“Frustrated. Outdated. All I want to be is overrated.” Eerie how on the nose that is.
Category: Daily
-
Jenny Lumet could continue an Oscar tradition
In the 1970s there simply wasn’t a greater director of actors than Sidney Lumet. Roles in his films came with Academy Award nominations virtually attached. From 1973 to 1988, Lumet directed actors to 16 Oscar nominations, three of those eventually winning an Oscar. He himself was nominated for Best Director for “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Network” and “The Verdict” and most certainly should have been nominated for “Prince of the City,” which earned him a New York Film Critics Circle award.A former actor himself, Lumet understood inherently how to work with his on-screen talent, how to allow them the space they needed to create without seeing them run away with his film. Most importantly, he understood how to direct them to best serve the piece. Incredibly he never won an Oscar for his work at the helm, but the Academy did give him an Honorary Award a couple of years ago, which he followed with his best work in years: “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.” In his 80s now, he is as fresh and alive as he has ever been, and still one of the great living directors.
And now his daughter Jenny could become a first-time Oscar nominee for her screenplay “Rachel Getting Married.” Lumet must be pleased — Sidney, I mean. I had the pleasure of interviewing him last year and he was an utter delight, frank, unafraid to speak his mind. He mentioned his daughter was working on a film I might see within the year. With a smile and a twinkle in his eye he said, “It’s very good.” Ever the proud father.
-
1/16 Oscarweb Round-up
• A brilliant roundtable: wrestlers discussing “The Wrestler.” It’s just nice that Luger has his faculties about him now. [Fox Searchlight]• While we’re on the subject, the top 10 wrestlers in movies. I’m big on #10 and #3. Not so much on #1. [The Times]
• Making the SAG award statuette. [The Envelope]
• Kate Dailey reports from a SoHo Q&A with “Gran Torino” director and star Clint Eastwood. [Vulture]
• A nice Leonardo DiCaprio appreciation. [The Guardian]
• Feel-good films for a global recession. [The Independent]
• Patrick Goldstein picks up on TV producer Chuck Lorre’s recent post-“Big Bang Theory” vanity card, bemoaning the negativity of this year’s Oscar contenders. [The Big Picture]
-
Frears’ ‘Chéri’ to premiere at Berlin
New works from Costa-Gavras, Bertrand Tavernier and Andrzej Wajda are among the 14 titles that have just been added to the Competition programme at next month’s Berlinale, meaning 25 of the 26 slots have been confirmed.The most high-profile inclusion, however, is Stephen Frears’ period romance “Chéri,” which was at one point mooted as a 2008 release with an eye on awards season, before getting bumped. It’s a film I’ve been excited about for some time, not least because it’s something of a “Dangerous Liaisons” redux, reuniting the director, writer (Christopher Hampton) and star (Michelle Pfeiffer) of that 1988 Oscar-winner, again within the context of a French-set costume drama.
An adaptation of Colette’s novella about an affair between a young man and a decades-older woman in 1920’s Paris, it strikes me as an ideal proposition for both director and star. A new Frears film is always worth noting, but I find his work rather more interesting when he’s visiting themes of taboo and desire (the aforementioned “Liaisons,” “Prick Up Your Ears,” “The Grifters”).
Meanwhile, Pfeiffer — still, I think, arguably the greatest of her generation — hasn’t had a project equal to her gifts in over 15 years. Could this be one to keep an eye on for next year’s awards derby? It’s ridiculously early to be thinking about such things, but don’t forget that one of the big winners at last year’s Berlinale was a certain Ms. Sally Hawkins. However oddly positioned, it’s always a festival worth paying attention to.
Among the other intriguing titles set to bow at the fest, which will be opened by Tom Tykwer’s “The International,” is “Rage,” the latest from avant-garde UK auteur Sally Potter, with an eclectic cast including Jude Law, Judi Dench and Steve Buscemi. Another impressive ensemble (Robin Wright Penn, Alan Arkin and Julianne Moore, to name but three) features in Rebecca Miller’s “The Private Lives of Pippa Lee,” while Lukas Moodysson’s “Mammoth,” starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Michelle Williams, has long been one of my most eagerly anticipated films of 2009.
For a complete list of the Competition entries so far, check out the press releases here and here.
-
A film that sticks — why ‘Revolutionary Road’ is a masterwork
GENTLE SPOILERS WITHIN — READ WITH CAUTIONFear of change, fear of risk.
“If you don’t try anything, you can’t fail,” she tells him, striking at the heart of what has him so afraid of uprooting their family to Paris in the hopes of a better way of life. Frank Wheeler is terrified of change, but his wife April longs for it. She needs change to survive as a person, as a wife, believing, wrongly perhaps (perhaps not), that change will help her marriage and better define her place in it.
The characters in “Revolutionary Road” are in agonizing pain as they go about their daily lives, each trying to keep their marriage intact while also trying to live out their dreams. Deep down, they must know their dreams have to be sacrificed to a degree. Way down in their gut, they must know their dreams may never come true, and it is quietly destroying them.
Is “Revolutionary Road” a classic American film destined to be remembered for decades to come? Or is it merely an over-praised, depressing work that will be forgotten once it hits DVD, a bizarre blip on the careers of the creators? I tend to believe the former. It is a sublime work of art and a demanding piece of cinema that takes audiences on a difficult journey through a rocky relationship that, for me, resembles the young years of George and Martha in Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
-
The top 10 shots of 2008: part two
Today we wrap up my list of the year’s best shots. In case you missed it, have a look at part one here.Before digging into the top five today, I thought I would give a shout out to the images that almost made the cut, and there were a few. For instance, who can forget the fateful shot of Harvey Milk ascending the stairs of San Francisco’s City Hall as Dan White stalks the corridors in the distance? Similarly, how about the image of White from behind as he psyches himself into assassinating his fellow politician?
Meanwhile, there was an array of images to choose from in “The Dark Knight,” certainly too many to name here. As beloved as the image of Heath Ledger’s Joker is, breathing in his freedom and tearing off into the night in a Gotham patrol car, I chalk that up to performance as much as if not more than Wally Pfister’s work behind the camera. But the iconography of James Gordon standing, arms crossed in front of the Bat signal was a difficult one for me to snub (for reasons you’ll find out after the jump).
“Let the Right One In” will show up on today’s list, but one other image that came very close to making the cut for me was that of Eli’s victim bursting into flames on a hospital bed once exposed to sunlight streaming in through the window. And though Maryse Alberti’s work on “The Wrestler” has already been represented, I was always tickled by the creativity of The Ram’s walk through the bowels of a supermarket deli, mirroring his walk to the ring.
Finally, Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire” is loaded with wonderful cinematography. The image I chose yesterday had personal value, but I also loved the long shot of young Jamal and young Salim on the roof of a train to start the film’s exciting montage, as well as the three-shot overhead view of the Mumbai slums during the film’s opening sequence.
This is to say nothing of the work from fine lensers on films that just didn’t make the cut for whatever reason, but were nonetheless wonderful examples of cinematography this year. “The Fall” (Colin Watkinson), “Gomorrah” (Marco Onorato), “The Reader” (Roger Deakins and Chris Menges) and “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (Javier Aguirresarobe) are just a few examples.
But enough of the also-rans, right? Let’s get on with the real show: the five best shots of 2008…
-
On the Sally Hawkins BAFTA snub
One of the biggest surprises from yesterday’s BAFTA nominations announcement was the exclusion of “Happy-Go-Lucky” across the board. But at the very least, awards watchers might have expected a nod for Sally Hawkins, who has been tearing up the precursor circuit stateside and has a clear shot at nabbing an Oscar nomination one week from today.Daily Telegraph reporter Anita Singh cornered BAFTA chairman David Parfitt on the issue, and here’s what he had to say:
It is always difficult. What’s most interesting is what came sixth? We have 200-300 films under consideration each year and there are probably 100 serious contenders, and we can only have five nominees. I’m sure that Sally got close, just as I’m sure Mike Leigh got close. But we can’t have everybody. Who would you drop out of the five? It’s hard, really hard.
We might be saying the same thing about a certain Caped Crusader in a week if this last minute surge for “Gran Torino” and/or “The Reader” proves to be a major spoiler.
An Oscar colleague is always telling me, “One day someone is going to write one of the greatest industry books of all time, listing the Oscar nomination and winner voting tallies throughout the years.” That would make for fascinating reading indeed. But do we really want to discover that “Chocolat” came in second to “Gladiator”‘s Best Picture win?
-
It seems like everyone’s out of town — then again…
You can still find a number of Sundance prep pieces across the Web. And it seems more and more, the geek press will be out in force, as they were at Telluride last September, much to the surprise of a number of industry folks. So I was starting to be quasi bummed that I couldn’t make the fest until that “Sundance is going to be a ghost town” stuff started to get louder and louder.Karina Longworth tracked down a few journalists to find out why they’re not going to Park City this year. The reasons she came up with are the economy (duh), competing film festivals, the notion that New Media outlets getting the Sundance smackdown when applying for credentials, the Prop 8 protest and Sundance boycott and the fact that the trip just isn’t worth “the pain in the ass.” And there’s always the inauguration to consider, for those making the trek to Washington on Jan. 20.
Here’s one feisty journo on the supposed harshness of the festival:
“Let’s be honest,” says Film Threat’s Lewis. “Sundance is an enormous pain in the ass. That’s not a knock against Sundance, it’s a fact. It’s cold, it’s crowded, it’s slippery, it’s hard to find time to eat and sleep, there’s thousands of looky-loos crowding the screenings, the movies are a total crap shoot and everyone ends up sick. As much as I’m sure I’ll be sorry I missed it this year, as of right now, we’re all kind of glad we aren’t going.”
Read all about it here.
I’ve never been to Sundance, but I’d love to go. Typically I rail against the festival circuit because to me, it’s the least ideal environment for viewing a film. Not to mention the fact that studios have, by and large, seized these events as their own publicity tour stops, drowning out the innocence of competition that might have been. Still, there are those that seem to shed this stygma.
With that in mind, I’ll be covering this year’s Santa Barbara Film Festival for 10 days starting Jan. 22. I’ll make the drive up the coast after we finish processing the Oscar nominations and will set up shop from there all week (with a short trip back Jan. 30 to cover the USC Scripter Awards Gala). Tune in.
-
After finishing off the Joker, Batman may have to fend off a Nazi and a biggot on the way to Oscar
A week ago with the announcement of the Directors Guild Awards (DGA), it seemed Christopher Nolan and “The Dark Knight” were headed for Oscar night, with nominations for Best Picture and Best Director highly likely. But like a full balloon with a slow leak, the air is slowly hissing out as “Gran Torino” and “The Reader” seem to be gaining momentum.I loved “The Dark Knight.” It was, for me, the best film of the year and highly deserving of top tier nominations. Regardless of its comic roots, Nolan’s accomplishment in giving the film a heart and soul on a grand scale is even greater, and I hope the Academy sees it that way.
“Gran Torino” has gained enormous momentum since being released wide, racking up more than $30 million at the domestic box office. Audiences are coming in droves to see Clint back on screen. He surrounded himself with largely or complete unknowns, amplifying is screen presence. Very shrewd. Audiences are going to see him, possibly for the last time, as he portrays the sort of character they love to see.
-
1/15 Oscarweb Round-up
• Kim Voynar responds to the foreign shortlist. [Movie City News]• Pete Hammond wonders if “The Dark Knight” in dicey waters with the “Reader” surge coming on strong. [Notes on a Season]
• Tom O’Neil thinks keeping the Oscar presenters a secret until the big night is a mistake. Eh, I dig it. [Gold Derby]
• Paula Schwartz catches up with Clint Eastwood at the National Board of Review awards. [The Carpetbagger]
• Nirpal Dahliwal on why “Slumdog Millionaire” could have only been made by a westerner. [The Guardian]
• The Press Association gets some Obama inauguration comments from Will Smith at the “Seven Pounds” red carpet across the pond. [The Independent]
• The only nomination “The Dark Knight” will share with “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” all year long: the Publicist Awards. [Variety]
-
“The Oscar is the only award that carries any weight. Ours is just a lot of shit.”
Words uttered years ago by the great Sarah Miles, when asked about the BAFTA Awards. I’m just quoting. Not saying anything at all.
-
‘Slumdog,’ ‘Button’ lead BAFTA pack with 11 nods each
Each year, the BAFTAs never fail to find new and frustrating ways to surprise me.It wasn’t hard to guess that “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “Slumdog Millionaire” would come out on top here — though even as a fan of the latter film, I do wonder whether nominations for Best Production Design and Best Supporting Actress are pushing it a little. (Sure, Freida Pinto is gorgeous, but… )
But look closer and the oddities come thick and fast. Who would have guessed, come nomination morning, that “Changeling” would land 8 nominations (including mentions for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay), while “Happy-Go-Lucky” gets zilch? I was aware that Mike Leigh’s delightful film has played better with critics Stateside than it did over here in the spring, but failing to even nominate Golden Globe winner Sally Hawkins is a blatant — and in my opinion, unforgivable — slap in the face.
As I predicted, despite the film’s mixed reception, BAFTA voters responded well to “The Reader,” which lands in the Best Film derby alongside four of the Oscar favourites in the category. While I thought “Milk” might miss with the Brits, it was actually “The Dark Knight” that came up short — and while I’m not entirely surprised that it proved too genre-oriented for their top category, their failure to nominate Brit helmer Christopher Nolan is pretty stunning.
Bar the Hawkins snub, the acting categories name most of the usual suspects, though there’s still room for typically BAFTA-esque eccentricities. Brendan Gleeson is an pleasant surprise in the Best Supporting Actor category, and while I anticipated Brad Pitt’s appearance in that field for “Burn After Reading,” Tilda Swinton’s Supporting Actress nod for the same film is the kind of out-of-nowhere hometown favoritism that only BAFTA can come up with. The real headscratcher in that category, however, is Amy Adams’ inclusion at the expense of Viola Davis — one has to wonder whether voters actually watched “Doubt,” or voted on name recognition alone.
(More thoughts, and the full list of nominees, below the cut.)
-
Reel Geezers on ‘Torino’
I think these things have kind of run their course, but I thought it worth pointing to the Reel Geezer review of Clint Eastwood’s “Gran Torino.” I can’t help but wonder whether Lorenzo’s opinion is going to be shared enough within the Academy to warrant that Best Picture nomination I hinted at earlier this week (a possibility others have picked up on ever since). But personally, I think Marsha nailed it on the head with her thoughts on the film early in the review.
Sigh…anyway, have a look:
-
When will they learn?
In the gloomiest piece of awards-related news I’ve heard this week, it turns out that this year’s BAFTA awards will be hosted, once again, by the smug talent vacuum that is Jonathan Ross. (“Who?” I hear you American readers asking. Answer: you’re better off not knowing.)
I understand that BAFTA hasn’t the budget or the resources to compete with the Academy Awards when it comes to putting on a show. However, if they want to be a truly international ceremony — as they claim they are — it might be worth hiring a host who can potentially draw an international audience.
You know, someone who is actually known outside of Britain. Someone who has a halfway credible industry profile. Someone who is actually funny. Not that I’m not naming names, of course.
Chances are Ross will perform no better and no worse this year than he has previously. (Which is to say, he’ll be as reliably excruciating as always.) But in a year when the Oscars have really upped the ante in their choice of host, BAFTA’s resistance to change is all the more embarrassing.
-
BAFTA predictions
The BAFTA nominations drop tomorrow, and while I hardly covered myself in glory with my foreign film Oscar forecast yesterday, I’m going to wade into the murky waters of prediction once more.On the one hand, it’s a fool’s errand trying to predict the BAFTA nods, as they can frequently be the most perverse and contrarian awards voters of the lot. On the other, they make the task a little easier for us pundits by releasing 15-strong longlists in each category ahead of the voting.
As I wrote back in November, the BAFTAs can be inconsistently parochial in their voting, frequently handing multiple nods to middlebrow homegrown product, while simultaneously sidelining the most acclaimed British films of the year. A look at this year’s longlists confirms that trend, as relatively mediocre Brit flicks like “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas,” “Mamma Mia!” and “The Duchess” all received multiple mentions, while critical darlings “Hunger” and “Happy-Go-Lucky” landed in a paltry three categories each — Best Film not among them.
The BAFTA voters’ provincialism is most shamefully evident in the Best Supporting Actress longlist, which features such bizarre inclusions as Judi Dench for “Quantum of Solace” and Rebecca Hall for her arm-candy role in “Frost/Nixon.” As for the Best Adapted Screenplay citation for “Mamma Mia!,” well, the less said the better. Of course, it’s a mistake to read too much into these lists. The idle frequency with which certain titles pop up — “Frost/Nixon” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” lead with 14 mentions each, but more surprisingly, a lightweight contender like “Burn After Reading” managed a staggering 11 — suggests the voters weren’t thinking too hard either.
Which films will fare best tomorrow is another matter — it’s not uncommon for a film to feature strongly in the longlists only to go MIA on nomination morning. Below the cut are my best guesses, together with some thoughts on the top categories.
-
Michael Chabon to receive Scripter prize
The USC Scripter awards go down next Friday, Jan. 30 (right in the middle of the Santa Barbara Film Festival…I’ll be driving back down for the show). The USC Libraries introduced a new award last year: the Literary Achievement Award, which went to Steven Zaillian in 2008. This year, the group has tapped “Wonder Boys” scribe Michael Chabon for the award.Here’s a bit from the press release:
“I am delighted to have been singled out for this honor,” said Chabon. “I consider myself fortunate to be able to share in the great tradition that the Scripter Award both recognizes and exemplifies.”
Dean Catherine Quinlan and the Friends of the USC Libraries established the Scripter Literary Achievement Award in 2007 to recognize writers who have made a significant and lasting impact on the art of cinematic adaptation…
“Michael Chabon works with equal measures of inventiveness and emotion,” Quinlan said. “His fiction is intellectually playful and transforms history into new worlds. The USC Libraries are proud to honor Mr. Chabon’s ingenuity, his accomplishments in many literary forms and his clear respect for uncovering new ways of knowing.”
Also remember, this will be the first year the Scripter winner is revealed at the show rather than via press release beforehand.
