Thompson on Hollywood

Actor Watch: Award Circuit Talk from Firth, Franco, Moore and Kunis; Eyre on Good Actors

- One thing that makes Colin Firth blush: two thousand people singing him "Happy Birthday" (on his 50th birthday, September 10, when The King's Speech first wowed Toronto). The actor considered most likely to win an Oscar this year shares more embarrassing moments with The New Yorker's Lizzie Widdicombe, who describes him as: "the British actor best known for playing variations on the repressed-but-sexy English gentleman." On the other hand, Firth himself says the English are "very paradoxical people" for whom "It doesn’t take much to get them to let their hair down—soccer, alcohol, music, or general excitement.”

By Sophia Savage
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November 29, 2010 6:45 AM
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Oscar Watch: Black Swan's Portman Talks, Charms Letterman, Leads Long Line of Contenders

- Natalie Portman is not only Letterman's favorite (see below), she's also sitting atop Peter Hammond's list of deserving Oscar contenders and setting off alarms at her David Poland interview. Best actress rivals are going to have an increasingly difficult time keeping up with Portman's buzz, including Secretariat's Diane Lane (our interview coming soon) and newcomers to the race, Halle Berry Frankie and Alice (check out two clips at ThePlaylist), and Glee guest-star Gwyneth Paltrow for Country Strong.

By Sophia Savage
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November 23, 2010 11:00 AM
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Oscar Talk: Governors Awards, Animated and Documentary Shortlists, Oscar Parties, Ronni Chasen

On Oscar Talk 41 Kris Tapley and I have plenty to discuss as Oscar madness heats up. We cover the Governors Awards, the Academy's animated and documentary feature shortlists, the Amazon Studios, and Oscar circuit festivities. And we remember our friend and colleague Ronni Chasen.

By Anne Thompson
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November 19, 2010 8:06 AM
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Will Studio Pics "Secretariat," "Love & Other Drugs," "Morning Glory" Earn Oscar Love?

The movies that are ahead in the awards race---or have the most buzz at this stage--either have already opened or nabbed media coverage at film festivals, from Sundance (Blue Valentine, Waiting for Superman, The Kids Are All Right), Cannes (Biutiful, Another Year, Inside Job) and Venice (Black Swan, The Town, The Tempest) to Telluride (The King's Speech, The Way Back, 127 Hours), Toronto (Rabbit Hole, Hereafter), New York (The Social Network) and later reprise fests such as the Hamptons and AFI Fest. Now Paramount has slotted a surprise "secret" AFI Fest screening of David O. Russell's The Fighter, which I will see tonight at Grauman's, with an audience: a smart studio move.

By Anne Thompson
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November 9, 2010 9:28 AM
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Weekly Wrap: Oscar Contenders Big and Small, Production News, Lawrence and Morgan Talk

AWARDS

By Sophia Savage
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October 29, 2010 6:06 AM
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Gender Watch: Theron for Snow, Cholodenko Talks, Lisbeth Salander and Hollywood's Woman Problem

-Charlize Theron could be in, and Angelina Jolie out for director Rupert Sanders' Snow White and The Huntsman, according to ThePlaylist. It was always a hopeful stretch to think that Jolie would sign up (get in line) but Theron's schedule has opened up thanks to the Mad Max postponement. That makes her an attractive candidate for evil queen Ravenna, who hires a bounty hunter (Inception Brit Tom Hardy, also starring in Mad Max) to chase down Snow White after her escape. Theron is currently shooting Jason Reitman's Young Adult with Patrick Wilson. While not as established as an action star as Jolie, Theron is one of the few actresses who can legitimately be considered alongside Jolie in the action sphere (as much for Monster and In The Valley of Elah as "actioners" Æon Flux and Hancock). Plot details are murky, but we like the thought of watching Theron boss around Hardy.

By Sophia Savage
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October 29, 2010 5:55 AM
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Oscar Wrap: Blue Valentine's Gosling, Dive-Bombing 127 Hours, Best Actress Death Match

Blue Valentine star Ryan Gosling not only talks to Crazy, Stupid, Love co-star Steve Carell, but self-mockingly poses in tight leather in the rain for Interview Magazine. On his past Oscar nomination for Half Nelson, he says: "it feels weird…not that long ago that I was on a TV show called Young Hercules in which I had a fake tan and wore tight leather pants and fought imaginary monsters." As for working on the smaller indie films he loves, the downside is that "when you’re making them, you’re pretty sure no one’s going to see them," he notes---unless they get a nomination: "[it] in some way affirms those choices by making it possible for people to hear about a film and maybe see a movie they wouldn’t have otherwise seen."

By Sophia Savage
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October 28, 2010 7:55 AM
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Oscar Round-Up: Best Actress Buzzing, Quoting The Social Network, Does Winter's Bone Have a Chance?

Buzz is building around this year's best actress Oscar race: "Unlike most years when men dominate the critical buzz for strong roles," asserts TheStar's Zorianna Kit. Well, that's debatable: last year boasted the Sandra Bullock/Meryl Streep flirtation, Carey Mulligan's breakout performance, Mo'Nique, Helen Mirren, Kathryn Bigelow winning for best director…and so on. But certainly this year boasts an abundance of actresses to pick from, including some who grabbed our attention in untraditional roles, from Annette Bening in The Kids Are All Right to Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone--and many have not yet seen fall fest fave Natalie Portman in Black Swan. Fasten your seat belts.

By Sophia Savage
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October 21, 2010 4:07 AM
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Oscar Talk Wrap-Up: Never Let Me Go Wanes, Foreign Contenders, Blue Valentine, Harry Potter

During this week's Oscar Talk podcast, Kris Tapley (InContention) and I were joined by indieWIRE's awards expert Peter Knegt and InContention's Guy Lodge, both in London covering the festival.

By Anne Thompson
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October 20, 2010 1:42 AM
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Director Watch: Eastwood's Hoover without Phoenix, Julianne Moore Likes Her Helmers Silent

Hoover producer Rob Lorenz has already denied that Joaquin Phoenix would co-star with Leonardo DiCaprio in the biopic; now Clint Eastwood says it too. In fact, Eastwood didn't even realize he was an option. "Didn't he become a rapper?" was his response when addressing the rumor. (Not a good sign as WME's Patrick Whitesell tries to rehabilitate Phoenix's career.)