In Contention

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  • EDINBURGH: ‘The Extra Man,’ ‘Two Eyes Staring’ and others

    My third afternoon at the festival finds me wandering around the premises boasting a still-expanding black eye – not, alas, from a macho fistfight with Patrick Wilson over yesterday’s evaluation of “Barry Munday,” but from an accidental collision with a handrail after sneaking late into a pitch-dark screening theater this morning. The more I try to explain it, the stupider it sounds; perhaps it’s better to let people think I’m a critic who is truly prepared to fight for his darlings.

    Not that such darlings are thick on the ground: yesterday’s slate of five films, each one slightly better than the last, nonetheless turned up no true gems.

    “THE EXTRA MAN” (*)

    It’s a sign of deep-seated trouble in a film when, in spite of an ensemble that includes Kevin Kline, Paul Dano, John. C. Reilly and Celia Weston, it’s Katie Holmes’s appearances that you start looking forward to most. Not that hers is an especially remarkable performance, mind: but playing the kooky, environmentally-obsessed dreamgirl to Paul Dano’s perma-geek protagonist, she’s the only recognizably human element in this insufferably affected society comedy.

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  • Reacting to the Oscars in January

    Nikki Finke’s report last night that AMPAS execs discussed moving the Oscar telecast to January spurred plenty of debate from the readership.  I thought I’d poke around and see what the rest of the blogging community has to say on the matter.

    For starters, David Poland is seeing things the way I do [The Hot Blog]:

    An earlier vote – nominations on, say, January 11, show on January 30, the week between the NFL Conference Finals and The Super Bowl – would put enormous pressure on the TV show producers… but I have to say… the show has been dubious… and lacking spontaneity. This could help bring it back. It would also keep the parade of award shows from boring the world to tears before the one award show that matters lands.

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  • Ruffalo is back with ‘Kids’

    Lisa Cholodenko’s “The Kids Are All Right” opened the Los Angeles Film Festival last Thursday night, right across 11th Street from the Staples Center downtown as the Lakers triumphed in Game 7 of the NBA playoffs.  No, they weren’t rioting on Figueroa because the movie’s good, but it IS a solid piece.

    I spoke briefly about it in the 6/11 edition of Oscar Talk, but on the occasion of its recent festival showcase, I wanted to again address what I think is the film’s key ingredient: Mark Ruffalo.

    For me, “The Kids Are All Right” is a return on the investment anyone put into Ruffalo 10 years ago when he first made waves in Ken Lonergan’s “You Can Count on Me.” After the actor frankly seemed incapable of tapping back into that essence for the better part of the decade, his work here makes good on the promise his charisma and raw talent made back in 2000.  Aside from Tahar Rahim’s inarguable work in Jacques Audiard’s “A Prophet,” Ruffalo’s is the most refined, natural performance I’ve seen all year.

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  • AMPAS brass debating moving Oscars to January?

    That’s what Nikki Finke is reporting tonight (in the midst of further outlandish bitching about AMPAS executive director Bruce Davis), just hours after a new producer and director were tapped for the ceremony.  And it’s obviously a major decision with a lot of moving parts, but let’s consider this.

    First and foremost, it’s the drum I’ve been banging since the Academy began to get scared about ratings.  Quick fix ideas like adding an animated feature film category nine years ago and, of course, beefing up the Best Picture category to 10 nominees have been attempts at opening the door for popular or blockbuster fare.  The thinking has been, if popular films are nominated, more people will watch the show.

    But that logic has always been flawed at best, a leap of faith that doesn’t address the real reason audiences don’t seem interested in tuning in every March: awards show fatigue.

    Not to belabor a point, but again, by the time the Oscars roll around every year, they’ve already been preempted by the Golden Globes, the ever-expanding Critics’ Choice Movie Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards, three nationally televised, red carpeted kudofests.  The Oscars feel stale, like an afterthought, when they should feel like the gold standard.  The only real answer has always been to get a jump on the stiff competition that has developed in the last decade or so.  Hey, Meryl Streep gets it!

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  • Cohen, Mischer tapped as Oscarcast producers

    What a novel idea, getting a jump on things.  The press release, in part:

    Academy Award®-winning producer Bruce Cohen and acclaimed television producer/director Don Mischer will produce the 83rd Academy Awards telecast, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak announced this evening. Mischer will also serve as the telecast’s director. This will be the first involvement with the Oscar® telecast for both men, though the two worked together on the Academy’s inaugural Governors Awards event in November of 2010…

    “I fell in love with the Oscars as an eight-year-old kid, the night my grandmothers let me stay up to watch for the first time,” said Cohen. “It is a dream come true for me to now be producing the show with the phenomenal Don Mischer, whom I’ve had an incredible time working with in the past. We hope to create a show that celebrates what people around the world love about the Academy Awards year after year – the excitement, glamour and tradition of Oscar Night itself.”

    “During my previous collaborations with Bruce, I have come to know him as a passionate, smart and creative producer, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to now be working with him on the Oscars,” said Mischer. “As a producer and director, I have always been inspired by the live broadcast of major, high-profile events and when it comes to that, it doesn’t get any bigger than the Academy Awards. The Oscars are truly ‘appointment’ television, they’re eagerly anticipated around the world, and they offer a unique opportunity to celebrate the extraordinary artists who take us on a journey every time we step into a movie theater.”

  • ‘The Green Hornet’ trailer

    Hardly awards material here but hey, Christoph Waltz is having fun slumming.  “The Green Hornet” hits screens in January and will probably be a fun distraction.  The presence of Michel Gondry behind the camera would lead you to expect a certain artistic flair, but then again, nothing about this trailer — which debuted at Yahoo! Movies — seems to reflect his sensibilities.  And I guess it was only a matter of time before the new Cypress Hill jam was used in the promotional materials of a high octane-ish actioner.  Anyway, click the image below to see for yourself or check out the embed after the jump.

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  • ‘Inception’ character featurette

    More and more, the drop zone date of July 16 feels like an oasis out there somewhere in the middle of the summer. “Inception” has screened to some long-lead press and will be shown to more Thursday night. I don’t think there’s anyone who isn’t actively anticipating this thing, so how about another trailer/featurette to pass the time?  And we finally get a good look at Tom Hardy!  MSN has the exclusive, so click the image below to have a look, or check out the embed after the jump.

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  • Still waiting…

    Liberal Hollywood is all set to shoot its wad over Davis Guggenheim’s “Waiting for ‘Superman,’” which held its Los Angeles premiere last night at the LA Film Festival and opens in theaters sometime in the fall.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing, because if nothing else Guggenheim’s film will start a much-needed conversation.  The decision-makers at Paramount, Participant, Walden, etc., they’re all unlikely heroes for getting the film out there to the widest possible audience.  It’ll be a big kumbaya moment for everyone involved.

    That doesn’t change the fact that the film casts a broad net when it would have been something more as a focused study.  The most effective elements include the revelation of a KIPP schooling program that proves a failed system can be changed, perspectives from four children who clearly want a brighter future and a warranted attack-dog position against the AFT and president Randi Weingarten, as well as the NEA, unions that consistently slow the process of change.

    However, those highlights are a bit overwhelmed by Guggenheim’s addiction to flashy infographics and figures that wash over you rather than landing with impact.  And as someone whose mother was a teacher, I couldn’t help but notice (and with her in attendance, be verbally reminded of) some modest stretching to make the point all the more sensational along the way.

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  • EDINBURGH: ‘Au Revoir, Taipei,’ ‘Barry Munday,’ ‘brilliantlove’

    Arriving at a festival at the halfway mark is a little like turning up late to a party where the food has been eaten and the guests you know are already starting to leave – the night may not be over, but you’re going to have to work your way into it.

    So it was when my train pulled into Edinburgh yesterday afternoon: the comparative glamour of last week’s UK premieres for “The Illusionist” and “Toy Story 3” are old news, the press contingent has already thinned out and one is left to badger those who remain for hot screening tips. Admittedly, I hadn’t really done my homework beforehand: for the first time, I turned up at a festival having only glancingly browsed through the programme.

    Not that that’s too much of a disability at Edinburgh, a festival so thick with new names from the indie sector that most screenings can be seen a lucky dip of sorts: five films in, I’ve only scored once. (With a film is delightful as the first reviewed after the cut, however, once is quite enough.)

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  • No Page to Screen this week

    With the Edinburgh Film Festival occupying my attention this week — more on that in a moment — my weekly Page to Screen feature has gone on vacation too. It’ll be back next Tuesday, with Kazuo Ishiguro’s “Never Let Me Go” the topic of discussion.

    As you were.

  • ‘Conviction’ poster

    Last week Fox Searchlight launched the official trailer for Tony Goldwyn’s “Conviction,” which elicited, shall we say, strong reactions from the readership.  Today they’ve released a larger version of the poster image that accompanied the trailer.  Take a look after the jump.

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  • OFF THE CARPET: One for the toys

    Despite a precious few naysayers, Pixar’s “Toy Story 3,” which hit theaters this weekend to an all-time high opening number for the studio, has become an odds-on awards season favorite.  Nominations for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and, of course, Best Animated Feature seem like no-brainers.

    Additionally, though some might make arguments for this indie title or that, I think the threequel is one of only two films to have already hit multiplexes in 2010 that have a water-holding argument for placement in “the 10.”  The other, ironically enough, is fellow animated endeavor “How to Train Your Dragon.” But as we reach the half-way point of the year, “Toy Story 3” has become the first release that could conceivably take the whole enchilada.

    It’s surprising to note that this, one of the most creatively and financially successful franchises in film history, has not one competitive Oscar to its credit.  John Lasseter received Special Achievement honors for the first installment 15 years ago, but that was it.  Something else was worth noting in 1995, however.  The first film was also the one to break a certain barrier of legitimacy for animated features in the Oscar race.

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  • SUNDAY CENTS: Wonder toys

    *All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    As it turns out, Armond White was unable to convince most Americans to not see “Toy Story 3.” Pixar’s eleventh animated feature became their highest debuting in history with a $109.0 million weekend. That also makes it the third biggest June debut and third biggest animated debut of all time, while instantly placing it in pole position to wind up the most successful film of the summer.

    Maybe it was the 3D, maybe it was the weak market, or maybe it was nostalgia for Jim Varney but the film was able to one up the $89.8 million debut of “Toy Story 2,” although its $27,100 per theater average is virtually identical to the figure posted by its predecessor. Reviews amongst those who don’t receive weekly death threats are universally positive and this should have the staying power to flirt with $400 million by the end of its run.

    Are we looking at the second threequel to get a Best Picture nomination and the first without similar recognition for the previous installments? In a word, yes.

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  • 35 years later…

  • Films for my father

    Last year, Kris celebrated Father’s Day with a lovely list of films that are, for him, inextricably connected to his old man. That day has rolled around once again, and because I’m lazy, I’ve resorted to a poster tribute instead. What follows are 10 titles that I have, in my mind, re-dedicated to my own father for one reason or another. Some are old favorites that he introduced to me, others are newer discoveries we made together. One is the first film he ever took me to see on his own, another is the first I took him to see after I’d left the nest. I only chose on the former occasion.

    All are films he’s very fond of, or at least claims to be; I can’t quite say the same, but I’ll keep trying with “Where Eagles Dare.” Happy Father’s Day, Tom.

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  • Who needs consensus?

    If you keep up with the American critical scene, you’ll probably have got the message by now that people kinda like “Toy Story 3.” No surprise there: every one of Pixar’s features since their 2006 misfire “Cars” has been greeted with the kind of mass veneration usually reserved for returning messiahs, and on at least a couple of occasions, they’ve deserved it. (That’s no dig at their latest, which I have yet to see.)

    You’ll also likely have heard that a certain Armond White is less impressed, dismissing the film as “drivel” and adding that “‘Transformers 2’ already explored the same plot to greater thrill and opulence.” Of course, in its own way, this is as knee-jerk and predictable a response as many critics’ annual ejaculation over the Pixar brand; White is accused virtually on a weekly basis of disingenuous contrarianism. It’d have been greater cause for concern if he’d liked the movie.

    As exasperating as he can be, I’ve stood up for White on these pages before, and I continue to do so: as I wrote on Twitter last night, I see his reviews as calculated provocations to the reader, forcing them to engage with the idea of critical responsibility. And for all the talk of “trolling,” I do think he’s conditioned himself to the point where he believes every word he writes — for better or worse.

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  • ‘The Social Network’ poster

    David Fincher’s “The Social Network,” from a script by Aaron Sorkin, could be a big contender in this year’s race.  More often than not, Sony seems to chance into an Oscar competition, but this one, from producer Scott Rudin, might tap into something special.  A new website has launched for the film, featuring artwork that is kinda/sorta a poster.  Check out the full image after the jump.

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  • FRIDAY FORECAST: Toys!

    *All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    Let’s be honest here. Everybody likes toys. Everybody likes Pixar movies. Everybody likes Tim Allen. These three pillars of civilization will ensure that “Toy Story 3” has a gigantic opening weekend and ignites the box office in ways that will make Jaden Smith look like “Marmaduke.”

    It was fifteen years ago when “Toy Story” opened at the Thanksgiving box office and recorded a $53.3 million opening. Essentially beginning a new era of family film, the well-reviewed, Oscar nominated picture went on to gross $348.8 million and become the highest grossing film of 1995.

    Four years later, a sequel intended to go straight to DVD instead came out in theaters and earned $89.8 million on opening weekend. Reviews were sensational, instantly becoming one of the most beloved sequels of all time and a final gross of $380.3 million makes it still the second biggest Pixar film ever.

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