So, heard any good jokes lately?
GUESS THE QUOTE
"Bright light! Bright light!"
Some things: Judy is expanding a lot wider this week if you were keen, but it wasn't playing near you.
Reviews for Scorsese's The Irishman came out and whelp, they good, they real good. Better be, cuz that movie is real long (3.5 hours).
Eddie Murphy has a new movie, Dolomite Is My Name, and the reviews are nice and tasty, but it's a Netflix release so it'll be quite limited (hence the lack of a feature). But you can peep it on The Flix starting October 25th.
Also in Dah Dum news, although it won't be in theaters, we thought it was worth noting - because it'll be one of their (the?) most expensive - Netflix's Michael Bay / Ryan Reynolds movie 6 Underground had a trailer released this past week. It... looks like a Michael Bay movie. Luckily it stars Reynolds who will hopefully fit in a few cracks between all the slow-mo helicopter shots, firework shows, er, explosions and inevitable "male gaze" camera action.
Cutoff? Go here, click "most recent edition."
JOKER
AKA
"not THE"
R / 2 hrs 2 mins
Drama-"Superhero" / Warner Bros.
WHAT'S THE DEAL
In One Line: A "dark" Joker origin story unrelated to any other DC comic book movies (i.e. Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman), which is mostly a vehicle for Joaquin Phoenix to show off his acting skills.
It's a superhero movie!
Aw fuck yeah, I love those! Avengers: Endgame was THEE best! You exclaim.
Oooh eee, yeah, see, this is not that kind of superhero movie. Maybe we should have said, this is a "superhero" movie.
Wait, why are you doing air quotes around "superhero"? Is it or isn't?! You frustratedly reply.
Weeeeeellll. See, this is a movie set in the world started by the creation of A superhero - Batman. *you interject* Cool! I love Batman! The cape, the dark growl, the cool car and the.... *we step back in* No no no, slow down. It's set in the world, but deals nothing with Batman (and is completely untethered to any other recent DC movies, like: Justice League, Wonder Woman, The Suicide Squad etc.).
.......?!?
Right, we get it, so what the hell does it deal with. The Joker (ya know, hence the title).
!!!!!
Again, sloooow doooown. This is not Heath Ledger or even Jack Nicholson Joker. This is "we must understand the psyche of why someone would become such a murderous and sociopathic evil counterpart to the man of the bats" Joker. Think of it more like it wasn't even set in Gotham (but it is) and it's just some guy who isn't the Joker (but he is) and instead of falling into a vat of acid, he gets shit on for most of his life until he can't take it anymore. So you might be wondering if we're all supposed to actually feel for Mr. Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) after seeing his struggles, even though he turns into a violent jerk. ...maybe? And how you respond to his story may lie in how you view the world, humans, mental health, privilege, the presentation of violence and many other things that often don't get wrapped into a superhero movie. Sorry, "superhero" movie.
Also, this was directed by Todd "The Hangover/Old School" Phillips who said the reason he got out of comedy was because of "woke culture." Hmmm.
Note: co-stars Robert De Niro as well as Zazie Beetz (who is also in the other notable release this week, Lucy in the Sky).
REVIEWS
Even though it's well into the positive on RT, this one is quite divisive. What's not disputed by many is Joaquin Phoenix's performance, which is being widely praised.
"With Phoenix appearing in virtually every minute of this movie and dominating the screen with his memorably creepy turn, "Joker" will cling to you like the aftermath of an unfortunately realistic nightmare." - Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun Times
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 76%
(178 reviews @ publish)
WHO'S IT (NOT) FOR?
For: you here "dark origin story" and get all giddy inside
(Not): you like your superhero movies to be more superhero"y"
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LIMITED RELEASE SPOTLIGHT
LUCY IN THE SKY
AKA
"the movie where Lucy "gets high" (i.e. space), thus
confirming rabid 50 year old The Beatles fan theories"
PG-13 / 2 hrs 4 mins
Drama / Fox Searchlight (Disney)
WHAT'S THE DEAL
In One Line: The first movie from Noah Hawley, who created the TV show version of Fargo (and Legion), starring Natalie Portman in a story kinda sorta based on a real life astronaut whose involvement with a fellow astronaut turned odd and tragic.
When you make something creative, you put yourself out there. Sometimes it works. Yay! Sometimes, well.....
This one is more "....." than "yay!" say the reviews. Which is a bummer, because it has Noah Hawley (who created the well regarded Legion and the TV version of Fargo) behind the camera and Natalie Portman, Jon Hamm, Zazie Beetz and Dan Stevens acting in front of it. Hawley seems to have tried to humanize, and somewhat existential"ize" the story of disgraced astronaut Lisa Nowak who became famous for driving 900 miles to confront a woman who was sleeping with a fellow astronaut with whom Nowak was also engaging in some aggressive cuddling (note: Nowak was married at the time) - but let's be real, she became famous for what she said she wore during that epic drive. Diapers. Which, as all the reviewers will tell you, are nowhere to be seen in this movie. There's a lot of on earth drama as Lucy deals with the feeling of an earth bound moroseness that only occurs after her stint amongst the stars (which the movie seems to say is more of her issue than the lovers tryst she gets involved with). But diapers? Nary a one in site.
REVIEWS
Portman is getting praise, but the rest of the movie is not so much being derided, as it's more being considered a misfire.
"Lucy in the Sky has plenty of arresting cosmic visuals, and on the other hand tries to portray a human drama about an overachiever pushed to her breaking point. But those two halves never cohere into a whole." - Christian Holub, EW
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 26%
(42 reviews @ publish)
WHO'S IT (NOT) FOR?
For: you've seen High Life, Ad Astra and want to complete your famous people in weird space movie trifecta for the year
(Not): you already have a backlog of well reviewed movies to watch, let alone the poorly reviewed ones
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ALREADY IN THEATERS + BOX OFFICE
(3-Day Weekend / Domestic Total - $ = millions)
1) Abominable ($20.6) NEW
DreamWorks Animation yeti movie
81% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
2) Downton Abbey ($14.3 / $58)
Crawleys involved in some drama per yuzh
84% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
3) Hustlers ($11.4 / $81)
J-Lo and Constance Wu strip & steal
88% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
4) IT: Chapter Two ($10.2 / $194)
The Losers Club v Pennywise: Round 2
63% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
5) Ad Astra ($10 / $35)
Brad Pitt in space, dealin with family drama
83% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
6) Rambo: Last Blood ($8.6 / $33)
It's Rambo (vs Mexican drug cartel)
27% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
7) Judy ($2.9) NEW
Judy Garland biopic w/ Renee Zellweger
84% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
8) Good Boys ($2 / $80)
Superbad Jr.
80% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
9) The Lion King ($1.7 / $540)
Live action(?) remake
53% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
10) Angel Has Fallen ($1.5 / $67)
Gerard Butler threequel action movie
39% RT - Trailer - Showtimes
GEMINI MAN
It's Will Smith v Will Smith. As directed by by Ang Lee who is again focused on more technical film stuff (frame rates, de-aging), which apparently does not work.
THE ADDAMS FAMILY
An animated version of the macabre family with some famous voices, including Charlize Theron and Oscar Isaac as Morticia and Gomez.
JEXI
Basically a comedy version of HER, the Joaquin Phoenix movie where he falls in love with his Siri like digital assistant. Cept in this it's Adam Devine from Workaholics who becomes addicted to, but then battles, his phone (voiced by Rose Byrne) while he's trying to find love with an actual human.
THE IRISHMAN
November 1, 2019
Full trailer. Martin Scorsese gets Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Al Pacino together in an epic, and epicly long, story about the guy who *may* have been involved in Jimmy Hoffa's death. Reviews are 100% on RT with 60 reviews.
Note: it's a Netflix, uh, flick, so it'll be on there November 27th
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SPIES IN DISGUISE
December 25, 2019
Third trailer. Will Smith is a spy, Tom Holland (the current Spider-man) is his tech nerd. Will Smith accidentally becomes a... pigeon? So Holland has to help him in his spy stuff until they can turn him back. Makes sense.
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CLEMENCY
December 27, 2019
Alfre Woodard plays a warden getting worn down by the number of executions she must oversee. And yet another inmate (Aldis Hodge) looks to be too much.
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THE GENTLEMEN
January 24, 2020
Next Guy Ritchie movie. Way more Lock Stock and Snatch and a lot less blue genie Will Smith (Ritchie directed Aladdin). Has Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Colin Farrell, Henry Golding, Michelle Dockery and Hugh Grant... with a goatee.
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BIRDS OF PREY
February 7, 2020
(and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) < --the full title. It's the Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) spinoff of The Suicide Squad. No Joker... because that's now Joaquin Phoenix vs Jared Leto, even though Phoenix's movie is not in the same world as this movie?! (it's all very confusing). Instead, Quinn joins with some heroes to protect a girl from Black Mask (Ewan McGregor).
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THE KING'S MAN
February 14, 2020
Second trailer. A Kingsman prequel, set around World War I. Stars Ralph Fiennes in the Colin Firth role of the seasoned vet who inducts the new kid.
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THE PERSONAL HISTORY
OF DAVID COPPERFIELD
TBD
A cheeky take on the Charles Dickens novel starring Dev Patel (and a bunch of other great actors) as Copperfield. Directed by Armando Iannucci who created Veep. Looks hilarious and reviews say it is. US release date is TBD.
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