Little Miss Sunshine Tagged Articles at Cinematical

It's hard to believe it was just last month that the film industry was trudging through hill, dale and snow to watch movies at the Sundance Film Festival, but in this fast-paced world, it does feel like a million years ago. One of the buzz titles at the fest was Christine Jeffs' Sunshine Cleaning, a tale of two sisters that start a business tidying up crime scenes. Our own Kim Voynar felt it wasn't the best film she saw at Sundance, "but it certainly wasn't the worst. It does have its flaws, but overall it's a cute film that fans of [Amy] Adams and [Emily] Blunt will enjoy."

Indeed, with the very talented and attractive Adams (Junebug, Enchanted) and Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada, The Wolf Man) in the lead roles and Alan Arkin providing support as their scheming father, how did this film fail to get picked up during Sundance? Anne Thompson of Variety notes that Sunshine Cleaning "entered the fest as one of several highly anticipated movies with stars attached that were expected to make a big sale. It didn't happen, though, partly because the filmmakers behind the film, Big Beach ... were hoping to make back their $7-million investment in a quick sale."

Ms. Thompson reports, however, that Overture Films has now acquired the film and plans to release it at the end of the year. The distributor may change the title, though, perhaps concerned that it might be considered too similar to 2006 indie smash hit Little Miss Sunshine, for which Arkin won an Academy Award.

So ever since Fox Searchlight showed up last summer with a little winner called Little Miss Sunshine, folks immediately began to scour the 2007 slate to see which film would be its cinderella story. Because you need one of those each year; a film that doesn't feature a full cast of A-listers; doesn't revolve around the politics of war; and isn't some two and a half hour period piece about a queen or a famous author with major issues. Well maybe I'm going out a limb here (having not seen the movie yet), but not only will Juno show up on several top ten lists at the end of the year, but I also feel it will land a few award nominations as well (best original screenplay, to give you at least one).

The buzz for this film coming off Toronto was stellar; our own Scott Weinberg (who's opinion you should definitely trust) said: "From arcane pop culture references to casually amusing slang words to pitch-perfect dialog volleys, Juno might be the smartest 'teen' movie since the also-brilliant Election." Big shoes to fill, sure, but I believe it -- ever since seeing Jason Reitman's Thank You For Smoking, I knew this kid was destined to do some wonderful things with the comedy genre. And though the trailer doesn't provide us with any laugh-out-loud set pieces, it does show a film with tremendous quirk and potential. Heck, I could watch Rainn Wilson call someone "home-skillet" for two hours alone -- but that's me. Juno is set to hit theaters on December 14. Go see it.

The 2007 Oscars were held on Feb. 25, which means the studios started thinking about the 2008 Oscars right around Feb. 26. But all that thinking -- the strategizing, the planning, the conniving -- didn't go public until this week. Now the Los Angeles Times reports that Fox Searchlight has fired the first shot in the upcoming Academy Awards battle by sending screeners of three of its biggest contenders to the people who vote for the Oscars and Golden Globes.

Once, Waitress, and The Namesake are the titles, and DVD copies of them arrived today on the desks of everyone in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (that's the Oscars) and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (that's the Golden Globes).

In case you didn't notice, it's barely September. Studios usually don't start sending screeners out until November. So why the hurry? Well, Fox Searchlight struck gold last year with Little Miss Sunshine, which opened in July (not typically an Oscar-friendly month) and went on to earn four Academy Award nominations and one Golden Globe nod. The studio credits that at least partially to its early screeners -- the film went out to voters in early October -- and figured what they heck, let's try it again.

It might work, too. Once and Waitress both had their U.S. premieres at Sundance in January, earning ecstatic reviews from critics and festival-goers alike. More acclaim followed when they were released theatrically in May. I haven't talked to anyone who's seen either film who didn't at least like them, if not love them. Personally, I adore Waitress more than anything I've seen all year, and I liked Once quite a bit.

The Namesake, on the other hand, hasn't exactly been setting the world on fire since its bow at Telluride a year ago. You don't hear people talking about it nearly as much as they do the other two. Yet it's quietly built up credibility, currently scoring an impressive 85 percent at Rotten Tomatoes. (Waitress is at 88 and Once has a whopping 97!)

But that raises a question: If the movies are so good, does Fox Searchlight really need to send out screeners this early? The answer is probably yes. Releasing Oscar-friendly movies in November and December, when voters are more likely to remember them, is commonly understood as being a wise, even necessary strategy. These three films all came out in the first half of the year, and none of them were financial blockbusters. There's a good chance that voters haven't seen them. So it makes sense to give them the opportunity now, before they get inundated with dozens of other contenders. In Hollywood, the cream doesn't necessarily rise to the top. Sometimes it needs a little push.

I just spent the last half hour double-checking the MPAA ratings on my all-time favorite comedies, and I noticed the majority of them are rated R. There's been a real push over the last several years to get films down to a PG-13 rating. Two comedies that did really well this year with audiences, but not critics, were both rated PG-13 (Norbit, Wild Hogs). But let's take a look at the last several comedies that did well with both audiences and critics: Knocked Up, Wedding Crashers, Little Miss Sunshine, The 40 Year-Old Virgin -- all rated R. Around this same time last year, the teen comedy Accepted hit theaters. The film starred an up-and-coming Justin Long, and some new guy (who happened to steal the movie) named Jonah Hill. At the time, I thought it was a nice surprise for a PG-13 comedy -- although now that I know how good Superbad is (a film that stars the same Jonah Hill), I'm left wondering how much better Accepted would've been had it opted to go 'R.'

With Superbad, it's not even like the film carries a ton of nudity. In fact, Superbad is one of those extremely rare R-rated teen sex comedies that doesn't have an ounce of nudity anywhere in it. Instead, we have several references to sex, combined with more foul language than you know what to do with. But, like Jonah and Michael Cera told me during our interview, this is how kids talk. This is how real teenagers act around each other. And like with the majority of Judd Apatow's films (whether he's a producer or director), it's funny because it's relatable. I had a conversation with a friend of mine last night, and Apatow's name came up. In my opinion, Apatow and his crew have achieved in two years (on the big screen) what Kevin Smith should have 10 years ago (although when you factor in budgets versus box office, Smith's films have been very successful) -- writing raunchy, relatable material (sprinkled with pop culture references) that caters to a wide audience. It's not that Smith's stuff isn't funny (it totally is -- my friend and I talked Clerks for an hour last night), it's just that his films unfortunately never found a way to reach the mass audience Apatow has.**. But to get back on track ...

... what do you think: Is a comedy funnier when it's rated R? And, like Accepted, are there comedies that would've been funnier had they gone for the 'R' rating?

**Leave it to me to start a topic within a topic and not explain myself further. That's what happens when caffeine hasn't entered my system yet. But to further explain, what I meant to say is that Apatow and his crew stole a bit of Smith's thunder, and we should remember that Smith could probably be credited for starting this whole "relatable foul-mouthed humor" with little more than a bunch of credit cards and a unique sense of humor. Scott made some great points in his follow-up post, so head on over there to continue this discussion.

Back when the 2007 Oscar nominees were announced, some films listed in the Best Picture category were accompanied by a note saying, "nominees to be determined." This was due to the Academy's difficulty in figuring out which producers of The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine would actually be qualified and named as primary producers of their respective films. Since 2000, the Academy has had a rule stating that at maximum only three producers could be handed trophies when the Best Picture was named. Because of the controversy regarding this year's producing credits, the Academy has now made some changes to the rule. Now, in "rare and extraordinary" circumstances, a fourth producer may be named as a Best Picture nominee.

The Academy altered a few other rules, which will also take effect for the 2008 Oscars. One rule is that for an animated film to be eligible for Best Animated Feature, it has to run at least 70 minutes, must be at least 75% completely animated, a significant amount of characters must be animated and those characters and all other animated sequences must be created using frame-by-frame techniques. For this change, I'm not sure what film the Academy is responding to specifically, but the report claims the rule is being more defined because we're in an age of changing technology. The third rule amended is for the Best Art Direction category. Before, only one production designer and only one set director was named, though in rare cases two set directors could be named (as in this year's nomination for The Good Shepherd). Now the rule is that either two production designers or two set directors -- but not both -- can be nominated (if two of one, only one of the other, whichever the mix).

A few weeks ago, I wrote a Monday Morning Poll asking which film(s) you thought would be summer's biggest disappointment. Since I wanted to prove that I'm not all about the negative, I decided it might be fun to also predict which film(s) will surprise. For me (and probably most of the country), last year's summer surprise was Little Miss Sunshine. I remember getting the call to cover the press junket for this little limited release Sundance film in July. And upon exiting the theater, I felt the need to call every one of my friends to tell them about the film. It surprised me in a way that just felt so good -- so alive -- and if this summer can bring me one film like that, then I shall be one happy boy.

As far as mainstream films go, I've surprised a lot of people in saying that New Line's Hairspray update will do pretty well with audiences once it arrives on July 20, providing folks with some much-needed relief (and some light, colorful fun) after three months full of pirates, robots, wizards and superheroes. In a summer predominantly geared toward teenage males, Hairspray is the type of film that females can grab hold of and catapult to the top. Once we move past the mainstream, there are a group of popular festival films that might also find a substantial cheering section. First up is A Mighty Heart; a film that stars Angelina Jolie as Marianne Pearl, the widow of slain journalist Daniel Pearl. Jolie's name will get people in seats, but her performance might keep the buzz alive as we head into awards season. My foreign language pick for the summer arrives on July 11 in limited release, and it's called Drama/Mex. Directed by Gerardo Naranjo, pic tells of three back-to-back stories that take place over the course of one night in Acapulco. Although I haven't seen it yet, I've heard nothing but great things. As far as docs go, I have to plug The King of Kong. Pic, which chronicles the lives of a group of guys who are out to set the new high record for Donkey Kong, doesn't yet have a release date, but I've heard it will drop at some point this August. And when it does, go see it. Trust me on this one.

So, I ask you: Which films do you think will surprise us this summer?

In less than ten years Netflix has become not just a great company but also a great company model. Despite all attempts from Blockbuster and others to compete with the online rental service, Netflix continues to be the champion in its industry. But will the industry eventually be obsolete with all the other internet distribution options? Netflix CEO Reed Hastings says that DVD rentals will indeed become extinct in the next 20 years, but he says that fortunately for him Netflix is not simply a DVD rental service. "If one thinks of Netflix as a DVD rental business," he told the Wall Street Journal, "one is right to be scared. If one thinks of Netflix as an online movie service with multiple different delivery models, then one's a lot less scared. We're only now starting to deliver the proof points behind that second vision."

One of Netflix's plans for the future is a streaming video-on-demand option, which they began rolling out as a bonus to subscribers in January (I still haven't received my upgrade, which is expected to hit all members by June). Hastings claims that by the end of this year 5,000 films will be available in that format. He defended the relatively small amount (compared to 75,000 titles available via snail mail) by pointing out that Netflix originally started out offering only 1,000 titles on DVD. Netflix has also been planning for the future of high-density discs by stocking every title available on Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, though Hastings told the WSJ that the formats are not renting too well, and the competing brands are neck-in-neck neck and neck for this small market. He also said that he expects little increase on interest in the discs until one brand is declared the standard.

It was a great Simon & Garfunkel song, and now Little Miss Sunshine producers Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa are teaming with director Seth Gordon on a feature film titled The Only Living Boy in New York for Columbia Pictures. Berger and Yerxa have had a successful year in indie land; they also produced Little Children which, along with Sunshine, combined for seven Oscar nominations and two wins (both for Sunshine). With a script from Allan Loeb (Things We Lost in the Fire), pic is being described as a coming-of-age drama about a recent college graduate who is seduced by his father's mistress.

As a director, Gordon crashed onto the scene this past January when his documentary King of Kong was all the rage at Slamdance. Picturehouse will distribute the pic, while New Line snatched up the feature remake rights to produce the film as a narrative with Gordon attached to direct that as well. The Simon & Garfunkel flick (which is what I'm calling it, because I'm sure that song will be all over this bad boy) sounds interesting (if you like stories about a father and son shacking up with the same gal), but I am dying to see King of Kong. I don't know, there's just something about watching a group of video game fans fighting to break world records that gets me all fired up to dust off the old Playstation 2 and take on a new adventure.

I'm not sure what it is about sunshine and cleaning, but the two have been all over movie titles as of late. Last year we had Little Miss Sunshine and Code Name: The Cleaner, and in 2007 we're looking at a film called Sunshine from Danny Boyle, another simply called Cleaner (which stars Samuel L. Jackson) and one that combines both, Sunshine Cleaning, starring Emily Blunt, Amy Adams and the newly casted Mary Lynn Rajskub (best known for her role as Chloe O'Brian on Fox's hit show 24.) Both Cleaner and Sunshine Cleaning focus on characters who clean up crime scenes, though the latter seems a bit more interesting ... to this guy, at least.

In Sunshine Cleaning, Adams and Blunt play sisters who clean crime scenes for a living and, in the process, somehow learn the meaning of life. Sounds sort of cheesy until I tell you that Rajskub will play a blood bank technician who's the object of Blunt's sexual obsession. (Yeah, that little plot point completely caught me off guard too.) I should also note that Alan Arkin snagged a role, which makes this his second Sunshine-related indie comedy in two years; pic was written by Megan Holley and will be directed by Christine Jeffs. No word on a release date, but Sunshine Cleaning is currently sweeping up the streets of Albuqerque, New Mexico.

As far as the Oscars are concerned, the best way to get a handle on the year's best films is to look at the Best Screenplay nominees. The writers who vote for the ten films nominated in the Original and Adapted categories are the closest things to outsiders the movie community has. They're generally smarter and lower paid than anyone else, and they tend not to work on movie sets, hobnobbing with famous directors and movie stars. And so they have a more objective outlook on what's good and what's not.

The screenplay category has historically shown more foresight and flexibility than its fellows. After all, some of the past winners include filmmakers William A. Wellman, Orson Welles, Preston Sturges, Mel Brooks, Quentin Tarantino and the Coen Brothers, none of which ever had a shot as Best Director. Other nominees include Budd Boetticher, Andre de Toth, Nicholas Ray, Jacques Tati and Jacques Demy. Certain filmmakers such as Francis Ford Coppola, Oliver Stone and Bill Condon won Screenplay Oscars long before their careers as directors took off. And even some genuinely legendary writers have heard their name called: William Saroyan, James Agee, Tennessee Williams, John Steinbeck, Paddy Chayefsky, Vladimir Nabokov and Arthur Miller.