Calvin Coolidge was our 30th President of the United States and he isn’t talked about too often in the general grand scheme of Presidential history. There will probably never be a biopic about President Coolidge, but he does receive the honor of having an alien named after him in Daniel Espinosa’s Life. The term mild-mannered comes up frequently in relation to the President. His extra-terrestrial namesake is nothing of the kind.
Life takes place entirely on the International Space Station (ISS) where a six-member crew is returning from a Mars mission. They’ve made quite the discovery: Matt Damon and they’re bringing him home with his disco music! Actually it’s a soil sample that turns out to be the first evidence of life outside Earth. School children are given the ability to name this historic being and the lucky winners hail from Calvin Coolidge Elementary – hence Calvin.
Jake Gyllenhaal is Dr. Jordan, who’s been stationed the longest and seems to have a slight case of space institutionalization. Ryan Reynolds is engineer Rory, who keeps the Reynolds patented wisecracks to a minimum. Dr. Miranda (Rebecca Ferguson) is the chief quarantine officer. Biologist Hugh (Ariyon Barake) is tasked with bringing Calvin out of his dormant status to life.
That turns out to be a bad idea because Calvin has only survival instincts in mind. The organism shows a mean streak when he wakes up and Life becomes all about the passengers on board clinging to their own.
Audiences have been treated (or in some cases subject to) a host of outer space themed pictures in recent years, from Gravity to Interstellar to The Martian to Passengers to name a few. Some of those titles had a hopeful tone about what lies beyond our planet. Life? Not so much.
The production design and technical elements are top-notch and the acting is just fine, even though no one really has a character to work with. Espinosa’s exercise is mainly an excuse to pay both loving homage and rip-off Alien, the granddaddy of this genre. In that sense, it does provide some genuinely scary moments and plenty of others that are just familiar territory. Life is competent if not memorable, which is also what some historians say about President Coolidge.
So what’s a superhero movie gotta do to get a Best Picture nomination? That question has yet to be answered. 2008’s The Dark Knight was a gloriously reviewed box office juggernaut that still failed to get attention from the Academy (save for Heath Ledger’s posthumous Best Supporting Actor win). Last year’s Deadpool was a game changer in the genre that started to gain momentum towards the end of award season (including for star Ryan Reynolds). Again – no Oscar love materialized.
This weekend, Wonder Woman took in a fantastic $100 million in its opening weekend. It also garnered some of the best reviews the comic book genre has seen – 93% currently on Rotten Tomatoes. It set the box office record for a picture directed by a female (Patty Jenkins). And Gal Gadot’s portrayal of the title character is drawing many raves.
Could the Academy notice? My gut feeling – doubtful. I wouldn’t be surprised to see lots of chatter in the coming months about its possibility to be the first superhero flick to nab a Best Picture nomination. Yet I feel in 2018 that we’ll still be speculating about what could be the first.
Movies with outer space/alien themes have been quite the hot commodity as of late with blockbusters such as Gravity, Interstellar, The Martian, and Arrival.Next weekend, Daniel Espinosa’s Life will try and join their ranks for what could be an uphill battle.
The pic pits a crew from the International Space Station against an alien creature who may have greater intelligence than they do. Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds, and Rebecca Ferguson headline. This marks director Espinosa’s second collaboration with Reynolds after 2012’s Safe House.
Audiences have certainly had plenty of this type of material in recent years and I’m not sure the trailers and TV spots for Life stand out. It certainly appears unlikely to match the opening weekend grosses of the other genre titles listed above. On the other hand, the participation of Reynolds (hot off Deadpool) won’t hurt and a high teens to mid 20s lift off seems most probable. That should put it firmly in third behind the second weekend of Beauty and the Beast and premiere of Power Rangers.
This Sunday evening, the Golden Globes (perhaps the most significant Oscar precursor) airs with Jimmy Fallon hosting. Unlike the Academy Awards, the Globes divide both Picture and the Lead Acting races in two categories: Drama and Musical/Comedy.
Here’s how I have each race playing out with the winners predicted. As a side note, I decided to not do my weekly Oscar predictions yesterday and will have an updated post on Thursday next week!
With that, let’s get to the races…
Best Drama
The Nominees: Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Lion, Manchester by the Sea, Moonlight
Todd’s Prediction: Moonlight
Analysis: Not an easy prediction as this will probably boil down to Moonlight and Manchester, with both Hacksaw and Lion being potential spoilers (Water is only pic I see as having no shot). The winner of this category will likely vault into a two-way race with La La Land as to what comes out on top at Oscar time.
Best Musical/Comedy
The Nominees: 20th Century Women, Deadpool, Florence Foster Jenkins, La La Land, Sing Street
Todd’s Prediction: La La Land
Analysis: It would be pretty shocking if Damien Chazelle’s ode to Hollywood musicals didn’t win here. I suppose perhaps Jenkins has a dark horse shot, but this is the easiest pick of the bunch to make.
Best Director
The Nominees: Damien Chazelle (La La Land), Tom Ford (Nocturnal Animals), Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge), Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), Kenneth Longergan (Manchester by the Sea)
Todd’s Prediction: Damien Chazelle
Analysis: Jenkins has racked up a slew of precursors and a win for Gibson would be seen as completing a remarkable comeback after multiple personal issues. However, at the end of the day, I believe the La La love will extend to its director.
Best Actor (Drama)
The Nominees: Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea), Joel Edgerton (Loving), Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge), Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic), Denzel Washington (Fences).
Todd’s Prediction: Casey Affleck
Analysis: Like the Oscar race, this looks to be between Affleck and Washington. I’ll give the former the slight edge as he’s won more precursors and Manchester itself was nominated for Picture, whereas Fences was not.
Analysis: While I wouldn’t totally rule out an Adams or Huppert win, Portman has the edge in her acclaimed role of Mrs. Kennedy.
Best Actor (Musical/Comedy)
The Nominees: Colin Farrell (The Lobster), Ryan Gosling (La La Land), Hugh Grant (Florence Foster Jenkins), Jonah Hill (War Dogs), Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool)
Todd’s Prediction: Hugh Grant
Analysis: Conventional wisdom would point to a Gosling win, but I believe the Hollywood Foreign Press will provide a bit of an upset here and honor Grant. Also – don’t be too shocked if Reynolds manages to surprise.
Best Actress (Musical/Comedy)
The Nominees: Annette Bening (20th Century Women), Lily Collins (Rules Don’t Apply), Hailee Steinfeld (The Edge of Seventeen), Emma Stone (La La Land), Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins)
Todd’s Prediction: Emma Stone
Analysis: Bening and Streep are long shots, but it would be a rather large upset if Stone didn’t emerge victorious here.
Best Supporting Actor
The Nominees: Mahershala Ali (Moonlight), Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water), Simon Helberg (Florence Foster Jenkins), Dev Patel (Lion), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Nocturnal Animals)
Todd’s Prediction: Mahershala Ali
Analysis: Bridges or Patel are feasible, but Ali has received the bulk of precursor awards and I believe that will continue here.
Best Supporing Actress
The Nominees: Viola Davis (Fences), Naomie Harris (Moonlight), Nicole Kidman (Lion), Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures), Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea)
Todd’s Prediction: Viola Davis
Analysis: Davis is the clear front runner here and at the Oscars. An upset win (possible for any of these actresses other than Spencer) could dispel that notion, but it probably won’t occur.
Best Screenplay
The Nominees: Hell or High Water, La La Land, Manchester by the Sea, Moonlight, Nocturnal Animals
Todd’s Prediction: Moonlight
Analysis: La La and Manchester are in the mix here, but this is probably where Barry Jenkins will get his win and not for direction.
Best Original Score
The Nominees: Arrival, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Lion, Moonlight
Todd’s Prediction: La La Land
Analysis: Tough one and it’s not out of the question to envision any of them winning. I’ll just go La La and see what happens.
Best Original Song
The Nominees: “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” from Trolls, “City of Stars” from La La Land, “Faith” from Sing, “Gold” from Gold, “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana
Todd’s Prediction: “City of Stars”
Analysis: There’s some real heavy hitters here: Justin Timberlake, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Stevie Wonder with nominations. Yet I think the HFPA honors La La once again.
Best Animated Feature
The Nominees: Kubo and the Two Strings, Moana, My Life as a Zucchini, Sing, Zootopia
Todd’s Prediction: Zootopia
Analysis: Kubo has a shot and you can never dismiss Disney with Moana. However, there’s another acclaimed Mouse Factory title in the mix and I believe Zootopia gets in.
Best Foreign Language Film
The Nominees: Divines, Elle, Neruda, The Salesman, Toni Erdmann
Todd’s Prediction: Toni Erdmann
Analysis: Elle could absolutely win here (and perhaps The Salesman), but I’ll go with Academy favorite Erdmann.
And that does it, folks! I’ll have a post up Sunday night letting you know how well (or poorly) I did. Until then…
Over the years, Ryan Reynolds has seen his share of hits in multiples genres from rom coms (The Proposal) to action flicks (Safe House). He’s also earned the kudos of critics for appearing in acclaimed indie product such as Woman in Gold, Buried, and Definitely, Maybe.
Reynolds has also had his share of flops, from R.I.P.D. to Self/less to name some recent ones. And while they weren’t necessarily big financial disappointments, he also had the distinction of appearing in two comic book adaptations that aren’t well-regarded: 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Green Lantern. It was in Wolverine where he costarred with Hugh Jackman as Wade Wilson, better known as raunchy superhero Deadpool. Again, this wasn’t met with much approval from comic book lovers.
For years, Reynolds fought hard to make a version of Deadpool the way he wanted to and finally got his wish in 2016. The result? Well, the aftermath easily earns him a place among performers who had a sterling year. Deadpool opened in February to an astonishing $132 million and an eventual $363 million domestic haul. The pic is easily the actor’s largest grosser ever. It had the largest opening ever for an R rated feature and is second all-time for pictures with that rating (just behind The Passion of the Christ). Additionally, it is 2016’s current #5 earner. And he earned a Golden Globe nomination for his work.
So… yeah, the gamble paid off for Reynolds in a way that was unimaginable just a year ago. Naturally, we will see a sequel in 2018 yet Mr. Reynolds will have a busy 2017 as well. In March, he costars with Jake Gyllenhaal in the outer space thriller Life and in August he headlines action comedy The Hitman’s Bodyguard with Samuel L. Jackson and Gary Oldman.
For 2016, the massive Deadpool juggernaut gave Reynolds his likely signature role and a different kind of superhero tale that was tremendous fun.
Well, the Golden Globe nominations are out and there are some genuine surprises to be had.
Not surprising? Damien Chazelle’s La La Land (the current front runner in the Oscar Best Picture derby) leading all nominees with seven with Barry Jenkins’s Moonlight close behind with six.
Surprising? A total shut-out for Martin Scorsese’s Silence and a better than expected showing for Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals.
All in all, my performance guessing the nominees was pretty weak. 64% total in the ten major categories predicted.
Let’s break them down one by one, shall we?
Best Picture (Drama)
My Performance 2/5
Analysis: Ouch. This race threw me for a loop as only Manchester by the Sea and Moonlight were nominated among my five. The three that weren’t: the aforementioned Silence, Arrival, and Fences. In their place: Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge, Garth Davis’s Lion, and David Mackenzie’s Hell or High Water. Truthfully, none of their inclusions are entirely surprising. Having said that, if I thought I’d get three picks wrong, I probably would have thought Pablo Larrain’s Jackie would get in. This race now appears to be between Manchester and Moonlight.
Best Picture (Musical or Comedy)
My Performance: 3/5
Well… a little better. The three I correctly predicted were La La Land, Florence Foster Jenkins, and 20th Century Women. Warren Beatty’s Rules Don’t Apply and The Lobster didn’t make it in in favor of Deadpool (!) and Sing Street. Bottom line here? La La is going to win this category.
Best Director
My Performance: 3/5
Chazelle, Jenkins, and Lonergan were got in as I said they would, but Martin Scorsese and Denis Villeneuve (Arrival) did not. In their place are Mel Gibson for Hacksaw and the rather surprising inclusion of Tom Ford for Nocturnal Animals, especially considering the movie wasn’t nominated in Drama.
Best Actor (Drama)
My Performance: 4/5
The only incorrect estimate here is that Viggo Mortensen got in for Captain Fantastic instead of Tom Hanks for Sully. Ironically, I did predict Viggo would be nominated in Musical/Comedy here (I thought Fantastic would fall under that genre). The other nominees that I did get: Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea), Joel Edgerton (Loving), Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge), and Denzel Washington (Fences).
Best Actress (Drama)
My Performance: 5/5
Hey, the one and only race where I went 100%! The nominees: Amy Adams (Arrival), Jessica Chastain (Miss Sloane), Isabelle Huppert (Elle), Ruth Negga (Loving), and Natalie Portman (Jackie).
Best Actor (Musical or Comedy)
My Performance: 3/5
To me, the surprise is that the Hollywood Foreign Press didn’t nominate the legendary Warren Beatty for Rules Don’t Apply. As mentioned before, I put Mortensen in here, but he ended up getting nominated for Drama. The three I got right: Colin Farrell (The Lobster), Ryan Gosling (La La Land), and Hugh Grant (Florence Foster Jenkins). The two I didn’t: the pretty shocking nod for Jonah Hill in War Dogs and much deserved love for Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool.
Best Actress (Musical or Comedy)
My Performance: 3/5
Annette Bening (20th Century Women), Emma Stone (La La Land), and Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins) were all very easy picks to make and they got in. The other two were tougher. I went with Kate Beckinsale in Love & Friendship and Susan Sarandon in The Meddler, but it was Lily Collins (Rules Don’t Apply) and Hailee Steinfeld (The Edge of Seventeen) who made the cut.
Best Supporting Actor
My Performance: 2/5
Ouch again. When it comes to Oscar predictin’, this has been the most unpredictable category of them all and that showed with my GG’s performance here. I correctly named Mahershala Ali (Moonlight) and Dev Patel in Lion. My picks of Lucas Hedges (Manchester), Issey Ogata (the totally ignored Silence), and Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals) didn’t come to fruition. Instead, we got the surprise nod for Shannon’s Nocturnal costar Aaron Taylor-Johnson along with Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water) and Simon Helberg (Florence Foster Jenkins).
Best Supporting Actress
My Performance: 4/5
Correct picks were Viola Davis in Fences, Naomie Harris for Moonlight, Nicole Kidman in Lion, and Michelle Williams for Manchester. It was Octavia Spencer in Hidden Figures that I didn’t get (I said Greta Gerwig in 20th Century Women instead). Spencer’s inclusion is a small surprise, as some of the Oscar chatter has had Janelle Monae more likely to get in for Figures than her costar.
Best Screenplay
My Performance: 3/5
La La Land, Manchester, and Moonlight are in as predicted. No love for Arrival and Silence. In their place? Hell or High Water and Nocturnal Animals.
And there you have it! I’ll have a post up with final predictions on the winners shortly before Jimmy Fallon hosts the proceedings in January…
Day #4 of my first 2016 Oscar predictions brings us to Best Actor and in the past two years, even these incredibly early predictions yielded positive results. My 2014 late August/early September Actor predictions gave us four of the five nominees and in 2015 – three.
We start with Michael Keaton. He just missed out on a win in 2014 for Birdman and has had the distinction of appearing in the last two Best Picture winners (Birdman, Spotlight). It’s likely he’ll receive buzz for this December’s The Founder, in which he plays Ray Kroc – inventor of the McDonald’s franchise.
Denzel Washington both stars and directs in Fences, based on an acclaimed play. It’s been 15 years since he won for Training Day and it could be time to hear his name called again.
Casey Affleck has received raves for Manchester by the Sea. Same goes for Joel Edgerton in Jeff Nichols’ Loving. Readers of the previous posts in the Supporting races know that Moonlight looks to make some noise this season and that could extend to its star Trevante Rhodes.
Same goes for La La Land, which could mean a second nomination (ten years after Half Nelson) for Ryan Gosling. There’s Joe Alwyn in the title role of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, the latest from double Oscar winner Ang Lee. Woody Harrelson plays the 36th President in LBJ. Double Oscar winner Tom Hanks is Sully. And so on and so on (I’ve even listed Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool as a possibility… even though it’s extremely unlikely).
This finally brings us to Nate Parker, director, writer, and star of The Birth of a Nation, which received raves on the festival circuit earlier this year. It is impossible to know right now how his recent publicity due to a years old rape charge (in which he acquitted) and the suicide of the alleged victim plays out in the minds of voters. For now, I do not have him being nominated. Whether that’s because of the serious competition or other reasons is a factor that is sure to be discussed as the nominations draw closer.
Here’s how I have this initial round shaking out:
TODD’S EARLY OSCAR PREDICTIONS – BEST ACTOR
Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
Joe Alwyn, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
Joel Edgerton, Loving
Michael Keaton, The Founder
Denzel Washington, Fences
Other Possibilities:
Ben Affleck, Live by Night
Bryan Cranston, Wakefield
Colin Farrell, The Lobster
Andrew Garfield, Silence
Ryan Gosling, La La Land
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nocturnal Animals
Tom Hanks, Sully
Woody Harrelson, LBJ
Dave Johns, I, Daniel Blake
Joseph Gordon Levitt, Snowden
Matthew McConaughey, Gold
David Oyelowo, A United Kingdom
Nate Parker, The Birth of a Nation
Dev Patel, Lion
Brad Pitt, Allied
Chris Pratt, Passengers
Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool
Trevante Rhodes, Moonlight
Michael Shannon, Midnight Special
Will Smith, Collateral Beauty
Miles Teller, Bleed for This
We’ll hit Best Director tomorrow and then Best Picture!
Superman’s Dad (Kevin Costner), Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones), and Wonder Woman (Gil Gadot) headline the CIA action thriller Criminal, out next weekend. The pic hopes to bring in an older audience not preoccupied with taking their kids to see The Jungle Book.
It could be a tall order. I don’t believe the marketing campaign has done much to inspire enthusiasm and Costner’s track record over recent years has been spotty when he’s in the lead. This will be lucky to reach the $12.2 million that his 3 Days to Kill managed two years ago, though it’s certainly possible. Summit Entertainment’s best hope might be that audiences notice the participation of Mr. Reynolds (in a supporting part) so soon after the massive success of Deadpool.
I love it when a plan comes together and Ryan Reynolds’ plan to bring a proper version of Deadpool to moviegoers pans out in a big and raunchy way. It marks the actor’s fourth appearance in a comic book based picture after Blade: Trinity, Green Lantern, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, where he also played Mr. Pool. Those entries weren’t too memorable. The fourth time turns out to be the charm.
What sets Deadpool apart from Spideys and Avengers and Caped Crusaders is the level of R rated debauchery, amped up violence, and profanity not often found in the Marvel or DC universes. Yes, we see it in Iron Man and the Guardians of the Galaxy, but not quite like this. The alter ego here is Wade Wilson, a former special forces operative who makes his dough as a mercenary. He doesn’t see himself as a good guy and he isn’t, though most of the jobs he takes have whiffs of virtue. Early on, Wade fools around and falls in love with escort Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) and life is going well until a dire cancer diagnosis. Choosing to undergo experimental treatment for his illness, he leaves his girl and soon figures out that he’s been duped and is subjected to torturous experiments by a shadowy group led by British mutant Ajax (Ed Skrein). It leaves our antihero badly deformed and indestructible, hence the need for his superhero costume. Additionally, it leaves him pining for sweet and bloody revenge. Deadpool is soon joined in his journey by two X-Men – Colussus (Stefan Kapicic) and the entertaingly named Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand).
Along the way, Reynolds frequently breaks the fourth wall and talks to us in the audience. The screenplay fluctuates between his origin story and the here and now. It is a pic with its wicked tongue planted in its cheek. Much of what comes out of his mouth is hilarious and un-PC in a genre where a sense of sameness (see Avengers: Age of Ultron) has creeped in. Even the lead performer’s previous failures in spandex are slyly addressed. From the 80s inspired synth score coupled with Wham! and Salt n Pepa to a sex scene montage that shows our lead lovers freaky holiday progression, Deadpool isn’t afraid to be way out there. The gamble usually pays off.
Truth be told, Skrein’s villain and sidekick (Gina Carano) are forgettable. And there is the occasional joke that falls flat. Most, however, land. Reynolds has been working hard to get this character his own explicit feature for some time and it’s clear that he and screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick and first time director Tim Miller have their hearts in the proceedings. For an actor whose performances are a mixed bag, Reynolds’ sarcastic wit is absolutely perfect for this part, similar to what we’ve seen with Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Pratt in their franchises.
Deadpool shakes up the comic book worlds we are now accustomed to seeing every three months or so and gives Mr. Reynolds some nice retribution on screen and in a genre where his previous efforts weren’t too fun. This one is tremendous fun.
Ryan Reynolds has appeared in two superhero flicks before and neither (2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine and 2011’s Green Lantern) are exactly considered genre classics, to be kind. However, the times could be a-changin’ as Deadpool hits theaters next weekend amidst a wave of positive buzz.
Based on the Marvel Comics character, Reynolds plays the title role with Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, T.J. Miller, and Gina Carano in the supporting cast with first timer Tim Miller directing. Deadpool has been graced with some terrific trailers (especially the red band ones) that have assisted in generating big audience interest. In case you couldn’t tell from the red band mention, Deadpool is the rare hard R rated comic book pic. One could say that could limit its audience (and this certainly has no shot of achieving the kind of grosses that Avengers or Batman manage), but this should at least meet or very likely exceed expectations.
Somewhat ironically, this may open right in the $53 million range of Reynolds’ critically derided Green Lantern, which then sputtered to a $116M overall take. The difference? That gross for Lantern was disappointing, but it would be just fine for Deadpool. I’ll predict this manages to get a bit beyond that.
Deadpool opening weekend prediction: $58.2 million
**Please note this gross is for the Friday to Sunday portion of the weekend, not the full President’s Day Weekend.
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