Academy Oscar survey

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Since no one’s come up with any kind of Best Picture Oscar prospectus that jells or resonates (i.e., nobody’s buying into my Babel declaration of a few days ago, while some are insisting it’s an LMS-vs.- Departed situation), I’m going to try sussing things anew by calling and grilling no less than 30 Academy members over the next couple of days. (And not just people I know and/or aesthetically relate to — I’m going to definitely contact some doddering blue-hair types.) If any Academy members or Oscar strategists want to get in touch to make this process easier, so much the better.

Eastwood on Scorsese

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Commenting on the Best Director Oscar race, Clint Eastwood said yesterday that Martin Scorsese “probably has a good chance, there is a lot of sympathy for him, but I have no control over any of that. I always feel sorry…for the others, because there are other nominees and they’ve worked very hard on their projects, too. I don’t think any two people should be singled out.”

Where in the World…?

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“On Monday morning in Berlin, sources confirmed that the Weinstein Company has signed a North American deal for Morgan Spurlock‘s Where in the World…, a new documentary about Osama bin Laden. With Spurlock in Berlin over the weekend, Cinetic Media and Wild Bunch screened about 15 minutes from the new film. TWC has yet to issue a formal announcement confirming the pact.” — from an e-mailed

More “Zodiac” reviews?

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Hey, where’s Todd McCarthy‘s Zodiac review in Variety? Somebody must have weighed in since my Friday posting. Less than three weeks before it opens…hubba-hubba.

“Agree about Zodiac,” a Manhattan-based journalist wrote this morning. “I think the Fincher fanatics, and I mean the fan boys who geek out over Fight Club, might find this film, which is terrific, a disappointment. It’s too cerebral, too procedural…too much about how this frustrating case takes over the lives of the three leads. What it’s not is a thrill-a-minute ride a la Seven. Which is maybe why Paramount is a little afraid of it. But whoo, boy, it sure delivers the goods in just about every other way. And the leads are great.”

2 Days in Paris

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“The spirit of early Woody Allen is alive and well on the streets of the French capital in 2 Days in Paris, an entertaining, deliciously played walk-and-talker by helmer-writer-star Julie Delpy and co-star Adam Goldberg. Dialogue-driven humor, which often goes way beyond satirizing just Yank-Gallic differences, has a traditional French lightness but also a fearlessness that’s refreshing.” — from Derek Elley‘s Variety review from the Berlin Filn Festival.

Carr on credit skirmishes

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“One of the dirty secrets of this time of year is that the money that is spent on the Oscars — hundreds of millions of dollars on television and trade ads, parties, and shipping DVDs to academy members — can never be recouped even by the most spectacular post-awards bounce. None of last year’s contenders surpassed the $100 million mark in domestic box office. All that money is, in part, the price tag on ego — of making sure that the captains of this industry have something in the trophy case when all is said and done.” — from David Carr‘s 2.12.07 N.Y. Times piece about Oscar credit skirmishes.

Murphy trashed

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Richard Roeper and guest critic Lisa Schwarzbaum went on and on and on and on about how bad Norbit is. Schwarzbaum said she wanted to gnaw her arm off while watching it. Roeper said it’s “probably one of the worst movies of 2007, and I’m being kind,” and that he thinks Murphy is actually trying to make himself look bad. Whoa…why can’t these two can’t get over their vindictive pettiness and realize that trashing Norbit might hurt Murphy’s Oscar chances?

Arndt & Monahan win WGA Awards

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Watched 60 Minutes at a friend’s house, fell asleep on the floor for 15 or 20 minutes, got up and rode home on the bike and missed the two magic WGA moments when (a) Little Miss Sunshine‘s Michael Arndt won the Best Original Screenplay award, and (b) The Departed‘s William Monahan won the Best Adapted Screenplay trophy. Like everyone knew, predicted, had no doubt about, etc. “I’m gonna go have a smoke right now. You want a smoke? You don’t smoke, do ya, right? What are ya, one of those fitness freaks? Go fuck yourself.”

Loneliness DVD

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On 2.13.07, Warner Home Video released a reportedly better-looking-than-ever-before DVD of Tony Richardson‘s The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner, my second-favorite British kitchen-sink drama (after Lindsay Anderson‘s This Sporting Life). The Richardson is so authentic it feels almost surreal at times; the grimy working- class atmosphere is like some long-gone social vintage, more valuable now than ever.