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Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Sweet Smell Of Success (1957)

The Beguiled (1971)

Tenet (2021? Maybe?)

Smokey Is The Bandit (1983)

Robin Hood (2010)

Hollywood Boulevard (1976)

The Devils (1971)

Song of the South (1946)

Gremlins (1984)

Dillinger (1973)

Marcello I’m So Bored (1966)

Jeremiah Johnson (1972)

Big Wednesday (1978)

Swamp Thing (1982)

Forrest Gump (1994)

Payback (1999)

Bell, Book And Candle (1958)

Blowup (1966)

The Big Lebowski (1998)

Medium Cool (1969)

25th Hour (2002)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Palm Springs (2020)

Groundhog Day (1993)

Mandy (2018)

The Sadist (1963)

Spider Baby (1968)

Night Tide (1960)

Stark Fear

Carnival of Souls (1962)

The Devil’s Messenger (1961)

Ms. 45 (1981)

Léolo (1992)

The Howling (1981)

Showgirls (1995)

Green Book (2018)

The Last Hurrah (1958)

The Best Man (1964)

Advise and Consent (1962)

The Candidate (1972)

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Seven Days In May (1964)

The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979)

The Man (1972)

Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970)

Four Lions (2010)

Pump Up The Volume (1990)

Nightmare In The Sun (1965)

The Wild Angels (1966)

The Omega Man (1971)

The Nanny (1965)

Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)

Live Like A Cop, Die Like A Man...

“1917” won a lucky seven BAFTA Awards on Sunday, February 2. The haul at the BAFTAs for this WWI epic included the top prize of Best Picture. Multi-hyphenate Sam Mendes shared in that win as well as the one for Best British Film and claimed another on his own for directing this tribute to his grandfather.

Heading into these precursor prizes, his film was already out front to win Best Picture at the Oscars next Sunday. Mindful that the British academy often previews the Academy Awards, our Oscar experts from major media outlets have been busy updating their predictions with a slew shifting their votes to “1917.”

Sixteen of our 27 pundits are now predicting “1917” will prevail on February 9. That support translates into leading odds of 11/2 for it to take the top prize at the Academy Awards.

Six of our Oscarologists favor SAG Awards winner “Parasite” while four are expecting one-time frontrunner “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood...

Our Oscar experts from major media outlets now give the edge in the Best Picture race to PGA winner “1917.” Ten of our 25 pundits predict Sam Mendes war epic will take the top prize on February 9. However, seven of them say to watch out for “Parasite,” which pulled off an upset at the SAG Awards in the marquee ensemble category. Only seven still support “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” which held the early lead after the 2020 Academy Awards nominations announcement on January 13

These updated predictions have resulted in new odds, with “1917” now in first at 11/2 while both “Ouath” and “Parasite” are right behind at 6/1. (See the individual rankings by experts and the resulting odds.) Scroll through our photo gallery at the top of this post to see how our expert critics rank Oscar contenders in the other 23 races according to the likelihood of winning in the key races.

See 2020 Oscars:...

After the 2020 Academy Awards nominations announcement on January 13, our Oscar experts from major media outlets updated their Best Picture predictions and gave the edge to “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” Quentin Tarantino‘s fable had 11 of our 19 critics predicting it to win Best Picture on February 9.

But since then, “1917” won at the PGA Awards while “Parasite” took the top prize at the SAG Awards. Those two films are now battling it out for first place with “Ouath,” which now has just nine pundits in its corner. Sam Mendes war epic has the support of seven experts while Boon Jong Ho‘s social satire is backed by five Oscar watchers.

While “Ouath” still has leading odds of 11/2 to take home the Best Picture Oscar “1917” is right behind at 6/1 while “Parasite” is at 13/2. (See the individual rankings by experts and the resulting odds.) Scroll through our photo gallery at the...

In the wake of the 2020 Academy Awards nominations announcement on January 13, our Oscar experts from major media outlets have started to make their Best Picture predictions. Quentin Tarantino‘s fable “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” which reaped 10 nominations, has the early lead with 11 of our 19 critics predicting it to win Best Picture on February 8. Sam Mendes war epic “1917” has the backing of five experts. And Boon Jong Ho‘s social satire “Parasite” has the support of three Oscar watchers. None of the other six nominees is predicted to prevail in the top race at the 92nd Academy Awards.

That support for “Ouath” gives it leading odds of 5/1 to take home the Best Picture award while “1917” has odds of 6/1 to pull off an upset and “Parasite” sits at 7/1. (See the individual rankings by experts and the resulting odds.) Scroll through our photo gallery at the top of this post to...

Congratulations to our Expert Sasha Stone (Awards Daily) for a tremendous score of 91.67% when predicting the 2019 Oscars winners on Sunday. She leads 37 Experts, journalists who cover the entertainment industry throughout the year. See Experts’ scores.

Over 8,000 people worldwide predicted these Academy Awards champs at the Hollywood ceremony. Our champ got 22 of the 24 categories correct, only missing for Best Actress (choosing Glenn Close over Olivia Colman) and Best Documentary Feature (choosing “Rbg” over “Free Solo”). That means she got Best Picture (“Green Book”) and the other three acting winners.

SEE2019 Oscars: Full list of winners (and losers) at the 91st Academy Awards

You can see how your score compares to all others in our leaderboard rankings of all contestants, which also includes links to see each participant’s predictions. To see your own scores, go to the User menu in the top right corner of every page of Gold Derby when...

“I’m going with ‘Roma’ to win” the Oscar for Best Picture, harrumphs Michael Musto (NewNowNext), “with ‘Green Book’ on the outside as a close runner-up.” Jeff Wells (Hollywood Elsewhere) and I agree, but for different reasons. Watch our video slugfest above or listen to the audio podcast version below.

Beware: We don’t yet know the winners of the SAG, BAFTA and DGA Awards, so we’re sizing up the derby with only the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice tea leaves. But that doesn’t fluster three diehard Oscarologists like us, who bark with sassy authority.

“I don’t think there’s stopping Mahershala Ali” (“Green Book”) in the race for Best Supporting Actor, insists Jeff. “He’s been ahead since the get-go. I’d like to see Richard E. Grant win because I loved him in that role more than just about anyone else.”

I lobby hard to...

Categories like Best Picture and Best Actress have been debated ad nauseum, but more important to a good Oscar predictions score are the craft categories, just because there are so many of them. Zach Laws, Rob Licuria and Amanda Spears joined me to debate our nomination predictions in these 10 mystifying below-the-line races keeping us up at nights and confusing us:

00:15 — Best Cinematography

08:45 — Best Costume Design

18:00 — Best Film Editing

27:20 — Best Makeup and Hairstyling

34:50 — Best Production Design

40:45 — Best Score

47:55 — Best Song

53:30 — Best Sound Editing

57:25 — Best Sound Mixing

59:35 — Best Visual Effects

SEEour Editors discuss the above-the-line Oscar races.

The fortunes of “Black Panther,” “First Man” and “Mary Poppins Returns” frequently popped up in the conversation, as we vary in how well we suspect that these films are liked by the academy overall and how that might manifest in snubs for their technical achievements.

Oh, lordy, is Jeff Wells (Hollywood Elsewhere) ever going to bitch about this! Our Oscars video chat with Michael Musto is a train wreck of production snafus! Michael’s camera wouldn’t work so he can’t be seen, just heard. Jeffrey looks great (nifty hipster glasses and hardo) except for the fact that it seems like somebody turned up the color saturation dial to max in my video recording console. Meantime, I’m blanched like an anemic ghost. And throughout doing this slugfest, none of us heard that nasty, annoying scratch, scratch, scratch on the audio track. Or else I would’ve stopped the recording and rebooted, of course.

Oh, well. I really, really shouldn’t post this video at all. We should regroup and do a new yapfest, but there’s no time for that. PGA Awards are 72 hours away. Right now it’s more important to have...

“First Reformed” got some of the year’s best reviews, so can Paul Schrader finally earn his first ever Oscar nomination? Yes, you read that right: the screenwriter of “Taxi Driver” (1976) and “Raging Bull” (1980), and the director of “Hardcore” (1979), “American Gigolo” (1980), and “Affliction” (1997), to name a few, has never competed at the Academy Awards. While much of the buzz for this A24 release has been for Ethan Hawke‘s performance as a tormented priest confronting the effects of climate change, the academy writers branch especially could take this as an opportunity to right a tremendous wrong.

Schrader earned Golden Globe bids for penning Martin Scorsese‘s “Taxi Driver” and “Raging Bull,” with the former also bringing him a WGA bid. But somehow neither of those led to Oscar nominations, despite both films competing for Best Picture. And Schrader has likewise been snubbed for his directorial efforts.

See Ethan Hawke movies: 14 greatest films,...

Lots of frisky horses darted out of the gates at the Telluride and Venice Film Festivals, tripping up the Oscar derby — just the way we like it. But which ones really broke out of the pack?

All Oscarologists knew that “First Man” would be great – director Damien Chazelle never disappoints – but, yeowsa, he blasted through the stratosphere of high Oscar hopes again. Now it is Gold Derby’s official frontrunner for Best Picture based upon the combination of predictions by our Experts, Editors, Top 24 Users, Top 24 All Stars and all Users.

But hold your horses, Derbyites! “First Man” is tied for first place with “Roma,” if you only weigh the Oscar predictions of our Experts: four votes each, if you only count predictions made since Sept. 1.

Team “First Man”: Keith Simanton (IMDb), Sasha Stone (Awards Daily), my Gold Derby colleague Susan Wloszczyna and me.

Team “Roma”: Thelma Adams...

Back in 2002, at a Melrose tea shop, I was among a group of bloggers who included David Poland and Jeffrey Wells, meeting to discuss launching a joint online venture. We were all early online adopters who saw the future that freedom from print could bring.

We threw plenty of ideas around that afternoon, many of which wound up on our respective websites, and opted to go our separate ways. Jeff Wells is still publishing Hollywood Elsewhere; I created the first blog at The Hollywood Reporter, Risky Business, followed by Thompson on Hollywood at Variety, which I took to IndieWire in 2009; and Poland founded Movie City News, which he is finally letting go.

In his Wednesday farewell The Hot Blog post, Poland tries to assess the changing media landscape that led to his desire “to work for the other team, if they will have me.” In other words, he wants to...

Back in 2002, at a Melrose tea shop, David Poland, Jeffrey Wells, Nikki Finke (via speakerphone), and I met to discuss launching a joint online venture. We were all early online adopters who saw the future that freedom from print could bring.

We threw plenty of ideas around that afternoon, many of which wound up on our respective websites, and opted to go our separate ways. Jeff Wells is still publishing Hollywood Elsewhere; Finke wound up selling her Deadline Hollywood site to Jay Penske’s Pmc (which now owns IndieWire); I created the first blog at The Hollywood Reporter, Risky Business, followed by Thompson on Hollywood at Variety, which I took to IndieWire in 2009; and Poland founded Movie City News, which he is finally letting go.

In his Wednesday farewell The Hot Blog post, Poland tries to assess the changing media landscape that led to his desire “to work for the other team,...

As final Oscar voting ended on Feb. 27, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” leapt ahead of “The Shape of Water” in the race for Best Picture. Martin McDonagh‘s character study now has the votes of 11 our 27 Oscar experts from major media outlets to win while Guillermo del Toro‘s fantasy has fallen back to nine. Those respective levels of support translate into odds of 17/10 versus 9/4.

But watch out for “Get Out,” which has six experts in its corner and competitive odds of 7/2. “Lady Bird” continues to have a single backer and odds of 20/1 to pull off an upset. (See the individual rankings by experts and the resulting odds.)

This late surge by “Three Billboards” coincides with the end of the second and final round of voting for the Oscars. The Best Picture winner, as well as those in the other 23 competitive categories, will be revealed live on the 90th Academy...

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” just pulled into a tie for first place with longtime frontrunner “The Shape of Water” in the race for Best Picture. Of our 26 Oscar experts from major media outlets, each of these films now has 10 votes. “Get Out” still has five experts in its corner while “Lady Bird” has one backer. (See the individual rankings by experts and the resulting odds.)

This surge by “Three Billboards” has come at just the right time as final Oscar voting ends on Feb. 27. The winner of this prize, as well as the other 23 competitive categories, will be revealed live on the 90th Academy Awards that air on ABC on Sunday (March 4).

“Three Billboards” had the support of just five experts before it swept the Baftas on Feb. 18. Martin McDonagh‘s character study won both Best Picture and Best British Film, two acting awards (Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell) and original screenplay.

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” got a big boost in the race for Best Picture at the Oscars following its five wins at the Baftas last Sunday (Feb. 18). Nine of our 26 Oscar experts from major media outlets now favor Martin McDonagh‘s character study to win Best Picture at the Oscars. That is up from five votes before the British academy weighed in with their picks. Conversely, “The Shape of Water,” which won three BAFTAs including Best Director (Guillermo del Toro), fell from 12 pundits to 10. (See the individual rankings by experts and the resulting odds.)

That sweep at the BAFTAs, where it won both Best Picture and Best British Film, two acting awards (Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell) and original screenplay, came at just the right time for “Three Billboards.” Final voting for the Academy Awards began on Feb. 20 and ends on Feb. 27. While “The Shape of Water” still has the...

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” swept the BAFTAs on Sunday (Feb. 18), winning five awards including Best Picture. Mindful that the British academy often previews the Academy Awards, our Oscar experts from major media outlets have been busy updating their predictions. Six of our pundits now favor Martin McDonagh‘s character study to win. That support translates into odds of 10/3 to take the top prize on March 4. (See the individual rankings by experts and the resulting odds.)

However, exactly half of our two dozen experts are still backing the Best Picture bid by “The Shape of Water.” Those votes give it leading odds of 6/5. Guillermo del Toro won Best Director at BAFTA and his fantasy film picked up two other prizes (production design, score) there as well.

Five experts favor Jordan Peele‘s social satire “Get Out.” This gives the blockbuster odds of 4/1 to win the top Academy Award. And one...

That Jordan Peele’s Get Out just won a prestigious writing award a full year after it was released is proof of its staying power. For Jeff Wells at Hollywood-Elsewhere, however, it is a crime of epic proportions that Get Out won the WGA and very well might win Best Picture. Even though it made $175

The post Oscar bits and bites – Random Oscar Notes appeared first on Awards Daily.

Over at Hollywood-Elsewhere, Jeff Wells is losing his mind over the possibility of The Shape of Water or Get Out winning Best Picture. There is no particular reason I can think of for this except that he has an ongoing beef with those two films. Instead he’s decided to throw out the “year of the

The post Is the Year of the Woman Enough to Bring Home Oscar Wins? appeared first on Awards Daily.

James Mangold is not hiding his distaste for Hollywood Elsewhere founder and writer Jeff Wells. The “Logan” director lashed out against Wells on Twitter after the film writer made a jab at Mangold’s latest Wolverine film by calling it “too violent.”

Read More:‘Logan’: 10 Ways Hugh Jackman and James Mangold Convinced Fox to Make A Bold and Bloody Superhero Movie

Mangold replied to Wells by saying he could’ve predicted his negative reaction. Wells tried to amend his comment by linking to his article “Logan.” Wells’ piece isn’t exactly positive, although it does praise Dafne Keen’s breakout performance.

“Really? Jesus, Jeff. I’m gonna have to assume you have aspergers or otherwise I just can’t keep up the good will,” Mangold replied. “Aw, fuck it. Shove your self promoting links to your crooked prognostications up your pompous ass. And find a new hairstyle, that pomp is getting Trumpy.

Sometimes the world of film critics and Oscar pundits inadvertently sabotage a movie that really could be considered a Best Picture contender. I remember Jeff Wells talking about it really...

It should be noted that there are a few pundits who have different films at number one than La La Land. For instance, Anne Thompson, Thelma Adams, Tim Gray, Jack Matthews,...

The Santa Barbara Film fest is in full swing. Jeff Wells has some nice coverage of last night’s tribute to Spotlight, with Michael Keaton and Rachel McAdams. One of...

To Jeff Wells (Hollywood Elsewhere), Oscar punditry isn't about weighing stats or revisiting past kudos history. He's cinema's own Don Quixote, an idealist who's stunned and even a little bit offended if you dare to suggest that the Oscar race is more about politics and personalities than a noble quest to define the year's best films. That's what makes Jeff so much fun to chat with at this time of year. He gets emotionally invested. When he makes Oscar predictions, "I go with what I think the gods are telling me should happen and I just can't embrace statistical likelihoods," he says in our podcast chat (listen below) while referring to the kind of Oscar pundit clashes that Pete Hammond and I do.  "All of that is very entertaining. I love posting it. You and Pete are my favorites, but I can't embrace it. " So where does he think the...

While on a suddenly aborted podcast with Erik Anderson and Jeff Wells, we began talking about Best Supporting actor. “There are about ten,” Anderson said, before agreeing that this was...

There are rumblings over at Hollywood-Elsewhere, discussed on the latest episode of Oscar Poker with Awardswatch’s Erik Anderson wherein both Jeff Wells and Anderson were saying Michael Fassbender was not going to get nominated.

Oscar Poker, with Jeff Wells and me was recorded earlier today, with special guest Erik Anderson from AwardsWatch. We talk about Joy and the various categories. I’m sticking to Johnny Depp,...

I was unable to attend last night’s gathering of journalists and Academy members to listen to Brian Wilson perform Beach Boys songs but Jeff Wells went and captured some of it on video.

During out latest podcastof Oscar Poker, Jeff Wells and I contemplated the idea that this could be a year where the Best Picture race might depart from last year’s lineup of small earners.

Jeff Wells floated an interesting theory over at Hollywood-Elsewhere about how Best Actress might be Jennifer Lawrence’s to lose if certain factors fall into place. The thing holding her...

Universal

Ah, the ’90s. There was a time filled with truly beloved blockbusters. James Cameron gave us Terminator 2, Steven Spielberg offered up Jurassic Park, Kevin Reynolds delivered Waterworld… Hold on – Waterworld wasn’t beloved. It was an infamous flop, the film that initiated star Kevin Costner’s rapid decline. Yet “beloved” is exactly how Costner described the film to Jeff Wells of Hollywood Elsewhere. Despite the film’s horrible reputation and its negative affect on the actor’s career, Costner defended the film ardently:

“I’m not sure you know how hard people work [on films]. I’m not sure you know how beloved the movie is around the world…”

Waterworld’s box-office total of $264 million doesn’t immediately scream failure, but when you consider the film’s vast $175 million budget (huge today, absolutely unfathomable in 1995) it was a disaster. The film was rife with production problems (apparently director Kevin Reynolds was...

Kevin Costner has spoken out in defense of “Waterworld” after a film critic reached out to apologize for trashing the movie upon its 1995 release. “I know that people might think of ‘Waterworld’ as a low point for me. It wasn’t. It could have had a better, more obvious outcome,” Costner told Jeff Wells of Hollywood Elsewhere. “The thing I know is that I never had to stand taller for a movie when most were going the other way. The movie with all its imperfections was a joy for me… a joy to look back upon and to have participated in.

1995.s Kevin Costner vehicle Waterworld is widely regarded as one of the biggest cinematic belly flops of all time. (Cards on the table, I loved Waterworld in 1995, and I love Waterworld now.) Costner, however, doesn.t look at the film as a failure, and doesn.t think it was a flop at all. The film just turned 20 at the end of last month (it was released on July 28, 1995), and there have been some people looking back on it to mark the occasion. Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere is one who revisited Waterworld after a long time. He decided maybe he gave it a bum rap the first time around and reached out to Costner for his take. The actor responded with: I know that people might think of Waterworld as a low point for me. It wasn.t. It could have had a better, more obvious outcome. The thing I...

In the latest update of Oscar Poker (Oscar Podcast is still ongoing), Jeff Wells and I talked about the packed Best Actor race and a strange phenomenon rising as a result.

There are two brilliant performances in Love & Mercy, well, four if you add in Paul Giamatti and Elizabeth Banks in supporting roles. Paul Dano and John Cusack together make one whole complete lead performance,...

In my opinion the conclusions Ronald Rovers comes to in this breakdown of Birdman's seamless editing is a little far fetched when it comes to his "closer look", but nonetheless interesting and it's fun to see someone willing to look so close and come up with a few outlandish theories. I think Jeff Wells' headline "Birdman Meets Room 237" is pretty much spot on in this regard. Room 237 was a bunch of hooey when it comes to its theories, but nevertheless a fun exploration of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. I will say, however, I'm growing weary with everything being compared to Kubrick in some way or another. I don't know if it's simply the era in which most film bloggers and critics grew up in or if it's some sort of unnatural obsession, but as much as I love Kubrick and seeing people explore his work, the comparisons need to end.

Never mind the Indie Spirit Awards you saw on TV on Saturday. Our editors roamed the scene on the Santa Monica Beach and caught the real goings-on. See Kerry Washington shivering from the chilly sea breeze, journalists being starved by cruel Spirits staffers, one journo (Jeff Wells) on his back on the floor shooting video of the winners and two of our Oscarologists – Gold Derby's founder Tom O'Neil and Sasha Stone of Awards Daily– goofing off back stage. -Break- After taking a tour through the gallery at the bottom of this post, be sure to make your Oscars picks -- click here -- or predict the Best Picture winner using our easy drag-and-drop menu below. Best predictions will win $1,000 prize. And the 24 Users with the best scores advance to a team to compete against our Experts and Editors next year. See who's in our current Top 24 and their early Oscar predictions.

In what may be one of the closest Best Picture races in recent memory, our 28 Oscar Experts are almost evenly divided between "Birdman" and "Boyhood." -Break- "Birdman" has the narrowest of advantages, getting odds of 11/10 on the strength of 15 experts: Thelma Adams (ZEALnyc), Matt Atchity (Rotten Tomatoes), Kyle Buchanan (Vulture), Edward Douglas (Coming Soon), Scott Feinberg (Hollywood Reporter), Tariq Khan (Fox News), Mary Milliken (Reuters), Michael Musto (Out.com), Steve Pond (The Wrap), Jenelle Riley (Variety), Christopher Rosen (Huffington Post), Jeff Wells (Hollywood-Elsewhere), Glenn Whipp (Los Angeles Times) and Gold Derby's Tom O'Neil and Paul Sheehan. Updated: Experts' Oscars predictions in 24 categories "Boyhood," has odds of 6/5 with the support of 13 Oscarologists: Mike Cidoni (Associated Press), Thom Geier, Michael Hogan (Vanity Fair), Dave Karger (Fandango), Scott Mantz (Access Hollywood)...'...

Scott Feinberg promises more articles like this most recent one at The Hollywood Reporter in the lead-up to this Sunday's 2015 Oscars and I find the "journalism" here almost as deplorable as the request for anonymity from the Academy member saying them. Jeff Wells calls this "blunt" commentary from a female member of the Academy's public relations branch "Terrific stuff", and sure, it's terrific stuff if you find most online Internet comment sections to be loaded with "terrific stuff". All this is, is an anonymous person, too afraid to let their opinion be attached to their name. What value do your statements have if you're unwilling to own themc So what did she sayc Well, let's begin with the fact she's not interested in hearing about "snubs". "What no one wants to say out loud is that Selma is a well-crafted movie," she says, "but there's no art to it." Oh,...

I think you have to be an old timer in the Oscar race to really get certain things about it. One of those things is the so-called “Norbit” myth that...

Spoiler alert, but Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) was, in fact, not my favorite film of the year. I figured I should just get that out of the way at the start for those of you who feared I might have the same #1 film as Brad and Mike, both of whom listed Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's latest as their favorite film from 2014. Don't get me wrong, I really liked Birdman, but in a surprise to even myself, it didn't make my list, which I think you can pretty much chalk up to the surprisingly good year 2014 wound up being. I was certainly among the scoffers last fall about it being a bit of down year, and just a month or so ago I was of the opinion 2014 offered a lot of films to like, but very few to love. After going through and finalizing my list, I'd like to retract that statement.

When the dust settles on Oscars 2015, when the trinkets and whistle blowers have been put to bed, few memories will remain of this year. One that will linger forever and always,...

I wasn’t going to address this because it has nothing to do with awards season and is so inside baseball no one really gives a crap, but what the hell,...

Last night, millions of viewers got to know the real Roger Ebert through CNN’s TV premiere of the documentary Life Itself. Soon enough, they’ll also get a dramatic portrayal of the late film critic in Russ & Roger Go Beyond. The movie is an extended account of one part of Ebert’s life featured briefly in the doc, his co-writing of the screenplay for Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Russ Meyer‘s 1970 cult classic satire/sequel to Valley of the Dolls. Last summer, Will Ferrell was announced for the co-titular role of Russ, and now Josh Gad has been named to play Roger. Hollywood Elsewhere’s Jeff Wells scooped the news from producer David Permut at an event over the weekend, but there’s nothing official yet. The Wrap reports this morning that Gad has not signed on, nor has he even read the script, which is by Emmy-winning sitcom and sketch comedy writer Chris Cluess...

Mike Binder's Black or White is getting a little Oscar run starting today, but it won't be hitting a larger number of theaters until January 23 next year, and then expanding wide a week later on January 30. Relativity is hoping for some kind of Oscar love for the pic, but considering the chasm of mixed opinions on the film I'm not expecting it to gain much attention if any. I have a screener here, but given the negative review from friend of the site, Kevin Jagernauth, over at The Playlist I hesitate to even hit play. Then again, I also trust Jeff Wells at Hollywood-Elsewhere when it comes to his opinions on movies and he loved it... What's thatc Maybe I should just watch it for myself you're rushing off to the comments to hammer away on your keyboardc Okay, I probably will, after all, I really liked Binder's under-appreciated Reign Over Me.

As I said earlier this morning, I'll be seeing Christopher Nolan's Interstellar this evening in IMAX. It's arguably the most anticipated blockbuster of the year and ahead of its release was even considered to be a major Oscar contender in a variety of categories including Best Picture and Director (note the use of the word "was"). Now, before the movie has even screened for all critics (tonight's screening is the first all media across the country), it's already being stepped on and not merely based on its quality as a movie, but in relation to its chances at the Oscars, though it can be hard to tell the difference. The chirping began back on October 27 when The Hollywood Reporter awards columnist Scott Feinberg, who was predicting Interstellar to win Best Picture and Nolan to win Best Director before seeing the movie, posted an article headlined "Christopher Nolan's '...

Jennifer Kent.s The Babadook launched in the Us on DirecTV last Friday, hailed by several critics as among the most outstanding horror movies of the year and by one enthusiast as one of the genre.s top 25 this century. The horror movie starring Essie Davis and Noah Wiseman is available to rent or buy on the Us streaming service, starting at $US9.99, one month before it premieres in cinemas in around 10 cities via IFC Midnight.

In the UK distributor Icon showed its confidence by broadening the film from 147 to 237 locations in its second weekend, ringing up £294,000 ($A540,000) , which lifts the total to a nifty £964,000 ($AI.77 million). As If has noted, the UK haul has already eclipsed the Australian B.O. of $258,000. Hollywood Elsewhere.s Jeff Wells responded to The Babadook as a .a brilliant, slow-burning psychological horror film made in a kind of German expressionist mode. which is significantly...

If "Boyhood" bags the Oscar for Best Picture, this derby season will be a replay of 2009-2010 when "The Hurt Locker" prevailed. With one exception. Behind the "Boyhood" win will be zombies instead of vampires. That's one of the hot topics Jeff Wells (Hollywood Elsewhere) and I explore in our bitchy podcast chat. Tune in below or else go to the iTunes store, do a search for "Gold Derby" and subscribe to our podcast feed so you don't miss any lively shows ahead. -Break- Now … back to those zombies and vampires. Let's be honest. "The Hurt Locker" did not resemble a typical Oscar champ when it entered the race. It had a terrible title, no A List stars and it was about a subject that academy members usually shun: U.S. war in Iraq. So what were its secret Oscar weapons? Big money, lots of nerve and a top Oscar campaigner.

Well, Summit is already scoping out a 2016 awards season plan as they've set Deepwater Horizon, the next film from J.C. Chandor (All is Lost) for a September 30, 2016 release date, which pretty much guarantees a Tiff 2016 premiere... that is if you're planning your schedule that far in advance. The film will star Mark Wahlberg and is based on the true events that occurred on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, the story chronicles the courage of those who worked on the Deepwater Horizon and the extreme moments of bravery and survival in the face of what would become one of the biggest man-made disasters in world history. Matthew Sand (Ninja Assassin) and Matthew Michael Carnahan (The Kingdom, World War Z) penned the screenplay. Filming is set to begin March 2015 and over at Hollywood Elsewhere, Jeff Wells alludes to the fact Liam Neeson may be joining the cast.

I mentioned earlier I was going to take part in Huffington Post's Live chat concerning this year's Toronto Film Festival and the Oscars with host Ricky Camilleri and fellow panelists Jeff Wells from Hollywood-Elsewhere.com and Anne Thompson from Indiewire. The video was broadcast live, but is now available via the embed below. I'll probably have a little more to say about the festival on tomorrow's podcast as well as get a chance to talk about The Drop, which I liked quite a bit but others seem to either dislike outright or feel is a bit weak. I haven't watched the video and don't really want to since I see enough of myself in the mirror, but let me know what you think... and just maybe I'll read the comments.