Welcome to Last Resort Films: The Story So Far! Chad Taylor checking in here with a new series that will take a look back at LRF’s illustrious past, five seasons at a time. In this fourth edition, we will cover seasons 16-20.
Season 16
One of the defining features of LRF’s 16th season was a large influx of quality adaptions. Some of the top films of the season were remakes The Birds (1963), Excalibur (1981), Coma (1978), and Oklahoma! (1955). And then of course there were the big superhero films like The Fantastic Four, who teamed with Gambit and Rogue (so to speak) to make for a Marvel one-two at the top of the box office. After DC dominated for much of LRF’s first half, the tides seemed to start turning a bit this season.
The surprise of the season came in the shape of Excalibur, the aforementioned remake of the 1981 John Boorman fantasy adventure based on Arthurian legend. It landed a whopping ten nominations at the GRAs, winning four. A sign that the film may make a big splash is in its director Nicholas Winding Refn, who had already had a Best Director win under his belt. This was the first in a trilogy of collaborations between Refn and Roy Horne, as the duo would go on to make two additional films in the ensuing five seasons.
Best Picture: Excalibur
Best Director: Nicolas Winding Refn - Excalibur
Best Actor: Chris Pine - McCain
Best Actress: Elizabeth Olsen - Coma
Best Adaptation: Excalibur - Roy Horne
Best Original Story: McCain - Dwight Gallo
Season 17
I’m sure the studio looks back on this season fondly, as it goes down as one of the most financially successful in LRF history. Four films exceeded $300million in profits: Justice League Dark, Namor the Sub-Mariner, Super Mario, and Green Lantern Corps, the breakaway success of the season. In all, it was the third most profitable season of all time behind only the first and third seasons. It really feels like one of those things where we didn’t know how good we had it, as the box office has never hit these heights since.
Speaking of “Heights”, this era marked a real high point in Tom Cruise’s legendary LRF run. While he had already had the Splinter Cell series and a Golden Reel of Achievement under his belt, he added a new franchise to his belt with Green Lantern Corps. and eventually the Justice League. Importantly, Heights from the season before also marked a more dramatic turn for the action star as he would go on to star in numerous well-acclaimed pictures over the next six seasons. But Season 17 is likely his true peak, being top at the box office and winning Best Actor for his role in The King of Hearts.
The GRAs this season are fascinating to look back on because of the real split that happens at the top. The King of Hearts won Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Picture, while The Glass Menagerie won Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Director. I don’t know if we’ve ever seen something like that since.
Best Picture: The King of Hearts
Best Director: Sam Mendes - The Glass Menagerie
Best Actor: Tom Cruise - The King of Hearts
Best Actress: Rooney Mara - The Glass Menagerie
Best Adaptation: Namor the Sub-Mariner - John Malone
Best Original Story: The King of Hearts - Chad Taylor
Season 18
The shadow of one Julius Caesar looms large over the eighteenth season. When I originally pitched this idea of “Christopher Nolan does Caesar” to John, I don’t think I quite imagined how grand it would all become over the course of three films. It won Leonardo DiCaprio his third Best Actor trophy, but also open the door for him to win two more in the next two Caesar films. Three wins for the same role in that category seems like one of those rare records that we may never see broken.
Elsewhere, this season marked a strong one for Dwight Gallo. His stylish crime drama Cocaine Cowboys, directed by Michael Bay, was a hit with both critics and audiences alike. Even amidst Caesar’s dominance, Cocaine Cowboys won four GRAs come awards night. And this season also brought the introduction of Mel Gibson’s Punisher, which just had its most recent entry this season.
Another emerging thread from this season was the continued rise of Sadie Sink as one of the studio’s major young stars. After appearing in Best Picture winner Born in Brooklyn and Red Sonja a few seasons earlier, Sink’s performance in Tumor really turned heads - even if it came up short of a GRA trophy. This would start a run for her of starring in highly-acclaimed dramas and starting a superhero franchise of her own.
Best Picture: Caesar
Best Director: Christopher Nolan - Caesar
Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio - Caesar
Best Actress: Dakota Johnson - Lock Every Door
Best Adaptation: Cocaine Cowboys - Dwight Gallo
Best Original Story: Caesar - John Malone & Chad Taylor
Season 19
And if the emergence of Sadie Sink was a plotline of season 18, then her double-S counterpart in Sydney Sweeney grabbed all the headlines of season 19. Sweeney’s memorable role in Poison Ivy immediately established her as one of the studio’s hottest stars, a trend that would continue over the following five seasons. It also firmly established Roy Horne as LRF’s preeminent writer of thrillers, a genre I personally love.
At the GRAs, we saw a battle between two directors vying for their second Best Director trophy in the last four seasons. Sam Mendes, who won with The Glass Menagerie, was hired on to direct Klondike. The film was a received as an instant classic and further established Jimmy Ellis & John Malone as one of the studio’s most fruitful partnerships. On the other end, you had Nicholas Winding Refn, re-teaming once again with Roy Horne for the haunting Cecil. The directors ended up splitting the honors, with Refn winning Best Director and Mendes bringing home Best Picture.
This season also saw the introduction of Spider-Man to Last Resort Films, one of the last untouched big-time properties for the studio. While that was well-received and a big hit, it was bested at the box office by the second appearance of Aidan Turner’s Superman.
Best Picture: Klondike
Best Director: Nicholas Winding Refn - Cecil
Best Actor: Chris Pine - Klondike
Best Actress: Sydney Sweeney - Poison Ivy
Best Adaptation: Poison Ivy - Roy Horne
Best Original Story: Klondike - Jimmy Ellis & John Malone
Season 20
And this brings us to LRF’s twentieth season, another impressive milestone. In all, it was great season for the studio. Box office was riding a high with new Justice League and X-Men movies, plus the addition of our first James Bond.
Speaking of, Risico had to be one of LRF’s most hyped films in history. John Malone had long said that James Bond was a character he would love to write, an enthusiasm that was matched by director Chris Nolan (who was reportedly turned down from directing a Bond film in the past).Risico overperformed all expectations at the box office, while also becoming a dominant force at the Golden Reel Awards. This would start a steady of pace of Bond films from Malone, starting in season 20 and then returning in 25 and 30. I’ve not personally heard any news of a new Bond entry this season, but am looking forward to his return whenever that it is. And I wonder if Dan Stevens will continue in the role or pass on the reins to someone new!
A little lost among some of bigger names attached to Risico and Sinatra was Roy Horne’s Wish You Were Here, which earned eleven nominations at the GRAs. It continued Horne’s hot streak and was an LRF career-best for director Joe Wright, who would eventually direct his own Bond film ten seasons later.
Best Picture: Risico
Best Director: Christopher Nolan - Risico
Best Actor: Idris Elba - Wish You Were Here
Best Actress: Margaret Qualley - Observance
Best Adaptation: Risico - John Malone
Best Original Story: Sinatra - Lon Charles
_________________________________________________________________________________
Box Office Top 20 (Seasons 16-20):
20. Mr. Earthling - $451 million
19. Plastic Man 2: Electric Boogaloo - $475 million
18. The Champions of Angor - $498 million
17. Caesar - $577 million
16. Skyrim III: Dovahkin - $585 million
15. Task Force X - $601 million
14. Gears of War - $605 million
13. Teen Titans - $609 million
12. The Hulk - $618 million
11. The Fantastic Four - $698 million
10. Green Arrow: SuperMax - $717 million
9. X-Men: The Cure - $757 million
8. Justice League Dark - $806 million
7. Namor the Sub-Mariner - $816 million
6. Super Mario - $878 million
5. Spider-Man - $932 billion
4. Risico - $1.02 billion
3. Superman: The Last Son of Krypton - $1.31 billion
2. Green Lantern Corps. - $1.38 billion
1. Justice League Unlimited - $1.44 billion
No comments:
Post a Comment