by Frank Calvillo
Box Office Alternative Column
Box Office Alternative is a weekly look into additional/optional choices to the big-budget spectacle opening up at your local movie theater every Friday. Oftentimes, titles will consist of little-known or underappreciated work from the same actor/writer/director/producer of said new release, while at other times, the selection for the week just happens to touch upon the same subject in a unique way. Above all, this is a place to revisit and/or discover forgotten cinematic gems of all kinds.
It’s Oscar time once again and as usual, the Academy and I seem to see eye to eye on a couple of the year’s nominated titles (congrats Martian, let’s go Spotlight!!). But it wouldn’t be the Oscars if there weren’t a handful of worthy films that were nowhere to be seen among the Best Picture nominees on the big night (what happened to the expected presence of Youth, The Hateful Eight, and Anomalisa?). In any case, the crop of films officially considered to be the best of the year have been chosen and, if anything else, the final list proves the Academy favors films of all sizes, from large-scale epics to summer blockbusters to intimate indies.
For this week’s edition of Box Office Alternatives, I have decided to look at some of the less celebrated efforts from some of the producers from this year’s Best Picture contenders as a way of honoring the nominated individuals who have made careers by helping to bring important and entertaining films to the screen.
Running with Scissors
Because Brad Pitt is now a powerful Oscar-winning producer nominated again this year for The Big Short, it’s easy to forget his penchant for smaller, quirkier projects such as 2006’s dark comedy Running with Scissors. The film, based on the memoir of celebrated writer Augusten Burroughs, told the story of a young teenage boy (Joseph Cross) who finds himself coming-of age in a most unusual way when, following his parents’ divorce, his manic depressive mother (Annette Bening) leaves him in the care of her unorthodox psychiatrist (Brian Cox) and his offbeat family. The humor in Running with Scissors is not for everyone, but it’s more than present in this tale that would seem too outrageous if it weren’t true. Bening is at her finest as an unhinged aspiring author and is wonderfully aided by the likes of Alec Baldwin, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Evan Rachel Wood in flashy supporting roles.
Rachel Getting Married
Since the early 2000s, Marc Platt has become one of the most powerful producers in the business and now stands nominated alongside Steven Spielberg in the director’s much-praised Bridge of Spies. Platt has made his name with such hits as Legally Blonde and Into the Woods, but it’s his championing of smaller films such as the deeply moving Rachel Getting Married which makes him a top producer. The film tells the story of a young woman (Anne Hathaway) who leaves rehab on a weekend pass to attend her sister’s wedding where family skeletons are eventually brought to light. Although the film’s subject matter is as dark as can be, there are a great deal of cathartic and uplifting moments throughout. Hathaway is outstanding as are Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin, and especially Debra Winger as her estranged mother. Director Jonathan Demme is in top form bringing this tale of a damaged family rediscovering the unshakable bonds which bind them.
Quartet
As the one Best Picture nominee produced solely by women, the producing pair of Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey are the ones responsible for bringing the poetic beauty of Brooklyn to the screen. The well-deserved attention to their work is the perfect reason to revisit their 2012 effort, Quartet. Directed by Dustin Hoffman (in a respectable directing debut), Quartet takes place in a British old folks home for retired musicians where a former opera diva/new resident (Maggie Smith) finds herself reunited with her ex-husband (Tom Courtenay). There’s nothing but a feel-good mood throughout Quartet thanks to the endless charm of the film’s setting and the never fail tactic of having senior citizens say dirty words. But its the overall loveliness of the film’s theme of peace and closure which make it a worthwhile cinematic venture.
Dead Calm
George Miller’s producing partner Doug Mitchell has helped shape most of the director’s greatest screen triumphs, from Babe to the currently-nominated Mad Max: Fury Road. Yet it was his collaboration with Miller on the still-thrilling Dead Calm which remains a definite highlight. Husband and wife Rae (Nicole Kidman) and John (Sam Neill), still reeling from the death of their infant son, embark on an extended trip on their boat which is suddenly taken over by a homicidal maniac (Billy Zane). A cat-and-mouse thriller as well as a quiet character piece, Dead Calm is the kind of thoughtful and electrifying thriller that is all but non-existent nowadays. The idea of being trapped by the boogeyman with no hope of escape and no help in sight is a terrifying notion and one which is really amped up thanks to Zane’s scarily committed performance. A terror-filled ride right up until the final moments.
The Counselor
One of the most acclaimed filmmakers to have never won an Oscar, Ridley Scott makes his fourth attempt at the brass ring this Sunday with The Martian. The film’s critical and commercial success is miles away from the chilly reception given to his previous film, The Counselor. Based on an original screenplay by Cormac McCarthy and featuring an all-star cast including Michael Fassbender, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, and Pitt, The Counselor shows what happens when a respected lawyer (Fassbender) gets involved in a drug deal that eventually goes south with dire consequences. Many found The Counselor a bit closed off and hard to embrace when first released, with some likening it to a two hour short film. Had they given the film a second chance, they would have appreciated its journey into the darkness, its subtle twists and turns, and probably one of the finest performances Diaz has ever put to film.
Six Degrees of Separation
Despite helping to bring such classics as L.A. Confidential and Fight Club to the big screen, producer Arnon Milchan is enjoying only his second nomination for the powerhouse cinematic experience that was The Revenant, which once again shows Milchan to be a producer attracted to stories with no bounds. For me though, none can touch his work in bringing the film version of the award-winning stage play Six Degrees of Separation to the screen. The film follows an upscale New York couple (Stockard Channing and Donald Sutherland) as they welcome a young man (Will Smith), who claims to be friends with their children, into their home for dinner, leading to series of unforeseen, life-changing events. Six Degrees of Separation is a true hybrid: part comedy of manners, part light mystery, and part commentary on class and race relations in the early ’90s. While Channing (deservedly) scored the film’s lone nomination for Best Actress, the Academy’s shutting out of the film in all other categories (especially with regards to Smith as Best Supporting Actor) remains puzzling.
This Must Be the Place
Ed Guiney stands alone as the one producing nominee listed for the critical darling Room. This isn’t so surprising given the fact that the producer has crafted a successful career for himself filled with highly unconventional projects. One of the more haunting of these remains This Must Be the Place. In the Paolo Sorrentino-directed film, Sean Penn plays a retired rock star living in Ireland named Cheyenne who is summoned back to America to investigate an event from his father’s past. This Must Be the Place is pure Sorrentino, filled with the kind of pensive, reflective tone which has dominated most of his work. Also, like the rest of the director’s past offerings, This Must Be the Place is filled with stunning visuals from start to finish, the highlight of which remains Cheyenne’s uncharacteristic house. Above all else though, the film features another one-of-a-kind performance from Penn, creating one of the most unique portraits of a rock star that the cinema has ever seen.
In the Land of Women
Praise for Spotlight has been near-unanimous and has more or less guaranteed Oscar glory for the film’s producers, which includes Steve Golin. In many ways, Spotlight serves as a departure for Golin, who often tends to favor more gentle, yet thought-provoking stories featuring quirky characters struggling with the world around them. A shining example remains the all but forgotten 2007 dramedy In the Land of Women. Starring Adam Brody, Meg Ryan, and Kristen Stewart, the film deals with a recently dumped screenwriter (Brody) who travels to the midwest to care for his ailing grandmother (Olympia Dukakis) and becomes enchanted by an unhappy housewife (Ryan) and her complex teenage daughter (Stewart). Though it sounds like a bland porno, In the Land of Women is one of those films about damaged people helping other damaged people and the accepting of life in all its joy and sadness. There’s some surprising laughs, genuine drama, and a solid, Oscar-worthy dramatic turn from Ryan which alone makes one wish the film had deserved more than it got.
Congratulations to all of the nominees!
