In Contention

Tag: Terminator Salvation

  • Visual effects bake-off leaves seven

    AvatarAnd they are, via AMPAS press release:

    “Avatar”
    “District 9”
    “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
    “Star Trek”
    “Terminator Salvation”
    “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”
    “2012”

    And the three I still expect to get in are in the mix, so, whew.  I think we all know what will eventually win here, but if there’s a surprise nomination waiting to happen, I’d say it’s “2012.”

    “On Thursday, January 21, all members of the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 15-minute excerpts from each of the seven shortlisted films,” the release reads.  “Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate three films for final Oscar consideration.”

    What are your visual effects predictions?

  • Hollywood focused on the end of the world as we know it

    Denzel Washington in The Book of EliI’ve been meaning to write this piece for a while now, but I never got around to it.  Paul Harris at The Guardian beat me to the punch, so I’ll run his thoughts instead.

    The recent wave of post-apocalyptic films flooding and being prepared for the marketplace is intriguing indeed.  Fads always pop up in Hollywood output, whether it’s the one-two punch of “Volcano” and “Dante’s Peak” in 1997, “Armageddon” and “Deep Impact” a year later, “The Truman Show” and “EdTV,” etc., studios know when something is hot and when to strike.  But it’s usually two or three projects and then on to the next thing.

    But this year and next, we have Alex Proyas’s “Knowing,” the Cormac McCarthy adaptation “The Road,” Roland Emmerich’s “2012,” Shane Acker’s “9,” Ruben Fleischer’s “Zombieland,” The Hughes brothers’ “The Book of Eli,” television’s “The Colony” and a new “Terminator” installment, all productions either depicting a post-apocalyptic environment or the end of days in some manner or another.  It all perhaps started with the Will Smith vehicle “I Am Legend” in 2007.  The trend even extends to animated films, as our commenters shrewdly note “WALL-E” as an example.

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Visual Effects — Volume I

    Avatar“How did they do that?”  Movie-goers often ask this in response to spectacular visual effects, one of few elements of a film, apart from acting, directing or story, that a studio might choose to sell a film directly on.

    Not surprisingly, the Academy’s award for Best Visual Effects is definitely the most mainstream-friendly of all of all.  $100 million grosses and higher are the norm.

    This branch also has a somewhat unusual process for choosing the nominees.  A shortlist of seven films will be announced in December or January and members of the branch will screen effects presentation reels of the films from that collective to nominate three contenders announced alongside the rest of the Oscar nominees.

    Probably leading the field this year, sight unseen, is James Cameron’s “Avatar.”  Cameron’s last five films have all been nominated in this category…with four of them winning!  Moreover, “Avatar” seems certain to be, like most Cameron efforts, a showcase for the visual effects.  Of course, the film could also be an unmitigated disaster, but barring that I would be quite surprised if it did not find itself among the nominees.

    On the other hand, we have already seen several films likely to end up in the running.   Michael Bay’s “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” was absolutely wretched in this viewer’s opinion.  But considering its massive box office take, not to mention the nature of the effects and the success of Bay’s films in this category in the past, I feel a nomination is quite likely.

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  • The trouble with sci-fi

    Christian Bale in Terminator SalvationIt’s never too late to give another stiff kick to the ribs of “Terminator Salvation,” it seems.  The film just opened in the UK last week, opening the doors for this David Cox blog entry on the Guardian website.  It’s a thorough, well-conceived, smart piece about the fact that Hollywood seems to be making a mess of science-fiction these days, choosing nostalgia over novelty and sadly missing the boat on some of the most captivating ideas that lie right in front of our faces.

    Of course, this is why we should all rally around a guy like Duncan Jones who is clearly interested in those ideas and could push the genre, finally, into its brave new world.  But until creative people make the calls rather than fiscally conscious business conservatives, it’ll just be more of the same.  I’m elated that “Star Trek,” a film that at least touches on some more intriguing possibilities if by way of plot device alone, is the highest grossing film of the year.  Maybe that can help signal a change and guys like Jones can get their work out there more and more.  Ditto James Cameron’s “Avatar” when it finally makes its way to theaters.

    Here’s Cox’s argument, in a nutshell:

    A quarter of a century ago, when The Terminator hit the screen, things were a bit different. Then, advances in computing were a disquieting novelty to many. Hal’s terrifying takeover of the Discovery still haunted cinemagoers’ imaginations from 2001: A Space Odyssey. It was a time for murderous cyborgs. Now, however, we take artificial intelligence for granted. It’s become humdrum rather than chilling.

    Future global conflict was an all too real prospect in the era of the cold war. Post-apocalyptic, Mad Max worlds, like the one in which Terminator Salvation is set, were far from fantastical for a generation living in genuine terror of imminent nuclear holocaust. Today, our fears lie elsewhere…Our own age ought to provide it with plenty of raw material for the performance of these functions. Cosmology, sub-atomic physics and the life sciences are transforming our understanding of reality, while the way human life should be organised has come once more into question.

    Yet, Hollywood continues to offer us sci-fi spectaculars that, like Terminator Salvation, seem strangely out of time. Star Wars: The Clone Wars was perhaps the most egregious example of an attempt to suck box-office dollars from the decaying corpse of a cold war masterpiece. Our decade’s superhero sagas carry a whiff of nostalgia for the age of the comic book. Star Trek was a reminder that space was once the final frontier. We’ve learned since then that the frontiers that matter are closer to home.

    Read the rest over at The Guardian.  Also, I have to say, I don’t think there is another traditional media outlet that has utilized new media, specifically blogs, as completely and smartly as The Guardian.  The posts are consistently interesting, never derivative and always reflective of the best op-ed journalism or commentary.

  • 6/3 Web Round-up

    Steve• Steve Martin: banjo enthusiast. [CNN]

    • The complete “Terminator” timeline. [Empire]

    • Speaking of which, Ben Child spends some time with the best part of “Terminator Salvation,” actor Anton Yelchin. [The Guardian]

    • Nancy Utley and Stephen Gilula ascend at Searchlight. [indieWIRE]

    • Brooks Barnes on the swath of upstarts leaping into the CGI animation fray. [New York Times]

    • Revisiting the summer of 1997. [Cinematical]

    • Nathaniel Rogers does some Oscar predix clean-up, joins the “Precious” train. [The Film Experience]

    • John Horn previews this weekend’s Produced By Conference with a producers roundtable. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Top 10 hockey moments in non-hockey movies.  Yeah. [Premiere]

    • Alonso Duralde on the many faces of Vegas on celluloid. [MSNBC]

    • Patrick Goldstein wants to know why Israel’s biggest box office success of 2008 has yet to secure U.S. distribution. [The Big Picture]

  • 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.

  • What are the best post-apocalyptic films ever?

    Denzel Washington in The Book of EliIn our daily web round-up posts there tends to be one or two lists in the mix.  I’m increasingly stunned at Premiere’s capacity for cooking these things up.  It’s almost as if that once-sterling film journalism outlet has become nothing but a list generating machine.

    Of course, the reason for lists — you’ll hear it from any hit-conscious editor — is traffic.  Readers love them.  And if they have a space to debate said list, perhaps even offer up their own, then the hits keep coming.  I literally had a list mandate of sorts when I was working at The Times of London last summer, which is where the obsession over collectives first started to kind of freak me out.  At least I managed to work movies into one of them, and hey, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.

    Anyway, this is a long-winded lead-in to a recent post by one of our regulars, Chuck of Entertainment Today and Beyond, picking the Top 10 Post-Apocalyptic Films.  With “Terminator Salvation” already in theaters and “The Book of Eli” (which got a first look feature in USA Today Tuesday) and “The Road” still to come, it seems a rather en vogue topic, I guess.

    Here’s Chuck’s list:

    1. “Dawn of the Dead” (George A. Romero, 1978)
    2. “Planet of the Apes” (Franklin J. Shaffner, 1968)
    3. “The Stand” (Mick Garris, 1993)
    4. “The Day After” (Nicholas Meyer, 1985)
    5. “The Omega Man” (Boris Sagal, 1971)
    6. “The Road Warrior” (George Miller, 1981)
    7. “Day of the Dead” (George A. Romero, 1985)
    8. “The Day of the Triffids” (Steve Sekley, 1962)
    9. “Testament” (Lynne Littman)
    10. “Miracle Mile” (Steve De Jarnatt, 1988)

    Your thoughts?

  • 5/27 Web Round-up

    Anvil! The Story of Anvil• Todd Leopold talks to the guys behind “Anvil!: The Story of Anvil.” [CNN]

    • The complete list of tired movie cliches. [Empire]

    • Mark Harris profiles Woody Allen and Larry David. [New York Magazine]

    • Ethan Coen takes to the stage with “Offices,” a cycle of three short plays in the Big Apple. [The Guardian]

    • Anne Thompson sums up the Cannes winners and losers, including her own list of the fest’s best films. [Thompson on Hollywood]

    • Kyle Smith slams Sam Mendes’s “Away We Go” as likely appealing to the “German-army-surplus-jacket-wearing slacker demographic.” Ouch. [Lumenick on Film]

    • The 60 greatest American war films. [Premiere]

    • Is “man vs. machine” no longer a terrifying concept? [/Film]

    • Nikki Finke points out the breaking of the 43rd seal: Shawn Levy has now directed six-straight #1 or #2 opening weekend box office champs. [Deadline Hollywood Daily]

    • Top seven pre-“Jaws” summer movies. [Cinematical]

    • McG discusses the alternate “Termiantor Salvation” ending that would have apparently made for amuch better film. [Entertainment Weekly]

  • 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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  • WEEKLY WRAP: ‘Antichrist’ and action

    Willem Dafoe in Antichrist• Scandalising media and polarising critics, Lars Von Trier’s “Antichrist” emerged as the undisputed talking-point of the Cannes Film Festival.

    • That firestorm even managed to overshadow the Cannes debut of Quentin Tarantino’s divisive “Inglourious Basterds.”

    • In other news from the Croisette, “A Prophet” impressed critics, while “Taking Woodstock” took a hit.

    • We celebrated the start of summer (and provoked some argument) with a list of the all-time Top 10 action sequences.

    • Unfortunately, our review deems “Terminator Salvation” unlikely to earn a place on any such future lists.

    • In the wake of that disappointment, “Up” happily lived up to expectations.

    • In box office news, “Angels and Demons” turned out to be a pale shadow of its predecessor.

    • This week’s edition of Page to Screen reviewed the literary source for Jason Reitman’s upcoming comedy “Up in the Air.”

    • John delved further through his personal cinematic treasure trove, returning to the 1990s, and reappraising last year’s “Revolutionary Road.”

  • Tell us what you thought of ‘Terminator Salvation’

    (from left) Christian Bale and Sam Worthington in Terminator Salvation

    The film dropped yesterday so I figure it’s a good time to go ahead and get this post up.  I’ve certainly made my thoughts known on McG’s new installment in a beloved sci-fi franchise, but I’m really interested to hear what the crowd has to say.  Cut loose in the comments section below.

  • 5/21 Web Round-up

    Sasha Grey• AFI launches its own YouTube channel. [YouTube]

    • Robin Sanders reports on the Stephen Frears event from Cannes. [indieWIRE]

    • The wars continue: Patrick Goldstein lays into Peter Bart (and Variety) once again for being soft on the industry. [The Big Picture]

    • Lionsgate launches an impressive new website for festival Sensation “Precious.” [WeAreAllPrecious.com]

    • Chris Lee talks to “The Girlfriend Experience” star Sasha Grey. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Kim Voynar, meanwhile, dissects Grey’s character and wonders whether the film objectifies women. [Movie City News]

    • The publicity floodgates open for “Terminator Salvation,” starting with Irina Aleksander’s interview with the film’s rookie producers. [New York Daily News]

    • Todd Gilchrist, meanwhile, corners director McG. [Cinematical]

    • And finally, headline of the day, from John Anderson’s review of the film: “Hasta La Levity, Baby.” [Washington Post]

    • Aha, headline of the day #2: “Tarantino ‘Basterd’-izes Cannes. Such sweet truth. [USA Today]

  • SHORT TAKE: “Terminator Salvation” (*1/2)

    Terminator SalvationI knew five minutes into McG’s cumbersome, misguided, lifeless “Terminator Salvation” that I would be writing a short take rather than a full review.  The film sucks inspiration out of the viewer in a staggering fashion.  It disavows intriguing ideas explored in the franchise to date and renders a potentially exciting re-launch of the material impotent and meaningless.  It is frankly difficult to give the film a whole lot of thought.

    This glossy new installment is splintered with the shrapnel of smart and at times visionary ideas, both narratively and visually.  But it has no idea which way is up.  It is a video game, not a piece of cinema.  It is the accomplishment of a filmmaker smitten with the work of people far more talented and far more dedicated to realizing something that endures, rather than something that capitalizes on pre-existing framework.  And it is a nightmare to anyone who cherished James Cameron’s now 25-year-old creation.

    And that might be a key statement.  Not everyone holds that creation dear.  And for them, a compelling film might be in store.  But I wanted more.  I certainly wiped my brow with relief in the summer of 2003 when Jonathan Mostow’s largely misunderstood “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” managed to bridge two philosophies under the same umbrella, but I knew something bigger and more thematically powerful was needed to recharge the dimming light on the “Terminator” series.  Something with a particular blend of creative ingenuity and allegiance was necessary.  “Terminator Salvation” substitutes confused storytelling for the former and eye-rolling winks and nudges for the latter.

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  • The Film Experience’s ‘Terminator’ retrospective

    Arnold Schwarzenegger in The TerminatorBefore I tear into McG’s “Terminator Salvation” in T-minus 10 minutes, I thought I’d offer one last sliver of positivity for those who, like me, love this franchise.  The always intrepid Nathaniel Rogers over at The Film Experience has been writing up a retrospective on the three entries in the series to date, with extended looks at the first and second films already up.  He’ll be getting to “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” in due time, though I don’t know if he’ll be including “The Sarah Connor Chronicles’ or not.

    Here’s his intro on 1984’s “The Terminator”:

    In March of 1984 when The Terminator began filming, the director James Cameron and the producer Gale Ann Hurd were no Hollywood heavyweights. Cameron was no one’s idea of a visionary (except for perhaps his own) and had only one feature under his belt, Piranha 2: The Spawning — auspicious beginnings! Hurd had learned the production ropes on B movies for Roger Corman. Cameron and Hurd intended for the dark, fast and cheaply made robot movie to be their calling card. Seven months later in October the movie premiered with only its deceptively simple premise (killer machine hunts woman) and Conan the Barbarian (Arnold Schwarzenegger) to sell it. The Terminator was an immediate hit, though not quite a blockbuster. It earned a Conan-like $38 million gross in its initial run (which I believe is something roughly in the ballpark of $90 million in 2009 ticket sales).

    As a franchise it was a slow starter but as a stand alone movie The Terminator was anything but.

    And on the 1991 follow-up:

    The Terminator cost 6 million to make, Terminator 2: Judgment Day would cost 100 million plus. The budget wasn’t the only thing exploding: salaries, visual effects, setpieces, ambition, and public reaction were all supersized. Yet for all of this exponential external growth, Cameron smartly kept his focus tight and intimate.

    Sarah Connor’s opening narration and the imagery of post-apocalyptic LA it plays over, both review the first movie and download Cameron’s game plan for the sequel…

    In other words, it’s more of the same… only bigger (we notice immediately by way of shinier effects and massive fireball explosions). This repeat template is familiar but it won’t be comfortable. We’re also going deeper. The story structure is varied only enough to reflect the passage of time. But what has that passage of time wrought?

    Check out each of the in-depth pieces over at The Film Experience.

  • 5/20 Web Round-up

    (from left) James Cameron and Sam Worthington on the set of Avatar• Peter Sciretta asks for your most hated uses of CGI in movie history. [/Film]

    • Charlie Kaufman talks “Synecdoche, New York,” his “mutant horro film,” across the pond. [Daily Telegraph]

    • IMAX plans to cozy up next to James Cameron’s “Avatar” for an extended run. [The Carpetbagger]

    • Donna Freydkin chats up “Terminator Salvation” star Christian Bale. [USA Today]

    • Matt Bradshaw remembers the movie summer of 1980. [Cinematical]

    • Christopher Campbell puts together a casting call for Steven Spielberg’s recently announce Martin Luther King biopic. [Spout Blog]

    • Richard Corliss picks the top 10 Cannes films ever. [Time]

  • SUNDAY CENTS: Holy hit

    Angels & DemonsGod is so 2006. “Angels & Demons” was the number one movie at the box office this weekend but the $48 million it raked in is barely more than half of the $84.5 million registered by “The Da Vinci Code” in its opening frame. What happened? Three things.

    First, the free publicity generated by the media and the “controversy” surrounding the first film’s opening was nowhere to be found this time. Second, the source material was much less popular. And third, the first film was generally considered pretty dull by critics and audiences. Add all that up and you have a lackluster debut when compared to the original, but on its own terms, you gotta be pretty happy with close to $50 million for an adult-leaning summer thriller. Especially when the film racked up $100 million in overseas territories this weekend as well.

    “Star Trek” showed “Wolverine” and Mr. Hanks what happens when audiences love your product by dropping a solid 43% for a $43 million weekend. It even out-grossed “Angels & Demons” on Saturday and Sunday, so expect the weekday grosses to be neck and neck.  It will pass “Wolverine”’s gross on Monday or Tuesday. J.J. Abrams clearly got it right with moviegoers and this one could see as much as $250 million before it’s done. Don’t think that doesn’t affect the Oscars because it does, and nominations in the sound and visual effects categories, and perhaps other technical fields, are a safer bet than they were a few weeks ago.

    Since “Wolverine” is pretty much already a box office non-factor, there’s not much else to report in the top 10, except that “Monsters vs. Aliens” dropped only 8% due to the fact that families have no other options out there. Expect that to bode well for “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian,” as parents clearly want something to take their kids to and Ben Stiller is ready to deliver.

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