Tag: Christopher Abbott

Poor Things Box Office Prediction

After a predictably strong run in limited release, Poor Things hopes for a rich box office when it expands nationwide on December 22nd. From director Yorgos Lanthimos in his follow-up to 2018’s The Favourite, the period piece sci-fi black comedy looks to generate numerous Oscar nominations. Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Christopher Abbott, Jerrod Carmichael, Margaret Qualley, and Kathryn Hunter star.

This past weekend, it entered the top ten (in tenth) on just 82 screens. Its $1.2 million gross scored an impressive $15k per venue and it’s made just over $2 million in two weeks.

With serious awards buzz, this could manage to post a decent wide premiere. On the other hand, competition is fierce with other adult skewing titles like The Iron Claw, The Color Purple, and Ferrari either opening Friday or Christmas Day (Monday).

I’ve held off on doing a forecast for this because I’ve yet to see a verified screen count. When I do, it could alter my thinking. For now I’m setting a figure of $5 million from Friday to Monday, but don’t be surprised if that changes.

Poor Things opening weekend prediction: $5 million (Friday to Monday estimate)

For my Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom prediction, click here:

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Box Office Prediction

For my Migration prediction, click here:

Migration Box Office Prediction

For my The Iron Claw prediction, click here:

The Iron Claw Box Office Prediction

For my Anyone but You prediction, click here:

Anyone but You Box Office Prediction

For my Salaar: Part One -Ceasefire prediction, click here:

Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire Box Office Prediction

For my The Color Purple prediction, click here:

The Color Purple Box Office Prediction

For my Ferrari prediction, click here:

Ferrari Box Office Prediction

For my The Boys in the Boat prediction, click here:

The Boys in the Boat Box Office Prediction

Oscar Predictions: Poor Things

Upon its screening at the Venice Film Festival, the awards possibilities are rich for Poor Things. Based on the 1992 Alasdair Gray novel, it marks Yorgos Lanthimos’s follow-up to The Favourite from 2018. That pic garnered 10 Oscar nominations and one (surprise) win for Olivia Colman in Best Actress. This one could contend in several of the same races.

The word brilliant has popped up in more than one evaluation thus far as Things sits at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Emma Stone (2016’s Best Actress winner for La La Land) is drawing raves and her inclusion in Actress seems assured. This would mark her fourth nod after Birdman (supporting), La La Land, and Supporting Actress in The Favourite. She could be a threat to take her second gold statue. Just as Stone and Rachel Weisz competed against each other for The Favourite, there are two Supporting Actor hopefuls here with Willem Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo. Prior to screenings, I assumed Dafoe might have the edge. However, it seems Ruffalo has just as strong a chance. It would mark Dafoe’s fifth nom and Ruffalo’s fourth. Neither has won.

Things also appears poised for a Best Picture nod and Lanthimos may pick up a directing mention. It should make the cut in Adapted Screenplay while tech nods like Cinematography, Costume Design, Makeup and Hairstyling, and (especially) Production Design are very possible. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Oscar Predictions: Sanctuary

Zachary Wigon’s Sanctuary premiered at the Toronto Film Festival eight months ago to sizzling buzz, but it’s just hitting screens in limited fashion tomorrow. The two-hander casts Margaret Qualley as a dominatrix with Christopher Abbott as her wealthy client.

Reviews for the satirical thriller are impressive and it sits at 98% on Rotten Tomatoes with over 40 reviews in. Neon picked up the distribution rights after it debuted up north. Critics are praising the two leads and the original screenplay from Micah Bloomberg.

Despite the love, I doubt this will dominate next year’s Academy Awards. The subject matter may simply be a little much and it could simply fade away given the early release date. Don’t be surprised, though, if Qualley and the script pop up in some critics groups mentions a few months down the line. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Oscar Predictions: The Forgiven

Mixing satire with crime thriller elements, John Michael McDonagh’s The Forgiven is out in limited fashion this Friday, July 1st. It features the reigning Best Actress Jessica Chastain, who took gold last year as Tammy Faye Bakker in The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Her main costar is two-time nominee Ralph Fiennes in addition to Matt Smith, Ismael Kanater, Caleb Landry Jones, Abbey Lee, and Christopher Abbott.

The film first saw exposure last fall at the Toronto Film Festival. Reviews were decent, but many were far from gushing. That’s reflected in the current 73% Rotten Tomatoes score.

The Forgiven has been flying under the radar since its premiere up north and I don’t see this garnering any awards buzz. Chastain still has a shot for a second nomination in a row with her forthcoming Netflix crime thriller The Good Nurse later this year. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Black Bear Review

I’m not entirely sure I’d call Lawrence Michael Levine’s Black Bear a totally satisfying experience, but it features a heckuva lead performance and I’m still trying to figure out of its puzzle of a plot. This is an arthouse movie about characters involved in arthouse filmmaking. They’re self-indulgent, needy, usually drunk or stoned, and they often have fascinating conversations and arguments with each other. There is also the distinct possibility that none of what we’re witnessing is actually happening. I’m not sure. And I think that’s the way Levine intended it.

Aubrey Plaza is Allison, a former indie actress turned director. She’s got writer’s block and retreats to a secluded lake house in the Adirondacks to refuel. Or maybe not. Solitude is not her primary goal as the property is inhabited by struggling musician Gabe (Christopher Abbott) and his pregnant wife Blair (Sarah Gadon). They’re far from a perfect couple as they constantly bicker about big subjects like gender roles and whether Gabe is still actually in the music business (she’s not sure 53 cent royalties qualify). During their boozy evening together and with even the expectant Blair imbibing, Allison reveals some details about her life. Or maybe not as we begin to suspect this could all be her way of dismantling an already disgruntled couple’s marriage. A more conventional movie would have this build into a thriller about a romantic triangle.

That is certainly not the direction Black Bear follows. Without divulging too much, the picture is divided in half. The second portion involves the making of a movie where roles from the previous hour are reversed. When we are in the first part, Plaza is basically playing a variation of other roles we’ve seen her in. She’s deadpan, dry, and mostly unbothered by her strange surroundings. It particularly bothers Blair that she can never tell when Allison is being serious or funny. When the switch flips midway through, we see a damaged and emotional wreck slugging and swigging her way toward a hoped for artistic breakthrough. Her performance is remarkable to behold.

Black Bear is often pitch black in its comedy. Abbott’s Gabe goes from hapless hubby to over-the-top auteur over the course of the proceedings. The screenplay’s treatment of him as director is pretty brutal with his self seriousness and crew members around him that are forced to take him seriously. His dichotomous part is challenging as well and he pulls it off.

There’s a moment early on when Allison tries to explain her process for writing and coming up with ideas. In short, she can’t. She mumbles about finding something meaningful to happen. In the second part of this experience, we see the lengths of artists trying to achieve something meaningful. They might be misguided in their methods, but I think Levine is both satirizing and celebrating how anything gets made or written at all. Or maybe not. Maybe there’s just a half formed idea that keeps getting interrupted by a furry animal that comes out of nowhere and you have to start all over again.

*** (out of four)

Oscar Watch: Black Bear

Lawrence Michael Levine’s Black Bear premiered long, long ago in something called January 2020 at the Sundance Film Festival and became available for streaming this weekend. The drama casts Aubrey Plaza as a filmmaker looking for inspiration in dangerous places and many critics are calling it her finest performance to date. Costars include Sarah Gadon and Christopher Abbott.

The Rotten Tomatoes score stands at a sturdy 87%. Plaza is having a nice year as reviewers also praised her supporting work in the recent holiday rom com Happiest Season. That said, I have discussed how competitive Best Actress is numerous times here. Black Bear probably isn’t high profile enough to earn its star her first Oscar nod, but she’s certainly earning her critical bonafides as of late. My Oscar Watch posts will continue…

Oscar Watch: The World to Come

Vanessa Kirby, who’s had a varied career thus far on Netflix’s The Crown and action tentpoles like Mission Impossible – Fallout and Hobbs & Shaw, is having quite a solid Venice Film Festival. Currently underway overseas, the actress received plenty of raves for her work in Pieces of a Woman and that’s led to some awards buzz.

She also stars in The World to Come, a 19th century set drama in which she engages in a forbidden romance with Katherine Waterston. Their spouses are played by Christopher Abbott and Casey Affleck. Norwegian filmmaker Mona Fastvold is behind the camera. While some critics have pointed out some flaws, World is currently spinning with a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score and drawing comparisons to the acclaimed Portrait of a Lady on Fire from last year.

That said, I’m a bit skittish on this getting any major Oscar attention. It’s not clear what the category placement would be for the four leads. Both Waterston and Kirby could cancel each other out in lead actress (or supporting) and I suspect the latter’s better chances are with the aforementioned Pieces.

Bottom line: despite the early acclaim, it could be a tall order for World to come to the attention of the Oscar deciders. My Oscar Watch posts will continue…

First Man Movie Review

Perhaps the largest overarching theme of Damien Chazelle’s First Man is control. Mission control of the world famous Apollo 11 flight, yes. There’s also a mission in which Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) tragically cannot control with the death of his young daughter to a brain tumor. In Gosling’s face as he lands for the first time ever on the outer reaches of our solar system, we sense his myopic focus on this historic assignment. It is coupled with a sense of loss of what he experienced a few years prior with a task he couldn’t achieve in saving her life.

That, more than anything else, is where the power of this picture lies. Yet these moments are not particularly frequent. We all know how First Man is going to end with Armstrong’s first footprint on a never before stepped upon surface. There is little dramatic tension there, though the booming musical score helps a little bit. Chazelle’s film takes the moon landing and shows it through the eyes of the man who did it. That means we see the extraordinarily small spaces he trains and rides in. And in the years prior to success, we see a string of losses from his daughter to several coworkers who perish along the way.

This is not the space saga I expected from Chazelle. It’s entirely different in tone from his previous efforts Whiplash and La La Land. Armstrong was a famously low key figure and First Man takes cues from his personality. The saga begins eight years prior to his claim to fame. Armstrong is a test pilot with a devoted but strong in her convictions wife Janet (Claire Foy) and two children. With two-year-old Karen, Neil treats her illness as a mathematical equation to be solved, like his daily work. He can’t solve this problem.

His piloting career coincides with his nation’s fervent desire to beat the Russians to the moon after being beat out by them in earlier missions. As we know, he’s eventually given captain status with Buzz Aldrin (Corey Stoll) and Mike Collins (Lukas Haas) alongside him. Before that occurs, we see Neil’s friendship with another famed astronaut Ed White (Jason Clarke) and others. All of these innovators reside in Houston and develop a close community where the wives are constantly living in fear of whether their husbands will come home.

First Man often focuses on that sense of dread and the fact that, in the 1960s, NASA was a program often running blind. Ever hopeful, but with rickety rockets and a cross your fingers and hope for the best attitude. It takes a toll on Neil’s marriage. Foy is excellent as Janet and she’s given a scene or two to shine.

Gosling’s work is, like his subject, tougher to nail down. It’s not a showy role. However, in the moments where he must convey Armstrong’s laser concentration, Gosling flourishes. I admired Chazelle’s tactic of making this tale that goes outside our galaxy a small and personal one. First Man is ultimately an experience that easier to appreciate than be grandly entertained by. Neil Armstrong worked in his own way and so does this for the most part.

*** (out of four)

First Man Box Office Prediction

With awards buzz lifting its potential box office prospects, Damien Chazelle’s First Man debuts next weekend. Ryan Gosling headlines as Neil Armstrong in the story of the journey that led him to walk on the moon. Costars include Claire Foy (in a role garnering Oscar chatter), Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Corey Stoll, Ciarán Hinds, Christopher Abbott, Patrick Fugit, and Lukas Haas.

Since premiering at the Venice Film Festival, First Man has received positive word of mouth with a current Rotten Tomatoes score of 88%. Like Chazelle’s last two pictures (Whiplash and La La Land), a Best Picture nomination is expected. Older audiences should turn out (and Gosling fans), but it could be a film that plays well for weeks as opposed to a huge opening.

October has been kind to space flicks, most notably Gravity and The Martian. They both launched to over $50 million out of the gate. First Man is not expected to achieve those numbers. Competition is serious with the second weekends of Venom and A Star Is Born in particular.

I’ll say this manages a low to likely mid 20s start with solid grosses continuing beyond.

First Man opening weekend prediction: $23.5 million

For my Goosebumps 2, Haunted Halloween prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2018/10/03/goosebumps-2-haunted-halloween/

For my Bad Times at the El Royale prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2018/10/03/bad-times-at-the-el-royale-box-office-prediction/

Oscar Watch: First Man

The Venice Film Festival has kicked off today with Toronto coming next week. That means you can expect two dozen or more Oscar Watch posts coming your way on the blog over the next few days!

The opening film from Venice is a big one – Damien Chazelle’s First Man. The story of Neil Armstrong’s (Ryan Gosling) journey to the moon has screened for critics and the early verdict is quite strong.

It should come as no surprise that Man is considered a potential serious awards contender. Director Chazelle has seen both of his previous works – 2014’s Whiplash and 2016’s La La Land – land Best Picture nominations. The latter infamously lost to Moonlight. Additionally, both pictures resulted in Oscar wins for their performers (J.T. Walsh for Supporting Actor in Whiplash and Emma Stone in lead Actress for La La).

So where does this stand based on early buzz emanating from Italy? It would appear First Man is highly likely to be director’s third effort in a row to be recognized in Best Picture. Chazelle also stands a great chance at a directing nod (he won for La La and was the youngest filmmaker in history to do so).

As for the actors, critical notices have heaped praise on Claire Foy as Armstrong’s wife Jan. Her inclusion in Supporting Actress is probable. Of the many recognizable male supporting players, it appears Jason Clarke is receiving the most attention. It’s possible that Universal’s Oscar campaign’s focus could primarily center on Gosling and Foy, but I wouldn’t count Clarke out.

Which brings us to Gosling. Critics have been very kind in praising his understated work. I don’t think it’s yet a guarantee that Gosling lands his third Best Actor nod (after Half Nelson and La La Land), but he’s absolutely in the mix.

In addition to Best Adapted Screenplay, First Man should definitely find itself under consideration for numerous tech races including Cinematography, Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Visual Effects, Production Design, and Original Score.

Bottom line: First Man is the first fall festival picture to be screened… and it’s established itself as a major player.

First Man opens domestically on October 12. My Oscar Watch posts will continue…