In Contention

Tag: The Wrestler

  • Fox Searchlight picks up ‘The Wrestler’

    This morning’s poll wasn’t even an hour old before Anne Thompson reported that Fox Searchlight won a bidding war for Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler.”  Hell, I didn’t even get a chance to vote in it myself.

    Here’s what she has to say:

    In the first major buy of the Toronto International Film Festival, Fox Searchlight won an intense all-night bidding war for Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler, which days before had won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Fest. Searchlight acquired U.S. rights for about $4 million.

    After the packed screening of The Wrestler at Toronto’s Elgin last night, buyers huddled on the street and eventually, made their way to the Four Seasons Hotel to make their bids and pitch their release plans. An Oscar-campaign for Mickey Rourke’s rough-and-tumble, vulnerable performance as a wrestler on the ropes was an essential component of the deal. Most distribs were offering a Monster-style Oscar-qualifying late-year platform with a wider release in January.

    Frankly, I’m somewhat surprised.  “The Wrestler” isn’t in the Searchlight wheelhouse, exactly.  Not that versatility is the issue, but I honestly expected Sony Classics or Miramax to dive in deeper.  But this adds to a new narrative coming out of Toronto: Fox Searchlight is walking out of the fest with a hell of a one-two punch in this and Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire.”  And the studio has proven time and again that it knows how to usher films to Oscar pastures.

    Boy did this race change in the course of a week.  We’ve got a new poll up now, so tell us how you feel about this acquisition.

    Here’s some footage from the film with Aronofsky and Rourke talking their process. I love that Aronofsky told it like it was to Rourke, RE: the actor’s washed-up career:

  • Sweet ‘Wrestler’ promo poster

    I love this old-school event poster for Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler.”  Smart:

    The Wrestler

  • OFF THE CARPET: Indies on the march

    (from left) Evan Rachel Wood and Mickey Rourke in The WrestlerMaybe mid-way through the Toronto Film Festival, two things are strikingly clear: Darren Aronofsky has the goods with “The Wrestler” and Danny Boyle’s streak of successful versatility at the helm continues with “Slumdog Millionaire.”

    Both films, which enjoy pre-Toronto success at Venice and Telluride respectfully, are also evidence that surprises will happen this time of year.  And with an uncharacteriztically level playing field in Toronto this year, we should be thankful they are getting a fair shake.

    One of them is set for distribution, however, while the other is waiting out a buyer.  But will “The Wrestler” find a home and see a release in 2008 or will an awards-heavy distributor pick it up and save it for a rainy day in 2009’s awards season?

    Both options are on the table, it’s just a matter of who bites first, and what they bring to the table.

    On the horizon, everyone is awaiting their post-Toronto peeks at films like “Australia,” “Revolutionary Road,” “Milk” (landing a trailer this week) and “The Soloist.”  David Fincher’s 20 minutes of footage from “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” may have been caught off guard by over-zealous bloggers in Telluride, but the damage may not have been as considerable as some may have thought.

    Speaking of “The Soloist,” chatter is making its way out of the Paramount camp that Robert Downey Jr. is outstanding as LA Times columnist Steve Lopez and hopes are high for a Best Actor nomination.  And as far as “Milk” is concerned, prognosticators may have the wrong idea going in as to which supporting performance has the awards-worthy chops.  More on that at a later date.

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  • POLL: Which studio will pick up ‘The Wrestler?’

    Mickey Rourke in The WrestlerUPDATE 9:24 a.m.: Boy, I expected this to have a short shelf-life, but not an hour or two!  Anyway, check here for the latest and check out the new poll in the sidebar.

    EARLIER: This poll might have a short shelf life, since studios are chomping at the bit in Toronto right now and a deal could be made as early as today, but I thought I’d put it out to the readership.

    Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler” is one of the hottest Toronto tickets this year, but which studio seems most likely to pick it up for domestic distribution?  Keep in mind, a purchase doesn’t necessarily mean a 2008 release.  As one industry friend mentioned earlier this week, it’s just as likely that a studio with a lead actor heavy could pick up the film and save it for next year’s season.

    Bit with that in mind, let’s look through the possibilities:

    Sony Pictures Classics tends to nurture work like this.  One of the most tried and true dependents in the game, the studio doesn’t have a major actor horse in the derby and could be just the thing for Mickey Rourke’s campaign.

    Magnolia Films, meanwhile, is apparently in talks to distribute Steven Soderbergh’s “Che,” which shares a production company with “The Wrestler” in the form of Wild Bunch.  Maybe.  (The majority of IC readers seem to think a two-film release plan for “Che” could hurt its Oscar chances, by the way, judging from last week’s poll.)

    What about Miramax Films?  Lots of ladies on the studio’s docket, but nothing much for the men.  A Philip Seymour Hoffman here and a Mark Ruffalo there could easily take a backseat to an all-engines-go shove for Rourke.

    Focus Features?  “Milk” is going to be the clear focus (no pun intended) for James Schamus and company.  Fox Searchlight?  Peter Price and his team of savy campaigners already picked up an awards heavy in “Slumdog Millionaire” recently.  Are they ready to throw another log on the fire?

    I don’t expect Paramount Vantage to make any purchases at the fest, and most of the majors seem to be satisfied with their still unseen fall product, so I’d say these three are the best bets.  So let’s hear it from the readers…

    Which studio will pick up “The Wrestler?”

  • 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]

  • The rush of TIFF

    I had to link to this Hot Blog post from David Poland, obviously iPhoning it from a crowded theater about to screen Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler.”  Here is the best portion:

    It’s exciting. Exciting in a different way than many other great fest experiences. It’s a real-time event. It’s real-time excitement that makes grown men giddy, fearful, ready for a fight, ready to miss out (all eyes on Rice and Battsek if they get up during the film).

    This is one part of TIFF. A rush. Not the heart of it all. But a piece we all crave.

    And then… the movie.

    This film is quickly becoming my most anticipated effort in a LONG time, but besides that, I love the feel of the room Poland paints here, a true example of what we can do with new media beyond Twittering and Facebooking.

  • ‘Wrestler’: Is Golden Lion just the beginning?

    As Kris just reported, Darren Aronosky’s “The Wrestler” has won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. No surprise there — in what was widely deemed a lukewarm festival, Aronofsky’s film, which only screened yesterday on the Lido, was one of the few outright critical sensations.

    What is surprising is that Mickey Rourke, whose lauded comeback performance is the predominant source of the film’s buzz, missed out on the Best Actor prize, which went to Italy’s Silvio Orlando for “Giovanna’s Father.”

    Perhaps the jury wanted to spread the love. Perhaps after wins for David Strathairn, Ben Affleck and Brad Pitt in the last three years, they felt American actors had been sufficiently rewarded for a while. Prize or no prize, however, this recognition for the film — to which his performance is so integral — makes it quite clear that Rourke is on the awards trail.

    But what of the film itself? In years past, the Golden Lion has been the start of a healthy awards-season run for a couple of films — examples include “Atlantic City,” “Vera Drake,” and most notably, “Brokeback Mountain.”

    It’s no guarantee of future glory, though. In 1996, Neil Jordan’s lavishly mounted biopic “Michael Collins” seemed poised for an awards sweep after it took the Golden Lion and its star, Liam Neeson, nabbed the Best Actor prize. But the film never quite clicked with other awards bodies — and on Oscar nomination morning, all that awaited it was a pair of technical nods.

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  • ‘Wrestler’ wins the Golden Lion in Venice

    Can’t wait.  Can’t freakin’ wait.  Read the full story here.

  • TORONTO: ‘The Wrestler’ is the talk of the fest

    Just two days and a few hours into TIFF 2008 and already one film is emerging as the talk of the festival.

    I do not see “The Wrestler” until Monday, right after “Che.” But I am counting the hours. Every year there seems to be a little film that arrives here with not a lot of advance notice and captures the imaginations of the audiences and critics on the way to becoming one of the hottest films of the season. Discovery is often what TIFF is all about. Finding that gem, celebrating it and letting the world know it is here.

    I remember “The Apostle” in 1997, as I’ve recounted in this space before. Two groups of men got up and ran out of the theater, dialing their cell phones on their way up the aisle. As Robert Duvall told it to me, they began making deals for the film in the lobby of the the theater, until Harvey Weinstein turned it into a nightmare.

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  • BEST ACTOR WATCH: Jeff Goldblum in ‘Adam Resurrected’

    Looking at the latest contenders to muscle in on an already crowded Best Actor field, you could be forgiven for thinking it’s 1986 or something.

    First, the formerly washed-up Mickey Rourke rebounds with an apparently career-best performance in “The Wrestler” that is generating loud Oscar buzz.

    Now Rourke’s relative contemporary, Jeff Goldblum, is setting tongues wagging for another indie effort, albeit one with a much lower profile going in. As Holocaust survivor Adam Steiner in “Adam Resurrected,” the latest film from the ever-underrated Paul Schrader, Goldblum is attracting the kind of attention he hasn’t seen since, well, his career-making performance in “The Fly.”

    Writing from Telluride, where the film bowed, Cinematical’s Kim Voynar began beating the drum:

    Goldblum’s performance as Adam is complex and engrossing to watch, and while I can’t begin to fathom what it must have taken out of him to get inside this story and character to pull the performance off at this level, it’s truly a wonder to behold onscreen. The Oscar buzz circulating Goldblum’s turn in this film is far from hype; he educes the death and rebirth of a man’s soul in such a way that I’d be hard pressed to compare it to anything I’ve ever seen onscreen.

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  • ‘Wrestler’ off to a good start

    Now this is good news. Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler” bows at Venice tomorrow, but the trades have put up their reviews from Toronto … and they’re mighty positive.

    Todd McCarthy and the Hollywood Reporter’s Stephen Farber both give credence to those Best Actor rumours for Mickey Rourke. Farber calls the performance the best of his career, while McCarthy goes further, declaring it one of the great performances, period.

    On another note, I’m pleased to see that both critics confirm a hunch I had that Marisa Tomei — a personal favourite — would deliver too.

    McCarthy raves:

    Rourke creates a galvanizing, humorous, deeply moving portrait that instantly takes its place among the great, iconic screen performances. An elemental story simply and brilliantly told, Darren Aronofsky’s fourth feature is a winner from every possible angle.

    Rourke is simply staggering as Ram. The camera is rarely off him, and one doesn’t want it to be, so entirely does he express the full life of this man with his every word and gesture … As vibrant — and as naked — as she was in last year’s “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead,” Tomei is in top, emotionally forthright form as she charts a life passage similar to Ram’s, if much less extreme.

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  • 9/2 Oscarweb Round-up

    Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler• Todd McCarthy does cartwheels for Danny Boyle’s “Sulmdog Millionaire.” [Variety]

    • Bruce Springsteen’s “Wrestler” track chokes Darren Aronofsky up every time he hears it. [darrenaronofsky.blogspot.com]

    • Peter Sciretta gives a quick, somewhat lacking review of Mike Leigh’s “Happy-Go-Lucky,” seems to be mixed. [/Film]

    • Across the pond, Penélope Cruz talks “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” and working with masters. [Daily Telegraph]

    • Not really awards-related (yet), but, wait…they’re turning “The Wave” into a German language film? Cool! News to me… [Empire]

    • Andrew Pulver separates the cheers from the jeers in Venice. [The Guardian]

    • If you’re looking for one hell of a spiffy awards section… [Rope of Silicon]

    • Rupert Friend makes one creepy Nazi in “The Boy in Striped Pyjamas.” [The Times]

    • Scott Bowles runs down ten fall flicks bursting with potential. [USA Today]

  • Bruce Springsteen tapped to write original song for ‘The Wrestler’

    Bruce SpringsteenAs if I need one more reason to see this film. The Boss? Seriously? Darren Aronofsky is hitting all the right spots with me lately.

    Apparently the director has recruited Bruce Springsteen (the greatest live show you’ll ever see, FYI) to pen an original track for “The Wrestler,” a film I’m already dying to see.

    Anne Thompson writes:

    The company [Wild Bunch] is debuting Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler late in Venice, concurrent with Toronto, because they’re waiting for Bruce Springsteen to finish his song for the movie’s credits.

    The fact that it is a closing credits number could hurt it’s Oscar hopes, given that the Academy has shied away from such material since the rule change three years ago. But a good song is a good song, dammit, and Springsteen is incapable of writing a bad one.

    Good lord I hope this is picked up in a hurry so I can figure out who to talk to about screenings!

    Springsteen won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 1993 for “Streets of Philadelphia,” from Jonathan Demme’s “Philadelphia.” He was also nominated in 1995 for the title track to Tim Robbins’s “Dead Man Walking.

  • 9/1 Oscarweb Round-up

    Dev Patel in Slumdog Millionaire• Anne Thompson points us to a Best Original Song contender from the Boss in Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler.” But it’s a closing credits tune, which doesn’t bode well given the newest rules implemented by the Academy in 2005. [Thompson on Hollywood]

    • She also tries to offset some of the negative press that greeted the 20 minute “Benjamin Button” reel, taking the time to swat at bloggers who didn’t exactly “review” anything, but actually gave their honest opinion. Fancy that…maybe teasing an unfinished product wasn’t the best idea? [Thompson on Hollywood]

    • Screen Daily gets the scoop on the “Che” distribution strategy…but didn’t we always know it would be released as two films? [Screen Daily]

    • T.L. Stanley wonders whether this year’s crop of Oscar films will be a box office buzz kill. [Gold Rush]

    • “Disaster Movie” is probably not going to be an Oscar film…FYI. [/Film]

    • Kim Voyner kicks the Oscar tires for Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire,” a Godsend for Fox Searchlight, which was sitting hollow with a Dakota Fanning vehicle as their only awards hopeful until this week. [Cinematical]

    • Pete Howell chases the buzz in Toronto. Hey, didn’t “For Your Consideration” win this poll last year? [Toronto Star]

    • Jeffrey Wells gets hears some second hand buzz from a friend who thinks Jeff Goldblum gives an Oscar-level performance in Paul Schrader’s “Adam Resurrected.” [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • And in case you missed it, we’ve launched our weekly Oscar column. [In Contention]

  • OFF THE CARPET: Make way for the little guys…or not

    Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting MarriedIt may be Labor Day, but the work at hand is breathing down our necks. So it is that we come to the first weekly Oscar column of the new awards season.

    Though to be frank with you, I’m beginning to wonder whether we’ll be able to keep the conversation going, much less interesting on a weekly basis as we push through the last four months of the year. I knew going in to this year that it was going to be a somewhat low-key season, and my own worst fears have been founded in a number of pre-Toronto screenings of films that will be discussed in a week’s time, films leaving me cold, irritated or otherwise just unconvinced.

    I don’t sense a lull on the level of 2005 by any means, but I do get the feeling that after two solid years of cinematic goodness, 2008 could just be one of those “rebuilding” years, to steal a sports term and painfully attempt its application here. It’s interesting (and telling) that my two favorite films of the year are a stoner comedy and a superhero adaptation respectively (though the latter obviously has a legion of fans banking on major awards success…more on that later).

    The most intriguing component for me is the playground that Toronto will provide for a bevy of independent and genuinely smaller product. The heavy-hitters (or, at the very least, the presumed heavy-hitters) are incomplete and not prepared for fall fest unveiling (aside from “Frost/Nixon,” which has already been seen and seems to be riding a wave of confidence at Universal).

    But efforts like Mike Leigh’s “Happy-Go-Lucky,” Jonathan Demme’s “Rachel Getting Married,” Vicente Amorim’s “Good,” Guillermo Arriaga’s “The Burning Plain,” Rian Johnson’s “The Brothers Bloom,” Richard Eyre’s “The Other Man,” etc. — true indies with a fighting chance to turn some heads — won’t have to suffer in the shadows of big studio films angling for the press of an Oscar season starting gun.

    Meanwhile, Cannes entries such as Fernando Meirelles’s “Blindness,” Charlie Kaufman’s “Synecdoche, New York,” Matteo Garrone’s “Gomorrah” and Steven Soderbergh’s “Che” get an uninhibited second chance in front of festival audiences. Ditto Clint Eastwood’s “Changeling,” in the case of the New York fest.

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  • Welcome back Mr. Rourke

    Mickey Rourke in The WrestlerHe could radiate danger or disarm you with an impish smile. His eyes flashed with rage, or softened with love, both entirely believable. There was a purity to his work, an honesty, an authenticity that many other actors did not, and do not have; he seemed destined to be one of the greats.

    There was a time Mickey Rourke was the heir apparent to Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall and Jack Nicholson, an actor with extraordinary gifts having given an impressive array of performances throughout the 1980s. He stopped “Body Heat” in its tracks with his intimate arsonist, speaking quietly to William Hurt, his lawyer, instructing him on how to build a bomb, his tones quiet as so not to be heard, yet slightly ashamed at what he was suggesting.

    He was astonishing as Motorcycle Boy in Francis Ford Coppola’s experimental and brilliant film “Rumble Fish.”  He tackled the role of a young man blessed, or cursed, with being good at everything he did, yet lacking in ambition because nothing challenged him.

    Rourke was brilliant in “Diner” as the would-be hair dresser that gets in too deep with gambling. And opposite Eric Roberts in “The Pope of Greenwich Village” he put on a method acting workshop that would have made De Niro and Pacino jealous

    Michael Cimino’s under-appreciated “Year of the Dragon,” Alan Parker’s “Angel Heart” — equal success as a  bigoted police captain and a dedicated gumshoe respectively.  And then it all fell apart.

    Friendships with members of the Hells Angels, some of whom he took to studio meetings, and a strange foray into boxing made Rourke poison in the business. No one would work with him.

    This is all beautifully outlined in my good friend Christopher Heard’s book Mickey Rourke: High and Low, and it’s fascinating to read, to gain an understanding of how and why Rourke’s career imploded as it did. Here was a massively talented actor, a prodigy if you will, one of the new greats, and before he was 35 he was finished.

    BUT…now he’s coming back with what is said to be a solid performance in Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler.”  If rumors can believed (sometimes they can, sometimes…well…), the performance might land him in the Oscar circle.  Kris touched on these possibilities a few weeks ago.

    In fairness, Rourke has been back for a while with acclaimed work in “Once Upon a Time in Mexico” and “Sin City,” but this new film supposedly challenges him as an actor and I hear he rises to the occasion with what is being hailed as the finest performance of his career and among the finest of this year.

    All hail Mr. Rourke.  And weclome back…it’s been too long.

  • ‘Che’ and ‘Porno’ among 20 new films announced for Toronto

    Benicio Del Toro in CheJohn hasn’t addressed this yet, so I’ll put it out there…

    Variety’s Anne Thompson is reporting on 20 new films added to the line-up of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Following suit with yesterday’s New York fest news, Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler” and Steven Soderbergh’s “Che” (listed as “Part One” and “Part Two” for Toronto) will make the trip up north.

    Other special presentations of note include Rian Johnson’s “The Brothers Bloom,” Richard Linklater’s “Me and Orson Welles,” Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire,” Kevin Smith’s controversial “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” Guillermo Arriaga’s “The Burning Plain” (could be Oscar bait for actress Charlize Theron), Charlie Kaufman’s “Synecdoche, New York” and Marc Abraham’s “Flash of Genius” (which could be an awards vehicle for Greg Kinnear).

    The big news, however, seems to be that Clint Eastwood’s “Changeling” will not be heading to the fest. Here’s Thompson on that front:

    Clint Eastwood’s Cannes Fest entry “Changeling,” which will be the centerpiece of the New York Film Festival, will not be at Toronto because there was uncertainty about new mother Angelina Jolie’s availability to participate in a gala premiere. “We would have loved to have had Clint Eastwood,” said Bailey, “but the only way to present the movie in a big way was as a gala with Eastwood and Jolie.”

    Basically, the Toronto crew can’t star-fuck, so they’d rather not show it. Gotcha.

    Anyway, read all about the new additions here. The full line-up will be unveiled next Tuesday.

  • NYFF reveals full line-up

    Mickey Rourke in The WrestlerThe full schedule of the 46th annual New York Film Festival was released today.  indieWIRE has the scoop.

    The big showcase I’m looking forward to is, of course, Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler” (which I touched on yesterday).  But also landing in the Big Apple will be Clint Eastwood’s “Changeling,” Mike Leigh’s “Happy-Go-Lucky” and Steven Soderbergh’s “Che.”

    Time will tell if the latter remains distribution-less after a North American bow.  Something tells me, given Soderbergh’s tenacity, that it will.

    I’m also interested in Matteo Garrone’s “Gomorrah” (with an “h” this time), which was a considerable favorite at this year’s Cannes fest, as well as Wong Kar-Wai’s “Ashes of Time Redux.”  Despite a personal distaste for the Chinese helmer, this project has a special something keeping my interest piqued.  Ari Folman’s Canne fave “Waltz with Bashir” will also make the trip.

    And then there is Steve McQueen’s “Hunger,” a meditation on the IRA hunger strike that made Bobby Sands a national hero in Northern Ireland.  I spent a weekend in Belfast while I was overseas this summer and remember coming across a giant wall mural of Sands, part of a guided tour with one of his former compatriots who also participated in the protest.

    I’ve been hearing fantastic things about Michael Fassbender’s performance in the film.  He dropped an amount of weight that supposedly makes Christian Bale look obese in “The Machinist.”  It might be one of the lowest flying turns on the awards radar so far, and if IFC Films can spin a valiant campaign around the actor, watch out.

    Check out the full roster of NYFF titles here.  The festival begins September 26 and runs through October 12.