Chart Updates: Actors and Foreign Films

The Oscar chart updates were temporarily stalled by my thwarted Toronto plans so just fixin' things up now. Enjoy the updates while I jaunt off to Fire Island for a 24 hour getaway. I've just seen The Impossible -- more on that soon -- so I'm accidentally living a rather perverse combo: tsunami picture then beach getaway.  

As always predictions are for entertainment purposes only. They should never be interpreted as endorsements though occassionally deserve has something to do with it.

BEST ACTOR
The big story here is a common one. There are enough buzzing performances to fill out an entire Golden Globe nominee pool, 10-wide, which means there are twice as many contenders as Oscar voters will be able to choose. Am I crazy to wonder if even Daniel Day-Lewis is safe for Lincoln? The trailer does not impress.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin makes huge gains as he's singled out in many Argo reactions. Ewan McGregor's wounded father in The Impossible also rises though I have to wonder if this isn't wishful thinking. He's one of the world's best and most endearing screen actors but he never quite wins Oscar hearts. Still, nomination-less or not, come what may... we will love him, until our dying day.

Finally, add Kiki's new man Garrett Hedlund to your For Your Consideration fields for On The Road. He's the focal point of the film's considerable libido which might work against him (this is one of the most sexually-charged performances since, say, Jude Law in The Talented Mr Ripley) but they're campaigning him as supporting which will definitely work for him given his enormous amount of screen time.

Garrett Hedlund is "On the Road" with cinematography by Eric Gautier

VISUALS & AURALS
Gains for TIFF buzzing Cloud Atlas, On the Road and The Impossible.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM SUBMISSIONS
You can add Romania's Beyond the Hills which is from Cristian Mungui, the director of the magnificent 4 Weeks 3 Months and 2 Days (better luck this time!) and Portugal's Blood of My Blood to the list of submitted contenders. May the best five films win nominations.

CHART INDEX

Which buzzing fall film are you desperate to get your eyeballs on? I chose the beach over The Master (perverse I know given the rarity of P.T. Anderson pictures) but I'll get to that one Sunday...

Ewan joins the cast of "August: Osage County"

Julia Roberts. Meryl Streep.

Margo Martindale. Abigail Breslin. Juliette Lewis. Cumberbatch. Chris Cooper. Dermot Mulroney. And Sam Shepard as Beverly Weston.

And now, Ewan McGregor.

_____

insert squeal here to stifle the natural hyperbolic reaction.

TIFF: Charmed by Ewan McGregor and "Frances Ha"

Toronto International Film Festival reports. Amir is already on the scene...

Amir here. The first couple of days at the festival have been so fantastic, surreal even, that I fear there’s no way to go from here but down. There’s been quite a lot of star gazing: Ryan Gosling, Snoop Dogg Lion, Selena Gomez, Abbie Cornish and the impossibly gorgeous Greta Gerwig. I also happened to run into the super lovely Ben Whishaw and most significant of all, had a one on one interview with William H. Macy for The Sessions. It was an amazing experience as Macy’s long been one of my favourite actors and to get to meet him in person was more than I could ask for. (The interview is forthcoming.)

The most unexpected of my encounters with the celebrities, however, happened at the screening of Noah Baumbach’s exquisite Frances Ha. Those of you following me on twitter have already seen my picture with the man in question but the story went as such: prior to the film, my friends and I were discussing which celebrities we most wanted to see and my pick was Ewan McGregor, who’s in town for the premiere of The Impossible; he's probably my favourite actor working today. Then, as we settle in our seats in the theatre, I look to a few rows ahead and lo and behold, McGregor – who is in no way involved with the film and is only there to see it – is sitting there, just chatting with a friend.

And then this happened...

me and McGregor!

Having worked behind the scenes at TIFF for so many years, I’ve seen a good share of celebrities but this was something truly special.

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Don't Make A Sad Face, Ewan

JA from MNPP here. Have y'all heard the lousy news that HBO has passed on The Corrections? An adaptation of Jonathan Franzen's well-loved 2001 bestseller, the HBO series was going to be produced by the terrifically talented Noah Baumbach and had lined up a truly amazing cast with Chris Cooper and Dianne Wiest as the parents and Ewan McGregor and Maggie Gyllenhaal and Greta Gerwig as their adult children. Ahh! That cast leaves me a little breathless.

They filmed a pilot, which all of us should immediately call our state representatives about enacting legislation which would force the immediate dissemination thereof. There's like a Freedom of Information Act or something right? Bring that up. We can do it!

Anyway HBO passed on it. The plan had been fairly massive - they wanted to make four ten-episode long seasons - so it always seemed a little too good to be true. With a cast like this, ya know? We daren't dream such things. It only leads to madness. I don't know if they can shop the series to other networks at this point - maybe Showtime?

HBO did pick up Cary Fukunaga's series True Detective with Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey though, so it's tempting to say there's an HBO executive out there making choices with his bong...

Beauty Break: Ewan in Blue

GQ is selling blue as the color of the moment. I tend to wear purples and greens -- not "The Joker" saturation levels, mind -- and browns but whatever Ewan McGregor sells I'm eager to buy so perhaps if I ever go shopping again, it'll be blue blue blue. 

Just looking at Ewan McGregor raises my melatonin levels. In 2005 I placed him on a ten favorites of the decade list as my least analytical choice. I just respond to him is all. I wrote...

He rises up jubilantly. I don't care if this sounds cheesy or sentimental but Ewan makes me feel and smile. 

Some actors we relate to as identity surrogates. We want to be them or see the story through their eyes. In the case of McGregor I find I'm always the other characters. I'm always with him. In the 90s when he first came to fame I was rooming with him in a conspiratorial way, painting words on his body, rocking out like a lustful fanboy at his concerts, or killing time and brain cells with him in illegal ways (just like his co-stars in Shallow Grave, Pillowbook, Velvet Goldmine, and Trainspotting) On this last: he's the only actor for whom I would dive into a toilet bowl.

I'm only sharing this to set up the quintessential film in my personal history with Ewan McGregor: Moulin Rouge! The apotheosis for me is probably the "Elephant Love Medley" scene. Like Nicole Kidman's 'Satine' I usually start out trying to resist him (my critical/cynical self usually in control). As he keeps battering away at my defenses with his unique spark, humor, and openheartedness (both as character and actor), I eventually start to cave. I resist, I complain, I explain all the reasons why not. But before long I am totally his.

It still applies. More New Blue Ewan after the jump.

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