Drawing the Dagger/Rolling the Oscar Dice

Update: New Brothers TV spot, from IGN:

More Brothers Info

Jordan Mechner recounts his attempt to draw the Prince of Persia's Dagger of Time, his own creation but in Jake Gyllenhaal's hands. Or hand:



Jake offered to hold the Dagger of Time so I could sketch it. The one drawing you’d figure I could do in my sleep. Naturally, under pressure (we were between takes), I rushed it, and messed up the proportions.

I asked him to hand me the dagger for a moment, thinking I might just turn back time and try that sketch again. Alas, it was empty. He must have used up the sand doing stunt work with 2nd unit.



It felt good to hold it, though. Much more solid and weighty than a PS2 controller.



It's funny that Mechner says he got the dimensions wrong because Jake moved his hand. Who's controlling whom, Mr. Creator?

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There's more Oscar talk for Brothers, including a lame explanation of why it took Lionsgate/Relativity so long to get the ball rolling.



But the DGA screening has apparently set in motion a string of events that will culminate in next week’s launch of a full-fledged best-picture campaign for the film, and a best-actor push for star Tobey Maguire, who plays a soldier presumed missing in Afghanistan until he returns home to his wife (Natalie Portman) and younger brother (Jake Gyllenhaal).

To hear producer Ryan Kavanaugh tell it, the filmmakers proceeded cautiously because of uncertainty about the new landscape for Oscar campaigning. “With the change in Academy policy, we really wanted to let the film speak for itself before we made the decision whether or not to campaign,” he says. “If it got the momentum it needed once we showed it, we would do everything we could to support it as much as we can. And it certainly seemed to get that momentum.”

Others at the Sunday screening say that the film was followed by a standing ovation, a rarity for the DGA, and an enthusiastically-received 45-minute Q&A session in which a common theme was questioners wondering why the film didn’t have a higher profile in the awards race.



Between the raves from the DGA (as a group, a fairly accurate Oscar precursor) and positive comments from a few critics who’d seen the film, Sheridan’s camp reportedly decided a full campaign was in order. Lionsgate was in the thick of its campaign for Oscar frontrunner “Precious,” and was said to be surprised that the “Brothers” filmmakers suddenly wanted to shift into Oscar mode as well – but the company quickly agreed to do so.

A full slate of screenings begins next week, with Academy-geared television spots to follow. Lionsgate’s awards website now promotes the film in a wide range of categories including best picture, best director, best actor, supporting actor and actress, screenplay, and song for U2’s “Winter.” The song certainly sounds apt (“The broken and the bruised/The young and the used/The sure and confused/All here”) -- and while Kris Tapley speculates that the track may run afoul of the music branch’s strict rules because it was recorded during the band's "No Line on the Horizon" sessions, Kavanaugh says that it was "without question" written specifically for the film.

This is just a series of bad decision, beginning with the lack of festival exposure and screenings. Or even further back, the delay in releasing the movie. I hope the late sprint works, and the film and its stars get some recognition.



What? That photo isn't from Brothers?

(Photos courtesy of IHJ.)