76 days 'til Oscar nominations

Lately we've been telling you how many days it is until Oscar night. But we're still more than two months away from Nomination Morning, or as we like to call it, Christmas. (That makes Oscar night the big New Year's Eve party which is correct since the new film year starts thereafter... at least symbolically).

So for today's trivia, the number is 76! So let's talk one of our all time favorite Best Picture losers Network which fell to the rousing hugely popular Rocky in 1976. It didn't go down without a fight, though, taking home more Oscars than the Best Picture winner! How often has that happened, exactly?

It's happened 18 times in Oscar history all told. How many of the years can you guess before clicking after the jump to see the list Tell us how well you did in the comments.

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7 Days Until Oscar. Best Actress & Best Actor as a Package Deal

We're but one week from Hollywood's High Holy Night! With the magic number 7 today let's look at the 7 films which produced matching his & hers Oscars. This is, as you can surmise from the low number, an uncommon occurence! This rare feat requires so many perfect elements to be in place. Just being an iconic movie couple doesn't remotely cut it (notice how Gone With the Wind, Bonnie & Clyde, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf don't appear to cite three quick examples) as it almost always requires two narratives beyond 'loving the film' as well as the absence of a formidable opponent without their own powerhouse narrative in not one but two separate categories.

Here are the 7 films which managed to win both lead acting Oscars... 

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On This Day: Merry Murderers, Obsessed Seafarers, and Noir Stars

On this day in showbiz history...

1719 Leopold Mozart, Amadeus's father is born in Augsburg Germany. In the 1984 movie phenomenon, one of the biggest hits of its year and the winner of 8 Oscars, he's played by Roy Dotrice and factors in heavily to the film's haunting imagery (and poster). Or to quote Salieri as played by F Murray Abraham:

So rose the dreadful ghost from his next and blackest opera. There, on the stage, stood the figure of a dead commander. And I knew, only I understood that the horrifying aparition was Leopold, raised from the dead! Wolfgang had actually summoned up his own father to accuse his son before all the world! It was terrifying and wonderful to watch. And now the madness began in me. The madness of the man splitting in half. Through my influence, I saw to it Don Giovanni was played only five times in Vienna. But in secret, I went to every one of those five, worshipping sounds I alone seem to hear. And hour after hour, as I stood there, understanding how that bitter old man was still possessing his poor son even from beyond the grave. I began to see a way, a terrible way, I could finally triumph over God.

Uff such a great movie.

Classic screen beauties, unforgettable musical moments and other Best Picture nominees after the jump...

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TCMFF Presents Faye Dunaway & Network

Anne Marie here, reporting with a 30 share on Hollywood Blvd!

The 7th Annual TCM Film Fest ended on a high note this year with Network. Though a satire about network television may not seem like the first choice for a film festival sponsored by a teleivion network, nonetheless TCM rolled out the red carpet, not only for the movie, but also for Faye Dunaway. The Academy Award-winning legend introduced the movie by talking to TCM host Ben Mankiewicz about the work - her process, her co-workers, and her thoughts on television and film.

Dunaway started by describing just how many people told her not to take the role of Diane Christensen in Network. Hot off the success of Bonnie & Clyde and Chinatown, Dunaway had awards goodwill to burn. Even Network director Sideney Lumet told her not to take the role. However, Faye Dunaway went against Lumet's good advice, and starred in Network regardless. When Mankiewicz asked her why she'd risk her career to play such a heartless character, Dunaway replied, "This was too interesting an exploration of American culture not to do it."

Dunaway was effusive in her praise of her costars and crew. She called William Holden as a man with "crusty elegance," and amitted that she nicknamed Sidney Lumet Roller Skates because he delivered movies on time and under budget no matter what. When asked what it was like to win an Academy Award, Dunaway could only quip, "You forget to thank people you were supposed to thank."

While the dour tone of Network may not seem like your first choice for a TV film festival, nevertheless the film and its interview beforehand showed what TCMFF is all about. Over 4 days, TCM screened dozens of lost treasures from Hollywood and beyond, exposing the multiplicity that makes true cinephile. As Dunaway said before she was whisked away: TCM does crucial work for promoting classic cinema. And this definition of "classic" always evolves.

"Malkolink Malkolink Malkolink!"

NY Daily News truly absurd photos of John Malkovich recreating famous images of Marilyn Monroe, Bette Davis, and less glitzy iconic art, too, like Piss Christ and American Gothic
Slate great piece on why we need less reboots and more original genre fiction - interesting points made that aren't just the usual bitching
Pink is the New Blog Channing Tatum inviting fans to be part of Magic Mike XXL
The Film Stage an interview with director Pawel Pawlikowski on his Polish hit Ida
Interview talks to the director of Wild Tales, which I loved at TIFF, Damián Szifrón
Shark Robot Avengers as cold cereal t-shirts. The best ones are clearly Thorrios and Loki Charms 'bifrosted!"

 

In Contention another reason to love Virginia Madsen besides that immortal wine monologue from Sideways - she loves the classic Network. She loves it lots
Variety Looks like it's Rachel McAdams, Vince Vaughn, Colin Farrell and Taylor Kitsch as the four leads directing by Justin Lin for True Detective Season 2. Vaughn is a crime boss, the rest are cops. I love Farrell but this does not excite me as much as the promise of Cary Fukunaga directing Harrelson, McConaughey and Monaghan but we'll see
Twitter ...if you must know my general feeling on Rachel McAdams
Variety Julie Delpy's next effort as a triple threat is a French language comedy called Lolo. She's asked the very funny actress Karin Viard to co-star
Awards Daily Freida Pinto's latest vehicle, Desert Dancer, will open the Santa Barbara Film Festival
Rope of Silicon Interstellar is Chris Nolan's longest film yet. This always worries me with directors. If your films get progressively longer it's often indicative of hermetically sealed bubble trouble. Or believing your own hype and forgetting about the actual story you're telling.
Coming Soon ... speaking of. New stills from the film
The Film Stage listen to the score for Gone Girl
NY Daily News Rumors abound that Quentin Tarantino wants Viggo Mortensen for Hateful Eight. So weird that no cast is in place yet given that we've already had a teaser

Today's Must Read/Watch
Extension 765 Steven Soderbergh is goofing around with Raiders of the Lost Ark - it's now a black and white silent - to teach film staging

I value the ability to stage something well because when it’s done well its pleasures are huge, and most people don’t do it well, which indicates it must not be easy to master (it’s frightening how many opportunities there are to do something wrong in a sequence or a group of scenes. Minefields EVERYWHERE....

Oh and remember that time when people were talking up a Costume Design nomination (which of course didn't happen) for Fantastic Mr Fox? Now there's coverage of the costumes for The Boxtrolls. Hey costume designers are needed on stop motion films.

Awardage
In Contention Casting Society of America nominations and honors. The weird part is that Rob Marshall who just generally casts big stars whether or not they're right for musicals, is being honored. But on a happier front, for the TV Pilot honors Looking was nominated and that show was definitely well cast.
Variety The Cinematographer's Guild are honoring a handful of folks too

P.S.
I had myself a final getaway last weekend to Fire Island before I am chained to the computer and Oscar coverage for the next four months. While I was there I met Robert Chang who was a lot of fun and we argued* about this article he wrote on Hunger Games and Gary Ross's use of breaking the 180 line. It's an interesting argument but it personally drives me crazy when directors break rules largely because they can. It always looks sloppy to me. Still the argument is interesting that it's only used for emotional reasons rather than action reasons which is where you usually see it. What'cha think? Maybe if there was only that and the action sequences were actually well filmed I'd like it.

* I know you're probably not supposed to debate film theory when you socialize with the gays on Fire Island but I am who I am.