In Contention

Category: Daily

  • The Great Performances: 2004

    Paul Giamatti in SidewaysIn Alexander Payne’s “Sideways,” Paul Giamatti gave the best performance by an actor in 2004, so said the New York Film Critics Circle, and how right they were.  So why, why, why was the actor denied an Oscar nomination?  Granted, it was a strong year, but his work was at the top of that heap and that snub was one of the biggest shocks of the year.

    Here was a man giving perhaps the finest performance in a comedic film since Dustin Hoffman in “Tootsie.” His co-stars go were recognized, save for the equally deserving Sandra Oh, but the leading man, around whose performance the film stands, is snubbed.  All I can remember saying is: “Wow.”

    Certainly Jamie Foxx deserved the attention he received for “Ray” and Leonardo DiCaprio was astonishing in “The Aviator,” even though he drew some criticism for before too youthful in the role. Rubbish, I thought.  He was superb, inhabiting Howard Hughes as he must have been in those days, brash, cocky, wealthy and willing to do anything that interested him.

    Clint Eastwood was terrific in “Million Dollar Baby,” while Jim Carrey gave a wonderful performance in “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” — a marvelous piece of acting, in fact.  Equally fine, and dark, was Kevin Bacon as a pedophile struggling to start anew in “The Woodsman,” which was one of the most daring American films in a long time.

    (more…)

  • POLL: Which film will be the critics’ darling this year?

    Sunday kicks off the critical kudos season with the LAFCA’s list of superlatives.  Every year one film stands out as the “critics’ darling” if you will, a film that commands support from quality-gaugers across the board.

    So what’s it going to be?  In the latest sidebar poll, I’ve offered up a list of possibilities (leaving off less traditional stuff that was nevertheless critically acclaimed, such as “District 9,” for instance, or “Star Trek”).  Have your say and, if you think it’ll be something else, tell us in the comments section below.

    (By the way, the last poll asking which of the “big four” everyone expected to fail?  Interesting results.)

  • 15 films land on the visual effects shortlist

    Transformers: Revenge of the FallenVia the Academy’s press release, the titles are:

    “Angels & Demons”
    “Avatar”
    “Coraline”
    “Disney’s A Christmas Carol”
    “District 9”
    “G-Force”
    “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra”
    “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
    “Sherlock Holmes”
    “Star Trek”
    “Terminator Salvation”
    “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”
    “2012”
    “Watchmen”
    “Where the Wild Things Are”

    I’d say “The Lovely Bones” got the shaft, but I’m hopping off of that horse for now.  “Avatar,” “District 9” and “Star Trek” are the likely nominees, which is what I’ve had in the sidebar for weeks.  “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” could land in there, but it might feel old hat.  And “Where the Wild Things Are” is a legitimate contender.  Everything else is destined to be an also-ran, I suspect.

  • LAFCA to announce in two waves

    Via press release:

    Please note, there has been a change in the announcement process for the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award Winners on Sunday, December 13. We will be announcing the winners in 2 separate announcements. The first announcement will be released at approx. 12:30pm PST, the second announcement at approx. 2:30pm PST. The announcements will also be simultaneously available via Twitter @lafilmcritics (http://twitter.com/LAFilmCritics) or visit www.lafca.net.

    Below is the list of categories in the order they will be announced…

    First Announcement:

    MUSIC/SCORE, PRODUCTION DESIGN, CINEMATOGRAPHY, SUPPORTING ACTRESS, SUPPORTING ACTOR, SCREENPLAY, DOCUMENTARY/NON-FICTION FILM, DOUGLAS E. EDWARDS INDEPENDENT/EXPERIMENTAL FILM/VIDEO

    Second Announcement:

    ACTRESS, ACTOR, NEW GENERATION, DIRECTOR, ANIMATION, FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM, PICTURE, SPECIAL CITATIONS (if any)

    If you’d like to predict how these awards will turn out, feel free to do so in the comments section here.

  • Day-Lewis on pickiness and privacy

    Daniel Day-Lewis in NinePart of the reason I love Daniel Day-Lewis — aside from the plain evidence of his acting, of course — is that he’s one of the few actors these days who maintains a measure of old-fashioned, movie-star mystique.

    His gossip-column days of dating and ditching everyone from Julia Roberts to Isabelle Adjani now long behind him, he reveals precisely as much of himself and his process as he’s willing to give — which, as this Guardian interview with Xan Brooks proves, is not very much at all. He’s clearly playing up his eccentricity and guardedness to a fairly self-indulgent degree, but that’s fine by me — I like my movie stars from another planet.

    The rarity of Day-Lewis interviews alone makes the piece a must-read — though Brooks barely masks his reservations about “Nine” (“a gorgeous, feathered folly; a turkey that longs to be a flamingo”) and, indeed, the actor’s performance in it.

    (more…)

  • Julianne Moore to receive Santa Barbara fest’s Montecito Award

    Julianne Moore in A Single ManThe press release, in part:

    The Santa Barbara International Film Festival will honor four-time Academy Award nominee Julianne Moore at the 25th edition of the Festival with the Montecito Award, which runs February 4 –14, 2010, it was announced today by SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling. The Tribute will take place Thursday, February 11, at the historic Arlington Theatre.

    The Montecito Award was created in recognition of a performer who has given a series of classic and standout performances in his/her career, and has previously been presented to Kate Winslet, Javier Bardem, Naomi Watts and Annette Bening, who was the very first recipient in 2005. Julianne Moore is the quintessential actress, easily transitioning from light humor to heavy dramatic roles, expertly guiding us on each of her characters’ individual journeys.

    “This four-time Oscar nominee is a cinematic treasure,” says Roger Durling. “Her performances in Boogie Nights, The End of the Affair, The Hours, Far From Heaven and many others is the stuff of legends.”

  • 12/11 Oscarweb Round-up

    Kathryn Bigelow• Jeffrey Wells conveys the sentiment from director Rod Lurie: Kathryn Bigelow will win the Oscar for Best Director this year.  Agreed. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • Scott Bowles talks to the man of the hour: James Cameron. [USA Today]

    • Steve Pond sits down with “Mary and Max” writer/director Adam Elliot. [The Odds]

    (more…)

  • ‘A Prophet’ takes Louis Delluc Prize

    Tahar Rahim in A ProphetTwo weeks ago, I mentioned the impressive shortlist of nominees for the Louis Delluc Prize, a prestigious juried award handed annually to the title thought to represent the best in French cinema. Variety has just reported that Jacques Audiard’s Oscar contender “A Prophet” is this year’s winner.

    The news isn’t entirely unsurprising — the Delluc sometimes sidelines obvious frontrunners in favor of more hidden gems, as was the case last year, when “The Class” lost to documentary “Modern Life.”

    Not so this time — indeed, Audiard’s film has barely missed an awards opportunity since taking silver at Cannes. It also looks a good bet to take home some hardware at tomorrow’s European Film Awards … could the Oscar even be within reach?

    Meanwhile, another prison-related drama, Lea Fehner’s “Silent Voice,” took the Best First Film award.

  • Transported

    Stephen LangThe embargo on “Avatar” has been essentially lifted by Fox so I could go on at length about how I could sit through it over…and over…and over again.  Anne and I will dig in properly in tomorrow’s Oscar Talk and I’m sure I’ll have a review at some point, maybe Monday.  But a few things…

    The visual effects race, if you couldn’t guess already, is over and done with.  In all likelihood, the sound races as well.  And there is a compelling argument to be made for the film editing as well.  But that’s the expected tech bliss the film delivers.

    Wait, let me not undersell that.  This is the most amazing cinematic experience I’ve ever had.  There are, admittedly, story elements that give one pause.  The film isn’t total perfection (though I’d argue this is a very mature, thematically beautiful screenplay from James Cameron).  The filmmaker can’t help himself in a number of instances that are too on the nose.

    But so what?  Seriously.  This is why we all go into dark rooms to be transported to other worlds.  Cameron gets it.  And he delivers.  A thousand times over.  It’s the kind of film you want to take any and everyone with you to see.  Not to be too cheesy — it is absolute magic.

    More tomorrow.  (P.S.: Give Stephen Lang a Best Supporting Actor nomination.  NOW)

  • Lists, lists, lists

    Ben Whishaw and Abbie Cornish in Bright StarI don’t feel anywhere near ready to present my Best of 2009 list, much less my Best of the 2000s one, yet — too many movies to watch, re-watch and contemplate before the brutal culling and shuffling of titles can begin. Still, a lot of critics and bloggers are clearly more organized than me — as each day brings a new pile of Top 10s.

    Our friend Anne Thompson has one of the more individual lists out there: I won’t steal her thunder by replicating her entire collective, but here’s her top 5, which I rather like. (She adds the caveat that she had not seen “Avatar” at the time of posting.)

    1. “Bright Star”
    2. “A Serious Man”
     3. “A Prophet”
     4. “Up”
    5. “Red Cliff”

    (more…)

  • Exclusive ‘Lovely Bones’ featurette: Stanley Tucci and Mr. Harvey

    Stanley Tucci in The Lovely BonesIf there’s anything you’ll take away from Peter Jackson’s “The Lovely Bones,” it will most certainly be Stanley Tucci’s unsettling portrayal of Mr. Harvey, the demented antagonist of the piece and a character that couldn’t be further away from Tucci’s own disposition.

    I spoke to Saoirse Ronan last week and as she puts it, “Every scene I had with Stanley was intense, as you know. It’s not going to be happy. I didn’t find it as difficult to handle as Stanley did, and I don’t mean on a performance level, but just the subject matter. Because he’s a father himself and he’s just so nice. I enjoyed doing it and I sort of enjoyed being freaked out by this man.”  (Watch for that interview shortly.)

    But “freaked out” doesn’t really begin to cover it. Tucci’s performance is as much in the nuance of meticulous villainy as it is in the actions written for him on the page. And to think — he almost didn’t do it.  Paramount has been nice enough to offer us an exclusive look at a featurette dedicated to the role and the performance, with thoughts from Tucci and Jackson scattered throughout. Have a look after the jump.

    (more…)

  • The Guardian on ‘Avatar’: “It was good.”

    Like everone else, The Guardian can’t print a full review of “Avatar” before Monday, but their writer Mark Brown (not the paper’s regular critic, it should be said) has tested the embargo enough to say this:

    So by saying Avatar was really much, much better than expected, that it looked amazing and that the story was gripping – if cheesy in many places – the Guardian is in technical breach of the agreement. It is not a breach, however, to report that other journalists leaving the screening were also positive: the terrible film that some had been anticipating had not materialised. It was good.

    They also report that Cameron claims to have enough story material for two sequels. (It had better be “good,” then.) More here.

  • Kristin Chenoweth to host Critics’ Choice Awards

    Kristin ChenowethThe press release, in part:

    The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) has announced that Emmy and Tony Award winning actress Kristin Chenoweth will be taking the stage as host for the 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards gala on Friday, January 15, 2010 at the Hollywood Palladium…

    “We are delighted to have a triple threat such as Kristin Chenoweth, a multiple award-wining star of the stage, film and television as host for our show,” said Tom Calderone, President of VH1. “Kristin is hugely talented with broad appeal and will bring a tremendous energy to the live ceremony.”

    The 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards gala will air live for the third straight year on VH1 on Friday, January 15, 2010 at 9:00 PM*. The awards are bestowed annually by the BFCA to honor the finest in cinematic achievement. Since its inception in 1995, the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards has been a star-studded bellwether event of the awards season and historically, the most accurate predictor of the Academy Award nominations.

    Our ballots are due Saturday, by the way. Nominees will be announce December 14.

  • Put up or shut up

    Zoe Saldana in AvatarToday is the real “Avatar Day.”

    Later tonight at the Chinese theater in Hollywood, James Cameron’s heavily anticipated opus finally goes before discerning critical eye.  (It will be doing the same momentarily in London for junket press.)  The project has been percolating for a decade.  Months of tangible hype began at Comic-Con in July when fans and press were dazzled by a half hour of 3D footage.  The marketing has reached a fever pitch.  TV spots are ubiquitous.  It’s time to hold ’em or fold ’em.  The gambling’s done.

    Can any film hold up under this pressure?  I have that weird feeling in my stomach, where it seems like something is teetering on the edge, set to fall one way or the other.  And honest to God — I have no idea which way this thing is going to fall.

    I hope knives aren’t being sharpened.  I’m not in the tank or a Cameron fanboy or what have you.  But I am very intrigued by a guy rolling in money using it to push something forward, forcibly, and it’s impossible not to have that hair-raising sense of excitement at a cinematic milestone like this.  And win, lose or draw, the unveiling of “Avatar” is indeed going to be a milestone.

    (more…)

  • “When it hits the muggles, it can at last be taken seriously.”

    Tip of the hat to Sasha Stone for spotting the new cover of Entertainment Weekly, which I’d say helps shove Sandra Bullock a little bit closer to that revolving-door fifth Best Actress slot:

    Sandra Bullock on the cover of Entertainment Weekly

  • 12/10 Oscarweb Round-up

    Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart• John Horn writes up the Hollywood journey of Scott Cooper’s “Crazy Heart.” [Los Angeles Times]

    • On the flashy opening credits sequence from “Up in the Air” with designer Gareth Smith. [MakingOf]

    • Anne Thompson re-visists her old haunt, writes up the possibilities for genre play in this year’s expanded Best Picture field. [Variety]

    (more…)

  • The actor as auteur

    Nicole Kidman in BirthOne of my current favorite film writers, Ryan Gilbey, has written an excellent New Statesman piece reflecting on the past decade in film acting. In it, he argues that the 2000s have gone some way towards blurring the definitions of ‘star’ and ‘character actor,’ and singling out the achievements of three actors in particular:

    Unconsciously or otherwise, [Nicole] Kidman, [Viggo] Mortensen and [Johnny] Depp have insisted that the star can be an instrument of art rather than (or as well as) commerce, like superheroes dedicating their unearthly gifts to the service of good over evil.

    This ties neatly into a piece I wrote here recently on the decade’s key actors, where I (and a number of you) suggested that Kidman’s adventurous straddling of arthouse and commercial instincts put her in the top spot — however hit-and-miss her filmography.

    (more…)

  • Listen to Dr. John’s ‘Down in New Orleans’ from ‘The Princess and the Frog’

    Dr. JohnIf you take a gander at the Contenders section you’ll note that, by far, the film with the most stabs at this year’s Best Original Song category is Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog.” But interestingly enough (and perhaps a smart move), it seems only four of the tracks are receiving a substantial campaign.  We’re happy to feature one of them today.

    “Down in New Orleans” was written by Randy Newman (along with the rest of the songs and score from the film).  It was performed by blues legend Dr. John and serves as something of a theme track for the film.  It kicks off the festivities early on and has a reprise later int eh film, just before Ne-Yo’s “Never Knew I Needed” wraps things up.

    In my opinion, this and “Almost There” (which we will feature Friday) are the film’s best shots at nominations, based on how they are used in the film.  But at the end of the day, I think we can probably count on seeing a pair of tracks from this traditional animation entry make their way into the line-up.

    Have a listen below and tell us what you think.

    [display_podcast]