• All-time greatest Oliver Stone line: “I like mirror. I wrote Scarface. Go fuck yourself.” [Vulture]
• Potential Oscar nominee James Franco got a “D” in his NYU acting class. [Showbiz 411]
• Read Tim Burton’s poem about Johnny Depp, circa 1991. [Cinematical]
“The King’s Speech” may have come out on top with Toronto Film Festival audiences, but the critics — at least, the broad cross-section surveyed by indieWIRE in their annual post-festival poll — have other ideas. Kelly Reichardt’s period western “Meek’s Cutoff,” my own pick of the Venice fest, was voted film of the festival by a sizable margin, with 76 points to 58 for runner-up “127 Hours.”
Of course, regular audiences will have to wait until 2011 to see what the fuss is about, but expect critical reaction to be as breathless when Oscilloscope eventually open Reichardt’s film. It’s too rarefied an arthouse item to get the awards attention it merits, of course, but no matter: I sense a future classic is being born.
Higher-profile awards-season fare comes next on the list, with “Black Swan” and “The King’s Speech” all but tied for third place, while foreign-language titles finding their way into the top 10 include Palme d’Or champ “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives,” Venice prizewinners “Attenberg” and “Silent Souls.” and Canada’s probable Oscar submission “Incendies.”
• Jacki Weaver talks “Animal Kingdom” downunder. [New Zealand Herald]
• Rowan Joffe on how he conceived “The American” as “an almost parodic contemporary Western.” [Movieline]
• Mark Romanek on music videos vs. movies. [Wall Street Journal]
Without question, the film launching full speed ahead and into the Oscar season this week is Tom Hooper’s “The King’s Speech.” I truly haven’t heard an unkind word about the film all weekend here in Telluride, and I imagine that goodwill will continue into the Toronto fest this week as well.
I can easily see nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay and Best Art Direction. Nods for the cinematography and costumes wouldn’t be all that shocking, either, so I’d say nine is the ceiling. And I imagine we may see a win or two, as well.
Let’s face it. As overdue as Jeff Bridges was last year, there are many who think Colin Firth was robbed for his work in “A Single Man.” It could conceivably be makeup time when the Oscars roll around in February. My interview with Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Tom Hooper was interrupted Friday by a woman who wanted to let Firth know she thought he was robbed. How deep does that sentiment go with voters?
I imagine The Weinstein Company is breathing a sigh of relief with the favorable reaction, as “Miral” was met with blanket disapproval in Venice (here is Guy’s review). The studio has a few other tricks up its sleeve, but none so critical as Hooper’s film.
Danny Boyle’s “127 Hours” made for a fascinating companion piece tonight with Peter Weir’s “The Way Back,” which I caught (and loved) this afternoon. Both films, at their heart, are obviously about surviving at all costs, but they come from drastically different filmmakers with drastically different sensibilities when it comes to visual storytelling.
Where Weir chooses the majesty of epic scope and films his true story with a lingering sort of patience, Boyle sets about filming his true story with the energy and vibrant spirit we’ve come to expect of his work. Both films, however, find their groove in the naturalistic, mundane moments that inhabit tales as harrowing as these.
I understand Boyle’s film was very well-received this afternoon when it debuted. My audience in the evening was slightly more muted but clearly loved the film. It helps when you have Aron Ralston in the crowd, of course. His is an unbelievable tale and one with a rather beautiful message about the necessity of community and society to carry us through the day-to-day.
Set to play the fall festival circuit is Danny Boyle’s “127 Hours,” which could offer a tour de force opportunity for actor James Franco. The recently released teaser trailer over at Apple indicates the kind of energy we’ve come to expect of filmmaker Danny Boyle but doesn’t give us much in the way of a thematic landscape to fully grasp. Not yet, anyway. I imagine future materials will pull the layers back further, but for now, check out the trailer by clicking the image below or watch the embed on the jump.
(Apologies for the delay in posting this column. Page to Screen will return to its regular Tuesday spot next week.)
Chick-lit, the unflatteringly named brand of light confessional writing intended to universalize the problems of modern professional women, has been a beast of a publishing phenomenon since the near-simultaneous arrival on the scene of Helen Fielding’s “Bridget Jones’s Diary” and Candace Bushnell’s “Sex and the City” in the late 1990s.
Marked by clear Transatlantic cultural differences, those volumes were nonetheless linked by their semi-autobiographical nature, their urban media milieu, a similar issue slate of sex, career, mild vice and the ongoing hunt for Mr. Right/Darcy/Big and a tone of chatty journalese – both, after all, were spinoffs of popular newspaper columns.
They also have one other crucial thing in common: massively successful screen translations that continue to bear fruit. A third big-screen Bridget Jones outing is currently in the works, and you may have heard something about a film called “Sex and the City 2” this summer.
In Fielding and Bushnell’s wake, then, have come a legion of female writers and journalists converting their personal experiences into bestseller status and swift deals with Hollywood: the success of such titles as “The Devil Wears Prada,” “Julie & Julia,” “Confessions of a Shopaholic,” and the male co-authored “He’s Just Not That Into You” hardly discourage the trend. (You could even argue for last year’s “An Education” as an arthouse twist on the formula.)
I always get a curious thrill from looking down the list of films selected to compete at the Sundance Film Festival — the 2010 batch of which has just been announced by festival directors John Cooper and Trevor Grath.
You know there are at least one or two titles there that we’ll all be talking about in precisely one year’s time, just as “Precious,” “An Education” and “The Cove” have blossomed from festival darlings to surefire awards contenders in the space of 11 months. What’s far harder to tell is which of the 58 titles listed here might be “the one.”
Still, last year I played something of a guessing game with the lineup, singling out one film from each of the competition’s four strands that seemed of particular interest to me: my faith in “An Education” was, obviously, handsomely repaid, while “Big Fan” (a winner at this week’s Gotham Awards), “Afghan Star” (the UK’s foreign Oscar entry) and Doors documentary “When You’re Strange” have done respectably for themselves.
OK, I missed “Precious” — so as far as that particular game goes, I’m going to quit while I’m behind. Still, what follows is a selection of ten titles that I’m keeping an eye on.
I just got off the phone with Michael Caine for a piece I’ll have up momentarily concerning his rather striking performance in John Crowley’s “Is Anybody There?,” but while I had him cornered I thought I should ask him point blank about his potentially staring in Christopher Nolan’s “Inception,” a rumor that’s been bouncing around unconfirmed as of late. As it turns out, Caine will be in the film, albeit in a very small role. Here’s what he had to say specifically:
I have a little part in it, yes. Just a tiny part. Chris and I are very good friends so I’ll do that little part. I think I’ll work about three days. It’ll be extraordinary, wait until you see this one. I think if I say another word he’s going to kill me!
Also officially joining the cast today is Joseph Gordon-Levitt, stepping in for James Franco (who had scheduling conflicts). Here’s The Hollywood Reporter on that news:
A veil of secrecy exists over loglines, though the project, which Nolan also wrote, is described as a contemporary sci-fi actioner set within “the architecture of the mind.”
It is known that Gordon-Levitt is taking the role to have been played by James Franco, who bowed out over scheduling issues. He would play an associate of DiCaprio’s character, a CEO-type.
The cast sure is filling out nicely. But I’m just…dying to know what the heck this movie is about. “Set within the architecture of the mind” isn’t cutting it for me anymore, and now I have Michael friggin’ Caine telling me “it’ll bee extraordinary.” The last time he went on the record regarding a Nolan film, an Oscar resulted. Aggggh! Maybe I should take a lead from J.J. Abrams and patiently wait for what’s coming to me.
Keep an eye out later today or over the weekend for that interview.
The day after. This will be the final installment of the Oscarweb Round-up this year. I always enjoy scouring the net to find these little gems here and there and I hope you have enjoyed the daily cheat sheet. Special thanks to all the hard-working journalists and pundits who keep cranking out copy to fill this space…even if I get testy with your words from time to time.
• Jeff Wells salutes that hilarious James Franco/Seth Rogen/Janusz Kaminski sketch. [Hollywood Elsewhere]
• David Carr’s on-the-spot Oscar coverage from last night, well worth a scroll. [The Carpetbagger]
• The “Slumdog” kids’ neighbors watch the show from India. [The Huffington Post]
• Anne Thompson wraps up the night and the season with coverage from the red carpet (including the Anne Cam!). [Thompson on Hollywood]
• Mourning the acceptance speech Mickey Rourke would have given. [Vulture]
• On the hateful protesters that lined the streets outside the Kodak: Sean Penn says ignore the ignorant. [Daily Telegraph]
• Roger Ebert reports on teh festivities with all of his usual insights. [Chicago Sun-Times]
• Patrick Goldstein was underwhelmed by the show (I don’t get it). [The Big Picture]
• Karina Longworth reports that Bennett Miller’s opening short film was cut because it basically sucked. [Spout Blog]
• Britain’s Press Association already digs into Kate Winslet’s speech. (I literally had a Brit at my Oscar party scream “Fuck off” when she won.) [The Independent]
Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler” walked away three trophies at today’s Independent Spirit Awards, including top honors for Best Actor (Mickey Rourke) and Best Feature.
In his greatest acceptance speech of the season, Rourke seemed fully uninhibited, almost as if he said, “Screw it, ballots are in,” and he cut loose. The tough guy thing poked through here and there as well as a lot of humorous forgetfulness. (He thanked Searchlight honcho Peter Rice and Rice’s “boss, Jim Jimanopoulos, or something like that.” Of course he meant Fox studio chief Jim Gianopoulos). But mostly, it was expletive-laden (like the Spirits like), raunchy and overall, still strangely endearing.
Rourke briefly dedicated the award to recently deceased pet chihuahua Loki, of course, in a choked-up moment that seemed to beautifully contrast with the rest of the rant. He held the mic like a rock star might, pushing it away during the applause moments and bringing it back to his lips to finish his thoughts. He also dedicated a solid 60 seconds to his friend Eric Roberts. “Whatever he did 15, 20 years ago should be forgiven,” Rourke said. “Eric Roberts is the fucking man and he deserves a second chance. I wish there’d be one God damned filmmaker in this room that’d let him fly because the man is something else.”
Melissa Leo’s speech in acceptance of the lead actress award — not so much. She rambled, she seemed self-involved, overly dramatic, pompous…let’s just say it’s probably a good thing she hasn’t accepted too many awards publicly this year because I think it would have damaged her Oscar chances. That’s just me, but it’s a hell of a performance and justly rewarded tonight.
“Milk” won two trophies early on, James Franco taking down a win in the Best Supporting Actor category and Dustin Lance Black’s first screenplay award. “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” also secured a pair: Best Screenplay for Woody Allen and Best Supporting Actress for Penelope Cruz.
Tom McCarthy won the Best Director prize despite his film “The Visitor” not showing up in the Best Feature category, while Charlie Kaufman took home the Best First Feature prize for the exceptional “Synecdoche, New York,” which also won the pre-announced Robert Altman Award.
(More, plus the full list of winners after the jump.)
The folks at notstarring.com have put together a list of the year’s Oscar contenders and the stars who turned down opportunities to star in them. There is, of course, Nicolas Cage in “The Wrestler” and Russell Crowe in “Australia.” Heath Ledger is also mentioned for the latter (somehow I didn’t know that).
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” given its lengthy gestation period in Hollywood, had a slew of names attached: Steven Spielberg, Spike Jonze and Ron Howard in the director’s chair, Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Rachel Weisz in front of the camera.
Those of us who follow Batman casting decisions closely know all the names that pop up in the “Dark Knight” section, though somehow I never realized Linus Roache was going to reprise his role of Thomas Wayne in flashbacks. I feel like that would have worked and been a nice element to tie the film more closely to “Batman Begins.”
There are plenty others to read through, including Matt Damon and Chris Evans being considered for the roles that eventually went to Josh Brolin and James Franco respectively in “Milk.” There’s even a beefy section on “Wanted.” Go have a look.
While James Franco was brooding and winning a Golden Globe for the TV telepic “James Dean” and fighting superheroes in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man franchise, the actor says he longed for the escape of a comedy.
Soon enough, producer Judd Apatow approached Franco to star alongside Seth Rogen in David Gordon Green’s “Pineapple Express.” After years of playing ultra serious characters, the actor had finally found an opportunity to let his hair down.
“I didn’t get offered a ton of comedies, and the ones I did get offered were more like romantic comedies. That wasn’t really my thing,” Franco says from San Francisco, just before the world premiere of Gus Van Sant’s “Milk.” “So when Judd said he wanted to do something together, it was kind of a relief.”
From a 11/21 Variety story by yours truly concerning actors moving between dramas and comedies this year. I’m still stoked at Franco’s Golden Globe nomination yesterday for Gordon’s film.
Well, I said yesterday one should always expect oddities with the Golden Globes … but even with that in mind, they never fail to pull out some genuine “WTF” moments.
Tom Cruise’s goofy Best Supporting Actor nod for “Tropic Thunder” may have been the most eccentric revelation of the morning, but surely the most significant shocker is the absence of “Milk” — presumed by many to be “Slumdog Millionaire”‘s chief rival in the Oscar race — in the Best Picture (Drama) category.
The shut-out proved even more blatant when neither Josh Brolin nor James Franco, who have been making healthy progress in the precursors, landed in the Supporting Actor race. Still processing that one — right now, I can’t think of a suitable theory to explain its absence. (But hey, at least Franco landed a left-field comedy-category nod for “Pineapple Express” … I think I know one guy who will be stoked with that.)
The producers of “Slumdog Millionaire” will no doubt be thrilled by the news, as will those of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” which claws back some momentum after taking a knock in this week’s precursors. In an unusually spread-out slate, “Button” and “Frost/Nixon” lead the pack of Best Picture nominees, with 5 nods apiece — I must admit I never expected the latter to be a field leader. (Meanwhile, in yet another of the morning’s oddities, their tally is equalled by the Best Picture-omitted “Doubt.”)
Some will be surprised by the failure of “The Dark Knight” to land Picture or Director nods, though I personally didn’t see the film the registering that strongly with the Foreign Press.
On the other hand, I naively failed to foresee that Harvey Weinstein would work his magic once more on the organisation — Kris’ prediction of a strong showing for “The Reader” was right on the money. Meanwhile, despite whispers that the HFPA wasn’t all that keen on “Revolutionary Road,” the nominations tell a different story. The nod for Sam Mendes is one I find particularly surprising; Paramount Vantage will no doubt heave a huge sigh of relief after a terrible precursor week that saw the film blanked in the Broadcast Film Critics’ nominations.
I’m late to the table on today’s Independent Spirit Award nominations because I’ve been toiling away on the latest Oscar column (which should be up shortly). Obviously, Sony Pictures Classics dominated the scene but I’m glad to see that this year’s crop is more “independent” than in years past.
One nomination that stuck out to me was James Franco in the supporting actor category for “Milk” (a film good enough for four nominations but not for Best Picture — explain that to me). Early on the idea was that Josh Brolin’s foil character Dan White would be the better bid for the category at the Oscars. Then word came that James Franco was the heartbeat of the piece and likely a better fit. Finally, the film landed and I was not alone in thinking Brolin hit his performance out of the park. Now this, so who knows? I still get the feeling Emile Hirsch is lurking in the wings waiting for a surprise, maybe with SAG or even Oscar, but that’s a difficult trio of supporting contenders to work through at the moment.
I get the feeling this year’s Indie Spirits will be dominated by “The Wrestler” and “Rachel Getting Married,” maybe some love for “Frozen River” here and there. I’m happy to see “Synecdoche, New York” land the Robert Altman Award (which always seems to go to a highly deserving crew), and I’ll certainly be pulling for Harris Savides yet again in the cinematography category.
The nominations:
Best Feature
“Rachel Getting Married” (Neda Armian, Jonathan Demme, Marc Platt)
“The Wrestler” (Darren Aronofsky, Scott Franklin)
“Wendy and Lucy” (Larry Fessenden, Neil Kopp, Anish Savjani)
“Ballast” (Lance Hammer, Nina Parikh)
“Frozen River” (Chip Hourihan, Heather Rae)
I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed Variety’s recent series of articles in which prominent actors champion some of their personal favourite performances of 2008, including many of the most discussed contenders of the season. It’s a simple idea, but executed with real thought and sincerity.
The pieces are interesting not just because of the more empathetic perspective a fellow actor can offer on a colleague’s craft, but also because the selections and combinations are so varied and frequently unexpected.
It’s not exactly surprising that an indie queen like Catherine Keener should love Michelle Williams’ exquisite portrayal in “Wendy and Lucy,” but Andy Garcia isn’t the first person I’d think of to celebrate the work of yesterday’s interviewee, Elsa Zylberstein, in “I’ve Loved You So Long.” I particularly liked Garcia’s piece because he understands just what a collaborative effort a performance can sometimes be:
It is not about the big scenes. It’s about the whole personality and how it is orchestrated. Kristin Scott Thomas is the protagonist, but Kristin’s and Elsa’s performances are joined at the hip. On the page, Elsa’s subtext may not appear as dramatic an issue as the subtext Kristin has, but there’s a great delicacy with which Elsa invites us to understand her character’s troubles and insecurities and how they relate to Kristin’s character. It is the overall crafting of the performance that is so beautiful to watch.
In turn, Kristin Scott Thomas is profiled by Scarlett Johansson, the younger actor evidently inspired by the elder. Reversing the generation gap, Dustin Hoffman is awestruck by Melissa Leo’s fearless turn in “Frozen River.” Meanwhile, James McAvoy’s take on Anne Hathaway shows the same respect and affection for a contemporary as Blythe Danner’s valentine to Richard Jenkins.
It’s interesting to note that, in addition to citations for the respective casts of “The Dark Knight” and “Sex and the City: The Movie,” only five film actors made EW’s recently unveiled list of the 25 Entertainers of the Year. (Six if you count their #2 pick, Tina Fey — which I don’t.)
Perhaps it chimes in with the widespread feeling that 2008 isn’t a vintage year for cinema, perhaps the worlds of TV and music simply had more to offer, or perhaps I’m simply over-analysing. It’s curious to see arguably the year’s two most overexposed stars, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, absent from the list — make of that what you will.
Nevertheless, the list was topped by a movie star: Robert Downey, Jr. Even with the bumping of “The Soloist” from the 2008 slate, it’s difficult to deny what a great year he’s had — between “Iron Man” and “Tropic Thunder,” he really found his popular touch, and even the most elitist critic had a kind word for him. Whether or not that unlikely Oscar campaign for the latter film takes flight, he has, as EW aptly puts it, “pulled off one of the smartest second acts in showbiz history.”
Other names present on the list include Meryl Streep, James Franco and Elizabeth Banks — but the most surprising and delightful inclusion is Richard Jenkins. I can’t imagine that the humble 61 year-old character actor ever thought he’d appear on a list alongside the likes of Leona Lewis and The Jonas Brothers, but good for him. It’s an appropriate recognition for a year that saw him supplement a career performance in “The Visitor” with cunning appearances in two mainstream crowdpleasers. Here’s EW’s take:
Richard Jenkins has had a colorful career, but he never seemed like an actor who’d get interrupted during dinner. After growing up in De Kalb, Ill., he became one of those ubiquitous character actors whom only a few know by name: the gay federal agent in Flirting With Disaster, the psychiatrist in There’s Something About Mary, the deceased patriarch in HBO’s Six Feet Under, and on and on. This year, Jenkins played Will Ferrell’s stepdad in Step Brothers and a gym manager in Burn After Reading. Though Jenkins has worked with just about every big-name filmmaker and actor in Hollywood, The Visitor writer-director Tom McCarthy was still considered brave for elevating him to leading man. ”There was never a question about whether he could do this,” he says. ”Richard has proven himself.’
Indeed he has. That Best Actor nomination for “The Visitor” looks more and more likely to me.
• After a third go, Jeffrey Wells is still in the tank for “Che,” claiming that you have to do some homework on the subject before coming into the film. [Hollywood Elsewhere]
• Steven Zeitchik writes up the Oscar season from the most played-out perspective in the book: biopics. [The Hollywood Reporter]
• Chrissey Iley chats it up with Leonardo CiCaprio. [The Guardian]
• Meanwhile, Elizabeth Day goes toe-to-toe with Clint Eastwood. [The Guardian]
• Michael Ordoña is a busy bee this weekend, first tackling a one-on-one with Viggo Mortensen… [Los Angeles Times]
• …then chatting with Edward Zwick about his new film “Defiance.” [Los Angeles Times]
• Sam Adams, meanwhile, talks to “Milk” star James Franco. [Los Angeles Times]
• The stars share their thoughts on the 2008 election. [Premiere]