• Word is one of the big Telluride surprises is the Johnny Depp starrer “The Rum Diary.” [Hollywood Elsewhere]
• At Venice, is “Contagion” following “The Town”‘s awards playbook? (Uh…yeah.) [24 Frames]
• Sticking with the Lido, Nick Vivarelli talks to “A Dangerous Method” director David Cronenberg. [Variety]
• Davis Guggenheim’s “Waiting for Superman” has performed better than several other high profile releases. [The Envelope]
• David Poland sits down with “Let Me In” director Matt Reeves. [Movie City News]
• Paramount to distribute Jason Reitman’s “Young Adult,” written by Diablo Cody. [Hollywood Reporter]
Jason Reitman announced shortly after last season’s “Up in the Air” bonanza that his company had acquired the rights to Joyce Maynard’s novel “Labor Day.” But it turns out that, while he’s hard at work on drafts of that adaptation, another original script from “Juno” scribe Diablo Cody is what’s on deck for the director.
Mike Fleming reports at Deadline that Cody’s “Young Adult” is being set up through John Malkovich’s Mr. Mudd production company for Reitman’s next gig behind the camera. 2007’s Oscar-winning “Juno” was also set up through Mr. Mudd.
Charlize Theron is set to star as “a ghostwriter of young adult novels who realizes she has no identity with her pseudonym and plots to reclaim her identity,” Fleming writes. “Her campaign involves going back and rekindling a relationship with her high school boyfriend–who’s freshly married, is a new father, and wants no part of her.” Reitman, meanwhile, compared the material to “To Die For” when we exchanged emails. Sounds exciting. He plans to go right into production on “Labor Day” after this project.
Check out the rest of the story at Deadline.
In retrospect, Geoffrey Fletcher’s Best Adapted Screenplay win for “Precious” at last month’s Academy Awards shouldn’t have come as quite the shock it did. In the last few years, Oscar voters have been especially kind to newcomers in the writing races, with this year’s pair of freshman winners, Fletcher and Mark Boal, coming on the heels of three others who struck gold for their first feature credit: Michael Arndt, Diablo Cody and Dustin Lance Black.
How do you follow that kind of debut success? In the case of many of those names, we’re on the verge on finding out. Arndt has lain low since striking gold with “Little Miss Sunshine” in 2006, but will be back on the radar this summer with “Toy Story 3” — for which, unusually for a Pixar production, he has sole script credit.
Cody may have struck out with “Jennifer’s Body” last year, but is having more luck on the small screen with “The United States of Tara.” Boal, meanwhile, is continuing his happy partnership with Kathryn Bigelow, as the two are readying the South American-set thriller “Triple Frontier” for shooting.
• Brian Brooks sits down with “Precious” star Gabourey Sidibe. [indieWIRE]
• Mark Harris on Penelope Cruz and Pedro Almodovar: cinematic soul mates. [New York Times]
• Mark Salisbury writes up “The Young Victoria” from across the pond with quotes from actress Emily Blunt and screenwriter Julian Fellowes. [Los Angeles Times]
As someone who believes “Juno” largely succeeded despite its multi-garlanded screenplay, rather than because of it, I can’t say I’ve been looking forward to Diablo Cody’s follow-up with great anticipation. (Evidently hot soundtrack notwithstanding.) Still, while this cheerfully tacky trailer for “Jennifer’s Body” does little to change my mind in that regard, I do credit Cody for playfully running as far from Oscarland as she could with this effort — a canny way to keep the industry pressure at bay.
To any Karyn Kusama fans waiting for another “Girlfight” … keep waiting. To any Megan Fox fans waiting for cleavage shots … voilà.
Rosemarie DeWitt is excited.
It can be difficult to gauge emotion in the formal, slightly removed context of a phone interview, but DeWitt’s warm, clear voice betrays an eagerness right from the get-go, articulating thoughts at a pace that occasionally exceeds my shorthand. Only when addressing the heady buzz of awards season does she finally pause to reach for words.
“It’s crazy, seriously crazy, but more than anything, it’s just really flattering,” she says. “This is the best job I’ve ever had, and I’m so, so proud of the film. Anything more than that is just…” A moment passes as she takes a breath, and considers the matter. “Wow,” she concludes simply.
The film in question, of course, is “Rachel Getting Married,” Jonathan Demme’s barbed family drama that has been widley declared the filmmaker’s return to form after some years in the wilderness. The buzz, meanwhile, is for DeWitt’s subtle, complex turn in the title role, which has garnered considerable plaudits for the hitherto low-profile 34-year-old actor, a frequent stage presence only recently receiving her due on screen, both big and small.
Best known until now for her tart, sexy portrayal of Midge, Jon Hamm’s bohemian city mistress in TV critics’ darling “Mad Men,” DeWitt is calling from Los Angeles. She’s just finishing work on another cable series, “The United States of Tara,” a dark, high-concept comedy created by Diablo Cody and starring Toni Collette (an “absolute genius,” DeWitt gushes).
All of which would be enough to get excited about without Oscar talk being thrown into the mix. But as Rachel, the older sister of Anne Hathaway’s self-destructive addict Kym, DeWitt’s attentive, commendably unflattering performance finds itself right in the thick of the Best Supporting Actress competition. Hers is, for me, the most resonant performance in a film that doesn’t want for thespian fireworks, largely because DeWitt never pushes Rachel into the stock character of the saintly, long-suffering sibling.
• “Real” men of the screen are a dying breed, according to Peter Bart. [Peter Bart]
• Journos keep beating a dead horse about the new “At the Movies” failure. [eFilmCritic]
• And again. [The Hot Blog]
• Anne Thompson salutes Telluride and New York for steering clear of high profile American cinema, but as she notes, was there really a choice this year? [Thompson on Hollywood]
• Erik Davis talks Bond with Daniel Craig and Marc Forster. [Cinematical]
• Speaking of Bond, apparently the character won’t be uttering a few of his infamous lines in the latest installment. [The Independent]
• John Horn sits down with Diablo Cody on the set of “Jennifer’s Body.” [Los Angeles Times]
• Dennis Lim, meanwhile, chats it up with “Class” director Laurent Canet in the wake of his film landing the official French foreign film selection for this year’s Academy Awards. [New York Times]
• Giles Hattersly gets some quality time with “I’ve Loved You So Long” star Kristin Scott Thomas. [The Times]
• Kevin Kelly talks to “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” director Kevin Smith at Fantastic Fest. [Spout Blog]
Addressing Diablo Cody’s bizarre rant against her “haters” (seriously, is there a less worthwhile target than IMDB fanboys?), The Guardian’s Xan Brooks has come up with a witheringly tart response. It amused me, anyway:
The author also explained that “5-million 12-year-olds think I’m Buck Henry. Accept it”, boasted that “my pilot was so good it got picked up for a series” and (most intriguingly) admitted to “jamming toxic silicon toys up my ass for money.” Ms Cody admits that she is perplexed as to why anyone might dislike her and implies that she has discussed the issue at length with her therapist. Lucky old therapist.
For those who aren’t fussed about Diablo Cody one way or the other, reading her blog is a disconcerting experience. It’s like being screamed at in the street by a stranger. I don’t know the back-story, if indeed there is one. I’m not sure whether her rage is entirely justified, or whether the “haters” are just the demons of an unbalanced brain, constantly whispering that her pilot stinks and that “5-million 12-year-olds” actually think she’s Buck Rogers.
So, like I say, I’m slightly at a loss and need this explained to me. Does anyone actively hate Diablo Cody?
I mean, before they read her blog?
• Peter Sciretta wraps up the Toronto Fest, live from Fantastic Fest. It’s that time of the year… [/Film]
• Oscar winner Diablo Cody responds to the haters: “I like my fake name. It’s engraved on an Oscar. Yours isn’t.” [MySpace]
• Mark Olsen apparently reported over a week ago that Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker” will not be released by Summit Entertainment until 2009 and no one knew about it. [Los Angeles Times]
• The news kind of sucks for Sasha Stone’s latest Oscar column thesis… [Awards Daily]
• …while it seems a questionable move to Jeffrey Wells. [Hollywood Elsewhere]
• Jeffrey Anderson runs down the best of Keira Knightley’s costume epics. [Cinematical]
• Kevin Kelly talks to “Waltz with Bashir” star/director Ari Folman. [Spout Blog]
• Lou Lumenick wonders if Heath Ledger’s legacy can equal that of James Dean beyond the inevitable Oscar nomination and Halloween get-ups (I know that’s my costume this year…the only reason I haven’t cut my hair since May). [Lumenick on Film]
• Karl Rozemeyer talks to “Appaloosa” star Viggo Mortensen… [Premiere]
• …as well as “Che” star Benicio Del Toro. [Premiere]
• Alan Moore will be “spitting venom all over” Zack Snyder’s “Watchmen.” [Hero Complex]
To revisit some old friends from the 2007 awards season, the Humanitas Prize in the feature film category has been jointly awarded to Ronald Harwood, for “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” and Nancy Oliver for “Lars and the Real Girl.”
The prize is a screenwriting award aiming to honour achievements that “explore the human condition and reveal our common humanity.” (Previous winners include “Crash,” “You Can Count on Me” and “The Shawshank Redemption.”) Under those criteria, both winners strike me as worthy — even if I find Harwood’s script a rather more substantial achievement.
Amusingly, the tie leaves Diablo Cody as the lone unrewarded nominee in the category — somewhat appropriate given the lack of maturity or insight she recently displayed in her online hissy-fit. Oh well, to borrow her words, at least she still has her fake name engraved on an Oscar.
Elsewhere, the Sundance Feature category was awarded to the TV-movie adaptation of “A Raisin in the Sun” over Tom McCarthy’s “The Visitor,” which strikes me as a little odd. But humanity isn’t exactly a quantifiable achievement, is it now?
Just ran across this over at The Movie Blog. The latest installment of MySpace’s “Artist on Artist” series features a conversation between John Cusack and Diablo Cody.
Cody talks a little about her upcoming horror film “Jennifer’s Body,” which is in the midst of filming right now up north. Cusack feigns interest while clearly trying to figure out how he might get her back to his crib. (Kidding, of course…kinda.)
Check it out:
