Welcome to Oscar Talk, your one-stop kudocast between yours truly and Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood.
It’s been a while, so there was plenty to cover in this, the first of three off-season podcasts we’ll offer up through the summer. On the docket today…
• With Cannes around the corner, we briefly size things up. Guy will be covering for us this year and indieWIRE will be heavy on coverage as well, so we talk about what to expect, the rigors of festival coverage, etc.
• Speaking of indieWIRE, Todd McCarthy joined the site a few weeks back and Anne welcomes him aboard on the podcast, excited to be working with her former colleague again.
• Since it’s been a few months since we last did one of these, we look back at the year to date and what stands out so far. We both agree on the year’s best American film.
• Today is the start of the summer movie season with the release of “Iron Man 2.” We talk about our disappointments with the film.
• Finally, we kind of wander around a forecast of the summer to come, looking at a few of the key titles on the way.
Have a listen to the latest podcast below. We go on a bit long, but it’s been a while, so forgive us. The next installment of the summer edition will drop, we think, June 11. Until then, remember to subscribe to Oscar Talk via iTunes here.
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27 responses to “OSCAR TALK: Ep. 26 — Special Edition! — Catching up, Cannes on the way, ‘Iron Man’ kicks off the summer season”
Maybe I just wasn’t paying attention but no mention of Shutter Island?.. I have a bet going with my friend. I think that it’ll be forgotten by Oscar season but he thinks it’s winning it all… Any chance anyone will remember Leo or Martin?
Ah, yes, well, I liked it quite a lot. But we discussed it a bit, I think, in one of the latter season podcasts, which is probably why we didn’t think of it here.
You forgot Toy Story 3.
the only things im really looking forward to are toy story 3 and inception, and ive only really enjoyed shutter island and the ghost writer so far this year, well see
Listening to you guys commiserating over the dearth of films this time of year is deeply appreciated. There should be a support group for people like us.
No love for Ghost Writer? I’m going to be pulling for Olivia Williams all year (and will inevitably be disappointed…).
I don’t know, i think Knight and Day could be a refreshing turn for Tom Cruise. Diaz is OK I guess, preppy and sunny as always. But to see Cruise in a comedy role, and in one that is NOT as gaudy as his turn in Tropic Thunder…I think I would pay to see that.
Great to have the duet back!
Kris! You’re turning into a grumpy pants! ;)
Though I agree the first 1/3 of 2010 has been depressing on the film front.
‘Mother and Child’ is the best film I’ve seen so far this year (if you don’t count ‘A Prophet,’ which probably belongs to 2009), though I admit it had some issues. But I don’t agree with the criticism that the central characters’ story-lines were arbitrarily forced together. Their paths crossing was inherent, a given from the very start; it wasn’t supposed to be a natural progression of plot. Understanding that the characters were related in some way (granted, we don’t find out the absolute specifics until the end) made their individual journeys more meaningful.
I enjoyed ‘How to Train Your Dragon,’ but I think the praise has become excessive. Sure, it’s competently assembled, beautifully rendered, and emotionally involving, but the guys at Pixar churn out all of these traits in their sleep. If ‘Dragon’ were a Pixar release, it would have felt middlebrow.
Other strong entries this year: ‘Shutter Island’ was wonderfully constructed but felt a little aimless. ‘City Island’ had some great performances and character interplay. ‘Kick-Ass’ was… unexpected? Colorful, too.
‘Alice in Wonderland’ had its moments. As did ‘The Losers’ (‘The B-Team’?). ‘The Runaways’ was interesting, and ‘Youth in Revolt’ was sort of fun.
Other than that… blech. I even thought ‘Iron Man 2’ was obnoxiously self-indulgent and smug. I couldn’t stand ‘Greenberg’ either, for those same reasons from a different angle.
This weekend I get to screen a few promising titles… ‘Tiny Furniture,’ ‘Cold Weather,’ and ‘Cyrus.’ ‘The Square’ is soon, too. Hopefully I won’t be let down four-fold.
You and I are pretty much of one mind on Kick-Ass. As for Iron Man 2; yeah, it does look like a major contender for Disappointment of the Summer, but I find it….I’ll say perplexing, that you didn’t find Shutter Island just as poorly conceived and sloppy.
Because it was constructed by a master who knew exactly what he was doing and I recognized that, even if the film isn’t/wasn’t what everyone wanted it to be.
I’ve seen 4 films so far this year worthy of ‘praise’. In order:
SHUTTER ISLAND
GHOST WRITER
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON
A PROPHET
Shutter Island won’t be forgotten, but still it won’t win anything important. Due to 2 simple reasons:
1. It’s far away from being typical Oscar material
2. It’s not THAT good to surpass point 1
;)
Michael — Leonardo’s final scenes are too strong to be ignored.
I think Shutter Island is already forgotten. I wouldn’t expect it to pop up at all in the season, except when considered peripherally with Leo’s performance in Inception.
And thank goodness for that. When I see this: “who knew exactly what he was doing,” I feel like I’ve stepped into an alternate dimension where the film is an utterly aimless clusterfuck (pardon my French) with an overbearing score and annoyingly unclear internal logic.
As much as I loved Shutter Island, I agree with Kris that it may go forgotten (except periperally with Inception, for Leo).
BUT, if it IS remembered … I think it could go over fairly well. It’d have to summon buzz all over again.
Am I the only one who had the podcast cut off after 22 minutes, Anne in mid-sentence? This is the first time this has ever happened to me.
I think, as a colleague mentioned elsewhere, if you’re hung up on the score, you’ve already missed what Scorsese is doing.
English: That apparently has happened with others in the past. I’m not really sure what the deal is with that. Are you using the player in the post? If so, try clicking on the “download” link below it, which will bring up the link directly to the file. Hopefully that’ll work.
/3rtfu11: “Leonardo’s final scenes are too strong to be ignored.”
As much as I like Di Caprio and actually his performance in this movie, too, I really don’t think so. If you want so, we can start a bet. I am sure that Di Caprio won’t be nominated for an Academy Award for Shutter Island. But if I’m wrong, you got my respect ;)
Michael I can’t see into the future – but usually the Golden Globes show up to remind the Academy of its existence.
Kris, I couldn’t quite tell from what Anne & you were alluding to, but … did she and/or you see ‘Robin Hood’ yet?
It sounded like there was some negative sentiment attached to the brief discussion of it.
But most of the reviews out of England, so far, have been great, along with Roger Friedman, and I read about screenings that have gone well.
Have you or Anne seen?
Great to hear your voices again!
I also agree that the first third of the year has been mostly a disappointment, though I admittedly haven’t seen as many movies as some on here. “Please Give,” “Mother and Child,” and “Iron Man 2” are on my radar this week, so hopefully Summer will fare a little better.
On Shutter Island: I was in the bunch that thought it had the look and feel, but by the end just fell completely flat. It won’t be remembered come Oscar season.
I was already there for Inception because of the names attached, but after that new trailer, I can’t wait. I finally have something to look forward to, which I’ve been lacking all year!
And I actually think Knight and Day looks kinda good… and that’s saying alot coming from someone who loathes tom Cruise and has just come out of loathing Cameran Diaz.
I’m a little disappointed Toy Story 3 didn’t get more coverage in the summer movies, it is easily my most anticipated film of the summer. And while it is true, as usual, that the early studio offerings are fairly weak I still have seen eight 2010 U.S. theatrical releases that I really liked (in order of preference): The Secret In Their Eyes, The Ghost Writer, Red Riding, A Prophet, The Crazies, Hubble 3D, How To Train Your Dragon, Please Give; so it is not like it has been a cinematic wasteland.
JJ: I had seen it, Anne had not. Embargo was inn place (since broken), so I imagine you’ll get your answer on my thoughts when you pull up the site today.
K, thanks! I’ve now read your thoughts. Sad times.
I probably agree that How to Train Your Dragon is the best movie to come out so far this year. I am actually expecting Toy Story 3 to be somewhat of a letdown, so maybe Pixar will be unseated this year as champs of the Animated Category.
Of the movies that I’ve seen so far this year that I think deserve a little more attention are The Ghost Writer and The Crazies. And then Greenberg has been the biggest disappointment.