Tag: Movies

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Journalists Ditch Colbert, Mourn Scott Pelley’s ’60 Minutes’ Exit

Some examples of media bias are so blatant they practically scream their intentions.

Take the year-long mourning over Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show” cancellation. Week after week, saw news articles bemoaning his late-night fate. Most journalists ignored the fact that the show cost CBS $40 million a year.

Oops! Did we leave that out?

Had Colbert spent the last decade skewering President Joe Biden, Senatorial hopeful Graham Platner and other progressives, the same journalists would have pinned a “Kick Me” sign to Colbert’s back on the way out the door.

Instead, they collectively recoiled at his dismissal, dubbing him an “avenger” and a “minister” to a troubled nation.

Really.

Now? It’s Stephen Colbert who? 

Why? CBS News head honcho Bari Weiss is cleaning house at another hard-Left institution – “60 Minutes.” Yes, the same program that got pummeled by President Donald Trump’s lawyers for selectively editing Kamala Harris to make her sound smart in the final days of the 2024 presidential campaign.

The same “60 Minutes” that tried to fix the 2004 election with a “fake but accurate” story smearing President George W. Bush.

The same “60 Minutes” that fought with President Trump over the Hunter Biden laptop, insisting it lacked the resources to see if it was the real deal.

It was … and they were terrified to learn the truth.

That “60 Minutes.”

Now, with center-Left Weiss attempting to bring the show to the journalistic center, the same Colbert defenders are rallying behind the just-fired Scott Pelley.

He’s been a part of the far-Left show for years, and he epitomized the modern journalist – arrogant, biased and willing to publicly trash his bosses, assuming said bosses wouldn’t fire employees for insubordination.

Wrong.

He’s out of a job, and the media is in full meltdown mode. Here’s a Google News snapshot.

Google News screenshot Scott Pelley firingGoogle News screenshot Scott Pelley firingThat’s a small sample of the media coverage.

Wait … who is Scott Pelley? Newsbusters offers a crash course on his chronic liberal bias.

Consider this softball he lobbed to President Joe Biden:

“Joe Biden is among the longest-serving politicians in Washington. If there is less bounce in the step than there once was, if the words don’t flow like they used to, maybe there’s something to be said for knowhow, five decades on the Hill and in the Oval…You have lived a long life of triumph and tragedy. In November, you’ll be 80. And I wonder what it is that keeps you in the arena.”

Or this commencement address during the second President Trump administration, which doubled as an MS NOW audition tape:

“Our sacred rule of law is under attack. Journalism is under attack, universities are under attack, freedom of speech is under attack. An insidious fear is reaching through our schools, our businesses, our homes and into our private thoughts. The fear to speak in America….In a moment like this, when our country is in peril, don’t ask the meaning of life. Life is asking, what’s the meaning of you?”

Is it any wonder journalists forgot Colbert’s cancellation to mourn yet another far-Left figure?

And, for added context, consider how little attention these same journalists paid to a former president suffering from obvious cognitive decline?

What’s the worst example of Pelley’s liberal bias that you remember?

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Is ‘Scary Movie’ Too Anti-Woke for Film Critics?

You can’t say the Wayans didn’t warn us.

The family behind the “Scary Movie” franchise returns this weekend with the sixth installment of the franchise. Just don’t call it “Scary Movie 6.” It’s just “Scary Movie,” thank you.

Their mission? Challenge audiences and bring real comedy back to movie theaters. Critics are greeting the latest film in the comedy series like an unwanted house guest.

Be gone!

The movie, opening nationwide this weekend, has a measly 25 percent “rotten” rating over at RottenTomatoes.com. General audiences have yet to weigh in on the title.

The film reunites key franchise players like Regina Hall, Anna Faris, Marlon Wayans and Cheri Oteri. The targets? “Sinners.” “Weapons.” “Get Out.” And more. Much more.

RELATED: THE USUAL SUSPECTS ALREADY TRIGGERED BY SCARY MOVIE

It’s been 13 long years since “Scary Movie 5,” and there’s plenty of horror fodder to spoof. Except critics aren’t laughing.

The far-Left TheWrap.com played the film’s alleged ideology against it.

The film’s stubborn insistence that nothing about ‘Scary Movie’ needs to change and it’s the children who are wrong now makes its profane and controversial jokes feel conservative.

And? Is that bad? Are the jokes funny or not? Isn’t that the more pertinent question?

The critic’s review reads like a crossover from TheMarySue.com, with talk of punching down and related silliness. This isn’t 2020 anymore.

RELATED: WOKE KILLED COMEDY (AND HERE’S THE PROOF)

And, since it matters, Team Wayans isn’t conservative. Or necessarily liberal. They go where the funny is, which makes them subversive in the modern era.

Toward that end, they’ll happily mock Trump voters and pronouns in a single movie. Just try and stop them.

Scary Movie Ma poster parody-Scary Movie Ma poster parody-

The Guardian’s negative review also teases with the notion that mocking Millennials and Gen Z for their “safe spaces” and speech codes is, gasp, a bad thing.

Yet there are also increasing notes of sourness as Scary Movie goes on – a lack of generosity toward the younger generation that goes past playful ribbing and sometimes feels downright hostile to the very existence of anyone who dares follow them.

Film critics routinely put their thumbs on the scale of movies that don’t align with their worldview. And, if a project is under fire from right-leaning sources, they take sides.

None of this will impact the box office, most likely. The previous films weren’t critical darlings, and early predictions suggest the film will earn $45-55 million this weekend alone. That’s a big score for a comedy feature, which generally aren’t as budget heavy as other summer spectacles.

What’s your favorite “Scary Movie” character?

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‘Daily Show’ Hits Platner, Triples Down on Colorado GOP Candidate

“The Daily Show” attempted some fair and balanced political satire this week.

Yes, that’s a newsworthy moment.

Late-night hosts serve the DNC. Are they paid contributors or is it simply for the love of the game? We may never know, but when a show actually mocks a Democrat, it’s shocking.

Desi Lydic of “The Daily Show” did just that. She dared to mention the humiliating saga of Graham Platner. He’s the “oyster farmer” and Reg’lar Guy who hopes to dethrone Sen. Susan Collins in Maine.

Except there’s just one problem for the Democrat. Actually, dozens.

RELATED: DID ‘DAILY SHOW’ HOST JUST EXCUSE POLITICAL VIOLENCE?

Platner’s past and very recent past have caught up to him. Where to even begin?

  • He had a Nazi tattoo on his chest for 18 years before he covered it up last year
  • He has disparaged specific U.S. Military members
  • He just got busted in an alleged sexting scandal
  • He pushed his wife to record a video defending him against said alleged scandal
  • He has an active account on Kik, a platform known for very, very bad behavior

That’s a partial list. And, around the Beltway, everyone expects more shoes to drop. Shoes that make his Nazi tattoo look quaint by comparison.

Still, kudos to “The Daily Show” for even mentioning Platner’s name. The show did its usual dodging though, yukking it up over a minor matter in Platner’s dating profile pic to distract from the larger issues in play.

The Democrats are rallying around a guy with a Nazi tattoo. The Left went from “Punch a Nazi!” to “Elect Our Nazi.”

Except Lydic had even juicier material in hand – Colorado’s own Victor Marx. He’s running for governor on the Republican ticket, and he may be the worst candidate in a very, very long time.

Sound hyperbolic?

See?

Lydic dedicated the bulk of the segment to a Kyle Clark/Marx interview shown on Denver’s KUSA-TV last week. She could have done an entire episode on it, frankly. Marx’s answers bordered on the surreal.

She didn’t have to say much during the segment. Just contort her face and mug for the cameras. Marx’s answers proved comedy gold.

“This guy is the Republican front runner in Colorado,” she said. That’s not necessarily true. Polling has been scarce in Colorado, and one poll that showed Marx dramatically ahead was pushed out aggressively by his camp.

Even worse for the would-be governor?

When pressed on some of his campaign’s dubious claims during this week’s gubernatorial debate (the only one he attended) Marx suggested his dog can back up his claims.

That actually happened. 

If late-night activists want to pound the GOP moving forward, they may want to relocate to Colorado or, more specifically, Marx’s campaign headquarters.

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‘Scary Movie’

The Wayans vowed to push back against the woke scolds with a sixth “Scary Movie” feature.

That they do.

The new film features trans characters, pronouns, BLM and other culture war topics. Nothing is sacred or off the table, just as they promised.

The problem? They forgot to make any of the above funny. Not remotely so.

It’s an anything goes affair, scampering from meta yuks to gags only franchise devotees will get. The result? An exhausting example of how NOT to do a movie parody.

Ghostface is back, but this time he’s targeting the teen daughter of franchise regular Cindy (Anna Faris). That’s more or less the plot, folks.

The film pings in so many directions you forget you’re watching a feature film. It’s a series of limp sketches and references to recent horror movies like “Sinners,” “Weapons,” “Longlegs” and “Get Out.”

The characters break the fourth wall to remind us what the story is from time to time. Or how Hollywood treats remakes and reboots.

Or the minor details behind the franchise.

The film begins with a whimper and slowly slides downhill. A recent Oscar nominee anchors the prologue, but she proves far from the best choice for this kind of material. That, plus a brief second prologue, come and go with nary a smile, let alone a laugh.

Uh oh.

We immediately sense this movie was a terrible idea, and 20 minutes later, we’re darn sure of it.

One sequence has a pulse. The three vampire figures from “Sinners” knock on the main characters’ door and perform a TV show theme song. The choice of material is smart, and the reaction to it makes sense. And it’s legitimately funny.

That brief moment suggests what this film might have been. And it’s over in a blink.

You may smile a time or two over a singular quip in “Scary Movie,” especially since the Wayans flood the zone with gags. There’s zero comic momentum afoot. The physical gags are obvious and strained, as is virtually every element of the film.

The newer, younger characters prove forgettable, while the old guard (Faris, Regina Hall and Cheri Oteri) hardly make the case for their return. And while the Octavia Spencer film “Ma” proved a guilty pleasure, leaning so hard on it with Hall’s character makes no sense.

Don’t blame the stars, though.

The ghosts of Gilda Radner, John Belushi and Richard Pryor couldn’t breathe life into this screenplay, credited to Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Craig Wayans and Rick Alvarez.

But will “Scary Movie” trigger the woke scolds as promised? Yes and no. 

That group got triggered by the trailer. Still, it’s hard to find any running gag or joke “offensive” when they’re so poorly written and choreographed.

We’re hungry for comedies that satirize today’s warped world. Yes, this franchise focuses on the horror genre, but a respectable sequel could do both.

Instead, this is a lazy, scattershot dud that delivers the least laughs in the series. A series, by the way, with plenty of dead spots.

“Scary Movie” plays out like a franchise on life support, not one brought back to life to crush the dying woke movement.

HiT or Miss: “Scary Movie” is a sure bet to be on many “Worst of the Year” movie lists. It richly earns it.

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‘Masters of the Universe’

Travis Knight’s “Masters of the Universe” is a mighty mixed bag, full of rousing action and choice moments.

It’s also suffering from an identity crisis that matches the struggles of He-Man, the film’s hero.

The story: Adam Glenn/He-Man (Nicholas Galitzine) works at a joyless cubicle job (shades of “The Matrix”) and just-barely hides his secret past from puzzled co-workers. What we know from an elaborate prologue is that Glenn is Prince Adam, the son of Eternia, a magical world that was taken over by the Evil Skeletor (Jared Leto).

Prince Adam was a boy when he and the Sword of Power, which holds the future of Eternia, were sent to live on Earth.

Now, 15 years later, the young heir of Eternia and his sword are reunited – it would have made more sense if Prince Adam had amnesia during this time and took this long to find a sword on Earth due to memory loss and not failed internet searches, but never mind.

Once Prince Adam returns to Eternia, he reunites with his best friend Teela (Camilla Mendes), her father and teacher Man-At-Arms (Idris Elba) and Cringer, the talking green tiger who needed much more screen time. At some point, Prince Adam thrusts his sword into the air, says the magic words, and we’re off into another wild action sequence.

Coming from an enormous fan of the toy line, I was ready to embrace this film. The original animated series from Filmation was a passion of my ’80s childhood- I recall begging my mother to record episodes I missed on blank VHS tapes, which I would later watch and rewatch obsessively, as though it were the Zapruder footage.

The Evil Horde Slime Pit, where the heroes would be forcibly doused with “gruesome ooze” into slime monsters and subsequently possessed to join the villainous Hordak, is among my all-time favorite toys. I not only collected the He-Man action figures and comic books but regularly purchased He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Magazine, which covered the arrival of the ’87 film as though it was a new work from Martin Scorsese.

Aside from “Star Wars,” no other toy or clothing line dominated my grade school years more than He-Man.

The 1987 “Masters of the Universe: The Motion Picture,” with He-Man embodied by Dolph Lundgren, no less than the former Ivan Drago, and Skeletor played by a great, fittingly theatrical Frank Langella, is still a source of bliss, despite how completely absurd it is. That movie, even with a cheesiness that lasts the entire 106-minute running time, knew exactly what it was and embraced it.

Here, the filmmakers clearly want this to be “Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014) but never get the tonal balance of presenting a character comedy with a special effects extravaganza (I’d argue that the 1984 “Ghostbusters” is still the best at this tightrope act).

I wish this new “Masters of the Universe” was more like the take-it-or-leave-it “Krull” (1983), my favorite Arthurian Legend crossed with “Star Wars” flick, than the nudge-nudge, wink-wink “Flash Gordon” (1980). The latter also acknowledges its silliness as a precaution and comes across with an unspoken but obvious apology for being silly.

Rather than just let this be as campy as we all knew it would be, it settles for being a semi-spoof, when everyone involved would have been better off to just emerge unapologetic and sincere with how daffy it is.

As with the ’87 film, Skeletor steals the show. Because he’s deemed a problematic actor, Leto’s involvement here has been downplayed by the studio, but he evokes a Tim Curry-like speaking voice and gives a robust performance.

All of Leto’s scenes with Alison Brie (also great and pitch-perfect as Evil-Lyn) work perfectly and the grand finale is wonderful – the ’87 film famously fell short during its climactic He-Man/Skeletor showdown but not here.

Mild Spoiler: there’s a moment that place Skeletor in a real-world context, a touch that will be divisive but I loved for how funny it comes across.

While this is not Elba’s finest work, he gives Man-At-Arms his professional best (a lesser actor would have had a losing battle with that costume alone). I liked Galitzine as Prince Adam (yes, the origin of the name “He-Man” is belatedly addressed, and it’s the film’s biggest groaner) but I still prefer Lundgren (old habits die hard).

There’s so much CGI on display; why didn’t they just make an animated film? On the other hand, the score by Daniel Pemberton, aided by no less than Brian May on the guitar, makes this one of the must-have soundtracks of 2026.

Yes, the old theme resurfaces, but the rockin’ new music here is a Queen-worthy wonder.

There are lots of Easter Eggs and references to the franchise (note how the villainous, hook-adorned Karg is in both the ’87 movie AND this one!) that will probably only connect with the film’s perceived demographic of 50-year-olds (guilty as charged).

The whole thing would have been better served with a twinkle in its eye and a more sincere approach, instead of repeatedly assuring us that this is the Honest Trailers/ How It Should Have Ended version of a blissfully absurd and glorious cartoon.

Knight previously made “Bumblebee” (2018), which is still exemplary, and few would argue that anyone has ever made a better live-action movie from “The Transformers.” A key to the success of “Bumblebee” is that it invests fully in the emotions of the story and, unlike here, doesn’t constantly pull its punches with we-were-just-kidding jabs to the ribs.

Likewise, Knight’s enthralling animated epic “Kubo and the Two Strings” was one of the best films of 2016.

Knight gives his audience, particularly those of a certain age, dopamine hits of Toys ‘R Us nostalgia, which is appreciated. Yet, had this been more like “Bumblebee,” the emotional stakes could have been countered with a story we could get invested in, no matter how goofy it all comes across.

Knight’s film is awfully fun for the most part but tonally uneven.

If there’s a sequel and they decide to go “dark and grim,” that wouldn’t be right, either, as the franchise (certainly in the ’80s version) sported a sense of humor and never needed to get gritty. However, if the follow-up includes a scene where He-Man is strapped to that dastardly Hordak’s slime pit, giving Eternia’s savior yet another identity crisis, then I’ll pre-order my tickets right now!

Two and a half stars (out of four)

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MeToo Starlets Silent on Chilling Graham Platner Accusations

The “Believe All Women” movement is dead, and Hollywood helped kill it.

Industry starlets like Alyssa Milano popularized the term to attack President Donald Trump and future Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

The moment a major Democrat faced assault allegations – namely future President Joe Biden – Hollywood feminists dropped the phrase like a bad habit.

Why? They’re Democrats first and foremost, and feminists a distant second. And they couldn’t afford to damage Biden as he ramped up his campaign to face Trump in 2020. Former Biden aide Tara Reade’s chilling accusations against the then-Senator didn’t inspire their support.

RELATED: BARIE WEISS SHAMES METOO STARLETS ON HAMAS TERROR

Milano even said the shameful part out loud.

Believing women was never about “Believe all women no matter what they say,” it was about changing the culture of NOT believing women by default.

Oh.

That hypocrisy wasn’t relegated to Biden. Hollywood feminists also stood down when New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo faced serial accusations of inappropriate behavior. That helped crush the fledgling Time’s Up nonprofit, designed to help women against predatory men.

And, more recently, they said nothing as sex-based accusations chased Rep. Eric Swalwell from the California Governor’s race.

Now, the usual suspects are whisper-quiet again. And, once more, it’s all about politics.

It’s undeniable.

Senatorial hopeful Graham Platner may be the most flawed candidate in modern memory.

  • Nazi tattoo? Check
  • Misleading voters about the nature of said tattoo? Check
  • Gross comments about his fellow soldiers? Check
  • Damning dating profile on a sickening platform? Check
  • Sexting other women while married? Check
  • Forcing his wife to defend him on video? Check

That’s a partial list. And it just expanded to include physical assault allegations, according to the far-Left New York Times.

Hollywood feminists may not want to comment on the tattoo issue or Platner’s comments about the U.S. Military. Fine. We all can’t weigh in on every political narrative or angle.

Starlets should still have something to say about a notable candidate, someone who could become Maine’s next Senator, with an abysmal track record against women.

They may not read The Daily Wire or Breitbart News, but no doubt they’re regular New York Times readers.

So where are the comments? The Tweets? The Instagram Posts? The press conference comments decrying Platner’s alleged actions?

Look as much as you want. You likely won’t find them.

Stars like Amy Schumer, Lena Dunham, Debra Messing, Brie Larson, Kerry Washington and more protested Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination during the contentious 2018 news cycle.

Now? Silence. Again.

It couldn’t be more predictable or more sad.

Has anyone from Hollywood (not just MeToo activists) weighed in on Platner? Or, perhaps, a few might do so in the days to come? If so, share the comments below and we’ll update this article.

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‘Quintet’: Altman’s Post-Apocalyptic Gamble Demands a Revisit

Robert Altman’s “Quintet” (1979) is an eerie, vivid nightmare that begins with the camera panning over a vast, white snowscape, showing us a train long abandoned.

It’s a post-apocalyptic world that, we learn later, has resulted in a planet of unceasing cold and winter weather that few can survive. This is “Mad Max” (1979) in reverse, a world smothered in snow and ice, with wolves always nearby to consume the dead.

Paul Newman stars as Essex, a survivor who wanders through the vast wilderness with his wife (Bridgette Fossey) into a massive structure (filmed inside the abandoned Expo ’67 complex in Montreal). Five million human survivors inhabit this place, with its layout provided by maps consisting of number and color codes.

Inside this structure are large photographs of humankind, hung for inspection, appearing to be reminders of what civilization used to be. What do the survivors do? They sit around and play a board game called Quintet and contemplate murdering one another.

The human survivors are adorned in capes and heavy clothing, looking like inhabitants of “Dune” or attendees of a Renaissance Festival. This new version of human civilization is still driven by survival and beholden to established traditions.

Yet, the shared passion among the few remaining humans is winning at Quintet and surviving another day. In other words, even with the snowy setting, Altman has made another western.

Shot in Montreal on a $7 million budget, this certainly has the feel of a western, albeit one caked in snow and frost, wrapped in take-it-or-leave-it surrealism. Altman is exploring existentialist themes, asking us if we’re all just gamer players awaiting mortality?

Despite the slow pace (the thing most cite when saying they hate this movie), Altman’s film is entertaining- more so than being leisurely paced, its real crime is being profoundly strange.

Altman made this in between “A Wedding” (1978) and “A Perfect Couple” (1979). What came after “Quintet” was “Popeye” (1980), the box office hit that was critically panned and led to years of hit and miss indie films, until “The Player” (1992) and a slew of great films that followed, gave him one of the all-time best comebacks for a filmmaker.

RELATED: WHY ALTMAN’S ‘PLAYER’ HASN’T AGED A MINUTE 

In terms of looking at a long career with drastic ups and downs that came out of taking wild risks on personal material, I’d compare Altman’s trajectory to M Night Shyamalan’s. if “Quintet” was Altman’s “Lady in the Water” (2006) then “The Player” was his “Split” (2016 – my apologies to Shyamalan enthusiasts).

To put it another way, it’s a rare pleasure to see a filmmaker take a chance on their visions, even when their dreams aren’t as interesting to us as they are for them. Altman and Shyamalan never made the same movie twice, and their best films show them taking narrative and tonal risks.

“Quintet” is not on the level with “M.A.S.H.,” “The Player” or “Short Cuts,” but it is, likewise, an original, risk-taking and personal story from a great American filmmaker. Not everything Altman made was great, but even something as out-there as “Quintet” needs to be seen and picked over.

Altman’s film is endlessly fascinating, a visionary work that aligns itself with subsequent works of post-apocalyptic survival. However, when the film was released in 1979, it was ahead of its time, as the only mainstream Hollywood film it truly compared to was “Planet of the Apes” (1968) and this one lacked the novelty of actors wearing simian masks.

Some prior B-movies had also explored the topic, notably the Richard Denning vehicle “Day the Earth Ended” (1955) and a few others. Yet, this was a long way from the days where the pessimism of “The Terminator” (1984) or “The Book of Eli” (2010) would become its own subgenre.

Altman’s film was something truly novel. It is also one of his worst-reviewed films and was almost universally despised by audiences and critics upon release.

Considered a major blunder in ’79, time has caught up with the film, which now plays as a perfect double feature, if not a thematic grandfather, to films like “Snowpiercer” (2013), longform dramatic TV series like “The Walking Dead” (2010-2022) or “The Last of Us” (2023-present ), though minus the zombies, and even the costumed politics of “Game of Thrones” (2011-2019).

The silliness of the film is unavoidable, not just in the far-out premise, but the contrast of the King Henry V-era costumes and phrases like the drinking of “booza.”

How Quintet is played is never explained.

I once showed this to a college film class, where a student who identified himself as a passionate D&D player said he’d watch the film closely and explain the rules. At the end of the screening, he said he had no idea, as the film never really tells us how Quintet is played, only that it’s a life-or-death game.

According to Patrick McGilligan’s 1989 book, “Robert Altman- Jumping Off a Cliff,” “Altman seemed excited about merchandising the possible game- which he believed was going to be another Monopoly- as he was about the film story.”

If only he told us how the heck the game was played!

Made during the days of coin operated video games, Altman suggests that games and gaming will be a passion that keep us going after most of us are gone. He’s probably right.

What does it say about the human race that, after we survived the end of the world, what we would probably do to pass the time is survive, play games and murder when necessary?

A great score by Tom Pierson gives this story its epic grandeur but also a consistent feeling of dread. Altman designed the cinematography to allow the edges of the screen to appear fuzzy in every scene. Why? Perhaps to convey a lens frosting over, or to suggest that what we’re watching is a dream.

After all, like Altman’s “3 Women” (1977), the vision of “Quintet” came to him in a dream. Altman also admitted publicly that he was grieving over the death of his father, which took a toll on his mindset during filming.

Altman and Newman reteamed for this after “Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson” (1976). What an act of faith on Newman’s part to take this on!

While Newman has publicly been kind with his words regarding Altman, McGilligan revealed that “Newman is said to thunder with vulgar phrases whenever the film is mentioned.”

Later, in Mitchell Zuckoff’s 2009 book, “Robert Altman – The Oral Biography,” Newman is directly quoted as stating the following on “Quintet”:

“I think ‘Quintet’ was a valid supposition, but I think the details just got away from us. There weren’t enough details to pile on top of each other to support that as a dramatic supposition. It’s a complicated supposition, you understand. It’s the end of the world and if you’re going to go out, you might as well go out with some excitement. So, the excitement is you track down the guy in front of you and kill him. But you also know there’s a guy in back of you, who’s trying to kill you. You might have gotten that on the second viewing, but most people only get a first. You have to be looking straight ahead but you have to be looking in back of you, too.”

Newman concluded his commentary with this gem:

“I don’t think you have to go out to kill for excitement to keep feeling alive, though (Altman) may have felt that way about the critics.”

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YouTube Scores Again! ‘Amazing Digital Circus’ Crushes Box Office

“The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act” shocked everyone this weekend.

But why?

The theatrical release, actually the final two episodes of the animated series spliced together, made the most money during the critical Thursday frame.

That’s more than “Scary Movie,” the film which debuts at no. 1 this weekend, and more than horror sensations “Obsession” and “Backrooms.”

A look at one raw number suggests we all should have seen it coming. Two numbers, actually.

The YouTube channel that hosted the show’s pilot episode, Glitch, has 21.3 million subscribers. The show’s pilot episode has generated nearly 440 million views since October.

Plus, the series has 1.2B global online views, according to Fathom Entertainment.

Why wouldn’t “The Amazing Digital Circus” crush the box office competition? ANd it did so on roughly half the number of screens available to its studio competition.

It’s the latest example of YouTube flexing its theatrical might. For those who thought the twin horror hits of “Obsession” and “Backrooms” were just anomalies, think again.

Just imagine how many studio executives will be scouring YouTube for their next directorial hires. They’ve already discovered Curry Barker and Kane Parsons, the directors behind “Obsession” and “Backrooms,” respectively.

Both flexed their creative might on digital platforms, including YouTube, prior to their breakout films.

“The Amazing Digital Circus” did just that on YouTube. Meanwhile, an IP born in the ’80s likely won’t make back its budget after this weekend’s results.

“Masters of the Universe” is on track to earn roughly $30 million on a $200 million budget. Gen Z isn’t as familiar with that property as their parents. Chances are, they’re much more in touch with “The Amazing Digital Circus.”

And the numbers bear that out.

Fathom Entertainment says “Circus” was scheduled for a four-day release. Now, given the audience enthusiasm, its run will go through June 18.

The title also became the largest ticket presales winner in Fathom history.

What’s more impressive? Fans could have waited a few days to see the show’s finale for free online. The final installments will go live on Glitch’s YouTube channel on June 19.

They. Just. Couldn’t. Wait.

The movie business is roaring back this year, and we still haven’t seen “Toy Story 5,” “Moana,” “The Odyssey,” “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” “Avengers: Doomsday” or “Dune 3” yet.

The triple blend of traditional IPs, video game adaptations and YouTube-based stories is the jolt Hollywood desperately needed.

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R-Rated ‘Scary Movie’ Trounces Family-Friendly ‘Breadwinner’

Woke killed the R-rated comedy.

It’s hard to deny. It’s even more challenging to bring them back, en masse, to movie theaters.

The recent “No Hard Feelings” was a good first effort, drawing a modest crowd and delivering a few adult laughs. The recent “Busboys,” released with zero fanfare, pushed the envelope but quickly disappeared from theaters.

Others, like “Ricky Stanicky” and “Balls Up” debuted on Prime Video, not in theaters. The former found some R-rated laughs while the latter proved unwatchable. (Full disclosure: This critic watched the first 25 minutes of “Balls Up” but bailed at that point – so not a full-throated review)

Now, we have our first R-rated comedy smash in a while, courtesy of the Wayans family.

“Scary Movie,” the sixth film in the parody franchise, is set to make an estimated $56 million this weekend in a very crowded, competitive marketplace. That’s gold, especially since the film’s budget came in around $30 million.

That’s just math.

Now, compare that to the reception for “The Breadwinner.” The squeaky-clean comedy gives Nate Bargatze his first major film role. He’s the most popular stand-up comedian in the country by a large margin.

Yet the film opened to a tepid $7+ million in its opening frame, and it’s expected to fall roughly 59 percent this weekend.

“The Breadwinner” will likely crush it on VOD and, later, a streaming service. The comic’s first film simply didn’t lure his legion of fans to theaters.

Audiences chose an R-rated comedy that vowed to offend and cross every line. The latter was literally in the film’s marketing materials.

We’ll need more data to draw more conclusions from this box office information, but it suggests we’re eager to see more bawdy comedies at our local cineplex.

Could “The Hangover: Part IV” be next?

Do you long for the return of R-rated comedies in theaters? Which ones are your personal favorites?

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2026 Summer Movie Calendar

Images from Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, Supergirl, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Toy Story 5, and Scary Movie(Photo by Nicola Goode/©Lucasfilm Ltd., Warner Bros. Pictures, ©Sony Pictures Releasing, Disney/Pixar, Paramount Pictures)

Technically, the first day of summer this year will be June 21, but as far as we’re concerned, the summer movie season starts on May 1. With that in mind, we’ve put together a list of all the major theatrical releases — as well as a handful of notable ones on streaming — for you to look forward to during the months of May through August.

Movie ticket and concession prices are as high as they’ve ever been, and we know it’s important to make strategic decisions about where to spend your money. So check out the full schedule below, and plan accordingly.

May | June | July | August

May 1

May 8

May 15

May 20

May 22

May 29

June 5

June 12

June 19

June 26

July 1

July 3

July 10

July 17

July 24

July 31

August 7

August 14

August 21

August 28

Thumbnail images by Miya Mizuno/©Sony Pictures, ©Universal Pictures, Geoffrey Short/©Universal Pictures

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