Foreign Oscar Watch: Can "Elle" Slay the Competition?

Verhoeven & Huppert at Cannes this summer

France, as ever, was spoiled with options when it came to selecting their film for Oscar competition this year. Frantz (reviewed) from François Ozon would likely have appealed to Oscar voters but the selection committee went with the controversial Elle (reviewed at TIFF). It's a brave choice but we think a smart one; even if its divisive within initial voting, it will likely be a candidate to benefit under the Executive Committee 'saves' rule. Plus those who love it will love it passionately meaning it could even have a dark horse shot at a win. Not only does it have a high profile auteur and star (Paul Verhoeven and Isabelle Huppert) but it's got sensational reviews, a US release on the table in the thick of Oscar traction season (November 11th), and an outside shot at a Best Actress nomination. France has not won the category since Indochine (1992) despite numerous nominations.

Trivia: Paul Verhoeven has had one previous film nominated in this category for his home country The Netherlands with Turkish Delight (1973). If Elle is nominated it would not be the first time a director has competed for multiple countries: Akira Kurosawa, who competed many times for Japan, won the prize for the Soviet Union with Dersu Uzala (1975); Luis Buñuel who won the Oscar for France with The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) was also nominated twice for Spain, his home country; and Michael Haneke won for Austria with Amour (2012) and also competed for Germany with The White Ribbon (2009) 

More News:
Oscar's other favorite country Italy has selected the Golden Bear winner, Fire at Sea (reviewed at Berlinale), a documentary about the European migrant crisis. To my knowledge only two documentaries have ever been nominated in this category (Waltz With Bashir from Israel and The Missing Picture from Cambodia) but both of those were in the past eight years so perhaps Oscar votings are loosening up about these distinctions. Among countries who have not yet announced their submissions (with a week left) Poland and Argentina are the most formidable, statistically speaking, with Oscar.

Foreign Film Oscar Charts
Predictions - 15 films that could have the best chance at the finals?
Afghanistan to Finland - 22 submissions thus far
George to Morocco - 23 submissions thus far
Nepal to Venezuela - 28 submissions thus far 

The Furniture: Bored at the Border in "Hold Back the Dawn"

"The Furniture" our weekly series on Production Design. Here's Daniel Walber

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the release of Hold Back the Dawn, the film for which Olivia de Havilland received her first Best Actress nomination. Now, I know what you’re thinking. Didn’t we have a whole month of de Havilland back in June, in the lead-up to her 100th birthday? Yes, we did. But I am here to inform you that celebrating this two-time Oscar-winner isn’t an occasional thing. It's an essential part of life.

Besides, the film is great. It’s a smart, cynical melodrama about a Romanian playboy named Georges Iscovescu (Charles Boyer), biding his time in a small Mexican town while he waits to be granted entry into the United States. It’ll be years, thanks to the National Origins Formula. Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder’s script was adapted from a story by Ketti Frings, but also took inspiration from Wilder’s own experiences as a refugee stranded by the quota system.

Fed up, Georges looks for other ways to get across. On the 4th of July he meets Emmy Brown (de Havilland), a thoroughly wholesome schoolteacher. She’s taken her students on a cross-border field trip... 

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Gangster Chic & Patriarchy Toppling? Tell Me About It, Stud.

On this day in history as it relates to the movies...

1877 Edmund Gwenn is born. Wins the Oscar seventy years or so later as Kris Kringle, helping adults to believe in Santa Claus again in Miracle on 34th Street (and yes, that's one of the all time best wins in Supporting Actor. Do you agree?)
1888 T.S. Eliot, one of the 20th century's great poets, is born. Though few movies are made from his work he did lead to Cats on Broadway. He was played by Willem Dafoe in the movie Tom & Viv (1994)
1898 A true musical genius George Gershwin is born in Brooklyn. Movies and TV shows still use his music today.

gangsters and musicals after the jump

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Mr. Robot's Season 2: Leap forward, or sophomore slump?

by Lynn Lee

USA’s Mr. Robot wrapped its second season this past week, just after star Rami Malek landed his first Emmy for best lead actor in a drama.  The timing couldn’t be better: with the show already renewed for a third season, it should help maintain the buzz factor and maybe pick up more curious viewers.

And yet, among existing fans, season 2 has been remarkably divisive...

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The Magnificent...Two

Movie Stars still matter. As long as they're real movie stars and not just "leads". Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks both became famous in the 1980s and they continue to be two of the most reliable leading men thirty-ish years after their first hits. So nothing about the success of The Magnificent Seven and Sully is complicated or surprising. Congrats to those perennials. Here are the weekend box office charts:

TOP TEN WIDE
01 The Magnificent Seven $35 NEW Review
02 Storks $21.8 NEW 
03 Sully $13.8 (cum. $92.3)  Review
04 Bridget Jones's Baby $4.5 (cum. $16.4) Review
05 Snowden $4.1 (cum. $15.1)
06 Blair Witch $3.9 (cum $16.1) Review & Remembering Blair Witch (1999)
07 Don't Breathe $3.8 (cum. $81.1)
08 Suicide Squad $3.1 (cum. $318.1) Review & Worst of Year
09 When the Bough Breaks $2.5 (cum. $26.6)
10 Kubo and the Two Strings $1.1 (cum $45.9) Review

TOP TEN LIMITED
(Excluding Previously Wide)
01 No Manches Frida $740K (cum. $10.3)
02 The Beatles: Eight Days a Week... $397K (cum. $1.4)
03 The Queen of Katwe $305K NEW 
04 The Hollars $273K (cum. $729K)
05 The Dressmaker $180K NEW
06 Don't Think Twice $132K (cum $4) Review 
07 Hunt for the Wilderpeople $78K (cum. $5) Review
08 Cafe Society $57K (cum. $10.9) Review 
09 Greater $55K (cum. $1.8)
10 Indignation $25K (cum $3.3) Review

While the inspirational drama Queen of Katwe didn't exactly sell out its shows this weekend at 52 locations, word of mouth has been so strong on that picture that we can expect it will expand well once that word of mouth has a chance to be heard. The Dressmaker wasn't quite as big a draw in select cities but Kate Winslet and the movie's wackiness (anyone longing for the days of hit Australian comedy imports of the 1990s should run to the theater) should help keep that one afloat for a bit.

What did you see this weekend?