AND THE WINNER IS…

The following projections are by no means scientific and are arrived at through a variety of means, including advance screenings and insights from trusted industry sources. As always, reader thoughts are welcome in the ‘Comments’ section at the end of this post.

BEST PICTURE
Projected Nominees
(1) Atonement (Focus Features)
(2) American Gangster (Universal)
(3) Charlie Wilson’s War (Universal)
(4) There Will Be Blood (Paramount)
(5) Sweeney Todd (DreamWorks)
Major Threats
(6) No Country for Old Men (Miramax)
(7) Reservation Road (Focus Features)
(8) Juno (Fox Searchlight)▲
(9) The Golden Age (Universal)
(10) The Kite Runner (DreamWorks)
(11) The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Miramax)
(12) Things We Lost in the Fire (Paramount)
(13) In the Valley of Elah (Warner Independent)
(14) Michael Clayton (Warner Brothers)
(15) The Savages (Fox Searchlight)
(16) Eastern Promises (Focus Features)▲
In the Mix
(17) I’m Not There (The Weinstein Company)
(18) Once (Fox Searchlight)
(19) Love in the Time of Cholera (New Line)
(20) Rendition (New Line)▼
On the Outside
(21) Lust, Caution (Focus Features)▲
(22) Lions for Lambs (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
(23) The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Warner Brothers)
(24) Into the Wild (Focus Features)
(25) August Rush (Warner Brothers)
(26) The Darjeeling Limited (Fox Searchlight)
(27) Margot at the Wedding (Paramount Classics)
(28) Gone Baby Gone (Miramax)
(29) The Brave One (Warner Brothers)
(30) Ratatouille (Disney)
(31) Sicko (The Weinstein Company)
Keep in Mind
(32) An Indifferent World (Warner Independent)
(33) Waitress (Fox Searchlight)
(34) Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (Think Film)
(35) Feast of Love (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
(36) Cassandra’s Dream (The Weinstein Company)▼
(37) In Bloom (2929 International)▼
(38) The Golden Compass (New Line)
(39) The Kingdom (Universal)
(40) A Mighty Heart (Paramount Vantage)
(41) Away from Her (Lions Gate)
(42) Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (Twentieth Century-Fox)
(43) P.S., I Love You (Warner Brothers)
(44) Across the Universe (Revolution)▼

BEST DIRECTOR
Projected Nominees
(1) Ridley Scott (American Gangster)
(2) Joe Wright (Atonement)
(3) Mike Nichols (Charlie Wilson’s War)
(4) Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood)
(5) Ethan Coen, Joel Coen (No Country for Old Men)
Major Threats
(6) Tim Burton (Sweeney Todd)
(7) Terry George (Reservation Road)
(8) Jason Reitman (Juno)▲
(9) Shekhar Kapur (The Golden Age)
(10) Marc Forster (The Kite Runner)
(11) Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
(12) Suzanne Bier (Things We Lost in the Fire)
(13) Paul Haggis (In the Valley of Elah)
(14) David Cronenberg (Eastern Promises)▲
(15) Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton)
(16) Tamara Jenkins (The Savages)
In the Mix
(17) Todd Haynes (I’m Not There)
(18) John Carney (Once)
(19) Mike Newell (Love in the Time of Cholera)
(20) Gavin Hood (Rendition)▼
(21) Ang Lee (Lust, Caution)▲
On the Outside
(22) Robert Redford (Lions for Lambs)
(23) Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford)
(24) Sean Penn (Into the Wild)
(25) Kirsten Sheridan (August Rush)
(26) Wes Anderson (The Darjeeling Limited)
(27) Noah Baumbach (Margot at the Wedding)
(28) Ben Affleck (Gone Baby Gone)
(29) Neil Jordan (The Brave One)
(30) Brad Bird (Ratatouille)
(31) Michael Moore (Sicko)
Keep in Mind
(32) Adrienne Shelley (Waitress)
(33) Sidney Lumet (Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead)
(34) Robert Benton (Feast of Love)
(35) Ted Braun (An Indifferent World)
(36) Woody Allen (Cassandra’s Dream)
(37) Vadim Perelman (In Bloom)
(38) Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass)
(39) Peter Berg (The Kingdom)
(40) Michael Winterbottom (A Mighty Heart)
(41) Sarah Polley (Away from Her)
(42) Zach Helm (Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium)
(43) Werner Herzog (Rescue Dawn)

BEST ACTOR
Projected Nominees
(1) Denzel Washington (American Gangster)
(2) Joaquin Phoenix (Reservation Road)
(3) Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)
(4) Tom Hanks (Charlie Wilson’s War)
(5) Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd)
Major Threats
(6) James McAvoy (Atonement)
(7) Tommy Lee Jones (In the Valley of Elah)
(8) George Clooney (Michael Clayton)
(9) Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Savages)
In the Mix
(10) Brad Pitt (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford)▲
(11) Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men)
(12) Javier Bardem (Love in the Time of Cholera)
(13) Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild)▲
(14) John Cusack (Grace Is Gone)
On the Outside
(15) Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises)▲
(16) Glen Hansard (Once)
(17) Gordon Pinsett (Away from Her)
(18) Christian Bale (Rescue Dawn)
(19) Kevin Bacon (Rail & Ties)
(20) Michael Pitt (Silk)
Keep in Mind
(21) Russell Crowe (3:10 to Yuma)
(22) Seth Rogen (Knocked Up)
(23) Don Cheadle (Talk to Me)
(24) Richard Gere (The Hoax)
(25) Jamie Foxx (The Kingdom)
(26) Jake Gyllenhaal (Rendition)▼

BEST ACTRESS
Projected Nominees
(1) Keira Knightley (Atonement)▲
(2) Laura Linney (The Savages)
(3) Halle Berry (Things We Lost in the Fire)
(4) Cate Blanchett (The Golden Age)
(5) Ellen Page (Juno)▲
Major Threats
(6) Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose)
(7) Jennifer Connelly (Reservation Road)
(8) Giovanna Mezzogiorno (Love in the Time of Cholera)
(9) Jodie Foster (The Brave One)
(10) Nicole Kidman (Margot at the Wedding)
(11) Uma Thurman (In Bloom)
(12) Angelina Jolie (A Mighty Heart)
(13) Keri Russell (Waitress)
(14) Julie Christie (Away from Her)
In the Mix
(15) Reese Witherspoon (Rendition)
(16) Naomi Watts (Eastern Promises)
(17) Scarlett Johansson (The Other Boleyn Girl)
(18) Marcia Gay Harden (Rail & Ties)
On the Outside
(19) Keri Russell (August Rush)
(20) Margeta Irglova (Once)
(21) Keira Knightley (Silk)
Keep in Mind
(22) Nicole Kidman (The Golden Compass)
(23) Hilary Swank (P.S., I Love You)
(24) Julia Roberts (Charlie Wilson’s War)
(25) Anne Hathaway (Becoming Jane)
(26) Renee Zellweger (Leatherheads)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Projected Nominees
(1) Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)
(2) Mark Ruffalo (Reservation Road)
(3) Benicio Del Toro (Things We Lost in the Fire)
(4) Paul Dano (There Will Be Blood)
(5) Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton)▲
Major Threats
(6) Philip Seymour Hoffman (Charlie Wilson’s War)
(7) Russell Crowe (American Gangster)
(8) John Travolta (Hairspray)
(9) Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford)▲
(10) Clive Owen (The Golden Age)
(11) Adrien Brody (The Darjeeling Limited)
(12) Alan Rickman (Sweeney Todd)
(13) Tommy Lee Jones (No Country for Old Men)
In the Mix
(14) Max von Sydow (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
(15) Albert Finney (Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead)
(16) Ed Harris (Gone Baby Gone)
(17) Philip Bosco (The Savages)▼
(18) Omar Metwally (Rendition)▲
On the Outside
(19) Tom Cruise (Lions for Lambs)
(20) Armin Mueller-Stahl (Eastern Promises)
(21) Michael Caine (Sleuth)
(22) Christian Bale (I’m Not There)
(23) Jason Bateman (Juno)▲
(24) Dustin Hoffman (Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium)
Keep in Mind
(25) Hal Holbrook (Into the Wild)▲
(26) Ben Foster (3:10 to Yuma)
(27) Alan Arkin (Charlie Wilson’s War)
(28) Peter Sarsgaard (Rendition)
(29) Michael Cera (Juno)▲
(30) Robert Downey, Jr. (Zodiac)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Projected Nominees
(1) Jennifer Jason Leigh (Margot at the Wedding)
(2) Cate Blanchett (I’m Not There)▲
(3) Mira Sorvino (Reservation Road)
(4) Abbie Cornish (The Golden Age)
(5) Romola Garai (Atonement)▲
Major Threats
(6) Helena Bonham Carter (Sweeney Todd)
(7) Evan Rachel Wood (In Bloom)
(8) Marisa Tomei (Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead)
(9) Charlize Theron (In the Valley of Elah)
(10) Samantha Morton (The Golden Age)
In the Mix
(11) Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone)
(12) Meryl Streep (Lions for Lambs)
(13) Jennifer Garner (Juno)▲
On the Outside
(14) Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton)
(15) Natalie Portman (The Other Boleyn Girl)
(16) Olympia Dukakis (Away from Her)
(17) Anjelica Huston (The Darjeeling Limited)
(18) Vanessa Redgrave (Atonement)
Keep in Mind
(19) Lauren Bacall (The Walker)
(20) Hayley Atwell (Cassandra’s Dream)▼
(21) Susan Sarandon (In the Valley of Elah)
(22) Meryl Streep (Rendition)▼
(23) Tabu (The Namesake)

I arrived early at the Fox Searchlight hospitality suite at The Four Seasons for my interview with Juno director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody, and as a result had the pleasure of again running into the lady of the hour, Juno star Ellen Page, who was hanging out before some photo shoots—a great talent and sweet girl. As we were waiting, Reitman arrived, followed shortly thereafter by Cody, who was wearing a tight Superman shirt and short skirt, and could not help but recite some key passages from Roger Ebert’s glowing blog entry about the film. I had a good laugh when Reitman introduced me to Cody as a top Oscar predictor who always gets it right… except once, when I incorrectly projected that he would be nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for Thank You for Smoking; to my credit, he conceded, I was on the ‘right’ side of that error, and with Juno quickly becoming the consensus favorite of the festival, all seemed forgiven.

It turns out Reitman and Cody play off each other beautifully. At the outset of our interview, I asked them about their Toronto experience thus far, and Cody showed off a massive bruise on her leg that she acquired while trying to slide down a banister at a party last night after having a little too much to drink. She is charmingly irrepressible, while Reitman comes across as more reserved, but can actually keep up quite well—he noted that before his father Ivan Reitman shot the movie Dave (1993), they were given a tour of the White House, during which he decided to slide down a banister, to their tour guide’s horror. We chatted about L’Ebert’s review, and when Reitman said anyone would be lying to say they didn’t “want Ebert’s thumb,” Cody, a one-time stripper and constant troublemaker, went to town on him. We went on to discuss the women who have most influenced their lives, the unlikely confluence of pregnancies and births around the film (Reitman and his wife, Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman and his wife, and a few others), elements of Juno that were actually autobiographical for Cody, and finally the studio’s recent decision to release the film in the heat of Oscar season on December 14. I asked Reitman, who I know is savvy about the awards season, to share his thoughts on that decision, and he gave the answer that anyone who has seen the movie in Toronto would expect: he feels a lot better about it now that audiences and critics have strongly embraced the film, and he only wishes it was later so that he could enjoy the ride even longer.

I had a short turnaround time before my next interview, so I hopped onto an elevator (joined by Casey Affleck, his wife, and kid) and headed down to the spacious second floor lobby to work for a bit. Weird sidenote: yesterday, some couple decided to have their wedding march through there—frankly, a pretty ridiculous choice of date and location, especially when half of the swarming hotel was dressed to be a wedding crasher! Among those who passed through that hallway during the short time I was there today: Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones (sporting a sick mustache), and Josh Brolin, the three stars of No Country for Old Men.

Next up was an interview with the wonderful veteran stage actor Philip Bosco (The Savages). His wife of fifty years sat nearby and he occasionally sought her help to help him remember names of bygone people and films—no, don’t worry, he does not have dementia like his character in the film, but is actually doing very well for a seventy-seven year old. (I reminded him that no matter our age, we all have moments of forgetfulness, or as I like to call it, CRAFT’s Disease—as in Can’t Remember A F*cking Thing—which he enjoyed.) Bosco says he generally does not like promoting his work, but said he was having a blast in Toronto, where the studio had put him up at The Four Seasons—he said, “We feel spoiled—this is nice!” and his wife added, “Yeah, this is not theater stuff.” He recalled that he had not even wanted to see the script when his manager told him it was for another low-budget movie, especially at this point in his career. But when the manager called back and said that Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney were attached, he had it sent along immediately. I asked if he had mixed emotions about being thought of to play a man nearing death (like the Peter O’Toole character in Venus) and, somewhat surprisingly, he said it didn’t bother him at all. Bosco has a Tony award and five other Tony nominations to show for his work in theater, but until now has nothing of note to boast for his work in film, in which he has primarily played character parts in movies like Trading Places (1983, which he enjoyed because Jamie Lee Curtis shared a dressing room with him and “has big tits!”), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1986), etc. Now, he is receiving the first real movie awards buzz of his career, and says he feels “sort of puzzled by it” because he does not have a “great scene” to pinpoint, unlike his co-stars (citing co-star Hoffman’s exasperated “Death is piss, and shit, and…” scene as an example). At the end of the day, Bosco’s awards prospects may come down to one question: are there enough older voters in the Academy who are familiar with his stage accomplishments to push him over the top? As for Bosco, he couldn’t care less, since he is more than satisfied with his current recurring gig on Damages, a new television show on FX starring Glenn Close, which he shoots at the Steiner Studios in the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York—if the show is picked up, he will become a regular.

Before heading for the airport, I stopped by a few places to say goodbye and thanks, and spotted fellow awards aficionado Tom O’Neil (of the Los Angeles Times’ TheEnvelope.com), whose work I always enjoy following, and with whom I had a nice brief chat.

And so ends my 2007 coverage from the Toronto Film Festival… though that is not to say I won’t keep a tab on things from afar. What a fun, well-run, invigorating event—I look forward to being back for years to come.

This morning, I attended a screening of The Savages (12/25, Fox Searchlight), a dramedy from writer-director Tamara Jenkins that stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney as troubled siblings who are forced to reunite with their estranged elderly father (Philip Bosco) when his health begins to deteriorate. The script offers a multitude of hilarious banter and situations, which the first-rate cast makes the most of. Unfortunately, it may be a struggle for this film to find much of an audience—especially at Christmastime—since it is ultimately a downer. Nonetheless, one has to admire Jenkins’ courage in taking on the difficult subject of the elderly, which has rarely been tackled in the history of movies, and especially since pollsters determined that studios’ most important demographic is young people. While Hoffman is solid, as usual, Linney is the heart and soul of the film, the moral conscience and audience surrogate. She may well be the best actress of her generation, and it’s a shame more people don’t know it simply because she gives understated performances and keeps her private life quiet. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather cast for her part, especially since she has previously given acclaimed performances in films about troubled intra-family dynamics: siblings in You Can Count on Me (2000) and parents in The Squid and the Whale (2005). Finally, we come to acting vet Bosco—who I assume is alive and well in real life, since I’m scheduled to speak with him tomorrow—who is given very little to say or emote, but around whom the entire plot revolves. It’s probably not a showy enough part to garner much awards attention, but certainly deserves mention.

Over the course of the rest of the day, I ran around the Yorkville part of Toronto where most of the festival action is headquartered. I saw recently crowned Tony winner Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon) on the street, Elizabeth Banks (the blonde nympho in The 40 Year Old Virgin) in an elevator, Larry King (Larry King Live) in the lobby, and—most coincidentally—the aforementioned Maria Menounos (The Today Show) as she was leaving the hotel and creating a fan/paparazzi frenzy. My friend in the lobby told me I just missed Cate Blanchett and Clive Owen, who must have been heading out to an event for Elizabeth: The Golden Age, (which Jeff Wells took a dump on today, athough that is neither here nor there).

It was then back to The Four Seasons for a chat with Tamara Jenkins, the writer-director of The Savages, and one of the most talented women in the industry. I asked her why she took nine years off between her acclaimed debut screenplay The Slums of Beverly Hills (1998) and this film; she discussed how she was asked to cast other actors by another studio that owned the rights to the film before Fox Searchlight; I read her a list I had put together of parallels between Laura Linney’s character in the film and herself, and while she acknowledged that parts of the film (largely absent mother, struggling writer with an MFA, brother-sister bond, etc.) were semi-autobiographical, the vast majority of it is not; and, also, I asked her whether she had any reservations about making a film centering around the elderly, since so few have been made due to financial concerns—she got a kick out of a reference to one example, Make Way for Tomorrow (1937), which was the inspiration for Ozu’s Tokyo Story(1953), the most famous of the lot. I have video of this interview, which I’ll try to upload at some point in the near future.

I then headed back for dinner at the Yorkville area home of my wonderful hosts, the Metrick family—Jamie, a very dear friend from college; Ken and Renee, who run Elte, the city’s preeminent high-end furniture store; and Mary-Ann, a staple on the Toronto film scene—who I want to thank for their friendship and hospitality. Their stunningly beautiful home, located just blocks from The Four Seasons and all the festival action, features a breathtaking view of the Toronto skyline matched only by the exquisitely decorated, spacious inside, which has recently been featured in magazine spreads. (I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, considering the family business!)

From there, I headed to the Elgin Theater, Toronto’s oldest (built in 1913) and most spectacular (two stories, massive screen, etc.) event venue, for the world premiere of Into the Wild (9/21, Paramount Vantage). Director Sean Penn, stars Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Catherine Keener, Jena Malone, and Kristen Stewart, and original music contributor Eddie Vedder (lead singer and guitarist of Pearl Jam) walked the red carpet, and once inside, Penn gave a short introduction to the film, which he said should speak for itself. Two hours and twenty minutes later, it had spoken, and I was tired of listening. I want to be careful with how I phrase this, because I respect where Penn is coming from in adapting Jon Kracauer’s best-selling novel, and because I know Hirsch made a tremendous commitment to playing the part of Christopher McCandless, losing forty-one pounds while immersing himself in the location shooting. But the film has a lot of problems, and is not going anywhere as far as box office or awards are concerned. I have so many questions that cannot be adequately answered. What message are we supposed to take away from the film? It is very unclear; the only thing I can think of is that we should place a higher value on nature, which is a message I can get in five seconds by watching the National Geographic channel, rather than spending two-plus hours being preached at and condescended to, especially by the former Jeff Spicoli, who somehow became smarter than the rest of us along the way. Further, if you’re going to keep us in a movie for that long, you better have a central character that we care about. Sure, I felt sorry that Christopher had a troubled childhood, but so did a lot of people (including his sister) who do not behave like nut jobs. Penn wants us to think that Christopher sees something that the rest of us are missing; I think he’s just a self-absorbed, self-righteous kid who loves and leaves every person with whom he comes into contact, all in order to fulfill a foolhardy and not completely understandable desire for ‘adventure’ that, let’s face it, was quite possibly a death wish from the start. If I want to see a Herzogian movie, I’ll watch a Werner Herzog movie, or at least one like it that respects the audience’s intelligence. Much like Christopher’s ill-advised journey, this film proves that good intentions do not always reap good results.

Tomorrow is the last day of business for me here. Despite the frequent rush between events, occasional bad movie, and nights without sleep, you better believe I’ll be sorry to have to go.

I want to take a moment to address some things that are going on that are not related to TIFF:

• Congratulations to my friends Keven Undergaro (the director of MTV’s Singled Out) and Maria Menounos (the beautiful Today Show and Access Hollywood correspondent), whose quirky indie comedy In the Land of Merry Misfits has been accepted into the Boston Film Festival. Misfits, which previously screened at Tribeca, will have its Boston premiere at the AMC Boston Common on September 19th. It should be a particularly fun night for Keven and Maria, who first met and began working on this film (Keven as actor-director, Maria as producer) while they were students at Emerson College, which is on the same street as the movie theater. Keven and Maria—who I first met a number of years ago through Randal Malone, a mutual friend who plays a supporting role in the film—have been nice enough to grant me an exclusive interview before the screening. I imagine it will feel a little weird to be posing questions at a movie premiere to Maria, who usually handles those duties!
• I have thus far kept quiet about the Owen Wilson (The Darjeeling Limited, 10/5, Fox Searchlight) suicide attempt, since facts have been slow to emerge and this is not a gossip rag. But Wilson is now out of the hospital and apparently doing well—he was spotted at a family barbecue this past week—so I feel it is now appropriate to take a closer look at what happened. According to a variety of sources, Wilson has apparently battled depression and substance abuse for years, and was probably put over the edge by two things: (1) a ‘friend’ has recently been feeding him with a constant supply of drugs, and (2) actress Kate Hudson, who Wilson dated for quite a while before breaking up with him not long ago, was shown in a tabloid passionately kissing her new love interest just days before the suicide attempt. Nobody seems to know for certain what happened, but this incident reminds us of the age-old ‘crying clown’ story—great comedy often traces back to great pain. I can offer one piece of original reporting on this matter: The Dane Cook-Kate Hudson movie Bachelor #2 was filming in Boston over the days after the incident, and a friend tells me that Hudson showed up for work, but was, not surprisingly, visibly upset—presumably by the news about Wilson—and was very subdued before and after shooting her scenes.
• I came across a YouTube clip of some Ali G-wannabe jerk giving Superbad stars Jonah Hill and Michael Cera a hard time at a press junket interview prior to the film’s release, prompting a justifiably outraged Hill to walk out. It seemed to me that the interviewer was trying to be funny, he failed, and only came across as sadistically mean-spirited, particularly when giving Hill a hard time about his weight. You can imagine how surprised I was when I asked Cera about the incident last night and was informed the whole thing was a stunt and the interviewer is director Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead)—see the clip and judge for yourself whether or not I’m crazy! For a straight-up a funny clip of people bouncing from an interview, check out this Bee Gees interview from a few years ago, in which Barry Gibb—about whom I cannot stop laughing since seeing Jimmy Fallon’s SNL parody “The Barry Gibb Show” (see here and here)—gets ticked for no particular reason and just leaves, followed by his brother.

Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton) following our interview at the Four Seasons

I spoke this morning at The Four Seasons with Tilda Swinton, who co-stars with George Clooney in Michael Clayton (10/12, Warner Brothers). Swinton, unlike her character in the film, could not have been more pleasant. That said, it takes a few minutes to get comfortable with her—perfect for her character—because of her unusual (but not unattractive) looks: she is extremely tall, with a thick head of red hair, and the most jarringly unique green eyes I have ever seen, which no film has begun to capture. Before getting down to business, we discussed her TIFF experience—she loves Canadians, she inevitably ends up stuck in her hotel for a barrage of interviews, press conferences, photo sessions, etc. She is excited for tonight, however, because she will be hanging out with another unusual character, Bjork, before heading home tomorrow. I’ll try to post a transcript of our chat fairly soon.

My next stop was the Ryerson Theater at Toronto’s Ryerson University, where I caught another screening of Michael Clayton, this one introduced by writer (the Bourne movies)-director Tony Gilroy. The film is a wonderful homage to ’70s-era political thrillers like All the President’s Men (1976) and The Parallax View (1974), except transferred to a law firm, in which George Clooney‘s ‘fixer’ must prevent a colleague who has gone off of his medication and begins experiencing a crisis of conscience—played with gusto by veteran Tom Wilkinson, who steals every scene he’s in and deserves to be considered for Best Supporting Actor—from sabotaging a huge case. Clooney’s star power and Gilroy’s funny one-liners and circular storyline (which includes a powerful scene featuring Clooney and horses) generated a favorable audience response. Incidentally, as I left the theater, TIFF staff was preparing the red carpet for the next screening, Battle in Seattle (12/TBA, Pinema), so I stuck around for a bit and caught the arrivals of leading lady Charlize Theron, her hubby/director Stuart Townsend, and co-stars Woody Harrleson and Outkast’s Andre Benjamin. (I’ll post photos of this and other TIFF-related events in a festival retrospective next week.)

I then headed back to The Four Seasons, where the good people at Warner Brothers managed to fit roughly 125 of us into the (boiling hot) third floor conference rooms for back-to-back powerhouse press conferences that each ran for about an hour: first up was Michael Clayton, with George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Tony Gilroy, and two producers on the dais, followed by The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, which featured a no less impressive turnout of Brad Pitt (who we were informed had just been named Best Actor by the Venice Film Festival), Casey Affleck, Andrew Dominik, and two producers. I asked Gilroy whether anything about his first experience as a director surprised him, and I asked Clooney and Swinton what their experience was like working with a first-time director—the consensus was that Gilroy had been a director long before having the chance to direct a film, since he really envisioned the layout of scenes, etc., when writing scripts for the past two years; the two actors were (not unexpectedly) very complimentary. Later, I asked Pitt whether, at the outset of his career, he could ever have imagined that he would have to live his life under such a microscope, and also whether he ever wishes he had played his cards differently to avoid this situation (the oppressive invasions of the paparazzi into his personal life, the celebrity obsession that would prompt a woman in Venice to assault him last week, etc.). His response to that question was one of the more amusing of the afternoon—before giving a serious response, he jokingly denied that he lives under a microscope, and then proceeded to make numerous faces (picking his nose, scratching his head, etc.) that each prompted the photographer clicks to go mad, contradicting his statement. Anyway, after nearly two hours of Clooney and Pitt, we were all quite charmed, but also quite sweaty and tired.

Posing a question to George Clooney, co-star Tilda Swinton, and director Tony Gilroy, as producers look on at today’s press conference for Michael Clayton

Posing a question to Brad Pitt as co-star Casey Affleck, director Andrew Dominik, and producers look on at today’s press conference for The Assassination of Jesse James

Next up, the red carpet premiere of Juno (12/14, Fox Searchlight), Jason Reitman’s follow-up to his magnificent debut, Thank You for Smoking. Rarely have I championed a filmmaker as much as I did Jason after that film, and this film—the gem of the festival, from my perspective thus far—totally validates those feelings; when the credits began to roll, I was the first person out of my chair and on my feet for what quickly became a lengthy standing ovation from the whole house. It is of particular note that a star is born with this film: Ellen Page (Hard Candy), the very cute 20 year old leading lady, is truly a reveleation as a 16 year old smartass who you can’t help but adore. Let me be the first to say it: there is no question in my mind that Page deserves to be nominated for Best Actress; she has given the best female performance of the year, thus far. None of this would have been possible without the beautifully quirky script by Diablo Cody—think Napoleon Dynamite, but more likable and intelligent—who seems not unlike the character of Juno, and who herself has a life story to reckon with. (I’ll get into that when I interview her and Jason on Monday). Reitman, Page, and Cody were joined on the red carpet by some of the movie’s other stars—Allison Janney (The West Wing), J.K. Simmons (Law and Order), and last but certainly not least, since he’s the hottest thing going right now, Michael Cera (Superbad). Notably missing was the film’s high-profile supporting star and tabloid magnate Jennifer Garner… that is, until she and hubby Ben Affleck took their seats in the theater moments before the screening was to begin, understandably prompting oos and ahs, as well as a short delay. It was worth the wait, however, as the film made grown women and (ahem) men laugh and cry, and showed that Reitman—who dedicated it to the women in his life in his introduction—is capable not only of humanizing heartless bastards like those in Thank You for Smoking, but also good people who fall upon hard times. In a festival dominated this year by downer movies, Juno stands out as the rare movie that leaves people with a smile, as opposed to angst.

From there, I rushed back, showered, and headed off to the intimate Fox Searchlight cocktail reception at The Boiler House in Toronto’s historic Distillery District. These guys do a great job promoting movies and throwing shindigs—great food, great drinks, and great guests. It was quite an experience to actually be outnumbered by famous faces, and I obviously couldn’t resist saying hello to each: Laura Linney (here promoting The Savages) is even more attractive and endearing in person than on screen; Michael Cera (Juno) was nice enough to remember our interview of a few weeks ago; Jason Bateman (reunited in Juno with Cera, who played his son on television’s Arrested Development) was very pleasant; Allison Janney (best known as the press secretary in The West Wing, and now in Juno) is way taller than me–she told me she wished she could be shorter, I told her I wished I could be taller, and we went from there; J.K. Simmons (Juno), sporting some broken fingers, was a lot of fun, hanging out for almost the entire party; Jason Reitman (Juno) spent much of the evening with proud dad Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters); Omar Metwally may be an unfamiliar name now, but his nomination-worthy supporting performance as a terrorism suspect was far and away the best work in Rendition, and brought to mind Joseph Schildkraut’s Oscar-winning performance as wrongly-accused Alfred Dreyfus in The Life of Emile Zola (1937)—Metwally told me the performance has not yet begun to pay dividends (a.k.a. good roles), but then again it was only shown for the first time last night; up-and-coming actress Olivia Thirlby; unique original music contributor Kimya Dawson; and, finally, Valerie Tian, a promising young actress and sweet girl who is memorable as an awkward character who—spoiler alert—shames Page’s character into not aborting her unanticipated pregnancy in Juno. Anyway, great thanks to my friends at Fox for a very memorable evening. (PS: It was neat to briefly cross paths with fellow blogmeister Jeffrey Wells, who I do not always agree with, but who always keeps things interesting!)

So, at 1:45am, day two of TIFF comes to a close… day three will begin at 9:30am, so sleep is precious! Good night.

So I’m sitting here at Logan International Airport in Boston waiting to board my flight to Toronto. The flight is on time… I’ve got my ticket, my passport, my suitcase, everything… and it’s going to be a fun little trip… which is why it’s kind of funny that two thoughts keep flying through my head:

1. Hopefully we make it.
2. Hopefully I won’t get a tap on my foot/hand under the stall if I use the airport bathroom.

(You won’t be hearing from me again if either doesn’t go according to plan.)

In just two short years, ATWI has become one of the premiere destinations for awards followers from around the world. I’m pleased to report that this week, we will be adding a new element of coverage to our repertoire: from Friday through Monday, I will be on the ground and liveblogging from the 32nd annual Toronto Film Festival (TIFF), which is the first place where we can really begin to gauge the awards race.

As another awards blogger recently wrote, major film festivals tend to front-load their first few days with the best screenings, interview opportunities, and parties. Thanks to the tireless efforts of a host of publicists, studio reps, managers, agents, talent, and friends, I will have an opportunity to pack in all of those, and then post my feedback here on the site as quickly as possible so that you, too, can appreciate how things are coming into focus.

Here’s a preview of what to look for over the coming days:

• Immediate Post-Screening Reactions At the moment, I am scheduled to see screenings of more than half a dozen potential contenders over a period of less than 72 hours. (I’m not complaining!) After each screening, I will post my general thoughts about the film and my gut feelings about its awards prospects. Don’t expect anything too lengthy or polished, since there are times when I will need to literally rush from one screening room to another. Among the films I expect to catch: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (9/21, Warner Brothers), Rendition (10/12, New Line), Juno (12/14, Fox Searchlight), The Savages (12/26, Fox Searchlight), and Michael Clayton (10/12, Warner Brothers).
• Interviews with Key Players In the past, all interviews for this site have been audio-recorded, then transcribed, and then posted to the site. This sucks for you (it takes a long time) and for me (it takes a long time), so I’m going to have some Toronto-based colleagues video my TIFF interviews. This should allow for a quicker turnaround and a more interactive experience; that said, I probably will not be able to upload much content until after I return from Toronto on Monday. At the very least, you can expect short summaries of each of the discussions, along with any key points that emerge from them. The current list of people I am scheduled to sit down with for a chat–which will probably grow to include a few more before all is said and done–is: Tilda Swinton (actress, Michael Clayton), Tamara Jenkins (writer-director, The Savages), Jason Reitman (director, Juno), Diablo Cody (writer, Juno), and Philip Bosco (actor, The Savages). Unfortunately, Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton), with whom I was scheduled to speak, had to cancel his trip to Toronto for undisclosed reasons.
• The City/Social Scene It has been a number of years since I was last in Toronto, but I remember it as one of the more neat and beautiful places I have visited. I hope to be able to use some of the limited free time I have on this trip to get around, see a little of it, and bring you a bit of the flavor of the city, for which the festival is a really big deal. Additionally, some friends of friends have generously invited me to a party at local hot spot Cheval on Friday evening, and, in full disclosure, Fox Searchlight was also nice enough to invite me to a cocktail reception on Saturday evening with the talent behind Juno, The Savages, and Under the Same Moon, so all of that should be fun, as well.

The rest is up to you! Please keep checking the site for updates–there should be many–and I would love to see your comments and questions, which you can post by clicking the link at the end of each story. (I always respond.)