In Contention

Tag: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

  • 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: ‘Transformers’ way out in front

    Yes, “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” inevitably took the top spot this holiday weekend, but there is cause for serious sadness. “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” crossed the billion dollar mark worldwide. I weep. But “Midnight in Paris” is just a few mil away from being Woody Allen’s highest grossing film ever, so there’s that.

    (Courtesy: Exhibitor Relations)

  • Tell us what you thought of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’

    I’ve already warned you to stay away. Guy spared himself in Cannes. But plenty of you will nevertheless take in “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” (I’m so sick of these gigantic titles) this weekend. So, if you can stomach thinking about it afterward, please come back and let us know what you thought. Need a prompt? I’ll kick off the discussion. How about that awful 3D (as indicated in the above still), eh?

  • OSCAR TALK: Ep. 56 — Special Edition! — Cannes so far, ‘Tree of Life,’ Von Trier, taking the 2011 awards pulse

    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.

    It has been nearly three months since we last got on the horn to talk the film wards landscape. We promised another dip during Cannes, so here we are. Today Anne and I are joined by Guy Lodge as the two of them have been working the Croisette all week. Let’s see what’s on the docket today…

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  • On painful ‘Tides’

    Guy was balancing two options in Cannes this morning: Take in the press screening of Rob Marshall’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” or catch up on some much-needed rest. Given that I had already suffered the experience, I suggested he spare himself the 130-odd minutes of anguish and, I don’t know, lie in a park and eat a baguette or something.

    Truly, this film is the embarrassing, excruciating fourth installment of a franchise that bottomed out somewhere in the middle of the second. I wanted it to end the minute it started, and knowing there were over two hours to come, it was a trying, trying experience. The only thing that kept my attention was the placement of Penélope Cruz’s crucifix necklace.

    But no one is pretending this is anything beyond a paycheck for talent and a conservative money-grabbing maneuver on the studio’s part. I guess you can’t blame them. Opening weekend will be huge. Nevertheless, I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to stand in the streets and scream, beg for consumers not to spend their money on a film so badly. Hopefully the final receipts will fall short of the marks reached by the other entries.

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  • 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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  • 2/11 Oscarweb Round-up

    Penelope Cruz• John Lopez digs into the preferential voting system in intense depth.  Maybe nothing you haven’t already read.  And I’m kind of over it. [Little Gold Men]

    • Charlie Wilson — yes, that one — has left us to our own wars. [Variety]

    • Penelope Cruz says “thanks, no thanks” to Lars Von Trier, opts for “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.”  That’s how you follow up two Oscar nods in a row, I tell ya. [Hollywood Reporter]

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  • 11/17 Oscarweb Round-up

    Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean• “Avatar” to hold its world premiere in Leicester Square, London, December 10. [Deadline Hollywood Daily]

    • Nathaniel Rogers isn’t phased by his signed non-disclosure agreement, breathlessly (but briefly) enthuses about “Nine.” [The Film Experience]

    • Johnny Depp becomes Hollywood’s highest paid actor with a £21 million ($42 million) salary for “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.” [Daily Telegraph]

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  • ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’

    Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

    That’s the official title of the fourth “Pirates” film, releasing the summer of 2011, according to word emanating from D23 in Anaheim.  Thoughts?