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One craft aspect I didn’t get around to praising in last week’s review of “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” is the immaculate costuming by Jacqueline Durran — a designer with only 11 feature credits under her belt, yet one who already seems something of an institution. Durran is one of those rare designers capable of equal [...]
Tailoring ‘Tailor’
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:56 pm · September 12th, 2011
Filed in: Daily
On the costumes of ‘The Fighter’
Posted by Guy Lodge · 12:16 pm · January 13th, 2011
When the Costume Designers’ Guild announce their nominees next week, I have no doubt that Mark Bridges’ work on “The Fighter” will show up in their contemporary category — not really the right classification for a film whose lurid early-1990s threads are as meticulously era-specific as any of 2010′s more lavish period spectacles. (If you [...]
Filed in: Daily
INTERVIEW: ‘127 Hours’ star James Franco
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:29 am · October 26th, 2010
James Franco sits in one of the countless, nondescript rooms on the sixth floor of the Four Seasons hotel in Los Angeles remembering the time he first met mountain climber Aron Ralston in the same building, perhaps in a room not unlike this one. It wasn’t even a year ago — January, to be exact, [...]
Filed in: Interviews
First stab at winner predictions, part 2: Yours and mine
Posted by Guy Lodge · 9:35 am · November 10th, 2009
Seeing as Kris was (delete as appropriate) brave/stupid/psychic/smart enough to predict who will win the Oscars four months ahead of the ceremony (and three weeks earlier than he did last year), I figured I’d follow up, as I did last year, with my own foolhardy guesses too. Last year, Kris kicked my ass at this [...]
Filed in: Daily
THE LONG SHOT: Minority report
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:49 pm · October 15th, 2009
When the Academy Awards roll around in March, it will have been precisely two decades since the unlikely figure of Kim Basinger blasted Academy voters’ conservatism on air at the 1989 ceremony, with specific regard to their sidelining of “Do the Right Thing,” Spike Lee’s groundbreaking study of urban interracial tension. “We’ve got five great [...]
Filed in: The Long Shot
Neeson, Connelly headline Dustin Lance Black’s directing debut
Posted by Guy Lodge · 10:43 am · May 17th, 2009
The Liam Neeson career revival continues apace. Variety reports that the 56 year-old thesp will star opposite Jennifer Connelly in “What’s Wrong With Virginia,” the first directorial effort from “Milk” scribe Dustin Lance Black. The film, which has Gus Van Sant involved as an executive producer, which begins shooting this summer. The pitch goes as [...]
Filed in: Daily
I don’t want my MTV
Posted by Guy Lodge · 4:01 pm · May 4th, 2009
What do Paramore, The Rock and Kate Winslet have in common? Why, they’re all nominees for the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, of course. Like, duh. I have no idea what the MTV Movie Awards are for. Nobody knows or cares who wins them. (Who took Best Actor laurels last year? I doubt Will Smith could [...]
Filed in: Daily
Stay cool
Posted by Guy Lodge · 4:16 pm · March 27th, 2009
Over a month after Sean Penn defeated Mickey Rourke in what was possibly the tightest acting race in recent memory, Cinematical’s Jeffrey Anderson has come up with an interesting take on how the outcome may actually benefit Rourke, and indeed “The Wrestler.” In short, he says, losing the Oscar allows them to retain their edge: [...]
Filed in: Daily
Mike Leigh on Hollywood, Mickey and losing an Oscar
Posted by Guy Lodge · 2:46 am · February 26th, 2009
If, like yours truly, you’re one of those who believe that British auteur Mike Leigh was robbed on Sunday night, you’ll thoroughly enjoy his Oscar diary. Ever the Hollywood outsider, Leigh attended the Academy Awards with his two adult sons as his guests, and he reflects on the ensuing madness with all the droll, dry [...]
Filed in: Daily
Olbermann on the freedom of Oscar speeches
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:46 am · February 24th, 2009
Thanks to Ryan Adams at Awards Daily for pointing us to this clip. “Of the 40 hours of TV Oscar analysis I’ve seen in the past 48, the depth of this 6-minute segment make the rest look like the cover of US magazine,” Ryan says. Have a look:
Filed in: Daily
‘The Wrestler’ wins big at the Indie Spirits
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 2:18 pm · February 21st, 2009
Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler” walked away three trophies at today’s Independent Spirit Awards, including top honors for Best Actor (Mickey Rourke) and Best Feature. In his greatest acceptance speech of the season, Rourke seemed fully uninhibited, almost as if he said, “Screw it, ballots are in,” and he cut loose. The tough guy thing poked [...]
Filed in: Daily
OFF THE CARPET: Taking a final stab
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:05 am · February 20th, 2009
Well, this is what it all boils down to. I almost DON’T want to go on the record, but I kind of have to, right? Anyway, this is the first year I’ve actually seen every single nominated frame of film before the big night so these will either be the most educated guesses I’ve ever [...]
Filed in: Off the Carpet
Last minute jitters
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:16 am · February 19th, 2009
I’ll have a post up later today running a comb through my final predictions. Tomorrow we’ll showcase all contributor picks (as well as the “Who deserves it?” poll results), but for now, I thought I’d share my pain with the readership. By pain, I mean last minute jitters, those creepy, crawling, gut-twisting thoughts that leave [...]
Filed in: Daily
Penn’s performance for the ages
Posted by John Foote · 6:46 pm · February 17th, 2009
On a third viewing of “Milk”, one of the best films of they year and a major accomplishment for director Gus Van Sant, I was again struck, no, blown away by the brilliance, the joy, the remarkably loving work of Sean Penn as the doomed politician. Penn has been my pick for Best Actor since [...]
Filed in: Daily
Hammond, O’Neil debate the original screenplay race
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 12:37 pm · February 17th, 2009
Everyone’s wondering lately whether “WALL-E” can pull off an upset in the original screenplay category as of late, taking down the only Best Picture nominee of the bunch in the process: Dustin Lance Black’s “Milk.” Gold Derby’s Tom O’Neil cornered Pete Hammond recently to debate just that, as well as some discussion on the adapted [...]
Filed in: Daily
Who almost starred in the season’s Oscar nominated films?
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:37 am · February 17th, 2009
The folks at notstarring.com have put together a list of the year’s Oscar contenders and the stars who turned down opportunities to star in them. There is, of course, Nicolas Cage in “The Wrestler” and Russell Crowe in “Australia.” Heath Ledger is also mentioned for the latter (somehow I didn’t know that). “The Curious Case [...]
Filed in: Daily
Penn and Rourke thank Boston critics for their “indecisiveness”
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:10 am · February 14th, 2009
I saw this over at Awards Daily and just had to post it:
Filed in: Daily
Sorry, Josh
Posted by Guy Lodge · 8:18 am · February 14th, 2009
I like Josh Brolin a great deal, and I particularly like his performance in “Milk” — a courageous display of against-type delicacy and ambiguity that would be a worthy winner of Best Supporting Actor honours in most years. Unfortunately for him, most years don’t have the perfect storm of industry sentiment, audience popularity and landmark [...]
Filed in: Daily
