In Contention

Tag: Tom Ortenberg

  • 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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  • ‘Tree of Life’ alone in Apparition stable

    Things looked so upbeat for fledgling distribution outfit Apparition when they started out last year. Masterminded by former Picturehouse head Bob Berney, the company was christened with the acquisition of one of 2009’s best films, Jane Campion’s “Bright Star.” A classy roster of titles followed, including “The Young Victoria,” “Fair Game,” “The Runaways” and, most eagerly awaited of all, Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life.”

    They didn’t quite know what to do with everything they had — “Bright Star” was unfortunately buried by ill-thought scheduling and idle marketing — but they did manage to eke out an Oscar win for “Victoria” before their first birthday, and also nabbed one of the starrier titles at this year’s Sundance fest: the Kristen Stewart and James Gandolfini starrer “Welcome to the Rileys.” Not bad going, particularly in the current indie climate.

    How quickly things change in Hollywood. Just before Cannes, Berney caught industry watchers off-guard by pulling out of Apparition, and the company has been reeling from the shock ever since. Anne Thompson reports that co-founder Bill Pohlad has taken the drastic measure of shutting down their New York office and nearly halving the staff.

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  • 1/27 Oscarweb Round-up

    Stephen DaldryA late installment today.  Relaxing.

    • Kvetching over the “Dark Knight” slight, with stats to assist.  “The Reader” is officially the worst reviewed Best Picture nominee since 2000 and the lowest grossing as well. [Film.com]

    • The ‘Slumdog’ smear sure is relentless.  It’s just sad to see smart reporters like Dennis Lim taking the bait from publicists and an all-too-convenient backlash. [Slate]

    • Peter Bart dug the SAG Awards. [Peter Bart]

    • Dave Karger runs down some 2008 Oscar trivia, including the Stephen Daldry hat-trick of Best Director nods that, I believe, one of our commenters was all over on Thursday. [Entertainment Weekly]

    • Mickey Rourke is gonna lace up the boots for real at WrestleMania. [MSNBC]

    • David Carr and the value of an Oscar, monetarily speaking. [The Carpetbagger]

    • Patrick Goldstein checks out David Denby and A.O. Scott going at it on Charlie Rose. [The Big Picture]

    • The Weinstein Company brings on Lionsgate honcho Tom Ortenberg.  Hey, that might actually work. [Los Angeles Times]