Having just discussed Asylum, we might as well dispose of another, well, disposable film with a worthy performance by Natasha Richardson. The White Countess is, sadly, the last film produced by Ismail Merchant, who died in May 2005, and the last of the formidable (if not formulaic) Merchant Ivory collaborative team. Throughout the collaboration, James Ivory has directed some excellent films, including The Remains of the Day and Howard’s End. The White Countess, however, will be a forgettable entry in the Merchant Ivory oeuvre, perhaps because of the absence of regular screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, and perhaps because Ivory was phoning this one in. That is a shame, because the photography by cinematographer extraordinaire Christopher Doyle is stunning. And the performances make good use of flat material. The story: a blind and disillusioned American diplomat (Ralph Fiennes) fulfills his dream to open a club in 1930’s Shanghai, and relies on a deposed and penniless Russian countess (Richardson) to make it a go. In the hands of Wong Kar Wai, such a story would likely be an atmospheric masterpiece. Ivory’s effort, however, is a dud.
Cinema Mishmash
A personal and random look at movies, past and present
November 12th, 2006 · No Comments
- Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
- Tropic Thunder
- Iron Man
- Sherlock Holmes
- Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus
- The Singing Detective
- Zodiac
- A Scanner Darkly
- Charlie Bartlett
- A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
The Best of Downy
Robert Downy Jr. will be honored by the Gene Siskel Film Center at its upcoming gala on June 19. In anticipation for that event, I had a look over the broad range of roles the actor has amassed so far in his career. The order isn’t an attempt to quantify or rank the performances or the films. But these 10 films, in some order of priority, are essential viewing to appreciate Downey’s work over the last decade.
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Oscar-Nominated Shorts
Here are the short format nominees for the 2010 Academy Awards:
Best Documentary Short
China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province
The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
Music by Prudence
Rabbit à la Berlin
Best Animated Short
French Roast
Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty
The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)
Logorama
A Matter of Loaf and Death
Best Live Action Short
The Door
Instead of Abracadabra
Kavi
Miracle Fish
The New Tenants
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2010 Oscar Nominations
Here are this morning’s Oscar-nominated films, alphabetically. The nominees for foreign language film and documentary feature are compiled at the end of the list. (Short format nominees are listed in a separate post.)
Avatar (9 nominations)
Art direction, Cinematography, Directing, Film editing, Original score, Best picture, Sound editing, Sound mixing, Visual effects
The Blind Side (2 nominations)
Sandra Bullock – Performance by an actress in a leading role, Best picture
Bright Star
Costume design
Coco before Chanel
Costume design
Coraline
Best animated feature film
Crazy Heart (3 nominations)
Jeff Bridges – Performance by an actor in a leading role, Maggie Gyllenhaal – Performance by an actress in a supporting role, Original song – “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)”
District 9 (4 nominations)
Film editing, Best picture, Visual effects, Adapted screenplay
An Education (3 nominations)
Carey Mulligan – Performance by an actress in a leading role, Best picture, Adapted screenplay
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2 nominations)
Best animated feature film, Original score
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Cinematography
The Hurt Locker (9 nominations)
Jeremy Renner – Performance by an actor in a leading role, Cinematography, Directing, Film editing, Original score, Best picture, Sound editing, Sound mixing, Original screenplay
Il Divo
Makeup
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2 nominations)
Art direction, Costume design
In the Loop
Adapted screenplay
Inglourious Basterds (8 nominations)
Christoph Waltz – Performance by an actor in a supporting role, Cinematography, Directing, Film editing, Best picture, Sound editing, Sound mixing, Original screenplay
Invictus (2 nominations)
Morgan Freeman – Performance by an actor in a leading role, Matt Damon – Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Julie & Julia
Meryl Streep – Performance by an actress in a leading role
The Last Station (2 nominations)
Christopher Plummer – Performance by an actor in a supporting role, Helen Mirren – Performance by an actress in a leading role
The Lovely Bones
Stanley Tucci – Performance by an actor in a supporting role
The Messenger (2 nominations)
Woody Harrelson – Performance by an actor in a supporting role, Original screenplay
Nine (4 nominations)
Penélope Cruz – Performance by an actress in a supporting role, Art direction, Costume design, Original song – “Take It All”
Paris 36
Original song – “Loin de Paname”
Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire (6 nominations)
Gabourey Sidibe – Performance by an actress in a leading role, Mo’Nique – Performance by an actress in a supporting role, Directing, Film editing, Best picture, Adapted screenplay
The Princess and the Frog (3 nominations)
Best animated feature film, Original song – “Almost There”, Original song – “Down in New Orleans”
The Secret of Kells
Best animated feature film
A Serious Man (2 nominations)
Best picture, Original screenplay
Sherlock Holmes (2 nominations)
Art direction, Original score
A Single Man
Colin Firth – Performance by an actor in a leading role
Star Trek (4 nominations)
Makeup, Sound editing, Sound mixing, Visual effects
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Sound mixing
Up (5 nominations)
Best animated feature film, Original score, Best picture, Sound editing, Original screenplay
Up in the Air (6 nominations)
George Clooney – Performance by an actor in a leading role, Vera Farmiga – Performance by an actress in a supporting role, Anna Kendrick – Performance by an actress in a supporting role, Directing, Best picture, Adapted screenplay
The White Ribbon (2 nominations)
Cinematography, Best Foreign Language Film
The Young Victoria (3 nominations)
Art direction, Costume design, Makeup
Foreign Language Films:
Ajami (Israel)
El Secreto de Sus Ojos (Argentina)
The Milk of Sorrow (Peru)
A Prophet [Un Prophète] (France)
The White Ribbon (Germany)
Documentary Features:
Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home
Get more information and watch trailers of some of the nominees at the official Oscar broadcast site.
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