THE ARMSTRONG LIE

Michael Barker on 'bittersweet' nominations and watching Richard Linklater's career bloom

Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 7:04 am · January 16th, 2014

It was a bittersweet morning for Sony Pictures Classics co-president Michael Barker. One one hand his company’s films “Before Midnight,” “Blue Jasmine” and “The Invisible Woman” combined for a total of five nominations, including a somewhat surprising bid for “Blue” supporting actress Sally Hawkins. On the other, it was a rare occasion where the indie distributor had no nominees in either the Best Documentary Feature or Best Foreign Language Film categories, and neither “Blue” nor “Midnight” was able to push into the Best Picture field.

Filed in: HitFix · In Contention

At least Alex Gibney got ONE of his docs to the next phase of Academy voting

Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:47 am · December 3rd, 2013

The Academy has narrowed the field of 147 documentary feature contenders to 15, and the key omissions appear to be Alex Gibney’s “We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks,” Martha Shane and Lana Wilson’s “After Tiller” and and Errol Morris’ “The Unknown Known,” among others.

Filed in: HitFix · In Contention

Alex Gibney on 'The Armstrong Lie' and the Assange connection

Posted by Guy Lodge · 4:00 pm · November 10th, 2013

We talk to the Oscar-winning documentary director about how he had to change his entire approach on his long-gestating project about disgraced athlete Lance Armstrong. He also discusses the unexpected connection that emerged between the film and his other 2013 release, “We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks.”

Filed in: HitFix · In Contention