In this morning's roundup of Oscar news 'n' notes from around the web, "True Grit" moves up the charts, but "Social Network" keeps winning.
"The Social Network" is hanging onto its title as the critics' darling, taking home the top prize from the Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association, one of the first of a great many critics groups that'll be announcing over the next month. "Social Network," reports Kris Tapley in an advance look at the winners, won for picture, director and screenplay, while Colin Firth won for Best Actor, Jennifer Lawrence for Best Actress, and Christian Bale and Melissa Leo from "The Fighter" took both supporting prizes. But "Inception" won the most awards, four. Lawrence and maybe Leo could be considered slight surprises; everything else was expected. (In Contention)
The Gurus o' Gold chime in at the end of what has been dubbed "'True Grit' Week" – i.e., the time when sight-unseen guesses about how Oscar-worthy the Coen Brothers movie would be were replaced by guesses made, in most cases, after the pundits had seen the film. Sure enough, "True Grit" jumps all the way up to fourth place, behind "The King's Speech," "The Social Network" and "Inception." That’s one place higher than it was at the beginning of the week, and three places higher than it was before it began screening. But only one person, Anthony Breznican, is putting it at Number One; David Poland had it there before I assume he saw the film, and now he's dropped it down a slot. Apart from Eugene Hernandez, who doesn't have it on his ballot, I seem to be the biggest naysayer of the group, putting it in eighth place. (Movie City News)
While we're talking about "True Grit," Michael Cieply takes a look at how the new movie compares to its 1969 predecessor, which famously won John Wayne his only Oscar. Mostly, though, he writes about how the first "True Grit" was old-fashioned for its day, critically reviled by many, and conservative politically. All of which is apparently irrelevant to the Coens, who say they didn't watch it when they were preparing their version of Charles Portis' novel. (The New York Times)
IndieWIRE's "HONOR ROLL" feature has been reprinting earlier interviews with notable filmmakers who have remained in the news as awards season heats up, and it turns to "Waste Land" director Lucy Walker on the heels of her film's big win at the IDA Documentary Awards on Friday. "It's a movie about art and garbage, not an easy pitch," she tells Nigel M. Smith. (indieWIRE)
Hope springs eternal, and here's a real longshot who's hanging onto that hope: Danish actress Paprika Steen, who by all reports gives a remarkable performance as a self-destructive stage actress in "Applause," came to L.A. for the film's qualifying run at the Sunset 5 and sat for a Flip video interview with Sophia Savage. Steen, a star in her homeland, says she doesn't understand why American directors haven't been hiring her for years. (Thompson on Hollywood)
Nikki Finke burnishes her tough-gal bona fides by giving departing Warner Bros. chief Alan Horn a hard time about his Oscar strategies over the past few years. He charges him with not pushing "Inception" and "Hereafter" hard enough, even though you can't sustain a full-court-press Oscar campaign on a summer movie like the former, and Clint Eastwood is certainly calling the shots on the latter; she says he's too late to make any campaign moves now, when ballots won't even be mailed for another three-plus weeks and contenders like "The Fighter," "Another Year" and "True Grit" aren't even out; and she makes the ludicrous allegation that "The Blind Side" could have won Best Picture, if only Warners had recognized it as an awards movie and started pushing it earlier. I'm sorry, but massive affection for Sandra Bullock got that movie its Best Actress award; it was never, ever going to come near the Best Picture podium. (Deadline)
Apparently, not everything in the world – or even everything in the movie business – revolves around the Oscars. In England, the Independent writes a story about Jean-Luc Godard on the occasion of the director's 80th birthday, which took place on Friday. And they don't even mention his recent honorary Academy Award until the 10th paragraph. Shocking, really. (The Independent)
