I’m sorry, but this excuse for journalism at the New York Times is embarrassingly thin and, in my opinion, incredibly irresponsible. What are you going on, family disputes? Where’s the beef? Who the heck thought this was a story when there isn’t an ounce of actual news to be found? Is the Gray Lady in the business of rumor mongering and hearsay? Sad.
Tag: Crazy Heart
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SUNDAY CENTS: Dear James, Suck it! Signed, ‘Dear John’
*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.After spending only seven weeks at the top of the box office, “Avatar” was humiliatingly defeated by “Dear John” and doomed to obscurity forever by dropping to second place.
The new weekend victor earned a phenomenal $32.4 million to end James Cameron’s epic reign and finally give 2010 something new to talk about. The result is better than the $28.3 million start of “He’s Just Not That Into You” on this same weekend last year and boosts the star power of Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried.
Seyfried has had an interesting career filled with hits (“Mamma Mia!”) and misses (“Jennifer’s Body”), but avoiding the glory or the blame that comes with both. This victory clearly belongs to her, though, and who would have thought watching “Mean Girls” that in five years, she would have a career and Lohan would not?
“Avatar” dipped 25% to $23.6 million in its first post-Oscar nominations weekend. The running total is now $630.1 million and $700 million should be a piece of cake, particularly if a Best Picture win comes in early March. If so, Cameron would have the only two films to hit that mark in the last 26 years, but he shouldn’t get too comfortable with that stat since I just heard Taylor Lautner is going to be in the “Stretch Armstrong” movie.
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FRIDAY FORECAST: 72 degrees and ‘Avatar’
*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.“Avatar” has swept aside the entire January schedule with relative ease and is aiming for an eighth weekend at the top of the box office. Considering it dropped only 10% last week despite some direct male competition from Mel Gibson and it now has 9 Oscar nominations to brag about, you can expect another slim decline and $25 million+. That should be more than enough to secure victory against Channing Tatum and John Travolta.
Tatum headlines “Dear John” with Amanda Seyfried, from the author of “The Notebook.” It’s a date movie for the date crowd and hey, did we mention it’s from the author of “The Notebook?” The premise sounds like a 1940s film, writing letters to a soldier and all. Shouldn’t the title be “New Facebook Message, RE: Miss U Lots xo <3?” Anyway, that very fact mixed with the cast should satisfy women of all ages and help this one to $21 million or so.
The director of “Taken” is back and blowing more shit up with “From Paris With Love.” There are three reasons why this won’t be as successful. One: Mel Gibson’s movie may not have done well but it’s still out and still direct competition. Two: Lionsgate is releasing and there is a ceiling to what they can accomplish with an action film ($18 million). Three: Liam Neeson looked all sorts of badass in the “Taken” trailer. In this, John Travolta looks like the bouncer at the Jackhammer gay club in Tribeca. $13 million.
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OSCAR GUIDE: Best Supporting Actress
This year’s Best Supporting Actress race made for, in many ways, one of the most wide open categories of the major nominees. While three of the contenders seemed fairly locked in place, the other two slots appeared up for grabs, and there was no shortage of deserving contenders waiting to fill out the field.Contenders such as Samantha Morton and Julianne Moore ultimately missed despite precursor attention, paving the way for last year’s winner in the category (a SAG nominee in a film that found itself floundering by year’s end) and a young actress who found herself opposite the year’s likely lead actor Oscar winner (and landing her first Oscar nomination in the process).
The nominees are:
Penélope Cruz, “Nine”
Vera Farmiga, “Up in the Air”
Maggie Gyllenhaal, “Crazy Heart”
Anna Kendrick, “Up in the Air”
Mo’Nique, “Precious” -
February winner predictions
These appeared at Movie City News’s Gurus o’ Gold page this morning, so you probably already saw them. Here they are in any case, since, you know, I guess it’s about that time:Best Picture: “The Hurt Locker”
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”
Best Actress: Sandra Bullock, “The Blind Side”
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”
Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique, “Precious”
Best Adapted Screenplay: “Up in the Air”
Best Original Screenplay: “The Hurt Locker” -
Guy’s final predictions
Right, there comes a point every year in predicting the Oscar nominations when you realize you’re just shuffling names to dodge commitment. I’ve reached that point, so it’s time to put myself out my misery.Kris has already had his say — and stolen some of my best guesses from last week in the process. Okay, I kid because I love. It’s comforting, in fact, to have his very sensible company on calls like Diane Kruger for Best Supporting Actress, or “The Road” for Best Cinematography.
That said, however, there are still numerous areas of the ballot still driving me crazy. I discussed my uncertainties in last week’s Long Shot column, but the last few days haven’t given me any more confidence when it comes to those pesky final two Best Picture slots.
Though logic goes against me, I can’t shake the feeling that “Invictus” will miss — how many people are putting it at the top of their ballots? However, between the likes of “The Blind Side,” “The Hangover,” “Crazy Heart,” “Star Trek” and “The Messenger,” no one title emerges as a clear spoiler.
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Calling the longshots
So this Steve Pond piece, titled “How Oscar Could Surprise — and Scare — Us,” is what we like to call hedging our bets. It’s a chance to address some bubble matters so that we have something to point to and say, “Look, I toldja!”(Is that officially trademarked by Nikki Finke yet?)
Anyway, I do like the guessing game fun, and Pond touches on a couple of things that I would likely mention if I were to do a similar piece. One we can all understand is his #10, the potential snub of “Invictus” in the Best Picture category. It has kind of been in the water for a few weeks now that the film just isn’t as strong as it could be, likely lacking passionate top tier votes. It is, frankly, in the #10 spot on my list of final predictions.
I do like Pond’s mention of Sharlto Copley as a potential Best Actor spoiler, but failing to even make the longlist with BAFTA (a group that wasn’t shy on the “District 9” love) makes the actor (who gave the year’s best lead actor performance in my book) the darkest of dark horses.
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Reaching the populace with ‘Crazy Heart’
With “Crazy Heart” expanding more throughout the country and expecting, no doubt, a bit of an exposure bump after Tuesday’s Oscar nominations announcement, Fox Searchlight is stepping up its game and doing a nice job of getting the music out there.I stumbled across TheWearyKind.com last week, a nifty bit of social networking that allows musicians (of any level of talent, believe me) to upload their cover of Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett’s theme from the film. The first video on the grid is Bingham performing it at the Los Angeles press day, but the second one I hadn’t seen. It’s Jeff Bridges performing it in front of Peter Travers (I think). The rest are user entries.
Meanwhile, RecordStoreDay.com is offering up a contest whose winner I’d be incredibly jealous of. The prize: an Epiphone AJ-200S acoustic guitar autographed by Bridges, Burnett and Bingham (suddenly I’m aware of the alliteration on this project).
We’ll see tomorrow if the film can manage surprise nominations for Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay and/or Best Picture, but for now, the road is pretty well paved for Bridges (who showed up at last night’s Grammys to introduce a performance tribute to Les Paul).
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THE LONG SHOT: The pre-nomination shuffle
This, ladies and gentlemen, will be the last Long Shot column I write before the 2009 Academy Award nominations are announced, and it’s not just because it’s the column’s 17th week that the well of subject matter is looking rather dry.I have followed longer awards seasons than this one (the awards used to take place in late March, after all), but none have felt longer – thanks to this year’s eccentric, unprecedented scheduling that has most of the most significant precursor awards done and dusted before the Oscar nominations are even out.
The six weeks between nomination morning and awards night were once chockfull of awards ceremonies that could move the needle this way or that. We now have only the BAFTAs and some guild announcements to break up the more stealthy campaigning that could yet affect the race.
The result, then, is that Tuesday’s nominations seem like more of a formality than usual. By the end of the weekend, the Globes, the BFCA and the three most influential guilds will all have had their say, meaning almost every major race can be boiled down to a maximum of two contenders … before we even receive official confirmation that they’re in the race at all. If that’s the case, Lord only knows what we’ll find to talk about until March 7.
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January winner predictions
It’s time for me to go to the well one more time before next week’s big announcement. That’s right, six days and the mystery of the 10 will finally be answered. But first, some blind (since there are no nominations yet) guesses. Just trying to find the right balance here:Best Picture: “The Hurt Locker”
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”
Best Actress: Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia”
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”
Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique, “Precious”
Best Adapted Screenplay: “Up in the Air”
Best Original Screenplay: “The Hurt Locker” -
SUNDAY CENTS: ‘Fairy’ bust
*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.Blah blah blah blah “Avatar” blah blah number one blah blah blah $36 million. Second biggest sixth weekend ever, behind “Titanic.” $550 million+ in the bank, passing “The Dark Knight” and entering the top 10 highest grossing films of the modern era (1980 onward). The drop was only 16% from last weekend, which was a Holiday remember, and James Cameron’s fart will go on and on and on.
“Legion” took the runner up spot with $18.2 million, and as I said on Friday, anything over $16 million would be a huge win. Sony just can’t lose with this kind of product and it will join “Vantage Point,” “21” and “Lakeview Terrace” as successful films that nobody will remember in two years. But anything that keeps Paul Bettany employed can’t be all bad.
“The Book of Eli” drops 48% to third place and $17 million, which is pretty solid. With last Sunday’s figures inflated by the holiday and word-of-mouth not expected to be great, things could have been a lot worse for Denzel and the Hughes Brothers.
“Tooth Fairy” failed to get off the ground, taking fourth place with $14.5 million and represents the second straight seemingly can’t-miss family film to drop the ball. I’d say that maybe kids and parents are raising their standards but “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel” passed the $200 million mark on Saturday so…
Just to recap: Denzel Washington films to make $200 million = zero. Singing chipmunk films to make $200 million = two.
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SAG wins for ‘Basterds,’ Bullock, Bridges
Gotta love all those B’s, right? Overall, no real surprises — we knew Best Actress was going to be a close-fought contest between Meryl Streep and Sandra Bullock, and it’s entirely likely that Streep’s win last year tipped it towards Hollywood’s new golden girl.While the widely anticipated ensemble win for “Inglourious Basterds” makes no real difference to the Best Picture race, I think it’s safe to say three of the acting Oscars can practically be engraved already.
This was George Clooney’s last opportunity to stake his claim in the Best Actor race, but the perfect-storm combination of Jeff Bridges’s shaggy likeability, overdue status and (lest we forget) a damn fine performance in “Crazy Heart” was too much to overcome.
Best Actress, as I said earlier today, will remain a mystery right up until the envelope is opened on March 7. The season’s one remaining acting precursor, the BAFTA, won’t reveal anything, given Bullock’s ineligibility there.
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Official video for Ryan Bingham’s ‘The Weary Kind’
Because, well, I’m glad of any excuse to bring up this track. Is there even a contest for Best Original Song? Even the Academy’s wilful music branch can’t screw this up. Surely.
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Tom Ford, Scott Cooper on Variety’s Directors to Watch list
Variety’s annual Directors to Watch list lives up to its title more often than not, frequently highlighting names that go on to be hotter talking points in the year that follows.Last year’s list, for example, include “(500) Days of Summer” helmer Marc Webb, who recently signed on to reboot the “Spider-Man” franchise, as well as Cary Fukunaga (“Sin Nombre”) and Adam Elliot (“Mary & Max”) — in addition to already-lauded names like Matteo Garrone and Steve McQueen.
This year’s list similarly blends directors still in the wings with those who have already arrived. The year’s most successful freshman filmmaker, Neill Blomkamp, isn’t on the list (Variety hardly needs to remind the industry of his presence, after all), but two first-timers with films in the Oscar hunt are: “A Single Man”‘s Tom Ford and “Crazy Heart”‘s Scott Cooper.
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SAG on the way
Saturday night the Screen Actors Guild Awards will go down, televised on TNT, and I can’t really believe the race is THIS sewn up. Right down the line, most are calling it for Bridges, Streep, Waltz and Mo’Nique. There are some differences of opinion on the ensemble performance category, but for the most part, those four Oscar favorites are the expected victors with the guild.The last time SAG went four-for-four with the Academy’s ultimate winners was 2004. The last time before that was 1997, which actually featured a tie between Gloria Stewart and Kim Basinger, so it’s a bit less definitive. And in point of fact, those are the only times things have matched up.
The reason for this is fairly simple. The Screen Actors Guild (a 90,000-member body of people) votes for the winners at large, while the nominees are decided upon by a roughly 2,000-member nominating committee, 1,200 of them based in Los Angeles. The nominating committee obviously sees more of the contenders than the vast membership. For that reason, generally speaking, you can expect the unexpected.
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The home stretch
Pete Hammond’s story concerning Academy members tapping out before listing a full slate of 10 nominees on their ballots is getting some traction today, but it’s hardly new news. Many voters never even bothered to come up with five nominees, so the switch to 10 was always going to yield a number of incomplete ballots.However, the point Hammond makes concerning there being a great many outstanding ballots less than a week before polls close is worth talking about, because the events of the last week or two could have more of an impact than they have in years past.
But back to the incomplete thing, what this means, more than anything, is that fringe titles like “District 9” or “Star Trek,” or even “Crazy Heart” and, hell, let’s use Pete’s example, “Drag Me to Hell” could have a presence on the Academy’s eventual slate. With more slots to fill, those left-field #1 and #2 choices have a fighting chance and could actually register. Which is why it’s important to note that now, more than ever, the passion vote counts.
So to those who vote with your heart: do it with gusto this year. You might actually have a voice in this thing.
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Buy it
The “Crazy Heart” deluxe edition soundtrack hit stores today along with a streamlined, standard version, and it’s a must own if you like the movie or this kind of music. There are little treasures sprinkled throughout that you get for a couple extra bucks, like a modified instrumental version of “Somebody Else” from Stephen Bruton, the killer “Joy” from Lucinda Williams, some lovely accompanying tracks from George Jones, Kitty Wells, The Delmore Brothers and Lydia Mendoza. Oh yeah, and Thomas Canning’s piano riff from the film.I’ve been listening to Waylon Jenning’s “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way” for a few weeks now, but I’m all over this. In case you missed it last week, Ryan Bingham recently performed “The Weary Kind” on The Late Show with David Letterman.
Last year when I walked out of “Slumdog Millionaire,” one of the first things I asked was if the soundtrack was going to be released, because it was fantastic. This after “Juno” had already covered similar terrain a year earlier. “Crazy Heart” was obviously a no-brainer on that front, so the studio should have another hit on its hands (thanks especially to T Bone Burnett, of course, for putting it all together). Someone give that music division a raise.
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OFF THE CARPET: All Globed out
As it turned out, the only celebration I made it to last night was Fox’s Globes after-party at Craft in Century City. Given that “Avatar” and “Crazy Heart” were two of three films to win more than one Globe (the other being Pixar’s “Up”), it kind of felt like the place to be.The early part of the evening was dominated by the “Crazy Heart” crew. I came in with Ryan Bingham and Scott Cooper, the latter dumbfounded at how certain celebs were getting his number to send well-wishes and praise for his little film. Bingham, meanwhile, told me he was at the bar when the Best Original Song category was announced, which explains why T Bone Burnett accepted solo. “Sorry for partyin’,” Bingham told me. “Story of my life.”
Burnett, it turns out, will be producing Bingham’s next album.
Meanwhile, you could follow the bursts of applause to locate Jeff Bridges, who took down the Best Actor in a Drama trophy when many thought George Clooney would register with the, shall we say, star-friendly HFPA. Then again, whoever said Bridges wasn’t a star? And judging by the standing ovation, his second of the weekend (everyone was on their feet Friday, too), you can expect his steamroll through the season to continue next weekend at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and then, ultimately: the Oscar. Interesting to note his lawyer advised him not to take the part, I assume thinking it wasn’t high enough on a scale of exposure.
And yet here we are.