In Contention

Tag: Jack Fisk

  • CANNES CHECK: ‘The Tree of Life’

    The director: Terrence Malick (USA)

    The talent: Do you need reminding by this point? The Competition’s most high-profile film stars Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and the soon-to-be-ubiquitous Jessica Chastain; the name I’m most pleased to see in the supporting cast, meanwhile, is Irish stalwart Fiona Shaw.

    The technical crew is, obviously, first-class: DP Emmanuel Lubezki, Oscar-nominated for his work on Malick’s “The New World,” returns, as does the director’s career-long production designer Jack Fisk. Also returning from Malick’s last feature: editors Hank Corwin and Mark Yoshikawa (along with three others, including “City of God”‘s Daniel Rezende) and Oscar-nominated costume designer Jacqueline West. New to Team Malick is the industry’s current favorite composer, Alexandre Desplat.

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  • AMPAS invites 105 to the party

    The Academy has officially announced the 105 people it has invited to join its ranks this year; they range from obvious recent winners (Marion Cotillard, Diablo Cody), to cool commercial forces (Judd Apatow, Sacha Baron Cohen), to less glamorous but equally deserving names such as documentarian Nanette Burstein and composer Michael Giacchino.

    Looking down the list, it’s hard to believe that certain veterans weren’t already members; take Ruby Dee, for example, or Jack Fisk, or one of my personal writing heroes, Jean-Claude Carriere. Knowing that such vital artists could be voting sure aids the credibility of the awards – though I have a hard time imagining Michael Haneke hunched over his ballot, agonising over the nominees for Best Original Song.

    The full list of 2008 invitees is after the jump. Your thoughts, as ever, welcome.

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