Round-up: Uggie finally gets a bone
Also: Mourning 'Contagion,' and the decade-later Oscar vote
Uggie at the 2011 Golden Globe Awards in January.
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Whether you've been delighted or irritated by the publicity machine surrounding him, you'd have to agree that few stars this season have been run quite as ragged in their promotional duties as Uggie: in his position as official mascot for "The Artist," the adorable 10 year-old Jack Russell has been carted around from one red carpet do to another, performed tricks on demand, conducted interviews, with nothing but an unnamed shaking disease for his pains. Well, after months of helping his cohorts win awards, he received one of his own on the weekend: inevitably, Uggie took the Best Dog in a Theatrical Film prize at the Golden Collar Awards, beating, among others, his own performance in "Water for Elephants." Well deserved, boy. Now, go play. [The Odds]
With "The Artist" poised to break the trend, Tom O'Neil wonders why movies about the movies haven't previously done better with the Academy. [Gold Derby]
"The Guard" has taken The Guardian's annual First Film Award, ahead of such shortlisted contenders as "Tyrannosaur" and "Sleeping Beauty." [The Guardian]
ZOMG Bradley Cooper is presenting at the Oscars! Oh, come on, feign excitement. (Anyone else betting he gets to do Best Foreign Language Film? In French?) [Deadline]
Lowen Liu's idea for fixing the Oscars: hold a re-vote on categories from a decade ago, then hold a ceremony officially reallocating the awards as necessary. [Slate]
Erik Childress predicts next year's Oscar contenders. Given that "The Artist" wasn't on anyone's list a year ago, wouldn't it be more fun to predict the high-profile failures? [Movies.com]
With the film long gone from the conversation -- if, indeed, it was ever there -- Darrin Franich wonders how "Contagion" never got any Oscar traction. [EW]
Sophia Savage talks to Philippe Falardeau, director of "Monsieur Lazhar" -- which should not be underestimated in the foreign-language Oscar race. [Thompson on Hollywood]
Opening up a painful avenue of what-if thinking: what are the best Oscar speeches that never got to be delivered? I still regret not hearing Mickey Rourke's. [The Film Experience]
About This Blog
Spearheaded by editor Kristopher Tapley, In Contention represents a collective of awards obsessives who comment and reflect upon, muse about and attempt to decipher the Oscar season on a daily basis throughout the year, and especially during the Oscar crunch of the fall. Regular contributors include Guy Lodge, Roth Cornet and Gerard Kennedy.
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2011-2012 OSCAR NOMINATIONS
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Original Screenplay
Best Art Direction
Best Cinematography
Best Costume Design
Best Film Editing
Best Makeup
Best Original Score
Best Original Song
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing
Best Visual Effects
Best Animated Feature Film
Best Documentary Feature
Best Foreign Language Film
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupHoustonRufus
February 15, 2012 at 12:03PM EST Reply to CommentI'm physically and emotionally incapable of getting irritated at that dog or pretty much any other dog. Hope he gets a nice long nap now. :)
Guest Guesto
February 15, 2012 at 12:43PM EST Reply to Comment"Given that "The Artist" wasn't on anyone's list a year ago, wouldn't it be more fun to predict the high-profile failures?"
Not only is that illogical but it's also quite meanspirited. You online blogger folk are tolerable when contemplating the positives of might win and should never enter the territory of pooping.
It's not a good trait in person and should not be done online.
Guy Lodge If you find us merely tolerable on our best days, why do you read us?
February 16, 2012 at 9:57AM ESTAndrej
February 15, 2012 at 2:17PM EST Reply to Comment"what are the best Oscar speeches that never got to be delivered?"
I'm going to cheat a bit on this, because the one I'm most curious about actually won the Oscar: what would have Eminem said if he had actually attended the Oscars that night? He wasn't the non-bleached, somewhat optimistic Eminem of today back then, he was Slim Shading with feuds and disses with nearly half of the business industry.
But as for actual Oscar losers, I'll stick with James Franco. He wasn't on his best mindset last year, so I wonder if his hosting duties could have been amped by a sudden win. Ditto Matt Stone and Trey Parker in drag.
Dooby
February 15, 2012 at 3:19PM EST Reply to CommentI've seen a number of articles now trying to address the shut out of Contagion, and I feel the EW one does it the best. Though I do wonder what would've happened if Warner Bros actually focused a savvy Oscar campaign on the film rather focusing all their attentions on Harry Potter and Extremely Loud.
DylanS
February 15, 2012 at 4:23PM EST Reply to CommentThe reason nobody remembers "Contagion" is simple, it's because it's a very forgettable film.
Dooby In YOUR opinion.
February 15, 2012 at 5:07PM EST