Precious Day

Precious hits theaters today, and we'll no doubt be seeing more of this man, Lee Daniels, from here on out. My boyfriend and I are going away for the weekend, so I have no idea if I'll catch it or not. If you get a chance to see the film this weekend, come back here and tell me what you thought!

I Heart Gabby

Fantaisie in Bubblewrap

Michael Fassbender

As you might have noticed, I've been talking about Michael Fassbender quite a bit lately. Since August I've seen him give incredible performances in Inglourious Basterds, Fish Tank, and Hunger. I'm beginning to think he might be a genius.

Anyway, check out the New York Times screen test interview above. It's interesting and hilarious.

You Make My Dreams

Filmography: Heath Ledger

Heath Ledger's career and life were tragically cut short on January 22, 2008, but his short filmography, full of brave choices and showcasing an unbelievable screen presence and range, will certainly be a testament to his talent and the performances he would have given for years had fate allowed.

Ledger's career started on Australian television, but soon he found a US audience when he starred in the 1999 teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You.

Nearly a decade of electrifying performances followed in a career likely to be studied and admired for years to come.

1999 Two Hands (Jimmy), 10 Things I Hate About You (Patrick Verona)
2000 The Patriot (Gabriel Martin)
2001 Monster's Ball (Sonny Grotowski), A Knight's Tale (Sir William Thatcher/Sir Ulrich von Litchenstein of Gelderland)
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In a film full of inspired performances, Ledger stood out as Sonny, the kind-hearted but troubled son of a racist executioner, in Monster's Ball. His short role in the film amplified the pain of the lead characters and exposed a side of the actor no one ever knew existed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2002 Four Feathers (Harry Faversham)
2003 The Order (Alex Bernier), Ned Kelly (Ned Kelly)
2005 Casanova (Giacomo Casanova), The Brothers Grimm (Jacob Grimm), Lords of Dogtown (Skip Engblom), Brokeback Mountain (Ennis Del Mar)
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In 2005, Ledger took on what would be the riskiest role of his life: Ennis Del Mar, a Wyoming ranch hand who falls in love with rodeo rider Jack Twist in Ang Lee's acclaimed Brokeback Mountain. He breathes life into one of the most complicated screen characters of the decade. Ennis was a quiet and conflicted man with dreams he never allowed himself to fulfill. Ledger plays the man of few words with astonishing maturity, depth and clarity. It was the part that showed the world what he was capable of and earned him his first Academy Award nomination.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2006 Candy (Dan)
2007 I'm Not There (Robbie Clark)
2008 The Dark Knight (The Joker)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's the role no one will dare to touch again. The Dark Knight had high expectations to live up to as it blazed into cinemas last summer. It was the sequel to the well-loved Batman Begins, featured the ultimate Batman baddie the Joker, and starred Heath Ledger in his last completed film role. It not only met expectations, it overwhelmingly exceeded them. Ledger's was the performance of the year, his definitive, diabolical Joker revealing deep wounds beneath a psychopathic surface. The performance earned Ledger numerous posthumous acting awards, including the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, which his family accepted on his behalf.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2009 The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Tony)

First Up in the Air Clip Lands

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Brad Brevet over at RoS just posted this new clip from the buzzy Up in the Air, Jason Reitman's Juno follow-up. In it George Clooney and Vera Farmiga's characters meet and exchange frequent flyer-isms. Have a look.

Filmography: Frances McDormand

In this first installment of what will hopefully be a regular feature here at Nitflicky, I'll be examining a selected filmography of the wonderful Frances McDormand who, in my opinion, is one of the best actresses around today.

McDormand graduated from the Yale University School of Drama, where she was roommates with the equally incredible Holly Hunter. Her first work was on stage, but she quickly landed her first film role in Blood Simple. Hunter, who shared a house with the Coen brothers, recommended her for the lead part. McDormand got the role and another, as Joel Coen's wife.

It was the start of a brilliant career full of inspired choices. McDormand is a four-time Academy Award nominee and a marvelous character actress who inhabits each role with assuredness and authority.

1984 Blood Simple (Abby)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ McDormand's film debut was also the directorial debut of the Coen brothers. It's considered one of the most successful debuts in film, and was enthusiastically praised for its visual style and cleverness. Roger Ebery gave the film four stars. Quite the entrance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1985 Crimewave (Nun)
1987 Raising Arizona (Dot)
1988 Mississippi Burning (Mrs. Pell)
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In her third collaboration with the Coen brothers, McDormand earned her first Academy Award nomination for her role as a racist deputy's wife in 1964.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1989 Chattahoochee (Mae Foley)
1990 Darkman (Julie Hastings), Hidden Agenda (Ingrid Jessner)
1991 The Butcher's Wife (Grace)
1992 Passed Away (Nora Scanlan)
1993 Short Cuts (Betty Weathers)
1994 Bleeding Hearts (Woman on TV)
1995 Palookaville (June), Beyond Rangoon (Andy Bowma)
1996 Primal Fear (Dr. Molly Arrington), Fargo (Marge Gunderson), Lone Star (Bunny), Hidden in America (Gus)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1996 saw McDormand take on her most famous role, pregnant North Dakota policewoman Marge Gunderson, a cheerful, hardworking woman tracking down two killers with a sharp mind and thick Scandinavian accent. Her performance is both honest and slightly theatrical, and won McDormand the Oscar for lead actress. Roger Ebert said in his review, "Frances McDormand should have a lock on an Academy Award nomination with this performance, which is true in every individual moment, and yet slyly, quietly, over the top in its cumulative effect."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1997 Paradise Road (Dr. Verstak)
1998 Madeline (Miss Clavel), Talk of Angels (Conlon)
2000 Wonder Boys (Dean Sara Gaskell), Almost Famous (Elaine Miller)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ McDormand started out the aughts with two knockout supporting roles, both garnering critical acclaim and a slew of awards and nominations. Her role in Almost Famous as the over-protective mother of a young rock journalist earned her a third Academy Award nomination.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2001 The Man Who Wasn't There (Doris Crane)
2002 City by the Sea (Michelle), Laurel Canyon (Jane)
2003 Something's Gotta Give (Zoe Barry)
2005 North Country (Glory Dodge), Aeon Flux (The Handler)
2006 Friends with Money (Jane)
2008 Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day (Guinevere Pettigrew), Burn After Reading (Linda Litzke)

The Cameron Crowe Special

Crowe loves to have his characters singing on the road. I couldn't find John Mahoney in Say Anything..., but here's Jerry Maguire singing along with Tom Petty's "Free Fallin", and Stillwater and company chorusing with Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" in my favorite movie of all time, Almost Famous.

Making Mr. Fox Fantastic

Here's a nifty little featurette I found over at /Film of the making of The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson's stop-motion adaptation of the book by Roald Dahl. Stop-motion animation is truly a fascinating process.

For some reason I can't quite put my finger on, I'm not really digging the look of this one. Not to say it isn't well-done, I just for some reason don't find myself drawn in by this animation. I feel like it will distract rather than engage. Who knows, though. It may pleasantly surprise me when I get around to seeing it.

This reminds me, if you haven't yet picked up Henry Selick's Coraline on Blu-ray, you should seriously consider doing so. I spent hours watching the making-of footage and now think it might be the most impressive animated film this year (even if my heart is still with Up).

Oscar Trivia #2

Anthony Hopkins was inspired by the voices of Katharine Hepburn and Truman Capote in his choice of the eerie cadence for Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs.

NYTimes Interviews Diane Kruger

I wanted to post this a couple of weeks ago, but for some reason couldn't find an embed code. So here's another in the NYTimes series of screen test-style interviews, this time with Diane Kruger, the German actress in Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. You'll be seeing plenty of these around here, because I love the way the actors seem so natural, and the questions aren't the same ones that are asked a hundred times over during a publicity tour.

Tarantino on There Will Be Blood

The headline says it all. I love to hear good filmmakers talk about good films, so I thought I'd share. I should get around to Inglourious Basterds tomorrow night, and after reading some great reviews, I really am looking forward to it.