Black Sheep's Blu-Tuesday

Unfortunately, the site I usually reference for BD sales for the week prior has not posted the information as of yet so I can't tell you how well AVATAR continued to do.  Suffice it to say, I'm sure it did just fine.  No matter because there are plenty of releases coming today so we should just get straight to that.  Not surprisingly, they all would make great gifts for Mom.

NINE

This Rob Marshall musical was somewhat of a disappointment for critics expecting a CHICAGO repeat and an even bigger financial disappointment.  Now it hopes to find new life on BD.  The disc features a bunch of featurettes about the cast, the direction, the choreography.  There are some music videos included but no biggies like feature commentary.  They couldn't get all those women in a room together to tear Daniel Day-Lewis apart?  NINE is certainly flawed; it is hard to sympathize with a misogynist after all and even harder to get close to a character who has no concept of being close to anyone but himself.  Still, NINE overflows with talent and has a lot to offer any musical fan.

DOCTOR ZHIVAGO

I have yet to see this Warner Bros. classic.  I am actually waiting for my copy from the good folks at Warner so I cannot let you know how good this transfer is.  I can tell you that this is the first time this title has appeared on BD and it comes in one of those gorgeous WB commemorative BD books.  Perhaps with Mother's Day right around the corner, you might want to pick this one up for her because she probably doesn't even know it's available.  Mind you, does your mother have a BD player?  Anyway, the new release features a bunch of previously released featurettes as well as a brand new documentary about the film itself.  I will let you know if I liked it later.

DIRTY DANCING

I can't believe it's been over 20 years since this classic romance was sweeping the female nation, inspiring not one but two soundtrack albums, a national dance tour and a sexy dance craze that got housewives all over the world signing up for lessons with their local sexy instructor.  The newly remastered film features new interviews and never before seen footage, as well as a tribute to the late Patrick Swayze.  This could also make Mom very happy or with the right amount of wine, it could probably make for a great nostalgic girls night.

ALSO NEW THIS WEEK

First timers on BD this week include SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, the Best Picture that never really was, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks.  THE NOTEBOOK, one of the most cherished weepers out there, starring Rachel McAdams and my man, Ryan Gosling, makes its BD debut.  As for first run features finding their way home for the first time, the pickings are a little slim.  LEAP YEAR stars Amy Adams and the delicious Matthew Goode and follows her as she tries to find her fiance to propose to him cuz it's allowed on leap day apparently.  Francis Ford Coppola tried to go indie with TETRO, starring Vincent Gallo, but apparently failed miserably.  Sample at your own risk.  Still, I would sooner see that than see The Rock in TOOTH FAIRY.  The Rock as a tooth fairy?  I would sooner throw my teeth out and forego the cash than have him come visit me while I sleep.

Sources: Blu-Ray.com, DVD Active

Black Sheep @ The Box Office: Merry Christmas, Hollywood.

Well, I'm full. I had plenty to eat over the last few days and food exhaustion may be the reason for my late report but I wasn't the only one who ingested a lot this weekend. Moviergoers ate up almost everything Hollywood was serving at the box office for the year's last full frame. Christmas Day has been a launching pad for a variety of fare over the years but this year it fell on a Friday and got a very big present - the biggest Christmas Day opening in history.


SHERLOCK HOLMES may have missed out on the weekend crown - an achievement claimed by AVATAR in its second weekend - but, with $24.8 million on Christmas Day alone, it easily surpassed former champ, MEET THE FOCKERS ($19.5 million), to become the best Christmas Day opening of all time. AVATAR also passed MEET THE FOCKERS, with $23.6 million, which is not bad at all for a film in its second week. SHERLOCK HOLMES ultimately brought in $65.4 million all weekend for a stellar wide per screen average of $18K. I can think of one person who just had the best Christmas of their lives - once-promising director, Guy Ritchie now has his first actual hit. And come to think of it, once washed up actor, Robert Downey Jr., now has two bonafide franchises on his hands. Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la, indeed.


James Cameron's AVATAR finished the weekend with $75 million, off only 2.6% from last week. It has already pulled in over $600 million internationally and it's success has naturally sprung talk of a sequel. I implore you, Mr. Cameron, leave this film alone. Take your wonderful technology and incredible imagination and create another great new thing. The point of AVATAR was to create something no one had ever seen and a sequel would inherently defeat that purpose. I'm asking nicely.


Speaking of sequels, ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE SQUEAKEQUEL (sp?), opened in third place after dethroning AVATAR on it's early Wednesday release. When the first film came out, I was floored that anyone wanted to see it but then it was huge. It brought in $44 million opening weekend, a couple of weeks before Christmas, and went on to make $212 million in North America. So this time, I was ready for it. The question wasn't whether it would do well; it was whether it would do better than the first. And I'm sad to say it did. On Wednesday, it brought in $18 million and it would finish its five day run with $77 million, $28 million more than the first made in five-days. Good job, people. I applaud you.


Opening in fourth place, the Nancy Meyers comedy, IT'S COMPLICATED. Comparatively, the opening is modest, pulling in a near $8K average on almost 2900 screens. It is still a strong opening for an R-rated adult comedy and Meyer's second largest December opening, after the Mel Gibson hit, WHAT WOMEN WANT. Not to sound too sexist but I'm thinking that Meryl Streep's biggest fans, people like my mom, were probably busy with holiday stuff this weekend so movies might not have been their priority. Good word of mouth should carry this one well into the new year.


That said, I actually did go to a movie with my mom this Christmas. My holiday movie this year was Rob Marshall's NINE. It was my second viewing and my mom's first (she loved it!). I was disappointed on first viewing and wanted to like it more. I did definitely enjoy it more on second viewing but people were less than enthused about making it their holiday movie. Yes, NINE increased its gross over 2000% this week but it could barely muster a $4K per screen average on 1400 screens. A film with this pedigree and this kind of push should have been much bigger. Oscar chances for the incredible cast and film were on the rise in the last week but the lack of audience support has definitely set them back.


Outside of that, most films in the Top 10 saw slight declines this week - except oddly enough for Disney's A CHRISTMAS CAROL, which plummeted by 60%. I guess the movies are a place to escape Christmas, not celebrate it further. THE BLIND SIDE and INVICTUS saw modest increases well into their runs, proving inspiration goes well with turkey and stuffing. And Oscar hopeful, fan favorite and critic's choice, UP IN THE AIR, expanded to over 1800 screens and saw a healthy 266% increase for a slot in the Top 5.


Outside the Top 10, Heath Ledger's last screen performance, one that was not completed and was filled in by Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Ferrell, THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS, was attended by Terry Gilliam fans everywhere, pulling in an average of $32K on 4 screens. Personally, I'm avoiding the film. I realized that I would rather leave my last memory of Ledger as THE DARK KNIGHT. There was plenty of holiday cheer actually for platform expansions. Jean-Marc Vallee's THE YOUNG VICTORIA added 143 screens for a 277% increase; Pedro Almodovar's BROKEN EMBRACES added 41 screens and improved over 75%; Tom Ford's A SINGLE MAN added 37 screens and improved over 120%; and CRAZY HEART, starring Oscar hopeful, Jeff Bridges, tacked on 8 screens and saw an 88% increase.


NEXT WEEK: Nothing; I got nothing. That's because there is nothing coming out next week. Hollywood is done with 2009. The only release is a limited one on Wednesday - Austrian director, Michael Haneke's critical darling, THE WHITE RIBBON, bows in New York and L.A. in order to qualify for the Oscars. The box office report will not appear next weekend, in this form that is. I will be looking back at 2009 as a whole and breaking it down into winners and losers. Good times.

Source: BOX OFFICE MOJO

NINE

Written by Michael Tolkin and Anthony Minghella
Directed by Rob Marshall
Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Fergie and Sophia Loren


Journalist: What I am asking, Maestro, is have you run out of things to say?

I don’t think NINE could look better on paper if it tried. You’ve got Michael Tolkin, the author of “The Player”, and the late, great Anthony Minghella translating a Broadway classic to the screen, that has even deeper roots as the show itself was based of Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2. You’ve got Rob Marshall in the director’s chair. This is the man who reinvigorated the movie musical right when it was on the very brink of extinction with the Oscar-winning, CHICAGO, after all. You’ve got a cast of women unlike anything I’ve seen on film before – Marion Cotillard! Penelope Cruz! Nicole Kidman! Judi Dench! Kate Hudson! Fergie! Sophie Loren, for Pete’s sake! And who do you have at the center of all these ladies? Why none other than the genius of the day, Daniel Day-Lewis. How then could all of the excitement that this incredible pedigree inspires be completely missing from the final cut?


The problem might be the show itself. Day-Lewis is Guido Contini, Italy’s most exciting internationally recognized director. Well, he used to be. As of late, his films haven’t been connecting with audiences like they used to. We meet him amidst a flurry of press for his latest project and we quickly realize that he’s got no movie to make. Before long, we are introduced to his wife (Cotillard), his mistress (Cruz), his mother (Loren), his muse (Kidman) and his creative rock (Dench). It isn’t long after that that you realize juggling all these women in his life and ultimately trying t control them like he does his films is making it impossible for him to breathe. The women aren’t smothering him though. He is doing that all to himself by failing to see them all as actual people instead of supporting players in his own life. An unsympathetic egomaniac does not rally an audience.


It is even more troubling to me though that Marshall’s direction never allows for these lovely ladies to elevate past supporting players either. It’s ironic really to watch a movie about a blocked director directed without the inspiration to make it as great as it so clearly could be. Each woman in the cast gets to sing their song one by one and each one sings of how their lives have been changed by Contini, be that good or bad. As we never get to see these characters for who they are but rather just through the eyes of Contini himself, the hurt they sing about it isn’t connected to anything real. That said, neither are the musical numbers themselves. They all look and sound fantastic and, not to mislead, are pretty enjoyable too. They just keep coming in such an expected fashion that they lack the spontaneity necessary to make them truly pop.


Like CHICAGO, Marshall wants the musical numbers to feel like a surreal layer to the characters’ live. They seem to be happening in their minds but you never feel like you’ve actually been in anyone’s head. Anyone, that is, except for Contini. Every song and every scene is about him and while Day-Lewis does a perfectly fine job losing his way, he never quite finds it either. Although history is given to suggest where his troubles may have started, his woes never amount past the point of self-indulgence and subsequently NINE never becomes the masterpiece it should have. Instead, this fascinating dissection of one man’s mind never gets deep enough to entertain past the surface.

Black Sheep Previews: The Fall 2009

At the moment that I am writing this, I am taking a break from trying to desperately unscramble my Toronto International Film Festival screening schedule. Many of the films that I am most excited for this fall will be screening at the festival – from Steven Soderbergh’s THE INFORMANT to Joel and Ethan Coen’s A SERIOUS MAN to Pedro Almodovar’s BROKEN EMBRACES. Depending on how I play my cards though, I may be fortunate enough to catch these during the festival. And as I will be dedicating most of September’s coverage to the film festival, I wanted my Top 5 picks for the fall to be made up of films that will not be seeing any love while the film world stops to focus on Toronto. And so, here are five other films from the fall that I cannot wait to see and share how I felt about them with you.

FAME
Directed by Kevin Tancharoen
Release: September 25

Anyone who knows me would think that I would ordinarily scoff at this remake of the 1980 film of the same name. It is clearly being repurposed to excite the current pop generation that has grown up on television shows like, “American Idol” and “So You Think You Can Dance”. Up until last year, I hadn’t bothered with either of these programs but now, anyone who knows me knows that I obsessed with “So You Think You Can Dance”. The latest season featured heavy FAME promotion in its finale and despite the fact that it will most likely make me groan when I see it, I can’t get enough of talented people dancing on screen. I may avoid the teen crowd certain to overpower the theatres opening night and opt for a quiet afternoon matinee but I will be there, dancing shoes and all.



WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
Directed by Spike Jonze
Release: October 16

It has been some time since I read Maurice Sendak’s timeless children’s book about young Max (Max Records), a boy who feels misunderstood in his home and escapes every chance he gets to a world of wonder that exists only in his head. First off, I am a huge Spike Jonze fan. Not only did he make great music videos earlier in his career but also his two previous feature films, BEING JOHN MALKOVICH and ADAPTATION are two of my favorite films of all time. Who better to direct a film about the imagination then someone whose name is synonymously associated with the imagination? And this year, as is evident by the remarkable images in the trailer and the vast emotions they evoke, Jonze and this film will be serious contenders come Oscar time. This is certainly no simple feat for a family film but you’ve got to dream big to make it there.



THIS IS IT
Directed by Kenny Ortega
Release: October 28

I am not a Michael Jackson fan. I am not a hater but you won’t find even one of his songs on my iPod. It’s not that I don’t think they’re great; obviously a good number of Jackson’s singles are classics without question. They don’t call him the King of Pop for nothing, even if his camp was the only one still calling him that before his death last month. That said, I still want to see what director, Kenny Ortega is able to do with the rehearsal footage of what was supposed to be Jackson’s retirement tour. Sony has decided to release THIS IS IT as a limited two-week run in theatres and I can only imagine how quickly this will sell out. If there is no press screening for this film, I don’t even know if I will get in. Naturally, Sony is not going to release something that makes Jackson look bad after his death so I’m sure THIS IS IT will not disappoint fans but hopefully the title will triumphantly assert what the world is missing rather than leave people asking if that was it.

FANTASTIC MR. FOX
Directed by Wes Anderson
Release: November 13

Now this is a mind boggler for me. Wes Anderson, the man behind RUSHMORE and THE DARJEELING LIMITED, arguably a director who consistently polarizes audience opinions of his work, has assembled some of his regulars, like Jason Schwartzman and Owen Wilson, along with some new faces, like George Clooney and Meryl Streep, and made an animated film. This stop-motion animation film tells the tale of a war between a farmer and the foxes over the farmer’s chickens and seems on the surface to be distinctly aimed at children. With Anderson at the helm though, it is highly doubtful that his obscure characterizations will not turn these foxes into compelling figures that are bound to be a lot more human than one would expect a fox to be. The trailer is charming and I’ve no doubt the film will be too. I’m just happy to see the director push himself hard.



NINE
Directed by Rob Marshall
Release November 25

Whereas I do commend directors for braving new styles of filmmaking, I am overjoyed to see Rob Marshall, the director of CHICAGO, return to musical with NINE. I am not familiar with the musical itself, other than to say the premise is based on Federico Fellini’s 8½, but the combination of a director who has proven he can master and modernize the movie musical and this unbelievable cast is too good to be true. NINE features a famous director who must resolve his career and the women in his life. The women here will be played by Judi Dench, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Marion Cotillard, Kate Hudson, Fergie and Sophia Loren. The director (originally supposed to be Javier Bardem until he pulled out for a break from filmmaking) is to be played by a singing and dancing Daniel Day-Lewis. And now we wait to see if Marshall can repeat his CHICAGO success and maybe even net himself an Oscar for direction this time.



What about you? What are you looking forward to? Enjoy the fall.

Black Sheep Previews: NINE

Go ahead ... click the video. Watch it. I have. And let me tell you, you should. It's pretty darn exciting.

In 2002, Rob Marshall shimmied his way downstage like it was nobody's business with the Oscar winning musical that restored faith in the musical genre itself, CHICAGO. He also garnered an Oscar nomination for himself as Best Director. Not too bad for his first feature. In 2005, he took his promise and practically squandered it all on the gorgeous but hollow, MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA. Four years have now passed and Marshall has returned to what he knows he can do well, the musical. NINE originally opened on Broadway in 1982. It was based on an Italian play that itself was inspired by Federico Fellini's autobiographical film, 8 1/2. The premise, in which a director has come to a creative and existential midlife crisis and is torn by the abundance of women in his life, is convoluted enough but the cast, the cast is bewildering. Daniel Day-Lewis will sing as the lead, Guido Contini. We don't hear him sing in the trailer but there isn't anything Day-Lewis can't do. As if that weren't enough though, the women in his life will be played by Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Judi Dench, Kate Hudson, Fergie and Sophia Loren. That is a lot of lady and a whole lot of potential for drama.


The trailer is as playful as it is colorful. Marshall seems bent on humbling his own persona as Dench goes on about how little a director truly does but then shoves so many visually startling images in our faces as if to say, "THIS is what a director does!" I know what I'll be doing on November 25 when NINE is finally released.