In Contention

Tag: Chris Dickens

  • TECH SUPPORT: Postmortem

    Tech Support at In ContentionWhat can I say? It was a big night for “Slumdog Millionaire” at the 81st Annual Academy Awards on Sunday.

    While I do like the film a great deal, I found its dominance this awards season unnecessarily monotonous.  For instance, I preferred Thomas Newman’s work in both music categories this year, but I was nonetheless very happy with A.R. Rahman’s triumphs. The music branch needs to be seriously rewired, though.  Their choices in recent years have often been bizarre and at times terrible.

    Anthony Dod Mantle’s deserved victory in the cinematography feield means that Roger Deakins is still waiting for that first statuette. (Though, might I add, as effective as the work is in “The Reader,” I would have found it slightly disappointing if Deakins had finally won this year, considering Chris Menges shot most of the movie.) I would also like to think that Wally Pfister will eventually triumph in this category, considering Pfister has received three nominations in the last four years (all on Christopher Nolan projects).

    Chris Dickens winning Best Film Editing was probably the easiest call of all the tech categories. Though I would say Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter, Elliot Graham and especially Lee Smith have built up good will with their fellow editors, while Mike Hill and Daniel P. Hanley must be considered in contention whenever they make a prestigious film with Ron Howard.

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Final predictions

    Tech Support at In ContentionAfter six months of Tech Support previews and interviews, the films have arrived, the nominations have been announced and the guilds, the critics and BAFTA have all announced their preferences.  Today we take a final look at the races before the envelopes are opened on Sunday.

    BEST ART DIRECTION
    After guild and BAFTA wins, I would say “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” has cemented its frontrunner status in this category. Spanning decades of the 20th Century, Donald Graham Burt’s production design was impossible not to notice and gave us gorgeous backdrops for its character’s predicaments.

    The other nominees all have the odds stacked against them, whether similar work has been seen before (Michael Carlin’s “The Duchess” and Kristi Zea’s “Revolutionary Road”), is just not showy enough (Nathan Crowley’s “The Dark Knight”) or the nominee is otherwise along for the ride (James Murakami’s “Changeling”).

    Will win: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
    Could win: “The Duchess”
    Should win: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

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  • ‘Slumdog,’ ‘WALL-E,’ ‘Wire’ win big at the Eddies

    ACE Eddie AwardUPDATED: Alright, back from the show and it seems “Slumdog” also predictably won the ASC award, which brings me to a possibility that has come up in a number of conversations recently: could the film sweep all its Oscar categories in one week’s time?  It is the film of the year and truthfully, there seems to be a ripple through the industry hinting at a nine Oscar outcome (since it can’t exactly win two Oscars in the Original Song category — but wouldn’t a tie just be hilarious?).

    Anyway, this was my second time reporting from the ACE Eddie Awards ceremony and it’s generally a good time, for those who can keep up with the inside baseball, of course.  Note to self: maybe not bring the girlfriend next time.

    Beyond the quick dash of kudos-dishing there were a trio of special awards handed out tonight.  For starters, the Career Achievement Eddies went to Arthur Schmidt and Sidney Katz (father of ACE member Virginia Katz).  Watching Schmidt’s reel play before Robert Zemeckis handed him his honor was a treat, of course, considering the nearly three decades of movie magic the man has been partially responsible for: “Back to the Future,” “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?,” “The Last of the Mohicans,” “Forrest Gump,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” “The Birdcage,” etc.  He seems to have taken a break the last four years.

    Mel Gibson, meanwhile, joined Stuart Baird in presenting Richard Donner with the Golden Eddie Award (which last year went to Norman Jewison).  Donner’s speech was a highlight, despite the rambling (which was done with trademark Donner endearment).  He put a bow on the thing with a trio of political points, the first being an anti-fur declaration (to go along with an anti-fur button pinned to his lapel).  Then he encouraged us all to adopt puppies rather than buy, and whether you voted for Barack Obama or not, he said, “we’re going through a lot of shit and he needs all of your support now.”  Each of them were met with big applause in a West L.A. ballroom, but of course.

    But again, the highlight reel = movie magic: “Superman,” “The Omen,” “Lethal Weapon,” “The Goonies” — GREAT call by ACE this year, I have to say.  But the one thing that stuck in my mind was Gibson’s weird cavalier facial hair…thing.  An evil Robin Hood, that’s what he looked like up there.  Or a “V for Vendetta” mask.

    Anyway, the big awards went to “Slumdog” and “WALL-E,” of course (as well as “Man on Wire”), the newsy news of which you can find after the jump.  I think the Pixar win is a bit of a surprise and in a way, a refreshing one.  It’s nice to see this guild really break down the barrier for animated films in this way, since no other toon has taken the Eddie in the past despite numerous nominations in the comedy category.  The former, however, and Chris Dickens (looking quite Moby-esque, I have to say), seems to be on an unstoppable Oscar trajectory.

    Much to the chagrin of some, the enthusiasm of others.  Such is the season…

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  • TECH SUPPORT INTERVIEW: the crafts of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’

    Tech Support at In ContentionGarnering 10 nominations last week confirmed “Slumdog Millionaire”’s established status as the frontrunner for this year’s Best Picture Oscar.  Unusually for a Best Picture winner, the film failed to nab any acting nominations.  Its high tally counts comes from seven nominations in the crafts fields.

    I recently had the chance to speak to three of those below-the-line nominees: composer and songwriter A.R. Rahman, cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle and film editor Chris Dickens.  All are first-time nominees and all must be considered in genuine contention for statuettes, if not favored to win.

    Rahman, a self-proclaimed introvert, has already won Golden Globe and BFCA awards for his score, which has become massively popular.  Though very humble, it is clear he is relishing the opportunity to have his music exposed to such a wide audience.

    “I was attracted to the film right away,” he says.  “It is about modern India, young people and optimism.  There’s a kind of urge to it.  It’s not a laid-back score.  It needed something edgy and experimental to create interest in the whole thing.”

    Dickens also was attracted to the film right away, not only because of the story but because of the unique way it was to be told.  “Basically, the film was designed that way in the script,” he says.  “Though there was always a doubt in my mind as to how it would work when you saw it.  There are lots of different scenes that the audience had to understand to get to know where they were with the story.  The intention was always to shoot in different formats and different styles.  I found that fascinating.”

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