Academy Awards

Blu-Ray Review: Palme d’Or Winner ‘The Class’ Gets Great Release

BrianTT — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:20:58 -0600

CHICAGO – It’s truly amazing how very few films not in the English language find audiences in this country. A film as universally acclaimed as “The Class,” the winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and a nominee for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, should have been able to find an audience, but the fact is that most people skipped it in theaters and I worry they will on Blu-Ray and DVD as well. Don’t miss this one.

Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0

Laurent Cantet’s near-documentary style drama is about the trend of modern eductaion towards the median. Smart kids are not encouraged because it’s assumed that they don’t nee the help and kids who arguably are never going to succeed take all of the professor’s time. We’re all moving toward the average.

The Class was released on Blu-Ray on August 11th, 2009.
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Home Video

And that’s just one of the many interesting themes in “The Class,” a film that details a year at a tough inner-city middle school in Paris in the classroom of Mr. Marin (Francois Begaudeau). Based on the actor’s semi-autobiographical book, Begaudeau perfectly portrays a teacher with an unusual style, tryinig to relate to the kids as much as possible but also subject to the fact that there are some lines that should not be crossed between teacher and student.

The other teachers at Marin’s school are basically lethargic drones, but they also don’t risk getting too personal with their students. Should a teacher just be a boring automaton? Should students be encouraged to display their personalities or simply fall in line? Has our education system become one that discourages indviduality in both teacher and student?

“The Class” came to US shores with a monstrous amount of publicity including the Palme d’Or and the Oscar nomination. I don’t want to over-sell the film like I believe those awards do a little bit. Don’t get me wrong. It’s a very good film but I was a little surprised at how many top ten lists it ended up on at the end of 2008. It can sometimes be a bit too talky for its own good and it drags at times. I actually like Cantet’s “Time Out” a bit more.

But you should still see “The Class”. There is some deeply moving material here and anyone interested in realistic drama that blurs the line between fiction and reality doesn’t want to miss this film. Some of it feels more genuine than most documentaries about teenagers (certainly moreso than “American Teen”).

The Blu-Ray release for “The Class” from Sony includes a Making-of Featurette, Commentary on Select Scenes, “Actors’ Workshop,” and “Actors’ Self-Potraits”. The film is perfectly presented in 1080p High Definition with a 2.35:1 aspect ration and accompanied by a French, English Dolby TrueHD 3.0 track. Video and audio are not key to the experience of “The Class” but there are no noticeable problems in either arena on the Blu-Ray release.

The featurette is interesting, but the main draw of the release is still the film itself, one that should find a wider audience through its home release. Powerful, provocative, and intelligent, “The Class” deserves more students.

‘The Class’ is released by Sony Pictures Home Video and stars Francois Begaudeau. It was written by Begaudeau, Laurent Cantet, & Robin Campillo and directed by Cantet. The Blu-Ray and DVD were released on August 11th, 2009. It is rated PG-13.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

‘Slumdog Millionaire,’ Kate Winslet, Heath Ledger, Sean Penn Win 2009 Academy Awards

BrianTT — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 23:17:08 -0700

CHICAGO – Fox Searchlight’s “Slumdog Millionaire” was the huge winner at The 81st Annual Academy Awards on Sunday, February 22nd, 2009 taking home an amazing eight Oscars, including the trophies for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. The film also won Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Score, Best Song, and Best Sound Mixing.

“Slumdog” was easily the big winner of the night, followed by “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” with three trophies and “Milk” and “The Dark Knight” with two.

Penelope Cruz at the 2009 Oscars.
Photo credit: Michael Yada/AMPAS

Acting winners started with Penelope Cruz taking the Supporting Actress trophy for “Amy Adams & Viola Davis for “Doubt,” Taraji P. Henson for “Benjamin Button,” and Marisa Tomei for “The Wrestler”. Cruz joked about possibly fainting and thanked Woody Allen for giving her a great role.

The Supporting Actor trophy went to Heath Ledger for “The Dark Knight”. The deceased actor’s family accepted for him after a standing ovation from the audience. Ledger beat out Josh Brolin for “Milk,” Robert Downey Jr. for “Tropic Thunder,” Philip Seymour Hoffman for “Doubt,” and Michael Shannon for “Revolutionary Road”. The last posthumous winner was Peter Finch who won Best Actor for 1976’s “Network”. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house after Ledger’s win.

The Actress award went, predictably, to the great Kate Winslet for “The Reader,” her first win after five previous nominations. A teary-eyed Winslet beat out Meryl Streep for “Doubt,” Anne Hathaway for “Rachel Getting Married,” Melissa Leo for “Frozen River,” and Angelina Jolie for “Changeling”.

The final acting award of the night was arguably the most nail-biting with Sean Penn taking the prize for “Milk” over Mickey Rourke for “The Wrestler”. The two were in a dead heat from most Oscar watchers, leaving Frank Langella for “Frost/Nixon,” Richard Jenkins for “The Visitor” and Brad Pitt for “Benjamin Button” to wait till next time.

Philippe Petit of “Man on Wire” at the 2009 Oscars.
Photo credit: Michael Yada/AMPAS

Danny Boyle jumped up and down after winning for “Slumdog Millionaire,” clearly the emotional favorite of the evening. The last film to win at least eight awards was “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” five years ago.

Best Animated Film went to “WALL-E,” Best Documentary to “Man on Wire,” and, in one of the few surprises of the evening, Best Foreign Language Film went to “Departures,” over the more popular “The Class” and “Waltz With Bashir”.

The style of the Academy Awards this year was very different. Previous winners gave speeches about each of the acting nominees including presenters like Shirley MacLaine, Sophia Loren, Anthony Hopkins, Sir Ben Kingsley, Tilda Swinton, Halle Berry, and Kevin Kline. Awards were also commonly given away in groups with both screenplays, sound and visual effects, and the music awards being given away at the same time.

Dustin Lance Black won Best Original Screenplay for his debut work on “Milk” and gave one of the most heartfelt and moving speeches of the night. Simon Beaufoy won Best Adapted Screenplay for “Slumdog Millionaire”.

On the technical ledger for awards that “Slumdog Millionaire” didn’t take home, “The Dark Knight” won Sound Editing, “Benjamin Button” won Visual Effects, Makeup, and Art Direction, and “The Duchess” won Costume Design.

The winning short films were “Smile Pinki,” “La Maison en Petits Cubes,” and “Toyland”. Hugh Jackman hosted the affair and while many will critique and praise him in the coming hours, he came off as likable and certainly gave it his all. Jerry Lewis won the Lifetime Achievement Award.

See our 30-image red-carpet slideshow of the 2009 Oscars.
Read our full list of the 2009 Oscar nominees.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

From ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ to ‘Milk’: HollywoodChicago.com Picks the 2009 Oscar Winners

BrianTT — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:28:15 -0700

CHICAGO – Content director Brian Tallerico and staff writers Dustin Levell and Patrick McDonald have merged their movie-loving minds and come up with the ultimate Oscar preview. Win your office pool, impress your friends and propose a toast to the nominees that should have been when the 81st-annual Academy Awards are broadcast on Feb. 22, 2009 at 7 p.m. CST.

BEST PICTURE

Slumdog Millionaire
Photo credit: Fox Searchlight

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
-Paramount; 13 nominations; $123 million gross

“Frost/Nixon”
-Universal; 5 nominations; $17 million gross

“Milk”
-Focus; 8 nominations; $27 million gross; winner of New York Critics Award

“The Reader”
-The Weinstein Company; 5 nominations; $21 million gross

“Slumdog Millionaire”
-Fox Searchlight; 10 nominations; $89 million gross; winner of BAFTA, Boston Critics, National Board of Review, Producers Guild Award, SAG Ensemble Award, and Golden Globe

Nearly everyone on Earth is predicting a locked-in win for Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire” and HollywoodChicago.com is no different. It would be an absolute, jaw-dropping shock to hear “Frost/Nixon” or “The Reader” announced on Oscar night and “Milk” doesn’t have the support needed to get the big win. That leaves the nomination leader - “Button” - and the little movie that could. It’s a Slumdog World, and we only live here.

Dustin thinks the Academy will get it right this year and award the film that deserves the big prize but Patrick and Brian wouldn’t mind seeing a win for “Milk”.

As for the already-notorious snubs of “Wall-E” and “The Dark Knight,” Dustin says, “Twenty years from now, though people will be still be talking about Dark Knight and WALL-E as the great cinematic achievements of 2008 and how they raised the bar for their respective genres.” With no explanation, Patrick throws an interesting film into the ring for what should have been nominated - Neil LaBute’s “Lakeview Terrace”. We love Mr. McDonald and the limb he’s out on with that one.

BEST ACTOR

Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler
Photo credit: Fox Searchlight

Richard Jenkins, “The Visitor”
-1st nomination

Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”
-1st nomination

Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
-2nd nomination (no wins)

Sean Penn, “Milk”
-5th nomination (one win); won Boston (tie) and LA Critics Awards and Screen Actors Guild Award

Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”
-1st nomination; won BAFTA, Boston (tie) and Chicago Critics Awards and Golden Globe

This may be one of the tightest races in the history of Best Actor. Eliminating the possibility of a shocking split vote letting a third candidate sneak in, it’s going to be one of two ’80s icons - Sean Penn as Harvey Milk or Mickey Rourke as Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson. Langella, Pitt and Jenkins just got picked in the wrong year.

The SAG win for Penn and universal acclaim seems to give him the edge but Rourke has been nearly as lauded during precursor season and won the Golden Globe. It doesn’t hurt Mickey that Sean has won before. It’s a lot harder to get a second prize. But that doesn’t stop Brian from saying Sean’s going to be one of the few and that he deserves it. Dustin and Patrick are going with Mickey and all three think their choice to win is also the one that should.

There may be solid agreement that either Mickey Rourke or Sean Penn will and should win but there’s no consensus pick on the HollywoodChicago.com staff as to who should have been nominated.

Dustin points to the most financially successful film in Clint Eastwood’s history, “Gran Torino,” and what could be the legendary star’s final performance and finds it surprising that the Academy didn’t throw the old man a bone on his last go round as an actor.

Patrick goes back further in the year and picks the underrated Sam Rockwell and his excellent work in David Gordon Green’s “Snow Angels”.

Finally, Brian thinks no one worked as hard or embodied a character quite as completely as Benicio Del Toro in “Che”. Sadly, all three men have as much of a chance of winning an Oscar on Sunday night as you do.

‘WALL-E,’ ‘The Dark Knight’ Snubbed For Major 2009 Oscar Nominations

BrianTT — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 07:36:15 -0700

CHICAGO – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced their 81st annual nominees this morning, January 22nd, 2009. For a body that has been known to make shocking mistakes, they may have topped themselves by excluding the two most beloved movies of 2008, “WALL-E” and “The Dark Knight” from the Best Picture category.

Heath Ledger landed a nomination for “The Dark Knight” and “WALL-E” was included in the screenplay category, but both were left out of several major categories, including both Christopher Nolan and Andrew Stanton being ignored for best director of the year.

Overall, “The Dark Knight” scored eight nominations and “WALL-E” racked up an impressive six, but the exclusion of both from director and picture makes it clear that the Academy didn’t think they were among the best films of the year.

Christian Bale (left) stars as Batman and Heath Ledger (right) stars as the Joker in “The Dark Knight”.
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

The films that did have a good morning when the nominees were announced on Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 include “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” with a stunning 13 nominations. “Button” will compete with “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk,” “The Reader,” and “Slumdog Millionaire” for the big prize. “Slumdog” came in second with a surprising 10 nominations. “Frost/Nixon” scored five nods, “Milk” landed an impressive eight, and “The Reader” can lay claim to five.

The best director category matched the picture one five for five with David Fincher, Ron Howard, Gus Van Sant, Stephen Daldry, and Danny Boyle all being able to put Oscar-nominated next to their name now. Shockingly, Christopher Nolan was left off the list and some had expected that Darren Aronofsky, might make the cut for “The Wrestler”. We forgot about the Academy’s blind adoration of Stephen Daldry. Three movies - “Billy Elliot,” “The Hours,” “The Reader” - a best director nomination for all three.

In one of the few pleasant surprises of the day and a category that they arguably got right, Richard Jenkins will compete for best actor for “The Visitor” with Frank Langella from “Frost/Nixon,” Sean Penn for “Milk,” Brad Pitt for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” and Mickey Rourke for “The Wrestler”.

Angelina Jolie made up for her snubbing last year and landed a nod for her work in “Changeling”. She’ll fight for best actress with Anne Hathaway in “Rachel Getting Married,” Melissa Leo in “Frozen River,” Meryl Streep in “Doubt,” and Kate Winslet in “The Reader”. The exclusion of Sally Hawkins’ award-winning work in “Happy-Go-Lucky” was the shock of the day and the kind of snubbing that will be remembered for decades.

The supporting actor category produced a surprise with Michael Shannon landing the only nomination for “Revolutionary Road”. He will compete against the frontrunner, Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight,” Josh Brolin in “Milk,” Robert Downey Jr. in “Tropic Thunder,” and Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Doubt”. Why does it feel like Heath Ledger’s category is the only one people will tune in for? If they’re smart, they’ll give it away late in the telecast.

With Winslet moving from supporting to lead for her work in “The Reader,” that left the race for that category wide open with Penelope Cruz returning back to frontrunner status for her turn in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”. She’ll compete with the ladies from “Doubt” - Amy Adams & Viola Davis - Taraji P. Henson for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” and Marisa Tomei for “The Wrestler”.

Taraji P. Henson (left) stars as Queenie with Brad Pitt (right front) in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”.
Photo credit: Merrick Morton, Paramount Pictures

Another shocking snub happened in original screenplay when the regularly-nominated Woody Allen was left out of the category in favor of “Frozen River,” “Happy-Go-Lucky,” “In Bruges,” “Milk”, and “WALL-E”. The adapted screenplay category was the most predictable of the day with “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Doubt,” “Frost/Nixon,” “The Reader,” and “Slumdog Millionaire” being the predictable competition.

Nominees for best foreign language film include “Der Baader Meinhof Complex,” “The Class,” “Departures,” “Revanche,” and the likely winner, “Waltz With Bashir”. Animated film nominees were pretty routine with “Bolt” and “Kung Fu Panda” competing for second place with “WALL-E” a likely winner. The final snub of the day? Bruce Springsteen didn’t make the cut for his great title track from “The Wrestler”. The other nominees follow.

Best Art Direction
“Changeling”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“The Duchess”
“Revolutionary Road”

Best Cinematography
“Changeling”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“The Reader”
“Slumdog Millionaire”

Best Costume Design

“Australia”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Duchess”
“Milk”
“Revolutionary Road”

Best Documentary Feature
“The Betrayal”
“Encounters at the End of the World”
“The Garden”
“Man on Wire”
“Trouble the Water”

Best Editing
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Milk”
“Slumdog Millionaire”

Best Makeup
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army”

Best Original Score
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Defiance”
“Milk”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
“WALL-E”

Best Original Song
“Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire”
“O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire”
“Down to Earth” from “WALL-E”

Best Sound Editing
“The Dark Knight”
“Iron Man”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
“WALL-E”
“Wanted”

Best Sound Mixing
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
“WALL-E”
“Wanted”

Best Visual Effects
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Iron Man”

3:26 p.m. update on Jan. 22, 2009: Various nominees have responded with statements about their 2009 Oscar nominations. Read this story here.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com