Lunchtime Poll: When will you go back to movie theaters?

Yesterday they announced that movie theaters in NYC will be able to reopen on March 5th. That's just two weeks shy of one full year since they were closed down due to the pandemic. Seating will be at 25% capacity or 50 people in the room, whichever is less. But will that be enough to convince people to gather in indoor spaces again? If theaters have reopened in your town have you been back? Or are you waiting for the vaccine? Or do you have some other marker by which you'll venture out again? Do tell in the comments. 

I'm sure I would feel safe once I get the vaccine but I dont qualify. Not the right age. Not an essential worker -- movie-blogging doesn't count, alas. (Here's what qualifies you in NYC if you're here and curious. If you're elsewhere your state or city probably has a similar page and you should definitely check. I have a friend who has asthma, for example, and he didn't realize he qualified but now he's scheduling his vaccination.)

FYC: Ben Affleck, The Way Back

By: Patrick Gratton

Has anyone set flame to their post Oscar goodwill as quickly as Ben Affleck? And he did it not once but twice! The eternal comeback kid, Affleck has been lunging forward and falling back in and out of the public and critical favor for the larger part of his career. Bouncing back and forth, whether it be his “Hollywood’s new leading man” phase, his Gigli-tabloid fodder phase, his Affleckassance directorial efforts, his Batfleck phase and the Sadffleck meme, Affleck has continuously struggled to maintain a second act in his career. In retrospect, through baggage-induced trial and error, Affleck has built a career of rising above lowered expectations, only to fall again.

After a career's worth of trying to fit the bill that Hollywood gave him, it shouldn’t be a surprise that he wears 'rundown & disgruntled' so well in Gavin O’Connor’s The Way Back...

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Showbiz History: Trainspotting's 25th and a one-time-only Globe happening

8 random things that happened on this day, February 23rd, in showbiz history

1939 The 11th Academy Awards are held with zany family comedy You Can't Take It With You winning the top prize and Jezebel pulling down both Lead and Supporting Actress. This past summer we spent a lot of time discussing the 1938 film year. What's more, I even ranked all ten Best Picture nominees and guest starred on the "And the Runner Up Is..." podcast about it (icymi). Honestly these viewing projects, but especially 1938, got us through the first few months of the COVID lockdown. 

1950 The 7th Golden Globes are held honoring the best of 1949. All the King's Men wins Best Picture (as it also would at the Oscars later). It was the last year of the Globes before they begin to separate their categories into Drama and Comedy but the next piece of Globes trivia is even more unusual...

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Weekend box office: Croods is a rare pandemic hit and Nomadland just opened

by Nathaniel R

so sad we'll never get to see this one on the big screen!

We haven't been checking in with the box office regularly because it's so uneventful. But it's good to glance on occassion. Here's the US box office top ten (links go to reviews). There's a few thoughts after the jump as well.

1. The Croods New Age $1.7 (cum. $50.8)
2. The Little Things $1.2 (cum. $11.8)
3. Judas and the Black Messiah $905k (cum. $3.3)
4. Wonder Woman 1984 $805k (cum. $42.6)
5. The Marksman $781k (cum. $11.4)...

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Giulietta Masina @ 100: Cabiria's perfect ending

by Cláudio Alves

Born 100 years ago in San Giorno di Piano, Giulietta Masina is one of the most indelible faces of Italian cinema. She started her career as a theatre and radio actress but, by the time her husband Federico Fellini made the transition from screenwriter to film director, Masina was ready to follow him on the journey to the big screen. Despite having worked for other such notable auteurs as Rossellini and Wertmüller, Masina's legacy is defined by her husband's pictures. He immortalized her in more ways than one, both creating film monuments to her humanity, and using their marital strife to create many a celluloid drama...

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