NSFC Loves France, Olivia Williams, The Social Network

The National Society of Film Critics, founded in the 1960s, remains one of the most prestigious critics groups. Though they follow numerous critics groups to their "best!" declarations each year, they don't usually take orders so well. You can always count on a surprise or two though there's still no denying The Social Network.

Olivia Williams takes her first prize for The Ghost Writer

Picture The Social Network (runner up: Carlos and Winter's Bone)
Director David Fincher for The Social Network (ru: Olivier Assayas for Carlos and Roman Polanski for The Ghost Writer)

Actress Giovanna Mezzogiorno in Vincere (ru: Annette Bening in The Kids Are All Right and Lesley Manville in Another Year)
Actor Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network (ru tie: Colin Firth in The King's Speech and Edgar Ramirez in Carlos)
Supporting Actress Olivia Williams in The Ghost Writer (ru: Amy Adams in The Fighter and tied for third: Melissa Leo in The Fighter and Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom)
Supporting Actor Geoffrey Rush in The King's Speech (ru: Christian Bale in The Fighter and Jeremy Renner in The Town)

The actress categories are especially interesting for the names and the order. As you may remember, I'm fond of Olivia Williams in The Ghost Writer (though I have too many candidates for Best Supporting Actress and I'm still debating who I shall proclaim "best!") No sign of Natalie & Hailee at NSFC though they've been hogging the conversation this week. Lesley Manville sure could've used this win though for a late push. As discussed on the podcast, that 5th spot in Best Actress is still very volatile.

Screenplay Aaron Sorkin for The Social Network (ru: David Seidler for The King's Speech and Roman Polanski & Robert Harris for The Ghost Writer)
Cinematography Roger Deakins for True Grit (ru: Matthew Libatique for Black Swan and Harris Savides for Somewhere)
NonFiction Inside Job (ru: Exit Through the Gift Shop and Last Train Home)
Foreign Language Film Carlos (ru: A Prophet and White Material)
Film Heritage Awards 1. The Film Foundation (20th Anniversary) 2. "Chaplin at Keystone" Flicker Alley, "Elia Kazan Collection" (Fox) 4. Upstream rediscovered 1927 film directed by John Ford (National Film Preservation Board) 5. On the Bowery (Milestone) and 6. Word is Out (Restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive and distributed by Milestone)

I'm a francophile myself but found it surprising that all three of their favorite foreign films winner Carlos, Oscar nominee A Prophet (pictured left) and Claire Denis' White Material are Gallic. Crazy! What about Mother? I Am Love? Vincere (since they loved Giovanna)? Dogtooth?

Start Your Weekend With Pretty Pictures

Good morning.

I'm spending this Saturday, behind the scenes: writing, podcast editing (yes, it returns!), skimming through previously adored movies (FB Awards about to start), interview transcribing (two soon-to-be-nominated people I've long admired), and the like. Next week = busy busy busy.

While you're here why not check out my 33 all time favorite actresses? (Just click on any photo to start the slide show). Feel free to share yours. I was going to put up a Top 100 up but that seemed... extravagant (as well as time consuming). If there's enough interest I'll add more galleries throughout the year. Mmmmm eye candy.

Got any movie plans this weekend?

Linked Up

Today's links.

• Towleroad Sean Penn to receive the Stanley Kramer (and other movie news)
• Playbill Olympia Dukakis will star in the little seen Tennessee Williams' play The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore starting tomorrow off Broadway. D'ya think the title inspired Martin Scorsese back in the day?
• Serious Film takes a long predictive look at the eventual Oscar Supporting Actress lineup, the 7 top contenders and some more still.
• MNPP's wishin' and hopin' for Eastern Promises 2
• Movie|Line the most scathing reviews of new wide release Season of the Witch
• Just Jared Kristin Chenoweth is out and about, a free woman. Now that she's done with Broadway's high-grossing Promises Promises, can we please get her into a movie musical? C'mon Hollywood. You're so lame. Make more musicals. OBEY.
• AV Club a sequel of sorts (more like a spin-off) to Knocked Up centering on Paul Rudd & Leslie Mann's married couple? For sure count us in. They made a great comic pair. 
• THR the recipients of Oscar's technical achievement awards (which we be handed out on February 12th)
  

A few more... I can't stop.

• Chateau Thombeau It Happened... an 82 flashback. (I'm on a Tootsie kick cuz of that Dustin Hoffman griping over in new Best Pics episode.)
• In Contention party for The Social Network's dvd.
• Cinema Blend Vera Farmiga and Elle Fanning to star as mother and daughter in indie drama Pure Life
• China Lion is new distribution company that will hopefully make more Asian films available in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US of A. I think you should know that the Chinese remake of American blockbuster What Women Want (pictured right) is opening in 2011. Why do we care? Because it's Gong Li and Andy Lau and not Helen Hunt and Mel Gibson, that's why!

Centennial: Butterfly McQueen

Today is the Centennial of Butterfly McQueen, she of the famously squeaky voice, immortalized in her very first picture Gone With the Wind (1939). She died from an unfortunate kerosene heater accident 15 years ago but since it's the 100th anniversary of her birth today we send her a warm "Thank You" to the great beyond. Butterfly was a staunch Atheist but we think she'd approve of our church. In the church of cinema, everyone involved with classic films lives on for eternity (provided the negatives weren't destroyed).

"Gone With the Wind" (her first) and "Mosquito Coast" (her last feature film)

McQueen quit early, discouraged by endless servant roles. That's all black actresses could get in the Golden Age of Hollywood. In short: it wasn't golden for people of color.

"I don't know nuthin' bout birthin' babies!"

...which she shrieked hysterically in Gone With the Wind (1939) may have been her most famous cinematic moment, but you can also spot her in early classics like The Women (1939) and Mildred Pierce (1945). Her last feature film arrived when she was in her seventies. Peter Weir cast her in a key role opposite Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren in The Mosquito Coast (1986).

Broaden the Biopics!
Hollywood has such insatiable true story fever, that you wish filmmakers would broaden their scope a little about who to dramatize in non-fiction based films. Most biopics are about über famous entertainers or political leaders. Perhaps that's for box office reasons but maybe it's just a lack of imagination. Couldn't biopics about lesser known players involved with some hugely famous historical event or milieu, be both marketable and aesthetically riveting for the fresh light they would cast on our familiar mythologized histories?

Nobodies ever planned a Butterfly McQueen biopic so cross your fingers that last year's Supporting Actress winner Mo'Nique (Precious) actually gets to do that rumored biopic about another Supporting Actress winner, Butterfly's Gone With the Wind's co-star Hattie McDaniel. Think how fascinating that film could be. It's enough to give you shivers.

But who would you cast to star opposite Hattie/Mo'Nique as "Prissy"/Butterly and "Scarlett"/Vivien in that sure-to-be interesting film?

BAFTA Swans, Ohio Dreams, Audio Society Listens

With Oscar nominations just 17 days away, it's all over but the stragglers, the ceremonies (BFCA and Globes in a week's time. Whooo) and one biggie precursor the Director's Guild of America, which will announce on Monday. Awards season always starts feeling about deja vu at this point. But we're about to wake up to the NOW. Just 17 days...

But here's three more awards crumbs until we get there: But here's three more awards crumbs until we get there: The BAFTA long list (not their nominees. that happens later), Ohio Critics and the Cinema Audio Society. It's a lot to cover so it's all after the jump.

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