George Clooney discusses varying response to his duelling Oscar contenders, “The Descendants” and “The Ides of March“: “Holding an old-fashioned glass and encircled by admirers, young gorgeous women, and seasoned film journalists, he told me — and Baz Bamigboye of the Daily Mail, Roger Friedman of Showbiz411 and Manhattan salonista Peggy Siegel — that ‘The Descendants’ had received the warmer reception at Telluride the week before, but the pendulum had appeared to swing in Toronto. Here, ‘March’ was receiving the better buzz. The mercurial element of audience response bemused him, bringing out the dimples and those crinkly laugh lines by his eyes — and a shrug.” THELMA ADAMS
Sasha Stone would like the Academy to embrace a daring, boundary-pushing film like her festival fave, “Shame“: “But films featuring extreme sexuality, as was depicted in last year’s ‘Black Swan,’ which won an Oscar for Natalie Portman and garnered 4 more nominations, are few and far between. Once a film crosses over into the blue zone, it ends up joining the ranks of movies that either aren’t take seriously or are too rough going for many of them. This is why I always love it when films that makes people blush, as Steve McQueen’s brilliant ‘Shame’ does, enter the Oscar race.” AWARDS DAILY
Coldplay unveils a new single from their upcoming album: “The march toward the most unpronounceable album of 2011 continues. Coldplay’s fifth proper album is called ‘Mylo Xyloto’ and is set to hit store shelves on October 24 … and the band just pulled the curtain back on another single called ‘Paradise.'” EW.COM
PBS’s Emmy-nominated “Downton Abbey” sets a Guiness World Record for critical acclaim: “Guinness World Records has awarded ‘Downton Abbey’ with the accolade of the ‘Highest critical review ratings for a TV show,’ which the record book says means the PBS Masterpiece series created and written by Julian Fellowes is the most ‘critically well-received show in the world,’ snatching the honor from previous record holders ‘Mad Men,’ ‘Sons of Anarchy‘ and ‘Modern Family.’ ‘Downton,’ which has been nominated for 11 Primetime Emmy Awards, averaged a score of 92 out of 100 on Metacritic, which provided the date of compiled reviews.” DEADLINE
Lady Gaga and Adele among new Guiness World Record holders in music: “Lady Gaga’s social media predominance was rewarded, landing her the Most Followers on Twitter crown with 11,259,372 as of June 29 (she’s currently at 13,469,754). In addition, ‘Poker Face’ was honored for Most Weeks on U.S. Digital Hot Songs chart at 83 weeks. Gaga made the book last year for having the most consecutive weeks on the U.K. chart and being the most searched-for woman on the Internet.” MTV
Tomorrow is the deadline to submit documentary features for consideration to the Motion Picture Academy: “To be eligible, the documentaries must complete seven-day commercial runs in both Los Angeles County and the Borough of Manhattan in New York between September 1, 2010, and December 31, 2011. (The September 1 to December 31 period is one-time only; in future years, eligibility will follow only the calendar year.) For films completing their qualifying runs by August 15, all paperwork must be completed and received by the Academy no later than 30 days after the end of the qualifying runs.” DEADLINE
Woody Harrelson delivers a “tour de force” in Oren Moverman‘s “Rampart,” according to Kris Tapley: “This is a firehouse performance of subtle strokes and vivid internalizations. I was reminded of Michael Fassbender’s work in ‘Shame’ if only because both performances so wonderfully offer a master class in clenched but emotive power. It’s Harrelson’s best work in a good long while, including his Oscar-nominated performance in ‘The Messenger’ two years ago.” IN CONTENTION
