In Contention

Tag: 35 Shots of Rum

  • My dream ballot: part two

    Charlotte Gainsbourg in AntichristYesterday, I began my far-fetched wishlist of nominees for tomorrow’s announcement with a look at the technical categories. Today we move into the big races. And as much as I thought I had my favorites clearly mapped out in my head, a rundown of the eligible titles made for some very crowded races indeed.

    Once again, I’ve mostly played by the Academy’s own criteria, considering only U.S. releases from 2009 — hence the slight discrepancy with my Top 10 from December. But where certain titles seemingly never made it through the administrative red tape guarding Oscar eligibility, I’ve intervened on their behalf. (Films as good as “Summer Hours” can’t go unmentioned, after all.)

    Check out my picks after the cut, and share your own last-minute thoughts and hopes in the comments. My final predictions are coming shortly.

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  • My dream ballot: part one

    Where the Wild Things AreAs I did last year, I’m preparing for Tuesday’s announcement of the Oscar nominations by running through my own favorites in each category — following on from the ideal ballots posted by Kris and Chad in the past few weeks.

    “Preparing” isn’t quite the word: it implies a link between the processes of predicting and wishing, whereas I’m quite aware that most of my choices have scant chance of cropping up on Tuesday morning. But a guy can dream, can’t he?

    Today I’m running through the technical races, while tomorrow I’ll get to the big ones. For the most part, I’m sticking to the same format and rules for nominations as the Oscars, with a few select exceptions.

    Where some worthy 2009 U.S. releases are mysteriously absent from the Academy’s eligibility list, I’m not letting that stop me from giving them their due. Similarly, I’m happy to overrule some of the more inexplicable disqualifications of the arcane music branch.

    My technical ballot after the cut.

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  • Things of beauty: Guy’s best of 2009

    Julianne Moore and Colin Firth in A Single ManThe year of the woman. The year of animation. The year of science-fiction. Depending on who you read (and believe), the final year of the decade has been an awful lot of things.

    If you’re with Kris, it’s also the best cinematic year of the last ten. If you’re with an awful lot of others, it’s quite the opposite. I’ll stop short of rewriting the first page of “A Tale of Two Cities,” but suffice to say it’s been different things to different people.

    What kind of year has it been for me? I think I’ll need another year to figure that out in detail. But as I compiled the list you’re about to read, I happily concluded that it’s been, at the very least, a good one: the 25 titles gathered here were jotted down with minimal brain-racking, with still more fighting from the sidelines.

    None of them are grudging inclusions, either: I sincerely liked most of these titles too much to allow room for popular or critical phenomena that are worthy of respect, but nonetheless didn’t connect with me personally. There was a sufficient range of quality work in 2009 (following a lean 2008) that any film lover could afford to construct his own playlist of future treasures without resorting to consensus.

    Before we begin, a note on the construction of the list. In addition to my Top 10, there are 15 honorable mentions here, five of them singled out for extra consideration. Some of you will quibble that I opt to include international or festival releases that have yet to surface in the U.S.

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  • THE LONG SHOT: The next best thing

    Diane Kruger in Inglourious BasterdsAs the season hits its stride, and precursors turn murky perceptions of pack leaders and stragglers into harder realities, I find myself wondering how I would fill out my ballot if I were an Academy member.

    That’s not the same as wondering what I would fill my ballot with – as Kris just did today. Unlike many voters in the Academy and precursor ranks alike, who seemingly run out of ideas two slots in (“Hmm, did I see ten movies this year?”) and then reach for the names they’ve heard everyone else mention, I have no shortage of worthy suggestions for inclusion, whether people are talking about them or not.

    No, I’m referring to the how, the method, the strategy. Is it as simple as jotting down the films and individual achievements one admired most over the past 12 months? In a perfect world, yes. But do considerations of which of one’s favorites – and, indeed, least favorites – pose a threat in the race necessitate some compromise?

    Were I an Academy voter, in other words, would I give “35 Shots of Rum” one of my Best Picture slots, knowing full well it doesn’t having a snowball’s chance of a nomination? Or would I be a little craftier, and give the slot to “The Messenger” – a fine film that I love less, but that has slightly more hope of knocking something truly undeserving from the Oscar lineup?

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  • Sight & Sound names ‘A Prophet’ best of 2009

    (left to right) Adel Bencherif and Tahar Rahim in A ProphetNo annual Top 10 list carries more weight with me than that compiled by Sight & Sound, the UK’s premier film magazine. One of the most thorough and prestigious collectives out there, it’s collated from the individual lists of over 60 international critics, including the likes of Kenneth Turan, Mark Kermode, Amy Taubin, Armond White and IC friend Tim Robey.

    The S&S list usually chimes in quite neatly with my own personal taste: last year’s edition (topped by Steve McQueen’s “Hunger”) featured six titles that ultimately landed on my own end-of-year rundown. This year’s is no different: regular readers will recognize a number of titles that I’ve been banging on about all year, including a most gratifying double-dip for the great Claire Denis. (Where was all this support for “White Material” when I needed it in Venice?)

    All in all, it’s a pretty impeccable selection of films, one that gives the lie to those saying 2009 is a weak year. I’d like to see the Academy even try to put together a Top Ten as strong as this…

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  • THE LONG SHOT: Consider this

    John Malkovich and Jessica Haines in DisgraceThere’s nothing like an Oscar season to prove what a small number five (or even ten) is.

    We may only be in November, but already, months of conversation, covering a broad canvas of Oscar sure-shots and long-shots alike, have devolved into a ruthless mathematical elimination process, as previously five-wide categories fill up with safe bets. Before you know it, scores of previously fancied contenders are jostling for a mere one or two supposedly “free” slots on the ballot, and with each week that passes, the pool of possibles is culled further.

    This is, of course, hardest on independent or leftfield contenders. Having fought mightily even to enter the discussion in the first place, they must then rely on a flaky combination of precursors, DVD screeners and prayer to stay afloat.

    Miracles do happen, of course, thanks largely to the Academy’s weighted ballot system, where a number-one vote is all. (Nobody was talking about Tommy Lee Jones to take the last Best Actor slot in 2007, but there he was nonetheless. Ditto the recent likes of Michael Shannon, Samantha Morton and “City of God.”)

    With that in mind, I’d like to spotlight one contender in each major category that deserves a similarly happy outcome. Many of them are names I’ve championed before. Most of them are sitting on the furthest reaches of the sidelines. All of them deserve better.

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  • SUNDAY CENTS: ‘Wild Things,’ you make everything…groovy

    Where the Wild Things AreWell, it was maybe the most anticipated PG-rated film amongst the young adult set since “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace” and “Where the Wild Things Are” landed with a bang this weekend. The Spike Jonze adaptation grossed $32.5 million to top the box office and justify all the bickering and problems during production between director and studio.

    Warner Bros. is having quite a year with unique directors tackling projects and possibly turning in a different movie than the studio was expecting (“Observe and Report” and “The Informant!” also come to mind), but it’s hard to imagine the film doing this well without a name like Jonze behind it. Kids made up only half of the audience and the broad appeal amongst all age groups should help with staying power over the next few weeks, even though reaction seems to be slightly mixed to positive.

    “Law Abiding Citizen” took the runner-up spot in a bit of a surprise. The action/thriller grossed a strong $21.3 million, which would have been enough to top the chart on this same weekend last year. That’s a new high mark for Overture Films and another feather in Gerard Butler’s 2009 cap after “The Ugly Truth.” He may not be headed to an Oscar anytime soon but he has to be commended for turning the freak box office performance of “300” into bona fide movie stardom.

    “Paranormal Activity” continues to gross paranormal numbers with another $20.2 million this weekend from 760 theaters. It’s not quite at the pace that “The Blair Witch Project” was at when it expanded but with a 2,000+ theater roll-out planned for next weekend and Halloween fast approaching, this no budget exercise should be knocking on the door of $100 million when all is said and done. Flabbergasting.

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  • THE LONG SHOT: Making the 10 work for you

    Coraline*This is the first installment of “The Long Shot,” a new weekly Oscar column from Guy Lodge here at In Contention.

    At some point last week, I snapped at a commenter for rather benignly suggesting that, with the clarity granted certain contenders by the festival season, we could now call 7 of the newly expanded 10 Best Picture slots securely filled in mid-September, thus leaving us a full four months to find another three.

    Going by that rationale, less than one new contender a month could emerge — roughly keeping pace with the film-going habits of many Academy members.

    It was a fair enough theory, I suppose, and I shouldn’t have responded with as much snark as I did — though I will always adhere to the no-fun theory that a film cannot be decreed a “lock” before it is seen.

    (Is “Invictus” a “Million Dollar Baby” or a “Space Cowboys” waiting to happen? Can “Nine” possibly match its ostentatious pedigree? What in the name of God is “Avatar?” Such are the tensions that make the season worth following.)

    But I think the main reason the theory got on my nerves had nothing whatsoever to do with the commenter’s reasoning, and everything to do with the dispiriting possibility of it actually being true. Because if all the much-ballyhooed widening of the Best Picture category amounts to is a catch-all solution to ensure that every frontrunner gets its due — thereby handily making the Oscars more predictable and less particular into the bargain — then I’ll regretfully turn my back on the annual institution that has fascinated me since the second grade, move to Paris and track the Cesars instead.

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  • Just a friendly reminder…

    Gregoire Colin and Mati Diop in 35 Shots of Rum… to any American readers privileged with access to a good arthouse cinema, that Claire Denis’s wondrous “35 Shots of Rum” finally bows Stateside this weekend. I’ve been raving about the film — a sweetly melancholy, impeccably detailed study of a devoted Parisian father and daughter gradually separating their lives — since I saw it at the Edinburgh fest in June, and it remains in my top three for 2009 thus far.

    You don’t have to take my word for it, though: as much as I dislike people who quote Metacritic stats as some kind of inarguable gospel, it’s fair to say that a film with an MC score of 96 is likely to quite good. To jog your memory, my brief Edinburgh take on “35 Shots of Rum” is here. (With the benefit of hindsight, that 3.5 star rating would certainly get bumped up.)

    Meanwhile, with the similarly excellent “Disgrace” also opening in limited release today, discerning New York moviegoers have a rich selection before them. I just got off the phone with the film’s breakthrough star Jessica Haines (watch out for our interview in the next few weeks), and she discussed the tortuous path the film has taken to finally reach American screens after debuting on the festival circuit a full year ago. Same goes for the Denis film.

    So it’d be nice if some people bothered to see them. Take a chance.

  • EDINBURGH: “35 Shots of Rum,” “Séraphine,” “The Maid”

    35 Shots of RumTuesday was a day of mellower pleasures at the Edinburgh Film Festival, from an idle sun-soaked writing break in the park, to a chance conversation with Paddy Considine and Shane Meadows (both as smart and affably bloke-ish as you’d expect) outside the theater, to, most importantly, a trio of quietly impressive, character-oriented foreign-language titles.

    Two of them — France’s “Séraphine” and Chile’s “The Maid” — were decorated earlier this year with glittering prizes from the Césars and Sundance, respectively. Typically, the strongest of the three (and one of the best of the festival, not to mention the year) comes with no such accolades, having played inexplicably out of competition at Venice last year.

    35 SHOTS OF RUM (***1/2)

    Call it coincidence, but the finest films of this year’s festival have all come from the hands of female filmmakers. However, if Andrea Arnold’s and Kathryn Bigelow’s new efforts found them substantially broadening their canvases to knockout effect, “35 Shots of Rum” (which also played last night at the LA Film Fest across the pond) is an immaculate miniature from a master filmmaker; wispy at first glance, the film deftly accumulates tiny environmental and character details to create a richly satisfying tableau of restless lives.

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  • Edinburgh calling

    EdinburghIn a little over an hour, I’ll be hopping on a (very) early morning train and making the 300 mile journey up north to Edinburgh. Ordinarily, this alone would be cause for excitement — for me, Scotland’s capital, with its curious combination of twisty Medieval quirk, stately academia and cooler-than-thou cultural swagger, is one of the most delightful cities in Europe. On this occasion, however, it boasts an extra drawcard — the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

    It may lack the glamor of Cannes or the breadth of Toronto, but the EIFF has been modestly chugging along since 1947, making it one of the most senior of all international film festivals. It doesn’t necessarily get the glitzy international premieres that the London fest now commands, but it’s an essential date on the calendar for burgeoning UK and international filmmakers. Meanwhile, it supplements its sizable showcase of new talent with a scattering of classic retrospectives as well as new works from more established filmmakers.

    Like its London counterpart, Edinburgh takes a similar “cherry-picking” approach to programming, selecting a number of proven successes from other festivals, as well as international markets. As a result, this year’s festival brings us the UK premieres of Sundance hits such as “Sin Nombre,” “Humpday” and “The Maid,” while the event I am most anticipating is the first post-Cannes screening of Andrea Arnold’s Jury Prize winner, “Fish Tank.”

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