Much has been made of Ridley Scott’s (Prometheus, Robin Hood) films in the last decade or so as being a far cry from those earlier in his career. Highly anticipated, high-budget films such as House of Gucci, The Last Duel, Gladiator II, and Napoleon have failed to deliver either critically or financially. While three of the films turned a profit, The Last Duel grossed just $30 million off a $100 million budget, though it was the highest-rated of the four on Rotten Tomatoes (critics), IMDB, and Metacritic. I saw all four in the theater. I thought The Last Duel was great, Gladiator II was good, and the other two were terrible. The budget for his most recent film, The Dog Stars, was around $80 million, similar to House of Gucci and The Last Duel. Based on its audience and critics’ scores (40%, 71% on Rotten Tomatoes) and opening-weekend box office gross of just $8 million, The Dog Stars appears to be well on its way to being a massive flop. This will be a shame as it’s a pretty good, albeit flawed, film. Continue reading The Dog Stars (2026)
Category Archives: Jacob Elordi
Saltburn (2023)
I knew so little going into my viewing of Emerald Fennell’s (Promising Young Woman) Saltburn that I thought this movie starred Paul Mescal. Imagine my surprise when his name was not mentioned in the opening credits. Furthermore, I wasn’t able to identify the name or face of either the film’s lead character (Barry Keoghan – The Banshees of Inisherin, The Killing of a Sacred Deer) or primary supporting character (Jacob Elordi – HBO’s Euphoria). As I reflected on the movie afterward and thought about each actor’s performance, I was impressed by how they compared to their other roles. Likewise, though Fennell’s film (which she also wrote) was as outlandish in premise as Promising Young Woman (a movie that earned her an Oscar nomination as a debut director, nonetheless), Ambitious, the film excelled more visually than it did in substance. That’s not to say there wasn’t an intriguing, underlying story. Rather, the lack of cohesion, inconsistencies, and reasons for some of the characters’ actions left us with a less-than-satisfying conclusion.