All posts by Dan Quitério

Movie lover who rarely posts. Check out my Film Log for a list of every movie I've seen in a theatre.
Awards, Coming Soon, Narrative, Oscars

This Fall’s Awards Contenders

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Being originally from New England, fall has always been my favorite season. You’ve got the cool, crisp air and the bright-colored leaves. Then there’s the holidays and my birthday. But chief among it all … the movies! We’re ramping up for awards season, so now’s the time for the studios—big and small—to put out some of the best cinematic fare of the year. I spend all year keeping my eye on awards contenders, but the fall is when the best films are released. It’s a simple principle: the last thing you see is the first thing you remember. And that’s why studios wait until the end of the year to put out their big guns. These are the films that voters are most likely to remember (and consider) for the year’s top awards. Here are just some of the remaining films to be released this year that are primed for awards consideration, as well as some of the categories for which they stand to potentially receive nominations. (Note: This is not an exhaustive list, as several earlier releases are worthy of consideration in various categories.)

If you’re anything like me and you determine which movies to watch based, at least partly, on awards viability, then set your calendars for these upcoming releases (release dates listed below).

Best Picture

       

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Awards, Coming Soon, Drama, Independent Film, Narrative, Poster

New Poster Released for WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

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The new US theatrical poster for Cannes favorite We Need to Talk About Kevin was recently released. It’s fitting, as the film was just named Best Film at the London Film Festival. It has also been bringing much praise to Tilda Swinton for her portrayal of a mother whose son (Ezra Miller) committed a Columbine-style massacre.

More info. about the film after the poster.

Synopsis:

A suspenseful and gripping psychological thriller, Lynne Ramsay’s We Need to Talk About Kevin explores the factious relationship between a mother and her son. Tilda Swinton, in a bracing tour-de-force performance, plays the mother, Eva, as she contends for 15 years with the increasing malevolence of her first-born child, Kevin (Ezra Miller).

Based on the best-selling novel of the same name, We Need to Talk About Kevin explores nature vs. nurture on a whole new level as Eva’s own culpability is measured against Kevin’s innate evilness. Ramsay’s masterful storytelling simultaneously combines a provocative moral ambiguity with a satisfying and compelling narrative, which builds to a chilling, unforgettable climax.

The film opens in New York and LA for awards consideration on December 9. Its commercial release is slated for January 27, 2012.

Actors, Drama, In Theatres, Independent Film, Narrative, New Release

John Hawkes Performs “Marcy’s Song”

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Watch Oscar nominee John Hawkes perform “Marcy’s Song” from Martha Marcy May Marlene. Here’s the official music video of his cover of this Jackson C. Frank song. The film is in limited release now.

Hit & Miss, Poster

Hit & Miss: Movie Posters

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Movie advertising. It’s often the first exposure a person has to an upcoming release, so it’s crucial that a film’s trailer and poster are both enticing and representative of the film, expressing the same look, feel, and tone that a person will experience while watching the movie. At best, a successful movie advertising campaign will put butts in seats. At worst, well … it won’t. It’s a sad day when no one watches a great movie because of bad advertising. I’m pretty sure a puppy gets cancer each time this happens.

Think back at some of the iconic movie posters that have become so ingrained in pop culture that they’ve become art, themselves. E.T. Schindler’s List. American Beauty. Raging Bull. The Silence of the Lambs. All with great movie posters. To date, the tradition of great advertising continues for some films. For others, not so much.

Take a look at these two hits and two misses and share your thoughts in the Comments section.

Hit

It seems fitting (like a bed sheet—see what I did there?) that a movie about a sex addict would have a poster that simply and graphically depicts the place where all the magic happens. There’s a clear story here. The sheets are disheveled and wrinkled. Someone was just in bed. Who? The simple, yet powerful title, Shame, rests comfortably atop the mess that was left behind. What shameful act happened here? On December 2nd, we’ll find out.

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Coming Soon, Narrative, New Release, Preview, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Coming Soon: In Time

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Set in the future, people don’t age past 25. Individuals must work to earn more time, and precious minutes are currency for everyday items. When one man finds himself with ample time on his hands, he must run from the corrupt police to save his life.

As a self-professed film snob, this is not the sort of film I’d normally find myself watching, as it has two strong marks against it: Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried. Still, I admit that the story interests me in the same way that Children of Men (2006) did, though it doesn’t appear that In Time is nearly as good. If it were, it wouldn’t star Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried. But anyway.

The movie is directed by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Andrew Niccol (The Truman Show), whose next film is the highly anticipated The Host, starring Saoirse Ronan and based on the popular book by Twilight author Stephenie Meyer.

Director: Andrew Niccol

Screenwriter: Andrew Niccol

Producers: Marc Abraham, Eric Newman, Andrew Niccol

Cast: Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Olivia Wilde, Johnny Galecki

Genres: Sci-fi, Thriller

Distributor: 20th Century Fox

Official Site: intimemovie.com

Release Date: 10.28.11

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdadZ_KrZVw]
Animation, Foreign Film, Narrative, Oscars, Short Film

Short Film: “Oktapodi”

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This 2008 Oscar-nominated animated French short film was directed by Emud Mokhberi, Thierry Marchand, Julien Bocabeille, François-Xavier Chanioux, Olivier Delabarre, and Quentin Marmier. It’s a quick watch, at just 2:26.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=badHUNl2HXU]

Classic Film, Drama, Narrative, On My DVR

On My DVR: Spartacus (1960)

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One slave leads an uprising in 73 BCE Italy against the Roman Empire. And that’s all we really need to know.

Those who follow this blog know that I put quite a bit of stock in AFI’s “100 Years … 100 Movies” list, which was released in 1997. Those movies (and then some) are all featured on my 170 list. Ten years later, in 2007, AFI decided it was time to revisit its list and reconsider it with a fresh perspective. (View the 10th Anniversary Edition here.) Though Spartacus did not make its way onto the original list, it did find itself placed nicely at #81 on the 2007 list. In fact, several movies off the original list dropped off, making way for several new additions (including Toy Story, Titanic, and The Last Picture Show, among many others). Many of the new additions are on my 170 list, but some are not. I consider those that aren’t as my “170 alternates”: movies that I will watch, but will not include among the others that I intend to watch before my 30th birthday. Spartacus is one of my alternates. (That said, I’ve seen all of my alternates except for Spartacus and Titanic, and I’ve always vowed that Titanic would be the last Best Picture winner that I’d watch.) Titanic aside, by the time of my 30th birthday I would have successfully completed my 170 list and my alternates. Feels good.

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Screenwriter: Dalton Trumbo
Producer: Edward Lewis
Cast: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov, John Gavin, Tony Curtis
Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Epic
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Runtime: 184 min.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMWsHUhmqVM&feature=fvst]
Coming Soon, Drama, Film Festival, Narrative, News, Preview

MY WEEK WITH MARILYN Press Conference at New York Film Festival

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I caught a screening of the Michelle Williams-starring My Week with Marilyn, prior to its world premiere at the New York Film Festival today. This true story stars Williams as Marilyn Monroe during the filming of The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) in England. Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne) is a 23-year-old film enthusiast who pushes his way into working with Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh) on his new film, which he’s directing and starring in opposite Monroe. Throughout filming, Olivier finds it difficult to work with the struggling Marilyn (she’s not the great actress she wants to be), who is newly married to famed playwright Arthur Miller (Dougray Scott). When Arthur leaves Marilyn’s side to be with his children in New York, the delicate and troubled Marilyn begins to confide in young Colin, who grows close to her despite the advice of everyone around.

The film is Simon Curtis’s feature directorial debut and also stars Emma Watson, Julia Ormond, Toby Jones, Dominic Cooper, Derek Jacobi, Zoë Wanamaker, and Judi Dench, with a script by Adrian Hodges, based on Clark’s diaries. It opens in theatres on November 4, undoubtedly with an awards push for Williams’s stunning performance.

Here are a few clips from today’s press conference at New York’s Walter Reade Theater, featuring Curtis, Williams, and Redmayne. (The sound quality is acceptable, but not ideal.)

[CLIPS HAVE BEEN DELETED.]

Filmmakers, Narrative, News, Preview

Charlie Kaufman Is Back with FRANK OR FRANCIS

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Despite Synecdoche, New York (2008), Charlie Kaufman is still my favorite screenwriter. And he’s back! The Oscar-winning writer of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Adaptation. (2002), and Being John Malkovich (1999), will be directing his second film, Frank Or Francis.

Continue reading Charlie Kaufman Is Back with FRANK OR FRANCIS →

Classic Film, Drama, Narrative

3 More to Go!

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I started my “170” odyssey eight years ago. Now, I have just three movies left to watch before my 30th birthday in five weeks. Here they are:

SUNRISE (1927)

Winner of three Academy Awards during the ceremony’s inaugural year, this is the story of a married farmer who falls in love with a city girl who tries to convince him to drown his wife. This is the first film to win the Oscar for Best Cinematography, and it features Janet Gaynor, the very first Best Actress winner. (In the earlier years, actors could be nominated for their body of work, rather than just one film. Gaynor won her award for this, 7th Heaven, and Street Angel.) Sunrise also won the award for Best Picture, Unique and Artistic Production—a category that existed just that one year.

LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN (1948)

Joan Fontaine stars in this film about a pianist who receives a letter from a strange woman who may hold the key to his downfall. If there was any film on my 170 list that would have eluded me from reaching my goal, it would have been this one. This was the only movie I couldn’t find anywhere. I began to allow myself to be okay with watching just 169 of the films on my list before my 30th birthday, as this movie seemed “lost.” However, I didn’t give up. I found someone who was selling this movie and I bought it at a good price. It’s now sitting by my TV, waiting to be watched.

INTOLERANCE (1916)

DW Griffith followed up his highly controversial The Birth of a Nation (1915) (also on my 170 list) with this epic saga. After Birth, this is the second oldest film on my list. Both star Lillian Gish and Mae Marsh, two highly prolific actresses from the era and arguably among the first bonafide movie stars. This film explores prejudice and intolerance throughout multiple periods in world history. I purposely chose to watch this film last because I’ve owned it for several years and have never been able to bring myself to watch it the whole way through. This film has been with me almost as long as my 170 list, so I thought it would be appropriate to finish off my list with it.