In Contention

Tag: Benicio Del Toro

  • Paramount and Lionsgate do it up pre-Globes

    Tobey Maguire in BrothersThere will be a number of post-Golden Globes parties tonight — Summit, Warner Bros., Fox, Weinstein, etc. — but a pair of studios did it up Saturday night in honor of their nominees.

    First at the Chateau Marmont, Paramount toasted its stable with a star-studded, paparazzi-snapping affair.  Actually, it wasn’t the least bit comfortable.  Talk about over-invited.  In the inner sanctum, surrounded by Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Benicio Del Toro, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Mike Tyson (who wasn’t on the list, but would you turn him away?), George Clooney, Chris Pine, Tobey Maguire, etc., breathing, let alone moving more than two inches, was a chore.  Jason Reitman was on hand early on but had to take off for the LAFCA gala before long.  Luckily, he missed that fire hazard.

    I got a few seconds with Farmiga, who was excited to say hello to Scorsese again.  Anne Kendrick and her beau Edgar Wright smartly made their way to a secondary room at one point where we had a nice chat.  Wright was, of course, being hit up by “Scott Pilgrim” queries left and right.  From the youngsters, that is.  The crowd was largely, shall we say, octogenarian.  Plenty of HFPA and Academy members scattered throughout.  And Kendrick, bless her heart, didn’t even want to talk about the “O-word.”

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  • The Great Performances: 2000

    Tom Hanks in Cast AwayMichael Douglas was robbed.

    The already Oscar-christened actor gave a career-best performance in 2000 in Curtis Hanson’s “Wonder Boys,” but he got no love from the Academy. Worse, his performance was easily among the five best of the year and won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Actor prize.

    That having been said, I don’t think Douglas actually deserved the Oscar in 2000.  That honor belonged to Tom Hanks in “Cast Away” for a performance that was nothing less than astounding. For two and a half hours Hanks commands the screeen, moving into silent film territory for a stretch, the actor using strictly his body and face for the performance. Anyone who has ever, and I mean ever, doubted his range needs to take a hard look at this film.

    The five nominees for Best Actor in 2000 were Hanks, Russell Crowe for “Gladiator,” Ed Harris in “Pollock,” Geoffrey Rush in “Quills” and Javier Bardem in “Before Night Falls.” For me, Douglas was the most glaring omission, followed by George Clooney’s Gable-esque work in “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” which I think remains one of the actor’s very best pieces of work.

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  • Great performers at their best

    Tom Cruise in MagnoliaAfter spending some time this summer watching some excellent films on DVD, I was inspired to write this piece about the great actors’ (living, with one exception) greatest performances.

    Narrowing it down to one each (brutal, believe me), I think have come up with a list of actors, young and old, that represents some of the finest talent working in film over the last 40 years, and selected the performance I believe each will be remembered for. This is obviously a subjective endeavor, so if you feel different, tell us why.

    Let’s dive in…

    Jack Nicholson
    Jack is not often given the credit for being the brilliant actor he is because we far too often expect him to be “just Jack.” But when he puts his actor’s hat on there simply may not be a greater actor in film history. For me he was never better than he was as Randall Patrick McMurphy in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” which is a breathtaking piece of work. Watch him when he’s not speaking and see the emotion he packs into this astonishing piece of acting.

    Meryl Streep
    There is no question here for me. As concentration camp survivor Sophie in “Sophie’s Choice,” Streep gave not only her best performance, but the single finest performance ever given by a woman, in my view. That terrifying silent scream paralyzes the viewer with heartache and dare I say, shame. Sophie may have survived the camp, but she walks through her life more dead than alive because her soul was left behind and somehow Streep conveys that to the audience.

    Robert Duvall
    This is a tough call because Duvall was so good in “Apocalypse Now,” but I think his best work was in “The Apostle” as a preacher challenged by his own flaws and forced to atone for his sins. A volcanic performance in which Duvall never seems to stop moving or speaking.

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  • ‘The Wolf Man’ moves to 2010

    Benicio Del Toro in The Wolf ManThis is kind of a bummer.  I was actually really looking forward to “The Wolf Man,” starring Benicio Del Toro in the classic monster role and sure to be a showcase for makeup artist Rick Baker (not to mention design heads Rick Heinrichs and Milena Canonero.

    Today we get this, courtesy of ShockTillYouDrop.com:

    You’ll have to wait a bit longer to see Benicio Del Toro howl at the moon as The Wolfman.

    Universal Pictures is pushing the film out of its November 6th slot and placing it on February 12, 2010. That’s one week after the release of the creature feature The Cabin in the Woods by Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon.

    We can’t tell you exactly why Universal has made the shift. It could be due to the additional shooting that occurred earlier this year that reportedly involved FX artist Rick Baker. The radical release date bumps (original from April to November now next year) don’t bode well buzz-wise. Here’s hoping for the best!

    Ah well. Update your predictions, I guess, but it’s a shame this couldn’t be positioned as a Halloween event.

  • The Stooges are set

    Why does this project look like an absolute failure waiting to happen?  And strangely, only Penn seems to fit here.  Del Toro really doesn’t work for me in the role of Moe and there’s something, I don’t know…off about Carrey as Curly, but we’ll see what they come up with.

    Variety reports the casting news here.  Brad from Rope of Silicon has slapped together a nice Photoshopped image of the actors in character here:

    (from left) Jim Carrey, Benicio Del Toro and Sean Penn as The Three Stooges

  • 2/2 Oscarweb Round-up

    Martin Scorsese• How “The Wrestler” is rescuing professional wrestling. [The Independent]

    • Kim Voynar on spinning against the frontrunner. [Movie City News]

    • Michael Cieply writes up the Oscarcast as a production struggling to be exciting in the wake of an under-seen slate of nominees. [New York Times]

    • According to Christopher Nolan at the DGA Awards, should Heath Ledger win the Oscar, his family will accept the award on his behalf. [Entertainment Weekly]

    • An Italian office worker is claiming “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” was based on a story she wrote 15 years ago and she’s not happy about it. [The Hollywood Reporter]

    • Nathaniel Rogers has a post-SAG podcast discussion with a few friends.  The topics are too many to list here, but have a listen. [The Film Experience]

    • Scorsese + Day-Lewis + Del Toro = Oscar in the very near future? [Variety]

    • 10 documentaries Hollywood should make into dramatic features, including “Blessed is the Match,” similarly suggested in this space last week. [Spout Blog]

  • Could Benicio Del Toro sneak into the Best Actor race?

    Benicio Del Toro in CheThe first time I saw “Che” back in September at the Toronto International Film Festival I believed the performance of Benicio Del Toro was extraordinary and the film was one of the most exceptional achievements in modern cinema. For me, “Che” works as a massive work at more than four hours and exists because of Del Toro’s mesmerizing performance which is almost wholly internal. I have seen the film again on DVD twice and actually have come to admire the work even more than I did that first time.

    Here we are in January, the Oscar nominations one day away, and I have a sneaking feeling Del Toro could end up with a lead actor nomination, which would thrill me. No idea why I think this, and I am likely dead wrong, but something in the air I guess tells me it might happen. The film and the director have no chance, I have resigned myself to that (and I understand it), but Del Toro is a revered actor and the actors’ branch just might nominate him because they, more than anyone else, will understand the depth and quality of his superb performance.

    I do not mean for a moment that others do not get his performance, but I have had discussions with other critics who have stated that the work has no great moment, no arc, no major speeches. Perhaps not, but rarely have I seen an actor so totally own the role.  Del Toro inhabits the character with an extraordinary authority.

    Why does a performance have to have some “huge moment” to slide in?  Look at Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thomson in “The Remains of the Day”.”  Emotions stifled, performances were internal.  Sometimes the acting, the greatness of it, is not in what’s being shown but what’s being felt.

    Del Toro felt Che throughout and is deserving of attention, certainly much more than he is getting.  The Academy likes him enough.  There is no doubt in anyone’s mind he is a great actor and every once in a while they smile on a performance that deserves it, catching us off guard.

    If it doesn’t happen, well, them’s the breaks, but I will always champion the film and his work.  It is not a perfect film by any means, but may it be a perfect performance.

  • ‘Wrestler’ leads with five OFCS nominations

    (from left) Evan Rachel Wood and Mickey Rourke in The WrestlerA little late coming around to the Online Film Critics Society nominations, but eh, nothing terribly unique about them, beyond mentions for Benicio Del Toro in lead actor and “The Wrestler” in Best Pic (which led the field with five nominations).  I also like the novel choice of “Let the Right One In” as an adapted screenplay nominee (well, not THAT novel).

    It’s interesting to note a total lack of acting nominations for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”

    Best Picture
    “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
    “The Dark Knight”
    “Slumdog Millionaire”
    “WALL-E”
    “The Wrestler”

    Best Director
    Darren Aronofsky, “The Wrestler”
    Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”
    David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
    Christopher Nolan, “The Dark Knight”
    Andrew Stanton, “WALL-E”

    (More after the jump.)

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  • 12/17 Oscarweb Round-up

    Roger Ebert• Jeff Wells knows how to fix “Valkyrie” after the fact. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • John Campea suffers through the worst films of the year. [The Movie Blog]

    • Scientists claim that real-life relationships can’t live up to those in the movies. [Daily Telegraph]

    • Rob Turbovsky says biopics are hijacking real life for narrative gain. [Rope of Silicon]

    • David Poland spends 30 minutes with “Che” star Benicio Del Toro. [The Hot Blog]

    • Kelley L. Carter reports from Monday night’s rainy “Revolutionary Road” premiere. [USA Today]

    • Roger Ebert gets lifetime honorary membership in the DGA. [Associated Press]

    • Reed Johnson covers the making of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” [The Envelope]

    • Mark Olsen, meanwhile, catches up with David Kross and his coming of age in “The Reader.” [The Envelope]

    • Tom O’Neil finally gets around to why Hugh Jackman is the perfect choice for Oscar host. [Gold Derby]

    • Dave Karger makes a sound argument for the Best Picture exclusion of “Doubt” and “Revolutionary Road” with 42 West honcho Cynthia Swartz’s stretch for a counter argument based totally on things that…haven’t happened yet. [Entertainment Weekly]

    • Karina Longworth lists the top 10 unreleased films of the year. [Spout Blog]

  • 12/16 Oscarweb Round-up

    Jeff Goldblum• Jeff Wells shows his annual true colors, wants to know who should be taken down a peg of the agreed-upon Oscar contenders. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • Tom O’Neil reports on a leaked Academy screener. [Gold Derby]

    • David Carr boils the season down to a couple of “mortal locks.” [The Carpetbagger]

    • Todd Longwell profiles NBR award-winning “Gran Torino” scribe Nick Schenk. [Hollywood Reporter]

    • Xan Brooks says his heart goes out to newly chosen Oscar host Hugh Jackman, whose hands are certainly full. [The Guardian]

    • Susan Wloszczyna catches up with “The Wrestler” star Mickey Rourke on the set of “13.” [USA Today]

    • Chris Sullivan profiles “Che” star Benicio Del Toro. [The Independent]

    • One reason might be because you’re an editor-in-chief and would be moving into the territory of your publication’s critics, but what do I know? [Peter Bart]

    • Christopher Campbell calls for some notice for “Milk” supporting actor Diego Luna. [Spout Blog]

    • Bilge Ebiri talks to Jeff Goldblum about his role in “Adam Resurrected,” among other things. [Vulture]

    • Dave Karger could chat all day with “Last Chance Harvey” star Dustin Hoffman. [Entertainment Weekly]

  • ‘Che’ — no respect in the precursor circuit so far

    Benicio Del Toro in Che“Nothing if not the movie of the year,” wrote Scott Foundas in LA Weekly.

    “One of the best films of the year,” declared Roger Ebert.

    “A great movie,” says J. Hoberman of the Village Voice.  “Che is a thing to be experienced.”

    “The film that places Steven Soderbergh in the ranks of the masters,” raved Amy Taubin at Film Comment.

    “An experience you won’t forget,” said Peter Travers of Rolling Stone.  “Benicio Del Toro gives a magnificent performance. No one who cares about organic film acting will want to miss it. He keeps you riveted.”

    And finally, “Del Toro gives a soulful and charismatic performance,” according to A.O. Scott of The New York Times.

    So, with all this critical approval, why is Soderbergh’s film “Che” not being appropriately considered among the year end critics awards, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and, therefore, not being discussed as a favored Oscar contender?  Here is a magnificent achievement from a world class filmmaker that breaks down the conventions of mainstream cinema (which he knows all too well) and challenges the audiences with its deliberate pacing and involving character study.  Unhurried, Soderbergh is telling a story in great detail with perhaps the greatest detail being an astounding performance from Del Toro.

    I have long championed this film since seeing the four-and-a-half-hour cut at this year’s Toronto fest.  But here in December, I find myself struggling to understand why such a masterful film is not a part of the discussion, and moreover, why critics on each coast did not take the opportunity to put it in the conversation with their annual awards announcements.

    I am incensed that Soderbergh, already an Oscar-winning director, is not being mentioned as a potential nominee again for this singular achievement. It’s certainly not mainstream cinema on any level, and it takes a great investment from the viewer of course, but once the film began, I found myself pulled in by the superb performances and cinematography.  As did a number of esteemed critics.  So what gives?

    Surely SAG and the DGA will come forward and recognize this work for what it is?  “Che” was stronger than at least half the Golden Globe nominees. Soderbergh created a masterpiece and so few perople actually know about it.  It’s shameful.

  • 11/29 Oscarweb Round-up

    Slim pickings today, but then what did you expect? Think of this as your leftover turkey sandwich.

    • The estimable Michael Wilmington goes to bat for “Australia” in a big way. [Movie City News]

    • Meryl Streep discusses her “career renaissance.” Uh, when did her career ever fade? [Los Angeles Times]

    • Simon Hattenstone talks to Benicio Del Toro, concludes he’s “Hollywood’s finest mumbler since Brando.” [The Guardian]

    • Here’s a refreshingly un-PC list: the top 10 movies (and TV series) that made us want to smoke. [Premiere]

    • Jeff Wells looks into the mysterious disappearance of Sean Penn from Wayne Kramer’s “Crossing Over.” [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • David Poland chats to two extraordinary ladies: Michelle Williams and Kristin Scott Thomas. Our interview with the latter will appear next week, by the way. [The Hot Blog]

    • John Campea digs into that old chestnut — the iffy movie careers of the “Friends” cast — but curiously fails to mention “The Opposite of Sex” or “The Good Girl.” C’mon, credit where it’s due. [The Movie Blog]

    • Well, at least “In Bruges” has won something. [Irish Times]

  • Why ‘Che’ is a great film, but not Oscar material

    CheMost biographical films tend to play like sort of a “greatest hits” of that person’s life, and sadly much of the negative of that life is left out. Sir Richard Attenborough is most guilty of this with “Gandhi,” his hugely overrated epic about the Mahatma, who did everything short of walking on water in the film. The man was human, and by all historical accounts, had his issues, yet not one of them is in the film.

    Hollywood has been making biopics like that years. Anyone remember the final moments of “Man of a Thousand Faces,” the story of Lon Chaney, the great silent screen actor as portrayed by James Cagney?  Despite a pretty decent performance, the movie is ruined by a howler of an ending in which a dying Chaney scribbles “Jr.” beside his name on his make-up kit, thereby giving his son his blessing to go into the business.

    Anyone who knows anything about the two Chaneys knows that senior did NOT want his boy anywhere near the movie business. “Gable and Lombard” and “W.C. Fields and Me” anyone? Jeez Louise, what a terrible pair of films with no connection to the lives of the subjects within.

    In recent years biopics have gotten marginally better with “Malcolm X” and “Nixon” leading the way from directors that refused to candy coat their subjects and allowed them to be portrayed warts and all. Of course, Martin Scorsese did this with “Raging Bull,” but the entire point of his film was about a man forever shadow boxing with his own demons, unable to find decency within himself.

    I quite liked what Meryl Streep and Sam Neill accomplsihed with their characters in “A Cry in the Dark,” never romanticizing them or allowing them to become overly likable for the audience. That sort of realism, to me, is exciting. To see real life people portrayed with their flaws.  It’s real, accurate, truthful.  This humanizes them.  This makes them people, not things.

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  • AFI FEST: ‘Hunger,’ ‘Che’

    Benicio Del Toro in CheFour days and three screenings into the 2008 AFI Fest, I’m one-for-two and looking to add to the “win” column as much as possible in the next week.  It hit me this afternoon, though, that no two films could be better suited to an introductory update from the festival, two exercises in subverting the conventions of the biopic.  One succeeds, one fails, but both maintain a certain spirit that you don’t find in the work of many filmmakers today.  And interestingly, both are set for distribution by the always courageous IFC Films.

    Let’s dive in…

    “HUNGER” (***1/2)
    Who the hell is Steve McQueen anyway?  Talk about bursting onto the scene out of nowhere — with what could have been an unfortunate namesake — and carving a spot for yourself that no one will soon dispute.  “Hunger” is one of the year’s best films, a curiously intimate dissection of the blanket, no wash and hunger protests of IRA prisoners held at HM Maze Prison in Lisburn, Northern Ireland in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

    Spearheaded by a committed (to say the least) performance from Michael Fassbender, the film may be the most visually dynamic effort to hit cinemas in 2008.  McQueen deservedly won the Caméra d’Or (for best first feature) at this year’s Cannes International Film Festival, but a case might have been made for a technical citation for lenser Sean Bobbitt.  He captures the most mundane and intimate moments with an epic craftsman’s touch, guided no doubt by McQueen’s own preoccupation with lingering in this most uncomfortable — and unfortunate — of settings.

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  • LONDON: A note on ‘Che’

    Since its contentious debut at Cannes in May, Steven Soderbergh’s “Che” has attained a  reputation in certain quarters as some kind of intimidating four-hour monolith, even a grand folly. The 252-minute running time is invariably the first detail given about the film, a figure that seems to awe and repel people in equal measure.

    So it was interesting, at the London Film Festival, to watch “Che” in the format Soderbergh originally intended, and as it will eventually be distributed in wide release: as two separate films screened, in this instance, two days apart.

    I think it’s the right way to go, not from a commercial perspective (though probably that too), but an artistic one. For “Che” is no simple, single sprawl that has been bisected, miniseries-style. We’re talking about two individual, self-standing movies here, each one distinct in rhythm, tone and texture. Watching “Guerrilla” (Part Two) this afternoon, after “The Argentine” (Part One) had been knocking around in my head for 48 hours, gave me the appropriate distance to reflect on the changes that occurred in the man in the gap between the two narratives; I got the sense I was watching a life in progress.

    Both films are fine, muscular feats of storytelling, utterly compelling through their accumulation of military and domestic detail. There’s also a preoccupation with landscape here that recalls the earthy stateliness of 1970’s European art cinema — the Taviani brothers kept coming to mind for some reason, though they never made anything remotely similar. Despite the running time, barely a scene in either film feels wasted — if anyone’s life bears such intense scrutiny, after all, it’s Guevara’s.

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  • ‘The Soloist’ moves into 2009

    Jamie Foxx in The SoloistWell, I made my calls (since that Nikki is a kook), and yep, it looks like “The Soloist” is being pushed to March of 2009.  Opening the film there is “more fiscally sound” I’m told, but that’s to be expected.  With “The Road” looking to move to 2009 as well, this has become the best week of news for Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood, Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro, all fringe Best Actor hopefuls that have a fighting chance now that Robert Downey Jr. and Viggo Mortensen have exited stage left.

    It’s probably for the best on one hand, since Downey’s shooting schedule for “Sherlock Holmes” in London was going to interfere with the junket dates for “The Soloist” and he wasn’t expected to be here.  Kind of hard to launch a Best Actor campaign if your lead actor can’t participate in the major press exercises.  The possibility is still floating for an Oscar qualifying run, but it doesn’t look good.

    Also reported, “Defiance” will get a shift into late December for an Oscar qualifying run with a wide bow held for January 2009.  Makes sense.  Lots of Christmas drama to contend with this year: Pitt, Will Smith, Keanu Reeves.

    Both films will still play the AFI Fest next month.

    Boy…the charts sure are gonna get a work-over on Monday.

  • 9/19 Oscarweb Round-up

    Benicio Del Toro• Peter Sciretta wraps up the Toronto Fest, live from Fantastic Fest.  It’s that time of the year… [/Film]

    • Oscar winner Diablo Cody responds to the haters: “I like my fake name.  It’s engraved on an Oscar.  Yours isn’t.” [MySpace]

    • Mark Olsen apparently reported over a week ago that Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker” will not be released by Summit Entertainment until 2009 and no one knew about it. [Los Angeles Times]

    • The news kind of sucks for Sasha Stone’s latest Oscar column thesis… [Awards Daily]

    • …while it seems a questionable move to Jeffrey Wells. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • Jeffrey Anderson runs down the best of Keira Knightley’s costume epics. [Cinematical]

    • Kevin Kelly talks to “Waltz with Bashir” star/director Ari Folman. [Spout Blog]

    • Lou Lumenick wonders if Heath Ledger’s legacy can equal that of James Dean beyond the inevitable Oscar nomination and Halloween get-ups (I know that’s my costume this year…the only reason I haven’t cut my hair since May). [Lumenick on Film]

    • Karl Rozemeyer talks to “Appaloosa” star Viggo Mortensen… [Premiere]

    • …as well as “Che” star Benicio Del Toro. [Premiere]

    • Alan Moore will be “spitting venom all over” Zack Snyder’s “Watchmen.” [Hero Complex]

  • Best Actor race looking tight as always — expect surprises

    Leonardo DiCaprio in Revolutionary RoadThe Best Actor category tends to be one of the more crowded categories come Oscar time, and 2008 looks to be no exception. To be sure, there are a handful of frontrunners as usual, but hovering behind them are another group, more than eight who could easily sneak in and nab a nomination. Last year Tommy Lee Jones was nominated for his powerful work in “The Valley of Elah,” a richly deserved nod, but completely unexpected by the majority of prognosticators.  I remember smiling when I heard his name read, but it was a huge surprise.

    I would expect something similar this year, as we have some of the great  actors and potentially stunning performances in contention.

    The obvious frontrunner at this point is Mickey Rourke, basking in the attention being given to “The Wrestler.”  His performance is nothing short of miraculous, an astounding piece of acting, and it is great to see him back in the fold.  But when it comes to winning the award, I have to say: not a chance. Rourke is intensely disliked in Hollywood.  He’s seen as someone who basically spit on the industry to walk away and become a boxer. As a friend close to Rourke said, “A lot of people were happy when he left and don’t want this guy back.”

    Frank Langella looks to be terrific in the trailers for “Frost/ Nixon.”  He has always been a great actor, better known for his stage work than film, though in the last few years he has become a formidable presence on the big screen. I remember seeing him as “Dracula” both on stage and on film in the late 1970s and hoped he would go far. He did, just not in the movies, until recently.

    Kris has Michael Sheen down as a lead actor possibility as well, and I agree. It’s one of those “Amadeus” situations where one performance cannot exist without the other. There is a strong chance that if the film and the actors are terrific, both of them will be nominated, though Langella certainly has the showier role of the two.

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