Top 5 Films of Winter 2018

[BD80]

... if you want to have a chat about award caliber films, allow me to recommend our "Oscar contenders" thread complete with my wild guess at the percentage chance that various films have of getting a Best Picture nomination.

-Jason "Enjoy!" Evans

Haven't they expanded the field of nominees to the point that EVERY film has nearly 100% chance of an Oscar nomination? Of course, except for Fantastic Beasts and Speed Kills.

I'm looking that up in Webster's.

Try the Urban Dictionary. Or the Suburban Dictionary, it should totally be there.

[Wander]

ten years from now no one will remember the top box office crud (was it Black Panther Six or Aquaman Three?)

Black Panther is almost certainly going to be the "most remembered" movie of 2018, and probably by a wide margin. You are badly misreading the importance of that movie and foolishly lumping all action movies together if you think otherwise.

[budwom]

Which is why I said "few if any will be memorable." And by the time they get to Black Panther Six (my original comment, by the way), that will be as bad as the others.

[luburch]

Caught a showing of Spider-Verse after work yesterday. It deserves all of the high praise it is getting. Wonderful movie. Unique animation. Such a fun time. The best Spider-Man movie to date.

[CameronBornAndBred]

PS...looking forward to the Welcome to Marwen reviews, it looks really interesting.

Got my answer.
It sucks.
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/welcome_to_marwen

[JasonEvans]

Got my answer.
It sucks.
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/welcome_to_marwen

Yeah, it is pretty awful. I saw it a week ago but there was an embargo keeping me from talking about it. Really uneven film that veers from humor to drama in some really uncomfortable ways. The visual effects are jarring, quite literally putting human faces onto dolls in a way that just made me cringe. I know some people will really connect with the story of healing at its core, but for most this is not going to be a fun time at the movies.

[camion]

Spidey's legs may not be very long. I was looking at the movie listings in my town (a decent sized city) in upstate SC. The two large (16 and 20 screen) theaters near me were showing the movie only once per day (16 screens) and twice per day (20 screens). That's about 20%/40% of one screen.

[JasonEvans]

Spidey's legs may not be very long. I was looking at the movie listings in my town (a decent sized city) in upstate SC. The two large (16 and 20 screen) theaters near me were showing the movie only once per day (16 screens) and twice per day (20 screens). That's about 20%/40% of one screen.

It is a fabulous movie that was never really going to be much of a contender in our contest. That's just the reality here for a film that only appeals to folk who would see an animated film without bringing their kids (it really isn't for young kids). The total market for this flick is small compared to the other contenders in the contest. It appears Spiderverse is going to have a very solid hold from its opening weekend, it may drop less than 50%, which is fantastic for a superhero flick, but it has a loooong way to go to be a contender for our contest. I'm thinking it likely ends up making close to $150 mil, which is a rousing success for a film like this.

-Jason "meanwhile, Aquaman is on its way to a $70+ mil opening weekend... a very strong top 5 contender, I think" Evans

[YmoBeThere]

The Grinch is in. Maybe Bohemian Rhapsody?

Aquaman has a strong start, but...

Hopefully, they will stop with the Marwen ads. I've been hearing them non-stop for two weeks now. At $2.4 million it never was and never will be a contender.

[CameronBornAndBred]

The Grinch is in. Maybe Bohemian Rhapsody?

Aquaman has a strong start, but...

Hopefully, they will stop with the Marwen ads. I've been hearing them non-stop for two weeks now. At $2.4 million it never was and never will be a contender.

Lowest Steve Carell opening ever.

[BD80]

Lowest Steve Carell opening ever.

But he was in Bewitched and Get Smart!?!

[SoCalDukeFan]

Lowest Steve Carell opening ever.

When I saw the first preview at that theater I said to myself: "Why did they make this movie?"

I guess others are asking the same question.

I have seen no trailers for "Destroyer" but have read an excellent review


SoCal

[JasonEvans]

I was on the radio this morning talking about some of my favorite movies to see this Christmas weekend. I mentioned The Favourite, Spiderverse, Vice, and then I trash Aquaman. Plus, as a bonus, I talk about Duke basketball at the end! So much fun!

Have a listen: https://vocaroo.com/i/s0cqb6UT7U54

[BD80]

Sony didn't make Holmes and Watson available to reviewers pre-opening.

That means they're so confident that it will get good reviews that they don't need to do anything special, and thus keep the clever plot twists a mystery right up to the release … right?


Looks like the race for the biggest train wreck will be exciting!

[camion]

Sony didn't make Holmes and Watson available to reviewers pre-opening.

That means they're so confident that it will get good reviews that they don't need to do anything special, and thus keep the clever plot twists a mystery right up to the release … right?


Looks like the race for the biggest train wreck will be exciting!

I liked Will Ferrell in Stranger Than Fiction. That was 2006.

[JasonEvans]

Sony didn't make Holmes and Watson available to reviewers pre-opening.

That means they're so confident that it will get good reviews that they don't need to do anything special, and thus keep the clever plot twists a mystery right up to the release … right?

Looks like the race for the biggest train wreck will be exciting!

I dunno... the race may be over.

Holmes and Watson is at 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. Only 11 critic reviews but all of them are pretty witheringly bad.

The other major contenders this holiday season are:

Robin Hood - 15%
Welcome to Marwen - 26%
Mortal Engines - 28%
Fantastic Beasts - 38%

-Jason "there's more than critic reviews that goes into making a bomb... so far Holmes and Watson is at just 17% on Flixster (audience reviews) which is really, really bad" Evans

[JasonEvans]

Deadline's boxoffice article contains some really bad nuggets on Holmes and Watson.

Audiences gave the Will Ferrell and John. C. Reilly PG-13 comedy a D+. which is lower than Ferrell’s Zoolander 2 (C+) and Land of the Lost (C+). PostTrak was worse with a 1/2 star and a 28% definite recommend. We had heard for quite some time that test scores for Holmes & Watson were so bad that Sony tried unloading the movie to Netflix, but they wouldn’t buy it.

-Jason "Netflix wouldn't buy it... whew, that is bad!" Evans

P.S. - Meanwhile, despite the fact that the film is a total mess, Aquaman is looking very good for our contest with more than $100 mil over the extended 5-day Christmas holiday. It is going to make $250+ mil.

[JasonEvans]

Ohhh, this is getting to be fun...

Holmes and Watson gets skewered by The AV Club.

If there are any new jokes left to tell about Holmes, they’re nowhere to be found in the abysmal Holmes & Watson, which might be the worst feature-length film ever made about the “consulting detective” from Baker Street. The movie is 89 minutes of inertia and pure, undiluted flopsweat, with a couple of uncharacteristically unfunny and painfully awkward lead performances from Will Ferrell (as Holmes) and John C. Reilly (as Watson).

As a Christmas Day release that wasn’t screened in advance for critics, it managed to avoid our list of the worst films of 2018. It belongs at the top.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Ohhh, this is getting to be fun...

Holmes and Watson gets skewered by The AV Club.

Now at 4% on RT... 1 out of 26. Like our MOTM polls, seems like someone just had to be different.

[JasonEvans]

Attention duke23, IrishDevil, Jfrosh, JNort, Nick, ryetales, thedukelamere, YmoBeThere... major dark horse alert for one of your picks.

Early tracking just came on line for Glass, and there are projections it will hit $75 mil over the 4-day MLK weekend. That is a huge number for a film that is a sequel to a pic that only made $138mil a year ago (and also a sequel to a film that is 19 years old). If Glass is good and builds some word of mouth buzz, it could be a real player in our contest.

-Jason "I'm seeing it on January 15th... I'll let you all know what I think" Evans