In Contention

Tag: The Hurt Locker

  • ‘Hurt Locker’ takes top honors at Critics’ Choice Awards

    Best Actress winners Meryl Streep and Sandra Bullock at the Critics' Choice AwardsThe BFCA are rarely ones to take an individual stand on the awards trail, and such was the case last night, as they mostly stuck with Oscar frontrunners down the line. In the numbers stakes,  “Avatar” (with six awards) and “Inglourious Basterds” (with three) came out on top.

    But it was “The Hurt Locker” that emerged as the night’s real winner, maintaining its tight season-long grip on the Best Picture and Best Director prizes, even with this more mainstream-oriented group. (It should be stressed that, despite the name, this is not a critics’ award.)

    Is this another “Sideways” — which also managed to parlay critical momentum into a top win here — or is something bigger afoot for the film? I’m starting to suspect the latter.

    Kris can obviously offer more first-hand perspective at a later stage. Still, the sense I get from this is that, for all the claims of it being a level three-horse race, “Up in the Air” is actually trailing “The Hurt Locker” and “Avatar” — if any major precursor was going to swing the way of Jason Reitman’s film, I’d have expected it to be the sometimes safe-playing BFCA.

    (more…)

  • Bring the pretty

    (left to right) Anthony Mackie, Jeremy Renner and Brian GeraghtyI never thought I’d have to mention Taylor Lautner in two separate posts in one day, but life is full of surprises that way. Still, this tidbit can’t pass without comment. In a NYT piece (spotted via Vulture) on ratings tactics for Sunday’s Golden Globes telecast, Brooks Barnes mines this foot-in-mouth groaner from aptly-named HFPA president Philip Berk:

    “Anybody connected with ‘Nine’ is going to be sitting ringside,” he said … Lining up younger stars has been a priority. Seated with “The Hurt Locker” contingent will be Taylor Lautner, the beefcake star of “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.” “He will be there to make the table look glamorous,” Mr. Berk said.

    Gee, way to make the talents behind the year’s most celebrated film feel welcome. For the record, I’ve met Kathryn Bigelow in person and can assure you that she doesn’t lack for glamor. And are its male stars really so hard on the eye? Hope no one’s losing their plus-one privileges for this.

  • Iowa critics spring for ‘Up in the Air,’ ‘Crazy Heart’

    Best Picture
    “Up in the Air”

    Best Director
    Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”

    Best Actor
    Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”

    Best Actress
    Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious”

    Check out the rest at The Circuit.

  • THE LONG SHOT: Hollywood fights back

    Sharlto Copley in District 9I may be looking out at my snow-caked garden as I write this, but it was in the spirit of spring-cleaning that I revised my nomination predictions this morning, ridding myself of most of the clinging personal hopes and hunches that lingered when I last updated them a month ago.

    It wasn’t the most drastic of revisions (rather to my surprise, I found I’d already predicted a robust haul for “District 9” before the Guilds made it such a strong bet), but it was my most detached one to date, anticipating a race that looks set to be rather passionless on my part.

    Rarely have so many of the leading players in the Best Picture race left me so cold – as “Avatar,” “Invictus,” “Precious,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “Up in the Air,” “Star Trek” and even “Up” all failed to arouse any particularly warm feelings in me, I began to wonder if I should just retreat to bed until March 8.

    (Unfortunately, for those of you wishing I’d do just that, a healthy precursor run for “The Hurt Locker,” one contender I love without reservation, is keeping me invested.)

    Still, my individual response to the films in question isn’t the only reason I’m feeling a little distanced from this year’s competition. As it currently stands, Hollywood looks set to enjoy its most homegrown Oscar race in some time.

    (more…)

  • OFF THE CARPET: Memo to the Academy

    The Academy Awards–MEMO–

    TO: Members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences
    FROM: Kristopher Tapley

    RE: The ballot you recently received

    Ladies and gentleman,

    As you sit to ponder the year’s best in your various fields of professional expertise, you might find yourself strong-armed into the consensus view 2009’s film product has been whittled down to over the last several months.  You might even find yourself at a loss, cramming as much as you can after a year of constantly working with nary a moment to spare a trip to the cinema.

    Such last minute jitters can yield an unconsidered and, certainly, lackadaisical approach to your annual responsibilities as AMPAS members.  But I implore you to take your time with this, be measured, and above all, take pen to paper with a level of seriousness.

    While I would never presume to tell you how to go about filling in your respective ballots, I hope you don’t find it too bold of me to offer a few closing words of encouragement and suggestion as you sit down to award the cream of the crop as you see it.  The glut of the film awards season can fade into a numbing hum, so you’d perhaps rather ignore for a bit, so come back to these words at a later date if you must.  They merely represent the humble opinion of one passionate film lover who believes in the potential of your organization and the ideals it stands for.

    (more…)

  • Great track

    “The Hurt Locker” hits shelves today on DVD and Blu-ray and I’ve been meaning to mention the film’s commentary feature, which I gave a listen over the weekend.  It’s an awesome track, wall-to-wall info and plenty of insights from director Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal throughout, who never let off the throttle.  Boal adds a number of wonderful notes from his own experience, how he came around to certain scenarios on the film that are based in real life, etc.  Anyway, just thought I’d mention it.  It’s well worth a look, though unfortunately, there are no other extra features besides a flimsy 12-minute behind-the-scenes featurette.  But anyway, go get it.

  • ACE nominees

    Sharlto Copley in District 9For me, “District 9” is the biggest and most pleasant surprise for me in this morning’s American Cinema Editors announcement.  If ever the film looked like a lock for a Best Picture nomination, now is that time, I have to say.  Getting in over presumed Oscar frontrunners “Precious” and, most especially, “Inglourious Basterds,” that’s a pretty big feather in its cap if you ask me.

    “Star Trek” also makes another fairly strong case this morning for getting into the Academy’s 10 over something like “Invictus,” which keeps missing with guild after guild and should, perhaps, finally be called a spade.  The drama field is then rounded out by what has become the rather definitive frontrunner trilogy of films.

    In the comedy field, we get veterans in Joe Hutshing and Richard Marks perhaps predictably recognized for “Its Complicated” and “Julie & Julia” respectively, while the Coen brothers get their third nomination from the guild to date.  The other two: Best Picture nominees “Fargo” and “No Country for Old Men.” Round it out with two comedies that are tricking people into thinking they’ll be Best Picture nominees (with no mention of the dead and dying “Nine”) and voila, the ACE Eddie nominees.

    Check out the full list after the jump.

    (more…)

  • ASC nominees

    The White Ribbon“Avatar” continues its guild steamroll with a mention from the ASC today, a mention I frankly didn’t think the film would get.  Then again, the guild is typically kind to digital photography where AMPAS is not (examples are “Collateral” and “Apocalypto”), so I wouldn’t say it’s a slam dunk in this category for Oscar.  Then again, maybe I’m blind to the writing on the wall here.  And “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” may have gone a long way toward dispelling digital bias in the Academy.

    I don’t get the love for Christian Berger.  I haven’t since day one.  There is nothing appealing to me about the way Michael Haneke visually captures his films.  There’s rarely anything appealing to me about his films period, truth be told.  But somehow going with black and white and employing his usual brand of tracking shots, long takes, etc., rarely with compelling composition (all my opinion, of course), it has managed to bring Berger laurel after laurel.  Critics awards are one thing, but an organization like the ASC, which I trust and respect, I don’t know.  Maybe I just missed the boat completely.

    “Nine” finally gets a guild mention and Robert Richardson, as always, is an ASC favorite once more.

    (more…)

  • ‘Avatar,’ ‘Star Trek’ among WGA nominees

    Michelle Rodriguez in AvatarAnd, there we are. “Avatar” gets a nomination for best writing from a 10,000 member-strong guild and plenty will find reason to argue with it. But let’s look at the rest.

    “The Hangover” managed to get a nomination in the original screenplay field in the wake of a number of eligibility rulings on some top contenders. I’m most excited for Scott Cooper and “Crazy Heart,” because I’m getting the feeling he might turn this and his USC Scripter bid into something tangible for Oscar consideration. “District 9,” of course, was not eligible here and is still a threat, ditto “An Education,” but the race is a little more interesting now.  Especially when you consider Nora Ephron (also nominated today), who I’ve always felt was a threat with the Academy for navigating two sources and making some entertaining sense of it all.

    Elsewhere it’s the usual suspects, except for the appearance of “Star Trek” in the adapted ranks.  Yes, the writers of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” are WGA nominees.  But in my view, they deserve the pat on the back for this film, a high octane entertainment that was smartly conceived and remains one of the true gems of 2009.

    Check out the nominees after the jump.

    (more…)

  • 1/11 Oscarweb Round-up

    The Hurt Locker• Dave McNary catches up with the thin WGA field story.  (Nominees will be announced later this morning.) [Variety]

    • The local rag continues to step up its crafts coverage, spotlights “The Hurt Locker” sound mixer (and sound editor) Paul Ottosson. [Los Angeles Times]

    • On the non-actor terminated from Jason Reitman’s “Up in the Air.” [The Guardian]

    (more…)

  • For the completists

    Better late than never. A reader emailed me to remind us that we never mentioned the winners of the Satellite Awards, which got lost in our holiday hiatus last month. Just in case you’ve been on tenterhooks, they’re after the cut — with “The Hurt Locker” again dominating, and a unique choice for Best Actress.

    (more…)

  • Oscars in The Times

    Stephen Lang in AvatarFresh 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.

    (more…)

  • Ebert on ‘Avatar’ logic

    Sam Worthington in AvatarRoger Ebert is on fire in Slate’s vastly entertaining The Movie Club feature — it’s all good stuff (as are the contributions from other critics), but his discussion of his plot issues with “Avatar” had me nodding in relieved agreement. I thought I was the only one wondering this:

    Assuming that an avatar can live with no connection to the mother ship, what does it think with? When its human master dies, who is upstairs? Does the mind of Jake Sully transfer? I have an eerie feeling I may once again have missed a crucial plot detail, but if Jake Sully’s mind can be inside his avatar, then that really is Michael Keaton inside the snow man in Jack Frost.

    His statement on the potential “Avatar” vs. “The Hurt Locker” Oscar battle after the cut.

    (more…)

  • WEEKLY WRAP: Guilds, lists and disqualifications

    Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker• In a big week for precursor announcements, the DGA nominations were the biggest — and least surprising.

    • The PGA, meanwhile, found room for all three of the year’s hot sci-fi titles in its nominee slate.

    • “The Hurt Locker” triumphed at the National Society of Film Critics Awards, the first film in 12 years to sweep the three top critics’ prizes.

    • Over five days, I counted down my personal Top 50 films of the decade that was.

    • And we’re not done listing: Chad also gathered his 20 favorites of 2009.

    (more…)

  • Can ‘Avatar’ do for the Oscars what ‘Dark Knight’ couldn’t?

    Sam Worthington in AvatarPeter Bart decides to call a spade a spade as it pertains to the Oscar race.  James Cameron’s “Avatar” is “the betting favorite to win best picture,” he writes.  But more importantly, he brings up the solid point that the film’s potential AMPAS success could be the ratings shot in the arm the show has been looking for.  (And guess what?  They didn’t need to go to 10 nominees to get it.)

    Writes Bart:

    Since it takes a populist movie to pump life into the Oscar ratings, “Avatar’s” box office largesse will likely translate into another “Titanic”-like bonanza. Back in 1998 some 55 million viewers tuned in, while last year’s “Slumdog” siesta totaled a mere 36.3 million…

    We realize that the Oscar show’s new producing team of Adam Shankman and Bill Mechanic is hard at work on plans to enliven the broadcast, but they are also keenly aware of the ratings realities. A movie like “There Will Be Blood” does not mean there will be audiences. The awards process is energized when folks out there have actually seen at least one or two of the movies being honored.

    (more…)

  • ASC on the way

    Daniel Day-Lewis in NineAlong with the WGA, the American Society of Cinematographers will also be announcing nominees Monday.  Guesses as to which way they’ll go?

    I’d say the safest bet is Robert Richardson and his work on “Inglourious Basterds.” He often gets his due from the guild (eight nominations) even when he doesn’t from the Academy (five nominations).

    After that, it’s likely Barry Ackroyd, the most lauded of the season’s lensers in the critics awards circuit, will be chalked up for “The Hurt Locker.” But I think I have to come clean on something here.

    Due respect to Mr. Ackroyd, who is a considerable talent, his work on the film totally took me out of the narrative.  The slavish devotion to dizzying handheld work lacked the focus of the characters being depicted while attempting to somehow simulate the tension of their profession, and that, I think, was a misstep.

    (more…)

  • Art Directors Guild nominees

    Johnny Depp in Public EnemiesI’ve had my eye on these because I’ve always felt that, if “Avatar” could slide in here, it might be able to get over any weird bias against the way it was designed (largely in computer, etc.). But after sitting down with Robert Stromberg yesterday, and with these nominations in mind, I feel better about its prospects for Oscar in the category now.

    I’m happy to see “The Lovely Bones” recognized, though I’m consistently baffled as to where the distinction is between “contemporary” and “period” with this film.  And can I also say, looking out over the slate of nominees, this is a damn fine year for art direction?  The 10 in period and fantasy could easily find their way to nominations.

    The obvious snub here is kind of a big one, I’d say: “Nine.” Despite the quality of the film, the below-the-line elements were exemplary.  I guess it wasn’t enough to overcome the film’s overall critical reception.  Oh, and big ups to Jess Gonchor, who I’ve said since day one was a threat for his and set decorator Nancy Haigh’s meticulous work on “A Serious Man.” Stay tuned next week for a Tech Support interview with the principals from that film

    Nominees after the jump.

    (more…)

  • OSCAR TALK: Ep. 17 — Guilds, Scripters and ‘Hurt Locker’ running strong

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

    There have been a few major announcements this week, so let’s dig in. We wander a bit this time, but on the docket today:

    • The Producers Guild of America went largely populist with its list of feature nominees. Anne and I discuss the implications.

    • With “The Hurt Locker” firmly holding the major guild quartet (since we can probably safely assume WGA), we get into its potential to win the big prize, perceived two-horse race or not. And we think it owes the critics for that.

    • The Directors Guild of America also announced nominees, confirming the top five Best Picture contenders. But is this the Oscar line-up?

    • The Scripter nods were also unveiled, which leads to some debate over eligibility concerns (which also plays a roll in the forthcoming WGA announcement).

    You can listen to this week’s podcast below, with a little of the brilliant (and undervalued) score from “The Hurt Locker” leading the way. As always, you can subscribe to Oscar Talk via iTunes here.

    [display_podcast]

    Subscribe to Oscar Talk