In Contention

Tag: Ivan Reitman

  • LIFE WITHOUT OSCAR: 1989 and 1990

    Catch up with the idea behind this series here.

    We’re almost out of the god-awful 1980’s and into the decade where I came of age. I will say that 1989 brings my very first actual going-to-the-cinema memory, which was seeing “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.” I may have gone to the movies before then, but whatever I saw wasn’t that memorable.

    As for the Oscars, “Driving Miss Daisy” won Best Picture in one of the more head-scratching results in recent memory. It’s been a trivia note ever since as the last time a film won the big prize without a Best Director nomination to back it up and it’s unlikely that the feat will be repeated any time soon.

    1990 is another frustrating year for movie nerds as Kevin Costner emerged triumphant with “Dances With Wolves” over Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas.” More notable is the outright snub of “T-U-R-T-L-E Power” in the Best Original Song race. Academy Award nominee Partners in Kryme, anyone?

    Billy Crystal presided over both ceremonies, his first of eight critically beloved times at the helm.

    So what did the Academy completely ignore?

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  • SANTA BARBARA: Bridges, Firth, Stone and producers

    Colin Firth at the 25th annual Santa Barbara International Film FestivalThings are winding down in Santa Barbara.  Today is the last day of the fest, an all-day celebration of Jeff Bridges’s work.  Screenings of “Thunderbolt & Lightfoot,” “Starman,” “The Contender” and “Crazy Heart” are lined up.  I’ll be moderating a Q&A with the actor following the “Crazy Heart” screening at the Lobero Theatre.

    Yesterday it was the producers panel early in the afternoon, Patrick Goldstein moderating an enlightening discussion with Lawrence Bender, Mark Boal, Jon Landau, Lori McCreary, Ivan Reitman and Jonas Rivera.  It was a good cross-section of perspectives on the work of a film producer, and certain a diverse mixture of budgets, economics and creative philosophy.

    There was a moment when Landau proposed that it was a filmmaker’s responsibility to tackle gravitas and Bender took umbrage with that, positing that the real responsibility is to entertain.  Obviously it depends on the circumstance and no filmmaker should be beholden to either ideology (as Boal, always the diplomat, shrewdly noted).  But it was still funny watching Bender once again defending the frivolity of “Inglourious Basterds” in the face of loftier examinations from Landau, McCreary, etc.

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  • 12/18 Oscarweb Round-up

    (from left) Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis and Bradley Cooper in The Hangover• Anne Thompson reports that there is no “official” costume designer on “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” so anyone holding out longshot hope for its Oscar chances in that field can go ahead and focus elsewhere. [Thompson on Hollywood]

    • Melena Ryzik gets Ivan Reitman to admit “The Hangover” would be on his top 10 list. [The Carpetbagger]

    • Dave Karger chats with “Nine” star Penelope Cruz, who could be on her way to back-to-back supporting actress nominations. [Oscar Watch]

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  • Jason Reitman’s first kiss…in ‘Kindergarten Cop’

    Jason Reitman in Kindergarten CopJason Reitman has obviously come into his own as a filmmaker ever since his 2006 debut “Thank You for Smoking.” But once upon a time, he was a star of a different sort: the busted middle-schooler caught smooching in Ivan Reitman’s 1990 comedy “Kindergarten Cop.”

    You remember the scene.  The Governator is stalking the hallways looking for that adorable little blond-haired, blue-eyed kid, Dominic.  The school has been set on fire by the creepy long-haired heel of the piece, Dominic’s psycho father.  Detective John Kimble turns a corner into an abandoned room and there they are, two youngsters slipping in a little make-out action during the chaos of the fire alarm.

    “We thought it was another drill,” a young Reitman exclaims, voice breaking, shiny braces — the typical cues of preadolescent youth.  He must have been about 12 or 13 at the time.  But even if you were aware of that bit of casting trivia, you might not realize it was actually Reitman’s first kiss.

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