(Courtesy: Fandango)
Category: Daily
-
Lasseter on reviving 2-D animation and Pixar’s “failures”
John Lasseter certainly gives good interview. We linked back in June to a candid and very thorough piece in which the Pixar maven talked through his up-and-down (and up again) history with Disney. Now Variety carries a worthwhile profile of the man, in anticipation of the lifetime-achievement Golden Lion he is due to receive at the Venice Film Festival next week.In it, he reveals the supposed secret behind Pixar’s unbroken run of hits (not to mention their enviable critical track record) to be a collaborative “creative brain trust,” whereby an in-progress project is screened every three months, then critiqued and workshopped by Lasseter and the studio’s leading creatives.
It’s a process designed to nip potential story problems in the bud, while Lasseter and his collaborators would have you believe that such problems emerge more often than not:
“We fail a lot,” admits “Toy Story 3” director Lee Unkrich. “We just don’t fail by the time the movie comes out. John would be the first to tell you that every movie we’ve made has been at one point the biggest piece of garbage we’ve ever worked on.”
-
Spielberg and Crichton’s swashbuckler
I’ve been of the mind for quite some time now that a good (operative word) pirate film is way overdue. The “Pirates of the Caribbean” films are fine and all, the first one especially. Blending the mythos of a pirate story with that of, essentially, a ghost yarn was a brilliant way to make the oeuvre more palatable to audiences.Because let’s face it, the reason these films aren’t made today is two-fold: audiences see it as passe and they aren’t cheap to produce. It’s the same unfortunate circumstance with westerns.
For me, however, the fantasy of Disney’s franchise isn’t enough. I want more, and I want something tangible. High seas adventures in general, not just pirate tales, can really sing on the big screen. Peter Weir’s “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” is a perfect example, a brilliant, somewhat forgotten film that is sincere and compelling throughout.
-
Pearl Jam, as directed by Cameron Crowe
It’s definitely Crowe, stylistically, but it doesn’t work for the band. Good song:
-
8/27 Web Round-up
• Steven Spielberg to take on Michael Crichton one more time with “Pirate Latitudes.” [USA Today]• Anne Thompson is on Toronto doc watch. [Thompson on Hollywood]
• Mike Leigh starts in on his “Happy Go Lucky” follow-up. [The Hollywood Reporter]
-
Tarantino to be feted early by Santa Barbara fest
The press release, in part:Santa Barbara, CA – In recognition of his contributions to the world of film, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival is honored to present the fourth annual KIRK DOUGLAS AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN FILM to the legendary, Academy Award-winning writer/director/producer/actor Quentin Tarantino. The black-tie Gala dinner, sponsored by Chopin Vodka, will take place at The Four Seasons Biltmore in Santa Barbara on Thursday, October 22.
“We are beyond excited to be able to honor a man who has turned filmmaking on its ear,” commented SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling. “He has forever changed the direction of American cinema.” The award’s namesake, Kirk Douglas, will present the award to Tarantino.
As a writer, director, producer and actor, anything Tarantino touches becomes an instant cinematic classic. He has not only established himself as one of the most celebrated filmmakers of his generation, but his dedication and diverse producing efforts consistently demonstrate his respect for both those who came before and the ones just now breaking in.
-
‘Hurt Locker’ scribe Mark Boal up for Venice award
I had the pleasure of interviewing Mark Boal, the celebrated journalist and screenwriter of “The Hurt Locker,” over a beer in London last week, and was glad to find him as alert and interesting a subject as the film he wrote. (The interview will crop up on these pages soon, by the way.)So as awards season unfolds over the coming months, I’ll be cheering every bit of recognition that comes his way. And the first such citation, neatly enough, comes at the place where “The Hurt Locker” made its first appearance nearly a year ago: the Venice Film Festival.
Variety reports that Boal has been shortlisted for the Gucci Group Award, a prize presented during the festival since 2006 to honor outstanding cinematic achievement by individuals from outside the world of film. Should he win, he’ll be in excellent company: previous recipients include Julian Schnabel (for “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”) and Steve McQueen (“Hunger”).
-
Germany submits ‘White Ribbon’ for Oscar
It should come as no surprise to anyone that Germany has selected Michael Haneke’s “The White Ribbon” (trailer here) as their official candidate for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. No foreign-language Palme d’Or winner has failed to be entered in the race since Japan’s “The Eel” in 1997, and “The White Ribbon” has both breathless critical acclaim and a recognizable auteur name going for it.Still, the severe arthouse work remains an adventurous choice for Germany, given that Haneke’s icy formalism hardly sits very comfortably in the Academy’s wheelhouse.
The Austrian filmmaker has previously had four of his films submitted for Oscar consideration by his home country, each time failing to make the Academy’s grade: most recently, 2005 critical darling “Caché” was controversially disqualified for not being in the submitting country’s own language. (The resulting outcry prompted a revision of the rules.)
-
A.O. Scott revisits ‘Gattaca’
I must say I’m really enjoying the New York Times’s Critics’ Picks video series — the clips are short, sweet and to the point, the discussion in them lucid, and the selections impeccable. Occasionally rather imaginative, too, as with A.O. Scott’s latest pick of Andrew Niccol’s 1997 masterpiece “Gattaca.”
The film was sadly neglected on release, scoring a paltry $12 million gross (against a budget three times the size) and a solitary Oscar nod for art direction. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration, however, to name it one of the greatest sci-fi films of all time, one whose crisp, chilly technical trappings allow the unnerving human desperation of the story to shimmer through. (Jude Law, meanwhile, was robbed of every supporting gong going.) Happily, it seems to have gathered a number of devotees over the year; even more happily, we’re in good company with Scott.
-
8/26 Web Round-up
• The “Inglourious Basterds” one-sheet that could have been. [Poster Wire]• On the occasion of Tim Burton’s 51st birthday (yesterday), an appreciation. [Hero Complex]
• On Marvin Hamlisch’s “hilariously schmaltzy” score for “The Informant!” [The Playlist]
-
Prince of the city
I have Chad to thank for pointing me to this Criterion DVD cover (pictured left) for Matteo Garrone’s “Gomorrah,” a film you may remember we kind of liked here at In Contention. Chad is no fan of the cover art (which of course riffs on one of the film’s most widely publicized images), and a number of readers at The Auteurs seem to be with him.
-
Venice gears up for Kurosawa centenary
We may be celebrating the 70th birthday of “The Wizard of Oz” today, but the Venice Film Festival has decided to start the party early for another major film-related milestone coming up next year: the 100-year anniversary of Akira Kurosawa’s birth.I’m sure we can expect more retrospectives of the great man’s work when the day rolls around on March 23, 2010, but since Venice has something of a history with the filmmaker (“Rashomon” winning the Golden Lion in 1951 gave a critical boost to his international profile), festival organizers have decided to pay tribute on their own time, with an in-depth panel discussion of his work.
The formidable, internationally-flavored panel will be chaired by venerable film historian Peter Cowie, while the likes of Richard Corliss, Michel Ciment and Donald Richie. Should be a good sit, though I’m disappointed they haven’t yet mentioned any screenings to accompany proceedings. Surely that would be advisable? Press release extract after the jump.
-
A thing of beauty
When I headed off to Wales this past weekend to camp out at the Green Man music festival, I wasn’t expecting to find anything to feed my cinephile appetite. (Well, I did entertain the far-fetched possibility of Jarvis Cocker revealing his “Fantastic Mr. Fox” compositions. He didn’t.) But I was wrong.
The best thing I saw all weekend — and one of the most tingly performances I’ve seen all year, musically or cinematically — was a screening of Robert Flaherty’s classic 1934 documentary “Man of Aran,” rescored live by the great indie band British Sea Power. The stark, balletic poetry of Flaherty’s images fused with the lush rock orchestrations of the new score was hypnotic to behold: I can’t imagine anything quite replicating the power of the live performance, but the rescored film is now available on DVD. I recommend checking it out.
-
New generation
Apropos of nothing really, except this thin story about her being cast in the latest John Carpenter thriller, but for the first time this afternoon I took time to properly look at Mamie Gummer. You might know her better under the name of “Meryl Streep’s daughter.”
Gummer has been cropping up in supporting parts for a couple of years now, notably in “Stop-Loss,” “John Adams” and now in “Taking Woodstock,” while she played a younger incarnation of her mother in the dismal “Evening.” I can’t say she’s ever particularly stood out to me, but on glancing at the photo accompanying the Screen Daily story, I was suddenly startled by the family resemblance. If she goes on to major things, this could get quite unsettling.
-
Scratch Mirren, Powell
One of the films I’ve been keeping an eye on as we march up to the awards season is Julie Taymor’s “The Tempest,” a re-imagining of the William Shakespeare yarn with a female lead rather than male. Helen Mirren seemed a great bet in the lead actress race and of course design heads Sandy Powell (costumes) and Mark Friedberg (production design) were going to be in the conversation.Well that conversation will now shift to 2010, as I just got confirmation the film would not be ready until next year due to the amount of visual effects yet to be included. That effectively leaves Miramax with the already released (and mostly forgotten) “Chéri” for its lone awards hopes. It looks like it’ll be a year away from the fray, since I don’t think Mike Judge’s “Extract” is exactly going to light up the circuit.
This also whittles the lead actress race down even further, while giving Powell the go-ahead for a potential nod for “The Young Victoria,” now that the film has a US distributor. Mirren’s “Love Ranch,” directed by husband Taylor Hackford, could still be a thread if it gets picked up by a distributor. It’s getting to be that time…
I’ll update predictions again on Monday, August 31.
-
Dante, Bahrani added to Venice lineup
Earlier this morning, Kris pointed you to the news that four features have been added to the Venice lineup: Joe Dante’s “The Movie Orgy: Ultimate Version,” Angela Ismailos’s “Great Directors,” Hana Makhmalbaf’s “Green Days” and Peter Greenaway’s “The Marriage.” Under the radar (and out of competition) they may be, but all of them further my anticipation for my trip to the Lido next week.The former two are intriguing American cinema-themed documentaries: Ismailos’s film, her debut, lives up to its rather blunt title by examining the work of ten contemporary helmers, including Todd Haynes, Richard Linklater, John Sayles and David Lynch. Dante’s film, meanwhile, is a slightly (and, at 280 minutes, I mean only slightly) more disciplined cut of his mammoth 1968 film, a 7-hour valentine to B-movies of the 1950s and 1960s.
