How Would *You* React to an Oscar Nomination?

Today is the Great Day of Press Releases, of Oscar nominees or their people issuing brief outbursts of joy and pride from their good fortune. Rarely are the quotes anything but generic 'it's such an honor!' cries followed by a deferrment of praise to other people involved. If you'd like to see a ton of them, In Contention has a plentiful roundup.

But here are six that stood out for me from all the emails that I'd like to say one or two sentences about.

I woke up to a text and thought, 'Am I still dreaming?' What an absolute honor to be nominated. Thank you to the Academy on behalf of the entire cast, crew, our swashbuckling cat and his boots! This is beyond a thrill...and I'm pretty sure I'm awake."
-Chris Miller (Animated Feature) Puss in Boots 

Funny is always good. And we're always suckers for that old standby classic intro 'I just woke up' . P.S. I'm pretty happy at the way the animated category worked out, aren't you?

It's an honor to be nominated a second time, it is a personal accomplishment and triumph for women and women of color. I'm so glad the film has been recognized, it was a labor of love from the moment it was conceived and it is rewarding to see the impact it is having."
-Viola Davis (Best Actress) The Help

This one is fairly standard until you realize how rare this truly is and why shouldn't Viola point it out!

Only one other woman of color has been twice nominated and that would be Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg (The Color Purple and Ghost). Women of color seem to only get one shot at the Oscar. The same is fortunately not true for the men, who have had better luck with career longevity and multiple visits with Oscar.

Four more after the jump...

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Clara and soldiers in "WINGS", the first Best Picture winnerThe Film Doctor offers 7 notes on J Edgar (mostly in relation to two time jumping powerful men classics it attemptes to emulate: The Social Network and Citizen Kane... both recently discussed right here.) I particularly like thought #7.
⇚ Rope of Silicon the first Best Picture winner Wings is finally coming to DVD/Blu-Ray. Yay. Loves that movie, I do.
Coming Soon Tim Burton may be doing an adaptation of the children's book Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children after The Addams Family.

Little White Lies interviews Paul Feig on the success of Bridesmaids.
Hollywood Reporter on 7 films that could be looking at SAG Ensemble nominations: Bridesmaids, Midnight in Paris, and The Artist are the more comedic possibilities but will SAG take comedy seriously this year?
Super Punch Calling all artists who read The Film Experience. Super Punch is hosting a James Bond art contest if you're 007 inclined. 
Animation Yes, it's true. They're going to make an action movie set in the world of Legos.  

Go Fug Yourself Lisa Rinna at The Muppets premiere. LOL.
Grantland Mark Harris on the multiple Davids and three Goliaths (Leo, Brad, George) of the Best Actor race.
In Contention the Vanessa Redgrave AMPAS tribute
Pajiba on classics of Lady Porn and the men of The Immortals.

Not since the costuming department of “Mad Men” got ahold of Christina Hendricks has a pair of mammaries been so lovingly showcased. In fact, the accentuating bronzer is liberally applied not only on Henry Cavill’s heroic bosom, but also Luke Evans’ grimly clenched ab muscles and Stephen Dorff’s morally questionable obliques.

"Morally questionable obliques." Hee!

Speaking of morally questionable... I lurve this Puss in Boots piece at Ultra Culture on Puss's "synthetic heterosexuality". It's pretty great.

The trailer for season 4 of RuPaul's Drag Race

Tags: Gay Video & Lesbian Movies, Logo: Fierce TV

If only their budget on the show was as high as their advertising budget ;) "Go forth and be sickening!" LOL. Quick head count: how many of you watch this show? Am I speaking to deaf ears whenever I mention it?

10 Word Reviews: Hanna, Like Crazy, Puss in Boots, Coriolanus

Though I'm happy to have finally banged out a few thoughts on J Edgar, I'm never going catch up without engaging in some quickies. So herewith some miniature takes on things I've recently seen that I haven't written up. (And at the end of the post, a bit more on J. Edgar because you were asking... )

CORIOLANUS
For Fiennes directorial debut he adapts one of Shakespeare's lesser tragedies
10WR: Swings with brutish fists, occasionally landing blows. Impactful locale choices. B 
Oscar? Supporting Actress. It will be all about beastly mama Redgrave chewing determinedly on her own anger. (Fiennes does the spitting for their amusingly Oedipal bond).

LIKE CRAZY
Crazy College Kids Cuddling Cross-Atlantic 
10WR: Intermittently endearing / annoying, sensitively made. Starter kit for promising careers. B-
Oscar? Unlikely despite early buzz to the contrary. Best Actress is too crowded and romantic dramas don't win kudos for their male leads. On that note, I feel it's worth trumpeting that Anton Yelchin is every bit as strong as Felicity Jones in detailing the first crushing moments of love and the romantic confusion that often follows. Bonus points for giving us the most authentic "drunk but horny, trying to stay awake" face the movies have ever seen.

NO STRINGS ATTACHED
Crazy Post-Collegiate Kids' "NO CUDDLING!" Coitus
10 WR: 100% predictable but funny. Authentically acted despite proud sitcom leanings. C+
Oscar? LOL. But no embarrassment for Portman as post-Oscar performances go -- which it could have been. She's far better here than in The Other Woman. No really.

PUSS IN BOOTS
Puss invades another fairy tale (Jack and the Beanstalk) for treasure and personal redemption.
10WR: Indulgent backstories / setpieces bore. Charms with character and recurring gags.  B 
Oscar? Seems likely for animated feature but then they did ignore the last two Shrek movies. 

HANNA
in which a teen killing machine is on the run from...  because of... with only .....
10 WR: Carnage-filled collision of fairytales/Catholocism. Ridiculous. Unique. Very watchable B
Oscar? Stylized teen driven genre pieces are not their thing so "No". But how about that Chemical Bros score, eh? Cinematography was compelling, too.

J EDGAR & OSCAR?
Already reviewed and interviewed but y'all kept asking about Oscar. I only have it predicted for two nominations right now, Best Makeup and Best Actor. The makeup is getting mostly bad reviews but bad reviews have rarely stopped them from honoring "Most Makeup" in the past. As for the Best Actor nomination for Leonardo DiCaprio, I agree with Mark who says in the review comments.

I don't want to live in a world where Leo is given out of some sense of obligation but Fassbender is snubbed for his miraculous turn in Shame.

... but we do live in that kind of world, even if this year happens to pan out differently.

Otherwise, I don't see a way the film can find much Oscar traction. The costumes and art direction aren't particularly showy (and it's a crowded year). The cinematography seems to be one of the more divisive elements and historically the cinematography branch isn't as enamored with Eastwood's filmography as other branches tend to be. Even when his films are Best Picture nominated they don't often show up. Unforgiven (Jack N. Green) is the only one of his four Best Picture nominees to receive a cinematography nomination and Changeling (Tom Stern) is the only other one of his pictures so honored.

What's next review wise?
More substantial takes coming on Melancholia and the Scandinavian Oscar submissions...

Box Office: Antonio Ascends Again

Puss in Boots is officially a big deal. The seductive cat dropped only 3% in his second weekend which is as miraculous as having nine lives, since 40% drops are far more common. That indicates amazing word of mouth (though Shrek-like totals might be hard to come by since it grossed do much less than those films on opening weekend). Even if Shrek totals are out of reach the orange tabby has successfully managed a spin-off franchise and could be heading for an Oscar nomination.

Antonio Banderas and Friends

Box Office (U.S.) Top Ten -Estimates
01 PUSS IN BOOTS  $33 (cum. $75.5)
02 TOWER HEIST new $25.1
03 A VERY HAROLD & KUMAR 3D CHRISTMAS new $13.1 
04 PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 $8.5  (cum. $95.3)
05 IN TIME $7.4  (cum. $24.2)
06 FOOTLOOSE $4.5  (cum. $44.8)
07 REAL STEEL $3.4  (cum. $78.8)
08 THE RUM DIARY $3 (cum. $10.4)
09 IDES OF MARCH [capsule] $2 (cum. $36.8)
10 MONEYBALL [review] $1.9 (cum $70.3)

Talking Points
• In limited release, according to IndieWire, Like Crazy is tracking slightly ahead of Martha Marcy May Marlene at a similar juncture in its limited release but both films have essentially made good on their Sundance promise with solid starts in movie theaters. Martha, which just crossed the million mark, gets a major expansion next weekend, opening in 45 additional markets. "Do not miss it," commandeth Nathaniel!

• The Skin I Live In also just crossed the magic million mark making this a very good weekend for Puss himself Antonio Banderas, whether in Boots with sword or in lab coat with scalpels. Banderas has always had a way with sharp instruments (See also: Zorro).

WHAT DID YOU SEE THIS WEEKEND?

Posterized: Marilyn Snapped, Cronenberg Triangulated, Puss Entranced

New(ish) Posters! Let's discuss (aka judge harshly).

It's actually nicely stylized. But note that the big sell is not Michelle Williams but Marilyn Monroe herself, whose font size towers over her pretenders. I wonder what this movie will mean to Michelle Williams career though? If it flops does Hollywood assume she can't carry a film, even though it's less a Michelle movie than another Marilyn nostalgia exercize? 

I swear to god that tagline for Footloose irritates me like little else. It can't be your time, when you're robbing the previous generation of one of their quintessential identifiers. Saying that Footloose represents "our time" (i.e. today's teenagers) is like seventies teenagers pretending that the 1950s (Grease) were their ti... oh wait... uh...

Meanwhile you can't tell it here but the Puss in Boots motion poster is brilliant. You simply must click over if you love cats like I love cats. 

Finally here are two European posters for David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method, which each put the three star faces all in each other's headspace -- one of them literally -- as their guiding design principle. You can see what they're going for but don't the faces need to be more level and more obscured by one another to achieve that psychological note. It's a little pedestrian, right? May the movie be anything but.