Movie City News’s annual Gurus of Gold is up and running. A must read every year for any Oscarphile. 16 writers who follow the Academy Awards and from their chart, ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ is taking over as the front-runner in the Best Picture race. Save for one, the gurus gave Heath Ledger the #1 spot for Best Supporting Actor in ‘The Dark Knight.’ Sounds right – I know I’ll be voting for him at my Oscar party. Only 15 weeks to go til Oscar night!
More fresh, new blood being infused into my annual High Holy Day of the year, The Academy Awards. AMPAS announced today that Michael Giacchino will serve as the musical director for the 81st Academy Awards in February. The Emmy-winning composer and conductor was selected by producer Laurence Mark and executive producer Bill Condon, themselves newcomers to the show. In Giacchino, Mark and Condon follow a pattern of choosing Academy Awards first-timers that include director Roger Goodman and set designer David Rockwell.
Last year, Giacchino received an Academy Award ® nomination for Music – Original Score for his work on the animated film “Ratatouille.” His film credits also include “Speed Racer,” “Mission: Impossible III,” “The Family Stone” and “The Incredibles.” He has also composed and conducted the scores for the upcoming “Star Trek,” “Land of the Lost” and Pixar’s “Up.” In 2005 Giacchino won an Emmy ® for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for “Lost.”
I’m definitely good with all the first-timers this year to the Oscar telecast. The show needed some refreshing…and a new, younger host – but not too young. They have to come off like they know what’s going on… can you imagine… “This Year’s Host… Miley Cyrus!”
Source: Oscars.org
So, it’s not been a good week to be someone who worked on ‘The Dark Knight’. First off, your film is getting sued by the mayor of a little town called Batman, Turkey for name infringement (see that article here), and, now, your film is getting one less Oscar nomination than it deserves.
The executive committee of the Academy music branch (all 2 of them?) have decided to disqualify the score for ‘The Dark Knight’ from Academy Award competition. The reasoning? Too many chefs in the kitchen. Apparently, five names were listed as composers on the music cue sheet, the official studio document that specifies every piece of music in the film.
Composers Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard collaborated on the music, but, evidently, multiple names were listed on the cue sheet as a way to financially reward parts of the music team. This cue sheet is used by performing-rights societies in order to disperse royalties. Zimmer; Howard; music editor, Alex Gibson; ambient music designer, Mel Wesson; and composer, Lorne Balfe all signed an affidavit stating that the score was primarily the work of Zimmer and Howard.
That wasn’t enough to dissuade the committee from disqualifying the film’s score. Documentation was supplied to the committee stating that more than 60%, but less than 70%, of ‘The Dark Knight’s score was credited to Zimmer and Howard.
Just for your information, here are the rules for eligibility for Best Musical Score:
B. ELIGIBILITY
1. The work must be specifically created for the eligible feature-length motion picture.
2. The work must be the result of a creative interaction between the filmmaker(s) and the composer(s) or songwriter(s) who have been engaged to work directly on the film.
3. The measure of the work’s qualification shall be its effectiveness, craftsmanship, creative substance and relevance to the dramatic whole.
4. The work must be recorded for use in the film prior to any other usage, including public performance or exploitation through any media whatsoever.
5. Only the principal composer(s) or songwriter(s) responsible for the conception and execution of the work as a whole shall be eligible for an award. This expressly excludes from eligibility all of the following:
a)Â supervisors
b)Â partial contributors (e.g., any writer not responsible for the overall design of the work)
c)Â contributors working on speculation
d)Â scores diluted by the use of tracked themes or other pre-existing music
e)Â scores diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs
f)Â scores assembled from the music of more than one composer.
6. No more than two statuettes will normally be given in the Original Song category. A third statuette may be awarded when there are three essentially equal contributors to a song.
7. The Executive Committee shall resolve all rules interpretations and all questions of eligibility.
8. It is within the sole and confidential discretion of the Board of Governors to determine what awards, if any, shall be given.
So, what do you think about this ruling? Let us know below!
Source: Variety
Paramount is going anything but “full retard”. Variety ran an article yesterday about the studio’s decision to push ‘The Soloist’ back to March. We covered this news. Check out that article here.
However, probably the most interesting piece of information in the Variety article was something that came as a throw-away line at the end.
“…the studio will now back an Academy campaign for his (Robert Downey, Jr.) supporting role in ‘Tropic Thunder’.”
Yes, Paramount is pushing for a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Downey. This is awesome news. The Best Supporting Actor category is routinely the most interesting award given at the Oscars. This year we will surely have Heath Ledger for ‘The Dark Knight’, and, now, it’s looking good for Downey to be in the mix, as well. Good on you, Paramount!
Source: Variety
Oh bless the maker!…My favorite time of year is almost here….AMPAS announced today that Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Gods and Monsters) and Laurence Mark (Dreamgirls, Jerry Maguire ) will produce their first Oscar show. “Larry and Bill are fresh thinkers who will bring a unique perspective to the Oscar show,” AMPAS president Sid Ganis said. “That fact, joined with their enormous collective talent and enthusiasm, will serve the 81st Awards proceedings perfectly.” Good! Cuz it was quite apparent last year’s producer, Gil Cates, has lost his touch – boooooring! Time to pass the baton, Mr. Ganis… Last year was Cates 14th assignment as Oscar telecast producer – more than any other individual.
And who has the un-envious task of hosting Hollywood’s big night? “All doors are open,” Mark said. “The casting of any movie is crucial to the success of the movie, and we believe the same is true with any kind of awards show. The casting of the host is a big deal.” No word from them as of yet on if there will be a new or previous host to the party. Hopefully they won’t go with Jon Stewart again.
Academy Award nominations in all categories will be announced on Thursday, January 22, 2009. (My favorite morning!!) The 81st Academy Awards presentation will be shown live by the ABC Television Network on Sunday, February 22, 2009.
source: Oscars.org
Ever since it’s outstanding opening, people have been wondering if ‘The Dark Knight’ would have the kind of legs that could dethrone ‘Titanic’ as the all-time, domestic box office champion. ‘Titanic’ managed to rake in just over $600 million. ‘The Dark Knight’, as of September 11, is at $513 million. Many have thought that there was only one way ‘The Dark Knight’ could top ‘Titanic’. Today, Warner Brothers decided to take that one way.
The Hollywood Reporter is saying that WB has decided to rerelease ‘The Dark Knight’ in theaters come January. This would give the film considerable Oscar buzz, as that’s the height of the Oscar debate period.
“It’s just a matter of bringing it back as a reminder for people,” a studio insider said.
The domestic distribution president at Warner, Dan Fellman, has confirmed that there are ongoing talks between Warner and executives at IMAX to rerelease the film on the large-screen format. There is no word yet on whether or not it will also be rereleased in more conventional theaters
‘The Dark Knight’ is also set to hit DVD shelves in December. Whether or not that will have an effect on the rerelease’s box office take remains to be seen.
This exquisite trailer for ‘The Soloist’ made its appearance over at ONTD! Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx are probably looking at Oscar nods.
