Jeremy Renner. Kirsten Dunst. It's "All Good..."

Here's some worthwhile reading today: a top ten list from Tom Shone. It's a performance list rather than a movie list and it's crowned by Jeremy Renner's dangerous ex-con in The Town. Shone goes so far as to compare Renner's gift to Steve McQueen's which is an interesting comparision but begs the question: Will Renner start getting major lead roles after his back to back successes with The Town and The Hurt Locker? Or has The Town - Hollywood not Boston - already fixated on him as a major supporting character actor? Either way, continued employment is assured which is a very good thing.

Shone prefaces his list claiming that he doesn't believe in "great acting" at least not the way it's commonly defined by the Oscars.



But then he goes on to name 10 performances half of which are in the hunt for nominations (ha!). I think he's out of his gourd when it comes to his take on which Mark Ruffalo performance is awards-worthy but maybe he's on to something with his other expectation switcheroo (Sam Rockwell).

Finally, I absolutely love his single sentence description of Kirsten Dunst's work in the mystery All Good Things.

Kirsten Dunst's dawning horror in All Good Things felt like a rip in the side of her heart.

I can't vouch for the movie (which is...uh, unwieldly) but she's marvelous in it. In one devastating sequence you can practically watch her age ten years without the help of makeup effects. Her Supporting Actress Oscar campaign has just recently started to heat up. The timing might be a few weeks late and the film has a definite obstacle in that other Ryan Gosling December picture which is easy to confuse with this one. [SPOILERS] In both movies, which never should have been released in such quick succession, Ryan grows from sexy young man to a complete wreck (aging makeup!) and his courtship with a gorgeous blonde (happy) results in marriage (miserable). It doesn't stop there; Blue Valentine and All Good Things both have doomed pet dogs and abortion subplots! [/SPOILERS]

Kiki has been so good so often (The Virgin Suicides, Bring It On, Marie Antoinette, Eternal Sunshine, The Cat's Meow, Crazy/Beautiful) that it's easy to root for one day seeing her in an Oscar lineup. Still, it may take a turning point or stepping stone performance to renew media love and interest in her before that can actually happen. Maybe All Good Things is just that.

*

Say What? (Tom is so Impossible)

Amuse us. Caption or add dialogue to either of these photos in the comments. They're taken from the set of Mission Impossible 4. Jeremy Renner and Tom Cruise have gone for a swim. [src]

The Master Is Dead! Long Live The Master

.

JA from MNPP here. In case you missed the news, it seems that Paul Thomas Anderson's next film The Master - which was to star Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the leader of a new Scientology-like religion in the 50s with Jeremy Renner as his disciple and Reese Witherspoon as his wife - has turned into a pillar of salt and gone poof. It's E-meter done gone and flat-lined. I'm sure it supposedly being a thinly-veiled critique of a religion intertwined with a large portion of the Hollywood establishment had nothing whatsoever to putting a pox on PTA's house, I am sure. Sure. Why not.

Anyway this is depressing news for those of us that worship upon the altar of Paul Thomas Anderson. I promised him my first born and all I get are empty promises! It's enough to make you not believe in a higher directing power after all. My faith in movie-making is shaken! I am having a crisis of cinematic conscience! To quote a well-known philosopher renowned for his wise words and his hammer pants, what we need to do is pray. But who does one aim this sort of prayer towards? Christian God is too busy editing all the boobs out of movies to get them down to PG-13. Muhammad doesn't show his face at the cinema. And unless you're willing to sing and dance it Bollywood-style Buddha doesn't take movie requests. Who is the god of movies? Is it Morgan Freeman too?

..Can you hear me, Morgan Freeman? It's me, JA.
.

In all seriousness, if this movie is indeed dead as a dead dormouse, what should PTA turn his attentions to next? Something to get the tweens with their sexting and such on-board could definitely raise his stock I think. Maybe a Love Story 2010 with Zac Efron and his girlfriend. I know, he could remake Boogie Nights and have Katherine Heigl play Amber Waves! It's genius. Fifty million dollar opening weekend in the bag!
.

Venice Red Carpet: The Town, Potiche, Meek's Cutoff

Toronto kicked off last night but before we get to our coverage there -- we'll be hearing from the same folks who covered Toronto for The Film Experience last year -- Venice is starting to wrap up. Awards will be announced before you know it.

The most 'Hollywood' Venice premiere was probably The Town which brought out the happy familiar faces of Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm and last year's Best Actor nominee Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker).


Is it just me or is it always a bit odd to see Jon Hamm smiling? He's smiling so much lately and with that career you'd be smiling too. But it's so UnDraper! These townies had prophetic reason to be happy. Reviews were kind. Here's a sampling:

• Cinema Blend "bigger by nearly every measure" [than Gone Baby Gone]
  
• Newsweek "Affleck’s heist movie is part of a career turnaround so amazing that he looks like the new Clint Eastwood"

One of the most exciting things for cinephiles about film festivals is that they tend to be more auteur-focused than any other movie event.

Tykwer, Miike, Ozon and Guadagino

Tom Tykwer was promoting his latest Drei, a film about a bisexual love triangle between a long time couple and the man they both fall for (unbeknownst to each other). Obsessed With Film called it "punchy and inventive" but wasn't completely bowled over. Tykwer has yet to recapture the type of international enthusiasm that greeted his breakthrough Run Lola Run (1998) but every few years or so we get another good looking movie like Perfume or The International.

Takashi Miike makes a new movie as often as I write a blog post. At least it seems that way. He's twice or thrice as prolific as Woody Allen. The man behind violent sensations like Audition and Ichi the Killer (and many others with less staying power) was premiering 13 Assassins.

François Ozon is one of the best directors of eye candy movies in the world with a gorgeous filmography that includes 8 Women, Water Drops on Burning Rocks and 5x2 among other gems. He's also sweet to look at offscreen. I'm just saying. The gay auteur was in Venice to premiere Potiche, his latest confection starring a starry buffet for hungry francophiles: Catherine Deneuve, Karin Viard, Sergi Lopez, Gerard Depardieu, Judith Godreche among others. Yum yum. Ultimate Addict was totally entertained citing its "snappy, hilarious dialogue" and calling Deneuve "a joy to watch" though you can cut and paste that description into every Deneuve review, n'est-ce pas?

Luca Guadagnino, Tilda's I Am Love director was also in town. He's on Tarantino's competition jury. I include him because I am nuts for I Am Love and his proposed Auntie Mame remake with Tilda in the lead is the greatest movie ever made that doesn't actually exist yet. Ohmygod I want to see that like three years ago. Please make it. If only I were a multi-millionaire and could fund the project myself. This is why I should have been born rich instead of poor. I could have supported so many worthwhile creative endeavors. (Sigh)

Michelle, Tilda, Paz and the immortal Deneuve

But we mustn't forget the actresses beautifying the red carpet.

Michelle Williams is sharing a closet with Carey Mulligan? They're like twin pixie fashionistas. Michelle was in town for her role as Kelly Reichardt's (Wendy & Lucy) main muse, this time in the western Meek's Cutoff.

• Time Out London "just as rich, nuanced, mysterious and low key as anything she's made."
• Guardian "far from action packed, but still gripping."
  

Tilda Swinton appears magically wherever there are A list festivals. It's a rule of the cinema nature ...a benevolent one, too.

Paz Vega. Remember her? Would Spanglish jog your memory or have you tried to forget it?
She's in town with the Italian drama Vallanzasca.

Anyway... we could do this all day. But the question is now who will take the prizes from Tarantino's jury? Guy Lodge has predictions. Will Natalie Portman's psycho ballerina win her the Best Actress prize? Will a non-English language picture rise to the top, forcing the media to note that not all movies are from Hollywood? Venice pulls the curtains closed tomorrow.

Yes, No, Maybe So: The Town

Here's the trailer to Ben Affleck's The Town, which opens exactly two months from tomorrow.



Gone Baby Gone devotees, we understand there are a small but very serious group of them, should be pleased to note that Ben has already completed his second feature.

Do we want to see it?

Yes. When famous actors direct they can often call in favors and rope in impressive casts. This time we get Jeremy Renner, fresh off The Hurt Locker, Jon Hamm (Mad Men) in what could be an important transitional screen role, the oft acclaimed Chris Cooper. Best of all it looks like Rebecca Hall, who we consider practically the young actress to watch, is front and center in what looks like a possibly rangey role: crime victim? secret-hoarder? romantic object? inner strength finding heroine and/or downward spiraling conflicted bystander?

No. Cops and robbers, shoot outs, bank heists, blue collar criminals, passionate FBI agents on the hunt, blood brother betrayals, women caught in the crossfire...

Haven't we seen these stories, characters and the invididual story elements every year since the dawn of the cinema? a million times? When you're working in very very familiar cinematic playgrounds, your work better be revelatory. Your actors, not just your automobiles, better be on fire.

Maybe So.
Now that his directorial learning curve is gone baby gone, Ben is working both sides of the camera. He might not be the rangiest actor but he's also proven to be a solid and/or charming performer at times. But can he direct himself as well as he directed his brother Casey? Amy Ryan may have won Gone's sole Oscar nod for her trashy druggy mother scene stealing but wasn't Casey Affleck the interesting hard to read protagonist rock that was holding that film together?

Nathaniel (that's me) is a firm "maybe so". Which are you?

Hug It Out With Jeremy Renner!

this was originally posted on 03/09... i have to keep adding to it!


'Why haven't YOU hugged me yet. C'mere!'



Oscars in Review: worst & weirdest moments, most wonderful moments and all 09/10 awards season posts

Ugh! Some people don't appreciate Jeremy's cuddliness. Their loss. More Jeremy for the rest of us. Here's Jeremy and his momma. Awww

Today Show and The Hurt Locker

Saw this on Awards Daily and had to share here. Since I rechristened the war film The Sexy Locker a few weeks ago, I find that I'm even more fond of it. I suppose this is why we give our loved ones nicknames... terms of endearment, if you will, to place it closer to the Oscar vernacular. And you need a little warm and fuzzy when you're dealing with the cold hard tick-tock realities of bombs and perpetual near death experiences.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I love how Kathryn Bigelow is totally gracious about all the "first woman" and "ex-wife" business that comes with the Oscar media circus, but is smart and confident enough to sidestep it simultaneously. She never brings it up herself (and don't be fooled: it would help her win if she fully embraced it) but just acknowledges it with a smile and moves on. Film Experience contributor Jose wrote up his frustration with this media reduction on his blog Movies Kick Ass. David Poland recently sounded off about it, too.

I concur with both of them but the reason I've mentioned the Cameron/Bigelow marriage so often is because I'm entitled to. When I was a baby cinephile I was a fan of both of them while they were married... So, I get a waiver. I'm allowed to bring it up because I have no sensationalistic agenda, just nostalgia. Like Demi Moore and Bruce Willis after them, I find super friendly divorced couples totally fascinating.

Anyway, speaking of gracious: Anthony Mackie.

And he has a right to sour grapes if he wanted it given the actual Supporting Actor shortlist. Here's my alternative ballot... (and yes, I will finish my personal awards soon. I'll start again tomorrow. I'm usually finished before Oscar but Sundance threw off my timetable this year)

An Expert At Dismantling

.

JA from MNPP here, wishing the actor Jeremy Renner a wonderful 39th birthday. May this year be the best, most Oscar-nominated one yet!

I don't pay as much attention to the Oscars beforehand as Nat and y'all do but I am aware of the buzz that's long been around Renner's Hurt Locker performance this year (as well as the film as a whole) of course, and frankly I see it as a long, long time coming. I've been championing this chap for years! And here's a couple of the reasons why.

I think a lot of people dismissed Dahmer as one off the many redundant serial-killer exploitation flicks of the decade - post-Seven cinema's been littered with 'em after all. One of the Aughts' many somewhat questionable exploits - become a serial killer, get your own semi-sympathetic movie! It certainly worked wonders for Charlize Theron's career (not to knock Monster - I am a big-time defender of that entire film and her performance therein). But Dahmer came and went in 2002 with hardly a mention - it actually wasn't even until a couple of years later that I saw the film. But when I did, wham - Renner's take on Jeffrey Dahmer is no bull about it one of the the decade's finest performances, period. He not only makes you understand the hole at the center of Dahmer that led to such horrors, but he nails the disturbingly over-charged sexual angle as well. It's a disturbing film for a lot of reasons, but not because anyone ever lets Dahmer off the hook for the things he did - no, it's that Renner's performance is just so captivating that he burrows his way right into you from the screen. A star-making role that took seven or so years to take, I guess.

And then in 2007 he starred in another under-appreciated film, 28 Weeks Later, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's sequel to Danny Boyle's smash zombie flick. I actually prefer the sequel to the original, for a lot of reasons, but I stand somewhat lonely on that front I do realize. I think most people took the film from too face-on a point-of-view, when it begged to be viewed from the side, as a sort of metaphorical fairy-tale - Poppa Bear's turned into the Big Bad Wolf and he's gonna gobble those kids right up. But aside from the film itself's worth, once again Renner popped off the screen to me as sort of the - if we're gonna continue looking at the film as a fairy-tale for the moment - Hunter figure that comes between Little Red Riding Hood(s) and the big mean wolf monster. It also serves as sort of a precursor to his role in The Hurt Locker in at least an exterior fashion, since he's a big serious soldier-man here too.

But all that's beside the point really, since once again, although here with a much smaller canvas to play on than in Dahmer, he's instilling his character with so much, well, character, that he just sorta reaches off the screen and smacks ya across the cheek in a playful and loving manner. He can so easily project this easy-going camaraderie to the audience, this feeling that the two of you have a secret and are in this together. Whether, as in Dahmer the secret is the monstrous sort that you'd rather not be a part of, or in 28 Weeks Later and The Hurt Locker, it's more of a fraternal bond, a you-and-me-against-the-world sens of intimacy, is up to the film surrounding him. But Jeremy Renner takes you where he's going every single second the camera's pointed at his face. He takes them, and us, apart, only to piece us together again in some new fashion afterward. Never to be the same again.
.

Oscar Podcast 2.1, Awards Preamble

Readers: Bring back the Oscar podcasts already!
Nathaniel: okay okay... here you go. Don't say we don't work hard for you.

Joe, Katey and I had a lengthy chat earlier in the week, which we've managed to widdle down to 59:59 and hope you enjoy. The topics are all over the place: Woody Harrelson in The Messenger, Marion Cotillard's Oscar journey (then and now), Up in the Air and the female point of view, the male preferencing of Oscar punditry, what the 10 wide list does to the long tail theory, The Lovely Bones and the 'science' of release dates, Sandra Bullock vs. Abbie Cornish, Jeremy Renner vs. Daniel Day-Lewis, Jason Reitman vs. Lee Daniels; So many topics scattered like kindling as we warm up. Next week, full blown fire as the Golden Globe and BFCA nominations hit (on the same day, natch. That's basically a symbol of how things go this time of year).

You can listen right here but for the sake of my bandwidth expen$e$, if you'd be so kind, please subscribe and download from iTunes for the enhanced podcast. Or if you use a different player, click here. This costs me less money and you can take it with you wherever you go. Why shouldn't you obsess on the Oscar race during your commute or workout?

As per usual, the conversation isn't really complete until we hear from you. Sound off on anything we covered. And that's a lot.

Related: Oscar Prediction Updates
*
*

We Can't Wait #12 The Hurt Locker

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Starring Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Ralph Fiennes, Guy Pearce and Evangeline Lilly.
Synopsis An Army bomb squad in Iraq tries not to get blowed up.
Brought to you by Summit Entertainment
Expected Release Date Ummm...

Joe: The Hurt Locker is probably the 2009 title we know the most about, because it played the festival circuit pretty heavily, including Toronto, Montreal, and Venice (where it won an armload of awards, if not the big one). It even nabbed two Independent Spirit nominations. Early word is very good, and Bigelow, who manages to be artful even in her failures, is said to have put together a gorgeous action movie. Nobody will see it, of course, but we can all drive ourselves crazy talking about why!

Whitney: As much as I love that there is a prolific female director working in action, I'm so not interested in this movie. And even when Ralph Fiennes is in some really wonderful films, I just want to punch him in his ugly ugly face. That's right, RaLF!

Joe: Backing away. Waiting to see how JA responds.

Nathaniel: Is it time for the Bizarrro blog-a-thon again already? Yeah that Fiennes is a dog.
No, no, no. I can't do the Bizarro-thon. I can't. I can't.

See, Kathryn Bigelow makes me feel earnest. I love her. I can't entirely explain it. I like how deadly serious her films are, even when they kinda should be funnier (hi, Point Break). Okay, at least I love the idea of Kathryn Bigelow (stereotype defying action director) even when I don't love some of the films. She'll always have Near Dark and Strange Days! Thus, this goes on my list.

Fox: I side with Nathaniel on being a fan of Bigelow. As for the subject matter ("The Iraq"), I wonder how she'll handle it. Most directors screw it up, but Bigelow seems to be a mature, even-handed lady. I'll freakin' go to war for Point Break. That movie is a joy to watch. And Near Dark? Well, can we just say that it's probably a genre masterpiece? Come on Whitney, just say it! JUST SAY IT!

Whitney: I totally blanked on Near Dark. I'll give you that.

JA: Sorry, it took me a little extra time to get all my rings off so as to deliver a scar-free Ralph-defending righteous beat-down.

Ahem.

Did somebody just go bad-mouthing my Ralph? NUH UH. That's crazy talk. Not just crazy-talk, it deserves extra syllables. Kuh-Razy Talk. And on grounds of him being ugly? Ugly? Have you only seen him in the Harry Potter movies, Whitney? He has a nose in real life, you know - a regal, parochial nose* I want to make love to on its own, at that. Not just a pair of serpentine slits. But He Who Shan't Be Spoken Of, Ralph can defend himself. He's a big boy. A big boy with an oft-deployed serial killer's sexy come-hither-and-be-destroyed stare. Swoon.


This movie didn't make my list, because I am just so over Iraq movies. Unless they can beat Channing Tatum rolling around in his underwear for several minutes, I'm done for the time being. I need a breather. That said, I do like Bigelow, and Ralph (insert fist-to-chest "recognize" thump here), and if I keep hearing that Jeremy Renner - a wonderful actor that does not get the credit he deserves - is great in it, I'll probably see it too.

* Excuse me, in my thunder I named Ralph's nose after a boarding school. I meant "patrician's nose." Do carry on. It's early. Need coffee.

Joe: I kind of like the idea of Ralph having a parochial nose, though. What kind of a nose would that be? The kind of nose that only associates with other noses like it?

Anyway, I feel like I should stick up for Whitney since I too don't find Ralph quite all that, in the looks department. That's right, I'll bear my share of the blowback from this particular explosion, much like Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie and co. will no doubt do in the movie.

And THAT'S how you bring it 'round full-circle.

Nathaniel: Ha! and indeed.

Readers, do I put too much faith in Kathryn Bigelow? Have you taken my unsubtle hints over the past few years and screened Near Dark or Strange Days? Has my unshakeable belief that action films peaked from 1986-1995 -- years which not coincidentally surrounded MIA auteur James Cameron's marriage to Kathryn Bigelow and included both of their best films -- confused my thinking? Do you have any desire to see this or are you, like JA, burnt out on Iraq movies? (Unless Channing Tatum strips in them)

In case you missed any entries they went like so...
*
We Can't Wait:
#1 Inglourious Basterds, #2 Where the Wild Things Are, #3 Fantastic Mr. Fox,
#4 Avatar, #5 Bright Star, #6 Shutter Island, #7 Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
#8 Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, #9 Nailed, #10 Taking Woodstock,
#11 Watchmen, #12 The Hurt Locker, #13 The Road, #14 The Tree of Life
#15 Away We Go, #16 500 Days of Summer, #17 Drag Me To Hell,
#18 Whatever Works, #19 Broken Embraces, #20 Nine (the musical)
intro (orphans -didn't make group list)
*