Carrey Mulligan on The Late Show

Carey Mulligan made her first talk show appearance last Wednesday night to promote An Education. She's going to have a busy season on the publicity train, since she is without a doubt the lead contender in the Best Actress race at this point.

As for this first stop - let's ignore the glaring similarities between An Education's plot and Letterman's current personal crisis - Mulligan does a fine job. Maybe not the most entertaining guest ever, but perfectly charming.

October 2009

xxx

October is here! The major festivals are behind us and now we really are in the thick of Oscar season. There are tons of titles out this month (though, sadly, no Shutter Island) that have me on the edge of my seat in anticipation.
xxx
Tomorrow the Coen Brothers have A Serious Man, a film lauded by just about everyone in Toronto. At the very least we'll be looking for an Original Screenplay nomination, possibly more. You never know with those 10 Best Picture slots up for grabs. Drew Barrymore's Whip It, another film that got some love at Toronto, is out tomorrow too. This is one I will definitly be catching, even though I think it's safe to say it won't be getting much Oscar attention.
xxx
I also have some interest in the Ricky Gervais movie The Invention of Lying, and Zombieland, the zombie-comedy starring Woody Harrelson.
xxx
The most exciting release of tomorrow, for me anyway, is the Toy Story/Toy Story 2 double feature in 3D. It's only in theaters for two weeks, so get your tickets while you can!
xxx
Next week will see the limited release of An Education, the film I've been beyond excited about since it stole the hearts of audiences at Sundance back in January. I don't happen to live in an area where limited releases are accessible, so I'll probably be making a four-hour drive to see this movie on opening day. Not kidding.
xxx
The 16th brings Where the Wild Things Are, Spike Jonze's film adaptation of the classic children's book by Maurice Sendak. This is probably the biggest fanboy title apart from Avatar, and will likely draw lots of families to the theater. I'm expecting this to be October's moneymaker.
xxx
Amelia and Antichrist hit theaters on the 23rd. Both have been buzzy projects this year. Amelia hasn't been seen yet, so we don't really know how much of a player it will be this awards season, but I'm hoping Hilary Swank will hit yet another performance out of the park and land her third Academy Award nomination this year. I'm a sucker for a biopic, just like every member of AMPAS. Antichrist will likely be too controversial to garner much acclaim from the largely-conservative Academy, though.
xxx
Lots of contenders to keep an eye on this month! This is the best time of the year to visit the cinemas. What are your must-sees this month, and what are you planning to skip??

Ten Toronto Tidbits

The Toronto International Film Festival - where the Oscar season unofficially starts - has come to a close. This year wasn't really revolutionary. Most of the big hits already had a substantial amount of buzz going in. There were a few great bits to come out of the fest, though. Here are the ten headlines that I'm most excited about.

10. An Education still getting great reviews. Carey Mulligan is the one I'm most excited to see make the rounds this awards season.
9. Drew Barrymore can direct! Whip It debuts to positive reviews and is a commercial success. Not an awards contender, but it proves Barrymore is a fun new talent to watch behind the camera, and Ellen Page is one phenomenal young actress.
8. Chloe is greeted favorably. Amanda Seyfried is touted as an up-and-coming actress who is pleasantly surprising as a call girl hired to tempt a woman's philandering husband.
7. Mother & Child star Annette Bening is getting great reviews for her role as a woman who gave a child up for adoption when she was 14. Ten years after her acclaimed performance in American Beauty lost to Hilary Swank, and five years after her turn as Julia Lambert lost to Swank again, Bening could be up against her if she gets a nomination for Mother & Child and Swank scores a nod for Mira Nair's Amelia. If I were her I'd be packing heat at the Kodak, just in case.
6. Ricky Gervais's The Invention of Lying does well. I will always root for whatever Gervais does. Can someone please book this man to host the Oscars?
5. Up in the Air continues to bowl people over. I've got a good feeling about this one and director Jason Reitman. For some reason they're striking me as the film and director to beat, so far.
4. The Coens' A Serious Man was really the only featival takeoff. Lots of talk of the film being their most personal and best film to date.
3. Tom Ford's A Single Man, which recently won Colin Firth Best Actor in Venice, gets picked up by The Weinstein Company. Currently looking at a December 4th release date, it's looking to be the actor's first big awards vehicle.
2. Precious is not showing any signs of slowing down. It doesn't seem like anyone has a negative thing to say about it. While Mo'Nique drew most of the praise earlier this year at Sundance, it was Gabourey Sidibe stunning Toronto audiences. Both actresses now seem on track for Academy Award nominations next March.
1. Robert Duvall delivers another stunning performance in Get Low. His turn as a Tennessee hermit who throws his own funeral was the talk of the festival. The film hasn't found a distributor yet, but if it does we'll be looking at a Best Actor campaign for Duvall, which I'd love to see.

What were you most excited about in Toronto? What Toronto films are you most excited to catch this year? Any major disappointments?

Ebert on An Education

xxx

Roger Ebert arrived today in Toronto for the upcoming festival and has seen An Education. Apparently he liked it, as he had some strong words of praise for the film, Peter Sarsgaard and newcomer Carey Mulligan.

"Some of the TIFF films, many of them strong, were screened early for Chicago critics. The one that stood out for me above all the others was Lone Scherfig's "An Education," starring Carey Mulligan as a 16-year-old who starts dating a man well into his 30s (Peter Sarsgaard). In 1960s London, he's everything the witless boys her age are not - and also not everything he seems to be.

There's something about Sarsgaard's cool detachment that makes him ideal for roles involving plausible deception; we can even believe it when he convinces her protective parents to trust him. What a smoothie. What's special about the film is the way it takes a common enough movie situation and reinvents it from scratch, especially with the intelligent, far from clueless, teenage girl.

It has long been said that opening night at Toronto represents opening day of the Academy Award season. Waiting for the curtain to raise, who looks like a sure thing for a nomination? Carey Mulligan from "An Education," I'd say. The scenes in Paris will remind you of Audrey Hepburn."

New Kids On the Block

This year is looking to be full of breakthrough performances from young actresses, with at least four potential star-making turns coming up in the next few months. Every year it seems like there are a few actors who break onto the awards scene and become the talk of the town. These four young women are all in line for a lot of attention for much talked about work in four very different festival hits.

xxx

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First is Abbie Cornish in Bright Star, the Jane Campion film about the poet John Keats and his romance with Fanny Brawne. Cornish has starred in a few other films - Candy with Heath Ledger and last year's Stop-Loss - but EW's Dave Karger says that this is her star-making role. The film's debut at Cannes garnered quite a bit of attention, with Variety stating Cornish delivered "an outstanding performance." The Hollywood Reporter sang her praises too:

"Cornish has the acting skill to match her striking beauty and she makes the small loving gestures that the British might call soppy both real and touching."

Campion directed both Holly Hunter and Anna Paquin to Oscar wins in 1993's incredible The Piano, and Barbara Hershey to a nomination in Portrait of a Lady. Cornish could be the fourth woman to make a trip to the Academy Awards with Campion, but she'll have some stiff competition. Bright Star's limited release is scheduled for September 18th.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Katie Jarvis landed her role in Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank after a casting agent saw her having a heated argument with her boyfriend at a train station and asked her to audition. She plays Mia, a troubled and aggressive working-class teen with a passion for dance and her mother's new boyfriend.

Those who have seen the film have been wowed, especially by Jarvis' performance. Guy Lodge's review for In Contention said Jarvis brought "vivid physical charge to the character" and called her "an astute and fully-formed actress (not to mention a great dancer) in her own right".

Fish Tank tied for the Jury Prize at Cannes, and has US distribution with IFC Films, though no official US release date has been named. UK theaters will begin playing the film this Friday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carey Mulligan in An Education has been the one to keep an eye on since Sundance. She plays Jenny, a young girl torn between a college education and a romance with a much older man who shows her the ways of the world. Jeffrey Wells over at Hollywood Elsewhere has been ecstatically shouting her name from rooftops since he attended a screening if the film in January:

"I know that special old-soul-mixed-with-youthful-effervescence quality that you see in very few actors and actresses over the years, and trust me, Mulligan has it. A wondrously true and satisfying film has broken out of the Sundance '09 pack, and a brand-new actress with just the right face and just the right approach and precisely the right touch of sadness in the corners of her mouth has hit one out of the park."

Mulligan's performance and the film have been capturing the hearts of almost everyone who sees them all year, with Mulligan widely thought to be the one to beat in this year's Best Actress race. Something about her is charming and winning, and I have to admit this is the performance I'm most anxious to see this year. Look for it in theaters October 9th.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another Sundance hit, Precious, stars Gabourey Sidibe in the title role. Precious is an illiterate Harlem teen pregnant with her second child by her father. She endures physical and emotional abuse from her mother and endless, cruel bullying from her peers over her obesity.

Most of the talk has been of Mo'Nique and her brutal performance as a montrous mother and Mariah Carey's non-glamorous role as a social worker, but Sidibe has earned raves as well. From the Hollywood Reporter:

"As Precious, Sidibe is superb, allowing us to see the inner warmth and beauty of a young woman who, to her world's cruel eyes, might seem monstrous."

It's a brave first performance to be sure. Precious hits theaters November 6th.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All four names are sure to be floating around quite a bit as we come into the awards season. As far as Oscars go, Jarvis is a long shot due to her film's obscurity, and Sidibe will have a rough time keeping up with Mo'Nique's powerhouse performance. Mulligan is supposedly good enough to be a lock, and Cornish's chances are bolstered by the genre strength of the doomed period romance.

Sight unseen, my money is on Mulligan and Cornish, who will be battling it out in the coming months for the impressive newcomer vote.

As I've said, I'm most interested in Carey Mulligan, who's been drawing comparisons to Audrey Hepburn (who had her own breakthrough with Roman Holiday) for months. Who are you most excited about? Are there any other newcomers on your radar?

Telluride 2009

The 36th Telluride Film Festival starts tomorrow and wraps up on Monday. What's cool about Telluride is that it keeps its lineup a secret until just as the fest is getting started. More screenings are announced throughout the week, so there's never any knowing exactly what's in store at this one.

The festival has just announced its lineup today, and there are a lot of big titles showing this year, namely the Sundance champ An Education and Palme d'Or winner The White Ribbon.

• A Prophet (D: Jacques Audiard, Germany/Austria/France)
• An Education (D: Lone Scherfig, UK)
• Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (D: Werner Herzog, US)
• Bright Star (D: Jane Campion, UK/Australia/France)
• Coco Before Chanel (D: Anne Fontaine, France)
• Farewell (D: Christian Carion, France)
• Fish Tank (D: Andrea Arnold, UK)
• Gigante (D: Adrian Biniez, Uruguay)
• Henri-Georges Clouzout's Inferno (D: Serge Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea, France)
• Life During Wartime (D: Todd Solondz, US)
• London River (D: Rachid Bouchareb, UK/France/Algeria)
• Red Riding (three-part series) 1974 (D: Julian Jarrold, UK), 1980 (D: James Marsh, UK), 1983 (Anand Tucker, UK)
• Room and a Half (D: Andrey Khrzhanovsky, Russia)
• Samson & Delillah (D: Warwick Thornton, Australia)
• Sleep Furiously (D: Gideon Koppel, UK)
• Terra Madre (D: Ermanno Olmi, Italy)
• The Jazz Baroness (D: Hannah Rothschild, UK)
• The Last Station (D: Michael Hoffman, UK)
• The Miscreants of Taliwood (D: George Gittoes, Australia/Pakistan)
• The Road (John Hillcoat, US)
• The White Ribbon (D: Michael Haneke, Germany/Australia/France)
• Vincere (D: Marco Bellocchio, Italy)
• Vision (D: Margarethe von Trotta, Germany)
• Window (D: Buddhadeb Dasgupta, India)

Lots of anticipated titles to talk about. I'm really looking forward to hearing more about these, especially A Prophet, An Education, Fish Tank, The Last Station, and The White Ribbon.

A Star Is Born

As part of the same series that brought the Penelope Cruz interview a few days ago, The New York Times now has a video of one Ms. Carey Mulligan, who is on everyone's Oscar radar this year with An Education. Keep an eye on this one. She's headed for the big time.

That Old Familiar Feeling

Every year it seems there is one movie that I connect to months before its release, love passionately, see at least 5 times in the theater, and drag all of my friends and family members to whether they like it or not (they always thank me later). Last year it was Slumdog Millionaire, the year before, Juno. I inherently know my movie soulmates before I even see them. Really.

This year I'm getting that feeling about An Education. It's about a 16-year-old girl in 1960s England who takes school and getting into college very seriously, until she meets a much older man who teaches her about life outside the classroom. It was a big hit at Sundance this past January and has been wowing critics and members of the press left and right ever since. Most of the praise has been heaped on its young star, Carey Mulligan, who is THE person to watch this season. There's a lot of excitement surrounding her this year.

October 9th cannot come soon enough.