James Cameron talks about the secret to his Avatar success; Brandon Cronenberg’s Infinity Pool to appeal NC-17 rating; Reviews are in for Don’t Worry Darling. All in today’s Movie News Rundown.
But First: Enjoy this gallery of 25 Boomers we will never say “OK” to.
Infinity Pool‘s NC-17 Woes: Brandon Cronenberg’s sci-fi movie Infinity Pool starring Mia Goth and Alexander Skarsgård has been rated NC-17 by the MPA for “some graphic violence and sexual content,” according to Bloody Disgusting. NEON is planning to appeal the rating to try and bring it down.
Sound Familiar?: Andrew Dominik’s Blonde was rated NC-17, making it Netflix’s first-ever film to go there. Dominik, who graces the cover of our Fall 2022 issue alongside star Ana de Armas, told us he didn’t expect the rating or feel that it was deserved, but he believes that “more is more” and was not interested in toning Blonde down. Maybe Cronenberg can get some comfort from Blonde‘s example and make lemonade out of the lemon that is an unwanted NC-17 rating. “A bit of drama is a good thing,” as Dominik told us.
Oscar Buzz for Pearl: Speaking of Mia Goth, her new horror/slasher movie Pearl directed by Ti West – a prequel to their other horror/slasher X from earlier this year that explains her character’s past, soon to be followed by MaXXXine – is getting some Oscar buzz, which is rare for horror movies, which have historically been neglected by the awards show. I’m not going to read too much of Variety’s Pearl story because I don’t want it spoiled until I see it, but if you have seen Pearl already, check it out.
James Cameron on Avatar: The Way of Water: “I guess we’ll find out if people show up for Avatar 2,” Cameron told The Times, which posed the question of whether the blockbuster director can save cinema a second time by bringing audiences in droves to the theater for Avatar 2 in a pandemic world as he did with the first Avatar during Hollywood’s piracy scare.
Avatar‘s Secret: “When I sat down with my writers to start Avatar 2, I said we cannot do the next one until we understand why the first one did so well. We must crack the code of what the hell happened,” Cameron said. So what did he find “Well, all films work on different levels. The first is surface, which is character, problem and resolution. The second is thematic. What is the movie trying to say? But Avatar also works on a third level, the subconscious… I wrote an entire script for the sequel, read it and realised that it did not get to level three. Boom. Start over. That took a year.”
Worries in Darling Land: I’m just trying to make a Don’t Worry Darling pun that Hunter Harris hasn’t already made in a smarter, pithier way. Anyway, the reviews are in for Olivia Wilde’s second feature, and they are not as favorable as they were for her first feature, Booksmart. Mostly, the gripes are that the movie itself isn’t as good as the drama surrounding it. I haven’t seen the movie, so I have no opinion. The Huff Post called it “hollow” and “disappointing.” The New York Times says it “stalls” and “keeps returning to the same point.” Now the question is, when the film opens tomorrow, will the drama of the press tour translate to ticket sales?
All I Can Say Is This: I can’t buy a ticket fast enough. I’ll definitely be posted up at the theater to see Don’t Worry Darling this weekend.
Main Image: A still from Avatar: The Way of Water courtesy of 20th Century Studios.
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