Gold Standard: Oscar Watch: ‘Bridge of Spies’ and ‘Room’ bow at academy; ‘Big Short’ a December surprise?
Oscar Watch, charting the smiles, the frowns, the ups and downs of the awards season, comes to you every Monday from now through the end of February.
This week, we're looking at the weekend academy response to two movies that couldn't be more different -- "Bridge of Spies" and "Room -- as well as voters' (initial) resistance to the searing war drama "Beasts of No Nation" and the strong buzz surrounding "The Big Short," a December release about the 2008 financial meltdown.
Tom Hanks in a scene from “Bridge of Spies.”
'Bridge of Spies'
Leaving the academy's screening of Steven Spielberg's latest, the Cold War espionage thriller "Bridge of Spies," one Oscar voter turned to his wife and said, "The was pretty much perfect, wasn't it?" The look on her face, he recalled later, didn't exactly affirm his enthusiasm. "She thought it was a bit slow," he said. "She liked 'The Martian' better."
"Spies" played to a full house Saturday at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater with Spielberg taking the stage afterward to cheers. The comments from academy members afterward focused on the film's impeccable craft. Indeed, it's easy to see "Spies" being nominated in several categories, including nods for cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (a two-time winner), production designer Adam Stockhausen (who won an Oscar just last year for "The Grand Budapest Hotel"), editor Michael Kahn (a three-time winner), composer Thomas Newman (a 12-time nominee) and costume designer Kasia Walicka-Maimone. (Tom Hanks' overcoat is practically a character in the film.)
Spielberg's team has a ton of history with the academy, which could translate into several below-the-line nominations, leading to a nod for the film itself. Spielberg's status is iffier because there are still three movies -- David O. Russell's "Joy," Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight" and Alejandro G. Inarritu's "The Revenant" -- arriving in December from filmmakers whom the directors branch loves. Of course, with seven nominations, Spielberg can count himself a member of the club.
Hanks, who plays a virtuous attorney tasked with defending an accused Soviet spy, hasn't been nominated since "Cast Away" and seems something of a long shot to make it in for "Spies." That's not because of the quality of the work, which is nimble and generous, but because the character embodies the sort of decency and integrity that we've seen Hanks play before. Never quite like this, I'd argue -- but probably to deaf ears. Look for his co-star, Mark Rylance, to receive a supporting actor nomination though for his magnificent, restrained turn as the spy Hanks defends -- and befriends.
Ultimately, "Bridge of Spies'" Oscar potential could be tied to its commercial fortunes, which, this weekend, were a mixed bag. "Spies" opened to a per-screen average of around $5,500, less than a third of "Lincoln's" total when it opened wide three years ago. "Spies" could be a grower, though, both with audiences and the academy. Keep it under surveillance for now.
Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay star in “Room.”
'Room'
Would you like to wake up on Sunday morning and watch a movie about a young mother and her 5-year-old son held prisoner by a sexual predator?
Approximately 300 people showed up at the 10:30 a.m. academy screening Sunday to do just that and their reactions mirrored most who have seen "Room."
"I so didn't want to see this movie," one academy member told me later, "but I'm so glad I did."
My colleague Kenny Turan's review of "Room" perfectly summed up the feelings of every Oscar voter I spoke to about the movie. "The film's first half is so agonizingly difficult to sit through I desperately wished I were anywhere else," Turan wrote, "while its unexpectedly affecting second half so completely turned me around there was nowhere else I'd rather have been than right in the moment with this singular film."
"Room" is this year's "Whiplash," an indie movie that will enter the best picture conversation on the strength of its bravura filmmaking and acting. It's difficult to imagine anyone bettering Brie Larson's lead turn as the movie's heroic mother, a performance that brings out a deeply passionate response from those who see it. (Check out Carrie Brownstein's endorsement here.)
That kind of excitement has followed "Room" wherever it has played. The film won the People's Choice audience award at the Toronto International Film Festival last month. Six of the last seven movies to win that prize -- a list that includes "12 Years a Slave," "Silver Linings Playbook" and "The King's Speech" -- have gone on to receive a best picture Oscar nomination.
The subject matter is difficult, to be sure. But when the word of mouth is this good, that can be overcome.
Idris Elba stars in the Netflix original film “Beasts of No Nation.”
'Beasts of No Nation'
"Room" has an aggregate review score of 82 on Metacritic. "Bridge of Spies" sits at 81, as does "The Martian."
"Beasts of No Nation," a horrifying look at a war orphan who becomes a child soldier in an unnamed African nation, is right in the neighborhood at 78.
But the Netflix release, which debuted on the streaming service Friday and struggled to find an audience in its limited theatrical opening, feels destined to remain on the fringes of the Oscar conversation. Unlike "Room," this isn't a movie that academy members seem eager to see.
"Remember how everyone wrote about voters' queasiness over '12 Years a Slave?'" one academy member tells me. "'Beasts' makes '12 Years' look like a Wes Anderson movie by comparison."
Resistance to "Beasts" is indeed high. For it to break through, its handlers are going to have to convince academy members to not just dutifully put it in their viewing queues, but to watch it. The academy screening is on the calendar for Nov. 1, mid-afternoon on a Sunday with writer-director (and producer and cinematographer) Cary Fukunaga and remarkable young actor Abraham Attah attending. Hopefully, the room will be at least half-full.
Steve Carell is seen on the set of “The Big Short.”
'The Big Short'
"The Big Short," an adaptation of the Michael Lewis bestseller about the 2008 financial meltdown and the people who saw it coming, won't have its first official public showing until its AFI Fest gala on Nov. 12.
But there was a private screening Thursday, hosted by Lynda Obst and Peter Bogdanovich, at the Directors Guild Theater, attended by the likes of Buck Henry and Robert Towne and, on behalf of the film, director Adam Mckay and actor Steve Carell.
Reaction to the movie was through the roof, as you can tell from these tweets from "Ant Man" director Peyton Reed ("smart, funny, frustrating and full of righteous anger") and "Arbitrage" director Nicholas Jarecki ("what a great film"), with filmmaker Rod Lurie calling it "all-guns-blazing wonderful" on Facebook.
The key to how this might play with the academy comes from Bogdanovich's introduction, who, we're told, called "The Big Short" a "movie about something." That and the righteous anger mentioned by Reed could give the film a relevance and currency that puts it atop voters' must-watch lists.
Email: glenn.whipp@latimes.com | Twitter: @glennwhipp
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