Cannes Festival Awards Haneke the Palm and stars of Tarantino & Von Trier Films

This year's Palm d'Or was awarded to The White Ribbon and it's director, Michael Haneke, who has long been a bridesmaid but never a bride in regards to always leaving the fest with awards in hand, just having never won the fest's most prestigious prize. For examples, see Cache' and the original Funny Games. The film chronicles a small german village in the days before the beginning of World War I. The film was widely praised and could see itself in the Best Foreign Film race next year, and maybe in other categories.

The Best Actor Award this year in Cannes was awarded to Christoph Waltz, whose frighteningly calm turn as a sadistic Nazi "jew hunter" in Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds has given the film most of it's only raves. The otherwise unknown Austrian actor was able to outshine the likes of Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, Diane Kruger and Mike Meyers(not exactly difficult to outdo), to win his best in show notices, and upon it's release stateside this summer, the notices look to continue. As of right now, depending on whether or not the Weinstein's campaign him for Supporting Actor, we could be looking at this year's first acting frontrunner.

The Best Actress laurel was handed over, perhaps shockingly, to Charlotte Gainsbourg,the star of this year's most talked about Cannes film, Lar's Von Trier's widely reviled Antichrist. Despite winning the first ever anti-award Cannes has ever given, for being "torture porn" and a smite against cinema, the film has gotten fantastic reviews for it's star. VonTrier is well known for pushing his actresses to the extreme's of their talents before, usually nabbing them phenominal reviews and awards in the process. While he hasen't gotten an Oscar nod for his actress's since Emily Watson in 1997, both Bjork and Nicole Kidman recieved countless critics prizes. The only question thatr remains is, will Charlotte be VonTrier's next Emily, or his next Bjork?

In Review: Star Trek: Boldly going where no Trek has gone before...

     From it’s exciting beginning to the fantastic end, J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek moves at break-neck speed, rejuvenating a tired franchise and creating a near-perfect summer action thrill ride that excels in all areas, making for what could possibly be the best movie so far this year.

     Chris Pine stars as the famed Captain James T. Kirk, a brash hell-raiser who enlists in the federation. Kirk is born under chaotic circumstances and lives on the edge until his past calls him towards his destiny. Intertwined with Kirk’s story is the introduction of Spock who, as a result of being half-Vulcan, half-human, is seen as disadvantaged by a society that demands perfection. Zachary Quinto plays Spock, who enlists in the Federation as one of its top minds before meeting Kirk. The two develop a relationship that ultimately rests at the heart of the film. A distress signal from Vulcan sparks the plot as the planet is attacked by Romulans, an alien race headed by vengeance-seeking Nero.

 The Federation sends out its flagship vessel, the Enterprise, bringing to the screen a time-bending, mind-blowing journey that results in one of the best Sci-fi movies ever.

      With Star Trek, J.J. Abrams has likely made the best movie of the summer.  Weaving an intriguing journey, Abrams has created a tale that creatively spans 40 years of story lines, making Trek accessible to an uninitiated generation of moviegoers. The film was even marketed with that sentiment in mind, the ads reading, “This isn’t your father’s Star Trek”. Along with some great action, the film brings an arsenal of entertainment to the big screen. Chris Pine deserves praise for both capturing Kirk’s trademark humor and making the Captain very much his own in the process. Quinto, meanwhile, becomes Spock with calm confidence, playing into his limited talent, and the rest of the cast also shines. Simon Pegg and Karl Urban provide welcome comic relief as Scotty and Bones, Eric Bana brings a sinister tension to the movie, and Leonard Nimoy, the original Spock, brings a wise calmness to the story, as well as providing a bridge to the original film and television series. However, where Trek really lights up is in its technical achievements. The visual effects are amazing, and Trek offers up one of the best movie soundscapes of all time.

     “Star Trek” leaves a rather indelible mark for the year’s upcoming blockbusters, and that’s saying it lightly. It perfectly combines an sensible story with special f/x driven action and believable performances, all led by fantastic direction from Lost creator, J.J. Abrams. Fans old and new will find something to love, and not much more could be asked of from a movie as amazing as this one.

 

Precious Trailer Link

http://www.oprah.com/media/20090506-tows-precious-trailer

This one looks to be amazing as well. I've always hated Mo'Nique in general, her loud abrasive sense of humor doesnt really gel with my sensibilities and I had written her off as an actress after Soul Plane wasted two hours of my life.

However, based on the trailer for Lee Daniel's new film Precious, the buzz from sundance has been confirmed. This ain't no hype folks. Mo'Nique looks to be bringing it with all she's got, I was floored at how unrecognizable she was. I'm officially predicting her to win the oscar as of now. She's having her Mickey Rourke moment. Gabourney, the girl who stars as Precious also looks like she could impress voters with a very real performance, and we know how the Academy loves a good debut story. Paula Patton also looks great, and I can't believe that we may finally see a Mariah Carey performance that won't be a razzie contender.

Overall, I'm expecting good things.

Nine Trailer Premiers

I have to say that I am now 100 percent sure that we are looking at the film that will rack up the most nominations come Oscar night. The Art Direction looks amazing, as do the costumes. The Cinematography promises to be beautiful and the editing is sharp. Most of all Rob Marshall's direction looks wonderfully stylized, maybe this is his year, and all of the actors at least look like they were having a great time. This is not to say that Nine will be a triumph, but there is a distinct possibility based on the trailer that we could see 10+ nominations.

My Prediction:

Best Picture

Best Director

Best Actor-Daniel Day-Lewis

Best Actress-Marion Cottilard

Best Sup. Actress- Penelope Cruz, Judy Dench,  Sophia Loren

Best Ad. Screenplay

Best Cinematography

Best Editing

Best Art Direction

Best Costume Design

Best Make-Up

Best Score

Best Original Song

The Stars of Nine

Scenes from Nine

Coppola Finally Reveals Tetro's Trailer...

Could we be looking at another masterwork from the man who gave us The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, The Conversation and Apocalypse Now all within the same decade ? Or are we looking at the swan song of an artist past his prime ? Based on this trailer, it could tip either way, but I have a feeling, just a gut instinct..that we are on the verge of seeing something special.

I will do my best to post the trailer as soon as possible, but for now, visit incontention.com for the goods.

Film Review Catch-up

As any reader of this blog will no doubt notice, i have been absent since spring break, a case of too much within too short of a time period. But now I am back and ready to carry on during what I call the dormant pre-oscar season. First of all here are some snipets of reviews for the film's I have seen recently:

State of Play: A strong, well made thriller led by solid turns from Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck and Helen Mirren as well as show-stealing performance from Jason Bateman. The script is sharp, the direction is good, and the movie carried enough momentum to keep me engaged and excited to see what would happen next.

An overall good film: ***

Awards Prospects: Screenplay, Supporting Actor: Jason Bateman

Observe and Report: A savagely dark and twisted comedy that shocked, disgusted and filled me with roarious laughter. Seth Rogen is no longer the same Seth Rogen we saw in Knocked Up and Pineapple Express, in this film he has shattered my image of him as an actor, replacing it with something I am not able to explain in words. The direction and screenplay are good, not great, but the performances and shock factor made me fall in love with this movie.

I loved it: ***

Awards Chances: Seth Rogen for Golden Globe Best actor in a Comedy or Musical

Sunshine Cleaning: A small, nice, little unobtrusive dramedy and nothing more. The story was a bit maudlin at times, and the direction was poor but Amy Adam's bubbly charm made me care for her character, and Alan Arkin does what I love best, basically play the same character he always does.

A nice movie, but nothing more: **

Awards Chances: Amy Adams for Best Actress

Fast and Furious: I got exactly what I expected from this film: A few good car chases, some good action, nostalgia value from the return of the original cast, and an ending that clearly sets up for a sequel. Vin and Paul were exactly what they needed to be, vessels for their characters to come back and presumably kick ass. It wasn't anything awards worthy but I enjoyed myself, even if the revenge story fell flat.

Awards chances: Special F/X and sound, if that.

Duplicity: Hands down my favorite movie I've seen so far this year. I enjoyed if not loved every aspect of this film. The direction was lively and fun, the screenplay from Tony Gilroy ( who also directed ) was superbly funny and thrilling and smart. Clive Owen and Julia Roberts have an excellent chemistry, playing off each other just as well as they did 5 years ago in Closer, albeit on the opposite side of the emotional spectrum. Tom Wilkinson, Paul Giamatti, Tom McCarthy and Denis O'Hare deliver great supporting performances. The cinematography was beautiful, and the editing, just as fun and lively as the direction. I adore this film for all of that, and for an ending that knocked my socks off as far as how happy I was with it.

A++++: ****

Awards Chances: Director, Actor, Actress (Globes), Sup. Actor, Screenplay, Score, Editing and Cinematography.

Adventureland: I went in expecting Superbad set in the 80's, I left very happy knowing that my expectations were dead wrong. The film, written and directed by Geg Mottola was touching and funny, but thankfully funny in a real sort of way, not raunchy or sophmoric. The humor comes from the characters and dialogue rather than by situation. Jesse Eisenberg was painfully good, I havent felt so deep a personal connection to a character in quite a while, and Kristen Stewart was also well cast in a role much like her excellent turn in Into The Wild. The supporting cast was good, especially Ryan Reynods, Martin Starr and Matt Bush who delivered the best one liners in the film. Here's hopin that Mottola continues on this path ala Daytrippers rather than Superbad.

Funny, moving and personal: *** 1/4

Awards chances: Screenplay, Best Actor ( Globes)

Heres a preview of my spring break screenings to be reviewed soon