In Contention

Blog

  • Lifetime Achievement Awards for Deakins and Freeman

    A pair to report.  First up, Morgan Freeman gets the AFI tribute treatment this year.  I wonder if we’ll get some quality discussion of his work with David Fincher on “Se7en.” The press release, in part:

    Morgan Freeman has been selected by the  American Film Institute’s (AFI) Board of Trustees to receive the 39th AFI Life Achievement Award, the highest honor for a career in film, it was announced today by Sir Howard Stringer, Chair of the AFI Board of Trustees. The award will be presented to Freeman at a gala tribute on Thursday, June 9, 2011 in Los Angeles, CA.  TV Land will broadcast the 39th AFI Life Achievement Award tribute on TV Land PRIME later in June 2011.

    “Morgan Freeman is an American treasure,” said Stringer.  “Across decades, whether playing a prisoner, a president or God, he embodies a calm authority that demands respect for the character and for the art form.  His gifts to the cultural record are also underscored by his   unmistakable voice that echoes through the hearts and minds of movie lovers around the world.  AFI is proud to present him with its 39th Life Achievement Award.”

    (more…)

  • POLL: What is your favorite Peter Weir film?

    Last week’s query regarding David Fincher’s filmography turned out to slightly favor “Fight Club” over the rest of his work.  I’ve been spending the last week or two diving back into Peter Weir’s offerings, especially topical given the recent announcement of “The Way Back” as an official contender in this year’s Oscar race.  So it seemed a good time to offer up a new poll on the matter.  What’s your favorite film from Weir?  Let us know in the left sidebar and feel free to offer up your defense in the comments section below.

  • OFF THE CARPET: Can the ladies get some support?

    A number of people wanted Anne and I to discuss the seemingly thin Best Supporting Actress category on the podcast Friday, but we didn’t get to it. So it seemed an opportune time to dedicate this space to the discussion.

    One should keep in mind that the race is still in its early days. This time last year we didn’t even know “Crazy Heart” would be in the mix, and any number of things can change. But while I have been saying for a while now that the supporting actress field is week, it does seem to be taking shape as of late.

    There is no hard and fast frontrunner in the field right now. If Lesley Manville’s “Another Year” campaign were to switch gears, that would be a different story, but the only contender that feels right at the moment is Miranda Richardson as the fiery Barbara Castle in the Brit comedy “Made in Dagenham.”

    On the next tier, I feel pretty good about Dianne Wiest’s chances in “Rabbit Hole,” where the three-time nominee (and two-time winner) stars as a concerned but affable mother to Nicole Kidman’s grief-stricken housewife. Meanwhile, Helena Bonham Carter could well ride the coattails of “The King’s Speech” to a nomination for the comic relief and emotional support she maintains throughout the film.

    (more…)

  • Mann trying his ‘Luck’ with TV once again

    Doesn’t it feel like television is moving into a new golden age?  Everything from hour dramas to half-hour comedies is as impressive as ever and top filmmaking talent continues to make the jump.  We’ve already seen Martin Scorsese’s impact with “Boardwalk Empire” this year and if there’s one thing I’m looking forward to on the small screen, it’s the upcoming Michael Mann/David Milch horse race drama “Luck” on, where else, HBO.

    This is a powerhouse partnership by anyone’s measure, and that’s before you even get to the talent in front of the camera (Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte will star).  Both of these guys, Mann and Milch, are alphas, to quote one actor I talked to about the show at a festival last year (who has worked with both and who shall remain nameless).  But they’re also creative beasts.

    Geoff Boucher wrote a piece for this weekend’s LA Times and, of course, touches on that little nugget of intrigue.  He gets quotes from Hoffman, Mann and Milch on the matter, as well as HBO programming president Michael Lombardo (misidentified as David Lombardo).

    (more…)

  • Samberg as Zuckerberg on SNL

    A different, but related clip after the jump.

    (more…)

  • 10/11 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Franco at MOMA, Schnabel’s Polaroids, O’Hehir and Ebert fight to the death

    • Jeffrey Wells reports from a MOMA Q&A with “127 Hours” star James Franco. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • Amy Kaufman talks with “Conviction” star Hilary Swank. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Add Polaroid photography to Julian Schnabel’s list of artistic pursuits. [The Guardian]

    (more…)

  • BOX OFFICE: ‘Secretariat’ slow out of the gate

    For the second week in a row, “The Social Network” tops the U.S. box office charts in a photo finish with “Life As We Know It.” (I’m happy to say I offered up some money for the Fincher cause and saw it a second time yesterday.)  But the real story is the soft opening for “Secretariat.” Or will it mirror the subject of the film, start out slow out of the gate and prove to have some endurance?  Doubtful.

    [Courtesy: Exhibitor Relations]

  • CINEJABBER: MacTired

    Catch the idea behind these weekend posts here.

    I got nuthin’.  Five screenings, one of them an all-afternoon epic…I’m wiped out this week.  Which made a last-minute Red Box rental of “MacGruber” pretty much what the doctor ordered tonight.

    Open thread.  Thoughts?

  • WEEKLY WRAP: Fincher reflection, ‘Way Back’ in, ‘Valentine’ blues

    • As robust box-office returns for “The Social Network” amplified its Oscar buzz, this week’s Off the Carpet column warned that the awards race is “a marathon, not a sprint.”

    • Keeping the conversation on David Fincher, we counted down the greatest technical achievements in his filmmography…

    • …and invited you to name your favorite Fincher film in our new poll.

    • Oscar-watchers got a new title to play with this week, as it was revealed that Peter Weir’s “The Way Back” will qualify for the 2010 awards after all.

    (more…)

  • ‘Blue Valentine’ trailer

    Well, speak of the devil. On the heels of the film’s unfortunate run-in with the MPAA ratings board, The Weinstein Company has unveiled the first trailer for “Blue Valentine,” and it should give you some idea of why critics have been talking up this film — and, particularly, its pair of searing lead performances — since it debuted at Sundance in January. I was impressed by the film in Cannes, and Kris also boarded the wagon earlier this week. Check out the trailer via Yahoo! Movies by clicking the image below, or watch the embed after the jump.

    (more…)

  • MPAA burns ‘Blue Valentine’ with NC-17 rating

    As if Derek Cianfrance’s moving, bruising marital drama “Blue Valentine” — with its Oscar-caliber performances by Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams — didn’t face enough obstacles heading into the awards season, what with its bleak subject matter and perilously late release date, the MPAA has just thrown it an extra curveball. In their wisdom, the sensitive souls on the ratings board have ludicrously given the film an NC-17 rating: the movie-censorship equivalent of a scarlet letter, theoretically reserved for films that feature extreme, boundary-pushing violence or sexual content.

    It’s been almost five months since I saw “Blue Valentine,” so my memory may be a little hazy, but I must profess to being absolutely stumped as to what content in the film could have provoked this decision. It’s a harsh, adult-oriented drama, make no mistake, but it doesn’t even feature explicit nudity, much less any beyond-the-pale activity. Deadline’s Mike Fleming claims this was the scene that supposedly crossed the line [mild spoiler alert]:

    I’m told the rating was given for a scene in which the characters played by Gosling and Williams try to save their crumbling marriage by spending a night away in a hotel. They get drunk and their problems intensify when he wants to have sex and she doesn’t, but will to get him off her back.

    (more…)

  • OSCAR TALK: Ep. 35 — ‘Secretariat’ hopes, ‘The Way Back’ enters the race, ‘Nowhere Boy,’ ‘Hereafter’ and listener questions

    Oscar TalkWelcome to Oscar Talk.

    In case you’re new to the site and/or the podcast, Oscar Talk is a weekly kudocast, your one-stop awards chat shop between yours truly and Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood. The podcast is weekly, every Friday throughout the season, charting the ups and downs of contenders along the way. Plenty of things change en route to Oscar’s stage and we’re here to address it all as it unfolds.

    Can you believe it’s already October? Next month every film will have screened and before long we’ll be reporting National Board of Review winners. Contenders are beginning to hit theaters as we move into the fall, so let’s see what’s on the docket today…

    (more…)

  • ‘The Way Back’ UK trailer

    The big news earlier this week was the announcement of a one-week qualifying run for Peter Weir’s “The Way Back” (which will be discussed by Anne and I this morning in the podcast). I had my say on the film at Telluride, but today, via The Guardian, we’re treated to the first trailer for the film. It’s cut a bit intensely but you get a decent idea of the scope of the film. Check it out by clicking the image below or watch an embed after the jump.

    (more…)

  • ‘127 Hours’ poster

    Yesterday we got a look at an extended trailer for “127 Hours.” There was a poster bouncing around but I decided to hold out for a high res image, and that’s what we got today.  I like the hourglass vibe even if the overall design is a bit glossy for my tastes.  Have a look at the full image after the jump.

    (more…)

  • 10/8 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: ‘Superman’ does well, Paramount grabs Reitman’s next, Lane on ‘Secretariat’

    • Davis Guggenheim’s “Waiting for Superman” has performed better than several other high profile releases. [The Envelope]

    • David Poland sits down with “Let Me In” director Matt Reeves. [Movie City News]

    • Paramount to distribute Jason Reitman’s “Young Adult,” written by Diablo Cody. [Hollywood Reporter]

    (more…)

  • Why we should be watching Kristin Scott Thomas

    Hey, did you know I’m something of a Kristin Scott Thomas fan? If you didn’t, chances are you only just met me. Welcome. The precis version is that I think she’s one of the few great contemporary actresses currently working on career-peak form, and in two languages to boot. The non-precis version — well, dig around.

    It’s been nearly 14 years since her lone Oscar nomination for “The English Patient”; she’s more than due for her second, and while she narrowly missed it in 2008 for her French-speaking turn in “I’ve Loved You So Long,” I’m wondering if this year’s wide-open Best Supporting Actress race might prove more conducive.

    I’m referring, of course, to her expertly brittle but moving performance as John Lennon’s aunt (and guardian) Mimi Smith in Sam Taylor Wood’s biopic “Nowhere Boy,” which opens Stateside tomorrow. US moviegoers are getting quite a fix of Scott Thomas lately. Last week, French romantic thriller “Leaving” — showcasing even more impressive work by the actress as a neglected housewife in an updated “Madame Bovary”-style melodrama — hit theaters, drawing mixed reviews but further critical huzzahs for her performance.

    (more…)

  • ‘127 Hours’ trailer

    Interesting. For some reason I wasn’t anticipating another trailer for Danny Boyle’s “127 Hours,” but I suppose that teaser we got a few months back was bound to be updated with something more robust. The new trailer landed today via Apple and is, I’d say, well structured, framed by one of the film’s more abstract moments with Best Actor contender James Franco. Check it out by clicking the image below or watch the embed after the jump.

    (more…)

  • ‘Conviction’ on ABC’s Nightline

    Tony Goldwyn’s “Conviction” will open in limited release next Friday, October 15.  I’m a fan.  It “never feels manipulative even though it’s painting in extremely familiar dramatic strokes,” I wrote last week.

    The film was featured on ABC’s Nightline Monday night. Once you get past the unfortunate spelling out of the title’s double meaning, there are interviews with Hilary Swank and the real-life Betty Anne Waters, among others, and a brief mention of the unfortunate ending that was left out of the film.

    “In real life, the Hollywood ending was undercut by a tragic accident,” David Wright narrates. As Waters says, yes, it’s tragic, but Kenny Waters died free. I still think that could have served the film quite well thematically.  Meanwhile, Swank says, “This movie is the reason why I’m an actor.  These types of stories are what inspire me and move me and give me hope.”

    Check out the full video of the segment after the jump.

    (more…)