In Contention

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  • Crush

    Hope DavisAlright, I’ve got to confess an undying love here and now, a lingering sort of obsessive interest, both cerebral and, of course, physical, in an actress that can do no wrong.  Ever.  I’m talking to you, Hope Davis.

    There, I said it.  Sure, you’re 45 (as of Monday, so Happy Birthday) and I’m 27, plus, you’re married with children.  So running off with some silly blogger is probably not your cup of tea.  I get it.  But now you know.  Just consider it.

    In all seriousness, though, I thought Davis and her trademark comedic timing pitch-perfect in the New York production of “God of Carnage,” which I saw earlier this evening after missing the Ralph Fiennes-starring London leg last summer.  Marcia Gay Harden was equally entertaining and James Gandolfini really sold the money lines in an intriguing performance.  Jeff Daniels was perhaps a tad histrionic, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Davis.  And even though I’ve always been something of a fan of her decidedly accomplished work, it didn’t quite hit me until tonight’s show just how much of an under-appreciated talent she continues to be.

    And to circle it back, am I alone in thinking she’s a total fox?  Maybe it’s just a crush.

  • The right one

    Believe it or not, “Let the Right One In” is still awaiting its UK theatrical release — for whatever reason, the powers that be decided to hold it back until April. (But hey, at least we got “Hunger” ages ago.)

    Anyway, if the delay meant more time to devise a poster as brilliant as this one, perhaps it was all worth it. It’s rare that a poster really utilises the spacial possibilities of the UK quad format, but this nails it — an early contender for Poster of the Year, even if the film was, y’know, last year:

    (Not a Movie Poster via The Film Experience)

  • Gumption

    If you’re an awards geek and you haven’t yet discovered Nathaniel Rogers and friends’ series of “Best Pictures from the Outside In” discussions, you have a treat in store.

    The premise is both eccentric and beautifully simple: word from both ends of the Oscar timeline, each episode pits two Best Picture winners against other for discussion, re-evaluation and occasional ridicule, with the comparison of two often wholly disparate films bringing out interesting elements in each other.

    In the ring for the latest instalment are “How Green Was My Valley” and “Forrest Gump” — an appropriate match-up in that they are both sentimental pieces that beat out more daring, enduring works in their respective years, and have retrospectively become less popular choices for it.

    I’m pleased to see Rogers, together with his two fellow bloggers Nick Davis and Mike ‘Goatdog’ Phillips, giving “How Green Was My Valley” more respectful attention than most people, who routinely dismiss it as “That Movie That Beat ‘Citizen Kane’” and little more.

    It’s still a John Ford film, after all, and one of his most intimate, visually lyrical works, even if it succumbs to hokum on more than one occasion. As Davis so aptly puts it, it’s a film wherein “you really feel the cycles of the day and the season, sometimes within a single shot.”

    They don’t, however, hold back on their mutual loathing for “Gump,” which I have to agree is one of the most artistically and ideologically objectionable films ever to wins Best Picture. (“Gump” and “Braveheart” back-to-back represent the Academy’s all-time nadir, as far as I’m concerned.)

    (more…)

  • Thoughts on Cannes, Huppert and ‘Up’

    Dull but hindering circumstances kept me offline yesterday, so I couldn’t get to the Cannes/”Up” news that Kris recently posted.

    By the way, before I get into that, can I just say what a great choice the Cannes organisers have made in selecting Isabelle Huppert as their jury president this year?

    It’s been a while (8 years, to be specific) since a woman took on the role, and as one of the most adventurous, intelligent and hard-working actors of her generation, Huppert (a two-times Cannes winner herself) has earned the position. Here’s hoping she brings the same kind of fearless thinking to the panel that she does to her roles.

    As for “Up, “Being the first animated title to open the world’s most prestigious film festival is obviously a notable accomplishment — and probably an overdue one, at that.

    Chiming in with last year’s tide of critical accolades for “WALL-E” and “Waltz With Bashir” (which, of course, began its buzz at Cannes), it’s clear that the artform is increasingly nearing an equal footing with live-action filmmaking as far as cineastes are concerned — even if some conservative viewers (and of course, AMPAS voters) would like to pretend otherwise.

    However, amid the breathless reporting of “first evers,” it seems to me one crucial detail has been somewhat neglected — the film is playing out of competition.

    This strikes me as an opportunity missed. I’m guessing it was Pixar’s decision not to submit the film for competition consideration, but one has to wonder what they stood to lose by trying. Given Cannes’ arthouse bent, nobody would have expected the film to win anything anyway, but a Palme d’Or nomination could have lent the film some impressive additional cache.

    (more…)

  • This made me laugh out loud

    The Force action figure

    (Courtesy: /Film)

  • Pixar’s ‘Up’ to open Cannes

    Old news now but I’m just resurfacing on the east coast.  From the press release:

    UP, the new animation film from the Disney•Pixar studios, produced under John Lasseter’s supervision, will be the Opening Ceremony film of the 62nd Festival de Cannes in Disney Digital 3-D on Wednesday May 13th, 2009…

    This is the first time that an animation film, in 3-D, will be the Opening Ceremony film at the Festival de Cannes.

    Animations distinguished by their participation in the Official Selection are, DUMBO (1947), THE FANTASTIC PLANET (1973), FRITZ THE CAT (1974), SHREK (2001), THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE (2003), SHREK 2 (2004), OVER THE HEDGE (2006), KUNG-FU PANDA (2008) and WALTZ WITH BASHIR (2008)

    UP will be released in the United States on Friday, May 29th and in France on July 29th.

  • Eastbound

    Off to NYC for an extended weekend. I expect Guy will check in with news and notes soon enough but I’ll be offline until late afternoon — unless Virgin America finally has those nifty on-board ethernet connections up and running this time.

  • POLL: What are you seeing this weekend?

    I figure it’s time for a new poll since everyone has spoken on “Watchmen” by now.  Since there’s an interestingly diverse slate of films set to open this weekend, I figured I’d ask the old stand-by: What are you going to see?

    I’m strangely looking forward to “Knowing,” more because of Alex Proyas than anything else (which, by the way, finally caught up with that “Dark City” director’s cut I wrote about earlier in the week — MUCH better experience than the theatrical version, I’d say).  Then again, “I Love You, Man” is frankly looking like the right antidote lately, while the reviews of “Duplicity” have piqued my interest in Tony Gilroy’s latest.

    There are also a couple of limited releases in play this weekend, most notably Steve McQueen’s “Hunger” (which you all know was one of my favorite films of last year when it played the festival circuit).  But maybe you’d rather see “Watchmen” again, or something else that’s still kicking around the marketplace.  Whatever the case, let us know in the sidebar poll and feel free to expand on your pick in the comments section below.  We’ll find out what the masses decided when Chad writes up the weekend’s box office Sunday.

  • ‘Chéri’ trailer … finally

    I wrote about this trailer after being surprised by it at the cinema almost two weeks ago. Now it’s finally appeared online, you can see for yourselves. I’m still a little uncertain of the brittle, faintly campy comic tone present here — Colette’s novella (which I’ll get into when our Page to Screen series begins) is a rather more delicate, melancholy animal. But it looks like a classy outing all round. We’ll see.

  • ‘A rollicking struggle, a joy to watch’

    Breathe, my fellow Almodovar devotees — the first reviews for “Broken Embraces” are in. While they’re not unqualified raves, it would appear that the master has pushed himself into new and challenging tonal and thematic territory, and the critics are duly appreciative.

    Screen International’s Barry Byrne suggests that it will delight fans and befuddle others, but isn’t that usually the case with auteur works as singular and stylised as Almodovar’s? Extracts from Byrne’s measured take on the film (beware of spoilers, however):

    The film is awash with references to the noir genre, Italian neo-realism and even to Almodóvar’s own quirky oeuvre. Stylistic nods to films including Nicholas Ray’s In a Lonely Place and Vincente Minnelli’s The Bad and the Beautiful form part of Almodovar’s valentine to cinema.

    Fans of Almodovar will get plenty of what they expect here – rich saturated colours, hyper plotting, stylistic pyrotechnics and off-centre comedy. But there are carefully nuanced male characters too and the bleak, distant tone coupled with the unassuaged pain of the leads is a new departure for the director.

    In the more successful first half of the film he elegantly pulls it off … (but) With the action moving ponderously towards a baffling denouement, we enter the terrain of high melodrama.

    (more…)

  • R.I.P. Natasha Richardson

    Natasha RichardsonAfter two days of conflicting reports, Time Out New York falling over itself to proclaim the actress dead, then brain dead, neither case properly verified, and general anxiety over her condition, Natasha Richardson has finally succumbed to the injuries she sustained during a tragic ski accident in Montreal Monday.  She was 45 years old.

    From the AP:

    Alan Nierob, the Los Angeles-based publicist for Richardson’s husband Liam Neeson, confirmed her death in a written statement.

    “Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha,” the statement said. “They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time.”

    Of course, the story behind the story continues to grow: media missteps in reporting.  Patrick Goldstein, in a piece titled “Natasha Richardson’s media ghouls get their comeuppance,” let the readers of Time Out New York do the talking for him, specifically citing an comment from a reader calling himself (or herself) “Ghost of Edward Murrow,” who had the following to say:

    Time Out’s credibility was declared brain dead today. The site suffered a horrific fall when rushing to get the scoop on the personal tragedy of a fine actress and her family, and according to anyone with a clue, will not recover.

    Anne Thompson, meanwhile, showed considerable irritation over the LA Times’ lack of web swiftness when she couldn’t find a link to John Horn’s obituary:

    A.P. knows how to handle stories like this. The LAT sent me a news alert. I followed the link which led me to the front page of the LAT and a breaking news banner: “A spokesman for Natasha Richardson’s family says she has died,” with no live links to any story, old or new. I did a search on the site for Natasha Richardson and got nothing at all on her accident. That is inexcusable. Their job is to service their readers with online breaking news.

    Frustrated, I googled “Natasha Richardson dead” and got what looked like A.P.’s old story but when I clicked on it, got the updated one. They were ready to go with the new news as soon as it arrived.

    She is, however, linking to the CBC story, not the AP story, but the lesson is writ large regardless: get the news in order, especially on something like this.  The culture of now, now, now (which I’ve already written about in other terms this week) will certainly be the death of journalistic credibility if behavior like this continues to rule the trade.

    Shocking that in all of this, TMZ seemed to have more accurate information throughout.

    But the news is the news, and a gifted actress has left us and a beautiful family behind.  My heart goes out to Richardson’s husband, Liam Neeson, her two young sons and her mother, Vanessa Redgrave.  Awful and unspeakable.

  • Ledger-directed music video set for release

    From the AP:

    A Modest Mouse music video directed by the late Heath Ledger is set for release this year.

    A spokeswoman for the band says Ledger directed an animated video for “King Rat,” a track off the band’s 2007 album, “We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank.”

    Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock collaborated with Ledger on the video’s concept, Lisa Markowitz says, adding that Brock “is supporting the completion of the video in honor of Heath’s last piece of work as a director.”

    The actor, who died last year at age 28, had previously directed a music video for one of Ben Harper’s songs.

  • Mickey Rourke will be at WrestleMania after all?

    Cover of The Wrestler DVDI knew this would happen.  Back in January and February, the buzz was that Mickey Rourke would be spring-boarding from his success in Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler” to the real squared circle at the WWE’s WrestleMania on April 5.  But some shrewd publicist told Rourke to can it and, indeed, the denials started flowing soon after.  Pete Hammond got Rourke to admit he was coerced away from the gig at the Santa Barbara Film Festival in February.  After all, who’s going to win an Oscar when you’re about to lace up the boots and get in the ring for real?

    Well, sadly, Rourke didn’t win the Oscar after all, but now Elizabeth Snead is reporting he’ll be at the big event after all.  And my guess is he was going to be a part of it all along but had to zip it up as he did the song and dance Oscar campaign stuff.  From The Dish Rag:

    Despite recent reports of award-winning “The Wrestler” actor Mickey Rourke focusing on his film career, he will definitely be in Houston at WrestleMania 25 on April 5.

    At least that’s what I was just told by a publicist for Wrestlemania.

    But will Mickey jump in the ring? Or will he be dragged in?

    One never knows.

    I might just order my first pro wrestling pay-per-view since Sting squared off with Hollywood Hogan at 1998’s Starcade!  Here’s a clip of Chris Jericho talking smack to Rourke on Larry King Live, which really kicked things into high gear on this story.  You can tell he wants to get out of that seat and rip Jericho’s face off, but little gold men were dancing in his head at the time:

    (By the way, what do you guys think of the “Wrestler” DVD cover art, pictured above? Some days I like it, some days I don’t.)

  • ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ poster

    Where the Wild Things Are

    (Courtesy Nick Magazine, via /Film)

  • The dawn of the journo Twitter apocalypse

    TwitterI was having lunch with a publicist recently who seemed to be totally confused at how Twitter was going to affect her job.  You know, someone sees a film, Twitters something about it off the cuff and suddenly there’s a conversation to be contained.

    My point of view is that there is nothing I can Tweet that I can’t go into my WordPress iPhone application and embellish a bit further and just as fast.  So the sudden boom of the Twitter culture seems like a big ole’ non-starter to me.  After all, speaking just for myself, I forget I have an account half the time.  And when it comes to work, like I said, I’d rather log in and post something here rather than offer up some quick line of “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” on another platform entirely.

    A friend recently wrote a piece for The Huffington Post on all this mess.  She stands by Twitter as a journalistic tool, but I can’t take that dive yet.  I think what we’re seeing is an industry struggling to stay hip, fresh and, above all, mobile.  So Twitter is just the flavor of the month (even though it’s been around forever).

    Then I saw Peter Sciretta over at /Film had put up a post called “Early Twitter Buzz: Observe and Report,” collecting the SXSW reactions to the film from folks like Film School Rejects’ Neil Miller, indieWIRE’s Matt Dentler and Cinematical’s James Rocchi, with some varied public reactions (I think) tossed in here and there.  Suddenly it seems my publicist friend’s nightmare might be a reality.

    Anyway, speaking of SXSW and “Observe and Report,” here’s part one of Anne Thompson’s interview with director Jody Hill (woo-hoo “Eastbound & Down!”) and actor Seth Rogen.  Head on over to Thompson on Hollywood for part two:

  • ‘Watchmen’ goodies in the wake of financial disaster

    Sure, “Watchmen” is currently doing a 90 degree nose-dive at the domestic box office, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some goodies across the Internets for the fans who want to soak in the early-March excitement for just a little longer.  So here are a few tid-bits.

    For instance, what if “Watchmen” were a Saturday morning cartoon series?

    And hey, LEGO seems to be bigger than ever lately. Well someone took the lead and created a custom set of “Watchmen” LEGO figures. (Anyone play the LEGO video games? Kinda fun.)

    Custom Watchmen LEGO figures

    And finally, you might remember that “Dark Knight” NES conceptualization from a few months back. I really wish whoever made it had taken the time to whip up some gameplay animation, but the folks at Liquid Generation have pieced together aspects of the original “Batman” NES game, “Kung Fu,” “Street Fighter” and some “Zelda” music to come up with this little ditty. Be warned, though. Since it’s basically a running gag on Manhattan’s big blue member, I would say it’s NSFW:

  • Tragic news

    ANOTHER UPDATE: Here’s the latest, from the AP:

    A person close to the family of Natasha Richardson says the actress has arrived in New York.

    Richardson, the wife of Liam Neeson, was critically injured Monday during a skiing accident at Montreal‘s famed Mont Tremblant resort. She was treated at Sacre-Coeur hospital Monday night and left for the United States Tuesday.

    The person, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, confirmed late Tuesday that Richardson was in New York. The person did not say if or where the actress was being treated.

    EARLIER: Thanks to Chad for pointing out that TMZ (I know) is reporting the following:

    The hospital tells TMZ Richardson is sedated and suffering from brain swelling — but, contrary to some reports, is not brain dead.

    Let’s hope she’s in a position to pull through.

    STILL EARLIER: I missed this when it happened yesterday, but my heart goes out to the family of actress Natasha Richardson (husband Liam Neeson and two young sons), who was involved in a terrible skiing accident yesterday in Montreal.  Today, Time Out New York is reporting this sobering news:

    Last night it was reported that the actor Natasha Richardson had critically injured her head in a skiing accident at the Mont Tremblant resort outside of Montreal, Canada. Although public reports have not yet confirmed it, sources close to Richardson’s family and friends say they have already been told the awful news: She will not survive the accident, and is currently brain dead.

    Sudden, shocking and awful.  What do you say to something like this?

  • Sam Mendes’s ‘Away We Go’

    I’m excited for Mendes to seem him going this way creatively.  And from “Revolutionary Road” to this, talk about an about face on the American romantic relationship: