In Contention

Tag: Best Documentary Feature

  • Toback charges Oscar doc committee with “extortion”

    James TobackAs I wrote yesterday about the Best Documentary Feature shortlist, I didn’t think the list’s much-ballyhooed omissions were indicative of much more than the rather particular tastes of one Academy branch. That, and perhaps an inclination to shine a light on worthy, but lower-profile, work.

    Not everyone feels the same way, however — not least James Toback, director of one the most surprisingly slighted titles, “Tyson.” Speaking to the New York Times, Toback (a one-time Oscar nominee for his “Bugsy” screenplay) has made some rather astonishing insinuations about “irregularities” in the voting process:

    At a time when the validity of even presidential elections is questioned, Mr. Toback said, “how is some tiny, dirty covert weirdly protective little group within the Academy going to be immune?”

    Pressed for details, Mr. Toback said only that he had experienced something connected with the selections process, “which I put fully in the category of extortion that I did not go along with.”

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  • 11/20 Oscarweb Round-up

    Michael Keaton• With his directorial debut “The Merry Gentleman” on the way, Michael Keaton gets a profile across the pond. [The Guardian]

    • Laura Almo sits down with “Up in the Air” editor Dana Glauberman. [Editors Guild Magazine]

    • “Avatar”‘s Sigourney Weaver remembers the days when James Cameron’s crews didn’t live in fear. [Vulture]

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  • Thoughts on the Oscar doc list

    Agnes Varda in The Beaches of AgnesPerhaps inevitably, the bulk of online chatter about the Best Documentary Feature shortlist unveiled yesterday focused less on the films that made it, and more on those that didn’t.

    It’s par for the course for the Academy’s documentary branch to ignore a major title or two, but even by their severe standards, the list of high-profile snubs was a long one: “Capitalism: A Love Story,” “Anvil! The Story of Anvil,” “Tyson,” “The September Issue,” “We Live in Public,” “It Might Get Loud,” “Rough Aunties” and so on.

    But for every blogger or commenter complaining about the dubiousness of the list, I can’t fight the urge to ask whether or not they’ve seen all 15 titles that have been included. In these cases, it’s always easier to say what should have got in than what should have been left out.

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  • AMPAS announces doc feature short list, ‘Anvil,’ ‘Capitalism’ snubbed

    The CoveYou can check out the full press release here.  The list of 15 competing titles as follows:

    • “The Beaches of Agnes,” Agnès Varda, director (Cine-Tamaris)
    • “Burma VJ,” Anders Østergaard, director (Magic Hour Films)
    • “The Cove,” Louie Psihoyos, director (Oceanic Preservation Society)
    • “Every Little Step,” James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo, directors (Endgame Entertainment)
    • “Facing Ali,” Pete McCormack, director (Network Films Inc.)
    • “Food, Inc.,” Robert Kenner, director (Robert Kenner Films)
    • “Garbage Dreams,” Mai Iskander, director (Iskander Films, Inc.)
    • “Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders,” Mark N. Hopkins, director (Red Floor Pictures LLC)
    • “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers,” Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith, directors (Kovno Communications)
    • “Mugabe and the White African,” Andrew Thompson and Lucy Bailey, directors (Arturi Films Limited)
    • “Sergio,” Greg Barker, director (Passion Pictures and Silverbridge Productions)
    • “Soundtrack for a Revolution,” Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman, directors (Freedom Song Productions)
    • “Under Our Skin,” Andy Abrahams Wilson, director (Open Eye Pictures)
    • “Valentino The Last Emperor,” Matt Tyrnauer, director (Acolyte Films)
    • “Which Way Home,” Rebecca Cammisa, director (Mr. Mudd)

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  • ‘Cove’ misses out on IDA Awards nod

    Afghan StarA couple of things struck me as noteworthy on the list of nominees revealed yesterday by the International Documentary Association, which Kris mentioned briefly in this morning’s round-up.

    The five films nominated by the IDA for Best Documentary Feature include “Afghan Star,” “Anvil! The Story of Anvil,” “Diary of a Times Square Thief,” “Food, Inc.” and “Mugabe and the White African.”

    Having admittedly only seen three of the five, I’d call that a pretty respectable list. Still, notably absent from the list is the film that many see as the prohibitive favorite for the Oscar: Louie Psihoyos’s environmental doc “The Cove.” (Certainly, when offering your own predictions earlier this week, only four of you bet on anything else.)

    In a year that has lacked a crossover documentary phenomenon on the scale of last year’s “Man on Wire,” it’s been widely presumed that “The Cove”‘s vastly sympathetic cause and high-profile champions would be enough to seal the deal, particularly when Michael Moore’s “Capitalism: A Love Story” failed to catch on.

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  • Foreign watch: UK enters ‘Afghan Star,’ ‘Reykjavik’ remake

    Afghan StarTwo interesting news tidbits relating to the Best Foreign Language Film race surfaced yesterday, the first of which is the United Kingdom’s bold, wholly unexpected decision to submit Havana Marking’s acclaimed documentary “Afghan Star” as their entry.

    The news is surprising for a number of reasons. It’s the first time the UK has submitted a documentary in the race — perhaps the selectors were inspired by the groundbreaking nomination of “Waltz With Bashir” in the category earlier this year.

    Moreover, the Afghanistan-centered film — which contains dialogue in English, Dari and Pashtun — marks a dramatic change from the Welsh-language features that BAFTA almost always puts forward for Oscar consideration. (Few people give the Brits much thought in this category, but they’ve actually been nominated twice before: for “Hedd Wyn” in 1993 and “Solomon and Gaenor” in 1999.)

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  • 28 docs boost their Oscar profile at DocuWeeks

    Racing DreamsFor documentaries, qualifying for Oscar consideration can be a rough ride. Academy rules stipulate that a film must at least enjoy a week-long theatrical run, in both New York and Los Angeles, to be eligible — which can be a tall order for tiny movies on tricky subjects.

    So — acting as a kind of fairy godmother to independent documentary makers struggling for exposure — we have DocuWeeks, a three-week-long showcase sponsored by the International Documentary Association, in which a selection of features and shorts screen on both coasts. In doing so, they both qualify for the Academy awards and raise their profile to potential voters.

    It’s a nifty tradition that has already seen 16 films go on to make the Oscar ballot, including 2007’s winning feature  “Taxi to the Dark Side” and last year’s champ in the short race, “Smile Pinki.”

    This year sees a total of 28 films — 18 features and 10 shorts — in the DocuWeeks lineup, so it seems safe to wager that we’ll be hearing more about at least some of them as the awards season progresses. I admit I don’t keep up the documentary side of things as much as I should, so I know next to nothing about most of the inclusions in the globally diverse group.

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  • Rock me gently

    Anvil! The Story of AnvilAlong with a lot of viewers, it seems, Jeff Wells has fallen hard for the sweetly sad rock documentary “Anvil! The Story of Anvil” — and demands that the Academy take notice:

    How can Sacha Gervasi’s Anvil! The Story of Anvil not wind up being nominated for Best Feature Documentary Oscar? It’s got heart, it’s about over-the-hill, down-on-their-luck artists getting their groove back, it’s well made, it’s connecting with audiences, it’s funny, it’s lowbrow-highbrow. How can Academy’s doc committee ignore it?

    Who doesn’t love Anvil!?

    Yours truly, for one — though I wish I did. Much like Ramin Bahrani’s “Goodbye Solo,” which I discussed recently, I saw “Anvil!” in a festival context last autumn, kinda liked it, completely forgot about it, and am now a bit befuddled by the rapturous critical reception it has received.

    I’m not completely resistant to its charms — as I wrote back in October, it’s a witty, compassionate piece of work with a keen eye for absurd detail. What it didn’t succeed in doing was to make me care more than fleetingly about the affably deluded, self-oriented figures at its centre; not having much interest in their music, I didn’t find the band members particularly compelling as personalities either, which for me meant the film never rose above the anecdotally diverting.

    Perhaps I need to give it another go. But if there aren’t five better documentaries released in the course of 2009, I’ll be both surprised and a little disappointed. In the meantime, feel free to tell me what I’m missing.

  • Oscar underdog ‘The Garden’

    I was just listening to this NPR piece on documentary feature nominee “The Garden,” an affecting film with a gut-wrenching conclusion that I’ve already said could be in the thick of the hunt for an upset with literally all the other contenders.  But what really caught my eye was this comment on the NPR page:

    Dear Carrie, I listened to this segment today and I was blown away. What’s more, I was surprised the story blew me away. I’m not much into the Oscars, but learning about the plight of these immigrant farmers in SoCal really opened my eyes. You are a skilled and talented story teller. I will listen more intently for your segments in the future. Thank you!

    And it made me remember just how much of an important and, keyword, LOCAL story this really is.  The doc has some celebrity appearances, since it was such an activist issue, so maybe there’s some industry support for the film lying in wait.  Just keep an eye on that category, that’s all I’m saying.  At least one person seems to be taking a dive for “Trouble the Water,” so who knows…

  • How did ‘Man on Wire’ become the favorite in a field of superior documentary features?

    Man on WireIt often seems that when there isn’t an obvious, populist pick in the Academy’s documentary feature category (such as “Bowling for Columbine,” “March of the Penguins” or “An Inconvenient Truth”), the field is rife for an upset.  Last year a number of awards watchers were sure that either “No End in Sight” or “Sicko” would walk away the winner, while maybe five of us new the power of “Taxi to the Dark Side” would prevail.  “Born Into Brothels” caught a few by surprise in a year that a great many thought would see “Super Size Me” take the gold.

    “Murder on a Sunday Morning” over “Children Underground,” “One Day in September” over “Buena Vista Social Club,” it seems there is always something of a surprise waiting to happen here, and I think it’s because the groupthink always takes such a vigorous hold in a category with little precursor clues as to what the actual film industry thinks of the field.

    This year, it’s a foregone conclusion that the critically acclaimed “Man on Wire” will win the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.  The film has nearly swept the circuit.  Only “Trouble the Water” (also nominated) and Guy Maddin’s “My Winnipeg” have popped up with this critics organization or that.  But I submit that, not only is “Man on Wire” quite vulnerable, but it may be the least likely of the nominated docs to win the Oscar in a little less than two weeks’ time.

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  • INTERVIEW: ‘Man on Wire’ director James Marsh

    James MarshIt’s a rare achievement, but through the ups and downs the last fortnight’s precursors, one film has failed to miss a beat, landing gongs from the New York, Los Angeles and Washington critics, as well as the NBR and the British Independents, not to mention Indie Spirit and BFCA nominations.

    That film would be “Man On Wire,” James Marsh’s crisp, witty and ultimately very moving documentary about Philippe Petit, the charismatic French performance artist who in 1974 committed the so-called “artistic crime of the century” — an illegal tightrope walk between the Twin Towers of the New York’s World Trade Center. Despite being what some might have seen as a niche project, it has emerged as one of the most acclaimed films (a Metacritic score of 89 speaks for itself), not to mention one of the top-grossing documentaries, of the year.

    Marsh, for one, admits to being a bit taken aback to his film’s dizzying trajectory. “It‘s both a thrill and a surprise,” he tells me on the phone, taking a breather from the deadline-driven editing of his new film. “It’s a great, hopeful story, but there’s such a tragic connotation to those buildings now that I wasn’t sure how audiences would respond to it.”

    By avoiding any 9/11 discussion in the film, however, Marsh was keen to keep the focus on themes of art and ambition, and he believes this is what so many viewers have connected with in the material. “It’s a fairytale, really,” he elaborates. “A real, true movie premise about achieving the impossible. Philippe is an adventurer, a superhero made flesh and blood. I love that what he did was in a way kind of pointless — it’s beauty for its own sake. And I love that audiences appreciate that.”

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  • WEEKLY WRAP: ‘Button,’ ‘Reader’ screen… uncertainty reigns

    • After a false start, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” was finally unveiled, to considerable applause… but is it too chilly?

    • Maybe. In his gutsy early predictions, Kris names “Slumdog Millionaire” the one to beat.

    • InContention readers, however, are less sure.

    • In a week of revelations, “The Reader” also screened — but the response on these pages was ambivalent.

    • Not everyone agrees, however. Which has us asking where this leaves Kate Winslet’s Oscar chances.

    • Amid the confusion, this week’s Off the Carpet column drew the conclusion that 2008 simply isn’t a vintage year.

    • Onto surer things, we wondered whether Heath Ledger is the inevitable winner of this year’s Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Your answer? A resounding yes.

    • Mapping out some alternative possibilities in the Best Documentary Feature race.

    • An interview with with “Changeling” scribe J. Michael Straczynski.

    • Just in case you hadn’t heard the name “Benjamin Button” enough this week, we were treated to the film’s score.

    • On the other side of the pond, meanwhile, “Mamma Mia!” continues to break records. Does BAFTA beckon?

  • The docs you aren’t considering

    Whenever an awards shortlist is announced, people will inevitably spend as much time, if not more, pondering its omissions as they will its inclusions. And so it has been this week, in the wake of the Academy’s announcement of the 15 titles shortlisted for Best Feature Documentary.

    Some are curiously kvetching that Bill Maher’s sporadically amusing but ultimately pedestrian “Religulous” got slighted, instead of commending the Academy for looking beyond the obvious. Others (including yours truly, admittedly) are puzzled that the excellent “Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired” didn’t make the cut, while some are surprised that last year’s winner in the category, Alex Gibney, was frozen out this time. (Well, had “Gonzo” been half the film “Taxi to the Dark Side” was, he might not have been.) And then there’s “American Teen” and “Bigger, Faster, Stronger” and … well, you get the idea.

    The conclusion to draw from this is twofold. First of all, in this category, name recognition isn’t always a deciding factor. Second of all, and more simply, the shortlist is, even with these high-profile exclusions, a markedly strong one. Boiling it down to fifteen titles was clearly a harder task than one might have guessed.

    I’m not sure enough people are recognising the breadth and the depth of the competition in this category. Amid the various reactions I’ve read to the shortlist, I’ve noticed the same small handful of contenders coming to the fore: “Standard Operating Procedure” from previous champ Errol Morris, “Encounters at the End of the World” from the long-slighted Werner Herzog, Sundance victor “Trouble the Water,” and the film widely deemed the one to beat, “Man on Wire.”

    I’m less convinced. Yes, they’re all highly acclaimed conversation pieces. (Well, almost — Morris’ film appears more polarising than the rest.) Yes, they all have enjoyed comparatively prominent releases. But, like the notoriously wilful Best Foreign Language Film category, this category doesn’t always reward a high profile. For every time they’ve embraced a populist frontrunner like Michael Moore, they’ve ignored a supposed shoo-in. Just ask, well, Errol Morris and Werner Herzog — both previously snubbed for some of their most lauded work.

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  • 11/22 Oscarweb Round-up

    Tilda Swinton• Jeffrey Wells hangs with the “Revolutionary Road” crew in the Big Apple. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • Ditto Glenn Kenny, who moderated the post-screening Q&A. [Some Came Running]

    • David Poland waxes on about how much he thinks “Revolutionary Road” fails, and judging by his charts, clearly hasn’t seen “Australia” yet. [Movie City News]

    • Steve Gaydos reports on a Rod Lurie event at UCLA for “Nothing But the Truth.” [Thompson on Hollywood]

    • Peter Sciretta talks to Pixar honcho John Lasseter. [/Film]

    • Pete Hammond thinks there’s a hex on Paramount screenings because of a couple of snafus of late, reports from a “Doubt” reception. [Notes on a Season]

    • Which songs will get the ole’ Oscar shove for “High School Musical 3?” [Gold Derby]

    • Simon Hattenstone meets with the “contradictory” Tilda Swinton. [The Guardian]

    • Eugene Hernandez and Peter Knegt debate the documentary shortlist. [indieWIRE]

  • WEEKLY WRAP: Big guns unveiled, docs shortlisted, Saviano speaks

    A big week, this, in which the covers were finally lifted off some heavyweight titles. Here’s what we were talking about:

    • And speaking of those heavyweights, Kris ran hot on “Revolutionary Road,” but cool on “Australia” …

    • … while being offered a frustratingly truncated glimpse of “Benjamin Button.”

    • The Academy announced their 15-strong shortlist for Best Documentary Feature, and emerged with credibility largely intact, in my opinion.

    • We were fortunate enough to chat to the incredible Roberto Saviano of “Gomorrah” fame…

    • … as well as the charming Rosemarie DeWitt, our pick of the “Rachel Getting Married” ensemble.

    • Roger Ebert either picked the brain of an Academy insider, or made some bold predictions of his own. Interesting either way.

    • This week’s Off the Carpet column played the waiting game.

    • Tech Support got musical this week, with a look at the composers in the hunt for gold this year.

    • We examined the horses (or lack thereof) in the Comedy/Musical races at the Golden Globes.

    • This week’s edition of The Lists delved into the embarrassment of cinematic riches that was the 1970s.

    • “The Wrestler” finally got a poster and an impressive trailer.

    • We contemplated next year’s BAFTA awards, wondering whether homegrown winners will again dominate proceedings.

    • The Best Picture debate over “The Dark Knight” continues apace.

  • 11/18 Oscarweb Round-up

    Coraline• Jeffrey Wells responds to the documentary short list. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • Dave Karger and Missy Schwartz go back and forth on the Oscar prospects of “Slumdog Millionaire.” [Entertainment Weekly]

    • T.L. Stanley catches up with a report from the “Revolutionary Road” screening this weekend. [Gold Rush]

    • Peter Bart whines about a lack of Oscar ads…again.  And insultingly draws the conclusion that studios are hanging talent out to dry.  Again. [Variety]

    • Patrick Goldstein chastises Bart for the whining (fair enough), but in calling for a moratorium on ad buys, fails to understand that their existence might have something to do with the fact that he hasn’t had to accept a buy-out yet.  Just sayin’. [The Big Picture]

    • Reporting with the Dudes from the “Big Lebowski” festival. [The Guardian]

    • Kathy Marks reports from the ground at the “Australia” premiere in Sydney. [The Independent]

    • Alonso Duralde runs down 10 competitors for Best Picture. [MSNBC]

    • Mickey Mouse turns 80. [CNN]

    • David Frank comes up with 10 reasons not to make a third “Batman” film.  Kris Tapley hunts David Frank down with a pair of garden sheers. [Rope of Silicon]

    • Helen Mirren talks about the joys of being in her birthday suit. [The Times]

    • Susan Wloszczyna talks to Henry Selick about the upcoming “Coraline.” [USA Today]

    • Praising the film for the most part, Glenn Kenny hopes “Revolutionary Road” can find an audience. [Some Came Running]

  • 15 Oscar docs short-listed

    And here’s the list, from AMPAS:

    “At the Death House Door”
    “The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)”
    “Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh”
    “Encounters at the End of the World”
    “Fuel”
    “The Garden”
    “Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts”
    “I.O.U.S.A.”
    “In a Dream”
    “Made in America”
    “Man on Wire”
    “Pray the Devil Back to Hell”
    “Standard Operating Procedure”
    “They Killed Sister Dorothy”
    “Trouble the Water”

    The surprising exclusions are “Religulous” (though not really — it isn’t particularly good as a documentary, even if it is amusing and has a soul) and “Bigger, Faster, Stronger.”  The frontrunners, I’d guess, “Encounters at the End of the World,” “Man on Wire,” “Pray the Devil Back to Hell,” “Standard Operating Procedure” and “Trouble the Water.”  But that’s me.

  • Doesn’t really matter

    All the harping going on about “Waltz with Bashir” getting screwed out of the Best Documentary Feature category is really beside the point.  This branch is as backwards as the foreign film branch sometimes and I highly doubt the high-concept film would have made it into contention in the first place.