The Eyre Above

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JA from MNPP here. If Nat were around he'd perhaps do one of his "Yes No Maybe So" posts for this, but I've got nothing but yes for this, the first trailer for Cary Fukunaga's adaptation of Jane Eyre, which isn't out until March. (via)

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Fukunaga's Sin Nombre - and I know Nat agrees with me on this - is a wonderful film. Thrilling and moving and gorgeously shot. So no matter what he did next I'd have been paying attention, but an adaptation of Jane Eyre was not at all what I was expecting and that makes me even happier. Love it when a director throws a curve-ball. And the cast... the cast! Michael Fassbender, Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Judi Dench, Jamie Bell, Sally Hawkins and Michael Fassbender... drool.


And that trailer is just stunning. I posted a slew of screencaps over at MNPP in case you want to ogle it that way. What do we think?
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Ménage à trois "A Dangerous Method"

Eeep!

Viggo Mortensen as Sigmund Freud. Put me on the couch.

Keira Knightley as Sabina and Michael Fassbender as Carl Jung.

Yes, It's VIGGO (my vote for the most consistently brilliant 50something male actor working), Keira, and the wonderful Michael Fassbender in David Cronenberg's Psychiatrists In Love. er... The Dangerous Method. I once saw a play about these three characters (not the Christopher Hampton play "Talking Cure" that this is based on) and I remember nothing about it other than that it was great subject matter but I was too drowsy to focus.

poll by twiigs.com

Cronenberg is a true original. I feel as if I have no idea what to expect from him here and I like it like that, I do. I shall psycho-analyze these new photos all day. Join me.

don't wanna link, don't wanna touch...

♪ ... just smoke one cigarette and hush
don't call my name, don't call my name, Roberto ♫

Stuff No One Told Me Love this. Disney and Porn = eternal human frustration.
MNPP Everything you ever need to know about life... you can learn from Psycho (1960)
Antagony & Ecstasy looks back at the evolution of Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy in a summer blockbuster history series
Cinematical Paul Rudd, soon to be the Idiot Brother, gets four fine funny actresses as co-stars

Emma Frost illustration by Adam Hughes

Movie|Line the angsty drama of 'how will Sandra bullock follow that Oscar?' Methinks her team is thinking too hard. Nobody wants her doing prestige pics.
Socialite's Life Matthew Morrison (Glee) recording a solo CD. I'd be thrilled to buy this (his voice is amazing -- check out the CD of Light in the Piazza for proof) but for the fact that he's gettin JustinTimberlakey with it. Yawn.
What's Good/ What Blows the dismaying punishment of Charlie Sheen.
Cinematical Michael Fassbender has his choice of two supervillain roles. Which will he go with? Either way he ends up opposite a fine actor (James McAvoy in X-Men: First Class or Jamie Bell in Spider-Man)
Empire speaking of X-Men... seems that Rosamund Pike may be up for the part of Emma Frost, the White Queen. Now that is a casting decision I can really get behind. Love both the actress and the character.
I Need My Fix True Blood season premiere brings the stars out. Is there a more attractive cast on television?
The Big Picture looks at the critic vs. audience divide on Splice.
Boing Boing more on recent silent film discoveries. I always get so excited to hear about found films
In Contention could "Shine" be an Original Song hopeful at the Oscars? I'm still struggling to understand what everyone else sees in that highly praised Waiting for Superman documentary (I didn't like it) but I agree that it's probably going to be up for the doc Oscar.

More on Lady Gaga's "Alejandro"
my piece yesterday in case you missed it
Low Resolution "Instantly Dated Thoughts"
The Critical Condition "Theft and/or Borrowing"
The Critical Condition ...and an interesting follow up piece about the cultural awakenings that happen in our youth.
Flavor Pill "Guide to Madonna References"
Rolling Stone director Steven Klein talks about the video, avoids the Madonna question.
popbytes (I do a brief weekly column here now). The video got me thinking about freaky movie nuns.
Guardian rounds up the groups claiming offense.
The Atlantic Katy Perry vs. Lady Gaga "The Battle of the Bras"

Eat Pray Link

eat, pray
<--- Look, it's the new poster for the Julia Roberts flick Eat Pray Love. Julia appears to be eating a little low fat ice cream or substitute product or some such. Two days back, while melting in the hateful sun and picking up more cat medicine -- don't ask, things have been terrible -- I actually bought a cup of this stuff. Eating while praying, I had to cheer up.

The marketing department was always going to be hard pressed to beat the book cover but isn't this a bit... dull? Especially considering how much they have to work with: Different countries, hot co-stars, spiritual awakenings. I mean, there's an elephant in the movie. Elephant! How can you pass up an elephant for a stone bench? Ah well, at least it's not a giant floating movie star head. Which is pretty much all you'd see if I did an episode of posterized with Julia herself.

Are you excited to see this in August? I'm hoping it's good. Seems like the sort of thing that's just right for Julia in the right now. [see also: previous post]

link
Fassinating Fassbender the Michael Fassbender fanblog gets its own interview with the man himself.
Telegraph UK Tim Robey "Why I Love: Juliette Lewis". Ah, I knew I loved Tim for a reason. Well, several of them.
CHUD laments the state of movie posterdom. The only great ones (Buried) are rip offs of classics.

I Need My Fix Quote of the Day Ashton Kutcher on his post Killers body
Cinema Blend a test screening review of the remake Let Me In. It's extremely positive but I'm hoping critics take this down on principle ;) Why remake something if you're only going to copy it? That's living off other people's glory.
Towleroad a couple of notes on Splice. My feelings haven't changed much since Sundance but I suppose the parts that were good have aged well. That "Dren" really is a memorable creation. Good sound design, too. There's more interesting links there, too...

Eat Pray Link. But mostly Link apparently.

It's not easy being green. Except today.

Awww, classic Kermie



Yes, I used that last year too. But Kermit. Classic.

Kermit's not the only one who found it to be a problematic color.


No, it's not usually easy being green but today, they celebrate you if you're wearing it... even if you aren't Irish.

Some movie peeps seem to enjoy being that color nonetheless.


(It helps if you're from outer space)

The word is still out on whether he'll enjoy it. Or whether we'll enjoy him in it.

photo src

Green Lantern is one of my favorite comic books but I have to say I'm totally worried about the movie. I never thought the comic was all that transferrable (power lanterns and rings and vast imagination powers and chanting?) Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively are both lookers but they're also the type of generically handsome / beautiful that can get capital B boring if the characters or the performances aren't interesting. I like my comic-to-screen characters to have 3D personalities... or at least 2D stylistically heightened to feel like 200D (wait, what?) like Downey Jr's Iron Man, Pfeiffer's Catwoman, Ledger's Joker, etcetera.

But I got off topic...

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Have a happy one. And kiss Michael Fassbender if you see him!

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Psycho-Linkasis (Starring Viggo Mortensen)

id
My New Plaid Pants Michael Fassbender and Viggo Mortensen onscreen together. For David Cronenberg? And they're playing psychoanalyst giants/friends/rivals Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung? Please let this be as masterfully sick as Dead Ringers! This is the best movie news since The Hurt Locker's Best Picture win. It's even better news than that if the movie is great.


The Playlist Two new Wizard of Oz movie projects and neither of them are Wicked? Okay worst movie news of week.
Coming Soon Lone Scherfig (An Education) is moving on from Carey Mulligan and on to Anne Hathaway (!) The movie is a romance called One Day (co-starring Jim Sturgess).
MTV Amanda Seyfried will be The Girl With The Red Riding Hood for teen-girl angst obsessed Catherine Hardwicke (thirteen, Twilight).

ego
Flaunt Magazine has a feature interview with Vincent Cassell, he of the Monica Bellucci loving, good French movie-making and Eastern Promises closeted Viggo-lust. Regarding the latter: Isn't everyone gay for Viggo... or shouldn't they be?


I bring this up primarily because I always look at Flaunt Magazine in the book stores (pretty pictures!) and I never buy. So I felt a sudden pang of guilt when I got the press release on this new issue. And no, I have no idea why there's an albino peacock on the cover instead of Vincent Cassel. But I like this bit on French cinema

“Things are very different in France,” muses Cassel. “In Hollywood there’s politics; young actors have to do big, stupid movies to eventually be a box office figure and have access to great directors, stuff like that. But in France the market is a little different. In a minute, you know everybody, so you stick to what you like because, otherwise, you won’t be able to come back to it.”

You can see American actors struggling with this all the time. See Julianne Moore and Nicole Kidman's frequent trips into films they aren't suited for in order to maintain their fame levels and enormously salaries within the drama-hating reality of the American box-office.

Antagony & Ecstasy "in the spirit of whiny, unconstructive criticism" names the 10 worst best picture winners
The Awl Apple's subconcious / conscious take-over of the movies and especially Sex & The City

super-ego
LA Times Variety lets its best known critics go. Such a different world than it used to be. Pretty soon PR departments will be the only paid opinion-makers... which is something I'm sure The Corporate Machine always wanted.
Film Essent defends Jason Reitman post-Up in the Air Oscar loss
/Film Clint Eastwood is now the director for that Dustin Lance Black scripted J Edgar Hoover biopic. What a strange combo?!?!

Chapters Six, Seven, And Beyond

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JA from MNPP here, wishing everybody a very happy Basterds Day! It's like Bastille Day, only... terd-ier? (Ugh, my apologies, I'm on cold medicine here.) Anyway I am taking this opportunity to take a look at seven members of QT's Inglourious cast and see what they're up to next (besides that Inglourious sequel/prequel that Quentin will talk about for years but never make). But the cast's upcoming projects here are of distinct interest since everybody knows that once you've starred in a Tarantino picture, your career just explodes straight into the stratosphere! (Example A - Pam Grier. Oh... wait. Riiiight. Well at least she got to play a decapitated lesbian in John Carpenter's worst movie!) So let's see what these folks have got lined up for the future...

Brad Pitt - Lt. Aldo Raine - Brad Pitt, being Brad effing Pitt, hasn't really got a shortage of projects in the pipeline. In fact he's got six projects listed as being in some sort of production - ranging from Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life, purportedly out sometime this year (though they said the same thing last year), to Moneyball, a movie about the fascinating revolution in baseball drafting through statistical analysis (yeah I fell asleep already too). And after that there are 20 more projects in some form of development (A Steve McQueen biopic? Sure, why the heck not!).

Mélanie Laurent - Shoshanna Dreyfus - I can't imagine her plate won't pile up with credits in a post-Basterds world - although QT's magic touch seems to work longer stronger magic on the fellas (see: John Travolta's woefully extended career versus Uma Thurman's) - but for now she's starring opposite Jean Reno in a French film called La rafle (The Round Up) about a shameful event in French history where their government handed 13,000 over to the Nazis, and Beginners, a film by the director of Thumbsucker, starring Laurent and Ewan McGregor which has already sparked gossipy gossip when she dared be seen (heavens no!) walking around with married Ewan in (no!) public. Da noive!

Christoph Waltz - Col. Hans Landa - First step, Oscar glory! After that he's nemesis'ing Seth Rogen in The Green Hornet for Michel Gondry and abusing Reese Witherspoon in the circus in Water For Elephants, aka that book that I saw everyone reading on the subway a couple of years ago. Anyway it sounds like discovering his inner demon's good for his career, then. And for cinema!

Eli Roth - Sgt. Donny Donowitz - Y'all are just dying to hear what The Bear Jew's up to next, aren't ya? I knew it! Well even though he's now the proud owner of a SAG award, after a brief side-trip to cameo-ville in Alexander Aja's remake of Piranha it appears he'll be sticking behind the screen for a bit (when he isn't jerking off with his fans on Twitter, natch) - he's been talking up a big science-fiction project called Endangered Species as well as a long-form version of his Grindhouse trailer Thanksgiving for ages now. We'll see what comes of any of it. With bated breath I'm sure!

Michael Fassbender - Lt. Archie Hicox - Next up for the sexy Mr. Michael Fassbender is a role as a sexy Roman soldier in Centurion by the director of The Descent, which is out sometime this Spring. Then he'll be a sexy villain tormenting Josh Brolin in Jonah Hex this Summer. Then a sexy commando in Soderbergh's Knockout, then a sexy Rochester in an adaptation of Jane Eyre by the director of Sin Nombre... and then many more sexy somethings for the rest of his sexy life. Sexy, sexy. Exhaustively so.

Diane Kruger - Bridget von Hammersmarck - Perhaps like most of us I just hadn't been paying attention to anything Kruger did before she wowed us in Basterds, because I had been paying some attention to the film Mr. Nobody for a bit - it stars Sarah Polley and Sarah Polley is one of my (many) weaknesses - and I'd never even noticed that Kruger was even in it. But now that I see she is in it this makes me happy! Because she's suddenly revealed herself to be awesome. She's also currently filming a movie with the director of Orphan, which also makes this here geek squeal. Esther 2.0!

Daniel Brühl - Pvt. Fredrick Zoller - Adorable Danny Brühl is currently filming opposite Charlotte Rampling and Pushing Daisies' Anna Friel in Jon Amiel's new film The Angel Makers, described as a dark comedy about British soldiers returning from war to find German POWs having taken over their homes (and beds, and ladies in said beds). Co-starring in this movie are beautiful Tom Tykwer-alums Benno Fuhrmann and Moritz Bleibtreu...


If I hadn't done this post I don't know when I would've heard about this, and everything about this cast is exquisite catnip to me, so I am very happy to have discovered this thing's existence. Thanks, Danny!
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Awardage: Breakthrough & Body of Work

We're not quite done with the films of 2009 yet. Soon. Very soon. Even if it doesn't seem like it, I'm working as fast as I can. Two more prizes now. The Body of Work prize is for multiple performances. This doesn't always work like a consolation "sorry, I didn't nominate you and congratulations on your Oscar success this year!" category but this year it works so much like that that I'm wondering if I should do away with the category? Thoughts?


Then there's Breakthrough for people that won deserved big(ger) attention this year. You've already guessed that this is mostly about Michael Fassbender. I can't help myself! Fassbender's "year" refused to be defined by the Gregorian calendar. Hunger's release was painfully stretched out and so was Fish Tank's. The gods of distribution have determined that he's the breakthrough of 2008, 2009 and 2010 depending on your zip code. It's very confusing... and global. And we hope he has many more years, however loosely defined, ahead of him.

The breakthrough category is always a bit blurry. Sometimes people have been around and I haven't noticed them. But since I do a fairly good job of noticing new actors, I don't abuse it as much as mainstream awards shows do. Of the five recipients: Sharlito Copley, Michael Fassbender, Tom Hardy, Catalina Saveedra and Sam Worthington only one is actually a "debut". That'd be Mr. Copley in District 9 but since it never felt anything like a debut, it's most definitely a breakthrough. How did he do that the first time out?

One odd but important note: I'm not even sure I liked Tom Hardy's performance in the experimental biopic Bronson. But I found it so committed to its own eccentricity and to the movie's balls out strangeness that I had to admire it even as I had no idea what it was or if it was too much of what it was. If you've seen it, maybe you'll understand.

Honors in this category come down to one question: "Do I want to see them in another movie?" and then a defining follow up "How quickly do i want to see said movie?" The answers must be "hell yes!" and "NOW".

The Awards

TECHNICALITY: Before you ask, Carey Mulligan and Gabby Sidibe were ineligible for the FiLM BiTCH Award in the Breakthrough category since they were nominated in one of the big four categories. It's my way of spreading the wealth.
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Actors on Actors: Zoe's Lust, Tobey's Caution

I love New York Times "T Screen Tests". Thanks to In Contention for pointing out this beautifully minimalist video. I sometimes miss them. This one is hot actors of the moment talking about favorite performances from this past decade. It's pretty interesting.



I love reading between the lines on things like this. The questions it raises. Is Jake Gyllenhaal just a fundamentally unserious person? Is Tobey Maguire sincere when he chooses super close BFF Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator or just not committing to the exercize (though I love his acknowledgement that there needs to be more to biopic acting than mimicry)? Is Christoph Waltz hoping to be employed soon by the Coen Bros? Who is Sandra Bullock's hairdresser?

There's also Carey Mulligan freaking out over Saoirse Ronan's baby blues (don't we all?) and hip Vera Farmiga singing the praises of TFE's current It boy man Michael Fassbender in Hunger.

There's something about his face that is unlike anyone in the way it conveys emotion.

I also like imagining which actors might have totally whacky off-consensus Oscar nomination ballots (Jeff Bridges obviously) and which might be total conformists (Morgan Freeman, Julianne Moore?!?)

But my favorite of all has to be Zoe Saldana's left field praise of Tang Wei in Lust, Caution. You don't hear that performance brought up every day but it's simply beyond. God Tang Wei was great in that movie. And just this acknowledgement makes me love Zoe Saldana way way more. And the fact that she dwells on the physicality... I think she's telling filmmakers she's totally down with the sex scenes if anyone wants to offer her a truly meaty part.

Yes, No, Maybe So: Centurion

Lately it seems like I should maybe be retitling this blog The Fassbender Experience. And here we go again with the staring. But he gives good (movie) face. Fish Tank is still in select theaters but the next feature on the way and it's called Centurion.



All violent period epics are now required to emulate 300 or Gladiator so this one's got some Gladiator lighting and opening forest mayhem and it's got two of 300's stars, Fassbender and Dominic West.

YES. Michael Fassbender on the run. Run, Fassbender, run. While watching Fassbender running I suddenly flashbacked to Chandler and Joey's Baywatch obsession. Always with the running. Run, Michael. Run like the wind!

I should probably admit that as much as I've been obsessing over Fassbender this past year, I don't actually remember him in 300. Or which one he was. I hope he isn't the one that got beheaded. That was so gross.

NO. Which brings me to a lot of "no" here for me. I hate to get left behind in film culture but I swear to god the movies are getting too bloodthirsty and sadistic for me. It seems like it escalates every year. Pretty soon even romantic comedies will have to amp it up. Maybe their slapstick falls could end with broken bones piercing through flesh? The other no here for me is the bad catchphrases masquerading as dialogue "We live united or die divided!!!" This movie is from Neil Marshall, the director of The Descent (which I liked quite a bit) and Doomsday. I tried to watch the latter once after reading an amusing piece on it at fourfour but I couldn't make it through. Too bloody for me. I could never have been a doctor.

MAYBE SO. Here's my thing with warrior women. Love them... BUT... I also kinda hate them when they're too male fantasy. If you look at James Cameron's warrior women, they're not without sex appeal but they have considerable edge. You can't imagine them as male-malleable fantasy centerfolds is what I'm saying. So I'm not sure about these Maxim girls with swords. That said Olga Kurylenko was pretty good in Quantum of Solace so... maybe.

I think I'm a no. But then there's Fassbender. So...
Which way do you lean?
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2009 Is So Last Year

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JA from MNPP here with a quick question: Have y'all seen the best film of 2010 yet? In the alternate universe that is my understanding of the world, Andrea Arnold's fantastic Fish Tank has unseated all the Avatars and Dear Johns and rules the box office with an iron fist. Michael Fassbender's droopy drawers for the win! If you're outside of the US this doesn't much make sense as the film's been out in other countries for a bit, but here in the US the film's been rolling out across the country here just in the past few weeks, and started playing on IFC On Demand on January 27th. So nobody's got any excuses at this point for not having seen it. Nobody! I've seen it three times now and find new things to love each time. Looking better and better each time is Kierston Wareing's performance as Mia's repellently self-involved mother, for one.

That film aside, though, what else have we seen lately?
What's been your favorite movie of the New Year so far?
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BIFA Nominees: Abbie Cornish, Michael Fassbender and More

Oh, agony! The British Independent Film Award nominations have arrived (in October? Damn that’s early) to serve up the dread reminder that there is no such thing as ‘day and date” releases outside of rare mega blockbusters. I suppose I should thank the celluloid cosmos. In a way the erratic nature of film distribution helps me to continue living my blissfully delusional life wherein I pretend that people would actually flock to more challenging higher quality international cinema if they only had access to it and could see it and talk about it at the same time. Isn’t this one reason that television is so popular? It’s communal. Movies are supposed to be communal but it doesn’t work out that way so much.

Michael Fassbender in Fish Tank

I have no idea when I’ll ever have a chance to see Fish Tank for example, which did very well with BIFA though I’d love to. Until it gets an itty bitty American release at two theaters and makes $270,000 instead of $27 million sometime in 2011 I can pretend that the whole world is looking forward to this gritty exceptionally well-reviewed drama. I can pretend that they’re in fact awaiting each new Michael Fassbender performance with an anticipation that borders on the sweaty and the feverish.

THE NOMINEES

Best British Independent Film: An Education (Lone Scherfig), Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold), In The Loop (Armando Iannucci), Moon (Duncan Jones) and Nowhere Boy (Sam Taylor-Wood)

Three of these films have received release in the states though In the Loop and Moon (video review) will have to wait for their DVD releases to catch on with the right audiences. An Education on the other hand is doing very well for itself as it slowly widens. The twinkly coming-of-age drama hasn’t lost any of its abundant Oscar buzz.

Best Director is the same lineup as this, minus Nowhere Boy’s Sam Taylor-Wood who is nominated for “Debut Director” instead. If you haven’t seen her short film Love You More about two teenagers, a new vinyl record, and their randy escalating sex romp and you get a chance, do! It was my vote for best short at the Nashville Film Festival this spring (Nick also loved it). Jane Campion nabbed the lone director spot from Wood with her exquisitely observed Bright Star. At times while watching Bright Star I worried that it was too insubstantial, not “too light” as in inconsequential but too delicate. But that very delicacy helps it to linger. I'm corrected. I keep feeling the film fluttering in the air beside me, like those butterflies Fanny collects. I already want to see it again.

And, underlining a 2009 theme you'll keep hearing about, 60% of their best picture nominees are directed by women. Oscar will find it very difficult to ignore female directors this year with Bright Star, An Education and The Hurt Locker in the awards mix.

Best Screenplay is the exact same lineup of film as Best Feature.

Best Actress Emily Blunt in The Young Victoria, Abbie Cornish in Bright Star, Katie Jarvis in Fish Tank, Carey Mulligan in An Education and Sophie Okonedo in Skin

Not content to let Keira Knightley and Michelle Pfeiffer have all the fun,
Emily Blunt beds Rupert Friend in The Young Victoria. He's got a lot
of action this year, huh?

The first of many for Mulligan? The first of several for Cornish? The first and last for Blunt? I’m just guessing except for that first bit. That's a given.

Best Actor: Aaron Johnson in Nowhere Boy, Andy Serkis in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, Peter Capaldi in In The Loop, Sam Rockwell in Moon and Tom Hardy in Bronson

Despite their love for Bright Star, none for Ben Whishaw? Tis a pity but it’s the kind of role that men aren’t rewarded for… no matter how good they are. Romantic films tend to secure nominations for only the female half of the equation. It's a blindspot with most awards groups. On a far more traditionally awardable scale is Tom Hardy's physical transformation for Bronson. It’ll be interesting to see if the once slim actor can pick up any more steam for suddenly looking like the hulk. Will any American awards bodies watch the picture? I suppose I should get on that myself.

Best Supporting Actress: Anne-Marie Duff and Kristin Scott Thomas in Nowhere Boy, Kerry Fox in Bright Star, Rosamund Pike in An Education and Kierston Wareing in Fish Tank
Best Supporting Actor: Alfred Molina in An Education, Jim Broadbent in The Damned United John Henshaw in Looking For Eric, Michael Fassbender in Fish Tank and Tom Hollander in In The Loop

Both lists look solid but did BIFA voters only see about 8 films this year? Two surprises here for me were Rosamund Pike in An Education and Kerry Fox in Bright Star both of whom I thought were subtly elevating or at least amply filling out what could have been thankless roles (thankless in terms of awards magnetizing I mean) so I'm quite happy to be wrong. I thought Pike was spiking almost every scene in An Education with unexpected sidebar notes (by the end of the movie I wanted a sequel starring her and Dominic Cooper!) and I loved watching Fox’s near-silent gradations of growing respect / understanding of her daughter’s love affair in Bright Star.

Best Technical Achievement: Bright Star's cinematography by Greig Fraser, Bunny & The Bull's production design by Gary Williamson, Fish Tank's cinematography by Robbie Ryan, Moon's original score by Clint Mansell and production design by Tony Noble

It’s interesting to see technical achievements grouped together, thus revealing which elements voters think are making or breaking particular films, but it’s also dismissively coarse, since actors get 5 categories. It's not like acting or technical elements alone ever perform in a vacuum.

Best Foreign Film: Il Divo (Italy), The Hurt Locker (USA) Let The Right One In (Sweden), Sin Nombre and The Wrestler (USA)

I’ve included this category to come full circle to the point that no matter where you live, it’s a different year of cinema. I so wish we could all experience the cinema in unison. I haven’t yet seen Sin Nombre (I know I must) and I’m continually hearing good things about Il Divo so this looks like quite a strong category. You already know how good the other three films are.

Complete List of Nominees

Thoughts? Or don't you care about the "BIFA" (It's fun to say it out loud. Try it)
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Goodbye Toronto: Fish Tank and Le Refuge

MattCanada reporting from the Toronto International Film Festival

The festival has ended and Lee Daniels' Precious has won the jury prize. Congratulations to it, and the scores of awards it is now assured to collect. Before I say goodbye, notes on the last two films I saw at TIFF: Le Refuge and the much talked about Fish Tank.

I was very excited for Le Refuge because François Ozon is one of those world cinema directors I always enjoy. However, despite great performances and beautiful cinematography, it left me cold. The story of a pregnant drug addict (Isabelle Carré) forming a relationship with the dead baby-daddy's gay brother (Louis-Ronan Choisy) seemed too oblique to me. Maybe it's just that I like a few more histrionics, but to be perfectly honest, by the time the film ended I felt very little. Le Refuge is technically accomplished but I just couldn't connect with the film, didn't like any of the characters and their journeys and tribulations seemed petty and misguided. The last part especially suprised me because I think overcoming someone's death and bringing new life into the world is monumental and should carry an intense emotional weight. Therefore, it really is a 'tribute' to screenwriters Ozon and Mathieu Hippeau for making them seem utterly unimportant.

The last film I saw at the festival was Andrea Arnold's gritty council estate drama Fish Tank, and at a 9am Saturday screening no less. The film has already received raves for Arnold's direction/writing and the acting of Katie Jarvis, Michael Fassbender, Kierston Wareing, and Harry Treadaway. I think it's the best British film since Anton Corbijn's Control (2007). What struck me most about the film was Arnold's updating of the British New Wave aesthetic, and the feminising of the Angry Young Men of that same era into the volatile Mia (Jarvis). The British New Wave established that it was 'grim up North', focusing almost exclusively on the North's (mainly Manchester and surrounding area) poor and using the constantly grim weather as reflective of the lives and opportunities of the people who live there. These films were based, most often, on plays or literature that formed the basis for the Angry Young Man of the 1950s. Arnold takes these precedents, which are integral parts of modern films as disparate as Trainspotting and Billy Elliot, and focuses on the the grim council flats of Somewhere (unspecified) in Essex.

Instead of an Angry Young Man who violently vocalises his discontent with Britain's social order, Jarvis's Mia says very little, yet reacts just as rashly and violently as Richard Harris and Richard Burton did 50 years ago. Arnold's Essex is bathed in sunlight for major sections of the film, but it does not make Mia's environment any more welcoming, hospitable or cheerful. Arnold's writing, direction, and casting are incredible and the changes she makes to the formula of lower-class kitchen sink drama make this a completely modern film that fits perfectly into the traditions of English realism. I think this is an instant classic, sure to be viewed in the future as another example of lyrical and angry responses to England's class divides like masterworks Room at the Top and Boys from the Blackstuff.

So now I say goodbye to TIFF. I am sad to see the attention shift from my amazing hometown back to LA and NYC, but happy that the lines in Yorkville will once again be manageable.

Movie Fix Ahead

Confession: I haven't been to the movies in two weeks. I've been getting over the flu, I've been off-blog (sorry about that), I've been traveling -- my parents are moving -- I've been at the Oprah Winfrey show (more on that soon).

In short, I'm suffering major cinema withdrawal. I'll be seeking a double-feature fix this weekend.

I'll start with Bright Star which could nab Abbie Cornish a Best Actress nomination this coming February as the strong-willed love of a sensitive poet's short life. I'm a sucker for a good costume drama and sensitive man aren't so bad either. I'm also eager to catch The Informant! because the corporate whistleblower comedy looks funny in a really smart eccentric way and Matt Damon has unmistakably good comic timing that that 30 lbs weight gain couldn't possibly smother. Those are my top two choices.

I might check out the talk of the town (i.e. the internet) which will likely be the horror comedy Jennifer's Body starring straight boy fantasy girl Megan Fox. How will her fans react (en masse) to a film where she (literally) devours them?

We have so much more to discuss...

read the rest in my weekly column @ Towleroad
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Tarantino Can't Shut Up. Neither Can We

Now that we've got a few videos under our belts, Katey and I generally wrap up our conversations in about 12 minutes. Then we edit out repetitive / awkward bits. This time, we couldn't stop talking.

Our conversation about Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds is reflective of the film's overstuffing. We did our best to avoid spoilers though there are a couple of small ones. It's best to avoid all the scenes that are available online before you see it. I know this isn't the way people interact with movies these past few years but it's so fun to be surprised at the movies and it's a pity that that happens less and less frequently. Tarantino is a great example of a filmmaker who rewards those who don't seek out spoilers. You can predict the various elements (i.e. obsessions) that will appear in each movie, but rarely can you foresee how he'll fuse them all together.

YouTube caps videos at 10 minutes so this might be a wee bit choppier than past conversations but we hope you enjoy and definitely join in the conversation in the comments section.

Part One
...in which we talk about violence, self-editing, film criticism and movies that draw attention to the man behind the camera.



Part Two
... in which we attempt to wrap it up with more on the superb European cast, Tarantino's big head, the "wait for the cream" structure and the twisty jokey gamesmanship of this movie about movies.

I Want to Link to There

Your Internet Movie Rule: Robert De Niro is...
Sunset Gun Kim Morgan talks to Tarantino
<--- Empire what film will director Bryan Singer do next? I'm just going to admit it: I don't really get his career. It seems so directionless despite a collection of generally good films
MNPP Michael Fassbender Four Times (he's fast becoming someone I totally care about!)
A Blog Next Door with a surprise observation about Adaptation (2002)
Coffee Coffee and More Coffee on the import/export game, the shrinking market for foreign films and how Hollywood doesn't play fair
INF "Aniston: Zellweger Stole My Man" I've never made a secret that I'm not a fan of Jennifer Aniston and her trademark 'abandoned woman' victimhood. On the other hand, I think all tabloids, celeb mags and gossip blogs ought to pay her tithing each year, you know?
If Charlie Parker... frames within frames. Lovely


Did you see The Wolf Man trailer? Benicio Del Toro plays the fuzzy wuzzy. I'm so pleased to see Hugo Weaving again (see previous post) but was it really a good idea to cast Anthony Hopkins in this? Seems like the choice is too obvious, too directly reminiscent of Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992).



Topless Robot expresses what I suspect will be widespread feelings about this film before it opens. Poor lycanthropes. They never get any respect when it comes to monster movies. It's gotta be vampires, don't it?

Review: Inglourious Basterds

I understand the consensus buzz for Inglourious Basterds is muddled and noncommital. I blame two things: first, its muted Cannes reception (please note: some people are already changing their minds about it) and second, Eli Roth. What? He's fun to blame. Quentin has thankfully stayed behind the camera this time but he's unfortunately replaced himself with another director who should stay there. Roth's hostile-Hostel presence coupled with the only easy-to-describe part of the film (Jewish soldiers kill Nazis in World War II) assures that people will get the wrong idea about the movie. It's more than a lame exercize in sadism.

Not that Basterds isn't sadistic. Tarantino's films always are. But one of the most amusing and satisfying things about the writer/director's work is that though you can always predict each new movie's mix of elements: vivid performances, instantly memorable characters, long monologues and dexterous banter, Samuel L Jackson, juvenilia, foot fetishes and movie referencing; the way Tarantino arranges, twists and presents these predictable stock elements is always anything but. He's gifted (even if he still can't edit himself).

So, my brief review...

"You're Basterd People"

At first glance it might seem odd to channel Waiting For Guffman’s Corky St. Clair to title a post on Quentin Tarantino’s WW II film Inglourious Basterds, but a closer inspection excuses the odd allusion. Inglourious Basterds lurches toward the parodic on more than one occasion as it veers like a happy drunk from historical drama to espionage thriller to action gorefest to black comedy and back again. And Tarantino is never shy about cinematic referencing so why should we be when discussing his films? Brad Pitt plays the presumably illiterate Lt. Aldo Raine –hence the title, bound to drive spelling bee champs mad – who leads a group of mostly Jewish soldiers on a mission to kill and scalp “Natzis!” in occupied France late in World War II. But that synopsis, and even the understandable marketing of Pitt as the film’s star are somewhat misleading.

Brad Pitt in Cannes with two members of the terrific German cast:
Daniel Brühl (Goodbye Lenin) and Diane Kruger (Joyeux Noël) in Cannes

Like many of QT’s idiosyncratic efforts, this one is overstuffed with memorable characters and sidebar flourishes. The Basterds, as the multi-chapter plot shakes out, turn out to be the least interesting part of the long but never dull film.

Read the rest at Towleroad
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Cannes: Rosengje's Top Ten and Miscellaneous Tweets

Our correspondent Rosengje caught 22 films during her Cannes trip. Before Isabelle Huppert's jury bestows the coveted Palme D'Or, I thought we'd let Rosengje offer up her own jury-of-one highlights. She had to miss Precious, Broken Embraces and Un Prophète due to time constraints.

Her five favorite films were...

1. Marco Bellochio's Vincere. More on this further down.
   
2. Alejandro Amenábar's Agora (previous post)
   
3. Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank. This family drama was a major hit with the critics and could be up for prizes today. If Andrea Arnold sounds familiar just think Wasp, Oscar's 2004 short film winner about an irresponsible mother (Natalie Press) and her brood of babies. That was a stunning 26 minutes of film so I'm eager to see this one.
   
4. Quentin Tarantino's "kosher revenge porn" Inglourious Basterds
5. Jane Campion's Bright Star (previous post)
   

She also wanted to name '10 things that stuck with me most' with honorable mentions going out to Up's use of 3D (see post), Vincere's unapologetically dramatic score, David Lynch’s interview footage in Great Directors (see post), and the beauty of Alden Ehrenreich in Francis Ford Coppola’s misfire Tetro (see post). Now, on to her personal 'top ten'...

10 Eric Cantona in Looking for Eric
Soccer great Cantona’s presence in Ken Loach’s ebullient film avoids camp, instead elevating the fulfilling film into a strangely compelling absurdist realm. His scenes reliably brought the audience to applause, and one involving dancing had the entire Lumiere in hysterics.

09 Sound Effects in Thirst
As anyone familiar with Park Chan-Wook’s previous Grand Prix winner Oldboy can attest to, much of the director’s haunting power is drawn from what is not seen. The implication of horrifying action is nonetheless impossible to escape, primarily because of the explosive sound. This funny, gory Korean vampire flick ultimately delves into camp in its last third, but the grotesque noises accompanying scenes ranging from lovemaking to vampire creating made it a memorable film experience.

08 Brad Pitt’s accent in Inglourious Basterds
This had me concerned in the trailer, but Pitt’s Tennessee hick persona is crucial to the success of Tarantino’s latest. In the initial introduction to the Basterds, the portrayal seems over the top and cloying in its attempt to generate laughs. All is forgiven, however, later in the film. Adopting a phony Italian accent, Pitt’s Aldo Raine is introduced to Christoph Waltz’s Hans Landa, and delivers an impeccable line reading that still has me giggling days later. Perfection.

07 Michael Fassbender
Pictured right with director Andrea Arnold --->
Yummy. I could not sit through the entirety of Hunger, which I found immensely disturbing, but Fassbender capitalizes on his breakthrough status in two Cannes films. He excels in Tarantino’s Basterds and in Fish Tank he is the perfect blend of charm and sleaze. He leaves the audience and characters confused about the character’s intentions until the very end. It's a credit to his screen charisma that I desperately wanted to believe in his sincerity until the last possible second.

06 Abby Cornish & Paul Schneider in Bright Star
05 Rachel Weisz in Agora
04 Liev Schreiber in Taking Woodstock
Discussed in earlier posts.

03 Giovanna Mezzogiorno in Vincere
Rounding out the impressive list of female accomplishments is Giovanna Mezzogiorno’s performance in Marco Bellochio’s operatic Vincere. She left me cold in last year’s Palermo Shooting but she shines as Ida Dalser, Il Duce’s lover during his rise to power in fascist Italy. When she is carelessly tossed aside by the ambitious politician, Dalser is at first isolated and then imprisoned in an insane asylum. Taking the abuse suffered by Angelina Jolie in Changeling to the next level, Mezzogiorno never loses the audience’s sympathy, even as she plunges further into despair. Many of Dalser’s statements against Mussolini remain in question, so the actress must constantly balance the character’s clear logic with the murkiness of her claims. If the film receives a considerable stateside release, I would not be surprised to see Mezzogiorno embraced by critics. The performance is more accessible than Marion Cotillard’s work in La Vie en Rose and the lack of public familiarity with Dalser decreases the burden of representation.

02 Technical accomplishments of Bright Star
Costumes, art direction, cinematography...

01 Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds
Without the success of his multi-lingual, comically terrifying performance the film would have failed. Oozing the debonair sophistication most would want to deny the vicious Nazi figure, Waltz makes an indelible impression in the film’s very first sequence that lingers throughout the film’s lengthy running time. He's completely deserving of a Best Supporting Actor nomination.

So much to consider. Rosengje's write up has me wondering if Mezzogiorno will one day expand her global fame (she's a regular nominee at the Italian Oscars) -- especially if Vincere tours. I expect Oscar buzz for Bright Star to follow the Cannes hoopla rather closely. I'm much much less bullish on Basterds. Rosengje obviously enjoyed the star turns a great deal but Oscar voters have long since cooled on Tarantino's style and, more strangely, seem to have turned a blind eye on his inarguable talent for tapping into the unique strengths of nearly every actor he works for.

The great thing about personal movie loves and communal movie discussion is that one man's treasure is another's... so I thought I'd include additional perspective. These four critics in particular were fun to follow during Cannes: Mike D'Angelo, Eugene Hernandez, James Rocchi and Karina Longworth. If you couldn't get enough Cannes coverage, click to embiggen for a few sample tweets on Basterds, The White Ribbon, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Face and sidebar films like Dogtooth.



Which Cannes film are you most longing to see at this point?
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