Well, this should go pretty fast: The holiday week has offered a dearth of new narratives to trace and pulses to take, with only one film demonstrating any significant mobility in the studies coming out Movieline's Institute for the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics. Let's get to it!
Screw Christmas. Forget Hanukkah. To hell with New Year's. There is only one holiday we celebrate in the dank, windowless labs of Movieline's Institute for the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics, and that is Oscar Night. Thus the latest edition of Oscar Index, offering all the festive year-end joy you can possibly stand. Let's get to it!
If you're both a movie fan and a consummate statistician, it's easy to love and appreciate the Oscars for shoehorning the majority of film history into a manageable grading rubric. I'm an Oscar apologist myself, and I still have one bone to pick with the Academy -- and all award-spewing organizations: the unnecessary reliance on gender-based categories. Is it not more thrilling to pit all actors against each other? Is there such an objective difference between Jeff Bridges and Sandra Bullock? Meryl Streep and Robert Downey Jr.? "Actor" is a gender-neutral term, and I think we'd all better off -- and better entertained -- without the meaningless siphoning. Thus, I'm stacking up the best performances of 2011 without categorical regard for gender or role size. It's a winner-take-all affair, and this winner definitely wants it all. Here's my top 10:
For some moviegoers, Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive was the movie of 2011 (ditto that soundtrack). Nevertheless, over at Nerve, Jett Wells echoes the sad realization of many a Drive-loving Oscar-watcher: Academy Award nominations are about as unlikely for the stylish crime pic as a clean getaway is for Ryan Gosling's boyish, near-mute anti-hero.
It's week three of the 2011-12 Oscar Index, and the latest measurements, readings and conclusions are in from Movieline's Institute for the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics. And aside from a few startling exceptions, they don't look that different than the ones disseminated here last week. But make no mistake: Like it or not, stuff is happening! Read on for the latest developments.
· George Lucas has been disappointing Stars Wars fans and cast members for years now with his trilogy tweaks and his profit hoarding, but these crimes have never been captured in a hilariously simplistic Taiwanese animation video. Until now! Click through to enjoy news organization NMA's take on Lucas -- which includes the Star Wars creator power drilling Harrison Ford from behind, raping the childhood memories of his fans and cutting Carrie Fisher out of Princess Leia laxative profits -- and then, stick around for more Buzz Break!
Be still, my Nicolas Winding Refn-loving heart! The redband trailer for the Ryan Gosling-starrer Drive that debuted today at Comic-Con has hit the web, providing a taste of the taut, gorgeous crime thriller-romance that Refn co-panelist Guillermo del Toro went bananas over today in Hall H. Do yourself a favor and watch this, already!
Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, and Matthew McConaughey kicked things off with Richard Linklater's Bernie. Ryan Gosling, Christina Hendricks, and their Drive co-stars hit the red carpet with director Nicolas Winding Refn. Kate Bosworth & Co. presented the indie rom-com Life Happens the same night that the cast of the vogueing flick Leave it on the Dance Floor turned a rooftop party into a runway ball complete with live performances, drag queens, and wanton fabulousness. The 2011 L.A. Film Fest is in full swing, and so is Movieline's star-studded red carpet gallery! Hit the jump for a peek at the celebs (and divas) who hit the fest this weekend.
Nicolas Winding Refn turned up the charm Friday night at the L.A. Film Fest, delivering a crowd-pleasing introduction for his highly anticipated crime pic, Drive. Part acceptance speech, part promotional spiel, and part comedy roast, Refn's delivery included nods to his wife Liv, Ryan Gosling, Prada menswear, a studio head in the making, his rumored Wonder Woman project, and Alejandro Jodorowsky -- wildly entertaining and all too rare, as far as these things go.
FILM NEWS 
