Review: Little Women (no spoilers)

I was just happy to be in the room with this family. I was happy to be bathed in their familial intimacies. I felt my heart break with their heartbreaks. And I was happy to feel clear in what each of the people represented and not to feel like the characters or the director was shoving the subtext down my throat like they were fattening my liver for pâté.

Box Office First Look

I’m getting back into this habit… but a little uninspired so far.

Frozen 2 opened in the same slot as Frozen, although the first time around, it opened on a single screen. This time, it started wide, as has become the norm

Why You Should Be Afraid Of The End Of The Paramount Decree

hanges in the course of the last 70 years have put the studios in a better position to reinstate their cartel more than ever. Aside from Paramount, the other four surviving major theatrical distributors are owned by multinational conglomerates that do not rely on their theatrical business as their primary revenue source. Even Disney’s leading theatrical is dwarfed by other Disney divisions such as ABC, cable operations and theme parks.

Meanwhile, the exhibition business, which splintered in many directions after the Paramount Decree has consolidated dramatically. America has four chains that own almost half the total screens in the country. AMC (8,218 screens), Cinemark (4,566), Regal (7,308), and Marcus (1,098).

Review: Frozen 2 (spoiler-free)

In a weird way, since the original started with the women’s childhoods, they made Frozen 2 into a prequel or origins story, even as it moves forward.

But the problem… the stakes are external, not internal. Arendelle needs to be saved… again. Elsa has to learn about her magic… again. Anna is adorable… again.

And the songs are… good. It’s like writing a sequel to Grease. Or writing a sequel to any great-song musical. Good. Luck.

I Should Be Doing Box Office

I will be writing about box office on the regular again soon. But I am put off by two events. First, the passing of our own Len Klady, who had his quirks, but whose numbers I worked with for a very long time, weekend in, weekend out. Second, the deconstruction of Box Office Mojo, which…

Review: The Good Liar

I had great fun, from start to finish, trying to anticipate what was about to happen next and then being taken places that were unexpected. Are a few of the functional devices a little clanky? Absolutely. But I wasn’t judging the movie on that basis. For me, it was more like watching a Mission: Impossible film or episode. I didn’t have to believe that a guy in a rubber mask with a chip to adjust his voice passed without question for another person. I enjoyed the gag.

Screenplays FYC 2019

After The Wedding Booksmart  Downton Abbey The Farewell Frankie Harriet Hustlers The Lighthouse Pain and Glory The Song of Names Us  Waves

Can’t We All Just Not Agree?

We now have a group that postures itself as aggrieved by popular films they do not like and whine endlessly about how culture as we know it is under attack by these barbarians who, in disagreeing with their taste, allegedly want to narrow the cultural road to the broad tastes of the broadest group possible to the exclusion of all others.

Review: Marriage Story (spoilers only in the broadest sense)

I feel like there is a giant hole in the middle of this work.

Why is this couple getting divorced?

BYOB Fall Back, Film Forward

  [Via BBC.]

AppleTV+ Lands…

So, tomorrow is arrival day for AppleTV+. And Apple is doing everything right… except for delivering on content. “The Morning Show” has been the stalking horse, with TV superstar Jennifer Aniston, Oscar-winning movie star Reese Witherspoon, and the well-loved crossover star, Steve Carell. And they should have thrown away the first two episodes and started…

Strategy Session: Getting Out Of The Way

Playing from ahead can be even more difficult than playing from behind, especially if your goal is a win and not just a participation trophy.

Review: Motherless Brooklyn (spoiler-free)

Motherless Brooklyn is perfect. This is both a virtue and limitation. My sense of the film is that it is in the spirit of Chinatown and The Man Who Knew Too Much and even a movie like Phantom Thread. It is an innocent’s (or a relative innocent’s) dive into a is well-established world that is…

Strategy Session: Eight Things (In No Particular Order) To Know About Oscar Season

Welcome to the first chapter of Strategy Session, you guide to how the Oscar season really works. To get things started, here are some general tips about how all this madness really works.

BYO Autumn Anticipation

BYO I Yi Yi

CG Man Showdown: The Irishman v Gemini Man

Putting film criticism aside, how different are the two major computerized “de-aging” films of 2019, in substance and director approach?

BYO Post-JOKER

Review: Once Upon A Time … In Hollywood (spoilers)

I’ve seen Quentin Tarantino’s 9th Film, Once Upon A Time … in Hollywood three times so far. I usually watch his films twice before writing, checking my most intense reactions against a second view. This time, I must admit that I have been trying to connect to a clearer reaction and I still am.

BYOFall