Review Cinema-Going

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Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Being taken to a saturday morning matinee of ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES (1971) and PLANET OF THE APES (1968). In that order!

And, despite it being my first exposure to the APES saga and timeline, it still made sense, thanks to that crazy, circular story arc.
 

chainsaw_metal1

Member: Rank 8
I remember going to a double bill of Star Trek V and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Our local theatre at the time would get movies a month or two after release, sometimes longer, and at the time had a video rental in the lobby. Indy 3 had already come out on video, so they took it off of the shelves so that people would see it in the theatre. I remember liking parts of STV, but overall, not caring much for it. I thought much higher of Indy.
 

chainsaw_metal1

Member: Rank 8
One summer, my buddies and I went over to Cedar Falls where there was one of the last drive-ins left (now sadly closed). One time, we took my friend's parents van, and hid him in the very back, covered with blankets to get him in for free. We had stopped by Walmart on the way there and stocked up on soda and Little Debbie cakes. Plus, the theatre would give you a sheet you could fill out and take to the snack shack, where they would cook you up a Tombstone pizza and bring it to your vehicle. Ah, good times. Now if I could take back having seen the double bill of Under Siege 2 and Batman Forever.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Going to see SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER in 1977, in a cinema that was not heated.

At all.

And it was very cold weather.

And there was an extended sequence set in an arctic wilderness with a giant tusked walrus, which didn't help.

I remember wearing my coat like a blanket and huddling under it.

I heard later that the manager of the cinema got in trouble for not heating the place.

At all.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Hearing from my older sister, when she returned from a date, that she had been to see films with provocative titlles like SQUIRM, GRIZZLY, FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2 and FOOD OF THE GODS.

And then realising years later that the films I had invented in my head and stuck to these titles were very far of the mark.

Something called ALIEN lived up to her report when I finally saw it though!
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Being taken to see the original KING KONG on a saturday morning matinee in the 1970's and leaving the cinema in floods of tears at the fate of that poor ape, which never asked to be taken to New York in the first place.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Being taken to see THE GIANT SPIDER INVASION and - as a kid - thinking it was weirdly, wonderfully awesome, instead of the cheap pile of shlock that it actually turned out to be years later.....


 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
There is no escape in the theatre either.....

Stage actors rage at audience members watching World Cup on phones


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-44722812


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Actors have vented their fury at two audience members who watched England's World Cup penalty shoot-out on their phones in the front row of a musical.

Titanic The Musical actor Niall Sheehy said the women "not only followed the penalty shootout on their phone, but also said 'yesss' on each goal scored".

He declared: "You are the most ignorant audience members I have ever had the misfortune to perform in front of."

The match clashed with a performance at Nottingham Theatre Royal on Tuesday.

The game's dramatic climax saw England beat Colombia in the last 16 and progress to the quarter-finals.

But some audience members couldn't resist keeping up with the match on their phones, despite having a different kind of drama unfolding on stage.



Sheehy added that a cast member signalled to the women to put their phone away, but they just "smiled, gave a thumbs up and replied 'I know - we won!!'"
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
From 2012....


Call halts Craig and Jackman play

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8280016.stm

Actors Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman halted a performance of their Broadway play because of an audience member's ringing mobile phone.

Secretly filmed footage of the incident last week posted online sees Jackman tell the patron to answer the phone during a performance of A Steady Rain.

"We can wait," Jackman is seen saying. "Don't be embarrassed - just grab it."

The Wolverine star and 007 actor play Chicago policemen in the play, which officially opens this week in New York.

Both remained in character throughout the incident, footage of which was obtained by showbiz website TMZ and subsequently posted on YouTube.






 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Ethan Hawke Talks “Logan,” Festivals & More



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Going by critical aggregate sites, James Mangold’s “Logan” is not only one of the best superhero films of the past few years but also one of the best overall films of last year. Shot for $97 million and grossing over $600 million worldwide even with an R rating, it was seen as a major success on all fronts.

Certainly much of the praise for the film is due to its avoiding the all too familiar template of most superhero films, skipping many of the large-scale action sequences and attempts at four-quadrant appeal in favour of a grim, adult character study more akin to a western.

One person who wasn’t a major fan though was actor Ethan Hawke. Hawke has become a champion of independent film in recent years, and has scored rave notices for his work in “First Reformed” this year. In a recent interview with The Film Stage he discussed the importance of film festivals. During the talk his opinion of “Logan” came up, a film that despite its more artistic pedigree he still sees as very much a studio film and a product of big business concerns:

“Now we have the problem that they tell us Logan is a great movie. Well, it’s a great superhero movie. It still involves people in tights with metal coming out of their hands. It’s not Bresson. It’s not Bergman. But they talk about it like it is.

I went to see Logan cause everyone was like: ‘This is a great movie’ and I was like, ‘Really?’. No, this is a fine superhero movie. There’s a difference but big business doesn’t think there’s a difference. Big business wants you to think that this is a great film because they wanna make money off of it.”

While indie films have to fight for financial success and awareness, studio genre films are more often finding themselves dealing with the issue of a lack of recognition and respect – especially amongst cinephiles. It’s an interesting interview piece as Hawke also goes into the increasingly common issue of how good smaller films get lost in the cracks amidst today’s overabundance of entertainment options:

“I’m always astonished, I’m sure you are too, you can go on Apple TV now and see that Joaquin Phoenix and Gwyneth Paltrow made a movie together that I never heard of. What? And like, Matt Damon’s in a Clint Eastwood movie I never heard of? So many things get lost in the cracks and if those big names are getting lost, where are the Gattacas of right now?

It might be like other art forms where it might take 50 years to curate what’s happening right now. That’s why film festivals have become so important because you guys at film festivals are like curators of, like, what does the world need to be paying attention to. What should be seen? If we didn’t have these festivals, big business would crush all these smaller movies.”

The full interview can be read at The Film Stage.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
“Beasts” Is Fall’s Most Anticipated New Film


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Fandango has done its annual user poll to find out what upcoming releases are the most highly anticipated of the Fall, and with both “Star Wars” and Marvel Studios sitting out the season this year it proved harder to guess what was going to make it.

The results though were interesting. While “Harry Potter” spin-off sequel “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindlewald” taking the top spot wasn’t unexpected, the runners-up were a surprise with the Queen biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody” coming in second, Tom Hardy comic adaptation “Venom” in third, the “Wreck-it-Ralph” sequel in fourth, and Bradley Cooper’s “A Star is Born” remake in fifth.

Also scoring well were “Halloween,” “Creed II,” “The House with a Clock in its Walls,” “The Girl in the Spider’s Web” and “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” with people keen to check out individual performances in those.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
VOTD: “Shut Up About Plot Holes”


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A while back a YouTube user by the name of Patrick h. Willems did a video essay about the color grading, or rather lack thereof it, in the Marvel Studios films that scored a lot of attention. He followed that up last year with a look at the Snyder-era DC films and their problems with character.

He’s back today with a similar essay that has brought attention to and deals with an increasing problem – the mistaken perception of plot holes. In the last ten years, thanks heavily to the rise of social media and YouTube, movies are now not being genuinely reviewed so much as being nitpicked and torn apart in sassy video commentaries.

Key to that is young filmgoers who are mistaking such things as plot contrivances, off-screen events and logic gaps for ‘plot holes’ which is becoming a blanket term for numerous other kinds of criticism. A ‘plot hole’ by definition is when a story breaks a previously established rule about its own universe and contradicts itself.

Chris Pine’s Kirk landing on the same planet (and within walking distance of) where an aged Spock is hiding out in 2009’s “Star Trek”? That’s a plot contrivance, not a hole. Peter Quill getting mad and ruining the attempt to get the gauntlet of Thanos in ‘Infinity War’? That’s an illogical emotional reaction – it’s dumb but it’s human. How did Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne get back to Gotham in “The Dark Knight Rises” – that’s off-screen events and not a plot hole.

Willems uses several examples in the piece and then goes on to explain how some criticism is ultimately misguided and eventually goes into the history of how and when criticising plot holes became a mainstream thing. Check out the full video below:



 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Overcoming mixed reviews, Shane Black’s “The Predator” took the top spot at the domestic box office with a solid $24.2 million for the three day weekend – about on par with 2010’s “Predators”. The film also opened in several overseas markets, taking in a further $30 million.

That pushed horror spin-off “The Nun” to second place with $18.2 million, a fairly steep 66% drop-off, but worldwide to date it has snagged an impressive global total of $228.7 million after just over a week of release.

The dark comedy-thriller “A Simple Favor” came in third with $16 million, and with a budget of just $20 million it will easily go into profit soon. Young drug kingpin drama “White Boy Rick,” co-starring Matthew McConaughey, opened in fourth with $8.8 million and “Crazy Rich Asians” fell to fifth with another $8.7 million to bring its domestic haul to $149.4 million.

The faith-based “Unbroken: Path to Redemption” barely made it into the top 10 with $2.2 million, while in limited release both “Mandy” and “Lizzie” performed well.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
“Life Itself” Flop Impacts Amazon’s Film Slate


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In December, Amazon beat out Paramount and Universal for domestic rights to “This Is Us” creator Dan Fogleman’s new film “Life Itself” – nabbing the high-profile ensemble drama for $10 million at auction. It was expected to be one of those rare birds that would go well with both critics and audiences.

Cut to today, a week after the film opened and it bombed with both. The movie opened to not only scathing reviews but also a disastrous $2.1 million in its opening weekend. Fogelman has famously blamed critics, specifically white male critics, despite the near-universal panning.

Today, Variety reports that the film’s failure has had a “sobering impact” at Amazon itself and Fogleman is concerned executives there will be fired over the failure. But concerns run far deeper with the film following on from numerous critical and commercial flops this year including “Gringo,” “Wonder Wheel” and “Don’t Worry He Won’t Get Far on Foot” (though the latter fared well with critics).

In the wake of the firing of Roy Price late last year, Jennifer Salke was appointed Amazon Studios chief and planned to follow the edict issued to Price that the streaming giant’s struggling TV and film business needs to re-focus their attention towards more commercial and broader appealing fare. Those reforms in the TV department seeks more shows akin to the recently launched “Jack Ryan” and the planned “The Lord of the Rings” TV series.

In recent years the online retailer has made big waves at film festivals as both producer and high profile acquirer of films with a fairly enviable track record of critical hits from the past few years including “Manchester by the Sea,” “The Big Sick,” “Chi-Raq,” “Elvis & Nixon,” “Love & Friendship,” “The Lost City of Z,” “The Dressmaker,” “Paterson,” “The Salesman,” “I Am Not Your Negro,” “The Handmaiden,” “The Wall,” “Wonderstruck,” “Last Flag Flying” and “You Were Never Really Here”.

Despite the critical love and awards acclaim, many of these films fared poorly at the box-office (“Last Flag Flying” for example didn’t even crack $1 million domestic). Then there are the ones that weren’t so well received “The Neon Demon” and “Zoe” which fared even worse. The trade says Salke this week has encouraged the faltering division to push harder to develop more commercial fare and appeal to broader tastes. So it is re-examining its business model and has already restructured somewhat – appointing Julie Rapaport to co-head the film division with that plan in mind. Rapaport will focus on blockbusters while fellow exec Ted Hope will handle auteur fare.

The trade says the company still “wants to make elevated material” and potential Oscar contenders, but they’re now pretty much done handing out lavish budgets to indie directors with no major commercial hits on their resumes (Todd Haynes and James Gray are cited as examples).

The changes come as the competition intensifies – Netflix, which has spent several years blindly stumbling with its film slate, has suddenly righted itself with a Fall 2018 original film line-up that would be the envy of any distributor. Apple has begun to ramp up its own film efforts, and Disney’s streaming service is expected to be a potentially formidable player on the scene next year.

Amazon still has “Beautiful Boy,” “Suspiria,” “Peterloo” and “Cold War” scheduled for release before year’s end.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Attorney General Investigates MoviePass


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The office of the New York Attorney General has reportedly launched a probe into Helios & Matheson Analytics, the parent company of movie ticket subscription service MoviePass.

Investigators are said to be utilising an anti-fraud state law known as the Martin Act, one that allows law enforcement agencies to investigate suspected securities fraud and bring civil or criminal charges

Helios & Matheson confirmed the investigation in a statement and say they’re fully co-operating with the inquiry: “We believe our public disclosures have been complete, timely and truthful and we have not misled investors. We look forward to the opportunity to demonstrate that to the New York Attorney General.”

MoviePass reported a whopping $124.6 million operating loss in its June quarter and was hit by a shareholder lawsuit, filed in August, which alleged investors suffered losses because they were misled about the company’s business and prospects.

Additionally one of its directors, economist Carl Schramm, resigned from the board in August and claimed management had withheld critical financial information and made important decisions without the board’s knowledge.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
“Halloween,” “Suspiria” Slay The Box-Office


The new “Halloween” easily stayed on top of the domestic box office in its second weekend as the Jamie Lee Curtis-led horror film picked up another $32 million – only a 58% decline from its impressive debut (which is good for a horror film). Along with a further $25 million overseas, the film currently stands at a total of $172 million worldwide.

The only new wide release this weekend was the Gerard Butler-led submarine drama “Hunter Killer” which opened in fifth with $6.7 million, behind “A Star is Born” in second with $14 million, “Venom” in third with $10.8 million and “Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween” in fourth with $7.5 million. ‘Star’ crossed the $250 million worldwide mark while “Venom” passed the $500 million global haul mark. In a smaller run “Johnny English Strikes Again” disappointed with just $1.6 million.

In limited release, Luca Guadagnino’s arthouse remake of “Suspiria” opened in just two cinemas but pulled in a stellar $179,806. That gives it a per screen average of $89,903 which is the highest recorded for a film released in 2018 to date. Amazon Studios will test audiences’ reaction to the arty gore with a rollout into 250 locations next weekend, followed by an expansion into more cities in its third outing.
 
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