A couple more auteur driven, possible awards-ready movies have been dated, so time to update your Oscar betting card.
First up, Pedro Almodóvar’s “The Skin I Live In” has been set with an October 7th New York/Los Angeles date with the movie rolling out to more cities in the following weeks. Definitely one of the big talking points of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the film was met with uneven reviews and it’s certainly a departure from the director’s usual fare. Starring Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya and Marisa Paredes and based on Thierry Jonquet‘s novel “Mygale,” the film is a revenge tale that tells the story of a plastic surgeon (Banderas) on the hunt for the men who raped his daughter and in a blend of horror, thriller and melodrama. The release will pit the film against another big arthouse challenger, Sundance hit “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” which is gaining early buzz for Elizabeth Olsen‘s performance. We’d say not to put too much money on ‘Skin’ being a contender for statues, but nevertheless, its twisted premise should still bring ’em in.
More likely to be a serious Oscar threat is Roman Polanski‘s “Carnage,” which now hits on November 18th in a NY/LA limited bow that will be platformed out. Based on the play by French writer Yasmina Reza (originally called “God of Carnage”), the film is a New York-set story (a location the helmer can’t film in, for obvious reasons, and instead has been shot in Paris) that follows two sets of middle-class parents who meet for dinner after their children get into a fight at school. Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz take on the roles of Penelope, Michael, Nancy and Allen, respectively, and this should easily be an actor’s showcase. Critics will get their first taste when the movie premieres at the end of summer at the Venice Film Festival. [Variety]
