OSCAR TALK: Ep. 4 — Foreign submissions, PGA’s 10, ‘A Single Man’ a Best Picture possibility

Reel Geezers on ‘Precious’
I’m featuring this review for one reason: if anybody had concerns that the older white majority of the Academy would be resistant to “Precious” … well, worry no more. (The Geezers are on indieWIRE these days, by the way.)

Friendly competition
I would put it on the Lennon-McCartney level. Look how healthy that competition was even when it was unhealthy. Look at the results of it. Different approaches and personalities and each makes the other better. There’s this dialogue right now and I would throw Spielberg into it too. There’s a dialogue among a generation of filmmakers. I would say Spielberg is out ahead of it at the forefront, I’d say, being older and with what he carved out with George Lucas and the creation of the summer blockbuster. But to answer your question, of course, between Zemeckis and Cameron, yes, there’s a tremendous awareness of what the other is doing. It’s like Bea

French masters vie for Louis Delluc Prize
While I was away in Paris earlier this week, I was reminded there of the nominations for the Louis Delluc Prize. Awarded to a single title, it is arguably the most prestigious award in French cinema, having been won by such titans as Truffaut, Renoir, Chabrol, Malle, Bresson, Cocteau, Tati … well, you get the idea. Meanwhile, some formidable auteurs feature in this year’s shortlist, including past three-time winner Alain Resnais and, of course, current Oscar player Jacques Audiard. The eight nominees are:

Ansen gets first word on ‘Invictus’
Apparently unfazed by embargos, Newsweek’s David Ansen has posted a short, mixed-to-positive review of “Invictus,” the meat of which is here: Invictus is not a biopic; nor does it take us deep inside any of its characters—Eastwood views Mandela from a respectful middle distance. It’s about strategic inspiration. We witness a politician at the top of his game: Freeman’s wily Mandela

Happy Thanksgiving
It’s that time of year. I’ve got about a dozen heads coming over for a Thanksgiving feast.  Parade.  Football.  Screeners (a LOT of ‘em).  A full day of cheer.  But I’d like to, of course, take a moment to hand out my thank yous. At the top of that list are my fellow cont