TheSavages Tagged Articles at Cinematical

A solid handful of indie titles vie for your attention on the DVD shelves this week. I've already written about the marketing for Joe Swanberg's Hannah Takes the Stairs, my pick of the week, but that shouldn't overshadow the intrinsic quality of the film itself. The DVD from IFC includes Thanks for the Add!, a short film by Swanberg, an audio commentary by Swanberg and actors / co-writers Greta Gerwig and Kent Osborne, behind the scenes footage, and SXSW video production diary spots.

I watched Juan Antonio Bayona's The Orphanage (pictured) with expectations set perhaps too high. I thought it would be a thrilling Spanish ghost story; instead it's a rather pallid drama about a mother and a lost son with just a smidgen of suspense and supernatural overtones. Jette Kernion had a response similar to mine, but others liked it much more, including our own Scott Weinberg, who praised it as "entirely captivating from start to finish." The DVD from Picturehouse includes three featurettes and something on the somewhat misleading marketing campaign.

Family dysfunction and elder care may not sound like sexy subjects, but Tamara Jekins "simply takes us into the story of her fascinating characters, and the integrity with which she handles it makes it ring true throughout." That was the reaction of Kim Voynar to The Savages; she was especially impressed by the performances of Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The DVD from Fox Searchlight includes an extended scene, director's snapshots, and a featurette entitled "About the Savages."

Yahoo reports that the National Society of Film Critics (made up of 61 film critics across the country) has chosen Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood as the Best Picture of the Year, beating The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and No Country for Old Men. Anderson also won Best Director, over Julian Schnabel and the Coen Brothers. Daniel Day-Lewis was named Best Actor for Blood, and Robert Elswit received an award for its cinematography. The critics are clearly crazy for Blood, but I don't think it'll take the Best Picture Oscar. It's too cold a film for Oscar voters to fully embrace, and though I know I'm practically alone in this assessment, it's too flawed.

Julie Christie was named Best Actress for her understated performance in Away from Her. Casey Affleck was named Best Supporting Actor for his excellent work in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. And Cate Blanchett was selected as Best Supporting Actress for a performance that, for me, didn't amount to much more than a pretty good Bob Dylan impression. No End in Sight, a straightforward account of the bad decisions made by the Bush administration after the invasion of Iraq, won Best Documentary. Tamara Jenkins' script for The Savages was named Best Screenplay. I really loved the first half of The Savages but felt the second got distracted with side stories that thinned out the story's impact. Only 41 of the Society's 61 members cast ballots this year (?), and their choices frequently differ from Oscar voters. We'll find out just how much they differ when the Academy Award nominations are announced on January 22nd.

The American Film Institute has announced its picks for the ten best films of 2007, and once again it favors Judd Apatow over Joe Wright. Back in 2005, the organization named The 40-Year-Old Virgin as one of the best films of that year, while ignoring Wright's Pride & Prejudice. This time, the AFI has included Knocked Up and left out Atonement, despite the latter's huge presence in the Golden Globe nominations and very probable huge presence in the Oscar race. So, what's going on? Does the AFI really have something against Wright and his very Anglocentric filmmaking? Well, kind of, but only because the organization concentrates on American films (it is, after all, the American Film Institute). To be eligible for the year-end honors, a movie has to have "significant creative and/or production elements from the United States." The movie can even be in a foreign language (non-English, that is) if it is "incontrovertibly American."

Tom O'Neil at the Gold Derby blog still sees some controversy, though. He points out that The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, which the AFI included this year, was primarily an American production (from Kennedy/Marshall Co. and American director Julian Schnabel) yet had seven foreign partners, while Atonment (directed by a Brit) was also produced by an American company (Relativity Media) and had two foreign partners. I'd add that The Diving Bell is no more "incontrovertibly American" in its subject matter than Atonement -- or even Ratatouille for that matter. While I'm not arguing that Atonement deserved to make the list, I'd assume American Gangster would deserve it more than The Diving Bell, regardless of how much better the latter film may be. At least comedy fans should be happy with the inclusion of Knocked Up, which has so far been left out of most awards season honors.

The complete list is as follows: Knocked Up; Juno; Before the Devil Knows You're Dead; No Country for Old Men; There Will Be Blood; Into the Wild; Ratatouille; The Savages; Michael Clayton; The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

The San Francisco Film Critics Awards have been announced, and they're especially exciting for us here at Cinematical. Why? Because three of our writers are in the SFFC! Our very own James Rocchi, Jeffrey M. Anderson, and Richard Von Busack are all part of the San Francisco critic "scene." San Fran made some interesting picks, several outside of the expected Oscar nominees. So what were their choices? For Best Foreign Film, they selected Julian Schnabel's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (which I am watching when I finish this post). For Best Documentary, they selected No End in Sight (which didn't blow me away, but was certainly well done). Best Adapted Screenplay went to Sarah Polley for Away From Her (great script, one of the most kick-in-the-stomach depressing movies I've seen lately). And Best Original Screenplay went to Tamara Jenkins for The Savages.

Amy Ryan was named Best Supporting Actress for her brilliant portrayal of a highly difficult character in Gone Baby Gone. Ryan's co-star in that film, Casey Affleck, was named Best Supporting Actor for his outstanding work in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Best Actress was Julie Christie for Away From Her and Best Actor was George Clooney in Michael Clayton -- two choices I approve of though I disagree with them. Joel and Ethan Coen took Best Director(s) honors for their latest masterpiece, No Country for Old Men. And -- drumroll please -- the Best Picture Award went to Jesse James. A surprising pick perhaps, but it was an absolutely fantastic film, and hopefully the award encourages more people to see it. The SFFC gave a special citation to an indie called Colma: The Musical, "a homegrown song-and-dance extravaganza about the paradoxical drudgery and surreality of life in a city where the dead outnumber the living one thousand to one." That old story again? See the list for yourself here -- it's a San Francisco treat!

Siblings dealing with their dying father trumped a man who can only move one eyelid in a box office battle between two award-worthy independent films. On the face of it, just because of their subject matter, neither would seem likely to draw big crowds, but excellent critical response and festival buzz appear to have paid off.

The Savages opened last Wednesday in four theaters in New York and Los Angeles and earned a very good $38,250 per screen, according to estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo. Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman star as the siblings, with Philip Bosco as their father; Tamara Jenkins directed. Cinematical's Kim Voynar wrote: "There are no easy answers in dealing with aging and dying parents, and Jenkins doesn't try to give us one; she simply takes us into the story of her fascinating characters, and the integrity with which she handles it makes it ring true throughout."

The "one eyelid" movie, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, opened at three locations in New York and Los Angeles; weekend receipts reflect a strong per-screen average of $25,100. When he saw it at Cannes, our own James Rocchi said he found himself "on the edge of tears more than a few times ... [it's] a movie well worth seeing, with images and lessons that strike with power and don't let go."

Four other indies opened in one or two theaters in New York and/or Los Angeles, and Leonard Klady at Movie City News has their estimated per-screen earnings: Jessica Yu's doc Protagonist ($4,920; read Christopher Campbell's review); Miles Brandman's "darkly comic" Sex and Breakfast ($3,850), Robert Stone's doc Oswald's Ghost ($1,830; read my review), and Francesco Lucente's drama Badland ($1,220).

At least four other indies also opened, but financial results have not yet surfaced: ice hockey bio-pic The Rocket, prison escape thriller Chronicle of an Escape, foodie/lesbian romantic comedy Nina's Heavenly Delights and Christian Slater-starrer He Was a Quiet Man.

The first feature from Tamara Jenkins, the Natasha Lyonne-headed Slums of Beverly Hills was a pretty darned decent late-90s film. Alan Arkin. Marisa Tomei. Jessica Walter. Mena Suvari. The cast rocked, and the film was dysfunctional fun. So, hearing that she's finally written another feature, one that stars Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman as a sister and brother who have to care for their dementia-ridden father... Well, that's just too good to ignore.

Just a few days ago, Cinematical posted a great exclusive clip from The Savages, where Nancy Lenehan is a dementia support group leader who doesn't take too kindly to early nibbles at the refreshment stand. (She might have been in a lot of stuff, but I don't know if I will ever see the woman as anything but Pat, the woman who turned demon for Dead Man's Party.) Anyhow, Jenkins and Linney recently took part in Variety's Screening Series to discuss the film, which Jenkins says: "kind of came bubbling up out of my dark recesses, and then I stuffed it in a drawer and didn't think about it for a long time."

Linney says: "It's one of the best scripts I've ever read." You can't get a much better thumbs up than that, since she has had her share of great films. She continued: "With films of this nature, you really just have to throw yourself off a cliff and go. You really don't have time for a lot of exploration. You have to do as much work as you possibly can before you start, and then hit the ground running and you do not mess around." Well, it doesn't sound like they messed around in any way that could possibly hurt it. Kim Voynar gave it a rave from Sundance, and we can finally see it for ourselves when it hits limited release on November 28.

The Savages, starring Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman as a brother and sister who must deal with their aging, estranged father, Lenny (Philip Bosco) who suffers from dementia and has no memory of the sibs' unhappy childhood. I first caught The Savages back in January at Sundance, and I've seen Jenkins speak about the film a couple times, at Sundance and again at Telluride, when she had in intimate early-morning Conversation with Juno director Jason Reitman. As Jenkins has noted, the storyline of The Savages is a challenging pitch to sell -- there's nothing sexy or alluring about dementia and incontinence.

But for folks like myself who are facing the possibility of caring for our own aging parents (and it will be your turn eventually too, younglings), this honest, often funny look at the issues surrounding elder care, brought to life by actors of the caliber of Linney and Hoffman, makes for a great film.

In the scene shown in the above clip, Jon and Wendy Savage have just walked into a support group for dementia ... where they find themselves feeling more than a little uncomfortable ... watch and enjoy. You can also check out Moviefone's great Unscripted session with Hoffman and Linney and read Cinematical's Sundance review of The Savages, to whet your appetite for the film. The Savages opens November 28 in limited release.

If you love movie awards and dog shows, there's a new event that's perfect for you: the Fido Awards, which recognizes cinematic canines. Presented in conjunction with the London Film Festival, these awards were presented Sunday night with the top honor, "Best in World", going to five corgis -- named Poppy, Anna, Alice, Oliver and Megan -- that appear alongside Oscar-winner Helen Mirren in The Queen. The same dogs also won another award, "Best Historical Hounds for a dog/dogs in a film set in bygone days", beating out dogs from Control (I don't even remember a dog in this, which means it makes sense it didn't win) and Molière. Other winners include Travis, a Welsh cardigan corgi named "Comedy Canine for smochiest pooch in a romantic comedy " for his "method-acting" in Year of the Dog, Logan, a "Bernese Mtn English Mastiff X" named "Blockbuster Bowser -- best canine achievement in an action flick" for sharing a beer with Mark Wahlberg in Shooter, and dogs from the short film Dog Flap and the London Film Festival entry Far North. In addition to those from Control and Molière, losers included pups from The Holiday, Feast of Love, Shoot 'Em Up, The Savages (for some reason listed in the action category) and Paddy Considine's short Dog Altogether. Hopefully none of them were Old-Yellered because of their failures.

Isn't that cute? The Fidos are technically considered "the world's first-ever international awards ceremony for canine screen stars," but this isn't the first time awards have been given out to animal performances in film (I would be shocked if it were). Since 1939 -- after a horse was accidentally killed on the set of Jesse James -- the American Humane Association has honored animals in cinema and television with the PATSY Awards (yet apparently the first actual PATSY went to "Francis the Talking Mule" in 1951). Some of the obvious past winners include Lassie, the pig from Green Acres, the dog that played Benji (name: Higgins), Gypsy the horse (from Gypsy Colt) and Orangey the cat, who appeared in Rhubarb and Breakfast at Tiffany's. Unfortunately I can't seem to find a full list of the winners through the years, just this spotlight from TCM.

What is your favorite animal performance, canine or otherwise?

Greetings from Park City, Utah, where, contrary to what everyone and their mother -- including my own mother -- warned me before I came here, it's nice, sunny and not that cold. Yet.

Part of the fun of Sundance is trying to play prophet and figure out which movies are going to end up becoming the Next Big Indie. Last year, the one movie I truly loved was 'Little Miss Sunshine,' and we all know what ended up happening with that one. So far this year, everyone's asking each other, "What have you heard?" "What's supposed to be good?" and there isn't anything close to a consensus. But we'll do our best to figure it out.

To that end, I saw three films on Friday, the first full day of the festival: 'The Savages,' 'Snow Angels' and 'Rocket Science.' The one I liked best was 'The Savages,' which despite the title is not about a couple who gets stranded in the wilderness and turns to cannibalism to survive. Nope, it stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney as John and Wendy Savage (get it?), dysfunctional siblings who are forced to take care of their estranged father (Philip Bosco) when he develops dementia. Specifically, he starts writing vulgar words on the bathroom wall using, instead of ink, his ... uh, well, it's a word that rhymes with "grit."