"Brothers" - Oscar campaign

Brothers Trailer 2 - Official | Release Dec 4, 2009.


"Brothers" Forbidden TV Spot.

"On Sunday night, the military-themed film, which is based on Danish director Susanne Bier’s award-winning 2004 movie “Brodre”, screened for members of the Directors Guild at the DGA Theater on Sunset Boulevard. The next day, the Envelope’s Pete Hammond (who moderated the post-screening discussion with Sheridan) posted an item wondering why no Oscar bloggers were talking about the film -- whereupon Hollywood Elsewhere’s Jeffrey Wells quickly pointed out that Lionsgate hadn’t screened the film for the folks Hammond was chiding.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.”
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". Source: www.thewrap.com


"According to pop-culture pundit Pete Hammond, Jim Sheridan, the director of the movie Brothers which is due in theaters December 4, 2009:

...received a tremendous ovation Sunday afternoon when he was introduced for a Q&A after a very well-received Directors Guild of America screening. The free-wheeling director engaged in a refreshingly honest and thoughtful conversation about the film's bumpy journey to being remade".
A six-time Academy Award nominee, Sheridan is best known for his work directing In America and In the Name of the Father. Brothers has a first-rate cast, as well: Toby Maguire as the soldier, Jake Gyllenhaal as his sibling and Natalie Portman as the wife and sister-in-law". Source: www.examiner.com