In Contention

Tag: Up in the Air

  • THE LONG SHOT: Hollywood fights back

    Sharlto Copley in District 9I may be looking out at my snow-caked garden as I write this, but it was in the spirit of spring-cleaning that I revised my nomination predictions this morning, ridding myself of most of the clinging personal hopes and hunches that lingered when I last updated them a month ago.

    It wasn’t the most drastic of revisions (rather to my surprise, I found I’d already predicted a robust haul for “District 9” before the Guilds made it such a strong bet), but it was my most detached one to date, anticipating a race that looks set to be rather passionless on my part.

    Rarely have so many of the leading players in the Best Picture race left me so cold – as “Avatar,” “Invictus,” “Precious,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “Up in the Air,” “Star Trek” and even “Up” all failed to arouse any particularly warm feelings in me, I began to wonder if I should just retreat to bed until March 8.

    (Unfortunately, for those of you wishing I’d do just that, a healthy precursor run for “The Hurt Locker,” one contender I love without reservation, is keeping me invested.)

    Still, my individual response to the films in question isn’t the only reason I’m feeling a little distanced from this year’s competition. As it currently stands, Hollywood looks set to enjoy its most homegrown Oscar race in some time.

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  • 1/12 Oscarweb Round-up

    Peter Capaldi in In the Loop• Steve Pond talks “In the Loop” with Armando Ianucci and Peter Capaldi. [The Odds]

    • Dave Karger makes his Golden Globe picks. [Entertainment Weekly]

    • Katey Rich runs down the pros and cons in a four-way race (but it’s actually a three-way race). [Cinema Blend]

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  • ACE nominees

    Sharlto Copley in District 9For me, “District 9” is the biggest and most pleasant surprise for me in this morning’s American Cinema Editors announcement.  If ever the film looked like a lock for a Best Picture nomination, now is that time, I have to say.  Getting in over presumed Oscar frontrunners “Precious” and, most especially, “Inglourious Basterds,” that’s a pretty big feather in its cap if you ask me.

    “Star Trek” also makes another fairly strong case this morning for getting into the Academy’s 10 over something like “Invictus,” which keeps missing with guild after guild and should, perhaps, finally be called a spade.  The drama field is then rounded out by what has become the rather definitive frontrunner trilogy of films.

    In the comedy field, we get veterans in Joe Hutshing and Richard Marks perhaps predictably recognized for “Its Complicated” and “Julie & Julia” respectively, while the Coen brothers get their third nomination from the guild to date.  The other two: Best Picture nominees “Fargo” and “No Country for Old Men.” Round it out with two comedies that are tricking people into thinking they’ll be Best Picture nominees (with no mention of the dead and dying “Nine”) and voila, the ACE Eddie nominees.

    Check out the full list after the jump.

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  • ‘Avatar,’ ‘Star Trek’ among WGA nominees

    Michelle Rodriguez in AvatarAnd, there we are. “Avatar” gets a nomination for best writing from a 10,000 member-strong guild and plenty will find reason to argue with it. But let’s look at the rest.

    “The Hangover” managed to get a nomination in the original screenplay field in the wake of a number of eligibility rulings on some top contenders. I’m most excited for Scott Cooper and “Crazy Heart,” because I’m getting the feeling he might turn this and his USC Scripter bid into something tangible for Oscar consideration. “District 9,” of course, was not eligible here and is still a threat, ditto “An Education,” but the race is a little more interesting now.  Especially when you consider Nora Ephron (also nominated today), who I’ve always felt was a threat with the Academy for navigating two sources and making some entertaining sense of it all.

    Elsewhere it’s the usual suspects, except for the appearance of “Star Trek” in the adapted ranks.  Yes, the writers of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” are WGA nominees.  But in my view, they deserve the pat on the back for this film, a high octane entertainment that was smartly conceived and remains one of the true gems of 2009.

    Check out the nominees after the jump.

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  • 1/11 Oscarweb Round-up

    The Hurt Locker• Dave McNary catches up with the thin WGA field story.  (Nominees will be announced later this morning.) [Variety]

    • The local rag continues to step up its crafts coverage, spotlights “The Hurt Locker” sound mixer (and sound editor) Paul Ottosson. [Los Angeles Times]

    • On the non-actor terminated from Jason Reitman’s “Up in the Air.” [The Guardian]

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  • SUNDAY CENTS: That ‘Avatar’ thing is doing well, eh?

    Avatar*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    Have you guys heard of this movie “Avatar?” Apparently, seeing as it’s the number one movie for the fourth week in a row and dropped a ridiculous 29% to $48.5 million. First off, it’s the biggest fourth weekend for a film ever, narrowly eclipsing the $45 million of “Titanic.” Its running total of $429 makes it the 24th biggest film of the last 30 years and it’s only been out for 24 days.

    Remember how big “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” was? Well, “Avatar” will pass it tomorrow on the all time chart. Remember how ludicrous the grosses for “The Passion of the Christ” were? That’ll get passed on Tuesday.

    There’s no overstating the size of this film’s performance, and it’s time to start talking about a $600 million+ finish domestically. Since I was born in 1982, there have only been five films that have made that kind of money: “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,” “Titanic,” “Return of the Jedi,” “Jurassic Park” and “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.” Somewhere right now, James Cameron is shitting a gold brick.

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  • WEEKLY WRAP: Guilds, lists and disqualifications

    Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker• In a big week for precursor announcements, the DGA nominations were the biggest — and least surprising.

    • The PGA, meanwhile, found room for all three of the year’s hot sci-fi titles in its nominee slate.

    • “The Hurt Locker” triumphed at the National Society of Film Critics Awards, the first film in 12 years to sweep the three top critics’ prizes.

    • Over five days, I counted down my personal Top 50 films of the decade that was.

    • And we’re not done listing: Chad also gathered his 20 favorites of 2009.

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  • Small victories

    Veeeeery small. And silver medals rather than victories. But hey, kudos to the Central Ohio Film Critics Association for (almost) going where no one else will go:

    Best Actress: Carey Mulligan, “An Education”
    Runner-up: Charlotte Gainsbourg, “Antichrist”

    Best Cinematography: Robert Richardson, “Inglourious Basterds”
    Runner-up: Anthony Dod Mantle, “Antichrist”

  • Art Directors Guild nominees

    Johnny Depp in Public EnemiesI’ve had my eye on these because I’ve always felt that, if “Avatar” could slide in here, it might be able to get over any weird bias against the way it was designed (largely in computer, etc.). But after sitting down with Robert Stromberg yesterday, and with these nominations in mind, I feel better about its prospects for Oscar in the category now.

    I’m happy to see “The Lovely Bones” recognized, though I’m consistently baffled as to where the distinction is between “contemporary” and “period” with this film.  And can I also say, looking out over the slate of nominees, this is a damn fine year for art direction?  The 10 in period and fantasy could easily find their way to nominations.

    The obvious snub here is kind of a big one, I’d say: “Nine.” Despite the quality of the film, the below-the-line elements were exemplary.  I guess it wasn’t enough to overcome the film’s overall critical reception.  Oh, and big ups to Jess Gonchor, who I’ve said since day one was a threat for his and set decorator Nancy Haigh’s meticulous work on “A Serious Man.” Stay tuned next week for a Tech Support interview with the principals from that film

    Nominees after the jump.

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  • WGA on the way

    (from left) Quinton Aaron and Sandra Bullock in The Blind SideWith the DGA, SAG and PGA out of the way, it’s on to the fourth and final of the major guild announcements: the Writers Guild of America, which announces Monday.

    The WGA has seemingly instituted a slash and burn campaign on a number of the year’s hopefuls this season.  Go here, here and here for the details.  Alright, “slash and burn” isn’t really accurate.  If WGA brass wants to play “in the club,” that’s their prerogative.  No sense getting worked up over it.  But suffice it to say, the field is fairly wide open now and, at the end of the day, no one should really bother putting too much prognosticative stock into what we get from the guild next week, seeing as the AMPAS writers branch is likely to go with a number of the fallen.

    Still — it’s fun to guess at the picks, no?

    From where I stand there are still 10 really decent bets, and maybe five or six more that wouldn’t surprise me if they made it through.  Best Picture contenders “The Hurt Locker,” “Precious” and “Up in the Air” are probably the easiest picks of the bunch, but what about the other seven?

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  • 1/8 Oscarweb Round-up

    The Princess and the Frog• Faith-based marketing and “The Blind Side.” [Cinematical]

    • Why “The Princess and the Frog” is making history while looking to the past. [The Times]

    • Academy names Sci-Tech honors. [Variety]

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  • Jason Reitman’s video press tour

    “Up in the Air” director Jason Reitman has been as diligent as he can be about taking a photo of each of the journalists who have interviewed him along the way as he’s been promoting his new film throughout the fall, beginning way back in early December (where I actually first sat down with him — read that piece here).  He’s assembled the stills, along with some video here and there, set it to the sounds of The Clash’s “Janie Jones.”  I show up around 1:55 (snapped in his West Hollywood offices when I spoke with him for that “Up in the Air” crafts piece a few weeks back), looking unnecessarily intimidating as always.

    Have a look at “Lost in the Air: The Jason Reitman Press Tour Simulator”:

  • USC Scripter nominations announced

    Cover of Crazy Heart by Thomas CobbThe USC Libraries has announced its list of contenders for the Scripter prize, which honors adapted screenplays, their writers and the source materials and authors that spawned them.

    So, with that in mind, I’m not sure how the “District 9” nod is justified here in the slightest, given the stated intention of the award.* But that’s another feather in the film’s cap regardless.  It could be picking up a big head of steam here.  More on that when we preview the DGA nominations tomorrow.

    A big congrats to Scott Cooper for finally getting some love of his own this Oscar season. I had a hunch he might show up here. Maybe this can help turn the corner for a film too many are quick to chalk up as “performance only.”

    I guess we can probably expect Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner to walk away with the award, but as always, it’s a refreshingly out-of-step line-up from the USC Libraries. Fight on.

    Anyway, check out the nominees, via press release, after the jump.

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  • Kansas City crowd goes with ‘Up in the Air’

    More at our Precursor Circuit page.

  • 1/4 Oscarweb Round-up

    Andy Serkis• 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]

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  • ‘Avatar’ vs. ‘Air’ an Oscar battle of film culture significance?

    George Clooney in Up in the AirBy now, most seem to think the eventual Best Picture race (before nominations have even been announced, mind you) will be a wicked battle between James Cameron’s “Avatar” and Jason Reitman’s “Up in the Air.” The cases for the latter as frontrunner were made before the former began smashing box office records.  The cases for the former have been made in the wake of critical and commercial success.

    And each film, make no mistake, has an angle on this thing.  It’ll just come down to which angle represents what tickles the Academy’s fancy NOW, and timing could be a major factor.  But there is something else to consider.  Which angle represents the film culture Hollywood wants to put forth and claim as its own?  What statement does the group, at large, wish to make?

    That’s what Entertainment Weekly’s Owen Gleiberman is getting at when he writes that this perceived two-horse race is a case of “Old School script-driven Classic Hollywood vs. New Age post-script 21st Century Entertainment.”  And he might not be far off the mark.

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  • Why I’m backing the Basterds

    Diane Kruger in Inglourious BasterdsMy wholly serious (if not stone-set) prediction earlier this week that “Inglourious Basterds” would take the Best Picture Oscar, along with three other statuettes, prompted more discussion than I thought it would. (I sure am glad this many people weren’t paying attention when I predicted a “WALL-E” win last year.)

    The pundit who got the most pleasure out of my guess was, of course, Tom O’Neil — who called it for “Basterds” back in November. Like most, I thought he was off his rocker at the time. Now, I humbly concede he might have been onto something.

    I happily submit that my idea may be wildly off-base, but it’s not underthought. To clarify that, here are 10 reasons I’m going with “Basterds” — one for each nomination I expect the film to get.

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  • ‘Up in the Air’ gets EW’s first Oscar cover of the season

    Cover of Entertainment WeeklyI think I have a few Entertainment Weekly Oscar special issues dating back to, oh, 1995 or so.  I used to relish in the odds, the Oscar articles cooked up by the magazine’s staff, and, obviously, Dave Karger’s work throughout.  Yeah, I’m a bit jaded on the circuit now, but once upon a time, I was excited to see who’d get the Oscar cover.

    Ah, who am I fooling?  I still get very curious.  For the eventual post-nominations cover, that is.  For a couple of years, it seemed that designation was a harbinger.  Then “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” was featured in 2000 and things didn’t go that film’s way for Oscar.

    This year, I thought it would be one of two films on the early race issue, the two films I think are duking it out for Best Picture.  And sure enough, one of them got it: “Up in the Air.” We’ll see who gets the post-nod cover.

    EW’s Pop Watch blog has more of the early scoop.  The issue hits stands Friday and will include Karger’s predictions.  Click here for a slightly bigger version.