Speaking of original song contenders, we featured Ryan Bingham’s “The Weary Kind” a few weeks ago, but the New Mexico-bred crooner sat down with music consultant T Bone Burnett and “Crazy Heart” writer/director Scott Cooper at the film’s press day two weekends back to discuss the process of writing the soulful track. Much of this you probably already know from reading my interview with Bigham and Burnett, but it’s nice to hear the two discussing it with Cooper. Fox Searchlight recently made this video of the chat available, so take a look:
Category: Daily
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Listen to Beth Rowley’s ‘You’ve Got Me Wrapped Around Your Little Finger’ from ‘An Education’
We skipped one of these on Monday so we’ll double up today with a pair of tunes from Lone Scherfig’s “An Education.”“You’ve Got Me Wrapped Around Your Little Finger” from singer Beth Rowley featured prominently in the trailer for Scherfig’s film and, frankly, given the breezy, nostalgic flavor of the tune, most may not have realized that it was an original song. But it is, and one of the more beautiful entries in the category this year.
The song’s usage in the film hits the subtext on the nose but it’s a rather beautiful moment nevertheless. Carey Mulligan’s young, unassuming Jenny begins to fall hard for Peter Sarsgaard’s David as Rowley ramps up her vocals in the background via live performance. The contextual implementation (and the fact that Rowley gets to sing her tune on screen — quite the unique circumstance) leads me to believe this could be more of a contender than we think at the moment.
Have a listen to the track below and tell us what you think.
[display_podcast]
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‘Wild Things,’ ‘Up in the Air’ lead Chicago crix nods
Normally, I’m against critics’ groups bothering with nominations. Just cut the crap and give us your picks — you’re not that anticipated, after all.But I’ll make an exception this year for the Chicago Film Critics Association, if only because it allows them to shine a light on some names that have been lost amid the consensus of critics’ prizes so far. There are some pleasantly left-field picks here, beginning with a co-leading six bids, Best Picture and Director included, for “Where the Wild Things Are.”
“A Serious Man” also makes the Best Picture cut, while “Precious” is a surprising omission. (Is it losing momentum?) Hearty cheers, too, for the mentions of Matt Damon (for the right film, this time) and — finally — “Bright Star”‘s Abbie Cornish and Greig Fraser. Still no Tilda Swinton, but I’m letting that one go.
Full list of nominees (props to AwardsDaily) after the cut.
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Austin, San Diego, Toronto go ‘Hurt,’ ‘Basterds,’ ‘Hunger’
Check out the latest additions at our precursor page. More on the way.
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12/16 Oscarweb Round-up
• Sharon Waxman says “Avatar” is “just what ailing, uncertain Hollywood needs.” [The Wrap]• Nikki Finke writes up Oscar’s bad-mouthing season. [Deadline Hollywood Daily]
• Rodrigo Perez names “Capturing the Friedmans” the best documentary of the decade. [The Playlist]
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‘Hurt Locker,’ ‘Basterds’ crack Cahiers du Cinéma list
All cinéastes know that the annual Top 10 issued by Cahiers du Cinéma is pretty much the ne plus ultra of critics’ lists. The legendary French film magazine has taste that veers from the rigorously auteurist (recent list-toppers include “Redacted,” “Tropical Malady” and “Paranoid Park”) to the frankly perverse (“Lady in the Water” made the 2006 list).So when a comparatively mainstream Oscar frontrunner like “The Hurt Locker” crops up on this year’s Cahiers list, you know it officially taken the mantle of this year’s across-the-board critical darling.
This year’s collective is a typically idiosyncratic affair, with an especially Gallic flavor: Alain Resnais tops the list, while eternally French-favored Yanks Tarantino and Eastwood feature highly.
Their Top 10 is after the cut (thanks to Auteurs Daily for the tip).
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POLL: Which film will land the most Oscar nominations?
I tossed up the nine films that made the most sense and an “other” field. Let us know in the left sidebar what you think.
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‘Crazy Heart’ quietly looking like a critics’ fave
It’s early days yet. The film opens tomorrow limited and wider later, so obviously not everyone has spoken up yet. The only writer keeping the film away from a perfect score at Rotten Tomatoes with the handful of top critics who’ve chimed in so far is Kirk Honeycutt, who says:An ex-star out of control and the self-destructive drunk is a cross between types with too many antecedents in other movies.
However, that somewhat thin criticism is debunked swiftly if you look a little further up the page at this quote from David Ansen:
Crazy Heart gets to you like a good country song — not because it tells you something new, but because it tells it well. It’s the singer, not the song.
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‘Shutter Island’ to premiere at Berlin fest
Doesn’t it feel like an eternity ago that we were talking about the possibilities for “Shutter Island” in this year’s Oscar race? I’m still sulking, frankly.Still, compensation for the delay arrives in the shape of some European festival prestige: Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s Gothic thriller will play out of competition at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival in February.
Of course, Berlin audiences won’t be the first to lay eyes on the film: it recently had a “surprise” screening at Butt-Numb-a-Thon in Texas. Impressions are scattered around the net if you care to seek them.
Also in the lineup is Roman Polanski’s latest, “The Ghost Writer” — a political thriller adapted from a Robert Harris novel, starring Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan. Unlike Scorsese’s film, Polanski’s will be in contention for the Golden Bear.
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‘Inception’ poster
Revealed via a typically labyrinthine process at the film’s official site. Man I hate viral marketing. Anyway, cool poster:
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The precursor circuit
It’s frankly enough to drown everything out into a low, muffled hum. But regardless, we’ve begun collecting the precursor nominations and awards for the season here. Most recent addition include the San Francisco Film Critics Circle, the Indiana Film Critics (seriously) and, of course, the Golden Globe nominees.
Also, under the radar yesterday, the sidebar predictions were updated.
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‘Up in the Air’ leads with six Golden Globe nominations
Apologies for the lateness getting these up. I decided to sleep in and I’m sure Guy had better things to do. These, as ever, are schmoozed and bought and paid for, as usual. You don’t need to look much further than Clint Eastwood’s nomination (when his film couldn’t get into the Best Picture line-up) for evidence of that. So getting up at 5:00 in the morning just wasn’t on my list of priorities.I am, however, happy to see “District 9” get another screenplay nomination, which keeps hope alive. And though expected (for reasons of both quality and celebrity), my favorite nomination is Robert Downey Jr.’s for “Sherlock Holmes.” I think it’s actually a masterful performance that deserves serious awards talk. But these are all critics citations in a bubble until we hear what the industry itself thinks via guild nominations, so it’s going to be varying degrees of the same old thing for a while.
In any case, here are the nominees are:
Best Picture (Drama)
“Avatar”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Precious”
“Up in the Air”Best Picture (Comedy or Musical)
“(500) Days of Summer”
“The Hangover”
“It’s Complicated”
“Julie & Julia”
“Nine” -
12/15 Oscarweb Round-up
• Karina Longworth holds her nose and writes about Oscar, but makes a compelling case for “Avatar” as the “timeliest” film of the season. [Little Gold Men]• The film’s star, Zoe Saldana, on the state of women in Hollywood. [Speakeasy]
• Charting the best music documentaries of the decade. [The Playlist]
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Predicting the Golden Globes
OK, you know the drill. Have at it in the comments section. My best guesses below — remember, it wouldn’t be the Globes without a wacky pick or two, and a stunning snub. (Remember “Milk?”)Who will be this year’s Tom Cruise in “Tropic Thunder?” And why do I have this weird feeling that “Precious” isn’t up their alley … but Mariah Carey is?
Best Picture (Drama)
“An Education”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Invictus”
“Up in the Air” -
‘Robin Hood’ trailer
Looks…kinda badass. (New embed courtesy of First Showing, though I don’t know why NBC.Universal would be quick to jerk a YouTube version down but leave stuff like this, slathered with a watermark, online. Things I’ll never understand):
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Quentin Tarantino names ‘Star Trek’ the year’s best
Of what he’s seen, that is. He hasn’t seen “Avatar,” “The Lovely Bones” or, um, “Invicitus” (his pronunciation). And his film is “out of it,” he says. Not mentioning it. Thanks for being stand-up like that, Quentin.Anyway, here’s the list:
1. “Star Trek”
2. “Drag Me to Hell”
3. “Funny People”
4. “Up in the Air”
5. “Chocolate”
6. “Observe and Report”
7. “Precious”
8. “An Education”And the video, courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision blog, after the jump. (He says he needs to see a few more films again before fully committing, FYI.)