In Contention

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  • ‘Another Year’ UK trailer

    At Cannes, I was with the critical majority in admiring Mike Leigh’s latest, and the valentines will surely continue to roll in when the film plays Toronto next month ahead of an awards-season run. The Guardian (quite the experts lately in nabbing British trailer exclusives) has the first trailer for the film, which gives a pretty accurate sense of the film’s delicate pitch between dry comedy and crushing drama. Interestingly, rather than granting the spotlight to Lesley Manville’s showy, buzz-generating turn, it represents the film as the ensemble piece it is; one wonders if Sony Pictures Classics will be quite so democratic with the US trailer. Click on the image to check it out at the Guardian site, or watch the embed after the jump.

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  • ‘Tree of Life’ to “change the language of movies?”

    I can’t speak to the interest Anne Thompson’s source on “The Tree of Life” has in the film, though I imagine anyone who has seen it has a vested interest at this stage.  Regardless, what the source has to say is mouth-watering indeed:

    “It’s a mystical exploration of the meaning of life, a journey in which a microcosm of a family mirrors the world; the differences between man and woman, husband and wife, are mirrored against nature and grace. It will change the language of movies. It’s a real event. People will say, ‘what the fuck is this?’”

    You’ll remember yesterday Todd McCarthy publicly stated his expectation that the film will move to 2011, based on little more than the usual impatience.  In his role as New York Film Festival selection committee member, I guess he just got some bad vibes when promise after promise was made to screen it for potential inclusion in the fest, only to no avail.  But I wonder if all of this back and forth is ultimately unhealthy for the film itself.

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  • Foundas on ‘Social Network’: “Big, brash and brilliant.”

    If you’ve read the script for Aaron Sorkin’s “The Social Network” then you know it’s powerful stuff waiting to be unleashed on the season.  Well, Scott Foundas is first out of the gate with an extremely early critique of the film, and it’s all thumbs up from Brett Ratner’s best bud.  To wit:

    David Fincher’s The Social Network is big and brash and brilliant…It is nominally the story of the founding of Facebook, yes, and how something that began among friends quickly descended into acrimony and litigation once billions of dollars were at stake. But just as All the President’s Men—a seminal film for Fincher and a huge influence on his Zodiac—was less interested by the Watergate case than by its zeitgeist-altering ripples, so too is The Social Network devoted to larger patterns of meaning. It is a movie that sees how any social microcosm, if viewed from the proper angle, is no different from another—thus the seemingly hermetic codes of Harvard University become the foundation for a global online community that is itself but a reflection of the all-encompassing high-school cafeteria from which we can never escape. And it owes something to The Great Gatsby, too, in its portrait of a self-made outsider marking his territory in the WASP jungle.

    To sayt he least, in most conversations I’m having leading up to the awards season, Fincher’s film is perhaps the most anticipated.  If even half of these sentiments are fair, then I think it’s safe to say a bona fide contender is comin’ round the bend.  Read the rest of Foundas’s thoughts at Film Society of Lincoln Center.

    “The Social Network” opens the New York Film Festival September 24.

  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Original Score — Volume I

    I am marveled by the accomplishments of all the crafts artists who elevate our films, but this is particularly the case with respect to music composers. Composing equals genius as far as I am concerned.These musicians  join the film at the end, when usually only the director, editor and perhaps the sound mixers are still working.  But capturing the mood and feel of a film that has been created in your absence must be extraordinarily difficult.And  I do not need to count the ways in which a brilliant score can make a good film truly unforgettable.

    The category of Best Original Score is one of the hardest to predict in my opinion, even shortly before the nominations are announced. So what sort of music is rewarded by this branch? Certainly being noticeable in the film helps. Loud music and/or music which plays for lengthy parts of the film with minimal dialogue can do well, too. Being an animated film or a Best Picture contender hardly hurts either.

    For years, we could count on John Williams to take a spot among the nominees. But given that Williams is only composing for Steven Spielberg these days, his name has been absent from the nominees for five straight years now. (I suspect we’ll see him finally move past Alfred Newman on the all-time list next year.)

    Nevertheless, while the branch is not quite as insular as it was in the earlier part of last decade, it remains a fairly exclusive club. Seldom do composers get first trips to the Kodak – usually only one a year. In fact, of the past 11 years, only three have seen two new nominees, and only one has seen three.

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  • Oscar buzz (or not) for Noomi Rapace in ‘Dragon Tattoo’

    If we didn’t mention last week’s big casting news of Rooney Mara landing the role of Lisbeth Salander in David Fincher’s English-language remake of “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” it’s because a) the story hardly wanted for coverage, and b) I don’t exactly share many people’s keen interest in Stieg Larsson’s mega-selling literary franchise. I find the books diverting but undistinguished airport fare, and the hit Swedish screen adaptation of “Tattoo” a one-note televisual slog.

    That said, I’m fine with any phenomenon that compels mainstream audiences to read both books and subtitled movies — yet I draw the line when people start suggesting that the film should be in line for awards recognition. Deadline Hollywood’s Nikki Finke, however, suggests that the film’s backers sense awards potential for the screen’s original Lisbeth, 30 year-old actress Noomi Rapace:

    I’ve learned that Music Box Films is about to hire an Oscar publicist, probably Melody Korenbrot, to promote Noomi for a Best Actress nomination. That’s right, Best Actress. She’s already won the Swedish equivalency of that for the film. Her new agents at UTA and managers at Magnolia are comparing her to Marion Cotillard, who appeared in a small foreign film, came out of nowhere to be nominated and then win the Best Actress Academy Award, then landed big roles in major studio tentpoles.

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  • December welcomes ‘The Tourist’

    It’s difficult to know how to interpret the news that “The Tourist,” the first English-language feature from Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, has been yanked forward into the 2010 release calendar, following a reportedly well-received screening for studio bosses. The film will now hit US theaters on December 10, a release date it shares with the latest “Chronicles of Narnia” instalment and, more pertinently, David O. Russell’s Oscar hopeful “The Fighter.”

    Why difficult? Well, the buzz on the film has heretofore been so quiet that we have little idea what manner of beast it is. I haven’t seen “Anthony Zimmer,” Jérôme Salle’s well-regarded but underexposed 2005 French espionage thriller from which von Donnersmarck’s film is adapted, but it appears to be a lightweight genre effort.

    While many will assume that the rescheduling positions “The Tourist” as a serious awards prospect, it could just be that Sony sees the film as a commercial winner for adult audiences in the pre-Christmas rush. (We only need look back at last year’s brutal holiday season to be reminded that a December release is no guarantee of awards gold.)

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  • LIFE WITHOUT OSCAR: 1967 and 1968

    Catch up with the idea behind this series here.

    The civil rights struggle raged through America in the late 60’s and the issue found its way to Oscar’s front door in 1967 with “In the Heat of the Night” triumphing over “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.” Neither has the lasting impact of fellow nominees “The Graduate” or “Bonnie and Clyde” but we can’t expect the Academy to award progressive filmmaking over safe filmmaking with a progressive message.

    1968 was a strange year indeed, with two big musicals, two historical, costume dramas and one independent thriller. “Oliver!” came away with the Best Picture prize while “2001: A Space Odyssey” had to settle for one win in the Visual Effects category. So…. why do we care about the Oscars again?

    More exciting is the fact that 1968 saw an exact tie in the Best Actress race. How thrilling must that have been to the Oscarwatchers in that day? Assuming there were any. And Alfred Hitchcock picked up the Irving “whoops, sorry we didn’t award you an Oscar” G. Thalberg award and gave the best speech in Oscar history.

    So, what failed to impress Ernest Borgnine and company these years?

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  • ‘Fair Game’ trailer

    Actress Naomi Watts is front and center as an awards prospect in Doug Liman’s “Fair Game,” and the trailer, recently launched via Yahoo! Movies, certainly conveys as much as well. At Cannes, however, the film didn’t really set things ablaze. Guy was measured in his appreciation of the film at Cannes.  We’ll see what Summit can do with a campaign but for now, it’s clearly being positioned as a thriller to bring in the dollars.  Check out the trailer by clicking the image below or watch the embed after the jump.

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  • No ‘Tree of Life’ until 2011?

    That’s what Todd McCarthy seems to think.  Please keep in mind it’s nothing beyond speculation on his part.  But it’s worth pointing to the graph in question:

    All through our recent two weeks in the dark, we received periodic updates and tentative promises about the imminent arrival of the film for us to view; even well into the second week we were still being thus tantalized. Finally, of course, came word that Malick was still not done and it now seems clear the picture will not be opening this year. I can’t prove it, of course, and he’s supposedly set to start shooting a new film in Oklahoma in October, but I’m convinced we won’t be seeing “The Tree of Life” until, at the earliest, the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. Or perhaps it could turn up at the New York Film Festival a year from now.

    Check out the rest at Deep Focus.

  • SAG honors Ernest Borgnine

    There will no doubt be some mixed responses to this announcement, given that 93 year-old Ernest Borgnine is now recognized by a younger generation less as an Oscar-winning actor than “that bigot who refused to see ‘Brokeback Mountain,’” but he has just been named the recipient of the Life Achievement Award at next year’s Screen Actors Guild ceremony.

    As career awards ago, this one is more hard-earned than most: Borgnine’s résumé is long and peppered with notable contributions to notable films: between “The Wild Bunch,” “From Here to Eternity,” “Bad Day at Black Rock,” “The Dirty Dozen,” “Escape from New York,” “Johnny Guitar,” “The Poseidon Adventure,” “Gattaca” (even if he doesn’t care much for it) and, of course, “Marty,” SAG directors should have a pretty easy time assembling a highlight reel. Plus, you know, “Airwolf!”

    The 2010 SAG Awards ceremony will take place on January 30, 2011. Edited (if hardly brief — did we need to cover his Freemason status?) press release after the cut.

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  • ‘Black Swan’ poster

    Earlier we got the trailer for Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan” (which is going over quite well).  Now we get the poster.  Unfortunately it’s just an assemblage of text on a still we’ve already seen.  I’d rather have seen something velvety and sinister like the title screen of the trailer, personally, but there is an obvious black and white, yin and yang vibe going on, so maybe this is just right.  Check out the full poster after the jump.

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  • ‘Black Swan’ trailer

    There are two films I’m most looking forward to in 2010: the Coen brothers’ “True Grit” and Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan.” The trailer for the latter has just hit the web courtesy of Apple and it looks like an absolute stunner.  I’m hearing, awards wise, that it’s probably more of a Best Actress play for Natalie Portman than a Best Picture possibility, but we’ll know all of that sooner or later.  The trailer certainly reveals the film as a showcase for Portman, but Barbara Hershey also could be someone to watch for in supporting.  Check out the trailer by clicking the image below or watch the embed on the jump.

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  • ‘Scott Pilgrim’ vs. the sound

    I want to take a moment to note that, regardless of my feelings on the film, I’m really bummed about the box office performance of “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” not least of all because Edgar Wright is one of the good guys.  He’s making movies for all the right reasons.

    In any case, it’s left to be seen whether the film editing, visual effects or sound elements from the film can make a dent in the Oscar season, but the latter has received a SoundWorks Collection profile worth your look and listen.  The film is obviously alive in ways few films are and the below-the-line aspects are key to that.

    The crew includes re-recording mixers Chris Burdon and Doug Cooper with effects editors James Harrison, Ben Meechan and Julian Slater.  Have a look at the profile after the jump.

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  • For Your Consideration: ‘Piranha 3D’

    “Golden Globes are for movies where Ving Rhames doesn’t rip a motor off a boat and wield it as a weapon.”

  • Fall festivals ready for their close-up

    In the last couple of weeks the major fall film festivals have unveiled aggressively competitive line-ups, and the amount of potential awards product landing at Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York is, as usual, vast.

    There are plenty of overlapping exhibitions but as for firsties, Venice will get dibs on Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan,” Julie Taymor’s “The Tempest,” Julian Schnabel’s “Miral,” Ben Affleck’s “The Town,” and Richard J. Lewis’s “Barney’s Version” before the films make their way to other fests.  Sofia Coppola’s “Somewhere” will be exclusive to the Lido.

    New York, meanwhile, landed a real coup by boasting the world premiere of David Fincher’s “The Social Network,” which will not be at the other fests.

    Toronto is again packed to the gills with product (too much, if you ask me, but it’s a media circus after all).  Clint Eastwood’s “Hereafter” will see its first bow there before heading off to New York in October.  Tony Goldwyn’s “Conviction” will also debut, as well as John Madden’s “The Debt,” Rowan Joffe’s “Brighton Rock,” Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden’s “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” and Nigel Cole’s “Made in Dagenham.” World premieres searching for distributors at the fest include Robert Redford’s “The Conspirator,” John Cameron Mitchell’s “Rabbit Hole” and Dustin Lance Black’s “What’s Wrong with Virginia,” any of which could end up being awards season possibilities.

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  • ‘I’m Still Here’ trailer

    In case you’re interested in the Casey Affleck documentary about his brother-in-law Joaquin Phoenix’s attempt at a rap career and either serious-as-cancer or totally put-on downward spiral, the trailer for “I’m Still Here” has landed at Yaho0! Movies.  But is it just me or is this whole thing all a bit stale already?  How long ago was the Letterman appearance, anyway?  And the weird red carpet interview?  Oh well, check out the trailer by clicking the image below or watch the embed after the jump.

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  • UK poster for ‘Winter’s Bone’

    The British quad for “Winter’s Bone,” which finally bows in the UK on September 17, isn’t an especially distinguished bit of design — it’s certainly cruder than the American one-sheet and the tagline, though a pithy line in the film, doesn’t sit quite right. More interesting, however, is that it seems to have conceived as a veritable For Your Consideration ad for star Jennifer Lawrence: her lovely (and scrubbed-clean) face pushed to the foreground, with a critic’s quote that directly invokes Oscar recognition while emphasizing her impressive youth. It’s almost as if the marketers know how much BAFTA voters depend on Oscar buzz to guide them these days. Check out the poster (courtesy of Empire) after the cut.

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  • Undressing ‘Inception’

    Happy anniversary, Cobb! Today makes it exactly one month since “Inception” first hit theaters — I bring this up not to make any point, but as an excuse to those readers who cry foul over each new post about the film. May I continue?

    Anyway, while most discussion on the film is largely played out, I did want to draw attention to this interesting interview with the film’s costume designer, Jeffrey Kurland, on the excellent, self-explanatory website Clothes on Film. (To be fair, the piece appeared over a fortnight ago — I’m the one behind the beat here.)

    As Gerard noted in his Tech Support column, costume design is the least likely technical area (Best Original Song excepted, of course) for the film to receive Oscar notice — though it’s probably a shoo-in for a nod in the Guild’s contemporary category. Still, Kurland’s stylish, subtly defined threads remain, for me, one of the film’s most intelligent visual cues. They’re easy to write off as a bunch of sharp suits and shimmery gowns until one notices the considered differences in tailoring that distinguish the male characters in particular: Cobb’s cautious American classics versus Arthur’s fussier three-pieces, or Eames’s rumpled, anachronistic linen verus Fischer’s severe corporate uniform.

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