Actress Battles: Jessica vs. Jennifer, Quvenzhané vs. History

In a rather beautiful turn of events, both Les Misérables and Zero Dark Thirty arrived to implications of raves (ah, pointless Les Miz embargo) and actual ones (ZDT had no embargo) and though neither are opening until Santa's elves are deep into overtime, they've made the forthcoming Oscar race much more exciting. What we have are real competitions in multiple categories. At least for now; precursor prizes have a way of flattening out the drama if they arrive at consensus too quickly. We've already discussed Les Miz's first screening and the Hugh vs. Daniel Best Actor race.

But while you're waiting for my Zero Dark Thirty review, let's discuss the confusing Best Actress race.

This particular shot is the second half of one of my favorite cuts of the year... from the screen she's watching to this face.

BEST ACTRESS
What's the confusion, you may be asking. Yes, Jennifer Lawrence is still the frontrunner for Silver Linings Playbook and yes Jessica Chastain will be nominated for anchoring Zero Dark Thirty with single-minded determination. More...

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Roundtables Galore. Tarantino to Retire?

The annual Actress Roundtable (pt 1 & pt 2) is the only member of THR's delightful tradition of one hour conversations that I can carve out time to cover in full but since the Directors video has arrived, you should watch it!

Quentin Tarantino's threat of retiring is very annoying. He hasn't been prolific enough to earn retirement. If he is ever going to retire I pray he does it in the Steven Soderbergh all bark and no bite kind of way. I'm not counting but I think Soderbergh has already made as many movies as Tarantino has ever made SINCE he announced his retirement.

I also love Tarantino's comments about editing his writing. I don't mean to single Tarantino out in the conversation but he is a chatty one.

Are all of these men draws for you when they're the name behind the movie? Who do you wish had been included and who would you boot out to make room for them? For me I'm wishing Kathryn Bigelow and

After the jump, in case you missed them, the Actors and Writers Roundtable

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"Silver Linings" & "Moonrise" Lead Spirit Nominations

Continuing with the trend of star-laden "indies" of reasonable means dominating the once far more independent Spirit Awards, expectant future Best Picture nominee Silver Linings Playbook and Wes Anderson's adorable Oscar longshot Moonrise Kingdom led the pack of nominees with five citations each. In the shoe-stringier side of the equation films like Beasts of the Southern Wild, Middle of Nowhere, and Keep the Lights On also made strong showings. Since three mainstream / big studio efforts are expected to dominate the Oscars (that's Les Miz, Argo, & Lincoln if you've been sleeping for a month) this year, no film need worry about the Spirit curse ...wherein you score big here the day before the Oscars only to collapse at the big Hollywood event that you had hopes of also ruling.

Can "Beasts" win the Spirit Award?

Full list of nominees and commentary on each category after the jump

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Liz & Link

Film.com Our friend Joe Reid debuts his Oscar column and explains why Oscars are good for us
Winnipeg Free Press interviews Kim Morgan on her Marilyn Monroe essay for Playboy
Huffington Post will Les Misérables virgins enjoy the film? Mike Ryan did.
Actors & Crew the best iPhone apps for filmmaking 
Natasha VC Feel all your feelings about James Spader (now appearing in Lincoln)
NY Times extensive audio & text piece on the sound design of Killing Me Softly. I love educational web goodies

The Atlantic worries that the conversion to digital will cost us deeply when it comes to the classics. Some of them may never look or sound the way they were intended to again. (With commentary from the brilliant editor Thelma Schoonmaker)
In Contention Can Beasts of the Southern Wild return to the Oscar fray? 
In Contention The "Oscar Bait" got good
Coming Soon photos from the set of R.I.P.D. with Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds. They don't look much like zombie police officers to me?
Movieline Did you know that Steven Spielberg was once turned down when he asked to direct James Bond!?
The Carpet Bagger is back and looking at how the new Oscar schedule may change release dates and campaign strategies 

Linds & Tricks
Gawker the wordless acting of Lindsay Lohan in Liz & Dick
TFE Mean Girls predicted the future! 
PopWatch the best lines from Liz & Dick 
Huffington Post 100 Twitter Reactions... their layout is really messy/annoying but if you scroll down the post title can be found in a slide show that looks like an ad... but it's actually the content of the post after a long intro. 

And no... I haven't yet watched Liz & Dick. I know. I didn't have the energy, wasn't in the right mood to see Liz defiled (easily among the top five best celebrities who ever lived -- in multiple senses of "best") and maybe you had to be there at the online viewing internet party anyway!

Gotham Awards Winners

You inspire him"
-Amy Adams to Joaquin Phoenix in The Master

Did The Gotham Awards inspire more faith in the possibly fadingg Oscar prospects of The Master? They did not. The following films competed for Best Picture in NYC's sort-of answer to The Spirit Awards: 

• Bernie
• The Loneliest Planet
• The Master
• Moonrise Kingdom
• Middle of Nowhere

(Yes, The Beasts of The Southern Wild was already famously snubbed here when the nominations were announced last month though it had other nominations and the team was in town for the ceremony and to beat their Oscar drum.) 

THE WINNERS

Jared, Benh, and Ematatzy

Audience Award ARTIFACT. Jared Leto accepted the documentary about his band and a lawsuit.

Don't hate me because I beat that other film."

Breakthrough Director BENH ZEITLIN for Beasts of the Southern Wild

It's no time to sit around crying like a bunch of pussies. Make more movies."

Breakthrough Actor EMAYATZY CORINEALDI in Middle of Nowhere

(Beasts of the Southern Wild seemed to be having as rough a night as Gotham's Live Feed which sorely disappointed. But things turned around for it. The movie, not the live feed.)

Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You
(Incidentally my favorite idea for an award category ever)
AN OVERSIMPLIFICATION OF HER BEAUTY by Terence Nance 

Bingham Ray Prize
BENH ZEITLIN for Beasts of the Southern Wild 

Best Ensemble
YOUR SISTERS SISTER

Best Documentary
HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE 

Best Film
MOONRISE KINGDOM 

Michael made a For Your Consideration plea for Moonrise Kingdom in Best Picture a short time ago right here at The Film Experience. I've not been confident on its Oscar prospects mostly because the film skews so young in its narrative (Oscar isn't that enamored of childhood tales outside of the Foreign Film category) and because excessively stylized pictures tend to be a tough sell for many voters. But the Gotham win is heartening.

Are you happy with the outcomes this year? Do they inspire you?