In Contention

Tag: AFI Fest

  • 10/3 Oscarweb Round-up

    WALL-E• A clip from “Changeling.” [Oscar Watch]

    • And another. [The Envelope]

    • Or, if you prefer, the first five minutes of “Blindness.” [Yahoo! Movies]

    • David Poland breaks the news that “Che” will get its U.S. debut at AFI Fest here in Los Angeles — at the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. [The Hot Blog]

    • Tom O’Neil makes it clear that “Elegy” screeners only went to the AMPAS acting branch. [Gold Derby]

    • Rounding up the 50 greatest animated films of all time.  Further into the tank for “WALL-E.” [Rotten Tomatoes]

    • Famous cameos.  I heart the first one on the list. [The Independent]

    • David Thompson chats it up with “Burn After Reading” star Tilda Swinton. [The Guardian]

    • Has Dirty Harry become anti-cop? [The Big Picture]

    • Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen continue to make the rounds on “Appaloosa.” [USA Today]

    • Emily Parker goes head-to-head with a thoughtful Fernando Meirelles. [Wall Street Journal]

    • Glenn Kenny doesn’t care about what you don’t care about. [Some Came Running]

    • The Big Apple’s finest thespians. [New York Magazine]

  • ‘Defiance’ set for AFI Fest

    Edward Zwick in DefianceWe’ve been hinting at a big bow for this year’s American Film Institute Festival for some time now.  We haven’t been able to come clean on it, but the news is official today: Edward Zwick’s World War II drama “Defiance” will drop on November 9 as the closing night gala.

    From the press release:

    This will mark Zwick’s second appearance at AFI FEST, having previewed scenes and discussed his work on BLOOD DIAMOND, prior to the film’s opening in 2006.

    “As part of the AFI family, I am deeply honored they have chosen DEFIANCE, a ten year labor of love, as their closing night film,” stated Zwick. “As a student at the AFI, I was encouraged to tell stories with meaning and purpose and I have tried to hold onto that belief in my career.”

    “AFI FEST is honored to host the World Premiere of DEFIANCE at AFI FEST. The event symbolizes the very heart of the American Film Institute – to train the next generation of filmmakers and then have them come home to premiere a film of the highest artistic ideals,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI’s President and CEO.

    I’ll be covering AFI Fest here in Los Angeles for the full stretch.  And also a reminder, Guy Lodge will be covering the London fest for us here next month.  We’re in the thick of festival season now!

  • OFF THE CARPET: Indies on the march

    (from left) Evan Rachel Wood and Mickey Rourke in The WrestlerMaybe mid-way through the Toronto Film Festival, two things are strikingly clear: Darren Aronofsky has the goods with “The Wrestler” and Danny Boyle’s streak of successful versatility at the helm continues with “Slumdog Millionaire.”

    Both films, which enjoy pre-Toronto success at Venice and Telluride respectfully, are also evidence that surprises will happen this time of year.  And with an uncharacteriztically level playing field in Toronto this year, we should be thankful they are getting a fair shake.

    One of them is set for distribution, however, while the other is waiting out a buyer.  But will “The Wrestler” find a home and see a release in 2008 or will an awards-heavy distributor pick it up and save it for a rainy day in 2009’s awards season?

    Both options are on the table, it’s just a matter of who bites first, and what they bring to the table.

    On the horizon, everyone is awaiting their post-Toronto peeks at films like “Australia,” “Revolutionary Road,” “Milk” (landing a trailer this week) and “The Soloist.”  David Fincher’s 20 minutes of footage from “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” may have been caught off guard by over-zealous bloggers in Telluride, but the damage may not have been as considerable as some may have thought.

    Speaking of “The Soloist,” chatter is making its way out of the Paramount camp that Robert Downey Jr. is outstanding as LA Times columnist Steve Lopez and hopes are high for a Best Actor nomination.  And as far as “Milk” is concerned, prognosticators may have the wrong idea going in as to which supporting performance has the awards-worthy chops.  More on that at a later date.

    (more…)

  • A note on IC’s festival season coverage

    We’re in the midst of the Telluride and Venice film festivals at the moment, and though we don’t have correspondents on the ground, we’ll be bringing you updates as we can suss them out.  But a quick reminder of what we will be offering over the next couple of months.

    John will start his Toronto coverage on Thursday.  He’ll be updating daily with quick thoughts on the goings on.  I’ve been catching some Toronto films here in L.A. so I’ll be reviewing in tandem.

    Guy Lodge, meanwhile, will be covering the London Film Festival for us, which begins October 15.  The full schedule for the fest hasn’t been revealed yet (coming on September 10), but we do know that Ron Howard’s “Frost/Nixon” will have its world debut there.

    Finally, I’ll be overing the AFI Fest here in Los Angeles.  The festivities begin on October 30 and will take us into November.  Again, no schedule yet, though I do know one major Oscar contender expected to bow at the fest…stay tuned.