October 31, 2006

The Season: Damon v. Dicaprio, Blanchett v. Blanchett, the battle of the Dames...oh, the rivalry!

By Pete Hammond

Variety crowned Carlos de Abreu�s Hollywood Film Festival awards gala last Monday night the official start of the four-month-long awards season - bruising egos at classy rival fall fest, AFI which has (rightly) liked to crow about its importance as an early indicator of Oscar potential.

When AFI moved from the spring to the high profile November slot, awards campaigners made it a must stop, an early buzz center where movies like �Monster�s Ball� and it�s Best Actress march by Halle Berry were launched.

Now, there are clearly two Los Angeles bell weathers as the Hollywood Fest three weeks earlier boasted an impressive turnout that included Clint Eastwood and Robert DeNiro - and they were just there to present and accept awards for others! The fest even attempted to one-up AFI�s gala November 1st opener, �Bobby� by giving it an ensemble award. So many of the film�s stars showed to accept there was hardly room on stage for writer/director Emilio Estevez.

But it�s not just AFI and Hollywood Fest. Rivalries of on fashion or another are visible everywhere this season, whether people want to admit it or not.

So while it was an arguably good week for directors Oliver Stone, Martin Scorsese Clint Eastwood and �United 93�s� Paul Greengrass whose movies all seemed to be visible on the buzz-o-meters, it was a bummer for Douglas McGrath. �Infamous� has flatlined at the box office and is on awards life support sadly proving it�s just too tough to live in the long shadow of its own 2005 rival , �Capote�. Academy lightning doesn�t look likely to strike again for this Truman show despite the tacky Rex Reed quote in WIP�s newspaper ads claiming �they gave the Oscar to the wrong Capote!�

In the race of rival 9/11 movies, �World Trade Center� and �United 93� , both landed strong impressions on potential voters. Stone captured the Hollywood Fest�s Director Of The Year award and later went to the podium a second time to accept the Hollywood Movie Of The Year award for �World Trade Center,� the result of a massive Yahoo internet poll and a triumph over nominees including kudos hopefuls �Little Miss Sunshine�, �The Queen� and ��United 93.� The next night Paramount threw a pre-planned, heavily-attended Morton�s cocktail celebration of Stone�s victory - a party that could only be classified as a campaign event that showed the studio�s strong support for its August release as it seemed every Par employee from Brad Grey on down turned up to sing the film�s praises.

Not to be outdone in a plan reportedly in the works for three months, Universal�s �United 93� blitzed the industry with three-page ads touting the film and headlining the phrase �A Movie Can Matter�. They were everywhere � newspapers, magazines, trades and in massive mailings of the DVD screener to guilds and other groups including the PGA, WGA and BAFTA. One producer said he received three so far. Academy members also got screeners but not the brochure (against the rules). A consultant not connected to either film predicted this expensive grab for renewed attention by both films will result in a wash as neither is likely to get into the Best Picture circle. However, who predicted in October 2004 that �Million Dollar Baby� would go on to win the big prize or in October 2005 that �Crash� would prevail? It�s a fool�s game to write off determined campaigners. Both 9/11 films have strong emotional subject matter and high critical praise that could certainly keep them going as long as both studios continue this level of support. Paramount in fact will be doing a TV commercial blitz for Stone�s film right in the heart of December for the DVD release giving it a further boost. �United 93� has been on shelves since September and will be hoping for significant attention from critics groups to bring it roaring back.

There are other fascinating duels to watch.

The Weinstein Company will now release �Factory Girl� and �Miss Potter� on December 29th throwing both Sienna Miller and Renee Zellweger into a suddenly crowded Best Actress race on the same day. Which one does Harvey vote for if they both get in? Who gets the most ads?

DreamWorks has the enviable position of two probable Best Pic nominees in �Flags Of Our Fathers� and �Dreamgirls�. Of the three DreamWorks founders let�s surmise �Flags� co-producer Steven Spielberg votes for his film while David Geffen goes for his baby, �Dreamgirls,� leaving Jeffrey Katzenberg as kingmaker. But he�s probably too busy trying to figure out if he votes for DWorks Animation�s �Over The Hedge� or �Flushed Away� if they both make it into the �toon race.

Warner Bros award architects in a delicate position with Scorsese�s hot �Departed�, now seem to be touting the entire cast as an �ensemble,� in effect pitting Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson against the likes of Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin and Martin Sheen who shine in smaller roles. Could they all really be supporting each other? And will the actors branch get the hint? If they do, co-stars Damon and DiCaprio who play rivals in �Departed� can then possibly become rivals in the lead actor race as well for other movies - their December epics �The Good Shepherd� and �Blood Diamond�. In fact Warners� �Blood Diamond� may also be duking it out for editorial space with films like �The Last King Of Scotland� and �Catch A Fire� which similarly pair African American and Caucasian actors in socially significant stories.

Then there�s the battle of the magic movies with Christopher Nolan�s �The Prestige,� a movie about � you guessed it - fierce rivals, challenging the surprisingly resilient �The Illusionist� which is co-produced by arch rivals Bob Yari and Cathy Schulman, still involved in a lawsuit over last year�s winner, �Crash.� Whew! It doesn�t stop there. Pundits are already calling the expected Best Actress match-up of Judi Dench in �Notes On A Scandal� and Helen Mirren in �The Queen� the �battle of the Dames�. Then there�s �Scandal�s� Cate Blanchett being campaigned in support by Fox Searchlight vs �Babel�s� Cate Blanchett going for support via Paramount Vantage.

And let�s not even get started with the potential rivalries brewing between the major studios and their own specialty divisions!

Here�s hoping we can all just learn to get along as the Season keeps humming.

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