Golden Globes 2010 Predictions: Best Actor – Drama

2010 Golden Globe Predictions: Best Actor – Drama

Colin Firth, A Single Man
In 1960s Los Angeles, a gay college professor wants to end his life after learning that his lover has died in an accident.

Morgan Freeman, Invictus
By staging the Rugby World Cup in South Africa, Nelson Mandela attempts to unite black and white South Africans.

James McAvoy (above, with Paul Giamatti), The Last Station
Leo Tolstoy’s secretary and follower tries to reconcile reality with his idol’s radical ideology.

Viggo Mortensen, The Road
A man and his son struggle to survive in a cold, brutal post-apocalyptic world.

Brad Pitt in Inglourious Basterds
A ruthless Jewish-American guerrilla leader wants to kill as many Nazi officers as possible.

Stars are what matter. For every Golden Globe-nominated Djimon Hounsou there are [...]

Golden Globes 2010 Predictions: Best Picture – Drama

2010 Golden Globe Predictions: Best Picture – Drama

The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow; scr: Mark Boal
A US Army elite unit disarms bombs in Iraq.

Invictus (above, with Matt Damon), d: Clint Eastwood; scr: Anthony Peckham
Newly elected South African president Nelson Mandela campaigns to stage the Rugby World Cup in South Africa so as to unite blacks and whites.

The Last Station (above, with Helen Mirren, James McAvoy), d & scr: Michael Hoffman
Leo Tolstoy’s family life is upended by the writer’s radical politics.

The Lovely Bones (above, with Saoirse Ronan), Peter Jackson; scr: Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens
A murdered girl sees the world, chiefly her small Pennsylvania town, from up above.

Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire, d: Lee Daniels; scr: [...]

AFI FEST 2009: THE LAST STATION, AFTER.LIFE

Helen Mirren, James McAvoy, Paul Giamatti in The Last Station

AFI FEST 2009, Sat., Nov. 7 at the Santa Monica Laemmle Theater 4 on 2nd Street in Santa Monica.
AFI FEST 2009 comes to a close with the following screenings:

Michael Hoffman’s The Last Station, which is set near the end of Leo Tolstoy’s life, has been getting lots of Oscar buzz for its stars: James McAvoy as Tolstoy’s assistant; Helen Mirren as Tolstoy’s wife; and Christopher Plummer as the verbose author of the never-ending War and Peace.
Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Ilisa Barbash’s Sweetgrass offers a look at sheepherding in Montana’s Absaroka-Beartooth mountain range. Apart from the sheep and the high peaks, there’s no connection to Brokeback Mountain.
Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar’s stop-motion [...]

AFI FEST 2009: Christopher Plummer, Viggo Mortensen Tributes

James McAvoy, Christopher Plummer in The Last Station (top); Viggo Mortensen in A History of Violence (bottom)

AFI FEST 2009 has selected Christopher Plummer, who’ll turn 80 next December, and Viggo Mortensen, 51, as this year’s tribute honorees.
Sponsored by the Skirball Cultural Center, Plummer’s tribute will precede the screening of The Last Station, in which he plays Leo Tolstoy, on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Mortensen’s tribute will precede the US premiere of John Hillcoat’s futuristic drama The Road on Wednesday, Nov. 4. Both tributes will take place at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
A stage, film, and television and television veteran, during the course of his 50-plus-year career Plummer has won two Tony Awards (for Cyrano [...]

Oscar 2010: Early Predictions – Best Supporting Actor

Best Supporting Actor

Alfred Molina, An Education (with Cara Seymour, Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard)
An overprotective father worries about his wayward daughter in 1960s London.

Christopher Plummer, The Last Station (with Helen Mirren)
Initially touted as a potential best actor contender, Plummer is getting the supporting treatment for his performance as the elderly Leo Tolstoy. In that category, the veteran actor has a much better chance of landing a nomination. (James McAvoy, formerly in this list for his role in The Last Station, is now in the Oscar 2010 best actor race.)

Paul Schneider, Bright Star
John Keats‘ not too sympathetic best friend Charles Armitage Brown.

Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Apparently, nothing lovely about Tucci in this one.

Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds (with Diane Kruger)
Nazi [...]