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6/5 Web Round-up
• Carmike Cinemas honcho S. David Passman III gets back to basics, like cleaning the bathrooms. (This story hits home with me because I grew up going to a shoddy Carmike theater.) [Company Town] •...
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Live your life
Make no mistake, I found 9 year-old Rubina Ali as adorable in “Slumdog Millionaire” as everyone else did. I also found her a rather more expressive actress than her elder incarnation, Freida Pinto. And...
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All together now — awwww…
As if Dev Patel hadn’t had enough luck this year, he’s only gone and nabbed Freida Pinto into the bargain. The relationship between the 19 year-old Brit and the stunning 24 year-old actress has been...
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TECH SUPPORT: Kicking the tires on a new season
Today marks the beginning of a fourth year of Tech Support here at In Contention. Over the past four years, we’ve sought to bring the otherwise under-reported crafts categories and crafts artists the...
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In praise of the studio suits
It’s a few days old, but I only just got to this excellent Guardian piece in which Danny Leigh wonders whether Hollywood studio executives are done a disservice by the widespread perception of them as...
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‘Trainspotting’ named best British film of last 25 years
The Observer has just assembled one of the more interesting lists I’ve seen in some time — a collective of the 25 best British films of the last quarter-century, compiled from the votes of over 60...
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9/8 Web Round-up
• John Hillcoat and Joe Penhall already looking for life after “The Road.” [Variety] • The “Slumdog” kids set to star opposite Anthony Hopkins? [PR Inside] • Eugene Hernandez reports from the Telluride...
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THE LONG SHOT: Minority report
When the Academy Awards roll around in March, it will have been precisely two decades since the unlikely figure of Kim Basinger blasted Academy voters’ conservatism on air at the 1989 ceremony, with...
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Desplat wins Composer of the Year award
You’d be hard pressed to disagree that Alexandre Desplat is pretty much at the top of the game in contemporary film scoring. In addition to his genius (“Birth” looks likely to remain my favorite score...
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THE LONG SHOT: What is an “Oscar movie” these days?
“God, that thing’s just going to shit Academy Awards out of its ass next year, isn’t it?,” I overheard a journo behind me remark to his companion, as I made my way out of the “Up in the Air” press...
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11/4 Oscarweb Round-up
• Gregory Ellwood slams “Everybody’s Fine,” calls last night’s AFI festivities a Miramax wake. I’m having trouble disagreeing with him. [Awards Campaign] • Rebecca Milzoff gets some face time with “An...
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‘A Prophet’ dominates European Film Award nominations
Is “A Prophet” gradually stealing awards-season momentum from “The White Ribbon?” (It’s the superior film, if you ask me.) Too soon to say, of course, but it certainly came out on top in this morning’s...
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A bit of context
From the moment it was commissioned, this was intended STRICTLY as a “defined the decade” list, regardless of qualitative considerations. Go back and re-read it in that light, recover from the horror...
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First stab at winner predictions, part 2: Yours and mine
Seeing as Kris was (delete as appropriate) brave/stupid/psychic/smart enough to predict who will win the Oscars four months ahead of the ceremony (and three weeks earlier than he did last year), I...
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THE LONG SHOT: Don’t look back in anger
For all the movement in the awards game this week – Jeff Bridges leap-frogging into contention, the animation race swelling to five nominees, “Precious” continuing to gather momentum – my head hasn’t...
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‘White Ribbon’ triumphs at European Film Awards
(UPDATE: Due to an error on the EFA’s own website, we initially reported that the technical Prix d’Excellence had been awarded to “Vincere.” This is incorrect: the sound design team behind “A Prophet”...
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1/19 Oscarweb Round-up
• Searching for meaning in Robert Downey Jr’s Stark-esque Globes beard. Perhaps too much meaning. [CHUD] • Roger Ebert dives back into the enigma of Michael Haneke’s “Cache.” [Chicago Sun-Times] •...
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THE LONG SHOT: A little bit of English
Yesterday, while talking with one of my sane friends whose thoughts drift to film awards perhaps one day a year, the conversation turned to the BAFTAs, which announce the nominations for their 2009...
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Grammys for Giacchino
As the music world celebrated the general awesomeness that is Taylor Swift last night, Oscar-minded Hollywood couldn’t resist infringing on the proceedings slightly. When Jeff Bridges even crops up at...
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THE LONG SHOT: Happy Oscar (War Is Over)
So this is Oscar. And what have you done? Speaking for myself, lately, not a hell of a lot. In the three weeks that this column has been on hiatus – apologies to the handful of you who missed it – it’s...
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