French sales powerhouse Charades has boarded Constance Tsang’s migrant drama “Blue Sun Palace” which is set to world premiere at Cannes’ Critics’ Week. WME Independent is representing domestic rights for the movie in North America.
“Blue Sun Palace” is set in the Chinese community of Queens with a vibrant cast led by award-winning Taiwanese actor Lee Kang Sheng (“Rebels of the Neon God”), Golden Horse award nominee Ke-Xi Wu (“The Road To Mandalay”) and Chinese actress Haipeng Xu (“Venus By Water”).
The film revolves around two migrants, Amy and Didi, who work together at a massage parlor in Flushing, Queens, and navigate romance, happiness and the obligations of family thousands of miles from home. A sudden act of violence will catalyze their unlikely bond. “Blue Sun Palace” is produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Sally Sujin Oh and Eli Raskin (Field Trip Media), alongside producer Tony Yang (Big Buddha Pictures...
“Blue Sun Palace” is set in the Chinese community of Queens with a vibrant cast led by award-winning Taiwanese actor Lee Kang Sheng (“Rebels of the Neon God”), Golden Horse award nominee Ke-Xi Wu (“The Road To Mandalay”) and Chinese actress Haipeng Xu (“Venus By Water”).
The film revolves around two migrants, Amy and Didi, who work together at a massage parlor in Flushing, Queens, and navigate romance, happiness and the obligations of family thousands of miles from home. A sudden act of violence will catalyze their unlikely bond. “Blue Sun Palace” is produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Sally Sujin Oh and Eli Raskin (Field Trip Media), alongside producer Tony Yang (Big Buddha Pictures...
- 4/25/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
If Movie 2024 Guide: Here’s All You Need To Know About This Ryan Reynolds Led Movie. (Photo Credit – Youtube)
There is still some time in Deadpool & Wolverine’s theatrical release, but the Ryan Reynolds fan can rejoice as the actor is set to arrive at their nearest theatres with his film, If. The movie will be a fantastic blend of live-action and animation, helmed by John Krasinski. The film’s trailer has been released recently, and we have attached a detailed article about the upcoming movie. Scroll below to know more.
Cast –
Ryan Reynolds, best known for playing Deadpool in the Marvel movies, has been cast as Cal in If, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens star Cailey Fleming will lead the movie. The cast includes John Krasinski, Fiona Shaw, Alan Kim, and Bobby Moynihan. The Bear star Liza Colón-Zayas is also a part of the movie.
Meanwhile, the...
There is still some time in Deadpool & Wolverine’s theatrical release, but the Ryan Reynolds fan can rejoice as the actor is set to arrive at their nearest theatres with his film, If. The movie will be a fantastic blend of live-action and animation, helmed by John Krasinski. The film’s trailer has been released recently, and we have attached a detailed article about the upcoming movie. Scroll below to know more.
Cast –
Ryan Reynolds, best known for playing Deadpool in the Marvel movies, has been cast as Cal in If, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens star Cailey Fleming will lead the movie. The cast includes John Krasinski, Fiona Shaw, Alan Kim, and Bobby Moynihan. The Bear star Liza Colón-Zayas is also a part of the movie.
Meanwhile, the...
- 4/12/2024
- by Esita Mallik
- KoiMoi
Don Hertzfeldt understands why fans are jumping to conclusions after learning he’s already hard at work on a mysterious new feature with Ari Aster.
But anyone in attendance at the fourth-ever screening of his new film “Me” and the Q&a that followed at The Overlook Film Festival can confirm: Don never said anything definitive about what genre that movie would be.
“It’s funny it’s being described as an ‘existential horror’ movie, two words I didn’t actually say,” Hertzfeldt told IndieWire in a text. “I guess maybe it will end up being an existential horror movie in the end, but that’s not really how I’d describe it today. But I also get why people might think that when you squash our names together.”
Hertzfeldt, who thought the news of his and Aster’s collaboration was already out there, confirmed for IndieWire that the film...
But anyone in attendance at the fourth-ever screening of his new film “Me” and the Q&a that followed at The Overlook Film Festival can confirm: Don never said anything definitive about what genre that movie would be.
“It’s funny it’s being described as an ‘existential horror’ movie, two words I didn’t actually say,” Hertzfeldt told IndieWire in a text. “I guess maybe it will end up being an existential horror movie in the end, but that’s not really how I’d describe it today. But I also get why people might think that when you squash our names together.”
Hertzfeldt, who thought the news of his and Aster’s collaboration was already out there, confirmed for IndieWire that the film...
- 4/9/2024
- by Alison Foreman
- Indiewire
Cillian Murphy is J. Robert Oppenheimer in ‘Oppenheimer’ (Photo Credit by Melinda Sue Gordon © Universal Pictures)
Barbie went into the 2024 Golden Globes with the most film nominations, but it was Oppenheimer that captured the most wins. Oppenheimer picked up five trophies, including Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director (Christopher Nolan), Best Score, Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama (Cillian Murphy), and Supporting Actor – Drama (Robert Downey Jr).
Barbie took home the inaugural Cinematic and Box Office Achievement award as well as Best Song (Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?”). Other films receiving two awards included Anatomy of a Fall, The Holdovers, and Poor Things.
Lily Gladstone won the Female Actor – Drama award for her outstanding performance in Killers of the Flower Moon, directed by Martin Scorsese. Gladstone’s win is the first for an Indigenous performer.
The final season of Succession topped the list of winners on the television side,...
Barbie went into the 2024 Golden Globes with the most film nominations, but it was Oppenheimer that captured the most wins. Oppenheimer picked up five trophies, including Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director (Christopher Nolan), Best Score, Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama (Cillian Murphy), and Supporting Actor – Drama (Robert Downey Jr).
Barbie took home the inaugural Cinematic and Box Office Achievement award as well as Best Song (Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?”). Other films receiving two awards included Anatomy of a Fall, The Holdovers, and Poor Things.
Lily Gladstone won the Female Actor – Drama award for her outstanding performance in Killers of the Flower Moon, directed by Martin Scorsese. Gladstone’s win is the first for an Indigenous performer.
The final season of Succession topped the list of winners on the television side,...
- 1/8/2024
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
The traditionally celebrity-heavy Toronto Film Festival has unveiled its list of Canada’s best indie films for 2023, which includes a host of first-time directors that have come to the fore as the Hollywood actors strike put local movies and talent front and center at TIFF last September.
Canadian filmmakers were able to grab the spotlight after SAG-AFTRA members barred from promoting studio or streamer projects allowed them to fill the vacuum on TIFF red carpets and at industry events.
New directors were also favorites of Toronto programmers as a shifting TIFF film market with few American celebrities in town also allowed the marquee festival to double down on finding new creative voices.
So here’s the top Canadian feature films of 2023, as decided by film pickers in Toronto.
1. BlackBerry
Matt Johnson’s drama about the meteoric rise of the world’s first smartphone, before its competitive collapse, bowed in Berlin.
Canadian filmmakers were able to grab the spotlight after SAG-AFTRA members barred from promoting studio or streamer projects allowed them to fill the vacuum on TIFF red carpets and at industry events.
New directors were also favorites of Toronto programmers as a shifting TIFF film market with few American celebrities in town also allowed the marquee festival to double down on finding new creative voices.
So here’s the top Canadian feature films of 2023, as decided by film pickers in Toronto.
1. BlackBerry
Matt Johnson’s drama about the meteoric rise of the world’s first smartphone, before its competitive collapse, bowed in Berlin.
- 12/20/2023
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Ryan Gosling as Ken and Margot Robbie as Barbie in ‘Barbie’ ((Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures)
Blockbuster Barbie earned the most 2024 Golden Globes nominations in the movie categories and the final season of Succession landed on top on the television side.
Barbie‘s nine nominations came in the Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Cinematic and Box Office Achievement, Best Performance by a Female Actor – Comedy (Margot Robbie), Best Performance by a Male Actor – Comedy (Ryan Gosling), Best Director (Greta Gerwig), and Best Screenplay (Gerwig and Noah Baumbach) categories. Barbie also scored three nominations in the Best Song category for “I’m Just Ken,” “What Was I Made For,” and “Dance the Night.”
Other top film nominees include Oppenheimer with eight, Killers of the Flower Moon and Poor Things with seven, and Past Lives with five.
The incredibly entertaining final season of Succession went out with a Golden Globes bang,...
Blockbuster Barbie earned the most 2024 Golden Globes nominations in the movie categories and the final season of Succession landed on top on the television side.
Barbie‘s nine nominations came in the Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Cinematic and Box Office Achievement, Best Performance by a Female Actor – Comedy (Margot Robbie), Best Performance by a Male Actor – Comedy (Ryan Gosling), Best Director (Greta Gerwig), and Best Screenplay (Gerwig and Noah Baumbach) categories. Barbie also scored three nominations in the Best Song category for “I’m Just Ken,” “What Was I Made For,” and “Dance the Night.”
Other top film nominees include Oppenheimer with eight, Killers of the Flower Moon and Poor Things with seven, and Past Lives with five.
The incredibly entertaining final season of Succession went out with a Golden Globes bang,...
- 12/11/2023
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
Searchlight Pictures’ Poor Things from Yorgos Lanthimos earned a stellar $72K per-screen average opening weekend at nine theaters in four markets, for an estimated three-day total of $644K. In a competitive season, this marks the fall’s best limited opening on ten or fewer screens and is in the year’s top three.
The big two for 2023 were heavy hitters Asteroid City by Wes Anderson, from Focus Features, which had a $100k+ PSA in six theaters in June; and A24’s Beau Is Afraid by Ari Aster that took in $80K per screen last spring at four locations. Both had notable activations like Focus’ takeover of the Landmark Sunset, and Beau starting out on Imax. For Poor Things, Lanthimos and the film’s stars Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe and Ramy Youssef have been doing sold out Q&As around NYC over the weekend.
In an abundance of riches this weekend,...
The big two for 2023 were heavy hitters Asteroid City by Wes Anderson, from Focus Features, which had a $100k+ PSA in six theaters in June; and A24’s Beau Is Afraid by Ari Aster that took in $80K per screen last spring at four locations. Both had notable activations like Focus’ takeover of the Landmark Sunset, and Beau starting out on Imax. For Poor Things, Lanthimos and the film’s stars Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe and Ramy Youssef have been doing sold out Q&As around NYC over the weekend.
In an abundance of riches this weekend,...
- 12/10/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Bleecker Street has acquired U.S. rights to Sasquatch Sunset, the mysterious new feature from renowned filmmakers David and Nathan Zellner (Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter), Deadline reports today.
Riley Keough (The Lodge), Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland: Double Tap, Vivarium), Nathan Zellner, and Christophe Zajac-Denek (“Twin Peaks: The Return”) star in the film.
As for plot, details remain scarce at this time other than it’s described as “a year in the life of a singular family.”
What we do know is that Eisenberg is playing a Sasquatch. As in, a head to toe hairy cryptid.
In a recent interview with Variety, the actor teased that he’d be going full cryptid in Sasquatch Sunset. “I play a Sasquatch: full makeup, full body hair, no lines. I grunt, but no lines,” he told the outlet. “I’m so looking forward to this.”
That seems to hint toward the possibility of this film...
Riley Keough (The Lodge), Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland: Double Tap, Vivarium), Nathan Zellner, and Christophe Zajac-Denek (“Twin Peaks: The Return”) star in the film.
As for plot, details remain scarce at this time other than it’s described as “a year in the life of a singular family.”
What we do know is that Eisenberg is playing a Sasquatch. As in, a head to toe hairy cryptid.
In a recent interview with Variety, the actor teased that he’d be going full cryptid in Sasquatch Sunset. “I play a Sasquatch: full makeup, full body hair, no lines. I grunt, but no lines,” he told the outlet. “I’m so looking forward to this.”
That seems to hint toward the possibility of this film...
- 12/5/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Ridley Scott’s Napoleon opens in 1793 as a revolutionary rage courses throughout France. The camera tracks a ragged yet prideful Marie Antoinette (Catherine Walker) making her way toward her executioners as commoners hurl insults and tomatoes at her. This sequence kicks off the film with a propulsive energy that instantly keys us to the rowdy spirit of the times. Unfortunately, as soon as the guillotine drops, Napoleon shifts into traditional historical biopic mode, dutifully touching on major events like the Reign of Terror and the royalist insurrection, but only in the most compulsory, disinterested manner.
This Wikipedia rundown of sorts may just be a way to get Napoleon Bonaparte (Joaquin Phoenix) front and center a little earlier, but it’s a recurring problem in Scott’s film. In covering a period of nearly 30 years, Napoleon often feels rushed and overstuffed with incident. When we get to virtually any of the battle scenes,...
This Wikipedia rundown of sorts may just be a way to get Napoleon Bonaparte (Joaquin Phoenix) front and center a little earlier, but it’s a recurring problem in Scott’s film. In covering a period of nearly 30 years, Napoleon often feels rushed and overstuffed with incident. When we get to virtually any of the battle scenes,...
- 11/16/2023
- by Derek Smith
- Slant Magazine
Ridley Scott has proven himself a master of the historical epic, with many fans eagerly awaiting the release of Napoleon starring Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby. The film recently had its world premiere in Paris, and the first reactions to Napoleon have begun to emerge. We’ll update with more Napoleon reactions as they roll out.
Napoleon is a triumph that sees Ridley Scott at his best. The action set pieces are unforgiving and both Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby disappear into their roles. The film is always at its peak when they're on screen together.
Full review coming soon to @DiscussingFilm pic.twitter.com/muukvfT6PQ
— Andrew J. Salazar (@AndrewJ626) November 15, 2023
Ridley Scott prints the legend in #Napoleon/ #NapoleonMovie & it absolutely rips. A compelling love story between a man & his country, military career, wife & ego. Battle sequences are visceral, gory & gorgeously expansive in scale & scope. Phoenix is great, but Kirby transcends.
Napoleon is a triumph that sees Ridley Scott at his best. The action set pieces are unforgiving and both Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby disappear into their roles. The film is always at its peak when they're on screen together.
Full review coming soon to @DiscussingFilm pic.twitter.com/muukvfT6PQ
— Andrew J. Salazar (@AndrewJ626) November 15, 2023
Ridley Scott prints the legend in #Napoleon/ #NapoleonMovie & it absolutely rips. A compelling love story between a man & his country, military career, wife & ego. Battle sequences are visceral, gory & gorgeously expansive in scale & scope. Phoenix is great, but Kirby transcends.
- 11/15/2023
- by Kevin Fraser
- JoBlo.com
It’s been a four-year long wait, but Ari Aster has finally made his return. The director’s third film “Beau is Afraid” journeyed into theaters April 14, bringing surrealist comedy to audiences through the auteur’s famously punishing perspective. The film, which is as loved as it is disliked by critics and audiences, stars Joaquin Phoenix as the title character: a repressed man making a grueling odyssey back home to see his mother.
The film’s title and premise comes from Aster’s 2011 short film “Beau.” One of several shorts he made as a student at the American Film Institute Conservatory — the most infamous being the viral incest drama, “The Strange Thing About the Johnsons” — the original “Beau” was a much smaller production than the director’s latest, focusing on the title character (played by the late Billy Mayo) as he’s locked in his apartment following the disappearance of his keys.
The film’s title and premise comes from Aster’s 2011 short film “Beau.” One of several shorts he made as a student at the American Film Institute Conservatory — the most infamous being the viral incest drama, “The Strange Thing About the Johnsons” — the original “Beau” was a much smaller production than the director’s latest, focusing on the title character (played by the late Billy Mayo) as he’s locked in his apartment following the disappearance of his keys.
- 4/28/2023
- by Alison Foreman, Christian Zilko and Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
This article contains Wild Beau Is Afraid spoilers.
When we chatted with actor Nathan Lane about Beau Is Afraid a few weeks ago, the stage and screen legend confided to us an undeniable truth: “Only Ari and his therapist could tell you exactly what [the movie’s] about.”
While Lane did not divulge which scene he was most explicitly referring to, we imagine the sequence where the titular, cowardly Beau (Joaquin Phoenix) confronts a 12-foot tall penis monster with fangs and a grumpy disposition in an attic was at the top of the list.
For those who need a refresher (or just a basic understanding) of how that weirdness went down, the moment occurs after Beau at last confronts his mother (Patty LuPone) about a lifetime of neuroses and anxieties that he blames on her. Given the character is pushing 50, LuPone’s Mona is not remiss in suggesting her son take a little goddamn self-responsibility for his foibles.
When we chatted with actor Nathan Lane about Beau Is Afraid a few weeks ago, the stage and screen legend confided to us an undeniable truth: “Only Ari and his therapist could tell you exactly what [the movie’s] about.”
While Lane did not divulge which scene he was most explicitly referring to, we imagine the sequence where the titular, cowardly Beau (Joaquin Phoenix) confronts a 12-foot tall penis monster with fangs and a grumpy disposition in an attic was at the top of the list.
For those who need a refresher (or just a basic understanding) of how that weirdness went down, the moment occurs after Beau at last confronts his mother (Patty LuPone) about a lifetime of neuroses and anxieties that he blames on her. Given the character is pushing 50, LuPone’s Mona is not remiss in suggesting her son take a little goddamn self-responsibility for his foibles.
- 4/27/2023
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
When Stanley Kubrick's "Barry Lyndon" was first released in 1975, it wasn't terribly well-received by critics. According to an article in Telegraph, reviewers were finally catching wise to Kubrick's emerging style, feeling it to be cold and distant. Watching "Barry Lyndon," one can see some of cinema's best-ever photography, framed in gorgeous, painterly vistas that could have been conceived by Caravaggio. One might struggle, however, to see the wry satire and bitter humanity lurking inside. Even positive reviews noted the film's coldness; Roger Ebert's four-star review cited its inhuman qualities.
Ebert was quick to point out, however, that "Barry Lyndon" grew in estimation over the years. By the 2000s, it was considered just as much a classic as many of Kubrick's movies.
Currently playing in theaters, Ari Aster's "Beau Is Afraid" seems to have received a similar reception as "Barry Lyndon." Aster's surreal, three-hour therapy session currently holds...
Ebert was quick to point out, however, that "Barry Lyndon" grew in estimation over the years. By the 2000s, it was considered just as much a classic as many of Kubrick's movies.
Currently playing in theaters, Ari Aster's "Beau Is Afraid" seems to have received a similar reception as "Barry Lyndon." Aster's surreal, three-hour therapy session currently holds...
- 4/27/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
The thesis for Ari Aster's tragicomic nightmare "Beau Is Afraid" is stated pretty plainly up front. Beau (Joaquin Phoenix) visits his therapist (Stephen McKinley Henderson) to talk about his anxieties, particularly how they stem from his mother. The unnamed therapist asks point blank: "Do you ever wish she was dead?" Beau shifts uncomfortably. He is prescribed a mysterious medicine and sent on his way. On the way back to his apartment, the audience sees the hell that Beau lives in. There are dead bodies in the street that no one has bothered to move in weeks. There are violent fights and fatal stabbings in broad daylight. Beau has to run through the chaos at top speed to avoid being apprehended by a black-eyed tattoo punk who clearly wants to do him harm. Once safely locked inside his vandalized, decrepit building, Beau can finally rest inside his squalid hole of misery.
- 4/26/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Contains Spoilers for "Beau is Afraid"
"Beau is Afraid" is one of the most daring and original films to come out in recent years. Written and directed by horror maestro Ari Aster (of "Hereditary" and "Midsommar" fame), it follows its titular character (Joaquin Phoenix), a neurotic middle-aged man, on his journey to his mother Mona's (Patti LuPone) funeral. Doesn't sound too shocking, right?
What could've been a thoughtful yet boring drama in the hands of any other filmmaker is an outlandish trip into the darkest parts of the human psyche. Nightmares, fears, childhood traumas, and more are given form as Beau is launched into one horrendous situation after another, like an existential pinball. It made for a singular theater experience for me, as nearly everyone in the audience made their emotions known. We screamed. We laughed. We cried. And sometimes, we did all three at once. The viewer to my right constantly yelled,...
"Beau is Afraid" is one of the most daring and original films to come out in recent years. Written and directed by horror maestro Ari Aster (of "Hereditary" and "Midsommar" fame), it follows its titular character (Joaquin Phoenix), a neurotic middle-aged man, on his journey to his mother Mona's (Patti LuPone) funeral. Doesn't sound too shocking, right?
What could've been a thoughtful yet boring drama in the hands of any other filmmaker is an outlandish trip into the darkest parts of the human psyche. Nightmares, fears, childhood traumas, and more are given form as Beau is launched into one horrendous situation after another, like an existential pinball. It made for a singular theater experience for me, as nearly everyone in the audience made their emotions known. We screamed. We laughed. We cried. And sometimes, we did all three at once. The viewer to my right constantly yelled,...
- 4/24/2023
- by Joe Garza
- Slash Film
Fresh off his directorial hits "Midsommar" and "Hereditary," Ari Aster returns with a surreal horror-comedy in A24's "Beau is Afraid," which hit theaters on April 21. The reality-bending film follows the titular Beau Wasserman (Joaquin Phoenix), a paranoid, long-suffering, and intensely anxious man afraid of nearly everything. Beau wants to visit his judgmental mother, Mona (Patti LuPone and Zoe Lister-Jones), but every step of the journey is an endless series of disturbing encounters that confirm and fuel Beau's fears.
At the start of the film, Beau's therapist has given him an experimental anxiety medication he must take with water, but the city is experiencing a water outage. As Beau attempts to leave his apartment in a bizarre, pseudo-post-apocalyptic city to visit his mother, his luggage and keys are stolen from his doorway, and homeless people lock him out of his home and trash it. The following day, he learns his mother has been killed,...
At the start of the film, Beau's therapist has given him an experimental anxiety medication he must take with water, but the city is experiencing a water outage. As Beau attempts to leave his apartment in a bizarre, pseudo-post-apocalyptic city to visit his mother, his luggage and keys are stolen from his doorway, and homeless people lock him out of his home and trash it. The following day, he learns his mother has been killed,...
- 4/24/2023
- by Megan Hippler
- Popsugar.com
For his follow-up to the critically acclaimed horror hits "Hereditary" and "Midsommar," writer-director Ari Aster has come out swinging with "Beau Is Afraid," a more divisive "evil comedy," as he calls it, starring Joaquin Phoenix. The film has drawn comparisons to everything from Darren Aronofsky's "mother!" to Charlie Kaufman's "Synecdoche, New York." And in fact, "mother" might be the operative word for "Beau Is Afraid," which our review calls "a Freudian hellride." The plot, per the official A24 synopsis, follows "a paranoid man [who] embarks on an epic odyssey to get home to his mother."
The use of Phoenix -- star of "The Master" and "Inherent Vice" -- and the Supertramp song "Goodbye Stranger," which featured in "Magnolia," also brings to mind the works of Paul Thomas Anderson in the "Beau Is Afraid" trailer. However, big-name filmmakers like Aronofsky, Kaufman, and Anderson aren't the only points of reference where Aster's film is concerned.
The use of Phoenix -- star of "The Master" and "Inherent Vice" -- and the Supertramp song "Goodbye Stranger," which featured in "Magnolia," also brings to mind the works of Paul Thomas Anderson in the "Beau Is Afraid" trailer. However, big-name filmmakers like Aronofsky, Kaufman, and Anderson aren't the only points of reference where Aster's film is concerned.
- 4/24/2023
- by Joshua Meyer
- Slash Film
Ari Aster’s Beau Is Afraid did solid business in its second week, expanding from four screens to well over 900 for a gross of $2.7+ million and a cume of $3.14 million. The A24 film starring Joaquin Phoenix has a $2.8k per screen average and no. 9 spot. It’s a weekend with a wide range of specialty films in a market that’s improving by some measures — some more product, some stronger openings — but still hard to read amid the blockbusters.
Aster has a committed fan base and a core group of theaters carried the weekend. This film is a tougher sell than the previous two, also from A24. Beau “has already sparked countless passionate debates and discourse from critics and audiences alike,” the distributor said, and, like all of Aster’s films, it “will have a long life in the weeks, months, and years to come.”
Somewhere in Queens...
Aster has a committed fan base and a core group of theaters carried the weekend. This film is a tougher sell than the previous two, also from A24. Beau “has already sparked countless passionate debates and discourse from critics and audiences alike,” the distributor said, and, like all of Aster’s films, it “will have a long life in the weeks, months, and years to come.”
Somewhere in Queens...
- 4/24/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” (Universal) reasserted its potential to be bigger than any upcoming summer movie with a stellar third-weekend showing of $58,230,000. Now at $434,330,000 domestic ($872 million worldwide), the Nintendo animated adaptation from Illumination could outgross all post-Covid titles other than “Spider-Man: No Way Home” ($805 million). That includes “Top Gun: Maverick” ($719 million) and “Avatar: The Way of Water” ($684 million).
With a strong $23.5 million opening, “Evil Dead Rise” (Warner Bros. Discovery) also buttressed a sense of improved fortunes for theaters — just in time for exhibitors and distributors heading to Las Vegas for Cinemacon.
The third-weekend drop for “Smb” of 37 percent was a better hold than “Maverick,” which represented the stellar third-weekend hold of 2022. Another curiosity: if Universal doesn’t start its PVOD window countdown until a film grosses less than $50 million, it still have another month as a theatrical exclusive.
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” (Disney) opening May 5 was meant...
With a strong $23.5 million opening, “Evil Dead Rise” (Warner Bros. Discovery) also buttressed a sense of improved fortunes for theaters — just in time for exhibitors and distributors heading to Las Vegas for Cinemacon.
The third-weekend drop for “Smb” of 37 percent was a better hold than “Maverick,” which represented the stellar third-weekend hold of 2022. Another curiosity: if Universal doesn’t start its PVOD window countdown until a film grosses less than $50 million, it still have another month as a theatrical exclusive.
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” (Disney) opening May 5 was meant...
- 4/23/2023
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
This post contains spoilers for the film "Beau is Afraid."
Ari Aster's new Oedipal entropy fable "Beau is Afraid" is not for the faint of heart. Running three hours in length, the film is set in a fantastical world of chaos, pain, and filth that the title character barely has the wherewithal or mental capacity to traverse. It's easy to see why. Early in the film, Beau (Joaquin Phoenix) receives a call from his mother (Patti LuPone) insisting that he fly home for an ill-defined reunion. While preparing to leave, Beau has his apartment keys and suitcase mysteriously stolen from his hallway. Because he lives in the world's most miserable neighborhood, Beau calls his mom and explains that he must wait for a locksmith. Laying on the guilt as thickly as she possibly can, Beau's mother condescendingly says that he'll do what's right. Beau is indeed afraid, mostly of his mother.
Ari Aster's new Oedipal entropy fable "Beau is Afraid" is not for the faint of heart. Running three hours in length, the film is set in a fantastical world of chaos, pain, and filth that the title character barely has the wherewithal or mental capacity to traverse. It's easy to see why. Early in the film, Beau (Joaquin Phoenix) receives a call from his mother (Patti LuPone) insisting that he fly home for an ill-defined reunion. While preparing to leave, Beau has his apartment keys and suitcase mysteriously stolen from his hallway. Because he lives in the world's most miserable neighborhood, Beau calls his mom and explains that he must wait for a locksmith. Laying on the guilt as thickly as she possibly can, Beau's mother condescendingly says that he'll do what's right. Beau is indeed afraid, mostly of his mother.
- 4/22/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
This article contains significant Beau Is Afraid spoilers.
He stands alone in front of a judging audience. One might even say he’s been alone his whole life, if not for the persistent specter of his mother. Mona Wasserman brought Beau into this world to fill a singular need, but this middle-aged, miserable, and perpetually bewildered man has never once fulfilled any of his own needs. Now the end has come, and Beau is afraid.
The final sequence of the film almost plays like a delirium, a Freudian reckoning between a man and a world that have never been able to reconcile their differences. That world includes all the figures from Beau’s life who, like Mona (Patti LuPone), stand in judgment of Joaquin Phoenix’s pitiful protagonist. But it’s also applicable to the audience who is at last asked to make an accounting of Beau’s hopes, failures,...
He stands alone in front of a judging audience. One might even say he’s been alone his whole life, if not for the persistent specter of his mother. Mona Wasserman brought Beau into this world to fill a singular need, but this middle-aged, miserable, and perpetually bewildered man has never once fulfilled any of his own needs. Now the end has come, and Beau is afraid.
The final sequence of the film almost plays like a delirium, a Freudian reckoning between a man and a world that have never been able to reconcile their differences. That world includes all the figures from Beau’s life who, like Mona (Patti LuPone), stand in judgment of Joaquin Phoenix’s pitiful protagonist. But it’s also applicable to the audience who is at last asked to make an accounting of Beau’s hopes, failures,...
- 4/21/2023
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
After posting giant per screen numbers at four theaters last weekend, A24’s Beau Is Afraid jumps to 926 for the distributor’s third outing with Ari Aster. It’s a very different film from his horror favorites Hereditary and Midsommar but one the distributor hopes will cement the director’s place as a modern auteur.
According to one influential fan, it has. Martin Scorsese, at a Q&a after an Imax screening in New York this week, called Aster a “unique and powerful” risk taker and “one of the most extraordinary new voices in World Cinema.”
Beau is scary in parts, like an opening Scorsese described as “the best scene I’ve seen of its kind. Absolutely terrifying.” There’s comedy, animation, a conflation of past, present and future, of reality and fantasy, of guilt, innocence, fear and self-loathing and an ongoing play within the movie. Scorsese said the surreal...
According to one influential fan, it has. Martin Scorsese, at a Q&a after an Imax screening in New York this week, called Aster a “unique and powerful” risk taker and “one of the most extraordinary new voices in World Cinema.”
Beau is scary in parts, like an opening Scorsese described as “the best scene I’ve seen of its kind. Absolutely terrifying.” There’s comedy, animation, a conflation of past, present and future, of reality and fantasy, of guilt, innocence, fear and self-loathing and an ongoing play within the movie. Scorsese said the surreal...
- 4/21/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Joaquin Phoenix as Beau in Beau Is Afraid. Courtesy of A24.
Beau Is Afraid – and confused and feeling guilty and often fleeing in panic, as he is caught in a world of bizarre events, in director/writer Ari Aster’s nightmarish fever dream of a movie, Beau Is Afraid. And mostly, Beau has mommy issues. This unsettling horror mind-trip, with a touch of darkest humor and surrealist fantasy, has the prefect star, that master of madness, Joaquin Phoenix, who plays an anxious, nervous man who might be prone to hallucinations who sets out to do a seemingly simple thing: visit his mother.
Craziness is afoot and there is plenty for Beau to be afraid of in Ari Aster’s Beau Is Afraid. The weird, imaginative and sometimes darkly humorous Beau Is Afraid is a squirm-inducing experience from a director who is scary good at creating unsettling movies, whose previous films...
Beau Is Afraid – and confused and feeling guilty and often fleeing in panic, as he is caught in a world of bizarre events, in director/writer Ari Aster’s nightmarish fever dream of a movie, Beau Is Afraid. And mostly, Beau has mommy issues. This unsettling horror mind-trip, with a touch of darkest humor and surrealist fantasy, has the prefect star, that master of madness, Joaquin Phoenix, who plays an anxious, nervous man who might be prone to hallucinations who sets out to do a seemingly simple thing: visit his mother.
Craziness is afoot and there is plenty for Beau to be afraid of in Ari Aster’s Beau Is Afraid. The weird, imaginative and sometimes darkly humorous Beau Is Afraid is a squirm-inducing experience from a director who is scary good at creating unsettling movies, whose previous films...
- 4/21/2023
- by Cate Marquis
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Can You Stream Joaquin Phoenix's 'Beau is Afraid' Now? When Will It Be Available to Watch From Home?
A24’s newest movie is heading to theaters this week! Its newest title is “Beau is Afraid,” starring Joaquin Phoenix, and the film looks every bit as quirky and off-the-wall as past A24 titles like “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “The Disaster Artist.”
The movie features Phoenix as a paranoid man who embarks on an epic journey to get to his mother’s house. Beau is incredibly anxious, but with his newly-prescribed medication he thinks he can handle the walk. What follows is a series of epic adventures, each more incredible and unbelievable than the last. But will Beau ever complete his goal of getting to his dear old mom’s?
The film currently sits at a 74% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics say the movie is a bit overstuffed, but Phoenix’s performance and director Ari Aster’s execution of his vision are enough to keep it more than watchable.
The movie features Phoenix as a paranoid man who embarks on an epic journey to get to his mother’s house. Beau is incredibly anxious, but with his newly-prescribed medication he thinks he can handle the walk. What follows is a series of epic adventures, each more incredible and unbelievable than the last. But will Beau ever complete his goal of getting to his dear old mom’s?
The film currently sits at a 74% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics say the movie is a bit overstuffed, but Phoenix’s performance and director Ari Aster’s execution of his vision are enough to keep it more than watchable.
- 4/20/2023
- by David Satin
- The Streamable
Ari Aster has quickly become a favorite of mine. The filmmaker has crafted three excellent and terribly fascinating features Hereditary, Midsommar, and Beau is Afraid. His latest is a strange and beautiful concoction of mommy issues gone wrong. It’s a delicious black comedy, it’s a little horrific, and it’s weird Af. Yes, weird is a great description – seriously, check out Chris Bumbray’s own take Here. And, of course, Joker Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix is utterly stellar here. This incredible cast includes the great Patti LuPone, Zoe-Lister Jones, Armen Nahapetian, and more. It’s very likely you’ve never watched a flick quite like this.
I recently had a terrific conversation with a few of the cast members behind this strange tale. Amy Ryan and Nathan Lane, who are both terrific here, add a wonderful element to the storyline they inhabit. The two opened up about working with Mr.
I recently had a terrific conversation with a few of the cast members behind this strange tale. Amy Ryan and Nathan Lane, who are both terrific here, add a wonderful element to the storyline they inhabit. The two opened up about working with Mr.
- 4/20/2023
- by JimmyO
- JoBlo.com
"Beau is Afraid," the new epic dark comedy from acclaimed director Ari Aster, is a surreal odyssey through the main character's inner psyche, exploring fears and traumas with the visual help of dense, elaborate set pieces. Aster labored over creating the nightmare-like world of his film, loading frames with blink-and-you'll-miss-them background details as if no corner provides any sort of relief from Beau's descent into never-ending anxiety. Aster intended this "chicken fat" -- a term coined by Mad Magazine's Will Elder to describe his comic panels' intentionally excessive background gags -- to further immerse the audience into a deeply uncomfortable, overwhelming chaos.
Oh, and they're also supposed to be funny.
Aster has a history of subtly hiding spooky visual clues and references throughout his movies. His 2018 debut feature "Hereditary" featured sinister naked Satanic cult members hanging out in the shadows and foreshadowed the film's big twists with the symbol of the demon Paimon.
Oh, and they're also supposed to be funny.
Aster has a history of subtly hiding spooky visual clues and references throughout his movies. His 2018 debut feature "Hereditary" featured sinister naked Satanic cult members hanging out in the shadows and foreshadowed the film's big twists with the symbol of the demon Paimon.
- 4/19/2023
- by Andrew Housman
- Slash Film
Ari Aster's new three-hour-long horror comedy epic "Beau is Afraid" is actually based on a short film of his that spans just six minutes in length. It's a lot of material to expand into a film of that length, but Aster himself said that it's because he's thought about the title character and developed enough material over the years to construct a tale grandiose enough to warrant a return. In fact, according to the filmmaker, "Beau is Afraid" isn't even really a remake of his short "Beau," but a wholly different piece of work that merely shares similarities.
Aster released "Beau" in 2011, the same year that he debuted his infamous thesis short film "The Strange Thing About the Johnsons," both of which star the late Billy Mayo. The short and Aster's 2023 feature begin with the same unfortunate turn of events when a man on a trip to visit his...
Aster released "Beau" in 2011, the same year that he debuted his infamous thesis short film "The Strange Thing About the Johnsons," both of which star the late Billy Mayo. The short and Aster's 2023 feature begin with the same unfortunate turn of events when a man on a trip to visit his...
- 4/19/2023
- by Andrew Housman
- Slash Film
Among the strange cast of characters Beau (Joaquin Phoenix) meets on his nightmarish journey through the mind of Ari Aster, perhaps the most memorable is Nathan Lane’s Roger. At first glance, he’s living the idyllic suburban American dream: a spacious house, a successful job as a surgeon, married to a loving wife (Amy Ryan’s Grace). The facade begins to break when we learn more: his son was killed in military duty, virtually replaced by his Ptsd-stricken fellow comrade Jeeves (Denis Ménochet) who now lives outside their house and is prone to violent outbursts; their daughter Toni (Kylie Rogers) despises both them and the new addition of their family, Beau, who is recuperating in her room; and Roger and Grace may or may not want to trap Beau inside their domain with no chance for escape, extending their fabricated family.
Ahead of Beau Is Afraid expanding nationwide this week,...
Ahead of Beau Is Afraid expanding nationwide this week,...
- 4/19/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The Big Door Prize‘s sweet, small-town characters continue to charm (and change) as they embrace the destinies they may be intended for. And we’ll see more of that in the April 19 episode, “Beau.” Having been redirected, and in some cases thrown completely off course, by tiny envelopes dispensed by a mysterious vending machine named Morpho, the residents of Deerfield are all about looking at their lives with a new Pov and making upgrades if needed. It’s adorable, unusual, and we are loving it. But it’s not all quirk and comedy. So far, the Apple TV+ series has spent each episode focusing on a specific local — this week, it’s Aaron Roman Weiner’s Zamboni driver Beau — and there’s always some sort of pain beneath the surface. In this case, it’s how Beau’s grief over the loss of his son Kolton has blinded him...
- 4/18/2023
- TV Insider
This post contains very light spoilers for "Beau is Afraid," a movie that is practically impossible to spoil.
"Beau is Afraid" has been swimming around in director Ari Aster's mind for nearly a decade. Before his demonic family film "Hereditary" burst onto the scene and the springtime cult of "Midsommar" welcomed actress Florence Pugh into their ranks, Aster made the short film "Beau" about an anxiety-ridden man trying to escape a terrifying apartment complex to visit his mother. For Aster, his latest feature became a receptacle for a huge amount of ideas about loneliness, paranoia, and repressed Oedipal rage that all ended up pouring out into one, three-hour long epic misadventure.
Aster has truly let his gloriously demented imagination run wild with "Beau is Afraid," and while that can be liberating on the page, it's another thing entirely to capture all those wild concepts and ideas on film when...
"Beau is Afraid" has been swimming around in director Ari Aster's mind for nearly a decade. Before his demonic family film "Hereditary" burst onto the scene and the springtime cult of "Midsommar" welcomed actress Florence Pugh into their ranks, Aster made the short film "Beau" about an anxiety-ridden man trying to escape a terrifying apartment complex to visit his mother. For Aster, his latest feature became a receptacle for a huge amount of ideas about loneliness, paranoia, and repressed Oedipal rage that all ended up pouring out into one, three-hour long epic misadventure.
Aster has truly let his gloriously demented imagination run wild with "Beau is Afraid," and while that can be liberating on the page, it's another thing entirely to capture all those wild concepts and ideas on film when...
- 4/17/2023
- by Drew Tinnin
- Slash Film
This article contains mild spoilers for "Beau is Afraid."Ari Aster's new film "Beau is Afraid" is an elongated, abstract college-student-experimental-art-piece-cum-Oedipal-freakout that will leave most audiences either confused or outright enraged. Running three hours, the film takes place in an abstract, non-real world where guilt, fear, and panic seem to be humanity's only available emotional states. Joaquin Phoenix plays the titular Beau who, at the film's start, lives in a rundown apartment in the middle of a war zone. He has to sprint down the street and make his way quickly through his building's security door before a pursuing tattooed, black-eyed man can attack him. There is a dead body rotting in the middle of his intersection, and no one seems the least bit concerned with removing it.
When Beau requires a bottle of water to take with his medication, he finds that his apartment keys have been stolen.
When Beau requires a bottle of water to take with his medication, he finds that his apartment keys have been stolen.
- 4/17/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Ari Aster’s newest movie, Beau Is Afraid, bears a stark similarity to his many short films, which collectively create a portrait of codependent guilt and pain.
“I am so sorry… for what your daddy passed down to you. But I wanted a child, the greatest gift of my life.”
Ari Aster’s Beau is Afraid has been equated to a cinematic nervous breakdown that chronicles Beau Wassermann’s (Joaquin Phoenix) prolonged journey to get home and see his mother, Mona (Patti LuPone), after tragedy strikes. This simple geographical trip transforms into a lucid fantasy of epic proportions as Beau’s past, present, and hypothetical futures are put under scrutiny from a beyond-suffocating guilt trip. Beau enters various states of consciousness and unconsciousness that put him through separate trials. These ordeals may feel disconnected in nature, but they all represent the same goal of Beau coming to terms with the...
“I am so sorry… for what your daddy passed down to you. But I wanted a child, the greatest gift of my life.”
Ari Aster’s Beau is Afraid has been equated to a cinematic nervous breakdown that chronicles Beau Wassermann’s (Joaquin Phoenix) prolonged journey to get home and see his mother, Mona (Patti LuPone), after tragedy strikes. This simple geographical trip transforms into a lucid fantasy of epic proportions as Beau’s past, present, and hypothetical futures are put under scrutiny from a beyond-suffocating guilt trip. Beau enters various states of consciousness and unconsciousness that put him through separate trials. These ordeals may feel disconnected in nature, but they all represent the same goal of Beau coming to terms with the...
- 4/17/2023
- by Daniel Kurland
- bloody-disgusting.com
The Shootist actor John Wayne was very particular about the type of roles that he felt passionately about. He represented his own form of masculinity that his longtime fans came to associate with the image of America. Many of Wayne’s greatest roles came from fictional stories, but The Shootist actually had a real-life connection that gave the movie its title.
‘The Shootist’ stars John Wayne as a dying gunfighter L-r: Lauren Bacall as Bond Rogers and John Wayne as J.B. Books | Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images
The Shootist follows an older gunfighter named J.B. Books (Wayne) in 20th Century Nevada. He goes to see a local doctor, who gives him the bad news that he has cancer and not much longer to live. Books turns to a widow named Bond Rogers (Lauren Bacall) and her son, Gillom (Ron Howard), to get some peace and quiet.
Several new faces appear,...
‘The Shootist’ stars John Wayne as a dying gunfighter L-r: Lauren Bacall as Bond Rogers and John Wayne as J.B. Books | Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images
The Shootist follows an older gunfighter named J.B. Books (Wayne) in 20th Century Nevada. He goes to see a local doctor, who gives him the bad news that he has cancer and not much longer to live. Books turns to a widow named Bond Rogers (Lauren Bacall) and her son, Gillom (Ron Howard), to get some peace and quiet.
Several new faces appear,...
- 3/24/2023
- by Jeff Nelson
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
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