Oscar contenders jockey for position

By Gregg Kilday

Mon Dec 20, 2010 1:25am EST

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - And they're off. And it's The King's Speech in the lead. No, wait, it's The Social Network by a nose. Hold on, The Fighter is coming up fast on the inside track.

As the 2010 awards race turns into the backstretch -- the fall film festivals have come and gone, Golden Globe, Critics' Choice and SAG nominations have been unveiled, critics groups have begun to weigh in -- none of the contenders has broken from the pack. At the moment, there's some genuine suspense.

That could change by mid-January, with the Critics' Choice awards slotted for January 14 and the Globes two days later. Oscar nominations will be unveiled on January 25, and the winners announced February 27.

"You could make the case right now that there is a split developing between King's Speech and Social Network," awards consultant Tony Angelotti says. "King's Speech is more the actors' piece, while Social Network has been sold on the basis of its writer, Aaron Sorkin, and director, David Fincher."

From the moment the very British "Speech" debuted at the Telluride (Colo.) Film Festival to a standing ovation in early September, the drama has been a crowd-pleaser. The Weinstein Co. took it a few days later to the Toronto International Film Festival, where the reaction was equally rapturous -- the premiere audience even sang "Happy Birthday" to 50-year-old star Colin Firth. The film ended up with the festival's People's Choice Award.

At the same time, Sony -- with a series of strategic screenings designed to excite awards bloggers -- was readying "Social Network," which made its own auspicious debut as the tony opening-night film at the New York Film Festival. Even before the curtain went up, Film Comment critic Scott Foundas, a member of the festival's selection committee, proclaimed the movie "a splendid entertainment from a master storyteller."

Ever since, most critics have been falling all over themselves to find the right superlatives to praise the movie. While "Speech" eked out one more Globe nomination than did Fincher's movie, critics groups from New York to Los Angeles rushed to endorse "Social Network" as best picture.

Meanwhile, David O. Russell's "The Fighter" was marking time. Paramount did not enter it into the fall festival sweepstakes while awaiting a December launch. But even though the movie was one of the last contestants to enter the ring, it scored six Globe noms, tying "Social Network," and then built momentum when it tied "King's Speech" for SAG Award noms -- both pictures got four.

But though the trio of movies now appear bunched tightly near the top of the leader board, there's plenty of other action this awards season.

Natalie Portman has proved another critical darling for her turn -- on pointe, no less -- as a neurotic ballerina in Fox Searchlight's "Black Swan," which is thrillingly baroque. The film leads the Critics' Choice pack with 12 nominations, one ahead of "The King's Speech" and "True Grit."

At the opposite end of the spectrum, the backwoods drama "Winter's Bone," which first made an appearance at the Sundance Film Festival in January, is bracingly austere, and its lead actress, Jennifer Lawrence, also has been showered with praise. With seven nominations, "Bone" will be the film to beat at Film Independent's Spirit Awards on Oscar eve.

There also are the wild cards: "Toy Story 3" and the thriller "Inception" not only won over critics but dominated the summer box office. "Blue Valentine" got Globes love but no SAG attention. "True Grit," ignored by the Globes, rallied back with the help of the SAG voters.

With so many factors in play, it's far too early to call the race.

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"Tron" leads weak pack of newcomers at box office

LOS ANGELES | Sun Dec 19, 2010 11:51am EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Tron: Legacy," a costly 3D sci-fi movie that Walt Disney Co has promoted for more than three years, took the top spot at the North American box office, but with a disappointing weekend haul of $43.6 million, according to estimates issued by the company on Sunday.

Industry observers had been expecting a three-day start in the $50 million range. As openings go this year, the massively hyped sequel to an obscure 1982 movie failed to crack the top-10, and observers have said it will need to rely on strong overseas business to break even.

According to reports, the effects-laden update cost $170 million to make, and more than $100 million to market worldwide. Disney, despite being a public company, is the only studio that refuses to divulge budgets. A studio executive was not immediately available for comment.

Critics trashed the film, which has occupied the attention of two Disney studio regimes in recent years. Jeff Bridges returns to the film as a videogame developer trapped in a virtual environment called the Grid. It marks the feature directing debut of commercials veteran Joseph Kosinski.

The studio, whose live-action pictures are overshadowed by the hit cartoons from its Pixar division, is looking to launch a franchise to take over from its popular "Pirates of the Caribbean" series. Just as the buccaneer theme-park attraction seemed an unlikely basis for a film series, so does "Tron," which appealed only to boys. This time, the studio aimed the film at men and women of all ages.

Disney has been offering tantalizing glimpses to movie fans at the annual Comic-Con convention since 2008, and has raised the heat in recent months with cross-marketing efforts across its theme parks, consumer-products and television wings.

Also new was "Yogi Bear," a live-action/animated update of the old television cartoon. It came in at No. 2 with $16.7 million, a few million dollars short of the expectations of its studio, Warner Bros. But the Time Warner Inc unit said it hoped the Christmas holiday would boost business among the film's core family audience.

Meanwhile, the weekend's other big new release, "How Do You Know," a comedy featuring a high-priced lineup headed by Jack Nicholson and Reese Witherspoon, was a major flop. It earned $7.6 million, falling short of modest expectations. The ranking was not immediately available. The film was released by Columbia Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp.

(Reporting by Dean Goodman; Editing by Vicki Allen)

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"Larry King Live" draws 2.2 million for last show

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Olivia Wilde, Maria Bello bring Hollywood to Haiti

By Zorianna Kit

LOS ANGELES | Fri Dec 17, 2010 2:40pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - After the devastating earthquake rocked Haiti earlier this year, food and medical aid poured into the island country, but in the months that followed a pair of Hollywood actresses and their friends had another idea. They wanted to build a movie theater.

It may seem like a far-fetched notion, but since it opened in September, the Sun City Picture House has become a place that generates smiles on the faces of children and adults. It also has been used as a community center and school, and it helped spawned two similar buildings in different camps.

Maria Bello, who starred Adam Sandler comedy "Grown Ups," and "Tron" actress Olivia Wilde, have documented the efforts of the group of people that brought the theater to life in a new, short documentary they expect to screen at festivals throughout the upcoming year.

"The thing that's needed most in Haiti right now, besides the immediate relief efforts, is joy. And that's what this movie is about," Bello told Reuters.

The movie, "Sun City Picture House," focuses on Haitian aid worker Raphael Louigene -- whose dream was to build a movie theater -- and the two American aid workers who helped him realize that dream by constructing it in just four days: Bryn Mooser from Artists for Peace and Justice, and Dave Darg, who works for Operation Blessing.

Darg directed the documentary. Mooser produced, and they hired a student from Haiti's only film school, Cine Institute, to shoot it.

Bello, 43, and Wilde, 26, both advisory board members of Artists for Peace and Justice, had volunteered in Haiti before January's earthquake, and even then, theaters were in short supply. Wilde remembers one night standing with "40 or so Haitians as we projected 'Home Alone' onto a sheet slung over a wall, creating an impromptu late-night outdoor theater smack in the middle of the slums known as Cite Soleil, or Sun City."

Watching their faces in the light from a projector was an important moment for Wilde. "That's when I understood the need for an Artist for Peace and Justice Film Project," she said.

FROM DREAM TO REALITY

The Sun City theater project came to fruition when, during their earthquake relief work, Louigene shared his dream of building a theater, and Darg and Mooser said they would help.

After the quake, the pair were working full-time in Haiti on standard relief efforts, building homes and schools and bringing in medical, water, clothing and other supplies to what became known as "tent cities."

Bello and Wilde were making regular trips to pitch in, and they all realized it was time to take their efforts beyond the basics to a different level.

"The next logical step was rebuilding some of the society and some of the culture," said Mooser. "It became apparent right away that it was important to give Haitian kids something to do -- especially as we saw increasing violence, rape and all the alcohol and drug use going on. These tent cities are pitch black at night and can become dangerous places."

Artists for Peace and Justice paid for the construction and villagers helped with the building.

On the fourth day, the theater's grand opening, Bello provided the inaugural movie, "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor," the 2008 film in which she starred.

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From finance to fiction in India and Pakistan

By Tony Tharakan

NEW DELHI | Fri Dec 17, 2010 1:00pm EST

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Finance and fiction seem like an unlikely mix, but a number of Indian and Pakistani novelists are finding their stints as finance professionals may have helped ward off writer's block.

While there is no direct link between mastering the markets and writing novels, a career in finance does seem to have had its merits for former Wall Street banker Anish Trivedi.

"I think once you've had to convince people to part with their money by giving them a cogent, compelling argument in as few words as possible, you learn to get your point across pretty rapidly on a page," says Trivedi.

Trivedi, who lives in Mumbai, gave up a seven-figure salary to pursue his writing dream. In "Call me Dan" he took a light-hearted look at arranged marriages and one-night stands in 21st-century India.

Some novelists who move from other careers to writing success mine their experiences for fiction. John Grisham has done this with law and Robin Cook, an ex-doctor, with medicine.

Yet the financiers-turned-novelists from the Indian subcontinent chose to set their characters in worlds far removed from dollar wars and hedge funds.

Private equity professional Sarita Mandanna wrote about star-crossed lovers in the period novel "Tiger Hills" while Pakistan's H.M. Naqvi, a former World Bank employee, explored a post-9/11 New York in "Home Boy."

Amish Tripathi, who works in the Indian insurance industry, found his calling with "The Immortals of Meluha," historical fiction set in 1900 BC.

Financial journalist Maha Khan Phillips made her debut with "Beautiful from This Angle," a satire set against the backdrop of honor killings in Pakistan, and thinks many novelist wannabes may be lurking in media offices.

"Financial journalism is cluttered with frustrated fiction writers," says Phillips.

"In fact, every boss I have ever had, every editor I have ever worked with, has had a novel tucked away."

Publishers aren't wary of novelists with a finance background. And there may be some positives for writers with a financial bent.

"I enjoy having conversations with them (publishers) about the workings of the business - the operating mechanics, the numbers and the accounting," says Mandanna.

But even after getting published, it's often too soon for writers to trade in finance for literary aspirations. Not everyone can be Chetan Bhagat.

Bhagat, arguably India's most read novelist, quit his investment banking career in 2009 to devote his entire time to writing. His first three bestsellers were written juggling his day job and the novelist's urge.

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