In Contention

Tag: Fox Searchlight Pictures

  • Searchlight and Hilary Swank, take two?

    (from left) Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell in Betty Anne WatersThis is one of the films I’ve had an eye on for next year’s Oscar season.  Perhaps a second try will prove better than this past year’s Searchlight/Swank outing.  The press release, in part:

    Fox Searchlight Pictures Presidents Stephen Gilula and Nancy Utley announced today that the company has acquired North American and select international rights from Omega Entertainment to the riveting true life drama BETTY ANNE WATERS. Directed by Tony Goldwyn and written by Pamela Gray, BETTY ANNE WATERS stars Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Melissa Leo, Minnie Driver, Juliette Lewis and Peter Gallagher. The film was produced by Andrew Sugerman, Andrew S. Karsch and Tony Goldwyn. The film is scheduled to be released in Fall 2010.

    “Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell, backed by an extraordinary supporting cast, deliver powerhouse performances in Tony Goldwyn’s emotionally resonant film,” said Utley and Gilula. “We are excited to be distributing this inspirational story of hope and unconditional love.”

    For more on the story (which could prove Oscar bait for Sam Rockwell as well), check out this Boston Globe piece.  If “The Blind Side” can do it…

  • ‘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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  • Studio FYC sites on the march

    A Serious ManIt’s that time of year, when studios roll out their awards-centric websites for films in play.  You get screening info, news and notes, reminders of how AMAZING their films are (with critical quotes to back it up), goodies like screenplays and such, etc.  It’s a good way to see how wide the net is cast during the season (since any and everything gets a “For Your Consideration” blurb), but I’ve always found it’s a good way to revisit the year’s films.

    First up, Universal Pictures has put together its standard assemblage hawking “Public Enemies,” “Bruno,” “Funny People” and “It’s Complicated.” Skimming through the “Public Enemies” section I was instantly reminded that Elliot Goldenthal’s score was actually quite wonderful and could be a sleeper to watch in a field that is notorious for its insularity.  You can even skim through tracks in a dedicated section and download the screenplay.

    “Funny People” has a similar set-up, with score toggling, the script, etc., while “Bruno” has no script to offer.  But you can listen to the raved out score again if you wish.  The “It’s Complicated” section has material to come and only mentions “in all categories” as it pertains to FYC business.

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  • Fox Searchlight looks to salvage season with potential 2009 release for ‘Crazy Heart’

    Jeff Bridges in Crazy HeartJust when you thought last year’s Best Picture victor was down for the count, Fox Searchlight goes and shakes things up in November. First, some background…

    When we kicked off our coverage of the 2009-2010 Oscar season a year in advance, one of the more anticipated titles was Scott Cooper’s “Crazy Heart,” based on the novel by Thomas Cobb about an alcoholic country music singer on the road to redemption. The film stars Jeff Bridges in the leading role, along with Colin Farrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Robert Duvall.

    In July, Searchlight picked the film up, touting Bridges’s “performance of a lifetime,” but the studio slated the release for the spring of 2010. It seemed a shame at the time given the fact that the film was shaping up to be a potential awards vehicle for Bridges at the very least, perhaps more. But with “Amelia” on the way, a (so we thought) potentially major player in the race with its typical AMPAS tropes. But that ship has sailed, leaving the studio with only the animated “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and Marc Webb’s summer entry “(500) Days of Summer” to hawk for awards consideration.

    Until now. Maybe.

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  • 10/23 Oscarweb Round-up

    Unforgiven• Pete Hammond follows up on the Academy’s foreign screenings, plus more. [Notes on a Season]

    • Like me, Steven Zeitchik senses a little “Slumdog” in “Precious.” [Risky Business]

    • David Poland catches some intriguing similarities between the recently released “Invictus” and a number of other posters from Eastwood flicks. [The Hot Blog]

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  • 9/24 Oscarweb Round-up

    Colin Firth• Adam Dawtrey on the rebirth of Colin Firth. [The Guardian]

    • In honor of “A Serious Man,” Nathan Englander picks the top five Jewish films from the 1970s.  Why not the 1960s?  You know, when the Coen film is set? [Film in Focus]

    • Not Oscar related, but most desired remake: “The Goonies.” [Daily Telegraph]

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  • ‘Amelia’ poster

    Fox Searchlight gave People Magazine the exclusive on this new poster for “Amelia.”  Unfortunately, the outlet couldn’t be bothered with including a link to a high resolution version (I imagine they received one), so the muted effect of the following image is the fanfare that greets last year’s Oscar victor’s 2009 awards season hopeful. Strike that.  Searchlight sent over a high-res version:

    Amelia

  • ‘Amelia’ trailer

    Judging from this recently posted trailer for Mira Nair’s “Amelia,” the Amelia Earhart biopic that will certainly be the centerpiece of this year’s Fox Searchlight Oscar campaign, I’d say Richard Gere, rather than Ewan McGregor, has a shot at the supporting race for a role that looks to sport some considerable screen time.  He even gets above-the-title placement.

    As for the trailer itself, it’s a pretty standard glimpse.  Everything is as you’d expect from a period, some might say “Oscar bait” production such as this.  As usual, Swank haters will gag at the “2 time Academy Award Winner” intro, of course.

    Here is the embed, but Yahoo! Movies had the exclusive, FYI:

  • Danny Boyle parks at Searchlight for three years

    Danny Boyle on the set of Slumdog MillionaireA wise investment for both parties.  Patrick Goldstein had the exclusive story yesterday:

    Fresh off his best picture Oscar triumph, “Slumdog Millionaire” director Danny Boyle has signed a three-year deal with Fox Searchlight, which will co-finance and co-distribute the British filmmaker’s future films. The director already has identified a possible initial production under the first-look deal, a drama about Aron Ralston, the American mountain climber who amputated part of his arm when it was pinned in a 2003 back-country hiking accident.

    Fox Searchlight and Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire” producing partner, Christian Colson, declined to discuss the pact, and Boyle did not immediately return an e-mail seeking comment. But two people familiar with the deal said that Fox Searchlight will team with Pathe Films, which co-financed “Slumdog Millionaire,” as part of the agreement.

    The rest here.

  • ‘Slumdog’: what just happened?

    Danny Boyle at the 81st annual Academy AwardsTwo days after the fact, in the comedown after six months of relentless Oscar hype, and the beautiful, surreal nature of what happened on Sunday is starting to sink in. Sure, “Slumdog Millionaire” was the red-hot favorite. Sure, it had won everything else going and had been ingeniously campaigned by one of the savviest studios in the business.

    But viewed out of context, is it not kind of incredible that an independent foreign production, from an iconoclastic director with no Oscar history, with not a single Western star (or a single white actor, for that matter) and a significant portion of Hindi dialogue, just scooped 8 awards from Hollywood’s most venerable institution?

    The further back I step from the events, the more I wonder whether I dreamed it all up. What does it mean? Is this a significant bellwether of the growing globalization of the industry, or is it a freak anomaly that happened because a lot of people simply connected with one movie this year, and not much else? David Carr, who is left similarly dazzled and dazed by the film’s astonishing coup, seems to think it’s a bit of both:

    American film is one of the last remaining exports, a kind of bejeweled software that the rest of the world clearly loves … But global imperatives go both ways. When a film with a British director, Indian actors and French co-financing goes home with eight Oscars, it’s hard not to see a message.

    “I think it demonstrates that a good story well told, whether it is about someone in Mumbai, China or around the corner, will find an audience,” said Nancy Utley, chief operating officer at Fox Searchlight, the division of 20th Century Fox that found Oscar (and box office) gold after picking up “Slumdog Millionaire.” She added that the studio specialty division knew it had a winner on its hands when it screen-tested the film in Orange County, Calif. — sort of a ground zero of a conventional American audience — without any marketing or explanation, and the room loved it.

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  • ‘Slumdog’ takes 8 trophies as Oscar keeps it under 190 minutes

    Danny Boyle at the 81st annual Academy AwardsIn the final analysis, there isn’t much to say other than: What a captivating way to put a bow on the worst and, ultimately, most boring Oscar season of all time.  The 81st annual Academy Awards swiftly went down earlier this evening with few surprise winners and a classy new sheen.  It was captivating and, at times, inspiring.  Here are my thoughts on Hollywood’s biggest night:

    The winners
    I did extremely well with my predictions this year, nailing 21 of the 24 categories and making good with gambles in the foreign language film and short film categories.  I stuck with my heart on Mickey Rourke despite the smart money being on Sean Penn, but regardless of the strong desire to see the former holding an Oscar in his hands and delivering one more barn-burning speech, it is, of course, impossible to argue with Sean Penn’s expert work in “Milk.”  His heartfelt acceptance was a highlight and it all felt somehow more complete than it did five years ago.

    That “Departures” win took the wind out of the sails of one of the year’s most ingenious productions and yes, this is a committee that still needs a major overhaul.  I don’t think I could possibly say it enough.  That should take nothing away from Japan’s victory, mind you, because their submission is a delightful film that won’t deserve most of the ill will coming its way from those who haven’t even seen it.  But “Bashir” seems to have wrongfully faced an uphill battle from the start.

    The sound categories (hotly debated all week) proved once again that the Academy doesn’t understand the impact of mixers and editors on animated films.  “Slumdog Millionaire” took the mixing award (I’m kicking myself for changing that), while “The Dark Knight” took the sound editing trophy.

    Regarding those shorts, by the way, Pixar remains winless in the animated field since 2001’s “For the Birds” (the gorgeous “La Maison en Petits Cubes” rightly won tonight), while “Toyland,” with its ambitious structure (for a short) and obviously baity subject matter reigned supreme in live action.

    The only award I missed kind of irritated me, I have to admit: Best Documentary Short.  “Smile Pinki” took down what I thought to be the best of the field (and being the most cinematic, the most likely winner), Steve Okazaki’s “The Conscience of Nhem En.”  But there was a concerted publicity effort behind the former that maybe I should have paid more attention to.

    (More, plus a full list of tonight’s Oscar winners, after the jump.)

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  • Mulligan makes her move

    Don’t say I didn’t give you the heads-up on this one. Looking over the Sundance lineup last month, I singled out Lone Scherfig’s “An Education” as a title about which I was particularly excited — not least because it stars Carey Mulligan, a lovely young Brit for whom I’ve been predicting big things for some time.

    Well, once in a blue moon, I’m right.

    “An Education,” a 1960s-set coming-of-age drama penned by Nick Hornby, recently bowed at Sundance, and while the notices for the film itself are warm, the real buzz centers on 23 year-old Mulligan. A star, it appears, is born. Jeff Wells was first out the gate, and it’s fair to say that he’s besotted with both star and film — which he reckons we may still be talking about this time next year:

    The best film of the Sundance Film Festival, a finely tuned and deeply engaging film by regular popcorn-watching standards, an award-calibre drama that will definitely be in contention at the end of the year, and a movie that has launched a genuine movie star in an old-fashioned and yet very new-fashioned sense — 23 year-old Carey Mulligan. I know that special old-soul-mixed-with-youthful-effervescence quality that you see in very few actors and actresses over the years, and trust me, Mulligan has it.

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  • ‘Watchmen’ talks show silver lining at the Globes

    Patrick Wilson in WatchmenMichael Cieply, one of the best entertainment reporters in the business for my money, filed this one-off from last night’s Golden Globe festivities at The Carpetbagger:

    From where this reporter sat at the Golden Globes last night, that sure looked like Tom Rothman of Fox and Alan Horn of Warner Brothers down among the superstar seats, smiling and back-patting — each other, not the superstars — just before the show began. A public display of affection between studio chiefs, along with those pricey “Watchmen” ads on the National Football League playoff games this weekend, would add up to a message as big as the Hollywood sign: The talks between hitherto warring Fox and Warner over a settlement of Fox’s lawsuit over rights to “Watchmen” must be on track.

    Fox, remember, had claimed rights to the film and was trying to block Warner’s release of it on March 6 — a breach of the usual etiquette in Hollywood, especially with a movie that costs $130 million. A hearing scheduled for 3:30 this afternoon with Judge Gary A. Feess of the federal court here should tell more.

    Boy I hope this thing settles itself.

  • Mickey Rourke featurette at Awards Daily

    “I don’t know if I could ever do it again,” Mickey Rourke says in this just-up exclusive featurette at Awards Daily.  “Just something magical happened.”  I love that.  And I must say, Fox Searchlight is really working this thing hard this year.  The studio’s passion is always evident, but this season, with considerably less funds and certainly not-so-typical awards bait to work, I have to say the hard work is REALLY showing.  I just spent an hour or so with Marisa Tomei yesterday and she couldn’t agree more, of course.  She’s on the bubble right now, but as she told me, “it’s nice to be in the mix.”  I’ll have that interview up in due time, but here’s AD’s Rourke piece:

    And in case you missed it, here’s our Marisa Tomei featurette from last month.

  • Listen to Fox Searchlight’s original song contenders

    We featured Bruce Springsteen’s “The Wrestler” a few weeks back.  It was a feature I wanted to keep up with but I never came back to it for some reason.

    Anyway, Fox Searchlight has made the track available along with A.R. Rahman’s “Jaiho” for your listening pleasure.  Enjoy!

  • 12/3 Oscarweb Round-up

    Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio in Revolutionary Road• Jeff Wells senses the “push back” against certain contenders, steps up to bat for “Revolutionary Road.” [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • Yours truly chats it up podcast style with John Campea to dish on how early favorites are shaping up. [The Movie Blog]

    • David Poland reports on the BFCA’s newest category: Best Action Film. [The Movie Blog]

    • T.L. Stanley talks “Elegy” with Sir Ben Kingsley. [Gold Rush]

    • David Carr reports from the sadly left-out-in-the-cold Fox Searchlight table at the Gotham Awards. [The Carpetbagger]

    • Geoffrey Macnab talks to Danny Boyle about Oscar heavy “Slumdog Millionaire.” [The Independent]

    • John Horn corners “Doubt” helmer and scribe John Patrick Shanley in the Big Apple. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Patrick Goldstein responds to some (some would say) odd Golden Globe classifications. [The Big Picture]

    • As “Milk” strives to make a difference, five films that actually did as much. [Spout Blog]

  • POLL: ‘The Wrestler’ — Best Picture nominee?

    Here’s the deal.  I left “The Wrestler” off of the Best Picture poll from two weeks ago (which had “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “Milk” leading the way).  It wasn’t because of the film’s quality.  Quite obviously, I loved the film.  But it is very bleak and very small and, in the way of editorializing, I clipped it from the contenders.  I just figured it too unlikely a scenario.

    Well, over the weekend I’m told Fox Searchlight is “going for it” on the Best Picture front on this film, which had its U.S. debut at AFI Fest last week.  I’m also told the film is receiving standing ovations at guild screenings, though one can’t be sure if that enthusiasm is focused more on Mickey Rourke’s stunning portrayal than it is the film as a whole.  But regardless of that, the studio is getting serious on the more-than-just-the-performance front.

    So, with that in mind, I thought I’d right the wrong of the last poll and offer up “The Wrestler” and its Best Picture fate to the readership.  Very simple question: Do you think the film will receive a Best Picture nomiantion?  Tell us in the sidebar poll!

  • A slew of new awards sites go live

    Take your pick:

    Fox Searchlight
    Overture Films
    Warner Bros.
    Walt Disney
    The Weinstein Company
    Yari Film Group