In Contention

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  • ‘Hurt Locker,’ ‘Up,’ ‘The Cove’ win with PGA

    The Hurt LockerWow.  Summit Entertainment’s “The Hurt Locker” took down Goliath to win the PGA award tonight.  I’m at a total loss.  The film has asserted itself, rather dramatically, as a film to contend with, one that won’t be stampeded by the “Avatar” express.  And I am, quite frankly, ecstatic at the notion.

    Actor Jeff Bridges presented the award to producers Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicholas Chartier and Greg Shapiro. We wanted a horse race.  We got one.  Wow.

    Pixar’s “Up,” also nominated in the field of 10 Best Picture contenders, won the animated feature award, the highest grossing film of the category.  Louie Psihoyos’s “The Cove,” meanwhile, won the documentary prize.

    Mo’Nique presented the Stanley Kramer Award to “Precious” director Lee Daniels, Tom Hanks and Tim Allen presented the David O. Selznick Award to Pixar honcho John Lasseter and Will Smith presented the Milestone Award to Sony’s Amy Pascal and Michael Lynton.

    On to the DGAs next weekend, which will likely go in Kathryn Bigelow’s favor, too.  Watch out.

  • SUNDAY CENTS: ‘Fairy’ bust

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

    Blah blah blah blah “Avatar” blah blah number one blah blah blah $36 million. Second biggest sixth weekend ever, behind “Titanic.” $550 million+ in the bank, passing “The Dark Knight” and entering the top 10 highest grossing films of the modern era (1980 onward). The drop was only 16% from last weekend, which was a Holiday remember, and James Cameron’s fart will go on and on and on.

    “Legion” took the runner up spot with $18.2 million, and as I said on Friday, anything over $16 million would be a huge win. Sony just can’t lose with this kind of product and it will join “Vantage Point,” “21” and “Lakeview Terrace” as successful films that nobody will remember in two years. But anything that keeps Paul Bettany employed can’t be all bad.

    “The Book of Eli” drops 48% to third place and $17 million, which is pretty solid. With last Sunday’s figures inflated by the holiday and word-of-mouth not expected to be great, things could have been a lot worse for Denzel and the Hughes Brothers.

    “Tooth Fairy” failed to get off the ground, taking fourth place with $14.5 million and represents the second straight seemingly can’t-miss family film to drop the ball. I’d say that maybe kids and parents are raising their standards but “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel” passed the $200 million mark on Saturday so…

    Just to recap: Denzel Washington films to make $200 million = zero. Singing chipmunk films to make $200 million = two.

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  • SAG wins for ‘Basterds,’ Bullock, Bridges

    Sandra Bullock at the 16th annual Screen Actors Guild AwardsGotta love all those B’s, right? Overall, no real surprises — we knew Best Actress was going to be a close-fought contest between Meryl Streep and Sandra Bullock, and it’s entirely likely that Streep’s win last year tipped it towards Hollywood’s new golden girl.

    While the widely anticipated ensemble win for “Inglourious Basterds” makes no real difference to the Best Picture race, I think it’s safe to say three of the acting Oscars can practically be engraved already.

    This was George Clooney’s last opportunity to stake his claim in the Best Actor race, but the perfect-storm combination of Jeff Bridges’s shaggy likeability, overdue status and (lest we forget) a damn fine performance in “Crazy Heart” was too much to overcome.

    Best Actress, as I said earlier today, will remain a mystery right up until the envelope is opened on March 7. The season’s one remaining acting precursor, the BAFTA, won’t reveal anything, given Bullock’s ineligibility there.

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  • Last-minute SAG predictions

    Christoph Waltz in Inglourious BasterdsFunny, I could have sworn the SAG Awards were taking place on Sunday. Goes to show how on top of things I am, I guess. Or, perhaps, the level of excitement I feel over at least three cut-and-dried acting races this year.

    Nevertheless, tonight’s ceremony will be helpful in addressing at least one of this season’s larger question marks: does Sandra Bullock really have a shot at the Best Actress Oscar? If, as I suspect will happen, Meryl Streep takes home her second consecutive statuette tonight, this race is all over bar the shouting. If Bullock (or even Gabourey Sidibe) snatches it, we really won’t have a clue until the envelope is opened on March 7.

    Unlike Kris, I think four decades of sterling, unrewarded work in Hollywood will send the SAG Award Jeff Bridges’s way, even if “Crazy Heart” hasn’t been as widely seen as “Up in the Air.” Bridges is the kind of consummate actors’ actor these awards were invented for. As for the supporting categories, well … is any discussion necessary?

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  • That face

    I have nothing to add to the reams of commentary on the sad passing of Jean Simmons, only to say that she has, eerily, been on my mind recently. A few months ago, I saw her rather touching final performance in “Shadows in the Sun,” a small British film written by a friend and former teacher of mine, and was struck by how elegantly that china-doll face had aged.

    And only last month, I rewatched Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s undervalued “Guys and Dolls” after unearthing it in a bargain bin, and delighted in the knowing silliness of her Golden Globe-winning turn — as fine an Ophelia as she made opposite Olivier’s Hamlet, there’s an argument to be made for the “dolce de leche” sequence (embedded after the cut) as her best screen work. For sheer iconic value, however, what can top her appearance, aged just 17,  in Powell and Pressburger’s peerlessly beautiful “Black Narcissus?”

    Jean Simmons in Black Narcissus

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  • ‘A Prophet’ tops César nominations

    Kristin Scott Thomas in LeavingWhat a shocker, right? In the nominations for France’s premier film awards, Jacques Audiard’s Oscar contender leads the field with a massive 13 bids. (Look out for my interview with Audiard, coming soon.)

    It’s nice to finally see some love for Niels Arestrup’s astonishing work in the film, but when a contemporary prison drama can nail down a nomination for Best Costume Design, a sweep is afoot.

    That said, the Césars don’t always go to plan: last year saw heavyweights like “The Class” and “I’ve Loved You So Long” upset by “Séraphine,” the film that went on to take Best Actress awards from two of America’s most prestigious critics’ circles. It’s always worth keeping an eye on titles that do well here.

    I’m surprised that Alain Resnais’s “Wild Grass” didn’t do better here: the New Wave veteran’s critically beloved new effort scored a Best Film nomination, but little else, with Resnais himself snubbed in the Best Director race.

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  • WEEKLY WRAP: Globe awards, BAFTA noms, foreign shortlist

    Ed Helms in The Hangover• “Avatar” and “The Hangover” took top honors at a very populist Golden Globes ceremony — Off the Carpet reported from the party circuit.

    • The Academy revealed the nine films shortlisted for Best Foreign Language Film; we sized up the race.

    • BAFTA announced their nominations, with “An Education,” “The Hurt Locker” and “Avatar” topping the list.

    • The Long Shot, meanwhile, pondered the identity crisis of this particular awards institution.

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  • INTERVIEW: Anthony Mackie

    Anthony MackieSome performances are so selflessly and expertly integrated into a film’s ensemble that awards voters tend to take them for granted, looking instead to more assertive scene-stealers from sometimes starrier names.

    Nobody better demonstrates that this season than Anthony Mackie, rising star of stage and screen and the secret weapon of awards heavyweight “The Hurt Locker.”

    While Jeremy Renner has deservingly caught the eye of multiple precursor bodies, many of them have curiously failed to notice that much of Renner’s performance exists in a tensely riveting pas de deux with Mackie, whose sternly pragmatic Sgt. Sanborn is not only the yin to the impetuous yang of Renner’s SSgt. James, but a striking study in its own right of internalized male insecurity.

    Together with Brian Geraghty, as a weaker soldier dependent on Sanborn’s stabilizing influence, the three actors, alongside a smart selection of cameo players, perform some of the year’s most delicately attuned ensemble playing. And even if Mackie hasn’t received quite the level of individual attention he deserves, he accepts praise for the film (and a well-earned SAG ensemble nomination) as evidence of a job well done.

    “Look, when you work on a film like this, any idea of ego goes out the window,” the 30 year-old New Orleans native tells me over the phone from New York. “This is a story about brotherhood, so it’s dependent on the synergy of a great ensemble. As actors, we were just concerned with taking care of each other, making sure we had each other’s back. It’s not about being pretty, you know?”

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  • ‘Avatar,’ ‘Star Trek’ lead the way with MPSE

    Star TrekFor the first time I can ever remember, the Motion Picture Sound Editors have announced their list of nominees BEFORE the Academy has announced the Oscar nominees.  Because these always came a few days after the big announcement, I have to say, I have never bothered to see how often they match up with the Best Sound Editing category.

    These are the two specific fields to keep an eye on:

    Best Sound Editing: Dialogue and ADR in a Feature Film
    “(500) Days of Summer”
    “A Serious Man”
    “Avatar”
    “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra”
    “The Hurt Locker”
    “Inglorious Basterds”
    “Star Trek”
    “The Stoning of Soraya M.”

    Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects and Foley in a Feature Film
    “2012”
    “Avatar”
    “The Hurt Locker”
    “Inglorious Basterds”
    “Push”
    “Star Trek”
    “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”
    “Watchmen”

    (More, including the full list of nominees, after the jump.)

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  • No Oscar Talk today

    Anne is in the frozen tundra of Sundance today and my schedule is a bit unorthodox, so we’re going to prime the pump here and hold off until next week for our final pre-nominations podcast. Catch us then.

  • FRIDAY FORECAST: The awful ‘Tooth’

    Duane Johnson in Tooth Fairy*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    Here we go again. There’s very little reason to think that “Avatar” won’t spend a sixth consecutive weekend at the top of the box office. No film has done that since “Titanic” and only three have done it since 1988. It’s just not possible these days. But here we stand.

    While the Golden Globes did little to make me think James Cameron wasn’t a total prick, it did help “Avatar” gain even more momentum during awards season and another $30 million+ weekend should be in store, taking the film past “The Dark Knight” on the all-time chart. Since that was one of the few blockbusters I could stomach, I’m sad to see it usurped so quickly.

    Second place will be a battle between two grown men with wings. One is playing it for laughs and the other is playing it for badass religious action. Did you catch the word that is box office poison in the last sentence? Actually, “Legion” has garnered a fair amount of decent buzz and Sony is better than anyone at turning these types of genre films into hits so that might balance out the R-word. I think a $16 million debut would be impressive and anything higher would be huge.

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  • 1/22 Oscarweb Round-up

    (from left) Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin• Nikki Finke says Oscarcast producers may be secretly considering a third host. [Deadline Hollywood Daily]

    • Julian Sancton talks to the brilliant (and all but forgotten this season) Anthony Mackie. [Little Gold Men]

    • Davis Guggenheim’s education crisis documentary “Waiting for Superman” is Sundance’s first pick-up. [The Wrap]

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  • The importance of coming up with 10

    Oscar ballotSteve Pond has WAY too much time on his hands, but God love him for his brilliant little experiment that illustrates, rather clearly, the importance of filling in the entire Oscar ballot with 10 films.  You hear that Oscar voters?  To say nothing of the fact that, if you can’t come up with 10 films you liked in a given year, you should turn in your card, it is important now more than ever that you take this a little bit seriously.

    Pond assembled all the ranked critics’ top 10 lists at Movie City News and dished them out according to a typical preferential voting system, and he came up with a very important point in the midst of all that shuffling:

    And here’s the deal with my count: in two-thirds of the cases, 81 out of 122 ballots, all or part of the vote went to the critic’s first choice. But second, third and fifth choices also counted fairly often (rarely fourth choices, though there’s no good reason for that), and a dozen voters actually helped out candidates with their sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth choices.

    Richard Roeper, for instance, unknowingly cast his vote for “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” which was listed seventh on his ballot. Eric Kohn of indieWIRE did the same for “A Serious Man,” which he’d put in his eighth slot.

    Kohn’s case was a typical example of how lower-ranked films can come into play. He’d put “Sita Sings the Blues” in his number-one position – but since he was the only one to do so, that film was eliminated at the beginning of the second round of tallying. His number two and three choices, “Two Lovers” and “The Girlfriend Experience,” hadn’t gotten any number one votes and thus were never in the running to begin with. His fourth-ranked film, “The Hurt Locker,” got more than enough votes in the first round to immediately secure a nomination, so it no longer needed his vote. Finally, down in the number eight slot, was a film that was still in the hunt, and one that subsequently used his vote to help win a nomination.

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  • WGA to fete Barry Levinson

    Barry LevinsonThe press release, in part:

    Award-winning screenwriter Barry Levinson will receive the Writers Guild of America, West’s 2010 Laurel Award for Screen, honoring lifetime achievement in outstanding writing for motion pictures, at the 2010 Writers Guild Awards West Coast ceremony to be held on Saturday, February 20, 2010, at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.

    “From ‘Diner’ to ‘Avalon,’ ‘Rain Man’ to ‘Tin Men,’ filmmaker Barry Levinson has long demonstrated a wonderful ability to create memorable movies that resonate with audiences by capturing a particular time and place,” said WGAW President John Wells . “A rare triple threat in the industry – writer, director, and producer – Barry has been the creative force behind many of this era’s defining films.”

  • TECH SUPPORT INTERVIEW: Sound mixer Greg P. Russell

    Greg P. RussellWhen you’re coming off of one of the most elaborate and intensive sound mixing gigs in movie history, let alone of your own career, how do you top it with a sequel?

    That’s the challenge sound re-recording mixer Greg P. Russell faced when he and his team set about weaving in the various sonic elements of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” His seventh collaboration with director Michael Bay, the film proved to be the most aurally ambitious film Russell says he has mixed to date.

    “Back in the day when a large movie had three or four set pieces within a film, we have two set pieces within a reel now,” Russell says in his spacious media room in his home, a number of Academy screeners stuffed into a basket on the coffee coffee table in front of him.  “And this was an eight-reel film, so you can just see the size factor alone.”

    Let alone the new variations in robot sounds and articulation, the amount of artillery and weaponry featured on the screen this time around dwarfed anything Russell had ever seen before.  According to one of the film’s technical advisers, Bay filmed every aircraft that exists in the military save for one.

    “Everything from helicopters to hover boats to aircraft carriers to submarines, the artillery alone just from a human level was enormous,” Russell says.  “Then you add on top of that massive robots and their weaponry and all their intricacies, it’s a very complicated movie to bring to life.”

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  • Official video for Ryan Bingham’s ‘The Weary Kind’

    Because, well, I’m glad of any excuse to bring up this track. Is there even a contest for Best Original Song? Even the Academy’s wilful music branch can’t screw this up. Surely.

  • Ed Helms stumps for ‘Stu’s Song’ on Conan

  • Tom Ford, Scott Cooper on Variety’s Directors to Watch list

    Tom FordVariety’s annual Directors to Watch list lives up to its title more often than not, frequently highlighting names that go on to be hotter talking points in the year that follows.

    Last year’s list, for example, include “(500) Days of Summer” helmer Marc Webb, who recently signed on to reboot the “Spider-Man” franchise, as well as Cary Fukunaga (“Sin Nombre”) and Adam Elliot (“Mary & Max”) — in addition to already-lauded names like Matteo Garrone and Steve McQueen.

    This year’s list similarly blends directors still in the wings with those who have already arrived. The year’s most successful freshman filmmaker, Neill Blomkamp, isn’t on the list (Variety hardly needs to remind the industry of his presence, after all), but two first-timers with films in the Oscar hunt are: “A Single Man”‘s Tom Ford and “Crazy Heart”‘s Scott Cooper.

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