This is pretty awesome- WB has released a seven minute companion short film that was originally going to show up on the blu-ray for Gravity, which shows the other side of Sandra Bullock's distress call to a man that couldn't understand her. It's written and directed by Jonas Cuaron and is now being submitted for the Oscars as a live-action short. It's probably safe to say this is a definite spoiler, so only for those who've already seen Gravity:
The Best Actor race is insanely crowded this year. So packed that there already seems to be a set list of five nominees, with as many as five more fighting to squeeze their way into a tightly locked space.
To start off, Chiwetel Ejiofor seems set for a nomination and possibly the win for 12 Years a Slave, where he plays Solomon Northup, a free man kidnapped and sold into slavery in the 1840's. He and the film have received amazing reviews and as the star and focus of the likely Best Picture winner, he'll be getting the most attention, as often times the Best Picture has a strong lead in the Actor or Actress category. Ejiofor himself has also been working in films for many years now and has been long overlooked in character parts, so this will be his first nomination. Everything seems to be pointing his way at the moment, the only drawback would be that his part is not as showy as his co-stars Michael Fassbender and Lupita Nyong'o, who are also favored to win.
In second is Robert Redford, who many see as a lock for All is Lost, and another frontrunner for the win, but I'm iffy on this one. I believe that as the legend and icon he is, that Redford will likely be nominated, but I'm not convinced about the win, seeing how the movie has proved polarizing with audiences (although very well-reviewed by critics). The thinking here is the Academy voters (who are mostly old, white men of his age group) will identify with him and want to see him win an acting Oscar (his only nomination was for The Sting back in 1973), but that didn't work out so well for eight time loser Peter O'Toole a few years ago (and if anyone was owed one it was probably him, right?)
In third we have Matthew McConaughey, who got career best reviews for Dallas Buyers Club and seems assured his first ever nom after a critical career comeback going on two years now. Most think he's locked here and it does look set, but I think if anyone could be bumped for an outsider he's the one who's vulnerable, despite the dramatic weight loss he undertook for the role as a man dying of AIDS.
In fourth is Tom Hanks, who was fantastic in Captain Phillips and hasn't been nominated for an Oscar since Cast Away in 2000. Phillips was well reviewed and has already made $100 million at the box office, so to me this is another set in stone nomination, which would be his sixth (and possibly seventh if he scores a double nod for Saving Mr. Banks this year). On the other hand, if voters want to reward him for one movie and don't see the need for a double nomination, is it possible he's vulnerable? It could happen, but I'm doubtful because he's another beloved icon and the performance is so strong (especially the last fifteen minutes) that I think he will sail through.
And the fifth slot I think will be filled by Bruce Dern for Nebraska, another industry vet who's been around in supporting character parts for decades and has now landed the best role of his career at the age of 77. He would seem in slightly shakier territory, but with people like best bud Jack Nicholson personally out there campaigning for him, he may have more support than we think. It's difficult when every performance is so worthy, because the fight for nominations becomes more based on outside factors- campaigning, likability, personal support within the actor's branch, etc. Who do they want to vote for?
And that's where we come to the outsiders looking to break in to that really tough group and Forest Whitaker is the one I'd love to see make it. He's the center of The Butler, and even though his performance is subtle and understated, he conveys more emotion and power through just his eyes and mannerisms than anyone else could. The movie is backed by Oscar whisperer Harvey Weinstein and may be underestimated in a lot of categories (we'll get to that when I do Best Picture), so I think Whitaker is still a threat here. After him it's Joaquin Phoenix in Her, who has to act opposite an OS and has been spectacularly praised, Oscar Isaac in Inside Llewyn Davis, who's a newcomer as a lead but has also gotten stellar reviews, and Leonardo Dicaprio for The Wolf of Wall Street, who's the big question mark, along with Christian Bale for American Hustle. Both are multiple former nominees who could easily get in again if their performances live up to the hype.
For now, here's who I've got:
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Tom Hanks
Robert Redford
Matthew McConaughey
Bruce Dern
I'm not voting for any surprises here, because to me that particular group may very well be locked right now, no matter how great Leo and Christian Bale are in their upcoming movies. The shakiest one of that group in my opinion is either Dern or McConaughey, and I think either of them may be replaced by Forest Whitaker. And we could have a situation where Redford and Dern are fighting it out for the veteran slot, and only one of them makes it. But out of those five, I think Ejiofor's still the one to beat at the moment. Next week I'll take a look at Supporting Actress.
New trailer for the next Muppets movie, coming out in March of next year:
Newcomer Adele Exarchopoulos is sure to be a fixture at upcoming awards events, out promoting Cannes winner Blue is the Warmest Color. Here she is with Charlie Rose, talking about the process she went through with fellow actress Lea Seydoux and how excited she is to be traveling all over the world now with the success of the film. What comes across most is how mature she seems for a 19 year old (and her English is pretty good too).
In honor of the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination this Friday, what better timing could there be to watch JFK, Oliver Stone's melting pot of conspiracy theories about the mystery of JFK's death. Very controversial at the time of its release for playing loose with the facts, it's difficult to tell what is and is not being accused of having happened, but as a movie, it's an exciting and compelling drama with an all star cast that included Kevin Costner, Joe Pesci, Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Bacon, Gary Oldman and Sissy Spacek.
Original 1991 Trailer:
The first U.S. trailer for Asghar Fahadi's The Past, France's submission this year for the Oscars. The movie was lauded in Cannes, especially Berenice Bejo (The Artist) for her performance. Iranian director Farhadi's last film was the outstanding A Separation (2011) which won the Oscar for foreign-language film that year. And kudos to this trailer for actually including the subtitles for once. The movie's coming out in December.
Canadian director Sarah Polley's documentary on the mystery of her family is a highly inventive, extremely personal piece of filmmaking, that turns the mystery of the story she's telling on its head, and becomes itself something of a puzzle to be unraveled (although I admit I saw one particular twist coming ahead of time, but maybe that surprise will work better on you than it did me).
The film begins fairly conventionally, using interviews with Polley's family members and home video footage to tell the story of her mother Diane, a Canadian actress who was active in the 1960's and 70's, and the relationship she had with Sarah's father, Michael, her second husband, whom she married and had several children with, including Sarah. The film creatively uses the footage and memories of various relatives and acquaintances, whose place in Diane and Michael's life becomes revealed gradually, as Diane's story begins to get more and more complicated as it progresses through her later years. Diane herself died of cancer when Sarah was 11 years old, and the questions her film asks about her mother begin to show themselves as a part of Sarah's own reckoning with finding out as much as she can about a woman she never really got to know. A woman who turns out to have been hiding life altering secrets that as they come to light, affect and change Sarah forever, which she is candidly and openly revealing about herself on film.
It's hard to describe this movie without giving away several twists, which are crucial to what happens in the story, and one of them I am going to reveal here, so I'll warn you ahead of time with a great big SPOILER ALERT in case you don't want to know: Sarah, the youngest child in her family, ultimately finds out that she was the product of an affair, and that Michael is not her biological father, which until now, no one in the family knew, including her father. The way this revelation affects the family is obviously painful and shocking, and the way Polley herself deals with this life-changing truth is to be incredibly honest about her feelings and to ultimately expose the whole story, using accounts of her mother from other people, and writings from her father, which she intertwines into this spell-binding documentary. The film shifts gears as the layers grow deeper, and it goes from simply being the firsthand account of one life, to the heartbreaking reconciliation and reunion of a daughter and her two fathers, and ultimately a story about stories- how they're told, who they can affect, what forms they can take (several are undertaken to tell just this one alone) and the ways in which all families are probably hiding multiple stories of their own, which could be revealed by doing a little digging and talking to just the right people.
By putting herself out there in this way, Sarah Polley reveals herself as a very ambitious filmmaker who isn't afraid to take chances in the way that she tells stories, and her track record so far is the beginning of what looks to be a career worth following (her other two films as a director are 2007's Away From Her and 2011's Take This Waltz, both worth seeing). Stories We Tell is fascinating, complex and inspiring filmmaking- and one of the year's best and most unique films.
* * * 1/2
The first official US trailer for Miyazaki's The Wind Rises- as usual, no dialogue can be heard in US trailers for foreign-language films. They don't want to scare you off with the prospect of having to read subtitles. But if that idea really is scary, there's going to be a wider release of the movie early next year that's completely dubbed.
Last night the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences handed out their lifetime achievement and honorary Oscars at the special Governor's Awards, where Angelina Jolie, Steve Martin and Angela Lansbury were honored by their peers. Jolie was tributed by George Lucas and Gena Rowlands, Martin was roasted by pals Martin Short and Tom Hanks, and the legendary Angela Lansbury finally received an Oscar after eight decades in Hollywood, and was toasted by Emma Thompson, Geoffrey Rush and Robert Osborne. Italian costume designer Piero Tosi was also honored, but not in attendance.
The speeches were teary, as you can see with Angelina Jolie up first, receiving the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award:
Then it was Steve Martin, who paid tribute to his many friends and colleagues for his own long comedy career:
Finally, the 88-year-old Angela Lansbury, the most deserving of these winners (in my opinion), gets her long awaited Oscar as the list of names she thanks include Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman:
It's kind of annoying how the lifetime achievement awards are no longer given out during the actual Oscar ceremony, as when you look back over the years, some of the best moments were when people like Charlie Chaplin, Fred Astaire, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart were all given moving ovations and kudos during past telecasts. They've been removed because of their length, but they really ought to still be included. I don't think it would hurt to take out a dance number or two instead, do you?
Thor: The Dark World repeated at No. 1 this weekend with $38 million, falling 55% and grossing $147 million total. It will undoubtedly outgross the first Thor's $181 million very soon, and is already a huge success overseas, with $479 million worldwide. But in second place, in an unexpected surprise, The Best Man Holiday, the sequel to the film The Best Man, from 1999, came in with $30 million, which is a huge boost to that film, since the first movie made a total of $34 million when it was released. Audiences loved it, as it earned the very rare "A+" Cinemascore from the crowd, which was 75% female and 87% African-American.
In third was Last Vegas, which is holding up very well with an older crowd, pulling in $9 million for a total of $47 million so far, and Free Birds held up in fourth, with another $8 million as the only family film on the marketplace right now (that will change in a couple of weeks when Frozen comes out). Jackass finished fifth and sits with $90 million, set to become the most popular Jackass movie by the time it leaves theaters.
Top 5
In limited release, Dallas Buyers Club expanded again, and has earned a nice $3 million so far, which bodes well for its further expansion in the coming weeks, while Nebraska also did very well in its opening weekend, making a hefty $140,000 from just 4 screens. Next week it's going to be a pretty massive weekend when a little movie called The Hunger Games: Catching Fire comes out and looks to break some records (and it probably will). Until then.
Alexander Payne's Nebraska is finally coming out this weekend (in limited release) and the reviews have mostly been stellar, especially for 77-year-old Bruce Dern in the lead role, who says in this video that's he's never had a role this great in his career. He's expected to get nominated for an Oscar, but as we'll see when I round it up next week, that category is really crowded. June Squibb, as his wife in the film, is also said to be terrific.
This is a fairly long video, but you may get sucked into watching the whole thing, as I did. A lot of the major directors of this year are involved in a really interesting conversation about movies, their creative process and losing their way and finding it again. THR talks to Steve McQueen, Alfonso Cuaron, David O. Russell, Lee Daniels, Paul Greengrass and Ben Stiller (even though Ben seems like the odd man out in that group, he's actually pretty good here).
The Movie Seasons
Use this site for movie and television recommendations throughout the year- we have picks for the changing seasons, holidays, and moods, along with new releases and recaps of the best shows on TV
