In Contention

Blog

  • AFI list a blend of commercial and independent cinema

    Paramount Pictures' Iron ManThe American Film Institute has unveiled its schizophrenic list of the top 10 films of the year, and it’s a strangely delightful mixture of populist choices and more fringe contenders.

    The appearance of “Iron Man” is as interesting as “Wendy and Lucy” popping up, but I don’t think this collective will do much to help any of the films within.  Just another fun list of the year’s best.  (Speaking of which, be sure to tune in tomorrow for my own list of same.  Like how I turned that into a plug?)

    Not sure why “Slumdog Millionaire” was snubbed.  Is it considered an American production?  Anyway, here’s the list:

    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
    “The Dark Knight”
    “Frost/Nixon”
    “Frozen River”
    “Gran Torino”
    “Iron Man”
    “Milk”
    “WALL-E”
    “Wendy and Lucy”
    “The Wrestler”

  • ‘Slumdog,’ ‘WALL-E’ tie for top honors with Beantown critics

    Two ties from the Boston crowd, actually.  In big categories.  Have some balls.  Take a stand.  Anyway, Sally Hawkins gets yet another boost, while “Man on Wire” remains the only (boringly) undefeated contender so far.

    Here’s the list:

    Best Picture: (tie) “Slumdog Millionaire” and “WALL-E”
    Best Director: Gus Van Sant, “Milk,” “Paranoid Park”
    Best Actor: (tie) Sean Penn, “Milk” and Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”
    Best Actress: Sally Hawkins, “Happy-Go-Lucky”
    Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
    Best Supporting Actress: Penélope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
    Best Screenplay: “Milk”
    Best Cinematography: “Paranoid Park”
    Best Documentary: “Man on Wire”
    Best Foreign-Language Film: “Let the Right One In”
    Best Animatd Film: “WALL-E”
    Best Film Editing: “Slumdog Millionaire”
    Best New Filmmaker: Martin McDonough, “In Bruges”
    Best Ensemble Cast: “Tropic Thunder”

  • Day of rest

    And a little help today, please…

    Washington Redskins

  • TECH SUPPORT: Gleaning the guilds

    Tech Support at In ContentionIt’s been three weeks since the last “Tech Support” column. For that, my apologies. In the meantime, we’ve had Thanksgiving, the NBR, the LAFCA, the NYFCC, the BFCA and the Golden Globes to keep us entertained.

    The Screen Actors Guild is the first guild to announce its nominees and will do so next week. Between then and the date the Oscar nominations are announced, the various crafts guilds will also announce their nominees.

    The guilds have a knack of shaking up the race, even more so than the Globes. The guilds have crossover membership with the Academy, which is incredibly important in predicting AMPAS nominees. The American Cinematographers Society (ASC), the American Cinema Editors (ACE), the Art Directors Guild (ADG), the Costume Designers Guild (CDG) and the Cinema Audio Society (CAS) all have a tendency to accurately predict the eventual Oscar nominees –- and often, winners –- in their respective categories.

    So what to expect from these groups when they announce their nominees in January?

    The ASC has what is probably the best correlation of any guild-to-Oscar nominees. Every year, at least three, usually four, of its five nominees tend to be cited by AMPAS.  Last year, all five nominees were cited by both groups.  This year, I would expect Roger Deakins (a guild favorite) to be nominated for “Revolutionary Road.” The living legend of cinematographers lensed what seems to be a major player among this year’s contenders. Moreover, the work has his customized style and class.

    Claudio Miranda (“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”) and Anthony Dod Mantle (“Slumdog Millionaire”) also seem primed for citations from this guild and AMPAS. Though awards have not been common in their careers to date, both are working on films which are leading the Oscar race so far. Moreover, the cinematography on both films is incredibly showy and Mantle has already been awarded by the NYFCC for his efforts. Miranda may face difficulty come Oscar time due to the use of visual effects to brush up his work. But that tends to be less of a problem from the guilds.

    (more…)

  • Sean Penn on course for Oscar #2, and he deserves it

    Sean Penn in MilkWith two of the major critics awards won, actor Sean Penn seems to be headed for his second Academy Award for Best Actor for his brilliant work in “Milk.”

    Penn’s work through the 1980s and 1990s defined him as one of the greatest actors of his generation (if not the best) and certainly on the level with Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson and early Robert De Niro.  I find it incredible to see him today in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and try to connect that actor and character to anything he has done in his career. It gives a very clear example of his seemingly limitless range.

    His first Oscar nod came for “Dead Man Walking” in 1995, with only the Independent Spirit Awards giving him the grand prize.  All the others went with Nicolas Cage in “Leaving Las Vegas,” a great performance to be sure, but for my money Penn was stronger. Four years later he was something of a surprise nominee for “Sweet and Lowdown,” a fine piece of acting, but a kind of out-of-nowhere nomination, as was his third nod for “I Am Sam,” which I still struggle with watching; it represents the only time I can “see” Penn acting.

    “Mystic River” won him his first and only Oscar, and I stand by it as a stunning example of the craft.  I agree with The New York Times, which declared it one of the great acting performances of all time. Bill Murray was a popular choice that year for “Lost in Translation” and no argument, he would have been a most worthy winner.  But I am pleased Penn won. For me, he captured the anger and rage of the character, as well as the disappointment and hurt over something so precious as a daughter, now lost. There was shame in his eyes for not having protected her, and to make up for that in his mind, he avenges her.

    (more…)

  • 12/13 Oscarweb Round-up

    Michelle Williams in Wendy and Lucy• Rod Lurie wants to steer comparisons of “Nothing But the Truth” away from Judith Miller, evokes Susan McDougal. [Los Angeles Times]

    • The company behind releasing his film, meanwhile, goes into chapter 11. [Variety]

    • Is the Academy ready to award digital performances? [Variety]

    • Sasha Stone spotlights the seasons actor reunions. [Awards Daily]

    • 10 best Christmas bits from non-Christmas movies. [Cinema Blend]

    • Theater (er, theatre) chains across the pond plan to invest in digital technology to capitalize on upcoming releases from Steven Spielberg and James Cameron. [Daily Telegraph]

    • Iranians don’t seem to understand the correllation of the Ayatollah in Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler” to The Iron Shiek of 20 years ago. [Daily Telegraph]

    • Gaby Wood talks to “Revolutionary Road” helmer Sam Mendes. [The Guardian]

    • Clint Eastwood digs into his star and its purpose with Bruce Headlam. [New York Times]

    • Mark Olsen chats with Kelly Reichardt and Michelle Williams about “Wendy and Lucy.” [Los Angeles Times]

    • Kind of difficult not to take stabs at Fox lately. [The Big Picture]

    • Erica Abeel talks “I’ve Loved You So Long” with director Philippe Claudel. [indieWIRE]

    • A couple of talking points with John {atrick Shanley, Meryl Streep and Viola Davis on “Doubt.” [Newsweek]

  • “You’re so money and you don’t even know it.”

    Hugh Jackman in AustraliaTim Gray has put together a typical response piece to the Hugh Jackman emcee news over at Variety, but the real interesting bits are as follows:

    “[W]e are trying to turn a corner and to give the evening more of a nightclub-party feel — which it once had,” said the show’s producer Laurence Mark.

    And…

    “Hugh will entertain the audience throughout the show,” [Oscarcast executive producer Bill] Condon said. Jackman’s goal, as theirs, is “to keep the show hot throughout, to make it communal and great fun.”

    I always knew guys like Spacey, Clooney and Jackman made sense as an Oscar host, but I never could really put into words why.  But it’s starting to click.  Jackman and the rest, they are perfect “master of ceremonies” types, yes, but they’re also the kind of guys you can totally see as a soiree host with the most, bouncing around an intimate gathering and asking, “How’s the tuna tar-tar?”  Things like that.  Mark’s “nightclub” quote nails it and I have to say, it’s nice to see him and Condon taking this so seriously and with the height of class.

    Better and better…

    Meanwhile, Mary McNamara has a wandering Envelope piece up that reads like a “who should host” story that had to be rethought after the Jackman news hit.  Whether that’s true or not, I can’t be sure, but it’s a tally of stars to fill the hours on the show…I think.

  • In honor of our newly minted Oscar host

    Though I wish they’d “officially” release this thing already.  It’s attached to prints of “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” so feel free to sneak in and half a look before ducking out of that atrocity.  Personally, I think it kicks ass, but I’m as aware of this troubled production as the next guy, so here’s hoping:

  • ‘Che’ — no respect in the precursor circuit so far

    Benicio Del Toro in Che“Nothing if not the movie of the year,” wrote Scott Foundas in LA Weekly.

    “One of the best films of the year,” declared Roger Ebert.

    “A great movie,” says J. Hoberman of the Village Voice.  “Che is a thing to be experienced.”

    “The film that places Steven Soderbergh in the ranks of the masters,” raved Amy Taubin at Film Comment.

    “An experience you won’t forget,” said Peter Travers of Rolling Stone.  “Benicio Del Toro gives a magnificent performance. No one who cares about organic film acting will want to miss it. He keeps you riveted.”

    And finally, “Del Toro gives a soulful and charismatic performance,” according to A.O. Scott of The New York Times.

    So, with all this critical approval, why is Soderbergh’s film “Che” not being appropriately considered among the year end critics awards, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and, therefore, not being discussed as a favored Oscar contender?  Here is a magnificent achievement from a world class filmmaker that breaks down the conventions of mainstream cinema (which he knows all too well) and challenges the audiences with its deliberate pacing and involving character study.  Unhurried, Soderbergh is telling a story in great detail with perhaps the greatest detail being an astounding performance from Del Toro.

    I have long championed this film since seeing the four-and-a-half-hour cut at this year’s Toronto fest.  But here in December, I find myself struggling to understand why such a masterful film is not a part of the discussion, and moreover, why critics on each coast did not take the opportunity to put it in the conversation with their annual awards announcements.

    I am incensed that Soderbergh, already an Oscar-winning director, is not being mentioned as a potential nominee again for this singular achievement. It’s certainly not mainstream cinema on any level, and it takes a great investment from the viewer of course, but once the film began, I found myself pulled in by the superb performances and cinematography.  As did a number of esteemed critics.  So what gives?

    Surely SAG and the DGA will come forward and recognize this work for what it is?  “Che” was stronger than at least half the Golden Globe nominees. Soderbergh created a masterpiece and so few perople actually know about it.  It’s shameful.

  • 12/13 Oscarweb Round-up

    Taraji P. Henson• How many Oscar Best Picture winners can you name in five minutes? [Jet Punk]

    • David Poland responds to “Gran Torino” raves with another slap in the face for Clint Eastwood and his film. [The Hot Blog]

    • Jeff Wells is a fan of “Good,” lost in the Oscar shuffle this year. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • Yours truly talks Globe nods and more with John Campea, podcast style. [The Movie Blog]

    • “The Dark Knight” tops Steven King’s list of the year’s best. [Entertainment Weekly]

    • Tom Cruise might be reprising his Golden Globe-nominated turn as Les Grossman. [E! Online]

    • Patrick Goldstein talks to Oscar telecast producer Larry Mark about the Jackman emcee pick. [The Big Picture]

    • A brief back-and-forth with “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” star Taraji P. Henson. [Vulture]

    • Yours truly profiles the actress. [Variety]

    • David Carr makes some humorous observations about a few of the season’s movie posters. [The Carpetbagger]

  • WEEKLY WRAP: Jackman hosting, Globes puzzling, Hawkins rising

    • After months of speculating, we finally have an Oscar host … and his name is Hugh Jackman. Bouquets all round.

    • Obviously, the Golden Globe nominations were the week’s biggest news. They offered their usual dose of wacky surprises — principally the near shut-out of “Milk.”

    • Sticking with the Globes, we got some of the nominees’ reactions here, before offering a subjective take on the rights and wrongs of this year’s slate.

    • Elsewhere in the precursors, the Los Angeles Film Critics threw up the most unexpected — and contentious — pick of the awards race so far, handing their top prize to “WALL-E.”

    • Their New York counterparts played it safer, giving Best Picture to “Milk,” but they had their own surprise package in the shape of “Happy-Go-Lucky.”

    • Meanwhile, the latter film’s star, Sally Hawkins, emerged as a genuine threat in the Best Actress race, taking awards from both groups. We interviewed her here.

    • The Broadcast Film Critics announced their nominations — which were more interesting for what they left out (“Revolutionary Road” in particular) than what they kept in.

    • In a rare mea culpa from the Academy’s music branch, the disqualification of “The Dark Knight”‘s score was thankfully reversed.

    • We chatted to the man who has so far enjoyed the smoothest ride through awards season: “Man on Wire” helmer James Marsh.

    • As the prospect of an acting victory for Clint Eastwood hovers in the background, this week’s edition of The Lists examines which noteworthy actors have won for less notheworthy work.

  • 15 films vie for visual effects recognition

    The Dark KnightA little late to the party on this.  Been out, so, apologies.  But it looks like AMPAS has narrowed the Best Visual Effects field to 15 contenders, as follows:

    “Australia”
    “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian”
    “Cloverfield”
    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
    “The Dark Knight”
    “The Day the Earth Stood Still”
    “Hancock”
    “Hellboy II: The Golden Army”
    “The Incredible Hulk”
    “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”
    “Iron Man”
    “Journey to the Center of the Earth”
    “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”
    “Quantum of Solace”
    “The Spiderwick Chronicles”

    I’ve always had the itching feeling that “The Spiderwick Chronicles” could surprise in this category, but that could be the same feeling that told me the same thing about “I Am Legend” and “The WaterHorse.”  Anyway, after seeing “The Day the Earth Stood Still” Thursday night, I’m inclined to take it off my predicted three (where it’s been for a few months now).  There wasn’t anything particularly popping about it, and really, all the effects are ultimately in the trailer.  I thought there’d be more.

    So with that, I still think “Iron Man” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (your winner, ladies and gentlemen) are secure.  Then I’d say it’s a free-for-all.  Love for “The Dark Knight,” despite a reliance of practical effects, could spread to this field.  Though after checking out the DVD’s special features, I see there’s more CGI going on than I thought.  Interesting to see “Cloverfield” on here, and really, I wouldn’t be shocked.  “Hancock” is still a possibility, but come on.  Most of those effects were kind of cheesy.  Maybe.

    Any of the summer films — “Prince Caspian,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Hellboy II” — could pop up here, but I might lean toward the Bat at the end of the day.  We need to here from the Visual Effects Society to get a better idea.

  • Lots happening next week

    If you can believe it, we’re almost at the end of the 2008 film ride.  I feel like this one went by pretty fast, but hten again, I was out of the country for the summer, so maybe that affected something.  Regardless, the week before Christmas is my perennial showcase of the year’s best offerings, for the scattered few who care about such trivialities.

    So here’s a heads up.  Monday, December 15, I’ll offer up my “best of the year” column, with extended thoughts on the season that was and a full list of the top 10 films of the year.  Traditionally I follow that up with a personal Oscar ballot on Wednesday, so that will land on 12/17, and then Friday, 12/19, the year in superlatives.  Awards for best this, best that and everything in between.

    We have a slew of contributors this year, of course, but mind you, these columns will be reflective of my own opinion.  If the rest of the guys want to take a crack at it, I’m sure they will in this space.

    And one more quick note.  Some of you might remember my “top 10 shots of the year” post from last year (brought over to the new site here).  I’ll be doing that again this year and I’m already hard at work on it, gathering the material, putting the interviews in place, etc.  I’m hoping to run that piece sometime during the first week of January.  I’m aiming for, oh, let’s call it Tuesday, January 6.  Always helps to give myself a deadline.

    So mark your calendars.  Lots happening over the next few weeks here at In Contention (if a slew of precursor announcements wasn’t enough).

  • INTERVIEW: ‘Man on Wire’ director James Marsh

    James MarshIt’s a rare achievement, but through the ups and downs the last fortnight’s precursors, one film has failed to miss a beat, landing gongs from the New York, Los Angeles and Washington critics, as well as the NBR and the British Independents, not to mention Indie Spirit and BFCA nominations.

    That film would be “Man On Wire,” James Marsh’s crisp, witty and ultimately very moving documentary about Philippe Petit, the charismatic French performance artist who in 1974 committed the so-called “artistic crime of the century” — an illegal tightrope walk between the Twin Towers of the New York’s World Trade Center. Despite being what some might have seen as a niche project, it has emerged as one of the most acclaimed films (a Metacritic score of 89 speaks for itself), not to mention one of the top-grossing documentaries, of the year.

    Marsh, for one, admits to being a bit taken aback to his film’s dizzying trajectory. “It‘s both a thrill and a surprise,” he tells me on the phone, taking a breather from the deadline-driven editing of his new film. “It’s a great, hopeful story, but there’s such a tragic connotation to those buildings now that I wasn’t sure how audiences would respond to it.”

    By avoiding any 9/11 discussion in the film, however, Marsh was keen to keep the focus on themes of art and ambition, and he believes this is what so many viewers have connected with in the material. “It’s a fairytale, really,” he elaborates. “A real, true movie premise about achieving the impossible. Philippe is an adventurer, a superhero made flesh and blood. I love that what he did was in a way kind of pointless — it’s beauty for its own sake. And I love that audiences appreciate that.”

    (more…)

  • Hugh Jackman named Oscar host

    The news is out — the Australian thesp and “Sexiest Man Alive” will host February’s 81st Academy Awards.

    And why not? He’s charismatic, well-liked by all, a bona fide movie star and a genuine showman who has proved his mettle at this short of thing before by hosting the Tony Awards (and winning an Emmy for his pains).

    I’ve always said the Oscar host doesn’t necessarily need to be a comedian — it needs to be someone urbane, witty and relatable, who can deliver good material and keep things running at a fair clip. I have no doubt that Jackman can pull that off, and the fact that he’s an able song-and-dance man will no doubt come in handy.

    Meanwhile, add the fact that more young viewers actually know who he is, and that more female viewers (hell, more male viewers too) will probably tune in for the eye candy, and this fits neatly with the strategy to boost telecast ratings. But it’s no dumbing-down move either: Jackman is an old-fashioned Hollywood star who should keep the traditionalists happy.

    I’ve always thought George Clooney would be the ideal choice, while Kris imaginatively plumped for Kevin Spacey a while back, but the choice of Jackman is a clear move in a similar direction. Good call, Bill Condon.

  • “Of course I like you. It’s because I like you I don’t want to be with you. It’s a complicated emotion.”

  • Funny ha ha

    James Franco in Pineapple Express

    While James Franco was brooding and winning a Golden Globe for the TV telepic “James Dean” and fighting superheroes in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man franchise, the actor says he longed for the escape of a comedy.

    Soon enough, producer Judd Apatow approached Franco to star alongside Seth Rogen in David Gordon Green’s “Pineapple Express.” After years of playing ultra serious characters, the actor had finally found an opportunity to let his hair down.

    “I didn’t get offered a ton of comedies, and the ones I did get offered were more like romantic comedies. That wasn’t really my thing,” Franco says from San Francisco, just before the world premiere of Gus Van Sant’s “Milk.” “So when Judd said he wanted to do something together, it was kind of a relief.”

    From a 11/21 Variety story by yours truly concerning actors moving between dramas and comedies this year.  I’m still stoked at Franco’s Golden Globe nomination yesterday for Gordon’s film.

  • Performance of the decade?

    More good news for Kristin Scott Thomas after rebounding yesterday with a Golden Globe nomination — in his 2008 wrap-up, Richard Roeper names her stunning turn in “I’ve Loved You So Long” the performance of the year. (The film, meanwhile, cracks his Top 5.) In fact, he goes even further than that:

    The acting turn that resonated most memorably with me in 2008 was Kristin Scott Thomas’ performance in “I’ve Loved You So Long.” That the British native is starring in a French film is no trick; Ms. Scott Thomas is fluent and is utterly comfortable with the language. As the beautiful, 45-ish Juliette, recently released from prison after serving 15 years for a horrific crime, Scott Thomas creates a fascinating portrayal of a woman who is neither martyr nor monster. She did what she did, and we’re not sure why until the very end of the film — and then we understand, and we ache for everyone involved in this tragedy. Whether she’s eyeing a man in a bar — after all, it’s been 15 years — bonding with her sister’s children, gingerly exploring the possibility of a romance or exploding with sorrow and anger as she finally reveals the circumstances of her crime, Scott Thomas is profoundly effective. I’m not sure I’ve seen a better performance in any film this decade.

    Wow… strong words. I’m not sure how deeply Roeper thought through that last statement, but I’m thrilled to see the thesp getting such rich praise. This is a film and performance with a very passionate band of select supporters, and I suspect that might be the case in the Academy’s actors’ branch too. Hard-working “actors’ actors” like Scott Thomas (or Richard Jenkins, or Melissa Leo) frequently stand a stronger chance in peer-voted awards.