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• 24 Frames: Steven Zeitchik spreads the word about last night’s not-so-”secret Hollywood screening” of David O. Russell’s much-anticipated boxing drama “The Fighter,” a month before its theatrical release, at Grauman’s Chinese Theater as part of the ongoing AFI Fest. (The film will next be screened on tomorrow evening in New York for east coast critics/pundits, who will then be treated to a Q&A with Russell and Mark Wahlberg, the film’s best actor hopeful.)
• Gold Derby: Tom O’Neil recounts the history of producer Scott Rudin (“The Social Network”) and studio chief Harvey Weinstein (“The King’s Speech”), who used to work together but had a falling out a few years ago. In 2008, the two bucked heads while gunning campaigning for Kate Winslet, who was eligible for both the Rudin-produced “Revolutionary Road” and the Weinstein-distributed “The Reader.” (The Academy ultimately nominated — and awarded — her the best actress Oscar for the latter.) This year, as Tom puts it, “not only are the superheroes of indie film production back in the same derby, but they’re [now] chief rivals for best picture.”
• First Showing: Alex Billington posts the “seductive” new theatrical poster for “Blue Valentine,” the new film from The Weinstein Company that stars Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, and that has been getting a lot of attention ever since the MPAA rather inexplicably gave it an NC-17 rating about a month ago. Billington writes that the poster makes him believe that The Weinstein Company — which reportedly considered appealing the rating and/or re-cutting and then re-submitting the film with the hope of getting a lower rating — “just said ‘fuck it’ and went all-out as spicy as they could… and I like it.”
• The Playlist: Simon Dang confirms that “Meek’s Cutoff,” a western directed by Kelly Reichart and starring Michelle Williams (which played at the Venice, Toronto, and New York film festivals before being acquired by Oscilloscope, the same studio that released the previous collaboration between the director and actress, “Wendy and Lucy“), will not be released in time to qualify for 2010 awards consideration, but rather on April 8, 2011. In related news, Williams, who is presently on the London set of “My Week with Marilyn,” tells a reporter: “After this movie, I’m taking some time off. I’m not working for another year.” (Check out Scott’s recent conversation with the actress.)
• Cinematical: Jacob Hall passes along the news that legendary actor Robert De Niro will be honored at the Golden Globe Awards on January 16, 2011 with the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement, which he himself co-presented just last year to his longtime friend and collaborator Martin Scorsese. (In a related post, Tom O’Neil wonders why the Hollywood Foreign Press Association once again “snubbed” women and minorities for the honor. O’Neil writes that, upon hearing the decision, “Many of us award-watchers shrugged, thinking: ‘Great. Another old white guy!’” I beg to differ — I don’t think anyone would or should question the worthiness of De Niro for this sort of an honor.)
• The Hollywood Reporter: Lindsay Powers reports that Hollywood’s reigning east coast power-couple, director Darren Aronofsky (whose “Black Swan” will be released later this month) and Oscar winning actress Rachel Weisz (whose “The Whistleblower” was recently acquired for distribution by Samuel Goldwyn Films), have split after nine years of domestic cohabitation. The duo, who were engaged, will reportedly share joint custody of their four-year-old son.
• The Wrap: Steve Pond notes that the “Casino Jack” AFI Fest gala screening “was supposed to have been a festive occasion, given the fact that the screening would mark the Los Angeles premiere of a film in which director George Hickenlooper brought a comic, satiric touch to the tale of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, played with zest by Kevin Spacey,” but was instead a “more somber and emotional experience” because of Hickenlooper’s sudden death less than two weeks ago. Spacey, who was on hand at Grauman’s Chinese Theater to introduce the film, choked back tears as he said, “This one’s for you, George.”
• Company Town: Claudia Eller reports that “increased movie marketing costs” caused Lions Gate Entertainment to post a net loss of $29.7 million for the second-quarter of the fiscal year, despite the release of such films as the blockbuster “The Expendables,” which grossed $102 million domestically. The studio is currently pushing “For Colored Girls,” “The Next Three Days,” and “Rabbit Hole” for awards consideration.

Photo: Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale in “The Fighter.” Credit: Paramount.

Last Thursday, I had the pleasure of spending about 45-minutes on the telephone with Michelle Williams, who is not only one of America’s finest actresses — and, at 30, will probably remain one of them for decades to come — but who is also a deeply intelligent woman; a devoted single mother; and a real survivor. (She’s also not bad on the eyes!)

Williams became a star at the tender age of 17 on the hit TV show “Dawson’s Creek” (1998-2003) — I remember when it happened because I’m about the same age as her and often tuned in. She proved that she had the acting chops to match her looks in a number of early films, but especially “Brokeback Mountain” (2005), for which she received a best supporting actress Oscar nod. She attracted the interest of the tabloids when she first began dating her “Brokeback” co-star Heath Ledger, with whom she would eventually have a daughter, Matilda — and again in early 2008, when Ledger died suddenly. After a period of mourning and seclusion, Williams reemerged in a series of roles that brought her widespread acclaim — from the bare-bones indie “Wendy and Lucy” (2008) to the eccentric ensemble piece “Synecdoche, New York” (2008) to the Martin Scorsese-mystery “Shutter Island” (2010) — and, before long, she’ll be seen portraying another movie star who died far too young, Marilyn Monroe, in a biopic entitled “My Week with Marilyn.” Things have never looked better for her in terms of her career, but she’s not ruling out the possibility that she might wake up one day, decide that she’s had enough of it all, and call it quits. There’s more to life than being a movie star, she has learned.

Over the course of our conversation — a full transcript of which follows — Williams and I discussed virtually all of the above. We focused particularly, however, on the pinnacle achievement of her career up to this point: her remarkable performance in Derek Cianfrance’s “Blue Valentine” (The Weinstein Company, 12/31, NC-17, trailer), a gritty, honest, adult drama about the complexities of a relationship. (To me, at least, it’s somewhat reminiscent of a play and film that preceded it by half a century, “A Streetcar Named Desire.”) To play the part of a woman who falls in — and, six years later, out of — love with the same man (Ryan Gosling), a lot was asked of Williams — extensive emotional and physical nakedness, a quick weight gain, and even some tap-dancing — and, as anyone who has seen the film can attest, she certainly rose to the occasion.

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• The Australian: Matthew Campbell and John Follain track down Jean-Luc Godard and confirm that he will not be flying in from France to accept the honorary Oscar that the Academy voted to award him last month. His life partner told them, “At first he thought it was going to be part of the same ceremony, then he realised it was a separate thing in November.” She added, “Would you go all that way just for a bit of metal?”

• The Odds: Steve Pond compiles industry reactions to the awards hopefuls that played at Telluride (which wrapped up on Monday), most of which are making encore appearances in Toronto over the next couple of weeks.

• MTV: Josh Horowitz sits down with Danny Boyle to discuss “127 Hours” and learns that the Oscar winning director of “Slumdog Millionaire” was inspired to make his latest film after seeing Darren Aronofsky‘s “The Wrestler.”

• Hollywood-Elsewhere: Jeff Wells mulls over Pete Hammond‘s recent encounter with writer-director Alexander Payne and suggests that Payne should be using his time to wrap post-production on his next film “The Descendants” rather than watching others’ films at Telluride.

• Thompson on Hollywood: Anne Thompson reports from the Venice premiere of Casey Affleck’s “I’m Still Here,” questioning the authenticity of the doc as well as the red carpet absence of its subject, Oscar nominee-turned-whackjob Joaquin Phoenix.

• In Contention: Guy Lodge reports that “Meek’s Cutoff,” a 19th century western that reteams writer-director Kelly Reichart with her “Wendy and Lucy” muse Michelle Williams, evokes thoughts of the “harsh dream-realism” of Terence Malick‘s 1970s films.

• In Contention: Kris Tapley hails “The King’s Speech” as the strongest film to play at Telluride, adding that he expects the film to receive nods for picture, director, actor, supporting actor, supporting actress, original screenplay, and art direction, with cinematography and costume design possibilities, as well.

• Deadline Hollywood: Nikki Finke wraps up the holiday weekend box office, confirming the #1 spot went somewhat unexpectedly to the George Clooney starrer “The American” over Robert Rodriguez‘s “Machete” — or, as Matt Drudge put it on his site, “‘The American’ Outdraws The Mexican.”

Photo: Casey Affleck, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, and Joaquin Phoenix in a scene from “I’m Still Here.” Credit: Seth Browarnik (Rex Features).