In 2007 no one saw the Best Actor nomination for Tommy Lee Jones in In the Valley of Elah (2007), it was one of those happy surprises that reminded us the acting branch really does watch the films and pay some attention. Way back in 1975 there was another such shock when James Whitmore received a Best Actor nod for his filmed stage show Give ‘em Hell Harry (1975), though it was not quite as deserving as Jones’ nomination.
With the strong reviews coming in for Brad Pitt in Killing Them Softly (2012), could he knock out one of the so-called locks and be in the category come Oscar night? He is well liked, the Academy likes him, critics like him and he has grown substantially as an actor through the years. For my money he should have been nominated for Best Actor for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) and for Babel (2006). Last year he won the New York Film Critics Award for Best Actor for Moneyball (2011) and was an Oscar nominee, and I think discounting him this year is a huge mistake. Read more on The Underestimation of the Lead Actor Brad Pitt in ‘Killing Them Softly’…
While Zero Dark Thirty, admittedly a brilliant, troubling film, has taken two of the major Best Picture and Best Director Awards, I am still a firm believer that Lincoln will take the Academy Award for Best Picture. Steven Spielberg I am less sure about, though the members of the Academy will acknowledge that his brilliant decision to allow the actors and the screenplay to shine was a superb directorial decision, the stuff of Best Director indeed. Audiences use to his stunning visuals, (and who isn’t?), instead found a film that focused on character, thereby performance, on words, and atmosphere, something he accomplished with Schindler’s List (1993) which won him his first Oscar for Best Director. Read more on Why ‘Lincoln’ Can Still Win Picture……
The New York Film Critics have announced their winners for the best in cinema for 2012. The East Coast group that awarded Best Picture to Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist last year chose the brilliant Zero Dark Thirty directed by Kathryn Bigelow. The film won a total of three awards from the coveted group including Cinematography for Greig Fraser and Director for Bigelow. The film has put itself in a prime position for the Oscars.
In a surprising mention, Rachel Weisz won Best Actress for her portrayal in Terence Davies’ The Deep Blue Sea. Buzz for Weisz’s performance and film had been dead for months and with her highly praised work, she has regained some momentum for an Academy Award nomination. After winning for The Constant Gardener (2005), Weisz has not been on critics’ radar. Her film performed minimally at the box office and had a very early release date. Is this mention to be taken seriously for a nomination? Let’s see if she shows up in more places for the season. She wasn’t the only surprise however; Matthew McConaughey beat out Philip Seymour Hoffman and Tommy Lee Jones to be named Best Supporting Actor for his works in Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike and Richard Linklater’s Bernie. Has a spot just freed up for the character actor in this year’s Oscar race? Read more on McConaughey and Weisz Surprise with NYFCC, Zero Dark Thirty and Lincoln take 3 awards…
Like other games played for the two possible outcomes of success or failure, life requires an ever-evolving collection of strategies for easier navigation. For better or worse, these methods can’t be learned from books or theories, but best serve their purpose when picked up through practical application, as apparent in Silver Linings Playbook. In his latest, David O. Russell charmingly combines his penchant for offbeat comedy with heartfelt character interactions to highlight the quirks people adopt as a means of compensating for the lack of rules or set plans to follow in the playing field of life. He masterfully treats subjects of cynicism—mental illness, infidelity, marital failures—with a playful lightness that borders on being socially inappropriate but manages a sense of realistic endearment instead. The perfectly complementary performances of lead actors, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, as well as the supporting cast serve the cause of establishing a tightly-knit narrative.
Louie CK killed it on the opening monologue on last night’s “Saturday Night LIVE.” One of the funnier sketches (and believe me, there were horrible ones), included a spoof of his own show, “Louie” in conjunction with Abraham Lincoln. Did Steven Spielberg’s film get an endorsement from SNL?
Two-time Academy Award winner Jodie Foster will be honored by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association with their prestigious Cecil B. Demille Award. Announced today by Simon Baker and Kristen Stewart, Foster is the first woman to be awarded with the organization’s highest honor since Barbara Streisand in 2000. Not only is she being rewarded in a year where women are making their marks, she is the youngest recipient since Charlton Heston in 1967. Read more on Jodie Foster to Receive Cecil B. Demille Award from HFPA…
With Hitchcock waiting release, and looking like it might nab Anthony Hopkins some Oscar attention for Best Actor, I got thinking about the history of the cinema and other great directors who deserve to have their stories told. Now, in fairness, the Hitchcock film is focusing on one aspect and one film in the directors life, very similar to what is happening in the HBO film “The Girl” featuring Toby Jones as the portly director. The films I am suggesting be made are biographies of these great directors, so length is not an issue, let’s do it right. So today I am the studio head and I have decided to make five biographies focusing on the careers of great directors. Here we go with my choices and my casting. Read more on Directors Needing the Biopic Treatment…
Born to deaf-mute parents Lon Chaney’s gifts for communicating without sound made him a natural for the silent screen. Though there were bigger stars than Chaney through the silent era, I am not sure there was a greater actor, meaning a pure actor capable of finding the truth in his character and bringing that to the audience with the ease he did. There was beauty in his best work, an economy of acting as he allowed his gestures and body language to speak where words could not, Though expressionistic acting it was also shockingly real and as honest as anything put on the screen at that time.
Chaney found fame as an actor slowly, beginning on the stage before moving into film. He would begin work at Universal Studios before the paint was dry on the walls of the soundstages, becoming the company’s first superstar before the phrase was coined. Read more on The Chaneys and the Horror Legacy…
With Ben Affleck’s Argoopening up today, many of the readers will be flocking to the movie theaters to see if Affleck’s film holds water after spectacular reviews from festivals and critics alike.
Watching it this morning, I agree that it’s the best film of Affleck’s directing career and possibly the best of the year. Tightly packaged, well-acted, expertly and creatively written by Chris Terrio. Affleck could follow the footsteps of Mel Gibson in 1996.
In a very minor way, filmmaker Tim Burton has recaptured some of the magic of ‘Ed Wood’ and ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ with his latest film ‘Frankenweenie’, an homage to old school horror as well as a feature length remake of his short of the same name. This black and white stop-motion animation feature is certainly an offbeat and sometimes even strange work, distinctly fitting into the oeuvre of Burton, but there’s a charm and likability on display here that I haven’t seen from the director in some time. It’s often amusing and sometimes even manages to be heartwarming, another welcome departure from the recent Burton outings. This horror/comedy hybrid isn’t on the level of what Pixar is doing at their best, to be sure, but it certainly is better than ‘Corpse Bride’ and is one of the better animated films of 2012 so far. I could easily see the Academy taking a shine to this black and white kids flick and giving it a Best Animated Feature nomination. I don’t know that it can win, but it’s certainly in the hunt. There are a few missteps here to be sure, but overall the product is rather satisfying. It opens this weekend and even if you haven’t liked Burton of late, I think this is worth checking out.
Katherine Hepburn has the distinct honor of being awarded four Oscars in her lifetime, all for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Hepburn won for Morning Glory (1933), Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? (1967), The Lion in the Winter (1968), and On Golden Pond (1982).
Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp will team up to tame the West in next year’s The Lone Ranger. We have some new images and a poster for the new film produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Gore Verbinski. The trailer will debut on iTunes on Wednesday at 7 AM PST. Have a look at the images after the jump…
Tim Burton returns to his roots of classic and clever animation with his newest, Frankenweenie. Showcasing some beautiful 3-D animation and encompassing a cute, clever, and homage banner to the monster genre, Burton delivers his most solid effort since Big Fish (2003).
Frankenweenie tells the story of Victor, a young boy with an aptitude for science, who’s dog Sparky is tragically killed. When Victor’s feelings of remorse and grief overwhelm, an experiment to bring Sparky back to life has monstrous consequences. Read more on Frankenweenie (***)…
Noah Baumbach has really outdone himself in his newest film, Frances Ha starring Greta Gerwig, who also co-writes. The film not only stands as one of the great films of 2012, it’s the best of Baumbach’s career. The film is full of charm, spunk, and a massive amount of heart. Read more on NYFF: “Frances Ha” ignites awards season…
So what now? With screenings finished, TIFF closed, and New York’s Film Festival looming, how will TIFF impact the Oscar race? Believe it or not it has already begun; in fact it was happening as TIFF was playing out. You could hear the chatter in the theaters, press rooms, and hallways as critics talked with various producers, studio PR folk, or those in the know about how the Oscar race was changing. One thing I heard over and over is that all eyes are on three films for the year end, Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, the musical Les Miserables, and Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty. The feeling seems to be until those films are screened and reaction begins to trickle out, one cannot really, truly predict the race, though as we all know, you cannot do that anyway. A conversation which took place behind me was between two executives who had seen a good portion of the footage from Les Miserables, and one of them stated, “it’s unlike any musical ever made, it captures the emotion of the play.” That is good news, and then Thursday night and Friday morning the talk was the Lincoln trailer, which impressed nearly everyone I heard or talked too, in particular the performance of two time Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis. Read more on TIFF and the Aftermath…
A new and shorter trailer has premiered for the upcoming Cloud Atlas with Tom Hanks and Halle Berry. The film is directed by The Wachowski Siblings (The Matrix, 1999) and Tom Tykwer (Perfume: The Story of a Murder, 2006).
The new trailer showcases a possible strong turn from Oscar winner Berry, who’s hasn’t turned in too many “worthy” performances since Monster’s Ball (2001). The question lingering is will the entire cast be pushed on a Supporting campaign or will they try to capitalize on a weak Best Actress field?
The film will be shown at the Toronto Film Festival as well as the New York Film Festival this month. The film opens October 26, 2012.
Another potential Oscar player added to the books ladies and gentleman. Stand Up Guys starring Academy Award Winners Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Alan Arkin are getting an Oscar qualifying run in December as the film is set to open wide January 11. The film is directed by Fisher Stevens and produced by Tom Rosenberg, the Oscar-winning producer on Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby (2004).
Falling short of its precursor, but still strong enough to win a very competitive box office weekend, The Expendables 2 outshot the competition, scoring $28.6 million in its opening weekend. Although again a co-author on the screenplay, Expendables mastermind Sylvester Stallone gave the director’s chair over to Simon West and critics, including our own Joey Magidson, surprisingly embraced the film, which was only screened to critics overseas, in New York, and Los Angeles prior to its release. Coming as no surprise, Expendables 2 drew a sizable Male-25+ contingent of viewers and opening night CinemaScore ratings saw the film come in with a healthy A-. In 2010, the first Expendables blew away the mockery and condescending expectations which preceded that film’s release and grossed $274.4 million worldwide.
With The Paperboy set to hit cineplexes soon, Lee Daniels is hard at work on his next feature film, The Butler. Based on the Wil Haygood’s report “A Butler Well Served by This Election,” the film will tell the story Allen, who worked for eight presidents, starting with Harry Truman in 1952 and ending in 1986 with Ronald Reagan. Daniels has assembled quite the cast for the film (Oprah Winfrey, David Oyelowo, Liam Neeson, John Cusack, Alan Rickman, Jane Fonda, Robin Williams, James Marsden, Aml Ameen and Liev Schreiber are among it’s members) and now we get our first glimpse at Forest Whitaker as the title character via Coming Soon. Take a look at the first image after the jump!
Just as important as the Oscar Predictions of the Awards Circuit is the Oscar Tracker which I’ve neglected as of late. I’ve made appropriate changes and additions as I see fit. Official and Staff Oscar Predictions will be updated early this week in case you’re wondering. I’ve also taken the liberty of updating the Golden Globe Predictions page as well.
Explanation of some of the additions or removals which you can see on the page:
Removal of “The Hunger Games”
March was a long time ago. The Hunger Games had a great box office and probably has the support of a lot of fanboys and fans of the book series. With the openings of Joss Whedon’s The Avengers, Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, and the eventual release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, any supporters for a blockbuster will have their votes split. Picture and Director were a longshot anyway, even back in March. Jennifer Lawrence holds on because the lack of quality contenders in the category. Read more on Oscar Tracking and Golden Globe Peaks…
Part of one of the cinema’s most famous families, the Coppola’s, she had been brutalized by the critics for her performance in The Godfather Part III (1990), which in my world simply does not exist. Frankly she was not even the major problem with the film, thus I found the attacks on her to be downright cruel. However Francis’ little girl learned one thing from her famous father, do not let them get to you, follow the passion, find a good story.
Noomi Rapace and Rachel McAdams in Brian DePalma’s “Passion”
Well we don’t have Lincoln, but we do have The Master, as hoped, along with new films from Spike Lee, Brian De Palma, Lee Daniels, and Walter Salles. Read more on Thoughts on TIFF’s Additions…
As described in the superb nd telling book, The Men Who Would Be King the excellent story of Dreamworks and the inner power struggles, the studio brought American Beauty (1999) to the festival with little or no hope for the film. It seemed destined for a straight to DVD release, despite the casting of Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening. Only Steven Spielberg believed in the film and admired what director Sam Mendes had created, and to appease Spielberg it was agreed to screen the film in Toronto. The truth might have been that they had no clue how to market the film.
Minutes after the first press screening, the film was the hottest movie of the festival, and there was no more discussion about a straight to DVD release. You could feel the buzz growing as the film unfolded, and by the end, in the hallways of the theaters, everyone who had been in the screening was talking Beauty. I mean everyone. Read more on TIFF Golden Moments Part 3…
In 2007 no one saw the Best Actor nomination for Tommy Lee Jones in In the Valley of Elah (2007), it was one of those happy surprises that reminded us the acting branch really does watch the films and pay some attention. Way back in 1975 there was another such shock when James Whitmore received a Best Actor nod for his filmed stage show Give ‘em Hell Harry (1975), though it was not quite as deserving as Jones’ nomination.
Like other games played for the two possible outcomes of success or failure, life requires an ever-evolving collection of strategies for easier navigation. For better or worse, these methods can’t be learned from books or theories, but best serve their purpose when picked up through practical application, as apparent in Silver Linings Playbook. In his latest, David O. Russell charmingly combines his penchant for offbeat comedy with heartfelt character interactions to highlight the quirks people adopt as a means of compensating for the lack of rules or set plans to follow in the playing field of life. He masterfully treats subjects of cynicism—mental illness, infidelity, marital failures—with a playful lightness that borders on being socially inappropriate but manages a sense of realistic endearment instead. The perfectly complementary performances of lead actors, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, as well as the supporting cast serve the cause of establishing a tightly-knit narrative.
