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By MCN Editor editor@moviecitynews.com

BYO Ides of August

Pendleton wildfire

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54 Responses to “BYO Ides of August”

  1. leahnz says:

    – my mommy always said there were no monsters, no real ones, but there are, aren’t there?

    – yes, there are.

  2. Stella's Boy says:

    Hey I literally watched the director’s cut of this yesterday. So good.

  3. leahnz says:

    maybe we got ’em demoralised!

  4. movieman says:

    Friday
    8/9
    (Estimates)

    1 SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK
    Lionsgate

    3,135 $8,760,000

    — / $2,794
    $8,760,000 / 1

    2 FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS & SHAW
    Universal

    4,344 $7,090,000

    +75.9% / $1,632
    $90,203,780 / 8

    3 DORA AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD
    Paramount

    3,735 $6,500,000

    — / $1,740
    $6,500,000 / 1

    4 THE LION KING (2019)
    Buena Vista

    4,220 $5,717,000

    +36.6% / $1,355
    $458,820,826 / 22

    5 ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD
    Sony / Columbia

    3,507 $3,250,000

    +64.6% / $927
    $91,981,370 / 15

    6 THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN
    Fox

    2,765 $3,000,000

    — / $1,085
    $3,000,000 / 1

    7 THE KITCHEN (2019)
    Warner Bros. (New Line)

    2,745 $1,800,000

    — / $656
    $1,800,000 / 1

    8 SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME
    Sony / Columbia

    2,678 $1,450,000

    +41.4% / $541
    $367,122,490 / 39

  5. Stella's Boy says:

    I was looking forward to The Hunt. I love contemporary takes on The Most Dangerous Game. Hard Target and Surviving the Game rule. Did Universal not expect any controversy? Don’t cave to Trump.

  6. movieman says:

    From Variety:

    “Universal Pictures has canceled the release of its upcoming thriller ‘The Hunt.’ The film was previously set to hit theaters Sept. 27.

    ‘While Universal Pictures had already paused the marketing campaign for ‘The Hunt,’ after thoughtful consideration, the studio has decided to cancel our plans to release the film,’ a spokesperson for Universal said in a statement. ‘We stand by our filmmakers and will continue to distribute films in partnership with bold and visionary creators, like those associated with this satirical social thriller, but we understand that now is not the right time to release this film.'”

    Sounds like caving to me, SB.

  7. Stella's Boy says:

    Sure does. Is it really all that different from a Purge movie? So dumb.

  8. movieman says:

    Truly.
    When I first saw the trailer, I assumed it was “The Purge” under a different name. Maybe a way to extend the franchise by using a new monicker.
    This country is so f***ed.

  9. Ray Pride says:

    The Hunt is from “The Leftovers” crew: writers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse’s son, as well as frequent director Craig Zobel.

    Probably not a dumb movie.

  10. leahnz says:

    er, ‘lindelof’ and ‘dumb’ can easily coexist

  11. Bulldog68 says:

    It feels like a cave to Trump, but I can also understand if you didn’t want your movie to be Trump’s favourite object of distraction over the next few weeks. But how ironic is it that this is also the week where tape had surfaced with Bill Barr, the nation’s #1 law enforcer, commenting in glowing terms on the vigilante actions of Dirty Harry.

    So to be clear, let’s vent anger at the make believe violence in movies and video games, while a vigilante loving Attorney General shoots lady liberty in the leg and says, “You’ve got to ask yourself one question. Do I feel lucky?”

  12. Stella's Boy says:

    That interview is something else bulldog. Praises Dirty Harry and Death Wish and keeps talking justice versus process of law. Basically lauds vigilantism. He is scary.

    I was calling caving to Trump dumb.

  13. Amblinman says:

    The key with The Hunt is probably this: you think anyone will want to gather to watch in a public place a movie that the leader of a violent terrorist group has declared is offensive? Studio knows this thing is now super dead.

  14. movieman says:

    Who else finds it highly unlikely that “Lucy in the Sky” will open in October?
    It sounds way too much like “Ad Astra” which is opening September 20th.
    Plus, they’re both Fox (or Disney) releases: “AA” is Fox proper; “Lucy,” Searchlight.

    A late February “Annihilation” slot seems more plausible for “Lucy,” or even spring.

  15. movieman says:

    1 1 Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw Uni. $25,400,000 -57.7% 4,344 +91 $5,847 $108,513,780 $200 2

    2 N Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark LGF $20,800,000 – 3,135 – $6,635 $20,800,000 – 1

    3 2 The Lion King (2019) BV $20,000,000 -48.1% 4,220 -582 $4,739 $473,103,826 – 4

    4 N Dora and the Lost City of Gold Par. $17,000,000 – 3,735 – $4,552 $17,000,000 $49 1

    5 3 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Sony $11,600,000 -42.0% 3,507 -152 $3,308 $100,331,370 $90 3

    6 N The Art of Racing in the Rain Fox $8,100,000 – 2,765 – $2,929 $8,100,000 – 1

    7 N The Kitchen (2019) WB (NL) $5,510,000 – 2,745 – $2,007 $5,510,000 – 1

    8 4 Spider-Man: Far from Home Sony $5,300,000 -32.9% 2,678 -768 $1,979 $370,972,490 $160 6

    9 5 Toy Story 4 BV $4,400,000 -40.1% 2,295 -930 $1,917 $419,578,368 – 8

    10 N Bring the Soul: The Movie Trafalgar $2,296,491 – 873 – $2,631 $4,417,649 – 1

    11 7 The Farewell A24 $2,217,690 -8.1% 704 +295 $3,150 $10,322,121 – 5

  16. YancySkancy says:

    The irony is, if The Hunt were about rightwing industrialists hunting down hipsters in man-buns, it could easily get a wide release and trade on all the critical outrage to bring in the target audience. Anti-abortion and pro-Christianity films are routinely wide-released these days. Granted, those are less likely to stoke opposing factions to take up arms, whereas I’m sure Universal fears that the MAGA crowd may have a more violent reaction to The Hunt. And Amblinman is probably right – it’s bad enough to go to a movie and worry about whether people will be talking and texting throughout, much less whether they may be packing heat and planning to “teach a lesson” to anyone who seems to be enjoying watching deplorables on the run.

  17. Stella's Boy says:

    I’ve always figured there’s more to it than “rich liberals hunt MAGA folks for sport.” Like poor left and right come together to take down the evil rich people hunting humans for kicks. Or something like that. I like to see a movie before I criticize it. They must have thought that since The Purge movies come and go without much kerfuffle this would too? Or maybe they expected this from the start? I read somewhere that it wasn’t testing well so maybe that’s part of the decision, too.

  18. Ray Pride says:

    Blumhouse has a complex deal. Projects are placed once the cut is delivered: It could go Universal (as here) or to BHTilt (with Universal boilerplate at the end of the picture), or other options, including straight to Netflix.

    Netflix…. hmmmmm. “From the creators of THE LEFTOVERS… 1159pm Friday…”

  19. Ray Pride says:

    Trusting Zobel and Blum more than the writers.

  20. Stella's Boy says:

    And OTL? Is that separate from Tilt? They certainly do have many options.

  21. movieman says:

    It’s time to repeat what I said yesterday:

    “This country is so f***ed.”

  22. Stella's Boy says:

    Nah no worries movieman it’s totally fine I mean all presidents have accused a predecessor of being involved in a successful conspiracy to commit murder.

  23. movieman says:

    SB- I swear the only thing that gets me up most days is the hope that Trump either died in his sleep, or resigned in a 3 A.M. toilet-tweet.

  24. Ray Pride says:

    Yes, I didn’t want to stop and research the other avenues when I posted.

  25. movieman says:

    Gleiberman just posted an interesting take on “The Hunt” controversy.
    It’s on the Variety website.

  26. Stella's Boy says:

    Thought of OTL because I’ve been seeing a lot of Don’t Let Go promos.

  27. Stella's Boy says:

    Is Gleiberman telling liberals what kind of movies they should be making now (while insinuating that The Hunt isn’t the right kind of movie) right after admitting he hasn’t seen and therefore can’t judge what kind of movie The Hunt is? Also considering the frequency of gun violence in this country one could argue there’s never a good time to release a movie with lots of gun violence. April 2020 might be no better a release date than September 2019.

  28. leahnz says:

    weird that no-one seems to be talking about how cons/rw-nuts are all about a lesson in projection: ‘lib snowflakes’, ‘cancel’ culture, ‘PC’, etc, how this actually describes them perfectly – the most delicate of ‘tough daddies’

    (i do wonder about amblin’s point above re cancelling the release, about how with the current climate of white terrorist mass shootings the possibility that the PERCEIVED content of the movie, even sight unseen, could make it an ideal target and people are understandably feeling nervous and afraid, i can’t even imagine)

  29. Stella's Boy says:

    I think that’s a fair and accurate description of cons.

  30. movieman says:

    I hope somebody moves onto the old “Hunt” date.
    At present, the only wide release slated for Sept. 27th is blah-looking kid toon “Abominable.”

  31. Pete B. says:

    Saw The Twins of Evil Tour last night. (Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson touring together)
    Mr. Zombie has got some marketing skills. Instead of having the prerequisite darkness and crowd chanting before you come out for your encore, just run the trailer for your upcoming new movie… 3 From Hell. Not sure it’ll get more butts in theater seats, but you have a captive audience.

  32. leahnz says:

    lord help me i watched ‘the hurricane heist’, so many questions (i was actually wondering about r cohen the other day after mention of the OG TF&TF here, what the heck)

  33. Stella's Boy says:

    Zombie does have some marketing skills but holy smokes that movie looks horrible. I saw White Zombie perform live some years ago and my hearing has never been the same. The Hurricane Heist is glorious trash.

  34. Sideshow Bill says:

    Movieman, I’m glad I’m not the only one who fantasizes about Trump dying. I’ve been attacked for bringing it up. Had my Twitter locked. Well, I’m not dumb. Never threatened or anything. But I can hope for whatever the hell I want. By law. Well, for now.

    Saw Scary Stories last night. Enjoyed it. It was exactly what I hoped it would be. No more, no less. It’ll help create new horror fans in young teens.

    The scariest scene in the movie was all the young men excitedly signing up to go to Vietnam Nam. Wish they’d figured out a way to do more with that and the Nixon stuff but at least they tried.

  35. Stella's Boy says:

    Yeah I was a little puzzled by the way it handles Vietnam and Nixon. There’s so much footage of Nixon but I’m not entirely certain what we’re meant to draw from it or how it connects to the narrative. And (SPOILER) it’s kind of odd that at the end Roman signs up for service and ships out. I think cutting that stuff and tightening the narrative (and shaving 10-15 minutes from the running time) would have benefited the movie.

  36. Sideshow Bill says:

    Oh yes, that point about the ending was confusing and, frankly, a sad choice. I still had some fun but it reached for more than it was capable of. It was what I hoped for though. Just nice when something kinda unnecessary turns out OK. Unlike Crawl, which embraced its simple goals and achieved them almost completely.

  37. Stella's Boy says:

    For sure I’m mixed/positive on it and sometimes that’s more than OK. I’d take that for 47 Meters Down: Uncaged. Can’t get enough shark movies and one that’s a wide theatrical release is always cause for celebration in my book. Hope it’s fun.

  38. leahnz says:

    every day my boy sends me this simple text:
    has he stroked out?
    youarenotalonetheworldiswithyou

    “The scariest scene in the movie was all the young men excitedly signing up to go to Vietnam Nam.”
    wut. i don’t think i can take any more of this crap

  39. leahnz says:

    sorry it’s “has the marquis de sade stroked out” now. accuracy

  40. leahnz says:

    relieved to see that ‘searching 2’ will be set w/different characters/story and not john cho again because i just want their little family to be ok, boring and square and uneventful, a couple good friends to have over for bbq and stuff, a few quiet drinks, low-key

  41. Sideshow Bill says:

    Supposed to go and see Good Boys tonight but I am feeling god awful lazy and might cancel my reservations. Maybe go Monday. So, there’s that.

  42. movieman says:

    Liked, but didn’t love “Bernadette.” While watching it, it hit me that Maria Semples’ book (which I’m a fan of) probably was unfilmable since it’s a narrative told exclusively through emails, letters, etc.
    That said, Linklater does a nice job of disguising the material’s cinematic shortcomings, even if a lot was (inevitably) lost in translation.
    The cast is fine, although I couldn’t help thinking Kristen Wiig would have made an even better Bernadette than Cate Blanchett whose casting is maybe too spot-on.
    A decent Thursday night sampling, but I’m not expecting any box office miracles, especially in light of the largely meh (or worse) reviews.
    But if you like Linklater and Megan Ellison (and who doesn’t?), it’s worth checking out.

  43. Hcat says:

    So the worst part of being the only one in the house that watches horror is that I don’t get to start a movie until 11 oclock at night. And watching US in a dark house late at night while everyone else is asleep is both the ideal/worst way to experience it. Especially when you need to turn it off with 30 minutes to go to possibly get to work on time the next day. But this is the white knuckleiest ride I have had for awhile (granted I haven’t gotten far into Hereditary yet, late at night and all) and hope it gets some year end love.

  44. leahnz says:

    this style of fragmented movie-watching (like part-way and then the rest later?) sounds enigmatic, how does it work

  45. Hcat says:

    You watch until you hit A) a decent stopping point B) 1230 C) Crying child or curious wife comes down and goes ‘what are you still doing up’ D) You fall asleep ( I have been trying to get to Notorious but black and white is especially rough late at night and a few beers in).

    It is certainly not ideal, it sometimes breaks momentum. But there have been numerous times where I have been dismissive of the first half but upon finishing it the following night I had a greater appreciation. Though I can’t think of an example last night as I was up too late.

    But on days without activities, the kids get the post dinner slot, and after we put the kids to bed the wife unwinds with an hour of Parks and Rec or HGTV and I get to choose in the wee hours of the night (which being over forty means after 10 PM).

    Pre kids, pre streaming, reliant on rabbit ears I could sometimes get in a double feature in a night, now I am down to about 3 movies a week if I am lucky and dragging from six hours of sleep a night.

  46. movieman says:

    Noticed something odd that I’ve never seen before.
    A # of theaters in NE OH playing “Bernadette” have it on a limited performance basis.
    Usually a movie has to bomb badly before splitting a screen in the (contractually mandated) second week.
    Talk about having the odds stacked against you from birth.

  47. Hcat says:

    Is like a one oclock and a seven? I would imagine that this skews a little older so they would want a matinee to grab the retirees and an evening show.

    Can you determine what they’ve split it with? Always curious about such things.

  48. Christian says:

    HCat: You’re speaking my language on the struggle to fit in full movies in a night. But I usually fall asleep. Thought I might have severe apnea, which would explain several years of struggle in this area – this is a big part of why I still prefer going to the theater, where I have to fight sleepiness much less often – but confirmation this year was for only “mild” apnea. Just life catching up with me, I guess.

  49. movieman says:

    Hcat- Hard to tell which film(s) “Bernadette” is sharing a screen with: several movies are sharing multiplex screens in NE OH these summer dog days.
    But yes: it’s generally being accorded one matinee and one evening show.

  50. leahnz says:

    bloody kids, no sleep no movies (love them to bits but hardest job in the world + the most rewarding, paradoxical)

  51. Sideshow Bill says:

    HCAT, I’m not the only horror fan I live with. My 16 year old daughter lives them. But I’ve started seeing a really fantastic woman (finally) and she doesn’t like horror very much. She doesn’t want to go Fright Fest. I can probably get her to see IT 2 because she likes King. Otherwise, I don’t think she’ll be watching Inside or Hereditary anytime soon.

    No matter. I’m really sweet in here and she me and we’ll work around it. Lovely little French-Irish American woman unlike any one I’ve dated since my divorce ❤️

  52. Hcat says:

    Congrats Bill. Warms my heart to hear you’re happy and healing. For me it seemed absurd that I would get involved with someone who was so indifferent to movies since I am so obsessive about them, Hell she has never seen Star Wars or the Godfather! But we are hitting 25 years together next year (Easy to remember our anniversary, we hooked up the day Apollo 13 was released). Sometimes the important things are sacrificed for the IMPORTANT things.

  53. Sideshow Bill says:

    Thank you HCAT. It’s been an up and down year. We don’t synch musically either but she likes a lot of different stuff I might be able to squeeze some Neko Case or Screaming Females in there. I think we’ll be ok. My marriage ended badly but we had a great 18 years with different tastes. Like you said that’s not what matters. The differences make things interesting.

    On topic: remember DVD extras? Boy I miss those. The Midsommar Blu Ray has almost nothing. And there is no promise that that wonderful sounding directors cut will get a home release. Hope my AMC has it when it plays on the 30th

  54. Hcat says:

    Yes, we were poles apart on music as well, but I grew in appreciation of Ani Difranco and she grew to like They Might Be Giants, though Zevon was a bridge too far for her.

    I agree it seems like dvds and blus are getting increasingly bare bones now. I wonder how long we have left on physical media.

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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.”
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“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