In Contention

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  • ‘Crazy Heart’ quietly looking like a critics’ fave

    (from left) Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jeff Bridges in Crazy HeartIt’s early days yet.  The film opens tomorrow limited and wider later, so obviously not everyone has spoken up yet.  The only writer keeping the film away from a perfect score at Rotten Tomatoes with the handful of top critics who’ve chimed in so far is Kirk Honeycutt, who says:

    An ex-star out of control and the self-destructive drunk is a cross between types with too many antecedents in other movies.

    However, that somewhat thin criticism is debunked swiftly if you look a little further up the page at this quote from David Ansen:

    Crazy Heart gets to you like a good country song — not because it tells you something new, but because it tells it well. It’s the singer, not the song.

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  • ‘Shutter Island’ to premiere at Berlin fest

    Leonardo DiCaprio and Michelle Williams in Shutter IslandDoesn’t it feel like an eternity ago that we were talking about the possibilities for “Shutter Island” in this year’s Oscar race? I’m still sulking, frankly.

    Still, compensation for the delay arrives in the shape of some European festival prestige: Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s Gothic thriller will play out of competition at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival in February.

    Of course, Berlin audiences won’t be the first to lay eyes on the film: it recently had a “surprise” screening at Butt-Numb-a-Thon in Texas. Impressions are scattered around the net if you care to seek them.

    Also in the lineup is Roman Polanski’s latest, “The Ghost Writer” — a political thriller adapted from a Robert Harris novel, starring Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan. Unlike Scorsese’s film, Polanski’s will be in contention for the Golden Bear.

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  • ‘Inception’ poster

    Revealed via a typically labyrinthine process at the film’s official site.  Man I hate viral marketing.  Anyway, cool poster:

    Inception

  • INTERVIEW: Scott Cooper and Robert Duvall

    (from left) Robert Duvall and Scott Cooper at the Los Angeles premiere of Crazy HeartIn a quiet corner of the Four Seasons restaurant late one afternoon, Robert Duvall gives “Crazy Heart” writer/director Scott Cooper a little grief for singing his praises too loudly.

    “Oh, quit playing humble,” he says. “Come on, man!”

    Earlier, when Cooper tries to pass credit for his film’s financing on to Duvall, the six-time Oscar nominee offers more of the same.

    “I’m not so sure I believe that,” Duvall says. “Maybe.”

    It’s the standard back-and-forth between mentor and, for lack of a better term, protégé. Reverence and respect from the younger southern gentleman, sincere commendation and dismissed flattery from the older industry vet.

    But that’s their dynamic. Duvall, who never had children of his own, certainly seems to think of Cooper as a son. The director was married on Duvall’s 360-acre property in the plains of Virginia. The two met as actors on  “Gods and Generals,” worked together again on television’s “Broken Trail” and, most recently, Aaron Schneider’s “Get Low.” And the truth is, “Crazy Heart” would have had a bumpy road to the screen if it was just Cooper out there banging on doors.

    To his credit, Cooper knows it.

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  • The precursor circuit

    It’s frankly enough to drown everything out into a low, muffled hum.  But regardless, we’ve begun collecting the precursor nominations and awards for the season here.  Most recent addition include the San Francisco Film Critics Circle, the Indiana Film Critics (seriously) and, of course, the Golden Globe nominees.

    Also, under the radar yesterday, the sidebar predictions were updated.

  • ‘Up in the Air’ leads with six Golden Globe nominations

    Robert Downey Jr. in Sherlock HolmesApologies for the lateness getting these up.  I decided to sleep in and I’m sure Guy had better things to do.  These, as ever, are schmoozed and bought and paid for, as usual.  You don’t need to look much further than Clint Eastwood’s nomination (when his film couldn’t get into the Best Picture line-up) for evidence of that.  So getting up at 5:00 in the morning just wasn’t on my list of priorities.

    I am, however, happy to see “District 9” get another screenplay nomination, which keeps hope alive.  And though expected (for reasons of both quality and celebrity), my favorite nomination is Robert Downey Jr.’s for “Sherlock Holmes.” I think it’s actually a masterful performance that deserves serious awards talk.  But these are all critics citations in a bubble until we hear what the industry itself thinks via guild nominations, so it’s going to be varying degrees of the same old thing for a while.

    In any case, here are the nominees are:

    Best Picture (Drama)
    “Avatar”
    “The Hurt Locker”
    “Inglourious Basterds”
    “Precious”
    “Up in the Air”

    Best Picture (Comedy or Musical)
    “(500) Days of Summer”
    “The Hangover”
    “It’s Complicated”
    “Julie & Julia”
    “Nine”

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  • 12/15 Oscarweb Round-up

    (from left) Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana in Avatar• Karina Longworth holds her nose and writes about Oscar, but makes a compelling case for “Avatar” as the “timeliest” film of the season. [Little Gold Men]

    • The film’s star, Zoe Saldana, on the state of women in Hollywood. [Speakeasy]

    • Charting the best music documentaries of the decade. [The Playlist]

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  • Predicting the Golden Globes

    Michelle Pfeiffer in CheriOK, you know the drill. Have at it in the comments section. My best guesses below — remember, it wouldn’t be the Globes without a wacky pick or two, and a stunning snub. (Remember “Milk?”)

    Who will be this year’s Tom Cruise in “Tropic Thunder?” And why do I have this weird feeling that “Precious” isn’t up their alley … but Mariah Carey is?

    Best Picture (Drama)
    “An Education”
    “The Hurt Locker”
    “Inglourious Basterds”
    “Invictus”
    “Up in the Air”

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  • ‘Robin Hood’ trailer

    Looks…kinda badass.   (New embed courtesy of First Showing, though I don’t know why NBC.Universal would be quick to jerk a YouTube version down but leave stuff like this, slathered with a watermark, online.  Things I’ll never understand):

  • Quentin Tarantino names ‘Star Trek’ the year’s best

    Quentin TarantinoOf what he’s seen, that is. He hasn’t seen “Avatar,” “The Lovely Bones” or, um, “Invicitus” (his pronunciation). And his film is “out of it,” he says.  Not mentioning it.  Thanks for being stand-up like that, Quentin.

    Anyway, here’s the list:

    1. “Star Trek”
    2. “Drag Me to Hell”
    3. “Funny People”
    4. “Up in the Air”
    5. “Chocolate”
    6. “Observe and Report”
    7. “Precious”
    8. “An Education”

    And the video, courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision blog, after the jump. (He says he needs to see a few more films again before fully committing, FYI.)

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  • Going out with a bang: the best films of 2009

    Sharlto Copley in District 9I’ve often been asked throughout the latter part of 2009 why I should have the gall to consider it the best year of film product in a decade. It’s such a subjective circumstance that, of course, the only answer is, “I liked a lot of movies.” That’s not enough for most. Hard and fast evidence is necessary. A carefully outlined, persuasive argument is expected.

    I just liked a lot of movies.

    The year began slowly, as they tend to do. The first film I saw that cried for end-of-the-year remembrance was a modest baseball drama I caught at the Santa Barbara Film Festival in February. Then it was all the way into the summer before a blockbuster banged the first four-star gong, followed shortly by a happenstance viewing of an unconventional British biopic at the Los Angeles Film Festival and a catch-up viewing of one of the year’s Sundance hits.

    Sprinkled throughout was top-tier animated product, a Comic-Con screening of one of the best sci-fi outings in years (and a homefront viewing of another first-time filmmaker’s fascinating foray into the genre), not to mention finally catching up with one of two exemplary war dramas that debuted in Toronto last fall.

    Before long, the summer, with all its surprise delights, both substantial and appropriately frothy, began to wind down. The fall awards season picked up steam as Telluride fired the starting gun and, after that, it seemed every trip to a darkened theater brought some form of satisfaction.  Even the entertainments seemed to satisfy completely.

    How can one defend the position any more succinctly? I liked. A lot. Of movies. And I relish the opportunity now to pay tribute to the year’s best, some 30 titles, each of which could have been a top 10 finalist in any other year.

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  • Southeastern Film Critics go for ‘Up in the Air’

    The winners, more after the jump:

    Best Picture
    “Up in the Air”

    Best Director
    Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”

    Best Actor
    George Clooney, “Up in the Air”

    Best Actress
    Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia”

    Best Supporting Actor
    Christopher Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”

    Best Supporting Actress
    Mo’Nique, “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

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  • ‘Hurt Locker’ keeps it going with NYFCC

    The Hurt LockerThe New York Film Critics Circle decided not to announce its list of winners in real time this year, which is a shame because it has always been one of my favorite aspects of the season.  What we’re left with is scattered press release reveals, Twitterers scooping the group’s info as emails and phone calls circulated, and basically, the vibe that it’s just another cog in the wheel.

    And that’s before you get to the absolutely uninspired list of winners.

    Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker” took down the Best Picture prize, joining the ranks of “Brokeback Mountain,” “Sideways,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “L.A. Confidential,” “Leaving Las Vegas,” “Schindler’s List” and “Goodfellas” (just to go back 20 years) with the designation of coming out on top with both the Los Angeles and New York critics.

    The rest of the rundown is more of a snooze, other than George Clooney also being cited for “Fantastic Mr. Fox” along with “Up in the Air” for his Best Actor win.  “In the Loop” (a film with a popularity totally lost on me) nabbed the screenplay award, so I guess that’s something new.

    But honestly, the only award that made me say, “Nice,” was the Best First Feature prize for Steve McQueen’s “Hunger,” which was released in Los Angeles last December and landed on my top 10 list as a result, but didn’t make it to New York until 2009.

    The full list of winners after the jump…

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  • ‘A Prophet,’ domestic trailer

    My thoughts on the film from Telluride.  Guy’s from London fest.

  • 12/14 Oscarweb Round-up

    George Clooney in Up in the Air• In case you missed this morning’s announcement, “Inglourious Basterds” and “Nine” led the field of BFCA nominees. [In Contention]

    • Frank Rich op-eds a love letter to “Up in the Air.” [New York Times]

    • Steve Pond painstakingly assembles a primer on how many votes a contender needs for an Oscar nomination per category. [The Odds]

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  • Predict the NYFCC Awards

    Tilda Swinton in JuliaAfter surprising myself with the number of LAFCA categories I called yesterday, I’m set to disprove my newfound prescience by predicting today’s New York Film Critics’ Circle awards.

    Many are thinking the New Yorkers’ highbrow urban sensibility will favor “A Serious Man,” — but I don’t know if they’ll want to crown the Coens just two years after they last did so. Others think they may offer “Up in the Air” compensation for its meager showing yesterday, but it seemed more an L.A.-style pick to me.

    It may seem foolhardy to predict a repeat of yesterday’s LAFCA wins in the top two categories, but it wouldn’t be unprecedented: “Brokeback Mountain” nabbed Best Picture and Director honors from both groups in 2005, and the indie edge (and low box-office) of “The Hurt Locker” gives it the feel of a cause that critics’ groups won’t mind joining forces to champion.

    What are your best guesses?

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  • ‘Basterds,’ ‘Nine’ lead the pack with BFCA

    Eli Roth in Inglourious BasterdsFor better or worse, the Broadcast Film Critics Association has, of late, been frequently cited for its Oscar prognosticative prowess. Of course, it’s a pointless tidbit in the grand scheme and no one should be looking at organizations like this to see how accurate they might be on that front (even if this one in particular, of which I am a member, makes it a point every year to remind you).

    Having said that, I don’t think anyone would be shocked in the slightest if the BFCA’s list of 10 Best Picture nominees (see below) matches the Academy’s 10-for-10 this year. There is just one film on the list that ever felt truly questionable to me at some point along the way, and even that seems more and more locked in as latter-year hopefuls fail to catch expected fire.

    “Inglourious Basterds” and “Nine” led the way with 10 nominations each, a new record.  However, given the addition of below the line categories this year, it’s worth noting that their tallies wouldn’t have been so robust in the past. Quentin Tarantino’s film would have landed five nominations if it was business as usual. “Nine” would have landed three.  And “Up in the Air” would have led the field.

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  • SUNDAY CENTS: A little ‘Princess’

    The Princess and the Frog*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    Disney tasted a bit of its old early-1990s magic with the number one finish of “The Princess and the Frog” this week. The hand-drawn toon grossed $25 million after two phenomenal weeks in New York and Los Angeles only. “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Aladdin” all had similar Holiday season launches and only “Aladdin” went wide with a bigger total.

    Of course, all three were on far fewer venues than the 3,434 of “The Princess and the Frog,” but this is still a very encouraging figure.  Family entertainment is solid gold during the two weeks around Christmas and a finish well over $100 million should be no problem. These aren’t Pixar numbers, but they at least match up to “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “The Fox and the Hound” and other second-tier Disney classics. Or is that third-tier?

    “The Blind Side” takes second place with another $15.5 million and cruises past the $150 million mark. Another $3 million and it will pass “Remember the Titans” for the title of highest grossing sports drama since “Rocky.” The $246 million it would need to pass “The Waterboy” for the title of highest grossing football movie may be out of reach, but let’s all pause for a second to digest the fact that “The Waterboy” made $245 million.

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