In Contention

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  • ‘A Prophet’ wins top prize at London Film Festival

    Tahar Rahim (right) in A ProphetI always knew Anjelica Huston and I were of a like mind. As I reflect on the 60-odd films I’ve seen the London Film Festival, which draws to a close tomorrow, Jacques Audiard’s French Oscar contender “A Prophet” stands comfortably taller than anything else I’ve seen … and given the standard of this year’s LFF lineup, that’s no back-handed compliment.

    Ms. Huston clearly agrees: at a ceremony tonight, together with the other five members of her jury (a rum bunch including Charlotte Rampling, Matthieu Kassovitz and Jarvis Cocker), she handed “A Prophet” the festival’s inaugural Best Film award (alternatively named the Star of London). It triumphed over eight other shortlisted titles, including its Cannes conqueror “The White Ribbon.” Huston said of Audiard’s film:

    A masterpiece: “Un Prophete” has the ambition, purity of vision and clarity of purpose to make it an instant classic.  With seamless and imaginative story-telling, superb performances and universal themes, Jacques Audiard has made a perfect film.”

    “The Road,” interestingly enough, was given a runner-up “special mention” by the jury, despite its continued mixed reception. John Hillcoat’s film was singled out for its “breathtaking vision, extraordinary performances and profound political statement.”

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  • THE LONG SHOT: Mind your language

    (from left) Niels Arestrup and Tahar Rahim in A ProphetYou might not be aware of it, but the competition is already formally under way in Oscar’s most perennially problematic category, Best Foreign Language Film.

    For almost two weeks now, official Academy screenings of the longlisted contenders in the race have been in progress, and will continue through January, until all 65 titles have been subjected to the foreign-language committee’s scrutiny.

    Pete Hammond has details of the screening schedule and voting rules, as well as some gossip on audience reaction to the screenings thus far: Mexico’s “Backyard” and Switzerland’s “Home,” starring Jimmy Smits and Isabelle Huppert respectively, have apparently gone down well; Croatia’s “Donkey,” thanks to incomprehensible subtitles, not so much. Add a pinch of salt to taste.

    Coincidentally enough, courtesy of the London Film Festival, I’ve been simultaneously working my own way down the contenders list, though my personal tally has stalled at eight titles. (It could have been 11, if scheduling and admin obstacles hadn’t kept me away from the Australian, Colombian and Serbian entries. I am but one man.) Only 57 to go, then.

    I will offer a more detailed assessment of the films in another post, but by and large it’s been a pleasure making their acquaintance. Of course, my own selection has been filtered through that of the fest’s generally thoughtful programmers, safeguarding against any real horrors – but I don’t mind saying that an unembarrassing list of nominees could theoretically be assembled from just my scant sampling of the longlist.

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  • A memory

  • International ‘Green Zone’ trailer

    This is much better, and doesn’t make the film look like a “S.W.A.T. 2: Gangsta Boogaloo.” Still, heavy on the action.  Take a look:

  • ‘Alice in Wonderland’ at Spike’s Scream 2009

    How exactly is something that debuted online before Comic-Con, played at Comic-Con and has been in theaters for months now considered “exclusive, never-bef0re-seen footage?”  Anyway, I wonder if there will be any jokes/material planned around this film at the Oscarcast, given the film opens the Friday prior.  Probably not.

  • For Yuvawn

    I just found out I lost my grandmother.

    I don’t handle these things very gracefully. I don’t become an emotional mess or anything but I get strangely distant, hurting all the same.

    She had a stroke not too long ago. And as terrible as it might be to admit, I could never fully steel myself for a phone conversation or another trip down to Georgia because I didn’t know what her slurred speech would do to me, emotionally. It was probably more inflated in my mind than it was in actuality, but nevertheless, I couldn’t do it.

    I knew some day I would take my girlfriend down to see her and my father’s side of the family. I knew she’d be alright, that all the recent scares concerning a re-invigorated cancer were just that: scares.

    The things we know.

    The “some days” that never come.

    My instinct was to write about it. My instinct was to manage it. My instinct was to leave my father, almost to Columbia, South Carolina when he got the news, alone for a moment as I know he would appreciate.

    My instinct was to let the universe sort it for another few precious beats before I gave myself over to it. Because once I do, the past becomes vaster.

    I am a nostalgic person. I look back and see happiness where perhaps there was none, or ease where perhaps the struggle was more intense. And when I’m not concerned with how things were, or how I felt at some other moment, I’m busying myself for what will come, how my path will look tomorrow.

    I haven’t sat down and fully intimated myself with “now” in, I’m suddenly aware, a very long time. I think I would have been wise to do it more.

    I hope this moment’s pause teaches me that lesson so that “tomorrow” is no longer a distraction, but instead, a gift. I loved her for being so kind, so thoughtful, so strong. For having the traits I wish were more prevalent in me. And I never told her that.

    God — why did I never tell her that?

  • Sam Rockwell’s campaign gears up

    Sam RockwellJust last week we told you about Duncan Jones’s concentrated grassroots effort to nab Sam Rockwell an Oscar nomination for his tour de force performance in “Moon.” It is a film that, unfortunately, came and went at the marketplace, yet was one of the best films of the summer.  And Rockwell, as he’s proven time and again for years now, has the chops and deserves the props.

    Jones has chimed in once again one the matter at his blog, Man Made Movies, and lays out all the Tweeting and petitioning goodness.  You can even buy a T-shirt for the cause.  Don’t you have a new movie to be preparing, Duncan!?

    Seriously, though, it’s worth noting that, in the wake of this, Sony Pictures Classics, as well as Rockwell’s own representation at the publicity firm I/D Public Relations, are getting serious about an Oscar campaign.  It will be an uphill climb because, due to the film being a British production, it isn’t eligible for a number of the awards that might have put it on the domestic radar, such as the Gothams or the Independent Spirits.  The film did, however, show up in a number of high-profile categories when the British Independent Film Award nominees were announced earlier in the week.

    Whether Rockwell nails the honor or not is ultimately beside the point.  “He deserves to be in the conversation,” Sony Classics honcho Michael Barker told me.  “He’s one of these guys like Philip Seymour Hoffman, who we had in films like ‘Love Liza’ and ‘Owning Mahowny,’ where you just said, ‘One of these days [he’ll be nominated].’”

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  • Playing up the humanity of ‘Avatar’

    Sam Worthington in AvatarAll eyes on on the big four, films that have yet to screen but expect to play a heavy hand in the Oscar race: “Invictus” (which debuted a poster and a trailer recently), “The Lovely Bones” (which has screened internally at Paramount and is almost finished), “Nine” (which has been beginning to get a look from publicists involved, who have nothing but ecstatic things to say, of course) and “Avatar” (which no one has seen).

    It is interesting to note the latter’s intriguing grip on the anticipation.  I just had a conversation yesterday with a studio head who expects it to go pretty far in the race.  The overall feeling seems to be, unless it’s a stone-cold turkey, it will be a formidable contender, genre be damned.  “I wouldn’t bet against that guy,” the studio head said of director James Cameron (who was recently profiled at great length in the pages of The New Yorker).

    It is also interesting to note that, as a new trailer for the film that highlights some of the more dramatic moments of the film plays in theaters, this LA Times piece (sneaked on writer Geoff Boucher’s Hero Complex blog) has quotes from both Cameron and star Sam Worthington announcing a desire for story over substance.

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  • Thoughts on ‘Michael Jackson’s This Is It’

    Michael Jackson in Michael Jackson's This Is ItI was going to sit down and write a proper review of “Michael Jackson’s This Is It,” but I hit a wall pretty fast.  I don’t know how to review something that was never meant to be a cinematic work of art.  It succeeds on so many levels but it also doesn’t aspire to a whole lot.

    It is, at the end of the day, a serendipitously candid look at an entertainer creating, and as a Michael Jackson fan, I was thoroughly satisfied.  As a filmgoer, I found myself mentally assembling my grocery list.

    No, the film isn’t boring.  And though it is a bit repetitive, it never fails to be at least modestly fascinating.  This is, after all, one of the most intimate looks we’ve had at one of the more elusive artists in popular culture.  And the surge of excitement you get from seeing a strong, limber, on-it-as-ever Jackson stick the moves and ratchet up the spectacle is affecting to say the least.

    Gone is the frail, shrinking, ghostly image plastered across the tabloids or snapped swiftly by craven paparazzi.  Here is a man in command of a machine built to entertain.

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  • New ‘Shutter Island’ trailer

  • 10/28 Oscarweb Round-up

    Ricky Gervais• Rodrigo Perez has details on the “Precious” soundtrack. [The Playlist]

    • Ricky Gervais to be drunk, unrehearsed at Golden Globes. [Reuters]

    • Scott Feinberg ponders the Carey Mulligan vs. Meryl Streep debate. [And the Winner Is…]

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  • ‘Invictus’ trailer

    Morgan Freeman in InvictusApple has exclusively debuted the first trailer for Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus,” and when you get around the initial akward shock of Morgan Freeman’s accent, work around the oddly structured but still somehow streamlined nature of the trailer, read the writing on the wall, etc., I think it becomes clear pretty quick what we all, rightly or wrongly, have assumed sight-unseen since day one: this looks like a bona fide Oscar contender.

    I’ve been wondering aloud lately whether the film’s message of healing a nation’s wounds after extended political turmoil might not be more resonant now than we might think.  The story delicately reflects the zeitgeist in some way.  It looks to be one of the more traditional entries of the lot, which could make it a safe haven of sorts for the Academy.

    And in any case, it certainly looks to pack an emotional wallop.  Tough to argue with that stuff convincingly, but then again, maybe the “Gran Torino” snub meant more than we thought.  Maybe Clint is becoming old hat.  I doubt it, though.

    Anyway, head on over to Apple and see the trailer for yourself, or check out the embed after the jump.

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  • ‘Green Zone’ trailer

    I hear it plays like a great action film, probably not awards.  Which makes the 2010 bump make a little more sense (not to mention the fact that it needs to make money).  Here’s the first trailer:

  • Firth to be honored for Outstanding Performance of the Year at Santa Barbara fest

    Colin FirthActor Colin Firth is set to receive yet another award for his work in Tom Ford’s “A Single Man” after taking the Best Actor crown in Venice last month.

    The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (a comforting getaway right at the height of Oscar season in February) has announced that Firth will receive its Outstanding Performance of the Year Award.  In the pres release, festival director Roger Durling calls Firth “one of the most enduring performers working in cinema today” and notes that his performance in Ford’s film might call for a reassessment of the actor’s work to date.

    The tribute will take place at the Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara on Saturday, February 13.  Expect further SIBFF award announcements in the coming weeks, including, for the first time ever, a trio of Vanguard Award winners.  More as it comes in…

  • ‘Star Trek,’ ‘White Ribbon’ round out Hollywood Film Awards

    (from left) Chris Pine and Karl Urban in Star TrekThe publicity stunt that is the Hollywood Film Awards came and went last night.  Nearly all of the winners had been previously announced, but “Star Trek” took the Hollywood Film Award after being voted upon by the public at large, while “The White Ribbon” took the Hollywood World Award.

    Here is the full slate of winners, the sounding gun of the Oscar season, maybe, or just a craven publicity grab.  You be the judge.  David Poland and Anne Thompson have certainly let their opinions be known.

    Hollywood Film Award: “Star Trek”
    Hollywood Actor Award:     Robert De Niro, “Everybody’s Fine”
    Hollywood Actress Award: Hilary Swank, “Amelia”
    Hollywood Supporting Actor Award: Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”
    Hollywood Supporting Actress Award: Julianne Moore, “A Single Man,” “The Kids Are Alright,” “Chloe”
    Hollywood Director Award: Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
    Hollywood Producer Award: Ryan Kavanaugh, “Brothers,” “Nine,” etc.
    Hollywood Screenwriter Award: Nora Ephron, “Julie & Julia”
    Hollywood Breakthrough Actor Award: Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker”
    Hollywood Breakthrough Actress Award: Carey Mulligan, “An Education”

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  • 10/27 Oscarweb Round-up

    Mel Gibson in Braveheart• Patrick Goldstein thinks tapping Ricky Gervais as emcee suddenly classes up the Golden Globes. [The Big Picture]

    • In case you’ve missed it, a thorough and, I’d say, fair profile of James Cameron in 11,000 words. [New Yorker]

    • Mel Gibson admits the subject of his Oscar-winning biopic “Braveheart” was a “monster.” [The Times]

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  • LONDON: Not so ‘Precious’

    PreciousAt this early stage in the awards race, I’ve been getting along unusually well with every major contender I’ve encountered: “The Hurt Locker,” “An Education,” “Up in the Air,” along with darker horses like “Bright Star” and “A Single Man,” have all been pleasing, giving me hope that this would be one of those rare Oscar years when I could contentedly roll with any outcome.

    Something had to break, I suppose. And it’s with not a little regret that I write this, but it broke this afternoon as I finally encountered Lee Daniels’s much-vaunted “Precious” for the first time.

    I understand and respect what has moved the critical majority so profoundly about this abrasive, eccentric film. It visits such extremities of physical and psychic pain that it does invite a kind of emotional responsibility towards its protagonist; if Daniels did have as heavy a creative hand in “Monster’s Ball” as he claims, one could draw an interesting comparison between the two films’ almost mythic excesses of female suffering.

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  • ‘Fish Tank,’ ‘Moon,’ ‘Education’ lead BIFA noms, female directors rule

    Katie Jarvis in Fish TankYou’ve heard me natter on enough for months about how “Fish Tank” is one of the year’s best films — now you don’t have to just hear it from me anymore.

    Andrea Arnold’s lyrical character study of an unhappy Essex teenager (now being dubbed ‘the British “Precious”‘ by some lazy wags) leads the nominations for the British Independent Film Awards, with mentions in a whopping eight categories, including two for 18 year-old sensation Katie Jarvis.

    Once a very niche Transatlantic equivalent to the Indie Spirits, the BIFA Awards are gaining in profile every year, painting a far more revealing picture of the state of the UK film industry than the Oscar-toadying BAFTAs.

    They’re also naming more contenders who go on to feature heavily in awards season: “Slumdog Millionaire” was the belle of last year’s BIFA ball, while this year’s major crossover nominee promises to be “An Education.”

    (More discussion, and a full list of nominees, after the cut.)

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