Phaidon Press continue their exceptional work in publishing some of the best books on cinema with Antoine de Baecque’s Cahiers du Cinema on Tim Burton.

The director has always been a personal favourite, as much for his marvellously scrappy and witty drawings and concept art as for his baroque take on the Gothic sensibility. His eye for the ornate shadows and impossible romanticism of the outcast will always resonate and find an audience, yet his directorial sojourns have, of late, met with some critical backlash despite commanding huge box office figures and handsome returns for the studios who invest in the man who was once champion of the strange and unusual.

Any book on Tim Burton needs to be well illustrated and each project covered in de Baecque’s book has a wealth of images from the director’s scratchy concept art to the final on screen image. The visuals in any Burton film are always of interest but here we have a book which seeks to go deeper into the mindset of the man whose films are instantly recognisable and this book gives a decent stab at understanding why Burton’s crooked road, without improvement, leads his own particular palace of wisdom.

It’s not the most revelatory book on the director, though the recurring images and thematic touchstones are identified and occasionally go beyond the obvious ‘Burton IS Edward/Ed Wood etc’. It is the conversations with the author which are of greatest interest, as Burton’s work is best commented on by the man himself with a reluctance to draw precise meaning from his film tempered with an appreciation for, and easy access to, the inspirations which bore them.

As a fan of Burton’s artwork and films it was a pleasure to read, and the stories of the collaborations during production and studio influence and interference adding a new dimension to an appreciation of the body of work. There were a few too many comments culled from Mark Salisbury’s Burton on Burton and, oddly, studio press releases for my liking but when the word comes from Burton himself, and with some artwork I’d not seen before, this is a certain recommendation for fans of a director whose talents often shine through even the darkest of tales.

***½~ (3.5/5)

The BBC have revealed that despite 2010′s U.K. cinema admissions being down by 2% on the previous year, the overall box office takings came in at £988 million; a whole 5% more than 2009.

With this growth being ascribed to the premium prices attributed to 3D tickets, BFI chief executive Anita Nevill is hopeful for the future of cinema in the U.K.

“The outlook for film is still generally positive with much to be optimistic about. There are still challenges to address and the BFI looks forward to working closely with the industry and with government to address these.”

Any celebration may be a little premature, however, with a number of sources noting that the 3D medium seems to be falling out of favour with the general public.

Whereas Toy Story and Alice in Wonderland might have constituted a hefty percentage of the U.K. box office, this year’s crop of 3D movies have been slightly less successful in theatres.

According to The Observer, Disney’s Mars Needs Moms grossed only $7 million on its opening weekend in the U.S., barely recouping any of its $175 million budget. Cinemablend, meanwhile, note that this year’s Kung Fu Panda constituted another considerable shift in consumer behaviour, with only 45% of the film’s opening weekend gross came from 3D sales (against 60% of Toy Story 3′s). This is even reflected in the stock market, with shares in RealD falling 12%.

Not that this is at all surprising. Opening hot on the heels of Avatar, a deeply immersive and genuinely jaw-dropping example of what the format can do, 2009  featured a steady stream of 3D features that effectively cashed in on James Cameron’s success with Avatar. It’s now 2011, however, and it is becoming increasingly apparent that the honeymoon period is over. Taken with a growing number of detractors and escalating cost of 3D tickets, a decrease in quality product has only served to propagate audience dissatisfaction.

As films continue to charge premium prices for a format that rarely delivers on the format’s full potential, the ineffective product of a hasty post-production conversion, there is less and less motivation to stump up the additional charge.

While this 5% rise in box office takings is of course good news for the U.K. film industry, such that it is, it is inevitably masking a decline that might not always have the safety net of 3D to fall back on.

It seems that Disney is finally catching on to the idea that commercial success can hinge on the older demographics.

It started with Almost Alice, which featured songs from the likes of Fall Out Boy, Owl City, All Time Low and more.  The album was released alongside of their Alice In Wonderland reboot  and not only did it generate quite a bit of fervor over the movie itself, but it also managed to reach the #1 spot on the Billboard Rock and Alternative charts.

Disney is apparently hoping to duplicate last years success story with the release of Muppets: The Green Album.  The album,  which will be released 3 months prior to the The Muppets, will include a host of Muppets songs as interpreted by various mainstream and indie artists.  Whereas Almost Alice seemed to be targeting the teen demographic, The Green Album‘s roster implies that this time they are instead targeting the 20-somethings.  This comes as no surprise since the movie has already been cast like a Judd Apatow flick.

Overall I have to say the lineup looks pretty awesome.  Some of the highlights include indie jam icons My Morning Jacket doing “Our World”, Norwegian pop sensation Sondre Lerche doing “Mr. Bassman”, and even a team up between Weezer and Hayley Williams (Paramore) on the classic “Rainbow Connection”.  However don’t think that Disney has forgotten about its teen audiences!  The album also features an unlikely pairing of Brandon Saller (Atreyu), and Billy Martin (Good Charlotte), as well as appearances by OK Go,  Amy Lee (Evanescence), and The Airborne Toxic Event.

The album is set for release on August 23rd on Walt Disney Records but you can listen to OK Go cover the iconic Muppet Show Theme Song right now by clicking here.

Here is the track listing:

01 – OK Go – Muppet Show Theme
02 – Weezer and Paramore’s Hayley Williams – Rainbow Connection
03 – The Fray – Mahna Mahna
04 – Alkaline Trio – Moving Right Along
05  – My Morning Jacket – Our World
06 – Amy Lee – Halfway Down the Stairs
07 – Sondre Lerche – Mr. Bassman
08 – The Airborne Toxic Event – Wishing Song
09 – Atreyu’s Brandon Saller and Good Charlotte’s Billy Martin – Night Life
10 – Andrew Bird -  Bein’ Green
11 – Matt Nathanson – I Hope That Something Better Comes Along
12 – Rachael Yamagata – I’m Going to Go Back There Someday

Tonight saw the fall of the 31st Critics’ Circle Film Awards, which was held for the first time at London’s BFI Southbank. Our full report will be online later today with all the red carpet gossip and winner’s reactions. Want to see Danny Boyle advertising Moët, hear about Aaron Sorkin’s upcoming HBO series, or find out whether Colin Firth has a favourite party trick? Then don’t miss out!

To whet your appetite in the meantime, though, we can now give you a full list of all the night’s winners. It was The Social Network and The King’s Speech which came out on top, grabbing four and three awards respectively, with Another Year, NEDs and Monsters also scooping rewards for their British talents.

The list below shows winners in red whilst blue text indicates the “Runners Up” as ruled by the critics board, so you can know who came close.

BREAKTHROUGH BRITISH FILM-MAKER

• Banksy- Exit Through the Gift Shop
• Clio Barnard – The Arbor **Runner Up**
• J Blakeson – The Disappearance of Alice Creed
• Gareth Edwards – Monsters **Winner**
• Chris Morris – Four Lions

YOUNG BRITISH PERFORMER OF THE YEAR

• Jessica Barden – Tamara Drewe **Runner Up**
• Conor McCarron – NEDs **Winner**
• Will Poulter – The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
• Saoirse Ronan – The Way Back
• Thomas Turgoose – The Scouting Book For Boys

BRITISH ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• Helena Bonham Carter – Alice in Wonderland
• Christine Bottomley – The Arbor
• Minnie Driver – Barney’s Version
• Rosamund Pike – Made in Dagenham **Runner Up**
• Olivia Williams – The Ghost **Winner**

BRITISH ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• David Bradley – Another Year **Runner Up**
• Pierce Brosnan – The Ghost
• Andrew Garfield – The Social Network **Winner**
• Tom Hardy – Inception
• Peter Wight – Another Year

BRITISH ACTRESS OF THE YEAR

• Helena Bonham Carter – The King’s Speech
• Lesley Manville – Another Year **Winner**
• Rosamund Pike – Barney’s Version
• Ruth Sheen – Another Year
• Tilda Swinton – I Am Love **Runner Up**

BRITISH ACTOR OF THE YEAR

• Riz Ahmed – Four Lions
• Christian Bale – The Fighter **Winner**
• Jim Broadbent – Another Year **Runner Up**
• Colin Firth – The King’s Speech
• Andrew Garfield – Never Let Me Go

ACTRESS OF THE YEAR

• Annette Bening – The Kids Are All Right **Winner**
• Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone
• Natalie Portman – Black Swan **Runner Up**
• Noomi Rapace – The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
• Hailee Steinfeld – True Grit

ACTOR OF THE YEAR

• Jeff Bridges – True Grit
• Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network
• Colin Firth – The King’s Speech **Winner**
• Ryan Gosling – Blue Valentine
• Edgar Ramirez – Carlos **Runner Up**

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR

• Dogtooth
• I Am Love **Runner Up**
• Of Gods and Men **Winner**
• The Secret in Their Eyes
• Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR

• Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg – The Kids Are All Right
• Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – True Grit
• Chris Morris, Sam Bain, Simon Blackwell & Jesse Armstrong – Four Lions
• David Seidler – The King’s Speech **Runner Up**
• Aaron Sorkin – The Social Network **Winner**

BRITISH DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR

• Clio Barnard – The Arbor
• Danny Boyle – 127 Hours
• Tom Hooper – The King’s Speech **Winner**
• Mike Leigh – Another Year **Runner Up**
• Christopher Nolan – Inception

DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR

• Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan **Runner Up*
• Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – True Grit
• David Fincher – The Social Network **Winner**
• Christopher Nolan – Inception
• Apichatpong Weerasethakul – Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

BRITISH FILM OF THE YEAR (THE ATTENBOROUGH AWARD)

• 127 Hours
• The Arbor
• Another Year **Runner Up**
• The King’s Speech **Winner**
• Monsters

FILM OF THE YEAR

• Black Swan
• The Kids Are All Right
• The King’s Speech **Runner Up**
• The Social Network **Winner**
• Toy Story 3

And finally, the Critics’ Circle named their TOP 10 FILMS OF 2010 as follows:

1. The Social Network
2. The King’s Speech
3. Black Swan
4. Toy Story 3
5. The Kids Are All Right
6. Another Year
7. True Grit
8. Inception
9. I Am Love
10. Winter’s Bone

And that just about wraps it up for the night’s accolades. Let us know what you think of the winners and don’t forget to check back later on for our full report of the evening’s event, complete with pictures and words from the guests themselves.

Some more names have been added to the cast of John Hillcoat’s follow-up to The Road, including an actor who involvement will make this the third collaboration with the director.

Guy Pearce and Gary Oldman are onboard for The Wettest County in the World, another adaptation for the director and based on the novel of the same name by Matt Bondurant, which follows the true-life tale of a pair of bootlegging siblings in Prohibition-era Virginia.

Pearce (who appeared in Hillcoat’s The Proposition and The Road) will play a violent deputy who comes down hard on the two protagonists (played by the already-cast Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy), while Oldman is down to play a gangster who seeks out the lead character’s help to deliver alcohol.

The Kids Are All Right and Alice in Wonderland star Mia Wasikowska has also signed on, alongside Jason Clarke (US TV’s Chicago Code).

News via The Hollywood Reporter

This evening saw the 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards was hosted by Ricky Gervais and take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles and we were rather excited about it!

The Golden Globes are a big indicator at where the big awards, The Oscars may go when they are announced on 27th February.

Below are all the winners from this evening’s award ceremony. Congrats to The Social Network for winning four awards out of their six nominations and also the big TV winner was Glee taking three awards.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

• Christian Bale, The Fighter
• Jeremy Renner, The Town
• Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
• Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech
• Michael Douglas, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama

• Katie Segal, Sons of Anarchy
• Jullianna Marguiles, The Good Wife
• Elizabeth Moss, Mad Men
• Piper Perabo, Covert Affairs
• Kyra Sedgewick, The Closer

Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television

• Carlos
• The Pacific
• You Don’t Know Jack
• Pillars of the Earth
• Temple Grandin
• 
  

Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television

• Chris Colfer, Glee
• Scott Caan, Hawaii 5-0
• Chris Noth, The Good Wife
• Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
• David Strathern, Temple Grandin

Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama

• Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empir
• Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
• Michael C. Hall, Dexter
• Hugh Laurie, House
• Jon Hamm, Mad Men

Best Television Series – Drama

• Boardwalk Empire
• Mad Men
• The Walking Dead
• Dexter
• The Good Wife

Best Original Song – Motion Picture

• You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me Yet, Burlesque
• I See the Light, Tangled
• Bound to You, Burlesque
• There’s a Place for Us, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
• Coming Home, Country Strong

Best Original Score – Motion Picture

• The Social Network, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
• The King’s Speech, Alexandre Desplat
• Alice in Wonderland, Danny Elfman
• 127 Hours
• Inception, Hans Zimmer

Best Animated Feature Film

• Toy Story 3
  
• How to Train Your Dragon
• The Illusionist
• Tangled
• 
  
• Despicable Me

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

• Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
• Angelina Jolie, The Tourist
• Julianne Moore, The Kids Are All Right
• Emma Stone, Easy A
• Anne Hathaway, Love and Other Drugs

Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television

• Al Pacino, You Don’t Know Jack
• Idris Elba, Luther
• Ian McShane, Pillars of the Earth
• Dennis Quaid, The Special Relationship
• Edgar Ramirez, Carlos

Best Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television

• Claire Danes, Temple Grandin
• Judi Dench, Return to Cranford
• Romola Garai, Emma
• Jennifer Love Hewitt, The Client List
• Hayley Atwell, Pillars of the Earth

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture

• The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin
• 127 Hours, Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
• The Kids Are All Right, Lisa Chodolenko & Stuart Blumberg
• Inception, Christopher Nolan
• The King’s Speech, David Seidler

Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television

• Jane Lynch, Glee
• Hope Davis, The Special Relationship
• Kelly MacDonald, Boardwalk Empire
• Julia Stiles, Dexter
• Sofia Vergara, Modern Family

Best Foreign Language Film

• In a Better World (Denmark)
  
• The Concert
• The Edge
• Biutiful
• I Am Love

Best Actress in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical

• Laura Linney, The Big C
• Toni Collette, United States of Tara
• Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
• Tina Fey, 30 Rock
• Lea Michele, Glee

Best Actor in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical

• Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
• Matthew Morrison, Glee
• Steve Carrell, The Office
• Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
• Thomas Jane, Hung

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

• Melissa Leo, The Fighter
• Amy Adams, The Fighter
• Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
• Mila Kunis, Black Swan
• Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

Cecil B. DeMille Life Time Achievement Award

• Robert De Niro

Best Director – Motion Picture

• David Fincher, The Social Network
• David O. Russell, The Fighter
• Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
• Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
• Christopher Nolan, Inception

Best Television Series – Comedy or Musical

• Glee
• 30 Rock
• The Big C
• Modern Family
• Nurse Jackie
• The Big Bang Theory

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

• Paul Giamatti, Barney’s Version
• Johnny Depp, The Tourist
• Jake Gyllenhaal, Love and Other Drugs
• Kevin Spacey, Casino Jack
• Johnny Depp, Alice in Wonderland

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

• Natalie Portman, Black Swan
• Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine
• Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
• Halle Berry, Frankie & Alice
• Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

• The Kids Are All Right
• Burlesque
• Red
• Alice in Wonderland
• The Tourist

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

• Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
• Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
• James Franco, 127 Hours
• Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine
• Mark Wahlberg, The Fighter

Best Motion Picture – Drama

• The Social Network
• Inception
• The Fighter
• The King’s Speech
• Black Swan

The nominees for the London Critics’ Circle Awards have been announced.

Another Year and The King’s Speech lead with seven nominations apiece.

The London Critics’ Circle Awards will take place on February 10, 2011 at the BFI Southbank.

Below is the full list of nominees:

Sky 3D Award: Film of the Year:

• Black Swan
• The Kids Are All Right
• Toy Story 3
• The King’s Speech
• The Social Network

The Attenborough Award: British Film of the Year:

• Another Year
• Monsters
• The Arbor
• The King’s Speech
• 127 Hours

Foreign Language Film of the Year:

• I am Love
• Dogtooth
• The Secret in Their Eyes
• Of Gods and Men
• Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

Actor of the Year:

• Edgar Ramirez, Carlos
• Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine
• Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
• Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
• Jeff Bridges, True Grit

Moet Actress of the Year:

• Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
• Natalie Portman, Black Swan
• Noomi Rapace, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
• Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
• Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right

British Actor of the Year:

• Riz Ahmed, Four Lions
• Jim Broadbent, Another Year
• Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
• Andrew Garfield, Never Let Me Go
• Christian Bale, The Fighter

British Actress of the Year:

• Lesley Manville, Another Year
• Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
• Ruth Sheen, Another Year
• Tilda Swinton, I am Love
• Rosamund Pike, Barney’s Version

British Actor in a Supporting Role:

• David Bradley, Another Year
• Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
• Tom Hardy, Inception
• Peter Wight, Another Year
• Pierce Brosnan, The Ghost

British Actress of the Year:

• Helena Bonham Carter, Alice in Wonderland
• Minnie Driver, Barney’s Version
• Rosamund Pike, Made in Dagenham
• Olivia Williams, The Ghost
• Christine Bottomley, The Arbor

Young British Performer of the Year:

• Conor McCarron, NEDs
• Will Poulter, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
• Saoirse Ronan, The Way Back
• Thomas Turgoose, The Scouting Book for Boys
• Jessica Bardem, Tamara Drewe

Director of the Year:

• Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
• David Fincher, The Social Network
• Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit
• Christopher Nolan, Inception
• Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

British Director of the Year:

• Clio Barnard, The Arbor
• Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
• Mike Leigh, Another Year
• Christopher Nolan, Inception
• Danny Boyle, 127 Hours

Screenwriter of the Year:

• Lisa Chodolenko & Stuart Blumberg, The Kids Are All Right
• Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, True Grit
• Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
• David Seidler, The King’s Speech
• Chris Morris & Sam Bain & Simon Blackwell & Jesse Armstrong, Four Lions

Virgin Atlantic Breakthrough British Filmmaker:

• Banksy, Exit Through The Gift Shop
• J Blakeson, The Disappearance of Alice Creed
• Gareth Edwards, Monsters
• Chris Morris, Four Lions
• Clio Barnard, The Arbor

The nominees for the 68th Golden Globe awards have just been announced at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.

Hollywood Foreign Press Association President Philip Berk was joined by Katie Holmes, Josh Duhamel and Blair Underwood to reveal the list of nominees.

The 68th annual Golden Globe Awards, hosted by comedian Ricky Gervais, will held on January 16, 2011.

68th annual Golden Globe Awards – Nominations:

Best Motion Picture – Drama

• The Social Network
• Inception
• The Fighter
• The King’s Speech
• Black Swan

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

• Natalie Portman, Black Swan
• Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine
• Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
• Halle Berry, Frankie & Alice
• Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

• Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
• Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
• James Franco, 127 Hours
• Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine
• Mark Wahlberg, The Fighter

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

• Burlesque
• Red
• Alice in Wonderland
• The Kids Are All Right
• The Tourist

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

• Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
• Angelina Jolie, The Tourist
• Julianne Moore, The Kids Are All Right
• Emma Stone, Easy A
• Anne Hathaway, Love and Other Drugs

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

• Johnny Depp, The Tourist
• Jake Gyllenhaal, Love and Other Drugs
• Kevin Spacey, Casino Jack
• Paul Giamatti, Barney’s Version
• Johnny Depp, Alice in Wonderland

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

• Amy Adams, The Fighter
• Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
• Melissa Leo, The Fighter
• Mila Kunis, Black Swan
• Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

• Jeremy Renner, The Town
• Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
• Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech
• Michael Douglas, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
• Christian Bale, The Fighter

Best Animated Feature Film

• How to Train Your Dragon
• The Illusionist
• Tangled
• Toy Story 3
• Despicable Me

Best Foreign Language Film

• The Concert
• The Edge
• Biutiful
• I Am Love
• In a Better World

Best Director – Motion Picture

• David Fincher, The Social Network
• David O. Russell, The Fighter
• Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
• Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
• Christopher Nolan, Inception

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture

• 127 Hours, Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
• The Kids Are All Right, Lisa Chodolenko & Stuart Blumberg
• Inception, Christopher Nolan
• The King’s Speech, David Seidler
• The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin

Best Original Score – Motion Picture

• The King’s Speech, Alexandre Desplat
• Alice in Wonderland, Danny Elfman
• 127 Hours
• The Social Network, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
• Inception, Hans Zimmer

Best Original Song – Motion Picture

• I See the Light, Tangled
• You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me Yet, Burlesque
• Bound to You, Burlesque
• There’s a Place for Us, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
• Coming Home, Country Strong

Best Television Series – Drama

• Mad Men
• The Walking Dead
• Dexter
• The Good Wife
• Boardwalk Empire

Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama

• Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
• Michael C. Hall, Dexter
• Hugh Laurie, House
• Jon Hamm, Mad Men
• Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire

Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama

• Jullianna Marguiles, The Good Wife
• Elizabeth Moss, Mad Men
• Piper Perabo, Covert Affairs
• Katie Segal, Sons of Anarchy
• Kyra Sedgewick, The Closer

Best Television Series – Comedy or Musical

• 30 Rock
• The Big C
• Glee
• Modern Family
• Nurse Jackie
• The Big Bang Theory

Best Actor in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical

• Matthew Morrison, Glee
• Steve Carrell, The Office
• Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
• Thomas Jane, Hung
• Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Best Actress in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical

• Toni Collette, United States of Tara
• Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
• Tina Fey, 30 Rock
• Laura Linney, The Big C
• Lea Michele, Glee

Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television

• The Pacific
• You Don’t Know Jack
• Pillars of the Earth
• Temple Grandin
• Carlos

Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television

• Idris Elba, Luther
• Ian McShane, Pillars of the Earth
• Al Pacino, You Don’t Know Jack
• Dennis Quaid, The Special Relationship
• Edgar Ramirez, Carlos

Best Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television

• Claire Danes, Temple Grandin
• Judi Dench, Return to Cranford
• Romola Garai, Emma
• Jennifer Love Hewitt, The Client List
• Hayley Atwell, Pillars of the Earth

Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television

• Scott Caan, Hawaii 5-0
• Chris Colfer, Glee
• Chris Noth, The Good Wife
• Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
• David Strathern, Temple Grandin

Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television

• Hope Davis, The Special Relationship
• Jane Lynch, Glee
• Kelly MacDonald, Boardwalk Empire
• Julia Stiles, Dexter
• Sofia Vergara, Modern Family

Black Swan, the forthcoming psychological ballet thriller from acclaimed director Darren Aronofsky, picked up an unprecedented twelve nominations at the annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards.

The King’s Speech and True Grit follow closely with eleven nominations each, while The Social Network and Inception each accumulated nine.

The Critics’ Choice Movie Awards will take place on January 14, 2011 at the Hollywood Palladium and will be broadcast on VH1.

The nominations for the 16th annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards are listed below in full:

Best Picture

- 127 Hours

- Black Swan

- The Social Network

- True Grit

- Winter’s Bone

- The Town

- Toy Story 3

- The Fighter

- Inception

- The King’s Speech

Best Actor

- James Franco, 127 Hours

- Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine

- Jeff Bridges, True Grit

- Robert Duvall, Get Low

- Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network

- Colin Firth, The King’s Speech

Best Actress

- Natalie Portman, Black Swan

- Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right

- Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole

- Noomi Rapace, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

- Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone

- Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Best Supporting Actor

- Christine Bale, The Fighter

- Jeremy Renner, The Town

- Andrew Garfield, The Social Network

- Sam Rockwell, Conviction

- Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

- Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right

Best Supporting Actress

- Mila Kunis, Black Swan

- Amy Adams, The Fighter

- Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech

- Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

- Melissa Leo, The Fighter

- Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

Best Young Actor/Actress

- Chloe Moretz, Let Me In

- Kodi Smit-McPhee, Let Me In

- Elle Fanning, Somewhere

- Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

- Chloe Moretz, Kick-Ass

- Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone

Best Acting Ensemble

- The Kids Are All Right

- The King’s Speech

- The Fighter

- The Town

- The Social Network

Best Director

- David Fincher, The Social Network

- Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech

- Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan

- Christopher Nolan, Inception

- Danny Boyle, 127 Hours

- Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit

Best Original Screenplay

- Another Year, Mike Leigh

- Inception, Christopher Nolan

- The Fighter, Scott Silver & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson (Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson)

- The Kids Are All Right, Lisa Chodolenko & Stuart Blumberg

- The King’s Speech, David Seidler

- Black Swan, Mark Heyman & Andres Heinz & John McLaughlin

Best Adapted Screenplay

- 127 Hours, Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy

- True Grit, Joel & Ethan Coen

- Winter’s Bone, Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

- Toy Story 3, Michael Arndt (Story by John Lasseter & Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich)

- The Town, Ben Affleck & Peter Craig & Sheldon Turner

- The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin

Best Cinematography

- 127 Hours, Andrew Dod Mantle

- True Grit, Roger Deakins

- Black Swan, Matthew Libatique

- The King’s Speech, Danny Cohen

- Inception, Wally Pfister

Best Art Direction

- Alice in Wonderland, Stefan Dechant

- Inception, Guy Hendrix Dyas

- True Grit, Jess Gonchor & Nancy Haigh

- Black Swan, Therese DePrez & Tora Peterson

- The King’s Speech, Netty Chapman

Best Editing

- Inception, Lee Smith

- Black Swan, Andrew Weisblum

- 127 Hours, John Harris

- The Social Network, Angus Wall & Kirk Baxter

Best Costume Design

- Black Swan, Amy Westcott

- Alice in Wonderland, Colleen Atwood

- True Grit, Mary Zophres

- The King’s Speech, Jenny Beavan

Best Make-up

- Black Swan

- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

- Alice in Wonderland

- True Grit

Best Visual Effects

- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

- Alice in Wonderland

- Tron: Legacy

- Inception

Best Sound

- Inception

- Black Swan

- Toy Story 3

- The Social Network

- 127 Hours

Best Animated Picture

- Toy Story 3

- The Illusionist

- Tangled

- Despicable Me

- How to Train Your Dragon

Best Action Picture

- Kick-Ass

- Red

- The Town

- Inception

- Unstoppable

Best Comedy Picture

- Easy A

- Cyrus

- Date Night

- The Other Guys

- I Love You Phillip Morris

- Get Him to the Greek

Best Picture Made For Television

- You Don’t Know Jack

- The Pacific

- Temple Grandin

Best Foreign Language Picture

- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

- I Am Love

- Biutiful

Best Documentary

- Restrepo

- Exit Through The Gift Shop

- Waiting For Superman

- Inside Job

- Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work

- The Tillman Story

Best Song

- I See the Light, Tangled

- We Belong Together, Toy Story 3

- You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me Yet, Burlesque

- Shine, Waiting for Superman

- If I Rise, 127 Hours

Best Score

- Black Swan, Clint Mansell

- The Social Network, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross

- True Grit, Carter Burwell

- Inception, Hans Zimmer

- The King’s Speech, Alexandre Desplat

Johnny Depp’s next film will be the big screen adaptation of the gothic TV series Dark Shadows.

Set to be directed by Tim Burton (Alice in Wonderland) for Warner Bros., Dark Shadows will see Depp and Burton’s reunite for their eighth feature film together.

According to THR, Depp has been cast as Barnabas Collins, a vampire living in a Maine manor who is searching for his lost love.

Seth Grahame-Smith penned the most recent screenplay.

Production is expected to commence in April 2011 for a late 2012 release.

We reported yesterday that Emma Stone has been offered the role as May Jane in the new Spider-Man movie which is directed by Marc Webb’s.

Deadline have also dropped a potential casting bombshell by suggesting there has been early unconfirmed talks that Philip Seymour Hoffman is being discussed for the role of lead villain Venom. If they are considering someone of Hoffman’s stature (he can do villainy as Mission: Impossible 3 proved) that may also help banish the memory of the weak and thoroughly underdeveloped plotline of the character in the previous websliger’s adventure.

We’ll let you know when we hear if there’s any truth behind this interesting rumour.

Deadline are reporting that Toy Story 3 is expected to cross the $1bn threshold in box-office receipts this weekend which, when taken with Alice In Wonderland, gives the House of Mouse two releases that have grossed over $1bn in the space of a single year.

As of Friday morning, IMDb had Toy Story 3 sitting at a fraction over $984m in worldwide receipts, making it extremely likely that it will top $1bn in the next few days, especially given how strong it is continuing to perform outside the US. Alice in Wonderland finished at $1.023bn, although both films have benefited considerably from the increased ticket prices for 3-D releases.

It took several years for another film (The Return of the King) to join Titanic in crossing the $1bn threshold, there have been a number since and it is not inconceivable that in the course of the next year the final installments of Harry Potter and Transformers 3 will join this elite club. Disney’s press release reads as follows:-

BURBANK, Calif. – August 27, 2010 – Two weeks after becoming the highest-grossing animated film of all time, Disney•Pixar’s Toy Story 3 will cross the $1 billion mark at the global box office today, joining Alice in Wonderland as the second $1 billion film this year from The Walt Disney Studios – the first studio in history to accomplish this feat. Disney first crossed the $1 billion threshold with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest in 2006. Toy Story 3 becomes the only animated film to reach this milestone and the seventh title in industry history.

“It’s been an incredible year as we saw the Pixar team bring Buzz and Woody back to the big screen and watched Tim Burton’s vision for Alice in Wonderland take the world by storm,” said Rich Ross, Chairman, The Walt Disney Studios. “These box office triumphs prove that creative storytelling brought to life by imaginative, inspired and talented professionals is something audiences respond to the world over.”

As of Thursday (8/26/10), Toy Story 3 tallied more than $592.9 million internationally, Disney’s largest international animated release. Latin American audiences have contributed $138 million making Toy Story 3 the highest grossing Disney film ever released in the region. Toy Story 3 is the most successful UK release in Disney history and currently stands as the fourth biggest title in territory history with $102.4 million in box office receipts so far. In Japan, the film has taken in $111.2 million and spent five consecutive weeks as the #1 movie. Toy Story 3 currently ranks as the #7 film in global box office history and domestically ranks #9 with $404.6 million in receipts to date.

Alice in Wonderland began setting records during its opening weekend (March 5-7), becoming the biggest March opening in industry history, the highest 3D opening ever and The Walt Disney Studios’ biggest opening for a non-sequel film. Internationally, the film went on to tally more than $690 million, becoming Disney’s biggest overseas release of all time and the fourth biggest title ever released overseas. Worldwide, the film took in $1.0243 billion, ranking it as the #5 film in global box office history.

]]> http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2010/08/28/disney-smash-box-office-records/feed/ 0 http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2010/08/11/disney-post-huge-profits-in-third-quarter-mouseketeers-unanimously-rejoice/ http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2010/08/11/disney-post-huge-profits-in-third-quarter-mouseketeers-unanimously-rejoice/#comments Wed, 11 Aug 2010 17:00:31 +0000 Simon Gallagher http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/?p=36365

Given the incredible effect Toy Story 3 has had on the market since release (both in terms of box office and merchandise), it isn’t exactly surprising that Variety are reporting that Disney have announced soaring profits for the third quarter of the year.

Incredibly, the studio posted profit figures of $123 million compared with a $12 million loss in the same period last year. Overall, revenue rose 16% to $10 billion, while profits increased 37% to $2.5 billion.

The uplift has been pinpointed as being down to the healthy box office returns of Iron Man 2 and the aforementioned Pixar offering, as well as healthy DVD and Blu-Ray sales for Alice in Wonderland (despite the, I think, unfair critical reaction). The big man on campus at the Mouse House, Robert Iger declared in a call to investors (who could probably be heard audibly unclenching in relief after usually more gloomy news) that their strategic focus on branded fare is paying off well for the studio.

The profits have even been healthy enough to take the hit of disappointing domestic purses for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and The Sorceror’s Apprentice (though the relatively impressive foreign performance of PoP will probably have helped soften that blow).

The figures look to be vindication for the studio’s decision to experiment with an early release of Alice (a month quicker than usual), as the swift release allowed the studio to cement already strong figures with the almost $67 million that the release’s three versions have brought in since June 1st.

Despite those impressive home release figures for Alice, Iger confirmed that Disney wouldn’t be resting on its laurels, having identified the DVD market as a difficult prospect:

The DVD market is challenged and will continue to be challenged… You’re dealing with a title-to-title environment. It’s very title driven. Collectability doesn’t seem to be as important as it once was other than for certain brands like Pixar.

In response, Iger confirmed that the studio would be actively seeking new approaches to attempt to continue their rude financial health. He said that Disney “will become aggressive in experimenting with new windows, including digital” to try and encourage more of a return out of the home entertainment market going forward.

According to Variety, Iger remained tip-lipped on the subject of the sale of Miramax, other than saying that the $660 million sale to the Ron Tutor headed consortium “reflects a focus on maximising our assets and devoting resources to branded entertainment with franchise potential” and adding that the sale will only have a minimal impact of future Disney profits.

Also within the Disney stable, ESPN and ABC both posted profits with the sports network’s performance buoyed by an increase of 31% in ad sales from their World Cup coverage, and ABC by overseas sales of Lost, Ghost Whisperer and Castle.

Further business reflected a relative uplift in attendance at the company’s theme parks, though it is still incomparable to periods before the economic downturn of last year, and overall the picture was relatively conservative:

Although profits decreased 8% to $477 million, revenue for Disney’s parks and resorts division increased 3% during the quarter to $2.8 billion. While attendance at Disney’s overseas parks, including Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland, was stronger than expected, ticket sales in Orlando and Anaheim was still down 3% and 4% respectively, while the additional of a new ship to Disney’s cruise business also ate into profits.

However, the pricey addition of new attractions like the World of Color light and water show is “bringing record crowds” to Disney’s California Adventure park in Anaheim, Iger said. This month, Disney also raised ticket prices at Walt Disney World and Disneyland to move away from the practice of discounting to attract parkgoers.

Aside from the movie arms of the Mouse House, it looks like the company is enjoying the greatest return from its games wing. Following the recent acquisition of Playdom for $563 million and mobile gamemaker Tapulous, plus this week’s launch of  “World of Cars Online,” revenue from interactive media soared 74% to $197 million. Losses in the division were also cut by $10 million to $65 million against the same quarter a year ago.

Going forward, while remaining in the console game market- creating Disney-branded games across all formats, like the recently successful Toy Story 3 tie-in, Disney will devote more money to the burgeoning online gaming business, which Iger claimed will grow more than 30% a year:

We’re all aware of the rapid growth of social networks and the huge popularity of games on them… We feel it’s essential for us to have a presence. We now have a diversified games business to meet consumer interests.

So times are looking good at the minute for the company, and with the intelligent approach to new markets that Iger has outlined, they can only go from strength to strength.

Fresh from running through the classics with a supernatural lance, it is being reported that Seth Grahame-Smith has  landed the job of screenwriter for a new draft of Dark Shadows.

Tim Burton will direct this adaptation of the 60s daytime serial starring Johnny Depp as the vampire Barnabas Collins. The film is due to start shooting in January at  Warner Bros, and we first heard of this one back in December, so it is good to see this one gathering momentum.

Deadline report that:-

Warner Bros has been trying for several years to get to the starting line on the movie adaptation of the TV series that ran on ABC from 1966-71 and had legions of fans frightened by the moody and atmospheric storyline. Barnabas Collins (played by Jonathan Frid) was the central figure in the groundbreaking supernatural soap. As for Tim Burton’s version, John August was the first writer hired to script the project, based on the Dan Curtis-created characters. Grahame-Smith will be writing a new take under Burton.

Grahame-Smith apparently got Burton’s attention off the back of his bestselling novel, Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Burton and Timur Bekmambetov are looking to produce an adaptation of that book, with Bekmambetov in the frame to direct.

Lionsgate have optioned another of Grahame-Smith’s titles (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies), with David O. Russell (I Heart Huckabees, Three Kings) possibly on board as director and Natalie Portman starring as Elizabeth Bennett. Frankly, any film minded to add bloodthirsty zombies to a corseted costume drama has got to be worth a look.

Looks like Grahame-Smith is going to be one to keep an eye on.

David Roper reports.

Thanks to FilmJunk, we now know that Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time has become the single biggest video game movie adaptation in history in terms of international box office. “What?!” I hear you cry, “surely Street Fighter deserves that heady accolade”. Well, frankly no, it doesn’t.

It’s hardly a huge achievement in all honesty, given the traditional reception of video game adaps, though almost $300m world-wide isn’t a figure to be sniffed at. You still get the feeling that Disney won’t be overly happy with the Jake Gyllenhaal project, seeing as it hasnt yet made anywhere near its production costs domestically, which is pretty much rule number one for any project that aspires to be deemed successful enough to warrant franchising (or even single sequelling come to think of it). So far, Prince of Persia has made $214 million in its non-domestic purse, which more than doubles the amount it has made in the U.S. ($84m).

There isnt exactly a huge precident for money-making video game movies, with the watermark up until now being occupied by Lara Croft: Tomb Raider with a worldwide box office of $274 million back in 2001. The top five worldwide highest grossing video game movies reads as follows:

1.  Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time – $295 million
2.  Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – $274 million
3. Pokemon: The First Movie – $163 million
4. Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life – $156 million
5. Resident Evil: Extinction – $147 million

The real winner in that list for me is the Pokemon movie- almost $100m worldwide, back when ticket prices werent quite as high, for a feature-length cartoon on a comparatively miniscule budget. I distinctly remember the opening weekend buzz that came with Pokemon’s release: for a few days, it became the highest opening weekend animated film, which is no mean feat, until Toy Story 2 came along and put an end to the pretender’s reign. And this all from a film deemed only appropriate for young children, without the added material aimed at adults which made Tomb Raider (Angelina Jolie in hotpants anyone?) and Prince of Persia (Mr Gyllenhaal) so universally appealing. Critics may have panned it, but I loved it dearly.

 Specualtion would have the next Resident Evil project- Afterlife- nestling somewhere near the top when it is released in 3D later this year, but if the track record of that particularly franchise is anything to go by, the fourth installment will follow the trend of the others and be worse than the third. But then, you can’t ignore the potential that 3D gives to a film’s box-office presence. Personally, I can only hope the upcoming BioShock movie can get out of its developmental funk and hit the list high as well, as there is enormous potential in that project to make some good money.

$300m is actually a comparatively impressive haul (even despite the underwhelming home-front figures) this year considering the low-key impact of most of the projects already released. Obviously Alice in Wonderland hit the high-mark of $1 billion and Toy Story 3 will no doubt take a lot of cash worldwide (it must be good to be at Disney right now), but aside from those behemoths, there havent been any particularly stand-out figures yet. With Inception and the first part Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows hitting in the coming months, you’d have to suspect that more films will reach the $300m barrier, but Prince of Persia’s purse is definitely impressive in context, and when read against some of the mixed reviews it gathered initially.

Perhaps sadly for the possibility of seeing Gyllenhaal rippling under his costume again, it is usually the American bucks that mean the most to the bank-rollers of such projects, and even with the $300m worldwide figure, the actors’ willingness and the involvement of sequel-fancier Jerry Bruckheimer it might be too much to automatically presume that sequels are on their way. I still wouldnt exactly count the possibility out though.

For a little added Friday lunchtime fun, here’s my take on the seven worst video-game to movie adaptations to have “graced” our scenes in recent memory:

1. Dead Or Alive
2. Mortal Kombat Annihilation
3. Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li
4. Bloodrayne
5. House of the Dead
6. Super Mario Bros
7. Wing Commander

Oddly, the list also reads like the essential suggestion for brainless bad, but compulsively watchable movies.

Right, I’m off to dust off my copy of Pokemon: The First Movie for some anime magic.

Last weekend’s big movies made money, with The Karate Kid doing particularly well against its production budget. However, compared to some of the numbers seen over the Spring, the Summer box office appears to be declining, with the A-Team particularly falling far short of expectations. Usually, Summer is the big seller, and there has been no shortage of big budget blockbusters. Last year saw big budget movies making the lions share of the cash, with the biggest wins at the box office scored by the movies that spent the most, both in terms of production costs and marketing budget.

So why does the trend appear to be slowing? For the last twelve months, we’ve seen movies adapted from popular licenses outgrossing star vehicles and innovative filmmaking. Star Trek, GI: Joe, Terminator: Salvation, Transformers 2, the list is endless. Some ‘original’ movies made a lot of money. But 2012 and Avatar both had huge budgets and weak storylines. Alice in Wonderland, Iron Man 2 and Clash of the Titans have made the big money in the first third of this year, but all suffered poor review scores, and left audiences disappointed. The only film that has made a lot of money, whilst also attaining critical success has been How To Train Your Dragon.

So far this summer, we have seen Prince of Persia, The A-Team, Sex and the City and even Shrek Forever After fall below projections. Persia was a big budget family Disney film, and the other three were based on popular franchises. But audiences have stayed away. Are movie-goers finally growing tired of being disappointed? Are they now paying more attention to movie review scores, in light of recent ticket price hikes? Or are they just sick of going to see poorly conceived, rehashed stories?

I don’t particularly think that people are bored of big popcorn movies, i just think there have been too many. There have been some big releases this past spring, and when you think how much the cost of a typical family trip to the movies has increased recently, you can see why the pace has slowed. With the cost of 3D movies rising considerably, for two adults and their 2.4 children to go see a 3D movie, they could almost have gone to see two regular movies for the same cost last year. We’d all love original, interesting stories with great movies attached, but there will always be a big percentage of the mainstream audience that will only journey out to the cinema to see something immediately recognisable, mistakenly thinking an adaptation of an existing property will be a guarantee of quality.

As far as the current economy goes, the boom that box office takings received last year were linked by many to the global recession. A couple of trips to the cinema were seen as a cheap entertainment, compared with some other options. It may just be that now the economy has settled, and people have grown bored of living on a budget, that they have decided to go on that holiday this year, or spend a bit of money on that new car, or home extension. The factors that caused last year’s record attendances may now be working against the industry.

It may instead just be that they are saving their money for Toy Story 3. The Toy Story series is hugely popular, and with the critical acclaim that Pixar’s interim movies Wall-E and Up have received, their latest movie is one of the most highly anticipated films of the year. The outlook is good, with currently a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 100% fresh. Make no mistake, Buzz and Woody are well placed to make huge amounts of money, and the third Toy Story movie could easily become the highest grossing movie of the year so far.

If, however, the reason that movies like Prince of Persia and Sex and the City have failed is because audiences are starting to crave something more, a story with far more substance, Christopher Nolan’s Inception may be the big beneficiary. No-one knows how the director’s follow-up to The Dark Knight will fare financially. Common sense dictates that it will enjoy only modest box office success. A cerebral storyline, actors rather than stars, and the lack of an already established brand identity all suggest that big audiences will not be drawn in. But if they really are looking for something different, a story and plot that are a bit more compelling, maybe Inception will surprise when numbers come in. The Dark Knight made record amounts at the time, and whilst there were many factors, including the popularity of the character, and the quality of the preceding Batman Begins, it may be that the words ‘from the director of The Dark Knight’ on the poster will be enough to carry that momentum through.

With business slow so far, aside from Toy Story 3 it is difficult to see where the big money is going to roll in at cinemas for the rest of the year. The big budget blockbusters have already arrived, and movies like Predators and The Expendables look to struggle based on the performance of similar movies like The A-Team and The Losers. This year has seen the family market contributing the most money, with Alice in Wonderland and How to Train Your Dragon as the biggest success stories so far. There aren’t too many big family films on the horizon, and it is entirely possible that this year’s final numbers will be down on last year’s record takings.

It’ll be interesting to see in the coming months which movies will win each weekend. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse looks to be the only certainty for big money, and following the critical mauling of the last installment, maybe even that isn’t guaranteed. There are a few months of Summer left, the time when the big money is made, then we go into the traditional quieter Autumn period, when the Oscar contenders tend to filter out. If it is really the case that audiences are on the verge of becoming more discerning, maybe that’s when the money will start to come in again.

Bazmann – You can follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/baz_mann

On the 4^th of June Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland will finally be released on Blu-ray and DVD giving us all a chance to own our own piece of his colourful vision of Lewis Carroll’s Underworld.  To mark the occasion Disney invited HeyUGuys to tumble down the rabbit hole and discover the place the adventure began – to journey with them to Wonderland!

Antony House on Torpoint in Cornwall sits on the ruggedly handsome Rame Peninsula close to Plymouth.  Tim Burton plucked this Wonderland from a huddle of more than thirty historic houses for its singular beauty and extraordinary grounds.  The family seat of the Carew Poles has been casting a spell over visitors for nearly three hundred years and the magic of its hidden gardens and the elegant gaze of the house proved irresistible to the visionary director.  We wandered wherever Alice had trod, following her footsteps along the very same paths she had ever-so-recently chased a long eared stranger…

Our tour guide for our time in Alice’s wonderful world was the National Trust’s Harvey Edgington.  An integral part of the negotiation to win the location bid, Harvey told us how valuable a deal like this can be for a stately home like Antony and the area in which it stands.  At the National Trust’s Holywell Bay, another Cornish site, a scene from the Bond film Die Another Day was shot.  In one month the tiny village location had a half million pound boost to its economy – such is the impact when Hollywood comes calling.  In light of this Harvey told us it would have been utterly churlish not to do everything in his power to secure the Alice deal.  There was a more personal twist to the story too; Antony’s pride was at stake having missed out on a cameo role, as Violet Beauregarde’s house, in Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory only a few short years before.  The victory of the win was made all the sweeter by the starring role the house plays in Alice!

As we toured the grounds Harvey told us Tim had been captivated by the symmetry of Antony.  He fell in love with its windows and its calm silver/grey stone face.  Such was the appeal of the house that the interior scenes of Alice’s London home were also shot at Antony – in many ways it became a multi-talented member of the cast.  Two of the gardeners joined us on our stroll across the lawns and through the yew hedges into secret summer gardens.  Brian and Valerie described the surreality of life through the Tim Burton lens:  adding white fabric roses to heavily flowering bushes in order to weigh them with fairytale opulence then bending down to discover them as scented as their living counterparts.  Or discovering their trees were too quirky to be part of the ordinary world and watching life-sized fakes hammered together by a team of Burton Elves.  They adored every moment of the Alice adventure and were delighted that the National Trust had allowed a hint of Wonderland to remain.

After filming wrapped the Trust commissioned an internationally renowned theatrical transformation and installation company, Dodgy Clutch, to create a visitor experience which would maintain the spirit of Carroll’s fantasy.  On our walk we stumbled across several surprises secreted in the grounds – a forest of toadstools clustered around a Rabbit Hole slide, a riddling, writhing, Cheshire Cat hidden in the depths of a conical Yew and a clock with a familiar face at its heart that kept perfect Underworld time!  In the house, too, the presence of the story was tangible and the tiny bedroom Burton (impractically) chose to be Alice’s own seemed quite poised to expect her return.

The Carew Pole family occupy Antony House still and remained there throughout filming.  In fact Lady Mary was so enamoured of the process that she volunteered her services as an extra.  The house manager told us the family keep to their private rooms when visitors are touring the house but in the evening they venture out to occupy the whole of their home as so many generations have done before.  I fell in love with this vision of Antony as a place haunted by friendly ghosts; it seemed so much in keeping with the otherworldliness of Alice.  Though staff were sworn to secrecy, when the deal was done in 2008, one hint was left for clever eyes to spot: at the crest of the staircase leading to the room that would become hers sits an oversized cup and saucer patterned with an infamous tea party.  A topiary echo of this clue now tops the Yew hedge beside the house.

It is impossible to estimate the impact Alice in Wonderland will have on Antony House this year.  Between the 16^th and 25^th of September 2008 she witnessed 200 crew descend on her sweeping lawns.  Extra ferries were laid on every morning at 4am to lead the daily procession of extras and cast from their slumber into hair and makeup.  When recruitment of extras began 3,000 people queued in the hope of winning one of  250 chances to shine.  Certainly we felt the lingering excitement in the air as we picnicked under watchful eye.  Already the sparkle of Alice has attracted record visitor numbers, who knows what the future may bring…

Good things according to Harvey Edgington, whose experience in bringing the tall tales of the big screen to Trust property is immense.  When Pride and Prejudice was released in September 2005 the effect on Basildon Park, its location, was immediate as visitor numbers shot up by an incredible 172%.  Once the contracts are secured Harvey and his colleagues are in the unique position of being able to command Hollywood to dance to the Trust’s tune on occasion.  The Alice shoot had a Conservator on set daily to prevent any damage to the house or land.  In the case of a location like Antony this involved such creative precautions as tennis balls on the feet of cameras to prevent damage to the floors and ingenious floating camera rigs which hovered above the action rather than from the fragile ceilings of the house.

In an outdoor location such as Freshwater Bay, used for the dramatic battle scene in Ridley Scott’s recent Robin Hood, the imperative to protect the ‘fixtures and fittings’ is just as strong.  Having only the previous week seen the Bay play host to a scene for the final installment in the Harry Potter series – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -  Harvey went onto Ridley Scott’s set to oversee its transformation into a bloodied battle ground.  Though the cliffs of Dover were added later the physical location is 100% National Trust.  When informed that this Site of Scientific Interest would be hosting a scene described as “the first ten minutes of Saving Private Ryan retold with horses and arrows” Harvey had to remind the filmmakers that no new species were permitted to be introduced to the landscape.  And then insist they remove a carpet of muscle shells they had recently added for dramatic effect, literally bringing a big budget movie to its knees!

I hope that Antony House does continue to benefit from the Burton touch – it is a simply magical place and somewhere I hope you will discover for yourselves.  I am so looking forward to returning there when the Alice in Wonderland Blu-ray and DVD is released on Friday.

(All set photographs courtesy of Disney and selected location pictures by Paul Glendell.  Our huge thanks to Lydia Rodrigues and Stephanie Ryan at Disney, Emma Wright and Matt White at Taylor Herring and all at Antony House!)

Robert Downey Jr has had a very up and down (and up again) career, and whilst he has been hugely popular with a large set of fans for the duration, his fall from grace meant that he wasn’t a big box office draw for most of it. This has changed in the last couple of years. His charismatic and comedic performance was a big part of the reason for the first Iron Man’s success, and also contributed to Tropic Thunder’s decent numbers.

Then over Christmas Sherlock Holmes shocked the industry by making a huge amount of money. Holmes isn’t the most exciting of properties, director Guy Ritchie was coming off of a series of flops, and co-star Jude Law could never be considered a big seller (as evidenced by Repo Men). This means that the presence of Downey was the main driving force behind the movie’s financial success. Is he the last of the big box office stars, or does he signal the return of the bankable actor?

 Last year’s box office draws were big licenses, not big stars. Consider the highest grossing movies of 2009. There’s no denying Robert Pattinson is hugely popular with a particular set of fans. But this popularity is down to his association with the Twilight franchise, so the success of New Moon can’t reasonably be attributed to his presence, it is actually the other way around. Transformers II: Revenge of the Fallen was the highest grossing film of last year, but this could actually be considered to be despite Shia Labeouf’s appearance rather than because of it. He has his fans, but just as many can’t stand him, and the performance of Jennifer’s Body rules out any influence Megan Fox could be said to have had. The other big grossers, Star Trek, GI Joe and 2012 featured casts that were almost B-list, so their success is surely down to property recognition, marketing and blockbuster appeal. There is no denying money goes to money, and that was certainly the big theme last year.

 Back in the eighties and early nineties, there was a set of actors considered to be superstars. Action heroes like Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger were paid a huge amount of money, because the movies they starred in did big business at the box office. When these actors went on to try different types of movies, however, their fan bases didn’t follow them. Leading men like Tom Cruise, Kevin Costner and Mel Gibson were given great power because of their popularity, but they all suffered high profile failures, and the illusion was shattered. It seems clear now that it was the types of movies these actors made, as much as the stars themselves that drew audiences in. The notion of the box office superstar was a fallacy.

 How about the new generation of ‘big names’? Sam Worthington starred in Terminator: Salvation and Avatar last year, both of which drew hundreds of millions of dollars. So were all the people who went to see Clash of the Titans paying to see Worthington? Or the 3D action? Disney’s next big tentpole is Prince of Persia, but lead actor Jake Gyllenhaal, though respected, has never been in financially successful movies, and his last movie Brothers made less than $40M at the worldwide box office. Anyone could have been cast as the star of Prince of Persia, it will make a lot of money regardless.

 The man considered to be the last big bankable star, the actor who could guarantee big box office was Will Smith. But Big Willie was smart. By his own admission, he noticed that the highest grossing movies throughout his childhood were big sci-fi movies, so he followed a formula for his career. Save the world in one big blockbuster movie, then take on a smaller personal part for the next. By alternating like this, he remained a huge star whilst making movies on a regular basis that didn’t take in a huge amount of money. Whilst smaller personal project The Pursuit of Happyness made hundreds of millions, his last dramatic picture Seven Pounds performed disappointingly, and his most personal project of all, his Ali biopic, made a loss.

 This is borne out by Downey himself. Yes, his movies have made a lot of money in the last couple of years, but not his low profile drama The Soloist. His presence wasn’t enough to draw audiences in, and that is clearly proof that even the hottest stars can only sell a movie with a big marketing push to back it up. The other ‘bankable’ star still plying his trade is Johnny Depp. The Pirates of the Caribbean movies were hugely successful, and sold almost singularly on the presence of Depp and his massively popular Jack Sparrow character. This year’s highest grossing movie to date, Alice in Wonderland, also starred Depp. But his appearance in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus didn’t help it make any dent in the pockets of the movie going public.

 The notion of guaranteed box office stars is crumbling. Maybe the bankable box office star NEVER existed, and movie studios have been throwing money away for years on huge pay packets for big name actors. Based on the casting of last year’s hits 2012, Star Trek, GI Joe etc.. Hollywood may actually be beginning to wise up to this. Why pay out $20M plus for a successful actor with a huge ego, when that money can be better spent on additional marketing, the true star of any tentpole movie. There’s no doubting Iron Man II will make a whole lot of money this weekend, and i personally believe the presence of Robert Downey Jr is definitely a factor. I’ve seen the movie, and the performance and sheer presence of Downey elevates the movie. However, i can’t help also feeling that the $100M+ spent on marketing is a bigger factor, and if his paycheck had been instead used on a shoddy post-production 3D conversion, Iron Man 2 would make just as much money. And that is really a very sad thought.

Bazmann – You can follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/baz_mann

Last weekend saw Kick-Ass underperform at the box office. Critical reviews of the movie have been great, but the public’s interest in the movie hasn’t drawn. Kick-Ass was one of this year’s most highly anticipated films so far, and hopes for its success were high. We are now about to enter the second third of the year, and so far no one film as emerged as a bona fide classic. So what is going on?

 Of course, the term classic is difficult to define, and means different things to different people. It can be tied to the box office success of a movie. It can be attributed to the critical success of the movie. It may be better classed as the overwhelming public response to a film, which is very different in some cases to the critical performance of a movie. Many see a true classic as one that holds up in ten, twenty years time and beyond. Everyone has a different and equally valid opinion on this.

 I think the definition really has to be some combination of al the above factors. Some of the most successful movies so far this year in respect of box office performance have received a critical mauling. Alice in Wonderland is the highest grosser so far this year, and it has received generally very average reviews, though the public response has been more favourable. Also a big hit at the box office was Clash of the Titans, but in this case the critical and public response was pretty unanimous – it has been almost universally panned. Are these the movies we’ll still be talking about in five years time? Of course not.

 Some, like Kick-Ass, have received fantastic reviews across the board. The public reception has generally been pretty positive, though of course the number of viewers who have actually seen it is too low so far for it to be considered classic cinema, and there is a large percentage of cinema audiences who will never respond favourably to its over the top violence and ridiculous storyline.

 The films that could have been good, that we were expecting great things from, have failed critically, and some also financially. Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island did pretty well at the box office, but has a very low aggregate review score considering the directors reputation. Paul Greengrass is well respected for films like United 93 and Bloody Sunday, and has enjoyed financial success with his Bourne entries, so expectation was high for his third collaboration with Matt Damon. Green Zone, however, received a very mixed reaction, its political views rubbing some people up the wrong way, and it didn’t even manage to make a profit.

 Really, the only movie so far this year that has won out on all fronts has been How to Train Your Dragon. It started off slowly at the box office, but is looking good to break the $200M barrier within the next ten days. Aggregate scores have been very good, and public opinion has been pretty unanimous in its praise, with many movie-goers rewatching it multiple times. An animated film, the big success story of the year so far? It deserves it, and just follows the trend of animated work breaking through into genuine consideration.

So is the Hollywood product really just decreasing in quality? Last year was also considered to be a pretty weak year for quality film. I was watching Zombieland last night, one of last year’s surprise hits. I didn’t watch it last year, i didn’t find the time to go and see what was really just a small, knockabout movie with no huge cultural impact. If it had been released this month, however, it might possibly be considered the film of the year so far by many. Last year didn’t produce many classics, with only Avatar and Inglourious Basterds really meeting the criteria i laid down at the beginning of this article. So if the smaller movies of the previous twelve months are surpassing the best of this year so far, should we be starting to get worried?

 Historically, of course, the bigger movies come towards the summer, and the critically appealing movies in the Autumn, so the best movies should still be to come. In fact, the first major contenders may even see the light in the next few weeks.

 Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe, made a lot of money at the box office, and holds a place in the top 100 films of all time based on the IMDb250 list. Both will hope they can recreate this success with the forthcoming Robin Hood. By the looks of the trailer, it is similar in tone, it has action by the bucket load and it is based on an enduring property. Crowe could never be considered a box office star, he makes too many smaller dramatic films for that. Scott does however have a reputation for making big budget movies, with compelling storylines, filled with great action set pieces and moments of suspense. Backed up by the option of 3D, Robin Hood will almost certainly do well at the box office, and if the story and plot hold up to the quality of some of Scott’s previous work, it could be the biggest movie of the year so far.

 The first Iron Man was a surprise hit, making a lot more money than was expected. Why was it such a surprise? Mainly, because from a mainstream cinema point of view, Iron Man was pretty much unknown. Somewhat of a second tier Marvel character anyway, with no previous Iron Man outings on the big screen, he was as far removed from the public consciousness as you can get. Add to this the Robert Downey Jr factor. It’s easy to forget now, but before Iron Man Downey was best known for jail time, a shattered career and a personal life filled with demons. To cast him in a big budget, family action movie was a big gamble. Director Jon Favreau was also a bit of a gamble. He hadn’t directed this kind of movie before, though did have special effects experience from Zathura. Why did Iron Man do so well? It was a well constructed, expensive looking action picture. The trailers showed impressive special effects and the charisma, screen presence and comedy timing of its star shone through. Reviews were good, and word of mouth spread quickly from those who had seen it.

 Both these pictures have the potential to become a classic, in every sense of the word. Other forthcoming titles, from Nolan’s Inception to Fincher’s The Social Network have the potential to be huge too. I think when 2011 rolls around, we’ll be able to look back upon a year filled with some great movies. It has been a cinematically uninspiring year so far, but the best is yet to come, and now is the time to be really excited about Friday nights at the movies.

 Bazmann – You can follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/baz_mann

Yesterday, I was awoken by the postman who delivered me a letter for a date, a date, a very important date! That date is the DVD and Blu ray release of Disney’s Alice in Wonderland. You may remember all the to-do that Odeon cinemas had with Disney over the length of time in which Tim Burton’s retelling of Alice in Wonderland would be on the big screen to that of the DVD release. In the end, Odeon backed down after being given an extra week (making it 13 in total) between theatrical and home release.

This morning, I received a press release stating the following accompanied by a bottle saying ‘drink me’.

You’ve Got A Very Important Date
Walt Disney Pictures Presents…

ALICE IN WONDERLAND

Experience more of Wonderland with the Disney Blu-ray and DVD release
Available from Friday 4th June 2010

Following a record-breaking theatrical performance Tim Burton’s epic fantasy adventure ALICE IN WONDERLAND takes its booming box office success into the home. The wonderfully visually arresting film will be available as a Disney Double Play release (1 disc Blu-ray and 1 disc DVD) and Disney Triple Play release (1 disc Blu-ray + 1 disc DVD and 1 digital copy) from Friday 4th June, courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.

Audiences are invited to delve deeper into the rabbit hole to experience the magical and imaginative twist on one of the world’s most beloved stories of all time in pristine high definition.  A host of bonus features explore the whimsical world created by visionary directory Tim Burton (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sweeney Todd) including a look inside the world of the Mad Hatter and Johnny Depp’s transformation and the visual effects of growing and shrinking Alice, costume designs, music stunts and much, much more.

The film’s opening weekend made ALICE IN WONDERLAND the highest-grossing non-sequel opening weekend in history, the biggest March opening of all time, the biggest 3D opening of all time and the biggest IMAX opening of all time.  Thrilling audiences around the globe are stellar performances from an eclectic cast, many British.

Mia Wasikowska stars as 19 year-old Alice, who returns to the curious world she first encountered as a young girl, reuniting her with long forgotten childhood friends; the White Rabbit (Michael Sheen), Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Matt Lucas), the Dormouse (Barbara Windsor), the Blue Caterpillar (Alan Rickman), the March Hare (Paul Whitehouse), the Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry) and of course, the illustrious Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp).  Completing the cast of charismatic characters is the reigning Red Queen is outrageously and deftly delivered by Helena Bonham Carter, whilst her adversary The White Queen is uniquely portrayed by Anne Hathaway.

Film synopsis:

Tumble down the rabbit hole with Alice for a fantastical new adventure from Walt Disney Pictures and Tim Burton.  Inviting and magical, ALICE IN WONDERLAND is an imaginative new twist on some of the most beloved stories of all time.   Alice (Mia Wasikowska), now 19 years old, returns to the whimsical world she first entered as a child and embarks on a journey to discover her true destiny.  Wonderland is a world beyond your imagination and unlike anything you’ve seen before.  The extraordinary characters you’ve loved come to life richer and more colorful than ever.  There’s the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), the White Queen (Anne Hathaway), the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter), the White Rabbit (Michael Sheen) and more.  A triumphant cinematic experience – ALICE IN WONDERLAND is an incredible feast for your eyes, ears and heart that will captivate audiences of all sizes.

Blu-ray and DVD EXTRAS:
Finding Alice – It’s all things Alice. This featurette includes Tim Burton’s vision for the characters, differences from the book and Disney’s version of Alice and how she evolves as both a character and actor as she takes an adventure through Wonderland.

The Mad Hatter – Audiences are provided with a deeper look into the world of the Mad Hatter. Check out Johnny Depp’s early sketches, make-up, costumes and how they digitally enhanced his eyes.
Effecting Wonderland – A behind-the-scenes piece on the different technologies used to create some of the most beloved characters in the film – Stayne, Tweedledee, Tweedledum, Bandersnatch and the Red Queen.

PRODUCT INFORMATION:
Release date: Friday 4th June 2010
Certificate: PG
Running time: 109 minutes
Formats: Blu-ray Hi-Def, DVD, Disney Double Play, Disney Triple Play

And just so you know, I followed the ‘drink me’ instructions and so far I haven’t shrunk….. hang on a minute, it this laptop getting bigger?!!?