The Latest From Venice, Toronto
LW’s Rex Okpodu and I spent a good part of yesterday going through the results so far from those Oscar bellwethers, the Venice and Toronto film festivals. Our conclusions: 1) Don’t put much stock in the fact that Sofia Coppola’s “Somewhere” won the top prize at Venice. Her ex-beau, Quentin Tarantino, was head of the jury and he’s already taking some stick for pushing the Golden Lion her way. (Sofia and Quentin pictured above) 2) The Clint Eastwood movie, “Hereafter,” didn’t get many mojos working during its screening at Toronto, so that flick shouldn’t be high on anyone’s list at this point. 3) “The King’s Speech” has now gotten big ovations at Telluride and at Toronto. As the Hollywood Reporter comments: ‘Hollywood loves nothing better than a tale of triumph over adversity. So [The King’s Speech] has shot to the front of the pack as an early Oscar favorite for Colin Firth‘s stirring portrayal of England’s King George VI overcoming a speech impediment to rally his country on the eve of World War II.’ The film could mark the comeback of Harvey Weinstein as an Oscar macher. Rex Okpodu thinks that the Oscar autumn is taking shape as a contest between “The Black Swan” (the Natalie Portman flick about a rivalry backstage at the ballet) and “The King’s Speech.”
