Last night in Los Angeles, Aaron Sorkin’s “Being the Ricardos” was officially unveiled to Academy voters and press. As I had heard all along, the film will be in contention for numerous Oscars, maybe not Picture, but the acting is a definite possibility.
To sum it all up, this isn’t the disaster the trailer had hinted it might be. Kidman, Bardem and Simmons seem to be the most likely players here with, obviously, Sorkin set to get another screenplay nod.
Via Hollywood Elsewhere’s Jeffrey Wells:
“Aaron Sorkin’s “Being The Ricardos” is significantly better than expected. I was expecting “slick & good enough”; in fact it’s smooth, grade-A, crisply written & very impressively acted (especially by Nicole Kidman, who captures Lucille Ball’s voice, Javier Bardem & JK Simmons).”
“Sorkin’s “Ricardos” script is sharp & nifty, the direction is assured, the construction is tight and solid, and the overall delivery is very movie-ish in a good, rewarding way. The repartee is very Sorkin-ish, and that’s how we like it…right? And it’s even poignant at times.”
“Kidman got a standing ovation — she’s almost certainly going to be Best Actress-nominated. Okay, what do I know? Nothing, but I could feel the love in the room.”
“DP Jeff Cronenwoeth’s photography is polish-comfort-and expertise-wise, his lensing fits right in with everything else. To be entirely honest some scenes struck me as a bit too shady and under-lighted, but I attributed this to the projection lamp settings at Westwood’s Bruin theatre. I know it won’t seem quite as noirish when it streams on Amazon.”
“Not a Best Picture contender, but acting (Kidman, Bardem, Simmons), screenplay.”
Paul Greengrass’ "The Uprising," starring Andrew Garfield, opened to $3.2M from 2,068 theaters this weekend. Yikes. The budget hasn’t been disclosed, but is said to be in the $20-$30M range.