A mesmerizing teaser trailer for the Coen brothers’ “True Grit” hit the web Monday, ratcheting up the anticipation further. Today Paramount has offered us an exclusive first look at the teaser poster for the film, a striking, minimalist, wanted poster-esque assemblage that looks like it would make a handsome book cover. There will be a secondary poster down the line that I imagine will be more traditional. Have a look at the full image after the jump.
It seems like David Fincher’s latest has been talked to death the last few weeks. My thoughts are here. Hopefully you aren’t bored with it before it had a chance to release (I doubt you are), so once you get around to seeing “The Social Network” this weekend (or whenever), head on back here and give us your thoughts.
• Ed Harris opens up about his career (speaking of which, P.S.: I’m hearing a one-week qualifier for “The Way Back” may just happen after all). [MakingOf]
• Stephen King: Do vampires right! [Entertainment Weekly]
• Speaking of vampires, Steven Zeitchik sits down with “Let Me In” director Matt Reeves. [Los Angeles Times]
The trailer for Sony’s “The Tourist” hit a few weeks ago and revealed what looks to be a frothy romp with Johnny Depp giving fun performance. Today we get a look at the poster for the film, which, I’m sorry to see, is latching on to a recent trend of boxed in imagery framed by a solid color. Where’s the creativity? Ugh. Anyway, check out the full image after the jump (and be sure to check back tomorrow for an exclusive look at another poster for one of the season’s most anticipated efforts).
This has been such a grim week for losing major industry talents — Gloria Stuart, Sally Menke, Arthur Penn and now Tony Curtis — that I’m almost loath to mention it, lest fate be tempted. But the passing of Curtis can hardly go without at least brief notice: for many, he’ll always come to mind first in the guise of his gleeful Cary Grant send-up from “Some Like It Hot,” but he was also one of the tartest and most evasive leading men of his generation, balancing rote beefcake duty with broad comedy and excitingly off-kilter choices like “The Boston Strangler” and “Sweet Smell of Success.”
Last week, Kris and I came to a disagreement over the merits of Oliver Stone’s splashy, silly and consistently surface-level sequel “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.” Neither of us is disputing that the film is a mess, but where Kris thought it clumsy, ill-judged junk, I was more forgiving in my Cannes review: for me, the film partially succeeds on the level of campy self-satire.
One thing we can both agree on, however, is that subtlety is not in the film’s vocabulary — least of all when it comes to its gaudy collection of visual cues and symbols. Four months after watching the film, the one that sticks most insistently in my mind is a certain highly recognizable painting in the office of Josh Brolin’s character Bretton James.
Not content with underlining James’s Mephistophelean deviousness by clothing Brolin in a maroon-colored suit, Stone and ace production designer Kristi Zea (“GoodFellas,” “Revolutionary Road”) have Francisco Goya’s “Saturn Devouring His Son” (pictured) as his office backdrop to drive home the capital-E Evil of the character.
Fans of David Michod’s “Animal Kingdom” have been holding out hope for a campaign and maybe even a potential underdog nomination for Jacki Weaver, whose supporting performance in the film has been one of the high marks of the year thus far. And given how thin that field continues to appear, it’s worth it to go all out.
Sony Classics is certainly aware of this. And the studio is frequently out of the gate early with screeners for its contenders (which really did “Frozen River” a lot of good a few years back). Today a mailer arrived with screeners of Michod’s film and Rodrigo García’s “Mother and Child,” but most interesting was the accompanying garment.
That’s right, Jacki Weaver has her very own, mommy dearest-like T-shirt. Simple, but indicative of a real affinity for the performance and clearly a starting gun for the actress’s awards campaign. AMPAS members received both screeners today but, of course, not the shirt. Check out a quick iPhone snap shot after the jump.
The press release, in part:
The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), the nation’s oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers, announced today that director Darren Aronofsky, actors Hilary Swank and Robert Duvall, and Focus Features CEO, James Schamus, will each be presented with a career Tribute at the 20th Anniversary Gotham Independent Film Awards™ on Monday, November 29th at Cipriani Wall Street, New York, New York.
Signaling the official kick-off to the film awards season, the Gotham Independent Film Awards™ is one of the leading awards for independent film. Anchoring the evening’s seven competitive awards for Best Feature, Best Documentary, Breakthrough Director, Breakthrough Actor, Best Ensemble Performance, Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You and the new Festival Genius Audience Award, are four Tributes to film community icons.
This year’s Tribute selection represents a range of individuals – all veterans well-versed in the journey between lower-budget independent films and large-scale studio releases…
“We are moved and honored to give tribute to four cinematic film luminaries, all of whom have had their roots in independent film, and have steadfastly focused on the art of film, irrespective of the size of the budget of their work” said Joana Vicente, Executive Director of the IFP. “This year’s tributes personify independent spirit and have created an astonishing breadth of work that we are proud to celebrate. James Schamus won the producing award in 1996 and Darren Aronofsky was our Breakthrough Director in 1998. We are thrilled to honor them again for their deserving careers. Robert Duvall and Hilary Swank’s work have enriched our lives; from the smallest of indies to the largest of Hollywood features, we are in awe of their talent and look forward to what lies ahead.”
[Photo: Fox Searchlight Pictures]
Sure to be one of the most under-appreciated aspects of “The Social Network”‘s below-the-line is the sound design. Most will likely take note during a club scene that filters dialogue between Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Timberlake without sacrificing the thumping rhythms of the setting, but there are a number of instances where I felt it was a refined piece of work from Academy Award winner Michael Semanick and company.
There is also the idea that an Aaron Sorkin script involves a lot of overlapping and competing dialogue. It’s a film with a lot of information to carry across and it’s imperative that you hear everything. And that’s before we even get into how Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s ambient score is layered in throughout.
The SoundWorks Collection, as ever, is on the case here. The site’s latest profile illuminates the club scene among others and is worth a look and listen. Head on over there now and check it out or watch the embed after the jump.
Last night on the Disney lot the studio held its annual holiday showcase, previewing material from major films set to hit theaters this fall. Outside the theater there was a massive illuminated “Secretariat” display across from a live horse prancing around in circles, which itself was just steps away from a “TRON Legacy” light cycle. If you’re gonna roll out the hype, spare no expense.
First up there was a rather arbitrary teaser for the only completed film featured, “Secretariat” (which I’ve seen but can’t write about until Monday). Done and done.
Then came the “TRON Legacy” showcase, introduced by director Joseph Kosinski. We were treated to 23 minutes of the film (including much of the segment shown at Comic-Con in July). Most of the effects were in place though the sound had not yet been punched up by Skywalker.
To preempt the inevitable, no, probably not worth a separate post, but I caught up with SNL on the DVR last night and it made me laugh:
• David Poland sits down with “Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer” director Alex Gibney. [Movie City News]
• On the innovative marketing strategy of “Freakonomics.” [New York Times]
• Xan Brooks and Henry Barnes talk “Made in Dagenham” director Nigel Cole and actress Rosamund Pike. [The Guardian]
Whether you choose to believe them or not – and speaking for myself, I don’t quite – the media powers that be have currently reduced the 2010 Best Picture race to just two titles: “The Social Network” and “The King’s Speech.” That’s entirely (and hopefully, lest things get too dull too soon) subject to change over the next four months, but given what we’ve seen at this point, it’s difficult to devise a could-win theory for many of the films most fancied for the remaining eight slots, be it “Inception” or “Another Year.”
I don’t really blame those in the blogosphere who are narrowing things down to this pair of films: after a lackluster Toronto fest failed to turn up a hidden dragon along the lines of “Slumdog Millionaire,” the slate of contenders looks much as it did before the fall festival season began. With expectations for “Network” and “Speech” pegged high all along, meeting them was enough to seal frontrunner status.
Moreover, the temptation to pit David Fincher’s modish Facebook story and Tom Hooper’s tony royalty porn against each other is hard to resist, given how conveniently the films are opposed: both acclaimed biopics after a fashion, but one concerned with present-day American youth, the other with British aristocracy of yore. “It’s the time-capsule piece versus the time-warp piece,” snarked one friend of mine recently, anticipating a narrative that will likely run all season, even if other frontrunners enter the fray.
The press release, in part:
In recognition of his contributions to the world of film, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival is honored to present the fifth annual KIRK DOUGLAS AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN FILM to the legendary Academy Award-nominated actor/producer Harrison Ford…
“I’m delighted to give this award to Harrison Ford,” commented Kirk Douglas. “It’s always a pleasure to honor these young actors who do so well.”
Ford’s impressive body of work contains 43 feature films, 12 of which have each grossed over $100 million, as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
Ford’s upcoming film Morning Glory is slated to be released November 12, 2010. Set in the hilarious and dysfunctional world of morning television, Ford plays legendary TV anchor Mike Pomeroy, who is brought on to save a failing news show where he comes into conflict with his co-anchor Colleen Peck (Diane Keaton). Ford will also star alongside Daniel Craig in the upcoming film Cowboys and Aliens, directed by Jon Favreau.
[Photo: Top News]
With the official (though not necessarily final) deadline for submissions just two days away, there’s been a flood of new additions to the list in the past few days, including two big guns that were holding out on us — Italy and Spain. (Check out our updated list, now up to 55 titles, here.)
Among those who follow this race, all eyes were on Italy’s selection, and not just because the country still holds the record for most wins in the category. (The Italians’ fortunes have dipped rather in recent years, however: since “Life is Beautiful” triumphed in 1998, they’ve managed only a single unsuccessful nod.) With a shortlist of 10 contenders to choose from, it was difficult to predict which way the Italian selectors might lean.
Many Oscar-watchers assumed that the high-profile Tilda Swinton starrer “I Am Love” would get picked, but that was always unlikely: far less well-received in its home country than in English-speaking territories, chances are the film’s stylistic excesses wouldn’t have been to the Academy’s taste either.
I’ve been meaning to write about “Conviction” since I saw it last week and just haven’t really settled on a way to gather my thoughts. In a nutshell, I liked it. Quite a lot, actually. It’s not rousing or inspiring to the point that I had to write immediately (obviously), but it’s relatively harmless and generally quite agreeable.
That sounds like damning with faint praise I imagine but I was kind of a mess watching it. All the emotional beats hit me just right. I’ll admit I got a bit teary-eyed at the sustained chemistry between Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell, who portray loving siblings with a level of authenticity and complexity that’s difficult to pinpoint. The script never feels manipulative even though its painting in extremely familiar dramatic strokes.
Rockwell has received most of the praise so far and he deserves it. Interestingly enough, though, he doesn’t bring anything more than he has for the last 10 or 15 years in film after film. He’s always good for better than solid and here he’s just finally getting his due. He’s one of a precious few actors who sells it perfectly each and every time out. You just buy him in whatever the role.
The press release, in part:
The 14th Annual Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Awards, presented by Starz, are pleased to announce that Academy Award-nominated actress Annette Bening will be honored with the “Hollywood Actress Award” and Oscar-winning actor Robert Duvall will receive the “Hollywood Actor Award” at the festival’s Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony.
“It is a privilege to honor and to celebrate Annette Bening’s and Robert Duvall’s extraordinary talent as well as remarkable work and to recognize their outstanding acting achievements,” said Carlos de Abreu, Founder of the Hollywood Awards Gala.
The gala ceremony will take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on October 25, 2010.
Once again, the full list honorees thus far after the jump.