Thursday, January 08, 2009

When is Chéri Coming Out?

If you're a Pfanatic like me you're probably anxious for any news of Michelle Pfeiffer's first truly exciting lead role in a decade (the last drama she herself carried was the hit thriller What Lies Beneath in 2000). Making Chéri even more special is that it's a romantic costume drama and she hasn't done one of those since Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence (1993).


Chéri, which briefly flirted with the idea of coming out in December 2008 along with 97 other movies, is now set for a UK release in March...much less crowded there. First release date announcements rarely hold so it probably doesn't mean much aside from the obvious, that the film is moving out of post-production and into the marketing/release/planning stage.

US bred Oscar watchers may blanch at the the notion of a spring release from the reunited Dangerous Liaisons team. Spring is no good for Oscar goes the groupthink. But even if this March UK release date sticks it's not neccessarily indicative of a lack of quality or faith. For one thing the UK isn't as beholden to December prestige glutting and some movies wait on the US release date even if they're opened everywhere else. Plus: the Best Actress category is statistically kinder to early year releases than any of the other top 8 Oscar categories.

Some of you may well be asking
Are you, life long Pfanatic, setting yourself up for disappointment expecting Pfeiffer to finally get her statue next year?
The answer is no I am not because I don't expect her to.


Though I fantasize about Pfeiffer winning the Oscar approximately every 5th hour of even numbered days in years with 12 months in them, I've never really expected it to take place past that dreadful 1989 loss. I am not expecting a podium moment for Chéri but a nomination sure would go a long way to helping me forgive the Academy for their relatively shabby treatment of one of the most important silver screen goddesses of all time. So I'll cross my fingers but expect Beelzebub to pick up a third for Amelia instead whilst Pfeiffer is snubbed. Prepare yourself for the worst and then celebrate if the fates are kinder than "worst".

Harumph! That isn't what I thought I'd learned from Happy-Go-Lucky and my Poppy obsession. Back to the drawing board for this eternal pessimist.
*

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

I miss Pfeiffer too. Her Catwoman is the second best Batman character ever portrayed in live action films, acter Ledger's Joker.

Hey i want to pass this neews: check this link http://www.goldenglobes.org/nominations/001index.html.
It's the nominees list for the GG's in their website. If u check close, you'll see that Anne Hathaway has already won for Best Actress in a drama.

Mistake or leak ?

Anonymous said...

snubbed pfeiffer you missed her 97 underrated turn in a thousand acres which also sees a great jessica lange snubbed performance too.

Anonymous said...

snubbed pfeiffer you missed her 97 underrated turn in a thousand acres which also sees a great jessica lange snubbed performance too.

Pivo said...

Stephen Frears comes from a big Festival hit translated into Oscar gold (The queen), so I expect him to pop up in Cannes or Venice main line-up with Chéri. This UK release approaches him even more to the Croisette, where he was JURY PRESIDENT two years ago. Remember: Almodovar's films always open in March in Spain and it doesn't hurt their chances in Cannes competition or at the Oscars. But, unfortunately, a Volpi Cup in Venice would could be THE SHOT for Pfeiffer's run to the Kodak Theatre. Just ask Cate Blanchett, Helen Mirren, David Strathairn, Imelda Staunton, Sean Penn, Julianne Moore, Javier Bardem...

Am I mad, Nathaniel?

Unknown said...

I really don't understand your Pfanaticism. Okay, maybe Michelle is a good actress, but there are just so many in the business who are much, much better. A snub for her Catwoman? Really? More like a Razzie snub IMHO.

RahulB said...

Sometimes I pop in my Batman Returns DVD just to watch her transformation into Catwoman. One of the best scenes...ever.

I hope someone listens to me and just re-releases Returns as the sequel to The Dark Knight. Nobody's going to notice.

NATHANIEL R said...

fenix.. i see nothing of the sort on their site?

mrripley... i was picking the four worst cases of snubbing. I wouldn't list 1000 acres in her top 10 performances though I do like it.

pivo... you're not mad. the volvi cup is telling.

NATHANIEL R said...

rahul --hee

Anonymous said...

What of Pfeiffer's turn in FRANKIE AND JOHNNY?

Anonymous said...

nat would be your pfeiffer top 10 go on we will let you be a big pfan on this post,does she have a top 3 worst,i can't think of 1 perf i don't like maybe the story os uf simply for that overacted final scene.

Anonymous said...

Nathaniel. They have fixed the thing. Look at this picture posted in Awards Circuit.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lw73MM6VFqY/SWaK02zn-aI/AAAAAAAAAf0/BCGSygjhOKg/s1600/hathaway_gg_20090108.jpg

Anonymous said...

I love her as Catwoman!
Nathaniel which performance do you prefer Heath's Joker or Michelle`s Catwoman? my inner Pfan says Michelle, but it's very close.

NATHANIEL R said...

The two best and most creative performances in superhero films by a country mile. In fact Ledger is the only one to ever challenge her.

But I love Ledger too so I'd rather not make this into a pissing match. For one thing the playing field isn't fair.

adam k. said...

Speaking of Happy-Go-Lucky, I believe that one was released in March or April or May or some such in the UK, and that hasn't seemed to hinder its oscar chances this year (I remember this because I was in London in June when it suddenly disappeared from theaters, thus ruining my chances at seeing it early).

If Chéri is released in spring in the UK, that probably means fall in the US, and that probably means oscar.

Sam Brooks said...

I am curious to see this film because it's out in New Zealand, like, actually early.

Glenn said...

Well, we all know that Best Actress is the most friendly category for early year contenders.

Following on from Rahul's suggestion. Maybe Nolan should make a sequel but then just insert scenes of Pfeiffer's Catwoman. I'd love that.

Cluster Funk said...

Am I the only one who thought Ledger as Joker was intolerably hammy? It irked me every time he was on screen, but I'm not a huge fan of TDK (too long!) anyway.

Pfeiffer as Catwoman, on the other hand, was dee-licious. Meow.

Anonymous said...

Pfeiffer's catwoman still remains the best FEMALE performance in any comic adaptation. I would put her catwoman just slightly behind Heath's Joker. And you're right, no one else comes close to those two.

I can't wait for Cheri. Well I can't wait for any Pfeiffer- ever. I hope it gets good notice, and brings her back into the awards circuit.

I will never get over the fact she lost the Oscar to Tandy back in '89.

I can't over the fact that so many less worthy actresses have Oscars but not Pfeiffer.

Brian24 said...

Hilary Swank has two Oscars but Michelle Pfeiffer, Glenn Close, Julianne Moore, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winslet and Annette Bening have none. WTF?

Anonymous said...

After what happened this year with Che, what I fear most is a distribution problem. I know Che and Chéri only share the first syllable and other than that, they have nothing in common, but who'd have thought Soderbergh's film would find so many distribution problems after Cannes? And given what happened to Pfeiffer's I Could Never Be Your Woman....That's my worst fear.

Once distribution is granted, I'll begin to dream. If the result is just half as good as it was in Dangerous Liaisons, I won't care about Amelia, even if Clint himself drags for the part. I just want to enjoy and worship Pfeiffer on a large screen in a good film again.

And regarding awards, if the movie is at least a decent one, I think we'll hear her name repeatedly as we've been hearing Streep and Winslet this year much before anyone could see their movies, just based on the material and the names.

Ramification said...

If I remember correctly Pride and Prejudice was released in the UK in the spring too, and Happy Go Lucky as pointed out so hopefully this will not hinder nomination chances.

Anonymous said...

I like Michelle Pfeiffer - maybe no so much as you - and I love your attitude.

Anonymous said...

I still cry at night over the fact that she didn't win an Oscar for "The Fabulous Baker Boys"... as a wee little gay boy, I was pretty obsessed with her in that movie.

And can I also mention that she deserved a nomination for "The Deep End of the Ocean". I know that it isn't a great movie, but she breaks my heart in it!

Anonymous said...

I also hope Michelle Pfeiffer gets an Oscar. I Actually think H.Swank won't get a new oscar.