The Director's Guild Narrows Things Down a Little Bit

Today the Director's Guild of America (DGA) announced their five nominees, and their was one shock, David Fincher for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was nominated in every one of the major guild awards, the PGA, WGA, and the DGA.  What does this mean?  Tattoo is on solid ground and will most likely be one of the 5-9 Best Picture nominee.  Fincher is a well respected director, but I did not see this nomination coming.  I thought we would see Tate Taylor for The Help, Steven Spielberg for War Horse or Bennett Miller for Moneyball before Fincher made this list.

Now as an Oscar forecaster I can safely predict The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has a much better shot at (if not locked down) at being a Best Picture nominee.  I also think think this means we will see Rooney Mara's name announced as a nominee for Best Actress. The biggest problem with predicting the Best Picture category is that no one knows the number of nominees in the Best Picture category so predicted the actual nominees is going to be more difficult.  The Help will  still score a Best Picture nomination, but will probably not get a director nomination (as previously thought).  I think Moneyball is in the same category as The Help, a Best Picture nomination without a Director nomination.  I think War Horse could be a causality here, while Spielberg garnered a DGA nomination for Munich, but not for this and with this  films diminishing box office, and the fact that no one is pushing it as their favorite film proves to be a huge barrier for this film.

I am saddened that brilliant directors like Terrence Malick-The Tree of Life, and Nicolas Winding Refn-Drive are being ignored.  These two men created two brilliant films, and their direction is the best of the year.  The Director's branch of the Academy does not always agree with these five nominees.  Last year Christopher Nolan-Inception was nominated for the DGA but the Coen Brothers earned a nomination in his place at the Oscars for True Grit (huge mistake). 2009 the nominees matched up exactly.  In 2008 Christopher Nolan received a DGA nomination for The Dark Knight, and Stephen Daldry received his spot as an Oscar nominee for The Reader (another big mistake).  In 2007 the DGA picked Sean Penn for Into the Wild as a nominee while the Academy replace him with Jason Reitman for Juno.  I would have picked Penn, but Juno was a well liked film.  In 2006 the DGA and the Academy disagreed on two nominations.  The DGA nominated Jonathon Dayton and Valerie Ferris for Little Miss Sunshine and Bill Condon for Dreamgirls.  The Academy Awards nominated Clint Eastwood for Letters from Iwo Jima and Paul Greengrass for United 93. Over the last few years the DGA and Academy have only completely agreed one year, and from 2000-2010 the DGA and Academy have only lined up three times (2002, 2005, and 2009).

So who will stay and who will be replaced (if anyone)?  I think Fincher is the most vulnerable, but at this moment it is hard to predict that any of these five men listed below will not get a nomination.  The next question is who would be the replacement nominee, will the Academy play it safe with Miller, Spielberg, or Taylor or will they take a risk and go with Malick or Refn.  When replacing someone in a group like this this the Academy will typically go with Malick or Refn.  The Academy has typically only messed up when replacing Christopher Nolan (they sure hate him for some reason.  At the moment I think Malick will replace Fincher, but that is not a set in stone prediction.

Here are the nominees:

WOODY ALLEN
Midnight in Paris
(Sony Pictures Classics)

DAVID FINCHER
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
(Columbia Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures)

MICHEL HAZANAVICIUS
The Artist
(The Weinstein Company)

ALEXANDER PAYNE
The Descendants
(Fox Searchlight Pictures)

MARTIN SCORSESE
Hugo
(Paramount Pictures)

Read more »

Academy Awards Best Picture Revisited: Far from Heaven (2002)

So I decided to be a rebel today.  The past few weeks I have been talking about films that have been either nominated or won the Academy Award for Best Picture. What about the films that missed out, or should have been nominated?  2002 was a great year for film, and while there were some great solid films nominated this year I would like to focus on the brilliant but snubbed film, Far From Heaven directed and written by Todd Haynes.

Todd Haynes first film Poison was released in 1991 and was an adaptation of Jean Genet's "transgressive" novels.  Haynes first film won the Grand Jury prize at Sundance, and was cited by B. Ruby Rich as one emerging films in New Queer Cinema.  Haynes continued to go against the grain with his 1995 film Safe.  Safe is about Carol White, a San Fernando Valley housewife who develops an an intense allergy to her suburban life.  Safe was Hayne's first collaboration with Julianne Moore, and the allergy was seen as an allegory to the AIDS epidemic of the 80s.  Haynes third, Velvet Goldmine (1998) film took a different direction from his first two films and paid tribute 1970s glam rock focusing on Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Lou Reed.  Then came Haynes second film with Julianne Moore, Far from Heaven.  Heaven and Safe are my favorite Haynes films (ironic they both star Moore); she is in a way his muse and has brought to life some of his best work.


Haynes fourth film is masterful; he weaves an intimate tale that shows his respect for 50s melodrama, and disdain for suburban life.  Heaven is influence heavily by the melodramatic films of Douglas Sirk.  Far from Heaven centers around two plots, one of them is Cathy (Julianne Moore) and her marriage to her husband Raymond (Dennis Quaid) which mirrors the relationship of Jane Wynman and Rock Hudson in the Sirk film All that Heaven Allows.  Haynes also used the close relationship of Cathy and her housekeeper Sybil (Viola Davis) which resembles the relationship between Lana Turner and Juanita Davis is Imitation of Life.  In order to put his touch to the film, and make this melodrama more modern Haynes adds the concepts of homosexuality, and interracial dating into the mix.  These are two topics that would have taboo and would only be used as subtext in a Sirk film.


Watching Far from Heaven today felt like viewing a beautiful piece of art.  This film's direction and writing create a masterful blend of the traditional 1950s melodrama and modern cinema.  Haynes knows film, and is brilliant bringing the subtext to life.  Haynes brilliant team includes a wonderful acting ensemble with Julianne Moore in her Academy Award nominated (should have won) performance, Dennis Quaid as her closeted husband (snubbed by the Oscars), Patricia Clarkson as Cathy's best friend who adds new levels to such a subtle performance, and Dennis Haysbert who plays Kathy's gardener and someone whom she considers to have strong feelings for.  Then there is the costumes from Sandy Powell, the beautiful cinematography from Edward Lachman, and of course the flawless score from the legendary Elmer Bernstein.  This was a phenomenal film that should have been one of the five films films nominated for Best Picture.


The five films nominated for Best Picture this year were Chicago, Gangs of New York, The Hours, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and The Pianist.  Chicago was the second musical nominated in the post Moulin Rouge era.  Chicago, the film, added the razzle dazzle that the Broadway show lacked, and was a solid, and deserved its spot on this list.  Gangs of New York is my least favorite Scorsese film nominated for this award, Diaz was bland and the script was weak.  While Day Lewis was solid in his role, he did not do enough to save this film.  The Hours is better than some think, it was actually listed as one of the worst films of the year by Time Magazine.  I am torn about this film and its place as a Best Picture nominee, while I love the editing and acting, some things are over the top and not in the best way.  Two Towers is the weakest of the three Lord of the Rings, but is a great film that belongs on this list.  While films about the Holocaust are almost always honored at the Oscars, The Pianist deserves its place in this category because of the beauty, and grace added by Polanski's directing, and Brody's performance.  Of the five nominated films I would replaced Gangs of New York and The Hours.


One of the films that would have replaced these two would have been (of course) Far From Heaven.  Picking the fifth film is a bit trickier.  there were numerous films that could have filled the fifth slot.  Spike Jonez film Adaptation about a film about making about Orchid's is brilliantly quirky.  Steven Spielberg had two great films this year, Catch me if you Can, and Minority Report.  Sam Mendes had adaptation of the graphic novel Road to Perdition, and Alexander Payne had the wonderfully dark comedy About Schmidt.  Of all the films listed I would pick Adaptation, while quirky this film delivers on every level like Far From Heaven.


I was glad I watched this film today.  I stumbled upon it while I was at work and on Netflix.  I had not watched Far From Heaven in years, and watching this film today reminded me of the beauty of well made films.  I may just have to change my pattern and watch more films the Academy overlooks, because they tend to be my favorite.


(My Five Best Picture nominees 2002: Adaptation, Chicago, Far from Heaven, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and The Pianist)

Read more »

Writer Guild Nominations Announced: Ineligible Films Help to Provide some Surprises

The Writers Guild Award (WGA) nominations were announced today.  One of the important thing to acknowledge is that there was a large list of films that were intelligible: The Artist, Shame, Martha Macy, Albert Nobbs, Drive, Margin Call, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, The Iron Lady and My Week with Marilyn.  WGA does not always state the specific reason, but sometimes it's because the writer is not a part of the guild or according to thewrap.com "scripts written for productions that are signatories to the guild's Minimum Basic Agreement" which means the films did not follow the guidelines of the WGA.  This does not make predicting the Academy Awards any easier, but it does tell us who is continually out front, and who is trailing.

Bridesmaids surges ahead once again.  This film has a PGA and WGA nomination, that's pretty major.  Bridesmaids director Greg Daniels will not score a DGA nomination, but I think (like I have stated for a while) that this film has a great chance at a Best Picture nomination.    

The other films that are locks for Best Picture at this point are: The Descendants, The Help, Hugo, and Moneyball.   I think all of these films will earn screenplay nominations like today, The Help and Hugo are more up in the air, but I think they will be nominated.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has been building a lot of support.  This film could be replace by any of the adapted screenplays listed above. Steven Zaillian is also a well respected screenwriter and this could be a rubber stamp in this category come Oscar time.

The original screenplay category is always interesting here because the original films tend to not follow the WGA rules most. The Artist will replace one of these films, and I have a strong suspicion The Tree of Life will end up here as well.  I think Young Adult and Win Win are the most vulnerable (unfortunately).

Today goldderby.com had an article about the potential for Midnight in Paris winning Best Picture. Not only does Midnight in Paris look like a lock to win the WGA, but I think it will easily win the Original Screenplay award at the Oscars.  The Best Picture race is cloudy, and there is no foreseeable front runner, this movie is easily one of the best written, and most like able films of the year.  This tale of nostalgia is brilliant and will be one film I am rooting for!

Here are the WGA nominees:

Original Screenplay

50/50, Written by Will Reiser; Summit Entertainment
Bridesmaids, Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig; Universal Studios
Midnight in Paris, Written by Woody Allen; Sony Pictures Classics
Win Win, Screenplay by Tom McCarthy; Story by Tom McCarthy & Joe Tiboni; Fox Searchlight
Young Adult, Written by Diablo Cody; Paramount Pictures

Adapted Screenplay

The Descendants, Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash; Based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemming; Fox Searchlight
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Screenplay by Steven Zaillian; Based on the novel by Stieg Larsson, originally published by Norstedts; Columbia Pictures
The Help, Screenplay by Tate Taylor; Based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett; DreamWorks Pictures
Hugo, Screenplay by John Logan; Based on the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick; Paramount Pictures
Moneyball, Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin; Story by Stan Chervin; Based on the book by Michael Lewis; Columbia Pictures

Read more »

January Must See Movies and Movies to Skip

January 6th Releases-Time to See What You Missed Around the Holidays
The Devil Inside
Roadie (Limited)
Beneath the Darkness (Limited)

Studios are hoping that people will continue to try and see the films they missed around the holidays.  There is also hope that some limited releases from December will make it to more cities around this time as well.  I know people are hesitant about Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, but it's pretty great.  There is also The Artist.

January 13th Releases-Beauty and the Beasts
Contraband
Joyful Noise
The Iron Lady (expanding from NYC and LA)
Beauty and the Beast 3D


The two brand new releases this weekend are interesting.  Mark Wahlberg is hot, but they should have just made a sequel to The Italian Job instead of doing this.  As a gay man a film with Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah screams come see, but my inner voice tells me to wait until redbox.  While I think Iron Lady looks alright, I am excited to see Meryl.  While I love Beauty and the Beast...I own it.

January 20th Releases-In the bitter cold I may just be staying inside this month....
Underworld: Awakening 
Haywire
Coriolanus
Red Tails


My friend has told me I am going to see Underworld with him, but I honestly have no desire to watch Kate Beckinsale try and overact (true friendship). Haywire looks to try and tackle the female version of the Bourne movies, it could have potential, but I think it looks poorly written.  Coriolanus has gotten praise for its performances, but I am not sure I care to go see it.  While I like the plot of Red Tails I am not ready to fork out 10 bucks to see it.

January 27th Releases-Independent vs. the Awful
The Grey
One for the Money
Albert Nobbs (limited)
Rampart (limited)
We Need to Talk About Kevin (wider)

I do not even want to discuss how awful The Grey and One for the Money look, so I won't.  Albert Nobbs looks a little bland, Rampart has Woody Harrelson, but if I have to wait this long We Need to Talk About Kevin is the movie I want to see this week.

Must See Movies of the Month: The Iron Lady and We Need to Talk About Kevin

Movies to Skip: The Grey, One for the Money, The Devil Inside, Contrband

Read more »

The Producers Guild Forecasts a Bland Outlook at the Oscars

Today the Producer's Guild of America (PGA) helped narrow down the potential list of Best Picture nominees.  Sometimes this group throws in some commercial success stories, i.e. Bridesmaids this year.  Bridesmaids making this list shows that it is gaining more and more momentum towards a Best Picture nomination.  People have compared this film to The Hangover, but Bridesmaids has already done much better than that laugher, and this film is a serious threat.  The other surprise nominee that needs to be taken a little more seriously today is The Ides of March.  March has four Golden Globe nominations and could be a serious contender.  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo's nomination is less surprising because the producer is genius Scott Rudin, but this could help propel the film to more major nominations.

One film that is most likely out of the running is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.  If Potter could not get a nomination from this guild then the odds of a Best Picture nomination are pretty much dead in the water.  Two smaller films Drive and The Tree of Life were noticeably left off this list as well.  If this trend continues look for this to be one of the most generic celebrations of film. 

The not so surprising nominations were The Artist, The Descendants, The Help,Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, and War Horse.  These are the films that are out front for nominations, and to win the Best Picture honor.  Looking at this list of seven films makes me feel as though the the Academy (for the most part) like this Guild, will play it safe this year.  Films like Shame, Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy, Martha Marcy May Marlene, and many other will be ignored. While I am excited for films like The Artist, Midnight in Paris and Hugo, I can't help but hope the Academy will take more risks.  The upcoming Guild awards will help paint a clearer picture, but I predict a very bland year at the Oscars  

THE ARTIST-Producer: Thomas Langmann

BRIDESMAIDS-Producers: Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel, Clayton Townsend

THE DESCENDANTS-Producers: Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO-Producers: Ceán Chaffin, Scott Rudin

THE HELP-Producers: Michael Barnathan, Chris Columbus, Brunson Green

HUGO-Producers: Graham King, Martin Scorsese

THE IDES OF MARCH-Producers: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Brian Oliver

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS-Producers: Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum

MONEYBALL-Producers: Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz, Brad Pitt

WAR HORSE-Producers: Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg

Read more »

Even in Silence The Artist Speaks Volumes

The Artist (4 out 5 Stars)

Directed and Written by Michel Hazanavicius 

Starring Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, and John Goodmand

The first silent film I saw was the 1915 film The Tramp.  The Tramp was directed by, written by, and starred Charlie Chaplin.  I watched the film in one of my college classes.  We watched the film because of its commentary on capitalism and the American dream.  One thing I remember most about the film experience was the brilliant way in which Chaplin was able to convey more without speaking than some actors do with their words; he had a presence.  Chaplin's physically bumbling characteristics show one of the most common trends within his films.  Silent films like this one tended to use highly expressive physical action and facial expressions to help convey the details of the story.

The Artist starts with silent film George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) premiering his film to an audience where he does the exact same things Chaplin did in his films.  George is this hammy star who does a lot "mugging" for the camera in his films and in real life; he is a major silent film star and the audiences love him.  Valentin takes almost five minutes of applause for himself and his canine companion from the film, a sign of his charm and ego. The next day after the premier Valentin has a "meet-cute" with a young woman named Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) who drops her autograph book, and bumps into George.  George helps Peppy on her path to become an actress adding a mole to her face, and helping her to understand what she needs to do to be a success.  As Peppy starts to get more work George is brought into the office by the studio boss Al Zimmer (John Goodmand) who tells George talk talkies are the way of the future and they will be moving away from making silent films.

Michel Hazanavicius created a wonderfully charming film.  Hazanavicius does a great job paying homage to an era of film that has been forgotten.  Hazanavicius has not turned his back on different advances in creating cinema; he has honored the past cinematic experiences to forge ahead.  Guillame Schiffman's cinematography is more traditional, but creates a stunning visually sumptuous film.  Ludovic Bource's score is more traditional, and reminds me of the days of old Hollywood, but the music transports you into the world of the silent era.  Combined these elements pave the way to watch as the audience is transported back into the history of cinema.

This film has a similar story arc to the classic film version of A Star is Born. George is an aging actor who sees everything slipping away from him as Peppy the young and newly popular starlet is embraced and helps launch talkies for the Kinograph studio.  Dujardin is charming as George and does a good job evolving from the bubbly Chaplin like fellow to the aging star who has lost his claim to fame.  Bejo's Peppy reminded me of the old Hollywood starlet; she is a cute, but strong female.  In the world of old Hollywood women had gumption, Bejo's portrayal of Peppy captures this well.  Together these two make of the most charming on screen couples.  Like within old films there are fireworks, and love at first sight, and through simple acts we get the feeling that these two belong together.  My favorite moment is when Peppy is waiting for George in his dressing room and pretends her arm  is through tux, and he walks in on her.

Together these things make one solid film.  I respect Hazanavicius's ambition; he took a difficult concept and made it work.  In this era of pessimism film makers have moved away from light hearted/fun film making.  The film challenges the conventional norms, and like some other films uses nostalgia to convey the evolution of film has no ending in site.

Read more »

Academy Awards Best Picture Revisited: Mystic River (2003)

I needed to take a week off for Christmas.  The truth of the matter is I forgot about watching Mystic River last week.  2003 was one incredible year at the movies, Peter Jackson finished his trilogy (without splitting it in two parts), Sofia Coppola emerged from her father's shadow, and Clint Eastwood started a pattern that provided some of the best films in his career.

Clint Eastwood has had an impressive career. Eastwood started as television actor in the 1950s, moved on to film acting, and then in the early 1970s he started acting and directing.  Eastwood's early career as an actor centered on westerns, and being a bad ass cop.  Eastwood's career as a director and producer, is much more impressive than his acting career (in my opinion); his first major critical success as a director was the 1988 film Bird.  Bird was a film about the life of Charlie "Bird" Parker.  Clint Eastwood won his first major award, a Golden Globe for direction, with this film.  Eastwood was not nominated for a Best Director Oscar.  Eastwood's first Academy Award nominations came in 1993 for starring, producing, and directing the film Unforgiven; he won for producing and directing the film.  Two years later the Academy Awards honored Eastwood with the Irving Thalberg Memorial Award, a lifetime achievement award.  Eastwood had several films in between like Space Cowboys and Bridges of Madison County, but waas not nominated again until 10 years after his first nomination for producing and directing Mystic River.  Mystic River started Eastwood's continuing journey to attend the Academy Awards.  In 2004 he was nominated for starring in, directing, and producing the film Million Dollar Baby; he won for directing and producing.  Eastwood's most recent nominations came in 2007 for directing and producing Letters for Iwo Jima; he was honored more the critically liked film in a pair.  Eastwood's nomination this year came from producing and directing two films from two different perspectives during World War II.

Eastwood is much more than this time period, but his film Mystic River is one of the crowning jewels in his career.  Mystic River centers on three friends Jimmy (Sean Penn), Dave (Tim Robbins) and Sean (Kevin Bacon) who as young children encountered two men who pretended to be police officers in order to lure the boys away to and molest them.  The only person who ended up going with them was Dave.  This one dark incident impacts this trio and their future path to adulthood, and their family.  As adults another incident brings this trio back together and takes them on a dark journey.

I remember reading the Dennis Lehane book, and thinking about how difficult it would be to adapt into a film, but Eastwood and the screenwriter Brian Helgelend took a book on a complex subject matter/a mystery and made an exceptional film.  Dennis Lehane has had three works made into films (including Mystic River) the other two were Gone Baby Gone and Shutter Island.  Lehane's books all provide great context that allow directors and screenwriters to make an easy transition to the big screen.  While I tore through the book Mystic River the film version added such wonderful context to the characters.

While the film can become a bit melodramatic especially the scene where the cops have the restrain Sean Penn at the crime scene.  While  Penn earned an Oscar nomination for this film I think he gives a far superior performance in 21 Grams.  Penn won for his body of work that year (nothing wrong with that). Mystic River had a strong ensemble and the movies quality was bolstered by strong performances.  Stylistically, Eastwood knows the material and uses his actors and the story to construct a strong film.  I am intrigued to see how his films, including this film age.  Will Mystic River stand the test of time and be remembered as one of the best films from this year?

Picking five Best Picture nominees in 2003 is a challenge. Mystic River had six Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Best Director-Clint Eastwood, Best Actor-Sean Penn (winner), Best Supporting Actress-Marcia Gay Harden, Best Supporting Actor-Tim Robbins (winner), and Best Adapted Screenplay.  The five nominated films were: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Lost in Translation, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Mystic River, and Seabiscuit.

Of the five nominees 3 of the films deserved to be here.  The winner was the swan song for Return of the King, and I glad this film finally won, what an epic conclusion.  Mystic River deserved its nomination as (for reasons stated above).  While many are torn on Lost in Translation, this is one of my favorite films, and I think it captures the emotional struggle of its two leads well.  The other two films would not even come close to making my top ten list.  Master and Commander is boring, and Seabiscuit was the perennial attempt to show the voters have a heart.

If the voters wanted to show their heart they could have picked the much better film In America.  America was directed by Jim Sheridan and details the struggles of an Irish immigrant family.  If the voters wanted the action of Master and Commander they should have gone with Tarantino's masterful return to for, Kill Bill Volume 1.  The Academy was of course not edgy enough to even nominate Uma Thurman for Best Actress.  Fernando Mirielles was honored with a Best Director nomination for brilliant film City of God, but the film itself was snubbed. The Best Animated Feature gave Nemo and Dory an opportunity to be part of an Oscar winning film, but Finding Nemo was one of the most beloved, and best films of this year.  21 Grams had all the raw emotional power of Mystic River and it starred the same guy, Sean Penn.  This was wonderfully poignant tale that interweaves the stories of three different individuals.  Then last but certainly not least there is the film American Splendor, which tell the story of the graphic novelist Harvey Pekar. Splendor is hilarious, dark, and has one of Paul Giamatti's best roles.  I could go on and on about all of these films.  Each one has a right to be called the best film making of 2003.

Narrowing this list to just five films in an amazing year is incredibly difficult, but if I had to my top five films of 2003 would be City of God, Kill Bill Volume One,The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Lost in Translation, Mystic River.  In all honesty I would need six nominees and my sixth would be In America.  2003 is a great year, and Mystic River is a wonderful film that fits into the growing landscape of cinema.  The film uses a traditional setting while intermingling the role the past plays in someone's developmental process.

Read more »