Thompson on Hollywood

Oscar Talk Episode Seventeen: PGA, DGA, Scripters and Top Ten

Kris Tapley and I track the Oscar impact of the recent PGA, DGA and USC Scripter noms. Of the top four, what's ahead? Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Up in the Air or Inglourious Basterds? Is Christoph Waltz a lock to win best supporting actor? We also weigh the chances of Up, The Messenger, District 9, A Serious Man and Star Trek to make it into the best picture top ten. And we get into recent eligibility issues on Bright Star, District 9 and An Education with the Scripters, the Academy and the WGA.

By Anne Thompson
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January 8, 2010 6:26 AM
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Ferguson Riffs on Late Night Shifts

When my 20-year-old is home, she TiVos Oprah and Conan. (She refuses to watch Leno, Letterman or, God forbid, Charlie Rose.) In passing The Tonight Show mantle to O'Brien, NBC was trying to grow a younger viewer base, which takes time. By moving Leno to 10 PM, the network gambled that it could solve all its problems without losing talent or viewers, and lost. (Here's Kim Masters and the LAT.) While NBC's scrambling --which could return Leno to 11:30 and risks losing O'Brien altogether-- seems messy at best, it did feed this inspired Craig Ferguson monologue:

By Anne Thompson
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January 8, 2010 5:56 AM
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Oscar Duel: Do Sci-Fi Films Like Star Trek Belong in Race?

In this dueling blog, Moviefone.com Oscarologist Jack Mathews and I discuss the recently-announced Producers Guild of America nominations and ask the question, do such sci-fi movies as District 9 and Star Trek, which made the PGA's 10-best ballot, really belong in the Oscar Hunt?

By Anne Thompson
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January 8, 2010 2:00 AM
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Reitman's Up in the Air Press Tour Simulator

Jason Reitman not only put together a pie chart from his Up in the Air media rounds of most frequent questions, but now he's made a video of his endless global press tour that shows what a blur this whole thing must be. I talked to Reitman at the very start in Telluride with a flip cam interview before he had his patter down, and interviewed him again in L.A. at a Sneak Previews Q & A. While I see Peter Sciretta, Kris Tapley, Peter Travers and Rachel Abramowitz in the following montage, I don't think I'm in there:

By Anne Thompson
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January 8, 2010 1:25 AM
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Oscar Watch: DGA Noms Analysis

The big news in today's Directors Guild nominations was the selection of Precious director Lee Daniels, the DGA's first African-American nominee, over Invictus' Clint Eastwood.

By Anne Thompson
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January 7, 2010 9:00 AM
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Oscar Watch: BAFTA Voters Prune Long List

The Orange British Academy Film Awards can be influential on Academy voters. Thursday, BAFTA released their long list of 15 in each category (on the jump).

By Anne Thompson
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January 7, 2010 4:23 AM
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Polanski Asks To Be Sentenced in Absentia

The LAT is reporting that director Roman Polanski has asked an L.A. judge to be sentenced in absentia in his 1977 sex case. This is according to a notarized letter submitted to a Superior Court judge during a hearing Wednesday afternoon:

By Anne Thompson
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January 7, 2010 12:16 AM
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Oscar Watch: WGA Eligibility Issues Dog An Education, Weinstein Films

It's good to get an Oscar boost from the various guilds, but eligibility requirements often make that attention and credibility lift impossible.

By Anne Thompson
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January 6, 2010 9:51 AM
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Oscar Watch: Visual Effects List of Seven Led by Avatar

Seven movies have made the short list of the Academy Visual Effects branch. They will vote for the final three nominated films on January 21 at the annual bake-off, where 15-minute reels of each film are screened for the VFX voters. I'm always at Sundance for this; I'd love to go one day.

By Anne Thompson
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January 6, 2010 7:17 AM
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Chinese Pull Two Films from Palm Springs Fest

According to the Palm Springs International Film festival, the reason why the China Film Group has pulled two films from the fest (which got under way Tuesday) is to protest the showing of Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam's pro-Tibet doc The Sun Behind the Clouds: Tibet's Struggle for Freedom (trailer on jump). So China pulled the horrific Nanking film The City of Life and Death, which scored with audiences and critics at September's Toronto Film Fest; National Geographic Films is set to release it in March. The film's director, Lu Chuan, told the Hollywood Reporter that China is protesting the fest's inclusion of a film about the Dalai Lama.