In Contention

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  • OFF THE CARPET: Memo to the Academy

    The Academy Awards–MEMO–

    TO: Members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences
    FROM: Kristopher Tapley

    RE: The ballot you recently received

    Ladies and gentleman,

    As you sit to ponder the year’s best in your various fields of professional expertise, you might find yourself strong-armed into the consensus view 2009’s film product has been whittled down to over the last several months.  You might even find yourself at a loss, cramming as much as you can after a year of constantly working with nary a moment to spare a trip to the cinema.

    Such last minute jitters can yield an unconsidered and, certainly, lackadaisical approach to your annual responsibilities as AMPAS members.  But I implore you to take your time with this, be measured, and above all, take pen to paper with a level of seriousness.

    While I would never presume to tell you how to go about filling in your respective ballots, I hope you don’t find it too bold of me to offer a few closing words of encouragement and suggestion as you sit down to award the cream of the crop as you see it.  The glut of the film awards season can fade into a numbing hum, so you’d perhaps rather ignore for a bit, so come back to these words at a later date if you must.  They merely represent the humble opinion of one passionate film lover who believes in the potential of your organization and the ideals it stands for.

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  • ‘Princess and the Frog’ score DQ’d

    The Princess and the FrogThe whole branch is reaching a level of farce that is unbelievable.  Reports Steve Pond:

    Although Randy Newman’s score to Disney’s animated film “The Princess and the Frog” was originally deemed to be eligible in the original score category at the Oscars, the Music Branch Executive Committee met on Monday and disqualified Newman’s music from consideration.

    The score, the committee determined, runs afoul of an AMPAS rule disallowing “scores diluted by the use of tracked themes or other preexisting music,
    diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs, or assembled from the music of more than one composer.”

    Sounds familiar.

  • ‘Fox’ vs. ‘Up’

    UpI can’t help but wonder if there are some hard-working publicists out there getting in the ear of a few people, since we’ve had two pieces in as many days calling the race for Best Animated Feature a potential upset waiting to happen.

    Anyway, first, at The New York Times, Brooks Barnes uses LAFCA and NYFCC wins for Wes Anderson’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox” over Pixar’s “Up” as a basis for determining the race is bending in the Roald Dahl adaptation’s favor.  Sasha Stone notes the mantra, however: critics don’t vote for Oscars.  Barnes then goes on publish fluffy quotes from vested interests that don’t really make the case one way or the other.

    Meanwhile, at The Hufington Post, Sam Wasson notes that “Fantastic Mr. Fox” manged to force Anderson “out of his world of decadence and ushered him toward a more economical, barebones approach to story.”  Which could go a long way for him with the Academy, Wasson seems to suggest, since his recent work has been a bit inaccessible and it’s been almost a decade since the writer/director was recognized by the organization.

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  • Great track

    “The Hurt Locker” hits shelves today on DVD and Blu-ray and I’ve been meaning to mention the film’s commentary feature, which I gave a listen over the weekend.  It’s an awesome track, wall-to-wall info and plenty of insights from director Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal throughout, who never let off the throttle.  Boal adds a number of wonderful notes from his own experience, how he came around to certain scenarios on the film that are based in real life, etc.  Anyway, just thought I’d mention it.  It’s well worth a look, though unfortunately, there are no other extra features besides a flimsy 12-minute behind-the-scenes featurette.  But anyway, go get it.

  • LAFCA picks the top 10 films of the decade

    Laura Elena Harring in Mulholland DriveYou can never have too many of these, right?  Right?

    Right?

    1. “Mulholland Drive”
    2. “There Will Be Blood”
    3. “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”
    4. “Brokeback Mountain”
    5. (tie) “No Country for Old Men” and “Zodiac”
    6. “Yi Yi”
    7. (tie) “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” and “The Lord of the Rings”
    8. “Spirited Away”
    9. (tie) “United 93” and “Y Tu Mama Tambien”
    10. “Sideways”

  • Behind the sonic magic of ‘Transformers’

    Transformers: Revenge of the FallenSpeaking of sound, Paramount was shrewd enough to put together a wonderful event last night in the Cary Grant Theater on the Sony lot dedicated to the sound design of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” Re-recording mixers Gary Summers and Greg P. Russell were on hand, as well as sound effects editors Ethan Van Der Ryn and Erik Aadahl.  Michael Bay was also in the house, introducing his crew and discussing the importance of sound in his work, which he has said is 50% of the movie-going experience. And the Cary Grant, by the way, is the actual stage the film was mixed on.

    After a brief introduction from Bay, Russell took the mic to briefly explain what it is he and the boys do.  “Painting with sound” is what he likes to call it, since as a re-recording mixer, he gets to sit at a console and play with a treasure trove of effects created specifically for the film by Van Der Ryn, Aadahl and their team.  Most of the effects for the film were indeed original to the piece, which is preferable with something as aurally unique as the “Transformers” films.  “Some people take it off a shelf,” Bay said, referring to the use of stock or cataloged sound effects, “and that’s just wrong.”

    Then it was on to the first of five clips, the opening set piece in Shanghai, which was a nice way of getting the modest crowd in the mood for the night’s shenanigans.  Frankly, this kind of thing should be open for the Academy, which votes in the sound categories at large when it becomes clear year in and year out that most of the membership doesn’t understand quality sound work, let alone the difference between sound mixing and sound editing.

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  • The sound of ‘Star Trek’

    (Courtesy: SoundWorks Collection)

  • Vancouver critics go ‘Up in the Air’

    Check out the full list of winners at The Circuit.

  • 1/12 Oscarweb Round-up

    Peter Capaldi in In the Loop• Steve Pond talks “In the Loop” with Armando Ianucci and Peter Capaldi. [The Odds]

    • Dave Karger makes his Golden Globe picks. [Entertainment Weekly]

    • Katey Rich runs down the pros and cons in a four-way race (but it’s actually a three-way race). [Cinema Blend]

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  • BAFTA Rising Star nominees

    Tahar Rahim in A ProphetBAFTA has just revealed the five young actors in contention for this year’s Rising Star Award, the winner of which will be determined by a public vote. Previous winners include James McAvoy, Eva Green, Shia LaBeouf and Noel Clarke.

    The 12-member jury charged with deciding this year’s nominees was chaired by Oscar-winning producer David Parfitt (“Shakespeare in Love”), and I must say that — blinding snub for Katie Jarvis aside — they’ve chosen quite well.

    I’m surprised, though not unpleasantly so, that “Avatar” fever didn’t secure Sam Worthington a mention. Instead, Kristen Stewart gets the populist nod.

    Given that it’s a publicly voted award, Stewart is the one to beat, too — I highly doubt the fanbases of the other four can compete with the texting “Twilight” hordes, unless “A Single Man” star Nicholas Hoult’s popularity from TV’s “Skins” carries him over.

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  • Streep at NYFCC Awards

    Courtesy of Jeff Wells, here’s Meryl Streep accepting Best Actress from the New York Film Critics’ Circle. Streep should really offer tutorials in award acceptance — the format of a critics’ award dinner allows her to ramble more than at more formal ceremonies, but her wit and sincerity hits home every time. I loved this zinger:

    I’d like to thank Sony and Amy Pascal for sending me to REAL Paris, unlike Fox on “The Devil Wears Prada,” who sent me Midtown…

  • ACE nominees

    Sharlto Copley in District 9For me, “District 9” is the biggest and most pleasant surprise for me in this morning’s American Cinema Editors announcement.  If ever the film looked like a lock for a Best Picture nomination, now is that time, I have to say.  Getting in over presumed Oscar frontrunners “Precious” and, most especially, “Inglourious Basterds,” that’s a pretty big feather in its cap if you ask me.

    “Star Trek” also makes another fairly strong case this morning for getting into the Academy’s 10 over something like “Invictus,” which keeps missing with guild after guild and should, perhaps, finally be called a spade.  The drama field is then rounded out by what has become the rather definitive frontrunner trilogy of films.

    In the comedy field, we get veterans in Joe Hutshing and Richard Marks perhaps predictably recognized for “Its Complicated” and “Julie & Julia” respectively, while the Coen brothers get their third nomination from the guild to date.  The other two: Best Picture nominees “Fargo” and “No Country for Old Men.” Round it out with two comedies that are tricking people into thinking they’ll be Best Picture nominees (with no mention of the dead and dying “Nine”) and voila, the ACE Eddie nominees.

    Check out the full list after the jump.

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  • Delayed

    I haven’t been able to even sit down and think about today’s Off the Carpet column, let alone write it, and I’m off to Sony soon for what should be an interesting sound mixing demo on “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” I’ll have it for you later tonight.  In the meantime, the Contenders and sidebar predictions have been updated.

  • Makeup bake-off leaves seven

    Christopher Plummer in The Imaginarium of Doctor ParnassusVia AMPAS press release, the final group includes:

    “District 9”
    “Il Divo”
    “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
    “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian”
    “The Road”
    “Star Trek”
    “The Young Victoria”

    Well, there was always one spot in flux for me here and most recently I was giving it to “Cirque du Freak” for some great work by a veteran of the branch.  If I were to hazard a guess as to which of these gets it, I guess I’d say “Parnassus,” its one and only nomination.  There is some good work in “Il Divo,” too (from the artist who brought the natives of “Apocalypto” to prosthetic life), so maybe that could come around.  Or “The Road.” The rest seem like non-starters to me.

  • An underground push for ‘Depression Era’

    Patterson HoodMaybe three months back we told you about Patterson Hood’s “Depression Era” from Scott Teems’s “That Evening Sun,” a soulful, gritty southern ditty that, for my money, is one of the best original songs in a movie this year.  We featured the track in our “listen to” series back in November.

    Thankfully the song made the cut for original song contenders last month, joining 62 other tracks.  But as I’ve been saying since I first saw the film, it’ll be a bit of an uphill battle considering the song plays over the film’s closing credits and not in the narrative of the film.  Voters screen clips of eligible contenders’ usage in the context of a film, so something like, say, “Cinema Italiano,” however awful, has a leg up over something like “Depression Era,” however brilliant.

    That’s not stopping an underground, no-budget Oscar campaign on behalf of the song by Freestyle Releasing.  The distributor has enlisted the help of Paste Magazine, which is exclusively hosting a video of Hood discussing the song and performing it from his Athens, Georgia home.  It’s a great little clip and well worth the effort for this underdog contender.

    One can only hope.  Check out the video after the jump.

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  • ASC nominees

    The White Ribbon“Avatar” continues its guild steamroll with a mention from the ASC today, a mention I frankly didn’t think the film would get.  Then again, the guild is typically kind to digital photography where AMPAS is not (examples are “Collateral” and “Apocalypto”), so I wouldn’t say it’s a slam dunk in this category for Oscar.  Then again, maybe I’m blind to the writing on the wall here.  And “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” may have gone a long way toward dispelling digital bias in the Academy.

    I don’t get the love for Christian Berger.  I haven’t since day one.  There is nothing appealing to me about the way Michael Haneke visually captures his films.  There’s rarely anything appealing to me about his films period, truth be told.  But somehow going with black and white and employing his usual brand of tracking shots, long takes, etc., rarely with compelling composition (all my opinion, of course), it has managed to bring Berger laurel after laurel.  Critics awards are one thing, but an organization like the ASC, which I trust and respect, I don’t know.  Maybe I just missed the boat completely.

    “Nine” finally gets a guild mention and Robert Richardson, as always, is an ASC favorite once more.

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  • ‘Avatar,’ ‘Star Trek’ among WGA nominees

    Michelle Rodriguez in AvatarAnd, there we are. “Avatar” gets a nomination for best writing from a 10,000 member-strong guild and plenty will find reason to argue with it. But let’s look at the rest.

    “The Hangover” managed to get a nomination in the original screenplay field in the wake of a number of eligibility rulings on some top contenders. I’m most excited for Scott Cooper and “Crazy Heart,” because I’m getting the feeling he might turn this and his USC Scripter bid into something tangible for Oscar consideration. “District 9,” of course, was not eligible here and is still a threat, ditto “An Education,” but the race is a little more interesting now.  Especially when you consider Nora Ephron (also nominated today), who I’ve always felt was a threat with the Academy for navigating two sources and making some entertaining sense of it all.

    Elsewhere it’s the usual suspects, except for the appearance of “Star Trek” in the adapted ranks.  Yes, the writers of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” are WGA nominees.  But in my view, they deserve the pat on the back for this film, a high octane entertainment that was smartly conceived and remains one of the true gems of 2009.

    Check out the nominees after the jump.

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  • R.I.P. Éric Rohmer

    Eric RohmerIt is with great sadness that I read of the passing of Éric Rohmer, a titan of French cinema who remained creatively active almost to the end of his 89-year life.

    Boasting arguably the mellowest, most droll filmography of his New Wave brethren, the esteemed writer-director (and former editor of Cahiers du Cinéma) delighted in the literary and sociological possibilities of dialogue — he’s largely responsible for the “talky” tag that clings to French art film today, but that’s a virtue rather than a debit.

    Few writers in film could define a character through the patterns and concerns of their speech as precisely as Rohmer, his sphere of influence extending from Woody Allen to any number of figures in current American indie cinema.

    If you’re as keen on his work as I am, of course, you don’t need to be told this. If you haven’t yet made his acquaintance, begin with any of his Six Moral Tales (the most well-known of which, “My Night at Maud’s,” garnered him his lone Oscar nomination for writing), which mine rich humor and psychological insight from a series of anecdotal narratives.

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