In the blink of an eye, two-thirds of the 35th Toronto Film Festival has passed, with only the last three days left, and the annual event is about to come to an end. After entering the second half, the film festival finally ushered in a long-lost climax/climax!
First, "Buried Alive" unexpectedly became a hot topic, and overwhelming "robbers in the city" became the focus of attention. Later, it also triggered an increase in the call for additional screenings. The Toronto Film Festival Organizing Committee also responded immediately and gave an additional screening. The treatment of the venue, as much as possible to meet the viewing needs of as many audiences as possible. Although it is only a game, it is a breakthrough, especially commendable.
Then "127 Hours" attracted the attention of the entire North America - some viewers suffered from vomiting and even fainting during the movie because of the bloody scene of the actor's self-amputation with a knife, and it was not just one or two. The film sparked a heated discussion, and at the same time attracted the attention and curiosity of more audiences. Of course, what's more important is that the film itself has also received unanimous praise from film critics, thinking that Danny Ball has once again dedicated Oscar-level works after "Slumdog Millionaire".
Immediately afterwards, the world premiere of the Danish film "A Better World" set off a frenzy of media enthusiasm. Together with the previously released "Scorched Earth City", they formed a foreign language film alliance and instantly became the top two best foreign language films in this year's awards season. No. seed, much attention.
It seems that every day you can feel the emergence of a new hot spot, which pushes the atmosphere of the Toronto Film Festival to its peak step by step. Today, "Black Swan" is about to premiere, and people are mobilized collectively.
From the director to the actors, this film is an absolute blockbuster. The preparation stage has attracted a lot of firepower. It was unanimously affirmed at the Venice Film Festival before. The crew members have just arrived in Toronto, and they have been welcomed at the highest level. The audience waited and waited, and finally waited until the moment when this work premiered in North America, how could it not be excited
Hidden under the brilliance of the premiere ceremony of "Black Swan" was the discussion of the two works "Buried Alive" and "127 Hours", which detonated the audience's enthusiasm for discussion.
There are indeed many similarities between the two films. They are both independent films, they are both stories of survival in a desperate situation, they are both the stage of one-man dramas, and they are both shining works by the director and the leading actor.
Although on the whole, "127 Hours" is one size bigger, the one-man show is only about two-thirds, and there are quite a lot of other actors; the investment cost is not at the same level at all, "127 Hours" is almost "Buried alive" ” about six times; the fame and prestige of the director and starring have also increased by several steps... However, the two works premiered one after the other, and people still couldn’t help but discuss the two works together.
"First Evolution"
Especially after the praise for James Franco's acting began to rise.
Among the "127 Hours" official magazine reviews, ten media gave seven positive reviews, two moderate reviews and one negative review. The overall reputation was slightly better than "Buried Alive". Coinciding with Renly's opinion, film critics are also full of praise for Danny Ball, who all think that the director has once again handed in an excellent answer sheet, bringing a story that is almost impossible to adapt to the big screen. The screen; and there is certainly a lot of recognition for James' performance, but the director and the script have taken a lot of attention away.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Bauer and Franco's talent guarantees the film's success."
"The Wall Street Journal" said, "Franco playing this role will undoubtedly take a lot of courage, but the result is gratifying."
Among them, the "Los Angeles Times" affirmed the most directly, "This is the best performance of Franco's actor's career! Every expression brings life to the character on his face full of joy."
Although Danny stole a lot of limelight, James also gained a lot of recognition, and even some local media in Toronto began to exclaim, "Franco rushed all the way to Oscar!"
Naturally, Renly and James are placed on a par:
Both of them are young people. Although James is 31 years old this year, in the Oscar's best actor selection system, both of them are juniors; both of them are the only protagonists in the movie. The extraordinary courage and delicate performances; not to mention, the performances of the two have received unanimous praise from the media, and at the same time the Oscars are mentioned... This also means that the two are likely to become direct competitors for this year's awards season.
During the Oscar selection process, it is self-evident that the judges have restrictions on youth, especially the competition for the best actor, although every few years, a new person or young man will appear in the nomination list for the best actor. The figure of a person expresses the college's award to the younger generation, but the nomination is already a victory, and one seat is the limit. It is very rare for two young people to be nominated together.
In other words, between Renly and James, there is a high probability that it is a "death and dead" situation, and only one person can be nominated for the nomination - of course, both of them are more likely to lose.
In addition, the selection of Oscar acting awards is not a mathematical problem, there is a fixed formula, more often it is a comprehensive result of professional judgment and psychological bias. For example, last year's Jeff Bridges, under the dual factors of credit votes and guilt votes, coupled with the affirmation of many film critics, maybe members of the academy did not even watch "Crazy Heart" and directly voted for Jeff. . This situation is not unusual. When "Brokeback Mountain" lost to "Crash", many judges publicly admitted that they had never watched "Brokeback Mountain".
Generally speaking, if you want to win the nomination, you have to have excellent acting skills. It is very likely that the performance of the work itself is mediocre, but the acting skills of the actors are really bunkers and shocking, which makes people ignore the mediocrity of the work and marvel at the wonderful performance, such as " Meryl Streep of The Iron Lady.
Either the work is outstanding, the performance of the actors may not be earth-shattering, and they just complete their work in a satisfactory manner, but the participating works have been well-received, and even the best film. People are choosing the best film. At the time, relevant actors were also checked, such as "Spotlight" Mark-Ruffalo (Mark-Ruffalo) and Rachel-McAdams (Rachel-McAdams).
It is really rare to want to meet both conditions at the same time. In the entire history of the Oscars, there are only a few works that meet such a standard.
This is the situation these two young people are now facing. "Buried Alive" is slightly less integrated, but Renly's performance is more appreciated; "127 Hours" is reversed, and James' light is lost by Danny A lot has been stolen, but the overall quality of the work has won higher praise.
This leads to the same result, with the judges likely to have to choose between Renly and James.
What's more, the awards season has not yet begun, and the real strong players have not yet appeared. Maybe after entering October, the voices of the two young people are fleeting, and no one remembers that at the Toronto Film Festival. There has been such a period. So, choose one out of two, who should you choose
"I haven't watched '127 Hours' yet and I'm sure James is a great actor. But personally, I was blown away by Renly's performance in 'Buried Alive'." Ryan Goss Lin expressed his views in an interview. When the reporter mentioned the opportunity of "Blue Valentine's Day" in this year's awards season, Ryan laughed heartily, "Thank you for someone who still remembers me as an outdated actor. However, between me and Renly, I am willing to choose Renly."
Joe - Hamm (Joe-Hamm) also expressed his own point of view, "There is no doubt that James - Franco is an excellent actor, whether it is 'Pineapple Express' or 'Milk', you can watch it To his excellence. This time, Danny Ball gave him a stage, and then he shook everyone. And of course, can't forget the 'Howl' this year."
Inadvertently, more and more people began to join the discussion on this topic, and the stars at the Toronto Film Festival became the object of inquiries. Obviously, James, who has been rolling in Hollywood for ten years, won most of the support; only a lot of support. The small group mentioned the recent Emmy Awards and looked forward to Renly's performance. Of course, no one took it seriously, everyone was just talking about it after dinner to add some interesting news to the film festival.
However, along with everyone's discussion, the speed of the topic heating up is far beyond imagination. After the extra screening of "Buried Alive" ended, it added a fire to the discussion.
The audience's reaction to this work has far exceeded expectations, and most of the audience said that the film is more exciting and exciting than expected, especially when the official magazine gave more praise to "127 Hours" , the roller coaster-like viewing process of "Buried Alive" has won the audience's love - "127 Hours" because it took a lot of time to flash back and build characters, purely from the perspective of viewing fluency, it is naturally better than not. "Buried alive". This has also won a lot of reputation for "Buried Alive".
At the same time, thanks to the existence of hot topics, Renly has also become the core of everyone's discussion, "Excellent! Really amazing!" "It's hard to imagine that he is still a rookie." "In fact, I think he is the whole film. The only reason for the success of the work.”…
Among them, many audience members took the initiative to mention the competition between Renly and James, "I personally think Renly is better, and the whole performance is richer." "I like Renly's performance, his performance has a shocking power. "I actually like James a lot, but Renly really surprised me this time."…
From the perspective of visual impact and the frame structure of the script, Renly, who is completely one-man show, does have a slight upper hand. But more importantly, what was originally just a chatter topic went viral at the Toronto Film Festival, with the twin stars of Renly and James eclipsing even Ryan.
Under the blessing of this trend, "Buried Alive" once again successfully attracted the attention of the public. How wonderful was Renly's performance? Can a movie ever be compared to "127 hours"? Is the discussion sparked by the film pure hype or the truth? However, these questions are destined to remain unanswered.
Because, the Toronto Film Festival has no schedule.