Earlier today Academy members received an email from Hawk Koch announcing that everyone will be permitted to vote for Best Documentary Feature, Best Live Action Short and Best Animated Short, and that everyone will be sent screeners of the nominees. No longer will a few hundred voters, if that many, determine the results in those races. “Remember that documentary and shorts producers usually don’t have money for cab fare, let alone the cost of sending screeners to 6,000 Academy members,” a tipster comments. “So who’s footing the bill? Presumably the Academy, and that’s the headline. Good for them.”

HE commenter “Tuan” has been removed from the premises. I never liked his handle and too many of his posts rubbed me the wrong way. He was bringing the conversation down, man! What finally tore it was his subject-changing comment about the passing of Jon Finch, which I mentioned last night. Tuan ignored Finch and said “speaking of Shakespeare, Roland Emmerich‘s Anonymous is a fine, fine film. Probably the most surprising film I saw in 2011. It’s a shame that more people didn’t like it because of its conspiracy angle.” That was it. I won’t have this inanity.

A friend asked yesterday if I’d heard of the passing of Mariangela Melato, 71 — the co-star of Lina Wertmuller‘s The Seduction of Mimi (’72), Love and Anarchy (’73) and Swept Away (By An Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August). Melato was right smack in the heat of the hip-film-world zeitgeist back then, and she had, I’ve read, a full life and a thriving career after that, or at least up until a year or so ago when she began to come to grips with cancer.

Anyway I said to my friend that yes, I’d heard, and due respect but I couldn’t think of what to say off the top of my head. For me, Melato stopped being an actress of even limited interest after her Wertmuller run, or after Swept Away. I’m sorry but no other films she made seemed to break through and that was that. And that’s a long time to keep a tiny white candle burning in a cathedral. But I’m sorry for her passing. A life lived to the utmost. Condolences to friends, fans, colleagues.

Oscar-nominated Moonrise Kingdom co-screenwriter Roman Coppola is either putting us on by speaking favorably about Gold Toe socks, or, as I suspect, he’s speaking sincerely. If the latter is true his HE stock has dropped a few points. In a 1.12.13 interview with Kempt‘s Ben Reininga, he says “fashion is fantastic” but speaking for himself “if I can’t get it year after year, I don’t want it. For instance, I only wear Gold Toe socks, which I buy at Macy’s.”

In a 4.21.12 post I wrote that “there’s nothing more reprehensible in any men’s clothing department than Gold Toe socks. These are truly the sock of schmucks. If someone takes their shoes off and I can see they’re wearing a pair, I would immediately write them off. Just saying.”

Sartorial issues aside, Coppola is the director-writer of A Glimpse Inside The Mind of Charles Swan III (A24, 2.8), which is why he spoke to Reininga in the first place. I’ll be watching this film very carefully, and if Charlie Sheen, Jason Schwartzman and/or Bill Murray are shown wearing a pair…I’ll leave it at that.

Ion Cinema’s Eric Lavallee has ostensibly posted a rundown of the 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2013 but I can only pull up 38 or 39 of them. I don’t want to process any more than that. I’m presuming the remaining two-thirds will show up eventually. Here are the Lavallee picks that have my attention thus far:

(1) Asghar Farhadi‘s The Past;

(2) John Michael McDonagh‘s Calvary;

(3) Paolo Sorrentino‘s La Grande Bellezza;

(4) Hossein Amini‘s The Two Faces of January;

(5) Francois Ozon‘s Jeune at Jolie (an apparent riff on Luis Bunuel‘s Belle du Jour);

(6) Terry Gilliam‘s The Zero Theorem;

(7) Woody Allen‘s Blue Jasmine;

(8) Roman Polanski‘s Venus in Fur;

(9) James Ponsoldt‘s The Spectacular Now (also on my Sundance 2013 list);

(10) Gregg Araki‘s White Bird in a Blizzard;

(11) John Crowley‘s Closed Circuit;

(12) Michael Winterbottom‘s The Look of Love (also on my Sundance 2013 slate);

(13) Susanne Bier‘s Serena — a period reteaming of Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper.

(14) Errol Morris‘s The Unknown Known: The Life and Times of Donald Rumsfeld.

Previously: Wes Anderson‘s The Grand Budapest Hotel, David O. Russell‘s Abscam project (a.k.a. American Bullshit — starts shooting in March so might not be ready this year…who knows?); Steven Soderbergh‘s Side Effects (which I saw and liked on Monday night, 1.7), Noah Baumbach‘s Frances Ha, Richard Linklater‘s Before Midnight (also a Sundance 2013 highlight), Stephen Frears‘ Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight, Sofia Coppola‘s The Bling Ring, Lars von Trier‘s Nymphomaniac, Wong Kar Wai‘s The Grandmaster, Pedro Almodovar‘s I’m So Excited (all things Pedro!), Joe Swanberg‘s Drinking Buddies (Anna Kendrick, Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson) and Jean-Pierre Jeunet‘s The Young and Prodigious Spivet (Judy Davis, Helena Bonham Carter, etc.). (12)

Plus (1) Peter Landesman‘s Parkland, Diablo Cody‘s untitled film (which was called Lamb of God when I read the script last year), (3) Brian Helgeland‘s 42 (Jackie Robinson biopic w/ Chadwick Boseman and Harrison Ford); and (4) Oliver Hirschbiegel‘s Diana (Princess of Wales biopic/love affair with Naomi Watts). (4)

The 17 biggies I listed on 12.16 are as follows:

(1) John Wells‘ August: Osage County;

(2) Alexander Payne‘s Nebraska;

(3) Alfonso Cuaron‘s Gravity;

(4) George Clooney‘s Monuments Men (a.k.a., cousin of The Train);

(5) Paul Greengrass‘s Captain Phillips;

(6) Martin Scorsese‘s Wolf of Wall Street;

(7) Jason Reitman‘s Labor Day;

(8) Joel and Ethan Coen‘s Inside Llewyn Davis;

(9) Bennett Miller‘s Foxcatcher;

(10) John Lee Hancock‘s Saving Mr. Banks;

(11) Ridley Scott‘s The Counselor;

(12) Spike Lee‘s Oldboy;

(13) Luc Besson‘s Malavita;

(14) Steve McQueen‘s 12 Years A Slave;

(15) Baz Luhrman‘s The Great Gatsby (which might have issues);

(16) Spike Jonze‘s Her.

(17) Anton Corbijn‘s A Most Wanted Man, based on a John le Carres novel and costarring Willem Dafoe, Rachel McAdams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright.

Also: Terrence Malick‘s two ventures — the film formerly known as Lawless plus Knight of Cups (neither of which might not be released until 2014 or 2015…you know Malick). (2)

One could also include Ben Stiller‘s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Nicholas Winding Refn‘s Only God Forgives, Ron Howard‘s Rush, David Cronenberg‘s Maps to the Stars. Neill Blomkamp‘s Elysium, Joseph Kosinski‘s Oblivion, Robert Schwentke‘s R.I.P.D., Sam Raimi‘s Oz: The Great and Powerful and Guillermo del Toro‘s Pacific Rim (9).