Who else is on day 5 of "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" being stuck in their head?

Kinda nuts that “the Pope is a guy from Chicago” is just something we take for granted now.

Unless I missed one, this is the first weekend with seven $10M+ grossers since Xmas 2015: www.the-numbers.com/box-office-c...

Second biggest opening weekend ever for A24, behind only Civil War. With holiday legs and the eventual awards bump it should easily pass Everything Everywhere All at Once's $77.2M total to become their biggest domestic hit ever; the only question is how much higher it can go.

The local Lite Rock radio station that becomes a holiday music station in Nov/Dec has been using anti-AI bumpers like “AI has never roasted chestnuts on an open fire” while also calling the station “Guaranteed Human.” Feels telling about where the general consensus on AI is starting to land.

With these kind of headwinds, we're on track for a weekend with at least six different movies making $10M+ (for the first since I think 2020?), maybe even seven if Song Sung Blue can hold well enough (for the first since I think 2015?).

Second biggest opening day ever for A24, behind only Civil War. Also comes in $2.2M ahead of A Complete Unknown’s Xmas opening last year, and $3.6M ahead of Uncut Gems’ Xmas opening six years ago.

Gwyneth Paltrow in Marty Supreme is one of the most incredible "damn they've still got it" performances in recent memory, pretty easily her best work since...man, Two Lovers? Maybe even Royal Tenenbaums?

Marty Supreme scored a B+ CinemaScore, only the fifth A24 wide release to ever score that high (Iron Claw and Warfare scored A-‘s, Talk to Me and Bring Her Back scored B+’s), and particularly impressive for an abrasive Xmas Day release (Uncut Gems scored a C+ six Xmases ago).

Now seated for what will be my 3000th movie on Letterboxd:

Interesting!

Texting "Merry Christmas!" to Hinge matches that haven't messaged back in a couple days

Merry Christmas y'all

Any time people complain about getting sick of a movie's marketing, keep in mind that modern movie marketing is a Herculean task where any campaign that successfully reaches a real majority of the population is gonna seem insufferable to the chronically online.

This is trying so hard to sell it like a legasequel “first time seeing this character in decades” reveal when it’s a lot closer to “cast member who left three season ago making guest appearance on season 13 premiere”

The amount of disruptive popup ads you get on an average news website these days would have been shameful for a porn website in the ‘00s.

Joe Pesci’s fit on the Home Alone press featurette:

When Joe Pesci won LAFCA’s Best Supporting Actor in 1990, they should have also cited him for Home Alone the way Huston was cited for both Grifters and Witches.

I really hope neither of them budge in this game of Chicken.

After two years of stumbling around trying to figure out how to replicate the Sound of Freedom success, it seems that Angel Studios has found that the winning formula is just pandering to the Sunday School demo.

Respect to Pluribus for keeping every post-premiere episode so far to under 50 minutes.

My box office analysis of Avatar: Fire and Ash for the next 10 days:

Now seated for my first 3D movie since getting glasses (wish me luck!!)

I like it more in general than most people, but Spanglish is under-discussed as one of the most Divorced movies ever made.

[Doing vocal warm ups before going on stage] Emma Mackey is Ella McCay. Emma Mackey is Ella McCay. Emma Mackey is Ella McCay. Emma Mackey is Ella McCay.

Hilarious how many of these bozos proudly set themselves up for an own-goal like this last night

DiCaprio’s first movie to enter the Criterion Collection!

I really hate that last night amidst everything I thought something like this might happen, and hate even more that it actually did.

Great story

This entire weekend

Not a fan of the way this news about Rob Reiner’s house is being reported.

My one bleak thought re: Ella McCay bombing is that it does feel like the Original Comedy has gone the way of The Western: once a staple of studio filmmaking, it is now exclusively made either as cheaply and passionlessly as possible, or by auteurs with Something Bigger to say

Emma Mackey does some really good “straining to performatively listen to a driver from the backseat” acting in Ella McCay.

20th Century execs this morning:

James L. Brooks CinemaScore history: A: Terms of Endearment A-: Broadcast News, As Good As It Gets B+: Spanglish B-: I’ll Do Anything, Ella McCay C-: How Do You Know

Very solid week

Rewatching Edward Scissorhands

Zaslav’s phone:

Imagine actively campaigning the *Hollywood Foreign Press Association* for a nomination and failing to receive one.

Parking and getting out of your car at home just as the first snowflakes of a snowstorm start to fall >>>>

Only 10 first-time watches away from my 3,000th film on Letterboxd; depending on how busy I am I should end up logging it sometime before Christmas…

Tom Cruise when the Netflix board tries proposing a 30-day theatrical window in 600 random theaters for his next WB movie:

BTW Christopher Nolan was just elected president of the DGA so...this should be interesting.

With how much of a public temper tantrum Paramoujt has been throwing about not winning the bid, there’s a non-zero chance Trump weighs in on the Netflix/Warners deal within the next 48 hours

If I had heard this news even a few months ago it would have sent me into an existential spiral; now after Paramount’s attempted purchase I’m somehow mildly relieved?

This letter is a clear attempt to get Trump angry enough to intervene, and is thus a pretty clear signal to the entertainment community of what kind of company Paramount plans to run. I know people dread a Netflix acquisition of Warner Bros.; this would be worse. deadline.com/2025/12/para...

“Ok Judy it’s the first song of the movie but we aren’t even in technicolor yet, it’s just a solo number to give the audience an idea of your character so, nothing crazy ok?” Judy Garland:

All the LOLs

Tangents about PBS Kids and Star Trek Voyager in the first 10 minutes, the Drive-Away Dolls Blank Check episode was specifically designed for 9-Year-Old Me.

The Jim Carrey Grinch and Home Alone are holiday classics that blend a nasty, misanthropic worldview with a "but the holidays are about being together!" message that almost feels hypocritical, but in a way that kinda accurately represents how the average American views family and community.