In Contention

Tag: Bruce Almighty

  • Jim Carrey on the rise?

    I’ve been pulling for Jim Carrey the whole way, I tell you.  I was a massive fan in the 90s, starting with “the white guy on ‘In Living Color’” days, through the silly comedies critics loathed and the eventual Oscar-baiting (some of it actually worthy).

    The last decade has seen ups and downs for the actor.  Things started nicely with box office smashes like “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and “Bruce Almighty,” but things really wore thin on “Fun with Dick and Jane” and “Yes Man,” to say nothing of the abysmal “The Number 23.”

    There was the peculiar pre-break-up breakdown earlier this year to cause concern, but then there are the career-topping performances in “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and this 2010’s “I Love You Phillip Morris” to consider as well.  The latter, I think, might be his best work to date.

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  • ‘The Promise’ reveals art in the trenches

    After sitting there, waiting patiently on my DVR for the past month, I finally got around to “The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town” last night. The film, which tells the in-studio story of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s follow-up to the gargantuan success of “Born to Run,” debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and bowed on HBO last month.

    It’s difficult to separate yourself from something that is tailor made for your sensibilities. I’m a massive Springsteen fan. My earliest memory has something to do with “Born in the USA” and playing in the backyard of my babysitter’s house in rural North Carolina sometime in 1984. I came around to really appreciating his work in high school and I’ve seen him live six times in the last decade (three times in NC, twice in LA and once in London). Suffice it to say, I was bound to be interested in this film.

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  • THE LISTS: Top 10 highest grossing films of the decade derived from original material

    Russell Crowe in GladiatorBehold! I give to you the very first edition of The Lists to be based on fact and not opinion — unless you count box office data as the ultimate opinion of the masses.

    The decade is drawing to a close and unless something miraculous happens, the top 10 highest grossing films of the aughts is probably set in stone. At first I thought that would be a fun list to compile, but it turns out to be extremely boring and exactly what you’d expect it to be. If ever there was a doubt that this decade would be defined by anything but franchises, then let me put it to rest here. Number of sequels in the top 10 highest grossing movies of the 1990s: 1. Number of sequels in the top 10 highest grossing movies of the 2000s: 7.

    Audiences have overwhelmingly turned against original product in favor of something, anything with some sort of pre-existing source material, and it has happened over the last 10 years. Of course, I think audiences have always depended on something familiar to get them into the multiplex.  It used to be the reputation of an actor or director that provided that comfort. Now, star power is a thing of the past and brand recognition is the wave of the future. Of course, there are always a few exceptions to the rules, and so I’ve compiled this list to celebrate some of the films that were able to permeate the public consciousness and earn the right to be called a blockbuster the hard way: by being original (relatively speaking).

    First, some caveats. A film like “The Passion of the Christ” is technically an original screenplay but obviously is based on stories from the Bible and carries an enormous built-in “fanbase,” so it was not considered for this list. I also decided to exclude animated films because if I didn’t, 50% of the list would be dominated by Pixar titles and that’s no fun either. In the interest of fairness, though, I will post the top 10 including animated films in the comments section.

    One final note. If I did a similar chart for the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, the number one film would also actually be the highest grossing film of the decade. For the 2000s, the number one film on this chart is the 32nd highest grossing overall film.

    Oh, and all the numbers are adjusted to today’s figures, as always.

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