In Contention

Tag: Inglourious Basterds

  • SUNDAY CENTS: ‘Do Bad’ does good!

    I Can Do Bad All By Myself*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    Another day, another dollar for Tyler Perry. The man has released two films a year since 2006 and can’t seem to be unsuccessful if he tried. “I Can Do Bad All By Myself” is an easy candidate for worst title of the year, but it opened to the tune of $24 million and first place by a mile.

    That ranks as Perry’s third-biggest debut as director and his best outside of February. If you are looking for one of the most unique and successful box office stories of the decade, look no further than the rise of the Perry Empire. He is the Pixar of religious cable-TV drama meets fat suit comedy.

    Second place goes to “9,” which earned $10.9 milion over the weekend and $15.3 million since opening on Wednesday. For a PG-13 rated animated flick with seemingly very little appeal outside of young males, that’s a great result. The best thing about this success is that all you need is a potato sack and a highlighter and you’ve got a recognizable Halloween costume. You’re welcome.

    “Inglourious Basterds” holds firm in the top three and passes the $100 million mark in the process. Tarantino was in very real danger of making a series of films that diminished his audience rather than expanded it, but he has turned it around here. Now all you need is a Clark Gable mustache and some prop scalps and you’ve got a recognizable Halloween costume.

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  • 9/10 Web Round-up

    Christian McKay in Me and Orson Welles• Peter Travers is pissed about the “Shutter Island” bump to 2010. [Rolling Stone]

    • “Me and Orson Welles” gets a distributor in Freestyle Releasing. [The Wrap]

    • “The Road,” meanwhile, gets pushed to Thanksgiving, in direct competition with the Weinsteins’ other Oscar hopeful, “Nine.” [Variety]

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  • MONDAY CENTS: ‘Destination’ Labors to another victory

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

    Labor Day is known as the end of the summer season and the void it causes at the multiplexes is the underline to that point. This year was no different as “The Final Destination” repeated at the top of the chart with $15.4 million over the four-day period. Even with an extra day, that’s still a 44% drop from last week, but as you’ll see with “Halloween II,” it could have been a lot worse. The film’s running total has passed $50 million, which means that Warner Bros. is scrambling to invent 5D technology to make the naming of the fifth film more convenient.

    Second place goes to “Inglourious Basterds,” which could very well be number one when actual figures are released tomorrow. Another $15 million takes the cume to $95.2 million and earns the film a place in the top 10 success stories of the summer. Revisionist World War II films are now totally in vogue and “Harold and Kumar Inadvertently Join the Third Reich” is currently on the fast track.

    Third place goes to our first debut of the week, “All About Steve,” starring Sandra Bullock and Bradley Cooper. To those who thought I was low-balling the film last week I just want t0 say: “Good call.”  Despite a staggering 5% rating at Rotten Tomatoes, the film managed to sucker $13.9 million worth of lonely women and whipped men to the theater. Personally, it’s a rule of mine to avoid films that have a lame pun for a title.

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  • OFF THE CARPET: Take a deep breath…

    George Clooney in Up in the AirThe calm before the storm is beginning to subside.  Can you sense it?

    By the end of the week, the Venice and Telluride fests will be underway.  A week later, Toronto will weigh in.  When the smoke settles in roughly three weeks, the season will suddenly be a lot clearer…and yet so much of it will remain a mystery as latter year hopefuls limp (or stomp) into the fray in November and December.

    Yes, the season is upon us.  And while studios continue to think over the true value of Oscar notices, especially in a widened playing field, business marches on as usual.  Venice will tell the tale for efforts like “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” “The Informant!,” and “Capitalism: A Love Story,” while Telluride could make or break the hopes of films such as “The Road” and “Up in the Air.”

    Some overlap will go down in Toronto, but the most anticipated first-look there will likely be the Coen brothers’ “A Serious Man.”  Meanwhile, distributors might be looking to beef up their schedules with films like “Creation” and “Leaves of Grass” looking for buyers.  But for those with ponies primed and ready, these festivals are very much the starting gun for awards runs, as ever.

    So before the madness ensues, we get one more stab in the dark.  But given the perceived road ahead, it seems to me that films with a healthy pre-season awards profile going into the fall are in pretty good shape as it is.

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  • SUNDAY CENTS: ‘Halloween’ suffers ‘Final’ cut

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

    When it comes to a death match, would anyone bet against death himself? Two high profile horror franchises released their latest installments on the last weekend of the summer and the winner is “The Final Destination.”

    $28.3 million is a new high for the series and proves the value of 3D, at least as far as body parts flying out of the screen are concerned. There’s no other explanation as to why these movies would continually improve since they are, quite literally, the exact same plot done again and again with only the most minor of tweaks. Now the only interesting thing about the series is trying to guess what they’ll call the next movie. “The Real Final Destination: Honest”?

    “Halloween II” could only muster up $17.4 million for third place, which is a steep drop from the original film’s showing, most likely because everybody hated that movie. Rob Zombie seemed to offer nothing but more of the same and if uncomfortable glasses and flying body parts coming straight at me aren’t in the equation, then there’s nothing else to say.

    It’s interesting that the Weinsteins chose to release this only one week after their other big summer film and against competition they should have known they would lose to.

    Sandwiched between those two is Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds.” A respectable 48% drop to $20 million for the weekend and $73.8 million so far means that Tarantino and his film have to be taken a little more seriously by Oscar. I mean, it’s got World War II subject matter, a return-to-form director, critical and public approval, Mike Myers. Three of those four things, the Academy can’t resist.

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  • WEEKLY WRAP: ‘Inception’ unwrapped, ‘Shutter’ unseated

    Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception• One day after the film’s trailer surfaced, we turned up some fresh plot information about Christopher Nolan’s “Inception.” Fan hysteria ensued.

    • Just in case you’d forgotten, “Shutter Island” was booted into 2010. Fan hysteria ensued.

    • To a quieter reaction, Julie Taymor’s “The Tempest” joined Scorsese’s film on the sidelines for next year.

    • In submitting “The White Ribbon,” Germany gave the foreign-language race its first major official contender.

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  • 8/28 Web Round-up

    Joseph Gordon-Levitt• “Avatar”-izing James Cameron’s past characters. [MTV Movies Blog]

    • Following “The Hurt Locker,” Kathryn Bigelow aiming for a similar visceral style for “Triple Frontier.” [The Playlist]

    • Joseph Gordon-Levitt: the new Heath Ledger? [The Guardian]

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Sound Mixing — Volume I

    Star TrekA few weeks ago I analyzed the Best Sound Editing category, which awards the creation and integration of artificially created sound effects.  Today, we look at sound mixing – the overall composition of all the elements of a movie’s soundscape into a singular soundtrack. The re-recording mixers, who do this work during post-production, are rewarded alongside the production sound mixer, who captures the sound on set.

    Loud films tend to be rewarded here, with blockbusters and war films, as well as films heavily reliant on music, popping up more often than not.

    Speaking of which, I’ll start by discussing the only musical that will likely find some wiggle room here this year. I am speaking, of course, of Rob Marshall’s “Nine.” Marshall’s return to the musical genre strikes me as quite likely to score in this category barring the film being a catastrophe.  It’s worth noting that 11-time Oscar nominee Rick Kline is on board, and he’s yet to win a statuette.

    James Cameron’s films have excelled in the sound categories. If his “Avatar” does not have a very interesting and unique soundscape, I’ll be quite surprised. I suspect the film could be more of a showcase for sound effects than the overall mix, I nevertheless anticipate it finding a home here as well.

    Pixar has done very well in this category lately, with three of its last four films scoring nominations. “Up” is likely to one-up (no pun intended) those films by also finding a home in the Best Picture category.  Nevertheless, the film’s sound is not as integral to the film as many of the previous Pixar efforts. A nomination here is certainly very possible. But I’d hardly call it a sure thing.  Vets Tom Myers and Michael Semanick (both from the “WALL-E” team) are on board.

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  • 8/27 Web Round-up

    Mike Leigh• Steven Spielberg to take on Michael Crichton one more time with “Pirate Latitudes.” [USA Today]

    • Anne Thompson is on Toronto doc watch. [Thompson on Hollywood]

    • Mike Leigh starts in on his “Happy Go Lucky” follow-up. [The Hollywood Reporter]

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  • Tarantino does Conan

    (Part two after the jump.)

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  • 8/26 Web Round-up

    Tim Burton• The “Inglourious Basterds” one-sheet that could have been. [Poster Wire]

    • On the occasion of Tim Burton’s 51st birthday (yesterday), an appreciation. [Hero Complex]

    • On Marvin Hamlisch’s “hilariously schmaltzy” score for “The Informant!” [The Playlist]

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  • 8/25 Web Round-up

    Charlize Theron in The Burning Plain• Jeff Wells speaks up on the Best Actress race. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • “Black Dynamite” goes to Apparition. [Variety]

    • Behinds the scenes of “The Burning Plain.” [Coming Soon]

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  • Below-the-line ‘Basterds’

    Brad Pitt in Inglourious BasterdsIt does my heart good to see more and more outlets giving the proper consideration to below-the-line talent when it comes to film publicity.  As you know, we’ve made it a rather concentrated effort to spotlight these individuals in Gerard’s weekly Tech Support columns and have been at it for the last three years.

    A couple of pieces caught my eye today featuring talent associated with Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds,” a film that, despite my feelings of the narrative, had a rather refreshing visceral sheen to it.  That’s a tribute, no doubt, to folks like Bob Richardson, David Wasco, Anna B. Sheppard, etc.

    First up is a piece at BoxWish.com featuring costume designer Anna B. Sheppard (whose work in the film is on display at LA area theaters this week).  An esteemed costumer twice Oscar-nominated for Holocaust cinema (Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List” and Roman Polanski’s “The Pianist”), she certainly brought a lot to the table.

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  • 8/24 Web Round-up

    Carey Mulligan in An Education• Carey Mulligan praises “An Education” writer Nick Hornby for being objective with her character. [New York Magazine]

    • Gene Simmons tapped to vocalize Del Toro’s “Wolf Man.” [Contact Music]

    • Fear not, there’s hope for more “Beavis and Butt-Head” on the horizon. [Collider]

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  • ‘Basterds’ box office owed to Pitt?

    (from left0 Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt at the Los Angeles premiere of Inglourious basterdsBuried at the bottom of this Independent study of the diminishing star factor in Hollywood was a nugget about Weinstein Company honcho Harvey Weinstein’s marketing strategy for “Inglourious Basterds,” which had Brad Pitt front and center (and, in a way, made the actor appear to be a bigger element of the film than he in fact was).

    Defending the star mold to an extent, Weinstein is quoted as saying “Pitt is a super-superstar at the apex of his popularity and he is a large part of why people want to see this movie.”

    So I’ll put it out to the readership.  With films like “Land of the Lost,” “Duplicity,” “Funny People” and “Public Enemies” coming up short at the box office despite starring popular actors and actresses, is it fair to chalk the “Inglourious” take up to star appeal?  Is it a Tarantino attraction?  Is it the subject matter of the film?  Is it a combination of all?  Probably the latter, though I think the perfect storm of Pitt and Tarantino made more than a few people curious.  It’s a powerful pairing after all.

    Your thoughts?

  • ‘Basterds’ threads on display at LA area theaters

    So Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” has opened and made a dent in the box office.  Go team.  The Oscar discussion ranges from “It could get in with 10 nominees” to “Maybe something in the techs,” and you can count me in the latter camp.  In fact, as usual, Tarantino assembled a talented below-the-line team for his latest film, not least of them being costume designer Anna B. Sheppard.

    Here in Los Angeles, Sheppard’s work is getting its day in the sun with a displays at the Arclight Hollywood, Arclight Sherman Oaks and Landmark Theater.  Personally, I see this as the film’s best shot at an Oscar nod, and given that the Hollywood Arclight is a hub of sorts for industry types when they go out and pay with the masses, this set-up could go a long way toward securing a notice this season.  (Two more pics after the jump.)

    Inglourious Basterds costume design display

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  • SUNDAYE CENTZ: Glory for ‘Basterds’

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

    An advertising campaign built around aggressive violence and the reputation of a polarizing director, a late August release date and mixed early word coming out of Cannes were all factors working against “Inglourious Basterds” leading up to its release. All for naught, however, as the film took in a fantastic $37.6 million, marking a new career high for the director.

    Films opening at this point in August simply aren’t supposed to do this well, with the previous high debut on this particular week in the year belonging to “Blade” with $26.1 million in 1998. For The Weinstein Company, this is very welcome news and serves as only the company’s second number one film and first since “Scary Movie 4” in 2006. It is bad news, however, for 2nd grade spelling teachers.

    Interestingly enough, the debut is a near mirror image of last week’s “District 9,” which dropped a very respectable 49% to $18.9 million and second place. The running total stands at $73.5 million and the film continues to generate talk around the water cooler. And by water cooler, of course I mean anonymous virtual chat rooms.

    “The Time Traveler’s Wife” dipped 46%, probably because people realized that a movie about the person who travels through time would have been way more exciting than the movie about the person who sits around waiting for him to come back.

    Tarantino’s old partner in crime, Robert Rodriguez, tried to one-up him with pandering children’s fantasy but “Shorts” came up short (ba-zing!) at $6.6 million and sixth place. Rodriguez loves to throw one of these kids movies in every few years or so and that’s cool, but maybe he should come up with something a little more clever than a rock that grants wishes next time.

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  • Tell us what you thought of ‘Inglourious Basterds’

    (from left) Eli Roth and Brad Pitt in Inglourious Basterds

    Believe it or not, there are things going on this weekend that don’t involve “Avatar.”  Namely, Quentin Tarantino’s seventh film to date, “Inglourious Basterds,” hits theaters nationwide.  I’ve offered my considerably negative thoughts already, but be sure to let us know what you thought once you see it this weekend.  I expect it’ll do pretty decent business and will likely find an audience, but reactions have certainly been divided so far.