Film Buffa at the movies: A Russo joke overblown, 'Freddy's' box office, and 'Pain Hustlers' review
Let's sit down with our popcorn and persuasion, and get into the movies.
Twitter is a great way to keep up with the minute-to-minute news reel, but it's also very good at pissing people off. The bottom of the barrel, middle of the barrel, and top of the barrel are all shown on this social media platform: people whining about something, letting their outrage get the best of them.
Example: Writer/director Joe Russo, well known for the Avengers movies he made with his brother Anthony, taking a lighthearted shot at Martin Scorsese on social media. Since Twitter blocks all embeds, basically taking away that gorgeous preview of a video or tweet, here’s the link to watch the jab in question.
The basic gist of it all is Scorsese named his dog “Oscar,” and Russo’s video shows him acknowledging the other director’s dog breed before ending the video with, “come on, box office.” The jab being that since the award-winning filmmaker called his dog the name that Hollywood gives its most prestigious award to, Russo named his dog after the big time success the Russos have experienced at the box office.
Before you slam Joe, remember it’s not just Avengers: Endgame that people know him for. It’s Captain America: Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, and Avengers: Infinity War as well. The Russo brothers have THREE movies in the top 50 all-time box office gross list. Scorsese does not.
Now, since each director obviously carries a different aim with their films, most of this is a moot point past the friendly jab. Scorsese calling his dog Oscar is an open invitation to send a shot, and that’s all Russo did. I bet the people on Twitter are more outraged about it than Joe or Marty is. Since we’re talking about the Russos, here’s my interview with them from a few years ago.
In summary, don’t be such a Scorsese dry-hump artist that you can’t take a simple joke about dog names. I’m officially naming my dog, “hardest working man in St. Louis.”
The box office tally from the weekend proved the kids are alright. Five Nights at Freddy’s grossed just over $78 million domestically, with another $40-50 coming in internationally, in its first full three days at the box office. I reviewed the film last night, giving it a mild thumbs up without going completely fresh with my rating. For parents, it is what it is.
For kids, specifically my son Vinny, it was like the AVENGERS movies: something to wait for and savor upon its release. Good for them. We need the younger generations to continue to go to movies, and flicks like Killers of the Flower Moon or another depressing awards movie won’t move the needle. That’s the truth.
The truth is Chris Evans’s post Steve Rogers run isn’t going so well. While I loved his campy villain turn in another under-appreciated Russo Brothers film, The Gray Man, the overall critical and viewer consensus is that he’s making poor choices. With the exception of 2019’s Knives Out, Evans’ output has been lackluster and underwhelming.
For a guy who wanted a departure after playing Captain America for over a decade, he’s not doing much outside the box work. Later this week, I’ll take a longer dive into my wife’s boyfriend’s post-Endgame film reel. For now, let’s talk about his latest turd, Pain Hustlers.
The latest “opioids suck, but watch this anyway” plot summary, Evans is a top executive of a giant pharmaceutical company hellbent on making boatloads of money off the demise of the human species via a pill. Emily Blunt and Andy Garcia co-star, and David Yates directs the breezy yet meaningless movie. By the end, the same message gets plastered across the screen with less potency than The Fall of the House of Usher or Painkillers, two other Netflix OPIOID-center dramas.
Evans, Blunt, and Garcia do their best to lift up mediocre material, but the whole movie reeks of bloated Netflix production weight. Big names, little flavor, lack of sizzle. The movie ends, and you nod at the predictable denouncement. Another misfire for Cap, as Paul Rudd would call him.
What else? Commence the quick take round before I go find some cold meds:
-Bradley Cooper’s Maestro looks tremendous. The uber-talented actor once again dives into the effect of being a world class musician with his Leonard Bernstein tale, with Carey Mulligan completing the one-two acting punch. Netflix is just about everywhere, all the time. This is one of their bigger awards pushers. We shall see if the complete film keeps up with the power of its teaser.
-JC Chandor’s Triple Frontier remains one of Netflix’s best and under-the-radar movies. Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam, and Garrett Hedlund taking on South American drug cartel czars in the attempt to collect something for themselves is a two-hour powder keg of a thriller. It moves, compels, and doesn’t fret with useless subplots. Don’t watch the trailer, just go watch it after you finish this. Thank me later.
-I don’t have much interest in seeing The Marvels. Brie Larson and the cast are fine, but the Marvel product has become oversaturated in the movie market. There’s still too many of them, and pretty much all the time. Give the Russos crap, but they made the best movies out of the most popular early phases. Lately, it’s pure fluff and not even intriguing enough to get me to watch. If you had told me a Marvel movie would pass by my door without much interest back in 2019, I’d be surprised.
Until next time,
DLB