In Contention

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  • The long haul

    Daniel Radcliffe in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood PrinceScreenDaily editor Mike Goodridge raises a topic that has provoked more than a few grumbles this season: the inordinate length of some of Hollywood’s biggest summer releases.

    I’m not someone who automatically whines whenever a film pushes the 150-minute mark. Some films warrant that heft, and it’s not always directly related to the scale of the plot — more ambient pieces can need time and space to breathe and explore their environments. Many felt that “Public Enemies” hadn’t enough narrative to fill 140 minutes, which I can understand — though for me, the languidness felt right for a film that was principally an exercise in mood and texture.

    I don’t entirely subscribe to Roger Ebert’s overly reductive stance that “no good film is too long, and no bad film is short enough” — there is plenty of “good” work that could enter “great” territory via some judicious pruning, after all — but the bottom line is that if I’m engaged by a film, I’m not checking my watch. (In any case, as a screenwriter, overlength is a factor I’m sympathetic to: I know the pain of cutting beloved scenes.)

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  • Shutter Fear

    Anthony B. mentioned the similarities between the “Cape Fear’ and “Shutter Island” posters last week, so I thought I’d toss this up now that Comic-Con craziness has subsided.  Intriguing parallels:

    (from left) Posters for Shutter Island and Cape Fear

  • Kevin Smith talks ‘Twilight’ at Comic-Con

    One of my favorite parts of Kevin Smith’s Saturday Comic-Con appearance was his take on the “Twilight” series, video of which Dennis over at Think Hero has dug up and passed along.  Great stuff (originally at ScreenCrave.com):

  • Hackford takes over as DGA president

    Taylor Hackford Congratulations to Taylor Hackford, who was elected this weekend as president of the Directors Guild of America. He takes over from Michael Apted, who has held the position since 2003. Hackford ran unopposed after being nominated by Steven Soderbergh — who in turn retains his vice-president position. Here’s Hackford’s statement, via Variety:

    This Guild has worked for nearly three quarters of a century to advance the economic and creative rights of its members, always addressing new challenges with a firm and steady hand … I’m extraordinarily proud of what the DGA has accomplished, and I hope to continue that great legacy of leadership at the Guild.

    You’ll remember that Hackford (who is of course married to Helen Mirren) received his first Best Director Oscar nod for “Ray” in 2005, a quarter-century after actually winning a statuette in the short-film category. (Meanwhile, the Guild itself has shortlisted him twice, for “Ray” and “An Officer and a Gentleman.”) He has worked infrequently of late, though he currently has a few irons in the fire, notably directing his wife in “Love Ranch,” a true-life story of Nevada’s first legal brothel.

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  • Is Sandler a contender for ‘Funny People?’

    Adam Sandler in Funny PeopleI can’t say I saw this coming. Since the expansion of the Best Picture category, several people have considered Judd Apatow’s “Funny People” as a possible populist nominee in the race, while speculating that it could also land him a writing nod after near-misses (and Guild citations) for his previous two features.

    Meanwhile, others (Kris included) have sniffed awards potential for well-liked supporting thesp (and, of course, Mrs. Apatow) Leslie Mann. But whether due to his own dodgy résumé or the Academy’s anti-comedy bias in the lead races, no one has mentioned the film’s star, Adam Sandler, as much of an awards threat.

    The reviews, however, tell a slightly different story. Although response to the film itself is mixed, the word for Sandler is very strong indeed, recalling the “OMG he can act” notices he garnered for “Punch-Drunk Love” seven years ago (which of course landed him a Golden Globe nod, if no Oscar traction).

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  • SUNDAY CENTS: ‘G-Force’ hits the G-spot

    G-Force*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    $32.2 million worth of Americans needed to see what happens when talking guinea pigs are entrusted with saving the world this weekend and have made “G-Force” our number one movie at the box office. Since I predicted $35 million last week, I can’t say this was unexpected, even if it is depressing. With yet another solid performance, the days of talking CGI critters interacting with cash-strapped human actors are just beginning.

    Second place goes to “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” which dipped a now standard 61% to $30 million. It was only eight years ago when the first film opened but its 36% second weekend drop is already a figure from a bygone box office era. In 2009, if you open above $50 million and drop under 50%, then you are a word of mouth sensation.

    “Potter” has $221.8 million in the bank after 12 days, which is third best in the series at this point but I think we’re still looking at the second lowest total grosser when it’s all said and done.

    Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler tried to convince Americans that no matter how repulsive or reprehensible you find someone, if you spend a little bit of time with them you will fall in love – providing they are attractive, of course – in “The Ugly Truth” and $27 million worth of patrons took the bait. That’s not quite “The Proposal” numbers but it won’t do either star any harm in landing their next awful projects.

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  • One more parting shot…

    Snapped by Jon Favreau on the Hall H stage during the “Iron Man 2” panel discussion:

    (from left) Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson and Sam Rockwell at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International

    And a taste of Kevin Smith at the Con, where he talks about the fact that the title “A Couple of Dicks” may not hold (My camera lost battery power half-way through.  Apologies):

  • COMIC-CON: Wrapping it up

    2009 San Diego Comic-Con InternationalI wish I could tell you how awesome the “Iron Man 2” footage form yesterday’s Paramount panel was, but Hall H was packed to the gills and even us schmoes int he VIP line couldn’t get in because it was at capacity.  Without a doubt, the event was the most popular attraction at this year’s Comic-Con.

    It sounded good muffled through the walls.  That’s all I got.  Hoping for another screening in LA soon.

    By far the highlight for me was the Entertainment Weekly Visionaries panel with James Cameron and Peter Jackson.  It’s a pretty big leap from last year’s set of Zack Snyder, Frank Miller, Kevin Smith and Judd Apatow.  Let’s hope next year isn’t a step backwards at the crew responsible for this momentous occasion gets creative and puts a few equally brilliant minds together on that stage once again.

    Speaking of Jackson, “District 9” made a major splash here.  The screening was very well-received on Thursday and the Saturday panel got the crowd chomping at the bit.  In this community anyway, the film is sure to be a runaway hit.

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  • James Cameron on the immersive movie-going experience

  • Peter Jackson on film delivery and the younger generation

  • ‘Tron: Legacy’ footage

    Coverage of the “Tron: Legacy” Comic-Con panel here.

  • James Cameron on the ‘Avatar’ germination process and “stoner-vision”

  • Random geek crashes the Visionaries party at the Con

    Oh, there was a hilarious moment early on during that EW Visionaries panel yesterday, when a fan leaped onto the stage somehow, in a faux-geek guise, to crash the party. Here’s a clip of the disturbance, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly:

  • COMIC-CON: Visionaries Jackson and Cameron address the masses

    (from left) Peter Jackson and James Cameron at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con InternationalThe crowning jewel of the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con, by far, has been the Entertainment Weekly-sponsored “Visionaries” panel yesterday evening, featuring filmmakers Peter Jackson and James Cameron.  So many real-world, in-the-trenches, eye-on-the-future topics were discussed that it became tedious to sit and transcribe the proceedings, so after a while I just committed myself to as many video clips as I could grab.  Though I was tweeting as much as possible.  Ditto Jeff Wells, who passed along some nice quotes throughout.

    The two talked about everything from motion-capture technology to balancing the duties of screenwriter with that of producer and director, and really, anything in between.  It was the most enlightening panel Comic-Con could have hoped for, and even the attendee questions were brighter than usual.

    Line of the evening: “It’s not a good idea to ask a woman if she wants to have another baby when she’s crowning,” which was Cameron’s response to a query about his next project.

    Much of the discussion was dedicated to the idea that these two guys constantly push the envelope, not only of what is possible in cinema, but of what a studio is willing to fund.  Cameron in particular displayed his usual maverick side when questions like this came about, at one point saying that Warner Bros. needed to “grow a pair of balls” regarding an eventual 3D release of the “Lord of the Rings” franchise.

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  • COMIC-CON: Peter Jackson receives standing ovation at first ever Con appearance

    Peter Jackson at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con InternationalPeter Jackson made his long-awaited first trip to Comic-Con yesterday in support of Neill Blomkamp’s “District 9,” which screened to a select audience Thursday. He received the expected standing ovation by the many Ringers and Bad-Tasters in attendance.

    “This is a moment to remember for the rest of my life,” he said after snapping a few photos of the audience like a geek in heaven.

    Jackson was joined by Blomkamp and actor Sharlto Copley on stage for a discussion of the thoughtful sci-fi film. An extended trailer (that, to my mind, gave away too much of the plot’s particulars) cranked the crowd’s anticipation for the film up to 11, but I personally wish the moderator had drawn out some more insightful commentary from Copley, whom I praised to the ends of the earth after seeing his riveting performance Thursday.

    Jackson talked about the project’s genesis, being born from the ashes of his failed “Halo” project. The seeds of “District 9” can be found in Blomkamp’s short film “Alive in Joburg,” which crossed Jackson’s path when he was seeking out a helmer for “Halo.”

    “The idea was that we would produce ‘Halo,’ but from the very beginning we wanted to find a new director, someone who was fresh, original, who would bring a new spin to the film,” Jackson said. “Neill had done a couple of short movies and we were really impressed. And then ‘Halo’ died due to studio politics. We got kind of disillusioned with what happened and we thought, ‘Why don’t we try to take control of the situation,’ so we suggested the idea of working on an original idea. Keep the budget low and put this energy into a different project. So it worked out for the best.”

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  • COMIC-CON: A very important date with the designs of ‘Alice in Wonderland’

    Alice in Wonderland set design at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con InternationalYesterday I moseyed on over to Seventh Ave., between J and K Streets for a glimpse of Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland” production design set-up, and the display was predictably jaw-dropping.

    An empty bulding has been converted into various elements of Wonderland, from the hall of doors to the tea party set-up to the Red Queen’s throne room, it was all the eye-popping Burton splendor you could hope for.  The other side included a stop on the massive “Tron: Legacy” viral event, which was thoroughly covered by Devindra Hardawar at /Film.

    Given our tendency to champion below-the-line talent here at In Contention, I thought I owed it to costume designer Collen Atwood (whose threads were also on display) and production designer Robert Stromberg to tour the event and offer up some snaps of their work.  Models and concept sketches were strewn throughout as well.  Both designers, I think it’s safe to say, are heading for Oscar nominations next year.

    Here’s a taste of what I saw today:

    Alice in Wonderland costume design at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International

  • James Cameron on ‘The Hurt Locker’

    With the more gossipy factions of the press trying to conjure up tension between him and his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow, it’s great to see that James Cameron is having none of it.

    In this extract from an interview with David Poland — worth checking out here — Cameron sings the praises of “The Hurt Locker,” suggesting it could emerge as the “Platoon” of the Iraq generation. He also makes clear that they continue to enjoy a professional friendship … so the wags hoping for some kind of bitter rivalry come Oscar season will be disappointed.

  • WEEKLY WRAP: Comic-Con, a taste of ‘Avatar’ and ‘Alice’

    Comic-Con• Comic-Con was the week’s big story, with 25 minutes of footage from “Avatar” its major talking-point so far.

    • Meanwhile, the rather less glitzy sci-fi of “District 9” wowed the crowds.

    • And Gary Oldman slipped some unexpected news about the next Batman installment.

    • Good week for trailers, as both “Alice in Wonderland” and “Bright Star” offered a crazyglimpse of their goods.

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