• Reed Johnson sits down with “Invictus” director Clint Eastwood and star Morgan Freeman. [Los Angeles Times]
• Eric D. Snider digs into the different perspectives on what makes a decade’s end. [Eric D. Snider]
• Noah Forrest stumps for some low-lying contenders that need the help. [Movie City News]
• The National Board of Review offered the season’s first major precursors, with “Up in the Air” sitting pretty.
• The Independent Spirit Award nominations were topped by “Precious” and, more surprisingly, “The Last Station.”
• Indie award rivals the Gotham Awards, meanwhile, crowned “The Hurt Locker” as the year’s best.
• Fresh off his Spirit nomination, we served up an extended interview with the great Jeff Bridges.
The real question with today’s National Board of Review announcement wasn’t who won, but who didn’t win.
A couple of ties and a list of honorees that seemed to canvas the entire crop of filmmaking product from 2009 adds something of a diluted quality to the proceedings, I must say. Of course, it is worth noting that major titles like “The Lovely Bones” and “Nine” were not only absent from the list of the group’s top 10 films of the year, but they weren’t visible anywhere, in any category.
The big winner was Jason Reitman’s “Up in the Air,” which took down Best Film, Best Actor (George Clooney in a tie with “Invictus” star Morgan Freeman), Best Supporting Actress (Anna Kendrick) and Best Adapted Screenplay.
“Invictus” also did well, nabbing a Best Director citation for Clint Eastwood (someone the NBR has shown, time and again, that they can’t resist) in addition to Freeman’s shared award and a mention in the Freedom of Expression category.
(More, including a full list of winners, after the jump.)
• Donna Freydkin talks “Brothers” and transitioning to an adult role with Natalie Portman. [USA Today]
• Laura M. Holson talks to Tom Ford and others about the former Gucci creative director’s feature film debut, “A Single Man.” [New York Times]
• Roger Ebert four-stars “Up in the Air.” [Chicago Sun-Times]
It goes without saying that New York Times executive editor Bill Keller has a more informed perspective on Nelson Mandela than most of the critics currently assessing Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus.” Keller was, after all, the NYT’s Johannesburg bureau chief in the time that Mandela came to power.
So it’s interesting — if not particularly meaningful — that he, of all people, is thoroughly persuaded by Morgan Freeman’s portrayal of the former South African president, gushing in a profile of the film that Freeman’s work is “uncanny — less an impersonation than an incarnation.”
Keller acknowledges, as have several critics, that Freeman hasn’t mastered specifics such as the accent (he rather diplomatically says that Mendela’s voice is “less about accent than cadence”), but excuses this on the grounds that Freeman has more abstractly captured Mandela’s spirit.
On Wednesday we featured the original song “9,000 Days” from Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus” from South African boy band Overtone (featuring vocalist Yollandi Nortjie). Today we’re happy to bring you the second track, “Colorblind.”
Overtone was reportedly “talent-scouted” by Eastwood’s wife Dina when she attended the group’s tribute to Freddy Mercury. Eastwood dug the melodies and asked for a few demos to be used in the film. So on one hand, it’s nice that he’s giving a leg up to an up-and-coming group.
The song is used in the film, quite suddenly, as the background music for a dramatic helicopter entrance by Morgan Freeman’s Nelson Mandela. I say suddenly because the cue quite literally seems to come from nowhere and the scene would probably be better served without it.
And that’s before we get to the song’s obvious downfall: lyrics and melody. It sounds like some soft pop, radio-exhausted ballad, but the words hit everything so square on the nose that it’s almost embarrassing. But that’s just my opinion. Have a listen below and give us your thoughts.
[audio:http://www.incontention.com/audio/colorblind.mp3]
We reported Friday (and mentioned in this weekend’s Oscar Talk) that Clint Eastwood’s latest, “Invictus,” has two original songs from South Africa boy band Overtone. Today we’re happy to feature one of them.
“9,000 Days” (credited as “Invictus 9,000 Days” in the film) also features vocalist Yollandi Nortjie. It’s used in the context of the film and is also called up as a reprise as the first closing credits cue. I wouldn’t say it’s used organically in the film, as the presence of both this and “Colorblind” (which we’ll feature Wednesday) seem forced and somewhat random on the film’s soundtrack.
The song has a jazzy, bluesy vibe, much like Jamie Callum’s “Gran Torino” last year. It also uses the William Earnest Henley poem which lends its name to the film’s title as a framing device throughout (which could render it ineligible, who knows). Like the film, it’s pretty simple, cut and dry, no frills.
Have a listen below and tell us what you think of the tune:
[audio:http://www.incontention.com/audio/9000days.mp3]
Every now and then this season, I’ve sat down and taken on the fool’s errand of deciphering what 2009, the year in film, has been “about.” It’s silly because a given film year is the result of years and years of preparation and development, so to think a collective thematic consciousness settles in is a bit of a stretch.
This year alone we have a swift production that at this time last year saw the filmmaker still in the editing suite for his late-2008 entry, while on the other side of the spectrum, a forward-thinking director will finally see the end of a decades-long journey for an anticipated “game-changer.” Movies come from a thousand different places and a thousand different perspectives.
Nevertheless, I’ve always come back to one thought on this year’s slate of films: catharsis. With expected exceptions here and there, in one way or another, the bulk of what we’ve seen on screens in 2009 has very much been about emotional purging, bleeding out the past and, not to be too on-the-nose with the zeitgeist connotations, change.
Let me illustrate. The most and the least compelling examples are the best place to start: Lars Von Trier’s “Antichrist” and Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus,” respectively.
There’s really no arguing the fact that South Africa’s victory in the 1995 Rugby World Cup was an inspirational moment of collaborative triumph for a country healing the wounds of the past. The occasion was an against-all-odds statement of progress and togetherness. It announced to the world that a nation had chosen to look to the future, not to the past. And the echoes undeniably reverberate in the crossroads the United States finds itself in this very day.
These themes are apparent in Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus,” but they do not have the elevating quality that might have rendered them truly affecting. A flat narrative and tedious structure ironically hold the audience at arm’s length from a story of inclusion and camaraderie. A confused central relationship is done no favors by a lack of true conflict and dramatic tension (the latter due largely to swift third act resolution). The film simply chugs along at a capable but unremarkable pace, and given the subject matter, it’s staggering how arbitrary the proceedings ultimately feel.
This might be seen as par for the course when it comes to Eastwood. He is an unfussy director concerned with streamlined, no-frills visual story telling, and at times, refreshingly so. But “Invictus” doesn’t feel like the work of a man invigorated by his focused process. It almost feels like the work of an exhausted artist, letting any number of elements slide on the way to completing a toothless, benign depiction of a momentous occasion.
• David Poland painstakingly seeks out assumed evidence to support his theory that “The Hurt Locker” will be this year’s Best Picture victor. [Movie City News]
• John Horn sits down with “Precious” screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher. [Los Angeles Times]
• Dave Karger chats up Viggo Mortensen and his “Road” co-star Kodi Smit-McPhee. [Oscar Watch]
• “The Lovely Bones” finally landed this week, to decidedly mixed reviews.
• Kris and Anne offered their thoughts on the film (among others) in this week’s Oscar Talk.
• In Off the Carpet, we combed through the Best Adapted Screenplay contenders (which now include “District 9”).
• “New Moon” surprised nobody with a record-breaking box-office haul last weekend, and its dominance is set to continue.
• This week’s Long Shot column surveyed the growing buzz around populist contenders in this year’s Oscar race.
Welcome to Oscar Talk, your weekly kudocast featuring yours truly and Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood.
On the docket today:
• We lead off talking holiday screeners, including further talk of “Inglourious Basterds” slipping into the 10 in the wake of fading heavies.
• Speaking of which, fresh off a screening of “The Lovely Bones,” a film that isn’t caught in the embargo tug of war, we touch briefly on our thoughts, to certainly be expanded at another time.
• As trade and magazine reviews pop up while others are still told to hold off, we get into Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus.”
• And with screenings of “Nine” already two weeks old, we finally add our perspective on the musical adaptation and certain category placements.
• Finally, with no revelations left save for James Cameron’s “Avatar,” we look at the film’s marketing strategy and the rumor mill on secret screenings.
Have a listen to this week’s podcast below, with Kate Hudson and “Cinema Italiano” leading the way. As always, you can subscribe to Oscar Talk via iTunes here.
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Even though trade reviews have popped up and there are enough little dutch boys around to seal off the steadily breaking dam, certain parties are still not permitted to discuss “Invictus” in a review capacity. However, I would like to offer up some thoughts on two original songs from the film that should be added to that category’s on-going conversation in this space.
“9,000 Days” and “Colorblind” are a pair of sentimental tracks peppered throughout the film. Both songs, as well as most of the soundtrack, can be chalked up to the South Africa vocal group Overtone. “9,000 Days,” using William Earnest Henley’s poem “Invictus” as a framing device, sounds curiously like Jamie Callum’s title track for “Gran Torino” last year. It’s a breezy, jazzy tune that also features Yollandi Nortjie.
“Colorblind,” meanwhile, from Overtone on their own, is a little more difficult to defend. From the schlock, faux-emotive melody of the thing to the trite lyrics (which could probably be determined from the nail-on-the-head title), it’s a fairly miserable song. And its usage in the film is swift, manipulative and frankly distracting.
Suffice it to say, I don’t expect these tracks to play a major role in this year’s race for Best Original Song, but they’re worth mentioning in this robust year for the category regardless.
Apparently unfazed by embargos, Newsweek’s David Ansen has posted a short, mixed-to-positive review of “Invictus,” the meat of which is here:
Invictus is not a biopic; nor does it take us deep inside any of its characters—Eastwood views Mandela from a respectful middle distance. It’s about strategic inspiration. We witness a politician at the top of his game: Freeman’s wily Mandela is a master of charm and soft-spoken gravitas. Anthony Peckham’s sturdy, functional screenplay, based on John Carlin’s book Playing the Enemy, can be a bit on the nose (and the message songs Eastwood adds are overkill). Yet the lapses fade in the face of such a soul-stirring story—one that would be hard to believe if it were fiction. The wonder of Invictus is that it actually went down this way.
So far, the early word I’ve sourced on this one is all over the place. I’m still struggling to get excited. Are you?
As always, the year’s adapted screenplay race is much more competitive than the original screenplay race. But what’s intriguing to note is that of the anticipated “big four” still to be widely screened, three of them are right in the thick of this discussion.
In the case of “Nine,” there is a chance for Anthony Minghella to receive his second posthumous Oscar nomination in as many years, something I don’t think we’ve seen since James Dean. But sometimes the razzle-dazzle of a movie musical can overshadow what craft there might be on the page, so it’s no slam dunk. Michael Tolkin is co-writer on the script, and even though I’ve seen the film, I’m prohibited from offering my thoughts on the work.
“The Lovely Bones,” meanwhile, is adapted from a beloved novel, looks to feature a more reserved and refined Peter Jackson than we’ve seen in recent years and could see the lovable trio (Jackson, Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh) back in Oscar’s good graces. We’ll know when we see it.
The Royals and invited British press get their look on the 24th. Harry Knowles has received his typical peek (as Paramount continues to nurture the relationship as if it’s 2002 and AICN still moves the needle). The rest of the US press corps has to wait until the other side of the holiday on the 27th to judge. Hopefully we’ll still care by then. I heard some scathing criticisms out of an exhibitor screening last week.
There’s nothing like an Oscar season to prove what a small number five (or even ten) is.
We may only be in November, but already, months of conversation, covering a broad canvas of Oscar sure-shots and long-shots alike, have devolved into a ruthless mathematical elimination process, as previously five-wide categories fill up with safe bets. Before you know it, scores of previously fancied contenders are jostling for a mere one or two supposedly “free” slots on the ballot, and with each week that passes, the pool of possibles is culled further.
This is, of course, hardest on independent or leftfield contenders. Having fought mightily even to enter the discussion in the first place, they must then rely on a flaky combination of precursors, DVD screeners and prayer to stay afloat.
Miracles do happen, of course, thanks largely to the Academy’s weighted ballot system, where a number-one vote is all. (Nobody was talking about Tommy Lee Jones to take the last Best Actor slot in 2007, but there he was nonetheless. Ditto the recent likes of Michael Shannon, Samantha Morton and “City of God.”)
With that in mind, I’d like to spotlight one contender in each major category that deserves a similarly happy outcome. Many of them are names I’ve championed before. Most of them are sitting on the furthest reaches of the sidelines. All of them deserve better.
The current vogue for South African-focused cinema continues apace. With Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman applying A-list Hollywood polish to the figure of former president Nelson Mandela, Jennifer Hudson is now set to do the same for his ex-wife.
Rumors about this have been circling for some time, but yesterday Variety confirmed that Hudson has signed on for “Winnie,” a full-scale biopic of the controversial politician, most notorious for her alleged (ahem) involvement in the murder of a 14 year-old activist in 1989.
South African director Darrell James Roodt (an Oscar nominee for 2004’s “Yesterday”) is at the helm. He also co-wrote the screenplay, based on Anne Marie du Preez Bezdrob’s 2003 biography “Winnie Mandela: A Life.” (Emma Gilbey’s superb “The Lady” would be a better starting point, in my opinion.)
This weekend has already brought junket screenings of Rob Marshall’s “Nine,” so we can’t call it “unseen” anymore. Then again, everyone has signed agreements not to discuss (even trigger happy HFPA types), so we can still safely call it “awaited.” Screenings of “The Lovely Bones” may or may not be set prior to the big London unveiling on the 24th, while “Invictus” is expected to start rolling out next week. “Avatar,” meanwhile, has nearly another month before we get a look.
The question is, which one is going to miss and miss big? Perhaps the answer is none, I don’t know, but we’re in that dangerous territory where anticipation could kill the impact and/or something might just fall on its face, much like we’ve seen over and over again in the past with countless other pretenders. If you have an opinion, let us know in the what that is. Come on back here with further thoughts if you wish.