So much talk the last couple of days about the Oscars. When are they? How will this all happen? and so on.
One studio clearly ready is Fox Searchlight (they are now Disney’s Searchlight, which I object to). They’ve got two excellent candidates for Best Picture. The first is Armando Iannucci’s “The Personal History of David Copperfield” starring Dev Patel as Charles Dickens’ famous character. The film was supposed to be released in March, but will now launch on August 14th.
I can’t say enough about “David Copperfield” except that it’s magic. It’s hilariously told and beautifully made. At the Toronto Film Festival last fall I laughed til my sides split, and that isn’t easy. There are many wonderful supporting performances, by Hugh Laurie, Tilda Swinton, and Ben Whishaw especially. The accents are strong, so I hope Fox Searchlight includes captioning. The audience will appreciate it. If they’re going to this kind of movie in the first place, they can read!
The other big Fox Searchlight film is Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch.” I told you months ago that Anderson’s film would open Cannes. But there was no Cannes! Even so, “The French Dispatch” was included on the festival’s ultimate list. There’s an all-star cast including Tilda Swinton again, Timothee Chalamet, Elisabeth Moss and many from Anderson’s repertory group like Bill Murray and Frances McDormand. Anticipation is high for this one. Opening date is February 16th.
And it’s not like we don’t have a couple of candidates already for Oscar attention. Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods” is most certainly on the list, from Netflix. And Delroy Lindo pretty much guaranteed that his name will be in the mix for Best Actor. His performance is wild, incendiary, memorable. Jonathan Major and Clarke Peters are also in the mix for Best Supporting Actor. And let’s not forget Marisa Tomei in “The King of Staten Island.” Just tuck that away for now. Tomei’s lovely, nuanced turn as Pete Davidson’s mother is going to be cited a lot whenever we get to awards.
So here we go!
I’d been hearing about these private Hollywood Zoom parties called Quarantunes for sometime now. WME superagent Richard Weitz and his 17 year old daughter Demi (charming and articulate) host them from their Los Angeles kitchen. The parties have raised around $3 million for various charities because guests– a number of whom are famous– are encouraged to donate while the party continues.
Clive’s many other performers for the four hours included more legends Frankie Valli (86 years old and also, spot on), Kool and the Gang, Ashanti, a special video of John Legend and Andra Day singing “The Greatest Love of All,” and so on. Quite amazing. The 400 guests included former Paramount chief Sherry Lansing, hit songwriter Diane Warren, the great Jimmy Jam Lewis, and tons of familiar faces from the biz. Other highlights included Kool and the Gang singing “Hollywood Swinging” and “Get Down on It,” and Frankie– sounding and looking great– with a big group of singers he’d corralled into doing “Let’s Hang On to What We’ve Got.” I also adored Ashanti and her mother rapping and singing together.
