In Contention

Author: Guy Lodge

  • WEEKLY WRAP: Jackman hosting, Globes puzzling, Hawkins rising

    • After months of speculating, we finally have an Oscar host … and his name is Hugh Jackman. Bouquets all round.

    • Obviously, the Golden Globe nominations were the week’s biggest news. They offered their usual dose of wacky surprises — principally the near shut-out of “Milk.”

    • Sticking with the Globes, we got some of the nominees’ reactions here, before offering a subjective take on the rights and wrongs of this year’s slate.

    • Elsewhere in the precursors, the Los Angeles Film Critics threw up the most unexpected — and contentious — pick of the awards race so far, handing their top prize to “WALL-E.”

    • Their New York counterparts played it safer, giving Best Picture to “Milk,” but they had their own surprise package in the shape of “Happy-Go-Lucky.”

    • Meanwhile, the latter film’s star, Sally Hawkins, emerged as a genuine threat in the Best Actress race, taking awards from both groups. We interviewed her here.

    • The Broadcast Film Critics announced their nominations — which were more interesting for what they left out (“Revolutionary Road” in particular) than what they kept in.

    • In a rare mea culpa from the Academy’s music branch, the disqualification of “The Dark Knight”‘s score was thankfully reversed.

    • We chatted to the man who has so far enjoyed the smoothest ride through awards season: “Man on Wire” helmer James Marsh.

    • As the prospect of an acting victory for Clint Eastwood hovers in the background, this week’s edition of The Lists examines which noteworthy actors have won for less notheworthy work.

  • INTERVIEW: ‘Man on Wire’ director James Marsh

    James MarshIt’s a rare achievement, but through the ups and downs the last fortnight’s precursors, one film has failed to miss a beat, landing gongs from the New York, Los Angeles and Washington critics, as well as the NBR and the British Independents, not to mention Indie Spirit and BFCA nominations.

    That film would be “Man On Wire,” James Marsh’s crisp, witty and ultimately very moving documentary about Philippe Petit, the charismatic French performance artist who in 1974 committed the so-called “artistic crime of the century” — an illegal tightrope walk between the Twin Towers of the New York’s World Trade Center. Despite being what some might have seen as a niche project, it has emerged as one of the most acclaimed films (a Metacritic score of 89 speaks for itself), not to mention one of the top-grossing documentaries, of the year.

    Marsh, for one, admits to being a bit taken aback to his film’s dizzying trajectory. “It‘s both a thrill and a surprise,” he tells me on the phone, taking a breather from the deadline-driven editing of his new film. “It’s a great, hopeful story, but there’s such a tragic connotation to those buildings now that I wasn’t sure how audiences would respond to it.”

    By avoiding any 9/11 discussion in the film, however, Marsh was keen to keep the focus on themes of art and ambition, and he believes this is what so many viewers have connected with in the material. “It’s a fairytale, really,” he elaborates. “A real, true movie premise about achieving the impossible. Philippe is an adventurer, a superhero made flesh and blood. I love that what he did was in a way kind of pointless — it’s beauty for its own sake. And I love that audiences appreciate that.”

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  • Hugh Jackman named Oscar host

    The news is out — the Australian thesp and “Sexiest Man Alive” will host February’s 81st Academy Awards.

    And why not? He’s charismatic, well-liked by all, a bona fide movie star and a genuine showman who has proved his mettle at this short of thing before by hosting the Tony Awards (and winning an Emmy for his pains).

    I’ve always said the Oscar host doesn’t necessarily need to be a comedian — it needs to be someone urbane, witty and relatable, who can deliver good material and keep things running at a fair clip. I have no doubt that Jackman can pull that off, and the fact that he’s an able song-and-dance man will no doubt come in handy.

    Meanwhile, add the fact that more young viewers actually know who he is, and that more female viewers (hell, more male viewers too) will probably tune in for the eye candy, and this fits neatly with the strategy to boost telecast ratings. But it’s no dumbing-down move either: Jackman is an old-fashioned Hollywood star who should keep the traditionalists happy.

    I’ve always thought George Clooney would be the ideal choice, while Kris imaginatively plumped for Kevin Spacey a while back, but the choice of Jackman is a clear move in a similar direction. Good call, Bill Condon.

  • Performance of the decade?

    More good news for Kristin Scott Thomas after rebounding yesterday with a Golden Globe nomination — in his 2008 wrap-up, Richard Roeper names her stunning turn in “I’ve Loved You So Long” the performance of the year. (The film, meanwhile, cracks his Top 5.) In fact, he goes even further than that:

    The acting turn that resonated most memorably with me in 2008 was Kristin Scott Thomas’ performance in “I’ve Loved You So Long.” That the British native is starring in a French film is no trick; Ms. Scott Thomas is fluent and is utterly comfortable with the language. As the beautiful, 45-ish Juliette, recently released from prison after serving 15 years for a horrific crime, Scott Thomas creates a fascinating portrayal of a woman who is neither martyr nor monster. She did what she did, and we’re not sure why until the very end of the film — and then we understand, and we ache for everyone involved in this tragedy. Whether she’s eyeing a man in a bar — after all, it’s been 15 years — bonding with her sister’s children, gingerly exploring the possibility of a romance or exploding with sorrow and anger as she finally reveals the circumstances of her crime, Scott Thomas is profoundly effective. I’m not sure I’ve seen a better performance in any film this decade.

    Wow… strong words. I’m not sure how deeply Roeper thought through that last statement, but I’m thrilled to see the thesp getting such rich praise. This is a film and performance with a very passionate band of select supporters, and I suspect that might be the case in the Academy’s actors’ branch too. Hard-working “actors’ actors” like Scott Thomas (or Richard Jenkins, or Melissa Leo) frequently stand a stronger chance in peer-voted awards.

  • Globe cheers, jeers and predictions

    As ever, this morning’s Golden Globe announcement provided a mixed bag of talking points, with some pleasantly zany curveballs at one end of the scale, and a couple of yawnsome autopilot nominees at the other. Like most awards bodies, they’re never going to get it completely right: for every inspired inclusion or omission there’s an equally perplexing one. (Ralph Fiennes for “The Duchess,” anyone?)

    But looking at the nominees from a bargaining perspective — tempering, for example, my disappointment that Richard Jenkins didn’t make the Best Actor cut with the knowledge that Clint Eastwood didn’t either — I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m happier with them than I expected to be.

    With that in mind, I offer below a couple of my own personal highlights and low points of the nominee list (though, given that I haven’t seen “Milk” yet, I’m leaving off that heated topic), followed by some way-too-early, subject-to-change predictions. Feel free to supply your own.

    THE GOOD

    Comedy rules: The comedy/musical categories are usually a dumping ground for filler nominees in less-than-memorable mainstream products, and previously expressed fear that this year, given the lack of high-profile contenders, they could make some really desperate stretches this year. Happily, the HFPA showed genuine resourcefulness by dipping into indie waters to celebrate the oddball wonders of “Happy-Go-Lucky” and “In Bruges,” while singling out the superb, less-discussed likes of Rebecca Hall and Brendan Gleeson for recognition. With classy, intimate works like “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” and “Last Chance Harvey” joining the mix, the resulting set of nominees is, dare I say it, considerably fresher than their dramatic counterparts. How often can you say that?

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  • Golden Globes: ‘Slumdog,’ ‘Button’ steady…whither ‘Milk?’

    Well, I said yesterday one should always expect oddities with the Golden Globes … but even with that in mind, they never fail to pull out some genuine “WTF” moments.

    Tom Cruise’s goofy Best Supporting Actor nod for “Tropic Thunder” may have been the most eccentric revelation of the morning, but surely the most significant shocker is the absence of “Milk” — presumed by many to be “Slumdog Millionaire”‘s chief rival in the Oscar race — in the Best Picture (Drama) category.

    The shut-out proved even more blatant when neither Josh Brolin nor James Franco, who have been making healthy progress in the precursors, landed in the Supporting Actor race. Still processing that one — right now, I can’t think of a suitable theory to explain its absence. (But hey, at least Franco landed a left-field comedy-category nod for “Pineapple Express” … I think I know one guy who will be stoked with that.)

    The producers of “Slumdog Millionaire” will no doubt be thrilled by the news, as will those of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” which claws back some momentum after taking a knock in this week’s precursors. In an unusually spread-out slate, “Button” and “Frost/Nixon” lead the pack of Best Picture nominees, with 5 nods apiece — I must admit I never expected the latter to be a field leader. (Meanwhile, in yet another of the morning’s oddities, their tally is equalled by the Best Picture-omitted “Doubt.”)

    Some will be surprised by the failure of “The Dark Knight” to land Picture or Director nods, though I personally didn’t see the film the registering that strongly with the Foreign Press.

    On the other hand, I naively failed to foresee that Harvey Weinstein would work his magic once more on the organisation — Kris’ prediction of a strong showing for “The Reader” was right on the money. Meanwhile, despite whispers that the HFPA wasn’t all that keen on “Revolutionary Road,” the nominations tell a different story. The nod for Sam Mendes is one I find particularly surprising; Paramount Vantage will no doubt heave a huge sigh of relief after a terrible precursor week that saw the film blanked in the Broadcast Film Critics’ nominations.

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  • Backlash on backlash

    Quite why certain factions have taken it upon themselves to heap such scorn upon “Slumdog Millionaire,” a film that I thought had to rank among the year’s most likeable, is something that escapes me. Who’d be a frontrunner, eh?

    Anyway, I was glad to read the Vulture wags take on the “Slumdog” backlash with typically acidic wit. This particular entry in their facetious list of the film’s cons had me snorting my tea through my nose:

    Not WWII-y enough: Were you aware that Slumdog Millionaire is one of the few films coming out this fall that doesn’t feature Nazis? Is Danny Boyle trying to make us forget the Holocaust?

    Brilliant. The rest here.

  • Guessing the Globes

    This time tomorrow we’ll be poring over the Golden Globe nominations, no doubt shredding them to pieces as we complain about assorted instances of overlooking, overrating and good old-fashioned star-fucking.

    In honour of my first correct prediction (well, of something that wasn’t already blindingly obvious) of the entire season — that would be Sally Hawkins’ NYFCC win this morning — I thought I’d promptly discredit myself again by offering some bound-to-be-wrong Globe predictions. More below the cut.

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  • INTERVIEW: Sally Hawkins

    Sally Hawkins“We didn’t necessarily set out to create someone as perpetually sunny as Poppy,” says Sally Hawkins of her radiant performance in Mike Leigh’s “Happy-Go-Lucky,” which is currently making waves in the awards race. “But Mike was very dismissive of doing anything maudlin or moody with this project. So the optimism came early on for her. It’s like trying on different skins. And this skin just fit.”

    Spoken in a breezy, unassuming tone, it strikes me as a statement — equal parts pragmatic and eccentric — that could as easily have some from the mouth of Poppy herself, the cheery North London schoolteacher who forms the delightful center of Leigh’s latest perceptive study of British social mores.

    Indeed, when I first encounter Hawkins in the top-floor café of a West End bookshop, dressed in a somewhat Poppy-esque ensemble of emerald-green cardigan and flowing tie-dye skirt, it’s difficult not to be reminded at least a little of her character. Hawkins is certainly calmer and a little softer in person, but her easy-flowing conversation, accompanied by increasingly wild hand gestures, reveals something akin to Poppy’s humor and generosity of spirit.

    “I’m nothing like as extroverted as she is,” she says, smiling broadly.  “But how many people are?  If anyone says they see even a little of me in Poppy, or vice versa, I take that as the hugest compliment, because she just has life worked out. It’s not as if she’s negating that it’s hard. She just finds a way to deal with it, and finds a way to flow with people. She’s an extraordinary person. I think I learned a lot from her.”

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  • THE LISTS: Top 10 ‘right actor, wrong film’ Oscars

    As we head into the thick of awards season, one of the biggest “will-they-won’t-they” questions about this year’s Academy Awards concerns one of their most favored sons, Clint Eastwood. Specifically: despite wildly polarized responses to the film, and a widespread perception that he has already been amply rewarded in other categories, can Eastwood ride the wave of sentiment to a first acting victory for “Gran Torino?”

    That sneaky National Board of Review award last week suggests it’s still very much a possibility, whether or not people believe that it’s a performance for the ages — and, more to the point, whether or not it ranks with the best of Eastwood’s own onscreen work.

    It’s no secret that, in the acting races, the Academy frequently bases their vote less on the performance at hand than the actor delivering it — one can point to any number of Oscar victories determined less by merit than by personal affection for an already rewarded star (let’s say Michael Caine in “The Cider House Rules”) or industry guilt over an under-rewarded one (most recently, Alan Arkin in “Little Miss Sunshine”).

    Meanwhile, recent victories by the likes of Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett point to the familiar “deferred-Oscar” syndrome, where an actor widely believed to have been snubbed in the recent past is hastily handed a statuette as a kind of cumulative acknowledgment of their recent strong work, frequently for a performance that doesn’t represent any particular breakthrough. (Kate Winslet might be vying for one of those this year.)

    All are variations of the oft-lamented “right actor, wrong film” Oscars that are peppered throughout Academy history — a solution generally deemed more credible (though I’m not sure why) than the honorary “quick, before they die” lifetime achievement gongs doled out to the likes of Peter O’Toole and Kirk Douglas, actors who continually slip through the cracks in Oscar voting.

    Age isn’t always the determining factor, though.  The Academy has shown in recent years by passing over Lauren Bacall and Ruby Dee — both of whom would have been exemplary “right actor, wrong film” honorees — they’re not always in a sentimental mood.  As the following list shows, reasons for rewarding actors for lesser work are many and varied: genre bias on the Academy’s part, mainstream emergence on the actor’s, or simply the voters’ collective nostalgia for a familiar face at the podium.

    The one thing all these names have in common is that they’re distinguished, even great actors who deserve to have “Academy Award winner” forever attached to their monikers — just not necessarily for that performance. Will Clint Eastwood be the latest name to join their ranks? The jury is out.

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  • A voice of dissent

    Whether it’s on blogs like this one or in loftier film publications, there appears to be a general consensus that 2008 hasn’t been the best year at the movies, particularly in terms of American cinema. Lots of promising projects, ambitious ideas, isolated moments of genius, but very few bull’s-eyes — especially when compared to last year’s bumper crop.

    Well, one person disagrees. Roger Ebert, in fact. He believes 2008 has been “a great year for movies, even if many of them didn’t receive wide distribution.” Indeed, he thinks it so great that he can’t limit himself to a standard year-end Top Ten, instead listing his 20 favourites in alphabetical order:

    “Ballast,” “The Band’s Visit,” “Che,” “Chop Shop,” “The Dark Knight,” “Doubt,” “The Fall,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Frozen River,” “Happy-Go-Lucky,” “Iron Man,” “Milk,” “Rachel Getting Married,” “The Reader,” “Revolutionary Road,” “Shotgun Stories,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “Synecdoche, New York,” “W.” and “WALL-E.”

    He rounds out the last with his own “Special Jury Prize” winner, Guy Maddin’s “My Winnipeg,” which I’ve been itching to see for a while. And of equal standing, he says, is his list of the five best documentaries (which actually reads like a plausible Oscar slate): “Encounters at the End of the World,” “I.O.U.S.A.,” “Man on Wire,” “Standard Operating Procedure” and “Trouble the Water.”

    Of course, it’s hard to argue with a personal list. Each to their own, and all that. But I must confess to feeling dismayed that only two foreign-language films made Ebert’s cut in a year where, for me, the likes of “Gomorrah” and “The Class” showed more conceptual breadth and storytelling verve than almost anything to emerge from Hollywood (or Indiewood) this year. And with so many included, I find the absence of “Hunger” and “The Wrestler” hard to fathom, particularly when something like “W.” is there.

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  • WEEKLY WRAP: ‘Slumdog’ surges, ‘River’ emerges

    Sorry it’s a day late, but here’s the week that was. Awards and nominations left, right and centre — the season is officially under way, folks:

    • “Slumdog Millionaire” emerged as a bona fide frontrunner, taking Best Picture at the season kickoff, the National Board of Review awards …

    • … only days after taking top honours across the Atlantic, at the British Independent Film Awards.

    • Speaking of indies, “Frozen River” also enjoyed a great week, emerging victorious at the Gotham Awards …

    • … while it was also one of the top nominees for the Independent Spirit Awards.

    • We took a break from the awards beat to chat to the impressive ladies of “I’ve Loved You So Long,” Kristin Scott Thomas and Elsa Zylberstein …

    • The former of whom took a gong at the European Film Awards, which were otherwise all about “Gomorrah.”

    • The Annie Awards for animation revealed their nominees, with “Kung Fu Panda” surprisingly leading the field.

    • Meanwhile, the mysterious Golden Satellite nominations were as head-scratching as ever.

    • The first reviews finally emerged on “The Reader,” and they generally like it … from a distance.

    • While the appearance of reviews doesn’t make “Gran Torino” any less of a puzzle this awards season.

    • And all the while, the rumblings around “The Dark Knight” grow louder.

  • ‘Gomorrah’ sweeps European Film Awards

    Wow. As I said when the European Film Award nominations were announced a month ago, this year offered a pretty vintage slate of contenders. I therefore expected the honours to be spread quite widely, as is often the case with these particular awards.

    But it was not to be. In a spectacular sweep, Matteo Garrone’s riveting Mafia opus “Gomorrah” took home five awards, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenwriter, Best Cinematographer and Best Actor for Toni Servillo, who won jointly for “Gomorrah” and his more prominent role in “Il Divo.”

    I must admit the latter award surprises me: terrific as Servillo is in both films, I assumed “Hunger” star Michael Fassbender had that one locked up.

    In a less surprising but richly deserved victory, Kristin Scott Thomas took the Best Actress award for “I’ve Loved You So Long,” her first trophy of the awards season. I suspect it might not be her last; check out my interview with the extraordinary thesp here.

    Elsewhere, “Hunger” inevitably took the Discovery Award for debut director Steve McQueen, while “Waltz With Bashir” was an inspired choice for the Best Composer prize (beating Oscar-winner “Atonement,” no less).

    But beyond that, it was “Gomorrah” all the way, marking an auspicious start to the awards season for a contender generating buzz beyond just the Best Foreign Language Film category. I’m pleased to see this landmark film getting its due, though I do wish such notable fellow nominees as “Happy-Go-Lucky” and Laurent Cantet’s wonderful “The Class” hadn’t gone home empty-handed. Ah well.

    Full list of winners after the cut.

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  • INTERVIEW: Kristin Scott Thomas

    Kristin Scott ThomasWhen interviewing Kristin Scott Thomas, the woman who for many audiences represents the living portrait of English upper-crust serenity, Led Zeppelin isn’t exactly the first name you expect to crop up in the conversation. And yet, halfway through our Transatlantic chat, that is exactly what happens.

    “Seeing the guys, well into their sixties, just getting up on stage and doing their thing … it’s just so inspiring,” she says, referring to the British rock gods’ reunion concert that took place in London a year ago. “And spanning generations too — my son is into them. It’s a reminder that you don’t stop being interesting or relevant at a certain age. I’d love to do that.”

    As entertaining as the idea of Thomas belting out “Whole Lotta Love” to a screaming arena of thousands is, it’s a weirdly apt comparison. Where many actresses her age recede (albeit not usually by choice) into mumsy bit parts and dreary disease-of-the-week movies, Scott Thomas, now (incredibly) 48, has recently been taking on the most challenging, intriguing work of her career to date.

    As if to prove the point, she is speaking from New York, where she is tackling one of the theater’s greatest female roles in her first ever Broadway gig. Her witty, ferocious interpretation of Arkadina in Chekhov’s “The Seagull” earned her an Olivier Award for the play’s original London incarnation and is now garnering breathless raves Stateside.

    It’s her recent film work, however, that has made 2008 a banner year for the thesp. Two highly entertaining, highly contrasting supporting roles — as a worldly lesbian in the smash French thriller “Tell No One” and an icy matriarch in period comedy “Easy Virtue” — are mere appetizers to her staggering, career-peak performance as an introverted, grief-ridden ex-con, reconnecting with family and society alike, in Philippe Claudel’s superb debut feature “I’ve Loved You So Long.”

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  • More thrilling than…

    Happily for Universal, the majority of US critics seem to like “Frost/Nixon” significantly more than I did. It’s currently sitting on a healthy Metacritic score of 80, with ringing endorsements from such estimable names as David Denby, J. Hoberman and Kenneth Turan. As a side note, however, on reading Turan’s review, his parting shot struck me as unusually ill-judged from a critic for whom I have great respect:

    The result is involving, engrossing cinema — more thrilling, in fact, than Howard’s “The Da Vinci Code” — filmmaking of a type rarely seen anymore and sorely missed.

    More thrilling than “The Da Vinci Code?” Considering that Turan clearly loves the film, is that line — possibly the faintest praise imaginable — really the best he could do? Moreover, the addition of the words “in fact” suggests that this should be in any way surprising. Of course “Frost/Nixon” is more thrilling than “The Da Vinci Code.” But then, so are corporate training videos. Dig deeper, Mr. Turan.

    Moving on. I was previously uncertain that the film would generate enough passion to be a Best Picture contender, but as the pool grows ever shallower, it looks increasingly as though this safe, solidly crafted and apparently well-liked effort could be among those left standing come February.

  • Trades mixed-to-positive on ‘Gran Torino’

    A couple of days ago, David Poland snarked that “Gran Torino” plays better as a comedy. Well, whether by accident or design, that’s exactly how some trade papers are reading the film. While Variety’s Todd McCarthy calls it a “funny, broad but ultimately serious-minded drama,” The Hollywood Reporter’s Kirk Honeycutt goes all out in declaring it a “return to comedy.”

    Whatever the genre, the verdict is mixed. Honeycutt seems to enjoy Eastwood’s “rare comic performance,” but thinks the film may disappoint fans of Eastwood’s recent, weightier work:

    The movie itself … is an unstable affair given to overemphasized points and telegraphed punches. It lacks the subtlety of Eastwood’s recent efforts, but then again, the film must be seen in the mode of “Dirty Harry reunites with his ‘Every Which Way but Loose’ orangutan” — only this time it’s an aging dog named Daisy.

    That this mostly comic film turns tragic is a foregone conclusion as this mood change is signaled all along. (When a character spends an entire film coughing up blood, we don’t imagine he’ll be around at the end.) Yet Eastwood’s direction cannot always smooth out the unevenness and forced situations in Schenk’s script.

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  • And the Oscar for Cutest Swag goes to…

    … Overture Films, for this miniature djembe drum sent all the way from Beverly Hills to London to promote “The Visitor.” Well, it made me smile.

    Incidentally, the soundtrack — by Oscar-winner Jan A.P. Kaczmarek — is really rather lovely.

  • A shot in the dark

    Okay, so Kris has sensibly avoided predicting the frequently confounding National Board of Review awards, but I figure you need someone to mock and taunt when the announcement arrives later today, so I’m offering myself as a sacrificial lamb. My best guesses (which is not to say good guesses) after the cut.

    I’m bearing in mind that last year, they chose not to include their Best Picture winner in their Top 10, thereby making it more of a Top 11. As for how they choose to categorise and separate independent film, I have no idea.

    I must admit that, for all their occasional goofiness, I harbour some affection for the NBR awards, if only because they sometimes throw some curveballs into the mix (“Quills” or Campbell Scott, anyone?) and were among the few to suitably reward “Moulin Rouge!” in 2001. Here’s hoping they’re similarly adventurous this around.

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