London Film Fest: "Pariah" and "Weekend"

Craig here (of Take Three fame) reporting for Nathaniel from the BFI London Film Festival which opens today. I started my festival with two gay themed dramas from a couple of emerging filmmakers from the US (Dee Rees) and the UK (Andrew Haigh). They've both made invigatoring narrative debuts. 

Dee Rees’ New York coming out drama Pariah shows its mettle from the start: we’re dropped right in the thick of it, headfirst into a lesbian strip club (we hear, “♪ Lick my neck, my back, my pussy and my crack... ♪” on the soundtrack), and introduced to feisty Brooklyn girl and poetry student Alike (Adepero Oduye) thoughtfully yet gingerly sizing up her surroundings.  She’s going through identity issues and is finding it hard to open up to her warring parents about her sexuality. Solace comes through friendship with Laura (Pernell Walker) and the possibility of love with local girl Bina (Aasha Davis).

It’s an affecting if familiar story, tinted with romantic longing and full of the kind of sorrowful spirit that often goes hand in hand with this kind of urban indie debut. But it’s incredibly likeable and there are no needless lulls in the narrative or indulgent first-timer pitfalls. The camera rarely veers away from the main drama at hand. The highs and tribulations of city life come through the attitude of the characters more than via establishing shots to indicate environment or insert shots to give reflective pause. The camerawork’s tightness on the actors – their faces, mannerisms, actions – help ground the characters as the film’s key revelatory component; it’s an actors’ piece. Rees understands this and gets both amicable banter and fraught temper from her cast who are never less than are solidly engaging not least Oduye who is excellent as Alike. It’s wonderfully shot (by Bradford Young) with a vivid, melancholic intimacy that brings out the hard-earned warmth and heart inherent in the lives of all the characters. Rees has a bright career ahead of her. (B+)

Pariah is showing at the LFF on Friday 14th and Saturday 15th October

Tom Cullen and Chris New in "Weekend"

Another gay-themed tale of burgeoning love, Andrew Haigh’s Weekend (after documentary Greek Pete), makes its way to the LFF this, ahem, weekend.

more after the jump...

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the link i live in

Animation Magazine Have you heard that Steve Jobs wanted Aaron Sorkin to write a Pixar movie? It's be more interesting if he wrote a movie about Pixar. How would his sharp sometimes cynical wit mesh with Pixar's self-promoted internal cheer as the happiest workplace on earth?
Towleroad I say a few words about Pedro Almodóvar's latest
IndieWire interviews Elena Anaya on her role in The Skin I Live In. *mild spoiler alert*
New York Times "The Formula of Melodrama" brought on by Almodóvar's gripping The Skin I Live In.
My New Plaid Pants more pics from the set of Steven Soderbergh's flesh fest Magic Mike plus JA's hilarious commentary. 

Gold Derby finds fun elected trivia about Meryl Streep's upcoming nomination for The Iron Lady (what do you mean "if") 
Awards Daily pontificates about Olivia Colman's Oscar chances for Tyrannosaur. I saw the movie much earlier this year and she is brilliant in it. 
Culture Map Austin Kristen O'Brien shares memories of George Harrison, whose back in the cultural ether (not that the Beatles ever leave it) given Martin Scorsese's documentary. Love this bit about Madonna and Shanghai Surprise (which Harrison provided music for) of all things.

On this last visit to Friar Park we met first to view footage from the film Shanghai Surprise. I joined Dad to watch the dailies with Harrison and the principal actors in the film, Madonna and Sean Penn. After the screening, we went back to Friar Park for dinner. However, before dinner was served, we gathered in the TV room so that Madonna could get Harrison’s feedback on her latest as-yet-unreleased video. It was "Live to Tell," and she shyly played it for all of us, looking earnestly to George for his approval. After the video we watched The Muppet Show, and I remember thinking it was funny, but yet perfectly natural, to be sitting here with Madonna laughing over Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog.

CBR has a list of unproduced superhero movie screenplays that might make good comic books. Though I knew that Tim Burton and Michelle Pfeiffer wanted to do a Catwoman movie after Batman Returns... I didn't realize that an actual screenplay was turned in (and rejected). Either that or I've just forgotten to block out the pain. 
Keyframe Nick, Timothy and Kevin (three of my four favorite Chicagoans) are arguing over the Chicago Festival fare in this ongoing conversation including The Kid With a Bike, Miss Bala, My Week With Marilyn, and The Artist, and Melancholia. I'm happy to see Nick appreciated Melancholia as much as I did. Where is my review? Funny you should ask. Why am I procrastinating it so? 

Finally, if you're young musical theater performer type -- I know TFE has readers of that persuasion -- you might want to consider auditioning for The Glee Project Season Two. In the past I've always been violently opposed to reality shows which cast productions of anything. Casting should not be a democracy. It should be left to the experts or the people who have to work with the people that are auditioning. I had NO intention of watching this show but I stumbled on it one day and was surprised at how interesting it was. The audience couldn't vote (yay!) and it became this behind the scenes expose (albeit heavily edited and undoubtedly self-censoring) of how show creators react to talent who would love to work with them, and what does or doesn't factor into their hiring decisions. It reminds you of how true it is that talent will only get you so far (i.e. a foot in the door) but there are so many intangibles in showbiz.

Yes, No, Maybe So: "Albert Nobbs"

It's our tradition here at the Film Experience to manage our expectations for new movies by forcing ourselves into yes, no, maybe so breakdowns of trailers. Since we're obviously a yes on Albert Nobbs  --"Glenn Close is not going to be ignored, Fan"-- for reasons of genesis, Oscar, LGBT loyalty, and its Glennderful nature and since we've talked about the movie enough without yet seeing it, let's do things differently. This Trailer begs for a different sort of compartmentalization. It's almost like a trailer in four acts. Is it purposefully channelling its own internal identity crisis?

They had personal trainers in 19th century? Aaron Johnson is comfortable naked...

It starts out like a frothy period comedy 0:01-0:41 (oh haha!. Remember how much you love Downton Abbey and Gosford Park?!)

Glenn isn't nearly as willing to take her clothes off!

...moves into identity crisis drama 0:42-1:12 (Mr. Albert Nobbs is actually a woman named 5 time Oscar nominee Glenn Close and Mr. Hubert Page is actually a woman named Oscar nominee Janet McTeer!)

Jane Eyre clearly thinks Rochester's a better kisser than Nobbs.

...and then tips over the edge into total chaos 1:13-2:09 like it's an uncomfortable mashup between a dreamy sentimental An American Tail style musical immigrant drama (Sinead O'Connor lullaby!) and Yentl style dramedy of convenient marriages turned totally inconvenient (!) 

... before settling into its rightful place as a For Your Consideration Oscar Ad 2:10-2:30 intended to win Glenn Close that Oscar she deserved back in 1982 (The World According to Garp), 1987 (Fatal Attraction) or 1988 (Dangerous Liaisons) or all three times depending on your point of view.

the full trailer...

How would you describe your desire to see it now?

poll by twiigs.com

How about its Oscar chances in multiple categories? 
I'm currently thinking...  

Yes - Actress (Close), Supporting Actress (McTeer)
Maybe So - a fighting longshot chance at  "Original Song", Costumes, Adapted Screenplay (this would be another way to honor Glenn Close if they're really feeling it since she co-wrote), and Art Direction.
No - Everything else. 

"The Age of Scorsese" Photos

Editorial photoshoots that recreate old movies are always good for both smiles and grimaces. The latest in this long chain of stars playing other stars (a motif we've discussed before) involves the films of Martin Scorsese in Harper's Bazaar "The Age of Scorsese" photographed by Jason Schmidt. 

I was thrilled to see two underappreciated actors (and real life marrieds) Alessandro Nivola & Emily Mortimer in The Aviator parts that brought Leo & Cate Oscar attention. For what it's worth, Mortimer has a sweet small role in Scorsese's Hugo (see previous post) as a flower shop girl to follow her sick small role in Shutter Island.

As you'd rightly expect they're adorable while discussing the shoot in the accompanying videos.

Emily: We were worried about not having chemistry in our shot. It's a still frozen in time from a movie so it's a different thing trying to... and also our faces at those angles don't necessearily look as good as Cate Blanchett and...
Allesandro: Speak for yourself.
Emily: Well, you're much more handsome than Leonardo DiCaprio. Obviously.  

Love.

Meanwhile, can we please declare a moratorium on using Jodie Foster's Taxi Driver underage hooker as a iconic look for child stars? It's like a rite of passage for them but you'd think people would get tired of tarting them up by now! So here's Chloe Moretz as. Keanu Reeves gets the DeNiro role. 

There's a few more over at Harper's Bazaar involving Goodfellas,  Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (Emily Blunt) and Gangs of New York (Christina Hendricks and Jack Huston... Christina is a definite improvement over the original but, then, it's kind of Cameron Diaz's worst performance.) 

Finally, Kate Bosworth attempts to channel La Pfeiffer (the guy playing DDL is uncredited) from The Age of Innocence.

Anyone pretending to be Michelle Pfeiffer is going to be a problem for me but ..Bosworth? Hmmm. To her credit in the video that accompanies the article, Kate echoes Elizabeth Olsen's recent confession calling LaPfeiffer "one of my favorite actresses of all time" so I guess we'll forgive her for treading on hallowed frizzy-haired ground.

Naked Gold Man: The "Breakthrough" Business

This week, let's talk beginnings and breakthroughs.

The annual Hollywood Awards, which announced their awards and nominees on Friday (previously noted), aren't typically considered part of the Oscar race. Unofficially-officially the National Board of Review's early December announcement is still the kick-off though the Gotham Awards (late November) have been rising as an alternative "first stop" in power. Still, the Hollywood Awards are glance at in order to see which publicity teams are working overtime to gather kindling for awards fire. Of particular interest, I think, is the plethora of "breakthrough" awards that they hand out. Breakthrough Awards are nearly always more PR driven than other categories by their very nature regardless of worthiness of whoever is honored. That's not a judgement but a neutral statement.

If breakthrough awards didn't exist, it would be much harder for young talents to be competitive in an awards race. They don't come into any contest with the advantages of pre-sold media interest, critical reputation, or habitual preferencing. The only advantage newbies have each year is nascent; people of all shapes, sizes, and ages (including Oscar voters) like receiving shiny new toys to play with at Christmas. Make of this what you will but this lone advantage is quite potent for actresses and often inconsequential for actors.  

But you made me feel...
Yeah you made me feel shiny and new
Like a virgin 

If you stop to think about it from a publicity perspective, Breakthrough Awards are very much like those old Vanity Fair Hollywood covers. Yes, there were probably teams of editors or creative directors selecting the 9 to 13 cover beauties, but those same beauties were essentially culled from whichever young "up and coming" stars had management teams that were able to bend Conde Nast's ears in the first place.

Vanity Fair's 2010 "Dolls". Five of them are in awards-hopeful films this year: Carey Mulligan (SHAME), Mia Wasikowska (ALBERT NOBBS & JANE EYRE), Emma Stone (THE HELP), Anna Kendrick (50/50) and Evan Rachel Wood (THE IDES OF MARCH)

The Hollywood Awards are but the first organization of many to come to name their favorite shiny new toys of 2011. They offer up not one, not two, not three, not four but FIVE (whew) for us to play with. CONSIDER...

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