Two films at theaters this weekend have once again excited audiences and brought people back to the theater, especially young people. All thanks to two directors, Kane Parsons (Backrooms) and Curry Barker (Obsession).
Like Bo Burnham, Kane Parsons got his start in new media in online spaces like 4-Chan and YouTube. Says Anthony D’Alessandro over at Deadline:
For rabid fans of Parsons (online handle: Kane Pixel), who originally launched the IP on 4chan and spread on Reddit, Backrooms is a dream come true in its big-screen arrival — a movie directed by the original creator. Parsons launched Backrooms when he was 16 with this universe of a man lost in myriad banal rooms filled with nightmarish people morphing into Roblox and Minecraft games. The property was transformed into a found-footage YouTube series created via Blender and Unreal Engine that amassed north of 190 million views. Oscar nominees Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve star alongside Mark Duplass.
Backrooms is already promising in early previews and looks to play like gangbusters.
Meanwhile, Obsession is hitting big with word of mouth and probably is the only one of the two with “Oscar potential,” a term I hate. It would probably have to be a weak year for it to be a considered Best Picture nominee, but it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility.
Obsession gets a Thumbs Up from Critical Drinker:
I haven’t seen Obsession but the lore that it was made for under a million and has already made $100 million worldwide is kind of a big deal.
What ties it to Backrooms, I think, is that it seems like one of those stories you’d see unfold on TikTok or Reddit about a psycho stalker that is probably more relatable than you might think. I also like the idea of a crazy female protag, something we don’t see that much of, without also making her a martyr and a victim (maybe this one does, I don’t know).
At any rate, what would be the play here? I think it’s possibly going to be an indie awards player if nothing else. Original Screenplay is a possibility.
Also coming to theaters is Pressure, a film set in the lead-up to D-Day, with Brendan Fraser as Eisenhower, who decides whether to launch the operation amid potential weather concerns. Hey, for WWII nuts like me, that sounds exciting. It probably looks a little more like an Oscar movie, but honestly, it’s the generational divide here that interests me.
It might seem fairly insignificant that a movie could be about the weather but D-Day really did depend on the weather pattern. It could not have gone off if the weather had been bad. It’s quite a dramatic story, actually. Anyway, it’s possible Brendan Fraser could be “in the conversation,” or it would be if the Oscar race weren’t so tightly managed by a cabal of bloggers.
So far, the Best Picture race is Project Hail Mary and everything else. That everything else is in the minds and imaginations of bloggers and the publicists in their ears. We assume we know which movies will be Oscar players as the season increasingly resembles Fashion Week in Milan every year. But really, it’s Project Hail Mary and everything else.
One of those I would think is Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord. In a fair world, the Palme d’Or winner with a strong message for the scolds would find its way into the Oscar race. If it doesn’t, it will be more confirmation of the kinds of people who micromanage the race. But it should find its way in, or at least we have to consider it right now.
At Awards Expert, not much has changed. It goes something like this:
The Odyssey
Wild Horse Nine
Digger
Project Hail Mary (the only real contender right now)
Dune: Part Three (we can assume it gets in)
Fjord (the only other real contender)
The Black Ball
Cry to Heaven
The Social Reckoning
No One Cares
That’s their most popular top ten. As I’ve said many times before, underestimating David Fincher, Netflix and Adventures of Cliff Booth is a mistake. With ten nomination slots, this is an easy call. Because I’ve been exiled off Oscar Island, no one listens to me.
There is also Disclosure Day, which should not be counted out right now, before anyone has seen it:
A Jimmy Stewart movie is coming:
Beyond that, there is no way to make accurate predictions right now. Obsession, Backrooms — these are exciting movies lighting up the box office. You should go see them regardless of whether they’re Oscar movies or not.
Have a great weekend.
