12 Hungry Films (Plus: Black Swan Geek-Out)

My Oscar charts are in terrible need of reassessment but I've been devoting all my hours to working on the new website. It's a hungry beast. So, in the interim, you should check out my new article at Tribeca Film where I wonder about the 12 pictures that seem to have the most heat going into balloting season. 8 films have looked to be fairly settled for Best Picture nods for a couple of months now (The Social Network, 127 Hours, The Town, The Kids Are All Right, Toy Story 3, The King's Speech, Inception and Winter's Bone) but the problem is that there are 4 newer, and thus shinier, December pictures that want in (Black Swan, True Grit, The Fighter and Another Year). 8 + 4 ≠ 10 so something's got to give.  Which films are most vulnerable? And will the Globes upset expectations, as they are prone to do, propping up a 13th or 14th option?

read the article @ Tribeca Film

Many of you (here and offblog) have told me that I've been underestimating Black Swan's Oscar capacity and I tend to agree; just haven't had time to update the charts. Next week everything will need a major overhaul anyway given the busy awards calendar.

<-- Beautiful Barbara Hershey. Will any critics group acknowledge her unsettling maternity in Black Swan?

I had the pleasure of attending the Fox Searchlight holiday party earlier this week here in NYC and though four films were being honored, Black Swan was sucking up the oxygen. Otherwise James Franco was consistently surrounded by well wishers, journalists, and other industry types and Conviction's Sam Rockwell (see 'best in show' article) and Juliette Lewis (our fab interview) were in high spirits and on their way to a charity event after the party.

I had a geeky fanboy moment with Darren Aronofsky, who I had to share with a few other critics since he was so in demand for conversation. After thanking him for a filmography that's always worth writing about (a huge plus whether you consider the individual films follies or masterpieces), the group conversation somehow turned to top ten lists. He actually teased me about how high Black Swan would place in mine. 'Top ten? That's it?' he asked in mock disappointment. 'What, does that mean, like, #9? These things are important.' Funny guy who one expects would be über serious in person; blame those obsessively dramatic films that we've dramatically obsessed over for the past decade.

Glory of the 80s: Barbara Hershey's
consecutive Cannes Best Actress Wins

Finally, me being me, you can probably guess that I made a B line for Barbara Hershey the second I arrived. I had to tell her how great it was to see her in something high profile again and then we chatted briefly about some 80s movies. (Hannah and Her Sisters and The Last Temptation of Christ are, as it turns out, the movies people stop to talk to her about the most.) I brought up A World Apart and Shy People "It's not even on DVD!" she exclaimed about the latter. I co-miserated. I didn't bore her with this next bit but I consider it a huge failing of our modern film culture that even if you win Best Actress at Cannes (Twice!) your films can sometimes vanish from view entirely.

"You sweet girl."

When I said goodbye I told her that I hoped her phone is ringing off the hook post Black Swan. "Not yet." she replied.

Sheesh, what's a girl got to do for Hollywood to recognize her gift? Casting directors need to jump on that. She's still beautiful at 62 (Black Swan downplays this, given the terror implicit in her role, but in person it's a different story) and still a fine actress. Not that anyone should have doubted her ability after that special '84-'88 run, the Oscar nomination for Portrait of a Lady (1995) and this Swan dive into a major portrait in miniature. How can she pack so much into so little screentime as Erica Sayers? It's all there from lost dreams, to shut-in enabled demons through to the total negation of self. She's emptied herself out to make room for vicarious living through Nina. It's just too tragic that even her vicarious living is self sabotage, she's projecting failure every chance she gets.

It's the role, isn't it? I knew it would be too much for you. I knew it.

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Red Carpet Lineup: Swan Break

The New York premiere of Black Swan was held last night at the Ziegfeld which is the theater for premiere's here in Manhattan. I have so many fond memories of the place. All the stars were in attendance including Darren Aronofsky, Vincent Cassell and Barbara Hershey. Plus the deliciously dark rival ballerinas Mila, Natalie and Noni.

I think it goes without saying but I'll say it: Winona Ryder is still one of the most beautiful women on the planet. Those eyes. That coloring. Gah.

Why Noni is wearing a tux we can't be sure but we love that she did. Why Aronofsky refuses to shave that Flynn mustache we can't be sure but we wish he would. Why Natalie is carrying around Nabokov's Lolita* we... wait, what?

There's got to be a story there. I hope it does not involve obsessive fans of The Professional.


*Okay, it's apparently a clutch by Olympia Le Tan  - thx Dom - fashioned as a replica of the literary classic. The replica costs only $1,321.00 more than the real thing. But can the real thing hold your lipstick, keys and money?

Mila Kunis, Natalie Portman

TIFF Capsules: Passion Play, Black Swan, 127 Hours and The Conspirator

My friend txt critic is completing his Toronto journey soon but he sent another batch of thoughts for your perusal. He starts by taking an against consensus stand.

PASSION PLAY
By far the most loathed and eviscerated film of the festival, Mitch Glazer's brazenly out there, 20-years-in-the-works labor of love is extremely slow paced, unafraid to be laughed at for its sincerity and ridiculousness, and -- though I seem to be alone on this -- perpetually interesting. The plot basically boils down to "Mickey Rourke falls in love with circus-freak-with-giant-wings Megan Fox, and has to fight to protect her from violent gangster Bill Murray," so yes, it's silly, but I admired its audacity. Rourke is very very strong, Murray is always fun to watch, and... dare I say it? I thought Megan Fox was *gasp* pretty good (though, again, alone on this). Based on the response, though, who knows if this will ever see the light of day outside of the festival circuit. (B)

That is the sad thing about festivals, even if you're wise enough to mostly see films without release dates (I've never understood why people see things that will be out within in a few weeks) some of them will remain things that only you have ever seen.

SUPER
Basically a rougher, sloppier, darker version of "Kick-Ass," James Gunn's homemade super 'heroes' flick has some moments of madcap dark humor, and a surprisingly solid central performance from Rainn Wilson, but it suffers from a severe imbalance of tone, bizarre flourishes that don't add up to much, and a perpetual mean-spiritedness that left me with a sour taste in my mouth. Ellen Page steals the movie with her childlike ADD energy and karate moves, but Liv Tyler and Kevin Bacon are squandered and seem like they wandered in from another movie. (C-)


127 HOURS
Danny Boyle's true story of survival has been received raputurously on the festival circuit so far, but while I liked it overall, I can't really jump on the bandwagon of fervor. Boyle's energetic directorial style and a bravura physical performance from the normally boring James Franco go a long way towards keeping us involved; But at the end of the day, a guy with his arm pinned under a rock just isn't an inherently cinematic or compelling story, and the jittery editing and flashbacks and hallucinations -- while understandable on a conceptual level -- almost seem like a betrayal of the realities of the situation. Also, as good as Franco is, we never (or at least I never) feel like we know anything about this guy, or why we should have vested interest in his fate. That said, Boyle and Franco do keep us wrapped up in the goings-on, and there are about a half-dozen sequences (including the insanely intense climax) that are pretty remarkable... at least until the epilogue steps on the "uplifting" pedal a little too hard/disingenuously to try to push this into Slumdog territory. It's a solid effort, and will likely go over big with audiences, but I was only intermittently feeling it. (B / B-)

Interesting take. Especially in regards to the betrayal of a gut wrenching terrifying monotony of the experience as it must have been to live. I'm nervous about this one primarily because I thought Slumdog was only OK and it actively started annoying me when people wouldn't shut up about it. Will we see a repeat of that mass hysteria? And if so does that mean Boyle will get to do anything he wants from now on?

And finally txtcritic disputes the positive notices for Robert Redford's Oscar bait and joins many in loving Darren Aronofsky's latest.

THE CONSPIRATOR
Robert Redford's dull as dishwater History Channel re-enactment depicts the true but little known story of Mary Surratt, the mother of the accused collaborator of John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. While it's admirable that Redford would like to teach us all about a oft-overlooked footnote in history, he sure as hell doesn't do much to make it engaging, even with a pretty fantastic cast including Robin Wright, James McAvoy, Tom Wilkinson (sporting ridiculous old-timey mutton chops) and Kevin Kline. History nuts may be enraptured, but as an actual movie, it never breaks out of its dry, dusty courtroom procedural paramaters. All I could think of during the film (especially with the presence of Tom Wilkinson) was "John Adams" and the comparison is certainly not flattering. Blech. (C-)


BLACK SWAN
I hate to pile on more advance hype, but Aronofsky's much-anticipated psychological ballet thriller is truly staggering. A tightly-wound examination of the obsessive quest for artistic perfection, the film packs in one staggering sequence after another, and never allows us to breathe easy or get comfortable. Simultaneously beautiful and grotesque, it'll likely offput as many as it seduces, but this is a movie that will still be held on a pedestal a decade or two down the line. The comparisons being made to "The Red Shoes" and "The Wrestler" are apt, but there are strong traces of "There Will Be Blood" in here as well, in regards to the extremes to which it burrows into its central character. Portman does easily her best work here, carrying the entire film on her shoulders, and Winona Ryder and Barbara Hershey are terrifying perfection. (A)

So... that's the first I'm hearing of someone really mentioning Noni. Could this be a comeback of sorts (I had assumed it was a teensy-tiny cameo since I'm purposefully not reading reviews I don't know one way or the other)? Since this film is not playing the New York Film Festival I will have to wait along with the rest of you until December 1st.

Come again?!? I can't have heard the release date correctly. I'm dying here.

Noni, Aronofsky, Natalie, and Barbara Hershey

Just for fun, here's what the Black Swan team wore to their big Canadian premiere. Mila Kunis did not attend.
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