NBR Today/Shame/Dangerous Method/Back Later

Good Morning a week after Thanksgiving...still digesting.  Today's entry will be bifurcated with this morning's post somewhat truncated so that I can do another post later today following the unveiling of the National Board of Review's choices for Best Picture, 10 Best Films and acting and directing kudos...So I'm in two parts today...

PART ONE

NBR TODAY

The National Board of Review announcement will come later today and I'll have that info posted later along with trying to read whatever tea leaves that creates.  I also expect to Tweet the announcement live do check that at twitter.com @Gort2.

SHAME: HOT AND HEAVY

I'd be stunned  if this film gets on the NBR list...as it should.  But that doesn't mean that Fox Searchlight, writer/director Steve McQueen and stars Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan don't continue to be virtually everywhere promoting the work.  Here's todays' sample:

Mulligan interviews with:
The Playlist: http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/carey-mulligan-talks-ugliness-effortlessness-of-shooting-sex-addiction-film-shame

Fassbender with HitFix: http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/awards-campaign/posts/michael-fassbender-on-facing-fear-in-shame-and-a-dangerous-method

and also with HollywoodNews.com: http://www.hollywoodnews.com/2011/11/28/oscars-steve-mcqueen-opens-up-about-internet-sex-the-nc-17-rating-and-the-power-of-shame-awards-alley/

Also look at The Playlist's review here:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/review-steve-mcqueens-shame-a-fascinating-follow-up-to-hunger-with-a-tour-de-force-from-michael-fassbender

A DANGEROUS METHOD

Also still beating the media is David Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method"

Viggo Mortensen talks to Sasha Stone of Awards Daily here:
http://www.awardsdaily.com/2011/11/oscars-2011-viggo-mortenson-sets-the-standard/

And he talks to Fandango here:
http://www.fandango.com/movieblog/qa-viggo-mortensen-on-playing-sigmund-freud-in-dangerous-method-and-his-chances-of-appearing-in-hobbit-687316.html

Keira Knightley talks to On the Red Carpet here:
http://www.ontheredcarpet.com/Keira-Knightley-breaks-up-Sigmund-Freud-and-Carl-Jung-in-A-Dangerous-Method-Video/8443661
 
And Cronenberg is featured in an interview with HitFix:
http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/in-contention/posts/interview-david-cronenberg-on-a-dangerous-method-psychoanalysis-and-being-an-adjective


I'll be back later today with the National Board of Review announcement.  In the meantime here is what Awards Daily's Sasha Stone thinks will happen:

Moneyball
The Artist or War Horse (depending on which one wins)
Harry Potter
The Descendants
Midnight in Paris
The Help
Bridesmaids
Hugo
J Edgar
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Here complete NBR post is here:
http://www.awardsdaily.com/2011/11/national-board-of-review-preview-and-no-guts-no-glory/

FLASH/SPECIAL: Indy Spirit/NYFCC/Gotham Awards

The Film Awards season is off and running with three events occurring within the last 24 hours acting as the starting gun for the race.  The Gotham Awards (Independent Feature Project) last night and this morning The New York Film Critics Circle and nominations for the Independent Spirit Awards which, of the three, probably has the most heft.  Consider the impact of both "Black Swan" and "127 Hours"  in the Indy Spirits last year and their subsequent multiple Oscar nominations.

That being said, here are the results of all three announcements (Telluride #38 films are marked with ###):

The 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards will take place on Saturday, February 25, and will be broadcast later that evening on IFC.

The nominees:

BEST FEATURE

"The Artist"###

"Beginners"
"The Descendants"###
"Drive"
"50/50"
"Take Shelter"

BEST DIRECTOR

Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"###

Mike Mills, "Beginners"
Jeff Nichols, "Take Shelter"
Alexander Payne, "The Descendants"###
Nicolas Winding Refn, "Drive"

BEST SCREENPLAY

Joseph Cedar, "Footnote"###

Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"###
Tom McCarthy, "Win Win"
Mike Mills, "Beginners"
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, "The Descendants"###

BEST FIRST FEATURE

"Another Earth"

"In the Family"
"Margin Call"
"Martha Marcy May Marlene"
"Natural Selection"

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Mike Cahill, Brit Marling, "Another Earth"

J.C. Chandor, "Margin Call"
Patrick deWitt, "Terri"
Phil Johnston, "Cedar Rapids"
Will Reiser, "50/50"

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD

(Given to the best feature made for under $500,000)

"Bellflower"

"Circumstance"
"Hello Lonesome"
"Pariah"
"The Dynamiter"

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Lauren Ambrose, "Think of Me"

Rachael Harris, "Natural Selection"
Adepero Oduye, "Pariah"
Elizabeth Olsen, "Martha Marcy May Marlene"
Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn"

BEST MALE LEAD

Demian Bechir, "A Better Life"

Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"###
Ryan Gosling, "Drive"
Woody Harrelson, "Rampart"
Michael Shannon, "Take Shelter"

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Jessica Chastain, "Take Shelter"

Anjelica Huston, "50/50"
Janet McTeer, "Albert Nobbs"###
Harmony Santana, "Gun Hill Road"
Shailene Woodley, "The Descendants"###

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Albert Brooks, "Drive"

John Hawkes, "Martha Marcy May Marlene"
Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"
John C. Reilly, "Cedar Rapids"
Corey Stoll, "Midnight in Paris"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Joel Hodge, "Bellflower"

Benjamin Kasulke, "The Off Hours"
Darius Khondji, "Midnight in Paris"
Guillame Schiffma, "The Artist"
Jeffrey Waldron, "The Dynamiter"

BEST DOCUMENTARY

"An African Election"

"Bill Cunningham New York"
"The Interrupters"
"The Redemption of General Butt Naked"
"We Were Here"

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

"A Separation"###

"Melancholia"
"Shame"###
"The Kid With a Bike"###
"Tyrannosaur"

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD

Chad Burris, "Mosquita y Mari"

Sophia Lin, "Take Shelter"
Josh Mond, "Martha Marcy May Marlene"

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD

Simon Arthur, "Silver Tongues"

Mark Jackson, "Without"
Nicholas Ozeki, "Mamitas"

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD

Heather Courtney, "Where Soldiers Come From"

Danfung Dennis, "Hell and Back Again"
Alma Har'El, "Bombay Beach"

 

The 2011 NYFCC award winners are:

Best Picture: "The Artist"###

Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for "The Artist"###

Best Screenplay: Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin for "Moneyball"

Best Actress: Meryl Streep for "The Iron Lady"

Best Actor: Brad Pitt for "Moneyball" and "Tree of Life"

Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain for "Tree of Life," "The Help" and "Take Shelter"

Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks for "Drive"

Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki for "Tree of Life"

Best Non-Fiction Film (Documentary): "Cave of Forgotten Dreams"

Best Foreign Language Film: "A Separation"###

Best First Feature: "Margin Call"

Special Award: Late filmmaker Raoul Ruiz

GOTHAM AWARDS

Gothams, which are presented by the Independent Feature Project (IFP),

The winners:

Best Feature: "Beginners" and "The Tree of Life" (tie)

Best Documentary: "Better This World"

Best Ensemble Performance: "Beginners" (Christopher Plummer, Ewan McGregor, Melanie Laurent, Goran Visnjic, Kai

Lennox, Mary Page Keller, Keegan Boos)

Breakthrough Director: Dee Rees, "Pariah"

Breakthrough Actor: Felicity Jones, "Like Crazy"

Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You: "Scenes of a Crime"

Audience Award: "Girlfriend"

First a look at how Telluride films fared: 13 Independent Spirit nominations.

2 NYFCC awards

 

It was a grand day for "The Artist".  NYFCC Best Picture and Director winner and 5 Indy Spirit noms (Feature, Director, Screenplay, Male Lead and Cinematography).  Maybe it IS the front runner for now (I still think "War Horse" and "Extremely Loud" have to be heard from.)

An "OK" day for "The Descendants".  Indy Spirit noms for Feature, Director, Screenplay and Supporting Actress.  No love for George though and no NYFCC or Gotham love either.

A good day for "A Separation" (an #occupyoscar choice for Original Screenplay).  Nommed as Best International film by Indy Spirits and named Best Foreign Language Film by NYFCC.

Albert Nobbs' Janet McTeer (another #occupyoscar choice) nominated by Indy Spirits (Yay!) but no nomination for Glenn Close (Hmmm).

"Footnote" gets an Indy Spirit screenplay nomination.

"Shame" (#occupyoscar choice in numerous categories) nominated for Indy Spirit Best International Film (along with the Dardennes Brothers "The Kid with a Bike")...I was disappointed that NYFCC didn't have "Shame" listed anywhere.


Other interesting notes:

Good day for "The Tree of Life". NYFCC winner for Actor, Supporting Actress and Cinematography. Plus a Gotham nod for Best Feature.

Good day for Albert Brooks...wins Supporting Actor for "Drive" from NYFCC and is also nommed by the Indy Spirits.  Overall, "Drive" had a good day.  Nommed for Indy spirits also for Feature, Director and Male Lead.

"Moneyball" also had a good day.  Pitt's dual win for Best Actor from the NYFCC plus its Screenplay win as well.


And a boost for Mike Mills "Beginners' (an #occupyoscar choice for Screenplay).  It got Indy Spirit noms for Feature, Director, Screenplay and Supporting Actor as well as Best Feature and Best Ensemble from the Gothams.

Also, I was pleased to see a nod for Corey Stoll (#occupyoscar) for Supporting Actor in "Midnight in Paris" from the Indy Spirit peeps and Shailene Woodley for Supporting Actress from "The Descendants"

First Awards Wave

I'll post today's awards news and analysis coming later tonight.

OCCUPY!/The Artist/Shame/Albert Nobbs/Dangerous Method/A Separation/Oscar Buzzzzz

Good Monday morning to all.  I hope you're recovering from food induced stupor.

OCCUPY!

My #occupyoscar "movement" continues over on twitter.  going to try to make a couple of moves to heat that up this week.  Don't hold your breath.  But DO check it our on Twitter with the #occupyoscar hashtag and follow me on Twitter @Gort2.

THE ARTIST

"The Artist" opened on the coasts this Thanksgiving weekend and will open wider and wider as we approach Christmas.  The black and white silent film that stars French actors that most Americans have never heard of still sits well on my latest FAC charts (check out the Nov. 24 post) looking good for nominations in 5 of the Big 8 categories (Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actress and Original Screenplay).

Also, in "Artist" related news, I caught the Hazanaziciuus/Dujardin  collaborations that are the "OSS 117" films over the weekend.  "Cairo: Nest of Spies" : Good "Lost in Rio": Not so much.  They're both available on Netflix Instant.

Here's your rundown of "Artist" related posts/articles from the last 4 days>

Greg Ellwood at HitFix interviews Berenice Bejo and Jean Dujardin:
http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/awards-campaign/posts/meet-the-celebrated-stars-of-the-artist-in-sound-and-living-color

Guy Lodge of Incontention talks to Bejo, Dujardin and writer/director Michel Hazanavicius:
http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/in-contention/posts/interview-jean-dujardin-b-r-nice-bejo-and-michel-hazanavicius-talk-the-artist

Stories from The Hollywood Reporter:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/the-artist-oscar-black-white-silent-266428

and The Daily Mubi:
http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/michel-hazanaviciuss-the-artist

The Artist IMDb page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1655442/

SHAME

"Shame" continues to challenge for awards recognition in spite of its NC-17 rating from the MPAA.  It's no secret that the Steve McQueen drama will need some fuel from winning some serious critic's awards love over the next month or so if it has any chances of Oscar noticing it.  We'll get the first glimpse of that in the next few days as The New York Film Critic's Circle and the National Board of Review reveal their choices (after a somewhat entertaining tussle over which entity would get to be first and what films will have and won't have been screened).  Stay tuned for those results.

Here's this week's "Shame" news:

The New York Times talks to McQueen and star Michael Fassbender:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/movies/steve-mcqueen-and-michael-fassbender-team-up-in-shame.html

PopcornReel.com talks with McQueen:
http://www.popcornreel.com/htm/stevemcqueen.html

The Hollywood Reporter with some NC-17 analysis:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/shame-rating-nc17-michael-fassbender-266055

Shame's IMDb page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723811/

ALBERT NOBBS

David Poland of Movie City News talks to Glenn Close and Janet McTeer (she's an #occupyoscar candidate) from "Albert Nobbs":

http://moviecitynews.com/2011/11/dp30-albert-nobbs-actorwco-writer-glenn-close-actor-janet-mcteer/

Albert's IMDb page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1602098/

A DANGEROUS METHOD

Cronenberg and crew kept up some noise for his " A Dangerous Method" the last few days.

Here are interviews with Cronenberg from The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/david-cronenberg-talks-the-deep-research-behind-a-dangerous-method

Rope of Silicon: http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/david-cronenberg-interview-keira-knightley-dangerous-method-oscar/

and Anne Thompson/Thompson on Hollywood:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/interview-david-cronenberg-talks-a-dangerous-method

Also Viggo Mortensen talks to The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/viggo-mortensen-finds-parallels-between-sigmund-freud-in-a-dangerous-method-william-s-burroughs-in-on-the-road

A Dangerous Method's IMDb page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1571222

A SEPARATION

One of the best films at this year's TFF was Asghar Farhadi's beautifully constructed "A Separation".  I've got it in my #occupyoscar stable for Original Screenplay consideration.  The film had a pretty good week as it was named Best Film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards.  The Hollywood Reporter has that story:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/asghar-farhadi-s-a-separation-266027

A Separation's IMDb page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1832382/


OSCAR BUZZZZ...

And finally, here's a roundup of Oscar-centric interviews, discussions predictions and such from this week.

The latest predictions from Scott Feinberg at The Hollywood Reporter:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/war-horse-hugo-artist-spielberg-scorsese-oscars-266431

The Hollywood Reporter's Actress round table including this year's Telluride-related women: Glenn Close and Carey Mulligan (another #occupyoscar candidate).
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/thrs-awards-season-roundtable-series-265440

The Wrap also talks with Telluride women.  Close and Mulligan again as well as "We Need to Talk About Kevin's" Tilda Swinton:
http://www.thewrap.com/awards/column-post/glenn-close-its-luxury-being-man-33021

A link to the Oscar Talk podcast of Anne Thompson and Kris Tapley:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/oscar-talk-verdict-on-war-horse-streep-as-iron-lady-theron-as-young-adult-animated-frontrunners

Sasha Stone's (Awards Daily) "State of the Race" focusing on Best Picture:
http://www.awardsdaily.com/2011/11/the-state-of-the-race-the-wide-open-landscape-of-the-best-picture-race/

And a very interesting piece from ScreenDaily that talks about rumors that the Academy wants to move the Oscars up to January in 2013 and suggests that, if true, Telluride (and Toronto, Venice and New York) could become even more important in terms of Awards seasons.  Is that even possible?  Check it and see:
http://www.screendaily.com/awards/academy-awards/an-oscars-what-if/5034948.article

OCCUPY!/Film Awards Clearinghouse 2011 Vol. 3/Dangerous Let Lose/Descendants/Artist/Kevin/Foreign/Oscar

A Thankful Turkey is wished for all!  Good Gobbly Morning everyone. 

OCCUPY!

Well, I continue to plug along over on Twitter with my "Occupy Oscar" (#occupyoscar) movement.  Urging any and all who happen to stumble across it in the Twitterverse to contemplate some of the potential nominees that have received a smaller amount of attention thus far in this year's Oscar race.  I'm stumping for "Shame" in virtually every imaginable category, including the performances of Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan.  Also, I've been vocal about consideration for Corey Stoll in "Midnight in Paris" and Ezra Miller in "We Need to Talk About Kevin" for Supporting Actor.  I continue to shout for a nomination for Asghar Farhadi for Original Screenplay for "A Separation" as well as for Mike Mills for "Beginners" and Janet McTeer for Supporting Actress in "Albert Nobbs".  And here and there I am seeing some positive traction for some of these "Occupy" candidates.

I'd like to take some credit, but I've seen the amount of traffic the #occupyoscar hashtag is generating...so I know it would be a falsehood...still...look at some of the categories below in this new posting of...

THE FILM AWARDS CLEARINGHOUSE 2011 VOL. 3

The Clearinghouse collates the latest Oscar projections publicly available from:

Sasha Stone at Awards Daily
Jeffrey Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere
Kristopher Tapley at Incontention/HitFix
David Poland at Movie City News
Scott Feinberg at The Hollywood Reporter
Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood
Film Misery
Film Experience
As always Telluride #38 films are Bold!

BEST PICTURE

1) The Descendants
2) The Artist
3) Midnight in Paris
4) The Help
5) War Horse
6) Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
7) Moneyball

I expect there to be 7 Best Picture nominations this year...

8) Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
9) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
10) The Tree of Life
11) Hugo
12) J. Edgar
13) The Ides of March
14) Shame
15) The Iron Lady

Dropping Out:  Since I have expended the list to 15 spots, it means no film drops out since the last FAC.
Hot: Midnight in Paris, Tinker, Tree of Life, Hugo
Cold: Moneyball, J. Edgar, Ides of March
Comment: Looks like Hugo is surging as it gets released this weekend...I expect that to continue.  I think J. Edgar and Ides are done and honestly, since we haven't seen War Horse and Extremely Loud, I'd say only The Descendants and The Artist are locks.  I'm still less than convinced that the summer releases Midnight in Paris and The Help will end up on the list of Best Pic nominees.  I also wouldn't be stunned to see Tattoo and Tree sneak into the field.
#Occupy:  I am pleased that Shame makes an appearance at #14.  I don't have any realistic expectation that it will get a Best Pic nom but it WILL be on a lot of critic's top ten lists in the next 6 weeks or so and it's also starting to show up in the conversation for a number of other categories as you will see below.

DIRECTOR

1) Alexander Payne/The Descendants
2) Michael Hazanavicius/The Artist
3) Stephen Daldry/Extremely Loud
4) Steven Spielberg/War Horse
5) Woody Allen/Midnight in Paris
6) Bennett Miller/Moneyball
7) Terrence Malick/Tree of Life
8) David Fincher/Girl...Tattoo
9) Tomas Alfredson/Tinker Tailor
10) Clint Eastwood/J. Edgar

Dropping Out: Nope
Hot: Daldry
Cold: Miller
Comment: Again, outside of Payne and Hazanavicius, the field is pretty "spongy/squishy".  One of the reasons that I'm hedging on Midnight in Paris as a Best Pic nominee is that The Woodman squeaks onto the list with the #5 spot...barely edging Bennett Miller.  And Taylor Tate of The Help is nowhere to be found on the list...makes me think that The Help's Best Pic nom isn't as secure as a lot of people think it is.  Also, like above in the Best Pic race, I think Malick is a real possibility here.
#Occupy: Steve McQueen is my drumbeat here...though even less likely than Shame getting a Best Pic nomination.

ACTRESS

1) Viola Davis/The Help
2) Glenn Close/Albert Nobbs
3) Michele Williams/My Week with Marilyn
4) Meryl Streep/The Iron Lady
5) Charlize Theron/Young Adult
6) Tilda Swinton/We Need to Talk About Kevin
7) Elizabeth Olsen/Martha Marcy
8) Rooney Mara/Girl...Tattoo
9) Kirsten Dunst/Melancholia
10) Olivia Colman/Tyrannosaur

Dropping Out: Zip
Hot: No one.
Cold: also no one.
Comment:  An incredibly stable category over the last month.  A lot of naysayers about Close's chances, but the 8 prognosticators I look at still collectively have her solidly in the race.  Streep continues to show some small weakness.  The Iron Lady is drawing mixed responses but Streep is generally being well reviewed. Same for Michele Williams turn as Marilyn Monroe.  Personally, I'm suspicious of the Charlize Theron nomination...I'm not sue that the academy is going to cotton to what has been described as an unpleasant character...I also still wonder if the choice not to play Telluride was smart strategy after all.  At this point my guess is that Davis, Close, Williams and Streep are in and everyone else is fighting for that last spot.
#Occupy: I don't have a real soapbox here unless Fox Searchlight decides (incorrectly) to campaign Carey Mulligan in this category instead of Supporting for Shame.  Then we'd need to talk.

ACTOR

1) George Clooney/The Descendants
2) Jean Dujardin/The Artist
3) Brad Pitt/Moneyball
4) Leonardo DiCaprio/J. Edgar
5) Michael Fassbender/Shame
6) Gary Oldman/Tinker Tailor
7) Michael Shannon/Take Shelter
8) Woody Harrelson/Rampart
9) Joseph Gordon-Levitt/50/50
10) Ryan Gosling/Ides of March

Dropping Out: Nada
Hot: DiCaprio, Shannon
Cold: Oldman. Gosling
Comment: Also a stable category.  Much like Picture and Director, I think that Clooney and Dujardin are in good shape and then the next three spots are a wrestling match from # 3 (Pitt) to #8 (Harrelson). I don't see Gordon-Levitt or Gosling in the final five.
#Occupy:  Fassbender has been my cause here and yet, for the second straight Clearinghouse, he gets the #5 spot and what would be the last nomination...so maybe not as big an underdog as I thought.  Still going to push it, though.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Olivia Spencer/The Help
2) Shailene Woodley/The Descendants
3) Vanessa Redgrave/Coriolanus
4) Berenice Bejo/The Artist
5) Janet McTeer/Albert Nobbs
6) Melissa McCarthy/Bridesmaids
7) Sandra Bullock/Extremely Loud
8) Carey Mulligan/Shame
9) Jessica Chastain/The Help
10) Jessica Chastain/Tree of Life

Dropping Out: Judi Dench/J. Edgar, Judy Greer/The Descendants
Hot: McCarthy, Bullock
Cold: Nada (well, except for Dench and Greer of course)
Comment: Jessica Chastain is beating herself.  She also has the #11 spot for Take Shelter.  If you added all of her possible points up she'd be in the list at #5 and a nominee...but I think she's going to slit her own vote in so many places that the actress who has had (arguably) the Best Year Acting won't be an Oscar nominee at all.  I also really do not think that Melissa McCarthy will be an Oscar nominee.  A perfect Telluride day when the noms are announced would be: Woodley, Bejo, McTeer, Mulligan and Greer.  It won't happen.  Spencer has a nomination locked down.
#Occupy: MULLIGAN!

SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) Albert Brooks/Drive
2) Christopher Plummer/Beginners
3) Max Von Sydow/Extremely Loud
4) Patton Oswalt/Young Adult
5) Kenneth Branagh/My Week with Marilyn
6) Jonah Hill/Moneyball
7) Armie Hammer/J. Edgar
8) Kevin Spacey/Margin Call
9) Brad Pitt/Tree of Life
10) Philip Seymour Hoffman/Ides of March

Dropping Out: Jim Broadbent/Iron Lady, Tom Hanks/Extremely Loud, John Hawkes/Martha Marcy
Hot: Oswalt, Hammer, Spacey
Cold: Pitt, Hoffman
Comment: Patton Oswalt???  Really???  Also, despite the fact that this is a really fluid category, still no T-ride love.  And I continue to say "Albert Brooks: Nice guy, funny guy...not really doing much acting in this film...over -rated performance"...and I wanted him to live up to the hype.
#Occupy:  Still banging the drum for Ezra Miller in "We Need to Talk About Kevin" and Corey Stoll in "Midnight in Paris".

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Midnight in Paris
2) The Artist
3) The Tree of Life
4) Shame
5) Bridesmaids
6) Young Adult
7) Martha Marcy May Marlene
8) J. Edgar
9) Margin Call
10) Win Win

Dropping Out: The Iron Lady and Like Crazy
Hot: Shame, Martha, Margin Call
Cold: Young Adult, J. Edgar
Comment: After Paris...this is a free for all.
#Occupy: Shame, of course and Asghar Farhadi for "A Separation"

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) The Descendants
2) Moneyball
3) Tinker Tailor
4) Extremely Loud
5) War Horse
6) Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
7) Ides of March
8) The Help
9) We Need to Talk About Kevin
10) Hugo

Dropping Out: Drive, Carnage
Hot: Hugo, Kevin
Cold: Just the droppers
Comment: This category shows some strength for Moneyball and the weakness of The Help.
#Occupy: Maybe a little drumbeating for Kevin and Albert Nobbs.

OVERALL

The breakdown still has "The Descendants" and "The Artist" with five nominations each from the Big 8 categories.  "Extremely Loud" has 4.  3 nominations apiece for "Paris", "The Help", "War Horse" and "Moneyball".  "Shame" "Marilyn" "Albert Nobbs" and "Young Adult" would have 2 each.

Big "lurkers' include: "Girl...Tattoo" "Tinker, Tailor" "J. Edgar" and "Ides of March".  The last two appear to losing steam. 

And as "Hugo" rolls out this weekend...lookout.  I think that it's going to be a player that everyone has kind of overlooked.  I won't be surprised in three weeks (or so) when I do the next installment of The Clearinghouse if it's not much higher on the Picture, Director, and Adapted Screenplay lists.

And the earlier conclusion that Telluride's Oscar footprint would be smaller this year than last year (and also probably smaller than 2009 too) continues to look prophetic.  T-ride films stand at 14 noms and 4 "possibles" in the Big 8 with this post.  That projects to 20-24 actual nominations in all categories come Oscar announcement day.

DANGEROUS LET LOSE

David Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method" is being released in LA and NYC this weekend.  So there has been a lot of press/publicity about it this week.  "Method" has had a mixed critical reception thus far.  I wasn't a fan in Telluride.  I was not as put off by Keira Knightley's performance as some but my issue was that the first third of the film was dynamic and interesting and the last two acts were not.  The film crawled to a halt despite the talents of Cronenberg, Fassbender and Mortensen.  You can see that the gild is off the lily as it has completely disappeared from any Oscar talk above (with the exception of a couple of pockets of support still popping up for Knightley).  This despite the fact that it's scoring in the 70's on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic and at IMDb.  Audiences at RT have it at 56% though.

REVIEWS:
A.O. Scott/The NY Times:
http://movies.nytimes.com/2011/11/23/movies/a-dangerous-method-by-david-cronenberg-review.html

Brad Brevet/Rope of Silicon:
http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/a-dangerous-method-review-2011/

INTERVIEWS:

Cronenberg:
Hollywood Elsewhere:
http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2011/11/cronenberg-ed.php

The Daily Mubi:
http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/david-cronenbergs-a-dangerous-method

The Jewish Journal:
http://www.jewishjournal.com/the_ticket/item/david_cronenberg_on_a_dangerous_method_s_m_and_the_birth_of_psychoanalysis_/

HitFix:
http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/in-contention/posts/interview-david-cronenberg-on-a-dangerous-method-psychoanalysis-and-being-an-adjective

GettheBigPicture.net:
http://www.getthebigpicture.net/blog/2011/11/20/a-dangerous-method-cronenberg-discusses-hysterical-accuracy.html

Bloomberg.com:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-21/cheery-atheist-cronenberg-lauds-grasshoppers-freud-pattinson-interview.html

GQ.com:
http://www.gq.com/entertainment/movies-and-tv/201111/david-cronenberg-interview-a-dangerous-method-freud-jung?mbid=social_retweet

The LA Times:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2011/11/viggo-mortensen-dangerous-method-david-cronenerg-video-clip-envelope.html



Knightley:

The AVClub:
http://www.avclub.com/articles/keira-knightley,65493/

HitFix:
http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/awards-campaign/posts/keira-knightley-brings-the-hysterical-to-a-dangerous-method-and-she-isnt-being-funny-people

Mortensen in The Daily Beast:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/11/22/viggo-mortensen-on-playing-freud-in-a-dangerous-method.html

Interview Magazine.com:
http://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/keira-knightley-a-dangerous-method

Fassbender

Anne Thompson:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/michael-fassbender-interview

MTV.com:
http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2011/11/18/michael-fassbender-sexual-roles-shame/

The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/Michael-Fassbender-Talks-Researching-Carl-Jung-For-A-Dangerous-Method

NYmag.com:
http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/11/michael-fassbender-on-simulating-sex-in-a-dangerous-method.html

And screenwriter Christopher Hampton via The Huffinton Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-persons/christopher-hampton-dangerous-method_b_1102741.html?ref=tw

 AND A CLIP
from Yahoo.com:
http://movies.yahoo.com/holiday-movies/dangerous-method-212329494.html#yom-videoplayer-inpage

from Rotten Tomatoes:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/a_dangerous_method/trailers/11159268/


THE DESCENDANTS

The roll out continues for the Alexander Payne film that is continuing to ride at or near the top of most Oscar guessers lists in a number of categories.  After last Monday's post you might not believe there'd be much left unsaid about the film.  And you're probably right.  However, I have included links to a few more articles and posts from the last four days.

Clooney and Company clip from Thompson on Hollywood:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/clooney-payne-and-cast-talk-the-descendants-real-is-funny-stealing-clooneys-wife

HollywoodNews.com story:
http://www.hollywoodnews.com/2011/11/16/george-clooney-lucky-for-roles-like-the-descendants-awards-alley/

Omaha World Herald interview with Payne:
http://www.omaha.com/article/20111120/NEWS/311209999/-1

Payne and Clooney from Fox Searchlight:
http://content.foxsearchlight.com/inside/node/5036

Shailene Woodley from Fox Searchlight:

http://content.foxsearchlight.com/inside/node/5038
A Clip from Moviefone.com:
http://blog.moviefone.com/2011/11/21/descendants-new-clip?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000011

THE ARTIST

Michel Hazanavicius' salute to Black and White Silent films is set for limited release this weekend as well.

Here are some tidbits from the last week for it.  An interview with writer/director Hazanavicius from Rope of Silicon:
http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/michel-hazanavicius-interview-artist/


And with Berenice Bejo, the female lead (as well as Mrs. Hazanavicius) from The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/berenice-bejo-talks-about-not-talking-in-the-silent-movie-sensation-the-artist


And the review from The Playlist as well:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/berenice-bejo-talks-about-not-talking-in-the-silent-movie-sensation-the-artist

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

David Poland of Movie City News has this interview with actress Tilda Swinton:
http://moviecitynews.com/2011/11/dp30-we-need-to-talk-about-kevin-actor-tilda-swinton/


FOREIGN MUSINGS

On the films vying for the Foreign Language Oscar.  from TheWrap:
http://www.thewrap.com/awards/column-post/more-gems-and-longshots-oscars-foreign-language-race-32982 

and Deadline.com:
http://m.deadline.com/2011/11/oscar-analyzing-foreign-language-race/


OSCAR THOUGHTS

Oscar Poker from Stone and Wells:
http://www.awardsdaily.com/podcasts/oscarpoker/episode56.mp3

Analysis from TheWrap:
http://www.thewrap.com/awards/column-post/years-oscar-season-too-many-cooks-32963

Latest Guru's of Gold from Movie City News:
http://moviecitynews.com/2011/11/gurus-o-gold-november-22-2011/



FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER @Gort2 and check out #occupyoscar

Happy Thanksgiving and MTFB/FAC will be back on Monday!

OCCUPY!/Descendants/Artist/Shame/Dangerous/Foreign/Oscars

Happy pre-Thanksgiving Monday everyone.

OCCUPY!

I'm continuing the Twitter assault on behalf of deserving film makers who are considered unlikely to pull down an Oscar nomination.  Go to Twitter and search for the #occupyoscar hashtag.  Retweet it, comment, etc.  And also follow me at @Gort2.

DESCENDANTS

The onslaught of publicity for "The Descendants" was huge this past week with its release and so I continue to post a large quantity of this and that related to the film.

REVIEWS
From our friend, Joe Morgenstern at The Wall Street Journal...Hi, Joe!: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/11/18/joe-morgenstern-reviews-the-descendants/

And Mr. Roger Ebert:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111116/REVIEWS/111119988

General roundup from The Hollywood Reporter:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/the-descendants-movie-reviews-263182


INTERVIEWS
Shailene Woodley with The Playlist:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/the-descendants-star-shailene-woodley-discusses-working-with-george-clooney-and-riding-the-wave-of-show-business

Clooney, Payne and others interviewed by Anne Thompson here: http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/clooney-payne-and-cast-talk-the-descendants-real-is-funny-stealing-clooneys-wife

PREMIERE COVERAGE
From The Hollywood Reporter:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/descendants-premiere-red-carpet-george-clooney-262320

Descendants IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1033575/


THE ARTIST

Meanwhile, the buzz continues to build for the anticipated limited release of Michel Nazanavicius' "The Artist.  It opens small this week (Nov. 23).  The Hollywood News was carrying the water for the silent black and white film this week as you can see:

http://www.hollywoodnews.com/2011/11/18/jean-dujardin-speaks-oscar-contender-talks-silent-films-pleasing-the-audience-and-the-artist-awards-alley/

http://www.hollywoodnews.com/2011/11/18/berenice-bejo-on-old-hollywood-overnight-stardom-and-the-artist-awards-alley/

The coolest thing, Charlie Chaplin's granddaughter will host a special screening of the film this week:
http://www.hollywoodnews.com/2011/11/18/charlie-chaplins-granddaughters-hosting-special-screening-of-the-artist-awards-alley/

Also, Anne Thompson has an interview with Hazanavicius, Dujardin and Bejo here:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/michel-hazanavicius-jean-dujardin-berenice-bejo-talk-the-artist

The Artist IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1655442/

SHAME

Frequent readers of this space know that I'm all about "Shame".  It has a new trailer that was all over the Internet this week.  Like the first one, it seems to me to be terribly effective, or maybe I've consumed so much of the "Shame" Kool-Aid that it just seems that it's terribly effective.  Here are multiple links:

Jeff Wells/Hollywood Elsewhere:http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2011/11/art_of_the_sell.php

Apple.com: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/shame/

SlashFilm: http://www.slashfilm.com/shame-trailer-2-carey-mulligans-new-york-york-break-heart/

FirstShowing.net: http://www.firstshowing.net/2011/second-full-us-trailer-for-steve-mcqueens-shame-with-fassbender/

Rope of Silicon: http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/shame-trailer-nc-17-rating/

The Playlist: http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-carey-mulligans-new-york-new-york-powers-latest-trailer-for-shame

The Hollywood Reporter: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/shame-trailer-carey-mulligan-michael-fassbender-mcqueen-263173

HollywoodNews.com: http://www.hollywoodnews.com/2011/11/17/shame-gets-new-trailer-descendants-opens-slow-awards-alley/

AND A BRIDGE BETWEEN

Michael Fassbender continues to generate a  lot of ink for "Shame" and to a lesser extent "A Dangerous Method"  (and other films from earlier this year, like "X-Men: First Class).  Fassbender was named GQ's Man of the Year this past week.  Take a look at that story here:http://www.gq.com/moty/2011/michael-fassbender-gq-men-of-the-year-issue

You can also catch this interview with him from Slant Magazine: http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/feature/interview-michael-fassbender/288/page_1


Shame's IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1723811/

All of which leads from "Shame" to...

A DANGEROUS METHOD

Not my favorite of this year's Telluride offerings, but in an effort to provide full coverage of the post festival run through awards season, here are some of this week's nuggets about the David Cronenberg film.

Keira Knightley interviewed by Kyle Buchanan at nymag.com: http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/11/keira-knightley-interview-dangerous-method.html

Viggo Mortensen interviewed by Rachel Dodes for The Wall Street Journal: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/11/18/how-viggo-mortensen-got-inside-sigmund-freuds-head/

Dodes also interviews director/writer Cronenberg: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204323904577038302527279374.html

Also an informative piece on the film from Backstage.com: http://www.backstage.com/bso/content_display/news-and-features/e3ie4055b0a02b97aec0793340f9d0440fb

Dangerous' IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1571222/

FOREIGN FILMS

Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere was stumping this week for Foreign Language Oscar hopefuls.  Look at his musings here: http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2011/11/foreign_languag.php

Included on his list of films that should be considered for the short list were the following TFF #38 films:  "A Separation" ( on my #occupyoscar list for an Original Screenplay nomination), "In Darkness", "Le Havre" "Pina", "The Turin Horse", and "Footnote".

Continuing to make its mark internationally this week was Asgahr Farhadi's "A Separation" winning an award from the BBC.  See that story from HitFix here: http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/in-contention/posts/a-separation-wins-bbc-world-cinema-award

The Hollywood Reporter interviews "In Darkeness" director Agnieszka Holland: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/agnieszka-holland-in-darkness-oscars-263142

OSCARS

A look at the latest Golden Globes forecast from Scott Feinberg: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/golden-globes-frontrunners-help-artist-are-262553

24 Frames/The Envelope look at the Best Actor race: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2011/11/oscars-actor-george-clooney-jean-dujardin-leonardo-dicaprio.html

Rope of Silicon looks at the race for Best Actress: http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/oscar-update-actress-predictions-shift-streep-1-close-bounced-top/

Documentary short list was announced this week.  No Herzog or Morris...???  From Anne Thompson:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/academy-names-fifteen-docs-to-vie-for-oscar-top-five-wenders-is-in-herzog-is-out?

Oscar Talk podcast with Thompson and Kris Tapley of Incontention.com: http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/oscar-talk-streep-vs-davis-prosthetic-vs-digital-makeup-performance-capture-vs-animation-close-vs-mcteer


FINITO

And finally, once again, follow me on Twitter @Gort2 and support #occupyoscar!  More on Thursday!

Occupy!/The Descendants Descends Upon Us/Butter Pix/Silver Linings/Albert Nobbs News/Oscar Pickin'/Odds and Ends

Good Thursday morning, America!

OCCUPY!

I have (and will) continued my "#occupyoscar" movement on Twitter advocating for some "dark horse" Oscar candidates.  Check it and follow me on Twitter @Gort2.

THE DESCENDANTS DROPS

It will come as no surprise to anyone that MTFB/FAC leads off with an immense amount of coverage of Alexander Payne's "The Descendants" which opened on the coasts last night and goes wider tomorrow.  The George Clooney starring vehicle has been the talk of Oscar bloggers since it opened up the Telluride fest as the patrons preview screening on the Friday afternoon that opened the festival (complete with Clooney and Payne and  a brief opportunity for to meet and converse with these two men who in all likelihood will be nominated for Oscar for their work on the film).  It was a fun afternoon.  You can actually read my Playlist review here: http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/alexander_payne_george_clooney_riff_on_family_love_loss_death_and_the_choic

So without any further dithering, here is a ton of "Descendants" coverage, interviews and reviews from the past two days or so...

REVIEWS:

Peter Travers/The Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/the-descendants-20111115

The Playlist (New, not mine): http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/review-george-clooney-grapples-with-life-death-fatherhood-in-the-descendants

Alonso Duralde/The Wrap: http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/%E2%80%98descendants%E2%80%99-mid-life-crisis-hawaiian-style-32785

A.O. Scott/The New York Times: http://movies.nytimes.com/2011/11/16/movies/descendants-with-george-clooney-review.html

Leonard Maltin/Movie Crazy: http://blogs.indiewire.com/leonardmaltin/the-descendants


The Daily Mubi Roundup of Reviews (this has a link to Telluride reviews which includes mine...by name...crazy huh?):  http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/alexander-paynes-the-descendants

INTERVIEWS:

Shailene Woodley interviews with...

Jeff Wells/Hollywood Elsewhere: http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2011/11/grace_under_pre.php

Katey Rich/Cinema Blend: http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Descendants-Breakout-Star-Shailene-Woodley-Reveals-What-George-Clooney-Has-Taught-Her-27917.html

Clooney and Payne...

Greg Ellwood/HitFix: http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/awards-campaign/posts/george-clooney-and-alexander-payne-talk-shooting-on-the-descendants-and-praise-the-wire

John Horn/The LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-descendants-payne-20111113,0,1621276.story

GENERAL STORIES:

Fox Searchlight: http://content.foxsearchlight.com/inside/node/5027

Pamela McClintock/The Hollywood Reporter: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/george-clooney-descendants-twilight-breaking-dawn-box-office-261881

Benjamin Mercer/The Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/11/why-eternal-bachelor-george-clooney-makes-for-a-great-family-man/248019/

PICTURES

The Playlist: http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/the-descendants-new-images

Go see it.  It's good.

Descendats' IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1033575/

BUTTER PIX

One of the lesser lights of this year's fest (in my opinion...at The Playlist here: http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/telluride_11_review_jennifer_garners_butter_churns_and_churns_but_doesnt_pr ) was the Jennifer Garner vehicle "Butter".  Word now comes that The Weinstein Company has moved its release to March of 2012.

New pictures are out at a variety of online venues.  Here's a link to //Film's story: http://www.slashfilm.com/olivia-wilde-hugh-jackman-butter/

Butter's IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1349451/

 SILVER LININGS

And a new film to add to the TFF #39 watchlist..."The Silver Linings Playbook".  Weinsteins have announced its planned release date and it seems very Telluride-friendly.  Check the release story from The Playlist: http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/david-o-russells-the-silver-linings-playbook-gets-november-21-2012-release-date


Silver Linings IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1045658/


ALBERT NOBBS NEWS

Anne Thompson at Thompson on Hollywood talks to both Glenn Close and Janet McTeer about the gender bending period piece which is still generating Oscar buzz for Close and also some buzz for McTeer as well.  Check out my Telluride review for The Playlist here:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/telluride_11_review_albert_nobbs_glenn_close_mia_wasikowska

Thompson with Close: http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/oscar-watch-glenn-close-talks-gender-bender-albert-nobbs

Thompson with McTeer: http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/oscar-watch-janet-mcteer-talks-stealing-albert-nobbs-from-glenn-close

Albert's IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1602098/


OSCAR PICKIN'

New Oscar prognostications and analysis from...

Movie City News' Gurus of Gold: http://moviecitynews.com/2011/11/gurus-o-gold-november-15-2011/

Sasha Stone/Awards Daily/State of the Race: http://www.awardsdaily.com/2011/11/the-state-of-the-race-a-storms-coming/

Oscar Poker: http://www.awardsdaily.com/podcasts/oscarpoker/episode55.mp3

Greg Ellwood's Contender Countdown at HitFix: http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/awards-campaign/posts/contender-countdown-can-margin-call-crash-the-oscar-party


ODDS AND ENDS

The Village Voice talks to David Cronenberg about "A Dangerous Method": http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-11-16/film/freudian-trip-in-dialogue-with-david-cronenberg/

24 Frames talks to the cast of "The Artist": http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2011/11/the-artist-cast-talks-envelope.html

The Playlist talks to Werner Herzog about (among other things) "Into the Abyss: http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/interview-werner-herzog-talks-teaching-lock-picking-being-a-living-legend-and-into-the-abyss



FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER @Gort2  #occupyoscar