Red Carpet Oscar Pt. 1: "Princess. Puppy. Purse."

For this Oscar Nominee edition of the red carpet convos I am pleased to welcome Courtney from Pajiba!

It's Courtney!

NATHANIEL: Welcome to the Film Experience, Courtney. Since you're a brand new to many readers (unless they're smart enough to read Pajiba!) it's confession time. I wore a Les Miz tee to the Oscars last night but before we dive into what the Best Supporting Actresses were wearing, tell us: what were you wearing last night?!

COURTNEY: Hello, sir! I was looking superb - a vision in flannel, baby vomit elegantly adorning my jeans.

NATHANIEL: Beautiful. Do you hate it when they ask the nominees if their child picked their dress for them? I heard it first with Reese Witherspoon last night but you hear it all the time. 

COURTNEY: I hate the question, and I hate the answers. If children ever actually picked out Oscar gowns, however, that is a ceremony I'd watch. Picture it. It would be some sparkly nonsense and I'd love it. 

Maybe Hugh Jackman would have shown up dressed as Batman. SEE? Automatically a better ceremony.

NATHANIEL: Definitely less matchy-matchy and "on trend" I'll give you that. Rainbow would be the new black. Okay....

SUPPORTING ACTRESS. Anne Hathaway's 'darts' were the talk of twitter last night but there's more than just pointy boobs to discuss.

poll by twiigs.com

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Anne's halter, Helen's wrinkles, and so-phis-ti-cat-ed Best Actresses after the jump... 

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"Oh putain!" It's Jean Dujardin

This just in from our friend Julien in Paris... Jean Dujardin, interviewed on Europe1 this week to promote his new movie Mobius, was asked about his acceptance speech at last year's Oscars and Emmanuelle Riva's nomination in Best Actress this year, the award he'll be presenting on Oscar night.

The actor famously proclaimed "Oh putain!" before launching into his acceptance speech which sort of translates to "Fuck!".  In fact, some people believe that it's the only word you need to know to speak French.  

Dujardin goes on to confess that he didn't vote (!?!) and congratulates Emmanuelle Riva on her BAFTA win. He promises the interviewer that if Emmanuelle Riva wins on Oscar night he'll shout "Oh, putain - It's Emmanuelle Riva!" when he opens the envelope.

Do you think he'll get the chance?

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Link City: Blogs To Click For

Coming Soon first look at Josh Brolin in Sin City: A Dame To Kill For
Low Resolution Joe Reid returns to his very neglected blog to make a movie trailer for his own awards
The Hollywood Reporter spends time with Emmanuelle Riva who might become the oldest acting Oscar winner in history
Slate discusses the morbid finale of Downton Abbey Season 3. Is it the cruelest show on television?

Pajiba five things you may not have known about Christoph Waltz. Fun - love the Haneke bit.
In Contention Christoph Waltz in Djesus Uncrossed on SNL
Empire Sam Mendes may return for Bond 24. That's crazy if you ask me. How the hell will he top Skyfall? Better to walk away with afterglow.
Cinema Blend Lincoln finally ends slavery.... in Mississippi. WTH?
MNPP Gael García Bernal two (sexy) times
Encore's World the whole collection of "Motifs" articles. This one is on Parents & Children in '12 cinema featuring Brave, Amour, Looper and Moonrise Kingdom
The Film Doctor's one sentence review of A Good Day To Die Hard. One very long (true) sentence. 

Greg P Russell working on SkyfallFinally... some last minute awardage. The Writers Guild (WGA) continued Argo's dominance at the guilds... which probably means no Oscar for Tony Kushner's Lincoln. I thank 2012 emphatically for being so hard to predict for so much longer than usual even though now it's snorezzzville again going into Oscar night. At least until earlier this month. Now it's snorezzzville with only Argo deemed worthy of hardware. Which is why I've fallen off the reporting wagon... well that and the lack of FYC ads this year ;) Argo and Silver Linings Playbook took the ACE awards for editing. I say near-sweep because Argo hasn't won everything. It lost the Art Directors Guild prize to Anna Karenina and Sound prizes have also eluded it. Life of Pi was a double winner for the Sound Editors (MPSE) with Wreck-It Ralph and Les Misérables picking up their other trophies... but the Cinema Audio Society felt somewhat differently handing Brave and Les Miz its trophies. All of which is very bad news for perennial sound mixing nominee Greg P. Russell who is up for Skyfall this year... will he really lose again on his 16th nomination! Sixteenth! Tomorrow one more guild announces: the Costume Designers Guild.

César Noms: "Amour" vs "Rust & Bone" vs "Holy Motors"

Editor's Note: You may have figured out over the years that The Film Experience is more than a little fond of France and French cinema. Sadly I've never been to France. This year I've asked my friend in Paris, Julien to keep us up to date so he sent in the following article about this year's nominations. You should follow Julien Kojfer on Twitter because he's great. Just pretend you understand French whenever he goes there! - Nathaniel R

Julien takes it from here.

Three Films that also made waves Stateside

Here’s one for all you francophiles out there. France’s very own AMPAS, the César Academy, revealed its own set of nominees this morning. Since I’m guessing a lot of you won’t be familiar with most of the anointed films and performers, I’ll guide you through the major categories - a usual mixed bag of auteurist fare, populist hits, and biopic dreck.  

BEST PICTURE

• Amour
• Rust and Bone
• Holy Motors
• Farewell, My Queen
• In the House
• Camille Rewinds
• Le Prénom (What’s in a name) 

BEST DIRECTOR

• Michael Haneke for Amour
• Jacques Audiard for Rust and Bone
• Leos Carax for Holy Motors
• Benoît Jacquot for Farewell, My Queen
• François Ozon for In the House
• Noémie Lvovsky for Camille Rewinds
• Stéphane Brizé for Quelques heures de printemps

The major categories were bumped up from 5 to 7 nominees since the last couple of years, which makes no sense to me whatsoever, but who cares. The über-frontrunner is obviously Amour, which will be difficult to deny considering that Palme d’or and those 5 Oscar nominations.

This is Michael Haneke's 2nd Best Director nomination at the César Awards. He was previously nominated for Caché (Hidden)Rust and Bone seems to be the main challenger, but since Jacques Audiard has already triumphed twice at the César for his two most recent efforts, voters will presumably see no objection in handing the César-less Haneke his due. Also keep in mind that César voters are notoriously generous to foreign auteurs: Roman Polanski has won the Best Director prize thrice (and for English-speaking films to boot: Tess, The Pianist and The Ghost Writer) and past best director winners also include Joseph Losey (American) for Monsieur Klein, Andrzej Wajda (Polish) for Danton, Ettore Scola (Italian) for Le Bal and Denys Arcand (Canadian) for The Barbarian Invasions. 

The other nominees make for a surprisingly strong lineup: Farewell, My Queen (on Nathaniel’s own Top Ten list) is superior costume fare from respected veteran Benoît Jacquot; the deliciously sly In the House is François Ozon’s best film since 8 Women; Noémie Lvovsky’s Camille Rewinds is so charming and heartfelt that it manages to make you forget how blatantly it rips-off 80s classic Peggy Sue Got Married; and of course Leos Carax’s astonishing Holy Motors is everyone’s favorite comeback story of 2012 (I’m sorry, Ben who?) 

MORE AFTER THE JUMP including Cotillard vs. Riva

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Emmanuelle Riva's Oscar Birthday And The 100 Oldest Living Oscar Nominees

Emmanuelle Riva at the NYFCC Awards earlier this weekGuess who has a birthday on Oscar night this year? Emmanuelle Riva! What fortuitous timing.

The legendary French actress of Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959) fame, was Oscar-nominated just a few days ago for her haunting downward spiral in Michael Haneke's Amour (2012) and on her 86th birthday she could become the oldest winner of any competitive acting Oscar. Christopher Plummer, who turned 83 last month, currently holds that record for his win last year for Beginners. Riva's abundantly well deserved nomination makes her, at this writing, the 64th oldest living Oscar nominee or winner, just a few days younger than American screen legend Sidney Poitier.

So, as we gear up for Oscar night, I thought it was time to look back with gratitude on our elders. Let's pay homage to the Oscar nominees and winners that are still with us. Investigate these talents with your DVD queues and perhaps they'll feel the vibes of new fans "discovering" their cinematic contributions. That would have to be a sweet (and deserved) sensation. 

I'm posting today, not just due to the discovery that next month's Emmanuelle Riva Birthday Celebration will involve all the biggest stars in the world, but because it's January 12th, on which we always say happy birthday to #1 on this list. I hope you enjoy!

100 OLDEST LIVING OSCAR NOMINEES/WINNERS