Watching the Documentary Finalists: Part 3 - Confrontations

Glenn here looking at each of the 15 Academy’s documentary finalists from which five will be nominated for the Oscar.

We're at the final of three parts looking at the 15 finalists for the Academy's best documentary category. In the first part we examined people, in the second part we looked at world politics, and now confrontations. It's something that can come in a myriad of forms. Confrontations can be between enemies on TV sets around the nation or in the towns and jungles of Indonesia. Whether it’s the confrontation of death, or the confrontation of major religious corporation, these films encompass big themes that have a longstanding tradition in cinema but each go about it some wildly different ways.

All that after the jump

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(Do) We Need To Talk About Channing

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Twitter: Brie Larson or Saoirse Ronan? Vera Farmiga doing her best Tom Hanks.

Hellow it's time for a weekly quite random round up of tweets that amused us. This week's edition features Star Wars (always those wars in the stars), Leonardo DiCaprio and his bear, and a return to Room which just keeps giving us more... both from multiple viewings and Brie & Jacob on the campaign trail.

But first let's begin by noting that this tweet is exactly what I've been saying about Saoirse Ronan and the Oscar race. I've long thought she could actually win the Oscar (though the internet keeps telling me it's Brie Larson locked up). But this... this is FYC gold. (more after the jump) 

"I am from the Bronx, as I'm sure you can tell... Saoirse from the Block, they call me." This is how Oscar campaigns are won. #NYFCC

— kateyrich (@kateyrich) January 5, 2016

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Link Linker Linkiest Linking Links

New York Post has wise words for Netflix on their strange feet dragging for Season 2 of Jessica Jones
Slate Movie Club 2015 closes I'm assuming you read all 18 entries. They were A-MA-ZING. My favorite Movie Club by Slate ever I think. Mark Harris, Dana Stevens, Amy Nicholson, David Ehrlich, and Dan Kois outdid themselves. 
Decider great piece by Joe on the rise of the bad seen as villain in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and other blockbusters 
Decider Joe also counts down the 10 times Globes were more fun than Oscars (10? This list could go to 1000) but there's a massive typo in his post because it says "7." [sic] by the part about Elizabeth Taylor slurring "GLADIAAAAATOR"  

 

THR excerpt of a new interesting book  "Starflacker" from a longtime PR pro Dick Guttman
The Guardian Anthony Hopkins and Sir Ian McKellen remade the Oscar nominated film The Dresser (1983) for the BBC in 2015- how did I miss this news? 
The Wrap Annihilation, a female led sci-fi picture from Alex Garland (Ex Machina) may star Tessa Thompson and Gina Rodriguez
Variety 33 people will be honored at the Academy's annual Scientific and Technical Awards

Towleroad So John Boyega is just a wee bit shy of how fun he seems so far in public. He's already put the kabosh on the gay Star Wars rumor saying that it's all in Oscar Isaac's head  
The Envelope a video chat with Michael B Jordan about Creed. 
Vanity Fair Ryan Coogler would be just the guy to direct the Hamilton movie adaptation. Make it happen world.
Tracking Board looks at series orders from various TV distributors (we don't call them networks anymore, right, since they're are so many ways to get tv?). Netflix has a series called Gypsy. Unfortunately it's not a musical about the stripper. 
Pajiba pays tribute to Brie Larson's social media game  

#tbt to when all I listened to was the Cats the Musical soundtrack while writing my first feature screenplay. Yes, I am wearing this to the golden globes - thanks for asking!

A photo posted by Brie (@brielarson) on Jan 7, 2016 at 2:07pm PST

Top Tens & Best Of Lists
Yes, they're still going on. Check out: John Oursler's which has Phoenix and Tangerine and The Tribe; Kyle Turner takes a more holistic 'best of' approach of with all sorts of personal notes and thus personal obsessions like Noah Baumbach, Spectre, and such; David Poland published his but without commentary of any kind. I don't even know if they're in order

Oscar Confusions
Voting has closed. I love how utterly perplexed almost every professional and amateur pundit is this year. The guilds and precursors have been all over the place. Kris Tapley tracks the events that happened while balloting was going on. This is an absolute joy if you like the unpredictable AND you don't have a particular film you can't live wihtout. Unfortunately I have two masterpieces to worry (which is more than usual!) so I'm having trouble enjoying the will they or won't they nerves.  But I'll start doing final predictions this very weekend so bear with me! If you need to think about this RIGHT NOW though check out Fisti's thoughts (he predicts that both my masterpieces will be shut out. Thanks, man. Argh). Glenn Whipp still thinks that Mad Max Fury Road will lead nominations. I've never been that bullish on it but still crossing my fingers. There's also a Gurus of Gold update. Though honestly I think some of my numbers are from the previous week because I definitely haven't been confident in Redmayne or Mara lately.Hmmm

Video of the Week
It's beautiful that the week Anne Marie began her Judy Garland series another Judy Garland spectacle made the rounds. Obsessed with this Wizard of Oz video am I. It recuts the film to be in alphabetical order by word (post credits though the credits themselves per title card are also quite a trip). I've only watched through to the "home" which took 45 minutes lol... the time flew by. But only two moments I was expecting to be favorites were "because" and "Dorothy." The other best parts aren't at all the parts you'd be expecting. I'm especially fond of "arf" and "back" and "dead" and "doing" and "frightened" and "ha". It really is mesmerizing how the video just naturally gives you these weirdly gorgeous breathing moments between its hyper edited assaults as with "Boo!" and "bye" or even "hhh" -- Judy Garland is a heavy breather, don'cha know!  Or how words that are only used once feel weirdly crystalline in this new context like "billowing" and "delicately" or how some super fast strings of words appear to be in conversation with each other like "heroes" "heroine" "herself" 

Of Oz the Wizard from Matt Bucy on Vimeo.

I'll stop talking now and leave you with a song, in this format...

a a And are blue come do dream dreams heard high.
I in land lullaby of Once
Over over rainbow rainbow Really skies
Somewhere Somewhere that that the the the
there's true up way you 

2015 Film Year Interview Index

There will be another handful (or two) of interviews coming as we march toward Hollywood's High Holy Night on February 28th. But with Oscar nomination voting closing today and so many interviews these past few weeks this seems as good a time as any to ask you to "consider" our official index of interviews from the film year and to take a less daily approach to the remaining one-on-ones.

Actors
Laia Costa (Victoria)
Chris Eigeman (Metropolitan's 25th anniversary)
Nina Hoss (Phoenix)
Jeremy Irvine (Stonewall)
James Ransone (Tangerine & Sinister 2) 
Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)
Géza Röhrig (Son of Saul) 
Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina / The Danish Girl)

...and super brief chats with Sir Ian McKellen (Mr Holmes), Jane Fonda & Paul Dano (Youth), Michael Keaton (Spotlight), Pilou Asbaek (A War), and Carey Mulligan (Suffragette)

Creatives
Judy Becker (Production Design, Carol)
Carter Burwell (Composer, Carol, Anomalisa, Hail, Caesar!)
Odile Dicks-Mireaux (Costumes, Brooklyn)
Jack Fisk (Production Design, The Revenant)
Affonso Gonçalves (Editing, Carol)
Roger Guyett & Pat Tubach (Visual FX, The Force Awakens)
Ed Lachman (Cinematography, Carol)
David Lang (Original Song, Youth)
Emmanuel Lubezki (Cinematography, The Revenant)
Nathan Nugent (Editing, Room)
Daniel Pemberton (Original Score, Steve Jobs)
Sandy Powell (Costume Design, Carol)
Adam Stockhausen (Production Design, Bridge of Spies)
Ethan Tobman (Production Design, Room)
Kasia Walicka-Maimone (Costume Design, Bridge of Spies)
Jacqueline West (Costume Design, The Revenant) 

Writers & Directors
Gillian Armstrong (Women He's Undressed)
John Boorman (Queen & Country)
Lucinda Coxon (The Danish Girl) 
Deniz Gamze Ergüven (Mustang - France's Oscar nominee)
Ciro Guerra (Embrace of the Serpent - Colombia's Oscar nominee)
Klaus Härö (The Fencer - Finland's Oscar finalist)
Tobias Linhdolm (A War - Denmark's Oscar Nominee)
Kornél Mundruczó (White God)
Phyllis Nagy (Carol)
Joshua Oppenheimer (The Look of Silence - Doc Nominee)
Lázló Nemes (Son of Saul - Hungary's Oscar nominee)
Giulio Ricciarelli (Labyrinth of Lies - Germany's Oscar finalist) 
Josh Singer (Spotlight -Screenplay)
Frédéric Tcheng (Dior & I) 
Wim Wenders (Everything Will Be Fine) 

 ...and lots more Foreign Film Oscar Submission Interviews

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2014's Index - Anna Kendrick, Oscar Isaac, Hans Zimmer, etc.
2013's Index - Matthew McConaughey, Sarah Paulson, Sally Hawkins, etc.
2012's Index - Nicole Kidman, Eddie Redmayne, Kerry Washington, etc.
2011's Index  -Jessica Chastain, Charlize Theron, Corey Stoll, etc.
2010's Index - Julianne Moore, Kirsten Dunst, Juliette Lewis, etc.