In Contention

Tag: The Secret Life of Bees

  • “An Oscar-less Toronto” — but not for Searchlight

    Anybody who’s kept even half an eye on film news recently knows by now that, compared to previous years, the consecutive Venice and Toronto festivals have done little to illuminate the Oscar race. (Unless, I suppose, you were one of those predicting major glory for “Miracle at St. Anna.”)

    The Hollywood Reporter adds their verdict to the pile here, quoting an executive as declaring the fest “an Oscar-less Toronto.” There’s little new perspective in the article, but it’s a handy enough precis. They do think one race has benefited from the festival:

    But the festival might have helped clarify at least one category: the best actress race. The beneficiaries have been Anne Hathaway in Jonathan Demme’s dysfunctional-family drama “Rachel Getting Married”; Sally Hawkins in “Happy-Go-Lucky,” the Mike Leigh film about a chipper young schoolteacher; and, if Searchlight chooses to make an awards push for her, “The Secret Life of Bees” star Dakota Fanning.

    Hmmm. It’s not as if Hathaway and Hawkins weren’t deemed contenders before Toronto. (The Golden Globes may as well drop the other three slots for Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical, right?) And Dakota Fanning? With those reviews? Yeah, right.

    In any case, as they acknowledge, Searchlight has other priorities now, having nabbed the two hottest Toronto titles:

    The lone film that has emerged as a genuine standout is Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler,” which went in as a question mark and will leave as a contender in pretty much every major awards category. To a lesser extent, Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire” also is generating awards talk, though its cast is entirely unknown.

    (more…)

  • 9/8 Oscarweb Round-up

    Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks in Zack and Miri Make a Porno• Jen Yamato wonders what the hell happened to Oscar-winner Cuba Gooding Jr. [Rotten Tomatoes]

    • Jeffrey Wells puts up a positive review of Kevin Smith’s “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” philosophizes on the photographical approach to actually shooting a porno. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • Logan Hill profiles “The Brothers Bloom” star Rachel Weisz back East. [New York Magazine]

    • Scott Macaulay goes party-hopping in Toronto. [Filmmaker Magazine]

    • Dave Karger and Missy Schwartz put together a video mid-term report for Toronto. [Entertainment Weekly]

    • Focus Features honcho James Schamus is honored with the Trailblazer Award at the Woodstock Film Festival.  WELL deserved. [MovieMaker Magazine]

    • Lou Lumenick considers Dakota Fanning a “formidable actress” in “The Secret Life of Bees,” but doesn’t see Oscar on the horizon. [Lumenick on Film]

    • A preview of Clint Mansell’s “Wrestler” score pops up online…I’m loving it. [MySpace]

    • Tommy Lee Jones sues Paramount over “No Country for Old Men” profits.  Show me the money. [Associated Press]

    • Anne Thompson’s heart goes out to Charlie Kaufman. [Thompson on Hollywood]

  • Poland takes his first stab

    Benicio Del Toro in CheDavid Poland has dipped his toes into the Oscar waters of 2008 and come up with…well, the same thing we’ve all got at the moment, to tell you the truth.

    The one point he touches on that we haven’t brought up in this space yet is the notion that The Weinstein Company’s “The Reader” will likely find its way to screens in 2009 rather than this year.  There’s a discrepancy of preference between the studio and producer Scott Rudin, but we can guess who wins that battle at the end of the day.  Rudin has plenty to keep his 2008 attention with John Shanley’s “Doubt” and Sam Mendes’s “Revolutionary Road.”

    Here are Poland’s brief asides on that:

    There still could be a backdoor surprise effort, like the Weinsteins’ Scott Rudin movie, The Reader… but probably not.  (The one 2009 title that screams “They could make December!” is DreamAmount’s The Lovely Bones, though Par needs Benjamin Button to make a LOT of money and awards talk will help and DW’s side of that mountain is pushing The Soloist hard as they exit the auditorium.)…

    …The Reader also happens to be the last picture made by Mirage under Pollack and Minghella.  But, the in-control producer on board is Scott Rudin, who always has a lot of awards pictures out there and probably doesn’t want this one to threaten Doubt or his beloved Revolutionary Road (which also stars Kate Winslet).  And for that matter, Rudin is probably appalled with the idea of an appeal for The Reader being made by invoking two lost Oscar-winning filmmakers… especially Pollack, for whom Rudin went well out of his way to keep the keep the press at bay as Polack dealt with his illness and efforts at recovery.

    He’s also got his first big list of title up as well, including some love for “W” (after that trailer?) and mentions for “The Secret Life of Bees” (the one film Fox Searchlight will be taking to Toronto) and “Che” (which will go before North American audiences at the New York fest but still is unlikely to see the light of day in 2008…unless director Steven Soderbergh suddenly decides to make a buck for an interested studio rather than perpetuate his long-ish vision of the film.

    Read up on Poland’s column here, and check out his chart here.

    And check back Monday for our updated charts here at In Contention.

  • New Toronto films announced

    Miramax Films\' Happy-Go-LuckyThe press office of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF for future purposes) announced some new titles for the line up at this year’s festival yesterday.

    Two Gala Presentation announcements include “The Secret Life of Bees” with Dakota Fanning, Paul Bettany, Jennifer Hudson and Queen Latifah, and “The Duchess” featuring Keira Knightley in the biographical role of a woman who brought sweeping political change to England with her progressive attitudes.

    In the Special Presentations Program we have “Every Little Step,” looking to be a fascinating documentary about the making of the Broadway sensation “A Chorus Line,” which dominated American Theatre in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was royally screwed up as a film by the vastly over-appreciated Sir Richard Attenborough.

    From the great Wong Kar-Gai comes “Ashes of Time Redux,”  while Mike Leigh brings to us the highly anticiapted “Happy-Go-Lucky”. Guy Ritchie will unveil “RocknRolla” to audiences here with Larry Charles bringing to our fair city his new picture “Religulous”.

    “Ghost Town” sounds promising, as the story follows a man portrayed by Ricky Gervais who dies unexpectedly and is revived with the powert to see ghosts. And as expected, “Waltz with Bashir” will make its North American premiere here at TIFF.