Eric Prime

#35 Her 945 points, 19 lists "Whatever someone you become, and wherever you are in the world, I'm sending you love. You're my friend to the end. Love, Theodore." Box Office: 48.3M Rotten Tomatoes: 94% Metacritic: 91 Awards: 1 Academy Award and 4 nominations, 1 Critics Choice Award and 5 nominations, 1 Golden Globe Award and 2 nominations, 1 Grammy Award nomination, 2 National Board of Review Awards Its Legacy: Jonze's solo screenwriting debut. Dedicated to James Gandolfini, Harris Savidies, Maurice Sendak, and Adam Yauch. Considered one of the greatest films of the 2010s and 21st century. Ranked #84 on BBC's Top 100 Movies Since 2000. Gave Amy Adams a paycheck. Commentary: The romance story for the modern, digital age. Spike Jonze’s masterpiece, about a man who falls in love with a computer, has a strange and surreal premise to be sure. Yet one that’s ripe for satirizing our modern-day obsession and reliance on modern technology. A premise that is absurdly humorous, as how could anybody find themselves smitten with a robot? A robot that doesn’t even have a physical presence? And a premise that is also hauntingly relatable. A film about our insecurities with finding love, a human connection with others. And we have ourselves a cautionary tale about why it’s important for us to break away from these fears and be with real humans. That to shut ourselves away from the world and love somebody that isn’t even alive has repercussions. It’s a film that feels even more prescient and powerful a decade after release, when all of us had to be forced to be with our computers and away from civilization. Jonze has yet to make another movie since Her released a decade ago (weird to say it’s now a decade old), but I think this was a good note to end things on. One that exemplifies all his eccentricities, his talents, and his humanism in a delightfully witty, emotional, and romantic sci-fi package.

@across the Jat verse could you bless us w/ some Friday numbers? There's nothing else to do right now.

#36 Barry Lyndon 939 points, 13 lists "But Fate had determined that Barry should leave none of his race behind him... that he should finish his life poor, lonely, and childless." Box Office: 31.5M Rotten Tomatoes: 88% Metacritic: 89 Awards: 4 Academy Awards and 3 nominations, 2 BAFTA Awards and 3 nominations, 2 Golden Globe Award nominations Its Legacy: Boasts groundbreaking cinematography. Earned disappointing reception that would become far kinder over the decades. #46 in The Village Voice's Top 250 Films of the 20th Century. Martin Scorsese's favorite Kubrick film. An all-time favorite with Lars von Trier and Akira Kurosawa. Appeared in Sight & Sound's 2012 and 2022 lists. Gave Ryan O'Neal a paycheck. Commentary: There’s a Kubrick movie for everybody. This is a man who dipped his toe into so many genres and stories and characters that everybody’s got a movie they can call their own and consider their favorite. And for me, I’m very much in the Barry Lyndon camp. A big part really is just how easy it is to get lost in the rhythms and vistas Kubrick has created. The painterly cinematography, emphasizing beautiful costumes and gorgeous Irish landscapes, are immaculate within their staging, The score is also a hypnotic one, as it helps you stay entranced by the story and world. Yet what's most fascinating is Redmond Barry himself and how little impact he has as a character. He has a personality, but his kindly nature is intentionally subtle, as his life is basically taken over by other forces and he only submits to it due to his own kindness and meekness. It's a great blank slate that allows us to be in this bizarre world of aristocracy and subverts the typical figure you would find in these period epics. All of this is accentuated by Ryan O'Neal's spacey and offbeat performance, which really does add onto the subversion and unique persona of Redmond. Some would say O’Neal is miscast or poorly performed, but I find his oddities make Redmond and the film itself all the more curious and engaging. Kubrick's mood and tone has always been my personal standout of him as a filmmaker, and this one is one of the best in that regard. Everything clicks to create something unlike anything else, and nothing else comes close, at least with these period dramas. And this getting so high definitely gave me a smile.

#37 A Clockwork Orange 936 points, 16 lists "I was cured, all right!" Box Office: 114M Rotten Tomatoes: 88% Metacritic: 77 Awards: 4 Academy Award nominations, 7 BAFTA Award nominations, 3 Golden Globe Award nominations Its Legacy: One of the most controversial movies of all time. Spawned copycat crimes in Britain that caused the movie to be banned for three decades. Helped relax control over violence in cinema. Referenced and an influence for Reservoir Dogs, Trainspotting, and The Dark Knight, among others. Also referenced/influenced David Bowie, Guns n Roses, U2, My Chemical Romance, Lady Gaga, and Rihanna, among others. #48 on AFI's Top 100 Movies and #70 for their 2007 edition. #75 in Sight & Sound's Director's Poll and #235 for Critics' Poll. Added to the National Film Registry in 2020. Gave Patrick Magee a paycheck. Commentary: Remember when movies were controversial for...actually being controversial? Nowadays, people get pissed when a Star Wars movie subverts expectations or when a Barbie movie says that men are trash. Kids stuff. If you want something actually controversial, look no further here, with this Kubrick classic. One of the most disturbing and violent films ever created, audiences are being asked to follow a criminal. Not a crook with a heart of gold. Not a brute with a tragic backstory. But a man with no heart and soul. An anti-social who loves stealing, raping women, and hurting even his gang of droogs. Alex Delarge is menacing, yet weirdly captivating to watch. He’s a symbol of just how awful and evil our minds can possibly go. And as the story progresses, we see how much our society is at fault for letting such mentally depraved folk get away with what they do. It’s like Joker, but actually good. And like Joker, it spawned a moral panic, which actually led to copycat crimes. So Kubrick’s home country of Britain didn’t allow the movie to play for the longest time, and this film is still banned in numerous countries. This alongside the film’s ultraviolence made it one of the most polarizing and controversial films of the 1970s. Yet as is typical of Kubrick’s work, the film would be re-evaluated and later praised for its distinct visuals, iconic setpieces, and repulsive insights into delinquency and abuse. It still has a strong fanbase and was a crucial part of the New Hollywood scene, allowing violence to be far less censored and showing that audiences were willing to enjoy works that were polarizing, daring, and didn’t fit into your average “good hero” archetype. This was yet another game changer from a studio notorious for putting out tons of game changers.

#38 Gremlins 928 points, 22 lists "You say you hate Thanksgiving and nobody cares, but you say you hate Christmas and people treat you like you're a leper." Box Office: 212.9M Rotten Tomatoes: 86% Metacritic: 70 Awards: 5 Saturn Awards and 4 nominations, 1 Young Artist Award and 1 nomination Its Legacy: Created the PG-13 rating. Became a merchandising powerhouse. Inspired other horror movie knock-offs like Ghoulies, Troll, Hobgoblins, and Munchies. Gave the name for the Scottish rock band Mogwai. Characters would later appear in The Lego Batman Movie, Space Jam: A New Legacy, Lego Dimensions, and MultiVersus. Spawned a sequel and animated television series. Gave Howie Mandel a paycheck. Commentary: If you hear the term “Christmas movie”, a very specific image likely comes to your mind. One with wholesome stories, cutesy images, wacky slapstick, maybe a goofy comedian or a cute kid in the centerpiece? All of them being about the joys of the season. Being with loved ones, enjoying time with your fellow man, and loving life to all its fullest. Home Alone, It’s a Wonderful Life, Silent Night Deadly Night Part 2. All the wholesome family classics. Gremlins is not that. It’s a Christmas movie that is all about a bunch of demented little monsters maiming others and causing mayhem, the little buggers getting blown up in a microwave, suburbia satire full of eccentric townsfolk, and the only semblance of Santa Claus being a teenager’s dad falling down the chimney and snapping their neck. It’s crude, mean, and frankly has no business being a Christmas movie. It’s also fucking awesome. With incredible special effects, sequences that are both terrifying and hilarious, and a lot of naughty bits in a kids movie that probably shouldn’t have been for kids, this was the Christmas movie for the anarchist inside all of us. And this summertime hit would go on to earn a massive fan following even decades later, with a recent animated series premiering on Max earlier this year, and people enjoying this as an annual tradition. It’s the kind of kids movie that makes you feel like an adult while watching, because it’s so crass and cool and dangerous. And that’s the kind of movie we sadly don’t get anymore with everything so sanitized. Thankfully, we’re still around passing this hit to future generations, giving them a gateway to the world of horror comedy.

You monster. How dare you think differently!

So is Deadline not gonna update us today? That would be disappointing.

I mean I do remember JDW being solid enough in BlacKkKlansman, even if he was upstaged by all the other actors. And I do think Tenet has issues of just being an undercooked mess that it's not totally his fault he ain't that good as The Protagonist (though again, Pattinson upstages him). So the jury is still out on him IMO, but I don't see anything in any of The Creator's trailers that get me excited for him acting-wise. But again, he has the excuse that Gareth Edwards sucks and can't direct actors for shit, so he still can get a few more strikes before he's knocked out.

This is me with every studio comedy that comes out. I love the genre, want it to do well, trying to support them best I can...but I know they're always going to bomb and they're going to be trash every time Strays is dropping next week and it honest to god looks like one of the worst movies ever created. Every single "HAHAHAHA DOGS ARE SWEARING" gag they pull makes me want to jab my eyes out.

Yep. The Creator's going to be hilarious. Because unlike Edwards' other movies, where he works with good actors, he now has to use a bad one. Going to be a real treat of a movie, this one.

30 minutes of good and 90 minutes of bad still means the film is bad. And frankly, people overhype that final act way too much, espeically when we're still following a bunch of boring cardboard cutouts who you don't care about.

Well if he says it's a good time, then it has to be, right?

Everything about that movie is such a wasted opportunity. A waste of a good story, a waste of good actors, a waste of good visuals. It’s a film that gets worse and worse every time I think about it, especially when Zombie CG Cushing gave us this AI deepfake bullshit that SAG is trying to stop and studios are exploiting like crazy to save money. It’s one of those rare hit movies people like where I genuninely don’t get the appeal. At all. No understanding whatsoever.

Rogue One is the rare movie where so many talented actors are utterly wasted. Like what was Peter Cushing trying to do with his part?

Reddevil, go to bed.

Though yeah, I was a huge Mr. Robot stan when I was 18, so Rami Malek was my whole personality for a while and I thought he could do no wrong. Still have a soft spot I guess, but he has really started to follow the Johnny Depp route and become an annoying one trick pony with every movie he is in. Only time he was against his annoying twitchy schtick was Bohemian Rhapsody, which was…well, yeah. Really hope he does something new and interesting before it’s too late.

Um…Riz Ahmed isn’t in Oppenheimer, honey.

I trust Erik Davis’ opinions with my life tbh

The main difference is that vampires are a more interesting concept that offers more creativity and iconography to play around with. You can’t even use the Karloff version of Frankenstein for your visual style. Stuff like Buffy, Interview with the Vampire, True Blood, Twilight, etc. also likely help keep the vampire concept alive, and thereby Dracula and his story alive Used to think that Mr. Robot was basically an angsty Robin Hood and that it would be a good show to use as a framework for a Sherlock-style Robin Hood movie. Still would be down for that, so long as you avoid the pretentious silliness in that show.

Pretty sure Jolie was replaced by Gal Gadot. Now that was a bullet we dodged big time lmao

Didn’t know Frankie was a hot topic these days, but I approve. Universal Monsters > your faves

Huh. I enjoyed Lost Daughter, so I’m curious even if I know it won’t match James Whale at all.

I know about the Del Toro one, but what’s this about a Bride of Frankenstein remake?

Pretty sure that’s the case? IIRC they were going to have a Creature remake for the Dark Universe with ScarJo. Not sure as the girl or the monster. But…well you know