The Week in Film: January 18-24

Hello and welcome to The Week In Film, where I give you a recap on everything that happened in the world of film in the past week. I'm gonna give you some box office stats as well as some news and general updates for the week of January 18-24, 2019.

Without further ado, here we go.

New Releases!

This week, one new film was given a wide release. M. Night Shyamalan's widely-anticipated superhero thriller, Glass, hit 3,841 theaters on January 18th to mixed reviews from critics, but audiences were much more warm to Shyamalan's newest film.

Glass is the final installment in Shyamalan's Eastrail 177 trilogy, which began with 2000's Unbreakable and 2016's Split. I watched the film myself, and if you'd like to read my spoiler-free review of the film, you can click here.

Or if you prefer watching reviews instead of reading them, you can see my review here:

Box Office Stats!

Here are the biggest hits at the box office this week.

1. Glass — $54,541,135
2. The Upside — $22,591,407
3. Aquaman — $15,197,226
4. Dragon Ball Super: Broly — $14,794,381
5. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse — $11,888,731

Despite the underwhelming critical response to the film, Glass grossed over $46 million internationally in its opening weekend, putting it on-par with the opening weekend earnings of Split, though not making as much money as Signs and The Village made in their opening weekends.

Coming up second on the highest-grossing films of the week is The Upside, a comedy-drama starring Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston. The film is an American remake of The Intouchables, and, like Glass, has received mixed reviews with critics, but positive reviews from audiences.

And the third highest-grossing film this week is Aquaman, the newest installment in the DC Extended Universe, starring Jason Momoa as the title character, and with James Wan at the helm of the film. It has received positive reviews from critics and audiences alike.

At fourth in the box office hits of the week, we have Dragon Ball Super: Broly, a very well-received Japanese anime written by Akira Toriyama, the creator of the Dragon Ball series.

And fifth on the list is Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the film that recently won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature. The film has received widespread praise for its unique animation style and its story. I've watched it myself and I loved it. Click here to see my review.

Oscar Nominations!

Last Tuesday, the nominations for the 91st Academy Awards were released. There are, as always, a few snubs, and here are some of the highlights of the nominations.

The Favourite and Roma are leading the scoreboards for the most nominations, with ten each. Both films hold nominations for Best Actress (leading and supporting), Best Cinematography, Best Directing, Best Production Design, Best Original Screenplay, Best Picture, and many others.

The next two films with the most nominations are A Star Is Born and Vice, which share nominations in Best Actor (leading and supporting) and Best Picture.

A Star Is Born is nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, while Vice is nominated for Best Original Screenplay. Additionally, "Shallow" from the A Star Is Born soundtrack is nominated for Best Original Song, and Adam McKay has received a nomination for Best Director for his work in Vice.

The film with the fifth highest number of Oscar nominees is Black Panther, the first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to feature a predominantly black cast. It holds nominations for Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, and in a somewhat controversial nomination, Best Picture.

Now, while I appreciate the film for having an all-black cast, I thought it was pretty average for a Marvel movie, and if the movie was exactly the same, but with an all-white cast, it definitely wouldn't be nominated for Best Picture, and that doesn't sit right with me.

Black Panther has made history as the first superhero film to receive a nomination for Best Picture, and while I congratulate the cast and crew of the film, I believe other superhero films, such as The Dark Knight and Unbreakable, were superior to this film.

But who am I to say? If you loved Black Panther and think it's worthy of Best Picture, good for you. I'm glad you're happy.

Coming up next with the most number of nominations is BlacKkKlansman, one of my favorites of 2018. The film is based on a true story of an African-American cop who infiltrates the Ku Klux Klan, and it was massively entertaining and relevant.

The film has nominations for Best Editing, Best Original Score, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Picture, with nominations for Best Director for Spike Lee and Best Supporting Actor for Adam Driver. I'll be rooting for this one.

And we have Bohemian Rhapsody and Green Book tied for five nominations each. They have nominations for Best Leading Actor, Best Editing, and Best Picture.

Now, here are my predictions for the Oscar winners:

• Best Leading Actor: Christian Bale in VICE
• Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali in GREEN BOOK
• Best Leading Actress: Lady Gaga in A STAR IS BORN
• Best Supporting Actress: Emma Stone in THE FAVOURITE
• Best Animated Feature: SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE
• Best Cinematography: ROMA
• Best Costume Design: BLACK PANTHER
• Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón in ROMA
• Best Documentary Feature: HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING
• Best Documentary Short: A NIGHT AT THE GARDEN
• Best Editing: BLACKkKLANSMAN
• Best Foreign Language Film: ROMA
• Best Makeup and Hairstyling: VICE
• Best Original Score: IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
• Best Original Song: "Shallow" from A STAR IS BORN
• Best Picture: A STAR IS BORN
• Best Production Design: BLACK PANTHER
• Best Animated Short: BAO
• Best Live-Action Short: MOTHER
• Best Sound Editing: A QUIET PLACE
• Best Sound Mixing: BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
• Best Visual Effects: FIRST MAN
• Best Adapted Screenplay: IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
• Best Original Screenplay: VICE

When I get every single nomination correct, you can call the Fortune Tellers Hotline. If you want to talk to me a bit about movies and my Oscar predictions, send me a tweet at @TheJonathanSim.

That was a long section. Thank u, next.

Other News!

And in other news, there is an upcoming Black Widow standalone film to be released by Marvel next year, and it will reportedly begin filming at the end of February.

But anyways, thank you so much for reading and if I could ask one favor from you, it's that you subscribe to my new YouTube channel, where I'm gonna be publishing more film reviews and videos.