CANNES 09: "Antichrist" Gets a Stoning

Yet, despite all of the extreme responses this film has received since its screening in France, I still really want to see it, and may even want to see it more now. Good or bad, it looks damn interesting. (Ebert said it may, in fact, be unendurable, but it's not a boring movie, and that's plenty good to me.) And even if director Lars von Trier is the most self-righteous man on the planet, he makes some courageous films that look astounding, here aided by longtime collaborator Anthony Dod Mantle, who just won the cinematography Oscar for "Slumdog Millionaire." (Trier's a little like Kanye West in this regard: makes some irresistible stuff, but I abhor the man himself.) I enjoyed what he said at the conference that followed a few days after the screening where he was heckled to justify his work. (Anne Thompson has more from the conference.) He said something to the effect of "You are all my guests...I don't have to justify myself..." or this little picture of his, which he called "a dream" and has on several occasions also called his form of therapy after a bout of depression, and this little picture is a piece of his mind and soul. He is not our guest, so he doesn't have to humor us.

While not every reaction has been pure hatred and disgust, I think the Spartan yelling match is going to deem the dissenters the winner for the time being. Its chances at wide domestic release and/or success are in jeopardy. But I think they'll come around. Eventually. I think.

Do bad reviews excite you?


IMAGE from: Slashfilm

Time for a Bale-out

...and I don't mean the kind Bale's already had. That'd be more like a meltdown (and "fucking distracting"). I'm also not talking about a stimulus package or Congressional assistance out of bankruptcy, though perhaps the timing would be good for either of those. No, I'm simply referring to the fact that, in the span of a week, two trailers have debuted that feature Christian Bale rather prominently. And they come packaged with some new posters, too. He's here to save our flailing economy, he is. Color me excited, I relish any opportunity to see new work by him (my favorite actor, after all).

The first to appear online is the fourth installment in the Terminator saga, titled "Terminator: Salvation" with McG ("Charlie's Angels") at the helm (instead of creator James Cameron) and with Bale in the now-adult shoes of the John Connor character which was first played by Edward Furlong in "T2: Judgment Day" and then by Nick Stahl in "T3: Rise of the Machines." Yahoo! Movies has the trailer, which was a huge hit at WonderCon, and this one lays out a bit more than the first trailer did - with some more glimpses into the resistance with shots of Common looking fierce with a rifle as John's right-hand man Barnes, Anton Yelchin as the youthful Kyle Reese (John Connor's father) who was the main character in the first "Terminator," and Bryce Dallas Howard as Kate Connor which was vacated by Claire Danes after her stint in the third movie. It also accentuates the dilemma John Connor faces with Sam Worthington's Marcus Wright, who they discover possesses robotic parts and could be a terminator in Skynet's efforts to produce human-like droids which ultimately produced the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger throughout the original trilogy as well as Robert Patrick in "T2" and Kristanna Loken in "T3." McG kept hinting at the likelihood of Ah-nuld and Linda Hamilton (John Connor's mother, Sarah) making cameo appearances, and I'm holding out hope that it's true. The movie looks intense and very reverent of the mythology created by James Cameron, but if they can get some of the original faces in there (even in voice-form) then that'd be even better. It debuts May 21.

Anne Thompson thinks this one has far better chances at winning audiences than "Watchmen," which is similar to "T4: Salvation" in the way that both are contemporary translations of established lore and imagery, which has been seeing some rather nasty reviews come pouring in, with some rather ecstatic ones sprinkled in as well. (Here's Anthony Lane's acidic yet entertaining pan and Roger Ebert's high praise.) Thus: "As much as my instincts tell me that Watchmen will be a cult hit but a box office disappointment for Warner Bros, this Terminator Salvation trailer tells me that this action sequel is just what the doctor ordered."

Number two is Michael Mann's "Public Enemies" which stars both Johnny Depp and Bale with a rather impressive supporting cast which consists of Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard ("La Vie en Rose" and the upcoming "Nine"), Billy Crudup, Giovanni Ribisi, and Channing Tatum. Crudup has been pulling in some great early word with more than a few mentioning Oscar. We'll see how that pans out.

The premise of the film is the real-life story of gangster John Dillinger (Depp) in an episode of his life where, due to his multi-state crime spree during the 1930s which would've made Bonnie and Clyde go into retirement sooner, the US government had no other option but to create the FBI - whose top agent, Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) - was the one assigned to finally track down Dillinger and bring him to justice. Sounds rather basic for a gangster flick (by now), but there are some peculiar twists involved, the state of Indiana providing one of them (to some humor as delivered by Depp, no less) and Marion Cotillard another. Like "Bonnie & Clyde," this seems to have some sardonic humor sewn in (also channels its imagery and cinematography if the poster and trailer are any indication). I fully expect some more flourishes and knots in the narrative, as this is a Michael Mann film after all. The man's built his career studying bad people getting into worse situations at the hands of the law, and career killers and manipulators coming up against hard times because of a lack of restraint (usually at the foot of a beautiful woman or the prospect of a load of money). (Notable Mann flicks - err, man-flicks - are "Heat," "The Insider," "Ali," and "Collateral.") His characters are modern-day Greek figures at the mercy of the inevitable self-inflicted catharsis - only this time it's based on real cops and robbers. You can find the trailer at Apple Trailers (Quicktime) or at JoBlo (flash). Expect it in the late summer, my guesses.

As much a fan as I am of Christian Bale's, I'm not as thoroughly excited about either of these as I have been with his past works, notably his collaborations with Chris Nolan but especially "The Prestige," as well as "The Machinist," and "3:10 to Yuma." While "Public Enemies" does have potential to be a roiling, devilish crime drama with some great dialogue and opportunities galore for Bale to do what he does best - shout and brood (reaffirmed by his meltdown) - it's the action that's the centerpiece here. Hard to fit that in with some "American Psycho"-style monologues and outbursts, which is a shame since that performance was easily the best of 1999 for me and I think he's far overdue for another character of that level in playfulness, bravado and subversion.

Which one are you more excited to see?


IMAGE from: Buzz Focus
IMAGE from: Cinematical

Who Watches the Watchmen?

We'll soon find out who'll be watching, though right now guesses are pretty easy to make. This is a two-quadrant flick, if that, but that appeal for young males 18-35 is huge and should be more than sufficient to make this another cultural phenomenon like Zack Snyder's previous film, "300." (Quadrants are broken up into four groups: the young and old males, and the young and old females, with 35 as the line of demarcation.) The graphic novel, though it's been around for a few decades and was even on the TIME 100 Greatest English-Language Novels of the Past Century as the sole representative of comicdom, has never been fully visible to women who might be turned off by the intensely explored themes innate to superheroes in comics and by all of the explicit sex and violence brimming out of the corners of this very long read, almost all of which has been translated for the screen, including the length. I can imagine a few women who'll enjoy this movie, though, and a lot of them were likely found in midnight showing lines to "The Dark Knight." Still, I don't see this becoming a homerun like TDK, which sported many reasons for women to hop onto the bandwagon. Anne Thompson was confounded by the flick, but she also confesses to having had only a fleeting acquaintance with the source material, which probably isn't true for any male in the target age group.

Her words: "The gorgeous R-rated movie is ultra-violent. I can take neck-crunching body-bashing blood-spattering action, but this was even tough for me to sit through. For the most part, women will not go for Watchmen."

Ultimately, I see this film becoming practically impervious to any bad review that might come its way, as "300" already showed a movie could be capable of (though it was hardly mixed, most critics seemed to enjoy the look and choreography). Might go on to score some technical nominations next year at the Oscars, even, with those really spiffy costumes and sets and very appropriate cinematography. Acting, maybe not, and I don't think many would fret if this gets passed over in the Directing category like I know a few did over Chris Nolan's snub. I think the big victory in the end will have to be whether or not guys can get their dates or their girlfriends to make the jump and see this. Or would you guys prefer to only see this with your buds two seats over, no women?

Early birds get the word: Kirk Honeycutt at The Hollywood Reporter; Justin Chang at Variety; Ian Nathan at Empire Magazine.


IMAGE from: Screenrant

State of the Race, Feb '09 Edition

Welcome!

This is the first post here at Cine-O-Rama, where I aim to discuss not just the movies in all their stages of development, but especially those films which are considered in contention at the biggest awards ceremony in the business: the Oscars. We'll traverse the landscape of the festival circuits, the critic circles and the box office to assess each of the films, their importance and their innovations; and recall films from the past which have stood the test of time.


Ripped straight from my personal blog, with some added flourishes:

Taking a cue from Kris Tapley at In Contention, I'm very quickly going to run through who I believe are the current major forces in the upcoming Oscar race in '10. Quite a long ways to go before that point, but then isn't it the best feeling when you can say you called it ten months in advance? Besides, I've always found it interesting to see how films evolve over time and sustain changes in their consumption, and maybe we'll be able to see some surprises unfold right before our eyes as the year passes.

No pictures are standing out so deeply quite yet, which makes the whole ordeal even more sensitive and interesting since they're all on relatively equal footing, but I have my money on "Amelia" as a definite Actress contender for Hillary Swank - would be her third nom, with a win being three for three - which could play out either like "Boys Don't Cry" (only nommed for Actress) or "Million Dollar Baby" (which went all the way to Best Picture). If it hits its mark, she'll likely be up against her former director in the Best Picture category, Clint Eastwood from "Million Dollar", who will complete his Untitled Nelson Mandela project with Morgan Freeman later this year, who will likely go all the way to the Actor category. Eastwood is a darling with Oscar (though 2008 wasn't his year, apparently, since both "Changeling" and "Gran Torino" managed to get neglected except for Angelina Jolie's nom for the former) and this project has some deep history in it. I'm sure the old farts in the Academy will recall the global awareness of apartheid and Mandela's struggle against it in a way that they couldn't remember the Wineville Chicken Murders that were at the center of "Changeling."

Of course, with Eastwood back in top form with an ambitious and heavy project that'll really let him stretch his legs out, he's got to have the competition, and I think this may play out similarly to the year "The Departed" won, with Martin Scorsese this year giving us "Shutter Island," which sounds like a swashbuckler but is in fact a CIA flick with his old pal and very frequent collab Leonardo Dicaprio in the starring role. Got a taste of the FBI with "Departed" and decided to go one step further, I suppose. The premise sounds a bit too actiony and espionagy (are they words? on the internet, they are) not meditative or dramatic enough, but we'll see. In a game of Kevin Bacon's six degrees of separation, I think Paul Haggis, who was Eastwood's scripter for "Million Dollar Baby," may see his rival from a couple years ago rise again, with Ang Lee's next follow-up to "Brokeback Mountain" after "Lust, Caution" ("Brokeback" should've won Picture, I keep telling people) being "Taking Woodstock." A period flick about the undying and seminal concert, it might be appealing in a way that "Milk" and "Frost/Nixon" were last year if only because they hearken back to a very strangely American past and unearth some of the nuances of the times that we all have forgotten about. The Academy might be itching to give some love to Ang Lee in the Picture category after they relegated him to just Best Director the year "Crash" crashed the party and stole Picture. Yes, I'm bitter.

As a fan of "Chicago," I'd personally love to see Rob Marshall get back to the big stage with "Nine", which is an adaptation of the stage adaptation of Federico Fellini's "8 1/2," a marvelous black and white film. Marshall failed to make it there with "Memoirs of a Geisha" (which wasn't a bad film, just messy and politically incorrect with the casting), so he's probably focused on Big O with this one. Got an incredible cast, too, with recent winner Daniel Day-Lewis, and a good sliver of the actresses that were at the Oscars this year as the addressees to the noms - Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren, Marion Cotillard, not to mention other winners and noms Judi Dench, Kate Hudson and Penelope Cruz (who finally got her dues last weekend). Lots of gorgeous women, Day-Lewis is a lucky bastard. I could easily see this be a huge hit with the supporting categories, but perhaps Day-Lewis will earn for himself yet another nomination and solidify his position near the top of the acting food chain.

But the real one to beat, I think, will be Peter Jackson's new film, the adaptation of "The Lovely Bones." Early word is already brewing, and the coffee that's being stirred smells good and bold. They at the studio and on the ground resist using the "O" word, of course, but media monkeys are throwing it around for them, including even my old professor Anne Thompson at Variety. Snippets, set pictures, all that have been decidedly infrequent and there's a lot of hush hushing from the actors in the film, so you know they know they've got something golden in their hands that they have to guard it from our prying eyes and hungry hands. Could be Jackson's grand return to family drama, and the natural progression from his previous "Heavenly Creatures", which is one of his absolute best works. He's new Hollywood royalty, new money to Eastwood's very very old money, and could very easily have the movie-to-beat for the entirety of the year.

Of course there are other films to watch, but as it stands, these are the ones I'd bet my money on. Though if you were a betting man (I'm not), you'd probably figure that now wouldn't be the time to bet, as the campaign has but barely started. Wait for some studio honchos to get big-headed or enter a momentary state of weakness and declare an early victory before putting up your dukes.


Others to watch for in all categories: Michael Mann's "Public Enemies," with Johnny Depp and Christian Bale; Kevin MacDonald's "State of Play"; Jason Reitman (of "Juno") directing "Up in the Air" with George Clooney and Vera Farmiga; Steven Soderbergh's "The Informant"; Julie Taymor's (of "Across the Universe") "The Tempest" with a sex-reversal and Helen Mirren now in the lead role; Michelle Pfeiffer's period vehicle "Cheri" (does that sound odd to you?); the Alejando Gonzales Inarritu ("Babel") film "Biutiful" with Javier Bardem; Paul Greengrass of "United 93" with "Green Zone" and Matt Damon; James Cameron's long time-coming alien flick "Avatar"; and the Sundance hit "An Education" which may pull itself up to the ranks in some of the acting categories.

Keep those eyes... open (spoken like Patrick Bateman).



IMAGE taken from The NY Post