January 1

Critics Scoreboard
Critics Awards List

Voices
The Muse Behind Daisy
by Mark Wheaton

In the film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Cate Blanchett plays a willowy ballet dancer who begins her career in what would have been one of the first classes of the School of American Ballet in New York, going on to become a favorite of choreographer George Balanchine, an instructor there. 

For fans of ballet, particularly of Balanchine, this story should sound familiar as it mirrors closely the life of Balanchine’s fourth wife, Tanaquil Le Clercq. 

20 Weeks of Oscar
The Latest Whine
by David Poland

"Why aren't these Oscar movies in more theaters?!?!"

New York Times ... Variety ... LA Times ... yadda, yadda, yadda..

Worst of all, these are all veteran reporters who, if they don't know it like the back of their hand as factual detail, should at least be able to smell the absurdity reeking from these stories.

It's the marketing, stupid.

Oscar Outsider
Which Men Should Get Oscar Nods ... And Which Men Shouldn't
by Kim Voynar

And just to clarify up front: this is a discussion of who I think most deserves to be nominated for the Best Supporting Actor and Best Actor categories, not who I think the Academy, in all its collective wisdom, is likely to put there. There are others who are far better at playing the Oscar ponies than I am, and I'll let them have at that game; meanwhile, I offer you the following thoughts on which actors most deserve a shot at going home on Oscar night with a naked golden man in their arms.

Digital Nation
'Tis the Oscar Season
by Gary Dretzka

By choosing the handsome Aussie leading man, Hugh Jackman, it's clear that TV-based celebrities no longer can be expected to reverse the negative tides. It also helps that he's popular with the theater community and readers of People magazine.

At ABC, though, I suspect executives are lighting candles at this very moment, summoning divine intervention. Their best-case scenario would find both Wall-E and The Dark Knight among the Best Picture finalists. It could happen. Both pictures were terrific entertainments, box-office smashes and critically acclaimed. The only thing not in their favor is tradition

Rush to Judgement
The Reader
by Leonard Klady

The Reader, based upon the acclaimed novel by Bernhard Schlink, was, on paper, one of the more promising of these projects. Alas, good intentions do not necessarily make for a good, let alone great film. And The Reader, as earnest, sincere and thoughtful as it so obviously is, is also hopelessly misguided and needlessly opaque in a fashion that cuts across the grain of its inspiration.

Oscar Outsider
And the Nominees for Best Actress Should Be ...
by Kim Voynar

Melissa Leo's performance in Frozen River captures the heart and soul of her character so completely that it stands out amid a pack of solid contenders for a Best Actress nomination this year, and she absolutely deserves to be in the running.

20 Weeks of Oscar
Globes Week Special:
Underdogs R You
by David Poland

As we get into the heavy pre-Oscar voting season, I thought it was time - having seen everything in play now - to offer a few names to remember that are likely to be lost on mainstream lists everywhere.  Here are 10 you should be considering (in alphabetical order) ...

Rush to Judgement
Frost/Nixon
by Leonard Klady

The dilemma for the film - particularly for anyone that remembers the actual program - is that its contemporary resonances are few. Both Frank Langella as Nixon and Michael Sheen as Frost give variegated and compelling interpretations to characters that are at least somewhat fresh in our memory. Yet they remain something of the past and not touchstones to where we are today and will be a decade from now or beyond.

20 Weeks of Oscar
The Year of Ambiguity
by David Poland

But if you want to know exactly why the Slumdog bandwagon has gotten so heavy (and subject to backlash) lately, it's not just the movie... it's that people feel something intensely when they walk out of the movie theater.  It's not "okay." They aren't discussing what it meant. They aren't picking out which performances they liked or didn't like. They just had, with a few exceptions, a great f-ing time at the movies. And that is, in the end, what it is all about.

20 Weeks of Oscar
The Fate of the Frontrunner
by David Poland

Along with "May you live in interesting times," a new curse has developed into undeniable undesirability… "May your film run at the front of the Oscar pack!"

Dreamgirls, Flags of Our Fathers, Cold Mountain, 21 Grams, Charlie Wilson's War, Sweeney Todd, Memoirs of a Geisha… all members of the Fraternal Association of Ritual Takedowns. These were can’t-miss frontrunners that missed. Each has a story. Each suffered as much from expectation as from the qualities of the films themselves.

Oscar Outsider
Considering the Best Picture Contenders
by Kim Voynar

While all this early crystal-ball Oscar predicting is fun enough, and certainly a way to pass the time between now and Hollywood's Big Prom Night, it's way early in the game still, and some of the films that may seem to be locks at the moment could well end up finding themselves wallflowers, while a couple of underdogs slip into the limelight.

Benjamin Button works his way to the top of the Best Picture chart. Meanwhile, the Gurus choose their five darkhorse contenders in the Actor and Actress Categories as well as three candidates in any category that people should pay attention to.

Gurus: November 25
Gurus: November 19
Gurus: September 23

20 Weeks of Oscar
As the Season Turns
by David Poland

Last time we checked in on The Season, everyone was waiting for the last few films to grace us with their presence.  And they have… and still… an odd silence… critics not sure just how far to stick their necks… But the ongoing theme of the entire season remains… that was okay/not bad/pretty good...

This will all shake out in the week or two to come, as more eyeballs and more wagging tongues have their moments. But for now, ambivalence seems to rule. 

Charts
Picture | Director | Screenplay
Actor/Supporting Actor | Actress/Supporting Actress

Oscar Outsider
Simon Beaufoy's Adaptation of Slumdog Millionaire
by Kim Voynar

20 Weeks of Oscar
High & Low
by David Poland

Around 12 years ago, Harry and Moriarty said, "Mr. Valenti, tear down that wall."For the movie business, this was every bit as revolutionary – and maybe more so – than the Berlin Wall finally being pulled down.  From the very beginning, the movie industry was about creating illusion, including the mythologies of the studio chiefs, producers, directors, and obviously, the movie stars.  (Screenwriters… not so fast.)  This hadn’t really changed. 
This Week's Charts

20 Weeks to Oscar
I'm David Poland And I Approve This Oscar Race
by David Poland

Four years ago, it was one of our softest Oscar seasons. Eight years ago, it was one of our best. How much does the election matter?

2004 didn't seem terribly urgent, as the election went. As much as people wanted Bush out in this town, by this time of year it already seemed pretty unlikely that John Kerry had it in him to overthrow the W.

The Charts
Picture | Director | Screenplay
Actor | Actress | Supporting Actress | Supporting Actor

Voices
Oscar Comes Into Focus At NYFF
by Stephen Holt

Hunger was powerful, repulsive, suspenseful, daring, compelling, electrifying, beautiful and horrifying, by turns, and almost beyond belief. Hunger was everything that Che wasn't. My knuckles were white as I grabbed the edge of my seat and hung on for dear life as beat-by-beat it etched itself like an acid-drip into my mind with one unforgettably brutal image after the other. It’s a terrible, but brilliant film.

20 Weeks to Oscar
VOTE FOR...
Oh, Wait A Minute...
by David Poland

It's a very odd time to be talking Oscar.

We're 19 days away from the Presidential election, but 20 weeks from the Academy Awards.  And the studios know it.  It's been over a month since Toronto and two weeks since my last set of charts and in that time… very little has changed.  Of the ten or so films legitimately in the Best Picture race, only Slumdog Millionaire and The Dark Knight are actually available for viewing by most voters and/or journalists. 

Oscar Outsider
For My Consideration
by Kim Voynar

22 Weeks To Oscar:
For Love Or Money
by David Poland

Thing is, even when you get past the timing issues, this season seems heavily niche-oriented, even more than normal.  For instance, Frost/Nixon is a pretty straight but inherently amusing look at how all politics is show biz, and right now, it’s getting a lot of love unseen.  W., on the other hand, is carrying some negative weight because of Oliver Stone’s recent history.  But sight unseen, only one seems likely to be in the race at the end… and if W. is a brilliant Terry Southern-esque satire, it leaps ahead.  And what of Che?

The Charts
Best Picture | Director
Actor/Supporting Actor | Actress/Supporting Actress
Original/Adapted Screenplay

The first round of Guru voting is in for this upcoming Oscar season (our "regular season" starts on Election Day) and while 70s politics at the top of the Best Picture charts is no surprise, a certain slumdog cracking the
Top 5 is.

And while only one of the BP top Ten was at Toronto, festival faves Rourke, Hathaway, Tomei, DeWitt, and Scott Thomas got slotted in among the top acting contenders.

Frenzy On The Wall
If I Had A Ballot Today ...
by Noah Forrest

We're about nine months into the year and we've got three months ahead of us that are usually tjhe best for "awards movies." This has been a solid, if not exactly terrific, first nine months of the year and I thought it would be nice to honor some of the films and performances we've enjoyed so far. What follows is not a prediction, but an opinion of which films and actors I think deserve some accolades, although most of them will likely be supplanted in everyone's awards charts once October starts.

30 Weeks To Oscar
Oscarbama or McAdemy Awards?
by David Poland

Are we really starting The Oscar Season with just 22 movies in serious play ... really 12 that look like serious Best Picture contenders ... and Che just floating out there, waiting to land?

It's kind of crazy, really.  This time last year, we were looking at 40 legitimate possibilities, at least.

The Best Picture Chart

PGA Nominates
And - What Does It Mean?

The Vancouver Film Critics Nominate, Too

Hal Holbrook Tonight: Looking Back At Mark Twain, Into The Wild And Oscar

"This subject would never have attracted the New York Film Festival or Sony Classics to buy it. The format made people go for the film."
Getting Animated With Waltz With Bashir's Ari Folman

Oscar Gets Oscar.Org(anized)

"An astonishing comprehension that is sometimes a little close to cruelty."
James Wood On Revolutionary Road And Richard Yates

Making A Case For What Skills Each Of Danny Boyle's Movies Contributed To Slumdog Success

Viola Davis, Doubtless

Kansas City Film Critics Like Slumdog, Micky Rourke and Meryl Streep

National Society Of Film Critics Go Hyper-Topical, Naming Waltz With Bashir Year's Best; Nods To Penn, Hawkins; Marsan, Schygulla; Man On Wire; Two For Mike Leigh

The Updated Critics Scoreboard

The Sunday Times Shoulders The Little Gold Man
Checking In With Oscarcast Producers Condon And Mark
Plus - The Bagger Loves Anne Hathaway's Smile But Likes Her Baring Fangs, Too
And - Lim Talks Script With Writers Of Che, W., Milk
Plus - Times Crickets Chirp Their Oscar Faves
And - Kehr-Bear Considers Past Best Picture Lummoxes
With - Langella On Nixon's "Immortal Longings"
And - Dargis Considers That Synecdoche, New York May Take Place, Not Only In A Single Lifetime, But In A Single Minute

The Updated Top Ten Scoreboard
221 Lists; 236 films; Wall-E appears on 68% of all lists ...

"Being nude was weird. And now I'm seeming like the actress who does that, which wasn't my intention."
Marisa Tomei Talks Hula-Hoop

"This year's movie awards season has played out like Oscar night at Minsky's. At least a dozen of the supposedly hottest contenders are being teased out to the public in peekaboo release patterns."
The Big Cieper Comes Down With A Touch Of The Bagger (Why Not "Oscar Night At The Spearmint Rhino"?)

Considering The Non-Critics Who Want Clint On Deck For Oscar Batting

A Demand For A Different Sort Of Button Baby (Spoilers)

Gameshow-Wallah Anil Kapoor Talks Slumdog With Times Of India

A. R. Rahman On Scoring Slumdog

Oscar Invites 281 Features To The 2009 Foodfight

How Therapeutic Was Waltz With Bashir For Director Ari Folman?

The Bagger Sez Globes Will Party Like It's 2007
And - Oscar-Pitching To Vacationing Members

Chris McQuarrie Goes Long On The Construction Of Valkyrie

Ann Savage, Fatale-est Of Femmes In Detour, Most Fearsome Of Moms In My Winnipeg, Was 87

A Revolutionary Road Brunch
"Yates' novel, cherished by literary intellectuals and Paris Review interns to this day, expresses American suburban-phobia with crude explicitness. No literary critic that I know of has ever challenged Yates's puerile social perceptions."
The Journal Pulls Out A Richard Yates-Hater (Who Coined Phrase "Blogofascism") To Defend The Suburbs Against "Absurd" Critique
Plus - A Writers Colony Sort Of Writer Takes Up Cudgels For "Revolutionary Road"
And - Michael Shannon On The Classical Side Of His Character
With - Zoe Kazan On Fitting Into Family Tradition

Sasha Sez Ebert's All About The Four Stars, Sad He's Not Fond Of Button
And - "A splendidly made film based on a profoundly mistaken premise."
Roger's Notice

Oscar Ballots Are Up, Up, Up In The Air

Is Slumdog's A. R. Rahman The "Mozart Of India"?

Alexandre Desplat On The Sources Of His Button Score

The Dark Knight As Myth

Detroit Film Critics Are All For Slumdog

Frank Rich Prefers Slumdog Millionaire To Manhattan Madoff

A Hesitant Stephen Daldry Talks About The Reader's Reception

Three-Time Wrestling Champ Mick Foley Explains What Darren Aronofsky Got Right
Earlier - Foley Gets Down To Thumbtacks About The Wrestler

Fincher On Building Button Entirely From Data

A Pretty Solid Look At Oscar Publicity... Though Watch Out For A Bit Of Overly Generous Credit Giving

The Utah Critics Like The Dark Knight

The Toronto Film Critics Love Wendy & Lucy

This Year, Fear Of Screeners For Yet-To-Open Films Seems To Have Gone Away

On The 180 Degrees Between Ebert And Scott On Seven Pounds
Earlier - "I don't see how any review could really spoil what may be among the most transcendently, eye-poppingly, call-your-friend-ranting-in-the-middle-of-the-night-just-to-go-over-it-one-more-time crazily awful motion pictures ever made. Did I really see what I thought I saw?"
Tony Scott Goes Ring-A-Ding-Ding On Seven Pounds
And - "I am reminded of Melville's Le Samourai, about a man who lies on a bed in a dark hotel room and smokes, and gets up, and pays meticulous attention to his appearance, and goes out into the night, and we have no idea who this man is. I find this more interesting than a movie about a man whose nature and objectives are made clear in the first five minutes."
But - Ebert Doesn't Mind Some Emotional Manipulation

More Awards
Las Vegas Film Critics
Florida FIlm Critics

The London Film Critics Announce Nominations

Chicago Critics Love Wall-E ... A Lot

SAG Award Nominations Land... To A Total Of Zero Surprises, But Very Nice Mornings For One Leo (Melissa) & Richard Jenkins

Slumdog Sits On Top Of The Critics Scoreboard

Aronofsky On Why It's Good To Have A Small Music Budget

"Various critics or critic-like people are absolutely free to gather in covens, gossip and argue about movies, and dutifully report out the results. That pretty much mirrors the Bagger's life these days, and he is not self-hating enough to actually be against such a pastime."
The Bagger Yawns, Scratches, Mocks
And - Suggests Mickey Rourke May Be Out There

Elizabeth Drew Interrogates Frost/Nixon On Fact/Fiction

The Texas Critics
Dallas Ft Worth Like Slumdog
And - The Houston Film Critics Go For Ben Button
And - Austin Film Critics Embrace The Dark Knight

The Phoenix Film Critics Declare For Slumdog And Remember In Bruges

"Eight years ago when we were doing Traffic, I was approached about getting involved with Che, I said yes, sensing that it would be difficult or ugly. But that was, y'know, not a reason to say no."

Pickford Oscars Belong To Academy, Judge Sez

TIFF Picks Canada's Top 10 Films

Scripter Peter Morgan Set To Complete Blair Trilogy With Directorial Debut On Clinton Years; Michael Sheen's Still Tony

Michael Musto Considers The "Got Gay?" Question About Milk

Soderbergh's Work Ethic Comes From Being Unable To Direct After He's Dead

Germaine Greer Would Like You To Know Australia Is A Fairytale

NY Observer Cover-Stories Revolutionary Road

The Chicago Critics Nominate

Slumdog Millionaire And The "Real India"

Baz On Gambling On Amateurism

Cleve Jones On The Real Milk

The Top Ten Scoreboard (With 22 Lists In)

Awards, Awards, Awards
SouthEastern Film Critics Love Milk
And - St. Louis Film Critics Love Ben Button
And - Golden Satellite Awards
And - Boston Film Critics
And - New York Film Critics Online
And - The Alliance of Women Film Journalists
And - The Women's Film Critics Circle

5 Reasons To Be Thrilled The Che Roadshow Is A Hit

Will Smith's Seven-Second Charm

Button Pushes Oscar's Digi-Debate

The Sunday NY Times
"Two Christmases ago Bryan Singer was looking for a modestly scaled movie to make, something he could slide in quickly between behemoths."
With - A Waltz With Ari
Plus - Chip McGrath On The Boom In Gloom When Leo Meets Kate
And - Clint Owns The Place, OK?

Iran Forces Take Insult From The Wrestler

"No one at that point could have foreseen the extraordinary series of misfortunes that soon overtook us."
David Hare's 1,800 Word Account On Adapting The Reader, "Not A Book About Forgiveness"

The Seed Of Seven Pounds

Music Man Hugh Jackman To Host Oscars Produced By Musical-Makers

Golden Globes Nods-Land; Five Noms Each For Button, Doubt, F/N
And - "The town drunks are at it again."

Danny Boyle Asks The Bagger If It's A Good Time To Come To The Globes

Jerry Lewis Biographer Shawn Levy Salutes The Academy
Earlier - Lewis To Receive Hersholt Humanitarian Award at 81st Oscars

Pitting Wendy & Lucy's Neo-Neorealism Against The Exiles

The New York Film Critics Like Milk

The Big List of 2008 Films

LA Critics Go For Wall*E; Boyle; Penn; Hawkins; Ledger; Cruz; Leigh; Man On Wire; Waltz With Bashir

Poland Mulls And Muses The Critics' Choice Awards Roster

The BFCA Critics' Choice Awards Noms

Dark Knight Can Again Tune Up For Oscar Hopes

"Hollywood and Indiewood can do romantic pathology and entropy, but the kind of love for the ages, a big-movie kind of love? Not so much."
Bagger Line O' The Day

Milk Gets A Stanley Kramer
And - A Nod To Randy Shilts, The Scribe Who Was The Conscience Of Castro Street

The D.C. Film Critics Show A Lot Of Love For Slumdog Millionaire

Benicio Marches Che Into Habana

The Daily Beast On Its Nixon/Frost Beat
Nixon's Book Editor Michael Korda Sez Langella's Got The Physicality Right
And - The Making Of David Frost
Earlier - Sir David's On-Screen GF On Fact/Fiction in Frost/Nixon
And - Nixon Aide Diane Sawyer Won't See The Movie
Plus - Michael Sheen Gets Sir On The Horn

Gomorrah Sweeps European Film Awards; Nods To Hunger, Scott-Thomas For Loved You
And - Warlords Victorious At Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards, "The Chinese Oscars"

The Bagger Jabbers With John Patrick Shanley
Plus - The Reader Has All Kinds Of Vergangenheitsbewaltigung
And - Riff-Rafferty On Revolution Dude Che

Man On Wire, Waltz With Bashir Tie At IDA Awards

Deciphering Changes In Foreign Language Oscar Rules

How Can Warner Campaign For Heath Ledger's Oscar Nom?

China's Self-Defeating Oscar Battles

On The Set Of The Reader With Kate Winslet

Heath Ledger Gets Australian Film Institute's International Award For Best Actor

Foreign-Language Newcomers Stumble Into Oscar Spotlight

"I've always found that big hits stem from corporate inadvertencies, not from careful planning."
Pete Pious V On "Nobody Knows Nothing" In: Re: Slumdog

Soderbergh's "Guerilla" Financing
Plus - Soderbergh On The Lightweight Aspect Of Che

John Patrick Shanley On Why Joe Vs. The Volcano Left Him With Doubt

The Best Of Nixons, The Worst Of Nixons

Dark Knight Returns To Big Screen Day After Oscar Noms Announced In January; Hopes To Hit Int'l Tally Of One Billion Dollars

"I loved playing Skeletor, and people sometimes say, 'Aren't you embarrassed?' Not in the least! I loved my performance in that. I worked very hard to make him as exciting as I could. It was a great paycheck. But it was also delicious."
Nixon Not Only Master Of Universe That Amuses Frank Langella

Why Doesn't Every Awards-Giving Bunch Broadcast Their Events?

Trailering Che Part 2
And - The Big Theatrical Trailer

Adams On Readering Between The Lines: When Is Abuse Not Abuse?

Clint Sez "This One Is Weird" But He's Started On Mandela Bio Already

Frozen River Cracks Gothams

"Is there anyone more American than Ron Howard?"
The Importance of Being Earnest Ron

Early Gothams Go To Ballast, Synedoche And Distrib-Less Sita Sings The Blues

Clint Sings Grand Torino (streaming)

Globes Qualify 53 For Foreign Lingo Gold, Including 14 French, 4 Italian

117 Nonfiction Features Eligible For 2009 Cinema Eye Honors

Sir David Interrogates Frost/Nixon

At Least Baz Gets A Standing Euro-vation

Frozen River Syndrome In Stockholm

Counting All The Portrayals In Che's Lounge

Mary Pickford's Oscar In Court's Hands

Slumdog Gets 3 British Independent Film Awards; Hunger, Too

Waltz With Bashir Takes Top Nod At Tokyo Filmex

Behind The Sleek Graphics Of Oscar Doc Shortlistee I.O.U.S.A.

The Bagger Launches His Oscar Season, With A Salvo About The Bull Market In Ego
And - How An Onion Ex-Editor-In-Chief Grappled With The Wrestler
Plus -