76th Annual Academy Awards News!!

[The Silver Bullet]

Even if you hate the Oscars, you have to admit this is good news...

[Find Your Magali]

I know some people felt it got old at the end, but bring back the segment in which Crystal is inserted into scenes for each of the five nominees for best picture. That never failed to be a gutbuster for me; I enjoyed it so much more than the medley of songs that he sings.

There were many great ones, but I think my favorite remains Crystal inserting himself into the bathroom scene in Jerry Maguire, in which Tom Cruise has the meltdown and starts screaming, "Fine!" "Fine!" FINE!"

[MacGuffin]

Oscars Screeners Scratched

Apparently Academy Award voters are going to have see movies the old-fashioned way--in movie theaters.

The major studios have agreed to go along with the Motion Picture Association of America's proposal to stop the sending out DVD and video screeners to those who vote for the Oscars and other Hollywood awards.

In recent years, the proliferation of screeners has allowed voters to watch films in the comfort of their own living rooms. But the MPAA sees the wide availability of award-contending films, many of which are just beginning their theatrical runs, as too tempting for pirates who could put make digitally perfect copies available online and on street corners.

And the MPAA and studio bosses don't want to repeat the Napster-fueled downturn of the music biz.

The screen ban was announced Tuesday, just in time for MPAA President and CEO Jack Valenti to announce it before a Senate committee in Washington, D.C. He cited the move as "a determined commitment to combat digital piracy and to save movie jobs in the future." Valenti added that "400,000 to 600,000 films are being illegally abducted every day...and the MPAA intends to deploy every weapon at its command" to stop this theft.

But many indie distributors and specialty divisions within the major studios see the screener ban as a deadly blow to their films' chances of winning major awards. Their movies usually play in limited release and don't have theatrical outreach of the big-budget flicks and they had used screeners to help level the playing field.

"It's a sad day in Mudville," one unnamed indie exec tells Daily Variety. Says another, "This has been a big conspiracy to make sure the specialty companies don't participate in the Academy Awards. There will be no Pedro Almodovar winning Best Screenplay, because he won't have a chance."

The major studios agreed late Monday to make the home-video mailings taboo, despite the upset it will undoubtedly bring to what is already a shorter season than previous campaigns, with the Oscars being handed out on February 29. Those MPAA signators agreeing to the ban are MGM, Paramount, Sony, 20th Century Fox, Universal, Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. DreamWorks and the independent New Line, agreed despite not being MPAA signators. No word yet on whether indie houses like Lions Gate, Artisan or IFC will comply.

The last major to sign off on the agreement was Howard Stringer, vice chairman of Sony, according to Variety. Miramax chieftain Harvey Weinstein, whose vigorous Oscar campaigning avidly embraced the home screener tactic and whose so-called independent movies like Shakespeare in Love did very well at Oscar time--reportedly only agreed reluctantly.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization behind the Oscars, said Tuesday it had nothing to do with the ban. But the Academy did say in a statement, "We have always urged our members to see the films on big screens the way they were intended to be seen and to base their judgments on the achievements contained in the films on those viewings and not to vote based upon an image seen on the television screen."

Because of the ease of duplicating screeners, the increased use of broadband and new compression technology (Valenti says a new program developed by Caltech researchers allows a movie file to be downloaded in five seconds), the studios have plenty to lose should their big-bucks event pictures get leaked online and are looking to protect their investments

Among the would-be blockbusters coming down the pike in time for Oscar consideration: Warners' The Last Samurai, starring Tom Cruise' Fox's Master and Commander, starring Russell Crowe; Miramax's Cold Mountain, starring Nicole Kidman; New Line's third and final Hobbit tale, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King; and Sony's Big Fish, directed by Tim Burton. (Disney and Universal's key contenders, Finding Nemo and Seabiscuit, respectively, were released earlier in the year and will have commercial DVDs on the market before voting season wraps up.)

According to reports, the big fights came between studio bosses, who are scared of piracy, and marketing executives, who look to award ceremonies as a way to boost box office. The screener ban will not only impact Oscar voters, but also those who vote for the Golden Globes and Directors and Screen Actors guild awards, as well as various critics groups.

With the voting process kept anonymous, there is no official data on how much home viewing contributes to a film's chances of getting an Oscar nod, and it is not known how many voters, accustomed to what one studio executive termed, "a lazy way for marketing people to make sure their film is seen [and] a lazy way for voters to see the film," will now make the effort to leave home to attend screenings before marking their ballots.

The only thing we do is that screening rooms will be fully booked and duplication and shipping companies will lose money. And Pedro Almodovar might just want to content himself with last year's wins.

[Alethia]

I know some people felt it got old at the end, but bring back the segment in which Crystal is inserted into scenes for each of the five nominees for best picture. That never failed to be a gutbuster for me; I enjoyed it so much more than the medley of songs that he sings.

There were many great ones, but I think my favorite remains Crystal inserting himself into the bathroom scene in Jerry Maguire, in which Tom Cruise has the meltdown and starts screaming, "Fine!" "Fine!" FINE!"

there was one, i believe it was in 99, where they put him in Gold Rush, with Charlie, and it's the scene where he's boiling his shoe, and then he eats it.  crystal looks at the camera, and mouths something, and the subtitles come up that say 'I See Dead People'.  then chaplin speaks, and titles come up that say 'I loved analyze this'. i enjoyed that when i saw it.  it really made me laugh.

that took alot longer to tell than it should have.

[MrBurgerKing]

Another great one, when Billy was in the shower with Kevin Spacey.. American Beauty.

Speaking of Mr. Crystal, the man is good at playing one type of role. You'll never see him playing a serial killer, or police cop, or anything! It just wouldn't fit. I know my saying this is not exactly a revelation, no one here is really saying he's a diverse actor, but I might as well extend this a little and give myself an excuse to post this.

[Find Your Magali]

Directors want screening copies back

Associated Press

NEW YORK - Nearly 150 directors, including Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Robert Redford, are urging the Motion Picture Association to repeal its decision to stop sending out special DVDs and videos to Oscar voters.

The directors sent a letter to Jack Valenti, urging the MPAA to immediately repeal the anti-piracy plan it implemented last week.

The ban on sending screeners means the 5,600 Academy Awards voters will have to catch most movies in theaters.

"Many great films, and in particular films that take risks, rely on critical acclaim and, when the film is fortunate enough, Academy consideration to reach a broad audience," states the letter, which appears in the trade paper Variety on Friday. "The MPAA decision to ban screeners irreparably damages the chances of such films: films that already have a difficult enough time finding financing and distribution. ...

"We condemn piracy, but are unconvinced that material links exist between screeners and the illegal industry of pirating our work - and the work of our colleagues."

The list of 142 people who signed the letter includes movie veterans (Sydney Pollack, Barry Levinson, Norman Jewison); international filmmakers (Pedro Almodovar, Bernardo Bertolucci, Atom Egoyan); and a bevy of young directors, including Spike Jonze, Sofia Coppola, Paul Thomas Anderson, Robert Rodriguez and Kimberly Peirce.

The MPAA's response: "Jack Valenti has had conversations with individuals and several groups on the subject of the new screener policy. He welcomes the exchange of thoughts and ideas on the critical issue of combating piracy. That said, the screener policy remains as it was originally announced."

[Finn]

Wonderful! He did a great job with the 1999 Oscars!

[pookiethecat]

"girls don't be a giggler.  everyone can't be dirk diggler"

[©brad]

i see a couple of solutions for this dvd screener situation:

1. keep records of who is getting the screener dvds, and make the ppl return them. if they don't, fine their ass. this would be tough though, cuz there'd be a lot of paper work and mailing, but still. i suppose they could still copy the dvds and sell them though...

2. get prints of the films nominated and screen them in theaters for academy members. make those mofo's see all the movies!! this is a beef ive always had w/ the academy awards. u never know if the members even saw the movies nominated. u get movies like chicago which they luv, and in turn, they don't bother seeing anything else. secondly, the movies should be seen on a big screen. can u imagine how many academy members may be watching the lord of the rings pan and scan style on a 19 inch tv?

i dunno, those ideas may not be the most practical, but there's got to be sum common ground here. glad to see pta and spike jonze stepping up.

[Find Your Magali]

But I think the screeners are more important BEFORE the nominations. Because the nominations are on more of a crunch-time schedule than ever.

If you're looking for that acting or writing nomination from a little film, you have to get people to see if before they complete the nomination process.

Once the nominations are made, the field is winnowed significantly, and there's no excuse for not getting out to see everything that you're voting on.

[bonanzataz]

actually, they do that sometimes with keeping a record of who gets what screener. all the academy screeners have numbers burned into the screen, so they know whose copy was used to make the bootleg. here's a question i have. the whole thing of putting a screener on the internet in the first place perplexes me. if you have the access to screeners, why take the time to download it onto the computer and encode it for internet dorks who don't give you any money for it? that just seems like an unnecessary waste of time.

[©brad]

from what i understand they've been selling them on ebay.

it just goes to show u that u can't trust anyone in hollywood.

[GodDamnImDaMan]

actually, they do that sometimes with keeping a record of who gets what screener. all the academy screeners have numbers burned into the screen, so they know whose copy was used to make the bootleg. here's a question i have. the whole thing of putting a screener on the internet in the first place perplexes me. if you have the access to screeners, why take the time to download it onto the computer and encode it for internet dorks who don't give you any money for it? that just seems like an unnecessary waste of time.

WHO's BOnanzataz? Sounds like some odd phucko who only posts once a month.

[Ravi]

i see a couple of solutions for this dvd screener situation:

1. keep records of who is getting the screener dvds, and make the ppl return them. if they don't, fine their ass. this would be tough though, cuz there'd be a lot of paper work and mailing, but still. i suppose they could still copy the dvds and sell them though...

2. get prints of the films nominated and screen them in theaters for academy members. make those mofo's see all the movies!! this is a beef ive always had w/ the academy awards. u never know if the members even saw the movies nominated. u get movies like chicago which they luv, and in turn, they don't bother seeing anything else. secondly, the movies should be seen on a big screen. can u imagine how many academy members may be watching the lord of the rings pan and scan style on a 19 inch tv?

i dunno, those ideas may not be the most practical, but there's got to be sum common ground here. glad to see pta and spike jonze stepping up.

3.  Leave it up to the individual studios like Ebert suggests.  If one studio wants to discontinue the use, fine, but don't leave the independent producers at a disadvantage because the majors are concerned about piracy.

Jack Valenti, you never cease to amaze me.

[MacGuffin]

Writers Union Denounces Screener Ban

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The west coast branch of the Writers Guild of America has become the first major Hollywood union to oppose the major studios' controversial ban on screeners.

"Screeners have become an important part of the way small, well-written films find their audience," WGA West president Victoria Riskin said in a statement released Monday. "To place a gag order on screeners is to tilt the playing field from small films to large."

She urged the Motion Picture Assn. of America (MPAA), the studio lobby group that orchestrated the ban two weeks ago, to reconsider and "do the fair and right thing for all artists."

In its statement, the WGA noted that such Oscar winners as Bill Condon ("Gods and Monsters"), Julian Fellowes ("Gosford Park") and John Irving ("The Cider House Rules") were brought to the attention of Academy voters through screeners.

Last week, more than 140 of the industry's leading directors, including Pedro Almodovar, Bernardo Bertolucci, Francis Ford Coppola, James Ivory, Mike Leigh, Sydney Pollack, Robert Redford, Martin Scorsese and Jim Sheridan, signed a statement in opposition to the screener ban. The statement was organized by Robert Altman, who directed "Gosford Park."

While the Directors Guild of America has not taken an official position on the issue, spokesman Morgan Rumpf hinted that the union might have something to say in the coming days. "The leadership is in discussion on the issue," he said.

On Monday, MPAA spokesman Rich Taylor said the organization would have no further comment and reiterated last week's statement in which the group said it would welcome "the exchange of thoughts and ideas on the critical issue of combating piracy."

MPAA head Jack Valenti, who has been visiting Ireland on behalf of the trade association that represents the major studios, is not scheduled to return to his office in Washington until Wednesday. Despite widespread opposition to the ban, which was instituted to combat piracy, the MPAA has not backed off its original position prohibiting the distribution of videos and DVDs of the year's awards hopefuls to members of the guilds and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.