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Neeson, Connelly headline Dustin Lance Black’s directing debut

The Liam Neeson career revival continues apace. Variety reports that the 56 year-old thesp will star opposite Jennifer Connelly in “What’s Wrong With Virginia,” the first directorial effort from “Milk” scribe Dustin Lance Black. The film, which has Gus Van Sant involved as an executive producer, which begins shooting this summer. The pitch goes as follows:

Connelly will play the charming but psychologically disturbed mother of a 16-year-old son. Her 20-year clandestine love with a sheriff (Neeson), who is running for the state senate, is tested when her son begins a relationship with his daughter.

Sounds to me like a return for Black to the quirky domestic territory of “Big Love.” Is this a comedy of sorts? Certain details (that title, for starters) imply that to me, though it isn’t made clear in the report. Either way, Neeson and Connelly aren’t exactly the first pairing I’d think of for an onscreen romance — so, well, interesting.

We’re also reminded that Black and Van Sant are collaborating once more on an adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test,” which is an ambitious undertaking to say the least. You may remember that I wasn’t exactly sold on Black’s Oscar-winning efforts on “Milk,” but good on him for using his post-win momentum to get as many irons in the fire as possible.

May 17, 2009
Mixed early word for ‘Agora’

I’ve had slight misgivings about Alejandro Amenabar’s much-awaited historical epic “Agora” for a while, and I’m not really sure why. It’s certainly nothing to do with Amenabar’s own track record. For me, “The Others” stands as one of cinema’s great ghost stories, and while “The Sea Inside,” for which he won an Oscar four years ago, wasn’t quite up to his previous film’s immaculate standards, it was a rousing, intermittently stunning effort.

Perhaps it’s because, even in his most conceptually elaborate work like “Open Your Eyes,” his work has such an intimate scale that the prospect of him taking on a massive sword-and-sandal endeavor like “Agora” doesn’t quite gel. Perhaps it’s because star Rachel Weisz has shown such wildly inconsistent taste in her selections of late. I have no idea, but I’m not particularly comforted after reading the rather mixed slate of reviews that followed the film’s unveiling at Cannes this morning.

The Hollywood Reporter dithers over the film, declaring it a bit of a slog, but one that repays the effort, with “an unfaltering performance” from Weisz:

Amenabar gets most of the epic staples out of the way relatively early: flatly acted scenes of textbook exposition, overly earnest extras, main characters who wander unscathed through hordes of butchery and, of course, frequently swelling music. The story then becomes a timely parable on religious intolerance, inexorable fundamentalist violence and the powerlessness of reason and personal freedom in the face of both.

It is a pleasure to see Weisz’s scenes of scientific inquiry, which capture the passion of research and discovery without artifice or pretension. That the scientist is a woman makes it all the more engaging.

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May 17, 2009
John Cameron Mitchell on ‘Rabbit Hole’

Thanks to Nathaniel Rogers for pointing out a Screen Daily video interview (embedded below the cut) in which John Cameron Mitchell talks in some depth about his next film, “Rabbit Hole,” which goes into production next month.

We mentioned the project last month, when Aaron Eckhart was cast opposite Nicole Kidman in the screen adaptation of David Lindsay-Abaire’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play about bereaved parents. The cast has grown since then, with Dianne Wiest, Sandra Oh and Giancarlo Esposito all also on board now.

The setup in the video is slightly odd — Mitchell seems to have been held at gunpoint against a wall and forced to give a monologue — but the director has a number of interesting things to say, particularly on the contrast between working with stars like Kidman and the less seasoned players of his last film, “Shortbus.”

He also talks up Lindsay-Abaire’s screen adaptation in a big way, describing it as one of the best screenplays he has ever read, and “head and shoulders” ahead of the original play. Unlike the cut-and-paste script jobs of recent Broadway-to-screen transfers like, say, “Doubt” or “Frost/Nixon,” Mitchell promises a complete cinematic reimagining of the material, citing the way his previous films incorporated animation and art into their film language as a point of reference.

As I said before, he’s a bold choice of director, and it’s clear he’s deeply invested in the material. It’s not often one gets such detailed insight into a director’s plan for a project before shooting begins — here’s hoping he pulls it off. Check out the video below the cut.

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May 17, 2009
Cracks show in Cannes lineup

After surveying the reviews of Johnnie To’s “Vengeance” and Brillante Mendoza’s “Kinatay,” it seems safe to assume that neither film is a contender for the Palme d’Or — in the latter, we may even have our first real critical punchbag of the Competition.

ScreenDaily dismisses “Vengeance,” an action effort teaming Hong Kong genre lord To with iconic French actor/singer Johnny Hallyday, as a “revenge shoot-em-up which fires mostly blanks,” citing a “contrived plot,” “wooden English dialogue” and a “stilted” lead performance as the key problems. Variety is more charitable, calling it “smoothly executed” but ultimately “more of the stylish same” from the director.

Less predictable, and a lot more contentious, appears to be “Kinatay,” a grim, ultra-violent (the title translates as “slaughter”) tale of an ordinary man drawn into a crime syndicate — though apparently a lot weirder than that generic premise indicates. Variety slates the film, labelling it both “unpleasant” and “banal,” and predicting a general critical drubbing.

Roger Ebert confirms that prognosis, with a vicious takedown in which he claims the film surpasses Vincent Gallo’s infamous “The Brown Bunny” as the worst in the festival’s history:

There will be critics who fancy themselves theoreticians, who will defend this unbearable experience, and lecture those plebians like me who missed the whole Idea. I will remain serene while my ignorance is excoriated. I am a human being with relatively reasonable tastes. And in that role, not in the role of film critic, I declare that there may not be ten people in the world who will buy a ticket to this movie and feel the money was well spent.

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May 17, 2009
Jane Campion’s ‘Bright Star’ scrapbook

Those of you impatient to lay eyes on Jane Campion’s “Bright Star” following yesterday’s very positive Cannes reception might want to check out this online “production scrapbook” that has been assembled for the film.

A loosely compiled collection of notes, photos, sketches, storyboard and props from Campion and her collaborators, it’s an elegant indulgence that gives some indication of the painterly visual textures we can expect from the film. Greig Fraser, a young DP working on his first major feature here, is already being talked up as a contender for cinematography honors, and in addition to the stills we’ve already soon, some of the location pics here show why. Take a look here.

May 16, 2009
‘Basterds’ online

Blame the lack of U.S. star power on the Croisette this year if you like (the NYT’s Brooks Barnes claims there’s an abnormal amount of empty hotel rooms around), but it sounds like a particularly quiet day at Cannes — and elsewhere.

If you want to make it a lot noisier, check out the relatively new official “Inglourious Basterds” site here. Grinding guitars, gunfire every time you click a tab … it’s every bit as subtle as you’d expect and want from the film, even if it doesn’t tell you anything you didn’t already know, or thought you knew.

The ample quoting of dialogue throughout, however, reminds me just how many misgivings I had about that script. Perhaps the clunkiness needs a visual context. I’m genuinely curious to see how this goes down — the film makes its Cannes debut on Wednesday.

May 16, 2009
‘A Prophet’ impresses at Cannes

Ang Lee may have struck out, but happily, another of my favorite auteurs in the Cannes lineup has had better luck today. I mentioned earlier this week that Jacques Audiard’s prison drama “A Prophet” was one of the Competition titles I was most personally interested in, and the reviews from today’s press screening justify my faith.

Like Audiard’s superb “The Beat That My Heart Skipped,” the film appears to be another genre-infused exercise, though with a broader, grittier touch than that delicate character study — and Screen Daily’s Jonathan Romney thinks that shift could pay strong commercial dividends:

(Audiard’s) violent, gripping prison drama A Prophet shows him extending his range with unimpeachable command. The story of a gauche young inmate who rises through the criminal ranks to become a formidable player, A Prophet works both as hard-edged, painstaking detailed social realism and as a compelling genre entertainment.

The film should have the same international appeal as last year’s Cannes crime hit Gomorrah. Its unapologetically testosterone-laden tenor will give the film a resonance way beyond the international art-house constituency that embraced Audiard’s last film, The Beat That My Heart Skipped.

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May 16, 2009
‘Precious’ a hit at Cannes

Since it was announced that it would be playing the Un Certain Regard strand at Cannes, I’ve been interested to see how Lee Daniels’ “Precious” would play on this side of the Atlantic.

Though the film was an all-round sensation at Sundance back in January, I wasn’t sure if it would receive the same level of adulation here, where there traditionally isn’t much of an audience for U.S. urban-based stories.

Moreover, the film’s biggest talking-point at Sundance — Mo’Nique’s surprise-attack performance — risked being diluted in Europe, where I suspect few people know who the comedienne is. (It’s telling that the Cannes media has focused far more on Mariah Carey’s de-glamming.)

All of which hasn’t appeared to matter one jot, as the film screened last night to a rapturous standing ovation, making it one of the heavy favorites for the Un Certain Regard award, which has boosted such arthouse fare as “The Band’s Visit” and “The Death of Mr. Lazarescu” in recent years.

That “Precious” has been so warmly embraced in a critical environment not particularly predisposed towards such a film speaks volumes. Could its awards prospects go beyond that increasingly likely-looking Best Supporting Actress bid for Mo’Nique? A Best Adapted Screenplay nod, or Best Actress for Gabourey Sidibe, are certainly in the realm of possibility. A Best Picture bid seems to me a bit too great a leap for the Academy at this stage, but as long as the film keeps slaying audiences like this, who knows?

May 16, 2009
‘Taking Woodstock’ fizzles at Cannes

Ang Lee’s “Taking Woodstock” appears to have provided Cannes with its first high-profile disappointment. While it doesn’t appear to be a disaster by any means, the general consensus appears to be that it doesn’t meet the very high standard Lee set for himself with his last two features.

Allan Hunter at Screen Daily finds much to like in the film, calling it a “sweet, meandearing tribute” to the eponymous festival, he ultimately declares it inconsequential:

Taking Woodstock is accessible but very lightweight and should enjoy moderate commercial success as a specialised domestic release. The very American, softly sentimental nature of the film will make it a harder sell internationally … While the wider themes are persuasive enough its the smaller human stories that are disappointingly banal as Woodstock becomes a form of therapy for Elliot and his parents. Enjoyable in places and merely humdrum in others, Taking Woodstock ultimately feels like a minor Ang Lee digression in between more memorable works.

Hunter finds the film’s ensemble an equally mixed bag:

(Demetri Martin’s) gentle, guileless manner makes him perfect casting for Elliot without settling the matter of whether he is charismatic enough to have a sustained cinema career. Liev Schreiber brings dashes of sass and style to cross-dressing Vilma but Imelda Staunton’s dowdy, embittered Sonia is overcooked and all too reminiscent of Shelley Winters in full flow.

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May 16, 2009
WEEKLY WRAP: Cannes unspooled, ‘The Road’ unveiled

• Kicking off a Cannes-loaded week, we offered a two-part profile of this year’s contenders for the Palme d’Or.

• Meanwhile, this week’s Top Ten list reflected on the greatest runners-up in the festival’s history.

• As “Up” opened the festival, Pixar maintained its recent critical streak.

• Within the competition, however, it’s two films from female auteurs — “Bright Star” and “Fish Tank” — that have critics buzzing.

• Away from the Croisette, there was lots of talk about “The Road” this week, with a new trailer and early review.

• In a neat coincidence, “The Road” was also the subject of this week’s Page to Screen column.

• In a major week for debuting trailers, we also got a look at two very different hot properties: “Nine” and “Precious.”

• Ahead of its June U.S. release, we reviewed Michelle Pfeiffer’s comeback vehicle “Chéri’.”

• We looked into the box office success of “Star Trek.”

• We revisited some buried treasures from the 1980s.

• And finally: is the theatrical experience overrated? Have your say here.

May 15, 2009
Campion: women directors need more armor

That Jane Campion is one of three female auteurs competing for the Palme d’Or at Cannes this year is seen as a relative step up for the fairer sex compared to years past, though by any logical standards, a 3-to-17 ratio is still an indication of a globally male-biased industry.

Campion, however, has an interesting take on the matter: though she blames studio sexism to an extent, though she thinks women themselves have some responsibility for the situation. Noting that the imbalance begins as early as the film school stage, she wondered at a Cannes press conference whether her female peers are more easily deterred by criticism:

I would love to see more women directors because they represent half of the population and gave birth to the whole world … Without them the rest are not getting to know the whole story. I think women don’t grow up with the kind of criticism that men grow up with. We are more sensitively treated. It is quite harsh when you first experience the world of film-making — you have to have a tough skin. My suspicion is that women are not used to that. We must put on our coats of armour and get going because we need them [female directors].

I’m neither agreeing nor disagreeing, but from a successful auteur who has endured her share of criticism in past years, it’s an interesting perspective. Thankfully, considering the wealth of high-profile female-directed projects in the wings this year — from “Bright Star” to “The Hurt Locker” to “An Education” — things may be looking up.

Meanwhile, strong reviews for Campion’s film continue to pour in; Todd McCarthy calls it an “impressive return” for Jane Campion, and amps up the buzz for star Abbie Cornish. U.S. distribution rights were snapped up a few days ago by ex-Picturehouse chief Bob Berney and Bill Pohlad’s new outfit.

May 15, 2009
‘Red Cliff’ finally making its way Stateside

I’ve been wondering what became of “Red Cliff,” John Woo’s lavish historical epic set third century Han Dynasty China. The big-budget project broke Chinese box-office records and was tipped to be a crossover foreign-language hit last year, but never surfaced in the West.

Now news comes from Cannes that U.S. rights to the film have finally been acquired by Magnet Releasing, the genre division of Magnolia Pictures. Magnet are planning a fall release for the visually spectacular Tony Leung starrer, which was shown in two parts in Asia, but will be presented in a combined cut Stateside:

“Colossal in every regard, Red Cliff is undoubtedly one of the most exciting films to come out of China in a long time,” Magnet’s senior vice-president Tom Quinn said. “John Woo has delivered a provocative, jaw-dropping, andmoving epic. Mainstream audiences and die hard Woo fans alike are in for a big treat.”

May 15, 2009
The Brits get it

Of course, the film is very old news to all of you Stateside, but allow me a moment to say how proud I am that my fellow Englishmen — well, the critics among them, at least — have embraced Charlie Kaufman’s stunning “Synecdoche, New York” with open arms.

The film opens today in the UK to a raft of rave reviews from the local broadsheets, including rare five-star notices from the Guardian and the Telegraph. Here’s a sample of Peter Bradshaw’s awestruck review:

The film is either a masterpiece or a massively dysfunctional act of self-indulgence and self-laceration. It has brilliance, either way: surreal, utterly distinctive, witty, gloomy in the manner that his fans will recognise and adore, but with a new epic confidence, absorbing the influences of Fellini and Lynch … At the end of it all, you will feel as if you have lived through some crazy tragedy, swum a chlorinated Hellespont of tears. It is not for everyone, but is utterly extraordinary in its way. If Charlie Kaufman never does anything again, this will stand as his cracked monument.

I always suspected that the film would probably play better across the pond than in the States — though to be fair, it’s not as if the film doesn’t have it share of American devotees. But I’m so pleased to see a clearer consensus emerging on the film this time around — perhaps if there had been similar unanimity of praise on its U.S. release, the film wouldn’t have got quite so buried in awards season. (I’m not deluding myself into thinking the film could have been a major player, but the fact that there was nothing for, say, Samantha Morton all season still really smarts.)

Anyway, the rehabilitation begins here. Hurrah.

May 15, 2009
5/15 Web Round-up

• In the wake of the new “Nine” trailer, Ryan Adams takes a look at the story’s awards ancestry. [Awards Daily]

• Helen O’Hara on the trouble with romantic comedies and how to fix them. Screw it, I kind of want to see “The Proposal.” [Empire]

• Andrew O’Hehir on why the original “Star Trek” series still matters. [Beyond the Multiplex]

• Linda Milazzo takes a mean-spirited cheap shot at “The Soloist.” [The Huffington Post]

• Lauren Wissot talks to “Girlfriend Experience” star Sasha Grey. [Spout Blog]

• George Johnson wonders why a 200-year-old conspiracy theory still haunts the Vatican. [Slate]

• David Thomson remembers the great James Mason, who would have been 100 today. [The Guardian]

• Nat Rogers: “Nine reasons I must see ‘Nine’ NOW.” [The Film Experience]

• Gill Pringle chats with Dustin Hoffman about acting in love stories. [The Independent]

May 15, 2009
Whirlwind weekend

It’s times like this I’m so thankful for our contributors here at In Contention. You may have noticed a somewhat thin post count and commentary on my part the last couple of days. Chalk it up to family being in town and a little ceremony I’ll be attending later this morning. Yes, I’m finally picking up that Masters degree I’ve been striving for the last two years. Luckily, Cannes news has been coming fast and furious and Guy has been Johnny on the spot, so my shortcomings have (hopefully) gone unnoticed, but I thought I’d offer up something akin to an excuse. And yes, you got me: I figured I’d toot my own horn. It’s never too early in the morning to be full of yourself.

Anyway, a few more posts this morning (including a review of “Up” if I can get around to it) and I’m outta here for the rest of the day (and likely, the weekend). Pretty stoked for our commencement speaker. Enjoy the Cannes smorgasbord.

May 15, 2009
‘Bright Star’ twinkles at Cannes

Does the comeback begin here? This morning gave critics their first look at Jane Campion’s Keats biopic “Bright Star” — the director’s first feature in six years, and her first foray into period drama since “The Portrait of a Lady” — and early reactions indicate a genuine return to form.

The New York Times claims there were “few dry eyes” at the press screening of the tragic romance, while Screen International’s Allan Hunter goes so far as to suggest the film “match(es) the haunting intensity” of “The Piano,” which of course landed Campion the Palme d’Or 16 years ago. Like that masterpiece, he thinks this film could also be awards-bound, not least for the lead performances of Abbie Cornish and Ben Whishaw:

Beautifully crafted in every department from the composure of the camerawork to the precision of the costume and production design, Bright Star is a film to savour. Campion ensures that its pictorial appeal is matched by an emotional engagement thanks to a universally fine cast.

(Cornish) captures all the youthful impetuosity of the English Fanny and portrays her as a young woman trying to maintain control of a life torn apart by all the fresh emotions and new sensations that she is experiencing. It is a performance that should win her awards season consideration and emphatically underlines why she is one of the most highly regarded performers of her generation. Great expectations now also attend the performances of Ben Whishaw and he is equally impressive as John Keats, making the poet an entirely human figure.

I couldn’t be more pleased to hear that Campion is back in some critics’ good books, and I can’t say how excited I am at the possibility of Cornish finally cashing in on her “next big thing” buzz; the Australian blew me away in “Somersault” four years ago, but has never found a vehicle of that standard since. Here’s hoping.

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May 15, 2009
Spacey offers his services

AwardsDaily has passed on some talk that Kevin Spacey has his eye on hosting next year’s Academy Awards, suggesting starting a Twitter campaign to make it happen.

He’s obviously being flippant, but it strikes me as a damn fine idea. Of course, Spacey’s not the first person to suggest he might be the man for the job. I give you the words of one Mr. Kristopher Tapley:

Think about it. The guy knows how to put together a production. He knows how to carry the heavy weight of an undertaking like the Oscars. His work managing the Old Vic in London should attest to that. But what’s more, he’s the right mixture of jazz hands and well-postured presentation that an Oscar host needs to be. That’s my pick anyway.

May 15, 2009
IFC gets rights to UK sensation ‘Red Riding’

Here’s some fantastic news. You may remember that, a couple of months ago, I totally flipped for “Red Riding,” a trilogy of British TV movies deftly adapted from David Peace’s quartet of crime novels about the Yorkshire Ripper murders of the 70s and early 80s.

Actually, to be specific, I went crazy for the first film in the trilogy, Julian Jarrold’s “1974,” a haunting, exquisitely realized mood piece with a sterling cast led by rising Brit stars Andrew Garfield and Rebecca Hall — the latter’s sad, sensual performance even topping her breakthrough work in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.” The next two films, helmed by Oscar-winner James Marsh and Anand Tucker respectively, were strong pieces of work too, but it’s Jarrold’s film that I can’t shake from my system.

Anyway, I said at the time that the film belonged on a bigger screen, and I’ve got my wish. Fresh from their acquisition of another outstanding Brit TV effort, Oliver Hirschbiegel’s Sundance winner “Five Minutes of Heaven,” IFC has picked up the U.S. rights to the entire trilogy:

IFC plans to release The Red Riding Trilogy this autumn in theatres and on demand through its IFC In Theaters platform following a festival circuit run.

IFC Entertainment president Jonathan Sehring called The Red Riding “an absolutely thrilling work of cinema and one of the great true crime adaptations of recent times.

So justice is done. You’ll see what I mean in the fall. A brief taster after the cut.

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May 14, 2009