I don’t know about you, but I’ve always wanted to hear Bill Murray imitate a cardinal. So when I gathered four members of the team behind Fantastic Mr. Fox (Murray, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, and writer-director Wes Anderson), I figured it was the perfect time to ask the quartet what kind of animals they’ve ever wished they were. Here’s a sneak peek at my OscarWatch chat with the group; check back here on Monday for the full interview. And in the meantime, please follow me on Twitter (@davekarger) for instant Oscar updates.
Now that An Education is finally hitting theaters this Friday, I’m curious to see if there’s going to be any kind of “ick factor” amongst audiences and Oscar voters (particularly older ones) over the film’s basic plot: a 16-year-old schoolgirl who falls for a man in his early 30s and decides to lose her virginity to him on her 17th birthday. The subject matter is handled with great sensitivity by director Lone Scherfig and screenwriter Nick Hornby, but that’s never stopped some people from getting all up in arms. It’s particularly interesting in light of Roman Polanski’s recent arrest—though it goes without saying that the cases, while both involving adult men and underage girls, are vastly different. In Part 2 of our OscarWatch interview (watch Part 1 here), Carey Mulligan and I discuss her impressive Education costars Emma Thompson and Sally Hawkins and the surprising reactions she’s gotten from fathers after they’ve seen the movie.
(On a side note: I conducted this interview last month in Toronto. After I got back, I saw Jack Rosenthal’s Sept. 25 “On Language” column in the New York Times Magazine, in which he discusses a handful of words that many people use incorrectly, one of which is enormity. Most people, including me, think it means “enormousness,” when in fact it means “great wickedness.” So now of course I feel like an idiot for showing my ignorance in this video. I’ll never make that mistake again!)
One of the most purely entertaining Toronto films I saw was Good Hair, Chris Rock’s documentary (directed by Jeff Stilson) about the phenomenon of African-American hair: weaves, perms, relaxers, the whole works. For the uninitiated, there’s an annual black hair convention in Atlanta called the Bronner Bros. International Hair Show, an over-the-top spectacle where much of the film (in theaters Oct. 9) takes place, and where Rock and Stilson mine much of their comedic gold. In Part 1 of our OscarWatch interview, Rock and I talk about which interview subject turned him down, as well as some of the film’s most priceless moments.
A top candidate for breakout actress of the year is certainly Carey Mulligan, the 24-year-old Brit who’d only had supporting parts in two films (she was one of Keira Knightley’s little sisters in Pride & Prejudice) when she scored the plum lead role in An Education (in theaters next Friday, Oct. 9). As precocious London schoolgirl Jenny, Mulligan not only holds her own opposite castmates Peter Sarsgaard, Emma Thompson, Alfred Molina, and Sally Hawkins, but she completely carries the film, which was written by novelist Nick Hornby and directed by Danish filmmaker Lone Scherfig. And as you’ll see when you click play on Part 1 of our OscarWatch interview, she’s going to charm the pants off the Academy and should have no problem scoring a Best Actress nomination.
Watch me and Missy Schwartz rave about Mulligan in our Best Actress chat. And follow me on Twitter (@davekarger) for Oscar updates all season long. My interview with Mulligan is after the jump. (Read full post)
I met Clive Owen a few years back to interview him for Derailed, his thriller with Jennifer Aniston, and found him to be perfectly pleasant but not the most vibrant guy in the world. But when he showed up for his OscarWatch interview for The Boys Are Back, there was an undeniable light in his eyes from the moment he walked in the door. Owen has reason to be enthusiastic—he gives the most nuanced and emotional performance of his career in the drama directed by Scott Hicks (Shine) about a sportswriter trying to raise two boys after the sudden death of his wife. Because the role is so quiet, he’s not exactly a slam dunk for his first Best Actor nomination (he scored a supporting nod for Closer) but he’s definitely “in the conversation,” as they say. The film opens tomorrow; in the meantime, he talks about why he wanted to play a dad, how he bonded with his 7-year-old costar, and whether his two daughters wish he were more like his carefree character. Check out the interview after the jump. (Read full post)
All right, Moore. You got all my softball questions in Part 1 of your OscarWatch interview. Now I’m going to get all Mike Wallace on your behind and confront you on a number of controversial topics regarding your new documentary, Capitalism: A Love Story (in selected theaters today). Why, for example, didn’t you include a response from WalMart in the section of the film chastising the mega-corporation for taking out insurance policies against some of their employees? Isn’t it manipulative to have a scene showing the widower of a dead WalMart worker reading a letter to his deceased wife? And isn’t your film, which lauds ordinary citizens for standing up to authorities trying to evict delinquent homeowners, basically inciting widespread violence in this country? So, can you handle it? (Read full post)
Chatting with Michael Moore is equally amusing and depressing. The Oscar-winning documentarian (Bowling for Columbine) is easily as entertaining as his films, but what he’s talking about is enough to drive you crazy. Case in point: His latest doc, Capitalism: A Love Story, which hits theaters tomorrow. In Part 1 of our OscarWatch interview, we discuss how his growing fame has hampered his filmmaking process, why it’s next to impossible to explain what a “derivative” is, and whether real Catholics need to be Socialists. Follow me on Twitter (@davekarger) for updates throughout the awards season, and watch the interview after the jump. (Read full post)
By now about a million of you have seen The Informant!, the fifth collaboration between Matt Damon and Steven Soderbergh as actor and director. In the last installment of our OscarWatch interview (check out Part 1 and Part 2 as well), Damon talks about how the Oscar-winning filmmaker guided him through the comedy’s most pivotal scenes. Watch the video after the jump, and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter (@davekarger) for updates all season long. (Read full post)
It’s hard to believe that it’s been 12 years since Matt Damon’s first and only Oscar nomination for acting, for 1997’s Good Will Hunting. But even though he’s delivered several strong performances since then (The Talented Mr. Ripley, anyone?), the Academy doesn’t seem to have noticed. I’m curious to see whether his riotous performance in Steven Soderbergh’s The Informant! (in theaters today) changes any of that. True, it’s a comedy, so that’s one strike against his chances. But he is playing a real guy, and of course there’s the weight gain in his favor. But most of all, it’s a uniquely funny performance that took real guts to pull off. Here’s more of our OscarWatch interview, after the jump. And the obligatory “follow me on Twitter” (@davekarger) request. (Read full post)
The reviews are in, and they’re terrific. The New York Times‘ A.O. Scott praised Abbie Cornish’s performance in Jane Campion’s period drama Bright Star, saying that she plays John Keats’ young lover Fanny Brawne “with mesmerizing vitality and heart-stopping grace….She’s as good as Kate Winslet, which is about as good as it’s possible to be.” My own colleague Lisa Schwarzbaum cited “Cornish’s lovely, open-hearted performance.” In Part 2 of our OscarWatch interview, Cornish tells me why she was a loner on the Bright Star set, and what it’s like to have butterflies as your costars.
