LOTS OF 12 YEARS MATERIAL...
With its screening as apart of The New York Film Festival this week, Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave" saw a burst of media attention. Dutifully, I have compiled some of that here for your perusal. It also allows me to remind all of you that read this space, that I still think that it was the best thing I saw at TFF #40 and I'm feeling confident that it will be the best film I will see this year (Scorsese's "Wolf", Clooney's "Monuments Men", Jonze's "Her", Stiller's "Walter Mitty", Greengrasses' "Capt. Phillips" notwithstanding). Frankly, looking at what's still out there to be seen, the film that looks to me to be the biggest challenge to "12 Years" supremacy might be David O. Russell's "American Hustle". I still have serious reservations about "Saving Mr. Banks".
I've said it before and will say it again... "12 Years a Slave" is the film we'll still be talking about 10-20-50 years from now. That said, here's some of the coverage from this week:
The Playlist provides a look at the NYFF Q+A with McQueen:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/nyff-steve-mcqueen-talks-12-years-a-slave-20131010
IndieWire independently with the same notion here:
http://www.indiewire.com/article/nyff-13-steve-mcqueen-on-12-years-a-slave-the-effects-of-slavery-today-and-working-with-michael-fassbender
And The Hollywood Reporter:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/nyff-12-years-a-slave-646444
Fox Searchlight has provided the link to The Charlie Rose Show interview with McQueen and stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender:
http://www.foxsearchlight.com/post/3837/watch-ejiofor-mcqueen-and-fassbender-on-charlie-rose/
And new stills from the film popped up via IMDb:
http://www.imdb.com/media/index/rg1360960000?ref_=hm_snp_t1
Pete Hammond at Deadline.com links this featurette and post about star Ejiofor:
http://www.deadline.com/2013/10/12-years-a-slave-featurette-chewitel-ejiofor-video/
KECHICHE ON BLUE: SHOW IT
Well, you can't say that Cannes Palme d'Or winner "Blue is the Warmest Color" hasn't had its share of controversy in the five weeks since it payed at Telluride. First, just the general furor about the explicitness of the lesbian love scenes, then the stories that stars Lea Seydoux and Adele Excharopolous felt violated (by the way, I meT Ms. Excharopolous briefly at this year's Patron Brunch...she is as lovely in real life as she appears to be on screen...she was also very kind to this small-time blogger). Then came the story that director Abdellatif Kechiche didn't even want the film released. On top of all that, came the decision from the French not to allow a limited release there to act as a qualifying run for the Foreign Language Oscar. It's been intriguing to say the least.
Now Kechiche is reported by IndieWire as wanting the film released...read it here:
http://www.indiewire.com/article/abdellatif-kechiche-corrects-the-record-on-lesbian-drama-blue-is-the-warmest-color-the-film-should-be-released#
Meanwhile, The Playlist has posted the entire 27 1/2 min. NYFF press conference for the film here:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/nyff-abdel-kechiche-open-to-blue-is-the-warmest-color-sequel-says-his-directors-cut-will-be-40-minutes-longer-20131011
DERN FOR LEAD
Bruce Dern thinks he should be campaigned for Best Actor for "Nebraska". Some Oscar experts have gone on record saying that he should go Supporting as he'd be a virtual lock for a nomination and the probable favorite to win. Further, the experts say, the Best Actor race is crazy competitive...Redford, McConnaughey, Hanks, DiCaprio, Bale, Issac, Ejiofor, Phoenix and more.
You can argue that Will Forte is the lead...you'd be wrong, but you can make the argument. I'm all for Bruce's position. He's a lead...that's where he should be considered. Frankly, I think he'll get the nomination. I doubt he wins, though.
Nevertheless, Daniel Montgomery at Gold Derby takes a look at Dern's position here:
http://www.goldderby.com/news/4902/nebraska-bruce-dern-entertainment-news-273645198.html
FOREIGN FILM OSCAR ANALYSIS AND PREDICTIONS
The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Feinberg took a look this week at the Foreign Language Oscar field. Feinberg sets the favorite as Asghar Farhadi's "The Past" but argues that it's by no means a prohibitive favorite. TFF #40 as well as #39 films are mentioned favorably by Feinberg as possible challengers including "Bethlehem", "The Hunt", "Wajdja" and "Gloria". As mentioned above, "Blue is the Warmest Color" is off the table for this year's Oscar Foreign Language consideration as is "The Lunchbox". Peruse Scott's complete post here:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/foreign-language-oscar-can-past-646371
And here is the latest Feinberg Forecast from Scott Feinberg at The Hollywood Reporter:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/feinberg-forecast-updated-projections-20-648133
LLEWYN AND THE WIND
Writing for IndieWire, Shelley Farmer makes a case that The Coens' "Inside Llewyn Davis" and Hiyao Miyazaki's "The Wind Rises" have more in common than you might think. Take a look:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/criticwire/inside-llewyn-davis-the-wind-rises-review
That's enough for now...More on Thursday...
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