In Contention

Category: Daily

  • Cinema Audio Society nominees

    Cinema Audio Society awardThe five contenders for the 2009 Cinema Audio Society (CAS) Awards are:

    “The Dark Knight”
    “Iron Man”
    “Quantum of Solace”
    “Slumdog Millionaire”
    “WALL-E”

    So this is the second “Defiance” snub that has surprised me so far, following Eduardo Serra coming up short with the lensers earlier today.

    “The Dark Knight,” “Iron Man” and especially “WALL-E” were certainly expected, but the show of support for “Slumdog Millionaire” indicates the deep industry love this film has going for it.  I wouldn’t necessarily expect this to translate to a Best Sound Oscar nomination, given the fates of films like “Finding Neverland,” “Crash,” “Babel” and “Into the Wild,” Best Picture frontrunners that scored with CAS but missed with AMPAS (though “Wild” is something of an anomaly there).

    Then again, “Slumdog” is a much more craftily conceived piece of filmmaking than those efforts.  I thought the sound was amazing, personally.  So perhaps this could be the first year since 2003 that the guild matches the Academy’s picks 5/5.

    The inclusion of “Quantum of Solace” is particularly interesting, though.  “Casino Royale” had a solid showing in the 2006 guild circuit, scoring with the art directors, costume designers, sound editors and even the visual effects artists.  But the mixers in the CAS gave it the cold shoulder where a lot of us thought the film had its best shot.  That the Society would tip its hat to the sequel is somewhat telling, I’d say.

    With that in mind, I’d be tempted to predict this quintet for Oscar as well.  The only Edward Zwick movie to miss a CAS nomination and turn up in the Academy’s tally was “Legends of the Fall” in 1994.  So there is still hope for mixing legends (and branch favorites) Anna Behlmer and Andy Nelson.  But the duo also have two other contenders in play: “Australia” and “Cloverfield,” which might be leaving their colleagues with too many choices.

    There are a number of other possible surprise nominees in the mix, all of them featuring respected sound mixing talent.  Add to the aforementioned “Australia,” “Defiance” and “Cloverfield” (my pick for the best work here in 2008) “Body of Lies” and “Valkyrie,” and you’re still looking at a number of possibilities.  And let’s not forget another Best Picture frontrunner, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” strong in this arena in a number of sequences.  But I would have expected a mention here if it was in the cards for Oscar.

    Like I said, this is a smart list to bet on, with “Defiance” as the spoiler.

  • “Innnpuuuut.”

  • ‘WALL-E’ faces Academy bias against…the future?

    WALL-E

    A best pic nomination for Wall-E would be a rare honor for animation in general, but it would also be a long over due rarity for another reason: Wall-E would only be the second best pic nominated film in the history of the Oscars to be set in the future. The only one to date is A Clockwork Orange. When you consider how many nominees are period pieces (I didn’t care to count), this represents a massive bias on the part of the Academy. It’s clear that they love the past, but they hate the future.

    So says Spout Blog writer Kevin Buist in a smartly realized item.  Buist goes on to note seven futuristic AMPAS snubs, but I’m still hung up on the statistic.  Really?  ONLY one?  How bizarre.  Considering “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Metropolis” have permanent fixtures on my list of the 10 greatest films of all time, it’s just one more reason for me to be pissy at the Academy.

    Get with the program, people!  Not that I’m advocating for “WALL-E,” mind you.  But it is an intriguing stat.

  • WGA nominees

    WGAOriginal Screenplay
    “Burn After Reading” (Ethan Coen, Joel Coen)
    “Milk” (Dustin Lance Black)
    “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (Woody Allen)
    “The Visitor” (Thomas McCarthy)
    “The Wrestler” (Robert Siegel)

    Adapted Screenplay
    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Eric Roth; screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord; based on the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
    “The Dark Knight” (Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan; screen story by Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer; based on characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics; Batman created by Bob Kane)
    “Doubt” (John Patrick Shanley; based on his stage play)
    “Frost/Nixon” (Peter Morgan; based on his stage play)
    “Slumdog Millionaire” (Simon Beaufoy; based on the novel “Q and A” by Vikas Swarup)

    Documentary
    “Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story” (Stefan Forbes, Noland Walker)
    “Chicago 10” (Brett Morgan)
    “Fuel” (Johnny O’Hara)
    “Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson” (Alex Gibney; from the words of Hunter S. Thompson)
    “Waltz With Bashir” (Ari Folman)

    So, the lesson?  “The Dark Knight” is in this thing for real now.  As I said last night, this was going to be the real test.  “I wanted to see what you’d do.  And you didn’t disappoint.”  The rest of the adapted screenplay nominees will likely translate to Oscar 5/5, but I somehow doubt the Coen brothers will turn their guild mention into an Oscar berth.  Remember, the WGA likes comedies, so “Burn After Reading” was always going to have a leg up here.

    More love for “The Wrestler,” and though it’s not entirely unexpected, I must say it was a pleasant surprise.  And we all figured Thomas McCarthy would find love with the same group that nomianted him for 2003’s “The Station Agent.”  He may or may not translate that into an Oscar nomination, but it’s certainly a good possibility.

    And remember, animated films are not eligible, so “WALL-E” still has a shot at sliding in.  Maybe.  It is, indeed, the most critically acclaimed film of the year, but it’s a slightly different case than “Toy Story,” “Finding Nemo” and “Ratatouille,” I think.

    Biggest snub: “Rachel Getting Married” (very odd, but frankly, a welcome exclusion)
    Needed this one bad: “In Bruges” (the studio is trying hard); “The Reader” (that Scripter nod might have provided elevated hopes)

    Anyway, I think Christopher Nolan’s DGA nomination is pretty much in the bag tomorrow.  I’d be tempted to call the Best Picture five a done deal after that, but we must always remember “Almost Famous and “Being John Malkovich,” two films that landed nominations from the PGA, DGA, WGA and a grabbed a SAG ensemble mention, yet failed to make into Oscar’s Best Picture five.  And “The Dark Knight” didn’t even get the SAG Ensemble nod, so “Doubt” is still lurking.  It ain’t over yet.

  • The Bagger: “Why so serious, Oscar?”

    This is terrifying in so many ways. But I want one of those masks.

  • Guessing the DGA

    Directors Guild of AmericaSo, with SAG, PGA and ASC out of the way, and with WGA still to come in a matter of hours, I guess it’s worth mentioning that the big daddy guild is announcing tomorrow: the Directors Guild of America (DGA).  Now’s as good a time as any to take a stab at guessing the nominees…

    The DGA has been one hell of an Oscar Best Picture barometer for the last decade or so.  Last year was the first real hiccup as the guild only nailed three of the eventual five nominees with their director choices.  2006 saw one misfire (but we all still figured “Dreamgirls” was in around this time two years ago).  Then it was four years in a row five-for-five until we have another hiccup, Ridley Scott making it in for “Black Hawk Down” and Christopher Nolan (in the mix again this year) for “Memento.”

    After that, the general trend was four-for-five with some 100 percents thrown in here and there, but you get the picture.  This is, more often than not, quite the prognosticative (that’s so not a word) guild.  With the PGA clearly establishing a consensus of sorts (not that those five films haven’t been the obvious contenders for weeks upon weeks), I see no real reason to get creative right now, so I’m going with the following:

    David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
    Christopher Nolan, “The Dark Knight”
    Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”
    Gus Van Sant, “Milk”
    Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”

    There are only two filmmakers that I think have a shot of cracking this quintet: Woody Allen for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” and, perhaps more so, Darren Aronofsky for “The Wrestler.”  John Patrick Shanley and “Doubt” showing up would truly shock me and Andrew Stanton is not eligible for “WALL-E,” so the field is rather thin.

    What are you thinking?

  • WGA nominations land at noon

    Just got off the phone with the WGA press office and they told me noon on the website for the nominations announcement.  If they land before then, someone must have an exclusive, but that’s the info I have, so sleep it off for another two hours, folks.

  • Celebrating Heath’s accomplishment

    Heath Ledger in The Dark KnightWhen Johnny Depp first read the role of Captain Jack Sparrow, there was nothing in the script to suggest the performance he would eventually give. That bizarre manner of speaking, sounding slightly stoned, the crazy off-kilter walk, and the way he moved his arms, all but flailing them about. That was an actor’s artistry, plain and simple, and it was something to behold. That is the genius of Johnny Depp.

    When Heath Ledger was given the role of the Joker I was mildly surprised, not because I did not think he could do it.  On the contrary.  It just never occurred to me to consider him for the role. Obviously Christopher Nolan knew something I did not. Then consider the obstacles facing Ledger, the largest being a performance from one of the greatest and most beloved actors in the history of the cinema in the same role back in 1989. “Batman” was still a hot DVD, plenty fresh in the minds of viewers.  Jack Nicholson’s Joker was, at the time, critically acclaimed.  He stole the movie right from under Michael Keaton’s nose — even had top billing.  Yet Tim Burton’s “Batman” was a fantasy, and Christopher Nolan has gone in an entirely different direction with his “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight.”

    Ledger understood this and made the decision to portray the Joker as realistically as possible, as a terrorist, as a murderous maniac with a mind that was pure evil and twisted genius.  He walked differently, he moved differently, he spoke differently. The licking of the lips to soothe the scars of his mouth, the manner of speaking slowly as to challenge the other person, all of this was Ledger. He created something rather extraordinary in the film and that should be celebrated.

    I believe he gave the best performance of the year in 2005 for his breathtaking work in “Brokeback Mountain,” but the Academy thought otherwise.  But I don’t think that will happen this year. This is one of those performances like Marlon Brando in “On the Waterfront,” Nicholson in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” Robert De Niro in “Raging Bull” and recently, Forest Whitaker in “The Last King of Scotland” that is so brilliant, so stunning to watch (and watch again), the Academy has to honor it. This is one for the ages, to be discussed and reviewed for years to come.

    Tom O’Neil is tossing the supporting actor race around with a couple of colleagues over at Gold Derby.  Entertainment Weekly’s Dave Karger brings up the issue of winds of changing, the “dynamic changes in momentum,” as O’Neil puts it.  But let’s face it.  The Academy will look like fools if they don’t hand Ledger this trophy, because this is the most discussed performance of the year.

    The best directors, Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, they hire their actors and trust them to do the job, to come to the set prepared and having created something for the film that will work for the director’s vision.  Nolan did this with Ledger  He smartly stood out of the way and let him go, allowing the actor to enhance the film, give it an edge, bring to it a dark brilliance.  And what could “The Dark Knight” be without the darkest of villains?

  • Mickey Rourke featurette at Awards Daily

    “I don’t know if I could ever do it again,” Mickey Rourke says in this just-up exclusive featurette at Awards Daily.  “Just something magical happened.”  I love that.  And I must say, Fox Searchlight is really working this thing hard this year.  The studio’s passion is always evident, but this season, with considerably less funds and certainly not-so-typical awards bait to work, I have to say the hard work is REALLY showing.  I just spent an hour or so with Marisa Tomei yesterday and she couldn’t agree more, of course.  She’s on the bubble right now, but as she told me, “it’s nice to be in the mix.”  I’ll have that interview up in due time, but here’s AD’s Rourke piece:

    And in case you missed it, here’s our Marisa Tomei featurette from last month.

  • ASC nominees

    Ralph Fiennes in The ReaderThe American Society of Cinematographers have announced their annual list of nominees, which are:

    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Claudio Miranda)
    “The Dark Knight” (Wally Pfister)
    “The Reader” (Roger Deakins and Chris Menges)
    “Revolutionary Road” (Roger Deakins)
    “Slumdog Millionaire” (Anthony Dod Mantle)

    I’m pleasantly surprised by the “Reader” inclusion.  Though I didn’t care for the film, one of the first things I noted was the sublime photography.  This could carry over to Oscar, but I must say I’m somewhat surprised Eduardo Serra’s beautiful work in “Defiance” was excluded.  Harris Savides, meanwhile, continues to come up short with his peers despite being the best in the game (and many of his peers would say the same thing, which makes it all the more baffling).  And the “Australia” snub is hardly surprising since Mandy Walker’s work never reached the level many anticipated.

    But all this brings me to a question I’ve had racing through my head for some time now: could Claudio Miranda be the one of this lot snubbed of an Oscar nod?  The Academy has shown a bias against digital photography where the guild hasn’t.  “Apocalypto” and “Collateral,” you’ll recall, failed to translate their ASC nomiantions into AMPAS love, so it’s certainly something to consider.

    WGA on the way…

  • 1/7 Oscarweb Round-up

    Anne Hathaway• Noah Forrest talks with “Che” scribe Peter Buchman. [Movie City News]

    • David S. Cohen takes a deeper look at the visual effects bake-off. [Thompson on Hollywood]

    • Tom O’Neil chats with Dave Karger and Michael Musto about the seemingly Oscar-locked Heath Ledger. [Gold Derby]

    • Reed Johnson talks to the descendents of “Defiance”‘s Bielski brothers. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Yet another “what’s up with all the movie Nazs” piece. [The Independent]

    • Christopher Goodwin talks to Daniel Craig about his experimentalism. [The Times]

    • Anthony Breznican profiles “Rachel Getting Married” star Anne Hathaway. [USA Today]

  • Daylight robbery

    Thanks to some living, breathing piece of shit who thinks it’s somehow acceptable to break into people’s houses and help themselves, I have been relieved of my laptop. So I’m afraid I’m going to be pretty scarce around here for a little while. See y’all soon.

  • Guessing the WGA: the adaptations

    Writers Guild of America Awards(Original screenplay predictions here.)

    The adapted field is a little easier to manage.  But I wouldn’t look to USC’s typically road-less-traveled nominees for much of a barometer for the adapted screenplay race, however.  That’s folly of a different sort.  So we’re left to our own devices.

    Once again, foreign and animated films are not eligible here.  This probably affects “The Class” and “Gomorrah” more than anything else.  I doubt “The Tale of Despereaux” has much in the way of screenplay hopes this season.  Ditto “Let the Right One In,” however vile the idea.

    As mentioned in the originals discussion, the WGA likes its comedies.  “Mean Girls,” “Bridget Jones’s Diary” and “High Fidelity” are a few examples of adaptations to make the cut here while missing with the Academy.  The only problem is…there isn’t really an applicable comedy adaptation in the mix.  Had, say, “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” or “Yes Man” been somewhat more memorable, then maybe.  But that’s about all we have to pull from.  So maybe it isn’t a bad thing.  Anything that makes the guessing game a little easier is fine by me.

    I’d say the safest bets here are the two Best Picture frontrunners: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (written by Eric Roth) and “Slumdog Millionaire” (Simon Beaufoy).  And even though I just finished telling you the Scripter nominees shouldn’t matter, I nonetheless think David Hare’s adaptation of “The Reader” might have a strong foothold here, even if it misses with Oscar (which it might not).  Ditto Justin Haythe’s “Revolutionary Road.”

    That leaves a battle of the plays: “Doubt” versus “Frost/Nixon.”  As I said earlier, there is always at least one eventual Best Picture nominee left off the guild’s slate, even if it manages a nomination with AMPAS writers.  My bet is that’s going to be “Frost/Nixon” this year, so chalk one up for “Doubt.”  But I’m not solid on that either, because…

    …the big question mark is “The Dark Knight.”  I think the PGA nomination was a given and I don’t think a SAG ensemble nod should have really been expected.  The Scripter snub was odd, but meaningless in the face of the awards landscape, because it isn’t an industry organization.  So the first real, true, honest-to-God test for this film and its Oscar hopes comes with tomorrow’s announcement.  I’m strangely expecting a snub, one that might carry over to Oscar even if a Best Picture nomination stays in the cards.  But even so, that’s shaky ground to be on.  Only a DGA nomiantion Thursday could right the ship if WGA takes a pass.

    My predictions:

    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Eric Roth; based on the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
    “Doubt” (John Patrick Shanley; based on his play)
    “The Reader” (David Hare; based on the nivel by Bernhard Schlink)
    “Revolutionary Road” (Justin Haythe; based on the novel by Richard Yates)
    “Slumdog Millionaire” (Simon Beaufoy; based on the novel “Q&A” by Vikas Swarup)

    Other possibilities:
    “The Dark Knight” (Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan; based on characters appearing in DC Comics)
    “Defiance” (Clay Frohman, Edward Zwick; based on the book by Nechama Tec)
    “Frost/Nixon” (Peter Morgan; based on his play)

    What about you?

  • Guessing the WGA: the originals

    Writers Guild of America AwardsI almost let this one slip by without taking a stab at it.  It’s all happening!

    Anyway, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) will be announcing its list of screen nominees tomorrow.  I figured I’d take an in-depth look at both categories, starting with the original scripts, which provide a much broader field than the adaptations.

    Understand that foreign films and animated films are not eligible with the WGA, so you won’t be seeing nominations for “I’ve Loved You So Long” or “WALL-E.”  The former probably didn’t have much of a shot, but with Andrew Stanton and company out of the picture, it helps to narrow things a bit…but not by much.

    Looking deeper at the equation, Mike Leigh has only been nominated by the guild once, way back in 1996 for “Secrets & Lies.”  My hunch is the guild doesn’t much respect his penchant for improvisation as opposed to proper screenwriting, even if the Academy’s writing branch has allowed for it in recent years.

    Woody Allen’s whopping 18 nominations would make him a seeming lock but then again, his last guild nod was back in 1995 for “Mighty Aphrodite.”  The Academy has nominated him for “Deconstructing Harry” and “Match Point” since that time, but “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” is probably his most well-liked film in over a decade, so it’s probably secure.

    Next, it’s worth noting that the WGA likes its comedies.  “The 40 Year Old Virgin,” “Garden State,” “The Station Agent,” “Bend It Like Beckham” and “Best in Show” represent a handful of original screenplays that have been nominated here even if they managed to be left out of the Academy’s tally.  So something tells me a shocker like “Pineapple Express” or “Tropic Thunder” showing up shouldn’t be much of a shock at all, but I’m more tempted to go with Martin McDonagh’s brutally dark “In Bruges” instead.

    I see no real reason to bet against Jenny Lumet’s “Rachel Getting Married” (though I could be on autopilot with that assumption) or Thomas McCarthy’s “The Visitor” (as mentioned, recognized here in 2003 for “The Station Agent”).  So that leaves one more spot to fill.

    There is always one Best Picture nominee left out of this guild’s slate of nominees even if it manages to find love with the Academy’s writing branch.  Examples have included “Atonement,” “Letters from Iwo Jima,” “Munich” and “Finding Neverland.”  My guess is it’s a toss-up between “Frost/Nixon” in the adaptations and “Milk” here in the originals for that unfortunate designation this year.  But I’m going to go ahead with the assumption that Dustin Lance Black is on sturdy ground with his work on the Harvey Milk biopic.

    One quick note before I get to my predictions, however: I have no idea how any industry guild or organization will respond to Charlie Kaufman’s “Synecdoche, New York.”  If the WGA sees the brilliance, great, grand…but I’m not counting on it.

    I’m going with this set:

    “In Bruges” (Martin McDonagh)
    “Milk” (Dustin Lance Black)
    “Rachel Getting Married” (Jenny Lumet)
    “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (Woody Allen)
    “The Visitor” (Thomas McCarthy)

    Other possibilities:
    “Burn After Reading” (Ethan Coen, Joel Coen)
    “Pineapple Express” (Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg)
    “Tropic Thunder” (Etan Cohen, Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux)
    “The Wrestler” (Robert D. Siegel)

    What about you?

  • Japanese ‘Watchmen’ trailer lays it on thick

    Tricky Dick AND the Kennedy assassination?  Boy, they’re really going for it.  And my vote is the Japanese trailer dude should narrate all trailers from now on:

  • Go get it

    Pineapple Express on DVD and Blu-ray

  • BAFTA longlist

    I’ll wait until this slate of contenders is a wee bit narrower before I start really digging into it, but it looks like the BAFTA favorites are “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “Frost/Nixon.”

  • AMPAS narrows the visual effects field to seven

    Iron ManLast month, the Academy whittled the contenders for Best Visual Effects down to 15 hopefuls.  Today, the branch has chipped away at it further.

    And then there were seven:

    “Australia”
    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
    “The Dark Knight”
    “Hellboy II: The Golden Army”
    “Iron Man”
    “Journey to the Center of the Earth”
    “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”

    And from the press release:

    On Thursday, January 15, all members of the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 15-minute excerpts from each of the seven shortlisted films. Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate three films for final Oscar consideration.

    The most surprising omissions are probably “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” and “The Incredible Hulk.”  Maybe “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” if you want to go there, but I don’t.  I can’t believe it made the list of 15, frankly.  And after watching “Hancock” again over the holiday, as well as the visual effects featurette, I was beginning to think it might have a decent shot.  But my guess is that we’re still looking at “Button” and “Iron Man” as sure bets with “The Dark Knight” likely filling in the third and final slot.

    Then again, this show of love for “Hellboy II” could translate to somewhat unexpected nominations both here and in the makeup field.  And I feel like “Journey to the Center of the Earth” has more stroke with this group than many are assuming.