âO.K., whatâs up?â This is how Robert Redford, i.e. The Most Important Person on The Planet, as far as the Sundance Film Festival is concerned, starts a conversation. Itâs Friday afternoon, and heâs just finished an interview for Sundance Channel, is about to dash off to do God knows what (judging by the number of…
Paper Magazine is reporting that the legendary gay documentary PARIS IS BURNING, Jennie Livingston’s look into the world of voguing and ball culture, may see light of day on Broadway. And that fact that PRECIOUS film director Lee Daniels is attached to the project makes me even more excited. The subject matter needs someone like…
1) Starting the show with the 10 lead acting nominees having to take the stage and smile for the cameras. Doesnât the rest of the evening torture them enough?
2) The clips for the 10, count âem 10, Best Picture nominees. Add them up and they were longer than some of the films themselves! Besides, way back in 1939, the 10 nominees were instant classics like Gone With The Wind, Stagecoach, and The Wizard of Oz. But this year? The Blind Side and District 9! Letâs go back to just five. No, make it three!
3) The way the cameras kept zooming in on the front runners right after they lost. When THE HURT LOCKER won Best Original Screenplay, they closed in on a shaken Quentin Tarantino. After PRECIOUS bagged Best Adapted Screenplay, they cut to a sweaty Jason Reitman. Even when AVATAR lost some sound award, they cut to Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington. This practice totally appealed to the sadist in me, but for the sake of others with some heart, letâs only watch people squirm before they lose from now on.
PRECIOUS stars Mariah Carey and Gabourey Sidibe, at the Independent Spirit Awards Wow. The last couple of days have been a BLUR… Friday were the Independent Spirit Awards â which rocked. For some reason the gods decided to bless me and my date, Estee Lauder Pres. John Demsey, and sit us front and center with…
Actor Leonardo DiCaprio
When will I learn? Every year I go to LA for the Oscars saying, âIâm not gonna go too crazy…â Right. Because of Mushie (Musharraf) I didnât get to go to Nicolas Berggruenâs party at the Chateau Marmont â which is a shame. It sounded hilarious. Gerard Butler was there hitting on anything that was an actual woman that moved (whatâs new?) while the women only wanted Leonardo DiCaprio. That shit always makes me laugh. Itâs like 3 am at a frat party with two targets. And at this point, Gerard Butler is so gross, only the sluttiest of women are into him. Itâs been YEARS since 300 and letâs be honest â those years ainât been good to him (ed. note: Man Boobs!) And Leo? I donât get it.
For years, Tom OâNeilâs Gold Derby has been the cyber watercooler to gather around and catch the buzz about whoâs a shoo-in to get nominated–unless their film tanks, they come out with a sex tape, or someone better comes along.
I happen to be one of the professional prognosticators who give their educated guesses to the siteâs Buzzmeter section, and though I donât actually know much of anything about the inner workings of Hollywood, neither do a lot of the Oscar voters, so that works out just perfectly!
This year, Iâm betting my grandmotherâs life on the fact that the supporting trophies will step to the dark side and go to Christoph Waltz for INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS and MoâNique for PRECIOUS, even if the latter seems to have actively campaigned to lose the award.
Other categories have been harder to predict because when Gold Derby first asked for our lists in Novemberâranked in order of likelihood, mind you–some of the films hadnât even screened yet. But again, that totally works out. Some movies like NINE happen to have an Oscar glow around them (not to mention a huge push) from the second theyâre announced, and that usually stays with them even after people see the finished product and deem it a three.