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  • PGA announces nominees, goes sci-fi

    Sharlto Copley in District 9The most striking thing about the slate of nominees unveiled this morning by the Producers Guild of America is a heavy genre slant: all three of 2009’s acclaimed science-fiction mega-hits made the cut in the top category.

    Of course, that’s not all that surprising coming from the producers, whose appreciation of financial success tends to give populist contenders a leg up in their awards. (The first “Harry Potter” film was nommed back in 2001, after all.) I wouldn’t count on the trio of “Avatar,” “District 9” and “Star Trek” all making the Oscar cut, though two is a distinct possibility.

    Nobody should be surprised by this point that “Nine” was left off the list; this is merely the first concrete evidence we’ve had that awards hopes for the critically and commercially embattled film are fading fast.

    Full list of nominees, including animated and documentary categories (why just four slots for the latter?), after the cut.

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  • Guy’s top 50 of the decade: #21-30

    Maggie Cheung in In the Mood for LoveA little late, but we’re at the halfway mark now, and I must say I couldn’t be more delighted and flattered by your warm response to the list so far.

    I mentioned in my intro to the first installment that I’d prefer you to view this as a loose playlist than as a rigid ordered assessment, and I’m thrilled that some of you have already taken me at my word, seeking out less-seen titles like “Last Resort” on Netflix and the like. On behalf of the movies, I thank you.

    With that said, today’s bracket of ten perhaps offers less buried treasure than yesterday’s, even turning up a pair of Best Picture Oscar winners. Hey, sometimes films get popular for a reason — I’m not such a snob, after all.

    That said, I suspect at least one of the following inclusions might prompt some healthy disagreement. The list continues after the cut.

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  • Quote unquote

    Tom Hanks in Forrest GumpIn one of yesterday’s comment threads, a bit of a discussion built up concerning the quotability (or otherwise) of “Avatar,” and how this factored into its potential pop-culture significance.

    It’s a subject that was also brought up a while back by Cinematical’s Erik Davis, who wondered whether the film’s oft-repeated refrain of “I see you” was a calculated attempt to enter popular conversation. I agree with him that the line seems tooled for that specific purpose, which is precisely why I have a hard time seeing it catch on in a lasting way. (That, and the fact that any sensible person know that “I see you” can only be preceded by a cry of “Peekaboo!”)

    Cinema’s most quotable quotes are rarely designed to be as such. This is also the conclusion of a handily-timed LA Times article, which details the backstory behind now-classic lines from “Cool Hand Luke,” “Forrest Gump,” “Sudden Impact” and, uh, “A League of Their Own.” (Must be an American thing.)

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  • ‘Bright Star’ screenplay goes adapted

    (from left) Abbie Cornish and Ben Wishaw in Bright StarSteve Pond sure is getting a nice bunch of scoops today.  Mainly because, I imagine, he’s doing the dilligence of looking over the ballots and accompanying eligibility forms, which so often tend to reveal last minute category shockers, something I’ve been meaning to do for a few days now.

    Anyway, you might remember a few years ago when Stephen Gaghan’s “Syriana” was lighting up the adapted screenplay circuit.  In December of 2005, the Academy convened and determined that the script was original since it strayed so far away from Robert Baer’s non-fiction “See No Evil,” and since it had no real obligation to let its finding be known to the campaign or the participants until the reminder sheets went out, it was over a month before the news broke.

    A similar situation has met Jane Campion and her screenplay for “Bright Star.” Pond reports that the screenplay has been ruled adapted, not original, virtually dashing any sliver of hope that the film would pop up in a writing category.

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  • Vancouver critics nominate

    Michael Stuhlbarg in A Serious ManOkay, “A Serious Man” gets a nod for Best Film…and nothing else?  Alrighty:

    Best Film
    “The Hurt Locker”
    “A Serious Man”
    “Up in the Air”

    Best Actor
    George Clooney, “Up in the Air”
    Colin Firth, “A Single Man”
    Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker”

    Best Actress
    Carey Mulligan, “An Education”
    Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious”
    Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia”

    The rest at our Precursor Circuit page.  Thanks to Ed Douglas at Coming Soon for the tip.

  • Know your limits, get an Oscar

    Sandra Bullock in The Blind SideVulture’s Bilge Ebiri has written a nice piece on the circumstances that have led to Sandra Bullock becoming the year’s unlikeliest Oscar contender, citing Bullock’s 2009 achievements as a “primer” for comic actors seeking serious Oscar consideration. And the key, it seems, is not taking the word “serious” too much to heart.

    Last month, I wondered why Bullock was gathering Oscar traction this year for a relatively unprestigious film, when a credible dramatic turn in 2005’s Best Picture winner garnered her no awards attention whatsoever.

    But while against-type casting can often reap Oscar benefits, Ebiri argues that actors like Bullock fare better when they don’t veer too far from their established screen persona. Her “Blind Side” character, he claims, does just the right level of tweaking:

    Leigh Anne Tuohy may be a real person, but she’s not the kind of historical or ripped-from-the-headlines figure that usually attracts awards … After misfires like In Love and War, Bullock learned that maybe she wasn’t cut out to play these kinds of parts. So, in The Blind Side, she takes a character who displays some of the all-American spunk and energy of her own onscreen persona and gives it a more serious twist. She doesn’t try to “lose herself” in the part; moviegoers can recognize the Sandra Bullock they know and love in Leigh Anne.

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  • Hope for Saldana

    The closes to a breakthrough with motion capture, and/or animation being added to an actor’s performance would be Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Most of the acting Pitt did was as the half-animated Button – barely recognizable and a performance that simply couldn’t have been gotten without aided technology. That shows that the membrane has been pierced, even if Pitt was also seen a good amount of the time as himself, and himself with makeup.

    Good point.  From Sasha Stone at Awards Daily. For more on this, listen to the most recent edition of Oscar Talk.

  • ‘Wild Things,’ ‘Crazy Heart’ ineligible for score Oscar

    Where the Wild Things AreSteve Pond reports that Karen O and Carter Burwell’s wonderful, Golden Globe-nominated score for “Where the Wild Things Are” has been disqualified for Best Original Score by the Academy’s music branch. T-Bone Burnett and Stephen Bruton’s “Crazy Heart” score, which has taken several critics’ prizes, will not compete either.

    It’s hardly a surprise, given that both are largely song-based scores — not that that stopped “Slumdog Millionaire” qualifying last year. But it is disappointing, particularly for the former film, which was campaigning for a nomination in the category. (Fox Searchlight, presumably anticipating a disqualification, didn’t bother listing Original Score in the FYC ads for “Crazy Heart.”)

    Also out of the race is “The Lovely Bones,” though that is by composer Brian Eno’s own volition. Pond has the details, as well as a list of the 81 films that did qualify for the category, here.

  • OFF THE CARPET: Why it should be ‘The Messenger’

    (from left) Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster in The MessengerThe writing is on the wall. “Nine” is on the precipice, teetering, on the brink of falling from the Best Picture ranks, 10 nominees or not. Speculation flies as to which film will be the beneficiary (as most concede this is the only slot in flux, though there are certainly compelling arguments against a secure spot in the line-up for “Up” and “A Serious Man”). And I find myself going back and forth as to which film deserves the designation.

    A glance at my best of the year column reveals what should be the obvious answer for me: “Star Trek,” J.J. Abrams’a tight reboot of a franchise that now has a new, vibrant lease on life.  It was, after all, my #11 film of the year.  It will absolutely land a number of #1 and #2 votes because, as mentioned in Friday’s Oscar Talk, it simply remains one of the most enjoyable films of the year for a great many.

    Also, it’s pretty nice when you have someone in the race, like Quentin Tarantino, calling it his favorite film of the year.

    That said, voters may feel that their sci-fi/genre vote has been cast with “Avatar,” while “District 9,” from producer Peter Jackson and director Neill Blomkamp, is another genre entry that deserves a fair glance and could cock-block Abrams and company out of contention as well.

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  • The new movie of the moment?

    Stephen Lang in AvatarParamount has shrewdly been playing up the significance of Jason Reitman’s “Up in the Air” with its “movie of the moment” quotes, and rightly so.  The zeitgeist elements in the film have been an inexhaustible talking point since its Telluride debut.  And to tap into those elements is to understand the kind of gravitas a Best Picture contender needs to make it into the winner’s circle.

    However, I can’t help but get the sense that “Avatar” is stealing that zeitgeist thunder somewhat and moving away of the “it’s just about the visuals” thing as of late.  There have been some comments from readers who think James Cameron’s film is an octane entertainment that couldn’t possibly generate the proper “watercooler” talk to be a mainstay in the cultural consciousness, but 17 days, a billion dollars and a number of op-eds later, it seems the cultural consciousness begs to differ.

    Beginning across the pond (and before the New Year) in the right-leaning Daily Telegraph, Nile Gardiner called the film “the most expensive piece of anti-American propaganda ever made,” while nearly a month ago in The Times, Ben Hoyle pulled some political asides out of Cameron regarding the cost of “several hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives.”

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  • “Simple” arithmetic?

    Cover of Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America

    But in his rollicking new book “Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America” (Simon & Schuster), biographer Peter Biskind hazards a guess about the conquests of Hollywood’s most notorious lothario — based, he says, on “simple arithmetic.”

    Biskind estimates “12,775 women, give or take, a figure that does not include daytime quickies, drive-bys, casual gropings, stolen kisses and so on.”

    Alright, so, assuming, naively, one per day, 365 days/year, that’s roughly 32 straight years.  Daily.  Now let’s just assume two per day.  That’s 16 straight years.  We’re talking every…single…day.

    Obviously the math is much more complicated than all of that, because you can bank on any given lost weekends of 10-20 different mates or something, but even then — 12,000?  REALLY?  Stuff like this just…fascinates me.  I’m reminded of similar awe when Wilt Chamberlain’s number was thrown around back in the day.  What does the math that would yield that number even LOOK like?

    (Courtesy: New York Post, via Roger Ebert.)

  • Kansas City crowd goes with ‘Up in the Air’

    More at our Precursor Circuit page.

  • Proof that the Oscar season is an echo-chamber

    Jeremy Renner in The Hurt LockerI Tweeted about this yesterday, so if you read it there, sorry for the redundancy.  I just felt like expanding on the thought and offering it up for your comment here.

    Last year when the Independent Spirit Award nominations were announced, a little film that few outside of the Toronto and Venice film festivals had seen popped up, deservedly, in two acting categories.  The film was “The Hurt Locker,” and until a theatrical release in June of 2009, it did not appear to be an awards hog of any sort.

    If the tables had been turned and Kathryn Bigelow’s war drama had been eligible for this year’s Spirit slate, you can bet it would have shown up for Best Picture, Best Director, probably even Best First Screenplay.  Hell, they may have even attempted to find room for Brian Geraghty, and of course, Barry Akroyd’s cinematography would have been in the mix.

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  • 1/4 Oscarweb Round-up

    Andy Serkis• Jeffrey Wells passes along an aside concerning Walter Kirn’s original ending to “Up in the Air” and a lingering thread in Jason Reitman’s film.  Frankly, I think it would have made it even better. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • Sasha Stone previews tomorrow’s Scripter nominations announcement.  I’d say her predictions are spot-on. [Awards Daily]

    • Best Actor watch 2010?  Simon Hattenstone chats with Andy Serkis about his performance as Ian Dury in the upcoming “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll.” [The Guardian]

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  • Guy’s top 50 of the decade: #31-40

    Matt Damon in The Bourne UltimatumYesterday, I began my countdown of my 50 favorite — do note that last word, I hesitate to say “best” — films of the 2000s. Today, we creep up another ten rungs on the ladder.

    I wrote this in my introduction to the list yesterday, but it bears repeating: don’t read too much into the rankings at this level. I’m not the kind of person who can scientifically determine whether my 37th favorite film of the decade is marginally — but conclusively — superior to my 38th favorite. Just today, I did some mild shuffling with the following titles, only to change my mind a few minutes later.

    Bottom line: I think they’re all pretty darn special. The list continues after the cut.

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  • NSFC predictably goes with ‘The Hurt Locker’

    Paul Schneider in Bright StarFINALLY Paul Schneider gets some much-deserved love.  And a production design victory for “Fantastic Mr. Fox” is inspired.  Otherwise, zzzzzz…

    Then again, I guess it’s worth noting that this is the first time since 1997 that a single film made the hat trick of NYFCC, LAFCA and NSFC.

    The main categories:

    Best Picture: “The Hurt Locker”

    Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”

    Best Actor: Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker”

    Best Actress: Yolande Moreau, “Seraphine”

    Check out the full slate, plus the rest of the year’s kudo collectives, over at our Precursor Circuit page.

  • SUNDAY CENTS: Happy Blue Year

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

    Okay. What kind of fairy dust is James Cameron sprinkling in his films? Subliminal messages perhaps? There’s no other explanation. “Avatar” is the number one movie again this weekend, raking in $68.3 million, off 10% from last week. It becomes the first film to spend three straight weeks at the top since “Tropic Thunder” and that weekend tally is the all time record for a third weekend by a mile. “Spider-Man” previously held the title with $55.7 million.

    “Avatar” now has a running total of $352.1 million and will almost certainly pass $500 million before it exits theaters. Whether or not it can reach the $533.3 million of “The Dark Knight” is not certain, but with January’s releases looking particularly dismal, who knows? It is certain that Cameron’s film will become the second-highest grossing film of all time worldwide behind “Titanic,” and that is just ridiculous.

    The movie is already #94 all time domestically, and #16 of the decade. It’s the highest grossing non-sequel since “The Passion of the Christ” and should eventually be the highest grossing original property since “Titanic.” Box office figures of that nature are pure flukes and for a director to do it twice with completely different properties is jaw-dropping. James Cameron is, without a doubt, the king of the world.

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  • Predict the NSFC Awards

    Tomorrow my personal favorite precursor body, the National Society of Film Critics, will announce their 2009 winners.

    Regular awards-watchers will know that the NSFC is generally the most highbrow of the critics’ groups, as well as the most independent-minded — last year, they went wholly against the Oscar grain, giving Best Picture to “Waltz With Bashir” and four major awards to “Happy-Go-Lucky.” They can, however, be ahead of the curve when it comes to late-breaking Oscar heavies — think “The Pianist” or “Million Dollar Baby.”

    This year, however, I’m guessing they’ll stick to the status quo: with such modest box-office, it seems critics want to give “The Hurt Locker” all the help it can get in the race. With that in mind, Kathryn Bigelow’s film could become the first to sweep the big three critics’ prizes since “L.A. Confidential” in 1997.

    My predictions after the cut. What are yours?

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