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OSCAR TALK: Ep. 8 — ‘This Is It,’ music branch, ‘Invictus’ and ‘Avatar’ trailers, the Best Actor race and more

Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:59 am · November 1st, 2009

Oscar TalkWe have a belated edition of Oscar Talk for you today.  We apologize for the lateness, but what better way to kick back on a Sunday afternoon than with yours truly and Anne Thompson of indieWIRE’s Thompson on Hollywood?

In this eighth installment, we actually covered a lot of ground. This week’s topics:

• With “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” hitting theaters this weekend, we lead off talking brief about the film (which Anne hasn’t seen).

• With music on the mind, this leads to another quick discussion about the Academy’s music branch, which caused poor Sad brad Smith to preemptively refrain from submitting his moving track “Help Yourself” from “Up in the Air” for consideration this year.

• Rumors of Neil Patrick Harris hosting the Oscarcast after doing bang-up jobs at the Tonys and Emmys are circulating, and in the wake of Ricky Gervais being tapped to emcee the Golden Globes this year, we spin our wheels on that topic one more time.

• “Precious” is opening next week, so with that (and Anne’s recent piece concerning Mo’Nique’s behind-the-scenes drama issues) in mind, we talk about whether the film, or the actress herself, has to win a popularity contest this season to gain the Academy’s attention and respect.

• The trailers for “Invictus” and 2010’s “Green Zone,” both starring Matt Damon, landed this week.  We discuss his awards prospects and, with a performance in “The Informant!” still lingering, we take the opportunity to dive into the year’s Best Actor hopefuls (which will be covered more in depth in tomorrow’s Off the Carpet column).

• Anne spins off on Michael Sheen’s performance in “The Damned United,” which she thinks stands a great chance at flying under the radar to a nomination, based largely on the potential for his body of work over the last few years being taken into account.

• Fight!  Well, not really, but Anne and I once again have different takes on where Peter Sarsgaard should be campaigned for “An Education.” He’s officially in supporting, which is what stirred the pot on this debate one more time.

• Anne finally caught “A Prophet” at the London film fest and it gives us a chance to discuss Tahar Rahim’s amazing performance, the film’s potential in the foreign language film race, etc.

• Finally, with a new “Avatar” trailer debuting earlier in the week, Anne and I spit-ball the film and it’s Oscar prospects and, more importantly, the excitement that comes with a piece of original material potentially dominating the box office for a change.

Have a listen to this week’s kudocast below, featuring a musical lead-in from the King of Pop.  And as always, you can subscribe to Oscar Talk via iTunes here.

 
 OSCAR TALK: Ep. 8: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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21 responses so far

  • 1 11-01-2009 at 1:40 pm

    James D. said...

    How is Jeremy Renner a frontrunner if you don’t have him as a nominee?

  • 2 11-01-2009 at 1:45 pm

    M.Harris said...

    I’m not worried about Mo’Nique getting an Oscar nod for her performance;with her alleged behavior.I would be more worried about getting an Oscar win.

    From what I heard about her performance;it would be a crime for her not to get a nomination.I mean it’s not like she’s just on a couple of pre-Oscar lists.She’s a unanimous choice for the most part.

    I just say to her beware of her alleged “diva routine.”And beware of 2001,when Russell Crowe was a favorite,and his behavior sort of got in the way of him winning that year.Not that Denzel Washington didn’t deserve it.

    Even though they shouldn’t;the Academy does look at one’s behavior leading up to the awards.

  • 3 11-01-2009 at 1:53 pm

    Chris said...

    There’s a wedding scene at the end of ‘Up in the Air’? Okay…

    And, add “The Beat That My Heart Skipped” to that list of not quite so obscure films you need to see, before you compile your decade review.

  • 4 11-01-2009 at 2:20 pm

    Kristopher Tapley said...

    James: Going into the season, as I repeated over and over. I’m not going to call someone a frontrunner if I haven’t seen the film, but that doesn’t mean I can’t predict things to shake out differently.

    Chris: Not a big spoiler or anything, Clooney’s character’s sister is getting married, it’s a plot point throughout. And the Audiard film is on the list, definitely.

  • 5 11-01-2009 at 2:23 pm

    Chris said...

    Okay, thanks for clearing that up, I hadn’t read any reviews or plot synopsis yet, because I wanted to go in with a “blank slate” – so you probably understand that I was a bit shocked when I heard about the wedding.

  • 6 11-01-2009 at 2:37 pm

    Jim T said...

    Kris, thank you for the ending. Great choice!

    I agree with Anne on Dammon. I think Invictus will be the film that will give him the nomination. I think the Informant will just boost his chances.

  • 7 11-01-2009 at 3:49 pm

    Loyal said...

    Neil Patrick Harris would be an uninteresting selection as Oscar host. I dont quite get his appeal

    Nice to hear you guys squeeze in Avatar at the end of the podcast. Hopefully later in the season you can get a bit more in depth. I’m really curious how it will be received.

  • 8 11-01-2009 at 3:51 pm

    Trick Cassano said...

    As always a fascinating conversation.

    I do want to hear what you think about a surprise nomination for Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”. Big comeback hit this summer with “The Proposal” and now this turn in what could be a second big hit.

    I’m in the South, and I can tell you the trailer alone makes people get teary-eyed. Every woman who sees it wants to go and bring their white, evangelical guilt to the theater and feel so good about this pretty white woman helping a giant black kid get off the street.

    I really think she has a chance as a veteran who’s never been nominated and that category – agreeing with Anne here – is weaker than it usually is (which is saying something!). She would be a great populist choice in that category.

  • 9 11-01-2009 at 4:59 pm

    daveylow said...

    I really enjoy the conversation with Anne Thompson, thanks for doing these Kris.

    I agree with Anne about Michael Sheen. His performance is fine in The Damned United as is the work of Timothy Spall. It is a shame the film hasn’t found an audience.

    I also agree about the performance of Tahar Rahim. A Prophet should have been released before the end of the year because it might have gotten a director and screenplay nomination as well as one for acting.

    I don’t think An Education is really about Peter Sarsgaard’s character as much as Carey Mulligan’s so it doesn’t surprise me that Sarsgaard would campaign in supporting.

    I’m really anxious to see The Messenger because so far I haven’t read anything negative about the performances. Could Ben Foster be put in supporting and Woody Harrelson in lead? Or do they both dominate the film?

  • 10 11-01-2009 at 5:09 pm

    Kristopher Tapley said...

    Trick: More on that to come.

  • 11 11-01-2009 at 6:46 pm

    Ben said...

    Love these podcasts, Kris. I’m always amazed by your lack of a North Carolina accent (speaking as a native Southerner myself).

  • 12 11-01-2009 at 7:19 pm

    aspect ratio said...

    Glad to hear The Damned United being mentioned, Michael Sheen’s the best lead performance so far this year out of what (little) I’ve seen, and Timothy Spall is equally fantastic. I can imagine both of them being in my top five at year’s end.

    On that note, I have no idea why the British Independent Film Awards nominated Broadbent over Spall, makes absolutely no sense at all as Spall is the heart of the movie and Broadbent is basically a cameo role.

    Anyway, these talks are a highlight of the week, I hope you two can do them more than once a week when things really heat up and more things are going on, like getting to hear your discussions and thoughts right after nomination announcements and such things.

  • 13 11-02-2009 at 1:50 am

    Andrew said...

    I’m still interested in your snubbing of Bright Star in the major categories. It seems to be getting great reviews- is there no hype at all???

  • 14 11-02-2009 at 1:55 am

    Andrew said...

    How is Abby Cornish a frontrunner yet not in your list on the right??

  • 15 11-02-2009 at 6:10 am

    red_wine said...

    I just love Michael Sheen. He was completely robbed of a nomination for The Queen. That was a no-brainer. I couldn’t believe he was not nominated. And De Niro has sucked so much in the last decade I doubt he can really turn it around.

    Avatar is most certainly not an original story. The setting is original and Cameron himself has said its basically Pocahontas on an alien planet. The story is as old as the hills. But I wonder if Avatar can truly be nominated. All the 10 contenders will have atleast a screenplay or director nomination or both. Avatar will have neither. Nor will it have any acting nominations. Nor is it really eligible for the arts(costume, cinematography, sets) since everything is computer-generated. So it can get to a best picture nomination on the basis of noms in visual and sound sound effects? Doesn’t seem likely.

  • 16 11-02-2009 at 8:20 am

    John said...

    My thoughts:

    LOVE these podcasts. Keep ‘em up! :-)

    Loved ‘This Is It’, though, I don’t see many or any Oscar noms.

    Neil Patrick Harris has proved to be a great host, but I, too, would not be wild about him hosting the OSCARS.

    Gabourey Sidibe won me over on the ‘Ellen’ clip. I hope she gives as good a performance as I hope when I eventually see ‘Precious’. Who knows when that film will expand my way.

    The ‘Invictus’ trailer looks good. But it also looks like Clint Oscar-bait. Freeman “looks’ the part. And Damon, to me, sounded awful with the accent. That said, it was only a few lines.

    As for Damon, I don’t think he’ll get in for ‘The Informant’, and I think he may get in for ‘Invictus’; whether or not he deserves to – based on his big year.

    My predics right now for BA are: Freeman, Firth, Viggo, De Niro, & Clooney.

    I was never wild about ‘The Hurt Locker’ (7.5 out of 10ish), and I was even less enthused by Renner’s portrayal. Bigelow, and techs ware what the film deserves, in my opinion.

    Can’t wait to see ‘The Damned United’ after all the positive talk about it on these podcasts.

    I’m still a huge supporter of ‘Bright Star’. But with it not doing great in U.S. box office, and it coming out early, I do see buzz fading a bit for Cornish. I think she’ll get a second win. But for now, I could see the Academy maybe only acknowledging it in screenplay, costumes, and maybe cinematography.

    ‘Avatar’ looks like a GREAT Transformers-type movie. Hey, I’ll be there on opening day. Oscars?? Not sure. But, like Anne said, in a year of 10, anything is possible. It looks fun & exciting to me, if not narratively sound.

    Thanks again for the podcast, Kris & Anne!

  • 17 11-02-2009 at 8:22 am

    John said...

    regarding Cornish – second wind.

  • 18 11-02-2009 at 9:46 am

    Kristopher Tapley said...

    red_wine: Come on, don’t split hairs on something as silly as “the story is as old as the hills.” You know very well the point we’re making here.

  • 19 11-02-2009 at 9:46 am

    Ben said...

    red_wine: Kris’s point was the dearth of recent blockbusters not based on pre-sold material. Yes, stories are derivative of ancient stories, that’s nothing new…but no one is going to see Avatar because it’s similar to Pocahontas. The point is it’s refreshing to see a blockbuster to-be not be based off a comic book/popular book/or be a sequel.

  • 20 11-08-2009 at 11:56 pm

    Кулинар said...

    Вах-вах-вах

  • 21 11-09-2009 at 12:04 am

    Vastl said...

    Читаешь это и думаешь….