For the first time I have an idea of what Ridley Scott‘s The Counselor (20th Century Fox, 10.25) will actually sound and feel like, dialogue- and behavior-wise. The previous trailers have been all moody whirlysmash cut-cut-cut impressionism. Brad Pitt‘s line about how drug dealers “don’t believe in coincidence” was, of course, first spoken by John Vernon in Don Siegel‘s Charley Varrick. What is this, the sixth or seventh trailer we’ve seen for this film?
I think we all understand that Ridley Scott‘s The Counselor (20th Century Fox, 10.25) is a revisiting of Cormac McCarthy‘s cutthroat drug-trade realm a la No Country for Old Men minus the sardonic refinements of the Coen Bros. and the rueful lamentations of Llewelyn Moss. Slicker, more uptown, present-day, cheetah on a leash, babes in towels and bikinis, uglier.
If I was planning on attending the 2013 Venice Film Festival (8.28 to 9.7) I would be especially keen on catching the absolute, first-time-anywhere world premieres of….well, Alfonso Cuaron‘s Gravity, of course, but also Errol Morris‘s Donald Rumsfeld doc The Unknown Known — how can this not be a fascinating drill-down? Absolute determinism and resolution in the face of contradicting facts, etc.
“On a side note (and this might be just a coincidence), but in the trailer for Ridley Scott‘s The Counselor (20th Century Fox, 10.25), the wire stretched across the highway to behead some poor sap…I remember reading that eons ago as a means of disposal in Truman Capote‘s Handcarved Coffins, in which the serial killer did the same thing. I wonder if Cormac McCarthy read that? Probably, I’m guessing.” — from an email friend, received yesterday.
I felt so badly burned by Prometheus that I began to wonder if Ridley Scott might be at the beginning of a downturn cycle in the same way that Alfred Hitchcock started to go downhill after The Birds. (There are some who today actually stand by the comically stilted Marnie, which opened 13 months after The Birds.) Writing off Scott sounds impulsive and ill-considered given his sterling track record, I realize, but I know for sure that I don’t trust him any more. He was great when he was great, but then he made Prometheus and the dye colored the water and Scott was suddenly Peter Hyams.
Some months ago producer and former 20th Century Fox honcho Peter Chernin spoke to producer Lynda Obst for her book, Sleepless in Hollywood: Tales of The New Abnormal in the Movie Business, and here’s how he described things: “[The] studios are frozen…terrified, not necessarily inappropriately, to do anything because they don’t know what the numbers look like.”
What they don’t know, more specifically, is “how to run a P & L” — a profit-and-loss statement for their board members — “because [they] don’t know what the DVD number is.’ The DVD number used to be half of the entire P & L!” Wait…today’s home video “numbers” are mainly about VOD and streaming before DVD/Bluray, right? Bluray is niche and DVD is strictly bargain-basement. I realize that the collapse of the DVD market four or five years ago cut heavily into profits and that VOD and streaming sales are delivering…what, a third of what the DVD market was at its height? But studio guys can’t at least project what VOD and streaming revenues will be?
I’ve run variations of this most eagerly waited films of 2013 list a couple of times since December. The count is now at 58, although I’ve deleted some titles and added four or five. But things evolve and clarify as time moves along so it can’t hurt to go over it once more. As usual, please point out any mistakes or anything I’ve missed.
(l. to r.) Bruce Dern, Will Forte, Alexander Payne during filming of Nebraska.
I understand that it’s my lot in life to mostly suffer through the winter and spring, nibbing whatever morsels I can find, and then succumb to numbing fatigue and occasional nausea during the May-July blockbuster season and then, finally — finally! — get a little satisfaction come early September and some serious nutritional soul food in late October, November and December.
It’ll never happen, but I wish the quality stuff could be spread out a bit more. A very small portion of these films will open in the spring and summer and two or three might not come out until 2014 (especially those directed by Terrence Wackadoodle), but if the vast majority are in fact going to open in 2013, the accepted industry practice of only releasing the goodies only between Labor Day and Christmas means that something close to 45 or 50 will have to open within a four-month window, or roughly 12 per month or three per week.
That’s a lot to absorb and process, and that’s not even counting the crap popcorn stuff. So we’ll all be looking at a very full fall-holiday season, and the game will begin six and half months from now. Get some rest.
(1) John Wells‘ August: Osage County.
(2) Alexander Payne‘s Nebraska.
(3) Alfonso Cuaron‘s Gravity;
(4) George Clooney‘s Monuments Men (a.k.a., cousin of The Train).
(5) Paul Greengrass‘s Captain Phillips.
(6) Martin Scorsese‘s Wolf of Wall Street.
(7) Jason Reitman‘s Labor Day.
(8) Joel and Ethan Coen‘s Inside Llewyn Davis.
(9) Bennett Miller‘s Foxcatcher.
(10) John Lee Hancock‘s Saving Mr. Banks.
(11) Ridley Scott‘s The Counselor.
(12) Spike Lee‘s Oldboy.
(13) Luc Besson‘sMalavita.
(14) Steve McQueen‘s 12 Years A Slave.
(15) Baz Luhrman‘s The Great Gatsby (which might have issues).
(16) Spike Jonze‘s Her.
(17) Anton Corbijn‘s A Most Wanted Man, based on a John le Carre novel and costarring Willem Dafoe, Rachel McAdams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright.
(18 & 19): Terrence Malick‘s two ventures — the Austin-based film formerly known as Lawless (who knows what it’s called now?) plus the relationship vehicle Knight of Cups with Christian Bale and Natalie Portman. It could be that neither will be released until 2014 or 2015. You know Malick. (2)
(20) Wes Anderson‘s The Grand Budapest Hotel. Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Tilda Swinton and Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, F. Murray Abraham, Jude Law, Adrien Brody, Edward Norton, Harvey Keitel, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Mathieu Amalric, Owen Wilson.
(l. to r.) Meryl Streep, Ewan McGregor, Julia Roberts during filming of August: Osage County.
(21) James Gray‘s Nightingale, a New York-based period drama w/ Jeremy Renner, Marion Cotillard and Joaquin Phoenix.
(22) Guillame Canet‘s Blood Ties, a 1970s cops-and-criminals drama w/ Marion Cotillard, Clive Owen, Billy Crudup, Mila Kunis, Zoe Saldana, James Caan, Noah Emmerich.
(23) David O. Russell‘s Abscam movie (once known as American Bullshit — starts shooting in March so might not be ready this year…who knows?
(24) Noah Baumbach‘s Frances Ha (seen & praised at Telluride 2012 — definitely worth its weight).
(25) Richard Linklater‘s Before Midnight (a major Sundance 2013 highlight and an all-but-guaranteed Oscar contender for Best Original Screenplay).
(26) Stephen Frears‘ Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight.
(27) Sofia Coppola‘s The Bling Ring.
(28) Lars von Trier‘s Nymphomaniac.
(29) Wong Kar Wai‘s The Grandmaster — I don’t want to know from this film as all Asian combat/martial-arts films will be instantly ignored in this corner from now until the day I die. I will not go there under penalty of death, fines and imprisonment.
(30) Pedro Almodovar‘s I’m So Excited (all things Pedro!),
(31) Joe Swanberg‘s Drinking Buddies (Anna Kendrick, Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson).
(32) Jean-Pierre Jeunet‘s The Young and Prodigious Spivet (Judy Davis, Helena Bonham Carter, etc.).
(33) Peter Landesman‘s Parkland.
(34) Diablo Cody‘s untitled film (which was called Lamb of God when I read the script last year).
(35) Brian Helgeland‘s 42 (Jackie Robinson biopic w/ Chadwick Boseman and Harrison Ford).
(36) Oliver Hirschbiegel‘s Diana (Princess of Wales biopic/love affair with Naomi Watts).
(37) Asghar Farhadi‘s The Past.
(38) John Michael McDonagh‘s Calvary.
(39) Paolo Sorrentino‘s La Grande Bellezza.
(40) Hossein Amini‘s The Two Faces of January.
(41) Francois Ozon‘s Jeune at Jolie (an apparent riff on Luis Bunuel‘s Belle du Jour).
(42) Terry Gilliam‘s The Zero Theorem.
(43) Woody Allen‘s Blue Jasmine.
(44) Roman Polanski‘s Venus in Fur.
(45) Danny Boyle’s‘s Trance, a crime thriller w/ James McAvoy, Vincent Cassel, Rosario Dawson. (Fox Searchlight, April).
(46) John Crowley‘s Closed Circuit.
(47) Susanne Bier‘s Serena — a period reteaming of Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper.
(48) Errol Morris‘s The Unknown Known: The Life and Times of Donald Rumsfeld.
(49) Ryan Coogler‘s Fruitvale — the big hit of Sundance 2013, acquired by the Weinstein Co.
One could also include Ben Stiller‘s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Nicholas Winding Refn‘s Only God Forgives, Ron Howard‘s Rush, David Cronenberg‘s Maps to the Stars. Neill Blomkamp‘s Elysium, Joseph Kosinski‘s Oblivion, Robert Schwentke‘s R.I.P.D., Sam Raimi‘s Oz: The Great and Powerful and Guillermo del Toro‘s Pacific Rim (9).
Ion Cinema’s Eric Lavallee has ostensibly posted a rundown of the 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2013 but I can only pull up 38 or 39 of them. I don’t want to process any more than that. I’m presuming the remaining two-thirds will show up eventually. Here are the Lavallee picks that have my attention thus far:
(1) Asghar Farhadi‘s The Past;
(2) John Michael McDonagh‘s Calvary;
(3) Paolo Sorrentino‘s La Grande Bellezza;
(4) Hossein Amini‘s The Two Faces of January;
(5) Francois Ozon‘s Jeune at Jolie (an apparent riff on Luis Bunuel‘s Belle du Jour);
(6) Terry Gilliam‘s The Zero Theorem;
(7) Woody Allen‘s Blue Jasmine;
(8) Roman Polanski‘s Venus in Fur;
(9) James Ponsoldt‘s The Spectacular Now (also on my Sundance 2013 list);
(10) Gregg Araki‘s White Bird in a Blizzard;
(11) John Crowley‘s Closed Circuit;
(12) Michael Winterbottom‘s The Look of Love (also on my Sundance 2013 slate);
(13) Susanne Bier‘s Serena — a period reteaming of Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper.
(14) Errol Morris‘s The Unknown Known: The Life and Times of Donald Rumsfeld.
Previously: Wes Anderson‘s The Grand Budapest Hotel, David O. Russell‘s Abscam project (a.k.a. American Bullshit — starts shooting in March so might not be ready this year…who knows?); Steven Soderbergh‘s Side Effects (which I saw and liked on Monday night, 1.7), Noah Baumbach‘s Frances Ha, Richard Linklater‘s Before Midnight (also a Sundance 2013 highlight), Stephen Frears‘ Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight, Sofia Coppola‘s The Bling Ring, Lars von Trier‘s Nymphomaniac, Wong Kar Wai‘s The Grandmaster, Pedro Almodovar‘s I’m So Excited (all things Pedro!), Joe Swanberg‘s Drinking Buddies (Anna Kendrick, Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson) and Jean-Pierre Jeunet‘s The Young and Prodigious Spivet (Judy Davis, Helena Bonham Carter, etc.). (12)
Plus (1) Peter Landesman‘s Parkland, Diablo Cody‘s untitled film (which was called Lamb of God when I read the script last year), (3) Brian Helgeland‘s 42 (Jackie Robinson biopic w/ Chadwick Boseman and Harrison Ford); and (4) Oliver Hirschbiegel‘s Diana (Princess of Wales biopic/love affair with Naomi Watts). (4)
The 17 biggies I listed on 12.16 are as follows:
(1) John Wells‘ August: Osage County;
(2) Alexander Payne‘s Nebraska;
(3) Alfonso Cuaron‘s Gravity;
(4) George Clooney‘s Monuments Men (a.k.a., cousin of The Train);
(5) Paul Greengrass‘s Captain Phillips;
(6) Martin Scorsese‘s Wolf of Wall Street;
(7) Jason Reitman‘s Labor Day;
(8) Joel and Ethan Coen‘s Inside Llewyn Davis;
(9) Bennett Miller‘s Foxcatcher;
(10) John Lee Hancock‘s Saving Mr. Banks;
(11) Ridley Scott‘s The Counselor;
(12) Spike Lee‘s Oldboy;
(13) Luc Besson‘s Malavita;
(14) Steve McQueen‘s 12 Years A Slave;
(15) Baz Luhrman‘s The Great Gatsby (which might have issues);
(16) Spike Jonze‘s Her.
(17) Anton Corbijn‘s A Most Wanted Man, based on a John le Carres novel and costarring Willem Dafoe, Rachel McAdams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright.
Also: Terrence Malick‘s two ventures — the film formerly known as Lawless plus Knight of Cups (neither of which might not be released until 2014 or 2015…you know Malick). (2)
One could also include Ben Stiller‘s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Nicholas Winding Refn‘s Only God Forgives, Ron Howard‘s Rush, David Cronenberg‘s Maps to the Stars. Neill Blomkamp‘s Elysium, Joseph Kosinski‘s Oblivion, Robert Schwentke‘s R.I.P.D., Sam Raimi‘s Oz: The Great and Powerful and Guillermo del Toro‘s Pacific Rim (9).
After scanning Brad Brevet‘s “50 Most Anticipated 2013 Films” piece on Rope of Silicon, I’m adding 15 or 16 films to a previously posted rundown of 29 likely 2013 award contenders, must-sees and perk-ups. Not one is a low-rent superhero comic-book CG monster-action popcorn movie…not one. A few visionary fantasies aimed at Joe Popcorn, okay, but made by high-end directors.
Four are from Brevet’s initial list: (1) Peter Landesman‘s Parkland, Diablo Cody‘s untitled film (which was called Lamb of God when I read the script last year), (3) Brian Helgeland‘s 42 (Jackie Robinson biopic w/ Chadwick Boseman and Harrison Ford); and (4) Oliver Hirschbiegel‘s Diana (Princess of Wales biopic/love affair with Naomi Watts). (4)
I’m also adding Wes Anderson‘s The Grand Budapest Hotel, David O. Russell‘s Abscam project (a.k.a. American Bullshit — starts shooting in March so might not be ready this year…who knows?); Steven Soderbergh‘s Side Effects (which — update — I saw and liked on Monday night, 1.7), Noah Baumbach‘s Frances Ha, Richard Linklater‘s Before Midnight, Stephen Frears‘ Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight, Sofia Coppola‘s The Bling Ring, Lars von Trier‘s Nymphomaniac, Wong Kar Wai‘s The Grandmaster (which I’m almost certainly going to hate), Pedro Almodovar‘s I’m So Excited (all things Pedro!), Joe Swanberg‘s Drinking Buddies (Anna Kendrick, Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson) and Jean-Pierre Jeunet‘s The Young and Prodigious Spivet (Judy Davis, Helena Bonham Carter). (12)
The 16 biggies I listed on 12.16 are as follows:
(1) John Wells‘ August: Osage County;
(2) Alexander Payne‘s Nebraska;
(3) Alfonso Cuaron‘s Gravity;
(4) George Clooney‘s Monuments Men (a.k.a., cousin of The Train);
(5) Paul Greengrass‘s Captain Phillips;
(6) Martin Scorsese‘s Wolf of Wall Street;
(7) Jason Reitman‘s Labor Day;
(8) Joel and Ethan Coen‘s Inside Llewyn Davis;
(9) Bennett Miller‘s Foxcatcher;
(10) John Lee Hancock‘s Saving Mr. Banks;
(11) Ridley Scott‘s The Counselor;
(12) Spike Lee‘s Oldboy;
(13) Luc Besson‘s Malavita;
(14) Steve McQueen‘s 12 Years A Slave;
(15) Baz Luhrman‘s The Great Gatsby (which might have issues);
(16) Spike Jonze‘s Her.
Also: Terrence Malick‘s two ventures — the film formerly known as Lawless plus Knight of Cups (neither of which might not be released until 2014 or 2015…you know Malick). (2)
One could also include Ben Stiller‘s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Nicholas Winding Refn‘s Only God Forgives, Ron Howard‘s Rush, David Cronenberg‘s Maps to the Stars. Neill Blomkamp‘s Elysium, Joseph Kosinski‘s Oblivion, Robert Schwentke‘s R.I.P.D., Steven Spielberg‘s Robopocalypse, Sam Raimi‘s Oz: The Great and Powerful abd Guillermo del Toro‘s Pacific Rim (10).
As far as I can foresee we’re looking at 16 possible Oscar-calibre films due in 2013. I can predict one thing for sure: between his lead roles in Saving Mr. Banks and Captain Phillips Tom Hanks is looking at an almost certain Best Actor nomination. The only other guarantee is that Lee Daniels’ The Butler will be a fiasco, but you knew assumed that going in.
In the order of likely quality, the probable picks of 2013:
(1) John Wells‘ August: Osage County;
(2) Alexander Payne‘s Nebraska;
(3) Alfonso Cuaron‘s Gravity;
(4) George Clooney‘s Monuments Men (a.k.a., cousin of The Train);
(5) Paul Greengrass‘s Captain Phillips;
(6) Martin Scorsese‘s Wolf of Wall Street;
(7) Jason Reitman‘s Labor Day;
(8) Joel and Ethan Coen‘s Inside Llewyn Davis;
(9) Bennett Miller‘s Foxcatcher;
(10) John Lee Hancock‘s Saving Mr. Banks;
(11) Ridley Scott‘s The Counselor;
(12) Spike Jonze‘s Her;
(13) Spike Lee‘s Oldboy;
(14) Luc Besson‘s Malavita;
(15) Steve McQueen‘s 12 Years A Slave;
(16) Baz Luhrman‘s The Great Gatsby (which might have issues).
If you want to be liberal about it there is also Terrence Malick‘s two ventures — the film formerly known as Lawless plus Knight of Cups (neither of which might not be released until 2014 or 2015…you know Malick).
One could also include Ben Stiller‘s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Nicholas Winding Refn‘s Only God Forgives, Ron Howard‘s Rush and David Cronenberg‘s Maps to the Stars. (Thanks to HE readers bfm and Jeremy Baril.)
Not to mention Neill Blomkamp‘s Elysium, Joseph Kosinski‘s Oblivion, Robert Schwentke‘s R.I.P.D., Steven Spielberg‘s Robopocalypse, Sam Raimi‘s Oz: The Great and Powerful, Ruben Fleischer‘s The Gangster Squad, Guillermo del Toro‘s Pacific Rim and David Fincher‘s 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea: Captain Nemo.
If anyone has a copy of Cormac McCarthy‘s The Counselor, which Ridley Scott will begin filming on May 1st with Michael Fassbender in the lead, please forward. Deadline‘s Michael Fleming reports that “insiders” are describing The Counselor as “No Country For Old Men on steroids.” What does that mean? That some regarded No Country for Old Men as…what, languid, laid-back, lacking a serious pulse?
Every time I see Michael Fassbender he’s wearing that cock-of-the-walk smirk. He had it when I spoke to him at the 2009 New York Film Critics Circle dinner. I saw him again at last month’s Fox Searchlight Golden Globes party, and he was with a hot lady and smoking a big cigar. I hear stories about him. He likes the ladies. I’m not judging at all but on some level I’m not sensing indications of profound meditative depth. He loves being a movie star. Just saying.
Ryan O'Neal's passing returned me to a nice '90s friendship I had with the late producer Polly Platt, who was married to Peter Bogdanovich between the late 60s and early '70s, and was a key creative contributor to PB's Targets, The Last Picture Show, What's Up Doc and Paper Moon. Talk about your glorious days of early '70s cinema. Platt, Bogdanovich and O'Neal were joined at the hip for two or three years back then (along with several other hip industry hots). Now all three arw gazing down upon the planet, like Keir Dullea at the end of 2001.
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