TFC Journal at TheFilmChair.com

It was a sci-fi picture that ended Titanic’s epic box office winning streak, so it’s fitting that a love story put a stop to Avatar’s 7-week run at the top of the weekend box office. Dear John, based on the Nicholas Sparks novel, took in $32.4 million for the top spot this weekend, a Super Bowl weekend record. Avatar was No. 2 with $23.6 million, which is nothing to sneeze at as. That total gives Avatar the biggest eighth weekend of all-time and brings Avatar’s total domestic total to $630 million. The film has grossed $2.2 billion worldwide.

Read more at erc BoxOffice

Warner thinks it has a hit on its hands. Garry Marshall’s star-studded rom-com, Valentine’s Day, doesn’t open until Friday, but the team behind the picture is already hard at work on a quasi-sequel. DHD reports that writer Katherine Fugate has turned in a draft of New Year’s Eve, which, if it’s anything like V Day, will follow the lives of lovers as the ball drops. Marshall is expected return to direct this one, too. Now we’re just waiting for the greenlight.

Read more at DHD.

Crazy Heart (2009) — ***1/2
Quickie Review

A washed-up, alcoholic country singer named Bad Blake tries to get his life and career in order after meeting an upstart music writer in Santa Fe. With the humble lyricism of a great country song, this understated drama from first-time director Scott Cooper aches with the spirit of musical roots. As Blake, Jeff Bridges gives a performance so good that lesser filmmakers would have let it consume the movie. Thankfully the story and the songs are a strong as the headliner, even if it doesn’t appear so at first glance. Also starring an outstanding supporting cast that includes Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell, and Robert Duvall.

Burlesque, starring Cher, Christina Aguilera, Kristen Bell, Stanley Tucci and Julianne Hough, directed by Steve Antin, opens Nov. 24, 2010.

“Could a bad mom have raised a daughter who was engaged to a Congressman when she was 16?”
-Jenna on her mother’s superior parenting skills.

Enchanted was a breath of fresh air. When Enchanted hit theaters, it was the first time since the mid-90s that a Disney musical had me singing the songs out loud. Others must have felt the same way too because the picture became a bit of a sleeper hit (as much of a sleeper as any Disney film can be) and grossed $127 million here and another $212 million over there. Now Variety reports that Disney plans a sequel for 2011 with The Proposal director Anne Fletcher set to take the helm.

How do we know Disney loves us? Well, a sequel to this beloved musical is a good way to show it. But what are the chances that it won’t break our heart? Here’s hoping it’s more Shrek 2 than Grease 2.

With 10 Best Picture nominees, four of which are already on DVD, that old reliable, the post-nomination box office bump, may not be as noticeable as it once was. The Hurt Locker is still moving up the DVD sales chart at Amazon.com. Up, Inglourious Basterds, and District 9 will likely move too.

For the film’s still in theaters, including Avatar (the newly crowned highest-grossing domestic release of all-time), things tend to look up, post-nomination. Avatar will likely win the weekend again this week, with Fandango reporting a 45 percent increase in ticket sales for Cameron’s epic after the nomination. What about the others? A Serious Man? An Education? Those are the types of movies that used to gain the most from a Best Picture nomination. Now that they have to compete with more pictures, who knows if that boost will be as big as it once was. If not, that’s even more bad news for specialty films.

Anyway, on to the numbers.

2009/2010 Best Picture Box Office
(totals as of Monday, Feb. 1)

• Avatar (Dec. 18) – $598 million
• The Blind Side (Nov. 2) – $238 million
• An Education (Oct. 9) – $8.7 million
• District 9 (Aug. 14) – $115 million
• The Hurt Locker (June 26) – $12.6 million
• Inglourious Basterds (Aug. 21) – $120 million
• Precious (Nov. 6) – $45.5 million
  
• A Serious Man (Oct. 2) – $9.2 million
• Up (May 29) – $290 million
  
• Up in the Air (Dec. 4) – $73.4 million
  

An here are last year’s nominees with pre- and post- nomination totals.

2008/2009 Best Picture Box Office
(with release dates)

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Dec. 25)-$105 million/$127 million
• Slumdog Millionaire (Nov. 12)-$45 million/$141 million
• Frost/Nixon (Dec. 5)-$9 million/$18.6 million
• The Reader (Dec. 12)-$8.2 million/$34.2 million
• Milk (Nov. 26)-$21 million/$31.8 million

“I’m a full grown man, Laura. I think I’d know if I was wearing the wrong penis around my neck.”
-Sarah on her baby penis necklace upon being told she was not born a hermaphrodite.

Season three of the The Sarah Silverman Program premieres tomorrow, Feb. 4, at 10:30 p.m. on Comedy Central.

The Lovely Bones (2009)–**
Quickie Review

A young girl who is brutally murdered remains in between heaven and earth, watching her family, her friends and even her murderer endure the aftermath of her violent death. As tepid as it is inauthentic, the Peter Jackson picture never finds a balance between fantasy, horror and reality. There are moments of great filmmaking here, but that can only go so far when the characters feel like they were written for a broadcast TV movie. As the killer, Stanley Tucci is lucky to have the most fully-realized character and performs admirably because of it. Everyone else, in particular a terribly miscast Mark Wahlberg, must contend with their shallow characters and a screenplay with as much emotional nuance as a drugstore greeting card. Also starring Saoirise Ronan, Susan Sarandon, and Rachel Weisz.

Best Picture

• Avatar
• The Blind Side
  
• An Education
• District 9
  
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• Precious
• A Serious Man
• Up
• Up in the Air

Best Director

• Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
• James Cameron, Avatar
• Lee Daniels, Precious
• Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
• Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

Best Actress

• Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
  
• Helen Mirren, The Last Station
• Carey Mulligan, An Education
  
• Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
• Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

Best Actor

• Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
• George Clooney, Up in the Air
  
• Colin Firth, A Single Man
• Morgan Freeman, Invictus
• Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Best Supporting Actress

• Penelope Cruz, Nine
• Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
• Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
• Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
• Mo’Nique, Precious

Best Supporting Actor

• Matt Damon, Invictus
• Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
• Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
• Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
• Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Best Screenplay, Original

• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• The Messenger
• A Serious Man
• Up
  

Best Screenplay, Adapted

• District 9
• An Education
• In the Loop
  
• Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
• Up in the Air

Best Animated Feature

• Coraline
• Fantastic Mr. Fox
• The Princess and the Frog
• The Secret of Kells
• Up

Best Art Direction

• Avatar
• The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
• Nine
• Sherlock Holmes
• The Young Victoria

Best Cinematography

• Avatar
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
  
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
  
• The White Ribbon
  

Best Costume Design

• Bright Star
• Coco before Chanel
  
• The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
  
• Nine
  
• The Young Victoria

Best Documentary Feature

• Burma VJ
  
• The Cove
  
• Food, Inc.
  
• The Most Dangerous Man in America
  
• Which Way Home

Best Documentary Short

• China’s Unnatural Disaster
  
• The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
  
• The Last Truck
  
• Music by Prudence
  
• Rabbit a la Berlin

Best Film Editing

• Avatar
• District 9
• The Hurt Locker
  
• Inglourious Basterds
  
• Precious

Best Foreign Language Film

• Ajami
• El Secreto de Sus Ojos
  
• The Milk of Sorrow
  
• Un Prophete
  
• The White Ribbon

Best Makeup

• Il Divo
• Star Trek
• The Young Victoria

Best Music, Original Score

• Avatar
• Fantastic Mr. Fox
  
• The Hurt Locker
• Sherlock Holmes
  
• Up

Best Music, Original Song

• “Almost There,” The Princess and the Frog
• “Down in New Orleans,” The Princess and the Frog
  
• “Paris 36,” Loin de Paname
  
• “Take it All,” Nine
  
• “The Weary Kind (Theme from ‘Crazy Heart’),” Crazy Heart

Best Short, Animated

• French Roast
  
• Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty
  
• The Lady and the Reaper
  
• Logorama
  
• A Matter of Loaf and Death

Best Short, Live Action

• The Door
  
• Instead of Abracadabra
  
• Kavi
• Miracle Fish
  
• The New Tenants

Best Sound Editing

• Avatar
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• Star Trek
  
• Up

Best Sound Mixing

• Avatar
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• Star Trek
• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Best Visual Effects

• Avatar
• District 9
• Star Trek