TFC Journal at TheFilmChair.com

“Of course it was an accident. Although, the man was cheating on me, and my subconscious is very protective, and sometimes kind of a douche.”
-Veronica on shooting her boyfriend with a spear gun.

Avatar didn’t hit $250 million domestically more quickly than any other movie. It’s only No. 6 on the list. But James Cameron’s picture, which crossed the quarter billion mark yesterday, is showing staying power. Only The Dark Knight had better daily Tuesday gross, but that was on The Dark Knight’s first Tuesday out. Yesterday, Avatar hit $18.3 million on its second Tuesday–up from $16.1 million the week before. Add on the $476 million the picture made overseas (already more than The Dark Knight) and you have a bona fide international sensation that has grossed more than $726 million in just 12 days.

By the end of Avatar’s run, Cameron will undoubtedly be able to claim the first AND second highest grossing films in motion picture history. Right now, I’m not even going to think about which one will be on the top.

At the end of the every year, during the height of awards season, the Library of Congress hits us with a list, a real list, of movies that will be preserved forever. For the first time ever, the LOC added a music video to the National Film Registry: the John Landis-directed video for Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” Also, Jezebel, for which Bette Davis won an Oscar, was selected for the Registry this year. Sidney Lumet, the Muppets, one incredible shrinking man, these guys will be around for a long, long time thanks to the Library of Congress.

Films Selected to the 2009 National Film Registry

1) Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
2) The Exiles (1961)
3) Heroes All (1920)
4) Hot Dogs for Gauguin (1972)
5) The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
6) Jezebel (1938)
7) The Jungle (1967)
The Lead Shoes (1949)
9) Little Nemo (1911)
10) Mabel’s Blunder (1914)
11) The Mark of Zorro (1940)
12) Mrs. Miniver (1942)
13) The Muppet Movie (1979)
14) Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
15) Pillow Talk (1959)
16) Precious Images (1986)
17) Quasi at the Quackadero (1975)
18) The Red Book (1994)
19) The Revenge of Pancho Villa (1930-36)
20) Scratch and Crow (1995)
21) Stark Love (1927)
22) The Story of G.I. Joe (1945)
23) A Study in Reds (1932)
24) Thriller (1983)
25) Under Western Stars (1938)

Check out all the films added to the National Film Registry since 1989 at the Library of Congress’ website.

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It’s been awhile since we’ve heard anything about The Green Lantern, the first superhero film release from Warner’s reorganized DC Entertainment. And while casting rumors are fun, sometimes I can’t bring myself to post them. (Am I the only one who didn’t care about the Jackie Earle Haley rumor?)  There’s no solid word on a villain or leading lady just yet, but that didn’t stop Superhero Hype from snagging some goodies about the Oscar-winning crew set to bring the DC superhero’s world to life.

From Superhero Hype:

[The Green Lantern] will be shot by cinematographer Dion Beebe, who won an Oscar for his work with Rob Marshall on Memoirs of a Geisha (having previously been nominated for Chicago)

[Snip]

Campbell hired… production designer Grant Major and costume designer Ngila Dickson, both of whom won Oscars for their work on Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.

[Chop]

Art director François Audouy may not have won any Oscars, but his resume working in genre movies is impressive, everything from doing concept art for James Cameron’s Avatar and I Am Legend, acting as art director for Watchmen and the first Transformers movie, and working in various art capacities on all three Spider-Man movies.

I especially love director Martin Campbell’s choice of Beebe for cinematographer. Beebe can do wonderful things with color, and not just in Marshall films. I loved his the work he did for Michael Mann’s Collateral and Miami Vice. Let’s see if these Oscar winners can help Campbell breath some life into DC’s languishing properties.

Why the AFI is still picking moments of significance is beyond me. After its irrelevant AFI Awards list, you’d think they’d spend more time tweaking that process then telling people things they already know–especially when the first moment listed is for a film that didn’t appear on its top ten list. Oh well. Here’s what they had to say.

From the AFI release:

AFI MOMENTS OF SIGNIFICANCE

AVATAR – JAMES CAMERON’S MILEPOST IN THE EVOLUTION OF THE ART FORM

James Cameron’s pioneering effort to unleash the human imagination was fully realized in 2009 with the release of AVATAR, a film that firmly established itself as a landmark in the way stories are told.

With an army of technological wizards at his side, writer/director/producer/co-editor Cameron called upon the forces of art and technology to create new tools for storytelling that are groundbreaking in both scope and scale.

The magic of the motion picture – and the transfer of its power to television and now video games – has always found its truest power in its immersive qualities, and with Cameron’s advances in CGI (computer-generated images) and 3-D, AVATAR enters AFI’s almanac as an achievement that will have profound effects on the future of the art
form.

Read the rest of this entry »

Nine (2009)–1/2*
Quickie Review

In 1965, Italian film director Guido Contini struggles to make his latest film while grappling with the women in his life. Based on the Broadway show that was inspired by Fellini’s 8 1/2, this movie musical is an affront to fans of cinema and musicals alike. In trying to capture the manic spirit of Fellini’s masterpiece, the film, not shockingly, fails to produce a coherent narrative. Director Rob Marshall’s theatrical flair further undermines the story with silly musical numbers that, as filmed, are neither necessary or entertaining. The excess of Hollywood glamour (including six Oscar winning actors), rather than helping the picture, turns a simple tragedy into a Titanic disaster. I cannot stress this enough: DO NOT GO SEE THIS MOVIE. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren, Judi Dench, and Kate Hudson.

From my all-time favorite Christmas movie. Hope your Christmas is better than the one Kate had.

Santa will be delivering quite a present to Hollywood execs.  The domestic box office will cross the $10 billion mark for the first time on Tuesday. People were talking about this as earlier as April when Fast and Furious opened to $70.9 million. Even My Bloody Valentine in 3D and Coraline (also in 3D) opened big enough in January and February to get the chatter going. Yes, 3D matters, as those movies and now Avatar are proving. And IMAX screens certainly helped too. (See Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.) Diversifying formats seems to have made the biggest difference, considering there was no The Dark Knight this year. Not even close.

From Reuters:

Through Sunday, the total U.S. and Canadian box office stood just $36 million short of crossing the $10 billion mark, said tracking firm Hollywood.com Box Office.

With Monday generating $29 million in ticket sales, led by strong results for “Avatar,” the industry was expected to cross $10 billion on Tuesday.

And now for the top ten grossers so far this year, courtesy of BoxOfficeMojo:

1    Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen $402,111,870
2    Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince $301,959,197
3    Up $293,004,164
4    The Hangover $277,322,503
5    The Twilight Saga: New Moon $275,515,901
6    Star Trek $257,730,019
7    Monsters Vs. Aliens $198,351,526
8    Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs $196,573,705
9    X-Men Origins: Wolverine $179,883,157
10    Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian $177,243,721

(via The Wrap)

(via Empire Online)