Reacting To The Golden Globe Nominations

I've said it once and I'll say it again: It's a truly strange year. If you were to ask me which film had the edge after yesterday's SAG announcement and now the Globes, I still couldn't give you a confident guess.

"Trumbo" led yesterday's SAG nominations, the strangest occurrence I've ever seen. Today, "Carol" led the Golden Globe nominations, which is less strange, though still doesn't mean it's our frontrunner. The Globes have a long history with Harvey Weinstein, as every awards show does, so I don't know whether to chalk it up to the film's overall excellence or their affinity for Weinstein.

Similarly, "Brooklyn" a film I thought was universally beloved was not embraced as heavily here. "Room" on the other hand, showed some surprising strength, which could be good news for Brie Larson. Saoirse Ronan's surge in Best Actress critics' awards last week should not be overlooked, but if Larson starts winning, then look out.

Take a look at the full list of nominations below.

"Carol" Is A Gorgeous, Quietly Intense Love Story

"Carol," is a lot of things. It's an adaptation of the brilliant Patricia Highsmith novel "The Price of Salt." It's masterpiece in the purest sense of the word; It's Todd Haynes most handsome, affecting work to date. It's a showcase for Cate Blanchett, and evidence that she is truly the best actress working today. How she manages to still surprise us all film after film is a thrilling mystery. More important than all of that, is that it is one of the greatest love stories ever committed to film.

State of the Oscar Race

The Toronto Film Festival may be over, but awards season is just getting started. A bunch of potential Oscar players made a splash to the delight of critics and bloggers everywhere.

There were some notable surprises, but nothing that truly bombed; save for a few films, the big names more or less performed how they were expected to.

And then there were some films (the Rooney Mara/Cate Blanchett drama "Carol" for one) that decided to skip the festival altogether. That hardly matters; With Harvey Weinstein behind you, your film is assured some kind of nomination.

Here are a few of the biggest takeaways post-TIFF; Where do the current players stand?

What does Cannes mean for Oscar?

Rooney Mara won the festival's Best Actress award for her performance in "Carol", coming the second consecutive American actress to win after Julianne Moore last year. 

The Cannes Film Festival is the unofficial start to Oscar season; enough time has passed between the ceremony to begin murmuring about awards contenders, unlike Sundance which finds itself in the thick of awards season. However, success at Cannes rarely spells success with Oscar. Though there are those few that manage to maintain momentum throughout the year (Christoph Waltz from "Inglorious Basterds", Jean Dujardin and the team behind "The Artist") films that are favored by the Cannes jury don't align with Oscar's interests ("Blue is the Warmest Color, Kirsten Dunst in "Melancholia", etc).

However, this year's festival seems like it may be a little different; with so many films in competition, there are several that seem destined for Oscar glory, or at least a shot at it.

Let's take a look at some of the titles we could be seeing again come the end of the year.

Natalie Portman's Directorial Debut to Screen at 2015's Cannes Film Festival

This year's Cannes Film Festival is being headlined by some of the buzziest titles of the year. Not only will Oscar hopefuls "Carol" (Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Sarah Paulson), "Macbeth" (Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard), but Academy Award winner Natalie Portman makes her directorial debut with the Hebrew language biopic entitled "A Tale of Love and Darkness". Portman will also star in the film, but is eligible for the festival's prestigious Camera D'Or which is given to new directors.

It's Never too Early to Look Ahead

After playing a witch in last year's "Into the Woods", Meryl is looking to break her own record as a rock star mom in "Ricki and the Flash" 

Last year's Oscar season just barely ended, and it's already time to start looking ahead at the race that's already starting to form for this year. Though none of the actual contenders have actually premiered to the public yet (unless you count the gorgeous costumes from "Cinderella") there's a slew of buzzy titles with huge names that have people talking.

With nothing at the theaters really holding our attention at the moment, it's never too early to look ahead at what's to come.

Disney Makes True Magic with "Cinderella"

For the last several years, Disney has tried to re-capture the original magic of our favorite fairy tales with updated, live-action adaptations. It started with 2010’s “Alice in Wonderland” directed by Tim Burton. Though the film was filled with stunning visuals and an all star cast, the story left little to be desired. Nevertheless, it made a killing (thanks largely in part to the insane prices for 3-D showings). Disney believed they captured lightning in a bottle because soon after, they released “OZ: The Great and Powerful” and “Maleficent” which followed Burton’s project’s focus on beautiful visuals, but a weak script with updated plot points. They both made huge strides at the box office. There are several future adaptations of animated classics slated for later releases, including “Beauty and the Beast” which will star Emma Watson as Princess Belle. 

So you can understand my exhaustion when the trailer for “Cinderella” appeared online a few months ago, following Disney’s heavy promotion for their Academy Award nominated “Into the Woods”, which featured Anna Kendrick as the titular runaway princess (though closer to The Brothers Grimm’s version than Walt Disney’s). All of the familiar story beats were there: the blue gown, the helpful mice, big names (particularly Academy Award nominee Helena Bonham-Carter and two time Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett) and stunning visuals. I’ll admit, I was intrigued, but still rather annoyed; did Cinderella really need a live-action adaptation? 

Most Deserving Oscar Wins of the 2010's

My idol Nathaniel Rogers (who I had the pleasure of interviewing last semester) posted a list yesterday of his favorite Oscar wins from the past few years; the 2010's, which got me thinking about my favorites. Looking back, I see some really.... not so great wins, but among the rubble, there are some truly deserving, rich wins that I applaud the Academy for. Let's take a look, shall we?

Well, That's A Wrap!

Truly, this is my favorite picture from last night... I can't take my eyes off of her, she's divine. One of the best, most deserving, and most Oscar winners we've had in awhile. 

It seems like we've been following the 2013 awards season forever, hasn't it? Though last year was one of the best years in film we've had in awhile, this Oscar season seemed much longer than the others. What was shaping up to be a competitive year settled into a somewhat predictable horse race. On some levels, I'm okay with it, and on others, not so much.

Links Links Links

• Sasha Stone of Awards Daily explains 5 different ways the BAFTA's can change the Oscar race, most notably in Best Picture & Actor. Do Gravity and Matthew McConaughey really have this all tied up? 
• Speaking of changing tides, doesn't it feel like Amy Adams is having a last minute charge to the podium over frontrunner Cate Blanchett? Jeffs Wells of Hollywood-Elsewhere certainly seems to think so.
• Probably the most talked about piece of news, Oscar nominated Actress Ellen Paige (Juno, Inception) came out the other night. Watch her beautiful speech at the HRCF's Time to Thrive conference here. The Film Experience's Nathaniel Rogers seems to think that this is going to open up phase 2 of her very promising career as an actress. 

More stories below.

Dylan Farrow's Open Letter Specifically Names Cate Blanchett

I don't know if any of you have been keeping up with the recent explosion of bad press Woody Allen has been receiving lately, but it seems to be consuming the movie related news cycle as of late. An open later, penned by Allen's adopted daughter Dylan, was posted by The New York Times just the other day (you can read it here if you so choose).

For those of you who don't know, Dylan Farrow had accused her adoptive father of molesting her at some point. The allegations came shortly after a dramatic divorce between Mr. Allen and Mia Farrow. The allegations were explored shortly after they surfaced, with the courts ruling that (in a nutshell) Dylan Farrow had "difficulty determining fact from fantasy", and that no such molestation happened.

The open letter addresses (for the first time that I'm aware of) what happened from Dylan's point of view, in addition to her feelings and the repercussions of what transpired. It's a brave piece for someone in her position to publicize; Woody Allen is a revered public figure, and the backlash this situation received in the past has exploded ten fold with the publication of this letter. The fact we live in an internet age doesn't help at all.

In the letter, Farrow points a finger at actors and actresses who have worked with Woody, most notably, Cate Blanchett:

"What if it had been your child, Cate Blanchett? Louis C.K.? Alec Baldwin? What if it had been you, Emma Stone? Or you, Scarlett Johansson? You knew me when I was a little girl, Diane Keaton. Have you forgotten about me?"

In doing so, Farrow is not only asking the public not to support Allen, but she points the question to the people who help bring his work to life. She also addresses the fact that Blue Jasmine (the film in which Blanchett and Allen have collaborated on) is an Academy Award Nominee for Allen's writing.

So, what does this all mean for The Academy Awards? And more specifically, Cate Blanchett?

What the Oscar Nominations Tell Us

Here are some takeaways from this morning's Oscar Nominations (if you're interested in what I think)