The Hot Blog Archive for January, 2008
Lunch With… Saoirse Ronan
Likely to be this year’s youngest Oscar nominee, 13-year-old Saoirse Ronan has already worked with Peter Jackson, Amy Heckerling, Gillian Armstrong, animator-turned-feature-director Gil Kenan and, of course, Joe Wright, for whom she gave her mesmerizing performance in Atonement.
The chat…
Why Films Don't Get Nominated
Analogies of this year’s higher profile films that seem set to miss Oscar BP noms to Dreamgirls are pretty off the mark and lazy, really. The media creates these waves and then attacks the movies for them, as though Atonement or Sweeney Todd or Dreamgirls actually did something terribly different in hyping than anyone else.
Dreamgirls (old song) did exactly three events that no one else did last year. None of these films did the blanket buying of ads that Universal traditionally does. None of these films showed their ass as generously as Searchlight has for its push films… which we all choose to perceive as underdogs. None of these films came and went in September and October, as so many do.
The fact remains that getting the “last film in” into the race has been the rarest trick of all in the years since the season was shortened by The Academy. This year, the late entries were Charlie Wilson’s War and Sweeney, with a delayed launch of Atonement after releasing it at the September fests. I wrote about it back in November, but whether fair or right, these films were fighting uphill because The First Season is really between Dec 2 and Dec 15… when every group but The Academy commits itself, whether by awards or by nominations.
If you are Steven Spielberg, Marty Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, the strategy works. If not, you are likely shit out of luck (with some very specific exceptions).
Why?
Because voters pay attention to these films regardless of any external forces. Critics groups and guilds didn
ACE Nods
Nominees in all categories, as announced by the ACE Board of Directors, are as follows:
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (DRAMATIC):
The Bourne Ultimatum
WGA Nods In Order, Screened, Resurected & Honest
Four things…
First, WGA website gods seem to have developed a bad habit. This is the second year that the Guild has listed nominees in order of vote total. Last year, they fixed it when it was pointed out… and here we are again.
I have adjusted the names in the previous WGA nod entry to match the WGA website… votes came in that order. Congrats to the likely winners.
Next, what did non-WGA-nominees Atonement, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, Charlie Wilson’s War and Sweeney Todd have in common? No screeners for WGA members. (Sweeney did show up, but only one day before voting closed for many voters… same for many members of BFCA.)
Almost more shocking, statistically, is that there were only fourteen non-doc features sent to WGA members… and nine of the ten nominees came from that group.
The only film nominated by WGA that didn’t send a screener was Michael Clayton.
And the five screeners that didn’t draw nominations? Away From Her, Dan in Real Life, The Kite Runner, and Margot at the Wedding and 3:10 to Yuma. (In other words, Vantage sent everything, Lionsgate got nothing, and Disney’s comedy wasn’t up to Knocked Up standards – or in my mind, the Superbad screener that Sony didn’t send either.)
Third, has anyone outside of the WGA seen the top doc vote-getter, The Camden 28? The film was release by First Look in July on 1 screen and earned under $10,000. How in God’s name did this movie end up being the biggest vote getter at the Guild?
Here is the synopsis at imdb: The Camden 28 explores how and why 28 individuals intentionally placed themselves at risk of arrest and imprisonment while protesting the war in Vietnam. Featuring a treasure of archival materials and current interviews with former FBI agents involved in the case and scholars such as Howard Zinn, The Camden 28 is a story about a potent form of dissent that has special relevance to our current political climate.
And a special relevance to a guild in the midst of a strike, it seems to me.
Finally, it is nice to see Elizabeth Bentley getting her due in the nom for Nanking. As I reported almost a year ago, there was an effort to squeeze Bentley out of her credit for the film by the writer/director/producer and in most press materials, she has been a phantom. She gets her recognition here. (I only wish the movie really deserved a nod at all.)
WGA Nods
The two “surprises” were Apatow for Knocked Up and Vanderbilt for Zodiac.
“Left out” were Christopher Hampton, Aaron Sorkin, and Kelly Masterson. Plus, you might have expected a Paul Haggis strike vote on top of fans of his film. Nope.
But really, nothing to write home about and way too late to effect Oscar nods. Last year WGA missed on four of ten. The year before, three of ten. This doesn’t make a WGA nomination any less valued… just not much of a predictor.
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ORIGINAL
Diablo Cody – Juno
Tony Gilroy – Michael Clayton
Tamara Jenkins – The Savages
Judd Apatow – Knocked Up
Nancy Oliver – Lars and the Real Girl
ADAPTED
The Coens – No Country For Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood
Ronald Harwood – The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Sean Penn – Into The Wild
James Vanderbilt – Zodiac
DOC
Anthony Giacchino – The Camden 28
Bill Guttentag, Dan Sturman and Elisabeth Bentley – Nanking
Charles Ferguson – No End in Sight
Richard Berge – The Rape of Europa
Michael Moore – Sicko
Alex Gibney – Taxi To The Darkside
The WGA gives out their awards on February 9. Expect pickets by the AMPTP and the support of FoxNews asking talent not to attend.
20 Weeks – 7 Weeks to Go
The Golden Globes are dead
14 Comments »Lunch With… Tim Burton
It was a great pleasure to spend 40 minutes talking to Tim Burton about Sweeney Todd and really, his entire career. There were many surprises for me, spending time with a director whose work the world knows so well, but who has been so camera shy for so long.
The chat…
Couldn't Be Happier, Really
The DGA noms cae in today and, for a change, I find myself emotionally moved by the nominations.
As always, it is likely that DGA will miss Oscar by 1 nominee. And this year, with so many tremendous directing efforts to consider, there is still a chance that there will be 2 to shift.
However, I am pretty damned happy with the five, with a tip of the hat to the boundaries of the awards season realities.
I have issues with Paul Thomas Anderson as a writer on There Will Be Blood, but there is no doubt that his work with Elswit behind that camera is spectacular. The Coens were the one gimme. Tony Gilroy had some chance of missing as a first-timer and a strong personality, but his work in – also with Elswit – is strong and assured in ways that are often underappreciated. Sean Penn’s loose camera style often makes people think what he did – with DP Eric Gautie, who is probably best known before here for the simialrly “loose” but amazing The Motorcycle Diaries and Kings & Queen – was easy. It isn’t. And Julian Schnabel, in visual partnership with Janusz Kaminski, did truly masterful work… even if it isn’t for everyone.
Missing from this group are the two shakiest BP assumptions, Atonement and Sweeney Todd. It’s not shocking that Joe Wright hasn’t been nominated for either of his two Oscar-chasing films. He is not a local and the films are not breathtakingly visual. Burton, on the other hand, always delivers an eyeful and he is a veteran, though also never DGA or Academy nominated.
The other two that were in heated contention were veterans Sidney Lumet and Ridley Scott.
Two years ago was the rare year when DGA matached both Academy Directors’ nods and Best Picture exactly. But last year and three years ago, the DGA nods matched Best Picture in 14 of 15 cases. And no one should be too shocked if that happens again this year.
Last year, the Little Miss Sunshine directors, nom’ed by DGA, were out at The Academy, though the picture was in… and the nomination was filled by a non-BP director (Paul Greengrass).
Three years ago, Finding Neverland director Mark Forster was pushed out at the Academy – though the film made it – by another non-BP director, MIke Leigh.
I would love to see Sidney Lumet in… but I can’t say I want to see any of the DGA nominees out.
The most vulnerable are probably Gilroy, Penn and Schnabel, none of who have been nom’ed before. And as I keep saying, it is a year of so many solid films that anything could happen.
(Last 3 years of DGA noms after the jump)
Stewart & Colbert Write
The question of what The Daily Show and The Colbert Report would look like when returning to Comedy Central was answered tonight, as both returned, both looked a little more ragged than normal, and both clearly “wrote” their shows by the standards that Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien and everyone else in TalkshowVille has.
There was obvious sympathy coming from Stewart. (Colbert did reverse psychology jokes about his “magic teleprompter,” which his character felt just put what was in his head on paper, and the existence of writers was explained by a control room voice.) He renamed the show
Aside From That, How Were The Critics' Choice Awards, Mrs Lincoln?
It was an odd evening at the Critics’ Choice Awards on Monday night, as the talk going in and after amongst the Publicity Class was the cancellation of the parties at The Golden Globes, the one element of the evening that had been set to continue regardless of the strike. Not only were parties cancelled, but deals with The Beverly Hilton to refund part of the deposits had already been done and reservations for next years parties were already set.
In the meantime, The CCAs had the oddest turnout of talent ever, as some of the biggest stars in Hollywood turned up for the show… and many of the talent you would expect to show up no matter what stayed home. Yes, Brad and Angie, George Clooney and Don Cheadle, Daniel Day Lewis, Sean Penn, Eddie Vedder, Brad Bird, and presumed Oscar nominees, Javier Bardem, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page and others turned up.
But not there were CCA award winners Julie Christie, Diablo Cody, Amy Ryan, John Travolta (in ensemble), The Coens, Jonny Greenwood, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, Michael Moore, Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada, anyone more famous than producer level for Enchanted or anyone, really, for Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (graciously accepted by JK Simmons who joked about being #19 on the call sheet).
By my count, there were 13 of 47 nominees in individual categories turned up for the evening and the phrase, “I accept this for….” was pretty much used in 10 of 18 awards acceptances. Yet the evening was counted as a major success by Team BFCA, as the show moved along, big names were there, and no one really expected to see The Coens or Julie Christie anyway (the two big, big names to win).
But the main conversation in the aisles was about The Globes, which had lost the parties just as the cocktail hour for The CCAs had commenced, so a high percentage of the journalists in the room had no idea that the parties had gone down or just what the details of the NBC deal were.
And a little surprisingly, most of the people I spoke to who were directly involved with The Globes situation were not angry at all
I Spoke Too Soon?
Now I am hearing from one wag that WGA is still asking actors not to attend the Globes parties… and that some studios are considering, really for the first time, cancelling the actual parties.
As you have read – if you are bothering to read this – the parties seemed to be the one thing that would go on. But if talent isn’t willing to show, who knows?
On the other hand, I am now leaving for the Critics’ Choice Awards, where all talent is expected to show, in spite of earlier efforts by WGA and SAG to keep them away.
More drama. It will be interesting. There may be blood.
Evil Genius Strikes Again
How will NBC find a way to make their money out of The Golden Globes? Turn it into a news event the WGA has no basis to strike, as they are not striking news shows.
It really is an evil stroke of genius.
And who will pay for the shortfall? The HFPA, of course.
And as HFPA pays, so do the charities it supports. (As well as their overfed members… who will be thrown a few extra fish by the studios in the next year as make-up sex.)
And who escapes the clutches of the WGA’s efforts? GE/NBC/Universal.
Yes, they will not make as many gross dollars on the event. But they will be profitable – maybe more profitable, though it is hard to know what the ratings will be like for their packages – with significantly lowered expenses and likely less than $1 million going to HFPA/Dick Clark (even with DC Prod building out a clip show).
Another interesting part of the potential for evil is the degree of control NBC and their Access Hollywood franchise will exert on the party scene. Will they be allowed to block the higher rated Paramount product, Entertainment Tonight, from equal access as a part of this deal? After all, a big part of the loss of The Globes for NBC was the weeks
A Smart-Minded Piece On The Strike From A Lawyer's Perspective
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