Box Office: 007 Money and 2021's Highest Grossers

All you need to know about this very strange ecosystem shift in moviegoing is that an Icelandic language film (Lamb) made the overall top 10 despite having a per screen average of just $1,715. These are odd times we're living in when only blockbusters are making bank and even those aren't operating at close to full strength. There used to be 25-30 movies in wide release at any given time but there were literally only 8 in release this weekend here in the US. One wonders how the economics will all play in the future decade since streaming isn't as profitable as the traditional theatrical market and films have always been budgeted for pre-COVID realities. Will we see production values decrease in the next decade as Hollywood starts trying to make things on the cheap or just much higher subscription prices for streaming services?  What did you see this past week/weekend? More notes are after the jump.

Weekend Box Office October 8th-10th 🔺 = new or expanding / ★ = recommended
WIDE RELEASE	PLATFORM TITLES
No Time To Die	Lamb
1 NO TIME TO DIE 🔺  $56 Deborah's Review	1 LAMB 🔺 $1.0 in 583 theaters Cannes Capsule
2  VENOM LET THERE BE CARNAGE  $32 (cum. $141.6)	2 THE JESUS MUSIC [DOC] $150K in 270 theaters (cum. $857k)...

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Review: Daniel Craig's last stand in "No Time To Die"

by Deborah Lipp

No Time To Die explicitly advertises itself as “the conclusion” of a series that began with Casino Royale (2006), so there’s no spoiler in talking about No Time to Die (2021) as the conclusion of Daniel Craig’s James Bond series. I will keep major spoilers out, but I will certainly talk about this film in a way that understands it in the context of the Bond franchise, and as a “conclusion” of sorts. Fair warning and all that.

As we have come to expect from the Bond films of the last twenty or so years, No Time to Die is lavishly produced, has an A-list cast, and is beautiful to look at. As a standalone film, it’s good, perhaps very good, but the whole point of No Time to Die is that it isn't a standalone film. As a “conclusion,” it makes you ask questions: About James Bond and his future, about Daniel Craig and his legacy, about what a Bond film ultimately is...

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Tweetweek

Another collection of showbiz-related tweets curated for you for laughs, thought experiments, and discussion.

Who’s ready pic.twitter.com/hndg4Pk6kD

— Russell (@RussellFalcon) October 7, 2021

More after the jump including residual check lols, a very true hot take on Passing, Timothee Chalamet as Willy Wonka, and the death of the Sunset Boulevard dream...

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NYFF: I Remember "Memoria"

by Jason Adams

You can quite literally say that Memoria begins with a bang, as its inciting incident is just that -- a loud noise waking someone from sleep. But as far as it ending with a whimper, well, the only whimper its end will summon will be your own, as the lights come up and you realize your mind's been blown and that you're desperate to get back into the zen dream-state that Apichatpong Weerasethakul and his on-screen co-conspirator Tilda Swinton have lulled you into. I've spent the past week since seeing the film in just such a state of want. And so the news of the film's not-normal release pattern (which was weirdly the film headline I saw upon exiting the film -- further proof this movie actually transports you into its own reality?) has brought me both joy and sadness. A melancholia of its own.

In case you missed the news Memoria will travel the country, one art-house theater to another, only screening on one screen at a single time and never, not ever they say, hitting streaming...

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Asian Film Awards: "Wife of a Spy" and "Voice of Silence" are winners

by Nathaniel R

The Asian Film Awards, which used to be held early in the year are now a fall event, organized jointly with the Hong Kong, Busan, and Tokyo Film Festivals. The prizes were divvied up across multiple countries so there's a little something for everyone though the big winner was Japan's Wife of a Spy (a winner at Venice in 2020) which took Best Film, Best Actress, and Best Costume Design and recently had a brief US theatrical release from Kino Lorber. South Korea's Voice of Silence also made a fine showing taking Best New Director and Best Actor for popular 35 year-old star Yoo Ah-In (Burning and #Alive). Most of the films honored are 2020 films so dont expect much of a direct correlation between what countries submit to the Oscars this year as most of these were eligible for submission last season. The full list of nominees and winners is after the jump... 

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