In Contention

Category: Daily

  • Grammys for Giacchino

    UpAs the music world celebrated the general awesomeness that is Taylor Swift last night, Oscar-minded Hollywood couldn’t resist infringing on the proceedings slightly. When Jeff Bridges even crops up at the Grammy Awards (to introduce a Les Paul tribute), you just know that he’s this year’s chosen one.

    Bridges at least acquitted himself with dignity, something that sadly couldn’t be said for another Oscar hopeful, Quentin Tarantino, who came dressed (to steal blatantly from Joe Reid) as “Retired in Miami Elvis” and pimped his movie in a hopped-up intro to a Lil’ Wayne performance. To be fair, however, he was present as a nominee, though “Inglourious Basterds” lost the Best Compilation Soundtrack award to “Slumdog Millionaire.”

    Yes, last year’s Oscar champ isn’t done winning awards yet, as “Jai Ho” also beat Bruce Springsteen and Karen O to the Best Film/TV Song award.

    (more…)

  • Basking

    Just surfing around You Tube, spent 3:36 with this. Some dude, not completely fluid, but the power of the track still shines through. One of the most amazing musical compositions ever.

  • Sony Classics nabs Dutch foreign Oscar entry

    Winter in WartimeSo we’re potentially looking at four of the five nominees being housed under one roof domestically.  Interesting.  The press release, in part:

    Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired all US rights to the Dutch film, WINTER IN WARTIME from High Point Films, the theatrical division of Carey Fitzgerald’s London based High Point Media Group. Negotiating the deal was Sony Pictures Classics’ Executive Vice President of Acquisitions and Production, Dylan Leiner and High Point’s Director of Theatrical Sales and Marketing, Elisar Cabrera. The film is directed by Martin Koolhoven (SCHNITZEL PARADISE) and is produced by Els Vandevorst (co-produced Lars Von Trier’s MANDERLAY and DOGVILLE), and San Fu Maltha (BLACK BOOK).

    “WINTER IN WARTIME, beautifully realized by director Martin Koolhoven, takes a fresh look at Dutch resistance from the perspective of a 13 year old child. This film is the kind of emotionally engaging drama that has consistently achieved success with American audiences,” said Sony Pictures Classics.

  • My dream ballot: part one

    Where the Wild Things AreAs I did last year, I’m preparing for Tuesday’s announcement of the Oscar nominations by running through my own favorites in each category — following on from the ideal ballots posted by Kris and Chad in the past few weeks.

    “Preparing” isn’t quite the word: it implies a link between the processes of predicting and wishing, whereas I’m quite aware that most of my choices have scant chance of cropping up on Tuesday morning. But a guy can dream, can’t he?

    Today I’m running through the technical races, while tomorrow I’ll get to the big ones. For the most part, I’m sticking to the same format and rules for nominations as the Oscars, with a few select exceptions.

    Where some worthy 2009 U.S. releases are mysteriously absent from the Academy’s eligibility list, I’m not letting that stop me from giving them their due. Similarly, I’m happy to overrule some of the more inexplicable disqualifications of the arcane music branch.

    My technical ballot after the cut.

    (more…)

  • Toughest category?

    I’m working through final predictions for posting tomorrow (as if it’s something that actually matters in this world), and a couple of areas have me running and re-running the figures, so to speak.  I figured, with nothing going on but the Pro Bowl and some music awards show that I never watch, why not offer up a query to the readership?

    What’s the toughest category you’re working through right now?  Let your brain spill out.  What’cha thinkin’?  Main categories, tech categories, peripheral fields, anything.

  • ‘Winter’s Bone’ takes Sundance gold

    Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's BoneTalk about a good day for female filmmakers. Hours before Kathryn Bigelow’s history-making triumph at the DGA Awards, Debra Granik took the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance (in the U.S. Dramatic strand) for her critically lauded sophomore feature “Winter’s Bone.” Granik and co-writer Anne Rosselini also took screenwriting honors for the film.

    The film is one I had highlighted last month as a title to watch, so I’m glad to see it living up to expectations. I’m an admirer of Granik’s 2004 debut “Down to the Bone,” which put Vera Farmiga on the map — hopefully, “Winter’s Bone” can similarly boost the fortunes of young Jennifer Lawrence, who so excelled in “The Burning Plain” earlier this year.

    Granik’s film stars Lawrence as a resilient teenager searching for her missing father in the Ozark Mountains. Comparisons have already been made to Courtney Hunt’s “Frozen River,” which took the same award at Sundance two years ago.

    The corresponding Grand Jury Prize winner in the documentary category was Sebastien Junger and Tim Hetherington’s debut effort “Restrepo,” a chronicle of one year in the lives of the Second Platoon in Afghanistan’s deadly Korengal Valley.

    (more…)

  • ‘Hurt Locker,’ ‘The Cove’ win with DGA

    Kathryn BigelowI don’t want to be presumptuous and say something like, “It’s time to call this thing,” but it’s difficult to argue with the two biggest guild crowns ON TOP OF the critical sentiment “The Hurt Locker” is dragging into phase two.

    Kathryn Bigelow has won the DGA award for her work on the film, becoming the first woman to be awarded by the guild to date and taking one step closer to the same designation on Oscar night. (Louie Psihoyos won the documentary prize for “The Cove”). Left in the dust with its billions, it seems, is James Cameron’s “Avatar,” with nothing but a Golden Globe to its credit.

    Sometimes a winner just looks like a winner. Not to take the intrigue out of it. But seriously, the money thing, it’s just not hurting “The Hurt Locker,” and perhaps the Oscars will serve a purpose in a year the Academy became craven enough to expand its field to allow for critical successes. An independent that barely brought in $12 million at the box office will get the exposure it deserves on a global stage and perhaps reach a new audience.

    The irony is unbelievable. On to phase two.

    (Photo of Bigelow holding nomination plaque, not winner’s plaque.)

  • Ebert joins the predictions scramble

    Quinton Aaron and Sandra Bullock in The Blind SideWith less than 72 hours until Oscar nominations are announced, prediction lists are coming through thick and fast. Kris and I will have our final predictions up on Monday, while Gerard’s technical picks will be scattered throughout the weekend. (I’ll also enter dreamland for a while and offer up my fantasy ballot at some point.)

    Roger Ebert, meanwhile, is the latest big name to join the pile. As we’ve come to expect from the critic, his predictions are a blend of the rationally reasoned and the borderline insane. (Werner Herzog’s “The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” has an outside shot at a Best Picture nomination, apparently. Right.)

    Most interesting to me, however, is his conviction in “The Blind Side,” which he labels a can’t-miss Best Picture nominee. (He also calls Sandra Bullock a “sure thing” to win Best Actress.)

    (more…)

  • WEEKLY WRAP: Guild awards, pre-nomination jitters

    A scene from Inglourious Basterds• In the biggest upset of the season so far, “The Hurt Locker” came up trumps at the PGA Awards.

    • “Inglourious Basterds” took the top prize at the SAG Awards, which also gave another boost to Sandra Bullock.

    • With Oscar nominations out next week, we listed some of the greatest nominee fields in Oscar history.

    • Off the Carpet took stock following the weekend’s precursors, and Kris revised his winner predictions.

    (more…)

  • Thoughts on DGA?

    James CameronI have none, really.  If I’m pressed for a prediction, I think James Cameron is going to pull off what will be perceived as an upset for reasons mentioned in today’s Oscar Talk and a number of weeks back when I said J.J. Abrams was a threat for a nod (and I’ve come to find out he was actually pretty close).

    The answer is in the populist leanings of the guild, a vast, diluted membership that is TV-heavy, rules against sending screeners (which is a definite thorn for Kathryn Bigelow, whose film pulled down minuscule box office), etc.

    So the race will be back and forth one more weekend and the real victor of the week might well be the film that ends up with the most Oscar nominations Tuesday morning.  The epic of David and Goliath will turn one more page at that time as we make our way through February and, ultimately, Oscar’s stage, when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will be asked to anoint a representative from the class of 2009 to represent the best in filmed art and entertainment.

    But will it be art, or will it be entertainment?  The saga continues…

  • EW charts the race

    This is a fantastic little guide to the race over at Entertainment Weekly, but if they really want to step it up, give me the same tool across the 80-year Academy history. Let me compare, contrast. That would be a hell of a research instrument, for those of us sick enough to take prognostication WAY too freakin’ seriously.

    Entertainment Weekly Best Picture chart

    (via Awards Daily)

  • International Film Music Critics nominees

    The Twilight Saga: New MoonThis just arrived via press release.  Talk about your refreshingly diverse list of contenders.

    Predicting the Academy’s Best Original Score category can often be a bit of a chore.  There is no “guild” for the composers, after all, nothing to serve as a barometer.  For the longest time you could generally count on the group to be quite insular, and they still are to an extent, but as of late, they have also been a bit more open to newbies.

    The only other thing we have to go by is the International Film Music Critics Association, which isn’t much to go by at all, really.  You can look over the group’s five years of nominee announcements and see rather quickly that it’s an artfully-minded assemblage.  In a nutshell, “Drag Me to Hell” won’t be get to call itself an Oscar nominee, but it’s cool to see it pop up here.  “Twilight,” on the other hand…maybe.

    Michael Giacchino received a record nine nominations himself, including in the top field, which you can see below.  For the rest, head on over to The Circuit.

    Film Score of the Year
    “Avatar” (James Horner)
    “Drag Me to Hell” (Christopher Young)
    “Star Trek” (Michael Giacchino)
    “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” (Alexandre Desplat)
    “Up” (Michael Giacchino)

  • FRIDAY FORECAST: Charts of ‘Darkness’

    Mel Gibson in Edge of Darkness*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    Lucky weekend number seven for “Avatar.” The top spot beckons once again and James Cameron will surely oblige. Another slim drop of 20% would give the wild blue wonder $26.2 million and put $600 million within it’s grubby little grasp.

    The only thing remotely standing in the way is the return of Mel Gibson, after an 8-year hiatus from leading roles. His last time in front of the camera and above the title was in “Signs,” which grossed $292.7 million and happens to be the biggest hit of his entire career. So technically, the man is on a roll.

    In fact, not counting his small part in “The Million Dollar Hotel,” Gibson’s last 12 pictures have all crossed the $100 million mark, dating back to “The Man Without a Face.” Say what you want about his Jew-hating, but he is one seriously bona fide movie star.

    “Edge of Darkness” bears more than a passing resemblance to both “Taken” and Gibson’s own “Payback.” Warner Bros. quickly pounced onto the release date of the former, which debuted with $24.7 million and then showed remarkable staying power through the Spring.  The latter opened in February 1999 to $31.2 million. Splitting the difference would give “Edge of Darkness” $28 million, but I think Gibson’s star has fallen enough to make that impossible. I’m thinking more like $23 million and second place.

    (more…)

  • 1/29 Oscarweb Round-up

    Christian McKay• Krista Smith sits down with dark horse Best Supporting Actor contender Christian McKay. [Little Gold Men]

    • Pete Hammond reports on the town’s goings-on, including Jason Reitman’s program of films for the New Beverly Theater. [Notes on a Season]

    • A master list of FYC screenplays available for download. [MovieCultists]

    (more…)

  • UK critics honor ‘Up,’ Mulligan

    Carey Mulligan in An EducationThe London Film Critics’ Circle Awards may be the most prestigious of British critics’ honors (not saying much, admittedly), but there are critics in the rest of the country too. These regional writers have their say in the Richard Attenborough Awards, which held their fourth annual ceremony last night.

    Last year, the Attenboroughs stuck very much with the consensus, but they made some bolder calls this time, handing their film of the year honors to “Up,” while “Moon” star Sam Rockwell took Best Actor honors. (Well, it’s nice that he has something to show for his career-best performance.)

    Carey Mulligan was a double winner, earning both Best Actress and Rising Star awards, while a handful of public-voted awards proved that Brits still like Harry Potter — but also that some of them saw “Moon.”

    Not exactly the most significant awards of the season, but fun nonetheless. List of winners (via Screen Daily) after the cut.

    (more…)

  • Pride before a fall

    Forest Whitaker and Sid Ganis announcing the 2008 Academy Award nominationsRichard Roeper prefaces his Oscar predictions with the following suggestion to spice up the nominations announcement:

    They race through the lists at 5:30 a.m. PST, in order to get live coverage on the morning talk shows. That’s just stupid.

    As I’ve suggested before, the Academy should turn the nomination announcements into a one-hour special, to air on E! or some other cable channel. Build up excitement by showing clips and interviewing possible nominees. Have some cameras on set or in the homes of some contenders, to catch their reactions. If they can do it with the Heisman Trophy every year, why not the Oscars?

    The Grammy Awards have gone in a similar direction with their nominations special, though the Oscars obviously wouldn’t have musical numbers to pad things out. I’m all for making a bit more of an occasion out of the announcement, though the idea of catching some nominees’ (or, worse, non-nominees’) reactions live is super-tacky. After the cut, Steven Spielberg will show you why.

    (more…)

  • J.D. Salinger (1919-2010)

    The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. SalingerHow eerily sad that exactly one year ago, I wrote a short piece mourning the passing of John Updike, one of my literary heroes and chief inspirations to become a writer. Today, the news has arrived that J.D. Salinger, the man joining Updike at the top of my personal pantheon, has followed him to the smoky writer’s study in the sky.

    January 27 is clearly not a lucky day for American literature.

    I first read “The Catcher in the Rye” when I was 10 years old. As banal as it is to say, and as innumerable as the people are who have said the same thing before me, it’s a book that changed my life. I suspect Holden Caulfield has served as a guide for many a curious child into the daring delights of “grown-up books,” but it wasn’t just the character or the story that held me in thrall — it was the flip, jazzy elegance of the writing itself.

    As a kid whose twin passions were reading and watching movies, Salinger taught me that a book could read like a movie, that prose could bend and bounce like verbal dialogue.

    (more…)

  • ‘Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps’ trailer

    Poster after the jump (a small image, unfortunately).

    (more…)