Tracking the Oscar race for best adapted screenplay

Obviously, "The Social Network" is ahead in the Oscar race for best adapted screenplay, given its front-runner status as best picture and the vaunted reputation of Aaron Sorkin as master wordsmith. However, upsets are always possible at these quirkly Hollywood awards, of course. "127 Hours" or "True Grit" could quickly jump ahead if one of them wins best picture from the film critics' awards in early December, which is quite possible. The creators of both films have been honored by them in the past and they also previously won the Oscars for best picture and screenplay in the past for "Slumdog Millionaire," "No Country for Old Men." There's an obvious link between those two Academy...

127 Hours Academy Awards Oscars Slumdog Millionaire The Hurt Locker The King's Speech The Social Network
10/29/2010 16:23
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Gold Derby nuggets: 3 or 5 animated feature Oscar nominees? | "SNL" = Oscar good luck charm?

• Pete Hammond has the scoop on the possibility of the animated feature Oscar race expanding this year. As he reports, "the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences sent out a reminder confirming the 5 PM PT November 1st deadline for 2010 Best Animated feature entries. At this point there do not appear to be enough entries to trigger five nominations rather than the more common three but there is still time, brother. What wasn’t mentioned in the release is the number that have been received so far at the Academy. A really good clue though is a letter I have learned that was sent late last week updating members and potential members of...

127 Hours Academy Awards Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Alice in Wonderland James Franco Jesse Eisenberg Love and Other Drugs Morning Glory Oscars Saturday Night Live SNL The King's Speech The Social Network True Grit
10/29/2010 16:11
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Oscars poll: Who'll win best supporting actor?

Christoph Waltz ("Inglourious Basterds") dominated last year's Oscar race for supporting actor from the outset, but now there's no early front-runner. There's a lot of support for Geoffrey Rush's flamboyant role as wily voice coach to Britain's stammering King George VI in "The King's Speech," but voters may feel been-there-done-that due to his 1996 lead actor win for "Shine." What's curious is that this race isn't overshadowed by the kind of villainous role that ruled this category, with fiendish terror, in recent years (Christoph Waltz, Javier Bardem, Heath Ledger). However, there are a lot of bad-boy roles, including Sam Rockwell as a hooligan wrongly imprisoned for murder in "Conviction," Jeremy Renner as a bully bank...

Academy Awards Javier Bardem Jeff Bridges Justin Timberlake Matt Damon Oscars The Kids are All Right The King's Speech The Social Network The Town
10/29/2010 15:48
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Oscar poll: Who'll win best supporting actress?

At this time last year, Mo'Nique was already out front in the Oscar race for best supporting actress based upon the early buzz generated by "Precious" at the Sundance Film Festival. And there was no stopping her thereafter, of course. This year, there is no leader. Some pundits say Helena Bonham Carter is ahead thanks to "The King's Speech's" status as a best picture front-runner, but, truth be told, her role as the beloved "queen mum" Elizabeth isn't very expressive. Other seers say Dianne Wiest is ahead for portraying Nicole Kidman's doting mom in "Rabbit Hole," but that's just because she's an automatic Oscar grabber with past victories for "Hannah and Her Sisters" and "Bullets...

Academy Awards Mo'Nique Nicole Kidman Oscars Penelope Cruz The King's Speech True Grit
10/27/2010 19:31
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Gold Derby nuggets: 'Animal Kingdom' dominates Aussie 'Oscars' noms | 'The Hobbit' staying in New Zealand | 'The King's Speech' to Broadway?

• As Michael Bodey reports, "Crime drama 'Animal Kingdom' has swamped the Australian Film Institute nominations, grabbing a nod in every category for which it was eligible. The film about a Melbourne crime family overseen by a charismatic matriarch (played by Jacki Weaver) earned 18 nominations, with war drama 'Beneath Hill 60' next in numbers with a surprising 12 nominations. Jane Campion's British-Australian co-production 'Bright Star' earned 11 nominations, the teen novel adaptation 'Tomorrow When The War Began' earned eight and indigenous musical 'Bran Nue Dae' and the French-Australian co-production 'The Tree' grabbed seven nominations each. All six films will vie for the best film prize." THE AUSTRALIAN • Mike Fleming has the scoop: "Attorneys...

Academy Awards Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences American Music Awards Animal Kingdom Colin Firth Eminem Emma Stone Jacki Weaver Justin Bieber Katy Perry Lady Antebellum Oscars Peter Jackson The Hobbit The King's Speech The Lord of the Rings Tilda Swinton Tony Awards Tonys
10/27/2010 10:41
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Sly times at the Hollywood Awards

It's a shame that the Hollywood Film Festival's Hollywood Awards aren't televised. There's a lazy, mischievous air about the gala that makes it seem like the Golden Globes on even more bubbly. They're held in the same space as the Globes — in the ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel — where stars giggle, prattle, meow, yell, insult, confess and laugh while not being barked at by TV producers rushing to commercial breaks. They throw a lot of f-bombs around. It's a hoot. Monday night one of them almost even cried at the podium: Sean Penn as he accepted a humanitarian award for the charitable work performed by him and his organization JP/HRO to help...

Andrew Garfield Justin Timberlake Sean Penn The King's Speech The Social Network
10/26/2010 18:59
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One year ago: What Oscar pundits prophesized

Let this be a lesson to all of us smug Oscar seers who insist that they know how the current derby will play out. Most of us now say that it's "The Social Network" versus "The King's Speech" for best picture, Colin Firth ("The King's Speech") versus James Franco ("127 Hours") for lead actor and Natalie Portman ("Black Swan") versus Annette Bening ("The Kids Are All Right") for lead actress. But true? One year ago today, we weren't even talking about the eventual winners of lead actor and actress: Jeff Bridges ("Crazy Heart") and Sandra Bullock ("The Blind Side"). BEST PICTURE: Last year in mid-October we had a decent grasp of the best picture race...

127 Hours Academy Awards Annette Bening Black Swan Carey Mulligan Colin Firth Daniel Day-Lewis James Franco Jeff Bridges Natalie Portman Oscars The Kids are All Right The King's Speech The Social Network
10/21/2010 12:29
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Gold Derby nuggets: 'Avatar' extras and sequels in the works | 'Glee' courts controversy with GQ cover | Cussing in 'The King's Speech'

• On Tuesday, James Cameron revealed he will direct two sequels to "Avatar" simultaneously: "Our plan right now is to do two and three as a single large production and release them a year apart. In order to do that, we have to refine our technical processes beyond the end of where we were finishing 'Avatar' one year ago. We need to future-proof ourselves out five or six years to the end of the third film." MOVIEFONE • Reporting from the Scream Awards, Katey Rich says that in anticipation of the Nov. 16 DVD and Blu-ray release of "Avatar," "Cameron showed up to present one never-before-seen clip, in which we meet Jake Sully back on...

Academy Awards Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Avatar Colin Firth James Cameron The King's Speech The Social Network Tony Awards Tonys
10/20/2010 14:17
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Poll: Will 'Winter's Bone' be nominated for best picture at the Oscars?

Now that "Winter's Bone" leads with the most nominations at the Gotham Independent Film Awards (three), its Oscar hopes brighten. But how much? Only three previous Gotham champs were nommed for best picture in the past: "The Hurt Locker," "Capote" and "Sideways." "Winter's Bone" faces a crowded field at the upcoming Oscar derby. Currently, there are 13 front-runners competing for the 10 best-picture slots: "127 Hours," "Black Swan," "The Fighter," "Hereafter," "How Do You Know," "Inception," "The Kids Are All Right," "The King's Speech," "The Social Network," "The Town," "Toy Story 3," "True Grit" and "The Way Back." Jockeying right behind: "Alice in Wonderland," "Another Year," "Blue Valentine," "For Colored Girls," "The Ghost Writer," "How...

127 Hours Academy Awards Black Swan Gotham Awards Inception Oscars The Fighter The Kids are All Right The King's Speech The Social Network Winter's Bone
10/18/2010 16:20
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Latest Oscar predictions: Lead actor

Right now it looks like Colin Firth is far ahead in the Academy Award race for lead actor. All Oscarologists know that voters are suckers for actors who portray real-life characters (Forest Whittaker in "Last King of Scotland," Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Capote"), especially ones with handicaps (Jamie Foxx in "Ray," Geoffrey Rush in "Shine"). In "The King's Speech," Firth portrays Britain's monarch George VI struggling to overcome a stammer while rallying his countrymen to fight World War II. Firth has something else going for him — the old Oscar Makeup Rule: If you lose one year, don't worry, you'll win the next. All of these stars (plus many others) won an Academy Award one...

127 Hours Academy Awards Colin Firth James Franco Oscars The King's Speech The Social Network
10/13/2010 16:10
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Gold Derby nuggets: Oscar exec Bruce Davis retiring | 'The King's Speech' tops Dave Karger's Oscar predix | Eminem and Lady Antebellum lead AMA nominations

• As Nikki Finke reports, "This is truly the end of an era. I've just learned that Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences executive director Bruce Davis announced at this evening's Board Of Governors meeting that he intends to retire on June 30th, 2011, after 30 years working for the world's preeminent film group." Nikki also has a copy of Bruce's e-mail to the academy staff, which reads, in part, "When I leave I will have spent thirty years at the Academy, and more than twenty as its executive director. That seems like enough. Organizations and individuals both benefit from periodic shifts in perspective." DEADLINE • Roger Deakins will be feted with the lifetime...

Academy Awards Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences AMAs American Music Awards Colin Firth Eminem Jesse Eisenberg Justin Bieber Lady Gaga Oscar nominations Oscars Social Network The King's Speech The Social Network True Grit
10/13/2010 12:13
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Latest Oscar predictions: Best picture

Since "The Social Network" has not disappointed at the box office, it retains its status as the front-runner to win best picture at the Oscars. However, buzz builds fast for "The King's Speech," which is just the kind of grand historical drama that academy voters used to adore. Normally, royal film pageants don't do well at the early film-critics' awards, though, and nowadays those critics' kudos seem to matter more than ever. Critics' trophies certainly helped to propel "The Hurt Locker" Oscar bound last year. What's possible this year? Anything. Journos often like to shake things up by making oddball calls. This year that could mean victory by, say, "Toy Story 3" at the New...

127 Hours Academy Awards Black Swan Inception Oscars The Kids are All Right The King's Speech The Social Network
10/11/2010 16:32
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