Categories
Amusing Awards Season

Nicolas Chartier Accepts His Oscar

Producer Nicolas Chartier should have been on stage at the Kodak Theatre on Sunday night for producing The Hurt Locker, but had to make other arrangements after being banned from the Oscars.

As the race for Best Picture heated up Chartier broke Academy rules by sending out a mass email urging members to vote for his film over a certain sci-fi epic with blue aliens, saying:

“If everyone tells one or two of their friends, we will win and not a $500M film.”

Once AMPAS caught on they flipped out and demanded he send an apology to the entire Academy, which he duly did, before also banning him from the ceremony.

So as his fellow producers Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal and Greg Shapiro walked up to collect their Oscars for Best Picture, what was Chartier doing?

It turns out he was at a viewing party in Malibu which was organised by producers Lynette Howell, Mike Fleiss and WME Global chief Graham Taylor.

They even had a poster of the producer with the word ‘banned’ designed in the colours of the French flag.

When Tom Hanks announced on the Oscar stage that The Hurt Locker had won Best Picture the placeĀ erupted and Chartier was given a replica Oscar, before making an alternative acceptance speech.

Someone was smart enough to film it and post the footage online:

According to Howell, it was longer than he would have been permitted at the Kodak and after that he headed off into Hollywood to all the post Oscar parties to celebrate even further.

Categories
Amusing Awards Season Images

The Oscars in one image

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If there is one image that sums up this year’s Oscar race, it is this hilarious shot of Avatar director James Cameron and The Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow from last night’s ceremony.

They were once married, but contrary to a lot of lazy media coverage in the build up to the awards, remain friends and even consult each other on their respective film projects.

Cameron urged his ex-wife to do The Hurt Locker after reading the script and evenĀ screened Avatar for Bigelow several times in post production to solicit her opinion on the sci-fi blockbuster.

Also, both films were – in their different ways – about the Iraq War as Cameron pointed out in an interview with CBS recently.

Someone has also done a nice Muckety map of the connections between the two directors.


In a way, it all worked out nicely as Avatar scooped the technical awards it deserved, as well as becoming the biggest grossing film of all time.

Meanwhile The Hurt Locker went from a film that almost no major studio wanted to make or release to a Ā Best Picture winner that also made Bigelow the first woman to get a Best Director Oscar.

Categories
Awards Season Thoughts

Why The Hurt Locker will win (even if it loses)

Tonight could see the Iraq war drama The Hurt Locker win the Oscar for Best Picture, but even if it goes to Avatar, the real winner is a film which has gradually found widespread acclaim and recognition.

After it firstĀ premieredĀ at the Venice film festival back in September 2008, the idea that it would have ended up as a heavyweight Oscar contender in 2010 would have seemed highly unlikely.

The climate for Iraq themed films back then was not a good one. Films such as Redacted, In the Valley of Elah and Body of Lies had underperformed at the box office.

An independently-financed drama about a bomb squad in Baghdad during 2004 might have seemed to many observers as one that would struggle to find an audience. The fact that several studios had turned down the script suggested what they thought of its potential.

Despite that it was acquired at the Toronto film festival soon after its Venice premiereĀ by the newly formed mini-studio Summit and by this point was attracting some serious critical acclaim from those who had seen it on the festival circuit.

Summit made the decision to release it the following summer – effectively taking it out of the 2008-09 Oscar race which was dominated by Slumdog Millionaire – and to some this looked like they were effectively dumping the film.

After all, when you actually see it, this isn’t someĀ hand-wringingĀ polemic about US troops in the Middle East, but a visceral drama which takes you inside the tension of what certain troops have to go through.

Seeing last summer I felt strongly that it had genuine mainstream potential and was disappointed that Summit went for anĀ unusual platform release.

After opening in major cities like New York and LA, where it achieved terrific per-screen grosses, the studio went for a curious ‘rolling’ distribution where it went around the country gradually.

Perhaps as a smaller outfit, without the marketing dollars of a major like Warner Bros or Paramount, they felt this was a way of building on the huge critical acclaim and igniting word of mouth.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work (in the short term at least) and a talking point amongst film sites last summer was why something as good as The Hurt Locker could perform so badly whilst something as bad as Transformers 2 could be such a hit.

At this point, it also seemed odd that Summit’s release strategy wasn’t more attuned to delaying Ā it closer for the awards season.

Most of the films contending for the Oscars open in the final three months of the year, before the late December deadline, so that they are fresh in voters minds although there have been exceptions like The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Gladiator (2000).

When I walked in to a studio to interview director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal about The Hurt Locker on its UK release last August, the Oscars seemed far away.

At the time, it seemed like a genuinely important film was going to be painted as an acclaimed box office failure.

But in the autumn something remarkable happened. The Hurt Locker started to pick up a slew of critics and guild awards and when the Academy announced that it was expanding the Best Picture slots to 10 films it seemed a given that it would find a place.

What surprised me was how it slowly began to become the front runner as early contenders like Up in the Air began to fizzle slightly.

By the time Avatar arrived at Christmas and quickly smashed box office records, it quickly established itself as the rival for Best Picture whilst Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) and Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side) became the frontrunners in the acting categories.

The battle tonight between Kathryn Bigelow’s war drama and James Cameron’s sci-fi epic is interesting.

One is gritty, contemporary and earned just over $21 million dollars worldwide; the other is aĀ futuristicĀ fantasy that has grossed over $2.5 billion worldwide to become the most successful film of all time.

Despite their differences, thematically they both speak in different ways to the present conflicts in the world. Intriguingly, Cameron and Bigelow – who were once married – remain friends and even solicited opinions from each other on their respective films.

Personally, I think The Hurt Locker will win Best Picture tonight as it has the momentum of winning so many awards this season (the Golden Globes can be discounted as the votes of 90 celebrity-obsessed journalists based in LA).

Strangely, Summit’s release strategy – criticised by some – will ultimately be vindicated if it wins one of the major categories tonight.

Even if Avatar scoops Best Picture, it is The Hurt Locker which hasĀ benefited most from this awards season.

As a film that finally found widerĀ acknowledgementĀ in the awards season, it is a potent sign of how the Oscars can remind Hollywood and audiences around the world that quality still matters.

Categories
Awards Season News

Kathryn Bigelow wins the DGA Award

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Kathryn Bigelow won the DGA award last night for directing The Hurt Locker and became the first woman ever to scoop the honour.

Bigelow beat out fellow nominees Lee Daniels (Precious), Jason Reitman (Up in the Air), Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds) and James Cameron (Avatar).

Some pundits favoured Cameron after his win at the Golden Globes and Avatar’s extraordinary box office success, which recently passed Titanic to become the highest grossing film of all time.

However, The Hurt Locker has been the most acclaimed film of the awards season, winning most of the critics and guild awards that pave the way to the Oscars next month.

Bigelow’s victory is her 15th award for her work on the film which examines the experiences of a bomb disposal unit in the Iraq War.

She is now the frontrunner for the Best Director Oscar, which the DGA has correctly predicted for 56 of its 62-year history.

We should also mention that her directorial team were:

  • Unit Production Manager: Tony Mark
  • First Assistant Director: David Ticotin
  • First Assistant Director (Canadian Unit): Lee Cleary

* Have a listen to our interview with Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal about The Hurt Locker *

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Categories
blu-ray DVD & Blu-ray

UK DVD & Blu-ray: The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker succeeds brilliantly where many films about the Iraq War have failed by examining the tense details of life in a bomb disposal unit.

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow from a script by journalist Mark Boal (based on his experiences as a reporter embedded with troops), it portrays a group of soldiers who have to disarm IEDs (improvised explosive devices) in the heat of combat.

The story begins with a new sergeant (Jeremy Renner) taking over a highly trained disposal team and the tension that arises with his two subordinates, Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) as they fear his fearless attitude is endangering their lives.

Unlike the half-hearted hand-wringing that has characterised some of the films dealing with the war on terror, this plunges us deep into the anxiety and chaos of warfare.

But the clever twist of The Hurt Locker is that it steers clear of war movie clichƩs: the enemy is often hidden and faceless; sequences are agonisingly teased out; death is lurking everywhere; combat is a powerful drug that affects soldiers in different ways.

Bigelow wisely recruited cinematographer Barry Ackroyd to give the film a captivating, hand-held look which is reminiscent of his work on Paul Greengrass’ United 93.

As a director it is a welcome return to form and combines the energy and thrills of her best work with an attention to detail that pays of handsomely in several memorable sequences.

Since premiĆØring at the Venice film festival back in 2008 it has deservedly reaped rave reviews and will be a leading contender at the upcoming Oscars.

The DVD and Blu-ray Disc come with the following extras:

  • Behind the Scenes (12mins)
  • Interviews with cast and crew (12mins)
  • BD Exclusive: Photo Gallery
  • BD Exclusive: Backstage (13mins)

> Buy The Hurt Locker on DVD or Blu-ray from Amazon
> Listen to my interview with Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal about the film

Categories
blu-ray DVD & Blu-ray

UK DVD & Blu-ray Releases: Tuesday 28th December 2009

DVD & BLU-RAY PICKS

District 9 (Sony): A sci-fi drama about aliens landing in South Africa Ā featuring no stars and an unknown Ā director became one of the surprise hits of the year with a clever mix of action, politics and dazzling SFX. [Click here for the full review]

The Hurt Locker (Lionsgate/Optimum): One of the most acclaimed films of the decade was this tense drama about a bomb disposal unit in Iraq, directed by Kathryn Bigelow from a script by journalist Mark Boal.Ā [Click here for the full review]

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ALSO OUT

1941 (Universal) [Buy on DVD]
A Dangerous Man (Optimum) [Buy on DVD]
Darker Than Black Vols 5 & 6 (Manga) [Buy on DVD]
Family Guy: Something, Something, Something, Darkside (Fox) [Buy on Import DVD]
Kitaro and the Millennium Curse (Manga) [Buy on DVD]
Kitaro Movie (Manga) [Buy on DVD]
Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 4 (Universal Playback)
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 10 (Universal Playback)
Life Season 2 (Universal Playback) [Buy on DVD]
Misfits Series 1 (4DVD) [Buy on DVD]
The Final Destination (EIV) [Buy on DVD / Buy on Blu-ray]
The Gold Diggers (BFI) [Buy on DVD]

> The Best DVD and Blu-ray releases of 2009
> UK cinema releases for 2009

Categories
Cinema

UK Cinema Releases: Friday 28th August 2009

Friday 28 August 2009
Broken Embraces (15) Warner Bros/Pathe Nationwide
Final Destination (15), The (also in 3D) Entertainment Vue West End & Nationwide
Funny People (15) Universal Vue West End & Nationwide
Hurt Locker, The Optimum Releasing C’world Shaftesbury Ave., Vues Finchley Rd., Islington & Nationwide
In The Realms Of The Senses (18) (R/I) bfi Distribution BFI Southbank & Key Cities
Jetsam (D) ICA Cinema ICA Cinema
Mesrine: Public Enemy Number One (15) Momentum Pictures Curzon Soho, Ritzy, Picturehouse Clapham & Key Cities

UK Cinema Releases 28-08-09

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NATIONAL RELEASES

Funny People (Universal): The latest film from director/producer Judd Apatow stars Adam Sandler as a comedian who starts to reassess his life after being informed he has aĀ terminalĀ illness. Co-starring regular Apatow collaborators Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann and Jonah Hill, it also features supporting turns from Eric Bana and Jason Schwartzmann.

It was a film that divided opinion in the US, with some praising its mix of drama and comedy whilst others were less keen, but after a strong opening weekend at the end of July, business dropped off quickly in subsequent weeks.

Universal will be hoping that UK cinemagoers will be pulled in by the star power of Adam Sandler and the promise of more Apatow-styled hilarity. Given the reasonable marketing campaign it is likely to do solid business but faces a good deal of competition from other national releases this Bank Holiday weekend.Ā [Vue West End & Nationwide / Cert 15]

The Hurt Locker (Optimum Releasing): One of the most critically acclaimed films of recent years (an astounding 94 score on Metacritic) is this war drama about a US bomb disposal unitĀ inĀ Baghdad during theĀ Iraq War in 2004.Ā Directed byĀ Kathryn Bigelow, it was written byĀ Mark Boal, based on his experiences as a embedded journalist in Iraq.

It starsĀ Jeremy Renner as the team leader of anĀ Explosive Ordnance Disposal(EOD) unit andĀ Anthony Mackie andĀ Brian Geraghty as the troops assigned to cover him whilst he defuses the bombs that litter the city.Ā Ralph Fiennes,Ā Guy Pearce andĀ David Morse all feature in key supporting roles and the film was shot by cinematographerĀ Barry Ackroyd, who also worked onĀ United 93 and variousĀ Ken Loach films over the years.

AfterĀ premiĆØring at the Venice film festival last September the film wqasĀ acquiredĀ by Summit in the US and after a deliberately slow roll out has grossed a respectable (for an indie) $11m.

Optimum are the UK distributor and are giving this a decent push at the multiplexes as well as the arthouses, hoping to surf the enormous wave of critical acclaim and buzz which is likely to see it nominatedĀ at the Oscars next year. [C’world Shaftesbury Ave., Vues Finchley Rd., Islington & Nationwide / Cert 15]

* Listen to my interview with Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal *

Broken Embraces (Warner Bros/Pathe): The latest film from Spanish director Pedro AlmodĆ³var is aĀ ‘romantic noir’ spanning over 16 years (set in 2008, with flashbacks to 1992 and 1994) that focuses on a film director (Lluis Homar) who’s lost the love of his life (Penelope Cruz) as well as his eyesight to a jealous lover.

Despite getting a relatively mixed reaction when itĀ premiĆØredĀ at Cannes in May, the film does have its admirers and Pathe will be hoping that arthouse audiences will be keen to sample the latest film from one of Europe’s most famous andĀ acclaimedĀ directors. [Nationwide / Cert 15]

The Final Destination (Entertainment): The ‘final’ chapter of the Final Destination franchise starts with a NASCAR race gone horribly wrong and then sees eachĀ teenage character who ‘cheated’ death get gruesomely killed off later.

Although a profitable money spinner for New Line (now under the larger control of Warner Bros.) this franchise now seems a little tired but studio chiefs will be eager to see how it does in 3-D. My guess is that it could do rather well (for this kind of film), so maybe we should prepare ourselves for more of its type in the future.Ā [Vue West End & Nationwide / CertĀ 15]

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IN LIMITED RELEASE

Mesrine: Public Enemy Number One (Momentum Pictures): The second part of the diptych about French criminal Jacques Mesrine (Vincent Cassell) is set in the early 1970s, as the title character gets caught and becomes addicted to his own notoriety. [Curzon Soho, Ritzy, Picturehouse Clapham & Key Cities / Cert 15]

Jetsam (ICA Cinema): A low budget British thriller from first-time British director Simon Welsford about a woman washed up on to beach with no idea how she got there.

In The Realms Of The Senses (bfi Distribution): A re-release from the BFI for this controversial 1976 Franco-Japanese film directed by Nagisa Oshima, which is a fictionalised treatment of an incident in 1930s Japan involving Sada Abe (the woman who cut over her lover’s genitals and carried them around in her handbag). It garnered huge controversy during its release, not only for its subject matter but also for the fact that it contains scenes of unsimulated sexual activity between the lead actors (Tatsuya Fuji and Eiko Matsuda). [BFI Southbank & Key Cities / Cert 18]

>Ā UK cinema releases for August 2009

>Ā DVD & Blu-ray Picks for this week (including In the Loop and Shifty (W/C Monday 24th August)

Categories
Cinema Interviews Podcast

Interview: Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal on The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker poster

The Hurt Locker is a new film which tells the story of a United States Army bomb squad in Baghdad during the Iraq War during 2004.

The script was written by Mark Boal, based on his experiences as a embedded journalist in Iraq and directed by Kathryn Bigelow.

It stars Jeremy Renner as the team leader of an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit and Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty as the troops assigned to cover him whilst he defuses the bombs that litter the city.

Ralph Fiennes, Guy Pearce and David Morse all feature in key supporting roles and the film was shot by cinematographer Barry Ackroyd, who also worked on United 93 and various Ken Loach films over the years.

After premiĆØring at the Venice film festival last September the film has achieved enormous critical acclaim and is a likely contender at the Oscars next year.

I recently spoke to Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal in London about the film and you can listen to the interview here:

[audio:http://filmdetail.receptionmedia.com/Kathryn_Bigelow_and_Mark_Boal_on_The_Hurt_Locker.mp3]

You can download thisĀ interviewĀ as a podcast via iTunes byĀ clicking here

The Hurt Locker is out at UK cinemas from Friday 28th August

> Download this interview as an MP3 by clicking here
> Official UK site for The Hurt Locker
> Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal at the IMDb
> Read more reviews of The Hurt Locker at Metacritic
> Find out more about the Iraq War at Wikipedia

Categories
Cinema

UK Cinema Releases: August 2009

UK Cinema Releases August 2009

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FRIDAY 7th AUGUST 2009

  • Adam (12A) / 20th Century Fox / C’World Haymarket, Curzon Mayfair, Odeon Covent Gdn. & Nationwide
  • Beautiful Losers / Revolver Entertainment / Key Cities
  • G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra (12A) / Paramount / Odeon Leicester Square & Nationwide
  • Home (15) / Soda Pictures / London & Key Cities
  • Meerkats (PG) / Momentum Pictures / Vues Greenwich, Finchley Road, Fulham & Key Cities
  • Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus (15) / Metrodome Apollo Piccadilly Circus
  • Mesrine: Killer Instinct (15) / Momentum Pictures / C’Worlds Fulham Rd, Haymarket, Curzon Soho & Key Cities
  • Orphan (15) / Optimum Releasing / Odeon Covent Gdn., Vue West End & Nationwide
  • The Ugly Truth (15) / Sony Pictures / Vue West End & Nationwide (Previews 5 August)
  • The Yes Men Fix The World (12A) / Dogwoof / Screen-On-The-Green, Gate Notting Hill, Greenwich Picturehouse, Ritzy

WEDNESDAY 12th AUGUST 2009

  • Aliens In The Attic (PG) / 20th Century Fox / Vue West End & Nationwide
  • Bandslam (PG) / E1 Entertainment / Vue West End & Nationwide

FRIDAY 14th AUGUST 2009

  • A Perfect Getaway (15) / Momentum Pictures / C’Wlds Fulham Rd/Haymarket, Vues Finchley Rd/G’wich & N’wide (Pvws 12 Aug)
  • Imagine That (PG) / Paramount / Empire Leicester Square & Nationwide
  • Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (PG) / (R/I) bfi Distribution / BFI Southbank & Key Cities
  • Mid-August Lunch (U) / Artificial Eye Curzons Mayfair, Renoir, Richmond Filmhouse & Key Cities
  • Sin Nombre (15) Revolver Entertainment / Nationwide
  • The Time Traveler’s Wife (12A) Entertainment / Vue West End & Nationwide

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WEDNESDAY 19th AUGUST 2009

  • Inglourious Basterds (18) / Universal / Odeon Leicester Square & Nationwide (Previews 15 & 16 Aug)

FRIDAY 21st AUGUST 2009

  • Afterschool (18) / Network Releasing / Odeon Panton Street & Key Cities
  • Chiko (18) / Vertigo Films / Odeon Panton Street & Key Cities
  • Dance Flick (15) / Paramount / Odeon West End & Nationwide
  • I Love You Beth Cooper (15) / 20th Century Fox / Empire Leicester Square & Nationwide
  • Shorts (PG) / Warner Bros. / Vue Leicester Square & Nationwide (Previews 15/16 Aug)

SUNDAY 23rd AUGUST 2009

  • Scarface (18) (R/I) (D) Universal Cineworld Shaftesbury Ave. & Nationwide

FRIDAY 28th AUGUST 2009

  • Broken Embraces (15) Warner Bros/Pathe Nationwide
  • The Final Destination (also in 3D) / Entertainment / Vue West End & Nationwide
  • Funny People (15) / Universal / Vue West End & Nationwide
  • The Hurt Locker (15) / Optimum Releasing / C’world Shaftesbury Ave., Vues Finchley Rd., Islington & Nationwide
  • In The Realms Of The Senses (18) / (R/I) bfi Distribution / BFI Southbank & Key Cities
  • Jetsam / ICA Cinema ICA Cinema
  • Mesrine: Public Enemy Number One (15) / Momentum Pictures / Curzon Soho, Ritzy, Picturehouse Clapham & Key Cities

Keep a look out every Friday for a breakdown of the weekly releases with more detail on each film.

If you have any questions about this monthā€™s cinema releases or any upcoming titles then justĀ email me or leave a comment below.

>Ā Get local showtimes via Google Movies (just enter your local postcode)
>Ā Find out about films showing near you at MyFilms