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by Emily Nagle

The first weekend of September was a long one, but even with the extra time off to go to the movies, box office numbers weren’t particularly high due to no new releases (with the exception of the rerelease of Marvel and Sony’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home”, which became 2021’s highest grossing film in the last two weeks of the year!).

Top 5 Highest Grossing Films for Labor Day Weekend 2022
5. The Invitation ($6.1 million)
4. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2022 rerelease) (6.5 million)
3. DC League of Super-Pets ($6.8 million)
2. Bullet Train ($7.5 million)
1. Top Gun: Maverick ($7.9 million)

“Top Gun: Maverick” made nearly twice as much as it did last weekend, climbing back up to number one after being overtaken by newer releases “Beast”, “Bullet Train”, and “The Invitation” last weekend. More than three months after its debut, it has remained in the top 5 almost every weekend of the summer despite ticket sales slowly declining. To date, it has grossed over $1.4 billion worldwide, making it the highest grossing film of 2022.

Meanwhile, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” swung back into theaters around the United States to celebrate 20 years of Spider-Man films and 60 years of Spider-Man comics. With 13 minutes of bonus scenes, an introduction from all three Peter Parkers (Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire), and an additional post-credits scene, Sony described the poster for the rerelease, which featured all the characters they tried to keep under wraps during the film’s initial release, as an “Avengers-style poster [with] a perfect blend of the multiverse feels, combined with the ‘Where’s Waldo’ effect”.

by Emily Nagle

Happy September! Fall vibes are officially in, and for the biggest streaming platforms in the industry, so are a bunch of new shows and movies. To kick off the new month, here’s a list of some of September’s most exciting new arrivals.

Critically acclaimed and popular films including “A Clockwork Orange,” “American Beauty,” and “The Notebook” (September 1) are rolling out to the platform at last. Several series are making their debut this month, ranging from crime documentaries like “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” (September 21) and “Indian Predator: The Diary of a Serial Killer” (September 7) to Netflix originals like “Fakes” (September 2) and “Little Women” (September 4).

Hulu subscribers can look forward to new seasons of their favorite hit shows this fall, including “The Handmaid’s Tale” (season 5 coming September 14), “Abbott Elementary” (season 2 coming September 22), and “9-1-1” (season 6 coming September 20). Movies coming to the platform include popular films such as “10 Things I Hate About You”, the first two “American Pie” films, and “Fight Club” (September 1).

After becoming the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2022, Elvis entered the building today on HBO Max. Aside from that, this month is quiet for new additions on the platform, which recently cut dozens of titles in a move to save money. New episodes of “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon” will continue to premiere each Sunday, and all five seasons of “Gotham” are arriving on September 30.

There’s lots of exciting new things in store for Disney+ fans, with “Pinocchio” premiering on Disney+ Day on September 8 (amongst a slew of other premieres). Star Wars prequel series “Andor” is premiering on September 21, and the platform will continue to roll out episodes of “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” each Thursday. On the film front, long-awaited Halloween flick sequel “Hocus Pocus 2” will premiere on September 30, preceding the spookiest month.

by Emily Nagle

The first trailer for upcoming independent slasher film “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” – based on the fictional characters created by A.A. Milne nearly a century ago – has made its debut on Jagged Edge Productions’ official YouTube channel.

“Blood and Honey” reimagines the silly old bear, along with shy, sweet Piglet, as a vicious murderer with a taste for blood. Pooh no longer spends his days playing in the forest with Christopher Robin (Nikolai Leon), who has abandoned Pooh and the gang as he has grown up, graduated college, and gotten married. All these years later, Christopher has returned to the forest to introduce his new wife to Pooh and his friends. However, Pooh has other plans in mind: slaughtering everyone in his path, including a group of college girls staying in a nearby cabin.

Much of the characters from the “Winnie the Pooh” canon are still owned by Disney; however, the company’s copyright for depictions of Pooh expired in January, leaving the anthropomorphic teddy bear in the public domain.

While it’s a completely new spin on the nearly 90-year-old character, it has been met with mixed criticism due to the concept being unnecessarily dark – why would a beloved, timeless childhood character be turned into a bloodthirsty murderer? Of course, “Blood and Honey” isn’t the first film to do this; “Bunny the Killer Thing” does something similar, introducing a killer who’s a giant fuzzy bunny.

“Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” does not yet have a release date, but is said to be “coming soon.” Other names involved in the project are Rhys Frake-Waterfield as the director, and actors Amber Doig-Thorne, Natasha Tosini, and Danielle Ronald.

by Emily Nagle

Today is National Grief Awareness Day. Observed every year on August 30, this day sheds light on the many ways that people process loss. It’s a reminder that grieving is a nonlinear experience that varies from person to person. In honor of this important day, I watched a selection from Invincible’s catalog that details one young man’s unique journey through grief, titled “In Memory of My Father“.

Released in 2005, “In Memory of My Father” follows Chris (Chris Jaymes), the youngest son of a dying Hollywood producer who has decided to go out with a bang as he has bribed Chris to document his death. While the movie spends much of its time focusing on Chris and his brothers Matt (Matt Keeslar) and Jeremy (Jeremy Sisto), it also examines how the death is processed by multiple people, as their father requests that the brothers throw an extravagant farewell party at his home.

The way that this film takes a look at the grieving experience is an unexpected one, because it’s not all about dying. In fact, their father is barely onscreen for much of the movie. Instead, it’s about how people process trauma; the brothers are wrapped up in drama as they each have their own relationship-related problems, ranging from breakups to reconnecting with an ex. At the party, the brothers and their guests sat around and sang a ridiculous song together about how “our daddy’s dead”.

Because of all the chaos, it’s hard to understand what’s going on in the movie at times, but that’s also what grief is like. Despite this, “In Memory of My Father” is still a creative exploration of grieving. It has that homemade indie film energy to it, not to mention an excellent soundtrack.

You can watch “In Memory of My Father” for free on Galxy.

by Emily Nagle

Top 5 Highest Grossing Films for Weekend of August 26-28, 2022
5. Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero ($4.6 million)
4. Top Gun: Maverick ($4.8 million)
3. Beast ($4.9 million)
2. Bullet Train ($5.6 million)
1. The Invitation ($7 million)

The last weekend of August was the quietest of the entire month, grossing $52.1 million across 34 releases – the least amount of releases since the long Easter weekend back in April. Sony’s supernatural horror film “The Invitation” was the number-one release for this weekend. Having grossed $7 million across the United States, it was the lowest-grossing film to make it to number one since “Spiral“, which grossed $4.6 million during its opening weekend in May 2021.

Inspired by Bram Stoker’s Dracula and directed by Jessica M. Thompson, “The Invitation” follows Evie (Nathalie Emmanuel), an orphan who discovers dark secrets about her family while being courted by mysterious gothic aristocrat Walter (Thomas Doherty).

“Bullet Train” replaced “Beast” for the number-two spot over the weekend after the latter was met with mixed criticism from viewers who compared it to a B-movie due to its predictable storyline. While “Bullet Train” was also met with mixed reviews, it was praised for its high-speed action sequences and all-star cast.

by Emily Nagle

Shia LaBeouf has announced that he has converted to Christianity while shooting his upcoming film “Padre Pio”.

The “Transformers” star revealed the news in a Thursday interview for the media organization Word on Fire with Fire Catholic Ministries’ Bishop Robert Barron. LaBeouf became familiar with the church while living with a monastery of Franciscan Capuchin friars in preparation for his role as the titular character of St. Padre Pio.

At the start of the project, LaBeouf was in the darkest point of his life after being part of several scandals. He sought out spirituality groups to find meaning after contemplating taking his own life, revealing, “I didn’t want to be alive anymore when all this happened. Shame like I had never experienced before — the kind of shame that you forget how to breathe. You don’t know where to go…But I was also in this deep desire to hold on.”

He went on to explain that his motivation to be in “Padre Pio” was driven not by God, but by his career and finding himself again. LaBeouf, who previously described himself as Jewish, was drawn to Catholicism by the religion’s emphasis on forgiveness and morality.

“Padre Pio” is set to premiere next month at the 2022 Venice International Film Festival.