In Contention

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  • Harvey likes white

    (clockwise from top left) The Weinstein Company\'s Breaking and Entering, Bobby, The Reader and Vicky Cristina Barcelona

  • Globes rule ‘Rachel,’ ‘W.’ are dramas

    For those of you puzzling over whether certain titles will fall into the drama or musical/comedy categories at the Golden Globes, Tom O’Neil has a handy list to clarify matters.

    Most significantly, “W.” has not been accepted by the HFPA as a comedy, despite the film being submitted as one. This isn’t exactly new information — Dave Karger confirmed the film’s status a couple of weeks ago — but I know some were confused since the film was nominated in the comedic fields at the Golden Satellite Awards. It’s the right call, in my opinion: witty as the film was in some isolated instances, it wasn’t remotely a comedy.

    “Rachel Getting Married” will compete in the dramatic fields, too — again the correct classification, I think. Anne Hathaway will now have to face feisty competition even to get nominated in the Best Actress in a Drama race. Meanwhile, bar an upset by Meryl Streep, Sally Hawkins looks to have a clear run to victory in the comedy/musical category for “Happy-Go-Lucky.”

    Looking down the list of films eligible for comedy/musical consideration, it becomes difficult to spot the potential winners between the gruesome parade of dross such as “Disaster Movie,” “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” and “The Love Guru.” (Seriously, why do they bother entering?) At a guess, I’d say it’ll come down to “Burn After Reading,” “Cadillac Records,” “Happy-Go-Lucky,” “Mamma Mia!” and “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” with Woody Allen looking a good bet to claim his first Best Picture gong in a couple of decades.

    Suffice to say this category doesn’t look likely to have much impact on Oscar’s Best Picture slate this year.

  • Column? We don’t need no stinking column.

    Turns out I don’t have the time to dig into a full column this week like I had hoped.  I’ll have to get into my thoughts on “Gran Torino” and “Seven Pounds” another time, but I do feel the need to note one thing in this week’s charts: “The Dark Knight” leaping into the Best Picture fray.

    I still don’t feel completely comfortable with this.  It was a coin flip on whether to take “Frost/Nixon” or “Revolutionary Road” out of the mix.  Meanwhile, no one seems to be hearing passionate murmurs from the Academy on the Caped Crusader.  So maybe I look like I’m pulling my punches here, but with the consistency of disappointment this year, I just feel like the door is opening for something that strays this much from AMPAS tradition to find its way in.

    That said, there are things at work here that should be taken into account.  Like the international stake Warner Bros. has in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” for instance, owning every territory but North America.  The studio is even taking out some of the Oscar ads you’re seeing for the film.  So perhaps chips are being rationed toward a film like “Button” that will need the box office boost of awards season rather than a film like “The Dark Knight,” which has made more than its fair share of dollars.

    This is all fodder for another column at another time.  But for now, I can’t dive in appropriately.  So I’ll just leave you with the charts.  This time next week I’ll have seen the full slate of contenders and the National Board of Review will have come and gone.  Then it’s LAFCA, NYFCC and onward into the season.  Slowly, it will unfold.

    Main Category Charts
    Technical Category Charts
    The Contenders
    Oscar Prediction Archives

  • Grassroots ‘Dark Knight’ campaign

    Heath Ledger in The Dark KnightOne of the true joys for me this season has been watching Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” take on so much relevance and achieve such a higher state of purpose than a piece of entertainment.  Leaving awards aside for the moment, to see this character I’ve loved for so many years finally reach a sort of pinnacle, it is both beautiful and a bit of testimony, testimony to the potential a “throw-away” genre such as this holds, potential recognized in the geek culture for decades, making its way to the surface of traditional media through dedicated and restless souls in recent times…finally.

    This grassroots campaign for the film gets all of that and more.  The site, DarkCampaign.com, sports a sleek design that invites the casual Internet reader to dive back in and remember that this is still one of the most powerful films of the year.  The site features a five-minute video (embedded below), splashing many of the critical huzzahs across the canvas of the film.  These guys must have gotten hold of a guild screener or something because there are a lot of scenes utilized that you certainly never saw on a trailer.

    This is all the more interesting to me right now given that as of this afternoon, I have buckled and placed “The Dark Knight” into my predicted five Best Picture nominees.  With films falling out left and right, this one is still standing and still resonates.  Maybe I was wrong.  Oscar column still to come.

    Their mission statement, in part:

    Films like this only come along once in a lifetime…And yet it has an uphill battle ahead of it for Academy Awards nomination chances.  But why?  Well because Academy voters love tradition.  All 78 years of it. Tradition says that movies based on comic book characters do not get nominated for awards.  Summer Blockbusters?  Not likely. Sequels?  Definitely not.  So what this campaign aims to do is help turn the tide on those long odds…get out there and spread the word and don’t let a chance at making history for The Dark Knight pass by.

    And the video:

  • ‘Ballast,’ ‘River,’ ‘Rachel’ lead the Indie Spirit nods

    James Franco in MilkI’m late to the table on today’s Independent Spirit Award nominations because I’ve been toiling away on the latest Oscar column (which should be up shortly).  Obviously, Sony Pictures Classics dominated the scene but I’m glad to see that this year’s crop is more “independent” than in years past.

    One nomination that stuck out to me was James Franco in the supporting actor category for “Milk” (a film good enough for four nominations but not for Best Picture — explain that to me).  Early on the idea was that Josh Brolin’s foil character Dan White would be the better bid for the category at the Oscars.  Then word came that James Franco was the heartbeat of the piece and likely a better fit.  Finally, the film landed and I was not alone in thinking Brolin hit his performance out of the park.  Now this, so who knows?  I still get the feeling Emile Hirsch is lurking in the wings waiting for a surprise, maybe with SAG or even Oscar, but that’s a difficult trio of supporting contenders to work through at the moment.

    I get the feeling this year’s Indie Spirits will be dominated by “The Wrestler” and “Rachel Getting Married,” maybe some love for “Frozen River” here and there.  I’m happy to see “Synecdoche, New York” land the Robert Altman Award (which always seems to go to a highly deserving crew), and I’ll certainly be pulling for Harris Savides yet again in the cinematography category.

    The nominations:

    Best Feature
    “Rachel Getting Married” (Neda Armian, Jonathan Demme, Marc Platt)
    “The Wrestler” (Darren Aronofsky, Scott Franklin)
    “Wendy and Lucy” (Larry Fessenden, Neil Kopp, Anish Savjani)
    “Ballast” (Lance Hammer, Nina Parikh)
    “Frozen River” (Chip Hourihan, Heather Rae)

    (more…)

  • 12/2 Oscarweb Round-up

    Baz Luhrmann• Kim Voynar wants to know where the love is for foreign contender “Tony Manero.” [Film Essent]

    • Peter Knegt and Eugene Hernandez go back and forth on the upcoming Gotham awards, among other things. [indieWIRE]

    • Jeff Wells keeps banging the drum for Richard Jenkins in a cone of silence. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • Oh yeah…the Indy Spirit nods are in.  Zzzzz… [indieWIRE]

    • David Poland responds to the list. [The Hot Blog]

    • And sings his disapproval of “Gran Torino.” [The Hot Blog]

    • Tom O’Neil talks to Baz Luhrmann in the Big Apple. [Gold Derby]

    • Anne Thompson rounds up the late arrivals to the Oscar party. [Thompson on Hollywood]

    • Peter Bart finds “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” both riveting and off-putting, wonders if “Slumdog Millionaire” lucked into the poll position with the Mumbai tragedy.  Basically, he’s catching up with the rest of us. [Peter Bart]

    • David Poland runs down the fate of the frontrunner, a traditional Oscar season fall from grace. [Movie City News]

  • With love from me to you

    I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed Variety’s recent series of articles in which prominent actors champion some of their personal favourite performances of 2008, including many of the most discussed contenders of the season. It’s a simple idea, but executed with real thought and sincerity.

    The pieces are interesting not just because of the more empathetic perspective a fellow actor can offer on a colleague’s craft, but also because the selections and combinations are so varied and frequently unexpected.

    It’s not exactly surprising that an indie queen like Catherine Keener should love Michelle Williams’ exquisite portrayal in “Wendy and Lucy,” but Andy Garcia isn’t the first person I’d think of to celebrate the work of yesterday’s interviewee, Elsa Zylberstein, in “I’ve Loved You So Long.” I particularly liked Garcia’s piece because he understands just what a collaborative effort a performance can sometimes be:

    It is not about the big scenes. It’s about the whole personality and how it is orchestrated. Kristin Scott Thomas is the protagonist, but Kristin’s and Elsa’s performances are joined at the hip. On the page, Elsa’s subtext may not appear as dramatic an issue as the subtext Kristin has, but there’s a great delicacy with which Elsa invites us to understand her character’s troubles and insecurities and how they relate to Kristin’s character. It is the overall crafting of the performance that is so beautiful to watch.

    In turn, Kristin Scott Thomas is profiled by Scarlett Johansson, the younger actor evidently inspired by the elder. Reversing the generation gap, Dustin Hoffman is awestruck by Melissa Leo’s fearless turn in “Frozen River.” Meanwhile, James McAvoy’s take on Anne Hathaway shows the same respect and affection for a contemporary as Blythe Danner’s valentine to Richard Jenkins.

    (more…)

  • You won’t find NBR predictions in this space

    National Board of ReviewNot from me, anyway.  Other blogs might want to go there, but I can’t do it.

    Yes, the National Board of Review is set to unveil its top 10 list and rundown of awards winners on Thursday, but I can’t muster the courage to offer a set of predictions.  Let alone the fact that the group has marginalized itself to the point that being the first precursor is nothing more than a trivial aside.  (Though I guess they’re really not first, but who cares about the Golden Satellites?).

    Regardless of all of that, how do you wrestle with forecasting an organization that chalks up “The Bucket List” as one of the year’s best?  Plus, I don’t know who’s spending the most money on the NBR banquet this year, so it’s hard to know what studios will fare better.  What, you gonna tell me money doesn’t count with this crowd?

    The year’s annual joke will hit in three days, then we can move on to the real precursor circuit, but in the meantime, Dave Karger has taken a stab (perhaps foolhardy in his exclusion of “The Dark Knight” — WB knows how to woo the NBR), while Sasha Stone has provided a space for your own predictions and a rundown of NBR stats and how they compare with Oscar through the years.  Ugh.  I just can’t bring myself to care.

    But if you can, have at it and predict the NBR’s annual awards below.

  • Another delayed Oscar column

    FYI, with “Gran Torino” bowing tonight in front of Los Angeles press, I thought it best to hold off on a chart update until Tuesday once again.  Next week we should be back on the Monday track as “Seven Pounds” unveils later in the week, the final pieces of the puzzle sliding into place.

  • ‘Kung Fu Panda’ leads the way at the Annies with 17 noms

    Kung Fu PandaDreamWorks Animation has to be happy this morning.  The studio pulled in 27 total nominations with the International Animated Film Society’s annual Annie Awards, including 17 for “Kung Fu Panda,” which led with the most nominations and nearly double the next film on the list.  Walt Disney’s “Bolt” took down 9 nods while Pixar’s “WALL-E” managed 8.

    As for Oscar, I’m still sticking with my predicted three: “Kung Fu Panda,” “WALL-E” and Ari Folman’s “Waltz with Bashir,” which also did well today.  But I will say that my spoil sense is tingling regarding “Bolt.”  Maybe it will surprise and knock “Waltz” out of the running, maybe not, but there is a definite constituency of support for that film both within the industry (as witnessed by the nominations tally) and in the critical fraternity.  But the safe bet is that Folman’s unique documentary secures a spot.

    Speaking of “Bolt,” if there is any competition for Ben Burtt in the voice acting category, it had better be Mark Walton, the closest I’ve ever come to considering a vocal performance Oscar-worthy since Ellen Degeneres in “Finding Nemo.”  And additionally, congrats to Mike Judge for the Winsor McKay designation.  A true hero to the form, from a “Beavis” head from way back.

    The Annie Awards will be held Friday, January 30 in Los Angeles.  The nominees are (with more — much more — after the jump):

    Best Animated Feature
    “Bolt” (Walt Disney Animation Studios)
    “Kung Fu Panda” (DreamWorks Animation)
    “$9.99” (Sherman Pictures/Lama Films)
    “WALL-E”  (Pixar Animation Studios)
    “Waltz With Bashir” (Sony Pictures Classics/Bridgit Folman, Les Films D’ici, Razor Films)

    (more…)

  • INTERVIEW: Elsa Zylberstein

    Elsa ZylbersteinThough still in her 30s, Elsa Zylberstein’s career has been so rich and multi-stranded — in addition to two decades of screen performances, she has also worn the hats of a classical dancer and a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador in the past — that it’s odd to think she is only now achieving Stateside recognition for a role in one very modest film.

    Or it would be, at least, were that film not “I’ve Loved You So Long,” Philippe Claudel’s searing, critically acclaimed study of lives undone by grief and separation.  The film has quietly emerged as one of the most memorable entries in another banner year for French cinema. You have no doubt heard the well-deserved buzz for star Kristin Scott Thomas, but she’s not the film’s only name generating whispers in awards circles.

    As Thomas’ onscreen sister, a seemingly grounded wife and mother whose carefully organized sense of self begins to collapse as she is confronted directly with her past, Zylberstein’s delicate, empathetic portrayal is a dark horse to watch in the Best Supporting Actress race. The term “supporting,” however, isn’t entirely accurate.  Not unlike the season’s other highly-praised story of sisterly reunion, “Rachel Getting Married,” the film sees two sterling actresses supporting each other, each playing impeccably off the other’s gestures and silences.

    For Zylberstein, it marks the clear high point of an already-fascinating career, and she doesn’t mind admitting that she’s been taken happily off-guard by the response to the film.

    “It’s just exploded,” she enthuses down the phone line, in her limber, beguilingly accented English. “Nothing like this was meant to happen, was it? I mean, it’s just this tiny little film. And now… bang! I’ve just been in London, and I’m now I’m going to L.A. tomorrow, and people there know the film. And they know me in it. I’m just, like, what?”

    She laughs, as do I: her giddiness is infectious. I’ve caught her at her Paris home, relaxing for a few moments just before she heads off to her father’s birthday party.  (“I got him an iPhone.  You do think that’s a good idea, right?” she sidetracks, as if I was one of her oldest friends.)

    (more…)

  • S&S names ‘Hunger’ best of 2008

    Sight & Sound’s annual Top Ten is, for my money, one of the most intelligent and respectable of all critics’ lists, and this year’s is no exception. Revealed in the magazine’s just-out January 2009 issue, the list is drawn from a poll of 50 international critics, including such heavyweights as Kenneth Turan, Amy Taubin, Armond White and Peter Bradshaw, and the results (for me, at least) are hard to argue with.

    The list rather bluntly highlights the less-than-stellar year American cinema has had, with only one 2008 U.S. picture (“WALL-E”) making the cut. (The inclusion of “There Will Be Blood” stems from UK release date differences, which might also account for the low profile of some current year-end contenders.) But it’s a rich and exciting collection of films, however you look at it:

    1. “Hunger” (Steve McQueen)
    2. “There Will Be Blood” (Paul Thomas Anderson)
    3. “WALL-E” (Andrew Stanton)
    4. “Gomorrah” (Matteo Garrone)
    =5. “A Christmas Tale” (Arnaud Desplechin)
    =5. “The Class” (Laurent Cantet)
    7. “Of Time and the City” (Terence Davies)
    8. “Happy-Go-Lucky” (Mike Leigh)
    =9. “The Headless Woman” (Lucrecia Martel)
    =9. “Let the Right One In” (Tomas Alfredson)

    I can’t tell you how much happier I would be if the eventual Best Picture nominees were drawn from that lot. We can but dream.

    (more…)

  • McPaper catches up with Pitt and Fincher

    (from left) Brad Pitt and David Fincher(I use the Mcmoniker with love, Scotty.)

    Scott Bowles caught up with David Fincher and Brad Pitt, the respective director and star of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” over the weekend.  It’s a typical profile piece in many ways but I thought Bowles did a nice job digging into the relationship these two guys have.

    Up around the top he offers:

    Since Pitt and the director met 15 years ago, they have become close friends — and crucial components in each other’s professional lives.

    Fincher provides Pitt gravitas. He may have received an Oscar nomination for his role in Twelve Monkeys, but Pitt is the first to acknowledge that his dramatic chops are more recognized in Fincher’s Se7en and Fight Club.

    Pitt, in return, bestows Fincher inordinate clout. For a guy who has never made a blockbuster, Fincher is able to make the movies he wants, glum endings and all, thanks in part to his friendship with the most famous actor on the planet.

    (more…)

  • 12/1 Oscarweb Round-up

    Christian Bale in Public Enemies(Back from vacation and ready to roll.  Thanks to Guy for keeping the ship sailing during the holiday.)

    • A first peak at what will likely be one of next year’s serious contenders: Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies.” [Empire]

    • TV spotting “Gran Torino” with a little outside-the-beat commentary. [/Film]

    • Carl DiOrio reports on the surprisingly successful box office numbers of “Milk.” [The Hollywood Reporter]

    • Peter Knegt, meanwhile, talks with “The Times of Harvey Milk” helmer Rob Epstein about his 24-year-old documentary and Gus Van Sant’s take on the politician this year. [indieWIRE]

    • And Cristy Lytal catches up with the real-life Cleve Jones (played by Emile Hirsch in Van Sant’s film). [Los Angeles Times]

    • I almost feel this isn’t worth linking, but there isn’t a lot to choose from this morning: Marc Lee rounds up a couple of Oscar blog quotes to assess Kate Winslet’s Oscar hopes.  Are they paying him for this? [Daily Telegraph]

    • Scott Bowles tracks down Bryan Singer and Tom Cruise at the Burbank airport to discuss the risky business of “Valkyrie.” [USA Today]

  • Baffling Golden Satellite noms unveiled

    Golden Sattelite AwardsI’ve never been sure what purpose the Golden Satellite Awards serve. People are only dimly aware when they take place, nobody cares who wins — least of all the winners — and they manage to be irrelevant both as serious film awards and as Oscar bellwethers.

    Nevertheless, they roll around every year, and they’ve just announced their nominations for 2008. It’s a typically eccentric list, with nominees in several categories seemingly drawn from a hat. Some people might read something into the fact that “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is missing from the top categories — though I commend them for the quirky inclusion of “Frozen River” in the Best Picture lineup — but these awards truly mean nothing. The list below makes for entertaining (and occasionally amusing) reading, but nothing more.

    For a good indication of the Satellites’ level of credibility, check out their bizarre nominees in the Best Original Screenplay category, which include not one, but two adaptations. Most hilariously, one of them is Philip Roth, nominated as the sole writer of “Elegy.” I’m sure Roth is surprised for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that he didn’t write the screenplay. What the fuck?

    Best Motion Picture, Drama

    “The Reader”
    “Slumdog Millionaire”
    “Revolutionary Road”
    “Frost/Nixon”
    “Milk”
    “Frozen River”

    (more…)

  • ‘Slumdog’ scores at BIFA Awards

    Thanks to bright-eyed, bushy-tailed commenter Silrone for pointing out that the winners of the British Independent Film Awards were announced while I was mired in technical problems.

    “Slumdog Millionaire” emerged as the evening’s big winner, taking Best British Film, Best Director and Best Newcomer for Dev Patel, though “Hunger” ran it close, also taking three prizes, including Best Actor for Michael Fassbender. I’m simultaneously surprised and unsurprised: “Slumdog” was certainly the obvious frontrunner, but the BIFAs have a history of not following the script.

    Such was the case in the Best Actress category, where “Happy-Go-Lucky”‘s seemingly unbeatable Sally Hawkins lost out to Vera Farmiga for “The Boy in Striped Pyjamas.” I’m disappointed for Hawkins, though she will have other opportunities this season. In any case, I’m quite pleased to see some credit for Farmiga, my admiration for whom I recently expressed on these pages.

    Meanwhile, “Happy-Go-Lucky” was rewarded with well-deserved victories for supporting stars Eddie Marsan and Alexis Zegerman, while my fellow “In Bruges” fans will be pleased to see Martin McDonagh took home some hardware for his writing.

    Incidentally, I scored 7/13 in my predictions. Poor form — hopefully it’s all up from here. Full list of winners below the cut.

    (more…)

  • Technical problems… please stand by

    UPDATED: Seems we’ve solved it. Something went technically awry with the last post … I blame the Golden Satellite Awards, personally. Anyway, we’ll get that information back up for you shortly.

    EARLIER: No, your computer isn’t playing tricks on you. Something weird has happened to the formatting on the site — we’re looking into it.

  • ‘Reader’ draws praise, but is it too remote for Oscar?

    After a couple of days in post-screening limbo, the reviews for “The Reader” are in, and while there’s much praise for the film, I suspect the response may not be quite what Harvey Weinstein was hoping for.

    The general impression appears to be that it’s intelligent, well-crafted and delicately performed, but as Kris anticipated recently, there are concerns that it may prove too distant and cerebral for many audiences … including the Oscar voters. Jeff Wells is one prognosticator striking the film from his list of Best Picture ponies: “Sorry but that’s the verdict I’m hearing. Intelligent, well written, handsomely shot, doesn’t deliver emotionally.”

    That “verdict” is echoed almost exactly in Variety’s coolly respectable review:

    Stephen Daldry’s film is sensitively realized and dramatically absorbing, but comes across as an essentially cerebral experience without gut impact. Classy package will appeal to upscale specialized auds and the bookish set but pic will have trouble crossing over to the general public Stateside.

    As for Kate Winslet, widely deemed the film’s brightest awards prospect, they are impressed by the performance, but find the character impenetrable:

    A central problem with “The Reader” as a film is that one can never look inside the character of Hanna. Her life and behavior are invariably assessed from the outside — what she represents to Michael, the way the court and history take stock of her actions — but never by her … Winslet supplies a haunting shell to this internally decimated woman, one who can perhaps momentarily escape from her shame through sex but for whom there is no past she can possibly face and no future to anticipate.

    (more…)