Link Roundup (and Lint Roundup From Navel Gazing.)

Towleroad. Jodie Foster has limits. Michael Fassbender doesn't. Bradley Cooper stars in Limitless.
I Need My Fix clips and poster for Jodie Foster / Mel Gibson film The Beaver.

Also do you like this Midnight in Paris Vincent Van Gogh lift painting? I can't type Vincent Van Gogh in connection with a Woody Allen movie without thinking of Manhattan's "Hall of the Overrated"

Yahoo Answers "Who danced worse? Elaine on Seinfeld or Michelle Pfeiffer in Scarface?" LOL
Us Weekly Lea Michele kissing on Ashton Kutcher in New Year's Eve.
The News Gazette has very uplifting info about the Ebert Fest Lineup. I don't really worship him in the way most movie-obsessives do but Roger Ebert is really a very cool person

Finally,  E! Online posted a rather drooling "ohmygoditshappened!" in response to the filming of the Armie Hammer / Leonardo DiCaprio smooch in J. Edgar. This is worth reading just for the annoying reminder (in the comments) that homophobia is still alive and well and still refuses to call itself "homophobia". It's just like all those stupid racists who always preface racist comments with "I'm not racist" People are so annoying! Ah well. Best to just keep on celebrating cool people instead. Who is cool? Who do you think has been worth cheering lately?

Sorry I'm in a terrible mood. This is one of the reasons Reader o' the Day has been fun. It's cheerful. And a sense of community is important. For reasons I've never fully grasped it's kind of a lone wolf site. The other movie sites and/or awards sites are constantly referencing each other like a tennis match but we're just off to the side doing our thing, day in and day out. Sometimes we'll do something brilliant and no one will notice and it's kind of a bummer. Other times we'll notice total press release regurgitations going truly viral from other sites and we're like 'why? There's no there there? It's just the press release!' This is not to diss other sites -- there are fine ones out there and every site be it great, good, mediocre or below average has its weaker days and its stronger ones (including this one) -- we just find it odd is all. And we're feeling contemplative. It's tough to do original content day in and day out (like The Hit Me With Your Best Shot feature for example) and have it go nowhere and sites that just do press releases and trailers and casting rumors all day are hugely popular. I was discussing this the other day with Glenn at Stale Popcorn, one of my personal favorite blogs. And it is frustrating for sites that try to have an original voice. Sometimes you feel like you're shouting into the abyss and you'd be better off just posting trailers and posters and quoting other blogs for all your posts.

Anyway... [/boring pity party]

My point is: I really appreciate the community The Film Experience has from you, the loyal readers. The ones who are here year 'round and not just when the Oscar noms and Oscar night happenings happen (always the two biggest days, traffic wise). Are you liking the Reader o' the Day feature? We're doing it for the rest of the month. Maybe it should be a weekly feature hereafter? We'll see.

Awards Brief
The Producer's Guild has announced their awards night date for this film year. It's January 21st, 2012. One date down... dozens more to go.

As Links Go By

The Front Row Richard Brody on Oscar surprises and the health of quality movies.
Towleroad Why did the Oscar broadcast censor the Josh Brolin Javier Bardem kiss?
Getty Images The Bening is ready to dance. But first she'll politely pose for photos.

Reuters Anjelica Huston is writing memoirs. Everyone wants Jack Nicholson dirt but I'm hoping for a good juicy chapter on The Grifters or The Royal Tenenbaums.
Nicks Flick Picks on how this year's Oscar winners will be treated in the judgement all of Time Passing By
Carpetbagger Carr reacts to the ceremony. Love the sum up sentence. So true.
Monkey See 5 Lessons learned from the Oscars Sunday night. Lurve this one.

(4) Australians don't care about your stupid alphabetical order. When the nominees for Best Supporting Actress were announced, Aussie Jacki Weaver was named third, even though she was alphabetically fifth in the category. Take that, Melissa Leo! You might have the Oscar, but Jacki Weaver controls language!

The Wrap the Annie Awards are officially considering changes post Disney/Pixar boycott and the shutouts of WALL•E & Toy Story 3

Review: Heartbeats

"The only truth is love beyond reason" goes the quote from French poet Alfred de Musset that opens Xavier Dolan's moody dreamy French Canadian film Heartbeats. That sounds beautiful in theory, sure, but living it is messier. Immediately the film cuts to a funny frank series of talking head interviews from people who have been unlucky in love. One woman compares herself to Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction and describes panicking at her computer, waiting for emails that never come.

If somebody died every time I hit refresh, there'd be nobody left alive. 

Poetic idealized notions of love clashing with humiliating darkly comic reality? It's a pretty apt way to introduce and describe this arguably slight but beautiful film...

Read the rest at Towleroad

Heartbeats is currently available in select theaters from IFC and On Demand. I'll have an interview with one of the actors shortly after Oscar weekend wraps up. 2011 Index of Movies. This will undoubtedly pick up soon.

This & That: Win Wins, Pettyfer Double, Black Swan $100

I apologize for my absence today, I'm so far behind on awardage I know. Argh. While you wait for that, some articles of mine at my other two haunts.

In my weekly Oscar column at Tribeca Film, I'm considering the win-win of being a nominated actor. If you think you're going to win, you're probably racked with nerves. If you know you're not, you're free to enjoy the adulation without much stress. Either way, it's a win-win since you're Oscar nominated, you know?

Over at Towleroad, I'm blabbing about Alex Pettyfer aka I Am Number Four, the latest product Hollywood is trying to sell me.

It's like Hollywood is smiling under flourescent lighting at the grocery store. "Free sample? Free sample?"

Other things to check out:
Inside Movies great piece on Banksy and why the Academy doesn't understand entertainment on Oscar night.
Meryl Streep Forum has some on the set peaks at Meryl Streep in Thatcher.
Awards Daily Ballot Sasha is simulating the Oscar voting. I voted today. Wheeee
My New Plaid Pants Do Dump or Marry with the Lincoln Lawyer lads.
Gold Derby Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark getting rewrites from a different writer after three months in previews? My God. Please just put this thing down.
Alt Film Guide fun list of longest gap between acting Oscar nods.

Finally, congratulations to Darren Aronofsky. He has his first $100 million domestic grosser with Black Swan which just crossed the big mark. It feels great that the public is finally catching up with all of us, right? Aronofsky's been making awesome movies for a whole decade. In case you missed the big Aronofsky Favorite Actors post, check it out.

Chris Evans as Captain America

A few pictures have made the rounds but the new Empire magazine has several new good ones.

The strange thing is that this particular picture doesn't look a thing like Chris Evans to me, though the other photos are totally Evansy. My point is this: my new column is up at Towleroad where I briefly run this and some other thats. Here's to specificity!