The Couch Potato Report - September 8th, 2007
This week The Couch Potato Report peels one of the greatest moments in Canadians sports history, and some TV shows on DVD.
Good morning and welcome, I am about to recap some classic hockey games, from twenty years ago, and over 55 hours of television shows.
Here we go....To some September of 1972 featured the greatest goal in Canadian sports history. To other, including me, that goal came in September of 1987.
The voice of the great Dan Kelly still gives me chills everytime I hear the call of that goal, and now his calls for all of the three final games of the 1987 Canada Cup are available in the spectacular three DVD Box Set CANADA CUP 1987 - THE FINAL SERIES.
The 1987 Canada Cup took place from August 28th to September 15th that year, and games were played in Calgary, Hartford, Halifax, Sydney, Montreal, Regina and at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton.
It was in Hamilton where the final two games took place.
While it is common place now to see Russian stars in the NHL, at the time, they weren't allowed to pursue playing careers in North America, and so it was only through tournaments like the Canada Cup where hockey fans could see their skills head-to-head against the best of the NHL.
Some people remember where they were when Paul Henderson scored THE goal against Russia in 1972, and other people know exactly where they were when Canada beat the United States in Salt Lake City in 2002, and then there are others who are fans of other games and series as well.
But, I remember where I was on September 15th, 1987. I working at the World Trade and Convention centre in Halifax...okay, I wasn't actually working...my colleagues and I were watching the game!!
Each one of those words has a unique memory attached to them, and I completely enjoyed reliving them as I watched the DVDs in the CANADA CUP 1987 - THE FINAL SERIES.
This Box Set features the games, as they aired, in their entirety. There are no interviews, retrospective looks back or anything like that...just the games.
And as we approach the twentieth anniversary of that final game, I really appreciated that.
We live in a day and age where sports DVDs are over produced, over edited, and feature load booming narration.
This set lets the games, the plays, the great Dan Kelly, and the incredible excitement of this once-in-a-lifetime Series speak for itself.
From a great Canadian hockey series that is available for you to own on DVD, we movie now to a short lived television series, created by an Oscar winning Canadian.
That series is THE BLACK DONNELLYS.
In Canadian history, The Black Donnellys is the common nickname of the Donnelly family; a family that emigrated from Ireland, to Canada in the mid-1800s, and who participated in a notorious feud in Ontario.
Stompin' Tom Connors wrote a song about it called "The Black Donnellys' Massacre" and Steve Earle mentions the family in his song "Justice in Ontario".
Writer and director Paul Haggis - who was nominated for an Academy Award for writing Clint Eastwood's MILLION DOLLAR BABY and won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for CRASH in 2004 - is from London, Ontario, and his naming of the family in his TV show is no coincidence.
He references the real-life Black Donnellys' situations as the Donnelly brothers in the TV show also participate in feuds.
Plus, they are also Irish, but their stories don't happen in Canada, they take place on the streets and in the bars of New York.
The TV series follows four young Catholic Irish-American brothers in Hell's Kitchen and their involvement with organized crime, their family and each other.
THE BLACK DONNELLYS debuted on February 26th of this year, and after seven episodes it was cancelled. There were thirteen episodes produced, but only seven aired.
You could only see the last six episodes online, and even though I had been watching the series, I didn't bother watching the reamining episodes as I knew it would eventually come out on DVD...and now it has!
THE BLACK DONNELLYS - THE COMPLETE SERIES is a three disc set and if you were left hanging when this less than superb, but very satisfying series was cancelled, you can now find out what happens to Jimmy, Tommy, Kevin, and Sean Donnelly, and Jenny Reilly.
While it isn't as engaging a story as the Canadian Black Donnellys is...the show is still worth seeing.
Another show that is also worth seeing, that also suffered low ratings when it aired, but wasn't cancelled is 30 ROCK.
Executive produced by Toronto's own Lorne Michaels, 30 ROCK is a show about what happens behind the scenes at a television variety show...not unlike Saturday Night Live, the iconic television show that Michaels created back in 1975.
But 30 ROCK isn't just about the fictional TV show at it's core, it is also about the people who work there.
The insecure, sometimes idotic, but always interesting people who work there.
The first few episodes of 30 ROCK aren't as good as the last few. The show, and it's ensemble cast, got better as the season went on, lead by it's star, creator, and writer, the great Tina Fey.
The other reason for the show's success is Alec Baldwin...he owns every scene he is in.
30 ROCK - SEASON ONE is also a 3 DVD set and it is a show I always enjoy.
THE OFFICE, as I have mentioned before, is a show that I always love!
While some feel it is blasphemy to praise the American remake of the classic BBC series THE OFFICE, I do not.
Yes, the British version is superior, and always will be, Steve Carell and the cast and writers of the American one continuously come up with unique and interesting situations and jokes that make me laugh. That is the primary thing I expect from a comedy and there are many, many laughs in SEASON THREE of THE OFFICE.
I highly recommend THE OFFICE, both in it's original incarnation and the remake.
It is laugh out loud funny!!
I also laughed a lot as I watched Season Two of the show WEEDS.
WEEDS stars Mary-Louise Parker from THE WEST WING and FRIED GREEN TOMATOES as a suburban widower who is also the mother of two kids...and a pot dealer in the Los Angeles suburb of Agrestic.
In the Second Season of the show, her brand new business - and crop - is a hit, but she now has to work hard to keep up with her competition, her kids and her neighbors.
WEEDS isn't a perfect show, but it is exceptionally entertaining, smart and funny. If the premise doesn't bother you, give it a shot.
Up next is FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS - THE FIRST SEASON.
This show is based on the movie of the same name, a film I liked.
Unfortunately, I didn't like the TV series as much, but it isn't bad.
In both the film and the movie, FRIDAY NIGHT's lights shine on high school football in Odessa, Texas. To some people in the small town, the weekly game is the only game in town and every single game is a must win.
The reason I have for not completely embracing this rock and roll, high energy football show, is simply due to that fact that I wasn't engaged by it.
For a two hour movie, the story of this team, it's players and fans kept me interested, and I felt a connection to it.
Over the course of the series' 22 episodes, I just lost interest.
It is well written, acted and done, but it is just not the show for me...but maybe it is the show for you, and that is one of the greatest thinsg about the fact that there are so many shows! We all fine one that we love!
One of the shows I loved when I was a kid was the program VOYAGERS!
It was a time travel series that aired during the 1982-83 television season.
Due to the fact that they always met actual historical people and events, the show engaged me when I was a kid.
Cleopatra, Babe Ruth, the Titanic, and Moses were just some of them...and there were many others.
Watching VOYAGERS! this past week did make me feel like a kid again, but it didn't hold up as well through the years. It is still entertaining, but some of the special effects and footage looks really dated.
All that said, I did enjoy re-living the VOYAGERS! adventures, and I would recommend it to kids today.
That is because it is a very positive show, that always encourages the viewer to find out more.
The entertaining, if dated, eighties TV show VOYAGERS!, the way too dramatic, but entertaining first season of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, the superb second season of WEEDS, the less than superb, but very satisfying THE BLACK DONNELLYS, the great first season of 30 ROCK, the spectacular third season of the American version of THE OFFICE, and one of the greatest moments in Canadian sports history - CANADA CUP '87 - THE FINAL SERIES - are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
I will talk about two very different child stars who are moving into adult positions in the movie world.
Canadian actress Sarah Polley from ROAD TO AVONLEA will be featured as she continues her path forward with her superb film - and directorial debut - AWAY FROM HER.
And the other side of that coin will feature the downward spiral of American actress Lindsay Lohan's and her latest GEORGIA RULE, a movie that also stars the great Jane Fonda and Felicity Huffman.
Also next week, before Sam Raimi made the SPIDER-MAN trilogy, he was involved with the great DARKMAN TRILOGY; Reiko Aylesworth from TV's 24 stars in CRAZY LOVE; and an all-star cast are featured in EVEN MONEY a movie about how gambling addiction ruins three unconnected people's lives.
I'm Dan Reynish. I'll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.
For now, that's this week's COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I'll see you back here next time on The Couch!
Led Zeppelin Announcement Expected Next Week
Billboard reported in July that the band may get together for a proposed tribute to the late producer/record mogul Ahmet Ertegun at the O2 in London in November,
Now on Ledzeppelin.com the date 11.13.07 mysteriously appears with the familiar Zep symbols. And several people saw the band touring the O2 during Prince's recent stand at the new 20,000-seat London venue. A press conference next Wednesday (Sept. 12) in London may clear everything up.
There has been talk that tour producers AEG Live and Michael Cohl's CPI (Rolling Stones, Genesis, Barbra Streisand) have put in offers on a Zep tour featuring founding members Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones with late drummer John Bonham's son Jason on drums. But it is also well known in the industry that standing offers have been on the table for a Led Zeppelin tour for more than a decade.
Nov. 13 also has another significance: it's the release date of a new Atlantic/Rhino two-disc, 24-track best-of set, "Mothership." Additionally, a deluxe reissue of the soundtrack to the 1976 concert film "The Song Remains the Same" with previously unreleased material and a new DVD edition of that movie will arrive Nov. 20 via Atlantic/Rhino and Warner Home Video, respectively.
Osbourne, Zombie Scare Up Joint Fall Tour
Ozzy Osbourne and Rob Zombie will join forces for a North American fall tour, beginning Oct. 18 at the Key Arena in Seattle and wrapping Jan. 24, 2008, at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. The 40-date trek finds Osbourne visiting U.S. arenas for the first time in six years.
Fresh off of this summer's Ozzfest tour, Osbourne will be on the road in support of his first studio album in six years, "Black Rain," which has sold 372,000 copies in the United States since May, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Along with visiting a handful of markets that Osbourne has never performed in, the AEG Live-promoted jaunt is scheduled to play such cities as Salt Lake City, San Diego, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago and a Halloween show in Minneapolis. A Dec. 22 concert at New York's Madison Square Garden will be Osbourne's first show at the venue in 23 years.
Tickets go on sale Sept. 14. Pricing information has not yet been released.
Meanwhile, Zombie will tour in support of his first concert set, "Zombie -- Live," due Oct. 23 via Geffen/UMe. The album was recorded last year during the tour in support of "Educated Horses," which debuted at No. 5 on The Billboard 200. A DVD companion to the live album is slated to arrive next spring.
Zombie has also had his hands full with the remake of classic horror film "Halloween," which is currently in theaters. Along with directing the film, Zombie curated its soundtrack (out now on Hip-O Records).
Here are Ozzy Osbourne/Rob Zombie tour dates:
Oct. 18: Seattle (Key Arena)
Oct. 20: Vancouver (GM Place)
Oct. 22: Edmonton (Rexall Place)
Oct. 24: Saskatoon (Credit Union Centre)
Oct. 27: Winnipeg (MTS Centre)
Oct. 29: Fargo, N.D. (Fargodome)
Oct. 31: Minneapolis (Target Center)
Nov. 2: Des Moines, Iowa (Veterans Memorial Auditorium)
Nov. 4: Sioux City, Iowa (Gateway Arena)
Nov. 6: Rapid City, S.D. (Rushmore Plaza Civic Center)
Nov. 9: Billings, Mont. (MetraPark Arena)
Nov. 11: Salt Lake City (The E-Center)
Nov. 14: Portland, Ore. (Rose Garden)
Nov. 16: Stockton, Calif. (Stockton Arena)
Nov. 18: Oakland, Calif. (Oracle Arena)
Nov. 20: San Diego (San Diego Sports Arena)
Nov. 24 Las Vegas (the Joint)
Nov. 26: Bakersfield, Calif. (Rabobank Arena)
Nov. 28 Glendale, Ariz. (Jobing.com Arena)
Nov. 30: Los Angeles (Staples Center)
Dec. 4: Denver (Pepsi Center)
Dec. 6: Oklahoma City (Ford Center)
Dec. 8: Wichita, Kan. (Kansas Coliseum)
Dec. 11: Kansas City, Mo. (Sprint Center)
Dec. 13: Milwaukee (Bradley Center)
Dec. 16: Chicago (Allstate Arena)
Dec. 18: Detroit (Joe Louis Arena)
Dec. 20: Pittsburgh (Mellon Arena)
Dec. 22: New York (Madison Square Garden)
Jan. 3: Portland, Maine (Cumberland County Civic Center)
Jan. 5: Washington, D.C. (Verizon Center)
Jan. 8: Worcester, Mass. (DCU Center)
Jan. 10: Philadelphia (Wachovia Spectrum)
Jan. 14: Quebec City (Colisee Pepsi Arena)
Jan. 16: Montreal (Bell Centre)
Jan. 19: London, Ontario (John Labatt Centre)
Jan. 21: Toronto (Air Canada Centre)
Jan. 24: Cleveland (Quicken Loans Arena)
Mourners bid farewell to Pavarotti before funeral
MODENA, Italy (Reuters) - Thousands of mourners filed past the open coffin of Luciano Pavarotti in the cathedral of his Italian home town on Friday, in an emotional farewell to the singer whose death prompted tributes from around the world.
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano joined the crowds in Modena's ancient cathedral where fans were allowed a last look at one of the greatest tenors in opera's history.
"I wanted to personally represent the emotion and the gratitude of Italians ... towards someone who took with him everywhere the purest voice and the purest image of our country," he told reporters.
The imposing, bearded opera star, who died of cancer on Thursday at the age of 71, was dressed in a black tuxedo, hands folded on his stomach and holding a rosary and a white handkerchief -- a favorite prop during his recitals.
Mourners included his second wife, Nicoletta Mantovani, who had their four-year-old daughter Alice in her arms, and his first wife, Adua Veroni, with two of his three daughters from that marriage, all in their 40s.
As admirers waited patiently in the long queue winding across the square in front of the cathedral, Pavarotti's singing could be heard from a recording played by loudspeakers.
At a nearby music store, his music was selling out. "Since yesterday it has been crazy," said store manager Giovanni Ricci.
Condolences came from everywhere, with U.S. President George W. Bush and Russia's Vladimir Putin joining opera singers Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras in praising Pavarotti.
"He brought to the world everything that is good about this town: simplicity, honesty and happiness," said Luigi Febbrano, a 51-year-old court clerk standing in line.
BONO AND BOCELLI
"The world at your feet," read the headline in a local paper in Modena, where Pavarotti was born into a humble family -- his father a baker, his mother a cigar factory worker -- and which he never forgot despite his stardom.
His gilded voice and huge personality touched millions around the world, and he achieved superstardom at the celebrated "Three Tenors" concert with Domingo and Carreras in Rome during the 1990 soccer World Cup in Italy.
"Nessun Dorma" will be played ahead of Euro 2008 soccer matches by the Italian and English national teams on Saturday.
Pavarotti had surgery for cancer in New York in July 2006, then retreated to Modena where he had two weeks of treatment in hospital last month before going home for the last time.
He spent his final hours at home with family and friends by his side, said his manager Terri Robson.
Although his family wants a private funeral, celebrity friends and fans are expected from around the world.
U2 frontman Bono, one of several rock stars to have performed with Pavarotti, confirmed he would attend.
Former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan is also expected, city officials said.
Blind Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli will sing in the church service which is scheduled for 3 p.m. (9:00 a.m. EDT) on Saturday.
Bulgarian opera singer Raina Kabaivanska, who shared the stage with Pavarotti more than 20 years ago, will also sing.
Pavarotti's voice may also ring out at the funeral, local media reported, saying organizers were considering playing a recording of him singing the hymn "Panis Angelicus" ("bread of angels") with his father.
"People say his father sang better than he did, but he only sang at weddings," said Piero Ronchi, from whose pastry shop Pavarotti ordered cakes when he played cards with old friends.
The tenor will be laid to rest at the Montale Rangone cemetery near his villa outside of town, where his parents and his stillborn son Riccardo are buried.
The atmosphere was somber at the cathedral as mourners of all ages passed slowly by the coffin, some stopping to kneel in the pews to pray, others signing memorial books outside.
Beside the books was a framed black-and-white picture of a smiling Pavarotti to remind them of his bonhomie and legendary fondness for the good things in life.
"I hope St. Peter welcomes you with a chunk of parmesan and a bottle of Lambrusco, ice-cold as you like it," said Pavarotti's friend, Italian rock singer Zucchero.
TMZ.com makes jump from online to on-air
LOS ANGELES - Wander through TMZ.com at any given moment and it's easy to grasp what the Web site is gleefully pushing. There are stars smooching. Stars sunning. Stars looking hot, or not. And, always, there are stars misbehaving.
TMZ broke the news of Mel Gibson's DUI arrest and Michael Richards' comedy-club tirade. Looking for "new pics" about a car crash involving Hulk Hogan's son? Or of Lindsay Lohan in any number of interesting activities? They're here.
It all adds up to the most popular online entertainment site and, starting Monday, a television show. "TMZ," joining the crowded field of entertainment news magazines, will test the bounds of the TV audience's fascination with celebrity.
The new venture also is a groundbreaking bid to turn an online success into an even more lucrative TV commodity, a tantalizing possibility that has yet to be realized.
Harvey Levin, managing editor of TMZ.com and host and executive producer of the syndicated series, says he isn't thinking about being a crossover pioneer. He's just preoccupied with getting "TMZ" going.
"I am so charged right now. ... We've been running test shows for a month now and I just want to put the show on the air," said Levin, a lawyer who became a TV reporter, commentator and producer ("Celebrity Justice," "The People's Court").
"TMZ," which will be carried on Fox-owned stations as well as on a mix of other network outlets, is to air as a half-hour show on weekdays (mostly within the 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. window) and in an hourlong version on the weekend.
When TMZ.com launched in November 2005 as a joint venture of Telepictures Productions and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL, it was with the intent of eventually translating it to TV, said Hilary Estey McLoughlin, president of Telepictures.
TMZ.com's success was the prerequisite. According to comScore Media Metrix, it's the leading celebrity-news site, with 120 million-plus monthly page views and more than 9 million unique visitors.
(The name is based on the phrase "thirty mile zone," coined in the 1960s for a part of Los Angeles used for location shooting and subject to studio production rules.)
"TMZ" the show is "an important launch for us and a great way to tout that you can brand new projects other than on television and succeed," McLoughlin said. "Part of our strategy is to incubate all kinds of formats and talents and bring them to television."
Jim Paratore, the former Telepictures president who launched TMZ.com and who's producing the TV series with Levin, said they are "trying to do what others are, find the voice that crosses over" from online to on-air.
The program has a good shot at making it, said Bill Carroll, an expert in syndication for Katz Television.
"In a million years, I never would have believed that the national conversation would have been Paris, Britney and Lindsay," Carroll said. "No organization is better at covering that than TMZ. If they can take the tongue-in-cheek sensibility that the Web site has and translate it to broadcast, I'd be very surprised if it's not a success."
It's an interesting test case, said David Card, senior analyst at JupiterResearch.
Whether a show can be launched from a Web site "and then make money and get big audiences" has yet to be seen, Card said. But, he added, "I can't believe it won't happen."
Lew Leone, general manager of WNYW Fox 5 in New York, figures he has solid evidence that "TMZ" will prove a hit for his station.
"I get all the gossip magazines at work, and I get in trouble with my wife if I don't bring them home," Leone said. "It's all the same pictures, same people, but she doesn't tire of looking at them over and over. She's probably typical of viewers out there when it comes to celebrities."
He's also enthusiastic about what's packaged with "TMZ": visitors to WNYW's news Web site can find breaking stories from TMZ.com and promos for the show, which is being distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television.
"It will work for us, it will work for TMZ.com and it will work for the show. I think it's a very powerful way to launch a show and to reach an audience," Leone said.
The competition for "TMZ" includes "Entertainment Tonight," the elder statesman of the Hollywood news shows, along with "The Insider," "Access Hollywood" and, also from Telepictures, "Extra."
"Celebrity Expose," an hour-long weekly program profiling one star at a time, starting with Lohan, debuts Oct. 1 on MyNetworkTV.
Levin is unfazed by the list. In rapid-fire remarks, he asserts that "TMZ" is in a league of its own.
"It doesn't feel like the other shows ... We're not sucking up (to stars). We're not doing junkets. We're not doing red carpets," Levin said.
Humor will be part of the mix because TMZ.com has demonstrated that people enjoy seeing Hollywood covered with irreverence, he said. But he acknowledged that the online vibe — which can veer from snarky to off-color — and that of the show will differ.
"There are obviously things we can do on the Web site that we can't do on TV, and we're not trying to do that. So it's finding the right tone and the right personality," Levin said. "But I know what people want: They want different and they want humor."
Bring it on, said "TMZ's" rivals, including sibling Telepictures entry "Extra," returning for its 14th season Monday.
"The way I look at it, we're in the limo with the stars. They're chasing the limo," said Lisa Gregorisch-Dempsey, "Extra" senior executive producer (and Levin's former colleague on "Celebrity Justice"). "It's a completely different point of view."
Linda Bell Blue, executive producer for "Entertainment Tonight" and "The Insider," adopted an equally confident posture in an e-mailed comment.
"With 26 years under `ET's' belt, we have the best connections in the entertainment business and the best connection with our audience. We're excited that people's interest in celebrity journalism remains very high ...." Bell Blue said.
As yet another show joins the fray, however, consumer fatigue seems to be a possibility.
"I don't see any signs of it. The television marketplace has an insatiable appetite for celebrity news," said Greg Meidel, president of MyNetworkTV.
Offers Gregorisch-Dempsey of "Extra": "All this guilty pleasure stuff that people want to talk about ... they have to get it somewhere."
Hollywood's long awards season opens
TORONTO - With nearly six months until Hollywood's biggest party, everyone already is thinking about the Academy Awards. Not many will admit that the thought of winning an Oscar crosses their mind, though.
"Pass," Oscar winner Cate Blanchett said with a laugh, declining to discuss the awards prospects for "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," the follow-up to 1998's "Elizabeth" that earned the actress her first nomination.
Surely people who haven't won an Oscar must fret over their chances?
"No," said Brad Pitt, a nominee for "Twelve Monkeys" who delivers a potent performance as the legendary Old West outlaw in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. "And I don't read the tabloids, either."
Both Blanchett and Pitt's movies are playing the Toronto International Film Festival, which (with its Telluride and Venice counterparts) marks the unofficial start of awards season by showcasing prestige productions looking to catch some early Oscar buzz.
Whether any festival entries will maintain awards momentum through nominations day on Jan. 22 and the 80th Oscars ceremony on Feb. 24 remains to be seen. The idea for studios and publicists is simply to trot out the films, get the stars and filmmakers to mug for photographers at red-carpet premieres and hope the critics say nice things such as "Oscar-worthy performance" or "serious best-picture contender."
Other Toronto films that will get the once-over by awards watchers include "Michael Clayton," with Oscar winner George Clooney in a sober legal drama; director Sean Penn's "Into the Wild," the real-life tale of a fiercely independent young man (Emile Hirsch) who came to a tragic end in Alaska; "The Brave One," with two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster delivering a chilling performance as a woman who turns vigilante after a violent ordeal; "Sleuth," an update of the 1972 romp that earned Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine best-actor nominations, the new version starring two-time Oscar winner Caine in the Olivier role and Jude Law in Caine's part; and "In the Valley of Elah," a murder mystery set among returning Iraq war veterans that stars Oscar winners Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron and Susan Sarandon.
Actors brush aside Oscar questions, not wanting to appear covetous of that little golden statue. Clooney, a supporting-actor winner for "Syriana," said they all think about the Oscars, though.
"Every actor in the world would be lying if they denied that somehow in their head they had always wanted to win an Oscar," Clooney said. "The funny thing is, once you've won one, you actually have beaten your expectation of what you thought you'd achieve. I've got a statue sitting at home somewhere in a room. ...
"Now I just keep doing things I want to do and if they work out and people want to be nice at the end of the year, that's great. But any kind of pressure to chase something has long, long left me, which is nice."
Oscar candidates have emerged from films released early this year, notably best-actress winner Julie Christie, who delivers a powerhouse performance in "Away From Her," which arrives on DVD Tuesday. So far, no slam-dunks have materialized such as last year's top acting winners, Helen Mirren for "The Queen" and Forest Whitaker for "The Last King of Scotland."
At this point, many potential Oscar contenders remain under wraps, so it's impossible to assess likely front-runners. December releases on the awards radar include "Charlie Wilson's War," a foreign-policy drama starring Oscar recipients Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman from best-director winner Mike Nichols, and Tim Burton's musical "Sweeney Todd," with past nominees Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.
Other upcoming films with awards possibilities, at least on paper, include Robert Redford's war on terrorism saga "Lions for Lambs," with Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep; Ridley Scott's crime tale "American Gangster," starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe; Francis Ford Coppola's first film in 10 years, "Youth Without Youth," a thriller set just before World War II; the Gabriel Garcia Marquez adaptation "Love in the Time of Cholera," with Javier Bardem, Fernanda Montenegro and Catalina Sandino Moreno; and the drama "Things We Lost in the Fire," with Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro.
Bardem also gives a deliciously cold-blooded performance as an unstoppable killer on the trail of lost loot in the Coen brothers' Toronto entry "No Country for Old Men."
Because of the pedigree of the talent involved, many films land on awards lists sight-unseen, only to drop out of the picture once they premiere.
"Often, before anyone even sees a movie, people put it in that category, and then when they see it, they end up disappointed," said Foster, a best-actress winner for "The Accused" and "The Silence of the Lambs." "I keep it out of my mind."
"In the Valley of Elah" was written and directed by Paul Haggis, whose ensemble drama "Crash" premiered at the 2004 Toronto festival and went to win 2005's best-picture Oscar.
Haggis has become a fixture at the Oscars, earning a directing nomination for "Crash" and three-straight writing nominations, for "Million Dollar Baby," "Crash" and "Letters From Iwo Jima." A nomination for "In the Valley of Elah" would make it four in a row.
"Or not," Haggis said. "There's a lot of great films this year, and you just do the best you can and hope the film itself first of all isn't going to be embarrassing. I just want people to come to the film and be able to sit through it and think that they got their 10 dollars worth out of it. At this point, I can think no more than that."
"In the Valley of Elah" star Jones — a supporting-actor winner for "The Fugitive" who also stars in "No Country for Old Men" — said he dreads awards season because of the demands his handlers try to place on him.
"If I did everything that's requested of me in terms of public relations, I would not have a day off between now and the middle of November," Jones said. "If I did everything they're asking me to do, it would wreck my health and my marriage."