Thursday, October 17, 2013

A Day to 12 Years/Nebraska in New York/Invisible Woman, Fiennes and Oscar/NYFF Critics and Telluride/Fever Has a Date/Who's Who for Oscar

Good Thursday to Everybody...

A DAY TO 12 YEARS



Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave" opens in limited release tomorrow in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Washington D.C., Toronto and Atlanta.  Next week (Oct. 25) it expands to Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, Detroit, Philadelphia, Boston and Baltimore.  Fox Searchlight then says it will open "everywhere" on Nov. 1.

My advice...go see it.  If you didn't catch it at Telluride, go see it.  If you DID catch it at Telluride, go see it again.

As you might expect, as its release date draws closer, the media deluge has increased and I have dutifully included some of that material here if you care to take a look.

First, take a gander at this interview from HitFix/InContention's Kristopher Tapley with McQueen:
http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/steve-mcqueen-on-12-years-a-slave-squeamishness-its-the-truth-and-should-be-respected-as-such

You also might want to watch this DP/30 episode from David Poland at Movie City News:
http://moviecitynews.com/2013/10/dp30-sneak-peek-12-years-a-slave/

McQueen and some of the cast answered questions/talked about the film this week following an L.A. screening at the Director's Guild.  Terese Torgersen reported for The Hollywood Reporter:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/12-years-a-slave-steve-648500

Meanwhile, one of the bigger stories that emerged this week regarding "12 Years" was the reportage that Michael Fassbender won't be working the awards circuit much on his own behalf.  Start with Guy Lodge's story via HitFix/InContention:
http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/roundup-michael-fassbender-too-busy-for-an-oscar-campaign

Also Brent Lang at The Wrap:
http://www.thewrap.com/michael-fassbender-will-campaign-oscar-nomination/

And Pete Hammond at Deadline.com adds his two cents here:
http://www.deadline.com/2013/10/oscars-why-michael-fassbenders-refusal-to-campaign-could-actually-help-him-win/

Meanwhile, if you read the complete story from The Wrap, you'll have noted that the Fassbender/Marion Cotillard collaboration on "MacBeth" is close to starting up.  if.com from Australia reports that the film is ion pre-production (and it's a definite "Coming Attraction" possibility for Telluride):
http://if.com.au/2013/10/14/article/Strong-Australian-accent-for-Macbeth/DDUZQNXDOT.html



NEBRASKA IN NEW YORK



The New York Critics Series has announced that it will bring Alexander Payne's "Nebraska" to the screen in a setting that will include a simulcast from NYC on Nov. 5th.  That's two and a half weeks before it scheduled release date.  The program is designed to provide a nationwide presentation that allows a broad audience to see the film and then hear from the film makers.

Peter Travers of The Rolling Stone will moderate and organizers say that stars Bruce Dern and Will Forte will participate.

The NYCS says they have 50+ theaters nationwide that will screen the film and Q+A.

More information can be found from the NYCS website:
http://www.nyfilmcriticsseries.com/

Also, here is the link to the list of theaters nationwide that are set to air the series:
http://www.nyfilmcriticsseries.com/Locations.html

And, for good measure, the story about "Nebraska's" screening reported by Ray Pride at Movie City News:
http://moviecitynews.com/2013/10/peter-travers-qa-national-simulcast-series-starts-with-nebraska/


INVISIBLE WOMAN, FIENNES AND OSCAR



Gold Derby assesses the Oscar chances of Ralph Fiennes "The Invisible Woman".  For what it's worth, they come out about where I do...if anything, their assessment is a little more optimistic than mine:
http://www.goldderby.com/news/4910/oscar-invisible-woman-ralph-fiennes-entertainment-news-625341978.html

NYFF CRITICS AND TELLURIDE



IndieWire has put up its critic poll following the New York Film Festival's conclusion.  As you might expect, the poll includes a number of Telluride films that doubled at the NYFF.

Telluride films and their results (with rank in parenthesis) included:

Best Picture: "12 Years a Slave" (1), "Nebraska" (3) and "Inside Llewyn Davis (4)

Best Director: Steve McQueen/12 Years (2), Alexander Payne/Nebraska (3), The Coen Brothers/Llewyn Davis (4).  Spike Jonze was the top director for "Her" which finished the Best Picture poll at #2.

Best Lead Performance: Chiwetel Ejiofor/12 Years (1), Adele Exarchopoulos/Blue is the Warmest (2).

Best Supporting Performance: June Squibb/Nebraska (1), Lupita Nyong'o/12 Years (2), Michael Fassbender/12 Years (3), Lea Seydoux/Blue is the Warmest (5)

Best Ensemble: Nebraska (1), Inside Llewyn Davis (2), 12 Years a Slave (3)

Best Scene: 12 Years a Slave (1), Nebraska (2), Inside Llewyn Davis (5)

Biggest Surprise: Tim's Vermeer (4), 12 Years a Slave (5).  The biggest surprise: Spike Jonze's "Her"


The complete story is here:
http://www.indiewire.com/article/her-and-nebraska-join-festival-favorites-12-years-a-slave-and-blue-is-the-warmest-color-atop-indiewires-nyff-critics-poll

The poll results are here:
http://www.indiewire.com/survey/best-films-and-performances-from-nyff-2013/

THE FEVER HAS A DATE

Documentary "Particle Fever" has a release date next spring according to a report from mxdwn.com.
http://movies.mxdwn.com/news/particle-fever-opens-march-2014/

WHO'S WHO AS WE ENTER OSCAR SEASON



IndieWire has put together an impressive post that breakdowns the Oscar films and chances for those films by distributor.  It's kind of interesting:
http://www.indiewire.com/article/for-your-consideration-a-studio-scorecard-for-2013


More on Monday.  I hope everyone has a great weekend!

No comments: