Oscar season is a marathon stricken by fickle opinions and wavering tastes, but this year has been relatively drama-free thanks to consensus-favorite 'The Social Network' dominating the award shows. This week, however, some critics jumped ship. After 'Network's' top competitor, 'The King's Speech,' stole a win at the Producers Guild Awards and racked up the most Oscar nominations with 12, 'Speech' executive producer Harvey Weinstein and other pundits smelled blood in the water, but movie awards expert Scott Feinberg tells PopEater he's not buying it.
"I think they switched back because it's just a gut feeling that 'The King's Speech' is too perfect a movie for the Academy; they still feel the Academy is predisposed to go for old-fashioned movies that check off all the boxes that they've always responded to," Feinberg says.
Although 'The Social Network' swept the Golden Globes and most critics awards -- except for the British Independent Film Awards -- the one 'King's Speech' win at the PGAs has award pundits flipping completely, as surveyed on Movie City News. Feinberg, on the other hand, says 'The Social Network' is mathematically still very much in favor.
Most critics who flipped on 'The Social Network' have been staunch supporters of 'The King's Speech' for months, but were forced to change their minds after the Facebook movie dominated almost all of the award shows. "Critics that flipped were with 'Social Network' before the Broadcast Film Critics Awards and the Globes, so I don't think it's a shock they went back to that," Feinberg explains.
Feinberg calculates the PGA and the Oscars have only corresponded for Best Picture 67 percent of the time in the last 21 years, while the Directors Guild Awards provides a much better precursor with a 79 percent corrolation in the past 62 years. The Directors Guild Awards take place on Jan. 29.
"I think it's almost certain David Fincher is going to win the DGA, so I think people just got excited since the PGA is the only other award show that uses a preferential ballot and 'The Social Network' won in that way. But what they're forgetting is the the Academy is made up of 8 percent producers -- meanwhile, there's a much higher percentage of directors and actors," Feinberg says.
Feinberg goes on to speculate that one of the reasons 'The King's Speech' won the PGA was because guild members were already honoring him for a life-time achievement award. "I think they had already decided when Scott Rudin was getting a special career achievement award that night, so I think it was understood, saying 'hey, okay, his movie is already going to get acknowledged that night, let's spread the love," Feinberg said.
With all that said, Feinberg says the win still throws a wrench into the Oscar race weeks before the big dance. "I think the 'Social Network' team is concerned," Feinberg says. "I think that it's far from over and I think Harvey Weinstein knows that as well since there's all kinds of movement in terms of how they're strategizing, like right now, they're re-cutting 'The Kings Speech.'"
However, all speculation can be put to rest if 'The Social Network' wins Best Ensemble Cast at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. "[Actors] are the largest percentage of the Academy, 22 percent, and if it goes for 'The Social Network,' then I think it's game-set-match," Feinberg concludes.
Showing posts with label The Social Network. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Social Network. Show all posts
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
'The Social Network' Wins Top Honors at Golden Globe Awards
The Facebook drama "The Social Network" took home four of the Golden Globes' biggest awards, winning best motion picture drama, best director and best screenplay, and solidifying its spot as a top Oscars contender in the process.
For most of the major awards, the Globes was a night without many big surprises, as many of the predicted winners took home trophies.
The critical favorite "The Kids Are All Right" took home the top award for best motion picture comedy or musical, while actor Colin Firth firmed up his standing as a front-runner at the Feb. 27 Oscars with his Globe win for best dramatic actor in "The King's Speech."
Actresses Natalie Portman and Annette Bening won top actress honors for their respective roles in “Black Swan” and “The Kids Are All Right,” no doubt setting them up for a showdown at the upcoming Academy Awards.
It's familiar territory for Bening. She won the same prize at the Globes 11 years ago for "American Beauty" and went in as the best-actress favorite at the Oscars, where she lost to Globe dramatic actress winner Hilary Swank for "Boys Don't Cry."
The boxing drama "The Fighter" earned both supporting-acting prizes, for Christian Bale and Melissa Leo. Bale secured his position as front-runner for the same prize at the Oscars, while Leo boosted her own prospects at Hollywood's big night.
Paul Giamatti won for best actor in a musical or comedy for the curmudgeon tale "Barney's Version," winning over a lineup that included Johnny Depp, who had two nominations in the category.
"Barney's Version" follows the many loves in his life: his three wives, played by Rachelle Lefevre, Minnie Driver and Rosamund Pike, whom Giamatti described as "a trifecta of hotties."
"I got to smoke and drink and get laid in this movie and I got paid for it. An amazing, amazing thing," Giamatti said.
"The Social Network" led Sunday at the Globes with four prizes, among them best director for David Fincher and screenplay for Aaron Sorkin.
Fincher said he thought it was strange when "The Social Network" script came to him, since he usually makes dark character studies about misanthropes or films about serial killers. His films include the murder tales "Seven" and "Zodiac."
"I'm personally loathe to acknowledge the kind of wonderful response this film has received for fear of becoming addicted to it, so suffice it to say, it's been really nice" Fincher said.
"The Social Network" also won the Globe for musical score for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
Sorkin, creator of TV's "The West Wing," had kind words for Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, played by Jesse Eisenberg in "The Social Network."
"Mark Zuckerberg, if you're watching, Rooney Mara makes a prediction at the beginning of the movie. She was wrong. You turned out to be a great entrepreneur, a great visionary and an incredible altruist," Sorkin said.
Bening received her prize for the lesbian-family tale "The Kids Are All Right," winning in a field that included "The Kids Are All Right" co-star Julianne Moore. The film stars Bening and Moore as a couple whose family falls into turmoil after their teen children seek out the sperm donor that fathered them.
"I'm very proud to be a part of this very special film about two women who are deeply in love and try to keep their family together," Bening said. "My partner, Julianne Moore, I have to thank first. She asked me to do the picture with her. She made it possible for us to shoot it where we shot it, when we did, so Julianne -- you are a class act, thank you."
The buzz around town on Globes weekend was not only about likely winners, but also about a lawsuit filed Thursday by a former longtime publicist for the Globes claiming the organization that runs the show, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, engages in payola schemes for nominations and awards. The allegations have been denied by the HFPA, a group of about 90 reporters covering show business for overseas outlets.
Ricky Gervais returned as Globes host for the second-straight year. Gervais joked that Globe nominees weren't picked just so that Globe voters could hang out with stars such as Depp.
"They also accepted bribes," Gervais said, referring to the publicist lawsuit.
Philip Berk, who heads the HFPA, made no reference to the lawsuit during his appearance early in the show, simply offering a perfunctory plug for the quality of Hollywood movies.
Gervais pulled few punches as the night progressed, mocking Hugh Hefner, Charlie Sheen, Cher, Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson, Scientologists and Robert Downey Jr., among others.
"Aside from the fact that it's been hugely mean-spirited, with mildly sinister undertones, I'd say the vibe of the show is pretty good so far, wouldn't you?" Downey, a presenter, shot back, perhaps only half-jokingly.
Bale, who won for his role as a former boxer whose career unraveled amid drugs and crime, thanked his collaborators on "The Fighter," among them director David O. Russell and star and producer Mark Wahlberg, who plays boxer Micky Ward to Bale's Dicky Eklund, Ward's older half brother.
"I've really got to give a shout out to Mark, because he drove this whole movie, and you can only give a loud performance like the one I gave when you have a quiet anchor and a stoic character," Bale said. "I've played that one many times, and it never gets any notice."
Bale seems to be on the same awards track as his "Batman" co-star, the late Heath Ledger, was two years ago, when he won supporting actor at the Globes for "The Dark Knight" on the way to earning a posthumous Oscar.
Leo, who plays the domineering mother of Ward and Eklund, had gushing words for all of her co-stars -- along with her own mother and other ancestors.
"Here in Southern California, home of my mother, her mother, her mother before her -- look Mom, I got a Golden Globe!" Leo said. "Mark Wahlberg, you are a prince, you are amazing. It was so beautiful to play your mother."
"The Fighter" also is competing for best drama at the Globes, along with "Black Swan," "Inception," "The King's Speech" and "The Social Network."
The regal 1930s saga "The King's Speech" and the contemporary Web tale "The Social Network" are considered the favorites for best drama. "The King's Speech" led the Globes with seven nominations and "The Social Network" dominated awards from top critics groups.
"Toy Story 3," the top-grossing film released last year and the second sequel to 1995's digital animation pioneer "Toy Story," won the Globe for animated films, making Disney's Pixar Animation unit five-for-five in the category since it was added in 2006. Past Pixar winners are "Up," "WALL-E," "Ratatouille" and "Cars."
"Wow, were you two even born when the first `Toy Story' came out?" "Toy Story 3" director Lee Unkrich said to his award's presenters, 16-year-old pop star Justin Bieber and 14-year-old Hailee Steinfeld, co-star of the hit Western "True Grit."
Robert De Niro received the Cecil B. DeMille Award for career achievement.
The usually taciturn De Niro gave an uncharacteristically interesting acceptance speech, making jokes about members of the HFPA being deported (along with most of the waiters working the event) and suggesting that most people in the room hadn't seen a lot of the films he was proud of, including "Stone," "Marvin's Room" and "Stanley and Iris."
"Some of you would be seeing them for the first time. You didn't even watch the screeners, did you?" De Niro said.
Among TV winners, "Glee" won three prizes, best comedy and supporting-acting prizes for Jane Lynch and Chris Colfer. "Boardwalk Empire" won two prizes, for best drama and dramatic actor for Steve Buscemi.
The Globe ceremony traditionally had a strong track record as a forecast for what film would win best picture at the Oscars. But the two shows have split in recent times, with only one top Globe recipient -- 2008's "Slumdog Millionaire" -- also winning the main prize at the Oscars over the past six years.
A year ago, the sci-fi sensation "Avatar" won best drama at the Globes, but the Iraq War saga "The Hurt Locker" took best picture at the Oscars.
For most of the major awards, the Globes was a night without many big surprises, as many of the predicted winners took home trophies.
The critical favorite "The Kids Are All Right" took home the top award for best motion picture comedy or musical, while actor Colin Firth firmed up his standing as a front-runner at the Feb. 27 Oscars with his Globe win for best dramatic actor in "The King's Speech."
Actresses Natalie Portman and Annette Bening won top actress honors for their respective roles in “Black Swan” and “The Kids Are All Right,” no doubt setting them up for a showdown at the upcoming Academy Awards.
It's familiar territory for Bening. She won the same prize at the Globes 11 years ago for "American Beauty" and went in as the best-actress favorite at the Oscars, where she lost to Globe dramatic actress winner Hilary Swank for "Boys Don't Cry."
The boxing drama "The Fighter" earned both supporting-acting prizes, for Christian Bale and Melissa Leo. Bale secured his position as front-runner for the same prize at the Oscars, while Leo boosted her own prospects at Hollywood's big night.
Paul Giamatti won for best actor in a musical or comedy for the curmudgeon tale "Barney's Version," winning over a lineup that included Johnny Depp, who had two nominations in the category.
"Barney's Version" follows the many loves in his life: his three wives, played by Rachelle Lefevre, Minnie Driver and Rosamund Pike, whom Giamatti described as "a trifecta of hotties."
"I got to smoke and drink and get laid in this movie and I got paid for it. An amazing, amazing thing," Giamatti said.
"The Social Network" led Sunday at the Globes with four prizes, among them best director for David Fincher and screenplay for Aaron Sorkin.
Fincher said he thought it was strange when "The Social Network" script came to him, since he usually makes dark character studies about misanthropes or films about serial killers. His films include the murder tales "Seven" and "Zodiac."
"I'm personally loathe to acknowledge the kind of wonderful response this film has received for fear of becoming addicted to it, so suffice it to say, it's been really nice" Fincher said.
"The Social Network" also won the Globe for musical score for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
Sorkin, creator of TV's "The West Wing," had kind words for Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, played by Jesse Eisenberg in "The Social Network."
"Mark Zuckerberg, if you're watching, Rooney Mara makes a prediction at the beginning of the movie. She was wrong. You turned out to be a great entrepreneur, a great visionary and an incredible altruist," Sorkin said.
Bening received her prize for the lesbian-family tale "The Kids Are All Right," winning in a field that included "The Kids Are All Right" co-star Julianne Moore. The film stars Bening and Moore as a couple whose family falls into turmoil after their teen children seek out the sperm donor that fathered them.
"I'm very proud to be a part of this very special film about two women who are deeply in love and try to keep their family together," Bening said. "My partner, Julianne Moore, I have to thank first. She asked me to do the picture with her. She made it possible for us to shoot it where we shot it, when we did, so Julianne -- you are a class act, thank you."
The buzz around town on Globes weekend was not only about likely winners, but also about a lawsuit filed Thursday by a former longtime publicist for the Globes claiming the organization that runs the show, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, engages in payola schemes for nominations and awards. The allegations have been denied by the HFPA, a group of about 90 reporters covering show business for overseas outlets.
Ricky Gervais returned as Globes host for the second-straight year. Gervais joked that Globe nominees weren't picked just so that Globe voters could hang out with stars such as Depp.
"They also accepted bribes," Gervais said, referring to the publicist lawsuit.
Philip Berk, who heads the HFPA, made no reference to the lawsuit during his appearance early in the show, simply offering a perfunctory plug for the quality of Hollywood movies.
Gervais pulled few punches as the night progressed, mocking Hugh Hefner, Charlie Sheen, Cher, Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson, Scientologists and Robert Downey Jr., among others.
"Aside from the fact that it's been hugely mean-spirited, with mildly sinister undertones, I'd say the vibe of the show is pretty good so far, wouldn't you?" Downey, a presenter, shot back, perhaps only half-jokingly.
Bale, who won for his role as a former boxer whose career unraveled amid drugs and crime, thanked his collaborators on "The Fighter," among them director David O. Russell and star and producer Mark Wahlberg, who plays boxer Micky Ward to Bale's Dicky Eklund, Ward's older half brother.
"I've really got to give a shout out to Mark, because he drove this whole movie, and you can only give a loud performance like the one I gave when you have a quiet anchor and a stoic character," Bale said. "I've played that one many times, and it never gets any notice."
Bale seems to be on the same awards track as his "Batman" co-star, the late Heath Ledger, was two years ago, when he won supporting actor at the Globes for "The Dark Knight" on the way to earning a posthumous Oscar.
Leo, who plays the domineering mother of Ward and Eklund, had gushing words for all of her co-stars -- along with her own mother and other ancestors.
"Here in Southern California, home of my mother, her mother, her mother before her -- look Mom, I got a Golden Globe!" Leo said. "Mark Wahlberg, you are a prince, you are amazing. It was so beautiful to play your mother."
"The Fighter" also is competing for best drama at the Globes, along with "Black Swan," "Inception," "The King's Speech" and "The Social Network."
The regal 1930s saga "The King's Speech" and the contemporary Web tale "The Social Network" are considered the favorites for best drama. "The King's Speech" led the Globes with seven nominations and "The Social Network" dominated awards from top critics groups.
"Toy Story 3," the top-grossing film released last year and the second sequel to 1995's digital animation pioneer "Toy Story," won the Globe for animated films, making Disney's Pixar Animation unit five-for-five in the category since it was added in 2006. Past Pixar winners are "Up," "WALL-E," "Ratatouille" and "Cars."
"Wow, were you two even born when the first `Toy Story' came out?" "Toy Story 3" director Lee Unkrich said to his award's presenters, 16-year-old pop star Justin Bieber and 14-year-old Hailee Steinfeld, co-star of the hit Western "True Grit."
Robert De Niro received the Cecil B. DeMille Award for career achievement.
The usually taciturn De Niro gave an uncharacteristically interesting acceptance speech, making jokes about members of the HFPA being deported (along with most of the waiters working the event) and suggesting that most people in the room hadn't seen a lot of the films he was proud of, including "Stone," "Marvin's Room" and "Stanley and Iris."
"Some of you would be seeing them for the first time. You didn't even watch the screeners, did you?" De Niro said.
Among TV winners, "Glee" won three prizes, best comedy and supporting-acting prizes for Jane Lynch and Chris Colfer. "Boardwalk Empire" won two prizes, for best drama and dramatic actor for Steve Buscemi.
The Globe ceremony traditionally had a strong track record as a forecast for what film would win best picture at the Oscars. But the two shows have split in recent times, with only one top Globe recipient -- 2008's "Slumdog Millionaire" -- also winning the main prize at the Oscars over the past six years.
A year ago, the sci-fi sensation "Avatar" won best drama at the Globes, but the Iraq War saga "The Hurt Locker" took best picture at the Oscars.
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