In Contention

Category: Daily

  • TELLURIDE: Clooney takes center stage

    George Clooney has been tapped this year for one of Telluride’s three big tributes, and it’s certainly the biggest of the trio. Whether it’s press and patrons schmoozing with the star at yesterday’s Patron Brunch, whispers around town (“Did you hear George Clooney is here?” “I really hope ‘The Ides of March’ is a TBA.”) or the ecstatic response to Alexander Payne’s “The Descendants,” this mountain burgh has been taken by Clooney fever.

    It’s a curious thing to see happen here at a festival that is so smooth and cool and not at all phased by celebrity. Clooney changes all those rules, though. And most of it has to be owed to his trooper disposition and charming charisma. He’s always “on,” and just about everyone wants to just throw back a few with the guy. Men want to be him, women want to…well, you get my drift.

    I tend to stay away from the tributes and spend that time taking in a film at Telluride. But since the actor is set to be feted later this evening, I thought I’d at least dedicate some space to his still in-progress career and the highlights that have brought him to this point.

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  • Jessica Chastain wins award in Venice — more to come?

    Nathaniel Rogers tipped me off today to the fact that Jessica Chastain has won her first (of many?) award of the season in Venice. The prize, presented by “W.E.” director Madonna, was the Gucci Award for Women in Film. And it’s a pretty good pick when you consider how prolific she is this year.

    Chastain is at the fest with two films — “Wilde Salome” and “Texas Killing Fields” — but of course she’s been seen in everything from “The Tree of Life” to “The Help” to “The Debt” this year, with Sundance and Cannes hit “Take Shelter” and Weinstein-pushed “Coriolanus” still to hit Toronto and open in theaters. Seven movies? A little difficult to argue with that, especially since she gives quality work across the board (though I haven’t seen the Venice films).

    It really would be a shame if she couldn’t get enough of a groundswell to nab an Oscar nod for something (I prefer her in “The Help”), but she’s assured any number of precursor honors for her body of work throughout the season.

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  • TELLURIDE: Herzog’s meditative and crucial ‘Into the Abyss’ is best of the fest so far

    The weather is keeping up here, with rain only threatening a drop or two here and there. As festival co-director Julie Huntsinger quipped at yesterday’s press orientation, there must have been a deal struck with the devil somewhere along the line, because the weather is always miserable here for the three or four weeks leading up to the fest, and then, on the Thursday when most arrive in town, the clouds part and the air clears and the Show is on.

    After sitting down for a few choice minutes with Glenn Close earlier this morning, I hoofed it up the hill a bit to the Palm theater and my first screening of the day, and, well, it was impactful, to say the least.

    Werner Herzog is a movie deity to me. “Aguirre, the Wrath of God” is a top 15 all time kind of film in my view. His work with Klaus Kinski so many years ago is the sort of cinema madness that digs under your skin and I just love it. But his feature work as of late has left me a bit cold, while his documentary work — an obvious passion for him these days — hasn’t registered for me despite much acclaim.

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  • VENICE: ‘Alps’ and other drugs

    The first few days of the Venice Film Festival were so jam-packed with the big-name premieres you’ve been most restless to hear about that, between thrashing out full-length individual reviews of those and negotiating the braided Venice obstacles of crippling humidity and crippled wi-fi facilities, my usual roundups of less flashy fare got a bit shunted. As did anything in the way of an introduction: we may have already reached the close of Day Four, but hey, welcome to this year’s Venice coverage! Hope you’re enjoying it at least as much as I am. More, hopefully.

    As you’ve probably gathered from the reviews I have written, it’s been a quiet festival so far: perhaps I’m more down than most on such titles as “A Dangerous Method” and “The Ides of March,” but even accounting for the more encouraging reviews, no big film has yet set the Lido alight the way last year’s opener, “Black Swan,” did. Indeed, the buzz film of the festival so far may well be Madonna’s “W.E.,” if only because critics, when bored, thrive on schadenfreude.

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  • TELLURIDE: ‘Descendants’ Q&A

    Thanks to Sasha Stone at Awards Daily for grabbing video of yesterday’s post-screening Q&A with “The Descendants” stars George Clooney and Shailene Woodley and director Alexander Payne, which I had to miss:

  • TELLURIDE: ‘La Luna’ is Pixar’s best short in years

    Yesterday before the 3D screening of Wim Wenders’s “Pina,” the audience was treated to Pixar’s latest animated short (which was also shown to audiences, I believe, at the D23 convention last month). I felt like it deserved some notice here, because it’s my favorite short from the studio in quite some time.

    I greatly admired “Day & Night,” which was attached to last year’s “Toy Story 3.” I wasn’t too keen on “Partly Cloudy” (which accompanied “Up” in theaters) and “Presto,” which tagged along with “WALL-E,” was cute and a nice ode. But the last Pixar short that I really got all that jazzed about was “Lifted,” Gary Rydstrom’s nifty, though admittedly slight, 2006 UFO abduction spoof.

    “La Luna” is my favorite since then, and probably since “Gerri’s Game” way back in 1997. It’s a delightful piece about finding your own way and eschewing expectations for your own identity, all built within a typically magical and imaginative narrative, and it doesn’t stoop to being blatant about its message. It’s also rendered with some of the best animation we’ve seen yet from the studio.

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  • TELLURIDE: Close’s passion for ‘Nobbs’ unmistakable, though maybe blinds to flaws

    Hats off to Glenn Close. Really. When you’ve lived with and loved a role and a story for as long as she’s hung on to “Albert Nobbs” (which she first performed as a play way back in 1982), you deserve a pat on the back.

    She’s been trying to get this made as a film ever since she stumbled onto the George Moore short story, and even saw things fall apart 10 years ago when she was oh so close (no pun intended). Finally, it’s a reality, thanks to filmmaker Rodrigo Garcia. But with great passion can come, often, blinders to the flaws of a story.

    The film tells the tale of Albert Nobbs, who appears to merely be a “kind little man,” a hotel waiter in 19th-century Ireland. Or so it would seem. In reality, Nobbs is an older woman posing as a man in a male-dominated society, glacially putting together the funds to live her dream: purchasing a small shop and selling, oh, tobacco will do.

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  • TELLURIDE: ‘The Artist,’ ‘Pina’

    Today began, as already conveyed, with the first-ever screening of Alexander Payne’s “The Descendants.” I managed two more films, one of them capsuled here. I’ll get to “Albert Nobbs” separately, but just to clean my plate a little…

    Hazanavicius’s ‘Artist’ doesn’t quite reach the hype

    There is very little doubt in my mind that we’ll all be talking about Michel Hazanavicius’s Cannes sensation “The Artist” over the next six months. The film will generate a lot of respect from Academy members who understand that getting a silent film made in this day and age, let alone a popular one, is an amazing feat. As is well-documented, the film speaks to the industry’s history with reverence and passion, is impeccably crafted (which will generate support across the branches) and features a lead performance that is easy to root for.

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  • ‘Contagion’ keeps you at arm’s length — by design

    Spinning off of comments made in the podcast this morning, I liked Steven Soderbergh’s “Contagion” quite a bit. It doesn’t reinvent the outbreak movie wheel per se, but it manifests a unique cross-section of characters and dissects them clinically, perhaps the film’s (and screenplay’s) biggest stroke of genius.

    There isn’t a lot of heart to be found in the film, though when it peeks through, it counts. And even then, Soderbergh and screenwriter Scott Z. Burns aren’t concerned with lingering on it. They’re more interested in depicting a global community in crisis, dropping the players onto a Petri dish to observe — coldly — societal breakdown and human frailty.

    The film pulses along (driven by precise editing by Stephen Mirrione and thumping electronic interludes by composer Cliff Martinez), rarely taking time to burrow into a character before pushing on to the next. Indeed, some threads are left dangling, handled in closing by mere suggestion. And it’s all of a piece with a film that seems determined to keep you at arm’s length — and for good reason.

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  • TELLURIDE: Payne’s ‘Descendants’ plays, but doesn’t quite reach the bar he’s set for himself

    Over the years Alexander Payne has been invited to Telluride to debut various films, but conflicts with other festivals have always kept that from becoming a reality. He finally attended his first SHOW here two years ago as a Guest Director for the festival. And today, he finally brought a film with him, debuting “The Descendants” to the first audience ever as part of the press and patrons special screening at the Chuck Jones Cinema.

    “It’s funny how long it can sometimes take to realize your destiny, to be a part of this festival,” he told the audience while introducing the film. And indeed, Payne fits right in here with the cineastes.

    The film, however, I found to be a bit Payne-lite. There’s a wonderful subtlety to the effort that certainly isn’t present in his past work. There’s an effortlessness here, where something akin to straining would frequently pop up in his breed of dramedy. And the level of cynicism in most of his work, including his still-best “Sideways,” was refreshingly absent here. But it doesn’t have the density of his past work, and I missed that.

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  • TELLURIDE: Herzog’s latest lands at Sundance Selects, ‘Rum Diary’ looks like a go for the SHOW (or does it?)

    Still no screenings yet here at Telluride. Most are up at the Patron Brunch smooching George Clooney’s rear at the moment. I’ve been on the porch of my B&B enjoying the crisp mountain air and doing a little work. Alejandro González Iñárritu popped in here with his family. He was here last year with “Biutiful” and maybe it sucked him in.

    On a quick stroll around town I popped into a local bookstore and noticed a display featuring festival highlights: Kaui Hart Hemmings’s “The Descendants,” John Kerr’s “A Most Dangerous Method”… and Hunter S. Thompson’s “The Rum Diary.” So chalk the latter up as surely one of the festival’s surprise “TBAs.” And, indeed, Johnny Depp is in town. (UPDATE: Anne Thompson is reporting the festival didn’t screen the film, so…who knows what’s going on with that.)

    Meanwhile, Werner Herzog’s documentary “Into the Abyss: A Tale of Death, a Tale of Life” announced distribution yesterday and I’m just now seeing it. Last year “The Way Back” held its Newmarket acquisition announcement for the first day of the fest. Herzog’s latest is definitely on my list. I hope I can get around to seeing it.

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  • 9/2 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: ‘Diary’ a TFF surprise?, Cronenberg talks ‘Method,’ Cody’s most anticipated

    • Word is one of the big Telluride surprises is the Johnny Depp starrer “The Rum Diary.” [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • At Venice, is “Contagion” following “The Town”‘s awards playbook? (Uh…yeah.) [24 Frames]

    • Sticking with the Lido, Nick Vivarelli talks to “A Dangerous Method” director David Cronenberg. [Variety]

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  • ‘Killer Joe’ poster

    I was hoping to get William Friedkin’s “Killer Joe” here at Telluride, but Guy will have a chance to see it in Venice if he sees fit. I’m very much looking forward to it for some reason, and I dig the poster that hit the net today. Check out the full (grossly watermarked courtesy of Coming Soon) image after the jump.

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  • ‘Margaret’ trailer

    If it seems like we’ve been waiting forever to see Kenneth Lonergan’s “Margaret,” that’s because we’ve been waiting forever to see Kenneth Lonergan’s “Margaret.” Featuring a pre-“True Blood” Anna Paquin and Matt Damon, among an eclectic cast, the film has sat on a shelf for, what, six years? It’s finally getting a release this year from Fox Searchlight, and the trailer recently debuted at Apple. Check it out by clicking the image below or watch an embed after the jump.

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  • Taking questions for Oscar Talk

    Sorry once again for getting this up late. Start reminding me if it’s not up by Wednesday night! But anyway, we’ll be recording the podcast in a half hour or so for publication tomorrow. We’ll be joined by Guy in Venice and perhaps Anne’s Venice correspondent, David Gritten. Rifle off any questions you might have for us, though consider aiming plenty Venice’s way, since Anne and I haven’t dug in here in Telluride yet.

  • TELLURIDE: Settling in for the 38th annual

    So here I sit in Telluride, a nice view of the mountainside gondolas out the window, a swift flight and gorgeous shuttle ride later. As always, we were greeted with the festival program upon boarding the charter this morning, which also carried filmmakers Werner Herzog and Alexander Payne, actress Tilda Swinton, etc., their presence at the airport already hinting at what was likely to be inside.

    The three most expected films are here: Payne’s “The Descendants,” David Cronenberg’s “A Dangerous Method” and Steve McQueen’s “Shame.” Those will be at the top of my list this weekend. Rodrigo Garcia’s “Albert Nobbs” is, along with Payne’s film, the big first-look get for the festival. Though we’ll get looks at McQueen’s flick ahead of Venice, it appears. Also of interest to me are Cannes carry-overs “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” “Le Havre,” “The Kid with a Bike” and “Footnote.” And on the documentary front, there is Matin Scorsese’s “George Harrison: Living in the Material World” (centered on Beatle George Harrison) and Herzog’s latest, “Into the Abyss: A Tale of Death, a Tale of Life.”

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  • REVIEW: “Carnage” (**1/2)

    Venice Film Festival

    When the title of Yasmina Reza’s acclaimed 2006 play “God of Carnage” was given a haircut in its transition to the screen, it was hard to read what — if anything — the change implied about the film to come.

    On the one hand, “Carnage” sounds pithier and more aggressive, removing the safety net of metaphor from a text already pretty unreserved in its examination of upper-class ugliness. On the other, shearing the title of any theological implications (though the play’s less-than-incendiary speech in which the titular phrase was coined survives intact) smacked of caution: would Polanski’s treatment blunt Reza’s scalpel, selecting some of the play’s less arguable social transgressions while leaving more troublesome ones on the stage? Or did Polanski simply like the one-word title better?

    As it turns out, the mixed signals were a red herring either way: the newly godless “Carnage” stints neither on the bilious wit the play spewed on stage, nor the formality of its construction, which takes an hour to excavate raw animosity and dysfunction from yards of swaddled politesse. It is, in the final event, very much the play that critics and audiences swarmed around from its Paris debut in 2006, and such fans’ relative satisfaction or disappointment with it will hinge largely on their individual response to the wholly refreshed cast.

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  • AMPAS underwrites Telluride Guest Director program

    I’ll be hopping on a plane in a matter of hours on my way to the Rockies and another Telluride Film Festival. I can’t wait to get there. The schedule will hit while I’m in the air, but check back later for thoughts on what’s to come this weekend. For now, the Academy has once again announced a grant for the fest’s Guest Director program. The press release, in part:

    The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has awarded a $50,000 grant to underwrite the 2011 Telluride Film Festival’s Guest Director program, this year featuring musician Caetano Veloso. Veloso has over 100 film and television credits, but may be best known to moviegoers for his performance of “Cucurrucucú Paloma” (“Cucurrucucu Dove”) in Pedro Almodóvar’s Academy Award®-winning film, “Talk to Her.”

    This is the fourth consecutive year that the Academy has funded the program. In 2010 the festival’s guest director was writer Michael Ondaatje; in 2009, it was Alexander Payne, the director and Oscar®-winning screenwriter of “Sideways;” and in 2008, it was Slavoj Zizek, the Slovenian political philosopher and cultural critic.

    More of Guy’s thoughts from Venice, including reactions to Roman Polanski’s “Carnage” and Madonna’s “W.E.” coming shortly.