In Contention

Tag: Drag Me To Hell

  • International Film Music Critics nominees

    The Twilight Saga: New MoonThis just arrived via press release.  Talk about your refreshingly diverse list of contenders.

    Predicting the Academy’s Best Original Score category can often be a bit of a chore.  There is no “guild” for the composers, after all, nothing to serve as a barometer.  For the longest time you could generally count on the group to be quite insular, and they still are to an extent, but as of late, they have also been a bit more open to newbies.

    The only other thing we have to go by is the International Film Music Critics Association, which isn’t much to go by at all, really.  You can look over the group’s five years of nominee announcements and see rather quickly that it’s an artfully-minded assemblage.  In a nutshell, “Drag Me to Hell” won’t be get to call itself an Oscar nominee, but it’s cool to see it pop up here.  “Twilight,” on the other hand…maybe.

    Michael Giacchino received a record nine nominations himself, including in the top field, which you can see below.  For the rest, head on over to The Circuit.

    Film Score of the Year
    “Avatar” (James Horner)
    “Drag Me to Hell” (Christopher Young)
    “Star Trek” (Michael Giacchino)
    “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” (Alexandre Desplat)
    “Up” (Michael Giacchino)

  • The home stretch

    Oscar ballotsPete Hammond’s story concerning Academy members tapping out before listing a full slate of 10 nominees on their ballots is getting some traction today, but it’s hardly new news.  Many voters never even bothered to come up with five nominees, so the switch to 10 was always going to yield a number of incomplete ballots.

    However, the point Hammond makes concerning there being a great many outstanding ballots less than a week before polls close is worth talking about, because the events of the last week or two could have more of an impact than they have in years past.

    But back to the incomplete thing, what this means, more than anything, is that fringe titles like “District 9” or “Star Trek,” or even “Crazy Heart” and, hell, let’s use Pete’s example, “Drag Me to Hell” could have a presence on the Academy’s eventual slate.  With more slots to fill, those left-field #1 and #2 choices have a fighting chance and could actually register.  Which is why it’s important to note that now, more than ever, the passion vote counts.

    So to those who vote with your heart: do it with gusto this year.  You might actually have a voice in this thing.

  • Best in show: the year in superlatives

    Robert Downey Jr. in Sherlock HolmesWrapping up my perspective on the year today, a personal list of superlatives, Oscar categories and other silly nonsense.

    Swing back around on Monday for the ultimate wrap-up, my list of the best films of the decade.

    Best Picture
    “A Serious Man” (Focus Features)

    Best Director
    Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, “A Serious Man”

    Best Actor
    Sharlto Copley, “District 9”

    Best Actress
    Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

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  • If I had a ballot

    Sam Worthington in AvatarEvery year I like to keep track of personal favorites throughout the Academy’s designated categories (plus one of my own addition, Best Ensemble). At the end of the year, my “if I had a ballot” post is the result.

    Of course, for the most part, I follow Academy designations here. If something is ruled ineligible, I play along. It’s not that often that something like that is egregious anyway, though the music branch consistently tests my resolve on the matter.  In years past I’ve tried to make it an AMPAS/critics’ awards hybrid kind of thing, but this makes it easier.

    I know, I know.  “Why don’t you just list what you think should be nominated, the rules be damned?”  Because then I couldn’t call it “If I had a ballot?”  But I guess I’m contradicting myself by adding a category.  I don’t know.  I’m just trying not to be too lamely definitive or authoritative with something like this, I suppose.

    Anyway, I’m also abstaining from offering up a list of foreign language nods. Firstly, I feel it’s been a rather weak year in general there, but I also haven’t made my way fully through the list of submissions either. So I’ll address that another time.  The same goes with he doc features, as I’d rather push through more of the eligible titles first.

    This year the top 10 is the Best Picture field, obviously, and from there, I toss my two cents into a variety of discussions. Here’s what I came up with…

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  • Quentin Tarantino names ‘Star Trek’ the year’s best

    Quentin TarantinoOf what he’s seen, that is. He hasn’t seen “Avatar,” “The Lovely Bones” or, um, “Invicitus” (his pronunciation). And his film is “out of it,” he says.  Not mentioning it.  Thanks for being stand-up like that, Quentin.

    Anyway, here’s the list:

    1. “Star Trek”
    2. “Drag Me to Hell”
    3. “Funny People”
    4. “Up in the Air”
    5. “Chocolate”
    6. “Observe and Report”
    7. “Precious”
    8. “An Education”

    And the video, courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision blog, after the jump. (He says he needs to see a few more films again before fully committing, FYI.)

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Makeup — Volume II

    Lorna Raver in Drag Me to HellWithout any doubt, one of the most difficult Oscar categories to predict is Best Makeup. Like Best Visual Effects, the final three nominees are chosen from a previously announced shortlist of seven.

    Very frequently, films that would seem to be sure things fail to even make the bake-off. Even so, it is possible to gauge the general sort of films which are nominated, with considerable prosthetics and aging effects being among the most cited accomplishments in this category.

    This branch is one that regularly seems willing nominate dreadful films, or to eschew insularity (which is not to say they don’t have their favorites, such as Greg Cannom and Rick Baker).

    I think many of the films I spoke of in September remain firmly in the running, And perhaps leading the way is Neil Blomkamp’s “District 9.” While much of the work in this was CGI, the makeup was key, not only to the main character’s transformation but also to capturing the injuries of the characters in the slums of Johannesburg. The crew has not been nominated before, but I don’t think that will be a problem.

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Makeup — Volume I

    Christopher Plummer in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus“Make me look good.” While this might seem a vain phrase, in the context of a movie, makeup cannot only make an actor “look good” but it can capture the character and transform the performer, providing invaluable assistance in reaching the “truth” in the portrayal.

    The Academy Award for Best Makeup actually recognizes the individuals who perform both makeup and hairstyling duties. Like Best Visual Effects, this category has only three nominees, chosen from a list of seven finalists which are announced in a bake-off advance.

    While certain names such as Greg Cannom and Rick Baker show up here with frequency, the branch has, especially in recent years, been less averse to new talent. Creation of monsters and other fantastical characters, in addition to aging, tend to be the branch’s preferred accomplishments.

    The successful reboot of the “Star Trek” franchise might very well be leading the way here. Creating the numerous famous characters and, most notably, Eric Bana’s antagonist Romulan Nero, strikes me as the sort of work which this branch embraces.

    Whether a film like “Watchmen” would be seriously considered by the Academy in any category is a matter of great debate. But the makeup was absolutely fantastic and critical to the success of the film. Greg Cannom was on the crew, which has me inclined to consider it seriously here.

    We’re still waiting to see James Cameron’s eagerly anticipated “Avatar,” but one can’t help but wonder if the film’s CGI and performance capture technology will be doing much, if not all of the work normally reserved for makeup.  And the makeup artists on the crew have yet to be widely recognized by the Academy.  Regardless, one cannot deny the success Cameron’s films tend to have in the crafts categories.

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  • Twisted summer movie theories

    Alison Lohman in Drag Me to HellAlright, I had to let Hunter Stephenson’s rather suspect LGBT theory at /Film, vis a vis Kevin from Pixar’s “Up,” slide earlier in the week.  I’m not seeing it.  However, this Peter Sciretta item (which references an IMDb message board post) drawing parallels between Sam Raimi’s “Drag Me to Hell” and eating disorders is a fascinating one that deserves the space.

    Here’s a portion of the argument:

    [IMDb commenter] Micobiella thinks that Sam Raimi’s Drag Me To Hell isn’t actually a horror movie, but instead a story of a farm girl with an eating disorder, who starves herself to fit a certain image and begins hallucinating and going crazy. Apparently you can watch the entire movie from this viewpoint, with few exceptions, and it all makes sense…

    Allison Lohman’s character Christine Brown admits that her mother had an addiction, and at one point in the film we see an overweight photo of Christine as a child in front of a sign that read “SWINE QUEEN”. She doesn’t want to become addicted to food. She doesn’t want to be like her mother. At the beginning of the movie, she is listening to a tape trying to correct her southern accent. She doesn’t want to be a farm girl. She has a good boyfriend, and is trying to move her way up with a career at the bank.

    She never touches food, because she is afraid it will make her fat and disgusting. According to the theory, there really isn’t a scary demon from hell, she’s just imagining everything. Hunger is making her irritable, she imagines the old woman’s creepy hand tapping on the desk when it was really just the other banker. Early in the film she passes out in her car and drives into a bunch of other cars in the parking lot. The woman from the bank never followed her, she imagined everything…

    The food is a key factor in most of the hallucinations. Notice that when food is introduced on screen, Christine gets attacked by the spirit. Every time the spirit appears at her house, she is in the kitchen. When she locks the spirit outside of her room, see sees the spirit in the form of a shadow of Pig hooves.

    And so on and so forth. Intriguing.

  • SUNDAY CENTS: Dark clouds ‘Hangover’ Ferrell

    The Hangover(6/8 UPDATE: Variety is reporting this morning that, in a rare occurrence, “The Hangover” topped “Up” once actual numbers rolled in.  “Final figures will show that ‘Hangover’ grossed $45 million from 3,269 runs,” Pamela McClintock writes. “‘Up’ should finish at $44.3 million to $44.4 million from 3,818 theaters.)

    “Up” has now joined “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” and “Madea Goes to Jail” as the only 2009 releases to spend more than one week at the top of the box office. (EDITOR’S NOTE: Strike that.  See update above.) A slim drop of 35% led to a weekend gross of $44.2 million and kept Carl Fredrickson floating above the competition en route to what surely will be one of the highest grossing totals of the summer. With $137 million in the bank already, it is pacing ahead of the 10-day tallies of “WALL-E,” “Ratatouille” and “Cars.” Anybody willing to bet on “Toy Story 3” breaking Pixar’s hot streak next summer? Didn’t think so.

    Coming in a close second is “The Hangover.” Starring a bunch of nobodies (relatively speaking) and from a director five years removed from his last hit, there’s no reason this should have made $43.3 million this weekend. But it did and the only explanation is that audiences loved it. Test screenings started the word of mouth and it rolled all through the marketing campaign and what many of us saw coming as a possible sleeper hit of the summer has turned into something else entirely: a bona fide blockbuster. Even if it fails to double its debut (doubtful with word of mouth so good), it would still be a massive success for Warner Bros. No word yet on how much of the gross came from people so hungover that they forgot they already paid to see the movie the previous night as well.

    Third place went to “Land of the Lost,” an unmitigated disaster. $19.5 million is what Universal would have hoped for in one day when they greenlit this sucker with a budget north of $100 million. Will Ferrell and dinosaurs seem like a smart combo to me but the trailers and buzz for this one labeled it a stinker long ago and nobody could decipher whether it was for kids or young adults. Director Brad Silberling has now sunk two potential franchise starters in a row (with “Lemony Snicket” being the other) and has to be sweating his career right now. And Danny McBride deserves better.

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  • 6/1 Web Round-up

    Eminem with Sacha Baron Cohen's hind-quarters at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards• Did you miss Eminem’s close encounter with Sacha Baron Cohen’s bare ass?  Never fear. [The Guardian]

    • Pixar’s “Up” reminds of the lonely sport of cluster ballooning. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Was Universal going for scary or sexy with the “Drag Me to Hell” poster? [The Big Picture]

    • Eric Snider notes the failure of high peaks so far at the 2009 box office, but fails to note the money is just spread out more than usual. [Cinematical]

    • Peter Sciretta digs into “Up” and comes up with a slew of Pixar Easter eggs. [/Film]

    • 10 cool old man protagonists for the “Up” fan. [Spout Blog]

    • Jeffrey Wells: “Terminator Salvation” apologist. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • Brooks Barnes manifest a story about ‘The Princess and the Frog” out of thin, questionably resourced air. [New York Times]

    • After accusing the Edinburgh Film Festival to “caving in to anti-Israeli views,” director Gary Sinyor hands back his Charles Chaplin Award. [The Independent]

  • SUNDAY CENTS: Stocked ‘Up’

    UpIn the biggest non-shock of the year, Pixar has released a unanimously acclaimed new film and it has topped the box office. What is a little surprising is that “Up” managed to make $68.2 million despite a distinct lack of anthropomorphism. While Disney suits will have to continue to sweat over how they are going to make money out of Pixar on dolls and theme park rides, they certainly don’t have to worry about making money at the box office. This is their fifth biggest debut yet and puts “Up” in a very good position to out-gross both “WALL-E” and “Ratatouille” by the end of its run (but not “Cars” — go figure). That certainly won’t hurt it when the inevitable Best Picture discussion pops up at the end of the year.

    Sam Raimi returned to his horror roots and debuted in third place with $16.6 million. Obviously, that’s a disappointing figure in a world where “The Haunting in Connecticut” and “The Unborn” can each hit $20 million. It may seem like the world is one big “Evil Dead” fan but the truth is that it’s a rather small pocket and they alone can’t guarantee good business. The film got better reviews than normal for the genre but alarming declines from Friday to Saturday and Saturday to Sunday seem to have pegged this one as a quick burnout. Summer continues to be the worst place to open a horror film and Universal may have been better off waiting till October.

    Last week’s champ “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” took a hit from “Up” and dropped 54%. That’s not great for a family film but it should rebound in the next few weeks and slowly work towards $175 million or so. Fox can’t be too disappointed with that since they essentially remade the same film, adding the bare minimum in terms of new characters or settings. With a cast of comedy legends old and new, you shouldn’t have a trailer relying on laughs from Hank Azaria.

    “Terminator Salvation” fell a harder 62% and cemented its status as a misfire. It’ll take another half-week to hit $100 million and not much more can come after that. Continuing the franchise without James Cameron or Arnold Schwarzenegger seems to have eliminated most of the target audience and an unwatchable product has done the rest.

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  • WEEKLY WRAP: Closing Cannes and opening ‘Up’

    Isabelle Huppert presenting the Palme d'Or at Cannes• The Cannes Film Festival wrapped up, with Michael Haneke’s “The White Ribbon” taking the gold, and “Antichrist” nabbing honors too. (The Ecumenical Jury was less impressed.)

    • In the wake of the festival, we offered an updated survey of the Oscar landscape ahead.

    • With “Up” finally hitting our screens this week, we chatted to director Pete Docter.

    • And with ten features now under their belt, this week’s list ranked the best (and worst) of Pixar.

    • This week’s Page to Screen also returned to childhood, reflecting on the cinematic possibilities of “Where the Wild Things Are.”

    • The nostalgic vein continues with a revisiting of “Apocalypse Now,” thirty years on.

    • Newly released concept art provided a faint glimpse of what’s coming in James Cameron’s “Avatar.”

    • Speaking of Cameron, a look at what went wrong with “Terminator Salvation” at the box office.

    • On a happier note, “Drag Me to Hell” proved an absolute blast.

  • 5/28 Web Round-up

    Kate Winslet in Romance & Cigarettes• Kim Voynar goes deep on a male-dominated film world. [Movie City News]

    • Brooks Barnes on an anti-smoking Hollywood effort.  “Thank God we invented the…whatever device.” [The Carpetbagger]

    • Nine straight critical and financial successes.  How does Pixar do it? [CNN]

    • Gina McIntyre talks to horror helmer Sam Raimi. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Ditto Scott Bowles, with some “Spider-Man 4” talk. [USA Today]

    • Ronald Bergan: Why the second coming of 3D is overrated (thank you!). [The Guardian]

    • An open letter to J.J. Abrams concerning the “Star Trek” sequel. [Newsarama]

    • These guys are list machines lately: 10 movie houses you’d love to live in. [Premiere]

    • 10 TV stars who should be in more movies. [Cinematical]

  • SHORT TAKE: “Drag Me to Hell” (***)

    Drag Me to HellIt only occurred to me this week that I have yet to write about Sam Raimi’s “Drag Me to Hell,” which I saw weeks ago and never got around to reviewing in a timely fashion.  I’ve had the artwork for whatever piece I was to conjur sitting here on my desktop, waiting for me to, you know, write the friggin’ words, but for whatever reason, the inspiration hasn’t hit.

    Knowing me and my curmudgeonly self, you’d think that would be the result of the film not registering for me.  After all, I pretty much dislike everything Raimi has ever done, save for “Spider-Man 2” and “For Love of the Game.”  And yes, that includes the precious “Evil Dead” series that established his committed fan base over two decades ago.  It’s that very same following that will no doubt flock to “Drag Me to Hell,” and they’re going to love what they see.

    But no, my writer’s block has nothing at all to do with an aversion to the film.  On the contrary, I was thoroughly entertained by nearly every minute of “Drag Me to Hell.”  I think, perhaps, it has more to do with the idea of reviewing a film this fun being a real drag (pardon the pun).  Who wants to ruin it with the usual analysis?  But here I go…

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  • 5/25 Web Round-up

    (from left) Alison Lohman and Lorna Raver in Drag Me to Hell• Tom O’Neil chats up the actors of Broadways’ “God of Carnage.” [Gold Derby]

    • Noah Forrest gets wrapped up in the excitement of seeing “Drag Me to Hell” with an audience (a week or so after decrying the public movie-going experience). [Movie City News]

    • Indie filmmaker and noted script doctor John Sayles is trying to sell a work of historical fiction. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Vicki Reid talks “Last Chance Harvey” with Dustin Hoffman across the pond. [Daily Telegraph]

    • Anthony Breznican wraps up Cannes with a look at the convergence of light and dark subject matter. [USA Today]

    • Quentin Tarantino talks about potential trims to “Inglourious Basterds” with Anne Thompson. [The Daily Beast]

    • Tony Scott talks John Travolta’s villain and scripting a remake of “The Taking of Pelham 123.” [Empire]

    • On the road with the boys from “Spinal Tap.” [New York Times]

  • 5/25 Web Round-up (MEMORIAL DAY EDITION)

    Spider-Man vs. Morbius• Tom O’Neil asks the question of the week: Will Cannes winners repeat at the Oscars? [Gold Derby]

    • On the attraction to Amelia Earhart, featured in two films this year. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Charles McGrath talks to director Sam Raim, whose “Drag Me to Hell” is more fun than it has any right to be. [New York Times]

    • Arbitrary collective of the day: The top 15 movie boats of all time. [Premiere]

    • Nathaniel Rogers stumbles onto a short film series, “Lady Dior,” starring Marion Cotillard from “La Vie en Rose” director Olivier Dahan. [The Film Experience]

    • /Film gets a beautiful new layout. [/Film]

    • William Goss on the latest vampire movie/TV trend, which could extend to…Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 4?” [Cinematical]

  • SUNDAY CENTS: ‘Terminator’ frustration

    Night at the Museum: Battle of the SmithsonianHollywood tried something it rarely does this Memorial Day weekend: it opened two huge sequels at the same time. The last time anything remotely similar happened was the same holiday weekend in 2005 with “The Longest Yard” and “Madagascar.” They were really just fighting for second place, though, as the second weekend of “Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith” was a safe bet for number one.

    This year’s Memorial Day champ is Ben Stiller with “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.” The family comedy earned $53.5 million for the weekend and will have another solid day of business during the holiday tomorrow. That’s better than the $33.4 million debut of the original but that film opened during Christmas and had outstanding legs through early 2007. Its total gross of $266 million is completely out of the question for the sequel now.

    The debut is pretty much exactly the same as the second place debut of “Madagascar” from the aforementioned 2005 time frame and that film wasn’t even a sequel. With no other family films in the market, this has to be considered a little soft for Fox.

    Second place goes to “Terminator Salvation” with $43 million for the weekend and $56.4 million since opening on Thursday. Again, Warner Bros. has to see this as a little soft as after four days in 2003, “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” was already at $70.4 million. Terrible reviews, as well as competition from “Star Trek,” helped seal McG’s fate and I can’t see word of mouth getting this anywhere higher than $135 million. International grosses will decide whether his planned trilogy comes to fruition or not.

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  • Not feeling it

    My consistent disinterest in anything Sam Raimi has ever touched aside (“Spider-Man 2” and maybe “For Love of the Game” excepted), why do I hate every inch of this “Drag Me To Hell” trailer?  Is it the choice to force Allison Lohman into the role of a leading lady I can buy (which I can’t)?  Is it the the use of David Arnold’s “Kasuf Returns” from “Stargate” plopped over the last half of the trailer to over-amplify the urgency I should feel at the film’s goings on (which it doesn’t)?  Is it the eye-rolling nature of the horror genre for God knows how many years, something Raimi has come to exemplify, at least in my own mind?  Is it the Mac guy, distracting as always?

    Maybe it’s all of the above.  But chalk this up right next to “Inglourious Basterds” as one of a few films I most certainly wouldn’t call “anticipated” this year: