Review: "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery" Ups the Ante to Glorious Results

by Christopher James

Sometimes, bigger is actually better.

Over Thanksgiving weekend in 2019, Knives Out became a sleeper hit, delivering a perfectly fun and witty whodunnit perfect for all generations. The Netflix sequel, Glass Onion, ups the ante in every way possible. The set is bigger, the cast is starrier, the cameos are plentiful. Despite the excess on screen, none of the magic of the original is lost. In fact, Glass Onion improves on the original, taking a character we know and love and thrusting him into a funnier and more zany mystery. The heart is still there so sign me up for plenty more chapters of Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) solving elaborate mysteries.

For those concerned, never fear. No major spoilers are ahead. The latest Benoit Blanc tale, which just opened in cinemas, deserves to be seen with as fresh of eyes as possible...

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Oscar contenders win at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards

by Nathaniel R

Cambodia's Oscar submission won two awards at APSA

Even if you are a deeply committed film obsessive there are films you will never have heard of that will win or be nominated for prizes during awards season. That's one of the reasons we love to check in with awards bodies overeas. If only all movies could be released everywhere for us cinephiles!  We just caught up with the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, now in their 15th year.  Indonesia's Before Now & Then took the top prize but in addition to a few nominees we hadn't yet heard of, five current Oscar hopefuls won prizes: International Feature contenders Joyland, Return to Seoul, Aurora's Sunrise, and Muru, and the documentary All That Breathes... 

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"Kidmania, Summer 2023 Edition" courtesy of AFI

by Nathaniel R

This just in. The goddess Nicole Kidman will receive what the AFI calls "The Highest Honor in American Cinema" next summer. That honor is the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award. She'll be the first Australian so honored. Take that Cate Blanchett! She's also only the 11th actress they've ever honored in this way...

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Oscar Volleys: Best Editing is a Category that Doesn't Know What it Wants to Be

Team Experience will be discussing each Oscar category as we head into the precurosrs. Here's Nick Taylor and Ben Miller with the first volley...

the 4 most recent movies to be nominated for editing that WEREN'T nominated for Best Picture.

BEN: Alright Nick, since I'm starting this conversation, I'll get on a soapbox. I hate what this category has turned into. It used to be a really cool category that highlighted the most underrated aspect of the filmmaking process. Instead, it's turned into Best Picture Redux.  In the last ten years, there have been 50 nominees for Best Editing. Only four were not nominated for Best Picture. When did this category get so lazy? Why, of all categories, is this one so linked to Best Picture... 

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What did you see this week... or are you waiting for Thanksgiving like Hollywood?

By Nathaniel R

It was a strange weekend for moviegoers. Hollywood wanted to give Black Panther 2 ample room and it's not quite thanksgiving so only two new wide releases risked opening: The Menu and She Said. The former did okay and the latter struggled. In limited release a slightly similar story but just remove a few 0s as Bones and All and The Inspection both opened on a handful of screens. In both box office skirmishes, moviegoers tended to chose the violent option. Violent thrills are really what sells movie tickets these days, with or without vfx budgets. We wish the general moviegoer had wider taste, but it is what it is...

Weekend Box Office (actuals) November 18th-20th 🔺 = new or expanding /  ★ = Recommended
WIDE (OVER 800 SCREENS)	LIMITED / PLATFORM
BLACK PANTHER WAKANDA FOREVER	BONES AND ALL
1 BLACK PANTHER WAKANDA FOREVER $66.4 (cum. $287.1)	1 TILL $228k (cum. $8.5) 656 screens

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