In Contention

Author: Guy Lodge

  • The odd couple

    I … have no words. Let’s hope that Oscar campaign for “London River” picks up steam, shall we?

    poster for Dead Man Running

  • Insight within madness

    Armond WhiteFurther to yesterday’s discussion of the film’s critical reception, Armond White’s furious pan of “Precious” is already gaining notoriety for its more attention-seeking flourishes.

    It’s hard to find much justification for his claim that “Norbit” and “Marci X” are “excellent” films about the black experience, and his suggestion that the film is being principally championed by “patronizing white folk” is a cheap provocation.

    But look past his trademark perversity, and there’s sincere, articulate anger in the review that deserves to prompt debate, even if you couldn’t agree less:

    Perry and Winfrey may think Precious is serious, but Daniels is hoisting his freak flag. He gets off on degradation. Flashbacks to Precious’ rape contain a curious montage of grease, sweat, bacon and Vaseline. Later, he intercuts a shot of pig’s feet cooking on a stove with Precious being humped while her mother watches from a corner. Another misjudged scene recreates De Sica’s B&W Two Women—a half-camp trashing of motherhood that compounds the problem of cultural alienation. So does the film’s Ebonics credit sequence and the scene of Precious rotating amidst a bombardment of success icons—Martina Arroyo, MLK, Shirley Chisholm—to which she either relates or is ignorant. This incoherence should not pass for sociology.

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  • ‘A Single Man’ poster

    Talk about a missed opportunity. The film boasts one of the year’s most unique visual sensibilities and the best they can do is slap Tom Ford’s trademark lettering over an already-ubiquitous still? And call me cynical, but are they trying to hide the fact that it’s about a gay man? Anyway, thanks to Glenn for pointing it out.

    A Single Man

  • THE LONG SHOT: Critical condition

    Gabourey Sidibe in PreciousAhead of its U.S. release this week, there is a wave of mild surprise in the blogosphere over the fact that “Precious,” the film deemed by some (yours truly included) to be the present Best Picture frontrunner, is currently sitting on a lowly Metacritic score of 57. Fitting neatly with the largely media-fabricated talk of a backlash against the film, some commenters are citing this rather arbitrary number as a debit against the film’s chances.

    As much as I’d personally like that to believe that — and as relieved as I am to see that I’m not the only person who didn’t respond to the film – such talk will doubtless be short-lived, given the paucity of reviews making up the current score and the likelihood of raves to come. If anything, public support is more crucial than critical consensus to this film’s campaign – if audiences don’t turn up to see this grim, minority-oriented indie, many Academy members won’t feel compelled to either.

    That said, it looks increasingly possible that “Precious” (I refuse to use that lumpy subtitle all season, by the way) could turn out to be a more critically divisive item than might have been expected following an ecstatically received festival run.

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  • Shankman talks Oscar hosts, admits Fey was on the cards

    Tina Fey and Steve Martin at the 81st Annual Academy AwardsI couldn’t be more delighted with the selection of Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin as the 2009 Oscar hosts. Martin remains the smartest, sharpest, most urbane Oscar host I’ve seen in my lifetime, and the pairing of his wit with Baldwin’s goofier charm should ensure a ceremony that’s adult, but not too elitist. Either way, it’ll be more my cup of tea than Hugh Jackman’s style.

    Of course, another reason I’m down with the choice is that it’s only one “30 Rock” cast member removed from the pairing I’ve been pleading for. I was in favor of Tina Fey because she had proven chemistry with Martin, plus current pop appeal — Baldwin has both, plus a higher Academy profile (lest we forget, he is an Oscar nominee himself).

    So, in a way, Oscar producers Adam Shankman and Bill Mechanic have improved on my suggestion. But I was interested to read Shankman admit, in this EW interview following the announcement, that they actually tried for Martin and Fey.

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  • Emily Blunt named British Artist of the Year

    Emily BluntOkay, let me get this out the way: I love Emily Blunt.

    On screen and off, she exudes smarts, class and a welcome streak of British eccentricity. Most still remember her principally as the girl who cut through “The Devil Wears Prada” like a hot knife through butter, though it was 2004’s “My Summer of Love” which best showcased her dramatic chops and tart sex appeal. Put simply, she’s got it.

    I did not, however, love Emily Blunt in “The Young Victoria.” Usually so alert and thoughtful on camera, the actress is stifled by the bland dramatics and fussy styling of Jean-Marc Vallee’s royal biopic; a practised scene-stealer herself, she gets a taste of her own medicine as Rupert Friend walks off with the film, in an underwritten part to boot.

    Meanwhile, the film that was supposed to be her star-making vehicle (and awards breakthrough) instead got shrugged off by critics, as her name tumbled down the Oscar pundits’ lists.

    So why has BAFTA’s Los Angeles branch chosen this of all years to hand her the Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year?

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  • NYT spotlights Jarvis, Hoult, Kendrick, Smit-McPhee

    Nicholas HoultThe New York Times makes an annual tradition of rounding up the season’s most notable breakthrough turns in upcoming films, and it’s typically an intelligent, even prescient, selection of faces. Last year’s crop ran the gamut from François Bégaudeau (“The Class”) to the ultimately Oscar-nominated Michael Shannon (“Revolutionary Road”).

    In keeping with the youthful slant of many of this year’s awards hopefuls, this year’s group of Gray Lady picks skews rather younger, ranging from 13 year-old Kodi Smit-Phee to 24 year-old Anna Kendrick. (Three of the four are teenagers.)

    Presumably, writer Karen Durbin feels enough attention has already been lavished (not least in her own paper) on Gabourey Sidibe (who I’m increasingly convinced will win the Oscar anyway), as the “Precious” star doesn’t rate a mention. Fair enough.

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  • French trailer for ‘A Prophet’

    I love it. Kris loves it. Anne Thompson loves it. And hey, Anjelica Huston loves it too.

    If you’re a little curious as to what the fuss is about, here is a subtitle-free glimpse of Jacques Audiard’s “A Prophet,” handily the finest foreign-language Oscar contender I’ve seen so far. (Not that I’ve seen many. But this’ll take some beating.)

  • Which Peter Jackson will show up for ‘Lovely Bones?’

    The Lovely BonesAs we begin to count down the days to the official unveiling of “The Lovely Bones” in London later this month (yes, I’m as stunned as you are to realize it’s November already), the film still stands as the biggest wild-card of the season’s prestige offerings.

    The trailer for “Invictus” confirmed it’s (for better or worse) the model of film we had in mind, and we have some idea what to expect from “Nine” … but even a lavish trailer didn’t answer half the questionmarks lingering over Jackson’s adaptation of Alice Sebold’s decidedly tricky source novel (discussed here).

    What emerges dominant in the story’s strange genre fusion of fantasy, serial killer thriller and domestic drama? How has Saoirse Ronan’s lead role been beefed up from Susie Salmon’s passive presence in the novel? How will Jackson’s effects-heavy imagery mesh with the novel’s more delicate dramatics? And will the novel’s millions of fans be appeased or alienated by his wilder stylistic impulses? It seems to me the film stands little chance of a middling reception — it’ll hit or miss big.

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  • New ‘The Road’ trailer

    A vast improvement on the tonally misjudged first effort, though it gives in to bombast halfway through. I wonder if it’ll be enough to sell this prickly package — it’s always hard to judge trailers when you’ve already seen the film at hand, particularly if said film didn’t really work for you anyway. Is this getting you in line?

  • Academy members weigh in on The Ten

    Jane Campion at the 1993 Academy AwardsIn the four months since the Academy announced its controversial switch from five to 10 Best Picture nominees, you’ve heard a lot of griping (and occasional enthusing) from assorted critics, industry-watchers and schmoes like me.

    What we haven’t heard is too much perspective on the issues from the voters themselves. So USA Today’s Susan Wloszczyna has done some digging, only to find that several prominent Academy members are as unhappy with the idea of The Ten as many pundits are.

    Two-time nominee Willem Dafoe complains that the change “lowers the bar” and “dilutes the exclusivity” of the award, claiming that some years might not have enough deserving contenders to make up a satisfactory list of nominees. Michael Sheen concurs, saying simply, “The more films you have, the less special it becomes.”

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  • What scares Martin Scorsese … and me

    Deborah Kerr in The InnocentsTomorrow, of course, is Hallowe’en — an institution more treasured in the US than it is on my side of the ocean, where it’s principally another excuse to get drunk. (But hey, this year I’ll be getting drunk while wearing a silly hat. Progress!)

    One aspect of the holiday that travels well, at least, is the celebration of horror cinema: Pinewood Studios, for example, is hosting a drive-in double-feature of “The Omen” and “The Shining” on the world’s largest cinema screen.

    Meanwhile, horror DVD marathons will take place in living rooms around the world, so Martin Scorsese (whose own upcoming film looks to have its share of jolts) has helpfully provided his own playlist of the 11 scariest horror films of all time for The Daily Beast:

    1. “The Haunting” (Robert Wise, 1963)
    2. “Isle of the Dead” (Val Lewton, 1945)
    3. “The Uninvited” (1944)
    4. “The Entity” (Sidney J. Furie, 1981)
    5. “Dead of Night” (Alberto Cavalcanti, 1945)
    6. “The Changeling” (Peter Medak, 1980)
    7. “The Shining” (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
    8. “The Exorcist” (William Friedkin, 1973)
    9. “Night of the Demon” (Jacques Tourneur, 1957)
    10. “The Innocents” (Jack Clayton, 1961)
    11. “Psycho” (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)

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  • Daniel Battsek leaves Miramax

    Daniel BattsekThis seemed to be in the offing for a while, but it’s always disconcerting to hear of major upheaval at a Hollywood institution like Miramax. The studio is folding its New York office, while Daniel Battsek, who has headed the Weinstein brothers’ former empire since 2005, will leave the company in January.

    Battsek announced the news in this rather terse email:

    After further reflection and discussion about the change in direction for Miramax, Rich Ross and I have agreed that I will step down as President of Miramax, effective the end of January, 2010.

    With this decision, we have also agreed that the best chance of success for Miramax is for the company to be located in Los Angeles, and I will work with the group on a transition plan.

    I’m very proud of all the great work we have accomplished here at Miramax and equally proud of my overall career at Disney.

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  • INTERVIEW: ‘The Informant!’ writer Scott Z. Burns

    Scott Z. BurnsFor Scott Z. Burns, the best way to tell the story of a compulsive liar was to take some liberties with the truth himself.

    “I’ve always been fascinated by lies … we all are,” the cheerfully forthright screenwriter tells me of his attraction to the story behind “The Informant!,” Steven Soderbergh’s playfully comic biopic of corporate whistleblower Mark Whitacre, who helped the FBI bust price fixing in America’s agribusiness sector, but wound up in federal prison for his own extreme indiscretions.

    “That’s kind of what watching movies is about – we’re delighted to be lied to for two or three hours. So Mark’s story was such obvious movie material.”

    We are sitting at a corner table in the bustling bar of London’s Soho Hotel, the afternoon ahead of the film’s UK premiere at the London Film Festival. Following a month of promoting the film in Venice, Toronto and the U.S., Burns is a touch dazed, unaccustomed to this level of individual attention: “The Informant!” represents his first solo feature credit, following producing and co-writing efforts on “An Inconvenient Truth” and “The Bourne Ultimatum” respectively, and a 2006 writing-directing debut with the HBO TV movie “Pu-239.”

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  • Calling the Best Picture wild cards

    Emily Blunt in The Young VictoriaTom O’Neil has pooled the thoughts of 16 awards-watchers on which 10 films will make the Best Picture cut, and the results make for ominously predictable reading.

    All 16 agree that “The Hurt Locker” and “Invictus” are in (I guess it’s just me holding out on the latter then), while there’s near-consensus on the likes of “Precious,” “Up in the Air,” “Up” … you get the idea. Yawn. At this rate, the switch to 10 nominees looks to sap any excitement from this stage of the race whatsoever.

    More interesting, then, is to venture further down the list to see what the pundits’ more out-on-a-limb picks are. One would like to think at least one of the slots has to be filled with something slightly less expected — otherwise what’s the point? So I turned my attention to the films receiving a solitary vote from one of O’Neil’s posse.

    Those hoping for a foreign-language contender in the mix (no, “Inglourious Basterds” does not count) might want to look away, as not a single punter has one on their list, while things look similarly grim for documentaries.

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  • 10/30 Oscarweb Round-up

    Sotigui Kouyate and Brenda Blethyn in London River• Brian Lowry on how The Ten is an Oscarcast producer’s nightmare. [Variety]

    • With Hugh Jackman out, Jeff Wells thinks the Oscars need to skew younger with their host. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • The producers of “London River” launch a deserved Oscar campaign for Brenda Blethyn, despite still lacking US distribution. [Notes on a Season]

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  • Jackman turns down Oscar gig

    Hugh Jackman at the 81st Annual Academy AwardsAs the annual guessing game of who will host the Academy Awards continues to go in circles, there’s at least one name we can remove from consideration: a certain Mr. Hugh Jackman.

    Variety confirms that the previous Oscar emcee was invited to repeat, but “quietly” turned down the opportunity sometime in the last few weeks, not wanting to do the task in consecutive years. (He may host again in the future, in other words.)

    This largely puts paid to the speculation that the hiring of choreographer Adam Shankman to produce the show meant we were essentially in for a rerun of last year’s show, which is fine by me.

    The previous Oscarcast format was very much the singular vision of Bill Condon and Laurence Mark, while Jackman’s song-and-dance stylings will stay fresher if used on an irregular basis.

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  • Renner, Stuhlbarg, Waltz among Variety’s 10 Actors to Watch

    Jeremy RennerVariety’s annual list of 10 Actors to Watch may occasionally raise questions of what constitutes a career “breakthrough” — particularly in the case of established actors who those in the know have been watching all along.

    Still, it always makes for interesting reading, not least because, in some cases, it highlights names that Variety’s editors expect to show up in the coming awards season. Last year’s list featured four actors (Melissa Leo, Viola Davis, Taraji P. Henson and Michael Shannon) who ultimately wound up in the Oscar circle. This year’s list looks unlikely to match that number (nor does it match the feminine bent of last year’s crop), but there’s some undeniably worthy talent in there:

    Laz Alonso
    Maggie Grace
    Tom Hardy
    Nicholas Hoult
    Rachelle Lefevre
    Jeremy Renner
    Alia Shawkat
    Emma Stone
    Michael Stuhlbarg
    Christoph Waltz

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