Thompson on Hollywood

Oscar Watch: Kids Are All Right Faces Academy Males

Oscar campaigners call them the Steak Eaters. The Academy is full of them--they're red-blooded males (not just American--Europeans and Aussies too), often directors, writers and craftspeople. They're the guys who voted for The Silence of the Lambs, Braveheart, Gladiator, Avatar and yes, Crash over Brokeback Mountain. "They vote for big movies that make big money, good solid moviemaking with great actors and good storytelling," says one veteran Oscar campaigner. "True Grit is for them."

By Anne Thompson
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December 28, 2010 9:15 AM
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Alliance of Women Film Journalists Nominees

The Alliance of Women Film Journalists has posted its nominees for the 2010 AWFJ EDA Awards (full list is below). Nominated for Best Film are Black Swan, Inception, The King's Speech, The Social Network and Winter's Bone. Oddly, The Kids Are All Right received 16 nominations-- but not best picture. Helen Mirren (RED) got five.

By Anne Thompson
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December 22, 2010 11:23 AM
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2 Comments

Golden Globes Nominations Led by King's Speech, with Seven

While The Golden Globes nominations have an impact on momentum going into the Oscar race, they are not predictive. That's partly because the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (some 80 foreign correspondents) break their categories into Drama and Comedy or Musical. Thus it becomes easy to dismiss certain titles that the Oscars are likely to ignore, including Frankie & Alice, Burlesque, Barney's Version, Easy A, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Red, Casino Jack, The Tourist, and Love & Other Drugs. (Full list of nominees below.)

By Anne Thompson
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December 14, 2010 1:42 AM
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3 Comments

AFI Movies of the Year: The Town, Toy Story 3, 127 Hours, True Grit Make the Cut

The American Film Institute voted their ten best AFI Movies and TV Programs of the Year Awards Sunday, proclaimed as the "only recognition that honors the community’s creative ensembles as a whole, acknowledging the collaborative nature of the art form." The AFI honors American films and series. Thus they chose British The King's Speech and Waiting for Superman as "Special Award" winners, having not met the AFI's standard criteria (posted below). Their Movies and TV Programs of the year, as chosen by film and television scholars, artists and critics, are as follows:

By Sophia Savage
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December 13, 2010 4:47 AM
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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.