We have a new contender

Like many things in the movie world, Oscar season is often filled with some surprises, whether it's in the build-up or in the actual award shows themselves. For a while, I thought that this year's Oscar hopefuls had been figured out. After all, Terrence Malick's "Tree of Life" is now officially a 2010 film, as is the Robert Duvall awards-vehicle "Get Low". But wouldn't you know, right when the preliminary dust had nearly settled, a new name is being thrown into the mix, and that name is: Jeff Bridges. The four-time Oscar nominee best known for his un-nominated performance as The Dude in "The Big Lebowski" (1998), is now being tossed around as a contender because his much-buzzed film "Crazy Heart" has received a 2009 release. But what makes Bridges particularly interesting to watch is his status as an Oscar veteran. Four nominations is nothing to sniff at, and if the performance is as good as the festival hype says it is, then we could see Mr. Bridges attending the Oscars as a nominee, and even a "he finally got one!" winner. Like anything else in awards season, time (and precursor awards) is the only answer. The film opens in limited release on December 16th. The premise certainly sounds like solid Oscar bait; have a look...

Source: Incontention.com
By Kris Tapley
Fox Searchlight Pictures has settled on a December 16, 2009 release date for Scott Cooper’s “Crazy Heart,” which I wrote up yesterday. Here’s the synopsis from the studio. Nothing you don’t know, but at least it’s “official” verbiage:

Four-time Academy Award® nominee JEFF BRIDGES stars as the richly comic, semi-tragic romantic anti-hero Bad Blake in the debut feature film CRAZY HEART from writer-director Scott Cooper. Bad Blake is a broken-down, hard-living country music singer who’s had way too many marriages, far too many years on the road and one too many drinks way too many times. And yet, Bad can’t help but reach for salvation with the help of Jean (MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL), a journalist who discovers the real man behind the musician. As he struggles down the road of redemption, Bad learns the hard way just how tough life can be on one man’s crazy heart.