The music branch lowers the boom on "Black Swan" and "True Grit," and "The Social Network" lowers the boom – just a little bit – on "The King's Speech."
As I cautioned a couple of weeks ago, a few of the year's highest-profile films scores were always on shaky ground with the Academy's music branch, which disqualifies scores that feature too many songs or are "diluted" by the use of pre-existing music. Jon Burlingame now reports that Clint Mansell's "Black Swan" and Carter Burwell's "True Grit" have indeed been disqualified, according to "sources inside the Academy music-branch executive committee." The former apparently makes too much use of Tchaikovsky, the latter too many old Protestant hymns. (This is Burwell's second consecutive disqualification, after "Where the Wild Things Are" last year.) The third score I'd warned about, Alexandre Desplat's "The King's Speech," was reportedly ruled eligible "despite some concerns" about its use of Beethoven and Mozart in key moments. Burlingame also cautions that the scores for "The Kids Are All Right" and "The Fighter" are on the verge of being disqualified as well. The Academy hasn't confirmed Burlingame's report, though given the music branch's history it certainly rings true. (Variety)
On the heels of "The Social Network" winning one critics award after another, the David Fincher film has edged past "The King's Speech" into the top spot on Gold Derby's roundup of 23 awards pundits. This week's results have 12 of them putting "Social Network" on top and only nine backing "King's Speech"; two weeks ago, it was 12-to-eight the other way. I'm still in the "King's Speech" camp, but barely: the first time I filled out my Gold Derby ballot over the weekend, I put "Social Network" on top, changing it back just before I hit send. (Gold Derby)
"The King's Speech" is ahead of "The Social Network," though, in the London Critics Circle Awards nominations, which were announced on Monday. In fact, "King's Speech" and "Another Year," with seven nominations each, both edged "Social Network," which had five. The adventurous British documentary "The Arbor" had four nominations, as did "True Grit." The full slate, with winners due to be announced on February 10:
SKY 3D AWARD: FILM OF THE YEAR
Black Swan
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
THE ATTENBOROUGH AWARD: BRITISH FILM OF THE YEAR
127 Hours
The Arbor
Another Year
The King's Speech
Monsters
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
Dogtooth
I Am Love
Of Gods and Men
The Secret in Their Eyes
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Jeff Bridges – True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network
Colin Firth – The King's Speech
Ryan Gosling – Blue Valentine
Edgar Ramirez – Carlos
MOËT ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Annette Bening – The Kids Are All Right
Jennifer Lawrence – Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman – Black Swan
Noomi Rapace – The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hailee Steinfeld – True Grit
BRITISH ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Riz Ahmed – Four Lions
Christian Bale – The Fighter
Jim Broadbent – Another Year
Colin Firth – The King's Speech
Andrew Garfield – Never Let Me Go
BRITISH ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Helena Bonham Carter – The King's Speech
Lesley Manville – Another Year
Rosamund Pike – Barney's Version
Ruth Sheen – Another Year
Tilda Swinton – I Am Love
BRITISH ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
David Bradley – Another Year
Pierce Brosnan – The Ghost
Andrew Garfield – The Social Network
Tom Hardy – Inception
Peter Wight – Another Year
BRITISH ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Helena Bonham Carter – Alice in Wonderland
Christine Bottomley – The Arbor
Minnie Driver – Barney's Version
Rosamund Pike – Made in Dagenham
Olivia Williams – The Ghost Writer
YOUNG BRITISH PERFORMER OF THE YEAR
Jessica Barden – Tamara Drewe
Conor McCarron – NEDs
Will Poulter – The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Saoirse Ronan – The Way Back
Thomas Turgoose – The Scouting Book for Boys
DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – True Grit
David Fincher – The Social Network
Christopher Nolan – Inception
Apichatpong Weerasethakul – Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
BRITISH DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Clio Barnard – The Arbor
Danny Boyle – 127 Hours
Tom Hooper – The King's Speech
Mike Leigh – Another Year
Christopher Nolan – Inception
SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR
Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg – The Kids Are All Right
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – True Grit
Chris Morris, Sam Bain, Simon Blackwell & Jesse Armstrong – Four Lions
David Seidler – The King's Speech
Aaron Sorkin – The Social Network
BREAKTHROUGH BRITISH FILMMAKER
Banksy – Exit Through the Gift Shop
Clio Barnard – The Arbor
J Blakeson – The Disappearance of Alice Creed
Gareth Edwards – Monsters
Chris Morris – Four Lions
Nikki Glaser to Host 2025 Golden Globes