In Contention

Tag: Inception

  • I’ll give you 10 guesses

    Oh, okay then. I’ve held out longer than most, but with the summer mostly played out, and newly unveiled schedules for Venice and Toronto signifying that the fall film season is already breathing down our necks, now is as good a time as any to go on the record with some Oscar predictions.

    In years past, I’ve had readers tell me that my predictions are tricky to access on the site — not a problem for me, since the fewer who found them, the more contained the embarrassment when they were proved hopelessly wrong. Nevertheless, we have heard you, and we have acted: at the bottom of Kris’s predictions on the sidebar, you will find a shiny new link to mine. You can’t beat progress.

    As usual, if you like your predictions rational, grounded in inside information and frequently accurate, Kris is your man. (He’ll be updating his on August 23, by the way.) At these early stages, I go on a mixture of gut feeling, sudden hunches and a broken Ouija board I picked up for a fiver in a garage sale. I tend to get stronger inklings about what won’t get nominated than what will, which is why some of my picks have a placeholder feel to them.

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  • ‘Inception’ infographic helps you understand the film

    Kind of.  Click for a larger image (courtesy Last Exit to Nowhere, via Collider):

  • SUNDAY CENTS: ‘Inception’ shakes ‘Salt’

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

    Despite the collective nerd consciousness being zeroed in on the events happening in San Diego, there were enough nerds elsewhere to propel “Inception” to a second week at the top of the box office. Actually that’s unfair, it’s not just nerds who are seeing the movie as Christopher Nolan’s dreamscape now looks to be the leggy, late summer blockbuster that nerds and Warner Bros. always hoped it would be. If it gets my Mom to go, then it’ll be a downright phenomenon, but the last non-animated film she saw was probably “Mamma Mia!.”

    Alright, “Inception” dropped a petite 31% to $43.5 million and easily walked away with what I predicted would be a close race at the box office. For comparison, “The Dark Knight” dropped 53% in its second weekend, but that was coming off a much, much higher figure and it eventually settled into 35-40% drops after that. If “Inception” continues at this pace or better, it could make a decent pass at $300 million. To put those legs into perspective, you would have to go back six years to “Meet the Fockers” to find a film that crossed that threshold with a debut under $65 million.

    “The Other Guys” will take a bit of the audience away, but other than that, I don’t see much in terms of competition. While remakes and sequels continue to post one and done weekend numbers and get people talking, it’s nice to see “Avatar” and “Inception” showing that original properties are the ones that keep them talking.

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  • FRIDAY FORECAST: Pass the ‘Salt’

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

    Laziest headline ever? It’s that kind of Friday folks.

    Hey boys! Anything you can do, Angelina Jolie can make look sexier and she’s here to prove it with “Salt.” Originally a vehicle for Tom Cruise, Jolie stepped in and is literally the only woman in Hollywood who can have action scripts rewritten and re-gendered to fit her interest. She’s also the only woman in Hollywood who is currently sleeping with Brad Pitt, so let me just add this up; Angelina Jolie-2, every other woman in Hollywood-0.

    This clout came from solid performances for “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” and “Wanted.” The last of which opened to a very strong and surprising $56.4 million back in 2008. Sure, it was based on a comic book and had other recognizable faces in it, but the marketing really didn’t have much going for it other than the promise of Jolie shooting ridiculous weapons and leaning out of cars.

    She’s had less success when dipping into dramatic territory, with “Changeling” and “A Mighty Heart” earning her rave reviews but fizzling at the box office. Nobody wants to see those hit lips quivering like a victim. We want to see fights and just enough skin to warrant a PG-13 rating!

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Cinematography — Volume I

    Of the so-called “tech” categories, Best Cinematography is one of the most popular, certainly for me. The invention of the camera took us beyond radio and literature and set modern art on a path aimed toward the moving picture, and this field recognizes those behind the lens.

    Cinematography obviously has a massive impact on a film, everything unfolding within a frame and any nuance specific to the tone, atmosphere and theme of the piece.  It is unimaginable to think of a good movie not having a good Director of Photography (DP).

    “Pretty” films with beautiful landscapes and memorable, postcard-like shots shots are a regularity (and tend to win).  But war films also show up regularly.  And being a Best Picture contender never hurts. Innovative lighting that creates unique mood is frequently rewarded, at least with nominations, as well.

    While this branch does at times play favorites (Robert Richardson and Roger Deakins being the most notable), it always tends to find room for one, two or three first-time nominees every year. From this vantage point, I’m curious who they will be because, the way I see it, most of the obvious contenders have been nominated before.

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  • ‘Inception’ soundtrack contest winners!

    I’ve touched down in San Diego for all the Comic-Con shenanigans of the next four days, but a little business to tend to.

    Thanks to the 60-plus participants in our “Inception” soundtrack giveaway haiku contest. There were lots of great entries, but the two I settled on came from KYLE and GEORGIE. Respectively (and I guess I should say SPOILER warning):

    Falling off the bridge
    The sound of brass blaring bright
    They wake with a kick

    Non, je ne regrette
    The kick hits, the dream falls down
    But does the totem?

    Kyle and Georgie, I’ll try to hunt down your email on the backend, but send me a line just in case. You win!

  • On the sound of ‘Inception’

    I totally meant to post this over the weekend as it’s been live since Saturday. Alas, I forgot.

    I’ve been high on the guys at SoundWorks Collection since I stumbled across their work last year. As you know, we’ve always been concerned with shining a proper spotlight on below-the-line efforts in filmmaking. SoundWorks Collection focuses on sound mixing and sound editing in major releases with brief aurally-focused featurettes.

    Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” is unquestionably a beast of immersive sound design, so I’ve been waiting on for this one for a while. It features interviews with Gary Rizzo, Lora Hirschberg and Richard King. Head on over to SoundWorks Collection to watch the featurette, or click through to watch an embed.  I imagine we’ll be digging further into the craft aspects of the film later in the season when we launch our annual Tech Support interview series.

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  • OFF THE CARPET: ‘Inception’ to the rule?

    As I look over the last week of activity, believe me, I’m as over-inundated with “Inception” talk as the next guy. But it is the film that captured a collective imagination throughout the country this weekend and, therefore, it has been a mainstay on the front page.

    I purposely held the latest Oscar column until today because I wanted to see how profound its release would truly be. I wanted to know what kind of a mark it would make at the box office, how the masses would react, how the critics would leverage it this way or that. And I haven’t come up with anything more or less definitive, in my mind, than what I’ve already mapped out.

    In the world of Oscar, there might just be three Best Picture nominees already in the marketplace, as Nathaniel Rogers shrewdly noted in a recent column. That’s actually kind of a miracle this early in the season. But it’s also interesting to note that each film — “Toy Story 3,” “The Kids Are All Right” and “Inception” — probably needed the extra five slots to make it in (assuming they all do get in).

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  • Degrees of devotion

    The best thing that came out of last week’s online fracas over assorted critics’ response to “Inception” was a brief swell in useful conversation about critical nuance and responsibility. On Thursday, I touched on the Rotten Tomatoes-trained tendency of many readers to box film criticism into distinct ‘love’ and ‘hate’ camps, and as far as I’m concerned, US-based British writer Tom Shone has pretty much the last word on the matter. Responding to a Sasha Stone post about the blogger/critic divide, Shone writes:

    The blogger/critic dust-up over Inception illustrates the divide between those who for whom love of a film means nothing less than full-throated devotion, coupled with a blindness to all its flaws — a kind of creeping politesse that insists on nary a bad word be said of the great and the good. The kind of writer for whom the words “genius” and “masterpiece” silence all internal debate. And those whose admiration for a film or filmmaker comes striated with a sense of its imperfections, who see no contradiction between loving a film and finding fault with it — the faults peg their admiration higher. The blogosphere seems sometimes to forget this. They mistake reverence for respect. They’re strangely pious. Again: where are the outlaws?

    I have nothing further. (P.S. He likes “Inception” just fine.)

  • SUNDAY CENTS: On closer ‘Inception’

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

    Alright, let’s talk about “Inception.” People have been salivating over this thing since before it even went into production and the marketing campaign Warner Bros. put together was pretty top notch. The director was coming off the biggest film of the decade (at that time) and the cast was impressively assembled, led by one of the biggest names on the planet. Early reviews were ecstatic and the market was desperate for a live action blockbuster to live up to the hype.

    With all that said, “Inception” opened at the top of the box office this weekend with $60.4 million. Is that any good? Well, it’s less than “The Dark Knight” made in one day, but it’s by far the biggest opening of Leonard DiCaprio’s career. With no previous source material and a tricky sci-fi premise aimed at adults, Warner Bros. was always going to have an uphill battle here.

    As far as summer sci-fi goes, it’s a little less than what “I, Robot” debuted with in July 2004, but well ahead of the $48.8 million launch for “Minority Report,” which had Cruise and Spielberg to help sell. That film had similarly positive reviews and went on to gross 3.7 times its debut with a $180.7 million finish. If “Inception” were to do the same, we’d be looking at a $223 million total.

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  • CONTEST: Win a copy of the ‘Inception’ soundtrack

    Following yesterday’s interview with “Inception” composer Hans Zimmer, I thought it would be fun to run a contest and give a few of these bad boys away.  (Confession: Yes, I ended up with more than one.)

    I figure we’ll go with an oldie but a goodie from Sasha Stone: A haiku contest!

    Cut loose with your best “Inception”-related haiku and the two best entries win a copy of the soundtrack, courtesy of Warner Bros. and Reprise Records.  Bonus considerations go to those who find a way to work thoughts or perspective on the score into their haiku.  We’ll pick a winner in, oh, let’s say mid-week.  Wednesday, depending on when things trail off here.

    Have at it in the comments section below!

  • A geek among geeks

    I’m glad Legendary Pictures honcho Thomas Tull received a nice puff piece in Variety this weekend. After all, the projects his company has been partnering up on have kept the money flowing.

    But I was also struck by the fact that Marc Graser’s story rifled off adaptation after adaptation, across a number of platforms, be it “Godzilla,” “Akira,” “World of Warcraft” or the Superman reboot. While Christopher Nolan’s Legendary-backed “Inception” is wowing audiences in theaters with a wholly original concept derivative of nothing, Tull and Legendary are still sticking to built-in fanbases and titles that can provide ancillary dollars as a result of that audience.

    It’s a necessary evil. We all get it. But shouldn’t a company like Legendary be in a position to support other filmmakers who might have earned the risk on their own original (high) concepts? Zack Snyder’s getting a Legendary boost for “Sucker Punch” (which will have a presence at Comic-Con), but that’s about it.  When I reviewed “Inception,” I wrote that the film is “an entertainment with vivid, profound ideas, precisely the kind of daring that ought to be backed by big money.” When is “big money” going to step up once again?

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  • Al Gore says go see ‘Inception’

    Did I miss something?  Are former political types getting into the film review racket?  First Ed Koch, now Al Gore.

    At his official website, the former Vice-President took a moment to endorse Christopher Nolan’s “Inception,” the first time, he says, that he’s gone out of his way to do so.  He refers to and quotes reviews from The Washington Post’s Ann Hornaday and the Los Angeles Times’ Ken Turan and generally gives it a big ole’ thumbs up.

    But it’s not that out-of-the-blue, really.  Gore is close friends with fellow environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio.  And proceeds from the film’s Los Angeles premiere went to the Alliance for Climate Protection.  As Gore admits, he’s a bit biased.

    But hey, nice to get the ink (as if the film needed it).  Check out what Gore had to say after the jump.

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Art Direction — Volume I

    As we like to point out in this space each year, the Academy Award for Best Art Direction is presented to two individuals who have different but key roles in designing a film’s sets and props.

    The first of these, the production designer, is the director of the film’s art department, responsible for the supervision of those in it and the overall architecture of the film’s design. The set decorator, on the other hand, is responsible for filling up those sets with proper scenery to fully bring them to life.  When these individuals, and those who work alongside them in the art department, do their jobs well, we can be fully immersed into the story.

    Historically, the nominees in this field fit into one of two categories: historical or fantastical. At least two – usually three or four – of the nominees every year are set in the past. This is not surprising. Being set outside of day-to-day life, such films require a different sort of research and, moreover, draw attention to themselves by not appearing to be what we encounter every day.

    At the same time, fantasy titles show up at least once, often more, every year as well. Last year’s winner, “Avatar,” is a good example of this.  Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg created a completely different world strictly from imagination.

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  • INTERVIEW: ‘Inception’ composer Hans Zimmer and ambient music designer Mel Wesson

    From outside on 14th Street, Hans Zimmer’s Santa Monica offices reflect the typically sterile architecture of the city. Take a few steps in and you’re in the expected world of a musician: bays of dubbing equipment lining the walls, screening alcoves filled to the brim with technology, the usual trappings of a media artist…nothing out of sorts yet.

    However, something lurks behind a large, brown, engraved door in the back, a portal to a creative sanctum and a gargantuan expanse no one would expect to be housed within these otherwise unremarkable premises. Step inside and it feels more like a Viennese castle’s quarters than a Southern California office space (not that the reporter has been to a Viennese castle). Burgundy and cherry wood dominate the scenery as technology mingles with designs of another time, memorabilia decorating every nook and cranny, a Joker statuette keeping watch on the space from afar.

    Zimmer walks in, enthusiastic to discuss his contribution to Christopher Nolan’s “Inception.” He politely (yet somehow cheekily) asks if it’s alright that he smoke a cigarette, then settles in opposite his colleague, ambient music designer Mel Wesson.

    Twenty-six years into a lucrative Hollywood career, Zimmer is tapping into a new creative golden age. He’s coming off his eighth Oscar nomination for his delightfully jaunty work on 2009’s “Sherlock Holmes” and has been a key element of Nolan’s revitalized Batman franchise since 2005. But with “Inception,” his third collaboration with Nolan to date, he says he’s beginning to take note of early career lessons and how they are influencing his work today.

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  • FRIDAY FORECAST: Celebrity ‘Apprentice’

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

    Hey gang, it’s the weekend we’ve all been waiting for. “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” finally opens and satisfies our bloodlust for not one, but two fantasy collaborations between the Walt Disney company and Jerry Bruckheimer per summer. Perhaps only Pixar can rival their impressive streak of quality entertainment which includes “G-Force,” “Coyote Ugly” and “Bad Company.” More like good company!

    Nicolas Cage teams with the two of them for the seventh time and the hope is obviously to pull in “National Treasure” numbers. Actually, all six previous collaborations have earned over $125 million, so they obviously bring out the best in each other. Unfortunately, “National Treasure” looked brisk and fun while “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” looks dark and muddled.

    The film already opened on Wednesday and earned $7 million in its first two days. Not looking good for the old Cagester and Bruckmeister as the weekend should only muster another $18 million or so, becoming yet another summer title reliant on international grosses to make a profit. Maybe Jerry will have to stick to TV producing where he lords over, at my last count, 361 crime or detective shows. And at least Cage is shrewd with his money. Oh wait.

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  • OSCAR TALK: Ep. 28 — Special Edition! — ‘Inception’ (Yes it is! No it’s not!), Comic-Con preview, contenders so far

    Oscar TalkWelcome to Oscar Talk, your one-stop kudocast between yours truly and Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood.

    In the final of three off-season discussions, Anne and I address the following today:

    • Today is “Inception” day as Christopher Nolan’s latest hits theaters nationwide, so naturally, Anne and I dig into our thoughts on the film. See spoiler note below.  (Don’t forget to tell us what you think of the film.)

    • Unfortunately, thoughts on the film aren’t the only thoughts being bandied about, as criticisms of criticisms ran rampant throughout the week. Anne and I discuss the idea of responding to other reviews in the context of one’s own review.

    • Comic-Con is around the corner as Hollywood descends on San Diego to sell any and everything it collectively can to a geek audience foaming at the mouth. We briefly preview what interests us from the schedule.

    • A few potential awards movies have hit this summer already, which we’ve kind of addressed before, but we dig back in to see what could stay afloat come year’s end, as well as offer one last look ahead before we get to the season.

    Have a listen to the latest podcast below. As always, remember to subscribe to Oscar Talk via iTunes here. We’ll be back again, and weekly, at the start of this year’s awards season Friday, August 27.

    (PLEASE NOTE: There are “Inception” spoilers from roughly 13:00 – 18:00.)

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  • Tell us what you thought of ‘Inception’

    Had enough yet? Well, we hope not. We want to know what you think! I’ve had my say (and again, and again), as has Guy. But enough about us. Midnight screenings are flickering to life on the east coast right now so “Inception” has hit. If you get a chance to see it over the weekend, rifle off your thoughts here.