David Poland’s latest column looks at Slumdog, which is the favorite to win Best Picture right now, and how it’s faring at the box office:
Slumdog Millionaire got to $20 million on Monday. They are still on 614 screens. Searchlight has slowly rolled out into the places where a foreign language film with no stars is a problem. Some have worked. Some less so. But that $20 million mark puts them behind only Benjamin Button at the box office as the voters settle in. And they will surely use the Oscar nom to expand to a real wide release… just as they did with Sideways. But they are already wider than Sideways was pre-nom… and way ahead at the box office. The hope, I suspect, is that they will be over $30 million when the nominations come in and then expand and ride the wave to the second $100 million domestic film of Searchlight’s history… and the first Oscar win.
Movie City News’ Kim Voynar also takes a look at Oscar and gets a case of the “shoulds,” who should be nominated and who shouldn’t. Eddie Marsan from Happy-Go-Lucky, George Clooney in Burn After Reading, and she makes a big play for some Defiance love, especially with the actors:
Lastly in the Best Supporting Actor category, there’s another strong supporting male performance that’s being greatly overlooked as we head closer to Oscar: Liev Schreiber’s excellent turn as Zus Bielski opposite Daniel Craig as Zus’s older brother, Tuvia, in Ed Zwick’s Defiance. Schreiber has been tearing up the stage for years now, taking home a Tony award in the revival of David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross, but he’s not found an on-screen role big enough for all that talent — until the role of Zus.
More after the cut.
All Schreiber’s fiery passion and considerable talent are poured into this role, and he’s the perfect foil to Craig’s Tuvia. The real-life paths the brothers took provides a great dramatic structure for the film: Where Tuvia opts to fight the Germans by saving as many Jews as possible through armed resistance, Zus chooses to abandon the Bielski partisans for a, while to go join the Russian army and kill as many Germans as possible. Schreiber was ideally cast as Zus, and his performance is largely what drives the film. It’s well worth consideration for Oscar gold, and I hope the Academy voters will recognize it.
Her full list:
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
George Clooney, Burn After Reading
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Eddie Marsan, Happy-Go-Lucky
Liev Schreiber, Defiance
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road
BEST ACTOR
Jeff Goldblum, Adam Resurrected
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Benicio del Toro, Che
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
It’s usually around this time of year that people start getting sick of the defacto frontrunners and start looking for a fresh take. I don’t have a problem with any of her choices except that they leave out some of truly great performances this year – for instance, George Clooney better than Pitt or John Malkovich in Burn After Reading? Malkovich owns in that movie. Secondly, Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon? The only logical reason for that ommission is boredom. It makes no sense otherwise. That said, I wouldn’t mind seeing Defiance get some last minute Oscar love. Oh, and she completely leaves out Ralph Fiennes for his work in In Bruges, The Duchess or The Reader. Surely he ought to get some recognition.
No Response for "Timing and Box Office"
Ralph Fiennes has done some of the strongest work of any actor or actress this year, alongside Richard Jenkins, Kate Winslet and Robert Downey Jr., yet he is receiving criminally little buzz. I agree, Sasha, where are his nominations, particularly for his nuanced turn in The Duchess, and his hilarious one in In Bruges?
His standing as a well-respected thespian in Hollywood may rally Academy voters behind him, so he’ll stand a viable chance as a spoiler right up until the nominations are announced, imo. However, a little more buzz for one performance in particular wouldn’t go amiss, otherwise he may split his vote three ways…
Fiennes: The Duchess, The Reader, & In Bruges (in order of the strenghth of his performances).
Two definite Oscar worthy perf’s in The Duchess & The Reader. The Reader might have category confusion. And the amount of performances he has in one year will likely cancel out his votes.
His globe nomination came from the Weinstein’s buying Globe nom’s like they always do.
Does he deserve at least one Oscar nomination? Definitely.
Will he get one? Unlikely.
Supp. Actor: Ledger, Brolin, Downey, Hoffman, Patel
I like, I like. “Shoulds ‘08″:
For Best Supporting Actress:
Hiam Abbass, The Visitor
Patricia Clarkson, Married Life
Lena Olin, The Reader
Emma Thompson, Brideshead Revisited
Evan Rachel Wood, The Wrestler
For Best Supporting Actor:
Ralph Fiennes, In Bruges
James Franco, Milk
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Eddie Marsan, Happy-Go-Lucky
Viggo Mortensen, Appaloosa
For Best Actress:
Cate Blanchett, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Kristin Scott Thomas, I’ve Loved You So Long
Kate Winslet, The Reader
For Best Actor:
Daniel Craig, Defiance
Benicio Del Toro, Che
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
For Best Director:
Darren Aronofsky, The Wrestler
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight
Gus Van Sant, Milk
For Best Picture:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Defiance
Milk
Rachel Getting Married
I have to be honest at the risk of being flamed to death here; I was not very impressed with Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon and I sincerely hope that Michael Sheen is nominated instead as he was far better in the film. Not only was it the same over-the-top caricature of the former president that has been done ad nauseum before, but I didn’t even think that Langella gave a very good impersonation. When I first saw footage of the movie I struggled to figure out who he was supposed to be and thought he might be imitating Henry Kissinger.
What is it I’m missing? Is this really that great of a performance, or is it the same biopic mimicry that Oscar voters fawn over every year?
I finally saw Button and think Brad Pitt is truly unworthy of any recognition. I know this is a very weak year for actors but still, just starring in a movie can hardly be criteria for nominating some-one.
Man,
What a weido list.
Haw te great Fienne scan de out?
How???
It´s enough for me.
But we have more…
Clooney in “Bunr After Reading”???
Beyond Malkovick?
And Langella and Penn out?
Please…
Liev Schreiber is ALWAYS brilliant and alongside Gary Oldman is one of the most deserving actors for a nomination ever. I haven’t seen Defiance yet but I have no doubt that he steals the show. When will the Academy wake up and honor these truly extraordinary talents?
Robert, I’m not going to flame you for disliking Langella’s performance, but if you look at all the major Nixon portrayals, none of them are like the real Tricky Dick at all. Each one represents a different facet to the most fascinating President in U.S. history. He is a man that cannot easily be pinned down, and the best Nixon performance is still Nixon himself. That in mind, I thought Langella was quite good, though my heart still belongs to Philip Baker Hall in Secret Honor.
I like this, but it’s a little late.
red_wine, I agree. I wasn’t that thrilled with Brad Pitt’s performance, even though he had nearly every minute of screen time and was the titular character. His performances last year in “…Jesse James” and even in “Burn After Reading” were better. And I’ll be sad if his presence on the list of nominations means that people like Richard Jenkins are out.
Eddie Marsan would not be a surprise nominee, I e4xpect him to be on the list.
And it´s not unlikely the whole movie (Happy-go-lucky) will get a best picture-nom. I bet it´s fighting the fifth spot against “Wall-E”, “TDK” and “Revolutionary Road”.
And if Happy-go-lucky” is in, and “TDK” not- oh lord, a helluva hate machine breaks free on this side to destroy that little indie…
SPOILER ON TCOBB!!!
TCOBB isn’t all that. It would be all right with if it was not nominated for BP. There was a bit of nothingness in Brad Pitt’s performance–it was very Meet Joe Black, very ScarJo. What pisses me off about Brad Pitt was that…all he had to do was look better as he was getting younger. And he has with all that perfect skin. Did he really need this role? Gimme, Abe Vigoda as Benjamin Button, and then we’re talking about the big time Oscars. Too bad, because Pitt is a very capable actor.
Also, I just wish all the secondary characters were written better with better purpose, and lines. They all just ended up looking like loose ends. I mean, what did BenButtons do when he sees Tilda Swinton on tv? Nothing, really. Julia Ormond could have done something more that’s Oscar worthy, but she was under written. Remember the Oscar nod for James Garner for The Notebook? Totally possible.
And the button factory scene…could have been better. It could have been more interesting to give insight to that. At least visually. Right? Instead, it was boring. It was his namesake and it did not get metaphorical write up.
It felt like it just needed to be as schlocky as Forrest Gump to be a better movie. Maybe that was the point, but a meditation on death every 5 minutes got really old. Or young. whatever. Forrest Gump love it or not was an Oscar winner.
It was a very pretty movie. And the relationship between BB with Queenie and Daisy were the best parts of the movie. I’m pushing it for musical score and art direction.
Speaking as “deserving actors for a nomination” like Noah said, once upon a time this site has the great “Wall of Shame”, indicates the shameful omitions of great directors, actors and actress that never wins or,worse, not ever be nominated. Why not return with it? Guees o lot people miss it.
Our beloved Martin Scorsese could no longer be the main attraction of it, but there are several other person to be listed.
To remember only the not even nominated (the never won is too vast), Oldman wasn’t, but also Mia Farrow and Donald Shuterland in the acting field, Brian De Palma in the directing, Adam Holender and Gerry Fisher for cinematography, Pino Donaggio for the music.
“Remember the Oscar nod for James Garner for The Notebook?”
No, I really don’t.
I second comment #13. big time
RichardA, I couldn’t agree more. TCCOBB was much ado about nothing, and believe me I take no pleasure in saying that because I really wanted to love it. Both Slumdog and Button have screenplays that are riddled with cliches but one film has heart and the other does not. Slumdog is the former.
Fact check: James Garner got a nod from SAG not Oscar.
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