In Contention

Tag: An Education

  • REVIEW: “One Day” (***)

    “I love you, Dexter, I just don’t like you anymore,” a radiantly moist-eyed Anne Hathaway tells a radiantly plastered Jim Sturgess at a crucial emotional juncture in “One Day,” Lone Scherfig’s attractive, involving and curiously unmoving attempt to replicate the cosy, literate-but-not-too-literary British comforts of her 2009 “An Education.”

    Cribbed by screenwriter David Nicholls from his own mega-selling novel — the kind of fast-digesting doorstop that’s been a ubiquitous presence on London public transport for the past two years — the line is one of those reductively heart-on-sleeve sentiments that Richard Curtis sharpened to a blunt point in his 1990s heyday; when Hathaway drops it, you can hear the film straining for its own place in the pop culture quote bank, somewhere between “Is it still raining? I hadn’t noticed” and “I’m just a girl standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her” in the swoon-cringe stakes.

    If the film surrounding that moment seems unlikely to carry it to such relative heights, that’s because it’s at once less appealing and more adventurous than the bulk of the calculated Working Title charmers on which it is modelled. For starters, it’s one of the more neurotically male-minded films ever to be marketed as a lavender-scented chick flick.

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  • Telegraph predicts “global hit” for ‘Dagenham’

    Two weeks ago, when I made my first Oscar predictions of the 2010 season, I went out on a bit of a limb for “Made in Dagenham,” the upcoming true-life Britcom that will have its world premiere at Toronto next month.

    I have yet to see the film, but the story material, the talent involved and the promisingly perky trailer (embedded after the jump) combined to suggest one of those undemanding, broadly appealing UK charmers that sneak up on the Academy every couple of years — and that, as “An Education” proved last year, face a gentler climb to a Best Picture nod in a field of ten.

    With the Academy’s sizable British voting bloc having often made their presence felt even in the days of five nominees — hello, “Atonement” — the odds do favor at least one British film making the cut in most years. Many see Mike Leigh’s “Another Year” as the prime candidate for that hypothetical slot this year, and it’s certainly a worthy one, but it remains a tough sell in many respects: a quiet, sometimes despairing essay on middle-aged loneliness unlikely to register beyond a rarefied arthouse audience.

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  • SUNDAY CENTS: A very important date

    Alice in Wonderland*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    May I introduce the film with the 14th biggest debut of all time, “Alice in Wonderland.” It’s also the biggest March debut, biggest 3D debut and third biggest non-sequel debut of all time. If your goal was to ensure that Tim Burton continues to lazily adapt his gothic style to beloved material over and over again, job well done America.

    Let’s just take a step back for a second. $116.3 million is the figure we’re looking at, which places it right between “X-Men: The Last Stand” and “The Matrix Reloaded.” Those are both huge sequels, released around Memorial Day and are expected to be in this kind of vicinity. No film has ever opened with $100 million outside of May, June, July or November before today but the combination of Burton, Johnny Depp and a bunch of characters made out of McDonalds happy meal toys proved too irresistible to ignore.

    Somehow Burton has built an entire career out of franchises, remakes and studio product aimed at merchandise as much as artistry, yet still maintained auteur credibility and worldwide acclaim. Congratulations to him for that, but a little more “Edward Scissorhands” and a little less “Alice in Wonderland” would be nice.

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  • OSCAR GUIDE: Best Picture

    Quenton Aaron in The Blind SideAnd here we are. With one day until the Oscar ceremony, we wrap up our Oscar Guide series with a look at the 10 nominations for Best Picture. Yes, 10. The Academy decided to pump up the intrigue by expanding its Best Picture field this year in an attempt at securing some love for more populist films with a wider audience, and it seems to have worked.

    But let’s face it. The most brilliant irony of the season would be, if after all of its attempts, the field expansion, spiffying up the telecast, etc., the Academy is one-upped by a film that virtually no one saw winning Best Picture. It could happen, but the highest grossing film of all time could also win. No shortage of drama here.

    The nominees are:

    “Avatar” (James Cameron and Jon Landau)
    “The Blind Side” (Gil Netter, Andrew A. Kosove and Broderick Johnson)
    “District 9    ” (Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham)
    “An Education” (Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey)
    “The Hurt Locker” (Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro)
    “Inglourious Basterds” (Lawrence Bender)
    “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lee Daniels, Sarah Sidel-Magness and Gary Magness)
    “A Serious Man” (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen)
    “Up” (Jonas Rivera)
    “Up in the Air” (Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman)

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  • ‘Precious’ takes five at Spirit Awards

    Predictable to the very last, the 25th Film Independent Spirit Awards honored the most Oscar-favored contender in almost every category they could. (Including a Best Foreign Film win for “An Education.”) Kris might have some first-hand perspective later; in the meantime, check out the winners at The Circuit.

  • 3/2 Oscarweb Round-up

    Carey Mulligan in An Education• Pete Hammond says the Best Actress race is close, pats himself on the back for the fact that one of the countless early ideas he threw at the wall actually stuck. [Notes on a Season]

    • Rachel Abramowitz notes Carey Mulligan’s rise to stardom via Julian Fellowes, well, via an assistant friend of an assistant to a casting director who knew Fellowes’s wife.  You follow? [24 Frames]

    • The 20 best Oscar night dresses of the last 20 years. [Entertainment Weekly]

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  • OSCAR GUIDE: Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

    Peter Capaldi in In the LoopIn most cases, the adapted screenplay category of a given Oscar race is packed with Best Picture nominees or contenders. This year, however, there was a nice balance of adapted and original screenplays in the Best Picture category, and in fact, of the “top five” films that trickled down throughout the season, three were original and two were adapted, a rarity.

    Regarding the adaptations, things seemed to firm up for a while, but with the various WGA ineligibilities, one couldn’t shake the feeling that a surprise was in the works. At the end of the day, Scott Cooper’s run on “Crazy Heart” came to an unfortunate end, while a fan-fave British comedy found support.

    The nominees are:

    “District 9” (Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell)
    “An Education” (Nick Hornby)
    “In the Loop” (Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche)
    “Precious” (Geoffrey Fletcher)
    “Up in the Air” (Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner)

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  • Lynn Barber on making ‘An Education’

    An Education by Lynn BarberI’m not sure why the Wall Street Journal is reprinting a preface to a book that his been in print for over nine months — indeed, I quoted the very same piece in Page to Screen back in July — as fresh content. Still, if you haven’t yet read it, Lynn Barber’s reflection on the journey her memoir “An Education” took to screen is worth a look.

    Among other things, Barber picks up on the counter-intuitive choice of Nick Hornby, Britain’s king of “lad-lit,” to adapt this female-focused story:

    I also learned that the scriptwriter [producer Amanda Posey] had in mind was her boyfriend -– now husband –- Nick Hornby. This made the whole idea more plausible, especially when I met Nick. I found it odd (still find it odd) that this preeminently ‘boy’ writer should so completely understand what it felt like to be a 16 year-old schoolgirl who was on the one hand very bright but on the other very ignorant about the world but, miraculously, he did. He even seemed to understand my parents, which is more than I could ever say myself.

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  • OSCAR GUIDE: Best Actress

    Helen Mirren in The Last StationThis year’s Best Actress race is easily the most debated of the major categories. Though one can’t help but wonder why that is, as the writing has seemingly been on the wall for a number of weeks now, stretching back to before the nominations were announced.

    It was also one of the easiest fields to call, pre-nominations, as both lead acting categories had actually coagulated somewhat. The SAG slate was mirrored by the acting branch of the Academy, offering a nice mixture of young starlets and veteran standbys. The winner in the field, however, might be somewhere in the middle of that cross-section.

    The nominees are:

    Sandra Bullock, “The Blind Side”
    Helen Mirren, “The Last Station”
    Carey Mulligan, “An Education”
    Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious”
    Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia”

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  • 2/24 Oscarweb Round-up

    Ryan Bingham• Elysa Gardner catches up with Ryan Bingham in New York. [USA Today]

    • John Ratzenberger talks Pixar across the pond. [The Independent]

    • Steve Pond chats with “An Education” star Carey Mulligan, who seems to be hitting the pavement a bit late in the game. [The Odds]

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  • Best Picture race, illustrated

    This is a terrific idea that the Academy really ought to steal, particularly in light of this year’s dismal official Oscar poster. BAFTA commissioned Dutch Uncle Agency illustrator Tavis Coburn to create designs for each of their five Best Film nominees, for use on this year’s official BAFTA programme covers. The retro-inspired results are quite gorgeous. My two favorites below; the rest here.

    Official BAFTA programme design for An EducationOfficial BAFTA programme design for The Hurt Locker

  • 2/23 Oscarweb Round-up

    Jeremy Renner• Peter Knegt chats with Best Actor nominee Jeremy Renner. [indieWIRE]

    • Oscar party kits, anyone? With bingo! [Oscars.org]

    • “The Messenger” writers and Oscar nominees Oren Moverman and Alessandro Camon on their process. [MTV Movies Blog]

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  • ‘The Hurt Locker’ sweeps BAFTA Awards

    Kathryn Bigelow at the 2009 BAFTA AwardsThe writing, in case you hadn’t already read it, is on the wall.

    In the biggest BAFTA haul for a non-British production since “American Beauty” a decade ago, Kathryn Bigelow’s Iraq drama took six awards at the Royal Opera House, including Best Film, Director and Original Screenplay. Next up: Oscars. And plenty of ’em, I’m guessing.

    I did respectably enough in my predictions, nailing 15 out of 21 categories, though I missed the big one, thinking homegrown favorite “An Education” would come out on top. The Brits did, however, vote local in the lead acting categories, with Colin Firth and Carey Mulligan taking well-deserved honors — probably their last of the season.

    “An Education” lost both the top awards it was up for, as the ever-selective Best British Film committee once more looked to the fringes to reward Andrea Arnold’s “Fish Tank” instead. I’m thrilled to see a major award for my #2 film of last year, after it was blanked entirely in the general categories. Continuing a good night for my pet films, meanwhile, “A Prophet” took foreign-language honors.

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  • BAFTA predictions

    Carey Mulligan in An EducationEnjoying a curious position this year as the only televised awards ceremony between the Academy Award nominations announcement and Oscar night itself, the BAFTAs will no doubt be relishing their precursor status even more than usual.

    Since they made the move to precede the Oscars nine years ago, BAFTA hasn’t slavishly anticipated the bigger awards (they’ve matched the Academy’s Best Picture pick only three times), but they have sometimes been at the crest of new waves in voting: late surges of momentum for the likes of Marion Cotillard, Tilda Swinton and Alan Arkin all made their first appearance on BAFTA night.

    This year, however, I’m suspecting that the Brits will voluntarily isolate themselves from the Oscar-influencing game. Never ones to shy away from patriotic voting, BAFTA has handed its top prize to a homegrown production for three years running – it’s highly likely that Oscar longshot “An Education,” which leads the nomination count with two U.S. productions, will make it four.

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  • SANTA BARBARA: Four Vanguards and a Virtuoso

    Christoph Waltz at the 25th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival“Precious” star Gabourey Sidibe couldn’t be here last weekend for the Virtuosos presentation, which recognized her, Carey Mulligan, Saoirse Ronan, Emily Blunt and Michael Stuhlbarg, so she was in town this evening as part of the Vanguard presentation.  Stanley Tucci, meanwhile, couldn’t be here this week to accept his Vanguard prize, so he was here last week and filmed a video acceptance.

    They roll with the punches here in Santa Barbara.

    The four Vanguard award winners this year, which is the first year that saw more than one recipient, were Tucci, Christoph Waltz, Peter Sarsgaard and Vera Farmiga.  The award recognizes an actor (or actors) who has forged his/her own path, taking artistic risks and making a significant and unique contribution to film.

    It fits the quartet.  These actors has found their way to this point in their careers in baby steps, Waltz’s career actually the most extensive of the four, ironically enough, regardless of his new appeal in the states.

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  • FRIDAY FORECAST: 72 degrees and ‘Avatar’

    John Travolta in From Paris with Love*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    “Avatar” has swept aside the entire January schedule with relative ease and is aiming for an eighth weekend at the top of the box office. Considering it dropped only 10% last week despite some direct male competition from Mel Gibson and it now has 9 Oscar nominations to brag about, you can expect another slim decline and $25 million+. That should be more than enough to secure victory against Channing Tatum and John Travolta.

    Tatum headlines “Dear John” with Amanda Seyfried, from the author of “The Notebook.” It’s a date movie for the date crowd and hey, did we mention it’s from the author of “The Notebook?” The premise sounds like a 1940s film, writing letters to a soldier and all. Shouldn’t the title be “New Facebook Message, RE: Miss U Lots xo <3?” Anyway, that very fact mixed with the cast should satisfy women of all ages and help this one to $21 million or so.

    The director of “Taken” is back and blowing more shit up with “From Paris With Love.” There are three reasons why this won’t be as successful. One: Mel Gibson’s movie may not have done well but it’s still out and still direct competition. Two: Lionsgate is releasing and there is a ceiling to what they can accomplish with an action film ($18 million). Three: Liam Neeson looked all sorts of badass in the “Taken” trailer. In this, John Travolta looks like the bouncer at the Jackhammer gay club in Tribeca. $13 million.

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  • Yes…and more than one movie, actually…

    Cover of Entertainment WeeklyAlright.  It must be said.  I’m as guilty as anyone, perhaps more than most, at positioning this year’s Oscar race as a two-horse sprint to the finish between “Avatar” and “The Hurt Locker.” But slowly it’s occurred to me that this Oscar race has been boiled down so quickly because it makes for such a sexy headline.  There’s David and Goliath, there’s the exes thing, there’s plenty of meat in the idea that these two films are out in front of the pack.

    And now I see it once again with Entertainment Weekly’s cover query: “Can anything beat ‘Avatar?’”

    Has the press (again, guilty) been lazy in allowing things to be positioned as such?  Well, yes and no.  The usual indicators tell us that these are the two films in question for obvious reasons. Guild support has been rampant for both, after all.  And the list of Oscar nominations had each out in front, tied with nine nominations apiece.  But there is a crucial point that many a journalist (again, guilty) is failing to consider when calling this thing.

    This year the Best Picture category (and only the Best Picture category) will use the preferential voting system rather than the standard one-vote system to determine the winner.  In so many words, the answer becomes: Which film is the most acceptable to the group, regardless of passion pockets?

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  • How we did today (not bad) and a year out (not so much)

    Brian Geraghty in The Hurt LockerI forgot to sit down and take a look at my year-in-advance predictions for this year and see how I did.  Not too great.

    In the Best Picture field (before the announcement of an expanded category, mind you), the only film I listed that made it through was “The Hurt Locker.” Kathryn Bigelow was also the only director I correctly projected, so that’s 1/10 and 1/5 in the top two categories.

    Morgan Freeman, Carey Mulligan, Matt Damon and Penelope Cruz were the only actors I got correct, while in the screenplay categories it was just “An Education,” “A Serious Man” and “Up.”

    All in all, including the crafts categories, I got 24 nominees of the 88 I predicted in 18 categories.  I’ve lost track of how well I’ve done with this silly experiment over the years, but I don’t think that’s one of the better tallies.  Maybe it is.

    Which brings me to this announcement.  After a lot of consideration I’ve decided to forgo my nearly decade-old process of predicting the nominees a year in advance.  There will be no post-Oscar assessment of the year ahead.  The reasons are plenty.

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