Hammond: Can GOP Help One Oscar Hopeful?

Can Presidential politics really raise the profile of the under-the-radar Oscar hopeful? That may be a predicament the multitudes of honours consultants focusing on Summit’s summer time indie, A Much Better Existence, might consider because they attempt to draw voters’ focus on this well-examined June release. The film handles the button problem of illegal immigration. But at itsheart this is actually a touching father-boy story a good undocumented La laborertrying to forge a much better existence for his kid and keep him from gangs. At that which was charged like a DVD release party now,but whichreally offered being an honours season campaign kickoff, I observed several Academy people attending. The packed event at Culina in Beverly Hillsides had plenty of political talk, a lot of itabout the GOP presidential debates where candidates are engaged intough ‘kick em from the country’ rhetoricon the topic ofillegal immigrants in the usa. Tuesday evening, Texas Governor Ron Perry wagged his finger and accused Mitt Romney of employing illegal home gardeners at his home in the past.Perry was striking back after his conservative competitors along with other right-wing GOP groups ganged on him in a previous debate for signing a bill permitting kids of illegal immigrants to obtain their tuition compensated within the Texas educational system. Thehard right politico of the border statehad described he think it is the correct factor to complete. The film that was launched commericallyon DVD Tuesday, along with a couple of days earlier seemed to be the very first serious Oscar contender to transmit out screeners towards the Academy along with other voting groups, made under $two million in the domestic release but stillhashigh Oscarhopes, particularlyto gain recognition because of its star Demian Bichir within an uphill campaign against much greater profile Best Actor challengers like George Clooney, Kaira Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Gary Oldman, Ryan Gosling yet others. “What are we able to doto helpthis film?” one frustrated consultant requested me while observing your competition available. Apart from parties, Q&Ascreenings and becoming its lesser knownstar (within the U.S. a minimum of)available around the honours “circuit” in the same manner Marion Cotillard did in her own effective Best Actress campaign for La Vie En Rose , strategists just may want to take a look at the Hollywood-bashingGOP forsome ironic help.Along withthe condition of Arizona (using its anti-immigration law)they're giving thisexplosive subject plenty of recognition almost weekly throughout their contentious debates. Just stay tuned. Summit COOErik Feig (who's preparing the November 18th discharge of Breaking Beginning The Beginning which hecalls probably the most emotionalTwilight movie yet and praises director Bill Condon) states he's very proud ofA Better Existence andtold me he hopes individuals will still uncover it. Clearly thoughSummit won't spend the type of dollars that bigger movies have within their Oscar campaign war chests to be able to chase after votes so it will have a grass roots-type effortto ensure that it stays alive. Year finish recognition from experts groups could help much that one also it now stands at 86% positive on Rotten Tomato plants. Summit’s 2009 Best Picture champion, The Hurt Locker also would be a low grosser along with a June releasebut saw its Oscar stock soar if this began winning individuals experts honours. A Much Better Existence director Chris Weitz who had formerly gained pointswith Summit by directingthe second Twilight film, New Moon required note from the Republican debates andtold me he’s annoyed incidentally political figures are utilizing the plight of undocumented employees gain political points using the rabid right wing from the GOP. He states the entire connection with making the film has truly “politicized” him in ways he hadn’t imagined before dealing with theproject that has been in rise in one form or any other for two-and-a-half decades, initially beginning with producer Paul Junger Witt and obtaining other producers across the lengthy path to the screen including actress Jami Gertz (with partner Stacy Lubliner) and Christian McLaughlin who have been all in the DVD launch telling tales from the journey andhoping itis in a position to gain traction thisawards season. Marking onto the raging debate brought by Republicansmight be one method to do this andkeep the film relevant , even just in the cisco kid from the all of the large challengers in the future within the last two several weeks of the season. Summit smartlyemployed that strategy with Hurt Locker if this hit the Oscar trail byemphazing its importance and credibilityafter initially marketing it as being a suspenseful war movie. The film’s star, Bichir who's a significant title in Mexico in addition to a co-star of Showtime’s Weeds (that series’ star Mary Louise Parker travelled to host the party in recognition from the film Wednesday evening), stated he and Weitz had just return in the Morelia Film Festival in Mexico in which the movie made its Mexican debut for an audience that incorporated many ofpeople struggling with exactly the same plight as Bichir’s character does within the movie. He states it had been interesting to determine their reaction, a verygood one, as this is an uncommon “Hollywood” make an effort to put an individual face on which undocumented employees are actually dealing with. The film , which uses both The spanish language and British languages, is scheduled to spread out soon in Mexico. Bichir can also be planning revisit thetheatre in Mexico soon as star of aSpanish stage version from the film aboutHollywood, Swimming With Sharks by which he reaches play Kevin Spacey’s role, a lethal vindictive producer who berates his assistant. Despite that gig he'll be around the circuit around he is able to within the nextfew monthstrying to create focus on this little-film-that-could that puts a really human face on the hot-button political problem.