In Contention

Tag: The Hurt Locker

  • OFF THE CARPET: Take a deep breath…

    George Clooney in Up in the AirThe calm before the storm is beginning to subside.  Can you sense it?

    By the end of the week, the Venice and Telluride fests will be underway.  A week later, Toronto will weigh in.  When the smoke settles in roughly three weeks, the season will suddenly be a lot clearer…and yet so much of it will remain a mystery as latter year hopefuls limp (or stomp) into the fray in November and December.

    Yes, the season is upon us.  And while studios continue to think over the true value of Oscar notices, especially in a widened playing field, business marches on as usual.  Venice will tell the tale for efforts like “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” “The Informant!,” and “Capitalism: A Love Story,” while Telluride could make or break the hopes of films such as “The Road” and “Up in the Air.”

    Some overlap will go down in Toronto, but the most anticipated first-look there will likely be the Coen brothers’ “A Serious Man.”  Meanwhile, distributors might be looking to beef up their schedules with films like “Creation” and “Leaves of Grass” looking for buyers.  But for those with ponies primed and ready, these festivals are very much the starting gun for awards runs, as ever.

    So before the madness ensues, we get one more stab in the dark.  But given the perceived road ahead, it seems to me that films with a healthy pre-season awards profile going into the fall are in pretty good shape as it is.

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  • 8/28 Web Round-up

    Joseph Gordon-Levitt• “Avatar”-izing James Cameron’s past characters. [MTV Movies Blog]

    • Following “The Hurt Locker,” Kathryn Bigelow aiming for a similar visceral style for “Triple Frontier.” [The Playlist]

    • Joseph Gordon-Levitt: the new Heath Ledger? [The Guardian]

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  • Brits fall for ‘Hurt Locker,’ ‘Broken Embraces’

    Lluis Homar and Penelope Cruz in Broken EmbracesIn what is surely the richest weekend of the year for discerning British cinemagoers since the glut of Oscar contenders in January, both Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker” and Pedro Almodovar’s “Broken Embraces” hit UK screens today.

    You could be forgiven for not knowing that, though. While Almodovar’s film has enjoyed a prominent marketing campaign here in London, that Warholesque poster shot of Penelope Cruz ubiquitous on buses, tube tunnels and phone boxes (I can see one right now from my living-room window), “The Hurt Locker” has, sadly, been an all-but-invisible presence.

    The local broadsheets are doing their best to raise the film’s fortunes, however, as Bigelow’s film continues to slay the critical community on either side of the pond. In a fairly rare trifecta, The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw, The Independent’s Anthony Quinn and The Times’s Kevin Maher all afford the film 5-star reviews.

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Sound Mixing — Volume I

    Star TrekA few weeks ago I analyzed the Best Sound Editing category, which awards the creation and integration of artificially created sound effects.  Today, we look at sound mixing – the overall composition of all the elements of a movie’s soundscape into a singular soundtrack. The re-recording mixers, who do this work during post-production, are rewarded alongside the production sound mixer, who captures the sound on set.

    Loud films tend to be rewarded here, with blockbusters and war films, as well as films heavily reliant on music, popping up more often than not.

    Speaking of which, I’ll start by discussing the only musical that will likely find some wiggle room here this year. I am speaking, of course, of Rob Marshall’s “Nine.” Marshall’s return to the musical genre strikes me as quite likely to score in this category barring the film being a catastrophe.  It’s worth noting that 11-time Oscar nominee Rick Kline is on board, and he’s yet to win a statuette.

    James Cameron’s films have excelled in the sound categories. If his “Avatar” does not have a very interesting and unique soundscape, I’ll be quite surprised. I suspect the film could be more of a showcase for sound effects than the overall mix, I nevertheless anticipate it finding a home here as well.

    Pixar has done very well in this category lately, with three of its last four films scoring nominations. “Up” is likely to one-up (no pun intended) those films by also finding a home in the Best Picture category.  Nevertheless, the film’s sound is not as integral to the film as many of the previous Pixar efforts. A nomination here is certainly very possible. But I’d hardly call it a sure thing.  Vets Tom Myers and Michael Semanick (both from the “WALL-E” team) are on board.

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  • ‘Hurt Locker’ scribe Mark Boal up for Venice award

    Mark BoalI had the pleasure of interviewing Mark Boal, the celebrated journalist and screenwriter of “The Hurt Locker,” over a beer in London last week, and was glad to find him as alert and interesting a subject as the film he wrote. (The interview will crop up on these pages soon, by the way.)

    So as awards season unfolds over the coming months, I’ll be cheering every bit of recognition that comes his way. And the first such citation, neatly enough, comes at the place where “The Hurt Locker” made its first appearance nearly a year ago: the Venice Film Festival.

    Variety reports that Boal has been shortlisted for the Gucci Group Award, a prize presented during the festival since 2006 to honor outstanding cinematic achievement by individuals from outside the world of film. Should he win, he’ll be in excellent company: previous recipients include Julian Schnabel (for “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”) and Steve McQueen (“Hunger”).

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  • Banging the drum for women

    Andrea ArnoldI’ve already mooted the possibility of 2009 being a history-making year for female filmmakers at the Oscars. Whether or not awards season plays along in a few months’ time, however, there’s no denying it’s been a banner year for women behind the camera — both in terms of quantity (for starters, Cannes had more female-helmed films in competition than ever before) and quality (my three favorite films of the year so far all fall under the category).

    The media is clearly sensing the trend, too. In a handy roundup, The Auteurs points to an unusual confluence of assorted female-focused coverage this last weekend alone, from The Observer’s excellent interview with Andrea Arnold, director of the terrific Brit drama “Fish Tank,” to a New York Times piece in which Michael Cieply digs into the numbers supporting the truth that Hollywood is still very much a man’s world:

    What the count shows is that Hollywood directors are pretty much what they have always been: a small brotherhood of highly skilled craftsmen — more than 90 percent this year are men — who could hit or miss with any given film, but who tend to have solid experience.

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Film Editing — Volume I

    (from left) Leonardo DiCaprio and Michelle Williams in Shutter IslandBest Achievement in Film Editing.  It’s a difficult phrase to define.  To a large extent, excellence in film editing can be editing which blends into the film, allowing the director’s vision, screenwriter’s story and actors’ performances to shine without interference.  But equally, a film that stands out as a showcase for flashy but motivated construction deserves recognition as well.

    What is certain, however, is that in the absence of editors, our films would all be more than three hours long, largely incoherent and/or tremendously boring.

    This category has historically displayed a strong correlation to the Best Picture line-up.  Last year marked a return to a typical situation – four of the five films nominated for Best Film Editing were also nominated for Best Picture, with the fifth being an action film.

    From 2005 through 2007, however, things were a bit shaken up with a two-to-five ratio.  At the end of the day, however, Best Picture contenders, thrillers and actions films always do quite well here.

    The other genre that frequently finds a home in this category is musicals.  Cutting dance numbers coherently and blending between dialogue and songs consistently clearly impresses this branch.  In light of this, I’d call “Nine”’s Claire Simpson the early favorite.  A past winner for “Platoon,” she returned to the game after a 19 year absence two years ago with “The Constant Gardener.”  Barring the film flopping, I’d say Simpson is good to go.

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  • Is ‘Hurt Locker’ locked in?

    The Hurt LockerA few months ago, before the Academy completely altered the playing field for this year’s Oscars, “The Hurt Locker” looked like the longest of long shots for Best Picture consideration.

    Its unpopular subject matter, absence of stars, a respected but genre-based director, and the languishing delay between its 2008 Venice debut and its summer 2009 release — none of these factors inspired much confidence in its chances.

    But then a weird thing happened. Just after the Academy effectively doubled its chances of a Best Picture nod in June, an ecstatic wave of reviews for the film started rolling in, the ardently passionate consensus of which took many off-guard following its warm but hardly explosive reception on the fest circuit last year.

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  • The triumph you might never see

    Matthew Newton in Three Blind MiceIn autumn last year, I lost my heart to a miniature Australian gem called “Three Blind Mice.” At the end of a long day of press screenings, I sleepwalked into a theater at the London Film Festival not particularly eager to see a film I knew nothing about. A brief blurb describing it as a zany comedy about three naval officers on shore leave before shipping out to Iraq did little to whet the appetite.

    A few minutes later, I was startled into full consciousness as writer-director-star Matthew Newton’s alternately riotously funny, sombre and shocking study of masculinity in crisis burned up the screen with whip-smart Pinteresque writing and dazzling ensemble work, earning a spot on my “best of 2008” list in the process.

    I wasn’t the only one, either — the entire audience was abuzz with talk of the film after the screening, and it duly claimed the FIPRESCI Critics’ Prize at the festival.

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  • Action versus politics

    The Hurt LockerAnticipating a fresh batch of “Hurt Locker” press ahead of the film’s UK release later this month, The Times’s Kevin Maher takes an angle on the film that I’m surprised hasn’t been more of a media issue so far: the fine line the film walks between conscientious political filmmaking and gung-ho entertainment.

    One of the things I admire about Kathryn Bigelow’s film is its forthrightness in depicting the visceral thrill of warfare: it’s a courageous approach to take in a cinematic landscape where heavily weighted anti-war statements are de rigueur.

    “The Hurt Locker” paints its own unflattering portrait of U.S. military involvement, of course, but it remains resolutely an action film first — one more interested in capturing the physical sensation of combat than miring itself in rhetoric.

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  • SUNDAY CENTS: ‘Funny’ money

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

    It was no laughing matter at the box office this weekend as Judd Apatow’s “Funny People” opened at the top spot with a disappointing $23.4 million. Not only is that lower than both “The 40 Year Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up,” but it’s also the lowest figure to top this particular summer weekend since “A Time to Kill” in 1996. Don’t forget that “Virgin” and “Knocked” cost $26 million and $30 million, respectively, while “Funny People” carries a price tag of $70 million.

    Bottom line: this film didn’t perform like an Adam Sandler summer comedy at all. This is a guy who has opened six low-brow comedies in the summer months and had an average debut of $46.0 million. “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan” opened with $38.5 million, for Pete’s sake. Even his notorious misfire “Little Nicky” opened to $21.4 million. So no matter how Universal wants to spin this, it’s not pretty. It dropped from Friday to Saturday, indicating that fanboy rush and word of mouth is not going to be great enough to keep it in theaters much longer than Labor Day.

    I think a $65 million finish is the best-case scenario and Apatow has officially lost his “cancer subplot” and “two-hour-plus running time” privileges. And you can kiss those Best Original Screenplay chances goodbye.

    “G-Force” fell 46% to third place and $17.1 million. The guinea pigs already have $66.5 million in the bank so go ahead and mark your calendars for “G-Force 2” in July 2011. And just to reiterate, no matter how bad or good you think “Funny People” is, it’s a filmmaker with a distinct voice trying something a little different and people soundly rejected it in favor of films like this.

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  • James Cameron on ‘The Hurt Locker’

    With the more gossipy factions of the press trying to conjure up tension between him and his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow, it’s great to see that James Cameron is having none of it.

    In this extract from an interview with David Poland — worth checking out here — Cameron sings the praises of “The Hurt Locker,” suggesting it could emerge as the “Platoon” of the Iraq generation. He also makes clear that they continue to enjoy a professional friendship … so the wags hoping for some kind of bitter rivalry come Oscar season will be disappointed.

  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Sound Editing — Volume I

    Transformers: Revenge of the FallenZoom. Smash. Bang. Grunt. Zap. Splash. Screech.

    A single sound effect can capture a character, emotion or setting. And creating such sounds is no easy task, requiring creativity, ingenuity and constant communication with the other filmmakers to best capture the feel of a film.

    The manifestation of these aural components — as well as their integration into the overall soundtrack of the film — is recognized by the Academy with the award for Best Sound Editing.

    I suspect we’ve seen at least two – very possibly three or even four – of this category’s eventual 2009 nominees already. (At this point last year, we had seen four of five!)  Blockbuster entertainment tends to rule the day.  Let’s take a look.

    Though I doubt it will be able to win, given the failure of its predecessor to do so, I am pretty confident that massive box office, not the complex mechanics involved, will manage to bring “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” into the final five. Michael Bay’s films do well with the sound branch.

    Also from the summer, another film I strongly expect to enter the fray is “Star Trek.” Against all odds, the film managed to be a very successful reboot to this franchise and sound effects were pivotal to its success. While the series has only been embraced by the category intermittently, if there is one category where I expect this film to score, this is it. The sound effects were impressive and with a wide range.

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  • Women on top

    Kathryn BigelowIt’s been a couple of months since I discussed the notion of 2009 being a watershed year for female filmmakers at the Oscars, and it’s a possibility that seems to be gaining traction. Sasha Stone recently responded to a post of mine by toying with the slogan “year of the woman,” while a new post by indieWIRE’s Peter Knegt continues the discussion.

    Like me, Knegt fancies the chances of Lone Scherfig and Jane Campion in the race, but his chief interest at the moment is in Kathryn Bigelow, whose film “The Hurt Locker” he declares “the biggest news to hit this year’s race,” based principally on the unexpected strength of its critical reception:

    Coming off a well-received run in the festival circuit, most expected Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker” would find some good reviews and perhaps even make a bit of money.  But “Locker” didn’t just find good reviews, it found ecstatic ones … And while judging its promising $2.2 million-and-counting – after four weeks and without going over 100 screens – is still premature, “Locker” is certainly exceeding financial expectations thus far.

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Cinematography – Volume I

    Saoirse Ronan in The Lovely BonesLIGHTS…CAMERA…you were probably waiting for the word “action,” no? Action is, after all, what many individuals go to a film to see. But the “lights” and the “camera” in this classic phrase bring a film beyond a book or a radio show…and capture the “action.”

    The individuals who paint the images of cinema with light and composition are rewarded in the Oscar category of Best Cinematography. Cinematographers are pivotal in the making of any film and it is thus unsurprising that directors often continuously work with the similar camera heads.

    Like many cinephiles, I must say this is my favorite of the so-called “technical” categories and I eagerly anticipate the race every year.  This year is no exception.

    Australian D.P. Dion Beebe might seem to be leading this year’s lenser race with his third collaboration with Rob Marshall, the musical adaptation “Nine.” Despite not being cited by the Academy for some of his more innovative work (see Michael Mann’s “Collateral”), Beebe has been previously nominated for 2002’s “Chicago” and won the Oscar in 2005 for “Memoirs of a Geisha.” “Nine” will give him the opportunity to pay homage to Federico Fellini while also capturing sprawling musical numbers, a feat this category tends to reward.

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Kicking the tires on a new season

    Daniel Day-Lewis in NineToday marks the beginning of a fourth year of Tech Support here at In Contention. Over the past four years, we’ve sought to bring the otherwise under-reported crafts categories and crafts artists the attention they seldom receive, despite their enormous contributions to the art of cinema.

    This year, we plan on looking at nine of the categories – Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, Film Editing, Makeup, Original Score, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Visual Effects – twice thoroughly between now and the morning the nominations are announced. Best Original Song will be previewed once, when we have a better idea of eligible contenders.

    I will be offering the analysis of these categories but Kris will also be joining me for the first time this year with Tech Support features and interview pieces throughout.

    Last year, a contemporary film – “Slumdog Millionaire” – managed to triumph in five of the 10 categories, a truly remarkable achievement, while “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” unsurprisingly took three others.  (Meanwhile, the year’s blockbuster “The Dark Knight” managed one.)  It will be interesting to see whether this year will be seen as having tech sweepers like “Millionaire” and “Button” or a greater spreading of the wealth, as we saw in 2007, when eight different films shared the 10 crafts awards!

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  • International ‘Hurt Locker’ one-sheet

    You’re probably aware that the opening 8 minutes of Kathryn Bigelow’s staggering “The Hurt Locker” are available to view online. I’m not linking on point of principle — the increasingly popular tactic of marketing movies via isolated clips rather than trailers doesn’t sit well with me anyway, but in particular, an opening sequence as tense and electrifying as that of “The Hurt Locker” deserves to be experienced unspoiled on the big screen. Seek it out if you must, but I advise against it.

    Meanwhile, IMP offers a pair of new international posters for the film: they’re nothing like as strong as earlier designs, but I guess floating heads still sell for some folks. Glad to see they’ve kept that terse tagline, though. Similar second design after the cut.

    The Hurt Locker

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  • 7/8 Web Round-up

    Woodstock• AMPAS elects its governors. Among those returning to the board: Tom Hanks, James L. Brooks and eternal Oscar bridesmaid Kevin O’Connell. [Variety]

    • Nat Rogers reflects on his favorite thesps of the decade’s first half… and how they’ve fared since. [The Film Experience]

    • Martin Scorsese looks back on Woodstock. A good read, this. [Times of London]

    • Ebert has some choice words for the “Transformers” defenders. [Roger Ebert’s Journal]

    • Noah Forrest boards the “Hurt Locker” train. [Movie City News]

    • Ahead of “Frozen River”‘s long-delayed UK release, Melissa Leo talks about how an Oscar nod has changed her career. [Times of London]

    • Celebrating the delights of the movie-mangling “Cinemash” web series. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Why Nicolas Cage should still be in the conversation for Superman. Uh, right. [The Guardian]