In Contention

Tag: 127 Hours

  • OFF THE CARPET: Leading men in the spotlight

    About a year ago I took to examining the 2009 Best Actor race.  The frontrunners for five slots seemed to be, in order, George Clooney, Colin Firth, Jeremy Renner, Morgan Freeman, Daniel Day-Lewis, Viggo Mortensen and Robert De Niro.

    A day later press members received their first invites to “Crazy Heart” screenings and were notified that the film would be released in 2009.  Jeff Bridges hit the ground running and never let off the gas until he was past the finish line.

    A year earlier we were looking at a pair of politico-biopic portrayals, either one of which would make a handsome winner: Frank Langella and Sean Penn.  But we were fairly sure the latter would be on his way to the podium one more time.

    But soon after, Mickey Rourke’s festival buzz caught serious fire and forged an atmosphere of doubt.  The season’s narrative seemed to be changing, and yet the early buzz carried through and brought Penn his Oscar.

    So that’s two drastically different directions – in as many years – that a lead actor race can take.  Given the mid-October fulcrum shared here, let’s consider our perspective on the Best Actor category right now.

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  • Boyle, Beaufoy on pushing the boundaries of cinema

    I sat down earlier this afternoon with “127 Hours” star James Franco, director Danny Boyle and writer Simon Beaufoy.  I’ll have proper written pieces up surrounding each in the coming days but there was something I wanted to share now.

    Firstly, it’s always a joy to talk cinema with Boyle.  He’s a truly excitable character who projects a brand of passion impossible to counterfeit and is just a good guy on top of it.  (Check out my interview with the director from the 2008-2010 season — “8 things I’ve learned from my career in features” — here.)

    Anyway, he got fired up when we began discussing the hallucination sequences of the film, how to convey something that’s intrinsically so personal in a creative but organic way.  Off he went on a tangent, soon joined by Beaufoy, that I found inspiring as a fan and as a writer.  Maybe you will, too.  Have a listen after the jump.

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  • 10/22 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Arndt, Unkrich on Fresh Air, no ‘Hangover’ for Gibson, ‘Paranormal’ sequel scares L.A.

    • Lesley Manville talks “Another Year” across the pond. [The Guardian]

    • Terry Gross talks with “Toy Story 3” director Lee Unrich and writer Michael Arndt on Fresh Air. [NPR]

    • Watch in night vision as a Los Angeles audience reacts to a screening of “Paranormal Activity 2.” [HitFix]

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  • James Franco tapped for Santa Barbara’s Outstanding Performance of the Year Award

    Odd, I was just having a Twitter discussion about who might receive this honor from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and my honest guess was James Franco.  Lo and behold, he’s been tapped for the honor.

    The press release, in part:

    The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is proud to present James Franco with the Outstanding Performance of the Year Award on Saturday, January 29, 2011.  He will be honored for his compelling performance in Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours at the 26th edition of the Fest which runs January 27-February 6, 2011…

    “A truly exceptional actor who embraces the character and lives the story to tell it,” comments [festival executive director Roger] Durling, “James Franco eases onto the screen, seducing the audience no matter if he is the hero, the villain or the victim.”…

    Franco will join an illustrious group of previous Outstanding Performance Award recipients, including Colin Firth (2010), Penelope Cruz (2009), Angelina Jolie (2008), Helen Mirren (2007), Heath Ledger (2006), Kate Winslet (2005) and Charlize Theron (2004).

    More SBIFF awards announcements as they come.

  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Cinematography — Volume II

    Today we take a look a second look at, well, certainly the most “cinematic” of categories: Best Cinematography. As I like to say, cinema is born out of the camera and those who wield these devices enrich our films more than a few words written here could possibly say. From capturing mood, lighting and atmosphere to telling the story visually and creatively, our cinematographers truly are artists in every sense of the word.

    Naturally, “pretty” films, war films and Best Picture nominees all have a knack for doing particularly well in this category.

    Now that the trailer for “True Grit” has reached the internet, I surely cannot be the only person asking…is this the film that will finally bring Roger Deakins his Oscar?  He has eight nominations (four for Coen brothers films), tragically winning zero times. The photography looks amazing, and the film is exactly the sort that would seem to excel in this category. That the film also looks like a bigger Oscar player across the board (more than I was originally expecting) is merely icing on the cake.

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  • 10/11 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Franco at MOMA, Schnabel’s Polaroids, O’Hehir and Ebert fight to the death

    • Jeffrey Wells reports from a MOMA Q&A with “127 Hours” star James Franco. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • Amy Kaufman talks with “Conviction” star Hilary Swank. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Add Polaroid photography to Julian Schnabel’s list of artistic pursuits. [The Guardian]

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  • ‘127 Hours’ poster

    Yesterday we got a look at an extended trailer for “127 Hours.” There was a poster bouncing around but I decided to hold out for a high res image, and that’s what we got today.  I like the hourglass vibe even if the overall design is a bit glossy for my tastes.  Have a look at the full image after the jump.

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  • ‘127 Hours’ trailer

    Interesting. For some reason I wasn’t anticipating another trailer for Danny Boyle’s “127 Hours,” but I suppose that teaser we got a few months back was bound to be updated with something more robust. The new trailer landed today via Apple and is, I’d say, well structured, framed by one of the film’s more abstract moments with Best Actor contender James Franco. Check it out by clicking the image below or watch the embed after the jump.

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  • OFF THE CARPET: Carpe diem

    Two weeks ago in this space I discussed the precariousness of “frontrunner” status in an Oscar race. At the time, coming off of a big surge in Toronto, “The King’s Speech” was the big dog on the porch. But be warned, I said. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

    Now that “The Social Network” has released, accompanied by glowing review after glowing review, not to mention a media blitz to make the head spin, that film is looking like an alpha in the year’s awards season. And, inevitably, the race is already being reduced to a generational battle between the two…yet it’s barely October.

    Here’s the thing. If you’re a studio still priming your pony, you have to be watching all of this unfold with giddy delight, licking your chops, ravenous. This is the kind of situation easily devoured by savvy marketing in Oscar land, and if I’m a rival contender, I’m remembering my Horace: “Seize the day.”

    But it’s a delicate balance. One doesn’t want to charge out and shoehorn into the discussion, lest you be tossed aside as mere garnish to the main course of these two films. However, playing it too cool and quiet isn’t the safest bet either, as an Oscar win is the culmination of built steam and sustained speed (which be in the form of a long drag or a quick burst of energy at the right during the right frame).

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  • London fest honors Boyle, announces award shortlist

    The 2010 London Film Festival only kicks off in two weeks’ time, but with press screenings having started on Monday, I’m already feeling the festival spirit. (Those of you who follow my Twitter feed may have noticed some 140-character reviews trickling through.)

    Without a major world premiere like “Frost/Nixon” or “Fantastic Mr. Fox” in this year’s lineup, the LFF looks to be a more local affair than recent editions, but they’re still luring in big-name visitors — some of them with the promise of more awards hardware.

    Today, LFF organizers revealed the 11-film shortlist for the festival’s second annual Best Film award, which will be determined by the eminently classy jury of president Patricia Clarkson, Sandy Powell, Gabriel Byrne and Shekhar Kapur. (Should be a cushier judging assignment for Kapur than his Cannes juror stint earlier this year.)

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  • ‘127 Hours,’ ‘Social Network’ up for Hollywood fest honors

    The press release, in part:

    The 14th Annual Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Awards, presented by Starz, are pleased to announce that producers Danny Boyle and Christian Colson will be honored with the “Hollywood Producer Award,” screenwriter Aaron Sorkin will get the “Hollywood Screenwriter Award,” and Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall will be honored with the “Hollywood Editor Award” at the festival’s Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony…

    “We are honored to recognize these exceptionally talented artists for their outstanding work and creative vision at this year’s Hollywood Awards Gala,” said [founder Carlos] de Abreu.

    Full list of honorees announced thus far after the jump.

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  • ‘Meek’s Cutoff,’ Franco top Toronto critics’ poll

    “The King’s Speech” may have come out on top with Toronto Film Festival audiences, but the critics — at least, the broad cross-section surveyed by indieWIRE in their annual post-festival poll — have other ideas. Kelly Reichardt’s period western “Meek’s Cutoff,” my own pick of the Venice fest, was voted film of the festival by a sizable margin, with 76 points to 58 for runner-up “127 Hours.”

    Of course, regular audiences will have to wait until 2011 to see what the fuss is about, but expect critical reaction to be as breathless when Oscilloscope eventually open Reichardt’s film. It’s too rarefied an arthouse item to get the awards attention it merits, of course, but no matter: I sense a future classic is being born.

    Higher-profile awards-season fare comes next on the list, with “Black Swan” and “The King’s Speech” all but tied for third place, while foreign-language titles finding their way into the top 10 include Palme d’Or champ “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives,” Venice prizewinners “Attenberg” and “Silent Souls.” and Canada’s probable Oscar submission “Incendies.”

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  • OSCAR TALK: Ep. 32 — What’s hot out of Toronto, ‘Social Network’ steals the thunder, ‘The Town’ comes out strong, ‘I’m Still Here’ has no clothes

    Oscar TalkWelcome to Oscar Talk.

    In case you’re new to the site and/or the podcast, Oscar Talk is a weekly kudocast, a one-stop awards chat shop between yours truly and Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood. The podcast is weekly, every Friday (except today) throughout the season, charting the ups and downs of contenders along the way. Plenty of things change on route to Oscar’s stage and we’re here to address it all as it unfolds.

    Apologies for the tardiness this time around. Anne has been in transit from Toronto and we kept missing our windows, but she’s back home now and we offer a little more for you to chew on this weekend. Let’s see what’s on the docket…

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  • 9/16 Oscarweb Round-up

    • Jacki Weaver talks “Animal Kingdom” downunder. [New Zealand Herald]

    • Rowan Joffe on how he conceived “The American” as “an almost parodic contemporary Western.” [Movieline]

    • Mark Romanek on music videos vs. movies. [Wall Street Journal]

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  • 9/14 Oscarweb Round-up

    • Ben Affleck discusses “The Town” across the pond. [Daily Telegraph]

    • The Best Picture race begins to take shape for Sasha Stone. [Awards Daily]

    • Michael Cieply talks to Kevin Spacey about his work as “Casino Jack” and his involvement with “The Social Network.” [New York Times]

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  • TIFF: ‘Passion Play’ inspires vitriol, ‘127 Hours’ keeps it steady, Estevez/Sheen back again, ‘Dagenham’ screens

    Moving along at Toronto, it seems Mitch Glazer’s “Passion Play,” which was as much for the director since he spent 20 years trying to get it made, was hung right out to dry and that Mickey Rourke can be knocked off of anyone’s list of awards hopefuls.

    David Poland calls the film “epically bad” and even suggests that the potential for a Megan Fox nude scene was probably the only thing keeping people from walking out.  Cinematical and eFilmCritic’s Erik Childress did just that, however.  He couldn’t take it.  Meanwhile, at Voice Film, Karina Longworth says “it’s hard to imagine that anyone will take [the film] nearly as seriously as it takes itself.”  What can you say?  It’s never a happy moment when someone works so hard at something so quickly and summarily dismissed.

    On the other end of the spectrum, Danny Boyle’s “127 Hours, continues to be welcomed with open arms.  Filmmaker Magazine called it “typically bravura filmmaking from Boyle. Both a celebration and a critique of solitude.”  MTV’s Josh Horowitz says it’s “an emotional wallop,” the LA Times’ Steven Zeitchik thinks it “elevated far above [a] typical rescue story by Boyle’s eye for detail and strategically deployed flash” and The Playlist’s Kevin Jagernath calls it “one of the best films of the year.”

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  • OSCAR TALK: Ep. 31 – Searchlight’s busy season, ‘The Way Back’ and a not so brave new world for similar filmmaking, Toronto anticipations

    Oscar TalkWelcome to Oscar Talk.

    In case you’re new to the site and/or the podcast, Oscar Talk is a weekly kudocast, a one-stop awards chat shop between yours truly and Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood. The podcast is weekly, every Friday throughout the season, charting the ups and downs of contenders along the way. Plenty of things change on route to Oscar’s stage and we’re here to address it all as it unfolds.

    Today Anne is calling from Toronto after a long journey from the Venice film festival, while I’m back home in LA following a great Telluride fest last weekend. We’re both able to talk from a more informed perspective on a number of the season’s hotly anticipated films, so let’s see what’s on the docket today…

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  • 9/8 Oscarweb Round-up

    • Jean-Luc Godard tells the Academy in a “cordial letter” that he may attend the Governor’s Awards if his schedule permits.  AMPAS feels need to convey this to you via press release (because no one wants to look like a stood-up date). [Oscars.org]

    • Launching a new season’s coverage, Steve Pond tries to make his September record 2-0 by predicting “The King’s Speech” for Oscar victory this year. [The Odds]

    • David Poland reassesses the field and warns against getting caught up in festival euphoria. [Movie City News]

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