As Oscar season kicks into full swing, it’s hard to ignore Joe Wright’s Winston Churchill biopic, “Darkest Hour.” The film boasts one of Gary Oldman’s most transformative performances as the inspiring British Prime Minister who united a weary Great Britain towards victory during World War II, and Oldman’s name has been included in plenty of Best Actor Oscars predictions since the film first began rolling out on the festival circuit in recent months.
In his B+ review, IndieWire Senior Film Critic David Ehrlich praises Oldman’s transformation, saying the celebrated actor “makes Joe Wright’s biopic as rousing and ferocious as Winston Churchill was himself.” Wright, who also helmed 2007’s Oscar winner “Atonement,” has delivered yet another must-see period drama that is sure to receive plenty of attention as awards season begins to kick off.
Read More:‘Darkest Hour’ Review: Gary Oldman Makes Joe Wright’s...
In his B+ review, IndieWire Senior Film Critic David Ehrlich praises Oldman’s transformation, saying the celebrated actor “makes Joe Wright’s biopic as rousing and ferocious as Winston Churchill was himself.” Wright, who also helmed 2007’s Oscar winner “Atonement,” has delivered yet another must-see period drama that is sure to receive plenty of attention as awards season begins to kick off.
Read More:‘Darkest Hour’ Review: Gary Oldman Makes Joe Wright’s...
- 11/7/2017
- by Jamie Righetti
- Indiewire
Fall is the season of Real-People movies — the biopics that often fuel Oscar hopes. Recent weeks brought “The Battle of the Sexes,” “Stronger,” and “Victoria & Abdul” and there’s more than a dozen to come, including “Marshall,” “The Post,” “Darkest Hour,” and “The Current War.” There’s good reason to believe that a biopic might produce awards. In the last five years, 28 of the 100 Oscar acting nominees played real-life characters, as did four of the 20 winners. But when it comes to the box office, the odds aren’t as kind.
Read More:With ‘Dunkirk’ and ‘Darkest Hour’ Showing Strong, Will Churchill-Heavy Britpics Storm the Oscars?
Since 2012, there have been about 100 biopics including hits like “The King’s Speech,” “The Social Network,” and “Julie and Julia.” But while recent years featured real-life characters and stories in some of the biggest non-franchise hits, the format may have reached a saturation point.
Last year,...
Read More:With ‘Dunkirk’ and ‘Darkest Hour’ Showing Strong, Will Churchill-Heavy Britpics Storm the Oscars?
Since 2012, there have been about 100 biopics including hits like “The King’s Speech,” “The Social Network,” and “Julie and Julia.” But while recent years featured real-life characters and stories in some of the biggest non-franchise hits, the format may have reached a saturation point.
Last year,...
- 10/5/2017
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
Director Stephen Frears (“Florence Foster Jenkins”) continues his fascination with odd pairings and female empowerment with “Victoria & Abdul,” which explores the mysterious, controversial, and loving friendship between Queen Victoria (Judi Dench) and Indian clerk-turned-confidant Abdul Karim (Ali Fazal). And what better way to shed light on that friendship (both literally and metaphorically) than through their wardrobes?
“I did wide research into the social and historical world of the Royal English family [from 1887 at the Queen’s Jubilee celebration until her death in 1901], and this woman who was burdened with formality and rigidity and the absurdity of the hierarchy within the household,” said long-time Fears costume designer Consolata Boyle (twice Oscar-nominated for “The Queen” and “Florence Foster Jenkins”). “Every nuance had to be completely right so you could turn your back on it and concentrate on the friendship.”
The Shocking Relevance
Based on the novel by journalist Shrabani Basu, who uncovered the scandalous infatuation that disrupted the palace and lead to a near revolt against the queen,...
“I did wide research into the social and historical world of the Royal English family [from 1887 at the Queen’s Jubilee celebration until her death in 1901], and this woman who was burdened with formality and rigidity and the absurdity of the hierarchy within the household,” said long-time Fears costume designer Consolata Boyle (twice Oscar-nominated for “The Queen” and “Florence Foster Jenkins”). “Every nuance had to be completely right so you could turn your back on it and concentrate on the friendship.”
The Shocking Relevance
Based on the novel by journalist Shrabani Basu, who uncovered the scandalous infatuation that disrupted the palace and lead to a near revolt against the queen,...
- 9/26/2017
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
Andrew Garfield earned his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor last year for his work in Mel Gibson’s “Hacksaw Ridge,” and he could find himself back in the race this year should “Breathe” catch on with audiences and voters. The movie co-star Claire Foy, who earned an Emmy nomination this year for her acclaimed work on Netflix’s “The Crown” and will next be seen as Lisbeth Salander in “The Girl With The Spider’s Web.” Putting these two appealing leads front and center is the movie’s best decision.
Read More:‘Breathe’ Review: Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy Give Heartwarming Performances in Andy Serkis’ Tearjerking Directorial Debut
The swooning period piece, which marks the directorial debut of Andy Serkis, tracks the decades of survival by Robin Cavendish (Andrew Garfield), a man stricken with polio in the ’50s who survived on a breathing machine for some 40 years, and the...
Read More:‘Breathe’ Review: Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy Give Heartwarming Performances in Andy Serkis’ Tearjerking Directorial Debut
The swooning period piece, which marks the directorial debut of Andy Serkis, tracks the decades of survival by Robin Cavendish (Andrew Garfield), a man stricken with polio in the ’50s who survived on a breathing machine for some 40 years, and the...
- 9/19/2017
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
There were 255 movies in this year’s Toronto International Film Festival lineup, but only a handful of them will continue to generate conversations this fall, and just a fraction of that crowd will gain steam in Oscar season. That leaves us pondering a number of questions: With “The Shape of Water” winning the top prize at Venice and finding more fans at Tiff, does it have the edge on “Lady Bird”? How does “Darkest Hour” fit into this conversation, and could it topple the early momentum for “Dunkirk”? And what about all the movies we haven’t seen yet?
Read More:With ‘Dunkirk’ and ‘Darkest Hour’ Showing Strong, Will Churchill-Heavy Britpics Storm the Oscars?
These are some of the topics tackled in the latest episode of Screen Talk, as co-hosts Eric Kohn and Anne Thompson unpack a dense week of movies.
Listen to the full episode below.
Screen Talk is available on iTunes.
Read More:With ‘Dunkirk’ and ‘Darkest Hour’ Showing Strong, Will Churchill-Heavy Britpics Storm the Oscars?
These are some of the topics tackled in the latest episode of Screen Talk, as co-hosts Eric Kohn and Anne Thompson unpack a dense week of movies.
Listen to the full episode below.
Screen Talk is available on iTunes.
- 9/15/2017
- by Indiewire Staff
- Indiewire
At 255 titles, the Toronto International Film Festival’s smorgasbord is 20 percent smaller than last year — and still overwhelming. A number of filmmakers took creative risks that paid off with exuberant praise, from Darren Aronofsky’s outrageous “mother!” to Guillermo del Toro’s inimitable “The Shape of Water,” but many others found themselves in the doghouse, or worse, utterly ignored.
Buyers were unhappy that there wasn’t much to choose from at this sellers’ market, because many distributors cherry-picked the more promising titles ahead of time — which is its own risk, as when The Orchard’s La riot drama “Kings” didn’t meet high expectations.
Here’s how the festival shook out.
Best of the Fest
Top Tier Oscar Contenders
Guillermo del Toro’s gorgeously mounted fantasy thriller “The Shape of Water” (Fox Searchlight), shot in Toronto, was so popular that it’s vying for Tiff’s audience award (often an...
Buyers were unhappy that there wasn’t much to choose from at this sellers’ market, because many distributors cherry-picked the more promising titles ahead of time — which is its own risk, as when The Orchard’s La riot drama “Kings” didn’t meet high expectations.
Here’s how the festival shook out.
Best of the Fest
Top Tier Oscar Contenders
Guillermo del Toro’s gorgeously mounted fantasy thriller “The Shape of Water” (Fox Searchlight), shot in Toronto, was so popular that it’s vying for Tiff’s audience award (often an...
- 9/15/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
At 255 titles, the Toronto International Film Festival’s smorgasbord is 20 percent smaller than last year — and still overwhelming. A number of filmmakers took creative risks that paid off with exuberant praise, from Darren Aronofsky’s outrageous “mother!” to Guillermo del Toro’s inimitable “The Shape of Water,” but many others found themselves in the doghouse, or worse, utterly ignored.
Buyers were unhappy that there wasn’t much to choose from at this sellers’ market, because many distributors cherry-picked the more promising titles ahead of time — which is its own risk, as when The Orchard’s La riot drama “Kings” didn’t meet high expectations.
Here’s how the festival shook out.
Best of the Fest
Top Tier Oscar Contenders
Guillermo del Toro’s gorgeously mounted fantasy thriller “The Shape of Water” (Fox Searchlight), shot in Toronto, was so popular that it’s vying for Tiff’s audience award (often an...
Buyers were unhappy that there wasn’t much to choose from at this sellers’ market, because many distributors cherry-picked the more promising titles ahead of time — which is its own risk, as when The Orchard’s La riot drama “Kings” didn’t meet high expectations.
Here’s how the festival shook out.
Best of the Fest
Top Tier Oscar Contenders
Guillermo del Toro’s gorgeously mounted fantasy thriller “The Shape of Water” (Fox Searchlight), shot in Toronto, was so popular that it’s vying for Tiff’s audience award (often an...
- 9/15/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
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