In Contention

Tag: Super 8

  • OFF THE CARPET: Strong year for double-dippers

    We find ourselves right in the middle of the big Toronto press junket, er, film festival, where 200-plus films are landing, many of them as world premieres, and the landscape of this year’s Oscar race is really beginning to take shape.

    As I looked out at the various films in play this year, it suddenly occurred to me that, perhaps more than ever, there are a lot of double-dipping actors and actresses in the hunt. Not all of these performances are or will be awards bait necessarily, but there could still be cases for more than a few saddling up to dual nominations this year.

    At the top of that list would have to be Brad Pitt. After already giving what many believed to be his best performance to date in Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life,” the paparazzi-hounded star found himself the recipient of a lot of great ink for his work in “Moneyball” when it screened in Toronto at the end of the week. Wisely, Fox Searchlight will be planning a supporting actor push for the actor in Malick’s film, which is both practical (given his clear lead in the other film), and organic (given that, at least in my opinion, he is supporting to Hunter McCracken’s lead in “The Tree of Life”).

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  • OFF THE CARPET: Closing the book on summer 2011

    The summer movie season has come to an end, and what an interesting season it was.

    We saw three billion-dollar grossers for the first time ever in one year, let alone one three-month spread (thank you, 3D). We saw a bit of a glass ceiling for comic book movies, proving nothing is a sure thing in that game. We saw indie darlings with more stamina than the big dogs and we saw R-rated comedies find impressive footholds.

    But what does it mean in the spectrum of a film awards race, seeing as we have one knocking on our door in a bit more than a week’s time? Let’s consider.

    First and foremost, as reported here last year (and confirmed by Variety a few weeks ago), Warner Bros. Pictures is all set for a balls-to-the-wall Best Picture push for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.” With 10 digits in the bank and counting, and with a breathtaking critical pass, now is the time, and it’s a smart tactic. DVDs will be out right in the thick of the season, adding fuel to the fire. And it’ll be a nice counter to the other in-houses pushes, dramas like “Contagion,” “J. Edgar.,” and “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.” (The studio could also go screenplay hunting for Dan Fogelman and “Crazy, Stupid, Love” if it wants.)

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  • BOX OFFICE: ‘Horrible,’ ‘Zookeeper’ can’t stop ‘Transformers’

    Not much to say. “Super 8” had another good drop, while Woody Allen fell out of the top 10, but continues to chase himself (he’ll be on the heels of “Hannah and Her Sisters” next week). And finally something takes “The Hangover: Part II” off the top of the domestic chart this year.

    (Courtesy: Exhibitor Relations)

  • OSCAR TALK: Ep. 57 — SPECIAL EDITION! — Oscar’s rule change, prospects at the mid-way point, Spielberg hitting the zeitgeist, lead actress race already looking contentious

    Oscar TalkWelcome to Oscar Talk.

    In case you’re new to the site and/or the podcast, Oscar Talk is a weekly kudocast, your one-stop awards chat shop between yours truly and Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood. The podcast is weekly, every Friday throughout the season, charting the ups and downs of contenders along the way. Plenty of things change en route to Oscar’s stage and we’re here to address it all as it unfolds.

    A month and a half since the last off-season podcast, we take the temperature one more time this summer, right at the year’s mid-way point. There have been some Academy rule changes and some news and notes in the interim, so let’s see what’s on the docket today…

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  • BOX OFFICE: ‘Lantern’ lights the way

    I imagine $52 million for the “Green Lantern” start is lower than WB was hoping for out of a potential franchise-starter but solid enough given the critical thrashing (and seems about right for the film). I totally forgot “Mr. Popper’s Penguins” was coming out this weekend, and so did most others, it seems. “Midnight in Paris” expanded wider than any Woody Allen film to date and keeps chugging, while “Super 8” had a pretty good hold.

    (Courtesy: Exhibitor Relations)

  • BOX OFFICE: ‘Super’ start

    It’s left to be seen whether “Super 8” has the legs a number of people certainly HOPE it has (and we’ll just take the studio’s word on that $50 million price tag). But this is a better start than most were expecting, and a big win for the film overall.

    (Courtesy: Exhibitor Relations)

  • Tell us what you thought of ‘Super 8’

    Paramount is rolling out J.J. Abrams’s “Super 8” 24 hours ahead of schedule today with an IMAX-heavy release in over 300 theaters. That’s the #Super8Secret, and it reads to me as a desperate, though perhaps smart attempt to get some high-dollar ticket sales in the bank for a low-tracking film in advance of the weekend. Whether some like it or not, I have my own feelings on this one. But so will you. Since it’s making its way to the public today, we might as well jump the gun on this post, too. So cut loose with your thoughts below when you get around to the film this weekend.

  • Super h8ed it

    Where to begin on “Super 8?” It’s so clearly the kind of film directors tend to make, unmolested, after a major hit, the kind where someone really needed to be pulling the strings and smoothing the edges and seeing the forest through the trees. “But I’m J.J. f***ing Abrams.” (I’m sure he’s a splendid chap.)

    It’s a nostalgia wank, but you already knew that. I find myself wondering if the pitch meeting was little more than Abrams promising Steven Spielberg that the famed director’s oeuvre would be all but gilded and bronzed right there on the screen. But that can be forgiven…if there’s a story.

    And there’s not. Well, there’s not a complete story. There’s a lot of mayhem that feels injected into a coming-of-age yarn that itself needed some tinkering, and then there’s a climax that is meant to bring it all together, but ultimately whiffs worse than Begbie’s scratch in “Trainspotting.”

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  • ‘X’ marks the top spot

    (I figure it’s time to start bringing these back in on Sundays.)

    I would have said it’ll be interesting to see if Paramount’s strategy of screening “Super 8” to the geek base and using favorable reviews to drive tracking will be enough to grab a top spot next week, but with a $56 million opening, it seems safer to expect “X-Men: First Class” to enjoy just one week at #1. You might make the argument that with no stars and no franchise staples to market, that number is a win. But it’s surely lower than Fox wanted. Still, word-of-mouth could be good enough to keep the drop manageable and keep the race for #1 interesting.

    (Courtesy: Exhibitor Relations)

  • The Super Bowl spots

    7. “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”
    Outrageous.  Make it stop.

    6. “Cowboys & Aliens”
    Though cluttered, expands on what we’ve seen.

    5. “Captain America: The First Avenger”
    Not a bad trailer but something lingering still has me on guard.

    4. “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
    A true teaser, promising escalation but more contained.

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