In Contention

Tag: David O. Russell

  • OSCAR TALK: Ep. 33 — ‘Social Network’ front-running, Gibson persona non grata and why ‘The Fighter?’

    Oscar TalkWelcome to Oscar Talk.

    In case you’re new to the site and/or the podcast, Oscar Talk is a weekly kudocast, a one-stop awards chat shop between yours truly and Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood. The podcast is weekly, every Friday throughout the season, charting the ups and downs of contenders along the way. Plenty of things change on route to Oscar’s stage and we’re here to address it all as it unfolds.

    There isn’t a whole lot to discuss this week though there are a number of forced stories out there which kind of prove the point. I’m up in Berkeley talking to Anne down in LA so, as the New York fest kicks off tonight, let’s see what’s on the docket today…

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  • Wahlberg talks up ‘The Fighter’

    When I remarked in a post yesterday that the upcoming awards season looks a little short on the high-profile biopic contenders so beloved of Academy voters, I had a feeling I was forgetting something obvious. And so I was: “The Fighter,” David O. Russell’s biopic of against-the-odds boxing champ “Irish” Micky Ward, starring Mark Wahlberg in the title role.

    In Friday’s episode of Oscar Talk, Kris expressed his high hopes for the film, singling out Christian Bale (as Ward’s half-brother and trainer Dicky Eklund) as a rumored standout. His faith is reflected in the updated predictions to your right, including potential bids in the two top races, as well as three acting categories. (Melissa Leo is currently tapped for Best Supporting Actress, but Amy Adams could be in the mix too.)

    Anne Thompson responded somewhat skeptically to Kris’s enthusiasm, suggesting that Russell’s film (should it turn out well, of course) is in a position to take some in the industry by surprise — always a good place to be from an awards-campaign standpoint. Meanwhile, it would appear that the film’s minders are opting not to build up buzz via the fall festival track: in this Collider interview, Wahlberg explains that they’ll likely skip Toronto and the rest, choosing instead to “go out and go big” with a December release.

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  • Paramount and Lionsgate do it up pre-Globes

    Tobey Maguire in BrothersThere will be a number of post-Golden Globes parties tonight — Summit, Warner Bros., Fox, Weinstein, etc. — but a pair of studios did it up Saturday night in honor of their nominees.

    First at the Chateau Marmont, Paramount toasted its stable with a star-studded, paparazzi-snapping affair.  Actually, it wasn’t the least bit comfortable.  Talk about over-invited.  In the inner sanctum, surrounded by Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Benicio Del Toro, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Mike Tyson (who wasn’t on the list, but would you turn him away?), George Clooney, Chris Pine, Tobey Maguire, etc., breathing, let alone moving more than two inches, was a chore.  Jason Reitman was on hand early on but had to take off for the LAFCA gala before long.  Luckily, he missed that fire hazard.

    I got a few seconds with Farmiga, who was excited to say hello to Scorsese again.  Anne Kendrick and her beau Edgar Wright smartly made their way to a secondary room at one point where we had a nice chat.  Wright was, of course, being hit up by “Scott Pilgrim” queries left and right.  From the youngsters, that is.  The crowd was largely, shall we say, octogenarian.  Plenty of HFPA and Academy members scattered throughout.  And Kendrick, bless her heart, didn’t even want to talk about the “O-word.”

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  • ‘Three Kings,’ 10 years on

    (from left) George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube in Three Kings2009 has been a bit of a nostalgia point all year long because it marks 10 years removed from one of the finest years of cinema ever.  There has already been commentary regarding a number of 1999’s releases.  We remembered the death of filmmaker Stanley Kubrick back in March and his final release, “Eyes Wide Shut,” a few months later in July.

    There was also our introductory installment of The Lists: a remembrance of the films of 1999 from last year, in case you missed it.  That covers a lot of my feelings of the movie year that was.

    One film I look back on fondly is David O. Russell’s “Three Kings.” It was the beginning of the fall.  The film was in theaters along with another film I and a number of my film school friends wanted to see, something called “American Beauty” with Kevin Spacey.  We decided to make a double feature out of it and Russell was up first.

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  • Shouting match

    I can’t be the only one who read the news that David O. Russell will be directing Christian Bale in his next film and thought, “Uh-oh.”

  • When does he sleep?

    Only the other day, I mentioned how glad I was to see David O. Russell keeping himself busy after the lengthy, hobbled production of his upcoming comedy “Nailed.” But I didn’t realize he was keeping himself this busy.

    Mere days after the announcement of his attachment to the Weinstein Company’s “The Silver Linings Playbook,” comes news of yet another directorial commitment for the man: this time a romantic comedy, “Aaron and Sarah,” that apparently has John Hughes overtones. Variety reports:

    Story centers on a nerdy guy and a popular girl who meet as freshmen and, over four years of high school, four proms and one funeral, become friends and eventually fall in love. Husband-wife team Chad Gomez Creasey and Dana Resnik Creasey penned the screenplay.

    Producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen (“American Beauty,” “Milk”) lend extra cred. Meanwhile, if I don’t hear word of another new Russell project before the month is out, I’ll be deeply disappointed.

  • David O. Russell steps up

    David O. RussellAfter the respective five-year gaps following “Three Kings” and “I Heart Huckabees,” it’s nice to see David O. Russell with a couple of irons in the fire. (Well, nice if you’re a fan at least — which I am.)

    With his long-delayed comedy “Nailed” (which has endured various financial troubles) finally due later this year, now Variety reports that Russell has another project on the horizon, this time an adaptation:

    David O. Russell is attached to direct “The Silver Linings Playbook” for the Weinstein Co. The “Three Kings” helmer is also adapting the screenplay, which is based on Matthew Quick’s debut novel.

    Story centers on Pat Peoples, a down-on-his-luck former high school teacher who has just been released from a mental institution and placed in the care of his mother.

    I confess the novel skipped my radar, but the blurb describes it as “an enchanting first novel about love, madness and Kenny G,” so I’m guessing the whimsy quotient is suitably Russell-friendly, which fine by me.

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