Upping the superhero ante
"Iron Man", which premieres Friday, not only kicks off Hollywood's extended summer movie season, it supercharges what is shaping up as the biggest season ever for comic book-to-film transfers.
"It's not a fad", Marvel Studios president of production Kevin Feige said of the onslaught of movies built around comic book avengers. "It's the new archetype for the summer blockbuster. Everybody loves special effects, everybody loves epic entertainment, and that's what comics have been delivering for decades and decades."
"Iron Man" will be followed by "The Incredible Hulk" and "Wanted" on June 13 and 27, respectively, both from Universal. "Hellboy 2: The Golden Army" unleashes July 11, again from Universal, while "The Dark Knight", Warner Bros.' Batman sequel, alights July 18. Lionsgate releases "Punisher: War Zone" Dec. 5. On July 2, Sony opens its Will Smith-starrer "Hancock", which is not actually based on an actual comic but does promise to turn superhero conventions on their head with its tale of a depressed, alcoholic, bumbling hero.
It speaks to the vitality of the genre that Hollywood can schedule all these movies in the same time period without fear that they will cannibalize each another. "Iron Man" is a Marvel action movie featuring a man in a super-powered armor, while "Wanted" is an R-rated action movie about a society of super-assassins. "Hulk" is a Marvel monster movie set amid a realistic backdrop, while "Hellboy" aims to take audiences to underground worlds fertilized by Guillermo Del Toro's imagination. "Dark Knight" is expected to offer another dark, psychological exploration from director Christopher Nolan.
"If they were all about a guy who runs into an alley and changed into a costume or into a phone booth to put on a mask, they would have come and gone in a year or two," Feige said.
"It's not a fad", Marvel Studios president of production Kevin Feige said of the onslaught of movies built around comic book avengers. "It's the new archetype for the summer blockbuster. Everybody loves special effects, everybody loves epic entertainment, and that's what comics have been delivering for decades and decades."
"Iron Man" will be followed by "The Incredible Hulk" and "Wanted" on June 13 and 27, respectively, both from Universal. "Hellboy 2: The Golden Army" unleashes July 11, again from Universal, while "The Dark Knight", Warner Bros.' Batman sequel, alights July 18. Lionsgate releases "Punisher: War Zone" Dec. 5. On July 2, Sony opens its Will Smith-starrer "Hancock", which is not actually based on an actual comic but does promise to turn superhero conventions on their head with its tale of a depressed, alcoholic, bumbling hero.
It speaks to the vitality of the genre that Hollywood can schedule all these movies in the same time period without fear that they will cannibalize each another. "Iron Man" is a Marvel action movie featuring a man in a super-powered armor, while "Wanted" is an R-rated action movie about a society of super-assassins. "Hulk" is a Marvel monster movie set amid a realistic backdrop, while "Hellboy" aims to take audiences to underground worlds fertilized by Guillermo Del Toro's imagination. "Dark Knight" is expected to offer another dark, psychological exploration from director Christopher Nolan.
"If they were all about a guy who runs into an alley and changed into a costume or into a phone booth to put on a mask, they would have come and gone in a year or two," Feige said.
- 4/30/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Guadalajara goes for tango music
CORRECTED 9:40 a.m. PT Feb. 29
MEXICO CITY -- "El Cafe de los Maestros", a documentary about Argentina's glory days of tango music, will open the 23rd edition of the Guadalajara International Film Festival, organizers said Thursday.
The film fest, one of Latin America's top events, runs March 7-14.
In the Ibero-American fiction section, 14 features will vie for Guadalajara's top prize, including Brazil's controversial police drama, "Elite Squad", which recently won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival.
As for the Mexican fiction category, a dozen pictures will be in the running. Among some of the awaited titles are Rodrigo Pla's "Desierto Adentro" and Fernando Eimbcke's "Lake Tahoe", winner of the FIPRESCI Prize and Alfred Bauer Award in Berlin.
A career achievement award will go to Bertha Navarro, who has produced various pictures with Guillermo Del Toro, including the Academy Award-winning "Pan's Labyrinth". She is also working with Alfonso Cuaron on an upcoming project.
The guest country of honor is Argentina as Mexico looks to strengthen co-production ties with the South American nation.
MEXICO CITY -- "El Cafe de los Maestros", a documentary about Argentina's glory days of tango music, will open the 23rd edition of the Guadalajara International Film Festival, organizers said Thursday.
The film fest, one of Latin America's top events, runs March 7-14.
In the Ibero-American fiction section, 14 features will vie for Guadalajara's top prize, including Brazil's controversial police drama, "Elite Squad", which recently won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival.
As for the Mexican fiction category, a dozen pictures will be in the running. Among some of the awaited titles are Rodrigo Pla's "Desierto Adentro" and Fernando Eimbcke's "Lake Tahoe", winner of the FIPRESCI Prize and Alfred Bauer Award in Berlin.
A career achievement award will go to Bertha Navarro, who has produced various pictures with Guillermo Del Toro, including the Academy Award-winning "Pan's Labyrinth". She is also working with Alfonso Cuaron on an upcoming project.
The guest country of honor is Argentina as Mexico looks to strengthen co-production ties with the South American nation.
- 2/29/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Week in Review: Del Toro gets 'Hobbit'
One is lost
Wanted: Director. Must like werewolves, $100 million budgets. In a remarkably composed statement Tuesday, Universal thanked Mark Romanek for helping "bring one of its most cherished legacies to renewed life," this despite the fact that the helmer had just walked away from the studio's "Wolfman" after failing to get the $100 million budget upped. Stars Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins are still on board, but with a March start date looming, the search for a new helmer is understandably in overdrive.
One is found
Those were cries of joy emanating from the Comic-Con set Monday as Guillermo Del Toro, the man behind "Pan's Labyrinth" and "Hellboy", was revealed as Peter Jackson's handpicked helmer for the two-film adaptation of "Lord of the Rings" prequel "The Hobbit". While some diehard franchise fans won't be happy with anyone but Jackson, there's little argument that Del Toro's fantasy creds are impeccable. The hiring comes barely a month after Jackson and "Hobbit" co-producers New Line kissed and made up after a public battle over "Rings" royalties. The two filmmakers will work hand-in-hand overseeing the J.R.R. Tolkien novel's adaptation.
Waiting game
Avi Lerner is not happy. The producer, who, like most, has a number of projects stalled by the writers strike, called out the WGA this week, demanding to know why his Nu Image/ Millenium has yet to secure a waiver agreement while partners like the Weinstein Co.
Wanted: Director. Must like werewolves, $100 million budgets. In a remarkably composed statement Tuesday, Universal thanked Mark Romanek for helping "bring one of its most cherished legacies to renewed life," this despite the fact that the helmer had just walked away from the studio's "Wolfman" after failing to get the $100 million budget upped. Stars Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins are still on board, but with a March start date looming, the search for a new helmer is understandably in overdrive.
One is found
Those were cries of joy emanating from the Comic-Con set Monday as Guillermo Del Toro, the man behind "Pan's Labyrinth" and "Hellboy", was revealed as Peter Jackson's handpicked helmer for the two-film adaptation of "Lord of the Rings" prequel "The Hobbit". While some diehard franchise fans won't be happy with anyone but Jackson, there's little argument that Del Toro's fantasy creds are impeccable. The hiring comes barely a month after Jackson and "Hobbit" co-producers New Line kissed and made up after a public battle over "Rings" royalties. The two filmmakers will work hand-in-hand overseeing the J.R.R. Tolkien novel's adaptation.
Waiting game
Avi Lerner is not happy. The producer, who, like most, has a number of projects stalled by the writers strike, called out the WGA this week, demanding to know why his Nu Image/ Millenium has yet to secure a waiver agreement while partners like the Weinstein Co.
- 2/2/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Director Romanek departs 'Wolfman'
UPDATED 7:18 p.m. PT Jan. 29
Director Mark Romanek has left Universal's "The Wolf Man", just weeks before the movie was to go before cameras.
The helmer and studio were on opposite sides of the budget fence. Romanek was asking for additional money to make the film, and the studio was adamant about containing it to the $100 million range, especially because the project was being eyed as an R-rated horror film, typically not blockbuster fare.
The studio is looking at several helmer contenders and is intent on starting production in March. One complication is that no changes can be made to the script because of the writers strike. Any director coming on board will have to work from the screenplay Romanek developed with Andrew Kevin Walker and others and won't be able to put his or her stamp on it.
Benicio Del Toro still is on board to star as a man who returns to his ancestral home in Victorian England and gets bitten by a werewolf.
Director Mark Romanek has left Universal's "The Wolf Man", just weeks before the movie was to go before cameras.
The helmer and studio were on opposite sides of the budget fence. Romanek was asking for additional money to make the film, and the studio was adamant about containing it to the $100 million range, especially because the project was being eyed as an R-rated horror film, typically not blockbuster fare.
The studio is looking at several helmer contenders and is intent on starting production in March. One complication is that no changes can be made to the script because of the writers strike. Any director coming on board will have to work from the screenplay Romanek developed with Andrew Kevin Walker and others and won't be able to put his or her stamp on it.
Benicio Del Toro still is on board to star as a man who returns to his ancestral home in Victorian England and gets bitten by a werewolf.
- 1/30/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Del Toro doubles up for 'Hobbit'
Guillermo Del Toro is in talks to direct back-to-back installments of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit", which is being co-financed by New Line and MGM.
Del Toro's name was on a short list of directors who could tackle the project, one of the most anticipated literary adaptations of the past decade. An ill-chosen director for "Hobbit" could put billions of dollars at stake for New Line and MGM and could turn off an audience that encompasses millions of passionate readers, Tolkien fans and obsessive geeks.
Few filmmakers have the cachet that Del Toro has, as well as a deep love for the source material, an assured grasp of fantasy filmmaking and an understanding and command of geek culture as well as its respect. Del Toro has built that goodwill through such films as the Oscar-nominated "Pan's Labyrinth", "Hellboy", "Blade 2" (which was made by New Line) and "The Devil's Backbone".
For New Line, making "Hobbit" had become a priority in the wake of its billion-dollar success of the Oscar-winning "The Lord of the Rings" movies, which were co-written and directed by Peter Jackson.
Del Toro's name was on a short list of directors who could tackle the project, one of the most anticipated literary adaptations of the past decade. An ill-chosen director for "Hobbit" could put billions of dollars at stake for New Line and MGM and could turn off an audience that encompasses millions of passionate readers, Tolkien fans and obsessive geeks.
Few filmmakers have the cachet that Del Toro has, as well as a deep love for the source material, an assured grasp of fantasy filmmaking and an understanding and command of geek culture as well as its respect. Del Toro has built that goodwill through such films as the Oscar-nominated "Pan's Labyrinth", "Hellboy", "Blade 2" (which was made by New Line) and "The Devil's Backbone".
For New Line, making "Hobbit" had become a priority in the wake of its billion-dollar success of the Oscar-winning "The Lord of the Rings" movies, which were co-written and directed by Peter Jackson.
- 1/27/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Orphanage
NEW YORK -- This Spanish supernatural thriller begins interestingly and finishes intriguingly. But what lies between drags because the film lacks a driving story line.
The muddy middle means that The Orphanage doesn't live up to the eerie promise of its early scenes -- even though a sustained performance by Belen Rueda as a distressed mother goes a long way to paper over the cracks.
Orphanage, directed by first-timer Juan Antonio Bayona and executive produced by Guillermo Del Toro, is Spain's entry for the foreign-language film Oscar. Del Toro, still riding high after "Pan's Labyrinth," has put his name behind the film, which could prove an initial boon at the boxoffice. But the Picturehouse release isn't scary enough to do much business in theaters.
Bayona mixes two styles of supernatural thriller as the moody atmosphere of 1970s films like The Omen blends with the grim bitterness of contemporary J-horror.
The story takes place in, yes, a secluded mansion. Laura (Rueda) and her husband, Carlos (Fernando Cayo), are a pleasant middle-class couple who move into a seaside manor with their adopted son, Simon (Roger Princep). The twist is that Laura grew up in the place back when it was an orphanage. When young Simon disappears, Laura claims that he has been taken prisoner by the ghosts of the orphans. No one believes her, so she starts to investigate on her own.
Like many genre films, this one borrows at will. A plot about a child who can see dead people is obviously similar to The Sixth Sense, and the idea of everyday people coming face-to-face with evil forces reminds of "Rosemary's Baby." Some contemporary touches arise from the director's attempts to replicate the cruel frights of J-horror. But these demand a nastiness that's out of sorts with the film, thus the shocks often fail to hit home.
Rueda is the glue that holds everything together. It's a dramatic performance that rises above the constraints of genre work and gives the film an incredible lift. Production values are high, with Oscar Faura's probing cinematography a standout.
THE ORPHANAGE
Picturehouse
Rodar y Rodar Cine y Television and Telecini Cinema
Credits:
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Screenwriter: Sergio G. Sanchez
Producers: Mar Targarona, Joaquin Padro, Alvaro Augustin
Executive producer: Guillermo del Toro
Director of photography: Oscar Faura
Art director: Josep Rosell
Music: Fernando Velasquez
Costume designer: Maria Reyes
Editor: Elena Ruiz
Cast:
Laura: Belen Rueda
Carlos: Fernando Cayo
Simon: Roger Princep
Pilar: Mabel Rivera
Running time -- 100 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
The muddy middle means that The Orphanage doesn't live up to the eerie promise of its early scenes -- even though a sustained performance by Belen Rueda as a distressed mother goes a long way to paper over the cracks.
Orphanage, directed by first-timer Juan Antonio Bayona and executive produced by Guillermo Del Toro, is Spain's entry for the foreign-language film Oscar. Del Toro, still riding high after "Pan's Labyrinth," has put his name behind the film, which could prove an initial boon at the boxoffice. But the Picturehouse release isn't scary enough to do much business in theaters.
Bayona mixes two styles of supernatural thriller as the moody atmosphere of 1970s films like The Omen blends with the grim bitterness of contemporary J-horror.
The story takes place in, yes, a secluded mansion. Laura (Rueda) and her husband, Carlos (Fernando Cayo), are a pleasant middle-class couple who move into a seaside manor with their adopted son, Simon (Roger Princep). The twist is that Laura grew up in the place back when it was an orphanage. When young Simon disappears, Laura claims that he has been taken prisoner by the ghosts of the orphans. No one believes her, so she starts to investigate on her own.
Like many genre films, this one borrows at will. A plot about a child who can see dead people is obviously similar to The Sixth Sense, and the idea of everyday people coming face-to-face with evil forces reminds of "Rosemary's Baby." Some contemporary touches arise from the director's attempts to replicate the cruel frights of J-horror. But these demand a nastiness that's out of sorts with the film, thus the shocks often fail to hit home.
Rueda is the glue that holds everything together. It's a dramatic performance that rises above the constraints of genre work and gives the film an incredible lift. Production values are high, with Oscar Faura's probing cinematography a standout.
THE ORPHANAGE
Picturehouse
Rodar y Rodar Cine y Television and Telecini Cinema
Credits:
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Screenwriter: Sergio G. Sanchez
Producers: Mar Targarona, Joaquin Padro, Alvaro Augustin
Executive producer: Guillermo del Toro
Director of photography: Oscar Faura
Art director: Josep Rosell
Music: Fernando Velasquez
Costume designer: Maria Reyes
Editor: Elena Ruiz
Cast:
Laura: Belen Rueda
Carlos: Fernando Cayo
Simon: Roger Princep
Pilar: Mabel Rivera
Running time -- 100 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 12/28/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
'Orphanage' rocks Spanish boxoffice
MADRID -- Juan Antonio Bayona's ghost tale "The Orphanage" set a boxoffice record as this year's best-performing Spanish production in its opening weekend, minting €5.9 million ($8.4 million), AC Nielsen said Monday.
The film, produced by Guillermo Del Toro and Spanish broadcaster Telecinco Cinema, was fourth in the overall standings, which were led by "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," which made €8.9 million ($12.7 million) on its opening weekend.
Even so, "Orphanage" raked in more money per copy than any other film this year, averaging €17,000 ($24,163) on each of its 349 copies. "Pirates" was released with 827 copies.
"Orphanage", starring Belen Rueda as a woman who returns to the orphanage of her childhood to find her own child playing with the horrific playmates that haunter her, is distributed by Warners.
Bayona's directorial debut also is Spain's bid this year for the foreign-language Oscar. New Line recently picked up U.S. remake rights that include Del Toro producing.
The film, produced by Guillermo Del Toro and Spanish broadcaster Telecinco Cinema, was fourth in the overall standings, which were led by "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," which made €8.9 million ($12.7 million) on its opening weekend.
Even so, "Orphanage" raked in more money per copy than any other film this year, averaging €17,000 ($24,163) on each of its 349 copies. "Pirates" was released with 827 copies.
"Orphanage", starring Belen Rueda as a woman who returns to the orphanage of her childhood to find her own child playing with the horrific playmates that haunter her, is distributed by Warners.
Bayona's directorial debut also is Spain's bid this year for the foreign-language Oscar. New Line recently picked up U.S. remake rights that include Del Toro producing.
- 10/16/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Things We Lost in the Fire
This review was written for the theatrical release of "Things We Lost in the Fire".
"Things We Lost in the Fire" is an unstable mix of a tearjerker, junkie-recovery story and odd-couple pairing. The film marks the American debut of Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier, whose European films show a strong affinity for stories of human frailties and of families unraveling. So this one is right up her alley. One final twist: In going for the best actors, Bier has put together a racially mixed cast with Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro in roles that were undoubtedly written as white. What a refreshing change.
Despite the challenges of blending a European sensibility into a Hollywood production, the film holds together not all that badly. Bier brings her audience into the film, to live the story with the characters in a manner highly unusual in an American film. Normally such dramatic intensity and keen observation come in top Sundance films pitched to small adult audiences, but with Oscar-winning actors top billed and the full-court press of Paramount's marketing team, "Fire" could and should break out to a much wider audience.
The film does not initially follow a linear path. Tacking forward and back over a brief period of time, the film, written by Allan Loeb, much more effectively conveys a sense of devastating loss than chronology would provide. A comfortable, happy family of four suffers the tragic death of the father, Brian Burke (David Duchovny). Yet because Brian appears on and off throughout these opening scenes via flashbacks, his actual absence becomes all the more an emotional, physical and even spiritual void.
If there is a false note here it is that this is a family set up for a fall: Everyone is too happy, comfortable and good looking to be real, and dad is impossibly good. He even dies a hero's death, trying to rescue a battered woman from her abusive -- and, it turns out, murderous -- husband. He also is a real estate genius who leaves behind enough of a nest egg that the only issue confronting his family is his loss.
There apparently was only one sore point between Brian and his loving, sexy wife Audrey (Berry). She neither understands nor appreciates his continuing friendship and support of childhood friend Jerry (Del Toro), a lawyer who has landed on skid row thanks to heroin addiction. So Jerry's appearance, at Audrey's generous invitation, during Brian's funeral is that of a ghost from another world -- yet a world in which he knows things about Brian that his wife does not.
As the only adult who loved Brian as much as she did, Audrey finds herself unnervingly drawn to Jerry. She invites the recovering addict to occupy the family's garage that was converted into a living quarters following a fire but never occupied. Jerry soon finds himself uncomfortably acting as a surrogate father and head of house. Ten-year-old Harper (Alexis Llewellyn) and 6-year-old Dory (Micah Berry, no relation to Halle) naturally respond to him with affection and emotional neediness. And there is something about him that allows him to tune into their wavelengths more easily than their own parents.
Another false note is hit when Audrey insists that Jerry come to her bed one night and hold her as Brian once did so she can fall asleep. It makes sense on no level -- especially given her antipathy for him at this time -- and the movie takes a while to recover.
Sensing that Jerry is getting too close to her kids, Audrey abruptly and unfairly kicks him out of the garage. She does so just as Jerry has gotten a real estate license thanks to a friendly neighbor John Carroll Lynch), who is trying to shake off his own sense of loss following Brian's death. This rejection causes Jerry to relapse. A fellow Narcotics Anonymous attendee, Kelly (Alison Lohman), notices his absence and her tip sends Audrey into skid row to reclaim the troubled man.
The scenes of Jerry's recovery and Kelly's surprising impact on the Burke family elevate the third act into finely observed human drama. Despite its false steps, the film reclaims the intensity and integrity of its early scenes to finish on a note of hope.
Bier again sticks to the handheld camera style of previous films, even shoving her camera into actors' eyeballs, which is not always the best way to convey the emotions of particular scenes. Probably the most distracting problem is, oddly, her lead actress' glamour. With her own credited makeup artist and hair stylist, Berry walks into each scene, no matter what the emotions, as if ready for a photo shoot. The worst instance comes when Audrey searches for Jerry in a grim back alley junkies have turned into a shooting gallery. She is dressed in a tight outfit and eye-catching red jacket that is completely out of place.
Berry does deliver a solid performance as a woman and mother at the end of her emotional rope, not always rational but struggling to hold it together. Del Toro has nailed the junkie vibe without resorting to histrionics. He too is trying to hold himself together even as his insides threaten to implode. Duchovny makes a considerable impact in his brief appearances.
Lynch and Lohman do well with much meatier roles than minor supporting character generally have. Llewellyn and Berry are excellent as the children, who don't quite know how to feel about their father's death and the sudden appearance of a new man in their lives.
THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE
Paramount
DreamWorks presents a Neal Street production
Credits:
Director: Susanne Bier
Screenwriter: Allan Loeb
Producers: Sam Mendes, Sam Mercer
Executive producers: Pippa Harris, Allan Loeb
Director of photography: Tom Stern
Production designer: Richard Sherman
Music: Johan Soderqvist
Costume designer: Karen Matthews
Editors: Pernille Bech Christensen, Bruce Cannon
Cast:
Audrey Burke: Halle Berry
Jerry Sunborne: Benicio Del Toro
Brian: David Duchovny
Harper: Alexis Llewellyn
Dory: Micah Berry
Howard: John Carroll Lynch
Kelly: Alison Lohman
Neal: Omar Benson Miller
Running time -- 117 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
"Things We Lost in the Fire" is an unstable mix of a tearjerker, junkie-recovery story and odd-couple pairing. The film marks the American debut of Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier, whose European films show a strong affinity for stories of human frailties and of families unraveling. So this one is right up her alley. One final twist: In going for the best actors, Bier has put together a racially mixed cast with Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro in roles that were undoubtedly written as white. What a refreshing change.
Despite the challenges of blending a European sensibility into a Hollywood production, the film holds together not all that badly. Bier brings her audience into the film, to live the story with the characters in a manner highly unusual in an American film. Normally such dramatic intensity and keen observation come in top Sundance films pitched to small adult audiences, but with Oscar-winning actors top billed and the full-court press of Paramount's marketing team, "Fire" could and should break out to a much wider audience.
The film does not initially follow a linear path. Tacking forward and back over a brief period of time, the film, written by Allan Loeb, much more effectively conveys a sense of devastating loss than chronology would provide. A comfortable, happy family of four suffers the tragic death of the father, Brian Burke (David Duchovny). Yet because Brian appears on and off throughout these opening scenes via flashbacks, his actual absence becomes all the more an emotional, physical and even spiritual void.
If there is a false note here it is that this is a family set up for a fall: Everyone is too happy, comfortable and good looking to be real, and dad is impossibly good. He even dies a hero's death, trying to rescue a battered woman from her abusive -- and, it turns out, murderous -- husband. He also is a real estate genius who leaves behind enough of a nest egg that the only issue confronting his family is his loss.
There apparently was only one sore point between Brian and his loving, sexy wife Audrey (Berry). She neither understands nor appreciates his continuing friendship and support of childhood friend Jerry (Del Toro), a lawyer who has landed on skid row thanks to heroin addiction. So Jerry's appearance, at Audrey's generous invitation, during Brian's funeral is that of a ghost from another world -- yet a world in which he knows things about Brian that his wife does not.
As the only adult who loved Brian as much as she did, Audrey finds herself unnervingly drawn to Jerry. She invites the recovering addict to occupy the family's garage that was converted into a living quarters following a fire but never occupied. Jerry soon finds himself uncomfortably acting as a surrogate father and head of house. Ten-year-old Harper (Alexis Llewellyn) and 6-year-old Dory (Micah Berry, no relation to Halle) naturally respond to him with affection and emotional neediness. And there is something about him that allows him to tune into their wavelengths more easily than their own parents.
Another false note is hit when Audrey insists that Jerry come to her bed one night and hold her as Brian once did so she can fall asleep. It makes sense on no level -- especially given her antipathy for him at this time -- and the movie takes a while to recover.
Sensing that Jerry is getting too close to her kids, Audrey abruptly and unfairly kicks him out of the garage. She does so just as Jerry has gotten a real estate license thanks to a friendly neighbor John Carroll Lynch), who is trying to shake off his own sense of loss following Brian's death. This rejection causes Jerry to relapse. A fellow Narcotics Anonymous attendee, Kelly (Alison Lohman), notices his absence and her tip sends Audrey into skid row to reclaim the troubled man.
The scenes of Jerry's recovery and Kelly's surprising impact on the Burke family elevate the third act into finely observed human drama. Despite its false steps, the film reclaims the intensity and integrity of its early scenes to finish on a note of hope.
Bier again sticks to the handheld camera style of previous films, even shoving her camera into actors' eyeballs, which is not always the best way to convey the emotions of particular scenes. Probably the most distracting problem is, oddly, her lead actress' glamour. With her own credited makeup artist and hair stylist, Berry walks into each scene, no matter what the emotions, as if ready for a photo shoot. The worst instance comes when Audrey searches for Jerry in a grim back alley junkies have turned into a shooting gallery. She is dressed in a tight outfit and eye-catching red jacket that is completely out of place.
Berry does deliver a solid performance as a woman and mother at the end of her emotional rope, not always rational but struggling to hold it together. Del Toro has nailed the junkie vibe without resorting to histrionics. He too is trying to hold himself together even as his insides threaten to implode. Duchovny makes a considerable impact in his brief appearances.
Lynch and Lohman do well with much meatier roles than minor supporting character generally have. Llewellyn and Berry are excellent as the children, who don't quite know how to feel about their father's death and the sudden appearance of a new man in their lives.
THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE
Paramount
DreamWorks presents a Neal Street production
Credits:
Director: Susanne Bier
Screenwriter: Allan Loeb
Producers: Sam Mendes, Sam Mercer
Executive producers: Pippa Harris, Allan Loeb
Director of photography: Tom Stern
Production designer: Richard Sherman
Music: Johan Soderqvist
Costume designer: Karen Matthews
Editors: Pernille Bech Christensen, Bruce Cannon
Cast:
Audrey Burke: Halle Berry
Jerry Sunborne: Benicio Del Toro
Brian: David Duchovny
Harper: Alexis Llewellyn
Dory: Micah Berry
Howard: John Carroll Lynch
Kelly: Alison Lohman
Neal: Omar Benson Miller
Running time -- 117 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 10/9/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
40th Sitges: new directors, 'Runner,' horror
MADRID -- A heavy dose of directorial debuts, an homage to the 25th anniversary of "Blade Runner" and a program focusing more on horror than sci-fi awaits festivalgoers at this year's Sitges 40th International Film Festival of Catalonia, which kicks of Thursday.
The festival, which runs through Oct. 14 in the Mediterranean coastal town just south of Barcelona, will see 20 films compete for the noncash Maria prize, including a host of films from homegrown directors highlighting the growing strength of the terror genre in the Spanish production sector.
Sitges boasts an extensive list of world premieres this year but also offers a unique peek into the burgeoning genre production incubator, with 13 first-time directors screening their works in Sitges' official competition.
"There's a new generation of directors that has come out of Sitges," festival director Angel Sala said. "They've grown up watching Spielberg and Cameron and avidly attending Sitges, and now as they begin their careers, they are making fantasy film."
One such example is newcomer Juan Antonio Bayona, who will see his much-acclaimed first feature, "The Orphanage", produced by Guillermo Del Toro and Spain's Telecinco, open the festival out-of-competition tonight.
Other feature debuts include Nacho Vigalondo's "Timecrimes", Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego's "King of the Hill", Manuel Carballo's "El ultimo de los justos", Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo's "Inside", Hitoshi Matsumoto's "Dai-Nipponjin", Mark Fergus' "First Snow" and John August's "The Nines".
In addition, the Official Fantastic Section will include "I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK", directed by Park Chan-wook, "The Fall", directed by Tarsem Singh, and Sundance hit "Teeth", directed by Mitchell Lichtenstein.
The festival, which runs through Oct. 14 in the Mediterranean coastal town just south of Barcelona, will see 20 films compete for the noncash Maria prize, including a host of films from homegrown directors highlighting the growing strength of the terror genre in the Spanish production sector.
Sitges boasts an extensive list of world premieres this year but also offers a unique peek into the burgeoning genre production incubator, with 13 first-time directors screening their works in Sitges' official competition.
"There's a new generation of directors that has come out of Sitges," festival director Angel Sala said. "They've grown up watching Spielberg and Cameron and avidly attending Sitges, and now as they begin their careers, they are making fantasy film."
One such example is newcomer Juan Antonio Bayona, who will see his much-acclaimed first feature, "The Orphanage", produced by Guillermo Del Toro and Spain's Telecinco, open the festival out-of-competition tonight.
Other feature debuts include Nacho Vigalondo's "Timecrimes", Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego's "King of the Hill", Manuel Carballo's "El ultimo de los justos", Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo's "Inside", Hitoshi Matsumoto's "Dai-Nipponjin", Mark Fergus' "First Snow" and John August's "The Nines".
In addition, the Official Fantastic Section will include "I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK", directed by Park Chan-wook, "The Fall", directed by Tarsem Singh, and Sundance hit "Teeth", directed by Mitchell Lichtenstein.
- 10/4/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Spain, Mexico make Oscar pics
Juan Antonio Bayona's directorial debut, "The Orphanage", will represent Spain's hopes for a foreign-language Oscar nomination, while Carlos Reygadas' "Silent Light" will carry Mexico's banner, it was revealed Thursday.
New Line recently bought U.S. remake rights to the chilling tale, which is produced by Guillermo Del Toro, Spain's Telecinco Cinema and Rodar y Rodar, with the participation of Warner Bros. Prods. Spain. Picturehouse is handling U.S. distribution for the film.
"The Orphanage" beat out Emilio Martinez Lazaro's "13 Roses" and Jose Luis Garci's "Luz de Domingo" for the backing of Spain's Film Academy.
"The Orphanage", which ran in Critics Week at May's Festival de Cannes, is scheduled to open Sitges' fantasy film festival and unspool for Mexico's Morelia Film Festival.
"Silent Light", selected by the Mexican Film Academy, is a love story that takes place in an isolated Mennonite community in northern Mexico. The Mexico-France-Netherlands co-production won the jury prize this year at Cannes.
Elsewhere in Latin America, Brazil's Ministry of Culture has submitted Cao Hamburger dramedy "The Year My Parents Went on Vacation" as its foreign-language Oscar contender.
New Line recently bought U.S. remake rights to the chilling tale, which is produced by Guillermo Del Toro, Spain's Telecinco Cinema and Rodar y Rodar, with the participation of Warner Bros. Prods. Spain. Picturehouse is handling U.S. distribution for the film.
"The Orphanage" beat out Emilio Martinez Lazaro's "13 Roses" and Jose Luis Garci's "Luz de Domingo" for the backing of Spain's Film Academy.
"The Orphanage", which ran in Critics Week at May's Festival de Cannes, is scheduled to open Sitges' fantasy film festival and unspool for Mexico's Morelia Film Festival.
"Silent Light", selected by the Mexican Film Academy, is a love story that takes place in an isolated Mennonite community in northern Mexico. The Mexico-France-Netherlands co-production won the jury prize this year at Cannes.
Elsewhere in Latin America, Brazil's Ministry of Culture has submitted Cao Hamburger dramedy "The Year My Parents Went on Vacation" as its foreign-language Oscar contender.
- 9/28/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
'Orphanage' to open Mexico's Morelia fest
MEXICO CITY -- Juan Antonio Bayona's horror film "The Orphanage" and Christopher Zalla's immigrant drama "Padre Nuestro" will bookend the fifth edition of the Morelia International Film Festival, one of Mexico's top movie showcases.
In all, 76 films will unspool in official competition at the Oct. 5-14 festival, organizers said Wednesday.
Opener "The Orphanage" is produced by Guillermo Del Toro, Spain's Telecinco and Rodar y Rodar, with the participation of Warner Bros. Prods. Spain. Picturehouse is handling U.S. distribution for the film, which was recently tabbed for an English-language remake by New Line.
Closing the festival is "Padre Nuestro", winner of the Sundance grand jury prize for best U.S. drama.
In past editions, only documentaries and shorts were permitted to enter competition at Morelia. This year, however, the festival has added a feature-length fiction section for first- and second-time Mexican directors.
Among the features in competition are "Cochochi", which bowed at the Venice Film Festival, and "La Zona", winner of the International Critics' Award at the recent Toronto International Film Festival.
In all, 76 films will unspool in official competition at the Oct. 5-14 festival, organizers said Wednesday.
Opener "The Orphanage" is produced by Guillermo Del Toro, Spain's Telecinco and Rodar y Rodar, with the participation of Warner Bros. Prods. Spain. Picturehouse is handling U.S. distribution for the film, which was recently tabbed for an English-language remake by New Line.
Closing the festival is "Padre Nuestro", winner of the Sundance grand jury prize for best U.S. drama.
In past editions, only documentaries and shorts were permitted to enter competition at Morelia. This year, however, the festival has added a feature-length fiction section for first- and second-time Mexican directors.
Among the features in competition are "Cochochi", which bowed at the Venice Film Festival, and "La Zona", winner of the International Critics' Award at the recent Toronto International Film Festival.
- 9/27/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
'Orphanage,' 'Padre' set for Morelia
MEXICO CITY -- Juan Antonio Bayona's horror film The Orphanage and Christopher Zalla's immigrant drama Padre Nuestro will bookend the fifth edition of the Morelia International Film Festival, one of Mexico's top movie showcases.
In all, 76 films will unspool in official competition at the Oct. 5-14 festival, organizers said Wednesday.
Opener The Orphanage is produced by Guillermo Del Toro, Spain's Telecinco and Rodar y Rodar, with the participation of Warner Bros. Prods. Spain. Picturehouse is handling U.S. distribution for the film, which was recently tabbed for an English-language remake by New Line.
Closing the festival is Padre Nuestro, winner of the Sundance grand jury prize for best U.S. drama.
In past editions, only documentaries and shorts were permitted to enter competition at Morelia. This year, however, the festival has added a feature-length fiction section for first- and second-time Mexican directors.
Among the features in competition are Cochochi, which bowed at the Venice Film Festival, and La Zona, winner of the International Critics' Award at the recent Toronto International Film Festival.
In all, 76 films will unspool in official competition at the Oct. 5-14 festival, organizers said Wednesday.
Opener The Orphanage is produced by Guillermo Del Toro, Spain's Telecinco and Rodar y Rodar, with the participation of Warner Bros. Prods. Spain. Picturehouse is handling U.S. distribution for the film, which was recently tabbed for an English-language remake by New Line.
Closing the festival is Padre Nuestro, winner of the Sundance grand jury prize for best U.S. drama.
In past editions, only documentaries and shorts were permitted to enter competition at Morelia. This year, however, the festival has added a feature-length fiction section for first- and second-time Mexican directors.
Among the features in competition are Cochochi, which bowed at the Venice Film Festival, and La Zona, winner of the International Critics' Award at the recent Toronto International Film Festival.
- 9/27/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Del Toro's 'Orphanage' home with NL
Guillermo Del Toro's "The Orphanage" has been adopted by New Line Cinema.
After months of negotiations, the studio picked up the English-language remake rights to the Spanish-language thriller, which marks the directorial debut of Del Toro protege Juan Antonio Bayona.
Produced by Del Toro and Spain's Telecinco Cinema and Rodar y Rodar, with the participation of Warner Bros. Prods. Spain, "Orphanage" is written by Sergio Sanchez and revolves around a woman who returns to the orphanage where she grew up with the intention of opening a home for handicapped children.
Her son makes an invisible friend, who turns out to be the same "friend" that terrorized the woman when she was a child.
The movie is screening at the Toronto International Film Festival where it is becoming one of the fest's buzzed-about titles.
Del Toro, who made "Blade II" for New Line, will serve as producer on the English-language version. The studio is out to filmmakers to adapt the movie.
New Line vp European acquisitions Alexandra Rossi flagged the movie, bringing it to the attention of the studio's Toby Emmerich and Guy Stodel.
After months of negotiations, the studio picked up the English-language remake rights to the Spanish-language thriller, which marks the directorial debut of Del Toro protege Juan Antonio Bayona.
Produced by Del Toro and Spain's Telecinco Cinema and Rodar y Rodar, with the participation of Warner Bros. Prods. Spain, "Orphanage" is written by Sergio Sanchez and revolves around a woman who returns to the orphanage where she grew up with the intention of opening a home for handicapped children.
Her son makes an invisible friend, who turns out to be the same "friend" that terrorized the woman when she was a child.
The movie is screening at the Toronto International Film Festival where it is becoming one of the fest's buzzed-about titles.
Del Toro, who made "Blade II" for New Line, will serve as producer on the English-language version. The studio is out to filmmakers to adapt the movie.
New Line vp European acquisitions Alexandra Rossi flagged the movie, bringing it to the attention of the studio's Toby Emmerich and Guy Stodel.
- 9/8/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Orphanage
Toronto International Film Festival
TORONTO -- "What is a ghost?"
That question animated Guillermo Del Toro's "The Devil's Backbone," and it reappears -- again, with hauntingly poetic answers -- in Juan Antonio Bayona's "The Orphanage". Exec produced by Del Toro, it's a present-day cousin to the earlier film, more solidly tethered to its genre and very satisfying on those terms. The Del Toro imprimatur will help draw an arthouse/fantasy crowd, which won't be disappointed.
The picture comes equipped with a trunk full of storybook archetypes -- mysterious caves, extinguished lighthouses, secrets held under lock and key -- in addition to the eponymous shuttered orphanage, which Laura and her husband Carlos have bought in hopes of starting a home for disabled children. Laura lived here as a child before her adoption, and has happy but incomplete memories of the friends she left behind.
Laura's own adopted son Simon shares her affinity for abandoned souls, and early on -- particularly after they tell him things he shouldn't know -- we suspect that some of the imaginary friends he's making at this isolated seaside estate aren't so imaginary.
Simon vanishes without explanation one day, and the ghost story proper begins. While Carlos treats the disappearance as a police investigation, Laura is convinced the spirit world is trying to lead her to the boy. She begins to hear bumps in the night, see kids who aren't there, and uncover bits of history suggesting that her childhood home wasn't as idyllic as she believed it to be.
Director Bayona employs the visual language of horror films (the merry-go-round creaking slowly in the breeze, the camera pulling away into shadows) with restraint and good taste, preferring to let chills build slowly until, in a great one-two punch halfway through (also the only memorably gory scene in the film) he delivers an adrenaline jolt that colors the remainder of the tale.
From there, Sergio G. Sanchez's script delivers one solid sequence after another, each integrated smartly enough with Laura's backstory to feel richer than standard genre beats. The scares aren't as extreme as in a teen-aimed horror flick, but they satisfy. They also reflect a creative team whose personal investment in the world of bedtime stories ("Peter Pan" provides a resonant theme here) and ghost lore runs deep -- extending beyond the campfire impulse to scare each other and to a concern with the supernatural that's more spiritual or philosophical. What is a ghost? One character here wonders if it might be an echo, of pain and loss, determined to keep repeating until it is heard. "The Orphanage" listens attentively.
THE ORPHANAGE
Picturehouse
Telecino
Credits:
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Writer: Sergio G. Sanchez
Producer: NO RESPONSE
Executive producers: Alvaro Augustin, Joaquin Padro, Mar Targarona, Guillermo Del Toro
Director of photography: Oscar Faura
Production designer: (credited as Art Director) Josep Rosell
Music: Fernando Velazquez
Costume designer: Maria Reyes
Editor: Elena Ruiz
Cast:
Laura: Belen Rueda
Carlos: Fernando Cayo
Simon: Roger Princep
Pilar: Mabel Ribera
Benigna: Montserrat Carulla
Enrique: Andres Gertrudix
Balaban: Edgar Vivar
Aurora: Geraldine Chaplin
Running time -- 106 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
TORONTO -- "What is a ghost?"
That question animated Guillermo Del Toro's "The Devil's Backbone," and it reappears -- again, with hauntingly poetic answers -- in Juan Antonio Bayona's "The Orphanage". Exec produced by Del Toro, it's a present-day cousin to the earlier film, more solidly tethered to its genre and very satisfying on those terms. The Del Toro imprimatur will help draw an arthouse/fantasy crowd, which won't be disappointed.
The picture comes equipped with a trunk full of storybook archetypes -- mysterious caves, extinguished lighthouses, secrets held under lock and key -- in addition to the eponymous shuttered orphanage, which Laura and her husband Carlos have bought in hopes of starting a home for disabled children. Laura lived here as a child before her adoption, and has happy but incomplete memories of the friends she left behind.
Laura's own adopted son Simon shares her affinity for abandoned souls, and early on -- particularly after they tell him things he shouldn't know -- we suspect that some of the imaginary friends he's making at this isolated seaside estate aren't so imaginary.
Simon vanishes without explanation one day, and the ghost story proper begins. While Carlos treats the disappearance as a police investigation, Laura is convinced the spirit world is trying to lead her to the boy. She begins to hear bumps in the night, see kids who aren't there, and uncover bits of history suggesting that her childhood home wasn't as idyllic as she believed it to be.
Director Bayona employs the visual language of horror films (the merry-go-round creaking slowly in the breeze, the camera pulling away into shadows) with restraint and good taste, preferring to let chills build slowly until, in a great one-two punch halfway through (also the only memorably gory scene in the film) he delivers an adrenaline jolt that colors the remainder of the tale.
From there, Sergio G. Sanchez's script delivers one solid sequence after another, each integrated smartly enough with Laura's backstory to feel richer than standard genre beats. The scares aren't as extreme as in a teen-aimed horror flick, but they satisfy. They also reflect a creative team whose personal investment in the world of bedtime stories ("Peter Pan" provides a resonant theme here) and ghost lore runs deep -- extending beyond the campfire impulse to scare each other and to a concern with the supernatural that's more spiritual or philosophical. What is a ghost? One character here wonders if it might be an echo, of pain and loss, determined to keep repeating until it is heard. "The Orphanage" listens attentively.
THE ORPHANAGE
Picturehouse
Telecino
Credits:
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Writer: Sergio G. Sanchez
Producer: NO RESPONSE
Executive producers: Alvaro Augustin, Joaquin Padro, Mar Targarona, Guillermo Del Toro
Director of photography: Oscar Faura
Production designer: (credited as Art Director) Josep Rosell
Music: Fernando Velazquez
Costume designer: Maria Reyes
Editor: Elena Ruiz
Cast:
Laura: Belen Rueda
Carlos: Fernando Cayo
Simon: Roger Princep
Pilar: Mabel Ribera
Benigna: Montserrat Carulla
Enrique: Andres Gertrudix
Balaban: Edgar Vivar
Aurora: Geraldine Chaplin
Running time -- 106 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 9/7/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
'Betty,' 'Labyrinth' win 3 at Imagens
Picturehouse's "Pan's Labyrinth" and ABC's "Ugly Betty" were the evening's big winners during the 22nd annual Imagen Awards at the Walt Disney Concert Hall on Saturday night.
The Imagens, which honor Latino achievement in the entertainment industry, handed three awards to "Labyrinth", including best picture and nods for director Guillermo Del Toro and lead actress Ivana Baquero. "Betty" scored as best primetime series, and the show's America Ferrera and Ana Ortiz received the best TV actress and best supporting TV actress prizes, respectively. Ferrera, who burst into national consciousness this past year with her role in "Betty", also was honored with the Creative Achievement Award.
Kuno Becker, star of 2005's "Goal! The Dream Begins," was named best film actor, and Gerardo Taracena, who portrayed the evil Middle Eye in Buena Vista's "Apocalypto", garnered the best supporting film actor award. Newcomer Dalia Hernandez nabbed the best supporting film actress honor for her role as the young pregnant mother Seven in "Apocalypto".
The documentary film prize went to "Lalo Guerrero: The Original Chicano"; "Primera Comunion" was the winner in the theatrical short/student film category.
The Imagens, which honor Latino achievement in the entertainment industry, handed three awards to "Labyrinth", including best picture and nods for director Guillermo Del Toro and lead actress Ivana Baquero. "Betty" scored as best primetime series, and the show's America Ferrera and Ana Ortiz received the best TV actress and best supporting TV actress prizes, respectively. Ferrera, who burst into national consciousness this past year with her role in "Betty", also was honored with the Creative Achievement Award.
Kuno Becker, star of 2005's "Goal! The Dream Begins," was named best film actor, and Gerardo Taracena, who portrayed the evil Middle Eye in Buena Vista's "Apocalypto", garnered the best supporting film actor award. Newcomer Dalia Hernandez nabbed the best supporting film actress honor for her role as the young pregnant mother Seven in "Apocalypto".
The documentary film prize went to "Lalo Guerrero: The Original Chicano"; "Primera Comunion" was the winner in the theatrical short/student film category.
- 7/30/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
BAFTA spotlight brings in Cuaron, friends
LONDON -- Writer-director-producer Alfonso Cuaron, whose resume includes "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" and last year's "Children of Men", is one of the big names lined up by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts for its New Mexican Cinema shindig, which begins Friday.
Cuaron said in an interview that his responsibility during the event will be to ensure that he helps pave the way for future generations of filmmakers from his homeland of Mexico.
"I don't want to sound like an old fart," Cuaron said, "But we feel we have already established solid ground for Mexican filmmakers, and we really want to pave the way to facilitate the next moviemakers that follow."
Cuaron is lined up alongside fellow filmmakers, biz partners and friends Guillermo Del Toro ("Pan's Labyrinth") and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ("Babel") to boost the BAFTA celebrations of all things Mexican.
The British institution plans to showcase upcoming Mexican Film talent and honor the territory's contribution to the global film industry.
Cuaron said in an interview that his responsibility during the event will be to ensure that he helps pave the way for future generations of filmmakers from his homeland of Mexico.
"I don't want to sound like an old fart," Cuaron said, "But we feel we have already established solid ground for Mexican filmmakers, and we really want to pave the way to facilitate the next moviemakers that follow."
Cuaron is lined up alongside fellow filmmakers, biz partners and friends Guillermo Del Toro ("Pan's Labyrinth") and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ("Babel") to boost the BAFTA celebrations of all things Mexican.
The British institution plans to showcase upcoming Mexican Film talent and honor the territory's contribution to the global film industry.
- 7/27/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Argentina, Mexico, Spain conjure 'Boca'
BUENOS AIRES -- Filmmakers from Argentina, Mexico and Spain are teaming for the production of the supernatural thriller Boca de Santos starring two of the Spanish-speaking world's hottest stars.
Argentina's Pablo Echarri, fresh off the worldwide success of Telefe's telenovela Montecristo, will headline alongside sexy Spanish actress Elsa Pataky, a veteran of European cinema who last appeared in Snakes on a Plane.
Simon Andreu, Francisco Boira, Tania Esteban, Daniel Martinez, Ofelia Medina, Jose Sefami and Monica Dionee round out the international cast.
Mexico's Satori and Vertigo Films will team with Argentina's Cruz del Sur Cine for the shoot, slated to begin next month in Argentina's Patagonia region, before heading to Barcelona, Spain, and Jalisco, Mexico.
Mexican director Raul Ramon is making his big-screen debut with the project, working from a script penned by Pancho Rodriguez, a protege of Guillermo Del Toro.
The film is budgeted at $5 million and expected to be released in the second half of 2008. It will be the biggest international production the three countries have ever done together.
Argentina's Pablo Echarri, fresh off the worldwide success of Telefe's telenovela Montecristo, will headline alongside sexy Spanish actress Elsa Pataky, a veteran of European cinema who last appeared in Snakes on a Plane.
Simon Andreu, Francisco Boira, Tania Esteban, Daniel Martinez, Ofelia Medina, Jose Sefami and Monica Dionee round out the international cast.
Mexico's Satori and Vertigo Films will team with Argentina's Cruz del Sur Cine for the shoot, slated to begin next month in Argentina's Patagonia region, before heading to Barcelona, Spain, and Jalisco, Mexico.
Mexican director Raul Ramon is making his big-screen debut with the project, working from a script penned by Pancho Rodriguez, a protege of Guillermo Del Toro.
The film is budgeted at $5 million and expected to be released in the second half of 2008. It will be the biggest international production the three countries have ever done together.
- 7/11/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Spanish films hit six-year low
MADRID -- Not one Spanish film has managed to break into the top 25 boxoffice spots halfway through 2007, marking a six-year nadir in Spanish cinema, according to figures made public this week by the Spanish Culture Ministry's Film Institute.
In the first six months of the year, Spanish cinema snagged just 7.18% of boxoffice revenue, compared with 15.86% for the same period in 2005 and 9.43% in 2006. About 3.7 million moviegoers have purchased tickets for Spanish films out of a total 45.8 million tickets sold.
Unlike in previous years, 2007 has yet to release a locomotive for the industry, such as Pedro Almodovar's "Volver", Agustin Diaz Yanes' "Alatriste" or Guillermo Del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth", which all premiered last year.
So far, the top Spanish film is Filmax's "The Hairy Tooth Fairy", which has earned €2.14 million ($2.9 million) to date.
Spanish cinema has earned €19.3 million ($26.3 million) in 2007, just €4 million more than the top-grossing film, "Spider-Man 3".
Meanwhile, U.S. films have set new boxoffice opening-weekend records.
In the first six months of the year, Spanish cinema snagged just 7.18% of boxoffice revenue, compared with 15.86% for the same period in 2005 and 9.43% in 2006. About 3.7 million moviegoers have purchased tickets for Spanish films out of a total 45.8 million tickets sold.
Unlike in previous years, 2007 has yet to release a locomotive for the industry, such as Pedro Almodovar's "Volver", Agustin Diaz Yanes' "Alatriste" or Guillermo Del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth", which all premiered last year.
So far, the top Spanish film is Filmax's "The Hairy Tooth Fairy", which has earned €2.14 million ($2.9 million) to date.
Spanish cinema has earned €19.3 million ($26.3 million) in 2007, just €4 million more than the top-grossing film, "Spider-Man 3".
Meanwhile, U.S. films have set new boxoffice opening-weekend records.
- 7/7/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Hungary, Poland on prod'n fast track
LONDON -- Central Europe's ability to meet the demands of local and international co-productions moved up a rung Friday when the region's newest filmmaking complex, Hungary's Korda Studios, announced the start of principal photography on its first major production, Guillermo Del Toro's "Hellboy 2".
The announcement of the completion of the first week of shooting at the $127 million studio's huge twin Stages 2 and 3 came hard on the heels of a deal announced Wednesday in Poland to build a massive 10-stage studio complex 50 miles south of Warsaw, with sound stages that will dwarf those currently available at Korda or Prague's Barrandov.
The first "Hellboy" film made use of Barrandov Studio in the Czech Republic when it was made in 2004.
Laszlo Krisan, managing director and CEO of Korda Studios, which is situated at Eytek, 17 miles from Budapest, said "Hellboy 2" was the largest-ever production to shoot in Hungary, with an international cast and crew of 350 expected to spend six months at the studios and on location.
The announcement of the completion of the first week of shooting at the $127 million studio's huge twin Stages 2 and 3 came hard on the heels of a deal announced Wednesday in Poland to build a massive 10-stage studio complex 50 miles south of Warsaw, with sound stages that will dwarf those currently available at Korda or Prague's Barrandov.
The first "Hellboy" film made use of Barrandov Studio in the Czech Republic when it was made in 2004.
Laszlo Krisan, managing director and CEO of Korda Studios, which is situated at Eytek, 17 miles from Budapest, said "Hellboy 2" was the largest-ever production to shoot in Hungary, with an international cast and crew of 350 expected to spend six months at the studios and on location.
- 6/16/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Fantastic future for Gilliam
AMSTERDAM -- Director and former Monty Python member Terry Gilliam will be honored with a career achievement award at the 23rd edition of the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival, organizers said Thursday.
The festival, which opens with Guillermo Del Toro's three-time Oscar winner "Pan's Labyrinth", runs April 18-25.
With the career nod, AFFF pays tribute to a director who "never allows his fantasy to be limited in any way." The festival also will screen a selection of Gilliam's major films. His credits include "Brazil", "The Fisher King", "Twelve Monkeys", "Time Bandits" and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas".
Previous recipients of the award include: Wes Craven (2000), Dario Argento (2001), Paul Verhoeven (2002), Lloyd Kaufman (2003), Ray Harryhausen (2004), Paul Naschy (2005) and Roger Corman (2006).
The festival, which opens with Guillermo Del Toro's three-time Oscar winner "Pan's Labyrinth", runs April 18-25.
With the career nod, AFFF pays tribute to a director who "never allows his fantasy to be limited in any way." The festival also will screen a selection of Gilliam's major films. His credits include "Brazil", "The Fisher King", "Twelve Monkeys", "Time Bandits" and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas".
Previous recipients of the award include: Wes Craven (2000), Dario Argento (2001), Paul Verhoeven (2002), Lloyd Kaufman (2003), Ray Harryhausen (2004), Paul Naschy (2005) and Roger Corman (2006).
- 3/30/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
'Vacation,' 'Elements' bookend Guadalajara fest
MEXICO CITY -- Brazilian dramedy "The Year My Parents Went on Vacation" and Dutch documentary "4 Elements" will bookend the 22nd edition of the Guadalajara International Film Festival, Mexico's top movie showcase.
In all, 220 films will unspool during the nine-day event, which runs March 22-30. Mexican filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro, whose dark fantasy "Pan's Labyrinth" won three Oscars, will receive a career achievement award at Thursday's opening ceremony. Del Toro is a Guadalajara native.
Vicente Lenero, who penned Mexico's all-time boxoffice champ, "The Crime of Father Amaro", also will be honored with an achievement award.
This year's lineup is heavy on Mexican productions and notably light on U.S. entries. Festival director Jorge Sanchez told reporters at a Friday news conference that the fest will screen "80% more Mexican pictures than it did in the past edition."
In official competition, 16 Ibero-American films will vie for Guadalajara's top prize, with the bulk coming from Mexico and Brazil. In a separate Mexican Fiction category, 12 features will make their Mexican debuts.
In all, 220 films will unspool during the nine-day event, which runs March 22-30. Mexican filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro, whose dark fantasy "Pan's Labyrinth" won three Oscars, will receive a career achievement award at Thursday's opening ceremony. Del Toro is a Guadalajara native.
Vicente Lenero, who penned Mexico's all-time boxoffice champ, "The Crime of Father Amaro", also will be honored with an achievement award.
This year's lineup is heavy on Mexican productions and notably light on U.S. entries. Festival director Jorge Sanchez told reporters at a Friday news conference that the fest will screen "80% more Mexican pictures than it did in the past edition."
In official competition, 16 Ibero-American films will vie for Guadalajara's top prize, with the bulk coming from Mexico and Brazil. In a separate Mexican Fiction category, 12 features will make their Mexican debuts.
- 3/17/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Award kicks off Malaga Screenings
MADRID -- The Malaga Screenings kicked off Wednesday night as Benelux Paradiso Filmed Entertainment chairman Martien Uyttendaele picked up the event's international distribution prize at the event's opening ceremony. The company was honored in recognition of its role in releasing Spanish films.
Over the past 10 years, Paradiso has distributed a wide range of titles, including Ramon Salazar's "10 Centimeters", Guillermo Del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth" and Jose Pozo's "Cid: The Legend".
The screenings, which take place within the framework of the Malaga Spanish Film Festival, will see more than 72 feature films screened for 70 international buyers from 30 countries. It runs through Saturday.
Over the past 10 years, Paradiso has distributed a wide range of titles, including Ramon Salazar's "10 Centimeters", Guillermo Del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth" and Jose Pozo's "Cid: The Legend".
The screenings, which take place within the framework of the Malaga Spanish Film Festival, will see more than 72 feature films screened for 70 international buyers from 30 countries. It runs through Saturday.
- 3/15/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
'Norbit' take hefty at $33.7 mil
Eddie Murphy is proving to be as big of a movie star as the fat suit he wears in the DreamWorks comedy Norbit.
The Academy Award-nominated actor has earned himself the top spot in the North American boxoffice rankings with his latest film, a Paramount Pictures release, just two weekends before he could very well nab his first Oscar statuette off his Dreamgirls performance.
But while Norbit killed with an estimated $33.7 million for the three-day frame, the thriller Hannibal Rising, an MGM release of a film from the Weinstein Co., died at a meager $13.3 million. Hannibal's disappointing opening take dragged down the weekend's boxoffice totals, which saw the top 12 movies down an estimated 10% compared to the same frame last year. It marks the sixth consecutive down weekend of 2007. Universal Pictures' romantic comedy Because I Said So held up well in its second weekend, grossing an estimated $9 million and falling only 31% to nab the third spot in the boxoffice rankings. The Diane Keaton starrer has grossed an estimated $25.6 million in 10 days of release.
Sony Pictures' The Messengers didn't hold up as strongly. Typical for a horror flick, the Screen Gems production, which ranked No. 1 last weekend, fell an estimated 51%, grossing $7.2 million. The film's cume stands at an estimated $24.7 million after two weekends in wide release.
20th Century Fox's Night at the Museum continues to astonish. The film, which has been in theaters for two months, fell only 10% compared to its last frame. In fifth place, the Ben Stiller starrer from director Shawn Levy earned an estimated $5.7 million to put its cume at an astronomical $232 million.
Another Universal holdover also seems to be hanging in there a bit more strongly than expected. The Joe Carnahan-directed Smokin' Aces fell 38% in its third weekend in release, grossing an additional $3.7 million. In seventh place, the R-rated actioner has earned $30.8 million in its 17 days in release. Fox's parody Epic Movie tumbled 47% as it collected $4.5 million, which put it in sixth place.
Oscar-nominated films rounded out the top 10, with Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth continuing to interest audiences. The adult fantasy tale fell only 4% from last weekend on 61 additional theaters.
The Academy Award-nominated actor has earned himself the top spot in the North American boxoffice rankings with his latest film, a Paramount Pictures release, just two weekends before he could very well nab his first Oscar statuette off his Dreamgirls performance.
But while Norbit killed with an estimated $33.7 million for the three-day frame, the thriller Hannibal Rising, an MGM release of a film from the Weinstein Co., died at a meager $13.3 million. Hannibal's disappointing opening take dragged down the weekend's boxoffice totals, which saw the top 12 movies down an estimated 10% compared to the same frame last year. It marks the sixth consecutive down weekend of 2007. Universal Pictures' romantic comedy Because I Said So held up well in its second weekend, grossing an estimated $9 million and falling only 31% to nab the third spot in the boxoffice rankings. The Diane Keaton starrer has grossed an estimated $25.6 million in 10 days of release.
Sony Pictures' The Messengers didn't hold up as strongly. Typical for a horror flick, the Screen Gems production, which ranked No. 1 last weekend, fell an estimated 51%, grossing $7.2 million. The film's cume stands at an estimated $24.7 million after two weekends in wide release.
20th Century Fox's Night at the Museum continues to astonish. The film, which has been in theaters for two months, fell only 10% compared to its last frame. In fifth place, the Ben Stiller starrer from director Shawn Levy earned an estimated $5.7 million to put its cume at an astronomical $232 million.
Another Universal holdover also seems to be hanging in there a bit more strongly than expected. The Joe Carnahan-directed Smokin' Aces fell 38% in its third weekend in release, grossing an additional $3.7 million. In seventh place, the R-rated actioner has earned $30.8 million in its 17 days in release. Fox's parody Epic Movie tumbled 47% as it collected $4.5 million, which put it in sixth place.
Oscar-nominated films rounded out the top 10, with Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth continuing to interest audiences. The adult fantasy tale fell only 4% from last weekend on 61 additional theaters.
- 2/11/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
'Messengers' delivers No. 1 debut
The Hollywood studios have figured out how to counterprogram against the behemoth weekend television event that is Super Bowl Sunday. Sony Pictures and Universal Pictures both scored this frame at the North American boxoffice with two releases aimed specifically at audiences not typically interested in the big game. Sony's horror flick "The Messengers", from its Screen Gems unit, bowed in first place to an estimated $14.5 million, while Universal's romantic comedy "Because I Said So", from Gold Circle Films, grossed an estimated $13 million.
The second-week holdovers, however, suffered from a extremely weak Sunday at the movies.
20th Century Fox's "Epic Movie" which was No. 1 last frame, fell a steep 56% to an estimated $8.2 million. Universal's "Smokin' Aces", which had been the No. 1 film throughout the week, fell a severe 57% to $6.3 million. Both suffered from the strength of "Messengers", coupled with the bleak Sunday.
Meanwhile, Sony's romantic comedy "Catch and Release" plummeted even farther, dropping 65% in its sophomore session to an estimated $2.7 million, which knocked it down to 11th place. MGM's release of Lakeshore's "Blood and Chocolate" dropped an extreme 71% to an estimated $611,000. Officially dead in the water after 10 days in release, "Blood", starring Agnes Bruckner, has grossed just $3.1 million.
The steep falls contributed to the top 12 films being off an estimated 12% compared with last year at this time, when Sony's "When a Stranger Calls" opened to $21.6 million.
There were two bright spots in the weekend's top 10. In fourth place, Fox's "Night at the Museum", in its seventh week of release, dropped a scant 29% to $6.7 million. The Ben Stiller starrer, still in more than 3,000 theaters, has grossed more than $225 million since it bowed during the holiday season. In eighth place, Picturehouse's Spanish-language film "Pan's Labyrinth", directed by Guillermo Del Toro, grossed an additional $3.6 million, becoming the highest-grossing Spanish-language film to be released in the U.S. With a total cume of $21.7 million, "Labyrinth" surpassed Miramax Films' 1993 release "Like Water for Chocolate".
Sony has cornered the market on Super Bowl Sunday. The Culver City-based studio has bowed a first-place film on the big sporting weekend for each of the past seven years.
The second-week holdovers, however, suffered from a extremely weak Sunday at the movies.
20th Century Fox's "Epic Movie" which was No. 1 last frame, fell a steep 56% to an estimated $8.2 million. Universal's "Smokin' Aces", which had been the No. 1 film throughout the week, fell a severe 57% to $6.3 million. Both suffered from the strength of "Messengers", coupled with the bleak Sunday.
Meanwhile, Sony's romantic comedy "Catch and Release" plummeted even farther, dropping 65% in its sophomore session to an estimated $2.7 million, which knocked it down to 11th place. MGM's release of Lakeshore's "Blood and Chocolate" dropped an extreme 71% to an estimated $611,000. Officially dead in the water after 10 days in release, "Blood", starring Agnes Bruckner, has grossed just $3.1 million.
The steep falls contributed to the top 12 films being off an estimated 12% compared with last year at this time, when Sony's "When a Stranger Calls" opened to $21.6 million.
There were two bright spots in the weekend's top 10. In fourth place, Fox's "Night at the Museum", in its seventh week of release, dropped a scant 29% to $6.7 million. The Ben Stiller starrer, still in more than 3,000 theaters, has grossed more than $225 million since it bowed during the holiday season. In eighth place, Picturehouse's Spanish-language film "Pan's Labyrinth", directed by Guillermo Del Toro, grossed an additional $3.6 million, becoming the highest-grossing Spanish-language film to be released in the U.S. With a total cume of $21.7 million, "Labyrinth" surpassed Miramax Films' 1993 release "Like Water for Chocolate".
Sony has cornered the market on Super Bowl Sunday. The Culver City-based studio has bowed a first-place film on the big sporting weekend for each of the past seven years.
- 2/4/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
WB Mexico to re-release award-winning 'Pan'
MEXICO CITY -- Warner Bros. Mexico will re-release Guillermo Del Toro's dark fantasy "Pan's Labyrinth" on 150 screens thanks to the broad success the film has had this awards season, the distributor said Wednesday.
The Mexico-Spain co-production, which recently nabbed seven of Spain's Goya Awards, including best original screenplay for Del Toro, will hit Mexican screens nationwide Friday. The picture also garnered six nominations for the upcoming Academy Awards and is considered a strong contender in the foreign-language film category.
The Mexico-Spain co-production, which recently nabbed seven of Spain's Goya Awards, including best original screenplay for Del Toro, will hit Mexican screens nationwide Friday. The picture also garnered six nominations for the upcoming Academy Awards and is considered a strong contender in the foreign-language film category.
- 1/31/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Oscar reactions: 'My heart started thumping!'
"What a fucking day!" said Guillermo del Toro, whose "Pan's Labyrinth" scored six nominations. "I woke up without my glasses at what I believed was 5:15. I said, Holy crap, it's 5:15! I ran downstairs, and of course, it was 3:30," he said. "I browsed cable and found Peckinpah's 'Wild Bunch.' This was a blessing. I stayed with Peckinpah until the nominations. And when I heard them, I tell you, there has never been so much love in that sofa than this morning." "Labyrinth" managed quite a haul, an amazing amount for a movie that was released so late in the year. Del Toro said had it been released earlier, the score might have been different, "but the beauty of it is, whoever saw it at the time certainly loved it enough to produce this variety of nominations. What I find beautiful is whoever was touched by the movie came forth and said it in a loud voice." Del Toro, too, said he is touched that a movie that was so difficult to make is getting so much love. "The financing collapsed twice, most everybody in my camp was telling me to drop it," he said. "And I'm glad I stuck with it with my friends Alfonso (Cuaron), Bertha Navarro) and Frida Torresblanco). We co-produced this movie with Spain through sheer will. It was not business as usual making it."
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There may be no typical way to receive notification that you have received a best actress Oscar nomination, but Helen Mirren discovered that she had been tapped for "The Queen" in "a most extraordinary way." While waiting on hold for an interview with NBC's "Today" show during a break between filming scenes for Iain Softley's "Inkheart", she was listening to the live feed of nominations and unknowingly came in during the middle of best supporting actress. Not hearing her name, she said, "I figured they were going to come on the line and say, 'Sorry, Ms. Mirren, we're not interested now.' But then I heard the actual announcement, literally live on television. I'd been cool until that point, but my heart started thumping." Talk about timing. Mirren, who this month won the Golden Globe for her titular role in "Queen" and another for HBO's "Elizabeth I", also was a front-runner for her PBS mini-series "Prime Suspect: The Final Act" this year. "It was exhausting", she recalls of having to do all three roles in one year. "It was basically 10 hours of lead role acting onscreen, which is very demanding. It was just as well that when I got to do 'Prime Suspect' I had to play a sad old drunk -- that was about as much as I could manage at that point." Overall, she said she is thrilled with the fact that "Queen" received six Oscar nominations. "It is very gratifying to have the whole film recognized," she said. But there was one person who wasn't quite ready to recognize Mirren's nomination -- her husband, director Taylor Hackford, was still asleep when she called him first with the good news. "I woke him up", she said tenderly. "And I said, Hello, darling. He said, 'Do you know what time it is?' He had forgotten what day it was."
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"Babel" director-producer Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu was forced to celebrate the film's seven nominations, including a best helmer mention, in silence. "My kids are sick with the flu", said Gonzalez Inarritu, who watched the early-morning telecast at home with his wife. "We jumped, but we couldn't shout. So it was a strange, quiet celebration. But I woke them up later to tell them the news. After all, the film is dedicated to them." As for the unconventional, global-minded film's appeal to Academy voters, Gonzalez Inarritu said, "I think there is more of an open attitude nowadays," he said. "It's been an incredible year for international filmmakers."
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Penelope Cruz wasn't about to let her first Academy Award nomination get in the way of a good night's sleep. "I went to sleep at 10, but then something woke me up," said Cruz, who was singled out for her starring role in "Volver". "I was nervous, but I didn't want to admit it." The Spanish actress finally awoke to the sounds of the TV set in another room. My father yelled, 'Stop pretending you are sleeping and come out here, ' " she said. "I was very excited. I was crying and laughing at the same time." Still, the celebration was dampened by the fact that "Volver" helmer and Cruz's longtime collaborator, Pedro Almodovar, was shut out of the foreign-language and director categories. "I called him immediately, and he said from all of the nominations the film could have received, he was the happiest about mine," said Cruz, who cites Almodovar as the reason she decided to become an actress.
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Stephen Frears learned of his Oscar nom for directing while at the Savoy Hotel in London, where he was honored in the feature film category by the South Bank Awards program for his work on "The Queen". "I'm just reeling", Frears said. "You don't make films in England with that kind of possibility. If you ran your life with the idea that this is going to happen, you'd go mad, but it's phenomenal. I've had a charmed (professional) life, and if this keeps it going on a bit longer, then I'm thrilled." Frears, nominated in 1990 for "The Grifters", said he had no idea "Queen" would attract such critical renown. "I was sent a good script, and I approached it like I direct anything, really," he said. "It's really hard to say why this one took off. You go to work, and I could see the talent was giving an extraordinary performance, but you still can't anticipate anything like this. It's quite bewildering, in the best sense of the word."
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"I woke up with my agent screaming in my ear," said "The Departed"'s Mark Wahlberg, who was in bed at his home in Los Angeles when his nomination for best supporting actor was announced. "I thought something terrible happened at first. We didn't think it was going to happen. I hoped it would happen." Wahlberg credits his "real-life experience" and being inside his "comfort zone" for the performance of his career in "Departed". "It was not a lot of preparation or learning lines," he said. "I came up with a lot of different ways to insult these guys. I spent a good part of my childhood getting in trouble with the Boston police. I had the accent. Marty encouraged me and gave me the freedom to say what I wanted. He knew I was familiar with that world. Having that freedom, having him on the other side of the camera, and making a movie inside my comfort zone, I had to pinch myself that it was real." Wahlberg said he also had inspiration from the colorful language he heard at home. "My mother liked to drop the F-bomb, all in terms of affection where I come from," he said. "After I was nominated for the Globe, my mom called in tears. When she told my dad, he started screaming in the background that I had won the Academy Award. So today my dad said, 'Again? Now we can call you a professional actor.' He was never impressed with my paychecks. It was amazing to see how proud they were."
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It might not be yellow, but Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton celebrated in true "Little Miss Sunshine" fashion -- driving in their van. The married directing duo were taking their kids to school -- three children, two stops -- and doing media interviews simultaneously. They might not have scored a directing nom, but they still were thrilled that "Sunshine" earned mentions for best picture, supporting actor (Alan Arkin) and supporting actress (Abigail Breslin). Still, their celebrating will be put on hold because they are busy putting together their next project, "The Abstinence Teacher", for Warner Independent Pictures. "The benefit of the deal taking so long is maybe our price went up," Faris joked. The two are shocked, though, that a comedy was nominated among a slew of dramas. "People refer to it as a comedy, but what we love about it is the emotional component. We think audiences connected to that," Dayton said. Added Faris: "Everybody knows what it's like to be a member of a family. It's a familiar subject that everyone can relate to in some way."
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In the wake of "The Departed"'s five nominations, including one for best director, Martin Scorsese said, "I am very pleased that 'The Departed' has been honored with five nominations for this year's Academy Awards. I am particularly happy that the hard work of the entire cast and crew has been rewarded with a best picture nomination and that the specific contributions of Mark Wahlberg, our screenwriter William Monahan and my longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker have been recognized with nominations as well."
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"I don't know what to do with myself," yelled "Little Children" best actress nominee Kate Winslet. "I'm pacing and screaming and laughing and crying. I'm so thrilled, I really am. I did not expect it. I was all ready to not get a nomination at all." This is Winslet's fifth nomination, and the bloom is still on the rose. "We're talking about the Academy Awards! That could never be old hat." Winslet was in between dropping off her daughter and son at their respective schools in New York when she received her first call, from husband Sam Mendes; the director was in London. "Literally as I jumped into the car my phone rang, and it was Sam. I exploded into this ridiculous display of whooping and screaming. My poor son could not work out what the hell was going on. " 'Mommy, what is it, what is it?' " she said. Winslet was especially pleased with fellow actor Jackie Earle Haley's nomination. "I have to call him", she said. "You have no idea how much this is going to literally change his life. Not as an actor, but also as a person. He didn't work for 15 years, you know." And though Todd Field might not have received a nomination for directing -- Field and Tom Perrotta did nab a nom for adapted screenplay -- Winslet said, "If it weren't for Todd, Jackie and I would not have received these nominations. This whole movie was to Todd's vision. So I do feel that Todd has been acknowledged in some way."
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Leonardo DiCaprio got the news of his nomination for "Blood Diamond" in London, where he took a break from doing press interviews for the movie to watch the nominations announcement live. He has been on an international press tour on behalf of "Diamond" and "The Departed". The day after the Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 15, he flew to Tokyo with Martin Scorsese to premiere "Departed"; then, he jetted to London with Djimon Hounsou and director Edward Zwick to promote "Diamond", which premiered there Tuesday night. After London comes Rome and Madrid. "I'm honored to receive this nomination from the Academy -- especially in a year full of such worthy nominees," DiCaprio said. "I'm grateful to everyone who has supported 'Blood Diamond.' Being nominated is a tribute to everyone who worked on this film, especially Ed Zwick. I am also thrilled for Djimon, Mark (Wahlberg) and Marty, who are all so deserving of this recognition."
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Forest Whitaker is a great champion of "The Last King of Scotland". The reflective actor, who received his first Oscar nomination for his role as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, was trudging through New York, booking appearances on "Today" and "Late Show With David Letterman" to promote the movie that bowed at the end of September but has been rereleased to capitalize on the recognition for his performance. "This is an amazing time and an amazing moment," said Whitaker, a frequent meditator who had to use moments in the taxi to center himself. As for celebration, Whitaker plans to do some dining, dancing and toasting with his wife, who joined him on his New York media tour.
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"I'm very pleased. I'm in frighteningly good company," Judi Dench said of her nomination for best actress for playing a jealous spinster in "Notes on a Scandal". "It was one of the harder parts I have played. At the end of the day, I was quite glad to get back to the person I am. I had the power to do it because of (director) Richard Eyre. He steered me through the rougher waters of it."
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Because his best actor nomination for "Venus" represents his eighth nomination in the category, Peter O'Toole, who has never won an acting Oscar -- though he was tapped for an honorary award in 2003 -- said, "If you fail the first time, try, try, try, try, try, try, try again. Yoicks!"
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He's thrilled on the inside, but Ryan Gosling is definitely taking a low-key approach to being nominated as best actor for his turn in ThinkFilm's "Half Nelson". "I was a big petitioner for the 'don't be too disappointed' club," he said. "I was calling everyone around me and saying, 'Don't be disappointed when I don't get nominated.'" He was even calling to make his manager feel better first thing this morning when he imagined that the nominations had been read and his name wasn't on the list. While they were on the phone, she told him they had just read his name. "But before we could register, I heard this squeal and crash outside my window," he said. He went over to learn that a motorcycle cop had just been hit. "So I was watching this guy lying in the middle of the road and (being) loaded into an ambulance while I'm getting all these calls telling me congratulations. I didn't know what to feel or how to feel." Later, it turned out the officer had broken only his arm: "So it turned out to be an OK day for both of us." The truth is, though, Gosling said getting nominated "goes against my plan. I was planning on being ostracized," he said. "I was really going to show them. Now I'm in this strange position, and I got to prove some people right. I was tempted to make bets that it wasn't going to happen -- at least I could profit from this, somehow." When he got off the phone, Gosling said he was calling his mother back to warn her not to quit her day job or anything: "She might think we've won the lottery. I have to tell her, this is just an indie film. We're getting the (Oscar swag) basket, and that's it."
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Meryl Streep, who with her best actress nom for "The Devil Wears Prada" extended her record with a 14th nomination, said simply, "I am thrilled in a way that no one can possibly imagine. It's extraordinary that anyone in the actor's branch is even speaking to me, never mind nominating me yet again. I'm very, very grateful."
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Will Smith was in New York working on "I Am Legend" when he received word of his nomination as best actor for "The Pursuit of Happyness". "Congratulations to all of the nominees," he said. "It is a great honor to be considered among this caliber of performers. No competition, all celebration. Let the parties begin."
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Djimon Hounsou was in a London hotel room taking a break from a press junket with some of the cast and crew of "Blood Diamond" when the nominations were announced on television. "We were having lunch, and we didn't realize that the actual nominations were being announced, and we started hearing the nominations live," he said. "Everyone was screaming" when they heard his name for actor in a supporting role, he said. It was a fitting reward for a tough job. "It was a very hard shoot, physically and emotionally," Hounsou said. "Everything was hard. For me personally, everything was difficult." Hounsou did not meet any actual diamond workers because the shoot took place in Mozambique and South Africa, not in Sierra Leone, where the movie is set. He has, however, bought diamonds. But next time he does, he said, "I would certainly ask the right questions to whoever the vendor is about their policy on conflict diamonds."
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"Babel"'s Rinko Kikuchi was attending a Chanel fashion show in Paris when her manager relayed the news of her best supporting actress nomination.
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There may be no typical way to receive notification that you have received a best actress Oscar nomination, but Helen Mirren discovered that she had been tapped for "The Queen" in "a most extraordinary way." While waiting on hold for an interview with NBC's "Today" show during a break between filming scenes for Iain Softley's "Inkheart", she was listening to the live feed of nominations and unknowingly came in during the middle of best supporting actress. Not hearing her name, she said, "I figured they were going to come on the line and say, 'Sorry, Ms. Mirren, we're not interested now.' But then I heard the actual announcement, literally live on television. I'd been cool until that point, but my heart started thumping." Talk about timing. Mirren, who this month won the Golden Globe for her titular role in "Queen" and another for HBO's "Elizabeth I", also was a front-runner for her PBS mini-series "Prime Suspect: The Final Act" this year. "It was exhausting", she recalls of having to do all three roles in one year. "It was basically 10 hours of lead role acting onscreen, which is very demanding. It was just as well that when I got to do 'Prime Suspect' I had to play a sad old drunk -- that was about as much as I could manage at that point." Overall, she said she is thrilled with the fact that "Queen" received six Oscar nominations. "It is very gratifying to have the whole film recognized," she said. But there was one person who wasn't quite ready to recognize Mirren's nomination -- her husband, director Taylor Hackford, was still asleep when she called him first with the good news. "I woke him up", she said tenderly. "And I said, Hello, darling. He said, 'Do you know what time it is?' He had forgotten what day it was."
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"Babel" director-producer Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu was forced to celebrate the film's seven nominations, including a best helmer mention, in silence. "My kids are sick with the flu", said Gonzalez Inarritu, who watched the early-morning telecast at home with his wife. "We jumped, but we couldn't shout. So it was a strange, quiet celebration. But I woke them up later to tell them the news. After all, the film is dedicated to them." As for the unconventional, global-minded film's appeal to Academy voters, Gonzalez Inarritu said, "I think there is more of an open attitude nowadays," he said. "It's been an incredible year for international filmmakers."
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Penelope Cruz wasn't about to let her first Academy Award nomination get in the way of a good night's sleep. "I went to sleep at 10, but then something woke me up," said Cruz, who was singled out for her starring role in "Volver". "I was nervous, but I didn't want to admit it." The Spanish actress finally awoke to the sounds of the TV set in another room. My father yelled, 'Stop pretending you are sleeping and come out here, ' " she said. "I was very excited. I was crying and laughing at the same time." Still, the celebration was dampened by the fact that "Volver" helmer and Cruz's longtime collaborator, Pedro Almodovar, was shut out of the foreign-language and director categories. "I called him immediately, and he said from all of the nominations the film could have received, he was the happiest about mine," said Cruz, who cites Almodovar as the reason she decided to become an actress.
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Stephen Frears learned of his Oscar nom for directing while at the Savoy Hotel in London, where he was honored in the feature film category by the South Bank Awards program for his work on "The Queen". "I'm just reeling", Frears said. "You don't make films in England with that kind of possibility. If you ran your life with the idea that this is going to happen, you'd go mad, but it's phenomenal. I've had a charmed (professional) life, and if this keeps it going on a bit longer, then I'm thrilled." Frears, nominated in 1990 for "The Grifters", said he had no idea "Queen" would attract such critical renown. "I was sent a good script, and I approached it like I direct anything, really," he said. "It's really hard to say why this one took off. You go to work, and I could see the talent was giving an extraordinary performance, but you still can't anticipate anything like this. It's quite bewildering, in the best sense of the word."
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"I woke up with my agent screaming in my ear," said "The Departed"'s Mark Wahlberg, who was in bed at his home in Los Angeles when his nomination for best supporting actor was announced. "I thought something terrible happened at first. We didn't think it was going to happen. I hoped it would happen." Wahlberg credits his "real-life experience" and being inside his "comfort zone" for the performance of his career in "Departed". "It was not a lot of preparation or learning lines," he said. "I came up with a lot of different ways to insult these guys. I spent a good part of my childhood getting in trouble with the Boston police. I had the accent. Marty encouraged me and gave me the freedom to say what I wanted. He knew I was familiar with that world. Having that freedom, having him on the other side of the camera, and making a movie inside my comfort zone, I had to pinch myself that it was real." Wahlberg said he also had inspiration from the colorful language he heard at home. "My mother liked to drop the F-bomb, all in terms of affection where I come from," he said. "After I was nominated for the Globe, my mom called in tears. When she told my dad, he started screaming in the background that I had won the Academy Award. So today my dad said, 'Again? Now we can call you a professional actor.' He was never impressed with my paychecks. It was amazing to see how proud they were."
****
It might not be yellow, but Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton celebrated in true "Little Miss Sunshine" fashion -- driving in their van. The married directing duo were taking their kids to school -- three children, two stops -- and doing media interviews simultaneously. They might not have scored a directing nom, but they still were thrilled that "Sunshine" earned mentions for best picture, supporting actor (Alan Arkin) and supporting actress (Abigail Breslin). Still, their celebrating will be put on hold because they are busy putting together their next project, "The Abstinence Teacher", for Warner Independent Pictures. "The benefit of the deal taking so long is maybe our price went up," Faris joked. The two are shocked, though, that a comedy was nominated among a slew of dramas. "People refer to it as a comedy, but what we love about it is the emotional component. We think audiences connected to that," Dayton said. Added Faris: "Everybody knows what it's like to be a member of a family. It's a familiar subject that everyone can relate to in some way."
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In the wake of "The Departed"'s five nominations, including one for best director, Martin Scorsese said, "I am very pleased that 'The Departed' has been honored with five nominations for this year's Academy Awards. I am particularly happy that the hard work of the entire cast and crew has been rewarded with a best picture nomination and that the specific contributions of Mark Wahlberg, our screenwriter William Monahan and my longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker have been recognized with nominations as well."
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"I don't know what to do with myself," yelled "Little Children" best actress nominee Kate Winslet. "I'm pacing and screaming and laughing and crying. I'm so thrilled, I really am. I did not expect it. I was all ready to not get a nomination at all." This is Winslet's fifth nomination, and the bloom is still on the rose. "We're talking about the Academy Awards! That could never be old hat." Winslet was in between dropping off her daughter and son at their respective schools in New York when she received her first call, from husband Sam Mendes; the director was in London. "Literally as I jumped into the car my phone rang, and it was Sam. I exploded into this ridiculous display of whooping and screaming. My poor son could not work out what the hell was going on. " 'Mommy, what is it, what is it?' " she said. Winslet was especially pleased with fellow actor Jackie Earle Haley's nomination. "I have to call him", she said. "You have no idea how much this is going to literally change his life. Not as an actor, but also as a person. He didn't work for 15 years, you know." And though Todd Field might not have received a nomination for directing -- Field and Tom Perrotta did nab a nom for adapted screenplay -- Winslet said, "If it weren't for Todd, Jackie and I would not have received these nominations. This whole movie was to Todd's vision. So I do feel that Todd has been acknowledged in some way."
****
Leonardo DiCaprio got the news of his nomination for "Blood Diamond" in London, where he took a break from doing press interviews for the movie to watch the nominations announcement live. He has been on an international press tour on behalf of "Diamond" and "The Departed". The day after the Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 15, he flew to Tokyo with Martin Scorsese to premiere "Departed"; then, he jetted to London with Djimon Hounsou and director Edward Zwick to promote "Diamond", which premiered there Tuesday night. After London comes Rome and Madrid. "I'm honored to receive this nomination from the Academy -- especially in a year full of such worthy nominees," DiCaprio said. "I'm grateful to everyone who has supported 'Blood Diamond.' Being nominated is a tribute to everyone who worked on this film, especially Ed Zwick. I am also thrilled for Djimon, Mark (Wahlberg) and Marty, who are all so deserving of this recognition."
****
Forest Whitaker is a great champion of "The Last King of Scotland". The reflective actor, who received his first Oscar nomination for his role as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, was trudging through New York, booking appearances on "Today" and "Late Show With David Letterman" to promote the movie that bowed at the end of September but has been rereleased to capitalize on the recognition for his performance. "This is an amazing time and an amazing moment," said Whitaker, a frequent meditator who had to use moments in the taxi to center himself. As for celebration, Whitaker plans to do some dining, dancing and toasting with his wife, who joined him on his New York media tour.
****
"I'm very pleased. I'm in frighteningly good company," Judi Dench said of her nomination for best actress for playing a jealous spinster in "Notes on a Scandal". "It was one of the harder parts I have played. At the end of the day, I was quite glad to get back to the person I am. I had the power to do it because of (director) Richard Eyre. He steered me through the rougher waters of it."
****
Because his best actor nomination for "Venus" represents his eighth nomination in the category, Peter O'Toole, who has never won an acting Oscar -- though he was tapped for an honorary award in 2003 -- said, "If you fail the first time, try, try, try, try, try, try, try again. Yoicks!"
****
He's thrilled on the inside, but Ryan Gosling is definitely taking a low-key approach to being nominated as best actor for his turn in ThinkFilm's "Half Nelson". "I was a big petitioner for the 'don't be too disappointed' club," he said. "I was calling everyone around me and saying, 'Don't be disappointed when I don't get nominated.'" He was even calling to make his manager feel better first thing this morning when he imagined that the nominations had been read and his name wasn't on the list. While they were on the phone, she told him they had just read his name. "But before we could register, I heard this squeal and crash outside my window," he said. He went over to learn that a motorcycle cop had just been hit. "So I was watching this guy lying in the middle of the road and (being) loaded into an ambulance while I'm getting all these calls telling me congratulations. I didn't know what to feel or how to feel." Later, it turned out the officer had broken only his arm: "So it turned out to be an OK day for both of us." The truth is, though, Gosling said getting nominated "goes against my plan. I was planning on being ostracized," he said. "I was really going to show them. Now I'm in this strange position, and I got to prove some people right. I was tempted to make bets that it wasn't going to happen -- at least I could profit from this, somehow." When he got off the phone, Gosling said he was calling his mother back to warn her not to quit her day job or anything: "She might think we've won the lottery. I have to tell her, this is just an indie film. We're getting the (Oscar swag) basket, and that's it."
****
Meryl Streep, who with her best actress nom for "The Devil Wears Prada" extended her record with a 14th nomination, said simply, "I am thrilled in a way that no one can possibly imagine. It's extraordinary that anyone in the actor's branch is even speaking to me, never mind nominating me yet again. I'm very, very grateful."
****
Will Smith was in New York working on "I Am Legend" when he received word of his nomination as best actor for "The Pursuit of Happyness". "Congratulations to all of the nominees," he said. "It is a great honor to be considered among this caliber of performers. No competition, all celebration. Let the parties begin."
****
Djimon Hounsou was in a London hotel room taking a break from a press junket with some of the cast and crew of "Blood Diamond" when the nominations were announced on television. "We were having lunch, and we didn't realize that the actual nominations were being announced, and we started hearing the nominations live," he said. "Everyone was screaming" when they heard his name for actor in a supporting role, he said. It was a fitting reward for a tough job. "It was a very hard shoot, physically and emotionally," Hounsou said. "Everything was hard. For me personally, everything was difficult." Hounsou did not meet any actual diamond workers because the shoot took place in Mozambique and South Africa, not in Sierra Leone, where the movie is set. He has, however, bought diamonds. But next time he does, he said, "I would certainly ask the right questions to whoever the vendor is about their policy on conflict diamonds."
****
"Babel"'s Rinko Kikuchi was attending a Chanel fashion show in Paris when her manager relayed the news of her best supporting actress nomination.
- 1/24/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Oscar noms all over map; 'Babel' hones int'l flavor
The multilingual Babel clearly spoke Oscar's language Tuesday morning, when nominations for the 79th Annual Academy Awards were announced. The musical Dreamgirls might have earned the most nominations, eight, but it was shut out of the best picture race.
Instead, it earned the unenviable distinction of becoming the first movie in Oscar history to fail to earn a best picture nomination while collecting the most noms.
"Looking at the whole awards season, there is no clear front-runner," Miramax Films president Daniel Battsek said as he celebrated six noms for The Queen and one for Peter O'Toole's autumnal performance in Venus.
For best picture honors, Babel, with seven noms, will compete against the crime drama The Departed, the Japanese-language war film Letters From Iwo Jima, the quirky comedy Little Miss Sunshine and Queen, a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II under siege from the modern media.
So far, though, a definite front-runner hasn't emerged during an awards season in which Babel earned the title of best drama at the Golden Globes but Little Miss Sunshine took the Producers Guild of America's film prize last weekend.
Babel might tell a globe-hopping story of cultural misunderstandings, but the 5,830 voting members of the Academy seemed to be in a particularly international mood. In the acting categories, they nominated two actresses who deliver foreign-language performances: Penelope Cruz, who stars as a ghost-haunted widow in the Spanish-language Volver, and Rinko Kikuchi, who plays a deaf student speaking Japanese and also signing in Babel. Kikuchi's castmate Adriana Barraza, appearing in a role that combines English and Spanish dialogue, also was rewarded with a nomination.
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Guillermo Del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron, the trio of Mexican-born directors dubbed the Three Amigos, all figured prominently. Gonzalez Inarritu's Babel picked up seven noms, Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth was close behind with six -- including a best foreign-language film nomination -- and Cuaron's Children of Men took three, including best adapted screenplay.
Commenting on the multiculturalism of this year's crop of nominees, Forest Whitaker, nominated as best actor for The Last King of Scotland, said: "We're finally recognizing that we're all here on the planet together."...
Instead, it earned the unenviable distinction of becoming the first movie in Oscar history to fail to earn a best picture nomination while collecting the most noms.
"Looking at the whole awards season, there is no clear front-runner," Miramax Films president Daniel Battsek said as he celebrated six noms for The Queen and one for Peter O'Toole's autumnal performance in Venus.
For best picture honors, Babel, with seven noms, will compete against the crime drama The Departed, the Japanese-language war film Letters From Iwo Jima, the quirky comedy Little Miss Sunshine and Queen, a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II under siege from the modern media.
So far, though, a definite front-runner hasn't emerged during an awards season in which Babel earned the title of best drama at the Golden Globes but Little Miss Sunshine took the Producers Guild of America's film prize last weekend.
Babel might tell a globe-hopping story of cultural misunderstandings, but the 5,830 voting members of the Academy seemed to be in a particularly international mood. In the acting categories, they nominated two actresses who deliver foreign-language performances: Penelope Cruz, who stars as a ghost-haunted widow in the Spanish-language Volver, and Rinko Kikuchi, who plays a deaf student speaking Japanese and also signing in Babel. Kikuchi's castmate Adriana Barraza, appearing in a role that combines English and Spanish dialogue, also was rewarded with a nomination.
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Guillermo Del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron, the trio of Mexican-born directors dubbed the Three Amigos, all figured prominently. Gonzalez Inarritu's Babel picked up seven noms, Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth was close behind with six -- including a best foreign-language film nomination -- and Cuaron's Children of Men took three, including best adapted screenplay.
Commenting on the multiculturalism of this year's crop of nominees, Forest Whitaker, nominated as best actor for The Last King of Scotland, said: "We're finally recognizing that we're all here on the planet together."...
- 1/24/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Oscar reactions: 'My heart started thumping!'
"What a fucking day!" said Guillermo Del Toro, whose "Pan's Labyrinth" scored six nominations. "I woke up without my glasses at what I believed was 5:15. I said, 'Holy crap, it's 5:15!' I ran downstairs, and of course, it was 3:30," he said. "I browsed cable and found Peckinpah's 'Wild Bunch.' This was a blessing. I stayed with Peckinpah until the nominations. And when I heard them, I tell you, there has never been so much love in that sofa than this morning." "Labyrinth" managed quite a haul, an amazing amount for a movie that was released so late in the year. Del Toro said had it been released earlier, the score might have been different, "but the beauty of it is, whoever saw it at the time certainly loved it enough to produce this variety of nominations. What I find beautiful is whoever was touched by the movie came forth and said it in a loud voice." Del Toro, too, is touched that a movie that was so difficult to make is getting so much love. "The financing collapsed twice, most everybody in my camp was telling me to drop it," he said. "And I'm glad I stuck with it with my friends Alfonso (Cuaron), Bertha Navarro) and Frida Torresblanco). We co-produced this movie with Spain through sheer will. It was not business as usual making it."
****
There may be no typical way to receive notification that you have received a best actress Oscar nomination, but Helen Mirren discovered that she had been tapped for "The Queen" in "a most extraordinary way!" While waiting on hold for an interview with NBC's "Today" show during a break between filming scenes for Iain Softley's "Inkheart", she was listening to the live feed of nominations and unknowingly came in during the middle of best supporting actress. Not hearing her name, she said, "I figured they were going to come on the line and say, 'Sorry, Ms. Mirren, we're not interested now.' But then I heard the actual announcement, literally live on television. I'd been cool until that point, but my heart started thumping." Talk about timing. Mirren, who this month won the Golden Globe for her titular role in "Queen" and another for HBO's "Elizabeth I", also was a front-runner for her PBS miniseries "Prime Suspect: The Final Act" this year. "It was exhausting", she recalls of having to do all three roles in one year. "It was basically 10 hours of lead role acting onscreen, which is very demanding. It was just as well that when I got to do 'Prime Suspect' I had to play a sad old drunk -- that was about as much as I could manage at that point." Overall, she said she is thrilled with the fact that "Queen" received six Oscar nominations. "It is very gratifying to have the whole film recognized," she said. But there was one person who wasn't quite ready to recognize Mirren's nomination -- her husband, director Taylor Hackford, was still asleep when she called him first with the good news. "I woke him up", she said tenderly. "And I said, Hello, darling. He said, 'Do you know what time it is?' He had forgotten what day it was."
****
"Babel" director-producer Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu was forced to celebrate the film's seven nominations, including a best helmer mention, in silence. "My kids are sick with the flu", said Gonzalez Inarritu, who watched the early-morning telecast at home with his wife. "We jumped, but we couldn't shout. So it was a strange, quiet celebration. But I woke them up later to tell them the news. After all, the film is dedicated to them." As for the unconventional, global-minded film's appeal to Academy voters, Gonzalez Inarritu said, "I think there is more of an open attitude nowadays," he said. "It's been an incredible year for international filmmakers."
****
Penelope Cruz wasn't about to let her first Academy Award nomination get in the way of a good night's sleep. "I went to sleep at 10, but then something woke me up," said Cruz, who was singled out for her starring role in "Volver". "I was nervous, but I didn't want to admit it." The Spanish actress finally awoke to the sounds of the TV set in another room. My father yelled, 'Stop pretending you are sleeping and come out here, ' " she said. "I was very excited. I was crying and laughing at the same time." Still, the celebration was dampened by the fact that "Volver" helmer and Cruz's longtime collaborator, Pedro Almodovar, was shut out of the foreign-language and director categories. "I called him immediately, and he said from all of the nominations the film could have received, he was the happiest about mine," said Cruz, who cites Almodovar as the reason she decided to become an actress.
****
Stephen Frears learned of his Oscar nom for directing while at the Savoy Hotel in London, where he was honored in the feature film category by the South Bank Awards program for his work on "The Queen". "I'm just reeling", Frears said. "You don't make films in England with that kind of possibility. If you ran your life with the idea that this is going to happen, you'd go mad, but it's phenomenal. I've had a charmed (professional) life, and if this keeps it going on a bit longer, then I'm thrilled." Frears, nominated in 1990 for "The Grifters", said he had no idea "Queen" would attract such critical renown. "I was sent a good script, and I approached it like I direct anything, really," he said. "It's really hard to say why this one took off. You go to work, and I could see the talent was giving an extraordinary performance, but you still can't anticipate anything like this. It's quite bewildering, in the best sense of the word."
****
"I woke up with my agent screaming in my ear," said "The Departed"'s Mark Wahlberg, who was in bed at his home in Los Angeles when his nomination for best supporting actor was announced. "I thought something terrible happened at first. We didn't think it was going to happen. I hoped it would happen." Wahlberg credits his "real-life experience" and being inside his "comfort zone" for the performance of his career in "Departed". "It was not a lot of preparation or learning lines," he said. "I came up with a lot of different ways to insult these guys. I spent a good part of my childhood getting in trouble with the Boston police. I had the accent. Marty encouraged me and gave me the freedom to say what I wanted. He knew I was familiar with that world. Having that freedom, having him on the other side of the camera, and making a movie inside my comfort zone, I had to pinch myself that it was real." Wahlberg said he also had inspiration from the colorful language he heard at home. "My mother liked to drop the F-bomb, all in terms of affection where I come from," he said. "After I was nominated for the Globe, my mom called in tears. When she told my dad, he started screaming in the background that I had won the Academy Award. So today my dad said, 'Again? Now we can call you a professional actor.' He was never impressed with my paychecks. It was amazing to see how proud they were."
****
It might not be yellow, but Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton celebrated in true "Little Miss Sunshine" fashion -- driving in their van. The married directing duo were taking their kids to school -- three children, two stops -- and doing media interviews simultaneously. They might not have scored a directing nom, but they still were thrilled that "Sunshine" earned mentions for best picture, supporting actor (Alan Arkin) and supporting actress (Abigail Breslin). Still, their celebrating will be put on hold because they are busy putting together their next project, "The Abstinence Teacher", for Warner Independent Pictures. "The benefit of the deal taking so long is maybe our price went up," Faris joked. The two are shocked, though, that a comedy was nominated among a slew of dramas. "People refer to it as a comedy, but what we love about it is the emotional component. We think audiences connected to that," Dayton said. Added Faris: "Everybody knows what it's like to be a member of a family. It's a familiar subject that everyone can relate to in some way."
****
In the wake of "The Departed"'s five nominations, including one for best director, Martin Scorsese said, "I am very pleased that 'The Departed' has been honored with five nominations for this year's Academy Awards. I am particularly happy that the hard work of the entire cast and crew has been rewarded with a best picture nomination and that the specific contributions of Mark Wahlberg, our screenwriter William Monahan and my longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker have been recognized with nominations as well."
****
"I don't know what to do with myself," yelled "Little Children" best actress nominee Kate Winslet. "I'm pacing and screaming and laughing and crying. I'm so thrilled, I really am. I did not expect it. I was all ready to not get a nomination at all." This is Winslet's fifth nomination, and the bloom is still on the rose. "We're talking about the Academy Awards! That could never be old hat." Winslet was in between dropping off her daughter and son at their respective schools in New York when she received her first call, from husband Sam Mendes; the director was in London. "Literally as I jumped into the car my phone rang, and it was Sam. I exploded into this ridiculous display of whooping and screaming. My poor son could not work out what the hell was going on. " 'Mommy what is it, what is it?' " she said. Winslet was especially pleased with fellow actor Jackie Earle Haley's nomination. "I have to call him", she said. "You have no idea how much this is going to literally change his life. Not as an actor, but also as a person. He didn't work for 15 years, you know." And though Todd Field might not have received a nomination for directing -- Field and Tom Perrotta did nab a nom for adapted screenplay -- Winslet said, "If it weren't for Todd, Jackie and I would not have received these nominations. This whole movie was to Todd's vision. So I do feel that Todd has been acknowledged in some way."
****
Leonardo DiCaprio got the news of his nomination for "Blood Diamond" in London, where he took a break from doing press interviews for the movie to watch the nominations announcement live. He has been on an international press tour on behalf of "Diamond" and "The Departed". The day after the Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 15, he flew to Tokyo with Martin Scorsese to premiere "Departed"; then, he jetted to London with Djimon Hounsou and director Edward Zwick to promote "Diamond", which premiered there Tuesday night. After London comes Rome and Madrid. "I'm honored to receive this nomination from the Academy -- especially in a year full of such worthy nominees," DiCaprio said. "I'm grateful to everyone who has supported 'Blood Diamond.' Being nominated is a tribute to everyone who worked on this film, especially Ed Zwick. I am also thrilled for Djimon, Mark (Wahlberg) and Marty, who are all so deserving of this recognition."
****
Forest Whitaker is a great champion of "The Last King of Scotland". The reflective actor, who received his first Oscar nomination for his role as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, was trudging through New York, booking appearances on "Today" and "Late Show With David Letterman" to promote the movie that bowed at the end of September but has been rereleased to capitalize on the recognition for his performance. "This is an amazing time and an amazing moment," said Whitaker, a frequent meditator who had to use moments in the taxi to center himself. As for celebration, Whitaker plans to do some dining, dancing and toasting with his wife, who joined him on his New York media tour.
****
"I'm very pleased. I'm in frighteningly good company," Judi Dench said of her nomination as best actress for playing a jealous spinster in "Notes on a Scandal". "It was one of the harder parts I have played. At the end of the day, I was quite glad to get back to the person I am. I had the power to do it because of (director) Richard Eyre. He steered me through the rougher waters of it."
****
Because his best actor nomination for "Venus" represents his eighth nomination in the category, Peter O'Toole, who has never won an acting Oscar -- though he was tapped for an honorary award in 2003 -- said, "If you fail the first time, try, try, try, try, try, try, try again. Yoiks!"
****
He's thrilled on the inside, but Ryan Gosling is definitely taking a low-key approach to being nominated as best actor for his turn in ThinkFilm's "Half Nelson". "I was a big petitioner for the 'don't be too disappointed' club," he said. "I was calling everyone around me and saying, 'Don't be disappointed when I don't get nominated.' " He was even calling to make his manager feel better first thing this morning when he imagined that the nominations had been read and his name wasn't on the list. While they were on the phone, she told him they had just read his name. "But before we could register, I heard this squeal and crash outside my window," he said, and went over to learn that a motorcycle cop had just been hit. "So I was watching this guy lying in the middle of the road and (being) loaded into an ambulance while I'm getting all these calls telling me congratulations. I didn't know what to feel or how to feel." Later, it turned out the officer had just broken his arm: "So it turned out to be an OK day for both of us." The truth is, though, Gosling said getting nominated "goes against my plan. I was planning on being ostracized," he said. "I was really going to show them. Now I'm in this strange position, and I got to prove some people right. I was tempted to make bets that it wasn't going to happen -- at least I could profit from this, somehow." When he got off the phone, Gosling said he was calling his mother back to warn her not to quit her day job or anything: "She might think we've won the lottery. I have to tell her, this is just an indie film. We're getting the (Oscar swag) basket, and that's it."
****
Meryl Streep, who with her best actress nom for "The Devil Wears Prada" extended her record with a 14th nomination, said simply, "I am thrilled in a way that no one can possibly imagine. It's extraordinary that anyone in the actor's branch is even speaking to me, never mind nominating me yet again. I'm very, very grateful."
****
Will Smith was in New York working on "I Am Legend" when he received word of his nomination as best actor for "The Pursuit of Happyness". "Congratulations to all of the nominees," he said in a statement. "It is a great honor to be considered among this caliber of performers. No competition, all celebration. Let the parties begin."
****
Djimon Hounsou was in a London hotel room taking a break from doing a press junket with some of the cast and crew of "Blood Diamond" when the nominations were announced on television. "We were having lunch, and we didn't realize that the actual nominations were being announced, and we started hearing the nominations live," he said. "Everyone was screaming" when they heard his name for actor in a supporting role, he said. It was a fitting reward for a tough job. "It was a very hard shoot, physically and emotionally," Hounsou said. "Everything was hard. For me personally, everything was difficult." Hounsou did not meet any actual diamond workers because the shoot took place in Mozambique and South Africa, not in Sierra Leone, where the movie is set. He has, however, bought diamonds. But next time he does, he said, "I would certainly ask the right questions to whoever the vendor is about their policy on conflict diamonds."
****
"Babel"'s Rinko Kikuchi was attending a Chanel fashion show in Paris when her manager relayed the news of her best supporting actress nomination.
****
There may be no typical way to receive notification that you have received a best actress Oscar nomination, but Helen Mirren discovered that she had been tapped for "The Queen" in "a most extraordinary way!" While waiting on hold for an interview with NBC's "Today" show during a break between filming scenes for Iain Softley's "Inkheart", she was listening to the live feed of nominations and unknowingly came in during the middle of best supporting actress. Not hearing her name, she said, "I figured they were going to come on the line and say, 'Sorry, Ms. Mirren, we're not interested now.' But then I heard the actual announcement, literally live on television. I'd been cool until that point, but my heart started thumping." Talk about timing. Mirren, who this month won the Golden Globe for her titular role in "Queen" and another for HBO's "Elizabeth I", also was a front-runner for her PBS miniseries "Prime Suspect: The Final Act" this year. "It was exhausting", she recalls of having to do all three roles in one year. "It was basically 10 hours of lead role acting onscreen, which is very demanding. It was just as well that when I got to do 'Prime Suspect' I had to play a sad old drunk -- that was about as much as I could manage at that point." Overall, she said she is thrilled with the fact that "Queen" received six Oscar nominations. "It is very gratifying to have the whole film recognized," she said. But there was one person who wasn't quite ready to recognize Mirren's nomination -- her husband, director Taylor Hackford, was still asleep when she called him first with the good news. "I woke him up", she said tenderly. "And I said, Hello, darling. He said, 'Do you know what time it is?' He had forgotten what day it was."
****
"Babel" director-producer Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu was forced to celebrate the film's seven nominations, including a best helmer mention, in silence. "My kids are sick with the flu", said Gonzalez Inarritu, who watched the early-morning telecast at home with his wife. "We jumped, but we couldn't shout. So it was a strange, quiet celebration. But I woke them up later to tell them the news. After all, the film is dedicated to them." As for the unconventional, global-minded film's appeal to Academy voters, Gonzalez Inarritu said, "I think there is more of an open attitude nowadays," he said. "It's been an incredible year for international filmmakers."
****
Penelope Cruz wasn't about to let her first Academy Award nomination get in the way of a good night's sleep. "I went to sleep at 10, but then something woke me up," said Cruz, who was singled out for her starring role in "Volver". "I was nervous, but I didn't want to admit it." The Spanish actress finally awoke to the sounds of the TV set in another room. My father yelled, 'Stop pretending you are sleeping and come out here, ' " she said. "I was very excited. I was crying and laughing at the same time." Still, the celebration was dampened by the fact that "Volver" helmer and Cruz's longtime collaborator, Pedro Almodovar, was shut out of the foreign-language and director categories. "I called him immediately, and he said from all of the nominations the film could have received, he was the happiest about mine," said Cruz, who cites Almodovar as the reason she decided to become an actress.
****
Stephen Frears learned of his Oscar nom for directing while at the Savoy Hotel in London, where he was honored in the feature film category by the South Bank Awards program for his work on "The Queen". "I'm just reeling", Frears said. "You don't make films in England with that kind of possibility. If you ran your life with the idea that this is going to happen, you'd go mad, but it's phenomenal. I've had a charmed (professional) life, and if this keeps it going on a bit longer, then I'm thrilled." Frears, nominated in 1990 for "The Grifters", said he had no idea "Queen" would attract such critical renown. "I was sent a good script, and I approached it like I direct anything, really," he said. "It's really hard to say why this one took off. You go to work, and I could see the talent was giving an extraordinary performance, but you still can't anticipate anything like this. It's quite bewildering, in the best sense of the word."
****
"I woke up with my agent screaming in my ear," said "The Departed"'s Mark Wahlberg, who was in bed at his home in Los Angeles when his nomination for best supporting actor was announced. "I thought something terrible happened at first. We didn't think it was going to happen. I hoped it would happen." Wahlberg credits his "real-life experience" and being inside his "comfort zone" for the performance of his career in "Departed". "It was not a lot of preparation or learning lines," he said. "I came up with a lot of different ways to insult these guys. I spent a good part of my childhood getting in trouble with the Boston police. I had the accent. Marty encouraged me and gave me the freedom to say what I wanted. He knew I was familiar with that world. Having that freedom, having him on the other side of the camera, and making a movie inside my comfort zone, I had to pinch myself that it was real." Wahlberg said he also had inspiration from the colorful language he heard at home. "My mother liked to drop the F-bomb, all in terms of affection where I come from," he said. "After I was nominated for the Globe, my mom called in tears. When she told my dad, he started screaming in the background that I had won the Academy Award. So today my dad said, 'Again? Now we can call you a professional actor.' He was never impressed with my paychecks. It was amazing to see how proud they were."
****
It might not be yellow, but Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton celebrated in true "Little Miss Sunshine" fashion -- driving in their van. The married directing duo were taking their kids to school -- three children, two stops -- and doing media interviews simultaneously. They might not have scored a directing nom, but they still were thrilled that "Sunshine" earned mentions for best picture, supporting actor (Alan Arkin) and supporting actress (Abigail Breslin). Still, their celebrating will be put on hold because they are busy putting together their next project, "The Abstinence Teacher", for Warner Independent Pictures. "The benefit of the deal taking so long is maybe our price went up," Faris joked. The two are shocked, though, that a comedy was nominated among a slew of dramas. "People refer to it as a comedy, but what we love about it is the emotional component. We think audiences connected to that," Dayton said. Added Faris: "Everybody knows what it's like to be a member of a family. It's a familiar subject that everyone can relate to in some way."
****
In the wake of "The Departed"'s five nominations, including one for best director, Martin Scorsese said, "I am very pleased that 'The Departed' has been honored with five nominations for this year's Academy Awards. I am particularly happy that the hard work of the entire cast and crew has been rewarded with a best picture nomination and that the specific contributions of Mark Wahlberg, our screenwriter William Monahan and my longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker have been recognized with nominations as well."
****
"I don't know what to do with myself," yelled "Little Children" best actress nominee Kate Winslet. "I'm pacing and screaming and laughing and crying. I'm so thrilled, I really am. I did not expect it. I was all ready to not get a nomination at all." This is Winslet's fifth nomination, and the bloom is still on the rose. "We're talking about the Academy Awards! That could never be old hat." Winslet was in between dropping off her daughter and son at their respective schools in New York when she received her first call, from husband Sam Mendes; the director was in London. "Literally as I jumped into the car my phone rang, and it was Sam. I exploded into this ridiculous display of whooping and screaming. My poor son could not work out what the hell was going on. " 'Mommy what is it, what is it?' " she said. Winslet was especially pleased with fellow actor Jackie Earle Haley's nomination. "I have to call him", she said. "You have no idea how much this is going to literally change his life. Not as an actor, but also as a person. He didn't work for 15 years, you know." And though Todd Field might not have received a nomination for directing -- Field and Tom Perrotta did nab a nom for adapted screenplay -- Winslet said, "If it weren't for Todd, Jackie and I would not have received these nominations. This whole movie was to Todd's vision. So I do feel that Todd has been acknowledged in some way."
****
Leonardo DiCaprio got the news of his nomination for "Blood Diamond" in London, where he took a break from doing press interviews for the movie to watch the nominations announcement live. He has been on an international press tour on behalf of "Diamond" and "The Departed". The day after the Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 15, he flew to Tokyo with Martin Scorsese to premiere "Departed"; then, he jetted to London with Djimon Hounsou and director Edward Zwick to promote "Diamond", which premiered there Tuesday night. After London comes Rome and Madrid. "I'm honored to receive this nomination from the Academy -- especially in a year full of such worthy nominees," DiCaprio said. "I'm grateful to everyone who has supported 'Blood Diamond.' Being nominated is a tribute to everyone who worked on this film, especially Ed Zwick. I am also thrilled for Djimon, Mark (Wahlberg) and Marty, who are all so deserving of this recognition."
****
Forest Whitaker is a great champion of "The Last King of Scotland". The reflective actor, who received his first Oscar nomination for his role as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, was trudging through New York, booking appearances on "Today" and "Late Show With David Letterman" to promote the movie that bowed at the end of September but has been rereleased to capitalize on the recognition for his performance. "This is an amazing time and an amazing moment," said Whitaker, a frequent meditator who had to use moments in the taxi to center himself. As for celebration, Whitaker plans to do some dining, dancing and toasting with his wife, who joined him on his New York media tour.
****
"I'm very pleased. I'm in frighteningly good company," Judi Dench said of her nomination as best actress for playing a jealous spinster in "Notes on a Scandal". "It was one of the harder parts I have played. At the end of the day, I was quite glad to get back to the person I am. I had the power to do it because of (director) Richard Eyre. He steered me through the rougher waters of it."
****
Because his best actor nomination for "Venus" represents his eighth nomination in the category, Peter O'Toole, who has never won an acting Oscar -- though he was tapped for an honorary award in 2003 -- said, "If you fail the first time, try, try, try, try, try, try, try again. Yoiks!"
****
He's thrilled on the inside, but Ryan Gosling is definitely taking a low-key approach to being nominated as best actor for his turn in ThinkFilm's "Half Nelson". "I was a big petitioner for the 'don't be too disappointed' club," he said. "I was calling everyone around me and saying, 'Don't be disappointed when I don't get nominated.' " He was even calling to make his manager feel better first thing this morning when he imagined that the nominations had been read and his name wasn't on the list. While they were on the phone, she told him they had just read his name. "But before we could register, I heard this squeal and crash outside my window," he said, and went over to learn that a motorcycle cop had just been hit. "So I was watching this guy lying in the middle of the road and (being) loaded into an ambulance while I'm getting all these calls telling me congratulations. I didn't know what to feel or how to feel." Later, it turned out the officer had just broken his arm: "So it turned out to be an OK day for both of us." The truth is, though, Gosling said getting nominated "goes against my plan. I was planning on being ostracized," he said. "I was really going to show them. Now I'm in this strange position, and I got to prove some people right. I was tempted to make bets that it wasn't going to happen -- at least I could profit from this, somehow." When he got off the phone, Gosling said he was calling his mother back to warn her not to quit her day job or anything: "She might think we've won the lottery. I have to tell her, this is just an indie film. We're getting the (Oscar swag) basket, and that's it."
****
Meryl Streep, who with her best actress nom for "The Devil Wears Prada" extended her record with a 14th nomination, said simply, "I am thrilled in a way that no one can possibly imagine. It's extraordinary that anyone in the actor's branch is even speaking to me, never mind nominating me yet again. I'm very, very grateful."
****
Will Smith was in New York working on "I Am Legend" when he received word of his nomination as best actor for "The Pursuit of Happyness". "Congratulations to all of the nominees," he said in a statement. "It is a great honor to be considered among this caliber of performers. No competition, all celebration. Let the parties begin."
****
Djimon Hounsou was in a London hotel room taking a break from doing a press junket with some of the cast and crew of "Blood Diamond" when the nominations were announced on television. "We were having lunch, and we didn't realize that the actual nominations were being announced, and we started hearing the nominations live," he said. "Everyone was screaming" when they heard his name for actor in a supporting role, he said. It was a fitting reward for a tough job. "It was a very hard shoot, physically and emotionally," Hounsou said. "Everything was hard. For me personally, everything was difficult." Hounsou did not meet any actual diamond workers because the shoot took place in Mozambique and South Africa, not in Sierra Leone, where the movie is set. He has, however, bought diamonds. But next time he does, he said, "I would certainly ask the right questions to whoever the vendor is about their policy on conflict diamonds."
****
"Babel"'s Rinko Kikuchi was attending a Chanel fashion show in Paris when her manager relayed the news of her best supporting actress nomination.
- 1/23/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Oscars: 'Long time coming' for Latinos
With Spain's Penelope Cruz and Mexico's Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Guillermo Del Toro, Alfonso Cuaron, Adriana Barraza and Guillermo Arriaga all nabbing key Academy Award nominations, Oscar hablo espanol Tuesday morning.
"It has been a long time coming, especially since millions of people speak Spanish as their main language in this country," said Cruz, who was singled out for her role in Pedro Almodovar's Spanish-language "Volver". "It's great that it's finally being reflected in movies."
In fact, the Mexican helming troika of Gonzalez Inarritu, Del Toro and Cuaron garnered a combined 16 nominations for their films "Babel", "Pan's Labyrinth" and "Children of Men", respectively.
Gonzalez Inarritu's director nom and Cruz's best actress mention also represent Oscar firsts: The "Babel" filmmaker became the premier Mexican director nominated for the craft's highest honor, while the "Volver" star is the first actress recognized for a Spanish-speaking role.
For "Babel"'s Barraza, the film's high profile and Academy recognition provide an opportunity for audiences to view a story line rarely portrayed onscreen. "With my character, an immigrant worker, audiences get to see the feelings, the needs, the real reasons why they are here in the United States," she said.
"It has been a long time coming, especially since millions of people speak Spanish as their main language in this country," said Cruz, who was singled out for her role in Pedro Almodovar's Spanish-language "Volver". "It's great that it's finally being reflected in movies."
In fact, the Mexican helming troika of Gonzalez Inarritu, Del Toro and Cuaron garnered a combined 16 nominations for their films "Babel", "Pan's Labyrinth" and "Children of Men", respectively.
Gonzalez Inarritu's director nom and Cruz's best actress mention also represent Oscar firsts: The "Babel" filmmaker became the premier Mexican director nominated for the craft's highest honor, while the "Volver" star is the first actress recognized for a Spanish-speaking role.
For "Babel"'s Barraza, the film's high profile and Academy recognition provide an opportunity for audiences to view a story line rarely portrayed onscreen. "With my character, an immigrant worker, audiences get to see the feelings, the needs, the real reasons why they are here in the United States," she said.
- 1/23/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
'Dreamgirls' leads Oscar noms, misses best picture
The multilingual "Babel" clearly spoke Oscar's language Tuesday morning, when nominations for the 79th Annual Academy Awards were announced. The musical "Dreamgirls" might have earned the most nominations, eight, but it was shut out of the best picture race.
Complete list of Academy Award nominations
Instead, it earned the unenviable distinction of becoming the first movie in Oscar history to fail to earn a best picture nomination while collecting the most noms.
"Looking at the whole awards season, there is no clear front-runner," Miramax Films president Daniel Battsek said as he celebrated six noms for "The Queen" and one for Peter O'Toole's autumnal performance in "Venus".
For best picture honors, "Babel", with seven noms, will compete against the crime drama "The Departed", the Japanese-language war film "Letters From Iwo Jima", the quirky comedy "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Queen", a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II under siege from the modern media.
So far, though, a definite front-runner hasn't emerged during an awards season in which "Babel" earned the title of best drama at the Golden Globes but "Little Miss Sunshine" took the Producers Guild of America's film prize last weekend.
"Babel" might tell a globe-hopping story of cultural misunderstandings, but the 5,830 voting members of the Academy seemed to be in a particularly international mood. In the acting categories, they nominated two actresses who deliver foreign-language performances: Penelope Cruz, who stars as a ghost-haunted widow in the Spanish-language "Volver", and Rinko Kikuchi, who plays a deaf student speaking Japanese and also signing in "Babel". Kikuchi's castmate Adriana Barraza, appearing in a role that combines English and Spanish dialogue, also was rewarded with a nomination.
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Guillermo Del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron, the trio of Mexican-born directors dubbed the Three Amigos, all figured prominently as well. Gonzalez Inarritu's "Babel" picked up seven noms, Del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth" was close behind with six -- including a best foreign-language film nomination -- and Cuaron's "Children of Men" took three, including best adapted screenplay.
Commenting on the multiculturalism of this year's crop of nominees, Forest Whitaker, nominated as best actor for "The Last King of Scotland", said: "We're finally recognizing that we're all here on the planet together. We all have lives and stories that connect each other. It's amazing, really."
"If you look at a lot of nominated films and filmmakers, from Alfonso Cuaron to 'Babel' to 'Pan's Labyrinth, ' you see that filmmaking is now a global world, and both Hollywood and audiences aren't intimidated by subtitles anymore," said IFC Entertainment president Jonathan Sehring, whose company was behind two of the foreign-language film nominees, Denmark's "After the Wedding" and Algeria's "Days of Glory".
With several co-productions among rival studios showing up in this year's nominations, victory had many fathers. Under new chairman Brad Grey, Paramount Pictures staged a resurgence. After it picked up just three noms last year, it laid claim to 19 this time: eight for "Dreamgirls", which it co-produced with DreamWorks, now a division of Paramount, and then released; two from "Flags of Our Fathers", which DreamWorks co-produced with Warner Bros. Pictures; and another nine on behalf of its specialty division Paramount Vantage, which distributed both "Babel" and the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth".
Warners tallied 18 noms, with "Departed" and "Blood Diamond" leading the pack with five each, while "Iwo Jima", which it co-produced with DreamWorks, received four.
Complete list of Academy Award nominations
Instead, it earned the unenviable distinction of becoming the first movie in Oscar history to fail to earn a best picture nomination while collecting the most noms.
"Looking at the whole awards season, there is no clear front-runner," Miramax Films president Daniel Battsek said as he celebrated six noms for "The Queen" and one for Peter O'Toole's autumnal performance in "Venus".
For best picture honors, "Babel", with seven noms, will compete against the crime drama "The Departed", the Japanese-language war film "Letters From Iwo Jima", the quirky comedy "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Queen", a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II under siege from the modern media.
So far, though, a definite front-runner hasn't emerged during an awards season in which "Babel" earned the title of best drama at the Golden Globes but "Little Miss Sunshine" took the Producers Guild of America's film prize last weekend.
"Babel" might tell a globe-hopping story of cultural misunderstandings, but the 5,830 voting members of the Academy seemed to be in a particularly international mood. In the acting categories, they nominated two actresses who deliver foreign-language performances: Penelope Cruz, who stars as a ghost-haunted widow in the Spanish-language "Volver", and Rinko Kikuchi, who plays a deaf student speaking Japanese and also signing in "Babel". Kikuchi's castmate Adriana Barraza, appearing in a role that combines English and Spanish dialogue, also was rewarded with a nomination.
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Guillermo Del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron, the trio of Mexican-born directors dubbed the Three Amigos, all figured prominently as well. Gonzalez Inarritu's "Babel" picked up seven noms, Del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth" was close behind with six -- including a best foreign-language film nomination -- and Cuaron's "Children of Men" took three, including best adapted screenplay.
Commenting on the multiculturalism of this year's crop of nominees, Forest Whitaker, nominated as best actor for "The Last King of Scotland", said: "We're finally recognizing that we're all here on the planet together. We all have lives and stories that connect each other. It's amazing, really."
"If you look at a lot of nominated films and filmmakers, from Alfonso Cuaron to 'Babel' to 'Pan's Labyrinth, ' you see that filmmaking is now a global world, and both Hollywood and audiences aren't intimidated by subtitles anymore," said IFC Entertainment president Jonathan Sehring, whose company was behind two of the foreign-language film nominees, Denmark's "After the Wedding" and Algeria's "Days of Glory".
With several co-productions among rival studios showing up in this year's nominations, victory had many fathers. Under new chairman Brad Grey, Paramount Pictures staged a resurgence. After it picked up just three noms last year, it laid claim to 19 this time: eight for "Dreamgirls", which it co-produced with DreamWorks, now a division of Paramount, and then released; two from "Flags of Our Fathers", which DreamWorks co-produced with Warner Bros. Pictures; and another nine on behalf of its specialty division Paramount Vantage, which distributed both "Babel" and the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth".
Warners tallied 18 noms, with "Departed" and "Blood Diamond" leading the pack with five each, while "Iwo Jima", which it co-produced with DreamWorks, received four.
- 1/23/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
'Labyrinth' finds pair of int'l nods at Palm Springs
Guillermo Del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth" was voted the FIPRESCI Award for best foreign-language film by a jury of international critics at the 18th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival, which wrapped Sunday. The film also took home the fest's International Filmmaker Award.
The fest, which began Jan. 4, screened 255 films from 73 countries, including 79 premieres and 55 of the 61 foreign-language film entries for this year's Academy Awards. A record 120,000 attendees are estimated to have taken part in the fest.
Mads Mikkelsen recieved the FIPRESCI best actor award for his performance in Susanne Bier's "After the Wedding", while Blanca Lewin was named best actress for Matias Bize's "In Bed".
In the New Voices New Visions category, featuring films from 12 new international directors, Rafi Pitts recevied an award for his humanism and elegant filmmaking for "It's Winter".
A Special Jury Prize was awarded to Veronica Chen's "Agua" for its original storytelling.
John Jeffcoat received the John Schlesinger Award for outstanding first feature (narrative or documentary) for "Outsourced", which screened as the opening-night film.
The fest, which began Jan. 4, screened 255 films from 73 countries, including 79 premieres and 55 of the 61 foreign-language film entries for this year's Academy Awards. A record 120,000 attendees are estimated to have taken part in the fest.
Mads Mikkelsen recieved the FIPRESCI best actor award for his performance in Susanne Bier's "After the Wedding", while Blanca Lewin was named best actress for Matias Bize's "In Bed".
In the New Voices New Visions category, featuring films from 12 new international directors, Rafi Pitts recevied an award for his humanism and elegant filmmaking for "It's Winter".
A Special Jury Prize was awarded to Veronica Chen's "Agua" for its original storytelling.
John Jeffcoat received the John Schlesinger Award for outstanding first feature (narrative or documentary) for "Outsourced", which screened as the opening-night film.
- 1/15/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
'Queen' rules over BAFTA nominations
LONDON -- Stephen Frears' "The Queen" crowned its commercial and critical success on Friday, garnering 10 nominations including best film and best director to lead nominees for the Orange British Academy Film Awards.
The winners will be crowned by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts on Feb. 11.
Just on the regal presence's coat tails was one of Her Majesty's secret servers, James Bond, with the spy's latest outing "Casino Royale" punching its way to nine nominations, including a best actor nomination for Daniel Craig.
To secure this year's best film plaudits, "The Queen" will have to overcome "The Departed", "Babel", "The Last King Of Scotland" and "Little Miss Sunshine".
Frears is up against Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ("Babel"), Martin Scorsese ("The Departed"), Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris ("Little Miss Sunshine") and Paul Greengrass ("United 93") in the sprint to secure the best director trophy.
Greengrass is also nominated in the best original screenplay category for "United 93" and aims to beat Peter Morgan's script for "The Queen", Guillermo Del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth" and Michael Arndt's "Little Miss Sunshine" for the writer plaudits.
Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Paul Haggis are nominated for their "Casino Royale" script in the adapted screenplay section, with William Monahan ("The Departed"), Aline Brosh McKenna ("The Devil Wears Prada"), Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock ("The Last King Of Scotland") and Patrick Marber ("Notes On A Scandal") also in the running.
Craig's turn as 007 will have to punch out the challenges of Leonardo DiCaprio ("The Departed"), Richard Griffiths ("The History Boys"), Peter O'Toole ("Venus") and Forest Whitaker ("The Last King Of Scotland") to win best actor plaudits.
Best actress will be picked from Penelope Cruz ("Volver"), Judi Dench ("Notes On A Scandal"), Helen Mirren ("The Queen"), Meryl Streep ("The Devil Wears Prada") and Kate Winslet ("Little Children").
Aside from its best film, original screenplay and best direction nominations, "Little Miss Sunshine" also secured a trio of performance slots.
The movie's Alan Arkin takes his place in the race for best supporting actor while Abigail Breslin and Toni Colette go up against one another in the best supporting actress section.
Also nominated for best supporting actor are James McAvoy ("Last King"), Jack Nicholson ("Departed"), Leslie Phillips ("Venus") and Michael Sheen ("The Queen"). Breslin and Colette's competition for best support actress are Emily Blunt ("Prada"), Frances de La Tour ("History Boys") and Jennifer Hudson ("Dreamgirls").
It?s all change for this year's ceremony, which will be presented by British television chat show host and media personality Jonathan Ross, although BAFTA top brass is dotting the eyes and crossing the tees with the star, insiders said. Ross replaces writer, actor and comedian Stephen Fry and will present the awards from this year's venue, the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.
But some things remain the same. Cellular phone company Orange is sponsoring the awards for the tenth year in a row, and the ceremony itself will, for the seventh year running, have a pre-Oscar date and be broadcast live on BBC1.
BAFTA chairman Hilary Bevan-Jones and actor Chiwetel Ejiofor ("Kinky Boots") announced the nominations at BAFTA's Piccadilly headquarters, with 10 categories going out live on BBC television for the third year.
There wasn't much surprise at the list from the gathered filmmakers, distributors and publicists, although the absence of "Children Of Men" from the major categories aside from cinematography and no mention of "Borat" was mentioned.
The winners will be crowned by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts on Feb. 11.
Just on the regal presence's coat tails was one of Her Majesty's secret servers, James Bond, with the spy's latest outing "Casino Royale" punching its way to nine nominations, including a best actor nomination for Daniel Craig.
To secure this year's best film plaudits, "The Queen" will have to overcome "The Departed", "Babel", "The Last King Of Scotland" and "Little Miss Sunshine".
Frears is up against Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ("Babel"), Martin Scorsese ("The Departed"), Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris ("Little Miss Sunshine") and Paul Greengrass ("United 93") in the sprint to secure the best director trophy.
Greengrass is also nominated in the best original screenplay category for "United 93" and aims to beat Peter Morgan's script for "The Queen", Guillermo Del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth" and Michael Arndt's "Little Miss Sunshine" for the writer plaudits.
Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Paul Haggis are nominated for their "Casino Royale" script in the adapted screenplay section, with William Monahan ("The Departed"), Aline Brosh McKenna ("The Devil Wears Prada"), Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock ("The Last King Of Scotland") and Patrick Marber ("Notes On A Scandal") also in the running.
Craig's turn as 007 will have to punch out the challenges of Leonardo DiCaprio ("The Departed"), Richard Griffiths ("The History Boys"), Peter O'Toole ("Venus") and Forest Whitaker ("The Last King Of Scotland") to win best actor plaudits.
Best actress will be picked from Penelope Cruz ("Volver"), Judi Dench ("Notes On A Scandal"), Helen Mirren ("The Queen"), Meryl Streep ("The Devil Wears Prada") and Kate Winslet ("Little Children").
Aside from its best film, original screenplay and best direction nominations, "Little Miss Sunshine" also secured a trio of performance slots.
The movie's Alan Arkin takes his place in the race for best supporting actor while Abigail Breslin and Toni Colette go up against one another in the best supporting actress section.
Also nominated for best supporting actor are James McAvoy ("Last King"), Jack Nicholson ("Departed"), Leslie Phillips ("Venus") and Michael Sheen ("The Queen"). Breslin and Colette's competition for best support actress are Emily Blunt ("Prada"), Frances de La Tour ("History Boys") and Jennifer Hudson ("Dreamgirls").
It?s all change for this year's ceremony, which will be presented by British television chat show host and media personality Jonathan Ross, although BAFTA top brass is dotting the eyes and crossing the tees with the star, insiders said. Ross replaces writer, actor and comedian Stephen Fry and will present the awards from this year's venue, the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.
But some things remain the same. Cellular phone company Orange is sponsoring the awards for the tenth year in a row, and the ceremony itself will, for the seventh year running, have a pre-Oscar date and be broadcast live on BBC1.
BAFTA chairman Hilary Bevan-Jones and actor Chiwetel Ejiofor ("Kinky Boots") announced the nominations at BAFTA's Piccadilly headquarters, with 10 categories going out live on BBC television for the third year.
There wasn't much surprise at the list from the gathered filmmakers, distributors and publicists, although the absence of "Children Of Men" from the major categories aside from cinematography and no mention of "Borat" was mentioned.
- 1/12/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
National Society picks 'Pan' as best pic
Guillermo Del Toro's imaginative fable "Pan's Labyrinth", set amid the rise of fascism in 1940s Spain, was voted best picture of 2006 by the National Society of Film Critics during the group's annual meeting Saturday at Sardi's Restaurant in New York.
The Spanish-language film, a Picturehouse release, prevailed in the voting over Cristi Puiu's "The Death of Mr. Lazarescu", which came in second, and Clint Eastwood's "Letters From Iwo Jima", which placed third.
With a membership that includes 58 critics from around the country, with 45 of them taking part in the voting, the National Society uses a weighted balloting system, and "Labyrinth" pulled ahead of "Lazurescu" by three points. "Labyrinth" scored 34, "Lazarescu" claimed 31 and "Letters" followed with 29.
Del Toro did not receive best director honors, however. That distinction went to Paul Greengrass for helming the docudrama "United 93". Greengrass earned 21 points, while Del Toro and "The Departed"'s Martin Scorsese tied for second place with 15 points each.
The critics' group, which dedicated its 41st annual awards to the memory of the late Robert Altman, named Forest Whitaker best actor for "The Last King of Scotland". But Whitaker eked out that victory; on the initial ballot, he and Peter O'Toole, who stars in "Venus", tied with 54 votes apiece.
The Spanish-language film, a Picturehouse release, prevailed in the voting over Cristi Puiu's "The Death of Mr. Lazarescu", which came in second, and Clint Eastwood's "Letters From Iwo Jima", which placed third.
With a membership that includes 58 critics from around the country, with 45 of them taking part in the voting, the National Society uses a weighted balloting system, and "Labyrinth" pulled ahead of "Lazurescu" by three points. "Labyrinth" scored 34, "Lazarescu" claimed 31 and "Letters" followed with 29.
Del Toro did not receive best director honors, however. That distinction went to Paul Greengrass for helming the docudrama "United 93". Greengrass earned 21 points, while Del Toro and "The Departed"'s Martin Scorsese tied for second place with 15 points each.
The critics' group, which dedicated its 41st annual awards to the memory of the late Robert Altman, named Forest Whitaker best actor for "The Last King of Scotland". But Whitaker eked out that victory; on the initial ballot, he and Peter O'Toole, who stars in "Venus", tied with 54 votes apiece.
- 1/9/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
National Society picks 'Pan' as best picture
Guillermo Del Toro's imaginative fable "Pan's Labyrinth", set amid the rise of fascism in 1940s Spain, was voted best picture of 2006 by the National Society of Film Critics during the group's annual meeting Saturday at Sardi's Restaurant in New York.
The Spanish-language film, a Picturehouse release, prevailed in the voting over Cristi Puiu's "The Death of Mr. Lazarescu", which came in second, and Clint Eastwood's "Letters From Iwo Jima", which placed third.
With a membership that includes 58 critics from around the country, with 45 of them taking part in the voting, the National Society uses a weighted balloting system, and "Labyrinth" pulled ahead of "Lazurescu" by three points. "Labyrinth" scored 34, "Lazarescu" claimed 31 and "Letters" followed with 29.
Del Toro did not receive best director honors, however. That distinction went to Paul Greengrass for helming the docudrama "United 93". Greengrass earned 21 points, while Del Toro and "The Departed"'s Martin Scorsese tied for second place with 15 points each.
The critics' group, which dedicated its 41st annual awards to the memory of the late Robert Altman, named Forest Whitaker best actor for "The Last King of Scotland". But Whitaker eked out that victory; on the initial ballot, he and Peter O'Toole, who stars in "Venus", tied with 54 votes apiece.
The Spanish-language film, a Picturehouse release, prevailed in the voting over Cristi Puiu's "The Death of Mr. Lazarescu", which came in second, and Clint Eastwood's "Letters From Iwo Jima", which placed third.
With a membership that includes 58 critics from around the country, with 45 of them taking part in the voting, the National Society uses a weighted balloting system, and "Labyrinth" pulled ahead of "Lazurescu" by three points. "Labyrinth" scored 34, "Lazarescu" claimed 31 and "Letters" followed with 29.
Del Toro did not receive best director honors, however. That distinction went to Paul Greengrass for helming the docudrama "United 93". Greengrass earned 21 points, while Del Toro and "The Departed"'s Martin Scorsese tied for second place with 15 points each.
The critics' group, which dedicated its 41st annual awards to the memory of the late Robert Altman, named Forest Whitaker best actor for "The Last King of Scotland". But Whitaker eked out that victory; on the initial ballot, he and Peter O'Toole, who stars in "Venus", tied with 54 votes apiece.
- 1/8/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
National Society picks 'Pan' as best picture
Guillermo Del Toro's imaginative fable Pan's Labyrinth, set amid the rise of fascism in 1940s Spain, was voted best picture of 2006 by the National Society of Film Critics during the group's annual meeting Saturday at Sardi's Restaurant in New York.
The Spanish-language film, a Picturehouse release, prevailed in the voting over Cristi Puiu's The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, which came in second, and Clint Eastwood's Letters From Iwo Jima, which placed third.
With a membership that includes 58 critics from around the country, with 45 of them taking part in the voting, the National Society uses a weighted balloting system, and Labyrinth pulled ahead of Lazurescu by three points. Labyrinth scored 34, Lazarescu claimed 31 and Letters followed with 29.
Del Toro did not receive best director honors, however. That distinction went to Paul Greengrass for helming the docudrama United 93. Greengrass earned 21 points, while Del Toro and The Departed's Martin Scorsese tied for second place with 15 points each.
The critics' group, which dedicated its 41st annual awards to the memory of the late Robert Altman, named Forest Whitaker best actor for The Last King of Scotland. But Whitaker eked out that victory; on the initial ballot, he and Peter O'Toole, who stars in Venus, tied with 54 votes apiece.
The Spanish-language film, a Picturehouse release, prevailed in the voting over Cristi Puiu's The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, which came in second, and Clint Eastwood's Letters From Iwo Jima, which placed third.
With a membership that includes 58 critics from around the country, with 45 of them taking part in the voting, the National Society uses a weighted balloting system, and Labyrinth pulled ahead of Lazurescu by three points. Labyrinth scored 34, Lazarescu claimed 31 and Letters followed with 29.
Del Toro did not receive best director honors, however. That distinction went to Paul Greengrass for helming the docudrama United 93. Greengrass earned 21 points, while Del Toro and The Departed's Martin Scorsese tied for second place with 15 points each.
The critics' group, which dedicated its 41st annual awards to the memory of the late Robert Altman, named Forest Whitaker best actor for The Last King of Scotland. But Whitaker eked out that victory; on the initial ballot, he and Peter O'Toole, who stars in Venus, tied with 54 votes apiece.
- 1/7/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
'Museum' extends its No. 1 run with $24 million
Although 20th Century Fox's Night at the Museum and Sony Pictures' The Pursuit of Happyness captured the top two spots at the domestic boxoffice for the third weekend in a row, a portion of the audience was looking for something different during the first full frame of 2007, and that catapulted Universal Pictures' Children of Men into the No. 3 spot.
Universal's quick decision to expand wide the futuristic film directed by Alfonso Cuaron a week earlier than planned clearly paid off as it grossed an estimated $10.3 million in 1,209 theaters. Paramount Pictures also benefited from being nimble as it bowed its schoolroom drama Freedom Writers a week earlier than planned, grossing an estimated $9.7 million, good for fourth place.
Fox's Museum maintained the top spot for the third consecutive weekend with an estimated $24 million, bringing its cume to $164.1 million. Meanwhile, Sony held on to the No. 2 spot during the fourth weekend of release of the Will Smith starrer Happyness, which picked up an estimated $13 million.
Among the new releases, Lionsgate earned decent marks with its animated film Happily N'Ever After, which bowed to an estimated $6.8 million and the sixth-place spot. New Line Cinema's comedy Code Name: The Cleaner didn't fare as well, however; the Cedric the Entertainer starrer bowed in 11th place with a weekend gross of an estimated $4.6 million.
Overall, the top 12 movies generated an estimated $106.3 million, a small 0.46% increase over last year at this time, when Lionsgate bowed Hostel to $19.5 million.
The top 10 holdovers performed strongly in the marketplace, with nothing falling more than an estimated 43%.
In fifth place, Paramount's release of DreamWorks' musical Dreamgirls generated an additional $8.8 million for a strong $10,358 per-theater average, the best mark among the top 10. The film, still in a fairly limited release of 852 theaters, has grossed $54.4 million. Paramount intends to expand it to 1,800 theaters next frame.
In eighth place, Universal's R-rated spy drama The Good Shepherd fell $41% to $6.5 million. The film starring Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie has generated close to $50 million.
In ninth place, MGM's Rocky Balboa is holding strong; the underdog story generated another $6 million, pushing its gross to an estimated $60 million.
Among the limited releases, Picturehouse's Pan's Labyrinth continues to perform strongly. The R-rated adult fairy tale from director Guillermo Del Toro grossed $727,066 on 44 screens, up 17 screens from last frame. The film generated a per-screen average of $16,524, and its two-week cume stands at $1.8 million. Picturehouse intends to add 200 screens this weekend, and company head Bob Berney is considering an even larger expansion than initially planned for Jan.
Universal's quick decision to expand wide the futuristic film directed by Alfonso Cuaron a week earlier than planned clearly paid off as it grossed an estimated $10.3 million in 1,209 theaters. Paramount Pictures also benefited from being nimble as it bowed its schoolroom drama Freedom Writers a week earlier than planned, grossing an estimated $9.7 million, good for fourth place.
Fox's Museum maintained the top spot for the third consecutive weekend with an estimated $24 million, bringing its cume to $164.1 million. Meanwhile, Sony held on to the No. 2 spot during the fourth weekend of release of the Will Smith starrer Happyness, which picked up an estimated $13 million.
Among the new releases, Lionsgate earned decent marks with its animated film Happily N'Ever After, which bowed to an estimated $6.8 million and the sixth-place spot. New Line Cinema's comedy Code Name: The Cleaner didn't fare as well, however; the Cedric the Entertainer starrer bowed in 11th place with a weekend gross of an estimated $4.6 million.
Overall, the top 12 movies generated an estimated $106.3 million, a small 0.46% increase over last year at this time, when Lionsgate bowed Hostel to $19.5 million.
The top 10 holdovers performed strongly in the marketplace, with nothing falling more than an estimated 43%.
In fifth place, Paramount's release of DreamWorks' musical Dreamgirls generated an additional $8.8 million for a strong $10,358 per-theater average, the best mark among the top 10. The film, still in a fairly limited release of 852 theaters, has grossed $54.4 million. Paramount intends to expand it to 1,800 theaters next frame.
In eighth place, Universal's R-rated spy drama The Good Shepherd fell $41% to $6.5 million. The film starring Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie has generated close to $50 million.
In ninth place, MGM's Rocky Balboa is holding strong; the underdog story generated another $6 million, pushing its gross to an estimated $60 million.
Among the limited releases, Picturehouse's Pan's Labyrinth continues to perform strongly. The R-rated adult fairy tale from director Guillermo Del Toro grossed $727,066 on 44 screens, up 17 screens from last frame. The film generated a per-screen average of $16,524, and its two-week cume stands at $1.8 million. Picturehouse intends to add 200 screens this weekend, and company head Bob Berney is considering an even larger expansion than initially planned for Jan.
- 1/7/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
'Alatriste,' 'Volver' top noms for Goya award
MADRID -- Agustin Diaz Yanes' historical adventure Alatriste and Pedro Almodovar's Volver are leading the pack for Spain's top film prize, the Goya awards, with 15 and 14 nominations respectively, organizers announced Monday.
The two films will go head-to-head in the best film and director categories along with Guillermo Del Toro's fantasy tale Pan's Labyrinth, which earned 13 nominations, and Manuel Huerga's Salvador. The homage to Catalan anarchist Salvador Puig Antich earned 11 noms.
Volver, Spain's entry for the foreign-language Oscar, and Pan's Labyrinth, Mexico's offering, are considered serious contenders for the Oscar short list.
Almodovar and Del Toro also will compete for best original script, along with Daniel Sanchez Arvalo for DarkBlueAlmostBlack and Jorge Sanchez Cabezudo for The Night of the Sunflowers.
Antonio Banderas received a nomination for his adapted screenplay of Summer Rain and will compete with The Education of Fairies writer-director Jose Luis Cuerda, Salvador writer Lluis Arcarazo and Alatriste's Diaz Yanes.
Penelope Cruz, who reaped accolades in Cannes for her performance in Volver, will compete against Pan's Maribel Verdu, DarkBlueAlmostBlack's Marta Etura and La Dama Boba's Silvia Abascal for the best actress nod.
The two films will go head-to-head in the best film and director categories along with Guillermo Del Toro's fantasy tale Pan's Labyrinth, which earned 13 nominations, and Manuel Huerga's Salvador. The homage to Catalan anarchist Salvador Puig Antich earned 11 noms.
Volver, Spain's entry for the foreign-language Oscar, and Pan's Labyrinth, Mexico's offering, are considered serious contenders for the Oscar short list.
Almodovar and Del Toro also will compete for best original script, along with Daniel Sanchez Arvalo for DarkBlueAlmostBlack and Jorge Sanchez Cabezudo for The Night of the Sunflowers.
Antonio Banderas received a nomination for his adapted screenplay of Summer Rain and will compete with The Education of Fairies writer-director Jose Luis Cuerda, Salvador writer Lluis Arcarazo and Alatriste's Diaz Yanes.
Penelope Cruz, who reaped accolades in Cannes for her performance in Volver, will compete against Pan's Maribel Verdu, DarkBlueAlmostBlack's Marta Etura and La Dama Boba's Silvia Abascal for the best actress nod.
- 12/18/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Spirits soar at sunrise
COMPLETE COVERAGE:
Eastwood, DiCaprio play doubles
List of nominees
TV nominees react
Risky Business: Anne Thompson's take
Grove: Votes impact Oscar coin
A late night of partying morphed into an early morning of celebration for "Babel" director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. "It's funny", he said. "I was at a party with Penelope Cruz, and it was 5:30 (a.m.) when I arrived at my house. Someone was watching TV, and I asked, 'What's going on here?' It was my wife watching, and I heard my name on the TV, and I heard a shout. And she started jumping all over me. I didn't understand what was going on." The couple had plenty of reasons to revel as the multiarc drama scored the most Globe nominations with seven, including one for the Mexican-born helmer. "That was the one that surprised me the most," said Inarritu, whose "Amores Perros" vied for best foreign film at the 2001 Globes. That year, Inarritu lost to Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". As for his chances this year, the director said he doesn't want to jinx himself. "I will never prepare a speech", he said. "That's bad luck. If I'm in those circumstances one day, which I doubt, I will just speak from my heart." Meanwhile, "Babel" producer Steve Golin said he was "pleasantly surprised" at the film's showing yet can understand why the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. is so enamored of the globetrotting film, which shot in locales including Morocco and Japan. "It truly is an international picture," Golin said. "And I think that helped the film a lot with these voters."
*****
Penelope Cruz backed up Gonzalez Inarritu's story, saying she was "very tired" and hadn't slept, though it's hard to conjure up much sympathy for her. After designers Dolce & Gabbana threw a party in her honor late Wednesday night, she decided to stay awake for the nominations, eating pancakes in her Chateau Marmont hotel room with friends including Prince and Gael Garcia Bernal. When her best actress drama nomination for "Volver" came in, "it was beautiful to see my friends' reactions," Cruz said as her dogs Vino and Leon fought in the background. Director Pedro Almodovar was the first person to call from overseas, leaving her a "screaming message." After mixed success with U.S. productions, getting recognized for work in her native language with one of her first directors felt good to Cruz. "I've done 35 or 37 movies, and this one feels like it's all about the work and has nothing to do with your ego," she said. "Pedro's given me the opportunity to do this. He's given me that trust."
*****
Kate Winslet was dropping off her toddler at school when news came of her best actress nom for "Little Children". "It's difficult to contain your excitement when you're standing in a room of 3-year-olds," she said with a laugh. "Even now, I'm jumping up and down. I'm really, really fucking happy!" One might think more than a decade of nominations (starting with "Sense and Sensibility") would have dampened her enthusiasm a bit, but no. "To be nominated alongside two Dames (Helen Mirren and Judi Dench) is incredible. I'm speechless. Usually I'm not as aware of the whole awards thing, but I've been on the press treadmill a lot recently, and it's made it a bit more nerve-wracking, to be quite honest." After "screaming on the telephone" to husband Sam Mendes, who is in New York with Winslet while directing "The Vertical Hour" on Broadway, she called her friend and fellow nominee Maggie Gyllenhaal. "I said this is so significant for small films like ours to get seen," Winslet said.
*****
Leonardo DiCaprio slept soundly in his Los Angeles home and woke up at 8 a.m. when his manager Rick Yorn phoned in the news that he had earned not one but two lead actor noms. Although DiCaprio is a Globes veteran, having already grabbed three best actor nominations (and a win for "The Aviator"), he was still "blown away," he admitted. "It's a great feeling. I'm really proud of both of these movies. I give all the credit to the filmmakers I got to work with. I'm very happy for Marty (Scorsese, director of 'The Departed'). This is hopefully his year." While DiCaprio was "very surprised" to be nominated for both "Departed" and "Blood Diamond", the roles were equally daunting, he said. "Certainly with 'Blood Diamond, ' it was challenging taking on a character so unlike me in every way, from halfway around the world, with military experience, dealing with the black-market diamond industry, an African white man in the post-apartheid era," he said. "Going to Africa for that long, being away from home, was very difficult." "Departed" brought different challenges, mostly because of the actors' schedules. "A lot of the actors had to leave to do other projects," he said. "They were all doing separate movies, so I was going into character for two weeks, then letting go and coming back for a day here and a day there. It was hard to maintain focus on that movie." But DiCaprio did enjoy working with fellow nominee Jack Nicholson: "He elevates everyone. Jack is a force of nature; he definitely has his own unique approach. There has only been one Jack in the rich history of cinema."
*****
There have been ups and downs in Ben Affleck's career, but with his "Hollywoodland" supporting actor nom and a recent Venice Film Festival win, things are on the upswing. "I was really surprised by Venice, and this is also a surprise," Affleck said. The Focus Features/Miramax Films co-production is "sort of dark, not many people saw it, and there are a lot of good performances out there. I'm just happy to be on the train," he said. The first person to congratulate the actor Thursday morning was his baby daughter ("She's up at 4 in the morning", he said wryly), followed by wife Jennifer Garner.
*****
Best comic actor nominee Sacha Baron Cohen modestly began a prepared statement, acknowledging the two noms for "Borat". "I am extremely honored", he said. "I'm very proud as well for my fellow writers as well as our director Larry Charles and our producer Jay Roach and am very thankful for the HFPA's belief and acknowledgment of our film." But then the irrepressible comedian couldn't resist adding: "I have been trying to let Borat know this great news, but for the last four hours both of Kazakhstan's telephones have been engaged. Eventually, Premier Nazarbayev answered and said he would pass on the message as soon as Borat returned from Iran, where he is guest of honor at the Holocaust Denial Conference."
*****
Guillermo Del Toro, who wrote and directed "Pan's Labyrinth", didn't get a lick of sleep in his San Francisco hotel room Wednesday night waiting to hear the Golden Globe nominations. "You're talking to a man in a dream state," he said. "They told me to go to bed, we'd know at 5:15 a.m. It's like telling a kid Santa's showing up, and watching the milk and cookies carefully overnight." Del Toro's fellow Mexico countryman Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who directed multiple-Globe nominee "Babel", woke up Del Toro's wife at 6 a.m. to report the happy news on both of their films. Both men have been on the long campaign trail since the Festival de Cannes in May, and have worked hard to support each other's films. "Other than Alejandro causing that domestic turbulence, it's the best week I've ever had," said Del Toro. "It's been a particularly crowded year. Having seen a few of (the other foreign films) and knowing they were very good, I did have nail-biting experience." Del Toro has been on a city-by-city promo tour, because, he says, "like any foreign film, the main thing is making sure it gets seen. Frankly, that's the biggest weapon of this movie, to be seen." Del Toro's violent Spanish Civil War fable relays a powerful message: "The fact that we live in a brutal world means that we are in desperate need for spirituality," he said. "The movie proves that within each of us there is a world we can access: it's as real as the world outside, and it can fill you with hope."
*****
"Bobby" producer Holly Wiersma was virtually living in the editing room, finishing up George Hickenlooper's "Factory Girl" for its Dec. 29 Oscar-qualifying run, when she got the call from the Weinstein Co. that her film nabbed a best picture (drama) nomination. "I talked to (director) Emilio Estevez) first, who is so excited and humbled and can't believe it. He's devoted seven years of his life to it -- this whole movie is because of him." Her next call was from a member of the film's large ensemble, Christian Slater. "Christian said this has been the best experience of his life," she said. On her way to meet with proud studio head Harvey Weinstein, however, Wiersma had something more important on her mind. "I have to call my mom -- she's called four times!" she said. "She's going to kill me". Weinstein had his own theory behind "Bobby"'s success: "HFPA members saw it in Venice", where the film was said to be in serious awards consideration, "so they saw it under ideal circumstances," he said.
*****
Best supporting actress nominee Jennifer Hudson woke up at 3 a.m. "Nerves got the best of me", she said. "They tapped me and said, 'Jennifer, wake up now.' " It's been a whirlwind four months promoting "Dreamgirls", she said. "Oh my goodness, it done wore me out." The rookie actress got a lot of help creating the role of Effie, she admitted, especially from her director, Bill Condon, who wasn't nominated. "He gave me that chance and walked me through it all," Hudson said. "He directed me. I don't know if I'd be sitting here right now as a Golden Globe nominee if he hadn't given me that great direction. He's such an amazing director. I'm going to create him an award myself." On the set, Jamie Foxx gave her acting tips, while Beyonce Knowles helped her with the dance moves. "I tried to do whatever I could to make Effie real," Hudson said.
Eastwood, DiCaprio play doubles
List of nominees
TV nominees react
Risky Business: Anne Thompson's take
Grove: Votes impact Oscar coin
A late night of partying morphed into an early morning of celebration for "Babel" director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. "It's funny", he said. "I was at a party with Penelope Cruz, and it was 5:30 (a.m.) when I arrived at my house. Someone was watching TV, and I asked, 'What's going on here?' It was my wife watching, and I heard my name on the TV, and I heard a shout. And she started jumping all over me. I didn't understand what was going on." The couple had plenty of reasons to revel as the multiarc drama scored the most Globe nominations with seven, including one for the Mexican-born helmer. "That was the one that surprised me the most," said Inarritu, whose "Amores Perros" vied for best foreign film at the 2001 Globes. That year, Inarritu lost to Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". As for his chances this year, the director said he doesn't want to jinx himself. "I will never prepare a speech", he said. "That's bad luck. If I'm in those circumstances one day, which I doubt, I will just speak from my heart." Meanwhile, "Babel" producer Steve Golin said he was "pleasantly surprised" at the film's showing yet can understand why the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. is so enamored of the globetrotting film, which shot in locales including Morocco and Japan. "It truly is an international picture," Golin said. "And I think that helped the film a lot with these voters."
*****
Penelope Cruz backed up Gonzalez Inarritu's story, saying she was "very tired" and hadn't slept, though it's hard to conjure up much sympathy for her. After designers Dolce & Gabbana threw a party in her honor late Wednesday night, she decided to stay awake for the nominations, eating pancakes in her Chateau Marmont hotel room with friends including Prince and Gael Garcia Bernal. When her best actress drama nomination for "Volver" came in, "it was beautiful to see my friends' reactions," Cruz said as her dogs Vino and Leon fought in the background. Director Pedro Almodovar was the first person to call from overseas, leaving her a "screaming message." After mixed success with U.S. productions, getting recognized for work in her native language with one of her first directors felt good to Cruz. "I've done 35 or 37 movies, and this one feels like it's all about the work and has nothing to do with your ego," she said. "Pedro's given me the opportunity to do this. He's given me that trust."
*****
Kate Winslet was dropping off her toddler at school when news came of her best actress nom for "Little Children". "It's difficult to contain your excitement when you're standing in a room of 3-year-olds," she said with a laugh. "Even now, I'm jumping up and down. I'm really, really fucking happy!" One might think more than a decade of nominations (starting with "Sense and Sensibility") would have dampened her enthusiasm a bit, but no. "To be nominated alongside two Dames (Helen Mirren and Judi Dench) is incredible. I'm speechless. Usually I'm not as aware of the whole awards thing, but I've been on the press treadmill a lot recently, and it's made it a bit more nerve-wracking, to be quite honest." After "screaming on the telephone" to husband Sam Mendes, who is in New York with Winslet while directing "The Vertical Hour" on Broadway, she called her friend and fellow nominee Maggie Gyllenhaal. "I said this is so significant for small films like ours to get seen," Winslet said.
*****
Leonardo DiCaprio slept soundly in his Los Angeles home and woke up at 8 a.m. when his manager Rick Yorn phoned in the news that he had earned not one but two lead actor noms. Although DiCaprio is a Globes veteran, having already grabbed three best actor nominations (and a win for "The Aviator"), he was still "blown away," he admitted. "It's a great feeling. I'm really proud of both of these movies. I give all the credit to the filmmakers I got to work with. I'm very happy for Marty (Scorsese, director of 'The Departed'). This is hopefully his year." While DiCaprio was "very surprised" to be nominated for both "Departed" and "Blood Diamond", the roles were equally daunting, he said. "Certainly with 'Blood Diamond, ' it was challenging taking on a character so unlike me in every way, from halfway around the world, with military experience, dealing with the black-market diamond industry, an African white man in the post-apartheid era," he said. "Going to Africa for that long, being away from home, was very difficult." "Departed" brought different challenges, mostly because of the actors' schedules. "A lot of the actors had to leave to do other projects," he said. "They were all doing separate movies, so I was going into character for two weeks, then letting go and coming back for a day here and a day there. It was hard to maintain focus on that movie." But DiCaprio did enjoy working with fellow nominee Jack Nicholson: "He elevates everyone. Jack is a force of nature; he definitely has his own unique approach. There has only been one Jack in the rich history of cinema."
*****
There have been ups and downs in Ben Affleck's career, but with his "Hollywoodland" supporting actor nom and a recent Venice Film Festival win, things are on the upswing. "I was really surprised by Venice, and this is also a surprise," Affleck said. The Focus Features/Miramax Films co-production is "sort of dark, not many people saw it, and there are a lot of good performances out there. I'm just happy to be on the train," he said. The first person to congratulate the actor Thursday morning was his baby daughter ("She's up at 4 in the morning", he said wryly), followed by wife Jennifer Garner.
*****
Best comic actor nominee Sacha Baron Cohen modestly began a prepared statement, acknowledging the two noms for "Borat". "I am extremely honored", he said. "I'm very proud as well for my fellow writers as well as our director Larry Charles and our producer Jay Roach and am very thankful for the HFPA's belief and acknowledgment of our film." But then the irrepressible comedian couldn't resist adding: "I have been trying to let Borat know this great news, but for the last four hours both of Kazakhstan's telephones have been engaged. Eventually, Premier Nazarbayev answered and said he would pass on the message as soon as Borat returned from Iran, where he is guest of honor at the Holocaust Denial Conference."
*****
Guillermo Del Toro, who wrote and directed "Pan's Labyrinth", didn't get a lick of sleep in his San Francisco hotel room Wednesday night waiting to hear the Golden Globe nominations. "You're talking to a man in a dream state," he said. "They told me to go to bed, we'd know at 5:15 a.m. It's like telling a kid Santa's showing up, and watching the milk and cookies carefully overnight." Del Toro's fellow Mexico countryman Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who directed multiple-Globe nominee "Babel", woke up Del Toro's wife at 6 a.m. to report the happy news on both of their films. Both men have been on the long campaign trail since the Festival de Cannes in May, and have worked hard to support each other's films. "Other than Alejandro causing that domestic turbulence, it's the best week I've ever had," said Del Toro. "It's been a particularly crowded year. Having seen a few of (the other foreign films) and knowing they were very good, I did have nail-biting experience." Del Toro has been on a city-by-city promo tour, because, he says, "like any foreign film, the main thing is making sure it gets seen. Frankly, that's the biggest weapon of this movie, to be seen." Del Toro's violent Spanish Civil War fable relays a powerful message: "The fact that we live in a brutal world means that we are in desperate need for spirituality," he said. "The movie proves that within each of us there is a world we can access: it's as real as the world outside, and it can fill you with hope."
*****
"Bobby" producer Holly Wiersma was virtually living in the editing room, finishing up George Hickenlooper's "Factory Girl" for its Dec. 29 Oscar-qualifying run, when she got the call from the Weinstein Co. that her film nabbed a best picture (drama) nomination. "I talked to (director) Emilio Estevez) first, who is so excited and humbled and can't believe it. He's devoted seven years of his life to it -- this whole movie is because of him." Her next call was from a member of the film's large ensemble, Christian Slater. "Christian said this has been the best experience of his life," she said. On her way to meet with proud studio head Harvey Weinstein, however, Wiersma had something more important on her mind. "I have to call my mom -- she's called four times!" she said. "She's going to kill me". Weinstein had his own theory behind "Bobby"'s success: "HFPA members saw it in Venice", where the film was said to be in serious awards consideration, "so they saw it under ideal circumstances," he said.
*****
Best supporting actress nominee Jennifer Hudson woke up at 3 a.m. "Nerves got the best of me", she said. "They tapped me and said, 'Jennifer, wake up now.' " It's been a whirlwind four months promoting "Dreamgirls", she said. "Oh my goodness, it done wore me out." The rookie actress got a lot of help creating the role of Effie, she admitted, especially from her director, Bill Condon, who wasn't nominated. "He gave me that chance and walked me through it all," Hudson said. "He directed me. I don't know if I'd be sitting here right now as a Golden Globe nominee if he hadn't given me that great direction. He's such an amazing director. I'm going to create him an award myself." On the set, Jamie Foxx gave her acting tips, while Beyonce Knowles helped her with the dance moves. "I tried to do whatever I could to make Effie real," Hudson said.
- 12/15/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
N.Y. critics hail 'United 93,' 'Queen'
NEW YORK -- In what chairman Marshall Fine described as "a dogfight" between United 93 and The Queen, Paul Greengrass' Sept. 11 drama was named best film Monday by the New York Film Critics Circle after a four-round tiebreaking vote.
Stephen Frears' Queen earned the most awards, including best actress for Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II and best screenplay for Peter Morgan. Forest Whitaker took home best actor honors for his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland.
" 'United 93' was really a dark horse," Fine said. "A lot of people avoided seeing it because of the subject matter. It was one of the most harrowing films of the year."
The chairman added that its runoff with Queen was the first he had experienced in his 17 years with the organization. He said that this year's other big Sept. 11 drama, World Trade Center, wasn't a factor in the voting.
Martin Scorsese was named best director for The Departed, the film that ran third among the critics' favorites. Amy Berg's Deliver Us From Evil won nonfiction film, George Miller's Happy Feet won animated film and Ryan Fleck's Half Nelson won best first feature.
In one of the most surprising votes, Jean-Pierre Melville's French World War II drama Army of Shadows won foreign-language film; it was made in 1969 but wasn't released domestically until this year. Pedro Almodovar's Volver and Cristi Puiu's Romanian drama The Death of Mr. Lazarescu were the runners-up.
Newcomer Jennifer Hudson took home the supporting actress award for her much-discussed screen debut in Bill Condon's Dreamgirls, and former child star Jackie Earle Haley (The Bad News Bears) won supporting actor for his portrayal of a sex offender in Todd Field's Little Children. Guillermo Navarro won the cinematography award for Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth.
Larry Charles' Borat won no awards but had a strong second runner-up showing for both Sacha Baron Cohen as best actor (after Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson) and nonfiction film (after Michael Apted's 49 Up). The latter award is notable because the film, despite its reliance in improvisation and the unknowing participation of nonactors, has four credited writers.
Stephen Frears' Queen earned the most awards, including best actress for Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II and best screenplay for Peter Morgan. Forest Whitaker took home best actor honors for his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland.
" 'United 93' was really a dark horse," Fine said. "A lot of people avoided seeing it because of the subject matter. It was one of the most harrowing films of the year."
The chairman added that its runoff with Queen was the first he had experienced in his 17 years with the organization. He said that this year's other big Sept. 11 drama, World Trade Center, wasn't a factor in the voting.
Martin Scorsese was named best director for The Departed, the film that ran third among the critics' favorites. Amy Berg's Deliver Us From Evil won nonfiction film, George Miller's Happy Feet won animated film and Ryan Fleck's Half Nelson won best first feature.
In one of the most surprising votes, Jean-Pierre Melville's French World War II drama Army of Shadows won foreign-language film; it was made in 1969 but wasn't released domestically until this year. Pedro Almodovar's Volver and Cristi Puiu's Romanian drama The Death of Mr. Lazarescu were the runners-up.
Newcomer Jennifer Hudson took home the supporting actress award for her much-discussed screen debut in Bill Condon's Dreamgirls, and former child star Jackie Earle Haley (The Bad News Bears) won supporting actor for his portrayal of a sex offender in Todd Field's Little Children. Guillermo Navarro won the cinematography award for Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth.
Larry Charles' Borat won no awards but had a strong second runner-up showing for both Sacha Baron Cohen as best actor (after Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson) and nonfiction film (after Michael Apted's 49 Up). The latter award is notable because the film, despite its reliance in improvisation and the unknowing participation of nonactors, has four credited writers.
- 12/14/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Spirits soar at sunrise
COMPLETE COVERAGE:
Eastwood, DiCaprio play doubles
List of nominees
TV nominees react
Risky Business: Anne Thompson's take
Grove: Votes impact Oscar coin
A late night of partying morphed into an early morning of celebration for "Babel" director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. "It's funny", he said. "I was at a party with Penelope Cruz, and it was 5:30 (a.m.) when I arrived at my house. Someone was watching TV, and I asked, 'What's going on here?' It was my wife watching, and I heard my name on the TV, and I heard a shout. And she started jumping all over me. I didn't understand what was going on." The couple had plenty of reasons to revel as the multiarc drama scored the most Globe nominations with seven, including one for the Mexican-born helmer. "That was the one that surprised me the most," said Inarritu, whose "Amores Perros" vied for best foreign film at the 2001 Globes. That year, Inarritu lost to Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". As for his chances this year, the director said he doesn't want to jinx himself. "I will never prepare a speech", he said. "That's bad luck. If I'm in those circumstances one day, which I doubt, I will just speak from my heart." Meanwhile, "Babel" producer Steve Golin said he was "pleasantly surprised" at the film's showing yet can understand why the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. is so enamored of the globetrotting film, which shot in locales including Morocco and Japan. "It truly is an international picture," Golin said. "And I think that helped the film a lot with these voters."
*****
Penelope Cruz backed up Gonzalez Inarritu's story, saying she was "very tired" and hadn't slept, though it's hard to conjure up much sympathy for her. After designers Dolce & Gabbana threw a party in her honor late Wednesday night, she decided to stay awake for the nominations, eating pancakes in her Chateau Marmont hotel room with friends including Prince and Gael Garcia Bernal. When her best actress drama nomination for "Volver" came in, "it was beautiful to see my friends' reactions," Cruz said as her dogs Vino and Leon fought in the background. Director Pedro Almodovar was the first person to call from overseas, leaving her a "screaming message." After mixed success with U.S. productions, getting recognized for work in her native language with one of her first directors felt good to Cruz. "I've done 35 or 37 movies, and this one feels like it's all about the work and has nothing to do with your ego," she said. "Pedro's given me the opportunity to do this. He's given me that trust."
*****
Kate Winslet was dropping off her toddler at school when news came of her best actress nom for "Little Children". "It's difficult to contain your excitement when you're standing in a room of 3-year-olds," she said with a laugh. "Even now, I'm jumping up and down. I'm really, really fucking happy!" One might think more than a decade of nominations (starting with "Sense and Sensibility") would have dampened her enthusiasm a bit, but no. "To be nominated alongside two Dames (Helen Mirren and Judi Dench) is incredible. I'm speechless. Usually I'm not as aware of the whole awards thing, but I've been on the press treadmill a lot recently, and it's made it a bit more nerve-wracking, to be quite honest." After "screaming on the telephone" to husband Sam Mendes, who is in New York with Winslet while directing "The Vertical Hour" on Broadway, she called her friend and fellow nominee Maggie Gyllenhaal. "I said this is so significant for small films like ours to get seen," Winslet said.
*****
Leonardo DiCaprio slept soundly in his Los Angeles home and woke up at 8 a.m. when his manager Rick Yorn phoned in the news that he had earned not one but two lead actor noms. Although DiCaprio is a Globes veteran, having already grabbed three best actor nominations (and a win for "The Aviator"), he was still "blown away," he admitted. "It's a great feeling. I'm really proud of both of these movies. I give all the credit to the filmmakers I got to work with. I'm very happy for Marty (Scorsese, director of 'The Departed'). This is hopefully his year." While DiCaprio was "very surprised" to be nominated for both "Departed" and "Blood Diamond", the roles were equally daunting, he said. "Certainly with 'Blood Diamond, ' it was challenging taking on a character so unlike me in every way, from halfway around the world, with military experience, dealing with the black-market diamond industry, an African white man in the post-apartheid era," he said. "Going to Africa for that long, being away from home, was very difficult." "Departed" brought different challenges, mostly because of the actors' schedules. "A lot of the actors had to leave to do other projects," he said. "They were all doing separate movies, so I was going into character for two weeks, then letting go and coming back for a day here and a day there. It was hard to maintain focus on that movie." But DiCaprio did enjoy working with fellow nominee Jack Nicholson: "He elevates everyone. Jack is a force of nature; he definitely has his own unique approach. There has only been one Jack in the rich history of cinema."
*****
There have been ups and downs in Ben Affleck's career, but with his "Hollywoodland" supporting actor nom and a recent Venice Film Festival win, things are on the upswing. "I was really surprised by Venice, and this is also a surprise," Affleck said. The Focus Features/Miramax Films co-production is "sort of dark, not many people saw it, and there are a lot of good performances out there. I'm just happy to be on the train," he said. The first person to congratulate the actor Thursday morning was his baby daughter ("She's up at 4 in the morning", he said wryly), followed by wife Jennifer Garner.
*****
Best comic actor nominee Sacha Baron Cohen modestly began a prepared statement, acknowledging the two noms for "Borat". "I am extremely honored", he said. "I'm very proud as well for my fellow writers as well as our director Larry Charles and our producer Jay Roach and am very thankful for the HFPA's belief and acknowledgment of our film." But then the irrepressible comedian couldn't resist adding: "I have been trying to let Borat know this great news, but for the last four hours both of Kazakhstan's telephones have been engaged. Eventually, Premier Nazarbayev answered and said he would pass on the message as soon as Borat returned from Iran, where he is guest of honor at the Holocaust Denial Conference."
*****
Guillermo Del Toro, who wrote and directed "Pan's Labyrinth", didn't get a lick of sleep in his San Francisco hotel room Wednesday night waiting to hear the Golden Globe nominations. "You're talking to a man in a dream state," he said. "They told me to go to bed, we'd know at 5:15 a.m. It's like telling a kid Santa's showing up, and watching the milk and cookies carefully overnight." Del Toro's fellow Mexico countryman Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who directed multiple-Globe nominee "Babel", woke up Del Toro's wife at 6 a.m. to report the happy news on both of their films. Both men have been on the long campaign trail since the Festival de Cannes in May, and have worked hard to support each other's films. "Other than Alejandro causing that domestic turbulence, it's the best week I've ever had," said Del Toro. "It's been a particularly crowded year. Having seen a few of (the other foreign films) and knowing they were very good, I did have nail-biting experience." Del Toro has been on a city-by-city promo tour, because, he says, "like any foreign film, the main thing is making sure it gets seen. Frankly, that's the biggest weapon of this movie, to be seen." Del Toro's violent Spanish Civil War fable relays a powerful message: "The fact that we live in a brutal world means that we are in desperate need for spirituality," he said. "The movie proves that within each of us there is a world we can access: it's as real as the world outside, and it can fill you with hope."
*****
"Bobby" producer Holly Wiersma was virtually living in the editing room, finishing up George Hickenlooper's "Factory Girl" for its Dec. 29 Oscar-qualifying run, when she got the call from the Weinstein Co. that her film nabbed a best picture (drama) nomination. "I talked to (director) Emilio Estevez) first, who is so excited and humbled and can't believe it. He's devoted seven years of his life to it -- this whole movie is because of him." Her next call was from a member of the film's large ensemble, Christian Slater. "Christian said this has been the best experience of his life," she said. On her way to meet with proud studio head Harvey Weinstein, however, Wiersma had something more important on her mind. "I have to call my mom -- she's called four times!" she said. "She's going to kill me". Weinstein had his own theory behind "Bobby"'s success: "HFPA members saw it in Venice", where the film was said to be in serious awards consideration, "so they saw it under ideal circumstances," he said.
*****
Best supporting actress nominee Jennifer Hudson woke up at 3 a.m. "Nerves got the best of me", she said. "They tapped me and said, 'Jennifer, wake up now.' " It's been a whirlwind four months promoting "Dreamgirls", she said. "Oh my goodness, it done wore me out." The rookie actress got a lot of help creating the role of Effie, she admitted, especially from her director, Bill Condon, who wasn't nominated. "He gave me that chance and walked me through it all," Hudson said. "He directed me. I don't know if I'd be sitting here right now as a Golden Globe nominee if he hadn't given me that great direction. He's such an amazing director. I'm going to create him an award myself." On the set, Jamie Foxx gave her acting tips, while Beyonce Knowles helped her with the dance moves. "I tried to do whatever I could to make Effie real," Hudson said.
Eastwood, DiCaprio play doubles
List of nominees
TV nominees react
Risky Business: Anne Thompson's take
Grove: Votes impact Oscar coin
A late night of partying morphed into an early morning of celebration for "Babel" director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. "It's funny", he said. "I was at a party with Penelope Cruz, and it was 5:30 (a.m.) when I arrived at my house. Someone was watching TV, and I asked, 'What's going on here?' It was my wife watching, and I heard my name on the TV, and I heard a shout. And she started jumping all over me. I didn't understand what was going on." The couple had plenty of reasons to revel as the multiarc drama scored the most Globe nominations with seven, including one for the Mexican-born helmer. "That was the one that surprised me the most," said Inarritu, whose "Amores Perros" vied for best foreign film at the 2001 Globes. That year, Inarritu lost to Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". As for his chances this year, the director said he doesn't want to jinx himself. "I will never prepare a speech", he said. "That's bad luck. If I'm in those circumstances one day, which I doubt, I will just speak from my heart." Meanwhile, "Babel" producer Steve Golin said he was "pleasantly surprised" at the film's showing yet can understand why the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. is so enamored of the globetrotting film, which shot in locales including Morocco and Japan. "It truly is an international picture," Golin said. "And I think that helped the film a lot with these voters."
*****
Penelope Cruz backed up Gonzalez Inarritu's story, saying she was "very tired" and hadn't slept, though it's hard to conjure up much sympathy for her. After designers Dolce & Gabbana threw a party in her honor late Wednesday night, she decided to stay awake for the nominations, eating pancakes in her Chateau Marmont hotel room with friends including Prince and Gael Garcia Bernal. When her best actress drama nomination for "Volver" came in, "it was beautiful to see my friends' reactions," Cruz said as her dogs Vino and Leon fought in the background. Director Pedro Almodovar was the first person to call from overseas, leaving her a "screaming message." After mixed success with U.S. productions, getting recognized for work in her native language with one of her first directors felt good to Cruz. "I've done 35 or 37 movies, and this one feels like it's all about the work and has nothing to do with your ego," she said. "Pedro's given me the opportunity to do this. He's given me that trust."
*****
Kate Winslet was dropping off her toddler at school when news came of her best actress nom for "Little Children". "It's difficult to contain your excitement when you're standing in a room of 3-year-olds," she said with a laugh. "Even now, I'm jumping up and down. I'm really, really fucking happy!" One might think more than a decade of nominations (starting with "Sense and Sensibility") would have dampened her enthusiasm a bit, but no. "To be nominated alongside two Dames (Helen Mirren and Judi Dench) is incredible. I'm speechless. Usually I'm not as aware of the whole awards thing, but I've been on the press treadmill a lot recently, and it's made it a bit more nerve-wracking, to be quite honest." After "screaming on the telephone" to husband Sam Mendes, who is in New York with Winslet while directing "The Vertical Hour" on Broadway, she called her friend and fellow nominee Maggie Gyllenhaal. "I said this is so significant for small films like ours to get seen," Winslet said.
*****
Leonardo DiCaprio slept soundly in his Los Angeles home and woke up at 8 a.m. when his manager Rick Yorn phoned in the news that he had earned not one but two lead actor noms. Although DiCaprio is a Globes veteran, having already grabbed three best actor nominations (and a win for "The Aviator"), he was still "blown away," he admitted. "It's a great feeling. I'm really proud of both of these movies. I give all the credit to the filmmakers I got to work with. I'm very happy for Marty (Scorsese, director of 'The Departed'). This is hopefully his year." While DiCaprio was "very surprised" to be nominated for both "Departed" and "Blood Diamond", the roles were equally daunting, he said. "Certainly with 'Blood Diamond, ' it was challenging taking on a character so unlike me in every way, from halfway around the world, with military experience, dealing with the black-market diamond industry, an African white man in the post-apartheid era," he said. "Going to Africa for that long, being away from home, was very difficult." "Departed" brought different challenges, mostly because of the actors' schedules. "A lot of the actors had to leave to do other projects," he said. "They were all doing separate movies, so I was going into character for two weeks, then letting go and coming back for a day here and a day there. It was hard to maintain focus on that movie." But DiCaprio did enjoy working with fellow nominee Jack Nicholson: "He elevates everyone. Jack is a force of nature; he definitely has his own unique approach. There has only been one Jack in the rich history of cinema."
*****
There have been ups and downs in Ben Affleck's career, but with his "Hollywoodland" supporting actor nom and a recent Venice Film Festival win, things are on the upswing. "I was really surprised by Venice, and this is also a surprise," Affleck said. The Focus Features/Miramax Films co-production is "sort of dark, not many people saw it, and there are a lot of good performances out there. I'm just happy to be on the train," he said. The first person to congratulate the actor Thursday morning was his baby daughter ("She's up at 4 in the morning", he said wryly), followed by wife Jennifer Garner.
*****
Best comic actor nominee Sacha Baron Cohen modestly began a prepared statement, acknowledging the two noms for "Borat". "I am extremely honored", he said. "I'm very proud as well for my fellow writers as well as our director Larry Charles and our producer Jay Roach and am very thankful for the HFPA's belief and acknowledgment of our film." But then the irrepressible comedian couldn't resist adding: "I have been trying to let Borat know this great news, but for the last four hours both of Kazakhstan's telephones have been engaged. Eventually, Premier Nazarbayev answered and said he would pass on the message as soon as Borat returned from Iran, where he is guest of honor at the Holocaust Denial Conference."
*****
Guillermo Del Toro, who wrote and directed "Pan's Labyrinth", didn't get a lick of sleep in his San Francisco hotel room Wednesday night waiting to hear the Golden Globe nominations. "You're talking to a man in a dream state," he said. "They told me to go to bed, we'd know at 5:15 a.m. It's like telling a kid Santa's showing up, and watching the milk and cookies carefully overnight." Del Toro's fellow Mexico countryman Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who directed multiple-Globe nominee "Babel", woke up Del Toro's wife at 6 a.m. to report the happy news on both of their films. Both men have been on the long campaign trail since the Festival de Cannes in May, and have worked hard to support each other's films. "Other than Alejandro causing that domestic turbulence, it's the best week I've ever had," said Del Toro. "It's been a particularly crowded year. Having seen a few of (the other foreign films) and knowing they were very good, I did have nail-biting experience." Del Toro has been on a city-by-city promo tour, because, he says, "like any foreign film, the main thing is making sure it gets seen. Frankly, that's the biggest weapon of this movie, to be seen." Del Toro's violent Spanish Civil War fable relays a powerful message: "The fact that we live in a brutal world means that we are in desperate need for spirituality," he said. "The movie proves that within each of us there is a world we can access: it's as real as the world outside, and it can fill you with hope."
*****
"Bobby" producer Holly Wiersma was virtually living in the editing room, finishing up George Hickenlooper's "Factory Girl" for its Dec. 29 Oscar-qualifying run, when she got the call from the Weinstein Co. that her film nabbed a best picture (drama) nomination. "I talked to (director) Emilio Estevez) first, who is so excited and humbled and can't believe it. He's devoted seven years of his life to it -- this whole movie is because of him." Her next call was from a member of the film's large ensemble, Christian Slater. "Christian said this has been the best experience of his life," she said. On her way to meet with proud studio head Harvey Weinstein, however, Wiersma had something more important on her mind. "I have to call my mom -- she's called four times!" she said. "She's going to kill me". Weinstein had his own theory behind "Bobby"'s success: "HFPA members saw it in Venice", where the film was said to be in serious awards consideration, "so they saw it under ideal circumstances," he said.
*****
Best supporting actress nominee Jennifer Hudson woke up at 3 a.m. "Nerves got the best of me", she said. "They tapped me and said, 'Jennifer, wake up now.' " It's been a whirlwind four months promoting "Dreamgirls", she said. "Oh my goodness, it done wore me out." The rookie actress got a lot of help creating the role of Effie, she admitted, especially from her director, Bill Condon, who wasn't nominated. "He gave me that chance and walked me through it all," Hudson said. "He directed me. I don't know if I'd be sitting here right now as a Golden Globe nominee if he hadn't given me that great direction. He's such an amazing director. I'm going to create him an award myself." On the set, Jamie Foxx gave her acting tips, while Beyonce Knowles helped her with the dance moves. "I tried to do whatever I could to make Effie real," Hudson said.
- 12/14/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
'United 93,' Whitaker, Mirren, Scorsese get N.Y. critics' nod
NEW YORK -- In what chairman Marshall Fine described as "a dogfight" between United 93 and another fact-based feature, The Queen, Paul Greengrass' 9/11 drama was named best film at the New York Film Critics Circle awards after a four-round tiebreaking vote.
Stephen Frears' Queen earned the most awards--two--including best actress for Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II and best screenplay for Peter Morgan. Forest Whitaker took home best actor honors for his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland.
"'United 93' was really a dark horse," said Fine. "A lot of people avoided seeing it because of the subject matter. It was one of the most harrowing films of the year." The chairman said its best film tie runoff with Queen was the first he'd experienced in his 17 years with the organization. He said this year's other big 9/11 drama, World Trade Center, wasn't really a factor in the voting.
Martin Scorsese was named best director for The Departed, the film Fine said ran third among the critics' favorites. Amy Berg's Deliver Us From Evil won best nonfiction film, George Miller's Happy Feet won best animated film and Ryan Fleck's Half Nelson won best first feature.
In one of the most surprising votes, Jean-Pierre Melville's French World War II drama Army of Shadows won best foreign language film. Shadows was made in 1969 but never released domestically until this year. Cristi Puiu's Romanian drama The Death of Mr. Lazarescu also had a lot of support, according to Fine.
Newcomer Jennifer Hudson took home the best supporting actress award for her much-discussed screen debut in Bill Condon's Dreamgirls, and former child star Jackie Earle Haley (The Bad News Bears) won best supporting actor for his portrayal of a pedophile in Todd Field's Little Children.
Guillermo Navarro won the best cinematography award for Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrynth, which was also a top contender for best film and other awards, according to Fine.
Stephen Frears' Queen earned the most awards--two--including best actress for Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II and best screenplay for Peter Morgan. Forest Whitaker took home best actor honors for his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland.
"'United 93' was really a dark horse," said Fine. "A lot of people avoided seeing it because of the subject matter. It was one of the most harrowing films of the year." The chairman said its best film tie runoff with Queen was the first he'd experienced in his 17 years with the organization. He said this year's other big 9/11 drama, World Trade Center, wasn't really a factor in the voting.
Martin Scorsese was named best director for The Departed, the film Fine said ran third among the critics' favorites. Amy Berg's Deliver Us From Evil won best nonfiction film, George Miller's Happy Feet won best animated film and Ryan Fleck's Half Nelson won best first feature.
In one of the most surprising votes, Jean-Pierre Melville's French World War II drama Army of Shadows won best foreign language film. Shadows was made in 1969 but never released domestically until this year. Cristi Puiu's Romanian drama The Death of Mr. Lazarescu also had a lot of support, according to Fine.
Newcomer Jennifer Hudson took home the best supporting actress award for her much-discussed screen debut in Bill Condon's Dreamgirls, and former child star Jackie Earle Haley (The Bad News Bears) won best supporting actor for his portrayal of a pedophile in Todd Field's Little Children.
Guillermo Navarro won the best cinematography award for Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrynth, which was also a top contender for best film and other awards, according to Fine.
- 12/11/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Gothams apply full 'Nelson'
NEW YORK -- Ryan Fleck's Half Nelson topped the list of winners at the Independent Feature Project's 16th annual Gotham Awards on Wednesday night -- picking up awards for best feature, breakthrough director and breakthrough actor Shareeka Epps -- in a ceremony that generated controversy for its inclusion of big studio-financed films.
James Longley's Oscar-shortlisted Iraq in Fragments took home best documentary honors.
In accepting the directing honors, Fleck said, "Directing this movie was easy because the cast was so amazing."
Before the ceremony, which took place at Pier 60 on the Chelsea Piers, IFP executive director Michelle Byrd said, "I don't think the Gotham Awards are about independent film." While there have been no budget restrictions on contenders for the past three years, the 2006 list of nominees was the first to include notable big-budget entries, which sparked debate in the independent-film community.
Speaking at the ceremony, she pointed out "for those of you who thought we only added controversy this year" that IFP has begun a new screening series for films without distributors at the Museum of Modern Art and participated in the Times Talks series featuring directors Alfonso Cuaron, Guillermo Del Toro and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who were toasted with tributes at the Gothams.
James Longley's Oscar-shortlisted Iraq in Fragments took home best documentary honors.
In accepting the directing honors, Fleck said, "Directing this movie was easy because the cast was so amazing."
Before the ceremony, which took place at Pier 60 on the Chelsea Piers, IFP executive director Michelle Byrd said, "I don't think the Gotham Awards are about independent film." While there have been no budget restrictions on contenders for the past three years, the 2006 list of nominees was the first to include notable big-budget entries, which sparked debate in the independent-film community.
Speaking at the ceremony, she pointed out "for those of you who thought we only added controversy this year" that IFP has begun a new screening series for films without distributors at the Museum of Modern Art and participated in the Times Talks series featuring directors Alfonso Cuaron, Guillermo Del Toro and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who were toasted with tributes at the Gothams.
- 11/30/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Robbins, Kuras set for Gothams fete
Tim Robbins will receive an inaugural humanitarian tribute and director of photography Ellen Kuras will earn a below the line honor at the IFP's 16th annual Gotham Awards, set to be hosted by comedian David Cross on Nov. 29.
The Gothams have forged new partnerships with the Museum of Modern Art (which will screen the Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You nominees) and the New York Times (participating in a TimesTalks Panel featuring Alfonso Cuaron, Guillermo Del Toro and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu).
IFilm.com will webcast portions of the awards ceremony, and the video Web site Revver will help develop "What Independent Film Means To Me ...," a contest in which five 60-second films will be shown at the ceremony, online and on NYC-TV (Channel 25) in the New York area.
The Gothams have forged new partnerships with the Museum of Modern Art (which will screen the Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You nominees) and the New York Times (participating in a TimesTalks Panel featuring Alfonso Cuaron, Guillermo Del Toro and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu).
IFilm.com will webcast portions of the awards ceremony, and the video Web site Revver will help develop "What Independent Film Means To Me ...," a contest in which five 60-second films will be shown at the ceremony, online and on NYC-TV (Channel 25) in the New York area.
- 11/10/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Aldrich, Chabrol tributes build up Turin film fest
ROME -- The 24th Turin Film Festival gets underway today with a lineup that includes the in-competition international premiere of Todd Rohal's "The Guatemalan Handshake", a series of horror, western and adult genre films, and three major retrospectives, including one dedicated to director Robert Aldrich.
The nine-day festival, which runs through Nov. 18, also includes the world premiere of 17th-century period piece "Le Fiamme del Paradiso" (The Flame of Paradise) from venerable Italian director Luciano Emmer. The film, which is acted entirely in the regional Italian dialect of Trentino, is the 55th full-length feature from the 88-year-old director, who won the 1952 Golden Globe for "Pictura".
Additionally, Clint Eastwood's "Flags of Our Fathers" will unspool at Turin in tandem with its overall Italian bow today. The Italian premieres of Sofia Coppola's "Marie Antoinette" and Jared Hess' comedy "Nacho Libre" also will take place at the festival and Guillermo Del Toro's "El Laberitino del Fauno" (Pan's Labyrinth) make its European premiere.
"The Guatemalan Handshake" is the only U.S.-made film in the 12-strong best film competition, which also includes Mauro Santini's "Flor da Baixa" (Flower of Baixa) and Chinese director Xia Peng's "Pleasures of Ordinary".
A total of 240 short- and full-length films and documentaries are scheduled to screen.
The Turin festival has always operated in the shadow of the older and larger Venice Film Festival, which held its 63rd edition in August. But this year, it also falls under the shadow of the big-budget, first-year RomaCinemaFest, which concluded Oct. 21.
But Turin co-director Giulia D'Agnolo Vallan said that having the high-visibility Rome event on the calendar did not have much of an impact on Turin -- at least not this year.
"I don't know what will happen in the future, but this year, I can't think of any area where we clashed with Rome," D'Agnolo Vallan said in an interview. "We have a very specific identity and Rome still doesn't have an identity. It's too new."
Turin has traditionally focused on first, second, or third efforts from directors or on new directions for established directors, as Emmer's "Le Fiamme del Paradiso" shows.
This year, many of those films are falling into specific genres, with the second edition of the "Masters of Horror" television series screening, including episodes of "Family" from John Landis, "The Screwfly Solution" from Joe Dante and Dario Argento's "Pelts". The international premiere of Walter Hill's "Broken Trail" starring Robert Duvall and Thomas Haden Church will highlight the festival's western films. And iconic New York-based sexploitation director Joe Sarno will be the subject of a small tribute that will include four of his films.
Other tributes and retrospectives include screenings honoring French director Claude Chabrol, Catalonian writer Joaquin Jorda and writer Piero Bargellini, best known for the 1945 film "La Porta del Cielo" (The Gate of Heaven).
But the most important retrospective will be for Aldrich, whose 31 films between 1953 and 1981 include the 1974 Golden Globe-winning comedy "The Longest Yard"; "The Big Knife", which won a Silver Lion in Venice in 1955; and 1963's "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?"
"Getting this Aldrich retrospective together was a real challenge because some of the master prints were lost and had to be refurbished or repaired," D'Agnolo Vallan said. "We're very proud of this work".
Directors Del Toro, Landis, Argento, Hill and Sarno will be on hand for the screening of their films. Aldrich, who died in 1983, will be represented by his daughter Adell Aldrich and actors Ernest Borgnine and Keith Carradine -- both veterans of his films.
The nine-day festival, which runs through Nov. 18, also includes the world premiere of 17th-century period piece "Le Fiamme del Paradiso" (The Flame of Paradise) from venerable Italian director Luciano Emmer. The film, which is acted entirely in the regional Italian dialect of Trentino, is the 55th full-length feature from the 88-year-old director, who won the 1952 Golden Globe for "Pictura".
Additionally, Clint Eastwood's "Flags of Our Fathers" will unspool at Turin in tandem with its overall Italian bow today. The Italian premieres of Sofia Coppola's "Marie Antoinette" and Jared Hess' comedy "Nacho Libre" also will take place at the festival and Guillermo Del Toro's "El Laberitino del Fauno" (Pan's Labyrinth) make its European premiere.
"The Guatemalan Handshake" is the only U.S.-made film in the 12-strong best film competition, which also includes Mauro Santini's "Flor da Baixa" (Flower of Baixa) and Chinese director Xia Peng's "Pleasures of Ordinary".
A total of 240 short- and full-length films and documentaries are scheduled to screen.
The Turin festival has always operated in the shadow of the older and larger Venice Film Festival, which held its 63rd edition in August. But this year, it also falls under the shadow of the big-budget, first-year RomaCinemaFest, which concluded Oct. 21.
But Turin co-director Giulia D'Agnolo Vallan said that having the high-visibility Rome event on the calendar did not have much of an impact on Turin -- at least not this year.
"I don't know what will happen in the future, but this year, I can't think of any area where we clashed with Rome," D'Agnolo Vallan said in an interview. "We have a very specific identity and Rome still doesn't have an identity. It's too new."
Turin has traditionally focused on first, second, or third efforts from directors or on new directions for established directors, as Emmer's "Le Fiamme del Paradiso" shows.
This year, many of those films are falling into specific genres, with the second edition of the "Masters of Horror" television series screening, including episodes of "Family" from John Landis, "The Screwfly Solution" from Joe Dante and Dario Argento's "Pelts". The international premiere of Walter Hill's "Broken Trail" starring Robert Duvall and Thomas Haden Church will highlight the festival's western films. And iconic New York-based sexploitation director Joe Sarno will be the subject of a small tribute that will include four of his films.
Other tributes and retrospectives include screenings honoring French director Claude Chabrol, Catalonian writer Joaquin Jorda and writer Piero Bargellini, best known for the 1945 film "La Porta del Cielo" (The Gate of Heaven).
But the most important retrospective will be for Aldrich, whose 31 films between 1953 and 1981 include the 1974 Golden Globe-winning comedy "The Longest Yard"; "The Big Knife", which won a Silver Lion in Venice in 1955; and 1963's "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?"
"Getting this Aldrich retrospective together was a real challenge because some of the master prints were lost and had to be refurbished or repaired," D'Agnolo Vallan said. "We're very proud of this work".
Directors Del Toro, Landis, Argento, Hill and Sarno will be on hand for the screening of their films. Aldrich, who died in 1983, will be represented by his daughter Adell Aldrich and actors Ernest Borgnine and Keith Carradine -- both veterans of his films.
- 11/9/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Pan's Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno)
The bizarre beasts in a young girl's phantasmagorical imagination are nothing compared to the ruthless brutes that populate her day-to-day reality so it's no wonder she wishes to escape in Guillermo Del Toro's engrossing fable "Pan's Labyrinth".
The story is set in Spain in 1944 as Franco's victorious fascist forces bear down with punishing weight on any who resist. The film's extraordinary fantasy sequences, in which the girl must complete three arduous tasks, offer a semblance of hope and salvation compared to the short life expectancy in a merciless military state.
Definitely not for children and in fact more of a horror film, "Pan's Labyrinth" will thrive on the festival circuit and should find appreciative audiences in art houses everywhere.
Rooted in the grim pessimism of totalitarian Spain, the film begins with a prologue about the fate of a long-lost princess and the promise of her return. As the tale is told, a pregnant and sickly woman, Carmen (Ariadna Gil) and her daughter Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) arrive at a military outpost commanded by Carmen's officious new husband, Capt. Vidal (Sergi Lopez).
Ofelia still pines for her late father while her mother entreats her to embrace the stiff and unpleasant captain although it soon becomes apparent that he is more interested in fathering a son than in being a husband or father to the girl.
Worse than that, he reveals himself as a monster who kills captured rebels with extreme brutality and utter disdain for their existence. The camp is threatened by a gathering number of guerillas aided secretly by their leader's sister, Mercedes (Maribel Verdu), who is the captain's chief housekeeper. As Carmen's health deteriorates, a humane doctor (Alex Angulo) becomes a regular visitor although where his sympathies lay remains to be seen.
As Vidal's merciless character is revealed, Ofelia finds herself captivated by fairies that lead her to an ancient maze leading down to a labyrinth where she encounters a fearsome but talkative faun (Doug Jones). He claims she is a legendary lost princess and she must pass three tests in order to claim immortality.
These involve tackling a monstrous toad that has swallowed a key; braving a faceless creature with eyes in his hands who sets out a tempting banquet and devours anyone who tastes a single morsel; and a classic dilemma that requires spilling the blood of an innocent.
As Ofelia faces these challenges, her mother struggles with an increasingly difficult pregnancy and the captain devises ever more gruesome ways to torture captive resistance fighters. The girl's adventures are as real to her as the surrounding horrors and Del Toro's great accomplishment is in weaving the two together so convincingly.
The visual effects are mesmerizing and the harsh drama of the military camp has its horrific moments of torture and death, as well as when the captain sews together his cheek after being slashed by an assailant.
The performers are all good with Baquero poised and beautiful as Ofelia and Verdu vital and spirited as the rebellious Mercedes. Lopez gives an extraordinary performance as the bestial captain, an irredeemable villain to rank with Ralph Fiennes' Nazi in "Schindler's List".
PAN'S LABYRINTH
Estudios Picasso, Telecinco, Tequila Gang, Esperanto Filmoj
Credits: Writer, director, producer: Guillermo del Toro; Producers: Bertha Navarro, Alfonso Cuaron; Frida Torresblanco; Alvaro Augustin; Director of photography: Guillermo Navarro; Production designer: Eugenio Caballero; Editor: Bernat Vilaplana; Music: Javier Navarette. Cast: Captain Vidal: Sergi Lopez; Mercedes: Maribel Verdu; Ofelia: Ivana Baquero; Pan: Doug Jones; Doctor: Alex Angulo; Carmen: Ariadna Gil; Pedro: Roger Casamajor; Serrano: Cesar Bea; Casares: Frederico Luppi; Garces: Manuel Solo.
No MPAA rating, running time 112 mins.
The story is set in Spain in 1944 as Franco's victorious fascist forces bear down with punishing weight on any who resist. The film's extraordinary fantasy sequences, in which the girl must complete three arduous tasks, offer a semblance of hope and salvation compared to the short life expectancy in a merciless military state.
Definitely not for children and in fact more of a horror film, "Pan's Labyrinth" will thrive on the festival circuit and should find appreciative audiences in art houses everywhere.
Rooted in the grim pessimism of totalitarian Spain, the film begins with a prologue about the fate of a long-lost princess and the promise of her return. As the tale is told, a pregnant and sickly woman, Carmen (Ariadna Gil) and her daughter Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) arrive at a military outpost commanded by Carmen's officious new husband, Capt. Vidal (Sergi Lopez).
Ofelia still pines for her late father while her mother entreats her to embrace the stiff and unpleasant captain although it soon becomes apparent that he is more interested in fathering a son than in being a husband or father to the girl.
Worse than that, he reveals himself as a monster who kills captured rebels with extreme brutality and utter disdain for their existence. The camp is threatened by a gathering number of guerillas aided secretly by their leader's sister, Mercedes (Maribel Verdu), who is the captain's chief housekeeper. As Carmen's health deteriorates, a humane doctor (Alex Angulo) becomes a regular visitor although where his sympathies lay remains to be seen.
As Vidal's merciless character is revealed, Ofelia finds herself captivated by fairies that lead her to an ancient maze leading down to a labyrinth where she encounters a fearsome but talkative faun (Doug Jones). He claims she is a legendary lost princess and she must pass three tests in order to claim immortality.
These involve tackling a monstrous toad that has swallowed a key; braving a faceless creature with eyes in his hands who sets out a tempting banquet and devours anyone who tastes a single morsel; and a classic dilemma that requires spilling the blood of an innocent.
As Ofelia faces these challenges, her mother struggles with an increasingly difficult pregnancy and the captain devises ever more gruesome ways to torture captive resistance fighters. The girl's adventures are as real to her as the surrounding horrors and Del Toro's great accomplishment is in weaving the two together so convincingly.
The visual effects are mesmerizing and the harsh drama of the military camp has its horrific moments of torture and death, as well as when the captain sews together his cheek after being slashed by an assailant.
The performers are all good with Baquero poised and beautiful as Ofelia and Verdu vital and spirited as the rebellious Mercedes. Lopez gives an extraordinary performance as the bestial captain, an irredeemable villain to rank with Ralph Fiennes' Nazi in "Schindler's List".
PAN'S LABYRINTH
Estudios Picasso, Telecinco, Tequila Gang, Esperanto Filmoj
Credits: Writer, director, producer: Guillermo del Toro; Producers: Bertha Navarro, Alfonso Cuaron; Frida Torresblanco; Alvaro Augustin; Director of photography: Guillermo Navarro; Production designer: Eugenio Caballero; Editor: Bernat Vilaplana; Music: Javier Navarette. Cast: Captain Vidal: Sergi Lopez; Mercedes: Maribel Verdu; Ofelia: Ivana Baquero; Pan: Doug Jones; Doctor: Alex Angulo; Carmen: Ariadna Gil; Pedro: Roger Casamajor; Serrano: Cesar Bea; Casares: Frederico Luppi; Garces: Manuel Solo.
No MPAA rating, running time 112 mins.
- 5/27/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Busy del Toro signs with ICM
ICM has signed Guillermo Del Toro, the award-winning director of such films as Hellboy and Blade 2 and The Devil's Backbone. His fantastical oeuvre also includes Mimic and Cronos. Last week, Del Toro, who directs and produces movies in English and Spanish, was honored by ShoWest for International Achievement in Filmmaking. Del Toro is attached to Hellboy 2 at Revolution, Killing on Carnival Row at New Line and Halo at Universal. His next film, the Spanish-language fairy tale Pan's Labyrinth, will be released by Picturehouse in the fall. Del Toro previously was with WMA. He remains with manager Gary Ungar.
- 3/19/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Del Toro, Lotte set for honors at ShoWest
Guillermo Del Toro is set to receive the ShoWest International Achievement Award in Filmmaking at the International Day Luncheon on March 13 as the annual exhibitors convention, which runs through March 16, kicks off in Las Vegas at the Bally's and Paris Las Vegas hotels. Del Toro, whose credits include Hellboy, Mimic and Cronos, most recently directed the Spanish-language fantasy horror film, Pan's Labyrinth, which Picturehouse will release domestically in August. At the luncheon, Korean exhibitor Lotte Cinema, headed by CEO Kwang-Seop Kim, will be recognized as International Exhibitor of the Year.
- 3/3/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Hellboy
Opens
April 2
"Hellboy" is a standard-issue superhero movie -- except that writer-director Guillermo Del Toro, taking his cue from "Hellboy" comic book creator Mike Mignola, brings a wicked sense of humor to this particular monster mash. Not the goofy slapstick of "Men in Black", mind you, but dry wit and humanizing touches that make Ron Perlman's title character more than a big red monster. A good thing too, for "Hellboy" is pretty derivative stuff. Pulling elements from "The X-Files" and "X-Men" to "Star Wars" and Perlman's own "Beauty and the Beast" TV series, the world of Hellboy feels awfully familiar.
But thanks to the dynamic duo of Del Toro and Perlman, who worked together in "Blade II" and "Cronos", "Hellboy" should move into the boxoffice win column for Sony. The reported $60 million production -- a fairly modest budget for a superhero movie -- could even turn into a franchise for Revolution Studios. Del Toro already has said he'd love to make a sequel.
The sheer ingenuity and obvious joy Del Toro puts into the major action sequences lifts the movie out of the mundane. Otherwise, the paranormal stunts, the fights between good and bad demons, the face-off between the good scientist and the evil charlatan have all been done to death.
In essence, much of the movie is an extended battle between a creature that cannot die and a creature that does die only to be reborn -- and nobody on the creative team seems to understand that is a hugely static situation. As with those endless fights between Keanu Reeves' Neo and the hundreds of Agent Smith clones in "The Matrix" sequels last summer, the risk of tedium is high.
Starting out much like "X-Men" in the final days of World War II, Hellboy is born -- so to speak -- when desperate Nazis hire evil mad monk Grigori Rasputin (Karel Roden) to open a portal to the cosmic void to bring to Earth a creature who will cause Armageddon. Then, American GIs intervene and in the ensuing mayhem that creature, dubbed Hellboy, is intercepted by the good side, meaning Professor Broom (John Hurt), founder of the clandestine Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. Raised like a son by Broom, Hellboy becomes a champion for good rather than evil.
Perlman's Hellboy is a red giant, his leathery skin the shade of terra cotta, his horns sheered daily at the forehead much as a normal man would shave, a large right fist made of pure concrete and, oh yes, a tail just like the devil. Something of an overgrown kid, he lives in a bachelor pad underneath the BPRD, where he pumps iron, indulges in pizza and beer and raises dozens of cats. His job is to hunt down monsters, which he does with cool nonchalance and a number of wisecracks.
Only one thing throws him and that is Selma Blair's Liz Sherman, a fellow freak with pyro-kinetic abilities. Hellboy has an enormous crush on her. When John Myers (Rupert Evans), a young FBI agent, joins the "nanny squad" of normal humans who must look after Broom's freaks, Hellboy becomes hugely jealous of the burgeoning friendship between Liz and John.
The main story line is not terribly interesting. Rasputin returns to Earth -- where exactly has he been since 1944? -- to claim Hellboy for the dark side. He unleashes two villainous creatures, Sammael (Brian Steele), a hideous monster that as the "lord of resurrection" refuses to die, and Kroenen, once a human being but now a bloodless killing machine.
Coming to Hellboy's defense is Liz and another exceptional creature, Abe Sapien (Doug Jones), a fish-man with near psychic intuition. The movie's best moments come not during battles between Hellboy and his enemies, but rather in Hellboy's bratty behavior, which drives agent Tom Manning (Jeffrey Tambor) crazy, and his growing envy of Liz and John.
Shot in the Czech Republic, the movie mixes CG with models, matte paintings, animation, animatronics and prosthetics to give the comic book world a hint of realism. Marco Beltrami's music, dramatic and full bodied, is a major plus.
HELLBOY
Columbia Pictures
Revolution Studios presents a Lawrence Gordon/Lloyd Levin production in association with Dark Horse Entertainment
Credits:
Writer-director: Guillermo del Toro
Screen story by: Guillermo Del Toro, Peter Briggs
Screenwriter: Guillermo del Toro
Based on the Dark Horse comic created by: Mike Mignola
Producers: Lawrence Gordon, Mike Richardson, Lloyd Levin
Executive producer: Patrick Palmer
Director of photography: Guillermo Navarro
Production designer: Stephen Scott
Music: Marco Beltrami
Costume designer: Wendy Partridge
Editor: Peter Amundson. Cast: Hellboy: Ron Perlman
Broom Bruttenholm: John Hurt
Liz Sherman: Selma Blair
John Myers: Rupert Evans
Grigori
Karel Roden
Tom Manning: Jeffrey Tambor
Abe Sapien: Doug Jones
Sammael: Brian Steele
Kroenen: Ladislav Beran
Running time -- 121 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
April 2
"Hellboy" is a standard-issue superhero movie -- except that writer-director Guillermo Del Toro, taking his cue from "Hellboy" comic book creator Mike Mignola, brings a wicked sense of humor to this particular monster mash. Not the goofy slapstick of "Men in Black", mind you, but dry wit and humanizing touches that make Ron Perlman's title character more than a big red monster. A good thing too, for "Hellboy" is pretty derivative stuff. Pulling elements from "The X-Files" and "X-Men" to "Star Wars" and Perlman's own "Beauty and the Beast" TV series, the world of Hellboy feels awfully familiar.
But thanks to the dynamic duo of Del Toro and Perlman, who worked together in "Blade II" and "Cronos", "Hellboy" should move into the boxoffice win column for Sony. The reported $60 million production -- a fairly modest budget for a superhero movie -- could even turn into a franchise for Revolution Studios. Del Toro already has said he'd love to make a sequel.
The sheer ingenuity and obvious joy Del Toro puts into the major action sequences lifts the movie out of the mundane. Otherwise, the paranormal stunts, the fights between good and bad demons, the face-off between the good scientist and the evil charlatan have all been done to death.
In essence, much of the movie is an extended battle between a creature that cannot die and a creature that does die only to be reborn -- and nobody on the creative team seems to understand that is a hugely static situation. As with those endless fights between Keanu Reeves' Neo and the hundreds of Agent Smith clones in "The Matrix" sequels last summer, the risk of tedium is high.
Starting out much like "X-Men" in the final days of World War II, Hellboy is born -- so to speak -- when desperate Nazis hire evil mad monk Grigori Rasputin (Karel Roden) to open a portal to the cosmic void to bring to Earth a creature who will cause Armageddon. Then, American GIs intervene and in the ensuing mayhem that creature, dubbed Hellboy, is intercepted by the good side, meaning Professor Broom (John Hurt), founder of the clandestine Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. Raised like a son by Broom, Hellboy becomes a champion for good rather than evil.
Perlman's Hellboy is a red giant, his leathery skin the shade of terra cotta, his horns sheered daily at the forehead much as a normal man would shave, a large right fist made of pure concrete and, oh yes, a tail just like the devil. Something of an overgrown kid, he lives in a bachelor pad underneath the BPRD, where he pumps iron, indulges in pizza and beer and raises dozens of cats. His job is to hunt down monsters, which he does with cool nonchalance and a number of wisecracks.
Only one thing throws him and that is Selma Blair's Liz Sherman, a fellow freak with pyro-kinetic abilities. Hellboy has an enormous crush on her. When John Myers (Rupert Evans), a young FBI agent, joins the "nanny squad" of normal humans who must look after Broom's freaks, Hellboy becomes hugely jealous of the burgeoning friendship between Liz and John.
The main story line is not terribly interesting. Rasputin returns to Earth -- where exactly has he been since 1944? -- to claim Hellboy for the dark side. He unleashes two villainous creatures, Sammael (Brian Steele), a hideous monster that as the "lord of resurrection" refuses to die, and Kroenen, once a human being but now a bloodless killing machine.
Coming to Hellboy's defense is Liz and another exceptional creature, Abe Sapien (Doug Jones), a fish-man with near psychic intuition. The movie's best moments come not during battles between Hellboy and his enemies, but rather in Hellboy's bratty behavior, which drives agent Tom Manning (Jeffrey Tambor) crazy, and his growing envy of Liz and John.
Shot in the Czech Republic, the movie mixes CG with models, matte paintings, animation, animatronics and prosthetics to give the comic book world a hint of realism. Marco Beltrami's music, dramatic and full bodied, is a major plus.
HELLBOY
Columbia Pictures
Revolution Studios presents a Lawrence Gordon/Lloyd Levin production in association with Dark Horse Entertainment
Credits:
Writer-director: Guillermo del Toro
Screen story by: Guillermo Del Toro, Peter Briggs
Screenwriter: Guillermo del Toro
Based on the Dark Horse comic created by: Mike Mignola
Producers: Lawrence Gordon, Mike Richardson, Lloyd Levin
Executive producer: Patrick Palmer
Director of photography: Guillermo Navarro
Production designer: Stephen Scott
Music: Marco Beltrami
Costume designer: Wendy Partridge
Editor: Peter Amundson. Cast: Hellboy: Ron Perlman
Broom Bruttenholm: John Hurt
Liz Sherman: Selma Blair
John Myers: Rupert Evans
Grigori
Karel Roden
Tom Manning: Jeffrey Tambor
Abe Sapien: Doug Jones
Sammael: Brian Steele
Kroenen: Ladislav Beran
Running time -- 121 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 7/9/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Breakfast With Hunter
Screened
CineVegas Film Festival, Las Vegas
Eighteen years in the making, Wayne Ewing's "Breakfast With Hunter" is an intimate verite portrait that honors its subject with fierce affection and respect.
Eschewing a talking-heads bio approach, the film assumes knowledge of Hunter S. Thompson's work but nevertheless serves as an incisive intro for the uninitiated. Among a cavalcade of luminaries, Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro and John Cusack make notable, decidedly non-glam appearances, clearly thrilled to be hanging out with the inventor and eminence grise of gonzo journalism.
As a friend, neighbor and colleague of Thompson, Ewing, whose television helming and DP credits include "Bill Moyers' Journal", "Frontline" and "Homicide", was afforded remarkable access.
The film- and DV-shot documentary had its world premiere June 21 as the closing-night selection of the CineVegas festival (with Thompson in attendance). It deserves further fest exposure and is a natural for docu-themed cable slots. The right distributor could parlay the writer's iconoclastic appeal into limited theatrical play for art house and college crowds.
Ewing centers on 1996-97, when Thompson was busy on three fronts: battling what he considered a political arrest in Aspen, Colo., on bogus DUI charges; making appearances at 25th anniversary celebrations of his 1971 book "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"; and, in the film's most compelling sequence, confronting creative obstacles to big-screen plans for that book, in the form of a profoundly misguided director and screenwriter.
During the round of 25th-anniversary tributes, those offering praise cover the political spectrum from P.J. O'Rourke to George McGovern, and Thompson's son, Juan, delivers a moving appreciation of his integrity and his place in American letters.
Reading Thompson's work to audiences, an amused Cusack, the gum-chewing, deadpan Depp and an exultant Roxanne Pulitzer present ample evidence of the author's moral clarity and the caustic humor and diamond-sharp prose with which he's raged against hypocrisy for more than three decades.
Here the soundtrack to those decades is replete with songs by Warren Zevon and the clink of ice in a tall glass of Chivas. The film's title refers to the prodigious all-nighters the director and other valiant stony warriors shared with Thompson, especially at Owl Farm, his "heavily fortified," peacock-friendly ranch near Aspen. There's a revealing glimpse of the friendship between Thompson and longtime collaborator Ralph Steadman when the artist visits the compound with an offering of rare Scotches and a startling revisionist assessment of his role in the author's work.
But the incident Ewing rightly puts center stage is the astounding meeting between Thompson and the team initially assigned to the film adaptation of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" -- scripter Tod Davies and helmer Alex Cox, whose outlaw sympathies ("Sid and Nancy", "Straight to Hell") might have made him seem the right choice for the project. (They both received screenwriting credit, along with others, on the Terry Gilliam-directed 1998 film.) The would-be collaboration implodes when the duo earnestly present a ham-fisted visual concept for a key section of the book, a passage that Thompson accurately calls "one of the best things I've ever written."
Second only to Cox and Davies' mind-boggling literalness is the obduracy with which they cling to their dumb idea in the face of Thompson's reasonable objections and rising anger. Their self-destruction is fascinating to behold; later, watching tape of the incident in Thompson's Chateau Marmont suite, Del Toro can only marvel at their unwillingness to bend, or at least shut up.
The scene that unfolds recalls another memorable cinema verite moment: Donovan's humiliation at Dylan's hands in "Don't Look Back". But this exchange draws its power not from any casually sadistic streak on Thompson's part but from his clearheaded defense of his work against clueless marauders. "Breakfast With Hunter" is a convincing exploration of why that work matters.
BREAKFAST WITH HUNTER
Wayne Ewing Films Inc and Gonzo International
Credits:
Director/writer/producer/director of photograpy/editor: Wayne Ewing
Executive producer: Andrew Ewing With: Hunter S. Thompson, Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro, John Cusack, Ralph Steadman, Juan Thompson, Jann Wenner, George Plimpton, Alex Cox, Tod Davies, Laila Nabulsi, Warren Zevon, Roxanne Pulitzer, George McGovern, Frank Mankiewicz, Douglas Brinkley, PJ O'Rourke, Lyle Lovett, Matt Dillon
Running time -- 92 minutes
No MPAA rating...
CineVegas Film Festival, Las Vegas
Eighteen years in the making, Wayne Ewing's "Breakfast With Hunter" is an intimate verite portrait that honors its subject with fierce affection and respect.
Eschewing a talking-heads bio approach, the film assumes knowledge of Hunter S. Thompson's work but nevertheless serves as an incisive intro for the uninitiated. Among a cavalcade of luminaries, Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro and John Cusack make notable, decidedly non-glam appearances, clearly thrilled to be hanging out with the inventor and eminence grise of gonzo journalism.
As a friend, neighbor and colleague of Thompson, Ewing, whose television helming and DP credits include "Bill Moyers' Journal", "Frontline" and "Homicide", was afforded remarkable access.
The film- and DV-shot documentary had its world premiere June 21 as the closing-night selection of the CineVegas festival (with Thompson in attendance). It deserves further fest exposure and is a natural for docu-themed cable slots. The right distributor could parlay the writer's iconoclastic appeal into limited theatrical play for art house and college crowds.
Ewing centers on 1996-97, when Thompson was busy on three fronts: battling what he considered a political arrest in Aspen, Colo., on bogus DUI charges; making appearances at 25th anniversary celebrations of his 1971 book "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"; and, in the film's most compelling sequence, confronting creative obstacles to big-screen plans for that book, in the form of a profoundly misguided director and screenwriter.
During the round of 25th-anniversary tributes, those offering praise cover the political spectrum from P.J. O'Rourke to George McGovern, and Thompson's son, Juan, delivers a moving appreciation of his integrity and his place in American letters.
Reading Thompson's work to audiences, an amused Cusack, the gum-chewing, deadpan Depp and an exultant Roxanne Pulitzer present ample evidence of the author's moral clarity and the caustic humor and diamond-sharp prose with which he's raged against hypocrisy for more than three decades.
Here the soundtrack to those decades is replete with songs by Warren Zevon and the clink of ice in a tall glass of Chivas. The film's title refers to the prodigious all-nighters the director and other valiant stony warriors shared with Thompson, especially at Owl Farm, his "heavily fortified," peacock-friendly ranch near Aspen. There's a revealing glimpse of the friendship between Thompson and longtime collaborator Ralph Steadman when the artist visits the compound with an offering of rare Scotches and a startling revisionist assessment of his role in the author's work.
But the incident Ewing rightly puts center stage is the astounding meeting between Thompson and the team initially assigned to the film adaptation of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" -- scripter Tod Davies and helmer Alex Cox, whose outlaw sympathies ("Sid and Nancy", "Straight to Hell") might have made him seem the right choice for the project. (They both received screenwriting credit, along with others, on the Terry Gilliam-directed 1998 film.) The would-be collaboration implodes when the duo earnestly present a ham-fisted visual concept for a key section of the book, a passage that Thompson accurately calls "one of the best things I've ever written."
Second only to Cox and Davies' mind-boggling literalness is the obduracy with which they cling to their dumb idea in the face of Thompson's reasonable objections and rising anger. Their self-destruction is fascinating to behold; later, watching tape of the incident in Thompson's Chateau Marmont suite, Del Toro can only marvel at their unwillingness to bend, or at least shut up.
The scene that unfolds recalls another memorable cinema verite moment: Donovan's humiliation at Dylan's hands in "Don't Look Back". But this exchange draws its power not from any casually sadistic streak on Thompson's part but from his clearheaded defense of his work against clueless marauders. "Breakfast With Hunter" is a convincing exploration of why that work matters.
BREAKFAST WITH HUNTER
Wayne Ewing Films Inc and Gonzo International
Credits:
Director/writer/producer/director of photograpy/editor: Wayne Ewing
Executive producer: Andrew Ewing With: Hunter S. Thompson, Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro, John Cusack, Ralph Steadman, Juan Thompson, Jann Wenner, George Plimpton, Alex Cox, Tod Davies, Laila Nabulsi, Warren Zevon, Roxanne Pulitzer, George McGovern, Frank Mankiewicz, Douglas Brinkley, PJ O'Rourke, Lyle Lovett, Matt Dillon
Running time -- 92 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 7/9/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cronicas
CANNES -- "Cronicas" is a crackling good suspense thriller about a TV reporter and a possible serial killer who match wits.
Ecuadorian-born director Sebastian Cordero's cagey screenplay, which won the 2002 Sundance NHK Award for best Latin American screenplay, does a fascinating job of blurring the distinction between protagonist and villain. Ecuador is a country where filmmaking is virtually nonexistent, yet "Cronicas" is a good bet for wide distribution throughout Latin America and possibly North America. A top-notch cast headed by John Leguizamo only adds to its attractiveness.
Moments after a funeral for several children who were sexually assaulted and murdered by a vicious serial killer, traveling salesman Vinicio Cepeda (Damian Alcazar), who is returning home in his truck, accidentally hits and kills the young brother of one of the victims. An angry mob led by the boy's father nearly lynches the man in front of his anguished pregnant wife and adopted son. What saves him is the intervention by star TV reporter Manolo Bonilla (Leguizamo), who came to town from Miami to cover the child murders.
Vinicio is nevertheless jailed for manslaughter along with the boy's father, who is charged in his assault. Vinicio realizes he won't survive long in prison, so he tries to cut a deal with Manolo: He will give the reporter information about the serial killer if Manolo will do a news story about his unjust imprisonment.
He tips Manolo that one more body lies buried at the mass burial site, which the police failed to find. When this proves true, Manolo decides to rebury the body and not notify police, causing serious misgivings by his producer Marisa (Leonor Watling) and cameraman Ivan (Jose Maria Yazpik).
Manolo figures Vinicio to be the serial killer, but Vinicio staunchly maintains that he met a hitchhiker on the road who confessed to the crimes. To land the story of his career, Manolo must navigate outside both the law and journalistic ethics.
So who's the good guy here? Alcazar's Vinicio is a figure who garners much sympathy. His beating is not only brutal, but his imprisonment is truly outrageous. Marisa's investigation shows that in his neighborhood, he is known as a goodhearted soul.
Meanwhile, Leguizamo's Manolo climbs into bed with Marisa, a married woman, ignores his colleagues' wishes and clearly wants to make himself into a hero. Yet if his instincts prove correct, he will uncover a child murderer.
Cordero keeps you guessing in a situation where you are never quite sure who is conning whom. With one previous feature under his belt, he demonstrates an assured control of his storytelling. He maintains a lively pace, creates vivid characters and with the help of cinematographer Enrique Chediak and designer Eugenio Caballero establishes a strong sense of place.
CRONICAS
Porducciones Anhelo
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Sebastian Cordero
Producers: Alfonco Cuaron, Guillermo Del Toro, Bertha Navarre, Isabel Davalos
Executive producer: Frida Torresblanco
Director of photography: Enrique Chediak
Production designer: Eugenio Caballero
Music: Antonio Pinto
Editor: Luis Carballar
Cast:
Manolo: John Leguizamo
Marisa: Leonor Watling
Vinicio: Damian Alcazar
Ivan: Jose Maria Yazpik
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 98 minutes...
Ecuadorian-born director Sebastian Cordero's cagey screenplay, which won the 2002 Sundance NHK Award for best Latin American screenplay, does a fascinating job of blurring the distinction between protagonist and villain. Ecuador is a country where filmmaking is virtually nonexistent, yet "Cronicas" is a good bet for wide distribution throughout Latin America and possibly North America. A top-notch cast headed by John Leguizamo only adds to its attractiveness.
Moments after a funeral for several children who were sexually assaulted and murdered by a vicious serial killer, traveling salesman Vinicio Cepeda (Damian Alcazar), who is returning home in his truck, accidentally hits and kills the young brother of one of the victims. An angry mob led by the boy's father nearly lynches the man in front of his anguished pregnant wife and adopted son. What saves him is the intervention by star TV reporter Manolo Bonilla (Leguizamo), who came to town from Miami to cover the child murders.
Vinicio is nevertheless jailed for manslaughter along with the boy's father, who is charged in his assault. Vinicio realizes he won't survive long in prison, so he tries to cut a deal with Manolo: He will give the reporter information about the serial killer if Manolo will do a news story about his unjust imprisonment.
He tips Manolo that one more body lies buried at the mass burial site, which the police failed to find. When this proves true, Manolo decides to rebury the body and not notify police, causing serious misgivings by his producer Marisa (Leonor Watling) and cameraman Ivan (Jose Maria Yazpik).
Manolo figures Vinicio to be the serial killer, but Vinicio staunchly maintains that he met a hitchhiker on the road who confessed to the crimes. To land the story of his career, Manolo must navigate outside both the law and journalistic ethics.
So who's the good guy here? Alcazar's Vinicio is a figure who garners much sympathy. His beating is not only brutal, but his imprisonment is truly outrageous. Marisa's investigation shows that in his neighborhood, he is known as a goodhearted soul.
Meanwhile, Leguizamo's Manolo climbs into bed with Marisa, a married woman, ignores his colleagues' wishes and clearly wants to make himself into a hero. Yet if his instincts prove correct, he will uncover a child murderer.
Cordero keeps you guessing in a situation where you are never quite sure who is conning whom. With one previous feature under his belt, he demonstrates an assured control of his storytelling. He maintains a lively pace, creates vivid characters and with the help of cinematographer Enrique Chediak and designer Eugenio Caballero establishes a strong sense of place.
CRONICAS
Porducciones Anhelo
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Sebastian Cordero
Producers: Alfonco Cuaron, Guillermo Del Toro, Bertha Navarre, Isabel Davalos
Executive producer: Frida Torresblanco
Director of photography: Enrique Chediak
Production designer: Eugenio Caballero
Music: Antonio Pinto
Editor: Luis Carballar
Cast:
Manolo: John Leguizamo
Marisa: Leonor Watling
Vinicio: Damian Alcazar
Ivan: Jose Maria Yazpik
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 98 minutes...
- 4/26/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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