Tis the Season: The Film Independent Spirit Awards

(Scroll over film titles for the full Black Sheep review.)

Last week, I was in Montreal on non-movie related business. It was consuming to say the least. Not only did I miss the announcement that James Franco and Anne Hathaway will be hosting the Oscars, but I also missed the nominations for the Film Independent Spirit Awards. This ceremony is always held the evening before the Oscars and honours the best in American independent cinema, including shout-out's to foreign entries and documentaries as well.

The 2010 nominees are a fantastic bunch with a couple of notable exceptions that could cripple Oscar odds right from the start. Leading the pack with seven nominations, is WINTER'S BONE, the "chilling" tale of survival in the Ozarks, with nods for Best Feature, Director (Debra Granik) , Lead Actress (Jennifer Lawrence), Screenplay (Granik and Anne Rosellini), Supporting Actress (Dale Dickey) and Supporting Actor (John Hawkes). The film is considered an underdog at the Oscars and this will certainly assist its Best Picture odds, as well as its actors' chances. Coming in next with 5 nods is the summer indie favorite, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, from director, Lisa Cholodenko. Cholodenko earns nods for writing and directing, while the film nabs a Best Feature nod and stars Annette Bening and Mark Ruffalo earn acting kudos in their respective categories. The film has a good shot at the Oscar Top 10 and Cholodenko might nab a screenplay nod as well, but no nomination for Julianne Moore in such a competitive year here, where she should have easily been rewarded, is a very bad start for her.

The Best Feature category is rounded out by 127 HOURS, BLACK SWAN and GREENBERG. Of the five nominees, GREENBERG is the only entry I don't believe in. I doubt the love shown here will translate elsewhere either. RABBIT HOLE would have been a much stronger choice. Still, the John Cameron Mitchell film was honoured with screenplay and direction nods, as well as one for lead actress, Nicole Kidman and lead actor, Aaron Eckhardt. Meanwhile, Oscar front runner, THE KING'S SPEECH earns a slot in the Foreign Film category, the only one it could have hoped for. This will certainly be the first amongst many accolades for the Tom Hooper hopeful. I was also disappointed not to see more love for the Nicole Holofcener gem PLEASE GIVE, which took just one nod for screenplay.

The Independent Spirit Awards will be held on February 26, 2011 and hosted by Joel McHale, the star of television's "Community". Here are the major category nominees:

BEST FEATURE

127 HOURS

BLACK SWAN

GREENBERG

THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

WINTER'S BONE

BEST DIRECTOR

Darren Aronofsky, BLACK SWAN

Danny Boyle, 127 HOURS

Lisa Cholodenko, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

Debra Granik, WINTER'S BONE

John Cameron Mitchell, RABBIT HOLE

BEST SCREENPLAY

Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Bloomberg, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini, WINTER'S BONE

Nicole Holofcener, PLEASE GIVE
David Lindsay-Abair, RABBIT HOLE

Todd Solondz, LIFE DURING WARTIME

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Annete Bening, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

Greta Gerwig, GREENBERG

Nicole Kidman, RABBIT HOLE

Jennifer Lawrence, WINTER'S BONE

Natalie Portman, BLACK SWAN

BEST MALE LEAD

Ronald Bronstein, DADDY LONG LEGS

Aaron Eckhardt, RABBIT HOLE

James Franco, 127 HOURS

John C. Reilly, CYRUS

Ben Stiller, GREENBERG

For a full list of nominees and more information on the Film Independent Spirit Awards, visit their website, Spiritawards.com

Black Sheep @ The Box Office

I met a guy last week who was really keen on seeing HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON.  No, it was not the 3D element that was calling to him, as it did to millions of people this weekend.  No, he just really digs dragons.  With the positive reviews, both from critics and audiences alike for this Dreamworks animation, I'm pretty sure he won't be the only one digging on dragons for very long.

Between HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON and ALICE IN WONDERLAND following in second place, 3D pictures continue to command the dollar of the movie going audience.  There isn't enough room for three 3D titles in the Top 10 this weekend though.  The biggest box office success of all time, AVATAR, exits the Top 10 for the first time in its 15 weeks of release.  Its disappearance from the public consciousness will only be temporary though as the film will be made available to purchase within the next month.

As HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON basks in the warm, soothing bubbles of its own great success - one of the Top 10 March debuts in history - HOT TUB TIME MACHINE had to wait in line to get in.  The buzz for this time travel comedy has been boiling over -  I promise, I'll stop - in recent weeks and most were expecting a surprisingly large gross this weekend .. which wouldn't really make it a surprise, mind you.  The insider buzz didn't spread though and this Steve Pink film had to settle for third place.

A few Top 10 titles managed solid holds this week, suggesting repeat business and good word of mouth later in the run.  I tried to warn you guys but yet THE BOUNTY HUNTER managed a reasonable drop of only 40% this weekend.  If you missed it last weekend, you really should have just let it go.  I want to see a much steeper decline next week, alright?  Meanwhile, SHUTTER ISLAND and SHE'S OUT OF MY LEAGUE managed even better declines of less than 40%.

Below the Top 10, Noah Baumbach's GREENBERG, starring Ben Stiller, added 178 screens for a grand total of 181, and saw an increase of nearly 800%.  It pulled in a solid average of just under $6K and has made $1.2 million in two limited weeks.  On less screens, it managed to pull in more than Canadian filmmaker, Atom Egoyan's latest thriller, CHLOE.  The Toronto-based love triangle debuted in 13th place this week, with a total of just over $1 million on 350 screens.  Some of that money is mine as I saw the film on Friday.  The Black Sheep review is coming in the next week.

NEXT WEEK: Next Saturday is my birthday.  Every year on my birthday weekend, there is nothing but garbage released in theatres .. or at least what I presume to be garbage or movies that completely disinterest me.  This year is no different whatsoever.  On Wednesday, hoping to score some early Easter money, the Miley Cyrus movie, THE LAST SONG, opens on 2500 screens.  The Tyler Perry sequel, WHY DID I GET MARRIED TOO? opens on 2000 screens on Friday.  There are a few indie sprinklings here and there but the big guy in town with be CLASH OF THE TITANS, roaring on to 3600 screens, with a bunch of them being 3D.  Of those three, which do you think I have no interest in and which do you think I think look like garbage?  Happy birthday to me, indeed.

SOURCE: BOX OFFICE MOJO

GREENBERG

Written and Directed by Noah Baumbach
Starring Ben Stiller, Greta Gerwig, Rhys Ifans and Jennifer Jason Leigh

Florence: Hurt people hurt people.

Noah Baumbach, the Oscar-nominated writer and director of THE SQUID AND THE WHALE, has a knack for creating characters that are troubled and difficult to be around. His fascination with giving a voice to those no one wants to hear, shows his immense sympathy as a writer and director, but it also means that his characters are not easy to endure for two hours straight. In his latest film, GREENBERG, he gives us another gem of a man – complicated, broken and the kind you would desperately avoid if you could.

Ben Stiller is this man, one Roger Greenberg. Fresh from his time in a mental hospital for a nervous breakdown, Greenberg has left the comforts of New York City to do nothing for a while at his brother’s place in Los Angeles. While in the city, he meets up with buddies and ex-girlfriends from his rock star youth days but not because he wants to. He does so because it is a lot easier than forming any new relationships in his life. The supporting cast - Rhys Ifans and Jennifer Jason Leigh representing the old and Greta Gerwig charmingly representing the new - struggle too but the way they handle themselves only further shows how little dealing Greenerg is actually doing. Still that naïve, failed rocker, he has not progressed past his glory days and he is quickly realizing that they weren’t so glorious to begin with.

Stiller doesn’t have to try very hard to be unlikable but he still does the depth of Greenberg’s sorrow justice all the same. Successfully capturing a character that is so narcissistic and oblivious not an easy feat. The more successful you are though, the more you run the risk of alienating everyone watching. You want to like Greenberg; you can tell the people around him want to like him; but until he actually considers liking himself, there isn’t a lot to like about him. Fortunately for him, at least Baumbach still has his back, and fortunately for us, Baumbach still has ours too.

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Black Sheep @ The Box Office

ALICE IN WONDERLAND continues to dominate the spring box office but the spring box office bestows it's riches upon a number of other films regardless. Tim Burton's biggest career hit dropped off a respectable 45% in its third week and continues to rule internationally as well, with a grand global total of $565 million so far.


The runner-up spot was fought for all weekend. The Jennifer Aniston-Gerard Butler dud, THE BOUNTY HUNTER, opened second behind ALICE IN WONDERLAND on Friday but the family crowd push throughout the weekend helped DIARY OF A WIMPY KID overtake the supposed romantic comedy for a number two finish. Final results may vary when the final numbers come in on Monday but my money is still on the kid flick.


Past that, there was very little love for the REPO MEN remake, starring Forest Whittaker and Jude Law. Buzzed about Sundance Joan Jett biopic, THE RUNAWAYS, starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning pulled in a disappointing $3300 per screen average on 244 screens. Roman Polanski's latest, GHOST WRITER, expanded as successfully as possible considering its rough start with a 71% increase after adding 595 screens. The film's total gross now stands at just under $7 million with a reported budget of $45 million. Providing hope though, art house success Noah Baumbach's latest, GREENBERG, pulling in over $120K, on just three screens, with an average of $40K. The Black Sheep review will be coming later this week.

NEXT WEEK: The much-hyped, HOT TUB TIME MACHINE, will be cracking it up on 2750 screens. 3D animated offering, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, will be exploding out of 3000 screens. And Atom Egoyan's latest, CHLOE, hits the limited scene.