We’re almost a quarter of the way done with 2023 and there haven’t really been any great US movies released so far this calendar year. Maybe Ben Affleck’s “Air” could change that, who knows.
What I do know is that I am very much looking forward to seeing it this one on Wednesday morning.
“Air” screened to very positive reviews this past Saturday at the SXSW Film Festival. A 100% on Rotten Tomatoes with an 8.1 score is encouraging. You have Variety, Deadline, Slash, Screen, IndieWire and The Wrap all raving about it.
There’s even mention of next year’s Oscars for this one. For example, Roger Friedman starts off his review by saying, “the movie everyone wanted this Oscar season and couldn’t find is here.“
Let’s all calm down here. The film is being released by Amazon via worldwide theatrical rollout on April 5th. If it does garner good numbers at the box-office and these reviews hold up then maybe I’ll circle back on this one.
It turns out that Affleck was so high on his film that he pushed for Amazon to release “Air” in theaters this past December to give it a last-minute Oscar push, sensing a weak Best Picture field. Maybe it would have crashed the race, we’ll never know.
The marketing push behind “Air” has been in overdrive. Whoever is concocting it, it’s working. Barry Jenkins tweeted his approval. Paul Thomas Anderson liked it and even a Safdie gushed all over it on social media.
Many of the reviews are calling it a crowd-pleaser with broad appeal. The star power is also there with Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Viola Davis all getting good ink. Maybe Affleck will get his wish and crash the Oscar race next year.
The ‘Smile’ franchise has a new director. David Bruckner, who made “The Night House” and the 2022 “Hellraiser” reboot, has been hired to direct “Smile 3” for Paramount.