The thing about Oscar watching that’s hard to get across is that there are many invested parties everywhere prepared to give out information for a variety of reasons. This is why I remain always skeptical about what I hear until I have a better idea of the film and/or the film’s reception. While it can sometimes turn out to be right, I have found it is, more often than not, either planted intentionally or else flat out wrong. Roger Friedman has come in and claimed that the “early word” on the Lovely Bones is … what exactly? It doesn’t work as a thriller? It’s supposed to be a thriller? Wow, news to me. Of all of the words I would use to describe this film, “thriller”wouldn’t be one of them.
So this paragraph:
At the same time, early word on “The Lovely Bones” from Peter Jackson is that it doesn’t quite work as a thriller. A possible Best Picture player, “Bones” may have an audience thanks to its large built-in following. But awards may be more elusive.
Gets chewed up and digested and suddenly Peter Jackson is “down” on Vulture’s Oscar chart.
For one thing, Roger Friedman still says “a Best Picture Player.” He says “awards may be elusive,” meaning, he doesn’t see this as a winner. But we’re not in the winning business yet. We’re in the nominating business. As Kris Tapley always says, Phase II is a whole different game. It’s funny how these things work, isn’t it? There is no “there” there.
I don’t mean to pick on Vulture — but they have Invictus “up” on their chart based on a trailer and they have Avatar down based on the second trailer (yeah, should be up based on that second trailer, Vulture!). Also, notice how Invictus is up and The Lovely Bones though neither of them have even been seen yet? No harm, no foul as there is plenty of time to readjust the chart accordingly — but one must remember that this is kind of like talking about which two women are going to be your pre-arranged wife without having met or seen either of them.
Kathryn Bigelow is on there, Colin Firth and Gabby Sadibe. Supposedly Meryl Streep is down.
28 Responses for "You Can’t Always Trust “Early Word.”"
This is looking to be the year of flops for potential Oscar films. But I think no matter what The Lovely Bones will still get nominated and is one of the frontrunners this awards season. It has everything going for it.
This is pure speculation!!!
By the way, in many pre-arranged marriages, you dont get to see or meet the woman before marriage anyway
I guess here’s more “early word” buzz on TLB from Tom O’Neil or his source anyway…
“A spy tells us that Saorise Ronan is in virtually every scene of “The Lovely Bones” as the central character of this compelling story of a murdered girl, her grieving family, and her killer.
And we hear that Ronan steals the picture from everyone including Oscar champ Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener”) and nominee Mark Wahlberg (”The Departed”) as her parents, Oscar winner Susan Sarandon (”Dead Man Walking”) as her grandmother and two-time Emmy victor Stanley Tucci (”Winchell,” “Monk”) as the murdering neighbor. All of them will compete in the supporting slots, leaving Ronan the only “Bones” star in a lofty lead Oscar race.”
Who knows really? but still interesting.
Oh, thanks Sertan. I didn’t know that. You mean you can’t see if you even have chemistry at all?
This is the movie I think will win it all.
BP – The Lovely Bones
BD – Kathryn Bigelow
Editing – Hurt Locker
Art Direction – Lovely Bones
Roger Friedman probably just saw a bootleg work print, with the special effects and the music missing.
He thinks if he ruins a lot of other movies for a lot of other studios, then FOX will forgive him for wrecking Wolverine.
I agree completely that Friedman’s “early word” is “look at me!” hooey, but the supposed reactions he’s reporting are in line with my problems with the trailer. (Maybe he’s just going off the trailer?) The book does not read like a supernatural thriller, and there isn’t a lot of content there to justify that tone unless Jackson et al have departed significantly from the source. So why is it being sold as Poltergeist crossed with I Know Who Killed Me?
Sasha,
in most cases, including in some parts of my home country, bride and groom see each other first time after the wedding – or during the wedding, but not before. What chemistry???? As if they could say no even if there was no chemistry at all!!! That’s sad but also reality in many parts of the world!
“Doesn’t quite work as a thriller”. Translation from Hollywood speak: “It doesn’t fall into one genre or another. It’s not thrilling or spooky enough to be a thriller, and it’s not dramatic enough to be a straight drama.”
That being said, I’m hearing Anti-Christ sneaking into people’s “best” lists. Shocking as that may be. Something like that might push Lovely Bones to the side for that edgy “thriller” factor. Anti-Christ certainly has good cinematography, sound design, production design and a stellar supporting actress performance, even if the subject matter is gruesome.
I apologize, this simply does not seem interesting to me. The trailer made it seem like a really cheesy thriller, but if it’s not as the trailer actually portrays it, then I consider that a positive.
This movie is a frontrunner. I can’t wait to see it and I think it’ll take best picture. The book is a interesting story and I heard it was based on one author’s experience. I hope Peter Jackson can manage to fit into a slowly-paced and eliquent adaptation.
Antichrist is a Cannes movie, not an Oscar movie. This doesn’t speak so much to its quality as to its thematic content, aesthetics, and pedigree. It has its audience, as Lovely Bones has its own.
“Antichrist has a stellar supporting actress performance”….?
There are only two actors in the entire movie, both of them lead. No supporting players what-so-ever… But Charlotte Gainsbourg DOES deliver a no-holds all-out “naked” performance. But it’s a lead performance.
Interesting since McWeeney doubts its Oscar potential based on the word that it`s a very good thriller but not AMPAS thing. So is it a good thriller or doesn`t work as such? Make up your mind early words! Lolz.
That said, Ronan stealing the show form her stars is no surrpise because child actors always do (Leo stealing De Niro`s thunder in This Boy`s Life,for example) and her co-stars aren`t super-charismas anyway (nor is Ronan who I don`t think will be bankable, but more like Winslet and Blanchett, lots of critical love but no opening power).
Now, any early word on the most important movie of the year and its sure-fire greatness, New Moon? It`s coming out this month, whole world cares to see it and I can`t wait for all the reviews to come out and acknowledge how great it is. Any word? Any? Plz?
That being said, I’m hearing Anti-Christ sneaking into people’s “best” lists.
“People’s Best Lists” maybe, but BP nominee? No. Fucking. Way.
The Lovely Bones has had a huge target on its back for a while, people wanna see it fail, but peter jackson has yyet to have a flop and hes been working on this for 4 years, its not gonna happen, this will be great, and who cares about awards!(me)
I get the feeling that Paramount and PJ are working really hard to keep this film off everyone’s “GUARANTEED LOCK FOR BEST PICTURE” radar by spreading the word to a few journalists that this film is not their lead pony, so as to avoid the over-inflated expectations problem/frontrunner curse.
You just wait—in a few weeks Paramount and a few “journalists” will change their tune, just in time for the voting bodies to do their thing.
This has been a carefully and expertly handled campaign. But it’s going to start gearing up anytime soon.
Attention whore blogger:”Early word on LB is that it doesn`t work as a thriller, it doesn`t work as a ghost movie, it doesn`t work as a disfunctional family drama and it doesn`t work as a movie about Mark Wahlberg appologising to a plastic rose that Ghost Ronan skates over.”
AD gang: “WHAT CRACK ARE YOU SMOKING????????? YOU WANT LB TO FAIL BECAUSE YOU CAN`T MAKE AWESOME MOVIES LIKE PETER JACKSON WHO NEVER HAD A BOMB AND WHO SHOULD HAVE SKATING SCENE IN EVERY MOVIE BECAUSE SKATING IS SO EMOTIONAL AND WHO WANTS JIMMY TO HAVE EDUCATION AND ALL GUYS TO JUMP INTO ANOTHER GUY`S BED IN SLO-MO BUT NOT IN NORMAL SPEED BECAUSE THAT IS NOT EMOTIONAL! SO F*** OFF YOU LOSER BECAUSE YOU`LL BE EATING CROW PIE WHEN LB CLEAN SWEEPS 30 CATEGORIES OUT OF 25!!!”
Attention whore blogger:”Early word on Nine is that it doesn`t work as a musical, it doesn`t work as a comedy, it doesn`t work as a drama, it doesn`t work as a bitchfest and it doesn`t work as a movie about Nicole Kidman trying to move her face.”
AD gang:”WHAT CRACK ARE YOU SMOKING????????? YOU WANT NINE TO FAIL BECAUSE YOU CAN`T MAKE AWESOME MOVIES LIKE THE LEGEND WHO NEVER HAD A BOMB ONLY MISUNDERSTOOD MASTERPIECES THAT ONLY PEOPLE WHO APPRCIATE ART HAVE SEEN WHICH IS NO ONE WHICH MAKE HER SUCH EXCLUSIVE ELITE UNLIKE MAINSTREAM ACTRESSES WHOSE MOVIES MASSES WANT TO SEE WHICH MAKE THEM A NON-ELITE! SO F*** OFF YOU LOSER BECAUSE YOU`LL BE EATING CROW PIE WHEN NINE WINS ANOTHER OSCAR FOR LA COTILLARD AND LA CRUZ WHO WOULD BE THE SECOND AND THIRD COMING OF THE LEGEND IF THE LEGEND WAS GONE!”
Attention whore blogger:”Early word on Invictus is that it doesn`t work as a drama, it doesn`t work as a biopic, it doesn`t work as a uplifting sports movie and it doesn`t work as a movie in which Morgan Freeman isn`t Morgan Freeman.”
AD gang:”KNEW IT! THIS IS DEFEATUS! ATTENTION WHORE BLOGGER, YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN WRONG! YOUR EARLY WORD IS ALWAYS RIGHT ON THE MONEY! BYE-BYE THE CLUNT!”
interesting, Bambi….
and the most creative AD blogging awards goes to Bambi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bambi, that’s cute, yes.
Accurate, no.
No whore bloggers are saying any of those things about any of those movies. Just one whore blogger saying TLB doesn’t work as thriller.
That’s all we’re hearing about any of those 3 examples: “boo-hoo it’s not a thriller.”
And everybody who’s read the book agrees: “it’s not supposed to be, asshat.”
Do you really think there’s a bias against Clint from the “AD Gang”? Did you miss the Gran Torino Million Man March last year? Did you not notice the photo of Eastwood holding two Oscars as the banner logo mascot for an entire year? (2007)
I don’t find Bambi interesting or cute. I find Bambi about 2 steps away from Afrika-like cloyingness. New Moon. lol.
I appologize, Ryan. I know that those bloggers didn`t say things about other movies. I just have a feeling that there`s a huge LB and Nine bias here, like they are going to make everyone forget about movies that were buzzed about ever since they were seen. I don`t think so but I acknowledge I went too far with poking fun at fans faith in them so, again, I`m very sorry. I understand that you wanted the “early word”, even though unreliable, to be stellar, and I should`ve been tactful instead of tactles and tasteless. So, please, delete the mock blog since it offends people.
However, I want to point out something. The book isn`t a thriller and the movie isn`t supposed to be. Yet if those who`ve seen it (and someone had to have seen it by now) feel it is a thriller that isn`t quite working, than something`s got lost in translation to the big screen. Or it`s simply anti-plant tactic to sabotage the competition. You can put any spin depending on which team you are on. For exmaple, Team LB will say that Paramount`s doing an excellent job at keeping LB low profile for now to avoid oversaturation and early burn out. Team Another Contender, however, will say it just shows studio`s loss of interest in this and UITA`s clear status as Paramount`s Oscar top dog. Well, we`ll know soon enough.
can someone help me with this question ? I heard or read somewhere that Within The Whirlwind will be playing the Boston Jewish Film Festival on November 15th and has also played a few European ones as well. My question is… if the movie is having a screening, that means at least a few critics will see the movie and there most likey will be a distributor or two there, so if the film does get picked up and just is released limited in December, does that mean Emily Watosn’s name might get put back in the hat for discussion in the best actress category ?
Paramount are very happy with The Lovely Bones. Almost as happy as Warners are with SHERLOCK HOLMES, and they are very, very happy indeed; so much so that Holmes may very well be this year’s dark horse if it does business.
I love the Vulture’s putting “Bright Star” in BP, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor (Paul Schneider)! Now THAT’s a legitimate surprise!
Are they all realistic placers? I dunno.
And what happened to Audrey Tautou?
I think “Coco Before Chanel” has more support than people expect. At least these people. There will be at least ONE Foreign Language film in The Ten.(Did they get that from E? Lol)
And in Supporting – No PETER SARSGAARD for “An Education?”
And in Supp. Actres…the wonderful femmes from “Inglorious”? And Patty Clarkson in “Whatever Works? And Marion Cotillard would be a leading performance in “Nine” as the wife.
I love people predicting films and categories that they haven’t seen…Nobody knows is “Nine” or “Invictus” or “The Lovely Bones” is gonna fly like “The Aviator” or crash like “Amelia”?
But Abbie Cornish keeps her momentum going…She may be the only nomination for “Bright Star” or at the very least, the most secure nomination for BS at this point. Paul Schneider? A very creditable performance as Ben Whishaw’s BFF? But why not Mr. Whishaw himself?
I think Bright Star has a good chance to be nommed for Picture, Actress, Screenplay, Cinematography, Art Direction and Costumes. Campion, Schneider or Whishaw would be more of a longshot. I’d nominate them in a flash, but I doubt AMPAS will.
And Tilda Swinton’s “Julia’ has been completely forgotten
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