Archive: February 2010 (71-77 of 77)

Feb 3 2010 11:53 AM ET

Random Oscar Trivia!

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Here are a handful of interesting (well, to me, at least) tidbits from yesterday’s announcement of the 82nd Annual Academy Award nominations.

1. Avatar received nine nominations but was left out of Best Screenplay. The last film to win Best Picture with out a screenplay nomination? James Cameron’s last nominee, Titanic.
2. Avatar wasn’t nominated for SAG Best Cast, lost the PGA and DGA awards, and is likely to lose the WGA prize later this month. Since the SAG Best Cast prize was introduced in 1996, no film has ever won Best Picture without winning at least one of the four major guild awards.
3. With four nominations, J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot tied with Leonard Nimoy’s Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home for the most nods for a Trek film.
4. Up in the Air scored six nominations (including three for acting, more than any other movie) but was left out of Best Editing. No film has won Best Picture without an editing nomination since Ordinary People in 1981.
5. Up in the Air producers Jason and Ivan Reitman are the first father/son producing team to be nominated for Best Picture since Mario and Vittorio Cecchi Gori for Il Postino in 1995.
6. Precious is the first-ever Best Picture nominee to be directed by an African-American filmmaker.
7. Earning her 16th career acting nomination for Julie & Julia, Meryl Streep broke her own record—again—for the most nominated actor in Oscar history.
8. This year’s SAG nominees in the individual acting races lined up with the eventual acting nominees 19 for 20, the most ever. The only Oscar nominee not to earn a SAG nod first: Crazy Heart‘s Maggie Gyllenhaal.
9. If Avatar wins Best Picture, it’ll be the highest-grossing winner ever (obviously).
10. If The Hurt Locker wins Best Picture, it’ll be the lowest-grossing winner ever.
11. The last time Meryl Streep won an Oscar, in 1983, was before her competitors Carey Mulligan and Gabourey Sidibe were even born.

Anything I left out? If you’re into all this stuff as much as I am, school me! Oh, and follow me on Twitter too (@davekarger).

Feb 2 2010 07:22 PM ET

'Bourne 4': a prequel?

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While it’s not impossible to imagine that Universal may go the route of Spider-man now that Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon have opted out of Bourne 4, that speculation is a bit premature. Despite Empire Online prognosticating on the future of the franchise, based on their interview with Damon, there are no solid plans yet at the studio. Sources inside the company tell EW.com that they are currently looking at a few story lines and haven’t made a decision. Another source guesses that the studio will first try to hire an edgy young director that could lure Damon back into the fold. Should that not work, a reboot wouldn’t be a terrible idea. Said one studio source, “Bourne is one of our best and most important franchises. Whatever we do, we’re going to make sure we get it right.”

Feb 2 2010 06:29 PM ET

It's official: 'Clash of the Titans' will be in 3-D; set for release April 2

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Clash of the Titans will be coming to screens in 3-D on April 2, Warner Bros. has confirmed. The expected decision was supposed to come down last Friday after the executives screened the footage of their upcoming swords-and-sandals epic starring Sam Worthington. The studio will also release the majority of its 2010 higher-profile titles, specifically Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 (November), Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (July), and Guardians of Ga’Hoole (September) in 3-D too.

The question now is, how are they going to find the screens to make it work by the beginning of April? Not only does Clash, which is co-produced/co-financed by Legendary Pictures, open one weekend after DreamWorks Animation releases How to Train Your Dragon in 3-D on March 26, that film is coming only three weeks after Disney opens Alice in Wonderland 3-D on March 5. Adding to the pile-up is James Cameron’s Avatar, which, considering its week-after-week drop in the astounding 20% range, not to mention the 9 Academy Award nominations it just accrued, won’t be leaving 3-D screens any time soon.

Well for starters, exhibitors are installing 3-D technology at a breakneck pace, hoping to increase the number of 3-D screens from 3,000 to close to 4,000 by the end of March. Warners and Paramount are also willing to provide a print compatible with another technology, Technicolor’s 3-D for film solution, that allows exhibitors in smaller towns around the country to screen 3-D without having to install the expensive digital technology. Seen as something of a stop-gap solution until the theater chains can catch up to Hollywood’s output,  Technicolor’s 3-D for Film allows theaters to install 3-D without converting their projectors to digital. No one believes the technology is as superior as the digital systems that screened Avatar. (In fact, sources tell EW.com that James Cameron refused to screen Avatar in the format after seeing a test-version of the product.)

But Technicolor’s solution does offer theaters a temporary substitute. Warners president of distribution Dan Fellman confirms that exhibitors are only looking at adding the technology to between 100-150 theaters. “You are not going to find that my major city presentations will be flooded with this type of technology. While we like it and think it’s good, we are committed to a digital solution,” says Fellman. The studios have yet to screen Dragon or Clash to exhibitors and until then we won’t know how the industry’s 4,000 3-D screens get divvied up among all the 3-D projects. Considering all the obstacles, it’s going to be quite a battle come March for 3-D. Can’t wait to see how the industry solves this one.

Photo credit: Jay Maidment

Feb 2 2010 02:26 PM ET

Oscars: Ten best picture nominees, nine good choices, and one for congeniality

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You know us critics, we’re used to shrugging our shoulders about the whole Oscar rigamarole, aware that if we stamped our little feet and huffed, “The great Romanian film Police, Adjective was snubbed, snubbed I tell you!” we’d be kicked out of Starbucks for obnoxious cronyism. (For the record, it was: Police, Adjective is great, and I commend it to your Netflix queue.) But as an on-duty critic, and as an off-duty ticket-buyer, too, nothing that did or didn’t receive an Oscar nomination today surprises me, bothers me, or, for that matter, shakes my confidence in my own taste. You feel the same way, right? You either liked or didn’t like A Serious Man (I loved it); you either think The Blind Side is an uplifting, feel-good drama of hope or a gooey fable (I’m with Team Goo, much as I cheer Bullock). But what the heck, good for them for nabbing Best Picture nominations.

And good for the Wizards of Oscar for doubling the number of Best Picture nominees. Why not? The ten in contention are as reasonable as any to represent a consensus of discriminating-but-not-elitist American movie-going taste in 2009. Without ten slots, Up! wouldn’t have been recognized for the brilliant creation it is, as emotionally rich as any live-action title on the list. (Of course, Up! also received a reality-check nomination in the Animated Feature Film category, so if — er, when a live-action title wins Best Picture after all, Up! still stands to win in Pixar’s more traditional category.) Without ten slots, the utterly original politico-sci-fi serio-comedy District 9 (above) might have been left hovering in the air, awardless, like an alien spaceship stalled over Johannesburg.

And so long as I can sustain this magnitude of something-for-everyone amiability, I can proclaim here with Zen calm that this year’s roster of Oscar nominees for Best Picture is very good. Between now and the Academy Awards on March 7, I might give a passing thought to what the Best Picture list might have looked like if the ballot had been kept to five. (Got any suggestions for me?) But mostly, I’m happy to go about my business, which, between now and Oscar night, involves telling anyone who will listen that it will be the crime of the century if Kathryn Bigelow doesn’t win the Oscar for Best Director for The Hurt Locker.

Really. Don’t mess it up with Bigelow, Oscar voters, or I’ll have to care.

Feb 2 2010 08:48 AM ET

Oscar nominations announced: 'Avatar,' 'Hurt Locker' lead with nine each

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Here are the nominees in the 10 major categories for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards. Avatar and The Hurt Locker each scored nine nominations. The winners will be announced on March 7. In the meantime, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter (@davekarger) for Academy Award updates between now and the Oscar ceremony.

Best Picture
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

Eight of the 10 Producers Guild nominees repeated here. Invictus and Star Trek were replaced by A Serious Man and, in one of the morning’s biggest surprises, The Blind Side, which had received no guild nominations or critics prizes other than for Sandra Bullock’s performance. Clearly all the Sandra love buoyed the film. As expected, The Hurt Locker, Avatar, Inglourious Basterds (8 nods), Precious (6 nods), and Up in the Air (6 nods) led the pack, while Up becomes only the second animated film ever to be nominated for Best Picture. Star Trek, meanwhile, did score a total of four nominations but just couldn’t muscle into Best Picture. That’s the best news for Avatar, which still may have a hard time beating The Hurt Locker.

Best Actor
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

These are the five SAG nominees, so nothing surprising here. Morgan Freeman was the only possible weak link, but none of the guys on the bubble—Viggo Mortensen, Matt Damon, Ben Foster, Robert Downey Jr.—had enough oomph. How can Jeff Bridges lose? I’d say Jeremy Renner is the only one who can upset him (like Adrien Brody for The Pianist).

Best Actress
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

Another repeat of the SAG nominees. The Young Victoria‘s Emily Blunt had a shot at displacing Helen Mirren, but clearly the older voters responded well to The Last Station. The Blind Side‘s Best Picture nomination (compared to no other nods for Julie & Julia) means Bullock has the edge. Who’da thunk it?

Best Supporting Actor
Matt Damon, Invictus
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

A bunch of talented gents were overlooked here: Alec Baldwin, Christian McKay, Alfred Molina, Peter Sarsgaard, and Anthony Mackie, to name just five. As I’ve stated before, this race was over before it ever began.

Best Supporting Actress
Penélope Cruz, Nine
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Mo’Nique, Precious

Here we have the only variance from SAG in the individual acting races, as Maggie Gyllenhaal stole Diane Kruger’s slot. And even though Julianne Moore failed to earn a SAG nod for A Single Man, I’m still surprised the Academy didn’t give her a fifth career nomination.

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
James Cameron, Avatar
Lee Daniels, Precious
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

The five DGA nominees repeated here, fending off competition from the likes of Neill Blomkamp and Lone Scherfig. But these five films are so far out in front that no one else really had a shot. It’s Bigelow’s to lose.

Best Original Screenplay
Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman, The Messenger
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, A Serious Man
Pete Docter, Bob Peterson & Tom McCarthy, Up
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

As with Titanic, James Cameron failed to earn a screenplay nomination for Avatar. The Messenger duo stole the fifth slot from the adorable (500) Days of Summer guys. With Hurt Locker and Basterds in the running, this may be the tightest major race of the year.

Best Adapted Screenplay
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci & Tony Roche, In the Loop
Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell, District 9
Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious
Nick Hornby, An Education
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air

If there’s a shock here, it’s the inclusion of the little-seen In the Loop over Fantastic Mr. Fox. But the writers branch often goes for a sharp British indie, so maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised.

Best Animated Film
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up

Best Foreign Language Film
El Secreto do Sus Ojos (Argentina)
Un Prophete (France)
The White Ribbon (Germany)
Ajami (Israel)
The Milk of Sorrow (Peru)

The rest of the categories are after the jump.

READ FULL STORY »

Feb 1 2010 11:38 AM ET

Oscar nominations: What will be the biggest surprise?

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Now that we’re less than 24 hours away from the Oscar nominations announcement, I thought I’d resurrect perhaps my favorite post from last year, where I tried to imagine what the biggest surprises of the nominations might be. (A few of them, like The Reader bumping out The Dark Knight for Best Picture, or Kate Winslet landing in Best Actress instead of Best Supporting Actress for that film, actually ended up happening.) This year contains many sure things — The Hurt Locker, Avatar, Up in the Air, Inglourious Basterds, and Precious will claim half of the Best Picture slots, for instance — but there’s also a lot that’s up for grabs. So here are 10 possible shockers we may be talking about tomorrow.

1. With the exception of An Education, the other five Best Picture slots all go to $100-million-plus grossers: some combination of Up, District 9, Star Trek, The Blind Side, and The Hangover.

2. Though Precious scores a Best Picture nod, director Lee Daniels is overlooked, in favor of District 9‘s Neill Blomkamp.

3. Avatar‘s Zoe Saldana muscles into Best Actress over The Last Station‘s Helen Mirren, becoming the first actor ever to earn a nomination for a motion-capture or voice performance.

4. The Hurt Locker‘s Anthony Mackie scores a supporting-actor nomination after being ignored by the Broadcast Critics, Golden Globes, and SAG.

5. Stanley Tucci earns his first career nomination…but for Julie & Julia instead of The Lovely Bones.

6. Inglourious Basterds standouts Diane Kruger and Mélanie Laurent both make it into the supporting actress race over Julianne Moore and Samantha Morton.

7. Invictus gets completely shut out of the nominations.

8. Ed Helms’ Hangover ditty “Stu’s Song” steals a Best Song nomination away from Nine.

9. Jeff Bridges’ momentum buoys Crazy Heart into the Best Supporting Actress (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and/or Best Adapted Screenplay (Scott Cooper) categories.

And finally…

10. The Hurt Locker ties Avatar for the most nominations, with 9 each.

Can you see any of these taking place tomorrow? What surprises are you hoping for? Follow me on Twitter (@davekarger) for Oscar news and updates for the rest of the season.

Image credit: Frank Masi

Feb 1 2010 08:42 AM ET

'Transformers,' Sandra Bullock earn Razzie nominations

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In an interesting twist, one of this year’s top Oscar contenders has received a Razzie nomination a day before surely scoring an Oscar nod…albeit for a different film. Sandra Bullock was named among the five Worst Actresses of the Year for All About Steve, which was also nominated for Worst Picture. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Land of the Lost each received the most nominations, with seven. Here are the three major categories:

Worst Picture
All About Steve
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Land of the Lost
Old Dogs
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Worst Actor
Jonas Brothers, Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience
Will Ferrell, Land of the Lost
Steve Martin, Pink Panther 2
Eddie Murphy, Imagine That
John Travolta, Old Dogs

Worst Actress
Beyoncé, Obsessed
Sandra Bullock, All About Steve
Miley Cyrus, Hannah Montana: The Movie
Megan Fox, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Jennifer’s Body
Sarah Jessica Parker, Did You Hear About the Morgans?

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