The cinematic universes of Marvel and Star Wars have been struggling critically — and even in viewership — for awhile now, but “Thunderbolts*” and Disney+’s “Andor,” respectively, are restoring faith to desperately treaded I.P. On this week’s episode of IndieWire’s “Screen Talk” podcast, co-hosts Anne Thompson and Ryan Lattanzio dive into the merits and demerits of each.
Disney’s “Thunderbolts*” co-starring Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan is about to dethrone “Sinners” at IMAX theaters, though Warner Bros. is prepping to re-release the latter hit film in premium venues. And on 70mm. For now, this weekend’s best box-office bet looks to be “Thunderbolts*,” which has garnered better-than-usual reviews for a Marvel movie and promises something different and more character-driven than simply movie chess pieces across a board, as so many MCU movies tend to be doing.
Anne praises the character work and Pugh’s performance especially, while Ryan candidly did not see the movie at this week’s Monday screening, while attending the Pedro Almodóvar Chaplin Gala tribute in New York City. There, friends and collaborators like John Waters, John Turturro, Rossy De Palma, Dua Lipa, and more praised the great Spanish auteur, who won a Best Original Oscar for his brilliant and boldly colored “Talk to Her” in 2003. It’s one of the great films about women, and as Waters reminded on the dais at Alice Tully Hall, actresses are always practically begging to work with Almodóvar due to the juicy, complex roles he crafts for them.
This week, Ryan also dives into “The Rehearsal” creator/star Nathan Fielder’s war against Paramount+ as shown on the latest episode of his meta HBO series. In last Sunday’s edition, he recounts how the Paramount+ streaming service removed an episode of his Comedy Central show “Nathan for You” completely from the platform due to sensitivity issues around perceived antisemitism. (In the “Nathan For You” episode, Fielder took an outerwear clothing brand to task for endorsing a Holocaust denier.) In “The Rehearsal,” he recreates the Paramount+ offices to look like Nazi headquarters. It’s a startling form of protest on premium TV.
We also talk about the first trailer for Zach Cregger’s ensemble horror “Weapons,” out August 8 from Warner Bros. “Barbarian” director Cregger has described his new film, starring Julia Garner and Josh Brolin, as a horror-movie ode to Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Magnolia.” That’s apparent from Alden Ehrenreich’s John C. Reilly-esque moustache in the first footage. We couldn’t be more excited about this one, which allegedly ignited a bidding war back in February 2023. And apparently so much so that Jordan Peele let go of his representatives for not securing his Monkey Paw the rights to produce the script.
Finally, we also remember Bleecker Street founder and former Focus Features executive Andrew Karpen, who died this week at age 59 from brain cancer. He was deeply beloved by the indie film community.
Listen to the episode below or watch above.
