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This Week's Comfort Movie: 'The Blind Side'
Filed under: Drama, New Releases, Warner Brothers, Fandom
The holiday season usually issues forth an avalanche of award-contending dramas, feel-good family films, and oddball counter programming. Last weekend was no exception, with the debuting Old Dogs, Ninja Assassin, and The Road jostling for attention with New Moon and The Blind Side. Of all those movies, the one that jumps out at me is The Blind Side, which actually increased its audience in its second week of release.
That's a pretty rare feat, especially for a wide release, and speaks to the broad appeal of the film. "Yes, Virginia, Sandra Bullock is the biggest female star in the world... again," in the words of David Poland at The Hot Blog, and there's no doubt that Bullock's celebrity, even more than her compelling, measured performance, is a big draw. Yet with big stars like Will Farrell and Jim Carrey failing to bring in the expected box office this year, Bullock is not the whole story. Nor is it only a matter of the movie being "generically acceptable [for families] to watch together over the holiday weekend," as our own Eugene Novikov suggested, although, to be fair, it's likely that 'the Sandie Bullock football movie' would be an easier sell to more families to watch together than 'the bare-chested boy vampire romance' or 'the violent ninja flick.'
No, I think it's clear that positive word of mouth has spread. What have people told their friends? Maybe that the first, widely-seen and frequently-mocked (by me) trailer was not representative of the movie as a whole, which comes by its emotions honestly.
Chris Weitz to Direct Two-Part 'Breaking Dawn' Finale?
Filed under: Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, Newsstand, Remakes and Sequels
As The Twilight Saga: New Moon crosses $200 million, execs over at Summit Entertainment are quietly (or not so quietly) trying to figure out what to do about Breaking Dawn, the final (for now) adaptation in the Twilight movie franchise. According to a piece in Variety, only screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg is confirmed to finish out the series, and right now it looks like they're going to go the Harry Potter route and split Breaking Dawn up into two parts. Problem is, none of the actors have deals for a second part, and so like what happened with Harry Potter, there's a very good chance Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner could be looking at upwards of eight figures for their participation.The other big question mark (aside from how you adapt the predominately darker Breaking Dawn into a film that will appeal to the tween and teen set) is who will direct. David Slade is currently helming Eclipse, the third installment in the Twilight franchise, and from the sound of things that's the only segment he'll be directing. Right now it looks like Summit wants Chris Weitz to finish out the series, which is why -- according to Variety -- they haven't yet closed the deal on The Gardener, which is the smaller, more personal film he wanted to direct next. But will Weitz commit to the back-to-back films, which are sure to keep him away from his family for several months?
What's the alternative, though? To bring on a director new to the franchise to helm its big finale? That doesn't make sense, and I'm sure Summit is preparing to empty their wallets on this one in order to line up the correct pieces. Sources claim the studio wants Weitz to finish the job, though they haven't yet made him an official offer. What do you want to see happen?
Monday Night Poll: How Much Will 'Avatar' Make Opening Weekend?
Filed under: Action, Animation, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Box Office, 20th Century Fox, Movie Marketing, Oscar Watch
Avatar isn't being released until December 18th, but if you're already sick of hearing about it, you better plug up your ears. The hype machine for James Cameron's magnum opus has been hard at work leaking details, images, snippets, and trailers since way before this year's San Diego Comic-Con or the extensive profile in October's New Yorker. Cameron, who has never been one to bite his tongue, told Playboy, "We know from the exit polling that the response [to Avatar] was 95 percent ecstatic. Most of the five percent negative response is from the fanatic fans who imagined the movie in their minds but now have to deal with my movie." Also, that when it comes to giving birth to a movie, he's crowning. Yum!
Bon mots from Cameron aside, Avatar could be a real game-changer as far as 3D films go – and hell, it's a refreshing change of pace from the sequels, prequels, remakes, and re-imaginings we're forced to sit through. (Plus... giant blue cat people!!!). It's definitely in the running for numerous Oscars. In fact, Oscar experts at In Contention currently have the film for consideration in eight categories, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Not only that, Variety reported that James Cameron, stars Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana, and producer Jon Landau will be doing a live webcast on December 3rd that will allow fans the chance to ask questions of the crew and sneak peeks at previously unseen footage from the film. The webcast will be broadcast on MTV two days before Avatar hits screens.
So, are you a betting man or woman? How much do you think the Avatar exposure will pay off opening weekend? Will Na'ivish become the new Elvish? Let's start with under $20 million. Going once, going twice... Vote below!
Old Doctor Who to Play John Lennon
Filed under: Drama, Music & Musicals, Casting
It looks like The Beatles are going to get a good dose of Doctor Who in the coming year. Variety reports that in a rather nice twist, the man who kicked off the Who revitalization, Christopher Eccleston, is slated to star as John Lennon for an upcoming BBC Four biopic called Naked Lennon. The story will focus on the big turning point for Lennon between 1967 and 1971 -- the dissolution of the band, death of manager Brian Epstein, the end of his first marriage, and then, of course, the entry of Yoko Ono into his life.Naoko Mori, who played Toshiko in Torchwood, will play Yoko Ono. (For Hackers buffs out there, she also played the Tokyo Hacker back in the 1995 movie.) Rounding out the cast is Rory Kinnear as Epstein, Claudie Blakley as Cynthia, and Andrew Scott as Paul McCartney.
Now this is a BBC movie, but considering the reach of Red Riding, I imagine this could stretch beyond the UK's TV screens. There's the fact that The Beatles have been seeing a lot of love in the CD and video game world, and Lennon usually doesn't get much cinematic love save retro pieces in a cameo capacity. The tide changed this year with Nowhere Boy -- so we'll have to wait and see. But what do you think about the casting? Can Naoko and Who pull off a convincing John and Yoko?
Mirren to Play The Queen Again in Star-Studded Biopic?
Filed under: Drama, Foreign Language, Independent, Casting, Newsstand
The legendary Helen Mirren may once again be serving crown and country as Queen Elizabeth II. WENN is reporting that Mirren is being called upon to play the once and current queen in Mother: The Indira Ghandi Story, a biopic about the Indian prime minister who was asassinated in 1984.Tom Hanks and Tommy Lee Jones are also reportedly in talks to play Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon, respectively, while Emily Watson is attached to play the formidable Margaret Thatcher. Director Krishna Shah calls it "the project of my life" so one hopes this could actually come together for him with this kind of cast. The film is scheduled to be released in 2010, which seems a bit too optimistic with so many schedules to coordinate, but we'll see.
Obviously, this should be filed firmly under "rumor," but it's an intriguing prospect. Indira Ghandi is certainly long overdue for a biopic, and the cast would be fantastic. It would be fascinating to see Mirren go back and play a younger Queen Elizabeth II, even for just a small part in a larger historical picture. Besides, with Michael Sheen doing triple duty as Prime Minister Tony Blair, it seems very appropriate that his onscreen monarch get another shot at the throne.
'Nine', 'Up in the Air' Lead Satellite Award Nominations
Filed under: Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Foreign Language, Music & Musicals, Awards, Quentin Tarantino, Johnny Depp, George Clooney, Oscar Watch
There are a few good reasons to hate on the Satellite Awards. First of all, we really don't need any more end of the year movie and television honors. Second of all, the Satellites seem to be little more than a knock-off of the Golden Globes, which are already pretty unnecessary. Third, they happen way too early, missing out on seeing and thereby qualifying perhaps the biggest film of the year (Avatar). But over the years I've come to appreciate the Satellites and their bestowing organization, the International Press Academy, for their constant surprises when it comes to nominating and awarding unlikely films and talent. Just look at some of last year's acting winners: Richard Jenkins; Rosemarie DeWitt; Ricky Gervais; Michael Shannon.
Now check out this year's nominees, which continue to prove that IPA voters like to go at least slightly against the grain. Okay, so there are a lot of predictable titles in the lot, including Up in the Air and Nine, which leads with 11 nominations. Yet there are some films I don't expect to be recognized by the Golden Globes, let alone the Oscars, such as The Maid and The Stoning of Soraya M., both of which feature in the Best Actress (Drama) category.
New to Me: Purple Rain and Stunt Rock
Filed under: Action, Drama, Music & Musicals, Columns
As the perpetual young'en on the staff, it only seems fitting that I start chronicling my encounters with whatever classic or otherwise noteworthy titles that I'm just now dusting off and catching up with. For the first in this series, I find myself tackling a double feature of '70s/'80s rock kitsch - Stunt Rock and Purple Rain.
Their Best Role: Nicole Kidman in 'To Die For'
Filed under: Comedy, Drama, Fandom, Nicole Kidman
Welcome to a new series here on Cinematical where we select an actor or actress and the role we think is their all time best.
There is no doubt about it, Nicole Kidman is a big old movie star. But, what's always struck me as a little odd is that when you ask most people what they think of the actress, more often than not the reactions aren't all that positive. As for box-office, it's not like her numbers are going to blow you away either. But neither of those things have stopped Kidman from joining the ranks of A list actresses. So yeah, her career has spanned two continents and she has become an icon of glamor, but when it comes to her work as an actress, I happen to think that she peaked in 1995 in Gus Van Sant's dark comedy, To Die For. In Van Sant's film, Kidman played Suzanne Stone, a loose approximation of Pam Smart (the high school teacher who was convicted of conspiring with her 15-year-old lover, and his three friends to kill her husband), a ruthless and truly terrible person who will use her looks and just anything else she can get her hands on to make her dreams of stardom come true.
It was her role in the Aussie thriller, Dead Calm, which had Kidman as a grieving mother in a fight to the death with a psycho on the open sea that first caught the attention of Hollywood. Kidman had a charisma and natural beauty on screen that must have seemed like the perfect fit for blockbuster stardom -- and that's where things started to change. In her subsequent roles in the big budget racing flick, Days of Thunder, she was basically 'the girl', before turning to her first Hollywood role as a bad guy in the '93 thriller, Malice. But her turn as a con-woman in that film was no match for her performance as the murderous meteorologist in Van Sant's black comedy.
Trailer Park: Greenberg, Toys and Tolstoy
Filed under: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Trailer Trash, Trailers and Clips
Greenberg
Ben Stiller stars in this indie comedy about a man who deals with his mid-life crisis by doing nothing. Stiller actually seems appealing when he's not trying to be zany. Watch for this one on March 12.
Toy Story 3
This new international trailer shows a little more of the trauma inflicted upon our toy heroes after Andy goes off to college and they are donated to a daycare center. Looks like this one has all the charm of the first two installments. That June 18th release date can't come soon enough.
Pass the Hanky: The Fall
Filed under: Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom
When I first saw The Fall, I was trying to slink out of the theater afterward without anyone noticing my red eyes and nose. Too bad someone caught me and asked me if I was okay. "Uh, sure," I stammered, and ran for the subway. Today when I revisited the movie on an airplane, I warned my seatmate that I would be sniffly and not to worry. About midway through, he took pity on me and handed me some napkins.
The Fall, directed by Tarsem Singh (he prefers to go simply by his first name), takes place in a hospitals in California in the '20s. Lee Pace plays Roy, a stuntman who had an accident that left his paralyzed from the waist down; his girlfriend left him for the smarmy star so he's broken-hearted as well. His costar is Catinca Untaru, who plays a mischievous, smart, adorable little girl named Alexandria, who has chubby cheeks and a broken arm from working in the orange groves. Untaru isn't an actor, and she's so young she's missing her two front teeth for most of the movie. She's also Romanian, and combined with how young she is, the way she talks is a pastiche of baby talk and broken English.
Roy begins to tell her a story about bandits who have been done wrong by the horrible Governor Odious and seek revenge against him at any cost. The magical scenes she imagines were filmed in real places around the world, and she pictures each bandit as people she knows or has seen in real life. The story starts out like an exciting tale but soon we all realize it reflects Roy's real-life story and deep depression.
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