Oscar Symposium Day 1: 'I'm an Oscar Winner, Get Me Outta Here'

Nathaniel: Welcome to the 5th annual Oscar Symposium. Each year I invite a handful of smart movie types into my virtual home to decipher, debate and occassionally defenstrate the choices made by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. This year's illustrious panel unintentionally mimics the general geography of AMPAS (Los Angeles / New York / London) if not, one feels free to assume, their psychology. Please welcome: Peter Knegt, Guy Lodge, Karina Longworth, Tim Robey and Sasha Stone.

But we aren't hear to predict.

Who doesn't know that Jeff Bridges, Mo'Nique, Kathryn Bigelow, and Christoph Waltz are taking Oscar to bed on March 7th? The Academy received its Bachelor of Arts And Sciences from The School of Redundancy School.

We're here to gab.

Here's a kick off. Adam Shankman of Hairspray, So You Think You Can Dance and Bringing Down the House fame, who is producing the show this year, has promised to play up the horse race aspect of the show, declaring that the Oscars are really "the best dressed reality show competition on the air". Never mind my distaste for the ubiquity of reality television... if we're really going to play it like that, let's play it like that. Shouldn't they have started filming the potential nominees months before the show, sending cameras to invade their every private moment (er, wait. that's called "paparazzi") and watch the triumph or heartbreak when they do or don't make the finals? A So You Think You Can Act? face/off might be the only way Meryl Streep can ever win a third Oscar, so let's do it. And if we're playing it like this, why can't we vote people off? You're the judging panel... so who are you jettisoning in the first episode, and who gets a "raise your game or go home" stern warning?

Guy Lodge: You break my heart with your talk of sure things, Mr. Rogers. Does this mean that I should withdraw my bet on a Lovely Bones write-in sweep of every category, including a Gordon E. Sawyer Award for the technological achievement of Susan Sarandon’s wig collection? Clearly, I haven’t been keeping up. It’s hard, after all, what with the dearth of film awards reporting on the web. Someone should really create a site for it. I’m sure it’d do quite well.

"how'd I get dragged into this?!?"

Read the rest of DAY ONE
Topics include but are not limited to: nominees we're not comfortable with, the soulless campaign machine, what the Oscars are *about* and potshots at Nine, James Cameron, The Blind Side and Invictus.
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Year in Review Part 2: Burn the Negatives!

The title of this post is indefensible, exclamatory (!) and puerile. But these movies piss me off and if they can be super obnoxious, so can I. Now, in truth, I probably never see the absolute "worst" of the movies that play in theaters since I can pick and choose my own film menu. My New Year's Resolution is to be more constructive when I criticize (I'm not giving up criticism. That's mother's milk). I'd also like to be more positive in 2010.

Thus, I retract the titular command: No negatives of the following movies and performances should be incinerated ... instead let them live on as cautionary tales to actors and filmmakers. People are watching. Try harder.

Worst Supporting Actor
I've already expressed my concerned about the "too much!" of Stanley Tucci's continually nominated performance in The Lovely Bones. I don't know what the hell Richard Gere was doing in Amelia, do you? And I don't want Alan Arkin to do what he was doing in Sunshine Cleaning one more time. You won an Oscar for that performance already. Move on! Other than his suddenly legal elfin beauty, I can't see what Colin Firth could have possibly seen in Nicholas Hoult in A Single Man. In the end though it was clear that this would have to be a group "honor". I considered giving it to Everyone in G.I. Joe, none of whom seem to nail the cartoonishly one-note style that the movie desperately needs (not that they're playing whole octaves either, mind). I wasn't entirely crazy about what Stephen Lang was doing in Avatar but it's exactly what everyone in G.I. Joe needed to be doing. But in the end I have no choice but to hand this to the Muggy McMuggerson twins Jae Head and Ray McKinnon in The Blind Side. I partially blame them for Sandra Bullock's sudden Oscar contention. Standing next to them (and the unfortunately blank Quinton Aaron as "Michael Oher") she looks like some kind of genius dramatist. I guess that's a new way to be a "supporting" actor.

Worst Supporting Actress
Rachel McAdams seems completely lost in Sherlock Holmes, doesn't she? I love Jenny Beavan's costumes in the movie but Rachel seems lost inside of them. I got nothing from that performance. Nothing! I can barely remember her in the movie and I saw it one week ago. It breaks my hard to express my dismay about Betty White in The Proposal ("too much!") because she's practically our collective grandmother and she's absolutely my favorite Golden Girl. But this dishonor goes no contest to Rose Byrne an actress I have never warmed too. That said, she's not usually flat out awful the way she is in her shrill performance in Knowing. [spoiler] I wasn't so sad when the world ended because at least that meant I was rid of Rose Byrne and Nicolas Cage.

Worst Actor
I dedicate this award to Nicolas Cage but I'm not actually giving him the prize for Knowing (in which he is typically terrible) because, he's won too many of these already. Plus I hear he's lunatic inspired in Bad Lieutenant Port of Call New Orleans and I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt since Werner Herzog is directing him. Herzog is, as you know, quite good with certifiable movie stars (See also: Klaus Kinski). Larry David made me bonkers in Whatever Works because he doesn't modify his schtick at all to suit a different writer's voice and he's even less believeable as a romantic lead to young beautiful women than Woody Allen ever was. I wish Hugh Jackman had remembered to have fun as Wolverine in that X-Men Origins dirge. He was better the other three times he played the role. But the loser here is Channing Tatum as "Duke" in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra because I think he thinks that the movie was a drama. Oops. He is stupid hot. And I mean both adjectives emphatically.

Worst Actress
I seem to be in the distinct minority that would rather watch almost anything other than Kristen Stewart's mopey twitching ... even in Adventureland but I've already talked about that. It's too obvious to tell you that I thought Hilary Swank was embarrassing in Amelia but, so what, I did. She was stiff, stilted and sexless in a movie that needed an actress with spontaneity and fire. But this one is no contest: Hayden Panetierre plays the title role in I Love You Beth Cooper. Beth is a standard spoiled beauty who discovers that a less attractive 'loser' has real soul (funny how that's always happening in movies. I wonder who the movies are made for?) Panetierre can't even manage this stock character that thousands of actresses have explained how to play for the past century of film.

Hell's Multiplex

The Worst Pictures of the Year

10 Fighting
I still giggle when I think of Joe Reid's brilliant take on this Channing Tatum is a streetfighter drama. Is it really a comedy about retarded men having hardcore gay sex? If that's what the filmmakers intended maybe it's a masterpiece and it belongs on next week's Top Ten list?

Hugh gives Channing the beat down

09 X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Greedily hordes all the well known pitfalls of inferior superhero movies like they're actually merit badges: operatically self important, humorless, needlessly complicated backstories, the introduction of so many characters that none resonate, battles for battles sake, invulnerable characters that rob fight scenes of any actual drama... Note to filmmakers: if people cannot be killed or even injured it is SUPER boring to watch them fight. Unless the set pieces are insanely creative or well choreographed and these aren't. I will always love the X-Men. I grew up reading them. But the past two pictures have unfortunately cured me of all desire to see them on the silver screen.

08 The Lovely Bones

Peter Jackson's nadir. Garishly colorful when it needs the beauty of a simpler palette, entirely negligent about tracking the true heart of its drama (a family torn asunder), weirdly repetitive about its most obvious plot points, lazy with emotional shortcuts and telegraphed character details. In short, a disaster. Most hated moment: [Spoiler] Did we really have to equate Susie Salmon's cathartic posthumous first kiss (which she's happy about by the way) with the extended coundtown scene of her mutilated dead body being rolled towards a garbage dump? It's the worst and ickiest cross cutting I've seen in a movie since Eric Bana's orgasm in Munich but at least the latter made a solid narrative point.

07 My Sister's Keeper review
06 Knowing review
05 Amelia review

04 Push (Not Based on the Novel by Sapphire)
I don't often watch movies and think 'this would be way better as a TV series' but...yeah. Push spends a lot of time (a lot) setting up the mythology of an evil corporation that experiments and tries to control people with psychic powers. The prologue itself felt like it should have been extended by a half hour and function as a "pilot". But even accepting that they decided to make this convoluted premise into a stand alone movie, it's a huge inept mess. It rarely goes for laughs but I couldn't help laughing at one recurring gaffe. Every single time someone used one of their powers in a crowded room the extras mysteriously disappeared. I suspect they couldn't afford the extras for more complex special effects shots but you can't really show them in a scene and then make a quick edit to the same set with special effects occuring and remove the extras and not have the audience noticing the mass vanishing, you know? Worse yet this occurs in the climactic battle. A "pusher" is controlling a small group of armed men. It's actually a cool effect as she turns them like synchronized soldiers to attack any opponent. Then the emotional climax occurs. They're surrounding her like bodyguards in the medium shot, there's some close up drama and suddenly they're not in the scene any more. What... the... hell?

The third stupidest thing I saw in a movie this year: The recurring visual of a "bleeder", whose power is screaming really loud until people die from internal bleeding, removing his sunglasses so that he can scream (f/x magic makes his eyes crazy). Apparently you can't scream while you're wearing glasses. Who knew?

03 G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra
The stupidest thing I saw in any movie this year: constant fiery explosions UNDER WATER.
The second stupidest thing I saw this year (regarding movies): abundant people trying to make thumbs up excuses for this movie. Thank god that James Cameron finally came back to the cinema to remind people that action films can be thrilling and fun ... especially when you can actually follow what's happening and there's some beauty and style to the big booms.

02 The Ugly Truth
Over the past few weeks I've been trying to catch up with films I'd missed during the year. I've rediscovered something I knew already: it can be easier to watch mediocre or outright bad movies than quality films. I suspect this is why the box office charts are so often littered with disposable junk. Bad and/or unambitious movies require almost nothing from their audience. But if you're not in the right frame of mind, a quality movie's best attributes may slip right by you. I suspect this is why more complicated movies often get the dread "boring" tag from the general public. Junk is easy to engage with on superficial levels if you're feeling tired, stressed, distracted or not completely on top of your game... and who doesn't feel those things regularly? But when a movie is reallllllllly bad and offensive, none of this applies. It can prove very difficult to watch. I actually briefly hated the cinema (my great love!) when the credits rolled on this one.

Who knew that Tom Cruise's 'sperm receptacle' nastiness in Magnolia could actually be played straight for romantic comedy. And that audiences were expected to sign on and swoon? I'd name this the worst movie of the year but for the saving grace/problem of Katherine Heigl. She is actually a natural at romantic comedy but she's totally using her powers for evil. She called Knocked Up out on its sexism and then made this...?

01 I Love You I Hate You Beth Cooper.
I've already said my piece on Hayden earlier. But I would like to add that after the Home Alone franchise's elaborate pain-making slapstick and this movie's insanely violent "funny" moments (people wouldn't live through these things in real life) I do worry about writer/director Chris Columbus's sadistic streak. Maybe he should make a horror movie instead of all these sentimental pictures. He definitely likes to inflict pain.

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Whew. Got that out of my system. I'm nice from here on out as I pass out the FB Awards starting next week.

But before we get to the top ten movies of 2009 which movies made you crazy hateful this past year... which prompted your own berzerker rage? And if you love any of the movies I just barked at ... what's wrong with you? (Joking! Don't freak out) If you love any of these movies... teach us how to love them more.

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Year in Review Pt 1: Baffling Comedy and Over Cooked Drama

Part 1 of ??? (Possibly Many)

Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you.
~"Rashi" according to A Serious Man.

I rarely make time to rewatch movies (so many new and old films to see for the first time) which is a shame since a second look can be valuable. Some critics and civilians are loathe to admit that their minds are changeable or that their opinions aren't the be all/end all, but why? There's always new points of view to consider and life experiences that should shift your paradigms.

Huh?

Before I get to the movies I feel strongly about (i.e. worst and best), I thought I'd share the three which I'm not sure I "got": The Coen Bros A Serious Man, Lars von Trier's Antichrist (my gut reaction) and Jody Hill's Observe and Report.

All three verge on the deeply misanthropic which can be something of a turn-off even if you're otherwise amused by the nifty formal control, shock aesthetics, or pitch black comedy. I'd love to hear opinions from readers on where these movies succeed or fail because honestly, I didn't know what to make of them. Or, rather, I am unsure if what I made of them will last. I currently think the first two in particular are wildly over acclaimed but I'm open to being talked out of that. At the very least all three feel like exactly the picture the filmmaker(s) set out to make. There's something to be said for movies that don't feel at all about confused about themselves... even when they prompt confusion in the viewer.

Hyperbole Gone Wild
Since this happens to be one of my intermittent "consensus" years, I actually like most of the films and performances that have been racking up the Oscar-buzz. That makes kicking the movies while they're up more difficult. Maximum flexibility required. So approach the following list of 'ridiculously overpraised' with the understanding that none of them are bad. So, let's also note the silver linings.

Over Appreciated Movies

[This section of the year-end review is dedicated to you-know-who. I've had to declare him ineligible for this annual tradition lest his movies clog up the list each and every year, including this one]

04 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Yeah, yeah, I enjoyed it okay. But why isn't everyone sick of this franchise yet? Two more to go still? I'm not sure if I have the stamina. Silver Lining: Jim Broadbentwas a welcome cast addition.

03 The Cove
See previous post. I haven't seen much of its competition but it's tough to imagine that there isn't a better documentary getting shafted with its trophy haul (10+ prizes already). From the limited docs I've seen this year I much preferred Prodigal Sons (genius) Anvil! The Story of Anvil! (multi-layered) and Valentino the Last Emperor (entertaining!) for starters. Silver Lining: Dolphins are awesome.

02 The Hangover
I avoided this film for a long time. Frat boy comedy has never been my thing and I'd heard about the "Dr. Faggot" jokes and the inappropriate justifications of the same ('that's the way people talk!' for a film that otherwise doesn't worry a lick about representing reality). Watching it proved to be quite a rollercoaster. For the first 15 minutes I was bored solid and annoyed by the sexism/homophobia, generic setup and pedestrian filmmaking. Then, suddenly, the movie became consistently hilarious for a full half hour (which is more than most comedies can claim) as the inexplicable absurdities piled up: the chicken, the tiger in the bathroom, the missing tooth, the police car. The absurdly ballooning 'what the hell happened' scenario provided lots of funny which then slowly deflated, punctured by increasingly less funny 'here's what happened' details. Then in the final half hour the film returned to its generic misogyny. The takeaway: Boys will be boys, warts and all. Ya gotta love 'em! [back slap!] Women on the other hand... If you have to put up with them (and you do, unfortunately) only blissfully ignorant wives and sexual bimbos are acceptable options. Silver Lining: And yet... lots of laughs.

01 A Single Man
I'm sure some of you may feel that this drama about a gay man named George grieving his dead lover belongs in the grouping above. 'You'll change your mind about it! It's great!!!' But I can't shake the film school feeling that Tom Ford's debut gave me. Some people see enormously moving beauty. I see enormously self-conscious imitative beauty. Not that that can't blossom into something better. I look forward to Ford's next film. I just wish people hadn't been as quick to shower him with praise. George practically drowned in all of it in the dream sequence! What will there be left to say if Ford makes a truly great film next? Silver Lining: the original European trailer is so flawless and hypnotic that if we were grading trailers rather than the movies they're advertising this one would be an "A". The same grade applies to Colin Firth's heartbreaking performance, especially in the first half.

Inexplicably Praised Performances

It would be a gross exaggeration to say "worst" when it comes to these two performances but both are misjudged. That they should be in contention for acting prizes over more complex, careful and rewarding work would be maddening but for the Career Reward aspects of year-end hoopla. Both of these actors can claim fine "nomination worthy" turns in the past. And by "past" I do not mean earlier in December when these performances emerged.

Maggie Gyllenhaal as "Jean Craddock" in Crazy Heart
One of my friends recently told me I had taken "bad mood pills" the day I saw Crazy Heart. If reviews could speak they would undoubtedly say the same. It's just that I felt that I'd seen the movie a hundred times before and that it meandered dully whenever it drifted away from the musical performances (quite good) and into the romance and addiction drama. Jeff Bridges is terrific as "Bad Blake" but his excellence didn't feel revelatory to me in the way that seems to be elevating the film for others. Since when is Jeff Bridges not terrific when he's front and center? How can this be a revelation to people after The Big Lebowski, Star Man, The Door in the Floor, The Fabulous Baker Boys and Insert More Movies Here? I bought Bad Blake's instant lost puppy insinuation into Jean's life but I didn't buy her ready acceptance of the same. The conflict that arises in their relationship you expect but Jean's reaction to it was puzzling. It didn't feel at all organic to the character as Maggie had been playing her up till then. What about this woman would have made her cast her lot so quickly with such an obviously "Bad" man? She doesn't play the backstory. You have to get it from the screenplay instead. Did Maggie misplace her script or did they edit out a crucial character detail scene?

I still love My Maggie G and it's not like I don't root for her to walk Oscar's red carpet quite frequently (If there's a big surprise in Oscar's Supporting Actress list maybe it'll be her?) but it's hard not to expect more from her after the electricity and depth of her star turn in Sherrybaby (among others).

Stanley Tucci as "George Harvey" in The Lovely Bones
Momentum has been building to give this fine actor/writer/director his first Oscar nomination for Supporting Actor. I can totally support that (see previous Tucci enthusiasm). But if we're going to do that can't it be for Julie & Julia wherein he effortlessly supported the movie and the star (Meryl Streep) and did so with great charm and well judged simplicity. In The Lovely Bones he adds so many affectations to the killer that one wonders why the neighbors haven't come at him with pitchforks years ago. And all of it is unnecessary since Peter Jackson and his production team are already telegraphing what a terrible pervert he is through camera angles, lighting, makeup and wardrobe. George Harvey is a killer but this performance is O-V-E-R-K-I-L-L.

Ways to Be Wicked

That's only one man's opinion, mine. And yours? Which 2009 films and performances did you struggle to appreciate when everyone around you was swooning for them? And are you glad I declared a certain film ineligible so you didn't have to hear me bitch about it?

Tomorrow: Hell's Multiplex: The Worst of the Year.

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Pandora's Link

Quiet Earth photos from Peter Weir's next movie The Way Back starring Ed Harris and Colin Farrell. Ah, I love Peter Weir. Can't wait.
Towleroad Speaking of Farrell, he was best man at his gay brother's wedding this summer. Loving families are so awesome. More celebrations in Ireland this weekend
movie marketing The Lovely Bones shifts gears for female fans
Sydney Morning Herald interviews Peter Jackson. There's quite a defensive tone and quotable snark to his response to critics who gripe that he didn't show the story's kick off murder. On this point I agree with the Lord of the Rings auteur, although I wouldn't have phrased it so damningly and I hope he doesn't think that's the extent of the criticism.
art of the title sequence on a few long steadicam openings. Boogie Nights is my all time favorite (in this field) but I thought it was longer than three minutes.

Welcome to Pandora
Cinema Styles plays mental tricks with "a brick wall". It's a thought provoking post.
Loyal Kng compares the actors with their Na'Vi
MNPP Avatar in 150 Words of Less
Mighty God King a conversation after Avatar (spoilers)
and finally you must read...
i09 delivers an insightful article gloriously titled "When Will White People Stop Making Movies Like Avatar?" Oh, the eternal narratives that spring from white privilege/guilt.

BFCA Goes Wild For Nine, Basterds and Avatar

I am shocked to report that my new membership did not singlehandedly or significantly increase their taste levels, he said sarcastically. A few of the following nominations are hard to justify qualitatively speaking but you can't always get what you want. Again Oscar punditry combined with 'I just unwrapped this gift' excitement seem to have replaced careful consideration of what the year had to offer. But then it does appear as if only about 15 movies truly existed this year. In fact six movies Inglourious Basterds, Nine, Avatar, Up in the Air, The Hurt Locker, Precious and The Lovely Bones account for 48% of all the nominations. Crazy.

Am I just grumpy because they think The Lovely Bones (6 nominations) is better looking and The Blind Side (2 nominations) better acted than the exquisite Bright Star (1 nomination only)? I find those two judgment calls totally unsupportable. The abundant nominations for the garish and messy Bones is actually the weirdest thing here. It's current RT score is 40%... not the sort of critical approval that generally makes you a major awards contender. They even like its visual effects more than most of the movies that the Academy has pushed forward in the f/x semifinals. It's got as many nominations as District 9 which people (generally speaking mind you) love a whole lot more. Is this because Bones spent so long being presumed-to-be a major contender? I'd be shocked if it's Oscar nomination tally goes beyond three nominations and I'm guessing it'll be less than that.

Best Picture

Avatar
* An Education
* The Hurt Locker
* Inglourious Basterds
* Invictus
* Nine
* Precious
* A Serious Man
* Up
* Up In The Air

• Yes, those are my current exact predictions for the Best Picture Oscar nominees. Not intentional! Or maybe it is on the BFCA's part. Heh.

Best Actor

Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart *
George Clooney, Up In The Air * 
Colin Firth, A Single Man * 
Morgan Freeman, Invictus *
Viggo Mortensen, The Road * Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Best Actress

Emily Blunt, The Young Victoria * 
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side * 
Carey Mulligan, An Education * 
Saoirse Ronan, The Lovely Bones *
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious *
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

• Er... I realize Saoirse has a lot of fans in these parts. And I do consider myself one of them. I think she has a huge exciting career ahead and those eyes are just spectacular on camera. But a Best Actress nomination for this? (sigh) I weep for Tilda Swinton and Abbie Cornish who were dealing with very complex characterization. Now, art is its own reward so it's not like they aren't rewarded for and haven't rewarded us with their work. But still. It'd be nice if physical awards sometimes lined up with the intangibles.

Best Supporting Actor

Matt Damon, Invictus *
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger *
Christian McKay, Me And Orson Welles *
Alfred Molina, An Education * 
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones *
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

• Tucci was way better in Julie & Julia. That is all.

Best Supporting Actress

Marion Cotillard, Nine * Vera Farmiga, Up In The Air *
Anna Kendrick, Up In The Air * Mo’Nique, Precious *
Julianne Moore, A Single Man *
Samantha Morton, The Messenger

• This is a good shock. The BFCA normally supports category fraud so I'm happy to see Cotillard appear here where she belongs (Yes, I voted for her)

Best Young Actor / Actress
Jae Head, The Blind Side *
Bailee Madison, Brothers * 
Max Records, Where The Wild Things Are * 
Saoirse Ronan, The Lovely Bones * 
Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Road

• This is a good lineup but the inclusion of Jae Head who plays "SJ" in The Blind Side is... well, it's like a weird graft onto a movie list from a laugh track sitcom. One of the people I voted for did not make it: Edie Martin in Bright Star. Such a natural onscreen.

Acting Ensemble

Inglourious Basterds
* Nine
* Precious
* Star Trek
* Up In The Air

• Why do some categories have four nominees, some have five and most have six?

Director

Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker * 
James Cameron, Avatar * 
Lee Daniels, Precious *
Clint Eastwood, Invictus *
Jason Reitman, Up In The Air * 
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

• I think that's your Oscar lineup minus Eastwood of all people.

Original Screenplay

Mark Boal – “The Hurt Locker”
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – “A Serious Man”
Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber – “(500) Days Of Summer”
Bob Peterson, Peter Docter – “Up”
Quentin Tarantino – “Inglourious Basterds”

Adapted Screenplay
Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach Fantastic Mr. Fox *
Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell District 9 *
Geoffrey Fletcher Precious *
Tom Ford, David Scearce A Single Man *
Nick Hornby An Education *
Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner Up In The Air

Cinematography
Barry Ackroyd, The Hurt Locker *
Dion Beebe, Nine *
Mauro Fiore, Avatar * 
Andrew Lesnie, The Lovely Bones *
Robert Richardson, Inglourious Basterds

Art Direction
Dan Bishop, A Single Man *
Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg, Avatar *
John Myhre, Gordon Sim , Nine * Naomi Shohan, George De Titta, Jr., The Lovely Bones *
David Wasco, Sandy Reynolds Wasco, Inglourious Basterds

• I'm really not trying to be upset about The Lovely Bones but it's not working. Even the art direction bugged me. It felt like it was trying so hard to be 1960s!, rather than looking lived in and organic.

Editing
Dana E. Glauberman, Up In The Air *
Sally Menke, Inglourious Basterds *
Bob Murawski, Chris Innis, The Hurt Locker *
Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua, James Cameron, Avatar *
Claire Simpson, Wyatt Smith , Nine

Costume Design
Colleen Atwood, Nine *
Janet Patterson , Bright Star *
Sandy Powell, The Young Victoria *
Anna Sheppard, Inglourious Basterds * 
Casey Storm, Where The Wild Things Are

Makeup
Avatar
* District 9
* Nine
* The Road
* Star Trek

Visual Effects
Avatar
* District 9
* The Lovely Bones
* Star Trek
* 2012

• With five nominees I was hoping to see at least one that wasn't totally CGI. Didn't Where the Wild Things Are just look incredible?

Sound

Avatar
* District 9
* The Hurt Locker
* Nine
* Star Trek

Animated Feature
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
* Coraline
* Fantastic Mr. Fox
* Princess And The Frog
* Up

Action
Avatar
* District 9
* The Hurt Locker
* Inglourious Basterds
* Star Trek

Comedy

(500) Days Of Summer
* The Hangover
* It’s Complicated
* The Proposal
* Zombieland

TV Movie
Gifted Hands
* Grey Gardens
* Into The Storm
* Taking Chance

Foreign Language Film
Broken Embraces
* Coco Before Chanel
* Red Cliff
* Sin Nombre
* The White Ribbon

Documentary Feature
Anvil! The Story of Anvil *
Capitalism: A Love Story
* The Cove
* Food, Inc.
* Michael Jackson’s This Is It

Song

“All Is Love” – Karen O, Nick Zinner, Where The Wild Things Are * 
“Almost There” – Randy Newman, The Princess And The Frog
* “Cinema Italiano” – Maury Yeston, Nine *
“(I Want To) Come Home” – Paul McCartney, Everybody’s Fine *
“The Weary Kind” – T Bone Burnett, Ryan Bingham, Crazy Heart

Score
Michael Giacchino, Up * Marvin Hamlisch, The Informant! *
Randy Newman, The Princess and the Frog *
Karen O, Carter Burwell, Where The Wild Things Are * Hans Zimmer, Sherlock Holmes

It's so true! Especially during awards season

Most shocking total shut-out: The Last Station (not even Helen Mirren!!!). There was also zero love for early birds like Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Cheri (not even in costumes) or Public Enemies

Well? Speak up.

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A Single Man's Lovely Bones

Is it a Gay Heresy to admit that you didn't love A Single Man, gay icon and fashionista Tom Ford's directorial debut? A Single Man, based on the Christopher Isherwood novel, follows George (Colin Firth) a grieving middle aged professor through a typical day as he eyes attractive students, ponders suicide, resents his neighbors and makes plans with his best friend (a sozzled Julianne Moore). He's still grieving his dead lover Jim. Jim is played by the fantastically attractive Matthew Goode in flashbacks (his second time playing a perfect human specimen this year, see also Watchmen, such flattering typecasting!)

There's a lot to recommend in George's journey through grief: Colin Firth and his leaking eyeballs are so stupendous and moving that he's surely Oscar-nomination bound (it's enough to forgive his previous nonsensical gayness in Mamma Mia!), Julianne Moore is funny and bracing even if the role is nothing much, and the men are all outrageously beautiful. But what does it all mean?

For more on A Single Man and The Lovely Bones read my weekly column at Towleroad.

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7 Word Review: The Lovely Bones

I'm sorry I called Precious "over directed."


C- (more later)

The Somewhat Lovely Bones?

You probably caught on Awards Daily that some early reviews of The Lovely Bones are out. Lots more to come presumably. But did you see this tweet from British actor/novelist/funny man Stephen Fry

Variety is significantly less riveted than Fry, calling it an "artistic disappointment". Todd McCarthy also crushes my dreams by starting the review talking about Heavenly Creatures, a film which he seems to hold in as high regard as I do (One of the three best films of the 1990s, if you ask me).

The "disappointment" seems to stem from Jackson's infatuation with visual f/x. As for its actors, this bit is interesting...

With reddish hair, brilliantly alive eyes and a seemingly irrepressible impulse for movement and activity, Ronan represents a heavenly creature indeed, a figure of surging, eager, anticipatory life cut off just as it is budding. Less quicksilver and more solidly built, McIver's Lindsey properly begins in her live-wire sister's shadow only to grow gradually into an impressive figure. Chain-smoking and depleting the liquor cabinet, Sarandon camps it up for a few welcome laughs...

McCarthy is less impressed with the parental units, Wahlberg and Weisz. Are you still counting down the days until dem bones arrive?

"Who's Not Wearing Any Clothes..."?

That's not just a famous line from "A Call From the Vatican" to be sung by Penélope Cruz in Nine (see snippet below*) but a question we all must ask ourselves as we enter the holiday movie season. As in which film is the emperor without them?



Is it Avatar, Invictus or The Lovely Bones? Those are the three largely unseen giants looming, casting significant shadows on box office and/or Oscar hopes. Even if Avatar is great (which many have doubted ever since the bright blue Na'vi were revealed), it'll be a tough sell for sci-fi averse Oscar voters. Invictus could be a sure Oscar thing even if it's not great (given the pedigree) but The Lovely Bones ... The Lovely Bones. I don't know what to do with it. This one feels like it could go any which way.

Saoirse, Susan and Neyteri nervously glance towards Oscar season.
This is the calm before the storm

Oscar Predictions -- now with revised commentary and Golden Globe predictions -- are up in the Picture, Actor, Actress and Supporting Actress categories. Your hunches and comments are appreciated.

*eek. Penélope sounds a little flat here to me. But I've been listening to the Krakowski version for so many years, I may just need to adjust my expectations. I would've preferred to embed the new Nine commercial, which is beautifully confident with no dialogue... just dance rehearsals and footage and the glorious cast.
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Stanley Tucci Rising "Gird Your Loins!"

On the same day I sat in the presence of Tilda Swinton (which I already told you about), I also attended the similarly formatted Stanley Tucci event at the New Yorker festival. You can read my article about the experience over at Tribeca. I love that they festooned it with an old Levi's ad of Tucci's. So weird to see him like that.

As you may have noticed in past conversations, I'm fairly fond of Tucci and I've been happy to see his (supporting) star rising. I knew nothing about him personally so the event was my first reveal of what he was like off stage: serious but funny (and punny as the case may be). He's often referred to as a Character Actor which he dubs a

redundant term. What they mean is you're not a leading man. It's like saying that someone is heavyset or 'she's a handsome woman!'

That perception frees him up since he doesn't have to worry about the parts drying up with age. "It's like I feel very fortunate in a weird way that I lost my hair." he told us joking "I had it all plucked. It was a conscious plucking."

Tucci & Streep as co-workers in The Devil Wears Prada
and spouses in Julie & Julia. Here's to team-up #3. His
comments on Streep are in the article.

When it came to the very standard topic of straight-man-playing-a-gay-man (zzz, why is this still so amazing to people?) as he did in Prada, Tucci was relatively inoffensive although he couldn't resist joking about his (late) wife ribbing him about it "Well, that was pretty easy for you wasn’t it?". He told a great story about the making of the film involving his famous "Gird your loins!" line, which marked the impending arrival of Miranda Priestley.. Maybe this is on the DVD commentary -- I haven't checked -- but each take the director had him utter a different line to keep the cast on their comic toes. One time, Tucci recalls laughing, he even yelled...

'TITS IN!' which doesn't even make any sense!

'Gird your loins' for that Oscar campaign, though. The New Yorker event showed a lengthy clip of Tucci as George Harvey from The Lovely Bones. The clip wasn't exactly what you might call "subtle" -- Peter Jackson not being a demur director -- but it showcased Harvey cleaning up after the murder of Saorsie Ronan and frantically 'straightening up' his place (chillingly not in the way one would normally straighten up, quite the opposite) when the police come knocking.

Do you see Tucci as being in play for Oscar... or are you holding out for the actual film evidence?

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The Lovely Links

But first... The Lovely Bones trailer with intro by Peter Jackson. Are you counting down the days? Have you read the novel?



Does this make you more or less confident in regards to its Oscar and/or box office potential?

links...
Cinematical Hugh Jackman to make a circus musical on P.T. Barnum. Anne Hathaway and Mika sought out for contributions? You don't say...
Only Good Movies picks 25 must see military themed pictures -- nice variety of genres represented here.
AV Club weighs in on the probably crappy GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra's decision to skip the usual screenings for critics. Nevertheless some critics in the fanboy community have seen it / like it. I wonder what will happen to film criticism in the long run now that the critical community is going to be even less diverse than it already was. Doesn't it seem like most people writing about movies these days are of the genre-loving geek variety? Nothing wrong with being a genre-loving geek but it doesn't seem like that makes for a good representative pool for critical discussions of film aesthetics you know? I'm just thinking out loud. Don't mind me.

/Films a new Little Red Riding Hood feature? Sure. Why not actually?
Pop Hangover if plots reflected movie posters
Kirk Demarais offers up "family portraits" of movie clans. I love it though I would've chosen different families had I come up with the idea myself. Cursed self! Where are those ideas this month?
IndieWire Young Victoria to close Toronto. My god that movie is taking a long time to get to America
Kenneth in the (212) sticks it to the reliably dumbass "critic" Michael Medved in regards to those gay Sherlock Holmes rumors
Strange Culture looks at Oscar statistics regarding first time director nominations. Which newbies in the race this year do you think have the best shot?

"but what I really want to do is link"

Hollywood Reporter acquisition talks at Tribeca for The Eclipse, Don McKay (with Thomas Hayden Church & Elisabeth Shue!) and Serious Moonlight
Disturbia "Bateman" Ts. Love it
Coming Soon More Lovely Bones photos
LA Times answers the question I've been asking forever: what the hell is going on with Kenneth Lonergan's Margaret (now three years in post-production)?


Cigarettes and Red Vines check out this marquee for There Will Be Blood. Hee
OMG a sequel to Clueless??? Be careful what you wish for
StinkyLulu Smackdown 1959
Pop Elegantiarum Grace Kelly "Ice-Cold"
Sunset Gun on David Cronenberg and JG Ballard's Crash
Nerdcore unites icons Kirk & Leia. I wish I'd thought of this photo mashup
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Stanley Tucci as "George Harvey"

The first still for Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Lovely Bones.

USA Today has the first shot.

A fine first choice for a reveal it is. It's both sad and sinister and, if you haven't read the novel, probably intriguing too. (I currently have Tucci predicted for Supporting Actor but the Oscar race is neither here nor there at this point). The question that hovers over this movie is this: can Jackson marry his 00s era facility with epic f/x grandeur to his tinier idiosyncratic 90s artistic impulses? And,, if he can, will that union live peacefully with Alice Sebold's gripping yet sentimental novel?

The other image which you can see at Empire I shan't show you in detail because it functions as an advertisement for that website rather than this movie. It's a fairly simple reflective sky shot, Saoirse Ronan in Heaven (she plays the lead character who is murdered at the beginning of the story, hence the title). The image is so blank that your mind wishes to project the movie's title over the clouds, creating a forthcoming poster. But this is where Empire places their gigantic watermark, sending an odd message. This isn't "Peter Jackson's Empire Online". It's Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones. But then again, Peter Jackson's Empire Online could be a fun curio. What would he do to the magazine if he were in charge?
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We Can't Wait #11 The Lovely Bones

Directed by some unknown ...goes by "Peter Jackson" (name?)
Starring Briony from Atonement, Sgt Dignam from The Departed and Mrs. Darren Aronofsky
Synopsis A murder victim watches her killer and family from heaven
Brought to you by Dreamworks, Paramount and Wingnut Films
Expected Release Date Post-production is apparently going to go long on this one. We're hearing March 2009. Damn. Defeats the point of it being on this list. sigh

Nathaniel: For those who lived under a rock back when The Lovely Bones was a bestseller it's about a girl (Saoirse Ronan) who is murdered --no spoiler, just the plot setup --and watches her parents (Mark Wahlberg & Rachel Weisz) and the murderer from her afterlife as the murder investigation unfolds and her family deals with their substantial grief. Though the novel teeters close to gooey sentiment here and there, I really enjoyed it when I read it.

When I heard that Peter Jackson was taking the reigns I thought "ooh, great. something small. something young girl focused --something to remind me of how great Heavenly Creatures was" and then I thought. Er... King Kong was so bloated as if The Lord of the Rings (which I loved) had ruined his notions of scale and dramatic precision... and couldn't The Lovely Bones go really overboard with its visualization of heaven. And then I began to worry...

Glenn: I have not read the book - perhaps I will this year - so I don't really know what to expect. To be honest, the idea of a girl looking down from heaven sounds a bit like a kooky comedy that would have starred Whoopi Goldberg in that period of the '90s where she made a lot of movies like Eddie and The Associate. Perhaps her character had lost a lot of money on wall street and decided she didn't want to live so Heaven sent somebody down to SWAP with her so she could experience what it was like only to learn that if she ended her life she would never be able to meet the love of her life or hold her grandchild!

...wait. I got off track there. I'm looking forward to The Lovely Bones mostly for Jackson's return to (hopefully, natch) intimate filmmaking. And maybe Saiorse Ronan can continue to prove she's actually a 75-year-old woman in a child's body! That gives me another idea for a wacky comedy..

MaryAnn: Haven't read the book, but I'm onboard for *anything* Peter Jackson does. And after Atonement, I can't wait to see if Saoirse Ronan was a one-hit wonder or if she's got real staying power.

Gabriel: Glenn, I've been laughing for five minutes at your Whoopi Goldberg career summation. :-) However, my guess is that this movie will try to mix magic into its murder story, rather than comedy...it's a fragile story with delicate story points, and too much humor would probably kill it. I personally am intrigued to see Mark Wahlberg, who hopped into the film at the last minute when Ryan Gosling dropped out. But if there's anyone who thinks this isn't going to be successful, I offer this formula: Peter Jackson + Bestselling Book + Likeable Stars + Oscar Contender=Box Office Hit.

Nathaniel: Joe sat this discussion out. Perhaps he knew not to expect this until 2009? It's filming now. Have you read the book? Are you ready for a Jackson drama after all these fantasy epics?

<-- Sister Aloysius prays for your wicked soul if you haven't been reading the "we can't wait" countdown #1 Synecdoche, New York / #2 Burn After Reading / #3 Australia / #4 Milk / #5 Blindness / # 6 Doubt / #7 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button / #8 Revolutionary Road / #9 The Dark Knight / #10 Sex & The City: The Movie / #11 The Lovely Bones / #12 Wall-E / #13 Stop-Loss / #14 The Women / #15 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince / Introduction / Orphans
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