Deadline Hollywood - Emmy Best Picture/Animation - 12/16/15

DECEMBER 16, 2015 BEST PICTURE/ANIMATION

PRESENTS

SPACE ODYSSEY

DEADLINE.COM/AWARDSLINE

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Matt Damon and Ridley Scott are the rare power duo to turn The Martian into a sci-fi blockbuster with serious Oscar potential

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SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARD NOMINATIONS ®

© 1995 SAG-AFTRA

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FO R YO U R CO NS I D E RAT I O N

BEST CAST • BEST ACTOR BRYAN CRANSTON • BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS HELEN MIRREN

“WONDERFULLY HUMAN. TIMELY IN ITS PORTRAYAL. A large and talented cast led by Bryan Cranston’s intelligent and confident performance…

A deliciously malevolent Helen Mirren… An elegant and restrained Diane Lane…

A beautifully subtle Michael Stuhlbarg… A sensitive Elle Fanning… and John Goodman as hilariously foul-mouthed B-movie producer Frank King.”

Rebecca Keegan, LOS ANGELES TIMES

*DRAMA

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GOLDEN GLOBE® AWARD NOMINATIONS

BEST ACTOR* BRYAN CRANSTON BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS HELEN MIRREN

WRITTEN BY

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CRITICS’ CHOICE AWARD NOMINATIONS

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE BEST ACTOR BRYAN CRANSTON BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS HELEN MIRREN

JOHN McNAMARA DIRECTED BY JAY ROACH www.BleeckerStreetGuilds.com

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PUBLISHER

Stacey Farish EDITOR

Anna Lisa Raya

CONTENTS

DECEMBER 16, 2015

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Craig Edwards

ASSISTANT EDITOR

Matthew Grobar

DEADLINE COEDITORS

Nellie Andreeva Mike Fleming Jr.

DEADLINE AWARDS COLUMNIST

Pete Hammond

DEADLINE CONTRIBUTORS

Anita Busch Anthony D’Alessandro Lisa de Moraes Jeremy Gerard Patrick Hipes Ali Jaafar David Lieberman Ross Lincoln Dominic Patten Erik Pedersen Denise Petski David Robb Nancy Tartaglione

AWARDSLINE CONTRIBUTORS

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TABLE READ Tom Holkenborg scores with Black Mass and Mad Max; Gold Derby Best Picture and Best Animated Feature charts; party pics and more

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Gabriel Goldberg Joe Utichi

SPACE ODYSSEY The Martian’s Matt Damon and director Ridley Scott are that rare power duo to turn a sci-fi blockbuster into an Oscar front-runner.

CHAIRMAN & CEO

Jay Penske

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online

deadline.com/AwardsLine

FIRST TAKE Behind the scenes on In the Heart of the Sea

29-37

THE DIALOGUE Shannon McIntosh & Stacey Sher Steve Golin & Nicole Rocklin Finola Dwyer Kristie Macosko Krieger & Marc Platt

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BEST PICTURE HANDICAP The race is still as open as ever as Oscar nomination voting nears.

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BEST ANIMATED FEATURE HANDICAP Is Pixar’s Inside Out as inevitable a winner as the category’s seen?

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IN THE FRAME How cinematographers on Beasts of No Nation, The Revenant and Sicario braved the elements.

46-48

DOC & FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM LISTS A look at the competitive categories.

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TIMING IS EVERYTHING Release dates and the Oscar nom corelation.

fa c e b o o k

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ON THE COVER: MATT DAMON AND RIDLEY SCOTT PHOTOGRAPHED BY GABRIEL GOLDBERG THIS PAGE: MATT DAMON PHOTOGRAPHED

BY GABRIEL GOLDBERG

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★ | first take

water world

OCTOBER 20 13 , HE RT FO R DSHIR E , U N I TE D K I N GD O M Ron Howard’s In the Heart of the Sea details the story of a whaling ship’s encounter with a giant white whale, as told later in Herman Melville’s classic Moby-Dick. For this tale of survival against the odds, Howard’s crew recreated 1800s Nantucket in a water tank on a stage at U.K.-based Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden, pictured here. The actors received a thorough education on all aspects of sailing, and cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle rigged all the boats with multiple cameras to create a visceral viewing experience for the audience.

Production designer Mark Tildesley conducted much of his research on the various boats seen in the film at a Connecticut whaling museum, which featured the last original whaling ship, the Charles W. Morgan. Says Howard: “Filming in the tank was vital when we couldn’t safely shoot at sea, whether it was the storm scene or anything that required a significant amount of stunt work.” —Matthew Grobar

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PHOTOGRAPH BY

Jonathan Prime

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D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

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★ | table read

CHARTED TERRITORY

Gold Derby’s Oscar Odds

Better known to the world as dance music

music and scores. “(For Black Mass), part of the

artist Junkie XL, Tom Holkenborg also is the

sounds were straight from piano and cello and

in-demand film composer behind such films

strings as a group,” he says, “and I would have

as Divergent and Man of Steel. This year he

to make recordings that I would then mangle

provided music for two films vying for Oscar

in sound design.” These were mixed with the

attention: Scott Cooper’s Black Mass and

original recordings to create their creepy tone.

George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road.

Despite the scores’ differences—Mass is

For Mad Max, Holkenborg took a different path. Noting the film’s post-apocalyptic setting

somber, Mad Max kinetic—both drew from

filled with survivors repurposing old objects,

Holkenborg’s experience in dance music. “The

he says, “some of that made its way into the

live shows I’ve done are all about arc,” he says.

music.” The most notable example? One scene

“How do you start a show, how do you bring it

late in the film, with almost no sound effects

to a different tempo… how is the grand finale

or dialogue, features a low, pulsing percussive

going to sound? These are all things that are so

beat. “That’s basically the echogram record-

incredibly handy when it comes to film scoring.

ing of my wife being pregnant with my son,”

It’s all about an arc of two hours, with the right

Holkenborg says. “We took that down and

ups and downs and thematic developments.”

processed it, made it slower—this really thump-

Holkenborg always has blended instruments with electronic elements, in his dance

ing deep sound that I couldn’t even get out of a drum.”

Pleats, Please

COSTUME DESIGNER WENDY CHUCK SHOWED THE SPOTLIGHT CREW WHO WORE THE PANTS ON-SET. Having designed costumes for Twilight and several of Alexander Payne’s films, costume designer Wendy Chuck had a ball working within the restrictions of the reporters’ wardrobes for Tom McCarthy’s Spotlight. Even such actors as Mad Men’s John Slattery, accustomed to the more stylish lines of the 1960s, was dressed decidedly down in pleated khakis and Oxford shirts on this film about a team of journalists at The Boston Globe. Just how many pairs of khakis did Chuck have to purchase for the production? “Too many to count,” she says. “By November 2014 there were no pleated pants in any thrift store or rental house in Toronto.” The costumes were certainly the source of a lot of on-set jokes: “The guys got some mileage from the pleated pants!” the designer exclaims. “And I heard the word ‘ugly’ countless times.” —Matthew Grobar

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Spotlight

19

23

2á

The Martian

3

22 15/2

3á

The Revenant

1

22 15/2

4á

Carol

0

21

9/1

5á

Room

0

21

11/1

6á

Mad Max: Fury Road

0

20

12/1

7á

Brooklyn

0

19

12/1

8á

Bridge of Spies

0

17

16/1

9á

The Big Short

0

14

20/1

Inside Out

0

9

33/1

10 á

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

9/2

ODDS

TOM HOLKENBORG—AKA JUNKIE XL—SHOWS HIS RANGE IN SCORES FOR BLACK MASS AND MAD MAX. BY ROSS LINCOLN

1á

EXPERTS PREDICT TO WIN EXPERTS PREDICT NOMINATION

Beauty & the Beat

ODDS

BEST PICTURE

EXPERTS PREDICT TO WIN EXPERTS PREDICT NOMINATION

At press time, here is how Gold Derby’s experts ranked the Oscar chances in the Best Picture and Best Animated Feature races. Get updated rankings and make your own predictions at GoldDerby.com

1á

Inside Out

21

22

8/5

2á

Anomalisa

1

22

4/1

3á

Shaun the Sheep Movie

0

19

7/1

4á

The Good Dinosaur

0

18

7/1

5á

The Peanuts Movie

0

17

9/1

6á

The Prophet

0

3

50/1

7á

Minions

0

2

66/1

8á

When Marnie Was There

0

1

100/1

9á

Home

0

1

100/1

Hotel Transylvania 2

0

0

100/1

10 á

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“‘

MINIONS’’ ALL-SILLINESS ALL-THE-TIME PHILOSOPHY WILL PUT A SMILE ON FACES AND KEEP IT THERE, LIKE A FIZZY BEVERAGE ON A HOT AFTERNOON.” – KENNETH TURAN

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ANNIE AWARD

NOMINATIONS

For Your Consideration In All Categories Including

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE Produced By

CHRIS MELEDANDRI p.g.a.

JANET HEALY p.g.a.

universalpicturesawards.com

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Directed By

PIERRE COFFIN KYLE BALDA

© 2014 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

12/4/15 6:29 PM

pete hammond

Durling is able to attract upwards of 40 nominees in various categories to attend every year, although he does pick them on pretty good hunches before those nominations happen.

Both Palm Springs and Santa Barbara are perfectly timed to cash in on the Oscar hoopla, something about which my producer friend likely also does not approve. After all, the Oscars are the Big Kahuna of awards shows being copied by every Tom, Dick and Harry who wants to stand in its shadow. By the time an Oscar nominee has reached that particular finish line they have probably spent upwards of six months on the awards circuit trying to get there. Certainly there can be no comparison between winning an Oscar and anything else in the movie world.

Obituary headlines only will say “Academy Award-Winner,” not “Academy Award-, Golden Globe-, Critics Choice-, National Board of Review-, L.A. Film Critics-Winner.”

An Oscar trumps all that comes before it, HEIR OF INEVITABILITY Last year, Julianne Moore carried her season-long campaign all the way to Oscar glory.

but my producer friend is right. It’s being upstaged by all the so-called precursors.

kudos slugfest Every season it seems awards fatigue sets in earlier and earlier.

This year is no exception.

Recently, Julianne Moore was on Live! with Kelly and Michael talking about winning the Best Actress Oscar for Still Alice.

She indicated she knew she was going to win. How could she not? She already had swept every other award—and there were lots of them. “ I have been nominated several times, and I can tell you that you know

The other day I had a conversation with a well-known producer

key potential Oscar nominees as Cate

when it is not your year,” she told the hosts.

and Academy member who was lamenting the fact that there are

Blanchett, Alicia Vikander and Michael

“You just know.”

just too many awards shows now trying to steal thunder from the

Fassbender to attend, fest organizers need

I always hope every year, by the time

Oscars. She was visibly angry about it. “By the time we get to the

to have the gala not only during Oscar bal-

the Oscars come around, that we won’t

Academy Awards we have already heard every speech 10 times,

loting but also before the Golden Globes

know, that there will be some massive,

and there simply is no suspense or question about what is going

steal all the thunder. That is why the fest

shocking surprise. But sadly there rarely

to happen,” she said. She’s right, of course. I was thinking about

is having its opening night this year on the

is anymore. The days of jaw-dropping

that when I was watching the Golden Globes nominations being

less-than-desirable New Year’s Day, when

wins seem to be, well, gone with the wind.

announced just ahead of the Critics Choice Award noms and the

people are still in holiday, not awards,

We just have too much information from

AFI list. Or the SAG nominations the day before that. Or the Los

mode. The gala is the next night, forcing

the circuit. A few years back, I was at the

Angeles, Boston and New York Film Critics awards. Or the National

tired Oscar consultants to work overtime

Critics Choice Awards—one of the earlier

Board of Review. Or the Independent Spirit and Gotham Awards.

in getting their stars out to the desert.

shows on the calendar—at a table with

Or the Hollywood Film Awards—a show that gives awards to

The Santa Barbara International Film

Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy, who

movies just because they might be Oscar contenders. This is just

Festival also feeds heavily off awards sea-

had produced a hot Oscar prospect, The

December, folks. We have a long way to go, and many more awards

son by offering tributes to many stars and

Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It was

nominations and guild awards to come. And let’s not forget all the

filmmakers who just happen to be in the

a Best Picture favorite. But after losing

film festivals that are so tied to awards season.

Oscar conversation. The festival runs from

the first three awards of a long evening

February 3 through 13, after nominations

to Slumdog Millionaire, Marshall took his

half of the Academy’s Foreign Language Film entries largely in

The Palm Springs International Film Festival isn’t just cribbing

have been announced but before final bal-

acceptance speech out of his pocket and

order to program its festival; it also has its huge gala timed just as

loting happens. Of course, Santa Barbara

tore it up. He knew then that he was going

Oscar balloting is in full bloom. Palm Springs actually is between

and nearby Montecito are voter-rich areas.

to be losing to that movie all season long.

a rock and a hard place, because to remain relevant and get such

It’s why the fest’s Artistic Director Roger

And he did. It was no surprise.

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D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

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“★ ★ ★ ★.

GORGEOUS, HEARTBREAKING AND UNFORGETTABLE. EDDIE REDMAYNE GIVES THE PERFORMANCE O F T H E Y E A R .”

R E X R E E D, NE W Y OR K O BSE R VER

“Y O U C A N ’ T T A K E Y O U R EYES OFF EDDIE REDMAYNE WHO IS FLAT-OUT F A B U L O U S .”

P E T E R T R AV E R S, R O LLI NG ST O N E

“A B E A U T I F U L A N D P O I G N A N T L O V E S T O R Y .”

ERIN W HI T NE Y , T HE HU F F I NGT O N P O S T

“E D D I E R E D M A Y N E GIVES THE GREATEST PERFORMANCE OF HIS CAREER. A C I N E M A T I C L A N D M A R K .”

P E T E R D E BR U GE , V A R I E TY

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION IN ALL CATEGORIES INCLUDING

BEST PICTURE • BEST ACTOR EDDIE REDMAYNE BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS ALICIA VIKANDER BEST ENSEMBLE

“A L I C I A V I K A N D E R CONJURES SOMETHING DAZZLING AND U N E X P E C T E D .”

CHR I S NASHAWATY, ENTER TAI NM ENT WEEKL Y

“A L I C I A V I K A N D E R IS THE YEAR’S B R E A K O U T S T A R .”

ER I N WHI TNEY, THE HUFFI NGTON POST

WITH LOVE COMES THE COURAGE TO BE YOURSELF #TheDanishGirl

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For more on this film, go to www.FocusGuilds2015.com

MOTION PICTURE: © 2015 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ARTWORK: © 2015 FOCUS FEATURES LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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★ | table read

C A RO L BU R N ET T

▶ SAG Life Achievement Award ▷ Screen Actors Guild Awards ▷ Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016

Carol Burnett—a trailblazer for all funny women in television—will have to clear some room on her mantle when she receives SAGAFTRA’s highest accolade at the SAG Awards next month. At its height, The Carol Burnett Show attacted 30 million viewers a week; the variety show ran on CBS for 11 years. It was through Burnett’s comedic genius that audiences got to know and love such unforgettable characters as Starlet O’Hara, Nora Desmond, Shirley Dimple and Eunice Higgins.

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“Carey Mulligan is a revelation.”

ANN HORNADAY, THE WASHINGTON POST ®

“It packs a punch. An Oscar -worthy performance from Carey Mulligan.”

ANNE THOMPSON, INDIEWIRE.COM

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION IN ALL CATEGORIES INCLUDING

BEST PICTURE • BEST ACTRESS CAREY MULLIGAN

For more on this film, go to www.FocusGuilds2015.com

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★ | table read

DENZEL WA S H I NGT O N

▶ Cecil B. DeMille Award ▷ Golden Globe Awards ▷ January 10, 2016

A two-time Golden Globe winner, Denzel Washington has ascended to lifetime achivement ranks with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s decision to honor him with their marquee award, to be presented next month. Washington’s juiciest roles have been portraying reallife people in such films as The Hurricane and Spike Lee’s Malcolm X, pictured here.

Each film nabbed Washington one of his six Oscar nominations (he has two wins) in his almost-40-year career.

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AWARD 10 ANNIE NOMINATIONS

“A visually dazzling animated feature.

There is great beauty in every frame.”

INCLUDING

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

– FORBES

B E S T A N I M AT E D F E AT U R E B E S T C I N E M AT O G R A P H Y BEST ORIGINAL SCORE For our screening schedule visit us at WALTDISNEYSTUDIOSAWARDS.COM

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©2015 Disney/Pixar

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★ | flash mob

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS PREMIERE, HOLLYWOOD, DEC. 14 (Top row, from left:) John Boyega and Storm Troopers; Carrie Fisher with daughter Billie Catherine Lourd; George Lucas and J.J. Abrams.

(Middle row, from left:) Mark Hamill; Jessica and David Oyelowo with their sons; Billy Dee Williams with Harrison Ford. (Bottom row, from left:) Disney CEO Bob Iger and Willow Bay; Joseph GordonLevitt; Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg

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F O R

Y O U R

C O N S I D E R A T I O N

BEST DOCUMENTARY BEST DIRECTOR U.S. DOCUMENTARY Sundance Film Festival

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“ONE OF THE BEST DOCUMENTARIES OF THE YEAR.”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY U.S. DOCUMENTARY Sundance Film Festival

COURAGE UNDER FIRE AWARD International Documentary Association

CINEMA EYE HONORS NOMINATIONS

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NONFICTION FEATURE FILMMAKING OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTION

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION

– ALEKSANDR GORBACHEV, NEWSWEEK

“GRIPPING.

A beautifully-shot piece of derring-do, Heineman is a braver man than I. He deliberately shapes his film to be as

EXCITING AS A THRILLER.”

– JOHN POWERS, NPR

“A SPELLBINDING, COURAGEOUS FILM.

Matthew Heineman put himself in deadly peril while shooting CARTEL LAND – a frontline look at the murderous Mexican drug cartels. Vaults us into

A TRUE HEART OF DARKNESS.”

– DUANE BYRGE, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

“ASTONISHING. MEMORABLE. CHILLING.

The key to success in verité documentaries is ‘access, access, access.’ Which is what CARTEL LAND has in compelling amounts.”

– KENNETH TURAN, LOS ANGELES TIMES

“VISCERAL...

URGENT AND UNNERVING.

Mr. Heineman has a terrific eye…a gutsy soul who shot some of the most harrowing material himself.”

A FILM BY MATTHEW

– MANOHLA DARGIS, THE NEW YORK TIMES

HEINEMAN

“EXPLOSIVE.

The director’s access has ensured that we get scenes of

REAL-LIFE VIOLENCE

FROM EXECUTIVE PRODUCER KATHRYN BIGELOW

and hair-raising suspense.

Heineman wants to thrill us and shock us into awareness. In that, he succeeds marvelously.”

– BILGE EBIRI, VULTURE

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© 2015 THE ORCHARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

TRIM: 10" x 12.5"

DUE: 12/04 5pm

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★ | flash mob

MERU SCREENING, LOS ANGELES, DEC. 14 Deadline’s Dominic Patten in discussion with the film’s director, Jimmy Chin

YOU CARRY ME SCREENING, LOS ANGELES, DEC. 10 From left: Producer Anita Juka; director Ivona Juka with Anita during the post-screening Q&A.

MODRIS SCREENING, LOS ANGELES, DEC. 8 From left: The film’s director Juris Kursietis; with Deadline’s Dominic Patten; Patten and Kursietis in conversation post-screening.

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FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE RO G E R AL L ERS, DIRECTOR & SAL MA HAY EK- PIN AU LT, P ROD U CE R BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY RO G E R AL L E R S

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE G AB R IE L YAR E D

BEST ORIGINAL SONG “ H YP N O S IS ” B Y D AM IEN R IC E

“Awe inspiring! It took my soul on a jouney!”

- PE T E R D E B RU G E , VA R I E T Y

“Gloriously uplifting and life-affirming! The artists behind Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet have gifted us one of the most mesmerizing films of the year and a milestone in the history of animation.”

-CARLOS AGUILAR, INDIEWIRE

INSPIRED BY THE 100 MILLION-SELLING MASTERPIECE

AMPAS MEMBERS: If you have not yet received your DVD screener, please email awards@gkids.com

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SPACE

ODYSSEY A director as seasoned as Ridley Scott knows a good opportunity and seizes it. When The Martian scripter Drew Goddard fell out of directing the pic, Ridley shelved Alien: Covenant so that he could take over and pair up with an already attached Matt Damon. The sci-fi rescue film is one of the biggest grossers of the year and has given Scott one of the best shots at a long-overdue Oscar.

BY MIKE FLEMING JR.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY GABRIEL GOLDBERG

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“It feels like a lot of people don’t realize this, but Ridley Scott does not have an Academy Award,” Damon says. “It’s incredible to me. Gladiator won Best Picture but he wasn’t a producer on it. I am really hoping this is his year. He just has done so much for cinema, and I felt like I got a full film school education just sitting next to him for four months and henpecking him all day with questions.”

Just as the science and notion of manned space trips to Mars seems inevitable, Damon’s sentiment doesn’t feel like a pipe dream this late in the Oscar race. Even though it was among the first of the Oscarcontending films to launch, and even though cutting-edge science fiction films like this one usually accumulate awards hardware in technical achievement categories, The Martian hasn’t lost its luster. The film was named a Golden Globes Best Picture candidate in the comedy category, and Damon and Scott also received nominations.

Maybe it’s because a number of highly anticipated Oscar-bait films have either underwhelmed or depressed the hell out of voters with bleak story lines. The Martian, with its crowd-pleasing Apollo 13-like story of a global effort to retrieve Damon’s marooned space botanist, Mark Watney, has left a lingering memory as the feel good 3D space blockbuster of the fall season, even with Star Wars: The Force Awakens looming.

Scott accepts that designation and suspects that with all of the recent problems in the world, the film has proved to be a welcome respite for global audiences. “The film works on many levels without getting too sentimental, and that is something I usually resist since I am British and was brought up in a drizzly landscape, waiting for the double-decker bus to come take me to school,” he says. “The feel-good aspect is earned and not artificial.”

MAKING THE CUT While Scott’s outer-space résumé is defined first and foremost by the dark, solitary visuals of Alien, which informed how space films

MONTHS AFTER THE MARTIAN LAUNCHED

at the Toronto International Film Festival and grossed $589 million worldwide to become the biggest film in 78-year-old director Ridley Scott’s career, Matt Damon still hasn’t tired of talking about the film. For Damon—who shared the 1998 Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Good Will Hunting with Ben Affleck when he was just 27 years old—there is just one piece of unfinished business for the blockbuster space rescue tale.

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got shot for the next few decades, The Martian was a visual 180-degree turn. It was also different in that, while Scott had to beg the 20th Century Fox brass back in 1979 to allow Alien to unfold at its own pace—before John Hurt’s character comes down with history’s worst case of indigestion and the roller coaster ride begins—Watney’s dilemma was spelled out right after the opening credits, when a vicious storm on Mars convinced his crewmates he was dead, thereby leaving him behind.

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“With Alien the studio said, ‘Nothing happens for 46 minutes.’ I said, ‘Yeah, but when it happens, it really happens.’ They were always fighting it,” Scott says. “As soon as you see it twice, it’s like telling a joke that isn’t as funny the second time. When studio executives have to see the film five, six or 10 times, it gets exhausting and they say, ‘Are we too long?’ ” The experience forged a resolve in Scott that fueled The Martian—to hang on to that first impression made either by the script or the first screening. “You have to remember those are most important in defining how you really feel,” he says. “When I get a script now, I sit and read it, and God forbid anyone interrupts me for the next two-and-a-half hours. That reading becomes the Bible, and it has to sustain you during dangerous periods, like when you are editing and agonizing over every bloody frame and people are saying, ‘Cut here, cut there.’ You have to be like the artist who steps back to look at the canvas as they are painting. I step back and come back fresh and go, ‘OK, I need that, that, that and that.’ I learned to turn myself into the creative director of the cut, and then I do the same thing for the mix and the music. That became my method.”

SPACE SAVERS Scott develops many projects, but like Gladiator, The Martian fell into his lap. Drew Goddard’s scripted adaptation of the Andy Weir novel was written and ready to go, and Damon already was fitted for the space helmet with Goddard at the helm.

“I was going to do it with Drew directing,” Damon recalls. “I read and loved his script, watched his other work and I was sold. Then, Drew gets the chance to direct Sinister Six, which he’d been dying to do.

It was a seminal career moment for him.

So he bowed out and I thought I was going to wait and we’d put (The Martian) on the back burner for a year. And then, about a week later, we got word that Ridley wanted to do it.”

It was the kind of love-at-first-sight reaction that Bradley Cooper described Clint Eastwood having when Steven Spielberg

“WHAT I WAS THINKING ABOUT WAS MOVIES LIKE ALIEN AND BLADE RUNNER, WHICH ARE TWO FILMS THAT PEOPLE SHOULD WATCH ONCE A YEAR, ALONG WITH GLADIATOR, THELMA & LOUISE AND BLACK HAWK DOWN. RIDLEY HAS MADE SO MANY FANTASTIC MOVIES THAT ARE SO DIFFERENT. HE’S ONE OF THE FEW DIRECTORS WHO HASN’T FOUND IT DIFFICULT TO JUMP FROM GENRE TO GENRE AND MAKE WONDERFUL MOVIES IN ALL OF THEM.” 22

dropped out of a fully developed American Sniper script. “Ridley is a lot like Clint and a few other guys who have been making movies a long time,” Damon says. “They don’t screw things up by thinking about them too much. If they respond on an intuitive level, they go. And so Ridley hopped on quickly; he read the script once or twice, and was willing to put Alien: Covenant on hold.”

Scott acknowledges the Goddard script

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“IAN McKELLEN’S PERFORMANCE AS SHERLOCK HOLMES IS PURE PLEASURE.” “IAN McKELLEN GIVES A FLAWLESS PERFORMANCE.” “A MASTER CLASS IN ACTING.”

F O R I N

YO U R A L L

C O N S I D E R AT I O N

C AT E G O R I E S

I N C L U D I N G

BEST ACTOR

IAN McKELLEN

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numerous iterations of Good Will Hunting— some that required Damon and Affleck to step aside for bigger stars. They rightly stood their ground.

“I vividly remember feeling this sense of peace, and just sitting there that night, staring at this Academy Award and going, ‘Thank God I didn’t fuck anybody over for that,’ ” Damon says. “Ben and I always said, ‘Look, even if (Good Will Hunting) just amounts to a videocassette on our mantle that we like and nobody else sees, that’s going to be good enough.’ It made every decision after that really easy. Every time we said yes or no, it was about trying to make hit him like a thunderbolt: “It was so good

survivor, Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley, became

I didn’t read the book, because I didn’t

the last-standing human by default. What

want to be tempted to meddle,” he says.

Scott most admired in Goddard’s script was

But Scott also recalls feeling that he had

the intricate puzzle that was part Mars sur-

to audition for Damon. It wasn’t a difficult

vival tale, part rescue tale, and the big dose

conversation, even though it was the first

of humor that kept it all together.

the pair ever had.

“He didn’t have to impress me, and my

“You always have to have conflict, even in a comedy,” he says. “I started with The

“IF YOU’D TOLD ME BEFORE THIS MOVIE THAT A DIRECTOR COULD FIND FOUR GOOD FRAMES AT ONCE, I’D NEVER HAVE BELIEVED IT. BUT RIDLEY FINDS FOUR GOOD SHOTS, EVERY TIME, AND THEN HAS TO CHOOSE.”

the movie we really wanted to see. With the Oscars, I definitely don’t feel any need beyond the idea that Ben now has two of them, and what the fuck is that about?”

Damon is kidding, but he is serious about his hope that this is Scott’s year.

The director is in a boat similar to the one Spielberg found himself in before

biggest concern was telling him I’d just

Duellists, which had conflict between two

done a small role as a stranded astronaut

characters who eventually forget what

in Interstellar,” Damon says, “but he told me

their original argument was about, and so

these were such different stories that we

it became a definitive essay on mindless

were going to be fine. What I was thinking

violence. Alien, of course, is that survival

about was movies like Alien and Blade Run-

story where it’s finally one person up against

ner, which are two films that people should

it. What I liked here is that I could get away

watch once a year, along with Gladiator,

with that storyline because the humor

of me, just a simple close-up. They were

Thelma & Louise and Black Hawk Down. Rid-

would be such a surprising element in the

setting the lights around my stand-in and

ley has made so many fantastic movies that

film, the last thing you would expect. It’s

I was sitting there with Ridley, looking at

are so different. He’s one of the few direc-

not a comedy in my mind, but some of it is

the monitor. It was a simple close-up shot,

tors who hasn’t found it difficult to jump

pretty funny.”

three quarters from behind, focusing on my

from genre to genre and make wonderful

Schindler’s List, and Martin Scorsese before The Departed. But here’s hoping he escapes the fate of his idol, Stanley Kubrik, who never won a directing Oscar, but did for visual effects.

“His eye is his and his alone,” Damon says. “There was this shot he was doing

helmet and a little piece of my face. And I

OVERDUE NOTICE

realized immediately that this was, unmis-

And what about the tour de force perfor-

takably, a Ridley Scott frame. I peppered

prospect of diving into Watney’s dilemma—

mance by Damon as the stranded space

him with questions all the way through

there are long stretches where the stranded

botanist? It’s the only thing Damon doesn’t

and he was so generous in answering every

botanist holds the screen alone, much the

want to talk about. He says he always has

one of them. I said to him, ‘Why is it that I

same way Tom Hanks did in Cast Away and

taken a hands-off approach to the Oscar

know this simple close-up is a Ridley Scott

Sandra Bullock in Gravity. “I was nervous

race, content with the surreal memory of

frame?’ He said, ‘I know what you’re talking

about it, and certainly felt the challenge of

him and Affleck exuberantly thanking and

about. All I was thinking about when I set

the piece, but I had Ridley with me and that

high-fiving everyone short of Nomar Gar-

that shot up was for it to be simple, and

mitigated all of the risk,” Damon says. “In

ciaparra as the fresh-faced twentysome-

truthful.’ It was a big takeaway moment for

terms of Sandy (Bullock) and Tom (Hanks),

thing Boston pals accepted their Oscars.

me. When Ridley is being simple and hon-

movies in all of them.”

Scott helped Damon with the daunting

there were these two other great storylines

“I felt really lucky to have had this taken

est, the result is singularly him.

in The Martian. There was the whole NASA

care of a long time ago, and so I’ve never

part, and all the bells and whistles of that,

really felt the need to chase it,” Damon

all the time,” Damon continues. “If you’d

and then there was Jessica (Chastain)’s

says. “And also, there’s nothing I can do

told me before this movie that a director

storyline with the rest of my team. So Ridley

about it. I can’t complain about anything

could find four good frames at once, I’d

had stuff to cut back to. The degree of dif-

if I’m able to keep working with these

never have believed it. But he finds four

ficulty in what Tom and Sandy did was way

incredible directors and keep making the

good shots, every time, and then has to

harder than what I did. If I got too boring,

movies I want to make. That’s what I can

choose. I went into the tent one day where

Ridley was able to cut to one of those other

control, and the rest of this stuff I can’t get

he was sitting with his monitors, and found

storylines before people got sick of me.”

too caught up in.” Damon says that win-

myself puzzling over these four beautiful

ning so early in his career freed him from

shots. I finally said, ‘All four of these are

to movies about loners. He once planned

a burden, and the one big takeaway that

perfect.’ And he looked up at me, smiled,

to make I Am Legend and, in his mind, Alien

he and Affleck got out of it was a resolve

and barked, ‘They’ve been perfect for

also was a solitary survival story even if its

to stand their ground. After all, there were

a long time.’ ”

Scott says he always has been attracted

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4 AWA R D S F R O M N AT I O N A L B O A R D OF REVIEW BEST DIRECTOR RIDLEY SCOTT BEST ACTOR M AT T D A M O N BEST ADAPTED S C R E E N P L AY DREW GODDARD TOP FILMS

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“S C O T T’S F I L M V E R S I O N O F T H E B E S T S E L L I N G D E B U T N OV E L BY S PA C E N E R D A N DY W E I R F I R E S O N A L L CY L I N D E R S , F U E L E D BY A H E R O I C A L LY E N T E RTA I N I N G P E R F O R M A N C E F R O M M AT T D A M O N . . .T H E M A RT I A N , W I T H A YO U -A R E -T H E R E S C R I P T BY D R E W G O D D A R D , WO R KS YO U OV E R W I T H O U T A H I N T O F DYS T O P I A N D O O M I N A L L O F I T S B R A C I N G 1 4 2 M I N U T E S . T H I S S U S P E N S E F U L S U RV I VA L TA L E , S M A RTA S S T O I T S C O R E , S L A P S A S M I L E O N YO U R FA C E T H AT YO U’L L W E A R A L L T H E WAY H O M E . ” PETER TRAVERS,

F O R Y O U R C O N S I D E R A T I O N I N A L L C A T E G O R I E S

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F O R

YO U R

CO N S I D E R AT I O N

B E S T D O C U M E N TA RY F E AT U R E BEST ORIGINAL SONG The Light That Never Fails

Written by Adrian Gurvitz, Lauren Christy and Andra Day Performed by Andra Day

“BLINDINGLY BEAUTIFUL AND METICULOUSLY ASSEMBLED.” —JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

“TERRIFYING YET BEAUTIFUL.” —MICHAEL O’SULLIVAN, THE WASHINGTON POST

++++ “BREATHTAKING.”

—TOM KEOGH, THE SEATTLE TIMES

“SPECTACULAR! MERU WILL OPEN YOUR EYES.” —KENNETH TURAN, LOS ANGELES TIMES

“ONE OF THE BEST DOCUMENTARIES OF 2015.”

—NEWSWEEK

“VISUALLY SUBLIME AND DRAMATICALLY LOADED.” —PETER KEOUGH, THE BOSTON GLOBE

“THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARIES OF THE YEAR.” —RICHARD ROEPER, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

PGA AWARDS NOMINEE Documentary Producer

FILM INDEPENDENT

SPIRIT AWARD NOMINEE Best Documentary

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BELIEVE IN THE IMPOSSIBLE A FILM BY JIMMY CHIN AND ELIZABETH CHAI VASARHELYI

© SOUTHPORT MUSIC BOX CORPORATION

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D THE DIALOGUE OSCAR SEASON 2015

SHANNON MCINTOSH & STACEY SHER THE HATEFUL EIGHT (THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY)

“One of the things about the slip of the script really became about integrity and what we were going to stand for. When an artist says this is a work in progress you have to decide who you line up with.” —Sher

STEVE GOLIN & NICOLE ROCKLIN SPOTLIGHT (OPEN ROAD FILMS)

“Tom McCarthy and co-writer Josh Singer had an incredible dynamic. They very much investigated the investigation and turned up things we didn’t know about, that the journalists weren’t even aware of.” —Rocklin

FINOLA DWYER

BROOKLYN (FOX SEARCHLIGHT)

“I couldn’t really think of a film that told that universal story about leaving home. There are so many degrees of it.

We’ve had so many people come up to us and tell us their stories.”

KRISTIE MACOSKO KRIEGER & MARC PLATT BRIDGE OF SPIES (DREAMWORKS STUDIOS)

“Steven Spielberg always reads a script as an audience member and he makes the films he would like to see.

He makes it look easy, but his craftsmanship is astounding.” —Krieger

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Shannon McINTOSH and

Stacey S H E R ★

★

★

★

Shooting The Hateful Eight in snow, in 70-millimeter and amidst controversy was all in a day’s work for the producing team behind Tarantino’s latest.

B Y A N T H O N Y D ’A L E S S A N D R O

O

ut of all of Quentin Tarantino’s films, none has had more behind-the-scenes, high stakes drama than The Hateful Eight, his second western after Django Unchained. You would think that shooting in the high elevations outside Telluride, Colorado would cause the ultimate headache. Hardly. It was after a draft of the script leaked in January 2014 that a miffed Tarantino announced he was shelving the project. Ultimately, the Oscar-winning filmmaker came around, holding a public reading with most of the film’s current cast in downtown Los Angeles, followed by a 2014 Comic-Con announcement that he was mounting the pic. As the mishegoss diminished, the producers and The Weinstein Co. faced another daunting summit: resurrecting the 70-millimeter projection made extinct by digital cinema so that Tarantino’s roadshow vision for the film could be realized. That 70MM, three-plus-hour version hits Christmas Day in 100 theaters, complete with intermission. Here, Stacey Sher and Shannon McIntosh—who produced the film with Richard N. Gladstein—discuss the banding of The Hateful Eight.

that there were 11 projectors used on The Master, which was the biggest release in recent history. Having to look at the fact that you had to get the projectors deployed to places that are now all digital—that was huge. Having to look at the fact that you’re pulling up equipment. The lenses that we were using had not been used since 1966 for Khartoum, so having to get those engineered for modern camera technology—it was all these technical things.

Do you think Tarantino’s recent remarks on law enforcement violence—coupled with the NYPD and LAPD’s decision to boycott his films—will impact Hateful Eight’s box office?

Sher: No. The people who are fans of Quentin Tarantino are going to come out. I have tremendous

Why was it necessary for Tarantino to hold a

What changed between the two scripts?

respect for the police. I produced Oliver Stone’s

public reading of The Hateful Eight after the

Sher: Huge amounts. The last chapter is completely

World Trade Center and I feel particularly close to first

script was leaked?

different.

responders. What Quentin said was not about all first

Stacey Sher: It wasn’t about it being necessary. He

Shannon McIntosh: The reading kind of told him

responders. He’s made it very clear on Chris Hayes,

was pretty sure he wasn’t going to make the movie

some of (who to cast). I think a lot of it he already

in the L.A. Times and with Bill Maher that he has tre-

at that point. He was going to write it as a book

knew. Obviously he had Tim Roth and Michael

mendous respect for people who serve and protect

and publish it. However, he was continuing to write,

Madsen in mind. What changed from the reading to

and that he wasn’t talking about all police. He’s talk-

because I remember around that time period he was

the movie is Bob became Mexican. One previous ver-

ing about specific people—who in some cases have

still reading me different scenes. He’d call and he’d

sion had the role as a Frenchman, but Quentin was

been charged criminally and in some cases haven’t—

be like, “Do you have minute? I want to read you this

intrigued by Demián (Bichir) because he had worked

and as a person of conscience who has dealt with

new scene that I wrote for (the character of) Daisy.”

with Robert Rodriguez.

race in America and who has deep feelings about

And then Elvis Mitchell, who he’s close with, called

it, as evidenced in his films and in his entire body of

him up. They held a public reading of Pulp Fiction to

And then in the stage reading, Amber Tamblyn

work. Trayvon Martin was killed during the making of

raise money and he proposed this idea. I want to say

read for Daisy Domergue, but Jennifer Jason

Django. These are things we’ve all talked about for

that one of the things about the discussion around

Leigh plays her on screen.

years, and when Quentin was asked to go as a per-

the slip of the script really became about integrity

McIntosh: So with Daisy in particular, he saw differ-

son of conscience, he went to a peaceful protest and

and what we were going to stand for. When an artist

ent women. They were all his ideas. Daisy and Jody

never said anything incendiary and never called out

says this is a work in progress you have to decide

were the two that were obviously the least certain.

all police. That the police choose to respond in the

who you line up with. Do you line up with protecting

For Jody he looked across the map before settling on

way that they have—it is absolutely their first amend-

an artist’s creative process, or do you want to be in

Channing Tatum.

ment right, just like it his first amendment right.

this tweeting world we live in? That was really the

If shooting in the snow wasn’t the most chal-

Do you think the whole situation has calmed

dialogue that came up around this and it wounded

lenging part of production, then what was?

down a bit?

Quentin. So once he did the reading, they rehearsed

McIntosh: The glorious 70MM. It was having to

McIntosh: I think things have happened to maybe

for two weeks and it went so well that it made him

look at that with Kodak going out of business—they

deflect (attention), but I think they’ve calmed down.

feel like he wanted to go forward and make it.

didn’t, they’re good. It was having to look at the fact

I think people get perspective.

the know and be the person parsing information in

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Ste ve G OLIN and

Nicole ROCKLIN ★

★

★

★

Spotlight, about The Boston Globe investigative journalists, has wowed film fests, critics and even the city at its heart.

BY JOE UTICHI

T

he atmosphere was electric in the Royal Alexandra Theatre at the Toronto International Film Festival when Spotlight premiered. The packed house had advance word of Tom McCarthy’s extraordinary handling of the story of The Boston Globe’s investigation into abuse in the Catholic Church, thanks to the film’s well-received showings in Venice and Telluride. When the cast joined the original Spotlight team reporters on that Toronto stage, the audience was on its feet with applause. What makes this film one of the season’s most popular players? Producers Nicole Rocklin and Steve Golin—just half of the producing team that also includes Blye Pagon Faust and Michael Sugar—explain.

Golin: There’s always some pushback on movies because people think it’s a pain in the ass. Every movie I’ve worked on, someone starts shouting at you and telling you to get the fuck out. But I think we were all pleasantly surprised there wasn’t more institutional negativity from Boston and, frankly, the movie has been extremely well received in Boston. I think the whole stage of denial for Catholics is over. They know this happened, it’s fact, and I think it’s an extremely fair portrayal.

Given how hard it was to bring the ensemble

How did you first become involved?

favorite movies. He’d never told a true story and

together and shoot within season, did you

Nicole Rocklin: My partner, Blye Faust, and

was interested, but the first time we went to him

have enough time to shoot?

I found out about the project from a friend

he turned it down based on availability. It came

Rocklin: It was 40 days, and we ended up having

we were working with, David Mizner. It was an

back around, thank God. He and Josh Singer, who

to go back to Boston because of the seasons. We

extraordinary story, so we immediately part-

co-wrote the script, had an incredible dynamic. They

didn’t start having much time to go back but Tom

nered with Michael Sugar and Steve.

very much investigated the investigation and turned

wanted to get all the seasons and to make sure

Steve Golin: Michael and I were involved for

up things we didn’t know about, that the journalists

everything was perfect in terms of Boston scenery.

four or five years, and the girls were involved

weren’t even aware of.

Golin: The executive producer, Michael Bederman,

before that. These things take a while, and

was very resourceful in terms of putting a little bit

Tom McCarthy was going to do the film a year

Did the cast come together easily?

of money aside to allow Tom to do that. You always

earlier, but there was a seasonal aspect to the

Golin: It was a huge challenge. I think Mark Ruffalo

wish you had more time, and we always wish we

production and we missed our season.

gets the credit, because when you do one of these

had more money so we could get paid more, but

ensemble movies, often the actors’ representatives

I honestly believe if we had more time and more

Journalists report the story but don’t

are very cautious about making sure it’s the right

money this movie wouldn’t have been any better.

always like to be the story. Was there hesi-

team of people and they’re not putting their client

I think we made the best version of this movie we

tation from the real Spotlight team?

in a bad situation, particularly on a film of this size,

were capable of making.

Rocklin: What’s interesting is that when we

where they’re not getting paid much. The script had

approached them they were all just like, “This

been around and it was Mark who really signed on

Steve, you’re also a producer on The Revenant,

is never going to happen.” We were honest,

first and told his representatives that he was doing

another Best Picture front-runner. Is it odd to

and we said the chances of (the film) getting

the movie and to make it happen. He was the brave

have two horses in the race?

made were slim to none. But they trusted us,

“journalist” to say yes first. A lot of other actors were

Golin: This movie took five years and that movie

and it must be hard when someone’s going to

circling, and when he put his flag in the sand, they

was 10 years, so it’s like having two children of dif-

portray you on film and, at least on paper, you

started signing on. It was very close to not happening.

ferent ages. It was certainly never by design that

don’t have any decision-making influence. But

these movies would come out within a few months

obviously these guys were heavily involved, and

Was there sensitivity to this subject in Bos-

of each other, but that’s the way it happened. I’ve

I think we had someone on-set pretty much

ton, where some of the film was shot?

worked on a lot of movies, and I’ve made some I

the entire time. There wasn’t much resistance.

Rocklin: It was really supportive. We expected a

thought came out great, and a bunch that didn’t. It’s

little pushback but we could have been shooting

obviously more gratifying to make the movies people

Was McCarthy always your director pick?

a Marvel movie. People were mentally supportive,

are talking about. I love them both, and it’s a weird

Rocklin: Always. For me, The Vistor is one of my

and there wasn’t any major pushback.

situation, but it’s a high-class problem to have.

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Finola DW Y E R ★

★

★

★

The producer discusses the serendipity in bringing the best-selling Brooklyn to the screen.

BY JOE UTICHI

F

inola Dwyer already is Oscar-nominated, along with her partner in Wildgaze Films, Amanda Posey, for 2009’s An Education. They’ve reteamed with screenwriter Nick Hornby to bring Colm Tóibín’s bestselling novel Brooklyn to the screen. Directed by John Crowley (Is Anybody There?), the film is a touching, human drama about an Irish immigrant to the United States in the 1950s. In the lead, Saoirse Ronan delivers a stirring, heartfelt performance that marks her arrival as an adult talent destined for greatness. Here, Dwyer discusses the rocky road toward one of this season’s most relatable dramas.

was a moment of realization that I’d have to make it, and make it well, for a lot less money than I thought. We shot in three countries over 35 days and it was kind of massive for what we had. You always have to cajole financiers. If you don’t have big stars and you can’t say, “Well, it’s (this film) crossed with that (film),” it’s hard to make them understand.

It’s an unusual story to tell—nothing extremely dramatic or disastrous happens.

What made you fall in love with Colm

thought we’d figure out the money somehow. A

I think that’s the beauty of it. It’s a simple film

Tóibín’s novel?

friend who’d recommended the book in the first

that runs deep. There’s space within the story

I read it when it first came out. It’s very much

place is a rare book dealer in New York. There

to project yourself onto it as well. I couldn’t

my mother’s story. My mother went from Dublin

was a big rare books sale at the Armory, and it

really think of a film that told that universal story

to New Zealand in 1951, the same year Eilis

was a beautiful sunny day, so I decided to go with

about leaving home—how you can never go

(Ronan’s character) went to Brooklyn. She was

him. I asked him if he knew Colm Tóibín and he

home again and how you cut the cord from your

homesick for a large part of her life. It touched

said, “No, but he’s coming later.” He introduced

parents. There are so many degrees of it. We’ve

me as my mom’s story. Also, when I moved to

me to a lot of people during the day and I had

had so many people come up to us and tell us

the United Kingdom from New Zealand, I felt

this fantastic chat with one guy about the best

their stories.

homesick too. I go home with that feeling that

kept secrets in New York—nothing about film,

I’m getting sucked back into where I’m from,

and nothing about books. We parted and my

The film rests on the central performance

but of course once you’ve left your home, you

friend said, “So, did you ask him?” I said, “Was

from Saoirse Ronan. Was there ever any

can never go back to that. It was so universal

that Colm?” My friend went running after him

other choice than her?

because everyone experiences this to some

and invited him for lunch. By the end of the

Saoirse was 16 when I optioned the book. I

degree or other.

lunch, Colm said to me, “If you want the book, it’s

remember we talked about her and we kicked

yours.” He’d turned down a lot of people, but it

ourselves that she was way too young. It was

Did it strike you as a film immediately?

felt like it was so meant to be. Perhaps if I’d gone

more serendipity that things didn’t happen

I wasn’t entirely sure about it as a film because

after (the book) straight away, I wouldn’t have

faster because when we were ready to start

it’s a very internal book, and I wasn’t sure how

gotten it.

shooting, she’d become 19, nearly 20. It was a

we’d dramatize that for the screen. I thought,

privilege to work with her, and to work with her

“It’s period, set in two countries,” so it was going

You mentioned concerns about getting

on her transformative, first adult role. It was so

to be at least $25 million (to make). How do you

this film financed. Do you think there’s

exciting to watch her—I’ve never seen a face

cast a film to raise that kind of money? I don’t

more conservatism to finance than there

do so little and tell you so much. You can’t get

want to just option books and not get them

once was?

enough of it. She has so much power and can

made—I want to get behind projects we can take

I always think finance is a bit conservative.

do anything. Colm thought she reminded him of

all the way.

An Education was an incredibly difficult film

a young Meryl Streep in The Deer Hunter. John

to finance and make. Quartet was tough too,

was brought up on authenticity and we always

What changed your mind?

because Dustin (Hoffman) had never directed

talked about wearing the period lightly and

With Brooklyn, I kept buying copies of the book

before. You box on, really. But I did think Brooklyn,

making it authentic. Saoirse is at the center of

to give away. I thought, “I have to get the rights,”

as we assembled the pieces and figured out

that, and she’s the best person as well. It’ll be

though I expected that they’d be long gone. I

how to do it, would be easier to finance. There

exciting to see what she does in the future.

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Kristie M AC O S KO K R I E G E R and

M a r c P L AT T ★

★

★

★

The Bridge of Spies producers helped bring Steven Spielberg’s historic, period drama to life.

B Y A N T H O N Y D ’A L E S S A N D R O

I

n a fall box office marketplace where a slew of adult dramas like Steve Jobs, Our Brand Is Crisis and Burnt were steamrolled by 20th Century Fox’s The Martian, Steven Spielberg’s Cold War drama, Bridge of Spies, held its own, making close to $70 million.

Based on a true story, the film revolves around insurance attorney James Donovan, who negotiated the exchange between U.S.-captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel and Soviet-captured U.S. U2 pilot, Francis Gary Powers. Knowing Spielberg’s penchant for U.S. history, producer Marc Platt took the project to the director, who actually had a connection to the material: Spielberg’s father, during a trip to Moscow in the early 1960s, actually viewed and took photos of Powers’ fuselage, which the Soviets had on display in Red Square. Here, Platt and Kristie Macosko Krieger, who produced the film with Spielberg, discuss the challenges in making this big period drama and engaging adult audiences in this blockbuster era.

compelling. We will continue to get them made in a marketplace where there are big, branded ticket items.In regard to making drama effectively with smaller amounts of money, there’s always going to be a significant actor or director attached to studios and they can transcend globally. There’s always a passion behind the projects... I believe there are many in the studio system who not only care about the branding and robustness of their slate, but there are plenty who also are passionate about film.

What were some of the challenges in mounting this production?

Krieger: The biggest challenge was figuring out how and where to erect the Berlin Wall in contemporary

Whenever Spielberg is about to direct

If a director of Spielberg’s caliber wasn’t

Europe. Our production designer Adam Stockhausen

his next project he’s usually faced with

behind this historical drama, which co-stars a

and his team found the perfect place in the city

choosing between two films. What made

largely fresh-faced actor in Rylance, would it

of Wroclaw, Poland. Many of the structures had

Bridge of Spies a go before The BFG, his

be hard to get through the studio system?

remained untouched since (World War II), and the

next film releasing in the summer?

Platt: It’s a period drama and it’s not about

production team built several hundred feet of the

Marc Platt: From pitch to film release (Bridge

Abraham Lincoln, but a person who most people

Wall smack in the middle of town. The result was

of Spies) was 24 months. When you develop

have never heard of. It’s an interesting question. As

historically quite accurate and visually stunning.

your material, you have to develop it as

a producer, it’s your job to bang on the table and

strongly as you can. It’s also about the two

convince studio heads why great movies should be

Wide appealing adult dramas have had an

actors (Tom Hanks as Donovan, Mark Rylance

made. It would have been extremely challenging

uphill battle at the box office, but Steven still

as Abel) who are portraying the key roles. They

without a director like Steven behind this.

knows what audiences crave.

Krieger: He knows good stories. He knows a

were available. It wasn’t a matter of jockeying for which project came first. But you develop

Do you believe in the studio system for small

good one when he hears it, and he knows how to

the material and make it as undeniable as you

period dramas like Bridge of Spies?

bring it to the screen. He always reads a script as

can, bring in the actors, and then the project

Platt: Of course I do. I know that the size and scope

an audience member and he makes the films he

takes a life of its own.

of the movies are changing in proportion to the

would like to see. He makes it look easy but his

Kristie Macosko Krieger: Steven knew he

funds, but the people who work at the studio are

craftsmanship, especially on this film, is astounding.

couldn’t shoot The BFG until he pre-vised

very experienced in all different departments—from

Platt: It’s such a joyful experience as a producer

the whole movie. After hearing the pitch in

creative, to those keeping up with the marketplace

working with Steven. After all these years, he’s still

September 2013, we knew that there was

and its changing technologies and how people

a filmmaker who loves making movies. He cares

a window of opportunity to make Bridge of

consume movies. Navigating the studio system has

about every ingredient in every frame and sits in

Spies while we were working on BFG. It was all

its own challenges and, as a producer, you want

front of the monitor and watches every take with

about timing and what was going to work out.

to be astute and clever. Each one has a different

tremendous focus. I’ve never been on another set

We said to (Bridge of Spies co-writer) Matt

agenda, but there’s a tremendous value in the

where the director gets so excited after watching a

Charman, “Write quickly or else this window

system. I always believe that a good story will find

performance. As a producer, when you get to work

will close.” I checked on this project on a

its audience and that it will attract different kinds of

with a filmmaker who is joyful about making films,

weekly basis.

elements of creative people who will make it more

you want to do it again and again.

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★ | oscar handicaps

BEST

PICTURE

It’s still wide open in the ever-surprising Best Picture Oscar race.

By Pete Hammond

38

Some years, the Best Picture Oscar

Out, Love & Mercy and others, were

race already has boiled down to one,

released in the summer but are get-

two or three sure things by the time

ting a boost now, not only from early

December rolls around. It coincides

screeners, but also the fact that they

with critics groups voting on their

have had a much better chance to be

picks, and screeners being sent out.

seen. Having said that, the most mov-

That is not the case this year in a com-

ies being mentioned for one of up to

petition that is about as wide open as

10 spots in the Best Picture race have,

you can get. I base this on Academy

as usual, been released in the Oscar-

of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

friendly corridor of fall and Christmas.

members with whom I have spoken,

Commonly thought to be leading

who—unlike the critics who see and

the pack at this date are two films: a

digest all films in contention much

classic studio box office blockbuster,

quicker than the average voter—take

The Martian, and a growing indie suc-

their time in trying to see everything.

cess story, Spotlight. The latter deals

Oddly, the conventional wisdom that

with a journalistic investigation into a

it’s better to release Oscar hopefuls

scandal revolving around the Catholic

in the final three months of the year

Church in Boston and priests accused

actually might not be the smartest

of sexually abusing kids. It roundly

piece of advice. Many of the titles

has been applauded by several critics

I am hearing enthusiasm for, such

groups, including Los Angeles and

as Straight Outta Compton, Inside

Boston (duh!), who voted it their top

The Martian

Spotlight

The Revenant

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award. The Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards also have taken

Joy

Straight Outta Compton

Steve Jobs

The Danish Girl

Also looking to break into this race

including The Weinstein Company’s Cannes Film Festival success, Carol—

major notice. On the other hand, the

is Disney; in addition to Bridge of Spies,

which picked up four big awards from

highly entertaining The Martian not

which it has as part of an expiring

the prestigious New York Film Critics

only is a rare Best Picture frontrunner

DreamWorks association, it also has

Association, including Best Film—as

that combines box office success

Pixar’s Inside Out. The cartoon could

well as Quentin Tarantino’s violent

with critical acclaim, it also represents

break out of the Animated Feature

but fun genre outing, the western The

director Ridley Scott’s strongest

ghetto and into the Best Picture

Hateful Eight. It should be noted: Tar-

shot at finally getting his own Oscar

leagues, where only three ’toons have

antino films have been nominated for

statuette. He directed the 2000 Best

landed before. This is a title I hear

Best Picture three times in the past.

Picture winner Gladiator but was over-

about repeatedly. And, although the

Fox Searchlight is back in the

looked in the director race that year in

studio doesn’t need awards love to

action with its duo of Youth—from

favor of Traffic’s Steven Soderbergh.

make Star Wars: The Force Awakens

foreign-language Oscar-winner Paolo

This all makes the 78-year-old director

the biggest movie of all time, the J.J.

Sorrentino, who enlisted an Academy-

and his movie somewhat of a senti-

Abrams-helmed phenom just could

friendly cast in his English-language

mental favorite this year.

be good enough to add a Best Picture

foray—and the magnificent Brooklyn,

nom to its haul and become the first in

which the Fox specialty division—win-

ers to Oscar glory have returned with

the seven-film series to land a Best Pic

ner in the Best Picture race the past

contender films. There’s Alejandro G.

nomination since A New Hope in 1977.

two years—picked up at Sundance.

Some directors who are no strang-

Bridge of Spies

behind Max and Mass.

Inarritu and his brutal, bloody western,

In terms of other majors, Para-

The Revenant, which could bring him

mount was looking to sit this season

year with The Danish Girl, following

riding back into the Dolby Theatre for

out until it decided to drop the star-

last year’s nomination for The Theory

a second year in a row after his Bird-

laden dramedy The Big Short into

of Everything. The film’s transgender

man won the Best Picture prize last

the mix. The pic, revolving around the

underpinnings might help it gain trac-

year; David O. Russell has Joy, the cast

2008 financial meltdown, has been

tion since it’s such a hot-button topic

of which—Jennifer Lawrence, Robert

well received and has a great ensem-

these days.

DeNiro and Bradley Cooper—promises

ble cast that could drive it forward,

to be another strong winner with the

especially among the actors branch.

with its emotional powerhouse Room,

actors branch, the Academy’s largest;

Par’s Toronto International Film

or a real long shot like the much-

and Steven Spielberg has returned

Festival pickup, Anomalisa, seems

admired Ex Machina, just as another

with Bridge of Spies, the latest in a

like a longer shot here and more likely

new indie player, Bleecker Street, tries

long line of Best Picture hopefuls from

to land in the Animated Feature and

to defy odds and land the Hollywood

perhaps the most successful director

Adapted Screenplay categories.

blacklist story Trumbo a surprise

in motion picture history. Like The

Sony Pictures had hoped technical

Focus Features might be back this

A24 could break into this contest

nom, even though the industry seems

Martian, these films all are from major

wonder The Walk would put a Robert

more taken with the film than some

studios and signal what could be a

Zemeckis vehicle back in the race,

critics. Lionsgate, kind of a mini-major

very strong year for the majors, Oscar-

but the pic’s box office failure also

with indie cred, is looking to return to

wise. Throw in Universal’s Straight

caused it to lose much of its awards

the Best Picture crowd after win-

Outta Compton, which has been

mojo. The visual effects category is

ning in 2006 with Crash. It actually

earning strong Best Picture buzz and

its best Oscar bet. The studio’s timely

just might do it with the critical and

could get on the nom list for making

Christmas Day release, Concussion,

box office success of the drug cartel

the story of rap group N.W.A. about as

about the doctor who links traumatic

drama Sicario, which has lots of buzz.

compelling as a music biopic possibly

brain injury with football, will assuredly

It appears there’s also some support

could be. A Best Picture nomination

put its star Will Smith in the Best Actor

out there for Netflix’s maiden feature

would be a nice capper for Univer-

race. The Peter Landesman-directed

film effort, Beasts of No Nation, even

sal’s incredible year at the box office,

film could be just ripped-from-the-

though the pic faded from theatres

despite the lukewarm returns and

headlines enough to land in the Best

in just two weeks to go exclusively

fairly disastrous wide rollout of Steve

Picture race, too—another feather in

online. It will be an interesting test for

Jobs, which still has Oscar potential

the cap for Ridley Scott, who is one of

the streaming service, and Hollywood,

even if it’s on an uphill climb.

its producers.

if the film lands a slot. Finally, Sony

Warner Bros. has in the mix Mad

After the Academy increased

Pictures Classics is hoping to repeat

Max: Fury Road, Black Mass and late

the potential Best Picture nomina-

the success it had in landing the For-

bloomer Creed, which really has sur-

tion slots from five to 10, voters often

eign Language Film winner Amour in

prised as a solid contender and could

placed smaller, indie films in those

the Best Picture race in 2012, this time

be the sleeper here even though WB

extra spots. This year is likely to

with the chilling Holocaust tale Son of

has put the lion’s share of its efforts

have several indie movies on the list,

Saul. Time will tell who makes the cut.

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★ | oscar handicaps

BEST

Inside Out

ANIMATED FEATURE Will Inside Out’s inevitability rule the category, or will an adult stop-motion marvel steal its thunder?

By Pete Hammond

40

Almost from the start, the race

Most often, Oscar voters look

for the 2015 Best Animated Feature

upon the Best Animated Feature

Oscar has been one movie’s to lose.

category as the ’toon version of

Even before it opened in June there

Best Picture and leave it at that.

was heavy betting and anticipation

Talking to Academy members in this

that Pixar/Disney’s Inside Out

wide open year though, one of the

was going to be unbeatable—the

most frequently mentioned choices

800-pound gorilla in the contest

for Best Picture is indeed Inside

and one of the best, most complex

Out—its story of the six human

films ever to come from Pixar. That

emotions, ranging from joy to anger

started right after the film first

to sadness, not only is incredibly

was screened for the exhibition

original, it also has gained gravitas

community at CinemaCon in Las

as a pic that sparks conversation

Vegas in April. In fact, the talk for

between parents and kids. The fact

this movie has gone beyond Best

that it also became a worldwide

Animated Feature and into the

box office smash certainly doesn’t

Best Picture race, which has seen

hurt its cause. Pixar always is a

only three cartoons (Beauty and

fixture in the animated race, but

the Beast, Up, Toy Story 3) crack the

took last year off largely because of

code of the Academy of Motion

production delays with The Good

Picture Arts and Sciences’ most

Dinosaur that pushed that film’s

prestigious category.

release to this year, marking the rare

The Good Dinosaur

Anomalisa

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instance when the company has

of a man who finds himself thrust

of characters. DreamWorks, which

not one, but two films in contention.

into extraordinary circumstances.

is often a finalist in this contest,

According to the Academy, 16

Some critics groups, including

had only a spring entry this year,

animated films qualified this year,

Los Angeles, have even put the

Home, which did well at the box

and, assuming all of them fulfill

film above Inside Out in their

office but is expected to score

the rules, it’ll be just at the wire

own awards, and that could help

Oscar love possibly only in the Best

of the number that triggers a full

raise the spoiler prospects for

Song area with a Jennifer Lopez

category of five. If both Pixar titles

Paramount, which is going all-out.

tune. Paramount’s The SpongeBob

get in, as I suspect they will, it will

Shaun the Sheep Movie

The Peanuts Movie

Home

is likely Sponge Out of the Race, as it

California-based company, which

spot almost certainly will go

is hard to imagine much traction for

is considered the gold standard in

to Aardman and Lionsgate’s

this TV-turned-film property that

animation these days. So, could

enormously clever—and wordless—

skews way too young to interest

we actually have a situation where

Shaun the Sheep Movie. This

the older voters of the Academy’s

Pixar cancels itself out in the final

spinoff of the character, which

animation committee. They haven’t

vote? Not likely. Though Good

first appeared in Wallace & Gromit

succumbed to SpongeBob in the

Dinosaur has been doing well

as well as his own TV series, is

past, and are unlikely to start now.

critically and at the box office, it

not only perhaps the most purely

is no match for Inside Out and will

enjoyable and delightful animated

top five laid out here it will come,

have to settle—at least awards-

film I have seen this year, but it

as usual, from the independents in

wise—for being in its shadow, a

also harkens back to the comic

the race. In past years, GKids has

pace-setter but not a winner.

style of such silent stars as Charlie

done very well and last year even

Chaplin and Buster Keaton, or the

landed two of the five nominees.

the front-runner and turn this race,

films of Jacques Tati. Sure, Shaun

This year its hopes are pinned to

well, inside out? The most likely

the Sheep is a better-known star

foreign imports: Japan’s When

prospect to do that comes from

internationally than in America, but

Marnie Was There and Brazil’s

Paramount, which until the Toronto

this sheer charmer is likely to sweep

Boy and the World. GKids is the

International Film Festival in

the animation committee—which

most likely candidate to upset

September didn’t even have a major

makes the nominations—right off

the apple cart of the major studio

Oscar contender this year except,

its feet. It also helps that, despite

behemoths, probably with the

perhaps, Mission Impossible: Rogue

somewhat light domestic box

well-received Marnie. But there is

Nation in some below-the-line

office, Lionsgate is running a smart

another Japanese entry, The Boy

areas. The studio’s pickup of the

campaign and making sure voters

and the Beast, that will try to make

surreal, Charlie Kaufman-scripted

don’t forget the summer release.

an impact, along with such low-

So can anything possibly upset

The fifth slot, in my opinion, is

If there can be any upsets to the

budget hopefuls as Regular Show:

Johnson)—and very adult—stop-

likely to go to 20th Century Fox and

the Movie and The Laws of the

motion animated Anomalisa was a

Blue Sky’s The Peanuts Movie,

Universe–Part 0. Also unlikely to

surprise to some. It was almost as

which managed to do something

crack the top five is Moomins on

surprising as when the movie won a

I didn’t think possible. It took the

the Riviera, a very minor French-

big prize at the Venice Film Festival.

simple, hand-drawn charms of

Finnish production based on a well-

Even though the film seems more

Charlie Brown and his gang, turned

known Finnish comic strip aimed at

indie in spirit, Paramount has

them over to CGI wizards, and

the youngest viewers.

launched a major campaign, not

made a movie that even Peanuts

only to land an Animated Feature

purists could love by staying

adaptation of an extremely well-

nom—the rare grown up ’toon in a

true to the spirit and time of the

known book the world over, Kahlil

position to do it—but across the

Charles Schulz creation. It helped

Gibran’s The Prophet, which is

board in other categories including

that Schulz’s son and grandson

powered by the onscreen and

Best Picture. Kaufman is a past

collaborated on the script.

behind-the-scenes participation of

writing Oscar winner for Eternal

Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet

Movie: Sponge Out of Water also

taken up, I would say the fourth

and co-directed (with Duke

When Marnie Was There

With those three slots likely

be a landmark year for the Northern

Competing for that fifth slot will

Finally, there is an animated

Salma Hayek and features a cast

Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but

be such other major studio ’toon

with, among others, Liam Neeson.

he has never been in the animated

hits as Sony’s Hotel Transylvania

Whether the approach of taking

area before. The studio actually

2, which managed to improve on

sophisticated material and trying

is putting less emphasis on its

the original, and Universal and

to make it kid-friendly will work is

animated aspects and more on the

Illumination’s Despicable Me spinoff

anyone’s guess in terms of its Oscar

human story the film presents—it’s

Minions, which became a huge

potential, but the film is getting a

about the seemingly mundane life

summer hit due to its lovable cast

significant PR push.

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★ | crew calL

C I N E M AT O G R A P H Y

IN THE

FRAME

Cinematographers Cary Fukunaga, Emmanuel Lubezki and Roger Deakins braved daunting physical challenges in bringing their visions to Beasts of No Nation,The Revenant and Sicario.

By Matthew Grobar

This year, Hollywood’s most respected cinematographers went to extreme lengths to bring to audiences some stunning imagery. When it comes to this work, for several D.P.s the Oscar is an afterthought, it’s all about the craft. Shooting on any set is challenging, more so when you’re in the extreme heat of Mexico or Africa, or the frigid winds of Alberta. In the development of Beasts of No Nation, Cary Fukunaga took on the duties of cinematographer, as well as director, and contracted malaria in the process. On The Revenant, Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki circled the globe and endured extreme cold to bring to audiences something that’s never before been seen. And on Sicario, the iconic Roger Deakins took on highly choreographed action sequences and New Mexico’s monsoon season.

the film is based—in 2005. Fukunaga

cameras,” he says. There was one

adapted the book for the screen.

backup, but it died mid-production

Always ambitious, the direc-

while the crew was filming a sandpit

tor knew going into the project that

scene. “It was hot with high humid-

he also would take on the role of

ity,” Fukunaga says. “It was like

cinematographer. “I started out doing

being in a sauna and trying to think

cinematography at film school at NYU,

straight, and do your work and orga-

and so it was just something that

nize an army.”

was part of my filmmaking process,”

Suffice to say, there was never

he says. Beasts, which stars Idris Elba

a dull day on this set. Rainstorms

and newcomer Abraham Attah, was

occasionally delayed filming for

shot in Ghana in 35 days on Panavised

hours at a time, the choreography

ARRI Alexa cameras with anamorphic

involving a large cast was challeng-

C-series lenses—older lenses that

ing, and both the director and one

gave the film its 1970s patina.

of the film’s actors came down with

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

studying political science and history

For reasons artistic rather than

Beasts of No Nation

in college. His interest would lead, 10

practical, Fukunaga elected to shoot

tion. “It was tough being out in the

years later, to the making of the Net-

primarily with one camera. “We tried

elements, trying to coordinate hun-

Rising to fame for directing the

flix film Beasts of No Nation. Fuku-

for single-camera coverage as much

dreds of extras, filming epic scenes,

much-acclaimed first season of

naga actually began his research on

as possible, because you had to

the jungle,” Fukunaga says. “Just

HBO’s True Detective, Cary Fuku-

the topic in 1999, eventually traveling

think about the kind of shot and the

organizing the shots was difficult

naga first became interested in the

to Sierra Leone in 2003, and finding

quality of the shot rather than when

because it would be sunny and light,

subject of African child soldiers while

Uzodinma Iweala’s novel—on which

you have the luxury of using multiple

then stormy.”

42

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★ | crew calL

C I N E M AT O G R A P H Y

MIDDLE-AGED ACUMEN The Revenant Two-time Oscar-winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki will go to any length to capture a gorgeous image, including traveling to the far, frigid reaches of winter in Canada and Argentina to shoot Alejandro G. Inarritu’s The Revenant. Initially reluctant to shoot the project, the D.P. was won over by the chance to make an adventure movie with Inarritu. “It’s funny, because I talked to Alejandro about that, and we said, ‘We have to do it right now. We’re middle-aged, and this could be the

hardest work—but it’s certainly up

as Deakins, who storyboards

shoot with ultra-wide lenses and

last time we can do something like

there. Cables and monitors routinely

extensively, Lubezki had a more

the previously untested ARRI Alexa

this,’ ” Lubezki says. “So we jumped

would freeze, Lubezki fell through

freewheeling process with Inarritu,

65mm camera, which had more

to it and we survived it.”

a frozen riverbed and was rescued

involving figuring things out in the

resolution than any other digital

by a key grip, and the days were so

elements. “We’d have little improvi-

camera on the market, low light

thing of a purist, and the pair

short and the latitude so high the

sations and we’d shoot them, and

sensitivity, and “translated what we

elected to make the process as

crew often only had five hours a day

a lot of the very beautiful stuff on

were feeling in the locations to the

rewarding as possible by shooting

to film. “As you’re shooting there,

the movie comes out of those little

screen in the best possible way,” he

deep in the wilderness, off the grid.

with these extraordinary actors

moments,” he says, adding that

says.

It’s shocking to note this isn’t even

and this incredible director, you’re

there also were many extended

Lubezki’s most challenging shoot—

getting very energized and excited,

action sequences that demanded

ing on the film, Lubezki certainly is

off-hand, he mentions Terrence

and that definitely kept me alive,”

months of rehearsal.

due for a break. “I’m going to take a

Malick’s humid, mosquito-infested

Lubezki says.

Like Inarritu, Lubezki is some-

one for The New World as his

Unlike such cinematographers

After exhausting himself work-

To capture the vast expanse of

three-week nap,” he says. “I’m going

the wilderness, Lubezki elected to

to go into hibernation like the bear.”

HITTING THE MARK Sicario Even for a master cinematographer like Roger Deakins, Sicario was tricky to pull off—a logistical puzzle with many moving pieces, including aerial and night-vision footage and highly choreographed action sequences. For the most part, the 12-time Oscarnominated D.P. weathered the demanding shoot by being extremely methodical, as is his nature. Collaborating with director Denis Villeneuve for a second time after 2013’s Prisoners, he and the French-Canadian director had developed a shorthand that facilitated this process.

Sicario—about the dark underworld of Mexican drug cartels—is a film defined by its persistent, feverish state of tension, the execution of which is probably the clearest testament to the filmmaking duo’s precision. Though Johann Johannsson’s pulsating score is a major contributor in this department, Deakins also held his shots significantly longer than usual. “You’re just watching the shot and you’re wondering what’s going to happen now, it’s that kind of thing,” he says. And for an intense shootout scene at the U.S.-Mexico border, Deakins says, “we prepped the hell out of it and we storyboarded exactly what we wanted.”

Anyone familiar with Deakins’ work knows story trumps style for him every time. “I didn’t want anything to be a pretty sunset for the sake of a pretty sunset,” he says. However, while shooting in Albuquerque, NM it became evident the crew was in the midst of monsoon season as amazing cloud formations unexpectedly began to present themselves. “We didn’t visualize it like that, we thought it would be a bold blue sky, but we decided to embrace it,” Deakins says. “I worried that it was going to be too much, but then we wanted the landscape to be a character (in the film).”

There’s also an intimate scene between Emily Blunt and Benicio Del Toro at the end of the film that gets at the heart of why Deakins loves his work. “I operate the camera all the time, and partly why I love operation is because I’m the first person to see (a scene),” he says. “I’m the first person to see what the audience is going to. I’ve always loved that.”

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★ | foreign films

AROUND THE

GLOBE

Getting a nomination in the Foreign Language Film category is one of the toughest benchmarks a country can achieve at the Oscars. Last year, 83 countries competed for one of nine slots on the shortlist, which was announced in mid-December. Five films made the nomination cut and the eventual winner was Poland’s entry, Ida, pictured.

This year, 81 countries are competing, with only one first-time entry, this time from Paraguay. The category has habitual nominees from France, Germany and Canada, among others, but every year brings new excitement as more countries with burgeoning film industries submit their pics for consideration. Here are the shortlists from the past five years, showing which countries went on to score noms and which won the Oscar.

By Matthew Grobar

Ida

2015

2014

Argentina: Wild Tales ✩

Belgium: The Broken Circle

Austria: Amour ★

Belgium: Bullhead ✩

Algeria: Hors la Loi ✩

Estonia: Tangerines ✩★

Breakdown ✩

Canada: War Witch ✩

Canada: Monsieur Lazhar ✩

Canada: Incendies ✩

Georgia: Corn Island

Bosnia and Herzegovina:

Chile: No ✩★

Denmark: SuperClasico

Denmark:

Mauritania: Timbuktu ✩★

An Episode in the Life

Denmark: A Royal Affair ✩

Germany: Pina

In a Better World ★

Netherlands: Accused

of an Iron Picker

France: The Intouchables

Iran: A Separation ★

Greece: Dogtooth ✩

Poland: Ida ★

Cambodia:

Iceland: The Deep

Israel: Footnote ✩

Japan: Confessions

Russia: Leviathan ✩

The Missing Picture ✩★

Norway: Kon-Tiki ✩

Morocco: Omar Killed Me ★

Mexico: Biutiful ✩

Sweden: Force Majeure

Denmark: The Hunt ✩

Romania:

Poland: In Darkness ✩

South Africa: Life, Above All

Venezuela: The Liberator ★

Germany: Two Lives

Beyond the Hills ★

Taiwan: Warriors of the

Spain: Even the Rain

Hong Kong:

Switzerland: Sister

Rainbow: Seediq Bale

Sweden: Simple Simon

2013

2012

2011

The Grandmaster Hungary: The Notebook Italy: The Great Beauty ★

Palestine: Omar ✩

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✩ NOMINATED ★ WON ★ OSCAR DEBUT

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★ | documentaries and Conrad Anker. It’s a classic triumph-against-the-odds tale. But Jennifer Peedom’s Sherpa, which didn’t make it through, felt like the snow-and-crampons shoe-in this season.

While documentary heavyweights like Moore, Gibney, Davis Guggenheim (He Named Me Malala) and Kapadia all have a spot on the list, there was no room for Amy Berg, whose Janis: Little Girl Blue felt like the other big musical biopic to beat this year. In fact, a full third of the longlist looked at some aspect of entertainment and media. In addition to the two music biopics, Listen to Me Marlon (Stevan Riley), Best of Enemies (Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville) and, arguably, Gibney’s Going Clear, all touch on the biz, suggesting a bit of inside baseball can’t hurt when it comes to wooing fellow artists… and voters. The ballsy entry of the bunch certainly is Going Clear, which is showing surprisingly sturdy legs in a town cautious of rocking the Scientology boat.

But global social injustice remains the most potent topic for the documentary branch. As well as the aforementioned entries from LIST TOPPERS The Look of Silence, Amy and Winter on Fire made the Academy’s doc feature shortlist this year.

Guggenheim, Moore, Oppenheimer and Afineevsky, there’s also Cartel

FIRST CUT

Land, Matthew Heineman’s doc

The Academy released its Documentary Feature shortlist of the 15 films going into the nomination phase. Who’s moving forward—or not—in the race? By Joe Utichi

station; We Come As Friends by

about Mexico’s devastating drug wars; Marc Silver’s 3 ½ Minutes, Ten Bullets, about a young black man gunned down at a Florida gas Hubert Sauper, who looks at the crisis in South Sudan; and Kirby Dick’s exposé of rape crime on college

We’re a little closer to figuring out

Next—the first time he’s appeared

waxed lyrical in interviews about the

the way toward the Oscar for Docu-

on this list since 2008’s Sicko. That

opportunity offered by streaming

mentary Feature, with the Academy

film went on to score an eventual

services for their documentaries to

impressionistic Heart of a Dog can’t

of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’

nomination, but it remains to be

reach enormous audiences, and this

fit neatly into those two boxes. That

doc branch announcing the short-

seen if Moore’s return to form this

result certainly suggests filmmak-

might well prove to be those films’

listed 15 films that will battle for

year has the chops to continue his

ers would do well to keep the online

biggest asset; 2011’s Oscar winner,

nominations and the eventual win.

journey.

giants at the top of their distribution

Undefeated, came from this kind of

wish lists.

left field, and so too did Man on Wire

Of the 124 films entered, favorites

There’ll be champagne on ice

campuses, The Hunting Ground.

Only Meru and Laurie Anderson’s

like Amy (Asif Kapadia), The Look

at Netflix, because the streaming

of Silence (Joshua Oppenheimer)

service’s two big doc releases of the

qualifier in the bunch is Meru, Jimmy

has to be Oscar’s most disparate

and Going Clear (Alex Gibney) have

year—Evgeny Afineevsky’s Winter

Chin’s very fine documentary about

category, and there are few pointers

made the cut. So, too, has Michael

on Fire and Liz Garbus’ What Hap-

scaling an unscaleable peak in the

for guaranteed success. As the race

Moore’s Toronto International

pened, Miss Simone?—found their

Himalayas, featuring such mountain-

continues, any one of these 15 films

Film Festival hit Where to Invade

way across the line. Both directors

eering heavyweights as Jon Krakauer

feels like it could go all the way.

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Perhaps the most surprising

in 2008. Best Documentary Feature

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The Art of Elysium Presents

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Limited Tickets Available

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★ | final frame

TIMING IS EVERYTHING The old Oscar logic that releasing a film at the end of the year increases its chances of getting nominations, and even wins, is steadfast—never more so than this year. Only one film out of the top 10 in Gold Derby’s predicted Best Picture nominees wasn’t released in the last quarter of the year: Mad Max: Fury Road. To be fair, George Miller’s post-apocalyptic actioner is that rare outlier, defying so many other expectations in its long path toward the Dolby Theatre. But if one needs even more convincing, this list of the Best Picture nominees from the past five years proves there’s a release date-Oscar nom correlation. –Matthew Grobar

2016 The Big Short Dec. 11, 2015 (limited) Dec. 23, 2015 (wide) Bridge of Spies Oct. 16, 2015 Brooklyn Nov. 4, 2015 (limited) Nov. 25 (wide) Carol Nov. 20, 2015 Mad Max: Fury Road May 15, 2015 ★ The Martian Oct. 2, 2015 The Revenant Dec. 25, 2015 (limited) Jan. 8, 2016 (wide) Room Oct. 16, 2015 (limited) Nov. 25, 2015 (wide) Spotlight Nov. 6, 2015 (limited) Nov. 25, 2015 (wide) Inside Out June 19, 2015 ★ 2015 American Sniper Dec. 25, 2014 (limited) Jan. 16, 2015 (wide) Nominations: 6; Wins: 1 Birdman Oct. 17, 2014 (limited) Nov. 14, 2014 (wide) Nominations: 9; Wins: 4* Boyhood July 11, 2014 (limited) Aug. 15, 2014 (wide) ★ Nominations: 6; Wins: 1 The Grand Budapest Hotel March 7, 2014 (limited) March 28, 2014 (wide) ★ Nominations: 9; Wins: 4 The Imitation Game Nov. 28, 2014 (limited) Dec. 25, 2014 (wide) Nominations: 8; Wins: 1 Selma Dec. 25, 2014 (limited) Jan. 9, 2015 (wide) Nominations: 2; Wins: 1

L e ona r d o D i Ca p r i o The Revenant

The Theory of Everything Nov. 7, 2014 (limited) Nov. 26, 2014 (wide) Nominations: 5; Wins: 1 Whiplash Oct. 10, 2014 Nominations: 5; Wins: 3

2014 12 Years a Slave Oct. 18, 2013 (limited) Nov. 8, 2013 (wide) Nominations: 9; Wins: 3*

2012 The Artist Nov. 25, 2011 (limited) Jan. 20, 2012 (wide) Nominations: 10; Wins: 5*

American Hustle Dec. 13, 2013 (limited) Dec. 20, 2013 (wide) Nominations: 10; Wins: 0

The Descendants Nov. 18, 2011 (limited) Dec. 9, 2011 Nominations: 5; Wins: 1

Captain Phillips Oct.11, 2013 Nominations: 6; Wins: 0

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Dec. 25, 2011 (limited) Jan. 20, 2012 (wide) Nominations: 2; Wins: 0

Dallas Buyers Club Nov. 1, 2013 (limited) Nov. 22, 2013 (wide) Nominations: 6; Wins: 3 Gravity Oct. 4, 2013 Nominations: 10; Wins: 7 Her Dec. 18, 2013 (limited) Jan.10, 2014 (wide) Nominations: 5; Wins: 1 Nebraska Nov.15, 2013 (limited) Jan. 24, 2014 (wide) Nominations: 6; Wins: 0 Philomena Nov.22, 2013 (limited) Nov. 27, 2013 (wide) Nominations: 4; Wins: 0 The Wolf of Wall Street Dec. 25, 2013 Nominations: 5; Wins: 0 2013 Amour Dec. 19, 2012 Nominations: 5; Wins: 1 Argo Oct. 12, 2012 Nominations: 7; Wins: 3* Beasts of the Southern Wild June 27, 2012 ★ Nominations: 4; Wins: 0 Django Unchained Dec. 25, 2012 Nominations: 5; Wins: 2 Les Miserables Dec. 25, 2012 Nominations: 8; Wins: 3 Life of Pi Nov. 21, 2012 Nominations: 11; Wins: 4 Lincoln Nov. 16, 2012 Nominations: 12; Wins: 2 Silver Linings Playbook Nov. 16, 2012 (limited) Dec. 25, 2012 (wide) Nominations: 8; Wins: 1 Zero Dark Thirty Dec. 19, 2012 (limited) Jan. 11, 2013 (wide) Nominations: 5; Wins: 1

The Help Aug.10, 2011 ★ Nominations: 4; Wins: 1 Hugo Nov. 23, 2011 Nominations: 11; Wins: 5 Midnight in Paris May 20, 2011 (limited) June 10, 2011 (wide) ★ Nominations: 4; Wins: 1 Moneyball Sept. 23, 2011 ★ Nominations: 6; Wins: 0 The Tree of Life May 27, 2011 ★ Nominations: 3; Wins: 0 War Horse Dec. 25, 2011 Nominations: 6; Wins: 0 2011 127 Hours Nov. 12, 2010 (limited) Jan. 28, 2011 (wide) Nominations: 6; Wins: 0 Black Swan Dec. 3, 2010 (limited) Dec. 17, 2010 (wide) Nominations: 5; Wins: 1 The Fighter Dec. 10, 2010 (limited) Dec. 17, 2010 (wide) Nominations: 7; Wins: 2 Inception July 16, 2010 ★ Nominations: 8; Wins: 4 The Kids Are All Right July 9, 2010 (limited) July 30, 2010 (wide) ★ Nominations: 4; Wins: 0 The King’s Speech Nov. 26, 2010 (limited) Dec. 25, 2010 (wide) Nominations: 12; Wins: 4* The Social Network Oct. 1, 2010 Nominations: 8; Wins: 3 Toy Story 3 June 18, 2010 ★ Nominations: 5; Wins: 2 True Grit Dec. 22, 2010 Nominations: 10; Wins: 0 Winter’s Bone June 11, 2010 (limited) July 16, 2010 (wide) ★ Nominations: 4; Wins: 0

Best Picture winner * ★ Early releases

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DRAMA

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