In Contention

Category: Daily

  • Del Toro on novels, video games, his “man cave” and more

    Cover of The Strain by Guillermo Del ToroHas anyone read Guillermo Del Toro’s “The Strain” yet?  The new novel from the genre filmmaker hit shelves weeks ago but I’ve yet to pick up a copy.  It keeps slipping my mind.  This Guy Adams interview with Del Toro in London’s Independent newspaper jogged the memory on that score earlier this morning.

    It’s a fantastic discussion.  Del Toro discusses everything from his “man cave,” a haven five blocks form his Los Angeles home that serves as a personal office and shrine to the many macabre artifacts that became just a little too much for his wife, to his well-reasoned thoughts on video games, which he says he plays “addictively,” deeming them “a living, breathing thing, narrating stories, and illustrating them in the most incredible way.”

    There is also, of course, plenty of discussion concerning “The Strain,” which I didn’t realize was conceived for the small screen.  Some bozo executive opted out of such a fascinating antidote to the recent swath of uninteresting, overly romanticized visions of the vampire world in pop culture, of course.

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  • 6/17 Web Round-up

    Clash of the Titans• “Persepolis” director Marjane Satrapi (along with fellow filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf) presents evidence that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stole the Iran election. [Adnkronos International]

    • Relax.  Thankfully a handful of the 80s classics aren’t being remade. [Film School Rejects]

    • For no reason whatsoever: the evolution of stop-motion animation. [Empire]

    • Four days after a similar but much deeper story in the pages of London’s The Independent, Christopher Rossen bemoans Hollywood remakes of 1970s classics. [New York Observer]

    • Special makeup effects legend Dick Smith to be feted by his peers. [Los Angeles Times]

    • 10 movies about healthcare Congress should see. (In other news, Christopher Campbell is a list machine.) [Spout Blog]

  • Today is the 50th anniversary of George Reeves’s death

    Cover of the June 16, 1959 issue of the New York PostLou Lumenick reminds me today of the 50th anniversary of actor George Reeves’s untimely death, largely considered by his own hand but some would say there was foul play involved.  The story was dramatized in Allen Coulter’s 2006 film “Hollywoodland,” which featured a top-notch portrayal by Ben Affleck as the doomed Reeves.

    Lumenick also points out a lengthy blog post by John McElwee marking the occasion.  I’m just stunned I missed this tid-bit today.

    I wrote a story in the New York Times back in August of 2006 about “Hollywoodland” called “The (Tinsel) Town That Ate Superman.”  It was one of my favorite assignments from my freelance days there.  I especially enjoyed the two or three email exchanges I had with actor Jim Beaver (television’s “Deadwood,” “Supernatural”) who is actually a Reeves biographer and served as a technical adviser on the film.

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  • TIFF 2009 looms ahead

    2009 Toronto International Film FestivalWith Guy off to Scotland for the Edinburgh Film Festival, I’ve just received my invitation to attend the Toronto Fest once again as returning press. This marks the, um, 16th festival for me (I think)?

    I love TIFF.  I think it’s the single most important cultural event in Canada, and the fall’s most important film festival. Obviously I am biased, but having attended others, I think things are done very well here.

    The first press conference is slated for July 14, later than normal, but I trust that festival CEO Piers Handling knows what he’s doing.  After all, he’s the guy who took the upstart Festival of Festivals into international fame as The Toronto International Film Festival.  I am working on a feature article about the history of the fest and its evolution from a small event struggling to get films to the place to be leading in to the awards season.

    So many Oscar winners and nominees have come from Toronto, but what I like are the little discoveries that have been made, films that otherwise may not have been seen.  As I’ve mentioned before, I clearly remember the bidding war for Robert Duvall’s “The Apostle” when, during the screening of the film, two men got up and ran out of theater dialing their cell phones as they shot up the aisle. One was from Miramax, the other October. And of course October got the film and the rest is history.

    Looking at the films that might come this year I have high hopes that “Where the Wild Things Are” will be in the mix, along with “Shutter Island.”  But who knows?

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  • EDINBURGH: ‘Antichrist’ added to lineup, and first day jitters

    Willem Dafoe in AntichristAfter wrestling with dodgy wireless setups for the better part of the evening, I am happy to tell you that I’m comfortably installed in an Old Town coffee shop with an immaculate connection, so I can fill you in on the day’s doings.

    Outside, it’s one of those balmy Scottish summer evenings with woozy, disconcertingly long daylight hours (the upside of coming in this season) while hordes of kilted, tourist-baiting middle-aged men parade the streets playing popular tunes adapted for the bagpipes (the considerable downside).

    Anyway, I’m even happier to tell you the big festival news of the day. In a major get for a festival that usually deals in more low-key fare, Lars Von Trier’s “Antichrist” has made a last-minute appearance on the programme. Edinburgh likely benefited from the film’s unexpectedly early UK release date of July 24 — otherwise you can bet the London Film Festival’s Sandra Hebron would have been all over it. Score one for the little guys.

    The film will have its public screening next Wednesday, June 24. However, I’ll be seeing it at the press screening on Monday, and will do my level best to have a review for you shortly afterwards. Apologies to the Von Trier haters who thought the distraction of a festival might stem the “Antichrist” talk from my end for a while. I now await Monday with a mixture of breathlessness and extreme nerves.

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  • Michael Mann goes deep on ‘Public Enemies’

    Michael MannThere’s a reason Michael Mann is my favorite working director.  Consistently saddled with accusations of unyielding perfectionism and idiosyncrasy, he is a filmmaker who sets out to make exactly the film he wants to make every time, and he has the goods to back up the artistic aggression.  The last two times out of the gate (2004’s “Collateral” and 2006’s “Miami Vice”) didn’t exactly capitalize on his considerable talents, but when “Public Enemies,” which I saw last night, plays the Los Angeles Film Festival next week and eventually opens nationwide July 1, I think audiences and critics alike will see it as a return to muscular, yet patient storytelling form.

    Patrick Goldstein, writing at The Big Picture blog in the Los Angeles Times, has crafted a wonderfully fair and engaging interview piece with the director (which is also a coup for Universal publicity).  He doesn’t skirt the issue when it comes to Mann’s industry infamy, dedicating a considerable chunk to the director’s professional head-butting with Sony honcho Amy Pascal concerning the particular’s of 2001’s “Ali.”  But the work stands head and shoulders above the off-the-screen conflicts every time.  Says Pascal in the piece, “You forget about the pain of childbirth too. I mean, whatever you go through, you still want another baby. It’s like that with Michael too.”

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  • 6/16 Web Round-up

    Bengt Ekerot in The Seventh Seal• Tom O’Neil ponders the awards prospects of comedy box office hit “The Hangover.” [Gold Derby]

    • Eugene Hernandez talks to Dennis Hopper at CineVegas. [indieWIRE]

    • Joe Flint, meanwhile, chastises Heather Graham for again playing the girl with the heart of gold from the wrong side of the tracks. [Company Town]

    • Miki Turner talks “Whatever Works” (which doesn’t really work) with Larry David. [MSNBC]

    • Nathaniel Rogers runs an early screening review of “Brüno.” [The Film Experience]

    • A.O. Scott takes a look back at “Dog Day Afternoon.” [New York Times]

    • Detroit’s woes didn’t keep bad-ass muscle cars from the screen in “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” [USA Today]

    • As the film makes its way to Blu-ray, Glenn Kenny dives back into “The Seventh Seal.” [Some Came Running]

  • Mo’ money, mo’ problems

    Harrison FordPower and money don’t go hand in hand, it would seem.

    If Forbes’ recent list of the world’s most powerful celebrities — you remember, the one that informed us that Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston wield more power than Barack Obama — was quite amusing, their new ranking of Hollywood’s 20 biggest earners is simply depressing.

    The list is headlined “Hollywood’s Top-Earning Actors,” but Forbes never makes clear whether the term “actor” is being applied in the currently PC gender-neutral sense, or whether an accompanying list of “Top-Earning Actresses” is on the way.

    It’s an interesting question, because while the aforementioned Jolie may apparently be the world’s most powerful celebrity, she evidently doesn’t have the clout to rank among the industry’s most well-paid. More to the point, nor does any other woman, with the top 20 a boys-only club — an unhealthy, if sadly unsurprising, state of affairs. Is this represantive of the industry’s gender divide, or has the list been segregated? Anyone?

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  • Edinburgh calling

    EdinburghIn a little over an hour, I’ll be hopping on a (very) early morning train and making the 300 mile journey up north to Edinburgh. Ordinarily, this alone would be cause for excitement — for me, Scotland’s capital, with its curious combination of twisty Medieval quirk, stately academia and cooler-than-thou cultural swagger, is one of the most delightful cities in Europe. On this occasion, however, it boasts an extra drawcard — the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

    It may lack the glamor of Cannes or the breadth of Toronto, but the EIFF has been modestly chugging along since 1947, making it one of the most senior of all international film festivals. It doesn’t necessarily get the glitzy international premieres that the London fest now commands, but it’s an essential date on the calendar for burgeoning UK and international filmmakers. Meanwhile, it supplements its sizable showcase of new talent with a scattering of classic retrospectives as well as new works from more established filmmakers.

    Like its London counterpart, Edinburgh takes a similar “cherry-picking” approach to programming, selecting a number of proven successes from other festivals, as well as international markets. As a result, this year’s festival brings us the UK premieres of Sundance hits such as “Sin Nombre,” “Humpday” and “The Maid,” while the event I am most anticipating is the first post-Cannes screening of Andrea Arnold’s Jury Prize winner, “Fish Tank.”

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  • SonyMount? Universal Mount?

    ParamountThis Reuters item, via Forbes, could be the biggest case of leaping before looking in film journo world this week.  And it’s only Monday!

    Viacom Inc’s Paramount Pictures could merge with Sony Pictures, Universal Studios or another movie studio amid a wave of consolidation in the industry over the next few months, veteran investor Mario Gabelli said in the latest issue of Barron’s.

    The chief executive of Gamco Investors Inc, who owns shares of Viacom, said he expects dealmaking among movie studios as they seek to cut costs…

    ‘Today there are seven or eight motion-picture studios. A round of consolidation will occur in the next six to 12 months because of the costs of financing, prints and advertising, the benefits of globalization and such,’ Gabelli said. ‘We hear talk of something going on.’

  • Wilder on Wilder

    Cover of Billy Wilder SpeaksI don’t know if you’ve been keeping up with TCM’s “Great Directors” theme this month.  A new vanguard every day for 30 days.  My DVR is getting a workout.

    Anyway, if I could spend a few hours with any director, alive or dead, it would have to be the affable, wily Billy Wilder.  I love his philosophy on filmmaking, his attitude through the years, his no nonsense artistry, etc.  If I had made it to Los Angeles prior to his death in 2002, I’m sure I’d have stalked his Brighton Way office in Beverly Hills like a moth to the flame, Bela Lugosi to my impressionable Ed Wood.

    I bring this up because I caught up with Volker Schlondorff’s “Billy Wilder Speaks” this morning, which ran on TCM Saturday amid a retrospective of the director’s greatest hits — “Double Indemnity,” “Stalag 17,” “The Apartment,” etc.  It’s a fascinating look at Wilder’s career through his own eyes, the old codger spinning anecdote after anecdote.

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  • The Auteurs: Your online cinema, anytime, anywhere

    TheAuteurs.comI’m quite late to the table on The Auteurs, an on demand film streaming and social networking website mentioned briefly in this morning’s round-up.  I probably should have given it a closer look, since I’ve certainly noticed Glenn Kenny’s continued editorial contributions to the site, but I didn’t really get in there and start digging until over the weekend, when I noticed CNN’s story concerning a partnership with Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Foundation to exhibit restored lost classics.

    “The basic ambition behind The Auteurs,” writes CNN’s Mairi Mackey, “is to make high quality cinema accessible to a young, global audience by making it available on demand cheaply…The Auteurs’ particular niche is auteur-driven cinema combined with social networking.”  The site is the brainchild of former Goldman Sachs banker Efe Cakarel and was funded by Argentine millionaire Eduardo Costantini of Costa Films.  It features a novel community component where you can create a profile, designate your favorite films and interact with other users as well, creating a “platform for discovery,” as Cakarel puts it in the CNN piece.

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  • Still got it

    Sorry if there’s been a lot of star-gazing on the site lately, but while I was queuing in the supermarket this morning, I was struck by these magazine covers sitting appropriately side-by-side on a display rack. It’s interesting and heartening to see major face space given to two actresses on the wrong side of the industry’s favored age bracket — contrary to appearances, Uma Thurman is 39, while Julianne Moore is a full decade older.

    Uma Thurman Julianne Moore

    It goes without saying that they both look red-hot, while it’s just as redundant to note that they are both among the finest actresses of their respective generations. So where are the roles?

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  • Summer hopefuls that can go the distance

    Jeremy Renner in The Hurt LockerOver at Examiner.com, Jeff Sneider (you know him around these parts as “The InSneider”) has put together a rundown of the 10 summer movies that have a shot at awards glory.  In my post-Cannes Oscar column I mentioned how dreadfully quiet the first half of the year has been for awards hopefuls.  After all, this time last year we’d already seen “The Visitor” and “WALL-E” as viable contenders, but this year — nothing.

    Sneider is hanging his hat on a number of films he apparently hasn’t seen yet (Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies,” Judd Apatow’s “Funny People,” etc.), but most of the love goes to Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker,” which I’ll be getting to in due time.  And I can’t say I disagree.  Along with the perennial Pixar entry of the year, Bigelow’s Iraq character study clearly has the stuff if Summit is willing to go there.  It needs to make money first, of course, which is why we’re getting trailers and posters that amp up the action elements.  But it’s Bigelow’s best work ever and features awards caliber performances from Anthony Mackie and especially Jeremy Renner, both of which are mentioned in Sneider’s column.

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  • Unfortunate then and now

    George Lucas

    (Courtesy: /Film)

  • 6/15 Web Round-up

    Eddie Murphy in Delirious• In case it wasn’t obvious, Paradise Falls from Pixar’s “Up” was inspired by Venezuela’s Angel Falls. [Associated Press via Chicago Sun-Times]

    • Today’s superhero movies have artistic roots in the UK. [BBC]

    • Speaking of which, here’s a girl’s guide to Comic Con 2009. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Anyone else tired of non-news items like this regarding a potential “Arrested Development” movie?  Who cares? [Collider]

    • Martin Scorsese works hard to bring little-seen classics to the web. [CNN]

    • The potentially exciting web site in question. [The Auteurs]

    • Beat writers make their way to the big screen. [The Independent]

    • The Brit-Hitch love-fest (in light of the director’s BFI retrospective) continues. [The Guardian]

    • “Imagine That” might have tanked this weekend, but this Chris Lee remembrance of Eddie Murphy’s comedy turning point — “Delirious,” which celebrated a 25th anniversary last month — is still worth a look. [Los Angeles Times]

    • In honor of the limited reelase of Duncan Jones’s “Moon”: 10 unhappy movie astronauts? [Spout Blog]

  • ‘Time Traveler’s Wife’ trailer and poster

    There are so many reasons to distrust “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” a New Line romantic fantasy that resembles a kind of pop, estrogen-pumped “Benjamin Button” in its study of a lifelong, chronologically disordered love affair.

    One, it’s been delayed for a whole year — perhaps to avoid a “Button” overlap, but still, it doesn’t augur well. Two, it’s directed by Robert Schwentke, who is best known for the execrable Jodie Foster potboiler “Flightplan.” Three, it’s based on a piece of gussied-up chick-lit as godawful as it is ubiquitous. And four, well, this trailer:

    More thoughts, and a new one-sheet, after the cut.

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  • UK audiences to get uncut ‘Antichrist’ next month

    Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe in AntichristIFC has yet to reveal when it plans to unleash Lars von Trier’s “Antichrist” upon American audiences, but it looks like me and my fellow Brits will get to lay eyes on it first. UK distributor Artificial Eye has announced a July 24 release date for the polarizing Cannes sensation, which has been approved, in its uncut form, by the British censors.

    The British Board of Film Classification decreed that the film — which, in case you’ve been living under a rock these past few weeks, features rough sex, gore and graphic scenes of genital mutilation — may be offensive to some viewers, but that its explicitness is artistically motivated:

    (BBFC director David) Cooke and company shied away from cuts, saying that the censor’s lack of intervention “reflects the principle — strongly endorsed in a number of public consultations — that adults should be free to decide for themselves what to watch or what not to watch, provided it is neither illegal nor harmful.”

    The BBFC Guidelines for “18”-rated works state that the more explicit images of sexual activity will not be allowed unless they can be exceptionally justified by context and that the product is not a “sex work” whose primary purpose is sexual arousal. Said the BBFC, “For these purposes, ‘Antichrist’ is very clearly not a ‘sex work.’ “

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