In Contention

Tag: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

  • Ranking the categories

    The Hurt LockerAh, Oscar lists — the gift that keeps giving. I’m not going to ape Kris’s impressive ranking of all the nominated features: we’d have the same #1, for starters, and we’re agreeing on far too many things these days. So here’s something else to play with.

    I’ve had a number of emails asking me how I would rank the 10 Best Picture nominees, were I filling out the preferential ballot. I was happy to oblige, but then went a little crazy and applied the same process to all the other races. Hey, Oscar day comes but once a year: get your geek on. With that, my personal Oscar ballot, in full preferential order:

    Best Picture
    1. “The Hurt Locker”
    2. “A Serious Man”
    3. “An Education”
    4. “District 9”
    5. “Inglourious Basterds”
    6. “Up in the Air”
    7. “The Blind Side”
    8. “Up”
    9. “Avatar”
    10. “Precious”

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  • Terry Gilliam calls bullshit on the Oscars

    Terry GilliamAs certain as carols on Christmas Eve, you can always rely on the pre-Oscar weekend to bring a surfeit of “why the Oscars don’t matter” pieces — all other angles on the race having been exhausted in the preceding months. Hey, I sort of did one myself yesterday.

    True to form, today we have David Thomson in the Guardian dismissively asking, “Who cares about the Oscars?” (If Mr. Thomson did some digging around the web, he’d be in for a nasty surprise.) Elsewhere, you’ll surely be stunned to learn that Armond White doesn’t approve of the annual ceremony, either: Kathryn Bigelow is better than a stinky Oscar, runs his general argument.

    Both pieces contain several nuggets of truth, but highbrow film critics kicking the Academy to the curb is hardly revelatory. More fun, then, is Vanity Fair’s slightly more inside view from filmmaker Terry Gilliam, a one-time Oscar nominee for “Brazil” whose latest effort, “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,” will compete in two technical races on Sunday.

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  • OSCAR GUIDE: Best Costume Design

    Christopher Plummer in The Imaginarium of Doctor ParnassusFor three straight years the Academy Award for Best Costume Design has gone to a film that received no other Oscars. In each case, the films could be considered “period porn,” as it were, lavish productions with massive thread ensembles. “Most Costume Design” would be a more applicable moniker for the award, given how the Academy traditionally sees things.

    Of course, the unfortunate thing is that, lost in all this awardage is the fact that so many of these period pieces are buttressed by preexisting wardrobe collections, while truly creative and, in some cases, innovative work goes under-appreciated. I expect we’re in for more of the same this year.

    The nominees are:

    “Bright Star” (Janet Patterson)
    “Coco Before Chanel” (Catherine Leterrier)
    “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Monique Prudhomme)
    “Nine” (Colleen Atwood)
    “The Young Victoria” (Sandy Powell)

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  • OSCAR GUIDE: Best Art Direction

    The Imaginarium of Doctor ParnassusOver the weekend the Art Directors Guild handed out their awards in three categories: period, fantasy and contemporary.  And it’s a good thing they have the contemporary field since the Academy recognizing that kind of work is like Haley’s Comet.

    The Best Art Direction category recognizes both the production designer and the set decorator of a given film, while the art director – an actual role on a film, mind you – isn’t recognized at all.  It’s very strange.  At some point they really need to change the name of the category to “Best Production Design,” but when you think of the changes the Academy needs to make — well, get in line.

    The nominees are:

    “Avatar” (Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Kim Sinclair)
    “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Caroline Smith)
    “Nine” (John Myhre; Gordon Sim)
    “Sherlock Holmes” (Sarah Greenwood; Katie Spencer)
    “The Young Victoria” (Patrice Vermette; Maggie Gray)

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  • Makeup bake-off leaves seven

    Christopher Plummer in The Imaginarium of Doctor ParnassusVia AMPAS press release, the final group includes:

    “District 9”
    “Il Divo”
    “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
    “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian”
    “The Road”
    “Star Trek”
    “The Young Victoria”

    Well, there was always one spot in flux for me here and most recently I was giving it to “Cirque du Freak” for some great work by a veteran of the branch.  If I were to hazard a guess as to which of these gets it, I guess I’d say “Parnassus,” its one and only nomination.  There is some good work in “Il Divo,” too (from the artist who brought the natives of “Apocalypto” to prosthetic life), so maybe that could come around.  Or “The Road.” The rest seem like non-starters to me.

  • WEEKLY WRAP: ‘Avatar’ leads, ‘Nine’ falls, more lists

    Sam Worthington in AvatarThere was no wrap last Friday, what with Christmas capping a dead calm news week. So here are the highlights of the last fortnight:

    • Off the Carpet returned from its Christmas vacation to survey the current state of the race — advantage “Avatar.”

    • The Long Shot considered the varying fortunes of the quartet of December releases once labeled the Big Four.

    • After much deliberation, Kris laid out his ten favorite films of the decade that was.

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  • Loose threads

    Rinko Kikuchi in The Brothers BloomOn the technical side of things, is anyone as uninspired as I am by the apparent frontrunners for Best Costume Design?

    I bow to no one in my admiration for the genius of Sandy Powell, but the Easter egg-colored wardrobe of “The Young Victoria” is routine work by her high standards. That hasn’t stopped most picking her as the one to beat, given the Academy’s recent penchant for royal frills in that category.

    Another two-time winner, Colleen Atwood, has more awards heat for “Nine” than “Public Enemies” — a situation really not borne out by her flashy but familiar work in the former film. And it’s obvious that Anna B. Sheppard knows her WWII duds inside-out, but does she serve up anything new in the admittedly well-dressed “Inglourious Basterds?”

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  • TECH SUPPORT INTERVIEW: The crafts of ‘The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus’

    Jude Law in The Imaginarium of Doctor ParnassusTerry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” is the latest entry in the director’s long history of wondrous, fantastical worlds. The film might be best remembered as containing Heath Ledger’s final performance. But Gilliam’s rich imagination is also seen in the work of below-the-line craftspeople who brought his world alive with splendid visuals and a rich color palette.

    Cinematographer Nicola Pecorini, production designer Anastasia Masaro, original designer David Warren, costume designer Monique Prud’Homme and composers Jeff and Mychael Danna all had pivotal roles in bringing the work to life on screen. I recently spoke to each them about their contributions to the film.

    Without any doubt, the experience of working with Gilliam had an immense impact on the crew. Jeff Danna describes the helmer as “a dream come true for a composer – he understands, reads and plays music, which very few directors do, but he doesn’t try to take over our job.” Danna says Gilliam is clear about want he wants and will “make noises…all sorts of crazy stuff to describe what he’s looking for musically.”

    Masaro agrees that Gilliam will stop at nothing to get at his vision. “He likes to work in chaos,” she says.  “You can see his ideas from film to film to film and what you have to do is carry your aesthetic but work within his framework.”

    Warren describes Gilliam as being very appreciate of the crafts crew on his films.  “He knows what film will look like in his head,” Warren says.  “He’s obviously very visual. He follows certain details into obscene proportions, such as ‘What’s that spoon going to be made out of?’”

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  • SUNDAY CENTS: Box office is a Festivus miracle!

    Sherlock Holmes*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    Holy shit. There’s no other way to describe the box office this weekend, which may well go down as the most attended three days on record. Nearly 35 million tickets were sold and three films grossed more than $50 million each.

    The number one movie for the weekend is James Cameron’s “Avatar.” I mentioned in the comments last week that it needed to drop a maximum of 35% to be considered a formidable box office force and a film with working positive word of mouth. Well, it dropped 3% to a virtually identical $75 million.

    $212 mil in 10 days for the film is the 18th highest total for any film after that amount of time and you can expect one more massive weekend and top spot finish on the way. $400 million is a very real possibility now and Fox has to get a lot of credit for convincing audiences that this was a film that you simply had to see or risk being ostracized. (I know from experience.)

    “Sherlock Holmes” came in a very strong second with $65.4 million for the weekend. Only “The Day After Tomorrow” has ever made more money as a non-#1 film, when it was beaten by the second weekend of “Shrek 2” in 2004.  It’s the sixth biggest December debut of all time and the film’s Friday gross set a record for a Christmas Day figure.

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  • Best in show: the year in superlatives

    Robert Downey Jr. in Sherlock HolmesWrapping up my perspective on the year today, a personal list of superlatives, Oscar categories and other silly nonsense.

    Swing back around on Monday for the ultimate wrap-up, my list of the best films of the decade.

    Best Picture
    “A Serious Man” (Focus Features)

    Best Director
    Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, “A Serious Man”

    Best Actor
    Sharlto Copley, “District 9”

    Best Actress
    Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

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  • 12/18 Oscarweb Round-up

    (from left) Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis and Bradley Cooper in The Hangover• Anne Thompson reports that there is no “official” costume designer on “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” so anyone holding out longshot hope for its Oscar chances in that field can go ahead and focus elsewhere. [Thompson on Hollywood]

    • Melena Ryzik gets Ivan Reitman to admit “The Hangover” would be on his top 10 list. [The Carpetbagger]

    • Dave Karger chats with “Nine” star Penelope Cruz, who could be on her way to back-to-back supporting actress nominations. [Oscar Watch]

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  • If I had a ballot

    Sam Worthington in AvatarEvery year I like to keep track of personal favorites throughout the Academy’s designated categories (plus one of my own addition, Best Ensemble). At the end of the year, my “if I had a ballot” post is the result.

    Of course, for the most part, I follow Academy designations here. If something is ruled ineligible, I play along. It’s not that often that something like that is egregious anyway, though the music branch consistently tests my resolve on the matter.  In years past I’ve tried to make it an AMPAS/critics’ awards hybrid kind of thing, but this makes it easier.

    I know, I know.  “Why don’t you just list what you think should be nominated, the rules be damned?”  Because then I couldn’t call it “If I had a ballot?”  But I guess I’m contradicting myself by adding a category.  I don’t know.  I’m just trying not to be too lamely definitive or authoritative with something like this, I suppose.

    Anyway, I’m also abstaining from offering up a list of foreign language nods. Firstly, I feel it’s been a rather weak year in general there, but I also haven’t made my way fully through the list of submissions either. So I’ll address that another time.  The same goes with he doc features, as I’d rather push through more of the eligible titles first.

    This year the top 10 is the Best Picture field, obviously, and from there, I toss my two cents into a variety of discussions. Here’s what I came up with…

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Makeup — Volume II

    Lorna Raver in Drag Me to HellWithout any doubt, one of the most difficult Oscar categories to predict is Best Makeup. Like Best Visual Effects, the final three nominees are chosen from a previously announced shortlist of seven.

    Very frequently, films that would seem to be sure things fail to even make the bake-off. Even so, it is possible to gauge the general sort of films which are nominated, with considerable prosthetics and aging effects being among the most cited accomplishments in this category.

    This branch is one that regularly seems willing nominate dreadful films, or to eschew insularity (which is not to say they don’t have their favorites, such as Greg Cannom and Rick Baker).

    I think many of the films I spoke of in September remain firmly in the running, And perhaps leading the way is Neil Blomkamp’s “District 9.” While much of the work in this was CGI, the makeup was key, not only to the main character’s transformation but also to capturing the injuries of the characters in the slums of Johannesburg. The crew has not been nominated before, but I don’t think that will be a problem.

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  • US ‘Parnassus’ poster

    The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

    (Courtesy: /Film)

  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Art Direction — Volume II

    Michael Stuhlbarg in A Serious ManWhen I first addressed the race for Best Art Direction in August, I spoke of how the branch tends to favor period pieces and fantasy films. Considering the research involved in the former and the often showy creativity on display in the latter, this is hardly surprising.

    That said, I often feel badly for exceptional contemporary films that have been slighted here in the past. Examples from this decade immediately popping to mind include David Wasco’s tremendously clever sets for “The Royal Tenenbaums” and Alex McDowell’s ultra-realistic airport design on “The Terminal.”

    While many of the titles in contention are the same over two months later, the race has nevertheless undergone some significant changes. Primarily this is because many of the films have opened, been unveiled at festivals and/or revealed glimpses via trailers and other materials.

    At the top of the list, still, is Rob Marshall’s “Nine.” John Myhre won this category on both of his previous two collaborations with Marshall. Dabbling in the world of Fellini seems like the perfect opportunity to grab his fifth nomination.

    While the “Sherlock Holmes” trailer has been around for a while, the verdict is still out on the latest film from Guy Ritchie – a director whose work to date has hardly been typical AMPAS fodder. Nevertheless, Sarah Greenwood has been nominated twice before for capturing period England, Joe Wright’s “Pride & Prejudice” and “Atonement” doing the trick. She’ll be doing the same here, albeit on a much larger scale. A nomination seems a distinct possibility in my opinion.

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  • OFF THE CARPET: Looking at the leading gentlemen

    Colin Firth in A Single ManWe’ve taken concentrated looks at the lead actress and supporting actress categories in recent weeks.  Now let’s turn our attention over to the fellas.

    Behind the Best Picture race, of course, the lead actor competition is perhaps the most hotly anticipated award of a given Oscar telecast.  Movie stars are born, Hollywood staples are rewarded and careers leap to the next level.  It makes for an intriguing annual state of the union as it pertains the the film industry’s talent roster.

    This year, one of Hollywood’s brightest stars finds himself right at the front of the conversation.  George Clooney is likely to end up with his third acting Oscar nomination, for Jason Reitman’s “Up in the Air,” and he’ll owe much of that to Reitman’s powerful work on the page.

    Clooney doesn’t give his best performance to date in the film.  But the material is so cleverly built around his persona that one can’t blame the actor for saddling up to a role that fits like a glove.  And there is something to be said for the bravery of taking one’s image on like that.

    Colin Firth, meanwhile, has caused a critical stir with his leading performance in Tom Ford’s “A Single Man.” He has already won the Venice Film Festival’s acting honor and has been tapped for another at February’s Santa Barbara Film Festival.  He is pitch-perfect in the film, giving a refined performance of nuance and gesture.

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  • Woman’s touch

    We’ve seen a lot of posters for “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” highlighting its starry male cast, and they’ve mostly left me cold. So is it a coincidence that this new design — which places relative newcomer Lily Cole in the spotlight — is the one that finally does it for me? Or am I just being a man about this?

    The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

  • Category shuffling gets complicated

    Meryl Streep in It's ComplicatedIt’s been interesting to note that many of the conversations concerning the Oscar race that I’ve had with people lately revolves around category placement for a number of the year’s contenders.  It was a topic Anne and I addressed directly in Friday’s Oscar Talk, in fact.

    There tends to be dueling ideologies on this, as well as what makes a performance a lead and what makes it supporting.  But purely from a marketing standpoint, it’s understandable that sometimes studios might play the landscape of the picture for an array of acting shots on goal rather than perhaps be true to the realities (that are, again, subjective) of the role within the narrative.

    We mentioned the anticipated classification of Marion Cotillard and Vera Farmiga in the lead actress category for “Nine” and “Up in the Air” respectively in the podcast, but as Pete Hammond points out in a recent Notes on a Season item, the category musical chairs are taking place elsewhere, too.

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