Nailed Madagascar. Overestimated Soul Men. Underestimated Role Models, which I could tell waiting in line for Zack and Miri this weekend (not Smith’s best, but still very, very good). Half the crowd was there for Paul and Sean.
Another little detail about that Zack outing. The Un-fortunate back-to-back juxtaposition of the trailers for two January titles.
See if you can tell any difference between the two.
11/14
Wide
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
James Bond vs. raised expectations.
WILL IT SUCK?
Marc Forster (Finding Neverland, Stranger Than Fiction) is a good director, but is he a good action director? The trailers seem to indicate yes, but there’s a big difference between a great shot and a great sequence. I have no doubt he can handle the dramatic elements. The same writing team from Royale returns. And Mathieu Amalric as the villain may be what I’m looking forward to the most.
Early buzz isn’t as impressed with it as with Royale, but it is impressed.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
With the departure of Harry Potter, this is the premiere action event of the fall. Of course, with the $160 million it’s already made overseas, does it really matter? $168mil.
WILL ANYBODY REMEMBER IT AT OSCAR TIME?
If any action film gets Academy love this year, it’ll be The Dark Knight.
Limited
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Kid from the streets of Mumbai tries to make it big on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz is fawning. Won the People’s Choice Award at Toronto. And this is Danny Boyle directing, son. One of the most underrated directors of our time.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
This is one of the most anticipated indies of the season, and it’s got a strong rep as a crowd pleaser. And Fox Searchlight knows how to market crowd pleasers, which is probably why they snatched it from the jaws of Warner Independent’s demise. $15mil.
WILL ANYBODY REMEMBER IT AT OSCAR TIME?
The Academy buzz for this is only growing, and the variety of films jumping ship (The Soloist, The Road) means slots are opening up. Where I might have only pegged this for Screenplay before, I now think Director and maybe even Actor or Picture is a realistic possibility, too.
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
One of them there family reunion Christmas flicks, but, you know, in French.
WILL IT SUCK?
Reunites Matheiu Amalric and Anne Consigny from Diving Bell and the Butterfly and Catherine Deneuve and Jean-Paul Roussilson from Kings and Queen, one of writer/director Arnaud Desplechin’s previous efforts. This is, in fact, his highest rated film on IMDB. Early buzz elsewhere is equally enthusiastic. And, personally, I can’t wait to see Amalric play the drunk sheep of the family.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Kind of a crowded time for something like this to get noticed. $500,000.
WILL ANYBODY REMEMBER IT AT OSCAR TIME?
With the French submission for Best Foreign going to The Class, it’s unlikely.
Next Week: Seriously, have you ever seen a vampire with better hair?
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