In this morning’s roundup of Oscar news ‘n’ notes from around the web, other awards shows chime in, “Nine” rehearses and “Wild Things” get a presidential review.
The Gotham Independent Film Awards announced its nominees on Monday. “The Hurt Locker” and “Big Fan” received three nominations each (out of six categories), competing in the Best Feature category with “Amreeka,” “The Maid” and “A Serious Man.” Best Documentary nods went to “Food, Inc.,” “Good Hair,” “My Neighbor My Killer,” “Paradise” and “Tyson.” Presented by the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), the awards aren’t as high-profile or star-studded as the indie awards handed out on the west coast, the Independent Spirit Awards – but the Gotham Awards come much earlier in the awards calendar, which means they could give a minor boost to the profile of some of the docs, and to Oscar contenders like “A Single Man” and “The Hurt Locker.” (That last film isn’t eligible for the Spirit Awards, where it was nominated for two awards last year.) (Gotham Independent Film Awards)
On the Gotham beat, David Poland says that he supports IFP but that the Gotham Awards are “completely meaningless when it comes to the rest of the awards season.” Tom O’Neil wonders why the Gotham nominations snubbed “Precious.” So does Dave Karger. Film Misery points out that the Gotham Awards have a better track record predicting Oscar documentary nominees than best-pic nods.
Speaking of film awards, Anne Thompson takes aim at the upcoming Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Awards, skewering it as the for-profit venture of a Hollywood wannabe that attracts stars only because it gives them a little more publicity heading into awards season. (What more reason do they need?) (Thompson on Hollywood)
Yahoo! Movies has rehearsal footage form “Nine.” Rehearsal footage very artfully edited and combined with sequences from the film to convince us that we’re all going to love Rob Marshall’s movie. It’s impressive. Probably no more indicative of the final product than any trailer … but impressive.
Film composer Alexandre Desplat wins Belgian awards for film composer and film score of the year. The year in question appears to be hazy, because he wins for the 2008 score “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” as well as for 2009’s “Coco Before Chanel” and “Cheri.” Guy Lodge approves. (In Contention)
Who needs critics? President Barack Obama on “Where the Wild Things Are”: “it’s worth seeing.” (The Huffington Post)
Tom O’Neil asks if “Avatar” will be a best-picture nominee. And answers “yes.” (Gold Derby)
Coincidence? Just in time for the release of “Amelia,” the Criterion Collection releases new, digitally restored DVD and Blu-Ray versions of director Mira Nair’s “Monsoon Wedding.”
