Anticipation... The Year in Film Promotion

Year in Review

NATHANIEL: Hey kids. So some time ago I was introduced to Mark Blankenship who writes The Critical Condition. I've been reading that blog ever since. Mark writes about everything pop culture -- I love his music posts especially -- and he's now officially a "talking head" having done a couple of Joy Behar Show gigs. We decided to have a little year in review convo. Part one is here at The Film Experience and tomorrow Critical Condition will run Part two. Got it?

MARK: Hi Nathaniel!

NATHANIEL: Hey you.

MARK: With Hurricane Award Season upon us and year-end lists popping up everywhere, I thought it would be fun to look back at the year in movie promotion. In 2010, which trailers, posters, and campaigns were the best? Which ones were the worst?

In the category of Worst Promotion of a Good Movie, I'll nominate Despicable Me. I mean... seriously. I've seen a billion previews for that film, and I still don't know what it's about. Yellow tic-tacs in overalls? Steve Carell learning a life lesson from the Orphaned Triplets of Belleville? Who can say? Apparently, though, Despicable Me is really good. It certainly connected with ticket buyers, and New York's David Edelstein put it in his year-end top ten. Yet because of my weeks-long irritation with the previews, I'm still dubious.

On the other hand, the promotion for Sofia Coppola's Somewhere gets my vote for Worst Promotion of a Good Movie. Because, really... Somewhere is a dense, rewarding experience that's being marketed as a pretentious suck-a-thon about a rich dude's problems. Coppola's previous film, Marie Antoinette, was so boring it actually made me angry, yet it got a sexy, energetic campaign. Why couldn't someone do the same for a movie that actually has some sexiness and energy?

Alright... that's my opening salvo. Which campaigns are you thinking about?

Minions! (a.k.a. "Millions" ...in merchandising)

NATHANIEL: How can I even get to the campaigns that I might be thinking about when you have already given me so much to lob back at you?

I can one up you on Despicable Me; I've SEEN the movie and I still couldn't tell you what it was about. It's fun to watch and it's funny but it evaporates in your head within a week's time. The only thing I do remember now is the ad campaign. I think we have to consider this a strange case where a bewildering ad campaign actually does truth tell. As I recall, the movie is disjointed and slapsticky and it does feature plenty of scenes involving yellow tic-tacs. I suppose the main narrative thrust is Steve Carell learning life lessons. Which lessons those were I can't recall but I remember there was much cuteness. And not just by way of yellow breath fresheners.

As for the Coppola Now: Redux... I shall refrain from answering until you tell me what your position is on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 1. (speaking of suck-a-thons about rich dude's problems)

MARK: It's interesting you should ask about HP7: The Hallownator. I promised my family that I'd wait to see it until I went home for the holidays, so for the time being, my opinion is entirely based on the promotional campaign. And as someone who hasn't really liked any of these movies---I've found them all to be ploddingly literal adaptations of exquisitely imaginative books---I've found a couple of reasons to hope. For one, I was heartened by the story that the movie wouldn't be released in 3-D. To me, it suggested that quality was being chosen over extra revenue. Also, the trailer (and especially the music in the trailer) has a grandness that matches the weight of the story.

That said, the posters I've seen plastered all over New York are just... zzzz. The dimly list cast photos may tell me the movie is coming out, but they don't tell me anything about it. Really, though, I don't guess that matters, because it's not like this movie needs that much help to get butts in the seats.

NATHANIEL:  EVERYONE's opinion of Harry Potter is entirely based on the promotional campaign, not just yours! You've stated the truth of it. In fact, you have already seen the movie if you've read the books or seen the commercials or plan to see the final movie next year. Nothing happens. Or, rather, if something happens it's the same thing that's already happened. It used to be the same film every year with minor changes in window dressing. Now, they're not even bothering to make a film anymore. Warner Bros has made the world's first 145 minute bookmark/commercial and they're making hundreds of millions for their evil con job. They've robbed the public blind and the public loves it.

Marketing is the new Stockholm Syndrome.

I love Sofia Coppola's movies (even and especially Marie Antoinette -- so there!) but they're their own repetitive franchise. Sofia is a better wizard because mise en scene trumps CGI every time.

Sofia Coppola and the Virgin's Suicide
Sofia Coppola and the Suntory Times Adventure
Sofia Coppola and the Cake-Eating Queen
Sofia Coppola and the Deadly Chateau Doldrums Pt. 1

poor little world famous rich boys

Somewhere and Hallows Pt 1 are essentially the same story: Famous Mopey Rich Boy (wizard Harry Potter / movie star Stephen Dorff) has a big problem (Voldemort/Ennui). Watch him wander aimlessly through foreign places not knowing exactly what he's looking for (Godrick's Hollow /Italy) whenever he's not resting aimlessly in his comfortable quarters (Magic Tent / Celebrity Hotel) with his loved one (Hermione / Elle Fanning). All the while he's worrying about that overarching problem that he really doesn't know how to solve. In the end he sort of decides to move forward towards his goal. Maybe. It's vague.

My longwinded point -- I promise to be much briefer moving forward-- is that I'm going to mentally slap the next Harry Potter fan who calls any "arthouse" movie boring because "nothing happens."

MARK: I think you've cracked the Da Vinci Code with your Harry Potter/Somewhere comparison. Some addendums: Famous Mopey Rich Boy relies on souped-up transportation (Firebolt Broomstick/sports car) and has a dopey friend whose relationship with a young woman provides a convenient dramaturgical contrast to his relationship with her (Ron/Chris Pontius.) Also, a set of twins tries to amuse Rich Boy with tricks that only end up distracting him from his quest (those Weasley boys with the magic shop/those strippers with the portable pole.)

Strippers with port-a-poles. Best scene in Somewhere!

Meanwhile, I can tell you that I'm seethingly jealous about your recent interaction with Barbara Hershey. (But also happy for you!) What did you think about the lead up to Black Swan: Revenge of the Back Feather?

NATHANIEL: Ah, Black Swan. The topic of the month. This is a rare case where I'd believe that the marketing campaign was directed by the filmmaker (I'm sure it wasn't) because the commercials are of the same exact tenor of the product: outre, mysterious, sick, sexy, highbrow clothing but lowbrow soul (note how thrilled the trailer is by its big campy gotcha moment (that feather yanked from Natalie's back!). The commercials are so cinematic you can taste popcorn. In short: ticket sold!

Even the posters are using truth in advertising. The first one, with Natalie's Black Swan ballet makeup is full frontal confrontrational as introduction. That art deco/Erte-ish series that followed are true enough about the movie's love of artifice and theatrical design. The ugly one with Natalie's badly photoshopped red arm reveals real commercial instincts - it's not exactly a subtle movie. Finally, the latest one with Natalie's cracked face, is yet again underlining that this girl is beautiful but cracked.

...She bonkers!

Black Swan's Truth in Advertising.

Part 2 of this convo ~
Now Playing at The Critical Condition

...for more on favorite promotions and movie posters. Read it.

7 Word Reviews: True Grit, The Illusionist. Somewhere

Because this week is about trying to keep up with screenings, interviews and endless precursor announcements, here are some very very short reviews.

The Illusionist
A magician in the twilight of his career, finds companionship in a young woman.
7WR: Slow but just sublimely rendered. Devastating finale. B+/A-?


All Good Things
Unsolved mystery from the 80s about a wealthy heir and his missing wife.
7WR: Nightmarishly uneven, convoluted. But Kirsten hurts authentically C-

True Grit
The Coens adapt a western about a young girl seeking to avenge her father's murder
7WR: Even the horses act with meticulous predetermination. B-

And in conclusion a highly narcissistic double feature. Both films are rendered with visual aplomb and quite in tune with their own unique frequencies but you should steer wide and clear if you're allergic to wealthy people hosting their own pity parties and expecting you to bring gifts.

Tiny Furniture
A college graduate returns to her artist mothers home; regresses, refuses to leave it.
7WR: Navel-gazing finds funny highly specific lint. B+

Somewhere
A famous actor, lost to himself, kills time with his daughter.
7WR: Director/Protagonist treads water but what form! B

LFF 2010: five final festival films to wrap up with...

Craig here from Dark Eye Socket with my LFF wrap-up.

As of tonight the BFI London Film Festival is done for another year. It's been a stellar year all told, if the surplus of reports are to be believed. And I'd willingly add a further approving nod to the list. I didn't manage to see everything I wanted (juggling festival times and dates with travel arrangements is an art – one that's open to fateful intervention...and multiple tube delays), but what I saw was on the whole a bumper crop. Roll on next year, I say. Here are five previous reviews, selected from the films I saw:  Uncle Boonmee, A Screaming Man, Winter Vacation, Rare Exports and What I Love the Most. And below are five final mini reviews of a few festival highlights.

Thomas Vinterberg introduced his new film, Submarino, in a cheeky fashion: “if all goes well, you’ll be depressed at the end of the film. Enjoy yourselves!” It was no happy time sure, but it was an enthralling film, despite its determinedly grim subject matter. It follows two brothers’ hard, poverty-stricken lives in contemporary Copenhagen; a family tragedy as kids has left them scarred and emotionally unable to cope with adult existence. Hope is hard to grasp, but not too far away; redemption comes at a cost but may just stop dead the cycle of despair plaguing one or both of the brothers. The characters' direness isn’t forced or over baked and sympathy is well-earned. Lead actors Jakob Cedergren and Peter Plaugborg are excellent as, respectively, the older and younger siblings. Vinterberg’s humanistic approach is thoroughly rewarding and the tautness of the script ensures we become embroiled in the brothers’ plights. It’s strangely an easy film to like, but not always pleasant to watch. B-

 Submarino

Abel, the second directorial effort by actor Diego Luna, was a complete contrast to Submarino (I saw them consecutively). The story of a boy, the titular Abel, who returns home from a stay at a psychiatric hospital to resume living with his mother and siblings – only to assume the role of patriarch of the house, brought on by his father’s disappearance years earlier. The family go along with the ruse in the hope that it aids the boy’s recovery. It’s an amusing, sweet-natured look at how families are truly peculiar to themselves more so than to others. It also questions the role of the father in modern Mexican life and makes more than a few choice and aptly conveyed criticisms of male-dominated hierarchies.





Though it plays all this with pleasant abandon, Luna handles the few slightly troubling darker moments with able care. If the ending seemed a bit easily arrived at, it was made up for by the wonderful photography and easygoing performances, not least a cracking turn by young Christopher Ruiz-Esparza as Abel. C

Abel

Two excellent documentaries at the LFF this year were, for my money, two of the fest's best. The first, Journey’s End (La Belle visite) from French-Canadian director Jean-François Caissy, looks at the day-to-day lives of the residents of a Quebec retirement home for the elderly – the L'Auberge des Caps – over five seasons. Situated between a frosty ocean view and a busy Highway, the home, refurbished from an abandoned motel, is a building once made for passing visitors, but now houses folks in the later stages of their lives. Caissy unobtrusively documents random events with warm assurance: dear old gals getting their hair done, the comings and goings of deliverymen, birthday celebrations, personal prayer time and even the home’s resident dog, who frequently scarpers the vast, long corridors. All the community is shown with great thoughtfulness, and interest in their lives is duly maintained through Caissy’s sure-handed control of his material. The inherent tranquillity of it all is thrown into sharp relief by the inevitable idea of finality aroused by the title. It was a joy to spend time with these people. B

Journey's End

The second documentary to wow me was Frederick Wiseman’s Boxing Gym, now playing in US theaters. Wiseman is as much a film artist as any fiction filmmaker, and is often (rightly) held up as such alongside many a fellow documentarian (Chris Marker and the Maysles bros, for instance), especially for his no talking heads, no descriptive onscreen captions and, ultimately, no fuss approach. As ever, his mastery of the form is present and apparent. The titular gym in Austin, Texas is the focus of Wiseman’s elegant and measured gaze: its owner Richard Lord and various members – including lawyers, students, young mothers, doctors, soldiers – train, chat and generally box happily away whenever their often busy lives permit. All the while Wiseman, with his signature visual dexterity, acutely captures key moments and exchanges which reach far beyond the activity at hand to reveal insights into contemporary America. The sounds and aural rhytms of the gym are particularly notable: the noise of fast punches to speed bags, the constant buzz from the training timer chart, the white noise of friendly banter in the background. It’s a visually splendid film, too: light falling on the gym floor, frenetic, dance-like close-ups of nimble-footed boxers and still shots of the city in bright daylight all display Wiseman’s skill with crisp composition. But the telling snapshots of individual gym members resonate most. I was interested in each person’s history, the fleeting ins and outs of their lives, and could’ve happily spent many more hours with them at Lord's gym. Wiseman gets every aspect spot on. A

Boxing Gym

Finally, Sofia Coppola’s new film Somewhere was, at once, a pleasant surprise and a film seemingly set on autopilot. It’s lovely to look at but it feels rather too much like happy stasis. The first half hour is largely a series of beautifully photographed scenes simply woven together, featuring a strung-out Hollywood actor played by Stephen Dorff frittering his time away lounging with pole dancers and film world flakes in between routine appointments. That’s all well and good until he has to take charge of his estranged daughter (Elle Fanning) and attempt to emotionally re-engage with his real self.

Dazed, cool-around-the-edges drifters are common currency for Coppola, and the film doesnt tread anywhere fresh. It’s fairly easy to predict where Somewhere will end up. The film meanders nicely enough – Sofia does love those lazy days – but it loses some of its early finesse on later scenes which don’t go anywhere or say anything particularly interesting. Coppola is obviously criticising the Hollywood machine here, but she’s also clearly enamoured with it. Is she maybe too close to really have something coruscating to say. She’s a direct product of it, which makes several of her soft attacks come off as slightly too precious. It’s not ivanssxtc (though I’m actually quite glad about that), but it does effectively pinpoint some of the less glamorous actorish tasks with effective wit and clarity. (An 'old-man make-up' test sitting is both deliberately dull and languorously creepy, and my favourite moment in the whole film – it subtly speaks volumes about the sometimes tedious nature of stardom in one acute slow zoom.)

Somewhere

Somewhere has the most relaxed, laid back atmosphere of any film I’ve seen in 2010 so far, save for perhaps Greenberg, and is a refreshing and escapist diversion for a globe still in economic crisis (though is an indulgent tale about a privileged, self-examining A-lister quite what the world desperately needs right now?). Dorff and Fanning are very good and Harris Savides’ photography (more L.A. kinship with Greenberg) is some of the year’s best. But, to be honest, Coppola is coasting, however blissful the ride. C-

My personal top five from the LFF were: 1. Boxing Gym, 2. A Screaming Man, 3. Journey's End, 4. Submarino, 5. Our Life

Take Three: Anna Faris

Craig here with Take Three.

Today: Anna Faris

Take One: Even cowgirls get the blues

I’m always up for a spot of Brokeback love. I know there's been plenty of attention around these parts in the past but let’s divert the love that-a-way. Let’s ride sidesaddle and gallop slightly away from Jake ‘n’ Heath. And Michelle 'n' Anne. And Ang. Hey, look, it’s Anna Faris as Lashawn Malone in Brokeback Mountain (2005).

I’d just seen Faris in Just Friends when barely a week later (January 2006) Brokeback was released here in the UK. The complete contrast between Faris in the two films caught me off guard. She pops up ninety-minutes in during a couples’ C&W night-out scene with Jake Gyllenhaal & Anne Hathaway.  She “talks a blue streak” without much pause for breath – and in doing so fills the gap where a homoerotic attraction is becoming increasingly apparent between Jack Twist and Lashawn’s husband Randall (David Harbour). Jack and Lashawn dance; she continues to chatter. A new scene comes and goes with Lashawn entering and chattering her way gaily through it.

It’s a minuscule part but one that actively enhances the film. And Faris, with a touch of cowgirl glamour creates a world for Lashawn that is surely real and would be utterly believable if we were to follow her story instead of Lureen’s and Alma’s. The other Brokeback wives have their moments of realisation and breakdown; Lashawn, being a passing, peripheral character, doesn’t get hers (Randall is another “confused” cowpoke). But, thanks to the key manner in which Faris makes palpable the glimmers of anxiety in Lashawn’s gasbagging, we know she’ll suffer as Lureen and Alma do.

Take Two: Coppola load of this casting coup

There are some things I liked about Lost in Translation (2003), and some things I didn’t. Anna Faris is the crux of my love-hate relationship with the film. I like her. I dislike the reason she’s (ostensibly) there. Faris is vibrant, lively and gleefully adorable as Kelly, the flaky blond actress who tender, sensitive Charlotte bumps into in the Tokyo hotel lobby. Her small segment – or I should say zesty interruption – perked me up just as I was beginning to get fed up with ScarJo’s misery. Faris shows her personality here even when she’s meant to be showing... Cameron Diaz’s, wasn’t it?

It takes a sharp skill to play a vapid, questionably-talented and intentionally annoying bimbo like Kelly, and do it well, but Faris possesses it; the role wouldn’t have been half as memorable or crucial without her.

Lost in Translation has its staunch defenders as well as its starchy detractors. I'm on the fence. But isn't Coppola fille displaying her snarky, precious side when she hires one – fairly unknown at the time – comedy actress to allegedly impersonate another – far more famous – one, just to imply something underhanded about the latter through the (admittedly spot-on) talents of the former? Is this indicative of the peculiarities of the largely hidden squabbles buried within the Hollywood community? It taints the film for me, but no matter. Faris knocks her scenes out of the hotel car park. She got to stretch her craft and add a different slant to her filmography whilst being wonderfully, enthusiastically familiar. Were we meant to share in Charlotte's lofty derision of Kelly? I know I didn't. I was too busy enjoying Faris.

Take Three: One order of Anna – to stay

For the third take, I meant to feature Faris' Monroe routine over a steaming manhole in The House Bunny. But after accidentally catching Waiting... (2006) for the third time, I couldn’t resist scribbling a few words on her role as Serena, ex-girlfriend to co-lead Ryan Reynolds, who works, like all the characters do, at the brilliantly named theme restaurant Shenaniganz.

Faris’ role is clearly supporting, but she breezes on screen with the bright confidence of a lead. Her pin-sharp and perfectly delivered put-down of Ryan Reynolds in one of Waiting...’s best scenes is a joy to watch and watch again. (Watch it many times: Faris’ timing is exquisite.) Faris and Reynolds (and scriptwriter Rob McKittrick) create an entertaining scene – a crude, rude re-take on the sparring couples slapstick banter - that's full of choice insults and great Faris facial expressions. Without much fuss the scene humorously reconfigures the tired old Battle of the Sexes thing into something daft and genuinely funny, just in miniature, with the couple wearing garish work uniforms emblazoned with their names.

Faris gets the upper hand. She keeps it, works it, and walks off with it by the time she’s verbally downsized Reynolds to a portion small fries. It’s a relishable, smile-inducing comic performance. I'm so on team Faris.

In a relatively short span of time, the actress has contributed so much to a commendable amount of movies that the three takes above (and three mentions below) don’t do her true justice. Judy Holliday, Lucille Ball, Goldie Hawn, Jennifer Coolidge... I’d be happy to include Faris in any future line-up of comedy gal greats. (Rumour has it that she'll be in Ghostbusters III and a remake of Private Benjamin. Good times.)


Three more key films for the taking: May (2000), Smiley Face (2006), The House Bunny (2007).

Venice Red Carpet: Somewhere, Norwegian Wood, Miral, Reign of Assassins

The Venice Film Festival progresses. Day 4 of 11 today. So let's pretend we're there for a moment and check in. You can't have a good glitzy A list international film festival without immortals like Catherine Deneuve showing up (pictured left). Why is she shielding her eyes for she is brighter than the sun. All in all things seem to be going well. Take the premiere of Black Swan for example. Opening films don't often make that much of a splash, divisive or otherwise.

Another big question mark film of the 2010 film season is Sofia Coppola's Somewhere (trailer discussion). It's her follow up to the poorly received but delicious Marie Antoinette (2006). She's back to the present day for this film about an actor (Stephen Dorff) visited by his daughter (Elle Fanning) at the Chateau Marmont.

The reviews have been mixed but more than most filmmakers I trust not any reviews about her work. Her girlish dreamy haze tends to cloud judgment. But here are a few...

• In Contention "thoroughly beguiling"
• Evening Standard "no big dramatic moments, just a series of sequences"
• Obsessed With Film "ever bit as poignant as Lost in Translation, if not as fresh."
• Thompson on Hollywood "should play well for the young smart-house set."
  

Somewhere premiere: Sofia Coppola, Stephen Dorff, Laura Chiatta, Elle Fanning

Italian actress Laura Chiatta (The Family Friend) is also in Somewhere's cast which is why I included her here. Mostly because her lipstick is transporting me back to the early Aughts. It's all I can see. Is she wearing anything else?

I don't expect that the film will win Oscar traction (low key efforts rarely do and a late December release for a contemplative film won't help. Coppola whispers and Oscar hears only Oscar-bait shouting in the holiday months) but I'm still so excited to see it. Coppola is three for three in my book. Will this make four for four?

On to other films...

International Divas: Yeoh, Abbas, Kikuchi, Campbell

Michelle Yeoh, in town for Reign of Assassins, is a goddess. You knew that already. Her latest star vehicle was bought earlier this summer by the Weinstein Co which probably means we'll never see it (you know how they do). But since we can't look at the film, let's look at those shoes. The shoes... Gah! They're probably worth more than most people make in a year and she can probably kill those multiple assassins tailing her with them. Incidentally, Yeoh is also an assassin in the movie. What is with the cinema's complete fixation on assassins as protagonists? It's easy to understand them as villains but so many of them are actually the heroes of their movies. I shutter to think what this means about the human condition.

• Hollywood Reporter "lush visual treat... with crossover potential."
• Film Biz Asia "a rich gallery of characters
  
• Screen Daily "absorbing and entertaining."
• MovieWeb (the trailer... note: you have to watch an ad first)
  

Hiam Abbas was in Venice for the premiere of Julian Schnabel's Miral but curiously Freida Pinto, "Miral" herself, was not. Maybe she saw some unflattering reviews coming.

• Obsessed with Film "cravenly seeking approval"
• Telegraph "It’s terribly earnest, and characters often speak dialogue that resembles a history lecture"
• Thompson on Hollywood "Pinto, while gorgeous is not an expressive actress."
  

I should note here that none of the negatives lobbed Miral's way in reviews tend to be awards season negatives with Oscar, given that earnest lectures and films which needily cry for approval are fixtures of every awards season. And nobody seemed to have a problem with Freida Pinto's inexpressiveness as an actress in Slumdog Millionaire -- don't try to tell me that's a new development.We just barely dodged that supporting actress nomination I think. And it would have been one of those semi-regular headscratchers for being "the girlfriend."

Norwegian Wood, another prestige adaptation of a novel, also premiered. Rinko Kikuchi, the most famous member of its ensemble cast (credit that Babel Oscar nomination), hit the red carpet. I don't understand this look at all. But it definitely reminds me of a expensive monochromatic version of that awful ruffled confusing short skirted thing Peach turned out on Project Runway two nights back. Oh, Peach... wwyt?

• Variety "lovely but listless"
• Indie Movies Online "the story is not quite as peerlessly handled by Tran as the aesthetic presentation"

Finally, I included Naomi Campbell in this roundup because I cannot for the life of me, imagine her actually sitting down to watch movies, only strutting through flashbulbs towards them. I know she's been in a few movies but has she actually ever seen one?

Action auteur John Woo (pictured left) received the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement and was also there as co-director of Reign of Assassins (with Chao-Bin Su, who also wrote the film).

Quentin Tarantino is the head of the Venice jury so we'll see what his jury does with their cups and statues next weekend. Stay tuned.

And The Honorary Oscars Go To...

...Oscar winner Francis Ford Coppola who will receive the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for producing, iconoclast and French new wave legend Jean-Luc Godard (I'm guessing he won't show) and two Emmy winners, actor Eli Wallach and film historian/preservationist Kevin Brownlow.

Perhaps no one is receiving the Jean Hersholt Huminatarian Award this year and all three of those men are just the standard "Honorary Oscar"? Pity that the reports aren't specific on this detail. Brownlow is the name I wasn't familiar with. His career is a mixture of television work, film history, restoration work and documentaries.

...unfortunately you won't get to hear these accomplished men giving speeches about their life's work and the cinema. Again.

The Academy is still operating on that "Keep the old folks away from the stage! Get Miley Cyrus" edict from god knows when. Never mind that The Mileys (i.e. all celebrities who have no real business being at the Oscars because they have precious little to do with the art and glamour of either current movies or legendary ones) didn't turn the Oscar ratings around. The positive spin is that these presentations at the Governor's Awards on November 13th will be more like Oscar nights of old, parties to celebrity peers without those pesky commercial breaks, and merciless 45 second time limits on speeches. But honestly, if they're going to keep making the town's legends celebrate off camera as if they've expired -- what is this Logan's Run? -- they should at least let them collectively present Best Picture each year. Or something. Lord knows Oscar needs a new thinktank when it comes to Best Picture presentations. I mean, even after I gave them a detailed and sound argument that they have no imagination in this realm -- I even helped them with household name suggestions! -- they ignored me and went with Tom Hanks. Again.

I mean just once, Academy, try a legendary Actress. It's been 20 years since you let an Actress do it on her own (Barbra Streisand) and that was even an actress who you've let do it again since with a man. Why are you so stuck and repetitive? And if you're that stuck and you simply must pull from your list of "people who've done it before," pony up and ship Olivia de Havilland over from France for a real shocker.

My longwinded point is this: It better be an actress this year, since you went with all men for your honorary prizes. Here's a helpful reminder of living actresses -- some of them Oscar winners -- who have not presented Best Picture and who the general public would recognize.


That's what's called "scratching the surface"
You're welcome.

I could totally go on. Especially if you were willing to consider people who the public would recognize after a few seconds of "oh, yeah, right her. She's important!"
*

Yes, No, Maybe So: Somewhere

The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette. Second generation auteur Sofia Coppola hasn't failed us yet. Her perceptive ethereal films about delicate girls with faraway looks in their eyes are stunning to behold and deeply felt, too. Here's the trailer to her fourth film Somewhere (2010).

This is one of those cases where I need to water down my expectations lest I wet myself. I love her movies. So I'll divvy it up as to what makes me most excited (yes), most worried (no), and somewhere in between (maybe so) for the appropriate "I Shan't Be Controlled By Marketing" balance.

yes
Coppola understands how to convey both unexpected intimacies (Bob & Charlotte in Lost in Translation) and painful estrangements (usually familial but sometimes spousal as seen in Suicides and Marie-Antoinette) which should serve her tremendously well in the telling of this story of actor/father (Stephen Dorff) and tween daughter (Elle Fanning) who suddenly comes to live with him at the Chateau Marmont. Coppola's films obviously use her own life as inspiration and she knows from being the daughter of a famous showbiz person, as we all know. The shot of the underwater tea party is unexpected, charming and gives me great hope that this will be variable in mood and so specific that it will read universal.

no

On the other hand, who can relate to leisurely wealth and scads of downtime? There's so many shots of actor and daughter lounging, sleeping or barely mobile in their luxury environment. Now, I don't have the same problem as some viewers do with Coppola's hermetically sealed worlds and their wealthy almost slothful protagonists. After all, nobody complains when male auteurs make movies about the same male character types each time yet Sofia catches heat for her continual emphasis on upscale lost girls. Double standard! So, I hope she makes dozens more features about whatever the hell she wants. But, since this looks to be the closest to her own experience of all of the films, given the subject matter and movie industry backdrop, it could bring out excessive navel gazing. Sometimes it's just a navel no matter how hard you look. Showbiz played into Lost in Translation, too, but it did so in a more offscreen way.

maybe so

We know that Sofia Coppola is a natural in the director's chair and that cinematographer Harris Savides, one of the best in the biz, will help her provide beautiful vivid imagery. But whether or not Somewhere touches viewers in any substantial way will depend greatly on the father/daughter chemistry of Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning. We won't know if that's poor, adequate or sensational until we're actually watching the movie. There are some things you can never learn from a trailer.

Are you a "yes, no or maybe so?"

Care to make any Oscar guesses? The movie is currently set for release on December 22nd, which blows. You'll have to try not to be jealous of the hazy downtime of Dorff and Fanning while you're at maximum stress levels during the holiday rush and the prestige movie glut. Hopefully they'll move this to the usual Sofia spot in the early fall.

The Future is Link

future movies
Burlesque now has a website so you can actually try to work up excitement from the sparkly logo design until a teaser hits. Hurry up, teaser!
In Contention has a teaser poster for Sofia Coppola's Somewhere. I like it. I'm sure we'll get something more generic before release though.
/Film Sam Raimi for Oz, The Great and Powerful. Not a bad choice
Movie|Line Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Ramona's seven evil exes get their own posters
Low Resolution says what needs to be said about the Tom Cruise Les Grossman pic.
Just Jared Reshoot set photos from The Adjustment Bureau with Emily Blunt & Matt Damon
MTV Movies Charlize Theron joining Tom Hardy for the next Mad Max film

And here's the first official still from The Tourist (2011)


Jolie means Pretty in French... or any other language.

randomness
Natasha VC speaks wise words about Adrien Brody.
Old Hollywood Barbara Stanwyck will own it.
Movie|Line funny bit on the first official still from Mad Men season 4.
Twitch a promo for HBO's new series Boardwalk Empire about Atlantic City. Good luck being as good as Atlantic City (1981)... no relation but for locale.
Noh Way on the upcoming revival of Evita.
Deadline Hollywood on Karate Kid's resounding box office beat down over The A Team.
Towleroad Joan Rivers and my continued plea for Friday Night Lights Emmy love.
A Socialite's Life celebs galore at the AFI party honoring Mike Nichols.

We Can't Wait #9: SOMEWHERE

"We Can't Wait: Summer and Beyond" continues with what is sure to be one of the dreamiest films of the year, in mood if not in content.

Daddy (Dorff) and Daughter (Fanning)

Somewhere
Directed by: Sofia Coppola
Starring: Stephen Dorff, Elle Fanning and Michelle Monaghan
Synopsis: A decadent actor gets an unexpected visit from his young daughter and begins to reexamine his life.
Brought to you by Focus Features
Release Date: TBA but we're assuming September/October? That's the Coppola time frame.

Nathaniel: We've had several discussions, you and I, about the inherent dreaminess of Sofia Coppola pictures. I'm curious to see how her haziness matches the "hard living" of the actor character in Somewhere. I don't mean hazy pejoratively as in a vague or cloudy minded film but in the contemplative drift her films tend to provoke in the viewer. I've loved all of her features so I'm hoping this is no exception.

I'm intrigued that she's shifting her gaze to a man, despite my love for her 'dreamy girls' milieu whether they're embodied by Kirsten Dunst (twice over sensationally) or Scarlett Johansson (once most successfully). But I'm not so pleased that she's switching cinematographers. Obviously Harris Savides is a genius, but I so enjoyed her collaboration with Lance Acord. He recently lensed her ex-husband's Where the Wild Things Are superbly...

Sofia's previous cinematographer Lance Acord (Lost in Translation,
Marie Antoinette) and her new one Harris Savides (Birth, Milk, Zodiac)

I'm starting to drift contemplatively so I'll toss it to you with this: even though I'm excited, I can't say I'm really a "fan" of either lead actor. Can you imagine the wrath of Dakota if Elle gets an Oscar nomination first?

JA: If there's somewhere where drifting contemplatively is welcomed, it's in conversation about Miss Sofia's movies. But yeah, the Fanning house is not somewhere to be on nomination morning if such a thing were to come to pass. (But if you do find yourself there, please have an Abigail Breslin mask on hand. Hilarity will ensue and by hilarity I mean large sharp objects and by ensue I mean flung at your face.)

I'd been imagining the focus on the Dorff-Fanning relationship to be something like the one on the Murray-Johannson relationship in Lost in Translation, in that they're both pretty much the focus, but I guess that's just my imaginings having already run off with themselves sensing all the opportunities for long shots of Elle staring off into space in dimly lit rooms of the Chateau Marmont. Prime staring real estate! So I hadn't really thought of Coppola's gaze here being any more male-focused than it was there. I guess after three films with such a strong voice already in place I have trouble imagining Sofia able to resist the urge to drift off with Elle just a little bit.

<--- Elle Fanning attending the premiere of big sis's last hit, The Twilight Saga: New Moon

Either way, whomever the camera's pointed at, Savides brings me no fear! He's proven himself many times over to be a terrific custodian of the elongated space-out. I mean, Elephant, man. Gerry! Doesn't get much spacier than that. And we just saw the wonders he can work with the sun-dappled backyards and side streets of LA in Greenberg.

Can't say I'm a fan of Dorff really either but I do think he's an inspired choice, and I have a feeling he's got something in there to deliver. Anybody that was in an episode of Father Dowling's Mysteries is cool with me.

Nathaniel: And maybe anyone who has ever played a vampire is due for a career resurgence in this new decade?

Dorff on set in Milan

How do I drift so far off topic? Readers? do you go into dreamy trances watching Sofia Coppola's work? Are you eager to go there again?
*

Favorite Movies of the Decade #30-16

the list #100-76, #75-51, #50-31, #30-16 and #15-1.

Awards for 2009 begin tomorrow or thereabouts.

For this next group installment of the countdown we start in beautiful France and have a lot of trouble leaving it! It even pulls us back in the end.

30 Beau Travail dir. Claire Denis (1999, released in 2000)
It's okay that I haven't seen it in so long that it feels like a dream now. It always did. And that "Rhythm of the Night" ending. My oh my oh my. Denis has cast her unique spell many times since, but never quite like this.

29 Caché (Hidden) dir Michael Haneke (2005)
A boon to patient moviegoers... and a bane. But who tortures audiences with as much control, mystery and depth of meaning? It's easy to make an audience jump with loud jarring sound cues and shock cuts. But I've never seen anyone make an audience leap and gasp as loudly, like one collective frightened hive, without the aid of music or editing. Haneke is a master.

28 Marie Antoinette dir. Sofia Coppola (2006)
My most controversial "favorite" all decade long. So many people were outright angered by Sofia Coppola's third dream of a movie. Imagine making a historical epic about a frivolous young woman from her point of view. And without the violence! "How DARE she!?! Only men (of any age and temperament) deserve historical epics from their own points of view!" [/sarcasm] Coppola is three for three now, making her one of the most important cinematic voices of our time. Picture number four is on its way. Can't wait.

27 Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003) & Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004)
Some people think Tarantino's most purely cinematic double (DP Robert Richardson sure is gifted behind a camera, isn't he?) is disposable entertainment, all style no substance. But it might well be my favorite from his filmography, give or take Pulp Fiction. And though I found/find Vol. 2 a more traditionally talky Tarantino effort and therefore a slight letdown after the surprisingly visceral visual punch of Vol. 1... there's no beating its amazon vs. amazon showdown in a crowded trailer. "Bitch, you don't have a future."


26 Dogville dir. Lars von Trier (2003, released in 2004)
Lars von Trier's audacious parable was 178 gripping minutes of cinema... despite and also because it takes place on a bare stage. One of the most violent pictures I've ever seen. And there's not a drop of blood.

25 Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring dir. Kim Ki Duk (2003, released in 2004)
Simplicity and wonder... a peaceful profound tonic dropped in an ocean of violent pictures.

24 I ♥ Huckabees dir. David O. Russell (2004)
My favorite existential comedy of the decade. Unless you count Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. So... yes, maybe the rebirth of the musical isn't the story of the movie decade but the creation of the existential comedy? Or has that been around since The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. Or am I stretching the definition? 'The interconnection thing is definitely for real!'

23 The Wrestler dir. Darren Aronofsky (2008)
He made three pictures this decade and they're all on the list. Does that make him my favorite? It puts him up there at any rate. Even when people think he's down for the count (The Fountain) he gets back up for more. Rather like "Randy the Ram" albeit without the pathos. Aronofsky is only 40 years old. Many filmmakers start strong and fade. I hope he's just warming up.

22 Lost in Translation dir. Sofia Coppola (2003)
There is so much inside the movie worth loving: the pink panties, the karaoke, the rare star chemistry, the Cameron Diaz mimicry, the soulful ennui... but what I remember most vividly six years later, on that first encounter, was the afterglow. It was a cool evening and we'd missed the rain. Walking away from the theater, the streets were wet and reflective and I just kept looking around, absorbing the shimmering color and the skyscrapers. It wasn't Tokyo obviously but it felt rather like seeing New York again for the first time, like the movie had recharged my senses: Lance Acord was walking beside me as personal DP, Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray were whispering something profound in my ears.

21 No Country For Old Men dir. Coen Bros (2007)
The Coen Bros inexorable death march was thrillingly rendered and beautifully acted with Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin all at the peak of their powers. Bonus points for that audience confounding but pitch perfect black out ending. You really can't stop what's coming.



20 Volver dir. Pedro Almodóvar (2006)
I once started counting the kisses in this underappreciated wonder because I loved the loud smacking so much. I abandoned the kiss count after 15 minutes and 47 smooches but no matter. For no amount of P.D.A. can properly show my love for Raimunda (Penélope Cruz), her loud sister and their ghostly mother. I could kiss them thousands of times and you still wouldn't know how dear they are to me.

19 Before Sunset dir. Richard Linklater (2004)
"Baby, you're gonna miss that plane"

18 WALL•E dir. Andrew Stanton (2008)
Calling it the best animated film of the decade is a compliment of high order. There were abundant cartoon treasures all throughout the Aughts... including many that didn't make this list. Maybe that's the cinema story of the decade? I keep looking for one but there are hundreds of stories. I'll take them all. I don't understand people who always want their movies prepackaged in one or two genres. Give me ALL KINDS.


17 Y Tu Mamá También dir. Alfonso Cuarón (2001, released in 2002)
One of the greatest road trip movies. One of the greatest romantic triangles. One of the greatest sex comedies. One of the greatest coming of age dramas. One of the greatest. It's as magical as Boca del Cielo "Heaven's Mouth".

16 Entre Les Murs (The Class) dir. Laurent Cantet (2008)
The closest we come to a documentary on the list (I didn't include them for purity reasons -- all of these being regular feature films) since this film, reenacted/transferred/adapted (however you want to describe it) by many of its subjects from a book of the same name, feels so damn authentic. Hollywood loves to make films about teachers fighting to reach their students. I've never seen one this good before. It earns its hard won light by allowing for the shadows.

the finale: #15-01

#100-76 and #75-51 and
#50-31 Fav Films of the Aughts
50 best male perfs | 50 best female perfs
back to full blog

*

Rosengje @ Cannes: On Tetro

Thanks to Rosengje for sharing her notes from Cannes. Here she is on Francis Ford Coppola's Tetro.

Tetro is, for lack of more eloquent phrasing, just not a very good movie. It follows Bennie (Alden Ehrenreich in his feature debut) as he attempts to reconcile with his brother Angelo (Vincent Gallo). After a stint in an asylum, Angelo has disowned his family and now resides in Argentina under the name "Tetro" with his almost-wife Miranda (Maribel Verdú).


The two brothers both suffer from the pressure of their genius composer father's expectations and betrayals. While the Oedipal issues at play throughout Tetro are intermittently appealing, the film suffers from Coppola's need to excessively explain the motives and psychology. Each revelation is played for maximum dramatic effect. Not only are we treated to various characters discussing each tidbit of information, but there are also accompanying film clips and ballet sequences as reminders. The modest, sincere appeal of the story of loosely connected family members trying to navigate evolving relationships is lost in the director's weighty treatment of the material.

The majority of Tetro is beautifully photographed though there's an over-reliance on visual motifs such as reflections in mirrored surface and the flashing of lights. The decision to shoot predominantly in black and white is mostly successful, but I was drawn out of the world during the garish color sequences and bothered by the insertion of modern devices as counterpoints. This fairly standard family tale is not necessarily tied to a specific time period, so the occasional presence of MacBooks seemed unnecessarily jarring.

And here we get to the element that's winning everyone over even if they're cold on the film, a new star in Aldon Ehrenreich.

Tetro's most appealing quality is its star. Ehrenreich resembles a divine hybrid of Leonardo DiCaprio, Emile Hirsch, and Matt Damon.


Every member of my demographically varied group was swooning over him (as do many of the women in the film). If the story of his discovery by Steven Spielberg in a bat-mitzvah video is true, he just becomes even more appealing. The role of Bennie doesn't require excessive emoting until a dramatic twist toward the end, but Ehrenreich maintains a casually charming screen presence. He keeps the camera's attention even when the story doesn't.

Leo, Emile and Matt conjoined, huh? How can all that starry goodness fit into one man? But more importantly, when will Francis Ford Coppola get his auteurial mojo back? Both Tetro and his previous picture, Youth Without Youth have disappointed the hopeful.