Barbie may live in a pink world, but she was red hot at this summer’s cinemas. With more than 600 million and counting, the blonde bomber is/was #1 at the box office to date. Some saw it as political – I took it in good fun, but word to the wise: do not participate in any drinking games that require you down a shot every time the word “patriarchal” is uttered.
This really did feel like the summer where movie goers got their mojo back. Of course, the top earners were the usual superhero and/or animated tent poles, but when Tom Cruise puts out a 5th in the franchise flick that only gets nearly 200 million bucks as this is written? That’s a nice comeback story for a medium whose demise was predicted just a couple short years ago. Here’s the list of the top 20 or so.
I quite liked Oppenheimer – another hit but 3 hours long and made 300 million dollars. It’s also the (very early) front runner for awards season…and it’s still 95 degrees outside! But Cillian Murphy and director Christopher Nolan will stay in the conversation until well into 2024.
I wish I’d felt a little dewier eyed at the end of Indiana Jones. The farewell Fedora still gave an old man like me a lump, but there was literally too much action for what should have been a wistful soft landing for the 40-year-old tales.
And here we are – it’s a new season and if this damnable strike will ever end, it could be an awesome transition into winter from here. Fingers crossed. Meanwhile, Denzel took the Labor Day weekend with a strong showing from The Equalizer 3.
I’ve been away from the biz for a couple of months for health reasons, so I want to thanks all of the old readers who are still out there and welcome new ones on board, too. You’ll be hearing about a lot of films from me this season. Thanks again.
Welcome back, Kyle.
Thanks for update.
Looking forward to your take on “Blue Beetle”.
J. Morris