Foreign Film Oscar Submissions: Juvenile Delinquents and Missing Persons

I've updated the foreign film pages to reflect some of our now known contenders: Iraq (Son of Babylon), The Netherlands (Tirza), Romania (If I Want to Whistle, I'll Whistle) and Taiwan (Monga) have all announced. South Korea has narrowed their list down to six films, though most suspect it'll be Lee Chang-Dong's Poetry in the end. Many countries have yet to announce but there's still time. We generally don't know the full list until sometime in October. And some of the submissions won't have even opened in their home countries yet. (Foreign language submissions have to have been released in their home countries between October 1st, 2009 through Sept 30th, 2010 to compete in this category for the 2010 film year.) UPDATE: if you're looking for the current race (2011) that's here.

Romania: if he wants to whistle, he'll whistle, okay?

Taiwan: if he wants to shoot, he'll shoot.

Many countries have yet to announce but there's still time. We generally don't know the full list until sometime in October. And some of the submissions won't have even opened in their home countries yet. (Foreign language submissions have to have been released in their home countries between October 1st, 2009 through Sept 30th, 2010 to be eligible in this category for the 2010 film year.)

So far in the competitive lineups we have two rough sets of twins: two dramas about young male criminals (Taiwan & Romania) and two journey films wherein an older person searches for their adult child with a young child helping them (Iran & The Netherlands). And yes, "Oscar already loves the Iran and Dutch entries sight unseen," he said sarcastically. This AMPAS branch just digs cross generational journeys. A lot. You know they do.

I wrote about the Taiwanese submission Monga very briefly over at Towleroad earlier this year because of some talk show incident wherein they asked the 20something leads, Mark Zhao and Ethan Ruan, to kiss. I can't imagine an American talk show asking Young Hollywood co-stars to kiss. Could you imagine the ruckus if the ladies from The View asked the Twilight boys to lip lock in order to get their trailer shown?

To quote Nomi Malone... "different places!"

Here are the popular boys singing "Tonight Tonight" from Monga (with clips from the movie). It appears to be the theme song though Wikipedia states differently saying that this cover of "Making Love Out of Nothing At All," the Air Supply classic, has that honor. ("!!!" and also "???")



I'll update more Oscar pages tomorrow. In the meantime, if you need more Oscar speculation check out All These Wonderful Things' list of documentary hopefuls.
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Carice van Houten is a Star

Today's Hump Day Hottie post is brought to you by my screening of Black Book a few weeks back. Yes, it's still playing in my head. It won't leave.

I think we all need to read blogs more carefully. I regularly find people asking things in comments that indicate that they didn't actually read what they were commenting on. I'm even guilty of it myself... on my own blog. Months ago when I was interviewing Arjan Writes for the blog interview series, he urged us to check out the Dutch film Black Book and called Carice van Houten "amazing".

I hate getting to parties late but boy was that three syllables of understatement. And it was in one ear and out the other at the time. I didn't go to the theater and see the movie. What's wrong with me?

Anybody who sees Black Book is inevitably wowed by van Houten's fire. Verhoeven is a naughty auteur. Just look at The 4th Man, Starship Troopers, Turkish Delight, Showgirls. This isn't the first time he's asked his female star to spread 'em. Remember Sharon Stone's pantyless in Basic Instinct? But here's the thing: Stone later played naive about it. It's impossible to imagine this 30 year-old Dutch goddess telling the press afterwards that she was "tricked" into it like the American star did. In every scene in Black Book you can feel her game spirit. "What now?" you imagine her asking enthusiastically, never "How dare you?"

Recently the new Bond girls were announced and they were, as per usual, young beautiful European things. All I could think was Carice! Why isn't CvH rolling around in the sheets with Daniel Craig in Bond 22 ? Maybe Craig on top would be beneath her, though. She's already a star. Americans just don't know her name yet is all. They might soon. Turns out I'm still catching up with her sudden international rise: after my Bond girl fantasy ended I learned that she has four films already in post-production (Dorothy Mills which she headlines, Valkyrie opposite Tom Cruise, Body of Lies opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and Repossession Mambo opposite Jude Law) and another one (Vivaldi, a biopic, opposite Joseph Fiennes) soon to start filming.

Damn girl, slow down.

On second thought: Faster! Give us more.


And, you saw this coming, Carice van Houten is one of the nominees for the FB "Breakthrough" Award for her work in Black Book
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Filmmakers, please don't kill off sexy characters mere minutes after you've introduced them

It's just not right.

(This message has been brought to you by Nathaniel's recent screening of Black Book)

Can someone please find some more work for Michiel Huisman, pronto? Thanks for listening.
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Blogosphere Multiplex: Arjan Writes

A blogger that needs little introduction. Arjan Writes is one of the best music blogs on the net. I talked to Arjan last week about the movies...

10+ Questions with Arjan

Nathaniel: How often do you go to the movies and what's the biggest draw for you?

Arjan: I go to the movies once a month on average, but I travel quite a bit and often end up watching in-flight movies. Biggest draws are certain actors and subtitles. I love subtitles!

Nathaniel: Subtitles do rule --I prefer mine in yellow under the widescreen image. But you're already teasing. "Certain" actors Arjan? We want names. Do share.

Arjan: Mmmm. I love Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett. And Jake, of course. I remember not being so fond of Nicole until I met her backstage at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2001. We literally ran into each other. Boom! She was so beautiful. I was completely mesmerized. It is her fairy dust.

Nathaniel: I am bright green with envy. I have not met her but I have witnessed the fairy dust live (Dogville premiere Lincoln Center) and it is something. She's nearly alien what with all the glowing. Tell me how much you love Moulin Rouge! (fake it if you don't, I'm obsessed)

Arjan: She's supernatural. I am telling you. The way she commanded her entourage was spellbinding. I chatted with her about her duet with Kylie Minogue, which was a hot topic at the time. Moulin Rouge! is one of my favorite music movies of all time. Visual eye candy.

Nathaniel: You mentioned subtitles a minute ago. What are you favorite foreign films? Are you a Francophile, an Asian cinema nut? Or do you just like them all?

Arjan: My favorite foreign films have to be Dutch. I was born and raised in Amsterdam so I'm a bit biased. Dutch filmmakers have been winning some Oscars in the last ten years. And may I remind you of Rutger Hauer?

Nathaniel: You may and please do. I think if you're of a certain age (30something) the Rutger thing is hard to miss. I mean, Michelle Pfeiffer was cursed with him, Harrison Ford played cat and mouse with him ("time to die"), Anne Rice wanted him.

Who should we all be obsessed with now from Dutch cinema?

Arjan: You should be obsessed with Famke Janssen, the leading lady of Dutch film. Also, Paul Verhoeven's new Dutch-language film Black Book is getting raving reviews. The movie features an amazing performance by Carice Van Housten. The movie is now playing in select cities in the U.S. NPR loved it, too.

Nathaniel: I've been meaning to see that. Since you write about music, I'm curious to hear your reactions on musicians turned actors. Or vice versa. Any thoughts on the medium hopping of Beyonce, Rufus Wainwright, etc... Do you like Juliette Lewis and the Licks? Will you listen to Scarlett Johansson's record when it comes out?

Arjan: Singers are creative beings. Actors are creative beings. So I think it is only natural for them to try to mix it up a little. It doesn't make less or more of an effort. I saw Scarlett perform with the Jesus & Mary Chain at Coachella this year. I wasn't impressed, but I think she's a wonderful actress. I think Juliette Lewis shows off a lot passion in her performance, both on stage and on screen. I totally love that. Don't count out Mandy Moore. I loved her in Saved! and her new album will suprise you.


Nathaniel: I'm sure you've heard of the Kirsten Dunst/Debbie Harry project. Though I'm not particularly fond of the biopic genre, I think Debbie Harry is a great choice for a feature. I'm also really excited to see the Todd Haynes Bob Dylan film I'm Not There. Since you have so much contact with the music world, I'm wondering which musician or band, famous or otherwise, you'd love to see a film about? Or put another way...who is entertaining enough backstage to warrant their own Truth or Dare?

Arjan: Really tough one to answer. I'd love to see a good movie about Fleetwood Mac. A great band with a lot of drama. I would also be interested in seeing a movie about Fischerspooner with the lead character played by Casey Spooner himself. Very compelling group rooted in the avant-garde NYC art scene that would hopefully make for a very enlightening movie experience.

Nathaniel: What's your favorite movie of all time?

Arjan: Character

Nathaniel: That was so intense. I remember being surprised when it won the Oscar in that it's less sentimental than what they usually go for.

OK what's one thing we haven't discussed that might surprise your readers about your movie tastes?

Arjan: I am sucker for sci-fi movies. I love to dream about galaxies far, far away. I caught the original Planet Of The Apes a few weeks ago and loved it. Music movies don't always hit the right note with me, but classics for me are The Who's Tommy, Flashdance (gritty and empowering) and the bio pic What's Love Got To Do With It with that powerful performance by Angela Bassett.

Nathaniel: They make a movie of your life. Tell us the title, director, tagline --who composes the score and who plays you?

Arjan: Impossible to answer this one! But if you ask me right here, right now... I'd have to go with Ben Affleck or Tom Cruise playing Arjan in a movie directed by Paul Verhoeven or Pedro Almovodar that is called Green Fields which is about a young man who had a dream and made it happen. With two small bags in hand jumping on a plane to start living his childhood dream in a far away county with nothing but the passion to make something of his life. Soundtrack by Darren Hayes and Mylo.

Nathaniel: I can't imagine a world where Verhoeven and Almodovar are an either/or. So let's have both: an Arjan double feature.

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Thanks to Arjan for answering all these questions. I hope that gave you a movie taste of a music man. Once again readers: I probably don't have to ask but you're already reading what Arjan Writes... right?

Verhoeven for the Gold ?

If or when one thinks of director Paul Verhoeven one thinks of either lurid sexuality (The 4th Man, Showgirls) or grotesque violence (Robocop, Starship Troopers) or perhaps one thinks of both at once (Basic Instinct). If you're a fan you think the sex and violence is in service (usually) to brilliant satire. But your mind probably doesn't race to Oscar, does it?

Nevertheless, that's where the Dutch provocateur could be headed. Seems that the Netherlands have selected his latest film Zwartboek (Black Book) to compete in Oscar's Foreign Language Film race. The IMDB description begins thusly:

Set during the end of WWII, Black Book is the story of a German Jewish girl who narrowly survives the war in Holland...

Every year in this particular race, Oscar's committee views about 50 films and chooses five as nominees. (see last year's entire competition here) Every year about 1/3rd of the 50something films submitted seem to be about World War II. I'm exaggerating but not by much.

Now, I can't really call myself a "fan" of Verhoeven's work but it'd be a shame (and par for the course) if it took him neutering his distinctly satiric NC-17 voice for a World War II drama for him to get any Oscar recognition.

The Film Experience foreign language Oscar pages for 2006 will be put up piecemeal during the next few weeks. If you have info or opinions on what your country should submit please share your thoughts with me. It's a big job for one person and this one person is highly appreciative of reader input. Speaking of... thanks to Ralph for this info.

Tags: foreign films, Netherlands, movies, Paul Verhoeven, Holland, Oscars, Academy Awards, cinema, Film, World War II