Movies Update: “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” is poised to break records this weekend

Plus, Tommy Lee Jones and Jamie Foxx shine in "The Burial."
Continue reading the main story
Ad
Movies Update

October 13, 2023

Author Headshot

By Danielle Dowling

Hey there, film fans!

Swiftmas came a day early as "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" hit movie theaters yesterday. For the relatively paltry sum of about $20, fans are reliving the "Eras" experience or finally partaking in it. For another $20, they can buy a souvenir popcorn tin at AMC Theaters with the less-than-inspiring marketing line "Swifties Always Snack in Style." How about instead: "Let's all go to the lobby and have ourselves a Swack"? And what would this Swack be, you ask? Glitter popcorn. Imagine heaping piles of popped kernels lovingly dusted with golden butter-flavored flecks or pink sprinkles of Himalayan sea salt or both. How is this not a thing? (Oh, wait, it kind of is.)

Anyway, advance ticket sales for Swift's concert film exceeded $100 million, and analysts are having difficulty predicting just how much it will make in its first weekend. "The fever and scale is unprecedented," David A. Gross, a film consultant who publishes a newsletter on box office numbers, told Brooks Barnes.

Bringing a live music performance such as this one to the screen is no easy feat, Calum Marsh writes. He spoke with the directors and sound professionals involved in capturing that magic, including John Ross, the rerecording mixer on "The Eras Tour" and a veteran of several hit concert films. "The main thing we're trying to do is provide the theatrical audience with the best seat in the house," Ross said.

"The Exorcist: Believer," last weekend's box office winner, was released early to avoid getting lost in this Swift mania. Not so "Anatomy of a Fall," Justine Triet's rumination on perspective wrapped around a murder mystery, which is in select theaters today. Our reviewer Amy Nicholson found the film a tad inscrutable. "In a sense, Triet has mapped a path to nowhere," Nicholson writes. "You can respect her choice intellectually and still walk away grumbling in frustration — or appreciate the humor of this year's Cannes jury definitively awarding her film the Palme d'Or."

If you want to avoid the theaters altogether this weekend, the streaming platforms have several gems: "The Burial," on Amazon Prime Video, is "front-loaded with a sentimentality it ultimately doesn't need," but it "develops into a lively courtroom drama," with a first-rate cast and "bravura performances" from Tommy Lee Jones and Jamie Foxx, Glenn Kenny writes. Claire Shaffer recommends the "beguiling and terrifying" film "In My Mother's Skin," also on Amazon. "True to classic folklore, this is a story that delivers fantasy and queasiness in equal measure," she writes.

And if you have a hankering for other unique horror treats, Erik Piepenburg puts forth five candidates for your streaming consideration, including "Megalomaniac," an examination of generational trauma and mental illness that "looks like a Dior commercial but with stomach-churning violence swapped in for chic pantsuits." No matter where you go or what you watch, enjoy the movies — and don't forget the (glitter) popcorn.

Continue reading the main story

ADVERTISEMENT

Ad

CRITICS' PICKS

A woman with an elaborate headdress of jewels and translucent wings smiles into the camera.

Amazon Studios

Critic's Pick

'In My Mother's Skin' Review: A Grim Fairy Tale

Kenneth Dagatan's new folk horror film acts as a cautionary tale about putting one's fate into the hands of the enemy.

By Claire Shaffer

Two women stand at the wooded railing balcony of a building.

Neon

Critic's Pick

'The Royal Hotel' Review: Pulling Pints and Watching Their Backs

Two young women struggle to handle the obstreperous patrons of a remote Australian pub in this coolly calibrated thriller.

By Jeannette Catsoulis

A man in a military uniform sits in a courtroom.

Paramount+

Critic's Pick

'The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial' Review: Righting the Ship

William Friedkin's final film, an adaptation of the Herman Wouk play, offers a bracing demonstration of the director's sensibility and craft.

By Ben Kenigsberg

Continue reading the main story

ADVERTISEMENT

Ad

MOVIE REVIEWS

A woman in a dark dress stands near a house holding dried flowers.

Music Box Films

'The Road Dance' Review: A World War I Weepie

Based on a Scottish best seller, the movie is a standard period drama that arrives at hard truths with a hammy delivery.

By Beatrice Loayza

A person reaches into a mailbox and the person's arm rests on a small white box.

Level 33 Entertainment

'Plan C' Review: Abortion by Mail

In this documentary by Tracy Droz Tragos, each of the film's subjects considers how far past the line of legal comfort they can afford to cross.

By Teo Bugbee

A woman in a gray T-shirt with her blond hair pulled back looks at another person, whose back is to the camera and whose face cannot be seen.

Codebreaker Films

'Reality Winner' Review: Caught in the Cross Hairs

Sonia Kennebeck's documentary unpacks the circumstances surrounding its subject, but fails to crack her complexity.

By Natalia Winkelman

A man sits in a kayak and holds a gift above his head as he approaches an island. People stand in the water, watching him warily.

National Geographic

'The Mission' Review: Blinded by the Light

A documentary tries to bring context to the actions of John Allen Chau, an American missionary who was killed in 2018.

By Ben Kenigsberg

In a gauzy black-and-white film still, a group of women, all dressed in flesh-toned bodysuits, are hunched forward, seemingly distressed. One in the foreground, who wears an embroidered veil, appears to shout angrily at a woman who is seated, facing all of them, and seen only from behind.

Danny Hiele/Utopia and Sumerian

'Divinity' Review: Missed Conception

An immortality drug causes social disruption in this ludicrously dystopian sci-fi experiment.

By Jeannette Catsoulis

A woman and a man stand at a desk reviewing court documents.

HBO

'No Accident' Review: Putting White Supremacists on Trial

A documentary chronicles the lawsuit filed against the leaders of the violent 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va.

By Nicolas Rapold

In an image bathed in red light, a man wearing glasses and a white tank top has a look of frustration on his face.

Hulu

'The Mill' Review: A Cog in the Machine

This spare dystopian thriller offers a serviceable but mostly unimaginative satire of a capitalist nightmare.

By Brandon Yu

A woman wearing hoop earrings and a blue and white striped shirt stands in front of a sign for her meat pie shop.

Jesse Gohier-Fleet/HBO

'Last Stop Larrimah' Review: The Unusual Suspects

This true-crime documentary investigates a murder case in a tiny Australian town, showcasing its brash inhabitants.

By Nicolas Rapold

Continue reading the main story

ADVERTISEMENT

Ad

NEWS & FEATURES

In a scene from a film, a young woman in a delicate white dress that resembles a sleeping gown sits on the floor, grasping the hand of a man dressed in lightly tattered clothes. They gaze uneasily at each other.

Jaap Buitendijk/Searchlight Pictures, via River Road Entertainment

Steve McQueen's Call to Arms: The Making of '12 Years a Slave'

A decade on, the Oscar-winning portrait of American slavery feels more potent than ever. The filmmakers explain its personal origins and ultimate triumph.

By Reggie Ugwu

Mr. Davies, in a light blue shirt and bluejeans, stands over Ms. Anderson, who is seated in turn-of-the-century costume, her brown hair piled on her head in the fashion of that era.

Sony Pictures Classics/Everett Collection

Terence Davies, 77, Dies; Filmmaker Mined Literature and His Own Life

With a poetic sensibility, "Distant Voices, Still Lives" echoed his Liverpool upbringing, and "The House of Mirth" put Edith Wharton's novel on the screen.

By Anita Gates

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark standing with her hand on a chair inside a room at a palace that is decorated with upholstered wooden furniture and has walls that are covered in a yellow-gold floral wallpaper and painted Tiffany-blue-and-gold.

Dennis Stenild for The New York Times

Scream Queen? More Like Stream Queen.

"Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction," a new fantasy dramedy on Netflix, had Queen Margrethe II of Denmark as its costume and production designer.

By Chantel Tattoli

A moment of excitement at the opening of the movie

Alex Hofford/European Pressphoto Agency

Nonfiction

Why You Can't Spell Hollywood Without Marvel

"The Reign of Marvel Studios" captures how movies based on comic-book properties came to dominate pop culture. At least until now.

By Amy Nicholson

STREAMING RECOMMENDATIONS

A woman with brown hair and wearing a red and black flowered shirt stands in the woods. She is expressionless.

Dark Star Pictures

Five Horror Movies to Stream Now

Deranged siblings, a creepy voyeur and nasty tricksters are among this Halloween's scary movie treats.

By Erik Piepenburg

Two women wearing white undergarments sit next to each other in a dark house.

Amazon Studios/Magnolia Pictures

The Best Movies on Amazon Prime Video Right Now

New films, and classics, just keep coming, but you don't have to drill down to find the finest selections to stream. We'll do the heavy lifting. You press play.

By Jason Bailey

How are we doing?
We'd love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to moviesupdate@nytimes.com.

Like this email?
Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up here.

Continue reading the main story

Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance.

You received this email because you signed up for Movies Update from The New York Times.

To stop receiving Movies Update, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request.

Subscribe to The Times

Connect with us on:

twitter

Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices

LiveIntent LogoAdChoices Logo

The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018

Blog Archive