82nd Annual Academy Awards: The Final Tally

Eleven feature-length films join the list of Oscar-winning features this year, as follows:

THE HURT LOCKER— 6 Oscars

AVATAR
— 3 Oscars

CRAZY HEART
— 2 Oscars
PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL 'PUSH' BY SAPPHIRE
— 2 Oscars
UP
— 2 Oscars


THE BLIND SIDE— 1 Oscar
THE COVE— 1 Oscar
EL SECRETO DE SUS OJOS— 1 Oscar
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS— 1 Oscar
STAR TREK— 1 Oscar
THE YOUNG VICTORIA— 1 Oscar

82nd Annual Academy Awards: A Review

Just seven minutes over last year's running time and the show seemed an eternity. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin were pretty good hosts, but I think we'd have been better off if Steve Martin just did it as a solo.

Why oh why was there a Neil Patrick Harris opener? Firstly the song— something like "No one wants to do it alone"— was awful. Secondly-- it makes the ACTUAL hosts look too talentless to pull off a song. Thirdly, why do we need a song? PAGING JON STEWART! What's wrong with a few jokes and then, get on with the show?

When Steve and Alec did arrive, their jokes were hit and miss, but enough funny ones worked.... I especially loved the "Look it's DAMN Helen Mirren" bit ("That's Dame Helen Mirren."), as well as Martin's gag that Meryl Streep's 16 nominations, means... the most losses.

By the way, can we step back to the pre-show that year after year ABC cannot get right? The only time they get it right is when they cancel it. Kathy Ireland was so busy striking a pose she couldn't concentrate on the interviews. Sherri Shepherd tried her best, but she clearly wasn't listening to the answers to her final questions and shooed off the celebs at the end of each of her interviews. And was it me or did the Oscar artwork in the back look like the poster for CATS?

Now that the song numbers are cut, the individual presentation of all the Best Picture nominees will turn into the going-to-the-bathroom opportunities in the show (And they're pretty badly scripted: "It sneaks up on you... THE BLIND SIDE"). Among the other packages, I enjoyed the "interviews" with the animated characters and even the (albeit totally random) horror movies clips (repetitive, but they hit all the biggies). Yes, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY got no nods and yes, the parodies have been done, but I did laugh at the Steve and Alec piece. I also liked the tribute to John Hughes, except for one thing— they shouldn't have done it. If there's no time to give LAUREN effing BACALL her honorary Oscar on the live show then there's no time to give a tribute to a filmmaker that never received a single Oscar nomination and for whom the Academy would NEVER in a million years have done a tribute for if he died at say 80 years old. Dying young should not warrant a tribute. And I grew up on Hughes' movies... I'm a fan... but it was weird. Marlon Brando didn't get a stand alone tribute, right? Judd Nelson was a freak show... jees. And it was funny that they cut to Kristin Stewart at the end-- she was probably wondering who the hell all those people were! Speaking of bad cuts... it was pretty lame to cut to an African-American any time PRECIOUS was featured... Morgan Freeman, Samuel L. Jackson....

No one among the presenters did that much in the way of clever presenting. Probably because the best awards show presenter in Hollywood was one of the co-hosts (Steve Martin). Please STOP Ben Stiller. His awards show bits are always terrible! And they are insulting to the poor shlub actually getting the award he's presenting. And yet, year after year, the next day his disastrously fallen-flat routine will make countless "best moments" lists. Why? Because these award shows are so desperately devoid of actual moments, that the online community has to find SOMETHING to point out, and it's "easy" to point to the "wacky" as a highlight.

There were two moments in the show where I literally said out loud: "WHAT IS GOING ON?!" — when the now notorious Kayne'd short film guy was interrupted by that red-haired woman acting crazy and when Sean Penn (also now notoriously) rambled on about god-knows-what when he came out on stage.

The interpretive dance-- again.. why? It could have been the best dancing known to man, and it STILL would've been criticized. Haven't the Oscar producers learned by now? No more interpretive dance... it doesn't fit, it doesn't work, and no one wants to see it.

The dead reel started off wrong again this year for the viewing audience that saw the screens in a long shot, and therefore missed a few of the people. Honestly, I wasn't too upset about Farrah (the internet went ballistic)... what they should have done is left both MJ and Farrah out. Although, on second thought, I think they probably could have found room for her. Like, leave the who-even-knows-her Kathryn Grayson, who only just passed, to next year.

The speeches were all good: Sandra Bullock's possibly the most memorable of the four acting winners. The nicest— and most genuine— moment during the acting presentations, was when Gabourey Sidibe teared up when Oprah was talking about her onstage.

Barbra Streisand didn't overshadow Kathryn Bigelow too much, thank god. Boy Bigelow would NOT let go of her Oscars to Steve and Alec at the end of the show! The two had hilarious parting lines: "This show is so long AVATAR takes place in the past."/ "That's all the time we have folks!" Sadly, the smart idea of having clips from the new season's crop of films— that was done over the credits last year— was not continued this year. All in all, a weak show-- last year's wasn't brilliant, but it was better.

82nd Annual Academy Awards

Another Oscars! Crazy that it's the 82nd-- wow have they been giving this thing out a long time. This year with the Olympics pushing the Awards, the show feels like some sort of weird after thought. This is one of the few times, however, that the Best Picture winner is up in the air (pun!). I put THE HURT LOCKER on my office ballot, but the more I think about it... an AVATAR sweep (with the sole exception of Bigelow as Best Director) has a certain likelihood to it. My predix are basically the favorites as listed in the Entertainment Weekly, except I think that Tarantino will be awarded the Best Original Screenplay Oscar over THE HURT LOCKER.

I have another reason to look forward to the closing credits (besides the 3+ show is finally OVER). ANd that relates to what I wrote in my last year's review of the show: "One of my favorite additions to the show was running sneak previews of several 2009 movies over the end credits-- I really, really hope this becomes a tradition. It would be a cool way to promote movies who are willing to “premiere” just a few tantalizing moments— I, for example, loved that they showed a few seconds from Woody Allen’s upcoming Whatever Works." We shall see.

Oscar Nominations 2009: Interesting Facts

Just one last thought on the nominations. After the announcement I checked around the Oscar sites to see what people's predix were (I never look at these beforehand to allow for "some" surprise), and I noticed several sites put Diane Kruger as a possible Best Supporting Actress nominee for INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS. When I thought about it, I realized, that this one nomination may have been enough to peak my interest in this year's noms, since (A.) INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS was my film of the year and (B.) This would have given INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS 9 total nominations, and therefore be in a three-way tie with AVATAR and THE HURT LOCKER for most nominations. But alas it wasn't meant to be.

I must admit, a look through the nominations did not offer much in terms of compelling interesting facts. The most glaring thing is the fact that three of the Best Picture nominees have between 2-3 total nominations... BLIND SIDE (Picture, Actress), AN EDUCATION (Picture, Actress, Adapted Screenplay), and A SERIOUS MAN (Picture, Original Screenplay). I started to look into the last time a Best Picture got that few nominations, and then I bored of the search, partially in anger (again!) over the fact that I wouldn't have to have bothered if AMPAS didn't pull their 10 nominees stunt. And seriously, if your movie only gets a nomination for Best Actress does it deserve to be nominated for Best Picture? It just comes across as a sad "also ran."

Oscar Nominations 2009: My Thoughts

A major snooze this year. I think the overwhelming amount of prognosticating has finally caught up with us. If you open the Entertainment Weekly from Jan. 8, you'll see just about all of the nominees laid out.

The Academy's switch to ten nominees for Best Picture did little to make it worthwhile, but not enough damage (baring a weird winner) to have them switch it back. In fact, due to THE BLIND SIDE's Best Picture nomination as the only true surprise, I'm sure they're patting themselves on the back. But, if we just pull out the Best Director films as what might have been the top 5 Picture nominees: AVATAR, THE HURT LOCKER, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, PRECIOUS, UP IN THE AIR— it's a perfectly fine, well rounded list with big box office films too (clearly AMPAS' big concern following last year's THE DARK KNIGHT snub).

This year has easily been the least I've been excited about the Oscars since I started to follow them. I still can't quite get over how easily AMPAS doubled the Best Picture nominees with no public/Hollywood outcry, watering down the most important single award category in filmdom by a factor of 2. And yes the cottage industry that predicting the nominations has become is just crazy... I've tried to avoid it but it's utterly impossible now. Even the websites that devote themselves to that kind of thing seem to acknowledge that by the time the nominations come out it's the proverbial beating of the dead horse. This also has to do with the 2 week push back to Feb. for the noms (for the Olympics sake)... a Jan. announcement might have been less dull.

A slave to tradition, I offer my thoughts. I had to reduce my TOP TEN SHOCKS down to EIGHT because there just weren't any shocks!

TOP EIGHT BIGGEST SHOCKS (NOMINEES)— Not necessarily because I did or didn't like them, just surprising
1. THE BLIND SIDE for Best Picture
2. THE SECRET OF KELLS for Best Animated Feature
3. Maggie Gyllenhaal in CRAZY HEART
4. Penelope Cruz in NINE
5. DISTRICT 9 for Best Picture
6. THE MESSENGER for Best Original Screenplay
7. PRECIOUS for Best Film Editing
8. THE HURT LOCKER for Best Original Score

TOP TEN BIGGEST SHOCKS (SHUT-OUTS)— Again, not necessarily because I like or dislike them, just surprising
1. INVICTUS for Best Picture
2. Clint Eastwood for Best Director for INVICTUS
3. (500) DAYS OF SUMMER for Best Original Screenplay
4. Marion Cotillard in NINE
5. Julianne Moore in A SINGLE MAN
6. Sharlto Copley in DISTRICT 9
7. 2012 for Best Visual Effects
8. Diane Kruger for INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
9. JULIE & JULIA for Best Adapted Screenplay
10. Christian McKay in ME & ORSON WELLES

TOP TEN MOST EXCITING NOMINATIONS (SOOO HAPPY THESE MADE IT)
1. Quentin Tarantino for Best Director INGLORIOUS BASTERDS
2. INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS for Best Picture
3. Christoph Waltz in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
4. INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS for Best Original Screenplay
5. Meryl Streep in JULIE & JULIA
6. THE HURT LOCKER for Best Picture
7. DISTRICT 9 for Best Picture
8. Penelope Cruz in NINE
9. CORALINE for Best Animated Feature
10. Christopher Plummer in THE LAST STATION (didn’t see it, but he’s never been nominated)

TOP FIVE BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS— WISH THEY HAD MADE IT (HAD A DEFINITE CHANCE AT A NOMINATION)
1. Sharlto Copley in DISTRICT 9
2. Marion Cotillard in NINE
3. JULIE & JULIA for Best Picture
4. Christian McKay in ME & ORSON WELLES
5. JULIE & JULIA for Best Adapted Screenplay

TOP FIVE BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS— WISH THEY HAD MADE IT (PERFECT WORLD NOMINATIONS)
1. WORLD’S GREATEST DAD for Best Original Screenplay
2. PARANORMAL ACTIVITY for Best Picture
3. Robin Williams in WORLD’S GREATEST DAD
4. I LOVE YOU, MAN for Best Original Screenplay
5. Rosamund Pike in AN EDUCATION

What Film Will Get the Most Oscar Nominations?

Tomorrow morning at 5:38 AM PST, the Oscar nominations will be announced. It's time for the annual parlor game: What is your guess for the film that will get the most nominations? Last year it was THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (garnering 13 nominations).

Here are the possible choices for this year:

AVATAR: A picture/director nominee lock, plus writing, song & score and ALL of the technical stuff; however, no costume, acting, or make-up prevent it from matching BENJAMIN BUTTON's nominations haul.

THE HURT LOCKER: Will easily nab Picture/Director/Best Actor, plus writing and all the technical stuff but not art direction, costume, music, or visual effects.

INGLORIOUS BASTERDS, INVICTUS & PRECIOUS: Will each get a bunch of the "big" nominations, but will falter in the technical areas.

UP IN THE AIR: Also will get a number of the top noms, but will get little of the others, outside of music and editing. Its three likely acting noms, however make it a considerable contender.

JULIE & JULIA: Dark horse for a possible slew of noms, it will not likely get director, and certainly no techy stuff.

My pick is AVATAR, with THE HURT LOCKER and UP IN THE AIR in a tight battle for second place.

Top 250 Films of the 21st Century; And A New Sight&Soundesque Movie List Is Born

Every January, the website THEY SHOOT PICTURES, DON'T THEY? re-issues their "top films of the 21st century" list to incorporate the films from the previous year. This year's list was particularly interesting because it included the "best of the decade" lists too, hence a more significant amount of movement (including four changes in the top ten). I realized that even though this list is updated annually, the —0 years will be such a comprehensive summary of the current state of critical thinking that this entry (next to be seen in 2020) in my opinion joins Sight & Sounds' —2 year list (next due in 2012) and AFI's —5 list (next due in 2015) as a to-be-looked-forward-to uberfilmlist... listing the future VERTIGOs and KANEs.

This year 34 films dropped off the list. SPIRITED AWAY pushed FAR FROM HEAVEN from the high slot of #6 (FFH is now #14). The biggest jump goes to THE NEW WORLD— from 178 to 81 (OLDBOY which jumped an amazing 170 slots last year is up by another 6, now residing at 69).

Some films whose stock I knew would go up: THERE WILL BE BLOOD; DONNIE DARKO, CHILDREN OF MEN

Some films whose stock I knew would go down: FAR FROM HEAVEN; FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON; A CHRISTMAS TALE

Happy to see these films get more respect: 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, 2 DAYS; SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK; THE NEW WORLD

Sad to see these films take a significant plunge: MY WINNIPEG; BORAT; SCHOOL OF ROCK; AWAY FROM HER; BROKEN FLOWERS

Still reigning at #1 is Wong Kar-wai's IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (photo above).

Here is a list of the 2009 additions (and link to the entire list):

13. THE HURT LOCKER
48. SUMMER HOURS
65. INGLORIOUS BASTERDS
67. A SERIOUS MAN
72. FANTASTIC MR. FOX
90. THE HEADLESS WOMAN
101. 35 SHOTS OF RUM
110. UP
114. THE DARK KNIGHT (2008)
121. POLICE, ADJECTIVE
122. THE WHITE RIBBON
181. TWO LOVERS
182. UP IN THE AIR
189. TIE XI QU: WEST OF THE TRACKS (2003)
191. IN THE LOOP
194. DOWNFALL (2004)
195. THE SUN (2005)
203. FEMME FATALE (2002)
209. CASINO ROYALE (2006)
220. BRIGHT STAR
221. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (2008)
222. THE BEACHES OF AGNES
223. GERRY (2001)
224. GOMORRAH
230. 28 DAYS LATER... (2002)
235. STILL WALKING
236. BLISSFULLY YOURS (2002)
237. CORALINE
238. KUNG FU HUSTLE (2004)
239. CODE UNKNOWN (2000)
241. OF TIME AND THE CITY
245. WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
247. IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS (2006)
248. PRIVATE FEARS IN PUBLIC PLACES (2006)

Link to my blog entry from last year on the update.

"Avatar" Wins Top Globes

Like last year, I thought the Golden Globes were a big snnnoooozzzeee. Ricky Gervais didn't add much. Surprised by the double Avatar victory. And Best Picture Oscar front runner The Hurt Locker got 0 wins. Only four times in Golden Globes history has the eventual winner of the Oscar for Best Picture won zero Globes: Casablanca (1943), The Sting (1973), The Godfather Part II (1974), and Crash (2005).

Jeff Bridges made up for his BFCA blunder in which he accidentally called writer-director Scott Cooper, Chris Cooper! I liked Bridges' speech, bringing his parents into it. I also liked his joke about the standing ovation cramping his reputation for being under appreciated... funny! I think the best speech of the night was Scorsese's for the Cecil B. DeMille Award (if a bit long). But really the show was "moment"-less. Quentin got screwed; I hope he gets at least the Oscar for Screenplay.

The biggest surprise, betting-wise was Chloe Sevigny's win over Jane Lynch for Supporting TV Actor; followed by Downey Jr.'s win (for Sherlock Holmes) over Matt Damon and Michael Stuhlbarg in Comedy/Musical Actor.

Usually there is one upset in the acting for the Oscar but I can't see where it would happen this year: Bridges, Streep, Waltz, Mo'nique. Who'd get bumped?

New York Film Critics, Broadcast Film Critics, Among Others to Announce Today

Another big day for Awards Season 2009-- always LOVE to watch the New York Film Critics Awards unfold "live" online.... generally happens between 8-10AM PST/ 11AM-1PM EST.

New York Film Critics Circle

Broadcast Film Critics (BFCA) Noms

San Francisco Film Critics Circle

Southeastern Film Critics Association

St. Louis Film Critics

LA Critics, AFI, Boston Critics Among Others Announce Today

Today is a big day for Awards Season 2009. The following groups are scheduled to announce today:

Los Angeles Film Critics Assn.

AFI

Boston Society of Film Critics [Note: Looks like the Boston Critics are taking a page from the New York Film Critics and announcing each award "live" as they are decided on-- cool.]

New York Film Critics Online

Awards Season Begins with the Announcement of the National Board of Review's Picks

Another Awards Season has officially begun.

As with many bloggers and commentators, I agree that the National Board of Review's picks have more to do with what isn't included than with what is chosen.

Notable shut-outs include: Avatar, The Blind Side, Bright Star, Broken Embraces, Brothers, Crazy Heart, Everybody's Fine, The Hangover, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The Informant!, Julie & Julia, The Last Station, The Lovely Bones, Michael Jackson's This Is It, Nine, The Road, Sherlock Holmes, A Single Man, The Stoning of Soraya M.,and The Young Victoria.

And the barely-there include: Precious (just breakthrough performance), District 9 (top ten independent films), and The Fantastic Mr. Fox (Special Filmaking Achievement).

The film that got a much-needed shot in the arm: The Messenger.

And the "seal-of-approval" shoo-ins, are now: An Education, The Hurt Locker, Invictus, A Serious Man, Up, and Up in the Air.

This has caused the following shift in my end-of-the-year movie watching plans (unless other awards groups switch things back)--

IN: The Messenger
ON THE BUBBLE: Crazy Heart, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The Last Station
OUT: Everybody's Fine, The Lovely Bones, A Single Man

Awards Season Schedule: Movie Year 2009

Here are the dates for all the film awards announcements— from The National Board of Review to the Oscars— (dates with circa [c.] in front of them have not been set, these approximations are the dates they were announced last year [I'll update as new info is available]):

Dec. 3: The National Board of Review (generally announced by 3PM EST)
Dec. 5: Washington D.C. Area FC Noms
Dec. 7: Washington D.C. Area FC Wins
Dec. 12: European Film Awards
Dec. 13: Los Angeles Film Critics Assn.
Dec. 13: AFI
Dec. 13: Boston Society of Film Critics
Dec. 13: New York Film Critics Online
Dec. 13: St. Louis Film Critics Noms
Dec. 13: Alliance of Women Film Journalists Wins
Dec. 14: New York Film Critics Circle
Dec. 14: Broadcast Film Critics (BFCA) Noms
Dec. 14: Indiana Film Journalists Assn
Dec 14: San Francisco Film Critics Circle
Dec. 14: Southeastern Film Critics Association
Dec. 15: Golden Globe (HFPA) Nominations
Dec. 15: Austin Film Critics Assn.
? Dec. 15: Chicago Film Critics Assn. Noms
? Dec 15: San Diego Film Critics Society
Dec. 16: Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Assn.
Dec. 16: Toronto Film Critics Association
Dec. 17: Las Vegas Film Critics Society
Dec. 17: SAG Nominations
Dec. 18: Detroit Film Critics Winners
Dec. 18: Florida Film Critics Circle
Dec. 18: Utah Film Critics Association
Dec. 19: Houston Film Critics Society
Dec. 20: Golden Satellite Awards
Dec. 21: Chicago Film Critics Assn. Wins
Dec. 21: St. Louis Film Critics Winners
Dec. 22: London Film Critics Circle Nominations
Dec. 22: Phoenix Film Critics Society
Dec. 23: Oklahoma Film Critics Circle
c. Dec. 30: African-American Film Critics Assn
Jan. 1: One Line Review [this blog!]
Jan 3: Kansas City Film Critics Circle
Jan. 3: National Society of Film Critics
Jan. 4: USC Scripter Award Noms
c. Jan. 4: Vancouver Film Critics Circle Noms
Jan 5: PGA Nominations
Jan. 6: NAACP Image Awards Noms
Jan. 7: DGA Nominations
Jan. 7: Central Ohio Film Critics Association
Jan. 8: Art Directors Guild (ADG) Noms
c. Jan 8: Women Film Critics Circle Wins
c. Jan 9: North Texas Critics Association
Jan. 11: American Society of Cinematographers Noms
Jan. 11: WGA Nominations (film)
Jan. 12: American Cinema Editors Noms
c. Jan. 12: Vancouver Film Critics Circle Wins
Jan. 15: Critics Choice (BFCA) Awards
Jan. 17: 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards
Jan. 18: Visual Effects Society Noms
c. Jan. 19: Online Film Critics Society Winners
Jan. 21: BAFTA Nominations
Jan. 21: Cinema Audio Society (CAS) [Sound Mixing] Noms
Jan. 22: Iowa Film Critics Association
Jan. 22: Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) Noms
Jan. 23: SAG Awards
Jan. 24: PGA Awards
Jan. 28: Costume Designers Guild (CDG) Noms
Jan. 30: DGA Awards
Feb. 1: Razzie Awards Noms
Feb. 2: OSCAR NOMINATIONS
Feb. 6: ASIFA's Annie Awards Wins
Feb. 6: USC Scripter Award Winner
Feb. 13: Art Directors Guild (ADG) Noms
Feb. 14: American Cinema Editors Winners
Feb 18: London Film Critics Circle Winners
Feb. 20: Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) Wins
Feb. 20: WGA Awards
Feb. 21: BAFTA Winners
Feb. 25: Costume Designers Guild (CDG) Wins
Feb. 26: NAACP Image Awards Winners
Feb. 27: American Society of Cinematographers Winners
Feb. 27: Cinema Audio Society (CAS) [Sound Mixing] Wins
Feb. 28: Visual Effects Society Wins
Mar. 5: Independent Spirit Awards
Mar. 6: Razzie Awards Wins
Mar. 7: 82nd ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS

Monday, November 30th [see NOTE below] another highlight of “Pre-Awards” Season, is the announcement of the Satellite Awards nominations, a sort of precursor to the Golden Globes. Link to the International Press Academy website.

NOTE: Either the Intn'l Press Academy announced one day early or Reuters jumped the gun, as the nominees for the satellite awards were posted in an online article on Sunday: link.

Taking the Oscar Bait-- 2009

Thanksgiving week ushers in the first wave of the serious Oscar hopefuls, which run to Christmas Day. They can turn out to be all hype, but it's still the case that the biggest Oscar films come out this time of year. Below is the slate of this year's major Oscar bait of the upcoming releases, roughly in order of current "buzz":






1. Up in the Air
2. Invictus
3. Nine
4. A Single Man
5. The Last Station
6. Avatar
7. Crazy Heart
8. It's Complicated
9. Everybody's Fine
10. Brothers

Martin Scorsese to Receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has announced the recipient for this year's Cecil B. DeMille Award: Martin Scorsese. The press release was posted about 9:12 this morning on the HFPA website... glad they are prompt (even though it's PST, sorry New York).

Goodfellas is probably Scorsese's masterpiece for me (others would say Taxi Driver or Raging Bull). Of his recent films I think The Aviator and The Departed are his best (others would say Gangs of New York). My "favorite" Scorsese films are The King of Comedy and After Hours.

Scorsese was certainly among the most probable picks, and deserving. I thought they'd go with the older Coppola first (or Mike Nichols, Woody Allen, etc.), hence my guess, but maybe they'll eschew those others and get back to the actors next year.

Who will Receive this Year's Cecil B. DeMille Award?

One of the highlights of "Pre-Awards" Season is the announcement of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's Golden Globe Award for lifetime achievement, the Cecil B. DeMille Award. The timing of the announcement has changed somewhat through the years, but recently has stayed firm at 9:00 a.m. PST on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving week. This year, it's slightly off that schedule and will be announced tomorrow, Thursday, November 12.

The Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Golden Globe was first given in 1952, to namesake Cecil B. DeMille himself. Producer/Director DeMille was one of the most successful filmmakers of Hollywood's Golden Age and in 1952 he made the film that would win Oscar's Best Picture, The Greatest Show on Earth. Who won the second DeMille award? Walt Disney.

In the early years of the award, the recipient was generally a producer/studio head, but starting with Maurice Chevalier (1959's recipient) performers have worked their way up, to the point that the award has been given exclusively to them since 1978 (with a few "hyphenates" among them, such as Clint Eastwood), until Steven Spielberg's 2008 win.

So, who do you think will be given this year's Cecil B. DeMille Award? The most likely candidate of the last several years has certainly been Meryl Streep. Streep is second in Golden Globe nominations only to Jack Lemmon (19 to his 22). She's had a string of high profile hits as of late critically and commercially, too.

Here is a link to the Cecil B. DeMille Award on the HFPA's website.

And here is a handy one-page list on Wikipedia.

What is your guess for this year's DeMille?

Notables who have yet to receive the honor include: Woody Allen, Julie Andrews, Kenneth Branagh, Michael Caine, Glenn Close, Tom Cruise, Daniel Day-Lewis, Robert DeNiro, Gerard Depardieu, Robert Duvall, Sally Field, Jane Fonda, Jodie Foster, Morgan Freeman, Tom Hanks, Dennis Hopper, George Lucas, Helen Mirren, Peter O'Toole, Michelle Pfeiffer, Julia Roberts, Martin Scorsese, Sylvester Stallone, Meryl Streep, John Travolta, and Denzel Washington.

... My perennial guess is HFPA favorite (12 noms, 3 wins) Michael Caine. This year, though, in light of Spielberg's win last year, I'm choosing Francis Ford Coppola as my prediction for this year's DeMille Award recipient.

Pre-Awards Season Begins 2009

The announcement of the National Board of Review's picks on December 3rd, as is tradition, will bring down the checked flag for the start of Awards season. Here at One Line Review, Pre-Awards season begins with the simultaneous publication in the first weekend of November of the Los Angeles Times's "Holiday Movie Sneaks," Entertainment Weekly's Holiday Movie Preview Issue [see note, however] (which contains their early guesses in Oscar's Best Picture, Directing, and Acting races), and Awards-Season Previews in the trades. Note: This year, The EW Holiday Movie Preview issue was pushed a week (presumably because it was the first FULL weekend in Nov.) I therefore delayed my blog entry to today. On Monday, I feel we can safely stand around the water cooler and say the word "Oscar" without fear of "already?" (These year-round Oscar websites, however, to me, are the equivalent of playing Christmas music in July.)

Going straight to the belly of the beast, I was struck yet again by how DISASTROUSLY STUPID the Oscars are in DOUBLING the number of Best Picture contenders. I APPLAUD EW for STILL only listing five predictions! I bet they originally had ten and then they saw how totally unwieldy the list was and went 'oh hell' and brought it back down to five. What's so sad is I think 2009 is a GREAT year for movies-- I could already put together a top ten-- and EW's predix for the top five Best Pictures-- Hurt Locker, Invictus, Lovely Bones, Precious, Up in the Air, make it look so deadly dull. I don't know, for some reason the magic is gone.

There are at least six acting "locks" it seems coming into the season: Morgan Freeman (Invictus), Carey Mulligan (An Education), Gabourey Sidibe (Precious), Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia), Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds), Mo'nique (Precious). Also with a big chance for an acting nom is Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker).

Films I look forward to— Oscar or otherwise— include: 2012 (don't pretend you don't too), Avatar, Broken Embraces, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Me and Orson Welles, Nine, and Sherlock Holmes.

Like I said earlier, I already have more than enough films to create a top ten from, so even if a few of the upcoming films turn out to be great, it will make for one heck of a movie year.

Oscars Will Have Ten Best Picture Nominees in 2010

This announcement had me reeling today! It is a BAD idea and will serve no other purpose than to dilute the awards and lead them down the path of the Grammys and the Emmys, where they give so many out that they no longer have meaning. Ten Best Pic noms today, ten best director noms tomorrow, Best Voice-over performance, etc. It will never end if you open this can of worms.

The people who are all excited on the boards about how wonderful this is are not thinking clearly. This will NOT open up the race to a better mix of movies. The Academy is NOT going to suddenly nominate the likes of the SUPERBADs and THE DARK KNIGHTs. Who said that THE DARK KNIGHT placed 6-10 last year. It probably didn't. Do you think the Academy REALLY would have nominated THE WRESTLER for Best Picture?

In addition to the five nominated films (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, MILK, FROST/NIXON, ... BENJAMIN BUTTON, and THE READER) we'd more likely have...

AUSTRALIA
DOUBT
GRAN TORINO
THE VISITOR

and for the "surprise" nominee, December fav MARLEY & ME.

Trust me, if this thing goes through STAR TREK is NOT gonna be on that Best Picture list.

This is only going to muddy the waters. A Best Picture nomination won't carry half the weight (literally as the number is doubling). And it'll make the Best Animated Film category a complete joke, because there will probably be an animated movie stuck into that Best Picture category every year (after all its safe to nominate an animated film without the corresponding director and the voters are going to have to come up with FIVE of these). So when UP is on the Best Picture list it's not gonna take a genius to figure out it's gonna win Best Animated movie. And no, the Academy would also never put TWO animated movies up for best picture.

What's really got me riled up is this rule change is all about ratings for the show and not, as much as the Academy would like you to believe, or moviegoers would like to think, to honor excellence.

This idea is a TRAVESTY.

Golden Globes to be "Live" Nationally in 2010

In an obvious attempt to ramp up interest, the Golden Globes will now be "live" for the entire country. I'm happy about this-- because I hated trying to avoid the "spoilers" online as the show aired on the West Coast. Plus, I think it will make things more exciting. However, if the "other" movie awards shows follow suit-- they can forget it-- I'm gonna wait just like always and fast-forward through them. But the Globes and the Oscars have been the standard must-watch-as-they-air, so the Hollywood Foreign Press decision is a welcome one. OK, HFPA that was step one-- now work on the show itself.

Link to AP article.

82nd Annual Oscars: Dates Announced

The "key dates" for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards have been announced. And, to my chagrin, the awards have been pushed two weeks forward to avoid the Olympics-- which means the nominations are back to February and the show, March. Ugh! Wrong direction! One day, it's my hope, the nominations will be early January and the show early February. Trust me, studios will make sure their movies get released in November-early December. As far as I'm concerned, the last "wide" releases should be on Christmas day-- not January 31st. Can't Anytown, U.S.A. get their Frost/Nixon in 2008, you know, the year it was actually released, and not January 2009? No wonder the public is always confused as to what movies are eligible.

The nominations will be on February 2, 2010; the 82nd Annual Oscars will be on March 7.

Link to full list of key dates.