Weekend Box Office: The popularity of 'Elvis' shouldn't have been a surprise

Two mavericks, one real (Rock star Elvis Presley) and one fictional (Pilot Pete "Maverick" Mitchell), battled it out for the #1 position at the box office and until the actuals come in its a draw. Let's discuss...

1. ELVIS $30.5 -NEW. 3,948 screens
It's always worth celebrating when a non-franchise film opens big. Good on Baz for pulling it off again. Box office pundits seem shocked at how well it did but why? Elvis Presley is the best selling solo act of all time and when it comes to the best-selling musicians, movies about them have built in audiences. Bohemian Rhapsody was a behemoth at the box office. Rocketman was a hit. If they ever make a crowd pleasing bio about Fleetwood Mac or Mariah Carey or The Beatles, those will probably be huge, too. Who knows... maybe even the upcoming Whitney Houston and Madonna biopics will be blockbusters.

1. TOP GUN MAVERICK $30.5 - 5th weekend. 3,906 screens
Tom Cruise's legacy sequel is the $1 film of the year (domestically) with  $521.7 in the US alone...

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Halfway Mark 2: Fav Performances of 2022 (Thus Far)

by Nathaniel R

Yesterday we talked about favourite films and craft achievements. Tomorrow we'll talk Oscar. But today... personal favourite star turns. Keeping lists of standout, charismatic, fascinating, or just plain enjoyable acting all year long is, we maintain, one of the greatest pleasures cinephiles can indulge in. Or rather it is if you're a cinephile who is also list-inclined. Some people frown on lists, top tens, and awards as reductive and no way to judge art. To this I can personally only shrug. The list-making / awards habit has never reduced my love of art but on the contrary has only broadened it, leading me to be curious about all sorts of things each year even if they aren't in preferred genres or from familiar preferred artists. I'm always wondering where the next great piece of art will be found. In terms of actors, there's a thrill in keeping an open mind, never knowing in which movie the next turn that really sparks imagination, catharsis, thirst, joy, or numerous other feelings will pop up in.

Herewith a handy cheatsheet of favourite film performances from the first six months of 2022 so we don't forget them later on in the year-end glut...

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Klute, pt 3: Fresh Produce, Real Tears, and a Sick Confession

In the first third of Klute (1971) we met the two fascinating central characters, a smart angry prostitute/actress Bree Daniels (Jane Fonda) and a hard-to-read detective John Klute (Donald Sutherland) investigating the disappearance of a man who might have been her client. In the middle of the picture, a volatile romance between the two blossoms just as the speculative danger becomes real. 

part 3 by Mark Brinkerhoff

01:17:20 As we left part two of this retrospective, the body of another of Bree's friends was found. Klute is putting the pieces together and it doesn't look great for Bree, the only one of the three prostitutes involved with the mystery man who is still alive. Boy does the suspense really ratchet up towards the end! So we'll keep this final installment briefer in appreciation of quickening heartbeats...

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Great Moments in Gay - The Talented Mr. Ripley - Bathtime with Dickie

In honor of Pride Month, we're highlighting a few Great Moments in Gay. Here’s Christopher James

Chess has never been this sexy.Few movies are as sexy as The Talented Mr. Ripley.  John Seale’s cinematography holds its gaze on each of the beautiful stars throughout the movie. Sex drips off the screen at every moment. Though the film is predicated on the “murderous gay” trope in the end, Minghella and company do a great job on establishing and defining its characters attractions. The bathtub scene between Tom Ripley and Dickie Greenleaf is not a “Great Moment in Gay” just because you see Jude Law’s penis. It is doing dramatic work too, illuminating the power dynamics between Tom and Dickie and their characters, too. Plus, it bears repeating, it’s incredibly hot.

Spoilers and NSFW Images to Follow…

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Halfway Mark 1: Fav Films & Miscellaneous Achievements of 2022 (thus far)

by Nathaniel R

The following list honors films released between January 1st, 2022 and June 30th, 2022. Obviously studios save the bulk of their perceived "prestige" pictures until the back half of the year but we always hope that lists like this will remind them they don't need to and to remind audiences that there's good stuff all year round. These are not official nominees for our own film bitch awards but they do function as reminder lists as we compile year-end stuff later on. If every Academy member and critic did this, awards season would be far more varied and film culture would be more robust because people would be seeing movies all year round and not cramming in only a small heap of them at year's end. 

Okay off of the soapbox and on to the favourites of 2022 (thus far) in alpha order by category. The pictures do not indicate winners as they're all winners. This is just an appreciation for these artists and movies...  

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