Posts Tagged ‘True Grit’
Wednesday, November 24th, 2010
We’re getting an early start to the long holiday weekend around here; Seattle got nailed by an early snow storm, which gave the kids a couple snow days tacked onto the Thanksgiving weekend. So we’ve got the unexpected bonus of a six-day holiday weekend around here, and spirits are high. I hear that Angelina Jolie hates Thanksgiving and doesn’t want to perpetuate celebrating an anniversary of murder, and to that I say, well, good for her, and I guess can see her point.
But for me, Thanksgiving has always been not about the past and Pilgrims and Native Americans, but about the present and the future; it’s a time to take a pause from the hectic pace of life and reflect on the many blessings we have in our lives. Around here, we try to focus with our kids on helping them to be aware of how fortunate we are to have a nice home to live in, plenty of food to eat, warm clothes to wear, jobs that provide the money to support our family. And, of course, to be aware that others are not so blessed, and to make room in our hearts and our budgets to give to those who need a little boost to help them out.
Thanksgiving for me is also about getting mentally geared up for the upcoming Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa season, when we should be as mindful (or more) of giving as well as receiving. This is absolutely my favorite time of the year, and this year in particular my heart feels very full.
I’m very thankful this year for my own good health, and for healthy, happy, well-adjusted kids and a new marriage. I’m immensely thankful to still be employed in a tight economy, and to be able to write and edit for a living when there are many other crappy jobs I could be doing just to make ends meet. I’m thankful for amicable relationships with ex-spouses that allow us to have a crazy, loving, blended extended family where everyone gets along most of the time.
We will be having lots of family time this holiday weekend. In between marathon sledding sessions, warming up with hot cocoa and popcorn by a cozy fire, and delightfully raucous games of Munchkin and Zombie and Chthulu Dice with six kids and two game-geeky grownups, I have big plans this weekend to snuggle up under warm covers and work my way through the stack of screeners beckoning from the foot of the bed.
The screener fairy has been making daily stops by our house, so in between holiday activities and cooking and playing, I’m planning to watch Restrepo, The Kids Are All Right, Road to Nowhere, The Lottery, Somewhere, The American, The Town, Greenberg and Babies. I’m even going to take a second look at Hereafter, and we have both Inception and HP 7.1 to watch again (really loved that movie, though I will enjoy more watching it together with 7.2 after it comes out … I think the pacing will play out better that way).
I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the awards-season movies What do you love? What do you hate? Who’s getting overlooked? Who’s overrated? What do you think about this new docs category at Sundance? Are you fine-tuning your own Top Ten list? Do you care about Oscars and Golden Globes and BAFTAs (oh my)?
Happiest of holidays to you and yours. I hope you enjoy your time with friends and family, as I plan to. But if you need a break from hearing Aunt Ethyl’s stories for the 89,000th time, drop on by and let’s chat about movies too. As for me, I have a few more films I need to see yet in addition to the screeners I have here before I can narrow down my own top ten and gear up for voting with my critics’ groups. True Grit, Rabbit Hole and The Fighter are the big ones I have yet to see before I can hone things down seriously. There is much movie-watching to squeeze in around holiday stuff, but this is such a wonderful time of year, I don’t even mind how hectic it gets.
Happy holidays to all, and I’ll see you after Thanksgiving!
Tags: Babies, Greenberg, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Inception, part one, Rabbit Hole, Restrepo, Road To Nowhere, Somewhere, The American, The Fighter, The Kids Are All Right, The Lottery, The Town, True Grit
Posted in Film, Film Essent, MCN Blogs | Comments Off on Things to Be Thankful For
Thursday, October 21st, 2010
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BEST PICTURE
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Picture
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Studio
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Director
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Stars |
Comment
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| The Ten, If I Had To Pick Today |
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Dec 25
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True Grit |
Par
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Coens
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Bridges
Brolin
Damon
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Nov
24
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The King’s Speech |
TWC
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Marshall
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Firth
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Dec 1
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Black Swan |
FxSch
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Aronofsky
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Portman
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| Oct 1
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The Social Network |
Sony
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Fincher
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Eisenberg
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|
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Dec 10
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The Fighter |
Par/Rel
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O. Russell
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Wahlberg
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Nov 5
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127 Hours |
FxSch
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Boyle
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Franco
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Oct 22
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Hereafter |
WB
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Eastwood
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Damon
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|
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June 18
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Toy Story 3 |
Disney
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Unkrich
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–
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July 16
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Inception |
WB
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Nolan
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DiCaprio
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July 9
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The Kids Are All Right |
Focus
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Cholodenko
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Bening
Moore
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| The Next Tiers Of Likely |
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Dec 17
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Everything You’ve Got |
Sony
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Brooks
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Witherspoon
Nicholson
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Nov 24
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Love & Other Drugs |
Fox
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Zwick |
Hathaway |
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Dec 29
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Another Year |
SPC
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Leigh
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Broadbent
Staunton
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| June 11 |
Winter’s Bone |
RdAtt
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Granik
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Lawrence
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Feb 19
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Shutter Island |
Par
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Scorsese
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DiCaprio
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July 30
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Get Low |
SPC
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Schneider
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Duvall
Spacek
Murray
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Sept 15
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Never Let Me Go |
FxSch
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Romanek
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Knightley
Mulligan
Garfield
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Sept 17
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The Town |
WB
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Affleck
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Nov 19
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Made In Dagenham |
SPC
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Cole
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Hawkins
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Oct 8
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Secretariat |
Dis
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Wallace
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Lane
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| Dec 25
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Somewhere |
Focus
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Coppola
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Dec 10
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The Tempest |
Mir
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Taymor
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Mirren
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Dec 31
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Blue Valentine |
TWC
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Cianfrance
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Gosling
Williams
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Dec 29
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Biutiful |
RdAtt
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Gonzalez-
Inarritu
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Bardem
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Dec 29
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The Way Home |
NewMkt
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Weir
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Farrell
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by David Poland
Previous Chart
Tags: 127 Hours, Another Year, Biutiful, Black Swan, Blue Valentine, Conviction, Due Date, Eat Pray Love, Everything You've Got, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, Get Low, Godfather III, Hereafter, Inception, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, Love and Other Drugs, Made in Dagenham, Miral, Morning Glory, Never Let Me Go, Nowhere Boy, Roadside Attractions, Secretariat, Shutter Island, Somewhere, The American, The Fighter, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, The Social Network, The Tempest, The Town, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter’s Bone
Posted in 20 Weeks to Oscar - Charts, Awards Watch | 10 Comments »
Thursday, October 21st, 2010
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BEST ACTRESS
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Actress – Film
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Comment
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| Natalie Portman – Black Swan |
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| Anette Bening – The Kids Are All Right |
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| Carey Mulligan – Never Let Me Go |
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| Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone |
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| Reese Witherspoon – How Do You Know |
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| Nicole Kidman – Rabbit Hole |
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| Anne Hathaway – Love & Other Drugs |
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| Lesley Manville – Another Year |
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| Sally Hawkins – Made in Dagenham |
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| Michelle Williams- Blue Valentine |
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| Kimberly Elise – For Colored Girls… |
Hard to really know who will be the film’s choice for Lead |
| Diane Lane – Secretariat |
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| Hilary Swank – Conviction |
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| Helen Mirren – The Tempest |
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| Rachel McAdams – Morning Glory |
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BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
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Actress – Film
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Comment
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| Helena Bonham Carter – The King’s Speech |
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| Hailee Steinfeld – True Grit |
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| Sissy Spacek – Get Low |
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| Barbara Hershey – Black Swan |
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| Whoopi Goldberg/Thandie Newton/Kerry Washington – For Colored Girls… |
Hard to really know who will be the film’schoice for Supporting |
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| Julianne Moore- The Kids Are All Right |
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| Melissa Leo – The Fighter |
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| Sandra Oh – Rabbit Hole |
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| Mila Kunis – Black Swan |
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| Miranada Richardson – Made in Dagenham |
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Tags: 127 Hours, Another Year, Biutiful, Black Swan, Blue Valentine, Conviction, Due Date, Eat Pray Love, Everything You've Got, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, Get Low, Godfather III, Hereafter, Inception, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, Love and Other Drugs, Made in Dagenham, Miral, Morning Glory, Never Let Me Go, Nowhere Boy, Roadside Attractions, Secretariat, Shutter Island, Somewhere, The American, The Fighter, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, The Social Network, The Tempest, The Town, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter’s Bone
Posted in 20 Weeks to Oscar - Charts, Awards Watch | 3 Comments »
Thursday, October 21st, 2010
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BEST ACTOR
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Actor – Film
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Comment
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| Colin Firth – The King’s Speech |
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| Jsmes Franco – 127 Hours |
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| Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network |
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| Jeff Bridges – True Grit |
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| Robert Duvall – Get Low |
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| Mark Wahlberg – The Fighter |
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| Jack Nicholson – How Do You Know |
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| Javier Bardem – Biutiful |
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| Ryan Gosling – Blue Valentine |
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| Leo DiCaprio – Inception |
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| Kevin Spacey – Casino Jack |
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| Robert DeNiro – Stone |
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| Aaron Johnson – Nowhere Boy |
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BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
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Actor – Film
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Comment
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| Geoffrey Rush – The King’s Speech |
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| Matt Damon – True Grit |
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| Josh Brolin – True Grit |
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| Andrew Garflied – The Social Network |
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| Christian Bale – The Fighter |
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| Armie Hammer – The Social Network |
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| Paul Rudd or Owen Wilson – How Do You Know |
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| Jeremy Renner – The Town |
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| Bill Murray- Get Low |
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| John Malkovich – Red/Secretariat |
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| Due Date – Zach Galifianakis |
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| Harrison Ford – Morning Glory |
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by David Poland
Previous Chart
Tags: 127 Hours, Another Year, Biutiful, Black Swan, Blue Valentine, Conviction, Due Date, Eat Pray Love, Everything You've Got, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, Get Low, Godfather III, Hereafter, Inception, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, Love and Other Drugs, Made in Dagenham, Miral, Morning Glory, Never Let Me Go, Nowhere Boy, Roadside Attractions, Secretariat, Shutter Island, Somewhere, The American, The Fighter, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, The Social Network, The Tempest, The Town, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter’s Bone
Posted in 20 Weeks to Oscar - Charts, Awards Watch | 2 Comments »
Thursday, October 21st, 2010
Tyler Perry was on Oprah this week. After all, it’s a little more than two weeks until his award aspirant, For Colored Girls, goes into theaters. But he didn’t say more than a couple of sentences about the film. Hmmm… But he’s going to be on again on his film’s opening day, November 5. And that episode was described by Oprah as being like no Oprah episode before. Interesting. So the movie… oh… no… the show will have 200 grown men who were molested as children, including Perry himself.
And that is how this Oscar season feels so far.
Not like molestation. It’s a great thing that Tyler Perry and Oprah are doing, trying to bring light to a shame that men are loathe to ever admit and therefore find it harder to heal.
What it is like is waiting for something exciting, something expected, something that shocks and surprises and makes it all fun. And not getting quite what we expected. What we get isn’t bad. It may even be incredibly valuable and worthwhile. But it’s just not exciting.
Toy Story 3 and Inception are both likely nominees, both are big commercial hits, and neither is likely to get much further than their nominations. TS3 can’t even hope to win Best Comedy at the Golden Globes, since the HFPAers like to segregate the animation. Even being nominated for Best Picture with 10 nominees feels like it’s The Pixar Slot after just one year getting nominated.
The Social Network is a hit and a likely nominee. But is it really the experience to stir (older) men’s souls? The King’s Speech, which isn’t open yet but is being given frontrunner status by some, is wonderful… but can anyone really say they have never been on that journey before?
The are a number of tiny indies that are terrific, from Never Let Me Go to Winter’s Bone to The Kids Are All Right to Get Low to Biutiful to Another Year to Rabbit Hole. I don’t know that we have seen any of these films before, really. They all play on ideas we have of older films, but each is really fresh in its own way, loaded with some great performances.
But is any one of them capable of becoming The One, even if they fight their way to nominations?
It now seems that the excitement of the season comes down the to small handful of films that are not yet in play. They may or may not be better than the films already out there, but there is something pulsing beneath the surface.
The glorious madness of Black Swan feels like it could blow audiences away, especially the actors, who will identify with the pain and paranoia of being a performer. Aronofsky has made an incredibly sophisticated horror film, which is going to make it a shooting star or somewhat earthbound by resistance of an older Academy.
The deceptive simplicity of 127 Hours and the audience’s pleasure in spending all that time with James Franco is a singular event this year. Of course, some people are already whining about one event in the last 15 minutes making the movie hard to take. But I would argue that the skill with which Boyle and his compatriots get through that one event, in a film of enormous tension that commands the compassion of the audience is a far greater achievement than any discomfort that is created.
Paramount, which is marketing and distributing The Fighter, has started to convince the talkers around town that they have a game changer. A new 2 minute ad – not a trailer – is turning heads and looking like Raging Rocky On The Waterfront. And it doesn’t help that Mark Wahlberg has become a working class hero in Hollywood, matched only by Matt Damon in his generation.
And then there is the film that is the last to start revving its engine – it started this week – The Coen Bros version of True Grit. John Wayne won the Oscar in the role played by last year’s winner, Jeff Bridges. Can he pull a Hanks? The original was not nominated for Best Picture. Nor were Kim Darby, Glen Campbell, or Jeff Corey, who played the roles now handled by Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon, and Josh Brolin. Yet…
It was 27 years between How The West Was Won being Best Picture nominated and two westerns in three years winning, Dances With Wolves and Unforgiven. That was 17 years ago, with no Westerns being nominated in the interim.
So even though there was plenty of Southwestern dust in No Country For Old Men, True Grit may offer the excitement of a true throwback. Or not.
And what of The Way Back, which has replaced Tree of Life, now officially relegated to 2011 (along with Miral), as the Popular, But Unsure, New Distributor Wildcard Choice?
Where else can we look for excitement? Well, James Franco is a newcomer to the awards circuit, as is Jesse Eisenberg. And will voters find the idea of nominating the dual role played by Armie Hammer fun? Personally I think it is a bit ugly that Tobey Maguire hasn’t been Oscar nominated yet… but will voters be amused by the idea of sending the new Spider-Man to his spandex suit with an Oscar nomination in tow?
And how about “second time’s the charm?” Colin Firth. Natalie Portman. Josh Brolin. Mark Wahlberg. Ryan Gosling. Anne Hathaway. Carey Mulligan.
There are veterans we love and don’t see enough of in front of that camera these days, from Robert Duvall to Sissy Spacek to Barbara Hershey to Miranda Richardson to Annette Bening, and even Jack Nicholson, who has gone three years without a movie since The Bucket List.
Then there’s this year’s rocket girl, Jennifer Lawrence.
Okay… now I am getting interested… a bit excited even. I want to hear Academy members debate the subtexts of Black Swan and discuss whether they remember the real events of The King’s Speech and try to remember the first True Grit and to consider the actors and filmmakers who are going to take us into the future, from Fincher to Nolan to Aronofsky to Hooper to Granik to Romanek to Russell and embracing the veterans they’ve honored over the years like Jim Brooks and Scorsese and Boyle and Eastwood and The Coens.
Things are just a little slow out of the blocks this year. But we’re almost there. And it could be fun. It may not be as fresh or unexpected as some years… but away we go, dudes, party on.
by David Poland
Previous Column
Tags: 127 Hours, Another Year, Biutiful, Black Swan, Blue Valentine, Conviction, Due Date, Eat Pray Love, Everything You've Got, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, Get Low, Godfather III, Hereafter, Inception, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, Love and Other Drugs, Made in Dagenham, Miral, Morning Glory, Never Let Me Go, Nowhere Boy, Roadside Attractions, Secretariat, Shutter Island, Somewhere, The American, The Fighter, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, The Social Network, The Tempest, The Town, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter’s Bone
Posted in 20 Weeks to Oscar, Awards Update, Awards Watch, MCN Originals, Movie City News | 17 Comments »
Monday, October 11th, 2010
We have the new Gurus O’ Gold chart up, and in taking a look at the consensus votes du jour, I had a couple thoughts. I missed The King’s Speech at Toronto, so I’ll have to wait until screeners come in/Seattle screenings get set to weigh in on it. Could be the Oscar-bee’s knees like I heard from a lot of folks at Toronto, could be Colin Firth‘s year to win a statue. Or not. Time will tell.
Of the Best Pic-contending movies I have seen, I wouldn’t rank The Social Network as highly as it’s sitting right now. It’s very early for that film to be peaking, I think, and I still just don’t see its subject matter and cynicism as broadly appealing to the Academy voters. But we’ll see. Hereafter? Not so much. I wouldn’t even have that one on my Oscar radar at all except that it’s directed by Eastwood — but I personally found it to be maybe on par with Invictus, which wasn’t great, and maybe a tad below Million Dollar Baby (NOT my favorite movie) in terms of emotional manipulation.
Right now, I think my personal top Best Picture pics would be True Grit (haven’t seen that one yet either, but it’s the Coens and the trailer looks great), Black Swan, 127 Hours, Another Year, The King’s Speech (based on the buzz alone at this point) and Winter’s Bone OR The Kids Are All Right as strong outsiders.
I’m more interested at this point in the Adapted Screenplay race, where we have 127 Hours, True Grit and The Social Network as probably leaders of the pack. To this I would add Never Let Me Go, which I think, after reading the book, is a really solid adaptation — more on that one later. Unfortunately, I missed seeing Rabbit Hole (darn that weighty Toronto slate and its surprises), and I’ve heard so many things on that one (mostly positive) that I’m hoping to get to check it out soon.
Right now I’m also interested in the Best Actor and Actress races as well. For Best Actor, everyone (ah yes, the ever-mysterious, yet oddly influential “they”) came out of Toronto saying James Franco is a “lock” for a nomination, and Firth virtually a “lock” for a nom and probable win. I’ve seen Duvall in Get Low and it’s a good performance, no doubt, and one that may appeal to the Academy. Not my personal top o’ the actor heap, but I have no idea what the Academy’s temperature reading is on that film, and no one’s counting my votes anyhow.
Bridges in True Grit may (will probably be) Oscar worthy, but he’s coming off a win last year for Crazy Heart. Personally (and again, not having seen True Grit or King’s Speech yet) my sentimental favorite is Javier Bardem for Biutiful, which I think is the best performance in a career of great performances. But the artfulness of Biutiful may not be enough to lift it up above the rather bleak subject matter to put it up there in the hearts of voters.
As for Best Actress, maybe it’s just me but this feels like a slightly less competitive field this year. After barely missing out on a Best Actress nom for Happy-Go-Lucky a couple years ago, this may be Sally Hawkins year with Made in Dagenham, the kind of uplifting Brit-flick that may be appealing to the Academy. I would probably put Lesley Manville‘s really solid turn in Another Year right up there with Hawkins. and if it were me, Jennifer Lawrence would be right in the mix for Winter’s Bone. I heard really amazing things about Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole out of Toronto, too, and I am a fan of Black Swan and Portman’s performance in it. I wouldn’t count her out completely yet.
The Oscar race will start to take shape more as screeners get sent out and buzz starts to bubble up for this film and peter out for that one. This is a fall with a lot of exciting movies to look forward to and it should be an interesting awards season to watch as well. Much as we all get sick of reading and writing about Oscars, our collective obsession with it drives this business to one extent or another.
I don’t plan to write as much about Oscars as the “Oscar pundits,” more to focus narrowly on specific bits and pieces — screenplay adaptations, docs, maybe foreigns depending on what’s nominated there. After years of having my kids do their Oscar picks randomly using everything from Magic 8-Ball to Twister to Pin the Tail on the Donkey (usually with surprising accuracy) I’ve come to believe that it’s really a crap shoot anyhow.
Fun to talk about and argue about and make charts about, but at the end of the day, I don’t know that any one person’s guesses are actually more accurate or better than the randomness of the Magic 8-Ball. So it goes, let the speculating begin.
Tags: 127 Hours, Black Swan, Clint Eastwood, Colin Firth, Hereafter, James Franco, Javier Bardem, Jennifer Lawrence, lesley manville, Natalie Portman, Never Let Me Go, Nicole Kidman, Oscars, Rabbit Hole, The King's Speech, The Social Network, True Grit, Winter's Bone
Posted in Film, Film Essent, MCN Blogs | Comments Off on Oscars, Already?
Monday, October 11th, 2010
Tags: 127 Hours, Another Year, Biutiful, Black Swan, Blue Valentine, Everything You've Got, Fair Game, For Colored Girls, Get Low, Hereafter, Inception, Love and Other Drugs, Made in Dagenham, Never Let Me Go, Rabbit Hole, Secretariat, Shutter Island, Somewhere, The Fighter, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, The Social Network, The Town, The Tree of Life, the way back, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Waiting For 'Superman', Winter's Bone
Posted in Awards Update, Awards Watch, Gurus o' Gold, MCN Originals, Movie City News | 15 Comments »
Wednesday, September 29th, 2010
I was going to write about how tight the Oscar race already is as we enter the month of October. But looking back at last season’s post-Toronto column… 8 of 10 of the eventual nominees were already well in focus. And had I not been so stubborn about believing that District 9 could make it, I would have had every film except The Blind Side in my Top 13 possibles at the time.
The point is not to ring my own bell, but to pay tribute, really, to how early and how strong the Oscar push efforts are these days. They are still stealth. No one is supposed to notice that a campaign has been going on for months. In fact, no one wants to be up in front, towards the head of the pack, this early. You can be sure that a lot of competitors are giddy that The Social Network has such heat around it RIGHT NOW.
The biggest news coming out of Toronto, aside from films that were non-starters, was that we now have only seven films, by my count, that are in any way contenders that have not been widely available to be seen by The Press and some public. And the only one that seems to be an inevitable nominee – scary words, those – is True Grit.
That is not to say that the other unseen films are not serious contenders. Four are comedies – Due Date, How Do You Know, Love & Other Drugs, and Morning Glory – three from very serious directors and one from the director of one of last year’s commercial phenoms, The Hangover. The Fighter is from revered David O. Russell… who has never made it into the Oscar race. And another, For Colored Girls…, is from critically reviled Tyler Perry, who is a commercial sensation and is working from a play that was one of the most widely seen in the 70s and 80s.
And then there are the films that have already garnered a lot of love. Movies like The Kids Are All Right, Winter’s Bone, and Get Low have many fans and supporters. The Town has had a few weeks as the hot title to discuss, to be followed this weekend by The Social Network. Shutter Island is Scorsese’s biggest worldwide grosser ever, slightly ahead of Best Picture winner The Departed. And what of Oscar faves Clint Eastwood, Mike Leigh, and Alejandro Gonzalez-Inarritu?
I am pretty comfortable that at least 6 of my 7 Most Liklies will be there in the end. The only real question, to me, is whether both Black Swan and 127 Hours, both masterful, artful, commercial films will make the cut. And that’s when distributors have to decide how they are going to craft their efforts. Does a Sony Classics move forward on all fronts or do they decide which of their films is the most realistic nominee? Does a Roadside Attractions, which has very strong candidates in Best Actor and Best Actress, push for more… aside from maybe screenplay nods? Does Lionsgate believe that either of their actor-nom chasing films are BP candidates? And how does Sony balance what feels like a lock for The Social Network when they have a Jim Brooks movie with Oscar winners Reese Witherspoon and Jack Nicholson in the hopper?
But the thing that really, really strikes me at this moment is that it is a very competitive race for a dozen or so movies looking to fit into a few slots (anything can happen in Phase II… there is no such thing as a frontrunner to win at this point), GREAT is not necessary. In fact, GREAT may be a problem for some of these films. This is the Oscar season of Really Good.
There is no The Hurt Locker… no film offering itself up as one. There’s no deep underdog like Precious. There is no Avatar. Toy Story 3 and Inception will be the highest grosser amongst BP nominees (assuming TS3 makes it). But neither film has had the kind of impact that Avatar had and will be two of at least five $700 million worldwide grossing films this year.
So we may be back to the best liked movies over the best movies. How lovable is Made in Dagenham? Is Ed Zwick at an advantage making his first comedy in almost 25 years instead of another drama? Do Academy members really want to wrestle with the heaviness of Never Let Me Go and Winter’s Bone and Biutiful and Rabbit Hole when Black Swan and Shutter Island feel both a little weighty, but are also movie movies that leave you leaving the theater excited by the craft of filmmaking?
I’m really curious. All six of the still unseen non-Coen films could be left on the sidelines. Or they could represent 3 or 4 of the final 10.
In any case, we’ve all been whining about the first half of 2010 and I have to say, there are a lot of good times at the movies coming down the pike. And if even half the unseen films are Really Good, it’s kind of a thrilling year… all of a sudden… out of nowhere.
Cool.
Tags: 127 Hours, Another Year, Biutiful, Black Swan, Blue Valentine, Conviction, Due Date, Eat Pray Love, Everything You've Got, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, Get Low, Godfather III, Hereafter, Inception, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, Love and Other Drugs, Made in Dagenham, Miral, Morning Glory, Never Let Me Go, Nowhere Boy, Roadside Attractions, Secretariat, Shutter Island, Somewhere, The American, The Fighter, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, The Social Network, The Tempest, The Town, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter’s Bone
Posted in 20 Weeks to Oscar, Awards Update, Awards Watch, MCN Originals, Movie City News | 6 Comments »
Wednesday, September 29th, 2010
|
BEST
PICTURE
|
|
Picture
|
Studio
|
Director
|
Stars |
Comment
|
The Films
Most Likely (by release date) |
|
June 18
|
Toy Story 3 |
Disney
|
Unkrich
|
–
|
|
| July 16
|
Inception |
WB
|
Nolan
|
DiCaprio
|
|
| Oct 1
|
The Social Network |
Sony
|
Fincher
|
Eisenberg
|
|
|
Nov 5
|
127 Hours |
FxSch
|
Boyle
|
Franco
|
|
|
Nov
24
|
The King’s Speech |
TWC
|
Marshall
|
Firth
|
|
|
Dec 1
|
Black Swan |
FxSch
|
Aronofsky
|
Portman
|
|
|
Dec 25
|
True Grit |
Par
|
Coens
|
Bridges
Brolin
Damon
|
The only film in this category that hasn’t been seen. |
| Duking It Out For 3 or 4 Slots (by release date) |
|
July 30
|
Get Low |
SPC
|
Schneider
|
Duvall
Spacek
Murray
|
|
|
Feb 19
|
Shutter Island |
Par
|
Scorsese
|
DiCaprio
|
|
| June 11 |
Winter’s Bone |
RdAtt
|
Granik
|
Lawrence
|
|
|
July 9
|
The Kids Are All Right |
Focus
|
Cholodenko
|
Bening
Moore
|
|
|
Sept 15
|
Never Let Me Go |
FxSch
|
Romanek
|
Knightley
Mulligan
Garfield
|
|
|
Sept 17
|
The Town |
WB
|
Affleck
|
|
|
|
Oct 8
|
Secretariat |
Dis
|
Wallace
|
Lane
|
|
|
Oct 22
|
Hereafter |
WB
|
Eastwood
|
Damon
|
|
|
Nov5
|
Due Date |
WB
|
Phillips
|
Downey
Galifianakis
|
|
|
Nov 5
|
For Colored Girls… |
LGF
|
Perry
|
Elise
Goldberg
Newton
|
|
|
Nov 12
|
Morning Glory |
Par
|
Michell
|
McAdams
Ford
|
|
|
Nov 19
|
Made In Dagenham |
SPC
|
Cole
|
Hawkins
|
|
|
Nov 24
|
Love & Other Drugs |
Fox
|
Zwick
|
Gyllenhaal
Hathaway
|
|
|
Dec 10
|
The Fighter |
Par/Rel
|
O. Russell
|
Wahlberg
|
|
|
Dec 17
|
How Do You Know |
Sony
|
Brooks
|
Witherspoon
Nicholson
|
|
|
Dec 17
|
Rabbit Hole |
LGF
|
Mitchell
|
Kidman
|
|
|
Dec 29
|
Another Year |
SPC
|
Leigh
|
Broadbent
Staunton
|
|
|
Dec 29
|
Biutiful |
RdAtt
|
Gonzalez-
Inarritu
|
Bardem
|
|
The
Rest Of The Contenders (by release date) |
|
Mar 26
|
How to Train Your Dragon |
DW/Par
|
|
|
|
|
Aug 13
|
Eat Pray Love |
Fox
|
|
J Roberts
|
|
|
Sept 1
|
The American |
Focus
|
Corbijn
|
Clooney
|
|
| Sept 24
|
It’s Kind Of A Funny Story |
Focus
|
Boden/
Fleck
|
E Roberts
|
|
|
Sept 24
|
Wall Street 2 |
Fox
|
Stone
|
Douglas
Mulligan
|
|
|
Oct 15
|
Conviction |
FxSch
|
Goldwyn
|
Swank
|
|
| Dec 25
|
Somewhere |
Focus
|
Coppola
|
|
|
|
Dec 1
|
Miral |
TWC
|
Schnabel
|
–
|
|
|
Dec 10
|
The Tempest |
Mir
|
Taymor
|
Mirren
|
|
|
Dec 31
|
Blue Valentine |
TWC
|
Cianfrance
|
Gosling
Williams
|
|
Tags: 127 Hours, Another Year, Biutiful, Black Swan, Blue Valentine, Conviction, Due Date, Eat Pray Love, Everything You've Got, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, Get Low, Godfather III, Hereafter, Inception, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, Love and Other Drugs, Made in Dagenham, Miral, Morning Glory, Never Let Me Go, Nowhere Boy, Roadside Attractions, Secretariat, Shutter Island, Somewhere, The American, The Fighter, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, The Social Network, The Tempest, The Town, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter’s Bone
Posted in 20 Weeks to Oscar - Charts, Awards Watch | 8 Comments »
Monday, September 6th, 2010
Welcome to the first Gurus gathering of this upcoming season.
It always seems a little silly to offer strong opinions before the Toronto International Film Festival has even begun. So we don’t. Consider these a gentle guide to what the buzz is, very early in the season.
We asked The Gurus to offer their 15 favorites to end up nominated for Best Picture come January. No ranking, No “sure things.” Just instinct and as much insight as is possible at this moment.
Last year, we did the same and the result was that The Gurus hit seven of the final ten in their Top Ten from this long distance. Two more were picked in the Top Sixteen. And the only film to get nominated that was nowhere to be found on this early list? The Blind Side. (Perhaps that explains the shock from the media when it got nominated… even after becoming a well-reviewed massive box office hit.) So maybe this early poll isn’t really all that silly .
Is there a stone unturned this year? Well, not Stone, which got a vote from Pete Howell. And not Tree of Life, which got 4 votes last year at this time… and just 3 votes this time around (2 of them from the same Gurus as last year).
This is not the look for the future of Gurus moving forward. But our team is designing a databased system that will launch when Gurus goes full-out in November. So, until then…
UPDATE, 9/7/10 – The last three Gurus have now chimed in.
The Participating Gurus
Anthony Breznican – USA Today
Greg Ellwood – Hitfix
Pete Hammond – Deadline Hollywood
Eugene Hernandez – indieWIRE
Pete Howell – Toronto Star
Dave Karger – Entertainment Weekly
Mark Olsen – LA Times
David Poland – Movie City News
Steve Pond – The Wrap
Sean Smith – Entertainment Weekly
Sasha Stone – Awards Daily
Kris Tapley – In Contention
Anne Thompson -indieWIRE
Susan Wloszczyna – USA Today
Tags: 127 Hours, Another Year, Biutiful, Black Swan, Blue Valentine, Brighton Rock, Casino Jack, Everything You've Got, For Colored Girls, Hereafter, How to Train Your Dragon, Inception, Inside Job, Love and Other Drugs, Made in Dagenham, Miral, Never Let Me Go, Next Three Days, Secretariat, Shutter Island, Somewhere, Stone, The American, the conspirator, The Debt Fair Game, The Fighter, The Ghost Writer, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, The Social Network, The Tempest, The Tourist, The Town, The Tree of Life, the way back, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter's Bone
Posted in Awards, Awards Update, Awards Watch, Festivals, Gurus o' Gold, MCN Blogs, MCN Originals, Movie City News, The Hot Blog, TIFF Originals, Toronto Film Festival | 22 Comments »
It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?
So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.
And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.
There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.
I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.
But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”
My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher
“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.
~ David Simon
