The Lovely Bones poster takes flight

(click for full size… & thanks to sister aloysius for the tip)

Is it because of the justified excitement about Up in the Air that many Oscarastrologers are discounting Paramount’s other big Best Picture contender, The Lovely Bones? Based what I’ve seen in the elegantly adapted screenplay, it remains one of my most anticipated films of the year. I’d strongly recommend not trying to second-guess Paramount’s handling of marketing and release dates for the movies they’re maneuvering for Jackson, Reitman and Scorsese.

It was only two years ago that Paramount Vantage finessed two simultaneous chess boards to successfully play a pair of BP end games — There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men. The Lovely Bones has been on my private list of Best Picture nominees for months and, if anything, the new inclusion of Up in the Air only proves that Paramount knows how to manage great movies.