In Contention

Tag: Hereafter

  • OFF THE CARPET: Can the ladies get some support?

    A number of people wanted Anne and I to discuss the seemingly thin Best Supporting Actress category on the podcast Friday, but we didn’t get to it. So it seemed an opportune time to dedicate this space to the discussion.

    One should keep in mind that the race is still in its early days. This time last year we didn’t even know “Crazy Heart” would be in the mix, and any number of things can change. But while I have been saying for a while now that the supporting actress field is week, it does seem to be taking shape as of late.

    There is no hard and fast frontrunner in the field right now. If Lesley Manville’s “Another Year” campaign were to switch gears, that would be a different story, but the only contender that feels right at the moment is Miranda Richardson as the fiery Barbara Castle in the Brit comedy “Made in Dagenham.”

    On the next tier, I feel pretty good about Dianne Wiest’s chances in “Rabbit Hole,” where the three-time nominee (and two-time winner) stars as a concerned but affable mother to Nicole Kidman’s grief-stricken housewife. Meanwhile, Helena Bonham Carter could well ride the coattails of “The King’s Speech” to a nomination for the comic relief and emotional support she maintains throughout the film.

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  • OSCAR TALK: Ep. 35 — ‘Secretariat’ hopes, ‘The Way Back’ enters the race, ‘Nowhere Boy,’ ‘Hereafter’ and listener questions

    Oscar TalkWelcome to Oscar Talk.

    In case you’re new to the site and/or the podcast, Oscar Talk is a weekly kudocast, your 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 en route to Oscar’s stage and we’re here to address it all as it unfolds.

    Can you believe it’s already October? Next month every film will have screened and before long we’ll be reporting National Board of Review winners. Contenders are beginning to hit theaters as we move into the fall, so let’s see what’s on the docket today…

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  • ‘Hereafter’ poster

    I assume Warner Bros. will start screening Clint Eastwood’s “Hereafter” (which opens a month from today) to the Los Angeles crowd when their good and ready.  Still waiting (and still intrigued, despite some less-than-stellar early reviews).  Reaction out of Toronto was ultimately quite split, you’ll recall.  Today we get a look at the new poster for the film.  Check it out after the jump.

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  • OFF THE CARPET: King…for the moment

    Tom Hooper’s “The King’s Speech” is on top of the world right now.  Telluride buzz was hot and it carried all the way through the Toronto International Film Festival to a coveted People’s Choice award.  The race is already being boiled down in some quarters to this old school Academy play versus a Gen-Y instant classic opening in just under two weeks.  You couldn’t ask for more if you were The Weinstein Company with this film as your prize pony…

    …except maybe a season half as long as it actually is.  Hooper’s film finds itself in a very precarious spot right now.  Just ask awards consultants at Paramount Pictures.

    After coming out strong with the of-the-moment “Up in the Air” last season, taking the same Telluride-Toronto crowd-pleasing path, their film slowly boiled down to an also ran and even came up short in the one category it seemed assured going into the Academy Awards.

    It’s easy to peak early in an Oscar season.  It takes tactical endurance to really come out on the other side with something to show for yourself and “The King’s Speech” is burning fuel fast and early.  But I imagine if anyone understands this it’s Harvey Weinstein, who, if he does find himself in a battle with “The Social Network” for the big prize, will be going toe-to-toe with one of his former Miramax executives, Cynthia Swartz (who has overseen Best Picture marches for “Crash,” “No Country for Old Men” and “The Hurt Locker” in recent years).

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  • WEEKLY WRAP: Venice winners, Toronto bites, ‘Network’ raves

    • Sofia Coppola’s “Somewhere” surprised many by taking top honors at the Venice Film Festival; we took a closer look at the Lido winners.

    • Meanwhile, we were considerably less than wowed by the festival closer, Julie Taymor’s “The Tempest.”

    • This week’s Off the Carpet column reflected on the unusual depth of this year’s Best Actress race.

    • A race that subsequently got even deeper as Lionsgate made the biggest acquisition thus far of this year’s Toronto fest: Nicole Kidman’s comeback effort “Rabbit Hole.”

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  • TIFF: Eastwood is either patient or lazy, depending…

    Traditional media are responding to Clint Eastwood’s “Hereafter” even if early-bird web folks smacked it down after the first press screening of the film this weekend.  I think it’s safe to say that Richard Corliss and Roger Ebert rarely meet an Eastwood film they don’t like, but raves in Time magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times can go a long way in an awards season.

    Corliss seems to feel that “if you go with his new picture’s slow flow, and stick around for its rapturous resolution, you’ll see this as a summing up, a final testament of so many Clint characters, from The Man With No Name to Dirty Harry, from Million Dollar Baby’s Frankie Dunn to Gran Torino’s Walt Kowalski, for all of whom facing down death was a natural part of life.”

    Ebert, meanwhile, notes that the film “is made with the reserve, the reluctance to take obvious emotional shortcuts, that is a hallmark of Eastwood as a filmmaker” and that “Eastwood and his actors achieve a tone that never forces the material but embraces it.”

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  • TIFF: ‘Hereafter’ reviews reflect split opinions but indicate a potential Oscar player

    Yesterday’s knee-jerk reactions to Clint Eastwood’s “Hereafter” fell in the overwhelming negative following an afternoon press screening.  At the time, I noted that festival quick takes should be taken in context and that perhaps more measured responses could tell another tale.

    Well, the embargo lifted roughly 45 minutes ago.  Variety’s Justin Chang has fired off a mostly positive assessment that admits the film’s triptych of stories comes together “creakily” and that the film is “uneven,” but he seems to be willing to cut the filmmaker a little slack by appreciating the lax approach conveying the narrative.  The film is “a beguiling blend of the audacious and the familiar,” he writes, “but is armored against risibility by its deep pockets of emotion, sly humor and matter-of-fact approach to the fantastical.”

    Screen Daily’s Mark Adams, meanwhile, calls the film “a bold change of pace” for Eastwood, praising him for not “resort[ing] to any clever editing to tell the three parallel stories…those interested in a shrewdly made and well-scripted drama about loss and compassion will be intrigued and impressed.”

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  • TIFF: ‘Hereafter’ underwhelms, ‘Let Me In’ bests original?

    I’ve been hearing for a couple of months now that Matt Reeves’s “Let Me In” is as good if not better than Tomas Alfredson’s original film (and a top 10 effort in my book), “Let the Right One In.” I won’t see it for another week or so, but early word out of Toronto dovetails with what I’ve been hearing.

    Jeffrey Wells says the film is “at least as good” as the original and that it is “carefully copied with a meticulous, unhurried, highly absorbing style.”  In fact, he eventually admits he liked it better this time around, largely because he was more impressed with Chloe Moretz than with Lina Leandersson.  MTV’s Josh Horowitz, meanwhile, Tweets, “It’s breathtaking and yes I think it’s better than the original.”  Variety’s Peter Debruge concurs, offering that the film “commands respect for not dumbing things down, offering classy, ‘Sixth Sense’-style crossover potential as it lures both genre suckers and fresh blood.”  And by the way, I’ve also been hearing that Michael Giacchino’s score could be something to watch for this season.

    Elsewhere, Clint Eastwood’s “Hereafter” had a press screening at the festival this afternoon in what I imagine was a claustrophobic 139-seat setting.  Official reviews are embargoed until tomorrow’s public screening, but I’ve got some disheartening reactions after the jump.

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  • ‘Hereafter’ trailer

    Clint Eastwood’s “Hereafter” is set to play Toronto this Sunday.  No screenings in LA until after the festival but there have been a few vague reactions already.  The story revolves around current event disasters (the London tube bombings, the Sri Lanka tsunami, etc.) to tell a story of, you know, death and stuff.  The trailer just released via Apple and looks properly somber, revolving mostly around Matt Damon’s character (of the reported triptych).  What else to say other than that?  Check it out by clicking the link below or watch an embed after the jump.

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  • Eastwood’s “spiritual chick flick”

    You’ve probably read the countless link-backs to Geoff Boucher’s Hero Complex item about Clint Eastwood and how the actor turned down roles like Superman and James Bond in the 1970s.  Well, you wouldn’t know it, but those quotes actually came in the context of an interview concerning “Hereafter,” Eastwood’s 32nd directorial effort which is set to play Toronto this weekend.

    It’s a solid, conventional piece that builds up anticipation for what may or may not be an Oscar play for Warner Bros.  There are no screenings set in LA during the fest (or at least that’s what I’ve been told), though Patrick Goldstein saw the film and had vague praise to offer almost a month ago.

    We get an idea of the film’s plot throughout the piece, which also includes quotes from star Matt Damon.  Writer Peter Morgan was also interviewed but not quoted.  I’ll admit that I haven’t been following its production.  Eastwood burn-out, maybe, but I’m beginning to sense a fire of interest lighting up inside.  Then again, I guess that’s what pieces like Boucher’s are meant to do, so, bravo WB publicity.

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  • 9/9 Oscarweb Round-up

    • James Rocchi previews the Toronto Film Festival with quotes from co-director Cameron Bailey and yours truly. [MSN Movies]

    • Dave Karger writes up the festival’s top 10 Oscar contenders. [Oscar Watch]

    • Regarding Clint Eastwood’s “Hereafter,” Brad Brevet wonders if Warner Bros. is hiding a stinker. [Rope of Silicon]

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  • OFF THE CARPET: Once more into the breach

    So nine years ago yesterday I started a crappy, embarrassing little amateur site on Yahoo!’s now defunct Geocities platform and called it Oscar Central. It was a way to blow off steam in film school, maybe fold an offline hobby (Oscar-watching, predicting, obsessing) into an online community that seemed to already have healthy numbers. Plus, hey, it was the early years. I figured some low tech internet training was far from the worst thing I could be doing.

    That’s a long way of saying today kicks off my 10th season of Oscar coverage online, and in that decade, plenty has changed. One thing has remained the same, however, and that is a focused interest, both from myself and a growing readership, in the admittedly arbitrary and somewhat solipsistic process of awarding the “best” in filmed art and entertainment.

    To put it more succinctly: Here we go again.

    The 2010-2011 Oscar season takes its first real steps Wednesday as the 67th annual Venice Film Festival sets sail on the Lido. That opening night will see Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan” get its toes wet as Fox Searchlight tests the season’s waters, perhaps with a worthy follow-up to the director’s 2008 awards title “The Wrestler,” perhaps not. Two days later the 37th annual Telluride Film Festival lifts its curtain in the mountains of Colorado, bringing any number of “surprise” bows (we all know what they’ll be but, again, I’ll respect the fest’s wishes in this space), before Toronto’s media circus fills in the cracks and brings us to mid-September and the fiery beginnings of Oscar’s 83rd barbecue.

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  • Fall festivals ready for their close-up

    In the last couple of weeks the major fall film festivals have unveiled aggressively competitive line-ups, and the amount of potential awards product landing at Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York is, as usual, vast.

    There are plenty of overlapping exhibitions but as for firsties, Venice will get dibs on Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan,” Julie Taymor’s “The Tempest,” Julian Schnabel’s “Miral,” Ben Affleck’s “The Town,” and Richard J. Lewis’s “Barney’s Version” before the films make their way to other fests.  Sofia Coppola’s “Somewhere” will be exclusive to the Lido.

    New York, meanwhile, landed a real coup by boasting the world premiere of David Fincher’s “The Social Network,” which will not be at the other fests.

    Toronto is again packed to the gills with product (too much, if you ask me, but it’s a media circus after all).  Clint Eastwood’s “Hereafter” will see its first bow there before heading off to New York in October.  Tony Goldwyn’s “Conviction” will also debut, as well as John Madden’s “The Debt,” Rowan Joffe’s “Brighton Rock,” Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden’s “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” and Nigel Cole’s “Made in Dagenham.” World premieres searching for distributors at the fest include Robert Redford’s “The Conspirator,” John Cameron Mitchell’s “Rabbit Hole” and Dustin Lance Black’s “What’s Wrong with Virginia,” any of which could end up being awards season possibilities.

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  • Vague ‘Hereafter’ praise

    I don’t know much about Clint Eastwood’s “Hereafter” and I don’t know why Warner Bros. felt the need to screen it uber early to Big Picture columnist Patrick Goldstein, but if you’re interested in a “first!” reaction to the film, here’s what he had to say:

    On Tuesday, I caught an early screening of Clint Eastwood’s upcoming film, “Hereafter,” and though it’s too early for a mini-review, let’s just say that Eastwood, who turned 80 this year, is still The Man when it comes to making movies, showing off a range and depth that puts him right up there with John Huston, Robert Altman and the other great old masters from past ages.

    “Hereafter” is set for release October 22.  It comes from an original script by Peter Morgan and stars Matt Damon, Bryce Dallas Howard and Jay Mohr.  We’ll see.

    [Photo: nkohk]

  • OFF THE CARPET: Handicapping 2010 a year in advance

    Hilary Swank in Betty Anne WatersUncle.

    I told myself I wasn’t going to write this column this year, let alone make predictions, but some of you were just too cute in your emails and Twitter DMs asking for something akin to my annual year-in-advance take on the race, so I struck a balance: a column and contenders list, but no charts and no predictions.  Fair enough?

    The 2010 Oscar season looks, from afar, to be a muted affair.  Most of the films that look like competitors on paper have a distinctly “small” vibe.  Of course, no one knows when a film like “The Blind Side” will decide to come along and sweep the heartland and the Academy at large off its feet.  Maybe Tony Goldwyn’s “Betty Anne Waters” will play that role this year.  Maybe not.

    There are a considerable amount of actors and actresses with multiple performances on the way, more than usual, I’d say.  And most encouraging, the original screenplay field seems to be much more robust than the adaptations.

    Last year the big dogs looked to be “Amelia,” “Invictus” and “Nine,” and we all know how that turned out.  In fact, it happens with some frequency.  So why bother getting too deep into all of this now?  And to say nothing of the fact that, perhaps mercifully, nothing on the horizon appears to have that level of awards-baiting appeal.  No major filmmakers looking to cozy up to Oscar.  No big stars that seem overdue and are going for it with an obvious role.  None of that, really.

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