Search results for: Mike Leigh

While box office receipts are down from 2009, the specialty market ended on a high note with two promising releases this past weekend. Another Year, a look into one not-so-golden year of married life, managed to average $20,000 in its limited debut. The Sony Classics release of another British import from writer-director Mike Leigh (“Happy-Go-Lucky”) will look to find an audience for its study of the everyday as it expands to more theaters. One picture that will have no trouble creating buzz is Blue Valentine starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams.

Those who caught the film at Austin's Fantastic Fest (where the pic won a couple of awards) are already in the know as to why Ben Wheatley's Down Terrace is being referred to the kind label of “The Sopranos” if imagined by Mike Leigh or Ken Loach. If ever there was a genre that was in need of new wave its the "tired gangster film" from the U.K - the Toronto Int. Film Festival had a couple of them and my sentiment was that someone had to re-think the formula.

This August (2009), we are keeping tabs on: a Canadian financed pic with top tier talent, that for the next weeks becomes known as the film that the radiant Rachelle Lebevre committed to and which annoyed Summit Ent., the re-appearance of The Details (it receives a second life), three French filmmakers (Julie Bertucelli, Fabienne Berthaud) on their sophomore efforts and Guillaume Canet on pic number three and finally, master filmmaker Mike Leigh is getting set for his latest project for Focus Features.

Apart from the quartet of screenwriters that helped flesh out the 130 million dollar project known as Australia and what should be a shoe-in nom by the magnificent imagination of Charlie Kaufman, the three leading candidates I'm suggesting for Best Original are relatively new to the big project business. Peter Buchman split the Che biopic into two parts, so I'm thinking that we will see the first serving this year and have to wait for the conclusion in 09;. His previous credits only include Jurassic Park III, and more recently, Eragon. This would be his first nomination. Veteran sci-fi and television writer J. Michael Straczynski might get on the board with his treatment for the Eastwood directed project. Finally, Dustin Lance Black might see his San Fran set, dramatic biopic on Harvey Milk get plenty of attention during the fall/festival/awards season. The Contenders: Once the buzz develops around Happy-Go-Lucky, Oscar-fav Mike Leigh might make it to the top of the possible nom circle - and another Brit project finds director Jean-Marc Vallée benefit from having a great writer in Julian Fellowes (Oscar-winning writer for Gosford Park) for The Young Victoria. Among the studio pics - there is some good buzz on Grant Nieporte's debut screenplay for Seven Pounds. Greg Mottola digs into his own childhood for the details he needed to write Adventureland. He last wrote the beloved (his first screenplay) for The Daytrippers. Kenneth Lonergan's Margaret gets its long-awaited release. Among the split-genre substances we have Neil Burger and Dirk Wittenborn attempt the comedy with drama elements in The Lucky Ones and finally we can't forget Woody Allen 's imagination and Oscar nom track record - perhaps he stands a chance with Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Tomorrow: Best Adapted Screenplay

The Indie Spirit Awards is that weird event that most commonly overlaps with the bigger film award show gala (aka the Academy Awards) and...