In Contention

Tag: The Road

  • Cormac McCarthy on adaptation and ‘The Road’

    Cormac McCarthyAs much as John Hillcoat’s filmization of Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” didn’t work for me, I think it remains one title that could spring a surprise or two this awards season. Though the film has some high-profile detractors including Todd McCarthy and Roger Ebert, many have been profoundly affected by the film, while its prestigious cache is beyond dispute.

    Helping the cause is that Cormac McCarthy, the estimable author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning source novel, is fully behind the film.

    Today’s online must-read is an extensive Wall Street Journal interview with McCarthy, in which he discusses his own personal investment in the novel — much of which is directly inspired by his own relationship with his son — and the decade-long relationship between Hollywood and his writing.

    McCarthy has a healthily hands-off approach to adaptations of his work, bluntly stating that once the rights have been sold, “you don’t embroil yourself in somebody else’s project.” Claiming to have had confidence in Hillcoat from the outset, he goes on to say that the filmmakers “absolutely” caught the spirit of his novel.

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  • OFF THE CARPET: Looking at the supporting gentlemen

    Paul Schneider in Bright StarIn 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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  • NYT spotlights Jarvis, Hoult, Kendrick, Smit-McPhee

    Nicholas HoultThe New York Times makes an annual tradition of rounding up the season’s most notable breakthrough turns in upcoming films, and it’s typically an intelligent, even prescient, selection of faces. Last year’s crop ran the gamut from François Bégaudeau (“The Class”) to the ultimately Oscar-nominated Michael Shannon (“Revolutionary Road”).

    In keeping with the youthful slant of many of this year’s awards hopefuls, this year’s group of Gray Lady picks skews rather younger, ranging from 13 year-old Kodi Smit-Phee to 24 year-old Anna Kendrick. (Three of the four are teenagers.)

    Presumably, writer Karen Durbin feels enough attention has already been lavished (not least in her own paper) on Gabourey Sidibe (who I’m increasingly convinced will win the Oscar anyway), as the “Precious” star doesn’t rate a mention. Fair enough.

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  • OFF THE CARPET: Looking at the leading gentlemen

    Colin Firth in A Single ManWe’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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  • New ‘The Road’ trailer

    A vast improvement on the tonally misjudged first effort, though it gives in to bombast halfway through. I wonder if it’ll be enough to sell this prickly package — it’s always hard to judge trailers when you’ve already seen the film at hand, particularly if said film didn’t really work for you anyway. Is this getting you in line?

  • ‘A Prophet’ wins top prize at London Film Festival

    Tahar Rahim (right) in A ProphetI always knew Anjelica Huston and I were of a like mind. As I reflect on the 60-odd films I’ve seen the London Film Festival, which draws to a close tomorrow, Jacques Audiard’s French Oscar contender “A Prophet” stands comfortably taller than anything else I’ve seen … and given the standard of this year’s LFF lineup, that’s no back-handed compliment.

    Ms. Huston clearly agrees: at a ceremony tonight, together with the other five members of her jury (a rum bunch including Charlotte Rampling, Matthieu Kassovitz and Jarvis Cocker), she handed “A Prophet” the festival’s inaugural Best Film award (alternatively named the Star of London). It triumphed over eight other shortlisted titles, including its Cannes conqueror “The White Ribbon.” Huston said of Audiard’s film:

    A masterpiece: “Un Prophete” has the ambition, purity of vision and clarity of purpose to make it an instant classic.  With seamless and imaginative story-telling, superb performances and universal themes, Jacques Audiard has made a perfect film.”

    “The Road,” interestingly enough, was given a runner-up “special mention” by the jury, despite its continued mixed reception. John Hillcoat’s film was singled out for its “breathtaking vision, extraordinary performances and profound political statement.”

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  • OFF THE CARPET: Looking at the supporting ladies

    Vera Farmiga in Up in the AirA 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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  • New ‘Road’ poster

    The Road

    (Courtesy: Yahoo! Movies)

  • LONDON: ‘Dogtooth,’ ‘Kinatay,’ ‘Burrowing’

    DogtoothOnce more, Friday’s major festival screenings covered ground I’d already trod in Venice — the day’s glossiest gala slot was reserved for “The Road” (which you know did little for me), with a less prominent early evening slot for Tom Ford’s “A Single Man” (which did rather more).

    Given the current buzz levels for each film, they perhaps should have swapped places, but festival programmers can be forgiven for not knowing that in advance.

    In fact, it was a crammed day for anyone hoping to catch up on the hot Venice titles, including “Life During Wartime,” “The Double Hour” and “White Material,” still my film of 2009 so far. (Friend and critic Tim Robey shares my enthusiasm for the film, claiming the LFF will have a hard time topping it. Truth.)

    Hard as it was to resist giving “Material” another whirl, I took advantage of my head-start to catch a stark Swedish mood piece and two provocative Cannes winners that had been intriguing me since May, and not only because of Old Man Ebert’s proclamation that Brillante Mendoza’s “Kinatay” was the worst film ever screened on the Croisette. See if I agree after the cut.

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  • ‘Nine’ to December

    Brad Brevet at Rope of Silicon is reporting something I seriously thought had already happened.  Maybe that says something about how predictable the move is, given that, ever since The Weinstein Company announced a November release for “The Road,” everyone has been expecting “Nine” to move further into the holiday season.  And so it has.

  • London Film Festival shortlists nine titles for top prize

    Fantastic Mr. Fox I mentioned recently that the London Film Festival is upping its profile by adding a couple of new awards to its roster, including a crowning Best Film prize. This, I felt, was a positive development for a festival that becomes a richer, more rewarding cinematic showcase by the year. However, I must admit to being disappointed by the conservative approach they’ve taken to their new premier prize.

    Festival director Sandra Hebron yesterday unveiled a shortlist of nine contenders for the inaugural Best Film award, and a mostly familiar bunch of titles it is:

    “Balibo” (Robert Connolly)
    “Bright Star”     (Jane Campion)
    “Fantastic Mr. Fox”     (Wes Anderson)
    “Micmacs”     (Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
    “Nowhere Boy”     (Sam Taylor-Wood)
    “A Prophet”     (Jacques Audiard)
    “The Road”     (John Hillcoat)
    “A Serious Man”     (Joel and Ethan Coen)
    “The White Ribbon”     (Michael Haneke)

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  • Smit-McPhee and Jenkins in ‘Let the Right One In’ remake

    Kodi Smith-McPheeWord just in from Overture Films that Kodi Smit-McPhee (“The Road”), Richard Jenkins (Oscar-nominated this year for “The Visitor”) and Chloe Moretz (I profess ignorance) are to headline “Let Me In,” the forthcoming and unwelcome (in these parts, anyway) U.S. remake of last year’s arthouse sensation “Let the Right One In.”

    The presence of Jenkins adds a sheen of respectability, I suppose. (After the sterling work Overture did in securing him that unlikely Oscar nod, perhaps he owes them one.) As for McPhee, the jury’s still out: I was thoroughly unmoved by his work in “The Road,” but perhaps he has something.

    The press release, in part, after the cut.

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  • Listen to portions of Cave and Ellis’s ‘Road’ score

    The second selection is the overriding theme of the piece that I remember playing throughout the film. Beautiful stuff, aka, the kind of the the Academy’s music branch wouldn’t know how to appreciate.

    Also worth mentioning is “White Lunar,” a collection of some of the duo’s film music compositions.

    (Courtesy: The Playlist)

  • 9/24 Oscarweb Round-up

    Colin Firth• Adam Dawtrey on the rebirth of Colin Firth. [The Guardian]

    • In honor of “A Serious Man,” Nathan Englander picks the top five Jewish films from the 1970s.  Why not the 1960s?  You know, when the Coen film is set? [Film in Focus]

    • Not Oscar related, but most desired remake: “The Goonies.” [Daily Telegraph]

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  • OFF THE CARPET: Suiting up

    George Clooney in Up in the AirYou might have noticed this morning’s round-up reverted back to “Oscarweb.”  The big late-summer festival trilogy wrapped up with Toronto’s kudo-dishing over the weekend and on the other side, we face the long haul.  The season is officially here.  You ready?

    As punishing as it feels, I’m still excited for our weekly coverage.  Punishing because monthly diagnosis is so liberating, but we’re at that stage where the nuances of the season are worth tracking closely, the layers of the race peeled back slowly but surely.  Today’s Off the Carpet column kicks all of that off for us at In Contention.

    Tomorrow we’ll have a list dedicated to the best of the Academy’s chosen.  Wednesday, Guy will launch “The Long Shot,” a new weekly awards column that will consider things from afar without the dizzying insider silliness you find in this space every Monday, and I’m really excited for that.  Gerard comes back Thursday for another series of Tech Support columns, and, of course, Anne and I will continue the conversation Friday in our weekly Oscar Talk podcast.  I think we’re covering all bases.

    So, as we go into the season, what do we know?  And do we think we know more than we actually do?  Probably.

    “Up in the Air,” for instance, was the story of September if only because any goodwill toward “Precious” was already a known commodity.  Jason Reitman’s “Juno” follow-up comes along at just the right time for the country, taps into actor George Clooney’s movie star quality to find other insights and pretty much nails a tone, a vibe, an overall sense of things.

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  • INTERVIEW: Robert Duvall

    Robert DuvallToronto Film Festival

    Sitting down with Robert Duvall is more than a little intimidating. The man does not suffer fools, nor does he have a lot of time for small talk or stupid questions. He likes to talk, but he also likes an informed conversation.  As he nears 80, he is still a force of nature, with a powerful presence and voice that goes up and down depending on his excitement.

    Duvall and I first met in 1997 when “The Apostle” exploded out of Toronto, landing the veteran actor a much-deserved Oscar nomination for Best Actor.  The performance was a volcanic, furious portrait of a man trying to atone for his sins by building a church in the backwoods of Louisiana after killing a man in a fit of rage. For 13 years Duvall shopped the project around Hollywood, being turned down by the major and minor studios until his accountant suggested he finance the film himself.  In a position to do so, he did just that, eventually selling the film at TIFF after a famed bidding war.

    I got to know him when he invited me to spend some time with him on the set of “John Q” while it was shooting here in Toronto, the invitation coming during the 2000 Film Festival when I interviewed him a few times for his soccer picture, “A Shot at Glory,” in which he co-starred with soccer star Ally McCoist.  In the years since, Duvall has kept himself busy with great roles and performances in films such as “Broken Trail,” for which he won the Emmy Award for Best Actor, and “Kicking and Screaming,” a soccer comedy with Will Farrell that seemed like an odd choice for the actor.

    Recognized as one of America’s greatest thespians, Duvall has given an array of brilliant performances over the years, from his breakthrough, shy Boo, in “To Kill a Mockingbird” through to his mafia lawyer Tom Hagen in “The Godfather” and “The Godfather Part II” and perhaps most memorable of all, Kilgore in “Apocalypse Now.” He came into his own in the 1970s, at a time when other major talents such as Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Gene Hackman were also turning in brilliant performances, changing the face of American acting.

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  • TORONTO: More on ‘The Road’

    The RoadThere were some complaints in yesterday’s Toronto thread that I wasn’t specific enough as to why I enjoyed John Hillcoat’s “The Road,” so let me make it clear.

    The film captures, miraculously, in its performances and its images, a profound sense of loss, both for what was and for what will never be. Trees fall around the actors, nothing left to replace them.  There are no flowers, no bushes, no sense of life.  The land — the earth — is slowly dying and with that humanity will die as well.

    Yet The Man is dedicated to surviving and sees his son as the future, as any parent would.  “To me he’s a god.”  One day we will die but our children will live on, and that is a motivating factor carried across precisely in the film.  The Man hopes he is teaching his boy how to survive because he knows he is dying.  The constant pain is etched onto Viggo Mortenson’s face throughout the film, all joy is gone, and memory has become his foe, taking him back to happier times that simply torture him.

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  • TORONTO: ‘The Road,’ ‘Bad Lieutenant,’ ‘Chloe’

    Chloe(Please note, as opposed to Kris and Guy, I tend to grade films on a 5-star scale.)

    Loads to catch up on today and some interviews still to write up. First off, I have to confess that I disagree with Kris’s review of “The Road,” respectfully of course, and I think I have a reason why I might have viewed and appreciated the film in a very different light than he.  I also saw Werner Herzog’s “The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans,” which features a hugely entertaining performance from Nicolas Cage, and the latest from Atom Egoyan, “Chloe,” which features a splendid performance from Amanda Seyfreid.

    Let’s dig in…

    “The Road” (****)

    This was a dark and unsettling film based on the brilliant book by Cormac McCarthy about a father (Viggo Mortensen) and son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) journeying to the south after the world has essentially seen its end of days. We are never really given a clear explanation as to what happened, but the vague description we do get sounds like nuclear war finally came, and the planet is dying a slow death.  Trees are dead, there is nothing alive or growing anymore, the world is a gray and dreary place, as though hell had suddenly burst forth from the bowels of the earth.  The south brings warmer weather, which is what the man and his son need, he believes, to survive, and survivial is what the film is about.

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