In Contention

Tag: Titanic

  • LIFE WITHOUT OSCAR: 1997 and 1998

    Catch up with the idea behind this series here.

    Before James Cameron was making $3 billion grossing movies, he was stuck directing $2 billion grossing art films that won tons of Oscars. I remember seeing “Titanic” three times in the theater at the age of 15, trying to get Kelly Adams to make out with me. I loved that movie yet still I remember being disappointed that “Good Will Hunting” didn’t take the top prize and that Burt Reynolds came away empty handed as well. We’re never satisfied, are we?

    Billy Crystal hosted and the result was the most watched telecast ever. And if you remember this show, you remember watching an endless segment introducing 70 previous winners. It was the worst.

    1998 gave us the second biggest upset in the last twenty years, when “Shakespeare in Love” took the top prize from “Saving Private Ryan.” At the time, I was outraged, but now I’m more than happy to throw my weight behind the former as a better film. Of course, we all know “The Thin Red Line” is where it’s really at.

    Roberto Benigni may go down in history as the only winner to stand on Spielberg’s chair after hearing his name. Say what you want about his performance, but he remains the only Best Actor winner in a foreign language film and that’s a fantastic achievement.

    So what failed to excite the Academy?

    (more…)

  • 10/20 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: ‘Complete Metropolis’ coming to TCM, buzz for Leo, Cameron on the usual talking points

    • Jeffrey Wells reminds of the forthcoming TCM airing of the restored “Metropolis” and one hour documentary “Metropolis Refound.”  I’ll…be…there. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • Steve Pond conveys positive word on Christian Bale and (as reported for months here) Melissa Leo’s performances in “The Fighter” from ShoEast. [The Odds]

    • Naomi Watts on “Fair Game,” Valerie Plame and politics in Hollywood. [HitFix]

    (more…)

  • 2/3 Oscarweb Round-up

    Abbie Cornish in Bright Star• Is it really an honor just to be nominated? [CNN]

    • Nathaniel Rogers notes that, despite the 10, we still ended up with a typical Oscar mixture of “a mix of message movies, epics, dramas and war films.” [The Film Experience]

    • Of Apparition’s dueling period pieces, Anne Thompson wonders what went wrong for “Bright Star” and right for “The Young Victoria.”  Her answer: momentum. [Thompson on Hollywood]

    (more…)

  • 1/27 Oscarweb Round-up

    Woody Allen• Captain Kirk to host the Annie Awards. [The Independent]

    • Roger Ebert writes a love letter to famed paparazzo Ron Galella in the course of reviewing “Smash His Camera” in Sundance. [Chicago Sun-Times]

    • Carey Mulligan, self-deprecating British actress rejected by three drama schools who went on to star in An Education has Tinseltown at her feet. [The Times]

    (more…)

  • ‘Education,’ ‘Hurt,’ ‘Avatar’ lead BAFTA nominations

    Carey Mulligan and Peter Sarsgaard in An EducationFor once, my predictions weren’t too shoddy … though the field-beating haul I anticipated for “An Education” didn’t quite pan out. Instead, Lone Scherfig’s film ties for the lead with Oscar frontrunners “Avatar” and “The Hurt Locker,” all three films securing eight nominations.

    “An Education” still looks like the one to beat here, though it’s not quite as strong as I might have thought. (I’m especially disappointed that Rosamund Pike fails to show up, despite being one of the BAFTA acting branch’s top five picks.)

    However, the especially robust showing for “The Hurt Locker” (I didn’t see that FX nod coming) suggests it could give the British pic trouble. Both films, meanwhile, scored directing bids, marking the first time BAFTA has nominated two female helmers in the category.

    Of course, “Avatar” also poses a threat, though when it comes to the win, it doesn’t strike me as BAFTA’s cup of tea. It’s worth bearing in mind that Cameron’s last awards behemoth, “Titanic” went 0-for-10 at the 1997 ceremony. (Before you ask, it lost Best Visual Effects to “The Fifth Element.”)

    More discussion, and a full list of nominations, after the cut.

    (more…)

  • THE LONG SHOT: Popular mechanics

    Chris Pine in Star Trek“My God, they’ve thrown in everything but the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

    Quoted by writer Anthony Holden in his gossipy history “The Oscars,” this was one publicist’s dismayed response to the 1990 Academy Award nominations, which included such unusual concessions to popular (as opposed to critical) opinion as a Best Picture nomination for “Ghost” and a Best Actress nod for Julia Roberts in “Pretty Woman.”

    I remember this year well – I was eight years old, and it was the first Oscar race I followed in detail from burbling Christmas hype to the ceremony itself, digging up and scrapbooking all the press and TV coverage I could find.

    And from what I recall of my fledgling research, the unnamed publicist above wasn’t alone in her discontent. In particular, the “Ghost” nomination attracted levels of critical scorn even higher than those usually reserved for the Oscars – the common line being that the Academy had sold out to commerce rather than art, and that the sky would be falling at any given moment.

    Does this situation sound at all familiar?

    It should do. Though it was a response to an outcome rather than a possibility, the kvetching over the 1990 nods more than slightly resembles the panic that set in among certain pundits and fans alike (including, admittedly, yours truly) when the switch to 10 Best Picture nominees was announced in June.

    (more…)

  • Leona Lewis to sing ‘Avatar’ theme

    Leona LewisChalk up another contender for Best Original Song. British pop diva Leona Lewis is to sing the (presumably multi-octave-scaling) theme song from James Cameron’s “Avatar.”

    Best known Stateside for her megahit “Bleeding Love,” the 24 year-old chanteuse rose to fame as the 2006 winner of “The X Factor,” the UK’s “American Idol” equivalent — thus making “Avatar” the year’s second sci-fi blockbuster (after “2012”) to turn to a reality-show star for musical duties.

    Empire reports that Lewis is currently shooting the video for the song, a James Horner-penned closing-credits effort titled “I See You (Theme from Avatar).”

    If this all sounds a little 1997, I guess that’s the idea. Lewis is, after all, a latter-day answer to Celine Dion, whose ubiquitous Oscar-winning theme for Cameron’s last film — what was the title again? — was part and parcel of its success. (Of course, times have changed since then, and the Academy looks a lot less kindly on closing-credit tracks these days.)

    (more…)

  • 9/23 Oscarweb Round-up

    Hugh Jackman at the 81st annual Academy Awards• Hugh Jackman speaks out on his Emmy win and whether he’d return as Oscar host. [Vulture]

    • “A Serious Man,” Colin Firth the big winners in a Toronto critics poll. [indieWIRE]

    • Mary Pilon sits down with activist and star of “The Cove,” Ric O’Barry. [Speakeasy]

    (more…)

  • 8/26 Web Round-up

    Tim Burton• The “Inglourious Basterds” one-sheet that could have been. [Poster Wire]

    • On the occasion of Tim Burton’s 51st birthday (yesterday), an appreciation. [Hero Complex]

    • On Marvin Hamlisch’s “hilariously schmaltzy” score for “The Informant!” [The Playlist]

    (more…)

  • It was always you, Rhett

    Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh in Gone With the WindChad’s excellent Sunday Cents columns have previously inspired discussion amongst readers about the rights and wrongs of adjusting box-office figures for inflation. I must say it’s always made perfect sense to me, and I’m even more in favor after reading this interesting Bloomberg chart, which lists the top grossers of all time after inflational adjustment.

    Under these circumstances, “Gone With the Wind” handily see off all challengers with a gross of $1.45 billion — a satisfactory outcome for me, given that it’s my personal number-one film of all time too. Meanwhile, “Titanic” — the all-time champ on the unmodified chart — drops all the way to #6 when inflation enters the equation. Result.

    Below is Bloomberg’s inflation-adjusted Top 10; after the cut, the equivalent ranking irrespective of inflation.

    TOP 10 ADJUSTED FOR TICKET PRICE INFLATION

    1. Gone with the Wind ($1,450.7)
    2. Star Wars ($1,278.9)
    3. The Sound of Music ($1,022.5)
    4. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial ($1,018.5)
    5. The Ten Commandments ($940.6)
    6. Titanic ($921.5)
    7. Jaws ($919.6)
    8. Doctor Zhivago ($891.3)
    9. The Exorcist ($793.9)
    10. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves ($782.6)

    (more…)

  • Curiouser and curiouser

    I have to say, it’s a stroke of luck that the most predictable Oscar race in some years at least happens to conicide with the most unpredictable Oscar ceremony. It’s as if Bill Condon and Laurence Mark knew that they had to pull out all the stops in reconfiguring the show to make up for a slate of nominees that could not have been more cautious. The few hints that have been dropped so far (including a radically altered stage design) suggest that, whether it sinks or soars, something very different is in store.

    Pete Hammond has written an interesting piece in which he considers the information we have so far, and wonders what bearing this year’s ceremony might have on the Oscarcast’s long-term future. He acknowledges the canniness of Condon and Mark’s semi-veiled strategy thus far (suggesting, I suspect  accurately, that the “leaked” news of Robert Pattinson and Zac Efron as presenters was in fact calculated to lure in younger viewers), and drops this tantalising bit of gossip:

    Oscar director Roger Goodman has worked with the new producers the past few weeks. A friend who sat with him the other night at the Scientific and Technical Awards ceremony said Goodman was characterizing Condon as a certified genius.

    OK, maybe this is a lot of hype. But … Oscar-nominated producer, Bruce Cohen said he had heard the same kind of talk.  He mentioned that Condon and Mark had presented their plans for the show to the academy’s board of governors two weeks ago and the board was blown away. If you can wow this crowd, you must be on to something.

    (more…)

  • 11/6 Oscarweb Round-up

    Leonardo DiCaprio• David Poland sees the passage of Proposition 8 in California as a marketing opportunity for Focus Features and “Milk”… [The Hot Blog]

    • …before running down the “short race” that is the Oscar season of 2008. [Movie City News]

    • Tom O’Neil and Pete Hammond keep on digging at Dave Karger’s predictions. [Gold Derby]

    • Ari Folman talks “Waltz with Bashir.” [The Guardian]

    • Kevin Days reports on the vintage autos used in Clint Eastwood’s “Changeling.” [Los Angeles Times]

    • More chatter about the Best Picture potential of “The Dark Knight.” [Test Pattern]

    • Martyn Palmer talks “Titanic” with Leonardo DiCaprio and the star’s desire to purge himself of the image the 1997 blockbuster molded for him. [The Times]

  • Hang your head, Britain

    It’s at moments like this that I would like to point out that I’m not really British. Yes, I live there. Yes, I have a British passport and a somewhat malformed British accent. But I was born in South Africa and hold those last two items in a South African flavor too. For the moment, at least, I’m calling myself South African.

    The reason for the cultural distancing? Well, it has something (okay, everything) to do with the fact that “Mamma Mia!” is on course to become the highest-grossing film of all time in the UK.

    It is currently sitting in second place, with £67.4 million — with the record £69 million gross of “Titanic” only a heartbeat away. It will more than likely happen — 16 weeks into its run, recently released “singalong” versions (shudder) are giving it renewed life.

    Words fail me. True, I can’t stand “Titanic” either. But at least it was a massive, self-mythologising event of a movie, one that broke some ground in the industry (if not in the artform) and represented a clear ‘moment’ in pop culture history. It was a film, in other words, whose stature and influence befitted such records.

    “Mamma Mia!”, on the other hand, has Meryl Streep belting “The Winner Takes It All” on a pastel-hued Greek island, like the floor show at some ghastly Sandals resort. If this is any cultural representation of the current British generation, we’re as confused as we are doomed.

    And you thought America was the only country whose credibility was at stake today.

    On a side note, it’s interesting to draw a parallel here with “The Dark Knight.” With Christopher Nolan’s film devouring the US box-office this summer, there have been calls for the Academy to fall in line with public tastes and consequently recognise its significant cultural achievement with a Best Picture nomination.

    By that rationale, should the Brits start lobbying BAFTA for a “Mamma Mia!” sweep, come February? It only seems fair, complicating factors of crapness aside.

  • Hmm…another design contender?

    City of EmberTwo craft category posts in a row, but I just watched this “City of Ember” featurette and suddenly wondered if Martin Laing and former nominee Celia Bobak have a shot at a nomination from the art directors’ branch.

    There’s plenty of talk from producer Tom Hanks and star Bill Murray about the massive sets constructed.  I remember when I was out in Belfast over the summer, the recent rush of film production was a pretty big deal to the community.

    Laing, by the way, was a draugtsman on Tim Burton’s “Batman.”  His designs in “City of Ember” seem to be taking a definite cue from the work of Anton Furst.  He was also a part of the design team on “Titanic,” though he didn’t get to share in the film’s Oscar nomination despite inclusion in the guild win that year.

    Perennial favorite Ruth Myers is also in the mix, having designed the threads for the film.  Keep an eye out, that’s all I’m saying.

  • Kate Winslet: the greatest actress of her generation?

    Kate WinsletAt nearly 33 years old (eight days and counting) and with five Academy Award nominations under her belt, Kate Winslet may just be the greatest actress of her generation. Her work has not yet revealed any limitations.  Like Meryl Streep, she offers an authenticity in her work, even the lesser films.  She seems incapable of uttering a false line.  She defines authenticity at every turn.

    Her work in “Titanic” transcended the material, a shoddy screenplay that saw her running about the doomed boat making decisions about what to do next, and I’ll be damned if Winslet did not make it work. In the hands of a lesser actress, the performance, and perhaps the role, would have come across as silly, but she made a character out of Rose we dared to care about.

    There was heat between Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio on the screen.  We believed the love, we believed the devotion, and she did this at a very young age. Earlier still she had gone toe-to-toe with Emma Thomson and Alan Rickman in “Sense & Sensibility,” earning an Oscar nod for Best Supporting Actress. Further back, you’ll witness chilling work in Peter Jackson’s “Heavenly Creatures” and one sees a major actress developing before our very eyes.

    (more…)

  • ‘L.A. Confidential’ gets a deluxe DVD release

    L.A. Confidential Special Edition DVDOne of the greatest experiences I have ever had at a Toronto festival was the North American premiere of Curtis Hanson’s “L.A. Confidential,” which was instantly declared a masterpiece and one of the great film noirs in movie history.

    Dark and entertaining with a twisting and turning narrative that keep viewers guessing throughout, the film was embraced by the critical community in a huge way, topping most of the 10-best lists that year and winning best-of-the-year prizes from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the National Society of Film Critics and the New York Film Critics Circle.

    The film is receiving a shiny new DVD release this year and I couldn’t be more excited.  The package offers a slew of special features: commentaries from film critic Andrew Sarries, author James Ellroy , nearly the entire cast, director of photography Dante Spinotti and production designer Jeannine Oppewall; a new making-of documentary with updated interviews with the players; detailed examination of the look of the film; “From Book to Screen” with Hansen, Brian Helgeland and Ellroy; and a focus on the film’s ensemble.

    As always the star of any re-issue is the film itself,  and “L.A. Confidential” remains one of the great films of the 1990s — a sublime work of art.

    Superbly acted by Guy Pearce, James Cromwell, Kevin Spacey, Danny Devito, David Strathairn, Kim Basinger and Russell Crowe (in a star-making turn), the picture was a tight ensemble piece.  It fired on all cylinders: direction, cinematography, design elements, and a film score that effortlessly zapped us back to 1950s Los Angeles.

    Kevin Spacey, two years after winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for “The Usual Suspects,” portrayed Jack Vincennes with a Dean Martin sort of cool, an honest cop who had sold his soul to television where he worked as an adviser on a popular series. Spacey was the anchor for the film, giving a marvelous performance that the other actors bounced off of nicely. His swift and shocking end remains one of the most startling moments I have witnessed in a film. I remember gasping out loud when the tables turned so quickly.

    (more…)

  • Each to their own

    As buzz grows about “The Dark Knight” aiming to eclipse “Titanic”‘s box office record, I thought this an opportune moment to point out at least one corner of the world where that’s not going to happen. Us wily Brits, eh?

    UK Box Office

  • 9/7 Oscarweb Round-up

    Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight• Peter Sciretta thinks “The Dark Knight” will eventually beat the $600 million “Titanic” domestic take with re-releases in future years.  Fair enough, but the worldwide gross is insurmountable and always will be. [/Film]

    • Tom O’Neil wonders whether Peter O’Toole has an Oscar win in store for his work in “Dean Spanley.” [Gold Derby]

    • Kevin Kelley spends some time with Brad Pitt. [Spout Blog]

    • Kim Voynar calls the newly re-edited version of Fernando Meirelles’s “Blindness” a “vast improvement” over the cut screened at Cannes. [Cinematical]

    • James Rocchi, meanwhile, talks to “Appaloosa” helmer Ed Harris. [Cinematical]

    • David Poland catches up with opinions on a few Toronto films, including “The Secret Life of Bees” from Fox Searchlight. [The Hot Blog]