Tag: Stephen Lang
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OFF THE CARPET: All Globed out
As it turned out, the only celebration I made it to last night was Fox’s Globes after-party at Craft in Century City. Given that “Avatar” and “Crazy Heart” were two of three films to win more than one Globe (the other being Pixar’s “Up”), it kind of felt like the place to be.The early part of the evening was dominated by the “Crazy Heart” crew. I came in with Ryan Bingham and Scott Cooper, the latter dumbfounded at how certain celebs were getting his number to send well-wishes and praise for his little film. Bingham, meanwhile, told me he was at the bar when the Best Original Song category was announced, which explains why T Bone Burnett accepted solo. “Sorry for partyin’,” Bingham told me. “Story of my life.”
Burnett, it turns out, will be producing Bingham’s next album.
Meanwhile, you could follow the bursts of applause to locate Jeff Bridges, who took down the Best Actor in a Drama trophy when many thought George Clooney would register with the, shall we say, star-friendly HFPA. Then again, whoever said Bridges wasn’t a star? And judging by the standing ovation, his second of the weekend (everyone was on their feet Friday, too), you can expect his steamroll through the season to continue next weekend at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and then, ultimately: the Oscar. Interesting to note his lawyer advised him not to take the part, I assume thinking it wasn’t high enough on a scale of exposure.
And yet here we are.
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Oscars in The Times
Fresh on the heels of a page one Mo’Nique story, The New York Times has unleashed its annual Oscar package, great stuff as always.Manohla Dargis leads the girl-power charge with an appreciation of Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker.” It’s a solid piece of analysis that spends a few graphs discussing the art of the zoom and is accompanied by a novel “anatomy of a scene” interactive feature.
Next up, A.O. Scott stumps for Spike Jonze’s “Where the Wild Things Are” once again (also with interactive accompaniment), while Stephen Holden waves the flag for Oren Moverman’s “The Messenger” (following a Woody Harrelson appreciation in the pages of the LA Times yesterday).
Going broader, Michael Cieply addresses the 10 once again and gets one anonymous Academy governor to admit what we all know, that the expanded Best Picture field is likely an experiment that might not last more than one or two years. And Douglas McGrath (rather out of the blue) calls for Doris Day to receive an honorary statuette.
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12/29 Oscarweb Round-up
• John Campea talks to “Avatar” star Stephen Lang. [AMC Entertainment]• Scott Feinberg spotlights 50 performances that “shoulda been contendas” in the 2009 Oscar race. [And the Winner Is…]
• Nikki sez Warner Bros. has broken the studio’s own domestic box office record by crossing $2 billion across the States. Wowsers. [Deadline Hollywood Daily]
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Transported
The embargo on “Avatar” has been essentially lifted by Fox so I could go on at length about how I could sit through it over…and over…and over again. Anne and I will dig in properly in tomorrow’s Oscar Talk and I’m sure I’ll have a review at some point, maybe Monday. But a few things…The visual effects race, if you couldn’t guess already, is over and done with. In all likelihood, the sound races as well. And there is a compelling argument to be made for the film editing as well. But that’s the expected tech bliss the film delivers.
Wait, let me not undersell that. This is the most amazing cinematic experience I’ve ever had. There are, admittedly, story elements that give one pause. The film isn’t total perfection (though I’d argue this is a very mature, thematically beautiful screenplay from James Cameron). The filmmaker can’t help himself in a number of instances that are too on the nose.
But so what? Seriously. This is why we all go into dark rooms to be transported to other worlds. Cameron gets it. And he delivers. A thousand times over. It’s the kind of film you want to take any and everyone with you to see. Not to be too cheesy — it is absolute magic.
More tomorrow. (P.S.: Give Stephen Lang a Best Supporting Actor nomination. NOW)
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COMIC-CON: James Cameron unveils impressive ‘Avatar’ footage
James Cameron made his long-awaited trip to San Diego this afternoon for the world premiere of 25 minutes of footage from his upcoming film “Avatar,” and the reaction was as enthused as it could have been. A scene-by-scene description is probably the best way to go about this, so first that, then quotes from the post-screening discussion.If you’d prefer to stay pure on this film and would rather skip the scene descriptions, go ahead and scroll down to the quotes section, indicated in bold below. Also, for those hungry for any and all info, before I dig into the specifics of the presentation, you should really read through Cameron’s E3 address to get an idea of the film’s plot, or else you’ll be quite lost.
Seven sequences were unveiled, beginning with a “Full Metal Jacket”-like military briefing with actor Stephan Lang front-and-center. The scene also introduces us to the central character in the film, Jake Sully, a crippled former military officer himself with an eye toward the cosmos and the planet Pandora.
The next scene reveals the avatars, genetic bio-suits constructed from the DNA of the Na’vi, tall, blue-skinned warrior natives of Pandora. Floating in a tank of fluid, being prepped for integration with human consciousnesses, the imagery is quite beautiful in this scene, the avatars in a docile, tranquil state, Sully peering at them, recognizing in them the chance to walk, however virtually, once again.