In Contention

Tag: Maya Rudolph

  • D.C. critics fire the starting gun, ‘Up in the Air’ dominates

    (from left) George Clooney and Vera Farmiga in Up in the AirThe Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association has kicked off the critics’ kudos season with a most uninspired list of nominations.  I say uninspired because, aside from a random nomination for Maya Rudolph in the lead actress category, there doesn’t seem to be a single damn original bone in the group’s body.

    “Up in the Air” led the way with 8 nominations and is pretty much on track to be the critics’ darling of the year, while “Precious” and “The Hurt Locker” each landed 7 each.  I imagine a similar tally will be attributed to those films when the Oscar nominees are announced.  Which raises the question: Are the D.C. critics trying to emulate AMPAS here?  I never follow them closely, not beyond the requisite announcement posts each year (I tend to get REALLY burned out on all the critics’ awards, frankly).

    But seriously.  They had to see more than 33 films this year, right?  Because out of 70 possible nominees, that’s how many films were spread across the field.  Kind of sad, really.

    Check out the full list of nominees after the jump.  And the group’s list of winners last year here.

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  • EDINBURGH: Away they go

    John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph in Away We GoTuesday dawned gray, gusty and rain-spattered here in Edinburgh – the kind of morning where there’s nothing for it than to bury oneself in the comforting recesses of a dark movie theater – which, handily enough, is all that I had on my agenda for today.

    After formulating a strategy over breakfast as to which films could be caught at a later date, I ended up deciding morning’s viewing with a coin-toss, a concession to fate that happily led to the droll delights of Australian animation “Mary and Max,” before my afternoon was given over to the festival’s rather more glossy opener, “Away We Go.”

    As I write, Sam Mendes and cast members John Krasinski and Maggie Gyllenhaal are treading the red carpet to formally christen this year’s festival. (Not joining them is female lead Maya Rudolph, who, in an irony apparent to anyone who has seen the film, was unable to fly to Edinburgh because she is eight months pregnant.)

    It’s a fitting opener, in the sense that its carefully negotiated balance between indie outsiderness and cozy Hollywood warmth reflects the transitory state of the Edinburgh Film Festival as a whole. Symbolic neatness aside, however, I see no context in which “Away We Go” (**1/2) can’t be regarded as a major disappointment from Sam Mendes.

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