In Contention

Tag: Sam Rockwell

  • OSCAR TALK: Ep. 49 — Final pre-nod discussion

    Oscar TalkWelcome to Oscar Talk.

    In case you’re new to the site and/or the podcast, Oscar Talk is a weekly kudocast, your one-stop awards chat shop between yours truly and Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood. The podcast is weekly, every Friday throughout the season, charting the ups and downs of contenders along the way. Plenty of things change en route to Oscar’s stage and we’re here to address it all as it unfolds.

    We’re moving into the last weekend before the Academy’s big nominations reveal on Tuesday. Anne is calling from Sundance, where the festival is just gearing up, leaving me alone in LA to my devices. But there are a number of things to address in these final pre-nod hours, so let’s see what’s on the docket today…

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  • FIRST-HALF FYC: Best Supporting Actor

    Only two weeks into my new feature and I’m already a day late — apologies. My laptop (now cured, at least until its next mood swing) will graciously accept the blame.

    If you missed last week’s introductory instalment, the game is a simple one. In the run-up to nomination day, I’m picking five outstanding contenders in each major category in films from the first half of the 2010 release schedule: a period repeatedly neglected by voters in favor of newer, shinier delights. We started with Best Supporting Actress — during which I learned that a lot of you really don’t like Taylor Swift, but you still all saw “Valentine’s Day” — and this week we fill in the male half of the equation.

    Keen as I am on all five performances I dredged up from the January-to-June wilderness, I was somewhat disappointed to note a very similar template forming to last week’s list: one French breakthrough talent, one blockbuster high point, even one star from a particular film. All accidental, I assure you… but to think I complain about “slot” mentality in the Oscar-analysis game.

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  • Penn going supporting for ‘Fair Game?’

    Scott Feinberg is reporting that Sean Penn, who gives a rather wonderful performance in Doug Liman’s “Fair Game” with much more meat on its bones than Naomi Watts’s somewhat internalized work, will be pushed in the supporting category rather than lead.

    Uh…why?  First and foremost, I’d consider this a lead performance, but whatever, category fraud happens all the time and there are probably multiple perspectives to be had on this particular role.  But I just wrote about the lead actor category Monday and noted that there is some softness outside of the generally agreed upon three (Colin Firth, James Franco and Jeff Bridges).  The opportunity is ripe.

    Meanwhile, the supporting actor category seems to be settling in.  I feel like I’ve had the same five checked off for a month or two now.  Where are the cracks in that armor?  How does one look at that category and think it’s an easier climb?

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  • Rockwell talks ‘Conviction,’ other choices for Kenny Waters, destroyed footage

    Backstage’s Jenelle Riley recently moderated a post-screening Q&A with “Conviction” star Sam Rockwell and a few interesting nuggets surfaced during the chat.

    First and foremost, I was always under the impression that Rockwell was the first choice for the role of Kenny Waters in the film.  But as he reveals here, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and John C. Reilly dropped out of the part along the way.  It leaves you wondering what the film might have been like.  I think either actor would have been intriguing but Rockwell brings a real charm to the character that might have been lacking otherwise.

    But most crushing, I’d say, is the fact that 16 hours of crucial footage was apparently destroyed by an airport x-ray.  Can you imagine?  And it sounds like it was intense material as Rockwell says it was probably the hardest thing he’s ever done to go back and res-hoot all of that stuff.

    It’s worth a look and listen.  Head on over to Backstage to watch or check out the embed after the jump.

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  • 10/21 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Praise for ‘Love & Other Drugs,’ sussing out Best Actress, quotable ‘Social Network’

    • Jeffrey Wells calls “Love & Other Drugs” Edward Zwick’s best film yet. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • Peter Knegt assesses the Gotham Award nominations. [indieWIRE]

    • Nathaniel Rogers hearts Sam Rockwell in “Conviction.” [Tribeca Film]

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  • LONDON: ‘Conviction,’ ‘Amigo,’ ‘Everything Must Go’

    “To get the challenge to play someone like this makes me a better person,” said a rather intense-looking Hilary Swank at yesterday’s London Film Festival press conference — the someone in question, single mom turned crusading lawyer Betty Ann Waters, sitting to her immediate left.

    Not being personally acquainted with Ms. Swank, I can’t verify the before-and-after truth of this claim, but I can say that this endearingly earnest tone is entirely shared by Tony Goldwyn’s film “Conviction” (**1/2).

    A rote courtroom drama that is but one “The Betty Ann Waters Story” subtitle — and Jaclyn Smith casting switch — away from being Thursday night TV fodder circa 1988, “Conviction” (which opened in the US yesterday) is one of those so-implausible-it-has-to-be-true stories that blandly and single-mindedly champion blanket virtues like hope, loyalty and tenacity over finer, more fractious social and personal details, but keeps you dorkily invested in its principals’ plight despite your better instincts.

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  • WEEKLY WRAP: Supporting ladies gather, London opens, Hardy goes to Gotham

    • Off the Carpet picked out the likeliest runners in a highly malleable Best Supporting Actress race.

    • We checked in on the Best Animated Feature race, where it seems we may be looking at a three-nominee field after all.

    • Away from the awards beat, the week’s big news was the casting of Tom Hardy in Christopher Nolan’s next Batman venture.

    • The Academy formally revealed the list of 65 contenders for Best Foreign Language Film.

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  • EXCLUSIVE: Casting Sam Rockwell in ‘Conviction’ (clip)

    Think fast: when was the first time you remember seeing Sam Rockwell on the big screen?  Most people probably caught up with him in the late-1990s in films like “Safe Men,” “The Green Mile” and “Galaxy Quest.” Others perked up, surely, when George Clooney had the vision to give him the starring role in “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.” For me, it was a near walk-on in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

    He’s come a long way since taking on the role of a punk kid in the Foot Clan factory.  I’ve loved him in pretty much everything, be it his aptly named Jimmy Silk in David Mamet’s “Heist,” his equally compelling grifter in Ridley Scott’s “Matchstick Men,” his underrated portrayal alongside Casey Affleck and Brad Pitt in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” or, certainly, his pitch-perfect work in last year’s sadly forgotten (come awards season) “Moon.”

    This year the actor is poised to potentially break out into the Oscar scene with a quality, lived-in piece of work in Tony Goldwyn’s “Conviction.” Rockwell stars as Kenny Waters, a Massachusetts bad boy wrongfully imprisoned and eventually freed through the diligence of his sister, Betty Anne, who put herself through law school in order to prove his innocence.  Fox Searchlight has provided us with an exclusive clip featuring Goldwyn and Betty Anne Waters discussing the casting of the role.  Check it out after the jump.

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  • Goldwyn’s ‘Conviction’ keeps an even keel

    I’ve been meaning to write about “Conviction” since I saw it last week and just haven’t really settled on a way to gather my thoughts.  In a nutshell, I liked it.  Quite a lot, actually.  It’s not rousing or inspiring to the point that I had to write immediately (obviously), but it’s relatively harmless and generally quite agreeable.

    That sounds like damning with faint praise I imagine but I was kind of a mess watching it.  All the emotional beats hit me just right.  I’ll admit I got a bit teary-eyed at the sustained chemistry between Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell, who portray loving siblings with a level of authenticity and complexity that’s difficult to pinpoint.  The script never feels manipulative even though its painting in extremely familiar dramatic strokes.

    Rockwell has received most of the praise so far and he deserves it.  Interestingly enough, though, he doesn’t bring anything more than he has for the last 10 or 15 years in film after film.  He’s always good for better than solid and here he’s just finally getting his due.  He’s one of a precious few actors who sells it perfectly each and every time out.  You just buy him in whatever the role.

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  • Rockwell, Carter, Garfield, Wasikowska tapped for HFF honors

    On the heels of last week’s introductory announcement, it has been announced that Sam Rockwell, Helena Bonham Carter, Andrew Garfield and Mia Wasikowska will be recognized at this year’s Hollywood Film Festival awards.  The press release, in part:

    The 14th Annual Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Awards, presented by Starz, are pleased to announce honorees who will be recognized for their achievements at the festival’s Hollywood Awards Gala Ceremony.

    Academy Award-nominated actress Helena Bonham Carter will receive the “Hollywood Supporting Actress Award,” actor Sam Rockwell will be honored with the ” Hollywood Supporting Actor Award, ” actress Mia Wasikowska will receive the ” Hollywood Breakthrough Actress Award, ” and actor Andrew Garfield will be recognized with the ” Hollywood Breakthrough Actor Award. ”

    “These honorees have been steadily laying the groundwork of choice projects upon which to build their Hollywood careers, and this is their year to really stand out,” said [founder Carlos] de Abreu.

    Full list of awards recipients announced thus far after the jump.

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  • TIFF: ‘Conviction’ reviews trickling in

    I had hoped Fox Searchlight would screen Tony Goldwyn’s “Conviction” here in LA during Toronto, but I guess I kind of understand why they didn’t.  I’ve heard nothing but “meh” things on the film since day one (the first reaction I heard was from someone who saw it before the studio even picked it up).  That ambivalence is reflected in Brad Brevet’s C+ review of the film out of Toronto.

    Brevet calls it “a rather simple film” and notes that “the emotional impact of the story comes through in the end after what is a rather mundane and cliched story of the innocent man in jail and the person working hard on the outside to get him out.”  Well, I guess I could have gleaned that from a synopsis.  Dig, Brad!  Oh, here we go:  “At no point does this seem like new territory, but outside of being about ten minutes too long, it’s a film that works despite its rather traditional dramatic nature.”

    Wouldn’t “traditional” be a guarantee that the story would work?  In any case, I’m just having fun here.  Most I’ve talked to seem to think Sam Rockwell could charge to the front of the supporting actor derby.  Brevet writes that the actor plays the character “with enough eccentricity to make it believable, but never so much that it feels like a caricature trying to be larger than the scene.”

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  • ‘Conviction’ trailer

    One of the year’s obviously baity titles (which screened as early as the first quarter of the year for some) is Tony Goldwyn’s “Conviction” (formerly “Betty Anne Waters”).  The film stars Hilary Swank as Waters in the true story of a young woman who puts herself through law school to represent her wrongfully convicted brother (played by Sam Rockwell, and about whom I hear great things).  As for the trailer, thick accents?  Check.  “This is an important story” narrator?  Check.  Lofty music from multiple other weighty films?  Check.  Awards savvy studio?  Check.  (Searchlight also has Mark Romanek’s “Never Let Me Go” on the way, which also debuted a trailer earlier this week.)

    Watch the “Conviction” trailer, via Apple, by clicking on the image below, or check out the embed after the jump.

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  • SHORT TAKE: “Iron Man 2” (**1/2)

    “Good is the enemy of Great,” wrote Jim Collins, in one of the more high-maintenance self-help plans you’re likely to encounter. As nice a thought as it is, this law appears to have no place in the world of the Hollywood franchise blockbuster, where Crap is the enemy of pretty much everything, and Good is usually one courtesy too many for time-strapped, dollar-eyed producers.

    With myriad noisy-yet-joyless “Transformers” types littering the release schedule each summer, then, the bar for commendability is set rather low: it often takes but one redeeming feature to launch such products into critics’ good books in addition to the box office charts.

    It’s in this way that Jon Favreau’s “Iron Man” carved a reputation as one of 2008’s pleasant surprises: narratively choppy, technically perfunctory and indifferently performed in support, it nonetheless boasted a star turn from Robert Downey Jr so fleet-footed and gleefully off-message that it made all the surrounding elements seem wittier by sheer association.

    It should come as no surprise to students of the Hollywood mainstream that Favreau’s swiftly delivered sequel, already raking in the cash on its European release, aims no higher, and reaches no wider, than its predecessor. By and large, Favreau and his collaborators have figured that the shortcuts they got away with in the first film are still fit for purpose.

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  • Searchlight and Hilary Swank, take two?

    (from left) Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell in Betty Anne WatersThis is one of the films I’ve had an eye on for next year’s Oscar season.  Perhaps a second try will prove better than this past year’s Searchlight/Swank outing.  The press release, in part:

    Fox Searchlight Pictures Presidents Stephen Gilula and Nancy Utley announced today that the company has acquired North American and select international rights from Omega Entertainment to the riveting true life drama BETTY ANNE WATERS. Directed by Tony Goldwyn and written by Pamela Gray, BETTY ANNE WATERS stars Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Melissa Leo, Minnie Driver, Juliette Lewis and Peter Gallagher. The film was produced by Andrew Sugerman, Andrew S. Karsch and Tony Goldwyn. The film is scheduled to be released in Fall 2010.

    “Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell, backed by an extraordinary supporting cast, deliver powerhouse performances in Tony Goldwyn’s emotionally resonant film,” said Utley and Gilula. “We are excited to be distributing this inspirational story of hope and unconditional love.”

    For more on the story (which could prove Oscar bait for Sam Rockwell as well), check out this Boston Globe piece.  If “The Blind Side” can do it…

  • UK critics honor ‘Up,’ Mulligan

    Carey Mulligan in An EducationThe London Film Critics’ Circle Awards may be the most prestigious of British critics’ honors (not saying much, admittedly), but there are critics in the rest of the country too. These regional writers have their say in the Richard Attenborough Awards, which held their fourth annual ceremony last night.

    Last year, the Attenboroughs stuck very much with the consensus, but they made some bolder calls this time, handing their film of the year honors to “Up,” while “Moon” star Sam Rockwell took Best Actor honors. (Well, it’s nice that he has something to show for his career-best performance.)

    Carey Mulligan was a double winner, earning both Best Actress and Rising Star awards, while a handful of public-voted awards proved that Brits still like Harry Potter — but also that some of them saw “Moon.”

    Not exactly the most significant awards of the season, but fun nonetheless. List of winners (via Screen Daily) after the cut.

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  • Hal Holbrook’s awards season play, take two

    Hal Holbrook in That Evening SunOver the weekend, “That Evening Sun” star Hal Holbrook took the Excellence in Acting award at the Starz Denver Film Festival over the weekend.  When the press release landed in my inbox, it reminded me that, while I’ve been a pretty strong proponent of Patterson Hood’s original song from the film, I haven’t written about Holbrook’s performance all that much.

    It’s a beautiful piece of work.  Holbrook adds every ounce of texture, nuance, authenticity and depth that Clint Eastwood was woefully lacking in the similarly themed “Gran Torino” last year, but it’s unfair to start with a comparison, I guess.  Holbrook nails ornery to a T, and he seems to be able to work the natural rhythms of southern conversation better than anyone other than maybe Robert Duvall.

    Susan King recently talked to the actor, who said working on Sean Penn’s “Into the Wild” gave him confidence.  And not to be SO 2007, but he offers some high praise for the actor/director in the piece.

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  • OFF THE CARPET: Looking at the leading gentlemen

    Colin Firth in A Single ManWe’ve taken concentrated looks at the lead actress and supporting actress categories in recent weeks.  Now let’s turn our attention over to the fellas.

    Behind the Best Picture race, of course, the lead actor competition is perhaps the most hotly anticipated award of a given Oscar telecast.  Movie stars are born, Hollywood staples are rewarded and careers leap to the next level.  It makes for an intriguing annual state of the union as it pertains the the film industry’s talent roster.

    This year, one of Hollywood’s brightest stars finds himself right at the front of the conversation.  George Clooney is likely to end up with his third acting Oscar nomination, for Jason Reitman’s “Up in the Air,” and he’ll owe much of that to Reitman’s powerful work on the page.

    Clooney doesn’t give his best performance to date in the film.  But the material is so cleverly built around his persona that one can’t blame the actor for saddling up to a role that fits like a glove.  And there is something to be said for the bravery of taking one’s image on like that.

    Colin Firth, meanwhile, has caused a critical stir with his leading performance in Tom Ford’s “A Single Man.” He has already won the Venice Film Festival’s acting honor and has been tapped for another at February’s Santa Barbara Film Festival.  He is pitch-perfect in the film, giving a refined performance of nuance and gesture.

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  • Tweeting for Oscar

    We Live in PublicThe few of you who do follow my Twitter account will have gathered by now that, compared to some, I’m not the most active correspondent in that medium — limiting my thoughts to 140 characters is a trial more often that not. However, should I ever find myself in the hunt for an Oscar (hey, I have dreams too!), I’ll be sure to step up my tweet count.

    You’ve all heard by now about “Moon” director Duncan Jones’s admirably enthusiastic Twitter campaign for Sam Rockwell’s Best Actor chances, which so far has worked a treat.

    No, not because Rockwell isn’t still the darkest of horses for Oscar consideration, but because the quirky nature of the campaign has proved something of a talking point in an otherwise quiet week — generating a fresh wave of viewer interest in a small, long-gone summer release. As nice as this press is for Rockwell, “Moon” is the real winner here.

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