Still 'Unhinged' about moviegoing. What did you see at home?

Some websites are choosing to not cover theatrical releases while it's still unsafe to go to theaters. We're undecided. On the one hand everyone should be free to make their own life decisions and you can't live without risk of any kind. On the other hand, Americans have been exceptionally stupid and belligerent about taking needless risks and demanding that their individual comfort (like not wearing a mask or getting their haircut or whatever) trumps everyone else's actual life. 

Of course in other countries that have not had total grifter clowns in power, they've been able to start the trek back to normal. Sadly until the GOP and their enablers -- a much worse threat to the safety of everyone on the planet than the coronavirus -- are out of power, we're probably stuck in this abnormal hellscape for awhile still.

Anyway, the box office story is that the new Russell Crowe road rage drama Unhinged made $4 million this weekend in the US. That's a huge number considering how many theaters are a) still shut down and b) selling only half their seats in order to comply with distancing guidelines. 

Most of us are still watching movies indoors for the time being. For instance, we finally watched The Assistant (2020) on Hulu. It was good though surely its pin drop sound and growing discomfort would have been more immersive and, thus, effective inside the dark quiet cocoon of a movie theater. So what did you see at home this past week?

Our Links Are Sealed

• AV Club Steve Martin and Schitt's Creek cast pay tribute to Eugene Levy
• MNPP Josh O'Connor six times
• Variety uh oh trouble on the new live action adaptation of Avatar The Last Airbender. The original creators are leaving. That's a pity because the last adaptation was widely considered to be horrendous and the animated show is so fun.

After the jump The Go-Gos, Madonna and Diablo Cody, AMC reopening, the musical Diana and more... 

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Podcast: Emmy Nods & Oscar Worries

with Nathaniel R and Murtada Elfadl

Hey, it's a wee break from our smackdowning for an old school podcast of rambling conversation!

Index (68 minutes)
00:01 We're back talking about what we've been watching
08:13 Emmy nomination theories and viewing habits. The Mandalorian and more
19:13 Comedy series nominees: Insecure, What We Do in the Shadows, etc...
27:20 Limited Series is what we're both most invested in: Little Fires Everywhere, Unorthodox, Normal People, Mrs America and various acting categories
49:00 Emmy's "creative arts" - why not televised? 
53:00 What kind of an awards season and Oscar race are we heading into? Fall festivals are announcing but not really happening. The movie calendar is in disarray
01:05:00 Critics groups will also postpone their awards

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? 

Emmy Reactions and Oscar Worries

Mulan for $29.99

by Nathaniel R

The Mouse House is tired of waiting for movie theaters to open. They've announced that Mulan will be going direct to Disney+ for Labor Day Weekend. It will also be in movie theaters that weekend in some regions. The catch is that it won't be free on the streaming service that you already pay for. It will cost $29.99 to watch (for an undisclosed length of time). This is bad news for those of us who love to go to movies and watch epic things on big screens in dark cavernous rooms with strangers and hate the motion smoothing on modern televisions. It's good news for parents (at least at this shut-in moment in history) who would likely spend more than $30 to take their kids out to this movie in a normal year. 

Given that Mulan cost hundreds of millions to make and Disney's "event" movies normally make $1 billion plus at the theatrical box office globally they'll need a lot of $29.99 purchases to reach that number. What do you make of this news? End times (as some exhibitors think) or just a minor shifting of the sands?

1991: Robin Hood Prince of Thieves

by Lynn Lee

- Locksley…I’m gonna cut your heart out with a spoon!

-Why a spoon?

-Because it’s DULL, you twit, it’ll hurt more!”

If you remember anything about Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, it’s probably those lines.  Or, more generally, Alan Rickman’s scrumptiously hammy turn as the villain who bellows them.  Or perhaps you remember Kevin Costner’s complete failure to master anything resembling an English accent.  If you’d just as soon forget Costner ever played Robin Hood, you’re not alone: consensus opinion generally holds that Rickman was the only good thing about the movie, which received tepid reviews at the time of its release and hasn’t exactly aged into a classic. 

It’s worth noting, however, that a lot of people really liked Prince of Thieves at the time...

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