In Contention

Author: Kristopher Tapley

  • Forget Best Supporting Actor — it’s time to honor Andy Serkis’ “Special Achievement”

    There has been a lot of talk this week about Andy Serkis’ stirring performance-capture portrayal of ape rebellion leader Caesar in “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” In many quarters, writers are calling for consideration in the Best Supporting Actor category. It’s a song and dance Serkis and those of us who follow the film awards season have heard before, but I wonder if it’s the wrong approach.

    It’s important to face facts if you want Oscar recognition for Serkis. The Academy — an actor-dominated body — is not ready to hail performance-capture outside of the effects arena. Period. Two years ago, “Avatar” showed us that there was fear there when it missed out on a Best Picture win. It was admittedly one of a handful of issues that served as a stumbling block, but the sense (amplified by competing Oscar campaigns) was that a quickly advancing technique could one day render actors obsolete. Yes, it was a ridiculous fear, but it was a fear nonetheless. And for some, I’m sure it still is.

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  • Up my alley

  • Weta out in front for VFX Oscar with ‘Apes’

    I missed last night’s big press screening of “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” (inexplicably held until the last minute and then embargo-requested — didn’t hold — by the studio despite people loving the film). I will, however, be catching it tomorrow night, but one thing we’ve been counting on since the beginning is a nomination for Best Visual Effects.

    Now, it’s looking more and more like the film could just walk away with the statue. Put state-of-the-art effects in a bad movie and you have an uphill climb. Just ask “Transformers.” The Academy at large doesn’t know what it should be looking for in the below-the-line categories, so more often than not, members just pick their favorite of the bunch.

    However, if you have undeniable effects work in a blockbuster that actually goes over well with the Academy, you have something to work with.

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  • ‘The Help’ and the year’s best ensemble performance…so far

    Now that I’m done crying my eyes out, a few words on Tate Taylor’s “The Help,” which I caught this afternoon.

    It’s a beautiful film, safe, sure, but it knows where to lay the emotional hammer down and where to let the rock keep skipping on the surface. Most striking is the ensemble, as there isn’t a single bad performance in the film. In fact, I’d say all of the them are comfortably above average, the highlights coming from Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer. But then Jessica Chastain was my personal favorite. Oh, and what about Sissy Spacek leaving you in the aisles?

    You see? It takes a real special touch to get this kind of across-the-board perfection out of a cast. Bryce Dallas Howard has pinpoint devilish precision. Allison Janney wiggles her way into your heart even after you don’t want her there. Ahna O’Reilly captures that locked-in submissive state wonderfully. Cicely Tyson punches you in the gut with just a few minutes of screen time. On and on. Oh, and Emma Stone…duh.

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  • James Earl Jones, Dick Smith and Oprah Winfrey to receive Academy’s Governors Awards

    Okay, so nix her as a host possibility. Oprah gets the Hersholt.

    Dick Smith is an inspired pick for an Honorary Oscar. It’s interesting that I’m watching Tim Burton’s “Planet of the Apes” right now, which saw makeup artist Rick Baker shafted by the Academy, just as his mentor is announced for this honor. Baker talked a bit about Smith at Comic-Con last month.

    And James Earl Jones, well. Who’s going to argue with that? Anyway, the press release, in part:

    The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted tonight to present Honorary Awards to actor James Earl Jones and makeup artist Dick Smith and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to philanthropist Oprah Winfrey. All three awards will be presented at the Academy’s 3rd Annual Governors Awards dinner on Saturday, November 12, at the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center®.

    [Photo: Columbia Pictures]

  • ‘Twixt’ trailer

    Now that Francis Ford Coppola’s experimental film “Twixt” has been announced for a Toronto premiere, the trailer has hit the web (via TIFF’s You Tube page). It’s largely composed of the footage we saw at Comic-Con, which was lived-edited into two different assemblages during the panel there. That’s Tom Waits narrating, by the way. Check out the trailer by clicking hte image below, or watch an embed after the jump.

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  • ‘Like Crazy’ trailer

    One film Paramount is high on for the awards season (and is surely a breath of fresh air for the awards team, given its indie sheen) is Drake Doremus’s “Like Crazy.” The film already played Sundance and was a big hit there, so perhaps a slow burn through the season will get it some more attention. The trailer has dropped via Apple, so check it out by clicking the image below or watch an embed after the jump.

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  • BOX OFFICE: ‘Cowboys’ and ‘Smurfs’ photo finish

    After winning the day Friday, “The Smurfs” (which somehow has an audience) managed to dip down and line up neck and neck with the under-performing “Cowboys & Aliens.” Meanwhile, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” is on course to be the fastest worldwide billion-dollar grosser, and is likely to take the domestic crown, too (a first when the franchise was up against a “Transformers” installment). “Midnight in Paris” dropped out of the top 10 again but still managed a million more bucks.

    (Courtesy: Exhibitor Relations)

  • Tell us what you thought of ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’

    I missed the screenings of “Crazy, Stupid, Love” and haven’t made it to the theater to see it since it released this weekend. But, by request, here’s a place for those thoughts if you’d like to share. I have to say, though, that the split in opinions on this one have me really intrigued. So I’ll definitely see it sooner than later, but tell us what you thought.

  • Tell us what you thought of ‘Cowboys & Aliens’

    I already glossed over my feelings on Jon Favreau’s “Cowboys & Aliens” at Comic-Con. In short, I find it to be an incredibly taxing exercise with zero character development, vacant of energy and held together by incredibly lazy screenwriting. But for the sake of the western, I hope it does well at the box office. So if you happen to see the film this weekend, come on back here with your thoughts.

  • Telluride guessing game

    (UPDATED: 8/29)

    Now that the Toronto and Venice line-ups have been unveiled (though we have a few more Toronto announcements to come), I figured I’d take a few stabs at sussing out the Telluride crop this year. I haven’t been a good journalist and called around or anything. Just spinning my wheels.

    One studio that always has a big presence at Telluride is Sony Pictures Classics, and this year, honchos Michael Barker and Tom Bernard have a full plate once again. Of that stable, David Cronenberg’s “A Dangerous Method” is hitting both Venice and Toronto. It’s very possible, then, that it will kick things off in the Rockies.

    Roman Polanski’s “Carnage,” meanwhile, was announced as a Venice play this morning. It would be easy enough for the team to bring the film there and not worry about getting the filmmaker in town (seeing as he can’t legally step foot in the country), saving his press run for Venice. (7/28 UPDATE: The film has been set for New York fest, so it seems unlikely we’ll see it in Telluride.)

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  • ‘The Ides of March’ trailer

    George Clooney’s “The Ides of March” is set for a Venice premiere in September. It may or may not make it to Telluride, but in any case, I’ve been hearing lately that Evan Rachel Wood and Philip Seymour Hoffman are killer in the film. (Marisa Tomei, I’m told, doesn’t figure in as much.) Anyway, judging by the new trailer at Yahoo! Movies, it has me at “Hello.” We might be talking about this one throughout the season.

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  • ‘Avengers’ assemble in concept art revealing Hulk

    Okay, one more superhero dip before we leave Comic-Con behind. Click for larger, expanded version.

  • COMIC-CON: It all ends

    Well, like I said. Another year, another Con.

    For a convention I expected to be a bit more laid-back than usual, it sure was anything but. I guess I put that on myself by hustling back to LA for a concert and back down again to wrap things up, but even having covered just a sliver of the event (compared to the thorough coverage from outlets with multiple on-hand correspondents, who do it so well), boy am I glad it’s over.

    If you’ve read the coverage then you know my extended thoughts, but here’s a recap nevertheless.

    The highlight of the entire weekend was, for me, finally seeing Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive.” The film is an invigorating experience, an artful meditation that takes the most simplistic of narratives and turns it into a thorough character study.

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  • BOX OFFICE: ‘America,’ f*** yeah

    So “Captain America: The First Avenger” managed to hold the Harry Potter buzz wave to one weekend crown by coming out on top this week. I think it’s a pretty solid number given the givens, but anyway, my eyes are on that #10 spot. Woody Allen’s locomotive keeps chugging along.

    (Courtesy: Box Office Mojo)

  • COMIC-CON: ‘Haywire’ trailer

    I missed Relativity’s panel featuring Steven Soderbergh’s “Haywire” and the John-Cusack-as-Edgar-Allan-Poe flick “The Raven.” This was very much a bummer, seeing as “Haywire” star Gina Carano has been a personal crush ever since she suited up as, well, Crush, in the rebooted American Gladiators. So the trailer, released via Apple, is the first of the footage I’ve seen. I’m not quite sure why Soderbergh is bathing in the warm water of commercial plays lately (this and “Contagion”), but I’ll give it a look. Nothing is standing out, though. Other than my…crush. Anyway, check out the trailer for “Haywire” by clicking the image below, or watch an embed after the jump.

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  • COMIC-CON: Andrew Garfield’s touching ode to Spidey

    Just a few Comic-Con clean-up odds and ends before I officially bid this year’s convention farewell, starting with this. I missed the Sony panel Friday but this nugget was clearly the best part of it, from what I can tell.

  • ‘Moneyball’ poster

    I’m still in a bit of wait-and-see mode on “Moneyball.” It could be an awards play, it could just be a bit of bankability in the fall movie season, but I do dig the one-sheet that hit the net this week. The trailer hit last month. Check out the full poster after the jump.

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