The process of Oscar predictions has changed completely over the last twenty years. Where there may have been favorites and hopes before that came with no sense of what could actually happen on Oscar night, blogging has turned the award ceremony into a stats game, where there are way fewer surprises than ever before. But, if you pay attention to the guilds, you have a great guide as to who is likely to win or lose. That doesn’t keep us from guessing, and our picks for Sunday’s Oscar ceremony are here. Hint: expect big wins for The Artist. Check it out…

Let’s start with the ones we’re most unsure of:

Shorts:

Best Animated Short Film:
“Dimanche/Sunday”
“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore”
“La Luna”
“A Morning Stroll”
“Wild Life”

Best Live Action Short Film:
“Pentecost”
“Raju”
“The Shore”
“Time Freak”
“Tuba Atlantic”

Best Documentary (short subject):
“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement”
“God is the Bigger Elvis”
“Incident in New Baghdad”
“Saving Face”
“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom”

Um… word is high on those I tagged, so that’s what I’m going to go with. La Luna is from Pixar, which is one of those things that can just as easily work for the film as work against it.

Tech:

Best Sound Mixing:

“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“Moneyball”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
“War Horse”

Best Sound Editing:
“Drive”
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
“War Horse”

Best Visual Effects

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″
“Hugo”
“Real Steel”
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”

Best Art Direction:

“The Artist”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″
“Hugo”
“Midnight in Paris”
“War Horse”

Best Costume:
“Anonymous”
“The Artist”
“Hugo”
“Jane Eyre”
“W.E”

Best Makeup:
“Albert Nobbs”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″
“The Iron Lady”

Hugo is likely to lose most of the major prizes it’s nominated for, so its consolation should be the tech awards that aren’t up against The Artist. When going head to head, its scale is bigger so it should win Art Direction but lose Costuming – though Hugo vs. The Artist is the main drama of both awards. The Iron Lady is the most respectable of the make-up choices, and there’s no home team favorite (that is to say, Rick Baker). Still, we could see Potter eke out a victory.

Truth and Music:

Best Documentary Feature:

“Hell and Back Again”
“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front”
“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”
“Pina”
“Undefeated”

There’s little consensus about what could win this one, but I’m going to go with Pina, as it can be viewed as a lifetime achievement award for Wim Wenders. Paradise Lost 3 could win for having real world success, but that could also be that film’s only reward.

Best Original Score:

“The Adventures of Tintin,” John Williams
“The Artist,” Ludovic Bource
“Hugo,” Howard Shore
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” Alberto Iglesias
“War Horse,” John Williams

Best Original Song:
“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets,” Bret McKenzie
“Real in Rio” from “Rio,” Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown and Siedah Garrett.

John Williams splits his vote, and Howard Shore has a number of Oscars, so the movie that borrowed heavily from Vertigo gets it. I’m going Muppets because it’s such a great song.

The More Important Tech Awards:

Best Cinematography:

“The Artist”
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“The Tree of Life”
“War Horse”

Best Film Editing:

“The Artist”
“The Descendants”
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“Moneyball”

If Thelma Schoonmaker didn’t have three Oscars, then maybe she might be the odds-on favorite for editing, but because it’s The Artist‘s night it should win, which would be a good sign for its best picture chances. It could also win for cinematography, but as Deep Throat said “follow the guilds.” And if Tree of Life won the ASC award for best cinematography, and Emmanuel Lubezki has been nominated five times and never won, then it’s a good way to award him and the film.

Best Pictures that aren’t Best Pictures:

Best Animated Feature Film
“A Cat in Paris”
“Chico & Rita”
“Kung Fu Panda 2″
“Puss in Boots”
“Rango”

Though the foreign films could be the usurpers, Rango looks like the odds on favorite and a good way to get Gore Verbinski an Oscar.

Best Foreign Language Film:
“Bullhead” (Belgium)
“Footnote” (Israel)
“In Darkness” (Poland)
“Monsieur Lazhar” (Canada)
“A Separation” (Iran)

In Darkness deals with WWII, which would normally make it the front runner, but A Separation also netted a Screenplay award, which means people have been paying attention. Though this category could lead to an upset, expect Separation to take it home. If not, expect Oscar bloggers to bitch a lot.

Writing:

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, “The Descendants”
John Logan, “Hugo”
George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon, “The Ides of March”
Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin and Stan Chervin, “Moneyball”
Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”

Best Original Screenplay:
Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, “Bridesmaids”
J.C. Chandor, “Margin Call”
Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
Asghar Farhadi, “A Separation”

The guild winners have the clearest shot, though The Artist would be the spoiler for Original screenplay. It feels like a bit of a spread the love year, so Woody Allen should get his fourth Oscar. Go Jim Rash aka Dean Pelton!

Acting!:

Best Actor:
Demian Bichir, “A Better Life”
George Clooney, “The Descendants”
Jean Dujarin, “The Artist”
Gary Oldman, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Brad Pitt, “Moneyball”

Best Actress:
Glenn Close, “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis, “The Help”
Rooney Mara, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”
Michelle Williams, “My Week with Marilyn”

Best Supporting Actor:
Kenneth Branagh, “My Week with Marilyn”
Jonah Hill, “Moneyball”
Nick Nolte, “Warrior”
Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”
Max von Sydow, “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

Best Supporting Actress:
Berenice Bejo, “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain, “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy, “Bridesmaids”
Janet McTeer, “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer, “The Help”

The most likely surprise here would be if George Clooney wins Best Actor, but SAG went with Jean Durjadin, and so should go the Oscar. The academy often acts like an over-compensating liberal, and so Durjadin will follow in Roberto Begnini’s footsteps because he’s new and foreign. The only other possible upset would be Meryl Streep for best actress, but Viola Davis has been doing well in every other award ceremony, and she is a well respected stage and screen actress, so that seems more likely (also as Streep has two Oscars, and this isn’t her best work). Christopher Plummer has been on lock for months, as has Octavia Spencer.

The Artist(s):

Best Directing:
Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
Alexander Payne, “The Descendants”
Martin Scorsese, “Hugo”
Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
Terrence Malick, “The Tree of Life”

Best Picture:
“The Artist”
“The Descendants”
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
“The Help”
“Hugo”
“Midnight in Paris”
“Moneyball”
“The Tree of Life”
“War Horse”

In ten years, the idea that Michel Hazanavicius has a best directing Oscar is the sort of thing that will make people scratch their heads. Same with The Artist‘s win. Doesn’t matter. Right now it’s the hot flavor. Expect an expanded run the week after, and expect years of bewilderment from people who will mention it in the same breath as Shakespeare in Love.

Which films/artists are hoping to see score an upset?

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The award season is getting close to wrapping up, and – as expected – Michel Hazanavicius‘s The Artist is continuing to sweep. Its latest victory was at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts film awards, where it walked away with seven prizes, including best film, director, screenplay and best actor for Jean Durjardin‘s lead performance. Meryl Streep‘s win for The Iron Lady was the only upset of the usual winners (beating Viola Davis), but Octavia Spencer  for The Help and Christopher Plummer for Beginners were also awarded, which goes with most of the major awards to date. Check out the full list…

At this point, the winners for the Oscars seem on lock. Davis will likely have a stronger chance in America, simply because Streep playing Margaret Thatcher was going to have a higher pull in England, and it appears the only drama in the night will be the best Actress and Actor awards. George Clooney could sneak in there as the winner, but The Artist is proving unstoppable, and it seems that Dujardin will trump Clooney – who can lick his wounds by already having one Oscar (on top of, you know, being George Clooney).

Currently The Artist is playing on 808 screens nation-wide and has made $24 Million, and may expand once it wins some of those Oscars. That said, it seems unlikely this will do the business of The King’s Speech (which made $135 Million), as it already has a DVD and Blu-ray release date of April 24.

Here’s the full list:

BEST FILM

• The Artist
• The Descendants
• Drive
• The Help
• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

BEST ACTOR

• George Clooney – The Descendants
• Jean Dujardin – The Artist
• Michael Fassbender – Shame
• Brad Pitt – Moneyball
• Gary Oldman – Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

BEST ACTRESS

• Berenice Bejo - The Artist
• Viola Davis – The Help
• Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
• Tilda Swinton – We Need To Talk About Kevin
• Michelle Williams – My Week With Marilyn

BEST DIRECTOR

• Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
• Nicolas Winding Refn – Drive
• Martin Scorsese – Hugo
• Tomas Alfredson – Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
• Lynne Ramsay – We Need To Talk About Kevin

BEST ANIMATED FILM

• The Adventures of Tintin
• Arthur Christmas
• Rango

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• Jim Rash, Nat Faxon, Alexander Payne – The Descendants
• Tate Taylor – The Help
• George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon – The Ides of March
• Steve Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin – Moneyball
• Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan – Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
• Kristin Wiig, Annie Mumolo – Bridesmaids
• John Michael McDonagh – The Guard
• Abi Morgan – The Iron Lady
• Woody Allen – Midnight In Paris

BEST DOCUMENTARY

• George Harrison: Living In A Material World
• Project Nim
• Senna

RISING STAR AWARD

• Adam Deacon
• Chris Hemsworth
• Tom Hiddleston
• Chris O’Dowd
• Eddie Redmayne

OUTSTANDING BRITISH CONTRIBUTION TO FILM
John Hurt

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Kenneth Branagh – My Week With Marilyn
• Jim Broadbent – The Iron Lady
• Jonah Hill – Moneyball
• Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Ides of March
• Christopher Plummer – Beginners

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Carey Mulligan – Drive
• Jessica Chastain – The Help
• Judi Dench – My Week With Marilyn
• Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids
• Octavia Spencer – The Help

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

• My Week With Marilyn
• Senna
• Shame
• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
• We Need To Talk About Kevin

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

• The Artist
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
• Hugo
• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
• War Horse

BEST DEBUT BY A BRITISH DIRECTOR, WRITER OR PRODUCER

• Richard Ayoade – Submarine
• Paddy Considine, Diarmid Scrimshaw – Tyrannosaur
• Joe Cornish – Attack the Block
• Ralph Fiennes – Coriolanus
• Will Sharpe, Tom Kingsley, Sarah Brocklehurst – Black Pond

BEST FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

• Incendies
• Pina
• Potiche
• A Separation
• The Skin I Live In

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

• The Artist
• Hugo
• Jane Eyre
• My Week With Marilyn
• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIR

• The Artist
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
• Hugo
• The Iron Lady
• My Week With Marilyn

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• The Artist
• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
• Hugo
• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
• War Horse

BEST FILM EDITING

• The Artist
• Drive
• Hugo
• Senna
• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

BEST SOUND

• The Artist
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
• Hugo
• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
• War Horse

BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC

• Ludovic Bource – The Artist
• Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
• Howard Shore – Hugo
• Alberto Iglesias – Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
• John Williams – War Horse

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

• The Adventures of Tintin
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
• Hugo
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes
• War Horse

BEST SHORT ANIMATED FILM

• Abuelas
• Bobby Yeah
• A Morning Stroll

BEST SHORT FILM

• Chalk
• Mwansa The Great
• Only Sound Remains
• Pitch Black Heist
• Two And Two

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Is Tom Hanks Old Yeller in Stephen Daldry’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close? It seems likely. Honestly, it’s surprising that it’s taken ten years for Hollywood to make a film that uses (and perhaps exploits) the tragedy of September 11, 2001 to make a movie about death (and perhaps a chance to feel good about being alive). Hanks stars with newcomer Thomas Horn, and vets like Sandra Bullock, John Goodman, Viola Davis, and James Gandolfini. Take a look at the trailer…

If this trailer says anything it’s that the film is Oscar bait, and since Extremely Loud is coming out in limited release on Christmas day, that’s no surprise. This film was made to be “in contention” – as has everything that Stephen Daldry has directed. The question is if it’s shameless emotional manipulation or effective emotional manipulation. Regardless, you can’t make a movie about a dead dad and 9/11 and not be the cinematic equivalent of chopping onions.

And frankly this trailer makes this look like bad phony uplift. Maybe it’s the appearance of Max Von Sydow as the likely holy fool/old man character, maybe it’s the use of U2 and the Bono baggage that comes with it, maybe it’s the plot device of finding a home for the key, or maybe it’s every frame of this trailer. Hard to say. But how a movie is sold is not always a reflection of its qualities. We’ll know more come 12/25/11.

Am I being too harsh to this trailer?

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Racism is still a hot button issue in America, and though the civil rights movement was a previous generation’s struggle, it’s hard to address those issues cinematically and still make an entertaining film. 2011′s The Help comes at a time when issue pictures are out of fashion, and so it seems slightly fresher than it might have had it come out in any other decade. And yet, it’s the same sort of empowerment movie as we’ve seen before. The bottom line is that the film is fun and has good performances from performers like Emma Stone, Viola Davis and Bryce Dallas Howard. But as a commentary on the issues of race in America, it’s decidedly lacking. Check out our review…

The Players:

• Writer / Director: Tate Taylor
• Actors: Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jessica Chastain, Sissy Spacek, Allison Janney
• Cinematography by: Stephen Goldblatt
• Music by: Thomas Newman

The Plot:

Skeeter (Stone) returns from college looking to be a writer, and finds a fitting subject matter in the black women who raise the children in the neighborhood. At first she wants to talk to her mother’s maid Aibileen (Viola Davis), but her quest also leads to Minny (Spencer). Minny was the help for Hilly Holbrook (Howard) until they have a huge fight. Minny moves on to Celia Foote (Chastain), who’s considered the town’s tramp. Skeeter faces pressure to conform to Hilly’s ways, and Hilly’s is the film’s face of racism. She’s leading a campaign to get all help “separate but equal” bathrooms. As Skeeter listens to Aibileen and Minny, she realizes the story is bigger than the two.

The Good:

• Cast: Tate Taylor seems to love his redheads (the cast is stocked full of them), but more than that he loves female performers. Every performer gets to have fun with it and deliver at least one memorable scene. This may be a simple story about complex issues, but the performers make it interesting. Even Jessica Chastain’s character – who might be defined by her breasts – is fun to watch flail on screen. But when you have powerhouses like Spacek and Janney, you know they’re going to have a couple good scenes, and because it is an ensemble you never have to stay with one section for so long you can’t enjoy – say – watching Howard play against type as a terrible person.
• The Good of the Good for You : When going about making films like this, there’s often a desire to put sugar on the top, and perhaps pat the audience on the head. “You see that racism and a culture of oppression is bad, so feel good about yourself for not living in that time.” This film falls into that trap, but it also addresses the relationship between black women maids and their white children – some of whom think of their “mammies” as their real mothers. It also means that it features some scatological jokes as tasteless as anything conceived of by John Waters, but is done in a way that wouldn’t offend a grandmother.It’s a feel good movie, and on those terms the movie works.
• The Slight Circumvention of the White Lead Conceit: One of the biggest problems with this sort of narrative and films like it is that they cast a white avatar to deal with issues that really aren’t about them. And so Emma Stone is the lead of the picture in a film about black maids. But one of the things the film does to sneakily refutes those other “Thank God for White People” movies is that it starts the film with Aibileen’s narration and ends with her, which then makes it her story. And though Skeeter is the conduit, it never feels like she’s saving the main characters (even if she’s giving them a voice). If it is Aibileen’s film, I don’t know how long she would have gone on about Skeeter, but then that raises a question outside of the narrative. To tell this story, are there any bankable middle-aged Africian-American actresses who can make that feasible, and can you sell that to an American audience that is still majority white? Tyler Perry, as successful as he’s been, has a ceiling. Is it good enough for a major motion picture to address an issue even while its main focus is entertainment, or does it have to dig deeper?

The Bad:

• The Sticky Wicket of Race Relations: On some level, it’s good for a film to address social issues that America – as a culture  – is still dealing with, regardless of who is president. But as a feel-good movie on the subject of race relations in the South in the 1960′s, the film lacks much gravitas. Everything that is fascinating about the relationship between servants and masters, and what it means to be raised by a black woman is visible, but never the focus. Because of writer/director Tate Taylor and author Kathryn Stockett’s background, there is an authenticity here, but you still have very talented African-American actresses playing the roles they were relegated to in the 1930′s. Is this progress that two of the biggest roles for African American women all summer long are roles as maids? The questions are more interesting than the film’s answers, and for that I think the film is worth chewing on, but the question then becomes “if a film can’t end racism (which it can’t), how should it deal with it, and does it have to be super-serious in doing so?” Ultimately, the answer is probably not “by focusing the narrative on ineffective villains and concerned white people” but still there is a lot to unpack in America and the South, and their strained race relations. And it’s hard not to think about those things when watching The Help.

Overall:

The Help may be as full of it as the pie Minny bakes for Hilly, but it goes down easy, and in a summer of films that are about less than anything, it’s nice to see a mainstream movie – if not tackle – at least be about something important and interesting, and the view of how black women raised a lot of white children in the South is a great subject matter. This may not be the best film of it, but it works on its own merits.

Rating: 7.0/10

Photo Gallery:

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It’s always a bit difficult when two stars are paired together in that you always want more out of them. And for The Help’s press Viola Davis was partnered with Emma Stone. At once you wanted to talk to the ubiquitous Stone about her upcoming work in films like The Amazing Spider-Man (which we did), but then with Davis there’s so much to talk about with the film, and her career, and what it means to be an older black actress in Hollywood (albeit one with an academy award nomination, and a Tony award). Better too much than too little. Check out our conversation…

The book was incredibly popular when it came out. Did you read it before you did the film and did that make you want to be a part of the film?

Emma Stone: I read it after I read the script. My mom had read it and people that I knew had read it, but she’s got a better answer to that one.

Viola Davis: I actually don’t have a better answer, but I did read the book, and I absolutely wanted to be a part of it. You just want to be a part of anything that has a lot of roles for black actresses. You just don’t stumble upon it. Usually it’s maybe one, maybe two black roles in a movie, especially in a mainstream movie. I said, “Oh, there are roles for black [actresses].” It was a fabulous book. You’ve all read it, I’m sure, and so it was a fabulous book, but of course I was thinking as an actress and beyond when I was reading the book. I was thinking, “Aibileen, Minny, Yule Mae, Constantine. That’s like four already. They’re doing good.” So, yeah. I said, “This is going to be good.”

Was it competitive then to actually land the part?

VD: Oh, yeah. The deprivation. The deprivation is something else, and so every black actress came out of the woodwork, who shall remain nameless.

Do you think that a movie like this will turn the tide a little bit?

VD: That’s an “I hope” thing. That’s a three hour discussion.

That scarcity of roles that’s not perfect today, but it was so much worse in the era that the movie takes place. Were you both surprised as you dug into what that time period was like, what people went through and how bad it could be?

ES: Yeah, absolutely. I don’t know if it’s my generation or if it’s just me, but I didn’t know the levels, the depths, the intricacies. I didn’t know on a day to day basis what life was like then. I learned a huge amount through the story and through researching the time period more, but I really hope for my generation that they will go see this movie because I don’t know that we know as much as we should about our very recent history. I mean, I remember sitting through European history. I remember sitting through what the Romans went through.

VD: We’re not educated. It’s swept under the rug. It’s the big white elephant in the room in our culture. It’s probably a part of our hypocrisy, that we’ve had a brutal history of race, a three hundred and forty six year history. So, I mean, I’m well aware of it because I made a point of making myself well aware of it, even at a young age, in my twenties. So, I knew what the day to day life was like, and I think that if anything I hope the book, or I know the book and the movie will bring that to life. I’m going to say what I’m going to say with a grain of salt; you hope that while people are being entertained and are laughing – we as Americans just want to be entertained and part of that is to escape whatever ills are going on in our personal lives and our political lives, but I hope that people aren’t laughing and having such a good time that they miss, even within that laughter and all of that, the larger message, that it doesn’t have an impact on people. We always want to shrink from it. I find in my life that whenever I’ve shrunk from anything it’s always come back to bite me right in the behind or it always keeps that dysfunction going. There’s enough of that. I think we’ve matured enough as a culture to step away from that. So, I hope that people will take that away from the movie.

Do you feel like it opens up the dialogue for things that are still happening today? Maybe it’s easier because it’s set in the past, but that maybe it can open the door to discussions of our society today.

VD: I hope. I mean, I think that once Obama became president there was a sigh of relief from people, thinking that racism is over. It’s like Hilary Clinton, if she were elected president would sexism be over? I mean, come on. We all know that whatever took three hundred and forty six years of doing is not going to be undone in fifty years. It’s just not. I hope that opens dialogue with people. I think that people in general are, and I know I am – I’ll put myself in there – afraid of honest discourse. We always want to be in agreement with each other because we want to get along. Some serious things are happening in terms of classicism. The class structure in this country is so polarized. Racism. I mean, you really see it coming out with Obama being president, all of those things. You hope that it opens up a dialogue. You just hope, but what can you do. You can’t change people overnight.

Do you like being in films that invite that dialogue as opposed to a romantic comedy?

VD: Oh, no. I’ll take a romantic comedy. I’ll take some. Shit. I want a straight up action movie, sci-fi.  I want to be in Strange Days’ I loved Angela Bassett in that movie, my God. My muscles, taking a big gun. Yeah, that would be awesome.

This was new territory for you, really, Emma. We’ve seen you do many other things, but what was it like being in this great ensemble of women and get to dig into a more dramatic character and still get to be funny here and there?

ES: It was incredible. It was an amazing experience across the board, life wise, telling a story that I was so proud to be a part of, getting to meet these women and getting to work with these women. I love women. I don’t understand women that they’re afraid you’re not going to get along with women. I always say that women who say they have more guy friends than girlfriends are usually bitches.

VD: Yeah, exactly.

ES: They are, and it’s because you’re not that nice to girls then because girls are great. Women are great.

VD: That’s right, or you’re trying to steal their boyfriends.

There’s a lot of different things going on for you career wise right now, a lot of different things going on. How are you receiving all this sort of attention?

ES: That changes on a daily basis. I don’t know. I think that everybody in this cast is doing a lot right now. I guess I was just in a lot of movies that studios have been promoting on buses and things like that. Everyone is doing a lot and has a lot of really incredible things going on. So, we’re all kind of in a similar boat, but just in a different way.

Everyone seems like they’re in unique and different places in their careers, all the women who worked on this movie. Was there a lot of advice sharing and perspective gathering from that sort of thing?

ES: Sissy Spacek told me to wear sunscreen.

Are there times where you get or want advice, or is that just our perception of what goes on?

VD: Yeah. Back in 1980 something when I did Sophie’s Choice.

ES: Does Meryl [Streep] give a lot of advice?

VD: You know what, she does not give a lot of advice. I would say that in general, but there are times that she sneaks it in. She’ll sneak it in, and you’re like, ”Okay, you’re telling me what to do right now,” but I would take her advice. I would take her advice if she gave it to me. But, no. I didn’t give you any advice. I didn’t give it to anybody.

The South has that charming face of hospitality, and yet at the same time it has to own its dark history to a degree. How did you find that aspect of it while you were there? Did you get a sense of whether we can put that behind us?

VD: Nobody ever owns their history. I don’t think that people own their history. It’s a hard thing, even in our personal lives. You just want to say, ‘Excuse me. I remember back in 19-something. I remember who you used to be.’ I do this all the time with people, and then especially as time has gone by it’s like they just kind of let that die. It becomes invisible. So, I don’t didn’t seen the ownedness of the past, but I saw a lot of southern hospitality. Would you say that?

ES: Yeah. I definitely saw the southern hospitality. Everything starts with, ‘I don’t want to bother you, but –’ and then thirty minutes later you’re like, ‘I really have to go to work. I really have to go to work.’ It’s so nice, and my neighbor brought me zucchini bread right when I moved in.

VD: They invite you into their homes.

ES: They invite you into their homes and you meet their kids.

VD: But nobody owns up to the past. Everybody used to be liberal. Nobody can relate to Hilly. “We never were like that, We didn’t own slaves. We weren’t a part of the Jim Crow. I never remember any of that happening with the bathrooms.” Did you ever hear anyone talk about that? It’s just the way that people are, in general.

Bryce [Dallas Howard] talked about her character’s relationship to Skeeter, that they were close before Skeeter left for college and then college is what changed her perspective. Do you think that’s the case and is that how you developed the character?

ES: Well, I think that Skeeter wanted to fit in with her friends. You don’t want to have those hard conversations. What is she going to do? She always had Constantine, so she always had a sense of reality, and Hilly didn’t have that. I think that going away to college gave Skeeter some distance and perspective. Skeeter in the book was the girl who didn’t go to the party. She had to be dragged out to the sorority gatherings because she was in there writing and doing what she wanted to do. I think that she maybe finally became more comfortable with being alone and not having that kind of mentality, but even when she gets back why is going to the Junior League meetings? She doesn’t have to, but she does because she wants to please her mother even though her mother doesn’t really respect her that much. And she wants to please her friends even though she doesn’t really agree with what they’re saying. I have friends to day that if we really sat down, there’s a lot of things that I don’t agree on with them, but there are some redeeming qualities that I can find in people that make me want to be their friend. I can relate to that, to wanting to be accepted and then finally having that breaking point where they just realize that they’re just too different to ever get along anymore.

VD: And do you have the same friends now that you had when you were eighteen? Think about that.

Well, now with Facebook –

ES: Now you have the same friends you had when you were three on Facebook.

VD: I did that on Facebook. I friended this kid. I was like, “Oh, my God, from Central Falls High School. Yes. I’m going to friend him.” Then weeks went by and I thought, “He was always mean to me and he’s my buddy now,” but I had to leave him because then I would be, like you said, causing conflict. “When we were in third grade you were a jerk.”

ES: That’s why I got rid of my Facebook.

Are you excited about Spider-Man and getting the word out there? What are you excited about people getting the chance to see?

ES: I really liked it. I was drawn to that part because I liked what happens between Gwen and Peter. That’s pretty much what my involvement is, with Peter. I think that Andrew [Garfield] is incredible, and so that was really wonderful for me. It’s really interesting to be a part of something that so many people hold so close to their hearts, that so many people grew up with. To get to be involved in this world of passionate people, Comic-Con is one of my favorite places in the world. I got to go for Zombieland and it is just a full convention center of people who care so much. I mean, it literally buzzes. To be a part of something that has that kind of passion and that kind of enthusiasm behind it, it really is kind of a cool and exciting thing.

What do either of you get that passionate about?

VD: Food. My husband. My home.

ES: Movies. Watching movies.

Do you have a favorite movie?

ES: My favorite movie is City Lights.

VD: You mentioned one of my favorite movies. Network. Citizen Kane. I own Citizen Kane, How Green Was My Valley. John Ford. I want to be in a John Ford movie.

The Help opens August 10. Check it out.

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Most 16 year-olds are plagued by the slings and arrows of adolescent angst – few of those 16 year-olds will voluntarily admit themselves into a psych ward. Both adapted and directed by filmmakers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, It’s Kind Of A Funny Story stars Keir Gilchrist, Zach Galifianakis, Emma Roberts, and Viola Davis and opens nationwide this weekend.

Check out the review below…

The Players:

• Writers/Directors: Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden
• Novel: Ned Vizzini
• Producers: Kevin Misher, Ben Browning
• Editor: Anna Boden
• Cast: Keir Gilchrist, Zach Galifianakis, Emma Roberts, Viola Davis

The Plot:

It’s 5 a.m. in Brooklyn when 16 year-old Craig (Gilchrist) checks himself into Argenon Hospital and is quickly admitted by a psychiatrist (Davis) for five days. The youth ward is temporarily closed for construction so he’s stuck in the adult ward with a wide range of lunatics, including Bobby (Galifianakis) and Noelle (Roberts). Craig’s brief  taste of the cuckoo’s nest inspires unexpected friendships and encourages him to keep his “problems” in perspective.

The Good:

• Universal Appeal: Craig, a teenager, is the central focus of the film. But the film’s message resonates with a wider age demographic because everyone relates to a rocky adolescence in some capacity. The movie, quite poignantly, speaks to your inner teen – the anxiety, the awkwardness, the pressure to fit in, the journey of self-identity, etc. Craig’s story, without a doubt, will activate memories of your  high school experience.
• Humor: It takes a combination of good writing, acting and directing to couple humor and drama in the same scene without one angle diminishing or upstaging the other. We ultimately find that Craig is troubled, yes, but he mistakes his “extreme depression” for fairly standard adolescent anguish. The people he’s surrounded by in the psych ward, however, are legitimately suffering. When these characters (specifically Bobby and Noelle) disclose their respective “disorders” we sympathize appropriately.  But both characters toss in a bit sarcasm or silliness that lightens the weight of their situations –  the whole “laughing while crying” concept that many filmmakers aim for but few really nail. Overall, these moments reemphasize a major theme of the film: to work with your circumstances and make the best of a bad situation.
• Zach Galifianakis: He’s his usual hilarious self, fear not – but he has a number of super dramatic moments. And he nails them. Who knew the guy had such emotional range? Bravo.

The Bad:

• I’m racking my brain – but I have no solid, negative commentary. I thoroughly enjoyed this film.

Overall:

It’s a very family-style film, spiked with great humor and relevant themes.

Rating: 8/10

It’s Kind of a Funny Story will be in theaters October 8th!

Photo Gallery:

Are you excited to see Galifianakis in the lead?

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In case you missed the plethora of billboards on every street in America, this weekend’s opening of Eat Pray Love based on the international best selling memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert is poised for a lucrative release. The Columbia Picture’s project stars America’s timeless sweetheart Ms. Julia Roberts alongside Viola Davis, Richard Jenkins, James Franco, and Javier Bardem, and was both adapted and directed by Ryan Murphy.

Girls, grab an assortment of carbohydrates and prepare to relish this two and a half hour display of post-break up self-indulgence…

The Players:

• Director: Ryan Murphy
• Writer (Novel): Elizabeth Gilbert
• Screenplay: Ryan Murphy, Jennifer Salt
• Cast: Julia Roberts, Viola Davis, Richard Jenkins, James Franco, Javier Bardem

The Plot:

Liz Gilbert (Roberts) has the husband, the career, and the dream house - but is in desperate need of some soul searching when she abruptly realizes that none of these coveted “acquirement’s” make her happy. Newly divorced, she sets out on a year-long journey of self re-discovey in Italy, India, and Bali where she Eats, Prays, and – you guessed it, Loves.

The Bad:

• Adaptation: The fear of a weak adaptation often leaves keen supporters of the novel cringing with apprehension. And, rightfully so. I’m a firm believer that certain stories were meant to be read and not “seen’. Primarily because it’s often difficult to compress a book’s content into a screenplay structure adequately – especially if it’s a lengthy read. In the case of Eat Pray Love, Gilbert deals with three major environmental changes stocked with what should be a well-developed, eclectic group of characters. In an attempt to avoid a four hour picture while keeping the film true to the book, all of the character interactions and cultural encounters were cut short.  Squeezing every aspect of the book into the film presents the audiences with the correct story pieces, yes, but without that “build” we can’t feel for what we’re observing. Consequently, the “moments (!)” seem artificial leaving the film devoid of the striking profundity of the novel.

The Good/Bad

• Very Commercial: The novel involves a number of heavy situations… Heavy situations that would certainly not appeal to the average movie-going audience. Eliminating the darker sides of Gilbert’s memoir make the picture far more commercially pleasing. Wait, what? A box office hungry studio? Shock.

The Good:

• Acting: Murphy hit the lottery with a top of the heat ensemble. Despite the aforementioned glitches in the overall “success” of the film, it was a well-acted failure. Bravo.
• Locations: I guarantee that 99% of the theatre was prepared to scuttle over to LAX and hop on a plane to any of the featured destinations. The joie de vivre of each city, visually, was well done.
• Food: I’ll be damned if anyone exits the theatre without an overwhelming urge for spaghetti. Excellent promotion for Italian restaurants worldwide!
• Cliche: Yes, the depth is lacking, though the sweet cliches of any chick flick are plentiful. Who isn’t a sucker for the whole “nurturing your soul” theme?

Overall:

It’s a “feel good” chick flick. If that’s your bag, you’ll love it.

Rating: 4.5/10

The film opens nationwide this Friday.

Trailer:

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Last October we reported on Clive Owen’s latest film entitled, Trust. It’s a dramatic thriller directed by David Schwimmer (yep, Ross from “Friends”) and co-stars Catherine Keener. That was then, this is now and its first teaser trailer has been released. Get your first peek at Owen and Keener in Trust…

The film’s premise centers on the parents of a 14-year-old girl who are stunned to discover she has been victimized by an adult who gained her trust posing as a teenager in a chat room. Newcomer Liana Liberato plays the daughter of Owen and Keener’s characters, who is sexually assaulted after meeting up with her new online “friend” in person.

The cast also includes Oscar nominee Viola Davis, who plays the counselor assigned to the girl’s case. Is it just us or has she been playing a lot of supporting, comforting characters lately? In terms of the trailer, this definitely doesn’t look like a Schwimmer film like his theatrical debut Run, Fat Boy Run with Simon Pegg.

The overall tone of Trust gives a light Taken vibe but Owen isn’t as bad ass as Liam Neeson here. His character doesn’t appear to be a government trained agent with a “particular set of skills” if you know what we mean.

What do you think of the trailer for Trust? Are you interested in seeing the film?

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Oscar nominee Viola Davis has plenty of films on the horizon including a comedy co-starring Zach Galifianakis. According to Variety, the actress has just signed on for a role in the film, It’s Kind of a Funny Story and the recently announced David Schwimmer drama, Trust.

In It’s Kind of a Funny Story, centers on a 15 year old boy who’s battling depression. He checks himself into a psychiatric hospital, but realizes it’s a institution for adults. He soon develops relationships with the older patients as well as a girl his own age. Davis will portray the psychiatrist who helps him understand his anxieties and provides him with the help he needs.

Trust is a drama about the parents of a 14-year-old girl who are stunned to discover she has been victimized by an adult who gained her trust posing as a teenager in a chat room. Newcomer Liana Liberato will play the daughter, and the parents in the situation will be played by Catherine Keener and Clive Owen. Davis will star as the counselor assigned to the girl’s case.

I almost laughed when I read the descriptions for both of these roles. They’re pretty much the same part, and focus on a troubled youth. But I must admit, there is something about Davis that comes off as welcoming, so I can understand why they would pick her.

What do you think of Viola Davis being cast in these two films?

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Written and directed by John Patrick Shanley, Doubt, adapted for the screen, stars Oscar winners Philip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep, and is supported by Oscar nominee, Amy Adams. Set in the early 1960’s at a Catholic elementary school in the Bronx, Father Flynn (Hoffman), a charismatic priest, is attempting to modernize the school’s Catholic customs – strictly enforced by the rigid Sister Aloysius (Streep). Struggling to fit in as the school’s first black student, Donald Miller, takes a particular liking to Father Flynn – a liking that is certainly reciprocated. Suspicious, and confident in her certainty regarding the true whereabouts of their relationship, Sister Aloysius embarks on a relentless mission to eliminate Fr. Flynn, and restore order in her community. 

Unlike most films, Doubt lacks the conventional series of climatic turning points that peak a story. Fr. Flynn never gets caught in a graphic rape scene with Donald, leaving everyone heartbroken ad nauseas – However, the eerie, suspenseful tone of the score, and subtle shots of sneaky exchanges between the priest and boy alluding to inappropriate behavior keeps the film extremely engaging, and the viewers on the edge of their seats. The audience never actually witnesses a crime committed or a verbal confession from Fr. Flynn. This not only forces the audience to read between the lines, but keeps them from forming judgments about the characters until the film has ended.

Streep’s story line carries the film, and ultimately serves as the film’s final payoff. A woman dedicated to maintaining order and honoring tradition, is forced to challenge her religious vows in order to restore peace in her community. Could a woman so confident in her faith, admit to experiencing doubt? The film shows that regardless of how committed someone can be to a particular way of life – in order to truly stick to the books, you might have to bend the rules.

Doubt is entirely character driven, giving Hoffman and Streep yet another opportunity for critically acclaimed performances. Their scenes are fiercely committed, screaming Oscar nominations from start to finish. Doubt requires an audience to be in a very specific mood – which may stifle is appeal to a broad audience. But if you’re in the mood for some of the best acting of the year – spend the ten bucks.

Doubt available in select theaters December 12th.

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