Tuesday
Dec182012
Beasts of the Precursor Wild
Tuesday, December 18, 2012 at 12:00PM 
New Podcast ~ Part 2 of 2
[Part 1 Here]
When we left off we were talking about the Globe Comedy and SAG Ensemble nods specifically and now the conversation continues. We turn to two films which could receive several nominations or none: The Master and Beasts of The Southern Wild and explore other Oscar mysteries too. [With Nathaniel, Nick, Katey, and Joe.]
Topics include:
- The Master and P.T. Anderson's shift from ensemble to two-man dramas
- Beasts of the Southern Wild, the outsider film
- Globe categorizations. Why wasn't The Sessions a comedy?
- Marion Cotillard is so Hollywood
- Screenplays, Original and Adapted
- Cinematography is neither Art Direction nor Visual Effects. Discuss
- Oscar Stats. Will Supporting Actor be the only acting lineup ever that goes in with all previous winners?
- Screener piles. Are AMPAS voters more likely to watch The Paperboy or Compliance?
You can download the podcast on iTunes or listen right here at the bottom of the post. But, as always, the podcast isn't complete without you. Join in the conversation by commenting!
Reader Comments (29)
I wouldn't mind Alan Arkin getting a nomination if it was for Thin Ice. He's very good in that and actually has to act.
Marion Cotillard didn't win at Cannes, because Diane Kruger was on the jury, and she is the ex-wife of the actual Marion's boyfriend.
Of course, I'm kidding.
Man do I love these playlists. Also loving the Beasts support here. That's been my picture of the year all year. Sometimes you just fall in love with a movie and Beasts just really did it for me. Nick I'm with you, I'm still holding out for nominations across the board. Picture, Cinematography, Score, Screenplay, Actress, Supporting Actor, Director...I'll take whatever I can get.
I love the discussion on Marion Cotillard, and I agree, she's awesome, she's a Hollywood star rather than a foreign star in Hollywood at this point, but I have to say, Oscar has not loved her since her win. She got passed up for Nine despite being the only good thing in that movie and she had zero traction for a rather lovely performance in Midnight In Paris last year. I wonder if that's only created goodwill, like she's paid her dues now so it's ok to nominate her again, or if it means that she's just not their flavor since picking up that early win.
I feel like I'm covered in germs after that podcast lol. Hope you're feeling ok now, Nathaniel.
Nathaniel and friends - what about Middle of Nowhere for original screenplay?
Marion really crossed over and also, she seems very ambitious, which many French/Euro stars don't tend to be...obviously that works in her favor in America.
The London Film Critics' Circle has nominated Michael Fassbender for Supporting Actor for Prometheus. So at least now you aren't the only one appreciating him.
http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/2012-london-film-critics-circle-nominations
Don't know if you know but Marion was initially set to star in Asghar Farhadi's next film 'The Past', which stars Tahar Rahim and Berenice Bejo(replacing Cotillard), though she has committed to star the the Dardenne brothers' next film.
Question: Isn't "Bachelorette" an Adapted Screenplay? It's based on Leslye Headland's play, right?
Alex -- oh yeah, you're right!
@Murtada: I would love to see Middle of Nowhere in Screenplay, Actress, Supporting Actress (at least once), Cinematography.... love that movie. I don't see it happening, though I do want everyone to know about that movie. Might well get a vote from me in a 10-wide Best Picture field. Be on the lookout, people!!
I keep trying to comment on TFE this week, here and elsewhere, and they're not showing up. Am I screaming into the wind somehow?
Make sure you're not right clicking to send. It's left click and you have to refresh your browser to see your post instantly after posting it.
Nick: I've run into issues with that too. I'm not positive, but I think it happens when I type my message elsewhere and try to paste it in.
(( I'm definitely submitting as I always do, including with the comment that successfully posted above. It's just lately they don't always show. But I can't even see the one Murtada responded to off-board about Middle of Nowhere, so apparently other people can see it? Dunno. ))
Carry on! Say more about Beasts</I> and Riva and The Sessions and McConaughey and Salmon and other Pleasantries!
TB- I think the main reason she wasn't nominated for Nine is because she was campaigned as a lead. Had she been placed in supporting, I'm pretty certain she would have taken the place of Penelope Cruz, who was nominated for a less acclaimed performance in the same film.
I'm actually loving how uncertain the acting categories are this year. Best Actor is narrowed down to six names and is just a matter of seeing which one gets left out, but in every other acting category, there is one slot that seems wide open to many possibilities. I have a strong feeling that we'll see at least one really surprising nomination this year. I think the Django co-stars will cancel each other out, but I'm not sure the Academy will go for Bardem (they love him, but as a Bond villain?) or McConaughey (just not a movie I think will play well with them, or even be watched by some of them, I'm afraid). Your current prediction of Goodman seems like an interesting pick, but I'd also like to suggest that Bryan Cranston could still sneak in if they really like Argo. In any case, I think it would be awesome if you wrote an article on potential out-of-left-field nominees that are currently standing on the brink of possibility.
I really don't want Marion to become a Hollywood actress. After all, she had to go back home to get a meaty role and we all know what will happen when she turns 40...
I'm loving the general confusion in all categories.
Nick -- i've been having trouble too. not sure what's going on. i apologize to everyone. i really value comments (otherwise it feels like writing into the wind with no one reading) but i get that there are technically difficulties with them for some reason.
Cotillard gives an incredible performance in rust and bone she deserves the nomination and rust and bone is a much better movie than the dreary Amour which is a movie i saw in 2007 when it was called away from her and directed by sarah polley. Anybody who watches Amour knows Riva has no shot at the nomination.
David: You know you don't actually have to hate one French actress's movie just to like the other. They're both challenging numbers from powerful filmmakers anchored by great duos, and neither needs a best actress nomination to justify its worth. A nomination for either (or both!) would be well received.
Mike have you seen Amour if you saw it you would see that Trintignant dominates this film and blows away Riva who has frankly been overpraised.
David -- but most people who have seen it don't feel that Riva has been overpraised so why would Mike feel that way?
Edwin -- but didn't they course correct at the end? I forget.
I think she has been overpraised she doesn`t deserve any awards for this movie everything about her part is in the narrative and not really about the performance i think the two biggest award bodies GG and SAG have gotten it right so far. The only actress from SAG who misses at the oscars is Watts whose movie hasn`t really gotten any attention or notice Wallis takes her place.
David: Have you seen Amour? It's hard to see how you would say that Trintignant blows Riva away. The strength of both performances is how in sync they are, and I'd say both parts are equally challenging, too.
This Riva/Cotillard thing was the first thing I thought of when I read Nathaniel's assessment of the false equivalency between Argo and ZD30. I remember, before anyone had seen either Rust or Amour outside of Cannes, reading comments here or elsewhere describing each performance as typical Oscar bait, due to the injury and illness in the plot. It's so absurd.
If either is Oscar-nominated, I'll be happy, and there are far lesser performances standing in their ways (sorry, Helen Mirren), What's sad is that the two stars of Amour and one-half of Rust and Bone managed to get varying degrees of Oscar buzz, while Matthias Schoenaerts was really never in the conversation. He's really fantastic.
I don't really know if I buy the Nicole Kidman = Mila Kunis of this year theory. First off, Kunis' part was hardly as meaty as Kidman's and Kunis was hardly the main talking point of her film either. Kidman is the only thing people talk about when mentioning The Paperboy. Her COMPLETELY out of nowhere SAG nomination is telling of the passion that performance elicits and I don't think some are giving that enough credit. It's not like Kidman is a darling of SAG either. They snubbed her for Moulin Rouge! and have yet to give her a win.
Kunis was also most known for That 70s Show before Black Swan. Voters just didn't take her seriously enough.
If anything I see her as a type of Dianne Ladd in Wild at Heart nominee. That makes much more sense.
@Zoe: That seems like an amazingly spot-on comparison to me, and it makes me even more excited for the possibility of her being nominated! I still find it hard to trust, but I'd love to see it happen. And the Kidmaniacs will be able to sleep at night knowing that (as Evita once death-rattled) Hollywood must love her after all.
@Nathaniel: Clearly not your fault! Who ever knows with these things. Just wanted to see if I was alone.
I don't have any problem saying that I loved this podcast.
No mention at all of Roger Deakins and "Skyfall"? I really think that this is going to be the Bond film that breaks through with the Academy in a major way. Everyone's too scared to pick it b/c of past slights, but trends like these are ripe to be broken when the right film comes along, and "Skyfall" is that right film. I think it could be in for multiple nominations actually, and that's how I'm predicting things. Go ADELE!
@Zoe -- what Nick said. BEAUTIFUL comparison point. ohgod I want this to happen!
@Samson -- we discussed Skyfall's cinematography in the Skyfall podcast.