In Contention

Tag: The Proposal

  • Bullock calls for real comedy

    Sandra Bullock in All About SteveIt’s not like one needed a further reason to hop on the “We Love Sandra Bullock” train in this of all weeks, but the actress obligingly provides one anyway in this highly enjoyable Guardian interview with John Patterson. Speaking of the genre that has become her bread and butter over the years, she offers these rather forthright words:

    Usually comedy is only available to us ladies in the romantic comedy. That’s why I hate romantic comedies. I want to make comedic-comedies – let’s get back to being funny!

    There are so many things to like about this statement, only one of them being that it’s absolutely true. She may have predictably made her Oscar breakthrough by crossing over to “respectable” middlebrow drama, but Bullock is one of our most gifted screen comediennes, possessed of wit, timing and physical performance ability surplus to the requirements of the lame comedic vehicles she is usully given.

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  • SANTA BARBARA: Bullock receives the American Riviera Award

    Sandra Bullock at the 25th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival“It” girl of the year, Sandra Bullock, was feted here in Santa Barbara last night.  The two-hour celebration of her career, a Q&A moderated by Pete Hammond with clips of her work thrown in here and there, was, to be perfectly honest, one of the better tributes I’ve seen, culminating with Forest Whitaker’s presentation of the American Riviera Award to the actress.

    The award is given to an actor or actress who has made an indelible mark on American cinema, and regardless of the prescience of festival director Roger Durling’s choice (the invitation was extended back in September, before anyone would have dreamed Bullock would be the frontrunner to win the Best Actress Oscar), it’s an undeniable pick given Bullock’s status in the industry.

    Hammond began his introduction by noting the annual Quigley poll, which charts the success of movie stars and “is usually dominated by male actors,” he said.  “Johnny Depp, Matt Damon, George Clooney, Robert Downey Jr.,” he said.  “But guess who’s at the top?”

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  • Blind sided by a charming pair

    (from left) Sandra Bullock and Quenton Aaron in The Blind SideI haven’t been much for “The Blind Side” this year.  I gave it a look pre-release and thought it was somewhat flat, expected it to be a modest hit (but was it much more than that) and maybe stir awards talk for Sandra Bullock but beyond that, I didn’t think it would move the needle much.  Then the film took a life of its own, eventually crossing the $200 million domestic mark, yielding story after story focused on Bullock’s amazing year (the film is the first female-driven film to hit that box office milestone).

    So I thought at best last night’s little event for the film at Il Cielo in Beverly Hills would be a nice opportunity for some free drinks and a brief chat with a likely on-her-press-game Bullock and little else.  But boy was I wrong.  After speaking with both Bullock and star Quenton Aaron for quite a while, I think they’ve made for one of my favorite experiences of the season.

    Aaron, for starters, is absolutely charming, humble, nice as he could be and just a delight to talk to.  I’m not used to looking up at people, but at 6′ 8″, I’m sure Aaron is the same way.  Before getting the role he was working as a security guard at Rockefeller Center in New York.  The first person he told about the news, in fact, was Tina Fey, who was walking by in the hallway when he let loose a scream of joy while on his cell phone.  “What is it?,” she said, startled herself.  “I just got this part,” Aaron told her.

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  • Bullock to present Betty White with SAG honor

    Betty White at the Los Angeles premiere of The ProposalOkay, who is Betty White’s publicist and has he or she slept at all this season?

    Seriously, first there were some scattered web ads pushing White’s performance in “The Proposal” for Best Supporting Actress, then there was this massive spread in the trades gunning for the same.  (That ad was lovingly chided by the cut-ups at Vulture this week.)

    It was announced back in September that White would receive the Screen Actors Guild’s lifetime achievement award, but now comes (perhaps totally anticipated) word that Sandra Bullock, “it” girl of the year, will be presenting White with said honor.

    By the way, in case you missed it when Chad brought it up Sunday, Bullock made history this weekend when “The Blind Side” became the first female-driven vehicle to cross the $200 million mark.

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  • Good point

    I’d also suggest that the resurgence of women as box office makers or breakers is not to be under-estimated. Yes, women went to the movies before “Sex and the City: The Movie” last year (18 months ago), but it seems that since then there have been more women-oriented hits that can be solely claimed as being hits BECAUSE of women (and not “women taking their boyfriends” or whatever). “Julie & Julia”, “The Proposal” and, obviously, “Twilight: New Moon” and so on. Plus, so many people were saying “will Avatar get women audiences?” and I think the answer is most definitely YES.

    –Reader/commenter Glenn, in our “moments of the year” discussion yesterday.

  • 7/28 Web Round-up

    Judd Apatow• Whoa.  Remember Anna Chlumsky? [CNN]

    • Do “Antichrist” and “The Proposal” peddle outdated views of women? [The Guardian]

    • Roger Ebert talks at length with “Funny People” director Judd Apatow. [Chicago Sun-Times]

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  • SUNDAY CENTS: ‘G-Force’ hits the G-spot

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

    $32.2 million worth of Americans needed to see what happens when talking guinea pigs are entrusted with saving the world this weekend and have made “G-Force” our number one movie at the box office. Since I predicted $35 million last week, I can’t say this was unexpected, even if it is depressing. With yet another solid performance, the days of talking CGI critters interacting with cash-strapped human actors are just beginning.

    Second place goes to “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” which dipped a now standard 61% to $30 million. It was only eight years ago when the first film opened but its 36% second weekend drop is already a figure from a bygone box office era. In 2009, if you open above $50 million and drop under 50%, then you are a word of mouth sensation.

    “Potter” has $221.8 million in the bank after 12 days, which is third best in the series at this point but I think we’re still looking at the second lowest total grosser when it’s all said and done.

    Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler tried to convince Americans that no matter how repulsive or reprehensible you find someone, if you spend a little bit of time with them you will fall in love – providing they are attractive, of course – in “The Ugly Truth” and $27 million worth of patrons took the bait. That’s not quite “The Proposal” numbers but it won’t do either star any harm in landing their next awful projects.

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  • WEEKLY WRAP: Bombshell upon bombshell

    Michael JacksonWeird, unsettling week, this. Here’s how it went down:

    • In the week’s biggest movie news, the Academy threw us all for a loop by announcing a 10-nominee slate for the Best Picture category.

    • But even that shock was dwarfed in scale by the stunning news of Michael Jackson’s passing.

    • And in a rather bleak week for losing talent, we also said goodbye to Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon.

    • On a happier note, we laid eyes on two of our most eagerly awaited films of the year — “Public Enemies” and “Antichrist” — and liked what we saw.

    • AMPAS continues its tinkering, this time in the Best Original Song category.

    • The “Transformers” sequel opened to critical scorn even accusations of racism, but is the film totally indefensible?

    • With “The Hurt Locker” finally going public today, we caught up with the film’s breakout star Jeremy Renner.

    • We revealed our age by celebrating the 20th anniversary of Tim Burton’s “Batman.”

    • Continuing the reflective mood, this week’s list considered the greatest directorial debuts of the decade.

    • Speaking of debuts, “The Proposal” gave Sandra Bullock the biggest of her career.

  • SUNDAY CENTS: Audiences accept Bullock’s ‘Proposal’

    The ProposalWith absolutely nothing targeted towards the date crowd yet this summer, Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds took the stalest looking romantic comedy all the way to the top of the box office with $34.1 million. That’s far and away Bullock’s best debut as she’s used to figures in the high teens and then leggy runs after that. For Reynolds, well, it’s not even his biggest opening this summer but he now has thousands of Grandma’s to count as new fans. Given the dearth of direct competition, I think this has enough gas in the tank to get to $100 million.

    Way past that figure is “The Hangover,” dropping a microscopic 18% in second place for $26.9 million and $152.9 million total. There’s not much left to say here except that this is a film that tapped into the zeitgeist and there’s no duplicating or explaining it. Moving on.

    “Up” also held well, passing the domestic total for “WALL-E” and it’s still in the top three. While the film certainly stands on its own, some of that success is due to “Ratatouille” and “WALL-E” building the company’s reputation amongst adults. They set ‘em up, and Carl Fredricksen knocks ‘em down.

    Fourth place is where you’ll find the other new release, “Year One.” Plagued with bad buzz from vitriolic internet users, a $20.2 million opening isn’t actually half bad. The Friday to Saturday drop is, however, and this will be lucky to get to $50 million total. It may not make it’s money back until way down the line but nobody’s getting fired over this one and Michael Cera will live to see another painfully awkward day.

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  • SUNDAY CENTS: Bad ‘Hangover’ for new openers and holdovers

    The Taking of Pelham 123After denying “Up” the bragging rights of a repeat at the top of the box office at the last minute, “The Hangover” has accomplished that feat itself.

    The R-rated comedy dropped a minuscule 26% to add another $33.4 million to the bank and give it a very real shot at $200 million-plus. That’s a benchmark reserved for very few comedies and only the best of the best like “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and “Crocodile Dundee.”  Speaking of those two, it’s a pity Nia Vardalos didn’t look to Paul Hogan’s career for a glimpse at the dangers of repetitive ethnic-centric comedy. If there’s a bigger success story than “The Hangover” this summer, we are in for some big shockers.

    Speaking of shockers, I saw the movie this week and I didn’t like it at all. Aside from some fresh stuff from Zach Galifianakis, it was pretty stale to me. It’s no “Wedding Crashers,” that’s for sure.

    “Up” also held up extremely well, dropping only 31% and staying in the runner-up spot with $30.5 million. It now seems likely to pass “Cars” and wind up the sixth highest grossing Pixar film when all is said and done.* I’ve always said that miscarriages in cartoons equals big bucks and finally somebody listened.

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  • 5/15 Web Round-up

    (from left) Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. in The Soloist• In the wake of the new “Nine” trailer, Ryan Adams takes a look at the story’s awards ancestry. [Awards Daily]

    • Helen O’Hara on the trouble with romantic comedies and how to fix them.  Screw it, I kind of want to see “The Proposal.” [Empire]

    • Andrew O’Hehir on why the original “Star Trek” series still matters. [Beyond the Multiplex]

    • Linda Milazzo takes a mean-spirited cheap shot at “The Soloist.” [The Huffington Post]

    • Lauren Wissot talks to “Girlfriend Experience” star Sasha Grey. [Spout Blog]

    • George Johnson wonders why a 200-year-old conspiracy theory still haunts the Vatican. [Slate]

    • David Thomson remembers the great James Mason, who would have been 100 today. [The Guardian]

    • Nat Rogers: “Nine reasons I must see ‘Nine’ NOW.” [The Film Experience]

    • Gill Pringle chats with Dustin Hoffman about acting in love stories. [The Independent]

  • I am human

    I was amazed at the number of trailers I caught over the weekend for films I actually wanted to see.  I’m usually rolling my eyes or, better yet, taking a refreshment and/or bathroom break, but I lit up a little bit.

    The new “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” materials could really do no wrong for a guy like me at this point, though I’m dreading that release more and more.  The whispers are ugly.  Still, even if all the good stuff is in the trailer — it’s a hell of a trailer.  Even fluff like “The Proposal” looks appealing at this point.  And I’m totally on board for “Observe and Report” (which reminds me I need to address “Eastbound and Down” at some point).

    All of this is a long way of coming to that new “Terminator Salvation” trailer I’m sure you’ve all seen by now.  Maybe I’m alone, but this is one of the most exciting trailers I’ve seen in a long, long time.  Of course NIN’s “The Day the Whole World Went Away” is put to great use throughout, but I was a little surprised at the idea of spilling a major plot point maybe a minute into the thing (which might not be that big of a spoiler in this age of AICN obssessive pre-release plot excavation — I can’t keep up).

    Anyway, I’ve been amped up for the film for a long time, despite the expected lingering atmosphere of anxiety.  I think we dodged a bullet with “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” a film I actually respect quite a bit, but the potential for outright disaster is right there in front of our faces on this thing.  Here’s hoping…