Wednesday Oscar Watch with Abe

Welcome to a new weekly feature here at Movies with Abe, Wednesday Oscar Watch with Abe. It’s a bit early to be able to accurately predict the eventual Oscar nominees, but around this time, plenty of likely contenders are being released. I’ll be looking every Wednesday at the awards chances for all of the films released the previous week. Until I begin my official predictions, I’ll be adding and removing contenders as their popularity, buzz, or reviews rise and fall. Chime in with your thoughts on the Oscar chances for these films in the comments section.

This week doesn’t look too promising, but here’s a quick rundown of what came out this week, and why all of it won’t end up with Oscar nominations. Next week definitely has some major contenders, so be here for that next Wednesday!

Michael Jackson’s This Is It
This look at the final months of Michael Jackson’s life has attracted much attention since before its release, and it opened to mostly favorable reviews. It’s an interesting case because it’s not eligible in the Best Documentary race, which has an eligibility period that ends in September, but it is eligible for Best Picture. Tom O’Neil has a post where an Oscar voter declares it a lock and says the reception at an Academy screening was more positive than it was for 2002’s Best Picture winner, “Chicago.” I have a hard time believing that this film can really make it that far, especially considering how “Fahrenheit 9/11” shot for the Best Picture race in 2004 and ended up getting shut out completely. I think this film will have faded into the back of most people’s memories by the time Oscar voting rolls around.

Skin
This small film about apartheid didn’t receive a wide release or overwhelmingly positive reviews. Its one chance at a nomination, which almost definitely won’t happen, is lead actress Sophie Okonedo, who is a previous nominee for “Hotel Rwanda” back in 2004. Her inclusion back then came as a bit of a surprise, but her film had stellar reviews and another acting nominee in Don Cheadle. All this film really has is a thumbs-up review from me.

The House of the Devil
Horror movies never get nominated for Oscars, with four notable exceptions: “Rosemary’s Baby,” “The Exorcist,” “The Silence of the Lambs,” and “The Sixth Sense” (did I miss anything?). This one doesn’t really compare to any of those, but it’s worth noting that it has received an extremely positive reception, and that it’s being cited as a great throwback to classic 80s horror movies. Did those garner Oscar attention? No. Will this one? No. But it’s still got good buzz going for it.

Two films – “Boondock Saints” and “Napoleon Dynamite” – developed cult followings when they were first released but didn’t end up on Oscar shortlists. Their follow-ups, The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, the sequel to the first film, and Gentlemen Broncos, Jared Hess’ latest attempt at making stupidity funny, have been universally maligned and should consider themselves lucky to escape Razzie attention. Don’t expect much for Labor Day or Waiting for Palladin either, if you’re one of the ten people who’s heard of either of them (and not part of the five who despised both).

Be sure to come back next Wednesday for a look at this Friday’s theatrical releases and their Oscar chances. And remember to offer your thoughts on the chances for these films in the comments!

Movie with Abe: House of the Devil

The House of the Devil
Directed by Ti West
Released October 30, 2009

The only horror movie being released this year at Halloween time doesn’t actually belong in 2009. Cell phones and UGGs are swapped out for landlines and acid washed jeans. Director Ti West describes it not as an homage but as an “accurate early 1980s period piece.” His film is a retro, subtler unfolding of the horrors that lurk within an enormous, secluded house where unknowing babysitter Sam has agreed to spend the night. West affectionately describes the house as a character, and notes that the “delayed suspense makes it so that you’re aligned to think nothing’s ever going to happen,” therefore making the scary scenes all the more terrifying. It’s a movie that will keep you on the edge of your seat, and even if you stay planted there the entire time, it’s still quite a nerve-racking experience.

The film’s isolation of its characters, who drive for seemingly endless hours into the woods to find this spooky house, is the prime reason that it works. It’s not that there’s no one to call in the event of an emergency, but that there’s simply nothing anywhere nearby, so help would take a hopelessly long time to arrive. It’s already established long before Sam (Jocelin Donahue) convinces her best friend Megan (Greta Gerwig) to drive her out to the home of the mysterious Mr. Ulman (Tom Noonan) that there’s something creepy about this babysitting assignment, and only a desperate college student with bills to pay would agree to do it. Much of the film is spent setting up the scene, but once Sam has stepped foot into the house and met its creepy caretakers, there’s no break from the vast, not-so-empty space where Sam is hopelessly trapped. Even if she wasn’t entirely sure that something was afoot, the film’s title reveals that Mr. and Mrs. Ulman aren’t your friendly neighborhood parents, and that’s one house you don’t want to be in.

“The House of the Devil” is an impressive undertaking and finished product, shooting for a reported budget of under one million dollars, and using mostly Connecticut-based crew members because of the location of the house. West describes the irony of the house not actually being secluded at all as a “super bummer,” but the film makes it work. Indie film star Gerwig (“Baghead,” “Hannah Takes the Stairs”) is quick to point out that “no one in a horror film knows they’re in a horror film, and the more jolly you can be, the more horrifying it will end up.” She also credits the genre for its potential in helping unknown actors and actresses break through. “People enjoy the pornography of horror, and you don’t big stars for that. As an actor, it’s a really nice way to focus yourself because there’s always stuff happening and it’s open-ended. You always have activities and a way to direct your energy.” A small cast and four very juicy roles provided the opportunity for relative newcomers Donahue and Gerwig to act alongside veteran actors Noonan (“Manhunter,” “Synecdoche, New York”) and Mary Woronov (“Eating Raoul,” “The Devil’s Rejects”).

The film manages to be frightening and enthralling without succumbing to overdone horror conventions and overextending too many lines of believability. The family Sam is babysitting for is creepy, and that’s all that’s important. Incorporating the devil into the mix was merely a reference to a big fear from the time in which the movie its set. West believes that “no one’s worried about the Devil anymore, there’s much more to worry about now.” Noonan recalls the “real emergencies of serial killers in the 70s and 80s,” though West notes that the “statistic of devil worshippers is actually so low, it’s just sensationalized.” West admits that “you can’t make a movie for everyone, it’s very polarizing. There’s either a strong hatred or strong appreciation for style.” West names “The Shining” as his favorite horror film, describing it “like a crazy person made that movie.” Gerwig, who was protected from horror films that were fetishized in her house growing up, describes West’s influences as “Polanski and atmospheric Hitchcock.” Most of the film’s effective thrills, like in many of the two acclaimed directors’ films, come simply from waiting to see what’s lurking around the corner. The existence or real-life prominence of satanic cults is almost inconsequential because, after all, the devil is in the details, and this film is rich with them.

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