Is a friend of a friend a friend?
I guess it all depends on which "friend" you are in this scenario.
THE QUOTE 🎬 💬
“Big things have small beginnings.”
hint: “milk,” the hint is “milk.” ok fine, it’s a prequel too
THINK THOUGHTS 💭
Man, talk about contrasts.
A24 - the only seemingly legit contender (outside of maybe Lionsgate, but that seems to have passed) to build itself to resemble some modern version of what the major Hollywood studios were since the movie industry solidified into said majors (see: Paramount, Disney, Warner Bros, Universal, and formerly Fox) - just received investment that values the company at $3.5 billion.
Which is half of the nearly $7 billion valuation of Paramount Global - which includes not just Paramount Pictures but CBS, Showtime, MTV, Comedy Central as well as Paramount + - whose Office of the CEO trio just announced they’ve “hired bankers to evaluate asset sales.” Including the potential sale of the famed studio lot. All this after the potential sales they were involved in fell through.
Now, wouldn’t it be “funny” if A24 bought Paramount and in the process acquired the backlot?
It’d actually be quite fitting in some senses, because I remember when I worked at Paramount, there was always this discussion hovering around about what Paramount meant to people (“nothing” I’d always say, at least in the ways it mattered). But people would sill believe it did in some form and it’s ultimately why they changed the entire company to become “Paramount,” because they thought just because people knew what it was, that maybe it had some meaning to them.
But Paramount doesn’t really have meaning to people, outside of a being a notable place you might visit for an afternoon while in LA. As in, it doesn’t mean anything in relation to the content they put out - i.e. no one goes to a movie because it’s a “Paramount movie.”
But people do go see movies solely based on the fact they’re an A24 production. It’s a level of trust. Even if they may not like it, they still might find it interesting.
Whereas Paramount has made both The Wolf of Wall Street as well as Monster Trucks, a movie where literal monsters hide in literal trucks, because the head of production at the time listened to his 4 year old for movie ideas.
It’s kind of natural in business for older shops to die while newer ones take their place, but even if it’s normal, it can still sometimes be shocking to see such a downfall. And who knows! Maybe Paramount has some big resurgence and A24 is the one that gets bought.
But at this point, I just wanna see the whole Paramount sale / no sale saga through until the end.
Although, I really have no idea that “end” is.
NEWSY BITS 👾
Eddie Murphy Says He’s Already Recorded Some of ‘Shrek 5’ and ‘I Think It’s Coming Out in 2025,’ Plus a Donkey Spinoff Movie Is Next - that’d make it 15(!) years between installments - Variety
Now Narrating the Olympics: A.I.-Al Michaels - not movie related directly, but the implications are there - New York Times
Toys ‘R’ Us Debuts First Video Ad Using Sora, OpenAI’s Text-to-Video Tool: also not movie related, but again, implications be hoverin’. btw, it is not a good ad - The Hollywood Reporter
Comedy Central’s Website Purges 25 Years of Video Clips and Other Content - clearly related to all the going ons, but man, kinda sucky. They did the same with MTV News archives - Variety
EXTRA CREDIT MOVIE(S) 📝
A Family Affair - Nicole Kidman starts banging Zac Efron and her daughter, Joey King, doesn’t like it. Hilarity ensues? Of course they play characters doing all of this. And I’d tell you what the reviews say, buuuut this is gonna be on Netflix and they don’t “do” reviews. Streaming on Netflix Friday
Daddio - Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn go back and forth in a NYC taxi set two-hander (as in only two actors are in it) and while it might seem like it has the opportunity to be less enjoyable than rolling yourself out of a speeding cab, there are far more good reviews that bad, saying the actors’ rapport is genuine and the story grows to match the emotions it reveals. Playing in Limited Theaters Friday
Fancy Dance - Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon) plays a caretaking aunt after her sister disappears before a big powwow. The two abscond before Gladstone’s niece can be taken from her as they try and find her missing sibling. The reviews say that even if it’s a “small” movie in scope, the authenticity and performances make for a strong experience. Streaming on Apple TV+ Friday
NOTABLE NEW RELEASE(S) 🎟 & 📺
A Quiet Place: Day One
Prequels are kind of like friends of friends (FoF). You obviously enjoy your friend’s company, so you’re thinking “I mean, I like my friend, so I should probably like their friend too.” Plus, this FoF can tell you stories about your friend that you never even knew about. Embarrassing ones Ideally.
And even if you’re coming in with some level of skepticism, it’s more often a bit of a assumed good things by association situation. However, this FoF is still their own person and will need to prove themselves to you in their own right. Right? Right.
It’s like, if the stories are juicy and they pick up the tab? Hell yeah. Win-win baby. And it can even enhance you opinion of your friend.
But if the FoF is a big fat d-bag? Weeeellll, then things start to get tricky. Because then not only do you not wanna hang out with this person again, you start to question your original friend. You like that guy?!
And so it goes with prequels. You want to like them if you were into the original, but who really knows??
It’s even more complicated - and here’s where the metaphor starts to breakdown - when you consider the people responsible for building the thing you liked (i.e. writer / director John Krasinski and star Emily Blunt - they’re married btw) are no longer in it - it’s been taken over by Pig, the very well liked Nic Cage movie where he tries to save his truffle hunting pig, helmer Michael Sarnoski.
I wish I could tell this FoF not only picked up the tab for you, but bought everyone in the bar drinks (metaphorically). But alas, reviews still seem to be embargoed. But you can imagine it should have at least some “oops, I might’ve just peed myself” moments.
“the first two films very much circle around a family and these people that have established relationships. I wanted to explore a little more of what it would look like for strangers to have to go through the end of the world together.“ - director Michael Sarnoski on the differences between this and the previous films
Out: Friday
Where: Theaters
Details: 1 hr 40 mins | R | 🍅: TBD
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1
His name, is Kevin Coster. And, respectfully, he doesn’t give a god damn what you think. He’s going to make his 11 hour film saga about the west during the Civil War whether you like it or not.
Except for the fact that he actually he kinda needs you to like it. Because while Part 1 comes out this Friday and Part 2 is also already shot and scheduled for release two months from now, Part 3 and 4 have yet to be made. And he’s already leveraged (one of?) his house(s) to help pay for this sweeping epic about the western migration.
It’s obviously a subject he knows well on account of his first directing gig, Dances With Wolves. However, it doesn’t seem like this movie is going to create the same level of impact with critics or audiences (though the latter is still tbd).
And reviewers seem to want to like it, but nearly all of them mention how the three hour Part 1 is just too damn passive - as in, not enough happens.
It’s possible this is all setup. But that’s a lot of preamble for viewers who turn off a new show because “I didn’t like how that one guy talked.”
Audiences have options. Far more than they did in 1990. So While Costner looks to be making a similar kind of movie that he did with Wolves, he’s made it in a faaaaaar different time.
Out: Friday
Where: Theaters
Details: 3 hrs 1 mins | R | 🍅: 50%
THE WEEKLY TRAILER PLAYLIST ⏯
Nosferatu - The Witch, The Lighthouse, The Northman and now, The Nosferatu - Robert Eggers’ take on the vampire tale.
Heretic - I like this new Hugh Grant. Well, maybe not the character he plays in this movie where he locks two Mormon missionaries in his house. He seems like a creep. But the actor himself is doing interesting stuff!
The Union - Mark Wahlberg just so happens to get picked up by his old high school girlfriend (Halley Berry) to help save the world. Good thing he’s been getting up at 3am everyday to lift.
Here - one place, one camera angle, lots of time, lots of stories. Robert Zemeckis pairs back up with his Forrest Gump duo.
Red One - another random citizen picked to help save the day?! And this time to save Santa?! No way!
Skincare - Elizabeth Banks seems to make fun role choices, like this one about an aesthetician who thinks she’s being sabotaged. Kinda weird, but also in kind of a good way.