TIFF: The People Speak.

Unlike many of the A-list festivals, Toronto does not do the big celebrity jury thing to hand out their awards. So it's up to festivalgoers to vote and the Audience Awards result. This is why, roughly speaking, the TIFF winner usually goes on to Oscar success, popularity being the key to both honors. This year's winner The King's Speech can now follow the same path as famous films before it like Whale Rider, Precious or Slumdog Millionaire. We already suspected, long before it screened anywhere (it was among my Early Bird predictions in April) that this would be an Oscar hit.

Audience Awards
Feature: The Kings Speech by Tom Hooper
Can we just give Colin Firth the best actor statue now? Given the momentum from last year, don't you think there's no way they're not going to hand him the statue this year? We might be looking at a boring Best Actor race with no real competition, even though the nominations themselves will have plenty of competition.
runner up: The First Grader by Justin Chadwick
This one I hadn't heard of but it sounds inspirational enough to play well with Oscar, too. It's based on a true story of a Kenyan man who showed up on the first day that free primary education was offered, ready to be a student... at 84 years young. This is only Chadwick's second feature film. His first was The Other Boleyn Girl.

Midnight Madness: Stake Land by Jim Mickle
I love the poster so much I had to include it (pictured right). But even I -- who once loved all things vampyr -- am deadly sick of the fanged beasties given today's pop culture. There's vampires everywhere you look. These ones look like the bloody gross monster versions though and I prefer the kind that are beautiful (but still monstrous at heart).
runner up: Fubar II by Michael Dowse
Documentary: Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie by Sturla Gunnarsson
This is one of several current environmentally focused documentaries.
runner up: Nostalgia for the Light by Patricio Guzman
Will we see either of these titles in the documentary Oscar race? I can't even pretend to be able to describe this one for you.


Canadian Specific Prizes
Feature: Incendies by Denis Villeneuve. This will likely be the Canadian choice for Oscar submission for the Best Foreign Language Film race though nothing is official yet. Sony Pictures Classics is handling the release and they do good work with foreign fare... though unfortunately they almost never release them in the year of their Oscar eligibility (unless they're from Almodóvar) so we're looking at 2011 here.

Incendies

I've only seen one Villeneuve picture before, a short film called Next Floor, but it was very very impressive -- here's Nick's review from our time on the shorts jury in Nashville that year. Incendies is about twins who try to piece together their mother's last days in the Middle East could be a real contender. Keep an eye out.
First Feature: High Cost of Living by Deborah Chow.
Short: Les fleurs de l’age (Little Flowers) by Vincent Biron which is 18 minutes long and about schoolchildren (though it takes place in the summer)

FIPRESCI Critics Prizes
Discovery: Beautiful Boy by Shawn Ku. This film stars Maria Bello and Michael Sheen as the parents of a college student involved in a shooting massacre. I suspect we'll see this in 2011 now that Anchor Bay picked it up. I keep rooting for Maria to get another role as demanding / high profile as A History of Violence. Will this be it or does only a tiny release await?
Special Presentation: L'Amour Fou by Pierre Thoretton which is a film about fashion god Yves St. Laurent

The big takeaway news though, now that TIFF 2010 has wrapped, is that there were a lot of sales. Far more films found distributors than people were originally suspecting. The Los Angeles Times even called it a "flood" of sales. That's good news for us. If current official or rumored plans hold, we'll see Rabbit Hole this year from Lionsgate and sometime next year we'll get the Lincoln assassination courtroom drama The Conspirator from Lionsgate and Roadside as well as the father/son gay-themed drama Beginners starring Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer next year from Focus to name a few dramatic examples.

Oscar Night in Review: The Fashions (Pt 2)

The Oscar night posts are almost over. I swear. Oh, you'll start missing the Oscars in a month. Shut up with your "will you stop, please?" griping.

also: worst & weirdest moments | wonderful moments | fashion review part 1 | all 09/10 Oscar posts

One of the crazy stressful things about Oscar night for the ladies must be the simple fact that the pictures taken of them that night go on for infinity. They get recycled each year for "best and worst" of video montages and magazine articles. But in the "viewing parties" and the after parties and such, there's no such museum effect. Without that pressure, the stars are more likely to let loose a little. But what's strange sometimes is that this is still how they're presenting themselves within industry circles when the industry has the biggest spotlight on. All of the following ensembles are from those types of parties. This is just a tiny sampling but you probably haven't seen these photos a million times like you have their Kodak theater counterparts.

yes please

from left to right: We all fell in love with Amy Adams when she was playing pregnant Ashley in Junebug. Now she doesn't need the foam padding and we fall in love with her all over again. Make some good movies once you're done with maternity leave Amy! Lea Michelle is going what you call "above and beyond". She already has a hit TV show (GLEE. I can't wait for April!) and now she apparently wants everyone to know she can do movie star glamour, too. Sometimes I wish I were a casting director just so I could give Maria Bello parts that are worthy of her. Catherine O'Hara!!! I had no idea that she actually went out to industry events. She looks great and I hope with all my heart that people in Hollywood get as much joy out of her For Your Consideration facelift expression as I do. But maybe it cuts too close?

er... Yes, well... maybe. Okay, no.

from left to right: I get in trouble every time I suggest that any particular actress is a bit too thin. But it's even more perplexing when it comes to Leslie Mann. I mean, she's a good actress and she automatically gets work because she stars in her husbands movies, so why doesn't she eat? I think I like the concept of this dress but on her it looks too much like she's starring in Alien V. The slimy Giger babydemon has just burst from her chest cavity. Salma Hayek is wearing something that reminds me of Ralph Fiennes tattoo in Red Dragon and I don't want to think about serial killers when I'm looking at beautiful honeys. Christina Hendricks is awesome. Can't wait for Mad Men 4. Maybe this is too tight and the poof shouldn't be there but... damn. Gabrielle Union can pull off yellow and not everyone can. But that doesn't mean she should.

EEEeeeeeek!

from left to right: I always forget where I know Kate Mara from (and then I have to remind myself "Brokeback Mountain, self. Why do you always forget this?") but this dress is not making a good case for her. If I have to look at Hilary Swank so do you! Jeezus... This is not a hooker convention, Hil, this is an Oscar party. Sometimes when I realize that she will always be employed --thanks to that one admittedly genius performance 11 years ago -- I weep. So many years we've had to put up with her already. So many more to come (she's only 35)! Can't think of one thing that is right with Suzanne Sommers and can't count the things that have gone wrong here. Rita Wilson plays only one role in movies -- sassy best friend to movie star of a certain age -- and does it reasonably well. But just because you're rich enough to buy all the black fabric in Malibu doesn't mean you should wear all of it to the same party.

For Your Consideration Corner

Glenn here again for another installment of For Your Consideration Corner. What movies are tapping my brain this week? All images sourced from Awards Daily unless otherwise noted.

Just earlier this week I discussed movies that come out of nowhere at this time of the year with misplaced hopes and dreams of Oscar. So, for this week's look at the For Your Consideration campaigns I thought I would take another trip towards this territory. Ads for these movies generally focus on specialty categories - your Best Animation Feature and acting categories mostly - because they know they're not getting anywhere near Best Picture.


One film that got my attention was The Yellow Handkerchief, which stars William Hurt and Maria Bello - a History of Violence reunion of sorts - that I had literally never heard of before. Not in festival lineups or anything, a rare thing indeed. I actually quite like the ads, resembling National Geographic magazine covers and featuring really nice images. I may never actually see The Yellow Handkerchief, but these FYC ads captured my attention. What happened to Maria Bello's career though? Time for a new agent one must think.

Some obscure animated films, too, have had ads released on their behalf. The Australian/Israeli stop-motion title $9.99 continues it's bright and colourful marketing campaign. The images being used to advertise this little movie - based on the short stories of Etgar Keret - are smart because they make it stand out from the pack of CGI titles that bombard the animation department every year. There have only ever been two claymation films submitted to the Academy and both ended up with Oscar nominations (quick, name them!) I don't necessarily expect the same for $9.99, but it's nice to imagine. Oscar winner Adam Elliot's clay feature Mary & Max is due in 2009 too, which is bound to be a major player in the Best Animated Feature category.

Another animated title is something by the name of Dragon Hunters - "With the voice of Forest Whitaker", apparently. Unfortunately the images used for this French/German co-production make it look like a Spyro the Dragon rip-off with cheap slave labor CGI and overt quirkiness. Clearly I am not - nor, I would imagine, anybody in the Academy - the target audience for this children's tale, and I suppose they're at least giving their film a fighting chance, even if they haven't got a hope. Although for all I know, Dragon Hunters is another Tekkonkinkreet, a film I saw merely because it was on last year's shortlist and ended up being quite excellent. Go figure!

For Your Consideration ad of the Week

What is there to say other than this is simply stunning and gorgeous. I haven't seen the film - obviously, we mere mortals haven't been deigned worthy enough until we've gorged ourselves with turkey and ham - but this image destills everything that the film is apparently all about. The tenderness and the visual forwardness in one elegant beautiful image.

The Curious Case of Maria Bello

"HEEEYYYYYY!"

Maria Bello @ the Hollywood Film Festival on Monday

Maria just wanted to say hi.

Maria Bello needs a job. No seriously. How you do what she did in A History of Violence (my review --she won my gold medal, too) and not be deluged with major offers. How do you do what she did and end up playing second fiddle to Alison Lohman in a horse movie? Sigh. Her most recent ignoble defeat at the hands of Hollywood? Replacing Rachel Weisz in the Mummy pictures past their prime this past summer. That vaguely reminded me of that horrific moment when they threw a brunette wig on Elisabeth Shue for what was amounted to a throwaway part in Back to the Futures II & III ...perhaps hoping that nobody would notice the replacement of the original actress whatshername. That was so weird. Anyone old enough to remember that? As a young boy I was desperately in love with Elisabeth Shue via The Karate Kid -- 'tis true. This McFly move emotionally signified the end of Shue's stardom for me (yes, even as a kid I went all white-knuckled, fearing unemployment for my actresses ...no wonder I'm getting worry lines). But then 5 years later Leaving Las Vegas premiered and the blessed Oscar nomination happened for Ms. Shue.

What does all this mean? Maria Bello in 2013, people... Maria Bello in 2013!

Indie Spirits ~ Live Blogging

Live Blogging the Indie Spirits? I didn't even watch last year. But maybe I'm trying to warm up for tomorrow nights big event. Yes, that's my excuse for this foolishness. Apparently IFC is advertising their red carpet like so (Brangelina, pictured right) but do people really wear tuxes to the Indie Spirits? Not as I can recall. False advertising!

4:48 Ooh Anne Thompson is onscreen. She's sweet. She's talking about the jury and that their selections are more mainstream this year. The jury selection is one of the more interesting things about the Indie Spirit Awards but it actually makes it hard to get into from year to year, because there is no through line at all. It's impossible to predict and often reads as nonsensical from category to category. Philip Seymour Hoffman for The Savages but not Linney? Matt Singer is the host of this nomination special and he just said the craziest thing 'Philip Seymour Hoffman's roles in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead and The Savages are very similar'

That's so true. I've always found that holding up my parents jewelry store while embezzling from my employer brings up the exact same issues of character as writing essays on Brecht and putting my father in a nursing home.

er... Matt? Earth to Matt.

4:53 They're "live! uncut! right now!" only it hasn't started yet. It's still commercials.

4:58 I've been blocking out the fact that Rainn Wilson (Juno) is hosting this show, homeskillet. Else I would never have agreed to live blog it.

5:04 Patty Clarkson (they just showed her) is so pretty. I'm ignoring Rainn so let's just focus on the camera cutaways. Steve Buscemi. Mike White. Philip Seymour Hoffman. Rainn makes a joke that he's the prettiest. Actually Hoffman is. He actually looks pretty good tonight. Cate Blanchett. Sienna Miller. Bruce Greenwood. Ed Begley Jr. Parker Posey [I'm still focusing on the cutaway reaction shots] Let me guest... this Juno table is going to get a lot of shout-outs. I'm not even going to mention how tacky it is to have a host that's in the movie that will win everything. Or how tacky his performance is in the same movie. No matter how many awards Juno wins, that convenience store mess is one fumbled opening that can't be undid.

5:12 Felicity Huffman is bad at reading from a teleprompter. Best Supporting Male: Chiwetel Ejiofor (Talk to Me, I always pretend I'm watching him in Serenity whenever I see him), Marcus Carl Franklin (I'm Not There), Kene Holliday (The Great World of Sound), Irrfan Kahn (The Namesake... he's such a good actor) and Steve Zahn (Rescue Dawn... he looks so cute in his tan blazer). Chiwetel Ejiofor wins. Kasi Lemmon accepts since Chiwi is in London playing Othello.

Eliza Dushku and Parker Posey. Two (indie) girls I love

5:17 Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova singing "When Your Minds Made Up" from Once. I love them very much and the movie but this sounds a little rough. Off key and forced. I'm going to blame it on the acoustics in the room since I will be sad if their performance at the Oscars isn't a lot better tomorrow.

5:20 Kerry Washington is dreamy. Now... what the hell is wrong with Oscar that she isn't presenting there? Seriously, Patrick Dempsey??? Why. It angers me. Kerry Washington! Now, that's somebody AMPAS should get familiar with. Diablo Cody wins screenplay for Juno and Jason Bateman presents it. TACKY! It's like when The Producers won all the TONY Awards with Nathan Lane hosting. Why do awards shows do these things. It just screams complete and utter tastelessness.

5:23 Maria Bello is presenting something. Best First Film I think. I am distracted because I don't want her to keep playing second fiddle to horses, country singers and Alison f'ing Lohman --all of whom she is infinitely superior to. She needs another A History of Violence. Pronto. Is that the Mad Men star presenting with her? I must watch that show. The guy from The Lookout wins (Scott Frank).

5:32 They just cut from Matt Dillon to Don Cheadle. No joke. What is this 2005? I don't need that reminder when I'm watching awards shows. No I do not.

5:34 Supporting Female. Cate Blanchett (I'm Not There), Anna Kendrick (Rocket Science), Tamara Podesnski (name of movie?), Marisa Tomei (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead --yay!), Jennifer Jason Leigh (Margot at the Wedding) they describe her as a "free spirited sister"... huh? Did Matt Singer write this? (Hee. sorry Matt, I couldn't help it). Pauline is not a free spirit. That girl is all locked up in her depression and her sister is one mean warden, that's for damn sure. Cate wins for I'm Not There. Of course. She is very pregnant ---ooh, awesome shoutout to "Todd Haynes's body of work" Hear, hear.

The "F***" count is now at 5. "S***" has only been uttered once. There's no bleeping on this show. Naughty IFC.

5:41 The spoof songs. This one from Diving Bell and Butterfly was actually funny.

5:44 Rainn is doing "spoof" auditions for all the best features. This time it's I'm Not There. Todd Haynes is hot --I'm just sayin' cuz nobody ever says. Rainn keeps calling him "Ted". Hee

5:50 Meg Ryan looks like herself again! This is the second star they've brought out saying "From The Women" -against my better judgment I'm excited for the remake. She and Tom Wilkinson are presenting the John Cassavettes Award which is for the true independent / shoestring budget movies. August Evening wins. Other than this award and a couple of others the whole concept of the Indie Spirits is kinda pointless since you can bet if a big hit or Oscar nominee is nominated, that's the person who wins. Not exactly hard core independence you know?

5:52 Cate Blanchett is so cute pregnant. She no longer looks emaciated. She introduces herself as Marcus Carl Franklin to introduce I'm Not There clip. Hee. Steve Zahn is singing "Like a Rolling Stone" as a spoof for the movie. "to speak in a monotone. like a dylan clone"

5:56 MAGGIE CHEUNG --GODDESS ALERT !!! Foreign Film goes to Once. Maggie seems happy about that. They made Once (one of the year's best) for $100,000. Wow, crazy that it's a gazillion times better than movies that are made for $100 million. But now John Carney needs to shut up. He's giving the complete history of the packaging and making or and distribution. Glen Hansard shuts him up. Thanks Glen!

6:00 I did NOT need to see Rainn Wilson's ass. I really did not. Cut to: Brad Pitt, who looks like he's 30 again. Delicious. Botox is a magical magical thing. It should be free or at least government subsidized.

6: 07 Best Actor. I want Tony Leung Chiu Wai to win for Lust, Caution but of course he won't. The delicate fabric of the universe would tear if something that wonderful happened. Philip Seymour Hoffman wins. Nice speech -- he called Laura Linney "sublime." And how.

6:12 Alison Janney's dress is fresh and kicky and exactly right for this event, casual but still glam. I'm sure it's not easy to dress for any of these events. Anyway, it looks better moving than in this photo here to your right. She's presenting with John Waters who often hosts this very show. This is the part of the show where they give out grants to filmmakers.

6:25 Is this over yet? Raiiin Wilson is not funny.

6:26 The Artist Formerly Known As Keri Russell would like everyone to know that she will lose however many lbs Angelina Jolie and Cate Blanchett gain while pregnant. She feels it's the least she could do for Hollywood's beauty standards. Tamara Jenkins won screenplay for The Savages.

6:32 You know how some people read romance novels that are all sort of the same and even if they're smart people they keep reading them... even though it maybe doesn't challenge them, this habit. That's me with fantasy novels. Only the books are much better (I would guess) and the sameness is only in the archetypes and general conceits... though the details are much different from author to author. I just finished reading Transformation by Carol Berg and I found it to be quite a page turner. Really enjoyed it. I was excited to discover that there are sequels (I don't know why I feigned shock. Every fantasy book every written is part something of something --they're more franchise focused than Hollywood even.) Part of me is embarassed about this habit of mine but part of me is like 'sorry, that's just what I like.' If you're wondering what this has to do with the Film Independent Spirit Awards, than congratulations: you've actually read this post. But it doesn't. Have anything to do. I'm just bored of watching is all.

6:45 Crazy Love won Best Documentary and Janusz Kaminski (who used to be Mr. Holly Hunter) just won cinematography. And now Patty Clarkson is onscreen with Dennis Quaid (both from the great Far From Heaven) for a brief shout out to Heath Ledger and presenting the Robert Altman Award to I'm Not There. Casting director Laurie Rosenthal is accepting. She's happy that casting directors are finally being acknowledged. And hey, Laura, so am I. And more on Heath Ledger. I am a little embarrassed to say that I didn't know about his directorial efforts at all. Now I'm sad again.

6:53 Javier Bardem just agreed to f*** Rainnn Wilson. Javier is a good sport. Best Director nominees Todd Haynes (I'm Not There), Tamara Jenkins (Savages), Jason Reitman (Juno), Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and Butterfy) Gus Van Sant (Paranoid Park). Julian Schnabel wins. He is not wearing pajamas. He invited Jason Reitman to share the stage with him. Strange. Even Schnabel likes Juno? This speech is odd. It has so many half sentences and changes of subject... Where is Juliette Welfling when we need her? Edit him! "I want to thank Javier Bardem for being Javier Bardem"

6:58 Best Actress: Angelina Jolie (A Mighty Heart), Sienna Miller (Interview), Ellen Page (Juno), Parker Posey (Broken English) and Tang Wei (Lust Caution). And the Spirit Award goes to Ellen Page. I know a lot of people say that Ellen Page is playing herself in Juno but I think that's a too-easy dismissal. Nice humble acceptance speech there and no Juno tics. So there.

7:05 Dustin Hoffman:

I did fuck Javier Bardem and Philip Seymour Hoffman is the product of our union.
...I hope you understand I mean that metaphorically.

Dustin Hoffman you crazy crazy two time Oscar winner. He's here to present Best Picture The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, I'm Not There, Juno, A Mighty Heart, Paranoid Park. Gee, I wonder... which movie will win. Juno (duh... it's the Oscar nominee). Love Fest. I'm out.

7:10 I did not turn off the television in time and they showed us Philip Seymour Hoffman's ass as well as he spanked and wrestled with Raain Wilson as credits rolled. I did not make any of this up.*
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a photo op that has officially blown my mind

Betty/Diane with Mr & Mrs Stall ~ That is one seriously schizo mindf**k!

Can it be Friday night and can I be watching Eastern Promises RIGHT NOW ?

20:07 / 70:02 (Mirrored / Married)

20th minute and 7th second / 70th minute and 2nd second of same movie
I can't guarantee the same results at home (different players/timing) I use a VLC


~I still love you
~I'm the luckiest son of a bitch alive


[heavy breathing. grunting]
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