On three separate occasions this calendar year, I’ve been proven wrong about a movie that I thought would flunk its assessment, as I thought that A] Violent Night would be a letdown for John Leguizamo after he appeared in the under-rated masterpiece “The Menu” shortly beforehand, B] The Blackening wasn’t even going to sniff the Top 25 of the Already Assessed/Re-Assessed Vs. Pending Rookie Scale page and C] No Hard Feelings wouldn’t be Jennifer Lawrence’s second Catch-22 Hundred movie. But of course, I was wrong, as A] Violent Night is currently in Tier 5, B] The Blackening is on pace for the 24th spot on the Already Assessed/Re-Assessed Vs. Pending Rookie Scale page and C] Jennifer Lawrence and every other component of No Hard Feelings worked harmoniously together. So, with Points A through C 2.0 being said, those three movies will each find a home among the Catch-22 Hundred page rankings.
However, I don’t think I’ve ever written a blog entry where a movie that I declared successful on arrival could change to failure on arrival. Yet here I am writing about that, as my expectations of Oppenheimer have significantly lowered. And as to why I feel that way, well A] It’s a three-hour movie that is over-reliant on being heavy with dialogue and fast dialogue at that, B] It jumps around way too much and C] The 1945 advent of the atomic bomb paints a possibly grim picture about our future as a society. So, given that all of that translates to the type of movie that isn’t exactly Catch-22 Hundred material, the question is which movie could step up to potentially fill its void as one of the 2,122 overall guaranteed Catch-22 Hundred movies?
Well, it comes down to three options, with the first one being the already assessed (and twice re-assessed) “Hail, Caeser!”, due to its homage to old Hollywood and the fact that it’s way better than similar movies in both Rules Don’t Apply and Babylon. Plus, the dog that’s in that movie makes it almost impossible to permanently disqualify from the Project.
Next up is the long-awaited sequel to Aquaman, which is entitled “Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom”, which comes out in late-December of this year, despite both the ongoing SAG-AFTRA Strike and no official trailer. And as for the reason that that movie is among the three options? Well, its predecessor had a somewhat incomplete feel, despite its awesomeness, so it can help expand upon certain plotlines.
And lastly, there’s Bob Marley: One Love, the long-awaited Bob Marley biopic, which is coming out on the second Friday of 2024. And given that I billed this movie as long-awaited, well no further explanation is needed.
So yeah, I was convinced for nearly two months that Oppenheimer’s reserved Catch-22 Hundred spot was all but assured. But after seeing about five or six YouTube videos criticizing various aspects of it, now I don’t feel as confident about that movie and its chances of making the Project. Regardless, I’ll know the answer come the week of July 31 through August 6.
Stay tuned.