Eric Prime

#72 The Nice Guys 542 points, 11 lists "So you're telling me you made a porno where the point is the plot?" Box Office: 62.8M Rotten Tomatoes: 91% Metacritic: 70 Awards: 2 Critics Choice Award nominations, 3 Empire Award nominations, 1 Saturn Award nomination Roger Ebert's Review: N/A Its Legacy: Earned a cult classic among buddy comedy and Shane Black fans. Showed the goofier side of Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling. Had a TV show adaptation that never came out developed in 2017. Has people who want a sequel. Gave Matt Bomer a paycheck. Commentary: Right now, everybody’s going nuts over Ryan Gosling and his fantastic work as a comedy actor in...some movie about a doll? I dunno, I forgot the title. But just remember that this wasn’t the first time we saw the man’s silly side. But unlike that film, Shane Black’s The Nice Guys was lost in the shuffle during the 2016 summer box office. And sadly, for whatever reason, this wasn’t able to catch on and get an audience during its theatrical release. However, being a Shane Black production with witty humor, a fun, swinging 70s setting, and a wild mystery that keeps first-time viewers guessing, this was destined to get a cult following from the word “go”. And sure enough, it has. There’s so many fun bits of surreal humor and even slapstick sequences to keep the laughs coming, but both Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe have pitch-perfect chemistry and the twists and turns in the screenplay really make you excited for the ride and the hilarity. Shane Black has largely stayed away from the limelight apart from that terrible Predator movie that may or may not have been ruined by executives, and it doesn’t seem like he has any new projects down the pipeline. So if this is his big finale (again, assumption is his Predator movie wasn’t his fault), at least we had this cult classic that is sure to be loved by a passionate crowd.

#73 Bonnie and Clyde 539 points, 11 lists "This here's Miss Bonnie Parker. I'm Clyde Barrow. We rob banks." Box Office: 70M Rotten Tomatoes: 90% Metacritic: 86 Awards: 2 Academy Awards and 8 nominations, 1 BAFTA Award and 3 nominations, 7 Golden Globe Award nominations, 1 Grammy Award nomination Roger Ebert's Review: "Bonnie and Clyde" is a milestone in the history of American movies, a work of truth and brilliance. It is also pitilessly cruel, filled with sympathy, nauseating, funny, heartbreaking, and astonishingly beautiful. If it does not seem that those words should be strung together, perhaps that is because movies do not very often reflect the full range of human life." Its Legacy: Gave audiences incredible levels of violence never seen before. A landmark of counterculture cinema, influencing The Wild Bunch, The Godfather, True Romance, Natural Born Killers, etc. Made Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway household names. Caused Bosley Crowther to lose his job as New York Times' film critic, with Pauline Kael taking her place. One of the most iconic and gruesome movie endings in history. Gave Gene Wilder a paycheck. Commentary: Like Virginia Woolf, this Arthur Penn-directed classic came out in a weird period where Hollywood was trying to transition into big boy material. The Production Code was limiting the content and level of violence you could show in movies, and the types of characters you could follow. The good guys had to be good, pure people who believed in the right thing. The bad guys always had to get their comeuppance in the end. You couldn’t be too violent, you couldn’t be too sexual, blah blah blah. Well, Bonnie and Clyde disregarded all of that. We were following two criminals who murdered others. We saw people who were into violent exploits just because they were bored. We followed characters who saw a grim end and didn’t learn any lessons. And boy were people mad. Jack Warner was appalled that such a movie was even coming out from his studio. Critics were offended at such violent material, feeling it glorified the idea of murder and that such films would damage our society. But as time goes by, it’s all very laughable. And almost immediately, the public were astonished at something they didn’t even know they wanted. Despite only being in limited theaters, the film caught on as a major sleeper hit. Roger Ebert and Pauline Kael sided with the general public and made sure people knew there was something high-minded and smartly-written about the feature. And now? It’s an iconic and beloved piece of counterculture. And in fact, it was one of the major films to give us the counterculture movement of New Hollywood. Films were allowed to be more open in depicting sex and violence, it was cool counterculture to see these kinds of daring movies, and the power it had on people gave us early hits like The Wild Bunch and The Godfather, and still has influences on more modern movies like The Departed or True Romance. And when you consider how electrifying and fun and exciting and hard-hitting it is over 55 years later...well, yeah, it’s not really a big surprise. This changed Hollywood and everybody is better for it.

Discuss

Discuss

*cracks knuckles* When it comes to animated shows and movies, the people who work on them, outside of voice actors, are in a totally different union called The Animation Guild. What this means is that most animated productions aren't typically filed under the WGA union. There are exceptions, as major shows like Simpsons and Family Guy and Rick and Morty and Big Mouth are under the WGA. And plenty of writers are part of TAG and WGA at the same time. But generally, cartoon shows like Spongebob Squarepants or The Owl House or Adventure Time are not considered WGA shows. This also applies to almost all animated movies as well. So until the SAG-AFTRA strike, there was no real production stoppage for Spongebob or Pixar when the writers began striking. There's a lot of reasons why, mainly because animation used to be storyboard-driven instead of script-driven back in the 1930s, when these unions were first beginning to exist. So a weird gray area that's still kind of around with animated productions. However, that's not really a good thing that there's different unions. Generally speaking, TAG pays less and there's no residuals from any DVD sales, reruns on TV, or merchandise sales. Which you know...very scummy when you think about how these kids show networks will happily reair marathons of Teen Titans Go or Spongebob on a loop and none of the writers who make those hit shows have ever gotten their fair payments outside of some upfront checks. There was even an AngrySo having WGA backage, where things pay better and residuals are a thing, that's just good for everybody. This explains some of the whys better than I could. https://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-writers-strike-animation-20170426-story.html https://www.reuters.com/article/us-screenwriters-strike-animation/writers-seen-turning-to-animation-if-strike-long-idUSN0640254920071108 https://www.cartoonbrew.com/artist-rights/wga-writers-strike-the-animation-guild-228670.html

#348 - Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (62 points, 1 list, avg. ranking #16) #347 - Lady Killer (63 points, 1 list, avg. ranking #38) #346 - A Very Long Engagement (64 points, 1 list, avg. ranking #37) #345 - Practical Magic (65 points, 1 list, avg. ranking #36) #344 - Rock Star (65 points, 1 list, avg. ranking #15) #343 - Dark Victory (66 points, 3 lists, avg. ranking #79) #342 - Richard Jewell (66 points, 3 lists, avg. ranking #55) #341 - The Ninth Configuration, A Walk to Remember (66 points, 2 lists, avg. ranking #68) #340 - Dangerous Liaisons (67 points, 2 lists, avg. ranking #67) #339 - The Skin I Live In, Flipped (67 points, 1 list, avg. ranking #34)

#358 - We're the Millers (59 points, 2 lists, avg. ranking #71) #357 - Thirteen Ghosts (59 points, 2 lists, avg. ranking #50) #356 - Harper (59 points, 1 list, avg. ranking #42) #355 - Trick 'r Treat (61 points, 4 lists, avg. ranking #86) #354 - The Artist (61 points, 3 lists, avg. ranking #66) #353 - The Witches of Eastwick (61 points, 2 lists, avg. ranking #56) #352 - Tiny Toons: How I Spent My Vacation (61 points, 1 list, avg. ranking #40) #351 - Magic Mike (62 points, 3 lists, avg. ranking #80) #350 - Risky Business (62 points, 2 lists, avg. ranking #70) #349 - Trouble with the Curve (62 points, 1 list, avg. ranking #39)

Cool. Tell that to all the conservatives throwing temper tantrums at this movie then.

Allow me to clarify things again. I felt, around the time Loki and Black Widow came out at the same time, that I personally felt oversaturation and exhaustion and that while it did not impact Black Widow, though I can't prove that per se, there could be a bad situation where it will impact the franchise long-term. Is that all clear? Is everything understood now?

I mean the right wingers who are complaining about "wokeness" were never going to see this movie? The kids aren't going to care about this silly nonsense, and we are already seeing a "woke" movie hitting box office records right now as we speak. Not saying Snow White is impervious to bombing or whatever, but right wing media and YouTube grifter silliness impacts nothing.

Moderation Yeah, no. We don't need to do this petty, mean nonsense here. You're more than free to say the upcoming Snow White will bomb/underperform, but stuff like this is absolutely unnecessary.

No. I never even remotely said anything like that. Please do not put words into my mouth.

I know it's still early-ish, but it feels like Lionsgate has already given up on advertising this. You would think they would have put out a trailer for this in time for the biggest movie event for women this year, but they just didn't for some reason. Like we recently got trailers for both Dune and The Marvels, but not this. Do they want to fail? I don't get it.

I've been a proponent for years now, around when we had Loki and Black Widow premiering on the same week, that these shows are hurting the box office of the movies. Even if they were the best shows ever, it's just a bad case of oversaturation. There's no breathing room anymore because there's a new Marvel thing every month now. It's bad for fans, because they never have time to relax or truly enjoy what's coming out, and it's bad for casuals, because now they have a bunch of other things to catch up on if they want to understand what's going on. And while it's obviously not the main culprit, I do think it is hurting the longevity and popularity of the MCU currently for a number of reasons. I can't find a single case, in the history of media, where oversaturation has ever benefited anybody. That in my opinion is far more damaging for The Marvels' box office than it potentially not getting IMAX.

Disappointed Dance the Night isn't at the top of the pack. That's my personal favorite song from the soundtrack.

Bro the IMPACT

I hate that this is what the plot will likely be.

#74 John Wick: Chapter 2 538 points, 13 lists "You wanted me back... I'm back!" Box Office: 174.3M Rotten Tomatoes: 89% Metacritic: 75 Awards: 1 Golden Trailer Award and 1 nomination, 1 Empire Award nomination, 1 Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society Award nomination Roger Ebert's Review: N/A Its Legacy: Elevated John Wick from cult classic to major action franchise. First of the series to feature Laurence Fishburne. Continued Keanu Reeves' resurgence in popularity. Gave Lance Reddick a paycheck. Commentary: Again, this was distributed by WB in the UK. It counts. My countdown, my rules. After John Wick proved to be a solid hit in theaters and on home video, a sequel was set for release. And with Lionsgate impressed by what they saw, they offered Leitch and Stahelski more money and greater opportunity to expand the world and characters only teased in that first movie. And it paid off tremendously. Not just at the box office, which doubled from its predecessor, but also creatively. With more money put into the production, this allowed grander setpieces, slicker action, and a slew of awesome character actors, including Common as a hitman against John Wick who frankly steals the show. There’s also Laurence Fishburne for that oh so sweet Matrix connection, Italian actor Franco Nero, and Swedish actor Peter Stormare. And also Ruby Rose I guess. All of this meant we got a dynamite actioner that took everything great about John Wick and made it bigger and better than ever. From there, you know the rest of the story. Two more sequels, tons of spin-offs all in the works, and John Wick as a franchise becoming one of the most popular and iconic franchises in action movie history. And Chapter Two played a crucial part in all this happening. Showing there was more to the concept than the one movie and even today many fans cite Chapter Two as the best of the franchise. I was one of them at least until Chapter 4 released, but I still love this movie either way. And so do many, many more.

#75 After Hours 526 points, 12 lists "What do you want from me? What have I done? I'm just a word processor, for Christ sake!" Box Office: 10.6M Rotten Tomatoes: 89% Metacritic: 90 Awards: In Competition for Palme D'Or and Best Director win at Cannes, 1 Golden Globe nomination, 1 BAFTA nomination, 2 Independent Spirit Award wins and 3 nominations Roger Ebert's Review: ""After Hours" approaches the notion of pure filmmaking; it's a nearly flawless example of -- itself. It lacks, as nearly as I can determine, a lesson or message, and is content to show the hero facing a series of interlocking challenges to his safety and sanity. It is "The Perils of Pauline" told boldly and well." Its Legacy: One of Martin Scorsese's few forays into comedy. First De Niro-less picture of Scorsese's since Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. Features a jamming soundtrack with Joni Mitchell and Robert & Johnny. Later became the title of a Weeknd album. Gave Griffin Dunne a paycheck. Commentary: Gotta be honest, I didn’t expect this to rank so high here. When I did my Scorsese countdown, it was on the lower end of the totem pole. Yet now, without giving too much away, it got ahead of a few notable Scorsese WB productions...though not all of them of course. And you can probably guess what movies still got ahead of it. But yeah. After Hours. This famed comedy of errors from Martin Scorsese was not a hit when it first came out and was often ignored within Scorsese’s greater canon. But a film this bizarre and hilarious was bound to get a following. And sure enough, it has. It’s a simple story about a guy trying to get back home after a long day at work. But what follows is screwball shenagians, madcap insanity, and sharp satire about the evils of capitalism, all framed around a peculiar protagonist played by Griffin Dunne. Perhaps since my 2021 Scorsese countdown, After Hours has earned an even bigger audience than before. Those who respond to the film’s insights into the working man and the wacky screwball situations. And while it will never be on the level of Wolf of Wall Street, After Hours will always be appreciated as a classic and a wonderfully bizarre and unique piece of Scorsese canon.

Uno is a horror movie. If you don’t say “Uno” in time, you die! 😈

You're the main event of the summer.

Really dude?