I’m breaking my promise to never cover the awful Razzie Awards for one reason, and one reason only. In this time of turmoil we all could use a little something that brings us all closer together, and that is in our mutual dislike of Cats. Tom Hooper’s embarrassing musical was top cat with 6 Razzies, including Worst Film of the Year.
Of course, it’s low hanging fruit to pick on Cats. Even the people who starred in it have had their fun at its expensive. That includes star James Corden, who came away with a Razzie “win” for Worst Support Actor for his role as a fat Jellicle cat Bustopher Jones. His co-star Rebel Wilson too the Razzie for Worst Supporting Actress for Gumbie Cat Jennyanydots. Worst On-Screen Duo, Worst Screenplay, and Worst Director are the other so-called accolades the film brought on itself.
Other movies earning the Razzies’ unwanted attention were Rambo: Last Blood, which took a couple for Worst Reckless Disregard for Human Life and Public Property, and Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel. John Travolta quite rightly won Worst Actor for The Fanatic, as well as for his performance in Trading Point, a movie I swear to God I’ve never heard of. Hillary Duff deservedly won Worst Actress for the unforgivable Haunting of Sharon Tate.
In a world without Cats, I’d like to think ‘Sharon Tate‘ would’ve won Worst Picture, but the Razzies are really about dishonoring the worst. They’re about gauging the strongest social media reactions and by that measure Cats is the undisputed champion, a true Hall of Shamer.
AMC announced it has shuttered all of its 630 U.S. theaters for 6 weeks, possibly as long as 12 weeks. If it stays on the low end of the spectrum, that would give them just enough time to reopen for Black Widow. I’m sure that’s a coincidence. However, if the closings go long that could spell doom for a number of major summer films, including Wonder Woman 1984.
Regal is also closing all of its 543 sites in the U.S. It’s less clear what their timetable is, and will likely be driven by the course this pandemic takes. If things clear up in a couple of weeks (sorta unlikely), doors could reopen earlier. For now it’s best to assume they’ll be following in AMC’s footsteps on this. The same goes for smaller chains Landmark and Alamo, which have also shut down.
So what does this mean for the weekly box office? Well, what box office? There can’t be one without theaters open to show movies and sell tickets. We don’t typically get VOD sales figures but if one of the movies sent to digital breaks out, best believe we’re going to hear about it.
The entertainment industry continues to evolve due to the coronavirus. With virtually all of the biggest markets closed down, leading to a record low box office last weekend, we’re seeing studios completely break from the theatrical release window. The latest to do so is Warner Bros., who will release the Suicide Squad spinoff Birds of Prey and Guy Ritchie’s The Gentleman digitally beginning March 24th, moved up from mid-April.
This comes after Birds of Prey director Cathy Yan had tweeted her support for just such a move earlier in the day…
Universal was a leader on this, making available current theatrical films The Invisible Man, EMMA, and The Hunt on digital beginning this Friday. Included in that will be the upcoming sequel, Trolls: World Tour, which can be rented digitally the same day it hits theaters on April 10th.
For Birds of Prey, this could be the kick the superhero film needed. One of the most anticipated movies of 2020, the film failed to find the audience Warner Bros. expected, earning just $199M worldwide. The Gentleman actually did quite well when it opened in January, finishing its run with $115M worldwide and some of Ritchie’s best critical reviews.
As someone who has already paid to see Harley Quinn kick ass three times, I’m pretty hyped to do it again so soon.
Birds of Prey will reportedly cost $19.99 to purchase on Amazon and ITunes, then be made available to rent in April.
Literally a day after we talked about this possibility on our podcast yesterday, NBCUniversal has made the unprecedented decision to release a number of their 2020 theatrical movies on digital and VOD at the same time. With the two biggest domestic movie markets closed due to the coronavirus, and audiences forced to stay at home, this was always going to be a possibility to help stave off the economic impact and not have another 20-year box office low.
The first new theatrical movie to be impacted will be Trolls: World Tour, which will hit theaters and select digital outlets on April 10th. The anticipated sequel stars Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick, and follows on its hit predecessor which earned $346M worldwide for Dreamworks Animation just four years ago. To the best of my knowledge there has never been a movie of this scope released day and date, and it’ll be interesting to see if this becomes part of a trend. For now, this does not cover the entirety of Universal’s upcoming 2020 slate.
Starting this Friday, March 20th you’ll also be able to get current theatrical releases The Invisible Man, EMMA, and The Hunt on VOD and other digital platforms. The cost for these films as well as Trolls: World Tour will be $19.99 for a 48-hour rental window. While Invisible Man and EMMA were nice hits for Universal and Focus Features, it’s The Hunt that could see the biggest boost from this. The controversial thriller-comedy bombed last weekend as audiences stayed home, but it could find new life as people rent it from the comfort of their couch.
While other movies aren’t mentioned, one would have to think some of Universal’s earlier 2020 releases will be made available digitally. It’s possible an art house drama like Never Rarely Sometimes Always, which debuted in just four sites last week, could be included.
For years the debate has been whether shrinking or outright eliminating the theatrical release window prior to a move to streaming. We’ve seen some fierce battles between the major theatrical distributors and streaming giants such as Netflix and Amazon, with no side really winning out. The exhibitors, naturally, want the extended-release window to remain, while some have tried to come up with ways to get around it. The coronavirus may have driven a nail in the debate, however. If this proves successful for Universal, expect other major studios to follow.
Have you gotten stir crazy yet? It’s only been a couple of days of “social distancing”, with most major venues, restaurants, stores, and workplaces shut down due to the coronavirus. Being forced to stay indoors for too long can drive a person nuts, and the stuff in your home can begin to look very weird, even ominous. That makes the timing of the new trailer for Behind You perfect because at least you’re only dealing with a global outbreak and not an evil demon.
Behind You centers on a pair of sisters who discover the mirrors in their aunt’s home hold the key to unleashing a malicious demon. While all of them are covered, of course, the girls venture to the one place they are forbidden to go, and all Hell breaks.
Making their directorial debut is the duo of Andrew Mecham and Matthew Whedon, who also wrote the script. Addy Miller, Elizabeth Birkner, Philip Brodie, and Jan Broberg star.
Behind You hits theaters and VOD on April 17th.
SYNOPSIS: Two young sisters, sent to live with their estranged Aunt, find that all the mirrors in her house are covered or hidden. When one of the sisters happens upon a mirror in the basement, she unknowingly releases a malicious demon that had haunted her mother and aunt years ago.
With so many films moving their release dates it’s tough to figure out what the landscape will look like this holiday season. If a bunch of blockbusters get dropped into the fall and winter because of the coronavirus crisis we’re in now, it could cause a total reshuffling of release dates. For now, Steven Spielberg’s musical adaptation of West Side Story is unaffected, and a bunch of new photos are here to remind you that a reason to dance is on the horizon.
This new look at Spielberg’s remake of the stage classic arrives at a time when the lights are down all across Broadway. While adapted numerous times across many decades, Spielberg feels West Side Story means as much today as ever before. He tells Vanity Fair…
“This story is not only a product of its time, but that time has returned, and it’s returned with a kind of social fury. I really wanted to tell that Puerto Rican, Nuyorican experience of basically the migration to this country and the struggle to make a living, and to have children, and to battle against the obstacles of xenophobia and racial prejudice.”
Ansel Elgort is the biggest name leading the ensemble cast, telling a romantic tale set against warring gangs in 1950s New York City. Other co-stars include Rachel Zegler, Brian d’Arcy James, Corey Stoll, Ezra Menes, Ben Cook, and Rita Moreno who starred in the 1961 movie.
What’re the chances we’ll ever see Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor again? Probably slim to none, and slim is quarantined somewhere with coronavirus. Eisenberg has never really sounded confident he’ll play the supervillain again, but that doesn’t mean he’s given up hope. While out doing press for his upcoming thrillerVivarium, Eisenberg said he’d be open to returning, because being the bad guy is where the fun is at…
“Oh yeah, I would love to because it’s such a cool character. To play a villain in a superhero movie is the fun part. The good guys are fine but the villain is the fun part cause you get to be more flamboyant. The hero usually gets to survive but the villain has all the funny lines.”
Eisenberg played Lex Luthor first in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, then reprised the role briefly at the end of Justice League. The latter movie’s very-public failure pretty much killed any future storylines involving Luthor, but it’s not as if the DCEU has ceased to exist. I suppose there’s always an outside shot he could return in another character’s movie, but it’s pretty unlikely.
If a movie doesn’t show in LA or NY, is it even really a movie? The global outbreak of COVID-19 aka the coronavirus has hit the two biggest cities for the movie industry. NY mayor Bill de Blasio and Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti have closed down cinemas in their respective cities due to the pandemic.
The spread of the coronavirus has led to the practice of “social distancing” all around the world, with the CDC recommending all gatherings of more than 50 people be canceled immediately. This has led to the cancellation of numerous events, sports seasons, and delays of film and TV productions. Movie theaters aren’t the only local businesses affected. Both NY and LA will see nightclubs, bars, restaurants, and more closed. Public schools have also been shut down for the time being.
AMC had announced a reduction in seating audience capacity by 50%, as their way complying with “social distancing” recommendations. But now, all of their 21 locations in NY will be closed to stay in compliance.
The global box office hit a two-decade low over the weekend as coronavirus fears began to take root. The impact will continue to be felt now, with the closure of multiplexes and smaller venues in the two biggest domestic movie markets.
A typical movie has a runtime between 90 and 120 minutes. Most come in around 110 and what directors decide to do with that time can make or break a film. In the new film Tuscaloosa, director Philip Harder makes some really interesting choices on the film adaptation of W .Glasgow Phillip’s 1994 novel. However, when you adapt a book that was praised for its intricacies with heavy source material, such as race and mental illness, you need time to execute those things. Despite a well-meaning cast and innovative inclusion of music, Tuscaloosa struggles with its messaging amid a crowded script.
It’s 1973 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Segregationist George Wallace is still seen as a hero to many of the white townspeople and there is unrest between the police and the town’s black citizens. Billy (Devon Bostick, Okja) is fresh out of school, working as a gardener at his daddy’s mental hospital (Tate Donovan). Disillusioned and hiding from the world with big sunglasses, Billy seems to be waiting for his life to begin when he meets Virginia (Stranger Thing’s Natalia Dyer), a sweet yet witty patient of his father’s. As they begin to spend time together, Billy’s desire for more out of life away from his father becomes clear. Meanwhile, Billy’s childhood friend Nigel is struggling with his own identity as a black man in a white town and starts to question his relationship with Billy despite their mothers’ closeness and mysterious deaths. All these elements reach a head at the end of the Summer when Billy has some decisions to make.
If this movie was made in the 90’s it would have been a hit. It’s got everything Oscar-bait movies in the ’90s had. A young white boy, about to step into his father’s legacy, racial tensions, a young pretty girl with mental health issues who borderline the manic pixie dream girl troupe without crossing it. Cliché dialogue, racial discrimination as a subplot, a love story between a young man and a mentally ill girl, coming of age. It’s all there and would have thrived with a nineties audience. However, in 2020, 25 years after the book was published, some of its ideas have been before. This is seen in the dialogue, with trite lines like “You’re either part of the problem or part of the solution,” and “Nothing will break you. Nothing will break you like loving a crazy person.” Daniel Craig received a lot of flack for his flamboyant accent in Knives Out last year. Imagine an entire movie, where every character talks like that and then says things like, “Sometimes you’ve got to destroy a town to rebuild it.”
The film is beautiful to look at and captures the warmth of the south, despite being filmed in the mid-west. Harder uses his past experience directing music videos to elevate the film’s score and as an immersive tool. Treating the soundtrack like a character itself, the pieces used feel timeless and build upon its mood flawlessly. Tate Donovan, a character actor known for The O.C. and Love Potion No. 9, is refreshingly subtle with his performance as the racist overbearing father. Natalia Dyer does her best to stray as far away from Nancy Wheeler in Stranger Things, as possible but ultimately overplays her, not giving the character the nuance she needs.
Overflowing with cliché Americana and overstuffed with ideas, the film has great potential. With a strong soundtrack and endearing performances from Bostick and Donovan, you keep watching even though you will ask yourself, “where is this going?” It’s a shame that they couldn’t focus on one or two threads instead of the whole sweater.
A few months ago one would’ve said True History of the Kelly Gang‘s biggest appeal was the presence of Assassin’s Creed and Macbeth director Justin Kurzel. A rising star until the video game movie derailed his career somewhat, it’ll be interesting to see how he makes a comeback. But now it’s another name that has given this Australian Western a new claim-to-fame and that’s George MacKay, who gave a riveting lead performance in 1917.
MacKay stars as the notorious outlaw and bushranger Ned Kelly, known for his brazen acts of criminality and thirst for revenge. The film sees MacKay paired up with a who’s who of Australian and English actors, including Russell Crowe, Essie Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, Charlie Hunnam, Sean Keenan, and Nicholas Hoult.
SYNOPSIS: Set amidst the grueling badlands of 19th-century Australia, legendary outlaw Ned Kelly (George MacKay, 1917, Ophelia) grows up under the bloody and uncompromising rule of the English. Food is scarce, survival is filled with daily strife, and every opportunity the colonizers take to make their victims feel powerless is inflicted with searing brutality. In a desperate attempt to prime him for rebellion, Ned Kelly’s mother (Essie Davis, The Babadook), sells him off into the hands of the notorious bushranger Harry Power (Russel Crowe, Cinderella Man, L.A. Confidential), where the young bandit discovers he comes from a line of warriors called the Sons of Sieve. Fueled by his roots and a voracious appetite for revenge, Ned Kelly leads an anarchist army to wreak havoc on their oppressors in one of the most audacious attacks the country has ever seen.
MacKay has been great in pretty much everything he’s done, but 1917 has put him on a different level that can be solidified by playing a legendary figure like Ned Kelly. True History of the Kelly Gang opens April 24th.
