“Let me get this straight. The one’s about a precocious computer geek who’s also a bit of an asshole.”
“Yeah.”
“And the other’s about King George VI.”
“Yeah.”
“And King George VI has a disability.”
“Well, he has a stutter. I mean, it’s not crippling or anything — ”
“But it’s an obstacle that needs to be overcome.”
“Yeah.”
“And I assume, at the end, he does. And becomes King.”
Things looked so upbeat for fledgling distribution outfit Apparition when they started out last year. Masterminded by former Picturehouse head Bob Berney, the company was christened with the acquisition of one of 2009’s best films, Jane Campion’s “Bright Star.” A classy roster of titles followed, including “The Young Victoria,” “Fair Game,” “The Runaways” and, most eagerly awaited of all, Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life.”
They didn’t quite know what to do with everything they had — “Bright Star” was unfortunately buried by ill-thought scheduling and idle marketing — but they did manage to eke out an Oscar win for “Victoria” before their first birthday, and also nabbed one of the starrier titles at this year’s Sundance fest: the Kristen Stewart and James Gandolfini starrer “Welcome to the Rileys.” Not bad going, particularly in the current indie climate.
How quickly things change in Hollywood. Just before Cannes, Berney caught industry watchers off-guard by pulling out of Apparition, and the company has been reeling from the shock ever since. Anne Thompson reports that co-founder Bill Pohlad has taken the drastic measure of shutting down their New York office and nearly halving the staff.
Well, you were right. But for the true completists among you — we do promise awards coverage “this deep,” after all — here’s a suitably obscure nugget to wrap up the 2009 parade.
The Ivor Novello Awards supposedly honor the finest in British music composition, and while they receive a reasonable amount of press in the UK for their pop music citations, many aren’t aware that they have a film score category too. With that in mind, the nominees for Best Original Film Score are:
John Powell, “Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs”
Helene Muddiman, “Skin”
Ilan Eshkeri, “The Young Victoria”
Well, now you know. I’d say the nominating committee clearly didn’t see “Moon,” but hell, they saw “Skin.” Curious. Still, any organisation that recognises the songwriting skillz of both Lily Allen and The Duckworth Lewis Method ain’t all bad.
As I look over my final predictions for tomorrow night’s Oscar ceremony, I notice that I’ve made only one change — in the Best Live Action Short category — since taking my initial stab the day of the nominations. And I haven’t made a single change since I started the Oscar Guide series.
Am I that confidant in my picks? Not really. It’s a very unpredictable year all of a sudden (the AP chimes in on that here), even if conventional wisdom would have us believe much of this is a foregone conclusion. But nothing has really moved the needle during the bulk of phase two and the one controversy that popped up may not be as detrimental as some suspect. Regardless, I’m frankly bracing myself for having an off year.
And it kinda sucks because I set a pretty high bar for myself last year, a personal best, as I nailed down a web-leading 21 of the 24 categories (23 of 24 if you count alternates). That included a call for “Departures” that left me exposed to plenty of “You’re just trying to be different” heckling. Ahem.
If I even approach those numbers this time around, I’ll certainly be surprised. I frankly don’t expect to hit 21 ever again, but who knows? Many areas of this race are coming right down to the wire.
• Scott Feinberg talks at length with Harvey Weinstein, who had a busy week of Pied Pipering the Oscar bloggers last week. [And the Winner Is…]
• Presumed costume design frotnrunner Sandy Powell sure is making the rounds. She sits down with Paul Gaita to discuss the threads of “The Young Victoria.” [The Envelope]
• David Poland disputes the “Shutter Island” bashing. [The Hot Blog]
The writing, in case you hadn’t already read it, is on the wall.
In the biggest BAFTA haul for a non-British production since “American Beauty” a decade ago, Kathryn Bigelow’s Iraq drama took six awards at the Royal Opera House, including Best Film, Director and Original Screenplay. Next up: Oscars. And plenty of ’em, I’m guessing.
I did respectably enough in my predictions, nailing 15 out of 21 categories, though I missed the big one, thinking homegrown favorite “An Education” would come out on top. The Brits did, however, vote local in the lead acting categories, with Colin Firth and Carey Mulligan taking well-deserved honors — probably their last of the season.
“An Education” lost both the top awards it was up for, as the ever-selective Best British Film committee once more looked to the fringes to reward Andrea Arnold’s “Fish Tank” instead. I’m thrilled to see a major award for my #2 film of last year, after it was blanked entirely in the general categories. Continuing a good night for my pet films, meanwhile, “A Prophet” took foreign-language honors.
The Academy’s makeup category is one of two fields that calls for a whittling down of the contenders via a “bake-off.” Reels of the work from the seven finalists are screened, so an impressive assemblage is all you need. The work on the whole isn’t really being considered, so this can yield surprises in the field.
This year there were a couple of surprises to say the least. A little known foreign film pushed through while a costume drama that isn’t entirely memorable for its makeup (though perhaps is well-respected for hairstyling) also popped up. Meanwhile, the presumed frontrunner for the win — “District 9” — was snubbed outright, the general feeling being that CGI enhancement was its downfall.
The nominees are:
“Il Divo” (Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano)
“Star Trek” (Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow)
“The Young Victoria” (Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore)
These appeared at Movie City News’s Gurus o’ Gold page this morning, so you probably already saw them. Here they are in any case, since, you know, I guess it’s about that time:
Best Picture: “The Hurt Locker”
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”
Best Actress: Sandra Bullock, “The Blind Side”
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”
Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique, “Precious”
Best Adapted Screenplay: “Up in the Air”
Best Original Screenplay: “The Hurt Locker”
• Is it really an honor just to be nominated? [CNN]
• Nathaniel Rogers notes that, despite the 10, we still ended up with a typical Oscar mixture of “a mix of message movies, epics, dramas and war films.” [The Film Experience]
• Of Apparition’s dueling period pieces, Anne Thompson wonders what went wrong for “Bright Star” and right for “The Young Victoria.” Her answer: momentum. [Thompson on Hollywood]
It’s time for me to go to the well one more time before next week’s big announcement. That’s right, six days and the mystery of the 10 will finally be answered. But first, some blind (since there are no nominations yet) guesses. Just trying to find the right balance here:
Best Picture: “The Hurt Locker”
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”
Best Actress: Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia”
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”
Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique, “Precious”
Best Adapted Screenplay: “Up in the Air”
Best Original Screenplay: “The Hurt Locker”
Via AMPAS press release, the final group includes:
“District 9”
“Il Divo”
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
“Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian”
“The Road”
“Star Trek”
“The Young Victoria”
Well, there was always one spot in flux for me here and most recently I was giving it to “Cirque du Freak” for some great work by a veteran of the branch. If I were to hazard a guess as to which of these gets it, I guess I’d say “Parnassus,” its one and only nomination. There is some good work in “Il Divo,” too (from the artist who brought the natives of “Apocalypto” to prosthetic life), so maybe that could come around. Or “The Road.” The rest seem like non-starters to me.
• Jeffrey Wells passes along an aside concerning Walter Kirn’s original ending to “Up in the Air” and a lingering thread in Jason Reitman’s film. Frankly, I think it would have made it even better. [Hollywood Elsewhere]
• Sasha Stone previews tomorrow’s Scripter nominations announcement. I’d say her predictions are spot-on. [Awards Daily]
• Best Actor watch 2010? Simon Hattenstone chats with Andy Serkis about his performance as Ian Dury in the upcoming “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll.” [The Guardian]
On the technical side of things, is anyone as uninspired as I am by the apparent frontrunners for Best Costume Design?
I bow to no one in my admiration for the genius of Sandy Powell, but the Easter egg-colored wardrobe of “The Young Victoria” is routine work by her high standards. That hasn’t stopped most picking her as the one to beat, given the Academy’s recent penchant for royal frills in that category.
Another two-time winner, Colleen Atwood, has more awards heat for “Nine” than “Public Enemies” — a situation really not borne out by her flashy but familiar work in the former film. And it’s obvious that Anna B. Sheppard knows her WWII duds inside-out, but does she serve up anything new in the admittedly well-dressed “Inglourious Basterds?”
I gave this an initial stab nearly two months ago. I thought I might as well re-visit things. (And hopefully there won’t be anyone getting their panties in a twist over something as harmless as this. You know who you are.)
Best Picture: “Avatar”
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”
Best Actress: Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia”
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”
Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique, “Precious”
Best Adapted Screenplay: “Up in the Air”
Best Original Screenplay: “Inglourious Basterds”
*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.
It’s “Avatar” day people! The day some of us have been waiting for! The movie has been hyped for years and if you listen to the critics, James Cameron has delivered. The man has a pretty impeccable box office history and is belatedly coming off the highest grossing film of a generation.
That would be the $921.5 million-grossing, 11 Academy Award-winning “Titanic” for anyone wondering. No matter what he made next, anticipation was going to be huge, but the non-stop chatter about “game-changing” and “brand new viewing experience” has made things reach a fever pitch.
After the trailer debuted, I thought we were looking at an epic fail. I thought the effects looked crappy and the story looked stiff as a brick. I thought no one over the age of 40 would possibly be interested. Now that some people have actually laid eyes on it, it seems I’m in the extreme minority. This sucker is poised to make a lot of money.
As the season hits its stride, and precursors turn murky perceptions of pack leaders and stragglers into harder realities, I find myself wondering how I would fill out my ballot if I were an Academy member.
That’s not the same as wondering what I would fill my ballot with – as Kris just did today. Unlike many voters in the Academy and precursor ranks alike, who seemingly run out of ideas two slots in (“Hmm, did I see ten movies this year?”) and then reach for the names they’ve heard everyone else mention, I have no shortage of worthy suggestions for inclusion, whether people are talking about them or not.
No, I’m referring to the how, the method, the strategy. Is it as simple as jotting down the films and individual achievements one admired most over the past 12 months? In a perfect world, yes. But do considerations of which of one’s favorites – and, indeed, least favorites – pose a threat in the race necessitate some compromise?
Were I an Academy voter, in other words, would I give “35 Shots of Rum” one of my Best Picture slots, knowing full well it doesn’t having a snowball’s chance of a nomination? Or would I be a little craftier, and give the slot to “The Messenger” – a fine film that I love less, but that has slightly more hope of knocking something truly undeserving from the Oscar lineup?
• John Horn writes up the Hollywood journey of Scott Cooper’s “Crazy Heart.” [Los Angeles Times]
• On the flashy opening credits sequence from “Up in the Air” with designer Gareth Smith. [MakingOf]
• Anne Thompson re-visists her old haunt, writes up the possibilities for genre play in this year’s expanded Best Picture field. [Variety]
There’s nothing like an Oscar season to prove what a small number five (or even ten) is.
We may only be in November, but already, months of conversation, covering a broad canvas of Oscar sure-shots and long-shots alike, have devolved into a ruthless mathematical elimination process, as previously five-wide categories fill up with safe bets. Before you know it, scores of previously fancied contenders are jostling for a mere one or two supposedly “free” slots on the ballot, and with each week that passes, the pool of possibles is culled further.
This is, of course, hardest on independent or leftfield contenders. Having fought mightily even to enter the discussion in the first place, they must then rely on a flaky combination of precursors, DVD screeners and prayer to stay afloat.
Miracles do happen, of course, thanks largely to the Academy’s weighted ballot system, where a number-one vote is all. (Nobody was talking about Tommy Lee Jones to take the last Best Actor slot in 2007, but there he was nonetheless. Ditto the recent likes of Michael Shannon, Samantha Morton and “City of God.”)
With that in mind, I’d like to spotlight one contender in each major category that deserves a similarly happy outcome. Many of them are names I’ve championed before. Most of them are sitting on the furthest reaches of the sidelines. All of them deserve better.