"Atonement"'s burden has been lifted
"Another theory I've been working on is the 'murder your darlings' [one] that says that the film everyone thinks is the frontrunner, or the film a publicist or studio tries to position as the frontrunner, is the one that is doomed to lose the big prize," Awards Daily's Sasha Stone wrote earlier today.
Wildebeest herd in Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya
"Murder your darlings -- if you want a movie to win best pic, don't position it as the frontrunner going into Oscar season unless it's Schindler's List, Titanic or Return of the King."
In other words, Atonement -- seen in some quarters as a kind of front-runner (i.e., not precisely "the" front-runner but a close approximation) from the end of the Toronto Film Festival until late October -- is either slipping or slipped. Which is fine because now it doesn't have to shoulder any kind of pseudo-front-runner status. Now it can kick back and gallop along with the rest of the panting wildebeests making their way across the plains of Kenya. But watch out for those lions!
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on November 6, 2007 at 8:37 PM
comment #1
John Y
says ...
Where can you see lions?
Only in Kenya!
Come to Kenya, we got lions.
Link: http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/kenya/
Sorry, I couldn't resist.
Posted by John Y
at November 6, 2007 10:04 PM
comment #2
Dan Revill
says ...
Did anyone really proclaim that Atonement was the front-runner? Most seem to agree that it's a likely best picture nominee though. I wouldn't be at all disappointed if it did win though...although there is still plenty of film to be seen before the end of the year for me...so I may hitch my Oscar hopes to something else before the year is up.
Speaking of Oscar hopes, saw The Assassination of Jesse James tonight. Beautiful film. It's a shame that not more people are seeing it. Both Pitt and Affleck delivered the goods. Awesome cinematography and a haunting score. Definitely should also be in the running for major awards, but probably won't get the love it deserves. Anywho...
Posted by Dan Revill
at November 7, 2007 1:22 AM
comment #3
the king
says ...
If there is a front-runner, it is "Atonement."
Have too many to see still, but hoping for "Into the Wild."
Posted by the king
at November 7, 2007 5:51 AM
comment #4
Dave
says ...
As an East Coaster, I'd like to remind Jeff and other denizens of the L.A./NYC/film festival circuit of the oft-forgotten truth:
The Oscar "race" always involves a bunch of movies 99.999% of the population HASN'T seen, or even COULD see.
I hear Atonement is fantastic. Ain't playin' in Washington yet. I hear There Will Be Blood is fantastic-- but ditto.
It's always fun to read Variety, the other trades, and the likes of Jeff talk about Oscar posturing in freakin' *November*. Seriously, I believe more people have input into papal elections than the annual Oscar comedy.
Anyway, keep figuring out which angels dance on the head of the pin. I'll be over here, waiting for all these movies to open. . . *next* year.
Posted by Dave
at November 7, 2007 6:23 AM
comment #5
Rich S.
says ...
As the evolution of the internet and the "new media" proceeds, I find that one of the most pernicious side effects is the "pre-digestion" of everything. From movies to sports, commentary designed to inform us as to how we should feel about something in the future is becoming more important than the event itself. I suppose that's always been the case, but in the past pundits were relatively limited in scope. Now, with the internet, it's become all-pervasive.
I realize that things like film festivals are necessary to create "buzz" for new films, but in the 24-hour news cycle, the lead time is now too great. A film is released at a festival and then analyzed to death by the select few who are privileged to see it, to the extent that it's pretty much "over" by the time it reaches wide release.
As I've commented many times on this site in the past, I'm more-or-less completely over the Oscars, which I consider to be little more than pinning a blue ribbon on the prize hog at the county fair. But they continue to hold a certain fascination for a large part of the movie-going public. Consequently, they provide a kind of dangerous shorthand for the pre-digestion phenomenon described above. This apparently leads to the murder of the darlings that Jeff is talking about.
Posted by Rich S.
at November 7, 2007 6:35 AM
comment #6
BNick
says ...
Waiting until the last minute to release an uber-hyped awards caliber film has proven to be a hit or miss strategy.
The question is, what deflates a film's award chances. Is it overhyping, waiting until the last minute and releasing it to respectful but not over-the-moon reviews (Munich)? Or is it releasing it a bit earlier in the fall and risking the possibility that the film loses some luster (Brokeback, I guess)? The third approach is to release it over the summer and hoping it has very strong staying power and/or that other films falter (LMS, Crash).
It seems that Charlie Wilson's War and Sweeney Tood are risking the first scenario, while No Country and American Gangster are risking the second. Atonement is somewhere in between because only a few people have seen it, the buzz is good, but it isn't being released until December.
Posted by BNick
at November 7, 2007 7:54 AM