Thumbs Down

Almost as disappointing as Shutter Island's move to February is the news that Sony Pictures Classics has decided to hold out on us with Get Low.

Instead of a fall 2009 release, which would have easily put Robert Duvall in the race for Best Actor, the studio is planning a mid-2010 drop, which I guess saves them money in the short run, but ultimately seems like a bad move. Without the recent Toronto buzz, I'm afraid Duvall will get lost in the shuffle and not make it to awards season next year. I guess then they won't have to spend much on an awards campaign, though.

Boo on you, SPC.

Sony Pictures Classics Gets Get Low, Lebanon

Sony Pictures Classics picked up two big titles today, the first being Lebanon, the Israeli war film that just won the Golden Lion in Venice last week. The other is the Robert Duvall picture, Get Low, which picked up quite a bit of buzz for the actor in Toronto.

No release dates have been announced as of yet, but Sony Pictures Classics has a slew of buzzy titles on its slate this year. It picked up An Education out of Sundance earlier this year, and also has Palme d'Or winner The White Ribbon, the critically-acclaimed A Prophet, and Pedro Almodovar's latest, Broken Embraces.

This is a studio that's not afraid of a good campaign, especially on behalf of its actors. Last year it landed Melissa Leo and Anne Hathaway in the Best Actress race. Let's see if they can work some magic again this year.