A Tale of Two Fantines

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Best Actress 2013: Marion Cotillard, Lowlife (aka Nightingale)

So, the AMPAS recently demonstrated again that Marion Cotillard has been rewarded enough (for now).  A few years ago, they chose to nominate Penélope Cruz over her for Nine, and despite being armed with every major precursor one generally needs to get into the Oscar race, they left her out, despite her baity role in Rust and Bone.  With so much seeming competition in 2014, does this mean one need not bother to anticipate her chances for...

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Best Actress 2013: Jennifer Lawrence, Serena

Christopher Kyle (K-19: The Widowmaker, Alexander) adapted Ron Rash's 2008 novel Serena, set in the North Carolina timber industry during the Depression Era.  Angelina Jolie and Darren Aronofsky were attached, before Susanne Bier and Jennifer Lawrence took over.  The Silver Linings Playbook star loved working with her leading man so much, she asked Bradley Cooper to reteam with her on this new venture.  Their age difference makes them...

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Best Actress 2013: Kate Winslet, Labor Day

It's always interesting to watch an Actress negotiate her career after winning a leading Oscar.  The ladies from the early 1990s didn't do too badly.  But, for a while, it was the kiss of death, or a lifetime achievement award.  While Helen Mirren has benefitted greatly from The Queen, her younger counterparts have struggled.  But things have seemed to start coming back together for a whole lot of them since 2002.  Nicole...

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Sheer Lining Playbook

So, Jennifer Lawrence made another good speech, as well as a helluva an entrance.  While it's not clear from the limited footage, but when costar Robert De Niro (they certainly don't make these award shows very unpredictable, do they?) called her name, she got extremely and genuinely excited.  She hugged her parents, embraced her leading man Bradley Cooper, and then hugged her parents again, along with her director David O. Russell.  The...

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Anne Reigns It In

You want humble?  That's what you're going to getWhen Sexy Back in the Day finally rattles off the Best Supporting Actress in a Movie SAG nominees this evening, there's a collective eye-roll that overtakes the room like a group wave in the bleachers at a sporting event.  Says one seated across from the Les Misérables table, "That's what Anne's wearing?  It looks like the Rachel Weisz Golden Globe trainwreck from a few weeks ago."  Another:...

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Best Actress 2013: Scarlett Johansson, Under the Skin

Scarlett Johansson wrapped herself in fur and popped on a shoulder-length black wig to play an alien in Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin.  Glazer's motion picture debut was Sexy Beast and this will be his followup to Birth starring Nicole Kidman in 2004.  Walter Campbell adapted Michel Faber's novel about a creature from another planet who lures humans to their death to feed her extraterrestrial brethren.   Glazer's crew...

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Best Supporting Actress 2013: Margo Martindale, August: Osage County

Rondi Reed (left) originated August: Osage County's Mattie Fae Aiken role in Chicago and later won a Tony, as well as making a reprise in the Londonproduction; Margo Martindale (right) plays the part in the film versionWell, after hanging out at AD, the subject of August: Osage County came up, so I suppose now is as good of a time as any to break the seal on Margo Martindale's Oscar chances. I can't rightly say that she will win a year...

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Review: Les Misérables (spoilers)

(written first week of January) After waiting on a friend to get into town for exactly a week, I finally managed to view Les Misérables, one of the most anticipated films of 2012.  Of course, expectations ran high.  I had never seen the stage musical, but always wanted to, being familiar with a couple of the songs.  I can be very easily emotionally manipulated at the cinema, and I prefer to support the musical genre, as it touches...

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Grandma Smurf Strikes Again

After she made the mistake of sending one of her less abled sons to throw a firebomb at Ms. Hathaway's Oscar Dream, Grandma Smurf does NOT let up.  "Damn me if Jennifer and Robert get Oscars and NOT ME.  This may be my last chance.  Some are even giving Bradley Cooper dark horse status.  BRADLEY-FUCKING-COOPER.  He hosts travel shows naked!  This is unacceptable."  Deciding she can handle her campaign better...

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Manti Not Gay' O

Katie Couric made a ratings grabbed interviewed Manti Te'o recently.  When I heard about the story last week, I tried to figure out what was going on, but it all sounded so stupid, I got disinterested really quick.  Initially I heard all these rumors from large outlets about Te'o and his father concocting a dying girlfriend story to create a compelling narrative for the Heisman Trophy Award.  I guess there is no truth to those, because...

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Grandma Smurf Puts a Hit Out on Anne's Oscar Chances?

"Randall ... we do what we have to do, we do what we must."Since this is Anne-related, I feel compelled to blog about a "story" from Star Magazine (the print version, I guess) that perpetuated the rumor that Ms. Hathaway hired a team of writers and built a temporary stage in her NYC apartment to practice her Oscar speech.  Several blogs including Rumor Fix (never mind that they don't even have their facts straight on Anne's Oscar history)...

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Best Actress 2013: Naomi Watts, Diana

Naomi Watts' career has certainly taken off lately in a big way.  She recently came out of nowhere to nab her second Best Actress nomination.  While the AMPAS have looked her over in the past, it has never been for a film that has received considerable Oscar attention outside the non-actory King Kong.  What's telling about this year is that the film she got nominated for, The Impossible, received no other nominations (in fact, she...

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Best Actress 2013: Dakota Fanning

Child prodigy Dakota Fanning has been blessed in her career opportunities as she is talented.  Almost nineteen years old, she has worked alongside the likes of Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise, Sean Penn, Robert DeNiro, and Denzel Washington.  She has also portrayed the younger version of Reese Witherspoon.  With Hounddog from a few years back, the intent was to turn her into the next Jodie Foster, but it didn't quite pan out...

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Annapurna Scorecard

While I have been skeptical of the new film studio, they seem to be riding a positive wave lately.  The financial results of The Master gave some pause, but the runaway success of Zero Dark Thirty kind of makes it all better.  How have they done so far?Lawless (Budget: $45M; Domestic: $37.4M; Worldwide: $53.7M; 67% RT; Cinemascore: B+)The Master ($35M; $16M; $20.5M; 86%)Killing Them Softly ($15M; $15M; $34.4M; 75%; F)Zero Dark...

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Oscar Odds: Less Than Five Weeks To Go

Less than five weeks to Oscar, and here's my unscientific take on the big categories.  Of course, things could/will change towards the end of January/early February, once PGA (Lincoln vs. Argo), SAG (Lincoln vs. Argo / Silver Linings Playbook), and DGA (Lincoln vs. Argo) are decided upon, though I don't foresee the landscape changing dramatically unless a real wrench is thrown into the works, like a Life of Pi or Les Misérables win (or Silver...

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Egg Dunaway

There are few words to be said about this commercial.  All I know is that the director's name is Kazumi Kurigami.  The product was called Parco.  And it involved Faye Dunaway eating an egg.  If I were to guess year, judging by the look, quality, and appearance of Miss Dunaway, as well as the fact that she's being filmed dressed in a fancy outfit peeling (whoops, missed a bit of shell) and enjoying a hard-boiled egg for ninety...

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Jonah Hill Climbed Up a Mountain, You Know?

Lainey put it all in perspective on Jonah Hill the other day.  I hadn't realized that his smile was at half-mast when AMPAS called Christopher Plummer's name last year.  I know this is old news and why kick a dog when he's down, but ... that whole Don Lemon/Twitter incident wasn't that long ago.  Granted, Lemon's ego was a little too big and thin-skinned for my taste.  I mean, it's not like Hill threw him keys and told him, "Home,...

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