In Contention

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  • Duelling Leno perspectives

    Jay Leno

    Most of the invective, notably, has been leveled not at [Jay] Leno specifically but rather at NBC for having “given up,” as writer-producer Peter Tolan put it, by abandoning scripted dramas in an hour where the Peacock once aired such acclaimed programs as “Hill Street Blues” and “ER.” Nevertheless, for the ire expressed toward NBC to be fulfilled, Leno’s new endeavor, logically, has to fail.

    From a Variety op-ed making the case for Leno as an enemy of creative Hollywood by moving to 10:00pm.

    This is just my gut, and people are bitching about it but I think it’s a good thing, but I think people like my mother, who’s 82, are going to love to watch Jay at ten o’clock because they want to go to bed. And they love Jay. That’s going to make programming at ten o’clock much cheaper for all the networks. They’re going to lean in that direction. It’s going to make the business that I’m in, the ten o’clock, hour-long drama, it’s going to force it more into cable, which is where it should be because you can take more chances. Everybody’s going to be happy. That’s what I think. It’s going to be beneficial to actors and writers and producers over the long haul.

    From my July interview with Peter Tolan’s “Rescue Me” partner, Denis Leary.

  • TELLURIDE: ‘The Last Station’ premieres to the world

    (from left) Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren in The Last StationMichael Hoffman’s “The Last Station,” adapted from Jay Parini’s novel about the last days of famed Russian author Leo Tolstoy, has been on my radar for quite some time.  There seemed to be an air of awards potential around Christopher Plummer, who stars as a dwindling Tolstoy, and Helen Mirren, as his fiery wife, Countess Sofya.

    The film had its world premiere tonight here in Telluride in front of a packed audience.  The line was out the door and around the block, partly because it’s opening night, partly because of the fact that Helen Mirren is on-hand (though, as it turns out, not until later tonight).  But those hoping to hear a nice chat with the actress after the film weren’t disappointed for long:  Hoffman had Vladimir Tolstoy in tow, overseer of the Tolstoy estate, and a number of other Tolstoy family members as well.

    But first, the film.  It’s a delightful effort with bright comedic spots throughout, but it’s also thematically resilient in its depiction of a relationship, 48 years on, nearly torn apart by diverging philosophies on religion, property, etc.  It’s a touching exploration of love in its many forms.  “Yes, love is hard,” Hoffman said after the screening.  “You want to do what you need to do, they want to do what they need to do, but I don’t know what else to do.”

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  • New ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ poster

    Where the Wild Things Are

    (Courtesy: MSN)

  • VENICE: ‘My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?,’ ‘Lourdes’

    Michael Shannon and Chloe Sevigny in My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?Another sweltering day on the Lido, though rainclouds are forming and things look set to break any moment now. Hopefully a change in climate will also bring about an upswing in the collective quality of films on display, as the first three days have served up a few well-liked titles, several misfires and nothing yet resembling a sensation.

    At this stage, the Competition title with the most buzz appears to be Todd Solondz’s “Life During Wartime,” which I took a shine to yesterday — though others I spoke to seemed less enthusiastic. However, as the reviews pour in, the film looks more and more like a success: Screen International editor Mike Goodridge is a fan, while Todd McCarthy has labeled it the director’s best work yet.

    Bookending a morning that began with the first sighting of “The Bad Lieutenant,” this evening opened the not-that-well-guarded secret of the Competition’s surprise film — and, as luck (or otherwise) would have it, it turned out to be a second helping of Herzog.

    “My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?” (*)

    It feels odd, and slightly improper, to beat up on Werner Herzog twice in one day, but sadly, the David Lynch-produced “My Son, My Son” leaves me very little choice.

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  • TELLURIDE: ‘An Education,’ ‘Bright Star,’ ‘London River’

    London RiverThis year’s Telluride fest is slowly gearing up.  There are a handful of press screenings this afternoon and the opener, Marco Bellochio’s “Vincere,” is set to play at 5:00pm.  I’ll probably miss that in order to take in “The Last Station,” which if it picks up a buyer, could make good on awards potential for Christopher Plummer and James McAvoy.

    Before things get going, though, I though it best to clear the slate with a few reactions to films playing here which I’ve already seen.  More to come later this evening, I’m sure.

    “An Education” (****)

    Few films are likely to have the refined air of artistry that Lone Scherfig’s “An Education” offers.  Based on a memoir by Lynn Barber, the story is, in a nutshell, that of a young girl eager to grow up but unprepared for the disappointments of adulthood.  But the film is, of course, so much more than that.

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  • ‘Bad Lieutenant’ poster

    Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

    (Courtesy: Coming Soon)

  • Is Jason Reitman the new Billy Wilder?

    Jason ReitmanThat USA Today profile on Jason Reitman, penned by IC friend Anthony Breznican, was still simmering in my mind recently when an acquaintance mentioned an intriguing comparison Breznican made on his Facebook page. “To me, this guy is the next Billy Wilder,” Breznican wrote of Reitman. “His films are hilarious, but also peer uncompromisingly into our darker sides.”

    I turned it over in my head a few times and, ultimately, I couldn’t think of a reason to disagree.  One of Wilder’s most defining characteristics was his versatility, so it’s a bit early to draw a parallel there.  That having been said, “Thank You for Smoking” is an entirely different film with drastically different themes than “Juno,” and “Up in the Air” looks to take things in a new direction yet again.

    Wilder may have exhibited less flash than Reitman, but he also placed a considerable emphasis on the screenplay.  Despite Reitman’s panache (which is by no means overstated), his films, so far, have been very much made in the writing.  And I’m with Breznican.  It’s hard to argue that Reitman isn’t in some way interested in what lurks beneath the surface of daily niceties.

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  • Previewing the 34th annual Toronto fest

    TorontoIn less than a week I will kiss my wife and kids goodbye and head into Toronto, about 50 miles away, for this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Twelve years ago my wife and I found it makes no sense for me to attend the festival for 16 to 18 hours and then try to drive home; beyond the danger of driving exhausted, arriving home at three in the morning tends to wake them up because our stupid, stupid dog begins barking the moment anyone pulls into the driveway. So for 10 days I live in the Delta Chelsea Hotel on Gerrard Street.

    This year I am finding leaving for the festival easier. Last year my wife Sherri was diagnosed with brain cancer and dealt with the removal of part of a considerable brain tumor. We went through radiation last summer, the loss of her beautiful, lush red hair, and the constant exhaustion she had to deal with. Cancer, sadly, is a family affair, and not something anyone should go through alone.  But this year we are in a good place.  The monster seems to be at bay, for now.

    So what I am looking forward to seeing?  Well first let me state that I’m shocked “Where the Wild Things Are,” “Amelia” and a handful of other films are not here. They seemed like good fits for the festival, their filmmakers have been here before, etc.  That said, it looks like one of the best festivals in recent memory, though I am not sure anything will ever beat out 2007, which presented a bounty of great pictures.  I was leaving screening room after screening room giddy.

    This year looks like a challenge for even the toughest film fester. Choosing the films to see is the toughest part because there is no chance you’ll see everything you want to see. There are generally three of four press/industry screenings at the Varsity, Cumberland or new AMC Theatres, as well as the public screenings which the press have limited access to. Our press pass allows us access to six (I think) Gala performances in the evening, but they sell out quickly. There is also a DVD library where you can watch the films in the rooms provided on your own, but films are meant to be seen on the big screen.

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  • 9/4 Web Round-up

    Spike Jonze• Steve Pond talks to AMPAS executive director Bruce Davis about the Oscars’ “crisis point.” [The Odds]

    • Redefining the cinema alien with “District 9.” [Daily Telegraph]

    • Spike Jonze and his latest gets close to 7,500 words in the Grey Lady. [New York Times]

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  • SHORT TAKE: “The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” (**)

    Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New OrleansVenice Film Festival

    Keen students of the MTV Movie Awards will be aware that the ceremony added a highly necessary and prestigious award to their lineup for “Best WTF Moment.” I like to imagine that Werner Herzog is aware of this, as his new film “The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” (that “The” is no typo – that’s how the title appears onscreen) appears to have been carefully tailored to fill every nominee slot in that category next year.

    An iguana bursts into a bluesy rendition of Engelbert Humperdinck’s “Release Me!” Nicolas Cage shares his lucky crack pipe! A man’s soul breakdances after its owner is fatally shot! Iguanas! Nicolas Cage cuts off an octogenarian woman’s oxygen supply! More freaky shit involving iguanas!

    It’s been many years since Herzog’s narrative features exuded the sure-footed directorial aplomb of his documentaries, but there is, somewhat surprisingly, a fairly clear artistic objective behind “The Bad Lieutenant”: to make a cult film, the kind of midnight movie treasured by trash geeks, stoners and the occasional leftfield auteurist alike.

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  • Disconnected Venice

    Peggy Guggenheim CollectionI had every intention last night of bringing you a report on a couple more films, but packed-out screenings and overlapping screening schedules put paid to that idea.

    Moreover, filing material online is proving something of a challenge, as the festival’s wi-fi access works in fits and starts, while my hotel has helpfully decided to dispense with their own such facilities altogether.

    The slate of evening screenings, meanwhile, was sacrificed in favor of other plans. Call it lack of cinematic dedication on my part, but would you turn down dinner on the rooftop of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, with Todd Haynes and John Sayles in attendance?

    I was lucky enough to be seated at an especially chatty table, with affable Australian critic (and former Edinburgh fest director) Shane Danielsen and Screen International’s Mike Goodridge leading the conversation.

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  • SHORT TAKE: “The Road” (**1/2)

    The RoadTelluride Film Festival

    There is a moment maybe three quarters into John Hillcoat’s “The Road” when it becomes clear that atmosphere may have been preferred over characterization: Viggo Mortensen’s character — known simply as “The Man” in Cormac McCarthy’s original fiction and nameless here — sits by a fire, wary of a cataracts-ridden old-timer (Robert Duvall) who couldn’t defend himself, much less harm a child.

    Rather than soak in the opportunity to finally, for the first time in who knows how many years, have a simple discussion about life, sons, the world, whatever, he holds a steady, paranoid gaze on the man, protective of his boy (Kodi Scott-McPhee), the idea of The Man’s deteriorating sense of humanity hammered home precisely.

    It’s an element of the film’s thematic conceit, to be sure, one present in the book (though not as embossed), but it comes at the expense of what would be natural.  Of course, “The Road,” both on the page and on the screen, is meant as symbolism in more than a few instances, but what may have worked in one’s mind, reading McCarthy’s easy-going prose, has been lost in translation here.

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  • Hammond talks the season’s changes

    Golden GlobesIt’s a year of considerable upheaval in the film awards landscape.  This year has already brought a new AMPAS president, the addition of five new slots to the Best Picture category and a refined voting process for the top field as well.  But that’s not where the changes end.

    Pete Hammond is back on board for another year of his weekly Notes on a Season columns at The Envelope, and in this year’s introductory piece, he charts a number of other alterations to the season’s status quo:

    On Jan. 17, the Golden Globes, in a grab for increased ratings, are going to be broadcast live coast-to-coast on NBC for the first time; the BFCA’s Critics Choice Movie Awards are moving from Santa Monica to Hollywood two days earlier on Jan. 15 and will be tweaking its VH1 on-air category lineup and broadening its audience potential; the pre-Oscar Saturday tradition of a tented Independent Spirit Awards is also moving away from the sands of Santa Monica and into an unnamed venue on Friday night instead — a first in its 25-year history. Plus insiders are hinting to us that the Producers Guild may also be making a MAJOR voting change…

    That “major change,” Hammond ultimately confides, is that the PGA’s list of nominees might stretch to 10 as well this year.  Check out the rest at Notes on a Season.

  • VENICE: ‘The Road,’ ‘Life During Wartime,’ ‘Great Directors’

    Ciaran Hinds in Life During WartimeSorry to duck out there for the whole morning — a combination of wireless misbehavior and delayed screenings has played havoc with my planned writing time. As a festival, Venice has multiple charms, but smooth organization is not among them.

    This morning’s glitch-bedeviled  screening of Todd Solondz’s “Life During Wartime” is a case in point: after starting 20 minutes late (leaving journalists waiting outside in sunstroke-inducing heat), the projector broke down during the opening credits. A second quarter-hour delay followed,  only for the film to restart with severely mistimed Italian subtitles — the vocal protests from Italian audience members drowning out the dialogue in the film’s opening scenes. Oh, well.

    Anyway, enough kvetching and on to the movies.

    Kris will have a more detailed take on “The Road” (**1/2) up later today, but given that it’s one of the Lido’s biggest drawcards, I feel it necessary to take a moment to discuss the film, which seems to have left several journalists I’ve spoken to disappointed, or at least mildly befuddled — and with good reason.

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  • The Gurus line up for another year

    Gurus o' GoldOver at Movie City News, David Poland has amassed the fifth annual Gurus o’ Gold prognosticating collective (including yours truly once again) and asked for a list of 15 films with the brightest pre-Toronto Best Picture profile.  We also were asked to indicate dark horse underdog actors and actresses, which yielded some interesting results (though some of them shouldn’t really count as “dark horses”).

    The Best Picture chart includes 34 titles (the top 10 republished after the jump) and represents the wild blind stab you’d expect at this point.

    I find myself surprised “Bright Star” is still being considered a formidable contender, but it’s firmly in the top 10.  So is “Precious,” proving out a personal months-old intuition (though nothing’s assured at this point, of course).

    “The Road,” “Amelia” and “Capitalism: A Love Story” are the bubble contenders.  “District 9” and “Star Trek” also have decent showings.

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  • 9/3 Web Round-up

    Oprah Winfrey• When will Quentin Tarantino do away with the filmic pretense and capitalize on his true original talent and potential? [The Film Stage]

    • Patrick Goldstein gets cock-blocked by Oprah Winfrey. [The Big Picture]

    • Anne Thompson spotlights 10 hot titles waiting to be bought at Toronto. [Thompson on Hollywood]

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  • Prepping for Telluride

    36h annual Telluride Film FestivalTomorrow morning I’m on a plane at 10:30 to the mountains of Colorado and the 36th annual Telluride Film Festival.

    This will be my first trek to the fest, which has always been, by many accounts, the most coveted detour of the fall festival season.  They keep it small.  The vibe is meant to be intimate, definitely an antidote to Cannes or Toronto, where the media frenzy stretches on for a week and a half.  Here we get four days in the refreshing thin air, and there are a number of films I’m looking forward to.

    The line-up used to be a tightly guarded secret.  It was a leap of faith.  You land, get the schedule, and then you know.  But news travels fast in a town like this, so more and more, the secrecy of Telluride’s schedule has leaked out over the years.  This year is no different on that front.

    “Up in the Air” from director Jason Reitman is way at the top of my list.  Something about the project is tugging at me, and that USA Today interview with the director yesterday did a lot to fan the flames.  Reitman had great success with “Juno” when he took it to Telluride in 2007, so he’ll be looking to duplicate that again as Paramount primes its Oscar pony.

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  • USC Cinema School gets a Hollywood star

    uscstarThe press release, in part:

    On the occasion of its 80th anniversary, and in recognition of the extraordinary role it has played in educating and training tens of thousands of men and women in the cinematic arts and sciences, the USC School of Cinematic Arts will be honored with a “star of recognition” by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, September 10 at 11AM at a formal ceremony to take place in front of the newly unveiled SCA complex at USC.

    Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Leron Gubler will present the star to School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) Dean Elizabeth M. Daley to both underscore and celebrate SCA’s “extraordinary contributions to the entertainment industry over the past 80 years.” Joining Daley and Gubler at the ceremony will be a host of notable SCA alumni, current students, and the USC marching band.

    The SCA commemorative star features a unique design, though comparable in motif and size to the “Walk of Fame” stars presented to celebrities.

    Fight on.