movies

[BottenFieldofDreams]

Is it true that Christopher Nolan is going to put a big band covering a third of the screen that says ‘ [expletive] you’ if I don’t see Oppenheimer in theaters and wait for VOD or streaming?

Looks great. I want to see that practical explosion they made in theaters. I don’t know if I’ll get the chance. Barbie looks great too, but that can definitely wait for home.

I am the problem.

[ghostrunner]

I'm getting the full experience, but not all at once. Booked Oppenheimer tickets at the iMAX theater here but had to wait until August 3rd to get decent seats. Ours is one of the 19 in the country that can show it "as intended", so figured it was worth the wait.

Also booked Barbie tickets for next weekend at the local arthouse theater. They jumped on the Barbenheimer thing early. On one hand it's a cheesy bandwagon, but I think it's good for theaters generally so I'm all for it. Also hoping it helps kill off the superhero universes, which are very much geared toward rewarding big studios vs theaters.

[BottenFieldofDreams]

I sort of feel about the Barbenheimer thing how I feel about a movie based on Barbie. Sometimes shamelessness can be fun. Especially when the web can be overtaken by something outside the culture war for half a minute.

I had to look it up. Nuts that Baumbach has a writing credit on Madagascar 2.

I was listening to Derek Thompson’s podcast and he was listing all the top box office movies of the year to illustrate how many are known entities. He said ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3, which is actually Marvel 32.’ A little unfair, maybe, but important observation.

[vinsanity]

I'm curious to hear what y'all think of Oppenheimer.

I was listening to Derek Thompson’s podcast and he was listing all the top box office movies of the year to illustrate how many are known entities. He said ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3, which is actually Marvel 32.’ A little unfair, maybe, but important observation.

I think this gets brought up every year and then the reminder that this has been a thing for 30 years gets drowned out.

For instance in 1995 the top 10 box office was
1. Batman Forever
2. Apollo 13
3. Toy Story
4. Pocahontas
5. Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
6. Casper
7. Die Hard with a Vengeance
8. Crimson Tide
9. GoldenEye
10. Waterworld

Two original stories. Of the Top 20, I'm seeing just 5 original IPs - Toy Story, Waterworld, Se7en, While You Were Sleeping, and Dumb and Dumber. Everything else is a sequel or based on known entities.

I get it, you gotta get to Elemental at 13 to find an original story this year, then M3gan at 20. I wish there was more thirst for mid-budget movies but it's not really a new phenomenon.

[ghostrunner]

I think the difference is in the 90s it wasn't quite so year-round. Mid-budget thrillers were being cranked out and into theaters by the studios along with dramas and horror movies, on top of all the big-budget action sequels. The big tentpoles were mostly summer and Christmas. Horror's really the only mid-budget genre to thrive in theaters since comic book stuff took over.

The serialized and inter-connected MCU/comic book stuff in particular has played to studios' advantage too. They get the biggest cut the first week or two. The longer a movie goes the more the theaters make. It's better for theaters for movies to have legs. Disney though can flood the theaters at first, take over most of or all of the screens, and then pivot to the next thing and the movie is streaming on their service within a few weeks.

[BottenFieldofDreams]

We ended up at the mall and it was fun to see Barbie is still a big thing. I was trying to figure out why it was prom at the mall in late July. And I’m there so rarely I was wondering, what with social media and all, if young people just put on heels and formal wear to go to the mall now. But then I figured it out. People were all done up for Barbie. LOTS of people.

[BottenFieldofDreams]

Who saw Killers of the Flower Moon? I’m not doing 3.5 hours in a theater.

Movie looks great. But as much as seeing a good movie, I really want to see Isbell, Sturgill, and another old favorite, Pete Yorn in it. Apparently Isbell plays a pretty decent-sized role. I’d have guessed it was a brief appearance and maybe a line with limited acting.

Reading that Yorn (“cuz it already iiiiiiiis!”) was in it got me to check in on him. It had been a while. His 2022 album Hawaii is great. I love ~rock that unabashedly leans into pop—you know, well.

[BottenFieldofDreams]

Next Goal Wins goes to possibly the bottom of the Taika list. They can’t all be Hunt for the Wilderpeople. It was still has that feel and there’s some good laughs. Glad I saw it.

He’s involved now with Interior Chinatown which was a book I really enjoyed.

[ghostrunner]

Who saw Killers of the Flower Moon? I’m not doing 3.5 hours in a theater.

Movie looks great. But as much as seeing a good movie, I really want to see Isbell, Sturgill, and another old favorite, Pete Yorn in it. Apparently Isbell plays a pretty decent-sized role. I’d have guessed it was a brief appearance and maybe a line with limited acting.

Reading that Yorn (“cuz it already iiiiiiiis!”) was in it got me to check in on him. It had been a while. His 2022 album Hawaii is great. I love ~rock that unabashedly leans into pop—you know, well.

Guess I never posted, but I saw this a few weeks back and it was great. Not a slog by any stretch. Liked it quite a bit more than Oppenheimer, which was very good but ironically it often felt to me like an extended home theater test. It also felt longer than KotFM.

I actually recognized Yorn, surprisingly. He has short hair but the face is pretty unmistakable if you're familiar with him.

[Jocephus]

recycling isn't just for the planet