This past weekend we ended up seeing one of the worst opening films of the entire year. I was reading box office numbers for this past weekend and Happy Death Day made more money than Blade Runner 2049 which dropped 40+% in box office in a week. I am astounded at that actually. A movie that gets almost universally positive reviews is beaten out by a terrible Groundhog Day slasher film. It says a great deal about the movie-going public, and what they seek. It’s no wonder that Hollywood pushes out sequels and superhero movies with abandon – and can often just get it wrong with the Oscars. Anyway, in the same Box office article it talked about Professor Marsten and the Wonder Women, and how it earned a year-long low of $700,000 or about $600 a screening for this past weekend.
We saw it! The over/under bet before going into the theatre for the number of patrons early was 15 for me. (I won the bet)….
Professor Marsten and the Wonder Women: Here is the biopic backstory about the creators of Wonder Woman and the genesis of their creation. Principally it was created by this Professor Marsten who was Harvard educated, and one of the inventors of the early lie detectors test devices (he gave away the technology without a patent, because he felt that it was something for “everyone”). He had a Wife, who was an academic herself who early in the film is denied a Harvard Doctoral degree because she was at the sister college, Radcliffe in Cambridge. She is smart and abrasive and to-the-point. She is played by the female lead from The Town. Together they as a couple teach and run across a young student who becomes a Teaching Assistant. Then she becomes more as they begin a relationship at a time when no one was ready for it (late 20s and 30s). They had children and lived a suburban lifestyle, but also enjoyed kink and sex play. This translated into the Wonder Woman character who the movie is quick to point out the bondage, the lesbianism and other aspects of their lives that became Wonder Woman. In truth, the Wonder Woman story is the back half of the tale, and it is the relationship that was the focus of the piece. Unless I had read the review beforehand, I would not have known anything about this film. Girlfriend went in with no knowledge of the story and it surprised her. Even as I knew it showed another story of people who lived an unconventional life, but who loved and supported one another, yet still had social and environmental challenges that pressured them and pulled them apart. This did not have to be a big screen film to see, like Stronger before it (and unlike Blade Runner) but it was interesting and I certainly will not look at Wonder Woman the same after viewing it.
Upon your suggestion, I did watch a few episodes of Big Mouth. It was funny and rude and on point from a 13 yo pubescent Grade 8 student (youngest son’s age). The Hormone Monster is funny (especially his sensitivity at being called a Fairy)! I will keep watching it. Girlfriend cringed at the white shorts and the Statue of Liberty school trip. It’s a miracle really that any of us managed to get through this time without serious therapy required! Perhaps I can be more sympathetic for my youngest son, who turns 13 shortly, as he gets through this time in his life!
Mondays With Robbie 