Yes No Maybe So: "Avengers: Infinity War"

by Ben Miller

Oscar season is upon us and it’s easy to forget that studios also want to make billions upon billions of dollars next summer.  Marvel Studios have been teasing their fans for months with the news of the debut trailer for the Marvel Cinematic Universe teamup to end all teamups, Avengers: Infinity War.  Well, the hype has finally culminated to a climax as the trailer was debuted this morning.  Take a look after the jump and hit our obligatory Yes, No, Maybe So...

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Infinity Link

• Coming Soon Glow, Netflix's addictive series about the gorgeous ladies of wrestling has been renewed for a second season - yay!
• Metrograph NYC's coolest repertory movie theater has a series on Fire Island set films this weekend including Barbara Hershey in Last Summer and seminal queer indie Parting Glances
• Show-Score I did a piece for their new series on 'first times' with my experience sitting in the back row at a musical

• Variety here's a new possibility for the animated category at the Oscars this year -- Big Bad Fox and Other Tales from the director of Ernest & Celestine
• Coming Soon filming has begun on Avengers 4 which doesn't have a title yet but will end Marvel's Phase 3 in May of 2019
• Variety looks back at Fast Times at Ridgemont High as it turns 35
• Gold Derby Meryl Streep is an Emmy nominee this year. Whaaaa?
• LA Times New AMPAS president John Bailey "not as boring as you think" (FYI the media has become obsessed with Laura Dern running for this position but she actually declined the nomination)
• EW First look at Jessica Chastain in Molly's Game
• Awards Daily Sasha looks at the Best Actress race, wonders if it's finally Annette Bening's year.
• MNPP Norma Shearer can't scream
• Variety you may have heard that Disney is leaving Netflix when the current contract ends. But Netflix is still trying to get rights to some of their biggies post 2019
• /Film details on Wonder Woman's blu-ray releasese
• Boy Culture meet Carrie Dragshaw, a queen recreating SJP's iconic looks on Sex & the City

Podcast: Dunkirk and Spider-Man Homecoming

In this episode Nathaniel, Joe and Nick talk about the latest superhero movie (Spider-Man Homecoming) and the latest heroic movie without super powers (Dunkirk). Plus Nick has very exciting upcoming Film Comment issue news.

Index (42 minutes)
00:01 Nick talked to Jane Campion, omg!
03:15 Spider-Man Homecoming, Tom Holland, Marisa Tomei, and a brief sidebar to Avengers: Age of Ultron
13:33 Dunkirk, Christopher Nolan's recurring obsessions, and brief tangents to Detroit and The Beguiled

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? 

Related Posts
• Revenge of the Twinks
• Review Spider-Man Homecoming
• Previous Podcast

Dunkirk and Spidey

Infinity Links... "a fun filled year of lensing"

Esquire cool interview with the director of John Wick: Chapter 2, a former stuntman
Stage Buddy on a new book about the immortal classic Casablanca
Vox an excellent piece on AMC's Humans and how it differs from HBO's similarly AI themed but wildly different Westworld  
NYT Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song Trilogy to return to the stage 
Indie Wire Tulip Fever gets pushed back AGAIN even though it was supposed to open in less than two weeks
Silver Screening Room on the Adapted Screenplay race of 1976 for reasons I dont know but I enjoyed 

More after the jump including Avengers Infinity War...

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Audiences didn't feel divided about Civil War

Only two new wide releases hit this weekend but there was only one Money Monster and it wasn't Money Monster but that superhero-filled Civil War. Naturally the good Captain didn't make room for them in his second weekend, planting himself like a tree. "No, you move." Speaking of plants with no give - The Jungle Book isn't budging either. The next two weekends will be a tougher test for both The Avenger's and Mowgli's staying power since five new multiplex friendly movies enter the fray soon: Angry Birds, The Nice Guys, and Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising are next (I'm hearing surprisingly good things about all three. WTF?); and for Memorial Day Weekend the Alice in Wonderland and X-Men sequels challenge all of them for summer box office dominance though they're sure to win the gaudy sweepstakes.

Which of those five upcoming pictures are you planning to see and what did you catch this weekend?

Arrows indicate losing or gaining screens

TOP WIDE RELEASES
01 Captain America: Civil War $72.6 (cum. $295.9) Review
🔻02 The Jungle Book $17.1 (cum. $311.1) Articles
03 Money Monster $14.7 NEW Jack O'Connell
04 Darkness $4.9 NEW
🔺05 Mother's Day $3.2 (cum. $28.7) 

TOP TEN LIMITED
Excluding previously wide.
🔺01 Sing Street $619K (cum. $1.9) Review
🔺02 The Man Who Knew Infinity $508K  (cum. $.9)
🔺03 Green Room $411K (cum. $2.7)
🔺04 The Meddler $372K (cum. $1)  Review
🔻05 Hologram for the King $233K (cum. $3.8) Review
06 The Lobster $190K NEW Reviewish
🔺07 A Bigger Splash $189K (cum. $.3) Reviewish
08 Love & Friendship $133K NEW Review
09 AmeriGeddon $131K NEW
🔻10 Compadres $150K (cum. $2.9)

 I saw Love & Friendship on Jose's recommendation and it was delightfully arch and funny. I especially enjoyed Chloe Sevigny's awful American accomplice to Lady Susan's shady lady antics. Then I returned to Civil War because my bestie wanted to see it. My opinion didn't budge an iota from the first time (which is generally not a good sign that the movie will continue to grow in estimation). In short: good movie but the least of the three Captain Americas, largely because it's much slower, longer (they've been jumping 10 extra minutes with each Cap movie!)  and loses the focus on the All American Super Soldier to set up multiple future franchises from Spider-Man: Homecoming to The Black Panther to Avengers: Infinity War Pts 1 & 2 (the latter two will be getting a title change and won't be Parts 1 and Parts 2 as the public has finally caught on to that cheat for extra dollars for one movie).