Best Supporting Actor: Oscar's Ballot & Mine.

I haven't been shy about my disappointment with this year's Best Supporting Actor Oscar Ballot, a lineup lacking in narrative oomph (which shouldn't be a factor in judging "best" but still makes Oscar way less fun to follow when he eschews it for old favorites) and missing several electric, fresh, film elevating and moving performances in favor of merely solid work from Oscar winners in popular films. I'm all in for Tommy Lee Jones winning since he's the only nominee Oscar & I agree is worthy to hold a place in this particular shortlist. [While we're on the subject of votes, you should cast yours in the poll]

Will he win? That's another matter entirely. I'd wager he still has the lead by virtue of a very long one (since November when he took it from Matthew McConaughey... who never really had it *sniffle* in the first place) even if the precursors have never quite settled on a frontrunner and even if his no-show at SAG didn't exactly help his cause. Christoph Waltz's BAFTA win for his leading role in Django Unchained (which might more accurately be called Schultz Unchains Django Who Only Takes Over the Film-Carrying Duties For the Final ½ Hour of a 2½ hour Film) suggest that the tide has shifted but in the end with Argo and Silver Linings Playbook campaigns both fighting so hard in the final weeks for wins, I'm not so sure that votes won't still be all over the place in this category, letting Tommy take turn two at the podium.

More after the jump...

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Links of Future Past Right Now

IndieWire Lars von Trier's Nymphomaniac won't be ready for Cannes
E! the real life Navy SEAL who shot bin Laden gets all movie critic like, loving Jessica Chastain but taking some issues with Zero Dark Thirty
Erik Lundegaard has a neat interactive chart where you can rank the Best Picture winners from all Oscar years
Pajiba on Lena Dunham fat-shaming and the already famous new episode of Girls
Vulture power rankings of the Friday Night Lights cast post series finale 

In Contention Kris Tapley launches his well regarded annual top ten shots column
TMZ Vivienne Jolie-Pitt gets her first movie role. She'll play the toddler Sleeping Beauty in Maleficent opposite her scary mom
MNPP do dump or marry: Matthias Schoenaerts, Guillame Canet and Jean Dujardin
Broadway Blog fun multipart piece on Broadway's best love songs from Les Misérables through Avenue Q
Gawker loves Madonna's instagram account and so do I
AMPAS last year I did a piece for Slate on the hierarchy of thank-yous in Oscar acceptance speeches that I was super proud of. The research took me so long I made negative money an hour on the piece but now Oscar has gone and done the work for me, unfortunately after the fact, by archiving acceptance speeches. Can't wait to investigate this archive when I have more time.

one of my all time favorite comic book issues. I still remember buying this when it appearedEmpire RIP Oscar nominated editor Gerry Hambling who was 86.
Playbill Les Misérables will hit DVD on March 22nd. Tom Hooper will do commentary. 

Finally...
Cinema Blend Bryan Singer hasn't decided if Storm and Nightcrawler will be in X-Men: Days of Future Past. Alan Cumming told me he'd revisit the character if asked but can we please replace Storm? Since it's a time travel story why not give Angela Bassett the chance she deserved all along as a now older Storm? The cast list currently mixes X-Men First Class alums with previous X-Men franchise actors. Confirmed to appear: Ellen Page (Kitty Pryde), Patrick Stewart & James McAvoy (Professor Xavier), Ian McKellen & Michael Fassbender (Magneto), Hugh Jackman (Wolverine), Anna Paquin (Rogue), and Sean Ashmore (Iceman), Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique), Nicholas Hoult (The Beast), and Rose Byrne (Moira McTaggert)

Who do you hope joins this mashup X-Men team or are you done with that franchise?

Complete the Sentence. Just the other day...

I was thinking that if __________ won/lost the Oscar then _____________________ . 

(*we're recording a podcast right now so discuss amongst yourselves!)

Bunheads: Pantsuit

SusanP here, back for more Bunheads fun. The more I watch the show, the more it surprises me. Even in episodes that I find less engaging, there’s always something to pull me in. I think that has a lot to do with how the show is structured: The first third of the hour tends to play for laughs; the last third doesn’t necessarily drop the humor, but it closes the deal with an emotional payoff. In thinking of Monday’s episode, “There’s Nothing Worse Than A Pantsuit,” you could almost say that the show starts off wearing sweats or jeans, but finishes with a pantsuit (with lots of pockets).

This Week on Bunheads
The idea of acting or auditioning is at the heart of “There’s Nothing Worse Than A Pantsuit.” The episode, directed by veteran character actor and director David Paymer, is in some ways lighter than the last two episodes, but still offers an unexpected gut punch for Sutton Foster’s Michelle.

Each of the characters is trying on a new part...

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Three Faces of Link

Inside TV Jacki Weaver gets a sitcom. It's called The McCarthys and she's playing a character possibly not unlike her Silver Linings Playbook character. Best part of the news: Jack McGee, who was so terrific as Mr Melissa Leo in The Fighter wins the male lead.
Nicks Flick Picks, always generous at heart if not generous in posting, is picking the highlights of every Oscar nominee's career in this growing post. That's a great way to celebrate the nominees even if you don't care for their latest nomination. That's me with Amy Adams I suppose. I am completely 50/50 on her Oscar nominations. Wouldn't trade the first and third for anything. Don't think she deserved the second and fourth.

Finally... have you seen this 85 Years of Oscar poster by Olly Moss?

Oscar is a real chameleon in this graphic set, switching costumes and poses to reflect each year's winning film. Like all multiplied efforts, there are hits and misses but I've included my favorites above: 1945 (Oscar gets the DTs), 1953 (Oscar in swim trunks), 1964, 1978, 1979, 1986 (a strong use of an iconic movie poster), 1988 (which I think is the best single image ... so minimalist but funny and "aha!"), 1999, 2001 (that one took me a second) and 2011. 

Which were your favorite visual sum-ups?