The Hot Blog

The script sure is pedestrian...but we know your feelings on stuff like that.

I'm still looking forward to it regardless.

Somebody in my building just blasted half the chorus from Surrender:

Yer mama's alright, yer daddy's alright, they just *silence*

Okay, this is admittedly a stupid question, but basically, is there someplace besides Nikki Finke's site where I should go in order to know the context of what DP is talking about here? Because I don't want to give her the traffic.

http://weblogs.variety.com/thompsononhollywood/2008/08/wagner-bolting.html

Christmas comes a little early this year!!!!

E X C E L L E N T.

BEST PICTURE GUARANTEED.

I realize I may be in minority on this, but I am actually looking forward to Valkyrie. It's a fascinating story, the director has more hits than misses to his credit, and the lead actors -- yes, including, maybe even especially, Tom Cruise -- are pros who could knock this one right out of the park. I just hope they don't muck up the true-life drama like they did with Swing Kids.

BTW: If you want to prep yourself, I heartily recommend you try to catch the 1992 Oscar-nominated documentary The Restless Conscience: Resistance to Hitler Within Germany.

I'm with you on this one Joe. I'm looking forward to the movie. It's an interesting story that hasn't been told before and anything with Bill Nighy can't be all bad. And yes I'm aware he was in the Underworld movies. It has got some tough, tough competition and I don't think it'll come out the victor, but I see it doing better than The Spirit. That movie looks pretty bad to me.
And for all the talk of Nazi movies at Christmas, I don't really see the big deal. Schindler's List, this year's Deception, and countless other Holocaust movies come out around Christmas/awards time. And I'm not mistaken isn't that Samuel L. Jackson in a Nazi uniform in the trailer for The Spirit?
New trend.
Year of the Nazi!
Called it.

Thanks, DP.
And I am also looking forward to this movie, I think it's really all about expectations. I don't need it to be a holiday blockbuster, a mere well-crafted thriller with a good cast of pros is enough for me.

the revolutionary road people just breathed a big sigh of relief. no longer are they the last film out, the most likely film to get the cold mountain snub and the focus of all the bad press for poor performance and most likely to be the critical punching bag. it still may get the likely lackluster reception, but now it has valkerie to act as a shield from bad press.

"This Christmas CRUISE IS BACK.

And he's going to OWN YOUR ASS."

That one's on the house, Lion.

BEST PICTURE NOMINEE, GUARANTEED.

Movielocke: Well, unless Valkyrie is, you know, a good movie.

I think there's a real question as to whether or not Lionsgate might move "The Spirit" out of December. It's in the midst of an expensive, ongoing marketing campaign - of course - but I haven't heard anything but groans when the trailer plays in theaters and, of course, there were the positively savage notices after the clips played at Comic Con. I wonder if they're starting to get a little worried - and with "Valkyrie" now on top of it, I think it becomes the harder Christmas sell, not the Cruise pic.

Could be wrong, though - still always surprised by the number Balaguero's "Darkness" pulled on Christmas.

I'm looking forward to Valkyrie also... I'm just speaking to the many oddities of releasing the film...

David: I respect you enough to know you're not knocking the movie sight unseen just because the release date has been moved around. But, at the same time, I think you can appreciate that postings like this at your blog -- and many others -- can only reinforce the perception that this movie must be a dog. This, I think you will agree, is the downside of the New Media Era. I must say: I'm glad that you and other Internet posters were not around to comment on the production process of Casablanca, The Big Sleep, even Titanic....

Nikki Finke also made a typical blunder right around the same time she was delighting in the collapse of UA. She put up a piece of an interview with Aaron Sorkin that she says confirms her "scoop" about that cabal of influential WGA members. You know the one - the story that even her source confirmed was a hoax. It's amazing to watch her try to spin this, when even Sorkin admits in the article that the dinner in discussion happened after the DGA made their deal, while Nikki was making noises about this almost a month earlier.

I'm excited that this got moved up. Now THE SPIRIT seems like the odder choice of Christmas releases (maybe they will push it into the February hole VALKYRIE left open). And I realize it's the name of a novel, but could there be a worse title than REVOLUTIONARY ROAD? It connotes all sorts of bad alliterative title associations: RESERVATION ROAD, MOONLIGHT MILE, SESAME STREET. . .

...is "Valkyrie" even going "wide" on December 26th?
Isn't a Xmas Day opening traditionally a studio's last shot at a saturation break before year's end?
The last time I remember a wide release movie opening between December 25th-January 1st was Fox's "Ghost in the Machine." And that was in 1993. "The Spirit"--if it's indeed slated for that same "day-after-Xmas" slot--looks more like a throwaway programmer (e.g., last year's "Alien Vs. Predator 2" which DID open on Dec. 25th).
The date makes me think they're planning a platform launch, then early January for most of the country. Making a point of saying that "V" isn't trolling for awards consideration does seem a tad curious, though.
Of course, I could be wrong. Nothing about "Valkyrie" has exactly gone by the book.
The fact that "Revolutionary Road" seems to be bypassing the major fall film festivals has me a tad concerned, but "There Will Be Blood" (same distrib) skipped Telluride, Toronto and NY last year without any major problems. Still hoping for the best here:
the combination of DiCaprio, Winslet and Mendes has me super jazzed.
As stated previously, my only concern is that AMC's "Mad Men" could make it seem like a copycat despite the fact that the film's source material has been around since the early '60s.

Wasn't Ali released on Christmas Day and that was meant to be a major awards player.

Vantage is going to have to move Defiance up a few weeks. I know they were hoping to Piggyback on the Quantum of Solace success but this really boxes them in. I could see them moving to March but then they miss out on any awards press and if Valkerie is a flop it taints them as well.

"Valkrie" looks like a fascinating film to me and has all the elements lined up for it to (possibly) be great. Despite all the release problems, etc. I'm really looking forward to it. As for "The Spirit", that one looks worse and worse with each snippet of film they put out. I don't know about anywhere else, but, here in L.A. they have plastered the city with promo posters. They have billboards and those giant bus posters all over. However, it looks like a classic smash & grab at the box office by dropping it on Christmas Day. I figure it's a cheap enough production that they will make their money back (& more) on Frank Miller's name alone ("300"!!!!! "Sin City"!!!!) before most moviegoers know what hit'em.

From THE HOT BLOG, June 14, 1942:

"Looks like Mr. Warner has egg all over his face with a messy potboiler tentatively titled EVERYBODY COMES TO RICKS -- doesn't look good for this one, kiddoes. Could be the dog of all time. 23 Skidoo!"

Christian: You rock.

Christian: Funny stuff.

I'm not on a first name basis with these people. Who are Paul and Rick of "The most interesting unturned rock to me is why Paul and Rick both got the boot/took the exit in the same few weeks. Odd."

He meant Paula and Rick Nicita, because he's so inside the triangle. Or is it the flats?

I am shocked at how aggressive The Spirit's outdoor campaign is already. Johansson, Paulson, Mendes, etc. have been on the side of every bus in Boston since July and the movie doesn't open till Xmas. Might they possibly move it up instead of back into 2009?

THE SPIRIT isn't going to take anything from anybody. That movie is going to be one of those punchlines when you're talking about cinema hubris a few years from now. As the kids would say, "Epic fail." Of course, I can't wait to witness it, but you can count it out of any serious box-office predictions, on its own or in terms of impacting others.

Stop the presses...WB is moving HP6 to summer 09!

They must have been terrified of having to compete with Valkyrie after a month of release.

NooooooOOOOOooooo!

The reason given, that Warner Brothers needed a summer tentpole next year because of the Writer Strike (read: Justice League) is still odd, as Potter would have made more in the holiday season.

This, by default, now makes The Dark Knight the highest grossing movie of 2008, domestic, and worldwide.

God this sucks! After that trailer i was so jacked and now..... SHITE!

I'm always curious: How is it assumed that something like Potter or Narnia is guaranteed to make more at the holidays than in the summer?

Isn't December all cold and snowy in most of the country, and except for maybe one or two weeks, everyone's working or in school, not to mention shopping and doing all their family reunions and such...

Doesn't the average kid, not to mention the average adult, have way more time to see a movie in June or July or August? Especially since these movies in question are like THREE HOURS.

In July kids and teens have all day, every day, for months to see three-hour movies? In December and January, they're limited to like ONE 7 or 8pm showing, same as the older folks.

I don't get it.

More 'family-oriented' movies like these do better in November/December because the whole family goes to see them after loading up on turkey, plus they play out through January without much competition; as opposed to the summer, when parents still are at work and just dump their kids at movies they don't feel like seeing themselves.

potter doesn't make more or less in a holiday season or summer. it makes loads either way.

Lex, you also have to look at International markets, where Fantasy movies cleanup in the holiday season. Italy, for example, has nowhere near the attendance as seen in the winter time. This is why James Bond is always an International success.

I liked this flick better when it was called NIGHT OF THE GENERALS with Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif, but hey it's a Brian Singer film, so expect homoerotic angst, antiheroes shunned by society, anticlimaxes featuring hospitals and a total of 67 seconds of action.

I'll go see this for Terence Stamp and the other British character actors, not for the Tom Cruise TOP SECRET-baggy-pants-eyepatch look.

I agree about THE SPIRIT, it won't really shake things up, just another stylized comic book property with another Samuel L. Jackson villainous role.

Expect business on par with THE SHADOW, THE PHANTOM, or at best, SIN CITY.

Tofu: exactly. Oh yeah, I told you all, I told you all, and I told you all. What has the Summer taught us? Never doubt the BIG DAWG unless the Wachowskis are involved :D!

Actually, I have to admit: I liked The Phantom, if only because it was such a nice change to see a super hero who actually enjoyed being a super hero.

Looks to me that Potter got moved purely for PR reasons. WB will be able to milk TDK for the rest of the year and all the year end press will mention it as the biggest event of the year. But if next summer came and there was nothing to replace it (Superman Returns Once Again doesn't look like its happening anytime soon) the trades would have a bunch of woe is Warner Brothers stories much like what is happening to Fox at the moment.

One theory on why Potter/Narnia make for good winter films - I've been in Montreal a couple of times for Christmas lately and when it snows in, there's fuck-all to do as anywhere you drive, you have to be right back out in the cold 15 minutes later. When the kids start getting cabin fever, going to a movie just gets you the hell out of madness.

Unless, of course, that movie is the "Cheaper by the Dozen" remake which got inflicted on me on one of those trips ("Don't touch the Le Baron!").

The Spirit looks like one of those movies college students make when they rip off a film they like (Sin City), but make it much worse. I thought Sin City was all right, and at least it did have some style. This movie just looks awful.

Just saw the posters for Australia. I also visited the official site (both US and Australian, they're pretty much the same thing) and saw the photos. Can't wait!!! Looks really different from Luhrmann's previous three films though. For those who might be interested, here's the URL http://www.australiamovie.com/

As I have posted elsewhere: I have not seen the film -- only a long segment of rough cut -- but I think Australia is the Oscar front-runner.

ployp, where have you seen the posters for Australia? I can't see them on the website.

The summer is indeed the better time for family films, but the Potter saga is now too dark for the young'uns, and HBP in particular is gonna be way too scary for the kiddos.

Kam: the posters are on MCN. Here's the link http://www.moviecitynews.com/arrays/2008/australiafull.html
Joe: Good to hear. I'm really looking forward to seeing it. I'm a big fan of Luhrmann.

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