| Kyle Buchanan Pop Culture Reporter | | Hey, movie fans! It's your faithful Carpetbagger. | | Have you read A.O. Scott's marvelous review of "Bohemian Rhapsody" yet? I guarantee you it's a lot more fun than the movie — though Rami Malek is robust as the Queen singer Freddie Mercury, the movie doesn't have the irreverent spirit of the man. Coming out alongside "Bohemian Rhapsody" this weekend is Disney's "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms," the Tiffany Haddish comedy "Nobody's Fool," and the gay conversion-therapy drama "Boy Erased," starring Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, and Russell Crowe. | | Also, it was announced this week, opening in theaters soon are three Netflix movies that hope to make a year-end splash. The streaming giant has flirted with theatrical distribution in the past, playing some of its more high-profile movies on the big screen the same day they debut as home entertainment (like this week's Orson Welles-related duo "The Other Side of the Wind" and "They'll Love Me When I'm Dead"), but this particular gambit is new: Netflix plans to debut Alfonso Cuarón's acclaimed "Roma," the Coen brothers' "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs," and the Sandra Bullock chiller "Bird Box" in theaters before they can be watched on the streaming service. | | "Bird Box" is a mainstream play, but "Roma" and "Buster Scruggs" are Netflix's two Oscar contenders, and this is the company's concession to Academy members who've hesitated to support a contender without an exclusive theatrical window. What I wonder, though, is whether Netflix will report the films' grosses. Box-office success is part of the equation when it comes to an Oscar front-runner — compare the excitement around "A Star is Born," for example, with the expectations that lowered for "First Man" after its struggle at the box office. When voters don't have access to that information, they can't be certain the films are connecting outside of the industry bubble, an issue that hurt "Mudbound," Netflix's big Oscar contender last year. | | Still, Netflix is not in the habit of releasing numbers for its product: We know that "Stranger Things" is a hit, but Netflix won't let you know exactly how many people watched it. Will the streamer adopt a different strategy for these big-screen outings, in the hopes of legitimizing them for Oscar? Stay tuned. | | |
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