Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, "The Artist."

His wit is obviously still as sharp as the blades he wielded in the unlikely role of a scary mob boss in “Drive,” not dulled by this devastating disappointment.

But Brooks was not the only one unjustly snubbed in the 84th Oscar race. What of Tilda Swinton’s implosive portrait of a mother burdened with a profoundly bad boy in “We Need to Talk About Kevin”? Or Michael Shannon’s heart-shredding turn as a man imagining the approach of an apocalyptic storm that’s going to destroy everything he loves in the little-seen drama “Take Shelter”?

We might also question the exclusion of Shailene Woodley’s wise-beyond-her-years teen daughter in “The Descendants” and Michael Fassbender’s tortured sex addict in “Shame.”

We could go on, but there are some worthy contenders this year, so here’s how I’m calling the winners of Sunday night’s Hollywood showdown.

BEST PICTURE

George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, "The Descendants."

“Drive” should be parked at the top of this category, but Nicolas Winding Refn’s noirish crime-thriller-with-a-soul was apparently dismissed by Academy voters as just another ultraviolent, car-crashing guy movie. Most members were feeling sentimental this year, so the nominated nine include the maudlin “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” the epic family fare of “War Horse,” and two sweet love letters to the movies themselves, “The Artist” and “Hugo,” which were bound to get love in return (10 noms for the former, 11 for the latter).

There are deserving films of emotional and topical weight, such as “The Help,” about black housemaids and the white women who employed them in the early ’60s South, and “The Descendants,” a comedy-drama about a Hawaiian land owner coping with family crisis. But the heartstring-plucking “The Artist” has the added novelty of being silent and in black-and-white, which seems to be capturing the affections of the Oscar gods.

Should win: “The Descendants.”

Will win: “The Artist.”

BEST ACTOR

¿Quien es Mas Macho? George Clooney o Brad Pitt? It might not make much difference, because while the two “Ocean’s 11” buddies are duking it out for the Best Actor trophy, Jean Dujardin just might silently steal away with the prize for the ability he displayed in “The Artist” to speak volumes with his soulful eyes and eloquent gestures, without uttering a sound. Gary Oldman’s perfectly-pitched stillness as a cunning but desperately lonely spymaster was gold-worthy in “Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy,” and Pitt hit a homer in the sports drama “Moneyball.” But Clooney has never locked into the humanity of a character with more depth and sensitivity than he displayed as a Hawaiian landowner with serious family issues in “The Descendants.”

Should and will win: George Clooney.

BEST ACTRESS

Glenn Close just wasn’t believable as a man in “Albert Nobbs,” but Rooney Mara was supremely convincing as a female street tough in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” Meryl Streep

Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, "The Help."

 delivered a dead-on feature-length impression of Margaret “The Iron Lady” Thatcher and Michelle Williams did much the same portraying Marilyn Monroe in “My Week with Marilyn.” But “The Help” glowed with the gravity and grace of Viola Davis’ African-American housemaid suffering the humiliations inflicted by white Mississippi housewives in the early 1960s. She won a lot of hearts, including those of many Academy voters, no doubt.

Should and will win: Viola Davis.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Even more amazing than funnyman Albert Brooks’ against-type turn as a murderous menace in “Drive” is the fact that he’s not among these nominees. That’s a criminal oversight. The five contenders who did make the cut certainly gave noteworthy performances, particularly Kenneth Branagh playing his personal idol Laurence Olivier in “My Week with Marilyn,” and Jonah Hill as the nerdy baseball recruiting consultant in “Moneyball.” Nick Nolte always looks good playing his rough-edged, weather-

Christopher Plummer, "Beginners."

beaten self and Max von Sydow was yet another silent wonder as a mute in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” but with Brooks unjustly absent from the picture, Christopher Plummer is the outstanding competitor here, having already won several honors for his widower who comes out of the closet at age 75 in “Beginners.”

Should and will win: Christopher Plummer.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Academy voters gave a rare nod of respect to a comedic performance for Melissa McCarthy’s fat-joke-sensitive member of the wedding in “Bridesmaids,” Berenice Bejo managed to say it all with her bright eyes and dazzling smile in the silence of “The Artist” and Janet McTeer was the single saving grace of “Albert Nobbs.” Even more remarkable was seeing Jessica Chastain prove her versatility yet again in “The Help,” her fifth movie in a banner year that included memorable turns in “Take Shelter,” “The Debt,” “The Tree of Life” and “Coriolanus.” But Octavia Spencer has already proven to be an awards magnet for her angry African-American maid with a wicked sense of vengeance in “The Help,” and she’s about to add another trophy to her mantle.

Should win: Jessica Chastain.

Will win: Octavia Spencer.

BEST DIRECTOR

I’m going to go with the way things ought to be. The director of the year’s Best Picture should win for helming that picture. Of course it often doesn’t happen that way, which is one of

Michel Hazanavicius

the great mysteries about how the minds of Academy members work. But the new kid on the block, Michel Hazanavicius, has already taken top honors at the Directors Guild Awards, which bodes pretty well for a directing Oscar win for “The Artist,” his black-and-white valentine to America’s silent era, although “Hugo,” Martin Scorsese’s fanciful, family-oriented 3-D billet-doux to early French cinema, has the veteran craftsman running a very close second.

Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” was an imaginative but lightweight adult fairy tale, Terrence Malick’s “Tree of Life” was an artful meditation on existence and mortality that meandered between powerful and plodding. In “The Descendants,” Alexander Payne brought out the best in George Clooney while painting a painfully funny and moving portrait of a shattered family slowly beginning to pull itself together again. But Hazanavicius has it.

Should win: Alexander Payne.

Will win: Michel Hazanavicius.

Quick guesses in other categories:

Best original screenplay

Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris.”

Best adapted screenplay

Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Payne, “The Descendants.”

Best animated feature

“Rango”

Best documentary feature

“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory.”

Sometime during every Academy Awards telecast, there comes a break from the incessant glamour and self-congratulations for a solemn moment of reflection.

Elizabeth Taylor

That’s when they air that most morbid yet compelling video montage that punctuates each year’s Oscar telecast and pays homage to Academy members who have died in the past year. This year, Academy notables who have gone on to the Big Craft Services Table in the Sky number 88 (there’s an official list on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences website).

Many of those listed are members of the organization’s more obscure, behind-the-scenes branches – executives, film editors, art directors, musicians, public relations folks and writers. In others words, people most viewers won’t recognize.

But there are always those famous, on-camera figures (actors!) that flash onto the montage screen and elicit an uncomfortable smattering of applause (a final curtain call, if you will) before the film moves on.

Steve Jobs

This year, recognizable screen figures who have left us include: glam screen divas Elizabeth Taylor and Jane Russell, leading men Cliff Robertson, James Farentino and Ben Gazzara, former child star Jackie Cooper, the great Peter Falk, versatile actress Dana Wynter and wonderful character actors Farley Granger, Harry Morgan and Kenneth Mars.

A few non-actors who might stir some recognition are: Steve Jobs (the Apple genius was a force behind Pixar Animation Studios), director Sidney Lumet (“12 Angry Men,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Network”) and influential costume designer Theadora Van Runkle (“Bonnie and Clyde,” “The Godfather, Part II”).

And, although she may not have been a member of the Academy, who could ignore the media-blitzed passing of musical diva and occasional actress Whitney Houston (“The Bodyguard,” “Waiting to Exhale”)?

Tune in to the telecast of the 84th Academy Awards on Feb. 26 to bid farewell to these and other less famous Oscar insiders. R.I.P.

- Dennis King

NEW YORK – Through October, the Paley Center for the Media will host PaleyDocFest 2011, an annual series of short documentaries and public programs devoted to the art of documentary filmmaking.

The center, located at 25 West 52nd St., was formerly the Museum of Television & Radio and is dedicated to the discussion of the cultural, creative and social significance of television, radio and emerging platforms for the media-interested public.

PaleyDocFest 2011 will feature premieres, works-in-progress, classic docs, workshops, and special events. Screenings will be introduced by the filmmaker and followed by the lively Q&A sessions that have become a hallmark of the festival.

The year’s program slate includes:

Thursday (Oct. 6) – “Rin Tin Tin: The Life and Legend” – Celebrated New Yorker writer Susan Orlean’s latest book is a documentary-like study of animal superhero Rin Tin Tin. New York Times columnist David Carr will interview Orlean about the myth versus the reality of the iconic TV and movie dog and discuss and upcoming documentary film to be based on her book.

Oct. 11 – “Wham! Bam! Islam! – An engaging documentary portrait of Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa—Kuwaiti psychologist, graduate of Columbia Business School, and father of five young boys—whose dream was to create a comic book with roots in Islam and its culture.

Oct. 12 – “Connected: An Autobiography About Love, Death and Technology” – A stream-of-consciousness documentary that charts the interdependence of nature, art, and consciousness throughout history.

Oct. 14 – “Miss Representation” – With ringing testimony and damning statistics, filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom interrogates the skewed image of women in media, from reality television to corporate and presidential politics.

Oct. 17 – “Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey” – This heartwarming documentary charts the story of Kevin Clash’s passion for puppetry, which found full creative expression as the performer of the furry red “Sesame Street” character Elmo.

Oct. 19 – “Granito: How to Nail a Dictator” – This film dramatically illustrates how a documentary can impact history, thus becoming a true agent for social justice. Filmmaker Pamela Yates digs into the outtakes of her seminal 1982 film “When the Mountains Tremble” and produces tangible evidence that the Guatemalan government committed genocide against its indigenous Mayan populace.

Oct. 20 – Docu-Jam 2011 – The eleventh annual Docu-Jam is a youth documentary showcase in which selected films are screened and will become part of the Paley Center’s permanent collection.

Oct. 20 – “The Doc Filmmaker Taking on Power” – The independent documentary filmmaker often confronts powerful interests—including corporate and governmental—that make production difficult and troublesome. This event brings together filmmakers who have been challenged by corporations and lived to make a film. They will discuss how they defended themselves, detailing the financial and legal ramifications.

Oct. 24 – “Mister Rogers and Me” – Benjamin Wagner was a rising MTV producer when his life was transformed by a meeting with the recently retired host of the iconic “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” Fred Rogers. This charming and philosophical documentary chronicles Wagner’s quest to understand Rogers’s mantra: “deep and simple is far more essential than shallow and complex.”

Oct. 25 – “The Education of Dee Dee Ricks” – This penetrating HBO documentary illuminates the transformation of a successful businesswoman into an activist who seeks to make life easier for uninsured cancer patients.

Oct. 26 – “California State of Mind: The Legacy of Pat Brown – California has always had a special place in the American imagination, and this film examines one of the state’s progressive architects, Governor Pat Brown, called the “Godfather of modern California” and a man who exemplified what a government can do, successfully dealing with such issues as employment, education and transportation in the tempestuous 1960s.

Oct. 29 – “The Art of the Documentary Pitch Workshop” – In this workshop-competition, five preselected emerging nonfiction filmmakers will pitch their ideas to a panel of distinguished documentary producers.

More information of PaleyDocFest 2011 and its programs is available at the center’s website, www.paleycenter.org.

- Dennis King

BY GENE TRIPLETT

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Peter and Bobby Farrelly say they’re close enough to a final line-up of cast members for their Three Stooges biopic to poke ‘em in the eyeballs.
At least that’s what the writing, producing and directing team of brothers  were hinting at during a press conference in February, while promoting their lastest comedy, “Hall Pass,” starring Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis.
“Yeah, we’ve been working on (the Stooges project) for about 10 years, maybe longer,” Bobby Farrelly told reporters who were gathered at the Four

Bobby and Peter Farrelly

 Seasons Hotel on Grammy Awards weekend.
“We finally have just gotten it into preproduction, so we are gonna shoot it a little later this spring.”
The on-again, off-again casting rumors have included such names as Jim Carrey as Curly Howard, Benicio Del Toro as Moe Howard and Sean Penn as Larry Fine.
Then it was reported that Carrey and Penn had dropped out. Paul Giamatti was mentioned as a second choice to play Larry, and Farrelly regular Richard Jenkins reportedly has signed on in some capacity. To play Shemp, perhaps?
The Farrellys have long credited the mid-20th century Vaudeville and film comedy trio as major influences on their careers, which have produced such outrageous comedies as “There’s Something About Mary,” “Dumb and Dumber” and “Me, Myself & Irene.”
“No question they were a big influence on us,” Bobby Farrelly said. “We grew up watching ‘em. We’d come home from school and watch them on TV and laugh. These were guys from the 1930s and ’40s. I don’t know, we just felt like that type of slapstick humor that they did was very timeless and fun and we want to try to recreate it.”
However, the brothers still weren’t ready to name any names yet.
“Right now we are diligently casting it, trying to find out who the right guys are,” Bobby Farrelly said. “It’s not an easy job because you know even the great actors might struggle with those particular roles. So we’re looking at everyone and probably will have it cast in about a month or so. We are gonna make it and we’re very excited about it.”
Chances are it could be Stooge-pendous. N’yuk, n’yuk, n’yuk.

Listed on wimgo Movies under Comedy

BY GENE TRIPLETT

The entertainment trade magazine Variety was reporting on Thursday

Barry Levinson

that a feature film about the Oklahoma City bombing is in the works with Barry Levinson set to direct.

Levinson’s body of work includes other fact-based films such as “Good Morning, Vietnam,” “Bugsy” and the recent HBO movie “You Don’t Know Jack,” based on the story of Jack Kevorkian.

“O.K.C.” is the tentative title of the screenplay by first-time scriptwriter Clay Wold, the magazine reported.

The story is told from the point of view of Wold’s brother, who was a young law clerk on the defense team for Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

Peter Safran of Safran Co. in Hollywood is producing and financing the independent production, Variety reported. Safran’s most recent production is the crime comedy “Flypaper,” starring Ashley Judd and Patrick Dempsey.

Levinson is represented by International Creative Management, while United Talent Agency and Kaplan/Perrone represent Wold. Phone calls to those agencies and to Levinson’s Beverly Hills office from The Oklahoman were not returned Thursday.

McVeigh was convicted and sentenced to death in the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building which claimed 168 lives. He was executed in 2001.

BY GENE TRIPLETT
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Johnny Depp had just been joking with reporters that his kids were much bigger fans of Justin Bieber than their own father’s movies, when the Grammy-nominated pop phenom himself made a disrupting surprise appearance.
The scene was a press conference at the posh Four Seasons Hotel on Saturday afternoon, where Depp, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin and director Gore Verbinski were promoting their new animated film “Rango,” in which Depp supplies the voice of a gun-toting chameleon.
A reporter had asked the actor how his kids felt about their dad playing a lizard.
Depp, 47,  replied that his daughter and son, aged 11 and 9 respectively, “are far more interested in ‘Family Guy’ and Justin Bieber.”
“Are you a ‘belieber’?” the reporter asked.
“A ‘belieber’? I’ve actually never heard that one before,” Depp said, triggering a round of laughter from journalists. “That is my favorite. And you know what, yes. I am a ‘belieber’. I am. And I shall remain so.”
Questions continued on other topics until, minutes later, Depp’s gaze was drawn to the doorway of the crowded conference room. The actor broke into a big smile and said, “Hey, man!”
In strolled Bieber, causing a big stir as he waved at journalists and moved quickly to the head table to shake hands with Depp, Fisher, Breslin and Verbinski.
“You know I’m a big fan of you, so I had to come support you,” the 16-year-old singing star told Depp.
“Bless you, man, bless you,” Depp said.
“Awesome,” Bieber said. “I had to come say hi. I heard you were in the building.”
“Aren’t we all ‘beliebers’?” Depp asked, as Bieber quickly made his exit in a shower of applause.
A puzzled-looking Verbinski, 46, leaned over and asked Depp about their unexpected guest.
“That was the Beatles,” Depp explained.
The laughter from the press corps was uproarious.
Bieber was nominated for two Grammys this year — Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album — and was set to perform Sunday night with mentor Usher at the Grammy Award ceremonies in Los Angeles.

Karaoke is a godsend for every frustrated pop singer who has ever crooned a favorite tune into a bar of soap in the shower. But what many people might not know is that there’s also a karaoke spinoff for the frustrated movie star in each of us.

It’s called Movieoke and it originated in 2003 in a defunct little basement bar/screening room in New York’s East Village called the Den of Cin. There, its film-fanatic founder Anastasia Fite devised an ingenious DVD projection system that allowed movie-star wannabes – amply fueled by a brew or two – to get up in front of a screen showing their favorite film scenes and trot out their best/worst acting chops.

While the Den of Cin has since closed and Movieoke has had its hot and cold spells, it’s still around in various New York venues and has even spread to American cities as diverse as Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Minneapolis.

Billed as “karaoke for movie lovers,” its format is simplicity itself. A movie is projected onto a screen behind a would-be actor or ensemble of actors and onto an alternate monitor which provides subtitles and action cues. The “actors” simply mimic the dialogue and action on screen or improvise their own.

The possibilities are limitless. Among favorite scenes that Fite cites from her days at the Den of Cin are the “No dad, what about you!” dialogue from “The Breakfast Club,” the battle of wits scene from “The Princess Bride” and the runway walk-off scene from “Zoolander.” There’s also the “You can’t handle the truth” dialogue from “A Few Good Men” and the classic Meg Ryan-Billy Crystal exchanges from “When Harry Met Sally.”

More classic favorites include the “You lookin’ at me?” sequence from “Taxi Driver,” the “Maniac” dance scene from “Flashdance” and virtually anything from “Casablanca.”

“I had one girl who did interpretive dance to the opening scene of (plot-free 1983 documentary) ‘Koyaanisqatsi,’ kind of just insane,” Fite said in an internet posting.

While Movieoke is still a relatively new phenomenon on the pop-culture landscape, there has been some contention over ownership of the concept, with copycats cropping up here and there. However, Fite, a Cornell graduate and aspiring filmmaker, says she has a copyright on the name “Movieoke” and ample evidence that she’s been staging events well before anyone else.

The roots of Movieoke can probably be traced back to various, campy recite-the-dialogue events relating to 1975’s “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” The 1993 film “Arizona Dream” also features one scene in which Vincent Gallo’s character performs a verbatim recreation of the crop dusting scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s “North By Northwest” as the film is projected behind him.

The provenance and ownership of the concept is further muddied by various technological advances in home entertainment systems – most notably the 2006 MoXie Player, the 2008 Xbox 360 game “You’re in the Movies” and other, even newer systems.

However the movie mimicry movement plays out, Fite neatly sums up the allure in a web posting, “It’s partly homage, it’s partly poking fun. It’s just really funny.”

- Dennis King

NEW YORK – After closing in 2008 for a $67 million renovation and expansion, The Museum of the Moving Image will reopen its doors Saturday to a new three-story addition, a floating, 267-seat theater and expanded, high-tech galleries devoted to exploring the entire history and art of the movies.

The museum, founded in 1981 and located in Astoria, Queens, will have a rededication ceremony on Thursday before reopening to the public on Friday. Events planned for opening day include ongoing live music and video presentations, along with the unveiling of several hands-on exhibits (including one that allows visitors to add their voices to classic scenes in films such as “The Wizard of Oz”).

The upgrade doubles the size of the museum’s existing structure, which houses the U.S.’s largest and most comprehensive collection of artifacts relating to the art, history and technology of motion pictures. Its more than 130,000 artifacts include technical apparatus, still photos, licensed merchandise, design materials, costumes, fan magazines, publicity materials and historical movie theater furnishings.

The collection is open to scholars and film professionals for research purposes, curators say, and to the general public and anyone with an interest in film culture and history.

Its core exhibit, Behind the Screen, will include some 1,600 rotating items from the museum’s store of archives, 15 interactive displays and commissioned artworks. One component will present a comprehensive examination of how TV shows and films are created, produced, marketed and exhibited.

In addition to expanding the exhibition space, the renovation adds a courtyard garden, an education center, on-site collection storage, a café and museum store. The comprehensive expansion – featuring designs by architect Thomas Lesser – grows the institution’s total space from 50,000 to 97,700 square feet.

Over the coming year, the museum will present several video-art installations. Highlights will be Martha Colburn’s “Dolls vs. Dictators,” a mash-up of puppetry, collage and paint-on-glass techniques, and Chiro Aoshima’s “City Glow,” which incorporates elements of Japanese scroll paintings, manga and anime.

A wildly varied slate of inaugural screenings at the facility will include some 20 newly restored, rediscovered films, an avant-garde series, a showing of 1928’s “L’Argent,” a silent cinema festival and retrospectives of French director Alain Renais, Italian maestro Vittorio De Sica, documentarian D.A. Pennebaker and American maverick Arthur Penn.

In the museum’s main auditorium, a new 68-seat screening room and a video-screening amphitheater, curators will have the capacity to project films in super 8, 16mm and 35 mm and through digital projection.

“A movie can be an artistic experience of the highest order, a life-changing experience, but only in the right format,” said curator David Schwartz. “The Moving Image is about to become one of the finest venues in the world for viewing films.”

- Dennis King

Juliette Lewis

BY GENE TRIPLETT

Juliette Lewis has come by her Hollywood rock ‘n’ roll wild child image honestly, picking film roles and playing music that are dangerous and different.

Since stunning movie audiences when she was barely 18 as Danielle Bowden in Martin Scorsese’s 1991 remake of “Cape Fear” (earning  a supporting Oscar nomination), the Los Angeles native has tackled some of the edgiest characters out there, including a serial slayer in Oliver Stone’s “Natural Born Killers,” a psycho-killer’s girlfriend in Dominic Sena’s “Kalifornia,” a corrupt cop’s mistress in Peter Medak’s cult favorite “Romeo is Bleeding,” a worldly-wise young drifter in Lasse Hallstrom’s “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,” a mentally challenged woman in Garry Marshall’s “The Other Sister,” and a nine-months-pregnant kidnap victim in Christopher McQuarrie’s “The Way of the Gun.”

In 2003, Lewis took a break from acting to satisfy her musical urges, which were just as exotic as her dramatic appetites, forming a band called Juliette and the Licks, shaking up a punk-pop concoction that was equal parts Iggy Pop, P.J. Harvey and ’90s alt-rock, and filling two full-length albums with it (“You’re Speaking My Language,” “Four On the Floor”) in 2005-06.

In 2009, she went solo, expanding the colors of her musical palette — with a touch here and there of the blues — on “Terra Incognita,” before turning back to acting in earnest.

And earnest she is in Tony Goldwyn’s “Conviction,” the true story of working-class Massachusetts woman Betty Anne Waters (Hilary Swank) who put herself through law school and spent 18 years proving her imprisoned brother Kenny (Sam Rockwell) innocent of murder.

Lewis is already drawing critical raves for her brief but indelible performance as an unprincipled, low-living woman whose testimony puts Kenny in jail.

She kicked off our recent phone interview by complimenting my “nice accent,” of all things, making me self-conscious about my Okie drawl. So, I asked about our mutual Oklahoma City acquaintance, Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips.

A: Well, you know, I met him a couple of times at his shows so I don’t know him past that, other than I’m a big fan of his, and he seems like a real good guy.

Q: The reason I asked is because you actually appear in the Flaming Lips documentary “The Fearless Freaks.”

A: I know, I remember that show. Me and my sister went there, and we had our own animal suits that we rented. We didn’t know that they gave you suits, so we came with our own. And I got to be an animal onstage.

Q: What kind of animal were you?

A: I think I was a mouse.

Q: When was that?

A: Oh, that was like six years ago. It was before I was touring with my own band.

Q: Bet that was fun. Well, let’s talk about “Conviction.” You were fantastic in this film. With the little time that you were in it, you made more of an impression on me than anyone else in the cast.

A: Oh wow, I appreciate that. Yeah it’s been really wild because I didn’t make movies for about five years because I was just making records and touring, and that became my main bread and butter. So I turned stuff down because I just wanted to give everything to my music. So it was only last year I started doing films again. So it’s been really exciting for me to just play all kinds of different roles.

No matter how big or small the part is … this is a perfect movie that gave me the opportunity to do something I’d never done in film before, which was to completely transform. I didn’t want you to see me anywhere, any of my mannerisms. And also I never played a part where in one scene I had to go through so many transitions or emotions, you know, like between feeling guilty and grief-stricken to vengeful and then being totally disconnected. And then at the end being manipulative.

So yeah, it was a really wild thing to be a part of.

Q: Did you pursue this role, or did they come to you with it?

A: Oh no, Tony (Goldwyn) just offered it to me, Tony the director. And I just make a decision based on “does this give me something new to do in film?” And I felt it did, but I’m also slowly finding my way back into movies again, and I feel like this is a new chapter in my career, or it’s the beginning of one, you know, in my 30s now. This is the most dramatic thing I’ve done in the last 10 years. I was out on “The Switch” earlier this year, which is a comedy, and I’ll be in “Due Date” which is another comedy in November.

Q: What kind of preparation or research process did you go through for this role in “Conviction”?

A: This movie was really interesting because there was a world of research. Because it’s a true story and this person is a real person. I never met her, but I had all the ingredients there, that she lied and she kept lying, and I knew she was an alcoholic. I studied with a dialect coach, a woman named Liz Himelstein, to get her accent together.

But with that said, every personality is different. And a lot of the essence of the part is something that I have to sort of channel and come up with.

So I added the ingredients like the facts of the case. Like the scenes I’m in, that’s all verbatim things she said in interviews.

So even the way she messes up phrases, that’s her actual language. But the way in which she conveys her feelings, that was left for my interpretation.

Q: There was one word in there that was really off-kilter, that caught everybody’s attention.

A: “Railroad?” That was in the script. And I thought it was a typo. And I told the writer, “Don’t you wanna fix this?” And she went, “Oh no, that’s what she said.” And she said “stature of limitations” (instead of) statute of limitations.

That was really fun, and then of course makeup and hair, that was a huge part. ‘Cause I wanted you to see the amount of damage that she’d been through over 18 years. When you see, you know, when you can see a person and you can go, “Wow, where have they been?” And I wanted you to feel that.

Q: I know you said the script was verbatim, but how much did you bring to this character beyond that?

A: Well, all of the behavior and where she gets emotional, where she gets angry, all of that is the way I interpret the dialogue. And then, of course, when I’m getting up to fill my drink, or if I’m being distracted, all those things are my physical language.

But as far as lines, I added a couple of lines but that’s pretty much as written. It’s just sort of the life I gave it is something else. You can’t really write a person’s interpretation of it.

Q: You mentioned “Due Date,” which stars Robert Downey Jr. Could you tell me a little bit about that film?

A: That’s a real cameo, and it’s one scene. (Director/co-writer) Todd Phillips, he just calls me up and says, “Hey, I got a part for you,” and then I come down. He’s proven himself as one of the best comedic directors out there right now, and this movie with Downey, and first of all, Zach Galifianakis is one of my favorite comedians. Downey, I played with, of course, in “Natural Born Killers.” It was a fun day at the office for me with those two.

Q: So are you doing anything at all musically, or putting it on hold for a while?

A: Yes. I just toured the states and Canada in a van, no less. And we were on a monthlong tour and we didn’t play Oklahoma, but I was out with The Pretenders last year and Cat Power was pretty incredible.

And so now I’m on my downtime. It’s the gestation period. I’m going to be writing more, and I’ll probably make another record next year. But now I’m finding the balance, because I was pretty much just making music and touring for five years, and I really feel like I found a strong, good solid audience that is gonna take the ride with me when I do it again.

Q: The music you’re making with The New Romantiques, how does that differ from the music you were making with The Licks?

A: Well, they’re not called The New Romantiques. I flirted with that name for a minute, and then it was out on the Internet, and blah, blah, blah. But “Terra Incognita” is a proper solo album in that it was written with a good friend of mine. I wrote half of it on piano and then (Omar Rodriquez-) Lopez of Mars Volta produced it and he also played instruments on it, and then I put a band together after the fact.

So, the way I approached songwriting was completely different, and I focused a lot more on melody and space and dimension in the music and the songs. Big old guitar riffs and rock drums. Because with The Licks it was proper, straight-up-and-down guitar rock, and on this new record I have a blues song called “Hard Lovin Woman,” I have this really what I hope to be or aspired to be a kind of Bowie-esque, softer song called “Suicide Dive Bombers,” and then your banging rock ‘n’ roll track, “Terra Incognita.” And so it goes all over the place, and I feel like it’s a real personal record. It’s just me and my different musical tastes.

I’m about to release a new video that’ll come out next month. But I always tell people to go on MySpace and all that jazz to hear the music.

Q: Is the next record going to be more of what we’re hearing on “Terra Incognita”?

A: No, it’s funny because I feel like every new thing musically is a reaction to the last. So my next record, I’ve already been writing the songs. It’s all really rhythmic. I’m an explorer, adding more electronic sounds to the drumbeats, and then it’s really hooky choruses. It’s just totally different. It’ll be a really fun record where “Terra Incognita” was more sort of my weird record, for lack of a better description.

It’s not gonna be too long. That’s the thing. I got into this game way too late and I have so much to say and do, so I’m not gonna wait a year.

Q: I look forward to hearing it. Well, I’ve already taken up my time allotted so I’ll turn you loose.

A: “Turn Me Loose,” that’s a Loverboy song. “Turn Me Loose.” OK, I’ll see you later. Bye.

Listed on wimgo Movies under Biography

BY GENE TRIPLETT

Ben Affleck

Open casting calls for actors and extras will be held Saturday and Sunday at Bartlesville High School for a movie being developed for filming in Bartlesville, according to a press release issued this week by Norman-based Freihofer Casting.

“With the support of the Oklahoma Film and Music Office, Freihofer Casting is conducting additional open casting calls for actors and extras to be considered for speaking and non-speaking roles in an upcoming family-oriented Hollywood romantic drama to be filmed in Oklahoma,” casting director Chris Freihofer said in the release.

Film office director Jill Simpson would not confirm recent reports that a movie directed by former Bartlesville resident Terrence Malick and starring Ben Affleck, Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams would be filmed in Bartlesville. Local officials also have declined to comment on the

Terrence Malick

reports.

“Well, we’re scouting a number of films right now and there is a major film slotted for September in the Bartlesville area, and one for October in the Oklahoma City metro, and these are high-quality productions and there’s casting going on and they are coming in, but that’s about all I can say,” Simpson told The Oklahoman on Wednesday.

Rumors about the Bartlesville film project began to spread quickly after Affleck and his wife, actress Jennifer Garner, were spotted Aug. 10 in Broken Arrow’s Bass Pro Shop, buying fishing supplies. The couple signed autographs and posed for photographs for store employees and customers.

Malick, who grew up in Bartlesville, has directed such films as “Badlands,” “Days of Heaven” and the 1998 remake of “The Thin Red Line.”

The current project held its initial casting call last weekend in Tulsa. The Bartlesville casting call will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, and from 1-5 p.m. on Sunday at the high school, located at 1700 Hillcrest Drive in Bartlesville.

The call is open to people of all ethnicities, ages 5 and up, regardless of prior acting experience. For more information, call Freihofer Casting at 310-4391.