Features







2007-08 Oscar Calendar



[Monday, December 3, 2007]

Official Screen Credits
Forms Due.


[Wednesday, December 26, 2007]

Nominations ballots mailed.


[Saturday, January 12, 2008]

Nominations polls close
5 p.m. PST.


[Tuesday, January 22, 2008]

Nominations announced
5:30 a.m. PST
Samuel Goldwyn Theater


[Wednesday, January 30, 2008]

Final ballots mailed.


[Monday, February 4, 2008]

Nominees Luncheon


[Saturday, February 9, 2008]

Scientific and Technical
Awards Dinner


[Tuesday, February 19, 2008]

Final polls close 5 p.m. PST.


[Sunday, February 24, 2008]

79th Annual
Academy Awards Presentation
Kodak Theatre

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Putting It Into The Work

marber.jpg


In some sense, playwright and screenwriter Patrick Marber could best be described as he endearingly refers to friend Daniel Craig: “He’s just a dude.” He sports a shock of black hair with hints of gray, looking still younger than his actual years. He’s fond of his cigarettes and has the same icy blue eyes as fellow Oscar nominees Peter Morgan and Guillermo Arriaga. However, where he seems to break away from that, or any company, for that matter, seems to be in his idiosyncratic nature. He’s warm and open, but clearly there’s more underneath. This is a guy concealing his hand.


A glimpse at Marber’s film work alone will reveal two strikingly different portraits of obsession and dependency. In “Closer,” which he adapted from his own play for filmmaker Mike Nichols in 2004, the sexes wage war in unforgivable, bitingly honest ways. In “Notes on a Scandal,” adapted from the Zoe Heller novel and directed by Richard Eyre, the scathing realities of “Closer” give way to equally painful notions of fantasy, longing and self-delusion. How does a guy with three young children and a healthy professional status allow himself to “go there?”

Well, to be fair, “Closer” came at a troubling time for the writer. Though he doesn’t subscribe to “writing as therapy,” that play and those characters certainly served such a function for him at a crucial time. And he’ll be the first to admit the work reads better if you happen to be concurrently experiencing the crushing truths it puts on display. That was a decade ago, however, and even today, he can’t seem to feel those same emotions when he revisits the work. To him, it’s just material now.


closer.jpg


Sitting across from Marber over coffee at the Beverly Hills Hotel’s Polo Lounge on a baking, sunny February morning, I was faced with a man who doesn’t need you to perceive things his way. He will even subtly challenge you to be assured in your own vantage point. Like any good writer – and I seem to be spending time with plenty of them lately – Marber asks pondering questions that come from a place of meaning, and at times, intent. A sarcastic twinkle seems to lie just below the surface of an artist enjoying himself and his good fortune in this new medium, almost as if it has all caught him by surprise.


Marber’s nomination for “Notes on a Scandal” might be seen as something of a vindication for missing the big Oscar dance two years ago. But holding no ill will toward that unfortunate post-HFPA/BAFTA snub, he is quick to consider and understand how adapting one’s own work might be perceived in the eyes of a nominating body. And indeed, the “Closer” adaptation played close to the originating work.


For Marber, working with Mike Nichols for two years was his own personal film school. A transitioning writer looking to the big screen for further professional ambitions couldn’t have found a better partner in crime, considering how closely Nichols’s work parallels themes and tendencies found in Marber’s writing. It is clearly a cherished experience, and proved to be a healthy initiation into the business of film.


notes4.jpg


It was producer Scott Rudin who brought Marber along for the “Notes” ride, following a nice collaboration on “Closer.” Rudin sent Marber Heller’s novel and hired him for the gig without a lot of peripheral consideration – a true partnership had formed. The two will work together at least once more, as Marber sets about adapting Ian McEwan’s “Saturday.” The project ought to take full advantage of the writer’s talents, another insular tale of foreboding: post-9/11, London setting on the eve of Bush’s Iraq offensive.


In the meantime, Marber is more fascinated by the fact that Los Angelinos actually get bored with this gorgeous Southern California weather. A Londoner through and through, fog and rain is more the custom in his world than palm trees and sunshine – so much so he still prefers a spot in the shade. But on three hours’ sleep and a nominees luncheon to attend within the hour, he’s still quite content and pleased with the unfamiliarity of it all. Refreshingly honest, quick to indicate his satisfaction with Academy recognition (in a category with “Borat,” one of his favorite films of the year, no less) and adamant about sharing his morning toast, Patrick Marber is enjoying the ride rather than awaiting the outcome. He seems to have left his demons behind, but after he puts his children to bed at night and heads to the basement to crank out a decent night’s work, they still haunt every page.

Comments

I was so glad to see Marber nominated. I enjoyed Heller's novel, but his screenplay fixed almost everything I disliked in the book. The story has much more focus thoroughly believable characters.

I'm excited for the new project. That sounds intriguing.

the mark of a great screenwriter is analogous to a great athlete, the ability to make a film seem so fluidly that it seems easy.

patrick marber's film really doesn't waste a beat, and every scene moves the plot forward while revealing more about the characters.

about the characters being believable, i have to chalk a lot of that up to the cast. i really feel like Marber grew substantially as a screenwriter from "Closer", which even with Mike Nichol's behind the camera and the fantastic production values still felt like a play. there's no denying that "notes" is a compelling monster movie, and a great one at that.

with that said, Marber's film really follows every rule of screenwriting, and doesn't take the risks of four-star masterpieces like William Monohan's "The Departed" or Todd Field's "Little Children", either one of which should easily take the category.

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2008 Year in Advance Predictions


UPDATED: 2/25/2008





Main Charts | Tech Charts



[Motion Picture]

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

“Doubt”

“Frost/Nixon”

“Revolutionary Road”

“The Soloist”



[Directing]

David Fincher
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

Ron Howard
“Frost/Nixon”

Gus Van Sant
“Milk”

Sam Mendes
“Revolutionary Road”

Joe Wright
“The Soloist”



[Actor in a Leading Role]

Benicio Del Toro
“The Argentine”

Jamie Foxx
“The Soloist”

Frank Langella
“Frost/Nixon”

Sean Penn
“Milk”

Brad Pitt
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”



[Actress in a Leading Role]

Vera Farmiga
“Nothing But the Truth”

Angelina Jolie
“Changeling”

Julianne Moore
“Blindness”

Meryl Streep
“Doubt”

Kate Winslet
“Revolutionary Road”



[Actor in a Supporting Role]

Josh Brolin
“Milk”

Russell Crowe
“Body of Lies”

Robert Downey, Jr.
“The Soloist”

Heath Ledger
“The Dark Knight”

Michael Sheen
“Frost/Nixon”



[Actress in a Supporting Role]

Amy Adams
“Doubt”

Kathy Bates
“Revolutionary Road”

Cate Blanchett
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

Catherine Keener
“The Soloist”

Carice van Houten
“Body of Lies”



[Writing, Adapted Screenplay]

“Body of Lies”

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

“Doubt”

“Frost/Nixon”

“Revolutionary Road”



[Writing, Original Screenplay]

“Changeling”

“Hamlet 2”

“Milk”

“The Soloist”

“WALL·E”



[Art Direction]

“Australia”

“Defiance”

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull”

“Red Cliff”

“Revolutionary Road”



[Cinematography]

“Australia”

“The Dark Knight”

“Defiance”

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull”

“Revolutionary Road”



[Costume Design]

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

“Doubt”

“The Other Boleyn Girl”

“Red Cliff”

“Revolutionary Road”



[Film Editing]

“Body of Lies”

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

“Defiance”

“Frost/Nixon”

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull”



[Makeup]

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

“The Dark Knight”

“Red Cliff”



[Music, Original Score]

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull”

“The Soloist”

“Revolutionary Road”

“WALL·E”



[Music, Original Song]

coming soon



[Sound Editing]

“Defiance”

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull”

“Iron Man”

“Speed Racer”

“WALL·E”



[Sound Mixing]

“Defiance”

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull”

“Cloverfield”

“The Chronicles of Narnia:
Prince Caspian”

“WALL·E”



[Visual Effects]

“The Chronicles of Narnia:
Prince Caspian”

“The Incredible Hulk”

“Iron Man”



[Animated Feature Film]

“9”

“Kung Fu Panda”

“WALL·E”



[Foreign Language Film]

coming soon



[Documentary, Features]

coming soon



[Documentary, Short Subjects]

coming soon



[Short Film, Animated]

coming soon



[Short Film, Live Action]

coming soon