It’s awards madness this week at Movieline, with the New York Film Critics Circle and Gotham Awards having weighed in on their best of 2011, the Independent Spirit Awards revealing their nominees, and the National Board of Review winners forthcoming on Thursday. But amid all the institutionalized laurels and accolades, one subject remains notably absent — a subject so beloved within his own celebrated film that the omission remains a cruel snub at best and a skulduggerous interspecial sham at worst.
A little over six months ago, before The Artist premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, it might have been unthinkable to foresee what has since evolved into a very real possibility: Jean Dujardin, a bona fide movie star in his native France but relative unknown in the United States, is as likely as any contender to date to win an Academy Award for Best Actor. Which would be surprising enough without The Artist being a black-and-white French import — a silent black-and-white French import.
Over at Entertainment Weekly, David Fincher plays coy joking about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ‘s Oscar chances. [Some spoilers follow, though they’ll come as no surprise to those familiar with Stieg Larsson’s book or Niels Arden Oplev’s 2009 film adaptation.] How likely is is that the Academy will be so turned off by the extremes seen in Fincher’s film that they’d pass it over come nomination day?
Sure, Edward Cullen gets married in Breaking Dawn . And Bella Swan gives birth . But Taylor Lautner says this installment of the Twilight Saga highlights an especially interesting journey for his character of Jacob Black, telling our friends at Movie Fanatic that it was the most “challenging” film of the franchise to shoot. “Jacob becomes a man in this one and he has to make a lot decisions,” Lautner told Joel Amos. “He’s being torn between his two families. It was really tough.” Breaking Dawn TV Spot: Team Jacob! Lautner gives credit to director Bill Condon for helping him navigate the often-shirtless waters. “I trusted him completely, and it was really special,” the actor says of his bond with Condon. “And now seeing the movie, I’m really happy Jacob starts here and he ends here, and it’s just very exciting to see him in a completely different light than ever before.” Visit Movie Fanatic now and read a lot more from Lautner .
Charlize Theron is featured in the latest Vogue , talking to the magazine about her new movie and her love life and… some other stuff. We assume, at least. We were too busy remembering how wonderfully evil she looks as the queen in the Snow White and the Huntsman trailer , then staring at the actress’ gorgeous cover photo to pay much attention. You can’t really blame us, can you? Below, we’ve posted excerpts from Theron’s interview: On winning an Academy Awards : “It was life-changing – it opened a lot of doors. But it made people have a lot of opinions about what should happen next. You realize quickly that you can never please everybody.” On filming Young Adult : “I realized how much I love what I do. I really, really missed it. Like around week three, I had this horrible, sappy moment where I got a little overwhelmed. It was just a really great f-cking experience.” On her splitting with Stuart Townsend : “It was sinking, and I had to give it a fight. I really wanted to try and make it work. That was the priority. I wouldn’t do it any different way.”
Despite what could only be described as the week from PR hell, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had to take at least a little comfort — OK, a lot of comfort — knowing that it had its second most vital annual event to look forward to during the weekend: The Governors Ball, where Oprah WInfrey, James Earl Jones and makeup artist Dick Smith were bequeathed honorary Academy Awards.
So this whole Eddie Murphy dropping out of the Academy Awards thing has to be good for someone, right? Maybe even for Eddie Murphy and DreamWorks, who have cleverly unveiled a trailer for the long-postponed Murphy comedy A Thousand Words today, hoping that a little publicity will go a long way for what appears to be a knock-off of one of your favorite Jim Carrey titles.
So this whole Eddie Murphy dropping out of the Academy Awards thing has to be good for someone, right? Maybe even for Eddie Murphy and DreamWorks, who have cleverly unveiled a trailer for the long-postponed Murphy comedy A Thousand Words today, hoping that a little publicity will go a long way for what appears to be a knock-off of one of your favorite Jim Carrey titles.
Next year’s Oscar nominations have yet to be announced, but this has: Eddie Murphy has stepped down as host of the 84th Academy Awards, according to reports. The actor’s announcement comes one day after Tower Heist director Brett Ratner resigned as producer of the program. The 50-year-old said in a statement: “First and foremost, I want to say I completely understand and support each party’s decision with regard to a change of producers for this year’s Academy Awards.” Murphy went on to say: “I was truly looking forward to being a part of the show that our production team and writers were just starting to develop, but I’m sure that the new production team and host will do an equally great job.” Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak respected Murphy’s decision, saying in a statement: “I appreciate how Eddie feels about losing his creative partner, Brett Ratner, and we all wish him well.” Ratner recently came under serious fire for saying “rehearsal is for fags” while promoting Tower Heist . The controversial director also spoke openly about his sex life with actress Olivia Munn, who he claimed to “bang a few times.” And that brings you up to speed.
