It all sounds very familiar. Fresh from hugely favorable screenings at theToronto International Film Festival, a Fox Searchlight release rides a wave of word-of-mouth that leads to scores of accolades and even more box office. This is the story of 2004′s “Sideways,” 2007′s “Juno,” and potentially, this year’s “Slumdog Millionaire.” As Searchlight continues to slowly expandDanny Boyle‘s Oscar hopeful, it becomes more and more clear that it might have 2008′s specialty powerhouse on its hands.

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A short time ago in Los Angeles, actress Tilda Swinton had a very busy few days. She was there promoting her work in Erick Zonca‘s “Julia,” screening at AFI Fest 2008. But in the two nights preceding its screening, she continued her newfound role as a staple honoree with back-to-back fetes: a tribute at AFI, and an award of excellence at the 2008 BAFTA/LA Britannia Awards. “It’s very strange this getting awards,” Swinton said upon accepting her award from BAFTA/LA. “I have to confess until so recently that the only thing I’d ever won was a raffle when I was twelve. I got a bottle of aftershave I gave my brother for Christmas and he still has it.”

In the midst of all of this, Swinton found the time to sit down with indieWIRE poolside at the Avalon Hotel in Beverly Hills.

“I’m very jetlegged and I’ve got a kind of throat infection but apart from that, I’m doing good,” Swinton said about her hectic Los Angeles itinerary. “I mean, I enjoy it fine because if you think about what I’m doing here, I’m doing things that I have some real connection to. I’m only too happy to come and present ‘Julia.’ I’m really proud of that film. I’d go anywhere to talk about it or screen it. Having to stand up and accept an award is a challenge. I have to say, it’s not my favorite thing in the world but otherwise going around for the work is good. I had a possibility to present ‘Julia’ so they kind of got me on that.”

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by Eugene Hernandez and Peter Knegt (November 14, 2008)

Continuing this year’s awards season coverage in indieWIRE, editor-in-chief Eugene Hernandez and assistant editor Peter Knegt chatted yesterday via instant message about the ever-evolving race. Topics for this installment include a look at emerging best picture contenders, from “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button to “Milk,” and potential dark horses that might play a larger role in this race than people are expecting.

Eugene Hernandez: Where do we start, so much to catch up with. How about a snapshot of best picture before we dig a bit deeper…

Peter Knegt: Well it seems like the whispers are getting more and more informed. It’s still murky territory overall, but I’d say we can narrow down the list to 10 or so possibilities: “Australia,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Gran Torino,” “Milk,” “The Reader,” “Revolutionary Road,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “The Wrestler.”

EH: I saw “Milk” a second time this morning and feel strongly that it is even more resonant in a post-election/Prop 8 context. It’s a leading contender for best picture as far as I am concerned. And the reactions from the other folks in the screening room seemed quite positive.

PK: I agree. It has all of the elements of a real contender, and its release within a storm of activism that remarkably parallels its story is going to make it all the more potent. I’d also suggest it’s a lock for Sean Penn, the screenplay and maybe one of the supporting actors.

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by Eric Kohn (November 12, 2008)

In Irish director Declan Recks‘ remarkably tense romantic drama “Eden,” actions speak louder than words — or, at least, more coherently, as far as American audiences are concerned. For those inexperienced in the careful discernment of regional accents, “Eden” offers no subtitles, but the central themes are thankfully not lost in translation. Recks relied on visual lyricism as much as dialogue when translating Eugene O’Brien‘s devastating 2002 play about an estranged young married couple from the stage to the screen. As a result, he doesn’t mind if a few lines remain unintelligible to certain viewers. “It makes them pay attention more,” Recks told indieWIRE. “People might not get every single word, but they know what’s going on from the performances. It’s not a very heavily plotted film; it’s a character study.”

Making his directorial debut after working on Irish television productions for several years, Recks put a clear effort into creating a narrative with distinctly cinematic qualities. Filmed in a gorgeous spectrum of colors to evoke the rustic seaside community where the story takes place, “Eden” shifts between conflicting perspectives of a relationship on the rocks. It begins by examining the fractured marriage of Billy (Aidan Kelly), a reckless alcoholic, and Breda (Eileen Walsh), in the days leading up to their tenth wedding anniversary. “A lot of films tend to start at the beginning of a relationship, where you see the most exciting parts,” Recks said. “They tend not to deal with the people who have been together for years and are trying to deal with everyday life. I think the fact that we start our story there makes it slightly unconventional.”

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by Leo Goldsmith (November 11, 2008)

Though it often seems the nadir of schmaltz and sentimentality, the Hollywood Christmas movie has always been a bit bipolar. From “A Christmas Story” to “Gremlins,” “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” to (undoubtedly) the forthcoming “Four Christmases,” the subgenre requires a course of dysfunction and chaos before the dessert of earnest holiday cheer is served. Mom and Dad’s best-laid plans go awry, Santa Claus gets trapped in the chimney and asphyxiates, and Arnold and Sinbad vie for the last available Turbo Man action figure — but in the end, families are reconciled and the true, noncommercial meaning of Christmas is reified.

In this way, Arnaud Desplechin‘s “A Christmas Tale” is very much of a piece with this largely American subgenre, though its Gallic accent is unmistakable. Desplechin’s film begins with a funeral and ends with major oncological surgery, but its large down payments of nastiness are put toward well-earned, heartwarming reconciliations.

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