In mid November Disney Studios chairman Rich Ross told Deadline‘s Pete Hammond that “we have the biggest and best reviewed film of the year in Toy Story 3 [so] we’re going for the Best Picture win…if not this year and not this movie, when?” Disneyland Resort hotel workers have a response: “Some other year, pal. Your Disney corporate colleagues are trying to screw us out of health benefits, so you and Toy Story 3 can symbolically share the blame.”

The facts do seem to suggest that Disney is not treating its employees fairly. But is it fair to link the Oscar fortunes of Toy Story 3 to this dispute? The Pixar guys who created Toy Story 3 are, of course, blameless. But if I was an activist for the Disneyland Resort hotel workers, I would be making this same point, unfair as it may seem. Disney is Disney and all corporations are sociopathic in nature. Eff Mickey.

On 12.31 a “remember Inception?” trailer will be shown in “key” movie theaters around the country (i.e., not located in Waco, Tallahassee and/or Dubuque) and will appear online. The purpose will be to remind folks that Chris Nolan‘s film, which has been available on DVD/Bluray since 12.7, “is every bit the artistic achievement that its rivals are, and that it deserves to be part of the Oscar conversation,” writes Popeater‘s Jeff Labrecque.

The trailer tells me the following: (1) The highest-ranked honor that Inception can hope for is a Best Original Screenplay Oscar — it’s also a shoo-in for VFX, score (Hans Zimmer), sound design/editing, etc; (2) Nolan looked like a Best Director lock last summer, but right now the likeliest finalists are David Fincher (The Social Network), Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), David O. Russell (The Fighter), and Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) — Nolan might squeak in ahead of Lisa Cholodenko (The Kids Are All Right); (3) Many of the more dazzling visual mind-benders were created on a sound stage with real organic elements, and it doesn’t matter because nobody trusts what they see in a film these days; (4) Tom Hardy is a much more interesting actor playing quiet and contained than when he’s bare-chested and bellowing and flexing his muscles.

Sunday Update: Coming Soon‘s Ed Douglas is reporting that Little Fockers has “made $34 million just over the weekend, $48 million in five days. It’s going to do over $100 million easy and probably around $130 to $140 million total, if not more. Just because people didn’t rush out to see it didn’t mean they didn’t want to see it. Sure, it’s a failure compared to Meet the Fockers but they were lucky to get another movie out of the franchise. Hopefully they’ll end it there and not embarass themselves further.”

Yesterday I wrote an assessment based on Friday’s earnings that was incorrect. I made a mistake due to haste, a lack of sufficient research about Christmas Eve tendencies and previous Focker film incomes, and (I admit) a personal longing or dream that Fockers‘ initial earnings might be reflected throughout the weekend. Wrong. The Wrap‘s Daniel Frankel has reported that Little Fockers “undershot tracking by more than $10 million, with pre-release expectations coming in at around $60 million.” Nonetheless, it’s fair to say that a terrible film has opened fairly well.

An L.A. Times report says that “three people close to the film said [Little Fockers‘] budget was between $130 million and $140 million, though a spokeswoman for domestic distributor Universal said the final cost was about $100 million.”

Swan swag received from Fox Searchlight two or three days ago. The classic moderne style works. It’s like a Weimer-era German poster from the early 1930s.

The Hangover in Iowa…terrific. If anything can save this one, it’s the wit and aplomb and savoir faire of Ed Helms.

Have we moved beyond “dump” months (February, March, August) and into the concept of a dump year — i.e., 2011? If you think things are going to be bad in Washington with the Republican House majority, wait until you endure next year’s mainstream films. I’m talking about what looks to be the biggest mudslide of Eloi fast-food movies in human history — cheap/shallow/rancid concepts taken to the corporate limit, formula eye-dazzle, superhero comic-book/ComicCon crap. Just scan any list. It’s devastating. Shoot me now.

I realize that things always seem grim at the start of any annum, but apart from a list of fifteen 2011 films — Alexander Payne‘s The Descendants, Terrence Malick‘s The Tree of Life, Cameron Crowe‘s We Bought A Zoo, Zhang Yimou‘s Nanjing Heroes, Steven Soderbergh‘s Contagion and Haywire, Bennett Miller‘s Moneyball, Stephen Daldry‘s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Rod Lurie‘s Straw Dogs, Jodie Foster‘s The Beaver, George Nolfi‘s The Adjustment Bureau, David Fincher‘s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Steven Spielberg‘s The War Horse, Martin Scorsese‘s Hugo Cabret, Francis Lawrence‘s Water for Elephants and Jason Eisener‘s Hobo With A Shotgun — what do people like me have to look forward to?

I know, I know. There are always four or five major Sundance breakouts, and another four or five each from Cannes and Toronto. I’m sure I’m missing or overlooking at least 15 or 20 possibilities. I’d feel a lot better if there was at least half a chance of Noah Baumbach‘s While We’re Young opening by year’s end, but it’s not expected to start shooting before early summer so I guess not.

I don’t care what anyone says about Jon Favreau‘s Cowboys & Aliens. It’s obviously just another bottom-feeding bullshit genre movie with laughs and CG and six-shooters and Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, etc. Strictly ComicCon. A half-comic Jonah Hex with flash. Stop dreaming. You know what it’s going to be.

Read down the popcorn list and it’s like…please God, lemme outta here. Sinbad: The Fifth Voyage, The Green Hornet, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, Cedar Rapids, Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son, Rango, Take Me Home Tonight, Happythankyoumoreplease, Battle: Los Angeles, Mars Needs Moms!, Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules, Your Highness, Ceremony, Scream 4, Thor, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, The Hangover 2, Kung Fu Panda 2, X-Men: First Class Beginners, Super 8, Green Lantern, Cars 2, Rise of the Apes, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II, Captain America: The First Avenger, Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World, Fright Night, Final Destination 5, The Thing, Footloose, The Three Musketeers, Paranormal Activity 3, Tower Heist, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Happy Feet 2 in 3-D, etc.

Wait…we’re going to have to wait until 2012 for Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski‘s The Lone Ranger?

During last night’s 7 pm performance at Manhattan’s Unitarian All Souls Church, 1157 Lexington Ave.

Those DVD Beaver frame captures from the recently-released Bluray of Henry Hathaway‘s True Grit reminded me how similar this 1969 film is to the current Coen brothers version. Same or similar courtroom dialogue, same horse-bargaining scene, same rattlesnake bite near the end, same shoot-out dialogue (“one-eyed fat man,” “fill your hand!,” etc.).

I can’t see clear to buying the Bluray, but the ornery rascal in me would like to argue that the Hathaway isn’t half bad and that the Coen’s version is somewhat better, okay, but not that much. I don’t know if I could make this stick — we’re talking Henry effin’ Hathaway, after all, and I’d also have Glenn Campbell as “LaBeef” to contend with — but I’d like to give it a shot, just for fun.

Rabbit Hole is as good as a high-pedigree grief drama can get. Ordinary People, In The Bedroom…all in the family. Believably performed, concisely written, touching, earnest and true. A major score for director John Cameron Mitchell, producer-star Nicole Kidman, screenwriter David Lindsay-Abaire (who adapted from his stage play), costars Aaron Eckhart, Dianne Wiest, etc.

And for all of it, Rabbit Hole doesn’t seem to be connecting all that strongly with ticket buyers. Or not so far, at least. It’s only playing in five theatres (or was the last time I looked), but it had only earned just under $75 thousand after six days (12.17 through 12.22) with a per-screen average of $10,756. “The debut weekend was very disconcerting,” says boxofice.com’s Phil Contrino. “Most of the major Oscar contenders have had no problem tallying a location average of more than 50K.” Obviously there’s some kind of hesitation out there.

I’m guessing that people are considering the title (which alludes to darkness and hiding away) and asking themselves if they really want to see some kind of bummer over the Christmas holidays. That’s not what Rabbit Hole is, at all, but you know how people think and how most of them refuse to read reviews, etc. They just watch the trailers and go with gut impressions. Mix this in with general perceptions about Nicole Kidman (i.e., people don’t like her that much, think she’s cold and unrelatable), and you’ve got some kind of situation, or at least the appearance of one.

The overall picture would brighten considerably if and when Rabbit Hole is nominated for Best Picture, which it fully deserves to be. The critcally hailed Lionsgate release is expanding this week with another break set for 1.14.11, so let’s see what happens.

Yesterday I quoted ESPN’s Bill Simmons about The Fighter, but in the comment thread HE reader crazynine was especially taken with Simmons’ assessment of what’s happening with the movie audience these days and how they like to watch films, and how this is demanding a sea change in exhibition strategy.

It turned out that producer Cotty Chubb (among many others) has been kicking around the same notions as Simmons, or at least ones that are fairly similar. Day and date, day and date, day and date. Yesterday Indiewire‘s Anne Thompson posted an open letter/suggestion Chubb has made to Relativity’s Ryan Kavanaugh.

Simmons: “The movie industry is battling the same issue as every professional sports league: How do you keep dragging consumers to your theater/stadium when (a) the home experience keeps improving (better televisions, surround sound, Blu-rays, season packages, the internet), and (b) because we’ve become a nation of multi-taskers, some people don’t want to spend two or three hours sitting in the same seat focusing on one thing?

“As recently as 15 years ago, you wanted to see every decent-to-good movie in the theater just like you wanted to see the best players and games in person. There was real urgency. [The optn was] either I see this on the big screen right now, or I wait a year and rent the VHS to watch on my crappy TV. But the necessity of seeing a movie in 2010 hinges on three things beyond ‘can I see this on a date?’

“(1) Am I getting something with Movie X’s cinema experience that can’t be replicated at home? (Think Avatar or, more recently, Tron.)

“(2) Has Movie X gained enough social momentum and critical buzz that I’ll feel left out of casual conversations if I haven’t seen it? (The Social Network)

“(3) Can I wait until Movie X comes out on Netflix, Blu-ray or cable and just watch it at home with my family? (Wall Street 2)

“Question No. 3 frightens the bejeezus out of Hollywood. Even if die-hard movie junkies will always keep hitting the theater, how do you keep everyone else coming?

“The short-term strategy: Dumb things down and snare moviegoers in the simplest of ways (making them laugh, scaring them, thrilling them, freaking them out with 3-D or blowing them away with a nine-figure CGI budget), or roll up your sleeves and create quality films that force people to come see them. The long-term strategy: A radical pay-per-view system that covers them both ways.

“If moviegoing habits are shifting toward living rooms (and it seems as if they are), why shouldn’t studios profit as much as they can? Within three years, I bet we’ll be able to watch new theatrical releases on pay-per-view for something like $44.95 — much as we would rent UFC events or boxing matches now — which really isn’t that bad of a deal, especially when two people spend $50 on a movie anyway (between tickets, parking, food and drink), and especially when parents have to waste a date night on a movie (which means a babysitter, dinner and a three-figure night by the time it’s over).”

Chubb: “For an original movie to succeed [thse days], it has to be ubiquitous in the culture; readily available however, whenever and wherever its audience wants it; priced right for the experience; and with a community-building capacity built into its presentation.

“Here’s what Kavanaugh needs to say [to the big exhibition honchos]:

“I’m Ryan Kavanaugh and I want to fill your theaters with young people eighteen to twenty-five, people who’ve slowed or stopped their movie consumption, people who will buy your popcorn and hot dogs and sugary drinks (and they’d buy expensive beer if you’d sell it to them and expensive pot if the government had any sense). I want your theaters to be full of happy people.

“Relativity bought Rogue Pictures from Universal to make movies for those audiences, young movies, smart movies, crazy movies, exciting movies, and I want people to see them. They won’t be costly big blow-things-up CGI spectaculars. Rogue can’t and won’t compete in price with those. So I don’t want to charge my audience the same as for those big spectaculars.

“Here’s my deal. If I’ve got a picture that’s going out on three or four hundred screens, I’ll let you have the movies almost for free. Give me a buck or two for every ticket you sell. You set the price for the ticket-buyer in your theaters so that you bring in the most people and sell the most stuff to them. That’s all your money and you keep it all. Price it the way that makes sense in each theater, in each market for each show. I don’t care about that so long as I get my buck or two.

“But I get to put the picture out day and date any way I want: VOD, disc, streaming, download to own, whatever the buyer wants.

“You get a growing theatrical audience and almost all the revenue from it. I get to concentrate my marketing dollars on opening the movie on all platforms at the same time, and thereby achieving ubiquity at a substantial savings. We both get to price right for the audience and the specific experience. And with right pricing and immediate all-platform access, we can build community and buzz and want-to-see.

“Some will want to experience the movie in the theater. Great! Make that experience the most fun possible. Stop the noisy pre-show bullshit. Nobody wants to pay money to see a movie and be subjected to those lame ads. They want to talk to their dates and talk to each other and then see the trailers and then shut up and see the movie on a beautiful big screen with great sound. The more exciting and fun it is for the right price, the more people will come to your theaters.

“Some will want to watch it at home, on a computer screen in the privacy of their own room or on the living room screen hanging out with friends. Why should we care where they watch it, so long as we’re both making money?

“Help me save American movies, because if we don’t, we’re all going to go out of business doing the same old dumb thing the same old dumb way.”

I was eleven or twelve when I jettisoned the idea that I’d have to pay for my sins in the afterlife. But every time I watch Bryan Desmond Hurst‘s A Christmas Carol, and particularly Michael Hordern‘s big Act One scene as Jacob Marley’s ghost, the concept of suffering in death for one’s lack of kindness, charity and compassion in life, childish as it seems, is revived. Hordern’s performance half-scares and half-transforms, if only for the moment.

Hordern was an old-school British actor whose emoting and body language in this scene are quite broad and theatrical, and yet he really sells it. He makes you believe that some (most?) of us are in fact walking around with heavy clanking chains and weights, and that we’ve all willingly forged these chains “link by link and yard by yard.” That banshee howl (around the 3:45 mark) is astonishing, and I love that right-hand-across-the-brow gesture as he laments the “incessant torture” of having to endure as a fallen spirit.

Hordern was 40 or thereabouts when he played Marley. He passed in 1995 at the age of 84. Among people like myself he’s best known for his performances in El Cid (“Rodrigo knows what he must do”), The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (“That’s not quite fair”), How I Won The War (“beware the wily pathan”) and Juggernaut.

I don’t want to think about the length and weight of chain those Republican Senators who tried to block the 9/11 First Responders bill are carrying around right now.