Drew's Thoughts: Sam Mendes's follow up to the abominable Revolutionary Road is thankfully an improvement but a (really) far cry from the promise he showed with his debut American Beauty. The film centers around a couple in their young thirties who are having a baby, and traveling around trying to find where they want to start their family. The couple played by John Krasinski (American TV's The Office) and Maya Rudolph (P.T. Anderson's baby momma) are serviceable as leads. Nothing spectacular but are believable enough. The script provides a few laughs but doesn't rise much beyond mediocrity and the emotional moments often don't connect. The bigger problem is Mendes's direction which is so steeped in "indie-ness" it's almost sickening at times. There's one reason you have to see this movie though (or at least the first 15 minutes of it) and that is Catherine O'Hara in a hilarious, absolutely scene stealing, or more accurately, movie stealing turn. Her scene as Krasinski's mom, with Jeff Daniels as his dad, is by far the best scene the of film. I don't want to say anything about it since it's a fairly short scene, but O'Hara is so strong she has catapulted herself to the top of the heap for Best Supporting Actress at this point.
Colleen's Thoughts: This movie is hard to write my thoughts on because I don't feel it has much you can say about it. I am more and more convinced that Mendes is a one hit wonder. The direction is okay and surely nothing to be impressed by. I like the way Maya Rudolph's' character is written and she is a good woman character. She is unconventional but not in the "Ellen Paige, Diablo Cody" way, which I can appreciate. Other than the leads the movie is full of over-acting (Maggie Gyllenhall and Allison Janney). Like Drew said, the constant "indie-ness" is pretty tiresome to watch. All and all the movie was alright, nothing to get angry about but it pretty much fades from memory after watching it. I am a quite the Catharine O'Hara fan so I was delightfully surprised to see her in the film, albeit for 3 minutes or so.
Drew's Thoughts: The previous collaboration of actor Michael Sheen and screenwriter Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon, was a slog through mediocrity and their newest collaboration, The Damned United, avoids being a slog but mediocrity still prevails. The film centers on Brian Clough, considered the UK's greatest soccer manager. The filmmakers make two interesting choices, the first of which is focusing on the major failure in his career (a forty four day stint as the Leeds United manager) and the other is they don't try to make Clough likable either. Despite the interesting approach, I still came out feeling a bit "ehhh..." You can point to the constant, unnecessary jumps back and forth in time, the failure to fully develop the characters and flat direction all as problems but to me it seems like Peter Morgan just doesn't really have any talent for screenwriting. I've seen The Queen and Frost/Nixon, and though this was better, Morgan writes some of the dreariest dialogue around and never finds a way to get the audience to give a damn about anything that happens in his movies. This film is about a self-destructive coach driven to achieve ultimate success or his distorted image of it. That right there is a premise with potential for a few fierce cinematic fireworks but there is no tenacity in the dialogue or the direction. I can think of a few great sports movies that center on self-destructive individuals, one of them won the Golden Dolphin last year (though, to be fair, that's a "sports" movie). Instead The Damned United just limps along until the credits roll, like an injured player who manages to get the job done but can't keep up with those around him. The film has the feel of a missed opportunity more than anything else. However, Michael Sheen's performance as Clough is actually pretty good though. He's far from a great actor but he's still a decent one and for me his performance was the main thing that kept me interested. Having already seen him play Tony Blair and David Frost, I was surprised how much he seemed to be Clough and without a trace of his previous performances. He'll surely be squeezed out by the end of the year but Sheen's work here is one of the better male lead performances I've seen so far.
Colleen's Thoughts: I agree mostly with Drew's thoughts on this film. I especially agree with Drew's point that this movie felt like a "missed opportunity." I mean come on we are talking about the best fucking manager in the UK! And those redcoats are CRAZY about their football. A bio-pic about the best manager in the UK should be anything BUT boring or mediocre. If someone is the best at something their IS a great story behind it. Unfortunately, that story is not told here. I left the film still wondering, so why do I care about Brian Clough? And what did he himself do to become the best manager? To be fair, this movie isn't that bad for this year. It is on par with many others. I guess the reason I am just so upset is that this is a UK FOOTBALL MOVIE! The dialogue should be full of fun swearing and football action and it's not.
Drew's Thoughts: Having already been biographed reasonably well in 1945 and 1973 (both films called Dillinger) I wondered what a modern rendering of John Dillinger's life could offer us movie goers. Turns out to be surprisingly little, if anything. The biggest letdown for me was the acting. With Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Marion Cotillard all in the cast I was expecting some good performances even if it might be a lackluster film. Unfortunately I turned out to be quite wrong. First of all, Johnny Depp is surprisingly uncharismatic in this movie, and as a director if Johnny Depp manages to give an uncharismatic performance in your film you've really fucked up. Even in the rare instance where he doesn't play a quirky character as in Donnie Brasco, he is still a phenomenally captivating actor. In Public Enemies though, I didn't really care much about him either way. I wasn't rooting for him but I also wasn't absorbed in his "evilness" or something. In the previous Dillinger movies I mentioned, both Lawrence Tierney (in 1945) and Warren Oates (in 1973) had a mad dog mentality within them when they played the character, something surely Depp is capable of producing. Instead though, the character had no depth and it was hard to believe that this was a man that captivated the nation when he couldn't even captivate two people in their living room. Elsewhere in the cast, Bale is fine but his character doesn't have much more to go on than cliched heroics and Cotillard is okay, but doesn't really factor into the story all that much and doesn't have a good handle on an American accent yet either. The blame should be mainly laid at the feet of the writers and director, Michael Mann, because, come on, look at what they had to work with Depp, Bale, Cotillard and, of course, Dillinger. Mann, no stranger to making bad films, really managed to strangle all the potential life out of this movie (not that the script provided much in the first place). The movie isn't necessarily "bad" either, it's just so bland that all it can inspire is apathy. It's pretty blah across the board too, which in a way is almost worse than a bad movie with a few redeeming elements. I don't anticipate it showing up anywhere at the next Dolphin ceremony.
Drew's Thoughts: I wasn't expecting much from Quentin Tarantino's latest but I should have been expecting a lot less. Other than a good supporting performance by Brad Pitt, the film really has nothing to offer. I was expecting it to be along the lines of Kill Bill, not a good movie but an entertaining shoot 'em up adventure instead I got a Jackie Brown/Kill Bill 2-style borefest. That's no hyperbole, the movie is really fucking boring. The 2 and a half hour film amounts to about 10 really long scenes of really boring conversations. Except for a brief section near the end of the movie that's driven by plot, the movie feels pretty interminable no matter who's talking. Quentin Tarantino has been a joke for a long while now, but with Inglourious Basterds, which apparently took him 10 years to write, the disparity between what Tarantino thinks of his films (that is very highly) and what he actually produces (that is very shitty) has never been so stark. A film that he supposedly spent so much of his life on, seems slapped together, not unlike some of his previous films. The guy actually thinks he can ape The Dirty Dozen for a few scenes, throw in a scene imitating a British espionage movie and, of course, a couple of scenes where characters drop movie references needlessly set all to old Ennio Morricone scores and abra-kadabra he's a got a movie. Also by naming the movie Inglourious Basterds and putting only Brad Pitt holding a rifle on the poster, I was under the impression the movie was going to actually be about the "Basterds" going around kicking "Nat-zi" ass, which in my opinion is a perfectly good premise for a silly action movie. I think had Tarantino done that, the movie might have faired a tad bit better. But instead they are introduced and not seen again until the end of the movie. Pitt, the only actor in the film that actually makes something out of Tarantino's silly dialogue, is fun to watch channeling a humorous combining of Jesse James and Tyler Durden with a touch of Lee Marvin for inspiration; and his impersonation of an Italian is pretty damn hilarious too. I can't help but wish there was more of him, maybe the movie wouldn't have felt like such a waste of time. Christopher Waltz, who won best actor at Cannes, was alright as the Nazi baddie but didn't strike me as anything special and I'm not sure anyone else in the movie is worth noting, except maybe that Mike Myers's impression of a stuffy British intelligence officer was amusing. Anyway, sorry for the rant but this movie blew.
Drew's Thoughts: Pedro Almodóvar's (Talk to Her, Volver) latest film is his most streamlined yet. He appears to be channeling his love of noir-influenced thrillers and Douglas Sirk's 50s Technicolor melodramas with touches of David Lynch-styled suspense. At the center of the story is blind screenwriter who calls himself Harry Caine, played by Lluís Homar, though he was formerly known as writer-director, Mateo Blanco. The film moves along two different timelines, one current and the other 14 years earlier when Caine was Mateo. Lena, played by Penélope Cruz, also figures prominently in the story as the actress Mateo casts in the first comedy he was directing. Lies and violent twists ensue. I won't divulge any more of the story, because figuring it out as you go along is a lot of the fun. Cruz gives a good performance as usual when she's working with Almodóvar, as does Homar. The cinematography and art direction were pretty great, fantastically colorful while still maintaining realism. This is Almodóvar's best directed film in my opinion, it's well edited and engaging and Alberto Iglesias provides an effectively tense score. My only complaint is that the resolution could have contained more oomph. The film builds potential for some kind of shocking ending but instead it ends up being rather plain. Broken Embraces is a good movie, some of Almodóvar's best work. It should be considered for all the big Dolphins, though depending on how strong the year turns out to be it may get squeezed out.
Hey figured I'd collect some thoughts into a list of some things to watch out for this fall as we're gearing up for Dolphin season, I included a few I've yet to see from the last couple months at beginning as well. I'll be updating this continually
Big Fan Notables Involved: Patton Oswalt, Robert D. Siegel
Big Fan is last year's Dolphin nominee Robert D. Siegel's (The Wrestler) directorial debut. It seems like an unconventional story which is good and Oswalt and the film have received good reviews but I'm not sure how it will play with the Dolphin crowd (though I wasn't sure with The Wrestler either and we saw how that turned out.) I'm most curious to see it because Dolphin winner Darren Aronofsky sought out Siegel to write The Wrestler, a project he'd been wanting to make for a while, after reading Big Fan.
A Prophet Notables Involved: Jacques Audiard
This French film was awarded second place at this year's Cannes Festival (behind Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon, which appears later in the update). I heard it called one of the best prison movies ever which is quite a claim, France itself has a history of making some of the better ones too (Le Trou, Grand Illusion). I think it looks pretty good.
The Damned United Notables Involved: Michael Sheen, Peter Morgan, Timothy Spall, Stephen Graham
Peter Morgan picked up a trio of PFA member noms for his Frost/Nixon screenplay last year though failed to get the coveted Dolphin nom. He's got another shot for one with The Damned United about legendary football manager Brian Clough's 44 day stint as Leeds United manager. Actual Dolphin nom Stephen Graham (This is England, Snatch.) appears in this somewhere and Michael Sheen is a pretty reliable lead. British character actor Timothy Spall (Sweeney Todd, Enchanted) is supposed to have a sizable role here too which is always a good thing.
Anvil! The Story of Anvil Notables Involved: Robb Reiner
My friend in Glasgow, Ruaraidh, was raving about this movie to me and Colleen the whole night we hung out with him. It a follows a band that never made it but they made a (futile) pact they'd keep rocking until they do. After The Wrestler was crowned Best Picture last year, might this story of tragic dedication play with the Dolphin crowd as well. It looks hilarious and as Ruaraidh kept saying in a thick Scottish accent, "it's reeeeelly tut-chin"
A Single Man Notables Involved: Julianne Moore, Colin Firth, Tom Ford
Fashion designer Tom Ford decided to make a movie, and surprisingly it might be good. Colin Firth has been getting career best reviews and Julianne Moore is supposed to be great as well (though she generally is). The trailer is definitely cool and it seems like the film could either be quite good or possibly not that good in a Gus Van Sant-y/Todd Haynes-y way. Maybe Ford will succeed where Haynes's Far From Heaven failed... which oddly enough starred Julianne Moore as well.
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus Notables Involved: Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law, Tom Waits, Terry Gilliam
Gilliam (Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) had to reimagine his Imaginarium after Heath Ledger died during filming. Apparently it isn't illogical for Ledger's character to shape shift during the course of the film hence Depp, Farrell and the rotten apple of the bunch, Jude Law with the same ponytail during the trailer. Despite the heavy use of CGI, the trailer got me surprisingly excited to see the movie. Gilliam has laid out a tough task for himself but I'm very curious to see if he can make the movie work. And man oh man does Tom Waits look great in the trailer's glimpses. Enjoy seeing "Academy Award winner, Heath Ledger" for the first, last and only time in a movie trailer.
The Messenger Notables Involved: Samantha Morton, Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster
Can't say I necessarily have much faith in this project partially cause the filmmaker co-wrote the what-were-they-thinking? I'm Not There and partially cause of the leads. Harrelson can be alright, but I'm skeptical of Ben Foster (3:10 to Yuma) giving a good performance especially in the lead role. Samantha Morton is a PFA favorite and two-time Dolphin nominee so I'm guessing the film will interest the members for her alone.
The White Ribbon Notables Involved: Michael Haneke
Michael Haneke's (The Piano Teacher) film about strange occurrences at a rural school in 1913 Germany won grand prize at Cannes earlier in the year. The film seems pretty mysterious and the trailer doesn't do much to dispel that mystery. The vague description reminds me of 1975's Picnic at Hanging Rock which was a cool, perplexing movie so if it approaches that, it should be interesting.
Serious Moonlight Notables Involved: Cheryl Hines, Meg Ryan, Adrienne Shelly, Justin Long
Let the debate commence, will Joe-winner Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm) get a Best Director nomination at this year's Joes? Adrienne Shelly (Waitress) wrote the script, about a woman who duct tapes her cheating husband to a toilet, before she was murdered and Cheryl Hines got into the director's chair to bring it to screen. As far as I'm concerned Hines has already made a huge mistake by casting Meg Ryan, but we'll see how else she handles her directorial duties.
Everybody's Fine Notables Involved: Robert De Niro, Sam Rockwell, Kate Beckinsale, Drew Barrymore
There's been quiet buzz that this may be a return to form for De Niro. It's a remake of a 1990 Italian road movie about a man reconnecting with his kids, a genre I am personally quite sick of. The presence of Rockwell is a big plus though, hopefully he and De Niro will get a few good scenes together.
Lord Save Us From Your Followers Notables Involved: Stephen Colbert, George W. Bush, Ann Coulter, Bono
My Dad actually saw this and told Colleen and I about it and we thought the trailer looked good. The filmmaker Dan Merchant is from the Portland area so a lot of the documentary was shot around there. It's supposed to be a funny and thought provoking look at Christianity in our current era.
Harry Brown Notables Involved: Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer
So my theory about this is Gran Torino made a crap ton of money earlier in the year so the Brits are trying to make their own revered old guy actor starts busting heads because his neighborhood is getting bad. This one looks better than Gran Torino but very slightly, that's mostly because everyone's got cockney accents and Caine looks like he's more Dirty Harry-ish than Eastwood was in GT.
That Evening Sun Notables Involved: Hal Holbrook
This movie is also pulling the old guy gets pissed and take things into his own hands but, I don't know, I think this looks good. It looks like it has the gritty, hardbitten Southern feel that I like in literature and movies so I'm looking forward to seeing it and Holbrook looks pretty gnarled and haggard and awesome; I think lead actor looks pretty open this year so I'm gonna call Holbrook a contender for a Drew nom. The trailer is good too.
Me and Orson Welles Notables Involved: Richard Linklater, Zac Efron, Claire Danes
So I'm not sure what the hell Linklater (Before Sunrise/Sunset) is thinking with this one. I mean, Zac Efron sucks whether he's on the Disney channel or in a legitimate motion picture. And if it wasn't for Christian McKay's promising performance as Welles, I'd say to ignore this picture all together. My real question is why Linklater made a movie about Zac Efron working with Orson Welles when he could have made a movie about Orson Welles. The guy was a towering personality and artist with an incredibly interesting career; perfect biopic material. Hell, a movie about him just making Citizen Kane would be fascinating.
Get Low Notables Involved: Robert Duvall, Bill Murray
This was just picked up by Sony Pictures Classics though I think the last I heard they are planning on saving it for next year. I am putting this entry in just in case. Robert Duvall is supposed to be great in this as an old recluse who wants to throw his own funeral and Bill Murray is getting good reviews too. No trailer yet but there is this amusing clip:
Creation Notables: Paul Bettany, Jennifer Connelly, Toby Jones
A Charles Darwin biopic could go either way. This is being called Bettany's (Mr. Jennifer Connelly) career best, though that doesn't necessarily say that much. He's a capable actor though, though this should be pretty interesting hopefully and I know Joe and I will be happy to see Connelly back to doing material more worthy of her talents.
Mother and Child Notables Involved: Annette Bening, Naomi Watts, Samuel L. Jackson, David Morse I'm not sure if this is coming out this year or not but there's been talk of it. The main buzz is for Annette Bening's performance and Watts's as well. Both are very fine actresses so I expect they are both good. The movie seems a little like Mike Leigh's Secrets & Lies though I imagine this will have a much different feel.
Moon
Notables Involved: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey Dolphin nominee Sam Rockwell’s performance in Moon is one of the two male lead performances I’m most excited for this year. The film has been a modest success and received good reviews so I’m looking forward to seeing it. Sci-fi is usually better to me when it’s on a lower budget, I’m curious to see what this movie has in store.
Public Enemies
Notables Involved: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Michael Mann If it hadn’t been Michael Mann making this movie (Miami Vice, Collateral) I’d be super excited to see it. It’s got previous Dolphin nominees Depp and Bale and Dolphin winner Cotillard in a movie about legendary gangster/bank robber John Dillinger. I haven’t seen it yet, so maybe the stars aligned and it turned out great. It should at least be worth seeing for the acting and tech categories.
Cold Souls
Notables Involved:Paul Giamatti, Emily Watson, David Strathairn When I hear that a movie is called "Kaufman-esque" I usually get bad vibes (last time I heard it was the weak and really not at all Kaufman-esque Stranger than Fiction). That Cold Souls looks "Kaufman-esque" to the point of being an almost exact mishmash between Eternal Sunshine and Synecdoche, NY makes it even less savory to me. Still, the movie has Paul Giamatti, Emily Watson and David Strathairn and they're all damn great actors.
Julie & Julia
Notables Involved: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams Nora Ephron (You’ve Got Mail, Hanging Up) is pretty much cinematic poison in my eyes. I’ve heard the material Adams was given is pretty abhorrent but Streep’s scenes fair far better. Still, it’s reuniting last year’s Dolphin winning actresses so it’s worth seeing in that regard.
Inglourious Basterds
Notables Involved: Brad Pitt, Quentin Tarantino Tarantino hasn’t made a good movie for 15 long years and I see no real reason why this should change things. Still it’s got my main man (and three time Dolphin nominee) Brad Pitt and I’ve heard really good things about some of the unknown supporting players. Hopefully it will at least be entertaining.
Taking Woodstock
Notables Involved: Ang Lee, Demetri Martin This has gotta be the weirdest Ang Lee project possible. Comedian Demetri Martin stars as the gay organizer of Woodstock. Haven’t heard so great of things about this.
9
Notables Involved: John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Elijah Wood, Tim Burton I may need to make a Best Animated Film category this year at the Drews cause it looks like there might be some good ones. This film is a Tim Burton-produced full-length rendering of the post-apocalyptic, Oscar-nominated short film. Trailer
Short Film
Bright Star
Notables Involved: Jane Campion, Ben Whishaw, Paul Schneider Just heard about this one. Oscar winning film maker Jane Campion (The Piano) made this and the female lead Abbie Cornish is getting good reviews. Paul Schneider (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) is in it too, which is never a bad thing. It also has one of Colleen's favorite Bob Dylans, Ben Whishaw.
The Informant!
Notables Involved: Matt Damon, Steven Soderbergh, Tony Hale The more and more I think about it, I’m really excited for Matt Damon’s performance in this movie. He’s at his best when he’s at his most eccentric, in my opinion, and this looks like the most eccentric character he’s ever played. Soderbergh has yet to really prove himself in my eyes, but he’s a competent film maker and this looks like pretty good material. This one should be solid at the very least. Plus, it’s got Buster Bluth! The trailer should dial the Ocean's 11 angle way down though.
Coco Before Chanel
Notables Involved: Audrey Tatou Tatou (Amelie) hasn’t done anything worthwhile for five years, maybe this will be her return to form and her first Best Actress Dolphin nom? Can’t say the material (bio-pic of Coco Chanel) excites me much but there’s been good buzz about Tatou’s performance.
A Serious Man
Notables Involved: Coen Bros. Probably the most mysterious Coen Bros. production I can think of. No stars and only one recognizable face (Richard Kind.) Joe liked the trailer, I’m a bit less enthusiastic about it. There could be a bit of a Fargo/Jerry Lundegaard thing going on though which I’d be on board for. I’m really curious to see what it’s all about.
The Invention of Lying
Notables Involved: Ricky Gervais, Christopher Guest, Jason Bateman, Jeffery Tambor, Patrick Stewart Not sure how this will turn out, but its got a couple favorites involved so I figured I should make a small mention.
An Education
Notables Involved: Nick Hornby, Alfred Molina, Peter Sarsgaard Don’t know about this other than it’s “a coming-of-age story about a teenage girl in 1960s suburban London” and Nick Hornby (who wrote the novel High Fidelity) wrote this screenplay. Have heard good things about the lead, Carey Mulligan.
The Road
Notables Involved: Viggo Mortensen, Guy Pearce, Charlize Theron, John Hillcoat I like John Hillcoat (The Proposition) and love Cormac McCarthy but in the words of Tugg Speedman “I gotta baaaaad feelin’ about this.” There some good things though, Guy Pearce and Michael K. Williams a.k.a. Omar from The Wire are in here somewhere and I am most excited that Dolphin nominees Nick Cave and Warren Ellis are doing the music.
Where the Wild Things Are
Notables Involved: Spike Jonze, Catherine Keener, Catherine O’Hara, Forest Whitaker, James Gandolfini, Chris Cooper, Mark Ruffalo I’m probably most excited to see this, the third film by Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation.), above everything else. Based on Maurice Sendlak’s excellent children’s book, the skeptical Sendlak apparently fell in love Jonze’s vision and is one of the film’s producers which is a good sign. The test footage I viewed a while back with Benicio Del Toro voicing the wild thing was excellent so I’m look forward to seeing the real film. Jonze has proven himself to be a master of just about any video medium (full-length films, music videos, commercials, whatever) with a deft comic and emotional touch and not to mention a role James Gandolfini is perfectly suited for. I think this should be good, and if so could it maybe result in Tom Hanks coming to the Dolphin ceremony? (he’s one of the film’s producers) Trailer
Test Footage
Amelia
Notables Involved: Mira Nair, Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan MacGregor Mira Nair’s (The Namesake) bio-pic of Amelia Earhart would seem like a slam dunk if it weren’t for one thing. Richard Gere. The thing about Gere is he’s more than a bad actor, if he’s in a film it will not be good. This is basically a natural law. Even when acclaimed directors have put Gere in their movies they have somehow ended up with terrible films. He’s way more dangerous than Costner. I may seem overly pessimistic but I have never seen the Gere = Not Good Movie rule fail in my life. Maybe Nair will break the spell. We’ll see what Hilary Swank, one of the more overrated actresses today in my opinion, does with a role seemingly tailor-made for her. Based on the trailer the thing has some nice cinematography too. All this reminds me I need to watch Amy Adams’s performance as Amelia Earhart in Night at the Museum 2, apparently she gave a luminous, Katharine Hepburn-esque performance in the middle of that piece of shit.
Precious
Notables Involved: Mo’Nique, Mariah Carey This thing has been getting absolute raves. People have been saying comedian/UPN star Mo’Nique will win Best Supporting Actress. I'm not really digging the Tyler Perry meets Todd Solondz vibe. And I don’t know, I might be wrong but I’m getting the Juno/Half Nelson "acclaimed indie movie" vibe from this. We’ll see I guess.
The Men Who Stare at Goats
Notables Involved: George Clooney, Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges, Ewan MacGregor I just heard about this but it could be good. A bizarre comedy with Clooney, Bridges and Spacey and helmed by Good Night, and Good Luck. co-writer and producer Grant Heslov? It’s gotta be worth a shot. Not sure about the title though.
Pirate Radio (UK title: The Boat that Rocked)
Notables Involved: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Nick Frost, Bill Nighy, Rhys Darby Richard Curtis is a pretty bad filmmaker (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually) but this comedy about pirate radio in the 60s has such a great cast that this can’t be all bad. I’d be excited to see one my fave contemporary Brit actors Bill Nighy, Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), Rhys Darby (“Murray” on Flight of the Conchords) and the man who needs no introduction: Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Up in the Air
Notables Involved: George Clooney, Jason Bateman, Danny McBride, Anna Kendrick
I like Clooney, Bateman, McBride and I remember Anna Kendrick being quite good in Rocket Science though the downer of the whole affair is that Jason Reitman (Juno) is directing which pretty much spoils anything it had going for it. It just premiered at the Toronto Film Fest and it's apparently making some big waves. The trailer makes the movie seem like an odd combination of Lost in Translation, Punch-Drunk Love and Michael Clayton.
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Notables Involved: Wes Anderson, Meryl Streep, Owen Wilson, George Clooney, Bill Murray, Noah Baumbach I think Wes Anderson’s latest left turn should pan out better than his last (The Darjeeling Limited) We’ll see how well his dialogue plays out in the animated world since it usually requires specific, subtle delivery from the actors (both voices and faces). Based on the trailer it looks like Streep and Wilson have done a fine job.
Broken Embraces
Notables Involved: Pedro Almodovar, Penelope Cruz The only time I like Penelope Cruz is when Almodovar directs her so I’m glad I have this to help get the Vicki Cristina Barcelona taste out of my mouth. This is supposed to be Almodovar’s most expensive production so I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of extravagance he’s cooking up.
Nine
Notables Involved: Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Penelope Cruz, Sophia Loren, Kate Hudson So Daniel Day, what the hell? You follow up the best performance of your career by replacing Javier Bardem in a musical by Rob Marshall (Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha). That this is based on Fellini’s 8½ is kind of annoying too, I think the only way to make that story even more indulgent is to make it a musical. Day-Lewis will get support from 5 Oscar winning actresses and then Kate Hudson. Perhaps I’m being too hard on DDL but if he’s only gonna give us 3 or 4 performances a decade, he better make them count.
Brothers
Notables Involved: Jim Sheridan, Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman Upon viewing the trailer of the latest by Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot, In America) it looks a tad bit better than I expected. Maguire looks suitably psycho but as with In America, the young girls in Brothers look like they’re gonna wipe the floor, acting-wise, with their older cast mates.
Invictus
Notables Involved: Morgan Freeman, Clint Eastwood, Matt Damon Am I looking forward to seeing Morgan Freeman play Nelson Mandela? Yep. Am I glad Eastwood is directing? Nope. I sure hope this is an absolutely staggering improvement over Gran Torino. Although, maybe with Freeman in the driver’s seat Eastwood will finally direct a good movie for once in his life. By the way, does Freeman almost seem like a surefire bet for the Best Actor Oscar next year?
Sherlock Holmes
Notables Involved: Guy Ritchie, Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law Ritchie’s movies generally make a decent showing at the Colleens so I figured I’d put this on here. We’ll see what he does now he’s entirely unshackled from Madonna. Furthermore, Downey is usually at his best when he’s doing an accent, maybe that will hold true for this?
Best Picture: Darren Aronofsky, Scott Franklin – The Wrestler Céan Chaffin, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks – Milk Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass – Baghead Mark Roybal, Scott Rudin – Doubt Best Director: Darren Aronofsky – The Wrestler David Fincher – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Tarsem Singh – The Fall Ben Stiller – Tropic Thunder Gus Van Sant – Milk Best Actor: Sean Penn - Milk Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Sam Rockwell – Snow Angels Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler Steve Zissis – Baghead Best Actress: Cate Blanchett – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky Melissa Leo – Frozen River Meryl Streep – Doubt Kate Winslet – The Reader
Best Supporting Actor: Tom Cruise – Tropic Thunder Robert Downey Jr. – Tropic Thunder Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight Brad Pitt – Burn After Reader
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Adams – Doubt Viola Davis – Doubt Taraji P. Henson – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Frances McDormand – Burn After Reading Samantha Morton – Synedoche, New York Best Ensemble Performance: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Doubt Milk Synecdoche, NY Tropic Thunder
Best Original Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black – Milk Etan Cohen, Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux - Tropic Thunder Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass – Baghead Charlie Kaufman - Synecdoche, NY Robert D. Siegel – The Wrestler Best Adapted Screenplay: David S. Goyer, Christopher Nolan, Jonathon Nolan – The Dark Knight David Gordon Green - Snow Angels David Hare - The Reader Eric Roth, Robin Swicord – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button John Patrick Shanley - Doubt Best Cinematography: Maryse Alberti – The Wrestler Roger Deakins – Doubt Claudio Miranda – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Wally Pfister – The Dark Knight Colin Watkinson – The Fall
Best Editing: Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Greg Hayden – Tropic Thunder Lee Smith – The Dark Knight Dylan Tichenor – Doubt Andrew Weisblum – The Wrestler Best Art Direction-Set Decoration: Donald Graham Burt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Ged Clarke – The Fall Mark Digby – Slumdog Millionaire Mark Friedberg – Synecdoche, NY Jeff Mann – Tropic Thunder Best Costume Design: Lindy Hemming - The Dark Knight Deborah Hopper - Changeling Eiko Ishioka - The Fall Ann Roth – Doubt Jaqueline West – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Best Makeup: John Caglione Jr., Conor O’Sullivan - The Dark Knight Greg Cannom – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Carlton Coleman, Heather Plott, Kazushiro Tsuji – Tropic Thunder Best Sound: Steve Cantamess, Jason Oliver – Tropic Thunder Ronan Hill – Hunger Lora Hirschberg, Ed Novick, Gary Rizzo – The Dark Knight Ken Ishii – The Wrestler Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick, Mark Weingarten – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Score: Carter Burwell – Burn After Reading Alexandre Desplat – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Philip Glass – Cassandra’s Dream James Newton Howard, Hans Zimmer - The Dark Knight John Williams – Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Best Original Song: “Back and Forth” written by Jon Brion from Step Brothers “Little Person” written by Charlie Kaufman, Jon Brion from Synecdoche, NY “The Wrestler” written by Bruce Springsteen from The Wrestler Best Documentary: Alex Gibney – Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson Tony Kaye – Lake of Fire James Marsh – Man on Wire Stephen Walker – Young@Heart Marina Zenovich – Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
Win/Nomination Tally: 4/14 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 4/10 Doubt 0/9 Tropic Thunder 3/8 The Dark Knight 3/8 The Wrestler 1/5 Milk 0/5 Synecdoche, NY 2/4 The Fall 0/3 Baghead 0/3 Burn After Reading 0/2 Snow Angels 0/2 The Reader 0/1 Cassandra’s Dream 0/1 Changeling 0/1 Frozen River 1/1 Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson 0/1 Happy-Go-Lucky 0/1 Hunger 0/1 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull 0/1 Lake of Fire 0/1 Man on Wire 0/1 Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired 0/1 Slumdog Millionaire 0/1 Step Brothers 0/1 Young@Heart
Fun Factoids: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button received a record 14 Dolphin nominations this year, beating the previous record of 12 held by There Will Be Blood. Doubt, with 10 nominations, is also the third most nominated film in Dolphin history. Tropic Thunder is the film that has received the most nominations (9) without receiving a Best Picture nomination. Doubt received the most nominations without a Best Director nomination.
There are a handful of people who were nominated at the Dolphins last year and this year. They are:
Roger Deakins is nominated this year for his work on Doubt, his third nomination for Best Cinematography. He was nominated for Best Cinematography last year for both The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and No Country for Old Men.
Kathleen Kennedy is nominated this year for Best Picture for producing The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, her second nomination. She was previously nominated last year for Best Picture for producing The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
Philip Seymour Hoffman is nominated this year for Best Supporting Actor, his second nomination. He was nominated last year for Best Actor for his performance in Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.
Samantha Morton is nominated this year for her work in Synecdoche, NY, her second Best Supporting Actress nomination. She was previously nominated for Best Supporting Actress in Control.
Brad Pitt was nominated last year for Best Picture as one of the producers on The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, this year he adds two more nominations totaling three Dolphin nominations. He is the second person to secure nominations in both the Lead and Supporting categories. His co-star in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Casey Affleck, was the first. Affleck went on to win the Best Supporting Actor Dolphin. Furthermore, Brad Pitt is the first and only person to be nominated in the acting and Best Picture categories at the Dolphins.
Scott Rudin was nominated this year for Best Picture for producing Doubt, his second nomination in that category. He was nominated last year for No Country for Old Men.
Dylan Tichenor was nominated this year for his work on Doubt, his third nomination for Best Editing. Last year, he won his first Dolphin for editing There Will Be Blood and was concurrently nominated for co-editing Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
Best Picture: Darren Aronofsky, Scott Franklin - The Wrestler Anthony Bregman, Spike Jonze, Charlie Kaufman, Sidney Kimmel - Synecdoche, NY Céan Chaffin, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Stuart Cornfeld, Eric McLeod, Ben Stiller - Tropic Thunder Mark Roybal, Scott Rudin - Doubt
Best Director: Darren Aronofsky - The Wrestler David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Christopher Nolan - The Dark Knight Tarsem Singh - The Fall Ben Stiller - Tropic Thunder
Best Actor in a Leading Role: Benicio Del Toro - Che Sean Penn - Milk Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Sam Rockwell - Snow Angels Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
Best Actress in a Leading Role: Cate Blanchett - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Sally Hawkins - Happy-Go-Lucky Angelina Jolie - Changeling Melissa Leo - Frozen River Meryl Streep - Doubt
Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Josh Brolin - Milk Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight Brad Pitt - Burn After Reading
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Amy Adams – Doubt Hope Davis - Synecdoche, NY Viola Davis – Doubt Frances McDormand - Burn After Reading Kate Winslet – The Reader
Best Acting Ensemble: Burn After Reading The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Doubt Synecdoche, NY Tropic Thunder
Best Writing, Original Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black - Milk Ethan Coen, Joel Coen - Burn After Reading Etan Cohen, Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux - Tropic Thunder Charlie Kaufman - Synecdoche, NY Robert D. Siegel - The Wrestler
Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay: David Gordon Green - Snow Angels Dan Gilroy, Tarsem Singh, Nico Soultanakis – The Fall David Hare - The Reader Eric Roth, Robin Swicord - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button John Patrick Shanley - Doubt
Best Cinematography: Luca Bigazzi - Il Divo Roger Deakins – Doubt David Higgs - RocknRolla Claudio Miranda - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Colin Watkinson - The Fall
Best Editing: Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Elliot Graham - Milk Dylan Tichenor – Doubt Cristiano Travaglioli – Il Divo Andrew Weisblum – The Wrestler
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration: Donald Graham Burt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Ged Clarke - The Fall Mark Friedberg - Synecdoche, NY Jeff Mann - Tropic Thunder James Murakami - Changeling
Best Costume Design: Deborah Hopper - Changeling Eiko Ishioka - The Fall Michael O’Connor - Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day Ann Roth - Doubt Jacqueline West - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Sound: Steve Cantamessa, Jason Oliver - Tropic Thunder Ken Ishii - The Wrestler Ed Novick, Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo - The Dark Knight Ronan Hill - Hunger David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, Mark Weingarten - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Sound Editing: Paul Davies - Hunger Brian Emrich - The Wrestler Gabriel Gutiérrez - Che Richard King - The Dark Knight Ren Klyce - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Makeup: John Caglione Jr., Conor O’Sullivan - The Dark Knight Greg Cannom - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Carlton Coleman, Heather Plott, Kazuhiro Tsuji - Tropic Thunder
Best Music, Original Score: Carter Burwell - Burn After Reading Alexandre Desplat - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Philip Glass - Cassandra’s Dream James Newton Howard, Hans Zimmer - The Dark Knight Cezary Skubiszewski - Death Defying Acts
Best Music, Original Song: “Back and Forth” Written by Jon Brion - Step Brothers “Little Person” Written by Jon Brion, Charlie Kaufman - Synecdoche, NY “The Wrestler” Written by Bruce Springsteen – The Wrestler
Best Foreign Language Film: Mabrouk El Mechri - JCVD Matteo Garrone - Gomorrah Celine Scamma - Waterlilies Steven Soderbergh - Che Paolo Sorrentino - Il Divo
Best Documentary: Alex Gibney - Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson Tony Kaye – Lake of Fire James Marsh - Man on Wire Stephen Walker - Young@Heart Marina Zenovich – Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired Lifetime Achievement Award: Sergio Sollima For his contribution to the Western, with his films: The Big Gundown (1966), Face to Face (1967) and Run, Man, Run (1968)
Nomination Tally: (Best Picture Nominees in bold) 14 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 10 Doubt 8 Tropic Thunder 8 The Wrestler 6 The Dark Knight 6 Synecdoche, NY 5 Burn After Reading 5 The Fall 4 Milk 3 Changeling 3 Che 3 Il Divo 2 Hunger 2 The Reader 2 Snow Angels 1 Cassandra’s Dream 1 Death Defying Acts 1 Frozen River 1 Gomorrah 1 Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson 1 Happy-Go-Lucky 1 JCVD 1 Lake of Fire 1 Man on Wire 1 Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day 1 RocknRolla 1 Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired 1 Step Brothers 1 Waterlilies 1 Young@Heart
Joe Kenny's Thoughts: Well it was a wonderful live ceramony this year at the 2nd annual announcmnet of the Drew Nominees. Always a highly anticipated event, there were many shocking and suprising decisisons from the person behind the drew awards. A major suprise amongst other things was a best picture nomination for synecdoche New York, which drew was not totally blown away by after his viewing and q and a with the writer and director of the film. Ben Button leads the way in nomination but suprisingly doubt finish with the second most nominations, racking up the nominations in almost all categories. It looks like there could be some conflictions as to what five movies get nominated for the best picture at the dolphins this year, as Myself and Drew agreed on only two movies in the best pic category, but we'll have to wait and see what everyone else does. Things I was Happy to See: The Curious Case and The Wrestler getting its due attention. Carter Burwell and Zimmer and Howard continue to make a good showing. Make-up category was a tough one this year and your noms are all comendable. Loving the synecdoche nom in art direction as the art direction was quite amazing in that film. Like snow angels getting some love in the adapted screenplay cat which is deserves. The orginal screenplay is almost but there is a huge hole, as a a movie im thinking of got unfairly left out. Loving Ledger in supporting actor cat. Del Toro getting the suprised but well deserved nomination, i know drews a big fan and its good to see he got a chance to nominate him. Happy to see Tropic Thunder getting much respect, and glad that synecdoche is getting some love in best pic, it didnt quite the Joe noms for best pic but im very glad the movie isnt being forgot about, i knew i could count on the drews. Oh yeah, Bruce, what a song, glad to see it nominated Things Im Not Happy About: Robert Downey Jr. in the wrong category, Doubt getting costume nom, good work getting back to the period, but as far as great research and original ideas, it wasnt neccesary becasue the costumes were infront of them if you know what i mean. Roger Deaks not getting a double nomination for his work in Revolutionary Road. No Dark Knight adapted screenplay nomination, how could that be left out, when the reader and the fall get nomintaed? Best Acting Enseble category, get that cop-out thing out of here, if you loved them, give them a big award. Baghead getting completly shafted, thats just not right. One of the best if not the best movie of the year gets left out, how did that happen? Things I was confused about: RocknRolla cinematography nomination, i dont know about that. No John Williams for Indiana Jones ( just kidding). The Fall gettting a best writing nomination. The Dark Knight getting a director nom for Nolan but not screenplay. All in all an exciting ceremony and i wait with great anticipation to see the winners. Tough call between Doubt and The Wrestler for best picture i think, but im not ready to make a final decision yet, as its never easy to know what drew dahle is going to do. Colleen Kenny's Thoughts: Happy to see: Doubt nominated for best picture and Deakins for Doubt in cinematography. Happy also to see Doubt represented in all the acting categories. Extremely happy to see Hunger get sound nominations. I think this movie was sadly forgotten with the other Dolphin members and the sound is truly effective and amazing. Also, very happy to see RocknRolla get a cinematog nom as I thoroughly enjoyed that film. Not So Happy to See: Milk not getting nominated for best picture, when it is clearly one of the top five films of the year. Also, disappointed about the Hope Davis nom which should have gone to Samantha Morton. I am ok with Synecdoche getting a best pic nom but I think others deserved it more. Also, disappointed that Fassbender's capabilities did not cultivate a nom despite the FYC. Hopes for the Drews I am hoping that Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons does not win best picture (I think it might). I am hoping that Brad Pitt doesn't take home the Drew for best actor (even though I think he will). I am also hoping that Drew does not exaggerate McDormand's performance which was good but not as good as other nominees this year. It should be an exciting Drews.
Award Comments by Colleen Kenny You'll notice that everything I put that I hope would not happen at the Drew's turned out to happen. In this film critics opinion, not a great year for the Drew's.
Drew's Thoughts: 
