Interview: Sally Hawkins on Cate Blanchett, Woody Allen, and Godzilla

One of the most delightful surprises of the season was the Golden Globe Supporting Actress nomination for Sally Hawkins in Woody Allen's latest hit Blue Jasmine. While Cate Blanchett rages through the movie like a force of nature as Jasmine (née Jeanette) and has won dozens of prizes, Hawkins has the less showy but difficult task of keeping the movie grounded and the mood breezy while navigating her screen sister's stormiest weathers. Blue Jasmine, which comes to DVD and BluRay on January 21st, is yet another reminder, that Hawkins is one of the stealth MVPs of current cinema.

Sally and I had spoken once before (at length) during the Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) press tour and getting reacquainted was unusually good fun; I've rarely laughed so much during an interview. To give you a sense of the easy rapport and how delightful Sally is in person, I've included a little audio segment of my favorite bit of our conversation, when we were talking about her key directors: Woody Allen (2 films together) or Mike Leigh (3 films together) again. 

Nathaniel: So anyway… Blue Jasmine. When I first saw it I thought ‘this is good’ But then it just wouldn't leave my head. So it’s moved up in my estimation.

SALLY HAWKINS: Those films that sit and resonate with you, that you keep thinking about, are really interesting.

Do you experience that when you're reading a script? Or is that something you don’t discover until you’re on set. Like ‘oh, this one is going to be good.’ [more...]

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Interview: Asghar Farhadi on Globe Nominee "The Past"

Amir and Asghar Farhadi @ TIFFAmir here, to share with you my fantastic experience of interviewing the director of The Past, A Separation and About Elly. About a decade ago, when Asghar Farhadi made his first feature film after years of successful theatre and TV work, even the most optimistic fan of Iranian cinema could not imagine his stratospheric rise to International Auteur status in such a short span of time. It is heart-warming for an industry that has only gained international prominence in the past two decades to see one of its sons holding an Oscar statue. Farhadi’s popularity comes at a critical point for Iranian cinema, when festival presence is not as regular as it was in the nineties and several major filmmakers have had their careers stalled for political reasons.*

Farhadi's follow up to the Academy Award-winning classic A Separation, The Past will be representing Iran in the Best Foreign Film Oscar competition and was just nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film. Farhadi's latest is a Paris-set melodrama starring two recognizable stars in The Artist's Berenice Bejo (Cannes Winner Best Actress) and Tahar Rahim as well as Iranian superstar Ali Mosaffa.** In the film, Bejo plays Marie, a French woman married to Ahmad (Mosaffa) who is in custody of their children after a breakup. When Ahmad receives a letter from his wife to return to Paris to finalize the divorce, he is confronted with Samir (Rahim), Marie’s new boyfriend, himself married with a son to a woman in a coma. And that’s just the beginning of the complications in this romantic triangle.

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Podcast: Awards Week Blowout Special

Nathaniel is back from his Iceland trip and going regional with Joe, Nick, and Katey for a one hour discussion of the barrage of film critics prizes from New York, Detroit, Boston and San Diego. And another thing: are LA's "ties" okay with this panel? 

Afterwards we pick on the Screen Actors Guild and their bizarre All is Lost joke (no Redford in actor but a stunt ensemble nomination when there's only one character and Redford did his own stunts?!)  and the team splits on the quality of Rush, recently resurgent thanks to SAG. Then we're on to the  Golden Globes for a discussion of the troublesome Comedy/Drama divide (read Joe's article for context) and we pick the best and worst of their nominees.

Also discussed: Jennifer Lawrence's backlash, Greta Gerwig's surprise, Forest Whitaker's acting, Leonardo DiCaprio's elusiveness, 12 Years a Slave's power, Philomena's luck, Dallas Buyers Club's ensemble, Wolf of Wall Street's editing, and Fruitvale Station's potential.

You can listen here or download the conversation on iTunes. 

Awards Week Blowout

SAG / Globe Part 2...TV Noms

Hey kids. I have been in Iceland for a few days (all will be revealed in time) so I thought I'd pop in quickly for three things. First, to thank Anne, Tim and Glenn for providing you content while I'm away. Second to say "congrats!" to Golden Globe nominee Sally Hawkins who I met just before leaving on my trip (interview forthcoming) and who kinda sorta blew my mind by actually knowing / loving the site. Was it my Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) obsession? Third, and finally, to list the TV nominations for Globe & SAG.

I'll have more to say on the movie nominations (where my heart lies as you know) other than "co-sign! What Glenn said" once I return to the States this weekend. But for now let's talk the TV nominations after the jump since I only have a hot minute between events here in Iceland. 

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Decoding the Golden Globes animation nominees.

Tim here. In hacking through the Golden Globes nominations this morning, Glenn asks, "The Wind Rises good for foreign language, but not animated? I'm going to assume they don't allow cross-over or else that's bit wacky." And indeed, (only animated films in English" is exactly the rule that the HFPA follows, though that doesn’t, to my mind, make it any less wacky.

Also a rule for the Golden Globes: there have to be 12 films submitted for consideration to trigger a five-wide set of nominees; anything less than that tops out at three. Makes the Academy’s own “16 candidates equals five nominees” rule seem measured and thoughtful, doesn’t it? In the seven years that the Globes have given out this category, their picks have only lined up exactly with Oscar twice. With the Academy looking to fill five spots to the Globes’ three, this will be the second time that they don’t even nominate the same number of films, though there’s always the possibility that the Academy will simply add two more films to the Globes list. Which, just to remind you, consists of The Croods, Despicable Me 2, and Frozen.

Despicable Me 2

DIFFERENCES OF OPINION

2007: The Globes nominated Bee Movie and The Simpsons Movie; Oscar went for Surf’s Up and the Globe-ineligible Persepolis.

2009: The Globes nominated Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs; Oscar nominated The Secret of Kells.

2010: The Globes nominated Despicable Me and Tangled. There were only three Oscar nominees.

2011: A virtually unrecognizable pair of lists. The Globes gave the award to The Adventures of Tintin, also nominating Arthur Christmas and Cars 2. The Oscars replaced those with A Cat in Paris, Chico & Rita (both ineligible at the Globes), and Kung Fu Panda 2.

2012: The Globes nominated Hotel Transylvania and Rise of the Guardians. The Oscars nominated ParaNorman and The Pirates! Band of Misfits.

This tells us first that the Oscars are far more likely to break for less mainstream fare (not a sentence you get to say everyday), which is good news for The Wind Rises and Ernest & Celestine. I’m not all sure what to make of the Globes ignoring Monsters University; it's hardly an inspired franchise effort, but that's equally true of Despicable Me 2.

At any rate, Frozen should take this handily, and the Oscar race will still be a face-off between that film and The Wind Rises. Keep your eyes on this space, because we’ll be taking a look at that Japanese import today.