‘Beau is Afraid’ Will Get an F CinemaScore

I am willing to bet that Ari Aster’s “Beau is Afraid” will get an F CinemaScore. I believe it would be the first time that this has happened since 2017’s “mother!” Both films, indulgently personal statements, would actually make for a deadly double-bill.

The review embargo is still very much intact for ‘Beau.’ It’ll be released this coming Friday. That hasn’t stopped Alonso Duralde and Christy Lemire from sharing some very quick, out-of-the-theater thoughts.

They’re not exactly sure what they saw and that’s kind of where I’m at with this one. Aster's previous films, "Hereditary" and "Midsommar,” cannot prepare you for ‘Beau.’ As I said a week ago, this movie will MESS YOU UP.

This is what happens when a mentally unstable filmmaker is given $40 million to make whatever the hell he wants. Hey, I’m not complaining, but it confirms that Aster has definitely gone down the deep end here.

A fair warning to all critics who decide to recommend ‘Beau’ in their reviews: be prepared for lots of hate mail from the basic average moviegoer. They will not be happy. This is a movie with no discernible plot from a filmmaker that one might now easily qualify as a madman. Oh, and it runs 3 hours.

In 2011, Aster directed a short film titled “Beau,” which this film is based on. I don’t think there’s a way to watch it online since it was pulled a few months ago from YouTube.

Described as a “decades-spanning surrealist horror film set in an alternate present,” Phoenix’s character plays an “extremely anxious but pleasant-looking man who has a fraught relationship with his overbearing mother and never knew his father.” When his mother comes “calling”, he makes a journey home that involves some wild supernatural threats.

“Beau is Afraid” earned an “R” Rating for “Strong Violence and Graphic Nudity”. It opens in New York and Los Angeles April 14, then everywhere April 21.

'Cosmic Motors,' John Lasseter's First Film in 15 Years, Moves from Netflix to Paramount Theatrical Release

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Edward Berger’s Lance Armstrong Biopic, Starring Austin Butler, Starts Production in January

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Ramin Bahrani’s ‘Last Meals’ to Star Mads Mikkelsen, Boyd Holbrook, Michael Shannon, and Tessa Thompson

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‘NAZA’: Israel Moves to Strip Citizenship From Oscar-Winning Filmmakers Behind Gaza Doc

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Chris Rock’s ‘Misty Green’ Premieres, Rosalind Eleazar Stuns — 73 on Metacritic [TIFF]

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August 19, 2019

3-Hour ‘Midsommar' Director's Cut Screened in NYC

This year’s 12th edition of the Scary Movies festival at Film at Lincoln Center premiered Ari Aster’s extended version of “Midsommar” this past Saturday.

Joaquin Phoenix Reuniting with Mike Mills for Next Film, Shooting in January 2027

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Paul Thomas Anderson Has Already Chosen His Next Film, Jonny Greenwood Says

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Ridley Scott Says “I Didn’t Say That” After Calling ‘The Dog Stars’ His Best Movie Since ‘The Martian’

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Todd Field-Written ‘The Girls’ Sets Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic to Direct, November Shoot

Cinephiles another Todd Field movie, and although we might have to wait for his next directorial effort, “The Girls” will have to suffice for now.

Fritz Lang’s ‘M’ Tops the Best Films of the 1930s, According to 100+ Critics

We’ve gone through the decades. The ‘40s ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s, ‘2000s, and ‘2010s. — all revisited, argued over. Now, here are the results for the best films of the 1930s.

Critics Poll: ‘Citizen Kane' Named Best Film of the 1940s

The results are in, and according to critics, this decade filled with cinematic riches did not have a better film than Orson Welles’ “Citizen Kane.” Nobody should be surprised by this result. “Citizen Kane” changed cinema forever.

Critics Poll: ‘Vertigo’ Named Best Film of the 1950s, Over 120 Participants

It was a closer race than anticipated, but Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” has topped our best of the ’50s poll, besting Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen’s “Singin’ in the Rain” by just two votes.

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