THE FRONT RUNNER : Awards Talk

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/BqZUvzzAfCF

[jo]

Again, the aristocratic bearing ( time for some classical roles?) -- as far away from the image of badass Wolverine as possible

http://instagram.com/p/BqY_S49AvJK

[jo]

It's all about the smile that brings on the charisma! The smile that reaches his eyes!

http://instagram.com/p/BqY_FQsgG4w

[jo]

[jo]

variety.com/2018/film/in-contention/oscars-bradley-cooper-and-christian-bale-lead-top-heavy-actor-race-1203034339/

HOME Film Awards
November 27, 2018 9:07AM PT


Oscars: Bradley Cooper and Christian Bale Lead Top Heavy Actor Race
The former 'American Hustle' co-stars may duke it out in a field that could mobilize #OscarsSoWhite
By Kristopher Tapley
Awards Editor
@kristapley


In contrast to the lead actress competition, a list of this year’s lead actor Oscar hopefuls runs out of home run contenders pretty quickly. But at the very top, just like their female counterparts, the leading men are led by a trio of front-runners in what may well amount to the eventual race for the gold.

Bradley Cooper’s career-best work comes in his own “A Star Is Born,” taking on a classic character that has longed for an empathetic rendering across the ages and finally gets one in the best version of the tale to date. An addict with a heart of gold — a talent facing twilight — the role of Jackson Maine was a showcase opportunity for Cooper and he seized it.
Curiously enough, Cooper and his “American Hustle” co-star Christian Bale highlight the race, with Bale delivering an uncanny rendering of former Vice President Dick Cheney in Adam McKay’s “Vice.” The film is an immersive character study that has the actor front and center throughout, peeling back the layers of a true enigma.

In the shadow of that towering duo is Viggo Mortensen, quietly cranking out one of his best performances in Peter Farrelly’s “Green Book” (Mortensen’s co-star Mahershala Ali will compete in the supporting actor category). But it’s a campaign facing a few challenges. Mortensen’s recent N-word gaffe will obviously do him no favors — particularly so with a film has been criticized as “corny” and “misguided” in its feel-good grasp of American race relations in the 1960s. Regardless, he’s overdue for an Oscar, and “Green Book” has far more champions than not.


After that, the category feels like a bit of a free-for-all. Every other contender seems notably vulnerable. Take Ryan Gosling, whose portrayal of Neil Armstrong in “First Man” was precisely what it needed to be: an emotionally clenched well of grief and determination. But it comes across as passive compared with other, more outward displays. Hugh Jackman faces a similar challenge with “The Front Runner,” and like Gosling, his work comes in a film that has underwhelmed at the box office.

As Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury in “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Rami Malek is probably in a better position than Jackman or Gosling. Critics savaged “Rhapsody,” but audiences arrived in droves, and Malek’s work has been singled out even by the movie’s detractors.

Perhaps the critics groups can help shed some light on the race. “First Reformed” star Ethan Hawke seems assured of a few notices in the coming weeks for his portrayal of a tormented priest. Willem Dafoe could be due a second wind after winning a prize at the Venice Film Festival for his depiction of Vincent Van Gogh in “At Eternity’s Gate.” A personal favorite is Joaquin Phoenix’s moody hit man in “You Were Never Really Here,” which recently picked up a Spirit Award nomination for the actor.

There are a pair of New Hollywood legends to consider in Robert Redford, supposedly calling it quits after “The Old Man & the Gun,” and Clint Eastwood, still unseen in “The Mule” but faced with a great opportunity to finally win an Academy Award for on-screen work. Either name would be a distinguished addition to the lineup.


From there, you end up just rattling off a list of qualifying competitors in films still angling for the Academy’s attention: Ben Foster is flawless in the critically adored “Leave No Trace”; Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly bring humor and Hollywood history as Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in “Stan & Ollie”; Lucas Hedges has two drastically different shots with “Ben Is Back” and “Boy Erased”; and Kenneth Branagh is quite good as an aging William Shakespeare in his own “All Is True,” a last-minute hopeful from Sony Classics.

If you’re keeping score at home, you’ve noticed that this list of names could put the category on pace to be the first lineup lacking a person of color since the 2015 slate helped give birth to the #OscarsSoWhite movement. There are options — Malek, Chadwick Boseman in “Black Panther,” Spirit nominee Daveed Diggs in “Blindspotting,” Stephan James in “If Beale Street Could Talk,” Michael B. Jordan in “Creed II,” Lin-Manuel Miranda in “Mary Poppins Returns,” John David Washington in “BlacKkKlansman” — but no one is a slam dunk for a nod. Keep an eye on that.

The Screen Actors Guild will soon give the first real indication of where the actor race is going. Nominations for the group’s 25th annual awards will be announced Dec. 12.

At least Kris Tapley, for the first time, acknowledges that Hugh Jackman is in the conversation.

What will the SAG and AMPAS favor -- the showy display or the restrained but equally dramatic portrayal? Which is the more difficult acting challenge to portray? Do past wins give us a clue?

Jo

[jo]

If KrisT is talking of the difficulty of being in a movie that has underwhelmed at the box office, well - didn't THE READER do the same thing ( Hugh sang about it at the 2009 Oscars -- and it was one of the most laughed about jokes). But who had the last laugh -- Kate Winslet won Best Actress for that role

[jo]

Check the Feedback section --

variety.com/2018/film/in-contention/oscars-bradley-cooper-and-christian-bale-lead-top-heavy-actor-race-1203034339/#article-comments

*My comment drew a response...and agreed with me but said Winslet was already due because she has been nominated many times before. Hugh has had only 1 nod...but many people know he was overlooked for Logan/Prisoners/even The Greatest Showman...ad maybe The Prestige? Part of that, I think, was because AMPAS couldn't admit that actors who are famous for their superhero roles can also be excellent actors!


*Funny how someone called ASIB as nothing but " an extended Lady Gaga video".


*Someone noted that Variety and Indiewire are owned by the same group ( I didn't know that) and it was obvious they were campaigning for Star Is Born and they are dissing Viggo because he is competition.


LOL - sometimes I pick up juicy bits and direct comments by reading Feedback sections ( also true for Deadline and Wells's H-Elsewhere...but I can never get to unfold the Feedback Section for H'wood Reporter).


Jo

[jo]

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Actors on Actors with Hugh and Emily Blunt -- two separate articles. Check out the clips from the link.


variety.com/2018/film/features/actors-on-actors-emily-blunt-hugh-jackman-1203080022/


variety.com/2018/film/news/emily-blunt-hugh-jackman-movie-musicals-commit-1203079620/

[jo]

Could it be ??

The International Film Critique is London-based; are they part of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association which awards the Golden Globes. Or maybe have at least access to advance information from he HFPA?

[jo]

Sorry - FAKE News!

And not for COMEDY/DRAMA either --

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Christian Bale, Vice
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mary Poppins Returns
Viggo Mortensen, Green Book
Robert Redford, The Old Man and the Gun
John C. Reilly, Stan & Ollie

[jo]

Hugh Jackman is nominated for Best Actor for the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts --


www.thewrap.com/a-star-is-born-vice-lead-2019-aacta-awards/

[jo]

Although there is more coverage of the subject of movie musicals with Emily Blunt in this Variety session of ACTORS ON ACTORS, there are some sections that related to THE FRONT RUNNER.

Dec 24, 2018 4:37:43 GMT -5 jo said:

Hugh did an impressive ACTORS ON ACTORS session with another great actor, Willem Dafoe, last year.

This year, when is also considered as a potential awardee, he did another session with another actor/actress Emily Blunt. Because of some similarity in their recent acting work, there is a lot of emphasis on movie musicals and the challenges they pose --




PS : Hugh finds another surprising Les Miserables fan in a famous person, Sen Gary Hart


Jo

[jo]

Movies for GROWN-UPS