In Contention

Tag: Jordan Nagai

  • ‘Basterds,’ ‘Nine’ lead the pack with BFCA

    Eli Roth in Inglourious BasterdsFor better or worse, the Broadcast Film Critics Association has, of late, been frequently cited for its Oscar prognosticative prowess. Of course, it’s a pointless tidbit in the grand scheme and no one should be looking at organizations like this to see how accurate they might be on that front (even if this one in particular, of which I am a member, makes it a point every year to remind you).

    Having said that, I don’t think anyone would be shocked in the slightest if the BFCA’s list of 10 Best Picture nominees (see below) matches the Academy’s 10-for-10 this year. There is just one film on the list that ever felt truly questionable to me at some point along the way, and even that seems more and more locked in as latter-year hopefuls fail to catch expected fire.

    “Inglourious Basterds” and “Nine” led the way with 10 nominations each, a new record.  However, given the addition of below the line categories this year, it’s worth noting that their tallies wouldn’t have been so robust in the past. Quentin Tarantino’s film would have landed five nominations if it was business as usual. “Nine” would have landed three.  And “Up in the Air” would have led the field.

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  • ‘Up”s lovable sidekick protagonist gets some ink

    Jordan NagaiOne of the things I briefly noted (and wish I had expanded upon) in my review of Pixar’s “Up” (releasing tomorrow) was how “pitch-perfect” child actor Jordan Nagai is as the voice of Russell, a Wilderness Explorer sidekick of sorts to Ed Asner’s disgruntled Carl Fredricksen.  Thankfully the young chap is getting a bit of press in the film’s run-up to domestic release tomorrow, like this Susan King LA Times piece featuring Nagai and “Up” director Pete Docter in tandem.

    On the development of the character, as well as the casting process:

    Nagai was chosen from about 500 kids who auditioned to play Russell, a typically rambunctious 8-year-old who befriends a crotchety, elderly widower named Carl (Ed Asner).

    Initially, said Docter, Russell was to be more hyper. In fact, the initial concept was based on the effusive personality of animator Peter Sohn, who was the voice of Emile in “Ratatouille” and is the director of the short “Partly Cloudy,” which will be shown before “Up.”

    “But Jordan [was] a little more calm and relaxed about things,” said Docter, who also directed Pixar’s “Monsters, Inc.” “We started to change the character, and that made him more unique and special.”

    /Film’s David Chen, meanwhile, has put together a thoughtful post dissecting the fact that Disney/Pixar hasn’t made mention of Russell’s Asian-American ethnicity via advertising or, for the most part, press interviews.  As Chen notes, this flies in the face of the Disney’s hyping of the character Tiana in the upcoming “The Princess and the Frog,” who will be the studio’s first African-American princess…

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  • REVIEW: “Up” (***1/2)

    UpWatching Pixar Animation grow and develop as a studio has become almost more fascinating than experiencing one of the company’s many creative films unfold on screen. Beginning with an industry leap in 1995’s “Toy Story” and eventually moving into its daring own with 2008’s “WALL-E,” the studio has, at the very least, shown a desire for creative progression.

    This naturally brings us to “Up,” the next evolution in Pixar’s insistence on growing up while maintaining the heart of a child. With its focus on relationships and the harsher realities of life, the film might well be the studio’s most human production to date. While claims that the film is a high mark for emotional resonance might be a touch over-stated, “Up” is nevertheless a sterling entry in the studio’s impressive streak of hits.

    The film’s unlikely hero is 78-year-old balloon salesman Carl Fredricksen, and a few moving early moments set the scene: Carl met his wife Ellie as a child, and being the shy sort, was immediately taken by her lust for life. They married, they endured loss (a single frame reveals an apparent miscarriage) and they vowed to one day travel to the exotic Paradise Falls made famous by their childhood hero, explorer Charles F. Muntz.

    But, as the poet said, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. That brutal fact is creatively depicted in the consistent smashing of a giant savings jar for this or that fiscal emergency and eventually, life has passed the couple by, their dreams left unrealized, and when the narrative catches up to Carl following this brief montage, we see that loss weighing heavily in the form of a rather disagreeable disposition.

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