How many of the spring/summer hits will Oscar recognize?

by Nathaniel R

How many of the year's critically embraced / audience approved movies from the first half of the year will Oscar recognize? Savvy awards fans know that if you open very late you dont necessarily need audiences (or even the critics to a lesser extent) because the voters haven't had time to process the various responses. The only "influence" then becomes the publicity and the awards campaigns themselves, which is what the distributors prefer. That way they control the messaging.

If you open earlier than the second half of December, it's a completely different story. Critical and audience response completely matter as your film takes on various consensus markers like  "surprise hit" or "flop" or "respected but didn't connect". All sorts of things happen that unconsciously or consciously affect voting. In short, both critical and audience approval have to be there in order to generate enthusiasm that will justify a campaign later in the year. In that sense we have only four movies that have opened at this writing in 2022 that we must take seriously for prizes at year's end. They are...

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What did you see over the weekend?

by Nathaniel R

Family movies The Bad Guys and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 continued to do well this past weekend but Liam Neeson's latest revenge thriller (it's called Memory but deja vu would be more accurate since he makes so many of these programmers) struggled to generate any interest. The big box office story (until Doctor Strange next weekend) remains the Daniels hilarious action-comedy-sci-fi-oddity Everything Everywhere All At Once. It was actually up 2% from last weekend; You're not supposed to go up on subsequent weeks, only down! That's the power of true Word of Mouth hits and they're few and far between in the current era since mainstream moviegoing is almost exclusively led by brand awareness rather than a combo of that and word of mouth as in ye olden times of, oh, 10-15 years ago... 

Weekend Box Office April 29th-May 1st 🔺 = new or expanding /  ★ = Recommended links if we've written about it
WIDE (OVER 800 SCREENS)	PLATFORM RELEASES
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE	HATCHING

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Support Original Filmmaking - See 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' on the Big Screen

by Eurocheese

If you haven’t already experienced the cinematic joy of seeing Everything Everywhere All at Once with an audience yet, you’re missing out. This creative powerhouse is adding back IMAX theaters this week and may become A24’s biggest box office hit to date. Anyone who believes Hollywood doesn’t bring original content to our screens anymore owes it to themselves to see this as soon as possible. Just in case you weren’t convinced by the critical raves and audience support, here are a few reasons this film needs to be seen on the big screen.

Daniels’ (writer/director duo Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) latest film is a visual feast, incredibly made for just $25 million and a tiny vfx team. As it pairs elements of action with comedy and family drama, the action sequences dazzle with varying tones, ranging from images you might see in a Scott Pilgrim vs. the World battle to scenes that the cast of Jackass would applaud...

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What did you see this week?

What did you see this weekend? I binged Heartstoppers on Netflix (having loved the webcomic it was based on), watched a few Coachella performances (Orville Peck, Maggie Rogers, and Finneas) but the highlight was definitely trekking to the theater to see The Northman with friends. Make sure to listen in to conversations from your fellow moviegoers if you see it. You'll hear lots of variations of "that was insane". The sweat lodge / Dafoe scene early in the film and the big Kidman monologue scene late in the film really get people talking if our Friday night eavesdropping was any general indication. Perhaps we should do a spoiler-heavy review (for those who've seen it only -- you should not read reviews before you see this one).

Weekend Box Office April 22nd-24th 🔺 = new or expanding / ✅ = recommended
THE NORTHMAN	EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE...

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2022's hottest DILFs (Dads I'd Like to Film)

by Cláudio Alves

We've all heard about the gore, the historical accuracy, and Nicole Kidman's latest feat of monstrous mothering. However, one element of Robert Eggers's The Northman has been curiously – criminally? – left out of the promotional material and effusive word-of-mouth. The picture's leading man may make Prince Amleth into a mountain of muscle, but there's more eye candy to enjoy beyond the Skarsgård beefcake. In a scene of ritual sacrifice and funeral tradition, Claes Bang gets to showcase his assets, and they are glorious. Indeed, though the movie skews dark and gloomy, cinematographer Jarin Blaschke highlights the actor's bare back with golden flames, resulting in one of The Northman's most indelible shots.

Forgive the silliness and crass words, but in a time of sexless cinema, it's worth celebrating what little sensuality still graces the screen. Moreover, Bang's surprisingly soulful King Fjölnir is a reminder that we might be living through another great year for hot movie dads...

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