Over at Huffington Post (which really needs the traffic linkage), in a nice piece, Katy Hall gets into it with Blue Valentine writer-director Derek Cianfrance about some of the ins and outs of production on his film, and how he set up some of the tripwires (including telling Ryan Gosling to make a pass at Michelle Williams) to help his actors painfully construct a failing relationship. I link to this mainly because the non-nomination of Gosling for a Best Actor Oscar statuette — since he didn’t have the benefit of Julia Roberts hosting targeted screenings for his film — is inarguably the biggest travesty of the awards season, bigger even the cresting appeal of the mannered, solemn, well-bred The King’s Speech. I hope to get into this more in the coming days; we’ll see.
Also, over at FrumForum, Telly Davidson takes a look at 127 Hours, and questions what qualifies one for “hero” status.