Dump Season vs. Oscar season

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Late July is traditionally regarded as the beginning of Dump Season. I don't know if that applies to the next six weeks the way it has in years past. There are many films coming out between now and Labor Day that I've seen and know are good, or that at least have me going -- Goya's Ghosts, The Devil Came on Horseback, Moliere, No End in Sight, This Is England, Blame it on Fidel, The Bourne Ultimatum (obviously), Charlie Bartlett, 2 Days in Paris, The 11th Hour, Superbad (obviously), Resurrecting the Champ, Right at Your Door, etc.

But for the least two or three weeks most of the excitement on the screening circuit has been about the fall films, which is to say Toronto Film Festival films, which it say the first wave of Oscar maybes. Into The Wild, In The Valley of Elah, The Brave One, No Country For Old Men, In The Shadow of the Moon, Michael Clayton, The Golden Age, Lake of Fire, Things We Lost in the Fire, Gone Baby Gone (which publicists don't want to show me just yet), Reservation Road, Margot at the Wedding, etc.

In effect, the '07 Oscar season is here and happening right now. The four-and-a-half to five-month vacation period (from early March to late July) is over, and it's time to get back on the hog.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on July 16, 2007 at 3:10 PM

comment #1

renorambler says ...

I remember wondering why Bourne was being held until so late. Usually late summer is the dumping ground and the film appears likely to be one of the better summer tentpoles. Strange.

Posted by renorambler at July 16, 2007 3:42 PM

comment #2

bmcintire says ...

With the possible exception of GOYA'S GHOSTS (and the obvious SUPERBAD and BOURNE), I'd say these all qualify as dumps. The documentaries are not expected to perform well (and in late July / early August they'll have a secondary reason for that) and the rest of them are either foreign or micro-budgeted indies - again, likely underperformers given any calendar release date. They do, for the most part however, at least look interesting. Well, except for one of them, and it is a painful sit.

Posted by bmcintire at July 16, 2007 4:18 PM

comment #3

D.Z. says ...

For some reason, Mr. Bean's Holiday doesn't look as mediocre as the first flick or Johnny English.

Posted by D.Z. at July 16, 2007 4:26 PM

comment #4

Josh Massey says ...

I find it amusing that the PG-13 Bean got a G-rated follow-up. I wonder if that has ever happened before.

Posted by Josh Massey at July 16, 2007 4:28 PM

comment #5

Mr. Gittes says ...

Michael Mann's Collateral was released in August, and it was arguably the best movie of the summer. Third Bourne will probably be the best movie of the summer as well.

Posted by Mr. Gittes at July 16, 2007 4:33 PM

comment #6

bmcintire says ...

The end of summer usually holds one or two surprising hits (THE OTHERS and WHAT LIES BENEATH come to mind first). BOURNE, RUSH HOUR and SUPERBAD look to hold those slots this year, though, aside from SUPERBAD, the sequel/tentpole characteristics sort of guarantee sizable openings and diminish the "surprise" qualification. Of the remaining titles, I'm not seeing any break-outs, but then again, that's what would make them so.

Posted by bmcintire at July 16, 2007 5:24 PM

comment #7

Rod32303 says ...

Jeff, how's "Stardust"?- looks fucked up in a great way, like all over the place, but I dug "Layer Cake" and the cast looks game as hell, especially Ricky Gervais, Claire Danes, and the comback kid of the year, Michelle Pfeiffer

Posted by Rod32303 at July 16, 2007 7:56 PM

comment #8

Aunt Sassy says ...

"Dump season" is also the nickname that Jeff's girlfriends use if there is ever a second date.

Posted by Aunt Sassy at July 16, 2007 8:22 PM

comment #9

Ishmael says ...

Given its reviews and overseas box office performance the surprising thing about Goya's Ghosts isn't that it's being dumped, but that it's being released at all.

Posted by Ishmael at July 16, 2007 10:41 PM

comment #10

D.Z. says ...

Ishmael: Who cares about reviews when you got Portman? Of course, that toy movie she's in might tarnish her winning streak.

Posted by D.Z. at July 17, 2007 7:30 AM

comment #11

Ishmael says ...

I was not aware of any winning streak involving Portman. The huge domestic success of Freezone must have escaped my attention.
Goya's Ghosts' opening weekend, on the other hand, recently put it at an impressive 15th place at the British box office. But I'm sure the 20% at Rotten Tomatoes is no indication either. It's bound to be a big hit in the US.

Posted by Ishmael at July 17, 2007 8:13 AM

comment #12

D.Z. says ...

Ishmael: "I was not aware of any winning streak involving Portman. The huge domestic success of Freezone must have escaped my attention."

I don't think anyone knew it was out.

"Goya's Ghosts' opening weekend, on the other hand, recently put it at an impressive 15th place at the British box office."

That just means you go for sequels(i.e. 28 Weeks Later) as much as we do.

Posted by D.Z. at July 17, 2007 6:01 PM

comment #13

BurmaShave says ...

Seriously, DZ, what the fuck are you talking about?

Posted by BurmaShave at July 17, 2007 9:03 PM

comment #14

Ishmael says ...

I don't think you're making a whole lot of sense, DZ.

And I'm not British - it was just one example of GG's box office failure (and the Tomatometer is now at 15%, btw).

The sequel comment is particularly baffling. Of the 14 movies ahead of it in Britain that weekend only two were sequels. And the only one of all fourteen to have a lower per theater average was "Meet the Robinsons" which was in its sixth week.

Posted by Ishmael at July 17, 2007 11:34 PM

comment #15