In Contention

Category: Daily

  • Touchdown in Venice

    VeniceGreetings from the cavernous, marble-clad press room of the Venice Film Festival. After a more-frenzied-than-average day’s travelling (thanks to a domino set of transport delays resulting in the kind of mad airport dash usually reserved for rom-com heroes only), I have arrived in Venice in more or less one piece — and if ever a city was designed to melt away the stresses of a rough transit, it’s this one.

    Even in sticky September heat, it’s as unremittingly, broodingly lovely as every postcard, photograph or film scene has ever suggested — as I navigated the shady labyrinth of criss-crossing bridges and canals to my hotel, it was hard not to expect a ghostly tyke in red to pop up a few paces ahead. Or Dirk Bogarde in a Panama hat. At least Helena Bonham-Carter in a carnival mask. But no. Such are the mild letdowns of initially meeting cities through the movies.

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  • Back to Welles

    Christian McKay in Me and Orson WellesIt’s funny how strong festival buzz can be frozen indefinitely as a film jumps through the increasingly complicated hoops of securing distribution — only to be thawed and reheated later.  Such looks to be the case with Richard Linklater’s latest, “Me and Orson Welles” — or, to be more specific, its breakout star Christian McKay.

    A year ago, the previously little-known Brit was the talk of Toronto for his apparently uncanny interpretation of Welles — even critics lukewarm on the film itself had nothing but superlatives for McKay. (Our own John Foote waxed lyrical here, while Eddie Marsan, who plays Welles associate John Houseman in the film, couldn’t stop gushing about the performance during our interview last fall.)

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  • What of Gabourey?

    I’ll get into a review of “Precious” eventually, but for now, I have to just say, I’m stunned — STUNNED — that the Best Actress discussion hasn’t properly included Gabourey Sidibe so far.  In so many ways it is the performance of the year.  In so many ways.

    More later.

  • The five Venice titles I’m most curious to see

    Jared Leto in Mr. NobodyAt the crack of dawn, I board a flight to Italy — so this time tomorrow, if all goes well, I’ll be writing to you from the water-riven city of Venice after having attended a festival screening of John Hillcoat’s “The Road.” It’s both my first visit to the city and my first taste of one of the major film festivals, so it should be an exciting few days all round.

    Venice may lag slightly behind Cannes in terms of glamor and auteur attractions, but it’s arguably the European festival that feeds most into the awards season to come: as recent Cannes winners have remained largely arthouse-bound, Venice has birthed several crossover successes that went on to factor to varying degrees in the race: in recent years, “Brokeback Mountain,” “The Queen,” “Atonement” and “The Wrestler,” among others, saw their buzz begin on the Lido.

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  • Netherlands, Kazakhstan enter Oscar ponies

    Marco Borsato and Andrew Kintu in The Silent ArmyThanks to regular commenter Jonathan for alerting us to the news that The Netherlands has selected Jean van de Velde’s “The Silent Army” as their entry in the Best Foreign Language Film race.

    The film, which played in the Un Certain Regard strand at Cannes this year, is set in East Africa, and follows the plight of a widower on a quest to rescue his young son’s best friend, after the boy is recruited as a child soldier by a rebel army.

    Extensively recut after receiving a critical drubbing in its home country in 2008 (the casting of local pop star Marco Borsato accounting for much of the jeering), the film’s reception at Cannes was improved but still somewhat tepid, with many critics citing excessive sentimentality and political correctness as major debits. (Not that either of those qualities is a disadvantage with voters in this category.)

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  • Beavis and Butt-Head introduce a scene from ‘Extract’

    BRILLIANT:

    I can’t say how much I was those two to be back on the tube. This should be an on-going series, though. “Beavis and Butt-Head present…”

  • Oscar Idol?

    OscarsI’ve been having a number of conversations today about the Academy’s new Best Picture voting rules.  Some see it as further evidence of the organization snuffing out campaigning by leveling the playing field even more (which, if we’re being honest, is bad for AMPAS business).  Others see it as the fairest way of establishing a winner.  I’m somewhere in the middle, but all of that is neither here nor there.  I ran across this comment at The Hot Blog and I just had to share:

    They need to treat the nominees as a top 10 list and not “nominees.” Then, structure the broadcast around the top 10 like American Idol and gradually count down the vote tabs from #10 to #1 throughout the program to create suspense.

    Call me crazy, but this would be brilliant.  I kind of understand the desire to spare the feelings of those who would be “voted off” first.  That’s why the tabulations are destroyed after a few years.  No one wants people to know they were in last place, but come on — the nomination is the victory in many of those circumstances.  And talk about building a viewership.  We’re already inching toward People’s Choice Awards territory as it is, so why not bring all the walls down?

    Thoughts?

  • Let Stanley Tucci’s march through the season begin

    Stanley Tucci in The Lovely BonesOne of the highlights of Nora Ephron’s “Julie & Julia,” which I was quick to point out when discussing the film last month, was Stanley Tucci’s refreshing, heart-warming portrayal of Paul Child Julia Child’s loving husband.  The film is just opening in the UK and a piece in The Guardian has me turning over Tucci’s Oscar prospects more and more.  But not for Ephron’s film, of course.  For Peter Jackson’s “The Lovely Bones.”

    It isn’t the most original idea in the world right now, of course, to consider Tucci a formidable contender as the villain of Jackson’s film.  We’ve had him on the bubble on our charts for a number of months now.  But when I read things like “effortless scene-stealer,” I begin to wonder whether the buzz is collecting at just the right moment.

    David Thomson calls Tucci’s work in “Julie & Julia” opposite Meryl Streep “the great performance in [the film],” and goes on to note the chemistry the two actors have displayed once already in “The Devil Wears Prada.”  He also compares Tucci to James Mason and even proposes a film about the making of “Eyes Wide Shut” with Tucci as Kubrick (I’d line up for it).  While that might be a bit fanciful, the crux of his piece is that Tucci is an actor condemned to supporting roles who knocks them out of the park each and every time.

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  • Scream Awards laud ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Up,’ ‘Let the Right One In’

    Let the Right One InI don’t follow the world of genre-specific awards ceremonies very closely, so I must admit I’d never heard of the Scream Awards before their recent slate of nominations was brought to my attention.

    No prizes for guessing from the name that it’s a horror-focused affair — with separate divisions for fantasy and sci-fi as well. Fan-voted and cheerfully silly, it looks at first glance to follow in the noble tradition of the MTV Movie Awards knockoff, with such prestigious categories as “Most Memorable Mutilation” and “Holy Shit! Scene of the Year.” (Meanwhile, one of the more serious categories is saddled with the moniker “Best Scream-Play.” That’s good stuff.)

    But get past such tongue-in-cheek frivolities — and the predictable spate of nominations for the likes of “Twilight” and “Transformers 2” — and there are some pretty cool selections scattered here and there. It’s heartening to see such a healthy showing for “Let the Right One In” in a people’s-choice institution like this — though not as surprising as the inclusion of Norwegian Nazi-zombie-comedy (there’s a mouthful) “Dead Snow.”

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  • How would Marvel reimagine Disney heroines?

    Here’s Pocahontas, “The Lion King”‘s Nala and “Aladdin”‘s Jasmine.  Check out Jeffrey Thomas’s blog for more:

    Marvel Disney

  • Phillips/Scott gear up for ‘At the Movies’

    (Courtesy: Hollywood Elsewhere)

  • 10 most anticipated films of the season

    No fanfare.  A legitimate installment of The Lists on another topic will drop from Chad later today, but here’s what has me stoked:

    1. “Up in the Air” (Paramount Pictures)
    2. “Avatar” (20th Century Fox)
    3. “The Tree of Life” (Apparition)
    4. “Where the Wild Things Are” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
    5. “A Christmas Carol” (Walt Disney Pictures)
    6. “Invictus” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
    7. “Capitalism: A Love Story” (Overture Films)
    8. “2012    ” (Sony Pictures) –> guilty
    9. “Precious” (Lionsgate)
    10. “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics)

    You?

  • 9/1 Web Round-up

    Jason Reitman• The most complete blow-by-blow explanation of the Academy’s new rule change your likely to get.  Still — the nominee thing… [Film School Rejects]

    • Ever the professional, Nikki Finke is just pissed no one told her first. [Deadline Hollywood Daily]

    • Anthony Breznican sits down with “Up in the Air” director Jason Retiman for a little pre-Toronto back and forth. [USA Today]

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  • On Oscar’s rule change

    OscarsBack on June 29, in response to the Academy’s move to 10 Best Picture nominees, I wrote, “I imagine something will have to be done to address the concern that now one merely needs something like 600 people on board to get a film in the line-up.  How many members do you think these blockbuster films, which keep studios in business, employee?  Block voting will surely thrive.”

    Two months later, it seems the Academy has taken steps to address the issue.  Sort of.

    As Steve Pond reports, in a nutshell, and in order to steer clear of “mathematical dangers,” as AMPAS executive director Bruce Davis puts it, the Best Picture winner in this new paradigm will be determined by the same preferential voting system which yields the nominees.  Members will be asked to rank the 10 films in order of preference.  The thinking is that this will effectively stifle block voting to bully forth a winner, seeing as it would have only taken roughly 1,000 votes to win the big prize otherwise.  And any awards consultant will tell you those are easy numbers to come by.

    That’s all fine and good, but it doesn’t address the issue of nominees.  It will still only take 10% plus one (more or less 600 votes, even fewer if you consider the fact that there are a good many voters who don’t participate) choosing a film as the year’s best to get a nomination — numbers that are even easier to come by.  Right?  If I’m being honest, I’m confusing myself further the more I write.  I’ll just offer up Pond’s reduction, after the jump.

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  • ‘Trainspotting’ named best British film of last 25 years

    Ewan McGregor in TrainspottingThe Observer has just assembled one of the more interesting lists I’ve seen in some time — a collective of the 25 best British films of the last quarter-century, compiled from the votes of over 60 critics, film professionals and assorted outside voices, ranging from Ben Kingsley to Peter Morgan to our friend Anne Thompson.

    Looking down the list, there are remarkably few inclusions that I really take issue with, whether I’d necessarily put them on my own such list or not — the majority of titles here are films I admire that have a legitimate sphere of influence in modern British film history, and they’ve lucked into an intelligent balance between arthouse and populist titles.

    “Trainspotting” is an obvious pick for number one, but sometimes obvious is fair. I don’t think it’s the greatest of the 25 titles listed here, but it’s an inarguably fine film that embodies the restless spirit of mid-1990s Britain from its whip-smart dialogue to its mega-selling soundtrack: its lightning-in-a-bottle blend of thrilling cinema and social document assures immortality.

    (Further discussion, and The Observer’s Top 10 list, after the cut.)

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  • Marvel Mouse House

    Wolverine

  • 8/31 Web Round-up

    Ang Lee• With “Luke and Brie are on a First Date” finding its way to an Amazon release, our own Chad Hartigan gets his film re-reviewed. [Spout Blog]

    • Stephen Zeitchik wants to know why Ang Lee can’t catch a break. [Risky Biz Blog]

    • Gregory Ellwood sees (er, hears) awards prospects in Alexandre Desplat’s “Coco Before Chanel” score. [Awards Campaign]

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  • For those interested

    Some folks like to jump down my throat any time I even mention the title “Antichrist” recently, but this discussion about the film between David Poland, Kim Morgan and Larry Gross is one of the most compelling I’ve yet seen (or read).

    I’m also glad to hear some voices trying to temper the (self-assisted) “OMGmostshockingEVER” hysteria around the film. (As a friend of mine wickedly remarked after seeing the film: “That was it? I could’ve stood a little more clitoridectomy.”) Anyway, if you’re interested, it’s worth a watch. An excerpt is below, the whole discussion is here.