As the 84th Academy Awards move closer, we’re starting to get a better sense of how things will pan out. We recently shared the 39 songs that will contend for the Best Original Song category, and now the Academy has announced the 97 original scores eligible for the Best Original Score award. AMPAS is notoriously picky when it comes to eligibility in this category, and as we feared the scores for both Drive and Attack the Block have been deemed ineligible. Also disappointing is the ineligibility of Alexandre Desplat’s mesmerizing score for The Tree of Life.

While it’s upsetting to see some of the year’s best work side-lined, there’s plenty to be happy about. I was a huge fan of Howard Shore’s work in Hugo and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s score for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, as well as The Chemical Brothers’ brilliant work in the criminally underseen Hanna. Hit the jump for the full list, as well as who I think will make the cut.

The theatrical trailer for Luc Besson’s biopic The Lady has been released. The film tells the story of Aung San Suu Kyi and her husband’s quest for democracy in Burma. Michelle Yeoh plays Suu Kyi, while David Thewlis plays her husband. The drama marks a change of pace for Besson, who’s generally known for more action-oriented fare like The Fifth Element. The trailer doesn’t look too bad, with Yeoh giving a pretty strong performance. Following our previous report that the film is being positioned for awards season, this trailer plays very much like a “For Your Consideration” reel.  Hit the jump to see the trailer for yourself. The Lady will open wide sometime next year.

The 2011 Toronto International Film Festival has come to a close.  We covered the hell out of it and we’ve got loads of interviews still to post.  Today, TIFF announced the winners in three award categories for Canadian films and the winners of the Cadillac People’s Choice Awards.  Nathan Morlando’s crime drama Edwin Boyd (pictured above) won Best Canadian First Feature Film, Philippe Falardeau’s Monsieur Lazhar picked up the award for Best Canadian Feature Film, and Ian Harnarine’ Doubles With Slight Pepper was awarded Best Canadian Short Film.  As for the Cadillac People’s Choice Awards, Nadine Labaki’s Where Do We Go Now? won the top prize, Jon Shenk’s The Island President won in the documentary category, and Gareth Evans’ The Raid picked up the award for The Cadillac People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award.

Hit the jump for the full press release along with a list of all the films that were sold to distributors.  Keep in mind that just because a film didn’t sell during the festival, that doesn’t mean it won’t be picked up for distribution in the near future.

Cohen Media Group has finalized a deal with EuraCorp to obtain the U.S. distribution rights to The Lady.  Cohen will release the Suu Kyi biopic before the end of the year to qualify for the Oscars, with a wider release planned for early 2012.  The move is sensible.  Stars Michelle Yeoh and David Thewlis are two respected actors, and The Lady checks at least two boxes on the Oscar bait qualifications: “biopic” and “important story.”  This excerpt from the official synopsis says it all:

“The Lady is the extraordinary story of Aung San Suu Kyi (Yeoh) and her husband, Michael Aris (Thewlis). It is also the story of the peaceful quest of the woman who is at the core of Burma’s democracy movement.”

Luc Besson directed The Lady, a departure from the action fare he is known for.  Hit the jump for quotes from Besson on his passion for the project.  A tease: “I actually hope the film will be pirated in Burma.”

A teaser trailer for Luc Besson’s The Lady has gone online and all it tells you is “This lady (played by Michelle Yeoh) is important to another country.”  Americans have a tough time caring about any country other than our own (unless they foreign country is hit by a natural disaster and then we care for about a week or so) so this movie needs more than a teaser to get people interested.  You’re not going to know from this teaser trailer that the movie is about Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi and her husband, Michael Aris (David Thewlis), and how the two of them forwarded the country’s democratic movement.  Since the film opens in less than a month, it might be a good idea for Europa to get a full trailer out ASAP.

Hit the jump to check out the teaser trailer.  The Lady will play at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.  It opens September 12th.

With the Toronto International Film Festival announcing which films are part of their Galas and Premieres at this year’s festival, we’re getting our first official looks at a number of high profile films.  With so many new images hitting the net at once, we’ve decided to break up the image articles.  So hit the jump if you’d like to see the first official images/new images from Luc Besson’s The Lady (starring Michelle Yeoh and David Thewlis), Lars von Trier’s Melancholia (starring Kirsten Dunst, Kiefer Sutherland, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Alexander Skarsgard), Bruce Beresford’s Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding (starring Jane Fonda, Chace Crawford, Elizabeth Olsen, Catherine Keener) and Sarah Polley’s Take this Waltz (starring Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Luke Kirby).  We’ve also provided the synopses.  The 2011 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 8th – 18th.  Expect coverage everyday from the Festival.

In my article yesterday about the Venice Film Festival, I made some predictions on which films would make their world premiere at this year’s Toronto Film Festival and not Venice.  It turns out a few of my guesses were only the tip of the iceberg.  Moneyball, 50/50, and The Descendants are all going to premiere at TIFF.  But my lord, does Toronto have an incredible line-up this year.  I’m praying my application gets approved because when you hit the jump and check out this line-up, you’ll understand my agony if I’m stuck in Atlanta while these films are premiering.

Hit the jump for the line-up of Galas and Premieres for this year’s festival.  The 2011 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 8th – 18th.

The Cannes Film Festival is only halfway finished but we’re already looking ahead to another major European film fest: Venice.  Early selections have been announced for the 68th Venice Film Festival and there are already some fantastic additions.  Roman Polanski’s Carnage and David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method will both be making their world premieres at the festival along with Steve McQueen’s Shame, Todd Solondz’ Dark Horse, Cameron Crowe’s Pearl Jam documentary PJ20, and more.  Variety also reports that films submitted but not yet approved for the festival include Madonna’s W.E., Walter Salles’ On the Road, and Luc Besson’s The Lady.  Then there’s the film that are being tipped to premiere at Venice: Tomas Alfredson’s adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Alexander Payne’s The Descendants, Steven Sodebergh’s Contagion and Haywire, and a toss-up between Steven Spielberg’s War Horse and The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.

So if you’re already seething with jealousy that you’re not attending Cannes this year, hold on to that jealousy because it looks like you’re going to need it when Venice rolls around.  The 68th Venice Film Festival runs from August 31st to September 10th.

Luc Besson’s biopic about Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi now has a new, official title. The Lady has replaced Into The Light and having read the synopsis, it actually makes more sense.

Starring Michelle Yeoh as Aung San Suu Kyi and David Thewlis as her late husband Michael Aris, The Lady details their love story as well as her political work. Find out more after the jump.

Director Luc Besson has nearly finished filming on the biopic The Lady (née Into the Light) — today brings the first stills from the production.  Michelle Yeoh portrays Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and pro-democracy icon; David Thewlis plays her academic husband, Dr. Michael Aris.  Suu Kyi led the opposition against the Burmese military junta that arrested her in 1989, and spent 15 years of the last 21 years under house arrest.  The film’s title is how the population referred to Suu Kyi (“The Lady”) once Burmese officials banned the utterance of her name.

Suu Kyi was finally freed this November, which gave Yeoh the chance to meet the woman she will play on screen.  Hit the jump to hear Yeoh’s thoughts on the encounter and see the images.