Hawks, MOMI, Globes, More

A two-week-long Howard Hawks season launched this weekend at BFI Southbank in London and, in the Guardian, David Bromwich writes: "The best actors of Hollywood films for three decades did a lot of their best work with Hawks. Grant and Bogart, pre-eminently, but also Cagney, Edward G Robinson, Hepburn (whom he introduced to screwball comedy), Barbara Stanwyck in Ball of Fire, Carole Lombard (who first showed her formidable power and comic range in Twentieth Century), and Montgomery Clift — a refined actor on the brink of being dismissed as overdelicate when Hawks gave him the second lead in Red River and offered tips on movement and gesture. For example, 'the business,' as Hawks's biographer Todd McCarthy relates, 'of putting a strand of wheat in his mouth'; also 'rubbing the side of his nose while in thought.' All the dynamic contest of that movie is there in the contrast between the voices of John Wayne and Clift, the loud monotone of command and the distinct but quiet utterance that suggests a reserve of conscience. All this Hawks must have heard at once and measured against the story when he saw the actors read for their parts."

The big news in New York this holiday weekend is the reopening of the Museum of the Moving Image after "a nearly two-year-long architectural overhaul that substantially upgrades its standing exhibitions, its capacity for educational and video programs, and its position as the loveliest afternoon-killer in Queens," as Michael Atkinson puts it in the Voice. "Most important, the screening schedule will be fattened up, beginning out of the gate this week with a motley six-week program of must-sees and new excavations."

The L's Mark Asch adds that the "inaugural weeks of programming leave no audience quadrant unmassaged (and I mean that in the best way possible): a catch-all restoration series featuring various foreign and domestic classics, and a matching wide-ranging avant-garde series; a hastily assembled Oscar-courting David O Russell retro with the director in person, along with other one-night-only appearances; and ongoing populist ethnic and family-matinee series."

For other goings on around the world, from Portland to Paris, see Criterion's latest repertory roundup.

LISTS AND AWARDS

Seems there's no stopping The Social Network's winning streak. Having scored with the Broadcast Film Critics Association last week, as Guy Lodge reports at In Contention, it's picked up four Golden Globes at what the New York Times' Michael Cieply and Brooks Barnes call "the entertainment industry's second-favorite awards show." While they've got the full list of winners right here, let's mention TSN's loot from last night — Best Picture (Drama), Director (David Fincher), Screenplay (Aaron Sorkin) and Original Score (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross) — and a few other notables: The Kids Are All Right wins Best Picture (Musical or Comedy) and scores Best Actress (Musical or Comedy) with Annette Bening. The Actor for that category: Paul Giamatti for Barney's Version. And the Drama winners: Colin Firth (The King's Speech) and Natalie Portman (Black Swan). The Fighter picked up two supporting role honors: Melissa Leo and Christian Bale. Among those who live-blogged and/or live-tweeted the evening: Kyle Buchanan and Willa Paskin (Vulture), Nick Davis, Hadley Freeman (Guardian), Linda Holmes (NPR), Movieline, the Playlist, Nathaniel R, Vanity Fair and Scott Weinberg (Cinematical). Vulture gathers host Ricky Gervais's best bits and slaps them together in one video running a mere 3'22".

"Gods, Men and Roman Polanski were the big winners Friday night at the 16th annual Lumiere Awards, France's version of the Golden Globes." Rebecca Leffler for the Hollywood Reporter: "Xavier Beauvois's Of Gods and Men was named best film of the year. Polanski earned the title of best director for The Ghost Writer, which also earned the veteran helmer a best screenplay award. Kristin Scott Thomas presented Polanski with an honorary Golden Panther as the Lumieres Academy honored his more than 50-year career with an homage."

Adrian Curry's got ten favorite films of 2010, a slew of runners-up and five best "old films seen for the first time in 2010. And this "may be the one and only time that my favorite film of the year has my favorite poster of the year." Mamoru Hosoda's Summer Wars tops Bob Clark's 2010 list at Wonders in the Dark. Lukas Foerster lists his favorite Asian films of 2010 at critic.de; #1: Hong Sang-soo's Oki's Movie.

IN OTHER NEWS

"A tragic loss... in the world of Japanese film," writes Chris MaGee at Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow. "Actor Toshiyuki Hosokawa, best known for his roles in Yoshishige Yoshida's Eros Plus Massacre and Koki Mitani's Rajio no Jikan (Welcome Back, Mr McDonald) passed away in Tokyo [last] week as a result of an acute subdural hematoma. Apparently the actor had suffered a fall in his home on January 12th and was rushed to the hospital but died shortly thereafter. He was 70." Lesley Aeschliman looks back on the filmography at BellaOnline.

Cullen Gallagher introduces a new feature at Not Coming to a Theater Near You, "70s PIs": "The tension between the revisionist and traditional Private Detective is something we will be exploring in this feature throughout the next week," culminating "with a screening of Hickey & Boggs at 92YTribeca (on Saturday, January 22nd) as part of our monthly screening series."

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