela Wallace & Earl W. Wallace
81. BEING THERE
Screenplay by Jerzy Kosinski. Inspired by the novel by Jerzy Kosinski
82. COOL HAND LUKE
Screenplay by Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson. Based on the novel by Donn Pearce
83. REAR WINDOW
Screenplay by John Michael Hayes. Based on the short story by Cornell Woolrich
84. THE PRINCESS BRIDE
Screenplay by William Goldman. Based on his novel
85. LA GRANDE ILLUSION
Written by Jean Renoir and Charles Spaak
86. HAROLD & MAUDE
Written by Colin Higgins
87. 8 1/2
Screenplay by Federico Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano, Brunello Rond. Story by Fellini, Flaiano
88. FIELD OF DREAMS
Screenplay by Phil Alden Robinson. Based on the book by W.P. Kinsella
89. FORREST GUMP
Screenplay by Eric Roth. Based on the novel by Winston Groom
90. SIDEWAYS
Screenplay by Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor. Based on the novel by Rex Pickett
91. THE VERDICT
Screenplay by David Mamet. Based on the novel by Barry Reed
92. PSYCHO
Screenplay by Joseph Stefano. Based on the novel by Robert Bloch
93. DO THE RIGHT THING
Written by Spike Lee
94. PATTON
Screen Story and Screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North. Based on "A Soldier's Story" by Omar H. Bradley and "Patton: Ordeal and Triumph" by Ladislas Farago
95. HANNAH AND HER SISTERS
Written by Woody Allen
96. THE HUSTLER
Screenplay by Sidney Carroll & Robert Rossen. Based on the novel by Walter Tevis
97. THE SEARCHERS
Screenplay by Frank S. Nugent. Based on the novel by Alan Le May
98. THE GRAPES OF WRATH
Screenplay by Nunnally Johnson. Based on the novel by John Steinbeck
99. THE WILD BUNCH
Screenplay by Walon Green and Sam Peckinpah. Story by Walon Green and Roy Sickner
100. MEMENTO
Screenplay by Christopher Nolan. Based on the short story "Memento Mori" by Jonathan Nolan
101. NOTORIOUS
Written by Ben Hecht

Posted by poland at 01:18 PM | Comments (54)

April 07, 2006

Is George Clooney Full Of Shit?

So asketh ABC News' Miquel Marquez in a web entry titled, "Is Clooney Right About Hollywood's Social Agenda?"

Clooney's Oscar speech - "We're the ones who talked about AIDS when it was just being whispered," the 44-year-old star told the audience. "And we talked about civil rights when it wasn't really popular. This academy — this group of people — gave Hattie McDaniel an Oscar in 1939 when blacks were still sitting in the backs of theaters. I'm proud to be a part of this academy, proud to be part of this community, and proud to be out of touch."

Rick Jewell, a film professor at the University of Southern California, retorts that the Oscar for Hattie McDaniel "did nothing for segregation or for the plight of African-Americans," he said. "She was rewarded for playing a stereotypical role." Regarding AIDS, Jewel was also skeptical of Clooney's claim. The most serious film on AIDS was 1993's "Philadelphia," he said, "which was well into the crisis."

Of course, it's always some college professor getting quoted in these stories. I personally think that Clooney is completely sincere and that the spirit of his words and not the details are the issue. Nonetheless, The Professor has a point. No?

Posted by poland at 04:23 PM | Comments (63)

March 10, 2006

The Ugliest Oscar Speech Ever

I don’t even know how to respond to Annie Proulx’ self-immolation in The Guardian. I checked twice… it isn’t in The Onion.

Is there anyone who can believe for a second that anything remotely like this would be written if Brokeback Mountain had won the Oscar for Best Picture? I’m sure there are those that will rationalize the rage involved as somehow appropriate given the believe that some hold that BBM is a movie of historic importance.

But I have to say, this is the kind of blind anger and myopia that has caused hatred of the gay, the black, the religious other, etc. Ms. Proulx has, in this moment, become that which she beheld. And the world is a little uglier for it.

To Quote….

If you are looking for smart judging based on merit, skip the Academy Awards next year and pay attention to the Independent Spirit choices.

Rumour has it that Lions Gate inundated the academy voters with DVD copies of Trash - excuse me - Crash a few weeks before the ballot deadline.

From the first there was an atmosphere of insufferable self-importance emanating from "the show" which, as the audience was reminded several times, was televised and being watched by billions of people all over the world. Those lucky watchers could get up any time they wished and do something worthwhile, like go to the bathroom.

The prize, as expected, went to Philip Seymour Hoff-man for his brilliant portrayal of Capote, but in the months preceding the awards thing, there has been little discussion of acting styles and various approaches to character development by this year's nominees. Hollywood loves mimicry, the conversion of a film actor into the spittin' image of a once-living celeb. But which takes more skill, acting a person who strolled the boulevard a few decades ago and who left behind tapes, film, photographs, voice recordings and friends with strong memories, or the construction of characters from imagination and a few cold words on the page? I don't know. The subject never comes up. Cheers to David Strathairn, Joaquin Phoenix and Hoffman, but what about actors who start in the dark?

Stewart maybe wondering what evil star had lighted his way to this labour.

There came an atrocious act from Hustle and Flow, Three 6 Mafia's violent rendition of "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp", a favourite with the audience who knew what it knew and liked. This was a big winner, a bushel of the magic gold-coated gelded godlings going to the rap group.

It was a safe pick of "controversial film" for the heffalumps.

The red carpet now had taken on a different hue, a purple tinge. The source of the colour was not far away. Down the street, spreading its baleful light everywhere, hung a gigantic, vertical, electric-blue neon sign spelling out S C I E N T O L O G Y.

For those who call this little piece a Sour Grapes Rant, play it as it lays.

Sour grapes doesn’t start to address the pained yelp of this screed… and all in the name of a statue that Ms. Proulx holds in such small esteem. Right?

Those people, who don’t appear to hate the film based on her short story, but made the choice to award another in a competition between five titles, are not to be taken seriously… unless, like the Independent Spirits Awards, which changed their rules to allow for Brokeback Mountain’s inclusion, and which are voted for in the finals by even more of the kinds of people for whom Ms. Proulx has such hatred, the vote goes her way.

There are many things in Ms Proulx's essay with which I agree. And if she had written this after winning the Best Picture Oscar, it would have been a fascinating perspective. Instead it is the capper to what has been, in many ways, an ugly awards season. But to date, never uglier than the place to which the author of a brilliant short story that launched a film loved by millions has taken us. Once again, she has taught us the overwhelming power of rage to destroy. She has made my worst feelings about what might happen after a Brokeback loss come true.

Posted by poland at 06:42 PM | Comments (93)

BBM Inspired Stamps From Conan O'Brien

(If you can't read the middle one, it's "The Lion, The Witch & the Perfectly Coordinated Wardrobe")

Posted by poland at 01:08 AM | Comments (44)

March 07, 2006

More Break Back

There are two anguished cries of disappointment that stand out for me today. One is this deeply felt, terribly sad piece by Nathaniel R, who closes with:

“If you find yourself still in astonishment at the sorrow of many Oscar watchers...if you find yourself muttering "IT'S ONLY A MOVIE". Consider this. Repeat it: "It's Only a Movie". Is this really the response and fallback motto that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, that Hollywood itself should prompt us to embrace?

The point: It's not only a movie.”

And today, I received this letter by e-mail:

Really, David.

You lecture about lecturing and then expect to be taken seriously with a vainly dismissive "move along?"

Your gloss over the social divide that the Oscar controversy represents cannot begin to penetrate the deeper issues at work in the minds of film lovers and average Americans who are becoming more attuned to what this Oscar race meant in terms of real politics. We are beyond the cinema thing here. Beyond aesthetics or marketing. We are at the heart of a storm of cultural values, the old and new worlds, the secular and religious, the democratic principle and the fear and loathing that undermine it. Oscar Night '06 may not be 9/11, but it is as big as the 2000 elections in many people’s minds.

Brokeback's loss is so much bigger than its win would ever have been. It is a blessing in disguise, much like the Bush administration is, in that the covert hate that undermine the higher aspirations of Americans is being seen clearly for the first time in decades. Do you really expect our new vision to pass? Of course you don't. So why be defensive instead of realistic?

Maybe you weren't privilege to the whispers of homophobia that many Academy members are reported to have let fall from their lips prior to casting their votes, but some who were are telling about them have the columns and blogs that will keep the pundits and activists wired for confrontation. No one is trying to bring Crash down. We're trying to get the mainstream media to start reporting what lies beneath its zero-hour promotion. We want the world to see why a film that was only warmly received and was ignored during the awards buildup to the Oscars was resurrected in January for its liberal values as a cover for the derailing of Brokeback. Surely you see no one even tried to resurrect it until it became apparent that films far better than Crash couldn't stop the juggernaut that represented true human parity.

If you choose to shun the storm of criticism that will deluge Hollywood for its unreflexive regionalism and homophobia this year, you are deserving of respect for your desire to find safe haven. But for those of us who see Brokeback as a zeitgeist film much bigger than the experience of it itself -- those of us who believe that the internationally broadcast Academy Awards should embody universal good faith, standards of justice and humanity in the voting process itself, and not just marketing campaigns, local favoritism, and fear tactics -- well, we will remain here. And loudly so. Even when the storm quiets down, while we're relaxing and enjoying the view, we'll be here with our memories ready to remind people that politics and not just entertainment and money define Tinseltown's biggest moves.

We will not be moving along, thank you, David.

Regards,
G. Roger Denson (NYC art critic)

And now, I will try to be brief in responding to both gentlemen.

I am convinced of everyone’s sincerity in all of this. And I am sympathetic to it. However, both of these arguments, as so many arguments have today, have a fatal flaw. They are based on predeterminations by the people who feel this way. The importance of Brokeback Mountain - the idea of it as a landmark - is a matter of opinion.

Unfortunately, the drumbeat of importance that rose around Brokeback Mountain became the experience, more so than the movie itself. It was not unlike the last two elections. Eac time, only some sort of falseness, delusion, evil, or cheating could explain the vote. It could not simply be a choice with which a large percentage of us disagreed.

The response to Sunday's Oscars has been as though Vietnam veterans decided America hated them because Coming Home didn’t win or WW II veterans took the Saving Private Ryan loss as a left wing rebellion against the military.

The “older members won’t watch the film” story, which is certainly true in a very few cases, has become the most told tale since The Three Bears... an apocryphal. Today, everyone has a friend or family member who knows someone who knows some older male Academy member who said he refused to watch the film. A week ago, the film couldn’t lose. Today, the legendary older voter reigns supreme.

With due respect to Nathaniel’s passion, to throw out all explanations and to come up only with homophobia as the answer to why Crash won – and by the way, it was a Crash win, every bit as much as it can be called a Brokeback Mountain loss – is reductive in a way bordering self-loathing. No one can reasonably argue that there is not homophobia in this country and across the globe. But to argue that more than 50% of voting Academy members are homophobic and unwilling to vote for Brokeback Mountain on that basis is patently absurd.

This may seem to fly in the face of my initial reaction to BBM, which was to say, “Wait until older Academy members get to the flip, lick, and anal penetration.” But in the 35 years since Midnight Cowboy, how many movies with scenes involving anything overtly sexual below the waist of either sex have won the Oscar? Let’s see… Kramer vs Kramer had JoBeth Williams’ pubic hair, briefly, in the hallway, though with no contact… in Silence of The Lambs, Jamie Gumb danced with his penis tucked between his legs… and Kevin Spacey’s character masturbates under the covers and talks about it in American Beauty.

That’s it.

Jon Voight going down on Jane Fonda… 3 Oscars, no Best Picture. Overweight people having sex in Sideways… 1 Oscar, no Best Picture. Kelly Preston on top in Jerry Maguire… 1 Oscar, no Best Picture.

In fact, The Family Media Guide lists only four Best Picture winners in history as being in any way “graphic” sexually… Shakespeare In Love, The English Patient, Schindler’s List, and Midnight Cowboy.

But here is something to set the conspiracy buffs again. Perhaps the most graphic heterosexual sex in any Best Picture nominee ever also happened this year… in Munich, with two sex scenes between Avner and his wife, including Avner taking her from behind while seven months pregnant and full frontal nudity involving one of the killings.

It didn’t win either. The Academy apparently hates pregnant women who enjoy sex.

I will get deeper into this Reverse Overanalysis more in tomorrow’s Hot Button.

Posted by poland at 04:05 PM | Comments (108)

March 06, 2006

John Calley... Return To Brilliance

""Nobody likes to think of themselves as being from Los Angeles," Mr. Calley said. "I don't know anybody that wants to be buried here. I think it was less about that or any problem with 'Brokeback' than in the end, it comes down to a subconscious shuffling of the pecking order and you just go with the film that was most affecting to you personally."

From David Carr's unblogged Oscar story

Posted by poland at 06:05 PM | Comments (23)

Why I Never Went All-In For Crash

For clarity’s sake, I will be specific.

I thought that Crash had missed by a little… even as I kept telling everyone that Crash was real. I thought it was that close… but to be excessively honest, the endless barrage of crap I ate from the BBM crowd made me overly cautious (in retrospect) about really making the Crash argument... especially being out there nearly alone. (David Carr jumping on the bandagon at the end was insignificant. Ebert coming out weeks ago was not.) I was not working all season against BBM, though I was accused of it. And I was never working for Crash... not even in an "anything but Brokeback" way. I was reporting what I saw. But this year, that was a basis for attack.

The funny thing it, we’ll never know what the vote was. Crash may have won by a lot… or 1 vote.

In the last week, everything started pointing towards Crash. And this made me more concerned about Crash’s possibility than anything else. I do not trust the echo chamber. It feeds on itself.

That said, my sense of the strong hum was that people were coming out of the Crash closet, emboldened by stories saying it could win and the fact that voting was over. The great irony of this season was that not loving Brokeback Mountain required closeting for fear of attack (see: this blog). And it was felt by the great and the small.

Last night, they came out.

And next year, I will try to be more brave.

Posted by poland at 10:48 AM | Comments (49)

How Bad Was The Oscar Telecast?

I’m sure that I am one of many writing this phrase, but…

That was the worst produced Oscar telecast ever.

Sorry.

The set design looked like Mel’s Diner from the Universal backlot. But worse, the giant TV screen on the top operated in direct opposition to the endless – and unnecessary – message that seeing movies in a theater was the best way. It really said, “Go to the movies and watch your iPod while the movie is going on.” And even worse, there were lights on the base of the set, down on the floor in front of the first row of seats, and the upward lighting made the actors look like vampires. Disasterous.

The camera finally stopped swooping, but there were more ugly, awkward, unmotivated angles in the first hour of the show than I have ever seen at a big awards show.

Jon Stewart finally stopped swooping as well, but I imagine it was too little, too late. What Stewart proved is that he belongs on The Daily Show. His material needed visual support, by its nature. On the show, the graphic over his shoulder is usually the set up for his sly joke. Here, the joke stood alone… as did the eight people in the room laughing. Have you ever seen that many reaction shots in which no one was even smiling?

But Stewart did warm up as he got to his two clip packages, which were funny. And to ad libs, which were better than any joke that was written by or for him all night. I’m sure they squelched any notion of it, but the truth is, the show would have been better if Stewart had his Daily Show news team out there with him. Imagine Stephen Colbert with Three 6 Mafia or Samantha Bean’s intro for the Oscar attack ads or Stewart doing what he does so well on the show, which is reacting to the reaction.

The comedy highlight of the night for me was Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep. If Prairie Home Companion, which premieres at SXSW on Friday, is as good overall as that 2 minute bit, it will be a great capper for Altman’s career… until he caps it again.

The music underneath the every acceptance speech, from start to finish, was obnoxious, distracting, and the worst Oscar show innovation since Rob Lowe sang and danced.

And Crash needed a burning car on stage? Jesus. Could you be any more obvious and tasteless? They couldn’t let the drama of the performance of “It‘s Hard Out Here For A Pimp” speak for itself? If you want to see a show of Academy limitations… Dolly Parton stands alone. No dancing transsexuals in various stages of the transition! I wish they gave the other two songs the same respect.

The “we love genres” package were ok… but why were they there? Did the world really need a reminded that film noir exists? There was no apparent demand of the clips. Yet they were given these grand introductions while the Best Picture nominees were thrown up like bumpers for the commercials with nary a word. What the hell was up with that?

If they wanted to do great packages, why not do packages that show why today’s movies are great… leading to five very socially conscious movies as the Best Picture nominees. Someone can speak for big, dumb action films… someone has something good to say about the ditzy romantic comedy… how about the incredibly powerful family category? The only benefit of the packages they did was to give a lot of people a chance to go to the bathroom.

There was real tension behind the show last night with Crash vs Brokeback Mountain... and none of it turned up in the show.

The one truly great part of the show was the Best Score section with Perlman. Elegant... big screen... perfect.

They should start begging Steve Martin for next year now…

Posted by poland at 10:18 AM | Comments (86)

What Broke The Mountain's Back?

From The Hot Button

Really, it's quite sad that Brokeback Mountain could do the business it's done, win the awards and accolades its won, and Diana Ossana still looked like somebody kicked her dog to death in post-show interviews. Brokeback Mountain is a huge success story… as is Crash (the only true indie in the group and the cheapest made of the five nominees)… as is Capote… as is Good Night, And Good Luck. And I still believe that in the folds of time, Munich will be the best remembered of this quintet.

Posted by poland at 01:53 AM | Comments (40)

March 05, 2006

Let The Crashing Begin!

Love it, hate it... spill it!

Posted by poland at 09:56 PM | Comments (51)

March 04, 2006

The Independent Spirit Awards In 6 Photos Or Less

The Hollywood Reporter's Kirk Honeycutt Gets Parked in... Eventually Escaping His Own Car

A Look At The Mighty Mighty Red Carpet

Dan Futterman Before And After Winning A "Dawnie" - Note The Increased Height, Improved Lighting & Brilliantly Executed Surprise On His Face

Sarah Silverman Prepares To Discuss Her Vagina Endlessly In Public

The Afterparty. (Look familiar?)

Posted by poland at 09:37 PM | Comments (6)

March 02, 2006

Blog Readers Attack American Human Association

The AHA says that Brokeback Mountain was abusive. "Wonder how the filmmakers got the elk to lose its footing and crumple to the ground 'on cue' after being shot?"

Go get 'em!!!

Posted by poland at 05:23 PM | Comments (71)

March 01, 2006

But What About The Kids???

Worried about how much sex is in your violence and how much profanity you have to hear while watching people smoking?

Thank goodness (don't take God's name in vain, you bastards!) for The Family Media Guide.

Posted by poland at 10:46 AM | Comments (31)

February 28, 2006

On Ebert & Crash

You know, Roger may be pushing it to call a Crash win likely... and I got the vibe that the film is going to come up a little short of beating Brokeback Mountain on Sunday night... but it is far, far, far from crazy.

Crash is not a longshot to upset Brokeback. My guess - and that is all it can ever be - is that the two films will end up within single digits of one another in the voting. So I see it as a matter of a few hundred votes one way or the other. You BBM obsessives should be more than a little nervous.

The only wide open category in the Top Eight is Supporting Actor, though some people are pushing the idea of upsets in the two Actress categories.

And at the end of the night, let's not all be shocked at the same time if Memoirs of a Geisha ends up with the second or third highest Oscar total.

Posted by poland at 11:03 AM | Comments (71)

February 23, 2006

1 Week to Go

When the Academy shortened the awards season two years ago, they had the right idea.

Tthe simple idea that the season was going on way too long was dead on. And this year, with the Oscars pushed later by almost two weeks, the only real response has to be, "Can you make it much, much shorter next year?"

And the Rest...

Posted by poland at 11:06 PM | Comments (21)

February 22, 2006

And news on another Oscar nommed short doc...

DreamWorks and Parkes/MacDonald Prods. have acquired the rights to
Oscar-nominated documentary "The Life of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang
Bang Club."The producers will use the film and tap the research of director
Dan Krauss for a feature about the Pulitzer Prize-winning photog. Carter
dodged bullets to capture images of famine and violence in the waning days
of apartheid.Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald, who'll produce, closed the
rights deal with Krauss just before his docu drew its Oscar nom. Doc had
several suitors as the role of Carter has the potential to attract a big
male star.Exec Alisa Tager brought the project to Parkes, who got the upper
hand partly because Krauss' Berkeley film professor shot part of Parkes' own
docu, "The California Reich." Krauss, whose docu will air on HBO, will be
exec producer.South African-born Carter grew up loathing apartheid, and
through photography found an outlet to show its impact to the world. He
became famous when his photo of a starving Sudanese child stalked by a
vulture won the Pulitzer Prize. When he described waiting for 20 minutes for
the starving child and vulture to fit perfectly in his frame, critics called
him a vulture for not interceding. Carter committed suicide at 33."Beyond
dramatizing a courageous life at a historic turning point, we hope to
explore why Kevin ended things the way that he did; in some ways, that photo
both made him and destroyed him," Parkes said. "Even though his work brought
international attention to the struggles in South Africa and the Sudan, the
end of Kevin's life was dominated by the controversy surrounding one
picture, and his decision to document rather than intercede. His story is
particularly relevant now, as we've become a world hooked on visual
information. As the violent reactions to the publishing of the cartoons in
Denmark last week suggest, the power of the image has never been more
evident.

Posted by poland at 04:53 PM | Comments (6)

Remember, Remember The Sixth Of August

It is easy to give short shrift to the short doc category at the Oscars, but after seeing all but one of the short docs that are nominated, I have a pretty distinct favorite.

Steven Okazaki’s 35 minute film takes a look at a club that sounds like a joyous anime’ title, but could not be less so. The Mushroom Club looks at Hiroshima, 60 years after the bomb was dropped by America.

Okazaki’s voiceover is the weakest part of this film, though you can feel how personal it is to him. Fortunately, what he lacks in auditory style, he makes up for with the vision to show us the small parts that make up the tragic, unforgettable whole. Whether it’s a look at the author of Barefoot Gen, a comic and then anime’ about the bombing, as seen though the author’s own young eyes or 60 year olds who were in utero when the blast came and still have the minds of children or the woman who collects artifacts of the destruction that still wash up in the river bed every time the tide shifts, the memories are overwhelming. Buttons… she find buttons… and each one represents a dead person… each button tells a tale of its own… and the tears are unstoppable.

60 years later, they are still finding mass grave sights around town that they didn’t know were there… so many dead… and so much ritual in trying to deal with the loss. But still, today’s youth rebels even against a singular moment of death.

The Mushroom Club is an important, powerful, holocaust documentary. It is not the holocaust we usually see covered in movies and it is not a holocaust that Americans can be comfortable considering. Like Imamura’s great Black Rain, a feature about the bombing that is almost never seen on cable television (unlike that mediocrity starring Michael Douglas in black leather) and is not available on DVD, it is easier for Americans not to watch.

But we must never forget. The memory in Hiroshima itself is under the threat of time. They must never forget. We are our history, for better or for worse.

Forget. Rinse. Repeat.

But it is films like The Mushroom Club that must stand to pay respect to the truth. And we must pay respect to them. I hope that respect comes due on March 5 and I hope Mr. Okazaki brings a survivor along and stops the party for longer than his 45 seconds to remind the world of the power of truth and in reflection of same, the power of film.

Posted by poland at 02:05 PM | Comments (9)

February 20, 2006

Lions Gate To The (Mira)Max

One other note from the ACE awards for the best editing of the year...

In the midst of a fairly long live show, all of a sudden the Oscar nominee for Best Song from Crash appeared and sang her song.

The first thoght was that the move could turn off people. But show people are like no people I know and there was honest enthusiastic applause at the end of the performance and a room full of possible late Academy voters. every vote counts. And with virtually every major name in London at BAFTA, this was the only show of Oscar connectivity at the show. So you have to say... another smart, Miramax-aggressive-like move by Lions Gate.

I should emphasize, since people get hysterical, that this may all lead to little visable effect on March 5. But assuming this has not become a tight race is its own unique kind of self-delusion.

Posted by poland at 10:01 AM | Comments (92)

February 19, 2006

BAFTAs

Let's try to put aside - for a monent - my issues, perceived or real, with Brokeback Mountain.

How fucked up were the BAFTA awards?

Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Wererabbit was better than The Constant Gardener, Pride & Prejudice, and Tristam Shandy?

Speaking of Pride & Prejudice, how is it possible that it beat both Tsotsi and Shooting Dogs for the Alexander Korda Award? ("Box office" seems to be thw likely answer.)

Jake Gyllenhaal winning was not too much of a surprise, given that George Clooney and Crash both were set up by circumstance to split. I do, however, consider the Thandie Newton win a shock, at the expense of Michelle Williams and Catherine Keener.

I am perfectly comfy with Brokeback Mountain winning Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay… utterly unsurprised. The likelihood is that it will happen at the Academy Awards too… though I still have that gut feeling that Crash remains a serious threat. (Winning the ACE Eddie tonight was a small surprise that puts one small branch in Crash’s column.)

And David Puttnam is a hero of mine and never more than after his speech tonight in accepting a well-deserved award.

Also, E!’s red carpet coverage was amongst its best live shows ever. They didn’t throw their American crew onto the London red carpet. They hired long time ex-pat American comedienne Ruby Wax to do her best Joan Rivers… which was more fun than the real thing. And the supporting team up in the booth really knew their stuff, even being three pretty boys in perfectly tailored tuxes. Well done.

Posted by poland at 11:57 PM | Comments (153)

February 04, 2006

What Race Is There Anyway?

I didn't post this before, but the Gurus o' Gold live on...

Is there a race worth following now that nominations are in?

Posted by poland at 01:03 AM | Comments (46)

February 01, 2006

Good Release, And Good Luck

Dear Colleagues;

I just wanted to let you know that Warner Independent Pictures’ GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK is expanding this Friday, February 3rd, from 105 screens to 929 screens (+824), its widest point of release in its 18th week of domestic release. Its previous widest point of release was 803 screens on November 18th, its seventh week of release.

Posted by poland at 07:11 PM | Comments (34)

There's Got To Be A Morning After...

It's 2:15am... I've burned through 5 hours of American Idol audition episodes on Tivo... The Gurus o' Gold were kind enough to make best guesses in every category, which meant laying out 24 categories... I got pissed off, pissed on, and pissed around for a day of near-singular focus...

Tomorrow, it's on to the Santa Barbara Film Festival, next week The Floating Film Festival, followed by The Oscars, SXSW and The Bermuda International Film Festival. I know it sounds like fun... and it will be... but I am tired just thiking about it.

After a long day of mishegas, it occures to me that I am thrilled for Street Fight's Marshall Curry, nominated for his film film... thrilled for Rachel Weisz, who is s kind, funny, smart, interested participant, now 5 1/2 months pregnant, glowing, and ready for the next level... thrilled for Terrence Howard, who has matured in the heat of the season and whose next steps will be fascinating... thrilled for William Hurt, who will hopefully parlay this into the second act of his career that could be legendary... thrilled for Team Capote, who are really the biggest underdogs in a season of underdogs... thrilled for Hany Abu-Asad, who always has a smile and a good word for everyone - not to mention as assload of talent - as he makes his awards journey... thrilled for Amy Adams, who has a long, lovely future ahead of her and the chance to be a female Rip Torn cycling through all kinds of characters and three full acts of an acting life...

There are many things I am not so thrilled about... but I want to go to sleep with a smile on my face.

Night.

Posted by poland at 02:13 AM | Comments (119)

January 31, 2006

And by the way…

Today is the day that people who don’t seem to get the joke rationalize the Oscar nominations from the perspective of their own personal beliefs.

MCN’s own Kris Tapley was the first to embarrass himself by dropping his jaw in disbelief about Munich’s five nominations. And as you read his piece he wrote this morning, there is the presumption – based exclusively on what he thinks and not on any objective information – that Munich was the fifth nominee.

Leave it to Jeffrey Wells to also beat that it-had-to-be-a-fluke and the it-has-to-be-in-fifth-place bullshit into the ground.

I am not saying that Munich wasn’t the fifth highest vote getter. Maybe it was. But there is the very real possibility that it wasn’t. And Universal spent a lot more on Cinderella Man – and a shitload more on BBM – than was spent on advertising Munich.

To be unkind, Wells, Peter Hammond, and Scott Bowles all left Munich out of the Top Ten picks for Gurus o’ Gold in the last Top Ten charts on January 18. Did they really think that Syriana or Pride & Prejudice was more likely to be nominated than Spielberg’s Munich? (This is ironic, since Pete Hammond was the first one to really believe in and to acknowledge the Crash resurrection.)

Is it “water carrying” of me to mention that on MCN’s Top Ten chart roundup, Munich was #8? And as usual, the chart reflected Academy nominations pretty well, with A History of Violence, The Squid & The Whale and King Kong as the three films in the top eight that didn’t garner Best Picture nods.

Reading Wells, I only see an obsessive compulsive personality who liked Munich, but still feels a need to try to hurt it if he can. Apparently, he resents Spielberg’s age, too close to his own, and Spielberg’s success, too far from his own. I’m sure Jeffrey’s rage speaks for some people. But it is not journalism in any way. Facts are rarely involved. And when he tries to lie his way back into believability, it is truly pathetic. (“Let's be clear: my comment to Newsday's Jon Anderson in late December was that Munich was "dead, dead...deader than dead" as a Best Picture winner. (And that's still the case today, as everyone well knows.) I asked Anderson to please get this right because I knew that the Academy psychology might give up a Best Picture nomination, despite all the minuses.”) Too bad Enron closed up shop, Jeff... you could have been a great executive. Maybe you can write a memoir of your 3 months in jail before rehab or report on WMDs for The New York Times.

As for Kris, he suffers from the “precursor” disease in a big way. It is all too easy to forget that The Academy does not reflect all of America or the world, but only The Academy. And the same is true for all the other organizations. Having the support of 80 members of the HFPA does not speak for 5800 voting Academy members any more than the people who love The Daily Show define the television landscape.

The season does narrow itself to a dozen or so movies by the first of December each year and the critics groups and guilds do help thin the field further. But when a clumsy launch like Munich’s occurs, all kinds of variables come into play… and when “experts” make up their minds about something, they tend to forget about those variables. For instance, the loonies in HFPA nominated Munich for Director and Screenplay, but not picture. No one who knows how HFPA work have to think twice about the notion that Spielberg not meeting with the group cost his film a Best Picture nod. But as time passes, details fade and it gets reduced to “It didn’t get a Golden Globes nomination. Oh no!”

Let me ask you... would Academy voters putting Munich in their DVD players see a different movie if Spielberg met with the HFPA and got a Best Picture nomination? Was Crash a different movie when HFPA didn't nominate it than it was when The Academy voted? Did they send out a new version of Capote a few weeks ago?

People who look at this race seem to settle in and simply stop thinking. It’s not that they are dumb. But after a while, we get into patterns. Some would say that I am in a pro-Munich or anti-BBM pattern. Many of these are the same people who accused me of being in a pro-Capote pattern. But my strategic belief in these films hasn’t changed, even when I have had to acknowledge changes in circumstance. I didn't believe that critics groups would lockstep on BBM... I was wrong... my predictions changed. What I personally think about the film has almost nothing to do with it. I now believe that Crash is the film most likely to upset Brokeback Mountain (if anyone can), because I don’t really believe that Universal will pull the trigger on Munich hard enough to have an impact. Lionsgate will do anything they can… a live performance of the film, like Tony & Tina’s Wedding, would be fun. But I haven't suddenly become a fan of the film. I do, however, have great respect for the real passion Lionsgate has for the film, even if I don't share it.

When people start trying to rationalize how some “unworthy” film made it into the Oscar race, when you scrape away the bullshit, you will usually find someone who either dislikes the film or heavily supports another film and wants to see the threatening competitor dead. Personally, there are two nominees I would good about winning, one I wouldn't mind, and two that I am not a fan of cinematically. And right now, I project those two in the lead. Go figure.

Bottom line, the reason all five of these movies were nominated is that at least 1000 Academy members liked them enough to vote for them, most likely, in the top three. And that is the one fact that we know. Everything else is conjecture.

(Addition 4:17p - Anne Thompson has added this speculative absurdity to the lot - "Walk the Line was vying for the fifth slot with Munich, I suspect. Munich, the original front runner, took so much artillery fire that Spielberg won the Academy sympathy vote..."

And when I meet an Academy member who votes based on sympathy, I will call you. It may well have been a five/six situation. It could just have easily been Good NIght, And Good Luck duking it out with Walk The Line or Constant Gardener or A History of Violence for the last slot.

My objection remains that when any of us, including me, add that air of bullshit authority to things, we need a good slap. A month ago Crash was out and all of a sudden it was a sure bet nominee, presumably way ahead of Munich... Walk The Line.... Capote? We are all far too often full of it.

I have great respect for Anne... and for that matter, I respected Tapley enough to hire him. But she didn't see the Munich nomination coming, so now it has to be degraded. And to me, that's bush league.

I know that some of you think this is about Munich, but it’s not. We can only report what we know. And when we report what we THINK as something we KNOW, we are lost as journalists.)

Posted by poland at 01:21 PM | Comments (94)

Oddball Anti-BBM Winning Stat Of The Day

This is the kind of stat that I don't really believe in, but...

When was the last time a film won Best Picture without being nominated for Best Editing?

25 years ago, Ordinary People did it.

Yes, every film that won Best Picture, even Driving Miss Daisy, got an editing nomination since then

Posted by poland at 12:30 PM | Comments (30)

Which Award Show Is The Best Predictor Of Them All?

BAFTA missed Munich… HFPA missed Munich and Crash… BFCA got all five Best Picture nominees. So which group reflects the taste of Oscar voters best?

Both groups got all ten Best Actor/Actress nominees, though BFCA did it in 6 nods while HFPA had 10 to work with.

BFCA missed William Hurt, but HFPA was only 3/5. BFCA got all five Supporting Actresses while again, HFPA was 3/5.

Both organizations overlooked Capote director Bennett Miller and otherwise got all four directors. All the screenplay nominees for both groups were Oscar nominated.

Neither group had the song from Crash, though BFCA did award a song from Hustle & Flow… just not the same song that got Oscar nom’ed.

(Note: I am a BFCA member...which doesn't change the stats)

Posted by poland at 11:42 AM | Comments (13)

January 30, 2006

That Didn't Take Long...

The AFP wire headline on th SAG Awards manages to both give short shrift to Crash, Capote, Walk The Line and other winners while continuing to obsess, however less than complimentarily, on Brokeback Mountain.

Hollywood actors snub Oscars favourite 'Brokeback Mountain'

Posted by poland at 10:18 AM | Comments (70)

January 29, 2006

The Most Interesting Thing About The SAG Awards So Far...

... is that TNT gets away with keeping its bug in the corner of the screen throughout and has not acknowledged the networks involved with each of the nominee's shows. If I were ABC or Fox or whomever, I would be seriously pissed.

Of course, how many people watching this show on TNT are not already obsessed enough to know where every show plays? But still, there is something oddly inequitable about it all... at least to me.

Added 6:08p - The next most interesting thing is that it is over an hour in and they have only given out one movie acting award. This bias is not unexpected, but amongst actors, shouldn't it be downplayed?

My first thought is that movie actors should give teh TV awards and TV actors should give the movie awards. It seems to me that it would send the right message for actors and no one is going to turn off their TV based on who presents what.

Posted by poland at 05:13 PM | Comments (35)

January 21, 2006

Oscar Contest

You can find it on the cover of MCN... good prizes...

Posted by poland at 03:59 AM | Comments (14)

January 17, 2006

By The Way...

Roger Friedman is doing his regular I-covered-it-but-I-hate-it coverage of the Globes...

But the backstory - you know the part that he always leaves out and always explains the venom - is that he managed to get himself a ticket to get in the ballroom from a supporter and was seen, carded, exposed as not being the original ticket holder, and bounced right out of the place.

That didn't keep him from sucking the air out of the afterparties.

Posted by poland at 11:23 AM | Comments (186)

January 10, 2006

Observations From The Critics Choice Awards

Amy Adams, Reese Witherspoon, and Rachel Weisz laughing and telling stories to one another during a break... and Weisz, still petite, towering over the other two by what seemed like an entire head.

Dennis Miller digging out an old joke about cyber-sex and how men will do nothing else when they can virtual sex with a supermodel for 20 bucks from the comfort of their couches when things weren't going so good.

The little girl from Narnia looking more beautiful and every bit as poised as she played in the film.

Emmy Rossum, seated at an outside table, diving into the heated scene in the middle of the room and then running back to her seat between every commerical break. (And that dress was ok on TV, but a jaw dropper in person.)

The sense of relief coming from Paul Haggis and Bennett Miller that their perceived fortunes have changed so much in recent weeks.

The hum of disapproval of Mark Gill taking so much credit for March of The Penguins and getting in a shot at Spielberg to boot.

The joyous noise of the 40 Year Old Virgin group... especially Leslie Mann.

Rachel Weisz patiently talking to eveyrone who said, "hi" and taking photos... and not in a campaigning way at all, as she was the sole rep of The Constant Gardener.

Seeing Giamatti arrive and kind of knowing then that he would win.

Q'Orianka Kilcher wearing a gown involving no animal skins of any kind.

Three celebs announced as being in the room who were not in the room.

Terrence Howard as happy as a baby boy with a brand new toy.

Jim Mangold sitting front and center for Walk The Line... and still not getting the attention he deserves.

Posted by poland at 02:59 PM | Comments (75)

January 05, 2006

Proven Wrong Again...

I was quoted in a USA Today story today that went up in the afternoon. By 3:20, I was getting e-mails like this (6 so far).

"Dear Mr. Poland,
USAToday.com quoted you today as follows: “I don’t think you’ll find a single person who doesn’t already watch the Academy Awards who’s going to tune in to see Stewart.”
I beg to differ. I am one such person, and I don’t live in LA or New York and I’m not part of the media. Allow me to explain.
I have grown so sick of television…the new opiate of the masses…that eight months ago I disconnected from my cable connection here in Sedona, and cable is the only way we can watch TV. So I no longer receive or watch television, and I rarely miss it, having re-discovered life, media, and news from beyond the tube. And the Academy Awards, which I once enjoyed, have grown into such a bloat-and-gloat-fest that I had no desire or intention to watch this year’s ceremony.
That all changed today. I was a fan of “The Daily Show” when I watched TV. When I learned that Jon Stewart was picked to host this year’s Oscar’s, I decided instantly that I will find a working television and watch…but ONLY because Jon Stewart is hosting. I’m dead serious: I will tune in to watch this year’s Academy Awards just to see Jon Stewart!
I may be just one “single person” tuning in to see Stewart, and I may not effect the Nielsen’s, but I will now be watching. And more seriously, don’t discount Stewart’s demographic draw: many people developed an interest in the 2004 election because of Stewart, and there’s a good chance he’s going to draw a whole new audience to Oscar this year. This choice may be the smartest move toward relevance by the Oscar producers in years.
Sincerely,
GB
Sedona, Arizona"

What intrigues me is that this fellow and others who are so untinterested in TV and The Oscars read this online within hours of publication and found me to explain why I was wrong.

A Jon Stewart fansite?

F