In Contention

Category: Daily

  • In the round

    I don’t know why exactly, but the “roundtable” format of interviews that crops up a lot during awards season often strikes me as rather less fascinating than it’s meant to be. Unless the panel is very smartly chosen, I find the discussion tends to veer towards back-patting and faintly smug in-jokery, rather than stimulating argument between widely differing creative forces.

    Maybe I’m just blasé. But on reading the Hollywood Reporter’s two recent “Oscar Roundtables” with six screenwriters and six producers that THR thinks are likely to figure in the Oscar race, I couldn’t help being disappointed that, despite the level of talent involved, they didn’t have that many interesting things to say between them. (I’d go so far as to say that the best soundbite is quoted from the not-present Charlie Kaufman.)

    The selected writers are Jenny Lumet (“Rachel Getting Married”), Dustin Lance Black (“Milk”), Thomas McCarthy (“The Visitor”), John Patrick Shanley (“Doubt”), Andrew Stanton (“WALL-E”) and J. Michael Straczynski (“Changeling”). I have a hard time imagining the latter two will score writing nominations, but the race is young, I suppose.

    Writers can be pretty insufferable when talking about their “process” — I know, I am one. So there’s the usual semi-serious comparing of hours spent at the computer, feverish notebook scribbling and messy first drafts, but there isn’t much discussion of the specific screenplays and films at hand. McCarthy seems to be the most reticent of the group, only entering the discussion halfway through. A shame, really, as I’d venture that he’s possibly the best writer of the lot.

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  • Finally — ‘The Wrestler’ trailer

    As anticipated earlier this week. Great trailer. Greater film. That Springsteen theme actually brings a lump to my throat.

    Click here if you want it in pretty Apple form.

  • The first time??

    Hugh Jackman in Australia

    He’s talking about his latest movie — Australia, Baz Luhrmann’s epic romantic adventure set against the backdrop of a massive WWII-era cattle drive — and his lead role as an enigmatic figure known only as the Drover. But, come on: Doesn’t the guy have, like, a real name?

    “Ah,” the 40-year-actor replies with the playful purr of a cat that recently dined on a tasty canary, “I can’t reveal that, my friend. That is a very , very good question — no one’s asked me that one, yet — but I can’t reveal it. He’s known as the Drover because, basically, that’s his job. And it’s a very fitting name, because he’s an outsider, and he’s known for what he does best. Which is being a drover — or, if he were an American, a cowboy. And he’s just so synonymous with what he does that that’s all he’s ever been known as. But as for his name — well, of course, I do know. But I can’t reveal what exactly will happen there.”

    From the latest issue of Cowboys & Indians magazine, featuring a cover story interview with Hugh Jackman.

  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Original Score — Volume One

    Tech Support at In ContentionMusic is one of few of the “tech” awards cited by the Academy that tends to result in passionate discussions among moviegoers, including non-cinephiles. Awarded in the Best Original Score category, the film music composer has one of the most difficult and lonely jobs in filmmaking. Almost always arriving at the end of the editing stage, and typically the most expendable element of the mixture, he or she has to fashion music appropriate to the mood and, hopefully, serve as a nice commentary for the on-screen goings-on.

    AMPAS musicians tend to have their favorites, however. This is notoriously one of the most insular branches (though it has warmed up slightly in recent years). It also tends to award music that features prominently in the films. Subtle scores rarely find a home here.

    A cardinal rule of this category is “never bet against John Williams.” The 45-time nominee has been recognized for all but two eligible years since 1976! Having been ineligible for two consecutive years now, Williams would seem a good bet this year for “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” The music was notable and he was nominated for all the predecessors in the series. That having been said, for some reason I’m still not convinced of this. Perhaps that’s because of the strength of other contenders.

    Thomas Newman is another favorite – an eight-time nominee — though he is still awaiting this first statuette. He could very well double-dip this year with “Revolutionary Road” and “WALL-E.” The former seems like it could be a big player this year, while music was absolutely pivotal in the latter. Newman was a double nominee for “Little Women” and “The Shawshank Redemption.” (Newman is also credited as a songwriter on “Down to Earth” from “WALL-E,” so he could even be up thrice this year!)

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  • Gearing up for ‘Ben’

    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” will go before the press at large tonight at a couple of screenings here in Los Angeles, and I find myself feeling that pre-screening giddiness for probably the first time this year.  Things will be fairly quiet from me the rest of the day, but Gerard will be putting up a new Tech Support column in a few hours.  Check back around 9:30 or 10:00 p.m. for a “Button” reaction.

  • 11/20 Oscarweb Round-up

    Simon Beaufoy• Kim Voynar talks to Simon Beaufoy about adapting “Slumdog Millionaire.” [Movie City News]

    • Patrick Goldstein hearts “Australia,” but suggest it is “perhaps too ambitious for its own good.” [The Big Picture]

    • John Horn surveys the Oscar season films from the perspective of studio (read: dollar) appeal. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Tim Gray wants to rob hard-working professionals of their day of televised glory. [Variety]

    • Actors mimicking political elite this season. [Variety]

    • One more comeback story for Mickey Rourke. [Variety]

    • Stuart Levine on the art of the Oscar clip. [Variety]

    • And an eye on the music races. [Variety]

  • ‘Coraline’ trailer debuts

    And very lovely it looks, too. You’d expect a marriage between Henry Selick, Neil Gaiman and Focus Features to be on the classy side of the spectrum, and so it appears to be here.

    February still seems to me like a curious month to open this kind of product, but I’m guessing if the film lives up to its promise, it’ll be an early contender for the 2009 Animated Feature Oscar. Dive in:

  • Brown-eyed talent

    Thirteen year-old BRANDON WALTERS (Nullah) was discovered by director Baz Luhrmann through a nationwide casting search for a young Aboriginal boy to play the crucial supporting role. After Walters participated in a series of workshops with the director at Fox Studios Australia, Luhrmann traveled to the aspiring young actor’s hometown of Broome, in Western Australia. With the blessing of the boy’s family, Luhrmann offered him the part.

    This is Walters’ film debut.  Walters, who grew up in a remote West Australian town and survived leukaemia at age seven, has already foreshadowed a career in showbiz, saying he was keen to visit the US.  “It’s my dream to go to America. I have to wait and see,” he said.

    From the production notes of Baz Luhrmann’s “Australia.”

  • ‘Soloist’ pushed further back

    After initially being booted out of awards season into the cinematic no man’s land of March 2009, it seems Joe Wright’s “The Soloist” has been rescheduled yet again.

    It’s now apparently slated for release on April 24, which sounds like a beneficial move into early summer-movie territory. Read into that what you will. Perhaps it’s a vote of confidence in the film’s commercial viability, though I suspect this is still no awards contender.

  • The trouble with Oz

    I’ll get into why “Australia” is a problematic film that gets lost in its own ambitions when I review the film in a short while. For now I’ll speak on the positive. We’ve been hearing for some time that young aborigine actor Brandon Walters will turn some heads in the film, and truly, a star is born. A diamond in the rough.

    The rest — not so much. More later.

  • Oprah talks ‘Button’

    So, Oprah tried to work her magic last week on “Australia” — today she’s turning her attention to “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett both appearing on today’s show.

    I guess you can expect a lot of Brangelina talk if that floats your boat, but hopefully, they’ll find some time to talk about the movie between all that. Tune in if you’re interested.

  • Ebert sidles up to ‘Deep Vote’

    UPDATE: I was in a bit of a rush earlier, but reading it again in more detail, I suspect these are not the thoughts of an AMPAS member, but Ebert’s own predictions in playfully disguised form. Still an interesting read, but several pinches of salt perhaps required.

    EARLIER: Heath Ledger will win the Oscar next February. It’s a done deal. The other four nominees may as well not show up.

    That’s not my opinion there. It’s that (albeit in paraphrased form) of the so-called “Deep Vote,” an Academy insider who recently shared his perspective on the race with Roger Ebert. In an amusing post on his website, Ebert has written up the conversation he had with his mole, and runs through Deep Vote’s other picks — some of which are a little more surprising than the one divulged above.

    I always take such perspectives with a grain of salt — just because someone is a member of the Academy, after all, doesn’t mean they can read the minds of 6,000-odd other voters. But it does provide some interesting insight into which names are in play and generating heat, even if I find it hard to square with certain proclamations.

    For example, I’m sceptical that Jonathan Demme is a “lock” for a Best Director nomination, as is claimed here. It does suggest, however, that there might be more support for him than I expected. I was also interested to see that he has “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” in his “maybe” pile for a Best Picture nod, behind the likes of “Slumdog Millionaire,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Revolutionary Road,” “Doubt” and “The Reader.” And I liked this tidbit, which suggests he’s a bit more sophisticated than the average AMPAS voter:

    ‘Synecdoche, New York’ is easily good enough, but they’re embarrassed you had to explain it to them.”

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  • It’s not just Oprah

    Looking across the early reviews, I think it’s fair to say that “Australia” has cleared the first hurdle. They’re mixed, for sure — hardly new territory for Baz Luhrmann — but there’s a lot of admiration out there, even within the kvetching. There were a number of voices out there anticipating an outright disaster, but so far, it doesn’t sound like one to me.

    The harshest takes so far seem to have been from the Australian press, which isn’t at all surprising. People are more liable to be aggravated by the romanticisation of their own culture than one foreign to them, after all. And “romanticisation” is the operative word here; as with “Moulin Rouge,” one clearly has to buy into Luhrmann’s fanciful stylisation to appreciate the film.

    Screen International obviously did, even if they’re a bit winded by it all:

    Luhrmann has fearlessly gone for the biggest, lushest goal he could imagine — a romantic, old-fashioned epic to stand beside “Gone With the Wind.” Though it fails to reach such Hollywood heyday heights, “Australia”‘s combination of high adventure, awesome landscapes and panting passions is sure to bring out romance starved adult audiences … If the restless richness becomes somewhat indigestible before the film’s considerable length is reached, that’s part of the Luhrmann package. Who else would dare such excess?

    Jackman is the epitome of handsome, untamed individualism: Kidman tempers haughty stridency with a delicate comic playfulness, touching in a scene with young Nullah where she teaches him, with no confidence in her own ability, to sing Over The Rainbow … (Brandon) Walters, aged 12, is perfect as the beautiful, troubled Nullah.

    Technically, this is ravishing, from production and costume designs from Catherine Martin to DoP Mandy Walker’s often-majestic footage. Australia is long on digital effects, mostly to good purpose, though some of the wartime Darwin harbour wide shots are wisely held for the briefest of seconds … The soundtrack is a potpourri of heightened effects and soaring musical themes.

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  • Broken

    Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler

  • 11/19 Oscarweb Round-up

    Kate Beckinsale• David Poland misses the stylistic point of “Revolutionary Road.” [The Hot Blog]

    • Anne Thompson is on the right track, though. [Thompson on Hollywood]

    • Dave Karger digs into the Oscar prospects of the elusive “Seven Pounds.” [Entertainment Weekly]

    • Pete Hammond covers the week in screenings, much of which you’ve already read here.  But he gets more second-hand gossip that Clint Eastwood knocks it out of the park in “Gran Torino.”  Press-at-large screenings start in two weeks. [Notes on a Season]

    • Michael Ordoña talks to Nicole Kidman and Baz Luhrmann (the L.A. Times are getting the royal Fox treatment lately) about “Australia.” [The Envelope]

    • Tom O’Neil talks “Nothing But the Truth” with star Kate Beckinsale. [Gold Derby]

    • Someone call the medic, Grandpa is hearing voices. [Peter Bart]

  • ‘Nothing But the Truth’ trailer

  • The Real Geezers dig ‘Slumdog’

  • Ether