In Contention

Tag: Best Supporting Actor

  • Albert Brooks talks ‘Drive’

    The great Albert Brooks took playful Twitter umbrage with my yanking him from the predicted five supporting actor contenders recently. I assure you (and him) that it’s a lack of faith in the Academy, which would enter uber-cool territory by giving him (or anything) a nod for this film, not a lack of faith in his work. He’s fantastic in the film and, well, nothing’s impossible. I’d be over the moon. Brooks and the rest of the team recently made the press rounds on the film. So, from our new partners at HitFix, via Awards Campaign:

    We’ll have a “tell us what you thought” post on the film later today.

  • ‘Beginners’: Plummer’s late Oscar vehicle?

    We may be almost halfway through the 2011 release schedule, and as usual, there’s been little in the theaters to trouble the Oscar-minded obsessives among us. That’s not to say the last six months have wanted for deserving work — in a perfect world, one where all good films are created equal, “Certified Copy” star Juliette Binoche would be tough to beat for Best Actress, while “Meek’s Cutoff” would be a slam-dunk Best Picture nominee, but we hardly need to go into the dully pragmatic reasons why those are mere pipe dreams.

    Only two immediate post-Cannes releases, “The Tree of Life” and “Midnight in Paris,” have prompted some awards discussion with their critical provocation and surprising box office, respectively — but beyond a near-certain cinematography nod for the former and a possible writing nod for the latter, further prospects depend largely on the performance of autumn’s big-name prestige draws, as well as a few hot festival purchases from Cannes, Sundance and even Berlin.

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  • On the Oscar prospects of ‘The Tree of Life’

    With “The Tree of Life” winning the Palme d’Or in Cannes today, Oscar talk has already swelled on Twitter (after whispered considerations in the wake of the premiere last week). I’ll be writing about the film again next weekend, when some of you will be able to take a look, but for now, I thought I’d speak on this.

    As we mentioned in the podcast Friday, I think Searchlight picking this demanding film up was an admirable move. It’s relationship-building with an important filmmaker (who has another film on the way, mind you). And its best chance at bringing in money was a counter-programming maneuver in the summer.

    But I don’t think this was ever considered a major awards threat, to be honest. I can’t imagine anyone watching it and expecting Academy types to embrace it. And I don’t think today’s unexpected award (Guy was hearing the only major fan of the film on the jury was Olivier Assayas) changes things.

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  • OFF THE CARPET: Heading into the home stretch

    I’m watching CNN’s report of the on-going situation in Libya as I write these comparably pointless words. The “real world” seems so unique, so foreign after having our head in the awards season clouds since September. Now, six months in, victory lane is a mere six days away. And man, it’s been a marathon.

    So let’s dive in one more time.

    The journey for “The Social Network” has been a fascinating one. And now, with wins for Best Film Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay and, potentially, Best Director coming, some are arguing an upset by the film in the Best Picture race is still in the cards. It would be delightful, but it would be considerably more surprising than the moment a number of pundits point to as a bellwether shocker in the Academy’s recent history: “And the Oscar goes to…‘Crash.’ Whoa.”

    Most, however, seem to agree that “The King’s Speech” has it in the bag, and I think that’s sound. The only question is, to what extent has it won over the Academy? Anywhere from three to 11 wins makes perfect sense.

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  • OSCAR GUIDE: Best Supporting Actor

    Very few of the 20 actors nominated for Oscars this year (if any) feel like egregious calls. As usual, the lead actor race is the most impressive, but the Best Supporting Actor slate isn’t too shabby, either. Each performance is masterful in its own way, and each serves its respective narrative to the fullest.

    Two of the nominees this year are depictions of real life individuals and three are complete manifestations. But all five of the below actors owned their roles and then some, finding the right flow of eye-catching showmanship without dominating the narrative arc. And though some might argue, I’d say each is perfectly representative of “supporting” in the truest sense of the word.

    The nominees are:

    Christian Bale, “The Fighter”
    John Hawkes, “Winter’s Bone”
    Jeremy Renner, “The Town”
    Mark Ruffalo, “The Kids Are All Right”
    Geoffrey Rush, “The King’s Speech”

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  • Ruffalo finally gets the nod

    Amid the assorted geeky stat-studies I made in the wake of yesterday’s Oscar nominations, I noticed that it hasn’t been a vintage year for first-time nominees in the acting categories. Of the 20 actors selected, 12 are repeat nominees — the highest number since 2002. But among the eight thesps making their Oscar debut are some very gratifying choices indeed.

    The unusually robust Best Supporting Actor category is particularly pleasing in that regard. It’s always cheering when a long-serving character actor identified by most moviegoers as “oh, that guy” finally gets the spotlight, so amid the range of reactions to yesterday’s news, I haven’t heard a single person who isn’t happy for John Hawkes — an actor who deserved more individual plaudits than he got for his 2005 lead turn in “Me and You and Everyone We Know.”

    And Christian Bale’s high-end choices and hard-graft technique placed him on many an Oscar-watcher’s “overdue” list, so I’m glad he finally got the nod for what I regard as his finest hour.

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  • 1/13 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: No dice for Winklevi, Alice Ward fights for her life, Weaver keeps making the rounds

    • Away from Oscar and in real life, Micky Ward’s mother is in a hospital fighting for her life… [Boston Globe]

    • …while the Winklevi lose their Facebook settlement appeal. [Paid Content]

    • Is “The King’s Speech” royalist propaganda? [The Guardian]

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  • Category justice or precarious situation for Steinfeld?

    All season long the question from countless readers was, “Why do you have Hailee Steinfeld listed as a supporting actress contender?  Her character is the lead of ‘True Grit.’”  Indeed.  But I knew where Paramount was going to campaign the performance, and I expected a number of critics groups to follow that notion like sheep (and they did, save for the independently-minded Utah set).

    Of course, the possibility always existed that the Academy would vote its own way.

    The acting branch, remember, decides category placement when it comes to performance contenders.  Just two years ago they weren’t buying the supporting campaign for Kate Winslet in “The Reader,” opting instead for lead (and she ultimately won the Oscar for Best Actress).  Child performances, however, tend to struggle in the leading ranks.

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  • FIRST-HALF FYC: Best Supporting Actor

    Only two weeks into my new feature and I’m already a day late — apologies. My laptop (now cured, at least until its next mood swing) will graciously accept the blame.

    If you missed last week’s introductory instalment, the game is a simple one. In the run-up to nomination day, I’m picking five outstanding contenders in each major category in films from the first half of the 2010 release schedule: a period repeatedly neglected by voters in favor of newer, shinier delights. We started with Best Supporting Actress — during which I learned that a lot of you really don’t like Taylor Swift, but you still all saw “Valentine’s Day” — and this week we fill in the male half of the equation.

    Keen as I am on all five performances I dredged up from the January-to-June wilderness, I was somewhat disappointed to note a very similar template forming to last week’s list: one French breakthrough talent, one blockbuster high point, even one star from a particular film. All accidental, I assure you… but to think I complain about “slot” mentality in the Oscar-analysis game.

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  • Making Christian Bale “all happy and shiny”

    I’m tellin’ ya, Christian Bale is taking from the Mo’Nique school of Oscar campaigning more and more.  Okay, not really, though that’ll make a nice narrative for the press to wrap around his usual prickliness as the season unfolds, just you watch.

    Of course, I’m sure Paramount would rather he go through the usual tame but hype-driving motions.  Witness “The Fighter” co-star Mark Wahlberg, who has already exhausted the same talking points on what a feat and a challenge his work on the film and behind the scenes was (and not to take anything away from a guy who really wants a nomination, because I do have a lot of respect for what he did with this film on camera and off).

    But for Bale, the standoffishness will be the story, and I’ll submit this: at least it’s unique, in the scheme of this particular season, anyway.  And the latest example, after a humorous Esquire Q&A, is this Dennis Lim interview in the pages of The New York Times.

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  • Penn going supporting for ‘Fair Game?’

    Scott Feinberg is reporting that Sean Penn, who gives a rather wonderful performance in Doug Liman’s “Fair Game” with much more meat on its bones than Naomi Watts’s somewhat internalized work, will be pushed in the supporting category rather than lead.

    Uh…why?  First and foremost, I’d consider this a lead performance, but whatever, category fraud happens all the time and there are probably multiple perspectives to be had on this particular role.  But I just wrote about the lead actor category Monday and noted that there is some softness outside of the generally agreed upon three (Colin Firth, James Franco and Jeff Bridges).  The opportunity is ripe.

    Meanwhile, the supporting actor category seems to be settling in.  I feel like I’ve had the same five checked off for a month or two now.  Where are the cracks in that armor?  How does one look at that category and think it’s an easier climb?

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  • EXCLUSIVE: Casting Sam Rockwell in ‘Conviction’ (clip)

    Think fast: when was the first time you remember seeing Sam Rockwell on the big screen?  Most people probably caught up with him in the late-1990s in films like “Safe Men,” “The Green Mile” and “Galaxy Quest.” Others perked up, surely, when George Clooney had the vision to give him the starring role in “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.” For me, it was a near walk-on in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

    He’s come a long way since taking on the role of a punk kid in the Foot Clan factory.  I’ve loved him in pretty much everything, be it his aptly named Jimmy Silk in David Mamet’s “Heist,” his equally compelling grifter in Ridley Scott’s “Matchstick Men,” his underrated portrayal alongside Casey Affleck and Brad Pitt in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” or, certainly, his pitch-perfect work in last year’s sadly forgotten (come awards season) “Moon.”

    This year the actor is poised to potentially break out into the Oscar scene with a quality, lived-in piece of work in Tony Goldwyn’s “Conviction.” Rockwell stars as Kenny Waters, a Massachusetts bad boy wrongfully imprisoned and eventually freed through the diligence of his sister, Betty Anne, who put herself through law school in order to prove his innocence.  Fox Searchlight has provided us with an exclusive clip featuring Goldwyn and Betty Anne Waters discussing the casting of the role.  Check it out after the jump.

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  • Ruffalo is back with ‘Kids’

    Lisa Cholodenko’s “The Kids Are All Right” opened the Los Angeles Film Festival last Thursday night, right across 11th Street from the Staples Center downtown as the Lakers triumphed in Game 7 of the NBA playoffs.  No, they weren’t rioting on Figueroa because the movie’s good, but it IS a solid piece.

    I spoke briefly about it in the 6/11 edition of Oscar Talk, but on the occasion of its recent festival showcase, I wanted to again address what I think is the film’s key ingredient: Mark Ruffalo.

    For me, “The Kids Are All Right” is a return on the investment anyone put into Ruffalo 10 years ago when he first made waves in Ken Lonergan’s “You Can Count on Me.” After the actor frankly seemed incapable of tapping back into that essence for the better part of the decade, his work here makes good on the promise his charisma and raw talent made back in 2000.  Aside from Tahar Rahim’s inarguable work in Jacques Audiard’s “A Prophet,” Ruffalo’s is the most refined, natural performance I’ve seen all year.

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  • OSCAR GUIDE: Best Supporting Actor

    Matt Damon in InvictusIn a slight rarity, the year’s Best Supporting Actor category reflected the Screen Actors Guild nominees 100% this season. Nominations for Alfred Molina and Alec Baldwin at the BAFTA Awards weren’t enough to generate enough cross-over support, while Christian McKay’s late surge couldn’t get him there, either.

    What we’re left with is a sleepwalking performance in a dud movie, a spellbinding portrayal from a consistent performer in an indie awards success story, the first nomination for one of the screen’s legends, a tip of the hat to an actor who showed a wide range this season and a multi-lingual piece of work that began its awards run way back at Cannes.

    The nominees are:

    Matt Damon, “Invictus”
    Woody Harrelson, “The Messenger”
    Christopher Plummer, “The Last Station”
    Stanley Tucci, “The Lovely Bones”
    Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”

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  • OSCAR GUIDE: Best Supporting Actress

    Penelope Cruz in NineThis year’s Best Supporting Actress race made for, in many ways, one of the most wide open categories of the major nominees. While three of the contenders seemed fairly locked in place, the other two slots appeared up for grabs, and there was no shortage of deserving contenders waiting to fill out the field.

    Contenders such as Samantha Morton and Julianne Moore ultimately missed despite precursor attention, paving the way for last year’s winner in the category (a SAG nominee in a film that found itself floundering by year’s end) and a young actress who found herself opposite the year’s likely lead actor Oscar winner (and landing her first Oscar nomination in the process).

    The nominees are:

    Penélope Cruz, “Nine”
    Vera Farmiga, “Up in the Air”
    Maggie Gyllenhaal, “Crazy Heart”
    Anna Kendrick, “Up in the Air”
    Mo’Nique, “Precious”

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  • THE LONG SHOT: The pre-nomination shuffle

    Alec Baldwin in It's ComplicatedThis, ladies and gentlemen, will be the last Long Shot column I write before the 2009 Academy Award nominations are announced, and it’s not just because it’s the column’s 17th week that the well of subject matter is looking rather dry.

    I have followed longer awards seasons than this one (the awards used to take place in late March, after all), but none have felt longer – thanks to this year’s eccentric, unprecedented scheduling that has most of the most significant precursor awards done and dusted before the Oscar nominations are even out.

    The six weeks between nomination morning and awards night were once chockfull of awards ceremonies that could move the needle this way or that. We now have only the BAFTAs and some guild announcements to break up the more stealthy campaigning that could yet affect the race.

    The result, then, is that Tuesday’s nominations seem like more of a formality than usual. By the end of the weekend, the Globes, the BFCA and the three most influential guilds will all have had their say, meaning almost every major race can be boiled down to a maximum of two contenders … before we even receive official confirmation that they’re in the race at all. If that’s the case, Lord only knows what we’ll find to talk about until March 7.

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  • Woody Harrelson gets some quality ink

    Woody HarrelsonOf course I’ve been singing Woody Harrelson’s praises in “The Messenger” since day one, and thankfully, after a shove into the race with National Board of Review recognition, he’s been on a relatively solid track as of late.  And as I mentioned in Friday’s Oscar Talk, there is some chatter around his potential for a win in the Best Supporting Actor race.

    The best thing about that scenario?  Few would argue with it.  He is one of our most under-valued actors, on a trajectory similar to the career of Jeff Bridges, lurking with solid work, both as a character player and in a leading capacity if need be.  Wouldn’t it be quite the breath of fresh air if they both walked away with Oscars this year?

    In this today’s LA Times, Harrelson gets the flattery treatment from critic Betsy Sharkey, quite the commodity in the thick of an awards race, with ballots in hand and a Screen Actors Guild ceremony a couple of weeks away.  This is how it happens, especially in a race that is a bit more up in the air than many seem to think.

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  • OFF THE CARPET: A spade is a spade

    Sam Worthington in AvatarOscar ballots are being mailed to AMPAS members today.  So now is the time to pay attention to the buzz, as most ballots are returned within the first couple of weeks (which says everything you need to know about how much time and care is put into the process by voters).

    However, it’s somewhat amazing to me that not much has shifted in the scheme of things since the last proper Off the Carpet column.  Of course, there is “Avatar” (which I’ll get to in a second), but otherwise there are just a bunch of non-issues rearing their heads (like “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” being in the conversation, for instance, or the perpetuated Mo’Nique/bad press angle).  Chalk it up to boredom.

    The only significant note is “Nine”‘s box office whiff, which accompanied an entirely dismissive response from critics and has left many wondering whether it will be able to push through into the 10.  Passion is still necessary, despite the wider net, and it’s becoming more evident than ever that getting voters to check the film off as a #1-3 choice is going to be a chore.

    The most appreciated aspects, of course, are the below-the-line achievements (which I still think could be enough to get it across) and Marion Cotillard’s “why-the-heck-have-they-been-campaigning-for-lead?” performance.  Rightly so.  Maybe The Weinstein Company can switch gears like Fox Searchlight did with Maggie Gyllenhaal and find one more nod in the major categories.

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