Double Feature: On the Basis of Sex & RBG

by Abe Fried-Tanzer

It’s not uncommon for documentaries and narrative features about the same subject to be released around the same time. In some cases, the impetus for a narrative film comes from the success of a documentary, as with recent Robert Zemeckis' movies the The Walk and Welcome to Marwen, which told the same stories as the hit docs Man on Wire  and Marwencol, respectively. 2010 saw concurrent releases of documentary Casino Jack and the United States of Money and the feature Casino Jack.

This season's double feature is undeniably inspired by the need to champion strong women in the face of divisive times. Who better than civil rights icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second female justice appointed to the Supreme Court, to serve as the figurehead for two very different movies in 2018?

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Podcast: On the Basis of Sex and Destroyer

Nathaniel R and Murtada Elfadl and Chris Feil talk new films

We recorded this one just before Christmas so apologize on the delay at delivering it to you! 

Index (57 minutes)
00:01 Felicity Jones underwhelming RBG in On the Basis of Sex
06:50 Mixed takes on Karyn Kusama's Destroyer with Nicole Kidman
12:52 "Festive" Christmas movies like Vice, Shoplifters, Destroyer, Capernaum, Beale Street... so many depressing films scheduled for the holidays
18:30 Oscar shortlists for Score, Visual Effects, and Makeup
28:00 The Documentary Finals and the short films
35:00 Will Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite) be nominated for Best Director? Will Green Book controversies derail its expected screenplay nomination?
46:22 Leave No Trace and A Quiet Place might be peaking at the right time for big nominations
56:00 The Wrap Up

Further Reading / References
• Oscar Chart: Screenplay Charts
• Oscar Chart: Visual FX & Makeup
• Oscar Chart: Original Score
• Documentary Finalists
• Nathaniel's Destroyer Review
• Shadow & Act's Green Book Article

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? 

Destroyer, On the Basis of Sex, Oscar Discussions

Release date shuffle. The backloading begins with "Boy Erased" and "On the Basis of Sex"

by Nathaniel R

Ah.... statue lust. It invariably shoves everything into the last two months of the year. This just in: Focus has pushed back both of its key contenders this year: Boy Erased, the gay conversion drama, is moving the beginning of its platform release from September 28th until November 2nd and On the Basis of Sex, the biopic on Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is moving its limited launch from November 9th until December 25th. Though pushing back a little seems kind of wise for On the Basis of Sex (put a little distance between yourself and RBG) Christmas seems like a step too far. Or is that just me? 

We expect a few more Oscar contenders to push back into December. Why? Well, despite statistics being in favor of releasing in October or November if you'd like to win e--  The Shape of Water (2017) was actually the first Best Picture winner to begin its release in December since Million Dollar Baby (2004) -- common beliefs are hard to shake and Hollywood has long viewed a December berth as the be-all and end-all of awards strategies. There is a good reason for that though we hate to admit it: despite December being tough for Best Picture wins in the modern era (momentum needed!) it is and basically always has been easier to get nominations if you release in December. Try to imagine, say, The Post, being nominated last year had it come out in September. It doesn't happen. But in December it had so much pre-release hype as an assumed frontrunner that it was able to weather lukewarm precursor attention and snag the nod.  

Wings (1927) the first best picture winner. It still holds up. For fun here's a list of when every Best Picture ever first opened in theaters excluding festival debuts obviously. (Some of the dates are a bit fuzzy, of course, that's especially true for ye olden times when listings are harder to come by and sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between event premieres and the actual beginning of a platform release...

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Doc Corner: The Notorious 'RBG'

By Glenn Dunks

There is little denying that Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a great woman. Sadly, however, she has not been granted a documentary of equal merit. The new documentary RBGrushes through many of her life’s accomplishments without any of the attentive analysis deserving of somebody who has been so instrumental to the shaping of society. Directed by Julie Cohen and Betsy West (producer of The Lavender Scare which you may have seen on the queer festival circuit), RBG is never less than full of effusive praise, but sloppy directorial choices make the film less than totally involving. It's light on the force and scope that one ought to expect.

RBG covers most of what you're expecting: her early life studying law and meeting her future husband, her efforts to fight for equality in the courts, her confirmation to the Supreme Court in 1993 by President Bill Clinton, her discenting vote in Bush v Gore and so on. The film, eager one supposes to present her as somebody of mere blood and bones, also covers her extra-curricular fun: the opera predominantly, but also her efforts to stay fit in her 80s, her late-in-life ascension as an internet meme, and her unlikely friendship with Antonin Scalia...

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Portman's Career is Revving Up

Manuel here to talk about everyone's favorite black swan and share some casting news. Oh, it’s also Bike to Work Week and so here’s Natalie Portman on a bike to get your Monday started.

She’ll probably need it as she’s clearly gearing (see what I did there?) for a busy 2015. Not only is her directorial debut A Tale of Love and Darkness premiering at Cannes (albeit as a special screening selection) but her much-delayed film Jane Got a Gun will finally be released this coming September, but she’s also in Malick’s Knight of Cups (and presumably in Weightless) though it’s unclear when either of those films will be in front of us regular moviegoers.

And if these latest casting news pan out, she’ll be a busy gal soon (those of us who worries the Marvel Cinematic Universe and/or motherhood would keep Natalie away from us for too long had nothing to worry):

First up, she’s apparently signed on to play Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in On the Basis of Sex, which Marielle Heller is in talks to direct. Those of us who haven’t yet seen Diary of a Teenage Girl (read Michael's review from Sundance) are dying to see it and we’re happy Heller and Portman are in talks to work together. Also, it’s about time RBG gets the big-screen treatment, no?

Portman is also in talks to star in Annihilation, a film adaptation of Jeff VanderMeer’s twisty sci-fi novel which centers on four female explorers in an unknown place known as Area X. And, true to her career so far, Portman is probably drawn to this film given who’s behind the camera: Ex-Machina’s Alex Garland (which I've yet to see but I am dying to if only so I can listen to the latest TFE podcast!)

Two promising projects with two promising directorial upstarts alongside many directorial and producing gigs. Are you ready for a Portmanful 2015? Have you read Annihilation and do you have any thoughts on who should join the all-female cast in its film adaptation?