“Democrats became the party of ‘you can’t say that’…” Look where they are now.

…through the second half of Brady Corbet‘s The Brutalist, and I would be…well, not happy but accepting of a chance to attend a Manhattan screening of same at the earliest opportunity. (Or obtain a streaming link.) But if I can’t manage this I’ll have to wait until Corbet’s morose, torture-chamber flick opens commercially on Friday, 12.20, or nearly five weeks hence.

Has Walter Brennan been posthumously cancelled? Hollywood’s progressive vanguard needs to do so tout de suite. Perhaps install a special Brennan exhibit in the Academy museum called “Hollywood’s Shameful Shielding of a Rightwing Fanatic”? Seriously, Brennan’s social-political views made John Wayne look like Norman Thomas.

Here’s Rollyson’s website.

Two or three days ago Cameraimage festival director Marek Żydowicz made a huge political error by writing, boiled down, that enforcing DEI gender quotas (i.e., more women directors and dps) could lead to “mediocre film productions” in place of the proverbial good stuff.

Industry progressives have freaked out over this. Directors Steve McQueen (Blitz) and Coralie Fargeat (The Substance) have bailed on attending the forthcoming Polish festival as a protest against Zydowicz’s statement.

Zydowicz has offered an apology and an explanation, but let’s cut to the chase.

Politically ill-advised as Zydowicz’s 11.8.24 article obviously was, saying that DEI quotas allow for potential mediocrity in the ranks is not a lie or a misstatement. It’s true in theory, and anyone who states that artistic quality is more important or more valuable than equity and representation is not standing on shaky ground.

An excerpt from Zydowicz’s mea culpa:

Bad Day at Black Rock (‘55) is a good, strong John Sturges film except for one thing. Nobody in that tiny little desert backwater is doing Anne Francis.

It makes no sense that Francis would even BE there, as a woman this fetching would never settle for a grim existence in a dinky little ghost town like this. Life is short — you have to go for the gusto and the goodies.

But even if you accept that Francis’s “Liz Wirth” would be content to live in this dusty hell hole, human nature dictates that someone in that miserable hamlet would’ve stepped up to the plate and said to her, “I’m your man and we can make beautiful music together and have all kinds of nice plants on the patio.”

Someone always steps up and seals the deal in these situations. It happened in each and every cave settlement in prehistoric times, in every village in ancient Judea, in every clay-hut, grass-roof settlement in medieval Europe. Not that a knockout like Francis would’ve rubbed shoulders with everyday European villagers or Judeans or cave-dwellers.

If I was Spencer Tracy, I would’ve sized things up and sauntered over to Robert Ryan or Lee Marvin or Walter Brennan or Wirth’s brother Pete, who works at the hotel, and said, “Are you telling me that no one’s giving Anne the high, hard one, or at least trying to? Because that really goes against basic human nature.“

Anne Francis passed in 2011 at age 80.

I recognize that Wicked‘s appeal is primarily to under-40 women (right?), but what kind of box-office is it likely to earn? I’m sensing it’s going to connect big-time but what do I know?

@thedejonreid Replying to @shhhhhh Happy Halloween Eve ‍♀️ #wicked #movie #fyp #theatre #play #halloween #arianagrande #cynthiaerivo #viral #trending #xyzbca #popular #debate #film #wizardofoz #greenscreen #greenscreenvideo ♬ Love You So – The King Khan & BBQ Show

I just figured this out. For weeks THR‘s Scott Feinberg has been heavily in the tank for Tim Fehlbaum‘s praise-worthy and respectable September 5, but not just because of the Israel empathy factor, but also because of Feinberg’s physical resemblance to costar John Magaro, who was born in ‘83.

Feinberg and Magarao are about the same height. Similar eyes, same dark hair (though not the same length), same semi-stocky build. They don’t quite look like brothers, but they could be cousins.

For the last couple of months, THR hotshot columnist Scott Feinberg has been insisting that Tim Fehlbaum‘s September 5 (Paramount, 11.29) is the Best Picture contender to beat…a claim that has triggered quizzical responses here and there.

I’ve never thrown the least amount of shade at September 5 — it’s a reasonably sturdy, more-than-moderately-engaging TV journalism film — I just don’t share Scott’s conviction that it’s a Best Picture Oscar winner waiting to hqppen….it’s good but not holy-shit, cartwheels-in-the-lobby good.

Last night an industry friendo saw September 5 on the Paramount lot (thumbs up), and during the lavish post-screening reception he spoke to Fehlbaum, who directed and co-wrote the script with Moritz Binder and Alex David.

Friendo: “Fehlbaum said that Paramount only started to take the film seriously AFTER Scott Feinberg’s raves. He said ‘I would not be here were it not for the Hollywood Reporter declaring the film as their top contender’…the gist being that “once the Feinberg prediction came out it seemed that suddenly Paramount mounted a campaign.”

“Nonetheless there was a poor turnout of Academy members at the half-full screening and reception,” friendo goes on.  “A huge number of vacant seats for the film, which has to battle the Gaza of it all. And needs much more careful handling than Paramount has given it thus far.

“The friends I invited as my plus-one all said they’d never heard of the film. Paramount needs to quickly up their game.”

What filmmakers have declared that support from this or that Oscar-season handicapper was an important or crucial factor in their award-season strategies? It happens from time to time but not routinely.

I think some bought into the idea that my praise for Errol Morris‘s The Fog of War (‘03) made a slight positive difference. A decade ago I was told by a colleague of Russian producer Alexander Rodnyansky that he felt that my excitement over Andrey Zvyagintsev‘s Leviathan was influential within the industry. I know that after I did somersaults over Alfonso Cuaron‘s Children of Men (’06), I suddenly seemed to become one of Alfonso’s journo bruhs. I know that several weeks after I raved about Carey Mulligan‘s career-making performance in An Education after the film’s Sundance ’09 debut, she sent me a hand-written, snail-mail “thank you” note.

The new Gate Crashers poll has finally been tabulated and assembled, and the situation hasn’t really changed. Sean Baker‘s Anora continues to dominate the race in four Oscar categories — Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (the brilliant and volcanic Mikey Madison) and Best Original Screenplay. Edward Berger‘s Conclave is nipping at Baker’s heels, Best Picture-wise, and it’s pleasing to report that Ralph Fiennes is still leading the pack as a prospective Best Actor nominee; Berger’s film is also ahead in the Best Adapted Screenplay category. Dune Part Two is in the lead for Best Cinematography.

Roughly seven months after debuting in Cannes, Paul Schrader’s Oh, Canada (Kino Lorber, 12.6) will open theatrically in select urban locations…three weeks hence.

Richard Gere plays Leonard Fife, a dying, pissed-off documentary filmmaker who left the U.S. for a Canaadian exile during the Vietnam War. The film is about a no-holds-barred interview that Fife gives to a pair of filmmakers (Michael Imperioli, Victoria Hill)…an encounter that may or may not be ruthlessly honest, at least on Gere’s part.

Uma Thurman play Fife’s wife. Jacob Elordi, who’s way too tall and lanky to be playing a young Gere, plays a young Gere. They don’t even vaguely resemble each other.

Oh, Canada isn’t as good as First Reformed, but it’s definitely better than the last two (The Card Counter, Master Gardener), and it surprises a bit by reaching inward and letting go.

Fife submits to the interview in order to shake it all off and confess (or maybe imagine) as much as possible.

It’s basically a cut-the-crap, take-it-or-leave it, taking-stock-of-the-boomer-legacy film, and kind of an an old-school thing in a good way…very earnest and solemn, carefully and cleanly written, and it gets sadder as it goes along.

Gere’s white-haired, worn-down appearance and performance are riveting and a little startling, especially if you think back to his sexy-cat beauty and swagger in Schrader’s American Gigolo (’80).

Full respect and 90% satisfaction are felt from this corner. Pic hopscotches all over the place but always feel somber, reflective, sincere…a respectable clean-out-the-cobwebs, stop-lying-to-yourself movie for grown-ups.

Excellent supporting performances are given by Jacob Elordi, Uma Thurman and Michael Imperioli.

Start the press conference at the 20-minute mark…

Otto Kruger‘s story about a deposed tyrant who was cheered upon his return to Athens by average citizens. Ring a bell?

The enhanced, un-muddied, cleaned-up sound is terrific (love the bass tones!), the black-and-white footage looks like new. and the editing is obviously first-rate.

Posted on 10.14.24: