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Marsh Trades ‘Dream’ World for Documentary Format
Now that James Marsh's career year (a 13-month span of accolades, festival kudos and trophy-ware including yesterday's Oscar) is over and done with, the helmer can focus on getting crafting what would be an original project. Returning to the format that brought him all that glory, Marsh will follow up the recently completed Nineteen Eighty with the temporarily titled Dream Diaries.
No ‘Departures’ for Academy
So how does Yojiro Takita's Departures (Okuribito) beat out heavy favorites Israel's Waltz With Bashir and France's The Class? Smart pick ups and adequate marketing plans just don't cut it when it comes to promoting titles for Oscar campaigns and Sony Pictures Classics seemed to have botched, undersold both titles the moment the final five titles were announced.
Wrestler Takes a Three Count at the 2009 Film Independent’s Spirit Awards
If by some bad stroke of luck he loses out to Sean Penn at the Oscars the day after, this win at the Spirit Awards will be remembered as one more rendition of “Mickey's night”. He, Darren (who we interviewed late last year) and The Wrestler have been on cloud nine since Venice, and the trio of awards collected are probably the last night in a string of 'nights' since the Academy has snubbed the pic. Among the Ballast, my coup-de-coeur of the year in term of indie films was shut out, while other people's coup-de-coeurs in The Visitor and Frozen River walked away with what is a sweet-looking trophy.
Thirty Five Seconds of Bliss: Broken Embraces Teaser
Lush wardrobe colors, a Penelope Cruz being carried around by multiple older men, and a wall littered with former “flames”. You can't get much out of 35 seconds, and I'm not about to make some sort of analysis here before just appreciating the images and score, but for what it is worth, Pedro Almodóvar's Broken Embraces is looking to do exactly what Todd Haynes' did with his homage to Douglas Sirk – bring the 50's to the forefront. To be released in Spain well before Cannes, I'm looking forward to catching this one on the Croisette.
Gaghan keeps McG’s career ‘Running’
I never thought I'd be interested in a second consecutive serving of McG. With a minor curiosity for new Terminator film, I'm thinking that McG's next might be the first film of his that I'll peg as a must see because of the scribe that Warner Bros. has just landed for what they are considering as a potential trilogy in the vein of the Bourne franchise. Syriana and Traffic screenwriter Stephen Gaghan has been hired to start off Dead Spy Running on the right foot.
