MIFF Blogathon: End Credits

This blogathon is an initiative of MIFF for their 60th anniversary year. I am one of six bloggers given the mission of seeing 60 films in 17 days and writing, reporting, reviewing and wrangling my way through the tiredness and hunger to bring the festival experience to your computer.

The 17 days of the Melbourne International Film Festival were a hectic, inspiring, memorable, festive, exciting, taxing and exhausting time. I saw some ungodly number of films - I'm counting that terrible 44-minute Louis Garrel film as a full title and bumping my number to 60 - and averaged 3.5 a day, although some days were 5 films long, others a more manageable at 2 a day.



I was surprised to find that so many of the films I saw were actually quite good. Throughout my 16 daily blogathon entries (mostly all written at Midnight after a long day of filmgoing) the number of films rated C+ or lower was thankfully rather low as law averages would suggest at a third of all titles. While, unfortunately, many of the ones I didn't care for I really didn't care for, there were also a whole lot that I not only loved, but really loved. And I even found plenty to enjoy in the films that didn't quite live up to the praise that had been heaped upon them here and around the world (13 Assassins for instance.)



Let's take a look at all the films I saw (plus a few extras that I saw in preview media screenings before the festival) in order from #1 to #60. Each embedded link leads to what I originally wrote on the film, and bear in mind that my opinions on these films will surely fluctuate over time and, in the case of something like The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975, already has. So what I wrote after seeing a film in the midst of a 60-strong onslaught might not necessarily reflect what I would think about a film if seen free of the festival arena.



1. Drive (dir. Nicolas Winding Refn)

2. The King of Comedy (dir. Martin Scorsese)

3. The Third Man (dir. Carol Reed)

4. Tiny Furniture (dir. Lena Dunham)

5. Martha Marcy May Marlene (dir. Sean Durkin)

6. How to Die in Oregon (dir. Peter Richardson)

7. Melancholia (dir. Lars von Trier)

8. Natural Selection (dir. Robbie Pickering)

9. Ruhr (dir. James Benning)

10. Neds (dir. Peter Mullan)

11. Jane Eyre (dir. Cary Fukunaga)

12. Jiro Dreams of Sushi (dir. David Gelb)

13. The Innkeepers (dir. Ti West)

14. Tyrannosaur (dir. Paddy Considine)

15. Beauty and the Beast (dir. Jean Cocteau)

16. Pool Party (dir. Beth Aala)

17. LennoNYC (dir. Michael Epstein)

18. Winter's Daughter (dir. Johannes Schmid)

19. Senna (dir. Asif Kapadia)

20. The Piano in a Factory (dir. Zhang Meng)

21. X (dir. Jon Hewitt)

22. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan)

23. Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest (dir. Michael Rapaport)

24. Submarine (dir. Richard Ayoade)

25. Falling for Sahara (dir. Khoa Do)

26. Tomboy (dir. Céline Sciamma)

27. The Turin Horse (dir. Bela Tarr)

28. Bi, Don't Be Afraid (dir. Dang Di Pan)

29. Brother Number One (dir. Annie Goldson)

30. Top Floor Left Wing (dir. Angelo Cianci)

31. Kill List (dir. Ben Wheatley)

32. The Eye of the Storm (dir. Fred Schepisi)

33. Sleeping Sickness (dir. Ulrich Köhler)

34. The Ugly Duckling (dir. (Garri Bardin)

35. 13 Assassins (dir. Takeshi Miike)

36. Living on Love Alone (dir. Isabelle Czajka)

37. Beauty (dir. Oliver Hermanus)

38. The Forgiveness of Blood (dir. Joshua Marston)

39. The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (dir. Göran Olsson)

40. Page One: Inside the New York Times (dir. Andrew Rossi)

41. On the Sly (dir. Olivier Ringer)

42. The Future (dir. Miranda July)

43. Tales of the Night (dir. Michel Ocelot)

44. Toomelah (dir. Ivan Sen)

45. Swerve (dir. Craig Lahiff)

46. Littlerock (dir. Mike Ott)

47. Bobby Fischer Against the World (dir. Liz Garbus)

48. Clay (dir. Giorgio Mangiamele)

49. Cave of Forgotten Dreams (dir. Werner Herzog)

50. Attenberg (dir. Athina Rachel Tsangari)

51. Tatsumi (dir. Eric Khoo)

52. The Triangle Wars (dir. Rosie Jones)

53. I Wish I Knew (dir. Zhangke Jia)

54. Familiar Ground (dir. Stéphane Lafleur)

55. A Useful Life (dir. Federico Veiroj)

56. Michael (dir. Markus Schleinzer)

57. The Little Tailor (dir. Louis Garrel)

58. Norwegian Wood (dir. Anh Hung Tran)

59. Wasted Youth (dir. Argyris Papadimitropoulos & Jan Vogel)

60. Innocent Saturday (dir. Aleksandr Mindadze)

- Post Mortem (dir. Pablo Larraín) - walk out



I also saw three short film packages, but they're hard to rate in a list such as this so I left them out. Nevertheless, the "Melbourne Shorts Program 2" was the best, following by "Melbourne Shorts Program 1" and "Experimental Shorts Program 1".



And in the coming weeks we have titles like Beginners, The Woman and many others getting a theatrical release so who knows how many of the 250+ titles that screened I will eventually get to see?!? Tomorrow I'm going to do some fun little awards and citations for best performances and things like that, my own MIFF Oscar's if you will, but to end this entry I'm going to thank all the people I met along the way this year that helped pull me through my flu-riddled MIFF adventure! It was wonderful to meet all of these people, whether I knew them before the festival or if I was only just finally putting a real life face to a Twitter handle or blog name. So many of these people inspired me to keep chugging along and making me want to write better and with more energy and vigour than I probably would have mustered otherwise. You could say they put the "festive" in the Melbourne Interntaional Film Festival!



Thank you to my Beauty and the Beast death march partner Mel Campbell, that mysterious festival lounge lurker Syms Covington, those marvellous Sydneysiders Alice Tynan, Beth Wilson and Simon Anlezark, the team from AtTheCinema.net including Melburnian Julian Buckeridge, Brisbanite Sarah Ward (plus her husband Darren) and New Zealander in the Cosby cap Greg Bennett. Thanks to the esteemed intelligence of Cerise Howard and Richard Watts for walking out of Post Mortem as well, thanks to Tara Judah and Josh Nelson of Plato's Cave for enlivening many a conversation, thanks to Lee Zachariah and Paul Nelson from Hell is For Hyphenates for being fabulous organisers and seat-savers respectively (as well as fantastic conversationalists, obviously) and to the representatives of Sharmill Films, Potential Films and Umbrella Entertainment, Kate McCurdy, Coreen Haddad and JoJo Warrener respectively. And then, of course, there's Myke Bartlett and Rhett Bartlett who share a name and a similar awesomeness.



Thanks to the master of Greater Union cattle-herding Dave Lamb (and his magic hat), that other amazing MIFF volunteer Suze Stein, the two men from Geelong aka Anthony Morris and Guy Davis and to newcomers Tom Clift, Rich Haridy, Ben Buckingham, Kwenton from Twitch, Goran, Paul Ryan, Ian Barr and anybody else who I spoke to, anyone who tapped me on the shoulder and asked "are you Stale Popcorn?" and anyone who commented here on the blog. You made the experience incredible.



However, the biggest thank you of all must go to my fellow blogathon buddies: Luke Buckmaster, Thomas Caldwell, Jess Lomas, Simon Miraudo and Brad Nguyen. Five of us gave each other daily re-assurance that we were not in fact mad, but merely dedicated cinephiles. I never actually got to meet Brad, which was curious since you'd think seeing 60 films would mean crossing paths once or twice? Yesterday, upon waking up from my near 14 hour slumber I actually was hit by a tinge of sadness that I wouldn't be seeing these wonderful people every day. Alas, now as we somehow crawl back to our past lives of work and film screenings for movies like The Green Lantern, I will look back upon the experience fondly, even if certain aspects of it give me a wobbly stomach.



Click on the "more" label below to see some fun post-MIFF awards to wrap this sucker up!







BEST PICTURE

Drive

How to Die in Oregon

Martha Marcy May Marlene

Melancholia

Tiny Furniture





BEST DIRECTOR

James Benning, Ruhr

Lena Dunham, Tiny Furniture

Sean Durkin, Martha Marcy May Marlene

Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive

Lars von Trier, Melancholia



BEST ACTOR

Michael Fassbender, Jane Eyre

Ryan Gosling, Drive

Hamish Linklaker, The Future

Conor McCarron, Neds

Peter Mullan, Tyrannosaur



BEST ACTRESS

Olivia Colman, Tyrannosaur

Lena Dunham, Tiny Furniture

Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia

Rachael Harris, Natural Selection

Zoé Héran, Tomboy

Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene

Sara Paxton, The Innkeepers

Charlotte Gainsbourg, Melancholia

Mia Wasikowska, Jane Eyre

Ursula Werner, Winter's Daughter





TOO. MANY. ACTRESSES. !!!.



BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Albert Brooks, Drive

Jean-Christophe Folly, Sleeping Sickness

John Hawkes, Martha Marcy May Marlene

Gorô Inagaki, 13 Assassins

Fırat Tanış, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia



BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Judi Dench, Jane Eyre

Malonn Lévana, Tomboy

Sarah Paulson, Martha Marcy May Marlene

Jang Shin-Yeong, The Piano in a Factory

Laurie Simmons, Tiny Furniture



BEST SCREENPLAY

Sean Durkin, Martha Marcy May Marlene

Lars von Trier, Melancholia

Robbie Pickering, Natural Selection

Lena Dunham, Tiny Furniture

Paddy Considine, Tyrannosaur





BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Newton Thomas Sigel, Drive

Jody Lee Lipes, Martha Marcy May Marlene

Manuel Alberto Claro, Melancholia

Gökhan Tiryaki, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia

Fred Kelemen, The Turin Horse

Mark Pugh, X



BEST EDITING

Matthew Newman, Drive

Ed Barteski & Deborah Peretz, LennoNYC

Zachary Stuart-Pontier, Martha Marcy May Marlene

James Benning, Ruhr

Chris King & Gregers Sall, Senna



BEST SOUND DESIGN

Drive

The Innkeepers

Senna

The Turin Horse

X





BEST DOCUMENTARY

How to Die in Oregan

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

LennoNYC

Pool Party

Ruhr



{fin}

Australian Circles

The Film Critics Circle of Australia recently announced the nominees for their 2010 awards and I am, unfortunately, only just getting around to posting them. What can I say? I've been busy!

Naturally, David Michôd's Animal Kingdom lead the competition with its ten nominations, but the best result of the nominations was the haul of Claire McCarthy's The Waiting City. One of my favourite Aussie films of last year was sadly left off of the AFI list apart from one meager Best Cinematography nomination. I suspect Bright Star's absence - which fell within the AFI's eligibility window, but not the FCCA's as it was a late 2009 release - paved way for that, but it's nice to see nonetheless. Also surprising was the relatively strong showing of Shirley Barrett's snooze-fest South Solitary. I can be on board with Essie Davis' supporting actress citation, but the rest makes me raise an eyebrow. I wasn't aware of anyone actually liking that movie apart from an errant one or two. Other films to feature prominently were Bran Nue Dae, Tomorrow When the War Began, Beneath Hill 60 and Belinda Chayko's Lou, which came and disappeared in a blink. Nice to see it get some recognition here though.

In regards to those final two categories, isn't it interesting that even people outside of the American awards circle can still find themselves nominating the same films? My personal ballot of best foreign films - English language or not - wouldn't include any of those titles! Hmmm.

Best Film
Animal Kingdom
Beneath Hill 60
Bran Nue Dae
Tomorrow When The War Began
The Waiting City

Best Director
Stuart Beattie, Tomorrow When The War Began
Claire McCarthy, The Waiting City
David Michôd, Animal Kingdom
Rachel Perkins, Bran Nue Dae
Jeremy Hartley Sims, Beneath Hill 60

Best Actor – Leading Role
Brendan Cowell, Beneath Hill 60
Joel Edgerton, The Waiting City
James Frecheville, Animal Kingdom
Ryan Kwanten, Red Hill
Ben Mendelsohn, Animal Kingdom

Best Actress – Leading Role
Lily Bell-Tindley, Lou
Radha Mitchell, The Waiting City
Miranda Otto, South Solitary
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

Best Actor – Supporting Role
Joel Edgerton, Animal Kingdom
Steve Le Marquand, Beneath Hill 60
Guy Pearce, Animal Kingdom
Kodi Smit-McPhee, Matching Jack

Best Actress – Supporting Role
Emily Barclay, Lou
Morgana Davies, The Tree
Essie Davis, South Solitary
Deborah Mailman, Bran Nue Dae

Best Foreign Film – English Language
Inception, Director: Christopher Nolan
The King’s Speech, Director: Tom Hooper
The Social Network, Director: David Fincher
Winter’s Bone, Director: Debra Granik

Best Foreign Language Film
Father Of My Children, Director: Mia Hansen-Løve
A Prophet, Director: Jacques Audiard
The Secret In Their Eyes, Director: Juan Jose Campanella
The White Ribbon, Director: Michael Haneke

For the complete list of nominations, including screenplay, editing, music and cinematography, click on over to Encore.

Burlesque and Some Other Movies are Nominated for Awards etc

The GLAAD Media Awards are hardly on most people's radars and yet here they are throwing up a slate of nominees that seems like an oddly inclusive representation of the year 2010. There is the token breakout indie (The Kids are All Right, the all-but-signed-sealed winner), the token blockbuster (Scott Pilgrim vs The World), the token comedy (Easy A), the token foreign-language hit (The Girl Who Played with Fire) and the token movie people are surprised to discover others actually like (Burlesque).

OUTSTANDING FILM - WIDE RELEASE
Burlesque (Screen Gems)
Easy A (Screen Gems)
The Girl Who Played with Fire (Music Box Films)
The Kids are All Right (Focus Features)
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Universal Pictures)

In case you've been under a rock for the past week, I very much liked Burlesque, and it's heartening to see a corporation as iffy as GLAAD recognise a movie that - *gasp* - we're not to meant like because it reinforces stereotypes of superficiality, camp and bad taste. Sometimes it feels like GLAAD should enforce a subtitle in their organisation title - GLAAD: We're Just Like You, Please Love Us!

While I haven't seen Girl and Easy A, both of which unfortunately slipped me by at cinemas, their inclusions at least don't sound embarrassing. And as much as I found annoying about Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim adaptation, the gay character of "Wallace Wells" was not one of them. The Kids are All Right is an obvious inclusion, but I do find it interesting that they didn't throw a bone to Tyler Perry whose For Colored Girls was surprisingly high (or should that be "down low") on gay content. This list of nominees isn't exactly hurting for white candidates, is it? Of course, they could have been really daring and nominated Jackass 3D! Let's just be thankful they didn't nominate Kick-Ass for that film's offensive weird, creepy fake-gay subplot. Yikes, what was that about, anyway?

OUTSTANDING FILM - LIMITED RELEASE
Howl (Oscilloscope Pictures)
I Love You Phillip Morris (Roadside Attractions)
La Mission (Screen Media Ventures)
Patrik, Age 1.5 (Regent Releasing)
Undertow (Wolfe Releasing)

I have Howl sitting here waiting to be watched, but from almost every source I have spoken to it is not a good movie, which is a damned shame. I Love You Phillip Morris, on the other hand is very good and a hilarious, daring take on the prickly subject matter. GLAAD probably felt they had to nominate it since it's one of the few films that wears its gay badge with pride, thrusts it in your face and then has sex with it in a public toilet as George Michael looks on. La Mission, a father-must-deal-with-sons-homosexuality-in-culture-that-won't-accept-it drama starring Benjamin Bratt, has a lot wrong with its screenplay (namely the character of Lena, played by Erica Alexander), but it has some interesting things to say on gay relationships between races and generations so I'm happy to see its inclusion here. Undertow and Patrik Age 1.5 I have not seen, but I've heard nothing but good things about the former. I think it will be playing at the upcoming Melbourne Queer Film Festival and I anticipate checking it out.


Speaking of MQFF, they will also be screening Gregg Araki's Kaboom, which recently released an amazing new poster (above), Xavier Dolan's Les amours imaginaires, Prima Donna: The Story of Rufus Wainwright's Debut Opera and the aforementioned La Mission.

OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY
8: The Mormon Proposition (Red Flag Releasing)
Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement (Sundance Channel)
Prodigal Sons (First Run Features)
Sylvester, UnSung (TV One)
Out: The Glenn Burke Story (Comcast SportsNet Bay Area)

The only of these that I have seen is Kimberly Reed's Prodigal Sons and it's probably the best film from the entire GLAAD roster. I highly recommend everyone seeking that one out. Even if you're not too interested in the life of a transgender woman, it's got a fascinating old Hollywood hook that should reel you in. It's a doozy!

That's all they have for the film categories, which is a shame. Oh what I'd give for a serious selection of nominees for "Best Performance by a Straight-Playing-Gay" or "Best Gay Film about an All-Boys Choir". I'm sure there are dozens of those released on the gay arthouse/festival circuit every year, right? To read the rest of nominees you can do so at The Hollywood Reporter.

You've done a good thing, AFI and LAFCA

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Jacki Weaver took out Best Lead Actress at this passed weekend's 2010 AFI Awards for her role in Animal Kingdom. Perhaps not as predictable, but certainly right up there amongst a list of very plausible outcomes, Weaver also won the Best Supporting Actress prize from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. I've mentioned before how much the LAFCA are my favourite of the pre-Oscar critics organisations and this year they continued to prove me right. Weaver's win was just one of several great choices. How about Kim Hya-ja for Best Actress in Mother? That's very awesome.

Still, the really important one is the Australian Film Institute for no other real reason than we get an acceptance speech. Weaver wasn't there on the night - she was performing Uncle Vanya in Sydney with Cate Blanchett and Richard Roxburgh, who also won an AFI Saturday night for his performance in Hawke - but, as I wrote in my article for Encore Magazine, Weaver "easily won best speech of the night to go along with her Best Lead Actress statue."

Let's take a look at it, shall we?

Thank you so much, I'm so excited about this that there will be tears before bed time, most likely. I wish I could be there. I love doing Uncle Vanya, but there are so many people in that room tonight that I love and I've known for years and I just wish we could all be together tonight.

When I was young and green I used to think awards didn't mean that much, but now that I'm not young and green, but quite ripe, I love getting prizes. It's wonderful to be reassured that you haven't been barking up the wrong tree for 48 years in your choice of career, and it's nice to have it affirmed that you're still relevant. I've won two AFI Awards before, the last one was in 1976 when David Michôd was four years old. David Michôd, of course, being the writer and director of Animal Kingdom and I just feel very fortunate that he wanted me.

An exceptional cast, every one of you perfect. I will single out Ben Mendelsohn; Ben, you are a consummate actor. Playing with you, interacting with you, watching you and listening to you and just spouting dialogue in your general direction is a joy and an honour and a privilege. And I just briefly want to mention my family ... my husband, Sean Taylor, who is the actor in the family. In fact, I'd like to thank everyone I ever married. I still love all of you and I won't name you all 'cause we haven't got enough time. I'm sorry this speech is so long, but it might be another 35 years before I get another chance. Good night and good luck, thank you so much. I love it.

Isn't that a great speech? Everybody was laughing along with it and I reckon if that video goes viral then Jacki Weaver would be an even better bet for an Oscar nomination. Who can't fall in love with her after watching that! Come on folks, make it happen! You know Cate Blanchett is putting her at the top of her Oscar ballot!

You've done a good thing, National Board of Review

Jacki Weaver done gone and won some fancy award or somethin'! Who'da thunk it?

Hey Randall, before you go on, this boy who's currently being looked after, tell me if you agree with this, this boy who's being looked after... he knows who you are and you know how these things go. They're gonna ask him all sorts of questions about everythin' he's ever seen or done. Everyone he's ever met, the whole shamozzle. And you've done some bad things, Sweetie. Haven't ya?

I want this part to be clear, this is not about you doing me a favour or me blackmailing you or anything like that, it's just a bad situation for everyone. Esra's got the address, it shouldn't be too hard to set up a raid on the house. It'd be reasonable grounds what with all the strange activity, the comings and goings, day and night. One of the neighbours might have seen a gun or something. This is your area of expertise, I'm not trying to tell you how to suck eggs. What do you think?

...

Randall, I feel sick about this. I'm not happy at all, not one little bit. But we do what we have to do, we do what we must. Just because we don't wanna do something doesn't mean it can't be done.

Nicole on Gwyneth

This is Gwyneth Paltrow performing "Country Strong" at the CMAs recently. She's quite obviously very nervous, but she does a fine job.


My favourite bit, however, was this:


You totally know that Nicole Kidman is all "Keep smiling! Bitch better not steal my Oscar nomination!"

You know it!

Four Thoughts About THAT Scream 4 Footage

More footage from Scream 4 has been released, this time at the Scream Awards, which are sort of American people's choice awards show that honours horror/sci-fi and other genre filmmaking. Scream being one of only maybe two truly iconic horror franchises of the last 20 years - the other being Saw, am I wrong in saying this? - any new footage was bound to find a place right at home in such a location.

The awards show doesn't air on TV until Tuesday so we won't get a good quality version of the footage until then, but this mobile phone footage, posted at Scream-Trilogy.net, has been on a repetitive loop since it was put on YouTube. After this footage there is an official teaser trailer to be released in November, which I imagine will look mostly like this footage. As for now, four things immediately stand out to me in the below footage.

**NOW UPDATED WITH BETTER VIDEO!**


1.
Uh-oh! They really are trying to make it look as if Gale Weathers is going to meet her maker, aren't they? After the first official image showed Gale being stalked amongst a stack of hay bales whilst holding her own Ghostface mask. The footage above shows Gale before and after that image. First it shows her removing said mask and then it shows a couple of shots of her being hunted down in the barn that it is believed the Woodsboro Stab-a-thon is being held. That final shot of her being towered over by the killer as she says "Go ahead if you have the guts" is a doozy that definitely says "hi, I'm Gale, and I'm about to die."

I do, however, think it's one massive red herring. Even if Gale does bite it (probably not until "way after ten"), I can't imagine that they'd give it all away half a year before the movie is even released. In my mind, Gale is safe... for now.

2.
That shot of Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell (0:21 in the video) is tantalising beyond belief. They appear to be watching a movie (Paquin is pressing a button on a remote) so it might make one assume that they are watching a Stab film. Could they be the opening victims? It sounds weird to say that I hope they are, but... well, I hope they are. It would certainly be a great bit of casting if they were.

Do you notice that it looks like they're sitting on the very same couch that Wes Craven tweeted covered in blood? Even if they inevitably prove to just be victims in Stab, we will at least see a bit more of them than a Jay and Silent Bob style walk on cameo, like in Scream 3.

3.
Speaking of Stab... much like the trailer for Scream 2 featured clips of Heather Graham as Casey Becker in Stab, I think this footage is also playing tricks on the audience by using footage from whatever number of the Stab series they are up to by now. The shot of the woman (I think she's the one from 90210) at 0:18 springs to mind purely because the Scream franchise has never been known to be so obviously tits-out. Also, the shot at 0:28 of a woman in a yellow suit. I say that purely because we haven't seen any behind the scenes footage taken of anyone wearing that outfit so I can't help but assume it's a small role. Of course, I could be wrong (I most likely am).

4.
Who is that girl in the grey top? She is seen in close proximity to Ghostface at 0:30 and can also be seen hiding behind something at 0:25. Whoever that is certainly has a Cici-Cooper-alone-in-the-sorority-house vibe, don't you reckon? Still, I can't quite figure out who it is.

Having now seen the better quality version (still not HQ) the woman in grey looks to me like Kristen Bell! Could it? If so, how...?

I am clearly a glutton for spoilers and when the HQ footage arrives later in the week I am sure I will have a whole new swag of theories. As for now, I'm just going to keep watching this and salivating like the addicted Scream fan that I am. Bring on the mayhem!!

The Unknown Veteran

I don't do much awards chatter these days here at the blog. There are so many other places that do it and do it far better than I so I stopped for the most part. Every now and then, however, I really get the itch to do my Oscar watching right here instead of in the comment sections of other, better blogs and I've decided to go out on a limb and predict that "Australia's own" (hello Herald Sun "entertainment" pages favourite saying) Jacki Weaver will be nominated for an Academy Award come early next year.

Weaver, as anybody who reads Stale Popcorn knows, is the eye of the cyclone that is David David Michôd's Animal Kingdom. She's the calm centre of the raging storm around her, but her placidness belies the true destructive force that's at work; she's a monster through and through. Normally a performance by a 63-year-old unknown in a foreign film (especially one that has only grossed $900,000) wouldn't cause much of a ripple on the other side of the Pacific, but she's the only contender in the Best Supporting Actress field, thin as it may be, to already have herself a genuine, bona fide fanbase. She has a catchphrase, for cryin' out loud! Still, that won't be enough to get the nomination.

My belief in Weaver's nomination comes from what I hope will be the influence of the critics. Looking at the list of known contenders in the category - ignore the fact that she will be nominated for, and win, the Best Actress category at the AFI Awards come November, the AFIs generally always bump up the most prominent of each gender to the lead categories whether it is justified or not - and it's hard to see a name that sticks out as the sort that critics associations throughout the United States would rally behind.

Most of the other names that people think will be in the Oscar race don't instantly strike me as the type of roles that critics reward. As much of a breeze as Helena Bonham Carter may find it to get an Oscar nomination for The King's Speech does this really strike you as a big enough, note-worthy enough, for the critcs? Will they go for the supportive "mom" or the supporting girlfriend, played by Melissa Leo and Amy Adams respectively, from The Fighter? That movie hardly looks like the sort of project that will endear itself to the critics with its apparent old-fashioned nature. I could see Barbara Hershey getting some success from Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan, but does her domineering mother character rank alongside Weaver's? And if they really want to help that movie they'll award Aronofsky or Natalie Portman, surely.


More likely contenders would be Dianne Wiest for Rabbit Hole and Hailee Steinfeld for True Grit. One is a bona fide legend and the other could prove to be a breakout youngster, but unless Weist steamrolls through the season I can't see critics giving her their prize for a role that's (at least from the outset) looks so unflashy. Maybe that's just me. Steinfeld? Well, it could be a way for the critics to reward True Grit if they decide to really get on the bandwagon of The Social Network in the big categories.

Other than those, who is there? I'd love to see Dale Dickey show up there for Winter's Bone, but her brand of character actress so rarely get noticed and, no offence intended, Dickey is not a "natural beauty" so she can't hang her hat on the "i-went-ugly-but-look-how-sexy-i-really-am" rack. I doubt the critics will go for Tyler Perry's For Colored Girls (as an aside, the number of times I have to correct myself on the spelling of that title is getting ridiculous!) or the women of Nowhere Boy. Miranda Richardson for Made in Dagenham? Maybe if they realise they've really missed her, but the film strikes me as a little bit lightweight for the critics, doesn't it?

We've seen the monster mother routine rewarded plenty of times rewards. Recent examples of this include Amy Ryan for Gone Baby Gone and Mo'Nique for Precious. Will they go to that particular well again? I hope so, especially when someone such as Weaver is so deserving. If you follow the reviews then it's hard to argue that Weaver's is the most critically acclaimed performance of the year so far give or take a Lesley Manville. If nobody gives her an award this season then they will be doing themselves a great disservice.

The only way Weaver will be able to really make a legitimate claim to a Best Supporting Actress nomination will be with the support of critics, but the critics might not reward her because they don't feel she has a legitimate shot of a Best Supporting Actress nomination, and these days these associations are all about being "relevant". Still, nobody was predicting Amy Ryan or Amy Adams (for Junebug) for an Oscar nomination and the support they were shown shoehorned her into the race. I'm hoping - I'm predicting - they will do the same for Jacki Weaver. She deserves it.

And if anybody wants to send me their Jacki Weaver catchphrase t-shirt I'd be more than willing to accept it!

AFI Contenders for 2010

The Australian Film Institute, of which I am a member, released their 19 wide list of eligible films for this awards. It ranges from big budget action blockbusters to tiny, ultra low budget dramas and everything in between including horror, comedy and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Let's take a look.

Accidents Happen
Dir. Andrew Lancaster
Geena Davis stars in this Aussie made, American set dramady about a family besieged by tragedy and accidents. It flopped on release despite some nice marketing and don't see it having much success here.
Possible Nominations: Actress (Geena Davis), Young Actor (Harrison Gilbertson and/or Harry Cook) and maybe a tech nod or two.

Animal Kingdom
Dir. David Michôd
In my year in preview column I called David Michôd's debut crime saga a "300lb gorilla of sorts from early word" and I was right. It's the most discussed Aussie film of the year here at Stale Popcorn (even if it's not my personal favourite) and is about to be released in America to, surely, much critical acclaim. I don't think anybody is under any illusion that Animal Kingdom won't win a tonne of AFI statues. My review.
Possible Nominations: Film, Direction (Michôd), Actor (Ben Mendelsohn), Actress (Jacki Weaver - the AFI have this thing where they upgrade the most prominent of each gender to lead roles. Weaver belongs in Supporting Actress, but she'll win Actress in a cake walk), Supporting Actor (Joel Edgerton and/or Guy Pearce and/or Sullivan Stapleton), Supporting Actress (Laura Wheelwright), Young Actor (James Frencheville), Original Screenplay (Michôd), Editing (Luke Doolan), Cinematography (Adam Arkapaw), Production Design (Jo Ford), Original Music (Antony Partos) and Sound.

Beneath Hill 60
Dir. Jeremy Sims
Australian filmmakers have finally cottoned on that local audiences might actually like to see movies about our history. Hence more war films arriving as of late such as this one, set during WWI when Australian diggers were responsible for a sneak attack underneath enemy forces.
Possible Nominations: Film, Direction (Sims), Actor (Brendan Cowell), Supporting Actor (Gyton Grantley), Young Actor (Harrison Gilbertson), Original Screenplay (David Roach), Editing (Dany Cooper), Cinematography (Toby Oliver), Production Design (Clayton Jauncy), Costume Design (Ian Sparke), Original Score (Cezary Skubiszewski) and Sound.

Blame
Dir. Michael Henry
A thriller starring Sophie Lowe, Kestie Morassi, Simon Stone, Damian de Montemas and Mark Leonard Winter, of whom I am a big fan right now, that has so far only screened at MIFF.
Possible Nominations: Could snag a Supporting Actress nod for Lowe, but other than that I wouldn't place any bets. If anybody saw this at MIFF and thinks it could snag something do pipe up in the comments.

The Boys are Back
Dir. Scott Hicks
I was surprised by this film about a man whose wife dies and who much now pick up his weight in the parenting department. I wasn't expecting to like it, but I did very much. Perhaps my aversion to deeply obvious sentimentality is weakening. It could make it into the top categories of Best Film and Best Direction, but I don't think there will be enough support for it when there's more exciting fare to be had.
Possible Nominations: Film, Direction (Hicks), Actor (Clive Owen), Supporting Actress (Julia Blake), Young Actor (Nicholas McAnulty), Adapted Screenplay (Alan Cubbitt) and Cinematography (Greig Fraser).

Bran Nue Dae
Dir. Rachel Perkins
This indigenous musical is, so far, the highest grossing local hit of the year (and I do mean hit) and I can't see why the the AFI wouldn't reward it accordingly with a swag of nominations. Is it too much to ask for a live performance on the night? My review.
Possible Nominations: Film, Direction (Perkins), Actor (Ernie Dingo), Supporting Actor (Geoffrey Rush), Young Actor (Rocky McKenzie), Adapted Screenplay (Reg Cribb, Rachel Perkins, Jimmy Chi), Editing (Rochelle Oshlack), Cinematography (Andrew Lesnie), Production Design (Felicity Abbott), Costume Design (Margot Wilson) and Sound.

Bright Star
Dir. Jane Campion
I hope the AFI organisation don't bestow a similar fate upon Jane Campion's gorgeous and beautiful Bright Star that almost every other awards body around the globe seems to have. I'm pulling for an Abbie Cornish win so she can stick it to those who don't take too kindly to tall poppies.
Possible Nominations: Film, Direction (Campion), Actress (Abbie Cornish), Actor (Ben Whishaw), Supporting Actor (Paul Shneider), Supporting Actress (Kerry Fox), Young Actor (Edie Martin) Editing (Alexandre de Franceschi), Cinematography (Grieg Fraser), Production Design (Janet Patterson), Costume Design (Janet Patterson) and Original Music (Mark Bradshaw).

Daybreakers
Dir. Michael & Peter Spierig
This locally produced vampire flick did decent business here and overseas, but being a horror flick (and being a horror flick without arthouse gloss) it won't get much attention from the AFI.
Possible Nominations: Production Design (George Liddle), Original Music (Christopher Gordon), Visual Effects and Sound.

The Horseman
Dir. Steven Kastrissios
I was surprised to see that this gripping revenge tale was eligible and am glad it's here. I doubt many of the AFI voters will actually go along to the special screenings of it since, let's face it, they know what they like, but if they do I hope, hope, hope they take notice of Peter Marshall's extraordinary performance. My Review.
Possible Nominations: Er... Actor (Peter Marshall)? Unlikely, but I'll hold out hope.

I Love You Too
Dir. Daina Reed
Another movie that surprised me immensely. Yes, it's a standard romantic comedy with all the usual boxes checked along the way, but I really warmed to this movie. Brendan Cowell does not a romantic lead make, but those surrounding him (especially Peter Dinklage) are more than up to the challenge.
Possible Nominations: Actress (Yvonne Strahovski), Supporting Actor (Peter Dinklage), Original Screenplay (Peter Hellier) and Original Music (David Hirschfelder).

Lou
Dir. Belinda Chayko
Very small movie - what would you expect from Kojo? - about a family that takes in a elder family member with Alzheimer's Disease that didn't do well at the box office - what would you expect when it's up against movies like Animal Kingdom for arthouse dollars. I can't see it showing up anywhere apart from Young Actor, but you never know.
Possible Nominations: Actor (John Hurt), Young Actor (Lilly Bell-Tindley) and Cinematography (Hugh Miller).

The Loved Ones
Dir. Sean Byrne
Behind only Animal Kingdom in the buzz stakes, this violent, horrific twist on the teen romance genre is sick and twisted and, surprisingly, a lot of fun. It's grotesque and basically the final half hour of the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre dragged out to feature length and covered in a hot pink dress, but it's an experience that's for sure! Could surprise in the same way that Wolf Creek did in 2005, although this year has much stronger competition so perhaps the AFI members won't feel necessary to go down this path. If nothing else, I just hope Robin McLeavy can get a Best Actress nomination since she is absolutely phenomenal!
Possible Nominations: Film, Direction (Byrne), Actress (Robin McLeavy), Original Screenplay (Sean Byrne), Editing (Andy Canny), Cinematography (Simon Chapman), Production Design (Robert Webb), Costume Design (Xanthe Heubel) and Sound.

Matching Jack
Dir. Nadia Tass
This feels like it is going to be a chore to sit through, but sit through it I shall. Nadia Tass has provided some great Aussie cinema in her time (Malcolm, The Big Steal, Amy) but this tale of a mother trying to find a doner for her sick son feels laborious.
Possible Nominations: Actor (James Nesbitt), Actress (Jacinda Barrett), Supporting Actor/Young Actor (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Supporting Actor (Richard Roxburgh), Supporting Actress (Yvonne Strahovski), Original Screenplay (Lynn Renew and David Parker) and Original Music (Paul Grabowski).

Mother Fish
Dir. Khao Do
Oh no! Not another Khao Do film!! Save me now. Let me guess, this one deals with yet another part of Do's childhood? And let me guess again, this time he's filmed the entire thing through the slit between two planks of wood on a refugee boat?
Possible Nominations: I don't care.


Subdivision
Dir. Sue Brooks
We seem to have hit a rough patch here, haven't we? Sue Brooks made the fantastic Japanese Story, but this real estate comedy (yes, you read correctly - REAL ESTATE COMEDY) looks dire. It flopped upon initial release last year and is now being re-released, which is very rare, so good on 'em for sticking with it.
Possible Nominations: None. I can't see this going anywhere.

Tomorrow, When the War Began
Dir. Stuart Beattie
Director Stuart Beattie (screenwriter on Australia, Collateral and the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy amongst others) sure is diving into the deep end with his first film, an adaptation of the wildly popular Tomorrow series of books. It's like Red Dawn, but set in Australia. Cue explosions and pretty young local castmembers.
Possible Nominations: Film, Direction (Beattie), Actress (Caitlin Stasey), Adapted Screenplay (Beattie), Editing (Marcus D'Arcy), Cinematography (Ben Nott), Production Design (Robert Webb), Original Music (Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek), Visual Effects and Sound.

The Tree
Dir. Julie Bertucelli
This Australian/French co-production was the closing night film at Cannes - quite prestigious - and has played both Sydney and Melbourne film festivals. It stars Charlotte Gainsbourg in the Aussie countryside whose children think their dead father's spirit has taken up residency is the giant tree on their property. Naturally. I feel this could go the way of last year's Disgrace and get nothing. We shall see.
Possible Nominations: Film, Actress (Charlotte Gainsbourg), Supporting Actor (Marton Csokas), Young Actor (Morgana Davies), Adapted Screenplay (Julie Bertucelli), Cinematography (Nigel Bluck), Production Design (Steven Jones-Evans), Original Music (Gregoire Hetzel) and Sound.

The Tumbler
Dir. Marc Gracie
The one film in the lineup that I had never heard of before. Since it's production date on IMDb is 2008, I doubt it'll be very good. Every year there's one or two of these sort of unknown titles and they're almost always atrocious.
Possible Nominations: None.

The Waiting City
Dir. Claire McCarthy
A couple are forced to re-evaluate their lives when political paper-pushing stalls their adoption. I really liked this movie, neck and neck with Animal Kingdom at the moment for favourite Aussie film of the year (after The Horseman though) and I hope it does well. My review.
Possible Nominations: Film, Direction (McCarthy), Actor (Joel Edgerton), Actress (Radha Mitchell), Original Screenplay (McCarthy), Editing (Veronika Jenet), Cinematography (Denson Baker), Costume Design (Justine Seymour) and Original Music (Michael Yezerski).

And that's that. Curiously, a couple of films that would have easily qualified - South Solitary and The Kings of Mykonos: The Wog Boy 2 - weren't entered. Particularly odd for the former because it probably could have picked up a Costume Design nomination and maybe even a Best Actress nomination if enough AFI members like it (I did not). Considering The Horseman qualified I can only imagine movies such as Triangle and Savages Crossing weren't entered. Meanwhile I'm sure My Tehran For Sale, Playing for Charlie, Girl Clock! and The Marriage of Figaro were kept out by not playing the required cities for eligibility, which is a shame because we've had no way of seeing some of those titles around here.

We'll find out who's nominated in October. I can't wait!

Glenn with a Double N

♪♫ It's Glenn with a Double N
Not Glen with one N
'Cause Glen with one N goes "n" not "nn"
It's NN instead of N
Gle instead of Gly
Simple as be
See Glenn! ♫♪

One of the original songs from Liza Minnelli's Liza with a Z ("a concert for television" as the opening credits inform us) is "Say Liza (Liza with a Z)" in which the grand Liza sings about how often her name is mispronounced, miss-spelled and generally butchered by the masses. I can relate. I have spent my entire life spelling my name for people, not even taking a second to let the person ask "one n or two?" because I just know that the person will automatically assume it is one. It is not one, it is two. I've had teachers of six years continue to spell it incorrectly. I get emails from film people wanting me to spruik their product, but if they spell my name wrong I tend to send it straight into the trash bin. And I actually have had some think my name was "Glyn", which is odd since that's hardly the more common name.

Liza gets it.

Image Source

I finally got around to watching said 1972 special for which Liza Minnelli won an Emmy and director/choreographer Bob Fosse won two. It came the same year that Minnelli won an Academy Award for Cabaret and a Tony Award for her contribution to Broadway. She and Bob Fosse won the trifecta of awards within the same year, which I don't think had happened before and hasn't happened since.

The show is a delight to watch from start to finish. Minnelli has been in the spotlight a lot these past ten years or so with her marriage and subsequent divorce, her appearance on cult television series Arrested Development as well as mainstream hits such as Idol and her concert series' and album releases. Just this month she appeared on screen in Sex and the City 2 and if that appearance left you wondering just what on Earth the big deal is with this woman then sit down and watch the 50 extraordinary minutes of Liza with a Z and you'll see. Actually, watch Cabaret first and then watch Liza with a Z. The term "a force of nature" gets applied to Liza a lot and with that red hot double shot of 1972 brilliance it's hard to not fall back on cliche and call her that yourself.

The show is astounding, it really is. 50 minutes of Broadway excellence. Amazing renditions of standards like "Son of a Preacher Man", "Bye Bye Blackbird" and "My Mammy" sit alongside a trio of Cabaret classics "Wilkommen", "Money", "Maybe This Time" and "Life is a Cabaret" as well as original tracks such as "Say Liza (Liza with a Z)", "Yes" and the glorious musical comedy of "Ring Them Bells". My favourite number was "I Gotcha" originally sung by Joe Tex. It's a dazzling eye-popping performance with killer choreography and a vocal performance by Minnelli that is a step out of the norm.

Incredible stuff. And I haven't even mentioned Bob Fosse's choreography and direction, the cinematography and editing or the fact many things that have been inspired by this collaboration. This is why Liza is still so renowned. If you're not willing to discover why then that's your own fault.