Writers Strike Oscar Deal
Looks like the Oscars is going ahead. As in going ahead in recognisable, tear-fuelled, gushy form rather than someone reading a press release announcing the winners and then sticking the statues in the post.
The Academy Awards President Sid Ganis is now positive that the ceremony, the 80th one in fact, will go ahead despite the ongoing writers strike.
‘Things are looking very, very good now,’ said Ganis at the celebration luncheon.
Concerns that the dispute - which is over royalties on DVDs, internet broadcasting and other new technologies developed since the last big walk-out in 1988 - would scuttle the biggest awards ceremony of the year is good news for the industry, but bad news for the BAFTAs, which no doubt expected to become the big self-congratulatory show this year.
Yeah, right. Like that was going to happen. Besides, they’re going to give everything to Atonement, which was the visual equivalent of having your legs waxed.
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2 Oscar Shows
In case the writers’ strike isn’t over by Oscars night on the 24th February, academy president Sid Ganis has formed a contingency plan.
Gannis stated there will be two Oscar shows:
‘The show we would love to do and … a show that we would prefer not to do’.
If the strike is over, then the Oscars will follow its usual format of glitz, glamour and thankful speeches. If not, a show consisting of, ‘history and packages of film and concepts that are not normally ones that we would have for the show if we were moving straight ahead,’ will be aired.
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Michael Moore won’t attend Oscars without writers’ cooperation
Uncertainty rules the Academy Awards as “No Country for Old Men” and “There Will Be Blood” led Tuesday with eight nominations each, two other best-picture contenders trailed with seven, and a writers strike left the fate of the show itself up in the air.
Yet a sampling of reaction from nominees made one thing sound definite: Stars and filmmakers will skip the Oscars if the ceremony does not have the blessing of striking writers.
Hollywood’s most glamorous night could go the way of the Golden Globes, whose telecast was scrapped because stars remained steadfast in support of writers and refused to come. If stars boycott and Oscar organizers push ahead with a broadcast ceremony, it could end up as a glorified clips show with no one on hand to collect their trophies and gush their thanks.
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9 Foreign Language Films Advance in 2007 Oscar Race
Nine films will advance to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category for the 80th Academy Awards. Sixty-three films had originally qualified in the category.
The films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:
Austria, ’The Counterfeiters’
Stefan Ruzowitzky, director
Brazil, ’The Year My Parents Went on Vacation’
Cao Hamburger, director
Canada, ’Days of Darkness’
Denys Arcand, director
Israel, ’Beaufort’
Joseph Cedar, director
Italy, ’The Unknown Woman’
Giuseppe Tornatore, director
Kazakhstan, ’Mongol’
Sergei Bodrov, director
Poland, ’Katyn’
Andrzej Wajda, director
Russia, ’12’
Nikita Mikhalkov, director
Serbia, ’The Trap’
Srdan Golubovic, director
Members of committe will view the shortlisted films and select the five nominees for the category.
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Oscar Awards 2008 Poster
The poster for the 2008 Oscar Awards has arrived, and this time it was conceived by legendary motion picture poster illustrator Drew Struzan and executed by his son, Christian.
For more than 30 years, Drew Struzan has created some of cinema’s most memorable advertising posters, including the one-sheets for all six of George Lucas’ ’Star Wars’ films and, most recently, the key art for Steven Spielberg’s upcoming feature, ’Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’.
See the Oscar Poster 2008 enlarge in our Movie Poster Gallery
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‘Zodiac’ still has Oscar chances?
Many people have forgotten one of the best films of the year. The most obvious reason is that ‘Zodiac’ released in March while most of the other contenders have come out from September on. Most of the time, people tend to nominate films that are still fresh on people’s minds and forget about early year films.
This is a sad fact, as I have no doubt that Zodiac would be a very dangerous contender had it come out in November. However, in light of recent critics list, the film is making a come back, but is it too late?
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Academy defiant as fears for Oscars grow
The organisers of the 80th annual Academy Awards were presenting a united front yesterday, insisting that this year’s Oscars will go ahead as planned. The ongoing writers’ strike has already claimed one high profile casualty in Sunday’s Golden Globe awards and fears are building that the Oscars could also fall victim. “We are going to do it,” said Oscar producer Gil Cates. “I can’t elaborate on how we’re going to do it, because I don’t want anyone to deal with the elaboration in a way that might impact its success.”
Without special agreement between the WGA (Writers Guild of America) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the event’s organisers are unable to hire union members to work on the show. In a show of solidarity, members of the Screen Actors Guild have stated that they will refuse to cross the picket line outside the Kodak Theatre. This raises the prospect of an Academy Awards ceremony that is shunned by the major Oscar nominees.
In place of Sunday’s Golden Globe awards, the US network NBC now plans to run a one-hour press conference, featuring clips from the winning films. The network has reportedly agreed to return as much as $15m to advertisers who had bought media spots on the understanding that the event would go ahead. ABC, the network hosting the Oscars, is believed to be in similar talks with advertisers over a possible course of action if it is forced to abandon the telecast. Read the rest of this entry
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