In Contention

Tag: Bright Star

  • THE LONG SHOT: Post early for Christmas

    Jeremy Renner in The Hurt LockerLondon is in the midst of a postal strike. No mail, be it far-flung postcard or electricity bill, has popped through my front door for over a month. I recently had to stroll into Soho to pick up my London Film Festival accreditation pack by hand. And rather discouragingly, my local post office today put a hastily scrawled sign in the window: “Post NOW for delivery by Christmas.”

    If you’re wondering why I’ve started this week’s column with this fascinating tidbit from my domestic life – apart from the fact that, as Kris noted, the crickets are chirping in awardsville this week – it’s because, as I stared disbelievingly at the sign, it occurred to me that a similar memo should be sent to several specialty studios hoping for a stake in this awards season. (Yes, my mind works in curious ways.)

    In short: you have a little package that needs to deliver in time for Oscar consideration? Don’t wait until December. Send it out now.

    This may seem like crazy advice given Oscar voters’ ever-growing love affair with winter releases. Just last year, no pre-November release made the Best Picture cut. And Harvey Weinstein has proved time and again that substantial rewards can be reaped if you spring a film upon the Academy without giving them too much time to think about it – from “The Cider House Rules” to “Chocolat” to “The Reader,” he knows which films won’t survive a few months of critical and industry scrutiny.

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  • London Film Festival shortlists nine titles for top prize

    Fantastic Mr. Fox I mentioned recently that the London Film Festival is upping its profile by adding a couple of new awards to its roster, including a crowning Best Film prize. This, I felt, was a positive development for a festival that becomes a richer, more rewarding cinematic showcase by the year. However, I must admit to being disappointed by the conservative approach they’ve taken to their new premier prize.

    Festival director Sandra Hebron yesterday unveiled a shortlist of nine contenders for the inaugural Best Film award, and a mostly familiar bunch of titles it is:

    “Balibo” (Robert Connolly)
    “Bright Star”     (Jane Campion)
    “Fantastic Mr. Fox”     (Wes Anderson)
    “Micmacs”     (Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
    “Nowhere Boy”     (Sam Taylor-Wood)
    “A Prophet”     (Jacques Audiard)
    “The Road”     (John Hillcoat)
    “A Serious Man”     (Joel and Ethan Coen)
    “The White Ribbon”     (Michael Haneke)

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  • THE LISTS: Top 10 actors under 30

    Abbie Cornish in CandyI wrote recently about how this year’s Best Actress race seems to ushering in a striking new wave of young talent, from the elfin throwback charm of Carey Mulligan to the rawer screen presence of Gabourey Sidibe, while a range of youthful names, from the long-hyped Abbie Cornish to the out-of-nowhere Katie Jarvis, have been racking up critical plaudits all year.

    Whether Academy voters comply or not, it’s hard to disagree that it’s a good year to be a fresh face.

    Meanwhile, the industry’s male twentysomethings may have enjoyed less frenzied acclaim than their fairer counterparts, but the likes of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ben Whishaw and – yes – Shia LaBeouf have kept things ticking over for the generation quite respectably.

    So, with the teen-driven narratives of “An Education” and “Precious” heading for theaters soon, and with the youth romance of “Bright Star” currently pleasing older arthouse audiences, it seemed an apt moment to celebrate the new guard by ranking the finest talent that the born-after-1980 generation has to offer.

    And believe me when I tell you it was one of the trickiest lists I’ve ever compiled on this site. The more I contemplated recent successes and breakthroughs, the longer the shortlist of candidates grew, spanning Academy-endorsed names already on the A-list (Natalie Portman, Jake Gyllenhaal) to quirkier talents from the indie and foreign sectors (Sam Riley, Emilie Dequenne). I like to think that the fact that I struggled as much as I did to narrow the list down to 10 names bodes very well for the future.

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  • OFF THE CARPET: Looking at the leading ladies

    Helen Mirren in The Last StationNow is the time when everyone begins assessing the race at its beginnings, and the gist I’m getting is that no one really knows what to write about.  Stabs at analysis end up being responses to other takes or rehashed arguments, and nothing really insightful is being brought to the table.

    And let’s face it.  As we dip into what looks to be the longest early-season lull in some time, there really is nothing insightful to offer.  So let’s just spit-ball…

    I think the Sony Classics acquisition of “The Last Station” is more significant than most seem to be aware right now.  There are only a handful who have seen it (Telluride being the film’s only festival stop so far), so that’s understandable.  And the film isn’t a knock-out, one that will be damned as merely efficient in some circles.  But with Helen Mirren in the lead actress race, it’s worth noting that suddenly that category is further framed as the old guard versus the new.

    And I may be wrong in my conviction, but I have to say it again: Mirren is VERY much in this race.  As the fiery Countess wife of a literary titan, she brings equal parts passion and delicacy to a complicated, certainly flawed character.  She’s afforded a number of moments that give her room to chew the scenery, and if Christopher Plummer happens to ride a wave of sentiment to a nomination as well, part of me feels that he will owe something to Mirren’s coattails.

    My predictions for the leading ladies this week are Mirren, Meryl Streep, Carey Mulligan, Gabourey Sidibe and, my weak link, Marion Cotillard (who is expected to be a lead actress push for “Nine,” but things could change).  In that collective we have three former winners, two legends of the form, two newbies and one performer shifting into the second gear of her career.  I think that’s a pretty good balance.

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  • OSCAR TALK: Ep. 4 — Foreign submissions, PGA’s 10, ‘A Single Man’ a Best Picture possibility?

    Oscar TalkRecorded yesterday, here’s the fourth installment of Oscar Talk with yours truly and Anne Thompson of indieWIRE.  We took the week off last Friday due to traveling conflicts, but we’re back on today.

    On the docket:

    • Anne and I discuss the foreign language film submissions, up to 62 entries so far (61 at the time of this recording).

    • The PGA’s copy cat move to 10, which leads of course to further discussion on the Academy’s move to 10.

    • Jane Campion’s “Bright Star,” which has opened to glowing reviews.  Odds on Oscar, box office potential, etc.

    • Sony Pictures Classics’ shucking and jiving with their Oscar schedule, grabbing “The Last Station” (confirmed today) and moving “Get Low” (as reported here last week).

    • Anne wonders whether Weinstein pick-up “A Single Man” could be an under-the-radar contender for Best Picture.

    • The weekend’s releases: “A Serious Man” (covered extensively last time) and “Zombieland” (to steer away from awards talk for a moment).

    • Anne talks Alain Resnais’s “Wild Grass,” which recently opened the New York Film Festival.

    • And the distribution strategy for “Paranormal Activity,” hardly an Oscar contender but right in line with Anne’s recent column on studios missing an opportunity to experiment with release paradigms on modestly budgeted films.

    Check out the podcast below, with a musical lead-in from Mark Bradshaw’s “Bright Star” score.  And as always, you can subscribe to Oscar Talk via iTunes here.

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Cinematography — Volume II

    Melanie Laurent in Inglourious BasterdsAlmost three months ago, I described how our cinematographers bring movies to life, by lensing the director’s vision, the actors’ performances, the production designer’s and the writer’s mood, just to begin. In the absence of these talented individuals, there would truly be no cinema.

    Like most people, this is my favorite of the Oscar crafts categories. I was very happy when Anthony Dod Mantle triumphed last year, even though he was barely on my radar post-TIFF, where “Slumdog Millionaire” premiered.  So what has emerged since our last assessment?

    From the Toronto and Venice Film Festivals, not a whole lot seems to have changed in the category. While “Precious” and “Up in the Air” seem to have been the biggest gainers, they still don’t seem to be obvious candidates here.  Then again, you have to keep an eye on Best Picture contenders, so I’d still consider DPs Andrew Dunn and Eric Steelberg for their work.

    Tom Ford’s “A Single Man” also performed quite well at Venice. Many have praised the look of the film, so it would be foolish to rule out Eduard Rau. On the other hand, Javier Aguiressarobe’s lensing of “The Road” did not receive the praise I suspected it might, with most acclaim going to Viggo Mortensen’s performance. Even so, I’ll keep my eye on this title until it is released in theaters.

    A contender whose vehicle has shifted since I last covered this category in July is Robert Richardson. While Martin Scorsese’s “Shutter Island” has been delayed until next year, Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds,” on the other hand, has made a considerable splash. Richardson had many chances to show the scope of his talent on this project. I wouldn’t rule him out.

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  • Jane Campion’s pick of the Criterion Collection

    The Night PorterI’m glad to see that, whatever the eventual awards fate of “Bright Star,” Jane Campion is by and large back in the critics’ good books. As one of those who feels she’s never really made a bad film — simply some more completely realized than others — it’s a case of reputation rehab being both overdue and unnecessary, if that makes any sense.

    The Criterion Collection, however, always had her back, adding her to their list in 2005 with her 1991 literary biopic “An Angel at My Table,” with her debut “Sweetie” joining it later. (You might be surprised to learn that her signature film “The Piano” still isn’t in the collection.)

    Anyway, at the time, Criterion asked Campion to name nine films from their collection that she holds in highest esteem, and the results make for predictably interesting reading. It doesn’t take a psychic to figure out that the erotic transgressions of “The Night Porter” float her boat, but the inclusion of say, Milos Forman’s wonderful “The Firemen’s Ball,” is less self-evident and no less pleasing.

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  • Supporting actors, step forward

    Christoph Waltz in Inglourious BasterdsA while back, certain folks were (rather unfairly) dredging up the routine annual complaint about the supposed scarcity of viable Best Actress contenders. Dave Karger, however, has located the real weak spot of this year’s awards race, and it concerns the opposite sex for a change: where, he asks, are the Best Supporting Actor standouts?

    Pound for pound, I tend to find Best Supporting Actor the least compelling of the acting races, a haven for affectionately regarded stalwarts in bit parts that are frequently less than challenging. The last two years have raised the bar considerably, but recent wins for Morgan Freeman, Alan Arkin and Michael Caine are typical of the laziness with which the Academy often treats the category.

    Even by the category’s usual standards, however, this year’s pickings look unusually lean, as Karger narrows the serious contenders so far to a scant three.

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  • Here come the girls

    Saoirse Ronan in The Lovely BonesI know I’m hardly the first person to mention it, but as I was fiddling around with my predictions recently, I was struck once more by just how young the Best Actress category is skewing.

    At present, 15 year-old Saoirse Ronan is the only teenager being talked up for a nomination, but with three other solid contenders — Carey Mulligan, Gabourey Sidibe and Abbie Cornish — all playing teens in their respective vehicles, you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise. (As if that weren’t enough, in a perfect world, 18 year-old Katie Jarvis would be leading the field for “Fish Tank.” We can but dream.)

    Meanwhile, you can bet that a sizable number of Academy members are under the impression that waif-like 24 year-old it-girl Mulligan (the current frontrunner for “An Education,” in case you need reminding), and especially 26 year-old non-pro Sidibe (whose buzz for “Precious” has rocketed since Toronto), are even younger than they are.

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  • OFF THE CARPET: Underdog season

    Hal Holbrook in That Evening SunIt suddenly occurred to me when I got a screening invite last week to “That Evening Sun,” a potential awards prospect for lead actor Hal Holbrook, that the film actually had a distributor: Freestyle Releasing.

    Freestyle is a boutique company that doesn’t have a lot on deck, but it reminded me of how spread out this year’s product seems to be across the spectrum of Hollywood distribution, and one more indication of 2009 as perhaps the year of the underdog.

    It’s a generalization, sure, but when heading into the season the frontrunners of the race are a modest character-driven dramedy and an impassioned work of indie art, I think it’s safe to say the trains that could are drawing a line in the sand.

    I recognize the former is a studio-funded piece with one of the industry’s biggest stars in a leading role, but it fits because, like the director’s last film, it was a discovery even to the studio, one that can suddenly be groomed for awards.

    This idea of eschewing the titans of an awards season could be stretching into the business of things as companies like Overture Films, Summit Entertainment, Apparition, Paladin, Monterey Media, Freestyle, etc. are beginning to claim significant portions of the consideration pie…at least in this calm before the storm.

    Others have been here for years, of course.  IFC Films always makes its play.  Magnolia Pictures tends to be in the conversation.  Oscilloscope came pretty close with a great coming out last year (and will no doubt be in the thick of it again).

    The dependents that haven’t been swallowed by their parent companies have made their hay in the awards season, from Focus to Sony Classics to Searchlight, but I remain very enthusiastic, and perhaps overly optimistic, that in an economy such as this, the competitive market has opened up a number of options.

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  • SUNDAY CENTS: Great ‘Balls’ on fire

    SurrogatesAmerica lined up for seconds as “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” topped the box office for the second weekend in a row, dropping only 19% to $24.6 million. That’s a fantastic hold for the only family film out in the market and makes $100 million a very real possibility, if not a formality.

    It was an otherwise slow and disappointing frame at the multiplex as audiences found some other way to entertain themselves. Did football season just start?

    Second place went to Disney’s “Surrogates,” which grossed $15 million. While that might sound a little soft, it’s actually better than Willis’s average for this type of film in recent years as “Perfect Stranger,” “Lucky Number Slevin,” “16 Blocks” and “Hostage” all did less than $13 million. The trailer was great but the posters featuring robot models were pretty weak and I think Disney missed an easy chance to take the top spot.

    MGM released its first film since “Valkyrie” amidst reports of possible bankruptcy and the $10 million pulled in by “Fame” is probably not going to help matters much. When dance films like “Stomp the Yard” and “Step Up” can pull in $22 million each, a remake of a well-known classic shouldn’t pull in less than half of that. Of course, I use the term “classic” as loosely as they use the term “remake.”

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Calm before the storm

    Richard Gere in AmeliaWith Venice and Toronto behind us, the time has come to re-evaluate where the race stands in the crafts categories.

    Over the past two months at In Contention, we have tried to take a glance at where the potential nominees stood from a distance. Best Original Song was delayed, though Kris has, might I add, been doing a very good job at accumulating a list of potential candidates.

    Now, while many titles still need to be unveiled, the big festivals have had their say. Alas, the two films which probably emerged from Toronto in the best position – “Up in the Air” and “Precious” – hardly seem to be the sort of films which will be racking up tech nominations (though the latter is a sure-fire film editing contender).

    More interestingly, a question arises: Will Tom Ford’s “A Single Man” will be able to bring its Venice success to the USA in the crafts categories? It not only sports Ford’s artistic vision but also the “Mad Men” team behind its production design.

    “Bright Star” has landed, likely to still make a splash in the crafts categories, but I’m still not sure if it will be the overall player many were hoping for. This could reduce the scope of its potential here.

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  • SUNDAY CENTS: ‘Cloudy’ clears up box office

    Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs(EDITOR’S NOTE: My fault on the belated nature of Chad’s column.  Back on track next week.)

    *All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    It had been almost two months since a PG-rated film hit the marketplace and parents were desperate for something to take their kids to. The result is “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” topping the chart with $30.1 million and the seventh-biggest September debut of all time.

    It also tops the $25.9 million of “Open Season” to become the biggest animated debut ever for Sony, which is not really considered a major player in that arena. The real money here should be in fast food tie-ins, though. Why haven’t I seen a correlative toy in my happy meal? Somebody dropped the (meat)ball there.

    A distant second place is where “The Informant!” landed with a $10.5 million gross. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: 2009 is the year of the mustache and the proof is in the pudding. Anyway, this performance is more or less identical to the $10.8 million debut of “Michael Clayton” and I see no reason why this can’t perform with similar legs, reaching $40-$50 million total. That’s plenty enough to buy Matt Damon some Slim-Fast shakes and keep him on the lips of Oscar voters come January.

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  • 9/16 Web Round-up

    (from left) Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze in Point Break• Keanu Reeves on Patrick Swayze: “He was a beautiful person, an artist.” [People]

    • Peter Bart salutes John Calley for landing an honorary Oscar but highlights the producer’s roller coaster career. [BF Deal Memo]

    • Peter Knegt talks to the beautiful Anna Kendrick about butterflies going into the “Up in the Air” shoot. [indieWIRE]

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  • OSCAR TALK: Ep. 2 — ‘Up in the Air,’ disagreeing on ‘The Road’ and Toronto looms

    Oscar TalkWelcome to the second installment of Oscar Talk with yours truly and indieWIRE‘s Anne Thompson.  We tried to set aside some time in Telluride to do one of these, but time never seemed to permit.

    Anne is in Toronto this week, and, at the time of this recording (yesterday, so all “todays” and “tomorrows” should be re-purposed accordingly), was gearing up for a screening of Jon Amiel’s “Creation.”

    We tightened things up slightly this time, clocking in at just over 25 minutes.  Here are a few of the topics we discussed:

    • Which films are going to be tested by their exposure in Toronto (John’s coverage begins this weekend)?

    • The story out of Telluride, “Up in the Air,” and the awards prospects for the film across the board.

    • The dueling Best Supporting Actress hopefuls from the film, Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga.

    • The cool reception Jane Campion’s “Bright Star” is receiving in some quarters and how that could work against its major Oscar potential, despite exquisite craftwork.

    • By popular demand, Anne and I disagree on something: John Hillcoat’s “The Road.”

    • The “schizophrenic” marketing of the film, moving from genre/suspense to the love/warmth at its center.

    Have a listen below.  And by the way, these should be filtering in through iTunes now, so you can subscribe to the podcast here.

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  • INTERVIEW: Paul Schneider

    Paul SchneiderTelluride Film Festival

    Paul Schneider has had a headache since he was nine years old.  Or at least, he says, that’s what it feels like.  Since the rush of a film festival isn’t the best environment for migraines, a corner booth in an unassuming cafe is a nice distraction for the actor.

    Schneider left the North Carolina Piedmont with a degree in film editing and a role in his friend David Gordon Green’s feature debut “George Washington” in the spring of 1999.  He moved to Los Angeles for what he calls “six weird months” before retreating to home base and a year living in Raleigh, and that’s when things started happening.  Green’s film hit the festival circuit, later became one of the most celebrated debuts of 2000 (landing on Roger Ebert’s top 10 list) and put Schneider in a position to make some moves.  He picked up an agent and things started to come together.

    “I thought it was sort of a fancy situation,” he says, sipping coffee, looking off in the distance, thoughtfully choosing his words.  “I was farther ahead in this game than I was in the editing game.  I was still around what I liked.  I was still around this thing and I thought I’d just give it a whirl.  Even a moderate success in acting can afford you a lot of time and a lot of money to do a lot of other stuff.  But it kind of just kept on happening.”

    From “George Washington” Schneider starred opposite Zooey Deschanel in Green’s equally respected “All the Real Girls” (which Schneider co-wrote while he and Green were in film school).  He landed roles in Cameron Crowe’s “Elizabethtown,” Tom Bezucha’s “The Family Stone” and Andrew Dominik’s “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” but despite the indication that directors were banging down his door, Schneider makes it clear that he didn’t have much autonomy, nor does he today.

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  • TELLURIDE: ‘An Education,’ ‘Bright Star,’ ‘London River’

    London RiverThis year’s Telluride fest is slowly gearing up.  There are a handful of press screenings this afternoon and the opener, Marco Bellochio’s “Vincere,” is set to play at 5:00pm.  I’ll probably miss that in order to take in “The Last Station,” which if it picks up a buyer, could make good on awards potential for Christopher Plummer and James McAvoy.

    Before things get going, though, I though it best to clear the slate with a few reactions to films playing here which I’ve already seen.  More to come later this evening, I’m sure.

    “An Education” (****)

    Few films are likely to have the refined air of artistry that Lone Scherfig’s “An Education” offers.  Based on a memoir by Lynn Barber, the story is, in a nutshell, that of a young girl eager to grow up but unprepared for the disappointments of adulthood.  But the film is, of course, so much more than that.

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  • The Gurus line up for another year

    Gurus o' GoldOver at Movie City News, David Poland has amassed the fifth annual Gurus o’ Gold prognosticating collective (including yours truly once again) and asked for a list of 15 films with the brightest pre-Toronto Best Picture profile.  We also were asked to indicate dark horse underdog actors and actresses, which yielded some interesting results (though some of them shouldn’t really count as “dark horses”).

    The Best Picture chart includes 34 titles (the top 10 republished after the jump) and represents the wild blind stab you’d expect at this point.

    I find myself surprised “Bright Star” is still being considered a formidable contender, but it’s firmly in the top 10.  So is “Precious,” proving out a personal months-old intuition (though nothing’s assured at this point, of course).

    “The Road,” “Amelia” and “Capitalism: A Love Story” are the bubble contenders.  “District 9” and “Star Trek” also have decent showings.

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