In Contention

Author: Guy Lodge

  • John Updike (1932-2009)

    This may be a film site, but I cannot let the passing of John Updike go without comment. While he contributed little directly to the artform — and the two feature-length attempts at bringing his work to the screen were, to say the least, regrettable — but it’s impossible to underestimate his level of influence across media.

    He may not have been the very first writer to appreciate suburban America for the seethingly dramatic storytelling space that it is, to investigate its paradoxical balance of suffocating community spirit and equally oppressive loneliness, but he became indisputably its most precise and prolific chronicler — while in his “Rabbit” quartet, he created arguably the most complete, searching study of shifting American social mores in the last half-century. Contemporary writers such as Tom Perrotta and Jonathan Franzen are as indebted to his legacy as filmmakers like Todd Solondz or Alexander Payne.

    We all have our heroes, and Updike is mine. In a way, it’s pointless writing obituaries for figures like him — though the Guardian takes an excellent stab — because his own work speaks more eloquently for itself than anyone else can. Indeed, it was Updike himself who, in the foreword to his essential 2003 “Early Stories” compilation (buy it if you don’t yet have it), best described his achievement as a writer:

    After I gave up cigarettes, I smoked nickel cigarillos to allay my nervousness at the majesty of my calling and the intricacy of my craft; the empty boxes, with their comforting image of another writer, Robert Burns, piled up. Not only were the boxes useful for storing little things like foreign coins and cufflinks, but the caustic aura of cigars discouraged visitors. I felt that I was packaging something as delicately pervasive as smoke, one box after another, in that room, where my only duty was to describe reality as it had come to me — to give the mundane its beautiful due.

  • Unlucky thirteen?

    Stu Van Airsdale is cheekily posing a scenario whereby “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” converts precisely zero of its 13 nominations into victory on Oscar night.

    It’s not really worth picking holes in his argument — though we could start with the fact that “Button” is nominated for Sound Mixing rather than Sound Editing, or that he doesn’t seem to consider “Slumdog” the frontrunner for Film Editing — because the article is less interesting for its specifics than for how it taps into the general indifference that “Button” seems to be facing. Has a film with such an impressive Oscar tally ever looked a less formidable competitor going into the race?

    On nomination day, AwardsDaily posted a handy list of the ten previous films that have received 13 or 14 nods. Seven of them won Best Picture. Two of them (“Mary Poppins” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”) each took a healthy haul of five awards apiece, major acting trophies among them. The last, “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” was limited to technical victories, though in an odd year, with splintered support for “Moulin Rouge!” and eventual champ “A Beautiful Mind,” it wasn’t a complete non-starter — and in any case, everyone knew there was more to come.

    Right now, I side with Kris in predicting a scant three trophies for “Button,” in the Art Direction, Makeup and Visual Effects field. (Unpredictably scattered as the tech categories have been in recent years, I’d be very surprised if it missed in the latter two categories, at the very least.) So, is the film set to reap an all-time low from its nomination tally? Or are we underestimating it?

    As it stands, I’m starting to wonder if Taraji P. Henson may have more of a shot in the comparatively open Best Supporting Actress field than I thought earlier. Last year, Tilda Swinton eked out a victory in the same category after “Michael Clayton” fans realized she represented the film’s only shot at a major award. If voters don’t want to humiliate the season’s biggest, most-nominated film, could Henson be a similar beneficiary? Just a thought.

  • ‘Slumdog,’ Penn, Streep triumph at SAG Awards

    A list of the winners in the film categories. For more commentary and discussion, check out my live-blog here.

    Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: “Slumdog Millionaire”
    Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role: Sean Penn, “Milk”
    Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role: Meryl Streep, “Doubt”
    Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role: Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight”
    Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role: Kate Winslet in “The Reader”
    Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in Motion Pictures: “The Dark Knight”

  • SAG winners, as they are announced

    OK, so we’re gonna do something a little similar to what we did on Globe night, posting the SAG winners as they come through — maybe with some commentary, if I can find the time, and if I can stay awake. (Hey, it starts at 1 a.m. over here and I’ve had a few pints … cut me some slack.)

    Feel free to keep us company with your own thoughts, cheers and jeers. I believe the fun starts in an hour. See you then. (By the way, for those unable to watch it on U.S. TV, I believe there will be a live stream here.)

    7.03 p.m. Wow, those last three awards dropped in such quick succession I barely had time to process them. So my predictions took a bit of a beating in the lead acting categories — and let’s face it, I always knew my Melissa Leo gamble probably wouldn’t pay off — but at least I called the top award correctly. If any of you out there needed any further evidence that “Slumdog Millionaire” is romping to victory on Oscar night, I think you just got it. Hardly an actors’ piece, but with a movie so widely and deeply beloved, that’s a minor detail.

    In Best Actor, I fully admit I was rooting for Mickey Rourke, but I’m not so churlish as to deny that Sean Penn’s victory was richly deserved — did he just crawl ahead in the Oscar race? It’s still fairly evenly poised to my untrained eye, but the unexpected emotiveness of Penn’s acceptance speech can’t do him any harm, even if it skirted incoherence at times. (What did come through loud and clear, however, was his bold shout-out to Benicio Del Toro’s unnominated performance in “Che” — nicely done, Sean.)

    Meanwhile, Meryl Streep made the most of what I suspect will be her biggest moment of the awards season, with a loose, witty acceptance speech highlighted by a refreshing bit of self-satire, as she dismissed the routine “greatest actress alive” claims, but ultimately conveyed genuine, selfless gratitude for the recognition. (Why she professed to be “shocked,” however, is another question altogether.) Kate Winslet may have the Oscar sewn up, and I confess I’m not a great fan of either performance, but I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing a repeat from Dame Meryl (oh, c’mon… if the cap fits) on February 22.

    Anyway, it was a refreshingly brisk show — which was at least some compensation for its stultifying lack of surprise. Thanks for joining me, but before I bid you good night, let’s take a moment to revel in the fact that Freida Pinto is now an award-winning actress.

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  • Will SAG continue the ‘Slumdog’ sweep?

    As I anticipated, “Slumdog Millionaire” walked off with the Producers Guild of America Award last night, confirming its status as the unstoppable underdog-turned-juggernaut of this year’s Oscar race.

    It’s highly significant that Danny Boyle’s film managed to claim this gong, in particular; as Kris pointed out yesterday, of all voting bodies, it’s the PGA that might have had the most reservations about the film. A foreign runaway production from a relatively green producer, it’s not the kind of film they tend to reward — particularly against the box-office heft of a film like “The Dark Knight,” or the industry popularity of “Benjamin Button”’s production team.

    The fact that “Slumdog” overcame such potential obstacles is indicative of the across-the-board affection for this film in the industry; it’s a film that voters love as much as they admire.

    So I’m interested to see how it performs at tonight’s Screen Actors Guild Awards – another ceremony where the film has a number of disadvantages going in, given that it has a largely unknown, untested cast, and is less an actors’ piece than a director’s accomplishment. Technically, it has two shots at glory tonight, but since Dev Patel hasn’t a snowball’s chance of beating Heath Ledger in the Best Supporting Actor race, all its hopes rest on SAG’s top honour, the Best Performance by a Cast award.

    Many pundits are predicting “Slumdog” to go home empty-handed tonight, and it’s easy to see why. “Doubt,” which has the most nominations of any contender, has the kind of capital-A Acting from an esteemed group of thesps that could be catnip to voting actors, while “Milk” (Kris’ own bet) has both a powerhouse star turn and the kind of sterling ensemble work they like to reward.

    But I wonder. Though SAG doesn’t always treat its top prize as a Best Picture equivalent — “Gosford Park” and “Sideways” are examples of films that triumphed principally on the strengths of their casts, despite minimal Oscar momentum – the fact remains that this is essentially SAG’s only chance to reward the most beloved film of the season. While it’s arguably the least “actor-y” film in contention, I suspect that, as when the Simon Beaufoy-penned “The Full Monty” upset here in 1997, the voters are going to let their hearts overrule their actorly instincts.

    (More thoughts, and my SAG predictions, after the cut.)

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  • Grace note

    Back in December, Kris mentioned DarkCampaign.com, the unofficial website set up for the express purpose of getting “The Dark Knight” into the Best Picture race. Needless to say, there must be some very glum faces round those parts right now, but they might find some consolation in this very classy letter from Jonathan Nolan (thanks to Awards Daily for pointing it out):

    It’s truly humbling that you guys would take the time and effort to try to get the film recognized. I, like you, was disappointed that Chris didn’t get some recognition this morning, but for Heath and so many of the people who worked so hard on this thing to get nominated is thrilling.

    Any nominations for a comic book movie is a thing of beauty no matter how you slice it, and that takes the sting out a bit. Besides, I’ve been to the big show before, and, like any of these things, it’s a little disappointing. Did you know it’s not even an open bar once the show starts? At least this time I would have remembered to bring a little cash so I could buy myself a drink after losing.

    The best part of this experience is seeing other people getting passionate about the film the way that we did. It has been a truly incredible experience. So thank you again.

    Well said. Who are the movies made for, anyway?

  • ‘Push’ sweeps at Sundance

    It had become quite clear over the past few days that Lee Daniels’ sophomore feature “Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire” was one of the few titles raising pulses at a very quiet Sundance Film Festival. The film, a hard-hitting urban tale of an African-American teenager overcoming merciless parental abuse in 1980’s Harlem, has received breathless critical notices across the board, with Variety declaring it “a diamond – clear, bright, but oh so hard.”

    So hardly anyone is surprised that the film cleaned up at yesterday’s Sundance Awards, nabbing both the Grand Jury and Audience Prizes in the U.S. dramatic competition — only the third film ever to achieve that double. It also received a Special Jury Prize for the performance of Mo’Nique as the protagonist’s monstrously neglectful mother.

    Sundance Awards have a spotty record of indicating future success: looking down the list of previous Grand Jury Prize winners, for every “You Can Count on Me” or “Frozen River” that rides its momentum all the way to Oscar night a whole year later, there’s a “Quinceanera” or “Forty Shades of Blue” that pretty much sinks without trace. “Push” certainly sounds like a tough sell for future awards attention, but if the critical championing continues, it’s hard to predict what might be in store.

    One winner we seem increasingly likely to hear more about as the year progresses is Lone Scherfig’s British charmer “An Education,” which inspired a heated bidding contest between specialty studios, and last night landed the Audience Award in the world dramatic competition, as well as a gong for cinematographer John De Borman. (Check out Todd McCarthy’s unabashed rave for the film here – we haven’t seen too many of those lately.)

    Meanwhile, the jury’s choice in the world dramatic section was Chilean class-themed comedy “The Maid,” while directing and screenwriting honours went to Oliver Hirschbiegel’s “Five Minutes of Heaven,” a study of political conflict in 1970’s Northen Ireland headlined by Liam Neeson. After the disaster that was Hirschbiegel’s first English-language effort, “The Invasion,” it’s nice to see the “Downfall” director getting back on track.

    A full list of the (many) feature awards dished out is below the cut. For more details, check out Variety’s report here.

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  • ‘An incredible time to be alive’

    Is there anyone out there with a beating heart who doesn’t like Taraji P. Henson? Wherever you stand on “Benjamin Button,” it’s hard not to be happy for her. A humble, hard-working character actress who has soldiered through a lot of films well beneath her abilities, she has finally made good on that stunning “Hustle and Flow” promise and is inching her way onto the A-list.

    She probably isn’t going to be heading to the podium on Oscar night, but Henson is the kind of actor for whom a mere nomination can make a world of difference. Moreover, it’s her positivity and humility in interviews like this that is doubtless winning her a lot of fans this awards season:

    “It’s an incredible time to be alive. And it’s definitely an incredible time to be Taraji P. Henson. I’m blown away,” she said. “I have moments where I’ll call my publicist and be like ‘Is this all really happening? Are you sure they’re not going to call back and say we made a mistake?’”

    Endearingly, she’s apparently as excited by Barack Obama’s inauguration as she is by the prospect of meeting her idol, Meryl Streep, at tomorrow’s SAG Awards. Good for her, I say. (On another note, can she really be 38 years of age? Who’d’a thunk it?)

  • What will win the PGA?

    Tonight, we will receive our biggest precursor pointer to date, as the Producers Guild of America becomes the first of the guilds to make its final pronouncement.

    In case you’ve forgotten, the five films vying for the PGA’s top honour are “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk,” “Slumdog Millionaire” — and the one nominee to fall foul of Oscar voters, “The Dark Knight.”

    “Slumdog Millionaire” appears to be the safest bet, even if its producer, relative newcomer Christian Colson, is less of an industry insider than his fellow nominees. (After all, the field includes such popular figures as Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, and previous winners Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks.)

    But with “Slumdog” hurtling towards all-but-inevitable victory on Oscar night, not having missed a single stop on the awards trail so far, that shouldn’t matter. It’s by far the most well-liked film in contention, as well as being a profitable indie with a scrappy-fighter backstory. I doubt the PGA will resist.

    Back when the nominees were announced at the start of the month — doesn’t that seem a long time ago? — Kris suggested that “The Dark Knight” was the “likely winner.” It made perfect sense at the time: these are producers, after all, so they value financial prowess as much as artistic achievement. (Previous PGA nominees include “Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone” and “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.”)

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  • Cesar nods include ‘Class,’ ‘Loved,’ Swinton

    Now here’s a set of nominations I can get behind. As I may have mentioned before, 2008 was all about the rejuvenation of French cinema for me, with Gallic productions occupying a quarter of my year-end Top 20, including the two poll spots.

    So it’s hardly surprising that I’m immensely pleased by the list of nominees revealed yesterday for the Cesar Awards, otherwise known as the French Oscars –- not least because my two list-topping films, “I’ve Loved You So Long” and newly-minted Oscar nominee “The Class,” feature strongly.

    The former grabbed 6 nods, including a surefire Best Actress bid for the sadly Oscar-snubbed Kristin Scott Thomas, while I’m pleased to see her wonderful co-star, Elsa Zylberstein, finally getting some awards love in the supporting category. “The Class” managed five, though I’m a little disappointed to see the film’s excellent ensemble go unacknowledged, even in the ‘young actor’ categories.

    Both films feature in the Best Picture lineup, as does “Public Enemy Number One,” a sprawling biopic of gangster Jacques Mesrine that has been a local box-office smash and leads all nominees with 10 bids. Close behind, with nine, is Arnaud Desplechin’s critical favourite “A Christmas Tale,” though I’m surprised to see its two most dynamic stars, Catherine Deneuve and last year’s Best Actor winner Mathieu Amalric, both snubbed.

    Incidentally, Kristin Scott Thomas wasn’t the only Brit to receive notice: also landing in the Best Actress lineup is Tilda Swinton, for her astounding performance in Erick Zoncka’s “Julia.” Together with the insane snubs of Scott Thomas and Sally Hawkins, the fact that this fearless piece of work never even entered the Oscar discussion boggles the mind. But I digress.

    (More thoughts, and a list of nominations, below the cut.)

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  • WEEKLY WRAP: Oscar nomination week

    • In case you’ve just emerged from a coma or something, the nominations for the 81st annual Academy Awards were unveiled.

    • And it’s fair to say we weren’t impressed. At all.

    • OK, maybe a little impressed.

    • Amid the chaos, Kris took a stab at what/who we should expect to emerge victorious on Oscar night.

    • With the rise of “The Reader” the week’s big story, Tech Support presciently chatted with the film’s craftsmen.

    • Meanwhile, scripter Sir David Hare told the film’s critics where to get off.

    • This week’s Off the Carpet column laid out our final (and, as it turned out, slightly off-target) predictions.

    • You probably didn’t notice, but the Razzie Awards did their thing as usual.

    • “WALL-E” picked up what was to be its last Best Picture gong of the season.

    • Ahead of the nominations, yours truly filled out his own imaginary ballot. Suffice to say, there was little overlap.

    • The Visual Effects Society announced their nominees, showing “The Dark Knight” surprisingly little love.

    • Reflections on how the Academy’s top award has fared this decade.

    • Finally, amid this week’s Oscar hysteria, Sundance buzz suggests Carey Mulligan could be one to watch for next year’s derby.

  • Whaaa?

    Richard Corliss’ rundown of yesterday’s Oscar nominations, following the familiar “will win/should win/wuz robbed” template, features some typically against-the-grain opinions, including the surprising (to me, at least) that Best Supporting Actress is the strongest of this year’s acting races. (“Three of the nominated ladies are Oscar-worthy,” he writes. And what are Rourke, Penn and Jenkins? Chopped liver?)

    But his most contrarian statement of all arrives in his selection of who should have been nominated for Best Director, an overt attempt at baiting “Dark Knight” fans:

    Robbed: Jon Favreau, Iron Man
    O.K., so The Dark Knight was shut out of the Picture and Director categories. Dommage. But in a terrific year for superhero films, the smartest, cleanest one, Iron Man, was also ignored. Robert Downey Jr., nominated for his blackface parody in Tropic Thunder, created a complex, virtually human action figure in the repentent munitions baron Tony Stark. The special effects buttressed the picture instead of overwhelming it. And Favreau’s direction was lean, clean and suave, up there with old Hollywood adventure films by directors like Howard Hawks and Raoul Walsh — movies that never got awards, but which we watch with undiminished pleasure today.

    Right. Anyway, for what it’s worth, Corliss’ rebel streak doesn’t extend to his predictions. Like everyone else, he puts his money on “Slumdog,” Boyle, Winslet, Ledger and Cruz — while in what strikes me as the most up-in-the-air of the major races, he picks Mickey Rourke ahead of Sean Penn. (I agree, but that could all change on Sunday.)

  • Guessing games

    I only just got round to counting up my correct predictions across all categories, and wound up with a tally of 68 from 97 slots.

    This is the first year I’ve ever gone remotely public with my Oscar predictions, so while I can tell you that this was a pretty poor year for me (3/5 for Best Director and a lowly 2/5 for Best Documentary — yikes), I have nothing to prove my usual form. Still, I see I’ve tied with Kris, so no shame in that.

    In the major categories, none of my left-field predictions came through for me, though I always knew that my “Gomorrah” screenplay pick and the four projected nods for “Happy-Go-Lucky” were thin limbs to climb on.

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  • It’s not just the fanboys

    I had planned to write a full-blown rant about the numerous blind spots and errors of judgment in this morning’s Academy Award nominations, but at this point I’m too tired and resigned to summon up the necessary fire.

    It also occurred to me that I should take some inspiration from the character at the heart of the snub that personally pained me the most: Poppy, the eternal optimist embodied by the luminescent Sally Hawkins in arguably the year’s finest performance. When she loses her bicycle at the start of “Happy-Go-Lucky,” she laughs it off and moves onward. I suspect her reaction to this morning’s disappointing news would be much the same — as ours should be as well. It’s not life or death. It’s the Oscars.

    Nonetheless, given that I’m nowhere near as well-adjusted as Poppy is, I can’t quite let this morning’s proceedings go by without commenting on the major opportunity that the Academy sadly and short-sightedly let slip through its fingers. And yes, I am talking about “The Dark Knight.”

    As I have stated before on these pages, I’m not one of the “Dark Knight” die-hards. While a stunning feat in many areas, I thought it had some critical flaws in its narrative construction and (occasionally) its technical execution that kept it at a comfortable distance from my own list of the year’s ten best. In short, I’m not a fanboy.

    And yet, I’m dismayed that “The Dark Knight” has been denied a berth in the races for Best Picture and, even more surprisingly, Best Director.

    Why? Because I recognise that Christopher Nolan’s film represents a rare confluence — alchemy, even — of achievements that only comes along once in the bluest of moons. Here we had a populist-leaning entertainment that was formally and thematically ambitious, grandly entertaining and strikingly beautiful, a showcase for both inspired performing and the finest craftsmanship the industry had to offer.

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  • A word of advice

    To any actors who might find themselves in the hunt for an Oscar nod next year: don’t let me interview you.

    Seriously. It appears that the mere act of shaking my hand, or even greeting me over the phone, placed an immediate hex on the Oscar chances of several deserving thesps this season. If your publicist informs you that you’re due to speak to one Mr. Guy Lodge, proceed at your peril. (Directors, however, are apparently safe.)

    To Sally Hawkins, Kristin Scott Thomas, Eddie Marsan, Rosemarie DeWitt, Michelle Williams and Elsa Zylberstein, I’m sorry you had to learn this the hard way. It doesn’t make me love your performances any less.

  • Not content with the nomination

    You might expect Harvey Weinstein to be resting on his laurels after securing a staggering haul of nominations for “The Reader,” a film seen by few and disliked by many. However, in an ominous statement to Pete Hammond, Weinstein reveals that he has no such intention. In fact, he’s set his sights on pulling off a similarly shocking coup on Oscar night itself:

    I tell people its nice we got all the nominations but do not count yourself out. You have a real chance to overtake this all. We’ve seen that happen with ‘Crash’ and ‘Brokeback Mountain’. It’s all great. The only thing I can say is the race ain’t over. It’s just beginning.

    (Kate Winslet’s lead actress nomination was) the first indication I had we could win the Best Picture, not just be nominated. WIN. Because to put Kate in there showed such incredible passion for the movie.  They knocked her out of supporting, and the other movie (“Revolutionary Road”) to do it.

    Is them fighting words? Sounds like it to me. He also adds that he believes “The Reader” to be a film that reveals itself over multiple viewings, saying that it “works on a three or four times basis.” Maybe so, but you could also say that the film’s chilly lack of immediacy is a failing rather than a virtue. I wonder if most of the AMPAS members who put it on their ballots actually watched it more than once.

    Meanwhile, I can’t help wondering what the atmosphere in the Mendes/Winslet household is like this morning.

  • Ew, gross!

    Nat Rogers at The Film Experience has a nice rundown of the more notable points (high and low) of this morning’s nominations. Read it here, but I was particularly amused by his graphic representation of the mind of the average AMPAS voter:

  • Hey, it ain’t ALL bad

    OK, looking at the bigger picture, I’m as mortified as everyone else by this morning’s Academy Award nominations. By playing it safe in numerous areas, AMPAS voters have once more failed their art form … but more surprisingly, they have failed their audience.

    Kris has already touched to some extent on the most glaring injustices of the morning, and I plan to indulge in my own share of ranting later today. But before I get into that, I’d like to channel my inner Bing Crosby and accentuate the positive. Amid the minefield of errors, there were some isolated pleasant surprises and level-headed decisions, even if many of them were on a smaller scale. And these were the best of them:

    “GRAN TORINO” STRIKES OUT: Many were speculating that the latest from the (usually) Oscar-beloved Clint Eastwood could be a spoiler in the top race, with the man himself an ominous threat to actually take the Best Actor gong. But for once, Eastwood’s stealth-release strategy didn’t pay off. Either the film gathered momentum too late, or voters saw through the film’s creaky construction and hammy lead turn. Either way, in passing over Eastwood for the wonderful Richard Jenkins, the Academy made the right call.

    ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY GETS ORIGINAL: Matching the WGA’s Original Screenplay nominees in only one instance, voters dug deep here and pulled some inspired choices out of the hat. Bypassing the familiar comforts of Woody Allen or the Coen Brothers, they recognised that “Frozen River” owed its jagged, riveting tension to more than just Melissa Leo’s stellar performance, and, most thrillingly, recognised the pitch-black wit and literary sensibility of “In Bruges.” A nod for Mike Leigh’s unconventionally constructed “Happy-Go-Lucky” was more expected, but no less gratifying.

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