In Contention

Tag: Brad Pitt

  • Hope for Saldana

    The closes to a breakthrough with motion capture, and/or animation being added to an actor’s performance would be Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Most of the acting Pitt did was as the half-animated Button – barely recognizable and a performance that simply couldn’t have been gotten without aided technology. That shows that the membrane has been pierced, even if Pitt was also seen a good amount of the time as himself, and himself with makeup.

    Good point.  From Sasha Stone at Awards Daily. For more on this, listen to the most recent edition of Oscar Talk.

  • Weinsteins promote Mélanie Laurent to lead

    Melanie Laurent in Inglourious BasterdsSome of you have already mentioned this in another thread, but The Weinstein Company, in their apparent wisdom, have decided to campaign “Inglourious Basterds” star Mélanie Laurent for Best Actress.

    Far be it from me to question the judgment of one of the greatest strategists in Oscar history, but … what?

    Laurent was, admittedly, a very dark horse in the supporting category, but as far as I can see, promoting her to lead reduces her nomination chances to nil — unless voters take the category decision into their own hands, as they did with Kate Winslet this year.

    Perhaps Weinstein is simply buying into the popular myth that Best Actress is a weakly contested category this year. But with only one slot seemingly up for grabs, and her compatriot (and fellow Weinstein Company property) Marion Cotillard muscling in on the race, the odds are firmly stacked against Laurent getting it.

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  • The Great Performances: 1995

    (from left) Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep in The Bridges of Madison CountyBased on some of the comments I received last week regarding my article on great acting, I took the suggestion of a young lady and am kicking off a series of articles, one per week, that will explore the best performances ofeach year, beginning today with 1995.  So let’s go back and work our way towards 2008 and discover the great film performances we know about, and maybe a few we do not.

    The Academy did a pretty fine job in 1995 when it came to the acting nominees.  Sure there was some shock when John Travolta was snubbed for his superb work in “Get Shorty,” and those hoping for a three-peat with Tom Hanks missed it when the actor was not nominated for his solid work in “Apollo 13.” I personally would like to have seen Clint Eastwood nominated for his wonderful work in “The Bridges of Madison County,” but there are just five slots open, and so many fine pieces of acting.

    One could also argue for Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt, both excellent in David Fincher’s “Seven,” or Bruce Willis, who was nobly brilliant in “Twelve Monkeys,” and perhaps even Jack Nicholson in “The Crossing Guard.”

    Nobody could argue with Nicolas Cage in “Leaving Las Vegas,” Sean Penn in “Dead Man Walking” or Anthony Hopkins for “Nixon” as Best Actor nominees.  And frankly I believe Penn gave the best performance of the year, one for the ages in fact. However, Richard Dreyfuss in “Mr. Holland’s Opus?” Seriously?  I love Dreyfuss and I think he’s even been short-changed in the past, but come one.  He does fine work and it’s not his fault the script asks him to be mushy and sentimental, but I have struggled with his nomination over Hanks, Travolta and Eastwood for many years.

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  • 8/25 Web Round-up

    Charlize Theron in The Burning Plain• Jeff Wells speaks up on the Best Actress race. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • “Black Dynamite” goes to Apparition. [Variety]

    • Behinds the scenes of “The Burning Plain.” [Coming Soon]

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  • ‘Basterds’ box office owed to Pitt?

    (from left0 Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt at the Los Angeles premiere of Inglourious basterdsBuried at the bottom of this Independent study of the diminishing star factor in Hollywood was a nugget about Weinstein Company honcho Harvey Weinstein’s marketing strategy for “Inglourious Basterds,” which had Brad Pitt front and center (and, in a way, made the actor appear to be a bigger element of the film than he in fact was).

    Defending the star mold to an extent, Weinstein is quoted as saying “Pitt is a super-superstar at the apex of his popularity and he is a large part of why people want to see this movie.”

    So I’ll put it out to the readership.  With films like “Land of the Lost,” “Duplicity,” “Funny People” and “Public Enemies” coming up short at the box office despite starring popular actors and actresses, is it fair to chalk the “Inglourious” take up to star appeal?  Is it a Tarantino attraction?  Is it the subject matter of the film?  Is it a combination of all?  Probably the latter, though I think the perfect storm of Pitt and Tarantino made more than a few people curious.  It’s a powerful pairing after all.

    Your thoughts?

  • 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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  • 8/17 Web Round-up

    (from left) Bob and Harvey Weinstein• Amid sticky financial days for The Weinstein Company, Harvey Weinstein tells you to “sit tight” and “don’t bet against” him and brother Bob. [New York Times]

    • It must be going around, because ditto Universal execs Mark Shmuger and David Linde. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Sharon Waxman is frustrated at the word-count of the Weinstein piece yielding little insight into the company’s financial woes. [The Wrap]

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  • Brad Pitt on Real Time

    Here’s part one. Part two after the jump:

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  • A statement I can get behind

    Marshalling an ensemble is something that the 46-year-old director has always excelled at, and throughout his career he has made a habit of resuscitating ailing careers – most recently, the late David Carradine in the martial arts double Kill Bill. But with his latest film, it’s Tarantino’s willingness to cast outside his Hollywood postcode that deserves praise: with Inglourious Basterds, he’s taking risks on German stars such as Til Schweiger, August Diehl and Daniel Brühl.

    From this James Mottram story in London’s Independent newspaper.  I find it hard to fault most of the performances in the film, actually.  Save for Brad Pitt and, to a lesser extent (shockingly) Eli Roth, of course.  But for the most part, I think Tarantino was pretty shrewd in the casting.

    By the way, scroll down to the various comments from actors on the crew.  Roth’s thoughts are the most insightful, but Pitt’s win best in show.

  • REVIEW: “Inglourious Basterds” (**1/2)

    Inglourious BasterdsQuentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” isn’t as indulgent as “Death Proof” or “Kill Bill: Vol. 2,” but it doesn’t have the filmmaking panache and wit of the moving image to forgive it its sins like “Kill Bill: Vol. 1,” either.  It’s a slightly more contained bout of silliness, but it’s silliness nevertheless.

    The film is trademark bloated Tarantino, featuring scene after scene that could have been curtailed or expedited, which might have significantly affected an off-putting 150-minute running time.  But Tarantino lost his “no” men years ago, while distribution honcho Harvey Weinstein continues to serve as an enabler of sorts.

    So more of the same is what we get.

    But to look deeper at “Inglourious Basterds” is to find a world that might appeal to an angst-ridden child, perhaps.  The rage that courses through its veins is pure, concentrated tantrum, and somewhat passé at that.  After all, what thematic purpose is served by a film — however brazen and even “fun” in its historical revisionism — that takes relentless aim at the Nazis, of all foes?

    The director might have found suitable commentary with a sense of parallel or metaphor, something, anything connecting the on-screen carnage to our own state of pent-up hatred toward foreign aggressors, for instance.  But that doesn’t seem to be visceral enough for Tarantino, who takes glee at a prolonged take of a human head being scalped, or the rat-a-tat obliteration of another under a hail of gunfire.

    Boys will be boys, I guess.  But when will that cease to be enough for Tarantino apologists?

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  • Jennifer’s Basterds

    What’s with all the poster action today? I can’t keep up. Anyway, in the interests of efficiency, I’ve paired up the new one-sheets for “Jennifer’s Body” and “Inglourious Basterds” (yes, another one) for your viewing pleasure. Why not? After all, they’re both advertising blood-spattered comedies from smart-aleck Oscar-winning writers, and they both seem destined to grace a lot of teenage boys’ walls, albeit for fairly different reasons.

    Jennifer's BodyInglourious Basterds

    [Source: Bloody Disgusting and Screen Rant]

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  • 5/4 Web Round-up

    Brad Pitt in Inglourious Basterds• Premiering a Brad Pitt character poster from “Inglourious Basterds.” [Ain’t It Cool News]

    • Digging into the world of fan-made films across the pond. [The Guardian]

    • John Hiscock talks to J.J. Abrams about selling a re-imagined “Star Trek” to classic stars and fans alike. [Daily Telegraph]

    • Peter Knegt kicks of “(123) Days of Summer: An Indie Film Guide.” [indieWIRE]

    • Grady Hendrix looks at the comic book history of this weekend’s box office champ: Wolverine. [Slate]

    • Pointless Megan-Fox-looking-hot video that is bound to sell more issues.  I gladly watched. [Esquire]

    • Meanwhile, test your Wolverine wisdom. [USA Today]

    • “Daniel Craig: ‘I’ll keep doing Bond until my knees go’” [The Independent]

    • Mark Olsen talks to the principles on Fox Searchlight’s summer rom-com, “(500) Days of Summer.” [Los Angeles Times]

    • Celebrating Swine Flu in style with a list of 13 deadly movie outbreaks. [Premiere]

  • Please no

    I don’t know.  I look at this still and I think, “God, I’m destined to despise every inch of this film.”  That’s what seriously goes through my mind.

    (from left) Eli Rotha nd Brad Pitt in Ingourious Basterds

  • Kevin Macdonald steps up to ‘The Eagle of the Ninth’

    Cover of The Eagle of the NinthI first heard about Kevin Macdonald’s plans to adapt Rosemary Sutcliff’s “The Eagle of the Ninth” way back in 2006 when I sat down for a lunch interview with screenwriter Jeremy Brock (who co-wrote Macdonald’s “The Last King of Scotland”).  The machinery being what it is in this town, you have to wait until a trade gets a hold of it before it’s real “news,” and so here’s Variety’s story.

    I like that Macdonald is diving headlong into features, one after another.  I’m especially glad to see he’s not disenchanted after some troubling times on “State of Play.”  The last time I talked to him he was fuming over the then recent departure of Brad Pitt from the film.

    In any case, “Eagle” (which I see will still be written by Brock) deals with “a wounded Roman soldier and his loyal Celtic slave who try to solve the mystery of the Ninth Legion, a brigade of Roman soldiers that vanished after heading into the untamed Highlands of Scotland 15 years earlier,” according to Variety.  I’ve been meaning to pick up a copy of Sutcliff’s book for some time.  Anyone here read it?  Thoughts?

    Jamie Bell is set to star and Focus will distribute.  In the meantime, I’m still chomping at the bit to see “State of Play” (which I won’t catch until April 8).  I hope it works.  Macdonald is one of the good guys, so here’s hoping he keeps a steady heading.

  • NYT Mag’s Great Performers

    The New York Times Magazine has launched a sweet set of slide shows, “Great Performers,” narrated by journalist Lynn Hirschberg featuring Oscar nominees Frank Langella, Sean Penn, Brad Pitt, Mickey Rourke, Penelope Cruz (saucy shots!), Kate Winslet and Robert Downey Jr.

    These shots of Winslet and Rourke are definitely my favorites.  Loky has become a star in his own right this year:

    Kate Winslet

    Mickey Rourke

  • Life is short, etc, etc, etc…

    Today’s Telegraph carries an interview with Brad Pitt that somehow manages to be simultaneously personal, honest and thoroughly unilluminating. There’s plenty of contented musing on fatherhood and Angelina Jolie if that’s your cup of tea, but I couldn’t help being somewhat disappointed by the banality of his take on “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”:

    “I walked away realising that time is short,” he says, talking on a sound stage at the Warner Bros studios in Burbank, California. “I don’t know if I have a day or 10 days or 10 years or 40 years. Am I halfway or am I close to the end? I don’t know, so I have to make sure I don’t waste those moments in any kind of pettiness or bitterness or laziness, and that I surround myself with the people who are most important to me.”

    Further on, he lets loose with the stunning insight that the film is “about looking back on the significant moments in your life.” Well, I’ll be. I could have sworn Eric Roth had more than that in mind when he adapted F. Scott Fitzgerald’s story, but what do I know?

    I’ve always liked Brad Pitt. A lot. He’s a strong actor — even if “Button” is a million miles from his best work on screen — and a smart, funny, charismatic celebrity. Or he used to be, at least. Why then, throughout the whole “Button” publicity run, has he restricted himself to such bland, humour-starved soundbites, both in print and on camera?

    It’s clear he’s in a happy place personally right now, and that’s great for him. But am I the only one tiring of the relentless earnestness, and longing for a bit of movie-star dash from the man? Some are apparently counting on Pitt’s presence to “save” the Oscar telecast, but as long as he keeps following this script, I’d look elsewhere.

  • “Alan Parker had a boner…”

    Sorry — just now getting this up on the site.  Brilliant stuff:

    More here.

  • After cooling off a bit…

    Michael Shannon in Revolutionary RoadYesterday the Academy displayed just what a fractured organization they are, championing a small film like “Slumdog Millionaire,” for which I applaud them, but snubbing “The Dark Knight,” one of the best reviewed films of the year and a titan at the box office. All day I was asking, ‘How?’  All day I wondered just how out of touch this organization truly is and what a major overhaul is needed.

    Call it ageism if you must, but we I think we need new blood in there.  I have been covering the Academy Awards for more than 20 years and have had my share of disappointments and shocks over that span of time. One would think I’d get used to it.

    I remember the rage when “Ghost” was nominated for Best Picture and when Roberto Begnini won Best Actor. That anger and shock was nothing like I felt yesterday morning at 8:30 Ontario time.

    I could not speak. I closed my office door and quietly raged, trying to make sense of it. Reading the other reactions helped ease the wound (I take it personally you see when my films are snubbed) and tried to see the good in the nominations this year. And as Guy astutely points out, there is some good.

    Melissa Leo in “Frozen River” made the cut, as did Richard Jenkins for “The Visitor.”  Both deserved, both terrific performances. “Wall-E” grabbed a screenplay nod, as well as sound nominations, and “Slumdog Millionaire” did very well indeed, with 10 nods. “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” lead the pack with 13 and Brad Pitt finally got a nomination for Best Actor — long overdue.  Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei made the list for “The Wrestler” and all four major actors from “Doubt” are nominees.

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