In Contention

Category: Daily

  • Something for spring

    Ever get taken completely unawares by a film’s existence?

    It’s no doubt my own oversight, but before happening upon this trailer, I had never heard of “Duplicity.” (In my defence, who would remember that title?) Kind of surprising considering it reteams “Closer” co-stars Clive Owen and Julia Roberts, and comes from the hand of recent Oscar nominee Tony Gilroy.

    It’s a pleasant surprise, though: from where I’m standing, it looks like a crisp, stylish divertissement in the “Charade” mold, which is good enough for me. (Owen’s presence is always a plus in my book. And bonus points for the Goldfrapp cue.)

    Am I the only one thinking this looks a lot more fun than “Michael Clayton?” Here’s hoping. (Apple version here.)

  • ‘Reader’ stirring the awards season dust

    Kate Winslet in The ReaderGold Derby’s Tom O’Neil attended an east coast screening of “The Reader” this week, which featured a Stephen Daldry Q&A session afterward.  He reports as follows:

    “I tried to leave things ambiguous,” Daldry said. “I want to keep what she learned and what she didn’t from us. It’s not for us to know.”

    During the first part of the film, it’s clear that Kate Winslet’s character, Hanna, is “morally illiterate,” Daldry added. (There were loud gasps throughout the audience when he uttered that phrase.) But later in the story, Daldry said, he and screenwriter David Hare cautiously applied “complicated calibration to try to find careful relations to when you are sympathetic to her and when you’re not.”

    Two Oscar pundits who saw “Revolutionary Road” and “The Reader” this week and who asked not to quoted by name (for reasons I don’t understand but will honor) believe that “The Reader” has a better shot at a best-picture nomination and even a lead actress bid for Winslet. A few others I admire disagree and pick “Revolutionary Road” for both categories. Personally, I haven’t sorted out my own thoughts yet, but the former opinions — and the response “The Reader” got Tuesday night in New York — tell me that Harvey Weinstein may be quite happy on Jan. 22 when noms are unveiled.

    Contrast that with the fact that I’ve jerked the film from a number of categories this week and I think you’re looking at a mixed bag at the moment, at least on the prognostication front.  I only have my gut to go by for now.  We need more people to see this thing and speak up.  But I think this peek-a-boo game Daldry says he was playing with Winslet’s character’s feelings and that general “uncertainty” will make it a tough AMPAS sell.  My two cents, anyway.

  • “Yeah, you do, baby.”

    “I enjoy playing real-life people. I’ve always had a knack for taking on characteristics or mannerisms. And I was the most spoiled actor on the movie because I was able to spend every day with the real Cleve [Jones],” who was on set as a historical consultant. “Cleve would watch me and be like, ‘I don’t do that.’ And I’d say, ‘Yeah, you do, baby.’ People don’t always know how they act.”

    -Emile Hirsch talking about his “Milk” performace with New York Magazine’s Emma Rosenblum.  I’m beginning to think Hirsch might be a dark horse of sorts.  Despite his snub last year, something the Academy may (or may not) want to make up to him, the actor has probably the most “showy” supporting turn of the bunch.  And he does a fine job, one of very few performances I’ve been able to tolerate from him.  What’s more, he gets one of the real laugh-out-line zingers that’ll connect with Southern California crowds regarding “a couple Sundays in Orange fucking County.”  You’ll know it when you hear it.

  • You can’t stop what’s coming

    John Wayne in True Grit (left) and Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino (right)

  • No one on the corner has swagger like us

    M.I.A.

    “A.R. was the most established, amazing producer…He works with 100-people orchestras, and his sound is huge. Then on the other end of the room was me, making music on GarageBand [software] and playing Danny these really gritty, badly recorded MP3s. We had all these meetings and stuff, and then I realized that’s what the movie is — it’s the contradiction between these two things. That’s what the whole continent [of India] is…

    “If I was painting a picture of that part of the world, it’s not that I’d make it more glum, but I would try not to involve all the positive stuff from it, like the singing and dancing and easy stuff. I think we’re already used to that, and comfortable with that part. So there times that I was like, ‘We don’t have to make it so Bollywood’ … Danny, I think, wanted it to be good on both sides. He wanted the Indian population to get it, as well as the West. That’s a really difficult thing to do, and I think he did it — I think he did it really well.”

    From Todd Martens’s 11/24 interview with artist M.I.A., re: her electrifying work on the “Slumdog Millionaire” soundtrack.

  • Oscar screener Christmas

    Oscar screeners

  • 11/26 Oscarweb Round-up

    WALL-E• Jeff Wells is beside himself because Oscar prognosticators understand “Che” has a snowball’s chance in hell at a best Picture nomination. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • Noah Forrest podcasts “Changeling” screenwriter J. Michael Straczynski. [Movie City News]

    • Anne Thompson gets the “Australia” goods from Hugh Jackman. [Thompson on Hollywood]

    • Tom O’Neil, meanwhile, wonders if pundits are underestimating the film…nah. [Gold Derby]

    • The economy takes a bite out of one of the season’s biggest Oscar bashes. [Vanity Fair]

    • Pete Hammond is a party pooper, makes sure we all understand a SAG strike could put a damper on the season. [Notes on a Season]

    • Nathaniel Rogers talks to “Rachel Getting Married” gals Rosemarie DeWitt and Jenny Lumet. [The Film Experience]

    • Peter Bart joins my Brandon Walters bandwagon, says director Baz Luhrmann has created a star. [Peter Bart]

    • Kevin Kelly talks to “WALL-E” and “Star Wars” sound whiz Ben Burtt. [Spout Blog]

    • Patrick Goldstein digs into the emotional chill factor of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” [The Big Picture]

    • A Harvey Milk Cliff’s Notes for your “Milk” screening preparations. [USA Today]

  • ‘Reader’ gets a poster

    Same as the artwork on the cover of a special “author’s notes” booklet by Bernhard Schlink, handed out at yesterday’s press screening:

    The Weinstein Company\'s The Reader

  • Oscar column on the way

    Just a note to say it hasn’t slipped my mind. I know some folks get testy when I don’t get that sucker up but fast. With “The Reader” screening yesterday and “Gran Torino” next Monday, I’ve pushed the “Off the Carpet” columns to Tuesdays for these two weeks. It’ll be up shortly.

  • 11/25 Oscarweb Round-up

    David Fincher• Jeff Wells is a fan of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” but he’s not sure it’s a Best Picture slam dunk for this reason or that.  I’d be inclined to agree with him if that guild screening on Saturday hadn’t gone over so well. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • Meanwhile, Tom O’Neil takes a (probably unfair) swipe at David Fincher’s Q&A etiquette.  It’s true, he’s not the sort to get all cerebral for you like a pet monkey, and it’s true, that chilliness might affect him and the film, but don’t all the greats share these traits? [Gold Derby]

    • An ambitious list: the top 100 movies based on books. [The Movie Blog]

    • Wow, a feature on the return of an Oscar blogger.  But I guess the Bagger is that special breed that deserves the copy.  Call it blogger envy. [Thompson on Hollywood]

    • Having actually seen the film now, Dave Karger jumps on the gravy train for Clint Eastwood’s performance as a Best Actor contender.  Mostly he’s reporting everything we told you in our script review a few months back, though.  Gruff character but with a great arc that’ll leave them crying, etc., etc. [Entertainment Weekly]

    • T.L. Stanley joins the tiny chorus of “Australia” cheerleaders.  Maybe it’s not that tiny, but I haven’t heard from them much this week. [Gold Rush]

    • John Horn, meanwhile, features director Baz Luhrmann. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Patrick Goldstein dissects “Frost/Nixon” scribe Peter Morgan. [The Big Picture]

  • Well, it sure sounds pretty

    If, like me, you’re writhing in frustration at not having seen “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” yet, here’s some minor compensation — you can listen to it instead. The score, that is.

    As you’re surely aware, it’s by Alexandre Desplat, who happens to be my favourite modern composer. That his only Oscar nomination thus far has come for his comparatively unadventurous work on “The Queen” is a shamefully inadequate testament to the creative breadth of his oeuvre.

    His balancing of romanticism and minimalism in “Birth” made for the greatest score of the decade, in my opinion, while the snubbing of his lush, culturally expansive score for “Lust, Caution” was just one of numerous ways in which the Academy’s music branch proved themselves unfit for purpose last year. I could go into his equally gorgeous work on “The Beat That My Heart Skipped,” or “Girl With a Pearl Earring,” or “A Self-Made Hero,” or several other titles, but time is of the essence.

    Anyway, suffice to say that his “Button” score sounds as layered, intelligent and seductive as you’d expect from Desplat — I can’t imagine the music branch turning a blind eye (or ear) to him this time. I only listened to a little, as I want to experience it in its entirety for the first time in the context of the film… I’m pedantic that way. But if you’re so inclined, check it out on the film’s BAFTA For Your Consideration site.

  • Is Vera Farmiga about to go big?

    I love Vera Farmiga.

    I realize that means nothing to you, and I should remain more analytical and level-headed on this site. But we all have our favorites, and Ms. Farmiga is one of mine. Whether cheekily stealing scenes in “Breaking and Entering” or fearlessly carrying the searing “Down to the Bone,” she has an unusual onscreen empathy and intelligence that has long reminded me of pre-stardom Cate Blanchett, which is about the highest compliment I can pay.

    Since surprising virtually everyone by taking the 2005 LA Critics’ Best Actress award for “Down to the Bone,” she has seemed on the cusp of big things, but things haven’t quite clicked into place. She should have been an Oscar contender the next year for her precise, sexually calibrated turn in “The Departed,” but she somehow slipped by unnoticed amid the testosterone-charged ensemble. Oscar rumblings have been heard again this year for “Nothing But the Truth,” but the film doesn’t seem to be generating much heat.

    So I was excited to learn today that she’s landed her most mainstream lead role to date: a romantic comedy opposite George Clooney, no less. “Up in the Air” will be the third feature from this year’s surprise Best Director nominee, Jason Reitman, which makes for an intriguing match-up of talent all round. Variety reports as follows:

    Story centers on a human resources exec whose only joy in life comes from the prospect of notching his millionth frequent-flyer mile, a goal he pursues with zeal as the rest of his life falls apart because he is constantly on the road.

    Farmiga will play a businesswoman who develops a romantic relationship with Clooney’s character through meetings in airports and hotels around the country. Reitman adapted the screenplay from Walter Kirn’s novel of the same name.

    (more…)

  • ‘Notorious’ poster

    Not to be confused with the one by Hitchcock. (Just in case you thought that was Cary Grant in the poster.)

    Anyway, a little over two months since the trailer appeared for George Tillman Jr’s biopic of the Notorious B.I.G., comes this rather uninspired poster. It’s set for release in the January wasteland (in time for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, if I’m not mistaken), which isn’t the best omen. Still, it’s a great subject for a film, and that cast is promising. We’ll see.

  • POLL: Is Heath Ledger a lock to win Best Supporting Actor?

    We really need a new poll this week.  That “Wrestler” query has run its course (the majority of you thinking, no, the film won’t suplex its way into the Best Picture line-up).

    This week, inspired by Guy’s post below, I figured we’d ask a question that has been on everyone’s mind for a few months now: Does Heath Ledger have the Best Supporting Actor Oscar sewn up for his performance in “The Dark Knight?”

    So…let us know in the sidebar poll!

  • Ledger: is it written?

    When running through the list of contenders of next year’s Academy Awards, most will agree that there are no safer bets than Heath Ledger picking up a Best Supporting Actor nomination for “The Dark Knight.” He’s been locked in for the best part of the year… no argument, no dissent, no negotiations.

    Many people seem to believe that a win is equally inevitable. He’s certainly the one to beat, with a mighty combination of factors in his favour — the sentimental appeal of honouring a sorely-missed star (whom many feel should have won for earlier work), a universally-praised performance well on its way to iconic status, and a clear chance to acknowledge the highest-grossing film of the decade thus far. It helps that the category isn’t exactly teeming with strong contenders this year.

    But is he actually unbeatable? Jeff Wells doesn’t think so:

    Almost every New York journalist I’ve spoken to over the past week or so seems to believe that “Dark Knight”‘s Heath Ledger is more or less a lock to win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. He’s favored, of course, but my Ray Walston antennae tells me it’s no done deal. I’m not feeling a blitzkreig momentum, and I’m sensing that “Revolutionary Road”‘s Michael Shannon, who appears in only three scenes but delivers a wham-bam effect like no other supporting performance in any other film this year, may have a shot at stealing it away.

    Wells isn’t the only one exercising caution. In a slightly curious (to me, at least) take on the frontrunners in the acting categories, Awards Daily’s Sasha Stone runs down the category as follows:

    Heath Ledger seems to be the frontrunner but I have my doubts on a posthumous Oscar win, followed by Michael Shannon for “Revolutionary Road,” Ralph Fiennes for “The Reader” or “Duchess,” Robert Downey, Jr. for “Iron Man” (could win), John Malkovich for “Burn After Reading” or “Changeling.”  James Franco or Emile Hirsch or Josh Brolin for “Milk,” can’t decide – this is the year’s most wide open category at the moment.

    (more…)

  • ‘Reader’ revealed

    Stephen Daldry’s “The Reader” has begun it’s big Oscar season reveal after behind-the-scenes drama has defined the film for a number of months. Dare I say it — given the circumstances — but the effort feels rushed. It’s an oddly disorienting narrative that takes some time settling into an emotional groove, but when it does, it packs affecting punch.

    The weird thing is it feels like the last 123 minutes have transported me back to the mid-1990s. This is a film that recalls the heyday of Harvey Weinstein’s grip on this time of year, perhaps in atmosphere more than quality. It should be no surprise, then, that Anthony Minghella is one of the producers attached. There are echoes of his work throughout, and really, Daldry might be the only filmmaker with the right doses of prestige and dramatic flavor to take up Minghella’s mantle.

    I’ll get into more later, but I have to mention Nico Muhly’s exemplary score and exquisite photography from Chris Menges and Roger Deakins, both credited. Stand-out particulars.

  • ‘Button’ reviews run hot and, well, cold

    UPDATED: Slow on the uptake again, the Hollywood Reporter finally offers the unqualified rave we’ve been awaiting. Gushing praise in all departments, including a big thumbs-up for Pitt (“his most impressive outing to date”). Blanchett, meanwhile, “illuminates the screen.” No issues with digital or emotional aloofness to be found.

    EARLIER: A couple of days ago, in the midst of his generally positive take on “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Kris mentioned that the work felt “strangely cold.” It was an observation rather than a criticism, and Kris suspected he may be in a minority.

    Well, reading the first few reviews, it would appear that he isn’t. Todd McCarthy’s near-rave for Variety describes the film as “richly satisfying” but also “emotionally cool,” blaming the film’s extensive CG work for a slightly distancing effect:

    Fincher spends 13 minutes short of three hours telling this unique man’s life story, and the time goes by easily, with no sense of dawdling, waste or indulgence. The film evinces a sure hand that maintains narrative confidence, steadiness of tone and a mature awareness of the temporal nature of life’s opportunities and the fleeting quality of happiness.

    Still, for what is designed as a rich tapestry, the picture maintains a slightly remote feel. No matter the power of the image of an old but young-looking Benjamin, slumped over a piano and depressed about his fading memory and life; it is possible that the picture might have been warmer and more emotionally accessible had it been shot on film.

    McCarthy also appears to share Kris’ view that Cate Blanchett is the more dominant presence in the film:

    In all his physical manifestations, Benjamin is a reactor, not a perpetrator, and Pitt inhabits the role genially, gently and sympathetically. Blanchett’s Daisy is the more volatile and moody one and, after bluntly revealing the selfish impetuousness of Daisy’s youthful self, the thesp fully registers both the passion and insecurity of the mature woman.

    (more…)

  • Out and about

    Mostly silence on my end today.  I’m pushing the Oscar column to tomorrow due to a screening of “The Reader” this morning.  Might as well get one more under my belt before tackling an update.  This time next week “Gran Torino” will be out of the way, then it’s up to Sony when they want to drop the curtain on the season’s offerings.  As far as I know, no “Seven Pounds” screenings have been announced.

    I’ll touch base briefly with a “Reader” reaction around noon-ish, then back again in the evening.