A World War I Film by Sam Mendes that will open on Christmas looks really good.
Screenplay – Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns
Cinematography – Roger Deakins
Score – Thomas Newman
Editing – Lee Smith
At the height of the First World War, two young British soldiers, Schofield (Captain Fantastic’s George MacKay) and Blake (Game of Thrones’ Dean-Charles Chapman) are given a seemingly impossible mission. In a race against time, they must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers—Blake’s own brother among them.
1917 is directed by Sam Mendes, who wrote the screenplay with Krysty Wilson-Cairns (Showtime’s Penny Dreadful). The film is produced by Mendes and Pippa Harris (co-executive producer, Revolutionary Road; executive producer, Away We Go) for their Neal Street Productions, Jayne-Ann Tenggren (co-producer, The Rhythm Section; associate producer, Spectre), Callum McDougall (executive producer, Mary Poppins Returns, Skyfall) and Brian Oliver (executive producer, Rocketman; Black Swan).
The film is produced by Neal Street Productions for DreamWorks Pictures in association with New Republic Pictures. Universal Pictures will release the film domestically in limited release on December 25, 2019 and wide on January 10, 2020. Universal and Amblin Partners will distribute the film internationally, with eOne distributing on behalf of Amblin in the U.K.
I liked similar Birdsong (Redmayne, Posey) lots didn’t. WW1 is death at the boxoffice. Big cast though
may do well in UK before here?
by the way this looks bad
I am going to be a daredevil and say that Cats will have better reviews and a Best Picture nomination, and this will be received just OK and NOT be nominated for Picture, Director or any acting nor screenplay.
On the opposite end I predict Rebel Wilson gets a Razzie nom for Cats.
both things may still happen. It wouldn’t be the first time, anything like this would happen… I still remember, Aerosmith’s “Don’t want to miss a thing” was a double nominee (Oscar and Razzie) at the same time. The Razzies are NEVER a sign of lack of quality, just a sign of b.o. failure or public disappointment with this or that… masterpieces like “The Shinning” and “Cruising” had the razzie treatment and one of the most enjoyable, rewatchable, fun films of all time, “Hudson Hawk” became a Razzie sweeper after being trashed by reviews as a “vanity project” (when actually wasn’t and was a cartoonish spoof of heist films full of ideas and with delightfully over the top performances by Richard E. Grant and Sandra Bernhardt specially, which were completely memorable)
The editing of the trailer is pretty good but, as with Dunkirk, the proof is in the pudding.
Not quite, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
In this age of digital cinema, you can’t really eat the film any more. Now it’s all bytes and no bites.
(messed up the usage of that phrase, my bad)
I HEARD YOU PAINT HOUSES
Yes I do, sir. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/13503ca263b56b91fecd57aa5c441da26e6bfbf9ecc1e161cfa0d2fe4660befa.gif
No failure here to show appreciation.
An intriguing and beautiful trailer. To me it recalls Paths of Glory. I’d be surprised if Mendes hasn’t seen that movie.
From the director of Skyfall?? Really? He wins an Oscar and a Best Picture for American Beauty and they want to tout Skyfall?
“From the visionary director of “The Wolf Of Wall Street” comes “The Irishman!”
Maybe that’s why a whole generation thinks DeNiro is that funny dad from the Fockers series.
You have to pretend American Beauty doesn’t exist because of Kevin Spacey, or didn’t you know that? Sad but true.
I will not give that up. That movie was genius.
Teasers/trailers are about getting attention and generating excitement. Skyfall is widely touted as one of the best James Bond films of all time (and for my money was very deserving of a Best Picture nomination). Way more average movie goers have seen Skyfall than they have American Beauty. Plus, Skyfall is more recent and since its an action movie, more closely aligned with the genre of 1917.
It’s all marketing. I mean…referring to him as the Tony winning director The Ferryman would get my butt in a seat…but I know that would definitely mean nothing to most folks haha
I think the trailer looks good as in Saving Private Ryan meets Gallipoli meets Dunkirk, but it might be a little too similar to that last film for comfort. In fact, you guys even pointed out it is edited by the same guy who did Dunkirk (and almost every other Chris Nolan movie for that matter), and it’s stars a couple young unknown actors while the more established actors are in the supporting roles. Also, the trailer puts a heavy emphasis on time like Dunkirk did and a rescue mission that has to work or hundreds of thousands die. Not that any of this is a bad thing, as I loved Dunkirk, but very noticeable nonetheless.
Trailers don’t always equate award-type movies. But IF these movies end up as good as the trailers, I think there are several Best Pic slots spoken for at this time. Asterisks are ones I think probably make the cut…if it’s 8 nominees.
Likely:
*Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
*The Irishman
*1917
Possible:
*Ford v Ferrari
The Goldfinch
*Jojo Rabbit
The Lighthouse
The Farewell
*Marriage Story
*Ad Astra
Harriet
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Little Women
Fair and Balanced
Downton Abbey
The Laundromat
The Report
*Dry Run
I don’t really see Ad Astra over The Farewell/Goldfinch/Lighthouse/Laundromat. One of the The films will get in over that.
Though early days so I’d love to be proven wrong.
so far I think that the ones with a really good chance of a BP nomination are…
The Irishman
Once upon a time in Hollywood
Us
Pain and Glory
Cats – I think it looks gorgeous and it really stands out from competition
those are 5. At least 3 of them will make it, maybe even the five. I still haven`t ruled out Avengers Endgame, after The Lion King flopping. Nor Toy Story 4. But Disney will have to choose, one or another, both can’t make it.
1917 just reminds me too much of Jarhead. I really do not think it will be nominated beyond technicals.
The Farewell has a better chance than Us, IMO.
b.o. speaks… if The Farewell can’t finance an Awards campaigning, it won’t. “Us” did a lot of money, got the reviews and the Oscar pedigree already. *reality check*
To be a contender with just moderate b.o. success, you have to be directed by Mallick or similar, or be Foreign Language, so the Best Director/Screenplay campaigning has the collateral damage of earning you a Best Picture nom. Those are the cases of “Tree of Life” or “Amour”, or even “Moonlight” because it became an unstoppable critical darling that benefited from the reaction to the exaggerated reception of “La La Land”. If “The Farewell” becomes a sleeper, yeah. But so far, it is a no brainer to see that “Us” CAN and “The Farewell” MAY.
I am unconvinced Us will get a Best Picture nomination. It wasn’t as much of a zeitgeist capturing event as Get Out*. It’ll get some nominations (screenplay especially), but BP is a tough sell.
*As an example of the impact of Get Out, let’s talk about the song featured in the intro – Redbone. It sounded completely different to the other big hits of 2017, and it even dropped off the charts a couple of times. But due to Get Out’s popularity and the resulting memes, a retro funk song by an artist that had no major chart hits before became the 25th biggest hit of 2017 in the US.
the thing is, “Us” goes one step beyond what “Get Out” did. Probably that is why it is provoking a bit more of discomfort… it is not about race. It is about the whole society, regardless race, gender or creed.
I don’t think it’s provoking more discomfort as much as disinterest. Get Out was lean and focused on its allegory, Us is cluttered and broad.