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.
