TIFF: "Room" is a Total Knockout

Nathaniel popping in from TIFF for a short note from a simply delirious high before an attempt at desperately needed sleep. I've just seen Lenny Abrahamson's Room (adapted for the screen by the novelist herself Emma Donoghue) and it is incredible. I lost track of how many times I teared up and I kept realizing my face was freezing into long-held expressions of wonder or terror. And it's funny at times, too. Both halves of the story, 'inside and outside' you might call them, are entirely compelling. A

At the Premiere
The audience gave the director a long standing ovation tonight and stood right back up minutes later when he brought out the film's stars Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay, who deliver one of the most symbiotic screen duets in memory. He is only eight years old but was seven when they filmed the picture and his work is easily on par with Quvenzhané Wallis's much ballyhooed turn in Beasts of the Southern Wild in terms of completely natural and riveting child performances. Brie Larson, as we already knew from Short Term 12, is a wonder with child actors, and she's just as Oscar-worthy this time in a complicated haunting role.

I spoke with the director at the after party briefly to congratulate him on how cinematic it was (somehow I expected something more stage-bound) and he asked if I'd read the book ("no") and that I should. He did worry a little about people reading the book directly beforehand and having a "double image" in their mind when watching. Donoghue, for her part, is thrilled with the film version. She said something along the lines of 'I don't want to denigrate my own craft, but there are some places only the cinema can go' on stage tonight.

Oscar Chances: Let's just say they'd better. This is not just an actor's film or a literary rooted triumph. The sound, cinematography, editing, design and music are all beautifully handled. As for Jacob Tremblay, if he's Oscar nominated he'll become the youngest male actor ever so honored* 

*this is an estimate. Justin Henry (Kramer vs Kramer, 1979 Best Supporting Actor) was 8 years and 270 days old  and Jackie Cooper (Skippy, 1931 Best Actor) was 9 years and 20 days old when they were nominated, so unless Jacob's birthday (unknown at this writing) was some time ago and he's already close to 9, he'll take the record away from them. It's the lead role but with child actors they nearly always push them supporting: think Tatum O'Neal in Paper Moon who is in 93% of her movie but we'll see.

With Six You Get Link-Roll

Pajiba Max Headroom was in The Knick ?!
Variety Jacob Trembly impresses opposite Brie Larson in Room which may have an awards future
NPR interviews Patricia Clarkson on her screen evolution from The Untouchables (1987) to Learning to Drive (2015)
AV Club Chris Evans happy to renew Marvel Studios contract - remember when he was considering not taking the role?
Awards Daily & Variety both love Steve Jobs and its "enthralling" leading man Michael Fassbender. I only skimmed (since I don't like to read reviews before seeing a picture) but most promising is that both reviews suggest that every actor brings it and that it's not at all a typical biopic in its construction or moods. Yay

And given the fresh spate of reviews and festival excitement, I've updated the BEST ACTOR PREDICTION CHART with Depp, Elba, Hardy, Fassbender, and others rising with strong reception to their work. More charts to follow

Yes No Maybe So: "Room" and "Spotlight"

We have heard your complaints about not featuring the Room trailer just yet. It was not from lack of love for Brie Larson (who improves every single movie she's in) as you'll remember we were among her greatest cheerleaders for a Best Actress bid for Short Term 12. It was merely lack of time. But do you think she'll get closer to the Best Actress lineup this year?

The Room trailer follows this poster along with our Yes No Maybe So commentary. That plus the new Tom McCarthy film Spotlight, and its all-star cast, which is also tipped as 'Oscar bound' or at least testing very very well...

Click to read more ...

Where My Girls At? Brie Larson, Viola Davis, Kiki Dunst & More...

And now our semi-weekly check in with actresses we love. Where / What / Who are they up to?

BRIE
Brie Larson has accepted an offer to star in the psychological horror drama as "Ma", about a woman who's trapped in her father's basement for years with her son. It's based on the novel by Emma Donoghue who also did the screenplay but the novel is narrated by the 5 year old child who's only ever known this one room so that one's going to be tricky to make breathe as a film. This seems a better fit for her dramatic gifts than that dumb Terminator reboot she lost out on. The actress is in demand now post Short Term 12 as well she should be. She's also got The Gambler remake and the comedy Trainwreck coming out. Room is not the only novel adaptation she's attached to. She'll probably co-star in The Good Luck of Right Now based on a forthcoming novel by Silver Linings Playbook author Matthew Quick. From descriptions of the novel I'm guessing she's playing the librarian girlfriend of the bipolar leading man, who believes she was once abducted by aliens. [src]

VIOLA
As we feared but predicted Hollywood wasted the golden years right after The Help (a white actress in that kind of huge hit / breakthrough would have gotten a ton of follow up offers) and kept on casting Viola Davis in thankless supporting bits that didn't really require her skill level. Just as they'd always done. But the actress stays busy. As previously discussed she has a small but potentially showy role in Get On Up, the James Brown biopic.  And she is politically active too. The actress, who often went hungry as a child living in poverty is speaking out as part of the "Hunger Is" initiative. [src] 

You wake up thinking about food, you go to sleep thinking about food. We live in a country where you can have anything in your reach, and it's emotionally shameful to live in a land of plenty with nothing to eat. 

That little girl who grew up in dysfunction and poverty is still with me. That's why I need to help those who don't have a voice."

She's already filmed her next five roles: as previously discussed she'll play the showy small role of James Brown's mom in Get On Up (August, 2014); she's excellent as a college professor in The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby Pts 1 and 2 (release date still TBA but I saw it at TIFF); she's in Michael Mann's thriller Cyber (January, 2015) with Chris Hemsworth as the headliner and supposedly her role is large there as an FBI agent; She'll headline Shonda Rhimes TV series "How To Get Away With Murder" and if it gets picked up past the pilot, don't expect to see her on your movie screens for awhile; The other leading role is Lila & Eve (she plays Lila) but her co-star is... (wait for it)... Jennifer Lopez? Huh. They play moms out to avenge their children who were gunned down in a drive by. The film is directed by Charles Stone III (Mr 3000 and Drumline). There's been little movement on the most exciting Viola projects though -- still no word on a film version of Fences (her Tony winning role despite the obvious marketability (Denzel Washington  is proven to be one of the surest box office draws in the world) and her proposed biopic about politician Barbara Jordan with a screenplay by Tony Kushner is also quiet. Both are the kind of prestige projects that could challenge her and win her an Oscar but I fear neither are going to happen.

SIGOURNEY
[SPOILER ALERT] Lt. Ellen Ripley may return in Prometheus 2 from Ridley Scott. Rumor has it that Sigourney Weaver will return to her signature role. Or a clone version thereof. [/SPOILER]

MICHELLE
There is nothing happening. I continue to be so disappointed that she does not care. She's an empty-nester this year even so for god's sake get back to work.

KIKI
Kirsten Dunst, whose career is back on track with the 1-2-3 punch of great performances in All Good Things, Bachelorette, and Melancholia has upset people with not-exactly progressive gender comments she made to Harpers Bazaar UK (she's on the cover, pictured above). But we're here to talk about her career. 

She'll be back on screens very soon in the Patricia Highsmith adaptation The Two Faces of January (torn between Viggo & Oscar Isaac? Tough life) and not very soon but maybe later this year in Jeff Nichols' Midnight Special a father and son sci-fi-tinged drama (his follow up to Mud so one assumes he'll get bigger budgets now) so it surely won't be focused on her. Still... I feel more offers really ought to be headed her way, right? Her career is back on track but it isn't quite on fire. Some auteur needs to bring some gasoline. Because, as former co-star Ben Foster agreed in our interview in 2011, her talent is major. "She is a beast of an actor, always has been."