In Contention

Tag: Carey Mulligan

  • It’s not so dire, Mr. Friedman

    Shohreh Aghdashloo in The Stoning of Soraya MObviously Hollywood Reporter gossip hound Roger Friedman hasn’t been reading our Contenders section, or else he’d know there are plenty of lead actress hopefuls out there, not the dearth he apparently perceives.

    Friedman rattles off 12 contenders in a recent piece titled Shortage of “Best Actresses in the Coming Oscar Season,” but he misses some key possibilities.  Abbie Cornish in “Bright Star,” for one, who didn’t necessarily impress me much, but could certainly be in the hunt.  “Precious,” meanwhile, is considered a ripe opportunity for supporting contender Mo’Nique, but lead Gabourey Sidibe could certainly find her share of notices.

    Gwyneth Paltrow in “Two Lovers” and Zooey Deschanel in “(500) Days of Summer” are two extreme longshot contenders whose films have already been released, but Penelope Cruz deserves to be in the discussion for “Broken Embraces,” surely, as does Tilda Swinton in “Julia.”

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  • WEEKLY WRAP: Festivals beckon, ‘District 9’ opens

    Sharlto Copley in District 9• The New York Film Festival unveiled a decidedly foreign lineup, with Alain Resnais and Pedro Almodovar at either end.

    • Speaking of festivals, the long-awaited “The Road” was among the titles added to the Toronto slate this week.

    • With everyone excited about “District 9” this week, we took time to chat to the film’s breakout star Sharlto Copley.

    • Best Film Editing was the subject of this week’s installment of Tech Support.

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  • Carey Mulligan becomes a Gekko, joins ‘Wall Street’ sequel cast

    Carey MulliganActress Carey Mulligan (she’s worth a double-dip today) will ignite the awards circuit this year.  Just you wait.  Most lead actress races will likely pit her against living legend Meryl Streep, giving her all the more clout as anyone who goes toe-to-toe with Streep enjoys the boost of simply being in her company.  I anticipate Mulligan could be so respected for her work in “An Education” that, with the right campaign, she could win an Oscar for her efforts.

    And now she’s filling out the next phase of her career nicely, joining the already impressive cast of Oliver Stone’s forthcoming “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.”  Entertainment Weekly’s Nicole Sperling reports (though Latino Review broke the story first back in June and, I’m sorry to say, I missed it) Mulligan has been picked to play the estranged daughter of Michael Douglas’s legenday Gordon Gekko character.

    Mulligan will share the screen with Shia LaBeouf, Josh Brolin and Frank Langella in what is turning into one of the must-see films of next year.  Her character will be romantically linked to LaBeouf’s, Sperling reports.

    Meanwhile, audiences await the release of “An Education,” which will no doubt mark Mulligan’s star-making moment and perhaps rack up a healthy kudo total along the way.  She deserves it.  Guy pointed to some nice notices on the web earlier this morning.

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  • Nathaniel Rogers boards the Mulligan express

    Carey Mulligan“An Education” and its breakout star Carey Mulligan continue to slay bloggers wherever they go. Chief cheerleader Jeff Wells hasn’t stopped talking about the film since its Sundance bow in January, and you’ll remember that Kris joined the fan club (with added props for Alfred Molina) in June.

    Sasha Stone was sufficiently dazzled by Mulligan’s work to place her at the top of a list of today’s finest young actresses. Now The Film Experience’s Nathaniel Rogers, the guy for whom Best Actress is the most holy of all award categories, has seen the film, and is rendered virtually speechless by Mulligan’s performance:

    just… WOW

    We’re still five plus months away from nominations but, for the moment, it looks like a Carey vs. Meryl showdown on March 7th, 2010.

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  • Plumping for Pike in ‘An Education’

    Rosamund Pike in An EducationIt seems that Lone Scherfig’s British period drama “An Education” continues to steal the heart of pretty much everyone who sees it — this has been near the top of my “most anticipated” list for some time now.

    You may remember a recent piece where Kris, while echoing the resounding praise for the film and its breakout star Carey Mulligan, really flew the flag for supporting star Alfred Molina.

    Now comes further applause for the film — and an emphatic endorsement for yet another member of the film’s ensemble — from an interesting source: Santa Barbara Film Festival director Roger Durling.

    In an ecstatic note to Jeff Wells, one of the film’s earliest champions, Durling likens watching the film to “a state of movie nirvana” and declares Mulligan both “sublime” and “the leading contender at this point for Best Actress.” But I’m most interested to see that he singles out the supporting work of 30 year-old British actress Rosamund Pike for special attention.

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  • Stumping for Molina in ‘An Education’

    Alfred Molina in An EducationI’m late to the table in some sense given that Lone Sherfig’s “An Education” dazzled audiences five months ago at the Sundance Film Festival.  But after catching the film last night, I was left with one mission: spread the word on Alfred Molina.

    Most of the end-of-year awards talk will surely surround Carey Mulligan’s absolutely peerless and incredibly refined leading performance, as well it should.  She won’t need much of a boost into the Oscar race when people get a load of what she has to offer here.  But I’m circling the wagons for Molina, whose portrayal of a concerned father of the era is, not to put too fine a point on it, the work of a master.

    Molina has no showy moment.  He has nothing you would say represents a classic “Oscar clip.”  But truly, when has he?  This is an actor, still without proper recognition from the Academy, who has delivered time after time, from “Boogie Nights” to “Frida” (his one brush with the derby) to “The Hoax” and even blockbuster fare such as “Spider-Man 2.”  And in “An Education,” he’s at the top of his game.  I was more affected by his subtle additions to the film than I expected and that, I’d say, is the hallmark of an accomplished supporting performance.

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  • A taste of ‘An Education’

    Carey Mulligan and Peter Sarsgaard in An EducationOne of the more popular Oscar bets doing the rounds is that, along with rising star Carey Mulligan, writer Nick Hornby will find himself in the race for Sundance favorite “An Education.” (I have a hunch the film may do even better than that, but that’s me.)

    In contrast to the wealth of popular books reaching our screens this year, however, Hornby’s adaptation has taken a rather more circuitous journey: his script is a fictionalisation of journalist Lynn Barber’s autobiographical short story which appeared in Granta magazine a while back, but is actually just a taster for Barber’s full-length memoir, which is only being published later this month. Still with me? Good.

    I will of course be covering all this in a Page to Screen column eventually. For now, the Observer has helpfully provided a 6000-word extract from Barber’s memoir that essentially covers the events that inspired the film, wherein a wide-eyed 16 year-old girl experiences the rush of first love and heartbreak at the hands of an older man in early 1960s London. It’s a delightful read — warm, melancholy and streaked with acerbic humor — and gives some idea of what to expect from the film. I particularly liked this extract, which balances specific personal emotion and sly social critique quite beautifully:

    Events overtook me in the last few days of term. Miss R Garwood Scott the headmistress somehow got wind of my engagement and summoned me to see her. Was it true I was engaged? Yes, I said, but I would still like to take the Oxford exams. She was ruthless. I could not return to school (in those days you had to stay for an extra term to do Oxbridge entrance) if I was getting married. When was the wedding and which church would it be in? Not in church, I said, because my fiancé was Jewish. Jewish! She looked aghast – “Don’t you realise that the Jews killed Our Lord?” I stared at her. “So I won’t take the Oxford exams,” I said. My little gang was waiting for me outside her study. “I told her I was leaving,” I announced. “She tried to persuade me to stay but I refused.” They all congratulated me and begged to be bridesmaids. Then I went to the bogs and cried my eyes out.

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  • Strong notices for Tautou in ‘Chanel’

    Audrey Tautou in Coco Avant Chanel2008’s slate of eventual Best Actress nominees may not have been the strongest of recent years, but it was certainly the most predetermined. Months before anyone had seen even a frame of their films,  it was accepted wisdom that Meryl Streep, Angelina Jolie and Kate Winslet (for something, at least) would be invited to the ball.

    This unusual star-focused stranglehold (in an unusually crowded field) made it that much harder (and ultimately impossible) for critics’ darlings like Sally Hawkins or Kristin Scott Thomas to gain a slot.

    This year, however, sees a return to the usual terrain of questionmarks in the field, with the usual regrettable paucity of female star vehicles on the horizon. (Only “Amelia” smells like Oscar catnip, and it smells a little funny to me.) Can Michelle Pfeiffer and Meryl Streep score veteran nods for comedy vehicles? Could either Gabourey Sidibe or Saoirse Ronan become only the second teenaged nominee in the category’s history? Which film, if any, will turn out to be Helen Mirren’s awards pony?

    With the most early buzz centred on an ingenue few have yet heard of (that would be Carey Mulligan), it’s looking like a year of few sure things from a distance, which is the way I like it. (Of course, I could be completely wrong — I bow to certain other folks’ expertise in this field.)

    So with the race so delicately poised at this early point, it’s interesting to see one of the few supposedly baity contenders passing the initial critical test. On paper, Audrey Tautou’s performance in “Coco Before Chanel” has a lot going for it. Nobody needs to be reminded of the Academy’s fondness for biopics (but just for the record, 7 of the last 10 Best Actress winners played real-life figures), and they aren’t exactly averse to pretty period pieces either.

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  • Romanek begins shooting ‘Never Let Me Go’

    Never Let Me GoLast week, I mentioned how fully in the tank I am for Lynne Ramsay’s upcoming “We Need To Talk About Kevin.” Today, meanwhile, brings updated news of another British-funded adaptation with a mighty literary source, perfect-on-paper cast and exciting filmmaker who has been quiet for too long.

    The film in question is Mark Romanek’s take on Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2005 masterpiece, “Never Let Me Go.” Both Fox Searchlight and Film4 (a pairing that previously brought us “Slumdog Millionaire”) have a hand in the project, which started principal shooting today in the UK. Anyone familiar with Ishiguro’s novel will see why it’s a potentially snug fit for Romanek, the music video auteur extraordinaire who hasn’t settled on a feature-length vehicle for his gifts since the mixed bag that was 2002’s “One Hour Photo.”

    Ishiguro’s supremely elegant science-fiction tale — a romantic dystopian narrative hard to synopsise without entering spoiler territory — should provide the right balance of elegiac emotional texture to complement Romanek’s sometimes distancing visual sheen. With Alex Garland (“The Beach,” “28 Days Later”) handling script duties, the project promises a very exciting merger of three pristine stylists.

    Meanwhile, the cast — a veritable showcase of Britain’s brightest rising talent — isn’t too shabby either: Sally Hawkins has just been added to a roster that already includes Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield (so riveting in “Boy A” and “Red Riding”), with Charlotte Rampling adding veteran class.

    Even if you don’t know the source material, you have to admit this sounds pretty exciting on paper. Of course, Ishiguro’s opalescent, china-fragile prose (okay, I’m a long-time devotee) provides numerous opportunities to trip up less delicate filmmakers — but as the Merchant-Ivory team proved back in 1993, it can be done, and with less intrinsically cinematic source material to boot. I’m sensing something special in the works here.

  • 2/13 Oscarweb Round-up

    • Dave Karger posts his final predictions, is still on the Sean Penn express. [Entertainment Weekly]

    • The other David, in his non-Bagger persona, sings the praises of this year’s Oscar long shots. [New York Times]

    • T.L. Stanley peeks at the entertainment on offer at next week’s Spirit Awards. (Teri Hatcher spoofing “Wendy and Lucy?” Interesting.) [Gold Rush]

    • Gold Derby serves up their own award nominations, shaming the Academy in the process. (“TDK” and Sally Hawkins fans, rejoice.) [Gold Derby]

    • The adorable Taraji P. Henson talks “Button,” dresses and her secret yearning to play Diana Ross. (Great idea. Make it happen.) [Vanity Fair]

    • David Thomson ponders the puzzle that is Steven Soderbergh. [The Guardian]

    • The Art Directors Guild offers an unusual list: from “Intolerance” to “LA Confidential,” the Top 100 Designed Films of all time. [Variety]

    • Peter Bart reports that Danny Boyle is interested in filming a woman’s story for a change. [Variety]

    • Gaynor Flynn talks to Sundance sensation and star-in-the-making Carey Mulligan. [The Independent]

    • Kim Voynar pretends that it’s even worth considering the chances of four other Best Picture nominees. [Movie City News]

  • Class act

    Jeff Wells has captured some of last night’s Kristin Scott Thomas Q&A at the Santa Barbara festival, and it’s well worth a look — as I found when I interviewed her back in December, she’s immensely forthright, considered and witty in her discussion of her craft. Truly one of the best in the game.

    Wells also offers some tidbits from an informal chat he enjoyed with Scott Thomas afterwards, the most intriguing of which is that “plans are afoot to shoot a film version of ‘The Seagull’ with the same Broadway cast.”

    If you caught the Royal Court revival of Chekhov’s play in either of its London or New York incarnations, chances are you’re as excited by that news as I am. If you didn’t, you should be excited anyway.

    Scott Thomas’ interpretation of Arkadina was possibly the greatest stage performance I have ever seen, and the prospect of it being immortalised on film, with the likes of Carey Mulligan (who killed as Nina in the same production) and Peter Sarsgaard strutting their stuff too, is tantalising indeed. (The production I saw had Chiwetel Ejiofor in place of Sarsgaard — hardly a bad tradeoff.)

    If it gets done, and done right, on screen, Scott Thomas could just nab the second Oscar nomination that so unfairly eluded her this year for her staggering work in “I’ve Loved You So Long.” Here’s hoping. Check out the interview here.

  • WEEKLY WRAP: Oscar nomination week

    • In case you’ve just emerged from a coma or something, the nominations for the 81st annual Academy Awards were unveiled.

    • And it’s fair to say we weren’t impressed. At all.

    • OK, maybe a little impressed.

    • Amid the chaos, Kris took a stab at what/who we should expect to emerge victorious on Oscar night.

    • With the rise of “The Reader” the week’s big story, Tech Support presciently chatted with the film’s craftsmen.

    • Meanwhile, scripter Sir David Hare told the film’s critics where to get off.

    • This week’s Off the Carpet column laid out our final (and, as it turned out, slightly off-target) predictions.

    • You probably didn’t notice, but the Razzie Awards did their thing as usual.

    • “WALL-E” picked up what was to be its last Best Picture gong of the season.

    • Ahead of the nominations, yours truly filled out his own imaginary ballot. Suffice to say, there was little overlap.

    • The Visual Effects Society announced their nominees, showing “The Dark Knight” surprisingly little love.

    • Reflections on how the Academy’s top award has fared this decade.

    • Finally, amid this week’s Oscar hysteria, Sundance buzz suggests Carey Mulligan could be one to watch for next year’s derby.

  • Hot property

    Yesterday I mentioned how Lone Scherfig’s British period romance “An Education,” starring much-buzzed ingenue Carey Mulligan, had become the talk of Sundance, with Fox Searchlight zeroing in on the film.

    Now Anne Thompson reports that Searchlight, and several others, have been beaten to the punch by Sony Pictures Classics, who have acquired the North American rights for $3 million:

    Fox Searchlight came back into the negotiation on a second round but was unable to close … Also bidding on An Education were The Weinstein Co., Focus Features, Lionsgate and Overture. SPC will launch the film in the fall with an eye on an awards campaign.

    Wow, that some hefty interest there. SPC sounds like an appropriate fit for the film, given that they’ve had some success lately with female-skewing arthouse titles like “Rachel Getting Married,” “I’ve Loved You So Long” and their canny acquisition from last year’s festival, “Frozen River” — even if those films’ campaigns have lost some steam over the course of the season.

    The news of an awards-oriented release is certainly interesting … could Mulligan be this year’s Ellen Page? Stu Van Airsdale thinks she’s rather better than that, saying that Page’s “Juno” turn comes off looking like “a Lifetime reject” by comparison.

  • Mulligan makes her move

    Don’t say I didn’t give you the heads-up on this one. Looking over the Sundance lineup last month, I singled out Lone Scherfig’s “An Education” as a title about which I was particularly excited — not least because it stars Carey Mulligan, a lovely young Brit for whom I’ve been predicting big things for some time.

    Well, once in a blue moon, I’m right.

    “An Education,” a 1960s-set coming-of-age drama penned by Nick Hornby, recently bowed at Sundance, and while the notices for the film itself are warm, the real buzz centers on 23 year-old Mulligan. A star, it appears, is born. Jeff Wells was first out the gate, and it’s fair to say that he’s besotted with both star and film — which he reckons we may still be talking about this time next year:

    The best film of the Sundance Film Festival, a finely tuned and deeply engaging film by regular popcorn-watching standards, an award-calibre drama that will definitely be in contention at the end of the year, and a movie that has launched a genuine movie star in an old-fashioned and yet very new-fashioned sense — 23 year-old Carey Mulligan. I know that special old-soul-mixed-with-youthful-effervescence quality that you see in very few actors and actresses over the years, and trust me, Mulligan has it.

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  • Sundance competition lineup revealed

    For those who really want to get an early start in the awards-guessing game, the lineups of films competing for honours at next month’s 25th annual Sundance Film Festival has been announced. As usual, the competition is split into four sections — US dramatic, US documentary, world dramatic, world documentary — with 16 films competing in each.

    Looking down the list of films, it’s pretty much impossible to anticipate hits or highlights based on name recognition alone. After all, the whole point of Sundance is for unexpected successes to emerge out of nowhere. This time last year, who could have predicted that a miniscule, star-free picture called “Frozen River” would be making waves on the awards circuit following a win at Sundance? Nobody. That’s the beauty.

    With that in mind, I’ve selected one film from each section that piques my interest — either I’ve been following its progression for some time, or I simply like the pitch and/or people involved.

    AN EDUCATION (World Dramatic) I’ve been intrigued by this one for a while, partly because it’s written by Nick Hornby, and partly because it stars the incandescent young Carey Mulligan, who blew me away as Nina in last year’s Royal Court production of “The Seagull” (now on Broadway). I predicted then and there she’d be a star, so I’m interested to see if this demonstrates her potential. She plays a smart teenager in 1960’s London who falls under the spell of a debonair older man. Peter Sarsgaard, Emma Thompson and Sally Hawkins are also in the impressive cast, while Lone Scherfig, best known for “Italian for Beginners” (an unusually cuddly work from the Dogme sect), directs. I’m in.

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