The 2012 Film Release Calendar (May & June)
Ah, the summer.
What I love about the summer is how sparse it is. Earlier in the year (especially 2012. Have you seen March?), you’ll see three, four, even five films jockeying for a weekend. Not here. Here it’s — this film is opening, and it will win the weekend. And occasionally, you’ll see them counterprogram a film because the other one doesn’t carry over to that audience. Like when you saw in December, Sherlock Holmes and Alvin and the Chipmunks coming out on the same day. There’s no worry there, since neither is really stealing audience from the other.
The summer is so easy to talk about. One film a weekend, and that’s it. And you already know whether or not that film is going to be good or not. Blockbusters are such that you know exactly what you’re getting, within a certain range, and usually the only difference is, “Wow, that was much worse than I expected,” or, “Wow, that was fun like I expected, and the quality was actually passable too.”
So, let’s take a look at the summer, the part of the year I hate the most (because it’s exactly what’s wrong with the business today). (more…)
Oscars 2011 Update: WGA Nominations
Before everyone gets all bent out of shape about what wasn’t nominated, let me say right now — the WGA has stricter rules about what is and what isn’t eligible than the music categories. They routinely deem films that you know will get Oscar nominations ineligible, and that leads to a complete imbalance in terms of what’s nominated for the WGA Awards and what’s nominated for the Oscars. So just know that up front — some things are on here because films like The Artist, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Drive, My Week with Marilyn, Shame, and The Iron Lady are ineligible. That said, here are your nominations for the WGA Awards:
Best Original Screenplay
50/50, by Will Reiser
Bridesmaids, by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
Midnight in Paris, by Woody Allen
Win Win, by Tom McCarthy; Story by Tom McCarthy & Joe Tiboni
Young Adult, by Diablo Cody
And…
Best Adapted Screenplay
The Descendants, by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Steven Zaillian
The Help, by Tate Taylor
Hugo, by John Logan
Moneyball, by Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin; Story by Stan Chervin (more…)
