Variety have posted the first trailer for the Weinstein film, Big Eyes. Based on the true story of Margaret Keane (Amy Adams) and her husband, Walter (Christophe Waltz), the film tells the story of the artist who painted portraits of young children with big eyes.
Big Eyes is directed by Tim Burton and will be released on Christmas Day. Adams is tipped to earn a Best Actress nomination for the role.
Technical nominations ought to be easy to get – Tim Burton’s films almost always show up there. With TWC behind this, I’m expecting it to overperform, even with Burton not being the Academy’s cup of tea.
Yeah, having watched the trailer a second time {which, I know, is not always a reliable perception of the movie} I can’t help but feel this won’t fair too well. And I want to like this. I want to love this. And I am not saying it won’t be good. Or great. The platform for Amy Adams is clear to see, but is this going to grip the voters enough with all the heavyweights in contention this year? Would this movie do well on any given year? I hope I am wrong, but I cannot see much further than a Best Actress nod for Adams. And that is not guaranteed…
Whoa! This looks like another wonderful acting class from Amy Adams, and also I’m glad that Tim Burton directed this, instead of another mess with Johnny Depp. Definitely looking foward to see this!
This. Looks. Boring
I smell OOOOOOSSSCCAAAAARRRR!
This looks pretty dreadful. Getting a schmaltzy Saving Mr. Banks vibe from this.
On a slightly unrelated note, I finally saw Maps to the Stars tonight and really don’t understand how anyone could’ve thought that it might get any type of recognition from the Academy, let alone a win for Moore. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it and thought she was phenomenal in it. But it is way too weird, dark and cynical for Oscar.
Such a ruckus one little trailer can make…
This looks soft and one note ( she’s the painter).
Wow, Chris Price, you really got me excited for Big Eyes now! Exactly my kind of film and I’ve always been a sucker for Burton’s work! I was starting to lose interest in this year’s oscar campaign since the huge disappointment that was imho. The Grand Budapest Hotel, but I guess with Big Eyes and Mr. Turner, I already have two potential contenders to champion, and I haven’t seen the new Woody Allen either, plus there’s also Exodus and Interstellar coming up…
Well said, Ryan. Todd Haynes hung out with Nic Ray and Douglas Sirk during that important film’s inception. We can be sure.
If you live near a robust library perhaps you’ll find this essay fascinating; as you read, you quickly realize that FAR FROM HEAVEN’s design is sorely missing and now feels obligatory in the grand perspective of the “genre”, a three-legged stool of sorts, but hey the thing is from ’83.
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1224953?uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=21104653797127
The trailer looks ok. Waltz will probably go over the top again, while Adams will be freaking fantastic.
God, I’d love to see her winning Oscar. She’s awesome, and seems like she has a couple of great moments here, both quiet (that’s when she’s the best, her face is just so expressive) and Streeplike-Oscary-courtroom moments. So I’m excited and hope for some real recognition for Amy.
Just a reminder that there will always be Oscar voters (and moviegoers) who really do like “nice, clean, warm-hearted movies.” — movies “like they used to make.”
That’s fucked up, majorly — but at least they sometimes throw their support behind something as graceful and invaluable as WAR HORSE.
something as graceful and invaluable as WAR HORSE.
it takes a special brand of genius to understand how to replicate and simultaneously reinvigorate a classic style.
a director has to be able to go right up to the edge of “revisionist” and very carefully lean out over the precipice — without making the re-reading so overt.
Todd Haynes leaned out a tad too far with Far From Heaven, and Academy voters got vertigo. When that faction of the Academy says to themselves, “hey, is he messing with us?” that’s when they resist.
“This is not a value judgement. Just a reminder that there will always be Oscar voters (and moviegoers) who really do like “nice, clean, warm-hearted movies.” — movies ‘like they used to make.’ ”
Yes, this is exactly what I was trying to say above. Also the thing about Harvey. The man is responsible for shepherding Philomena, The Iron Lady, The King’s Speech, The Artist, The Reader, Finding Neverland, Chocolat, The Cider House Rules, Shakespeare In Love and The English Patient to the Oscars. Not saying I don’t like those movies (a few of them I could live without, let’s just say), but damn if that doesn’t look like my grandma’s list of the best movies in recent memory.
My point wasn’t to say that Philomena was a bad movie. It’s a fine movie. It just seems strange for a film like that to deserve Best Pocture nominee status. Almost each year in recent memory has featured at least one inexplicable nominee in the pack. Since Harvey’s got this one, I’m guessing this will fit that bill. I say this having seen the movie and finding it thoroughly decent, but nowhere near deserving a Best Pic berth. The best thing I can say about it (other than Adams is reliably great in it) is that it’s the first Burton film in literally decades that doesn’t rely on visual effects AT ALL (with a few split second exceptions). It really is a straight character piece, and if I didn’t know Tim Burton directed it, I wouldn’t believe you if you told me he did.
Almost each year in recent memory has featured at least one inexplicable nominee in the pack.
This kind of Best Picture nominee is explicable when we consider that 10%-20% of the AMPAS membership has always been drawn to movies like this. I’m not going to say there’s any generational correlation to this faction of the Academy, but the voters who nominate this kind of movie do have more “traditional” taste and values.
It’s been this way for 80 years. Even during the years when there were only 5 nominees, there have always been enough Oscar voters who threw their support behind movies like Chocolat, The Cider House Rules, The Full Monty.
Time and again, there’s always a Best Picture nominee that looks as if it might have been directed 20 years ago. Even in the 1930s, there were always one or two movies in the Best Picture lineup that had a comfy old-school 1915 sensibility.
This is not a value judgement. Just a reminder that there will always be Oscar voters (and moviegoers) who really do like “nice, clean, warm-hearted movies.” — movies “like they used to make.”
Since Harvey’s got this one, I’m guessing this will fit that bill.
Does seem that Weinstein specializes in finding these kinds of films and he understands exactly how to present them to the type of Academy members who are comfortable with the sort of Oscar campaigning he does. He’s made a science of finding movies that dovetail with the tastes of those particular Oscar voters.
=
What a flop
The real-life character Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz) was born in 1915 in US (Lincoln, Nebraska) to an Irish born father and a Danish born mother. Myself a non-native speaker notwithstanding, I couldn’t imagine an American kid born in US to #immigrant parents (#or not) — who presumably had lived a normal life as a child and in regular socialization with other Americans — speaking in a non-native accent as does the otherwise talented Austrian actor on the clip. Couldn’t think of any of the dramatic-license elements to rationalize it either. (No offense.)
Re awards season, it is hard to say for now, too, but I’m hoping for the best from #Amy. She’s talented and the Academy voting members seem to love her and her performances.
Love to check out more of the #production work, too, since it is a period film project. (Cameron Crowe, or even Woody Allen, for stance, could have directed it in addition to writing as well.)
I liked Dallas Buyers Club very much and also enjoyed Philomena. I think I would’ve swapped them for Before Midnight and Short Term 12 above all those other films. That being said, both are MUCH better films than Prisoners, Saving Mr. Banks, and especially August: Osage County and The Butler, so if we’re swapping them for any of those, then no thanks.
Nolan would have never directed this material in THIS way
We all know Harvey has a plan for releasing this trailer. And please, if Christopher Nolan directed this, most will have a warmer reaction.
Yeah, Im a 34 yr. old male who really admired Philomena and did not care for Dallas Buyers Club, as well.
This looks awful. As awful as everything Burton has been doing for the last, what, 15 years…:(
“Don’t get me wrong, a Spring Breakers nomination would’ve made my decade, but I know the Academy would never do it.”
Well, they did come fairly close to at least nominating James Franco.
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/James-Franco-Oscar-Campaign-Consider-Sh-t-39266.html
Personally, I mind Philomena far less than Dallas Buyers Club as a nominee. Swap out DBC for Prisoners and I’d be a happy camper. Don’t get me wrong, a Spring Breakers nomination would’ve made my decade, but I know the Academy would never do it.
I also don’t really love ILD, so I really don’t mind that not being nominated.
Chris, that is a wonderful list, and I completely agree. 🙂
Trailer looks Hallmark TV movie . Adams won’t even get the nomination this year.
I can’t help myself. Sorry. Here’s a list of movies that could’ve been nominated for Best Picture instead of PHILOMENA:
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS
BEFORE MIDNIGHT
BLUE JASMINE
FRUITVALE STATION
FRANCES HA
MUD
BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR
THE SPECTACULAR NOW
THE GREAT BEAUTY
THE WORLD’S END
PRISONERS
ALL IS LOST
RUSH
THE PAST
SHORT TERM 12
SPRING BREAKERS
THE GRANDMASTER
STORIES WE TELL
Hell, even other “safe” movies would’ve been acceptable, like ENOUGH SAID, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY or SAVING MR. BANKS.
Let’s re-phrase so you can understand my initial point. BIG EYES is potentially this year’s BLIND SIDE. A safe, pleasant movie that appeals primarily to an older crowd (i.e. the kind of people that make up the majority of the Academy).
Did you think that it was worthy of a Best Picture nomination? Out of all the great movies released last year? Did it deserve a nod over INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS, BEFORE MIDNIGHT, BLUE JASMINE, FRUITVALE STATION or FRANCES HA? Never mind, I’m just gonna stop myself now.
I love Philomena and i am 21 years old
Its a very light movie, and Adams will definitely get in because her character is so sympathetic. The main problem with the film is Waltz’s performance, which goes to comically over-the-top levels in the second half. After the screening I was sure Adams will get in on likability alone, and since its a Weinstein I’m pretty sure this will fit comfortably into this year’s Philomena slot, otherwise known as the “nice movie” that your aunt really loves but that we’ll look back on 10 years from now and say “Really? THAT was a Best Picture nominee?”
It looks too funny for my liking. I know Ed Wood was funny but that was because it was a comedy. I was expecting a drama from this. Anyone think Waltz could land another supporting nom especially since it is a weak category this year?
Other than the aforementioned quote “You don’t even know what the truth is!”—this trailer doesn’t really show much range from Amy Adams. And I’d like to think that is because of the trailer–hence–not enough info to judge.
Harvey saw all the hype for the other actresses and said ‘Not so fast, my friends’
wow….this looks great….and I love seeing Krysten Ritter getting billing!
Adams is a shoo in for a nomination. Not so sure about anything else. Besides Ed Wood, the academy really hasn’t shown love to anything by Burton. Big Fish was supposed to be his academy movie and that got nada. Can see the same for this. Regardless…I think it looks great. I love Burton
The trailer did nothing for me but I still have high hopes for this Burton-Adams-Waltz collaboration… plus if it is only half good (probably better, HW doesn’t give those prime release dates easily) you know Weinstein will “make it happen”.
So the question remains : will the Academy see “red” this year ? With Amy Adams (Big Eyes), Julianne Moore (Still Alice) and Jessica Chastain (Her or A Most Violent Year) in the lead race – latter two (Maps to the Stars, Interstellar) also in the mix in supporting along with Emma Stone (Birdman) – I’m leaning towards yes.
“You don’t even know what the truth is!”
This line from Amy Adams won me over. 🙂 She should win already an Oscar.
Looks like a film that revolves around a strong female character… what a rarity. Adams looks strong, and the character will no doubt engender a lot of sympathy that might help her get a nomination.