Matthew Eng makes the case for this year’s Best Actor race boasting several parallels with the Best Actress race of 2000, likening Matthew McConaughey’s Ron Woodroof to Julia Roberts’ Erin Brockovich: Roberts and McConaughey”s performances force us to rethink the performer him/herself and to firmly reconsider their reliable if occasionally misguided talents, right at the moment when everyone began to wonder if that was all there is … Much like McConaughey, Roberts” nomination initially seems like a longtime celebrity going through the standard biopic motions [but both are] stellar, indelible examples of two time-tested and admittedly type-cast stars giving peak performances by using the vitality of their respective star personas.” [The Film Experience]
Reigning Best Actor winner Daniel Day-Lewis is the second confirmed presenter for next month’s Oscar ceremony. [The Wrap]
Felix van Groeningen, currently vying for the foreign-language Oscar with “The Broken Circle Breakdown,” will make his next film with Matthias Schoenaerts. [Variety]
William D. Cohan on the distance between “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “quotidian life in the salt mines of high finance.” [New York Times]
“Gravity” composer and likely Oscar winner Steven Price will score Edgar Wright’s “Ant-Man.” [Empire]
Rodrigo Perez on why Harvey Weinstein may not be entirely wrong about trimming Bong Joon-ho’s “Snowpiercer” a bit. [The Playlist]
Alfonso Cuaron on “Gravity,” his career trajectory and the curiosity of creationism. [Daily Beast]
Steve McQueen met last week with the US Ambassador to the United Nations about the fight to end modern-day slavery. [Hollywood Reporter]
R. Kurt Osenlund on the improbable comeback of Kevin Costner. [Slant]