The question hanging over this year's Oscars, to paraphrase Jeffrey Wells, is whether the Academy are going to go "full fart" or not. My own feeling is that they are going to go three-quarters fart, splitting off 3 Oscars (director, editing, script) for The Social Network but keeping the lion's share for The King's Speech (film, script, actor, art dir., score). Inception cleans up in the technical categories, The Fighter mops up supporting, leaving one apiece for Black Swan, Alice, Toy Story 3, and True Grit, so the $100-million club all go home with something, while The Kids Are Alright, 127 Hours and Winter's Bone get zip. I should add — in the interests of lending my selections at least a patina of on-the-ground legitimacy — that I am writing this from the pink, decoish splendor of the Beverly Hills Hotel, where my efforts to acquire a George Hamilton-like tan are currently being thwarted by low-hanging cloud. My tin foil sun reflectors are at the ready for even a few seconds of sun. My article for The Guardian about the membership of the Academy here.
Best Film: The King's Speech Best Director: David Fincher Best Actor: Colin Firth Actress: Natalie Portman Supporting Actor: Christian Bale Supp Actress: Melissa Leo Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3 Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin Original Screenplay: David Seidler Cinematography: True Grit Costumes: The King's Speech Editing: The Social Network Make Up: The Wolfman Sound Mixing: Inception Sound Editing: Inception Special Effects: Inception Score: The King's Speech Song: We Belong Together Documentary Short: Strangers No More Live-action Short: Wish 143 Foreign Language: In A Better World Animated Short: The Gruffalo Documentary: Inside Job
"Full fart," "three-quarters fart": Spare us the elitist technical jargon, Shone!
But seriously. I agree with just about everything, except I'm going with Steinfeld for Supporting Actress. My hunch is they'll want to reward "True Grit" a little more, and punish Melissa Leo for naked desperation. (Cloistered desperation is, of course, perfectly acceptable.)
I hope you are right, because I don't see much in the way of potential upsets otherwise. Plus, of course, Leo's performance is close to unendurable the more that film goes on, but that's just my personal feeling, something I try to extinguish from my breast when making these predictions, aiming instead for an icy objectivity that sends a chill through all onlookers
It wouldn't shock me if Leo won. Or Helena Bonham Carter for that matter, though I suspect she's still too weird for mainstream taste.(Her actual personality, I mean, not the one she adopts in the movie.) I just have a gut feeling that voters really like Steinfeld and really like "True Grit" and want to hoist her into the Tatum O'Neal/Anna Paquin pantheon.
“A master-class‑–immersive, detailed, meticulous, privileged inside-dope… Tom Shone is the king of critical cool.” — Craig Raine
“An up-close and personal look at one of Hollywood’s most successful directors…This erudite book is packed with extensive, expansive discussions about Nolan’s films… insights into what he was trying to accomplish with each film; and the movies, directors, books, art, architecture, and music that influenced him…. Fans of Nolan’s films will find this revealing book invaluable.” — Kirkus, starred review
THE NOLAN VARIATIONS
Follow me on Instagram
"Shone is simply one of the most eloquent and acute film writers we have" — Teddy Jamieson, The Sunday Herald
"Shone is a clever film columnist who can also write a wise book: two attributes that don't often go together." — Clive James
"Is there anyone now writing about movies better than Tom Shone? I think not” — John Heilemann, New York magazine
B O O K S
BEST MOVIES of 2018
1 The Irishman A
2. The Souvenir A
3.Marriage Story A-
4. Once Upon A Time in Hollywood A-
5. Apollo 11 A-
6. Parasite A-
7. Ford vs Ferrari
8. Toy Story 4 A-
9. Ad Astra B+
10. For Sama B+
B O O K S
R E V I E W S
"This level of discernment and tart dissent is an unexpected treat... Shone's prose has a beauty of it's own, abounding in nonchalantly exquisite turns of phrase" — Guy Lodge, The Observer
"Sharp, smart... Shone doesn't just follow critical orthodoxies. He makes his argument beautifully. It's the brain food Allen's rich career deserves." — Ian Freer, Empire
"The book is a must for Woody Allen fans" - Joe Meyers, Connecticut Post
.
R E V I E W S
"What makes the book worth taking home, however, is the excellent text... by Tom Shone, a film critic worth reading whatever aspect of the film industry he talks about. (His book Blockbuster is a must).... Most critics are at their best when speaking the language of derision but Shone has the precious gift of being carried away in a sensible manner, and of begin celebratory without setting your teeth on edge." — Clive James, Prospect "The real draw here is Shone’s text, which tells the stories behind the pictures with intelligence and grace. It’s that rarest of creatures: a coffee-table book that’s also a helluva good read." — Jason Bailey, Flavorwire
"There’s a danger of drifting into blandness with this picture packed, coffee-table format. Shone is too vigorous a critic not to put up a fight. He calls Gangs “heartbreaking in the way that only missed masterpieces can be: raging, wounded, incomplete, galvanised by sallies of wild invention”. There’s lots of jazzy, thumbnail writing of this kind... Shone on the “rich, strange and unfathomable” Taxi Driver (1976) cuts to the essence of what Scorsese is capable of." — Tim Robey, The Sunday Telegraph
"A beautiful book on the Taxi Driver director's career by former Sunday Times film critic Tom Shone who relishes Scorsese's "energetic winding riffs that mix cinema history and personal reminiscence".' — Kate Muir,The Times "No mere coffee table book. Shone expertly guides us through Scorsese’s long career.... Shone shows a fine appreciation of his subject, too. Describing Taxi Driver (1976) as having ‘the stillness of a cobra’ is both pithy and apposite.... Fascinating stuff." — Michael Doherty, RTE Guide"An admiring but clear-eyed view of the great American filmmaker’s career... Shone gives the book the heft of a smart critical biography... his arguments are always strong and his insights are fresh. The oversized book’s beauty is matched by its brains”— Connecticut Post
.
Click to order
“The film book of the year.... enthralling... groundbreaking.” — The Daily Telegraph
“Blockbuster is weirdly humane: it prizes entertainment over boredom, and audiences over critics, and yet it’s a work of great critical intelligence” – Nick Hornby, The Believer
“Beautifully written and very funny... I loved it and didn’t want it to end.” – Helen Fielding “[An] impressively learned narrative... approachable and enlightening... Shone evinces an intuitive knowledge of what makes audiences respond... One of those rare film books that walks the fine line between populist tub-thumping and sky-is-falling, Sontag-esque screed.” – Kirkus Reviews
“Exhilarating.... wit, style and a good deal of cheeky scorn for the opinions of bien-pensant liberal intellectuals.” – Phillip French, Times Literary Supplement
“Startlingly original... his ability to sum up an actor or director in one well-turned phrase is reminiscent of Pauline Kael’s... the first and last word on the subject. For anyone interested in film, this book is a must read.” – Toby Young, The Spectator
“A history of caring” – Louis Menand, The New Yorker “Smart, observant… nuanced and original, a conversation between the kid who saw Star Wars a couple dozen times and the adult who's starting to think that a handful might have sufficed.” – Chris Tamarri, The Village Voice
"A sweet and savvy page-turner of a valentine to New York, the strange world of fiction, the pleasures of a tall, full glass and just about everything else that matters" — Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story and Absurdistan
"A cocktail with bite. I downed it in one" — Helen Fielding, author of Bridget Jones's Diary
"A deft, witty satire which casts its sharp eye over the absurdities of addiction, recovery and contemporary New York" — Marcel Theroux, author of Far North
“Laugh-out-loud funny” — Toby Young, author of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People
"Tom Shone's superb debut is a wise and witty examination of literary celebrity, Anglo-American mystification and the cult of recovery. Shone's prose sparkles: his humor detonates smart-bombs of truth" — Stephen Amidon, author of Human Capital
“A cutting comic debut” — The Sunday Times
“Clever, witty, acerbic, warm” — Geoff Nicholson, author of Footsucker
"A sharp, funny, and ultimately touching debut novel" — Library Journal Reviews
"One of the few novels set in Manhattan that gives you a true feel for the city” — James Wolcott, Vanity Fair
"A splash of cynicism, a dash of self-doubt, and a good measure of humour.... In the Rooms is an entertaining page-turner about humanity, with plenty of hilarity" — The Economist
SEAN BAKER'S (AND MIKEY MADISON'S) ANORA
-
Way back in May it was that Patty, Emma and I drove to the SEE Film
Multiplex in Bremerton to take in *I Saw the TV Glow*, and while there I
took a ...
Happy Birthday Elliott Gould
-
Happy Birthday to one of the all-time greats and one of the coolest of the
cool Elliott Gould. From my 2019 New Beverly interview with Elliott Gould
about ...
National Silent Movie Day: Manhandled (1924)
-
Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021, is National Silent Movie Day. New York City's
beloved Film Forum is celebrating with a screening of Allan Dwan's 1924
silent...
The King Vidor File – Part Two
-
This part consists of comments on some of his finest and most popular work,
including The Big Parade, The Champ, and Street Scene, as well as one of
his mo...
The Years Of Writing Dangerously
-
Thirteen years ago, as I was starting to experiment with this blogging
thing, I wrote the following: [T]he speed with which an idea in your head
reaches th...
The question hanging over this year's Oscars, to paraphrase Jeffrey Wells, is whether the Academy are going to go "full fart" or not. My own feeling is that they are going to go three-quarters fart, splitting off 3 Oscars (director, editing, script) for The Social Network but keeping the lion's share for The King's Speech (film, script, actor, art dir., score). Inception cleans up in the technical categories, The Fighter mops up supporting, leaving one apiece for Black Swan, Alice, Toy Story 3, and True Grit, so the $100-million club all go home with something, while The Kids Are Alright, 127 Hours and Winter's Bone get zip. I should add — in the interests of lending my selections at least a patina of on-the-ground legitimacy — that I am writing this from the pink, decoish splendor of the Beverly Hills Hotel, where my efforts to acquire a George Hamilton-like tan are currently being thwarted by low-hanging cloud. My tin foil sun reflectors are at the ready for even a few seconds of sun. My article for The Guardian about the membership of the Academy here.
Posts
"Full fart," "three-quarters fart": Spare us the elitist technical jargon, Shone!
ReplyDeleteBut seriously. I agree with just about everything, except I'm going with Steinfeld for Supporting Actress. My hunch is they'll want to reward "True Grit" a little more, and punish Melissa Leo for naked desperation. (Cloistered desperation is, of course, perfectly acceptable.)
I hope you are right, because I don't see much in the way of potential upsets otherwise. Plus, of course, Leo's performance is close to unendurable the more that film goes on, but that's just my personal feeling, something I try to extinguish from my breast when making these predictions, aiming instead for an icy objectivity that sends a chill through all onlookers
ReplyDeleteIt wouldn't shock me if Leo won. Or Helena Bonham Carter for that matter, though I suspect she's still too weird for mainstream taste.(Her actual personality, I mean, not the one she adopts in the movie.) I just have a gut feeling that voters really like Steinfeld and really like "True Grit" and want to hoist her into the Tatum O'Neal/Anna Paquin pantheon.
ReplyDeleteYou make a good case. As Sunday draws near and the smack-talk between my wife and I intensifies, I may have to think again....
ReplyDeleteYou mention TSN winning for script in your text but there's no mention of Sorkin for Adapted screenplay in your list
ReplyDeleteThanks, I've added it
ReplyDeleteOops. Hope you didn't bet anything valuable.
ReplyDelete