BAFTA Los Angeles to honor Helena Bonham Carter

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts Los Angeles will honor actress Helena Bonham Carter with the Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year at the 2011 BAFTA Los Angeles Britannia Awards on Nov. 30 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

The BAFTA L.A. accolade tops off an award-winning year for the British actress, currently in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2." Earlier this year she was nominated for a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award and an Oscar for supporting actress in the Academy Award winner for best film, "The King's Speech."

The actress joins the previously announced John Lasseter, who will receive the Britannia Award for Worldwide Contributions to Filmed Entertainment and "Harry Potter" director David Yates, the winner of the John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Excellence in Directing.

-- Susan King

Photo: Helena Bonham Carter. Credit: Ian Gavan / Getty Images 

HFPA sets key dates for 2012 Golden Globes

OK, award trackers, you now know what you're doing now in January. The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. announced Thursday morning that the 69th Annual Golden Globe awards will be held on Jan. 15, 2012, the same time frame as this year's show.

While there was much lamenting this year over the fatigue that accompanies the long season, nothing is changing date-wise with either of the major shows in 2012: The Oscars will still be held on the same weekend at the end of February and the Golden Globes will attempt to set the stage for the season with its mid-January event.

Maybe for the upcoming event, the HFPA will choose a host and a Cecil B. DeMille honoree that won't spend the majority of the broadcast ridiculing the organization, like Ricky Gervais and Robert DeNiro did at this year's gala. 

-- Nicole Sperling

Photo: Ricky Gervais and his partner Jane Fallon at this year's Golden Globe Awards on  Jan. 16. Credit: Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times

If I ran the Oscars: Andy Kindler

In this interview series, we ask a host of famous free thinkers to recast the Oscars in their own image. Now presenting: comedian Andy Kindler.

Andy, who's going to win this year's Oscar race?

I would like it if there was an actual race. I would like to see James Cameron run for 100 yards. Would his long, flowing hair slow him down? And would his ego somehow be brought back to a normal range by being winded? That's what I'm hoping.

So in the great tradition of gym class, it should all be settled by physical competition.

That's what I'd l like to see. It could also be an arm-wrestling match. Or who could say the most obnoxious thing -- we already know that James Cameron has his "King of the World."

Will "Up" get nominated for best picture?

It'll probably get  nominated for best animated feature.

I loved that movie. I cried within the first 10  seconds, and I'm not joking. I didn't even see it in 3D -- can you imagine how much I would have wept if I'd seen it in 3D?

Which performers would you like to see win the Oscar this year?

I'm interested in Jeff Bridges. I love that guy. And I did like Carey Mulligan in "An Education." And I love Meryl Streep, but if they could ban "Julie & Julia," I'd be in favor of that.

Find out why after the break.

List of 67th annual Golden Globe nominations [Corrected]

Here are the nominations for the 67th annual Golden Globes to be held Jan. 17 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. [Corrected at 2:45 p.m. Dec. 16: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said Karen O was nominated for best original score - motion picture for “A Single Man”;  she actually shares a nomination with Carter Burwell for their work on “Where the Wild Things Are.”]

UPDATE: Jan 17: Winners for each category are in bold.

Best Motion Picture - Drama
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Precious"
"Up in the Air"
"Avatar"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Emily Blunt, "The Young Victoria"
Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"
Helen Mirren, "The Last Station"
Carey Mulligan, "An Education"
Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"
George Clooney, "Up in the Air"
Colin Firth, "A Single Man"
Morgan Freeman, "Invictus"
Tobey Maguire, "Brothers"

Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
"The Hangover"
"It's Complicated"
"Julie & Julia"
"Nine"
"(500) Days of Summer"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
Sandra Bullock, "The Proposal"
Marion Cotillard, "Nine"
Meryl Streep, "It's Complicated"
Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia"
Julia Roberts, "Duplicity"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
Daniel Day-Lewis, "Nine"
Robert Downey Jr., "Sherlock Holmes"
Michael Stuhlbarg, "A Serious Man"
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, "(500) Days of Summer"
Matt Damon, "The Informant!"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Mo'Nique, "Precious"
Julianne Moore, "A Single Man"
Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"
Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air"
Penelope Cruz, "Nine"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Matt Damon, "Invictus"
Stanley Tucci, "The Lovely Bones"
Christopher Plummer, "The Last Station"
Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds"
Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger"

Best Animated Feature Film
"Coraline"
"Fantastic Mr. Fox"
"Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs"
"The Princess and the Frog"
"Up"

Best Foreign Language Film
"Baaria"
"Broken Embraces"
"A Prophet"
"The White Ribbon"
"The Maid"

Best Director - Motion Picture
Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker"
James Cameron, "Avatar"
Clint Eastwood, "Invictus"
Jason Reitman, "Up in the Air"
Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"
 
Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, "District 9"
Mark Boal, "The Hurt Locker"
Nancy Meyers, "It's Complicated"
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, "Up in the Air"
Quentin Tarantino, "Inglourious Basterds"
 
Best Original Score - Motion Picture
Michael Giacchino, "Up"
Marvin Hamlisch, "The Informant!"
James Horner, "Avatar"
Abel Korzeniowski "A Single Man"
Carter Burwell and Karen O, "Where the Wild Things Are"

Best Original Song -- Motion Picture
"I See You," "Avatar"
"The Weary Kind," "Crazy Heart"
"Cinema Italiano," "Nine"
 "I Want to Come Home," "Everybody's Fine"

"Winter," "Brothers"

Best Television Series - Drama
"Dexter"
"Mad Men"
"House M.D."
"True Blood"
"Big Love"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama
Glenn Close, "Damages"
January Jones, "Mad Men"
Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife"
Anna Paquin, "True Blood"
Kyra Sedgewick, "The Closer"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama
Simon Baker, "The Mentalist"
Michael C. Hall, "Dexter"
Jon Hamm, "Mad Men"
Hugh Laurie, "House M.D."
Bill Paxton, "Big Love"

Best Television Series - Comedy
"30 Rock"
"Entourage"
"Glee"
"The Office"
"Modern Family"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical
Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"
Steve Carell, "The Office"
David Duchovny, "Californication"
Thomas Jane, "Hung"
Matthew Morrison, "Glee"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical
Toni Collette, "United States of Tara"
Courteney Cox, "Cougar Town"
Edie Falco, "Nurse Jackie"
Tina Fey, "30 Rock"
Lea Michele, "Glee"

Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
"Georgia O'Keefe"
"Grey Gardens"
"Into the Storm"
"Little Dorrit"
"Taking Chance"
 
Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Joan Allen, "Georgia O'Keefe"
Drew Barrymore, "Grey Gardens"
Jessica Lange, "Grey Gardens"
Anna Paquin, "The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler"
Sigourney Weaver, "Prayers for Bobby"
 
Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Kevin Bacon, "Taking Chance"
Kenneth Branagh, "Wallander: One Step Behind"
Chiwetel Ejiofor, "Endgame"
Brendan Gleeson, "Into the Storm"
Jeremy Irons, "Georgia O'Keefe"
 
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television 
Jane Adams, "Hung"
Rose Byrne, "Damages"
Jane Lynch, "Glee"
Janet McTeer, "Into the Storm"
Chloe Sevigny, "Big Love"
 
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television
Michael Emerson, "Lost"
Neil Patrick Harris, "How I Met Your Mother"
William Hurt, "Damages"
John Lithgow, "Dexter"
Jeremy Piven, "Entourage"

The Contender Q&A: Oren Moverman

After a successful career as a screenwriter ("Jesus' Son," "I'm Not There"), former journalist Oren Moverman made his directorial debut in 2009 with "The Messenger."

The drama stars Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson as soldiers assigned to the Casualty Notification service, which has the unenviable task of informing the families of servicemen of their deaths in the line of fire. Harrelson's older, more experienced Capt. Tony Stone warns Foster's Will Montgomery to avoid emotional connection with the individuals they encounter, but Montgomery finds himself drawn to a widow (Samantha Morton) as the job begins to take its emotional toll. Though in limited release, the film has netted a slew of awards, from the Silver Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival and the Spotlight Award for Moverman from the National Board of Review. 

The Circuit spoke to Moverman on the eve of the Golden Globes, which has nominated Harrelson for best supporting actor; the pic is also up for four Independent Spirit Awards, including best first feature and best screenplay for Moverman and Alessandro Carnon.

How did your own experiences in the military affect the making of this film?

To tell you the truth, I think it had an impact on directing the film, much more than in writing it. There's nothing in the movie that I can say is my own experience. But what I think my experience allowed me to do was to understand the emotional landscape of a combat soldier. I could then communicate to the actors what the characters they're portraying are going through and what kind of experiences they're having and how they're feeling about it. The problem was projecting my own personal biases of how I felt about being in a combat zone, or what we call in the movie "the other planet," and then coming back from that. 

Since a big part of the movie took place on the home front, it was all about what kind of emotions the combat vet was experiencing, and I think I was able to communicate that by telling stories and by talking with them about my feelings.

Was it easy to share those stories with your cast?

You know, it was Ben Foster that really got me talking. I had no plans of sharing my stories, and to tell you the truth, I've never had an idea about making a movie about the military -- my experiences or anyone else's experiences. But in sitting down with Ben and preparing for the movie, which we did for a good eight weeks before shooting, he was just drawing these stories out of me, and it was really easy to communicate them [to him] once I saw that he was drawing inspiration from them, because it demanded that I go back almost 20 years. It was a different time and a different place, but I think the experiences were pretty universal with soldiers. 

Recent films about the Iraq War have received positive reviews but haven't fared well at the box office. Did you experience any outside resistance in making this movie?

We experienced nothing but resistance. Lawrence Inglee, who put together the financing for this movie, really had a tough time because everywhere we went, people were patting us on the back and saying, "Good job, nice try, it's very compelling, but forget it. It's just not going to connect with audiences, because they don't want to see these movies." In regard to the other movies, people were leaping to the same conclusions: They said it was too early [to talk about the war], they'd had enough, so it was nothing but resistance. We believed we had something special on our hands and wanted to communicate that to audiences, so we just kept going and ultimately found people who said, "You know what? We hear what everyone else is saying, but we feel that there is something special about this, and we'd like to support this movie." So that's how we got our financing.

With the release of "The Hurt Locker" and now your film, there seems to be a shift in that public resistance. To what do you attribute that shift?

I think that's a very complicated question with a very complicated answer. I do think that our tendency as filmmakers or as journalists is to create narrative around these things. We like to look at the trend and say, "Well, this is what's happening with this kind of movie." But the truth of the matter is that every movie is a case study in itself. And I really think it takes real analysis of how a movie is made and marketed, because not all the films in this arena that have failed are bad films. Quite a few of them that I've seen have been good films. Ultimately, their success or failure at the box office is a product of the machine that was behind them and the timing. I think that they've created an openness that wasn't there before, and I think that the dialogue about this war has shifted somewhat -- not enough, in my opinion -- to a more sober [tone], whereas before it was more impassioned and not particularly productive.

And I think that you have to look at the fact that, for whatever reason, "The Hurt Locker" connected with audiences in a way that others have not been able to by doing some very smart things in the marketing of the film but also in the making. For us, our exposure has been very great, but it's also been limited. It's only now that we're starting to get a bit of mainstream attention. It's a work in progress. 

In our case, it's because it's a small film with not a lot of money behind it and something that really has to work through word of mouth. We can't put a big marketing campaign behind it, so we're fortunate that the word of mouth has been good.

I know that the military gave its approval to the script -- what has been the reaction from veterans who have seen the film?

We've had a lot of feedback from veterans as well as active duty members, and I have to say that the reactions have been similar but different. The Vietnam vets have really treated this film as their own. Even though it takes place during the Iraq War, the reaction from Vietnam vets has been overwhelming. They've shown up at screenings to say a few words, and they've written us letters; some novelists of the Vietnam era, like Tim O'Brien ("The Things They Carried") have reacted very strongly to the film. With the Iraq and Afghanistan guys, it's a lot harder for them. It's a lot closer to home. They've just come back, and it's very, very emotional, but the overwhelming response from them has been gratitude. Of course, I'm only talking about the guys we spoke to -- I'm sure there are a bunch of guys who hate the movie and never want to see it again, but they didn't speak up. But the guys who liked it have thanked us for shooting a portrait of how they're feeling right now, without any politics or agenda. 

 I think it's also a big deal for them that Woody Harrelson is in this movie, because he's so outspoken as an anti-war activist. And he's playing a soldier with a lot of empathy and respect for soldiers, and I think they're as surprised and pleased by it as he is. 

"The Messenger" marks your directorial debut, but you've been involved in filmmaking as a screenwriter for many years. Can you talk about the challenges of switching roles?

I think the biggest challenge lies in communication. When you're writing a script, you have a very specific way of communicating your movie to people -- it's on the page. You express yourself in that way, and if taken to the next level and made into a film, then your role, depending on the director, is either done or just ceremonial from that point on. When you're directing, you have to communicate with every single person working on the film and find a way of talking about the movie in a practical sense but also in a creative way.

"The Messenger" has received a number of awards and nominations. What has the impact of this recognition had on the film?

I would like to think that the effect an award has on a film is that more people become aware of the film and then check it out. I can't hide my secret agenda when I'm talking to you -- it's more of a dream, really. We started early in November, but we got squeezed out of a lot of theaters. So my dream is that if we do get more nominations, then we can relaunch the film in cities that we're not in right now and get more people to see it. The motivation is very simple -- this movie, partially because of what we did on it, but mostly because of what it is, sparks a dialogue and gets people to be aware of something that's going on in this country right now. It's been a real gift to get involved in that dialogue and get people engaged.

-- Paul Gaita

Top photo: Oren Moverman. Credit: Oscilloscope Laboratories.

Bottom photo: Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster in "The Messenger." Credit: Oscilloscope Laboratories.

More from The Envelope:

A moment with Woody Harrelson from "The Messenger"

The Contender Q&A: Christian McKay

The Contender Q&A: "Food, Inc." director Robert Kenner

Wednesday Roundup: Ricky Gervais chats on Globes; DGA documentary noms; Tobey Maguire

Admit it: You're dying to know what Ricky Gervais is going to say when he hosts the 67th Golden Globes. Well, if you'd like to ask him in advance, your chance has arrived: The video broadcast platform uStream, which has partnered with the Globes to provide exclusive content, is offering an interactive chat with the writer-comedian at 5 p.m. Friday. You can submit your burning questions to Gervais via Facebook or by downloading the uStream app to your iPhone. And lest you forget, Gervais hosts the Globes on Sunday.  

Meanwhile, the Directors Guild of America (DGA) announced its nominations for outstanding directorial achievement in documentary. The quintet of pictures includes three on the Oscar documentary shortlist — Agnes Varda's "The Beaches of Agnes," Robert Kenner's "Food, Inc." and Mai Iskander's "Garbage Dreams" — along with the year's underdog, Sacha Gervasi's "Anvil! The Story of Anvil." Geoffrey Smith's "The English Surgeon," about a British neurosurgeon who travels yearly to the Ukraine to help patients in need, rounds out the group; all five are first-time DGA Award nominees. The winners will be announced at the 62nd DGA Awards Dinner on Jan. 30.

It's been a tough week for Tobey Maguire. Not only is he out of his gig as Spider-Man following Sony's decision to shelve the fourth film in the Sam Raimi-directed series in favor of a complete revamp of the franchise, but he's fairly sure that he's out of the Oscar race as well in regard to his acclaimed performance in "Brothers." Though Maguire received a Golden Globe nomination for his turn as a shellshocked veteran of Afghanistan, he was passed over for a nod from the Screen Actors Guild and expects that he'll fare the same come Oscar time. "I'm OK with that," he said in an Associated Press interview. I'm just really excited about the attention that the film has gotten. It's been a thrill to get a Golden Globe nomination and get some of the attention personally, but I'm honestly more excited that the film's gotten the attention." Such modesty in the face of unemployment ...

— Paul Gaita

Photo: Ricky Gervais. Credit: Getty Images.

More from The Circuit:

Sundance 2010 unveils juries, plus a peek at short-film lineup

ACE Eddie award noms continue sci-fi's strong showing with "Avatar," "Star Trek"

Seven films still in contention for makeup Oscar

Friday roundup: More stars for Golden Globes; the future of the Emmys; Sundance Selects; Jason Reitman; Mariah Carey

Apparently, the folks at the Golden Globes read our item about the A-list presenters at the Screen Actors Guild awards, because they've just ramped up the glitz factor for their event. A slew of major players have been tapped to present at the 67th annual festivities on Jan. 17, including Golden Globe winners Kate Winslet, Jennifer Garner, Kiefer Sutherland and Cher, who''ll appear with her "Burlesque" co-star Christina Aguilera. These latest additions come on the heels of previous announced mega-stars such as Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz, Halle Berry, Jennifer Aniston, Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, Matthew Fox, Nicole Kidman, Mickey Rourke and Sophia Loren. Robert DeNiro and Leonardo DiCaprio will present Martin Scorsese with this year's Cecil B. DeMille Award for outstanding contribution to the entertainment field. When -- and where -- will this game of celebrity one-upmanship end? Keep reading this blog for updates.

Meanwhile, the Emmys face an entirely different predicament: disappearing from broadcast TV. ABC News reports that the Primetime Emmys are in their final year of contracts with the major networks with this year's event, which with air on NBC on Aug. 29. After that, its fate is undecided. Low ratings for the last few Emmy broadcasts -- due in part to consistent wins by series with small but loyal audiences like "30 Rock" and "Mad Men" -- have made the event's high licensing fees somewhat less attractive to the Big Four networks. And that's unfortunate, as said fees are a key source of income for the Television Academy. For now, there are no plans to move the Emmys to basic cable (like the Screen Actors Guild). Instead academy chief John Shaffner promises more year-in-review segments as a means of keeping the show fresh and relevant. More hosts like Neil Patrick Harris, whose stint in 2009 was the highest-rated broadcast in years, might be a more effective move.

And the Sundance Film Festival finds yet another way to get its message of independent film to audiences unable to attend the yearly event in Park City, Utah. Hot on the heels of its Sundance Film Festival USA program, which brings festival films and directors to art houses around the country, Sundance will use its video-on-demand channel, Sundance Selects, to offer three features debuting at the festival: Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitehouse's political documentary "The Shock Doctrine," based on the book by journalist Naomi Klein, on Jan. 28; the Safdie brothers' comedy "Daddy Longlegs" on Jan. 22; and the thriller "7 Days," about a surgeon who seeks revenge after the murder of his daughter, also on Jan. 22. Each of the films will on Sundance Selects concurrently with their Sundance screenings, and will be available on the VOD channel for 30 days. Future Sundance Selects screenings include Dominic Murphy's "White Lightnin'," (Jan. 27) which played at the 2009 festival, and Don Argott's documentary "The Art of the Steal."

Promotion, in the form of interviews, is one of the main tools of an awards campaign, and "Up in the Air" director Jason Reitman has released this short to illustrate the flurry of activity and faces (and microphones and questions) that are a part of every contender's day to day. No doubt, you'll recognize a few faces in there (like Roger Ebert), and you might experience a pang for either a drink from Starbucks or your old vinyl copy of "The Clash" after viewing. 

Oh, and because I know you're wondering: The reasons behind Mariah Carey's, um, exuberant acceptance speech at the Palm Springs International Film Festival's awards gala? Too much giggle juice, not enough to eat, and hey, she's got a sense of humor too, people. As my wife would say: REALLY? Really.

-- Paul Gaita

Photo: Jennifer Garner. Credit: Getty Images

More from The Envelope:

The Contender Q&A: Christian McKay

Oscars for 15 sci-tech achievements

Tuesday Mega Roundup: Critics' Choice honors Kevin Bacon, Louis C.K. takes 'Hilarious' new film to Sundance and more

Kevin Bacon will receive the Joel Siegel Award at the 15th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards. The Siegel Award, named for the late "Good Morning America" film critic, is given to performers who use their celeb status for socially redeeming works; Bacon's Sixdegrees.org is a social networking site that allows members to support various charities. Richard Gere and Don Cheadle were the award's previous recipients; Bacon will receive his honor from Meryl Streep at this year's ceremony, which takes place on Jan. 15. This is not the first time the Broadcast Film Critics Assn., which organizes the Critics Choice Awards, has paid tribute to Bacon; he received the Best Actor trophy for "Murder in the First" at their first event in 1995.

Meanwhile, Sandra Bullock -- who's currently enjoying her new-found status as the star of the first female-led film ("The Blind Side") to break the $200-million mark at the box office -- will present her "Proposal" co-star Betty White with the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award at the 16th annual event on Jan. 23. Bullock will pull double duty that night -- she's also up for a SAG trophy for Best Actress for "The Blind Side." 

And the list of glitzy celebs presenting at the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards just got exponentially glitzier; Oscar winner Mel Gibson, he-man Gerard Butler and screen legend Sophia Loren will be among the presenters at the ceremony, which takes place on Jan. 17. They add to the luster already set in place by Loren's "Nine" co-star Nicole Kidman, Steven Spielberg and "Avatar" lead Sam Worthington, as well as Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston, Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matthew Fox.

Meanwhile, over at Variety, there's a fascinating collection of comments by award-winning stage directors on many of the leading contenders for best director awards this season. Here's Tony (and Oscar and Grammy and Emmy) winner Mike Nichols on "Messenger" director Oren Moverman; elsewhere, the legendary Hal Prince ("Evita," "The Phantom of the Opera") waxes on Kathryn Bigelow and "The Hurt Locker," while Bill T. Jones ("Fela!") discusses the personal impact of  Lee Daniels' "Precious." Wes Anderson, Nancy Meyers and Pete Docter are also feted; the quotes are insightful from both the technical standpoint of fellow directors who also happen to be unabashed fans of these filmmakers' work.

Not Very Cool Department: Some of the most critically lauded film scores from 2009 are not eligible for the Oscar because of the academy's rules regarding multiple composers and preexisting works. The Wrap reports that among the disqualified are "Where the Wild Things Are" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O and Carter Burwell; "The Lovely Bones" by Brian Eno; "Crazy Heart" by T Bone Burnett and Stephen Bruton (which was honored by the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn.); and Jason Schwartzman and Michael Andrews' music for "Funny People." In the case of Eno and "Lovely Bones," the reasons were two-fold: the score used preexisting work, which is strictly verboten by the academy in regard to Best Original Score, and the iconic performer-producer failed to submit the paperwork for consideration. All others were declined due to the ruling that scores "assembled from the music of more than one composer shall not be eligible." Karen O, however, can take some consolation that her song "All Is Love" from "Wild Things" is still under consideration for Best Original Song.

And speaking of academy rules, are you a new academy voter puzzled by the ins and outs of the voting process in your particular category? Fear not -- BAFTA nominee and new-minted member John August ("Big Fish," "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory") feels your pain. So he's provided a handy guide to casting your ballot (in his case, for original screenplay, adapted screenplay and best picture) on his website, which illustrates the changes in this year's vote (you're not picking one film, but placing all 10 nominees in a preferential order) and underscores the complexity of the rules. August's explanation is written in plain and simple terms, and he gives considerable thought to the value of the new changes and their impact on the final decision; one wishes he might extend his insight to equally challenging paperwork like, say, taxes.

Finally, Entertainment Weekly casts some light on comedian and writer Louis C.K.'s upcoming concert film "Hilarious," which debuts at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. The article rightly notes that in previous years, Sundance has not been a regular source of stand-up projects; "Hilarious," which was also directed by C.K., is in fact, its first. C.K. plans to use the fest's maiden voyage into stand-up films a jaw-dropping experience: "The goal with this one was to just knock the hell out of the audience," he told EW. More concert films are certainly not a bad thing, especially when they feature work as unbridled as Louis'; here's hoping he starts a trend at other fests. The Sundance Film Festival runs from Jan. 21-31.

-- Paul Gaita

Photo: Kevin Bacon. Credit: Getty Images. 

 More from The Circuit:

Monday Roundup: First titles announced for SXSW 2010...

The Contender Q&A: "Food, Inc." director Robert Kenner

Foreign Film Golden Globe nominees to screen at American Cinematheque; season's greetings from Rod Serling

All five of the features nominated for a Golden Globe in the best foreign-language film category will be screened by the American Cinematheque from Jan. 11-15, followed by a special round-table discussion with the directors of each of the films on Jan. 16. Michael Haneke's Palm d'Or-winning "The White Ribbon" and Jacques Audiard's "A Prophet," which claimed the Grand Jury Prize at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, will play at the Egyptian in Hollywood on Jan. 11 and 12, respectively, while Giuseppe Tornatore will introduce (schedule permitting) a Jan. 13 showing of his Pasinetti Award-winning "Baaria" at the Aero in Santa Monica. The Aero will also host Pedro Almodovar's Golden Palm-nominated "Broken Embraces" on Jan. 14 and Sebastian Silva's Sundance Jury Prize winner, "The Maid," on Jan. 15 (Silva is scheduled to introduce the screening, schedule permitting). The round-table seminar with all five Golden Globe-nominated filmmakers will take place on Jan. 16 at the Egyptian, and is free to the public. Here's an excellent way to narrow down your bets for which film will take the trophy at the Globes ceremony -- which, lest you forget, is Jan. 17.

And since it's Christmas, let's sign off on this post with a bit of rarely-seen holiday cheer from multiple Emmy-winner (as well as a Golden Globe and Peabody Award-winner) Rod Serling and his 1970-1973 series "Night Gallery." The show's tone hewed closer to the horrific than the speculative nature of his work on "The Twilight Zone," though on occasion, Serling's penchant for thoughtful drama was allowed to shine through. "The Messiah on Mott Street," which first aired on Dec. 15, 1971, is one such episode; in it, Edward G. Robinson (in one of his final screen performances) is an elderly man on the brink of death who clings to the notion that the Messiah will spare him from the Angel of Death and allow him to continue to care for his grandson. Robinson is, of course, marvelous, and he's ably matched by Yaphet Kotto as the most likely candidate for the Angel, and Tony Roberts as Robinson's doctor. You can ignore the second episode, "The Painted Mirror," with Zsa Zsa Gabor (ahem) and enjoy this lovely and lightly macabre nod to the holidays from one of television's masters.

-- Paul Gaita

Photo: From "Broken Embraces." Credit: Universal International Pictures.

More from The Circuit:

The contender Q&A: Jackie Earle Haley

The contender Q&A: Garret Dillahunt

Aniston, Roberts, Rourke to present at Golden Globes

More stars at the awards than in heaven: Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts and Mickey Rourke have been announced as presenters at the 67th Annual Golden Globes ceremony on Jan. 17. The trio boosts the event's star quota considerably, which was already at orange alert level when Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio were announced as presenters for the Cecil B. DeMille Award to Martin Scorsese. Oh, and Ricky Gervais is hosting, and he certainly counts in the celeb department, too.

-- Paul Gaita

Photo: Jennifer Aniston. Credit: Getty Images