In Contention

Category: Daily

  • Bening to be honored at Santa Barbara fest

    It’s not exactly a precursor, but the news we just received that Annette Bening is to receive the American Riviera Award at next year’s Santa Barbara International Film Festival is a bullish omen for her Oscar chances.

    The prize, a career achievement award given annually to “an actor who has had a strong influence on American cinema,” has coincided with the Academy Award more often than not in the past five years: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Forest Whitaker and Sandra Bullock all scooped it up on their campaign trails, while it presaged nominations for Tommy Lee Jones and Mickey Rourke. Clearly, festival director Roger Durling and his team think Bening’s hour has come.

    Bening has a good relationship with the SBIFF: she was previously honored with their Montecito Award in 2005. The award will presented on January 28, the second day of the fest — accompanied, as is their custom, by an onstage retrospective and Q&A with the actress. As usual, Kris will be attending the festival to bring you the highlights of the occasion. Press release excerpt after the cut.

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  • 11/1 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: ‘Four Lions’ on tour, Thompson remembers ‘Back to the Future,’ The Boss talks ‘The Promise’

    • Devin Faraci goes on the road with Chris Morris and his film, “Four Lions.” [Badass Digest]

    • Brian Truitt talks “Back to the Future” with Lea Thompson, 25 years later.  I always forget it was nominated for Best Original Screenplay.  (AWESOME.)  [USA Today]

    • Bruce Springsteen talks the making of “Darkness on the Edge of Town” at the London premiere of “The Promise.” [The Guardian]

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  • ‘King’s Speech’ leads BIFA nods, ‘Another Year’ snubbed

    Mike Leigh has long bemoaned the fact that he gets more respect from American awards bodies than those in his homeland. He received further proof of that this morning, as his broadly acclaimed new feature, “Another Year,” was snubbed in the top category at the British Independent Film Awards in favor of, among others, Matthew Vaughan’s dismal po-mo superhero movie “Kick-Ass.”

    The BIFAs are, of course, to the BAFTAs what the Indie Spirits are to the Oscars. They can always be relied upon to make some interesting calls, but while some of this year’s surprises are laudable, others are just perverse.

    Leigh receives some compensation in the shape of a Best Director nod, plus a trio of acting bids (which interestingly place Ruth Sheen in lead and the much-fancied Lesley Manville in support). But Leigh’s omission from the Best Screenplay category — when the pleasant but join-the-dots writing of “Made in Dagenham” makes the cut — is, if anything, even more of a jawdropper than the Best Film miss. The BIFAs were similarly cool on “Happy-Go-Lucky” two years ago, somewhat anticipating the film’s BAFTA whiteout — here’s hoping we’re not setting ourselves up for a repeat.

    (More thoughts, and the full list of nominations, after the jump.)

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  • “Do THEY ever return to possess the living?”

    Halloween is upon us: cue hastily cobbled-together costumes and drunkenly ironic apple-bobbing at friends’ parties, the frenzied whoops of sugar-saturated children and an online avalanche of “best horror films ever” lists. It’s a beautiful time of year. We’ve already contributed our share to said avalanche, so allow me simply to highlight my viewing for the evening (courtesy of the BFI’s handsome recent reissue): Jack Clayton’s “The Innocents.”

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  • WEEKLY WRAP: Leading men, Halloween horror, comic contenders

    • This week’s Off the Carpet column took a roll call of this year’s Best Actor contenders.

    • Meanwhile, we interviewed one of the strongest of those contenders, “127 Hours” star James Franco.

    • With “The King’s Speech,” “Another Year” and “Made in Dagenham” all in the hunt, The Long Shot mused on Britain’s back-and-forth relationship with the Oscars.

    • In case you’d forgotten what day it is, Chad got into the Halloween spirit by counting down his ten favorite alternative horror movies.

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  • R.I.P. George Hickenlooper

    I was at dinner tonight when I saw the news of George Hickenlooper’s untimely passing via Twitter, and my jaw dropped.  “Natural causes” at 47 is just difficult to process.

    He was in Denver campaigning for his brother, John, the city’s mayor and candidate for Governor.  He was just in Austin promoting his latest film, “Casino Jack.” He was in good spirits and ready to push through the circuit and now, he’s gone.  What can you say?  (Moisés Chiullan remembers his friend here.)

    I met Hickenlooper once, when a mutual director friend invited us to an early private screening of a film.  And I’ve followed his always thoughtful discussions on this or that blog.  He was a good guy and he’ll be missed.  I’ll be popping in my recently purchased “Apocalypse Now” Blu-ray as soon as I get back to Los Angeles to give “Hearts of Darkness” (which I haven’t seen since film school) another look.  Seems right.

    [Photo: IMDb]

  • ‘London Boulevard’ UK trailer

    We waited all year for a US distributor to bite on William Monahan’s “London Boulevard,” but it never happened. FormDistrict was formed by the film’s producer, Graham King, last month and will be handling a release Stateside next year. Today a UK trailer hit as the film is opening there next month. It looks like a fun romp and boy does Ray Winstone seem like the perfect guy to rip through Monahan’s dialogue.   Check out an embed after the jump.

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  • 10/29 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: O’Barry biopic on the way, stumping for Bell in ‘Exorcism,’ Reznor talks ‘Network’ synth

    • Across the pond, Deborah Orr on a 15 rating due to harmless swearing weighing down an uplifting film like “Made in Dagenham.” [The Guardian]

    • A feature biopic is in the works about “The Cove” activist Ric O’Barry. [Deadline]

    • The deadline for animated feature submission nears. [Oscars.org]

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  • ‘Illusionist’ vs. ‘Illusionist’

    I stumbled upon this days-old THR story via Anne Thompson, and while I’m glad to see it hasn’t caught on in the blogosphere, I feel compelled to point out just what bullshit it is. (My bad: Kris alluded to the news before THR did.) It would appear that Sylvain Chomet’s probable animated Oscar contender “The Illusionist” is being hassled by parties attached to the 2006 Ed Norton-starring magician drama of the same title, who curiously feel that some kind of trademark is being violated:

    Illusionist Distribution, LLC, claims to be the rights-holder of that [2006] film, and is upset that Sony intends to release its Illusionist, with a “strikingly similar” storyline about a touring master illusionist who falls in love.

    Illusionist Distribution has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against SPC and Pathe on grounds of trademark infringement and unfair competition, asking a judge to enjoin the November release of The Illusionist. The company is also seeking disgorgement of all profits plus compensatory damages.

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  • Taking questions for Oscar Talk

    I keep forgetting to post this on Wednesdays.  Sorry about that.  We’re recording in a matter of hours so if you have any questions you’d like us to address, fire them off here.  PLEASE STICK TO ONE QUESTION.  We do this every week, after all.

  • ‘Alice in Wonderland’ officially kicks off FYC season

    Back in early September DreamWorks sent out a mailer that was, in my book, the first “For Your Consideration” stab of the season, offering up “How to Train Your Dragon” as a contender in pretty much every category.  But the mailer wasn’t an advertisement place at any outlet, so the first “official” FYC ad of the season goes to Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland.”

    Dave Karger alerts us to the ad, which is part of the recently revealed full-steam-ahead push for the film across all the categories.  A billion dollars gets you a lot of love come awards season.

    Being first at anything puts you in a good position when it comes to an Oscar race.  Currently, as Karger reminds, voters have screeners of “Animal Kingdom,” “City Island,” “Mother and Child” and “Solitary Man” (though you can add “Please Give,” “Winter’s Bone” and “You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger” to that list, too).  Now when they open their trusty trades, they’ll see Helena Bonham Carter’s exaggerated features staring right back at them.  Check out the full FYC ad after the jump.

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  • EXCLUSIVE: ‘The Way Back’ poster

    I’ve written plenty about “The Way Back,” Peter Weir’s first film in seven years, here, here and here.  And I talked to Weir at length about the project here.  So I’m tapped out for now, though I’m eager to hear what others will have to say.  The UK trailer dropped a few weeks back giving an overall sense of the scope of the endeavor (I’m told a domestic trailer is on the way), and today, we’ve been given an exclusive first look at the official poster for the film.  Have a look at the full image after the jump.

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  • Listen to Randy Newman’s ‘We Belong Together’ from ‘Toy Story 3’

    Randy Newman has been a fixture of the Pixar brand since day one.  He composed the score for 1995’s “Toy Story” and supplied the original songs, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” becoming the theme of the franchise.  After receiving 15 nominations without a win, he finally took home his Oscar in 2002 for the original song “If I Didn’t Have You” from “Monsters, Inc.”

    This year, Newman is back in the thick of the discussion as he has offered up a new original tune for “Toy Story 3,” namely, “We Belong Together.”  The song plays over the closing credits (though I could have sworn I remembered it in the context of the narrative), so that could make it tough.  But I have a hunch it’ll be fine.

    The song is standard Newman/Pixar fare.  There’s certainly no reinvention of the wheel going on here and the song is incredibly simplistic (as it would be in a film largely aimed at children).  But I don’t imagine all of that will really count against the track.  If nominated, it will be Newman’s 20th invitation to the dance.

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  • But now I see

    I never really noticed how beautiful the trailer for last year’s “The Messenger” was until I saw it last night promoting the film’s HBO premiere.  It might be one of my favorite trailers of the last few years.  Plenty owed to Mr. Nelson, of course.

  • 10/28 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Youngest Best Actresses, seeking Oscar journos, Cameron readies ‘Avatar’ sequels

    • AMPAS and mtvU launch the third annual “Oscars Correspondent Contest” for college journalists. [Oscars.org]

    • Across the pond, Stuart Heritage counts down the ways “Rabbit Hole” could be an Oscar bet for Nicole Kidman. [The Guardian]

    • The Durst family predictably threatens to sue over “All Good Things.” [Deadline]

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  • Cut straight to the predix

    I spent some time this morning weeding and updating my current nomination predictions, and had planned to introduce them with today’s Long Shot column. As it turns out, LFF wrap-up business, a pair of catch-up screenings (one of them with a Supporting Actress contender who you may have heard sets the screen ablaze) and a backlog of interview transcription meant the column simply didn’t get written. Tomorrow, with apologies.

    In lieu of a column, however, I can at least serve up the predictions — I know how much you folks like to pick at them. Although, by this post-festival stage in the season, certain contenders are beginning to turn concrete, there’s still plenty of room to play with question marks. So once again, don’t take this omission or that against-the-grain inclusion too seriously: when it comes down to it, we’re all just trying things on until the precursors kick in.

    Among the notions I’m flirting with in this update is that “Winter’s Bone” could be this year’s critical indie cause in the race, that the Bening-Moore question may be a moot one to voters watching their screeners for the first time and that they may just take a shine to “The Way Back.” Check out my updated predictions here. (Remember they can always be accessed at the bottom of the right-hand sidebar.)

    [Photo: Sony Pictures Classics]

  • ‘How I Ended This Summer’ takes top prize at London fest

    “We chose our winner last night,” London Film Festival jury president Patricia Clarkson told me yesterday, an evasive  smile on our face, as we eased into our lunchtime interview. (More on that in a few days.) “I’m very pleased with it — it’s a wonderful film.”

    Naturally, my fellow lunch guest, Daily Telegraph critic Tim Robey, and I tried to tease some clues out of the estimable character actress, but she wasn’t budging. She was, however, keen to know which of the shortlisted films we had seen. When Tim declared Alexei Popogrebsky’s two-hander character drama “How I Ended This Summer” his favourite film of the festival,  Clarkson’s eyes glazed over ever so slightly. “Oh, the Russian film?” she said unenthusiastically.

    Well, Clarkson really is quite the actress. For as it turns out, “the Russian film” she so slyly shrugged off at lunch is the very one that she — together with jurors Sandy Powell, John Hillcoat, Shekhar Kapur and Gabriel Byrne — had already voted the winner of the fest’s Best Film trophy, following in the footsteps of last year’s champ “A Prophet,” and beating such heavyweight competition as “Black Swan,” “Another Year,” “The King’s Speech” and “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives.” The choice was unveiled at tonight’s festival closing ceremony.

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  • ‘Rabbit Hole’ poster

    Friday we got a look at the trailer for John Cameron Mitchell’s “Rabbit Hole.” Today, courtesy of Awards Campaign, we get the first poster, which I’d say clashes with the tone of the film somewhat.  Have a look at the full image after the jump.

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