Screener Watch: Focus Features

Focus Features, one of the first studios I remember ever receiving a package from, returns with another batch of contenders.

Beginners

Genre: Romantic Comedy
Stars: Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Melanie Laurent
Director: Mike Mills
Premise: “A young man is rocked by two announcements from his elderly father: that he has terminal cancer, and that he has a young male lover.”
Oscar Chances: Supporting Actor is all that anyone has really been talking about for this film.
Campaign-Proposed Categories:

Best Picture (Leslie Urdang, Dean Vanech, Miranda de Pencier, Jay van Hoy, Lars Knudsen)
Best Director (Mike Mills)
Best Actor (Ewan McGregor)
Best Supporting Actor (Christopher Plummer)
Best Supporting Actress (Melanie Laurent)
Best Original Screenplay (Mike Mills)
Best Cinematography (Kasper Tuxen)
Best Film Editing (Olivier Bugge Coutte)
Best Art Direction (Shane Valentino, Coryander Friend)
Best Costume Design (Jennifer Johnson)
Best Makeup (Tina Roesler Kerwin, Frances Mathias)
Best Sound Editing (Leslie Shatz)
Best Sound Mixing (Leslie Shatz)
Best Original Score (Roger Neill, David Palmer, Brian Reitzell)

Rotten Tomatoes:
84% (129 critics; as of 11/16/11)
Metacritic:
81 out of 100 (36 critics; as of 11/16/11)

The Debt

Genre: Period Thriller
Stars: Helen Mirren, Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington, Jesper Christensen, Marton Csokas, Ciaran Hinds, Tom Wilkinson
Director: John Madden
Premise: “The espionage thriller begins in 1997, as shocking news reaches retired Mossad secret agents Rachel (Helen Mirren) and Stefan (Tom Wilkinson) about their former colleague David (Ciarán Hinds). All three have been venerated for decades by their country because of the mission that they undertook back in 1966, when the trio (portrayed, respectively, by Jessica Chastain, Marton Csokas, and Sam Worthington) tracked down Nazi war criminal Vogel (Jesper Christensen) in East Berlin. At great risk, and at considerable personal cost, the team’s mission was accomplished – or was it? The suspense builds in and across two different time periods, with startling action and surprising revelations.”
Oscar Chances: Had it gotten better reviews and done better business at the box office, it might have been a contender, but it’s not.
Campaign-Proposed Categories:

Best Picture (Matthew Vaughn, Kris Thykier)
Best Director (John Madden)
Best Actress (Helen Mirren, Jessica Chastain)
Best Supporting Actor (Sam Worthington, Jesper Christensen, Marton Csokas, Ciaran Hinds, Tom Wilkinson)
Best Adapted Screenplay (Matthew Vaughn, Jane Goldman, Peter Straughan)
Best Cinematography (Ben Davis)
Best Film Editing (Alexander Berner)
Best Art Direction (Jim Clay, John Bush)
Best Costume Design (Natalie Ward)
Best Makeup (Daniel Phillips)
Best Sound Editing (Ian Wilson)
Best Sound Mixing (Tim Cavagin, Steve Single, Craig Irving)
Best Original Score (Thomas Newman)

Rotten Tomatoes:
77% (154 critics; as of 11/16/11)
Metacritic:
65 out of 100 (37 critics; as of 11/16/11)

Hanna

Genre: Thriller
Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, Tom Hollander, Jason Flemyng, Cate Blanchett, Olivia Williams, Jessica Barden
Director: Joe Wright
Premise: “A 16-year-old who was raised by her father to be the perfect assassin is dispatched on a mission across Europe, tracked by a ruthless intelligence agent and her operatives.”
Oscar Chances: Although it’s early release will probably mean it gets nothing, its Sound Editing and Original Score are both Oscar nomination worthy.
Campaign-Proposed Categories:

Best Picture (Leslie Holleran, Marty Adelstein, Scott Hemes)
Best Director (Joe Wright)
Best Actress (Saoirse Ronan)
Best Actor (Eric Bana)
Best Supporting Actor (Tom Hollander, Jason Flemyng)
Best Supporting Actress (Cate Blanchett, Olivia Williams, Jessica Barden)
Best Original Screenplay (Seth Lochhead, David Farr)
Best Cinematography (Alwin Kuchler)
Best Film Editing (Paul Tothill)
Best Art Direction (Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer)
Best Costume Design (Lucie Bates)
Best Makeup (Ivana Primorac)
Best Sound Editing (Chris Scarabosio)
Best Sound Mixing (Chris Scarabosio, Craig Berkey)
Best Visual Effects (Brendan Taylor)
Best Original Score (The Chemical Brothers)

Rotten Tomatoes:
71% (196 critics; as of 11/16/11)
Metacritic:
65 out of 100 (40 critics; as of 11/16/11)

Jane Eyre

Genre: Period Romantic Drama
Stars: Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell, Simon McBurney, Judi Dench, Sally Hawkins, Valentina Cervi, Imogen Poots
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga
Premise: “A mousy governess who softens the heart of her employer soon discovers that he’s hiding a terrible secret.”
Oscar Chances: Keep an eye out on Art Direction and Costume Design and forget the rest.
Campaign-Proposed Categories:

Best Picture (Alison Owen, Paul Trijbits)
Best Director (Cary Joji Fukunaga)
Best Actress (Mia Wasikowska)
Best Actor (Michael Fassbender)
Best Supporting Actor (Jamie Bell, Simon McBurney)
Best Supporting Actress (Judi Dench, Sally Hawkins, Valentina Cervi, Imogen Poots)
Best Adapted Screenplay (Moira Buffini)
Best Cinematography (Adriano Goldman)
Best Film Editing (Melanie Ann Oliver)
Best Art Direction (Will Hughes-Jones, Tina Jones)
Best Costume Design (Michael O’Connor)
Best Makeup (Daniel Phillips)
Best Sound Editing (Matthew Collinge, Catherine Hodgson)
Best Sound Mixing (Robert Farr)
Best Original Score (Dario Marianelli)

Rotten Tomatoes:
86% (139 critics; as of 11/16/11)
Metacritic:
76 out of 100 (35 critics; as of 11/16/11)
My Review:

Pariah

Genre: Drama
Stars: Adepero Oduye, Kim Wayans, Pernell Walker, Aasha Davis, Sahra Mellesse, Charles Parnell
Director: Dee Rees
Premise: “A Brooklyn teenager juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship, heartbreak, and family in a desperate search for sexual expression.”
Oscar Chances: None
Campaign-Proposed Categories:

Best Picture (Nekisa Cooper)
Best Director (Dee Rees)
Best Actress (Adepero Oduye)
Best Supporting Actress (Kim Wayans, Pernell Walker, Aasha Davis, Sahra Mellesse)
Best Supporting Actor (Charles Parnell)
Best Original Screenplay (Dee Rees)
Best Cinematography (Bradford Young)
Best Film Editing (Mako Kamitsuna)
Best Art Direction (Inbal Weinberg)
Best Costume Design (Eniola Dawodu)
Best Makeup (Shannon Pulley, Sharon Tonge)
Best Sound Editing (Britt Myers, Ian Stynes)
Best Sound Mixing (Jon Reyes, Ian Stynes)