Remember that green dress from "Atonement" that has been considered the greatest piece of film costuming ever, or something like that?  Anyway, if you want it, you can have it.  Focus Features has announced plans to auction the threads off to some lucky eccentric.

The press release, in part:

LOS ANGELES, January 31, 2008 – An iconic piece of movie history from one of this year’s Best Picture Oscar nominees will be auctioned off to benefit Variety – The Children’s Charity of Southern California, beginning later this week. The Clothes Off Our Back Foundation will host the online auction of the green evening dress worn by Keira Knightley in Focus Features’ Atonement, which is nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Costume Design. Focus CEO James Schamus made the announcement today.

The auction begins Friday, February 1st at the Foundation’s site www.clothesoffourback.org and ends Saturday, March 1st. Bidding will start at $1,000. The auction is for the green evening dress memorably worn during the crucial emotional and romantic sequences by Ms. Knightley as Cecilia Tallis, opposite James McAvoy as Robbie Turner, in director Joe Wright’s Atonement. Upon the film’s release, the dress quickly became one of the most influential cinematic costumes of recent years, being spotlighted on The Today Show and detailed on the covers of newspapers and magazines.

Mr. Schamus commented, “Atonement is an epic romance that has moved filmgoers, and garnered awards and acclaim, all over the world. As with our previous auction of the two shirts worn in Brokeback Mountain, we are proud to give someone a chance to own a cherished part of a beloved film and in the process benefit the Variety charity.”

If you need a refresher on the smokin' hot dress in question, here you go:


 
It makes you wonder.  With all the attention this dress is getting, Jacquelin Durran might be on her way to winning the Oscar after all.  I kind of thought "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" had it in the bag, and given the win for last year's "Marie Antointte," we know they don't care about "quality" in this category.  But with this Best Picture nominee in the mix, perhaps that's the way to go.

The dress is also being displayed at FIDM's annual film costume showcase, according to the LA Times.  You know, if you have to see it IMMEDIATELY and can't afford to jump into the bidding war.

The year-round Oscar game is a tough road to hoe, something I abandoned a few years back.  But it's always fun to stake a claim early in the year and see how first impressions do or don't pan out for Oscar glory.

I generally get into year-in-advance predictions over at my own digs the day after the Oscar ceremony, but I thought I'd make my first post of the new year here at Red Carpet District the net's first piece of 2008 Oscar speculation.

Of course, no one in their right mind thinks they can foresee how an Oscar season will turn out this far away from the dance.  "Sure things" turn into awards duds ("Alexander," "The Shipping News") and unseen contenders fly out of the blue as a matter of course ("Million Dollar Baby").  Likewise, campaigns can work wonders for a film otherwise considered a stretch for Oscar, while other times the Academy just does what it wants to do and no one can see it coming the day before nominations are announced.

It's not a science.  But it is fun.

That said, I wouldn't want to ruffle the feathers of those who think us lowly Oscar bloggers are raping and pillaging the filmmaking form by tossing around ideas such as this, so I'll leave it with a modest list of titles I'm personally keeping my eye on for next year's ceremony:

•  “The Argentine”/“Guerilla” (Focus Features)
•  “Australia” (20th Century Fox)
•  “Body of Lies” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
•  “Changeling” (Universal Pictures)
•  “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount Pictures)
•  “Defiance” (Paramount Vantage Pictures)
•  “Frost/Nixon” (Universal Pictures)
•  “The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency” (The Weinstein Company)
•  “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company)
•  “Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks SKG)

I'm being pretty reserved by keeping it to 10, and really it's 11 with Steven Soderbergh's Che double dip.  There are a number of titles bouncing around inside my head to say the least, but we'll see how this list changes as we get closer to the more detailed look ahead at that other site.  Regardless, here's hoping 2008 is as cinematically satisfying as 2007 was.

Happy New Year.  (And go Trojans!)

•  Gregg Kilday catches up with the notion that voters might cling to something up-beat in the midst of 2007's downer slate.  Ya think? [The Hollywood Reporter]

•  Anthony Breznican talks to Best Actor hopeful John Cusack about the failure of war films this year and his role in the upcoming "Grace is Gone." [USA Today]

•  David Halbfinger reports that "'The Kite Runner' boys are safely out of Kabul." [New York Times]

•  Who says the "Atonement" campaign is quiet?  Mark Salisbury talks to star James McAvoy. [Los Angeles Times]

•  So does Tom O'Neil. [Gold Derby]

•  Ramin Setoodeh, meanwhile, chats with Keira Knightly. [The Gold Digger]

•  And Sasha Stone counts herself a fan, says the tables are finally turned with a man being "the object of lust and desire."  Easy, now... [Awards Daily]

•  David Carr attends the New York premiere of "The Golden Compass." [The Carpetbagger]

•  David Poland reviews "Sweeney Todd" again. [Movie City News]

•  Nathaniel Rogers sits down with the great Max von Sydow, who's working it hard for "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." [The Film Experience]

•  New York Magazine points out dire box office potential found in Variety's recent revelations. [Vulture]

•  Peter Knegt smacks down a recent Hollywood Reporter story announcing the year of the independents. [indieWIRE]

•  Lou Lumenick rocks out a list of the year's 25 best.  Whatever happened to top TEN lists? [New York Post]

•  Scott Feinberg talks to "La Vie en Rose" star Marion Cotillard. [And the Winner Is...]