Welcome to Rushfield’s Miscellany, my round-up of hidden gems and horrors, sharp takes, and little glimpse of everything else shaking Hollywood this week.
But first of all…
No Business Like Snow Business
I’ll spare you the hell-freezing-over jokes. But if we needed a sign that we live at a moment when the impossible could suddenly happen, any novel about this moment in entertainment history would open with… it’s snowing in Los Angeles!
A miracle? A harbinger? A warning?
As we enter into the WGA showdown, let’s just go ahead and take it as all of those, as evidenced by my bits below:
Do We Need Another Hero?
Are we getting nervous about Marvel, which greeted another mixed result this week with the Ant-Man falloff?
Requisite disclaimer: We should all pray for such mixed results in our lives and Marvel has problems in areas where other studios don’t have areas.
But nonetheless, the Marvel juggernaut at its height didn’t have any “mixed results” to shrug off, but rode a never-seen-before wave of commercial and critical untouchability.
Nothing can last forever. But if you move a notch down, the question is: was that just an air pocket before you resume your proper cruising altitude? Or is the notch down a step on the way to two notches down, then four?
And to be clear, the problems aren’t just Marvel film but point towards a Superhero Sector-wide softness. You’ve had a bunch of films under-perform or just do so-so in the past year or so, Marvel and elsewhere. Black Adam, Morbius, The Eternals, to name a few.
And you’ve had an increasingly cranky critical response for whatever that’s worth, with a heavy drumbeat of complaints about the quality of the effects in recent Marvel films in particular.
Can’t afford The Ankler right now? If you’re an assistant, student, or getting your foot in the door, and want help navigating the craziness of this business but don’t have the money to spare, drop me a line at richard@theankler.com and we’ll work it out. No mogul or mogul-to-be left behind here at The Ankler.
