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Tag: The Messenger
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Oren Moverman talks ‘The Messenger’
One of these days I’m going to be getting Woody Harrelson on the horn to talk about his riveting work in Oren Moverman’s “The Messenger,” but schedules haven’t dovetailed precisely enough yet. I don’t mind saying I’m eager, because it’s one of the year’s best films.
The New Yorker’s David Denby has called the film “neither dutiful nor solemn…a fully felt, morally alert, marvellously (sic) acted piece of work,” one that “joins the group of strong Iraq-war movies that, like rejected suitors, stand hat in hand, waiting for an audience to notice their virtues.” I couldn’t agree more. And on cue, courtesy of MakingOf, here’s Moverman discussing the piece:
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11/10 Oscarweb Round-up
• Deborah Sontag talks “The Messenger” with Oren Moverman, Woody Harrelson, etc. [New York Times]• Roger Ebert sits down with the fast-becoming new “it” girl, Gabourey Sidibe. [Chicago Sun-Times]
• With movies still to be seen in 2009, Noah Forrest pegs “25th Hour” as the decade’s best. Brave choice. I’m a fan. [Movie City News]
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OFF THE CARPET: Looking at the supporting gentlemen
In recent weeks we’ve been covering the performance categories in this space. With little else of tangible interest, what else can we possibly discuss? It’s as good a time as any to take note of what we have on our hands. Be sure to check out our looks at Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress if you missed them.(Speaking of which, with the rise of “Crazy Heart” in this year’s race, it goes without saying Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal should be added to their respective fields as they are very much in this year’s race.)
At first glance, the Best Supporting Actor category looks fairly established this season. There have been, after all, a number of contenders already and plenty more to come. But none have really stood out from the pack yet, making this race actually as up for grabs as any other.
Possibly the most agreed-upon contender in the field has to be Christoph Waltz, who took acting honors in Cannes for his villainous portrayal in Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds.” Waltz has made for quite the story off-screen as well, given his latter-career lift-off. And even detractors of the film (yours truly included) have to consider his performance a highlight of the year so far.
If anyone gives considerable chase here it’s going to be Christopher Plummer, smartly shifted to a supporting focus for his performance as Leo Tolstoy in “The Last Station.” Plummer will have sentiment (never been nominated) and added visibility (also appearing in “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”) on his side.
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11/6 Oscarweb Round-up
• Celebrating 20 years of “Wallace and Gromit,” Google style. [Deadline Hollywood Daily]• Jeffrey Wells says believe the hype on Helen Mirren’s performance in “The Last Station.” [Hollywood Elsewhere]
• “The Cove” receives a record-tying seven Cinema Eye nominations. [Cinema Eye Honors 2010]
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OFF THE CARPET: Looking at the leading gentlemen
We’ve taken concentrated looks at the lead actress and supporting actress categories in recent weeks. Now let’s turn our attention over to the fellas.Behind the Best Picture race, of course, the lead actor competition is perhaps the most hotly anticipated award of a given Oscar telecast. Movie stars are born, Hollywood staples are rewarded and careers leap to the next level. It makes for an intriguing annual state of the union as it pertains the the film industry’s talent roster.
This year, one of Hollywood’s brightest stars finds himself right at the front of the conversation. George Clooney is likely to end up with his third acting Oscar nomination, for Jason Reitman’s “Up in the Air,” and he’ll owe much of that to Reitman’s powerful work on the page.
Clooney doesn’t give his best performance to date in the film. But the material is so cleverly built around his persona that one can’t blame the actor for saddling up to a role that fits like a glove. And there is something to be said for the bravery of taking one’s image on like that.
Colin Firth, meanwhile, has caused a critical stir with his leading performance in Tom Ford’s “A Single Man.” He has already won the Venice Film Festival’s acting honor and has been tapped for another at February’s Santa Barbara Film Festival. He is pitch-perfect in the film, giving a refined performance of nuance and gesture.
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OFF THE CARPET: Looking at the supporting ladies
A few weeks ago in this space I took a dedicated look at the lead actress category. With little in the way of actual development (this season is curiously divided on the timeline as we’ve got maybe another month before more major titles begin screening), I figured it would be a good idea to keep things going on that front and take a look at the supporting actress race.It’s a little difficult to ignore the fact that Mo’Nique stands way out ahead of the pack in this race for her work in “Precious.” Unless her reported behind-the-scenes drama-queen tactics somehow poison the cause, she should be holding a statue in four months’ time. She is fierce and focused in a monstrous role and when viewers get over the initial “she had this in her?” shock, they’ll also see it for the expert piece of acting that it is.
Mo’Nique is joined in her film, however, by what I’d call an awards-worthy turn from Mariah Carey. The singer-turned-actress has been lurking in Mo’Nique’s shadow throughout the film’s publicity and festival tour this year, and she also lost something of a diva battle with Mary J. Blige to have a featured track in the film. The poor girl can’t catch a break here, but I think she deserves a look from voters and, perhaps, even prognosticators.
A few weeks ago I mentioned in an episode of Oscar Talk that “Up in the Air” star Vera Farmiga would be pushed as a lead actress. Some things have changed.
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OSCAR TALK: Ep. 7 — ‘Amelia,’ Hollywood film fest, Gothams, supposed ‘Precious’ backlash and more
Welcome to the seventh installment of Oscar Talk, a weekly kudocast between yours truly and Anne Thompson of indieWIRE’s Thompson on Hollywood. Anne is calling from London today, where she’s gearing up for a weekend of London film fest screenings and events.Topics on today’s agenda:
• Today’s big release, “Amelia,” finally crossed the bow of most critics this week and, with it quickly becoming obvious WHY it only crossed their bows this week, Anne and I discuss what went wrong with the movie.
• In the wake of Anne’s recent hit piece on the Hollywood Film Festival and its leadership, we talk about the fluff of this event amid the award season chatter.
• Speaking of awards, we get into the Gotham Award nominations, which caused a stir in some quarters due to the absence of “Precious.” Neither Anne nor I think there’s a backlash afoot.
• Last week we talked about screeners that quickly end up at the bottom of voters’ piles this time of year. We discuss a few titles that could unfortunately hit that low rung of priority, “That Evening Sun,” “The Messenger,” “Trucker,” etc. Sony Pictures Classics seems to have a number of these titles.
• Anne briefly previews some titles she hopes to catch at the London fest.
We went a little long today, roughly 30 minutes. Have a listen below, subscribe to Oscar Talk at iTunes here, and we’ll see you next week.
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10/19 Oscarweb Round-up
• Perpetuating the false myth that this is a weak year for leading ladies. Not everything should be viewed through the prism of Oscar… [Awards Campaign]• Following up on our Oscar Talk discussion, Anne Thompson considers the awards prospects of Oren Moverman’s “The Messenger.” [Thompson on Hollywood]
• Amidst his fully-in-the-tank review of “Where the Wild Things Are,” David Poland calls for Oscar to take note of James Gandolfini’s vocal performance. [The Hot Blog]
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OSCAR TALK: Ep. 6 — Foreign, animated, ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox,’ Plummer and more
Welcome to the sixth installment of Oscar Talk, a weekly awards-centric kudocast featuring yours truly and Anne Thompson of indieWIRE’s Thompson on Hollywood.As we move further into the season, there is finally substantial grist for the mill. Here’s what we’re discussing today:
• With 65 countries locked in for consideration in this year’s Best Foreign Language Film category, Anne and I offer up rough expectations for the eventual nominees and spotlight a handful of pics we hope to catch very soon.
• As the animated feature film category seems ebb and flow with contenders the last few weeks, we talk about how the category might shake down and discuss Wes Anderson’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” playing the London Film Festival and set for an AFI Fest bow next month.
• “Where the Wild Things Are” opens today, so Anne and I (of like minds on the film) offer our thoughts.
• Making good on last week’s tease, we discuss Oren Moverman’s “The Messenger,” starring Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson and Samantha Morton.
• And finally, we get into a late-comer to this year’s Oscar landscape, Christopher Plummer, suddenly looking at a campaign in the supporting actor category for “The Last Station” and the lead actor category for “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,” plus a debate on his classification in the former.
We ran a little long today (and got into some fights along the way), but have a listen to this week’s podcast below. And, as always, you can subscribe to Oscar Talk via iTunes here.
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REVIEW: “The Messenger” (***1/2)
There is a film that succeeds as a cerebral drama, concerned with the impact of war on the individual, free of the genre’s typical tropes and remarkably fresh as a result. And believe it or not, I’m not talking about “The Hurt Locker.”Of course, it is unfair to Oren Moverman’s “The Messenger” to so quickly evoke the name of one of the year’s most critically acclaimed films by way of comparison. And Kathryn Bigelow’s sterling 2009 gem doesn’t deserve to be jerked down a peg by showcasing the merits of another, more under-the-radar film.
But the fact remains, these two efforts are departures from the status quo in a dramatic subset that is perhaps more artistically important now than it has been in 60 years. And Moverman’s film has settled, for this viewer, much more completely than Bigelow’s. It instantly stands out as one of the year’s most powerful dramas.
The nuts and bolts of the story concern a pair of military officers charged with the heavy burden of notifying next of kin in the event of a combat casualty. Woody Harrelson’s Anthony “Tony” Stone has been wading through the waters of this “sacred” task for some time and has come to identify its importance with a strict regimen followed each time out.
Ben Foster’s Will Montgomery, meanwhile, has been relegated to Tony’s charge in the wake of a heavy combat experience. He is neither comfortable with the emotional workload of the job nor, seemingly, convinced of its importance over his battlefield duties.
The narrative isn’t focused in any traditional manner. It serves up what is, essentially, a series of vignettes, Tony and Will notifying next of kin in a variety of atmospheres. These are powerfully acted by supporting, basically cameo players such as Peter Friedman, Halley Feiffer, Steve Buscemi and Angel Caban, among others.
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OSCAR TALK: Ep. 5 — Oscar hosts, leading ladies and category placement
Welcome to the fifth installment of Oscar Talk between yours truly and Anne Thompson of indieWIRE’s Thompson on Hollywood.A somewhat streamlined show today. Here’s what’s on the docket:
• Spit-balling host ideas for this year’s Oscarcast, which seems to be a popular topic these days.
• Doing the same on a potential producer for the show.
• Our first fight! Anne and I debate the merits of the leading actresses of this year’s films. Anne says it’s a weak season, I say there are plenty of fine performances to choose from (and more on the way).
• With “An Education” opening in limited release today, we discuss Peter Sarsgaard’s potential category fraud/confusion and debate the philosophies of what makes a performance a lead.
• A brief tease of a topic on next week’s episode, Oren Moverman’s “The Messenger,” which I saw this week and Anne will catch up on before we chat again.
Have a listen to this week’s podcast below (with a lead-in from the trailer for “An Education”). And as always, you can subscribe to Oscar Talk via iTunes here.
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Berlin jury avoids the mainstream
Perhaps it’s an indication of an unusually low-key festival, or perhaps (more likely) I’ve been too distracted by the steamrolling Oscar season, but either way, I’m a little disturbed that the Berlin Film Festival wrapped up this weekend and I am barely familiar with most of the prizewinning films.I had heard some positive things about “London River,” a culture-clash drama from “Day of Glory” helmer Rachid Bouchareb, set around the 2005 London bombings, that gathered some buzz for Brenda Blethyn’s performance — but ended up taking Best Actor for Sotigui Kouyate.
And I was aware that “Sweet Rush,” which shared the Alfred Bauer Prize (which rewards “new perspectives,” apparently), is the latest from Andrzej Wajda (though word is it’s not one of his best), while I remember the Best Screenplay winner, Iraq-themed US indie “The Messenger,” gathered some notice at Sundance.
But I must admit that the winner of the Golden Bear, “The Milk of Sorrow,” skipped my radar entirely. The sophomore film from female Peruvian director Claudia Llosa, it’s a solemn-sounding effort about the lifelong trauma inflicted on a child of rape — or, if you want the more sensationalist pitch, a woman with a potato in her nether regions. It seems to have attracted mixed notices — Variety’s review admires from a distance, but Screen International finds it “mannered” and “contrived.”
Of course, one would expect a jury headed by avante-garde arthouse queen Tilda Swinton to favour the international and the eccentric, so none of this is really a surprise — especially given that they’d made clear their intent to reward politically charged work.
In any case, the Golden Bear truly hasn’t been any indicator of international success of late — the last few winners include “U-Carmen eKhayelitsha” (which really deserved a higher profile), “Grbavica,” “Tuya’s Marriage” and “Elite Squad.” I have a feeling Llosa’s film isn’t going to have much more luck crossing over, but we’ll see.
Full list of winners after the cut.