Q&A: Hitting the Wall, Moving to France, Dreaming of Sofia

You asked so I'm answering. Not all the weekly questions of course. If I did that I'd be typing for a whole week with only your questions to guide me. I've selected a dozen questions to answer and here they are. 

Tyler: Do you think Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet give good performances in Titanic?
Nathaniel: Hmmm. Define "good". I didn't expect this question to give me pause but it did. I'll try to keep this short. I adore Titanic (1997) and not ironically. I have a certain level of teary devotion to instantly iconic performances like those, to movie-movie performances that maybe aren't nuanced or perfect but serve their movie in a seismic way. I think of Leo's floppy bangs or Kate's fiery curled tresses and I go all mushy inside and have a sudden desire to draw hearts all over notebook folders with a ball point pen. *Ahem*. So, I love Leo & Kate in Titanic, especially as a unit, but I think they both have kind of rough moments in it. (Seriously. That was the best take?). Still, if I'm on the ship and in charge of divvying up the lifeboats, Leo & Kate get one first. Women and children can fend for themselves. " Ladies Movie stars first!"

Kin: Pick a country to live in besides America, but base your reasons only on movies.
Nathaniel: France, bien sûr. Do I even need to explain? It's the birthplace of cinema and the auteur theory, the Eiffel Tower is key to a million famous movie scenes, the French New Wave still fascinates, and the list goes on. Also they have Deneuve so this win be landslide.

Matthew: How do you feel about acclaimed actresses who seemingly play themselves or variations of the same character in every film? I'm thinking of, in particular, Mary-Louise Parker and Zooey Deschanel, among other actresses whose overall versatility leaves something to be desired. Do you think they are deserving of accolades for their overall body of works when compared to say an actress like Kate Winslet or Julianne Moore.
Nathaniel: Many of the most beloved actors of all time did just this, particularly before The Method took over. Cary Grant is genius but always Cary Grant. Mae West wouldn't be Mae West if she wasn't Mae West. And so on. So as long as we like that core person they're playing and they're versatile enough to spin it or smear it or mess with it in small ways a little from role to role, we're good. That said, Mary Louise Parker needs to get the hell off of Weeds.  WHAT IS SHE STILL DOING THAT SHOW FOR? She's calcifying. That is way too long to play the same character when said character is already so close to who you've always played. 

SoSueMe: Which actors have hit a wall creatively and have pretty much shown us all that they can do?
Nathaniel: Ding. Ding. Ding. Other than Mary Louise Parker. I am pretty sure that Johnny Depp has misplaced his entire once-prodigious well of creativity and is on perma-auto-pilot for the past six years.

I worry a little bit about Leonardo DiCaprio, too. I'm willing to be proven wrong in J. Edgar but I absolutely don't believe that directors challenge or control him enough. He's so talented but I think his career has been too easy for him. If you never have to struggle -- and his struggling ended abruptly when he was only 23 --  don't you lose the hunger that leads people to ravenously attack their role as if this is the one, the best chance to prove their gift? His performances feel too samey and not just because of the furrowed brow and The Dead Wives Club. But when he's "on" he's really something (see The Departed, key passages in The Aviator and ⅔ of his pre Titanic output.)

Manuel: IF Winona Ryder was not burned out at the time and did The Godfather III, do you think the movie would have been better with her?

my answers and the Question(s) of the week after the jump

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Yes, No, Maybe So: Contagion

In this edition of Let's Count the Oscar Winners, err, Yes, No, Maybe So, we take a look at Steven Soderbergh's Contagion. Details of this film had been kept quite secret until this trailer was released a few days ago. I'd seen snippets from the film at a distributors event a few months ago but they highlighted star wattage over plot. So now the trailer has arrived and in a move that has some condemning Soderbergh for spoiling his own film, he pulls off a Game of Thrones seconds into the trailer (at the bottom of the post)

YES - That cast!

All of them either have Oscars or have been nominated on multiple occasions but the best part is that they're not just "movie stars", they're all incredible actors. Is this like the "serious version" of Ocean's 11? Soderbergh gets bonus points for that The Talented Mr. Ripley reunion, but where is Cate when you need her?

NO - How can Steven Soderbergh deliver such a superb trailer and threaten us with early retirement? Also, considering he has developed a tradition of delivering one artsy film followed by a fun one, which one is this? His last movie was a documentary, so does it count or should we use The Informant as reference? The director has a tendency to work with genre and this looks like it could be his take on the psychological film or the disaster movie (I smell a fun double bill with Melancholia!)

Soderbergh is also one of the most ambitious directors in contemporary history. Most of the time he gets away with whatever he wants, but given the political references spotted in this trailer this could either be brilliant or end up turning into a bland piece of meh like Blindness.

MAYBE SO - With the revelation that Gwyneth Paltrow's character dies, we have to ask ourselves, how much will this affect the rest of the film? Some people have already called this a monstrous spoiler and are pissed at the director for letting this piece of information come out.

 PSA: Gwyneth Paltrow in The Perils of Gambling!

Killing one of your main stars isn't something completely new but it still sends waves of how-dare-they and where-are-we-going-now terror among audiences who want it the easy way. This revelation tells us that either her character was meaningless and there are bigger shocks to come or that Soderbergh is the kind of director you want to work with so badly that you don't care if he kills you before the movie is even released. 

I for one am beyond excited to see what he has up his sleeve this time. How about you? Are you as impressed by the cast? Should Soderbergh retire yet?

'Ladies' via John Cameron Mitchell, London & Moscow

Somewhere after the second 'Lady Dior' commercial starring Marion Cotillard (a project that's obviously a descendant of those hot "The Hire" commercials wherein A list directors used to create short films around Clive Owen's "Driver" and a BMW) I lost track of the commercials. John Cameron Mitchell even directed her but it premiered during Oscar season when my mind was most definitely elsewhere.

Dior must have liked what John Cameron Mitchell did for them because there's a brand new film (I saw it at IndieWire) wherein Ukranian "sand artist" Kseniya Simonova tells a story conceived by JCM in a live performance. The artist is only using what looks like a light box, a pile of sand and her fingers. That's it. AMAZING. You must also watch it with jaw agape (don't worry, no sand will enter your mouth) because I can't believe it and must share. 

And then there's Mitchell's entry in the Marion Cotillard series "Lady Grey London" if you haven't yet seen that one. That hourglass opening is such cheeky fun.

This sand motif, hmmmm. Does JCM think his time is running out? Nonsense. With three great movies on his resume already (Hedwig, Shortbus, Rabbit Hole) he's batting 1000. 

Podcast: "Midnight in Paris" and Oscar's New Rules

Since I never officially reviewed Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, I thought we'd have to at least cover it in discussion form. So for the newest podcast, Kurt from Your Movie Buddy and first-time guest Mark Blankenship from The Criticial Condition joined me to discuss Woody Allen's biggest hit in some time as well as Oscar's new "up to 10 nominees for Best Picture" ruling, which I recently discussed with Katey for her Kino Katey podcast.

But, you know, we can't ever shut up about Oscar, can we?

Other topics: Best Original Song and first and favorite Woody Allen pictures seen. Two articles that you might want to read that we mention are Fandor's list of movies about movies and Mark's investigation of the 1980s in the Best Original Song category.

As always please join the conversation in the comments.

PODCAST: Midnight in Paris

Two By Bat

JA from MNPP here, taking a moment to cover one of Nat's most favorite topics - the endless conversation of who's playing who in Christopher Nolan's final (or so he says) Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises. Only instead of indulging the bottomless echo-chamber of speculation, here be actual real for-sure announcements! Via EW:

"Warner Bros. has announced the official casting of Oscar winner Marion Cotillard and Joseph-Gordon Levitt in Christopher Nolan’s third Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises. Cotillard will play Miranda Tate, described as “a Wayne Industries board member eager to help a still-grieving Bruce Wayne [played by Christian Bale] resume his father’s philanthropic endeavors for Gotham.” Gordon-Levitt will play John Blake, described as “a Gotham City beat cop assigned to special duty under the command of Commissioner Gordon [played by Gary Oldman].”

So there we have it. Cotillard's not playing Talia al Ghul and Joe's not playing The Riddler or any of the other seventeen thousand characters people have been guessing. Just a suit (albeit a sexy French suit, probably with fishnets underneath) and a cop (albeit... well, knowing Joe, probably the same). This is probably for the best since we've already got Catwoman and Bane bopping about. What do we think?