In Contention

Tag: Everybody’s Fine

  • 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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  • 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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  • SUNDAY CENTS: ‘Brothers’ gloom

    Brothers

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

    As I already mentioned, the first weekend in December is a veritable dead zone at the multiplex as audiences start shifting more towards Christmas shopping and making vacation plans. Or maybe they are just too busy having sex. (More people are born in August than any other month.)

    Whatever the reason, business slowed enough for Sandra Bullock and “The Blind Side” to take the top spot in its third weekend. A $20.4 million haul is off 49% from last week but that’s actually a great hold for this frame and the running total now stands at $129.3 million. $200 million seems all but certain at this point and that means it’ll pass the $208 million that “Speed” made to become Sandy’s all time top grossing film.

    I don’t think Oscar will come knocking but she’ll probably land on Entertainment Weekly’s list of Entertainers of the Year and that’s just as desirable, right? Side note: How good is “Speed?”

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  • FRIDAY FORECAST: Thanksgiving leftovers and new turkeys

    (from left) Kate Beckinsale and Robert De Niro in Everybody's Fine*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    Sorry this is a little late, as I’ve been super busy this week. Luckily, it’s one of the slowest box office weeks of the year and there is little to look forward to.

    You can bet the farm that “The Blind Side” will win the weekend for the first time on its third try and continue it’s epic run towards $200 million. “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” should be your runner-up and it may get as low as five or six before you see a new film.

    Miramax is going for broke with the drama “Everybody’s Fine.” I thought the studio might start limited and try to trick people into thinking this would be one of those good, Oscar movies but they are sticking a Christmas tree on the poster and getting it into every Regal Cinemas in the country. Will it work? It should finish with $5 million for the weekend.

    In case you don’t know, the weekend after Thanksgiving is always deadly at the box office and studios rarely open worthwhile product. Last year gave us “Punisher: War Zone” at $4.3 million and the year before gave us “Awake” with $6.1 million. How someone pitched an action movie with a catatonic lead character and got it made is pretty incredible and beyond me.

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  • 12/2 Oscarweb Round-up

    Paul McCartney• Edna Gundersen talks to Sir Paul McCartney about his musical addition to Kirk Jones’s “Everybody’s Fine.” [USA Today]

    • In praise of the opening sequence of Michael Mann’s “Ali.” [The Auteurs Notebook]

    • Pete Hammond reports from Monday night’s premiere of “Up in the Air.” [Notes on a Season]

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  • Listen to Paul McCartney’s ‘(I Want to) Come Home’ from ‘Everybody’s Fine’

    Paul McCartneyPaul McCartney was in the thick of the Best Original Song race back in 2001 for his title track from Cameron Crowe’s “Vanilla Sky.” Unfortunately, the film was a pale reflection of Alejandro Amenabar’s “Abre Los Ojos” and didn’t register with voters enough to push that truly great song far enough.  Not that I’m arguing with Randy Newman finally winning his Oscar that year, mind you.

    Well this year, McCartney is back in the race with “(I Want to) Come Home,” yet another breezy nostalgic ditty that, once again, was written for a film that doesn’t really work: Kirk Jones’s “Everybody’s Fine.” But it’s a great song.  And I don’t think it’s a stretch to say it sounds like some undiscovered Beatles B-side, a warm and catchy tune that plays over the film’s closing credits (visually accompanied by the photos Robert De Niro’s widower character snaps on his journey around the country reconnecting with his children).

    One would think Paul McCartney’s presence in a race like this would be a no-brainer, but then again, Bruce Springsteen proved that logic wrong last year.  Have a listen to the track below and tell us what you think.

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  • Andrea Bocelli, Paul McCartney join the race for Best Original Song

    Andrea BocelliCatching up with Robert Zemeckis’s “A Christmas Carol” last night (which I absolutely adored), I noticed the film featured a tune called “God Bless Us Everyone” by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.  Might we have a new contender for Best Original Song?

    Each of Zemeckis’s prior performance-capture efforts included original songs — Josh Groban’s “Believe” from “The Polar Express” and Idina Menzel’s “A Hero Comes Home” from “Beowulf” — but I hadn’t yet heard of the track featured in the new film.  The song is what you might expect, a festive vocal power hymn, the first cue over the closing credits and, therefore, eligible.

    But not a likely nominee, I suppose.  “Believe” made the cut in 2004, but that was before the new voting process.  Where the track is situated will probably not prove intriguing enough to warrant serious consideration.  But nevertheless, it’s a new hopeful in a category that is already more competitive than normal.

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  • 11/4 Oscarweb Round-up

    (from left) Robert De Niro and Drew Barrymore in Everybody's Fine• Gregory Ellwood slams “Everybody’s Fine,” calls last night’s AFI festivities a Miramax wake.  I’m having trouble disagreeing with him. [Awards Campaign]

    • Rebecca Milzoff gets some face time with “An Education” director Lone Scherfig. [Vulture]

    • Jim Carrey’s Scrooge rings in the holiday spirit. [Associated Press]

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  • OFF THE CARPET: Looking at the leading gentlemen

    Colin Firth in A Single ManWe’ve taken concentrated looks at the lead actress and supporting actress categories in recent weeks.  Now let’s turn our attention over to the fellas.

    Behind the Best Picture race, of course, the lead actor competition is perhaps the most hotly anticipated award of a given Oscar telecast.  Movie stars are born, Hollywood staples are rewarded and careers leap to the next level.  It makes for an intriguing annual state of the union as it pertains the the film industry’s talent roster.

    This year, one of Hollywood’s brightest stars finds himself right at the front of the conversation.  George Clooney is likely to end up with his third acting Oscar nomination, for Jason Reitman’s “Up in the Air,” and he’ll owe much of that to Reitman’s powerful work on the page.

    Clooney doesn’t give his best performance to date in the film.  But the material is so cleverly built around his persona that one can’t blame the actor for saddling up to a role that fits like a glove.  And there is something to be said for the bravery of taking one’s image on like that.

    Colin Firth, meanwhile, has caused a critical stir with his leading performance in Tom Ford’s “A Single Man.” He has already won the Venice Film Festival’s acting honor and has been tapped for another at February’s Santa Barbara Film Festival.  He is pitch-perfect in the film, giving a refined performance of nuance and gesture.

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  • Patterson Hood’s ‘Depression Era’ from ‘That Evening Sun’

    Patterson HoodI just finished Scott Teems’s “That Evening Sun,” which, much like Tom Ford’s “A Single Man,” is an impressive feature debut that nevertheless has some developmental issues that prevent a powerful narrative of catharsis from being as affecting as it could have been.

    There is, however, a fantastic original song in the film from Patterson Hood of the Georgia-based band Drive-By Truckers called “Depression Era” that bears consideration because, at least in my view, it might be the best original song I’ve heard in a film this year.  The only problem, of course, is that the tune plays over the final credits of the film, which all but guarantees that it won’t cut it for the music branch (which has increasingly show a preference for songs used within the context of a film in recent years).

    Of course, the film is quite small and will probably end up at the bottom of that screener stack Anne and I were discussing yesterday, but, alas, I feel compelled to mention it.

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  • De Niro to be honored by Hollywood fest

    Robert De Niro in Everybody's FineWe’ve brought you up to speed on the list of Hollywood Film Festival award honorees the last few weeks (full list after the jump).  But today we get the news that Robert De Niro has been tapped to receive the Hollywood Actor Award, adding some steam to his bid for a lead actor Oscar nomination for “Everybody’s Fine.”

    Of course, who knows what the virtual dismantling of Miramax will do to planned Oscar campaigns, but this is a nice added boost as the actor heads into the season looking for his first Oscar nomination in 17 years.  Fest director Carlos de Abreu is quoted in the press release:

    Robert De Niro is an American icon. Not only is he highly regarded for his body of work as an actor, producer and director, but also for the passion, integrity and dedication he brings to his performances on camera, as well as his intense off-camera preparation and study of the characters he brings to life. His performance in the upcoming film “Everybody”s Fine” is outstanding and flawless.

    The ceremony will take place October 26.  We’re still waiting to hear about the Hollywood Actress Award winner, which will likely be Meryl Streep.

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  • ‘Everybody’s Fine’ trailer

    Last week we told you about the Best Actor buzz potentially building on the horizon for Robert De Niro in the remake “Everybody’s Fine.”  Pete Hammond has seen the film and sung the actor’s praises, and now, we get this broad, sell-it-to-the-masses trailer.  If you can get past the awful voice over and awkward musical choices, I think there’s an interesting performance lurking in there — maybe:

  • BEST ACTOR WATCH: Robert De Niro in ‘Everybody’s Fine’

    (from left) Drew Barrymore and Robert De Niro in Everybody's FineI’ve been meaning to post something along these lines for a few weeks now.  Around roughly this time a year ago (plus a month exactly), we pointed you early on to a potential comeback in the works for Mickey Rourke in Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler.”  We all know how that turned out.  Now there are murmurs that Robert De Niro could be back in serious Oscar contention for the first time since…anybody?

    The film is Kirk Jones’s “Everybody’s Fine” and it is a remake of Giuseppe Tornatore’s 1990 film of the same name.  De Niro stars as a widower who realizes the only connection he has to his family was through his wife, so he sets off on an impromptu road trip to reunite with each of his grown children.

    In some ways it sounds like a role similar to George Clooney’s in “Up in the Air,” a sudden realization that one’s place in the world is very much determined by relationships with loved ones.  And it could be just the ticket for De Niro to get back into the fray.  Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale and Sam Rockwell also star.

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