One of the lurking titles this Oscar season is Shana Feste’s “Country Strong,” currently set for a limited release on December 22. Screen Gems could make a play for Gwyneth Paltrow, but it’s competitive terrain (Monday’s Off the Carpet will survey the strongest lead actress category in years). Perhaps it’s too easy to chalk it up as “Crazy Heart” with a girl, but all the songs are original, I’m told, so at the very least something could happen there. Check out the trailer after the jump.
We’ve been wondering for a couple of weeks now whether an unexpected contender could hop into this year’s race. Last week Lionsgate announced a November 5 release date Tyler Perry’s “For Colored Girls” (the title of which had been officially shortened in the release from the original play’s “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf”). Anne and I discussed the film as an awards possibility in Friday’s podcast. And this week it looks like everyone’s catching up to the left-field idea.
Scott Mendelsen used the occasion for Oscar pondering at The Huffington Post. Sasha Stone picked that up and offered her own thoughts yesterday. Meanwhile, no one really knows for sure what we’re dealing with here. It could be a legitimate awards contender or it could just be a respectful push on behalf of a filmmaker that has made a lot of money for the studio.
One thing is certain: there is a slew of prime female parts in the material for the role call of actresses involved to sink their teeth into. That has been handsomely reflected in a recently released group of eight posters for the film. Check them out at Yahoo! Movies.
[Photo: Lionsgate]
• Jeffrey Wells, meanwhile, re-posts his thoughts on James Solomon’s screenplay. [Hollywood Elsewhere]
• Pete Hammond reports extensively from Wednesday’s “Tangled” event on the Disney lot. [Deadline]
• Tim Gray on Venice’s unique role in film history. [Variety]
DreamWorks has already released a couple of trailers for the animated “Megamind,” but the latest (via Apple) is probably the last full-length one we’ll get in advance of the November 5 release. I really liked what I saw of the film at Comic-Con this year and given that we’re likely to see five nominees in the animated feature category this year due to a rule change broadening what is considered feature length, it could have a fighting chance. But the competition is stiff, and not just from the usual suspects. Check out the trailer by clicking the image below or watch the embed after the jump.
Well, things just took a turn for the worse if you’re a Terrence Malick fan desperate to feast your eyes on his latest film, “The Tree of Life.” But they took a turn for the absolute best if you want the film to be taken care of by a studio with resources and savvy awards planning.
Tuesday it was reported that Bill Pohlad was essentially looking to clean house at Apparition by dumping off the film and drastically cutting the staff. Word was Pohlad was being shown to distributors, looking for a buyer.
Well, he found one: Fox Searchlight, but the film will be released in 2011. When you think about it, it’s a smart move to hold it. They’re just getting into the project and would have only three months to really prime release and awards strategies. And the studio already has four horses in the race this year as it is. So, be patient, and maybe next year we’ll have a real stallion on our hands.
You’ve probably read the countless link-backs to Geoff Boucher’s Hero Complex item about Clint Eastwood and how the actor turned down roles like Superman and James Bond in the 1970s. Well, you wouldn’t know it, but those quotes actually came in the context of an interview concerning “Hereafter,” Eastwood’s 32nd directorial effort which is set to play Toronto this weekend.
It’s a solid, conventional piece that builds up anticipation for what may or may not be an Oscar play for Warner Bros. There are no screenings set in LA during the fest (or at least that’s what I’ve been told), though Patrick Goldstein saw the film and had vague praise to offer almost a month ago.
We get an idea of the film’s plot throughout the piece, which also includes quotes from star Matt Damon. Writer Peter Morgan was also interviewed but not quoted. I’ll admit that I haven’t been following its production. Eastwood burn-out, maybe, but I’m beginning to sense a fire of interest lighting up inside. Then again, I guess that’s what pieces like Boucher’s are meant to do, so, bravo WB publicity.
Clips are coming fast and furious for awards contenders these days. Last week a pair from “Somewhere” and “Never Let Me Go” hit, and now, one more from the latter (which somehow turned up as an “exclusive” on two sites) and one from Tom Hooper’s “The King’s Speech.”
The scene from “Never Let Me Go” is actually one of the scenes that bothers me most from the film for a myriad of reasons. It’s cut here before the real spoiler hits, so I guess it’s safe to view. “The King’s Speech” clip does a nice job of giving you a sense of the visual style of the piece, which isn’t a tame, vanilla kind of filmmaking. I think the perception (understandably) has been that this film will be a soft lob kind of vacant filmmaking, but I maintain that Hooper brings an interesting directorial signature to the work.
Both films are set to play the Toronto Film Festival over the next week or so. Have a look at the clips after the jump and tell us what you think.
• James Rocchi previews the Toronto Film Festival with quotes from co-director Cameron Bailey and yours truly. [MSN Movies]
• Dave Karger writes up the festival’s top 10 Oscar contenders. [Oscar Watch]
• Regarding Clint Eastwood’s “Hereafter,” Brad Brevet wonders if Warner Bros. is hiding a stinker. [Rope of Silicon]
Is it really worth getting excited at the possibility of the Academy’s music branch being progressive enough to make room for Daft Punk in this year’s list of Best Original Score nominees? Ever since the French electronica duo was announced as the composers on “TRON Legacy,” excitement has been through the roof.
This is the most problematic branch of the Academy for reasons illuminated year after year. And despite letting a few new (if traditionalist) names into the Oscar fold over the last few years, the branch remains fiercely insular. And you don’t get more outside the box than Daft Punk.
Nevertheless, the score sounds like it could be one of the highlights of a production that has long been rumored to be quite troubled. And an official site has launched with a taste of what the boys have to offer.
Ron Howard on board makes me nervous, but the plan is ambitious enough to give me goosebumps. Your thoughts?
There is a giant “Tangled” event on the Disney lot today that I unfortunately couldn’t attend. A screening of the film as a work-in-progress is going down right now with storyboards here and there. It would have been nice to get a hold on what they’re cooking up but I’m happy to wait for a finished product.
Meanwhile, there is a big program of presentations and interviews that I’m sure you’ll see covered at various online outlets in the next few weeks. The film has a lot to live up to after last year’s glorious return to traditional animation, “The Princess and the Frog.”
Today I came across a viral marketing stab for the film that parodies the double rainbow YouTube sensation (in case you’ve been under a rock, watch that here). Adam Quigly at /Film shreds the attempt and says it “reeks of a marketing campaign that’s trying way too hard to be funny, hip and topical.” I thought it was a bit more harmless than that, but judge for yourself after the jump.
Reviewing “A Letter to Elia,” Martin Scorsese and Kent Jones’s loving documentary tribute to Elia Kazan, out of Venice on Sunday, I wrote that the 60-minute film was “clearly designed for a PBS-style TV airing.”
Lo and behold, it was announced yesterday that the film, having been acquired by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, will premiere on PBS on October 4 — after having played the Venice-Telluride-Toronto-New York festival track.
Furthermore, for those of us without the luxury of American television, the documentary will also feature in Fox’s 15-film DVD box set of Kazan’s work, due to hit shelves on November 9. I don’t know about you, but my Christmas list is being updated as we speak.
Press release extract after the cut.
An awards contender for Paul Giamatti and Dustin Hoffman? We’ll see. The press release, in part:
Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired all US rights to BARNEY’S VERSION from producer Robert Lantos (EASTERN PROMISES, BEING JULIA, SUNSHINE). BARNEY’S VERSION is directed by Richard J. Lewis and based upon Mordecai Richler’s prize-winning comic novel. The film is In Competition at the Venice Film Festival and will be featured as a Gala Presentation at this year’s Toronto Film Festival…
In the film, Barney Panofsky (Giamatti) is a seemingly ordinary man who lives an extraordinary life. Barney’s candid confessional spans three decades and two continents, and includes three wives, one outrageous father and a dangerously dissolute best friend.
“Very rarely does a major novel come to life so completely and so richly on the screen as it does here with BARNEY’S VERSION. Featuring wonderful performances by Paul Giamatti, Dustin Hoffman, Rosamund Pike, and Minnie Driver, producer Robert Lantos more than fulfills his multi year dream of filming Mordecai Richler’s masterpiece. We look forward to presenting the film to the American audience,” says Sony Pictures Classics.
[Photo: Sony Pictures Classics]
• Jean-Luc Godard tells the Academy in a “cordial letter” that he may attend the Governor’s Awards if his schedule permits. AMPAS feels need to convey this to you via press release (because no one wants to look like a stood-up date). [Oscars.org]
• Launching a new season’s coverage, Steve Pond tries to make his September record 2-0 by predicting “The King’s Speech” for Oscar victory this year. [The Odds]
• David Poland reassesses the field and warns against getting caught up in festival euphoria. [Movie City News]
Boy, the story on Apparition and Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” just keeps stacking up the drama. Mike Fleming reports this afternoon the company has obliterated much of its staff because “there were no films to distribute,” and that Bill Pohlad has been showing the film to studios and is looking for a distribution deal for the film.
What a difference a year makes, huh? Just 12 months ago it seemed like there might be a bright new day for indie distributors. Companies like Apparition, Overture Films, Summit Entertainment, etc. were beginning to get a foothold in what was looking more and more like an underdog season. The Best Picture winner was a film that came and went at the box office. Now a guy like Peter Weir can’t get arrested and a Malick film is looking for a little help.
I imagine at this point we’re probably looking at a 2010 release for the film after all. Someone is bound to take the plunge (since it’s been since way back in August of last year that Apparition acquired the title). Let’s hope so, anyway, lest we have another situation akin to “The Way Back.” Meanwhile, another home for this kind of cinema is slowly biting the dust (a downward spiral initiated with Bob Berney’s abrupt pre-Cannes departure).
I never did put up a “What did you think of ‘The American?’” post last week but I am very interested what readers thought. Of course, the film won the box office this weekend, which should be seen as a major victory for Focus Features marketing. This was a film that needed to go out big on opening weekend because it simply wasn’t the film being sold to general audiences and wasn’t likely to fall in their favor.
But is it such a crime to protect one’s investment? Do marketers not have a responsibility? And are they evil for following through on that?
Well, Patrick Goldstein (who disliked the film and paints broadly with that brush) tip-toes the line between a “yes” and “no” answer to that question in a recent item asking whether viewers were bamboozled into seeing the film. I tend to think it was a savvy job in a difficult profession. Moments like this are when precision is necessary, or an outright disaster could be on your hands. But then again, I really liked the film, so maybe I’m painting too broadly with THAT brush.
If you’ve been keeping up with the Telluride coverage then you know my thoughts on the 10 films I was able to catch over that four-day spread. So I’m not going to bore you with a tedious recap here. Instead, now that I’m back and relaxed in LA, not looking at the clock and rushing to make this or that event, I think I’ll just take a moment to reflect in general.
On the way to yesterday afternoon’s Labor Day picnic, as I crossed over the San Miguel River on a quaint wooden bridge, I was struck with the disappointment that has been rotting at the back of my mind during the entire festival: God I wish I could take the time to smell the roses there.
Telluride is a beautiful place to launch a film festival and its tranquility is reflected in festival-goers’ sensibilities. There aren’t mobs of people out to see stars. There aren’t flashbulbs popping off around every other corner. Everyone is very much here for the movies and the chance to discover something new. I don’t think it has been tainted, or at the very least, programmers and directors have gone a long way to keep that face out in front.