It’s way too early to talk about Oscar frontrunners, but Steve McQueen’s “!2 Years a Slave” brought the house dawn at the Telluride Film Festival (and started an uncomfortable discussion pitting McQueen against Lee Daniels). The fact-based Antebellum drama stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Brad Pitt and Michael Fassbender. Under the watchful eyes of “Shame” director McQueen, Ejiofor plays an African American freeman kidnapped from Upstate New York and sold into slavery. cue the trailer:
Countdown to TIFF – 12 Days – Movie Trailer “The Sessions”
When I first received info about The Sundance Film Festival last year, there was a movie description that sounded like an Onion parody of the festival: a Bay Area man in an iron lung wants to lose his virginity before he dies and hires a sexual surrogate to make that happen. It was called “The Surrogate.” Then the buzz came: John Hawkes (“Winter’s Bone”) makes the movie in the lead role. Helen Hunt bares all as the surrogate. Crowds laughing and crying. Having seen the film, I can say that Hawkes is a shoe-in for a best actor Oscar nomination. No question. No money risked in betting. I am not a viewer that likes my emotions manipulated, so although the film, now retitled “The Sessions,” is a crowd-pleaser, i didn’t join in on the group weep at the end. Maybe I just wasn’t going to give the movie the satisfaction. So I’m not with those that say Hunt will get an Oscar nom, or that the movie is unquestionably bound for a best picture or best adapted screenplay nod (it’s based on a personal essay by poet and polio survivor Mark O’Brien), but Hawkes excels at the kind of role that earned Daniel Day Lewis an Oscar in “My Left Foot” in 1990.
TIFF Countdown 16 Days – Movie Trailer “Cloud Atlas”
When I recently interviewed Susan Sarandon about her indie film “Robot & Frank,” I was more curious about the upcoming sci-fi epic “CLoud Atlas” from Tom Tykwer and the Wachowski’s. The directors’ enthusiasm is contagious and Sarandon’s snippet of narration intrigued me: “our lives are not our own. We are bound to others, past and present. And by each crime, and every kindness, we birth our future.” So it’s about karma, Sarandon explained, as opposed to reincarnation. Given that, I’m a little worried about a movie that pairs Halle Berry and Tom Hanks over centuries and across the barriers of gender and race. And even more disturbing thought that came out in my discussion with the actress: if you have an embattled relationship with your sister in this life and don’t resolve it, you could end up being married to her in your next life. Now that’s a horror movie! As for “Cloud Atlas,” the trailer puts it on my must-see at TIFF list:
TIFF Countdown – 17 Days – Movie Trailer “Anna Karenina”
A year ago I hung out with Keira Knightley at the Sony Pictures Classics party at Creme Brasserie in Toronto, talking about “A Dangerous Method” when we were interrupted by Vogue’s John Powers asking Keira about her frock, and co-star Viggo Mortensen playfully approaching in a silly hat. It was one of those moments that I treasure at TIFF, the kind of privileged access that makes me laugh when fellow critics complain about the job. Really! It was a moment when I actually found a pause between the fluff to discuss with an actress I adore — Keira — the arc of her career, and what parts there are for women, even beautiful, intelligent, talented ones. That’s when she first told me she was going to shoot “Anna Karenina” with Jude Law and Aaron Johnson and Kelly Macdonald. Joe Wright was directing, and I loved “Atonement” and his “Pride and Prejudice.” And, now, here’s the trailer for Joe Wright’s “Anna Karenina” and, yes, I’m breathless in anticipation although I confess it’s one of those novels I’ve started and regret I never finished.
TIFF Countdown: 18 days – Movie Trailer “I Declare War”
On the TIFF Countdown. 18 Days to go. I’m going to start posting movie trailers of films I want to see. Some will be dipping my toe in Awards season. Some will just be movies that intrigue me, like Scandinavian mysteries, or films directed by women, or this Canadian one, that my son sent to me. It’s “Lord of the Flies” meets “Stand by Me” for the Columbine generation. And, after this summer’s tragic shooting in Colorado during “The Dark Knight Rises,” Jason Lapeyre’s “I Declare War” about 12-year-olds playing combat in the woods with real ammo is bound to be controversial:
I love the comments on You Tube: “needs Michael Bay involved”; “The reality of playing Call of Duty on Xbox live.”; “Love it”; “Hate it”
I’m adding it to my must-see list. The last film my son recommended was the Nazi in space movie “Iron Sky” at the Berlin Film Festival. Crazy, great Finnish film that never got full exposure in the USA.
