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Jul. 30th, 2023 09:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatAmazon Prime is annoying. I was watching Vox Machina, and finished it, only to discover that I'd somehow jumped over 11 episodes from S1. Which explains why I didn't get Percy's back story or Pike's or Antler's - it was in S1. I'd somehow skipped over it and finished S2. So, I got to go back and watch S1. Because I really want the Percy back story.
Amazon does this - it kicks you to the newest season instead of starting with the first one. HBO does it too. Netflix doesn't.
I like fantasy stories - I find them relaxing and weirdly comforting. Always have. Hyper-realistic stories aren't comforting or relaxing - just stressful. I don't understand how people just watch and read hyper-realism. (A lot of so called literary novels are basically just hyper-realism - a novelization of reality or trying to capture a perception of one's real life or a historical real event.)
***
Tired. So, will try to get to bed earlier tonight. I was up until 3 AM last night - body wouldn't let me sleep. Tried meditation. CBD sleep gummies (containing melatonin), and finally relaxed. Slept until 9:50, so got about six hours. Which seems about average. Don't give me advice - I don't want it. There's nothing worse than unasked for advice when you are cranky.
***
Robot vacuumed the apartment this afternoon. Went grocery shopping. It wasn't that bad, eighties with a breeze.
Almost fell asleep reading a graphic novel or comic book on my HD Fire Kindle around six pm. Woke up enough to make dinner and lunch for tomorrow.
Listened to more of Blood, Sweat, and Chrome - the Making of Mad Max Fury Road. It's odd, I don't remember Tom Hardy's role as Mad Max at all, I do however remember Charlize Theron as Furiosa. It was really her film. Hardy didn't stand out. He's better in Peaky Blinders.
Hardy is a method actor. Apparently in school - he was diagnosed as psychotic, sociopathic, among other things - due to wild behavior. He protested all of those labels and enrolled in drama school. Which pretty much proves him right, and the idiotic psychiatrists wrong.
Miller drove Hardy nuts, and vice versa. Mainly because Miller sees the film in his head, story boards it, and shoots the story board, adding the script later. Also Max had maybe 16 lines? And Miller isn't always very good at communicating what he wants.
That was a hard film to shoot. They ended up going back to Plan A, and shooting in the Nambia Desert, after the Broken Hill plan fell apart - mainly because after lots of rain, Broken Hill become an area with wildflowers, pelicans, and flush with life - which wasn't exactly what they were going for for a Mad Max film. So back to Nambia. This involved shipping all the vehicles and set there first, then breaking it to the studio that they were filming in Nambia after the fact. (A sly way of getting the studio to foot the bill - which lucky for them, worked.)
Hardy didn't like shooting in Nambia that much - since he missed his family in England. And it was a long tough shoot.
***
Checked to see the box office for Oppenheimer and Barbie. I want Oppenheimer to do well - because I have a crush on Cillian Murphy, and want to see him in more movies.
The Big Picture. Christopher Nolan's biographical drama Oppenheimer is a global box office success, surpassing the lifetime earnings of Batman Begins and grossing $400 million worldwide in just 10 days. The film received rave reviews and had one of the best second-weekend performances for an R-rated movie
Well that's amazing, considering not many people had a clue who Oppenheimer was prior to this. (I did, as did most of you, but...)
Oppenheimer outdoes Batman Begins (Nolan's previous hit) by making more than it did in its entire run - in 10 days
"Starring Cillian Murphy and an ensemble to rival all ensembles, Oppenheimer no doubt benefited from the “Barbenheimer” effect, which saw the simultaneous theatrical release of two major tent poles to unprecedented buzz, the other being Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. The satirical comedy passed the $750 million mark this weekend and is on track to become the second film of 2023 to gross more than $1 billion worldwide, after The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The top global territories for Oppenheimer remain the U.K., France, Germany, and India." [ Curious to see how it does in Japan and Asia - considering in Japanese anime and film - Oppenheimer's visage is basically death.]
And... Barbie tops box office again with Oppenheimer in 2nd Place
"Seven days after Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" and Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" conspired to set box office records, the two films held unusually strongly in theaters. "Barbie" took in a massive $93 million in its second weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. "Oppenheimer" stayed in second with a robust $46.2 million. Sales for the two movies dipped 43% and 44%, respectably — well shy of the usual week-two drops.
"Barbenheimer" has proven to be not a one-weekend phenomenon but an ongoing box-office bonanza. The two movies combined have already surpassed $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales. Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data firm Comscore, call it "a touchstone moment for movies, moviegoers and movie theaters."
"Having two movies from rival studios linked in this way and both boosting each other's fortunes — both box-office wise and it terms of their profile — I don't know if there's a comp for this in the annals of box-office history," said Dergarabedian. "There's really no comparison for this." - this is the game changer. That never happens. It's rare that films from rival studios that have nothing to do with each other, and are about as different as well apples and steak, bolster each other at the box office in this way. And it wasn't the studios that pushed it - so much as the marketing and the movie goers.
I think, people are tired of Marvel and DC movie franchises, sequels to action flicks, rom-coms, crude comedies, horror flicks, and want something interesting and different. They also want a good movie - that is well made, with a great cast, that they can get immersed in, and see more than once or as an event.
At any rate - these two films send a huge message to Hollywood and the film industry regarding what people want. Which is a diversity in fare. They don't just want films like Barbie, or just films like Oppenheimer - but both. And by good directors, with great casts.
Following its year-best $162 million opening, the pink-infused pop sensation of "Barbie" saw remarkably sustained business through the week and into the weekend. The film outpaced Nolan's "The Dark Knight" to have the best first 11 days in theaters of any Warner Bros. release ever.
"Barbie" has rapidly accumulated $351.4 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters, a rate that will soon make it the biggest box-office hit of the summer. Every day it's played, "Barbie" has made at least $20 million.
And the "Barbie" effect isn't just in North America. The film made $122.2 million internationally over the weekend. Its global tally has reached $775 million. It's the kind of business that astounds even veteran studio executives.
Amazon does this - it kicks you to the newest season instead of starting with the first one. HBO does it too. Netflix doesn't.
I like fantasy stories - I find them relaxing and weirdly comforting. Always have. Hyper-realistic stories aren't comforting or relaxing - just stressful. I don't understand how people just watch and read hyper-realism. (A lot of so called literary novels are basically just hyper-realism - a novelization of reality or trying to capture a perception of one's real life or a historical real event.)
***
Tired. So, will try to get to bed earlier tonight. I was up until 3 AM last night - body wouldn't let me sleep. Tried meditation. CBD sleep gummies (containing melatonin), and finally relaxed. Slept until 9:50, so got about six hours. Which seems about average. Don't give me advice - I don't want it. There's nothing worse than unasked for advice when you are cranky.
***
Robot vacuumed the apartment this afternoon. Went grocery shopping. It wasn't that bad, eighties with a breeze.
Almost fell asleep reading a graphic novel or comic book on my HD Fire Kindle around six pm. Woke up enough to make dinner and lunch for tomorrow.
Listened to more of Blood, Sweat, and Chrome - the Making of Mad Max Fury Road. It's odd, I don't remember Tom Hardy's role as Mad Max at all, I do however remember Charlize Theron as Furiosa. It was really her film. Hardy didn't stand out. He's better in Peaky Blinders.
Hardy is a method actor. Apparently in school - he was diagnosed as psychotic, sociopathic, among other things - due to wild behavior. He protested all of those labels and enrolled in drama school. Which pretty much proves him right, and the idiotic psychiatrists wrong.
Miller drove Hardy nuts, and vice versa. Mainly because Miller sees the film in his head, story boards it, and shoots the story board, adding the script later. Also Max had maybe 16 lines? And Miller isn't always very good at communicating what he wants.
That was a hard film to shoot. They ended up going back to Plan A, and shooting in the Nambia Desert, after the Broken Hill plan fell apart - mainly because after lots of rain, Broken Hill become an area with wildflowers, pelicans, and flush with life - which wasn't exactly what they were going for for a Mad Max film. So back to Nambia. This involved shipping all the vehicles and set there first, then breaking it to the studio that they were filming in Nambia after the fact. (A sly way of getting the studio to foot the bill - which lucky for them, worked.)
Hardy didn't like shooting in Nambia that much - since he missed his family in England. And it was a long tough shoot.
***
Checked to see the box office for Oppenheimer and Barbie. I want Oppenheimer to do well - because I have a crush on Cillian Murphy, and want to see him in more movies.
The Big Picture. Christopher Nolan's biographical drama Oppenheimer is a global box office success, surpassing the lifetime earnings of Batman Begins and grossing $400 million worldwide in just 10 days. The film received rave reviews and had one of the best second-weekend performances for an R-rated movie
Well that's amazing, considering not many people had a clue who Oppenheimer was prior to this. (I did, as did most of you, but...)
Oppenheimer outdoes Batman Begins (Nolan's previous hit) by making more than it did in its entire run - in 10 days
"Starring Cillian Murphy and an ensemble to rival all ensembles, Oppenheimer no doubt benefited from the “Barbenheimer” effect, which saw the simultaneous theatrical release of two major tent poles to unprecedented buzz, the other being Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. The satirical comedy passed the $750 million mark this weekend and is on track to become the second film of 2023 to gross more than $1 billion worldwide, after The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The top global territories for Oppenheimer remain the U.K., France, Germany, and India." [ Curious to see how it does in Japan and Asia - considering in Japanese anime and film - Oppenheimer's visage is basically death.]
And... Barbie tops box office again with Oppenheimer in 2nd Place
"Seven days after Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" and Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" conspired to set box office records, the two films held unusually strongly in theaters. "Barbie" took in a massive $93 million in its second weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. "Oppenheimer" stayed in second with a robust $46.2 million. Sales for the two movies dipped 43% and 44%, respectably — well shy of the usual week-two drops.
"Barbenheimer" has proven to be not a one-weekend phenomenon but an ongoing box-office bonanza. The two movies combined have already surpassed $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales. Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data firm Comscore, call it "a touchstone moment for movies, moviegoers and movie theaters."
"Having two movies from rival studios linked in this way and both boosting each other's fortunes — both box-office wise and it terms of their profile — I don't know if there's a comp for this in the annals of box-office history," said Dergarabedian. "There's really no comparison for this." - this is the game changer. That never happens. It's rare that films from rival studios that have nothing to do with each other, and are about as different as well apples and steak, bolster each other at the box office in this way. And it wasn't the studios that pushed it - so much as the marketing and the movie goers.
I think, people are tired of Marvel and DC movie franchises, sequels to action flicks, rom-coms, crude comedies, horror flicks, and want something interesting and different. They also want a good movie - that is well made, with a great cast, that they can get immersed in, and see more than once or as an event.
At any rate - these two films send a huge message to Hollywood and the film industry regarding what people want. Which is a diversity in fare. They don't just want films like Barbie, or just films like Oppenheimer - but both. And by good directors, with great casts.
Following its year-best $162 million opening, the pink-infused pop sensation of "Barbie" saw remarkably sustained business through the week and into the weekend. The film outpaced Nolan's "The Dark Knight" to have the best first 11 days in theaters of any Warner Bros. release ever.
"Barbie" has rapidly accumulated $351.4 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters, a rate that will soon make it the biggest box-office hit of the summer. Every day it's played, "Barbie" has made at least $20 million.
And the "Barbie" effect isn't just in North America. The film made $122.2 million internationally over the weekend. Its global tally has reached $775 million. It's the kind of business that astounds even veteran studio executives.
no subject
Date: 2023-07-31 07:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-07-31 05:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-08-01 07:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-07-31 10:06 am (UTC)https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/jul/08/cillian-murphy-oppenheimer-christopher-nolan-florence-pugh
I am with him on the smoking thing, for sure. I don't understand why in the 21st century they can't just have people fake it and have the smoke put in with CGI. Would be so much better for the health of the actors. And maybe only have characters smoke if it is a real person who did smoke.
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Date: 2023-07-31 12:29 pm (UTC)Thank you! Enjoyed the article. And yep, this is why I want to see Oppenheimer: "The real question for Murphy was what combination – ambition, madness, delusion, deep hatred of the Nazi regime? – allowed this theoretical physicist to agree to an experiment he knew could obliterate humankind. “He was dancing between the raindrops morally. He was complex, contradictory, polymathic; incredibly attractive intellectually and charismatic, but,” he decides, “ultimately unknowable." But I mainly just want to see Murphy do what he does so well. He blew me away in Peaky Blinders.
no subject
Date: 2023-07-31 06:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-07-31 04:11 pm (UTC)Both movies examine the appeal--and the troubling implications--of a massively popular toy. In the Lego Movie, we had the joy of infinite creativity balanced against the rigid conformity of the pre-packaged sets. (Emmett was both an anonymous, standard Lego figure and a dynamic action hero.) In Barbie, we have a feminist toy utopia sponsored by the patriarchy and all the contradictions THAT entails.
(Both movies have Will Ferrell in almost the exact same role.)
Both movies are helmed by brilliant, idiosyncratic film makers with a deep love of pop culture. With The Lego Movie, it's Phil Lord and Christopher Miller; with Barbie, it's Greta Gerwig (with an assist from Noah Baumbach). So you have both Barbie stans and cinema geeks as a potential audience. I fully intend to see Barbie in the next few weeks.
As for Oppenheimer... you summed up all the big reasons to see this movie immediately. I think some of the 400 million box office can be attributed to imax and/or 70mm pricing, but my god--this movie practically begs to be seen in the largest, most high resolution format possible. You need to totally immerse yourself in Nolan's artistry, the existential horror... and Cillian Murphy's baby blues.
no subject
Date: 2023-07-31 04:59 pm (UTC)Barbie? I'm on the fence about. I did not like the LEGO movie - it was unwatchable - I couldn't get past the first ten minutes. Barbie admittedly is better made, and deeper, and a biting satire about being female in this toxic male society - but, I'm not a huge fan of Gerwig or Baumbach's films, and kind of preaching to the choir here (and even if I agree with you - being preached to by a movie irritates). OTOH - admittedly curious as to why friends are leaving the movie theater crying. Almost took myself to that one this weekend - but didn't work out.
no subject
Date: 2023-08-01 01:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-08-01 12:18 pm (UTC)Not surprised Lincoln Square is sold out - it's close to Jersey.
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Date: 2023-08-01 02:17 pm (UTC)When I get home, I'm going to (try to) order tix for the 70mm theater at the Lincoln Square 13--4:30 showing on the 12th. I'll get something on the aisle and at least 10 rows back (so our heads don't explode).
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Date: 2023-08-01 04:41 pm (UTC)Thanks for doing this. I'm clueless.
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Date: 2023-08-01 06:53 pm (UTC)I'll do my best.
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Date: 2023-08-02 12:48 am (UTC)We may have to go for a very comfortable "standard" theater. (My mother's view is that's fine - it's mainly watching people talking. LOL!)
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Date: 2023-08-02 01:22 am (UTC)I'm waiting for the theater to email me the receipt.
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Date: 2023-08-02 01:33 am (UTC)Guessing this is AMC Lincoln Center 13?
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Date: 2023-08-02 01:48 am (UTC)Still waiting for email receipt....
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Date: 2023-08-02 03:29 am (UTC)We're all set!
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Date: 2023-08-02 02:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-08-02 04:01 pm (UTC)The IMAX 70MM would have been my preference, but... forget it. Booked solid for the rest of the month. But if you booked it far enough ahead, the regular 70mm format had decent seats available.
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Date: 2023-08-02 05:05 pm (UTC)Yeah, same. Although regular 70 mm is fine. I'm not sure IMAX is best for a movie that is focused more on people? I saw Apocalypse Now in IMAX, and that was insane.
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Date: 2023-07-31 04:28 pm (UTC)Loved Charlize Theron. Loved Nicholas Hoult. Loved the guy with flames shooting out of his guitar!
And yeah, Tom Hardy wasn't bad either.
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Date: 2023-07-31 05:10 pm (UTC)Miller wanted realism. He's in good company, Nolan didn't use CGI either for Oppenheimer for the same reasons. Miller isn't really a nutcase - and is actually fairly easy to work with for the most part. Hardy is a bit of a nutcase. Movies are close to impossible to make - the studio fought him (they wanted Happy Feet 2, he didn't want to do Happy Feet 2- sigh who can blame him?). Hoult had to fight for his role - he was too old, and too tall for the role envisioned by Miller. His casting director talked him into auditioning Hoult - and he went with him. They had an odd way of auditioning people - they would ask them to tell them stories that moved them. The set was very "method" in its acting approach and immersive. Mainly because there wasn't much dialogue and people had to convey it with eyes and body language.
Fascinating book.
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Date: 2023-07-31 06:19 pm (UTC)CGI looks horrible - if you overdo it. That's why I disliked Guardians of the Galaxy Vol III (it went overboard and looked fake.) It has to be used sparingly.
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Date: 2023-07-31 09:26 pm (UTC)Ugh yes, I have had this same issue with various streamers like Netflix. It will jump you to the latest episode instead of starting you chronologically.
I had it with Apple+ as well. The Problem with Jon Stewart released 2 episodes to end its season while we were subscribed, and even though we'd only seen the first 3 episodes it would just jump us to the latest one.
no subject
Date: 2023-07-31 10:39 pm (UTC)