Newsweek Magazine has been hosting an “Oscar Roundtable” every year since 1998, in which they invite several of the year’s Oscar contenders to sit down for a relaxed, candid chat. The results can usually be counted on to be highly entertaining.

This year they asked Charlize Theron (Young Adult), Viola Davis (The Help), Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin), Christopher Plummer (Beginners), Michael Fassbender (Shame) and George Clooney (The Descendants)…and Uggie! *As of this writing, they are all still just 'possibles'. I'm wagering that by the time this is published, they'll all be actual nominees*

These clips are riveting, chock full of insights into these talented actors, their processes as artists, and what they’re like as people, which let’s face it is what we all want to know.

For today’s daily dose of Michael Fassbender, he gets to talk about peeing on camera:

Viola Davis explains that she was ‘terrified of Meryl Streep’ and why she “wrote a 50-page biography to play the mother of a Catholic schoolboy in Doubt…But Michael Fassbender reveals that he did the same thing, when he played Magneto in X-Men: First Class. The actors talk about other ways they find their characters—and the pitfalls of “doing things” that make a performance seem artificial.”

This one starts of with Charlize Theron and Michael Fassbender discussing his use of a South African accent during filming for Ridley Scott's Prometheus. It segues into Theron doing a bit of her Kristin Wiig (that apparently everyone else got a lot more of as Fassy was making everyone Bloody Marys) as well as a bit of her native Afrikaans before they coax Fassy into doing his Tarantino impression:For the rest of the clips (which are all worth seeing), follow the link.

*Edit: Obviously I missed the mark. 3 of the 6 did get nominations while the other 3 did not. As you might imagine, the omission that I'm most annoyed by is Michael Fassbender's.

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They’re finally here! The nominations for the 84th annual Academy Awards are out!! Jennifer Lawrence and president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Tom Sherak, announced the nominations for the 2012 Academy Awards, otherwise known as the Oscars, in 10 of the 24 categories (the rest I had to dig for) at a news conference at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

I know I said yesterday that I couldn’t remember ever having been less excited about the Oscars than I am this year and while that may be true, that doesn’t mean I’m not excited at all! (There are degrees people). I’m still doing the demented poodle dance over the fact that nominations came out this morning, even if most of them were a foregone conclusion. In fact, the list below started as an Oscar predictions list. The nominees that were not predicted before hand are marked.  (You don't have to believe me, but it's true.) There were some surprises, not all of which I’m happy about. (No Michael Fassbender?!? But on the other hand, Gary Oldman is VERY deserving and he’d been left off a lot of lists)

There were 9 Best Picture nominees, instead of the predicted 8, but the inclusion of a critically panned Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is probably the biggest shocker. Another shock? My favorite song from The Muppets, “Man or Muppet” was nominated, but almost nothing else was! The only other song (out of 39 contenders) was a song that made no one’s short list, from Rio, “Real in Rio”. Ever heard it? Me either. Martin Scorsese’s Hugo tops the list with 11 nods (my personal favorite of the year), but will it ultimately matter?

This isn’t the time or place for me to discuss how I feel about any of this. For now, here are your nominations:

BEST PICTURE

The Artist
The Descendants
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
War Horse

*Tree of Life

*Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

BEST DIRECTOR
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne The Descendants
David Fincher, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

*Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life

BEST ACTRESS
Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Viola Davis, The Help
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin

*Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs

BEST ACTOR
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
George Clooney, The Descendants
Brad Pitt, Moneyball
Michael Fassbender, Shame
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

*Demian Bichir, A Better Life

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Octavia Spencer, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids

Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Albert Brooks, Drive
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marilyn
Nick Nolte, Warrior

*Max Von Sydow, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Will Reiser, 50/50
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Tom McCarthy and Joe Tiboni, Win Win

*J.C. Chandor, Margin Call

*Asgar Fahredi, A Separation

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, The Descendants
Steven Zaillian, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Tate Taylor, The Help
John Logan, Hugo
Stan Chervin, Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian, Moneyball

*George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon, The Ides of March

*Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

BEST ART DIRECTION
Laurence Bennett, The Artist
Donald Graham Burt, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Stuart Craig, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Dante Ferretti, Hugo
Maria Djurkovic, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

* Rick Carter; Lee Sandales War Horse

*Anne Seibel; Hélène Dubreuil Midnight in Paris

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Guillaume Schiffman, The Artist
Jeff Cronenweth, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Robert Richardson, Hugo
Emmanuel Lubezki, The Tree of Life
Janusz Kaminski, War Horse

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Mark Bridges, The Artist
Michael O'Connor, Jane Eyre
Sandy Powell, Hugo
Jill Taylor, My Week with Marilyn
Jacqueline Durran, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

*Lisy Christl, Anonymous

*Arianne Phillips, W.E.

BEST FILM EDITING
Michel Hazanavicius and Anne-Sophie Bion, The Artist
Thelma Schoonmaker, Hugo
Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Christopher Tellefsen, Moneyball
Michael Kahn, War Horse

*Kevin Tent, The Descendants

BEST MAKEUP
Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
The Iron Lady

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Ludovic Bourse, The Artist
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Howard Shore, Hugo 
Alberto Iglesias, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
John Williams, War Horse

*John Williams, The Adventures of Tintin

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Man or Muppet," The Muppets

*“Real in Rio”, Rio

BEST SOUND EDITING
The Adventures of Tintin
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Hugo
Transformers: Dark of the Moon

*Drive

*War Horse

BEST SOUND MIXING
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Hugo
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

*The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

*Moneyball

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Hugo
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon

*Real Steel

BEST ANIMATED FILM FEATURE
Rango
Puss in Boots
The Adventures of Tintin
Kung Fu Panda 2

Rio

*A Cat in Paris
*Chico & Rita

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Bill Cunningham New York
Buck
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Project Nim

*Pina
*Undefeated

*Hell and Back Again

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FEATURE
Bullhead, Belgium
Footnote, Israel
In Darkness, Poland
Monsieur Lazhar, Canada
A Separation, Iran

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Let's file this nugget of gold under 'never in a million years'. Real Housewives of Beverly Hill's Brandi Glanville admitted to Bravo's Andy Cohen on that her most famous hook up was with GERARD BUTLER. I need a few moments to compose myself here. 

US Weekly first reported back in September that the two had been hooking up over the summer according to her friends. When she appeared last night on 'Watch What Happens Live' Brandi admitted Gerry was her most famous hook up. Ha! Take that Eddie Cibrian. And on a scale of 1-10 Gerard was an ELEVEN. And the hook up of fun was for a week. Who's surprised? Lucky biotch.

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Sometimes things aren't always as they appear especially when someone is going out of their way to bad-mouth another. That's usually a sign that they are trying to take the focus away from them, isn't it? Such as the case with Amber Rose who not-so-long-ago called Kim Kardashian a home-wrecker and said Kim was the reason that she and Kanye West didn't work out.

Well according to her publicist , Janero Marchand, Kim had NOTHING to do with the split up. In fact he labels Amber as a thief and a liar and the real reason Amber and Kanye broke up? She was stealing from him and as soon as he found out he dumped her. 

Janero Marchand spoke with The YBF and put Amber on BLAST:

I was the person who introduced Kanye West and Amber Rose. Amber wanted me to lie to Kanye when he asked me about her stealing.  My integrity and morals I was raised on would not allow me to do something like that.
I just want the public to know that I am a man that conducts my business with integrity and morals. And I support my clients 100% until they do something that is unethical or unlawful business wise. I never had intentions to speak on this subject, but seeing Amber being dishonest to the media about the reason she and Kanye broke up was the last straw. Kanye is a good person.  He helped book my first two music videos, and if it wasn't for him co-signing Amber, she would not be in the position she is in today.

Amber Rose allowed fame, money, and greed to get in the way of her self respect, dignity, and morals. Kim Kardashian did not break up their relationship, Amber did. Amber's lack of gratitude and disrespect for the people who paved the way for her is unconscionable and repugnant.
Through it all, I still wish her the best and forgive her for what she did and said to me. I just want the truth to be out there.

Janero also tweeted a copy of an email between him and Amber in which she didn't really consider him her manager. He's also claiming that she stole his fee when she worked on the RoboCop video:

That "Robocop" video was set to really break Amber's career and make her a movie star since 90% of the video was centered around her. It was a $1 mill budget video, one of Kanye's most expensive videos. Amber got paid $100,000 for it and I was suppose to get 20% of that, but she had the people pay her directly and try and cut me out of the equation with hopes I never found out. I knew the guy who paid her for the video and he later told me about it. And when I asked her about the money, she was caught off guard that I knew she already got paid. And told me she only got $10,000, but didn't know I saw the receipt of how much she got paid. So that ended our business relationship indefinitely.

So far no word from Amber on these accusations. Sometimes you have to take everything with a grain of salt, don't you? Here's the email he tweeted:

Former Pussycat Doll,  Dancing With The Stars champion and current X-Factor judge Nicole Scherzinger tweeted from her bathroom where she was asking if anyone knows how to work the twisty towel thing on her hair with a priceless expression on her face.

First of all to answer her: no. Unless you are related to McGyver working a twisty towel thing is complicated. But way more importantly, Nicole is GORGEOUS without makeup. 

Towel or no towel Nicole could be coming to a town near you as she's gearing up for a tour and asking her fans to suggest songs for her to cover. Her set list is almost complete!

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Last week we shared your first glimpse of Amanda Seyfried and Peter Sarsgaard in Lovelace, the biopic about one of the first porn “superstars”, Linda Lovelace, and her dysfunctional relationship with her husband/manager Chuck Traynor, who coerced her into the porn industry where she was used and abused before finally taking control of her life.

Academy Award winning documentarians Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (The Life and Times of Harvey Milk, Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt) direct Lovelace from a script by Merrit Johnson (Temple Grandin, In Treatment) and Andy Bellin (Trust), which was in turn based on Eric Danville's biography, "The Complete Linda Lovelace".   It’s got an insane cast including Sharon Stone, Hank Azaria, Eric Roberts, Wes Bentley, Juno Temple, Chris Noth, Debi Mazar,  Bobby Cannavale with James Franco as Hugh Hefner, Demi Moore as Gloria Steinem and Adam Brody as porn legend Harry Reems.

Below are some pics of Seyfried in full 70’s regalia. LOVE the velvet overalls and those platform wedges prove that what goes around comes around and everything old is new again. Gotta get used to seeing Seyfried’s HUGE blue eyes with brown contacts. It’ll probably look better on film, but it’s a little alien-like in these pics.

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This week on dvd we have cancer comedy, family dysfunction, robot boxing, a brave woman doing the right thing, pretty twenty-somethings without a clue and things that go bump in the night.

Inspired by a true story, Golden Globe nominated 50/50 is a comedy centered on a 27-year-old guy who learns of his cancer diagnosis, and his subsequent struggle to beat the disease.

Directed by Jonathan Levine and written by Will Reiser who based the film on his own experiences fighting cancer, this poignant comedy stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Adam, a 27-year old public radio employee who discovers he has cancer. As his best friend Kyle (Seth Rogen) tries to help out, his girlfriend Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard) proves to be a less than ideal life partner for this particular crisis. All the while, Adam's overprotective mother Diane (Anjelica Huston) tries to overcome her son's continued attempts to keep her out of his life. As Adam begins to discover how hard it is to deal with his situation, and to maintain various relationships in his life, he begins seeing a young counselor (Anna Kendrick) who might prove to be just as helpful personally as she is professionally. Matt Frewer and Philip Baker Hall co-star as Adam's fellow chemotherapy patients.

Special Features:

Audio Commentary

Deleted Scenes

The Story of 50/50

Another Happy Day was the first feature film from writer and director Sam Levinson, and received its world premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival

A wedding brings together one very dysfunctional family in this dark comedy-drama. Lynn (Ellen Barkin) was married to Paul (Thomas Haden Church), but they split up on bad terms, and Lynn took custody of their daughter Alice (Kate Bosworth) while Paul got their son Dylan (Michael Nardelli). Years later, Lynn attends Dylan's wedding at Paul's estate, with her younger sons Elliott (Ezra Miller) and Ben (Daniel Yelski) in tow; Elliott is a chronically depressed drug addict and Ben prefers to look at life through a camera than confront the world head on. Meanwhile, Alice deals with her anxieties through cutting, Dylan hasn't spoken to Lynn in years, Lynn is fearful of Paul and his wife Patty (Demi Moore), Lynn's mother (Ellen Burstyn) blames her daughter for her family's many troubles, and her father (George Kennedy) is in poor health and hardly cares what's happening around him. To the surprise of no one, all this has left Lynn an emotional wreck, and she's not sure just how she's going to get through the day.

Need a diagram? Another Happy Day is the screenplay I will forever wish I’d written. I’ve been threatening to write a tell-all about my family for years. Sam Levinson beat me to it. If you can relate you’ll howl with laughter. If not, you’ll be confused.

Real Steel is about a retired pugilist, played by a ripped Hugh Jackman, who  transitions to the business side of the ropes after human boxers are replaced by robotic ones in director Shawn Levy's feature-length adaptation of the Twilight Zone episode "Steel."  I was surprised to learn that. I don’t think I read it in any of the press prior to the film’s release.

Charlie Kenton (Jackman) was a true contender when the sport of boxing was changed forever. Now, instead of humans duking it out for the masses, huge, powerful steel robots trade blows in the ring. As a result, former gladiator Charlie has been forced into the role of two-bit promoter, piecing together cut-rate fighting bots from scrap metal as he makes the rounds on the underground boxing circuit.

Just when it seems that Charlie has sunkas low as he can go, his estranged 11 year old son, Max (Dakota Goyo), offers him the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at a comeback by constructing and training a true champion. Now the stakes are higher than ever before, and Charlie is about to get a second chance at leaving an indelible mark on the sport he once dedicated his life to. 

Cue Rocky theme. 

Real Steel costars Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie, Hope Davis and James Rebhorn.

Special Features:

Bloopers

Making of Metal Valley

Building the Bots

Audio Commentary with Director Shawn Levy

Based on English novelist David Nicholls’ book of the same name, One Day is a romantic weepie starring Anne Hathaway as Emma and Jim Sturges as Dexter.

SYNOPSIS: After one day together – July 15th, 1988, their university graduation – Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew begin a friendship that will last a lifetime. She is a working-class girl of principle and ambition who dreams of making the world a better place. He is a wealthy charmer who dreams that the world will be his playground. For the next two decades, key moments of their relationship are experienced over several July 15ths in their lives. Together and apart, we see Dex and Em through their friendship and fights, hopes and missed opportunities, laughter and tears. Somewhere along their journey, these two people realize that what they are searching and hoping for has been there for them all along. As the true meaning of that one day back in 1988 is revealed, they come to terms with the nature of love and life itself.

Let’s see – we’ve got Emma who is smart and Dexter who is charming. After spending one night (without having sex!) after meeting at their graduation, we see them coming together every July 15th. Through the years they grow apart as their lives take very different directions. Will they eventually be together? Dun Dun Dun…. Sounds like Same Time Next Year for the new millennium with a little When Harry Met Sally thrown in for good measure.

Director Lone Scherfig caught fire with An Education, the movie that catapulted Carey Mulligan into our hearts. Hopefully this is just a sophomore slump and her next feature will return engaging storytelling.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Feature Commentary with Director Lone Scherfig

Deleted Scenes

Em and Dex: Through the Years

Anne Hathaway: Bringing Emma to Life

The Look of One Day

Inspired by real events, writer/director Larysa Kondracki's intense docudrama, The Whistleblower, tells the tale of an American policewoman (Rachel Weisz) who uncovers evidence of human trafficking while assisting a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Bosnia. Nebraska cop Kathy Bolkovac is caught in the middle of a vicious custody battle with her ex-husband when she seizes the opportunity to make a quick $100,000 tax-free (yeah, I get being tempted by that) by spending six months in Bosnia as a U.N. peacekeeper. Shortly after her arrival in Bosnia, Human Rights Commission head Madeleine Rees (Vanessa Redgrave in her other great performance of 2011) promotes her to the U.N.'s Gender Office, where she begins studying sexual-assault cases. But when Kathy discovers that her fellow peacekeepers are involved in a human-trafficking ring, the ensuing controversy makes her the target of some very powerful — and incredibly ruthless — people.

Costarring Benedict Cumberbatch, David Strathairn, Monica Bellucci and Nikolaj Lie Kass, The Whistleblower is an an important film that doesn’t make the misstep of seeming too “earnest”. Rachel Weisz gives another powerful performance (and in any other year would have been nominated for it, but no one saw The Whistleblower and the little bit of awards buzz she got has long sinced faded.) It’s an engrossing story all the more horrifying because it’s true. I can heartily recommend this one.

Special Feature

Cast & Crew Interviews

Paranormal Activity 3, whose tagline is “It Runs In The Family”,  is more of a prequel than a sequel. It stars Katie Featherston, Sprague Grayden, Christopher Nicholas Smith, Lauren Bittner, Chloe Csengery, Jessica Tyler Brown and  Dustin Ingram.

In 1988, young sisters Katie and Kristi befriend an invisible entity who resides in their home, the same home that will be the subject of Paranormal Activity (1). The directing duo of Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman (Catfish) taking on the helming duties from a script by the returning team of Christopher Landon and Oren Peli.

I have to wonder if there’s anyone left who had any interest in this that hasn’t already seen it. From a budget of $5M, this thing grossed more than $200M worldwide.  (I’m sure that among those that have, there will be a lot of repeat viewers. Their target demographic will buy it and wear out their copies.)

Blu-ray Special Features

Original theatrical version of the film

Unrated version of the film

Lost Tapes

DVD Special Features

Unrated version of the Film

Digital copy of unrated version—compatible with iTunes® and Windows Media

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