Observer » silver linings playbook

The 85th Annual Academy Awards Live Chat, Hosted by the Dog From Family Guy

Drew Grant — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 18:56:46 -0400

The Best Picture category isn't the only thing that bulked up.

Update: Well, now we have an extra hour and a half of the red carpet! Talk amongst yourselves!

What is it about the Academy Awards? Intellectually, it's hard to muster up that much enthusiasm about who "wore it best" (Ang Lee) or how modest Katniss will be in her acceptance speech, hopefully avoiding a First Wives' Club reference that sounded like she was hating on Meryl Streep this time. And yet ... we still feel compelled to watch. Maybe it's because secretly, deep down, we still find it fascinating that the guy who does the voice of Stewie looks like the host of a reality game show about finding true love by having a dance-off on a stripper pole.

Or maybe it's because we're just suckers, who deep down believe that Beasts of the Southern Wild might still possibly have a chance against Argo or Lincoln.

Come join us, will you, on this the most magical of evenings for producers, people who are married to movie stars, and dress designers? We'll be hosting a live chat below. Just click the big countdown button and you're all set. Got it?

Great.

Leo and Tigers and Ben Affleck, (Arg)O My!: Who Will Be the Sorest Loser at Tonight’s Academy Awards?

Drew Grant — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 10:59:39 -0400

Tonight is the 85th Academy Awards, and for all intents and purposes it should be a good one. Look at all those serious films, and the one movie by Quentin Tarantino! And with big snubs for Best Director for both Argo and Zero Dark Thirty, does that mean one of them will be be sweeping up the Best Picture Award as a consolation prize? And most importantly, is it too late to write in a ballot for Javier Bardem in Skyfall? Because he was great.

This year we're making our predictions in order of the film and/or celebrity, not the award. That's because this time ... it's personal. No, seriously: between Kathryn Bigelow and Ben Affleck being iced out of Best Director, the Weinstein Bros. not having a snowball's chance in hell of scoring a big win and the fact that we're practically giving an award to Anne Hathaway just to make her stop sing-crying, there's going to be a lot of sore losers tonight. But don't worry; we're using a time-tested formula for predicting the bitter ceremonies, including taking all of the guesses on Twitter and averaging them against Nate Silver's predictions. Then we throw those out the window and get ourselves angry over Lincoln’s inevitable windfall of awards that should be going to that movie that had all those great New Yorker articles written about it and stars a 9-year-old who wasn't even an actress when she started the film, which is about 50 percent more method than Daniel Day-Lewis's decision to become an Italian cobbler every time he's taking a hiatus from Hollywood.

So enjoy, and don't forget to tune into our live chat on the Oscars, starting at 7 p.m.!

2012′s Academy Award Nominees: Yep, Django Unchained Is Up for Best Picture

Drew Grant — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 11:40:16 -0400

Lincoln leads the pack for the Oscars with 12 nominations

There are a lot firsts in the nominations for the 85th annual Academy Award nominations. They include the youngest AND oldest Best Actress nominees (Emmanuelle Riva, 85, and Quvenzhané Wallis, 9), no trace of former dream team member Ben Affleck, and the first snub for Kathryn Bigelow.

On the other hand, there is no way Anne Hathaway is NOT singing this year, so get ready for some Franco-style flashbacks. And with 12 nominations for Lincoln, Daniel Day-Lewis will (unsurprisingly) definitely be going home with something gold this year.

A partial list below:

BEST PICTURE

Beasts of the Southern Wild
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
Lincoln
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Amour
Django Unchained
Argo

DIRECTOR

David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
Michael Haneke, Amour
Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

ACTRESS

Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

ACTOR

Daniel Day Lewis, Lincoln
Denzel Washington, Flight
Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Sally Field, Lincoln
Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables
Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Amy Adams, The Master

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Robert DeNiro, Silver Linings Playbook
Alan Arkin, Argo
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Flight
Zero Dark Thirty
Django
Amour
Moonrise Kingdom

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Beasts of the Southern Wild
Argo
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Amour (Austria)
No (Chile)
Rebelle (War Witch) (Netherlands)
A Royal Affair (Denmark)
Kon-Tiki (Norway)

ANIMATED FEATURE

Frankenweenie
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Wreck It Ralph
ParaNorman
Brave

ORIGINAL SONG

"Before My Time" - Chasing Ice
"Pi's Lullabye" - Life of Pi
"Suddenly" - Les Misérables
"Everybody Needs a Best Friend" - Ted
"Skyfall" - Skyfall

New York’s Contribution to the Early Oscars Odds: Honors for Matt Damon and David O. Russell

Daniel D'Addario — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 12:23:23 -0400

Matt Damon (Getty Images)

This year's Gotham Independent Film Awards, a November fete that is part of the late-year slurry that's ultimately processed into Oscar nominations, are to feature special tributes to actor Matt Damon, director David O. Russell, and Participant Media's Jeff Skoll. The Gotham Awards organizers aren't just big fans of the Bourne movies and I Heart Huckabees--both men are Oscar contenders this year, with Mr. Damon starring in and serving as co-writer for Promised Land (a Participant Media production--hi, Mr. Skoll!), and Mr. Russell directing the much-anticipated Silver Linings Playbook.

The Gotham Independent Film Awards are among the minor-tier stops--along with the Hamptons Film Festival, Santa Barbara Film Festival, and Hollywood Film Awards--that can give the impression that an actor or director is "due" for an Oscar with lifetime achievement awards coming right before the Oscars and along with the release of their new film. Viva independent film!