'Everything Everywhere' and all over the Spirit Award Nominations

by Nathaniel R

A24's restless inventive sleeper hit Everything Everywhere All At Once continues to win. It's now the leader at the 38th annuel Independent Spirit Awards with 8 nominations and all four of its principal actors were nominated. In second place is Tár with seven nominations. Aftersun missed a couple categories we thought it might hit but it still did very well with five nominations overall.  Love for the rest of the eligible movies was more measured but Bones and All, The Inspection, The Cathedral, and Women Talking also showed up in a few places. 

Since the Spirit Awards have a budget cap ($30 million now) many key potential Oscar players weren't eligible including most Netflix titles as well as presumed Oscar players like The Fabelmans, Banshees of Inisherin, Empire of Light   and naturally all of the spectacle blockbusters. The Spirit Awards rule also deny international cinema the chance to compete in major categories, relegating them to a single "international" category... 

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Who will be nominated for Production Design?

by Nathaniel R

As we did with Costume Design, let's look at the most likely Oscar contenders in its sister Eye Candy category (i.e. the "Moulin Rouge!" categories), Best Production Design. The following nine films are not ranked but grouped in 'types'-- in fact I don't think the last two have much of a prayer but in a just world, they would! Oscar voters vote solely on the category achievement itself (as they should) but on all sorts of things first and foremost being whether they like the film itself. It also helps to belong to the right genre and, in the case of craft categories, to have a showy "Most" feeling... 

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Extremely Belated Reviews: Batman, Dog, Yang, Adam, and Apollo 10½

by Nathaniel R

Each year we dream of saying something about *every* film we see but it never quite works out that way. Herewith some films we didn't review at the time. Better late than never or...? You decide.

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2022's hottest DILFs (Dads I'd Like to Film)

by Cláudio Alves

We've all heard about the gore, the historical accuracy, and Nicole Kidman's latest feat of monstrous mothering. However, one element of Robert Eggers's The Northman has been curiously – criminally? – left out of the promotional material and effusive word-of-mouth. The picture's leading man may make Prince Amleth into a mountain of muscle, but there's more eye candy to enjoy beyond the Skarsgård beefcake. In a scene of ritual sacrifice and funeral tradition, Claes Bang gets to showcase his assets, and they are glorious. Indeed, though the movie skews dark and gloomy, cinematographer Jarin Blaschke highlights the actor's bare back with golden flames, resulting in one of The Northman's most indelible shots.

Forgive the silliness and crass words, but in a time of sexless cinema, it's worth celebrating what little sensuality still graces the screen. Moreover, Bang's surprisingly soulful King Fjölnir is a reminder that we might be living through another great year for hot movie dads...

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What did you see this week?

by Nathaniel R

Batman continues to be pop culture's second-most popular solo superhero. Matt Reeves' take on the dark knight, titled simply The Batman, grossed an impressive $128.5 million on its opening weekend and will likely make a lot more still since Hollywood is barely releasing any big movies these days. In fact there's no big wide release competition coming until Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum arrive in three weeks with the adventure comedy The Lost City and no comic book competition for a full month until Morbius opens...

Weekend Box Office Estimates March 4th-6th 🔺 = new or expanding
OVER 800 SCREENS	UNDER 800 SCREENS
THE BATMAN	CYRANO

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