In Contention

Blog

  • Sketches of ‘Star’

    Abbie Cornish and Ben Whishaw in Bright StarAs the season has broken down some pundits to the point of pondering whether or not “The Hangover” has a shot at a Best Picture nomination, it really does seem an eternity ago that “Bright Star” was even in the conversation.

    With Jane Campion’s film ridiculously failing to secure even technical Guild recognition so far, it’s really looking like one of the season’s great lost causes.

    Yet to weigh in, of course, is the Costume Designers’ Guild, which announces its nominees in a week’s time. If the film misses there, designer Janet Patterson would be well within her rights to torch their headquarters.

    We’ll be profiling the film’s craftspeople in Tech Support eventually: for now, courtesy of Refinery 29, two of Patterson’s original sketches should remind you of the year’s finest threads. Check them out after the cut.

    (more…)

  • Sight for sore eyes

    Three weeks into the new decade, the flood of lists rounding up the last one seems to have abated, but I enjoyed Stale Popcorn’s countdown of the decade’s best film posters, whose #1 coincides with that of a similar list on The Auteurs last month. (They have an interesting interview with designer Akiko Stehrenberger here.) The same poster is one I’m starting to see crop up on the walls of assorted designer/cineaste locales — plainly a modern classic, even if the film is plainly not.

    Funny Games

  • ‘Avatar’ leads VES nominations

    Zoe Saldana in AvatarNo surprises there.  James Cameron’s film landed 11 separate mentions from the Visual Effects Society (some more specifically indicated than others).  “2012” and “District 9” each landed three nominations, while “Sherlock Holmes” and “Star Trek” each landed two.

    The nominees in the main field, “visual effects in a visual effects driven feature motion picture,” are:

    “2012”
    “Avatar”
    “District 9”
    “Star Trek”
    “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”

    Check out the rest of the nominees (feature film categories only) at our somewhat more streamlined Circuit page.

  • OFF THE CARPET: All Globed out

    Jeff Bridges at the 2010 Golden Globe AwardsAs it turned out, the only celebration I made it to last night was Fox’s Globes after-party at Craft in Century City.  Given that “Avatar” and “Crazy Heart” were two of three films to win more than one Globe (the other being Pixar’s “Up”), it kind of felt like the place to be.

    The early part of the evening was dominated by the “Crazy Heart” crew.  I came in with Ryan Bingham and Scott Cooper, the latter dumbfounded at how certain celebs were getting his number to send well-wishes and praise for his little film.  Bingham, meanwhile, told me he was at the bar when the Best Original Song category was announced, which explains why T Bone Burnett accepted solo.  “Sorry for partyin’,” Bingham told me.  “Story of my life.”

    Burnett, it turns out, will be producing Bingham’s next album.

    Meanwhile, you could follow the bursts of applause to locate Jeff Bridges, who took down the Best Actor in a Drama trophy when many thought George Clooney would register with the, shall we say, star-friendly HFPA.  Then again, whoever said Bridges wasn’t a star?  And judging by the standing ovation, his second of the weekend (everyone was on their feet Friday, too), you can expect his steamroll through the season to continue next weekend at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and then, ultimately: the Oscar.  Interesting to note his lawyer advised him not to take the part, I assume thinking it wasn’t high enough on a scale of exposure.

    And yet here we are.

    (more…)

  • Things I learned from the Globes

    Sandra Bullock at the 2009 Golden Globe AwardsLast January, I wrote an especially effusive review of the previous night’s Golden Globe awards, commending the usually much-derided HFPA for looking beyond star power and box-office grosses. Instead, they assembled an international and rather indie-minded winners slate that included such titles as “Happy-Go-Lucky,” “The Wrestler,” “In Bruges,” “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” and eventual Oscar-sweeper “Slumdog Millionaire.”

    What a difference a year makes.

    Whether stung by matters of ratings and economics, or simply wowed by a very different school of cinema this year, the Foreign Press voters were back to the big-name pandering for which they are famous.

    Everyone present, meanwhile, seemed quite aware of the fact, some — including host Ricky Gervais and, in the night’s best speech, Robert Downey, Jr. — openly teasing them for it. “One thing you can’t buy is a Golden Globe,” the reliably droll Gervais observed, beer in hand. “Officially.”

    So, what did I learn from last night’s proceedings?

    (more…)

  • 1/18 Oscarweb Round-up

    James Cameron at the 2010 Golden Globe Awards• John Horn talks “Avatar” box office with James Cameron and his Best Director competitors. [24 Frames]

    • Dave Karger offers up his perspective on how last night’s Golden Globe awards will affect the Oscar race. [Oscar Watch]

    • Sharon Waxman hits the after-party circuit and discovers the late night talk show drama dominating the conversation. [The Wrap]

    (more…)

  • ‘Avatar’ tops Golden Globe winners

    And here’s your lot. It’s four in the morning here in London and I haven’t the stamina to offer further commentary. That’ll wait until morning — by which time I’ll perhaps have thought of something nice to say. Kris will be tweeting from the parties, so be sure to tune into his feed. I’m out.

    Best Picture (Drama): “Avatar”
    Best Picture (Musical or Comedy): “The Hangover”
    Best Director: James Cameron, “Avatar”
    Best Actor (Drama): Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”
    Best Actress (Drama): Sandra Bullock, “The Blind Side”
    Best Actor (Musical or Comedy): Robert Downey, Jr., “Sherlock Holmes”
    Best Actress (Musical or Comedy): Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia”
    Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”
    Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique, “Precious”
    Best Screenplay: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, “Up in the Air”
    Best Foreign Language Film: “The White Ribbon”
    Best Original Score: Michael Giacchino, “Up”
    Best Original Song: Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett, “The Weary Kind” from “Crazy Heart”
    Best Animated Film: “Up”

  • Guessing the Globes

    Matt Damon in The Informant!Kris offered a space for Golden Globe speculation, along with his own predictions, a few days ago — but if you still have some guesses to get out of your system before the ceremony tonight, have at it here. My own predictions (along with some wild stabs in the TV races) have been up on Tom O’Neil’s site for over a week now. In case you missed them, however, here they are, along with my personal picks in each category.

    I’m not as confident in these predictions as I was when I made them a fortnight ago. But even if “the buzz” is telling us that “Avatar” has the top prize in the bag, it’s been mistaken before. So I’m sticking with my off-beam prediction that the Globes’ more European sensibilities could come into play in that race, while also tipping the Best Actress balance toward Carey Mulligan rather than the momentum-advantaged Sandra Bullock. Probably wrong on both counts, but we’ll see. Meanwhile, two comedy races pose multiple potential outcomes … what are your hunches?

    Best Picture (Drama)
    Will win: “Inglourious Basterds”
    Should win: “The Hurt Locker”

    Best Picture (Musical or Comedy)
    Will and should win: “It’s Complicated”

    (more…)

  • SUNDAY CENTS: ‘Book’ report

    The Book of Eli*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    First off, I should apologize for neglecting to write a Friday Forecast column this week. Fridays are my day off from work so while I have plenty of time to cook up an article, it’s also the one day where the box office is farthest from my mind, so I beg your pardon. I’m pretty sure the world went on spinning without it and rest assured, I would have predicted all these numbers to the cent.

    So, our number one film this week is “Avatar.” That’s five weeks in a row and it’s the first film to accomplish that feat since “The Sixth Sense” a decade ago. Yes, the entire naughties nearly went by without a single film setting up residence at the top for more than four weeks.  The fact that “Avatar” has done it and dropped only 18% in the process is flat out jaw-dropping.

    The film grossed $41.3 million for the weekend, which is only 47% off from the film’s debut weekend almost a month ago. In other words, this would have been a perfectly respectable second weekend total, but as a fifth weekend, it trails only the $47 million of “Titanic.” So, Cameron’s latest has finally dipped below the weekly performance of his last, although “Titanic” only had $371 million at this point, while “Avatar” has $491.8 million.

    (more…)

  • Paramount and Lionsgate do it up pre-Globes

    Tobey Maguire in BrothersThere will be a number of post-Golden Globes parties tonight — Summit, Warner Bros., Fox, Weinstein, etc. — but a pair of studios did it up Saturday night in honor of their nominees.

    First at the Chateau Marmont, Paramount toasted its stable with a star-studded, paparazzi-snapping affair.  Actually, it wasn’t the least bit comfortable.  Talk about over-invited.  In the inner sanctum, surrounded by Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Benicio Del Toro, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Mike Tyson (who wasn’t on the list, but would you turn him away?), George Clooney, Chris Pine, Tobey Maguire, etc., breathing, let alone moving more than two inches, was a chore.  Jason Reitman was on hand early on but had to take off for the LAFCA gala before long.  Luckily, he missed that fire hazard.

    I got a few seconds with Farmiga, who was excited to say hello to Scorsese again.  Anne Kendrick and her beau Edgar Wright smartly made their way to a secondary room at one point where we had a nice chat.  Wright was, of course, being hit up by “Scott Pilgrim” queries left and right.  From the youngsters, that is.  The crowd was largely, shall we say, octogenarian.  Plenty of HFPA and Academy members scattered throughout.  And Kendrick, bless her heart, didn’t even want to talk about the “O-word.”

    (more…)

  • Bridges performs on Conan

    Jeff Bridges stopped by The Tonight Show yesterday to promote “Crazy Heart” and even stood up to belt out a little of “I Don’t Know,” one of the original tracks from the film.  Take a look (the performance is in part three, after the jump):

    (more…)

  • In perspective

    Fortunately, I saw Inglourious Basterds. I saw The Last Station. I have no illusion that I’m going to win anything at this point. So it’s an easy ride for me!

    –Woody Harrelson discussing life on the 2009-2010 awards circuit.

  • Behind the scenes of ‘Inglourious Basterds’

    [Courtesy: MakingOf]

  • Reminder

    Sigourney Weaver is doing SNL tonight.  Nice PR positioning for a film that obviously doesn’t NEED PR positioning, but hey, should be fun.

  • An evening at the CCMAs

    Kathryn Bigelow at the 15th annual Critics' Choice Movie AwardsAlright, now that the booze and the hangover have worn off, let’s talk last night’s Critics’ Choice Movie Awards.

    It was a decently produced evening, the venue having shifted from the Santa Monica Civic Center to the Hollywood Palladium, right in the middle of Tinseltown.  The scheme of having 10 tables rounding the stage representing the 10 films nominated for Best Picture was a nice touch.  I was fortunate enough to be at the “Up in the Air” table with Jason Reitman, Vera Farmiga (who I was meeting for the first time) and Anna Kendrick.

    George Clooney was a no-show (working on his upcoming Haiti telethon), though at least that didn’t make for an awkward moment later when Jeff Bridges won the lead actor prize, the first on his way to an eventual Oscar win.

    Anyway, a few notes (since Guy has already given you a thorough rundown of last night’s implications)…

    (more…)

  • WEEKLY WRAP: BFCA awards, Guilds triple, Rohmer passes

    A still from Claire's Knee by Eric Rohmer• As you’ve just heard, “The Hurt Locker” emerged triumphant at the BFCA Critics’ Choice Awards.

    • Earlier this week, Éric Rohmer, sly giant of New Wave intellectualism, passed away at the age of 89.

    • That same day, “Avatar,” “The Hangover” and “Star Trek” were among the films nominated by the WGA.

    • The ASC slate continued the love for “Avatar,” but a semi-surprise nod for “The White Ribbon” got pundits’ attention.

    (more…)

  • ‘Hurt Locker’ takes top honors at Critics’ Choice Awards

    Best Actress winners Meryl Streep and Sandra Bullock at the Critics' Choice AwardsThe BFCA are rarely ones to take an individual stand on the awards trail, and such was the case last night, as they mostly stuck with Oscar frontrunners down the line. In the numbers stakes,  “Avatar” (with six awards) and “Inglourious Basterds” (with three) came out on top.

    But it was “The Hurt Locker” that emerged as the night’s real winner, maintaining its tight season-long grip on the Best Picture and Best Director prizes, even with this more mainstream-oriented group. (It should be stressed that, despite the name, this is not a critics’ award.)

    Is this another “Sideways” — which also managed to parlay critical momentum into a top win here — or is something bigger afoot for the film? I’m starting to suspect the latter.

    Kris can obviously offer more first-hand perspective at a later stage. Still, the sense I get from this is that, for all the claims of it being a level three-horse race, “Up in the Air” is actually trailing “The Hurt Locker” and “Avatar” — if any major precursor was going to swing the way of Jason Reitman’s film, I’d have expected it to be the sometimes safe-playing BFCA.

    (more…)

  • The Critics’ Choice Movie Awards

    I’m out of here, down to the Palladium for tonight’s festivities.  Maybe I’ll Tweet this or that, maybe not.  Use this space to discuss the winners and losers as you see fit (unless Guy happens to wander in with a dedicated thread).  The show starts at 9:00pm EST, 6:00pm EST on VH1.