Month: February 2009

Is there any word on how the implosion of New Yorker Films will affect the U.S. release of Nuri Bilge Ceylan‘s Three Monkeys? Eugene Hernandez‘s Indiewire piece, posted four or five hours ago, doesn’t say if existing bookings will be honored or if someone other distributor will step in and take over. Here‘s my Cannes 2008 review.

Update: HE friend & correspondent Nick Dawson has been told that New Yorker “was handling the film as part of a service deal, so the release of the film won’t be affected by the shuttering of New Yorker Films. Apparently plans on a new release will be announced in the coming weeks.”

For most of his career John Cusack has focused on projects with a fair amount of integrity, so his agreeing to star in a self-produced lowbrow comedy called Hot Tub Time Machine certainly seems like a concession to the times. Straight paycheck, hold your nose, hunker down.

Michael Fleming‘s 2.23 Variety story says that Scott Heald‘s script is about a group of guys with the usual issues and complications in their lives returning to a ski lodge where they partied as teens, blah blah. They all find themselves in a hot tub — which happens to be a time machine — and get transported to 1987. Does this mean they get to meet up with their much-younger selves and…you know, offer advice about things they shouldn’t do when they get older?

A certain David Zucker protege was originally set to direct this, I’m told, but got dumped. Steve Pink will take the reins. (That name!) Cusack will costar with Rob Corddry and probably Craig Robinson and Clark Duke besides.

Production will reportedly start in Vancouver on 4.20. Cusack and New Crime partner Grace Loh will produce with Matt Moore.

Update: The original director attached to Hot Tub was Phil Dornfeld. He worked on at least one Scary Movie pic with Zucker as well as My Boss’ Daughter.

I’ve put some thought today into the Best Picture contenders as well as the apparent second-tier films, and almost no thought whatsoever into the other categories. I’ve mainly just copied and pasted and plopped them into the new 2009 Oscar Balloon. The refinement process begins now.

BEST PICTURE (21): Mandela/Playing The Enemy (Warner Bros.), d: Clint Eastwood; Biutiful (Universal), d: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu; Nine (Weinstein Co.), d: Rob Marshall; Amelia (Fox Searchlight), d: Mira Nair; Green Zone (Universal), d: Paul Greengrass; Public Enemies (Universal), d: Michael Mann; Taking Woodstock (Focus Features), d: Ang Lee; Shutter Island (Paramount), d: Martin Scorsese; Cheri (Miramax), d: Stephen Frears; The Informant (Warner Bros.), d: Steven Soderbergh; Away We Go (Focus Features), d: Sam Mendes; Up In The Air (Paramount), d: Jason Reitman; The Hurt Locker (Summit), d: Kathryn Bigelow; An Education (Sony Classics), d: Lone Scherfig; The Lovely Bones (Paramount), d: Peter Jackson; Agora (no U.S. distributor), d: Alejandro Amenabar; The Road (Weinstein Co.), d: John Hillcoat; Brothers (MGM), d: Jim Sheridan; A Serious Man (Focus Features), d: Joel and Ethan Coen; Bright Star (no US distributor), d: Jane Campion; Julie and Julia (Columbia), d: Nora Ephron; The Tree of Life (no US distributor),d: Terrence Malick.

OTHER FORMIDABLES (15): Avatar (20th Cemtury Fox), d: James Cameron; Whatever Works (Sony Classics), d: Woody Allen; Men Who Stare at Goats (no US distributor), d: Grant Heslov; Leaves of Grass (no US distributor), d: Tim Blake Nelson; The Boat That Rocked (Universal), d: Richard Curtis; Dallas Buyer’s Club (Universal), d: Craig Gillespie; Untitled Nancy Meyers (Universal), d: Nancy Meyers; Ondine (no US distributor), d: Neil Jordan; Shanghai (Weinstein Co.), d: Mikael Hafstrom; Forgiveness (no US distributor), d: Todd Solondz; The Last Station (no US distributor), d: Michael Hoffman; Love Ranch (no US distributor), d: Taylor Hackford; Coca avant Chanel (Warner Bros.), d: Anne Fontaine; Nailed (Capitol Films), d: David O. Russell; Inglourious Basterds (Weinstein Co.), d: Quentin Tarantino.

PLUS (11): Lars von Trier‘s Antichrist, Cristian Mungiu‘s Tales From the Golden Age, Gaspar Noe‘s Enter the Void, a new Michael Moore documentary about profligate Wall Street bankers, Fatih Akin‘s Soul Kitchen, Michael Haneke‘s The White Ribbon, Jim Jarmusch‘s The Limits of Control, Ken Loach‘s Looking For Eric, Terry Gilliam‘s The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus, Andrea Arnold‘s Fish Tank; Jean-Pierre Jeunet‘s Micmacs a tire-larigot.

BEST DIRECTOR: Clint Eastwood (Mandela/Playing The Enemy); Rob Marshall (Nine); Mira Nair (Amelia); Paul Greengrass (Green Zone); Michael Mann (Public Enemies); Ang Lee (Taking Woodstock); Martin Scorsese (Shutter Island); Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Biutiful); Sam Mendes (Away We Go); Jason Reitman (Up In The Air); Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life); Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker); Lone Scherfig (An Education); Peter Jackson (The Lovely Bones); Alejandro Amenabar (Agora); John Hillcoat (The Road); Jim Sheridan (Brothers); Joel and Ethan Coen (A Serious Man); Jane Campion (Bright Star), Nora Ephron (Julie and Julia).

BEST ACTOR: Morgan Freeman (Mandela/Playing The Enemy); Daniel Day-Lewis (Nine); Javier Bardem (Biutiful); Matt Damon (The Informant/Green Zone); Viggo Mortensen (The Road); Leonardo DiCaprio (Shutter Island); Johnny Depp (Public Enemies); George Clooney (Up In The Air, Men Who Stare at Goats); Sean Penn (The Tree of Life).

BEST ACTRESS: Michelle Pfeiffer (Cheri); Carey Mulligan (An Education); Hilary Swank (Amelia); Rachel Weisz (Agora); Penelope Cruz (Broken Embraces); Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones); Helen Mirren (The Tempest/Love Ranch); Gabourey Sidibe (Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire); Audrey Tatou (Coco Avant Chanel); Maya Rudolph (Away We Go); Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia).

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plumber (The Last Station); Matt Damon (Mandela/Playing The Enemy); Richard Kind (A Serious Man); Billy Crudup (Public Enemies); Mark Ruffalo (Shutter Island); Ewan McGregor (Amelia); Christian Bale (Public Enemies); Alfred Molina (An Education); Jamie Foxx (The Soloist); Kodi Scott-McPhee (The Road); Jonathan Groff (Taking Woodstock).

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Michelle Williams (Shutter Island); Sophia Loren (Nine); Imelda Staunton (Taking Woodstock); Mo’nique (Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire); Marion Cotillard (Nine/Public Enemies); Kathy Bates (Cheri); Judi Dench (Nine); Rachel Weisz (The Lovely Bones).

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Taking Woodstock (written by James Schamus, based on the book by Tom Monte); Nine (written by Michael Tolkin, Anthony Minghella; based on the novel by Arthur L. Kopit); Cheri (written by Christopher Hampton, based on the novel by Collette); Shutter Island (written by Brian Helgeland; based on the novel by Dennis Lehane); Mandela/Playing The Enemy (written by Anthony Peckham, based on the book “Playing the Enemy” by John Carlin; The Lovely Bones (written by Phillipa Boyens, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh — based on the novel by Alice Sebold); Public Enemies (written by Ronan Bennett, Ann Biderman, Michael Mann — based on the book “Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34 ” by Bryan Burrough); Amelia (written by Ronald Bass); Up in the Air (written by Jason Reitman; based on the novel by Walter Kirn);The Informant (written by Scott Z. Burns, based on the novel by Kurt Eichenwald).

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY : Up (written by Bob Peterson); An Education (written by Nick Hornby); A Serious Man (written by Joel and than Coen); Broken Embraces (written by Pedro Almodovar); Away We Go (written by Dave Eggars, Vendela Vida ; Biutiful (written by Amando Bo, Nicolas Giacobone, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu); Whatever Works (written by Woody Allen); The Hurt Locker (written by Mark Boal); The Limits of Control (written by Jim Jarmusch)

Jean-Marc Vallee‘s The Young Victoria, a period drama aimed at women who went to see The Other Boleyn Girl and Elizabeth: The Golden Age, may turn out to be more than it seems. But since it focuses on a romance between the young Queen Victoria (Emily Blunt) and a really fetching Prince Albert (Rupert Friend)…well, draw your conclusions. Opens a week from Friday (3.6) in England; undetermined release in the U.S. Costarring Miranda Richardson, Mark Strong, Paul Bettany.

Obviously a kind of Animal House by way of a true saga of British radio pirates in the mid ’60s, operating off a ship in the North Sea. The director-writer is Love Actually ‘s Richard Curtis, which, if you’ve seen Love Actually, could be a cause for slight concern among some of you. Opening in England only about six weeks from now, and then throughout Europe in April and May. Universal’s domestic release date is apparently up in the air.

The cast includes Bill Nighy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Gemma Arterton, Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh, January Jones, Nick Frost and Rhys Ifans. Key marketing line: “These are the best years of our lives.”

Like I said early this morning I’ve been piddling around with a brand-new Oscar Ballon 2009 chart and whammo, In Contention‘s Kris Tapley just posted a whole big ’09 projection package. I guess I have to throw mine together today as well. I was hoping to chill down today.

Why doesn’t the L.A. Times Buzzmeter poll ask for predictions in all categories so everyone can see how well the experts did at the end of the day? Why hasn’t MCN’s David Poland published the right-wrong calls of all final Gurus of Gold poll so we can all see at a glance who was better at reading the race than the others?

For what it’s worth, I got five wrong last night, including an abstention. And I fully admit I’m not too good at predicting because I can’t divorce myself from my personal preferences, no matter what the tea leaves say. Anyway, here’s the proof. Missing five isn’t too bad. If you missed eight or nine I think it’s fair to call your industry pulse-reading abilities into question. If you got ten or more wrong, you need to take a long walk and then stop by a local tavern.

The Gurus of Gold winners with the fewest wrong calls were The Envelope‘s Pete Hammond and Entertainment Weekly‘s Dave Karger, with four wrongos each.

Former L.A. Daily News critic Glenn Whipp , In Contention‘s Kris Tapley and USA Today‘s Suzie Woz got five wrong. Several Gurus got six and seven wrong. Awards Daily‘s Sasha Stone and USA Today‘s Scott Bowles both missed eight. And the bottom three with nine wrong apiece were Poland, Toronto Star critic Pete Howell and N.Y. Post critic Lou Lumenick.

The Buzzmeter only ran full results from all 24 categories from Tom O’Neil, Hammond and Scott Feinberg. O’Neil missed three (the best score of anyone), Hammond missed four and Feinberg got six wrong, for a total of 18.

“What’s not to like about James Franco and Seth Rogen‘s Beavis and Butthead routine, slobbed on the couch in front of this year’s contenders? Their giggling and guffawing at The Reader is somehow more damning (and more exposing of the film’s overweening pomposity) than a thousand bad reviews.” — the Guardian‘s Xan Brooks during an Oscar-show live blog.

Tina Fey: “It has been said that to write is to live forever.”

Steve Martin: “The man who said that is dead.”

Fey: “Yet, we all know the importance of writing, because every great movie begins with a great screenplay.”

Martin: “Or, a very good idea for the poster. But usually, with a screenplay.”

Fey: “And every writer starts with a blank page.”

Martin: “And every blank page was once a tree.”

Fey: “And every tree was once a tiny seed.”

Martin: “And every tiny seed on Earth was placed here by the alien king Rondelay, to foster our titrates and fuel our positive transfers!”

I’ve just posted last night’s winners in the Oscar Balloon, but Oscar Ballon 2009 will be up and rolling sometime this weekend, certainly by Sunday night. I’ve already started this discussion but right now I’m looking for imaginative but not-too-loopy spitball nominations in nine major categories — Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor and Actress, Original and Adapted Screenplay and Cinematography.

In no particular order: Clint Eastwood‘s rugby-themed Mandela (or Playing The Enemy); Michael Mann’s Public Enemies, Terrence Malick‘s Tree of Life, Paul Greengrass‘s The Green Zone, Pedro Almodovar‘s Broken Embraces, Lone Scherfig‘s An Education (with a promising Best Actress nomination for Carey Mulligan), Peter Jackson‘s The Lovely Bones, and Rob Marshall‘s Nine.

Plus Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu‘s Biutiful, John Hillcoat‘s The Road, Mikael Hafstrom‘s Shanghai, Stephen Frears‘ Cher, Ang Lee‘s Taking Woodstock, Steven Soderbergh‘s The Informant and Nora Ephron‘s Julie and Julia.

Plus The Last Station with Helen Mirren, James McAvoy, Paul Giamatti ; Young Victoria with Emily Blunt, Miranda Richardson and James Broadbent; 1939 with Maggie Smith ; Bright Star with Abbie Cornish; John Madden‘s The Debt. And what else?

Hollywood & Fine’s Marshall Fine has five snippy pisshead complaints about last night’s Oscar show. “With the exception of Steve Martin and Tina Fey (who, I would imagine, wrote their own dialogue), the banter between presenters was incredibly thin,” he writes. I’m afraid that’s true, guys. “Jack Black and Jennifer Aniston gave me chills of embarrassment. While Hugh Jackman‘s opening number was clever and energetic, nothing he said afterward was worth repeating or remembering.”

Jeffrey Wells to Judd Apatow (privately and publicly): Your Pineapple-themed tube-watching short was far and away the best thing on last night’s show. By far the funniest, warmest, coolest and most sophisticated. Loved it, man. Seth Rogen and James Franco are kings of the realm. The world belongs to those two, or certainly belonged to them last night. It would be one of the most perfect moves of all time if they were to co-host next year’s show…seriously.

The sound on the above YouTube clip is out of synch. Is it just me?