Joaquin Phoenix stars in the darkly satirical “Eddington” which premiered at the Cannes film festival on Friday, a biting take on America’s culture wars set in a small New Mexico town.
The film by fast-rising American director Ari Aster is an unsettling but often amusing Western-style thriller set amid America’s toxic politics and conspiracy theories
Warner Bros. is going full creepy-viral to promote Weapons — the upcoming child-horror flick from Barbarian writer-director Zack Cregger. The latest move? An unlisted two-hour surveillance-style video that shows kids running through the night. That’s it. Two straight hours of eerie night vision footage — mostly silent, occasionally disturbing, all deeply unsettling.
The official poster sets the tone perfectly:
“Last night at 2:17 a.m., every child from Mrs. Gandy’s class woke up, got out of bed, went downstairs, opened the front door, walked into the dark… and never came back.”
A few of the comments on the video are fun.. A sampling of our favorites:
in the 1980s we would call this “normal”
“Kids are gonna start doing this at night, running down the streets with their arms open and dangling”
“Ok guys. This is the whole movie. Dont waste your money.”
“E V I L….welcome to Holly Wood”
Weapons stars Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, June Diane Raphael, Toby Huss, and Benedict Wong — a solid cast, but let’s be honest, the internet can’t stop talking about that video. It’s already disturbing viewers, with some thinking — at first glance — that it might be actual found footage or worse. It’s not. It’s modern horror marketing, devolved and digitized for maximum effect. And it works. Two hours of children screaming, vanishing, and disappearing into the dark. Nothing concrete, just vibes. Bad ones.
Here is the official trailer:
This might be the most highly anticipated horror release of the summer. The trailer itself? Looks phenomenal. A seemingly mundane setup — high schoolers disappearing on a random Wednesday — but that’s what makes it even more terrifying. I’ve always found that the best horror comes from that sudden rupture of normalcy. The ordinary turning otherworldly. The safe spaces suddenly unsafe.
Horror fans, rejoice. The rest of the world? They’re recoiling at this ad campaign — and that’s probably exactly the point. Love it or hate it, Weapons has everyone talking. Mission accomplished.
“I can’t critique this movie, to me it’s perfect. It’s got balls. [Screenwriter] Diablo Cody was outspoken and beautiful and smart and funny,” she said. “We were expressing a certain angst in a very specific, comedic way in a very specific genre. The special effects were so incredible, there were stunts, there was everything you could want.”
Though “Jennifer’s Body” has since found an audience as a subversive feminist cult classic, the film flopped on initial release, which Seyfried chalks up to poor marketing. “If the critics criticize anything, it would be the marketing,” she said. “The marketing sucked, it just did. And we all agree.”
Masters of the Universe fans have been down this road of false hope before.. But unless every corporate entity is gaslighting the fanbase, it appears a movie may finally be happening..
From Mattel’s website, screenshotted and saved for posterity, news now on the official release of the movie, which is claimed to be coming in 2026:
A little movie about a guy with claws.. Freddy went from villain to 1980s phenom as movie after movie eventually got minced out like sausage in a factory..
But it all started on November 9 1984 when Wes Craven’s creation took hold as a pop culture icon.
It also gave is Heather Langenkamp–and Johnny Depp.
The original A Nightmare on Elm Street, released in 1984, was a groundbreaking slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven. With a modest budget of around $1.8 million, it grossed over $25 million at the U.S. box office, making it a surprise hit. The film not only launched the iconic horror franchise but also helped propel the careers of several key figures. It introduced audiences to Robert Englund as the infamous Freddy Krueger, whose portrayal became legendary. Additionally, it played a significant role in the early careers of actors like Johnny Depp, whose role as Glen earned him his first major film credit, and actress Heather Langenkamp, who starred as the film’s protagonist, Nancy. The success of Nightmare also solidified Wes Craven as a major force in the horror genre.
But..
Going back in time, just for fun, we find this little snippet review of the film from the AP that was shared in newspapers across America a the time–and with reviews like this, 40 years of Freddy just should never have happened.
Happy birthday Fred … no worries about bad reviews anymore.
Todd Phillips.. nah..
The ending scene? No way.
It is Joaquin Phoenix!!
At least that is what sources behind the scenes are claiming that insiders think.
After all that build up and advertising blitz of Phoenix and Lady Gaga setting to rock our Gotham City world, critics and movie goers alike had similar reactions: Shock and awe at the failure that was JOKER 2.. So many hated the entire film. Others just hated the ended..
(PS, we liked it until the final 5 minutes. All that cross universe nonsense.)
But who is to blame?
THE STAR!!
The Hollywood Reporter, their sources claim that Phoenix is being blamed as a big reason for Joker: Folie à Deux’s critical results. The publication reports, “the idea for the sequel came to Phoenix in a dream,” leading to the Academy-Award-winning actor and director Todd Phillips to pitch it to now-former-chairman of Warner Bros., Toby Emmerich. When asked who the targeted audience was for the DC sequel, “one outside source sums it up this way: “For Joaquin.””
Perhaps the real blame lays at the feet of Warner itself. Should this sequel have even been made?
No one seems to be smiling all the way to the bank in the aftermath of this comically bad disaster…
If he goes number 1 a third week he appears..
The second weekend of September for all movies came close to the $100M mark for the first time since pre-Covid 2019 thanks to Warner Bros’ Beetlejuice Beetlejuice rally at the box office, coming in at $51.6M weekend (-56%) after a second Friday of $14.4M and Saturday of $22.5M.
The running US domestic total is $188M with global at $264.3M.
We finally got the chance to see this movie in a crowded theater.. well worth it. Grab popcorn and sit back to one of the most enjoyable and least pretentious movies in a long time.
Michael Keaton outdid himself. The characters .. the old time graphics.. the fun. Worth a second showing perhaps next week.
So as long as this Youtube video exists of course..
The now famous re-do of Madonna’s LIKE A PRAYER from DEADPOOL AND WOLVERINE..
Meanwhile this weekend the film is taking in $90 mil in its second weekend and closing in on $700 mil globally, well on its way to become a billion dollar movie.
…with people humming the tune of Madonna’s LIKE A PRAYER on the way out.
What a showing!
The Shawn Levy directed, produced and written Deadpool & Wolverine grossed $61.5M on Saturday per Disney for what is definitely a $205M opening weekend..
Global is at $438.3M.
Maybe we really ARE ready for movie theaters again?
MORE INFO on just how big this is..
It’s also the eighth highest opening of all-time, one of nine movies to open north of $200M — six of ’em belonging to Marvel. It’s also the fifth biggest opening ever for a superhero movie. In addition to opening records as we told you for Levy, Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds, D&W also notched the biggest July opening of all-time ahead of The Lion King ($191.8M)
Move over BARBENHEIMER.. there is a new duo in the summer of 2024 taking the box office by storm. Potty mouthed foul and filthy.. a new family friendly film for the modern age!
Forecasts expected $60 mil.. then $71.. and now as final numbers come in oviedo execs and critical are ‘blown away’ by the F5 TWISTERS.
Though some critical were dismayed that the movie displayed no political messaging it seems audiences could care less.
People love their summer disasters. .. escapism . Unless of course the weather is bad..?
People love disaster movies in the summer because they provide thrilling escapism and adrenaline-pumping action that complements the season…
Over the years, films like “Independence Day” (1996), with its iconic scenes of alien destruction, and “The Day After Tomorrow” (2004), showcasing cataclysmic climate change, have captivated audiences. More recent hits like “San Andreas” (2015), which highlighted the chaos of a massive earthquake, and “2012” (2009), depicting the end of the world, have continued this trend, proving that summer moviegoers crave the excitement and larger-than-life stakes that disaster movies offer.