In Contention

Category: Daily

  • Bill Paxton on Cameron, Bigelow

    Bill PaxtonActor Bill Paxton always seems to give Kevin Bacon a run for his money in the “six degrees” department.  I’ve always joked that if they ever wanted to nut up and do “Aliens vs. Predator vs. Terminator,” Paxton had better be in it since he’s the common thread throughout.

    That ubiquity has, of course, led him to work with a number of talented filmmakers, including the two at the center of this year’s Best Director showdown.  For James Cameron Paxton has appeared in everything from “The Terminator” to “True Lies,” while he starred in Kathryn Bigelow’s 1987 vampire western “Near Dark.”

    The actor stopped by Jimmy Fallon last night (which I was only watching because it was background noise — I try to steer clear of frat boy hour) and Fallon asked about working with the two of them, especially Cameron.  It’s not earth-shattering stuff but it makes for nice viewing on an idle Wednesday.  Although it’s too bad there was no “Reach!” inquiry.  Have a look after the jump.

    (more…)

  • OSCAR GUIDE: Best Actor

    Morgan Freeman in InvictusThe Best Actor category solidified pretty early on this year. I imagine the eventual line-up had slid into place as early as November, and after the Screen Actors Guild made things more official, the predictable race unfolded from there. What we have now is a typical mixture of seasoned veterans, solid industry players and newcomers to the awards season.

    But things weren’t always so clear. Before a last-minute decision to release what, from afar, always appeared to be a potential awards vehicle for a respected star, things could have gone a number of ways. Sometimes jumping in late can be a boost, and sometimes it just seems like the obvious play.

    The nominees are:

    Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”
    George Clooney, “Up in the Air”
    Colin Firth, “A Single Man”
    Morgan Freeman, “Invictus”
    Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker”

    (more…)

  • Babes in arms

    We pointed you to Mark Harris’s superb examination of the Oscar campaign trail in a round-up, but if you missed it … well, don’t. If “Pictures at a Revolution” didn’t already make the case, this article reminds me that we’re due an updated equivalent of Mason Wiley and Damien Bona’s totemic “Inside Oscar” — and Harris is the man for the job.

    Anyway, as icing on the cake, the article is accompanied by a wonderful photographic portfolio by Brigitte Lacombe. There’s a portrait of Marion Cotillard in there that’s worthy of Cecil Beaton, but this shot of “Precious” director Lee Daniels with young Quishay Powell (who plays the unfortunately-named Mongo in the film) is the snap of the season for me.

    Quishay Powell and Lee Daniels

  • Up, up and away

    George Clooney in Up in the AirBack in a November installment of Off the Carpet, I noted that, by my measure, the films of 2009 reflected a particular theme.  “I’ve always come back to one thought on this year’s slate of films: catharsis,” I wrote at the time.  “With expected exceptions here and there, in one way or another, the bulk of what we’ve seen on screens in 2009 has very much been about emotional purging, bleeding out the past and, not to be too on-the-nose with the zeitgeist connotations, change.”

    I bring it up because it’s something I was reminded of while reading this Cristy Gosz piece at the LA Times, which treads similar waters but comes up with the idea that a number of the year’s films use travel as a metaphor for a character’s “visceral transformation” on the screen.

    The piece takes quotes from Jason Reitman and Jon Landau (at least one more would have been nice) to buttress the thesis and ens up making a solid enough point.  It’s always interesting to note similar thematic rhythms in a given film year, however irrelevant they might ultimately be.

    (more…)

  • Vulture’s Wide World of Oscar

    This…is brilliant.  And hilarious.  I missed Vulture’s introductory installment of a new PR-joshing video series called “Wide World of Oscar” when it gauged how Gabourey Sidibe scored for her campaign on Jimmy Fallon.  But I’m all caught up with the latest, a look at James Cameron’s appearance on Oprah’s couch.

    “Scouring the screen to bring you the constant variety of groveling, the thrill of self-promotion and the awkwardness of the shill.  The human drama of the Oscar campaign.”  Funny stuff, guys.  Keep ’em coming.

  • 2/10 Oscarweb Round-up

    Cover of Crazy Heart by Thomas Cobb• “Gong Show” host Chuck Barris optioned Thomas Cobb’s “Crazy Heart” once upon a time, but decided to travel the world in his yacht instead.  I’m sure Scott Cooper thanks him. [The Carpetbagger]

    • Whatever happened to Wes Bentley?  And question: One film equals a career? [New York Times]

    • Steve Pond on yesterday’s AMPAS press release du jour, giving winners more incentive to attend the Governor’s Ball this year. [The Odds]

    (more…)

  • Pump the brakes

    I was giving this LA Times photo gallery the benefit of the doubt until it tried to convince me that “Up” is in any way a “Best Picture mirror” to “Around the World in 80 Days,” or “A Serious Man” to “The Apartment.”

  • On the preferential system

    BallotWe’ve said it before, but the preferential balloting aspect of this year’s Best Picture race has been somewhat neglected by the media and the insistent positioning of the race as “Avatar” vs. “The Hurt Locker.” I see in one corner of the web that Anne Thompson is still calling that the battle “all the way,” with no mention of how the new schematic totally changes that perception.

    Elsewhere, it’s catching on.  In his latest Notes on a Season column, Pete Hammond posits, as I did in this space last week, that Pixar’s “Up” could be a potential beneficiary of the system as it could be in the number two or three position on a great many ballots.  Intriguingly, he also finds a Fox exec willing to say the same thing about “Avatar,” a film clearly more polarizing than a number of it’s co-nominees.

    Hendrick Hertzberg is also coming around to things at The New Yorker, noting that few people who have seen “The Hurt Locker” actively dislike it, which is of course why it’s our likely victor.  Even though Hertzberg is coming from the “Avatar” versus “The Hurt Locker” side of things, at least he’s posing the argument.

    (more…)

  • Oscilloscope nabs Sendak doc

    Maurice SendakOne of my smaller disappointments of last week’s Oscar nominations was the failure of Spike Jonze and Lance Bangs’s lovely “Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak” to secure a nod in the documentary short category. (You might remembert Kris’s enthusiastic endorsement of the film back in October.)

    Admittedly, I have not seen the five films that did make the cut — chances are they’re all highly worthy. But the Sendak short was a captivating portrait of a truly singular artist, simple in construction but touched by its subject’s one creative energy. Moreover, a nomination would have been a nice way for the Academy to indirectly recognize Jonze’s extraordinary work on “Where the Wild Things Are,” recipent of one of the most undeserved ducks of awards season.

    Anyway, spilt milk and all that. But I’m pleased to report that one of my favorite new indie outfits, Oscilloscope Laboratories, has acquired the short, and will be releasing it on DVD to coincide with the DVD release of “Where the Wild Things Are.”

    (more…)

  • Nothing good can come of this

    I tend to avoid reporting on projects at the pre-production stage, since they so often don’t pan out — if they were ever more than rumors to begin with. But it’s for that very reason that I bring this to your attention: if I mention it, that’ll hopefully put the hex on it ever happening. From the Guardian:

    Russell Crowe looks set to take a leading role in A Star Is Born, a remake of the classic Hollywood melodrama about a fading, drunken superstar who finds himself eclipsed by a younger model. The former Gladiator star is reportedly in talks to appear alongside Beyoncé in the Warner Bros production.

    Not horrific enough for you? Well, Nick Cassavetes (“My Sister’s Keeper,” “John Q,” “The Notebook”) is reportedly in the director’s chair. Uh, bring it on.

  • New ‘Hurt Locker’ TV spot loaded with accolades

  • OSCAR GUIDE: Best Sound Mixing

    Transformeres: Revenge of the FallenThe year’s sound mixing category had relatively few surprises, just glancing at the tea leaves of the season.  There was a typical 4/5 crossover between the Cinema Audio Society and the Academy, with “District 9” missing both here and in the sound editing field.

    One might be quick to chalk this, in fact all of the tech races up to the tech-heavy elephant in the room.  But let’s not forget “Slumdog Millionaire” managed a win here last year, over a decently respected piece of blockbuster entertainment.  And at the end of the day, the Academy at large generally just votes for its favorite film of the bunch, rather than think too much about what’s deserving in the field.

    The nominees are:

    “Avatar” (Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson)
    “The Hurt Locker” (Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett)
    “Inglourious Basterds” (Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano)
    “Star Trek” (Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin)
    “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson)

    (more…)

  • Official poster for the 82nd annual Oscars

    This has been floating around for a few weeks, actually, but the Academy made it “official” with a press release yesterday.  You can head over to the official AMPAS site to purchase the poster if you like.

    Official poster for the 82nd annual Oscars

  • ‘The Cove’ sees the light of day in Japan

    The CoveThe press release, in part:

    The Works International is delighted to announce the acquisition of Academy Award® nominated documentary THE COVE by Japanese distributor Medallion Media which is planning a tentative release date of April 2010 in Japan.

    Until now Japanese distributors have shied away from the award-winning documentary which generated huge coverage and controversy in Japan when it was finally included in the line-up of the 2009 Tokyo Film Festival after initially being rejected. Despite threats of legal action by fishermen from the town of Taiji featured in the film, the festival scheduled another screening after the first sold out within hours. Most Japanese are unaware of the annual dolphin cull that takes place in Taiji and also the significant risks of mercury poisoning from the eating of dolphin meat which the film so effectively exposes. In spite of continued opposition from the Taiji fishermen, Medallion Media recognized there were many people keen to see the film. Says Norio Okahara, Director of Medallion Media: “In distributing THE COVE we are not taking sides. Rather, we are presenting the film for the Japanese to decide for themselves about the issues it raises. There is a debate to be had here and this important film – and the Academy Award® nomination only serves to reinforce its importance – offers the opportunity for such a debate.”

    The film and director Louie Psihoyos will be recognized in Santa Barbara Wednesday night.

  • Films of the aughts montage

    (Courtesy: Bennett Media)

  • 2/9 Oscarweb Round-up

    Abbie Cornish in Bright Star• Owen Gleiberman nobly asserts that thick-headed attacks on “Precious” as beginning to “say more about the attackers.” [Entertainment Weekly]

    • Michelle Griffin sits down with quasi-surprise nominee Janet Patterson to discuss the threads of “Bright Star.” [The Age]

    • Anne Thompson goes back and forth with Moviefone’s Jack Matthews on the subject of Quentin Tarantino’s legacy. [Thompson on Hollywood]

    (more…)

  • SANTA BARBARA: Bigelow honored as Outstanding Director of the Year

    (from left) Andrew Davis, Kathryn Bigelow and Roger Durling at the 25th annual Santa Barbara International Film FestivalAs if another accolade was necessary at this point, Kathryn Bigelow was in town this evening to accept SBIFF’s Outstanding Director of the Year award.  The one-two punch of Bigelow here and James Cameron for the fest’s Modern Master honor made for, again, quite the prescient choices from festival director Roger Durling in the fall.

    The retrospective was emceed by Durling, which was endearing.  Two incredibly shy personalities on the stage at one time.  Lots of “ums” and “uhs,” but they caught their rhythm some time around the “Near Dark” discussion, which is when Durling said Bigelow first caught his attention.  He said he was fascinated by how Bigelow would take genres and deconstruct them, paint with different, darker shades.  Like melding a biker film with film noir in “The Loveless,” or attempting a western through the tools of the horror genre in “Near Dark.”

    Of course, Bigelow’s big achievement this year is no exception to this feature of her work.  It has long been a point of discussion that “The Hurt Locker” isn’t a typical war film, but a combination of suspense, action and, indeed, deep dramatic hues.  And like all of her work, an intense focus on character is at the fore.

    (more…)

  • On the sound of ‘Avatar’

    More on the sound mixing category in tomorrow’s Oscar Guide.  For now, courtesy of the Soundworks Collection: