Sure, she won an Oscar for The Hurt Locker, but don’t forget Point Break: "Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze are perfectly cast as the undercover FBI agent and surfing criminal whose throbbingly homoerotic relationship plays out amid crashing waves, tumbling freefalls and breathtaking chase sequences.” - The Guardian (UK)
Marketers are leaning in. Wicked and Gladiator II, both releasing November 22, don’t seem to have the same built-in opposition, but they do have the bare minimum: A musical adored by women and gay men, versus the Roman Empire. - San Francisco Chronicle
“This country has endured quite a bit of trauma in recent years, but we are not doing ourselves any favors by continually leaping from ‘problem’ to ‘end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it catastrophe’ about everything.” - Los Angeles Times
That’s right, physical media. DVD sales are down, true - but Blu-Ray sales are climbing, and after Paramount axed the entire Comedy Central website, people may be more interested in ever than owning their own movies and TV shows. - Slate
Kids’ movies, of course. Well … of course, except last year it was Barbie and (in deep, deep second place) Oppenheimer. And in years before the pandemic, superhero movies. Now? It’s Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4. - Vulture
The Malayalam-language film industry, based in the state of Kerala in India's far southwest, never went in for the mythological films or song-dance-melodrama extravaganzas on which Bollywood was built. It simply tells compelling stories about believable people. And it's now breaking out into the rest of India. - The Economist
Slovo Patsana: Krov na Asphalte (roughly, "The Boy's Word: Blood on the Asphalt") "is a warning about what happens when our ability for moral reasoning becomes so impoverished that the most straightforward response to any situation is to punch somebody in the face." - The New York Times Magazine
Media heavyweights are likely due to endure more pain as the year goes on. The political and regulatory environment for mergers and acquisitions is so volatile that there’s little hope of getting a horizontal combination in any form among Paramount, WBD or Comcast/NBCUniversal approved. - Variety
"In a holiday week shocker, Skydance Media and Shari Redstone’s National Amusements Inc. have quietly renewed acquisition talks and have reached a tentative agreement to acquire Paramount Global" — although the studio will reportedly have 45 days to look for a better deal. - Variety
If Zemeckis can achieve that effect in Here, how long can it be before such de-ageing is as common as using hair dye and make-up to knock a few years off an actor's apparent age? - BBC
After 19 days of release, the animated sequel has grossed $469.3 million in North America and $545.5 million internationally for a worldwide tally of $1.015 billion. It’s one of 11 animated films to join the billion-dollar club (eight of which are Disney titles), and it’s the fastest animated release to do so. - Variety
After the museum initially failed to recognize the Jewish founders of the industry in 2021, this year the exhibit aimed at righting this lapse managed to insult and offend instead of making amends. - The Wrap
Said producer/host Fiona Ritchie in a note to listeners, "When I’m asked what I like least about my work, there’s only ever been one answer: the relentless weekly deadlines! Now I want to continue to develop my other interests, including perhaps creating radio moments with more breathing space in-between." - NPR
"Directors Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon have been taken into police custody for questioning on accusations of sexual assault made against them by actress and director Judith Godrèche, … (who) unleashed a fresh #MeToo wave in France this year after (speaking) out about her own experiences of sexual abuse within the (industry)." - Deadline
When we engage with nostalgic media, we are, in essence, engaging with media that attempts to take us home — often to our childhoods, when we weren’t burdened with the stresses of adulthood, or even to a time of perceived simplicity, which we may not have experienced ourselves. - The Conversation
