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• Anne Thompson talks “Rampart” with writer/director Oren Moverman. [Thompson on Hollywood] • Greg Ellwood ponders who got an Oscar bounce out of Toronto. [Awards Campaign] • Simon Kinnear on the clothing designs of “Drive.” [Clothes on Film]
9/19 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Toronto Oscar bounces, threads in ‘Drive,’ adaptng le Carre
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:54 am · September 19th, 2011
Filed in: Daily
BOX OFFICE: ‘Lion’ roars at the top
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:21 am · September 18th, 2011
Disney found a somewhat soft spot for children’s films in the 2011 schedule to slot “The Lion King 3D,” and they came away with a healthy #1 take this weekend. Assuming you’re okay with that being added to the film’s already impressive overall take from the summer of 1994, it leap-frogs “Finding Nemo” to become [...]
Filed in: Box Office
CINEJABBER: Just enjoy the show
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 3:15 pm · September 17th, 2011
So, it’s been a big week of announcements here at In Contention, and next week, a bigger week of changes. The current plan is to have the new digs off the ground on Tuesday, so we’ll have Monday to say our goodbyes. But it occurred to me I haven’t offered up a Cinejabber space for [...]
Filed in: Cinejabber
Tell us what you thought of ‘Drive’
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:06 am · September 16th, 2011
Lots has been written and spoken about “Drive” around these parts. Guy fell in love in Cannes. I hopped on board at Comic-Con. And now, it’s your turn to weigh in. The film opens nationwide today, and I imagine it’ll be a big priority for many of you. Come on back here when you get [...]
Filed in: Daily
You have to care
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:43 am · September 16th, 2011
Speaking of “Drive,” I just read through Roger Ebert’s review and this pull quote stuck out to me as particularly cogent: The key thing you want to feel, during a chase scene, is involvement in the purpose of the chase. You have to care. Too often we’re simply witnessing technology.
Filed in: Daily
Albert Brooks talks ‘Drive’
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:35 am · September 16th, 2011
The great Albert Brooks took playful Twitter umbrage with my yanking him from the predicted five supporting actor contenders recently. I assure you (and him) that it’s a lack of faith in the Academy, which would enter uber-cool territory by giving him (or anything) a nod for this film, not a lack of faith in [...]
Filed in: Daily
9/16 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Scientists vouch for ‘Contagion,’ Refn breaks down ‘Drive,’ Toronto takeaways
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 7:46 am · September 16th, 2011
• Scientists say “Contagion” is for real. [Associated Press] • James Rocchi talks “The Ides of March” with Best Supporting Actress hopeful Evan Rachel Wood. [MSN Movies] • Nicolas Winding Refn breaks down a scene from “Drive.” [Arts Beat]
Filed in: Daily
9/15 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Flamboyant ‘Drive’ strategy, Oscilloscope nabs ‘Heights,’ eight minutes of ‘Dragon Tattoo’
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 7:45 am · September 15th, 2011
• John Horn talks to FilmDistrict honcho Bob Berney about the flamboyant advertising of Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive.” [24 Frames] • Dana Harris chats with “Albert Nobbs” stars Glenn Close and Janet McTeer. [indieWIRE] • Oscilloscope picks up Andrea Arnold’s “Wuthering Heights” in Toronto. [Variety]
Filed in: Daily
Why there’s no Gosling “dilemma”
Posted by Guy Lodge · 6:40 am · September 13th, 2011
Kris wrote a thorough piece yesterday on the vast number of hard-working actors this year who seem to have two or more dogs in the Oscar hunt — one to which many of you responded with even more names to add to the conversation. In many cases, talk drifted away from serious awards potential and [...]
Filed in: Daily
OFF THE CARPET: Strong year for double-dippers
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:58 am · September 12th, 2011
We find ourselves right in the middle of the big Toronto press junket, er, film festival, where 200-plus films are landing, many of them as world premieres, and the landscape of this year’s Oscar race is really beginning to take shape. As I looked out at the various films in play this year, it suddenly [...]
Filed in: Off the Carpet
‘Drive’ on an interactive tour of Los Angeles
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 4:30 pm · August 31st, 2011
It’s no secret both Guy and I are full on in the tank for Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive.” It’s one of the year’s best films, full of the promise of a fresh young filmmaker just beginning to sample his abilities for us all. One of the big takeaways for me when I saw the film [...]
Filed in: Daily
New ‘Drive’ posters
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:20 am · August 16th, 2011
Or, as a “Top Chef” contestant might title this post, “Drive” Four Ways. The US teaser poster for Nicolas Winding Refn’s Cannes winner unveiled a couple of weeks ago — the one that handily doubles as the cover for Ryan Gosling’s upcoming workout DVD — met a mixed reception. Some liked the kitsch, star-centered romanticism [...]
Filed in: Daily
In praise of the modern movie soundtrack
Posted by Guy Lodge · 7:41 am · August 5th, 2011
I generally try to ignore film opinion pieces I think are fundamentally misguided — à chacun son goût and all that, plus the fact that fighting one mind is generally more trouble than it’s worth — but Ben Walsh’s idle article in The Independent today on the supposed demise of the movie soundtrack does such [...]
Filed in: Daily
‘Drive’ poster
Posted by Guy Lodge · 9:22 am · August 2nd, 2011
So, this little movie called “Drive” hits US theaters in just over six weeks, and you may have gathered by now that I kind of like it. After a spiffy trailer debuted last week, a fresh poster was due, and Film District have obliged with a one-sheet that makes no bones about how they’re pitching [...]
Filed in: Daily
Telluride guessing game
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:34 am · July 28th, 2011
(UPDATED: 8/29) Now that the Toronto and Venice line-ups have been unveiled (though we have a few more Toronto announcements to come), I figured I’d take a few stabs at sussing out the Telluride crop this year. I haven’t been a good journalist and called around or anything. Just spinning my wheels. One studio that [...]
Filed in: Daily
COMIC-CON: It all ends
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 5:34 pm · July 24th, 2011
Well, like I said. Another year, another Con. For a convention I expected to be a bit more laid-back than usual, it sure was anything but. I guess I put that on myself by hustling back to LA for a concert and back down again to wrap things up, but even having covered just a [...]
Filed in: Daily
COMIC-CON: Refn’s ‘Drive’ is a bullet of vision
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:40 am · July 23rd, 2011
I’ve had to sit on my feelings on Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive,” which had a special screening here Thursday night, because I haven’t found a window to write about it. That’s either good or bad, I don’t know, because the film has just continued to grow in my mind, but I don’t want to over-inflate [...]
‘Drive’ red-band trailer
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:50 am · July 22nd, 2011
As you can see from the previous post, Kris is every bit as punch-drunk on Nicolas Winding Refn’s electric throwback thriller “Drive” as I was at Cannes — read my review here — where it deservedly won the Best Director prize. It stands as my favourite narrative feature of the year so far; the rest [...]
Filed in: Daily
