• John Campea rattles off a list of the six movies he’d love to see but that will never happen. [The Movie Blog]
• Patrick Goldstein translates Bob Weinstein’s classified in search of a new assistant. [The Big Picture]
• Chloe Fox talks to “The Ugly Truth” star Gerard Butler about “mixing the rough with the smooth.” [Daily Telegraph]
Since I was talking about original screenplays earlier today, I was interested to see that Jeff Wells is also on the topic. He offers a brief rundown of the nominees for Saturday’s WGA Awards, and offers this theory on why Jenny Lumet missed out on both Guild and Oscar nods for “Rachel Getting Married”:
Lumet’s screenplay didn’t render enough bombast and sword thrusts in the big-money confrontation scene between Anne Hathaway and Debra Winger. They start to get into the “why did you leave me with him?” issue, Winger freaks and slaps and then Hathaway runs out — not satisfying!
I’m not sure ‘bombast’ is the word I’d use (I rather think more subtlety was called for), but I’m glad to see that scene singled out — for me, it was a lazy, artificial bit of dramatic shortcutting that caused the film’s whole emotional construction to fall apart somewhat. Anyway, old news and apropos of nothing really, but I’m glad someone else said it.
As for the WGA, we all know Simon Beaufoy is taking the adapted category. Does Dustin Lance Black win original by default, since he’s the only Oscar nominee of the bunch? I guess so — barring a surge of peer affection for four-time winner Woody Allen. But if Black does lose — not likely, of course — I wouldn’t fancy his Oscar chances much. Just an idle thought.
Rarely does the lead actress category provide more suspense than leading gentlemen and rarely is it as packed with fine performances as it is this year. I can remember years when it was a struggle to come up with five nominees for best actress, 1975 and 1992 springing to mind. It might have less to do with quality female performances than it does the amount of quality female roles Hollywood provides.
But the Academy won’t have any trouble this year. There are going to be excellent performances left off the list of nominees this year due to uncharacteristically heated competition, that is a sad fact, and there is not a thing anyone can do about it except continue to love and support the performances snubbed. In fact it is not even that they will be snubbed, it’s just that there is only room for five ladies, and this year, selecting those final five must be proving an enormously difficult task for the Academy.
With her two Golden Globe wins, Kate Winslet seems to be a shoo-in for her superb performance in “Revolutionary Road,” a truly heartbreaking piece of acting that is sadly underseen at the moment. Meryl Streep, meanwhile, will be nominated for the 15th time for her tyrannical nun in “Doubt” and Anne Hathaway will get a welcome to the big show for “Rachel Getting Married,” in which her caustic turn as Kym has altered the course of her career and announces her as a serious actress in the industry.
And then it becomes tricky — those final two spots.
In the 1970s there simply wasn’t a greater director of actors than Sidney Lumet. Roles in his films came with Academy Award nominations virtually attached. From 1973 to 1988, Lumet directed actors to 16 Oscar nominations, three of those eventually winning an Oscar. He himself was nominated for Best Director for “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Network” and “The Verdict” and most certainly should have been nominated for “Prince of the City,” which earned him a New York Film Critics Circle award.
A former actor himself, Lumet understood inherently how to work with his on-screen talent, how to allow them the space they needed to create without seeing them run away with his film. Most importantly, he understood how to direct them to best serve the piece. Incredibly he never won an Oscar for his work at the helm, but the Academy did give him an Honorary Award a couple of years ago, which he followed with his best work in years: “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.” In his 80s now, he is as fresh and alive as he has ever been, and still one of the great living directors.
And now his daughter Jenny could become a first-time Oscar nominee for her screenplay “Rachel Getting Married.” Lumet must be pleased — Sidney, I mean. I had the pleasure of interviewing him last year and he was an utter delight, frank, unafraid to speak his mind. He mentioned his daughter was working on a film I might see within the year. With a smile and a twinkle in his eye he said, “It’s very good.” Ever the proud father.
When David Carr makes that crack at around the 1:50 mark in this recent Carpetbagger video, surrounded by Gold Derby’s Tom O’Neil and Hollywood Elsewhere’s Jeffrey Wells, I literally choked on my pecans with laughter. I then proceeded to laugh further at Wells’s attempt at debunking “The Dark Knight”‘s Oscar hopes because of its “interminable third act.” But even a fan such as yours truly had to give it to Carr’s comeback quip, “How many times did that sucker end?”
Anyway, the video was shot at the recent New York Film Critics Circle awards and features interviews with Sean Penn, Courtney Hunt, Jenny Lumet, Sally Hawkins and Entertainment Weekly’s Lisa Schwartzbaum. Take a look. And someone give this guy a TV show already.
The Best Picture victory for “Milk” is going to be the lede for most people as far as today’s New York Film Critics Circle awards is concerned, but the bigger story is “Happy-Go-Lucky,” which finds itself right back in the thick of the Oscar conversation.
The group handed Mike Leigh and Sally Hawkins honors for Best Director and Best Actress respectively for the film. This marks the second award in as many days for both. Leigh won the screenplay award yesterday with the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and Hawkins was also singled out for her performance.
But back to “Milk,” I was a little surprised to see the film do so well here, also taking honors for Best Actor (Sean Penn) and Best Supporting Actor (Josh Brolin). It’s a slightly more populist opinion from a crowd that likes to be fringe, though Jenny Lumet’s screenplay win for “Rachel Getting Married” was anything but a shock.
Penelope Cruz continued her expected steamroll through the Oscar season with yet another supporting actress win (she won with LAFCA as well), while “WALL-E” surprised no one with a victory as Best Animated Film. Meanwhile, Anthony Dod Mantle, who came in as a runner-up with the L.A. critics for his work behind the camera on “Slumdog Millionaire,” happened to walk away with the honor today.
“Man on Wire” took honors for Best Documentary, while “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” won for Best Foreign Film.
It was yet another day of snubs for “Revolutionary Road,” which turned up with zero nominations from the BFCA and no mentions from the L.A. critics. And a film that has suddenly become a real threat as the first major precursors have begun to arrive, “The Dark Knight,” hit an expected roadblock with the Gotham crew, finding no love in any category. Slightly more surprising, however, is the lack of recognition for Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler.” But I have a hunch it was in the hunt throughout, maybe just coming up short in this category or that.
(Full list of winners after the jump.)
I was totally out to lunch on this today. “Slumdog Millionaire” continues to dominate while Heath Ledger wins his second award (after that AFI gong earlier in the week). “Doubt” pulls down another ensemble win while truly astounding group performances from films such as “Synecdoche, New York,” “Gomorrah” and, indeed, “Slumdog Millionaire” continue to be ignored. And Mickey Rourke picks up his first critics’ citation.
The winners:
Best Film: “Slumdog Millionaire”
Best Director: Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Best Actor: Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”
Best Actress: Meryl Streep, “Doubt”
Best Ensemble: “Doubt”
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
Best Supporting Actress: Rosemarie DeWitt, “Rachel Getting Married”
Best Breakthrough Performance: Dev Patel, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Best Original Screenplay: Jenny Lumet, “Rachel Getting Married”
Best Animated Feature: “WALL-E”
Best Foreign Language Film: “Let The Right One In”
Best Documentary: “Man On Wire”
Best Art Direction: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Sasha Stone has some historical perspective over at Awards Daily.
• Jeff Wells is beside himself because Oscar prognosticators understand “Che” has a snowball’s chance in hell at a best Picture nomination. [Hollywood Elsewhere]
• Noah Forrest podcasts “Changeling” screenwriter J. Michael Straczynski. [Movie City News]
• Anne Thompson gets the “Australia” goods from Hugh Jackman. [Thompson on Hollywood]
• Tom O’Neil, meanwhile, wonders if pundits are underestimating the film…nah. [Gold Derby]
• The economy takes a bite out of one of the season’s biggest Oscar bashes. [Vanity Fair]
• Pete Hammond is a party pooper, makes sure we all understand a SAG strike could put a damper on the season. [Notes on a Season]
• Nathaniel Rogers talks to “Rachel Getting Married” gals Rosemarie DeWitt and Jenny Lumet. [The Film Experience]
• Peter Bart joins my Brandon Walters bandwagon, says director Baz Luhrmann has created a star. [Peter Bart]
• Kevin Kelly talks to “WALL-E” and “Star Wars” sound whiz Ben Burtt. [Spout Blog]
• Patrick Goldstein digs into the emotional chill factor of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” [The Big Picture]
• A Harvey Milk Cliff’s Notes for your “Milk” screening preparations. [USA Today]
I don’t know why exactly, but the “roundtable” format of interviews that crops up a lot during awards season often strikes me as rather less fascinating than it’s meant to be. Unless the panel is very smartly chosen, I find the discussion tends to veer towards back-patting and faintly smug in-jokery, rather than stimulating argument between widely differing creative forces.
Maybe I’m just blasé. But on reading the Hollywood Reporter’s two recent “Oscar Roundtables” with six screenwriters and six producers that THR thinks are likely to figure in the Oscar race, I couldn’t help being disappointed that, despite the level of talent involved, they didn’t have that many interesting things to say between them. (I’d go so far as to say that the best soundbite is quoted from the not-present Charlie Kaufman.)
The selected writers are Jenny Lumet (“Rachel Getting Married”), Dustin Lance Black (“Milk”), Thomas McCarthy (“The Visitor”), John Patrick Shanley (“Doubt”), Andrew Stanton (“WALL-E”) and J. Michael Straczynski (“Changeling”). I have a hard time imagining the latter two will score writing nominations, but the race is young, I suppose.
Writers can be pretty insufferable when talking about their “process” — I know, I am one. So there’s the usual semi-serious comparing of hours spent at the computer, feverish notebook scribbling and messy first drafts, but there isn’t much discussion of the specific screenplays and films at hand. McCarthy seems to be the most reticent of the group, only entering the discussion halfway through. A shame, really, as I’d venture that he’s possibly the best writer of the lot.
Rosemarie DeWitt is excited.
It can be difficult to gauge emotion in the formal, slightly removed context of a phone interview, but DeWitt’s warm, clear voice betrays an eagerness right from the get-go, articulating thoughts at a pace that occasionally exceeds my shorthand. Only when addressing the heady buzz of awards season does she finally pause to reach for words.
“It’s crazy, seriously crazy, but more than anything, it’s just really flattering,” she says. “This is the best job I’ve ever had, and I’m so, so proud of the film. Anything more than that is just…” A moment passes as she takes a breath, and considers the matter. “Wow,” she concludes simply.
The film in question, of course, is “Rachel Getting Married,” Jonathan Demme’s barbed family drama that has been widley declared the filmmaker’s return to form after some years in the wilderness. The buzz, meanwhile, is for DeWitt’s subtle, complex turn in the title role, which has garnered considerable plaudits for the hitherto low-profile 34-year-old actor, a frequent stage presence only recently receiving her due on screen, both big and small.
Best known until now for her tart, sexy portrayal of Midge, Jon Hamm’s bohemian city mistress in TV critics’ darling “Mad Men,” DeWitt is calling from Los Angeles. She’s just finishing work on another cable series, “The United States of Tara,” a dark, high-concept comedy created by Diablo Cody and starring Toni Collette (an “absolute genius,” DeWitt gushes).
All of which would be enough to get excited about without Oscar talk being thrown into the mix. But as Rachel, the older sister of Anne Hathaway’s self-destructive addict Kym, DeWitt’s attentive, commendably unflattering performance finds itself right in the thick of the Best Supporting Actress competition. Hers is, for me, the most resonant performance in a film that doesn’t want for thespian fireworks, largely because DeWitt never pushes Rachel into the stock character of the saintly, long-suffering sibling.
• Choire Sicha talks to Ellen Burstyn about “W.” and her new memoir. [Los Angeles Times]
• A year later, Jeffrey Wells still very much hearts “Things We Lost in the Fire.” [Hollywood Elsewhere]
• Peter Knegt profiles “Rachel Getting Married” screenwriter Jenny Lumet. [indieWIRE]
• David Gritten corners the Coen brothers across the pond. [Daily Telegraph]
• John Anderson details the Iraq war film as risky business with Ridley Scott tackling the subject in “Body of Lies.” [New York Times]
• Doing more press for the Brits than Stateside these days, Oliver Stone chats it up with Oliver Burkeman. [The Guardian]
• The diversity that is character actor Toby Jones. [Los Angeles Times]
• Steve Daly talks with a Bill Maher-less Larry Charles. [Entertainment Weekly]
• More fuel for the “‘Gran Torino’ is Eastwood’s last performance” fire. [Reuters]
• A happy ending of sorts for Matilda Rose in the wake of Heath Ledger’s death. [Agence France-Presse]
• Kenneth Branagh is in talks to direct “Thor.” Weird, but badass. [Variety]
• Tom O’Neil traces Paul Newman’s frustrating quest for Oscars. [Gold Derby]
• James Rocchi talks to “Miracle at St. Anna” director Spike Lee. [Cinematical]
• The Los Angeles Times have hired an east coast outsider and called it awards coverage. Well, we wish him well. [The Envelope]
• Nikki Finke primises to report all the “juicy backstory” on the Rudin/Weinstein situation — because she’s a journalistic disgrace. [Deadline Hollywood Daily]
• “Quantum of Solace” will have more product placement than any Bond film before it. [The Independent]
• Mark Olson grills Jonathan Demme on “Rachel Getting Married.” [Los Angeles Times]
• Meanwhile, Susan King takes on “Rachel” screenwriting Jenny Lumet. [Los Angeles Times]
• Chris Lee gets some quality time in with Leonardo DiCaprio re: “Body of Lies.” [Los Angeles Times]
• Michael Cera: heart throb. [Newsweek]
• Or, Michael Cera: almost famous. [New York Times]
• Greg Kinnear dishes on his roles in “Flash of Genius” and “Ghost Town.” [Associated Press]
• Bill Maher Q&A’s it up on “Religulous.” [New York Post]
• And again, with director Larry Charles in tow. [New York Times]
…okay, I gotta cut it off there. Tons of items out there today.
Everyone has a favourite Oscar category, and Best Original Screenplay is mine. It’s partly because I’m a screenwriter myself, so I feel a little more invested in the outcome. My evaluation of the category often comes down to the question: “Which screenplay do I most wish I’d written first?”
More importantly, however, it’s the category where the Academy takes its greatest artistic risks. With the Best Picture category generally weighted towards adaptations, they often use Best Original Screenplay as a way to acknowledge the edgier, more adventurous work that voters can see the greatness of, but don’t yet have the guts to honour with their biggest prize. Hell, once in a blue moon they even give it to (gasp) a foreign-language film.
It’s this convenient ghettoising mentality that ensures the likes of “Citizen Kane,” “The Red Balloon,” “Chinatown,” “Pulp Fiction,” “Talk to Her” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” don’t go empty-handed. Sure, it sucks that they couldn’t win more. And, being the Academy, they make more than their share of screw-ups. (Let’s try and forget that, in 1960, “Pillow Talk” beat — wait for it — “Wild Strawberries,” “North by Northwest” and “The 400 Blows,” shall we?) But they occasionally hit on an otherwise-snubbed masterpiece, and for that we should be grateful.
This year’s Best Picture slate appears to be heavy on prestige adaptations, allowing for a more idiosyncratic ragbag of contenders on the Original Screenplay front, mixing familiar Academy-anointed favourites with some exciting new voices.
There is, of course, a chance this could be a year when the paths of the Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay races converge, principally in the shape of “Milk” scribe Dustin Lance Black. Already high hopes for “Milk” were amplified by an excellent trailer, and a number of Oscar clairvoyants are labelling it the front-runner in the top race. If this turns out to be the case, Black will likely benefit.