In Contention

Tag: The Princess and the Frog

  • OSCAR GUIDE: Best Music (Original Song)

    Nora Arnezeder in Paris 36Year after year, the original song category tends to prove that something is broken in the music branch of the Academy.  But to be fair, that’s a bit of a half-truth overall, as the original score field has begun to loosen up a bit and allow for newbie talent to get a foot in the door as of late.

    Still, when it comes to voting on the songs with a seemingly arbitrary system, not to mention a rash of rules that feel made up along the way (and overtly subjective at that), the branch certainly makes a given tune earn it with one hell of an uphill climb along the way.  That having been said, the category nailed down a decent slate of nominees this season.

    The nominees are:

    “Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Randy Newman)
    “Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Randy Newman)
    “Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36”     (Reinhardt Wagner; Frank Thomas)
    “Take It All” from “Nine” (Maury Yeston)
    “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” (T Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham)

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  • OSCAR GUIDE: Best Animated Feature Film

    The Secret of KellsThis year’s Best Animated Feature Film race featured five nominees for just the second time in the category’s existence.  It was the result of a robust slate of qualifying contenders that reached the magic number of 16, and yet there was still quality work left lying in the also-rans pile.

    There was a wide open fifth slot throughout most of the season as a generally agreed-upon four slowly coagulated.  Come nomination morning, the field therefore offered one of the many exciting surprises as a foreign independent project from a first-time filmmaker one-upped films both critically (“Ponyo”) and commercially (“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”) successful.

    The nominees are:

    “Coraline” (Henry Selick)
    “Fantastic Mr. Fox” (Wes Anderson)
    “The Princess and the Frog” (John Musker and Ron Clements)
    “The Secret of Kells” (Tomm Moore)
    “Up” (Pete Docter)

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  • ‘Up’ triumphs at Annie Awards

    UpLast year, the industry-voted Annie Awards appeared to have entered a peculiar grudge match with Pixar Studios, as eventual Oscar-winner “WALL-E” came away empty-handed, while “Kung Fu Panda” swept the board.

    Whether that curious outcome was the result of peer envy or professional preference, the Annies appear to be back on board with Pixar, as “Up” took Best Feature and Best Director honors at last night’s ceremony. (Ironic, given that in this banner year for animation, a deviation from the expected would have been arguably better-received than last year’s shocker.)

    Still, the Annie voters spread the wealth, with “Coraline” and “The Princess and the Frog” dominating the technical categories. Interestingly, “Coraline” composer Bruno Coulais beat out Oscar frontrunner Michael Giacchino — nice to see that undervalued score getting a moment in the sun.

    Finally, the many devotees of “Fantastic Mr. Fox” will be comforted that it took writing honors for Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach. Full list of feature winners after the cut.

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  • SUNDAY CENTS: ‘Darkness’ falls

    Edge of Darkness*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    The self-proclaimed King of the World wiped the floor with the self-proclaimed King of Malibu as “Avatar” spent a seventh consecutive week at the top of the box office. A cool $30 million represents a drop of only 14% from last week and again sits only behind “Titanic” as the biggest seventh weekend tally ever.

    The running total is now $594.5 million and it should pass the $600 million mark by Wednesday, joining “E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial,” “Titanic,” “Return of the Jedi,” “Jurassic Park” and “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” as the only films of the modern era to do so. The success of this film has become so monotonous that I can’t even muster any energy to be snarky about it anymore.

    Mel Gibson’s return to the silver screen proved to be no “Taken.” It proved to not even be a “Legion” as it debuted with a soft $17.1 million. That’s the lowest debut for a Gibson joint since the $17 million start for “Braveheart” in 1995 on 1,000 less screens. Blame it on fading star power, bad accents, generic advertising and a lack of 3D smurf-like things riding dragons.

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  • WEEKLY WRAP: BFCA awards, Guilds triple, Rohmer passes

    A still from Claire's Knee by Eric Rohmer• As you’ve just heard, “The Hurt Locker” emerged triumphant at the BFCA Critics’ Choice Awards.

    • Earlier this week, Éric Rohmer, sly giant of New Wave intellectualism, passed away at the age of 89.

    • That same day, “Avatar,” “The Hangover” and “Star Trek” were among the films nominated by the WGA.

    • The ASC slate continued the love for “Avatar,” but a semi-surprise nod for “The White Ribbon” got pundits’ attention.

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  • ‘Princess and the Frog’ score DQ’d

    The Princess and the FrogThe whole branch is reaching a level of farce that is unbelievable.  Reports Steve Pond:

    Although Randy Newman’s score to Disney’s animated film “The Princess and the Frog” was originally deemed to be eligible in the original score category at the Oscars, the Music Branch Executive Committee met on Monday and disqualified Newman’s music from consideration.

    The score, the committee determined, runs afoul of an AMPAS rule disallowing “scores diluted by the use of tracked themes or other preexisting music,
    diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs, or assembled from the music of more than one composer.”

    Sounds familiar.

  • Holiday film thoughts

    It struck me that I should probably offer up some space for you all to discuss the latest releases since it’s obviously been a slow-moving week, so if you want to speak up on “It’s Complicated,” “Sherlock Holmes,” “Up in the Air,” “The Princess and the Frog,” “Nine” or, God bless you, “The Squeakquel,” have at it here.  I’m on a jet plane back to the West coast tomorrow evening and things will be back to normal Monday.

  • SUNDAY CENTS: Pandora’s tops

    Avatar*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    Alright, let’s get down to brass tacks. “Avatar” is the number one movie of the weekend with a $73 million gross. This is an enormous figure, there’s no two ways about it. It’s the fourth-biggest December debut of all time. It’s the 26th-biggest debut of all time for a non-sequel. It’s the ninth-biggest debut of all time for a film with no previous source material or built-in fanbase.

    A record amount of money was spent on this production with only the reputation of James Cameron as a selling point and it may just pay off. A film like “I Am Legend” can debut in December with $80.6 million and with lukewarm reviews and word of mouth can make it all the way to a $264 million total. With the reception that “Avatar” has received and the inevitable batch of Oscar nominations, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t make $300 million domestically. It would need to match that overseas to even come close to profitability, but that should be no problem as the film already has $150 million in the bank overseas.

    It’s no secret that I thought the film looked stupid. I also would love nothing more than to never have to hear about 3D in movies again. But I also know that any time a film with an original screenplay from a distinct filmmaker can earn this type of money, it’s a good thing for the industry.

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  • WEEKLY WRAP: Precursor avalanche, best of 2009

    Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker• Kris wrapped up 2009 with his take on the year’s best films, also offering his own preferred nominees and winners in a range of categories. (I’ll chime in next week.)

    • “Up in the Air” led this year’s pack of Golden Globe nominees.

    • It also joined “Precious” and “Inglourious Basterds” at the head of the pack in the SAG nominations — while missing out in their top race.

    • “The Hurt Locker” emerged as this year’s critics’ favorite, earning top honors from a host of groups, including the two biggest: the NYFCC and the LAFCA.

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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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  • SUNDAY CENTS: A little ‘Princess’

    The Princess and the Frog*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    Disney tasted a bit of its old early-1990s magic with the number one finish of “The Princess and the Frog” this week. The hand-drawn toon grossed $25 million after two phenomenal weeks in New York and Los Angeles only. “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Aladdin” all had similar Holiday season launches and only “Aladdin” went wide with a bigger total.

    Of course, all three were on far fewer venues than the 3,434 of “The Princess and the Frog,” but this is still a very encouraging figure.  Family entertainment is solid gold during the two weeks around Christmas and a finish well over $100 million should be no problem. These aren’t Pixar numbers, but they at least match up to “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “The Fox and the Hound” and other second-tier Disney classics. Or is that third-tier?

    “The Blind Side” takes second place with another $15.5 million and cruises past the $150 million mark. Another $3 million and it will pass “Remember the Titans” for the title of highest grossing sports drama since “Rocky.” The $246 million it would need to pass “The Waterboy” for the title of highest grossing football movie may be out of reach, but let’s all pause for a second to digest the fact that “The Waterboy” made $245 million.

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  • WEEKLY WRAP: ‘Avatar’ awe, ‘Bones’ defense, original songs

    Avatar• A little movie called “Avatar” premiered. This week’s Oscar Talk tucked into the film.

    • As “The Lovely Bones” faces a frosty critical welcome, this week’s Off the Carpet column went to bat for the film.

    • We interviewed a quartet of young actors making strides this year: Abbie Cornish, Saoirse Ronan, Ben Foster and Bryce Dallas Howard.

    • In The Long Shot, we examined the animation race — and stood up for under-the-radar contender “Mary & Max.”

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  • Listen to Anika Noni Rose’s ‘Almost There’ from ‘The Princess and the Frog’

    Anika Noni RoseWednesday we featured Dr. John’s “Down in New Orleans” from Disney’s traditional animation entry “The Princess and the Frog,” which is expanding considerably this weekend.  Today we’re happy to offer up what could be the second-best play at a nomination for the film in this category, “Almost There.”

    Singing on the Randy Newman-penned track is Anika Noni Rose, who of course performs the voice of Tiana, the princess of the film’s title.  There isn’t much to be said about the song itself except that it’s a typical piece of break-out-into-song fluff that happens to come during a fairly key moment (and, therefore, has a leg up given the voting practice of viewing clip reels for the contenders).

    Newman has also said this and “Down in New Orleans” are the best songs from the film, though Ne-Yo’s “Never Knew I Needed” and Jim Cummings’s “Ma Belle Evangeline” (a really fun tune) are also getting some campaign focus.  But have a listen to “Almost There” below and tell us what you think.

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  • FRIDAY FORECAST: Freeman vs. frog

    The Princess and the Frog*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    We are only one week away from the day that movie-going is changed forever so why even bother seeing anything now? I can’t be hassled by anything in only TWO dimensions! I didn’t buy these designer 3D/sunglasses for nothing!

    Disney really emphasizes the 2D this weekend with the wide launch of “The Princess and the Frog,” the studio’s first non-computer animated title since “Home on the Range” in 2004. That modest film grossed $57.8 million, despite ingeniously casting Roseanne as a cow, but the damage had already been done by “Treasure Planet” two years before.

    Intended to be Disney’s huge Thanksgiving family film, that flick grossed a terrible $46.9 million and effectively closed down the production house. Ironically enough, it’s John Lasseter who is spearheading the renaissance and the grosses here will go a long way towards deciding the future of the medium.

    Two weeks of exclusive engagements in New York and Los Angeles have been a gold mine and “A Christmas Carol” and “Planet 51” will not be offering much competition. “The Blind Side” might be the only obstacle in the way of a really large opening but I think this should be the number one film easy and earn $32 million or so. I know I’ll be there.

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Original Song

    Jeff Bridges in Crazy HeartOver the last five months, Gerard has diligently canvassed and re-canvassed the various crafts categories here at In Contention.  The one category we have held back on all this time, as contenders have slowly fallen into place, was Best Original Song.  Today, it’s time to dig into the field.

    This has turned into something of a banner year for original songs in feature films.  We’ve had the great pleasure of bringing a number of hopefuls to you via our “listen to” posts, and look forward to continuing that into the new year.  But inevitably, frontrunners are bound to show up, and I think we can successfully narrow the field now.

    Before diving in, it’s worth reiterating the voting process in this category.  I’ll simply let the Academy’s rule book speak for itself:

    “An original song consists of words and music, both of which are original and written specifically for the motion picture. There must be a clearly audible, intelligible, substantive rendition (not necessarily visually presented) of both lyric and melody, used in the body of the motion picture or as the first music cue in the end credits.

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  • Listen to Dr. John’s ‘Down in New Orleans’ from ‘The Princess and the Frog’

    Dr. JohnIf you take a gander at the Contenders section you’ll note that, by far, the film with the most stabs at this year’s Best Original Song category is Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog.” But interestingly enough (and perhaps a smart move), it seems only four of the tracks are receiving a substantial campaign.  We’re happy to feature one of them today.

    “Down in New Orleans” was written by Randy Newman (along with the rest of the songs and score from the film).  It was performed by blues legend Dr. John and serves as something of a theme track for the film.  It kicks off the festivities early on and has a reprise later int eh film, just before Ne-Yo’s “Never Knew I Needed” wraps things up.

    In my opinion, this and “Almost There” (which we will feature Friday) are the film’s best shots at nominations, based on how they are used in the film.  But at the end of the day, I think we can probably count on seeing a pair of tracks from this traditional animation entry make their way into the line-up.

    Have a listen below and tell us what you think.

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  • LA Times shines light on notable 2009 composers

    Fantastic Mr. FoxLA Times music critic Todd Martens has posted a useful series of short interviews with the men behind some of the year’s most distinctive film scores. Indeed, it’s group of five names that isn’t too hard to imagine mirroring the year’s eventual Oscar slate: Alexandre Desplat for “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” Michael Giacchino for “Up,” Randy Newman for “The Princess and the Frog,” Marvin Hamlisch for “The Informant!” and Elliot Goldenthal for “Public Enemies.”

    There are nice quotes and musical snippets peppered throughout all the profiles, but I was particularly drawn to read Desplat’s take on his “Fox” score, given how curiously — yet happily — the jangly Americana and English folk notes in the work sit with his more Euro-flavored oeuvre:

    “I just felt that if we found a sound that would belong to these little puppets, it would make them come alive,” Desplat said. “I suggested to Wes that we do a sort of puppet orchestra. I wanted to make everything sound like they were play- ing. I wanted little things — the mandolin, the banjo, the whistle, the recorder and all these little families of instruments. They weren’t toys but kind of toy-ish instruments.”

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  • ‘Princess’ tops TIME’s Top 10 of 2009

    The Princess and the FrogI took Richard Corliss to task yesterday for his uninspired list of the year’s Top 10 performances. Fortunately, there’s a little more individual thinking (and international flavor) to be found in his TIME list of the year’s ten best films — say what you like, but “The Princess and the Frog” is an original pick for the year’s best.

    Corliss makes an emphatic point by filling his top three with animated titles, while I must commend him for shining a light on “Of Time and the City,” Terence Davies’ exquisite personal valentine to Liverpool that was my own favorite documentary of 2008.

    (On an unrelated note, Miranda Lambert crops up in the magazine’s lists for both album and single of the year. So I guess we’re cool, TIME.) Corliss’s Top 10 below the cut.

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