In Contention

Tag: Sean Penn

  • If nominated, will Clint win Best Actor? I think so…

    Clint Eastwood in Gran TorinoThough it ain’t over till it’s over, I think the five nominees for best actor have all but been decided.  Come nomination morning, I expect to hear the names of Clint Eastwood, Sean Penn, Frank Langella, Mickey Rourke and Richard Jenkins.

    Of course I have no way of knowing if this is how things will end up, but I have a pretty good feeling (which means nothing). Left off the list will be Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” which will garner the most nominations of any film, and Leonardo DiCaprio for “Revolutionary Road,” a brilliant, dark and troubling masterpiece, destined to be re-discovered in years to come as perhaps the best film of the year and certainly DiCaprio’s best work to date.

    Eastwood is in partly because he is Eastwood and partly because he does fine work. The role is tailor made for him in the manner Rooster Cogburn was written for John Wayne in “True Grit,” which won The Duke his only Oscar back in 1969. Eastwood gets to growl, cuss and throw out all sorts of racist comments in portraying a nasty old son of a bitch who turns out to have a heart. For anyone who has ever met or spoken to Eastwood, they will realize this character is light years away from the man, making it a startling performance.

    I am so tired of reading that he is playing himself. Sure he is portraying an extension of himself.  All actors do that (and always have), but Eastwood is also portraying a variation on the sort of role that made him famous. Could Walt be “Dirty Harry” after retirement? Damned straight he could and perhaps this is why the film has been greeted so warmly in some quarters, because the reviewer sees Eastwood’s character as an older version of Harry, a much loved character from years gone by, and a reimagination of his screen iconography.  It is sort of like seeing an old friend again.

    Well…sort of.

    If nominated, Eastwood will be a major threat to win the award. In fact, no, I’ll just say what Kris has been saying for a few months, now that I’ve gone back to the film a third and fourth time: if nominated, Clint WILL win.

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  • A night at the Critics’ Choice Awards

    Sean Penn at the 14th Annual Critics\' Choice AwardsIt’s an event that keeps on getting better and better, a little awards show that’s escalated into one of the hallmarks of the film awards season, whether the “we’re one of the best Oscar predictors” stuff is annoying or not (which it is).

    The night had a number of surprises, but in a sense, one of those surprises became a foregone conclusion half-way through the show.  The whole room could tell — “Slumdog Millionaire” was going to walk away with the first clean BFCA sweep since “A Beautiful Mind” in 2001.  Nothing for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”  Nothing for “Frost/Nixon.”  Nothing but the usual for the slowly-becoming-silver-medal-bound “The Dark Knight.”

    Two big wins for “Milk” were nice.  Sean Penn’s victory as Best Actor might have been inevitable, even though Mickey Rourke’s portrayal was probably the year’s most critically acclaimed of the year.  I couldn’t help keeping an eye trained on Mickey two tables over, one of the wandering cameras crammed in his face as Penn delivered his acceptance.  Clearly the “Wrestler” gang was a bit disheartened, nabbing only one win — for Bruce Springsteen’s title track.  But Fox Searchlight was beaming nonetheless with it’s five “Slumdog” trophies.

    I did as much mingling as the two minute commercial intervals would allow, but I did manage to finally meet the lovely Kate Beckinsale, nominated tonight for her criminally underseen performance in “Nothing But the Truth.”  She’s a real sweetheart, happy for the few pockets of support she’s been able to find for the film, which was essentially avalanched by the Yari bankruptcy last month.  There’s still Santa Barbara in a couple of weeks.

    I have to say, being in the middle of Heath Ledger’s standing ovation was somewhat emotional.  The win wasn’t surprising in hindsight, but as Laura Dern was opening the envelope, I couldn’t help but think the idea of major awards was suddenly a pipe dream for this performance.  But it all went away quickly and Christopher Nolan gave a touching, spot-on acceptance speech on behalf of the actor.

    (More, plus the full list of winners, after the jump.)

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  • “How many Oscar bloggers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?”

    When David Carr makes that crack at around the 1:50 mark in this recent Carpetbagger video, surrounded by Gold Derby’s Tom O’Neil and Hollywood Elsewhere’s Jeffrey Wells, I literally choked on my pecans with laughter.  I then proceeded to laugh further at Wells’s attempt at debunking “The Dark Knight”‘s Oscar hopes because of its “interminable third act.”  But even a fan such as yours truly had to give it to Carr’s comeback quip, “How many times did that sucker end?”

    Anyway, the video was shot at the recent New York Film Critics Circle awards and features interviews with Sean Penn, Courtney Hunt, Jenny Lumet, Sally Hawkins and Entertainment Weekly’s Lisa Schwartzbaum.  Take a look.  And someone give this guy a TV show already.

  • For the completists

    Over at Gold Derby, Tom O’Neil lists all the runners-up (with points tallies) from yesterday’s National Society of Film Critics awards, along with other gossipy tidbits from the days proceedings. (Most stupid/amusing nugget: Eve, the eerily Applesque female robot from “WALL-E,” garnered a lone Best Actress vote.)

    The full list is below the cut, but here are a couple of bits and bobs that jumped out at me. It’s interesting to see that Sally Hawkins and Sean Penn won their respective categories by a landslide, in a single round of voting. (Seriously, what does distant runner-up Mickey Rourke have to do to gain some traction?)

    Meanwhile, “Waltz With Bashir” pulled off its stunning Best Picture victory in the second round of voting, after its animated cohort “WALL-E” led in the first round. Talk about a good day for the animated medium. What a second Best Picture citation from one of the ‘big three’ critics groups could have done for “WALL-E”s chances is a matter for contemplation, but it’s still very much on the radar — I’m still betting (naively, perhaps) it’ll make the Academy’s top five.

    Elsewhere it’s nice to see Michelle Williams’ extraordinary work in “Wendy and Lucy” at least appearing in the mix, while “Synecdoche, New York” and “A Christmas Tale” (narrowly behind “Happy-Go-Lucky”) make the NSFC’s Best Screenplay table a very classy one indeed. An interesting oddity in the Best Supporting Actress category is that Viola Davis actually tied on points with winner Hanna Schygulla (a truly inspired choice, for my money), but was placed second as she appeared on fewer ballots.

    Finally, can I just say how much I love these guys for giving Eddie Marsan some props? Finally.

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  • An unfortunate precedent

    With Sally Hawkins and Sean Penn each picking up a gong from the National Society of Film Critics yesterday, the two actors thus complete the trifecta of major critics’ awards, having already taken the New York and Los Angeles critics’ respective honors. (I know some refer to the ‘big four,’ but we all know the National Board of Review isn’t really a critics’ group.)

    Ordinarily, such a sweep would make both shoo-ins for an Oscar nomination, which is certainly true in Penn’s case. Hawkins, however, continues an unusual awards trajectory — the unequivocal critical favorite who has been unaccountably overlooked by SAG and the Broadcast Film Critics. I remain confident Hawkins will find her way into the Oscar circle, but those peculiar snubs prevent her from being the slam-dunk she should be.

    With that in mind, I did some historical digging to find out if there’s a precedent for an actor taking the ‘big three’ critics’ prizes, and yet missing out on an Oscar nomination. As it turns out, there is one, and his name is Bill Murray.

    His hilarious supporting turn in 1998’s “Rushmore” (which remains, for me, the only element of a Wes Anderson film I’ve ever wholly liked) essentially instigated the revival of Murray’s cool, and was duly rewarded by the NYFCC, LAFCA and NSFC, but neither SAG, nor the Academy, were amused. Chances are the film was too eccentric for their tastes, or Murray was still too prickly a figure for them to embrace as they did (sort of, at least) five years later.

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  • Sean Penn wins critical trio, seems poised for Oscar

    Sean Penn at the 76th Annual Academy AwardsThe Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the National Society of Film Critics and New York Film Critics Circle have agreed nine times on their choice for best actor of the year, including Sean Penn this year for his riveting work in “Milk.”  On five of those occasions, the gentleman has gone on to win the Academy Award for Best Actor.

    Robert De Niro was first for “Taxi Driver,” one of the great film performances which lost the Oscar to Peter Finch in “Network,” a posthumous award for the British actor.  Dustin Hoffman would win across the board three years later for “Kramer vs. Kramer.”  In 1981, Burt Lancaster won across the critical board for “Atlantic City,” but he lost the Oscar to sentimental favorite Henry Fonda in “On Golden Pond.”

    British actor Bob Hoskins would nab all three critical awards for his decent mobster in “Mona Lisa” but had no chance against Paul Newman in “The Color of Money” come Oscar time.  Daniel Day-Lewis has twice won the critical hat trick with “My Left Foot” and last year for “There Will Be Blood,” making him the only double winner of the honors.

    Nicolas Cage won all three critics prizes for his doomed drunkard in “Leaving Las Vegas,” no doubt edging out Sean Penn in “Dead Man Walking.”  And for his seething work as Idi Amin in “The Last King of Scotland,” acting great Forest Whitaker won with the critics and with Oscar.

    Sean Penn seems poised to take the golden guy one more time…

  • 1/3 Oscarweb Round-up

    Ralph Fiennes• Patrick Goldstein responds to that B.S. Daily Beast Penn/Rourke thing.  Probably a little too lax but at leat he somewhat lays into the “journalist” responsible for the piece. [The Big Picture]

    • Michael Cieply scopes out tobacco use in the year’s Oscar contenders. [The Carpetbagger]

    • Andrea Hubert catches up with “Slumdog Millionaire” star Dev Patel. [The Guardian]

    • Kevin Maher talks “The Reader,” among other things, with Ralph Fiennes. [The Times]

    • Susan Wloszczyna takes a first journalistic stab at Martin Scorsese’s upcoming “Shutter Island.” [USA Today]

    • A creepily in depth look at the top “Jeffrey Wells moments” of 2008.  Yeah.  We’re the story. [Spout Blog]

  • Catching up with ‘Milk’ in the Bible belt

    Sean Penn in MilkIn 1977 Harvey Milk was elected to position as city supervisor in San Francisco. Milk, an openly gay man, was the first of his kind. Rather than concealing his sexual orientation, he wore it proudly, and used his influence in a largely gay section of San Francisco to do good. He became an effective advocate for gay rights across the United States until his assassination, in 1978, by Dan White. Mr. Milk and Mr. White are the subjects of the terrific new film, “Milk,” directed by Gus Van Sant.

    The substantially gifted actor Sean Penn plays the lead role, and he is supported by Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch, Diego Luna and James Franco. The film has generated a fair amount of awards buzz, and it should. It’s one of the best of the year.

    In November, interestingly, the citizens of the state of California went to the polls to vote on Proposition 8, a measure that would abolish the recognition of same-sex marriage in the Golden State. In my home state of Arkansas, voters were asked to determine whether same-sex couples could adopt children or serve as foster parents. In both instances, supporters of gay rights lost.

    If you have seen “Milk” or the exceptional documentary “The Times of Harvey Milk” by Rob Epstein, you know that Milk worked tirelessly to defeat Proposition 6 in 1978, just before his death. Prop. 6 was an effort to prohibit gay people from serving as public school teachers. As I watched “Milk,” after the November elections, I couldn’t help but see the parallels. Both struck at the very foundation of individual liberty.

    Writing for The Huffington Post last month, Mr. Epstein observed, “Although Proposition 8 wasn’t exactly a re-make of Proposition 6, it’s the same disaster movie storyline pitch: any recognition of constitutional rights for gay and lesbian citizens will somehow destroy the natural order and as a result America’s institutions — be they schools or marriage — will crumble.”

    “Milk” is on course for a Best Picture nomination at the Academy Awards early next year. It was selected as the best film by the New York Film Critics Circle and yesterday received a best ensemble nomination from the Screen Actors Guild. And no seems to be surprised by it. 2008 has been a bad one for people in same sex relationships, or who support gay rights. Still, it’s plausible that in the same state that recently approved Prop. 8 by generous margins, a film directed by an openly gay man, about a gay man, his gay friends and gay rights in California could win Best Picture. Wouldn’t that be something?

  • And the critics just keep on coming

    Thanks to AwardsDaily, ever on the ball, for pointing out yet another set of critics’ awards, this time the Phoenix Film Critics Society. Somebody stop the madness!

    Anyway, more gongs for “Slumdog,” “Let the Right One In,” Danny Boyle, Sean Penn, Heath Ledger zzzzzzzzz…

    Sorry, dozed off there. But hey, any “In Bruges” love is good love. The full (and very long) list after the cut, including such exciting categories as Best Live-Action Family Film. Enjoy:

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  • ‘Slumdog,’ ‘WALL-E’ tie for top honors with Beantown critics

    Two ties from the Boston crowd, actually.  In big categories.  Have some balls.  Take a stand.  Anyway, Sally Hawkins gets yet another boost, while “Man on Wire” remains the only (boringly) undefeated contender so far.

    Here’s the list:

    Best Picture: (tie) “Slumdog Millionaire” and “WALL-E”
    Best Director: Gus Van Sant, “Milk,” “Paranoid Park”
    Best Actor: (tie) Sean Penn, “Milk” and Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”
    Best Actress: Sally Hawkins, “Happy-Go-Lucky”
    Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
    Best Supporting Actress: Penélope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
    Best Screenplay: “Milk”
    Best Cinematography: “Paranoid Park”
    Best Documentary: “Man on Wire”
    Best Foreign-Language Film: “Let the Right One In”
    Best Animatd Film: “WALL-E”
    Best Film Editing: “Slumdog Millionaire”
    Best New Filmmaker: Martin McDonough, “In Bruges”
    Best Ensemble Cast: “Tropic Thunder”

  • Sean Penn on course for Oscar #2, and he deserves it

    Sean Penn in MilkWith two of the major critics awards won, actor Sean Penn seems to be headed for his second Academy Award for Best Actor for his brilliant work in “Milk.”

    Penn’s work through the 1980s and 1990s defined him as one of the greatest actors of his generation (if not the best) and certainly on the level with Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson and early Robert De Niro.  I find it incredible to see him today in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and try to connect that actor and character to anything he has done in his career. It gives a very clear example of his seemingly limitless range.

    His first Oscar nod came for “Dead Man Walking” in 1995, with only the Independent Spirit Awards giving him the grand prize.  All the others went with Nicolas Cage in “Leaving Las Vegas,” a great performance to be sure, but for my money Penn was stronger. Four years later he was something of a surprise nominee for “Sweet and Lowdown,” a fine piece of acting, but a kind of out-of-nowhere nomination, as was his third nod for “I Am Sam,” which I still struggle with watching; it represents the only time I can “see” Penn acting.

    “Mystic River” won him his first and only Oscar, and I stand by it as a stunning example of the craft.  I agree with The New York Times, which declared it one of the great acting performances of all time. Bill Murray was a popular choice that year for “Lost in Translation” and no argument, he would have been a most worthy winner.  But I am pleased Penn won. For me, he captured the anger and rage of the character, as well as the disappointment and hurt over something so precious as a daughter, now lost. There was shame in his eyes for not having protected her, and to make up for that in his mind, he avenges her.

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  • 12/12 Oscarweb Round-up

    (from left) Ben Stiller aand Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder• Sean Penn writes in support of dictators Hugo Chavez and Raul Castro. [The Nation]

    • James Kirchick skewers him as “a friend to gays and anti-gay dictators alike.” [The Advocate]

    • And Patrick Goldstien is right on top of it. [The Big Picture]

    • Earlier, Goldstein calls the Golden Globes “the ultimate Hollywood fantasy.” [The Big Picture]

    • Speaking of the Globes, Rachel Abramowitz sees the nominations for Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Jr. and James Franco as “recognition…of that Apatow brand of ribald comedy.” [The Envelope]

    • Susan King, meanwhile, talks to a couple of actors who’ve taken on the task of portraying Richard Nixon on the big and small screens. [The Envelope]

    • Simon Beaufoy recalls the inspiration for “Slumdog Millionaire” on the streets of Mumbai. [The Guardian]

    • Meanwhile, safely landed back east, David Carr gets Danny Boyle on the phone for reaction to the film’s HFPA acknowledgments. [The Carpetbagger]

    • British talent glitters at the Golden Globes. [The Independent]

    • Eugene Hernandez and Peter Knegt go back and forth on the week in critics kudos. [indieWIRE]

    • Brad Brevet chats with “Wrestler” director Darren Aronofsky. [Rope of Silicon]

    • Kevin Kelly talks to “Reader” screenwriter David Hare. [Spout Blog]

    • T.L. Stanley spotlights Sarah Jessica Parker’s “Sex and the City” Globe snub. [Gold Rush]

    • With “Doubt” releasing, Susan Wloszczyna looks at nuns on the big screen. [USA Today]

    • If Christopher Nolan won’t do a “Dark Knight’” DVD commentary, we’ll step up to the plate. [The Movie Blog]

  • ‘Milk,’ ‘Happy’ win big with NYFCC

    Sally Hawkins in Happy-Go-LuckyThe Best Picture victory for “Milk” is going to be the lede for most people as far as today’s New York Film Critics Circle awards is concerned, but the bigger story is “Happy-Go-Lucky,” which finds itself right back in the thick of the Oscar conversation.

    The group handed Mike Leigh and Sally Hawkins honors for Best Director and Best Actress respectively for the film.  This marks the second award in as many days for both.  Leigh won the screenplay award yesterday with the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and Hawkins was also singled out for her performance.

    But back to “Milk,” I was a little surprised to see the film do so well here, also taking honors for Best Actor (Sean Penn) and Best Supporting Actor (Josh Brolin).  It’s a slightly more populist opinion from a crowd that likes to be fringe, though Jenny Lumet’s screenplay win for “Rachel Getting Married” was anything but a shock.

    Penelope Cruz continued her expected steamroll through the Oscar season with yet another supporting actress win (she won with LAFCA as well), while “WALL-E” surprised no one with a victory as Best Animated Film.  Meanwhile, Anthony Dod Mantle, who came in as a runner-up with the L.A. critics for his work behind the camera on “Slumdog Millionaire,” happened to walk away with the honor today.

    “Man on Wire” took honors for Best Documentary, while “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” won for Best Foreign Film.

    It was yet another day of snubs for “Revolutionary Road,” which turned up with zero nominations from the BFCA and no mentions from the L.A. critics.  And a film that has suddenly become a real threat as the first major precursors have begun to arrive, “The Dark Knight,” hit an expected roadblock with the Gotham crew, finding no love in any category.  Slightly more surprising, however, is the lack of recognition for Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler.”  But I have a hunch it was in the hunt throughout, maybe just coming up short in this category or that.

    (Full list of winners after the jump.)

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  • 11/29 Oscarweb Round-up

    Slim pickings today, but then what did you expect? Think of this as your leftover turkey sandwich.

    • The estimable Michael Wilmington goes to bat for “Australia” in a big way. [Movie City News]

    • Meryl Streep discusses her “career renaissance.” Uh, when did her career ever fade? [Los Angeles Times]

    • Simon Hattenstone talks to Benicio Del Toro, concludes he’s “Hollywood’s finest mumbler since Brando.” [The Guardian]

    • Here’s a refreshingly un-PC list: the top 10 movies (and TV series) that made us want to smoke. [Premiere]

    • Jeff Wells looks into the mysterious disappearance of Sean Penn from Wayne Kramer’s “Crossing Over.” [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • David Poland chats to two extraordinary ladies: Michelle Williams and Kristin Scott Thomas. Our interview with the latter will appear next week, by the way. [The Hot Blog]

    • John Campea digs into that old chestnut — the iffy movie careers of the “Friends” cast — but curiously fails to mention “The Opposite of Sex” or “The Good Girl.” C’mon, credit where it’s due. [The Movie Blog]

    • Well, at least “In Bruges” has won something. [Irish Times]

  • Early winner predictions, part 2: Yours and mine

    Well, Kris was brave enough to stick his neck out and venture some winner predictions, so I thought I’d follow up on that — with the strict caveat that, while nobody knows anything, I frequently know even less.

    So my own predictions are after the cut. I don’t think them informed enough to place on a main page, but in the interests of diversity (and maximum egg-on-face potential), there they are. I was interested to see that, judging from the impressive response to Kris’ initial post, you readers and I are of a like mind in several areas. I specifically waited until after I’d drawn up my own foolhardy picks before looking at yours, and was surprised by some of the parallels that emerged.

    So let’s take a look at how you voted, shall we? I see some enterprising commenter on Kris’ post has already collated the data and drawn up percentages, and short of drawings up bar graphs and pie charts, I wouldn’t want to compete with that kind of specificity. (Seriously, I wouldn’t.) But even without getting mathematical, some trends are clear.

    In the top category, I expected to be in a significant minority picking “Milk,” but you have it breathing hotly down “Benjamin Button’s” neck as the frontrunner, with 11 and 13 votes respectively. A mere two of you side with Kris in picking “Slumdog Millionaire,” which, obtuse creature that I am, makes it the smarter choice in my mind. And yet, thrilled as I would be to see Team Boyle onstage come Oscar night, I can’t quite go there. Right now, “Milk” ticks too many boxes: dazzling reviews, emotionally charged, politically relevant, a more accessible effort from a long-revered filmmaker. It makes almost too much sense to me.

    Things are less tight in Best Director, where David Fincher enjoys over half your votes, with Danny Boyle and Gus van Sant (my choice) neck-and-neck for second place.

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  • Calling out the Oscar quote whores

    Almost all critics and bloggers are guilty of it at some time or another — when one is suitably impressed by a particular film or performance, they often express their approval in Oscar-related terms. “So-and-so is Oscar-worthy,” “Start the Oscar buzz now for such-and-such,” and so on. It’s a lazy and fate-tempting practice, and I confess I fall into the trap occasionally myself.

    Now over at eFilmCritic, Erik Childress has posted an interesting and rather cheeky piece on the subject, in which he rounds up the worst offenders, and can’t resist taking the odd gleeful dig at certain misguided endorsements. This one particularly amused me:

    (2003) Angelina Jolie is brilliant. She gives another Oscar-worthy performance. (“Beyond Borders”) – Paul Clinton

    When you’ve stopped laughing, try these for size:

    (2006) Another powerful Penn performance. Oscar-worthy in every way. (“All the King’s Men”) – Clay Smith

    (2003) This film has more heart than any 100 films released this year. Earns its place in film history within the first hour. A masterpiece of nuance filmmaking. The first Oscar contender of the season. (“Matchstick Men”) – Mike Sargent

    (2004) One of the first serious Oscar contenders of the year. (“The Village”) – Jim O’Brien

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  • Are the Oscars a popularity contest? Sort of.

    Over at his increasingly active OscarWatch blog, Dave Karger is bringing up the age-old issue of whether or not the Oscars are a popularity contest. The post is in part a response to Tom O’Neil and Pete Hammond’s dismantling of Karger’s predictions in the Best Actor race, where he declared the frontrunners to be Sean Penn, Mickey Rourke and Frank Langella.

    Seems sound enough to me — the first two in particular — but O’Neil and Hammond seem to feel that personal likeability issues might get in the way for all three actors. Karger acknowledges their point, but ultimately feels they might be off-base:

    I see where they’re coming from: An awards campaign truly is similar to a political campaign at times, and one’s deportment certainly comes into play. I think it’s fair to say that Marion Cotillard’s tirelessness and charm in supporting La Vie en Rose didn’t hurt in her recent eventual Best Actress victory over Julie Christie. And who knows how many nominations Russell Crowe has squandered over the years by shoving awards-show producers or chucking hotel telephones. But then again, I wonder if Penn’s win for Mystic River (after he didn’t even bother to show up for the Golden Globes) proves that conduct doesn’t matter that much.

    I have to agree. Yes, the Academy can play favourites — not least within the actors’ branch — but popularity and likeability aren’t always one and the same. Otherwise, someone as universally liked as Kate Winslet would have won approximately four Oscars by now. (Kate Hepburn, meanwhile, might have won substantially fewer.)

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  • Could an earlier ‘Milk’ release have killed Prop 8?

    Sean Penn in MilkI find myself just now making sense of the passing of Proposition 8 here in California, an appalling measure that, however naive it may be to admit, I really thought had no chance of passing.

    Well, it has.  Homosexual couples are banned from exchanging vows like the rest of the country, and beyond rage and outright disgust, I’m left saddened and somewhat unable to fully enjoy Obama’s convincing victory.

    What the hell is wrong with this country when one of the most liberal states in the union, a battleground, in fact, for gay rights, passes such a despicable pieces of legislation?  But more to the point of our beat here at In Contention, I’m left wondering whether an October release for “Milk” could have made a difference.

    A large portion of the film is dedicated to the fight against Proposition 6, a 1978 ballot measure that would have cost homosexuals working as educators their jobs.  Their careers were at stake 30 years ago.  Yesterday, it was their right to wed — and with wicked political conniving, the proponents of Prop 8 made this year’s fight about school in the end, just like Prop 6.  “They’ll teach gay marriage in schools,” ignorant imbeciles would scream.  “They’ll tell my son it’s okay for a man to marry a man.”  Well, “they” would be right, but that’s beside the point.

    Writing in The New York Times over the weekend, Jesse McKinley covered some of this terrain:

    In many ways, the battle sparked by this latest proposal echoes the one that inspired Mr. Milk’s most famous crusade.

    “It’s surreal,” said Cleve Jones, a veteran civil rights activist who is portrayed by a curly headed Emilie Hirsch in the film. “It’s like there’s a 30-year cycle.”

    Call it life imitating “Milk,” or vice versa, but the parallels between the campaign chronicled in the movie and the real-life battle over Proposition 8 are striking. Social conservatives pitted against gay activists? Check. A Republican governor (and former movie star) siding with gay Californians? Check. Close polls, a nationally watched campaign, the potential for heartbreak?

    Check, check, check.

    But, again, that was the weekend.  Now, it’s the day after.  And I can’t help but wonder what “Milk” might have meant for today’s cause, if anything, had it landed in the marketplace last month.

    Some of the film’s most inspiring and, indeed, captivating moments come during the sequence that details the Prop 6 fight.  Consistently, Harvey Milk (Sean Penn’s career-best portrayal) makes the point, to paraphrase, “We have to make them understand that they know us.”  That message, I think, might have carried a lot of heft if voters had made it to the polls four weeks later.

    But I’m not a studio head and I don’t make these decisions.  A studio’s priority is, of course, to shareholders, and “Milk” is likely to make more money in its current release plan than something earlier in the season.  But you can’t help but wonder what might have been.  And you can’t “give ’em hope” after the fact.