In Contention

Tag: Precious

  • Ones to watch at Sundance 2010… maybe

    Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling in Blue ValentineI always get a curious thrill from looking down the list of films selected to compete at the Sundance Film Festival — the 2010 batch of which has just been announced by festival directors John Cooper and Trevor Grath.

    You know there are at least one or two titles there that we’ll all be talking about in precisely one year’s time, just as “Precious,” “An Education” and “The Cove” have blossomed from festival darlings to surefire awards contenders in the space of 11 months. What’s far harder to tell is which of the 58 titles listed here might be “the one.”

    Still, last year I played something of a guessing game with the lineup, singling out one film from each of the competition’s four strands that seemed of particular interest to me: my faith in “An Education” was, obviously, handsomely repaid, while “Big Fan” (a winner at this week’s Gotham Awards), “Afghan Star” (the UK’s foreign Oscar entry) and Doors documentary “When You’re Strange” have done respectably for themselves.

    OK, I missed “Precious” — so as far as that particular game goes, I’m going to quit while I’m behind. Still, what follows is a selection of ten titles that I’m keeping an eye on.

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  • 12/1 Oscarweb Round-up

    Roy Scheider in Iron Cross• Pete Hammond reports on a last minute surge to get “Iron Cross,” Roy Scheider’s final film, into Oscar contention. [Notes on a Season]

    • Gregory Ellwood takes note of the season’s box office champs so far: “Inglourious Basterds” and “Up.” [Awards Campaign]

    • Geoff Boucher talks to “Avatar” composer James Horner. [Hero Complex]

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  • ‘Precious’ and ‘Last Station’ lead Spirit nominees

    Helen Mirren in The Last StationIt won’t come as a surprise to anyone to “Precious” landed atop the list of Independent Spirit Award nominations this morning. Lee Daniels’ indie smash earned 5 mentions including Best Feature, Director and Actress, and looks like the one to beat in every category where it features.

    Fewer people, however, might have expected Michael Hoffman’s “The Last Station” to tie that total, landing Best Feature and Director nods alongside more predictable citations for stars Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer. Many pundits (myself included) have been suggesting that this placid, kindly regarded film could be a threat for a Best Picture Oscar nod — this lends further weight to the idea.

    Surprises include the comparatively low profile of “A Serious Man” on the list, which some thought a shoo-in for a Best Feature nod. It missed in the top category, as did Michael Stuhlbarg for Best Actor, though the film managed mentions in the Best Director and Best Cinematography races. Further compensation for the film arrives in the shape of the Robert Altman Award for ensemble work.

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  • OFF THE CARPET: Let it all bleed out

    Saoirse Ronan in The Lovely BonesEvery now and then this season, I’ve sat down and taken on the fool’s errand of deciphering what 2009, the year in film, has been “about.”  It’s silly because a given film year is the result of years and years of preparation and development, so to think a collective thematic consciousness settles in is a bit of a stretch.

    This year alone we have a swift production that at this time last year saw the filmmaker still in the editing suite for his late-2008 entry, while on the other side of the spectrum, a forward-thinking director will finally see the end of a decades-long journey for an anticipated “game-changer.”  Movies come from a thousand different places and a thousand different perspectives.

    Nevertheless, I’ve always come back to one thought on this year’s slate of films: catharsis.  With expected exceptions here and there, in one way or another, the bulk of what we’ve seen on screens in 2009 has very much been about emotional purging, bleeding out the past and, not to be too on-the-nose with the zeitgeist connotations, change.

    Let me illustrate.  The most and the least compelling examples are the best place to start: Lars Von Trier’s “Antichrist” and Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus,” respectively.

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  • ‘Nine’ leads Golden Satellites with 11 nods

    Shohreh Aghdashloo in The Stoning of Soraya M.(UPDATE: Full list of categories and special awards added, including a random Best Ensemble prize for “Nine.” Also, a pointless Ten Best Films of 2009 list that leaves out some of their very own Best Picture nominees. Don’t even try to make sense of it. Thanks to Ziyad for the info.)

    It isn’t really worth spending too much time talking about the Golden Satellites — after all, this is the group who last year thought “Elegy” was an original screenplay written by Philip Roth.

    Still, while their nominations are typically meaningless, they are, as usual, fun to consider. At the very least, unlike many other awards bodies on the precursor track, they don’t slavishly try to anticipate the Academy’s choices. When they throw in a Best Picture nod for “The Stoning of Soraya M.,” or a Best Actress mention for Catalina Saavedra, Oscar is the furthest thing from their minds. I salute them for that.

    Anyway, enjoy the list and its assorted quirks and surprises — from the exclusion of Gabourey Sidibe in Best Actress to the female triple-header in Best Director to their curious classification of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” as “animated or mixed-media.” Just don’t take it too seriously.

    Best Motion Picture (Drama)
    “Bright Star”
    “An Education”
    “The Hurt Locker”
    “The Messenger”
    “Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire”
    “The Stoning of Soraya M.”

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  • Reel Geezers on ‘Precious’

    I’m featuring this review for one reason: if anybody had concerns that the older white majority of the Academy would be resistant to “Precious” … well, worry no more. (The Geezers are on indieWIRE these days, by the way.)

  • OFF THE CARPET: Field of adaptations

    Amy Adams in Julie & JuliaAs always, the year’s adapted screenplay race is much more competitive than the original screenplay race. But what’s intriguing to note is that of the anticipated “big four” still to be widely screened, three of them are right in the thick of this discussion.

    In the case of “Nine,” there is a chance for Anthony Minghella to receive his second posthumous Oscar nomination in as many years, something I don’t think we’ve seen since James Dean. But sometimes the razzle-dazzle of a movie musical can overshadow what craft there might be on the page, so it’s no slam dunk. Michael Tolkin is co-writer on the script, and even though I’ve seen the film, I’m prohibited from offering my thoughts on the work.

    “The Lovely Bones,” meanwhile, is adapted from a beloved novel, looks to feature a more reserved and refined Peter Jackson than we’ve seen in recent years and could see the lovable trio (Jackson, Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh) back in Oscar’s good graces. We’ll know when we see it.

    The Royals and invited British press get their look on the 24th. Harry Knowles has received his typical peek (as Paramount continues to nurture the relationship as if it’s 2002 and AICN still moves the needle). The rest of the US press corps has to wait until the other side of the holiday on the 27th to judge. Hopefully we’ll still care by then. I heard some scathing criticisms out of an exhibitor screening last week.

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  • WEEKLY WRAP: Doc shortlist, honorary Oscars and more

    Lauren Bacall at the 2009 Governors' Awards• The shortlist of contenders for the documentary Oscar was announced, surprising many — we dug into it a little.

    • The season’s first Oscars were handed out, as Lauren Bacall, Gordon Willis, Roger Corman and John Calley were celebrated at the Governors’ Awards.

    • This week’s Off the Carpet column broke down the wide-open Best Original Screenplay race.

    • The Long Shot lived up to its name, spotlighting a few of the season’s most deserving outsiders.

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  • FRIDAY FORECAST: Bad ‘Moon’ rising

    Taylor Lautner in The Twilight Saga: New Moon*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    It’s Edward and Bella’s world and we’re just living in it. The film to beat for the Holiday season is “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” and fans finally got their chance to lay eyes on it tonight at midnight. Twi-hards have been lining up and breaking advance ticket sales records on Fandango so there’s no question that the film will be big. But how big?

    The original film opened just 52 weeks ago and earned a surprisingly huge $69.6 million. Prognosticators knew that the book had fans but there was little evidence to suggest a figure that size, particularly because new distribution outfit Summit Entertainment was the studio putting it out. The $36 million it took in on opening day was the 17th biggest Friday ever and represented more than half of the weekend take. If the fanboy rush was that big for the original, you can imagine how frontloaded the sequel is going to be.

    Some sort of record will probably be broken this weekend as the film unloads on a massive 4,024 screens nationwide with round-the-clock showtimes. “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” is the current November opening weekend champ at $115 million and that isn’t totally out of the question. Neither is the $67.2 million opening day record by “The Dark Knight” completely safe, although I’m not quite bold enough to predict that big a Friday for Chriz Weitz’s film.

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  • New ‘Precious’ poster

    Precious

    (Courtesy: Awards Campaign)

  • ‘Precious’ to be honored by PGA

    (from left) Lenny Kravitz and Gabourey Sidibe in PreciousThe press release, in part:

    The Producers Guild of America (PGA), a national non-profit trade group committed to protecting the rights and credits of producers in film, television and new media, announced today that PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL ‘PUSH’ BY SAPPHIRE will be honored with the 2010 Stanley Kramer Award. The film’s producers will be honored with the award at the 21st Annual PGA Awards ceremony on Sunday, January 24, 2010 at the Hollywood Palladium.

    The Stanley Kramer Award was established in 2002 to honor a motion picture, television program, studio, network, producer, executive or other individual entity whose work illuminates provocative social issues in an accessible and elevating fashion. Kramer, considered within the film industry to have served as “Hollywood’s Conscience” during his career as film director and producer, created some of the most respected and successful works in the annals of American motion pictures. He was the master behind such classics as “The Caine Mutiny,” “High Noon,” “The Defiant Ones,” and “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.” Previous recipients of the Kramer award include “Milk,” “The Great Debaters,” “An Inconvenient Truth,” “Good Night, and Good Luck,” “Hotel Rwanda,” “Innocent Voices,” “In America,” “Antwone Fisher” and “I Am Sam.”

  • 11/16 Oscarweb Round-up

    Lauren Bacall• Catch video highlights of Saturday night’s Honorary Oscars celebration. [Oscars.org]

    • Baltimore Ravens OT Michael Oher on his life’s inspiration for Hollywood. [CNN]

    • Hoping “Avatar” is the new face of filmmaking. [Los Angeles Times]

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  • SUNDAY CENTS: Apocalypse wow

    2012*All historical figures are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    Roland Emmerich’s still got it. And by “it,” I mean the ability to make blockbuster hits out of the same movie again and again.

    “2012” opened at the top of the box office with $65 million and the seventh-biggest opening of 2009. It’s also the 10th-biggest November opening of all time, sliding in between last year’s “Quantum of Solace” and 2002’s surprise juggernaut “8 Mile.”

    Mid-November releases have the benefit of the highly lucrative Thanksgiving holiday coming somewhere around their second or third week, so “2012” has the chance to earn three times its opening, which certainly wouldn’t be the case in the summer. I actually don’t think it will be the case here either and I think we’ll see it top out around $150 million. While that figure is less than the production budget, the film has already made $225 million worldwide after just three days, so Emmerich has free reign to make whatever disaster movie he wants next.

    Destroying the Earth four times is probably the limit for any director but luckily for Emmerich, we just discovered water on the moon, so he can go ahead and make a movie where we’ve colonized it and are living there, but for whatever reason it gets destroyed.

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  • WEEKLY WRAP: Reflections, early predix, animated contenders

    Coraline• Kris boldly offered some early winner predictions … I (and you) followed.

    • AMPAS unveiled the official list of 20 animated feature contenders, guaranteeing five eventual nominees.

    • This week’s Off the Carpet column picked through the leading Best Supporting Actor contenders.

    • In The Long Shot, we reflected on a handful of the Academy’s better moves this past decade.

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  • FRIDAY FORECAST: ‘2012’ on the way

    John Cusack in 2012*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    (This is the first of a new series of columns splitting the weekly Sunday Cents column in half. We’ll cover the weekend box office on Sundays and save the forecasts for Thursdays from here on out.)

    Roland Emmerich returns this weekend to popular landmark destruction for the fourth time in his career. He has experienced gargantuan openings in each previous attempts, so there’s little reason to think that “2012” won’t win the box office weekend by a mile.

    Sony has spent a fortune on the making and advertising of this film, although the studio seems to have saved some money by not hiring an editor as the finished product clocks in at a totally gratuitous 158 minutes. Squeezing in less showtimes may factor microscopically in the grosses, but theaters will be playing this sucker around the clock beginning tonight at midnight.

    “Independence Day” opened with $81.6 million during the fourth of July weekend in 1996 for a venue average of $28,311. “Godzilla” earned $67.4 million during Memorial Day of 1998 for an average of $20,373. “The Day After Tomorrow” also bowed on Memorial Day, in 2004. with $79.5 million and an average of $23,206. Clearly, audiences have a taste for the Emmerich touch when it comes to disaster flicks. His various attempts to make films outside this micro-genre have been met with relative shrugs at the box office (“The Patriot” and “10,000 B.C.”).

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  • Studio FYC sites on the march

    A Serious ManIt’s that time of year, when studios roll out their awards-centric websites for films in play.  You get screening info, news and notes, reminders of how AMAZING their films are (with critical quotes to back it up), goodies like screenplays and such, etc.  It’s a good way to see how wide the net is cast during the season (since any and everything gets a “For Your Consideration” blurb), but I’ve always found it’s a good way to revisit the year’s films.

    First up, Universal Pictures has put together its standard assemblage hawking “Public Enemies,” “Bruno,” “Funny People” and “It’s Complicated.” Skimming through the “Public Enemies” section I was instantly reminded that Elliot Goldenthal’s score was actually quite wonderful and could be a sleeper to watch in a field that is notorious for its insularity.  You can even skim through tracks in a dedicated section and download the screenplay.

    “Funny People” has a similar set-up, with score toggling, the script, etc., while “Bruno” has no script to offer.  But you can listen to the raved out score again if you wish.  The “It’s Complicated” section has material to come and only mentions “in all categories” as it pertains to FYC business.

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  • 11/11 Oscarweb Round-up

    Up• Steven Zeitchik plays things from the other side of the coin, says a high Best Picture profile for “Up” could cause the film in the animated feature category. [Hollywood Reporter]

    • Jeffrey Wells takes aim and fires heavily on “Precious.” [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • The People’s Choice Award nominations are here.  I KNOW you care.  So go ahead and vote. [PeoplesChoice.com]

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  • One-man anti-‘Precious’ campaign

    Mo'Nique in PreciousWow, and I thought I didn’t get on with “Precious.”

    Jeffrey Wells has drawn attention to the concerted efforts of one Anthony Smith, a 29 year-old African-American working in film acquisition, to derail the “Precious” express. Smith has written an open letter decrying the film’s alleged use of racial and social stereotypes as both “dangerous” and “offensive,” which he is sending to assorted industry figures and op-ed pages.

    I quote his letter after the cut not because I particularly agree with or endorse it — as much as I didn’t like the film, I think accusing it of racism is a wild stretch. And as a work of fiction, I don’t think the film has any particular responsibility towards any particular social group, so I find much of Smith’s argument naïve at best.

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