Sandra Bullock lines up another movie project

By Sarah Sluis

Sandra Bullock may just be one of the most likeable leading ladies in Hollywood. On the heels of her Best Actress win at the Oscars for The Blind Side, she's been circling a number of potential movies.

The latest such project would re-team her with her director on The Proposal, Anne Fletcher, and be produced by Adam Shankman and Jennifer Gibgot. Variety described the project as "An Unmarried Woman meets Saturday Night Fever." So what does that mean? The 1978 movie An Unmarried Woman has been described as a woman's lib-inspired tale of an affluent Upper East Sider whose husband divorces her, leaving her unmoored. She learns to go out on her own and grow as a person. The allusion to Saturday Night Fever makes me think part of her self-discovery in this as-yet untitled film will involve DANCING!

Thoughts:

1) On one level, this project seems like a straight pandering to the "Dancing with the Stars" crowd, the popular reality competition show that has an intense following among middle-aged women: You, too, can redefine yourself after your divorce...through dance! Related: Can Bullock dance?

2) The "women's lib" element in An Unmarried Woman will have to be tweaked. Bullock can't be just a lady-who-lunches. Three decades later, most families have two working parents, and I don't think audiences will have as much sympathy for an rich idle woman in a recession climate. If she were in a situation where she was convinced to give up her career because of her husband's demanding job, for example, that would engender a lot more sympathy for her character.

Bullock has two other projects in the work that are more in the "serious drama" category: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, a Scott Rudin-led literary adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer's novel about 9/11, and Gravity, a sci-fi project being helmed by Alfonso Cuarn. I hope Bullock pursues one of these projects as well. Bullock has shown herself as an accomplished actress of comedy (Ms. Congeniality), action thrillers (Speed) and sentimental dramas (The Blind Side). Here's to seeing her in both familiar roles and new ones.

'Winter's Bone' leads Gotham Independent Nominations

By Sarah Sluis

The Gotham Independent Film Awards released their nominations, and with three nods, Winter's Bone leads the pack. The film now occupies the place in the awards arena that The Hurt Locker held last year Of course, that's no guarantee that the movie will end up gleanding the most awards, as The Hurt Locker did, but it has well-positioned Winter's Bone for the awards season.

While the Gotham Independent Awards stays close to its mission and really does reward movies with small budgets and under-the-radar followings, its picks occasionally appear in that holy grail of awards ceremonies, the Oscars (besides The Hurt Locker, Capote and Sideways have ended up with Oscar nods for Best Picture).

Winter's Bone has the best chance of securing the following Academy Award nominations: Best Actress for newcomer Jennifer Lawrence (though she doesn't have nearly the amount of momentum as last year's ingnue nominee, Carey Mulligan), and Best Film. With ten nominees for the top film, the drama has a definite chance of squeezing in.

Then there's the subject matter. Winter's Bone is the anti-Blind Side. It's a "flyover state" movie without the sentimentality. Its depressing realism makes the based-on-a-true-story The Blind Side seem like a fairy tale. Jennifer Lawrence plays a young woman whose father has skipped bail after putting the family house on the line as collateral. She journeys through a meth-riddled criminal world in a quest to find her father and save her home in the Ozarks. This is the kind of movie that can make L.A. and New York-based Oscar voters feel like they "know" or "get" the in-between states. In the name of cross-geographical understanding, who wouldn't want to vote for this film?

I'm putting Winter's Bone back in my list of contenders. So far, many of the awards-seeking movies have failed to top Winter's Bone, and I'm rooting for this quiet underdog. Here's hoping Roadside Attractions can mount a campaign for it.

'Jackass 3D' vaults to top with record-breaking $50 million debut

By Sarah Sluis

Audiences just couldn't get enough of Johnny Knoxville and Steve-O's self-injuring clowning in Jackass 3D. Their exploits, filmed in 3D, grossed $50 million, breaking the record for the highest opening for a
fall (Sept.-Oct.) release, previously held by Scary Movie. The first and second Jackass movies earned $22 million and $29 million, respectively, so the third film's opening represents a 66% boost. Attendance was up from the second film, but the biggest reason the movie scaled such heights was because of 3D surcharges: 92% of the film's earnings came from 3D screens.

Summit's comic book action-comedy Red made a strong debut in second place with $22.5 million. A slight male majority turned out for the movie, with 58% of the audience over 35. Though many of the leading characters are older (Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren), their youthful, gun-toting ways still appealed to younger audiences.

Hereafter had the strongest specialty debut of the week, scoring a stunning $38,500 per location during its six-theatre rollout. Clint Eastwood fans are a force to be reckoned with, and Hereafter seems poised to approach (though not meet) the success of his 2008 film Gran Torino, which opened with a $45,000 per-screen average and finished with $148 million.

Audiences were not as excited by Conviction, which sees Hilary Swank playing yet another real-life woman in adverse circumstances. Releasing in 11 theatres, it had a comparatively soft debut with a $10,000 per-screen average. Last year's Amelia, starring Swank, was also a disappointment for Fox Searchlight (earning just $14 million in theatres), so Swank may have to come up with some new tricks in order to lure back audiences.

Finishing just outside of the top ten, N-Secure, a drama/romance centering on affluent black professionals, accrued $1.3 million. The million-plus opening is an impressive showing, especially from first-time distributor Bluff City Films.

A documentary espousing financially conservative views, I Want Your Money, opened to just $520 per screen in its rather large 537-screen release. The amount of screens in release likely exceeded interest, driving down its per-theatre earnings.

This Friday, Hereafter will move into wide release on over 2,000 screens, and Halloween horror movie fans can get a head start on their scares with Paranormal Activity 2.

'Jackass 3D' and 'Red' lead new releases

By Sarah Sluis

The antics of Steve-O and his masochistic bunch continue in Jackass 3D (3,081 theatres). 80% of the screens will be in 3D, which is expected to boost the film's opening weekend and make it a strong contender for first place. The first Jackass opened to $22 million and the sequel to $29 million, so the film should post a number in the $20 millions.

A "Retired, extremely dangerous" group of CIA agents take the sceen in Red (3,255 theatres). Helen Mirren, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Mary-Louise Parker head up the cast. The action comedy centers on a retired CIA agent (Willis) who escapes an assassination attempt and tries to track down his killers. Adult males should comprise the majority of the audience. The success of this summer's The Expendables, which also featured adult "classic" action stars, has raised hopes for the movie's box-office potential. Critic Dana Stevens at Slate, however, was not impressed, sighing that Red "keeps up a steady, frantic barrage of bullets, blood, and wisecracks, but never manages to convince us that anyone involved�characters, actors, filmmakers or audience�is having any fun."

Two big studio films begin their platform releases today. Fox Searchlight's Conviction (11 theatres) stars Hilary Swank as Betty Anne Waters, a woman who went to law school in a successful attempt to free her brother, imprisioned for murder. Critic Kevin Lally enjoyed the movie but found it flawed: Conviction is "less remarkable than the story behind it, but it benefits from Tony Goldwyn's low-key direction and a very solid supporting cast."

Matt Damon re-teams with director Clint Eastwood in Hereafter (6 theatres), which centers on three characters' interest and connection to the afterlife. Damon stars as a psychic uncomfortable with his powers, Cecile de France portrays a woman who had a near-death experience in the Thailand tsunami, and a set of twins (Frankie/George McLaren) play a young English boy who lost his twin brother. Like many ensemble pieces, all three characters eventually meet. Critic Daniel Eagan had some quibbles with the film's script and sketchy depiction of the afterlife, among other things, but predicted that "audience reaction will be muted, but fans will still appreciate Eastwood's talent." Both Hereafter and Conviction have been mentioned as Oscar contenders at some point, but each film is currently tracking at 61% on Rotten Tomatoes, and based on critical reactions it seems safe to say they will each pick up, at most, a couple of ancillary nominations.

The anti-Obamacare, conservative documentary I Want Your Money will debut in 537 theatres, with Freestyle Releasing focusing on smaller markets, the Midwest, and the South. Most wide-releasing documentaries in the past few years (Michael Moore's projects, An Inconvenient Truth, etc.) have espoused liberal viewpoints, so it will be interesting to see if conservative audiences turn out as well, especially given the heated activity going on in the conservative realm, such as the Tea Party movement.

Releasing under the radar, N-Secure will bow in 483 theatres, primarily those that do well with Tyler Perry and other black-centered films. The suspense-melodrama centers on the romance and business dealings of a group of affluent black professionals.

Samson & Delilah, the tale of two young Aboriginal outcasts who find solace in each other, opens in New York City. The British black comedy Down Terrace will hit two theatres.

On Monday, I'll circle back to analyze the performance of Jackass 3D, Red, and see how Conviction and Hereafter set the stage for their expanding releases.

Back-to-back Spielberg in December 2011

By Sarah Sluis

Steven Spielberg hasn't directed anything for over two years. His last film, in case you can't remember, was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, a taut throwback to his earlier work but greeted rather tepidly by critics--and myself. He now has two films coming out: The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, which he's been working on for years, and War Horse, which only started production. Both films, it turns out, will release within five days of each other during December 2011.

Why so close?

-DreamWorks, which only has a financial stake in War Horse, made the decision to move the Disney release. They don't care about Tintin as much. But Spielberg probably does, and they also don't want to upset Sony and Paramount, the distributors of Tintin. The fact that Tintin will release first, followed by War Horse, seems like a concession of sorts. Tintin will be first out of the gate, and that can make a difference at the box office.

-War Horse "felt like a holiday movie," according to DreamWorks executive Stacey Snider. The movie centers on a young WWI soldier trying to find his horse, which is a rather Spielberg-y project; wars, young boys all alone, etc. The material is rather dark, especially if you look at the pictures of the stage production, so it makes sense that the movie will release during the holiday movie season, and not the more popcorn-y summer season. In fact, it makes me wonder if that was the plan all along.

In other news, literary adaptation The Help was moved to the spot vacated by War Horse, August 25th. Plans are to market this as an event film along the lines of Eat Pray Love or Julie & Julia. I enjoyed this novel, which was popular among book clubs. The premise has some similarities to the Fox Searchlight movie The Secret Life of Bees--a movie that opened to $10 million but made $37 million on an $11 million production budget. Both books center on white characters in black worlds in the South. Emma Stone, Viola Davis and Bryce Dallas Howard lead the cast, and I have high hopes for the film.

DreamWorks has an impressive slate planned, which includes other films like Real Steel (from Night of the Museum's Shawn Levy). I look forward to seeing the studio step up and turn out more of the "elevated genre" pictures (their wording) they plan on producing.

Thinking about what makes a good performance

By Sarah Sluis

When an actor is doing a good job, or even a so-so job, their work can be invisible. It can be hard to figure out just what they're doing that makes them so believable, funny, or completely embody the character. Add that to the fact that the Oscars tend to reward the more salient difficulties of the profession, such as gaining weight, looking ugly, or crying/dying/singing/being abused, and acting can seem like even more of a mystery.

That's why it was so interesting to watch THR's video of Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly. Five weeks into production, he was replaced by Michael J. Fox because director Robert Zemeckis felt that, according to executive producer Steven Spielberg, the actor's performance "wasn't getting as many laughs as I hoped."

Watching the footage, you can see that the facial expressiveness just isn't there. The scene at (:28) is the perfect example--McFly leans over the diner counter and sees his (young) father next to him. This is a slapstick-type moment, where you expect an exaggerated, panicked, wide-eyed expression on the lead actor's face. Stoltz totally underacts it. He adds some eye movements toward the end, which struck me as him trying to incorporate some notes from the director unsuccessfully. In general, he has a pretty blank expression on his face, a little too Buster Keaton for the movie's sensibilities, which require McFly to react and be flustered.

I'm sure that the inadequacies of Stoltz were even more apparent on set. I've only been on set in a student film capacity, but even then you can sort the people with acting ability from the people who don't have it. If you say, "Act angry," some people just can't do it. Sure, they can do it in a superficial way but they won't be able to calibrate the tone or intensity correctly--because acting's hard! If there's a shot that requires a simple eye movement or expression, they can't create that feeling with their body. I can see that in Back to the Future--it seems like it's actually quite difficult for Stoltz to be that expressive. His failure is that much more apparent because Fox nailed the scenes so well. Of course, it's important to point out that Stoltz isn't a bad actor, and in fact was nominated for a Golden Globe, among other awards, but he was miscast in the Back to the Future role--that type of comedy simply wasn't within his range.

Disney's tie-in extravaganza with 'Tron: Legacy'

By Sarah Sluis

Guests at Disneyland and Disney World will now be treated not only to attractions featuring their favorite cartoon and movie characters, but also to creations based on a film yet to be released--Tron: Legacy.

Variety reports that Disney has revamped its theme parks to advertise the upcoming sci-fi tentpole. The monorails have been wrapped with artwork to make "tronorails" resembling Tron lightcycles. A neon-themed Glow Fest has been repurposed and transformed into an elecTRONica attraction/promotion. While the advertising's reach is limited by the number of people that will go to the park, the message that reaches guests will probably have more impact, since it will be promoted along with the "best of the best" stories and characters that make it into the theme park.

Disney also plans to copy Fox's twenty-minute preview idea that helped promote Avatar. Like the James Cameron film, Tron: Legacy is (pretty much) brand new, with only a core of followers that remember the 28-year-old film. Though the graphics of the first film are impressive when viewed within the context of the time (about ten years after Pong but still before the original Mario Bros.), seeing the blocky graphics of the original can be a bit distracting. Tron: Legacy has cutting-edge special effects that will benefit from word-of-mouth, especially in 3D.

The multi-channel marketing is an interesting addition to Disney's plan to create high-profile, high-quality projects that can be re-used across all their channels, from spin-off television shows to theme park rides to straight-to-DVD movies. Disney is now showing that they want to use the combined strength of their business not only to give a movie multiple lives after its release, but to build up a movie before its release.

Disney has been "off-brand" in the past. Growing up, when I saw the Disney castle logo play before a film, singing along as the star made an arc across the castle, my response was pure Pavlovian, generating anticipation and emotion before I saw a frame of the film. No other opening credits generated that kind of involvement on my part. They say that ninety-something percent of kids recognize Mickey Mouse. Disney is trying to make more Mickey Mouses, and if they can, especially with Tron, they'll be the studio to bet on.