In Contention

Tag: The Headless Woman

  • 12/24 Oscarweb Round-up

    Dev Patel in Slumdog Millionaire• “The Headless Woman,” “Night and Day” and “Tony Manero” head up a list of the year’s best undistributed titles. [indieWIRE]

    • Speaking of lists, here’s one of cult and campy holiday flicks. [Cinematical]

    • Josh Horowitz goes toe-to-toe with David Fincher. [MTV]

    • Slow down, Hoss.  Lou Lumenick thinks Dev Patel is going to beat Heath Ledger to the Oscar punch?  Anything for the clicks I gues. [Lumenick on Film]

    • David Edelstein considers nine Oscar contenders, from “Revolutionary Road” to, uh, “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” [New York Magazine]

    • Dustin Hoffman storms out of an interview with Dave Karger…all in good fun. [Entertainment Weekly]

    • Rachel Abramowitz spends some time with the actor as well…my own interview should be on the way soon enough, by the way.  It’s been ages since we sat down together. [Los Angeles Times]

  • S&S names ‘Hunger’ best of 2008

    Sight & Sound’s annual Top Ten is, for my money, one of the most intelligent and respectable of all critics’ lists, and this year’s is no exception. Revealed in the magazine’s just-out January 2009 issue, the list is drawn from a poll of 50 international critics, including such heavyweights as Kenneth Turan, Amy Taubin, Armond White and Peter Bradshaw, and the results (for me, at least) are hard to argue with.

    The list rather bluntly highlights the less-than-stellar year American cinema has had, with only one 2008 U.S. picture (“WALL-E”) making the cut. (The inclusion of “There Will Be Blood” stems from UK release date differences, which might also account for the low profile of some current year-end contenders.) But it’s a rich and exciting collection of films, however you look at it:

    1. “Hunger” (Steve McQueen)
    2. “There Will Be Blood” (Paul Thomas Anderson)
    3. “WALL-E” (Andrew Stanton)
    4. “Gomorrah” (Matteo Garrone)
    =5. “A Christmas Tale” (Arnaud Desplechin)
    =5. “The Class” (Laurent Cantet)
    7. “Of Time and the City” (Terence Davies)
    8. “Happy-Go-Lucky” (Mike Leigh)
    =9. “The Headless Woman” (Lucrecia Martel)
    =9. “Let the Right One In” (Tomas Alfredson)

    I can’t tell you how much happier I would be if the eventual Best Picture nominees were drawn from that lot. We can but dream.

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