Actors on Actors: SAG Buzz

Have you read the Variety feature where SAG card holders are essentially campaigning for other actors for awards season? Sometimes the admiration is surely talent-based and not about who they're friends with or have worked with and sometimes it's clearly a mixture of the two.

Nicole Kidman, marvelous again in Rabbit Hole.

Marion Cotillard worked with Nicole Kidman on Nine, for example, but her tribute has one very insightful observation. She's talking about how, in the first moments of Rabbit Hole you know nothing about Becca's (Kidman) story but you're instantly drawn in despite her abrasiveness.

"Becca" is so far and yet so close at the same time. The space that is created between her and the audience is simultaneously delicate, strong, violent and full of life. A part of her is gone and will always be gone, yet you feel nothing but life.

Marion & Nic' last year

And when Marion concludes her tribute with...

She is simply one of the world's best actresses.

You have to say "amen." That's too true and a half, whether or not the actresses hit it off on musical soundstages.

Reading all the articles is a pain since Variety takes such measures to hide their content but read we must. Helen Mirren loves the theatricality and imagination of Lesley Manville in Another Year, Alec Baldwin was wowed by the authenticity of the duet in Blue Valentine. And a few actors cite the cast of The Kids Are All Right. Laura Dern calls Mark Ruffalo one of her acting heroes and delivers an astute read on why he's so magical in that very difficult part (which, alas, probably won't look difficult enough to voters less discerning than Dern). Amy Ryan gives props to The Bening, particular in the Joni Mitchell scene (her obvious Oscar clip, yes?) and Colin Firth's ode to Julianne Moore (his co-star last year in A Single Man) is wonderfully expressed. His conclusion gives me hope that The Kids Are All Right will get that "Ensemble" nomination it so richly deserves at the SAG Awards.

All of the actors in this film are on the same formidable level. I kept thinking what a joy it must have been for them to all play off of each other.

Colin & Sally. She moves him.

But my favorite might be Colin Farrell's ode to Sally Hawkins in Made in Dagenham since he admits their offscreen friendship right up front but is clearly bowled over by the talent of the friend in question. Here's the fun intro.

Sometimes I see a film. Sometimes I see a film that moves me. Sometimes I see a film that has a friend in it. Sometimes that friend's name is Sally. When I see a film with a friend in it and that friend's name is Sally, that film moves me.

I can't say that I know the feeling exactly as I have few close friends that I regularly just happen to catch on the silver screen. But I can say that I know the feeling; when I see a film with a stranger in it and that strangers name is Sally, that film moves me.

Related Posts: 

• Sally 'I Beat Meryl' Hawkins
• 7 Word Review: Rabbit Hole
• Nine thoughts on Nine
• SAG Live Blog Jan 2010

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Dream a Little Massive Dream with Nolan

Summer isn't generally the season of auteur flicks and INCEPTION is the exception that proves the rule. It stands out. If it's not the best mainstream movie of the summer (Toy Story 3 already won the title), it wins the prize for most ambitious. Christopher Nolan first won critical adulation with Memento (2000) and he's proven remarkably consistent ever since. His bulky busy movies are always about men with personal demons in conflict with other men with personal demons (female characters are mere window dressing) who have to navigate an often mind-bending narrative while wearing what amounts to a pop psychology exoskeleton. (See also: The Prestige, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and Insomnia.)

Inception is a tough film to describe and occasionally to follow. The multi-layered plot involves a team of dream infiltrators who are hired by corporations to steal ideas, the theory being that once you know something, it can always be found in your mind. The sci-fi premise is complicated as is the business of dream theft. Whole teams with specific roles and skill sets are required. You have to have "The Point Man" (Joseph Gordon Levitt) for logistics, "The Extractor" (Leonardo DiCaprio) to steal the idea, "The Architect"(Ellen Page) to design the dream world in maze like fashion (for reasons best left to discover in the movie), "The Forger" (Tom Hardy) who can shape shift within the dream for strategic purposes and still more players, too. A lot of explanation is required to understand the complex set of rules governing this artificial dream world but thankfully it's fascinating enough to mitigate the annoyance of the near constant intrusion of expository dialogue. One would immediately welcome a sequel that could dispense with all the explanations to get straight to the big visuals and suspense...

Tom Hardy has a big gun as Inception's MVP

Read the rest of my review @ Towleroad.

We'll surely talk more about the movie as more of you see it over the weekend.

And we'll also have to delve into Oscar dreams and critical nightmares. But see the movie first. In its corner: it's totally worthy of discussion which is why the discussion-killing 'my opinion is awesome and all others are wrong' rhetoric around the web is so extra sad. This type of coverage, which is ironically attempting to raise the film up, is actually doing it a great disservice since Nolan offers plenty to discuss and argue about.
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Marion Cotillard, Lynched... David Lynch'ed.

The latest commercial/film in Marion Cotillard's Dior deal is out. (How much are they paying her anyway?) It's a 16 minute whatsit from the inimitable David Lynch called "Lady Blue Shanghai"


Given that the film contains grainy dv shots, ominously loud ambient soundscores, a nervous girl walking down empty corridors, overlapping image bleed and red curtains, it's Lynchian with a capital L. But parodically so?

In some ways it plays like a distant cousin of INLAND EMPIRE, a lightweight cousin with a heftier clothing allowance. Cotillard has her talents -- I like the way she handles one of those absurdly obvious Lynch questions "who knows what's inside that bag?" -- but nobody will ever top Laura Dern for her facility at embodying Lynch's psychotic break story beats in all their humor, danger and weird sincerity. Give or take Laura Palmer.



For what it's worth the film is more beautiful to look at on the Lady Dior site. I have no idea who her co-star is here. It says "with Gong Tao" but a search brings up nothing by way of an actor or model with that name.

I love that modern corporations have taken to employing acclaimed auteurs for longform commercials (a nice way for them to make extra money while audiences ignore their filmographies to buy tickets to the latest CGI film) but I doubt anything will ever top The Hire (2000-2001, starring Clive Owen) in this particular realm of filmdom. Those were such gems.



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* Further reading on this Lynch project at /Film and The Financial Times

RCL: Demi Gods, Bag Ladies, Gutsy Smurfs and Action Heroes

Red Carpet Lineup: Once weekly we check in with random celebrities. Who is Where and Why? And What (are they wearing)?


From left to right: Jonathan Groff was at the Paley Center to promote GLEE (He's joined the cast drizzling yet more awesomeness on a show that's already fully marinated in the stuff). Groff wowed New York on stage (Spring Awakening + Hair) and now he's after the rest of the world. He's pulling off a mere mortal look here surprisingly well but do not be fooled. He's actually a demi-god (see: that 'I'll Possess Your Soul And You'll Ask If I Can Take Your Body, Too' stare in Taking Woodstock and the actual demi-god thing in The Baccae last summer where he hypnotized Anthony Mackie into doing all sorts of, uh, naughty things). Helena Bonham-Carter attended the premiere of Alice in Wonderland in Paris. If HBC ever feels the public has lost interest in her, I have a surefire solution for a comeback: stop dressing like a billionaire bag-lady. Think of the uproar if she showed up somewhere all sleek, minimalist and goddessy ... like a Cate Blanchett look or something. People would be talking about it for a month!

poll by twiigs.com

Tilda Swinton premiered I Am Love in Italy in navy tiles. We love I Am Love but worry that it's going to be one of those movies that has premieres all over the world for the next 17 months without ever once feeling like it's playing in theaters. Marion Cotillard received the Officer of the Order of the Arts and Letters in Paris. That sounds prestigious and we love that Marion shows up all demur/pastel to receive it "What? No! What did I do to deserve this? You're too kind. You mean little Oscar-winning me?"


from left to right: Meryl Streep is wearing a beige drapey sweater look that would be right at home in a Nancy Meyers movie. She was bestowing honors at Diane von Furstenberg's DVF awards. The awards are for women who struggle to improve their communities which sounds like such a worthy selfless thing... until you remember that the woman who created the honor named it after herself. Adrien Brody hit SXSW to premiere footage from Predator. Honestly, I don't understand his career at all post-Pianist. Nor do I understand why people are surprised that he has muscles to play an action hero. King Kong five years ago, 'member? Jennifer Tilly is still alive and proved it by taking in a gallery show in LA. This Official Declaration of Life I direct towards Hollywood's casting directors who have misfiled her headshot into their posthumous file 13. That's the only explanation for her screen absence. She's one of a kind. "Charmed. Charmed. Charmed."

We end with Alan Cumming who hosted the first leg of GLAAD's media awards this past weekend in NYC (there's two more events coming up in California). Funky suits are sometimes really fun to look at but immediately after smiling at them you think "You can only wear that once. Hope it was worth the money". Not that the fab Tony winner should worry about money. There's the cologne, the album, the abundant voicework and the television, film, stage and Spider-Man villain gigs. He's also one of the voices for the upcoming The Smurfs movie. Full disclosure: I loved The Smurfs as a kid (why pretend otherwise?) but I do not remember any character named "Gutsy Smurf".

Marion Cotillard's New Endorsement Gig

LOL

Forehead Tittaes w/ Marion Cotillard from Marion Cotillard

I absolutely love the musical score (so perfect) and that we get a cameo from Lesley Ann Warren at the end. And that her tittaes are less perky, haha. Surely you know how I feel about Lesley Ann Warren.

In semi-related news, here's another short film entry in her actual endorsement deal (for Dior) that we first told you about in last May. This time she's singing (yay!) and getting sahxy in a hot red dress. Yum. No, I'm not ready to consider my feelings about La Vie En Rose. Leave it be!

Nine Still Exists. Pe & Marion 'Take It All'.

What must it be like to continually be on the promo circuit for a movie so brutally greeted as Nine? Sure Marion Cotillard and Penélope Cruz won raves that the film, so they can hold their heads up. But it's probably tough going anyway, right? Like writing thank you cards for wedding gifts after an anullment. The movie just opened in Paris and only Marion, Pe and DDL were on hand. They used to get the entire cast for these premieres. They're dropping off.

[photo src]

Nine Things They Might Be Thinking At This Very Moment

Marion: Zees ees mauvais color pour toi.

Penélope: tengo hambre

M: Pairs figure skating. We could totally do it. Check our sparkly accents.

P: Lars von Trier?!? A dios mios. ¿Qué estaba pensando yo?

M: Salope a piqué ma nomination à l'Oscar.

M: This promo tour is endless...

♪ ♫ it's time to leave, if i'm to live,
because I have no more... there's nothing left to give ♫

P: Mmmm, Javier.

M: Mmmm, Javier.

P: March 8th can't come soon enough. Guiiiiido, Ciao!

Prediction Surprises?

Before the holiday break I thought I'd quickly try and update some Oscar pages. While most of the races appear to be settled down to 5 contenders for 5 spots (give or take a spoilerish 6th) I always like to delude myself into believing that nomination morning will provide one shock in each category but how about two in supporting actress?


I always like to imagine that Oscar voters aren't slaves to the whims of Globe, SAG and BFCA voters but they generally prove me wrong. Still, even if it goes down as expected I imagine 10 women are sharing the bulk of all votes. That 5th slot and maybe even that 4th and 5th are a touch unstable if you ask me. I believe that precious Mo'Nique and the Up in the Air girls are the only three contenders here that are truly locked and loaded.

But "Cruz!" you say. "She's been nominated for everything." Yes, yes, good point. Except... will Marion Cotillard really stay out of her perfectly toussled hair in the Nine balloting showdown?

Revised Oscar Pages: Picture, Director Actress, Actor, Supporting Actress and Supporting Actor and Prediction Index
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Nine Thoughts I Had On... Nine

In lieu of a traditional review of Rob Marshall's Nine, which opens Friday in limited release and then expands a week later for the Christmas box office rush, I've opted for random thoughts, nine of them, strung together. This is a survival tactic. I've spent so long obsessing on the movie prior to its release (prior to even its casting given my enthusiasm for the mid-Aughts Broadway revival) that a review proper couldn't contain me. It would kill me. I got no choreography, I'll just have to spit out my words however they come out. Picture them flying from the blog like sand from Fergie's fingers

Beeeeeeeeee Italian. Beee Italian....

Story. The plot of Nine, as you may know, is about a film director Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis) suffering an artistic crisis: His production team is ready to shoot, his costume designer (Judi Dench) is ready to stitch, his muse (Nicole Kidman) is ready to act but there's no script (!), no story even (!!!). I haven't read even one of the supposedly many negative reviews of Nine but surely some of them will gripe that the same is true of this movie. This is what's known as "missing the point". Nine is based on the stage musical Nine which is itself based on Federico Fellini's masterful 8½ and none of them have anything resembling a traditionally satisfying plot. Not the point. The original movie, the stage musical, and the new movie musical share a premise rather than a plot, which is the director's crisis. That's it. The concept is the plot. The rest is all flourish and curlicues of self awareness. It's the cinema as memoir or character study (only without the character... sort of. We'll get to that). Guido spends the movie running away from this crisis but the crisis follows him. You can't escape yourself.

"Guido... Ciao!" Guido, despite the character details embedded within his womanizing, his fame and general obsessiveness is not a fully fleshed-out character. I don't even think he was in original form in 8½ when he was played by Marcello Mastroianni though my memo

ry on this point might be faulty. It's been years since I've seen it. Guido is the stand-in for the offscreen author, around which everything swirls. This is why I think Daniel Day-Lewis is miscast. Here is an actor who is great at filling in details and what the role needs is someone upon whom the movie can project its issues. Day-Lewis is good at mapping out Guido's evasiveness and his oddly symbiotic self-regard and self-doubt but he's not good at being a blank slate for the man behind the curtain. Guido's most elaborately fleshed out incarnation was when he was called Joe Gideon in All That Jazz but that's another masterpiece altogether.

Or is it?

No Man Behind the Curtain In some ways though, Day-Lewis's detailing helps. For Nine doesn't come across as a self-portrait unless Rob Marshall is having a post Memoirs of a Geisha crisis. As well he should! All That Jazz is a far better musical interpretation of 8½ than Nine has ever been really, because it's also a self-portrait by a narcissistic but brilliant director. Nine the musical doesn't have and has never had that potent force of personality. But it does have...

Music. Which is delicious. I've heard a lot of griping from fellow critics that the songs aren't catchy but, right or wrong, I always view this particular gripe as a complaint of the unwashed masses, he said fully aware of his own musical snobbery. It's the same complaint you'll sometimes hear from tourists about Stephen Sondheim musicals. And Sondheim is a genius. The songs are just a little more challenging than those insant sing-a-longs that people who don't really love musicals want when they attend a musical. But even when you don't love a song, and I've listened to the original cast recording of Broadway's Nine revival hundreds of times and never found anything to love within "My Husband Makes Movies", one singer/actress's interpretation can change everything.

The Mrs. Marion Cotillard plays Luisa Contini and I call her a singer/actress because that's what she is. Her international breakthrough came while playing a singer (Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose) but she wasn't actually singing in that film. Who knew? She sings so well that she's able to act through her vocals without the dread talk-singing that many actors opt for [*cough* Daniel Day-Lewis and Johnny Depp] when they're trying to sing. She's doing both simultaneously and organically and it's exceptionally pleasing to the eyes and ears. You can tell that Rob Marshall knows it, too. It's the one moment in the film where he seems to just slow down (Nine is very ADD in its editing, as is the habit of most movies, particularly action films and musicals) and watch and it's mesmerizing. It's so mesmerizing that one of my least favorite songs in the show suddenly reveals itself as the key song, the film's highlight.

My husband makes movies.
To make them he lives a kind of dream
In which his actions aren't always what they seem.
He may be on to some unique romantic theme.
Some men catch fish, some men tie flies, some earn their living baking bread.
My husband, he goes a little crazy...
Making movies instead.

The Cast. Not everyone fares as well. Kate Hudson can dance but she's saddled with an extraneous character and the worst number, a horrid if catchy song "Cinema Italiano" that was written for the film (for what purpose, I do not know. Perhaps to educate young audiences about mainstream America's fascination with foreign auteurs in the 50s and 60s?). I hate this song but suspect we'll be hearing it on the Oscar broadcast. Whatever my feelings about Kate Hudson, I hope she agrees to perform it. It sucks when movie stars are replaced by other people when the Oscar performance of their song rolls around.

The Song Score. I've tried but I can't let it go. I have no idea why Marshall thought it wise to remove "Nine" which is a far better number for Sophia Loren (playing Guido's Mamma) than the new lullaby she's given. And the film's title makes little sense without the number. Marshall has also removed "Simple" which is one of the best songs in the whole score, and which might have been a terrific way of pulling all the female supporting characters together. Nine in its new form has a distressing tendency to separate all its players on their own soundstages as if they're all figments of Guido's imagination. Even if that's a valid read of the story, it seems to me that they should start colliding once Guido's compartmentalized world starts crumbling. "Simple" was the number to do that. That said, the new number "Take It All" is a great addition, again focusing on Marion Cotillard's soulful performance and vocal prowess. She's so good in the film, she nearly justifies the restructured if rather more generic emphasis on Failed Marriage that this new Nine leans so heavily on. At the expense of...

The Muse & The Mistress. Claudia (Nicole Kidman) and Carla (Penélope Cruz) aren't quite as prominent here as they have been in past incarnations but both movie stars send jolts of electricity through the film with their diva entrances. Kidman is the first woman to enter the film, blissfully appropriately bathed in spotlight in the film's opening swirl of cast introductions. Claudia must have been the hardest role to cast, since the character isn't in much of the film but must convey something you can't act: global fame, untouchable star persona. I can't think of many actresses outside of Kidman who could have sold this role... possibly Angelina Jolie? So Kidman's vocal limitations -- she has a pleasant enough voice but it's not musically specific enough to match the depth of her normal acting -- aren't as much of a problem as they would be in another role. Cruz, has a different problem. She's terrific in the film but for her big scene, the musicals best number, which she undersells. She's sensationally sexy in "A Call From the Vatican", don't get me wrong. But her adroit skill with comedy is partially lost in the musical performance (the lyrics to "Vatican" are hilarious and it's tough to hear them in Cruz's rendition). She's far far better in her non-singing scenes where she totally nails both the drama of Carla's desperation and the comedy of her guileless desire "I'll be waiting right here. With my legs open."

Marshall. If it sounds like I'm hopelessly contradictory about the quality of Nine, I am. The source material (both on stage and previously on film) is strong and Marshall's wise decisions are frustratingly intermingled with his poor ones (and the latter will make some people justifiably cuh-razy). Chief among the triumphs is his choice of cinematographer. Dion Beebe does phenomenal work and its a marked improvement on his similarly premised work on Chicago. Marshall also stages the musical numbers well (unobscured by eager film editing, I'm guessing they'd be great on stage). "Be Italian", while arguably too similar to Chicago's "Cell Block Tango", is still thrilling to watch and ferociously performed by Fergie.

Even while I was enjoying the numbers I found myself still resenting Marshall's status as THE go to man for film musicals, especially since he doesn't seem to fully trust the form. He employs, again, the overly literal notion/gimmick that musical numbers must take place in the imagination because people don't sing in real life. Note to everyone: If people don't like to watch people burst into song, they probably aren't going to go to musicals. People who go to musicals WANT to see people burst into song. It's not a realist film genre.

The only huge disappointment in terms of a "number" is Judi Dench's "Folies Bergeres". It's so busy visually that it runs into the same problem as Chicago's "Razzle Dazzle" number: so many bright competing colors combined with too much movement and it all becomes a muddy mess. And it goes on forever.

But again for every couple of failures, a triumph: the finale is perfect. And don't you have to end well? Marshall closes the movie with an inspired, beautifully simple fusion of stage trope and literal movie-making. The finale is both a curtain call and a new beginning and I left the movie theater humming Nine's 'lalalalalas'.

You should always leave a musical humming.

Grade: B

If you must know it's like... Marion: A, Penélope: A (but for "A Call From the Vatican" which is a B), The original score: A-, the two new big songs: B+ and D, Nicole: B+, Judi: B+ (but for "Folies Bergeres" a C), Fergie: B (but please note: this is not an acting role), Daniel Day-Lewis: B-, Sophia Loren: exempt from grading. She's only there because they have to do something authentic for Italia!. Kate Hudson: C , Rob Marshall: C+

The Age of Innocence

Adam of Club Silencio here with a quick addition to the 2004 countdown. Lucile Hadzihalilovic's haunting and metaphorical mood piece about female adolescence, Innocence, is one of 2004's unsung and eerie treasures from across the pond.

Girls arrive by coffin at a mysterious woodland locale only to be sent away when they reach a certain age. They're taught lessons of nature and dance, but remain unversed in the deeper mysteries that surround them. What lies beyond the confines of the woods, and what are the strange passageways that stretch beneath the forest floor? French auteur Gaspar Noé (husband and stylistic confidant to Hadzihalilovic) supplies his regular cinematographer, Benoît Debie, to create unforgettably sumptuous and evocative imagery to recall the abstract mystery of youth and bubbling sexuality beneath the surface.


Fans of Marion Cotillard, creepy children and atmospheric dread take definite note. Lucile Hadzihalilovic is a female director to watch -- successfully creating resonant themes by wholly ambiguous means. Innocence is like a stroll through the woods, or the peak of one's sexuality: a curious descent into the beautiful, dark unknown.

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
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A Non-Committal Post on Nine

I'm not allowed to talk about it yet. Sorry! Give it a week. I will say I enjoyed (whew) and that I thought Marion Cotillard was best-in-show fantastic ...and with that -- the only note I will share on account of embargo -- I imagine thousands of Cotillard Groupies just went a little slack-jawed given the heated exchanges during Oscar Race '07.

Update: I have also been asked to wait to write about the Q&A as well which featured the entire cast (sans Sophia Loren) -- so that's next week, too. Gazing upon Judi Dench and Daniel Day-Lewis in the same space but especially seeing Nicole Kidman and Penélope Cruz simultaneously (you know how I do) made my head explode.

I am actually typing this with no head. I am headless. The adrenaline in my muscle tissues is moving my fingers and at any moment I cou
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Where We're At: Best Actress

At the beginning of the year when the buzz for Precious had just begun, Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe seemed like no more than a long shot. Mo'Nique's tour de force as her monster mom hogged the buzz and Sidibe had several disadvantages: fat, unknown, minority. The Best Actress category, more than any other acting category, is obsessed with beauty, stardom and whiteness*. [Tangent: the DeGlam phenomenon is also connected to the beauty preference. In a perverse way it's still all about the beauty that the voters are aware the famous actress is hiding].

<--- Two weeks before the film's opening, Sidibe's star is rising with coverage in major gets like The New York Times Magazine.

Now that I've seen Precious (see previous post) I can safely say that the Academy won't pass over Sidibe come nomination morning (February 2nd, 2010). It helps tremendously that in real life the first time actress is very different than her character.



When Sidibe is interviewed you quickly realize that the only thing she shares with her character is that plus sized body. She's articulate, educated and appears to have a far more lighthearted soul. This immediately dispells the dismissive (though not always incorrect judgment) that can sometimes attach itself to performances by non-traditional/unknown actors. I'm talking about the "they're just playing themselves!" reaction. Sidibe isn't. So she's in. It seems strange for a major category to be 60% wrapped up before November and any precursorage has taken place but it's tough to argue with the lock-up probability of the Streep/Mulligan/Sidibe trifecta.

Which means the battle for those final two spots will be the main place of speculative Actressy drama for the next three months. What's more, the precursor awards might not help us. It seems easy to imagine a precursor season that's filled with the aforementioned trio... leaving the last spots volatile until the end.

The other competitors are plentiful though none seem like a sure thing. Hilary Swank has the right type of role (biographical, teary, ennobling) but practically nothing about the movie including her all-surface performance works (my review). Helen Mirren has the pedigree and a scenery chewing role in The Last Station (my initial reaction). If voters like the way she masticates the bedroom, swallows the furniture and spits out the table ware (I see a Spacek-style plate smashing sequence as future overplayed Oscar clip) they'll ignore the fact that she's not carrying the film exactly and that she won very recently. Marion Cotillard, if pushed lead for Nine, will have Mirren's two drawbacks tenfold, since she won even more recently and she's sharing her film-carrying duties not with two famous men but with one famous man and several famous women. Maybe other people know something I don't but surely she'll be defeated by the limited screentime unless they put her back in Supporting where all the Nine women belong. Abbie Cornish's Bright Star role would easily place her in the Best Actress shortlist if she had more of an Oscar-bound career profile. For her I suspect it's all about the campaign.

Finally, two of my favorite actresses of all time could still be contenders if the Academy is feeling either discerning and adventurous (Tilda Swinton in Julia) or 'we're sorry' career sentimental (Michelle Pfeiffer in Chéri). There are many things that are entirely predictable about the Oscar race in any given year. But when and if AMPAS will feel adventurous or sentimental are not among those things. Sometimes they feel it. Sometimes they don't.

*This is statistically true. Only 10 Best Actress nominations have gone to women of color, compared to 20+ supporting actress and actor nominations and 25+ supporting actor nominations (I don't have the exact numbers) though it's not entirely fair to blame the Academy since they can only vote on what's presented to them and actresses of color still don't get big roles as often as actors of color.

Oscar Predictions: Acting, Lead and Otherwise

Obviously my early September Oscar predictions went the way of vinyl and VHS once Toronto and Venice and the flurry of shifting distribution fates hit. This happens at the end of September and in early October every year but it's always disorienting... at least for me. Maybe you're less driven mad by it than I. 'You mean this brand new movie that got incredible raves and dream buzz is going to wait 10 more months for release and this other movie that everyone had given up on and isn't all that excited about is now opening in two weeks. okaaayyyy, crazy distributor people. You do what you gotta do.'

Clooney and Day-Lewis discuss Oscar warm-up rituals

In Best Actor, I'm still holding on to my gamble that Oscar voters don't want to get mushy or frisky with Daniel Day-Lewis in Nine (he never gets nominated for his "soft" movies) but it's starting to feel like a lose-the-house bet with so little in the way of Best Actor heavyweights. Damn it! I really thought I was going to look brilliant when Oscar nomination rolled around and they skipped DDL. But maybe not. Oopsie. Anyway, could Colin Firth in A Single Man really be the frontrunner, now that he's emerged from festival season so super-charged? It was so sudden and so... unexpected. Or maybe it's George Clooney for Up in the Air though a second Oscar in four years seems overly kind.

Over in Best Supporting Actor there's less drama. I hate when you think you've found the lineup as early as October. Something of note needs to happen soon. The only dramatic question is "who could win?" because that does seem like a question with five answers (for now).

We discussed Best Supporting Actress last week. Since then I'm aware that the talk about putting Marion Cotillard into lead for Nine is gaining momentum. If the studio actually does go through with this once the FYC drum-beating begins I think it a huge mistake. One, the Best Actress category is super competitive this year (wheee!) and Two, even if you give Cotillard a few more songs in Nine it's still a story with one lead, being about a man and his intense relationships to women, plural. They'd be sacrificing one potential nod for another. Doesn't make much sense... unless Cotillard's handlers are greedy/delusional and actually think they can win her two nominations for Nine (lead) and Public Enemies (supporting). And, well, I guess she has beaten considerable odds before.

A friendly pre-season luncheon. Drinks with Lea, Julia and Amelia

Each of these updated acting pages has adjusted text and predictions, though a few things haven't changed. I still insist that Best Actress is only a Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia) vs. Carey Mulligan (An Education) duel... and the other three nominations will be hard fought. More categories to come tomorrow or over the next couple of days depending on how the time flies.

ACTOR | ACTRESS | SUPPORTING ACTOR | SUPPORTING ACTRESS | DIRECTOR | BEST PICTURE | FOREIGN FILM

Return and report: What do you think we already know? Which category do you proclaim a total mystery?
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On the Nine Test Screenings

I've been withholding. Not purposefully or vindicatively but all the same...

I've heard from two readers who saw Nine (the musical!) at two different test screenings and I thought it was time to share their reactions.


The first to write me (test screener #1) saw what might have been an earlier cut in the summer. The second (test screener #2), whom I've met and who looooves musicals, saw it this past Monday. I didn't ask them to do this but they both divided their thoughts by actor, so let's take it that way. Neither of them gave many details about the songs that have been cut and added but I've been alarmed to read elsewhere about the multiple changes, including switching characters on key songs and the removal of "Nine". It's the title song, people! How can you go without? But the movie doesn't open until November 25th so perhaps they're still tinkering.

The lucky bastards disagree on Daniel Day-Lewis in the lead role of the blocked film director

Test Screener #1: Great in this film. He can sing, he can dance, and he brings out nuances in Guido Contini I didn't know existed from the stageplay.
Test Screener #2: DDL is typically good, but it's certainly one of his weaker efforts. He'll likely be in the hunt since he's the lead and I imagine the film to go over well with AMPAS, so I'd keep him in the top 10 tier for now, but I'm sure that you've been right all along - he won't be nominated.

But what about the glamourous actresses swirling around him? Both readers jump to Judi Dench next and here they also disagree.

TS #1: She's terrific. Her "Follies Bergeres" is well sung with style, presence, wit, and a gleam in her eye. She looks killer in a bodice, too. It's her sass-mouthed wry Queen Elizabeth from Shakespeare in Love blessed with magical sewing fingers and a 1960s bob. Consider her a contender in Supporting Actress if the film breaks out in a big way.
TS#2: Dench is fine but nothing remarkable. I know she has been nominated for unremarkable work in the past, but her character and screen time are too limited to warrant a nomination. I'd take her out of the top 10, or at least keep her near the bottom.

Split decisions again.

Rob Marshall directing two of the best screen actors on the planet --->

Both movie mad guys shrug off TFE favorite Nicole Kidman as the visiting movie star Claudia. I knew that the role wouldn't be large having seen both Fellini's masterpiece and the stage musical it inspired but I always spark to the possibilities of any Kidman appearance. Hopefully I'll feel differently when I see the film.

TS #1: Gets to look pretty in a dress. And not move her forehead.
TS#2: They build up to her character's appearance, and once she finally appears, they give her a boring musical number that's oddly patched together. It's a small role, and not a great use of her talents.

In the stage play Claudia sings the best song "In a Very Unusual Way" (previous post) but perhaps Kidman has the same problem here that I pointed to when writing about her ballad in Moulin Rouge! In short, she isn't a born/trained singer and slow emotionally intricate numbers only come off spectacularly if the performer is a musical professional. It's the danger of casting for stardom rather than musical ability though Claudia is a role that requires true A list mystique so perhaps Kidman was the only choice that would have worked.

The rest of the cast? Looks like Kate Hudson will be a polarizing part of Nine.

TS#1: Hudson is fantastic in a very limited role. Her one number (new for the film?) is the absolute highlight. It's slick, stylish, well sung, well choreographed, and catchy. This early cut of the film used it as the ending credits song, so I'm assuming it's brand new. I can see a Globe nod for Hudson (and an Original Song win if it is new), but I think her character isn't meaty enough to breakthrough elsewhere.

No, Fergie Ferg cannot act to save her life. Rob Marshall actually shot her solo song around her physical placement in the scene, never coming close to zooming in on her doing anything other then pouting her lips and tossing sand in the air.

Sophia Loren is the biggest victim of the changes to the script and score but she's great in the smallest role.

TS#2: The consensus of the people I went with was that Hudson was awful. Loren doesn't do much. Fergie just has the one scene (the song in the trailer), but it's quite a scene and she undoubtedly has the best voice in the film.

In keeping with the other buzz you might have been reading or hearing, Penélope Cruz and Marion Cotillard were both big hits with the test screeners and Oscar nominations might be coming

TS #1: Curse Cruz for winning the Oscar for Vicky Cristina Barcelona. This is easily her best performance and she steals every single scene she's in. She has the meatiest role of anyone in the film and milks it for all its worth. Think Catherine Zeta Jones in Chicago - Cruz juices this orange down to the pith and drains it of every delicious, sexy drop. "A Call From the Vatican" is probably the single sexiest moment I've ever seen in a filmed musical, even with more clothes on than I expected. The only reason I wouldn't consider her a lock in Supporting Actress is her recent win.

Marion Cotillard is the safest bet for a Supporting Actress nomination. With so much of the music eliminated from the film, Cotillard is the only one to benefit from clear additional screentime. She gets to show the most range in her vocals, from soft and vulnerable to raunchy and wild. It's pure Oscar Bait suffering wife, only with singing and dancing and sexy costumes.

TS#2: The two best performances were definitely Cruz and Cotillard. As a Penélope fanatic, I'd give the edge to her. She KILLS in her musical number and is quite funny and sexy throughout her entire performance. However, her musical sequence is the second in the film and the film forgets about her early on... I wouldn't bet on a nomination.

If anyone gets Oscar-nominated, it's likely to be Marion Cotillard. She has the most sympathetic role, and she pulls it off. Her first musical number is fairly low-key but it's generally moving and she pulls off a great second musical sequence. Ultimately, she's the character you care about and the one people will likely remember.

The horniest (known) call ever made from the Vatican

Neither of them consider the movie an unqualified success though they both obviously enjoyed it. Some final thoughts:

TS #1: Rob Marshall's direction is near-perfection. The difficult integration of fantasy/reality brought on by Guido's crisis is genius. The problems mostly come from the screenplay's adaptation choices. What could be a strong examination of deep emotional issues is whitewashed. For all the sexuality in the movie, the film has been turned into a sanitized version of a very engrossing and original musical eliminating any psychological complexity beyond "my husband doesn't love me" or "I'm very stressed". All the elements are there that a fan of the show would know, just not in a recognizable form. It pulls its cues from the lighter Broadway revival, down to a slightly more optimistic ending in a single staging decision. The screenplay pulls every punch, reducing what could be a knock-out climax to a slap on the wrist.

TS#2: I can tell you that it's a very good film that will likely go over very well with the Academy. It's made in the same style as Chicago -- the musical numbers are fantasies -- and I think it works. I don't think it's a GREAT film, but it was entertaining and handsomely made.

So there you have it. Or two of it. Moviegoing is a personal thing, even when the theater is sold out. Your reaction may well differ and maybe these two voices won't be 'on consensus' but if they are, Oscar will bite in several categories (as most expected) and Marion Cotillard is the one to watch for Oscar... again.

my current Oscar predictions
For more on the film or any of its actors, click on the labels below.
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Leo, Ellen and Cillian

Is it just me or is it hard to picture these two acting together onscreen? What is it about Leonardo DiCaprio and Ellen Page that give me that ole' oil and water feeling? They seem to be kindred spirits of drably dressed boredom in this photo so perhaps I'm wrong. Speculate with me in the comments...

via lots more photos here

The movie in question is Inception, due for a teaser trailer any second now, which is Christopher Nolan's sci-fi follow up to The Dark Knight. For all I know -- the plot is closely guarded -- they're playing brother and sister. Unlike James Cameron, who seemed spooked after Titanic, Nolan is just getting back to work. That's always the best move when you've just made a game changer. Get your follow up out of the way and bring your career back down to earth... even if you're still breathing rarefied air while touching ground.

Batman does not appear in the generically titled Inception but the cast is plum. Rising stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard (as DiCaprio's wife apparently) the enduring if never foregrounded Lukas Haas and Nolan/Batman holdovers Michael Caine, Cillian Murphy and Ken Watanabe. I'm glad to see Nolan sticking by Murphy in particular who we assumed, back in 2003 when he carried 28 Days Later with such magnetism, was going to be a much bigger star by now. At the very least, he's always entirely watchable.

Hump Day Hotties: The Cast of Nine

Hello, all. Kieran here (aka the Know nothing Know it All) filling in for Nathaniel with another edition of Hump Day Hotties. Okay...so I have a problem with Nine. I'm a little obsessed, but I'm trying to be guarded about my excitement. We've heard the famous “The Musical is Back!” tune many times (and to no avail) over the aughts, that one has must be guarded. For every Chicago and Moulin Rouge!, there are several Rents, Producers, Dreamgirls, Hairsprays and Sweeney Todds (in ascending order of achievement), failing to land that elusive best picture nod. A plus: Nine is helmed by the man who last took a musical all the way to the win, and is sometimes credited for bringing the musical back (even though he didn't). Regardless of how the film fares, you can't deny that the talent has talent...and hotness in spades.

Marion Cotillard

That Oscar still burns a big question mark in my brain. I'm more forgiving than some of her turn in La Vie en Rose. The movie is undeniably (and often unbelievably) awful, but I haven't decided how much of that is her fault. Still...cute as a button!

Penelope Cruz

She's on a career roll, recently capped off with a very well-deserved Oscar win. Even the trailer seems aware of how sexy she is, showing mere glimpses of her lingerie clad legs, building up to her full awesomeness, as if knowing we can't handle her all at once.

Daniel Day-Lewis

Fun fact: Didyou know that all four of Day-Lewis's Oscar nominated performances came with accompanying best picture nominations? And...he's obviously no slouch either.

Dame Judi Dench

I don't discriminate based on age. Poise, grace and style are sexy, damn it, and Dame Judi has it all. She's always delightful, even when phoning it in. I would love to see anyone try to tell Judi that she isn't sexy, and get met with a fierce “You're not young! I say this to help you.”

Nicole Kidman

I ALWAYS rush to Kidman's defense. Her celebrity often overshadows the talent. People miss what a daring risk-taker she is in her acting choices, fixating on financial flops, rather than taking notice of how bewitching she was in her non-Oscar-nominated performances such as (wait for it) Birth, Dogville, Margot at the Wedding, The Others, To Die For, The Portrait of a Lady, Eyes Wide Shut, Fur, etc. etc. etc. And I can't wait to hear her sing again

Sophia Loren

One of the few international symbols of sexiness. She is legendary and has herself said that “Sex appeal is 50% what you've got and 50% what people think you've got.” Amen, sister.

And thus concludes my rundown of the cast members of Nine who happen to be sexy. Happy Hump Day!