Oscar Index: Fighter, Toy Story 3 Among This Week's Best Picture Bruisers
The Leading 5:
1 [tie]. Melissa Leo, The Fighter
1 [tie]. Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
3. Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom
4. Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
5. Amy Adams, The Fighter
Outsiders: Mila Kunis, Black Swan; Dianne Wiest, Rabbit Hole; Barbara Hershey, Black Swan; Sissy Spacek, Get Low
Notes: What goes for Best Actress and Hailee Steinfeld mostly goes here as well; her Oscar profile swells seemingly by the day, and her running start in the category should have her safely at or near the lead by the time nominations arrive Jan. 25. To be honest, I don't like Melissa Leo in the long run; "chowderhead vérité" aside, Leo might have peaked early, she's polarizing too many viewers, and she just seems both annoyed and annoying all at once:
"It's Method acting. It's not perverse. It's not weird. It's not sick or mental, but if the camera is going to roll on me, who knows when, in five minutes or in five hours, I'd like to be as close as I can to the character when the camera rolls. I'm not there to make friends. I'm not there to look good. Maybe I'll come here and make friends and look good tonight, but when I'm working, and it's just serious. And it's a serious art for me. Think of yourself at your typewriter when you're putting this together -- are you thinking about the story when you're writing it? Or are you thinking about what you're having for dinner?"
Team Jacki update: Jacki Weaver is back in the States for the first time since Animal Kingdom opened last August, collecting awards on both coasts before concluding her trip at Sunday night's Golden Globes. I don't pretend to have any clue how (or why) the Hollywood Foreign Press Association votes, but I have a weird, ticklish feeling in the awards-processing part of my brain that hints Weaver might win a Globe as well. And I haven't heroin-binged since that Saints loss last weekend, so I know it can't be that. I don't know! This could be big! Team Jacki! Woot! We need foam "No. 1" fingers. Maybe bobbleheads? Shirtless male cast members flanking the ballroom with J-A-C-K-I painted on their chests? I'm spitballing here.
Oh, and before I forget like they did, slow clap for the gang at Focus, which finally decided to get at least a weensy bit serious about Julianne Moore as a candidate for... something. "Focus Features finally releases a clip of Julianne Moore's show-stopping soliloquy about marriage in The Kids Are All Right -- and, as a fan of Moore's, I'm furious," wrote Scott Feinberg. "This should have been done months ago when it really could have made a difference, not five days before Oscar nomination ballots are due." Nice to see them really bringing it for Somewhere's Elle Fanning, too. Ahem.
The Leading 5:
1. Christian Bale, The Fighter
2. Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech
3. Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
4. Jeremy Renner, The Town
5. Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Outsiders: John Hawkes, Winter's Bone; Michael Douglas, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps; Armie Hammer, The Social Network; Ed Harris, The Way Back
Notes: Super snore. John Hawkes might still have an outside shot with Roadside Attractions maneuvering and flesh-pressing behind the scenes and Focus doing, well... you know... "what they do" for Mark Ruffalo. But yeah. Only six weeks to go!
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Comments
Danny Boyle has a better shot at a director nod than people think. It'll either be O. Russell, the Coens, or Boyle for that fifth slot.
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Why would Russell even be in the running? He didn't do a spectacular job directing The Fighter. He didn't introduce any interesting shots and many shots were quite sloppy. The whole movie was directed on about the same level as your average NYPD Blue episode, so I don't see why people would ever think of nominating him. I think the Coens, who usually direct interesting-looking movies, didn't really surprise much either. Unlike, say, Boyle or Fincher or Aronofsky or Nolan. If James Cameron can be nominated for a CGI festival like Avatar, then why not nominate Lee Unkrich for Toy Story 3??? The scene where the toys almost meet their maker, and the one where they find a new home were directed better than anything in The Fighter.
Little Miss Steinfeld is going strong! If they do the right thing and put her in the supporting category then she should have no problem taking the win... I hope.
I totally agree. It would be nice to see Unkrich at least nominated for his work. Every year animated films are set aside while less deserving movies get moved to the front of the Oscar line. Disney knows it, critics are realizing it, and the Oscar voters apparently still need to get used to the idea. I'm rooting for Toy Story 3 all the way because, with the exception of The Social Network, I didn't see anything nearly as well crafted in 2010.
Agreed, Lee Unkrich definitely deserves to be nominated for Best Director, Avatar is almost no less of an animated film than Toy Story 3 is (I'm not bashing Avatar, just saying). If Lee Unkrich got nominated, I would pull for him; otherwise I'm pulling for Nolan.
I'd like to see a day when Emma Stone is considered atleast an outside chance at a nomination. She was fantastic in Easy A. My money's still on Jennifer Lawrence, but I just know that Natalie Portman will get it.