In Contention

Tag: Greenberg

  • LIFE WITHOUT OSCAR: Chad’s best of 2010

    When it came time to choose a snappy title for my year-end retrospective, the one that seemed to fit best is the one given to all my columns at In Contention this year. Oscar and I have shared a mutual disinterest in what the other feels to be award-worthy for a few years now and it doesn’t look like the trend is going to change much in 2011. For those interested, my top 20 last year garnered a whopping three nominations between them (two coming in the Best Animated Feature category).

    If there was any kind of trend or narrative to my taste this year, I guess it would be the rise of documentaries. Nearly 50% of my top 20 is comprised of the medium (including a few hybrids that blur the line), compared to a single entry last year. My guess it has more to do with a growing disenchantment towards lazy screenwriting than a noticeable uptick in quality non-fiction film. Regardless, truth was truly more interesting than fiction for me in 2010.

    Elsewhere, a number of high ranking films have to do with relationships and their struggles, possibly connected to the fact that breaking up with my girlfriend of four years was probably the defining event of my year, personally. Sometimes a movie hits you when and where you need to be hit.

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  • FIRST-HALF FYC: Best Actress

    The fifth column in our new seasonal series — if you haven’t got the drill by now, we’re rounding up the most Oscar-worthy work from the oft-overlooked first half of the year — wraps up the performance categories with by far the most competitive race of all. Conventional wisdom has it that Best Actress is the most crowded field of this year’s awards derby, and as I looked over the January-to-June release schedule, I realized that’s just as true of the early birds.

    Where I admit I had embroider a little to make up five-strong fields in one or two other categories, this week’s task found me scratching my head over who to leave out. Many of the year’s most lavishly acclaimed performances jostled for position: Kim Hye-ja may have taken the Los Angeles critics’ honors, but as much as I love the demented commitment of her performance in “Mother,” I was surprised to find myself leaving her on the sidelines. Tilda Swinton is on near-peak form in “I Am Love,” and yet she too finds herself in the honorable mention category.

    I was all prepared to court controversy by citing Julianne Moore’s exemplary work in Atom Egoyan’s otherwise negligible “Chloe,” but there just wasn’t room to be that playful; in a regular year, “Father of My Children” star Chiara Caselli would easily have figured in at the halfway mark. Others might make cases for Noomi Rapace or Giovanna Mezzogiorno, and I’m still hamstrung by not having had access to “Everyone Else.” The bottom line is: there was a lot to sift through before arriving at the five names below. May future years also be this good to the ladies.

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  • ‘Black Swan’ leads Online Film Critics Society noms

    The nominations list just announced by the OFCS features most of the expected names, but with a few welcome twists: nice to see Edgar Ramírez and LAFCA winner Kim Hye-ja lending some international flavor in the lead acting categories, while the Best Original Screenplay bid for “Greenberg” cuts pleasingly against the grain.

    Interesting, too, to see “The King’s Speech” missing out in the top race, where both “Winter’s Bone” and “Toy Story 3” have a home. (No autopilot nod for Helena Bonham-Carter, either.) Bonus points for a Best Foreign Language Film race that finally reflects the widespread critical adoration for “Dogtooth” (over “I Am Love,” to boot). There’s even a treat for all you “Scott Pilgrim” fans.

    Full list of nominees at The Circuit.

    [Photo: Fox Searchlight Pictures]

  • Likability: the best films of 2010

    I don’t quite know how to peg 2010.

    On one hand it has felt like a weak year. On the other hand, I’ve enjoyed quite a few films. Maybe the story lies in that sentence: “enjoyed.” There were precious few films that really rocked me, but plenty that were a nice enough experience.

    If you listened to Friday’s Oscar Talk, then you know my top 10. But before publishing it in this space, allow me to walk through the many films that fell short, starting at the top with Derek Cianfrance’s “Blue Valentine.” Here is an honest depiction of a relationship in crisis with performances that hit the mark. It wears its soul on its sleeve.

    The Coen brothers’ dip into the western genre, “True Grit,” was a straight-forward piece of flavorful filmmaking much appreciated for its restraint, while similarly, Ben Affleck’s “The Town” didn’t attempt reinvention of the wheel while forging a resonant character study in a genre film’s clothing.

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  • 12/13 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: HFPA’s “unsavory business practices,” Elswit talks ‘Town,’ the Zen of ‘TRON’

    • Golden Globes PR chief slams HFPA for “unsavory business practices.” [The Wrap]

    • David Heuring chats with “The Town” cinematographer Robert Elswit. [Variety]

    • Oscar marketing smackdown: “127 Hours” and “Buried.” [The Hollywood Reporter]

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  • FIRST-HALF FYC: Best Supporting Actor

    Only two weeks into my new feature and I’m already a day late — apologies. My laptop (now cured, at least until its next mood swing) will graciously accept the blame.

    If you missed last week’s introductory instalment, the game is a simple one. In the run-up to nomination day, I’m picking five outstanding contenders in each major category in films from the first half of the 2010 release schedule: a period repeatedly neglected by voters in favor of newer, shinier delights. We started with Best Supporting Actress — during which I learned that a lot of you really don’t like Taylor Swift, but you still all saw “Valentine’s Day” — and this week we fill in the male half of the equation.

    Keen as I am on all five performances I dredged up from the January-to-June wilderness, I was somewhat disappointed to note a very similar template forming to last week’s list: one French breakthrough talent, one blockbuster high point, even one star from a particular film. All accidental, I assure you… but to think I complain about “slot” mentality in the Oscar-analysis game.

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  • SUNDAY CENTS: Steady Krueger

    *All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    26 years ago, “A Nightmare on Elm Street” opened to $2.9 million on 165 screens and enjoyed healthy word of mouth to reach $55.5 million total, putting Wes Craven and New Line Cinema on the map in the process. Now New Line is owned by Warner Bros. and Wes Craven is back to milking a different old cash cow, but Freddy Krueger has made his way back to the silver screen. Jackie Earle Haley takes over for Robert Englund and audiences showed enough interest to cough up $32.2 million to check it out.

    That’s better than the $29.2 million of “Halloween,” but not quite as good as the $35.5 million of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” Word of mouth is almost guaranteed to be poisonous and it may as well not exist when “Iron Man 2” opens next week so I’d consider it a success if the film can make $60 million total. That should still be profitable for Warner Bros. and ensure at least six or seven sequels.

    The only other new release was “Furry Vengeance,” which took fifth place and $6.5 million. It’s too depressing to even dedicate a few minutes trying thinking of a joke for this movie. I actually think “Cruel Intentions” and “Just Friends” are better than they should be so it’s a shame to see Roger Kumble fall so far. He was probably my favorite hack director, but now he’s lost me.

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  • SUNDAY CENTS: Dear ‘Diary,’ Why wasn’t I in 3D?

    Diary of a Wimpy Kid*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    I haven’t heard a single person say “Alice in Wonderland” is anything but awful yet here we stand at its third weekend atop the box office. The film added another $34.5 million to its staggering tally of $265.8 million and I don’t really know what to say about that. In 17 days it has already matched the totals of films like “Star Trek,” “Gladiator” and “Pearl Harbor.” Something is bringing people to this product in ridiculous numbers and barring a better explanation, Hollywood is assuming that it’s the 3D so get ready to see “Little Fockers” and “True Grit” in an extra dimension this Christmas. Hell, get ready to see Burger King commercials in 3D soon enough.

    Second place goes to “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” which exceeded expectations with $21.8 million. I attribute this to the robust star power of Zachary Gordon and his monumentally popular voice work in “Santa Buddies.” Fox’s marketing managed to make the PG-rated flick look appealing to teenagers and some young adults without alienating kids and parents like “Drillbit Taylor” did so kudos to them.

    “The Bounty Hunter” is a surprising third place finisher with $21.0 million. Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler are the epitome of modern movie stars where they have a number of big films under their belt and solid name recognition but can’t open just any old movie to big numbers. Luckily, their pairing here and Sony’s marketing muscle earned them just enough to stay on the B-list. Your move “Killers.”

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  • BERLIN: ‘Winter’s Bone,’ ‘Greenberg,’ ‘Exit Through the Gift Shop’

    Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's BoneYesterday’s viewing roster just about had me double-checking whether I was at the right festival, as I was treated to a pair of Sundance hits, in addition to a brand-new Amerindie feature from a Sundance alumnus. The copious snow still smothering the sidewalks of Berlin only aided the comparison.

    Perhaps it was Valentine’s Day spirit making me more benign – apparently against the current of critical opinion, in the case of Noah Baumbach’s “Greenberg” – but all three films, moreover, afforded me pleasures of varying degrees. (And definitions: “pleasure” is not the most appropriate term for a film as severe as “Winter’s Bone.”)

    “WINTER’S BONE” (***1/2)

    In 2004, NYU film grad Debra Granik spun a student short into a ragged but confident debut feature, “Down to the Bone,” that landed her a Sundance award and kick-started the career of a sensational actress named Vera Farmiga. Perhaps you’ve heard of her.

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  • Berlin bound

    In a couple of hours, I’ll be packing my bags, donning my warmest and most ridiculous-looking puffa jacket and catching a crack-of-dawn flight to the German capital. The occasion, of course: the 60th Berlin International Film Festival.

    I’ve been to Berlin before — and was thoroughly enamored of it — though this will be my first experience of the festival, and I’m not a little intrigued. Alongside Cannes and Venice, the Berlinale essentially completes the holy European festival trinity, but its position in the calendar gives it a rather different profile from its glitzier sisters.

    Where Cannes hogs the lofty auteur names and Venice always nabs a couple of big fall awards hopefuls, Berlin is a refuge for smaller fare from up-and-coming filmmakers, peppered with the occasional sexy Hollywood premiere.

    That’s not to say that the festival doesn’t launch substantial works. Two of this year’s Oscar nominees, “The Messenger” and “The Milk of Sorrow,” began their awards trails with wins at Berlin a year ago, while the 2008 competition turned up the actressy trifecta of “Happy-Go-Lucky,” “I’ve Loved You So Long” and “Julia.” Berlin hits have to ride their buzz for longer than those at Cannes, but there are almost always a couple that quietly stay the course.

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  • ‘Greenberg’ trailer

    The latest from writer/director Noah Baumbach: