It’s rare for me to say that I enjoyed a film so much that I didn’t want it to end, but James Mangold’s Ford v. Ferrari hits all the right notes. A fantastic cast, impressive visuals on the races, scenes that flow without any time wasted and sound that begs to be heard on a surround system. It’s no surprise that the film earned Four Oscar Nominations – Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Film Editing and Best Picture, all of which are well deserved. If the lineup this year wasn’t so stacked, I’d say that Ford v Ferrari would score quite a bit. It can go any way, but It may end up like The Shawshank Redemption – A great film that could be eclipsed by giants.
Based on a true story, Ford v. Ferrari focuses on the Ford Motor Company in the mid 60’s, down on its luck and looking for a way to stay ahead of the game. Henry Ford II, played by a scene stealing Tracy Letts (August: Osage County), asks his workers to come up with an idea. A young Lee Iacoccoa (Jon Bernthal, The Punisher) feels the best way to do so is to attempt to win the famed 24 hour race at Le Mans in France. The LeMans is dominated by Ferrari, who hand manufactures their machines to be legends in the racing circuit. If Ford could win, it would put them in a better light to consumers, but winning requires more than just a fast car.
Ford enlists the help of Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon, The Martian), along with his brash and skillful driver, Ken Miles (Christian Bale, 3:10 to Yuma), Ken has a few issues getting along with others, but his knowledge of cars is brilliant. Shelby continuously goes to bat for Miles, who isn’t exactly poster boy material in the eyes of Ford. Together, they work on building a competitive vehicle. The poster may suggest the story is about the cars, but at its heart, I felt that Ford v. Ferrari was more about the friendship between Shelby and Miles than anything else. Their mutual love of cars and racing is what ties it all together.
When it comes to the technical points of racing, Ford v Ferrari’s script doesn’t ask you to know much about cars going in. Just about everything you need to about the LeMans and the abilities of the cars is explained through the characters over time. Car gurus may find areas where liberties are taken, but casual watchers should find themselves entertained.
Kudos goes out to the casting for Ford v. Ferrari. Josh Lucas (Poseidon) plays the heavy in the film as a Ford businessman who would love to see Miles out of the spotlight. Caitriona Balfe (Starz’ Outlander) has some good moments with Bale as Miles’ wife, Mollie, though she happens to be the only woman in the film with many lines. Given that the story takes place in the 1960s and its guys building cars, it made sense. Playing Miles son, Peter, Noah Jupe (Honey Boy, A Quiet Place) is that character that helps the audience understand the nuances of racing. I kind of wish Bernthal had more to do here, but he’s cool when he’s on screen and carries his weight easily.
The film belongs to Damon and Bale, though. Damon’s Shelby is full of attitude. He knows what he wants to get done, what needs to happen and just does it. Damon carries this with ease, and it’s easy to forget that the actor is there at times (for me, anyway). Bale does the same, but is on a different level, with his Ken Miles being both focused and a little wild, perhaps even cynical. There’s a great mix of comedy and drama between the two actors.
The sound quality of Ford v. Ferrari is amazing. If you had the chance to see it in the cinema, consider yourself lucky. The rev of the engines are crisp, the shifting the of gears sublime. I’d be somewhat shocked if the film doesn’t walk away with the Sound Mixing / Sound Editing Oscars. From a visual standpoint, the races themselves offer some nice tracking shots, though there may be one or two scenes that particularly stand out.
Mangold and Phedon Papamichael (his Director of Photography for Walk the Line) perform some interesting tricks with the camera. With the races themselves, the cuts are smooth. You have dynamic tracking shots of cars in some cases while others are lit enough to be comfortable. One of my favorite scenes involves a play on shadows that makes it appear like you’re watching a race, complete with the sound of the cars in the background. It’s subtle touches like that make me wonder why it wasn’t nominated for Best Cinematography. I should also note that for a 2:30 minute film, it flies by. I found very few (if any) moments where I felt a scene wasn’t particularly needed to push the narrative along. You can thank Jez and John-Henry Butterworth (Edge of Tomorrow) for that screenplay.
I can’t say I have any real problems with Ford v Ferrari. Overall, it’s an entertaining film right from the start that gets you into the story and behind the wheel.
There were a lot of very important awards given out last night and suddenly, the Oscar race has become much, much clearer. Yes, Parasite is a big contender and it’s certainly a big deal that it won at SAG. It’ll probably win quite a few Oscars. But, as of right now, the front runner for best picture is clearly 1917.
Not only has 1917 won the PGA award but, last night, Sam Mendes won the DGA. 1917 is coming on strong and it’s late release date is definitely working in its favor. It came out just in time to wow the Oscar voters but also late enough that there wasn’t time for any sort of backlash to develop against it. If I had to guess now, I’d say that 1917 is going to win Best Picture and we can at least take comfort in the fact that it’s better than the last Sam Mendes film that won.
Anyway, instead of doing like 30 different posts for each group that met last night, here’s a quick rundown:
The DGA (Director’s Guild of America) — Sam Mendes won Best Director for 1917. Honey Boy’s Alma Har’el won for Best First Time Director. The documentary award went to Steven Bogner and Julia Reichert for American Factory.
Annie Awards (Animation) — Klaus won Best Feature. I Lost My Body won best indie feature.
ASC (American Society of Cinematographers) — Roger Deakins for 1917
USC Scripter Awards (Adapted Screenplay) — Greta Gerwig for Little Women
CAS (Cinema Audio Society) — Best Feature went to Ford v. Ferrari. Best Animated Feature went to Toy Story 4. Best Documentary Feature was won by Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound.
So, for all you people making your Oscar bets — well, who knows? Listen, the Oscars are unpredictable. GREEN BOOK WON LAST YEAR, PEOPLE! So, anything’s possible. One thing to remember is that Best Picture is determined by a preferential voting system so it’s a close race between two films, it could easily be everyone’s second choice that wins. And that could mean an upset victory for something like Ford v Ferrari or even Little Women.
The North Texas Film Critics Association announced their picks for the best of 2019 earlier today. Speaking as a North Texas film critic, I’m a bit annoyed that I wasn’t consulted but oh well! (To quote King of the Hill, “North Texas? More like South Oklahoma!”) Here are their winners:
BEST FILM
Winner: THE IRISHMAN
Runners-up: 1917; PARASITE; THE FAREWELL; MARRIAGE STORY; JOJO RABBIT; THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON; A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD; ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD; FORD V FERRARI; JOKER
BEST ACTOR
Winner: Joaquin Phoenix, JOKER
Runners-up: Robert De Niro, THE IRISHMAN; Adam Driver, MARRIAGE STORY; Adam Sandler, UNCUT GEMS and Leonardo DiCaprio, ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD
BEST ACTRESS
Winner: Charlize Theron, BOMBSHELL
Runners-up: Scarlett Johansson, MARRIAGE STORY; Renée Zellweger, JUDY; Awkwafina, THE FAREWELL and Lupita Nyong’o, US
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Winner: Tom Hanks, A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Runners-up: Joe Pesci, THE IRISHMAN; Brad Pitt, ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD; Al Pacino, THE IRISHMAN and Song Kang-Ho, PARASITE
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Winner: Zhao Shuzhen, THE FAREWELL
Runners-up: Laura Dern, MARRIAGE STORY; Scarlett Johansson, JOJO RABBIT; Kathy Bates, RICHARD JEWELL and Annette Bening, THE REPORT
BEST DIRECTOR
Winner: Sam Mendes, 1917
Runners-up: Martin Scorsese, THE IRISHMAN; Quentin Tarantino, ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD; Noah Baumbach, MARRIAGE STORY and Lulu Wang, THE FAREWELL
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Winner: PARASITE (South Korea)
Runners-up: PAIN AND GLORY (Spain) and LES MISÉRABLES (France)
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Winner: APOLLO 11
Runners-up: AMERICAN FACTORY; ONE CHILD NATION; DAVID CROSBY: REMEMBER MY NAME and ROLLING THUNDER REVUE: A BOB DYLAN STORY
BEST ANIMATED FILM
Winner: TOY STORY 4
Runners-up: ABOMINABLE and HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Winner: Roger Deakins, 1917,
Runner-ups: Jarin Blaschke, THE LIGHTHOUSE; Rodrigo Prieto, THE IRISHMAN; Hoyte Van Hoytema, AD ASTRA; Robert Richardson, ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD and Phedon Papamichael, FORD V FERRARI
BEST NEWCOMER
Winner: Roman Griffin Davis was awarded Best Newcomer for JOJO RABBIT
The SAG weren’t the only folks announcing their nominees today!
The American Cinema Editors (ACE) announced their Eddie nominations today, for the best edited films and television of 2019! Here are the film nominees!
For those of you keeping track of precursors and using them to shape your own predictions, the SAG nominations are usually a pretty big deal. It’s rare that every film that gets a best ensemble nomination also gets a best picture nominations. (In the past, The Big Sick, Trumbo, and Beasts of No Nation all got ensemble noms without also getting a best picture nomination.) But, at the same time, the SAG is full of Academy members (the Actor’s Division is the largest part of the Academy) so their nominations are definitely a good sign of the way the winds are blowing.
So, a look at the nominations below — very bad news for Adam Sandler. I have a hard time seeing how he can get an Oscar nomination without also a Golden Globe or SAG nomination. Good news for Christian Bale, who is rapidly becoming the male Meryl Streep as far as automatic nominations are concerned. Good news for Bombshell. Good news for me, because I predicted that the liberals in Hollywood would embrace Bombshell for the same reason that they embraced films like Vice and The Big Short (i,e., “honoring Jay Roach and Adam McKay movies to own the cons”). Potentially bad news for Kathy Bates, who received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in Richard Jewell but not one from SAG. Bad news for 1917, which was totally rejected by the SAG. Potentially good news for Joker, which may have missed out on Ensemble but still picked up nominations for Joaquin Phoenix and the stunts crew.
Anyway, here are the SAG film nominees:
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role:
Christian Bale (“Ford v Ferrari”)
Leonardo DiCaprio (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”)
Adam Driver (“Marriage Story”)
Taron Egerton (“Rocketman”)
Joaquin Phoenix (“Joker”)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role:
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role:
Jamie Foxx (“Just Mercy”)
Tom Hanks (“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”)
Al Pacino (“The Irishman”)
Joe Pesci (“The Irishman”)
Brad Pitt (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role:
Laura Dern (“Marriage Story”)
Scarlett Johansson (“Jojo Rabbit”)
Nicole Kidman (“Bombshell”)
Jennifer Lopez (“Hustlers”)
Margot Robbie (“Bombshell”)
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture:
“Bombshell” (Lionsgate)
“The Irishman” (Netflix)
“Jojo Rabbit” (Fox)
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” (Sony)
“Parasite” (Neon)
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture:
“Avengers: Endgame”
“Ford v Ferrari”
“The Irishman”
“Joker”
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
The Cinema Audio Society has announced their nominations for 2019! So, for everyone struggling to make their predictions in the Sound Editing and Sound Mixing category, here’s a helpful guide:
MOTION PICTURE – LIVE ACTION
Ford v Ferrari Production Mixer – Steven A. Morrow CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Paul Massey CAS
Re-recording Mixer – David Giammarco CAS
Scoring Mixer – Tyson Lozensky
ADR Mixer – David Betancourt
Foley Mixer – Richard Duarte
Joker
Production Mixer – Tod Maitland CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Dean A Zupancic
Re-recording Mixer – Tom Ozanich
Scoring Mixer – Daniel Kresco
ADR Mixer – Thomas J. O’Connell
Foley Mixer – Richard Duarte
Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood Production Mixer – Mark Ulano CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Michael Minkler CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Christian Minkler CAS
Foley Mixer – Kyle Rochlin
Rocketman
Production Mixer – John Hayes
Re-recording Mixer – Mike Prestwood Smith
Re-recording Mixer – Mathew Collinge
ADR Mixer – Mark Appleby
Foley Mixer – Glen Gathard
The Irishman Production Mixer – Tod Maitland CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Tom Fleischman CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Eugene Gearty
ADR Mixer – Mark DeSimone CAS
Foley Mixer – George A. Lara CAS
MOTION PICTURE—ANIMATED
Abominable
Original Dialogue Mixer – Tighe Sheldon
Re-recording Mixer – Myron Nettinga
Scoring Mixer – Nick Wollage
Foley Mixer – David Jobe
Frozen II Original Dialogue Mixer – Paul McGrath CAS
Re-recording Mixer – David E. Fluhr CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Gabriel Guy CAS
Song Mixer – David Boucher
Scoring Mixer – Greg Hayes
ADR Mixer – Doc Kane CAS
Foley Mixer – Scott Curtis
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Original Dialogue Mixer – Tighe Sheldon
Re-recording Mixer – Gary A. Rizzo CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Scott R. Lewis
Re-recording Mixer – Shawn Murphy
Foley Mixer – Blake Collins CAS
The Lion King Original Dialogue Mixer – Ronald Judkins CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Lora Hirschberg
Re-recording Mixer – Christopher Boyes
Scoring Mixer – Alan Meyerson CAS
Foley Mixer – Blake Collins CAS
Toy Story 4 Original Dialogue Mixer – Doc Kane CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Michael Semanick CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Nathan Nance
Scoring Mixer – David Boucher
ADR Mixer – Vince Caro CAS
Foley Mixer – Scott Curtis
MOTION PICTURE—DOCUMENTARY
Apollo 11 Re-recording Mixer – Eric Milano
Re-recording Mixer – Brian Eimer
Echo in the Canyon Re-recording Mixer – Chris Jenkins
Re-recording Mixer – Paul Karpinski
Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound Production Mixer – David J. Turner
Re-recording Mixer – Tom Myers
Scoring Mixer – Dan Blanck
Foley Mixer – Frank Rinella
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool Production Mixer – Gautam Choudhury
Re-recording Mixer – Benny Mouthon CAS
Woodstock: 3 Days That Changed Everything Re-recording Mixer – Kevin Peters