fyc pt. 4

Time again for the weekly news round-up on my Oscar Contenders. Last week I made a point to talk about each film on my list, this week I am only mentioning films that had any new news within the past week. Still in order of release:

Never Let Me Go
After opening on the 15th Never Let Me Go had a weekend best (9/17-19) $30,250 per theater average. As of 9/23 the film boasts a cumulative total of $196,592. The film has been playing in only 4 theaters since its opening; however it expands to 26 screens this weekend.
And oh, yeah. Ebert threw a 4-star review its way.

The Social Network
Buzz on this movie is through the roof. Besides the overwhelmingly amazing/glorious/magnificent/majestic/resplendent/ marvelous/splendid/superb/triumphant reviews coming out (no, seriously, I have yet to read a review where the critic is not falling over him/herself over how good this movie is) it is getting ready for more buzz by opening tonight (9/24) at the New York Film Festival. And the Broadcast Film Critics score is in and not only did the film earn a Seal of Approval, but it scored an amazing 92. (Plus, check out the Rotten Tomatoes score – 100% so far!) And Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook founder) is scheduled to appear on The Oprah Winfrey Show today to announce a $100 million donation to the Newark public schools system. I first heard this news when it broke Wednesday night and immediately said out loud “that’s convenient.” It’s no secret that The Social Network doesn’t exactly show Zukerberg in the best of light. (At best he is being called an “asshole”.) Guy Lodge from In Contention gives voice to my thoughts:

“Of course, the news has nothing ostensibly to do with The Social Network, but it’s a handy coincidence that Zuckerberg should choose to make this highly public act of charity one week ahead of the release of a film that may not cast him in the most generous light (and the day it opens the New York Film Festival). He gets to preemptively defend his character, the film gets a bump from its subject’s exposure on America’s highest-rated talk show, and public education gets a big fat check. If that isn’t the very definition of “win-win,” I don’t know what is.”

In the end, I guess the most important thing is that a school system with some of the worst public schools in the country is going to get the help they need to improve. I just can’t help being a bit cynical about the motivation behind it though.

The Town
With the box office numbers The Town put up this past weekend, it seems like overnight Oscar talk started surrounding the film. The numbers are impressive. They are much larger than predicted. $8 million more than predicted to be exact (advance tracking predicted a $15 million opener – the film made $23.8.) And the reviews are great (an impressive 94% at rotten tomatoes). And last Saturday (9/18) there was a wildly enthusiastic reception at the film’s Academy screening. But a Best Picture contender? I still don’t think so.
There is no doubt that the film has gained some major traction and momentum that could possibly carry it into Oscar season; but that is a far cry from it being an actual contender. The film had a terrific week at the box office (a cumulative total of $33,086,901 as of 9/23); but we have yet to see how it really holds. I fell The Town will need to become a smash hit, as opposed to a mere success, to remain in the Best Picture conversation for the next four months. If next month it’s still hanging out around the top, we might have something to talk about.
Outside of the Best Picture talk other nominations make a bit more sense to me. I said long before the movie opened, if any awards come The Town’s way I think it will be in the form of a supporting nod for Jeremy Renner, and quite possibly for Best Adapted Screenplay (Affleck knows a little something about that last one – after all he did bring home a golden statue for Best Original Screenplay with Matt Damon for Good Will Hunting.)

Hereafter
Last week the first theatrical trailer for Hereafter was released, and this week we get a first look at the poster for the film. And I have to say that I hate it. This movie is killing me. I wanted it to be much better than what it’s turning out to be. The poster is just pure cheese. With Matt Damon as your star lead and Clint Eastwood as your director I just expected more. Hereafter is closing out the New York Film Festival October 10th, here’s hoping it gets a better reception than it did in Toronto.

Love and Other Drugs
Finally some news about this one! On Thursday (9/23) it was announced that Love and Other Drugs will make its world premiere on November 5th when it opens the AFI Festival. Can’t wait for more word on this one.

The King’s Speech
Well, in case you weren’t already convinced, you can pretty much write a Best Picture nod for The King’s Speech in ink now. The attendees of the 2010 Toronto Film Festival have awarded the film the People’s Choice Award, the festival’s highest honor – confirming that the film plays well across the board. Previous People’s Choice winners include a slew of Academy Award Best Picture winners or nominees including, Brokeback Mountain, Slumdog Millionaire, and Precious. So, yes, place your money on The King’s Speech at least garnering a nomination.
The Weinstein Co. is set to release The King's Speech in limited release on November 26 and it appears it will be keeping a low profile until then so as not to wear out its welcome following big buzz out of Telluride and Toronto.
And finally, this past week the trailer was released:


Black Swan
On Thursday (9/23) it was announced that Black Swan will close out the AFI Fest. Just one more festival in its string of many along a road in which Fox Searchlight hopes will end at the Oscars.

Rabbit Hole
As stated last week - this film entered TIFF without distribution, but by the time it left was sitting pretty thanks to an acquisition by Lionsgate. The purchase surely came with a certain commitment (money wise) for an Oscar campaign. With positive buzz on the performances of the cast (Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart, Dianne Wiest) it’s easy to see why. Late Thursday night the first step in that campaign came in the form of a release date - a limited release on December 17th with a wide release on January 14th.

The Kids Are All Right
I have been calling for a Lead Actress nod for Annette Bening for months now, and was almost positive that to secure that Focus Features would go the Dreamgirls route and “demote” Julianne Moore for Supporting. So I was surprised when Focus Features announced this week that they will be campaigning for both Bening and Moore as Lead Actress. Both actresses were superb in the film, so I’m not trying to take anything away from them by stating that I think this is a mistake. I understand the position the distributor has taken, as both roles are large and have complete character arcs, I just think this could quite possibly ruin both of their chances at even getting a nomination. If voters have to split their vote between the two The Kids are All Right costars I have a feeling they might just cancel each other out. Or Moore finds herself on the outside looking in.