Mark Hamill on ‘The Last Jedi’: “They had time for me to milk that alien but to show human emotions, nah…”

Mark Hamill's interviews promoting "The Last Jedi" back in December were fascinating to watch. The 66-year-old-actor seemed to be somewhat bitter or, at the very least, troubled by the way Luke Skywalker was treated in Episode 8 by director Rian Johnson.

Hamill is back this week criticizing Disney for making him milk that disgusting sea cow and "not even having a short scene where Luke shows human emotions." Yikes. He doesn't seem to give two fucks about it either. The 66-year-old actor can't help but let his real thoughts slip into the fray. That's why we adore the guy, but, honestly, why even bother come back for Episode 9, I mean, I know Rian Johnson is gone and Abrams is back, but Disney probably don't want him near the next installment, especially since "The Last Jedi" made $200+ million less than "The Force Awakens." Hamill has insulted their product on countless occasions. What other actor would do that to Disney? It's not that I disagree with his sentiments and reservations for TLJ, it's just that he's shown no respect to them in countless interviews. I would be peeved off if I were Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy.

I gathered a up a few stories that had to do with Hamill criticizing Disney and "The Last Jedi."

Mark Hamill Thinks Star Wars Prequels Were More Original Than Force Awakens

Mark Hamill Wishes Disney Gave George Lucas' Advice More Weight

Mark Hamill doesn't know if he likes The Last Jedi or not

Mark Hamill seems none too pleased about how Disney didn't pre-plan an overall arc for the new trilogy beforehand

Mark Hamill 'Struggled' With Luke Wanting To End The Jedi

Mark Hamill Says 'He's Not My Luke Skywalker'

“It Chapter 2" Officially Casts Jessica Chastain as Beverly, Also in Talks are Bill Hader as Richie and James McAvoy as Bill

Director Andy Muschietti's horror remake of Stephen King's clown opus “It” was a box-office smash last fall. It even surpassed "The Exorcist" at the top spot and became the highest-grossing horror movie in box-office history, nabbing more than $327M at the domestic box-office. Incredible numbers, so much so that a sequel was inevitable, and, as we quickly learned, was in the works only a few weeks after the film's September release. 

The focus of this aforementioned second chapter would be on the main kids, but all grown up some thirty years later, but Pennywise the clown still looming and torturing them in the creaky darkness. Muschietti wasn't shy in his insistence to have Jessica Chastain play grown-up Beverly, the redhead, and we had heard of serious talks between the actress and Warner Brothers pictures occurring as early as this past winter. 

Well, THR is now reporting that those talks have translated into Chastain being officially cast for the sequel. However, that's not the only bombshell we received yesterday evening, we also learned that none other than James McAvoy and Bill Hader were now themselves in serious negotiations to join the sequel. McAvoy is supposedly sought to play the role of adult Bill Denbrough, and Hader would be playing Richie Tozier, the dirty-mouthed comedic relief of the "losers club."

"It Chapter 2" will be adapted from King‘s horror novel, which was about a group of childhood friends, that once battled a supernatural clown, returning to their hometown as adults only learn that same evil still exists. If fans were praying for casting to be well thought-out for this much-anticipated sequel, then their wishes have surely been granted. Chastain was strongly pushed as a fan favorite to play Bev and both Hader and McAvoy are strong, resiliently talented actors that will no doubt bring a ton of charisma to their respective roles.  Also, Muschietti and Chastain previously worked together on the horror film “Mama,” an underseen gem released earlier this decade. Bill Skarsgård will, of course, be back as the shape-shifting clown from hell, Pennywise.

“It: Chapter 2” opens on September 6, 2019. 

The upcoming ‘Dark Crimes’ starring Jim Carrey will, sadly, not be his comeback vehicle

Jim Carrey hasn't had a lead role since his misbegotten turn in 2014’s "Dumb and Dumber To." All things considered, Carrey hasn't really had a "great" movie since 2004's 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." Sure, "I Love You Phillip Morris" was a watchable venture for the actor, but look at everything else he's starred in since ESOTSM: "Lemony Snickets," "Fun With Dick and Jane," The Number 23," "Yes Man," "A Christmas Carol," "Mr. Poppers Penguins" and "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone." Yikes. And this is coming from someone that was a Carrey addict during his incredible stretch of films which started in 1994 with three comedy classics ("The Mask," "Ace Ventura," "Dumb and Dumber"), and then switched on to four high-quality dramas ("The Cable Guy," "The Truman Show,"  "Man on the Moon," and ESOTSM). 

"Dark Crimes" will likely not be in the same class as the aforementioned, the film wrapped up production on December 13th, 2015 and has been in pre-production hell, it seems, ever since.The film is directed by director Alexandros Avranas (Miss Violence, Love Me Not) and stars Carrey as Tadek, a Polish detective obsessed with a murder case.

Based on an article published in 2008 by New Yorker, the film also stars Agata Kulesza, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kati Outinen, Zbigniew Zamachowski, and Marton Csokas.

It's set for release on DIRECTV April 19th and opens in theaters May 18th.

Ann Miller recording the sound of her tap dancing for the film Reveille With Beverly, 1943

Shane Black’s “The Predator”: Most of Third Act Was Rewritten, Says Its Star

The secrecy surrounding Shane Black's reboot of "Predator" has been very well maintained. 

“The Predator” was originally scheduled for release March 2nd, 2018, then pushed back to February 9th, then pushed forward to August 3rd and now the release seems to be September 14th. Why the flurry of date shifts you ask? Well, we finally have our answer. The film's entire third act was rewritten.

Actor/comedian Keegan-Michael Key stars in the film and told Cinema Blend in an interview that rewrites and re-shoots happened:

“We just finished [reshoots] last week, and just about three-quarters of the third act was rewritten,” Key said. “And Shane Black is… he’s just a consummate professional, and a consummate writer. He’s a wordsmith! It was a really, really exhilarating experience, and I think that he’s still one of our most vibrant writers of cinema.”

Black is coming off the success of "The Nice Guys," which brought him back to "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang," buddy cop mode. Before that he was struggling to attain creative freedom for "Iron Man 3," but that film did end up becoming one of the more pleasant entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and a Christmas classic as far as I'm concerned.)

Black started off his career as a 27-year-old whiz-kid screenwriter, writing the screenplays for films such as "Lethal Weapon," "The Last Boy Scout," "The Last Action Hero" and "The Long Kiss Goodnight."

Orson Welles’ Daughter Pleads for Netflix to ‘Reconsider’ Cannes Ban

Orson Welles' daughter is pleading for Cannes and Netflix to come to a mutual agreement to show "The Other Side of the Wind" at the major film festival. 

Beatrice Welles sent the email to Netflix executive Ted Sarandos (via Variety) saying: “I was very upset and troubled to read in the trade papers about the conflict with the Cannes Film Festival. I have to speak out for my father.”

“I saw how the big production companies destroyed his life, his work, and in so doing a little bit of the man I loved so much,” Beatrice continued. “I would so hate to see Netflix be yet another one of these companies.”

“Please reconsider and let my father’s work be the movie that bridges the gap between Netflix and Cannes.” 

The film, an abandoned project that was shot in the 1970s, was finally completed by Welles' protege, director, Peter Bogdanovich this year. Netflix jumped on-board at the opportunity to restore this "lost" film when every iother studio balked. 

Beatrice also sent an email to Cannes director Thierry Fremaux, who replied by saying ‘Wind’ is“an extraordinary film. Much more than a historical film. A message from Orson Welles to the world of cinema today.”

If Netflix could make an exception it would be for this film, which doesn't need to be in competition and could just play in the Cannes Classics sidebar.

“Ocean’s 8" has a new trailer

We still don't really know anything about this spinoff of Steven Soderbergh's classic heist flick “Ocean’s 8.” . What we do know is that it's not a remake or reboot, the cast is great though. I'm praying this gets a decent script. Don't puck it up Warner Bros. We don't need another "Ghostbusters" debacle where the entire online community starts hating on the film before it even screens.

Because humor is, in a way, subjective with the “Ocean’s” films, this stands a much better chance at being successful as compared to “Ghosbusters,” which had to heavily rely on humor. Also look at the great cast that has been assembled here: Blanchett, Bullock, Hathaway and Carter are some of the best actresses of their generations, but Rihanna? I’m skeptical about that casting choice but I presume she won’t get much screen time either.

In a way, the mediocre sequels that followed Soderbergh’s original 2001 “Ocean’s 11" are definitely going to help make the case for this all-female version. For the time being I’ll leave you with this relevant line from comedian John Mulaney. This was said way before there was any talk of this film even happening.

"A heist film can't work with women. You couldn't do Ocean's 11 with women. It won't work because 2 of them would always be breaking off to talk shit about the other 9." - John Mulaney

Fingers crossed that it doesn’t end up being another “Ghostbusters,” though. “Ocean’s 8” opens on June 8th.

Shock: Cannes lineup includes new films by Panahi, Spike Lee, and Godard, but snubs Nemes, Von Trier, Ceylan, De Palma, Leigh, Sorrentino, Hansen-Love, Denis, Guadagnino, Cuaron, Greengrass, Malick, and Welles.

The official selection here.

Jeffrey Wells over at HE has said this is the weakest Cannes lineup anyone can remember.  

"Telluride’s Tom Luddy and Julie Huntsinger are having champagne for breakfast. I know titles will be added, of course, but right now, what a letdown. Lame. Weak tea. The Netflix withdrawal was devastating, decimating."

I will say this, at the moment, we do have notable titles that might be fantastic, palme d'or worthy stuff, but the lineup mostly consists of under-the-radar filmmakers that could surprise or could let-down. 

I'm particularly excited for Asghar Farhadi‘s "Everybody Knows" (although advanced buzz should steer me off otherwise), Pawel Pawlikowski‘s "Cold War" is the director's follow-up to his critical triumph "Ida,"David Robert Mitchell’s "Under The Silver Lake," Spike Lee‘s "BlacKkKlansman,"Jafar Panahi‘s "Three Faces," Jia Zhang-Ke’s "Ash Is Purest White" and, I guess, Jean-Luc Godard‘s "The Image Book"

I’m leaving home for three weeks, travelling thousands of miles and laying out close to $4K to see these five significant films plus whatever the noteworthy surprises may be.

As previously mentioned missing are Mia Hansen-Love (Maya), Lars Von Trier (The House That Jack Built)  Luca Guadagnino (Suspiria), Claire Denis (High Life), Laszlo Nemes (Sunset),  Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Pear Tree),  Brian De Palma (Domino), Mike Leigh (Peterloo), Paolo Sorrentino (Loro), Jennifer Kent (The Nightingale),  Alfonso Cuaron (Roma), Paul Greengrass (Norway), Terrence Malick (Radegund), Woody Allen (A Rainy Day In New York) and Orson Welles (The Other Side of the Wind).

I would think a few of the rejected films might make it to the director's fortnight, most notably Jennifer Kent, Mia Hansen-Love and Claire Denis. Also, there are only 18 films in completion, that makes room for 2-4 additional late announcements.

As far as Paolo Sorrentino's "Loro" goes it's supposedly a possible late addition. Fremaux and committee don't know where to include it (competition or off competition) as it is a rather lengthy two-parter. Ditto Mike Leigh's "Peterloo," which led to Fremaux and the English director having a rumored spat about the film's length. Fremaux asked Leigh to snip the running time, but Leigh wanted to hear none of it. 

I also heard that Nuri Belge Ceylan's film was "too experimental" for Cannes' tastes and really turned people off. 

As for Lars Von trier, maybe he's still banned for the Nazi comments, or his film just plain sucks.

From Variety: “The competition program includes just three female filmmakers, prompting Frémaux to reiterate his position that ‘the films that were selected were chosen for their own intrinsic qualities,” not the gender of their directors. Acknowledging the importance of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, (i.e., “The world will never be the same again, and we will question our own practices about the gender parity” in salaries and jury representation), Fremaux stressed that “there will never be a selection with a positive discrimination for women” 

Opening Night Film

“Everybody Knows,” Asghar Farhadi (In Competition)

Competition
“At War,” Stéphane Brizé
“Dogman,” Matteo Garrone
“The Picture Book,” Jean-Luc Godard
“Asako I & II,” Ryusuke Hamaguchi
“Sorry Angel,” Christophe Honoré
“Girls of the Sun,” Eva Husson
“Ash Is Purest White,” Jia Zhang-Ke
“Shoplifters,” Kore-Eda Hirokazu
“Capernaum,” Nadine Labaki
“Burning,” Lee Chang-Dong
“BlacKKKlansman,” Spike Lee
“Under the Silver Lake,” David Robert Mitchell
“Three Faces,” Jafar Panahi
“Cold War,” Pawel Pawlikowski
“Lazzaro Felice,” Alice Rohrwacher
“Yomeddine,” A.B Shawky
“Summer,” Kirill Serebrennikov

Un Certain Regard
“Border,” Ali Abbasi
“Sofia,” Meyem Benm’Barek
“Little Tickles,” Andréa Bescond & Eric Métayer
“Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” Bi Gan
“Manto,” Nandita Das
“Sextape,” Antoine Desrosières
“Girl,” Lukas Dhont
“Angel Face,” Vanessa Filho
“Euphoria,” Valeria Golino
“Friend,” Wanuri Kahiu
“My Favorite Fabric,” Gaya Jiji
“The Harvesters,” Etienne Kallos
“In My Room,” Ulrich Köhler
“The Angel,” Luis Ortega
“The Gentle Indifference of the World,” Adilkhan Yerzhanov

Out of Competition
“Solo: A Star Wars Story,” Ron Howard
“Le Grand Bain,” Gilles Lellouche

Special Screenings
“10 Years in Thailand,” Aditya Assarat, Wisit Sasanatieng, Chulayarnon Sriphol & Apichatpong Weerasethakul
“The State Against Mandela and Others,” Nicolas Champeaux & Gilles Porte
“Le Grand Cirque Mystique,” Carlo Diegues
“Dead Souls,” by Wang Bing
“To the Four Winds,” Michel Toesca
“La Traversee,” Romain Goupil
“Pope Frances – A Man of His Word,” Wim Wenders

Midnight Screenings
“Arctic,” Joe Penna
“The Spy Gone North,” Yoon Jong-Bing

It's Official: Netflix films will not be at Cannes this year

Ted Sarandos has made it official, Netflix won’t be going to Cannes this year.

Variety nabbed the exclusive interview, released today. In it the Netflix head honcho basically told  Variety that Cannes offered Netflix non-competition slots for their films, but that the streaming giant found it unfair and decided to just not send their films there:

“We want our films to be on fair ground with every other filmmaker,” Sarandos says. “There’s a risk in us going in this way and having our films and filmmakers treated disrespectfully at the festival. They’ve set the tone. I don’t think it would be good for us to be there.”

Netflix had two films in competition last year: Bong Joon-ho’s “Okja” and Noah Baumbach’s “The Meyerowitz Stories.” They were both booed at press screenings because of the Netflix brand appearing on-screen. French theaters owners and unions protested both of these films to Thierry Fremaux, head of Cannes which then consequentially had him state earlier this year that Netflix would have to adhere to French laws if they wanted their films in competition.

As I have mentioned before, there is a law in France that states a movie cannot be released for stream until 36 months after its theatrical release.That is an unfair and ungainly rule that will likely be changed very soon as it does not make any sense or adhere to the changing cinematic platform, which is, quite frankly, now being monopolized by Netflix.

What's an even bigger slap in the face for me is the fact that Netflix had originally submitted Alfonso Cuaron‘s Roma, Orson Welles‘ The Other Side of the Wind, Morgan Neville‘s They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead, Paul Greengrass‘s Norway and Jeremy Saulnier’s Hold the Dark. Yikes. Those could have been the five most anticipated of the entire fest.

“It was not our decision to make,” Sarandos explained. “Thierry announced the change in their qualification rules [that] requires a film to have distribution in France to get in, which is completely contrary to the spirit of any film festival in the world. Film festivals are to help films get discovered so they can get distribution. Under those rules, we could not release our films day-and-date to the world like we’ve released nearly 100 films over the last couples of years. And if we did that, we’d have to hold back that film from French subscribers for three years under French law. Therefore, our films they are not qualified for the Cannes Film Festival competition.”

 “I do have faith that Thierry shares my love for cinema and would be a champion of changing that when he realizes how punitive this rule is to filmmakers and film lovers. [So] we hope that they do change the rules. We hope that they modernize. But we will continue to support all films and all filmmakers. We encourage Cannes to rejoin the world cinema community and welcome them back. Thierry had said in his comments when he announced his change that the history of the internet and the history of Cannes are two different things. Of course they are two different things. But we are choosing to be about the future of cinema. If Cannes is choosing to be stuck in the history of cinema, that’s fine.”

I swooon for Kiersey Clemons in “Heart Beat Loud”

HEARTS BEAT LOUD: Light, tender, funny but predictable. Kiersey Clemons is a promising new talent. Good choice for the closing night film at #Sundance2018

— Jordan Ruimy (@mrRuimy) January 19, 2018

I look forward to re-watching director Brett Haley's crowdpleaser again at this year's IFFBoston. It really is a film that needs to be seen with an audience. The tunes are excellent, it's a sort of paint by numbers musical with a millennial/woke spin to it. Nothing revolutionary or spectacular, but I liked the film for what it was and Kiersey Clemons? I swoooon.

Gunpowder & Sky will release “Hearts Beat Loud” on June 8.

In Star Wars Phantom Menace, Jabba the Hutt was an elaborate costume with no actor so they got creative with the credits

[Reddit]

Björn Runge’s “The Wife” will give Glenn Close a shot at a her first Oscar

Posted from Toronto on 9.14.17:

Despite being nominated six times, Glenn Close has never won an Oscar. Factor that into the equation as you calculate her chances for her masterful turn in Björn Runge’s The Wife, A late-screened stunner that has taken Toronto by storm. As Joan, the wife of a newly-announced Nobel Prize-winning novelist Joseph (Jonathan Pryce) whose career she has supported while setting her own ambitions aside, Close is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence. 

Runge’s film opens as the couple first receive news that Joseph has won the prize. They jump up and down on the bed like giddy children as he chants “I won the Nobel Prize.” As the significance sinks in and the full implications bear down, Joan abruptly stops celebrating and leaves the room. Things don’t get any better once they arrive in Sweden in preparation for Stockholm ceremony. Joan is clearly deeply annoyed by something and we can only guess what. 

As more and more troubling details gradually spill forth, we learn more about their lives together and it’s not a pretty picture. Her husband has been a self-obsessed partner, an inattentive father and has had a string of affairs over the years — and those deficiencies don’t even scratch the surface. Complicating a tense situation further, an aggressive biographer who’s intent on chronicling Joe’s life (Christian Slater’s best role in years) has stalked them all the way to Stockholm. He knows this couple’s biggest secret and is threatening to expose it. As fraught with drama as this powder keg of heightened circumstances may be, make no mistake, 

The Wife is more than an actor’s showcase. The film itself is indisputably superb, a ticking time-bomb of simmering tension which benefits from the audience knowing as little as possible in advance. It’s rare female-driven films that understand women so well, you might guess that it was conceived by a woman — and you’d be right twice. 

Screenwriter Jane Anderson has adapted the novel by Meg Wolitzer with magnificent brilliance, with a striking nuance and wealth of subtle shadings that reveal the slow peeling onion of the film’s core mystery. Pryce, in a reprehensibly villainous role, has possibly never been better, but it’s Close who commands the film with a performance for the ages. When Joan is not lacerating her husband with volleys of icy precision she manifests a lifetime of rage and frustration with a silence that speaks volumes on screen. 

Unlike Joan, whose life as The Wife was so cruelly overshadowed, Glenn Close has given the world a lifetime of iconic women who never failed to astonish us. She’s fiercely embodied the power of unbridled womanhood over the course of three and half decades of cinematic classics — Reversal of Fortune, Dangerous Liaisons, Fatal Attraction, The Big Chill, Damages and (coming soon) Sunset Boulevard. Yes, she is unquestionably due, and Joan Castleman might just be the role she was born to play.

T.J. Miller faces up to 5 years in jail for calling in a false bomb threat

Something happened along the way with former Silicon Valley actor T.J. Miller, whose bad-boy behavior was already well known in Hollywood. That very attitude translated into a sexual harassment allegation last year, which actually occurred when he was a student at George Washington University back in 2001.

Trouble seems to be his middle name as Miller has now been arrested for “allegedly calling in a false bomb threat earlier last month, according to the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.” Miller now faces up to five years in jail. Yikes. 

Maane Khatchatourian‘s Variety story, has the story goin' with Miller having “allegedly called 911 on March 18 in New Jersey, and reported that he was on Amtrak Train traveling from Washington, D.C., toward Penn Station in New York City, and that a female passenger ‘has a bomb in her bag.’ A bomb squad found no evidence of any explosive devices on the train.

“The officer who spoke to the comic, who changed his description of the ‘female suspect,’ suspected that Miller was under the influence of alcohol. Miller told the officer, ‘This is the first time I’ve ever made a call like this before…I am worried for everyone on that train…someone has to check that lady out.’

“Investigators found that Miller had actually been traveling on different Amtrak train than the one reported. Inspectors examined a second train and again found no explosive materials. An Amtrak attendant said Miller had been removed from the train in New York because he was intoxicated.

“Miller appeared today before U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven and was released on a $100,000 bond. He was charged with “intentionally conveying to law enforcement false information about an explosive device on a train traveling to Connecticut.”

Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz” makeup and costume tests

Joe Russo: Fans Need To Be Prepared for Heartbreak In “Avengers: Infinity War”

"Having sent Marvel fans around the world into a frenzy after teasing that the title would scare them, Joe, 46, told us that fans need to prepare themselves for ‘heartbreak ‘.

‘This is it,’ he explained. ‘Thanos is an unstoppable villain he’s virtually invincible, he’s highly intelligent – genius level intelligent – he’s like the Genghis Khan of the universe, and to stop him it’s going to cost them a lot. ‘They’re going to have to see if they’re willing to pay that price, and that’s what these movies are really about.’

‘What we meant by that is to be prepared. What we want is for the audience to be prepared, as there’s a lot of surprises – there’s going to be a lot of humor and a lot of heartbreak.’

[Metro]

Damien Chazelle’s ‘First Man’ & ‘Wonder Woman 2’ Will Film Sequences In IMAX

Over the last few years, the use of IMAX cameras and expanded aspect ratio have been incredibly successful in making moviegoers dish some extra cash for a more refined and enthralling cinematic experience at their local IMAX-equipped movie theater. The fact that IMAX works with the filmmakers at the very earliest stages of a film’s production makes it an invaluable and quality-filled experience for both filmmaker and audience.

What used to be reserved for epic, event-style films, IMAX is now being used by a variety of filmmakers that want to bring an added visual flair to their projects. And now, we have learned of several new films that will be using IMAX cameras for part of their production, and one of these projects might surprise you.

According to IMAX CEO Greg Foster, Ruben Fleischer‘s “Venom,” Damien Chazelle‘s Neil Armstrong biopic  “First Man,” the Patty Jenkins-helmed “Wonder Woman 2” and Jon Favreau‘s “The Lion King” will all receive the IMAX treatment. While “Venom,” “Wonder Woman 2,” and “The Lion King,” all seem like natural fits for the technology, the one that stands out is “First Man.”

The follow-up to his massive box office and critical success, “La La Land,” this is the first we’ve heard of Chazelle using IMAX for his upcoming film. Considering the subject matter, we must assume that sequences that feature space flight will be reserved for the IMAX format. This is exciting because it shows just how ubiquitous the IMAX format will be, as the cameras and technology become more refined. Soon enough, we’ll probably have more and more “prestige” films getting the IMAX treatment.

As we’ve mentioned, the use of the IMAX is becoming more common, and the list of filmmakers that dabble in the format has grown over the last few years with, most recently, Denis Villeneuve (“Blade Runner 2049“), Taika Waititi (“Thor: Ragnarok“) and Ryan Coogler (“Black Panther“) expanding their vision with IMAX cameras.

Of course, up next for IMAX is Marvel Studios‘ much anticipated “Avengers: Infinity War,” directed by the Russo Brothers, which is set to become the very first movie to be entirely shot with IMAX digital cameras. While the filmmakers listed above shoot various sequences in IMAX, the Russo Brothers spent more than a year figuring out how to shoot their entire film in the large format.

Suffice to say, IMAX is here to stay and we’re more than happy with that.

“A Quiet Place” as a Best Picture contender? Nah.

John Krasinski‘s A Quiet Place, stormed the box-office this weekend with a reported $50 million intake. As ever, the far-reaching speculative mind of In Contention‘s Kris Tapley has let it be known that "A Quiet Place" could contend for Oscars. Pff, yeah ok. I reviewed Krasinski's well-made and efficient thriller at SXSW back in March and was impressed by its technical strengths, but just because this well-reviewed film has made a boatload of mullah this past weekend doesn't make it an awards contender. The state of artful, studio-financed cinema is dire, that I know, but are we so desperate to lay down every good film from Hollywood that makes money as a Best Picture contender now? Has quality dipped so badly that we now need to take every good film as having Oscar potential? Well, I'll admit that "quality" diminishing is all up to the eye of the beholder, but it's quite obvious that studio filmmaking is at its dourest point right now. How else would you explain the fact that "Black Panther" is a cinch to be nominated for Best Picture next year? Yep, we've reached the deep end in studio filmmaking, and my suggestion is, as to not fall down deeper despair, to seek the diamonds in the rough, the indies and foreign beauties that will make you hopeful for the future of cinema, don't bother with multiplex fare for 90% of your ticket purchases. With all that being said, yes "A Quiet Place" is a nice exception to the rule. Oscar contender? Gimme a break.