Archive for February, 2008
Santa Claus to leave Lapland?
Feb 29 - Santa Claus should relocate from his traditional home in Lapland and relocate to the central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan, says a Swedish logistics firm.
According to calculations by Sweco, Kyrgyzstan is the perfect location for Santa to eliminate time-consuming detours and avoid unnecessary strain on Rudolph and the other reindeer.
Video & text from Reuters
To the Oscar
Oscar ready for big night, but who’s watching?
By Martin A. Grove
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - As Oscar races go, this one’s been about as unusual as you could possibly imagine.
To begin with, the awards season was spent speculating not so much about who would win, but whether the 80th annual Academy Awards would proceed in its traditional three hour-plus star-studded telecast format given the writers’ strike. Of course, labor peace came just in the nick of time.
Unfortunately, there’s no way to do a last minute deal with viewers. There’s good reason for concern about the ratings for Sunday’s event since the best picture nominees did not have much mainstream appeal.
Even “Juno” with domestic ticket sales of more than $125 million wasn’t the kind of box office monster that roused the water cooler crowd. Those kinds of top-grossing pictures — like “Spider-Man 3,” “Shrek the Third,” “Transformers” or “Pirates of the Caribbean” — don’t get best picture nods these days.
“Juno’s” four competitors for best picture did even less business. “No Country for Old Men” grossed over $61 million. “Atonement” and “Michael Clayton” each did about $48 million. And “There Will Be Blood” took in about $32 million.
Among them, that’s roughly $314 million, which is only about 46 million admissions at the average national ticket price of $6.82. If everyone who bought a ticket to one of the best picture nominees were to tune in Oscar night the show would still not come close to the 55 million viewers who watched “Titanic” win best picture in 1998.
In 2007 about 40 million viewers saw “The Departed” win. That was up slightly from the roughly 39 million viewers who saw “Crash” cash in a year earlier.
What accounts for Oscar’s sagging numbers is the disconnect between the films that Academy members nominate and the pictures that civilian moviegoers pay money to see. In recent years awards voters of all sorts — not just Oscar voters — have made it clear that the type of films they want to celebrate as Hollywood’s best are no longer the commercial mainstream pictures that are the industry’s bread and butter.
Films that resonate with the critics in their own best picture votes in early December are the ones that wind up being considered for all the leading awards competitions. Movies that the critics dislike or ignore because they they’re too commercial no longer stand a chance of becoming best picture Oscar nominees.
These critics groups awards also impact on distributors, who use them to make decisions about what titles to support with marketing money. Films that are resonating with the critics are much more likely to get awards marketing support.
The last year that the major studios dominated the best picture Oscar race was 2003. Four commercial films were nominated: eventual winner “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World,” “Mystic River” and “Seabiscuit.” The only indie nominee was “Lost in Translation.”
And that brings us to the current crop of best picture nominees. Four specialized releases will vie for the top prize with “Michael Clayton,” which actually was financed independently.
Although “No Country” is clearly the favorite to win given its strong showing in other key contests — especially in votes by the Directors Guild of America, the Producers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild — it’s entirely possible that it could split votes with “Blood,” the other critically acclaimed serious drama in the race.
Some insiders say “Atonement” would benefit from such a split, although the wartime drama did not resonate with the critics groups and didn’t land the lead acting, directing and film editing Oscar nods that usually translate into a best picture win. But it is the kind of sweeping period piece epic romantic drama that Academy members traditionally like.
On the other hand, the Academy usually shuns comedies, which does not augur well for “Juno.” Some insiders say its box office success and life affirming spirit, as well as the high profiles of its Oscar-nominated star (Ellen Page) and screenwriter (Diablo Cody) could work in its favor.
And then there’s “Michael Clayton,” which was bolstered by acting nods for George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton. If anyone’s still watching the Oscars after more than three hours, it could be a nail-biter finish.
source: Reuters
