Critics Groups Round 7 - That point in the year when we begin to lose our minds

by Nathaniel R

JK Simmons picks up his first prize for Being the Ricardos

Another week. Another crowded list of critics associations announcing their "Bests". There's still a lot of repetition but there are a couple of minor points of interest, some annoying and some delightful in this particular roundup. Here are the 12 latest critics groups to announce after the jump...

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Links: Yellowjackets, Ariana DeBose, Black Panther 2, etc...

• Advocate SNL leaned queer this weekend, pairing Ariana DeBose and Kate McKinnon multiple times during the show. We enjoyed that Sappho skit!
• Vulture reviewing Ariana's episode
• TFE in case you missed it we looked into SNL's history of Oscar-hopeful Hosts
• Cinema Seen yours truly guest starred on Eric Marchen's Canadian movie review tv show
• /Film if you haven't heard, Netflix is raising subscription prices in October

More after jump including New York Times Oscar-like ballots, Yellowjackets mania,  Arnauld Desplechin's next picture, and Carole Lombard's final film...

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Weekend Box Office: "Scream" and "Belle" are hits; Drive My Car still rising

Today is Martin Luther King Jr day so many people in the US have the day off. Not that everyone is rushing to cinemas but that makes this a four day "weekend". Here is what was hot at the box office on Friday through Sunday...

Weekend Box Office January 14th-16th 🔺 = new or expanding
SCREAM	BELLE
1 SCREAM 🔺 $30.6 Glenn's Review, Franchise ranked	6 BELLE  🔺 $1.6 Elisa's Review, Our 2019 Interview with Mamour Hosoda

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Podcast: Being Macbeth's Lost Daughter (Who Has No Time To Die)

Nick and Nathaniel reunion part two (of three!). This past weekend we had a mammoth talk trying to cover everything we've been catching up with or watching again. So we've split this podcast into two. Apologies that it ends on an ellipses but we live in franchise culture so you're used to it by now!

62 minutes
00:01 Indie critical darling Test Pattern
07:40 The ensemble work in Mass with a shout-out to Martha Plimpton's revelatory work
15:50 Admiring The Tragedy of Macbeth ...especially Kathryn Hunter
24:20 Nick is obsessed with The Lost Daughter and tells us why. We particularly dig into Maggie Gyllenhaal's direction and how hot smart people are
42:00 An unexpected defense (albeit with several reservations) of Being the Ricardos. We both love Nicole Kidman in it (sorry haters) but we wish Aaron Sorkin would stop directing his own stuff
49:23 No Time To Die... franchise culture, changing times, and the Daniel Craig era.
1:01:30 To be continued...

You can listen to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify or download the attachment below. If you missed our previous recent discussion covering a full dozen 2021 movies, that's here. 

Being Macbeth's Lost Daughter

The Ultimate Ranking of the "Scream" Franchise

By: Christopher James

What is the best Scream movie? Who is the best Ghostface? What movie has the best opening? Read to find out!

The Scream franchise isn’t just a top-notch series of slasher films. It’s a chronicle of the changing tropes within the horror genre. Over 26 years, the five Scream films have expertly scared the pants off audiences, while also commenting on sequel, trilogy and reboot culture. The fifth film, confusingly or pointedly just titled Scream, opens this week in theaters. Glenn Dunks already gave us his full review. Like him, I’m also a huge fan of the series and excitedly binged the franchise again this week with friends.

With every new film, I fell more and more in love with the saga of scrupulous reporter Gail Weathers (Courtney Cox), the dopey yet charming Dewey Riley (David Arquette) and the ultimate “final girl” at the center of it all, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell). In the background of all the movies is the "Stab" franchise-within-a-franchise, a slasher series that's always about the previous film and continues to mythologize Sidney Prescott and the rest of the Woodsboro gang. All of the films, do a great job introducing new characters, new kills and new tricks for the shifty, gumby-esque Ghostface.

So what’s the ranking of the five Scream movies? SPOILERS ahead for the first four films (we’ll refrain from spoilers for the 2022 film, but if you want to go in super cold, don’t read yet!).

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