It Begins

Holy crap, holy crap. My favorite time of year is finally upon us: The Oscar Season.

Two films have already delivered their screeners, both with prospects in the acting categories. Last week, it was the independent Frozen River, and rumor has it that Melissa Leo may find herself a nominee for Best Actress. Elegy joins the fun this week, just in time for its release in my neck of the woods. Philip Roth, whose novel The Dying Animal serves as the film's basis, has himself declared Penelope Cruz to be quite good (Best Actress?), and the role should be a wicked good turn for Ben Kingsley (Best Actor???).

Meanwhile, three For Your Consideration websites are up and running. Paramount Vantage has The Duchess, with Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes; Defiance, starring Daniel Craig and directed by Edward Zwick; and the highly anticipated Revolutionary Road, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, and Kathy Bates all attending an eleven-year reunion, directed by Sam Mendes. Universal has yet to complete links for Changeling, Flash of Genius, or The Tale of Despereaux. But it's front-runner, Frost/Nixon, is up, as is early favorite Mamma Mia!. Miramax is all about actresses this year, giving us Doubt (Meryl Streep and Amy Adams), Happy-Go-Lucky (Sally Hawkins), and Blindness (Julianne Moore), which also comes out here today.

It's a busy weekend for me. Two full days of crew drills, then a meeting with my own crew to prepare for the pre-production meeting. A Pre-Pre-Production Meeting Meeting, if you will. Not to mention Blindness, Elegy, Choke, Flash of Genius, and so many others. Whoo! Life is picking up!