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We always need a bit of time to recuperate. We'll be wrapping this year's Oscars up tonight through Wednesday. But for now... chilling. It's the morning after.
We've all seen this stone cold classic photo of Faye Dunaway the morning after her Oscar win for Network but Framework was kind enough to share more photos (and other Oscar types) in a slideshow gallery and I did a little more searching too.
More "Morning After" after you click including Best Scene Steal and 2 Greedy Gretchens.
Salon on the reinvention of Brad Pitt. Good history piece / career overview Vulture Best Pictures as infographics Pajiba "interviews" Amanda Seyfried about her latest hacktress movie Gone. NPR Monkey See smart provocative piece on the politics of Warrior (2011) New York 100 pictures of Meryl Streep through the years. She ages backwards in this gallery IMDb a gallery of your acting nominees in and out of character
My New Plaid Pants has my favorite "which is hotter?" of all time featuring (American Psycho) Low Resolution's top ten films of 2011. Not your average top 10 list. Some Came Running objects to the frequent comparisons of Singin' in the Rain and The Artist Sunset Gun, now married to Guy Maddin -- is this the first time a film critic has married a director? trivia experts? -- explains his latest project, seances if you will to remake lost silent films. Booby Finger How To Watch The Oscars a very snarky guide if you're into that sorta thing
Film Festivals Are Infinite With Skyfall just around the corner I find myself thinking of 007 James Bond quite often and then Pierce Brosnan popped up in my inbox. Have you ever heard of Cinemagic? It's a film festival / workshop type thing for young people interested in filmmaking. (I'm reasonably confident that someone starts a new film festival every day of each year in the 21st century; they are infinite). It's Irish born but it's been expanding and Pierce Brosnan is a celebrity supporter.
Should I revisit all the Bond films this year. I'm torn on how to honor the 50th anniversary.
Our Apologies To 50% of the World's Population Between the still pervasive global problems of sexist, patriarchal and theocratic governments and cultures and religions that love to treat women like shit, and the latest hypocrisies of the ever sick-making US Republican party ("we believe in small government except when it comes to war-making and your personal morality so hold still while we insert this probe into your vagina without your consent!") women just can't catch a break lately. So why not share this video from IndieWire's Women in Hollywood blog about the female directed movies Oscar didn't love.
It's interesting how many quality female-helmed films there were this past year and I absolutely support the notion that we need more female directors. But I also think it's worth being realistic and saying that none of these films would have won Oscar attention even if their directors had penises. Not that kind of movie(s).
Sally Kirkland when Cher wins. Love ya, SallyWhat you still need more Oscarable links? Jesus! 24 Frames interesting bit about Alfre Woodard's activism within AMPAS Vulture Best Pictures as infographics In Contention Guy defends The Artist ... and has money on it. Gawker on Netflix user reviews of Best Pictures Slate Acceptance Speeches! Yes, I linked / wrote it but wheeee interactive
Finally...fourfour has a "how they lost" an animated gif wall of Oscar name-reading and the instant smiling that follows. I don't know what caused it but I kind of think nominees are better at hiding their feelings in today's Oscar world which makes it less fun.
Naturally I love this gif wall though my favorite isn't listed. So here it is again for you because it's my preferred method of self-flagellation.
I love you Kathleen!
I'm aware that this post is extremely scattered but it's the day before the Oscars. I'm all over the place with anxiety!
If you've been wondering what sent me into such a flashback mode these past two weeks prior to Oscar night, the answer can now be revealed.
I've been in my gold plated Oscar Laboratory crunching a ton of data for this Acceptance Speech Analysis at Slate. It's my first piece for Slate and it's even got fancy interactive infographics courtesy of Natalie Matthews-Ramos. Fun that they found a Natalie to accompany me, yes?
It’s my firm belief that what comes out in the moment—or doesn’t—is a true reflection of feeling, whether the speech feels rehearsed and polished or immediate and spazzy. And in Hollywood—and what’s more Hollywood than the Oscars?—billing matters.
I'm so proud of it I think somebody should give me a trophy so that I can cry, shake, tremble and forget who I should be thanking on Oscar weekend. Well, all of you reading daily, for sure.
Go read it and share with everyone you'd thank on the big night.
Remember when... Okay, scratch the "remember when?" question this time. Unless there are some really really ancient AMPAS members reading. The Oscars weren't televised yet so nobody could remember this one unless they were there.
What was Judy Garland so happy about at the 1939 Oscars? (circa February 1940)
I mean besides sitting with 'The First Lady of MGM' Norma Shearer which would obviously make anyone euphoric.
Judy G was having a good night because The Wizard of Oz was up for six Oscars including Best Picture. It won two music prizes (Best Score and Best Original Song to the very nearly cut "Over the Rainbow"). Judy also won a special juvenile Oscar, presented to her by her frequent co-star Mickey Rooney who had won the year before.
One wonders why they don't still award those. They weren't annual so it took a special performances for the Academy to go there. They only did so 11 times in their first 33 years ending with Hayley Mills for Polyanna (1960)
I can think of several people through the years who would have been relieved if they passed those out instead of letting the kids compete with the grownups. Every time a child is nominated an adult gets bumped out of the shortlist. I mean would Winona Ryder be an Oscar winner today if Anna Paquin had been given a miniature Oscar instead? Would Madeline Kahn have been an Oscar winner for Paper Moon (1973) if Tatum O'Neal hadn't committed category fraud and won doing so for the same film?
Do you think child acting should be judged separately?
If they were still handing them out do you think Thomas Horn would've been the recipient this year since they obviously liked Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close more than critics did?
Perhaps I should have a child acting category at the Film Bitch Awards. I never know who to nominate at the BFCA "Critics Choice" award in their "young actor" category because I always forget to think about child performances.
The global love of superpowered young men hasn't even begun to decline as the star-less Chronicle, about three teenagers who develop uncanny powers opened at #1 for Superbowl weekend. It almost doubled its production budget on opening weekend. Harry Potter himself Daniel Radcliffe had to settle for second place with The Woman in Black but that's probably because he's no longer the most powerful wizard on earth.
Chronicle is unkind to cars.
BAKERS DOZEN (Estimates) 01 CHRONICLE $22 new 02 THE WOMAN IN BLACK $21 new 03 THE GREY $9.5 (cum. $34.7) 04 BIG MIRACLE $8.5 new 05 UNDERWORLD AWAKENING $5.6 (cum. $54.3) 06 ONE FOR THE MONEY $5.2 (cum. $19.6) 07 RED TAILS $5 ($41.3) 08 THE DESCENDANTS $4.6 (cum. $65.5) 09 MAN ON A LEDGE $4.5 (cum. $14.7) 10 EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE $3.9 (cum. $26.7) 11 CONTRABAND $3.4 (cum. $26.7) (cum. $62.1) 12 THE ARTIST $2.5 (cum. $20.5) 13 BEAUTY & THE BEAST 3D $2.4 rerelease
Someone's wearing lifts... Janet McTeer is 6'1". Daniel Radcliffe is 5'5"
• The Descendants may soon surpass Sideways to become Alexander Payne's biggest hit yet. It's just 6 million behind it now.
• A Separation has crossed the 1 million mark which is a big deal these days for a foreign film. Hopefully they'll keep expanding since they've just been adding a tiny number of screens each week.
• The Artist is slowing down a bit in wide release but it's already tap danced its way clear of being called "lowest grossing Best Picture winner ever" (should it win) since it's a bigger hit than The Hurt Locker.That said anything that wins this year beyond The Help is going to end up in the 10 lowest grossers list. The Atlantic did some tallying and adjusting for inflation a year ago and they claim that these are the lowest grossing Best Pictures ever. All of them are superpower free (unless you count Javier Bardem's "Chigurh" as a supernatural evil force which maybe you can):
Monday, February 27, 2012 at 10:11AM 
