Tag: The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

CDG nominees

I’ve been out and about, so apologies for getting to the Costume Designers Guild nominees late:

Contemporary Film
“Iron Man” (Laura Jean Shannon and Rebecca Bentjen)
“Mamma Mia!” (Ann Roth)
“Sex and the City” (Patricia Field)
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Suttirat Larlarb)
“The Wrestler” (Amy Westcott)

Period Film
“Changeling” (Deborah Hopper)
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Jacqueline West)
“The Duchess” (Michael O’Connor)
“Milk” (Danny Glicker)
“Revolutionary Road” (Albert Wolsky)

Fantasy Film
“The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” (Isis Mussenden)
“The Dark Knight” (Lindy Hemming)
“The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” (Sanja Milkovic Hays)

I have to say, while I could understand the classification for, say, the Tim Burton films, I’m increasingly agitated by the “fantasy” classification of Christopher Nolan’s Batman franchise. And “The Dark Knight” is 10 times more “contemporary” than “Iron Man,” but whatever. If the false classification means the films find some guild love in the fields of art direction and costume design, so be it, I guess.

More frankly surprising guild support for “The Wrestler,” while “Slumdog” and “Button” remain the guild champs. I’m happy “Prince Caspian” finally popped up somewhere.

I see no real reason to change my Oscar predicitons here based on these results, but we’ll keep an eye on it as always.

January 13, 2009
AMPAS narrows the visual effects field to seven

Last month, the Academy whittled the contenders for Best Visual Effects down to 15 hopefuls. Today, the branch has chipped away at it further.

And then there were seven:

“Australia”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army”
“Iron Man”
“Journey to the Center of the Earth”
“The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”

And from the press release:

On Thursday, January 15, all members of the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 15-minute excerpts from each of the seven shortlisted films. Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate three films for final Oscar consideration.

The most surprising omissions are probably “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” and “The Incredible Hulk.” Maybe “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” if you want to go there, but I don’t. I can’t believe it made the list of 15, frankly. And after watching “Hancock” again over the holiday, as well as the visual effects featurette, I was beginning to think it might have a decent shot. But my guess is that we’re still looking at “Button” and “Iron Man” as sure bets with “The Dark Knight” likely filling in the third and final slot.

Then again, this show of love for “Hellboy II” could translate to somewhat unexpected nominations both here and in the makeup field. And I feel like “Journey to the Center of the Earth” has more stroke with this group than many are assuming.

January 6, 2009
Best in show: the year in superlatives

The year is slowly coming to a close, and after this week’s year-in-review pieces, I’m happy to see so much healthy and spirited discussion on my humble picks for the year’s best films. Today I’m wrapping all of that up with a list of superlatives, some of them in your usual categories, the staples, some of them in a couple of, oh, let’s call it “fun” arenas that I like to mix in year in and year out.

I should note, however, that Nathaniel Rogers at The Film Experience is the king at this stuff. His annual “Film Bitch Awards” are a must-read. Here’s last year’s set.

So with that, let’s get into the awards. I used to call these the “In Contention Awards,” but I don’t think that’s fair anymore now that we have a slew of contributors. So I’ll let them speak to their favorites at their leisure. These reflect my views of the season and mine only. You know the Best Picture champ, of course, but beyond that, I hope you enjoy the rundown. Just keep the (inevitable) disagreement friendly:

Best Picture
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures)

Best Director
Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”

Best Actor
Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

Best Supporting Actor
Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”

Best Supporting Actress
Samantha Morton, “Synecdoche, New York”

(more…)

December 19, 2008
Don’t give up on Maria Bello

It is a well-known fact (okay, okay, this writer’s opinion) that Maria Bello was robbed of a 2005 Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her taut, unnerving performance in Cronenberg’s “A History of Violence,” despite a gong from the New York critics and a (lead) nomination at the Globes. (She wasn’t far off for “The Cooler” a year previously, either.)

Now you may recall (though I wouldn’t blame you if you’d already forgotten) that the winner of Best Supporting Actress that year was Rachel Weisz for her agreeable and, in my opinion, wholly unremarkable work in “The Constant Gardener.” It’s a win I’ve never really understood.

Now, in a depressing twist of fate, Bello finds herself taking over Weisz’s role in the godawful “Mummy” franchise, the latest installment of which Kris seems less than keen on. If you ever needed a textbook demonstration of the difference an Oscar (or at least a nomination) can make to an actor’s career, there you have it.

However, in an interesting Guardian interview with the excellent film writer Ryan Gilbey, Bello appears to be making the best of a bad situation. The usually more indie-minded actress tells Gilbey that she’s always hankered after just such a part:

I’ve been telling my agent for years that I wanted an action movie, but no one saw me like that. Two weeks before my 40th birthday, I guess I’d given up. I mean, how many action roles are there for women over 40? Soon after that, I got a call to say they were considering me for the part.

(more…)

August 3, 2008
Let’s all hold our breaths…

…and pray that “The Dark knight” can manage to stay on top this weekend rather than be dethroned by the worst film of the year so far.

August 2, 2008