The Film:

Nine is such a curious piece of a meddling mess of a film; it’s a headache to sort out. Certainly, the pedigree for an Academy Award run is apparent in its casting, with big names like Penelope Cruz, Sophia Loren, former Oscar winners Judi Dench, Marion Cotillard, and Nicole Kidman, who won an Oscar before with this film’s director, Rob Marshall. Marshall’s success with previous musical films, should have and did, give this film some instant prestige. Nine is based on Tony Award-winning Broadway production, based on Federico Fellini’s masterpiece 8 1/2. What must have worked for the play, makes this film stilted, a constant problem, and I don’t doubt that many will find this down right dull.

I personally don’t think knowing about Fellini and the French New Wave movement will increase one’s appreciation in Nine. The film is pretty straight forward. This Fellini-like director named Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis), is facing a midlife crisis that is hurting his creativity and his marriage. Through a series of meetings with various women in his life: lovers, his wife, and his constant actress of choice (Nicole Kidman), pressure from his producers forces him into making a picture regardless if it’s even possible for him to do so.

This mirrors Fellini’s own turmoil prior to filming his most personal film in 8 1/2, a film so loved by critics, film fanatics, and film students, but here in Nine, the film glides to its obvious conclusion. Did Nine need to be another 8 1/2? No, and it’s a-okay Marshall didn’t strive to serve that notion. Daniel Day-Lewis is one of our most intense actors, and when the film calls time-out to the musical aspects, the dramatic scenes are top-notch. But the film is a musical, so these elements must be addressed. Sadly, these elements aren’t as inventive as Marshall is noted for. They’re flat and stagy. I’m quite sure the Broadway play cast actors who are skilled in singing and dancing. Now, all are game, and Penelope Cruz and Stacy Ferguson offer up plenty of oozing sex appeal, but they do little to excite the flat feeling to the film. Day-Lewis is decent, but hardly is sipping from Raul Julia’s milk shake from the Tony Award winning play, in terms of singing and dancing.

So what’s Nine without the musical elements? A decent film, but it is a musical and most of the staged numbers aren’t very catchy and weigh the film’s pacing down. I can’t help but have this incredible letdown feeling from a film based on an acclaimed show, based on one of cinema’s well-known artists, who might just have used the film’s opening line to describe the film: “a film is killed by talking about it”. Try singing about it.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: Sony’s DVD effort here is really solid. Colors, blacks, and details are excellently produced here, as best as the format will allow. The Dolby Digital track is alive and packs a presence, making for the sings to spruce up your attention with great sound dynamics and bass.

Commentary: Director Rob Marshall and producer John DeLuca appear on the track, making for a very interesting chat about the production from a behind-the-scenes standpoint, to the stage production, to working with the star-studded cast. Good stuff.

Sony offers up plenty of little featurettes that are pretty self-explanatory in The Incomparable Daniel Day-Lewis, The Women of Nine, Director Rob Marshall, Behind the Look of Nine, The Dancers of Nine, The Choreography of ‘Be Italian’, and the Making of Cinema Italiano. Ranging from a few minutes to a bit longer, all are okay, giving viewers a soft look into the film.

No Trailer, but a few music videos are included. You can read my soundtrack review again here.

Conclusion: Nine is the bomb all might have stated, but it’s a rather limp attempt, and perhaps that’s the most disappointing aspect, especially with the cast and crew. The DVD is really good, making it a great rental at least.

The Film: Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

The DVD: Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful Female Fit Models. Must be 5’7-5’8, Size 4 or 6 – NO BIGGER OR SMALLER. Age 18-25. Must have a lean dancer body. MUST have real breasts. Do not submit if you have implants. This is a show and tell of costumes with the director and the producers. Plan on an entire day of trying on clothes and being photographed.

Professional Dancers who are Swimmers. Females ONLY. Age 18-30. All ethnicities. YOU MUST have an extensive dance/swimming resume. We will be shooting in Hawaii.

Not essentially the world’s biggest news break, but whatever. Gave us a chance to talk about real boobies. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides will be starting its principle photography in May.

Source: ScifiWire

The first movies under this arrangement are Rob Marshall’s Nine, A Single Man, The Road, Youth in Revolt, Halloween, Piranha 3-D, Nowhere Boy, Hoodwinked 2 and Blue Valentine. However, note that not all of these titles will necessarily get a high-definition release, according to Blu-ray.com .

Note that the list includes Halloween. The TWC has released both Rob Zombie Halloween films on Blu-ray, so maybe that’s the listing for the upcoming Zombie-less third entry?

Source: Deadline Hollywood

Producing the feature will be Peter Aalbaek Jensen who’s worked with von Trier in several movies like Antichrist, Manderlay and Dogville. Cruz was recently nominated for her performance in the Rob Marshall directed musical Nine. She can still be seen in the film that’s currently playing in theaters, depending on where you live, and will be seen in this summer’s release of Sex and the City 2.

One of the more pleasing aspects of Nine was that it featured Marion Cotillard again in a musical. She has a great voice, and that’s what powers songs like “My Husband Makes Movies” and “Take It All”. She’s just plain great, as anyone who saw La Vie en Rose can attest too. Fergie, a natural singer, shines too in her songs “Be Italian”, and that shouldn’t be a surprise. But what about Daniel-Day Lewis, Kate Hudson, or Penelope Cruz? Out of those three, Hudson surprises the most, with the playful, catchy, “Cinema Italiano”. This song could be Oscar nominated. Daniel-Day Lewis is okay. Obviously, a singer he is not, but he’s fine. Cruz’s song is sexy visually in the film, but I don’t really like her rendition here vocally.

Nine also has a few overtures, but it all comes down to the songs. Some work, some don’t. The soundtrack won’t win over the non-fans of the film, but it should please Broadway fans, even though one could just say go buy the Broadway Original Cast Recordings. Like the film, the soundtrack is a mixed bag. Highly recommended for Marion Cotillard and Kate Hudson.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

“It is a daunting challenge for our members to narrow a very competitive field down to five films that represent the most artful cinematography we have seen during the past year,” says ASC President Michael Goi. “We believe these very different films have set the contemporary standard for compelling visual storytelling.”

Here’s the list of the three nominees below, thanks to WeAreMovieGeeks.:

Cinematographer’s (ASC) Outstanding Achievement Award:

• The Hurt Locker - Barry Ackroyd, BSC
• Nine – Dion Beebe, ASC, ACS
• The White Ribbon - Christian Berger, AAC
• Avatar – Mauro Flore, ASC
• Inglourious Basterds - Robert Richardson, ASC

Also gaining an award is Caleb Deschanel, who’s cinematography works include The Right Stuff, The Patriot and The Passion of the Christ, for the American Society of Cinematographers Lifetime Achievement Award. The ASC Awards will take place at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel on February 27th.

Nine

I personally don’t think knowing about Fellini and the French New Wave movement will increase one’s appreciation in Nine. The film is pretty straight forward. This Fellini-like director named Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis), is facing a midlife crisis that is hurting his creativity and his marriage. Through a series of meetings with various women in his life: lovers, his wife, and his constant actress of choice (Nicole Kidman), pressure from his producers forces him into making a picture regardless if it’s even possible for him to do so.

This mirrors Fellini’s own turmoil prior to filming his most personal film in 8 1/2, a film so loved by critics, film fanatics, and film students, but here in Nine, the film glides to its obvious conclusion. Did Nine need to be another 8 1/2? No, and it’s a-okay Marshall didn’t strive to serve that notion. Daniel Day-Lewis is one of our most intense actors, and when the film calls time-out to the musical aspects, the dramatic scenes are top-notch. But the film is a musical, so these elements must be addressed. Sadly, these elements aren’t as inventive as Marshall is noted for. They’re flat and stagy. I’m quite sure the Broadway play cast actors who are skilled in singing and dancing. Now, all are game, and Penelope Cruz and Stacy Ferguson offer up plenty of oozing sex appeal, but they do little to excite the flat feeling to the film. Day-Lewis is decent, but hardly is sipping from Raul Julia’s milk shake from the Tony Award winning play, in terms of singing and dancing.

So what’s Nine without the musical elements? A decent film, but it is a musical and most of the staged numbers aren’t very catchy and weigh the film’s pacing down. I can’t help but have this incredible letdown feeling from a film based on an acclaimed show, based on one of cinema’s well-known artists, who might just have used the film’s opening line to describe the film: “a film is killed by talking about it”. Try singing about it.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Nothing was released this past Friday, which meant that everybody has time to catch up on some of the films that got released throughout the month of December that they have not seen. Sherlock Holmes continues to hold strong with the awesome star power of Robert Downey Jr. with it’s weekend intake of $38.3 Million. Films like Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel along with Up in the Air continue to make their steady box office wave of revenue, not surprising knowing that they’re hitting their target audiences and getting a nice amount of bank along with it.

The ones that are suffering box office-wise are in the form of Rob Marshall’s Nine along with the Clint Eastwood directed film Invictus. Both of them have been getting their fair share of award-nominated buzz but both of them are strangely not catching the kind of box office momentum you would expect films of that stature to get. Here’s the rest of the weekend box office provided by Box Office Mojo.:

Weekend Box Office (January 1-3)

1. Avatar  ($68.3 M)
2. Sherlock Holmes  ($38.3 M)
3. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel  ($36.6 M)
4. It’s Complicated  ($18.7 M)
5. The Blind Side  ($12.6 M)
6. Up in the Air  ($11.3 M)
7. The Princess and the Frog  ($10 M)
8. Did You Hear About the Morgans?  ($5.2 M)
9. Nine  ($4.2 M)
10. Invictus  ($4.1 M)

Hollywood wakes itself up for the dull months, but this time with the possibility of some awesome films to break that ongoing streak. On January 8th Bitch Slap comes out in limited theaters, with the rest of the mainstream releases being Leap Year, Daybreakers, and Youth in Revolt.

Do not forget though, Avatar did not end up reigning the box office without it’s share of competition. Like previously reported, Sherlock Holmes did give the flick a slight run for it’s money one day which means it more than likely made some cash, and it did. The movie, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, took in $65.3 Million for it’s opening weekend which shows the power of Downey Jr, the rest of the cast and what not. Following close behind is the hybrid animation and live action film Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel managed to make itself some profit estimating to be $50.2 Million. All I can say is I wonder how fast it will be until Holmes and the Chipmunks get greenlit for more sequels at this point.

Last but certainly not least is the Alec Baldwin and Meryl Streep romantic comedy of sorts called It’s Complicated which ended up taking in $22.1 Million. With a supposed price tag of $75 Million, this flick still has a ways to go to get even. On a fairly good note, it looks like the nationwide release of Jason Reitman’s feature Up in the Air gained itself a little more steam as it tallied up to bringing in $11.75 Million, already ridiculously close to making back it’s budget, hurray. At least it finally broke free from the tie stranglehold that it had on Christmas Day with The Blind Side, which to me is one of the surprise hits of the holiday season. Nine, however, is not looking too good since it only wrangled in $5.5 Million on it’s second weekend. You have to admit, it’s been one hell of a weekend for movies. Here’s the rest of the numbers for the weekend below from Box Office Mojo.:

Weekend Box Office (December 25-27)

1. Avatar  ($75 M)
2. Sherlock Holmes  ($65.3 M)
3. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel  ($50.2 M)
4. It’s Complicated  ($22.1 M)
5. Up in the Air  ($11.75 M)
6. The Blind Side  ($11.73 M)
7. The Princess and the Frog  ($8.6 M)
8. Nine  ($5.5 M)
9. Did You Hear About the Morgans?  ($5 M)
10. Invictus  ($4.3 M)

It’s time to get ready for the New Year, and with that means were going into the dead months. However, it’s not looking as incredibly bleak as it normally would be in the month of January. With that said, the releases start up on Wednesday, December 30th with a limited one for The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond and the New York and Los Angeles release of The White Ribbon. In January, you’ll just have to wait and see until the 8th for the releases of several films which I will touch upon during the next box office report. Happy New Year to you all.

Let us not forget that these two were not the only films out in theaters on the holiday. The super kid-friendly CGI animated and live action hybrid film Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel got away with $12 Million little nuts in their pockets, not surprising since the first flick made a nice chunk of money it’s opening weekend as well. The Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin starring film It’s Complicated $7.5 Million, which is not too bad for the comedy of sorts. Up in the Air did a couple of million better than it did a couple of days ago, making about $4 Million on Friday and tying up with The Blind Side. The unfortunate part is that the Jason Reitman flick is not showing too much improvement with revenue in regards it finally opening up nationwide. Perhaps the studios played it out a little wrong with the every-other-week openings and might have let the Oscar-contention steam that was flowing from this movie from so long finally start to slip away.

Last but not least is the Rob Marshall directed feature Nine which is not only one of the lowest grosses out of all of the weekend openers, with $2.2 Million, but could more than likely skid under the radar with audiences and not gather that much revenue for it’s opening weekend. Here’s the rest of the Christmas Day estimates below, with a special thanks to Coming Soon for digging up the estimates.:

Christmas Day Box Office (December 25th)

1. Sherlock Holmes  ($25 M)
2. Avatar  ($24 M)
3. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel  ($12 M)
4. It’s Complicated  ($7.5 M)
5. Up in the Air  ($4 M)
6. The Blind Side  ($4 M)
7. Nine  ($2.2 M)
8. The Princess and the Frog  ($2 M)
9. Did You Hear About the Morgans?  ($1.6 M)
10. Invictus  ($1.3 M)

Make sure to keep on reading up here on Killer Film for the final weekend tally along with other news, interviews and other sorts of cool features.

Source: YouTube

Source: Nine-TheMovie

An Education: Winner of the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, An Education is the one of the biggest front runners in this year’s Oscar race, with across the board praise for its female lead Carey Mulligan, and raves for lead actor Peter Sarsgaard, and supporting performance by the under appreciated Alfred Molina. At this point, Carey Mulligan is the biggest front runner in all the races combined with an assured nomination and possible victory.

The Lovely Bones:  Peter Jackson‘s highly anticipated return comes in the adaptation of the Alice Sebold novel The Lovely Bones.  The film tells the story of a young woman who is brutally raped and murdered and watches from heaven, as her family tries to cope with the loss, and try to solve what or why it happened.  One of the biggest front runners in this year’s Oscar race has already been screened  a  few times, and is slowly loosing steam as reviews come in saying the film is magnificent, but plays more as a thriller, rather than solid drama.  Keep a look out for technical nominations, as well as nominations in lead for past Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan of Atonement, and supporting nominations for Rachel Weisz, as with as the big ones for Best Picture, Director and Adapted Screenplay.

Avatar:  To put this film, as being highly anticipated would not do the film justice with fans and fanboys, to see what the master filmmaker has conjured up with his first feature length film since 1997′s record breaking phenomenon Titanic.  Oscar prognosticators seem to be at odds whether the film will be a Best Picture nominee, with the Academy changing to 10 films, but those  who have seen cuts or scenes from the film overwhelmingly believe it can.  Expect the film to sweep the technical categories.

Precious: Based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire :  Already the front runner for a Supporting Actress win, Mo’Nique seems to be on every one’s radar at the moment, since the film’s reception at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, where the film went on to win the coveted Grand Jury Prize, along with the Audience Award.  The film has been slowly gaining steam towards a Best Picture nomination, as well as, a nom for Gabourey Sidibe as the film’s lead playing an overweight black woman who is pregnant with her second child, and under pressure from her cruel mother (Mo’Nique), while seeking guidance from a social worker (Mariah Carey).

Nine : On the Oscar train since the film’s announcement; Nine marks the return to the musical for Chicago director Rob Marshall in an adaptation of the Broadway play of the same name.  The film stars a virtual roster of Oscar winners and nominees, with Judy Dench, Kate Hudson, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Sophia Loren, Nicole Kidman and in the singing and dancing lead, Daniel Day Lewis.  Early buzz has been mixed, but likely to take a Best Picture nomination, as well as, acting categories going either way for Judy Dench and Marion Cotillard.

Bright Star: Still the only female to every win the best director award at the Cannes film festival, Jane Campion returns with Bright Star, an original screenplay of her own that tells  of poet John Keats and his lover Fanny Brawne, played by Abbie Cornish in a star making performance, whose previous work in Candy and Stop-Loss first put the talented actress on the Hollywood map.  Though the film’s reception has considerably cooled since it’s Cannes premiere, the film is growing a strong following hoping to muster up some Oscar attention, with its best chances in the lead actress and original screenplay categories.

The Road: Loved by many, and indifferent to others, the film tells the incredibly bleak story of a father and son on their trek to to the coast in a post apocalyptic America.  Viggo Mortenson returns in top form as the father protecting his son, played by Kodi Smit-McPhee.  Both actors are looking to earn Oscar nominations for their respective performances, but with Mortenson and the film’s cinematography so far the one’s up ahead.

The Hurt Locker:   One of the summer’s breakout films The Hurt Locker has been receiving raves since its premier at the Venice Film Festival last year and has not slowed down since.  The Hurt Locker is primed for Oscar gold with enough love for the film to earn its slot in the Oscar top 10 list, as well as, nomination love for Best Director Kathryn Bigelow, and possible nomination for lead actor Jeremy Renner and supporting actor Anthony Mackie.

UP:  With Oscar prognosticators still reeling over last year’s omission of Wall*E in the Best Picture category, UP seems to have all the right marks to fit the bill, and give Pixar its coveted Best Picture nomination, a first for an animated film since 1991′s Beauty and the Beast.

Amelia: Beloved director Mira Nair returns with the ambitious biopic of legendary pilot Amelia Earhart played by Oscar winner Hilary Swank in an attempt to get Oscar number 3.  Don’t expect Ms. Swank to obtain the win, but a nomination is very likely for the film, along with coveted Best Picture nomination and long shot nominations for Richard Gere and Ewen McGregor, to have the next possible acting nominations outside of the film’s technical nominations.

Invictus:  In the most obvious Oscar film out there, the secretive Invictus tells pseudo biopic of famed civil rights activist Nelson Mandela, played by Morgan Freeman and his hosting of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, in hopes to unify his country with Matt Damon, as one of the film’s rugby players.  With the film directed by Oscar winner Clint Eastwood and previous Oscar track record look for Invictus to do well at the big show.

A Prophet: France’s official entry into the Best Foreign Film race, as well as hopes to crack the Best Picture race, A Prophet has earned nothing but raves, with many calling the film the best prison film ever made, with comparisons to last year’s Gomorrah.

Up In The Air: Jason Reitman returns again from the Toronto International Film Festival, after his success last year with Juno, with his new dramedy Up In The Air starring a never better George Clooney, in what folks are describing as the best film of the year so far (up till September). It’s a story of a lonely businessman working up to 10 million frequent flyer miles, who falls for a similar woman on the way played by Vera Farmiga.  Look for the film to aim toward nominations for lead George Clooney, supporting noms for Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga, as well as luck for Best Picture, Director and Adapted Screenplay.

The Informant! : Based on the book by Kurt Eichenwald, Warner Bros. is looking to gain some serious momentum towards getting the Steven Soderbergh dark comedy nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, as well as a Best Actor for Matt Damon as the corporate whistle blower.

A Single Man: After earning raves at this year’s Venice Film Festival and winning the fest’s Golden Lion Award, along with Best Actor Colin Firth, A Single Man is shaping up to be this year’s dark horse. The film tells the story of  a gay college professor, who learns his lover has died. It has just been purchased by The Weinstein Company, and we all know how  well they do come Oscar time.

Get Low: In the dark dramedy starring  Robert DuVall in a performance earning him raves surpassing his work in The Apostle, Get Low tells the folk fairy tale of a man about a 1930′s recluse who goes as far as throwing his funeral party while still alive.

And if the film gets released this year, look for Terrence Malick to score well with his highly secretive film starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn in The Tree of Life, but seeing as the man takes around 2 years per film and takes even longer in between, we can never count him in the race until  his film is completed.  The film’s plot has been keptsecret by the studio, but is known to be a 1950′s period peace telling  a multi-generational family story, with information leaked that Malick is indeed working with CGI for the first time including pre-historic dinosaurs.

If you haven’t already seen the fabulous trailer, check out Daniel’s previous post.

Nine opens in theaters November 25, 2009.

SOURCES: Cinema Blend & IMDB