 Perhaps no film this year has been easier to make fun of in advance of its release than ‘Hyde Park on Hudson’. I know I had a few silly names for it earlier in 2012 when comparing it to something like ‘My Week with Marilyn’, but go figure…I prefer this film to that one. When I sat down to watch it during the New York Film Festival I already was aware that it had fallen from the status of being an Oscar contender, but somehow I emerged rather amused by the flick. It’s hardly great art, and is iffy as a biopic of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but it’s got some strong acting and works as a comedy of manners. Bill Murray is rather good as FDR, though the film focuses far less on him than you’d expect. More time is given to Laura Linney’s character, who’s our entry point into the story. Linney and Murray are very solid, but neither is quite nomination worthy for me. This is an easy movie to pick on, but I was charmed by what director Roger Michell and scribe Richard Nelson came up with and find myself recommending it now that it’s opening this weekend. Don’t expect it to be on the level of the awards hopefuls surrounding it, but taken on its own, ‘Hyde Park on Hudson’ is an entertaining little film.
Read more on Hyde Park on Hudson (***)…
Categories: Film Reviews Tags: Bill Murray, Biopic, Elizabeth Marvel, Elizabeth Wilson, Hyde Park on Hudson, Laura Linney, olivia colman, Olivia Williams, Oscar hopeful, Richard Nelson, Roger Michell, Samuel West
Being that this weekend kicks off with “a date which will live in infamy,” it’s fitting that FDR makes a big-screen appearance in Hyde Park on the Hudson. Toss in some romantic comedies, some foreign features, and some drama and you’ve got some options to hold you till “the big one” next week (The Hobbit, of course).
Hyde Park on the Hudson
Language: English
Rating: R
Genre: Biography/Comedy/Drama
Director: Roger Michell
Starring: Bill Murray, Laura Linney, Olivia Williams
Read more on Weekend Openings (12/7/2012)…
Categories: Weekend Openings Tags: Aline Moraes, Angie Cepeda, Bill Murray, Brazil, Bruce Willis, Catherine Zeta-Jone, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Charlie Hunnam, Christmas, connie britton, cool sports gambler, Donald Rice, Edward Burns, Elizabeth McGovern, Eric Bana, Felicity Jones, Gabriele Muccino, Gerard Butler, Heleno de Freitas, Jessica Biel, José Henrique Fonseca, Kerry Bishe, King and Queen, Laura Linney, Luke Treadaway, Margaret Stuckley, Movie Release, Olivia Wilde, Olivia Williams, Queen, Rebecca Hall, Rodrigo Santoro, Roger Michell, Stefan Ruzowitzky, Stephen Frears, Sung-Hee Jo, The Pursuit of Happyness
 Bond Week continues here at The Awards Circuit! As you all know, we’re going to be bringing you a whole host of James Bond related pieces between now and the release of ‘Skyfall’ this Friday. Historically, the gig of directing has taken a slightly lower profile. Directors such as Lewis Gilbert, John Glen, Guy Hamilton, Peter Hunt, Roger Spottiswoode, Lee Tamahori, and Terence Young are some prime examples. Of course, there have been slightly more well-known filmmakers like Michael Apted, Martin Campbell, and Marc Forster, plus the upcoming film which was made by Oscar winner Sam Mendes. This suggests a move away from caretaker directors and towards auteurs who might be able to add something to the franchise, so that’s where I’m picking up. I’ve got a list of filmmakers who I think would be fitting for upcoming Bond movies. Some have actually been talked about previously, though someone like Steven Spielberg, who once yearned for the job, is now wishful thinking, and likewise for Quentin Tarantino. I won’t be focusing much on people previously offered the job, such as Paul Haggis and Roger Michell, but I’ve got a dozen original names to throw out at you.
Read more on Bond Week: 12 Possible Future Directors…
Categories: Article Tags: Bond Week, Christopher Nolan, Dan Bradley, Danny Boyle, David Ayer, directors, Duncan Jones, James Bond, James Bond films, Joe Cornish, Joe Wright, kathryn bigelow, Marc Forster, Martin Campbell, paul haggis, Quentin Tarantino, Roger Michell, Sam Mendes, Steven Spielberg, Todd Field, Tom Ford, Tom Hooper, upcoming projects
 A few months back, Hyde Park on Hudson looked like a premium slice of King’s Speech-style Oscar bait. Then the trailer hit, and its awards chances looked somewhat slimmer. This morning I attended a screening of the film, and if the Academy decides to reward this lacklustre exercise in dreary historical drama then I may have to take a year away from the race altogether.
Read more on BFI London Film Festival – DAY 4…
Categories: Film Reviews Tags: BFI, BFI London Film Festival, Bill Murray, film review, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Hyde Park on Hudson, Laura Linney, LFF, London Film Festival, olivia colman, Olivia Williams, Roger Michell, Samuel West
 Sizing Up Series continues with an in-depth look at the Director candidates for this year’s Oscar ceremony. As was the case last year, there are a few things to keep an eye for this particular category. One obviously is that a lot will have to do with which films get nominated for Best Picture at the end of the day. The other is the possibility of a Lone Director nod. It used to be something that happened, but it hasn’t come close of late. Now, with us in the brave new-ish world of anywhere from 5 to 10 nominees, it keeps the idea of the lone director alive, though it’s going to be unlikely for one to wind up breaking through. Not impossible, mind you…but I wouldn’t count on seeing it this year, or too many instances going forward.
Read more on Sizing Up: Best Director…
Categories: Article Tags: analysis, ang lee, Ben Affleck, Ben Lewin, Best Director, Christopher Nolan, David O. Russell, Director, Drew Goddard, Dustin Hoffman, Gus Van Sant, Jonathan Dayton, Juan Antonio, kathryn bigelow, Martin McDonagh, Michael Haneke, Mike Newell, Noah Baumbach, Oscar hopefuls, Paul Thomas Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Lorenz, Roger Michell, Sacha Gervasi, Sizing Up series, Stephen Chbosky, Steven Soderbergh, Steven Spielberg, Terrence Malick, Tom Hooper
 Today the New York Film Festival brought a presumed Oscar hopeful, Germany’s official submission for the foreign language category at the Academy Awards, and a tender-hearted documentary that surprised the likes of many, including myself.
Hyde Park on Hudson (***)
I try extremely hard to not read reviews, especially for Oscar hopefuls. At Telluride and Toronto, Roger Michell’s Hyde Park on Hudson received mixed-to-negative reviews citing the film’s weak screenplay and other off-putting manners. Chalk this up to a guilty pleasure but I found Hyde Park on Hudson charmingly delightful. From the charismatic turn by Bill Murray as FDR to what I found to be a near pitch-perfect performance by Samuel West, the stylistic quality by director Roger Michell was satisfying. Read more on NYFF: Surprise “Hyde” Stand Out, Germany’s “Barbara,” and the Love of “Liv & Ingmar”…
Categories: Article, Editor, Film Reviews Tags: Barbara, Bill Murray, Christian Petzold, Cinema of Sweden, Documenatary, Editor Film Review, Eleanor Roosevelt, Entertainment/Culture, Film, Hyde Park on Hudson, Ingmar Bergman, Jeremy Sams, Laura Linney, Liv & Ingmar, Liv Ullman, Margaret Suckley, Nina Hoss, NYFF, NYFF 2012, olivia colman, Olivia Williams, Oscar, Persona, Production Designer, Richard Nelson, Roger Michell, Ronald Dehrfeld, Samuel West, Simon Bowles, Stefan Nilsson, Tushar Ghogale
Though beautifully mounted, impeccably shot and well put together by director Roger Michell, there seems to be a lack of passion within this film that is something required to help us understand what is happening with the characters.
Bill Murray as FDR, one of the greatest American Presidents, one of the great historical figures of the 20th century takes about five minutes to get settle in, and at that point we accept the actor as the great man. Murray has the speech patterns down, the physicality, but most important, he captures Roosevelt’s intellect and ferocious appetite for the female of our species. His affairs were legendary, though well concealed by his staff, at least one of them whom he was sleeping with. Common knowledge to everyone it seemed. What is it with great men and their marriages? Why can they not be loyal to the women they marry, who appear (it seems) to stand by them and support them. Look at Kennedy, or Clinton, much loved leaders who had trouble being faithful. Roosevelt, apparently was no different, and as played by Murray this manages to humanize him, knock him off the pedestal many have placed him on and allow the actor to portray him as a mere mortal. Read more on TIFF: Hyde Park on Hudson (**)…
Categories: Article, Film Reviews Tags: Bill Murray, Eleanor Roosevelt, Entertainment/Culture, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Hyde Park on Hudson, Laura Linney, Olivia Williams, Oscar hopeful, Roger Michell, Samuel West, TIFF, TIFF 2012, Toronto Film Festival
 The second half of the year is upon us. The race is about to heat up with big Oscar hopefuls coming down the pike. Our John Foote will be in attendance at the Toronto International Film Festival and many films will be unveiling themselves to critics alike. There is a very unclear yet still feasible shape to the race looking from ten thousand feet.
There are internet jitters building for Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master starring Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman. With the trailers released and now the film being pushed up to September, it looks as though we may be in store for a master class in filmmaking. Phoenix also looks to be a lead contender for his first Oscar after delivering in his previous nominated works, Gladiator (2000) and Walk the Line (2005). Phoenix does have tough competition ahead of him including what looks to be a critical darling-type performance coming from John Hawkes in Ben Lewin’s The Sessions. Early word is very positive for the film and the turns by Hawkes along with co-stars Helen Hunt and William H. Macy. Since Hawkes’ initial nomination two years ago for Winter’s Bone, he hasn’t shown any signs of letting up. He was arguably left off last year in Sean Durkin’s Martha Marcy May Marlene and will be seen later this year in Julia Dyer’s The Playroom and Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln. There seems to be a tremendous following and support for him in his current state. Speaking of Spielberg, we’re still awaiting some type of marketing material for his upcoming Lincoln biopic. No poster or trailer has been released with very few stills leaked online. One starts to think if it will even be ready in time.
Taking a look at the next couple of months, the circuit will begin to reveal itself.
Read more on Oscar Circuit: “It’s the time of the season”…
Categories: Article, Editor, Oscar Circuit, Oscar Predictions Tags: Amour, Amy Adams, ang lee, Anna Karenina, Anne Hathaway, Arbitrage, Argo, Ava DuVarney, Ben Affleck, Bill Murray, Bradley Cooper, Brave, bryan cranston, Carey Mulligan, Chris Pine, Christoph Waltz, Christopher Walken, Clint Eastwood, Cloud Atlas, Colin Farrell, Daniel Barnz, Daniel Day-Lewis, David O. Russell, Django Unchained, Editor, Elizabeth Olsen, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Flight, Fun-Size, Great Expectations, Halle Berry, Helen Hunt, Hyde Park on Hudson, jamie foxx, Joaquin Phoenix, Joe Wright, John Goodman, John Hawkes, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, judd apatow, Justin Timberlake, kathryn bigelow, Killing Them Softly, Laura Linney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Les Miserables, Liam Neeson, Liberal Arts, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Logan Lerman, Looper, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Martin McDonagh, Michael Haneke, Middle of Nowhere, Moonrise Kingdom, nicole kidman, Not Fade Away, olivia colman, Olivia Williams, Oscar Circuit, oscar predictions, Paul Thomas Anderson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Quentin Tarantino, Rian Johnson, Richard Gere, Rise of the Guardians, Roger Michell, Russell Crowe, Rust and Bone, Sam Rockwell, Seth Rogen, seven psychopaths, Silver Linings Playbook, Skyfall, Steven Spielberg, the dark knight rises, The Grandmasters, The Guilt Trip, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Impossible, The Man with the Iron Fists, The Master, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Sessions, tom hanks, Trouble with the Curve, Viola Davis, Woody Harrelson, Wreck-It Ralph, Zero Dark Thirty
 It’s the first of the month. Not only that, it’s the first day of the second half of the year. Anybody else feel like that was fast? Yet, here we are.
It’s time to start getting serious, Oscar-wise. Not many things have come out, and not many films are looking like Best Picture nominees from the first half. Some will argue The Avengers with a $600 million dollar bank is in talks. Some think the little indie-film Moonrise Kingdom from Wes Anderson could be our “Little Miss Sunshine” of the year. In limited release, Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild has opened and received one of the best word-of-mouth reviews of the year. Is that a contender for the big prize? I’d say it is.
I’m ready to start getting down and dirty with these predictions.
Read more on Oscar Circuit: “Let’s dance…”…
Categories: Article, Editor, Oscar Circuit, Oscar Predictions Tags: alexandre desplat, Amour, Anna Karenina, Anne Hathaway, Annette Bening, Argo, batman, Baz Luhrmann, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Ben Affleck, Benh Zeitlin, Bill Murray, Brave, Daniel Day-Lewis, David Strathairn, Disney, Django Unchained, Editor, Hugh Jackman, Hyde Park on Hudson, Imogene, Jane Fonda, Joaquin Phoenix, Joe Wright, John Hawkes, Julianne Moore, Keira Knightley, Laura Linney, Les Miserables, Lincoln, love, Lucy Alibar, Marvel, olivia colman, Olivia Williams, Oscar Circuit, oscar predictions, Paul Thomas Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, Roger Michell, the avengers, the dark knight rises, The English Teacher, The Great Gatsby, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Master, The Sessions, tobey maguire, Tom Hardy, Tom Hooper, Woody Harrelson
|
Perhaps no film this year has been easier to make fun of in advance of its release than ‘Hyde Park on Hudson’. I know I had a few silly names for it earlier in 2012 when comparing it to something like ‘My Week with Marilyn’, but go figure…I prefer this film to that one. When I sat down to watch it during the New York Film Festival I already was aware that it had fallen from the status of being an Oscar contender, but somehow I emerged rather amused by the flick. It’s hardly great art, and is iffy as a biopic of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but it’s got some strong acting and works as a comedy of manners. Bill Murray is rather good as FDR, though the film focuses far less on him than you’d expect. More time is given to Laura Linney’s character, who’s our entry point into the story. Linney and Murray are very solid, but neither is quite nomination worthy for me. This is an easy movie to pick on, but I was charmed by what director Roger Michell and scribe Richard Nelson came up with and find myself recommending it now that it’s opening this weekend. Don’t expect it to be on the level of the awards hopefuls surrounding it, but taken on its own, ‘Hyde Park on Hudson’ is an entertaining little film.
