SPECIAL ARTICLE
THE GOLDEN MOON AWARDS NOMINATIONS
By Charlie Kiggs
13 out of the 30 movies released have got at least one nomination. Once again, movies oriented to adult audiences reign at the GMA. This time the main candidates are not specifically dramas but genre movies like ‘The Funeral Drum’, ‘The Chinese Bride’ or ‘Maleficarum’. There are not many surprises in the nominees. But I am most surprised about some names missing.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
'The Funeral Drum' becomes the main challenger of this GMA edition with its 6 nominations. Bradley and Stark wrote an absorbing and disturbing story with a nice sum of elements: the influence and manipulation of the media in public opinion, the hypocrisy of politicians, the violence of the gangs... all together with a passionate love story, the drama of a drug addict policeman, another cop accused of murder and the tension of an undercover agent. The perfect cocktail to build up a quality product that could have broken the record of 7 nominations shared by 'Pompeii' and 'Lyra' if just director Michael Mann, lead female star Julia Roberts or villain Jeffrey Wright would have been remembered by voters.
James Bradley sums up another two nominations as screenwriter that confirm him as a GMA favourite. He already competed with himself in Season 2, when 'Fools Game' and 'Chevrolet' were nominated. Now, he shares one of his nominations with Joey Stark, who will fight for the statute for the fourth time. The newbie in the best writers trio is John Daws. After a long career full of hits, Daws finally gets a GMA nomination with his epic historical screenplay '1066', a more than deserved nomination.
By the way, whatever happens at the Best Picture category, the movie that finally wins will have been written by James Bradley. Quite a landmark for him. It is the first time ever that all of the three movies nominated for Best Picture have been written by the same author.
A peculiarity in this Edition: only one movie gets nominations for both Best Director and Best Picture, 'The Chinese Bride'. These two categories usually go for the same winner but that tradition will only be repeated again if the Bradley's courtroom drama wins.
Box Office's flops are not an obstacle for being at the GMA. Movies that didn't make it in box office like '1066', 'The 6th Avenue Castaways' or 'Maleficarum' have got a nice number of nominations and have been remembered in main categories. We have to say it once again: quality and box office often go their own separate ways.
And another peculiarity: some sequels beat the original movie not only in box office but also in award nominations. The brilliant 'The Naked Sun', with 4 nominations, overcomes the single nomination got by 'The Caves Of Steel'. And 'Dr. Jones and The Cursed Treasure', with its 4 nominations, clearly defeats 'Dr. Jones and the Sword of Faith', that didn't get any.
THE IGNORED
Not a good edition for Josh Collins. He has been a regular at the GMA ceremony for the last few editions. But not this time. Even though 5 movies written by him have been released this Season, they have not got a single nomination. 'A Man Called Dan' and 'Change Of Heart', two productions with the prestigious 'Collins drama' stamp on it, have been unfairly ignored by voters. So, while waiting for the beggining of the so called 'Collinsmania Season' - no less than 8 movies written by him are expected to be released next Season -, Collins will have to watch the awards ceremony with no special thrill this time.
It is funny how voters have ignored the CMP's franchises most supported by the Studio. Not only 'Wild Cards: Double Solitaire' has been forgotten at the nominations. The most significant fact is that 'The Avengers 2' hasn't even reached the 'Most Wanted Sequel' category. CMP has created a major hype around this franchise and its upcoming spin offs and sequels, but voters have not shown any interest in it.
While Bradley & Stark, Keanu Reeves, Rosario Dawson and Sean Penn have been nominated for their work in 'The Funeral Drum', how is it that voters have not considered the brilliant directional job of Michael Mann and one of the best female performances of the Season from Julia Roberts, not to mention the impressive villain played by Jeffrey Wright? Hard to understand. I agree the movie deserved a bunch of nominations but, in my personal opinion, voters have gone for the wrong ones.
Some other big stars have stayed out of sight at the nominations list. While 'The Chinese Bride' makes it at Best Supporting Actress, Actress, Picture and Director, its main star, Matt Damon, suffers the oblivion of voters. It is funny how a movie may reach quite a few main nominations while the lead star of it, present in almost every sequence of the movie, is ignored.
And is it fair that the alltimes box office top 1, that wonderful animated feature that broke all records, ‘The Ice Princess’, hasn’t got a single nomination?
THE RETURNS
Loads of returns this time. Almost every talent nominee has been there before. It looks like this edition, the ceremony will look as a veterans reunion.
SCARLETT JOHANSSON: Yes, she is back to the fight again! And stronger than ever, with two nominations. She has been there before: Best Supporting Actress nominee twice (Season 2, ‘Chevrolet’ and Season 4, ‘Paperback Story’) and Best Actress once (Season 5, ‘Hollyweird’). If she does not get any award, Scarlett will lead the list of defeated stars with five nominations. Cruel.
JAMES BRADLEY: He already feels at home at the GMA ceremony. Two times winner (Season 2, ‘Fools Game’ and Season 3, ‘The Toymaker’) and another two times nominee (Season 2, ‘Chevrolet’ and Season 6, ‘Pompeii’). This time, he’s got it all: two nominations and his three pitches of the Season fighting for Best Picture. Can’t ask for more.
JOEY STARK: Although shared with Bradley, Joey has this time a major chance to finally take at least half of the statue home after three failed nominations: Season 1, ‘The Crusades’ and ‘The Heirs’ and Season 5, ‘Warland’.
UMA THURMAN: Not too lucky at box office, as she has a few flops in her career, Uma gets her second nomination in a row. Past edition, she fought for Best Actress with ‘Life and Facts of a Dirty Mind’.
ROSARIO DAWSON: She has joined the Best Supporting Actress trio before. It was in Season 2 and the movie was another James Bradley’s story like this time: ‘Chevrolet’.
DANIEL CRAIG: Another veteran at the ceremony. Craig won the Best Villain GMA for his work in Season 3, ‘Star Wars: New Order’. He returned as nominee for Best Actor in Season 5 with ‘Powerhouse’. So now he gives a try to a new category for him as Best Supporting Actor.
NICOLE KIDMAN: The first female star to win the Best Actress GMA. It was Season 1 and ‘The Heirs’. After quite a time away from GMA, she returned past Season with the blockbuster ‘Faction 12’ and now returns too to the GMA ceremony to confirm his presence in CMP's universe.
ZIYI ZHANG: A rising star in CMP’s universe. She goes for Best Actress now but she already looked for the Best Supporting Actress award in Season 5 with ‘Nagasaki Daydreams’.
SEAN PENN: Previously nominated in the Best Starring Couple category together with Robert De Niro in Season 4 for ‘The Heirs – Part 3’. After a successful experience as director – ‘American Heartland’ – and a couple of failures in CMP – ‘Dakota North’, ‘The Company’ – he has returned stronger than ever this Season with his leading and acclaimed works in both ‘The Funeral Drum’ and ‘Maleficarum’.
PATRICK STEWART: One of the most active talents in CMP – together with the also nominee Ron Pearlman -, Stewart has got his first leading role with ‘The Critic’ and it has meant his firs nomination for Best Actor. Previously, he fought for Best Supporting Actor in Season 6 with ‘Hitman: Pain of Destiny’.
TIM ROTH: His CMP’s career is going so nicely lately. He has starred ‘Chrysalis: Pennies From Hell’, joining this way the popular Wild Cards saga. And now he has succeeded as the villain in Dr. Jones’ second adventure. But some time ago, back in Season 2, he was already nominated for Best Starring Couple together with GMA Winner John Goodman for the flopped ‘Sam & Twitch’.
THE PREDICTIONS
1-BEST ACTRESS
Scarlett Johansson
In favour: After three failed nominations, it looks like it is time for her to win.
Against: Voters may consider that the Best Starring Couple award could be enough recognition for her.
Nicole Kidman
In favour: Everything. She has made the female performance of the Season.
Against: All the nasty news about her stealing the role to Charlize Theron is not good publicity for her.
Ziyi Zhang
In favour: The surprise factor. Some times voters feel sympathy for the weakest nominee.
Against: Nicole and Scarlett are a couple of heavy-weights to fight against.
2-BEST ACTOR
Sean Penn
In favour: He has made what probably are the two best acting works of the Season (don’t forget ‘Maleficarum’).
Against: Many people don’t feel sympathy for him.
John Cusack
In favour: His splendid acting duet with Scarlett is a classic award winning work.
Against: He definitely is an unlucky guy in CMP.
Patrick Stewart
In favour: It was so nice to discover the great comedian he can be.
Against: Comedy works are always less appealing for awards than dramatic ones.
3-BEST DIRECTOR
Mel Gibson
In favour: Gibson upgraded once again the concept of ‘epic’ with his directional work in ‘1066’.
Against: The movie flopped, after all.
Sofia Coppola
In favour: The exercise of classicism she has made with her brilliant work in ‘Maleficarum’.
Against: This one also flopped, after all.
Ang Lee
In favour: It is not easy to succeed with a courtroom drama. He put up a most engrossing movie.
Against: He has only directed ‘another’ courtroom drama.
4-BEST PICTURE
THE FUNERAL DRUM
In Favour: It seems to be the voters’ favourite movie of the Season.
Against: A GMA’s tradition: the most nominated movie many times has not finally been the most awarded one.
THE 6TH AVENUE CASTAWAYS
In favour: The originality of this movie. A different kind of story.
Against: The box office’s flop. And it may look as a ‘too little’ movie to win.
THE CHINESE BRIDE
In favour: It is the only movie nominated for both Best Director and Best Picture. And that looks promising.
Against: Did I say it before? It may be considered just as ‘another’ courtroom drama.
Wow! I knew my predictions would be true. Funeral Drum and Chinese Bride would own the night with the most nominees. To be quite honest, I'm very happy with each nominee. Very unpredictable picks were made this time around and I didn't find any mistakes in the nominations. Not even Robo-Reeves was a bad choice for supporting actor and probably the only time he'll ever get any prestigious award for his acting.
Much like Ted Froats in Season 5 and Josh Collins in last season, James Bradley snags two screenwriting nominations, albeit one of those awards he shares with Joey Stark, the first time in GMA history when co-writers were nominated. The statue has their name on it already, the only question is, will they have to keep trading the statue back and forth each week or will they both get one to bring home?
Uma Thurman and Daniel Craig have both gone from Best Actress/Actor to Best Supporting Actress/Actor, and Rosario is no stranger to the category. The only surprise upset could be Sandra Bullock, who went from only one role in a Season 1 movie to GMA nominee. Speaking of actresses, people are saying it's Nicole's, but this season she has some tough competition. Scarlett, whose been to the GMA nomination board more than either of her competition combined wants that win bad but she may have to wait yet again because my money is on Ziyi Zhang in her huge payoff performance.
How funny to see "Hollyweird Alumni" Cusack and Johannsen being nominees for not only best starring couple but their own actor/actress award. But the usual oscar favorite Sean Penn may have very well earned the statue but he has the hilarious performance of Patrick Stewart to compete with. Poor Cusack is the odd man out in this category. But hey, it's an honor just to be nominated, right? Great category that can go all three ways if the powers that be allow it.
For the first time ever, Ang Lee is the only director whose film is up for the big one of the season, Best Picture. In all other seasons all or at least two of the nominated films were also up for the category.
Sure a lot of these films you may have said to yourself 'oh that's going to get the GMA' and you find out you were right. But can you really argue with most or all of the nominees? A tough season had a very good and tough competition for the GMAs. There was a lot of fresh air in the nominees, for once in three seasons straight, one of GMA favorites Josh Collins had seen his most disappointing season yet, garnering no nominations for any of his season five films. You win some, you lose some!
I know for sure that I'll be tuning in next week for the results!
THE 8TH SEASON FINAL REPORT
(Bracket: Same data from Season 7)
MOVIES RELEASED: 30 (30)
SEQUELS RELEASED: 8 (2)
MOVIES WITH NET GAINS: 22 (28)
MOVIES WITH NET LOSSES: 8 (2)
NET GAINS TOTAL: 1744 (1792.1)
NET LOSS TOTAL: 89.5 (17)
FINAL BALANCE: 1654.5 (1775.1)
MOVIES WITH BOX OFFICE SUPERIOR TO 200 MILL.: 1 (0)
-The Ice Princess (Andrew Adamson / Matt Kubrick)
MOVIES WITH BOX OFFICE SUPERIOR TO 100 MILL.: 5 (7)
-Q*Bert (David Zucker / Josh Collins)
-Dr.Jones and the Cursed Treasure (Steven Spielberg / Joey Stark)
-Civilization M (Roland Emmerich / Josh Collins)
-The Avengers 2 (Gore Verbinski / Matt Kubrick)
-Netchasers (J.J. Abrams / Steve Connors)
TOP 1 NET GAINS: The Ice Princess – 320 mill.
TOP 1 NET LOSSES: Night Cab – 32 mill.
SCREENWRITER’S ACTIVITY
(Number of movies released / Best box office)
-MATT KUBRICK: 8 (The Ice Princess – 316 mill.)
-JOSH COLLINS: 5 (Civilization M – 150 mill.)
-JOHN DAWS: 4 (Hitman: Shadow of a Legend – 82 mill.)
-JAMES BRADLEY: 3 (The Funeral Drum – 70 mill.)
-STEVE CONNORS: 2 (Netchasers – 123 mill.)
-JOEY STARK: 2 (Dr.Jones and the Cursed Treasure – 122 mill.)
-DAVID MAKALASTER: 2 (Bullet Witch – 95 mill.)
-BEN TYLER: 2 (The Running Man – 70 mill.)
-RICHARD FRANZWA: 2 (Fallout – 60 mill.)
-MARCUS TRAX: 1 (The Thinking Man – 56 mill.)
-DAWSON EDWARDS: 1 (The Killing Run – 34 mill.)
SOME CONCLUSIONS
By Harry Stark
Season 8 has been quite a good Season for the Studio. The final numbers are a bit lower than Season 7. Less net gains at the final balance, a lower number of movies reaching the ‘100 mill’ landmark and one of the CMP’s Seasons with a higher number of flops. But, all in all, a successful Season. I feel satisfied. Here are the more remarkable facts for me as President of the Studio:
For the good:
-‘The Ice Princess’. I would have never dreamed that a CMP movie would make a box office of 316 millions. Remember that ‘Game Boy: Warlands’, now alltimes top 2, made 265 millions. This animated feature not just broke but destroyed all predictions and expectations and proved that the sky is the only limit for CMP’s productions.
-Ok, yes, the number of movies that flopped has been pretty high, but there hasn’t been really big flops in terms of net losses. ‘Night Cab’ and ‘1066’ were pretty painful for the Studio, but we cannot really talk of major disasters.
-I do declare as the official ‘sleepers’ of the Season two movies: ‘A Man Called Dan’ and ‘Paternal Nightmare’. Making more than 50 millions of net gains with a low budget production like these is such a remarkable achievement. Many big productions and blockbusters do not reach that outstanding turnout.
For the bad:
-If I’m not wrong, this is the Season with the highest number of flops ever. 8 movies didn’t make it at box office. After a few Seasons with a very low number of flops, luck changed this time.
-A personal pain: it was hard for me to see how my favourite movies of the Season flopped (I won’t mention here which ones were they but it is easy to guess).
THE SEASON 8’S BOX OFFICE TOP 6
(Box Office / Net Gains)
1-THE ICE PRINCESS: 316 / 320
2-THE AVENGERS 2: 173 / 177
3-CIVILIZATION M: 150 / 153
4-NETCHASERS: 123 / 146
5-DR.JONES AND THE CURSED TREASURE: 122 / 152
6-Q*BERT: 110 / 96
THE ALLTIMES WORLWIDE GROSS TOP 6
(Box Office / Net Gains)
1-THE ICE PRINCESS – 316 / 320
2-GAME BOY: WARLANDS – 265 / 206
3-STAR WARS: NEW ORDER – 229 / 250
4-GAME BOY – 211 / 242
5-THE GREAT WAR SERIES: DARKENING SKIES – 206 / 238
6-DUNGEONS & DRAGONS – 194 / 231
THE GOLDEN MOON AWARDS NOMINATIONS
By Charlie Kiggs
13 out of the 30 movies released have got at least one nomination. Once again, movies oriented to adult audiences reign at the GMA. This time the main candidates are not specifically dramas but genre movies like ‘The Funeral Drum’, ‘The Chinese Bride’ or ‘Maleficarum’. There are not many surprises in the nominees. But I am most surprised about some names missing.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
'The Funeral Drum' becomes the main challenger of this GMA edition with its 6 nominations. Bradley and Stark wrote an absorbing and disturbing story with a nice sum of elements: the influence and manipulation of the media in public opinion, the hypocrisy of politicians, the violence of the gangs... all together with a passionate love story, the drama of a drug addict policeman, another cop accused of murder and the tension of an undercover agent. The perfect cocktail to build up a quality product that could have broken the record of 7 nominations shared by 'Pompeii' and 'Lyra' if just director Michael Mann, lead female star Julia Roberts or villain Jeffrey Wright would have been remembered by voters.
James Bradley sums up another two nominations as screenwriter that confirm him as a GMA favourite. He already competed with himself in Season 2, when 'Fools Game' and 'Chevrolet' were nominated. Now, he shares one of his nominations with Joey Stark, who will fight for the statute for the fourth time. The newbie in the best writers trio is John Daws. After a long career full of hits, Daws finally gets a GMA nomination with his epic historical screenplay '1066', a more than deserved nomination.
By the way, whatever happens at the Best Picture category, the movie that finally wins will have been written by James Bradley. Quite a landmark for him. It is the first time ever that all of the three movies nominated for Best Picture have been written by the same author.
A peculiarity in this Edition: only one movie gets nominations for both Best Director and Best Picture, 'The Chinese Bride'. These two categories usually go for the same winner but that tradition will only be repeated again if the Bradley's courtroom drama wins.
Box Office's flops are not an obstacle for being at the GMA. Movies that didn't make it in box office like '1066', 'The 6th Avenue Castaways' or 'Maleficarum' have got a nice number of nominations and have been remembered in main categories. We have to say it once again: quality and box office often go their own separate ways.
And another peculiarity: some sequels beat the original movie not only in box office but also in award nominations. The brilliant 'The Naked Sun', with 4 nominations, overcomes the single nomination got by 'The Caves Of Steel'. And 'Dr. Jones and The Cursed Treasure', with its 4 nominations, clearly defeats 'Dr. Jones and the Sword of Faith', that didn't get any.
THE IGNORED
Not a good edition for Josh Collins. He has been a regular at the GMA ceremony for the last few editions. But not this time. Even though 5 movies written by him have been released this Season, they have not got a single nomination. 'A Man Called Dan' and 'Change Of Heart', two productions with the prestigious 'Collins drama' stamp on it, have been unfairly ignored by voters. So, while waiting for the beggining of the so called 'Collinsmania Season' - no less than 8 movies written by him are expected to be released next Season -, Collins will have to watch the awards ceremony with no special thrill this time.
It is funny how voters have ignored the CMP's franchises most supported by the Studio. Not only 'Wild Cards: Double Solitaire' has been forgotten at the nominations. The most significant fact is that 'The Avengers 2' hasn't even reached the 'Most Wanted Sequel' category. CMP has created a major hype around this franchise and its upcoming spin offs and sequels, but voters have not shown any interest in it.
While Bradley & Stark, Keanu Reeves, Rosario Dawson and Sean Penn have been nominated for their work in 'The Funeral Drum', how is it that voters have not considered the brilliant directional job of Michael Mann and one of the best female performances of the Season from Julia Roberts, not to mention the impressive villain played by Jeffrey Wright? Hard to understand. I agree the movie deserved a bunch of nominations but, in my personal opinion, voters have gone for the wrong ones.
Some other big stars have stayed out of sight at the nominations list. While 'The Chinese Bride' makes it at Best Supporting Actress, Actress, Picture and Director, its main star, Matt Damon, suffers the oblivion of voters. It is funny how a movie may reach quite a few main nominations while the lead star of it, present in almost every sequence of the movie, is ignored.
And is it fair that the alltimes box office top 1, that wonderful animated feature that broke all records, ‘The Ice Princess’, hasn’t got a single nomination?
THE RETURNS
Loads of returns this time. Almost every talent nominee has been there before. It looks like this edition, the ceremony will look as a veterans reunion.
SCARLETT JOHANSSON: Yes, she is back to the fight again! And stronger than ever, with two nominations. She has been there before: Best Supporting Actress nominee twice (Season 2, ‘Chevrolet’ and Season 4, ‘Paperback Story’) and Best Actress once (Season 5, ‘Hollyweird’). If she does not get any award, Scarlett will lead the list of defeated stars with five nominations. Cruel.
JAMES BRADLEY: He already feels at home at the GMA ceremony. Two times winner (Season 2, ‘Fools Game’ and Season 3, ‘The Toymaker’) and another two times nominee (Season 2, ‘Chevrolet’ and Season 6, ‘Pompeii’). This time, he’s got it all: two nominations and his three pitches of the Season fighting for Best Picture. Can’t ask for more.
JOEY STARK: Although shared with Bradley, Joey has this time a major chance to finally take at least half of the statue home after three failed nominations: Season 1, ‘The Crusades’ and ‘The Heirs’ and Season 5, ‘Warland’.
UMA THURMAN: Not too lucky at box office, as she has a few flops in her career, Uma gets her second nomination in a row. Past edition, she fought for Best Actress with ‘Life and Facts of a Dirty Mind’.
ROSARIO DAWSON: She has joined the Best Supporting Actress trio before. It was in Season 2 and the movie was another James Bradley’s story like this time: ‘Chevrolet’.
DANIEL CRAIG: Another veteran at the ceremony. Craig won the Best Villain GMA for his work in Season 3, ‘Star Wars: New Order’. He returned as nominee for Best Actor in Season 5 with ‘Powerhouse’. So now he gives a try to a new category for him as Best Supporting Actor.
NICOLE KIDMAN: The first female star to win the Best Actress GMA. It was Season 1 and ‘The Heirs’. After quite a time away from GMA, she returned past Season with the blockbuster ‘Faction 12’ and now returns too to the GMA ceremony to confirm his presence in CMP's universe.
ZIYI ZHANG: A rising star in CMP’s universe. She goes for Best Actress now but she already looked for the Best Supporting Actress award in Season 5 with ‘Nagasaki Daydreams’.
SEAN PENN: Previously nominated in the Best Starring Couple category together with Robert De Niro in Season 4 for ‘The Heirs – Part 3’. After a successful experience as director – ‘American Heartland’ – and a couple of failures in CMP – ‘Dakota North’, ‘The Company’ – he has returned stronger than ever this Season with his leading and acclaimed works in both ‘The Funeral Drum’ and ‘Maleficarum’.
PATRICK STEWART: One of the most active talents in CMP – together with the also nominee Ron Pearlman -, Stewart has got his first leading role with ‘The Critic’ and it has meant his firs nomination for Best Actor. Previously, he fought for Best Supporting Actor in Season 6 with ‘Hitman: Pain of Destiny’.
TIM ROTH: His CMP’s career is going so nicely lately. He has starred ‘Chrysalis: Pennies From Hell’, joining this way the popular Wild Cards saga. And now he has succeeded as the villain in Dr. Jones’ second adventure. But some time ago, back in Season 2, he was already nominated for Best Starring Couple together with GMA Winner John Goodman for the flopped ‘Sam & Twitch’.
THE PREDICTIONS
1-BEST ACTRESS
Scarlett Johansson
In favour: After three failed nominations, it looks like it is time for her to win.
Against: Voters may consider that the Best Starring Couple award could be enough recognition for her.
Nicole Kidman
In favour: Everything. She has made the female performance of the Season.
Against: All the nasty news about her stealing the role to Charlize Theron is not good publicity for her.
Ziyi Zhang
In favour: The surprise factor. Some times voters feel sympathy for the weakest nominee.
Against: Nicole and Scarlett are a couple of heavy-weights to fight against.
2-BEST ACTOR
Sean Penn
In favour: He has made what probably are the two best acting works of the Season (don’t forget ‘Maleficarum’).
Against: Many people don’t feel sympathy for him.
John Cusack
In favour: His splendid acting duet with Scarlett is a classic award winning work.
Against: He definitely is an unlucky guy in CMP.
Patrick Stewart
In favour: It was so nice to discover the great comedian he can be.
Against: Comedy works are always less appealing for awards than dramatic ones.
3-BEST DIRECTOR
Mel Gibson
In favour: Gibson upgraded once again the concept of ‘epic’ with his directional work in ‘1066’.
Against: The movie flopped, after all.
Sofia Coppola
In favour: The exercise of classicism she has made with her brilliant work in ‘Maleficarum’.
Against: This one also flopped, after all.
Ang Lee
In favour: It is not easy to succeed with a courtroom drama. He put up a most engrossing movie.
Against: He has only directed ‘another’ courtroom drama.
4-BEST PICTURE
THE FUNERAL DRUM
In Favour: It seems to be the voters’ favourite movie of the Season.
Against: A GMA’s tradition: the most nominated movie many times has not finally been the most awarded one.
THE 6TH AVENUE CASTAWAYS
In favour: The originality of this movie. A different kind of story.
Against: The box office’s flop. And it may look as a ‘too little’ movie to win.
THE CHINESE BRIDE
In favour: It is the only movie nominated for both Best Director and Best Picture. And that looks promising.
Against: Did I say it before? It may be considered just as ‘another’ courtroom drama.
Wow! I knew my predictions would be true. Funeral Drum and Chinese Bride would own the night with the most nominees. To be quite honest, I'm very happy with each nominee. Very unpredictable picks were made this time around and I didn't find any mistakes in the nominations. Not even Robo-Reeves was a bad choice for supporting actor and probably the only time he'll ever get any prestigious award for his acting.
Much like Ted Froats in Season 5 and Josh Collins in last season, James Bradley snags two screenwriting nominations, albeit one of those awards he shares with Joey Stark, the first time in GMA history when co-writers were nominated. The statue has their name on it already, the only question is, will they have to keep trading the statue back and forth each week or will they both get one to bring home?
Uma Thurman and Daniel Craig have both gone from Best Actress/Actor to Best Supporting Actress/Actor, and Rosario is no stranger to the category. The only surprise upset could be Sandra Bullock, who went from only one role in a Season 1 movie to GMA nominee. Speaking of actresses, people are saying it's Nicole's, but this season she has some tough competition. Scarlett, whose been to the GMA nomination board more than either of her competition combined wants that win bad but she may have to wait yet again because my money is on Ziyi Zhang in her huge payoff performance.
How funny to see "Hollyweird Alumni" Cusack and Johannsen being nominees for not only best starring couple but their own actor/actress award. But the usual oscar favorite Sean Penn may have very well earned the statue but he has the hilarious performance of Patrick Stewart to compete with. Poor Cusack is the odd man out in this category. But hey, it's an honor just to be nominated, right? Great category that can go all three ways if the powers that be allow it.
For the first time ever, Ang Lee is the only director whose film is up for the big one of the season, Best Picture. In all other seasons all or at least two of the nominated films were also up for the category.
Sure a lot of these films you may have said to yourself 'oh that's going to get the GMA' and you find out you were right. But can you really argue with most or all of the nominees? A tough season had a very good and tough competition for the GMAs. There was a lot of fresh air in the nominees, for once in three seasons straight, one of GMA favorites Josh Collins had seen his most disappointing season yet, garnering no nominations for any of his season five films. You win some, you lose some!
I know for sure that I'll be tuning in next week for the results!
THE 8TH SEASON FINAL REPORT
(Bracket: Same data from Season 7)
MOVIES RELEASED: 30 (30)
SEQUELS RELEASED: 8 (2)
MOVIES WITH NET GAINS: 22 (28)
MOVIES WITH NET LOSSES: 8 (2)
NET GAINS TOTAL: 1744 (1792.1)
NET LOSS TOTAL: 89.5 (17)
FINAL BALANCE: 1654.5 (1775.1)
MOVIES WITH BOX OFFICE SUPERIOR TO 200 MILL.: 1 (0)
-The Ice Princess (Andrew Adamson / Matt Kubrick)
MOVIES WITH BOX OFFICE SUPERIOR TO 100 MILL.: 5 (7)
-Q*Bert (David Zucker / Josh Collins)
-Dr.Jones and the Cursed Treasure (Steven Spielberg / Joey Stark)
-Civilization M (Roland Emmerich / Josh Collins)
-The Avengers 2 (Gore Verbinski / Matt Kubrick)
-Netchasers (J.J. Abrams / Steve Connors)
TOP 1 NET GAINS: The Ice Princess – 320 mill.
TOP 1 NET LOSSES: Night Cab – 32 mill.
SCREENWRITER’S ACTIVITY
(Number of movies released / Best box office)
-MATT KUBRICK: 8 (The Ice Princess – 316 mill.)
-JOSH COLLINS: 5 (Civilization M – 150 mill.)
-JOHN DAWS: 4 (Hitman: Shadow of a Legend – 82 mill.)
-JAMES BRADLEY: 3 (The Funeral Drum – 70 mill.)
-STEVE CONNORS: 2 (Netchasers – 123 mill.)
-JOEY STARK: 2 (Dr.Jones and the Cursed Treasure – 122 mill.)
-DAVID MAKALASTER: 2 (Bullet Witch – 95 mill.)
-BEN TYLER: 2 (The Running Man – 70 mill.)
-RICHARD FRANZWA: 2 (Fallout – 60 mill.)
-MARCUS TRAX: 1 (The Thinking Man – 56 mill.)
-DAWSON EDWARDS: 1 (The Killing Run – 34 mill.)
SOME CONCLUSIONS
By Harry Stark
Season 8 has been quite a good Season for the Studio. The final numbers are a bit lower than Season 7. Less net gains at the final balance, a lower number of movies reaching the ‘100 mill’ landmark and one of the CMP’s Seasons with a higher number of flops. But, all in all, a successful Season. I feel satisfied. Here are the more remarkable facts for me as President of the Studio:
For the good:
-‘The Ice Princess’. I would have never dreamed that a CMP movie would make a box office of 316 millions. Remember that ‘Game Boy: Warlands’, now alltimes top 2, made 265 millions. This animated feature not just broke but destroyed all predictions and expectations and proved that the sky is the only limit for CMP’s productions.
-Ok, yes, the number of movies that flopped has been pretty high, but there hasn’t been really big flops in terms of net losses. ‘Night Cab’ and ‘1066’ were pretty painful for the Studio, but we cannot really talk of major disasters.
-I do declare as the official ‘sleepers’ of the Season two movies: ‘A Man Called Dan’ and ‘Paternal Nightmare’. Making more than 50 millions of net gains with a low budget production like these is such a remarkable achievement. Many big productions and blockbusters do not reach that outstanding turnout.
For the bad:
-If I’m not wrong, this is the Season with the highest number of flops ever. 8 movies didn’t make it at box office. After a few Seasons with a very low number of flops, luck changed this time.
-A personal pain: it was hard for me to see how my favourite movies of the Season flopped (I won’t mention here which ones were they but it is easy to guess).
THE SEASON 8’S BOX OFFICE TOP 6
(Box Office / Net Gains)
1-THE ICE PRINCESS: 316 / 320
2-THE AVENGERS 2: 173 / 177
3-CIVILIZATION M: 150 / 153
4-NETCHASERS: 123 / 146
5-DR.JONES AND THE CURSED TREASURE: 122 / 152
6-Q*BERT: 110 / 96
THE ALLTIMES WORLWIDE GROSS TOP 6
(Box Office / Net Gains)
1-THE ICE PRINCESS – 316 / 320
2-GAME BOY: WARLANDS – 265 / 206
3-STAR WARS: NEW ORDER – 229 / 250
4-GAME BOY – 211 / 242
5-THE GREAT WAR SERIES: DARKENING SKIES – 206 / 238
6-DUNGEONS & DRAGONS – 194 / 231
posted by Harry at
1:14 AM
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