ScottFeinberg.com

By Joey Magidson
Film Contributor

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I’ve always had a soft spot for films that are directed by actors. In one of my recent pieces, I spoke about how the Academy looks at actors who direct. Now, I’ll be continuing my interest by focusing in on which of these multi-hyphenates are the best at what they do.

By and large, the films that actors make when they choose directorial projects have some sort of significance for them or at least play to their strengths, so disasters are few and far between. This makes it a lot of fun to celebrate the best of the bunch, since I’m able to draw from a larger pool than you normally can when looking at one particular type of filmmaker.

I take some comfort in knowing that most films directed by actors tend to be at least decent, if not better. I see almost 300 movies in a given year (in 2012 I saw 290 in total), so I undoubtedly see a lot of garbage to go along with the gems, but the flicks that actor-directors put out almost never turn out terrible.

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By Joey Magidson
Film Contributor

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No matter how we talk about the Oscar race right now, the discussion is fed through the prism of both the Best Picture candidacy of Argo and the Best Director snub of Ben Affleck. Especially now that the Producers Guild crowned Argo with their top prize over the weekend and the Screen Actors Guild did the same just hours ago, all roads of discussion go through that flick and Affleck.

One angle that I haven’t really discussed much yet is the fact that Affleck is still primarily an actor transitioning to being a director as well. This is only his third film, and while he’s seen Oscar nominations for supporting roles in both of his films (Amy Ryan for Gone Baby Gone and Jeremy Renner for The Town), no wins have come for any of his directorial outings.

This time around, Argo was supposed to be the movie that got him over the hump. In one regard, it did, since the film is nominated for seven Academy Awards and is in serious contention to win at least three or four of them. Obviously, the one place it’s notoriously not competing in is the Best Director category. Affleck was looked at as perhaps the leader of the pack for much of the season, but he wound up out in the cold on nomination morning.

The snub begs the question of whether the Academy truly has the soft spot for films directed by actors that some presume exists. Did Argo get the love it did because of — or in spite of — the admiration voters had for Affleck’s efforts?

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By Scott Feinberg
The Hollywood Reporter

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The Hollywood Reporter has learned that at the 16th annual Hollywood Film Awards — the first awards show of the 2012 Oscar season — Amy Adams, a three-time best supporting actress Oscar nominee who is now in serious contention for her fourth nom in the category for Paul Thomas Anderson‘s The Master or Walter Salles‘s On the Road or Clint Eastwood‘s Trouble with the Curve, will receive the Hollywood Supporting Actress Award; Dylan Tichenor, A.C.E., a best film editing Oscar nominee five years ago who is now in serious contention for his second nom in the category for Kathryn Bigelow‘s Zero Dark Thirty, will receive the Hollywood Editor Award; and Sarah Greenwood, A.D.G., a three-time best art direction Oscar nominee who is now in contention for her fourth nom in the category (which has been renamed best production design) for Anna Karenina, will receive the Hollywood Production Designer Award. The prizes will be presented at a gala ceremony at the Beverly Hilton on Oct. 22.

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By Scott Feinberg
The Hollywood Reporter

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TORONTO — Earlier this week, just hours before the Toronto International Film Festival world premiere of Juan Antonio Bayona‘s The Impossible — a harrowing film based on the true story of one British family’s 2004 trip to a beach resort in Thailand, where they were torn about from each other when a massive tsunami engulfed the nation’s coastline — I had the opportunity to spend some time with the star of the heartwrenching drama, Oscar nominee Naomi Watts.

The 43-year-old British-born, Aussie-raised actress and I talked about her early struggles to find work that almost prompted her to quit the profession (it took her 10 years before she “made it”); the film that changed the course of her career and made her one of the most respected and sought-after actresses of her generation, David Lynch‘s Mulholland Dr. (“That’s sort of the marking point of my career… I couldn’t get a handshake before”); and her eerily consistent streak of appearing in at least one noteworthy film almost every year since: Gore Verbinski‘s The Ring (2002), Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu‘s 21 Grams (2003), David O. Russell‘s I Heart Huckabees (2004), Peter Jackson‘s King Kong (2005), John Curran‘s The Painted Veil (2006), David Cronenberg‘s Eastern Promises (2007), Rodrigo Garcia‘s Mother and Child (2009), Doug Liman‘s Fair Game (2010), and Clint Eastwood‘s J. Edgar (2011).

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This week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Anne Seibel, a French production designer whose creative talents and ability to speak English have made her “the go-to girl” for Hollywood productions that shoot in France — her credits include Steven Spielberg’s Munich (2005), Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette (2006), Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter (2010) — and whose work on one, Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, has now earned her a trip to the Oscars on Feb. 26 as a nominee for the best art direction Oscar. (I encourage you to check out the audio of our full conversation at the top of this post.)

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The British Academy of Film and Television Arts handed out its 65th annual BAFTA Awards this afternoon across the pond, and many of the same folks who will congregate at the Oscars two weeks from today were in attendance. Of course, the question now on all of their minds — and ours — is whether or not the American Academy will annoint the same major winners as the British Academy: The Artist for best picture, Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) for best director; Jean Dujardin (The Artist) for best actor; Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) for best actress; Christopher Plummer (Beginners) for best supporting actor; and Octavia Spencer (The Help) for best supporting actress.

Here’s my take…

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On Saturday night, the 27th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival honored legendary thespian Christopher Plummer with its highest honor, the Modern Master Award, in front of a large crowd at Santa Barbara’s historic Arlington Theatre. (Previous recipients include Michael Douglas, Jodie Foster, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Diane Keaton,Sean Penn, Jeff Bridges, Peter Jackson, George Clooney, Will Smith, Cate Blanchett, Clint Eastwood, James Cameron, and Christopher Nolan.)

The 82-year-old was in fine form, answering questions, sharing stories, and telling jokes for over two hours before being presented with his statuette by Santa Barbara native Mike Mills, the writer-director of the 2011 dramedy Beginners, in which Plummer gave a colorful supporting performance (as Mills’ late father) that earned him a Critics’ Choice Award and Golden Globe Award this month and is widely expected to win him his first Oscar next month.

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By Roger Friedman

The Oscar nominations are in, and there are lots of movies and actors who got left out. Steve McQueen’s “Shame” was totally snubbed, along with actors Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan. Too much sex? The Academy rejected full frontal nudity, that’s for sure. A fascinating film, but depressing–and now set to become a video hit only. Clint Eastwood’s “J Edgar” never caught on at the boxoffice, and now the actors–Leonardo DiCaprio and Armie Hammer–are out in the cold as well. “J Edgar” was very well made, but the point of the story was lost–it was not a love story that people wanted to see, but the saga of Hoover’s abuse of power.

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By Josh Abraham

Brad Pitt has been voted the Top Money-Making Star of 2011 in Quigley Publishing Company’s 80th Annual Poll of Motion Picture Exhibitors. This is Pitt’s sixth appearance in the Poll, but his first win. Exhibitors felt Pitt was responsible for more traffic to theatres than any other Hollywood star based on his performances this year in “Moneyball,” “The Tree of Life” and “Happy Feet Two.” (voice)

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By Scott Mendelson

As is often the case, the last weekend of the year is basically a repeat of last weekend, both in general ranking and numbers, as the holiday weekend tends to keep drops low, if often absent. Mission: Impossible- Ghost Protocol led the pack of major Christmas and holiday releases that actually went up from last weekend. The Brad Bird spy thriller earned $31 million over Fri-Sun, with an eye towards a likely $40 million four-day holiday weekend. At the end of its third weekend, the first of which was IMAX-exclusive, the crowd-pleasing Tom Cruise vehicle will have grossed $140 million by Monday, which means it has already outgrossed the $134 million-grossing Mission: Impossible III.

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