Gold Derby
Tom O'Neil has the inside track on Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and all the award shows.
Toronto Film Festival lineup loaded with Oscar hopefuls
The 35th annual edition of the Toronto Film Festival is scheduled to include the world and North American premieres of a slew of awards contenders. This year's festival is to kick off on Sept. 9 and run for 11 days. Among the 50 titles announced Tuesday are the following films that could well figure in the contests for kudos this year: "Another Year" -- The latest domestic drama by Mike Leigh ("Happy Go Lucky") is centered on a middle-aged couple (Jim Broadbent, Ruth Sheen) and their assorted friends and family, including a saucy alcoholic (Lesley Manville). "Biutiful" -- Oscar champ Javier Bardem won best actor at Cannes for his portrayal of a dying father looking...
Academy Awards Cannes Film Festival Carey Mulligan Helen Mirren Hilary Swank Javier Bardem Nicole Kidman Oscar nominations Oscars Toronto Film Festival Toronto International Film Festival Woody Allen
07/27/2010 10:45
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Gold Derby nuggets: Sigourney Weaver blasts Oscars over 'Avatar' snub | Behind the scenes drama at Pulitzers | 'Polytechnique' sweeps Genies
• Actress Sigourney Weaver certainly believes in standing by her director, telling the Brazilian news website Folha Online that her good friend James Cameron was snubbed at the recent Oscars due to reverse sexism. "Jim didn't have breasts, and I think that was the reason [he didn't win]," she said in this candid interview. And Weaver thinks that the record box office takings of "Avatar" kept it from collecting more gold. "In the past, 'Avatar' would have won because they [Oscar voters] loved to hand out awards to big productions, like 'Ben-Hur.' Today it's fashionable to give the Oscar to a small movie that nobody saw." • Meryl Streep may also have been snubbed at...
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04/13/2010 14:27
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Gold Derby nuggets: Campaigners crash after the Oscars | Did Jennifer Aniston snicker when Brad Pitt lost? | Will Penelope Cruz fall into Carmen Miranda's trap?
• After winning the lead actor award at the Oscars for "Milk," Sean Penn has joined the campaign to have Harvey Milk's birthday, May 22, recognized as "a day of significance" in California. VARIETY • Woody Allen's "Whatever Works" will open the next Tribeca Film Festival. It's the first movie he's made set in New York City since 2004. HOLLYWOOD REPORTER • Anne Thompson reports that the early exit of programmer Peter Scarlet from the Tribeca Film Festival "is an act of protest indeed." THOMPSON ON HOLLYWOOD • "Penelope Cruz won the best supporting actress Oscar for a role that lampooned her foreignness," notes a London paper. "Let's hope she doesn't fall into the trap...
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03/03/2009 11:17
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Can Woody Allen win 'Slumdog Millionaire' star Freida Pinto an Oscar?
Freida Pinto — the love interest in the Oscar-winning "Slumdog Millionaire," — is now the newest young beauty to be cast as Woody Allen's muse. Pinto joins Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins ("The Silence of the Lambs") and Oscar nominees Josh Brolin ("Milk") and Naomi Watts for this untitled project. Woody Allen's last film — "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," — marked a return to form for the one-time perennial Oscar contender. And while he missed out on a 15th writing nomination, Penelope Cruz became the 15th performer to earn an Oscar nod under Allen's direction. And she was the fourth of Woody's women to win when she took the supporting actress Academy Award for her serio-comic portrayal...
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02/24/2009 14:29
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Spirits regain some independence from Oscars
After flirting with the Oscars for much of its 24-year history, this year's edition of the Independent Spirit Awards struck out on its own somewhat. For the first time in six years, none of the best picture contenders at the Spirits went on to reap an equivalent Oscar bid, though the ultimate winner — "The Wrestler" — was in the mix. By snubbing "Milk" as a best-picture nominee in favor of fare like "Ballast" and "Wendy and Lucy" that had no chance of making it into the final five at the Oscars, the Spirits regained a degree of their one-time independence. However, while the acting nominees — as selected by screening committees — also had...
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02/21/2009 18:30
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Really the best picture of 1977?
Of course "Annie Hall" received lots of rave reviews, but — in honor of Woody Allen's pending big comeback in some top Oscar races this year -- here's a curious one of opposite opinion by the notoriously grumpy John Simon, who wrote in the New Republic: "With 'Annie Hall,' Woody Allen has truly underreached himself. ... His new film is painful in three separate ways: as unfunny comedy, poor moviemaking, and embarrassing self-revelation. It is everything we never wanted to know about Woody's sex life and were afraid he'd tell us anyway. And now he does. ... It is a film so shapeless, sprawling, repetitious and aimless as to seem to be for oblivion." In...
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10/26/2008 23:22
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Hmmm . . . are these the Oscar nominees?
Below are the preliminary results of polls that Sasha Stone's running over at AwardsDaily in the lead and supporting acting races. Results looks pretty solid, at least in terms of who'll be nommed. There are a few squirrely things here and there on the lists. Cate Blanchett is listed in supporting, but Paramount insists that she's lead in "Benjamin Button." Dev Patel is listed in lead, but Fox Searchlight claims he's supporting in "Slumdog Millionaire." Of course, since Oscar voters can ignore campaigns and put thesps wherever they please (here's your cue to pipe in if you're reading this, Keisha Castle-Hughes), so these rundowns could turn out to be correct. Personally, I don't buy the...
Academy Awards Angelina Jolie AngelinaJolie Brad Pitt BradPitt Cate Blanchett Clint Eastwood ClintEastwood entertainment news Leo DiCaprio LeoDiCaprio Leonardo DiCaprio LeonardoDiCaprio Meryl Streep Mickey Rourke Penelope Cruz PenelopeCruz Woody Allen WoodyAllen
10/26/2008 22:27
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Gold Derby nuggets: Oops, Britney Spears won't do it again at the MTV Video Music Awards | Woody Allen satirizing diarizing | Humanitas scripting nods include 'Juno' scribe
• The New York Daily News reports Britney Spears will not perform on the MTV Video Music Awards. Says a spokesman for her manager, Larry Rudolph, "She did the promo for them, but there never were any plans for her to appear on the show," which airs on Sept. 7. While Britney is still expected to attend as a regular contender for "Piece of Me" (nominated for three awards, including video of the year), there was widespread hope that Britney Spears would redeem the performance she gave last year when she fell to pieces while staging "Gimme More." The Daily News adds, "The spokesman said it was 'wishful thinking' when Britney's hair colorist told E!...
Academy Awards Britney Spears BritneySpears Film films MTV Video Music Awards Oscars Penelope Cruz Pulitzer Prizes Woody Allen WoodyAllen
08/26/2008 16:58
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Oscars for 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona,' Penelope Cruz and Woody Allen?
Timing of its release couldn't be better for the Oscars prospects of "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," which comes just months after its star Javier Bardem, sporting the creepiest hairdo this side of Donald Trump and Jacko, terrified Hollywood into handing over piles of academy gold to "No Country for Old Men." At the previous Oscars, Penelope Cruz ("Volver") posed the most serious threat to usurp Helen Mirren ("The Queen") in the best-actress race but, having failed, now seems due to reign too. At the derby before that, many Oscarwatchers thought Woody Allen would finally have his big comeback, but "Match Point," despite nabbing a screenplay nomination, didn't catch fire, so the three-time winner is now sparking...
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08/17/2008 12:09
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Will the 'Pineapple Express' gang ever be up for Oscars?
Of course, Oscar voters don't usually take comedy seriously, but sometimes they do, so it's no laughing matter that the comic wizards behind today's hottest gut-busters ("Pineapple Express," "Knocked Up," "Superbad," "The 40-Year-Old Virgin") are pooh-poohed by the academy. Makes you wonder: Will Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen ever get deserved notice? After all, voters hailed comedy break-outs Diablo Cody ("Juno," winner) and Paul Hogan ("Crocodile Dundee," nominee) right away. Other funny films have received screenplay nominations like "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Big." Heck, three lighthearted cartoons even received bids: "The Incredibles," "Finding Nemo" and "Ratatouille." But when academy voters acknowledge comedy films with writing nominations, they usually prefer work by members of...
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08/09/2008 14:29
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Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem join non-premiere premiere of 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' in New York
It sure looked like a film premiere to me last night when stars Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem and Patricia Clarkson strutted the red carpet outside Cinema 2 in Manhattan, spinning and mugging for paparazzi minutes before the East Coast debut of Woody Allen's new flick "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." The event was billed just as "a screening," mind you. The official premiere was in Los Angeles on Monday night. But this event was obviously the New York equivalent for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" even though reps for the Weinstein Co. kept downplaying the hoopla. Hey, when did Harvey Weinstein start downplaying hoopla? He has every right to crow now because it looks like he's back in the...
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08/07/2008 17:42
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Gold Derby nuggets: Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem at 'Vicky' L.A. premiere ... Carpetbagger goes gunning for redemption ... Early Oscars predix ... See peeks at 'W.' and 'Appaloosa'
Last night saw the Hollywood premiere of "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," the new comedy by Woody Allen. All four of the film's stars -- Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall -- were in attendance, as was the writer-director himself, seldom seen on the West Coast. This Wednesday's Gotham premiere is being billed as a "private screening," but Gold Derby will be in attendance and report on the behind-the-scenes hoopla (Cruz and Bardem will be with us at the dinner afterward), plus we'll dish the awards potential of this hoped-for return to form for Allen. "With its sprawling ensemble of Oscar nominees and winners, from Forest Whitaker to Jennifer Hudson, 'Winged Creatures' has the...
Academy Awards Javier Bardem Oscars Penelope Cruz Woody Allen
08/05/2008 18:07
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