10 for ’10 – Worst Predictions

23 12 2010

Catch up with the idea behind this series here.

We can’t be right all the time, unfortunately.  I’m among the guilty people on this planet who make stupid predictions every once in a while, and I made them often with conviction.  Now that the year is over, here’s a look back at some of my worst predictions in chronological order – and with 2011 up ahead, I’m laughing at these predictions.

January

“… if there is a breakout hit in [January], my bet is on [‘Leap Year’].”

What To Look Forward To in … January 2010

Well, this didn’t turn out so well.  In the first weekend of 2010, “Leap Year” opened to $9 million on its way to a total haul of only $25 million, ending up among the bottom half of January grossers.  On the bright side, it did manage to recoup its production budget!

“Could Kristen Bell become a breakout romantic comedy star with ‘When in Rome?’ … I have a feeling that this could surprise people and a new start could be born.”

What To Look Forward To in … January 2010

“When in Rome” only grossed about $32 million in its whole run, or in Leyman’s terms, what “Avatar” grossed in its 7th weekend.  As for Kristen Bell, she still hasn’t hit it big; “You Again” grossed even less in September.

April

 

“I’m waiting for tomorrow – ‘Clash of the Titans,’ baby!”

Shameless Advertisement #11 – April 2010

Talk about a bust.  “Clash of the Titans” was a huge disappointment as I was really eagerly anticipating it.  As I wrote in my review, “My eyes might have seen in three dimensions, but my brain saw a movie that only had one.  Given how deeply rooted in mythology the story is, I had very high expectations for ‘Clash of the Titans.’  Unfortunately … it fails on all levels.”

May

“[Best Supporting Actor]  LOVES villians … It is also a category that likes to reward actors (usually veterans) who are overdue for a trophy … By these two characteristics, Rourke would appear to have a great shot.”

Oscar Moment: “Iron Man 2”

It’s funny because while I wasn’t a fan of “Iron Man 2,” I actually thought Rourke was the worst part of the movie, and there I was writing about his awards chances!  As I said in my review, “It’s hard to believe from watching ‘Iron Man 2’ that Mickey Rourke was being heralded as an Oscar nominee just 18 months ago.  When we aren’t waiting for him to say a word, his Whiplash seems to be nothing more than an unkind Russian stereotype.”  Clearly I liked “The Wrestler” too much …

“If ‘The Dark Knight’ was part of the reason that the Oscars moved to ten nominees, then they are still looking for that popcorn flick with enough brain to atone for their horrifying omission.  ‘Robin Hood‘ could be that movie.”

Oscar Moment: “Robin Hood”

Clearly I forgot about a little movie called “Inception” that was gearing up for release.

August

“Don’t be surprised if [‘Scott Pilgrim vs. The World’] is an out-of-nowhere smash hit.”

What To Look Forward To in … August 2010

Despite massive love from the bloggers, “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” became a high-profile flop over the summer, earning just $10 million in fifth place its opening weekend on its way to just over $30 million cumulatively.  Ouch.

October

“I think the premise alone [of ‘The Social Network’] draws in $80 million in revenue, but the fact that it’s going to be really good will increase its total take to somewhere in the range of $120-150 million.  I’m hardly a box office analyst, I know, yet I feel pretty confident making this financial prediction.”

Oscar Moment: “The Social Network”

Perhaps I overestimated the box office potential of “The Social Network” earlier this year.  The Facebook movie drew in a respectable but not great $23 million in its opening weekend and displayed strong legs to power itself to $91 million (and still counting slowly).  So I was a little bit off on it setting the box office on fire.  But to my credit, I was dead-on about it being the Best Picture frontrunner all those months ago.

“I think [‘Hereafter’] could be a very powerful movie …”

What To Look Forward To in … October 2010

“Hereafter” was a pretty big disappointment for me in 2010.  I wrote in my review, “In hyperlink cinema, one might say there exists a formula that the final product is equal to the sum of its parts.  However, Eastwood’s ‘Hereafter’ in total feels like less.”  Too bad, it could have been something good.

November

“To save the weekend, there’s Rachel McAdams in ‘Morning Glory!’  As if she’s not enough, Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton are on board for this drama-comedy mix that doesn’t seem to favor any genre over the other.  What a great surprise awaits us!”

What To Look Forward To in … November 2010

Rachel McAdams may have won me over with her incredibly good looks, but she sure didn’t win me over with her 2010 movie selection.  “Morning Glory” was incredibly cliched and forgettable, and it was hardly a breath of fresh air in November like I had imagined it would be.  It was recycled air, like the gross kind on a plane.

December

“… ‘How Do You Know‘ is still unseen, but I’m getting good vibes.  Probably stupid to put it on my list [of predicted Best Picture nominees] instead of ‘Another Year,’ but I’m going gutsy.”

Oscar Moment: November Predictions

How do you know when a movie won’t get a Best Picture nomination?  When despite being directed by an Academy Award-winning filmmaker, it can’t even muster up a single Golden Globe nomination and movies like “Alice in Wonderland” and “The Tourist” can.  If my hunch back then somehow winds up being right, I think a whole lot of people will give up Oscar guessing as a hobby.


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REVIEW: Robin Hood

29 05 2010

I almost gave up hope on “Robin Hood,” but I’m glad I didn’t allow myself to become entirely disengaged. I’ll get right to the point: the first 45 minutes are absolutely brutal. They are boring and they seem completely pointless. They don’t do much to develop a story, yet as we see later, they are more like a prologue, providing crucial information to prop up the rest of the film.

But out of nowhere, the movie reverses the slump and becomes genuinely entertaining. Everything suddenly clicks: the story begins to make sense; the pace picks up; and Russell Crowe begins acting. It takes him a while to kick his performance in gear, like he’s finally fought off the hangover that plagued him at the beginning. He’s pretty good when he decides to act. When Crowe doesn’t, he lifelessly walks through the motions and mumbles every line, rendering them incoherent.

But maybe it’s not all his fault. The character in this movie is tough because it’s Robin Hood before he was Robin Hood. Have no doubt about it: this is not the Robin Hood we have come to know, and it’s not the one I anticipated. I wasn’t expecting the jolly fox in the green suit, but I was expecting a little more of the “steal from the rich and give to the needy” spirit that we most often associate with the character.

I assume we will see this aspect played up if a sequel is made, yet at the moment, the character is awkwardly undefined. In this movie, Crowe’s purpose is to establish the roots of the legendary defender of the weak. He doesn’t explore where this commitment is derived from so much as he gives us a Maximus rehash with a little more discretion. He’s chomping at the bit to be the legend that we see very little of the man.

Where Crowe has issues, co-star Cate Blanchett has none. Strangely, the movie only seems to reach its full vitality when Blanchett is on screen. She picks up on whatever tiny nuances the script has, and her acting always hits precisely the right tone. Blanchett has graced the screen with many of the preeminent male actors of our generation (DiCaprio, Pitt, Damon), so her history alone makes it impossible to say that her chemistry with Crowe ranks among her best. However, the two do make a great pair, and their scenes are easily the movie’s most memorable that don’t involve the impaling of bodies by arrows.

Read the rest of this entry »


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First Poll Results Post!

28 05 2010

I’m trying out some restructuring of the site, particularly in the sidebar and in the categories column.  In respect to the former, I’m working on reordering the boxes.  I moved the subscription box to the bottom of the sidebar and the LAMB logo to the middle.  As always, feedback is appreciated.

But this post concerns itself with the latter of my concerns, the categories.  I’ve made the first big move already; I took the “Marshall and the Movies” category and removed it as a sub-category of “About Me.”  Now, I’m using the category as an umbrella for all the activity on the site that pertains to the blogosphere as a whole.

One sub-category of “Marshall and the Movies” is dedicated to polls.  I run them fairly often but don’t post the results (with the exception of the monthly most anticipated poll).  Since they are a fairly big part of gauging the opinion of my readers, I decided it was time for me to start sharing them more often.

So here goes nothing!  The first polls ran during the Oscar Moment about “Toy Story 3.”  Using the success of last year’s “Up” as a talking point, I posed two poll questions wondering if Pixar could carve a niche for themselves in the Best Picture race.  The results were fairly definitive.

The polls show that most people think “Toy Story 3” will be nominated for Best Picture, and most people think Pixar’s movies always deserve a Best Picture spot (although by a smaller margin).

Onto the next poll, which was on the Oscar Moment for “How to Train Your Dragon.”  After the unexpected box office and critical success, I wanted to see if people thought it had a chance at winning Pixar’s category.  The results gave little to work with.

As you can see, the same amount of people think that it can win Best Animated Picture as think that it can’t.

The next poll ran with the Oscar Moment on “Robin Hood.”  At the time the post ran, a Ridley Scott-Rusell Crowe combination and a Cannes opening seemed to bode well for its Oscar chances.  Clearly you all weren’t fooled by my writing and saw the writing on the wall.

And you all are 99.9% right, barring some sort of a miracle.

You fell for it in the next poll.  In the poll on the “Iron Man 2” Oscar Moment, I suggested that Mickey Rourke could be a contender for Best Supporting Actor.

And you are very, very wrong.  If Mickey Rourke is nominated for an Oscar for this role, the world will come to an end.

I’ll save the “Get Low” results for another post, but in the meantime, vote on the June poll!  2 votes are unacceptable, people!


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What To Look Forward To in … Summer 2010

5 05 2010

Before the season actually gets kicked off in two days, I thought it was necessary to spell out my five most anticipated movies of summer 2010.  Rather than bore you with verbose observations, I will give you the rationale for my picks with only two things: the movie’s trailer and 10 words or less describing why I’m dying to see it.

Winter’s Bone (June 11)

I can’t wait because … it’s a rare summer drama and won big at Sundance.

Shrek Forever After (May 21)

I can’t wait because … it has to redeem “Shrek” after the last movie stunk!

Eat, Pray, Love (August 13)

I can’t wait because … this is that enjoyable watching chick-flick I’m always weak for.

Robin Hood (May 14)

I can’t wait because … Russell Crowe has Maximus bottled up inside for this.

Get Him to the Greek (June 4)

I can’t wait because … it’s time for Jonah Hill and Russell Brand’s breakout movies.

The Kids Are All Right (July 7)

I can’t wait because … it’s an indie and this makes comedy out of controversy.

Iron Man 2 (May 7)

I can’t wait because … action plus Robert Downey Jr. have equaled big fun before.

Toy Story 3 (June 18)

I can’t wait because … it’s going to be like revisiting my childhood!

Salt (July 23)

I can’t wait because … Angelina kicks butt!  And it’s not a franchise movie!

Inception (July 16)

I can’t wait because … it’s Christopher Nolan’s follow-up to a new classic.


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Oscar Moment: “Robin Hood”

18 04 2010

The lineup for the prestigious Cannes Film Festival was announced on Thursday, but we have known for several weeks now that “Robin Hood” would open the festival. While screening out of competition, it still deserves serious talk as an Oscar contender.

If “The Dark Knight” was part of the reason that the Oscars moved to ten nominees, then they are still looking for that popcorn flick with enough brain to atone for their horrifying omission.  “Robin Hood” could be that movie.

It’s directed by someone who has plenty of respect in the filmmaking community, Ridley Scott.  He has been nominated three times for Best Director and has helmed a movie that won Best Picture, “Gladiator.”  It’s hard not to take a look at “Robin Hood” and see a few similarities.

It clocks in at just under two and a half hours – big, long movies have scored with the Academy in the past.  The length lends it that sweeping epic feel that the Oscars tend to love.  Then again, so did “Kingdom of Heaven,” Scott’s 2005 drama about the Crusades that had huge expectations and failed to meet any of them.  In fact, since his last nomination for Best Director with “Black Hawk Down” in 2001, all of his movies have been considered Oscar contenders – and flopped.  “Body of Lies.”  “American Gangster.”  “A Good Year.”  Is “Robin Hood” the movie to put Scott back on the Oscar track or veer him further off of it?

He has certainly teamed up with Academy Award winner Russell Crowe enough times to know how to direct the star; keep in mind that Scott directed Crowe to his Oscar win.  And this cast is filled with plenty of other extraordinary acting talents, namely Cate Blanchett (winner of the 2004 Best Supporting Actress Oscar for “The Aviator”) as Robin Hood’s female companion, Lady Marian.  He also has winner William Hurt and nominee Max Von Sydow in his arsenal – but is that enough?

For a blockbuster to be nominated for Best Picture, it has to be extremely well-written.  The screenwriter of “Robin Hood” is Brian Helgeland, who won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay in 1997 for his work on “LA Confidential.”  He also wrote the adaptation of “Mystic River” and received another nomination.  But he has also written some duds, including “The Postman” which won him a Razzie for Worst Screenplay.  It’s hard to draw conclusions from such a polar career.  What will we be getting with his latest?

I have to quote Sasha Stone from Awards Daily here because she put it so eloquently: “…’Robin Hood’ is going to be a movie for right now. Wall Street catastrophes and corporate-owned health care – it has never seemed more like a divided country between rich and poor. And, as history has shown us again and again, that never works very well for very long. The people can’t really tolerate it.”  And Universal is really playing this angle up, recognizing “real-life Robin Hoods” who selflessly give back to the community.  Anyone can nominate one of these people, and that person can win up to $10,000.

But I’m just not feeling the buzz around “Robin Hood,” something that I think it really needs.  Otherwise, it seems doomed to underwhelm – critically, financially, and in respect to awards.  I think the only certainty is contention in the technical categories; we’ll just have to wait another month to see what happens with the bigger categories.

BEST BETS FOR NOMINATIONS: Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Cinematography, Best Makeup, Best Sound Mixing/Editing

OTHER POSSIBLE NOMINATIONS: Best Picture, Best Director (Ridley Scott), Best Actor (Russell Crowe), Best Actress (Cate Blanchett), Best Original Screenplay

So, do you think “Robin Hood” is going to go the path of “Gladiator” or “Kingdom of Heaven?”  Are we looking at a potential Best Picture nominee or merely another summer popcorn blockbuster?


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What To Look Forward To in … May 2010

6 04 2010

YES! It’s time to preview May! That means it’s time for big-time summer blockbusters. Hopefully, this summer has less to make critics moan (a la “Transformers”) and more to make everyone reach for the popcorn (a la “The Dark Knight”). But I’ll let you make that decision for yourself. Three big sequels open in the banner month of summer,

May 7

“Iron Man 2” kicks off the summer movie season with a bang.  After its predecessor was the surprise hit of summer 2008, the sequel is opening to very high expectations.  Throwing in such tremendous new cast members as Mickey Rourke as villainous Whiplash, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, and Don Cheadle (as a replacement for the role last played by Terrence Howard) has only served to heighten them.  But do you really need to be sold?  If this movie doesn’t fall in the range of $350-$400 million, it’s a disappointment.

We’ve got a double dose of baby-themed movies opening in limited release on this day. “Babies” is for all you documentary people; the movie follows the first year of four different infants.  For the art house lovers, Sony Pictures Classics has you covered with “Mother and Child,” a movie which can be referred to as “hyperlink cinema.”  Like “Crash” and “Traffic,” “Mother and Child” follows several different stories all tying into a common theme – here, it is motherhood.  Starring Oscar nominees Annette Bening, Naomi Watts, and Samuel L. Jackson, it has played at a few film festivals and may be the only big indie movie of the month.  I guess even the specialty studios want you to see “Iron Man 2.”

May 14

“Robin Hood” is the second big release, and it boasts a pair of Oscar-winning actors, Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett, on the marquee.  And no, this isn’t the “Robin Hood” with the foxes and the other forest animals.  It’s a gritty, intense action movie directed by Ridley Scott (“Gladiator”).  I have plenty more to say about this movie, so keep your eyes peeled in the next week or so.

“Just Wright” and “Letters to Juliet” dare to go up against the two blockbusters packing the screens.  The former is a Queen Latifah vehicle where she stars as a physical therapist helping to rehabilitate an NBA star; the latter, an Amanda Seyfried mushy-gushy love story where she helps an older woman find her long-lost love in the city where “Romeo & Juliet” was set.

May 21

I really hope the trailer doesn’t ruin “Shrek Forever After” like it did for “Shrek the Third.”  Well, to be honest, the threequel tanked because the script was awful.  The first two were amazing, so I’m praying that the magic returns for the final chapter.

“MacGruber” strangely decided to move itself out of comfy April into May against one of the biggest franchises of the past decade.  Interesting move on Rogue’s part, but if the movie is going to make any money, it has to be hilarious.  To be honest, I have my doubts.  There hasn’t been a good “SNL” sketch-based movie since “Wayne’s World” nearly 20 years ago.  Often times, I don’t think the “MacGruber” sketches are funny for their 30 second runtimes … why would I want to watch them for an hour and a half or so?  Good news: it has Kristen Wiig.  Let’s pray for a lot of Kristen Wiig.

May 28

Technically, “Sex and the City 2” comes out on Thursday, May 27. Why they did that, I don’t know. But I do know this: women, get your outfits ready. According to my mother, a rabid fan of the series, all the girls got decked out like they were going to a charity gala.

“Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” is my pick for the big bust of May, although I could easily be eating my hat in two months’ time.  I really like Jake Gyllenhaal, but I’m not sure how much I buy him as an action hero.  Based on a video game, it seems to me that Disney is marketing it like the new “Pirates of the Caribbean.”  But I’m not a big gamer, so I don’t really know what to expect.

Excited much for this amazing month of movies?  Or will it live up to its promise?  Take the poll and let me know what you are thinking!


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