Eric Prime

Just a few more weeks and we approach the M3GAN Sweep

#14 Miller’s Crossing 90 points, 15 lists "Nobody knows anybody. Not that well." #3 placements: 3 Top 5 placements: 4 Box Office: $5.1M Rotten Tomatoes: 93% Metacritic: 76 Awards: Critics Award at Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival, Grand Prix nomination at the Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics. Its Legacy: Ranked in Time and Total Film's Top 100 list. Ranked the 24th best crime movie by The Guardian. Gave Jon Polito a paycheck. Commentary: Like Blood Simple, we have a sharp, well-told noir story with great dialogue, humor, and set pieces. And through it all are some incredible performances. There’s Gabriel Byrne as the shady protagonist who causes two rival gangs to go after one another, John Turturro as the man supposedly whacked, and the two lead gangsters portrayed by Albert Finney and the late great Jon Polito. His performance as Johnny Caspar is my personal favorite work of his and it still hurts that he’s no longer with us. But within this classic gangster tale is a film with a memorable script and unexpected directions that get you invested and afraid of what’s soon to come. You can’t get much better than that if I’m being honest. It was ultimately overshadowed by other gangster pics from 1990 like Goodfellas and Godather 3, understandably so. But that only makes the fans of the movie seem like the cool kids for knowing something seemingly so obscure. And that's all that matters, really.

#15 Blood Simple 86 points, 16 lists "Well, if the pay's right, I'll do it." Top 5 placements: 1 Box Office: $2.7M Rotten Tomatoes: 93% Metacritic: 83 Awards: Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, 2 Independent Spirit Awards Roger Ebert's Review: "The genius of "Blood Simple" is that everything that happens seems necessary. The movie's a blood-soaked nightmare in which greed and lust trap the characters in escalating horror. The plot twists in upon itself. Characters are found in situations of diabolical complexity. And yet it doesn't feel like the film is just piling it on. Step by inexorable step, logically, one damned thing leads to another." Its Legacy: The one that started it all. The first feature film for Carter Burwell and Frances McDormand. Placed #10 on Roger Ebert's Best of 1985. Part of the Criterion Collection. Gave M. Emmett Walsh a paycheck. Commentary: It’s the one that started it all. Joel and Ethan’s big debut is pretty fascinating when you think about it. Last year, I did a Martin Scorsese countdown. And his first film, Who’s That Knocking at my Door, was well-regarded, but generally considered sloppy and messy and inferior to future works that explored its themes and ideas a lot better. Blood Simple isn’t really that. While still one of the lower-ranked films, pretty much all the Coen trademarks are here and done perfectly. Great editing, great music, an engaging plot full of twists and turns, a fair amount of dark humor and eccentric characters, and a strong visual style to tie it all together. It would still take a while before Fargo became their big, huge, major breakout, but this neo-noir has everything you could want in a Coen film. Action, violence, comedy, and Frances McDormand. And it’s done incredibly well. Some will argue better than some of the guys’ later revered work. And it shows really how some directors can just nail it right out of the park. Even the best can’t make those claims.

#16 The Tragedy of MacBeth 59 points, 12 lists "By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes..." Top 5 placements: 2 Box Office: $524,771 Rotten Tomatoes: 92% Metacritic: 87 Awards: 3 Academy Award nominations, AFI's Top 10 Films of the Year, 1 BAFTA nomination, 2 Critics Choice Award nominations, 1 Golden Globe nomination, 1 NAACP Image Award nomination, 3 National Board of Review wins, 1 SAG Award nomination Its Legacy: Joel Coen's first movie without his brother. One of the premier attractions for Apple TV+. Will probably be shown in high schools for years to come. Gave Corey Hawkins a paycheck. Commentary: Movies based on Shakespeare are always present. Macbeth is no exception to this. You got all the silent film versions, you got the Orson Welles movie, the Polanski one, the Fassbender one. There's even one made that starred Sam Worthington of all people. And if you want to be that guy, you also have the one made by Akira Kurosawa and the Disney version with the talking lions. Joel Coen's The Tragedy of Macbeth is perhaps one of the most fascinating interpretations of the classic work. The minimalist sets and emphasis on fog and shadows takes this popular story into a whole new world of unique visual language. Not only does this minimalism emphasize the story’s theater roots, but also creates a foreboding dread, symbolizing Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s twistedness and despair into madness. And even outside of the unique visuals, full of shadows and contrasts, this is a movie that boasts two fantastic lead performances from both Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, a wonderful supporting cast, and an engaging take on the greatest writer ever. While Macbeth isn’t my personal favorite Shakespeare story, this film managed to really make something that has stiff characters and retreaded plots and makes something really fun and enthralling. Guess that shows how good Joel Coen (his brother was nowhere in sight) is as a director. Taking something this old and breathing new life, making it feel as if we are listening to this story for the first time. I like that.

Honey you are NOT dissing Rihanna nor Ariana in this house.

Would Taylor Swift even be interested in making an Avatar song? Is she a big fan of the movie?

...Ye was running for president?

I mean a mid-teens opening for Violent Night sounds right even in the best circumstances. I think it looks really cool, but "Santa killing terrorists" is a Snakes on a Plane-style goofy premise not everybody was going to get behind or be interested in. I guess maybe it could have opened in the high teens or 20s and do 50-60M, but it wasn't ever going to reach 100M.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish Greater Philadelphia Area Seat Report T-18 and Counting Sellouts Showings Seats Sold Total Seats Perct Sold TOTALS 0 73 491 11535 4.26% Total Seats Sold Today: 2 Total Seats WITHOUT Early Access: 24 Comp w/ Early Access 0.332x of Sing 2 T-20 (3.23M) 1.206x of Sonic 2 T-20 (7.54M) 7.116x of Minions 2 T-20 (76.5M) Comp w/out Early Access 0.333x of Sing 2 T-20 (2.71M) 0.059x of Sonic 2 T-20 (368K) 0.348x of Minions 2 T-20 (3.74M)

Avatar: The Way of Water Greater Philadelphia Area Seat Report T-12 and Counting Sellouts Showings Seats Sold Total Seats Perct Sold TOTALS 0 152 2016 26516 7.60% Total Seats Sold Today: 62 Comp 2.383x of F9 T-12 (16.92M) 2.851x of Venom 2 T-12 (33.08M) 3.205x of No Time to Die T-12 (20.19M) 2.816x of Dune T-12 (14.36M) 3.811x of Fantastic Beasts 3 T-12 (22.87M) 1.301x of Top Gun 2 T-12 (25.07M) 1.099x of Jurassic World 3 T-12 (19.79M)

Discuss

@Blankments @WrathOfHan 🥰 11x: Shazam! Fury of the Gods: Minions: The Rise of Gru, DC League of Super Pets, Don't Worry Darling, See How They Run, Ticket to Paradise, Till, The Banshees of Inisherin, Black Adam, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Strange World, The Fabelmans 8x: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: Bodies Bodies Bodies, Breaking, Jaws, Barbarian, Avatar, See How They Run, Pearl, Till 6x: The Fabelmans: Bros, Tar, Ticket to Paradise, Till, The Banshees of Inisherin, Armageddon Time The Menu: Men, The Lost Boys, Bros, Ticket to Paradise, Dawn of the Dead 3D, The Banshees of Inisherin Strange World: Lightyear, Thor: Love and Thunder, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Minions: The Rise of Gru, DC League of Super Pets Puss in Boots: The Last Wish: The Bad Guys, Lightyear, Marcel the Shell, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Minions: The Rise of Gru, DC League of Super Pets 5x: She Said: Where the Crawdads Sing, The Woman King, See How They Run, Moonage Daydream, Ticket to Paradise Avatar: The Way of Water: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Bones and All, Strange World 4x: I Wanna Dance with Somebody: The Woman King, Don't Worry Darling, Bros, Bones and All Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: Dog, Uncharted, The Guide, RRR Oppenheimer: Nope, Jaws, Avatar, The Fabelmans 3x: Bones and All: The Lost Boys, Smile, Dawn of the Dead 3D The Inspection: Pearl, Till, The Banshees of Inisherin Empire of Light: See How They Run, The Banshees of Inisherin, Armageddon Time Women Talking: Till, Bones and All, Armageddon Time M3GAN: Dawn of the Dead 3D, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Bones and All Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, The Menu, Strange World Creed III: Till, Black Adam, Bones and All The Super Mario Bros. Movie: Black Adam, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Strange World 2x: Devotion: Phantom of the Open, The Woman King Glass Onion: A Knives Out Story: Ticket to Paradise, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Violent Night: Black Adam, The Menu Spoiler Alert: Bros, Tar The Whale: The Menu, The Fabelmans A Man Called Otto: The Banshees of Inisherin, The Fabelmans House Party: Dawn of the Dead 3D, Black Adam Plane: Dawn of the Dead 3D, Black Adam The Son: The Banshees of Inisherin, Armageddon Time Knock at the Cabin: Don't Worry Darling, The Fabelmans Magic Mike's Last Dance: Bones and All, The Menu John Wick: Chapter 4: Bullet Train, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever The Flash: Uncharted, The Batman The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: Lightyear, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom: Uncharted, The Batman 1x: Babylon: Smile Living: Till Missing: The Menu Jesus Revolution: Ticket to Paradise Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves: Smile Chevalier: The Menu Elemental: Strange World Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1: Top Gun: Maverick Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre: The King's Man The Unbreakable Boy: King Richard White Bird: A Wonder Story: Thor: Love and Thunder

@Blankments will give you mine later today after I see Armageddon Time, but how the hell do you put up with seeing a trailer 26 times? Or 22 times? I can't imagine watching something even 10 times would ever be tolerable.

Hilarious that Disney's continuing the tradition Bones made over a decade ago. Can't wait for the Grey's Anatomy episode themed around Avatar 3 in two years.

True Lies is pretty messed up though. They literally had Arnie use all his resources to stalk and traumatize his wife just so they could find a contrived way for her to be in the third act. It's so uncomfortable to watch this stuff unfold, even with Bill Paxton's character being funny.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish Greater Philadelphia Area Seat Report T-19 and Counting Sellouts Showings Seats Sold Total Seats Perct Sold TOTALS 0 73 489 11535 4.24% Total Seats Sold Today: 0 Total Seats WITHOUT Early Access: 22 Comp w/ Early Access 0.332x of Sing 2 T-21 (3.23M) 1.219x of Sonic 2 T-21 (7.62M) 7.087x of Minions 2 T-21 (76.18M) Comp w/out Early Access 0.333x of Sing 2 T-21 (2.71M) 0.055x of Sonic 2 T-21 (343K) 0.319x of Minions 2 T-21 (3.43M)

Avatar: The Way of Water Greater Philadelphia Area Seat Report T-13 and Counting Sellouts Showings Seats Sold Total Seats Perct Sold TOTALS 0 152 1954 26516 7.37% Total Seats Sold Today: 102 Comp 2.489x of F9 T-13 (17.67M) 2.895x of Venom 2 T-13 (33.58M) 3.340x of No Time to Die T-13 (21.04M) 2.899x of Dune T-13 (14.78M) 3.947x of Fantastic Beasts 3 T-13 (23.68M) 1.356x of Top Gun 2 T-13 (26.12M) 1.118x of Jurassic World 3 T-13 (20.12M)

You say that, but there's also these thumbnails. They already got the knives out.