Dejana

Kevin and Sophie were sleeping together when they were still in high school. Rebecca overheard the Big Three talking as teenagers and Kate was telling Randall to ignore Kevin teasing him, as Kev only thought he was so grown up because was having sex. Rebecca revealed she'd been standing there and had overheard the conversation, leading Kevin to proclaim Kate disowned and "de-twinned". I have doubts Randall got anywhere close to having sex with the girl he was dating in high school. I wonder if Beth is the only woman Randall has ever been with? I have a feeling that Kevin's child at the house is not the one in utero on the Big Three's 40th birthday, but a younger sibling.

Isn’t this basically how Emily became the Bachelorette? There might have been more space between Brad's season ending and hers starting, and they were still together for After the Final Rose, but barely. Jen Schefft was also Andrew Firestone's F1 and ended up Bachelorette. So, it's happened before, but not recently. I wonder if Luke P is kicking himself (j/k, Madison seems like a nice person who gets along well with others, she deserves better than him).

Has Madison used the v-word or is she just "saving herself for marriage" [now]? Sean was celibate when he was a contestant and lead, but not a virgin, and there was Luke with his revelation in the shower that God wanted him to stop sleeping around. If it turns out that she's done stuff or slept with someone before, she can always spin it that she regrets her "past" and has since chosen to walk a different path. I agree it's entirely possible that Madison applied to the franchise a while ago, before knowing it would be Peter, but ended up being attracted to him. They get on well when they're together and facially, he reminds me a bit of her father (IMO it's not out of the ordinary to be unconsciously drawn to romantic partners who resemble a parent). Colton was the last Bachelor before this year, and he had a contestant who'd never even kissed anyone. Madison wouldn't have seemed wildly out of place back then (though Colton maintained that he hadn't stayed a virgin for religious reasons). Mama Weber's tearful dramatics have to be about Madison, right? If Madi bails at some point despite being The One for Peter, I'm wondering if the parents ask happened, and Peter has to explain to them what went wrong. His mom cheered the windmill antics, so he might actually tell them. Would make for interesting TV if nothing else...

I wonder if Peter's ex provided more information about the relationships Victoria supposedly "broke up" but the show edited out specifics due to nature of the allegations. Maybe ABC Legal advised the production that vaguely alluding to someone breaking up relationships isn't grounds for a lawsuit, but mentioning marriages that may have ended, especially of people who aren't even involved with the show, is best left to Reality Steve and the tabloids/blogs. Merissa's face was blurred and who knows how much of the Peter/Victoria conversation we even heard? I didn't think Peter was accusatory with in bringing up what his ex told him. If he'd sat through the whole family visit acting weird, she'd have wondered why. Even if it's completely untrue, Victoria might want to know that a personal acquaintance is going around, saying such things about her. Given that Victoria's immediate response was to deflect and turn Peter on the defensive, my feeling is that the allegations have at least some truth to them. It's a big red flag when someone deflects a question they could just as easily deny.

When it was announced that the Sonic character would be redesigned, I saw some writers react with disappointment that the studio was capitulating to "internet whiners". I mean, I know there's a lot of baggage in that area due to comic book adaptations, but sometimes, the fans actually know what they are talking about. * I only knew there was a Force Majeure remake because it screened at Sundance and some film bloggers I follow saw it there (none of them were impressed). The advertising budget must have been minimal, because I don’t think I even saw digital ads on Youtube or social media. It's releasing under Fox Searchlight, so another poorly-reviewed casualty of the big merger.

Guess the Sonic redesign and delayed release date was a smart move by Paramount! Maybe Cats could have been saved if Universal had listened to the trailer backlash? Probably not. February 14–17, 2020 Estimates: 1. Sonic the Hedgehog $57M (3-Day) | 4,167 Theaters | $68M (4-Day) | $95M Budget | $68M 2. Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey $17.1M (-48%) | 4,236 Theaters | $19.6M (4-Day) | $82–100M Budget | $61.7M 3. Fantasy Island $12.4M | 2,784 Theaters | $14M (4-Day) | $7M Budget | $14M 4. The Photograph $12.2M | 2,516 Theaters | $13.3M (4-Day) | $16M Budget | $13.3M 5. Bad Boys for Life $11.3M (-6%) | 3,185 Theaters (-345) | $12.8M (4-Day) | $90M Budget | $182.8M 6. 1917 $8.1M (-12%) | 3,084 Theaters (-464) | $9.3M (4-Day) | $90–100M Budget | $145.6M 7. Jumanji: The Next Level $5.7M (+3%) | 2,410 Theaters (-319) | $7M (4-Day) | $90–100M Budget | $307M 8. Parasite $5.5M (+243%) | 2,001 Theaters (+941) | $6.6M (4-Day) | $11M Budget | $44.3M 9. Dolittle $5M (-23%) | 2,869 Theaters (-593) | $6.3M (4-Day) | $175M Budget | $71.7M 10. Downhill $4.6M | 2,301 Theaters | $5.2M (4-Day) | $5.2M Knives Out $2.12M (-7%) | 1,154 Theaters | $2.44M (4-Day) | $40M Budget | $162.15M Little Women $1.52M (-36%) | 1,035 Theaters | $1.8M (4-Day) | $40M Budget | $105.6M Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker $1.26M (-45%) | 992 Theaters | $1.5M (4-Day) | $275M Budget | $512.99M Jojo Rabbit $924K | 484 Theaters | $1.1M (4-Day) | $14M Budget | $31.95M Love Aaj Kal $472,756 (3-Day) | 170 Theaters | $524,331 (4-Day) | $524K Portrait of a Lady on Fire $440,907 (3-Day) | 6 Theaters | $514,707 (4-Day) | $633K Sufna $315,591 | 48 Theaters | $371,240 (4-Day) | $371K

In the real world, the various Have Nots could band together for a common purpose and would be better off for it. Instead, they often fight among themselves to hold on to a meager place in life while the Haves blithely carry on, unaware/unconcerned about anyone else's problems. The movie really went up another notch for me when it introduced that element of class warfare on top of everything else.

The opening night had multiple windmill references from the contestants so it's not a last-minute lead switcheroo, where they thought it was going to be Virgin Bachelor Guy but Horndog Pilot Pete showed up instead. Maybe Madi is simply very young and thinks/hopes that whatever Peter's past, he will love her so much that she'll be the last woman he sleeps with. Or, maybe she's primarily in it for the opportunities, and felt that being up front about her faith/virginity early on would lead to a quick elimination and losing her chance to stay in the Bachelor ecosystem. As it is, Peter is hooked and she's hung around long enough for Bachelorette consideration, at least. Maybe she prayed Peter would have a Shower Jesus epiphany and give up his lascivious ways just in time to be the perfect man for her! I agree, the Bachelor franchise wouldn't be my first (or tenth) option for meeting a deeply Christian mate with whom I'd be equally yoked, but hey, it worked out for Sean and Catherine. *

You can never read too much into Anonymous Ballots, but I did notice that for a frontrunner, 1917 wasn't showing up as a top choice as much as you would expect. OTOH, even the Parasite detractors they found seemed to have praise for its craft. I just hope this doesn't lead to a renewed push for Best Popular Film.

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) gets off to a weak start, coming in under the studio's lowball hopes ($45 million) and the $50–55 million tracking. What went wrong: it's too linked to Suicide Squad, Harley isn't popular enough to carry an entire movie, or Harley is popular but the title's not just Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey, or the R rating? The under-18 audience who did see it rated it very highly, according to CinemaScore (an A- compared to the overall B+) and RelishMix (86% positive). February 7–9, 2020 Estimates: 1 (N) Birds of Prey $33,250,000 | 4,236 Theaters | $7,849 Avg. | $84.5M Budget | $33,250,000 2 (1) Bad Boys For Life $12,005,000 (-32%) | 3,530 Theaters (-175) | $3,401 Avg. | $90M Budget | $166,327,207 3 (2) 1917 $9,000,000 (-5%) | 3,548 Theaters (-439) | $2,537 Avg. | $90–100M Budget | $132,542,909 4 (3) Dolittle $6,660,000 (-12%) | 3,462 Theaters (-288) | $1,924 Avg. | $175M Budget | $63,959,985 5 (5) Jumanji: The Next Level $5,530,000 (-8%) | 2,729 Theaters (-216) | $2,026 Avg. | $125–132M Budget | $298,460,411 6 (6) The Gentlemen $4,180,000 (-25%) | 2,557 Theaters (-118) | $1,635 Avg. | $22M Budget | $26,851,981 7 (4) Gretel & Hansel $3,510,659 (-43%) | 3,007 Theaters | $1,167 Avg. | $5M Budget | $11,534,899 8 (11) Knives Out $2,350,000 (-9%) | 1,443 Theaters (-112) | $1,629 Avg. | $40M Budget | $158,941,650 9 (8) Little Women $2,325,000 (-24%) | 1,805 Theaters (-496) | $1,288 Avg. | $40M Budget | $102,673,143 10 (7) Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker $2,226,000 (-31%) | 1,746 Theaters (-456) | $1,275 Avg. | $275M Budget | $510,547,478 11 (9) The Turning $1,540,000 (-49%) | 1,848 Theaters (-723) | $833 Avg. | $14M Budget | $14,151,330 12 (12) Just Mercy $1,540,000 (-29%) | 1,315 Theaters (-492) | $1,171 Avg. | $33,390,112 13 (15) Jojo Rabbit $1,534,000 (+14%) | 1,096 Theaters (-77) | $1,400 Avg. | $14M Budget | $30,280,950 14 (14) Parasite $1,500,000 (+3%) | 1,060 Theaters | $1,415 Avg. | $11M Budget | $35,472,278 15 (13) Frozen II $1,322,000 (-26%) | 1,131 Theaters (-261) | $1,169 Avg. | $150M Budget | $474,255,674 The Rhythm Section $1,005,000 (-63%) | 3,049 Theaters | $330 Avg. | $50M Budget | $4,897,991 2020 Oscar Shorts $825,000 (-29%) | 535 Theaters (+70) | $1,542 Avg. | $2,655,444 Ford v Ferrari $680,000 (+10%) | 743 Theaters (-181) | $915 Avg. | $97.6M Budget | $116,376,692 Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood $280,000 (+89%) | 583 Theaters (-36) | $480 Avg. | $90–96M Budget | $142,451,868 * International Box Office: FROZEN II: $957.5M Overseas Total | $1.431B Global Total STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER: $550.6M Overseas Total | $1.061B Global Total JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL: $470.0M Overseas Total | $768.4M Global Total ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD: $228.9M Overseas Total | $371.3M Global Total BAD BOYS FOR LIFE: $170.0M Overseas Total | $336.3M Global Total KNIVES OUT: $140.7M Overseas Total | $299.6M Global Total 1917: $154.8M Overseas Total | $287.4M Global Total FORD V FERRARI: $101.9M Overseas Total | $218.3M Global Total WEATHERING WITH YOU: $176M Overseas Total | $183.5M Global Total LITTLE WOMEN: $74.5M Overseas Total | $177.1M Global Total PARASITE: $132.1M Overseas Total | $167.6M Global Total DOLITTLE: $94.7M Overseas Total | $158.7M Global Total BIRDS OF PREY: $48.0M Overseas Total | $81.3M Global Total JOJO RABBIT: $44M Overseas Total | $74.2M Global Total CATS: $44.7M Overseas Total | $71.8M Global Total THE GENTLEMEN: $28M Overseas Total | $54.8M Global Total BOMBSHELL: $15.5M Overseas Total | $46.8M Global Total

Christopher Nolan has been nominated at DGA four times but just once in Best Director at the Oscars. The DGA and Oscar rarely match 5-to-5 but IMO it shows that AMPAS voters were far chillier on him as a director than the industry at large. It's just wild to me that Nolan is now being used as an example of Oscar's long history of embracing challenging narratives up until Greta Gerwig tried it. I say this as someone who'd personally rank Little Women no lower than second among all the BP nominees. * I think it would be interesting to know the final voting totals, because general assumptions about what came in second may be inaccurate. The Social Network could have been in third, behind TKS and The Fighter, or Raging Bull fourth after Ordinary People, Coal Miner's Daughter and Tess, for all anyone knows. Not that it would change Oscar arguments, because sometimes the thing considered the "best" in a year isn’t even nominated, and it doesn't change the sentiment that the winner robbed something/someone else (Driving Miss Daisy vs. Do the Right Thing, The Dark Knight vs. Slumdog Millionaire). People rag on The Departed winning Best Picture because it wasn’t Scorsese's best, but it wasn’t competing against his filmography, just the other nominees that year. Was it also supposed to lose in solidarity with Goodfellas and The Aviator? Then people would still complain about Marty being Oscarless. * This year, I can see any of these nominees winning Best Picture: 1917 has won the category at many precursors, including the PGAs, which also uses the preferential ballot. Parasite, which won the SAG for Outstanding Cast, a big milestone for a non-English language movie. It has passionate support and seems to be more accessible to voters than Roma last year, so a lot of high rankings on ballots overall. Jojo Rabbit won some screenplay precursors it wasn't expected to, and the TIFF People's Choice Award, which Green Book snagged the year before. It's about something "important" without being too popular (the last Best Picture winner to cross $100 million at the domestic box office was Argo). Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is about the struggle to survive in the movie business and nostalgia for the way LA was 50 years ago. Voters finding it "relatable" and "emotional" might be enough for the win. Joker did lead the nominations and was strong with the guilds (save the DGA). The industry never felt as negatively about it as its critics. The Irishman, which I don't really don't expect to happen, but it's still a Scorsese movie with ten nominations. What if it wins Best Picture and nothing else? Little Women would be a pleasant surprise for me but still shocking, Marriage Story, I might start to suspect if Johansson or Driver upset in lead, and Ford v Ferrari would be an all-time out of no where winner.

I don't think it's been confirmed, just my assumption based on the things we do know. Sorry for any confusion.

Ali has said she only slept with one of her guys in the Fantasy Suites (Roberto), but who knows if she'd have stuck to that if Frank hadn't dropped out. People ragged on Sean for being a "virgin" but I don't think that's totally unrelated to him being the only Bachelor who married his F1. The whole premise of the show encourages the lead to string along as many people as possible until settling on one of them, preferably with an engagement. Some guys have clearly picked the F1 based on the "best in show" during Fantasy Suites. It's another problem when contestants and leads have different ideas about what sort of boundaries should be drawn when, technically, they are not in an exclusive relationship. You have some F1s who just don't watch the season, an "out of sight, out of mind" mentality, and only care about what happens once the lead made their pick. Then you have contestants who confront the lead about what he/she is doing physically with others during the season, like Luke P with Hannah Brown, and apparently Madi with Peter. Peter hasn't even tried to be discreet about how much he's making out with everyone. * Brad's F2 for his second stint as lead was Chantal. I remember their AFTR and Emily being pissed about what she'd seen of Brad/Chantal during the season and Brad practically begging for a wedding to happen on the spot. They were already hanging by a thread at that point and IMO he knew she was about to bail. As the article noted, Rozlyn got kicked off the show for alleged involvement with a producer and wasn't the producer let go as well? Then again, that was ages ago in Bachelor years and they probably aren't going to kick off a lead who hasn't done anything illegal. Still, I am not sure if the show would really want to encourage that line to be crossed in the #MeToo age, even if this relationship is entirely consensual.

Doesn't care for the movie about entitled New Yorkers but is a big Once Upon a Time in Hollywood fan... They don't call these Brutally Honest Ballots for nothing! Wonder if this voter would have warmed to Hustlers if it had shared the Corman sexploitation vibe? Unsurprisingly, some people really don't respond to nonlinear narratives and some of them have Oscar votes. The "I learned so much more about the Dunkirk evacuation from Darkest Hour!" types, revisted. This voter goes through all the categories and spoiler warning, divulges major plot points for various nominees, Parasite in particular.

Best Picture: Penalized for too much of a de-glam, that's a new one... Best Director: He liked Phillips but is voting for Bong Joon Ho. She says that on her nomination ballot, she voted for women (including Greta Gerwig, Lulu Wang and Alma Har'el) and Bong. Best Actor: The Academy, definitely not monolithic in their opinions! Best Actress: Best Supporting Actor: Best Supporting Actress: Best Adapted Screenplay: It's interesting to see so many "I can't deal with these privileged people and their problems" takes on Marriage Story. You have to wonder how much of it is Los Angelenos rejecting the New York element of it, because it's not the only nominee about people living in rarefied air compared to the average person. The whole thing is an interesting read. There are a lot of strong opinions but they're not the awful people some of the other outlets have dredged up.

I saw that sort of comparison between Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio a few years back, with the sentiment being that Matt could have done just as well in The Revenant but Leo in The Martian was much harder to imagine. All actors have their strengths and weaknesses, and that exercise doesn't work so well to compare portrayals of fictional charcaters vs. well-known historical figures (Hugh Glass was a real person, but not someone with a defined image in the public imagination). Probably why that voter laments all the biopic nominees in Best Actress. The anti-Fox News sentiment has appeared in more than one Anonymous Ballot. Vice did manage the Makeup and Hairstyling win last year, but I guess it was viewed as a less sympathetic portrayal of its protagonists compared to Bombshell?

Sydney responds to the allegation she's made up the bullying claims: Also, Sydney and Hannah Brown were in the same high school class and apparently Hannah has shaded Sydney in her Stories. On Twitter, there are *rumors* of Sydney bullying Hannah B in their school days. Wonder if their connection will come up at any point...

Bringing this over from the spoiler thread. This version of the news is not a spoiler but is related to last night's episode:

WLM refers to White Lives Matter. The pics in question:

January 31 – February 2, 2020 Final Numbers: 1 (1) Bad Boys For Life $17,682,959 (-48%) | 3,705 Theaters (-70) | $4,773 Avg. | $90M Budget | $148,059,490 2 (2) 1917 $9,497,235 (-40%) | 3,987 Theaters (+50) | $2,382 Avg. | $90-100M Budget | $119,083,624 3 (3) Dolittle $7,593,8657 (-38%) | 3,750 Theaters )(-405) | $2,025 Avg. | $175M Budget | $55,112,685 4 (N) Gretel & Hansel $6,050,830 | 3,007 Theaters | $2,247 Avg. | $5M Budget | $6,154,007 5 (5) Jumanji: The Next Level $6,000,181 (-22%) | 2,945 Theaters (-176) | $2,037 Avg. | $125–132M Budget | $291,217,334 6 (4) The Gentlemen $5,608,398 (-47%) | 2,675 Theaters (+510) | $2,097 Avg. | $20,039,487 7 (7) Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker $3,212,883 (-42%) | 2,202 Theaters (-598) | $1,459 Avg. | $275M Budget | $507,075,904 8 (8) Little Women $3,073,922 (-33%) | 2,301 Theaters (-227) | $1,336 Avg. | $40M Budget | $98,829,554 9 (6) The Turning $3,011,025 (-57%) | 2,571 Theaters | $1,171 Avg. | $14M Budget | $11,666,465 10 (N) The Rhythm Section $2,715,384 | 3,049 Theaters | $891 Avg. | $50M Budget | $2,715,384 11 (10) Knives Out $2,579,204 (-27%) | 1,555 Theaters (+122) | $1,659 Avg. | $40M Budget | $155,563,968 12 (9) Just Mercy $2,170,078 (-46%) | 1,807 Theaters (-601) | $1,201 Avg. | $30,811,487 13 (11) Frozen II $1,785,394 (-33%) | 1,392 Theaters (-358) | $1,283 Avg. | $150M Budget | $472,422,764 14 (12) Parasite $1,460,044 (-26%) | 1,060 Theaters (+217) | $1,377 Avg. | $11M Budget | $33,229,320 15 (15) Jojo Rabbit $1,345,124 (-4%) | 1,173 Theaters (+13) | $1,147 Avg. | $14M Budget | $27,973,535 Spies in Disguise $1,184,675 (-33%) | 1,028 Theaters (-295) | $1,152 Avg. | $100M Budget | $63,594,801 2020 Oscar Shorts $1,155,505 | 465 Theaters | $2,485 Avg. | $1,155,505 Ford v. Ferrari $619,206 (-24%) | 924 Theaters (+120) | $670 Avg. | $97.6M Budget | $115,315,060 Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood $148,016 (+30%) | 619 Theaters (+294) | $354 Avg. | $90-96M Budget | $142,043,677 The Assistant $79,141 | 4 Theaters | $19,785 Avg. | $79,141 * China has closed almost all 70,000+ of its movie screens due to the coronavirus outbreak, which will have a big impact not only on local films but the Hollywood movies releases on the schedule. Blockbusters like Dolittle and Sonic the Hedgehog were scheduled for later this month, but so were other "prestige" titles: Green Book made $70 million in China last year, so every Oscar bait movie hopped on the bandwagon. When the theaters reopen, the Chinese movies will get top priority and some of the US films might get bumped altogether. * International Box Office: FROZEN 2: $958.0M Overseas Total | $1.430B Global Total STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER: $551.0M Overseas Total | $1.058B Global Total JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL: $463.6M Overseas Total | $754.8M Global Total ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD: $228.9M Overseas Total | $371M Global Total BAD BOYS FOR LIFE: $142.7M Overseas Total | $290.7M Global Total KNIVES OUT: $134.8M Overseas Total | $290.5M Global Total 1917: $129.8M Overseas Total | $249.1M Global Total FORD V FERRARI: $102.2M Overseas Total | $217.6M Global Total LITTLE WOMEN: $64.1M Overseas Total | $162.8M Global Total PARASITE: $125M Overseas Total | $158.4M Global Total SPIES IN DISGUISE: $93.7M Overseas Total | $157.2M Global Total DOLITTLE: $71.4M Overseas Total | $126.6M Global Total CATS: $42.8M Overseas Total | $69.9M Global Total JOJO RABBIT: $36.6M Overseas Total | $64.5M Global Total A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: $2.9M Overseas Total | $64M Global Total THE GENTLEMEN: $22.4M Overseas Total | $42.9M Global Total BOMBSHELL: $10.5M Overseas Total | $41.4M Global Total UNDERWATER: $20.5M Overseas Total | $37.2M Global Total PAIN & GLORY: $32.3M Overseas Total | $36.7M Global Total