Monthly Archives: February 2011
Posters For “Meek’s Cutoff,” “The Conspirator”
These are both films I first heard about during the Toronto International Film Festival last fall (not that I was there, but buzz surfaced on the internet). I really cannot wait to see either. Both films are set to open on April 15th.
Film Noir and the Academy Awards
As part of the For The Love of Film (Noir) blogathon, I thought I would take a look at some Film Noir that got a little love from the Academy. Although the bulk of films considered “Film Noir” were low-budget films and were often considered at the time “B-pictures,” there were a handful of films, mostly made by already established directors and stars, that were acknowledged by the Academy. After the cut I’ll do a breakdown of nine categories wherein Film Noir shined.
EDIT – I somehow missed Crossfire (1947) when I put this together, but have since written about it for Oscar Vault Monday here.
Movie Quote of the Day – Mildred Pierce, 1945 (dir. Michael Curtiz)
Ida: Personally, Veda’s convinced me that alligators have the right idea. [beat] They eat their young.
Teaser Poster For Pedro Almodóvar’s “La Piel que Habito”
The Skin That I Inhabit is a revenge picture based on crime novelist Theirry Jonque‘s 2005 book, “Tarantula,” about a plastic surgeon’s revenge on the man who raped his daughter. But really, that’s just scratching the surface. You can read the full synopsis of the book here, but in short, this is a film that has a loathsome protagonist who, while seeking justice for his daughter, keeps his wife imprisoned and subjects her to humiliating sexual acts with strangers.
The film stars Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, Marisa Paredes, Jan Cornet, Roberto Alamo, Blanca Suárez, Eduard Fernández, José Luis Gómez, Bárbara Lennie, Susi Sánchez, Fernando Cayo and Teresa Manresa. Longtime collaborators such as composer Alberto Iglesias, DoP Jose Luis Alcaine and editor José Salcedo are once again in the mix. Check out the artwork below.
[summary from IndieWire]
I am intrigued for sure. I love Almodóvar and I love Antonio. I still need to see some of their earlier collaborations, but regardless it’s nice to see them working together. The film is being released Sony Pictures Classics and I believe it is set to premiere at the 64th Cannes Film Festival before a September worldwide release.
TCM’s 31 Days of Oscar – Week 3
Week two was wonderful, wasn’t it? Although last week’s schedule included a lot of films I’d already seen, I think by the end of tonight I’ll’ve managed to see 28 new-to-me films. I also had a wonderful experience watching Gone With The Wind on Saturday night (it’s my second favorite film of all time!) I hope you guys found some great films to watch as well. This coming week is filled with even more great films.
Oscar Vault Monday – I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, 1932 (dir. Mervyn LeRoy)
I saw this film for the first time last November, when I was in the midst of Noirvember. While I would argue that this is more of a precursor to film noir, rather than actual film noir, it is nonetheless a really wonderful film. Of the handful of Paul Muni’s films that I’ve seen, it is most definitely my favorite of his performances. Muni is one of those actors who completely disappears into the roles he plays and, sadly, is not all that well-known these days. This film was nominated for three Academy Awards, though it didn’t win any: Best Sound, Best Actor and Best Picture. The other films nominated that year were 42nd Street, A Farewell to Arms, Lady for a Day, Little Women, The Private Life of Henry VIII., She Done Him Wrong, Smilin’ Through, State Fair and winner Cavalcade.
Movie Quote of the Day – Chocolat, 2000 (dir. Lasse Hallström)
Roux: I should probably warn ya: you make friends with us, you make enemies with everyone else.
Vianne Rocher: Is that a promise?
Roux: It’s a guarantee.
BAFTA Winners
The King’s Speech becomes the first film to win both Best Film and Best British Film in over 40 years (though, they didn’t give a Best British Film award from 1968 to 1993).
BEST FILM
- BLACK SWAN
- INCEPTION
- THE KING’S SPEECH
- THE SOCIAL NETWORK
- TRUE GRIT
DIRECTOR
- 127 HOURS – Danny Boyle
- BLACK SWAN – Darren Aronofsky
- INCEPTION – Christopher Nolan
- THE KING’S SPEECH – Tom Hooper
- THE SOCIAL NETWORK – David Fincher
LEADING ACTOR
- JAVIER BARDEM – Biutiful
- JEFF BRIDGES – True Grit
- JESSE EISENBERG – The Social Network
- COLIN FIRTH – The King’s Speech
- JAMES FRANCO – 127 Hours
LEADING ACTRESS
- ANNETTE BENING – The Kids Are All Right
- JULIANNE MOORE – The Kids Are All Right
- NATALIE PORTMAN – Black Swan
- NOOMI RAPACE – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- HAILEE STEINFELD – True Grit
SUPPORTING ACTOR
- CHRISTIAN BALE – The Fighter
- ANDREW GARFIELD – The Social Network
- PETE POSTLETHWAITE – The Town
- MARK RUFFALO – The Kids Are All Right
- GEOFFREY RUSH – The King’s Speech
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
- AMY ADAMS – The Fighter
- HELENA BONHAM CARTER – The King’s Speech
- BARBARA HERSHEY – Black Swan
- LESLEY MANVILLE – Another Year
- MIRANDA RICHARDSON – Made in Dagenham
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
- 127 HOURS
- ANOTHER YEAR
- FOUR LIONS
- THE KING’S SPEECH
- MADE IN DAGENHAM
OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
- THE ARBOR – Director, Producer – Clio Barnard, Tracy O’Riordan
- EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP – _Director, Producer – Banksy, Jaimie D’Cruz
- FOUR LIONS – Director/Writer – Chris Morris
- MONSTERS – Director/Writer – Gareth Edwards
- SKELETONS – Director/Writer – Nick Whitfield
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
- BLACK SWAN – Mark Heyman, Andrés Heinz, John McLaughlin
- THE FIGHTER – Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson
- INCEPTION – Christopher Nolan
- THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT – Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg
- THE KING’S SPEECH – David Seidler
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
- 127 HOURS – Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy
- THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO – Rasmus Heisterberg, Nikolaj Arcel
- THE SOCIAL NETWORK – Aaron Sorkin
- TOY STORY 3 – Michael Arndt
- TRUE GRIT – Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
- BIUTIFUL
- THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
- I AM LOVE
- OF GODS AND MEN
- THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES
ANIMATED FILM
- DESPICABLE ME
- HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON
- TOY STORY 3
ORIGINAL MUSIC
- 127 HOURS – AR Rahman
- ALICE IN WONDERLAND – Danny Elfman
- HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON – John Powell
- INCEPTION – Hans Zimmer
- THE KING’S SPEECH – Alexandre Desplat
CINEMATOGRAPHY
- 127 HOURS – Anthony Dod Mantle, Enrique Chediak
- BLACK SWAN – Matthew Libatique
- INCEPTION – Wally Pfister
- THE KING’S SPEECH – Danny Cohen
- TRUE GRIT – Roger Deakins
EDITING
- 127 HOURS – Jon Harris
- BLACK SWAN – Andrew Weisblum
- INCEPTION – Lee Smith
- THE KING’S SPEECH – Tariq Anwar
- THE SOCIAL NETWORK – Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter
PRODUCTION DESIGN
- ALICE IN WONDERLAND – Robert Stromberg, Karen O’Hara
- BLACK SWAN – Thérèse DePrez, Tora Peterson
- INCEPTION – Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias, Doug Mowat
- THE KING’S SPEECH – Eve Stewart, Judy Farr
- TRUE GRIT – Jess Gonchor, Nancy Haigh
COSTUME DESIGN
- ALICE IN WONDERLAND – Colleen Atwood
- BLACK SWAN – Amy Westcott
- THE KING’S SPEECH – Jenny Beavan
- MADE IN DAGENHAM – Louise Stjernsward
- TRUE GRIT – Mary Zophres
SOUND
- 127 HOURS
- BLACK SWAN
- INCEPTION
- THE KING’S SPEECH
- TRUE GRIT
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
- ALICE IN WONDERLAND
- BLACK SWAN
- HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1
- INCEPTION
- TOY STORY 3
MAKE UP & HAIR
- ALICE IN WONDERLAND
- BLACK SWAN
- HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1
- THE KING’S SPEECH
- MADE IN DAGENHAM
SHORT ANIMATION
- THE EAGLEMAN STAG – Michael Please
- MATTER FISHER – David Prosser
- THURSDAY – Matthias Hoegg
SHORT FILM
- CONNECT – Samuel Abrahams, Beau Gordon
- LIN – Piers Thompson, Simon Hessel
- RITE – Michael Pearce, Ross McKenzie
- TURNING – Karni Arieli, Saul Freed, Alison Sterling, Kat Armour-Brown
- UNTIL THE RIVER RUNS RED – Paul Wright, Poss Kondeatis
ORANGE WEDNESDAYS RISING AWARD
- GEMMA ARTERTON
- ANDREW GARFIELD
- TOM HARDY
- AARON JOHNSON
- EMMA STONE
Movie Quote of the Day – There Will Be Blood, 2007 (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)
Daniel Plainview: If you have a milkshake, and I have a milkshake, and I have a straw. There it is, that’s a straw, you see? You watching?. And my straw reaches acroooooooss the room, and starts to drink your milkshake. . .I. . .drink. . .your. . .milkshake! [beat] I drink it up!
Movie Quote of the Day – Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, 1939 (dir. Frank Capra)
Jefferson Smith: I guess this is just another lost cause, Mr Paine. All you people don’t know about lost causes. Mr Paine does. He said once they were the only causes worth fighting for. And he fought for them for the only reason any man ever fights for them. Because of just one plain, simple rule: Love thy neighbour. In this world full of hatred a man who knows that one rule has a great trust. You know that rule, Mr Paine. I loved you for it, just as my father did. You know that you fight harder for the lost causes. You even die for them. Like a man we both knew, Mr Paine. You think I’m licked. You all think I’m licked. Well, I am not licked! I’ll stay and fight for this lost cause. Even if this room gets filled with lies like these – And the Taylors and all their armies come marching into this place. Somebody will listen to me.
the diary of a film history fanatic 