Academy to clamp down on 'Oscar parties?'

The Hollywood Reporter has the exclusive:

In response to an Oscar season featuring a significant uptick in campaign parties and schmooze-fests, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences is preparing to impose new restrictions on lavish festivities.

A proposal for revised regulations, which sources tell The Hollywood Reporter is currently being drafted by an AMPAS committee, still must be approved by the Academy's board of governors, which next meets Aug. 2. But the plan will almost certainly include new restrictions on the number and kind of events that can be thrown, and insiders expect new regulations to be adopted.

"There will be a tightening of the rules, no question," an Academy insider tells THR.

How does Harvey Weinstein defend his PG-13 cut of The King's Speech?

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Harvey Weinstein is sounding off on the decision to release a PG-13 theatrical version of The Weinstein Co.'s four-time Oscar winner The King's Speech.

The decision had to do with inspiring children who were struggling as King George VI had with stuttering -- and not making more money, Weinstein says in a column for The Daily Beast.

"Did we do it for the extra shekels? A nice thought, but that was never in the cards," Weinstein says. "We absorbed additional production, delivery and marketing costs to bring The King's Speech PG-13 to moviegoers."

He says later in the column: "Maybe I'm a traditionalist, but I wanted everyone to have the opportunity to see the film on the big screen. We didn't cut the movie. We altered the cursing in two scenes, and I believe the strength of the story withstands these changes without compromising its heart and soul."

Box Office Bulletin: A "Hop"ping Good Time!

Via Box Office Mojo, The Numbers, and other sources:

Live action/animation hybrid "Hop" seems to have exceeded even the most optimistic of expectations by landing, if estimates hold, the largest opening weekend of 2011 with approximately $38.1 million in box office receipts.


NEW OPENINGS:

"Hop", made by Illumination Entertainment for $63 million, the studio who debuted with 2010's blockbuster, "Despicable Me", delivered the first true all-family film of 2011 and reaped the benefits. Despite the massive success of "Rango" and the well-attended "Gnomeo and Juliet", "Hop" looked like the year's first film which would engage everyone in the household and families responded. Despite most critics panning the film, distributor Universal Pictures won in the court of public opinion. Featuring voice work by Russell Brand, Hugh Laurie, and Hank Azaria, and James Marsden in the main live-action role, this Easter Bunny meets the Santa Claus storyline may elicit a sequel down the line. A second strong weekend looks promising as the next animated family film to come down the pike, the G-rated "Rio", lands on April 15.

A look at "Source Code", "Insidious", and a knockout "Sucker Punch" after the cut...

The King's Speech wins Best Picture at the 83rd Academy Awards!

Behold all the winners:

Best Picture: The King’s Speech
Best Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Best Actor: Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
Best Director: Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
Best Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
Best Original Screenplay: David Seidler, The King’s Speech
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Best Editing: Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter, The Social Network
Best Cinematography: Wally Pfister, Inception
Best Original Score: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, The Social Network
Best Art Direction: Alice in Wonderland
Best Costume Design: Alice in Wonderland
Best Visual Effects: Inception
Best Make-Up: The Wolfman
Best Sound Mixing: Inception
Best Sound Editing: Inception
Best Song: We Belong Together, Toy Story 3, Randy Newman
Best Documentary Short: Strangers No More
Best Live Action Short: God of Love
Best Animated Short: The Lost Thing
Best Foreign Language Film: In a Better World, Denmark
Best Documentary: Inside Job

-Joey's Two Cents: After all of our coverage, is there anything left to say? Thoughts?

Harvey Weinstein will indeed release a PG-13 cut of The King's Speech...

...for better or worse. Here's the story from the A.V. Club:

Despite director Tom Hooper’s strenuous objections, The Weinstein Company is moving forward with a proposed PG-13 edit of The King’s Speech, having just received an okay from the MPAA to release it to theaters as soon as it pulls the original, R-rated version. (Normally a film has to be absent from theaters for 90 days before a re-release is granted; in this case, The King’s Speech was granted a waiver.) As we reported earlier, the Weinsteins’ decision to censor the film was based primarily on helping the Best Picture frontrunner broaden its box-office take by attracting more families—something that Harvey Weinstein apparently felt was more crucial at this point than continuing to make a stand on principle, like he did at the time of the film’s first date with the MPAA. Back then, the only thing that came between The King’s Speech and a PG-13 was a key scene where Colin Firth’s character lets loose with a string of cathartic profanities—and while there’s nothing official yet on what “unique way” (in Weinstein’s words) they’ve found to work around it, we’re assuming that scene is now pretty much gone, perhaps momentarily replaced by an insert of a couple of friendly chaps playing snooker.

-Joey's Two Cents: It is what it is, and yes, I've avoided the porn set story in regard to The King's Speech on purpose...mainly because it's a waste of time. Thoughts?

The Costume Designers Guild announces their winners!

Behold:

Contemporary Film
“Black Swan” (Amy Westcott)
“Burlesque” (Michael Kaplan)
“Inception” (Jeffrey Kurland)
“The Social Network” (Jacqueline West)
“Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” (Ellen Mirojnick)

Period Film
“The Fighter” (Mark Bridges)
“The King’s Speech” (Jenny Beaven)
“True Grit” (Mary Zophres)

Fantasy Film
“Alice in Wonderland” (Colleen Atwood)
“The Tempest” (Sandy Powell)
“TRON Legacy” (Christine Bieselin Clark, Michael Wilkinson)

-Joey's Two Cents: No complaints here in regard to their choices...thoughts?

The King's Speech comes close to sweeping at the BAFTAs!

Here are the winners:

Best Film – The King’s Speech
Best Director – The Social Network – David Fincher
Best Leading Actress – Natalie Portman – Black Swan
Best Leading Actor – Colin Firth – The King’s Speech
Best Supporting Actress – Helena Bonham Carter – The King’s Speech
Best Supporting Actor – Geoffrey Rush – The King’s Speech
Best Adapted Screenplay – The Social Network – Aaron Sorkin
Best Original Screenplay – The King’s Speech – David Seidler
Best Cinematography – True Grit – Roger Deakins
Outstanding British Film – The King’s Speech
Outstanding British Debut – Four Lions – Chris Morris
Best Editing – The Social Network – Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter
Best Original Music – The King’s Speech – Alexandre Desplat
Best Production Design – Inception – Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias, Doug Mowat
Best Costume Design: Alice in Wonderland – Colleen Atwood
Best Sound – Inception – Richard King, Lora Hirschberg, Gary A Rizzo, Ed Novick
Best Special Visual Effects – Inception – Corbould, Franklin, Lockley, Bebb
Best Make Up & Hair – Alice in Wonderland – Valli O’Reilly, Paul
Best Short Film – Until the River Runs Red – Paul Wright, Poss Kondeatis
Best Short Animation – The Eagleman Stag – Michael Please
Best Film Not in the English Language – The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Best Animated Film – Toy Story 3
Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award – Tom Hardy


-Joey's Two Cents: The only real surprises for me were Fincher holding off Hooper and TKS hitting in both film categories...thoughts?