In Contention

Tag: Katie Holmes

  • EDINBURGH: ‘The Extra Man,’ ‘Two Eyes Staring’ and others

    My third afternoon at the festival finds me wandering around the premises boasting a still-expanding black eye – not, alas, from a macho fistfight with Patrick Wilson over yesterday’s evaluation of “Barry Munday,” but from an accidental collision with a handrail after sneaking late into a pitch-dark screening theater this morning. The more I try to explain it, the stupider it sounds; perhaps it’s better to let people think I’m a critic who is truly prepared to fight for his darlings.

    Not that such darlings are thick on the ground: yesterday’s slate of five films, each one slightly better than the last, nonetheless turned up no true gems.

    “THE EXTRA MAN” (*)

    It’s a sign of deep-seated trouble in a film when, in spite of an ensemble that includes Kevin Kline, Paul Dano, John. C. Reilly and Celia Weston, it’s Katie Holmes’s appearances that you start looking forward to most. Not that hers is an especially remarkable performance, mind: but playing the kooky, environmentally-obsessed dreamgirl to Paul Dano’s perma-geek protagonist, she’s the only recognizably human element in this insufferably affected society comedy.

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  • 11/27 Oscarweb Round-up — THANKSGIVING EDITION

    • EW rounds up eight memorable Thanksgivings at the movies. “The Ice Storm” wins for me. No contest. [Entertainment Weekly]

    • Anne Thompson on the indies hoping to score in the acting races. [Variety]

    • Dave Karger lays out the Oscar prospects for “Milk” and “Australia.” [Entertainment Weekly]

    • Todd Martens reports on some alternative Best Original Song contenders. Yay for Jenny Lewis. Boo for Mariah Carey. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Miyazaki’s “Ponyo on the Cliff” has an English-language voice cast. Step up Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon and Tina Fey. [The Guardian]

    • Some Oscar predictions from the ever-perspicacious pen of Nick Davis. [Nick’s Flick Picks]

    • And Brad Brevet weighs in with some updated picks of his own. [Rope of Silicon]

    • A.O. Scott calls “Milk” a “marvel.” I’m starting to think we might have our winner here. [New York Times]

    • Uh, so apparently TomKat are remaking “Last Tango in Paris.” April Fools’ Day was, like, eight months ago, but whatever. [SpoutBlog]

    • Finally, just to cheer you up on your day of gratitude, Hollywood is doomed. [Forbes]

    Sorry, I made it as festive as I could. Happy Thanksgiving, y’all.

  • REVIEW: “The Dark Knight” (***1/2)

    Warner Bros. Pictures' The Dark KnightPerhaps the summer’s most anticipated film lands in theaters today to the record-breaking advance ticket sales of dedicated fans and those newly curious alike. But what awaits in Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” isn’t merely a study in the psychology of a nearly 70-year-old character tailored to the familiar; instead audiences will be met with an accessible tale of deep and painful truths, a unique vision of hope in the face of seemingly aimless villainy, a new staple alongside the greatest of tragedies — in any medium.

    Picking up right where 2005’s “Batman Begins” left off, Gotham City is rebuilding itself in the wake of criminal warfare, infrastructural corruption and weakened, nearly vanquished public spirits. Right off the bat (no pun intended), the film begins to make good on the promise of Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman) at the end of the first film — escalation — as a new criminal mastermind has begun to systematically relieve the mob of its accrued earnings, bank by bank, and with a taste for theatricality.

    The Joker (Heath Ledger) is revealed in the film’s opening scene (unveiled in December as an IMAX “prequel” with prints of “I Am Legend”) as a methodical, macabre merchant of chaos, yes, but with an ingenious sort of order and preparation that seems to fly in the face of his later insistence on a subscription to bedlam. But his own hypocrisies aren’t on the agenda, as he later exhibits to dramatic effect.

    Gotham itself has been provided a sliver of hope amongst the former and upcoming strife of the city in the form of district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), a “white knight” grinding away at the underbelly of the city and systematically cleansing the streets. The vigilantism of the outlaw Batman is on the table as well, but Dent is smart enough to understand that Gotham is responsible for the Dark Knight’s existence, having sat silent as the city slowly rotted from within.

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  • About The Joker, or Heath Ledger, remembered

    In a post earlier today, Kris linked to the new trailer for “The Dark Knight” starring Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Michael Caine . . .I could continue. It’s an exceptional cast complete with some of the finest actors from different demographics, Maggie Gyllenhaal, especially, as a needed upgrade from Katie Holmes.

    This trailer gives us an added (and for me, a needed) glimpse into The Joker, played by the late Heath Ledger. This performance, characterized by Michael Caine as “the most murderous psychopath you’ve ever seen on screen,” is, arguably, the most anticipated of the year.

    You expected me to write summer, didn’t you, what with all those new and different performances being released: Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones; Will Smith as an invincible man; Brendan Fraser as Rick O’Connell; Seth Rogen as a stoner; Adam Sandler as a cross between Little Nicky and Bobby Boucher . . .

    I don’t mean to diminish these performances (or those I didn’t mention: Ed Norton as The Incredible Hulk and Emile Hirsch in “Speed Racer”), but they simply don’t inspire me the way Ledger’s performance does. Is that because he’s dead? In part, I’m sure. But friends of mine will attest that I suggested to anyone that would listen that Ledger’s performance would be memorable. Oscar-worthy was used several times, I recall.

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