Where are this year's Black Swan, True Grit, The King's Speech, etc.?

[raspberrysquid]

So last year the Oscar-bait movies were a great hit to movie-goers as they not only produced quality films, but they were also able to cross mainstream audiences.What happened this year? I don't see movies like "The Artist" or "The Descendants" etc. getting watercool talk.

[CoolioD1]

War Horse or Extremely Loud maybe?I think in terms of quality and BO it's been a lame year for Oscar bait. Especially since last year was epic imo.

[Plain Old Tele]

BLACK SWAN was a crazy outlier... we can't really expect an indie film that like to break out every year.WAR HORSE will definitely fit into KING'S SPEECH/TRUE GRIT territory -- it's very entertaining, very accessible to a wide range of audiences (teens to the AARP crowd) and very classically made.

[4815162342]

It's too early for such comparisons until the awards season is near over.The King's Speech was a period drama crowdpleaser that was shut out by the critics almost entirely and then proceeded to sweep at the guilds on the way to stealing the BP/BD Oscars from The Social Network. The only two films that could fit that possibility are War Horse and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close but unless either of them pulls of the big guild/Oscar comeback then no film is the equivalent of The King's Speech.The Artist is fitting the mold of The Social Network as the film totally dominating the critics awards. It's a different unique film like TSN, but in a different way. Whereas TSN was a cool, scientific examination of a jackass with a sharp script about almost no morally redeemable characters, The Artist is a silent B&W film in an age of the exact opposite. What The Artist has that TSN didn't is a warm emotional core and energy that allows audiences (and Academy voters) to connect with the characters and root for them. Plus, since The Artist isn't running like a total freight train over the competition like TSN did, there is less narrative for an insurgent campaign to take it down (aside from Jeff Wells' 1-man crusade).

[Plain Old Tele]

The King's Speech was a period drama crowdpleaser that was shut out by the critics almost entirely and then proceeded to sweep at the guilds on the way to stealing the BP/BD Oscars from The Social Network. The only two films that could fit that possibility are War Horse and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close but unless either of them pulls of the big guild/Oscar comeback then no film is the equivalent of The King's Speech.

I was talking more in straight box-office terms than award ones.

[4815162342]

I was talking more in straight box-office terms than award ones.

Those 2 fit the mold for The King's Speech best in all ways then.

[BK007]

Black Swan was overrated.But even in its niche appeal, it was more accessible to the mainstream than Descendants and Artist currently are.

[raspberrysquid]

Yeah, I'm also talking about box-office performances, not the quality of the films themselves.

[AniNate]

Where were 2009's?

[Ariadne]

Hopefully Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy does well at the box office - it opened really strongly ($75,000 PTA).