When Will Theatrical Find Its New Normal? (as of Sept. 2021)
September 22, 2021
September 22, 2021
September 20, 2021
September 5, 2021
Venice and Telluride are off to rip-roaring starts. Well… Here are the films that survived the weekend, between the two festivals. Not frontrunners. Not a one of them. But well-liked and in the game… in order… 1. King Richard2. The Power of the Dog (both festivals)3. Belfast 4. Spencer (both festivals)5. Dune 6. Cyrano Half […]
September 5, 2021
The problem with The Academy Awards, as a popular TV event, is not the difference between a 2hr 30min show and a 3hr 15min show. It’s about a failure to understand the brand that has been going on for years and years now. If this Matt Belloni report is true, it is profoundly idiotic. “I’m […]
August 28, 2021
Monday, I looked at what the studios are chasing in streaming (the world)… and the long road ahead. Today, a little about how they are chasing it and the unexpected consequences that are still being mostly unexamined outside of the deep, dark rooms inside the offices of the streamers. A cottage industry has quickly grown, […]
August 23, 2021
There once was a time in this business when they had the eyes of the whole world in theaters! But that wasn’t good enough for them, oh no! They had to have control of the homes of the whole world, too. So they opened their big libraries and out came VHS. DVD! STREAMING! — apologies […]
August 2, 2021
I haven’t written about weekly box office in a really long time. Even before the pandemic, it became an overwrought exercise. But Disney has triggered me. I’m not even clear in my own head about what it is that so worries me about their behavior around Black Widow and Jungle Cruise. Even when they announced […]
July 7, 2021
Last year, on July 23, I wrote the first “Movie Content Scoreboard.” I am a little early with this final look at the pandemic effect on choices made on theatrical releases. Front-and-center in the column was a list of The Untouchables… films that seemed, at that point, too significant throw to the whims of exclusive […]
June 4, 2021
I haven’t been writing much (besides on Twitter) in a while. I just don’t want to contribute to the endless churn of writers pretending to know what they do not, suggesting that every event is defining, and basically acting like gossips. What can I add to the conversation? How about a domestic chart of the […]
May 4, 2021
So news today, on May The 4th Be (fill in your favorite), that Cinemark and a bunch of the smaller chains will unite for a 600-screen run for Zack Snyder’s latest masterwork, Army of the Dead, opening in 17 days. There are a lot of ways to look at this. Of course, the expected “they […]
April 26, 2021
“A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The restClung to the hope which springs eternal in the human breast;They thought, ‘If only Casey could but get a whack at that—We’d put up even money now, with Casey at the bat.’” “Oh, somewhere in this favoured land the sun is shining bright,The band […]
April 23, 2021
A handful of dead certs, say the Gurus, taking a nod from the last of the guilds voting.
April 18, 2021
I ran into this Vulture piece by Angelica Jade Bastién that is presented as a review of a new limited series this week. It is titled, “Them Is Pure Degradation Porn.“ My first reaction was to roll my eyes. I think the series is masterful and perhaps the most significant fictional work on the experience […]
April 16, 2021
The Gurus foresee Nomadland with The Trial of the Chicago 7 not far behind; each guru reveals Thee Little Wishes for wins that would make them grin.
April 12, 2021
Final voting starts on Thursday (the 15th)… end of Tuesday (the 20th). And still, outside of the nominees, their companies, their parents, their agents, and the possibility that Steven Soderbergh will do something really interesting… it’s such a “so what?” at this point. It’s been a pretty nice season. The Holy Complainers basically sat this […]
April 8, 2021
Writer’s block happens. But it isn’t happening to me right now. What is happening is that for over a week, I have been writing columns about different subjects and never quite getting to the end because everything feels like a bottomless pit. It’s not COVID anymore. I am feeling pretty good about that, even as […]
March 25, 2021
I wrote last week that the theatrical experimental window was closing. But then Disney did its reset for the coming summer. And it makes perfect sense, really. There are two clear, opposing ideas in play. First, for the bigger movies to make the money they hope to make, theaters need to be open and at […]
March 16, 2021
If a tree falls in the woods, but everyone is watching their TVs, does it make a noise? It’s been more than 24 hours since The Jonases, beautiful, talented, and from media other than film, adorably announced the *Oscar nominations. And for that day+, I have been – and it seems others have been, too […]
March 16, 2021
Like the movie business itself, the media wants answers about what will happen as the option of seeing movies in a movie theater becomes normal again. But as we saw this past weekend (March 5, 2021), landmarks like reopening New York theaters are not anything close to turning the key and getting back to March […]
When Will Theatrical Find Its New Normal? (as of Sept. 2021)
| September 22, 2021
27 Weeks To Oscar: The Trouble With Award Shows (Emmy Edition)
| September 20, 2021
29 Weeks To Oscar: The Oscar Season Starts… Or Does It?
| September 5, 2021
DP/30: Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, The Trial of the Chicago 7
| February 15, 2021
DP/30 Audio: Bombshell, Jay Roach
| December 13, 2019
DP/30 Audio: The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Jonathan Majors
| December 4, 2019
DP/30 Audio: The Mustang, Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre
| December 4, 2019
