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‘Silver Linings Playbook’ Wins 5 Australian Academy Intl. Awards

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday January 26, 2013 @ 2:30pm PSTTags: AACTA, Australian Academy Of Cinema And Television Arts, Silver Linings Playbook

The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) today announced the winners of the 2nd AACTA International Awards, recognising international excellence across five categories: Best Film, Best Direction, Best Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Actress.

Winners were announced at the 2nd AACTA International Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles, with Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Australian Film Institute Award winning actor Russell Crowe leading a line-up of outstanding Australians presenting Awards at the Ceremony including, Jacki Weaver and Scott Hicks.

Funny, brave and humane, Silver Linings Playbook was the big winner at the AACTA International Awards, winning Best Film for producers Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen and Jonathan Gordon; Best Direction for David O. Russell; and Best Lead Actress for Jennifer Lawrence. Additionally, two awards for Silver Linings Playbook determined by the Australian Film Institute | AACTA Board of Governors were presented to Robert De Niro as best supporting actor and to Jacki Weaver as best supporting actress.

The offbeat comic drama sees Lawrence playing a reckless young widow who befriends a bipolar schoolteacher (Bradley Cooper) who is obsessing about his ex-wife. Rounding out the film’s stellar cast are Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver and Chris Tucker.

The AACTA International Award for Best Lead Actor was presented to Daniel Day-Lewis for his virtuosic performance as Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg’s historical drama. Set in 1865, Lincoln centers on the final four months in the life of the 16th President of the United States, in which he battled for constitutional reform to abolish slavery.

Hot on the heels of his Golden Globe win for Best Screenplay for Django Unchained, writer and director Quentin Tarantino today won the AACTA International Award for Best Screenplay for his scripting of the fast-paced and talkative epic western. Set in America’s Deep South, Django Unchained follows a freed slave (Jamie Foxx) and a bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) as they go on a quest to free his wife (Kerry Washington) from the grips of a cruel plantation owner (Leonardo DiCaprio).

Related: ‘Silver Linings Playbook’, ‘Lincoln’, ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ Lead Aussie International Noms

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OSCARS: Jennifer Lawrence And Jessica Chastain Stir Things Up In Tight Best Actress Race, But Does It Matter?

By PETE HAMMOND | Sunday January 20, 2013 @ 3:18pm PSTTags: Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain, Oscars, Saturday Night Live, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty
Pete Hammond

The tight Oscar race for Best Actress between the presumed co-frontrunners, Silver Linings Playbook’s Jennifer Lawrence and Zero Dark Thirty’s Jessica Chastain, took a few twists and turns this weekend. But will any of it affect the outcome one way or another? Momentum is a fickle thing — you can win it or lose it  in an instant.

Related: Jennifer Lawrence Monologue On ‘SNL’

Both young stars are coming off a stellar week where they won Golden Globe and Critics Choice Movie Awards for their performances. And now, just 2 1/2 weeks before Oscar voting begins and smack in the middle of SAG balloting, Chastain pulled off the neat trick of starring in the No. 1 and No. 2 films at the box office (#1 Mama and #2 Zero Dark Thirty). Before Mama opened, some pundits observed that starring in a standard horror film in the midst of Oscar crunch time could hurt Chastain the same way Norbit’s Oscar-time release was perceived to hurt Eddie Murphy when he lost for Dreamgirls. But in fact Mama received generally good reviews (62% fresh at Rotten Tomatoes) and way overperformed at the box office, helping to make the emerging Chastain an even bigger star. And the fact that she simultaneously continues in her Broadway run in The Heiress (a film based on the play won Olivia DeHavilland an Oscar) also helps as voters love actors who move between theatre and movies with ease.

Related: Golden Globes Movies: Does Winning Really Affect Oscar Chances? Read More »

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Specialty Box Office Preview: Bruno Dumont’s ‘Hors Satan’, ‘Luv’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday January 17, 2013 @ 10:46pm PSTTags: LUV, Silver Linings Playbook, Specialty Box Office Preview

Brian Brooks is Managing Editor of MovieLine.

The third full weekend of January is relatively quiet for newcomers in the specialty market. Two features are among the titles hitting a limited number of theaters including New Yorker Films’ Cannes 2011 title Hors Satan by French filmmaker Bruno Dumont. The distributor admitted that finding exhibitors was a challenge and illustrated how art house cinema has changed. Also headed to theaters is Sheldon Candis’ Luv via Indomina which is partnering with AMC Independent for its limited theatrical run.

Aside from those newcomers, the Weinstein Company is capitalizing on its eight Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Director for Silver Linings Playbook this weekend. TWC’s decision to open more slowly than originally planned for David O. Russell’s film appears to have paid off. Read More »

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DreamWorks Nabs ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ Author’s New Novel, ‘The Good Luck Of Right Now’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday January 17, 2013 @ 5:00pm PSTTags: DreamWorks, Matthew Quick, Silver Linings Playbook, The Good Luck Of Right Now
Mike Fleming

BREAKING: DreamWorks Studios has acquired the manuscript to Matthew Quick’s latest novel, The Good Luck Of Right Now. It’s his followup to the Best Picture nominee Silver Linings Playbook and was bought by production president … Read More »

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Golden Globes Movies: Winning Films Enjoy The Taste Of Victory, But Does It Really Help Oscar Chances?

By PETE HAMMOND | Monday January 14, 2013 @ 3:36am PSTTags: Anne Hathaway, Argo, Ben Affleck, Bill Clinton, Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globes, Les Miserables, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty
Pete Hammond

If anyone thought the Golden Globes results were going to add any clarity to the topsy-turvy atmosphere that has so far characterized this year’s Oscar race,  forget it. In a week that has offered crushing disappointment and major highs … Read More »

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AFI Awards: Hollywood Power Players Turn Out For A Moment Of Sanity During Oscar Season Madness

By PETE HAMMOND | Saturday January 12, 2013 @ 10:59am PSTTags: AFI, AFI Awards, American Film Institute, Amy Pascal, Ben Affleck, Daniel Day-Lewis, Silver Linings Playbook, Sir Howard Stringer, Steven Spielberg
Pete Hammond

Between the roller-coaster ride of Thursday’s 85th Academy Award Nominations and Critics Choice Awards and this weekend’s Golden Globes mania, Friday’s annual AFI Awards Luncheon was not only a breath of fresh air in this busy season. … Read More »

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HAMMOND ON OSCARS: Still A Wide Open Race Despite Stunners

By PETE HAMMOND | Thursday January 10, 2013 @ 10:33am PSTTags: Amour, Ben Affleck, Kathryn Bigelow, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Oscars, Silver Linings Playbook
Pete Hammond

Let’s throw “conventional wisdom” out the window regarding this morning’s Oscar nominations. In a year when there are so many genuine contenders for the Oscars‘ Best Picture, the Academy has thrown a wrench into the proceedings, instantly cementing early frontrunner status for Lincoln and Life Of Pi along with the “little engine that could” Silver Linings Playbook while dampening prospects of winning the big prize for three other perceived major contenders Zero Dark Thirty (the controversial critical darling), Les Miserables and Argo. All three of those films’ directors were snubbed after winning DGA nominations earlier this week. Did these Best Picture nominees direct themselves?

Related: OSCARS: 85th Academy Award Nominations

The biggest shock waves at the Academy this morning were clearly over the omission of Ben Affleck‘s direction of Argo and Kathryn Bigelow‘s absence for Zero Dark Thirty. Both are still nominees as co-producers of their Best Picture-nominated films, but this has to sting. Instead, Silver Linings’ David O. Russell reversed his snub at DGA and BAFTA with a strong showing where it counts, and wildcard Michael Haneke of Amour (which did exceptionally well for a foreign-language film including a Best Picture and Foreign Language nod) got those spots along with the true shocker of the directing nominees, Beast Of The Southern Wild’s Benh Zeitlin. His tiny Sundance sensation and offbeat film defied expectations earning key Directing, Picture, Screenplay and Actress (for youngest nominee in the category ever, Quvenzhane Wallis). Some people were sure they were mistaken when they heard Zeitlin announced instead of Affleck after the first name Benh was called out. But the Oscars are always known for throwing surprises into the mix. Much like that Wizard of Oz, Oscar has spoken. As Academy COO Ric Robertson (who is also an Academy voter) told me, “I guess we really, really liked Beasts Of The Southern Wild’!” With Zeitlin’s directing nod, that’s an understatement. It is his first movie, by the way, so congratulations Benh, and sorry Ben.

Related: OSCARS: Who Got Snubbed By Academy? Read More »

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Awards Race Moves To Palm Springs: Foreign Film Contenders, Glitzy Gala And Lots Of Oscar Talk

By PETE HAMMOND | Monday January 7, 2013 @ 5:15pm PSTTags: Bradley Cooper, David O. Russell, Helen Mirren, Les Miserables, Meryl Streep, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Sally Field, Silver Linings Playbook, Tom Hooper
Pete Hammond

Even as Oscar nomination polls were closing Friday afternoon, the awards season action was already shifting to the Southern California desert as the 10-day Palm Springs International Film Festival kicked off, not only with its highly publicized Saturday night gala where enormous statuettes are handed out to Oscar hopefuls looking for a boost in the race, but also as a genuinely impressive public showcase for world cinema.

42 of the 71 official Oscar foreign entries are on display at the Fest (which runs through January 13) including 8 of the 9 finalists which made the shortlist. Many of those filmmakers nervously awaiting results, of which of the 9 become the 5 nominees, were at the fest all weekend, even as a select group of about 30  high-profile Academy members (including  Meryl Streep, who told me last year she had a great time on this uber committee) in New York and Los Angeles were viewing the finalists and making their choices (to be announced with other Oscar nominees on Thursday morning). Read More »

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Global Showbiz Briefs: Wild Bunch’s Vincent Maraval, $1.6B In UK Digital Entertainment Sales, Alki David And Quickflix & More

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday January 2, 2013 @ 9:09pm PSTTags: Alki David, Global Showbiz Briefs, Quickflix, Silver Linings Playbook, Wild Bunch

Wild Bunch Exec Protests High Costs Of French Filmmaking
An editorial written by Wild Bunch co-founder and sales chief Vincent Maraval has whipped up a mini-storm within the French film industry. The exec, who’s had a hand in such films as The Artist, The Wrestler, Pan’s Labyrinth, Fahrenheit 9/11, City Of God and March Of The Penguins, blasted the current state of French cinema, calling 2012 a “disaster”. France enjoys possibly the world’s most generous subsidy system which relies in part on investment by local TV networks, but Maraval says “even the biggest commercial successes lose money” with budgets inflated by above the line costs. Calling France “the world record holder for the average cost of production” after the U.S., Maraval says “French actors are rich from public funds and from a system that protects the cultural exception.” Maraval cites such talent as Vincent Cassel, Jean Reno, Marion Cotillard, Guillaume Canet and Audrey Tautou and asks why they would “be paid from €500,000 to €2M ($655K to $2.62M) for a French film limited to the French market but when they shoot an American film, whose market is worldwide, they’re happy with €50,000 to €200,000 ($65.5K to $262K)? Read More »

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Hot Featurette: ‘Silver Linings Playbook’

By PETE HAMMOND | Wednesday January 2, 2013 @ 5:15pm PSTTags: Bradley Cooper, David O. Russell, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
Pete Hammond

EXCLUSIVE:  Silver Linings Playbook continues on its awards roll this season with a Best Picture nomination from the Producers Guild to add to its many other laurels to date including 4 SAG award nominations, 4 Golden Globe nods, 5 Independent Spirit mentions and 10 Critics Choice Movie … Read More »

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Robert De Niro’s ‘Silver Lining’: After 21 Years He Could Be Back In The Oscar Game – Interview

By PETE HAMMOND | Monday December 31, 2012 @ 5:31pm PSTTags: Bradley Cooper, David O. Russell, Martin Scorsese, Raging Bull, Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
Pete Hammond

Between 1974 when he won Best Supporting Actor for his turn as the young Don Corleone in The Godfather Part II and 1991 when he was contending for Best Actor in Cape Fear, Robert De Niro was nominated six times and won two Oscars (1980′s Raging Bull was the other one) in a span of 17 years. But remarkably it has now been 21 years since that last Academy Award shout-out in ’91, a long Oscar dry spell for the man many consider our greatest living film actor. With the release in November of David O. Russell’s critically acclaimed Silver Linings Playbook, De Niro is genuinely contending for his first Oscar nomination in over two decades as the obsessive compulsive, sports-betting  Philadelphia Eagles fan, and father Pat Sr.

Related: OSCARS Q&A: David O. Russell

Already nominated for Critics Choice Movie Awards and SAG Best Supporting Actor honors,  De Niro is favored to repeat the feat on January 10th when Oscar nominations are announced, and although he is pleased about the buzz for his performance, he isn’t getting his hopes up as he told me when we spoke over the weekend in a rare interview. “Of course I am happy about it all and the reception, but I don’t want to expect much because I don’t want to be disappointed. I have had a lot of experience over the years and then you expect and you think and it never happens. So all I try to do is be even-keeled about stuff,” he says. Read More »

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Fleming Q&A’s David O. Russell On ‘Silver Linings Playbook’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday December 28, 2012 @ 10:19am PSTTags: David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Mike Fleming

Talk about a high degree of difficulty. David O. Russell, trying to find laughs in a love story where one of his Silver Linings Playbook protagonists is bipolar and fresh from a stint in a mental institution, and the other is freshly widowed with more than a few problems of her own. It was daunting enough that it held back a seasoned pro like Sydney Pollack, the late filmmaker who controlled the Matthew Quick novel along with his partner Anthony Minghella and Harvey Weinstein, Pollack couldn’t find a way to crack it, but he found the writer/director who was a perfect match for the material. Russell, who has had a number of well publicized fits of anger on movie sets himself and who raised a child with bipolar issues, connected with the subject matter in a way probably few writer/directors could. Here he explains how he pulled it off and how it would have been an inferior film if he gone 15 rounds in the Oscar-nominated The Fighter as a tune-up.

DEADLINE: Silver Linings Playbook started with Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella. How did they draft you?
RUSSELL: Well, I only spoke to Sydney. I never spoke to Anthony about it. Sydney just thought he wasn’t sure it could be pulled off. He had the obvious concerns. When you are dealing with delicate subject matter like this, and when you have moments that are so disturbing, can it be that emotionally intense and delightful? Can it be all of those things? That was the question. I kind of knew right away that I had a good shot because I had lived with some of their issues, which are inherently funny as much they are heartbreaking.
Read More »

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Oscar Troubles: Online Balloting Confusing Some Members; Controversy Over Best Song Omissions

By PETE HAMMOND | Thursday December 27, 2012 @ 9:55pm PSTTags: Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Danny Elfman, Diane Warren, Silver Linings Playbook
Pete Hammond

There’s exactly one week left to vote for Oscar nominations and there’s still ‘trouble in River City’.

After reporting on all the problems regarding the registration process for the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences’ initial foray into … Read More »

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OSCARS: The “Very Specific World” Of ‘Silver Linings Playbook’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday December 23, 2012 @ 1:15pm PSTTags: Awardsline, Oscars, Silver Linings Playbook

Paul Brownfield is an AwardsLine contributor.

The least saleable aspect of David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook is also one of its central themes: obsession.

Pat Solitano, the lead character played by Bradley Cooper, is bipolar and manically fixated on getting his estranged wife back. Pat’s father, played by Robert De Niro, is a would-be bookmaker whose OCD behaviors (and his love) get projected onto his gambling and his diehard devotion to the hometown Philadelphia Eagles.

Related: OSCARS: The Directors

As the film begins, Pat is being released from a psychiatric hospital and moving back into a kind of halfway house — his childhood bedroom. De Niro spends much of the film in Eagles green, trying not to notice his son’s psychosis, which involves long runs through his neighborhood wearing sweats and a trash bag, while Pat’s mother, played by Jacki Weaver, tiptoes through the minefield created by her husband and son.

Related: OSCARS: The Supporting Actor Race Read More »

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Oscars: Parties, Q&As, Campaigning More Rampant Than Ever As Voting Continues

By PETE HAMMOND | Thursday December 20, 2012 @ 3:46pm PSTTags: Argo, Ben Affleck, Hugh Jackman, Jane Fonda, Les Miserables, Lincoln, Matt Damon, Mel Gibson, Oscar Campaigning, Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook, The Impossible, The Weinstein Company
Pete Hammond

Joaquin Phoenix and Anthony Hopkins may not approve, but Oscar season campaigning on the party circuit has been at fever pitch.

“We’ve never seen anything like this. We’re exhausted. We are out every night it seems and the invitations keep coming,”  one Oscar-winning Academy member told me recently. He was referring to the glut of invites to parties, lunches, screenings with Q&As and everything else for which Oscar season campaigning has come to be known. He pointedly added that none of it has ever influenced his vote but he is not turning down the elaborate food spreads and the chance to mingle with contenders. “Just don’t tell anyone who invites me to these things, but  it doesn’t really have much impact on the way I fill out my ballot,”  he added with a smile.

That won’t stop Oscar strategists from trying and the campaign activity this season seems like it pushed into high gear much earlier than normal and hasn’t let up, even as the Christmas break quickly approaches and the town starts to shut down. Don’t tell that to the relentless Weinstein Company who will still have some of their contenders out on the stump even over this holiday weekend. Quentin Tarantino who, despite seeing his Los Angeles premiere for Django Unchained cancelled Tuesday night out of sensitivity to the Newtown tragedy, was out doing a Q&A and reception for a packed screening at the Academy last night and will be doing the same thing for BAFTA-LA Friday night. Read More »

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Specialty B.O.: ‘Hyde Park On Hudson’ Solid In 2nd Weekend, ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ Steady, Newcomer ‘Any Day Now’ Soft

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday December 16, 2012 @ 11:07am PSTTags: Any Day Now, Silver Linings Playbook, Specialty Box Office

Brian Brooks is Managing Editor of MovieLine.

Numbers trickling in point to a soft weekend in the specialty arena. Music Box Films bowed in 16 theaters a brave story starring Alan Cumming about a gay couple fighting to retain custody of special needs child they reared. Any Day Now is a brave film and story that earned audience prizes at festivals throughout the year. Unfortunately it did not connect fully with paying audiences in its debut but hopefully its audience will build through word-of-mouth. It averaged only $2,563 per location. On December 21 it will expand to 6 additional markets and Music Box expects 50 by February. Cavu Pictures/Snag Films debuted Let Fury Have The Hour at New York’s Quad Cinema with an estimated $3,200. After the New Year it will expand to San Francisco January 18th and to Los Angeles on the 25th. IFC Films reported Save The Date opened in single cinemas in Los Angeles and New York for an average of $2,000.

Focus Features moved Bill Murray starrer Hyde Park On Hudson into 32 more theaters from its debut last week. The pic averaged a solid $8,261 versus its $20,820 opening average in 4 locations. Focus said it will continue adding markets on the 21st and with more to come in the New Year. Kudos to The Weinstein  Company’s Oscar hopeful Silver Linings Playbook. It stayed in 371 theaters in its 5th weekend, averaging $5,617, a minimal drop from $6,032 last weekend. The feature from writer/director David O. Russell had a strong opening in mid-November and has held up fairly well in its steady rollout.  Read More »

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Deadline Awards Watch With Pete Hammond, Episode 4

By PETE HAMMOND | Thursday December 13, 2012 @ 3:56pm PSTTags: Deadline Awards Watch, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty
Pete Hammond

Listen to the fourth episode of our audio podcast Deadline Awards Watch With Pete Hammond. Deadline Awards Columnist Hammond and host David Bloom discuss what Pete calls a “barnburner of a race” for Oscar as award nominations are announced by the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, Critics Choice Movie Awards and American Film Institute. Films such as Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty, Les Miserables, Argo and Amour did very well most of the week. There were plenty of surprises too, from chilly receptions for some early contenders to unexpected support for some smaller films from earlier in the year. Pete puts it all in perspective just days before the start of voting for Oscar nominees.

Deadline Awards Watch, Episode 4 (MP3 format)
Deadline Awards Watch, Episode 4 (MP4A format)

Related:
Golden Globes Film: Tightest Awards Race In Years
Golden Globe Award Noms: Scorecard
70th Golden Globe Awards Nominations
SAG Awards Film: Who’s In And Who’s Out
SAG Awards Nominations Announced
‘Lincoln’, ‘Les Miserables’, ‘Silver Linings’ Top Critics Choice Nominees
Read More »

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SAG Awards Film: What’s Surprising About Who’s In And Who’s Out

By PETE HAMMOND | Wednesday December 12, 2012 @ 8:21am PSTTags: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables, Lincoln, Oscars, SAG Awards, Silver Linings Playbook, The Master
Pete Hammond

In terms of the horse race for Oscars, this morning’s SAG Awards nominations are important on a couple of fronts. It’s the first Guild awards nomination announcement of the year, and that’s significant because the way guilds are thinking (with their strong crossover membership with the Academy) is usually the way Oscar voters are thinking. It’s much more significant in that regard than critics awards. These SAG Awards nominations, the only guild announcing before the Academy gets their ballots this year (10 days earlier than normal), also can have a strong effect on influencing acting Oscar nominations even more than usual due to the time crunch and the fact that many Oscar voters still have a lot to see. In the last few years, the correlation between SAG and Oscar has been strong: In the past two years, the two orgs agreed on 17 of 20 acting noms. Three years ago it was 19 of 20. And although the 2000-strong nominating committee that votes on this film list changes by lottery every year, it’s remarkably in step with the tastes of the Academy’s Actors Branch.

Related: SAG Awards Nominations Announced

What this year’s list really reflects is the tightness of the lead actor race. In September when The Master was released, it was almost unthinkable that Joaquin Phoenix’s highly praised performance would not be among the Best Actor nominees — but he’s AWOL here. I think it probably has less to do with the fact that he didn’t campaign (he didn’t appear at a single SAG Q&A and has been vocal about his disdain for the awards-season process) than the fiercely competitive nature of this category. Who are you going to cut out among Bradley Cooper, Daniel Day-Lewis, John Hawkes, Hugh Jackman and Denzel Washington? There is a long list of others left at the altar by SAG this year including Hitchcock’s Anthony Hopkins, Arbitrage’s Richard Gere, Hyde Park On Hudson’s Bill Murray, Django Unchained’s Jamie Foxx, Bernie’s Jack Black and Amour’s Jean-Louis Trintignant among others, but there just doesn’t seem to be room at the inn and the Academy is likely to have the same problem.

Related: SAG Awards TV: ‘Modern Family’ Leads, ‘Homeland’ Lands First Noms Read More »

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Two Screen Legends Meet As Robert De Niro Receives SBIFF’s Kirk Douglas Award

By PETE HAMMOND | Sunday December 9, 2012 @ 11:59am PSTTags: Bradley Cooper, David O. Russell, Kirk Douglas, Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
Pete Hammond

Robert De Niro on Saturday night became the latest recipient of the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence In Film at a Black Tie gala at Bacara Resort. The award is presented annually by the legendary actor to benefit the Santa Barbara … Read More »

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