8.5 MILLION MOVIEGOERS WENT TO THEATERS ON NATIONAL CINEMA DAY, UP 5% FROM LAST YEAR
An estimated 8.5 million people went to the movies this Sunday on National Cinema Day, a 5% increase in attendance from last year’s inaugural event. On National Cinema Day, hosted nationally by the Cinema Foundation, all showtimes in every format (including Imax and Dolby) were $4 at participating theaters.
The box office saw a 16% increase over the previous Sunday, Aug. 20. Moviegoers aged 18-24 and 25-34 each made up 22% of the National Cinema Day audience. Women turned out in slightly higher numbers than men, making up 52% of the audience.
“National Cinema Day was a significant success in bringing together millions of film fans of all ages to enjoy movies on the big screen,” said Bryan Braunlich, executive director of the Cinema Foundation. “Movie theaters and all our partners helped maximize the impact of the day with creative marketing and special promotions that added to the overall excitement, while a diverse slate of exciting films provided something for everyone to see. Thank you to all those hard-working individuals who make the theatrical experience magical.”
VENICE FILM FESTIVAL: WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN THE STRIKE ERA
80th Venice International Film Festival, Wed, Aug 30, 2023 – Sat, Sep 9, 2023
Few viral red-carpet moments expected this year, but there's plenty to dig into beneath the high-profile titles like "Maestro" and "Poor Things" that won't have SAG-AFTRA on the Lido.
Lido red carpets may be star-deprived this year, but that didn’t stop the Venice Film Festival from arranging a gorgeous constellation of new movies from supernova directors. The SAG-AFTRA strike work stoppage means, of course, that competition directors like Yorgos Lanthimos (“Poor Things”), David Fincher (“The Killer”), Sofia Coppola (“Priscilla”), Ava DuVernay (her first time in competition and the first African American woman filmmaker to compete, with “Origin”), Saverio Costanzo (“Finalmente L’Alba”), and Michel Franco (“Memory”) will have to do the talking at press conferences and attend step-and-repeats without their actors, if they’re willing. It’s tricky for multihyphenates like Bradley Cooper, who directs and stars as Leonard Bernstein in Netflix’s “Maestro;” IndieWire hears he will sit this festival out.
Among the Venice film stars who will not be waving to the paparazzi from water taxis are Emma Stone, Margaret Qualley, Carey Mulligan, Michael Fassbender, Tilda Swinton, Adam Driver, Penelope Cruz, Jacob Elordi, Aunjanue Ellis, Lily James, Joe Keery, Rachel Sennott, Niecy Nash-Betts, and Jessica Chastain. Still, many of their films will be in the fall awards conversation — however lurching that may be.
2023 TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL LINEUP
50th Telluride Film Festival, Labor Day Weekend
This year’s Telluride Film Festival will be missing its beloved co-founder, Tom Luddy, who died this year. Thus, the 2023 festival is dedicated to Luddy (1943-2023), as well as co-founders Bill Pence (1940-2022), James Card (1915-2000), and Stella Pence.
Per usual, the 50th anniversary TFF edition covers a range of over eighty feature films, new features, shorts, and classic programs representing twenty-nine countries, along with filmmaker tributes, conversations, seminars, and student programs. Executive Director Julie Huntsinger is carrying on the Luddy legacy while at the same time showcasing her own taste. “Tom was a fearless leader until the bitter end,” said Huntsinger on the phone during a recent interview with IndieWire. “I miss him so much. I’m devoted to tradition and continuity, and I am also fascinated and excited by the new.”
OPENING THIS WEEK
"Slotherhouse" — OPENS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 AT THE MULTIPLEX
College senior Emily Young wants to be elected sorority president. She adopts a cute sloth, thinking it will help her win, but a string of fatalities implicates the sloth.
"Bottoms" — OPENS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 AT THE STATE
This film premiered at South by Southwest on March 11, 2023.
The film, a refreshingly unique teen comedy, focuses on two girls, PJ (Rachel Sennott) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri), who start a fight club as a way to lose their virginities to cheerleaders. Their bizarre plan works. The fight club gains traction and soon the most popular girls in school are beating each other up in the name of self-defense. But PJ and Josie find themselves in over their heads and in need of a way out before their plan is exposed.
From directorEmma Seligman ("Shiva Baby," a 2020 American comedy film written and directed by Emma Seligman, Seligman’s feature directorial debut. The film starred Rachel Sennott as Danielle, a directionless young bisexual Jewish woman who attends a shiva with her parents).
"The Equalizer 3" — OPENS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 AT THE STATE
Since giving up his life as a government assassin, Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) has struggled to reconcile the horrific things he's done in the past and finds a strange solace in serving justice on behalf of the oppressed. Finding himself surprisingly at home in Southern Italy, he discovers his new friends are under the control of local crime bosses. As events turn deadly, McCall knows what he has to do: become his friends' protector by taking on the mafia. From director Antoine Fuqua ('Training Day').
SPECIAL SCREENINGS DOWNTOWN
"Casablanca"— PLAYS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 AND SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2 AT 7 PM AND SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 3 AND MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 AT 1:30 PM AT THE STATE
Free for students to conclude our Summer Classics series.
Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), who owns a nightclub in Casablanca, discovers his old flame Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) is in town with her husband, Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid). Laszlo is a famed rebel, and with Germans on his tail, Ilsa knows Rick can help them get out of the country.
"The Big Lebowski" — PLAYS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 AT 9:30 PM AT THE STATE
Part of the Late Nights at the State series
From the Academy Award®-winning Coen Brothers, the hilariously quirky comedy-thriller about bowling, avant-garde art, nihilistic Austrians, and a guy named… The Dude. Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski doesn't want any drama in his life… heck, he can't even be bothered with a job. But, in a case of mistaken identity, a couple of thugs break into his place and steal his rug (you gotta understand, that rug really tied the room together). Now, The Dude must embark on a quest with his crazy friends to make things right and get that rug back! Starring Jeff Bridges,Julianne Moore, John Goodman, John Turturro and Steve Buscemi, the film has become a cultural phenomenon.
"Raging Bull" — PLAYS MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 AT 7:30 PM AT THE MICHIGAN
Part of the 50 Years of Scorsese film series
Free for Michigan Theater members!
The story of a middleweight boxer as he rises through ranks to earn his first shot at the middleweight crown. He falls in love with a gorgeous girl from the Bronx. The inability to express his feelings enters into the ring and eventually takes over his life. He eventually is sent into a downward spiral that costs him everything. From director Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro with Cathy Moriarty andJoe Pesci.
The Series Continues - Mondays at 7:30 PM at the Michigan (mostly):
- "The King of Comedy" – Plays 9/11
- "After Hours" – Plays 10/2
- "Goodfellas" – Plays 10/9
- "Gangs of New York" – Plays 10/16
"Chile '76" — PLAYS TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 AT 5 PM AT THE STATE
Presented with the History Department at U-M. Free and open to the public.
Presented with a post-film discussion and Q&A led by Victoria Langland, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies with the History Department at the University of Michigan
Chile, 1976. Carmen heads off to her beach house to supervise its renovation. Her husband, children and grandchildren come back and forth during the winter vacation. When the family priest asks her to take care of a young man he is sheltering in secret, Carmen steps onto unexplored territories, away from the quiet life she is used to. Presented in Spanish with English Subtitles
CONTINUING DOWNTOWN
A ticking-clock thriller set during the tense 19 days of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir (Helen Mirren) must navigate overwhelming odds, a skeptical cabinet, and a complex relationship with US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (Liev Schreiber), leaving her with a controversial legacy around the world.
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of Park Chan-Wook’s cinematic masterpiece, the film will be released in theaters for the first time in 20 years, restored and remastered in stunning 4K.
After being mysteriously kidnapped and imprisoned with no human contact for fifteen years, Oh Dae-Su (Choi Min-sik) is suddenly released without any explanation. In a twisted game of cat and mouse, he has only five days to retrace his past, track down his captors, and get his revenge.
Featuring one of best one-shot action sequences of all-time and 18 on Empire Magazine’s “The 100 Best Films of World Cinema”
A 2023 fantasy comedy film directed by Greta Gerwig, who wrote it with Noah Baumbach. Gerwig collaborated with her partner Noah Baumbach on several films, including "Greenberg" (2010) and "Frances Ha" (2012), for which she received a Golden Globe Award nomination, "Mistress America" (2015), and "White Noise" (2022). She also appeared in many other films including as a voice actor in Wes Anderson's "Isle of Dogs" (2018). As a solo filmmaker, Gerwig has written and directed the coming-of-age films "Lady Bird" (2017) and "Little Women" (2019), both of which earned nominations for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
The film stars Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken, who go on a journey of self-discovery after their expulsion from the utopian Barbie Land. Appearing in supporting roles are America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell.
The film was first announced in September 2009. Following multiple writer and director changes and the casting of Amy Schumerand later Anne Hathaway in the titular role, Sony lost the rights, which were transferred to Warner Bros. Pictures in October 2018, with Robbie being cast in 2019. Gerwig was announced as director and co-writer with Baumbach in 2021. Gosling and the rest of the cast were announced in early 2022. Filming took place primarily at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden in England from March to July 2022. Barbie premiered at The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on July 9, 2023.
After being expelled from the utopian Barbie Land for being less-than-perfect dolls, Barbie and Ken go on a journey of self-discovery to the real world. OR to live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you're a Ken.
An epic biographical thriller film written, produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan, based on the 2005 biography "American Prometheus" by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist who helped develop the first nuclear weapons. The film stars Cillian Murphyas the title character, with a supporting ensemble cast including Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, and Kenneth Branagh.
The film was announced in September 2021 when Universal Pictures won the bidding war. Filming began in late February 2022 and wrapped that May. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema shot the film in a combination of IMAX 65mm and 65mm large-format film—including, for the first time, sections in IMAX black-and-white analog photography. As on his previous works, Nolan utilized extensive practical effects and minimal computer-generated imagery. The film premiered at Le Grand Rex in Paris on July 11, 2023. It is Nolan's first film not to be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures domestically or internationally since "Memento" (2000).
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