Sad News and My Ballot For Best Costumes

First, the very sad news. If you've been reading the past couple of days you probably saw the "visual category film bitch nominations". While adjusting coding today, to finalize the page, I accidentally somehow  erased the entire page. I've lost four categories worth of published nominees and writeups (animated film, visual effects, makeup, and editing) as well as preliminary stuff that wasn't published. I can't seem to find a cached url that will display it -- i'm not sure it would display now in anyone else's "history" or cached pages?  I am d-e-p-r-e-s-s-e-d. That was probably eight hours of work and there are no extra minutes this time of year. Let this be a lesson to everyone: never keep your files only in one place. I'm not even sure i'll remember what I nominated or wrote. It may take me much longer and post-oscar noms to do this now. I always complete the Film Bitch Awards in the traditional categories before the Oscar nominations but this looks like the year where tradition might finally die. Sniffle. Blotchy tears will short circuit my keyboard now.

But there's no sense in not posting what I'd already written about costumes. But IF you think your computer will display a cached version of the visual nominations page don't click on this new version ;) and try it and email me a pdf or something.

Just for the hell of it, for example's sake, I want to talk about two costumes pictured below (I chose them at random) in the absurd hope that a few of you out there will reveal a previously hidden obsessive love of costume design. I want to create a series devoted to it but I need to know you're out there first.

Amy Westcott and Mary Zophres done good.

What can costumes tell us about characters? Quite a lot. Amy Westcott (Black Swan) and Mary Zophres (True Grit) will probably be Oscar nominated tomorrow, each for the first time, and I've also nominated them. Westcott is undoubtedly benefiting from Rodarte's "Swan Lake" ballet costumes (Rodarte can't be nominated with her due to contractual issues) but her own work is very fine, too. Maybe Westcott wouldn't be nominated without the Rodarte bells and whistles but that says more about the Academy's resistance to contemporary character costuming than about the quality of her work.

The color coding of all of these similarly dark and vaguely possessed women is delicious, just subtle muted variations (blacks, greys, white, pinks, etcetera) since they're distorted reflections of each other. Isn't it perfect with a capital P that Winona Ryder's evening wear on the night she's thrown in the trash heap --  excuse me, retiring --  is basically a big silver "X" . She's a goner.

Over in True Grit Mattie's clothes don't quite fit her (amusing smart choice) and Rooster's look like they desperately need to be laundered but isn't it perfect that LaBoeuf's outfits look so new and fastidious and that they're fringed. His pride takes a beating in the film but he's wearing it, you know? He cares about how he looks.

MY NOMINEES IN COSTUME
alas none of the other visual categories that have vanished like tears in the rain

Would you like to see a recurring series on costume design in 2011?

Frank Rich on True Grit & The Social Network

Illustration by Barry BlittThe invaluable Frank Rich has a great op-ed on the success of True Grit in the age of The Social Network. It's beautifully written and interesting in the context of both awards season heat and our current political and economic climate. If I have one gripe with it it seems to downplay the fact that TSN is quite successful financially. Just not as successful.

I won't spoil the expert finale of the piece which shifts to The Social Network but here's a part I liked about True Grit which he correctly identifies as both elegaic and escapist for left and right wing Americans.

More than the first “True Grit,” the new one emphasizes Mattie’s precocious, almost obsessive preoccupation with the law. She is forever citing law-book principles, invoking lawyers and affidavits, and threatening to go to court. “You must pay for everything in this world one way or another,” says Mattie. “There is nothing free except the grace of God.”

That kind of legal and moral cost-accounting seems as distant as a tintype now. The new “True Grit” lands in an America that’s still not recovered from a crash where many of the reckless perpetrators of economic mayhem deflected any accountability and merely moved on to the next bubble, gamble or ethically dubious backroom deal. When Americans think of the law these days, they often think of a system that can easily be gamed by the rich and the powerful, starting with those who pillaged Lehman Brothers, A.I.G. and Citigroup and left taxpayers, shareholders and pensioners in the dust. A virtuous soul like Mattie would be crushed in a contemporary gold rush even if (or especially if) she fought back with the kind of civil action so prized by the 19th-century Mattie.

The whole piece is well worth a read.

Follow the Red Carpet Road

Just for kicks -- synchronized kicks while singing "We're Off to See The Wizard" -- I've been casting some of this year's behind the scenes Oscar hopefuls as denizens of the that magical land Over the Rainbow. It's less gay than it sounds, I promise. I blame Hailee Steinfeld's pigtails for the inspiration. It's all her fault.

Find out which character each Best Director candidate plays and help me cast the other players. Read the article at Tribeca Film

Podcast: "You Haven't Seen The Last of Us" Pt. 1

Consider this a reboot. A retooled second (third?) season, if you will. With a brand new website, awesome technical support (aside from blog import issues -- still working on it -- Squarespace has been a dream thus far), and the countdown to Oscar, it's time for the lost podcast to return home.

Katey, Joe and Nick have returned to help me kick off this year's audio Oscar-madness. Having been quiet for too long, our conversation spilleth over. Second part coming up shortly.

PART ONE (40 min)
Topics include:

• the rebirth, the return, general silliness
• Katey's Top Ten List and the drama and trauma of sculpting them
• Rabbit Hole the actors, the screenplay, the direction
• Helena Bonham-Carter escapes from Tim Burton (in the movies)
• Hailee Steinfeld's stacked deck in True Grit (which category?)
• Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine
• Golden Globe zaniness and the Precursor Police
• Matt Damon over and underappreciated.

Podcast "You Haven't Seen" Pt 1

One Week Left of Voting. Best Actor Battles.

With only 18 days left until the big announcement, the fever is rising.

Over at my Tribeca Film Oscar column I'm sounding off on True Grit's hit status, the uncertain Supporting Actress race (it's the only race without a clear "winner" frontrunner), and which melodies are rising above the awards din. Read the article.

One thing I didn't cover in that article is these last minute endorsements of sorts we've been hearing about. Kathryn Bigelow and Martin Scorsese are pro Winter's Bone (and don't think they lack for pull in Tinseltown). Bigelow just hosted a screening. You've already heard that Javier Bardem's celebrity friends (including recent Eat Pray Love Vote co-star Julia Roberts) have been rallying for his Cannes-winning performance in Biutiful.

Meanwhile, Oscar winner Robert Duvall (Get Low) just put his hands in cement in front of Grauman's. You know what that means. Any reminder that you're still very much in it means that you're still working to win it. Not that Duvall isn't already a winner on every Oscar level. They've only ever loved 13 men enough to hand them six or more nominations and Duvall is one of that esteemed baker's dozen. If he gets this nod, he moves us to top ten Oscar beloved actor status (tied with Dustin Hoffman and Richard Burton in terms of nominations).

I've made some adjustments to the Best Actor chart to reflect the 7 man race nail-biter.