In Contention

Tag: Dear Zachary

  • Wishing Adam Yauch a speedy recovery

    Beastie Boy Adam Yauch (aka MCA) has been diagnosed with cancer in his salivary gland.  We at In Contention wish him a fast and speedy recovery following his upcoming surgery.

    A lifelong Beasties fan I may be (I’ve seen them live twice here in LA), but Yauch is also a hero to the independent film community.  His cinema division Oscilloscope Pictures is a welcome haven amid studio dominance.  And in its maiden year, the distribution wing gave us two of 2008’s most intriguing films, “Dear Zachary” (which landed on my top 10 list) and “Wendy and Lucy” (which landed on Guy’s).  Here is a great NY Times profile on Yauch and Oscilloscope from September of last year.

    Yauch announced his ailment alongside fellow Beastie Adam Horowitz (aka Adrock) in a video message on the group’s official website. He did so with trademark levity. Again, get well soon:

  • 1/5 Oscarweb Round-up

    (from left) Bill Condon and Laurence Mark• “Che” tops David Poland’s top 10 list, which also includes…”Mamma Mia!”  That’s originality for ya. [The Hot Blog]

    • David Carr does some number crunching on a few Best Picture contenders. [The Carpetbagger]

    • Michael Cieply spends some time with the producers of this year’s Oscar telecast. [New York Times]

    • Lewis Beale on the Jewish image in Hollywood. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Brad Brevet draws a connection between Walt Kowalski and Ethan Edwards. [Rope of Silicon]

    • Christopher Rosen spotlights performances from “Ghost Town,” “Che” and “The Visitor” as the year’s most overlooked. [New York Observer]

    • Karina Longworth responds to negativity over her dubious review of “Dear Zachary.” [Spout Blog]

    • A week old, but yours truly walks through the acting critics awards landscape at year’s end with a few organization members. [Variety]

  • ‘Dear Zachary’ to air on MSNBC Jan. 4

    Obviously, many of you already know my deep enthusiasm and respect for Kurt Kuenne’s passionate documentary “Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father.”  The film has already aired on MSNBC a couple of times, but if you missed it, be sure to give it a look this Sunday, Jan. 4 at 11:00 p.m. EST.  (Thanks to Sound Designer Dan for the tip.)

    Here’s a great online Q&A with Kuenne.  And the trailer below.  Seriously, give this film a look if you can.  Just make sure you have Kleenex reinforcements.

  • Best in show: the year in superlatives

    Cate Blanchett in The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonThe year is slowly coming to a close, and after this week’s year-in-review pieces, I’m happy to see so much healthy and spirited discussion on my humble picks for the year’s best films.  Today I’m wrapping all of that up with a list of superlatives, some of them in your usual categories, the staples, some of them in a couple of, oh, let’s call it “fun” arenas that I like to mix in year in and year out.

    I should note, however, that Nathaniel Rogers at The Film Experience is the king at this stuff.  His annual “Film Bitch Awards” are a must-read.  Here’s last year’s set.

    So with that, let’s get into the awards.  I used to call these the “In Contention Awards,” but I don’t think that’s fair anymore now that we have a slew of contributors.  So I’ll let them speak to their favorites at their leisure.  These reflect my views of the season and mine only.  You know the Best Picture champ, of course, but beyond that, I hope you enjoy the rundown.  Just keep the (inevitable) disagreement friendly:

    Best Picture
    “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures)

    Best Director
    Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”

    Best Actor
    Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”

    Best Actress
    Cate Blanchett, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

    Best Supporting Actor
    Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”

    Best Supporting Actress
    Samantha Morton, “Synecdoche, New York”

    (more…)

  • Runnin’ on empty: the best films of 2008

    Javier Bardem and Rebecca Hall in Vicky Cristina BarcelonaJust to say it once more, because I’ve certainly brought it up enough, 2008 was not a good year for film-goers.

    That’s an incredibly subjective quip, of course, but I certainly found myself struggling with the level of quality on display with each and every screening, the oasis of the Oscar season ultimately proving to be a trickster mirage on the horizon as contenders ultimately fell flat or disappointed in various ways. And suddenly, we’re two weeks away from 2009.

    Who let the goods out?

    But a year lacking broad quality can be a fun “Where’s Waldo” for the impassioned film lover, and so it is that I found some truly wonderful, praise-worthy work from a number of driven and creative filmmakers this year. But a peculiarity began to arise as I sifted through the year’s offerings: What a load of downer cinema.

    I first noticed it in the documentary offerings, heavier on morose subject matter than any other year I can remember. Depictions of the horrors of Katrina, the passionate life and tragic death of a Neil Diamond impersonator, the work of a journalist obsessed with his own inevitable suicide, the nation’s stance on the death penalty, the life and times of a child molester, a heart-breaking family drama in St. John’s, Newfoundland, a national economy on life support, despicable soldier etiquette at our global detention facilities -– it is hardly surprising that the most well-received documentary of the year is a celebration of an “artistic crime” in James Marsh’s “Man on Wire.” But how odd that the genre’s resident cynic, Werner Herzog, was responsible for one of the few other positive doc titles that made the rounds this year?

    Moving into the realm of fiction, even the usually jubilant folks at Pixar couldn’t help but crank out their most sobering film to date, a cautionary tale wrapped in the guise of a love story that conveyed a creepy sense of inevitability despite a hopeful denouement.

    I bring these observations up for a reason, and that is to add some perspective to the list you’ll find below. 2008 was a bellwether for me personally as I began to let the idea of “best” as a definitive slip away and become something more akin to a solid if flexible representation of the times, and how those times affect the viewer.

    (more…)

  • 10/28 Oscarweb Round-up

    Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt• Michael Cieply says “Welcome to the pop Oscars” regarding the big budget Oscar pushes this year. [New York Times]

    • Tom O’Neil reports that the two biggest stars in “Doubt” won’t be at the AFI world premiere on Thursday. [Gold Derby]

    • Patrick Goldstein wonders why Oscar consistently shies away from the funny bone. [The Big Picture]

    • A chat with “Dear Zachary” director Kurt Kuenne. [indieWIRE]

    • Nicholas Lezard comments on Gus Van Sant’s potential adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.” [The Guardian]

    • Anthony Breznican profiles Elizabeth Banks and her star-making year. [USA Today]