No Oscar mashup for Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel lost the Golden Globe to Bruce Springsteen but picked up two Grammy Awards last week for the music of "WALL-E." Next stop: Oscars.

Well, yes and no.

Gabriel will attend the Oscars, where his song "Down to Earth," co-written with Thomas Newman, is nominated for best original song, but he decided to "withdraw from the ceremony." He says in a video posted on his Web site that he and his collaborators worked "bloody hard" on the music for the lovable trash-compactor flick and don't think it should be reduced to 60-65 seconds.

Oscar producers, trying to keep the show within three hours this year, have been nipping and tucking. Gabriel's fine with that and all, but he's decided to stage a mini protest because he doesn't think a mashup of the nominated songs is fair. There are only three, after all. (The other two are from, you guessed it, "Slumdog Millionaire").

The Soweto Gospel Choir, which sings on the animated Oscar nominee's soundtrack, may step in in Gabriel's place.

Catching up on other awards news today...

It was a busy below-the-line weekend, and a busy one for "Slumdog Millionaire" yet again. Its cinematographer, Anthony Dod Mantle, walked away a winner against some formidable competition a the 23rd annual American Society of Cinematographers.

Mantle already has the BAFTA under his belt and won the ASC trophy in a field that included work on "Revolutionary Road," "The Reader," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "The Dark Knight." More details here.

The Little Movie That Could also swept the Cinema Audio Society's awards Saturday, won for best edited feature film drama at the ACE Eddie Awards ("WALL-E" was the first-ever animated film to win the Eddie musical/comedy) and took the Art Directors Guild Award for production design on a contemporary movie ("Button" won for period flick and "The Dark Knight" for fantasy).

Can there be anybody left out there who doesn't think it'll be a "Slumdog" kind of day Feb. 22?

'SNL' and Rainn Wilson get trophies

How about a little writers strike nostalgia from Sarah Silverman?

Why not?

"Last year at this time we were on strike and it sucked," she said before presenting a couple of WGA awards Saturday. "But looking back, it was kind of fun because we were all in it together."

And Silverman and the writers from her Comedy Central show had a battle plan -- 45 minutes of picketing, some "civil disobedience" in the form of firing up a joint, and then 45 more minutes of protest.

Good times!

And speaking of politics, which of course we were, the writers from "Saturday Night Live," who juiced the show this past season with a boatload of biting presidential election humor, snagged the award for comedy/variety series. (Among the competition were the also timely "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," "The Colbert Report" and "Real Time with Bill Maher").

And, much to Silverman's chagrin, her boyfriend Jimmy Kimmel lost comedy/variety special to Rainn Wilson, who hosted last year's "Film Independent Spirit Awards" and couldn't help but point out how meta it was to win an award for an awards show at an award show.

Duality of 'Kids' Choice Awards'

 

It's a world where "The Dark Knight" and Will Smith's alcoholic superhero co-exist with "SpongeBob SquarePants" and "iCarly."

It's the yin and yang of being a tween today, where these mini-adults are trying to shed the trappings of childhood and step gingerly into the teen years but, in the meantime, have a foot in both places. It's kind of schizophrenic, as any parent of kids in that age range can no doubt tell you.

For awards season proof of that, look no further than the nominations for the "Nickelodeon's 22nd Annual Kids' Choice Awards." Here we have some of the biggest stars in the business, no surprise there, like Smith, Jim Carrey, Beyonce, Reese Witherspoon and Adam Sandler, who certainly aren't out of their element at the Grammys or the Oscars (OK, Sandler's debatable).

The kids dig Anne Hathaway, just not for the same reason that she's been nominated for an Oscar this year for best actress (for the indie drama, "Rachel Getting Married"). Instead, they preferred her in "Get Smart."

And there are stars that show kids are still kids, despite the toy industry and marketing mantra that says, "Kids Are Getting Older Younger." They are, but apparently they still like the animated gem "The Fairly OddParents," the squeaky clean "Suite Life of Zack and Cody" and all-American fresh-faced singer Jesse McCartney.

They're into the purity ring-wearing Jonas Brothers (hey, judging by record sales, a lot of people are) and Miley Cyrus, despite her latest photo controversy. In fact, they show a lot of loyalty to their pop culture icons, still listing "Zoey 101" as a favorite TV show nominee even after its 16-year-old star Jamie Lynn Spears became an unwed mother.

Then we get back into split personality territory -- T-Pain, Pussycat Dolls, Linkin Park, Katy Perry's bi-curious ode "I Kissed a Girl," bong fan Michael Phelps. And there's George Lopez as a first-time contender for his voice work in "Beverly Hills Chihuahua." Well, no one said they had good taste.

Sociologists, get to work on this, would you?

Go here for a full list of nominees and go ahead and fret (or not) about the psyche of the MySpace generation.

'Panda' vs. 'WALL-E'

 

The pudgy-layabout-panda-turned-martial-arts-master pulled it off at the Annie Awards -- and how! -- bringing up the legitimate question about what will happen on Oscar night in the race for best animated feature film.

The Annies -- voted on by industry professionals and fans -- are the Oscars of the animation world, and DreamWorks Animation's "Kung Fu Panda" swept to a record 15 wins on Friday. (That's out of 24 total trophies, and most of the others were for TV. Seriously, the "Panda" pillaged and plundered).

For Disney/Pixar's "WALL-E"? Bupkis. (Other competitors included the DGA Award- and Golden Globe-winning "Waltz With Bashir," which also went home empty-handed). 

So, now it's "Kung Fu Panda" vs. "WALL-E" instead of a predetermined lock for the latter flick?

If you go by history, that's the case. Since 2001, when animated movies got their own category, the Annies have predicted the Oscars every year except one. (The Annies picked "Cars" and Academy voters went for "Happy Feet" in '07).

Disney's "Bolt" is the third Oscar nominee this year.

So many pundits have thought "WALL-E" was a lock -- yes, us too -- but a total skunk with more than a dozen Annies is no fluke. And we can't say we're sorry to see any seemingly pre-determined Oscar category get shaken up in what's become a contest with few surprises left. A real race? Say it is so.

'Waltz,' 'Man on Wire' lead foreign, docs

Neither the foreign language race nor the documentary category gives us many surprises today. As far as the foreign derby goes, all the hubbub happened long before we got to this point (omissions, omissions, omissions, mostly of the edgiest fare like Italian mob tale "Gomorrah").

Now, all that's left is to hand over the trophy to recent Golden Globe and Critics' Choice winner Ari Folman for his Israeli animated memoir.

Here are the foreign language finalists:

"The Class," France

"The Baader Meinhof Complex," Germany

"Departures," Japan

"Revanche," Austria

"Waltz with Bashir," Israel

In the documentary race, we feel a make-good here for Werner Herzog, who was snubbed in '05 for "Grizzly Man" but makes it in this go-around for his spellbinding Antarctica tale. We're still expecting James Marsh to walk away with this prize, for the mesmerizing Phillippe Petit walk across the then-newly built Twin Towers, no matter how compelling the Katrina tale "Trouble the Water" turned out to be.

The contenders:

"The Betrayal"

"Encounters at the End of the World"

"The Garden"

"Man on Wire"

"Trouble the Water"

Animation sandwich

It's a category that makes us smile, even though we would've much rather seen more movies tossed in for consideration, which could've given us a five-film race.

As it is, there are three competitors in the best animated Oscar derby.

They are:

"WALL-E"

"Bolt"

"Kung Fu Panda"

It must be tough for the plump little "Panda" to be the overstuffed center of a Disney/Pixar sandwich, but he holds his own.

Never assume anything, but "WALL-E" sure is the continued favorite here. If it doesn't win, that'll be the one of the biggest upsets of Feb. 22.

'Iron Man' flies with VES

 

The nominations are out from the Visual Effects Society, and the list is largely "Dark Knight"-less, though a major superhero blockbuster did win the members' hearts. It was "Iron Man."

The Paramount summer launching mega-hit picked up five nods for visual effects in a visual effects-driven movie, best single visual effect of the year, outstanding animated character in a live-action movie, outstanding models and miniatures in a feature, and outstanding special effects in a movie.

Competitors include "Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" and "Cloverfield."

Dig deep into the nominee list and you'll eventually find "The Dark Knight." But you'll also see NBC's now-cancelled "Knight Rider," the FedEx "Pigeon" TV advertisement  and "Speed Racer." The VES, in its seventh year of presenting awards, casts a fairly wide net.

More details and the full list of nominees here.

Six weeks to Oscar: Do you know where your pulse is?

 

It's six weeks until the Oscars and veteran blogger David Poland over at Movie City News is bored. Bored stiff!

Why? Because there weren't that many good movies in '08, to start with, and even a "surprise" nomination for Clint Eastwood and/or his good-neighbor drama "Gran Torino" would fail to get Poland's blood circulating.

Expected nods for Anne Hathaway, Danny Boyle, Christopher Nolan, even newcomer Viola Davis -- no shockers among that crew, Poland says. "WALL-E" in the best picture category, Richard Jenkins for best actor and Michael Shannon for best supporting -- now that's something to get excited about.

Since we have both Gold Rush Q&A victims Jenkins and Shannon among our Oscar nominees -- looking at this race, as we do, from as much a fan perspective as an "official" prognosticator -- we agree with Poland on that score. But not on his overall, overwhelming sense of ennui. 

We think there's still plenty of juice left in this derby.

Just seeing "The Dark Knight" get a best picture nod, even though it's seeming more and more like a foregone conclusion, will be a thrill for a number of reasons. (Topline: Comic book flicks and Major Awards don't usually mix). Watching just-christened Golden Globe winner Sally Hawkins go toe-to-toe with a veteran A-lister like Meryl Streep, which we honestly think could happen, will be a highlight of the season.

"Slumdog" vs. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button?" David vs. Goliath? Come on, there's heat there.

A win by "Slumdog" director Boyle -- he of "Trainspotting," "Millions" and "28 Days Later" -- will reaffirm our faith that innovative work on beautiful "little" films that could've easily been lost in the shuffle can prevail. (Yes, he seems a lock, but for our money, that's no less a testament to what he accomplished).

And now that Mickey Rourke, fresh off his Globe win Sunday night, might have just ingratiated himself anew to Hollywood and, more important, Academy voters, there's a lot of potential for unfiltered moments of truthiness and emotion. (For an insightful rumination of Rourke, his tendency to color outside the lines, and his current better boy phase, check out this post from the Carpetbagger).

Call us pie-eyed, but we're still in. How about the rest of you?

Under the gun Globe picks

 

With a figurative gun to head, your resident Gold Rusher can pull out a few Golden Globe predictions that just might come to pass, though, by now, everybody's starting to look like they have a clue. It's not that tough to memorize these names: "Slumdog Millionaire," Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy, Sean Penn, Heath Ledger.

Earlier this week, during layovers in cities we don't now recall, we had a few minutes to prognosticate on the Globes for a colleague's blog. With the sound of million-mile gate changes barking from the airport loud speaker, we threw the dart at such personal favorites as the Italian mob drama, "Gomorrah," Colin Farrell as a hitman with a troubled heart in "In Bruges," and Marisa Tomei as an "aging" stripper with a killer body and wounded spirit in "The Wrestler."

Yeah, we might want to rethink those.

Truth is, "Waltz with Bashir" looks to have gained incredible momentum in the foreign language race. So much so that "Gomorrah" might no longer be the shoo-in we'd expected it to be. Farrell, as much as we loved that performance, may not be able to withstand the late-in-the-game surge by awards vet Dustin Hoffman (for a role, in our estimation, that was somewhere between stalker and creep, with ick and desperation layered on top. Sorry, can't force ourselves to make that pick, even though it could turn out to be true).

And even though she didn't win the "Critics' Choice" last night, Penelope Cruz is still the odds-on favorite for her psycho-sexy ex-wife in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." We still expect/hope that Tomei will get that Oscar nod.

Here are the nominees and our choices (come back later for the TV categories):

BEST MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA 

X "Slumdog Millionaire"

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

"Frost/Nixon"

"The Reader"

"Revolutionary Road"

BEST MOTION PICTURE, MUSICAL OR COMEDY 

"Burn After Reading"

X "Happy-Go-Lucky"

"In Bruges" 

"Mamma Mia!"

"Vicky Cristina Barcelona"

 

FOREIGN LANGUAGE PICTURE 

"The Baader Meinhof Complex" 

"Everlasting Moments" 

"Gomorrah"

"I've Loved You So Long"

X "Waltz With Bashir"

 

BEST DIRECTOR

X Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire"

Stephen Daldry, "The Reader" 

David Fincher, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Ron Howard, "Frost/Nixon"

Sam Mendes, "Revolutionary Road"

 

BEST DRAMATIC ACTOR 

Leonardo DiCaprio, "Revolutionary Road"

Frank Langella, "Frost/Nixon"

X Sean Penn, "Milk"

Brad Pitt, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler"

 

BEST DRAMATIC ACTRESS

Anne Hathaway, "Rachel Getting Married"

Angelina Jolie, "Changeling"

Meryl Streep, "Doubt"

X Kristin Scott Thomas, "I've Loved You So Long"

Kate Winslet, "Revolutionary Road"

 

BEST ACTOR, COMEDY OR MUSICAL

X Javier Bardem, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"

Colin Farrell, "In Bruges" 

James Franco, "Pineapple Express"

Brendan Gleeson, "In Bruges" 

Dustin Hoffman, "Last Chance Harvey"

 

BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY OR MUSICAL

Rebecca Hall, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" 

X Sally Hawkins, "Happy-Go-Lucky"

Frances McDormand, "Burn After Reading"

Meryl Streep, "Mamma Mia!"

Emma Thompson, "Last Chance Harvey"

 

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Tom Cruise, "Tropic Thunder" 

Robert Downey Jr., "Tropic Thunder"

Ralph Fiennes, "The Duchess" 

Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Doubt"

X Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight"

 

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams, "Doubt" 

X Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"

Viola Davis, "Doubt"

Marisa Tomei, "The Wrestler"

Kate Winslet, "The Reader"

 

ANIMATED FILM

"Bolt"

"Kung Fu Panda"

X "Wall-E"

 

SCREENPLAY

X Simon Beaufoy, "Slumdog Millionaire"

David Hare, "The Reader" 

Peter Morgan, "Frost/Nixon"

Eric Roth, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

John Patrick Shanley, "Doubt"

 

ORIGINAL SCORE

Alexandre Desplat, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button""

Clint Eastwood, "Changeling"

James Newton Howard, "Defiance" 

Hans Zimmer, "Frost/Nixon"

X A.R. Rahman, "Slumdog Millionaire"

 

SONG

"Down to Earth" (performed by Peter Gabriel, written by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman), "Wall-E"

"Gran Torino" (performed by Clint Eastwood, Jamie Cullum, Kyle Eastwood, Michael Stevens, lyrics by: Kyle Eastwood, Michael Stevens), "Gran Torino" 

"I Thought I Lost You" (performed by Miley Cyrus and John Travolta, written by Miley Cyrus and Jeffrey Steele), "Bolt"

"Once in a Lifetime" (performed by Beyoncé, written by Beyoncé Knowles, Amanda Ghost, Scott McFarnon, Ian Dench, James Dring, Jody Street), "Cadillac Records" 

X "The Wrestler" (performed by Bruce Springsteen, written by Bruce Springsteen), "The Wrestler"

'Dark Knight' romps 'People's Choice'

 

And the People's Choice Award goes to ... the folks who showed up, preferably if they star in host network CBS television shows. "Kath & Kim," did you really think you had a chance?

Truth be told, "The Dark Knight" blazed its way through the 35th annual fan-voted kudos last night -- named favorite in the action movie, movie, superhero, cast and onscreen matchup categories -- but aside from that there was a "Gary Unmarried," "Two and a Half Men" and "The Mentalist" for every "House," "Dancing with the Stars" and "Ellen."

And it was a decent night for "The Secret Life of Bees," despite its reception at the boxoffice that can best be described as, "Meh."

Queen Latifah worked hard to make it seem like there was some excitement in the air -- though the crowd shots suggested otherwise -- and Robin Williams might've had the best line of the night when he called Richard Belzer, "the Keith Richards of comedy." Williams picked up an award for a guest appearance on Belzer's "Law & Order: SVU."

The other good quip of the night came from Ellen DeGeneres, who presented the first award, to funnyman Adam Sandler, by saying she was standing in for a traffic-delayed Kate Hudson. "That's no way to sell a movie, Kate," DeGeneres deadpanned. (Never mind -- there's precious little else opening this weekend, and the studio, Hudson and co-star Anne Hathaway have been burning up the PR circuit for "Bride Wars." It'll be this year's "27 Dresses!")

And speaking of, that rom-com won an award last night, as did "The Simpsons," Kid Rock, Hugh Laurie, Christina Applegate, Reese Witherspoon, Carrie Underwood (three times) and, after she arrived, Hudson.

The romp belonged to "The Dark Knight," with star Christian Bale giving a hearty, "Here's to Heath!" during his gracious thank you.

On a night of repeats and specials, "People's Choice Awards" didn't do too badly in the ratings with 9.3 million viewers. THR's Live Feed says that's down 17% from '07 but up 44% from last year, when the writers strike made it a celeb-less affair.

The awards season will be televised, and it's all started now. Brace yourselves!