JEFF BRIDGES IS THE NEW HELEN MIRREN

Jeff Bridges on Saturday Night Live

Okay, everybody goes on about how hot Helen Mirren (65) is for someone in her Senior years, but I hereby am lobbying for Jeff Bridges (61) to be considered the new Poster Boy for Sexiest Senior honours.  Well technically, he is just a few years shy of actually meeting the requirement, but still....

Seriously, he looks amazing and dare I say - hot -  just now also hitting his best stride as an Actor, having won Best Actor at the Oscars earlier this year for Crazy Heart.  Above this, he still continues to get top billing in prominent Films like TRON:Legacy and the upcoming remake of True Grit from The Coen Brothers.  Now who says Hollywood entirely is Ageist?

For those of you who missed Bridges on NBC's Saturday Night Live last night, which he hosted, you must watch this hilarious Skit he did titled Jeff'd.  The spoof on Ashton Kutcher's Punk'd has him going around re-visiting some of his famous Co-Stars of the past, but instead playing incredibly lame and tame pranks on them.  He actually comes across v. endearing in the way a Child can find hours of endless entertainment on end in a new joke they picked-up from the Schoolyard.  It's safe to say he put previous weeks' barely funny Paul Rudd, Robert DeNiro and Scarlett Johansson to shame.

Watch Jeff'd below:

THE OSCARS 2010: A QUICK RECAP

We're all strapped for time, so here's the Oscars recapped for those of you who missed it.

• Mo'Nique was absolutely no surprise in winning Best Supporting Actress for Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire.  She delivered  a poignant speech thanking the Academy for not letting politics decide her fate and basing the award on merit.  Hardly modest, but the audience would seem to have agreed with her as they gave her a standing ovation.  The film also won the Best Adapted Screenplay award.
• Dapper German actor Christoph Waltz won for his terrifying turn in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, being the subject of hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin's Nazi jokes.  Expect his career to take off in North America soon.
• Designer and A Single Man director Tom Ford looked the gold standard in handsome.  I'm anxious to see what's to come next from him after such a strong reception to his first and only film.
• Sarah Jessica Parker arrived on the Red Carpet with husband Matthew Broderick looking like an Avatar character with her fluorescent blue eyes. The Grecian Goddess look constructed by Tom Ford, just didn't work for her and she looked over-tanned.  Broderick later paid tribute with Molly Ringwald (the original Lindsay Lohan) to the late great director John Hughes (Home Alone, Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club).
• Helen Mirren looked stunning in a gray Badgley Mischka number.  It didn't even matter that she wasn't a serious contender for Best Lead Actress.

ALICE IN HOLLYWOOD

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland obliterated the competition this weekend at the Box Office, exceeding all expectations with $116.3 in domestic earnings alone.  This sets a March Box Office record for biggest opening ever.  The Buena Vista film wowed audiences in 3-D, proving that the strategy for a delayed release post-Avatar was actually a smart idea.  Read my review of it here.

Action drama Brooklyn's Finest debuted in distant second spot with $13.5 million in ticket sales, just edging out Scorcese's Shutter Island, which is still showing a lot of staying power.  Internationally, it has grossed $130 million in only three weeks of release.  Mighty impressive.

The Crazies slips to sixth spot this week, but has actually proven to be a profitable investment for Overture Films with $27 million in earnings to date.  Crazy Heart continues to perform very well in  ninth spot all based on Jeff Bridges' Oscar buzz.  The film has almost surpassed $30 million in earnings, having been made for only $7 million.  He'll more than likely take a golden statue home tonight.

THE OSCARS RACE 2010: A DRAMA BASED ON A DRAMA | FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Check out some of these recently-released For Your Consideration pieces submitted by studios to Academy voters leading up to the Oscars. The ceremony will be televised Sunday, March 7, 2010 8 PM EST on CBS.  More of these pieces can be found on one of my favourite blogs, Awards Daily.

Best Picture favourite The Hurt Locker has raised a few eyebrows with some controversy surrounding one of its four producers, Nicolas Chartier who personally e-mailed a number of Academy voters in January urging they "not to vote for a $500 million film" (Avatar). This of course is a flagrant violation of Academy guidelines which prohibit competitors from "casting a negative or derogatory light on a competing film".  Needless to say, his invitation is now "magically" lost in the mail. How's that for drama based on a Drama?  

God, I love Hollywood!

SHUTTER ISLAND PADDLES ITS WAY TO NUMBER ONE

Not that there was ever never any doubt about it, Martin Scorcese's new drama-thriller Shutter Island out-paddled its competition with a gargantuan debut this weekend.  From 2,991 screens, the excellent Paramount film brought in $40 million, recovering half of its production budget already and it hasn't even opened overseas yet.  Expect this total to double shortly.

In its second week after a huge debut, Valentine's Day slipped to second spot this weekend with $17.6 million bringing its total domestic earnings to a stellar $87 million.  A great showing still, but too bad it kinda sucked.

Avatar has definitely seen brighter days, falling to number three with $16.1 million in its tenth week of release.  For those of you who are curious, the film has grossed a ridiculous $2,462,821,000 worldwide. Holy F&#k!

Other than this, there were not much else notable as Shutter Island was the only film in wide release to open this past weekend.  Crazy Heart though, continues to exceed expectations with Jeff Bridges' Best Actor buzz, and that is the sign of a true quality film.  Despite showing at only 1,100 screens, the film made $3 million this weekend, earning $21.6 million to-date. 

VALENTINE'S DAY FINDS LOVE

Mega-romantic comedy Valentine's Day from Warner Bros.' obliterated the competition it its opening weekend of its namesake.  The celebfest brought in $52.4 million from 3,655 screens, knocking one-week champion Dear John out of top spot.  Despite terrible reviews overall, it just goes to show how you can put a bunch of pretty faces on a screen with minimal plot and movie-goers are still happy with a bit of that razzle dazzle.  A review will be coming soon.  Dear John dropped to fifth this week, still bringing in an impressive $15.3 million.

Coming in second was Percy Jackson & The Olympians which in all honesty I've heard nothing about at all.  The animated feature from Fox earned a staggering $31.4 million on a very busy Valentine's Day weekend. 

Much-anticipated The Wolfman from Universal Pictures performed below well, well below expectations in third just getting edged out of second spot with $30.6 million.  The film was made for $150 million, which means a huge loss for the studio.  Perhaps Benicio Del Toro, despite being a fine actor, just doesn't have the star power to carry a big budget film like this as he also headlined Steven Soderbergh's four hour-long epic Che last year and that also failed to impress.

Avatar slips to fourth this week,  bringing Fox $22 million, which makes me wonder, in its ninth week in the Top Ten, who really is still crawling out to the theatre to see it for it to be bringing in these numbers still?

Oscar-buzzed Crazy Heart is also performing quite well in ninth place, earning $4 million from 1,000 screens, bringing its total earnings to $16.5 million.  Not bad from a $7 million investment by Fox Searchlight.

DEAR JOHN HANDS AVATAR A GOODBYE LETTER

Exceeding all expectations, Sony Screen Gems' Dear John finally handed seven week Box Office champion its first defeat taking in $32.4 million.  The tearjerker confirms Vanity Fair's recent prediction that Amanda Seyfried is indeed a bankable star.  Although  recent effort Jennifer's Body tanked, her overall body of work including Mean Girls, Mamma Mia and now this monster, place her at the top of her pack.  Of course, I'm sure heartthrob Channing Tatum might also have had a small part in bringing the girls out to the theatre too!

I'm honestly tired of writing about Avatar, but still being able to pull in $23.6 million in its eighth week of release and landing in second is a mighty impressive feat.

The weekend's only other debut, Lionsgate's From Paris With Love came in third with just $8.1 million.  The action drama stars John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and marks a significant loss for its studio, which invested $52 million in the picture.

Fox Searchlight's Crazy Heart appears to be getting the right amount of buzz in time for the Oscars, jumping from 14th to eighth spot with $3.7 million in its first weekend in wide release.  Its star Jeff Bridges has been popping up allover the place of late, including landing a spot on the upcoming charity remake of We Are the World.  This was no doubt due to his impressive performance in this film as a washed-up country singer.

Other Oscar contenders outside the Top Ten like An Education, A Single Man, Precious and The Last Station all experienced gross spikes landing in 16th, 18th, 21st and 22nd spots respectively.  Click on each of these films' names to read reviews I posted about them.

OSCARS 2010 NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED: A BATTLE OF THE SEXES AND THE EXES

The 2010 Oscar nominations were announced this morning and not only will this year be a Battle of the Sexes, but also a Battle of the Exes.  Director James Cameron (Avatar) will be going head-to-head with his former wife Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) in major categories like Best Director and Best Picture.  Each director garnered an astounding nine nominations. 

For the time ever, the format of the Best Picture category has been ammended to include ten films this year.  This year's nominees include:  Inglourious Basterds, Precious, A Serious Man, Up, Up in the Air, Avatar, An Education, The Hurt Locker, The Blind Side and District 9.  Although my heart leans towards The Blind Side as a personal favourite, in all probability this will be Avatar's year.

Finalists in the Best Actor category are: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), George Clooney (Up in the Air), Colin Firth (A Single Man), Morgan Freeman (Invictus) and Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker).  Make no mistake about it, it's all about Bridges in this category.

Nominees for Best Actress are: Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side), Helen Mirren (The Last Station), Carey Mulligan (An Education), Gabourey Sidibe (Precious) and Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia).  I think most of my readers will agree as per a recent poll here, that this will be Bullock's year.

AVATAR FTW!

They can try all they want, but they still can't come close to topping Avatar.  In its seventh week atop the Box Office, the film brought in $30 million this weekend.  Shall it go for an eighth consecutive week?  Likely.

Coming in second in its debut weekend was Warner Bros.' The Edge of Darkness starring Mel Gibson, which earned $17.2 million.  Gibson's definitely still got it despite one P.R. botching after another.  What is it about him that keeps the public asking for more?  

Touchstone Pictures' romantic comedy starring television show Veronica Mars' Kristen Bell, who has successfully transitioned into a bankable film actress, came in third in its opening weekend with $12.1 million.  Not stellar, but not horrible either. Read my review of it here.

Rounding out the Top Ten this weekend were The Tooth Fairy, which is showing some gumption in its second week with $10 million in slipping to fourth spot.  The Book of Eli drops to fifth spot, but in its third week has almost recouped all of its $80 million production budget.  The bottom three, Sherlock Holmes, Alvin and The Chipmunks 2 and It's Complicated respectively, are all showing amazing resiliency after having opened on Christmas Day.

Also noteworthy is Fox Searchlight's Crazy Heart in fourteenth spot, which in only 250 theatres, is averaging just under $10,000 per theatre.  The musical drama starring Jeff Bridges showcases the actor at his absolute finest. Read my review of it here.  The film will expand to 500 theatres next Friday.

REVIEW: CRAZY HEART

Everything about writer/director Scott Cooper's Crazy Heart is authentic.  The film is never without a moment where I feel I am truly watching a weathered and washed-up alcoholic trying to make amends with his troubled past.  And the thing is, I wanted him to succeed all the way.

Jeff Bridges is outstanding as Bad Blake, a country singer/songwriter who spends most of his days now playing small seedy bars when the story begins.  He cannot make it through his performance without vomiting mid-set.  Bad is introduced to Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a single mother and aspiring journalist who is eager to capture his story.  The sparks fly almost instantly between the two, developing into a genuine love story which otherwise on paper might seem unbelievable considering how different they both are.  Gyllenhaal truly embodies the spirit of a woman who has had her share of emotional disappointment in the past, once again channeling some of that fire she gave us in 2006's Sherrybaby.

Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell), whom Bad had mentored and worked closely with in the past prior to a fallout, invites the struggling singer to open for him on his arena tour.  After finally being able to put aside his pride, Bad agrees to accept the offer, reviving his music career once again - Tommy encourages Bad to write for him.  Farrell is brilliant and completely believable as a humbled country music star,  undergoing a magical transformation of sorts here.