The actual title of this four-month-old short is A Writer and Three Script Editors Walk Into A Bar. The subtitle: Why The Long Face?. Not bad, but very inside baseball. But maybe inside realms are a thing of the past. During an ’82 interview I told Jack Nicholson that I thought his Shining performance was so arch and super-eyebrowed that it felt like a kind of inside joke. He didn’t buy that because he felt I, a New York-based film writer, didn’t have the perspective to understand what was inside or outside about his work. “I’m inside,” Jack said, very slightly grinning and at the same time telling me not have any illusions about how cool I was or the value of my insights. Thud.
Day: December 14, 2016
Moonlight Salute, Jenkins Schmooze, Delicious Sliders, Etc.
Moonlight director-writer Barry Jenkins — riding high, winner of several awards thus far, toast of the town, likely Oscar nominee — hosted a luncheon today at Craig’s. We chatted about Donald Trump, and how the coming Trump nightmare may inspire a spate of rich films (i.e., the old Orson Welles/Third Man theory about ghastly social environments being good for art while relatively happy, humanistic, well-nurtured societies, like Switzerland’s, tend to inspire mediocrity). Barry knows all about movies, and could be a critic if so inclined. Moonlight producers Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner were there; ditto editors Nat Sanders and Joi McMillon. Incidentally: Craig’s was serving the juiciest, best-tasting sliders I’ve had in months if not years.
“Pay No Attention To That Russian Thug Behind The Curtain!”
Hat tip to HE commenter “Magga“, who posted this two-panelled Wizard of Oz fantasia sometime last night.
Scurvy Road Trash
I’m sorry but just about anyone can play a raging, drooling, bottom-of-the-gene-pool psycho. It only requires (a) a willingness to descend into the rage pit that many of us unfortunately have lurking inside, and (b) the abandonment of dignity and decorum. Bruce Dern and William Smith built their early careers out of this sort of thing. It’s just not impressive, and you’re going to convince me that Aaron Johnson is actually proud of his lowlife scumbag in Nocturnal Animals. Focus is actually trying to generate enthusiasm for this beast. Every acting-award campaign in history has not only been about seeking to elicit approval for acting technique but approval for the character. People didn’t just endorse Anthony Hopkins‘ performance in The Silence of the Lambs — they really enjoyed Hannibal Lecter. Due respect to the good people at Focus but my first reaction when I saw this ad this morning was “eccchhh!”
Sasha Is Worth Listening To About SAG Noms
The SAG nominations have taken on a more populist cast (i.e., less sophisticated picks, an element of dumbshit-ism) since the SAG-AFTRA merger of 2012. How else to explain The Girl on The Train‘s Emily Blunt being nominated for Best Actress while 20th Century Women‘s Annette Bening and Elle‘s Isabelle Huppert were blown off?
I don’t agree with Sasha Stone‘s suspicion that La La Land‘s failure to snag an ensemble nom means something as Damien Chazelle‘s film is a total two-hander, and I fully expect La La‘s Emma Stone to win the SAG award for Best Actress. Nonetheless, three Stone observations (posted this morning) are worth pondering:
(1) “Perception is still everything. Unfortunately, La La Land missing in ensemble, for whatever reason, is not a good thing. It just isn’t. Can it overcome? Well, sure. Movies have in the past. But that is a big, big, big, big stat. Which would mean, to my thinking, Best Picture is down to Moonlight, Manchester by the Sea and Fences.” Repeating: I don’t agree about any notions about La La Land being on the ropes, but Sasha may be right about perception being more important than the reality. At the very least last weekend’s Natalie Portman BFCA Best Actress win + this morning’s SAG noms suggest that the Emma Stone campaign has some work to do.
SAG Nom Surprises (i.e., Not Pre-Ordained by Blogaroos): Blunt in Girl On The Train, Mortensen in Captain Fantastic
SAG Awards nominations popped this morning while Hollywood Elsewhere was in the supine. Manchester By The Sea leads with four nominations — Best Ensemble, Best Actor (Casey Affleck), Best Supporting Actress (Michelle Williams), Best Supporting Actor (Lucas Hedges). Fences and Moonlight (which is throwing a luncheon today at Craig’s on Melrose) got three nommies each.
The snubbing of 20th Century Women‘s Annette Bening, Elle‘s Isabelle Huppert (SAG xenophobes couldn’t at least offer a nomination for the most awarded actress of 2016 thus far?) and Loving‘s Ruth Negga are obviously matters of concern. Negga’s campaign has been on the soft side all along — due respect but she may be finished as far as a Best Actress Oscar nomination is concerned. Ditto Taraji P. Henson for her too-broad, aimed-at-the-cheap-seats Hidden Figures turn — brilliant people don’t wear deer-in-the-headlights expressions as a rule.
What happened to HE’s hoped-for Best Supporting Actor nomination for Hidden Figures‘ Kevin Costner? As Variety notes, “Voters clearly liked Hidden Figures, awarding nods to Octavia Spencer and the ensemble, but it might just be a case of too many good actors to choose from.”
A respectful salute is offered to Captain Fantastic‘s Viggo Mortensen, but why was a nomination handed to besotted, bleary-looking, stumbling-around Emily Blunt in The Girl On The Train? (Plus the movie stinks.)
No offense but the best performance in Lion wasn’t given by Dev Patel but the little kid, Sunny Pawar.
Dunkirk: Physical Effects, Minimal CG, 65mm Format
Intriguing, effective trailer for Chris Nolan‘s Dunkirk (Warner Bros., 7.21.17). I’ve no clue if Winston Churchill appears in Nolan’s Dunkirk, but between this and Joe Wright‘s Darkest Hour, he’s going to be quite the historical fellow in ’17. (Gary Oldman plays the British statesman in Hour.) Wiki boilerplate: Filming took place in the same location as the real historical evacuation. Pic was shot on a combination of IMAX 65mm and 65mm film stock. Nolan reconditioned actual warships for the shoot, and reportedly spent $5 million on a vintage aircraft so as to attach it with IMAX cameras before crashing it on-screen. Avoiding the use of CGI, cardboard cut-out props of soldiers and military vehicles were employed to create the illusion of a large army.” Recorded: 700 private boats sailed from Ramsgate in England to Dunkirk in France between 5.26.40 and 6.4.40, helping to rescue more than 338,000 British and French trapped soldiers.