Things are about to get real spicy
In This Week's Edition: I explain things for the newbs, the sandworms return in force in Dune: Part Two and The Flix tries to create its own Barbenheimer situation (not really)
THE QUOTE đŹ đŹ
âEverything is the same, even if itâs different.â
hint: from a movie where lots of words are spoken and yet it could be questioned if anything was actually said
THINK THOUGHTS đ
Welcome to all new people that signed up since last week. Itâs great to have you. đȘ©
I did a teensy bit of self-promotion on my Instagram and hoody hoo, some people were curious enough to check this whole thing out.
Right, so what is âthis thing?â If youâve been reading for a while, you know what it is. Itâs a newsletter about new movies, simple enough. Or at least I thought that was the case. Until I was talking to my mom (hi mom!) over the weekend and she says to me âSo I watched that Mea Culpa movie you recommended in your newsletter. It was⊠interesting. Lots of sex scenes!â đš
đł
While yes I did highlight Tyler Perryâs steamy new thriller in the Extra Credits đ section last week, I did not in fact recommend it. I know the distinction seems pedantic, but itâs an important one.
My goal with WIT+ is to make you readers aware of all the noteworthy and / or interesting new releases each week across theaters and streamers with hopefully some, well, wit1. Good movies, bad movies and definitely some weird movies. Youâll read about them all. I essentially wanna be the newsletter equivalent of the friend who at any moment you can pester âhey hey, so whatâs coming out this weekend?â and come away with a decent sense of things - while avoiding spoilers2.
But within all that, to be clear, I donât write reviews. Because for the most part, I havenât seen the movies Iâm talking about. Iâm building from the criticsâ takes Iâve I read, the interviews I digest, the previous movies Iâve watched and the long time Iâve spent working in the entertainment industry marketing movies (which helps me parse through the promo materials and press spin).
Do I have personal attachments and opinions? Um, yes. Do they seep into my highlights? Assuredly to some extent. But even if I think some movie looks like the dumbest drivel Iâve ever seen but itâs still for some reason or another notable? Yeah, youâll read about it here.
Youâll also get snippets of the weekâs most interesting Newsy Bits đŸ and some general movie-focused contemplation up here in Think Thoughts đ.
Thereâs also the Trailers âŻïž section where I put all the latest into one big playlist, calling out the more significant ones.
But thatâs kind of it otherwise. So whether itâs your first time or youâre skipping / trudging through year 7 of reading, I hope that explanation was helpful. But if it wasnât, I always appreciate feedback / commentary / hate mail (keeps things interesting), so please drop a line by replying in email or commenting on Substack if youâre feeling it.
Side note - if youâre wondering how I discern between a Notable New Release đïž & đș movie and an Extra Credit đ movie, Iâd say itâs definitely a feel thing, but the gist is that if itâs in Extra Credit đ, itâs likely to be a bit more slight (e.g. a cheaper streaming launch or less big deal limited theatrical release), but still significant for the platform or stars, or it simply may be for a very specific audience.
NEWSY BITS đŸ
Warner Bros. Discovery halts merger talks with Paramount Global, sources say (Full Article): does one less suitor make some sort of Paramount deal less likely? Maybe, but still seems more probable than not something happens soon(ish) - CNBC
Tyler Perry Puts $800M Studio Expansion on Hold After Seeing OpenAIâs Sora: âJobs Are Going to Be Lostâ (Full Article): this is in response to the launch announcement from OpenAI about Sora, the text to video tool they just released last week which is causing a big reaction. Noting Perryâs response because it shows how AI is having real and immediate impacts. Perry said heâs already used AI in a couple upcoming projects, even as heâs stated heâs somewhat scared of it. - The Hollywood Reporter
EXTRA CREDIT MOVIE(S) đ
The Greatest Love Story Never Told - Jennifer Lopez made a documentary about the making of the movie she self-funded for $20 million, which is essentially a giant ass-music video for her new album, which sheâll support via her upcoming tour. SYNERGY BITCHES. But just because sheâs a damn good capitalist, doesnât mean she isnât giving (some of) the people what they want. And if (some of) you want a well told, if obviously manicured, look into J. Loâs journey of love and self-discovery, the reviews say itâs actually not such a bad version of that. Streaming on Amazon Prime Now
NOTABLE NEW RELEASES đ & đș
Dune: Part Two
When a sequel for a movie I've written about comes out, l usually like to look back and see what I wrote the first go âround. Not surprisingly for Dune: Part One I dug into the book upon which the movies are basedâŠ
âThere's world building, it deals with politics, large themes around environmentalism, humanity, religion and it doesn't necessarily feed you emotional attachment. But what makes the book great also makes it somewhat difficult to pare down (sensing a theme?). Which means it has had this silly word oft attached to it - "unfilmable." And I don't know, because I'm not one, but that almost seems like a challenge to a filmmaker.â
But with Part Two, weâre in a whole other word (well, not like in the movie sense, weâre still on Arrakis mostly), because the non-bibliophiles have been exposed to the imagination-baby that author Frank Herbet conjured into consciousness that director Denis Villeneuve finally translated for an audience as broad as the bookâs scale.
I use the word translate purposefully, because on the press tour for Part Two, Villeneuve has spoken about his filmmaking approach and it could be viewed as a sort of antithesis to the language of novels, âFrankly, I hate dialogueâŠI donât remember movies because of a good line, I remember movies because of a strong image. Iâm not interested in dialogue at all. Pure image and sound, that is the power of cinema, but it is something not obvious when you watch movies today.â
And hey, even if plenty of people will disagree with him, itâs a method thatâs allowed him to create some pretty magnificent and well received movies. Because in essence, no matter what âlanguageâ you use, at the end of it all youâre still trying to convey a story. And itâs not like books donât create images in your head, itâs just that they can be a bit amorphous. Film has to be concrete.
But while a series of movies based on Dune begs for scope and visual grandeur, there are those who may feel detached by Villeneuveâs manner (as some did with Part One). Itâs a clash between the intimate and the immense. Because when youâre tracking the individual who may be the savior / downfall of the known universe, you kinda have to make people care about those humans thatâll be affected by his actions. Personally I felt the bigness of the first helped bring me in vs shut me out.
And even if Villeneuve says he ultimately works to make you feel through his camera shots, he still hired a heck of a cast to aid in bringing humanity to them. Youâll see the OGâs from the first part (TimothĂ©e Chalamet as Paul Atreides, Rebecca Ferguson as his mother Lady Jessica, plus lots more of Zendaya and Javier Bardem), in fact, youâll see them right away as this is truly a âpart twoâ vs sequel as it picks up right after the first part ended, yet expands into a much larger, and action heavy, story. But youâll also - finally - get to see Christopher Walken as the Emperor, Austin Butler going all in (again) as Feyd-Rautha, nephew to Baron Harkonnen (the creepy floating dude from the first movie) and Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan (IYKYK).
But if you just ignore all the discussion of tactics and style for a second, itâs worth approaching this movie for what it is, a âvision directed blockbuster.â By that I mean a movie which cost lots of money and will (likely) make a lot of money in return, but also one that has a director with a very particular point of view bringing it to life. Iâm not saying other blockbuster-type endeavors donât have people trying to make them great or with a sense of what they want to achieve, but I think itâs fair to argue Villeneuve has more leeway, and talent, to make the movie he wants than someone else bound by the studio-gods.
I point that out because itâs rare. Most movies of this scale are superhero movies and (understandably) have certain restrictions. So however you come away from it feeling, entranced or distant, hopefully (and likely based on the critical reaction - see RT score below) the former, itâs worth assessing the experience with the above thought in mind.
But no matter whatâs bouncing âround your head after, youâll have time to think on them as you wait for Part Three⊠đ§
Out: Thursday
Where: Theaters
Details: 2 hrs 46 mins | PG-13 | đ : 96%
Spaceman
They planned this, right? Netflix I mean. How could they not have? Releasing an Adam Sandler movie the same weekend Dune: Part Two comes out. I mean come ooooon.
????
Donât act all confused, you know what Iâm talking about. Sandler, aka âThe Sandman,â bumping shoulders Dune, aka âthe sand movie.â âł I mean, duuuh. Itâs so freakinâ obvious! A streamer trying to get in on some of that synergy love a la Barbenheimer. But timeâs up Netflix âïž, we caught your ass and you canât fool us fans, we smart-smart. Weâre not someâŠ
âŠâŠ..!! âŠ.!! âŠ! ..!!!!!!!!!!
Waaaaait a second, youâre not trying to tell me this is the tiniest of pure coincidences and Iâm just grasping in order to create a narrative around a hard to explain, somewhat docile looking sci-fi drama featuring Adam Sandler - a man generally known for his some might say sophomoric comedic endeavors, but who has come to be appreciated as a dramatic actor as well, so seeing him in a role where he plays a lonely astronaut hurtling through space thatâs concurrently having marital issues w/ his wife (Carrey Mulligan) back on earth, which are only reflected upon and worked on after he encounters an alien creature that takes the form of an ape-sized spider that originally appears from Sandlerâs mouth (yeah, if you have arachnophobia, you might wanna avoid this one). Because I mean I guess itâs technically possible. ButâŠ.
Nah. That ainât it. Itâs marketing. Itâs aaaallllllll marketing.
Out: Friday
Where: Netflix
Details: 1 hr 48 mins | R | đ : 61%
TRAILERS! ⯠âItâs a buncha⊠âŠstuff, stuffâ
The Watches - Itâs a buncha⊠weird creepy psychological sci-fi horror movie âŠstuff, stuff.
Horizon: An American Saga - Itâs a buncha⊠90âs style western âŠstuff, stuff.
Boy Kills World - Itâs a buncha⊠elevated B-movie shoot people in the face with some comedic commentary âŠstuff, stuff.
I Saw the TV Glow - Itâs a buncha⊠artsy, very A24 viby (cuz it is) âŠstuff, stuff.
Daddio - Itâs a buncha⊠talking between two people, and only two people âŠstuff, stuff.
get the title now?
thatâs what reviews are for