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  • On Oscar’s rule change

    OscarsBack on June 29, in response to the Academy’s move to 10 Best Picture nominees, I wrote, “I imagine something will have to be done to address the concern that now one merely needs something like 600 people on board to get a film in the line-up.  How many members do you think these blockbuster films, which keep studios in business, employee?  Block voting will surely thrive.”

    Two months later, it seems the Academy has taken steps to address the issue.  Sort of.

    As Steve Pond reports, in a nutshell, and in order to steer clear of “mathematical dangers,” as AMPAS executive director Bruce Davis puts it, the Best Picture winner in this new paradigm will be determined by the same preferential voting system which yields the nominees.  Members will be asked to rank the 10 films in order of preference.  The thinking is that this will effectively stifle block voting to bully forth a winner, seeing as it would have only taken roughly 1,000 votes to win the big prize otherwise.  And any awards consultant will tell you those are easy numbers to come by.

    That’s all fine and good, but it doesn’t address the issue of nominees.  It will still only take 10% plus one (more or less 600 votes, even fewer if you consider the fact that there are a good many voters who don’t participate) choosing a film as the year’s best to get a nomination — numbers that are even easier to come by.  Right?  If I’m being honest, I’m confusing myself further the more I write.  I’ll just offer up Pond’s reduction, after the jump.

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  • ‘Trainspotting’ named best British film of last 25 years

    Ewan McGregor in TrainspottingThe Observer has just assembled one of the more interesting lists I’ve seen in some time — a collective of the 25 best British films of the last quarter-century, compiled from the votes of over 60 critics, film professionals and assorted outside voices, ranging from Ben Kingsley to Peter Morgan to our friend Anne Thompson.

    Looking down the list, there are remarkably few inclusions that I really take issue with, whether I’d necessarily put them on my own such list or not — the majority of titles here are films I admire that have a legitimate sphere of influence in modern British film history, and they’ve lucked into an intelligent balance between arthouse and populist titles.

    “Trainspotting” is an obvious pick for number one, but sometimes obvious is fair. I don’t think it’s the greatest of the 25 titles listed here, but it’s an inarguably fine film that embodies the restless spirit of mid-1990s Britain from its whip-smart dialogue to its mega-selling soundtrack: its lightning-in-a-bottle blend of thrilling cinema and social document assures immortality.

    (Further discussion, and The Observer’s Top 10 list, after the cut.)

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  • Marvel Mouse House

    Wolverine

  • OFF THE CARPET: Take a deep breath…

    George Clooney in Up in the AirThe calm before the storm is beginning to subside.  Can you sense it?

    By the end of the week, the Venice and Telluride fests will be underway.  A week later, Toronto will weigh in.  When the smoke settles in roughly three weeks, the season will suddenly be a lot clearer…and yet so much of it will remain a mystery as latter year hopefuls limp (or stomp) into the fray in November and December.

    Yes, the season is upon us.  And while studios continue to think over the true value of Oscar notices, especially in a widened playing field, business marches on as usual.  Venice will tell the tale for efforts like “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” “The Informant!,” and “Capitalism: A Love Story,” while Telluride could make or break the hopes of films such as “The Road” and “Up in the Air.”

    Some overlap will go down in Toronto, but the most anticipated first-look there will likely be the Coen brothers’ “A Serious Man.”  Meanwhile, distributors might be looking to beef up their schedules with films like “Creation” and “Leaves of Grass” looking for buyers.  But for those with ponies primed and ready, these festivals are very much the starting gun for awards runs, as ever.

    So before the madness ensues, we get one more stab in the dark.  But given the perceived road ahead, it seems to me that films with a healthy pre-season awards profile going into the fall are in pretty good shape as it is.

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  • 8/31 Web Round-up

    Ang Lee• With “Luke and Brie are on a First Date” finding its way to an Amazon release, our own Chad Hartigan gets his film re-reviewed. [Spout Blog]

    • Stephen Zeitchik wants to know why Ang Lee can’t catch a break. [Risky Biz Blog]

    • Gregory Ellwood sees (er, hears) awards prospects in Alexandre Desplat’s “Coco Before Chanel” score. [Awards Campaign]

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  • For those interested

    Some folks like to jump down my throat any time I even mention the title “Antichrist” recently, but this discussion about the film between David Poland, Kim Morgan and Larry Gross is one of the most compelling I’ve yet seen (or read).

    I’m also glad to hear some voices trying to temper the (self-assisted) “OMGmostshockingEVER” hysteria around the film. (As a friend of mine wickedly remarked after seeing the film: “That was it? I could’ve stood a little more clitoridectomy.”) Anyway, if you’re interested, it’s worth a watch. An excerpt is below, the whole discussion is here.

  • Continuing the 3D debate

    AvatarEarlier this month, I wrote a piece detailing my wariness about the current 3D vogue amid the various claims being made that it will alter life (or at least cinema, which for many of us is the same thing) as we know it.

    Now, with “Avatar” Day having stoked anticipation for James Cameron’s purportedly “game-changing” film in some quarters — and significantly dampened it in others — the debate about the technology’s value carries on.  I expect the film’s run-up and eventual release will provide plenty more occasion for alternately sceptical and enraptured opinion pieces about the trend.

    I’m still in no position to comment about the potential (or otherwise) of “Avatar” — even if I had wanted to attend “Avatar” Day, given that I was in a tent in rural Wales at the time, the opportunity escaped me. I subsequently watched the trailer online, only to be informed (perhaps a little defensively) by others that the images only really popped in 3D.

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  • SUNDAY CENTS: ‘Halloween’ suffers ‘Final’ cut

    The Final Destination*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    When it comes to a death match, would anyone bet against death himself? Two high profile horror franchises released their latest installments on the last weekend of the summer and the winner is “The Final Destination.”

    $28.3 million is a new high for the series and proves the value of 3D, at least as far as body parts flying out of the screen are concerned. There’s no other explanation as to why these movies would continually improve since they are, quite literally, the exact same plot done again and again with only the most minor of tweaks. Now the only interesting thing about the series is trying to guess what they’ll call the next movie. “The Real Final Destination: Honest”?

    “Halloween II” could only muster up $17.4 million for third place, which is a steep drop from the original film’s showing, most likely because everybody hated that movie. Rob Zombie seemed to offer nothing but more of the same and if uncomfortable glasses and flying body parts coming straight at me aren’t in the equation, then there’s nothing else to say.

    It’s interesting that the Weinsteins chose to release this only one week after their other big summer film and against competition they should have known they would lose to.

    Sandwiched between those two is Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds.” A respectable 48% drop to $20 million for the weekend and $73.8 million so far means that Tarantino and his film have to be taken a little more seriously by Oscar. I mean, it’s got World War II subject matter, a return-to-form director, critical and public approval, Mike Myers. Three of those four things, the Academy can’t resist.

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  • Aaron Johnson as John Lennon in ‘Nowhere Boy’

    Hat tip to The Playlist for digging up this newish still from one of my most anticipated films of the year, Sam Taylor-Wood’s “Nowhere Boy.” The film, a study of John Lennon’s early years, will premiere on the closing night of the London Film Festival in October. As Lennon, 19 year-old Aaron Johnson faces a tall order, but he looks suitably soft-faced and wistful:

    Aaron Johnson in Nowhere Boy

    (Moral guardians, lower your pitchforks: 19 year-olds can drink here.) Older images, including glimpses of Kristin Scott Thomas as Lennon’s Aunt Mimi and Thomas Sangster as Paul McCartney, after the cut.

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  • Get a clue

    Meryl StreepThere are so many things wrong with this Digital Spy piece about the Best Actress race, it’s difficult to know where to begin. Article writer Marcell Minaya seems to have filched gossip columnist Roger Friedman’s recent (largely baseless) statement that the category is bereft of contenders, and disguised it as Academy insider talk:

    The Oscars executives have allegedly been struggling to form a list of best actress nominees.

    An Oscar insider said: “It’s only just dawning that there’s a distinct lack of potentials in the best actress category. It’s been a pretty lacklustre year for movies in general but it seems that no one wrote any decent lead roles for women … There are many to choose from when it comes to supporting actresses but very few in the lead.”

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  • Hollywood remembers ‘The Wizard of Oz’

    The Wizard of OzAs you have probably been made aware, Tuesday marked the 70th anniversary of the release of “The Wizard of Oz” in the U.S., a milestone which has inspired a number of tribute pieces this past week — including our own edition of The Lists dedicated to the classic.

    For their part, the LA Times has taken the simple but effective approach of asking a range of artists from the world of film (and elsewhere) what the film means to them personally, and has turned up some interesting responses.

    It’s an imaginative selection of interviewees they’ve assembled, ranging from directors Jon Favreau and Zach Snyder to oddball musician Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips, which only goes to show the vast extent of the film’s reach and appeal. Still, the response I liked the most came from probably the most obvious source: Guillermo Del Toro, whose “Pan’s Labyrinth” is arguably the film’s closest contemporary cousin.

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  • Thoughts on Best Cinematography?

    It’s proving to be the most difficult category to navigate in this recent update.

  • Tarantino on ‘There Will Be Blood’

    From that Sky Movies stuff, which yielded Tarantino’s top 20 films released since 1992:

    (Courtesy: The Film Experience)

  • ‘Agora’ trailer

    In yesterday’s inaugural edition of Oscar Talk, Kris and Anne Thompson discussed the bad buzz swirling around Alejandro Amenabar’s Rachel Weisz-starring historical epic “Agora,” which has been fruitlessly seeking a distributor since premiering at Cannes in May — and will continue the hunt at Toronto.

    Right on cue, here comes the trailer, and … let’s just say that Anne’s prediction of a “noble failure folly” looks ominously on-target. I’ve loved much of Amenabar’s work, but if I could barely keep my eyes open through the trailer, it doesn’t bode well for the film. Your thoughts?

  • WEEKLY WRAP: ‘Inception’ unwrapped, ‘Shutter’ unseated

    Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception• One day after the film’s trailer surfaced, we turned up some fresh plot information about Christopher Nolan’s “Inception.” Fan hysteria ensued.

    • Just in case you’d forgotten, “Shutter Island” was booted into 2010. Fan hysteria ensued.

    • To a quieter reaction, Julie Taymor’s “The Tempest” joined Scorsese’s film on the sidelines for next year.

    • In submitting “The White Ribbon,” Germany gave the foreign-language race its first major official contender.

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  • Cheer up, Meryl — you have your masterpiece

    Meryl StreepYou may well have spotted this very funny (and frequently accurate) Onion piece doing the web rounds today, in which a writer claiming to be Meryl Streep shoots down her career with all the withering disdain of Miranda Priestly.

    The gist of the argument is that, as fine an actor as Streep is, she has — whether through bad luck or bad choices — never made a truly great film.

    I can see the temptation to agree. Certainly the latter stretch of Streep’s filmography is spotty: even if you remove the outright embarrassments, (“Prime,” “Mamma Mia!”) or even the respectable-but-still-throwaway entertainments (“Julie & Julia,” “The Devil Wears Prada”), you’re left with a lot of worthily middlebrow titles engineered more as performance showcases than as vital, durable cinema.

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  • How ‘Up in the Air’ factored in the ‘Shutter’ bump

    George Clooney in Up in the AirVariety’s Pamela McClintock was written a detailed piece examining the financial ins and outs of the recent postponing of “Shutter Island,” coming to the conclusion — as did Kris following the announcement — that the move is purely a practical one on the part of Paramount chief Brad Grey. Quite simply, she explains, the film stands to make more of a profit in February, free from the expense of awards-season marketing.

    But while everyone has picked up on how the move potentially improves the fortunes of Paramount awards hopeful “The Lovely Bones,” McClintock suggests that it is Jason Reitman’s increasingly buzzy “Up in the Air” that is a more significant factor in this conversation. In picking Reitman’s far smaller film over Scorsese’s as a 2009 Oscar pony, the studio has pragmatically opted for the title that is cheaper to market — and to campaign:

    Unofficially, Par has decided to throw its support behind George Clooney dark comedy and awards hopeful “Up in the Air,” directed by Jason Reitman. That film isn’t yet dated. Rumors are that it will be released in early December, but Par says a date won’t be decided upon until after the film makes its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.

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  • OSCAR TALK: Ep. 1 — Best in show so far, campaign strategies, festival preview and “the 10”

    Oscar TalkWelcome to the first installment of Oscar Talk, a (hopefully) weekly podcast between myself and Anne Thompson, newly of indieWIRE.  We spend some time getting our feet wet in this introductory kudocast, but among the topics on the rundown:

    • Films screened thus far with the best Oscar profile heading into the awards season, including “The Hurt Locker,” “Up” and even some discussion on “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.”

    • Meryl Streep’s performance in “Julie & Julia,” what Anne calls “the story of the summer,” and how Streep succeeds into her 60s where her contemporary actresses have not.

    • Oscar’s controversial move to 10 and what how we think it will affect the awards landscape.

    • The rise of indie studios such as Overture Films, Summit Entertainment and Apparition.

    • Shifting philosophies of Oscar campaign strategies

    • Paramount bumping “Shutter Island” to 2010.

    • All things “Avatar”: the new trailer, “Avatar” Day, etc.

    • A festival preview as Anne runs down her list of anticipations at Toronto.

    And then we ran out of steam.  For now.  I runs close to 40 minutes, but we had plenty to discuss in this first edition. We’ll whittle it down by half that in future installments, I’m sure.

    Have a listen below.  (Audio?  How novel!)  We’ll try to do another one from Telluride but the more consistent stuff will probably pick up in a month or so.

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