Moviefone Editorial

Tag: boyhood

  • ‘High Desert’ Interview: Patricia Arquette and Matt Dillon

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    Premiering on Apple TV+ beginning May 17th is the new series ‘High Desert,’ which was created and written by Nancy Fichman (‘Damages’), Katie Ford (‘Miss Congeniality’) and Jennifer Hoppe-House (‘Nurse Jackie’), and directed by Jay Roach (‘Bombshell’).

    What is the plot of ‘High Desert?’

    ‘High Desert’ follows Peggy (Patricia Arquette), an on-again-off-again addict who decides to make a new start after the death of her beloved mother, with whom she lived in the small desert town of Yucca Valley, California, and makes a life-changing decision to become a private investigator.

    Meanwhile, Peggy is also dealing with her ex, Denny (Matt Dillon) who is an undeniably charming parolee and a relentless operator, Guru Bob (Rupert Friend), a local ex-anchorman who rebrands himself as a mystic desert personality, Carol (Weruche Opia) who is Peggy’s closest friend, and Bruce (Brad Garrett), a private investigator whose business is circling the drain and who becomes Peggy’s reluctant employer.

    Who is in the cast of ‘High Desert?’

    ‘High Desert’ stars Oscar-winner Patricia Arquette (‘Boyhood‘) as Peggy, Matt Dillon (‘There’s Something About Mary‘) as Denny, Rupert Friend (‘Obi-Wan Kenobi‘) as Guru Bob, Weruche Opia (‘When Love Happens‘) as Carol, Brad Garrett (‘Ratatouille‘) as Bruce, Bernadette Peters (‘The Jerk‘) as Rosalyn, Christine Taylor (‘Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story‘) as Dianne, Carmine Giovinazzo (‘Black Hawk Down‘) as Nick Gatchi, Carlo Rota (‘Saw V‘) as Arman, Jeffrey Vincent Parise (‘The Chumscrubber‘) as Roger, Tracy Vilar (‘Double Jeopardy‘) as Tina, Keir O’Donnell (‘American Sniper‘) as Stewart, Susan Park (‘Always Be My Maybe‘) as Tammy.

    Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Patricia Arquette and Matt Dillon about their work on ‘High Desert,’ how they got involved with the project, the aspects of their characters that they were excited to explore on screen, Peggy’s unique sense of right and wrong, and Peggy and Denny’s relationship.

    Matt Dillon and Patricia Arquette star in 'High Desert,' now streaming on Apple TV+.
    (L to R) Matt Dillon and Patricia Arquette star in ‘High Desert,’ now streaming on Apple TV+.

    You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Arquette, Dillon, Bernadette Peters, Christine Taylor, Keir O’Donnell, Weruche Opia, Rupert Friend, and director Jay Roach.

    Moviefone: To begin with, Patricia, how did you become involved in this project?

    Patricia Arquette: The writer producers came to me many years ago now with a version of this script, and I really loved elements of it. I loved their voice. It was very funny, the three of them, how they wrote it, and it was inspired by one of them, Nancy Fishman’s sister Marjorie, who’d been an addict and got sober and then slipped off the wagon again. At one point she had said, “You know what? I’m going to be a PI.” Nancy thought, “Wow, okay. That’s kind of the sanest thing you’ve ever said. You’d be a great PI, actually.” But unfortunately, Marjorie has passed away, and I think this is part of the homage to her spirit, her beautiful heart, her wildness, and an imagined journey if Peggy could have been a PI.

    MF: Matt, what were some of the aspects of your character that you were excited to explore in this series?

    Matt Dillon: Well, Denny’s complicated. He’s a manipulator. He’s funny. He’s got this spiritual side to him that he really, truly believes in. But he’s a criminal, and he’s always been that way. He’s loyal. He’s very much in love with Peggy, and yeah, he’s a man of many contradictions.

    Patricia Arquette in 'High Desert,' now streaming on Apple TV+.
    Patricia Arquette in ‘High Desert,’ now streaming on Apple TV+.

    Related Article: ‘Severance’ Interview: Patricia Arquette Talks Apple TV+ Series

    MF: Patricia, can you talk about your approach to playing Peggy?

    PA: Well, again, a lot of it came from the writing. The writers were just hilarious in what they were writing. Again, I think it was this kind of love letter to her sister Marjorie. Then there were elements of it that reminded me of my sister, Alexis. She was always collecting these broken bird people, taking care of them. It’s like, “Wait a minute. You can’t even take care of yourself. Now you’re going to help this guy who’s getting a divorce, who’s got a broken heart, and then this other person, with their thing, and the girl with her fake boobs? What’s going on here?” So I just kind of like the whole journey. I liked how she was so fast moving and it was the opposite of ‘Severance.’ It’s very wild and it’s very kinetic. It’s very unstructured, where ‘Severance’ is a pressure cooker, kind of uncomfortable, strict structure. So there was a lot of things I loved.

    MF: Peggy has a very unique sense of what is right and wrong, can you talk about that aspect of the character?

    PA: We both do. That’s the weird thing too. They have their own kind of moral code that they’ve created. She’ll say that she’s sober and she means it, and then she’ll be like, “Well, that doesn’t include acid because that’s a spiritual thing, and this is for some other thing.” She’s got a million little reasons, and that can happen with addicts.

    Matt Dillon and Patricia Arquette in 'High Desert,' now streaming on Apple TV+.
    (L to R) Matt Dillon and Patricia Arquette in ‘High Desert,’ now streaming on Apple TV+.

    MF: Matt, how would you describe Denny and Peggy’s relationship?

    MD: I think they were written with love. They’re damaged people, but you got that feeling from Nancy and the showrunners, that they really loved Peggy. The character is very close to Nancy’s sister in real life, as was Denny because Denny was in Peggy’s life. It was based on real people. But I do think, just to the point about burning out, I think what’s great about Peggy and Denny is that they’re so resourceful. You know what I mean? “Okay, this isn’t going to work out, but I got another idea”. They don’t always agree, but they love each other so much that they’re not really polite to each other.

    MF: Finally, Patricia, what is your take on Peggy and Denny’s relationship?

    PA: I think we all have known addicts that were beautiful people and interesting, fascinating, knew these great things, had these talents and this mortal flaw, and they’re like these bright flames that burn very quickly and they burn out. So I do feel this whole show was written with incredible love. He pretends he is going along with her, but then he does whatever the hell he wants. He’s the only person that can out-hustle Peggy.

    Patricia Arquette in 'High Desert,' now streaming on Apple TV+.
    Patricia Arquette in ‘High Desert,’ now streaming on Apple TV+.

    Movies Similar to ‘High Desert:’

    Buy Patricia Arquette Movies on Amazon

    Buy Matt Dillon Movies on Amazon 

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  • Oscars 2015: Best Picture Winner Is ‘Birdman’

    birdmanAnd the winner of the 2015 Oscar for Best Picture is… “Birdman.”

    This year, there were nine nominees up for Best Picture: “American Sniper,” “Birdman,” “Boyhood,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “The Imitation Game,” “Selma,” “The Theory of Everything,” and “Whiplash.” But, as “Highlander” tells us, there can be only one.

    All of the films were, we’re sure, just honored to be nominated, but only “Birdman” walked away with the win. Since the nominations were announced, the consensus has always been that it’s really just a race between “Boyhood” and “Birdman,” so tonight’s winner wasn’t really a surprise. Well, it kinda was.

    Now that the Oscars are over, we can dream about next year’s nominees. Or not. Your call.
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  • Oscars 2015: Best Supporting Actress Winner Is Patricia Arquette

    Best Supporting Actress Patricia Arquette
    And the winner for Best Supporting Actress is Patricia Arquette for “Boyhood.”

    The Oscars 2015 Best Supporting Actress may not have been one of the hotter contested awards of the season, but it’s anyone’s race come the big night. The five nominees for the Academy Award were Meryl Streep for “Into the Woods,” Keira Knightley for “The Imitation Game,” Patricia Arquette for “Boyhood,” Emma Stone for “Birdman,” and Laura Dern for “Wild.”

    Going into the Academy Awards this year, the Arquette had won the Golden Globe, SAG, BAFTA, and many more awards for her performance, making the veteran actress the clear favorite on Oscar night. Emma Stone was the dark horse in the race, earning rave reviews for her performance as a troubled daughter opposite Michael Keaton in “Birdman,” but ultimately Arquette’s career-defining role won out.

    Arquette was nominated for her role in Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood,” a somewhat experimental film that was shot over the course of 12 years. The film fictitiously chronicled the childhood and adolescence of a young boy growing up in Texas, Arquette playing the brave and sometimes troubled mother. It was the first Oscar nomination for Arquette and first win.

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  • ​Oscars 2015: 7 Burning Questions Remain

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    The Oscars aren’t until next Sunday, but the race will be all over by Tuesday. The 17th is the day ballots are due; after that, it’s all in the hands of the number-crunchers at Pricewaterhouse Cooper. Still, there were a lot of last-minute awards given out over the weekend by several of the professional groups — writers, cinematographers, sound editors, sound mixers, and makeup artists and hairstylists — whose members will also be turning in their Oscar ballots this week. Their decisions should help you, not only to determine who’ll win the prizes in the more obscure corners of your Oscar pool ballot, but also which movies have broad enough support to win the more coveted prizes.

    What did we learn from this weekend’s guild awards?

    Well, the Writers Guild of America gave its original screenplay prize to “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and its adapted screenplay prize to “The Imitation Game.” Those are safe bets for the Oscars as well. The American Society of Cinematographers gave its top prize to “Birdman,” and even though Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki also won this Oscar last year for “Gravity,” he’s likely to win again this year for his stunning long-take tracking shots that comprise “Birdman.”

    The Cinema Audio Society, which recognizes the work of sound mixers, gave its live-action prize to “Birdman,” which not only makes that film the favorite for the Sound Mixing Oscar but adds yet another burst to its momentum for Best Picture. Don’t confuse this group with the Sound Editors (who handle sound effects, rather than the overall soundtrack), whose Golden Reel award this weekend went to “American Sniper.” That film is a safe bet for the Sound Editing Oscar, which, after all, usually goes to the loudest movie. (Yes, there are three war movies competing; besides “Sniper,” there’s “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” and “Unbroken,” but the Academy will want to give at least one Oscar to “Sniper,” and this is about the only one it’s likely to get. As for the other two nominees, “Interstellar” had sound problems, according to many listener complaints, and “Birdman” hardly seems to belong in this category.)

    As for the Makeup and Hairstylist Guild Awards, they gave two prizes each to “Budapest” (Best Period Makeup, Best Period Hairstyling) and “Guardians of the Galaxy” (Best Contemporary Makeup, Best Special Makeup Effects). Since these two films are competing for the Makeup and Hairstyling Oscar (along with “Foxcatcher,” which went unrewarded by the guild), they seem to be evenly matched going into the final stretch. It’s a tough call; “Budapest” has an impressive array of whimsical mustaches and beards, not to mention Tilda Swinton’s elaborate old-age makeup, but “Guardians” had impressive makeup as well, was one of the year’s biggest hits, and is unlikely to win any other Oscars except maybe Visual Effects. So this category looks neck and neck.

    So, is it gonna be “Boyhood” or “Birdman”?

    Tough to say. There’s a precedent either way. “Boyhood” won the BAFTA for Best Picture last weekend, along with many precursor awards earlier in the season, and the last six BAFTA winners have gone on to win the Best Picture Oscar as well. Then again, it’s not clear that people in Hollywood actually care what the British Academy thinks; rather, the BAFTAs seem to reflect conventional wisdom, not generate it.

    “Birdman” has won the three major guild awards (Producers, Screen Actors, and Directors), and it’s been 19 years since a movie (“Apollo 13”) won all three of those and failed to win Best Picture. Also, the Academy seems to have gotten over its long-standing bias against movies about show business (see recent winners “The Artist” and “Argo”). Plus, there’s the simple fact that it has nine nominations to six for “Boyhood.” On the other hand, it’s very hard to win Best Picture without even scoring an Editing nomination (as “Birdman” failed to do), and there’s also just the general weirdness factor, contrasted with the more traditionally heartfelt “Boyhood.” So I’d say the odds favor “Birdman,” but it’s going to be very close.

    Does any other movie have a chance?

    Not really. The way the weighted voting system works for Best Picture ballots favors movies that are widely admired (if not loved) over movies that inspire passionate feelings for or against. So movies that are divisive or don’t inspire much enthusiasm will fall by the wayside. Not everyone loves “Boyhood” or “Birdman,” but they’re both widely admired.

    As for the others, “American Sniper” may be far and away the most populist movie among the Best Picture nominees, having earned more than $300 million to date, but to the Academy, it’s still too controversial. “Grand Budapest Hotel” has as many nominations as “Birdman,” but it’s a more overt comedy, and comedies almost never win. “The Imitation Game” and “The Theory of Everything” are pretty standard-issue biopics, with only their strong lead acting performances to distinguish them. “Selma” is as divisive in its own way as “American Sniper,” though it’ll probably win Best Original Song and have to be satisfied with that. “Whiplash” doesn’t feel like the kind of grand, ambitious movie that says “Best Picture,” though tyrannical music teacher J.K. Simmons is a lock for Best Supporting Actor.

    Who’ll win the acting prizes?

    Along with Simmons, “Still Alice” star Julianne Moore and “Boyhood” co-star Patricia Arquette have been locks for Actress and Supporting Actress since day one. That leaves Best Actor as the only truly suspenseful race.

    Let’s see, Benedict Cumberbatch did a solid job playing Alan Turing in “The Imitation Game,” but the role isn’t as flashy as the others in the category. Bradley Cooper is nominated for the third time in three years, but the Academy’s ambivalence toward the real-life story of Chris Kyle, which will keep “American Sniper” from winning Best Picture, will extend to Cooper’s performance as well. (Indeed many pundits were surprised he was even nominated.) Steve Carell’s physical and dramatic transformation for his creepy “Foxcatcher” role is impressive, but it’s not clear that the movie is all that well regarded or even widely seen. Besides, if the narrative behind the performance is what a great job a comedian did with a dark and dramatic role, it’s easier to go with Michael Keaton for “Birdman,” which also has the virtue of being the actor’s comeback role and his first recognition by the Academy during a long and celebrated career. The only one who can trump him is Eddie Redmayne, for his striking physical transformation as Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything.” Playing someone who overcomes tremendous physical or mental disability is often a sure path to Oscar success. Both actors have won a number of precursor awards this season, so this category remains a toss-up, to be decided according to which personal narrative the Academy prefers.

    Is Oscar campaigning getting out of hand?

    Seems so. After all, it’s kind of silly that personal narrative should matter so much (as opposed to, you know, merit), but it does. The “For Your Consideration” ads for “The Imitation Game” popping up on the trade websites are just the latest symptom. They hint that Academy members should pick the film (and Cumberbatch) because it’s a way of honoring Turing as a gay martyr. That’s pretty rich for a film that’s been accused of downplaying the World War II codebreaker’s homosexuality. Plus, it’s a tactic likely to backfire, as it did nine years ago for “Brokeback Mountain.”

    Meanwhile, songwriting nominee Diane Warren, who’s been nominated six previous times without a win, is griping that neither singer Rita Ora nor the Relativity record label are doing enough to campaign for her tune “Grateful,” from the film “Beyond the Lights.” She may have a point — the song is certainly an underdog in a category that contains “Glory” (from “Selma”), “Everything Is Awesome” (from “The LEGO Movie”) and “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” (from “Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me.”). “Glory” is the favorite (because “Selma” has to win something), and everyone loves “Everything Is Awesome” (though not enough to overcome the Academy’s aversion to satirical songs). Campbell’s tune, inspired by his valiant struggle against Alzheimer’s, has sentiment and personal narrative on its side. The other nominee, “Lost Stars,” from the little-seen musical “Begin Again,” has even less of a shot than “Grateful.” Which makes Warren’s carping seem, well, less than “Grateful.” To the extent that personal narrative matters, she’s not helping her cause.

    Is it really an honor just to be nominated?

    Yes. In fact, it’s lucrative. Not only to the nominees enjoy the likelihood of salary raises the next time they’re up for a role, but even if they don’t win, they’ll take home a swag bag this year worth a reported $125,000. This collection of luxury goods and travel gift certificates isn’t an official Academy gift (it’s put together by an outside firm, without the Academy’s endorsement), but it’s still a pretty nice consolation prize for the 80 percent of nominees who won’t go home with trophies.

    In the grand scheme of things, how much does all this matter?

    Not much, perhaps. As film critic Richard Roeper pointed out in a tweet, “Fifty Shades of Grey” earned more during its Valentine’s Day weekend debut than “Boyhood,” “The Theory of Everything” and “Whiplash” have earned all together during their entire runs. Of course, “Grey” isn’t going to win any Oscars next year, but swag bags aside, it looks like this year’s Best Picture contenders are fighting over who gets to be king of an awfully small anthill. The winner, whether it’s “Birdman” or “Boyhood,” will be celebrated for a moment and forgotten by the time next year’s Oscars roll around. After all, last year was the year of “12 Years a Slave,” and yet this year, the Academy seems to have forgotten that black people exist, either as story subjects or as performers and filmmakers.

    Then again, who’s to say this year’s Oscar race will have no larger impact? Five years ago, “The Hurt Locker” became the lowest-grossing Best Picture winner in ages, and yet it seems Clint Eastwood must have seen it. What else is “American Sniper” but his “Hurt Locker,” an Iraq War movie that is careful not to take a political position on the war itself, that celebrates the heroism of the troops while reckoning the moral and soul-destroying cost of combat on the lives of individual servicemen and their families? Five years ago, that seemed a radical artistic approach; today, it’s a mainstream blockbuster. Whose to say that, a few years from now, we won’t be seeing mainstream hits that incorporate the structural innovations of “Boyhood” and “Birdman”? For all the seasonal squabbling over politics, ego, wounded pride, and money, the art of storytelling through moving pictures continues to advance, and it’s good to have an annual excuse to stop and recognize that.
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  • Oscars 2015: ‘Boyhood,’ ‘Birdman,’ Backlash, Behavior, and Backstory

    boyhood birdmanFor all the months of campaigning surrounding Oscars season, this week is the one week that actually counts. Ballots for the final vote went out to Academy members on Friday, February 6, and must be submitted by next Tuesday, February 17. So whatever happened before, it’s what’s on voters’ minds this week that matters.

    The two big questions this week are: 1.) Does “Boyhood” or “Birdman” have the edge? and 2.) Which individuals would voters like to see up on the podium thanking their agents, spouses, and higher powers (God, Harvey Weinstein, et al)?

    “Boyhood” and “Birdman” have been locked in a tight race for Best Picture for nearly three months. For most of that time, “Boyhood” seemed to have the edge, but its early momentum is now nearly spent. “Birdman” has won the trifecta of the major guild prizes. Last month, it won at the Producers Guild and Screen Actors Guild Awards, and on Saturday, it completed the trio with a Directors Guild Award for Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu. The DGA prize is traditionally a very strong predictor, not just of the Oscar for Best Director, but for Best Picture as well. (In its 65-year history, the DGA prize has presaged the Academy Award for Best Director all but seven times.) The overwhelming support of Hollywood’s professional guilds, whose memberships tend to overlap with the roll of Academy voters, for “Birdman” suggests that the surreal Michael Keaton film is now the favorite. Indeed, it has more Academy Award nominations than any other movie this year except “The Grand Budapest Hotel” (they’re tied with nine; “Boyhood” has six), but since Oscar seldom rewards comedies, “Birdman” has the edge there, too.

    (For those who are keeping track, the DGAs gave their documentary prize to Laura Poitras, adding to the awards tally for Best Documentary Oscar nominee and likely winner “Citizenfour.”)

    During the long period when “Boyhood” and “Birdman” were neck-and-neck, critics praised both films for their creativity and technical achievements, and while many preferred “Boyhood” for displaying more heart, they saw both films as Oscar-worthy. Now, however, there’s even the beginnings of an anti-“Boyhood” backlash, as evidenced by an essay that ran Friday in the New York Times. In the article, Times weekend culture editor Mary Jo Murphy slams “Boyhood’s” narrative strategy — showing the characters growing and changing over a 12-year span by filming the actors once a year for 12 years — as derivative of Michael Apted’s celebrated “Up” series of documentaries, which has revisited the same group of Britons every seven years for the last half-century, since they were seven years old. The implication is that the Academy shouldn’t reward Richard Linklater’s film for its gimmickry and lack of originality.

    As Scott Feinberg has noted in The Hollywood Reporter, this attack is suspicious. First, Linklater has acknowledged in interviews the influence of the “Up” films on his work. (If any of Linklater’s movies deserve comparison to the “Up” series, it’s his “Before” trilogy, which has revisited the same fictional couple every nine years.) Second, Apted has praised “Boyhood” and has noted the substantial differences between it and his “Up” movies. Finally, the timing of the article’s publication is strange, since “Boyhood” has been in theaters for nearly eight months. Why blast it now, unless one wants to sabotage its Oscar chances? At the very least, the timing of Murphy’s piece suggests that “Birdman” will benefit from the narrative that it’s been an underdog throughout this awards season. (Consider how well that worked for “Argo” a couple years ago.)

    As far as the second question, of who belongs on the Oscar podium, that’s being decided this week by the subtler aspects of campaigning, as the nominees work to prove themselves capable of appearing gracious on camera. The biggest test came last Monday at the annual nominees’ luncheon at the Beverly Hilton, a once-casual event that, over the past two decades, has become as rigorous a public rite of passage as any of the awards season red-carpet ceremonies. Reporters are invited to watch nominees profess their admiration for each other, pay rapt attention while Academy biigwigs urge them to keep their acceptance speeches brief if they win a trophy on Feb. 22, pose for a massive group photo, and display their table manners while they eat. Surely nyone who can withstand that kind of scrutiny deserves some sort of prize.

    According to press accounts of the event, everyone who showed seemed to pass with flying colors. (Notably absent: “Birdman” director Iñarritu, who’s currently filming on location, and Benedict Cumberbatch.) Rosamund Pike said she didn’t know there were going to be reporters there, but she answered their questions like a pro. Bradley Cooper and Clint Eastwood deftly deflected questions about the controversies surrounding “American Sniper,” saying the important thing was to get viewers talking about the hardships soldiers face. Eastwood’s fellow 84-year-old, Robert Duvall, suggested he wasn’t nervous about the Oscars because he knows he won’t win. (If he did, the Supporting Actor nominee for “The Judge” would be the oldest actor ever to win an Oscar, but J.K. Simmons is the category favorite for his turn in “Whiplash.”) Posing for the group photo, “Whiplash” director Damian Chazelle seemed appropriately humbled at being asked to stand next to Oprah Winfrey (present as nominated producer of Best Picture contender “Selma”). Marion Cotillard managed to stand longer than any other woman in spiked heels. Laura Dern brought along her dad, Bruce Dern, who was nominated for an Oscar last year for his performance in “Nebraska.” Due deference was paid to Ted Sarandos (producer of nominated documentary “Virunga”), who, as the chief content officer of Netflix, seemed to hold in his hand the future careers of everyone else in the room.

    The good-behavior tour continued on Sunday with the BAFTAs, the British answer to the Academy Awards. Again, it’s not like the Oscar voters back in Los Angeles pay much attention to whom the Brits voted for — they picked “Boyhood” for Best Picture, Director, and Supporting Actress (Patricia Arquette), along with Eddie Redmayne for Best Actor, Julianne Moore for Best Actress, and J.K. Simmons for Best Supporting Actor — since almost all their choices, save perhaps “Boyhood,” were already Oscar favorites. But the Academy members in Hollywood do pay attention if something scandalous happens at the BAFTAs. Back in 2002, Russell Crowe notoriously punched out a BAFTA telecast producer who cut short his acceptance speech (which included a poetry reading). News of the incident is widely credited with costing Crowe an Oscar for “A Beautiful Mind,” with the Best Actor prize going instead to Denzel Washington for “Training Day.” (Yes, Washington could have won the award on merit alone, but his win also insured that there’d be no BAFTA-like boorish behavior from Crowe at the Oscar podium.)

    Thankfully, there weren’t any reports of Crowe-like crudeness from the BAFTAs. Still, 14 of the 15 performers nominated for both BAFTAs and Oscars made a point of making the transatlantic trek and smiling for the cameras. (Only Emma Stone, currently acting on Broadway, didn’t make it to London.) All of them were showing the Academy what troopers they can be, especially the British stars. Eddie Redmayne, Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Felicity Jones, and Rosamund Pike have certainly been racking up the frequent flyer miles this awards season, crossing back and forth between L.A. and London for various red-carpet events.

    The fine line the nominees have to walk, even on the red carpet, was illustrated by another New York Times article, by awards columnist Cara Buckley, who suggested a revolt is brewing among actresses tired of being treated as mannequins by awards-show reporters, citing recent refusals of nominees Julianne Moore and Reese Witherspoon to show off their nails for E!’s mani-cam. On the one hand, Buckley notes, actresses want to be taken seriously, especially at a time when they have to fight for well-rounded roles. On the other, the question “Who are you wearing” isn’t so inane when you consider the deal most actresses have to make in order to get loaned couture to wear on the red carpet: be a walking, talking billboard for the designer. The article cites the example of Lupita Nyong’o, whose elegant red-carpet appearances last year led not only to a lucrative cosmetics endorsement but to an Oscar. Sure, she could have won for “12 Years a Slave” on merit alone, but it helped that she looked and acted the part of a glamorous and gracious winner. As the makers of “Boyhood” and “Birdman” are discovering, the behind-the-scenes narrative counts, too.
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  • Oscars 2015: Watch Cute Kids Reenact the Best Picture Nominees (VIDEO)

    Kid Oscars, Kids Reenact Oscars
    We’re only weeks away from the 2015 Oscars, but if Moviefone were handing out awards, we’d give them all to the adorable kids in this clip from Cinefix, in which youngsters reenact key scenes from all eight of this year’s Best Picture nominees.

    The video features the creepy fake baby from “American Sniper,” Stephen Hawking bragging about conceiving children while confined to a wheelchair in “The Theory of Everything,” jokes about Oprah in “Selma,” and a bald cap-clad tot screaming at a diminutive drummer in “Whiplash.” “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “Birdman,” “The Imitation Game,” and “Boyhood” also get their due.

    It’s a clever, tongue-in-cheek parody that boils each film down to its basest elements, while still leaving room for reverence. Check it out below.

    The 2014 Academy Awards are scheduled for February 22.

    Photo credit: CineFix

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  • Oscars 2015: The Rest of the Races

    US-ENTERTAINMENT-FILM-OSCAR-NOMINATIONSIs everyone finally ready to move on from the “Selma” vs. “American Sniper” throwdown? It seems so, not just because the ideological battle between them is artificial and increasingly irrelevant, but also because so much else was going on this week — Blizzard Juno, the Sundance Film Festival, the Super Bowl. No doubt movie partisans were relieved to have something else to talk about. And besides, there was plenty going on in the Oscar race. Oscar office pool bettors: take note.

    Among this week’s Oscar race developments:

    • The big winners Friday night at the 65th Annual ACE Eddie Awards, given to film and TV editors, were “Boyhood” (Best Drama), “The Grand Budapest Hotel” (Best Comedy), “The LEGO Movie” (Best Animated Feature), and “Citizenfour” (Best Documentary). Why should you care? Not just so you can fill out the Editing category in your office Oscar pool (where “Boyhood” and “Budapest” are competing against “American Sniper, “The Imitation Game,” and “Whiplash“), but also because the Eddies are a good predictor of the Academy Award for Best Picture. In seven of the past 12 years, the Eddie-winning comedy or drama has gone on to win the top Oscar. Of course, given Oscar’s preference for drama over comedy, “Budapest’s” Eddie win may not mean much. “Boyhood’s” does, especially since rival “Birdman” (which competed for the comedy Eddie against “Budapest”) isn’t even nominated for an editing Oscar. The “LEGO” win is also a consolation prize for a movie not nominated for a Best Animated Feature Oscar. But the “Citizenfour” win helps confirm that film’s frontrunner status in the Academy’s documentary category.

    • The following night saw the handing out of the Art Directors Guild Awards, given for production design. The ADG recognizes narrative features in three categories: period films (which went to “Grand Budapest Hotel”), fantasy films (the winner was “Guardians of the Galaxy”), and contemporary films (the prize went to “Birdman”). So, more good news for “Budapest,” especially since the other two winners aren’t even nominated for Production Design Oscars. (The other Academy nominees in the category are “The Imitation Game,” “Interstellar,” “Into the Woods,” and “Mr. Turner.”) “Budapest” art director Adam Stockhausen would probably have the edge anyway for his ornate work on filmmaker Wes Anderson’s typically intricate, dollhouse-like set, but Saturday’s ADG prize also shows he’s a favorite among his peers this year. “The Theory of Everything” didn’t win any prizes, but stars Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones were both there; perhaps the Academy voters will take notice of their ubiquity and give them trouper points for being willing to show up anywhere to campaign for their film.

    • Saturday night also saw the 42nd annual Annie Awards, recognizing the best in animation. “How to Train Your Dragon 2” won best feature, which is good to know for those of us confused by the Academy’s failure to nominate “The LEGO Movie.” The winner of the Golden Globe as well, “Dragon 2” finally gives the LEGO-less category a frontrunner. (The other nominees are “Big Hero 6,” “The Boxtrolls,” “Song of the Sea,” and “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.”) The Annie for Best Animated Short went to Disney’s “Feast,” now the presumptive frontrunner in an Oscar category that also includes “The Bigger Picture,” The Dam Keeper,” “Me and My Moulton,” and “A Single Life.”

    • “Still Alice” expanded this week to 84 theaters, giving more critics nationwide the chance to review the Alzheimer’s drama, and the consensus of raves for Julianne Moore seems to confirm the judgment of the Academy and every other group that nominated her for Best Actress. The five-time nominee’s hold on the category is now more solid than ever.

    • Monday marks the annual Oscar nominees’ luncheon, which is a surprisingly crucial stop on the campaign trail. It’s where the voters learn whether the nominees can play nice. That shouldn’t matter of course — it’s the work, right? — but it does, as no voter or nominee wants to be responsible for a boorish acceptance speech that casts the Academy in an unflattering light for having given a trophy to an ingrate. So the luncheon is an event where actors dine with an pose for photographs with sound effects editors, where the Academy brass try in vain to remind nominees to keep their speeches under 45 seconds if they win, and where everyone gushes to the journalists present how excited they are to meet Meryl Streep. In other words, it’s a casual-dress rehearsal for the real thing, and despite the enforced camaraderie, everyone had better know their place.
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  • Oscars 2015: It’s a Real Race, But Not Between the Movies You Think

    US-ENTERTAINMENT-FILM-OSCAR-NOMINATIONSRemember just a couple weeks ago, in the days leading up to the Oscar nominations, when there was so much handwringing about how, instead of the populist slate the Academy might have preferred, all the likely nominees were obscure little films that few moviegoers had seen, meaning there would be little rooting interest for viewers and the ratings for the Academy Awards ceremony would plummet? Well, that’s not a problem anymore.

    There’s finally one bona fide blockbuster among the Best Picture nominees: “American Sniper,” which has grossed more than $200 million at this writing and may reach $300 million by the time the Oscar show is telecast, four weeks from now.

    What’s more, there’s a genuine cultural battle being fought, at least on the op-ed pages, in blogs, and on cable talk-fests, between “American Sniper” and “Selma.” Not that this makes much sense; aside from Best Picture nominations and questions about their historical accuracy, the two films have little in common. Plus, the films aren’t as easily shoehorned into political boxes as their supporters and detractors would suggest. After all, “Selma” is a portrait of a moment of moral decision in which neither the traditional right nor the establishment left comes off looking good. And “American Sniper,” a film made by a conservative-minded director who nonetheless openly opposed the Iraq War, is confoundingly ambiguous. Clint Eastwood says his movie is an antiwar film, but try telling that to flag-wavers in the audience cheering on Bradley Cooper’s Chris Kyle as he blows away the bad guys. Despite what Eastwood says, “Sniper” does not take an overt position on the morality of the Iraq War, of war in general, or of Chris Kyle’s actions in combat, with the film noting only the toll that warfare seems to take on the warrior’s soul and on his family back home.

    At any rate, the box office has already decided the battle between the two films in “Sniper”‘s favor. “Selma” has taken in $39 million so far, just one-fifth of “Sniper”‘s earnings, and it’s not likely to do more than $90 million by the time the Academy Awards ceremony rolls around. If it does make that much, that would be a very good number for a movie with a $20 million budget that has no big stars and focuses on a painful moment in American history that most U.S. moviegoers are too young to remember. It also means there would be a lot of “Selma” fans around to watch the awards show. But they’ll be far outnumbered by “American Sniper” fans. (Of course, you could be a fan of both…)

    And yet, none of this matters because neither film is going to win Best Picture. Sure, the sheer box office prominence of “American Sniper” will be impossible for Academy voters not to notice, and its six nominations over “Selma’s” two gives it a statistical edge, but it’s still not going to win any of the top prizes. (Sorry Bradley Cooper, but Best Actor will almost certainly go to Michael Keaton‘s comeback role in “Birdman” or Eddie Redmayne‘s physical transformation into the paralyzed Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything.”)

    Rather, the race still belongs to “Boyhood” and “Birdman,” with “The Grand Budapest Hotel” close behind. At this point, “Boyhood” and “Birdman” are neck-and-neck. Sure, “Boyhood” has won nearly every precursor award except two, but they’re big ones: the Producers Guild Award and the Screen Actors Guild award for Best Ensemble (the SAG equivalent of Best Picture). Given out this past Saturday, the PGA prize went to “Birdman,” and so did the SAG prize the next day. The PGA prize is a strong indicator of the eventual Oscar Best Picture trophy (which also goes to a film’s producers); the last seven PGA winners, and 18 out of the last 25, have gone on to win the Oscar. As for the SAG award, there’s a strong overlap between the SAG membership and the actor’s branch of the Academy, the biggest professional bloc among Academy voters. They’re not a majority, but Sunday’s win suggests “Birdman” has a lot more Academy support than previously estimated.

    Actually the Academy already seemed to have shown “Birdman” more love than “Boyhood,” granting Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu’s surreal comedy nine nominations to six for RIchard Linklater’s drama. (Yes, that’s the same number as “American Sniper,” but “Boyhood” earned a directing nomination for Linklater, while “Sniper” failed to do so for Clint Eastwood. Historically, it’s very rare for a film to win Best Picture without a Best Director nomination.)

    Meanwhile, “Budapest” remains a potential spoiler. It has nine nominations, like “Birdman,” and it’s won a handful of precursor awards, including Best Comedy at the Golden Globes and Critic’s Choice Awards earlier this month. Until the weekend after the Oscar nominations, it was, for almost all of 2014, the top-grossing film among this year’s Best Picture nominees, with a take of $59 million. (It’s since been surpassed by “The Imitation Game,” with $61 million, and of course, “American Sniper.”) The Academy’s traditional lack of respect for comedies will hurt “Budapest” even more than it will the semi-dramatic “Birdman,” perhaps leaving the field open for “Boyhood,” but at least “Budapest” still has some numbers in its favor.

    So by all means, “American Sniper” fans, come swell the ranks of Oscar-show viewers, drive up the ratings, and convince the Academy governors that expanding the Best Picture category from five nominees to as many as 10 wasn’t a mistake. But don’t be surprised if “Sniper” doesn’t win much, and don’t blame its losses on liberal politics. After all, “Selma” isn’t going to take the brass ring either. In the likelihood of their shared eventual snubbing by the Academy, maybe “American Sniper” and “Selma” fans can at last find common ground.
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