In Contention

Tag: Crazy Heart

  • FRIDAY FORECAST: Blue boon

    Sam Worthington in Avatar*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    It’s “Avatar” day people! The day some of us have been waiting for! The movie has been hyped for years and if you listen to the critics, James Cameron has delivered. The man has a pretty impeccable box office history and is belatedly coming off the highest grossing film of a generation.

    That would be the $921.5 million-grossing, 11 Academy Award-winning “Titanic” for anyone wondering. No matter what he made next, anticipation was going to be huge, but the non-stop chatter about “game-changing” and “brand new viewing experience” has made things reach a fever pitch.

    After the trailer debuted, I thought we were looking at an epic fail. I thought the effects looked crappy and the story looked stiff as a brick. I thought no one over the age of 40 would possibly be interested. Now that some people have actually laid eyes on it, it seems I’m in the extreme minority. This sucker is poised to make a lot of money.

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  • Maggie Gyllenhaal’s campaign shifts gears to supporting

    Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy HeartSpeaking of “Crazy Heart,” I’ve been told that Maggie Gyllenhaal’s campaign for the film has been (smartly) shifted from lead actress to supporting actress.  One can only expect that the original (in my opinion, false) perspective that the lead actress field was “weak” had something to do with the original placement.  But I’ve always been of the mind that the film is about Bad Blake and that a co-lead argument doesn’t gel here.

    The performance was submitted to the Screen Actors Guild as a lead, while the HFPA designated it a lead for their purposes as well.  The Academy, of course, can vote how they choose, but I think this part naturally pops out as a supporting one and that any votes will likely go there anyway.

    It’s also a bit encouraging that Gyllenhaal had some modest support in the early stages of the NYFCC’s voting last week.  But the question is, can she make the cut?  And I actually think there is a shot here, to be honest.

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  • Listen to Jeff Bridges’s ‘Somebody Else’ from ‘Crazy Heart’

    Jeff Bridges in Crazy HeartToday we’re wrapping up the “listen to” series of featured tracks in this year’s Best Original Song race.  We spotlighted 17 contenders in total, not all of which made the eventual eligibility cut, of course.  But it’s been a nice way of giving the field it’s proper due.

    Surprisingly enough, only one other song from “Crazy Heart” joined “The Weary Kind” on this year’s list of eligible contenders.  That song was “Somebody Else,” which is in fact the first tune we hear Jeff Bridges’s Bad Blake character sing in the film.  The opening lyric was a particular favorite of songwriter T Bone Burnett’s: “I used to be somebody.  Now I am somebody else.”

    It’s a great moment because it introduces you to the killer soundtrack that will unfold for the next two hours and because it sheds a compelling light on the film’s central character, a man clinging to his past when he has long outgrown it.

    Have a listen below and tell us what you think.

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  • ‘Air,’ ‘Basterds,’ ‘Precious’ lead the way with SAG

    Diane Kruger in Inglourious BasterdsThere wasn’t much in the way of a surprise with this year’s Screen Actors Guild announcement.  The nods that are least likely to translate to Oscar, if I were a betting man, are Diane Kruger’s supporting actress bid for “Inglourious Basterds” and (I guess I just have a feeling) Matt Damon, supporting for “Invictus.” The rest seem like safe bets on down the line.

    I wouldn’t read too much into the ensemble snub of “Up in the Air,” though it’s curious to nominate three actors from the film and then ignore it in that field.  The ensemble category is also where “Nine” got its expected attention, though Penelope Cruz also showed up in supporting for the film.  The BFCA, you’ll recall, went for Marion Cotillard instead.

    “Precious,” “Inglourious Basterds” and “Up in the Air” had the most nominations, with three apiece.  I would have expected “An Education” to have that designation, too, but somehow Alfred Molina was ignored.  Maybe that won’t be the case with Oscar, maybe it will.

    On to the next thing.  Check the full list of nominees after the jump.

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  • If I had a ballot

    Sam Worthington in AvatarEvery year I like to keep track of personal favorites throughout the Academy’s designated categories (plus one of my own addition, Best Ensemble). At the end of the year, my “if I had a ballot” post is the result.

    Of course, for the most part, I follow Academy designations here. If something is ruled ineligible, I play along. It’s not that often that something like that is egregious anyway, though the music branch consistently tests my resolve on the matter.  In years past I’ve tried to make it an AMPAS/critics’ awards hybrid kind of thing, but this makes it easier.

    I know, I know.  “Why don’t you just list what you think should be nominated, the rules be damned?”  Because then I couldn’t call it “If I had a ballot?”  But I guess I’m contradicting myself by adding a category.  I don’t know.  I’m just trying not to be too lamely definitive or authoritative with something like this, I suppose.

    Anyway, I’m also abstaining from offering up a list of foreign language nods. Firstly, I feel it’s been a rather weak year in general there, but I also haven’t made my way fully through the list of submissions either. So I’ll address that another time.  The same goes with he doc features, as I’d rather push through more of the eligible titles first.

    This year the top 10 is the Best Picture field, obviously, and from there, I toss my two cents into a variety of discussions. Here’s what I came up with…

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  • Talking ‘The Weary Kind’

    Speaking of original song contenders, we featured Ryan Bingham’s “The Weary Kind” a few weeks ago, but the New Mexico-bred crooner sat down with music consultant T Bone Burnett and “Crazy Heart” writer/director Scott Cooper at the film’s press day two weekends back to discuss the process of writing the soulful track.  Much of this you probably already know from reading my interview with Bigham and Burnett, but it’s nice to hear the two discussing it with Cooper.  Fox Searchlight recently made this video of the chat available, so take a look:

  • 12/16 Oscarweb Round-up

    Capturing the Friedmans• Sharon Waxman says “Avatar” is “just what ailing, uncertain Hollywood needs.” [The Wrap]

    • Nikki Finke writes up Oscar’s bad-mouthing season. [Deadline Hollywood Daily]

    • Rodrigo Perez names “Capturing the Friedmans” the best documentary of the decade. [The Playlist]

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  • ‘Crazy Heart’ quietly looking like a critics’ fave

    (from left) Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jeff Bridges in Crazy HeartIt’s early days yet.  The film opens tomorrow limited and wider later, so obviously not everyone has spoken up yet.  The only writer keeping the film away from a perfect score at Rotten Tomatoes with the handful of top critics who’ve chimed in so far is Kirk Honeycutt, who says:

    An ex-star out of control and the self-destructive drunk is a cross between types with too many antecedents in other movies.

    However, that somewhat thin criticism is debunked swiftly if you look a little further up the page at this quote from David Ansen:

    Crazy Heart gets to you like a good country song — not because it tells you something new, but because it tells it well. It’s the singer, not the song.

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  • INTERVIEW: Scott Cooper and Robert Duvall

    (from left) Robert Duvall and Scott Cooper at the Los Angeles premiere of Crazy HeartIn a quiet corner of the Four Seasons restaurant late one afternoon, Robert Duvall gives “Crazy Heart” writer/director Scott Cooper a little grief for singing his praises too loudly.

    “Oh, quit playing humble,” he says. “Come on, man!”

    Earlier, when Cooper tries to pass credit for his film’s financing on to Duvall, the six-time Oscar nominee offers more of the same.

    “I’m not so sure I believe that,” Duvall says. “Maybe.”

    It’s the standard back-and-forth between mentor and, for lack of a better term, protégé. Reverence and respect from the younger southern gentleman, sincere commendation and dismissed flattery from the older industry vet.

    But that’s their dynamic. Duvall, who never had children of his own, certainly seems to think of Cooper as a son. The director was married on Duvall’s 360-acre property in the plains of Virginia. The two met as actors on  “Gods and Generals,” worked together again on television’s “Broken Trail” and, most recently, Aaron Schneider’s “Get Low.” And the truth is, “Crazy Heart” would have had a bumpy road to the screen if it was just Cooper out there banging on doors.

    To his credit, Cooper knows it.

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  • Going out with a bang: the best films of 2009

    Sharlto Copley in District 9I’ve often been asked throughout the latter part of 2009 why I should have the gall to consider it the best year of film product in a decade. It’s such a subjective circumstance that, of course, the only answer is, “I liked a lot of movies.” That’s not enough for most. Hard and fast evidence is necessary. A carefully outlined, persuasive argument is expected.

    I just liked a lot of movies.

    The year began slowly, as they tend to do. The first film I saw that cried for end-of-the-year remembrance was a modest baseball drama I caught at the Santa Barbara Film Festival in February. Then it was all the way into the summer before a blockbuster banged the first four-star gong, followed shortly by a happenstance viewing of an unconventional British biopic at the Los Angeles Film Festival and a catch-up viewing of one of the year’s Sundance hits.

    Sprinkled throughout was top-tier animated product, a Comic-Con screening of one of the best sci-fi outings in years (and a homefront viewing of another first-time filmmaker’s fascinating foray into the genre), not to mention finally catching up with one of two exemplary war dramas that debuted in Toronto last fall.

    Before long, the summer, with all its surprise delights, both substantial and appropriately frothy, began to wind down. The fall awards season picked up steam as Telluride fired the starting gun and, after that, it seemed every trip to a darkened theater brought some form of satisfaction.  Even the entertainments seemed to satisfy completely.

    How can one defend the position any more succinctly? I liked. A lot. Of movies. And I relish the opportunity now to pay tribute to the year’s best, some 30 titles, each of which could have been a top 10 finalist in any other year.

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  • ‘Hurt Locker’ tops with LA Critics

    Kathryn BigelowToday is a very good day to be one Ms. Kathryn Bigelow. A few days ago, we asked you which film looks set to be the critics’ darling of the season — today, at least, the clear answer appears to be “The Hurt Locker.”

    Hours after sweeping the board with the Beantown crowd, Bigelow’s Iraq-set heartpounder took the top two prizes in the LAFCA voting. What this means for the film’s Oscar chances is open to question, but its 58 year-old helmer’s trifecta of prizes today bodes well for her chances of become the first female Best Director Oscar winner in history.

    The film wasn’t as dominant as it was in the Boston critics’ awards. Jeremy Renner’s Boston upset was not to be repeated, with Jeff Bridges taking his first (and, I suspect, not his last) Best Actor honor of the season for “Crazy Heart.” Meanwhile, DP Barry Ackroyd came in second to Christian Berger for “The White Ribbon.”

    More thoughts, and a full list of winners and runners-up, after the cut.

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  • First wave of LAFCA winners

    I’ll offer some commentary when we have the full list of winners at 2.30, but for now I’ll just convey my astonishment at the competence of my predictions so far. And offer a hearty cheer for Agnes Varda.

    Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”
    Runner-up: Peter Capaldi, “In the Loop”

    Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique, “Precious”
    Runner-up: Anna Kendrick, “Up in the Air”

    Best Screenplay: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, “Up in the Air”
    Runner-up: Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Ianucci and Tony Roche, “In the Loop”

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  • ‘Hurt Locker’ sweeps Boston critics’ awards

    Jeremy Renner in The Hurt LockerAmid the anticipation for the LAFCA awards later this afternoon, you might not have realized that the Boston Society of Film Critics is also announcing its winners today. (I know I hadn’t.)

    Anyway, it’s spectacular news for “The Hurt Locker,” which emerged triumphant in five categories, including Best Picture, Director, Cinematography and Film Editing. In a most welcome surprise, Jeremy Renner took Best Actor for the film — a cheer for the underdog amid a slate of more heavily-buzzed acting winners including Meryl Streep, Christoph Waltz and Mo’Nique. Here’s hoping it’s not the last.

    Meanwhile, it fell to the brothers Coen to prevent a clean “Hurt Locker” sweep, taking Best Screenplay honors for “A Serious Man,” while the BSFC’s quirkiest move is the joint selection of “Precious” and “Star Trek” for Best Ensemble. In another gesture towards populist cinema, “District 9” took the debut director award. After some delay, meanwhile, “Summer Hours” took foreign-language honors.

    Still, the only real story here is the loud arrival of Kathryn Bigelow’s Iraq actioner on the critics’ award scene. It’ll be interesting to see if the LA Critics continue the love across the country; we’ll know in a few hours. Full list of winners after the cut.

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Original Song

    Jeff Bridges in Crazy HeartOver the last five months, Gerard has diligently canvassed and re-canvassed the various crafts categories here at In Contention.  The one category we have held back on all this time, as contenders have slowly fallen into place, was Best Original Song.  Today, it’s time to dig into the field.

    This has turned into something of a banner year for original songs in feature films.  We’ve had the great pleasure of bringing a number of hopefuls to you via our “listen to” posts, and look forward to continuing that into the new year.  But inevitably, frontrunners are bound to show up, and I think we can successfully narrow the field now.

    Before diving in, it’s worth reiterating the voting process in this category.  I’ll simply let the Academy’s rule book speak for itself:

    “An original song consists of words and music, both of which are original and written specifically for the motion picture. There must be a clearly audible, intelligible, substantive rendition (not necessarily visually presented) of both lyric and melody, used in the body of the motion picture or as the first music cue in the end credits.

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  • 12/10 Oscarweb Round-up

    Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart• John Horn writes up the Hollywood journey of Scott Cooper’s “Crazy Heart.” [Los Angeles Times]

    • On the flashy opening credits sequence from “Up in the Air” with designer Gareth Smith. [MakingOf]

    • Anne Thompson re-visists her old haunt, writes up the possibilities for genre play in this year’s expanded Best Picture field. [Variety]

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  • OSCAR TALK: Ep. 13 — NBR, awards season party circuit and ‘Complicated’ awards prospects

    Oscar TalkWelcome to a belated edition of Oscar Talk, your weekly kudocast featuring yours truly and Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood.

    On the docket today:

    • With the National Board of Review having kicked off the awards season, Anne and I discuss the big winners and implications for the season.

    • Tis the season and the party circuit is alight, so with that in mind, we talk about a few of the taste-makers around town this week, including…

    • Peter Jackson, Saoirse Ronan and Stanley Tucci in an intimate cocktail party for “The Lovely Bones.”

    • Fox Searchlight’s holiday shin-dig in Century City with “Crazy Heart” principals in attendance.

    • An “Inglourious Basterds” DVD release party at producer Lawrence Bender’s home.

    • And a Summit holiday party with the folks from “The Hurt Locker” burning the midnight oil.

    • Finally, no reviews of “It’s Complicated” are allowed yet, but Anne and I discuss how we think it will fare in the awards race.

    Have a listen to this week’s podcast below, with a taste of Hans Zimmer’s score for “Sherlock Holmes” to start you off. As always, you can subscribe to Oscar Talk via iTunes here.

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  • WEEKLY WRAP: NBR winners, Spirit nods and Jeff Bridges

    Jeff Bridges• The National Board of Review offered the season’s first major precursors, with “Up in the Air” sitting pretty.

    • The Independent Spirit Award nominations were topped by “Precious” and, more surprisingly, “The Last Station.”

    • Indie award rivals the Gotham Awards, meanwhile, crowned “The Hurt Locker” as the year’s best.

    • Fresh off his Spirit nomination, we served up an extended interview with the great Jeff Bridges.

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  • TECH SUPPORT INTERVIEW: The music of ‘Crazy Heart’

    T Bone BurnettThis marks the first of this year’s Tech Support interviews series with below-the-line crafts personnel, an annual feature at In Contention.

    When Scott Cooper’s adapted screenplay “Crazy Heart” was making the rounds a few years ago, it had the kind of soul a guy like T Bone Burnett wants out of a country-western film. But as far as musical accompaniment was concerned, it was a blank canvas.

    A close friend of actor Jeff Bridges dating back to their time together on Michael Cimino’s “Heaven’s Gate,” Burnett was the selling point when the actor began toying around with the idea of playing Bad Blake in the film. With Burnett came longtime friend and musician Stephen Bruton. With Bridges came his own longtime friend, John Goodwin. With a modest writers’ table assembled (including, of course, Cooper himself), the task then became searching for a voice with an array of original songs for the film.

    “There’s a Nashville voice that comes really from Lefty Frizelle,” Burnett says. “And then Merle Haggard was the next, and there’ve been hundreds of people who’ve learned to sing from Merle Haggard and Lefty. Most of the country singers are essentially in that tambour. Jeff is a whole different thing. So we began looking for prototypes, so to speak, and the first prototype to me was Leonard Cohen, who’s a great writer and sang with a deep chest voice like Jeff did. Don Williams as well, who was a big country star in the 70s, big and good, too, and very much an individual. So we started looking for those kinds of voices that could be country music.”

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