Gold Derby nuggets: Sasha Stone on state of best actress Oscar race | Guy Lodge: No complaints about Venice lineup
• Longtime Oscarologist Sasha Stone has produced a list of 17 women who could vie for the best actress prizes in the awards derby. For Sasha, "the field is already half-filled with Annette Bening, Julianne Moore and Jennifer Lawrence. But out of Cannes, came three great performances. I saw two of them, Michelle Williams and Lesley Manville. I missed Naomi Watts in 'Fair Game,' but word has it she won’t BE IGNORED, Dan. And then Tilda Swinton received her usual acclaim for 'I Am Love,' which puts her in the running." Beyond this, Sasha says, "there are more to come this year. The question is, how well will these early names hold as the festival season kicks into high gear? What names will rise to the top of the pile? Will it be a newcomer? Or will a veteran finally get her due?" AWARDS DAILY
• Ray Richmond delivers an insightful report into the continuing controversy surrounding which producers are deemed eligible to contend for the best series Emmy Awards. As Ray writes, "the academy has aggressively cracked down on the producer lists submitted by nominated series contenders since about 2000, with the joint goals of weeding out the undeserving and capping the producing team’s size." The academy's awards exec John Leverence, "stresses that, over the past year, there has been a 'generalized embrace' from the Academy of the writer-producer’s role with regard to comedy and drama series in particular. The dialogue that’s been conducted between ATAS members and showrunners over the past numbers of years 'has finally resulted in white smoke coming up at the PGA and WGA and the Academy during the last year. And it points to the fact there’s an understanding of the general eligibility of writer-producers.'" DEADLINE
• Barack Obama chose ABC's long-running "The View" as the first daytime talker to receive a visit from a sitting president. Had he waited till this fall, he would have been faced with a quandary as "The Talk," another female-friendly gabfest, is set to debut on CBS. On Tuesday, the sextet of sassy ladies who will gather daily to dish met the TV press. Among those joining show creator Sara Gilbert on the panel is, "Julie Chen, who will remain a contributor to 'Early Show' and host of CBS' 'Big Brother,' and said the show will be a discussion of motherhood and more. All the hosts, including Sharon Osbourne and actresses Holly Robinson Peete and Marissa Jaret Winokur, are parents. 'This show should feel like you're watching six women talking about what everybody's talking about, whether it's Mel Gibson or the Arizona immigration law,' Chen said. 'But we don't have an edit button.' " AP
• While "The Talk" replaces the canceled soap "Another World," another daytime drama -- "All My Children" -- is still going strong thanks in no small part to Susan Lucci, who has starred on the show for four decades. Now comes the news that the reigning diva of daytime is finally penning her autobiography. The press release promises that "in addition to providing readers with an exciting and satisfying behind the scenes look at her career, Lucci will devote much of the book to her personal life off-camera. Lucci will reveal information on her devastating car accident, her miscarriage, and the joy that came with finally winning an Emmy in 1999 after eighteen previous nominations."
• For Guy Lodge, Wednesday's announcement of 22 films in competition in Venice "looks much as we expected -- we'd effectively been promised Sofia Coppola' s 'Somewhere' and Julian Schnabel's 'Miral' since they failed to show up at Cannes, while Tuesday’s Toronto announcement tipped us off to the presence of Francois Ozon's 'Potiche,' the Dustin Hoffman starrer 'Barney’s Version' and the Haruki Murakami adaptation 'Norwegian Wood.'" And as Guy notes, "the list is no less appetizing for its lack of real surprises. Topping my 'can’t wait' list is another film that had widely been expected to play the Lido: Kelly Reichardt’s 'Meek’s Cutoff,' a period western starring Michelle Williams and Paul Dano." IN CONTENTION
• The international version of the Emmy Awards sent out a glossy reminder to save the date of Nov. 22 for the 37th annual edition of these kudos. The ceremony at the New York Hilton is slated to include salutes to Brit bad boy Simon Cowell and Canuck comedy maestro Lorne Michaels, who have changed the face of U.S. television with "American Idol" and "Saturday Night Live," respectively. The weekend prior will see the unspooling of the international television festival highlighting many of the contenders.
• Amy Poehler has a busy few weeks ahead of her as she and hubby Will Arnett prepare for the arrival of a second child to join son Archie and both prepare to attend the Emmy Awards. She is contending for lead actress in a comedy series for "Parks and Recreation" while he is up for best guest actor in "30 Rock" which was created by their good pal -- and Amy's category rival -- Tina Fey. Amy dishes with Leslie Bruce about the nomination, her dream role and her plans to get post-baby red-carpet ready. HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
Photos, from top: Annette Bening and Julianne Moore in "The Kids Are All Right." Credit: Focus Features. Venice Film Festival logo. Credit: La Biennale.
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