Foreign Watch: Two Oscar Favorites Join the Fray

We've been faithfully updating the Oscar charts daily to reflect the submissions in one of our favorite categories. We'd call it our favorite but then how would Cinematography, Production Design, both Actress categories, and Costume Design feel? The deadline for submission is just a few days away so in a week or two the Academy will make the list official. Generally speaking, there are one or two surprises from our charts once they do -- a sudden addition or replacement and maybe a single disqualification. But if this list holds we are just short of the all time record number. The are currently 82 submissions, which is one shy of the record from 2014 (the Ida year).

90 year old legend Andrezj Wajda with his film trophies

Among the newly announced films are After Image, a biopic of an avant garde artist, by Andrzej Wajda for Poland and The Idol, the true story of a man who competed on "Arab Idol," from Hany Abu-Assad of Palestine. Oscar loves these two directors so they're surely threats for the finalist list. Poland has submitted films by Honorary Oscar winner Andrzej Wajda a total of nine times in their history and four of those were nominated: The Promised Land in 1975, The Maids of Wilco in 1979, Man of Iron in 1981, and Katyn in 2007. Meanwhile both of Palestine's nominations in the Best Foreign Language Film category come from Hany Abu-Assad: Paradise Now in 2005 and Omar in 2013.  Can these men work their Oscar-hooking magic again?

Updates to the charts (part 1, part 2, part 3) also include new contenders from Argentina, Bangladesh, Jordan, Kazakhstan, South Africa, and Turkey.

Domhnall Gleeson as the Creator of "Winnie the Pooh"

The biopic genre never dies and one of its favorite subthreads is "famous author". Enter Domhnall Gleeson who will portray A.A. Milne in as yet untitled film about the man behind Winnie the Pooh and the Thousand Acre Woods, his wife (Margot Robbie) and their son Christopher Robin (Will Tilston) who would be immortalized in the Winnie the Pooh books. The film just began principal photographer in the UK.

Here's the first photo of the star in character.

More photos, a note from the press release, and comments after the jump...  

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Shia LaBeouf as John McEnroe

by Murtada

The bad boy of movies is playing the bad boy of tennis. Is this a case of too on the nose casting? What matters of course is if Shia LaBeouf can approximate John McEnroe’s look convincingly. Looks like it. The fro helps.

However it seems that LaBeouf is trying to reform that bad boy image. To promote Andrea Arnold’s American Honey, which comes out later this month, LeBeouf gave a long interview to Variety. In it he might have come up with the best rebuttal for Jared Leto’s recent shenanigans about being committed to the craft. LaBeouf said that he doesn’t think of himself as a method actor anymore:

“The word is getting embarrassing. You don’t hear about female method actors. The whole thing has turned into weird, false masculinity shit.”

Indeed. Could it be that Shia finally said exactly what everyone wants to hear? Good on you, Shia.

The movie, Borg vs.McEnroe, is a sorta Scandinavian affair. Also starring Swedish actors Sverrir Gudnason as Bjorn Borg and Stellan Skarsgard as his coach, the director is Danish Janus Metz Pedersen (HBO’s True Detective). Currently shooting in Prague, it will trace the battle for tennis supremacy in the 70s and 80s between McEnroe and Borg. No release date is set yet but expect it sometime next year.

What do you think of Shia's look and his recent comments?

On this day: Joan Allen, JCVD Movies, and Jacqueline Susann

On this day as it relates to showbiz history...

1858 Charles Darwin first publishes his theory of evolution. That one that caused Spencer Tracy so much trouble in Inherit the Wind.
1882 Tchaikovsky debuts his "Overture of 1812". It's still used in movies two centuries later in a truly diverse range of movies including The Iron Lady, Laurence Anyways, V For Vendetta and The Blind Side
1918 Novelist Jacqueline Susann is born. Her trashy best-sellers become hit movies and even turn Oscar heads: Valley of the Dolls (1967 best score nomination)  and Jacqueline Susann's Once is Not Enough (1975, best supporting actress nomination)
1931 Fright haired boxing promoter Don King is born. Sixty-six and a ½ years later Ving Rhames wins the Golden Globe playing him in a TV movie. Remember that sweet but odd moment when Ving Rhames invited Jack Lemmon on stage with him to share the award he had just lost for 12 Angry Men? King's been played by other actors too including Mykelti Williamson (Ali), Tim Meadows (SNL), and in forthcoming movies he'll be played by Reg E Cathey (Hands of Stone) and Keith David (The Last Punch)

I promise you there's incredible actressy stuff after the jump including a must-see clip...

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Meryl Streep's "Fight Song" and Female Biopics

Meryl Streep for President in 2024! We're with her. 

In case you missed Meryl Streep's "Grit & Grace" speech at the DNC last night, please enjoy the reappearance of her tacky but adorable American Flag dress and catch up. I thought I'd share it with a little movie angle since it's all about Trailblazing Women...

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