Movies: Keep The Lights On The Road Toward Fall Oscar Hopefuls

Oh, Shia... Man up! You've disappointed Tom Hardy again.

BY NATHANIEL ROGERS

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The big news in theaters this weekend is the return of the great Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood) with THE MASTER, the first of the big ticket Oscar-seeking films to emerge for fall... more on Oscar buzz in a minute. First, let's take a step backward since I missed a week.

Madonna's tour is now in full swing so it seemed only fitting that one might loosely categorize an entertaining quartet of new indie releases as a "Girls Gone Wild" blowout: the romantic dramedy HELLO, I MUST BE GOING features the luminous Melanie Lynskey (Heavenly Creatures, Away We Go) as a divorcee in a tail spin who beds a younger man (Christopher Abbott, who comes with a gayish subplot); Leslye Headland's pitch-black comedy BACHELORETTE stars Kirsten Dunst, Lizzy Caplan and Isla Fisher as three very Mean Girls utterly shaken by the realization that their fatter friend Rebel Wilson is actually happy and the first to get married; Canadian filmmaker Jamie Travis, who made his name on unmissable short films (The Patterns Trilogy, The Saddest Boy in the World, etcetera) makes his feature debut with the slight but funny FOR A GOOD TIME, CALL... with the always delightful Ari Graynor as a phone sex operator, Lauren Miller as her initially prim roommate and Justin Long as their gay BFF); and, finally, KEEP THE LIGHTS ON stars Danish actor Thure Lindhardt and Damage's Zachary Booth as gay lovers beset by drug and sex addictions over their long dysfunctional relationship. I'm slightly mystified by the reaction to this one -- we're talking unqualified raves -- since its intermittently potent scenes feel super repetitive and unshaped for the audience (in short, it feels like an essential exorcism for filmmaker Ira Sachs but a tough sit for anyone hoping for their own catharsis).

All of those films are still in theaters so check them out if you're curious. A couple of those movies might well hope for some awards play at the Independent Spirit Awards but we're already drowning in bigger ticket Oscar buzz.

Let's start with Garret Hedlund in ON THE ROAD (opening Dec. 21st)...

A wee handful of Oscar contenders AFTER THE JUMP...

On The Road: VIDEO

The Walter Salles adaptation of Jack Kerouac's On The Road gets a new trailer.

From The Hollywood Reporter's review:

But it’s the group adventures that count the most, and Salles has captured some of them quite evocatively: A wild New Year’s Eve party where Dean and Marylou dance in a sexy frenzy; a calm and weird stay at the Louisiana home of the William Burroughs character, Old Bull Lee (Viggo Mortensen, very fine); another sexy scene in which Marylou simultaneously pleasures Dean and Sal (out of camera range) as they all ride naked in the front seat of their car; Dean’s escape from domesticity with Camille as he joins Sal at a club to see Slim Gaillard, and a wild sojourn south of the border for mind-blowing weed and Mexican whores.

Less effective are Dean’s (Garrett Hedlund) quest for his long-lost father in Denver, the windy ramblings of Allen Ginsberg equivalent Carlo Marx (Tom Sturridge) and an out-of-left-field episode involving a fastidious gay man (an unbilled Steve Buscemi) keen to buy Dean’s services.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Set for release in November.

Watch: New 'Tron Legacy' Trailer

As a follow-up to the Daft Punk music video Tron: Legacy clip I posted in late October, here's the full theatrical release trailer, which, for you Tron-heads, should be even tastier.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Watch: Daft Punk's New 'Tron Legacy' Video

Tron was a movie dear to my 15-year-old video game addict heart back in 1982, so I've been watching the development of the Tron: Legacy sequel with some interest. It's scheduled for release in December.

Out today is a new music video — "Derezzed" — from the film featuring Daft Punk, who composed the film's score. It also features a glimpse of a buffed-out Garrett Hedlund, who plays the son of Jeff Bridges' character from the original.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...