In Alexander Payne’s “Sideways,” Paul Giamatti gave the best performance by an actor in 2004, so said the New York Film Critics Circle, and how right they were. So why, why, why was the actor denied an Oscar nomination? Granted, it was a strong year, but his work was at the top of that heap […]
The Great Performances: 2004
Posted by John Foote · 6:35 pm · December 11th, 2009
Filed in: Daily
1/8 Oscarweb Round-up
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:45 am · January 8th, 2009
• Patrick Goldstein waxes on about why he thinks “WALL-E,” “The Reader” and “The Wrestler” will be Oscar losers (for Best Pic). [The Big Picture] • Peter Bart observes Oscar campaign “combat fatigue” at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. [Peter Bart] • Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard talk to KCRW’s Jason Bentley. [KCRW] […]
Filed in: Daily
1/2 Oscarweb Round-up
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 5:36 am · January 2nd, 2009
• David Poland looks at the race nine weeks out from the angle of release marketing and strategy. [Movie City News] • Nathaniel Rogers is knee deep in his annual (extensive) year in review features. Read it. Now. [The Film Exerience] • Jeffrey Wells passes on some notes from a friend making some dubious comparisons […]
Filed in: Daily
‘Defiance’ strikes out with the trades
Posted by Guy Lodge · 6:27 pm · November 11th, 2008
Ed Zwick may just be one of those directors who will never be in critics’ good graces: a fine technical craftsman and a no-nonsense storyteller, even his best films remain as resolutely unfashionable in execution as they are noble in intention. Nothing wrong with that, of course — I’m no real fan, but films like […]
Filed in: Daily
No time for a proper review, but…
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 6:44 pm · November 9th, 2008
…I really liked “Defiance.” To my mind it might be Ed Zwick’s finest film since “Legends of the Fall,” largely because he’s busied himself with more-trite-than-usual material for the last few years. It isn’t a grand slam more so than a steadily guided ship and for the most part, it works. I’m heading out the […]
Filed in: Daily
THE LISTS: Top 10 performances you’re underestimating
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 7:22 am · September 16th, 2008
Every year it seems there are a number of performers in the thick of an Oscar hunt that don’t get the same attention as the expected heavy-hitters. It’s no surprise, of course, that Oscar prognostication would lean toward the anticipation of what lies ahead, unseen, unproven. The mystery stays in tact, if for precious few […]
Filed in: The Lists
REVIEW: “The Painted Veil” (***1/2)
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 5:17 pm · November 11th, 2006
Romance seems to be the theme that sparks the most diverse reaction from the artistic community, filmmakers in particular. There are various methods and structures utilized to tell tales of the elusiveness of love, and new, fresh takes on this binding structure of human interaction come into the cinematic arena every year. Some audiences prefer […]
Filed in: Reviews