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Entries by Simon Foster (154)

Friday
Dec142012

2013 GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINATIONS

The breadth of award season contenders came into sharp focus with the announcement of the 2013 Golden Globe nominations overnight in Los Angeles. The bookie favourites are solidifying; bolters like Salmon Fishing in the Yemen have emerged; and, once-fancied contenders (The Dark Knight Rises, The Hobbit, Cloud Atlas) are fading fast.


With the exception of Salmon Fishing..., which got less than stellar notices and did only ok business, there are no particularly out-there, Pia Zadora-like nominations, which were announced by Jessica Alba, Megan Fox and Ed Helms at the Beverly Hilton in front of the the Hollywood Foreign Press voting body.

Most nominations went to Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln (7, the most ever for a Spielberg-directed film), which is firming as front-runner for Oscar honours, followed by Django Unchained (5), Argo (5), Silver Linings Playbook (4), Les Miserables (4), Zero Dark Thirty (4; pictured, right), The Master (3) and Life of Pi (3).

As usual, the real news is in the much-touted names that didn’t get a nod. This year, that dubious honour can be bestowed upon Ben Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild and its leading lady, Quvenzhane Wallis; Matthew McConnaughey for either Killer Joe or Magic Mike; director’s David O Russell (Silver Linings Playbook) and Tom Hooper (Les Miserables); Michael Haneke and the cast of Amour (although it did score a Foreign Language Film notice); lead actress Leslie Mann and Judd Apatow’s script for This is 40; Anthony Hopkins’ Hitchcock; Javier Bardem’s electrifying turn as Skyfall’s villain; and, writer/director Rian Johnson for Looper.

Australian’s Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts are flying the flag for the Down Under industry. Watts scored a Lead Actress nomination for her role in the tsunami drama The Impossible; Kidman was a double nominee, for her small-town vamp in Lee Daniels’ The Paperboy (gaining serious momentum after her recent SAG nod; pictured, left) and in Philip Kaufman’s telemovie, Hemingway and Gellhorn.

The Golden Globes ceremony will be hosted by actresses Tina Fey and Amy Poehler and will be announced on January 13.      

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
ARGO
DJANGO UNCHAINED
LIFE OF PI
LINCOLN
ZERO DARK THIRTY

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
JESSICA CHASTAIN, ZERO DARK THIRTY
MARION COTILLARD, RUST AND BONE
HELEN MIRREN, HITCHCOCK
NAOMI WATTS, THE IMPOSSIBLE
RACHEL WEISZ, THE DEEP BLUE SEA

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS, LINCOLN
RICHARD GERE, ARBITRAGE
JOHN HAWKES, THE SESSIONS
JOAQUIN PHOENIX, THE MASTER
DENZEL WASHINGTON, FLIGHT

BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL
LES MISERABLES
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
MOONRISE KINGDOM
SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
EMILY BLUNT, SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN
JUDI DENCH, THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL
JENNIFER LAWRENCE, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
MAGGIE SMITH, QUARTET
MERYL STREEP, HOPE SPRINGS

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
JACK BLACK, BERNIE
BRADLEY COOPER, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
HUGH JACKMAN, LES MISERABLES
EWAN MCGREGOR, SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN
BILL MURRAY, HYDE PARK ON HUDSON

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
BRAVE
FRANKENWEENIE
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA
RISE OF THE GUARDIANS
WRECK-IT RALPH

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
AMOUR (AUSTRIA)
A ROYAL AFFAIR (DENMARK)
THE INTOUCHABLES (FRANCE)
KON-TIKI (NORWAY/UK/DENMARK)
RUST AND BONE (FRANCE)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
AMY ADAMS, THE MASTER
SALLY FIELD, LINCOLN
ANNE HATHAWAY, LES MISERABLES
HELEN HUNT, THE SESSIONS
NICOLE KIDMAN, THE PAPERBOY

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
ALAN ARKIN, ARGO
LEONARDO DICAPRIO, DJANGO UNCHAINED
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN, THE MASTER
TOMMY LEE JONES, LINCOLN
CHRISTOPH WALTZ, DJANGO UNCHAINED

BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE
BEN AFFLECK, ARGO
KATHRYN BIGELOW, ZERO DARK THIRTY
ANG LEE, LIFE OF PI
STEVEN SPIELBERG, LINCOLN
QUENTIN TARANTINO, DJANGO UNCHAINED

BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE
MARK BOAL, ZERO DARK THIRTY
TONY KUSHNER, LINCOLN
DAVID O. RUSSELL, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
QUENTIN TARANTINO, DJANGO UNCHAINED
CHRIS TERRIO, ARGO

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE
MYCHAEL DANNA, LIFE OF PI
ALEXANDRE DESPLAT, ARGO
DARIO MARIANELLI, ANNA KARENINA
TOM TYKWER, CLOUD ATLAS
JOHNNY KLIMEK, REINHOLD HEIL
JOHN WILLIAMS, LINCOLN

BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE
FOR YOU, ACT OF VALOR
Music by: Monty Powell, Keith Urban Lyrics by: Monty Powell, Keith Urban
NOT RUNNING ANYMORE, STAND UP GUYS
Music by: Jon Bon Jovi Lyrics by: Jon Bon Jovi
SAFE & SOUND, THE HUNGER GAMES
Music by: Taylor Swift, John Paul White, Joy Williams, T Bone Burnett Lyrics by: Taylor Swift, John Paul White, Joy Williams, T Bone Burnett
SKYFALL, SKYFALL
Music by: Adele, Paul Epworth Lyrics by: Adele, Paul Epworth
SUDDENLY, LES MISERABLES
Music by: Claude-Michel Schonberg Lyrics by: Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schonberg

Sunday
Nov182012

DOES FRANCHISE FAME STILL BECKON FOR DANA AND FOX?

One of the most successful television franchises of all time has struggled to convert small-screen cultist into big-screen ticket buyers. Will there ever be a third X-Files movie?

Forty-something fans who were glued to their TV screens from the moment Chris Carter’s iconic TV series The X-Files landed in 1993 felt their hearts skip a beat a few months back. The two stars, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, both stated on the record that a third X-Files film is being pitched to 20th Century Fox by Carter and that both would be happy to revisit their beloved characters. But the question needs to be asked – is 20th Century Fox all that interested?

In an interview with Collider.com to promote his new low-budget film Goats, Duchovny expressed dismay at the studios reluctance to nurture the franchise. “I would love to do another film, or more,” he told interviewer Christina Radisch. “I think we’re all game for it.  I know I’m kind of perplexed that Fox isn’t more [enthusiastic].  Here’s a homegrown property that you don’t have to go buy, like fucking Green Lantern or something, to make it.  Here you’ve got an actual action franchise that’s your own.  It’s weird to me, but I’m not an executive.” A far more circumspect Anderson addressed the issue at a Canadian fan expo in August. “I met with Chris before coming here and it’s looking pretty good," she teased. “We have to convince Fox.”

Writer/producer Frank Spotnitz (pictured, right), a creative force behind both the films and the TV series, went on the record with Collider, saying, “"I don't think it's too late, but I think it's going to be, pretty soon," he claimed. "I'm still agitating with everyone I can grab to say, 'Let's make this movie while we still can!' I've been saying for years now that I feel it's a cultural crime that they have not finished the series." 

At the height of the series popularity, the studio offered up a big-budget big-screen version that set the chemistry-rich FBI pair of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully against the kind of vast canvas that fans would lay awake at night dreaming of (full disclosure – I’m an X-Files tragic). The 1998 film, titled The X-Files: Fight the Future and directed by Carter working with a budget of close to US$70million, grossed a solid US$84million domestically/US$105million internationally.

It was considered a perfectly acceptable starting point for a franchise that had a devoted fanbase. But news of the inevitable sequel was slow to emerge. Carter and his cast got into heated pay disputes with the studio, precipitating Duchovny’s departure and a steady decline in ratings (cast additions including Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish failed to halt the momentum).

Finally, in 2007, Fox greenlit and fast-tracked The X-Files: I Want to Believe, the sequel many thought would never materialize. The popularity of the series was still strong (thanks to DVD sales, which to this day prove a cash-cow for the studio), but this film was to be a much more modestly budgeted effort (about US$25million). Instead of the effects-heavy set-pieces that filled the first film (exploding buildings; spacecraft breaking through glacial drifts), I Want to Believe played like a late- season episode (also, the casting of lovable comedian Billy Connolly as a peadaphilic Catholic priest with psychic powers was perhaps, in hindsight, a bit misguided).

The plotline, a riff on the Frankenstein legend that involved Russian blackmarketeers trading in body parts, was dark, free of the supernatural/alien kicker that fans loved and decidedly small-screen stuff (and very icky). In the 2008 summer of such blockbusters as The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Wall-E and Kung Fu Panda, fanboy appetites were well and truly sated by the time Mulder and Scully’s latest thriller emerged in late July to mediocre reviews; it took US$20million.

Despite a fervent fanbase who want to believe there is box-office pull left in their heroes, no official word has been offered from 20th Century Fox as to whether a third X-Files movie is being developed.

Sunday
Sep092012

ANIMATION IN BLACK AND WHITE: ARE HOLLYWOOD CARTOONS RACIST?

The third installment of the Madagascar franchise again raises questions as to whether or not Hollywood studios all to often rely upon racially-based humour and coarse ethnic characterisations in their animated blockbusters. At best, it represents lazy, uninspired writing; at worst, the implications are extremely worrying...

Madagascar 3 clearly exists to milk further cash from the animated family-film demographic already enamoured with the adventures of Alix, Melman, Marty and Gloria. Dreamworks Animation cartoons are generally awful (the Kung Fu Panda films being the exception that proves the rule) and reek of ambition-free, focus-group origination. Directors Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath and Conrad Vernon hurl colour and movement at the screen to appease the kids (taking their cue from Pixar’s worst, Cars 2) but, with no discernible adherence to plot, comedy or character, it’s an endurance test for parents.

But there is a more pertinent and deeply troubling reason to look upon Madagascar 3 with derision. The reliance upon crass racial stereotypes in the script by Darnell and indie-film poster boy Noah Baumbach (pictured, right) is remarkable in this day and age of cultural sensitivity. But Madagascar 3 goes there, unashamedly inflicting upon the littlies some of the most broadly distorting depictions of race you are likely to see in 2012.

Our heroes – with whom we are familiar after the box office success of Madagascars 1 (very good) and 2 (underwhelming) – are all descendants of the continent of Africa. But their specific origins have never been identified; despite being a continent comprised of 47 countries, it appears to be enough to bundle them together as just ‘African’. They are just from ‘over there’. Though they longed for their homeland in the previous films, by #3 nothing about them says they are happy with their place of birth, portrayed as a dusty, barren wasteland. In fact, the film begins with them pining to get back ‘home’, aka New York City Zoo.

At the start of the second act when the slim plot presents itself and our heroes join a circus train, a whole new wave of stereotypical ‘foreign’ animals join the fray. A Beningni-esque idiot seal who is Italian for no apparent reason (no seal species are native to Italian coastal regions); a tiger that recalls the Dolph Lundgren ‘Drago’ character from that Reagan-era travesty, Rocky 4; a pack of crotchety ‘cockney’ dogs.

Oh, and we’ve already met the film’s villain, Chantel Dubois (pictured, left), a snivelly, conniving French animal control officer. It is a caricature so grotesque it is inconceivable that any French actress of note would have been party to it; instead, Frances McDormand steps in to Clouseau-up her resume. That the organisers of the 2012 Cannes Film Festival saw fit to roll out the red carpet for the cast and crew is utterly bewildering, given the French film industry’s views on a) Hollywood’s bullying dominance of the world film market, and b) the portrayal of French characters in the most anachronistic of guises.

Before you come at me with “Oh, it’s just a kids’ movie”, I ask you to consider the impact that the cartoon characters of every modern generation’s childhood have had upon their collective psyche. Try getting fresh incarnations of a Pepe le Pew or a Hong Kong Phooey (or, for that matter, that deep south racist, Foghorn Leghorn) on Saturday morning television today. Such grotesque manifestations have been banished to the ironic realms of Adult Swim or Family Guy.

And it is not the first time that Hollywood animators have been questioned about their racially insensitive characterisations. The Disney Studio has sporadically copped flak for its insensitivity to, or downright exploitation of, ethnic stereotypes in films like Dumbo, The Jungle Book, Lady and The Tramp, Oliver and Company, Aladdin, Pocahontas (pictured, right), Tarzan, Mulan, The Lion King and The Princess and The Frog. Pixar has dodged the issue of racial stereotyping in its films by largely making every lead character a white male (less racist, but certainly exhibiting a narrow field of vision); much was made of the recent film Brave and the fact it was the first Pixar heroine in 25 years (and feel free to discuss amongst yourself the portrayal of that film’s Scottish characters).

Dreamworks took a lot of heat for its Italo-American sea life in the Mafia-themed Shark Tale and, as aesthetically lovely as the films are, the aforementioned Kung Fu Panda series has its fair share of questionable ethnic prosaism. But commentators have been particularly scathing of Dreamworks’ use of African-American voice actors to ‘urbanize’ support characters such as Chris Rock as Madagascar’s sassy, dippy zebra Marty or, perhaps most famously, Eddie Murphy’s Donkey (pictured, right) from the Shrek franchise. Accusations centring on these characters perpetuating the ‘minstrel’ archetype litter the blogsosphere.

Critics seem to generally give animated films a pass mark when judging character traits, largely ignoring obvious ‘ethnic comedy’ because it is all in the name of making kids laugh. I’m all for kids laughing, of course, but also hope that none of our future leaders are forming opinions of foreign cultures based upon the picture Hollywood paints. Imagine the following dialogue between parent and child after viewing Madagascar 3: “Mommy, why did the seal talk funny and act so stupid?”, “He was Italian, honey.”

Tuesday
Aug282012

PAUL REUBENS AT 60

New York native Paul Reubens turned 60 today. For the legion of fans, young and old, who adore his eternally childlike Pee-Wee Herman character, the thought of the actor clocking up six decades is inconceivable.

Many Pee-Wee fans will not know that Reubens is also a much in-demand character actor with co-starring roles in films such as The Blues Brothers, Cheech and Chong's Nice Dreams, Mystery Men, Matilda and Batman Returns. SCREEN-SPACE puts aside the red bow-tie and grey suit and re-discovers some of the forgotten roles that Paul Reubens has inhabited over nearly 40 years in showbusiness.

Jack Chudnowski in Pray TV (1980):
Rick Friedberg’s scathing satire of religion-for-profit televangelists featured Reubens as the hairy-chested aerobics instructor Jack Chudnowski opposite Dabney Coleman’s immoral preacher. The origins of the character were in Reubens’ time with the iconic LA improv group, The Groundlings.

Albert/Hara Krishna in Meatballs II (1984):
The altogether unnecessary sequel to Bill Murray’s first hit afforded Reubens some free space to create a strong comedic impression as the bus-driving Albert, who morphs into the platter-spinning DJ Hara Krishna.

Max in Flight of the Navigator (1986):
Credited under the pseudonym ‘Paul Mall’, Reubens voiced the beloved character of Max, the alien spaceship computer, in Randall Kleiser’s much-loved family sci-fi adventure.

Arvid Henry in South of Heaven West of Hell (2000):
In some truly bizarre casting, Reubens played rapist and murderer Arvid Henry in director Dwight Yoakam’s much-maligned cult western, South of Heaven West of Hell, opposite similarly odd casting choices as Michael Jeter and Bud Cort. Despite scathing reviews, most agreed that Reubens stole the film from the likes of Vince Vaughan and Billy Bob Thornton in a characterisation that captured the eccentricity of the film perfectly.

Derek Foreal in Blow (2001; pictured, left):
Continuing his run of scene-stealing support parts, Reubens plays high-flying drug dealer Derek Foreal in Ted Demme’s true-to-life tale of hedonistic player George Jung (Johnny Depp), based upon Bruce Porter's 1993 book Blow: How a Small Town Boy Made $100 Million with the Medellín Cocaine Cartel and Lost It All.

Frank Baker in The Tripper (2006; pictured, right):
Director David Arquette gathered a great many of his kooky friends together (Courteney Cox, Balthazar getty, Lucas Haas, Jaime King, Jason Mewes) for this slasher send-up. Reubens played concert promoter Frank Baker, the man in charge of a hippie-themed fest that is sterrorised by a killer in Ronald Reagan mask.

Andy in Life During Wartime (2009):
Todd Solondz’ little-seen, pitch-black family dramedy (a sequel-of-sorts to Happiness) called upon Reubens to do some serious character work as Andy, the suicide victim who revisits Joy (Shirley Henderson) in one of the film’s most powerful moments (NSFW).

Tuesday
Aug212012

TONY SCOTT, UPON REFLECTION....

The tragic suicide of British-born filmmaker Tony Scott, 68, in Los Angeles on Sunday August 19, brings into focus his successful career as a Hollywood A-list director. What legacy does his body of work leave?

Though his most successful film became a pop-culture benchmark from my most formative movie-going years, I never considered Tony Scott a ‘great director’.

Which is not to say that I didn’t enjoy his films, many of which were slick, solidly-crafted commercial works. He just always seemed more concerned with the technical over the emotional; with how his films looked and sounded rather than how they felt.  

It is a theory that goes some way to explaining why Tony Scott (pictured, above, with his trademark red cap and 'stoogie') came to prominence in the 1980’s, when the style-over-substance aesthetic dominated American studio films. More than ever, movies had become key elements in profit-driven forecasts; the great studios of yesteryear were being seized by corporations and projects were being greenlit based upon their merchandising potential. It was no wonder that the LA suits should have sought talent from the advertising industry. And at that point, the hottest ad directors were coming out of Britain (below, Scott's Saab commercial).

Tony’s older brother, Ridley, was super-hot after Alien; Adrian Lyne had impressed with the little-seen Jodie Foster film Foxes then hit big with Flashdance. The likes of Julien Temple (Absolute Beginners) and Bernard Rose (Paperhouse) were players in a ‘new wave’ of art-school brats sourced not from TV work or live-theatre prowess, but from ads for Audi and Nike (as well as the booming music-video scene). Even some of the old-school Brits were finding new critical and commercial favour – Alan Parker with Fame, for example, or Hugh Hudson with Chariots of Fire.

Tony Scott had developed a small but passionate following based upon his arty 1983 vampire flick, The Hunger. Despite the marketable combustibility of Catherine Deneuve and then-ingenue Susan Sarandon in a bloodsucking lesbian tryst, the film was largely dismissed by critics and ignored by audiences. It reeked of artifice, every frame filled with smoky atmospherics and billowing curtains, the menace entirely implied but never conveyed (though a guilty pleasure of mine, for all those reasons).

Producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer saw something in Scott’s work that intrigued them (the TVC featured above was their first impression of Scott's work). Richard Gere had passed on the sequel to An Officer and A Gentleman, so Paramount had a fighter-pilot school drama prepped but no momentum. Simpson and Bruckheimer reworked the script into an original story then, with their ultra-commercial instincts in overdrive, took a meeting with Tony Scott….

Top Gun would be one of the biggest hits in Hollywood history. Its combination of 80s Reagan-era nationalism, testosterone-fuelled brio and head-spinning action sent the film into the blockbuster stratosphere. During its initial run, it would sell nearly US$350million in tickets, spawn a #1 soundtrack and drive sales of Ray-ban sunglasses through the roof. Tony Scott the director had delivered in spades; Tony Scott the adman, ditto (pictured, right, on-set with Tom Cruise).

Though shimmery and shallow, Top Gun also reflected a ballsy take on blokey relationships that would become part of Scott’s film signature. In 2012, nobody talks about the central romance, but everybody still talks about the locker-room/volleyball court dynamics of the Maverick/Ice/Goose triangle. Scott next paid some bills with Beverly Hills Cop II, before leaping into a series of films that would feature strong men riffing against each other – Revenge (Kevin Costner, Anthony Quinn); Days of Thunder (Cruise again, Michael Rooker); The Last Boy Scout (Bruce Willis, Daman Wayans); Crimson Tide (Denzel Washington, Gene Hackman). His best film, the Quentin Tarantino-penned True Romance, features one of the great man-to-man face-offs in modern cinema – Christopher Walken’s gangster and Dennis Hopper’s damaged but decent everyman (“I haven’t killed anybody, since 1984”).

A quick glance down his list of proficient recent works indicates he never fully moved away from examining male conflict in a genre setting – The Fan (Robert De Niro, Wesley Snipes); Unstoppable (Denzel again, Chris Pine), Spy Game (Robert Redford, Brad Pitt), Enemy of the State (Will Smith, Hakman again), The Taking of Pelham 123 (Denzel, John Travolta), Deja Vu (Denzel, Jim Caviezel).

Two works of Scott’s are worthy of deeper consideration in the context of his career. As Creasy in Man on Fire, Denzel was a soulless shell of a man until he grows close to Dakota Fanning, the wise-beyond-her-years little girl he bodyguards. In Domino, Keira Knightley (pictured, right, with her director) plays a hardened bounty hunter who stands alone in the face of a brutal, man-centric world. Fanning and Knightley are Scott’s most fascinating female leads because they represent the yin and yang of how he viewed his men – imposingly smart and physically brave. They are as close as Scott got to fully-rounded female leads. He wasn’t good with women characters in his movies (a directorial trait he recognised and tried to redress by producing the Cameron Diaz/Toni Collette drama, In Her Shoes, and the current TV hit, The Good Wife).

Frankly, Tony Scott had little time for the coarseness of reality. His style – jittery hand-held shots, split-second jump-cuts, garish colours, a general sense of ultra-heightened super-realism – existed to acknowledge and celebrate a view that film was the greatest visual medium and our world was a more interesting place when viewed through a spool-&-sprocket prism. That made it hard for real people to exist in his films or, more precisely, for audiences to become emotionally invested. The world as Tony Scott saw it was a tough, confused, cluttered battlefield of right versus wrong conflicts played out with vivid intensity, yet not altogether coherently.

Contemporaries like brother Ridley had more blockbuster hits and Oscar glory and Adrian Lyne followed a deeper path reflecting less commercial European sensibilities. Tony Scott would make a good living (for a lot of people) by directing palatable studio hits that exhibited little narrative ambition but tremendous prowess. He exhibited far greater storytelling warmth as a producer, most recently shepherding the YouTube humanitarian project Life in a Day to fruition. The directorial role he played will be replaced, but those he entertained will ensure his work won’t be forgotten.