Awards Watch Archive for February, 2013

The Final Scoreboard

Lincoln and Zero Dark Thirty sit at the top of the Critics Scoreboard for the 2012/3 season.  But on Oscar night the big prize goes to Argo. The final scoreboard is here.

Read the full article »

85th Academy Awards: Winners

Best Picture: Argo Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables Directing: Ang Lee, Life of Pi Foreign Language Film: Amour Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio, Argo Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained Animated Feature Film: Brave Production Design: Lincoln Cinematography: Life…

Read the full article »

2012 Independent Spirit Awards

BEST FEATURE Silver Linings Playbook BEST DIRECTOR David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook BEST SCREENPLAY Silver Linings Playbook BEST FIRST FEATURE The Perks of Being a Wallflower BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY Safety Not Guaranteed JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (Best feature made for under $500,000) Middle of Nowhere BEST FEMALE LEAD Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook BEST MALE LEAD John Hawkes,…

Read the full article »

Gurus o’ Gold: The Final Charts… Top 2 Only (2 of 2)

(Charts, 1 of 2) (Charts, 1 of 2)

Read the full article » 2 Comments »

Gurus o’ Gold: The Final Charts… Top 2 Only (1 of 2)

As the Gurus head off into the Dolby night, magic carpets doing their bidding, one last set of charts for you. We voted for the Top 2 in each of the 24 Oscar categories. And not a lot of surprises at this late date. But there has been some movement, so check it all out. And keep perspective. Way back on October 2, The Gurus have Argo, (and in Part 2) Daniel Day-Lewis and Jennifer Lawrence as the frontrunners, DeNiro in the #2 slot and Anne Hathaway at #3. Sometimes, change is a bit of an illusion.

Read the full article » 9 Comments »

20W2O: 5 Days To Go (aka The End Is Nigh)

Does it make you feel good about the industry? Is it likely to embarrass you in any way? These are the two key mainstreaming questions. The Academy just wasn’t ready for Brokeback Mountain for all the reasons that Brokeback was so important to many people. And honestly, it would be worse off if it came out today, as all the homophobia is still ingrained in people’s hearts, and the issue no longer rallies people (at least in the big cities) as something on the cutting edge.

Read the full article » 4 Comments »

Diagramming The Interior Space Of Amour

Diagramming The Interior Space Of Amour

Read the full article »

“The silver lining that has taken us by surprise has been the conversation this film has opened up about mental illness.”

“The silver lining that has taken us by surprise has been the conversation this film has opened up about mental illness.”

Read the full article »

At $571 Million Worldwide, The Most Succesful Best Picture Nominee Is Life Of Pi

“Because it had so many different elements to it, it wasn’t the easiest sell in the world, like a lot of big movies are.” At $571 Million Worldwide, The Most Successful Best Picture Nominee Is Life Of Pi

Read the full article »

2013 WRITERS GUILD AWARDS WINNERS ANNOUNCED

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 17, 2013 Los Angeles and New York – The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) tonight announced the winners of the 2013 Writers Guild Awards for outstanding achievement in writing for screen, television, radio, news, promotional, videogame, and new media writing at simultaneous…

Read the full article »

Gurus o’ Gold: 9 Days From The Big Show

This week, The Gurus picked their five most likely Best Picture winners and answered a series of questions. They were asked to pick up to two potential upsets and their two personal wishes for surprise winners, then 3 very simple questions.

Next week, we’ll be go through all the nominations one last time, just in time for your Oscar ballots.

Read the full article » 4 Comments »

Cieply Pores Over Seth McFarlane’s “Q Scores”

Cieply Pores Over Seth McFarlane’s “Q Scores”

Read the full article »

5 Broken Cameras Co-Directors Find Media Descriptions Of Their Documentary Misleading

“The idea was not to make an Israeli-Palestinian project. Money came from many different places.” 5 Broken Cameras Co-Directors Find Media Descriptions Of Their Documentary Misleading

Read the full article »

Art Of The Title Credits ParaNorman

Art Of The Title Credits ParaNorman

Read the full article »

What If The Middle Of Life Of Pi Had Been Silent?

What If The Middle Of Life Of Pi Had Been Silent?

Read the full article »

The DVD Geek: Searching for Sugar Man

Searching for Sugar Man doesn’t just deserve the Oscar nomination, it deserves to win. Running 87 minutes, it lulls you into believing—or perhaps even not believing—the story of a few enthusiastic South African fans that attempt to uncover the biography of an American balladeer from the early Seventies called ‘Rodriguez,’ who had a smooth, articulate voice, reminiscent of Jose Feliciano (with his dark glasses, he also looks a lot like Feliciano), and adept recording engineers that brought a detailed complexity and color to his orchestrations.

Read the full article »

‘Argo’ Navigates to USC Libraries Scripter Win

Journalist, memoirist, and screenwriter take the 25-anniversary honor. USC President C.L. Max Nikias; USC Libraries Dean Catherine Quinlan; Scripter Award winner Joshuah Bearman, author of a Wired Magazine article on which “Argo” is based LOS ANGELES, CA (February 9, 2013) – Authors Joshuah Bearman and Antonio J. Mendez and screenwriter Chris Terrio received the 25th-annual USC Libraries…

Read the full article »

Lincoln On “60 Minutes

Lincoln On “60 Minutes” 11’31 vid; extras

Read the full article »

Awards Watch

Quote Unquotesee all »

It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?

So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.

And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.

There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.

I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.

So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.

But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”

My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher

“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.

~ David Simon