Acceptance Speech as Campaign

My weekly Oscar article is up at Tribeca Film wherein I'm discussing the value of acceptance speeches to Oscar campaigns. F'rinstance, after Christian Bale's two speeches last weekend at the BFCA & Globes ♫  how you like him now?

Read it at Tribeca Film

Whose acceptance speech do you think did them the most good so far with voters?

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Purrfect Anne Hathaway Has Big Stilettos To Fill.

A horror movie serial is opening (at least) every month all over the internet for the next 18 months. It's called News and Rumors and Collective Freakouts Concerning Chris Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises. With each new chapter the internet will shiver and tremble, cry out or shake with alarm, fury, disbelief, fear and finally cathartic release. The latest chapter involves two official casting reveals from Nolan himself. The first is that Inception's Tom Hardy will be playing the grotesquely muscular "Bane" (who we last saw onscreen in the fiasco Batman & Robin, 1997) and the second is that Anne Hathaway, she of the backless gowns and "look at me, I'm fabulous!" nakedity in Love and Other Drugs, will be playing Selina Kyle. Selina is, rather famously, Catwoman's alter ego but given Nolan's two previous Batman films we have no indication that we'll actually get Selina as Catwoman, just that we're getting Selina. 

Julie Newmar (the first Catwoman) | Anne Hathaway (the latest)

Remember when Sam Raimi kept setting up Dylan Baker to play The Lizard in his Spider-Man trilogy and never delivered?

I'd say the most we can hope for is that Anne gets to let her bitchy freak side fly a bit. Rachel Getting Married minus the babbling and the "L'Haim!"s divided by Get Smart physicality? She'll probably use a weapon at some point but sadly, it'll probably be a plain ol' gun and not sewing machine claws. What I'm trying to say is that I wouldn't exactly expect her to have nine mystical lives or suit up and throwdown with Christian Bale with pithy one liners and claws out. Maybe she'll get a whip if we're lucky. Nolan likes his female characters as dangerous window dressing or as damsels in distress and on either front Hathaway will be terrific. Or at least more terrific than previous Nolan women.

Believe it or not I don't consider the role too sacred to be recreated. (Someone will reinterpret The Joker before too long, too, even though everyone currently thinks that that'll never happen. It always happens. Trust.) Superheroes and Villians are just from that school of roles that are meant to be constantly reinterpreted, like uh.. .Shakespearean protagonists! Not that the birth of any new feline fatale will ever measure up to Michelle Pfeiffer and that snowy alley with pussies galore.

We'll always hear her roar.

5 Days 'til Nominations: FOREIGN FILM FINALISTS

Actually 5 days and 19ish hours but who is counting?

Gael García Bernal in "Even the Rain"

Today's Topic: Foreign Films
One has to wonder why Oscar has a finalist round that's only announced one week before the nominations. Like the visual effects nominations finalists, which get narrowed down to practically the shortlist before the official announcement, it seems unneccessarily sadistic like "omg you're going to be nominated. NOPE!" But for now 9 countries remain from the original 65*. They are....

• ALGERIA (Outside the Law) prev record: 4 nominations, 1 win.
• CANADA (Incendies) prev record: 4 nominations, 1 win.
• DENMARK (In a Better World) prev record: 7 nominations, 2 wins
• GREECE (Dogtooth) prev record: 5 nominations. Greece has yet to win.
• JAPAN (Confessions) prev record: 12 nominations, 1 win. Japan won Honorary Oscars before the category became a regular institution.
• MEXICO (Biutiful) prev record: 7 nominations. Mexico has yet to win.
• SOUTH AFRICA (Life Above All) prev record: 2 nominations, 1 win.
• SPAIN (Even the Rain) prev record: 19 nominations, 4 wins.
• SWEDEN (Simple Simon) prev record: 14 nominations, 3 wins.

So, no country will get to be a first time nominee this year.

Ulrich Thomsen and screen son in Golden Globe winner "In a Better World"

Star Power. Spaniard Javier Bardem and Mexican Gael Garcia Bernal (who have flip-flopped countries here) are both regular fixtures in this category, frequently starring in submissions and on Hollywood's red carpet. Danish star Ulrich Thomsen, is less globally famous, but he's a very familiar face in movies subtitled and otherwise.

TRAILERS TO ALL FINALISTS AND MORE INFO

Click to read more ...

Red Carpet Globes: Crazy Helena, Peachy Stone, Powerful Fonda

You thought I forgot about the Red Carpet Lineup for the Golden Globes didn't you? No... I'm just moving a bit slowly after that March of the Handsome Penguins. Why do I punish myself to make things pretty? "Do you even care about the pretty?" he screams into the virtual abyss, clawing at the heavy comment door.

Oh... and, uh, Merry Christmas?

CZJ, Sweet Lips, Globe Hopper, "Peggy"

Maybe that's why Tilda wished everyone Happy New Year from the stage. So many holiday gowns staring up at her.

What was with all the green? Is that what they call "on trend"? Green is my favorite color, give or take purple (The Joker is my color wheel) but that's a lot of green even for me. What to make of Elisabeth Moss's sculpted butterfly wing bosom? Meanwhile Angelina Jolie looks very Dynasty (that's a compliment) and Mila "Sweet Lips" Kunis finally steps up the glamour. Here's hoping she really breaks out on Oscar's red carpet, whether or not she's nominated. You know she's the kind of high profile young draw that they'll invite to present if people feel she's been snubbed.

And now we come to a category called Trying Too Hard.

Lea Michele, Jennifer Lawrence, Olivia Wilde, January JonesLea Michele is weirdly exactly like Rachel, her Glee character, on the red carpet. She obviously NEEDS the attention ( I feel you, Lea!) and she is always always "posing" and wearing yards and yards and yards of fabric. In fact, sometimes I wonder if it's elaborate performance art because her poses are exactly like the kind one makes in one's mirror whilst dreaming of becoming a celebrity and walking the red carpet: Here's Sexy, Silly -gotcha! (I'm so versatile), now Sultry and goddess walk... Strut!; Jennifer Lawrence is going to be an exciting red carpet fixture (if her career goes well) but she seems a bit young for this look -- wouldn't you love to see Julianne Moore in that?; Olivia Wilde (Tron Legacy) was obviously going for the "wow" but there's something about it that's too obvious. And the hair with that dress? Doesn't work; Finally I really admire January Jones perpetual riskiness on the red carpet but this one is just crazy: boobs in bondage, bold red dress, black shoes, half dress underneath fringe???

But believe it or not I actually mean "trying too hard" as a compliment. At least they're trying! (I'm typing this while wearing purple longjohns, bright blue socks and a burgundy sweater. I look hateful color blind or maybe homeless. But it's laundry day. I never try.)

Do any of you feel Helena Bonham Carter was trying too hard?

poll by twiigs.com

I think she's one of the best dressed personally because it's out there and she kept posing with her feet crossed as to draw attention to her color clash shoes. In this way it's her own swan dress... albeit less avant garde rock genius and more eccentric cat lady down the street.

And now, a category that really requires your input.

The 'I'm Not Sure What To Think Of This' Bunch.

Julianne, Michelle, Natalie and EmmaJulianne Moore is one of the most beautiful women in the world and as the least color cautious redhead in the world one must always look forward to what she wears. But I think this color maybe is an error for her. What say you?; When I first saw this gown on Michelle Williams whilst live blogging I made a dumb joke about her wearing a shower curtain and then I laughed heartily at Wesley Morris's tweet

Michelle Williams is playing Carey Mulligan in 'The Mia Farrow Story'

But the more I look at it the more I am weirdly in love with it. I also hated Natalie Portman's ensemble at first but aside from the nightmarishly large and way too red applique to end all appliques the color of the gown is beautiful and both hair are makeup is perfect. Maybe it's nitpicky to hate the rose but the rose is really trying to be the whole look; Emma Stone's dress has an insanely beautiful line and it makes her look so serene in her new blazing stardom. But the color with her skintone and her new hair? Not sure.

What's your verdict?

Okay on to Unbest Dressed

don't understand any of these choices.

I complained about Sandra B's bangs, Halle's Demi-Moore inspired skirt and Megan Fox's slit up to her crotch during the live blog . Regarding the latter, this picture is too flattering -- it went way up there. Not classy. It's not like the guys walk around with their shirts open down below their belly button). The color is also all wrong;. Julia Stiles looks like a saloon girl in mourning; Jacki Weaver who I love love love (don't forget) seems to just be heading out to some special work dinner rather than a glamorous event. Although to be fair I guess this is a special work dinner for celebrities. Maybe if the dress had been longer?

Now there were far worse looks than this but I was trying to restrict myself to movie celebrities.

BEST DRESSED
Here are my choices. I think the key word is "effortless".

Hathaway, Kidman, Jolie, Steinfeld, Fonda

If you've seen Love & Other Drugs or, have eyeballs, you know that Anne Hathaway has a killer body. This year, especially, she seems to be loving it. I thought this dress was made of shiny buttons at first and then I heard CDs but even if it's only garden variety sequins supersized, I just love it; Nicole Kidman IS the glamour. The dress is but accessory; Between Angelina Jolie and legendary Jane Fonda I guess shoulder pads are back. Both of them look like the divas they are but I especially love that Fonda's is a bit sci-fi. Barbarella, bitches. Or as Claire Danes might say "HOLLA" ; And finally, consider me mortified that Hailee Steinfeld is already an old pro at dressing for the red carpet. She has not yet put a foot wrong, nor has she repeated herself. And she's a novice! What the hell is going on?

poll by twiigs.com

Agree or Disagree, tell in the comments. Who was your single best and worst dressed?

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