Features
• Michelle Kung writes up Toronto from the perspective of plays taking to the screen en masse, like Tracy Letts’s “Killer Joe”… [Speakeasy] • …which Liddell Entertainment, by the way, picked up at the fest. [Variety] • Sasha Stone on life after the 2011 fall festival circuit. [Awards Daily]
9/14 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Plays storm the screen in Toronto, Liddell acquires ‘Killer Joe,’ Barker on Calley
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 7:30 am · September 14th, 2011
Filed in: Daily
Toronto updates lineup, plus ‘Take This Waltz’ teaser
Posted by Guy Lodge · 6:38 pm · August 9th, 2011
The vast Toronto Film Festival lineup is a still-growing beast, but today it swelled to 125 titles with the addition of a cluster of homegrown Canadian titles, including two films — Mary Harron’s “The Moth Diaries” and Jean-Marc Vallée’s “Cafe de Flore” — that will debut at Venice a few days earlier. Most exciting, however, is […]
Filed in: Daily
‘Meek’s Cutoff’ trailer
Posted by Guy Lodge · 12:20 pm · February 26th, 2011
If you’re feeling smothered by the whole Oscar rigmarole and can’t wait to start talking about some fresh movies, this trailer couldn’t have landed at a more welcome time. Of course, “fresh” is a relative term — it’s nearly six months since I was wowed by Kelly Reichardt’s studied, painterly Oregon Trail western (reviewed here) […]
Filed in: Daily
OSCAR GUIDE: Best Actress
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:46 am · February 24th, 2011
Early in the season the lead actress category appeared to be more competitive than ever. An easy list of 10 contenders could be drawn up, many of them admittedly sight unseen, and it was anyone’s guess as to which lady could insinuate herself as the odds-on favorite to win. Then the critics began narrowing things […]
Filed in: Oscar Guide
‘Meek’s Cutoff’ poster
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:41 pm · February 16th, 2011
Regular readers probably know by now how much I love Kelly Reichardt’s spare, serene Oregon Trail western “Meek’s Cutoff,” which premiered at Venice back in the early days of autumn (how long ago does that feel?), clocked in at #2 on my Best of 2010 list and finally hits US theaters in April. (An unglamorous […]
Filed in: Daily
Oscar nominations: the good, the good and the good
Posted by Guy Lodge · 11:22 am · January 25th, 2011
Even when they aren’t being read out with gale-force enthusiasm by Mo’Nique, the Oscar nominations tend to attack you with breathless speed that you need at least half an hour to decide how you feel about them at all. As usual, this morning’s announcement found me bouncing from one split-second reaction to another: Yay! No! […]
Filed in: Daily
‘King’s Speech’ leads the pack with 12 Oscar nominations
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 6:22 am · January 25th, 2011
On the face of it, the nominees for the 83rd annual Academy Awards seemed fairly unremarkable. Aside from the deafening nature of not hearing Christopher Nolan’s name in the line-up for Best Director (the only true shock of the major categories), everything seemed to be within the expected parameters (even Javier Bardem sliding in, which […]
Filed in: Daily
Did Armond White rain on the NYFCC parade?
Posted by Guy Lodge · 1:28 pm · January 11th, 2011
As regular readers might know, I tend to fall in the less populated “pro” camp when it comes to notoriously cranky New York Press critic Armond White — as much flak as he takes, from bloggers in particular, for his off-kilter tastes and occasionally aggressive writing style, I think he’s one of a select few […]
Filed in: Daily
1/11 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Sony’s campaign price tag, Cotillard preggers, Cameron on Hollywood’s “story crisis”
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:09 am · January 11th, 2011
• $55 million…for an Oscar? [New York Post] • Move over Natalie Portman. Marion Cotillard is carrying, too. [Us Weekly] • Are Golden Globes speeches always better than the Oscars? [Movieline]
Filed in: Daily
12/28 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Duke or Dude?, Jonsi’s music video, Karger sticks with his ‘King’s Speech’ guns
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:25 am · December 28th, 2010
• The Duke or The Dude? Which Rooster has more true grit? [Entertainment Weekly] • Russ Fischer has the music video for Jonsi’s “Sticks & Stones” from “How to Train Your Dragon.” [/Film] • Brendon Connelly runs down all of the “Toy Story 3” ads so far featuring the “Not since…” campaign. [Bleeding Cool]
Filed in: Daily
‘Black Swan’ leads BFCA field with a record 12 nominations
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 2:56 am · December 13th, 2010
The most striking thing about this year’s slate of BFCA nominations is that, to go by the films listed in the various categories, apparently there were only 30 or so movies released this year. And most categories were dominated by the same five films, which is disappointing, if a bit predictable. When the organization added […]
Filed in: Daily
‘Winter’s Bone’ leads Indie Spirits with 7 nods
Posted by Guy Lodge · 10:37 am · November 30th, 2010
Well, quelle surprise. I’ve been saying for months now that Debra Granik’s solemn Ozark thriller is — even more so than the sunnier, starrier “The Kids Are All Right” — this year’s annointed indie cause in the Oscar race, and this only cements that belief. The film’s impressive showing this morning, coming on the heels […]
Filed in: Daily
WEEKLY WRAP: Weinstein takes the gloves off, Hollywood mourns its own, doc and animated fields shortlisted
Posted by In Contention Staff · 11:10 am · November 20th, 2010
• The Academy honored legends Francis Ford Coppola, Eli Wallach, Jean-Luc Godard and Kevin Brownlow at the annual Governors Awards. • Kris attended a Summit Entertainment holiday party, chatting with the talent in attendance. • Disney revealed a clever plan geared toward presenting “Toy Story 3” as a legitimate Best Picture contender. • The Weinstein […]
Filed in: Daily
INTERVIEW: ‘Blue Valentine’ actress Michelle Williams
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 3:29 pm · November 19th, 2010
I chatted with “Blue Valentine” star Michelle Williams a few weeks ago and it’s one of a handful of discussions I haven’t yet had a chance to transcribe. But in her case, I think it’s more beneficial to let her answers speak for themselves rather than have them filtered through the perspective and narrative drive […]
Filed in: Interviews
CINEJABBER: Not enough room in this town
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 2:24 pm · November 13th, 2010
Catch up with the idea behind these weekend posts here. It’s been a hell of a week. The busiest, for me, of the season so far. Much of that is owed to AFI Fest, but the campaign machinery is really clicking. Sony Classics sent out screeners of “Get Low” to Academy members this week, right […]
Filed in: Cinejabber
‘Blue Valentine’ and ‘Rabbit Hole’ depict tortured souls with authentic ease
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:56 am · October 6th, 2010
Watching Derek Cianfrance’s “Blue Valentine” and John Cameron Mitchell’s “Rabbit Hole” in the same 24-hour span is a brutal exercise. There are plenty of raw, realistic, dreary emotions flying through these narratives, but the experiences were very rewarding. Starting with Cianfrance’s film, which has been making the festival rounds since a healthy Sundance reception, I […]
Filed in: Reviews
9/21 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Gosling and Williams’s “real love,” Bardem blushes, defending Affleck
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:03 am · September 21st, 2010
• According to director Derek Cianfrance, committed actors Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams had “some real things happening” while portraying lovers in “Blue Valentine.” [Hollywood Reporter] • Nicole LaPorte on Toronto’s Oscar-launching ground and the films that made a splash. [Daily Beast] • Javier Bardem can’t believe he’s a heartthrob. [Daily Telegraph]
Filed in: Daily
‘Meek’s Cutoff,’ Franco top Toronto critics’ poll
Posted by Guy Lodge · 12:27 pm · September 20th, 2010
“The King’s Speech” may have come out on top with Toronto Film Festival audiences, but the critics — at least, the broad cross-section surveyed by indieWIRE in their annual post-festival poll — have other ideas. Kelly Reichardt’s period western “Meek’s Cutoff,” my own pick of the Venice fest, was voted film of the festival by […]
Filed in: Daily
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