In this morning’s roundup of Oscar news ‘n’ notes from around the web, Annette Bening steals the show and Jesse Eisenberg spills the beans.
Better late than never: Sasha Stone finally gets around to seeing “The Kids Are All Right,” and loves it: “the film stands out not just because of the tuned and harmonious cast, but because the subject matter is daring, confrontational, and dare I say it, groundbreaking.” But her focus is on Annette Bening, who Stone says “steals the show” and has “got the Oscar sewn up.” Risky talk in early November, as Stone would usually be the first to admit. (Awards Daily)
At the AFI Fest 2010, the Los Angeles Times hosted a panel with three young actors: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Carey Mulligan. The Times reports that at the panel, hosted by its Amy Kaufman, Eisenberg “verified a report” that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg rented out a movie theater to screen “The Social Network” for his employees – though exactly how the actor was in a position to verify the report wasn’t explained. Of more interest is that Eisenberg claims that Zuckerberg used his cousin to relay a message to the actor that “he liked the parts he thought the movie got right, and he wanted to say that I did a nice job.” Publicly, the only part Zuckerberg will admit that the movie got right was his wardrobe, but maybe the guy’s a little more flattered by the film than he’ll admit. (24 Frames)
Guy Lodge delivers a message to the folks who came up with the nominations for the European Film Awards: you blew it. The nominees in the group’s best picture category were “The Ghost Writer,” “Honey,” “Lebanon,” “Of Gods and Men,” “The Secret in Their Eyes” and “Soul Kitchen,” but Lodge comes up with 10 others that he thinks are superior to any of the nominees: “Another Year,” “The Illusionist,” “How I Ended This Summer,” “Kawasaki’s Rose,” “White Material,” “Dogtooth,” “Certified Copy,” “Mysteries of Lisbon,” “Four Lions” and “The Mouth of the Wolf.” After scolding the voters, though, he decides that the seven nods for “The Ghost Writer” might well make “this consistently underestimated thriller” an Oscar contender for adapted screenplay. (In Contention)
The dark side of “green” energy and the words of young urban poets took home prizes at the DOC NYC festival on Sunday, with Laura Israel’s “Windfall” winning the Grand Jury Prize in the documentary festival’s Viewfinders section, and “To Be Heard” winning the same award in the Metropolis section, as well as the fest’s Audience Award. In Metropolis, which was made up of six films set in New York City, “Lost Bohemia” was given a Special Jury Prize. (Variety)
Anne Thompson has “a fun night of Anglophilic pleasure” at the Britannia Awards, and recaps the highlights of a ceremony produced by BAFTA/LA. Jeff Bridges got the Stanley Kubrick Award for Excellence in Film, Michael Sheen (British Artist of the Year) gave the night’s saltiest acceptance speech, Christopher Nolan (John Schlesinger Award for Excellence in Directing) said he’s been “ripping off” Ridley and Tony Scott for years, the Scott Brothers (Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Filmed Entertainment) put together their own clip reel of career highlights, and Betty White (Charlie Chaplin Award for Excellence in Comedy) shockingly gave a sassy speech full of sexual innuendo. (Thompson on Hollywood)
