Round-up: Did you hear 'The Descendants' is an underdog all of a sudden?
Also: AMPAS promises to look at original song process and Hollywood and Highland pushes back against Kodak
Shailene Woodley and George Clooney in "The Descendants"
Are you a fan of In Contention?
Sign up to get the latest updates instantly.
When I'm asked, I'm honest. And I've been asked about "The Descendants" plenty in the last few weeks, whether the Jean Dujardin SAG win is a harbinger, whether the film still has any gas left in the Best Picture tank after that post-Globes feeling of ecstasy, etc. And my line is this: Forget Best Picture. Stick with Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay before you lose those, too. In a recent piece, Brooks Barnes gets it wrong vis a vis what makes an Oscar underdog (both "Crash" and "Million Dollar Baby" were less that than alternatives at a time when the Academy really did want to go a different way), but he nevertheless props Fox Searchlight's big "underdog" push up. Look (and I really do believe this): it was never going to win Best Picture. Focus. [New York Times]
Steve Pond reports that the Academy expects to take a "hard look" at the Best Original Song process after outcry over this year's paltry two nominees. [The Odds]
Jeff Goldsmith talks to a number of the Oscar-nominated screenwriters in his annual podcast discussion. [iTunes]
Jose Antonio Vargas calls Demián Bichir's "A Better Life" performance "an act of salvation." [Entertainment Weekly]
That Kodak Theatre situation is gettin' ugly. [The Wrap]
Oscar-nominated actors step "Out of Character" for Academy portrait exhibition. [Oscars.org]
Jacob Combs talks to animated short Oscar nominee Patrick Doyon ("Dimanche") [Thompson on Hollywood]
Sasha Stone on the year's adapted screenplay nominees. [Awards Daily]
Oscars by the numbers. [Los Angeles Times Magazine]
David Poland writes up what it takes to win...and lose. [Movie City News]
Related Events
-
movies -
movies
Trending Now on HitFix Boards
| Topic | Started By | Latest Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|---|
| DarylRichardson |
3 months ago
|
1
|
|
| gregel |
7 months ago
|
9
|
|
| Discuss Oscars on HitFix Message Boards » | |||
2012-2013 OSCAR PREDICTIONS
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Original Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Costume Design
Best Film Editing
Best Makeup And Hairstyling
Best Original Score
Best Original Song
Best Production Design
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing
Best Visual Effects
Best Animated Feature Film
Best Documentary Feature
Best Foreign Language Film
Latest Posts
-
Where will 'Star Trek Into Darkness' fit in?Thursday, May 16, 2013
-
The 'Drunken Master' filmmaker's spin goes into production next yearThursday, May 16, 2013
-
Ari Folman's 'Waltz With Bashir' follow-up opens Directors' Fortnight at CannesThursday, May 16, 2013
-
The actress's directorial debut goes on sale at the Cannes Film Market this weekThursday, May 16, 2013
Comments
Option 1
Comment instantly as a guest GuestOption 2
Option 3
Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupGuest Guesto
February 10, 2012 at 12:59PM EST Reply to CommentRe: two song thing. Was anyone, really that upset, outside of, say, Elton John?
In all honesty, they nominated Rio, which had the best songs by far, and that's the important thing.
Paul
February 10, 2012 at 2:22PM EST Reply to CommentI'm waiting for the year where an upset similar to that of "Crash" and "Million Dollar Baby" could occur, but I highly doubt it's this year. I mean, anything is possible, and I would probably rank The Descendants in a solid third position, but still it seems "The Artist" has everything wrapped up.
JLPatt How was "Million Dollar Baby" winning an upset?
February 10, 2012 at 3:13PM ESTKristopher Tapley It was an upset in the sense that "The Aviator" was chugging along. But WB sensed weakness in the field as members weren't over the moon for Scorsese's film (indeed, some outright hated it) and were desperate for an alternative. So M$B was brought out as a late-in-the-game release. So the whole circumstance is more of an upset than the actual final result is (since - even though I stuck by The Aviator - we all could have seen it coming as the season drew to a close).
February 10, 2012 at 4:13PM ESTJohn-Paul
February 10, 2012 at 3:27PM EST Reply to CommentUm...I don't remember "Million Dollar Baby" being an underdog. "The Aviator" won the PGA, Golden Globe, and BAFTA, yes, and while that's pretty impressive, Scorsese didn't win a single major Best Director award if I remember correctly, and "Million Dollar Baby" won the DGA, which almost everyone recognizes as the most accurate predictor of Best Picture. I was predicting "Million Dollar Baby" to win that year, and I was far from the only one. At best, it wasn't a sure thing, but it definitely wasn't an underdog.
Kristopher Tapley Again, it's the circumstance. (I'm agreeing with you here.) Barnes is mistaking "underdog" for "desperately craved alternative."
February 10, 2012 at 4:13PM ESTDooby
February 10, 2012 at 3:56PM EST Reply to CommentIt would give me so much pleasure to see The Descendents lose Screenplay over Moneyball.
Kristopher Tapley I actually think it would lose to Hugo, not Moneyball.
February 10, 2012 at 4:14PM ESTGlennAU
February 10, 2012 at 11:27PM EST Reply to CommentI keep hoping "The Descendants" pulls an "Up in the Air" and crashes on Oscar night without a win.