In Contention

Tag: Flash of Genius

  • 10/14 Oscarweb Round-up

    John Cusak (voice) as Igor in Igor• Tom O’Neil covers the landscape of double-dipping performers this year. [Gold Derby]

    • It looks like Don Cheadle will be replacing Terrence Howard in “Iron Man 2.”  Fucking lame. [The Hollywood Reporter]

    • How Kyle Buchanan missed the boat on some obviously awkward moments in “Rachel Getting Married.”  Seriously, what’s with the critical love-fest on this thing? [Defamer]

    • Christopher Campbell, meanwhile, thinks Anne Hathaway will be nominated for an Oscar but doesn’t deserve it. [Spout Blog]

    • David Poland spends 30 minutes with Greg Kinnear and Marc Abraham, star and director of “Flash of Genius” respectively. [The Hot Blog]

    • Tim Moore goes behind the scenes of “Igor.” [Daily Telegraph]

    • Is now time for a “Wall Street” sequel? [The Guardian]

    • Anthony Kaufman thinks this year’s Best Foreign Language Film race might be the most predictable in years. [indieWIRE]

    • Dave Karger wonders where the Best Picture nominees are this season. [Oscar Watch]

    • And finally, our hearts go out to Gerard Depardieu, who lost his son Guillaume yesterday, far too soon. [Associated Press]

  • 9/29 Oscarweb Round-up

    Michael Cera• A happy ending of sorts for Matilda Rose in the wake of Heath Ledger’s death. [Agence France-Presse]

    • Kenneth Branagh is in talks to direct “Thor.”  Weird, but badass. [Variety]

    • Tom O’Neil traces Paul Newman’s frustrating quest for Oscars. [Gold Derby]

    • James Rocchi talks to “Miracle at St. Anna” director Spike Lee. [Cinematical]

    • The Los Angeles Times have hired an east coast outsider and called it awards coverage.  Well, we wish him well. [The Envelope]

    • Nikki Finke primises to report all the “juicy backstory” on the Rudin/Weinstein situation — because she’s a journalistic disgrace. [Deadline Hollywood Daily]

    • “Quantum of Solace” will have more product placement than any Bond film before it. [The Independent]

    • Mark Olson grills Jonathan Demme on “Rachel Getting Married.” [Los Angeles Times]

    • Meanwhile, Susan King takes on “Rachel” screenwriting Jenny Lumet. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Chris Lee gets some quality time in with Leonardo DiCaprio re: “Body of Lies.” [Los Angeles Times]

    • Michael Cera: heart throb. [Newsweek]

    • Or, Michael Cera: almost famous. [New York Times]

    • Greg Kinnear dishes on his roles in “Flash of Genius” and “Ghost Town.” [Associated Press]

    • Bill Maher Q&A’s it up on “Religulous.” [New York Post]

    • And again, with director Larry Charles in tow. [New York Times]

    …okay, I gotta cut it off there.  Tons of items out there today.

  • TORONTO: ‘Rachel Getting Married,’ ‘Flash of Genius’

    Greg Kinnear in Flash of GeniusWoke up dog tired this morning, yesterday’s marathon of screenings wore me out. Getting old. Do the usual pre-screening intake of food and coffee (a festival staple) before getting ready to head off to the first screening, “Flash of Genius” which I am looking to seeing.

    Greg Kinnear convinced me he was the real deal opposite Jack Nicholson in “As Good As It Gets” and even more so as Bob Crane in the dark biopic “Auto Focus.” He has got an all American quality about him that I quite enjoy.

    (Reviews after the jump.)

    (more…)

  • Patrick Goldstein goes after Variety’s Todd McCarthy

    Greg Kinnear\'s Flash of GeniusHere’s another one of those “bloggers and critics are the story” pieces that some people hate so much, but when there’s a dust-up, I like to grab the popcorn and rubberneck like anyone else.

    This time around it’s Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times, you know, the guy that hates bloggers but finds himself doing just that these days.  Anyway, he seems to have taken umbrage with Todd McCarthy’s recent review of “Flash of Genius,” the Universal Greg Kinnear starrer that I’m, frankly, interested in seeing, despite its apparent tendency toward the sentimental.

    Goldstein seems to think there is more to McCarthy’s hemming and hawing than a simple dissatisfaction with the material:

    McCarthy seems intent on taking down the movie, which debuted over the weekend at the Telluride Film Festival…

    As it turns out, “Flash of Genius” is one of the few movies that was invited to both Telluride and Toronto, putting it in distinguished company. My colleague John Horn was at Telluride and says the people he spoke to who saw the film — just regular festival-goers — were impressed by it. In fact, the Telluride screenings were so popular that the festival had to put on additional showings.

    My suspicion is that McCarthy’s real problem with the movie — as he implied in his Telluride wrap-up — is that film festivals shouldn’t be showing what he believes are everyday studio product. If so, he oughta get off the festival circuit, starting with Toronto, which, as always, is loaded with studio fare, some of it no doubt bland and forgettable. The L.A. Film Festival actually premiered a Michael Bay movie a few summers back, which gives you an idea of the length festivals will go to get attention these days.

    Well, there we are.  Two of the old MSM guys going at it.  If only McCarthy had his own blog, we could see some real fireworks.

    But I guess Variety’s blog situation is in…flux…lately.

  • ‘Flash of Genius’ with Greg Kinnear

    I keep forgetting to write something about “Flash of Genius,” the upcoming Universal release starring Greg Kinnear as the inventor who designed the intermittent windshield wiper, only to have Ford rip him off.

    It sounds like an interesting premise (based on a true story, by the way), if potentially trite on the big screen. However, what’s keeping my interest piqued is the involvement of Kinnear, one of the most underrated actors working today. He’s shown before that he has the chops, and not just with his Oscar-nominated work in “As Good As It Gets” or in 2006’s ensemble gem “Little Miss Sunshine.”

    Go back and look at his focus (no pun intended) in “Auto Focus” or his steadfastness opposite one of 2005’s best performances in “The Matador.” I even found his work in “Fast Food Nation” to be the only saving grace of what was an otherwise flimsy adaptation, while he owns every inch of “Mystery Men” with his douchebag Captain Amazing portrayal.

    So count me in, if only to see what kind of humanity Kinnear can give to a film that has a lot of potential.

    “Flash of Genius” will play the Toronto International Film Festival in two weeks. Also, I wonder if Alan Alda’s appearance here could bring him more goodwill for his solid portrayal in “Nothing But the Truth.”

    Here’s the trailer:

  • ‘Che’ and ‘Porno’ among 20 new films announced for Toronto

    Benicio Del Toro in CheJohn hasn’t addressed this yet, so I’ll put it out there…

    Variety’s Anne Thompson is reporting on 20 new films added to the line-up of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Following suit with yesterday’s New York fest news, Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler” and Steven Soderbergh’s “Che” (listed as “Part One” and “Part Two” for Toronto) will make the trip up north.

    Other special presentations of note include Rian Johnson’s “The Brothers Bloom,” Richard Linklater’s “Me and Orson Welles,” Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire,” Kevin Smith’s controversial “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” Guillermo Arriaga’s “The Burning Plain” (could be Oscar bait for actress Charlize Theron), Charlie Kaufman’s “Synecdoche, New York” and Marc Abraham’s “Flash of Genius” (which could be an awards vehicle for Greg Kinnear).

    The big news, however, seems to be that Clint Eastwood’s “Changeling” will not be heading to the fest. Here’s Thompson on that front:

    Clint Eastwood’s Cannes Fest entry “Changeling,” which will be the centerpiece of the New York Film Festival, will not be at Toronto because there was uncertainty about new mother Angelina Jolie’s availability to participate in a gala premiere. “We would have loved to have had Clint Eastwood,” said Bailey, “but the only way to present the movie in a big way was as a gala with Eastwood and Jolie.”

    Basically, the Toronto crew can’t star-fuck, so they’d rather not show it. Gotcha.

    Anyway, read all about the new additions here. The full line-up will be unveiled next Tuesday.

  • Variety sizes up the competition…again

    It looks like they’re spinning their Oscar wheels again over at that other film awards haven of mine.

    I say “again” because Justin Chang put together a very thorough year-in-advance rundown not two months ago, which was already wading further out into the waters than you’d expect from the Hollywood trade.

    This week — actually flying under my radar because I haven’t expected Oscar stuff out of Award Central in a while — it’s Pamela McClintock, eying the release date plays of various fall contenders as an angle on which to hang yet another look ahead. I came across the link via Jeffrey Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere.

    The usual suspects are rounded up: “Frost/Nixon,” “Revolutionary Road,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” etc. But there are a couple of new pics of note.

    For instance, I didn’t include John Hillcoat’s “The Road” (based on the Cormac McCarthy novel) on my own year-in-advance take because there was still some questiona s to whether it would be a 2008 release at the time. The Weinstein Company has it set for a Nov. 26 bow. And I also didn’t spotlight the Greg Kinnear starrer “Flash of Genius,” because quite frankly, it didn’t come up in discussions with Universal publicity brass, so I figured why bring it up? Both films are featured by McClintock.

    Anyway, the story isn’t much beyond a taking stock sort of thing, but it’s Oscarweb news nonetheless. Check it out.