The Politics of Awards Campaigning & Why WTTRSaturday started the Fan Driven Oscar Campaign for "Welcome to the Rileys'.

Poster designed By: Kol Crosbie

By : Heather Willis


Merriam Webster defines campaign as:


Campaign (noun): a connected series of operations designed to bring about a particular result


Campaign (verb): to go on, engage in, or conduct a campaign


When we hear the word campaign, the first thing that comes to mind is the world of politics. The months preceding the recent November election we were inundated with hundreds of ads on the TV, online and in print.


As we watched those election campaigns unfold, the major candidates were spending millions or tens of millions of dollars to get our vote. What about the minor candidates? Someone who would do great in the political world, but aren't a member of a major political party. What about the candidate who has little or no money to spend? How do they get the recognition that they deserve?


Unfortunately, more often than not, these minor or little known candidates DON’T get the recognition they deserve.


This inequality is not only in the world of political campaigning but also in the world of Hollywood in the race for Golden Globe and Oscar nominations.


According to the MPAA 677 U.S. films were produced in 2009. Only 558 of those found their
ways into theaters.


Of the 10 movies nominated for Oscars in 2010, four of those: Up, The Blind Side, Inglorious Bastards and Avatar earned almost $800 million at the U.S. box office in 2009. Avatar went on to become the highest grossing film of all time with $760 million in the U.S. alone.


Movie studios don’t just sit by and let their films be “forgotten” by those in the awards industries.


Many studios continue to promote their films with their own campaigns on TV, in industry publications and often will even send DVDs of their movies to the voters. Even the Best Picture winner of 2010, The Hurt Locker, which was a low budget film in comparison to Avatar, ran its own campaign for the film, its actors and its director.


Does every film or studio have the resources to conduct a campaign for a movie that is deserving of recognition? The simple answer is no.


There are many films that do deserve recognition for their superb storytelling, directing and acting.


Since members of the voting community don’t go see every single movie that is released, only the films they have seen or have seen campaigns for are the ones that will likely be considered for awards.


Is this fair? No. Unfortunately, films that do have the backing of a major studio or have a studio willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars or even millions of dollars are usually the films that are recognized.


What if there is a movie that is better than any others you have seen and you feel the film, its actors or even it's director deserve to be honored for the hard work, dedication and passion that went into making it? What if as a fan you can unite with others who share your beliefs and run your own campaign?


For fans of Welcome to the Rileys, they have done just that by trying to raise $50,000 to place ads in industry magazines and online so voters will take that second look which fans believe this little Indie film truly deserves.


Just like in politics, campaign reform in the movie industry is unlikely but if fans can find a way to rally together when there is a movie out there that STANDS OUT, then fans can STAND UP so their voices will be heard and maybe more small films like 'Welcome to the Rileys' will get the distribution, promotion and acknowledgement deserved for true excellence.


For more information or to donate to the campaign for 'Welcome to the Rileys'  please visit : HERE


Or visit the Official 'Welcome to the Rileys' Fan Site : HERE

Hemingway & Gellhorn produced by James Gandolfini is due to be released next year.

It was an unusual trip for a married couple… particularly in the 1930s.


But the fascinating story about the trip to Spain by Ernest Heminway and Martha Gellhorn during the Spanish Civil War is about to be finally told.


A new film, starring British actor Clive Owen and Nicole Kidman, will recount the tempestuous romance between writer Hemingway and celebrated war correspondent Gellhorn.


Retelling the story of one of America’s most famous literary couples, it begins in 1936 when the pair first met in a bar in Florida.


He was already a famous writer and she was one of the greatest war correspondents of the 20th Century.


Their five-year marriage first saw them travel to Spain to record some of the most famous reports on the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939.


Gellhorn was the only woman ever to ask Hemingway for a divorce and she inspired him to write his most famous novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls.


The film, entitled, Hemingway & Gellhorn, will be produced by James Gandolfini and is due to be released next year.


Via : theolivepress Thanks!

“Conviction” with Melissa Leo available on Blu-ray February 2011.

FOX has officially announced plans to bring the 2010 Tony Goldwyn directed film “Convicted” (based on the real life story of Betty Anne Waters) starring Hilary Swank in the lead role, Sam Rockwell, Minnie Driver, Melissa Leo, Peter Gallagher, and Juliette Lewis to Blu-ray Disc on February 1st, 2011.


Tech specs for the release include full 1080p Hi-Def video and DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio sound. The title is not yet available for pre-order over at Amazon but stay tuned and we will keep you updated. The bonus materials set to be included on the release is a behind-the-scenes interview with the real Betty Anne Waters.


Via : highdefdiscnews Thanks!

Review : Well cast and nicely acted, the pleasures of “Welcome to the Rileys” are in the simplest human message of all.

3 out of 4 Stars


“Welcome to the Rileys” is a movie about life after death. Not the supernatural sort, but the life that those left behind choose to live after a loved one dies. Well cast and nicely acted, it’s another piece of the puzzle of what Kristen Stewart’s career might look like after “Twilight” turns dark.


James Gandolfiini stars as Doug Riley, a sad, portly owner of an Indianapolis plumbing supply house who spends as little time as possible with his agoraphobic wife. Lois (Melissa Leo) keeps a perfect home, is meticulous about her hair, her cooking and everything else. But years before, their teenage daughter died. She hasn’t left the house since.


So Doug has his poker games, an excuse to see his mistress at the pancake house. Without those outlets, he’d be sitting alone in the garage in the dark, smoking and grieving.


Another tragedy, and seeing the tombstone Lois bought for them to share with their daughter, sets him off.


“I don’t like having my name carved on a tombstone while I’m still alive.”


Lois says she was just being practical, but in her 50s with her little girl gone, she’s just waiting to die and figures Doug is, too.


But Doug’s sadness is interrupted by an out-of-town convention, and a chance stop in a New Orleans strip joint. Mallory (Stewart) is too skinny, too young and a little blitzed. Her lap dance sales pitch may leave Doug unmoved, but something in this scrawny teenager touches him. She is incurably coarse, living in filth in a house without power or running water. And she isn’t just a stripper. She’s turning tricks.


Actor turned screenwriter Ken Hixon (“Inventing the Abbots”) beautifully sets the table for what comes next. Doug’s interest in Mallory — not her real name — is paternal, not sexual. Here’s a teenager, living on her own, who needs help. And when you’ve got plumbing and wiring issues, there are worse things than having a plumbing supply guy take you on as a project.


Doug sees in her all the simple how-to-get-by life lessons he never got to pass along to his own daughter. Mallory can’t open her mouth without cursing. He’s not judgmental except in that regard. It makes her seem “cheap and immature and uneducated. And that may be the truth, but why advertise it?”


So Doug decides to stick around New Orleans and invest himself in her future. Not that he tells Lois that when he says he’s not coming home. And that sends Lois into a panic, one that might get her out of the house after nine years.


For all its sordid darkness, “Welcome to the Rileys” is a hopeful film. Stewart’s normal mannerisms — in film after film, she can’t stop playing with her hair — perfectly fit this lost, ungrateful and defiantly independent young woman. She’s a wreck, all dirt, bruises, sleepy eyes and chapped lips. Stewart and Gandolfini’s scenes have an edge, but her scenes with Leo have a moist-eyed warmth that give the film its heart.


Less successful is the effort to make Lois’s venture back into the great, wide world something comical. The levity is welcome, but the jokes — she’s forgotten how to drive — are thin.


There may be a metaphor about New Orleans itself in this story of ruin and loss and redemption. But the pleasures of “Welcome to the Rileys” are in the simplest human message of all. Take an interest in somebody who needs help and the life you save may be your own.


See for Yourself
“Welcome to the Rileys”


Cast: James Gandolfini, Kristen Stewart, Melissa Leo


Director: Jake Scott


Running time: 1 hour 50 minutes


Rating: R for strong sexual content, brief drug use and pervasive language involving a teenager


Via : orlandosentinel Thank-You!