Movies gobbled up tickets on Thanksgiving Weekend

by Nathaniel R

What did you see over the long holiday weekend? Some of the movies got a two day headstart opening on Wednesday, others on Friday but awards season is most definitely upon us; almost everything has now screened for someone and there's only one month of the year left to get through.  We've expanded the two charts to include all 14 films in wide release (over 800 screens) and the corresponding top players in limited release. There's a glut of titles out there at the moment.

Here's how the box office went down for the holidays. There is a lot to ponder after the jump...

Weekend Box Office (ACTUALS) (Nov 23rd-25th)
W I D E 800+ screens	PLATFORM / LIMITED excluding prev. wide
1 🔺 Ralph Breaks the Internet $56.2 on 4017 screens (cum. $84.7) *NEW*	1 🔺 Boy Erased $1.5 on 672 screens (cum. $4.5) Podcast

2 🔺 Creed 2 $35.5 on 3441 screens (cum. $56) *NEW* Michael B Jordan,  Podcast	2 Can You Ever Forgive Me $598k on 426 screens (cum. $6) Review, Podcast ❤️

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Beauty vs Beast: Black Boys Looking Blue

Jason from MNPP here, still a little stuffed with turkey but ready for this week's "Beauty vs Beast" poll nonetheless - Barry Jenkins' fine new film If Beale Street Could Talk is hitting screens in a couple of weeks, and so we turn our eyes upon 2016's most deserving Best Picture Winner Moonlight to prepare. It seems likely that the film's Best Supporting Actor winner Mahershala Ali will at least be nominated again this year, if not win, for his best-in-show work in Green Book, which I have few qualms with. But it does remind that I never understood why Naomie Harris' work in Moonlight went unrecognized at the Oscars, as she was best in that show for me. Granted her character is much more difficult to root for than Ali's conflicted dealer is...

survey service

PREVIOUSLY Before the holiday we had ourselves a Fassy-Off, facing down two of Michael Fassbender's best perfomances for director Steve McQueen, and I guess TFE loves itself a sex addict because Shame's Brandon swung himself three-quarters of your vote. Said Sarah:

"I love both of these performances but I went with Hunger in the poll mostly because of the "foal" speech he gives which I love but Shame is a real powerhouse performance. It's a shame (heh) how people were so preoccupied with the full frontal that they don't give the performance (and the film and Mulligan) the credit it deserves."

Podcast: The Favourite, Creed 2, and Shoplifters

Nathaniel R and Murtada Elfadl welcome back Nick Davis to talk new films

Index (67 minutes)
00:01 Palme d'Or winner Shoplifters. Plus: Roma and Oscar talk.
20:22 Yorgos Lanthimos' The Favourite, directorial style, tragicomedies, and three stellar actresses: Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz, and Emma Stone. Plus: Sandy Powell's costumes
39:45 Reader Q: Which film will get the most Oscar nods this year?
43:06 Reader Q: What is going on with Mary Queen of Scots? 
48:05 Reader Q: Why did Widows underperform?
52:50 Nick on Creed 2 
58:32 Randomness to wrap-up: Museo, and Ruth E. Carter's costumes for Black Panther

Further Reading / References
• Nathaniel's review of The Favourite
• Murtada's interview with Hirokazu Koreeda on Shoplifters
• Oscar Predictions, Current
• ...and this royal Angela Bassett costume in Black Panther

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? 

The Favourite, Creed 2, Shoplifters

Care to make any NBR Predictions?

by Nathaniel R

The National Board of Review will reveal their winners later today. They're much harder to predict than other high profile awards bodies because their organization is secretive and untelevised. That said, there are some patterns that have emerged over the years. Though there are rumors that The Mule did not screen for them, for example, it's otherwise a foregone conclusion that if there is a Clint Eastwood film available to them in any way, they WILL honor it and often in a major way. The last Clint Eastwood film they skipped from honoring in any way was Jersey Boys (2014) but that was an exception to the rule. Since Mystic River they've otherwise always given his movies something, even the ones that don't have significant awards futures like The Hereafter (top ten list) or Gran Torino (Best Actor AND Screenplay) or Flags Of Our Fathers (top ten list), or the ones that nobody is all that passionate about but have awards appeal in some way like Invictus (Best Director AND Best Actor). So I'm expecting The Mule or even The 15:17 to Paris to show up, as absurd as the latter sounds.

Another very safe NBR bet is that they'll choose as Best Picture something that has either just opened in limited release or is yet to open...

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The Circle of Tweet

STEVEN YEUN. That’s it. That’s the whole tweet.

— Amin (Happy Together) (@cinemasocietie) November 24, 2018

AND A GOOD TWEET IT IS, TOO.

curated tweets for you after the jump involving Angels in America, the cgi-animated remake of The Lion King, Widows, and a lot of obsessing over The Favourite which happens to be our new pasttime as well...

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