In Contention

Blog

  • ‘Conan’ comes into his own

    Conan O’Brien’s foray into basic cable (airing on TBS) settled on an applicable show title two months ago. Because “Conan” is just that, the host, personality — and perhaps for the first time ever — person (rather than caricature) unfiltered and freely spirited.

    On tonight’s premiere episode — following a humorous pre-taped open featuring an homage to “The Godfather” — O’Brien paced in front of a camera panning to catch up with his energy as he delivered an opening monologue full of crisp, precise jokes and uncharacteristically authentic energy. But there was an unmistakable ease.

    O’Brien has always been associated with unusual, sometimes esoteric humor. But once self-awareness became a part of the act early on, it quickly cannibalized his material. But while he carried David Letterman’s “Late Night” baton well, the audience for his next gig — an ill-fated nine-month stint as host of “The Tonight Show” — clearly did not take to his brand quick enough for NBC suits.

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  • ‘Jane Eyre’ poster

    Memo to the folks handling “The King’s Speech” at TWC: this is how you rustle up a poster for a period prestige pic. Cary Fukunaga’s adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s “Jane Eyre” — the first since Franco Zeffirelli’s Charlotte Gainsbourg-starring attempt in 1996 — is one of my most curiously awaited films of 2011. The novel, a personal favorite, has been filmed multiple times, with no screen version quite hitting the jackpot: I’m intrigued, then, to see what fresh insight the young director of “Sin Nombre” will bring to the material. (Here’s hoping the corsets don’t constrict his personality the way they did the similarly indie-based Jean-Marc Vallée’s in “The Young Victoria.”)

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  • AFI FEST: ‘Eraserhead’ ready for its close-up

    This year’s AFI Fest (“presented by AUDI,” as the literature keeps reminding us to call it) has felt something like a non-event so far this year.  I can’t put my finger on why, other than the usual sense of been there, done that as it pertains to films seeing their North American premieres.

    I’ve skipped a number of Galas and parties already.  What can possibly be gleaned over a few hors d’oeuvres and some white wine?  I’d like to attend Friday’s premiere of “Black Swan” and give it another look, but I expect to be in a car on the way to some seclusion with my fiancee this weekend as we quietly celebrate our birthdays (hers Friday, mine Monday) away from our separate frays in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

    But when I picked up my credentials Saturday over at the Roosevelt Hotel, I offered a quick glance at the schedule and decided to watch something for me (which, clearly by these words, has become “for work,” but it didn’t feel that way at the time, and that’s a welcome departure this time of year).

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  • OFF THE CARPET: Dolla billz, y’all!

    A reader comment got me thinking on box office and Oscar as the usual blockbuster and genre fare led the way in ticket sales this weekend.  It dawned on me that pickins might be extra slim when it comes to representing populist filmmaking in 2010’s Best Picture crop.

    Box office and finding room for ratings-friendly titles have long been assumed considerations in the decision to expand the Best Picture category to 10 nominations last year. One year after Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” nearly reached “Titanic”-level numbers and was snubbed of a Best Picture nomination, there were suddenly five more spots to be filled, widening the net.

    Academy members had seven films to choose from the $100 million-plus club in 2009 that had any legitimate excuse for being in the conversation. They were: “Avatar,” “The Blind Side,” “District 9,” “The Hangover,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “Star Trek” and “Up.” And some would consider “The Hangover” and “Star Trek” to be a stretch.  As such, they missed, and the other five made it.

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  • ‘Illusionist’ free to go

    Almost two weeks ago, I mentioned an unfortunate charge of “trademark infringement” being levelled against Sylvain Chomet’s animated wonder “The Illusionist” by the purported rights-holders to the 2006 Edward Norton film of the same title, who somehow felt that sharing a title and a magician protagonist amounted to a “Single White Female”-style violation.

    I called the claims ludicrous (or less delicately, “bullshit”) then, and happily, it looks like one Judge Dolly M. Gee agrees. The Hollywood Reporter reports that Judge Gee has thrown the case out of court, citing the First Amendment to defend the newer film’s right to its title, and dismissing the rest as “weak”:

    According to Judge Gee, the trademark enjoyed by Illusionist Distribution is “weak,” describing a movie about an illusionist rather than its particular film. She agrees with Sony that a wide variety of consumer products employ the term “illusionist,” including another 1983 film, 14 books published since 1952, and thousands of magicians who perform under that description.

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  • Listen to Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi’s ‘I See the Light’ from ‘Tangled’

    Disney always does well in the Best Original Song category and this year should be no different.  We’ve already covered Randy Newman’s latest entry from the “Toy Story” franchise but today we showcase one of the many tracks from the upcoming film “Tangled.”

    When I wrote up the film last month I noted that the strongest play at a nomination would have to be “I See the Light,” and I still feel the same.  In classic Disney form, the film fits a certain parameter, coming toward the end of the second act just as our heroes (voiced by Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi, who also sing the song) begin to connect romantically.

    It’s a lovely tune, well-used.  But it’s obviously worth noting the presence of Alan Menken on this film.  The 18-time nominee (and eight-time winner) was last recognized in 2007 for three songs from “Enchanted” and he’ll get at least one nod, maybe a couple, for “Tangled.”

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  • Zadie Smith on ‘The Social Network’

    It’s fair to say that there aren’t many movies in 2010 — much less in the awards race — that have earned the distinguished attention of The New York Review of Books, let alone a 5000-word essay by a superstar of contemporary literature. But such is the curious magnetism of “The Social Network,” whose queasy social currency has now been nailed, better than any film critic has managed thus far, by New York-based British writer Zadie Smith.

    I’ve always thought Smith a better essayist than a novelist, and her quasi-review of David Fincher’s film is a tour-de-force, using Aaron Sorkin’s script (the verbality of which she likens to “His Girl Friday”-era comedy) as the starting point for a stinging but compassionate address to ‘Generation Facebook,’ its communicative lapses and its identity insecurities. She likes the film quite a bit, but that’s almost beside the point: it’s more of a compliment that she felt it merited this level of scrutiny in a publication dedicated to another medium entirely.

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  • 11/8 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Oscar’s misogyny, Gurus back on the case, classifying the 10’s “slots”

    • Rachel Shields on the misogyny of Oscar. [The Independent]

    • Gregory Ellwood reports from Friday’s Britannia Awards. [Awards Campaign]

    • “The King’s Speech,” Colin Firth and Annette Bening top the new weekly Gurus o’ Gold survey. [Movie City News]

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  • “The ennui of just sleeping for a living and looking cute.”

    On the heels of the first installment of Lex “Just a Guy” G’s Oscar Chat, a preview of “Somewhere”:

  • Jackman turns down Oscar hosting gig

    With the season now unshakeably upon us, it’s time to dust off the annual conversation topic of who should host the upcoming Academy Awards ceremony. I am prompted to do so, of course, by Deadline’s recent scoop that 2009 host Hugh Jackman — the first choice of new Oscarcast producers Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer — has turned down the gig, owing to a scheduling conflict with the shooting of of “Wolverine 2.”

    Many will be disappointed by this news, given that the Jackman-hosted telecast was one of the better-received of recent years. As one of its few detractors, I’ll admit to feeling relieved: Jackman’s song-and-dance schtick was amiable enough, but he lacked the comic zeal I prefer in an Oscar host.

    To be fair, the balance between comic and cuddly is a difficult one to strike at the Oscars. There’s ample room for error on either side of the beloved Billy Crystal school of sweet-and-sour satire: Jackman played it too safe for my liking, but neither do I want to see an encore of Chris Rock’s hostile, room-cooling barbs. The Academy Awards, as much as we might like to mock them, are effectively the industry’s prom night, and the tone should be appropriately celebratory.

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  • BOX OFFICE: ‘Megamind’ outsmarts ‘Due Date’

    Keep forgetting to post these.  “For Colored Girls” opened to respectable numbers, per the usual for Perry.  I never saw the film because suddenly there was a cone of silence from the studio on invites (make of that what you will) and I didn’t much feel like chasing it down.

    “Secretariat” is holding okay.  “Red” even better.  Go Malkovich.

    (Courtesy: Exhibitor Relations)

  • Boyle does Fallon

    Nothing overly insightful. Lots of “whoa, dude” silliness from Fallon. But anyway:

  • ‘The Ghost Writer’ leads European Film Award noms

    Dear European Film Award nominating members,

    You seem to have suffered some form of collective amnesia in recalling the last 12 months of European cinema. So much so that you had to resort to nominating an Argentinian-Spanish co-production (that, let’s face it, everyone thinks of as Argentinian) as one of the continent’s finest this year, despite mentioning it in no other categories.

    Allow me to help you. The following are all European films superior to the six you shortlisted in your top category: “Another Year,” “The Illusionist,” “How I Ended This Summer,” “Kawasaki’s Rose,” “White Material,” “Dogtooth,” “Certified Copy,” “Mysteries of Lisbon,” “Four Lions,” “The Mouth of the Wolf,” and so on. And hey, I’m not that high on “I Am Love” either, but are you really saying nothing at all stuck out about it to you? (You only have four cinematography nominees, by the way. Just a thought.)

    (More thoughts, and the full list of nominees, after the cut.)

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  • Jill Clayburgh (1944-2010)

    It’s odd to think that younger readers may principally recognize Jill Clayburgh, the New York City-born actress who passed away yesterday after a long battle with leukemia, from her Emmy-nominated role in TV’s “Nip/Tuck” — where she played Bobbi Broderick, a vengeful victim of unsuccessful liposuction, done in the hope of securing a job ahead of younger, thinner rivals.

    It was a sharp, upsetting performance, all the more haunting because it was easy to imagine Bobbi as the soured middle-aged self of Erica Benton, the unaffected, sexually liberated divorcée she played, to career-making effect, in Paul Mazursky’s 1978 romantic dramedy “An Unmarried Woman.”

    The film is rarely spoken of today, but Clayburgh’s immense performance, balancing sweetly goofy comedy with stabs of untempered pain and anger, was something of a feminist touchstone for the depiction of “real” women in American cinema — she won Best Actress at Cannes for her efforts, and was nominated for an Oscar that unwisely went to Jane Fonda instead.

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  • CINEJABBER: Close but no Jack

    Catch up with the idea behind these weekend posts here.

    What a coup it would have been if Jack Nicholson really was the first guest on “Conan.”  Shame on Movieline for not catching Andy Richter’s joke and getting my hopes up for the actor’s first talk show interview in nearly four decades.

    Caught up with AMC’s “The Walking Dead.”  Narratively, familiar.  Aesthetically unique at times but I couldn’t settle into it.  It felt like there was no sense of pace.  And I’m getting pretty trigger happy on bailing on shows lately.

    I need to catch up on docs.  A stack of them waiting for me when I can ever find the time.  It’s pitching season for publicity to say the least.

    Speaking of which, coffee with Ben Affleck later today says Warner Bros. is swinging buzz on “The Town” back around and looking for opportunities to stay in the conversation leading up to the film’s DVD release.  After that, the season will have its say on the matter.

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  • WEEKLY WRAP: ‘127 Hours’ dissent, BIFA nods, interviews

    • Guy didn’t much care for “127 Hours.” That got you talking.

    • Happily, Kris did, and got talking to director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Simon Beaufoy.

    • The British Independent Film Award nominations threw some surprises into the mix, handing scads of noms to “The King’s Speech”… and “Kick-Ass.”

    • Chad’s Life Without Oscar column eased into the late 1980s, showcasing one films on either side of the Hollywood border.

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  • INTERVIEW: Patricia Clarkson

    “I’m going to bring back the letter,” a flustered Patricia Clarkson announces as she makes her way to our lunch table, ever-so-slightly rain-mussed but otherwise immaculate in black and cream, a jaunty matching fedora astride her familiar blonde mane. “I’m never late. I blame email for this. I’m only just getting acquainted with it.”

    She is, thanks to a slight communication muddle, late only to a degree most actors wouldn’t apologise for. Together with my lunchmate, Daily Telegraph critic Tim Robey, we’ve nabbed a cosy corner spot at Mayfair’s all-day Italian bistro Cecconi’s, a humming London institution of marble, green velvet upholstery and £40 white truffle starters. (Clarkson is more excited by other things on the menu: later, one eye on the menu, she interrupts her own sentence with the jubilant cry, “Meatballs! With spaghetti sauce!”)

    “This place is fabulous,” she says—that adjective’s first of many appearances in our two-hour conversation—settling into our banquette with a tidy collapse of a sigh. Patricia Clarkson, she does not mind admitting, is exhausted, and not just from her week of jury duty at the London Film Festival, where she presided over the panel that, we’d learn the next day, selected Russia’s “How I Ended This Summer” as best in show. (All she tells us is that she’s “very happy” with the “wonderful” winner they’ve chosen, though she successfully deflects our speculation as to what it might be. “Oh, the Russian film?” she shrugs, when Tim brings it up.)

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  • Go see ‘Four Lions’

    It struck me when I put up those two “tell us what you thought” posts this afternoon that I should probably dedicate some space to the film opening this week that deserves a look above all else.

    Chris Morris’s “Four Lions” opens in limited release this weekend after debuting at Sundance in January and playing this or that festival throughout the year.  It is the first release from Drafthouse Films, a distribution wing developed out of Austin’s famed Alamo Drafthouse theater.  And it’s a devilish delight.

    I finally saw the film last night after missing it at every turn.  Yes, the film is funny.  But the humor and commentary cut so precisely that it has to be considered one of the great satires, perhaps in league with seminal efforts like “Network” or “MASH.” Interestingly, it’s not television news or warfare that Morris is sending up, but rather, an intriguing blend of the two.

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