Since there really isn’t much box office news to discuss, we spent the entire show discussing the Oscar season that just ended.
Lisa Laman explained the commercial realities that helped make Anora the lowest-earning Best Picture winner since The Hurt Locker in 2010. Jeremy Fuster argued that it was more important for the Academy Awards to honor the “best” movies of the year even at the cost of remaining a top-tier pop culture event. Scott Mendelson noted Anora’s place alongside a slew of pre-COVID pictures like Parasite, Joker, Knives Out and Hustlers which acknowledged that income inequality was more structural than just “Bernie Madoff =bad!”
All of us agreed that A) it’s consumers’ responsibility to sample the honored films, but B) it’s partially due to corporate consolidation (especially among studios that have tentpole-level leverage) alongside an overall decline in available screens that makes the difference between a Birdman that earns $41 million and an Anora that earns $15 million in North America. We also discussed which Best Picture winners qualified as genuinely “anti-establishment” while we agreed that A) Conan O’Brien was a pretty damn solid host and B) the James Bond tribute as essentially a eulogy.
Oh, and Jeremy gets angry (and we always like him when he’s angry) about perhaps the laziest post-telecast “take” of the season.
In terms of the written word…
Scott Mendelson argued that Imax shouldn’t be doing Netflix any favors.
Jeremy Fuster interviewed the president of Kino Lorber about the opportunities for arthouse cinema as an SVOD value additive as mainstream streamers comparatively retreat.
Lisa Laman details the history of truly, genuinely “independent films” that have won the Academy Award for Best Picture…
Ryan Scott’s latest “Tales from the Box Office” noted the 15th anniversary of the infamous Kevin Smith-directed and Bruce Willis-starring flop Cop Out.
As always, if you like what you hear, like, share, comment, and smash (using a cartoon mallet) that subscribe button with every justified ounce of strength and passion. If you want to bother us and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or offer ideas for bonus episodes, ping us at Asktheboxofficepod@gmail.com.
Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop and Puck News
Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap
Lisa Laman - Dallas Observer, Pajiba, Looper, Cultress, Comic Book and Autostraddle
Ryan C. Scott - SlashFilm and Fangoria
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