ScottFeinberg.com

Dear Readers,

This post will — with the exception of one or two other posts that have already been written but have yet to post — bring an end to my coverage of the 2011-2012 awards season, which I have found to be the most exciting, exhausting, and gratifying of the 11 that I have now covered. This is all largely attributable to my affiliation with The Hollywood Reporter, which I was immensely proud to join on August 31, 2011.

The six months since then have been incredibly busy, fun, and surreal. During that time…

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By Josh Abraham

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present “Out of Character,” a new exhibition featuring portraits of this year’s acting nominees by photographer Douglas Kirkland. The exclusive new photos of 2011′s Oscar-nominated performers will be on display starting Saturday, February 11, in the Academy’s Grand Lobby Gallery in Beverly Hills.

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By Sean O’Connell

 Michelle Williams won the Golden Globe for Best Performance By an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical on Sunday evening for her performance as Marilyn Monroe in Simon Curtis’ “My Week With Marilyn.”

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By Josh Abraham

Jean Shafiroff and The Weinstein Company hosted a luncheon with Michelle Williams and Kenneth Branagh in honor of The Weinstein Company film My Week with Marilyn, Tuesday, January 10th at Cecconi’s in West Hollywood, CA. The film stars Michelle Williams and Kenneth Branagh and documents the brief period filmmaker Colin Clark spent with Marilyn Monroe during the filming of The Prince and the Showgirl in England during the late 1950s.

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By Sean O’Connell

In Simon Curtis’s “My Week With Marilyn,” we get to see a contemporary icon playing a Hollywood legend.

Michelle Williams, a two-time Oscar nominee, slips effortlessly into the massive shoes of Marilyn Monroe in the prime of her acting career – right before she filmed Billy Wilder’s “Some Like It Hot.” We can virtually predict Oscar nomination number three when the nominations come out on Jan. 24.

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By Sean O’Connell

You hear this complaint almost every year: “This was a terrible year for film.” It’s often made by moviegoers who didn’t go out of their way to find unconventional, challenging (and frequently rewarding) cinema.

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By Ryan Bushey

This one breaks down pretty easily. Jean Dujardin is the ideal candidate since his breakthrough performance as the silent film star in The Artist should play favorably with foreign HFPA. The movie is incredibly likable. Dujardin is incredibly expressive in a script written with select scenarios. Dujardin’s performance is captivating and the audience cannot look away despite the little dialogue. This movie is original and is a perfect tribute to old Hollywood. Dujardin is a stellar performer who deserves this adoration.

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By Sean O’Connell

Early in his career, Kenneth Branagh says he drew comparisons to Sir Laurence Olivier.

“Specifically, it all kicked off when I directed a film of ‘Henry V,’ which of course he had done spectacularly,” Branagh tells me. “The comparisons were always tough because, in my view, he’s an unsurpassable master. I never had any mind or intention of trying to compete with him. But I was inspired by him. That’s probably what gave me the courage to even try directing a film as an actor.”

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Last week I had the pleasure of interviewing Kenneth Branagh, one of the most revered stage and screen actors of his era, and not a bad writer or director either, about his remarkable life and career. (Scroll down to listen to audio of our conversation.) Branagh is probably best known for his work in the theater, but has, over the past 30 years, accomplished a great deal in the world of film, as well, most notably writing, directing, and starring in three of the finest adaptations ever made of William Shakespeare’s Henry V (1989), Much Ado About Nothing (1993), and Hamlet (1996). Branagh has four Oscar nods to his name — for best director and best actor for Henry V (1989); best adapted screenplay forHamlet (1996); and best live action short for Swan Song (1992) — and may soon add a fifth, for best supporting actor, for his portrayal of Laurence Olivier, one of his greatest acting heroes, in My Week with Marilyn. Branagh rang me from Sweden, where he is now at work on his next film, and, over the course of 30 minutes, we discussed all of the above and more.

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By Rhett Bartlett

Part two of Debbie Reynolds’ extraordinary film memorabilia auction took place today in Hollywood.

After success of her first auction in June of this year, a further 415 lots were up for bidding in the second auction.

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