Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, the duo who picked up an Oscar last Sunday for "Falling Slowly" from the movie Once, have signed a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music. Songs from the film's soundtrack, plus compositions written for Hansard's band, The Frames, and his album with Irglova, The Swell Season, will now all be administered by the publishing arm of Warner Music Group. No doubt the duo will also see a significant label deal soon, but for now, Hansard and The Frames are still under contract with Epitaph Records' sister label ANTI (home to Tom Waits). One report today incorrectly stated that "neither the duo nor the Frames have recording contracts." Says a rep for ANTI: "I don't know that anything has changed in their status with the label. The Frames remain ANTI recording artists."
One of the strangest exchanges on Oscar night didn’t occur at the Kodak Theatre, but on Barbara Walters' Academy Awards special. The View doyenne told Juno’s Ellen Page that she doesn’t “get” the Moldy Peaches — even though she booked the semiretired duo to perform their unlikely hit, "Anyone Else But You," on her daytime talk show. Page, who handpicked the song for the film, didn't seem to take offense, calmly schooling Walters in the subtleties of indie rock: "It's beautiful, honest, [and] hits me on a level I can't deny."
So how does Adam Green, one-half of the anti-folk act, feel about the slight? "I'm not bitter," he says. "When it comes to Moldy Peaches music, I don't think anyone's taking Barbara's opinion too seriously. From what I understand, she really enjoys that song." And the fact that Walters sang along with Page, he adds, is a testament to the tune's unbelievable reach. "You couldn't surprise me now," marvels Green, whose fifth solo album, Sixes and Sevens, is due March 18. "If Michael Jordan turned out to be the biggest Moldy Peaches fan, I’d be, like, 'Join the f---ing club.'”
If the Oscars' recent history of being friendly to rock musicians had you indulging in some kind of fantasy about seeing Radiohead and Pearl Jam members rubbing elbows on the Academy Awards' red carpet, you better get over it. Shortly before the nominations were announced yesterday morning, the Academy officially bumped the orchestral There Will Be Blood score, composed by Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood, from contention; never mind that most Oscar watchers had assumed it would easily be among the top five vote-getters. The decision came down because director Paul Thomas Anderson also used about 15 minutes of a 2006 Greenwood composition (the BBC-commissioned "Popcorn Superhet Receiver") as well as a number of existing classical pieces — and Oscar disqualifies scores "diluted by... pre-existing music." (Some refer to this as "the Godfather rule," ever since Nino Rota's score for the gangster saga was disqualified because that composer had cannibalized some of his previous work.) But many in the film community who've praised Greenwood's work were disheartened by the ruling, whether or not the music was all-new.
One good thing about this year's crazy awards season? At least it's not predictable. After being almost completely ignored by the Golden Globes last week, Into the Wild received the most Screen Actors Guild Award nominations this morning, picking up citations for best cast, actor (Emile Hirsch), supporting actor (Hal Holbrook), and supporting actress (Catherine Keener). No Country for Old Men and Michael Clayton followed with three nominations each, while American Gangster managed two. But the lists were even more notable for who wasn't on them: Sweeney Todd's Johnny Depp and Gangster's Denzel Washington (pictured) were overlooked, as was Charlie Wilson's War scene-stealer Philip Seymour Hoffman. For Depp and Hoffman, it may be because SAG voters weren't sent DVDs of their films, but it may not bode well for Washington's Oscar chances. Meanwhile, two strong Best Picture contenders, Atonement and Juno, were left out of the Best Cast category (Juno's Ellen Page did score a best-actress nod, while Atonement was omitted entirely). But before you now consider best-cast nominees Hairspray and 3:10 to Yuma (both great films) serious Oscar contenders, remember one thing: Last year, the SAG Awards nominated Bobby.
This year's just-released Top 10 list from the American Film Institute — Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Into the Wild, Juno, Knocked Up, Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men, Ratatouille, The Savages, and There Will Be Blood — was its typical mix of established Oscar contenders and a few curve balls. What was missing? The biggest snubs were American Gangster and Charlie Wilson's War, though Universal Studios was represented with the welcome inclusion of Knocked Up. Sweeney Todd didn't make the cut, either. Also missing was Atonement, since, being a British production, it wasn't eligible for the AFI list. (Diving Bell, meanwhile, is considered a U.S./France coproduction.) Films like No Country, Michael Clayton, and Juno certainly cemented their movies-to-watch status, landing yet another honor after making the Golden Globe, Broadcast Critics, and National Board of Review shortlists. But don't count out any movie that the AFI didn't recognize — last year their top 10 list left out The Departed.
Another day, another critics-award announcement. This morning's nominations from the Broadcast Film Critics Association featured a few surprises, particularly the dominance of Into the Wild, which received seven nods, including Best Picture, two for writer/director Sean Penn, and three for cast members Emile Hirsch (pictured), Hal Halbrook, and Catherine Keener. Other big winners included the Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men, which was the only other film to be named in the picture, director, and writer categories; and Michael Clayton, the only other contender to rack up three acting nods (for Clooney, Tilda Swinton, and Tom Wilkinson).
Other notable tidbits: Cate Blanchett scored a Best Actress nomination for Elizabeth: The Golden Age, in addition to her supporting-actress nod for I'm Not There; Lars and the Real Girl's Ryan Gosling and Eastern Promises' Viggo Mortensen beat out the likes of Denzel Washington for Best Actor; and Tommy Lee Jones mystifyingly got stiffed in both acting categories for In the Valley of Elah and No Country.
The BFCA's Top 10 — American Gangster, Atonement, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Into the Wild, Juno, The Kite Runner, Michael Clayton, No Country, Sweeney Todd, and There Will Be Blood — is especially important considering that in the last five years, that tally has contained all five of the eventual Oscar nominees for Best Picture. (The last movie to score with the Academy after being snubbed by the BFCA? 2001's Gosford Park.) So American Gangster's inclusion provides that film with a critical boost, while Charlie Wilson's War and 3:10 to Yuma are now officially on life support.
The movie critics awards have been coming fast and furious over the last 24 hours, with no fewer than five groups announcing their winners. Far and away the big winner has been No Country for Old Men, which followed last week's National Board of Review victory with Best Picture honors from three more associations: the New York, Boston, and Washington D.C. societies. The only dissenting voice was the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, which named There Will Be Blood Best Picture, and the New York Film Critics Online, which split its prize between Blood and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
In the lead-acting races, Blood's Daniel Day-Lewis scooped up three Best Actor awards (from New York, L.A., and New York Online), while Away From Her's Julie Christie added three more Best Actress prizes to her arsenal. And the supporting categories now have two bona fide frontrunners, as No Country's Javier Bardem (pictured) and Gone Baby Gone's Amy Ryan each won four of the five just-announced awards. Including her NBR win last week, Ryan has now won five Best Supporting Actress honors, losing only the New York Online prize to I'm Not There's Cate Blanchett.
Speaking of I'm Not There, Todd Haynes' take on Bob Dylan is one critical fave that seems to be underperforming in the early awards lists, landing only on the New York Online top 10. And both American Gangster and Charlie Wilson's War have been virtually MIA from all the awards action so far. The next few days bring nominations from the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the Golden Globes: Those two big-ticket films will need to pick up multiple nods to stay in the Oscar race.
And we're off. With today's announcement from the National Board of Review — that mysterious yet often prescient group that always names its award winners in early December — the Oscar race has now begun. Its recipients include No Country for Old Men (pictured) for best picture, Sweeney Todd's Tim Burton for best director, George Clooney (Michael Clayton) and Julie Christie (Away from Her) for the lead acting prizes, and Casey Affleck (Jesse James) and Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone) in the supporting races. Also included on the all-important NBR Top 10 Films list are The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Atonement, The Bourne Ultimatum, The Bucket List, Into the Wild, Juno, The Kite Runner, Lars and the Real Girl, Michael Clayton, and Sweeney Todd.
What does all this mean to the overal Oscar picture? Last year, four of the five eventual best picture nominees were first part of the NBR Top 10 (only The Queen wasn't). So while today's news doesn't necessarily sound the death knell for any particular film, it's certainly not good news for American Gangster, Charlie Wilson's War, or There Will Be Blood. And as always, the NBR list, which last year included head-scratchers like The History Boys, features a few surprise inclusions, like Bourne (yay!) and the upcoming Jack Nicholson dramedy The Bucket List, which seemed to be a Golden Globe contender at best. But at this point, it cemented films like No Country, Atonement, Juno, Kite Runner, Clayton, and Sweeney as movies to watch in the coming months.
Nov 8, 2007, 03:17 PM | by Dave Karger
Categories: Oscar Watch
I'm about to interview the phenomenal Javier Bardem for my Just A Minute video series on EW.com, and as I've been preparing for our conversation, I've noticed something pretty interesting: There's a decent chance that all four of this season's Academy Awards for acting could go to foreigners. There's Irishman Daniel Day-Lewis for Best Actor, France's Marion Cotillard or Brit Julie Christie for Best Actress, Bardem (a Spaniard) or Englishman Tom Wilkinson for Best Supporting Actor, and Aussie Cate Blanchett or Scot Tilda Swinton for Best Actress. The last time no good-old American talent won at the Oscars? All the way back in 1965, when three Brits (Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews, and Peter Ustinov) and Russian-born Lila Kedrova swept the four acting prizes. So who are this country's best bets to block a foreign invasion come next February? Perhaps it's Bardem's toughest competition: Into the Wild's Cleveland-born scene-stealer Hal Holbrook.
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