Business as usual

Sorry about the lack of updates over the weekend, but I was swamped. As I mentioned in the comments to the Hilary Swank entry below I was busy during Friday day and at night I had a friend's 21st dinner which went late. Then me and Hannah stayed up all night watching Twin Peaks until the killer of Laura Palmer was finally revealed to her. I know I had already seen the second season (about 5 years ago), but due to the much better quality of the DVDs and my general forgetfulness it was like watching it through new eyes. Although there were several bits that made me chuckle/sad because I knew what was actually going on (such as the mysterious Chinese businessman). We were majorly tired at 8am so we didn't watch any more. We didn't get see see Joan Chen dissolve into a puddle, David Duchovny in drag or any number of doppelgangers that seem to appear throughout the rest of the series. Anyway. Then I was busy most of Saturday and Sunday I had work from 6.30 in the morning which makes me grumpy.

So, hopefully it's back to business as usual. It's nice to know that most of you guys kept coming back to check the place out. That's awesome.

So, I remember in an entry I made some time recently somebody (sorry, I don't remember who or what thread) asked if I could write some comments on two movies I saw recently - Vince Ward's River Queen and Harvey Weinstein's George Hickenlooper's Factory Girl.

It's kind of amusing that this person chose these two films because they're both very similar.

River Queen is a film by Vincent Ward that had a very notorious filming shoot. Vincent Ward was kicked off the film at some point a replaced by his cinematographer Alun Bollinger (and a great cinematographer he is). Ward was then reinstated during the post-production stage. There were also reports of Samantha Morton's diva antics and everyone getting ridiculously sick amongst and the film was apparently ripped to shreds. It shows. Especially in the first and third acts. There really does appear to have been a lot just simply cut right out. The end is particularly bizarre as the film suddenly just cuts to several years into the future and then ends.

The second act is actually quite well done. There's some very interesting stuff there and I just wish the rest of the film was up to snuff. The cinematography is just wonderful - Bollinger knows just was moss-covered rocks or vine-covered rockfaces to film. However, the same can't be said for the music score, which is sort of a disaster. I think it made my ears bleed, a little. The music did get a laugh out of me a few times though because it was so ridiculously over the top. Oh, and Keifer Sutherland is terrible, too. I'm not sure what he was doing there, but it wasn't good. Samantha Morton was fine, as was Cliff Curtis (recently seen in the less-messy-but-still-messy Sunshine). Stephen Rae is barely in it to even bother commenting (a result of the first act being butchered, I presume).

Factory Girl is another mess of a movie, but one I liked more purely because I'm more interested in the topic at hand. It's pretty darn obvious that Harvey Weinstein and the Biopic of Doom were at play here. I have a sense that director George Hickenlooper had a much different version in mind. One that revolved a lot more around the Factory (Andy Warhol's social hangout for artists), but that Harvey Weinstein decided to throw in truly bizarre dialogues between Edie Sedgewick (Sienna Miller) and a therapist and trying to amp up the silly romance subplot between Sedgewick and Bob Dylan, played with dead-in-the-water excitement by Hayden Christensen. Did he even want to be there to make this movie? He hardly seems to care.

Thankfully the music and costume design is all pretty good, even if it is more "retro chic" that actual period accurate. Sienna Miller is actually very good as Sedgewick, and she gets some big moments towards the end to make up more than enough Oscar-clips (Hi Harvey, again!) and I really liked Guy Pearce as Warhol. Still, it's only a movie for those who are interested in the era of Warhol. And even then it's hardly a detailed and accurate account (I assume).

River Queen, C+, Factory Girl, B-

2006 UMA Profile: Best Costume Design

Another look over the candidates for a category of The UMAs, my personal film awards. This time I look at one of my favourite categories, Best Costume Design. The only Oscar nominee that I have not seen is Curse of the Golden Flower so obviously that could come into play later. The only Costume Design Guild nominee I haven't seen is The Illusionist and Golden Flower, so I think I've covered a wide spectrum. But for now, these are the films that may or may not be nominated.

Let it be known that this was a great year for contemporary costume work. Three of the films mentioned below fall within the contemporary realm, with others such as Volver (just missing out here), A Prairie Home Companion, Casino Royale and Miami Vice (and many others) having equally noteworthy work. And judging by the Oscar nominees (two contemporary nominees) maybe their work will start to become more recognised.

Jenny Beavan for The Black Dahlia
Stylish and deadly. With Scarlett Johansson nearly drowning in fur and other assorted wears, Hilary Swank stylishly frumping in black outfits and the men (John Hartnett and Aaron Eckhart among them) walking around in devilish suits, I get the impression that Beaven had a helluva good time dressing these people.

Julie Weiss for Bobby
Some characters who are on the edge of modern, some who are in the past, and others who are little bit of both. Weiss, who is a very noteworthy contemporary costume designer, doesn't have many costume changes (as the film is set in one day, most characters where the same outfit for the majority of the film), but that's made up by every outfit being so character-perfect.

Patricia Field for The Devil Wears Prada
A mammoth undertaking. Not only did Field have to make every outfit (apart from the dowdy ones, obviously) give off the allure of chic and fashionable, she also had to know what was going to be in fashion a year into the future. So many delectable designs. Those montages were to die for.

Sharen Davis for Dreamgirls
Taking cues from several decades, Davis' designs are impecably done. But while they may not be entirely accurate in relation to history, they feel like they balance the line between reality and Broadway to an effective degree.

John Dunn for Factory Girl
I guess the big success of Dunn's work on Factory Girl is that if retro = chic then these designs are very very chic. I can see people wearing these duds today, so I can only presume that even if they're not entirely historically accurate, they're most definitely character and plot serving. I totally understood why observers thought these people were fascinating. That long-sleeved backless number is a wowser.

Jane Johnston for Macbeth
The design of this film hit me with the force of a lead brick. All those deep reds and pitch blacks and glossy silvers. Even the beige is delicious. All that embroidery. There's Asian streaks and mafia suits and the outfits just suffocated me. It must be said that the design in several of Sam Worthington's more powerful scenes were particularly striking.

Milena Canonera for Marie Antoinette
A movie that, along with The Devil Wears Prada, practically begs the viewer to just salivate over the clothes. Such a big challenge to mix the realities of the classical French period with the New Wave punk of director Sofia Coppola's vision (it's the Cons!) and she pulls it off!


Lala Huete for Pan's Labyrinth
The fine work by Huete was probably not as noted because it wasn't part of the fantasy world that helped the film gain such meteoric popularity, but I thought her tailoring of Sergi Lopez's outfits as well as the slum dresses and army garb was just as noteworthy.

Penny Rose for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
More stunning design work in the Pirates films (surely a trend to continue with the upcoming At World's End. This edition added more imaginative and detailed designs to the closet of the pirates and those who revolve around them.

Joan Bergin for The Prestige
Dressing up the celebrities of the day, Bergin's work with Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale's duelling magicians feels just right. Add in sexy assistants, kooky scientists and enough winter overcoats to fill an apartment, The Prestige is a costume haven.

Melinda Doring for Suburban Mayhem
The character of Katrina Skinner is a mean venoumous one, and even though her outfits are downright outrageous at times, that just makes her so much fun to watch. From the boots to the shirts to the mini skirts. I guess it's Skank Chic, and Emily Barclay pulls it off effortlessly.

Sammy Sheldon for V For Vendetta
It's been a long time since I watched this movie (what was it? March? April?) but despite really disliking the film, I remember the costume and production design was particularly striking. And even though the character of V is incredibly hard to read (fey terrorists are like that sometimes) I do love the picture to the side here of him wearing an apron. Charming.

Next up I'll discuss the music from 2006 with Best Original Score and Best Original Song.

Pan's Links

I'm gonna discuss Pan's Labyrinth in a tick, but right now - here are some links.

The Envelope has an article about cinematography. I ooh and aah over this category every year (it's my absolute favourite outside of the "majors") and this year was an exceptional year. I haven't seen Dick Pope's work on The Illusionist (that movie is out next week down here), but the other four nominees (Vilmos Zsigmond for The Black Dahlia, Emmanuel Lubezki for Children of Men, Wally Pfister for The Prestige and Guillermo Navvaro for Pan's Labyrinth) are all in my own personal ballot (alongside David Williamson for Jindabyne).

The Age takes to the Oscars from an Australian point of view. But the writer sort of lost me when he mentioned the Brownlow. Don't compare the two, please.

Thank god for Lizzy Gardiner's American Express Gold Card dress, and for Bjork and Cher and people prepared to live dangerously and flirt with the sartorial absurd.

How about a HELL YES! The Kramer Vs Kramer jibe on page 2 warmed the cockles of my heart.

We all know about Penelope Cruz' padded arse in Almodovar's Volver, but was some of Cruz's hair fake as well? I loved her hair in that movie. So big.

At The Gilded Moose I was a runner up on the Prove Your Wit competition. Not only did I throw an insult Oprah Winfrey's way, but I also poked fun at The Last King of Scotland. I make myself so proud sometimes.

In Dreamgirls news - those you thought you would never get to see the original (and apparently the best) Effie White will actually get the chance to when Jennifer Holliday takes to the stage in an Atlanta Dreamgirls revival.

Annette Bening at the Film Experience offers up who she ticked the boxes for on her Academy Award form. She's smart. She knows that finally she'll have a change to win (aka, she won't be up against The Skank) and the Academy will feel they "owe" Kate Winslet.

Adam at Crumb by Crumb offers his predictions, which I pretty much agree with. I'll offer my final predix in a day or so.

RC over at Strange Culture goes through the archives and details explicitly his Oscar-prediction shortcomings. I think we're all guilty of doing that. I thought Judy Davis was surely gonna get nominated for Marie Antoinette back in 2005. LOL, right?

I am immediately intrigued by Zoo. Is this some sort of Equus-on-film or what? Man turns into horse? WHAT?

Arden (Not her real name) over at Cinephilia reviews George Hickenlooper's abstract ode Factory Girl. The reasons why she liked it are the exact reasons I've wanted to see it for ages and why I just know I'll like it. It's that time period and all that stuff. I wish they'd release it down here. We got Miss Potter and Breaking and Entering pretty much at the same time, so why not this?

Lastly, did you know you could order flavoured m&ms?

Factory Girl Trailer

I've been anticipating George Hickenlooper's Factory Girl all year (it was my #6 most anticipated at the start of 2006 and is still right up there). Basically, because I love the Warhol era (fact: The Velvet Underground are one of my top 3 bands of all time). Watching the trailer makes me excited again. All the glitz and drugs and art and sex and... I dunno. I just love it. And I'm loving the use of Bowie's "Life on Mars". Guy looks fabo (he could play Bowie in a movie too, don't you think?) and, no surprise, Sienna Miller looks as if she can act (which you would already know if you were paying attention to Alfie or Casanova).

I originally had Sienna Miller down for a Best Actress prediction back in March and recently the buzz has started to stir again curtesy of Harvey Wienstein. I don't think she can get to Oscarland, which is just way too competitive this year, I'm actually thinking a Globe nod could arise, or something from somewhere. Unless of course it's release she fucked up, which, considering it's the Weinsteins, is very possible. We shall see.

For people to like it I think they're gonna have to be interested in this era and not be one of those "Why do I want to watch a movie about a spoiled rich girl who parties and does drugs?" people.

Watch the trailer at YouTube

Links!

Sorry folks, I don't really have anything to say. And I didn't yesterday, either. What you gonna do? I've had work and social commitments and just a lack of interesting things. So for pure shits and giggles, go to some of these links if you haven't already. Oh, i'll mention that the sidebar is slowly revamping itself, so hopefully I'll have all the links put in again soon. But it takes time y'all!

Ja at My New Plaid Pants talks about Michael Haneke's Funny Games. This is an English-language remake of Haneke's own 1997 film. I'm only new to the world of Michael Haneke, and I've only seen three of his films (Hidden, The Piano Teacher and Code Unknown, which I discussed earlier this week. The Time of the Wolf is on tele next week though so I'll defo try to catch that). Unfortunately Funny Games isn't available down here yet, but as I said in the replies to that entry I made, the good thing about American remakes is that somebody always releases the original on DVD just in time to make some quick cash. So, anyway, Ja has some links to new images of the English-language version starring Naomi Watts and Tim Roth as the couple and Michael Pitt and Brady Corbit (from one of my absolute favourite films of last year, Mysterious Skin) as the psychopaths. Interesting.

It's this time of the year that Nat at the Film Experience really hits his stride, and he's doing so as I type. He has a review of Running with Scissors, he has more Best Foreign Language Film news than you can shake a stick at (go TEN CANOES!!!!), the ever-incestuous relationship between Burton-Depp-Carter continues with Burton's Sweeney Todd and he weighs in on the eternal battle of good vs evil... aka Martin Scorsese vs Clint Eastwood. I like Eastwood (well, I liked his last couple of movies. I haven't seen Unforgiven), but come on. Scorsese! But, I still wish The Aviator had of won a couple of years back.

GQ lists the 25 most Stylish films of all time. Of course, being a men's mag means it's all about men. I haven't seen a lot of those movies, but I gotta ask. They mention James Dean three times I believe yet not one of his films (Rebel Without a Cause being the obvious one) is listed. The white tee, red jacket and denim jeans is iconic, folks.

Top 10 World War II Movies. Pardon me while I yawn, but WWII is a topic that I just don't care about in movies anymore. Yes, Saving Private Ryan is good blah blah blah, but WWII movies are just like Hollywood blockbusters sometimes. Big fight sequence followed by quiet dialogue followed by fight scene (a path that Flags of Our Fathers seems to have taken. I find it amusing that the best ones on there are typical war films - Casablanca and Mrs Miniver. I haven't seen Schindler's List though. I really want to, but they never send it to me.

Dave Poland's 20 weeks to Oscar columb. And stuff.

Arden at Cinephilia says Little Children is for "Winslet and Field fans only" I'm a Winslet fan, but not a Field fan (I didn't like In the Bedroom that much) so should I still watch it? Hmmm.

I love reading Tech Support over at Kris' In Contention. The Tech departments don't get enough love.

The Envelope Buzzometer is up. The Queen, Flags of our Fathers and Dreamgirls take the top three spots for Best Picture buzz, but the actress category? Well... that's a shambles right now. So many possibilities. Mirren and Dench take spots #1 and #2, but at #3 is another Brit, but this time of a much younger generation: Sienna Miller. I actually predicted Sienna Miller for a nomination all the way back in April when nobody else even gave her a second thought, so it's funny seeing her get buzz let alone actually be in contention. I don't think she'll get a nom anymore, but ya know. I also predicted Cruz all the way back then too, so give me props please (lol, don't). Winslet and Bening round out the top 5. So... yeah, it actually is a shambles. No Streep. Huh? And apparently Ed Norton is in contention for Best Actor with The Illusionist or The Painted Veil. I... didn't see that one coming.

The Prestige gets a For Your Consideration ad. Alongside a Best Picture and Director consideration, they have two for Best Actor (Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale), one for Best Actress (Scarlett Johansson), three for Best Supporting Actor (Michael Caine, David Bowie and Andy Serkis) and two for Best Supporting Actress (Piper Perabo and Rebecca Hall). Something tells me they'll be getting none of those. Although, how much would it KICK ASS to see David Bowie as an Academy Award nominee?! A lot! That's how much.

I love No-Necked Monsters run by fellow Victorian Michael Scott (oh, the memories of that name). Today he has a review of Children of Men. I must admit to also being guilty of being filled with joy that we're getting a highly-anticipated Hollywood production a full two months before the United States. I'll hopefully be seeing it on Tuesday. eep. He also has a great write-up for the little Aussie gem from about 8-years-ago called Soft Fruit. I liked it when I saw it on VHS about five years ago, but it's true that nobody seems to remember it. Well, I do Michael! I DO!!!

And that's all for now, cause I need to eat and then get ready for work. Ciao.