April 20, 2024
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It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?
So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.
And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.
There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.
I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.
But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”
My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher
“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.
~ David Simon
The piece at Ebert.com about A SIMPLE PLAN is fantastic and reminds me that this American classic doesn’t have a Blu Ray or a Criterion Edition. It’s that good. How has this fallen through the cracks??? It’s an outrage!!!
Holiday movie watching? Let me see:
VENOM- fun. Good enough
BIRD BOX – OK. Not as effective as the book.
CAM- very well done and engrossing even though I feel dumb in that I really don’t understand what happened at the end.
THE STRANGERS 2: better than I remember. The pool scene kills.
HELL FEST- unexpectedly fun little slasher
EXTREMITY – I didn’t finish it. I wasn’t in the mood for it. It was upsetting, I’ll be honest.
THE DEVIL’S DOORWAY- I liked this. Creepy. Felt authentic
THE LITTLE HOURS – finally got to this and it’s one of the goofiest, weirdest, funniest things I’ve seen in a while. It’s so straight faced. Wisely eschews the ZAZ thing but still gets the job done. Great cast
There might be some Sorcerer type rights issues. It was one company that went under and then released by Paramount so who knows who has the rights now. And is Paramount even releasing their own catalog anymore? I think the outsource that to Warners now.
With some territories still left to open, who would’ve thought that after the phenomenal success of Black Panther, that Aquaman would swim pass that $646m overseas gross. Or that Venom would come within spitting distance of it.
Also, those who called an early time of death on Mary Poppins should chill out now.
RIP Mean Gene Okerlund.
What’s the difference between Sony’s “A Dog’s Way Home” (opening January 11th) and Universal’s “A Dogs Journey” (opening May 17th)?
Are either related to Universal’s 2017 hit “A Dogs Purpose”?
I’m confused.
And isn’t that one too many dog movie in the span of five months?
P.S.= Is “Escape Room” going to be one of those el-cheapo January horror surprises, or sink without a trace?
It looks like a PG-13 YA “Saw.”
Doesn’t sound very promising, although I like Tyler Labine and Logan Miller.
I think the two Dog movies are probably quite different. Way Home is aiming to be closer to the absolutely perfect Far From Home: Adventures of Yellow Dog while Journey I believe is a sequel to ‘purpose’. So Way Home is probably more family orientated, I would think there were quite a few traumatized kids that walked out of Purpose, it was tough for me to take.
Actually a little pumped for Dog’s Way Home, it will be great to take the kids to a movie that isn’t Disney. I’m just a little worried that its a stealth Christian movie, so I cant talk it up to them too much before its release.
And if the market can support 3 dozen superhero movies two dog movies is not too much to ask. Like Romantic Comedies, Dog movies have disappeared from the movie landscape until recently because of the ability to make cheap made for cable or video versions like those mind melting Buddie movies. Way Home, Alpha and even the doggy snuff film Purpose are steps in the right direction.
I made the “Homeward Bound,” etc. connection w/ “Dog’s Way Home,” and assumed “Journey” was probably a follow-up (perhaps an “unofficial” follow-up) to “A Dog’s Purpose” since it’s another Universal release. Just thought it was odd that two major studio films starring dogs were opening in such close proximity. Has to be a first in the modern era.
Speaking of dog movies, Hcat, have you seen 1976’s “That’s-Entertainment-for-animals” compilation film, “It’s Showtime”?
The last 20 minutes are tedious w/ extended clips from “Lassie Come Home” and “National Velvet,” but there’s lots of choice (and quite rare) stuff as well.
A b&w sequence (I’m guessing it’s from the early ’30s) w/ dogs-in-clothes “sitting” in a theater and watching costumed pooches perform a rendition of “Singin’ in the Rain” onstage is quite unlike anything I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen a lot, lol.
Plus, I never knew what a talented doggy-thespian Daisy from the Blondie movies was. (The Rin Tin Tin parts are pretty great, too: esp the silent-era RTT.)
I only wish they’d identified the clips. Everyone knows (I presume) Flipper, Velvet and Lassie, but some of the stuff is incredibly obscure (e.g., those pooches warbling “Singin’ in the Rain”). I need to see that movie–although I’m guessing that it was probably a studio-produced short.
Actually Marley and Me and Hotel for Dogs came out within a few weeks of each other. Both lovely dog movies with different tones.
Haven’t seen Showtime but wow there was a blast of recognition when you mentioned the Blondie movies. Some local or obscure cable channel when I was a kid always started their broadcast day with a Blondie movie so I caught a few of them now and then. They were sort of a proto I Love Lucy and the dog was absolutely the highlight. Haven’t thought of those in ages.
There is only one good dog movie. Game over. Next subject.
http://www.gstatic.com/tv/thumb/v22vodart/22032/p22032_v_v8_aa.jpg
As for Escape Room, my expectations are low and I wish it was R, but this review (along with one other I read) suggests it might be dumb fun: “It’s a movie about escape rooms that literally kill you, and if you’re willing to buy into that premise, it’s about as good as a movie with that premise could probably be.” Probably cost like $5 million so it won’t take much for it to be profitable.
LOL. I thought you were going to say “Old Yeller” or “Best in Show,” SB.
I’d forgotten about the proximity between “Marley and Me” and “Hotel for Dogs” in 2008/09, Hcat. Although, truth be told, one was (mostly) targeted for grown-up audiences and the other was pretty much the province of small kids.
I actually love “M&M.”
Remember saying–in all sincerity–at the time that it was like an American “Scenes from a Marriage.” With a dog.
SB,
Sacrilege!!!!
Like lovers embracing in the rain before the credits roll, no matter how many times I see a film that ends with a kid in a field looking at the treeline and hearing a faint bark in the distance and seeing the muddied and bloodied dog limp into view, if the movie is competent up to that point, Boom, heart soars, tears well, faith in power of cinema restored.
For me it’s My Dog Skip. Watched it with my then 7 y/o stepson and cried like a baby. We had just gotten a Jack Russell. He lived from 2000-2015, a nice fat, good life.
I miss that dog so much. I can’t watch that movie. But yes, dog movies can be special when they try.
CUJO. Mic drop.
And you need to embrace the full on theatric experience of sitting in a filled to capacity theater, with fully grown men cheering for the bad ass dog in Man’s Best Friend to appreciate it’s full schlock horror majesty.
I’ve only seen one Rin Tin Tin movie, The Night Cry from 1926, but it’s pretty great. Rinty’s “acting” is awesome, thanks I assume to a combination of excellent training and the Kuleshov effect.
white god
While not specifically a dog movie, UP certainly scratched me behind the ears in just the right place when it came to canine love.
With a $15.8 opening weekend estimate, it looks like “Escape Room” will indeed be one of those early January YA/horror freak successes.
If just for a weekend.
Although w/ absolutely zero competition for that demo next weekend, it could hold better than average for this sort of thing.
Holiday hits (“Aquaman,” “MPR,” “Spider-Man,” “The Mule,” “Bumblebee”) keep chugging merrily along, and el cheap Sony horror flick (“Escape Room”) has a better-than-predicted opening weekend.
“Vice” could squeak it out to $50-million depending upon how it fares w/ Oscar voters.
I continue to be gobsmacked by the performance of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and its “Greatest Showman”-esque passion among fans. Or maybe I’m just biased because I hated it so much.
After being sidelined by the Grinch in the lead-up to Xmas, “Ralph” has regained its footing. Should be able to hit $200-million without much problem.
Even “Second Act” is proving to have decent legs. Imagine how much stronger its performance could have been in a less competitive environment. (Are you listening, STX?)
“Marwen,” “Mortal Engines” and “Holmes + Watson” which–shoot me–I mildly liked, will go down as the only bonafide bow-wows of the holiday season.
I’m expecting “Green Book” to at least reach “Billboards”/”Shape of Water” numbers between now and March 1st. Maybe higher if Universal opens it on enough damn screens.
Limited runs “The Favourite,” “Beale Street,” “MQOS” and “Basis of Sex” all continue to do nicely, but none has quite achieved breakout status yet. Maybe because they’re cannibalizing each other’s upscale auds?
Friday
1/4
(Estimates)
1 AQUAMAN
Warner Bros.
4,184 $9,300,000
+49.9% / $2,223
$238,320,880 / 15
2 ESCAPE ROOM
Sony / Columbia
2,717 $7,700,000
— / $2,834
$7,700,000 / 1
3 MARY POPPINS RETURNS
Buena Vista
4,090 $5,071,000
+28.4% / $1,240
$128,027,305 / 17
4 SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE
Sony / Columbia
3,419 $4,055,000
+30.5% / $1,186
$124,906,346 / 22
5 BUMBLEBEE
Paramount
3,597 $3,940,000
+48.3% / $1,095
$88,293,140 / 15
6 THE MULE
Warner Bros.
3,212 $2,860,000
+85.2% / $890
$74,928,110 / 22
7 VICE
Annapurna Pictures
2,534 $1,777,020
+81.1% / $701
$25,770,008 / 11
8 SECOND ACT
STX Entertainment
2,523 $1,560,000
+59.4% / $618
$29,597,075 / 15
9 RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET
Buena Vista
2,050 $1,484,000
+23.8% / $724
$183,963,171 / 45
10 HOLMES AND WATSON
Sony / Columbia
2,780 $1,075,000
+42.3% / $387
$26,085,922 / 11
11 BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
Fox
1,080 $725,000
+100% / $671
$192,001,825 / 64
12 MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS
Focus Features
1,052 $660,000
+78.8% / $627
$11,938,025 / 29
– IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
Annapurna Pictures
335 $604,437
+462.2% / $1,804
$3,189,389 / 22
– THE FAVOURITE
Fox Searchlight
771 $553,000
+57.9% / $717
$17,947,336 / 43
– ON THE BASIS OF SEX
Focus Features
112 $520,000
+462.9% / $4,643
$2,618,395 / 11
– GREEN BOOK
Universal
566 $515,000
+78% / $910
$33,938,256 / 50
– DR. SEUSS’ THE GRINCH (2018)
Universal
1,622 $387,000
-16.5% / $239
$268,840,735 / 57
– CREED II
MGM
893 $310,434
+29.8% / $348
$113,725,659 / 45
– INSTANT FAMILY
Paramount
604 $225,000
+60.5% / $373
$65,735,028 / 50
– FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD
Warner Bros.
401 $210,000
+39% / $524
$157,618,573 / 50
– A STAR IS BORN (2018)
Warner Bros.
268 $185,000
+122.1% / $690
$201,660,867 / 92
– DESTROYER
Annapurna Pictures
6 $33,379
+438.6% / $5,563
$183,165 / 11
– THE NUTCRACKER AND THE FOUR REALMS
Buena Vista
172 $30,000
-3.1% / $174
$54,684,921 / 64
The Mule is probably the quietest $100m story in recent years. At 88, Clint must be breaking some record somewhere for oldest lead actor to achieve this feat. When you consider that The Rock needed killer animals, Statham needed a killer shark, and Wahlberg can’t seem to do it again, the biggest special effect seems to be Clint’s wrinkles. I’m not a fan of his politics but I gotta tip my hat to that.
Old people going to the movies. My late 60s parents loved The Mule. No surprise there. But my mom also loved Bohemian Rhapsody.
This time of year is perfect for low budget horror. Lots of January success stories. Escape Room first in a planned franchise.
Yeah, BD. I commented on Clint’s “stealth hit” last weekend.
With everyone obsessing on the “Aquaman” vs. “MPR” blockbuster story in recent weeks, few noticed that “The Mule” was banking steady buck and on its path to $100-million (minimum).
But it won’t be able to match “Gran Torino”‘s $148-mill.
Maybe if “Mule” had been a limited December release like “Torino” was in 2008–and not gone wide until January–it might have achieved a comparable level of success.
But I don’t think anyone at WB is complaining.
Movieman, no reason to hate Bohemian Rhapsody. They got the band’s name right; that it had 4 members; and their names correct. Who cares that the rest of the movie isn’t factual? 😉
Good one, Pete, lol.
Really hope that “Rocketman” is better. Although the fact that it’s directed by the same dude (Dexter Fletcher) who did clean-up duty on “Rhapsody” doesn’t inspire a lot of hope.
Oh, well. At least the music will be better.
“Escape Room” opened even bigger than the most optimistic estimates.
Nice job of marketing, Sony!
Glad to know that my above (Saturday) comments held up pretty darn well.
“Destroyer” is humming along nicely on a small # of screens. I still think it can bank some decent bucks in a wide-ish release. Annapurna really needs to finesse its expansion with care to avoid another “Sisters Brothers”-style disaster, though.
I wish both Megan Ellison and the movie (which I really liked) well.
“Capernaum” deserves to be doing much better than it is. Yeah, I know that it looks like a slog, but it’s not. Fantastic movie!
Maybe we should add “Vox Lux” to the list of year-end disasters. Of NEON’s 2018 releases, only “Three Identical Strangers” really caught on. They’ve got to be sh***ing their pants right now.
January 4-6, 2019Weekend
The back and forth has RETURNED! WOOOOOOOOOOO! I hope you all had a fun Holiday Season, and back to the slog that is… ANY MONTH NOT LOCATED IN THE HOLIDAY SEASON!
Let us all congratulate the world, on making AQUAMAN A BILLION DOLLAR MOVIE! Aquaman. One more time… AQUAMAN IS GOING TO BE DC’S FIRST BILLION DOLLAR MOVIE IN CLOSE TO 11 YEARS! Hot damn. Good on them.
Mary Poppins did really great here, but here’s to Bumblebee proving a point. Guess it’s a tie, but I look forward to Iger’s conference call statements about Mary Poppins. It will be see how they spin them, and if they want to make another Mary Poppins movie.
No offense movieman, but a high-teens opening weekend for Escape Room isn’t all that surprising. There’s really nothing else like it in theaters right now and there’s a track record of January horror doing well. Last year Insidious 4 opened with nearly $30 million. In 2017 Split made bank and Underworld & Resident Evil sequels opened in the teens. The Boy and The Forest opened well in 2016. Woman in Black 2 in 2015. A Paranormal Activity entry in 2014. And so on. It’s an annual thing.
I’ve seen a lot of movies in the last two weeks. Most of them with my kids. My 11-year-old loved Wreck it Ralph 2 but it didn’t do much for me. It’s loud and grating and too long and a Disney infomercial. Has some clever moments and solid laughs, but overall I wasn’t impressed.
Took my 5-year-old to The Grinch. It wasn’t as bad as I feared. I didn’t love it, but I appreciated the short running time and was surprised that it went down fairly easy. The kid enjoying it helped, but I thought it would be awful and it’s not.
More recently I took the older one to Aquaman and Bumblebee. He loved both, and seeing them with him was a lot of fun. I mostly liked Aquaman. It’s way, way too long and overstuffed and there’s a lot of routine superhero stuff. The writing is pretty damn terrible, too. But it’s also pretty damn fun much of the time, and I enjoyed many of the more bonkers moments. Momoa is good. Would have been fine with one villain and at least 20 minutes cut, but as someone who doesn’t love superhero movies all that much I come down on the slightly positive side.
Didn’t like Bumblebee at all. Don’t get the positive reception. Are people that easily swayed by nostalgic pandering? It’s corny, sappy, incredibly predictable, slow, and seems to be seeing how many 80s songs can be crammed into two hours. The E.T./John Hughes blend didn’t work for me at all. Excruciating couple of hours. It’s the only Transformers movie I’ve seen, and if it’s the best one, I can’t begin to imagine how wretched the other ones are.
Also saw Shoplifters, which lived up to the hype. Very good and moving. Not my favorite of the year, but easy to see why it is getting to much praise. At home I checked out and really liked Gemini. Would add it to the underappreciated list. Great cast and a fun, contemporary noir.
Hoping to see Escape Room soon, but before that If Beale Street Could Talk opened here Friday and I’m dying to see it.
No. They are swayed by what TRANSFORMERS has always been: corny, sappy, and predictable in the best way. The way, where the good guys win, and the bad guys lose. Thanks to the inspiration generated by Optimus Prime. He is truly the best, but the first Transformers live action film isn’t terrible. It does treat Meghan Fox like an object, instead of a person, but Bay got the overall tone of the Transformers right. After that? Car balls, racist bots, the beats Pill, and a lot of Chinese pandering.
And man, Wreck It Ralph 2 is just garbage. The Slaughter Race song is amazing, but it just wanted to rip the heart out of Wreck It Ralph. It also took a friendly relationship, and turned it into a paternal one. Somehow, Ralph just had to let the kid go, when the ENDING OF THE FIRST MOVIE IS NOT ABOUT ANY OF THIS SHIT! It’s literally, “If I have a friend like her, then I am not that bad.” It still pisses me off, that they were this fucking inept with their own sequel. Not everything needs to continue, and Wreck It Ralph is a perfect movie, and that shit is staying that way. Fuck that sequel.
Maybe seeing the other ones makes a difference then. I was annoyed by the sap and the aggressive nostalgia.
Hey look at that we agree on something. Yeah I was surprised by how much I disliked Wreck it Ralph 2. It’s not good.
You’re probably right, SB.
If history has proven anything, it’s the date (not the movie) that counts re: opening B horror movies on the first weekend of a new year.
Heck, even “The Possession of Hannah Grade” could have cleaned up on the “Escape Room” date if Sony had swapped them.
P.S.= Does anyone remember that Paramount–until about 10 minutes ago–had their own B horror (“Eli”) slated for January 4th, too? Now it’s “TBD.”
Sorry not trying to rain on your parade. But yeah this time of year has been really horror friendly, even though most of the movies have been mediocre at best. Hoping Escape Room is fun, and now we can expect Escape Room 2 on January 3, 2020.
I do remember Eli. Netflix recently bought it from Paramount. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/netflix-picks-up-paramount-horror-thriller-eli-1168867
Nice to see you back JSP and Happy New Year! And sorry but Aquaman is actually the first DC film to break a billion in six and a half years….remember The Dark Knight Rises? 🙂 Something tells me you didn’t want to…
Mary Poppins Returns will be profitable but nobody can tell me that Disney was banking on it MAYBE catching La La Land or Greatest Showman…..don’t get me wrong, it’s in the same genre so that kind of makes sense but they didn’t spend $130 plus million, cede a launching pad for Star Wars, and harass PL Travers’ family to have what end up being at best a triple. Every one and their mother was prognosticating that it would dominate the holidays and I’m guessing Maleficent numbers were the floor for expectations initially.
Finally saw Bumblebee – I liked it, didn’t love it. It was diverting, nicely acted, and gorgeously shot (wow I can SEE them transforming finally!) but a bit slowly paced. Still could have made twice as much if Paramount waited a bit longer to put it out on a less crowded release date…
Also got to catch Blindspotting which was FANTASTIC – guess it got lost in the shuffle to me and a lot of folks due to the surface similarities to Sorry to Bother You….but those similarities are BARELY surface-level, completely different movies. I still liked both and…..ACTRESS OF 2018 award has to go to Tessa Thompson for having three distinctly different roles (all very well played) in three VERY different movies that ranked among my favorites for the year: Annihilation, Sorry to Bother You, and Creed II. And she was the best thing about Thor Ragnarok and probably the main reason I might catch Men In Black International.
Interesting, SB.
I didn’t know about Netflix picking up “Eli.”
Of course, Mojo still had it listed for January 4th until maybe week ago.
MPR is going to easily pass La La Land and Greatest Showman. It’s already almost past La La Land. But yes I’m sure Disney expected it to make more than it has. Hardly a failure but definitely a disappointment at this point. My mother-in-law recently took my kids. She didn’t like it at all. 11-year-old liked it but 5-year-old got bored pretty quickly.
Almost everything is too long these days. I feel like an old man yelling get off my lawn when I say that, but it’s how I feel. Bumblebee, Aquaman, Wreck It Ralph 2, etc. Almost everything I’ve seen lately drags.
Stella, are you talking about domestic or worldwide? Domestically, yes it’s about to pass La La Land but both La La Land and Greatest Showman did over $430 million worldwide and that’s not a guarantee at this point.
Oh sorry yes I was talking domestically. It’s still a long way from $430 million worldwide.
“Wreck It Ralph is a perfect movie” YES IT ABSOLUTELY IS.
MPR was good, but I agree it’s draggy.
Stella, hey you got me – there are so many films out there competing for the same audience, it’s very volatile and difficult to predict. All I can be sure at this point is for this holiday season, the Top Three are going to be Aquaman, The Grinch, and Bohemian Rhapsody….the rest is a free-for-all.
Can’t argue with that Geoff. Sometimes I also feel like I have no idea what a reasonable expectation for a specific movie is. So MP was an enormous hit back in the day and remains beloved, but what does that mean for what MPR should make? In 2018/19 what should a long Disney musical that cost a lot of money make? I’m not really sure.
Rhapsody has got to be the story of the season, Huge WW Box Office along with landing in the top three domestic. I haven’t bothered to look back to far but it seems that there have been more and more instances of modestly budgeted films landing among the blockbusters. Star, Rhapsody, Quiet Place, Crazy Rich, and Halloween are duking it out with projects that cost four to ten times as much.
Maleficent is a pretty good comparable for Poppins but you know they were thinking best case scenario was Jumanji money. Instead its neck in neck with animated Spider-Man aiming for the fifth slot out of like 25 wide releases through the season? It certainly wont be remembered as a flop, but then again it is likely not to be remembered at all.
Geoff nailed it though. They could have easily made more money from Solo. If it opened a year, after the bloodbath known as, “STAR WARS FANDOM VS TLJ.” It would have at least gotten to five or six hundred million, but they wanted to use the holidays to launch Mary Poppins. They now will make about the same money with both movies, and probably aren’t happy with either’s returns/
Once again… Emily Blunt turned down Black Widow, and it’s literally been a weird line graph about her choices, Scarlett’s choices, and financials.
Blunt’s career has certainly not suffered by turning down Widow. Is there a case of any actress’s opportunities being given a shot in the arm for appearing in a comic book movie?
Did Emily really turn Black Widow down? I thought she couldn’t do it due to reshoots on Gulliver’s Travels, and was contractually obligated.
HC, her name is Scarlett Johansson. There you go. Have a good day. Also, Brie Larson is going to enjoy being a household name in a couple months. There you go again. Have a nice day. Oh. Hi. Enjoy Elizabeth Olsen as well. Thank you. Good day.
Pete, she turned it down. She was the first choice for a long time, but she didn’t want to do it.
Just that Johansson was a name before taking on the role, and I doubt she wouldn’t have been able to able to land roles in Don Jon or Under the Skin without the Widow cachet.
They get quite a bit of talent for these girlfriend roles, quite a few Oscar winners, most more well known than the male lead. But I haven’t seen a discernible bounce (I wasn’t aware that Elizabeth Olsen was a household name, but of course she certainly couldn’t have gotten her supporting roles in indie films based on her other work) for landing Lois Lane or Dr. Strange’s main squeeze.
JS, it’s hilarious you’d resort to Marvel’s females when the most obvious example of a woman catapulted to next-level stardom via a comic book movie is…wait for it…Gal Gadot.
But yes, Brie Larson will probably reach those heights soon too. And it’s also important because she’ll be doing it in a standalone film. Scar Jo and Olsen haven’t been in standalone films, and consequently don’t feel as big to me.
Samuel L. Jackson petting the cat is one of the worst moments in movie trailer history. I like Larson a lot but Captain Marvel doesn’t look all that good. Hope it’s better than the trailer.
Have we all already forgotten that Rough Noght and Ghost in a Shell we’re both bombs, so SJ didn’t help those out, while Emily Blunt has had since 2012, Looper, Edge of Tomorrow, Into the Woods, Sicario, Girl on a Train, A Quiet Place and now MPR, all roles where she is the lead actress? What am I missing? Where SJ’s hits outside of Marvel? She may be a household name, but she’s not box office outside Marvel.
Geez, just how badly is “Replicas” gonna bomb next weekend?
It looks like something you’d stumble onto while surfing a VOD menu; definitely not a movie anyone in their right mind would actually leave the house to see in a, y’know, theater.
The dog movie should do OK, but I think both it and “The Upside” will underperform because of too many better publicized/already established movies out there competing for the same demographics.
Gotta feeling they’d fare better in a less competitive environment.
Gadot and Larsen are entirely different than being Black Widow or Lois lane or even Catwoman. These films waste the talents of Stone, McAdams, Portman etc on thankless roles with no range. Blanchet got some meat to chew on but even she was abandoned half way through because the filmmakers realized how dull Asgard is and decided to make a guardians movie instead.
Replicas started filming in the summer of 2016. Hasn’t it been delayed a few times? I can’t wait to not have to see The Upside trailer ever again.
As much as I loved Wonder Woman and yeah Gal Gadot is pretty much a household name thanks to that film, I have doubts as to whether she’ll have a significant acting career as a result….her accent has always been her biggest limitation and unlike a Schwarzenegger, I don’t see how Hollywood will figure out how to make the best use of it.
Brie Larson is a much trickier situation and fair or not, I don’t know if the MCU Dude Bros are going to give her a fair chance – Captain Marvel will get the obligatory early critical raves and make a billion worldwide just by virtue of it having “Marvel Studios” at the beginning but I don’t know if it’s going to help her career or not….has being an “MCU star” really launched Paul Rudd or Benedict Cumberbatch to bigger and brighter things over the past few years? I had thought it had helped Chris Pratt but his star seems to be fading….
And JS, I think we’ve been through this before but you SAW Iron Man 2 right?? 🙂 I wouldn’t have faulted Emily Blunt or ANY actress for turning that down – it wasn’t a proven franchise at that point, they had just fucked over Terrance Howard at the time, and let’s face it, Black Widow as written is sexed-up window dressing in that movie. Hell just before the climax, you have the director of the movie leering at her getting dressed in the backseat. And yeah, the window to launch a big Black Widow stand-alone movie was probably about two years ago….they might have waited too long at this point.
And yeah, Bohemian Rhapsody is the story of the season – I was saying it six months ago after that first teaser trailer but Fox was sitting on a potential goldmine with that movie and just NAILED it from a marketing standpoint. Queen songs are already omnipresent in everything including movie trailers but they found a way to just capitalize by promoting it as what it ultimately was: a glorified concert movie.
As a marketing hook, I don’t know how you can beat the opening piano notes of Bohemian Rhapsody or the closing guitar solo of We Will Rock You – props to Fox for understanding what they had and just selling the shit out of it!
Interesting I don’t remember watching Wonder Woman and thinking Gadot’s accent was an issue or could hinder her career success. Didn’t seem like a problem. If anything I wouldn’t put it past the industry to fail her.
If Keanu Reeves could last for over a decade as a star Gadot has got nothing to worry about.
The Marvel DUDE-BROS? Geoff. I hate to inform you, but the DUDE-BROS are always DC fans. It’s always been that way. It’s funny, that you think it’s the other way. Like really funny.
Your points about INCREASING STAR POWER, is missing they are all in HUGE FUCKING MOVIES THAT ENRAPTURE THE WORLD! I get that you are defending your points, and your worldview, but step outside of yours for a moment. Every Marvel Studios movie is an event Every single one. That’s why people want to be in them, because they get people seen all over the world.
You need to take into account as well, that Paul Rudd is always going to be Ant-Man. That’s always going to mean something to some kid out there. Same with Cumberbatch with Strange. Those are roles, that you become for life. Is that a bad thing? Look what Paul Rudd was doing before Ant-Man. I think he enjoys the fuck out of Ant-Man more than the other shit. Again. Starring in a Marvel Studios film, is like a billboard for your career, and Brie Larson is the face of the next how many years of it. That’s why they picked a young woman, to be the face of their product for years to come. It’s the same reason why Scarlett had vision, and Emily Blunt did not. It was never about Iron Man 2, but what she would get after it. It was about 9 years of stuff. One saw it, the other did not.
SB, I know this is probably hard for you to imagine, but he was petting the cat for people like me. I know what that cat is, I know what that cat is about. Those trailers are all about shout outs to fans, and I love how that always pisses you off. The level of anger you have towards to non-horror films, is always a hoot.
HC, go back and look at Johnasson’s career before IM2. You’re back from that google search. She was a name to put in a roll, but she had sort of cratered. Now? She’s probably the most recognizable woman on earth, a part of the biggest franchise in the history of cinema, and is rolling in money. She always carried a GiTS movie everyone hated to close to 300 million. While you know… LUCY.
BD, I think GiTS and Lucy outgrossed all the movies that you listed there, so that’s what you are missing.
And people love Gal Gadot. They love HER. That’s her career. People loving her, and again, it’s not like she has to be anything other than Wonder Woman ever again. She’s Wonder Woman, for millions of people, for the rest of her life. Lynda Carter seemed to be happy with it.
Quit spewing that nonsense JS. I just said I am mostly fond of Aquaman and I most certainly do not hate non-horror films. Finding a moment in a trailer cringe-inducing is hardly evidence of what you claim it is. Neither is thinking the Captain Marvel trailer is not very good. The issue is not me. It’s you and your inability to not get all worked up whenever anyone utters even mild criticism of the MCU. It always pisses you off, and it’s not a hoot. Not to mention you always make it personal. I say I dislike a trailer, and you attack me. What gives man? That’s some BS. I’m hoping to see some growth from you in 2019. I know you can do it.
I dug “Bumblebee”! Finally caught up w/ it on $5 day now that Festivus has officially ended.
I did find it ironic/odd, though, that a movie that recalls the best ’80s Amblin movies would choose to be set in 1987, a year when two of the worst Amblin abominations (“Batteries Not Included” and “Harry and the Hendersons”) opened.
But good fun. Which is something I can’t say about many of the Michael Bay “Trans” movies.
“Batteries Not Included” and “Harry and the Hendersons” are abominations??? Maybe they were at the box office, but those two films are beloved classics for me. And what you said are fighting words!
Our family loves Harry and the Hendersons. Good times. And vastly superior to Bumblebee.
Really, guys??
Maybe because I’m older than you–and didn’t first encounter them during my childhood–but both “Harry” and “Batteries” struck me at the time as ghastly plasticine desecrations of the Spielbergian template/ethos (and nobody was a bigger SS fan than me back in the day: I even defended his critically derided “Twilight Zone” episode).
I fully anticipated being meh re: “Bumblebee,” and the ’80s nostalgia thing is a tad overdone (what hath “Stranger Things” wrought?). That could be why I avoided it for nearly three weeks. But I found it pretty delightful overall, and that’s coming from someone who placed “Transformers 2” at the top of my 2009 10-worst list.
P.S.= I’d hate to get your feedback on some of my childhood fave raves like “Babes in Toyland,” “The Sword in the Stone,” “Mary Poppins” and “In Search of the Castaways,” lol. (Of course, I’m scared to death of revisiting them myself for fear they couldn’t possibly hold a candle to my warm-and-fuzzy memories.)
Yes really. Bumblebee is 80s nostalgia being overdone personified. It plays like it was written by a computer program that was instructed to blend E.T. with John Hughes and include as many songs from that decade as humanly possible. And there’s no charm or inventiveness. It’s so bland. Harry is goofy and fun and much better. I don’t know I guess I prefer evil robots or something. Bumblebee bored me. The bad robots were much cooler like when they melted the hillbilly.
Gotta love people are defending Harry & the Hendersons, but no one said jack about the Keanu comment? The guy has starred in a bunch of iconic movies: Bill & Ted, Speed, Point Break, The Matrix, and now he’s John Wick.
I like Keanu Reeves. Always have. I like Harry and Keanu.
Harry was in the upper half of the Spielberg wannabees. Not as good as Cocoon or even explorers but well above Goonies. I remember we were singing Lithgows praises when the Pet Semetary trailer dropped, Lithgow completely carries Harry on his shoulders as a human pathos machine.
Pete, I didn’t mean it as much of a dig at Keanu. Just that I find similarities between Gadots accent and his breathy California delivery (plus they are both very pretty). To give him props I am always more excited about what ever Reeves is doing as opposed to his Tiger Beat contemporary Depp.
They are both pretty for sure. My wife has had a thing for Mr. Reeves for years. (Decades?)
Gal’s accent is one of those movie logic things: no one notices that Wonder Woman and Diana Prince sound the same? I’ve often thought if WB wanted an older Batman, that Goran Visnjic would be great. The guy is 6’4″ and has the hero chin. But his Croatian accent would give him away.
“Breathy California Delivery” sounds like an album title.
I might start a Los Angelos bike messenger service under that name.
Harry and Batteries are both important not just for their quality and nostalgia, but also they have pretty rock solid messages. In fact, the Pop Culture Detective included both films in a video about 80s films that had a huge impact on kids in developing empathy and solidarity. Those two films in particular include deeply important social commentaries that we could use more of today in film.
So sorry, but calling them Spielbergian is way too reductive. That would be like saying Star Wars is Roddenberrian.
I don’t know how you wouldn’t call those spielbergian, besides the obvious point of his inclusion as a producer. They are completely cut from the ET cloth. I completely agree that they were healthier emotionally that say Uncle Buck, and also agree that they weren’t lazy knockoffs like say those Allan Quartermain films were of Raiders, but Harry and Batteries are inseparable from Spielberg’s hold on that decade and are better examples of the ‘Spielberg’ film than the Spielberg directed film that dropped that year.
As for Star Wars, I honestly have never seen any Star Trek DNA in that film.
I fucking love Harry and the Henderson’s. Unabashedly. I remember seeing it opening night at my mom’s insistence, and she loved it too. Is it good? I dunno. But I love it.
William Dear directed a great Amazing Stories episode about a mummy if I remember right. That’s all I remember about him.
And I have stuck with Keanu forever. Through his low points and high. When used right he’s fantastic. John Wick is perfect for him and the movies are well made. He showed some range in The River’s Edge and Permanent Record in the 80s. But he is who he is.
Listened to cranky old Friedkin on Movies That Made Me podcast. He was hilarious. And not necessarily wrong on some things. But they talked about his Twilight Zone revival episode and I’d like to watch that. Is it streaming anywhere? I can’t find on the 4 platforms I pay for (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime And Shudder)
And somebody fucking give Joe Dante a job!!
Hmmm.
“Glass” reviews are beginning to filter in, and they’re pretty meh overall.
Disappointing, but I doubt whether they’ll adversely impact the opening weekend gross.
Not surprised. Split is pretty meh. Every time I see the Glass trailer I feel like I’ve seen the whole movie. Couple reviews I saw said the first hour is like a recap. Last I saw tracking was $75 million over the long weekend. Must be most expensive Blumhouse movie?
I remember the Farrelly’s giving an interview in the mid-late 90s, possibly when KINGPIN came out, and Peter talked about the penis thing. And I remember thinking it was funny and it was pre/early-internet so I wasn’t aware of any negative reactions then. I’m sure there were.
My point isn’t that it’s OK and should be forgiven because it was “a different time.” My point is I realize I was kinda complicit since I thought it was just hijinx. I like a lot of his comedies. It makes me feel bad and gross. Along with the Bryan Singer stuff…yucky awards season.
Hey and now we can add Green Book’s writer to that movie’s issues.
As a producer, Spielberg tackled so many subjects and tones that I’d be hard-pressed to say all of those films are Spielbergian, although I agree a fair amount are.
My point was just that even if they represent some kind of devotion to a pre-existing model, that they take that model and expand on it and add something good to it. Maybe it’s more along the lines of how Cuaron’s Harry Potter stands alone as a great film even though it’s clearly part of a greater whole in the Harry Potter franchise.
“Your points about INCREASING STAR POWER, is missing they are all in HUGE FUCKING MOVIES THAT ENRAPTURE THE WORLD! I get that you are defending your points, and your worldview, but step outside of yours for a moment. Every Marvel Studios movie is an event Every single one. That’s why people want to be in them, because they get people seen all over the world.”
LOL JSP – if the above doesn’t read as Dude Bro-ish, then I don’t know what does!
And relax, I’m not saying that being in the MCU hurts their careers, I’m just saying it doesn’t have the star-bursting affect you’re making it to – they’re making more money and getting more regular exposure sure, but they’re not bigger box office draws nor more prestigious stars as a result either.
And yeah my characterization of the MCU die-hards is spot-on – I might have said this before but they’re akin to Red Sox Nation. It was really cool to pull for them as underdogs for a long time….and yes up until 16 years ago, Marvel WAS the underdog: Batman blew up on the level of Star Wars in ’89 and they pretty much struggled through the ’90’s to get any real Marvel films off the ground whether it be false starts with Spider-Man or Iron Man…or Marvel stuff was just relegated to Corman crapfests like Captain America.
And like when the Red Sox finally won the World Series in ’04, it was a kick when Marvel films started to take off…finally! And they won a few more times too….and then……they never stopped shutting the fuck up about it to the point where they became MORE obnoxious than even Yankee fans.
And nowadays they’re just insufferable – Logan was great, Deadpool was huge, most of the X-Men movies were strong but no, “Marvel needs to get these characters back!” Sony’s batting average with Spider-Man has been pretty strong too – they even pulled off an animated Miles Morales – but MCU dude bros are just “He BELONGS in the MCU….FINALLY they got him right!” And last year when they weren’t dismissing Wonder Woman for copying Captain America or for its “third act issues” (because CGI rhinos and sky beams have been keeping it fresh in the MCU), they were giving each other high-fives when Justice League under-performed. And now with Aquaman, “Well he’s just Wet Thor….in an underwater Wakanda!” They actually believe that every thing Feige touches is pure gold and that any issues with the MCU can STILL just be blamed on Perlmutter….more than three years after he left Marvel Studios apparently.
Having grown up in New York and now living in the Chicago area, MCU Dude Bros honestly remind me of the most obnoxious of sports fans….Yankee fans being dickish, Big Ten alumni strutting around in their colors just waiting for the opportunity to wax rhapsodic about how “amazing” a campus Ohio State has – no other fanbase gets more validation from box office numbers, it’s such a front-runner “WE won!” mentality, you can’t tell me you don’t see online or at screenings.
Now the DC Metalheadz – especially the hardcore Batman folks – they’re a different story: they’re more like emo record store employees….(dating myself here)…the types that used to work at Tower Records or your typical independent music store. They’re pretentious as fuck….and they’re almost the polar opposite of MCU Dude Bros: they relish films like Batman V Superman under-performing and getting critically savaged so they can lecture the rest of us on how we “just don’t get it.” Whatever version of a DC character is out there now on TV, comics, movies….it’s NEVER as cool as it was when THEY first got into the character. (They will often cite the New 52 in these conversations) It’s the cliched “Well that band is ok now but they’re playing these big stadiums…I really listened to them more before they sold out, when they were playing in small clubs…back then, it was more about the music!” bullshit pretty much. 🙂
The typical hardcore DC Metalhead deludes themselves that they NEED shit like the “Snyder Cut” of Justice League and still believes that Heath Ledger should continue receiving posthumous Oscars EVERY year since The Dark Knight came out…..or that Kevin Conroy is an underappreciated genius and voiced the ONLY true Batman….they can always cite some obscure animated direct-to-video DC movie as the “purest” adaptation of a given story….or that Batman Returns was daring and ahead of its time (I actually agree on that one) – they have their own set of issues.
That was fun to read Geoff and is pretty accurate, or at least reflects my experiences with diehard MCU and DC fans.
SB, stating you should fuck off, would be personal. Stating, the truth, that I find your rants about non-horror movies a hoot is not. I am not spewing jack nor shit, and I am not getting worked up. Have you ever re-read your post? They are dripping with anger. You might not see it. It’s there dude, and it makes me laugh, that movies loved from one side of the world to the other, just make you go all Abe Wiseman. I find it to be an endearing part of your character, but you are still mad about some shit I posted 15 years ago. For that? I apologize, again, but I am not insulting you in anyway. It’s there on the screen, and it makes me laugh.
And I love Keanu. I have never not loved Keanu. Anyone who has ever hated, or hates Keanu, is a fucking asshole. The dude is a solid hand, and can emote like a son of a bitch.
Geoff, I’d respond to your nonsense, but it’s nonsense. Why? YOU ARE THE FUCKING DUDE-BRO! Everything up there, is you once again whining about Marvel/Marvel Studios, because that’s all DUDE-BROS dude.
DUDE-BROS give people shit for just being excited for something, then try to tell them how, “WRONG THEY ARE FOR FEELING THAT WAY!” DUDE-BROs, are constantly whining about what they like not being respected, and other things, “BEING TREATED IN WAYS, THAT WE WOULD NEVER GET!”
It goes on and on and on, and that’s why DC fans are insufferable. It’s your fault though. You picked the wrong horse, but you have a BILLION DOLLAR AQUAMAN MOVIE! That’s cool. Oh wait. It’s a DC movie, so no one cares. I guess. YOU SHOULD DUDE-BRO IT OUT, GEOFF!
Seriously. The whole blog is dude-bro against Marvel Studios, and it’s constantly perplexing to me why? It’s not like you have to see these movies. It’s not like you have to own these movies. There’s a shit ton of horror released every week, but it’s not like I consume it. However, that trailer from the dude who did Nightcrawler looks cool. Nevertheless, don’t tell people how they feel is invalid, because that’s just straight up being a dick.
“She always carried a GiTS movie everyone hated to close to 300 million”
Was looking up something else but came across that GITS made about 170 million WW. If you consider that close I am now concerned about your depth perception, you’re not constantly wearing an eyepatch as some sort of Fury tribute are you?
‘Sony’s batting average with Spider-Man has been pretty strong too – they even pulled off an animated Miles Morales – but MCU dude bros are just “He BELONGS in the MCU….FINALLY they got him right!” ‘
Sony’s pre Marvel batting average with Spidey is terrible, 2 was soaring and fantastic, the rest was average to outright dreck. One great film in five chances was a good sign that passing the reigns on was a good idea. I wasn’t a big fan of Homecoming, a little too cutesy and relatively dull, but there was some charm underneath. They will certainly do no worse by bringing him into the larger crowd.
It isn’t personal only if you tell me to fuck off. Has it really been 15 years? Doesn’t feel that way. Maybe because you never change. I promise you I am not angry about not liking a trailer. Not sure how many times I have to say it. And you continuously misrepresenting my beliefs and putting words in my mouth is spewing bullshit. I wish you’d stop doing that. It makes this place less enjoyable, and I want to like it here. You are the only reason I would stop posting here, and I don’t want to do that. Please don’t be a dick. Don’t be a MCU dude bro. I am asking nicely.
SB, you just personally insulted me. I wrote something about you, that makes me chuckle. You attack my personal growth, and there’s the problem right there. You can be the victim, other people can be the victim, because I am always wrong.
Whatever. I’ve grown enough, that things from 15 years ago do not mean anything to me. Those movies may suck, but let the past die… is a son of a bitch of a line. Let it die, because I have to do so, to enjoy posting here with the likes of you :D!
HC, I thought it was 289. Sorry. My mistake. Lucy still made more money than most of those movies Blunt has been in, over the same time in her career.
I’m not taking this personally JSP but if you really knew me, you would not be calling me a Dude Bro – I’m not posting stuff on social media every day, “Aquaman ONE BILLION fuck yeah!!” 🙂 And honestly, reaching the billion dollar club is not some mark of quality….I still think Wonder Woman is this universe’s crown achievement.
I GUESS you could say I’m Team DC or actually more Team WB because they’re just the studio that has the balance right now between the tent-poles and the mid-range/smaller films. Twenty years ago, I probably would have been Team Disney….back when Touchstone and Miramax were still going strong.
At the end of the day, I’m just usually drawn to the underdog more than anything else….ten years ago if you remember or not, I was getting into it with Dave (as were you) on this blog about how dismissive he was about the MCU – I honestly found it exciting to see them start to pull it off even though I was also a huge Nolan/Batman fan at the time. But they started to lose me around ‘Winter Soldier and all of the overblown praise and hype for that movie….then GOTG….then ‘Age of Ultron and with each new film coming out the Twitter explosions of “Best MCU yet!” just increasingly grated on me….and the movies just weren’t as good. Black Panther REALLY stands above pretty much every MCU film of the past five years – it’s actually a real MOVIE by a real DIRECTOR with a real VISION and it’s sincere.
But Team DC…not sure if I technically qualify because I cannot get into Zack Snyder as a director, I just can’t – I still haven’t seen all of 300 because it put me to sleep, Watchmen and Sucker Punch are pretty much wankfests, Justice League was only more watchable because he didn’t end up getting final cut, Batman V Superman is a mess, and Man of Steel has kind of grown on me…but at the end of the day, he just wasn’t the right guy to do Superman regardless. I still believe that the Dawn of the Dead remake from ’04 is still the best all-around film that he AND James Gunn have ever been involved with….Suicide Squad was…eh….but I’m not hopeful that Gunn will make the sequel any better.
And as some one who had a serious man-crush on Paul Rudd pre Ant-Man, I take personal offense with the notion that Ant-Man is now his signature role – dude had a FANTASTIC R-rated comedy run in the ’00’s: Anchorman, 40 Year Old Virgin, Role Models, I Love You Man, Our Idiot Brother, Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall….I REALLY miss that Rudd, he was like Chevy Chase in his hey-day but actually better!
I swear is there is come kind of Disney “decency rule” that these actors can’t do R-rated comedy once they join the MCU?? 🙂 I miss that Downey also….
THE two best films of any MCU actors post-breakout are R-rated gems but nobody saw them and they didn’t get any awards attention either: Rush with Hemsworth and Snowpiercer with Evans.
Fireworks!!
I hate the DC VS MARVEL fanboys with a passion. I like both. I root for both. Some have been great. Some not. I don’t get it all. Batman and the X-Men are my favorite comics, along with various other things from Image, Vertigo, etc.
I enjoy all of it. Tribalism I’ve superheroes is Fucking stupid.
Lots of Keanu fans here. Going to see you all at Replicas this weekend? I’m with you Bill. A good movie is a good movie.
Thanks Stella – the MCU Dude Bro craze is a real thing….if there any other fanbase besides the Rick & Morty crowd who I can imagine overturning cars and tearing up McDonald’s either in celebration or entitled rage, it’s the MCU BOYZ! 🙂 Not you JS, you’re more mature than that.
And yeah you keep harping on this Scarlet vs. Emily thing….a few years ago, I might have agreed with you. But ScarJo has REALLY done her damnedest to piss off so many folks at this point, her star has definitely faded – Ghost in the Shell was an embarrassment, taking on that trans role initially then dropping out, savaging other actors for not speaking up about #MeToo but defending Woody Allen, dating the white Weekend Update guy on SNL….she’s definitely not the draw she was just a few years ago, Rough Night was pretty much proof of that.
Whereas Emily Blunt is BELOVED nowadays – I seriously have not seen and/or read ONE negative thing about her over the past couple of years, she has had a pretty good run recently: Sicario was a moderate hit and AWESOME, A Quiet Place was a HUGE hit and you can’t tell me folks showed up to see Jim from The Office (he was still great in it), Mary Poppins Returns isn’t the smash that folks were expecting it to be….but everybody LOVES her taking on an iconic role and it’s still making money, Girl on the Train made money, and every one is clamoring to see her return for a sequel to Edge of Tomorrow. And I GUARANTEE you…if Blunt was hired to play Captain Marvel as opposed to Miss Grumpy Cat (not my words, the Dude Bros), there would be ten times more excitement for that film right now.
HCat, how is it 1 out of 5? Spider-Man ’02 I’ll grant you is a bit overrated but folks generally love it, the first Amazing Spider-Man is objectively a pretty solid movie…..so that leaves TASM2 and Spider-Man 3 as the entries that are disliked by every one – that’s 3 out of 5, they were batting .600 before ‘Homecoming. Now I haven’t seen Venom and I suspect it’s shit but most of the fans seem to love it….and now you have ‘Spiderverse which EVERY ONE seems to love….Sony’s batting average sans Feige just seems to be getting better.
Wait a minute Geoff… are you saying OSU doesn’t have an amazing campus? GO BUCKEYES!
And I’m one of those poor suckers still waiting on a Snyder Cut of Justice League.
“Fireworks!!
I hate the DC VS MARVEL fanboys with a passion. I like both. I root for both. Some have been great. Some not. I don’t get it all. Batman and the X-Men are my favorite comics, along with various other things from Image, Vertigo, etc.
I enjoy all of it. Tribalism I’ve superheroes is Fucking stupid.”
Sideshow, I think it’s best if you have fun with it but yes it’s obnoxious…and now the intra-fanbase battles among Star Wars Nation are giving all other fan-bases a run for their money for obnoxiousness.
Lucy is her one example. That’s it. Once does not a trend make. You can’t claim box office superiority from one example.
I’d argue that Rough Night was a test and she failed to draw on her enormous box office power that you claim she has with it sputtering out at $25m overseas Ironically, the similarly themed Girls Trip made almost exactly the same figure overseas as well, so SJ brought nothing to the table.
SJ still has yet to prove she has clout outside the Marvel universe. Much like many of her female costars. And one could argue, it should be easier for all of them given the 17 billion dollar franchise they can all use as an audition tape.
Its also kinda funny how quick you are ready to write off Gal Gadot as being WW for the rest of her life. We don’t know that yet. Her story is just getting started. She did however beat SJ to the punch in getting her own Superhero movie, which in turn beat every Marvel solo supehero at the domestic box office save BP. Heck, it even beat Avengers 2.5, ahem Cpt America Civil War.
I agree with someone else who commented that they probably missed the window on a Black Widow movie, a few movies ago. With Black Panther, a new Spiderman, Cpt Marvel, and so many other fresh faces, a Black Widow movie now seems kinda dull, cause face it, she has no super powers anyway. She just kicks really good. Right after her intro in Iromman 2 would have been best I think.
LOL Pete B, I car-pooled and worked with OSU alumni for a couple of years when I lived on the north side of Chicago and…I endured hearing that shit EVERY week! Passing the Northwestern campus in Evanston, “That’s not a real campus…now OSU, THAT’S a real campus!”
All of these folks living in Chicago proper mind you….but hanging out in “Buckeye” bars in the city every weekend…yeah living in Chicago was a blast but opened my eyes to the insanity of the Big Ten, they actually put the Yankees fans to shame just for sheer consistency. 🙂
And dude, give it up….you’re going to end up having to wait even longer for the “Snyder Cut” to come to light than Guns ‘N Roses fans had to wait for “Chinese Democracy” – deep cut reference there, maybe you’ll get it. 😉
I just read that they are opening a Bohemian Rhapsody singalong version in theatres this weekend in the USA and Canada. I sense the early makings of yearly event. Nothing comes close to being as perfect for the medium, as annoying as it may be to some folks, as this. Look for a spike in the b/o for sure.
I got the reference Geoff, and if there’s no Slash… it ain’t really GnR.
Geoff.
Spider-Man 2, upon release it was the best comic based film since the original Superman. Soaring action, actually care about Spidey MJ, train sequence, May’s ‘a boy needs a hero,”this is really heavy’. Sterling example of what the genre can be. Hits Pete’s personal sacrifices for the greater good perfectly.
Spider-Man, Average film, fun to see onscreen but other than the kiss and his trying to shoot webs, pretty blah.
3, Absolute mess
Amazing 1 and 2. Dull as paste, dreary to look at, poor effects. My only take away from these films is that Stone looks good in boots.
So I guess the record would be a win, draw and three losses. But of course enjoyment may vary.
Damn it. Little dogs stepping on things, and deleting a whole post. Well. Brief.
1) Fuck OHIO STATE! GO MICHIGAN! The moment OSU falls to Michigan, is the moment the universe has been realigned in the right direction, and if you want to refer to a beautiful campus, that’s Michigan. Those nut loving bastards campus, isn’t on a toxic dump site, it’s nice, and they have a great marching band. Still. FUCK THEM!
2) BD, the entire point of that part of that post, was a rebuke to you and HC. Who seem to think being in movies, that will be endlessly watched for the next generations, and thus always keeping those actresses sort of omnipresent is a bad thing. It’s not. Gal’s first line in her obit, will have Wonder Woman in it, because she’s Wonder Woman. That’s not a bad thing to be, for forever.
3) Scarlett made a commitment to Marvel Studios for 9 years, and she’s also a mom. She’s in a lot of scenes in those films, so she seemingly decided to spend her career in those movies. The funny thing about your responses, is we are getting a Black Widow movie. It’s probably going to have it’s date announced at Comic-Con. Seriously. People love her, all over the planet. While Emily Blunt? Is just sorta there. I love her, and I bring that up, because she should be a huge fucking star. Like massive. Instead? Just sorta there.
4) BD, today is Black Widow day. You seem to not get, that she does have super powers. She’s a part of the Russian super soldier program, that’s why she’s able to do things few others can in that universe. Come on, man. You not getting her does not negate, that millions do. Her movie announcement date, is going to set the internet off.
5) And Geoff, you are a DC fan boy. Just accept it, and watch the Watchmen movie. It’s way too over the top for that fucking world, but it’s still the best thing Snyder ever did.
6, an aside) Fuck this government shut down business. Seriously. AND COLIN JOST IS APPARENTLY A GREAT GUY! HE’S NOT A FUCKING MICHAEL CHE!
Geoff kinda nails it point by point, including the one about how Snyder and Watchmen suck. Also agreed on Rush and Snowpiercer being great. I mean, that post was just fire.
And if anyone is keeping score, Gal Gadot was already faced with being in the ScarJo/Black Widow position in the Fast and Furious franchise. She was a really cool character, but certainly not one of the leads there. But she was able to avoid that trap and now WW has taken her to household name status. I’m betting she can take that goodwill with her to a lot of other non-DC projects too.
“ And Geoff, you are a DC fan boy. Just accept it, and watch the Watchmen movie. It’s way too over the top for that fucking world, but it’s still the best thing Snyder ever did.”
This I agree with. He got a lot wrong but he got a lot right and I find it endlessly watchable. The Dr. Manhattan origin sequence does not get enough love. Snyder isn’t the Devil. He just has his head way up his own after a really nice start to his career. He’s salvageable.
“I enjoy all of it. Tribalism I’ve superheroes is Fucking stupid.”
Sideshow, I think it’s best if you have fun with it but yes it’s obnoxious…and now the intra-fanbase battles among Star Wars Nation are giving all other fan-bases a run for their money for obnoxiousness”
Oh, I enjoy a good fanboy row but some of them are downright demented.Threatening violence to female writers on Twitter. Weed those guys out and it can be entertaining but they always seem to pop up.
And as a horror junkie it’s in that fandom too. Don’t tell me to kill myself because I liked Halloween 18 and hate Rob Zombie movies. Horror fans are self harmers. I do it too. What I mean is we’ll watch any piece of shit that’s released and that’s why we get stuck with endless franchises. I call this “The Gingerdead Man vs. The Evil Bong Theory.” That movie exists. RONNIE ROCKET does not. And what kind of beef would an evil bong have with a gingeryman anyway, for gods sake!
Yeah having just seen Escape Room I am really surprised by how positively it’s been received by the horror community, which can definitely be awful from time to time. Also I really like the Velvet Buzzsaw trailer. Big fan of Nightcrawler.
“Gal’s first line in her obit, will have Wonder Woman in it, because she’s Wonder Woman. That’s not a bad”
You don’t know that. It could be true, or she could be the next Julia Roberts. You don’t know that. We are talking about the here and now. As far as trajectory goes, I’d say right now her name has more marquee value than SJ’s. It could be a flash in the pan or it could be lasting. SJ has not yet been able to capitalize on her Marvel status, but we’ll see.
You’re also conflating the actress with her character. Sure people love Black Widow. But I sense more love for the person that is Gal Gadow as Wonder Woman, or Emily Blunt in Edge of Tomorrow. WW was a $412m success because people loved her in the role. She brought something to it that transcended just playing the character. Many people remarked that Edge of Tomorrow was one of Cruise’s best movies because of Emily Blunt. I’m not discounting SJ, but in the world that exist beyond the Marvel fan blogs, I’m not aware of the same plaudits for SJ. I’d even argue that if Emily Blunt had taken the Widow role, it would be a bigger part of the Universe now.
Any why is today Black Widow day? Is there some customary traditions I should be doing? Any garb I should be wearing? Will there be cake?
this town needs an enema
Ditto on Velvet Buzzsaw. Nightcrawler is so good. Great performances. Bill Paxton was such a fantastic character actor. He really developed from his unhinged early roles, which I do love. Miss him terribly
Thought “The Upside” was pretty meh.
I liked it better when it was called “The Intouchables.” Maybe English subtitles made its “true story” seem less cutesy/condescending and/or emotionally manipulative.
My 7:00 preview was packed which shocked me. Definitely would be ironic if it turns out to be a hit: especially after the ignominious fate it suffered post-Harvey.
I wonder if anyone will ever pick up the other TWC orphan that preemed at TIFF 2017 (“The Current War” w/ Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Shannon). I was genuinely looking forward to that–because of the unusual subject matter and the fact that it was directed by the gifted Scorsese acolyte who did “Me, Earl and the Dying Girl.”
Those preview screenings can be misleading. People like free movies. I’ve been to many that were full but the movie ended up bombing. Upside is tracking for about $10 million. It looks dreadful and I am grateful to never have to sit through its trailer again.
It was actually a Thursday night “preview,” SB, not a promo.
But who knows?
Maybe people were just desperate to get out of the house on a Thursday night in January for some ungodly reason. I know that I would have preferred to been at home in bed watching “Top Chef,” lol.
If it winds up overperforming, though, I won’t be surprised.
That does sound far more enjoyable. Maybe Hart drew the audience. He sure is doing a media blitz this week. I love Fresh Air and he was the guest yesterday but I didn’t listen. Feeling pretty sick of him at this point. But if your job involves writing about movies or the industry it might be different.
Anyone catch The Rock’s “snowflakes” comments? What the hell was he trying to say? It was this weird word stew of “millennials are weak” and “Their constantly being offended is destroying freedom!” Of course to protect himself from any backlash…he makes sure to thank the troops for keeping us safe.
Why would I even care or think about this at this moment?
Cause 100% this motherfucker is going to goddamn run and win potus some day. Bank on it. This will be Trump’s true legacy: incredibly awful, stupid people thinking they should be president because their IG and Twitter followings are lit!
(Yeah, it’s an easy lay up to say “How would we notice the difference” but then again the last two years should show you the difference.)
Was he defending his buddy Kevin Hart when he made those comments?
Stella: I thought that was gonna be the gist of the comments from the headline but I didn’t see any reference to Hart from Johnson. I don’t care enough to go back and read through it again because fuck him and his comments.
And fuck Kevin Hart. You can’t “apologize” and then whine about being a victim. It’s funny to me that all these rhetorical badasses become legit snowflakes if anyone says something unkind but true about them.
Kevin Hart is a shit human being. This is has been obvious for a long time, and I get the Rock being stupid about his buddy. Being stupid about your friends. Always leads to the “BEST RESPONSES.”
He is going to run, but what he should run for? GOVERNOR OF FUCKING FLORID! That’s a quality job for The Rock.
BD, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1lmZANDXik.
For a good laugh, check out March 22nd on Mojo.
There are currently 6–count ’em–movies slated to open “wide” that day.
And one of them is Jordan Peele’s “Us.”
Pretty sure that most of those other titles will be dropping like flies any day now.
The only one which might stand a chance against Peele’s “Get Out” follow-up is “Greyhound” since a Tom Hanks WW II movie would seem to be targeting an, uh, older demo.
Really hope that Annapurna moves Richard Linklater’s “Where’d You Go Bernadette.” I’d hate to see it become roadkill just because of an inauspicious release date.
Yeah The Rock’s comments are dumb. I read them as sticking up for Hart, but being offended by virulently homophobic statements does not make one a snowflake. Much easier though for a rich and powerful man to throw around that term rather than thoughtfully consider the serious damage those statements do. Why throw around a term right-wing loons love? Do better Rock.
That is crowded movieman. A little bit sooner than March 22, though not as crowded, is February 8. Four wide releases seems a bit much, especially since February 1 only has one.
Honestly, I was okay with Hart until he made it about himself. He could have apologized when it was requested of him, and it would have blown over. But instead, he repeats the line about being “over it” as if it’s his to be over. Even Colbert gave Hart a chance to clear the air, but instead he dug in his heels and pretended he was above it all.
And the Rock is a Republican, but definitely seemed like he had the potential to be a uniting force. That is until he said that statement…
“5) And Geoff, you are a DC fan boy. Just accept it, and watch the Watchmen movie. It’s way too over the top for that fucking world, but it’s still the best thing Snyder ever did.”
JS I have tried – the opening credits sequence is nifty, Jackie Earle Haley is really good, and that’s about it. And I’m not hating on Snyder – I wish I enjoyed his films more because he seems like a genuinely good dude. But his films just don’t generally work for me – he takes these strong aesthetic choices that may or may not work but then bogs them down with weaker pacing and no real story structure.
It might be cliched to say so but THE best Zack Snyder film in recent years is clearly MANDY – it’s pretty much the type of film that he’s been TRYING to make for the past ten years. But it works because Cosmatos knows how to keep it simple.
Yeah, totally ridiculous SB.
The “Jacob’s Ladder” reboot was originally slated for February 1st, but is now TBD.
I get that “Super Bowl Weekend” isn’t a prime spot to open movies (although it didn’t hurt “Dear John” in 2010), but still.
And March 1st has only 2 releases scheduled, one of them starring Madea!, and March 15th just has that freaking Paramount cartoon.
No counter-programming slotted against it–or “Captain Marvel” on the 8th for that matter. Seems like missed opportunities to me.
Hopefully things will shake up before then.
We are not the only ones referring to Watchmen today, When an article appeared where other dems were critical of her approach to governing (after weeks of constant Republican nonsense) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez decided to tweet: “To quote Alan Moore: “None of you understand. I’m not locked up in here with YOU. You’re locked up in here with ME”
Just saw If Beale Street Could Talk. A white couple in their 20s walked out behind me. Both said it’s boring and terrible and people only like it because it’s about black people. I had to stop and take a deep breath. Fucking white people.
AOC is a goddamn beast. I think any GOP or Dems who decide to take her on better bring their A game. They certainly can’t beat her at social media.
Anyway:
“Why throw around a term right-wing loons love? Do better Rock.”
Stella: THANK YOU. You managed to articulate what is the core of the issue for me but my brain wouldn’t grasp it. It’s disheartening (godammit, no pun intended) that a 6’5″ brick shithouse movie star who publicly strives so hard to be seen as a leader and “uniter” can’t imagine why using “snowflake” would be dangerous right now in our culture.
Toxic masculinity needs to fucking die already.
Speaking of movies: I LOVE Watchmen! It is Snyder’s best film, and a damn good film. I knew going into it that adaptation would be crazy difficult, so I’m fine with the changes in the film.
Sidenote about Watchmen, and 2008 when we had The Dark Knight, which featured a trailer for Watchmen, which was super anticipated at the time. I recall being so excited. The Dark Knight combined with Watchmen seemed to be opening up new and interesting avenues for superhero films.
And then Marvel happened. 🙁
(Pre-emptive fuck you, JS. 😉
John Cleese said it best in a tweet: “Yes I’ve heard this word [“snowflake”]. I think sociopaths use it in an attempt to discredit the notion of empathy.”
Watchmen is ironically pretty unwatchable. I really hope (EDITED) Lindelof’s Watchmen adapts it properly.
@Stella, as a black guy I here ya. But there is also the flip side. There was a recent episode of Blackish that dealt with “prestige” films for the black community, and it was both hilarious and spot on. The family had to choose between seeing the latest superhero blockbuster, or the Rosa Parks Story. The episode is titled Christmas in Theater Eight, if you’re interested.
I found myself in a weird position as a gay black man with the film Moonlight. It is a similar story to my own and it was powerful at times and at others I felt it could pick up the pace and found myself yawning.
I haven’t seen Beale Street yet. What was your take on it?
From Deadline:
STXfilms/Lantern’s The Upside is in a too-close-to call weekend race with the fourth weekend of Warner Bros’ Aquaman, $17.9 million to $17.8 million. For certain today is that the crowd-pleasing Kevin Hart-Bryan Cranston dramedy will beat DC’s fish man, $6.5M to $5M. A No. 1 win for STX, which has typically played the middle of the box office chart, would be spectacular.
Anything over $17M would rank as STX’s second best opening of all time behind July 2016’s Bad Moms, which opened to $23.8M. We hear that Upside was a distribution deal for STX; they didn’t acquire full-on rights form Lantern, which absorbed the movie as part of their takeover of The Weinstein Company assets. Hence STX has limited skin in the game with potent upside.
Reportedly, TWC spent around $37.5M to make Upside, which was directed by Neil Burger and also stars Golden Globe Destroyer nominee Nicole Kidman.
Upside‘s Thursday night of $1.1M is right in line with the preview gross of Hart’s PG-13-rated action film Ride Along, which went on to post a $14.4M Friday during MLK weekend in 2014 and a $41.5M three-day, as well as the $800K milked from his Wedding Ringer, which did $6.9M on its first Friday (including previews) and a $20.6M weekend in 2015. It’s also not far from the $1.35M Thursday night earned by Night School.
STX is using different comps, showing that Upside is besting the Thursday nights of such older-skewing titles as Book Club ($625K Thursday, $4.7M Friday, $13.5M opening) and New Line’s Game Night ($1M Thursday, $5.5M Friday, $17M opening).
(Me earlier: “If it winds up overperforming, though, I won’t be surprised.”)
If Aquaman rebounds Saturday, Warners will have bragging rights that they’ve held No. 1 four weeks straight on one film. The last time that occurred was with 2008’s The Dark Knight. Count on Aquaman crossing $1 billion either tomorrow or Sunday at the global B.O.
Sony/Bona Film’s A Dog’s Way Home will find his way to third place with an estimated $3.5M today and a $11M-$13M opening. Sony will also have fourth place with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse‘s fifth weekend earning $7.5M-$9.5M, for a running total on the high end of $148.2M.
Focus Features’ On the Basis of Sex –remarkably without any awards season heat–jumps to fifth place with $6M-$8M in Weekend 3 and a Friday around $2.5M.
Keanu Reeves’ sci-fi drama Replicas is powerless with $1.5M today and $4M over the weekend per industry sources.
Re: the above Rock/Dwayne Johnson stuff:
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the rock
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the rock
Settin’ the record straight.
The interview never happened.
Never said those words.
100% false.
If I ever had an issue with someone, a group, community or a generation — I’d seek them out, create dialogue and do my best to understand them.
Criticizing ain’t my style.
I don’t cast stones and we all get to be who we are.
#millies #plurals #boomers #TequilaGeneration
Sure I get that bulldog. It was their tone as much as what they said. It was angry and venemous and dripping with contempt. They came across like my lunatic conservative father-in-law and sounded a lot like him. They believed it had literally nothing of value and only got positive reviews because it’s about black people. I think that’s crap. They sounded ignorant as hell and I don’t think positive reviews are because critics are being PC or some such nonsense. I found it beautifully shot, impeccably performed, and quite moving. Jenkins is the real deal. I love his style. Liked it a lot. Definitely makes my top 10 list.
Nice that Rock didn’t say that shit. It did seem odd.
The tone is the sure tell that there is resentment and ignorance there for sure. My partner, who is white, and I have had some very lively conversations about race, and its amazing that there would be instances where he thought someone was being racist and I wasn’t offended.
True story, we, including my two daughters, were at the Cineplex about to see Hidden Figures. It was already almost played out so it no longer occupied the larger screens. We had to walk to the furthest theater. He basically yelled out “Great, the movie about black people is showing all the way in the back. Way to go Cineplex.” I lost my shit, and popcorn, walking down the corridor.
please tell me the ‘jacob’s ladder’ remake thing isn’t real
(i kinda hope D the Rock J sues the daily star into non-existance cause bloody hell that’s heinous. best snyder movie is still his – & gunn’s – DotD, from there a gradual but steady descent into the septic tank)
ETA never negotiate with malignant narcissist hostage-takers — follow the money — you in danger amerigirl, hang tough
A) what is Tequila Generation, and how do I join?
B) Leah, I am worried I am putting too much faith in Mueller but am watching Untouchables monthly now as a comfort view. I can anticipate the tweet of ‘you’re nothing but a lot of talk and a badge”
Boxoffice Mojo results.
People like Kevin Hart.
And Bryan Cranston.
If the whole Harvey thing hadn’t gone down in fall 2017, I bet TWC could have gotten quite a few Oscar nominations out of “The Upside” after a December ’17 “awards consideration” bow.
Not saying it deserved to be an Oscar nominee (in any category), just acknowledging Harvey’s savant-like skill at campaigning.
I don’t think Cranston has nearly as much to do with this opening as Hart does. Just about any middle-aged white guy could have played that part and the opening is the same. Hart is a proven draw.
I wouldn’t underestimate Cranston’s appeal, SB.
Whenever I show “Trumbo” in class (it’s not a “great” movie, but it is a fantastic tutorial on HUAC and the whole Black List era), my students invariably eat it up. And their familiarity with, and affection for, Cranston–because of “Breaking Bad” which they all seem to have
watched–works as a gateway into the film. As soon as they discover Cranston’s in it, their attention automatically perks up.
But your students liking Trumbo and being familiar with Cranston because of TV is not proof of him being a box office draw. Hart on the other hand is a proven draw. Big difference. Plus are young people flocking to The Upside? I could be wrong but I think Hart and many moderately famous white guys get that same opening.
I agree that Hart is a proven b.o. draw.
And that Cranston’s b.o. track record has been spotty at best (until now).
But I think it would be wrong to underestimate his appeal: to audiences of all ages.
Thanks to streaming services like Netflix, “Breaking Bad” effectively turned Cranston into a kinda/sorta “star.” I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like the guy.
Put it this way: Cranston definitely didn’t hurt at drawing the sort of audience (older white “Green Book” fans) who wouldn’t go near a “Night School” or even “Get Hard.”
P.S.= And I stand by my claim that Harvey might have been able to turn “Upside” into a legit awards contender. Bet he could’ve even gotten a BSA nod for Hart.
I agree that people seem to like Cranston a lot, and maybe he does deserve some credit and it’s not fair to say he played no role in the opening, but I’d say far less than Hart.
Hart is definitely the draw. Hence the reason (not the Oscar debacle, though maybe that helps) why he’s doing the talk show circuit and not Cranston so much.
Man, Watchmen should have been something more, but there was that epic shift that Summer. It was just… what Nolan created ended, and Marvel Studios took over to greater and bigger success. Weird how those things work out.
Palm, the director’s cut, is just a better fucking movie. It has a nice flow to it, but Snyder fucking sucks. Previous incarnation of me my have liked him, but now? I have no idea why, because outside of Watchmen. He’s just one note being played on a broken 1984 Casio keyboard.
Oh yeah. The Rock is the rock, and he’s just what he is. Thank god. He wasn’t that fucking stupid, because the dude has never seemed as stupid, as he did in that FAKE ASS ARTICLE. He will run one day, but guess what? He will actually, honest to god, hire the best people, and be someone people can believe in. I mean. We are living under an Andrew Johnson like presidency right now. There’s no way the Rock is worse, and unlike most presidents. The Rock, like Presidents Obama and Clinton, knows the broke life, and when you know the broke life. You are almost always a better president than people, who took their daddy’s money, and failed to make it into anything else.
Finally, there are few groups of people worse, than 20 something white people who think they know something. I have no idea how this happened, because a BLACK PRESIDENT WAS THERE PRESIDENT GROWING UP! But these motherfuckers, have real empathy problems with black culture. It’s not all, but there are too many of them who are like those two. I swear to god, I wish I could spawn Ida B. Wells to yell at them, and explain things to them. Or James Baldwin. Either one.
I’m happy the Rock didn’t say those things but HELL NO on potus. Nope nope no thanks.
Marvel found the right formula and leveraged emerging talent behind and in front of the camera Watchman, TDK though…represented something more interesting to me.
“Leah, I am worried I am putting too much faith in Mueller but am watching Untouchables monthly now as a comfort view.”
ha hcat this is a sensible reaction in dark times, movies are comfort food after all (funnily enough my son and i watched ‘the untouchables’ just last week while he was back home for the kazillionth time – one of our all-time faves, such excellence, though perhaps de niro’s capone should have been more syphilis-ridden, too pretty – and he said something to me about robert meuller in the courtroom scene and i was like, fuck yeah. though i understand completely your hesitancy to get one’s hopes up whilst in this bizarro alternate reality/the Sunken Place, as it were)
Js, I will see the director’s cut eventually thanks to you. I honestly wanted the movie to be good, so if it’s salvaged somehow, I’m in.
January 11-13, 2019
Weekend Boxofficemojo
I tried watching a “Stan and Ollie” screener last week. Just didn’t click right out of the gate. Lost me within the first two minutes. I turned it off, thinking I wasn’t in the right frame of mind and needed to give it another go when I wasn’t distracted by the actors’ voices, which were making me think of their other roles rather than of the real-life people they were playing. Don’t get me wrong – I’m a big fan of both performers in their other work, and was thinking I simply didn’t come to the film prepared for what it was going to be.
“Stan & Ollie” is a delight, Christian. Give it another try.
Reilly and Coogan are both pitch-perfect, and the film itself is lovely.
Enjoyed it a lot!
Is Glass picking up where Bohemian Rhapsody left off and becoming the next round of critics are out of touch know nothings only real fans get it? Already seeing fanboy sites suggesting as much.
Just recently saw Bohemian Rhapsody…didn’t love it but felt the same way I felt about Star is Born, really flawed but the music and performances really make it work. Critics are just as right in panning it as audiences are in loving it.
Even after dual win(s) for Best Movie + Best Foreign Language Film at last night’s Critics Choice awards, I still refuse to believe “Roma” can pull off that sort of double-whammy at the Oscars.
But I don’t know another movie right now that has its momentum either.
Got a feeling that some weird outlier (“Bohemian Rhapsody”?!) could sneak in because of a lack of first-ballot consensus.
Glenn Close must surely be considered the front-runner for Best Actress, though.
Shows what a typically brilliant SPC awards-marketing campaign (and a fantastic GG acceptance speech) can do.
And to think I was worried that Close wouldn’t even get nominated because her movie opened too early in the year!
Eighth Grade is as good as advertised. So glad I finally watched it. Elsie Fisher is absolutely incredible. What a knockout performance. It’s sweet and funny and poignant and moving and uncomfortable and just lovely all-around.
I have 8th on the itinerary for this week (and then Hair on Amazon).
Finally saw Crazy Rich Asians, and it was decent but I don’t think I will be too pleased if it grabs one of the Oscar slots. I am all for inclusion, applaud that this film got made and did so well, and think the Academy are too quick to dismiss comedies, but overall this was just a good time. Things they touched on such as tradition vs freedom and the decadence of the cousins were not really explored.
I liked the movie and it is a major accomplishment, but the accomplishment happened before the cameras rolled.
I couldn’t get past fifteen minutes in the screener for Eighth Grade…this is well-traveled territory and it provided nothing new to the conversation….but the reviews have been so great….is there a compelling reason to keep going?
Palmtree, I have to tell you that as a producer, BR chilled me to the bone. I am developing a film on another gay music icon from that era…and obviously, the producers of BH made a conscious decision to go for the money grab. I am astounded as to how well it worked. This is a movie about a very, very, very gay person who lived a somewhat decadent lifestyle (I’ve heard first hand stories)…whose life was sanitized so that families would not feel uncomfortable at all. Indeed, his gayness, in the film, was his downfall–as soon as he veers away from his one true love (a woman), he free falls. The antagonist in the movie is a bitchy gay man who nearly destroys FM. And the band looks on in disgust. And for this, the movie made a fortune. As a producer, do you tell the lie if it is more profitable? I think it is many gay person’s fear that a straight person will be the one to tell their story.
I’d say there are many reasons to keep watching. 15 minutes? Yeah you quit too early. But hey what do I know I didn’t like most of the movies on every top 10 list I’ve seen.
Bohemian Rhapsody has nothing to do truth. It had everything to do, with getting more streams. It succeeded, incredibly, with that goal.
Eighth Grade is excellent, and the answer is yes, continue watching.
Yeah, the whole arc of Freddie Mercury just seems so cookie cutter biopic, right down to the cartoonish villain guy. And this is coming from someone who liked Darkest Hour though many people criticized it for being similarly rote.
But as far as telling the truth, I think you tell enough of it…or at least tell the emotional truth. For example, they had a bunch of scenes with his parents, and yet I don’t really have a sense of what that adds up to other than they were British Indian, conservative and had a famous son. I wish they had done something more with it like given them something to do.
Also, you could tell so many scenes were actually the amalgamation of 10 different moments in his life smashed together. That definitely took me out and made me question if any of it was based in truth. When I realized that, I just turned off my brain and enjoyed the songs, which made it meh though not unwatchable.
Hcat, to be fair, plenty of worthy performances by Asians have been overlooked for many years: Crouching Tiger, Last Emperor, Joy Luck Club, and even something as recent as Downsizing (Hong Chau was totally Oscar worthy). So these awards have context. Even if CRA doesn’t seem like a worthy candidate, I’m still glad it’s getting actors recognized in awards season.
Bohemian Rhapsody is what it is….and I’m guessing that it’s EXACTLY what Fox and the living band members wanted it to be: a glorified concert movie. As soon as the PG-13 rating was announced, I figured that’s likely what it was going to be….not saying the movie is great in the slightest, but I think a lot of critics somehow had it in their heads that this was going to be like The Doors or something which was never in the cards.
And yes Glamourboy, I was kind of put off myself by how the “gay lifestyle” was presented in this movie….and as if that wasn’t enough, the movie presents Mercury as being the ONLY band member who lived a decadent lifestyle while the other band-members were supposedly boy scouts who just raced home to their wives and kids once the recording sessions were over.
It’s not the first biopic to sanitize and condense a bunch of shit and it certainly won’t be the last but….the contrast in behavior that the movie shows for Mercury vs. the rest of the band is very problematic.
Oh, Geoff, you made my heart melt when you mentioned The Doors! How on earth did Kilmer not got any awards attention for that performance. To this day, I still see more Morrison than Kilmer when I watch it.
BoHo Rhapsody didn’t even take care to get all of the songs in the right order!
Okay, Geoff said it way better. I don’t remember agreeing with you this much before, but the point about the other band members being goody two shoes is 100.
Makes me worry that RocketMan is going to be nothing but a 120 minute montage of him trying on different sunglasses as Greatest Hits Volumes 1 and 2 plays over the soundtrack.
Palm, I agree entirely that great performances have been overlooked in the past, and hope the success of the film leads to long careers for the cast, and I am excited to see what they do next. But CRA seems like a film that can open up opportunities to great things rather than be the great thing itself.
That Yeoh wasn’t nominated for Crouching Tiger, while Juliet Binoche and Joan Allen were (both great actresses with decent performances in middling films), was a huge snub.
I wouldn’t mind seeing some traction on John Cho’s performance in Searching. The entire movie rests on seeing him, almost like watching an actor’s reel, and it’s riveting. But alas, awards season has its own internal logic of what gets recognized and what doesn’t.
“I couldn’t get past fifteen minutes in the screener for Eighth Grade…this is well-traveled territory and it provided nothing new to the conversation….but the reviews have been so great….is there a compelling reason to keep going?”
Yes, because the reviews have been great…and they were all written by people who got past the first 15 minutes.” 🙂
Well thanks guys – I still kind of enjoyed Bohemian Rhapsody for what it was but does it deserve a ton of plaudits? Nope.
And the thing about The Doors is…yes Kilmer was AMAZING in that film, really good – I would say he was more deserving than even Hopkins who won that year for such an iconic role as Lecter. But….I remember, I was working at a movie theater at the time – the movie came out in March, got very mixed reviews, and let’s face it….was a genuine chore to set through, it felt like 90% of the runtime was just Morrison being a drugged out dickhead – it was kind of the ANTI-Bohemian Rhapsody of its day. 🙂 But yes Kilmer was phenomenal.
‘awards season’ should be nuked from orbit, it’s the only way to be sure
A coworker of mine had a great line about seeing The Doors in the theater: “If you weren’t stoned going in, you will be by the time you come out.”
Very much enjoyed Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse. The voice cast is great, it’s very inventive, and I laughed quite frequently. Post-credit sequence is a hoot. Not on my top 10 list but that’s OK. It’s a good time. And only 100 minutes! I can’t wait to watch it with my kids. They are going to love it. On the other hand the new Spider-Man trailer is pretty lame.
Totally and utterly, disagree with you, SB. Spider-verse, is just a beautifully animated reboot of Spidey 2002. It’s just the driges of what Spider-Man should be, and that Sony actually did the same to Pete and Miles? Oy to the vey. The Far from Home trailer though? That’s what shit is about. Fucking glorious, and fucking amazing. It took forever, but leave it to Marvel Studios to get Spider-man right.
And Rocketman is going to be a fantasy film. Elton John, also has the whole weirdness with him and a woman. How they tell that story without fantasy elements, is beyond me.
I saw Spider-Man 2002 only once, the weekend it was released, and don’t really remember it that well. I’m obviously not as attached to the characters as you are, so maybe that’s why I enjoyed it more than you did. I wasn’t blown away or anything. Just found it to be solid entertainment. Again since I don’t know the character at all outside of the Spider-Man movies I’ve seen, which is most of them, how is the Far From Home trailer an example of getting Spider-Man right? I just found it familiar and silly, especially Mysterio. And why is a high school on a trip to Venice?
Though I really enjoy the Mission Impossible films I thought the idea that Paramount is going rely on Cruise tentpoles for three summers in a row showed a lack of imagination and initiative.
But then Sony put it in perspective with a new Ghostbusters.
I was, and I know this will come as a complete surprise, also underwhelmed by the Far From Home trailer. The Parker side seems fine, digging the powers while overwhelmed with the sheer responsibility of it and the peril involved. Still dislike the goofy sidekick though. As for the spectacle, hmmmm ok, looks pretty similar to Sandman from the 3rd Raimi. I wan’t that enthralled by Homecoming but at least Keaton was interesting, not sure if Mysterio holds the same promise.
JS, I have to remind you there has never been a Spider-Man trailer that you did not like, and were declaring with Garfield “this is how it needs to be done.”!!!!
That long commercial with Elton John going back in time was a good enough biopic for me.
The problem with hiring a big name like Jake Gyllenhaal, is that the studio doesn’t want to keep his face covered up. No fishbowl = no Mysterio. I know it made a brief appearance in the Far From Home trailer, but I’m withholding judgement.
Mysterio has an angle, that I enjoy. It’s a nice angle, but you guys can spoil that for yourselves.
HC, the Amazing Spider-man had potential, then they just didn’t want to pay it off. If they did that stuff with his dad, and ran with it. Well. That’s a different fucking series of movies, but they just did typical Sony paint by numbers Spider-man stuff.
SB, Pete (or Miles to be fair), are not mopey fuckers. Sony, loves to make Spider-man’s entire ethos, that he’s a mopey motherfucker. Marvel Studios, and most Spidey fans, hate that shit. Again, Into the Spiderverse is a beautiful movie, with really well fleshed out characters, that are all in the same vein of fucking of how Sony sees Spider-man, and to me? That’ not a Spider-man I really want to be around.
You obviously know more about Spider-man than I do, but I didn’t find Miles all that mopey. That’s not really how I would describe him. Isn’t he trying to navigate school while being a little insecure much like Peter in Homecoming? Maybe when you are extremely well-versed in these movies and the history of the characters you see differences that I don’t.
Possible Spiderverse spoiler ahead:
No offense JS, but as you pride yourself on being woke, I figured you’d give extra props to Spiderverse for having Doctor Octopus be a woman. There’s no reason the character has to be male as its the intellect & mechanical arms that defines him/her.
I love the line Peter has about confronting his own bias when he learns a woman is in charge of the lab. And there’s nothing wrong with being woke. Don’t throw those Gillette razors away Pete!
Fortunately I have a beard Stella, and don’t need Gillette. 😉
Smart man. Save a fortune. Razors are a ripoff.
I really liked ‘Spiderverse and I found ‘Homecoming….meh like most recent MCU movies but hey fine, I get it – their goal was to try to make Spiderman more “fun” and kid-friendly. And they pretty much succeeded at that….and it seems to be more of the same with ‘Far From Home.
But here’s the thing: after two previous versions in barely 15 years prior, why did the Pascal/Feige brain-trust have to go with Peter Parker AGAIN? Especially since it seems from ‘Homecoming and at least this trailer they are genuinely hesitant to make these stories ABOUT Peter Parker?? 😮
It’s as if they’re doing some paint-by-numbers re-purposing of Peter Parker and his surrounding world but just on the surface – they have the names of the characters but they’re really NOT the characters: Parker is popular, well-liked, and now awkward in the slightest, Aunt May feels more like a MILF-y big sister to him who’s happy-go-lucky considering her husband was murdered recently….MJ is just the wise-cracking diamond-in-the-rough Betty to a now-absent Veronica…and Flash is now just a bitter dork who nobody seems to like and isn’t intimidating in the slightest but STILL acts like a bully towards Peter?? ) Just weird stuff….it’s as if they did a Batman re-boot but now Bruce Wayne’s mother is alive, Alfred’s still there but he’s just the family accountant, and Jim Gordon’s now the head of security for Wayne Enterprises.
Seeing how they had some cool ideas with ‘Spiderverse, I don’t see why they couldn’t be a little bolder (and more diverse) by introducing Spider-Man into the MCU as Miles Morales – genuine missed opportunity there.
Except for “Spider-Verse,” no Spidey movie has mattered to me since 2004’s “Spider-Man 2.” Along w/ “Batman Returns,” it was the only comic book movie that ever made me cry.
That matters a lot in my narrow world.
Yeah, I remember thinking Homecoming was meh and had a long debate about that here with amblin I think.
The problem is just that every narrative seems to have a rinse and repeat feel, even if it’s well done. Even the cool youthful John Hughes touches are by now relatively worn.
Geoff, have you seen Batman Ninja? It’s a little bit like what you’re talking about except it’s anime taking place in ancient Japan. And I think it works.
Glass the perfect microcosm of M Night’s entire career:
First half is excellent, second half is hot garbage with a few neat moments.
As a giant Unbreakable mark I was crushingly disappointed by the end of the whole thing.
Memo to Bruce Willis: Dude, if you’re retired, just tell everyone that already.
Gonna go scrub Glass from my brain by watching the John Wick 3 trailer a few times.
On another note: loved Homecoming, didn’t love the Far From Home trailer. But I’m a little biased because Mysterio is a shit villain. And anyone familiar with the character knows what’s up in that trailer. Bleh.
Yeah those worn out John Hughes touches are a problem in Bumblebee as well.
I haven’t seen Unbreakable in a long time, but I didn’t like Split much. Not surprised by the Glass reception. So Bruce sleepwalks through it like he did in Death Wish? Starring in something that isn’t a VOD action thriller directed by Steven C. Miller isn’t enough for him to care?
“So Bruce sleepwalks through it like he did in Death Wish? Starring in something that isn’t a VOD action thriller directed by Steven C. Miller isn’t enough for him to care?”
NOPE. Remember the shot in the commercials when Willis unfurls his green pancho, Superman-cape style? The pancho in that one scene added more to the film than Willis.
That doesn’t mean Shymalan actually wrote anything for him but even as an “iconic presence” Willis is a ghost at this point.
“Bruce sleepwalks through it…”
That reminded me of how my initial viewing of “The Sixth Sense” was spoiled by a similar line in Todd McCarthy’s Variety review. He said something to the effect that, “Willis seems to sleepwalk through the role which winds up making sense in the end.”
I spent the entire movie convinced that McCarthy was suggesting Willis’ character was dead, and kept looking for something to poke a hole in that theory.
Needless to say (SPOILER ALERT 20 years later!) that “something” never materialized.
It wasn’t until revisiting “Sense” many years later that I was able to recognize it for the quite extraordinary piece of filmmaking it actually is. And Haley Joel Osment’s performance remains one of the most uncanny kid perfs in the history of movies.
Did reviews hurt Glass? Granted it’s doing well and will make money, but the opening weekend is going to be much lower than what was expected just a few days ago. Seems like it’s not something reviews would impact, do maybe tracking was just off.
I’ve seen more than one review saying Glass was M. Night giving fans the middle finger, and that’s what it felt like. Unbreakable is one of my all-time favorite films, and after seeing Glass I wished that it and the last 2 minutes of Split had never happened. Such a colossal letdown.
Oh wow that’s not good. And if that’s the case I’d imagine it drops pretty quickly after this weekend. Four day total of $48 million is way lower than first projected and seems a bit disappointing. Also Deadline says he financed it himself and it cost somewhere in the low 20s? Didn’t know that. Blumhouse sure likes to keep it cheap.
How does someone get this many opportunities to do great work and just mess it up almost every time? For me the last straw was Avatar, which was so incompetent on every level and damaged what could have and should have been a Harry Potter level franchise.
Friday Estimates at BoxOfficeMojo
“Also Deadline says he financed it himself and it cost somewhere in the low 20s? Didn’t know that. Blumhouse sure likes to keep it cheap.”
The budget is on the screen. Even the parts of the film I enjoyed, it was noticable how little was spent. A hospital for the criminally insane apparently only has 3-4 members on staff at anytime.
Echoing Amblinman, the budget reflects the “epic” finale.
how is this at all surprising
Has anyone seen Kioyoshi Kurosawa’s “Before We Vanish”?
I’m surprised nobody has snatched up U.S. remake rights yet: sci-fi melded with a very touching love story.
Think the original “Terminator” (minus the action parts). Or “Starman.”
Seems like a natural.
It’s definitely my favorite of the K. Kurosawa movies I’ve seen.
The reviews totally killed Glass, because they had two weeks to do it. Reviewers were pissed off about this movie two weeks ago, and few movies can survive that level of shit hurled at it. Seriously though, what the fuck with that ending? Who let M. Night do that fucking ending? It’s twenty years of this motherfucker, and he still loves that stupid twist.
I guess if you self-finance you can end it however you want. Rightfully or unfairly pissed off? Because it seems like critics aren’t the only ones who dislike it.
The ending to Glass is everything wrong with M. Night’s career. Dude just cannot get out of his own way.
Everyone who has seen the film, ask yourself this: why did he bother nerfing his own characters like that in service to a franchise launch when he’s specifically NOT a franchise guy? I totally believe that even if he had the budget, Glass doesn’t end in some cataclysmic battle on top of a skyscraper. Shyamalan isn’t that guy.
What a great opportunity flushed. And that’s M Night Shyamalan.
I think horrendous winter weather in the northeastern part of the country may have impacted “Glass” even more than stinky reviews/WOM.
In my area, Regal theaters shut down after their Saturday matinees.
Can someone explain to me why “Dragon Ball” was such a hot ticket? Haven’t there already been like–what?–20 of them? And aren’t they all pretty much the same movie?
Have seen TV spots claiming that both “Destroyer” and (!) “Stan and Ollie” will be “everywhere” on Friday.
Not sure whether I believe the “everywhere” claim.
Hell, “The Favourite” still hasn’t opened in my neck of the woods. Or “Green Book” (!?!) for that matter.
I really think “Destroyer” has commercial potential, especially for anyone who misses ’90s Tarantino movies.
“S&O” is a lovely film, but I can’t imagine it drawing flies in the heartland. Especially minus any Oscar love (which, sadly, is a given).
January 18-20, 2019
Weekend
1 N Glass Uni. $40,586,000 – 3,841 – $10,567 $40,586,000 $20 1
2 1 The Upside STX $15,670,000 -23.0% 3,320 +240 $4,720 $43,983,439 $37.5 2
3 N Dragon Ball Super: Broly FUN $10,657,442 – 467 – $22,821 $21,077,471 – 1
4 2 Aquaman WB $10,330,000 -40.5% 3,475 -388 $2,973 $304,336,848 – 5
5 4 Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse Sony $7,255,000 -19.8% 2,712 -317 $2,675 $158,256,385 $90 6
6 3 A Dog’s Way Home Sony $7,110,000 -36.8% 3,090 – $2,301 $21,278,496 $18 2
7 5 Escape Room Sony $5,275,000 -40.9% 2,709 -8 $1,947 $40,700,948 $9 3
8 6 Mary Poppins Returns BV $5,244,000 -31.5% 2,810 -443 $1,866 $158,731,814 $130 5
9 7 Bumblebee Par. $4,660,000 -35.4% 2,711 -592 $1,719 $115,943,676 $135 5
10 8 On the Basis of Sex Focus $3,965,000 -34.7% 1,957 +34 $2,026 $16,876,747 – 4
11 9 The Mule WB $3,505,000 -38.2% 2,688 -641 $1,304 $96,929,689 $50 6
12 15 Green Book Uni. $2,263,000 +5.4% 912 +170 $2,481 $41,974,991 $23 10
13 11 Bohemian Rhapsody Fox $2,250,000 -29.7% 1,177 -157 $1,912 $201,982,484 $52 12
14 14 Ralph Breaks the Internet BV $2,158,000 -4.4% 1,936 +382 $1,115 $193,217,032 $175 9
15 10 Vice Annapurna $1,863,871 -42.4% 1,175 -549 $1,586 $39,247,233 – 4
16 12 If Beale Street Could Talk Annapurna $1,645,507 -31.6% 1,018 – $1,616 $10,461,067 – 6
17 18 The Favourite FoxS $810,000 -26.9% 517 +5 $1,567 $22,799,025 – 9
18 16 Second Act STX $670,000 -59.9% 1,051 -630 $637 $37,775,193 $16 5
19 17 A Star is Born (2018) WB $639,000 -43.2% 415 +21 $1,540 $204,699,733 $36 16
20 13 Replicas ENTMP $450,000 -81.1% 2,059 -270 $219 $3,675,873 – 2
21 35 Stan & Ollie SPC $391,455 +359.6% 84 +71 $4,660 $789,377 – 4
22 19 Mary Queen of Scots Focus $370,000 -56.6% 405 -424 $914 $16,046,509 – 7
23 34 Cold War (2018) Amazon $355,292 +264.4% 39 +29 $9,110 $748,028 – 5
24 20 Free Solo NGE $264,400 -67.7% 98 -65 $2,698 $13,124,939 – 17
25 26 Creed II MGM $238,802 -16.9% 525 +170 $455 $115,231,418 $50 9
26 24 Perfect Strangers PNT $185,000 -56.2% 132 – $1,402 $737,702 – 2
27 32 Destroyer Annapurna $150,747 +0.7% 50 +23 $3,015 $636,831 – 4
28 25 Simmba Relbig. $140,441 -57.0% 70 -66 $2,006 $4,981,911 – 4
29 23 Ben is Back RAtt. $134,510 -71.9% 294 -304 $458 $3,509,327 – 7
30 33 The Wife SPC $88,718 -20.7% 115 -41 $771 $8,503,929 – 23
31 39 Capernaum SPC $43,278 -14.4% 17 +2 $2,546 $307,221 – 6
32 N Who Will Write Our History Abr. $12,719 – 1 – $12,719 $12,719 – 1
33 N The Heiresses Distrib. $11,288 – 2 – $5,644 $14,216 – 1
34 46 The World Before Your Feet Greenwich $6,900 -55.7% 10 -1 $690 $180,023 – 9
35 N An Acceptable Loss IFC $5,103 – 1 – $5,103 $5,103 – 1
TOTAL (35 MOVIES): $129,405,473 +8.2% 41,883 -2,990 $3,090
<<Last
Movieman: I’m startled to see mention of a new K. Kurosawa film. Just out theatrically? I confess it’s been completely off my radar. I’m intrigued! I’ll look around for festival and other reviews. Thanks.
Huh. Looks like the Kurosawa released early last year in the U.S. I’ll see if I can track it down. Thanks again. MM.
It’s definitely worth checking out, Christian.
“Vanish” premiered at Cannes in 2017, and also played the NYFF that year.
The U.S. theatrical “release” was last winter.
If you like it, maybe you can bring it to someone’s attention.
If done properly, a Hollywood remake could be money.
(In both senses of the word, lol.)
I saw Glass literally a day after I finally got to see Split and here’s the thing: how is Glass SUCH a departure from most of what M. Night has done up until this point??
I loved Unbreakable, kind of dug Split, and thought Glass was….ok. I think Universal was pretty stupid to release the embargo that early but honestly, how could they have expected the critics and fanboys to go all Last Jedi/BVS apeshit on this movie acting all betrayed?? It’s an M. Night movie through and through – when he has NOT been up his own ass? The Sixth Sense was up its own ass, so was Unbreakable and Signs…and all of these films were probably too long and too slowly paced.
It is what it is – it’s a slow-burn sort-of-psychological thriller that has a message to tell….and it’s going to bash you through the fucking head to tell it. 🙂 That pretty much describes even his BEST movies. Most of the performances in Glass are pretty good, it’s pretty well shot and and it does what it sets out to do overall….it’s not objectively a GOOD movie but it’s nowhere near the trainwreck folks are making it out to be either.
Did so many folks really start buying the “Next Spielberg” hype on this guy already? I guess that explains why so many felt let down. For me, it pretty much lived up to my expectations.
“Geoff, have you seen Batman Ninja? It’s a little bit like what you’re talking about except it’s anime taking place in ancient Japan. And I think it works.”
I haven’t Palmtree and I have to admit that I have not seen most of the DC animated films that have been hyped up by the DC Metalheads crowd. I thought it looked gorgeous from the trailers but here’s the thing: Batman Ninja PRESENTS itself as an “elseworlds” story in a different time place….whereas ‘Homecoming was heralded as being the first film to get “Peter Parker right!” and I’m just not seeing that at all, he’s Peter Parker in name only.
‘Hell, “The Favourite” still hasn’t opened in my neck of the woods’
Annapurna doesn’t seem to show much restraint regarding throwing their pictures into the deep end of the wide release pool regardless of how they are playing. SPC almost always does so I am surprised S&O would be going wide since the best they can do with that is a supporting actor nomination. Perhaps they were contractually obligated to take them to a certain threshold of theaters when they bought them.
I am curious who will get a bump next weekend. Anyone thinking they will bring Star is Born back into wide release? Or would a surprise Roberts nomination actually bring Ben is Back to peoples attention?
Yes and no, Hcat. At least in regard to my town.
Annapurna (foolishly in retrospect) took “Sisters Brothers” pretty wide in October despite middling limited release #, but it wasn’t “wide” enough to play near me.
“The Favourite” is another Searchlight movie not to open locally: we seem to rate maybe two a year. Believe it or not, “The Shape of Waster” didn’t play here until winning the Oscar when it opened at…a discount theater.
Yet many SPC movies have inexplicably opened here, even (I shit you not) “Elle.” There seems to be no rhyme or reason to any of these release patterns, at least in regards to what does (and doesn’t) show up at my local ‘plexes.
For example, we got “Mary, Queen of Scots,” “Ben is Back” and “Beautiful Boy,” but not the Lanthimos movie which was (easily) the biggest hit of the bunch.
I think you’re right about “ASIB” getting another wide/Oscar bump release next weekend. Pretty sure that’s the reason WB held off putting it into bargain houses until now.
Curious to where you might be Movieman, I know we have a few Cali people in here, some DC metro people, then if I recall North Carolina, some Ohio, I think JS is down in Dixie? and Leah is tucked down in paradise watching a family of tourists cut a path of litter and rudeness across her fair isle.
I am just outside of Eberts hometown of Champaign. We got Sisters Brothers and the Favorite, but being a college town we are fortunate to get almost anything that will make 3 million or over.
I’m in Youngstown, OH, Hcat.
We’re right between Pittsburgh and Cleveland (an hour and fifteen minutes in either direction).
But Youngstown proper doesn’t have any theaters anymore, so the multiplexes that serve the Youngstown community are located in the ‘burbs (Boardman, Austintown, Niles).
Weirdly, an independently owned/operated ‘plex in Hermitage PA (a town 45 minutes away from me which is maybe a third the size of Youngstown) brings in a lot more non-mainstream stuff. For example, they opened “Sisters Brothers” and “The Wife” last fall (which is where I saw them), and even played “A Private War” and “Anna and the Apocalypse.” None of those played anywhere closer to my home.
The Fox-Searchlight “issue” has been a particular source of irritation, dating back to 2014 when even “The Grand Budapest Hotel” failed to open here. It’s just so f***ing weird.
But on the bright side Movieman, Youngstown must have amazing nachos…
https://wreg.com/2016/11/19/police-woman-offered-to-sell-sex-for-60-and-some-nachos/
My college roommate lives in Y-Town and had to share that story with me. Go Penguins!
That’s a hoot, Pete. Hope it makes it into a comedy one day.
“Go Penguins!”
Hey, I actually teach at YSU!
“Most of the performances in Glass are pretty good, it’s pretty well shot and and it does what it sets out to do overall…”
I didn’t realize what it set out to do was slaughter all of its protagonists and tack on 18 endings.
Saved me a ticket. Thanks, amblin!
Shyamalan has been warmly embraced by the horror community. Blumhouse affiliation probably helps. And in the last few weeks I’ve read more pieces than I can count about what a masterpiece Unbreakable is. They talk about it like it’s still underappreciated but the sheer volume of these pieces disproves that. Plus The Visit and Split were well-received. Glass seems to be pretty divisive among the horror crowd.
SB- “Unbreakable” is a masterpiece. The funny thing is that I didn’t realize it at the time. In fact, I filed a two-star review in November 2000.
But taking another look post-“Split” (which I was also meh on after a first viewing), it was as though a lightning bolt had come down from heaven.
I couldn’t believe that Shyamalan had been so spookily prescient.
“Unbreakable” essentially predicted the two dominant cultural trends/obsessions of the 21st century: comic books and urban terrorism.
I now think it’s his best film to date.
And I liked “Split” more a second time as well, although the stalking/murdering of nubile teenage girls still makes me ultra queasy if not downright nauseous.
I disagree, but the point is that there have been a ton of think pieces about it being a masterpiece on horror sites. Probably in other places, too. That is well-covered territory but his reputation has certainly been resuscitated in the horror community. I’d say unjustifiably. Split is pretty bad and The Visit is total garbage. Guess I just don’t much like Shyamalan.
“and Leah is tucked down in paradise watching a family of tourists cut a path of litter and rudeness across her fair isle.”
stop spyin’ on me hcat (tbh, the tourists i come across here are almost always really lovely and seem happy and respectful so there’s that)
can i just say that the certain scene in ‘sisters brothers’ re the spider, what happens to it and the aftermath of said happening was so horrifying i am still thinking about it months later, it haunts me – and i’m not ever super arachnophobic or anything, but sheesh i may go be sick just thinking about it again)
also, gotta say geoff you trippin’ if you think ‘glass’ is just a bit more up its own ass than ‘unbreakable’, which is a truly well conceived, constructed and executed flick. ‘glass’ is a travesty.
Really want to see The Sister’s Brothers. Bummed it never played here. Hopefully VOD is soon.
i mean i can’t say for sure but i suspect you’ll dig it, SB, it’s a western but weirder with some existential touches and bits of gore and sadness — and joaquin and john c are pretty much national treasures at this point and don’t disappoint as the Sisters, like an old married couple bickering and slaying, so if that sounds like your cup of tea
(ETA speaking of joaquin, i’m still a bit gobsmacked that his unbelievably intense perf as joe in YWNRH is absent from this ‘awards season’ shitshow, maybe just as well fuck them)
That absolutely sounds like my cup of tea. And yeah those guys are national treasures and I’d watch them in anything.
Whoever was touting that Hale County documentary a few months ago, you have some good news this morning.
Other happy things:
The academy realizes there is a filmmaker out there named Spike Lee
Always happy when Rachel Weisz and Regina King get recognition.
And did anyone have Pawlikowski on their radar for a best director nod? I know the film got great reviews but this was probably the biggest surprise of the morning.
And glad that Dafoe, Aparicio, and especially Schrader were named. First Reformed seemed to mean a hell of a lot to quite a few people.
And of course Black Panther, for all the ‘out of touch’ accusations around the academy and comic book films this nomination shows all they had to do is make a worthy enough film.
Hale County is on PBS soon. Can’t wait to see it. Also thrilled that Minding the Gap got a best doc nom. Overall though these nominations are a snooze.
I don’t love First Reformed, but Ethan Hawke is exceptional and he got snubbed big time.
The majority of the best movies I saw this year were directed by women. Private Life, The Rider, You Were Never Really Here, Leave No Trace, and Can You Ever Forgive Me. That ALL of them were snubbed is just fucking ridiculous.
Hopefully there’s a BYOB Oscars soon.
Congrats to the Academy for remembering, that YOU CAN NOMINATE FUCKING POPULAR MOVIES! Of course, those popular movies aren’t going to win shit, and get beat out by a netflix movie no one has cared to watch, and a period lesbian triangle drama that they can’t sell as being a period lesbian triangle drama… THE OSCARRRRRRRRRRRRSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!
The Black Panther stuff is nice, but it will probably win like three Oscars, so that’s the first time in ten years a comic book movie has won something. That’s a plus, but there’s still weird shit like Cooper not receiving a directing nom, the Ethan Hawke thing, and Coogler being responsible for an Oscar worthy production. Yet, he apparently was terrible at directing it, and all the performances were terrible. THE OSCARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRSSSSSSSSS!!!!
Solo… OSCAR NOMINEE! THE OSCARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRSSSSSSSSS!
Pfft no one watched I’m pretty sure Netflix said like 240 million people watched Roma.
Wow, SB. It was the FIRST RESULT ON GOOGLE :D!!!
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-netflix-bird-box/netflix-movie-bird-box-draws-80-million-viewers-no-data-for-roma-idUSKCN1PB2X2
No Roma numbers because so many people watched they can’t even count that high.
I was bummed that Mr. Rogers and “Burning” failed to get a doc or foreign film nod. But it’s the first time I can remember, maybe ever, that all five nominated foreign-language movies are actually, y’know, good.
Delighted that Spike Lee finally got a directing nomination, and that Paul Schrader and Nicole Holofcener got their first (!) Oscar recognition in the screenplay categories. It’s mind-blowing that Schrader wasn’t nominated for “Taxi Driver” and/or “Raging Bull.”
Got a kick out of how well “Vice” fared, too. Go, Adam McKay!
And the two Coen Bros. nominations, as well as “Minding the Gap,” Sam Elliott and Willem Dafoe, were sweet surprises.
The acting nods for “Roma” were mildly unexpected (more so Marina De Tavira’s supporting nomination than Yalitz Aparicio’s lead slot). If there’s an upset this year, I’m betting on Aparicio besting Glenn Close.
Can’t say I was displeased at how meh “Mary Poppins Returned” fared.
Emily Blunt’s failure to land a Best Actress nomination was as unexpected as Emma Thompson not getting nominated for “Saving Mr. Banks.”
Funny how Oscar no longer seems to dig nominating actor-directors (Redford, Costner, Gibson, etc.) First Ben Affleck, now Bradley Cooper. A curious new trend, huh?
“Bohemian Rhapsody”!?! Ugh.
JS, We can be happy for the comic book movie but you can’t be happy for the period lesbian triangle drama? C’mon celebrate the big tent. If there is a problem with the slate its that a big movie like Bohemian Rhapsody gets in at the expense of a smaller one.
The Schrader nom is also significant in that it kept A24 from being completely shut out. After becoming an increasingly large presence the last few years this is a bit of a stumble. Annapurna completely drank their milkshake.
#SpikesTimeIsNow. Seeing that all over. So does that mean sure maybe he isn’t the most deserving but come on we all know he should have an Oscar by now so just give it to him even if it’s not his very best work? Or something like that? Like Pacino in Scent of a Woman. I say that as a huge fan of Spike Lee, though I still haven’t seen BlackKklansman.
SB, only in the alternate reality, in which you live. It’s not that it bombed, but you can tell something about things popular on netflix. When they blow up. It’s like Bird Box, Stranger Things, or the Tidying Up lady. When they flail around and just sit there? It’s stuff like Roma, but they did put Roma in theatres to get noms, so it did it’s jobs. I am just not a fan of Cuaron, and never will be.
HC, it’s not a big fucking tent. Look at director (not as bad in terms of ethnicity, but the women), cinematographer, and most of the acting noms. Also, how is pointing out The Favorite not being able to sell itself as what it is, some sort of condemnation in your mind? It’s fucking fact, dude. It’s fucking fact, like the fact that Black Panther inspired millions, but apparently looked pretty, sounded nice, and that’s it.
And Crazy Rich Asians should have gotten in over Rhapsody.
JS I was not being serious. Thought that was obvious. I didn’t really like Roma and I’m sure there’s a reason Netflix isn’t releasing viewing numbers for it.
Not a fan of Cuaron? What has he done to you other make brilliant films?
Bohemian and Star both got in there on the basis of star performances. That’s it.
JS – Were you not lamenting that The Favorite would beat a more popular movie? IF not I misread you. What does the Academy have to do with how the film is marketed?
Palm, he just doesn’t work for me. It’s a whole thing, like most of these things are.
SB, yeah. I totally get the joke now. My bad. I whiffed at that joke pretty fucking hard. My apologies.
HC, I was once again stating, that the top two nominated films are a lesbian love triangle film, that is being sold as a, “YUCK YUCK,” comedy instead of what it is, and a Netflix movie no one has watched. Black Panther is there, so that’s cool. I just think it’s rather, “OSCARS,” to have those two as your top films. A film, that can’t be sold honestly, and another from a company they CREATED RULES LAST YEAR TO KEEP OUT! COME ON! THIS MAKES NO SENSE!
I love Isle of Dogs, but Spider-verse should win that award going away. It’s fucking beautiful. Terrible story, but easily one of the most beautiful animated films ever made.
No worries. It wasn’t exactly a great joke and it’s hard to tell when it’s not face-to-face.
I like that this thread, for a moment, threatened to become all about THE SISTERS BROTHERS before Oscar nominations took over.
I’m told by reliable sources that I have a “Never Look Away” screener downstairs, so that’s on tonight’s agenda. Don’t recall hearing before today that it was shot by Caleb Deschanel!
“NLA” is very, very good, Christian and–needless to say–gorgeously shot by cinematography legend Deschanel.
Better plan on dedicating an entire evening to it, though: the movie runs (a very pacey!) 3 hours-plus.
It definitely makes good on von Donnersmarck’s “The Lives of Others” promise.
(His 2007 Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film.)