Every year, usually around early March, I survey what I've seen since January and begin to worry that we're not headed into a particularly good movie year. But by year's end, when people ask me if it's been a good year for movies, I always say, "Yes, absolutely" -- and mean it. Because no matter how much movie critics like to grouse about the landscape around them (and sometimes it does look pretty dismal), the joyful reality is that there's always something worth looking at.
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Yes, yes. The King's Speech will win, and no matter how hard we try to tell ourselves any other film has a chance in hell, its abiding safeness will triumph Sunday night. But I'd like to think the Academy will spread the love around -- a win for The Social Network here, a Natalie Portman winner's guffaw there, and some gold for Hailee Steinfeld. Hope she brings her blingitude for the big night.
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The Academy is bound and determined to youngify the Oscars this year even if it kills them -- and judging by the looks and sound of it so far, death may indeed be lurking. But one notable phenomenon has come of recruiting James Franco and Anne Hathaway to co-host the show: @JamesFranco, the Twitter habitat of the actor/writer/director/student/Three's Company revivalist/Oscar-nominee. Surely the teeming young culture around Franco's Tweets will help skew the notoriously aged Oscarcast demos down a few years, right? It depends! How many followers does one need before s/he is officially a tastemaker?
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Our sister site Deadline reports that it has obtained a tentative rundown of Sunday's Oscarcast, which Nikki Finke has concluded will be a "snorefest." Maybe, maybe not, but one look at these spoilers upon spoilers will definitely help you develop your bathroom break/beer-run strategy. Alas, it looks like you're still on your own with your In Memoriam montage pool ballot. [Deadline]
If you're a New Yorker who hasn't yet made Oscar-watching plans for Sunday, may I humbly submit for your consideration the Oscar Viewing Party at 92YTribeca, co-presented by Movieline? It is sure to be a big old gold-plated hootenanny, with a complimentary champagne with admission (plus a range of other delightful drink specials), prizes for top prognosticators, swell hosts in Jon Friedman and Sara Benincasa, and a joyful, relaxed atmosphere to take in Hollywood's biggest night. Details are here; be sure to stop by and introduce yourself. See you downtown...
It's time to wrap up Movieline's recently undertaken mission to honor this year's acting and directing nominees with a tribute that will surely outlive any trophy they could ever hope to receive: one of our daily inaugural Awards-Season Trading Cards. Today, let's conclude in true save-the-best-for-last fashion: Give it up for Best Supporting Actress nominee Jacki Weaver!
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It used to be you could count on David O. Russell to be Hollywood's resident actor-alienating, on-set yelling enfant terrible. Not anymore. As the director told MSN Movies, he's well aware that years of bad behavior landed him in movie jail. And now that The Fighter has put him back in the industry's good graces with a Best Director Oscar nod as the cherry on top, Russell's all about making nice.
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Earlier this week, Academy Award co-host Anne Hathaway revealed that she would not be ripping a page out of Ricky Gervais' award show hosting playbook, How To Offend Everyone You're Supposed To Be Honoring...And Then Some. "I think that humor is really difficult to pull off," Hathaway said. "And I'm not particularly adept at it." (She also doesn't want to commit career suicide just to land a solid, below-the-belt jab at The Tourist.) If Hathaway changes her mind before Sunday, however, Ricky Gervais has thoughtfully assembled an entire Oscar opening monologue for her and Oscar co-host James Franco. Read it in its entirety below.
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Has awards season become a tad repetitive for your tastes? Sure, the recent surge by The King's Speech over The Social Network is exciting, I suppose, but at this point how many awards can we see Natalie Portman and Colin Firth win against basically the same competition before we all collectively throw up our hands and say, "OK, we get it. Can we just move on to the Oscars now? Or at least try something different?" Here's an idea: What if every single awards ceremony were important?
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Oscar week is going strong here at Movieline HQ, and in addition to last minute party preparations -- Julie is furiously working on her world famous potato salad -- we've asked celebrities from all walks of life to give us their fool-proof predictions. ESPN host/GoodFellas enthusiast Tony Reali was kind enough to take time away from his day job of keeping sportswriters in check on Around the Horn to participate in our little parlor game. Which Oscar hopefuls does he think should have speeches prepared for Sunday? Leave your mute buttons behind and click ahead to find out.
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If you've been reading the Oscar Index, you realize that the Best Supporting Actress Oscar is this year's wild card. Will Melissa Leo prevail in spite of her considerable pomp? Will Hailee Steinfeld come from behind with a victory? Will Helena Bonham Carter just be awesome always? It's a toss-up. Movieline's own Julie Miller and yours truly are mapping out the telecast's most exciting award with a play-by-play of the nominee announcement, the winner, and the ensuing fight in the Kodak Theater.
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Ed. note: All this week, Movieline has solicited Oscar predictions from numerous film and TV personalities in the lead-up to Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony. To our humble and grateful surprise, writer/producer/director/actor Paul Feig (Freaks and Geeks, The Office, the forthcoming Bridesmaids) responded with the following piece. Who said long-form commentary was dead?
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It's time once again to return to Movieline's recently undertaken mission to honor this year's acting and directing nominees with a tribute that will surely outlive any trophy they could ever hope to receive: one of our daily inaugural Awards-Season Trading Cards. Today, let's give it up for Best Supporting Actor nominee John Hawkes!
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So I'm in the middle of this project about James Franco and Twitter, a tech-culture marriage proving increasingly curious by the hour. And the next thing I know, there's the man himself, dancing with his Oscar co-host Anne Hathaway in what one can only presume is a tribute to Grease set to be performed at the Academy Awards.
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A few seasoned film actors, writers and comediennes have already predicted this year's Academy Award winners, but Movieline HQ wanted to spice up its new Oscar feature by summoning an industry "outsider" to forecast Hollywood's most esteemed award night. Enter Tila 'Tequila' Nguyen, the entertainment personality and cinema enthusiast who earlier this month held her own against Jennifer Aniston and Zach Galifianakis in a riotous edition of Funny or Die's Between Two Ferns.
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