Oscars 2013

*Michael Fassbender says he wont campaign for an Oscar again.

*Screeners for FRUITVALE STATION were sent out with an unfortunate typo.

*Only 6 serious Oscar hopefuls have yet to be seen. They are: AMERICAN HUSTLE, LONE SURVIVOR, THE MONUMENTS MEN, OUT OF THE FURNACE and THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (rumor has it that it will be released this year after all).

*Does the number of attendees at the Academy showings of GRAVITY and 12 YEARS OF SLAVE mean anything?

*Weekend Box Office results. (Oscar contenders are highlighted)

1. “Gravity,” $31 million 

2. “Captain Phillips,” $17.3 million

3. “Carrie,” $17 million.

4. “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs,” $10.1 million

5. “Escape Plan,” $9.8 million

6. “Prisoners,” $2.1 million 

7. “Enough Said,” $1.8 million.

8. “Fifth Estate,” $1.7 million.

9. “Runner Runner,” $1.6 million

10. “Insidious Chapter 2,” $1.5 million

Get ready for GRAVITY mania. The moratorium for reviews has expired and there is a not a bad review to be found.

JOCELYN NOVECK of the AP calls it “90 minutes of terrifying beauty”

Awards Daily points out that it is the best reviewed movie of the year so far with a 95 on Metacritic.

Rotten Tomatoes currently has a score of 97%

When predicting Best Picture, your best bet is to pick the movie that you can sit anyone is front of and they will like it. 12 YEARS A SLAVE may be to divisive for the Academy to choose as their favorite of the year.

GRAVITY opens wide this Friday, but some theaters are showing it Thursday night at 10PM. It is highly recommended that you see it in IMAX 3D as it was meant to be seen.

AUGUST:OSAGE COUNTY premiered tonight in Toronto. The reviews are mixed to say the least.

It happens every year. A movie makes a big splash at Toronto or Telluride and everyone claims it the Best Picture winner. Last year at this time THE MASTER and ARGO were most peoples picks.  ARGO did go on to win Best Picture, so maybe they are on to something.

This year is is 12 YEARS A SLAVE.

Christopher Rosen at Huffington Post said,

 I’m not even sure we should have this chat — or any other this Oscar season — since the Best Picture winner at the 86th annual Academy Awards is “12 Years A Slave.”

THE DALLAS BUYER CLUB premiered Saturday night in Toronto.  The world got its first look of McConaughey’s  performance as a Texas man diagnosed with HIV in the 1980s. Based on the true story, the film follows his frustration with FDA and smuggles in his own drugs.  McConaughey received a standing ovation for the role that he lost 50 pounds for.  The acting branch of the Academy love to see actors “suffer for their art”.   Matthew McConaughey could very well get his first Oscar nomination.

Jared Leto, who is unrecognizable could also get his first Oscar nomination in a supporting role.  I am not making this up.

Jeff Wells writes,

The surprise is that everyone sat down expecting to see a Best Actor-calibre performance from Matthew McConaughey. They got that, but when the lights came up the first words out of everyone’s mouth were “Jared Leto,” who is easily in the Best Supporting Actor race now. And Jennifer Garner really nails it also — her Dallas Buyers Club doctor is probably the best role she’s ever had and the best performance she’s ever given.

Twitter was also abuzz…

DALLAS BUYERS CLUB will be released November 1st.

Although we are well into Toronto, I wanted to wrap up some of the highlights from Telluride.

The films shown with best Oscar potential are:

12 YEARS A SLAVE

NEBRASKA

GRAVITY

TIM’S VERMEER

THE PRISONERS

Movies with Actor Contenders

ALL IS LOST

LABOR DAY

INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS

Not So Great Reviews

UNDER THE SKIN

PALO ALTO

THE WIND RISES

THE INVISIBLE WOMAN