In Contention

Tag: The Hurt Locker

  • TECH SUPPORT INTERVIEW: Composer symposium, part two

    Michael Giacchino at the 2010 Golden Globe AwardsI think everyone who has seen Pixar’s “Up” was utterly taken by the scene “Married Life,” where emotions ran high and three characters were built between images and music.  As Kris mentioned in this morning’s Oscar Guide, composer Michael Giacchino had the full aural attention of the audience for 10 minutes.

    Speaking to Giacchino, it’s clear he knew it was perhaps the most pivotal moment to get right into a film where music was destined to play a significant role, no matter what. “I remember watching that scene for the first time,” he recalls, “and even watching it without music, it makes you cry. You’re not just looking at what happens on screen, you’re looking at what happens in your life.”

    He found the scene, and indeed, the film itself, to be quite personal. “You end up analyzing yourself,” he says. “It’s an emotional experience and when I’m writing music for any good film, I know I can only do a good job when I’m reflecting what I’m feeling. It’s like a mirror.”

    Giacchino loves being part of what he describes as the “Pixar family” and came aboard the film eight months before it was released. “I’m always at Pixar for something,” he says, adding that he loves doing the music for their short films as well. “Being at Pixar is like being 10 years old and everyone accepts each other for whoever you are.  It’s a wonderful open, honest feeling of being able to say if you don’t like something.”

    (more…)

  • OSCAR TALK: Ep. 23 — Divebombing the competition, doc and live action shorts, foreign film, etc.

    Oscar TalkWelcome to Oscar Talk, a weekly kudocast between yours truly and Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood.

    Every week inches us closer to the end of the loudest Oscar season of all time. Today Anne and I sit down and discuss the noise of the week, adding our own noise (we went on a bit long this week):

    • Leading off, Anne has a whole new reason to hate “the 10”: members just aren’t bothering with ranking and the preferential ballot, not to mention the rigging and manipulation that goes into making it an impure process.

    • Things are getting “hairy,” as Anne puts it, with a close race bringing out the worst in people. We talk about “The Hurt Locker” and EmailGate and add some much-needed perspective on the matter.

    • We bounce around ideas for dark horse contenders that could benefit from the preferential ballot (assuming it’s taken seriously).

    • We also discuss the documentary shorts at length (now that I’ve seen them all) as well as the live action short films (now that Anne has seen them all).

    • Finally, we discuss a potential upset lurking in documentary feature nominee “Which Way Home” as well as “A Prophet” in the scheme of the Best Documentary Feature race.

    Have a listen below, with a track from James Horner’s “Avatar” score leading the way. And as always, you can subscribe to Oscar Talk via iTunes here.

    [display_podcast]

    Subscribe to Oscar Talk

  • OSCAR GUIDE: Best Music (Original Score)

    (from left) Wally Wolodarsky (voice) and George Clooney (voice) in Fantastic Mr. FoxFor years the composers of the music branch tended to be a bit insular. Impressive newcomer talent was often ignored while the usual suspects showed up year after year. Not long ago, there seemed to be a shift, yielding slates much like the one we have for 2009.

    There is one first-timer, but other nominees are only enjoying their second and third nominations, while the true veterans of the category haven’t been to the dance in six and nine years respectively. Usually the Academy at large springs for a Best Picture nominee with overwhelming consistency, most often films with cultural flavor or dramatic, sometimes whimsical heft.

    The nominees are:

    “Avatar” (James Horner)
    “Fantastic Mr. Fox” (Alexandre Desplat)
    “The Hurt Locker” (Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders)
    “Sherlock Holmes” (Hans Zimmer)
    “Up” (Michael Giacchino)

    (more…)

  • There is no plot to thicken

    Guy Pearce in The Hurt LockerThis…

    No matter what happens in the short term, you can bet this will be a hot topic of discussion when the entire board of governors holds its annual postmortem on the show and the process. The academy does not take attempts to interfere with its voting process or to contact its members lightly, no matter how big a mea culpa the offender is offering.

    …is, I’m sorry, the biggest chunk of bullshit I’ve ever read in an Oscar season, and you get a lot of it this time of year.

    I suppose publicists “polling” members by telephone and insinuating this or that in favor of their films isn’t taken “lightly?”

    I suppose holding swanky, expensive events for films throughout the season and inviting members to show up and be glad-handed by talent isn’t taken “lightly?”

    Give me a f***ing break already.

  • 2/25 Oscarweb Round-up

    Louie Psihoyos• Jamey Duvall catches up with Jeremy Renner and “Food, Inc.” director Robert Kenner. [Movie Geeks United!]

    • Louie Psihoyos asks what you would do with 45 seconds in the global spotlight. [Huffington Post]

    • Dave Karger and Missy Schwartz on four underdogs they love. [Entertainment Weekly]

    (more…)

  • Well…

    …it sure took long enough for the “Hurt Locker” smear campaign to get here, and boy is it robust.  More in tomorrow’s round-up (since relegating all of his silliness to a round-up is all it really deserves).

  • “It will put you in the hurt locker.”

    The Hurt LockerI don’t really know why Melena Ryzik is indicating over at The Carpetbagger that the title for “The Hurt Locker” hasn’t been explained.  I feel like that was in the water way back around release and even during the Venice and Toronto screenings of 2008, but nevertheless, if you weren’t aware, she got Mark Boal’s answer at a recent NYC event for the film:

    It’s a quasi-military term that also shows up around football fields and locker rooms — bro slang, essentially, that’s never mentioned in the film. Mr. Boal first heard it in Baghdad. “I was trying to interview a soldier about a bomb that was there, and I was trying to figure out how much explosive charge the bomb carried, how many pounds and how much damage it could do, and he just sort of said, ‘Put it this way; if it goes off, it will put you in the hurt locker,’ ” Mr. Boal told the Bagger. “And I’d never heard that before, and it really sunk in,” partly because Mr. Boal was close enough to be put in the hurt locker himself. Mr. Boal and Ms. Bigelow meant to tell the story in the movie’s marketing but never quite got around to it, possibly because the movie didn’t get much marketing until it began racking up awards.

    As a title, “it appealed to me because it gets to a central theme of the film, which is the cost of war and the brutalizing effects of combat,” Mr. Boal said. “And so more or less, to be really reductive about it, if you’re in Iraq, you’re in the hurt locker.”

    Read the rest, including how Boal’s college major informed Jeremy Renner’s character’s name, at The Carpetbagger.

  • Best Picture race, illustrated

    This is a terrific idea that the Academy really ought to steal, particularly in light of this year’s dismal official Oscar poster. BAFTA commissioned Dutch Uncle Agency illustrator Tavis Coburn to create designs for each of their five Best Film nominees, for use on this year’s official BAFTA programme covers. The retro-inspired results are quite gorgeous. My two favorites below; the rest here.

    Official BAFTA programme design for An EducationOfficial BAFTA programme design for The Hurt Locker

  • OFF THE CARPET: Are we there yet?

    Jeremy Renner in The Hurt LockerIt’s been three weeks since I took note of the season’s course in this space, and really, there has been no need to put our finger to the wind until last week. And frankly, an author making an ass out of himself in public and Harvey Weinstein sooth-saying anyone who would listen (while an array of fluff pieces on Quentin Tarantino buying the New Beverly hit, a year after it happened) made for little more than an opportunity to fill column inches as we all continue to tread water.

    Meanwhile, “The Hurt Locker” has taken the four guilds that truly count, putting it on course for the inevitable. Some are trying to spin the preferential ballot as a non-issue, but that’s just they’re own way of saying they have nothing to write about. And “Avatar” keeps making money.

    I’m frankly more interested in the fact that, as Martin Scorsese’s finest film since “Goodfellas” made its way to screens over the weekend, smart critics all over the country somehow turned off their analytical switch to complain about score volume and heavy-handed stylization, completely failing to realize the inherent necessity of the film’s construction and mise-en-scène in the participatory narrative Scorsese laid out.

    But I’ll save all that for roughly a year hence, when I’ll inevitably be swimming upstream for yet another misunderstood masterstroke from a popular filmmaker many think has received his share of passes. There is an Oscar season still to cover, after all.

    (more…)

  • ‘The Hurt Locker’ sweeps BAFTA Awards

    Kathryn Bigelow at the 2009 BAFTA AwardsThe writing, in case you hadn’t already read it, is on the wall.

    In the biggest BAFTA haul for a non-British production since “American Beauty” a decade ago, Kathryn Bigelow’s Iraq drama took six awards at the Royal Opera House, including Best Film, Director and Original Screenplay. Next up: Oscars. And plenty of ’em, I’m guessing.

    I did respectably enough in my predictions, nailing 15 out of 21 categories, though I missed the big one, thinking homegrown favorite “An Education” would come out on top. The Brits did, however, vote local in the lead acting categories, with Colin Firth and Carey Mulligan taking well-deserved honors — probably their last of the season.

    “An Education” lost both the top awards it was up for, as the ever-selective Best British Film committee once more looked to the fringes to reward Andrea Arnold’s “Fish Tank” instead. I’m thrilled to see a major award for my #2 film of last year, after it was blanked entirely in the general categories. Continuing a good night for my pet films, meanwhile, “A Prophet” took foreign-language honors.

    (more…)

  • ‘Up in the Air,’ ‘Hurt Locker,’ ‘Cove’ win at WGA

    Insert token analysis here.  Longest…Oscar…season…ever.

  • BAFTA predictions

    Carey Mulligan in An EducationEnjoying a curious position this year as the only televised awards ceremony between the Academy Award nominations announcement and Oscar night itself, the BAFTAs will no doubt be relishing their precursor status even more than usual.

    Since they made the move to precede the Oscars nine years ago, BAFTA hasn’t slavishly anticipated the bigger awards (they’ve matched the Academy’s Best Picture pick only three times), but they have sometimes been at the crest of new waves in voting: late surges of momentum for the likes of Marion Cotillard, Tilda Swinton and Alan Arkin all made their first appearance on BAFTA night.

    This year, however, I’m suspecting that the Brits will voluntarily isolate themselves from the Oscar-influencing game. Never ones to shy away from patriotic voting, BAFTA has handed its top prize to a homegrown production for three years running – it’s highly likely that Oscar longshot “An Education,” which leads the nomination count with two U.S. productions, will make it four.

    (more…)

  • WEEKLY WRAP: Top shots, Berlin coverage and more

    Paranormal Activity• You asked for it, you eventually got it: our annual list of the Top 10 shots of the year, part one and part two.

    • In our ongoing Oscar Guide series, we dug into the supporting actor, foreign language film, art direction, makeup and sound editing races.

    • Guy’s Berlinale coverage continued, with “The Illusionist,” “The Kids Are All Right” and “Winter’s Bone” among the highlights.

    • We interviewed “The Cove” director Louie Psihoyos, as well as the creative minds behind “Coraline,” Neil Gaiman and Henry Selick.

    (more…)

  • The top 10 shots of 2009: part two

    Colin Firth in A Single ManIn case you missed the first part of our look at the best shots of 2009, go ahead and catch up here.  Before getting into the top five, however, I’d like to spotlight a few examples that almost made the cut but just missed.

    First and foremost, “Inglourious Basterds” is obviously a favorite around these parts.  Robert Richardson, as we’ve come to expect, offered a wonderful visual context for Quentin Tarantino’s story, and though none of the shots particularly spoke to me on a thematic level, it is nevertheless worth pointing out the aesthetic impact of Shoshana’s cackling specter projected on smoke and the gripping crane down to reveal a hiding Jewish family in the countryside of Nazi occupied France.

    One of the unsung heroes of the season in the field was Greig Fraser, whose soft touch gave Jane Campion’s “Bright Star” a beautiful identity.  The shot that has always stuck out for me was Fanny Brawne on her bed, intoxicated with love as a strong afternoon breeze blows in her window.

    I was also captivated by the visual aesthetic of Tom Ford’s “A Single Man,” shot by Eduard Grau.  The disorienting nature of an image featuring a “Psycho” poster always stuck out to me.  It is also worth noting a shot of Jeremy Renner standing in a grocery aisle in “The Hurt Locker,” speaking volumes about his character’s disposition, lost in a safe world (though lenser Barry Ackroyd was not involved with the U.S. portion of the shoot, it should be noted).  And I always smile when I see the image in “Crazy Heart” of a passerby reflected in the window of Bad Blake’s wrecked suburban, rushing down the hill to help.

    Finally, Roger Deakins should never go unmentioned in a discussion of cinematography, and what he did on the Coens’ “A Serious Man” was trademark organic beauty.  The image that sticks out to me is, ultimately, the final image of a tornado bringing the arbitrary wrath of the film’s themes to a tangible form.

    In any case, it was, as always, a joy digging through the year’s visuals and coming up with this collective.  Even in a weak year for the medium, there are always gems worth spotlighting.  I hope you enjoy the second half, so let’s get down to it.

    The top five shots of 2009…

    (more…)

  • 2/17 Oscarweb Round-up

    • David Poland sits down with Mark Boal and, separately, Paul Ottosson and Ray Beckett to talk “The Hurt Locker.” [The Hot Blog]

    • Saoirse Ronan talks “The Lovely Bones” across the pond. [Daily Telegraph]

    • Chris Jones profiles Roger Ebert, the man and his thumbs. [Esquire]

    (more…)

  • OSCAR GUIDE: Best Sound Editing

    UpThis year marked the first year in recent memory that the Motion Picture Sound Editors offered up its list of nominees prior to the Oscar nominations announcement rather than after. Generally that batch of tea leaves is therefore elusive for those of us looking for indicators along the way.

    Nevertheless, there wasn’t a huge shift in ideology form the mixing field to the editing field. Four films crossed over while the one that pushed through here certainly isn’t as deserving as the one that was nixed, but c’est la vie. I get the feeling there was some chummy autopilot voting going on there, but it’s a relatively solid batch of competitors anyway.

    The nominees are:

    “Avatar” (Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle)
    “The Hurt Locker” (Paul N.J. Ottosson)
    “Inglourious Basterds” (Wylie Stateman)
    “Star Trek” (Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin)
    “Up” (Michael Silvers and Tom Myers)

    (more…)

  • ‘Hurt Locker,’ ‘Hangover’ win with ACE

    Jeremy Renner in The Hurt LockerFriday we spotlighted the film editing category in our daily Oscar Guide feature.  Tonight at the Beverly Hilton, the editors themselves had their say at the 60th annual ACE Eddies ceremony.

    Bob Murawski and Chris Innis were the big winners in the drama category for “The Hurt Locker” (my prediction for the Oscar win), while in something of a surprise, Debra Neil-Fisher won in the comedy category for “The Hangover,” toppling the Coen brothers’ “A Serious Man.” It makes you wonder just how close the Warner Bros. romp was to a Best Picture nomination with all of this industry love.

    Pixar and Kevin Nolting predictably won in the animated category for “Up,” while Geoffrey Richardson won in the documentary field for “The Cove,” a film that frankly deserved Oscar recognition in the category.

    As always, keep track of the season’s goings on at The Circuit.

  • OSCAR GUIDE: Best Film Editing

    Gabourey Sidibe in PreciousThe Best Film Editing category tends to be a shadow of the Best Picture category in some ways. With there being 10 Best Picture nominees this year, however, the field was bound to nail down five of the contenders. So considering the old stand-by stat (no film has won Best Picture without an editing nomination since “Ordinary People”), this is a race to keep an eye on.

    In fact, it might be a bellwether for the rest of the show when the envelope is opened. Which means the competition has been boiled down to the same to films the media is keeping an eye on for Best Picture. In this instance, however, that reduction isn’t as ill-considered.

    The nominees are:

    “Avatar” (Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron)
    “District 9”     (Julian Clarke)
    “The Hurt Locker” (Bob Murawski and Chris Innis)
    “Inglourious Basterds” (Sally Menke)
    “Precious” (Joe Klotz)

    (more…)