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  • Sam Mendes: he didn’t f#$% it up

    Sam Mendes on the set of Revolutionary RoadIn light of John’s recent praise piece on “Revolutionary Road,” I thought it a good time to shine a light over on indieWIRE and Peter Knegt’s recent interview with director Sam Mendes. Here are a few power quotes from the helmer:

    The most common comment from friends of mine who had read the book was, ‘don’t fuck it up.’ That was basically all they said, ‘don’t fuck it up.’ And the biggest compliment I get now is, ‘thank fuck you didn’t fuck it up.’ That’s all I get! Thank god I didn’t fuck it up.

    Retrospectively, it seems to be the beginning of a sort of genre of suburban literature that went into John Updike, Tobias Wolff, Rick Moody with ‘The Ice Storm’ and Tom Perrotta who wrote ‘Little Children. Yates is the granddaddy of all of that. Looking back, he sort of began that whole movement.

    It’s a sad film. It’s a tragedy. If a tragedy works, like ‘On The Waterfront’ for example… You leave it exhilarated. You don’t leave it depressed. You’re glad to be alive. You know, it’s a cautionary tale. And it was the same thing working on it. You’re plumbing the depths but you’re aware at all times how lucky you are not to have to go there in your real life.

    Read the rest here.

  • ‘Revolutionary Road’ — snubbed today, sure to be remembered forever

    Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio in Revolutionary RoadOne of the biggest surprises of the awards season for me is the fact that “Revolutionary Road” is being all but forgotten by many critics groups and has certainly slipped off the Oscar radar as a result. Is the film deserving?  Absolutley.  I think it is one of the best films of the year and among the finest I have seen this decade, but for whatever reason — and who can explain these things — it has not gotten a great deal of press.

    This is a major accomplishment, a work of art superbly directed by Sam Mendes who in eight years has become one of the most exciting directors in modern cinema. Though I count myself among those who though his breakthrough film “American Beauty” was very good but also radically over-praised, his follow-up, “Road to Perdition,” was superb and should have been among the nominees for Best Picture and Best Director in 2002, vastly superior to “Chicago.”

    His third film, “Jarhead,”  was darkly beautiful to look at but didn’t quite work with audiences who are still not interested in films about Afghanistan or Iraq (whichever installment).  Mendes possesses a gift with actors, one of those directors like Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese and more recently, Paul Thomas Anderson.  He’s able to bring out their best work.  It seems no surprise he married an actress.

    He is also patient with a narrative, allowing it to unfold with the knowledge the audience connects with the actors.  With “Revolutionary Road,” he has cranked out a crowning achievement in a career just getting started, and yet like so many other masterworks, it may slip through the cracks, barely noticed.

    (more…)

  • Ideas for a poll?

    That well has run dry for me lately.  Anyone intersted in what the readership might have to say about this or that?

  • 12/23 Oscarweb Round-up

    Jim Carrey• Julian Sancton samples and gives some commentary on his top 11 film scores of the year. [Vanity Fair]

    • David Poland spends 30 minutes with “Nerakhoon” director Ellen Kuras. [The Hot Blog]

    • Tom O’Neil and Dave Karger fight over the Best Actress frontrunners. [Gold Derby]

    • Karger, meanwhile, spends some more time with the cast of “Doubt.” [Entertainment Weekly]

    • David Carr’s “Marley and Me” mea culpa. [The Carpetbagger]

    • Kim Voynar goes deep this holiday season with a look at sex with teenagers on the big screen, and she has a hell of a point. [Movie City News]

    • Patrick Goldstein spotlight’s the year’s worst. [The Big Picture]

    • A trio of films go into production depicting the epic Battle of Hastings. [Daily Telegraph]

    • Paralleling the careers of big screen heartthrobs Tom Cruise and Leonardo DiCaprio. [MSNBC]

    • Michael Cieply digs into the clash of movie moneymakers Jom Carrey and Will Smith this weekend. [New York Times]

    • Brad Brevet lists the top 10 assassination movies with an inspired #1 and a #6 that has no business on any top 10 list. [Rope of Silicon]

    • Speaking of lists, how about the top 10 balliest singing performances? [Premiere]

    • Andrew O’Hehir on how indie film thrived in 2008. [Beyond the Multiplex]

  • How many films can you find?

    This faux “Thundercats” trailer landed in my inbox early this morning, but I’ve been tied up with a last minute rush of Christmas shopping.  You’ve probably seen it in multiple outlets by now, but how many fi,ms can you name in the mix?

  • OFF THE CARPET: A season less ordinary…or is it?

    (from left) Michael Caine, Heath Ledger and Christian Bale in The Dark KnightThe critics have nearly concluded their annual kudos dish.  The first guild has spoken, giving us some sliver of insight into what Academy members might think of the 2008-2009 Oscar season.  With such a thin crop of contenders, the tome has been “broad, but shallow, playing field,” leaving the opportunity for multiple films to find their champions and even the least AMPAS-friendly of products to find room at the table.

    So as we inch toward year’s end, what have we learned?  When it comes to the usual blend, the Academy will find a way.

    A scenario has been kicking around inside my head for some time that, like one concerned reader in another post, scares me to death.  It is pretty much a done deal for “Slumdog Millionaire” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” two refreshingly different films where AMPAS tastes are concerned, but paradoxically boring with the knowledge that there is passion elsewhere, seemingly too intimidated to rear its head.

    “Frost/Nixon” and “Milk” are assured after that, it seems, two films cut from the AMPAS cloth from a director who knows that cloth well and one who only finds Academy acceptance when he goes there, respectively.  After that, “the knowledge” has become the truly exciting spark of the season: can a populist film such as “The Dark Knight” or “WALL-E” find the right base of passion to push through for a Best Picture nomination?

    I fear we may have all gotten carried away with ourselves and our love of these films, whether you fall on one side or both, because we’re ignoring AMPAS tendency at our own peril.

    (more…)

  • ‘Slumdog’ dominates the critics awards circuit

    (from left) Freida Pinto and Dev Patel in Slumdog MillionaireIt looks like the critics groups are slowly winding down this season, the annual influx finally settling in for a post-glut nap.  I believe the only organizations left to announce are the Kansas City, Vancouver and Central Ohio crowds, as well as the National Society of Film Critics, all of whom should reveal their winners in the new year.

    With that in mind, I’ve gone ahead and compiled a list of links to the various groups to announce so far and their lists of winners and/or nominees.  In some cases, there are still only nominees (like the BFCA and HFPA), with awards shows still to come.  But for the most part, I think we’ve got a clear consensus winner from the critics this season: Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire,” with a striking 10 wins to its credit so far.  I think it’s safe to say the London critics will hand the film their Best British Film of the Year award, bringing the tally to 11, and frankly, I feel like it’s signed, sealed and delivered from the BFCA.  So if we feel safe assuming, we’re talking 12 big wins all told before the final four groups chime in at the top of 2009.

    Of course, it’s not the consensus we had last year or in 2005, but it’s a pretty clear indication that the year’s critical champ is Boyle’s explosive and dynamic endeavor.  Does this put it on a course for an Oscar?  Maybe.  But we still have a long way to go.

    So far there are seven films with the designation “best of the year,” some in the way of ties.  Those films are “Slumdog,” of course, then “The Dark Knight” (3), “Milk” (3), “WALL-E” (3), “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (2), “Frost/Nixon” (1), “Happy-Go-Lucky” (1) and “Wendy and Lucy” (1).  Nothing so far for Best Picture hopefuls “Doubt” or “Revolutionary Road.”

    I’ll revisit this post in a few weeks with the grand total.  But for now, the critics awards so far, with links to our own coverage where applicable:

    African American Film Critics Association — “The Dark Knight”
    Alliance of Women Film Journalists     — “Slumdog Millionaire”
    Austin Film Critics Association — “The Dark Knight”
    Boston Society of Film Critics (IC coverage) — “Slumdog Millionaire,” “WALL-E”
    Broadcast Film Critics Association (IC coverage) — winners announced Jan. 8
    Chicago Film Critics Association (nominees, winners) — “WALL-E”
    Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association — “Slumdog Millionaire”
    Detroit Film Critics Society (IC coverage: nominees, winners) — “Slumdog Millionaire”
    Florida Film Critics Circle — “Slumdog Millionaire”
    Houston Film Critics Society — “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
    Hollywood Foreign Press Association (IC coverage) — winners announced Jan. 11
    International Press Academy (IC coverage: nominees, winners) — “Slumdog Millionaire,” “Happy-Go-Lucky”
    Las Vegas Film Critics Society — “Frost/Nixon”
    London Film Critics Circle (IC coverage) — winners announced Feb. 4
    Los Angeles Film Critics Association (IC coverage) — “WALL-E”
    New York Film Critics Circle (IC coverage) — “Milk”
    New York Film Critics Online — “Slumdog Millionaire”
    Phoenix Film Critics Society — “Slumdog Millionaire”
    San Diego Film Critics Society (IC coverage) — “Slumdog Millionaire”
    San Francisco Film Critics Circle (IC coverage) — “Milk”
    Southeastern Film Critics Association — “Milk”
    St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association — “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
    Toronto Film Critics Association (IC coverage) — “Wendy and Lucy”
    Utah Film Critics Association — “The Dark Knight”
    Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association — “Slumdog Millionaire”

  • Dickens for today… ‘Slumdog’ meets the zeitgeist

    (from left) Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and Ayush Mahesh Khedekar in Slumdog MillionaireNew York Times op-ed columnist Frank Rich has turned his focus toward Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire” in a recent column detailing capitalistic corruption in America today and the hopelessness it breeds.  This is the kind of thing Best Picture winners tap into, folks

    Here are the opening graphs and the closer::

    During the Great Depression, American moviegoers seeking escape could ogle platoons of glamorous chorus girls in “Gold Diggers of 1933.” Our feel-good movie of the year is “Slumdog Millionaire,” a Dickensian tale in which we root for an impoverished orphan from Mumbai’s slums to hit the jackpot on the Indian edition of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.”

    It’s a virtuoso feast of filmmaking by Danny Boyle, but it’s also the perfect fairy tale for our hard times. The hero labors as a serf in the toilet of globalization: one of those mammoth call centers Westerners reach when ringing an 800 number to, say, check on credit card debt. When he gets his unlikely crack at instant wealth, the whole system is stacked against him, including the corrupt back office of a slick game show too good to be true.

    We cheer the young man on screen even if we’ve lost the hope to root for ourselves. The vicarious victory of a third world protagonist must be this year’s stocking stuffer. The trouble with “Slumdog Millionaire” is that it, like all classic movie fables, comes to an end — as it happens, with an elaborately choreographed Bollywood musical number redolent of “Gold Diggers of 1933.” Then we are delivered back to the inescapable and chilling reality outside the theater’s doors…

    We’ll keep believing, not without reason, that the whole game is as corrupt as the game show in “Slumdog Millionaire” — only without the Hollywood/Bollywood ending. We’ll keep wondering how so many at the top keep avoiding responsibility and reaping taxpayers’ billions while relief for those at the bottom remains as elusive as straight answers from those Mumbai call centers fielding American debtors.

    Check out the rest here.

  • Just because I don’t get it, doesn’t mean it’s not good

    Citizen KaneKris is taking some heat in some quarters for his comments on “WALL-E,” and while he has never said it was a bad film, he didn’t fall over himself seeking superlatives for it either.  In fact, the movie did not do much for Kris, which is an unpopular sentiment, given the critics awards and rave reviews for the film.

    Why is this not okay with some people?  Similarly, why is not okay to say that one does not feel “Citizen Kane” is the greatest film of all time? I don’t think it is and you have no idea the heat I take for that. Kris made a bold decision, one he believed in, one he felt was right, one that was honest.

    When will people realize that at the end of the day we are all critics with an opinion, but some of us are fortunate enough to do it for a living?  Does that set us apart?  Not really.

    Watching a film is connected to the oldest of rituals, similar to the ancient Greeks filing in to see a play and watching with rapt attention the players on stage. They then left the play and discussed it, just as we do today with cinema. Maybe we like the film, maybe we don’t…it is all opinion-based and at the end of the day, no one is really wrong.

    (more…)

  • 12/22 Oscarweb Round-up

    Marisa Tomei• The “Seven Pounds” dogpile continues. [/Film]

    • Ditto Baz Luhrmann and “Australia.” [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • Regarding Luhrmann, Peter Bart warns the director away from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gasby.” [Peter Bart]

    • David Gritten talks to Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy about critics’ favorite “Slumdog Millionaire.” [Daily Telegraph]

    • Donna Freydkin spends some time with Marisa Tomei, makes this site’s editor insanely jealous. [USA Today]

    • Reed Tucker looks into Brad Pitt’s love affair…with David Fincher. [New York Post]

    • Mark Olsen spends some time with the Laurent Cantet regarding French Oscar entrant “The Class.” [Los Angeles Times]

    • On the “disturbing tendency” to portray Nazis in a sympathetic light on the big screen as of late. [The Times]

  • Destined to do this forever

    Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight

  • “Agonized and beautiful”

    At the risk of sounding stoned on hope, I offer the following heresy: The movies are fine. Sometimes they’re great; occasionally they’re magnificent.

    The twelfth-graph opener in Manohla Dargis’s recent year-end wrap-up.  The sentiment would be a nice reference to Charlie Kaufman’s “Synecdoche, New York,” which Dargis calls “a grievously underloved film about life and death and every agonized and beautiful thing in between.”  Curiously, she’s the only critic in the New York Times triumverate who found a place for the film on her list.

  • Coulda been a countenda

    It’s on AMC, so I figured I’d go hunting down that original teaser for Michael Bay’s “Pearl Harbor,” featuring excerpts from Hans Zimmer’s “The Thin Red Line” score.  Remember when this was one of the coolest trailers ever?  Then the movie…dear lord, the movie.  I should really change the channel.  Anyway…

  • Robot dissension

    WALL-E

    [T]he film actually makes some pretty problematic political arguments…the point of discussion and debate is not all adulation and praise: there are real ethical talks worth having over this film, and if there wasn’t room for any dissenting opinions, I would say it failed. So, no kids gloves: it can play with the big kids, so let it.

    The whole conceit of Wall-E’s second half is fat-bashing at its most pernicious and damaging. The robots are terrific, the Axiom is despicable. This is not a film I would want to see nominated for Best Picture. Just compare it to Milk, which unmasks prejudice rather than encouraging it.

    Apathy is constructed here as a refusal to cultivate the body properly. And there is an ethical imperative in any suggestion of what is and is not a proper use of the body. My concern is: what does this insistence that the body can and thus ought to be beaten into shape, and that everyone really ought to do real physical work rather than just floating around, say to people who cannot beat their bodies into shape and cannot do normal work?

    A trio of smart, against-the-grain “WALL-E” reactions from Awards Daily posters in the face of blind and offensive support for the film from commenters who have little to offer beyond quips like “you are too stupid to live” and “[I]t seriously pisses me off when I’m walking through a hallway, or down an escalator and I can’t get through because of a fat piece of shit.”  (To be fair, there are some level-headed counter assessments, but they get drowned out, sadly, by this vitriol.)

  • Brad Pitt on Larry King

    Brad Pitt went on Larry King Live recently to talk “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”  I’m just now getting around to it.  Have a look:

  • Mick Foley has a nice day with ‘The Wrestler’

    Mick FoleyI think there are few who would disagree that the audience to sell for Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler” was a guy like Mick Foley — a.k.a. “Mankind,” “Dude Love,” and “Cactus Jack” — a cross-federation staple of the professional wrestling world who’s lived through his fair share of ladder matches, barbed-wire-inflicted line-of-duty injuries and, certainly, knows the difficulties of raising a family in tandem with such a dangerous career.

    It looks like Aronofsky and company had him at “hello.”  Writing recently in Slate, Foley had the following say in the way of praise for the film:

    The chances of seeing a great pro-wrestling movie seemed right up there with the likelihood of a Mickey Rourke career renaissance. You can see why I was pessimistic about Darren Aronofsky’s wrestling project. I received an inquiry early on about serving as a consultant but cited the need to “spend time with my family” as a reason to refrain. If I felt like having my name attached to a failure, I figured, I’d write another novel. Casting Rourke in the lead seemed like a mistake. Sure, he had been in some good films a few election cycles ago, and I’ll admit to stealing his popcorn-box trick from Diner back in ’82. But he seemed unlikely to deliver the portrait of a wrestler I wanted…

    I was hooked within a minute. Within five, I had completely forgotten I was looking at Mickey Rourke. That guy on the screen simply was Randy “the Ram” Robinson, a ’80s mat icon on a two-decade-long losing streak in the game of life, searching for a way, any way, to fan the dying embers of his career…

    I found great authenticity in so many aspects of Randy’s battered psyche. His constant need for acceptance—from his estranged daughter; from his possible love interest, a stripper played by Marisa Tomei (who is wonderful, if a bit shocking for any guy who ever had a crush on her in My Cousin Vinny); from a random collection of customers at the deli counter where he works; from his dwindling number of nostalgic wrestling fans—is a theme that many a wrestler will grudgingly admit to connecting with.

    It’s a hell of a read.  Check out the rest here.

  • Jeff Goldblum is drunk

    Well, not really.  It’s just a slowed-down Mac commercial, but it cracked me up.  And apparently there’s more.  Check it out:

    (Courtesy: Cinematical)

  • 12/21 Oscarweb Round-up

    Kåre Hedebrant in Let the Right One In• Jeff Wells is still peeved at the critical snubs of “Revolutionary Road,” aside from a few exceptions. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • Tom O’Neil and Michael Musto debate the likely Best Picture victor. [Gold Derby]

    • Another un-bylined Calendar piece.  What gives?  Anyway, David Fincher is talking to somebody about “The Curious case of Benjamin Button.” [Los Angeles Times]

    • Alonso Duralde spotlights the year’s best, sans Oscar bait. [MSNBC]

    • John Hiscock chats with “Rachel Getting Married” star Debra Winger.  Anyone wondering, half-way through the season, why anyone was crazy enough to think she had an Oscar play? [Daily Telegraph]

    • Jenni Miller digs into the role of a stripper with critical kudos champ Marisa Tomei. [Premiere]

    • Bryan Appleyard talks “The Reader” with director Stephen Daldry. [The Times]

    • “Let the Right One In” tops David Ansen’s list of the year’s best.  Nice.  Beware a cop-out tie at #10, though. [Newsweek]