When I read the obit of actor Tony Curtis last September I uttered “thank God!” under my breath.
Not thank God that he was dead, but thank God that by a stroke of serendipity I had somehow managed to have a brief, interesting encounter with him about this time a year ago, a mere seven months before his death at age 85.
I was at work that day and we were busy. I help train new hires for a home shopping call center. Most of our customers are elderly ladies you have to spend a long time waiting on while they search for their glasses to read you their credit card numbers while cursing their cat or dog for getting in the way.
Occasionally a celebrity calls.
Once a film legend called, and I spoke to him.
Read the rest of Gary’s incredible encounter after the jump…
The Art Directors Guild Awards honor films in three genres, so they pretty much cover all the bases. Although there might not be a whole lot to learn about who will win the Oscar for this category, you might get a glimpse of who might be out of it. Alicein Wonderland is considered one of the front runners to win the Oscar for Best Art Direction, but is noticeably absent from the winners list. I currently have The King’s Speech predicted to win the Oscar, so I’m not surprised to see it turn up here.Contemporary feature film: Therese DePrez, BLACK SWANFantasy feature film: Guy Hendrix Dyas, INCEPTIONPeriod feature film: Eve Stewart, THE KING’S SPEECH
After wiping the floor with Toy Story 3 at the Visual Effects Society Awards, How to Train Your Dragoncontinues to rake by winning 10 Annie Awards Saturday night.
But don’t get too excited, Dragon fans. A big part of the reason Dragon won 10 Annies was due to Disney/Pixar boycotting the 38th annual presentation with complaints they have about the voting process. Disney/Pixar still received 7 nominations, but the heavy dose of awards went to the DreamWorks Animation team.
All this buzz for Dragon leading into the final voting stage could spell an upset at the Oscars, but I would bet strongly against that happening. You have to remember, voters will be looking to recognize the entire Toy Story franchise this year, since the Best Animated Feature Oscar was not in existence during the first two films run. Not to mention, the Disney/Pixar film is up for Best Picture. It would be a little more than silly to have it be the only animated film nominated for the best film overall, if it is not going to at least win its own genre category.
Check out the Annie winners for film after the jump…
The Steven Spielberg produced, J.J. Abrams directed film that has me on pins and needles to see debuted some footage during the Super Bowl. Super8 looks absolutely amazing from what we have seen so far. But how else do you expect me to feel about a movie brought to us by the guys who gave us E.T. and LOST?! It just looks magical already.
It’s fair to say that among those who love movies (and who doesn’t?), most have screen couples, movie teams they especially adore.
For me, I’ve always enjoyed Tracy and Hepburn, Bogart and Bacall, Ladd and Lake, Hope and Goddard, Ford and Hayworth, Garbo and Gilbert, Robinson and Bennett. These and others were unforgettable screen teams who made numerous films together and whose work remains popular decades after they first graced the silver screen together and settled into a permanent place in our collective film love lore.
The Directors Guild Award went to Tom Hooper for his work behind The King’s Speech. And with it, the Oscar race is now all but officially over. The PGA, The DGA, and the leading 12 Oscar nominations all add up to Oscar gold: The King’s Speech will be your winner for Best Picture 2010. You can take that to the bank. I have updated my predictions accordingly.
Stay tuned Sunday night when we find out what the actors are thinking during the 17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. And be sure to join us around 7:30 p.m. EST, when I will be live blogging the red carpet and SAG results.
LOS ANGELES, CA – DECEMBER 20: A general view is seen during the 14th annual Screen Actors Guild awards nominations annoucement held in the SilverScreen Theater at the Pacific Design Center on December 20, 2007 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Thanks for joining me tonight for the Screen Actors Guild Awards! Will The King’s Speech continue its dominance with the Guilds tonight? Will The Social Network pull an upset to get back into the Oscar race? Will The Fighter show that it is the film most likely to upset the newly minted Oscar front-runner? Or is something totally unexpected about to occur tonight?
Time for Round 3 in the Aycee Awards race. This set contains Best Song, Best Score, Best Movie Trailer and Best Movie Poster. This will be a big post [vertically speaking…] due to so many audio/visuals. Score and song are pretty straight forward, the tracks are provided for you to listen and then vote. For trailer and posters, we provided a specific selection from the nominated film. To qualify, the trailer or poster had to be available in 2010 but not the actual film. So, have fun listening and watching the following nominees and vote at the bottom on the post.
The Screen Actors Guild will hold their 17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAGs) on Sunday, January 30th at 8:00 P.M. EST on TNT. I will be doing another live blog – as I did for the Golden Globes, and will for the Oscars – beginning around (or before) 7:30 EST for the red carpet arrivals, so be sure to tune in and voice your opinions on the fashion, the stars, and the winners.
This year’s winners might be a little more indicative than usual, as we have one of the closest Oscar races in recent memory brewing between The Social Network, The King’s Speech, and The Fighter. To stay alive in the hunt for Oscars big prize, I think Ensemble – the SAG equivalent of Best Picture – is a must win for The Fighter. On the other hand, the race will feel pretty sewn up if The King’s Speech were to take the big prize. I don’t expect The Social Network to win Ensemble, but if it did I think the Facebook film would regain a solid lead on the field. Between the three, I’m hoping The Social Network pulls an upset. Crazy how much things have changed in just a week, that I now consider The Social Network a big upset to win anything.
Where I do not think The Social Network is an underdog is at Saturday nights Directors Guild Awards, where David Fincher should prevail. But make no mistake about it, Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) is certainly capable of taking the DGA – after his film led all others in Oscar noms – and if so the path to Oscar would end that night. However, my upset pick would be Christopher Nolan (Inception), who was snubbed earlier this week by Oscar. Voting for the DGA’s didn’t close until Friday night, so maybe in the wake of Nolan’s big time snub, the directors may take a stand for him here. But I doubt it. Even though my brain says Hooper, my gut is still saying Fincher will win the DGA.
Check out my SAG predictions after the jump, and be sure to leave your predictions in the comments below…
Big week for Robert Redford. As his Sundance Film Festivalis underway, we get a look at his upcoming conspiracy film surrounding the Abraham Lincoln assassination. Robin Wright stars as Mary Surratt, a woman charged as being a co-conspirator in the Presidents murder. The rest of the cast includes James McAvoy, Tom Wilkinson, Kevin Kline, Evan Rachel Wood, Stephen Root, Justin Long, Jonathan Groff and Danny Huston. The Conspirator opens in April.
