Next year´s Oscar-movies?

Oscar-nominations for this year have been announced. The list was pretty much what was to be expected, on the basis of the Golden Globes. But I´m not interested in that now. Personally I am already looking at next year, and eying future possible hits. Here is a list of movies that catched the industry´s attention so far at this year at Sundance movie festival. More to come as the festival progresses!

"The Future" by Miranda July tells the tale of awkward people in love and an adopted cat. Music by the legendary Jon Brion. The plot outline does not promise much, but festival-goers seem to love this quirky and strange movie.

"Salvation Boulevard" by George Ratliff. The cast is full of star names: Jennifer Connolly, Pierce Brosnan, Marisa Tomei, Ed Harris, Greg Kinear. This is a comedy/thriller about a born-again Christian escaping from the fundamentalist members of his mega-church. The storyline seems very promising and current, considering the state of religion in North America these days.

"Martha Marcy May Marlene" , film directed by T. Sean Durkin has gained a lot of buzz mainly because of the lead performance by Elizabeth Olsen (yes, the sister of those cape-dressing twins). Olsen plays a young girl trying to rebuild her life after fleeing from a religious cult. Another great topic of the times.

Another appealing movie about religion. If Sarah Palin and the tea-party have done anything, is putting this topic of God back into our radar. "The Ledge" by Mathew Chapman deals with an atheist arguing and then fighting with a conservative Christian. Homophobia is also present. Liv Tyler and Patrick Wilson star in this film.




And the stream of religious topics wont´t end! What on earth is going on over here! (I blame it on Fox News, the source of reliable and unbiased public information) This time it is "The Red State" by Kevin Smith, and it is horror. A group of teens come in contact with mid-western religious fanatics, and all hell gets loose. The movie has not gained as much buzz as Smith´s crafty idea to self-promote and self-distribute the movie with a 12-city roadshow tour. He plans to utilize his 1.7 million Twitter followers, rent theaters and charge premium ticket prizes in order to pay back his financiers before the official October release date. Hmm.

Think this theme is done and used for this year´s Sundance? Think again. Vera Farmiga stars in and directs "Higher Ground", where a woman struggles with her faith after spending 20 years with a cult. Farmiga has gotten praise for her directorial debut and she is sure to be watched in the future.

"Margin Call" by J.C. Chandor was the most anticipated movie on this year´s Sundance. This piece has an impressive cast  with names such as Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Demi Moore, Zachary Quinto, Mary McDonnell and Jeremy Irons, along others. "Margin Call" retells the story of the early stages of the 2008 financial meltdown over a 24-hour period in an investment bank. So far the reviews for this movie have been mixed. The first scene is supposedly brilliant, but the rest of the movie lacks the promise. It is safe to say that between now and October 2011 (which is the official release date) anything could happen. Films are known to be even re-edited after the initial pre-screenings at the festival circuit. People might also have high expectations for this touchy topic and how to handle it. Director Chandor has decided to approach this theme with a heavily dialogue-filled angle, which might not please the audiences or turn out to be commercially lucrative.

Even Al Pacino cannot make it a success every time. "The Son of No One" starring Pacino, Katie Holmes, Ray Liotta and Juliette Binoche was reportedly so weak, that the screening on Monday resulted in "an exodus" of people all though the screening. Hardly anyone (who was left) applauded afterwards.

Next year´s Oscar-movies?

Chloe Sevigny, sexting and lumberjacks

For those of you that do not recognize this girl, her name is Chloe Sevigny (born 1974). The original uber-cool chick from the nineties, who was once crowned as "the IT-girl" by writer Jay McInerney in a 1994 New Yorker article. Chloe was known as the original fashion wunderkind long before Tavi Gevinson, and her impeccable taste got her a job at the now-legendary "Sassy"-magazine while she was just 17. Chloe broadened her artistic instincts to the world of acting, and began with a raw portrayal of a teen HIV-victim in the classic movie "Kids" (1995). In 1999 her work was recognized with both an Academy Award -and Golden Globe nominations as the best supporting actress from the movie "Boys don´t cry". She did not win, Hillary Swank did, and a series of small independent movies followed which, despite their merits, did not raise her star-level. Which seems to be just fine with her. Her role as the strange receptionist in the Jim Jarmusch-directed movie "Broken flowers"(2005) is captivating. Highly recommended.

Ms Sevigny also has the honor to be one of the few mainstream actresses to actually have had real sex in front of the camera for a scene in a movie. The infamous encounter took place in the movie "Brown Bunny" (2003), where she performed oral sex to actor Vincent Gallo. The movie´s reviews were critically divided and the un-simulated sex was judged immoral. Chloe never understood the big hoopla; Gallo was her ex-boyfriend and the movie´s original artistic message was overlooked.

Recently Playboy interviewed Sevigny as one of the fascinating women of 2010. Despite her work as an ultra-conservative polygamous mormon-wife in HBO´s "Big Love", she claims to still get freaky sex-notes from her neighbors. Not that the girl admits any freakyness in her personal live. Surprisingly, she loves strong masculine men who have facial hair and "survival skills". No artsy types for Chloe, lumberjacks can line up. If you´re lucky, she promises to bite. 

But in the meantime, there is always texting.

 "I’m dating, but I’m starting to feel a little discouraged, actually. I’ve been texting for a year with a couple of guys, without ever going on a date with them. The other day I got a text from a boy, but it wasn’t hot. I mean, if you’re going to text me every day, you haven’t seen me for months and you’re trying to seduce me, you’d better spice up that text and make it more exciting than “How was your day? I hope you’re having a beautiful one.” Sadly, I haven’t been doing a lot of kissing lately. "

We have all been there, or what? Texting and flirting with semi-strangers can be quite addictive. But a word of warning though; the guys with the best "seductive" lines usually know their drill. Seduction is an art form, and practice makes you the master - of the game. 

Mademoiselle Sevigny has also garnered recent exposure with hilarious parodies done of her projected image. These videos are quite toxicating, for whatever reason. I don´t believe they are directly mocking Chloe as a person, but the whole scenester-world where her name is still linked to. This is satire of brands, famous names, narcissistic self-awareness and meaningless trends.

Chloe Sevigny, sexting and lumberjacks