5 Days Until Oscar Noms!

nom nom nom

Whenever someone uses the abbreviation "Oscar noms" it sounds like they're referring to snacks at a party.

— Scott Renshaw (@scottrenshaw) January 5, 2013

Scott Renshaw is right!

I have received edible swag in the mail before, generally in the form of chocolate or popcorn (though not, regret to inform, chocolate-flavored popcorn) but this is the first time cold cereal has arrived. And it's even the first time for movie-appropriate edible swag since Silver Linings Playbook has some choice Raisin Bran product placement in a key "not a date!" scene.

Each time when a tiny piece of FYC mail arrives in a matryoshka-style series of boxes within ginormous boxes, I weep for the trees that have been cut down to provide me with it. The Waste. The Waste. 

So I did not waste the raisin bran. I owed it to the dead trees and to the landfills where all the unused detritus of swag the world over will eventually reside. I ate it.

nom-nom-nom

This should no way be construed as an endorsement of Silver Linings Playbook, but it tasted good. 

Mine is the Way of the Link ♫

Buzzfeed Young Christopher Walken looks just like Scarlett Johansson
Where the Day Takes You 140 still-living actresses who were born before 1930! 
Coming Soon the Carrie remake pushed back several months to October release... same weekend as Malavita so I get JMoore and MPfeiffer on the same weekend. ayyiiieeeeee
Backstage a plea to the Academy to dump Nicole Kidman and choose Ann Dowd. Ugh, people... you can have both. Just don't nominate Amy Adamzzz or Maggie Smith (she's better on Downton Abbey anyway!). But FWIW Kidman is genius so this article is suspect ;) 

Pajiba lists 10 FYC Ads least likely to be "considered" by Oscar. Sad really because I guarantee youse that the one for On the Road praises two performances that will inevitably be better than something that will be nominated instead of them. 
MNPP watch JA squirm his way through Les Miz. He just can't deal with the all the singing. The constant singing!!!

Speaking of Lez Misérables, Buzzfeed has a funny character guide that is so so so true. I love the recurring Cosette gag. Here's Javert...

TV
Playbill YAY. Sutton Foster will be back on your TV on Monday with the return of "Bunheads". Watch it with me!
Slate Even bigger YAY. Downton Abbey is back on Sunday. With Shirley Maclaine joining the cast
Gawker shares the best thing on TV this week (apparently)... Jessica Lange doing "the Name Game" for American Horror Story. A twitter follower asked me if I'd watched it but I had to admit I hadn't. I can't deal with Ryan Murphy television: so erratic in plot/characterization/quality... even within single scenes! 

Finally...
Have you seen the Jennifer Lawrence issue of Vanity Fair? I kind of love Jennifer Lawrence as a celebrity even if I don't love her performance in Silver Linings Playbook (though that's almost the definition of "celebrity" in terms of performance, it's so look at me sparkly and charismatic) but I'm starting to remember how very young she is with some of her quotes. Like this one:

 Not to sound rude, but [acting] is stupid,” Lawrence says. “Everybody’s like, ‘How can you remain with a level head?’ And I’m like, ‘Why would I ever get cocky? I’m not saving anybody’s life. There are doctors who save lives and firemen who run into burning buildings. I’m making movies. It’s stupid.’

Ugh, I hate it when actors are "above" acting. Blargh. Acting is an art. And art is important. Be proud of your craft. Actors are magicians of embodiment, sculpters of emotion, and channellers of human truth. Or they can be when they're doing it right.

One Day More (of Oscar Voting)

Everyone join them in a rousing chorus of "One Day More ♫"I think this must be a first. In the response to technical difficulties and voting problems with their new online balloting system, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has extended Oscar nomination balloting by a single day. Ballots are now due by Friday January 4th, by paper or online, instead of January 3rd. (The nominees will still be announced on January 10th). I'm not sure how much 24 hours will help but given all the long-ass movies on offer, but it can't actually hurt. (I've taken their cue and also given myself a couple more days on my top 20ish list so that starts on Thursday.) 

So herewith my plea to voters:

Have a Great 2013 Academy Members!
It's Nathaniel at the Film Experience. One of the ways you can make the new year happy is by really thinking over your ballot. So many film fans obsess over your choices.

And though you'll never please everyone, those Supporting lineups are going to be so much more exciting (think of the Oscar night clips!) if you include Matthew McConaughey in Magic Mike and Nicole Kidman in The Paperboy. No matter what you think of either film, great risky artistic stretching from big stars shouldn't be tossed aside just because the film containing it isn't being widely "considered" in any other way if you know what I mean. I mean why give all the nominations to the frontrunning heavyweights like Lincoln, Les Miz, and Argo when there's so much good work out there in so many films! Put in those Beasts of the Southern Wild and Moonrise Kingdom screeners (to name just two examples) -- aren't you curious? -- and see how visually and sonically rich movies can be without mega-budgets.

Finally, here's to the underdogs -- have you seen Perks of Being a Wallflower or Anna Karenina or Middle of Nowhere or Amour or Compliance yet? You've got a whole extra day. Stay in and watch some movies!

FYC Film Bitch Awards

It's that time of year. I've starting to draw up my lists of the Best This and Best That in every category... so many categories! The Nomination Party begins on December 28th and runs through January 23rd. As per usual, I'd love to hear your input on categories that are harder to winnow down and easier to mess up on by forgetting something totally brilliant. Last year I had some issues completing things but I am happy to report that I'm not quite as terribly behind schedule this year. So hit your FYCs in the comments for the following categories:

Best Line Delivery | Action Sequence | Sex Scene |  Musical Moment | Best Kiss |  Credit Sequence | Opening Scene | Best Actor or Actress in a Limited or Cameo Role | Best Scene in General

Best Actress Film Bitch Long List: Knightley, Hunt, Wallis, Chastain, Riva, Cotillard, Weisz, Corinealdi, Fanning, Dowd, Seydoux, Lynskey, Winstead, Streep. or Williams?

You do that whilst I continue to debate the acting categories with myself... It's so crazy hard to narrow down Best Actress every year! Can I have 15 nominees just so all of these bright actresses get their due?

FYC BFCA

'Critics Choice' Ballots are due today at 3 PM EST and I challenge my BFCA brethren and sisters to squeeze in one more screener / screening before sending off their ballots. I'll unfortunately have to send mine off without having screened Django Unchained (which I'm seeing as ballots are due) but I did not choose to have the flu this last weekend of voting when it finally started screening.

FYC #1 - Nicole Kidman in The Paperboy. Nicole Kidman is 5'11" and wears massive heels but even seated, squatting or horizontal this performance towers over most of the Supporting Actress Field. 
FYC#2 - Michael Fassbender in Prometheus. He's not being talked up in the Best Supporting Actor race because Oscar taste in acting doesn't ever stretch to androids but you can vote for him in the Best Actor in an Action Movie acting race. FWIW he's on both of those ballots for me because I won't be constrained by Oscar buzz; I'm voting "best" not "most likely to be nominated". 
FYC #3 - Remember that the Young Actor (Under 21) prize has more viable contenders than just Hushpuppy from Beasts of the Southern Wild. Also age-relevant and therefor eligible: Logan Lerman & Ezra Miller from The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Tom Holland from The Impossible, Elle & Alice from Ginger & Rosa and the kids from Moonrise Kingdom. This has the potential to be an amazing category if voters don't get lazy. 
FYC #4 -Weep that they don't televise half the categories because that makes them essentially useless as critical causes go (unless you count fine print on fyc ads) but vote strong anyway: Holy Motors, Les Misérables and Lincoln for Best Makeup!