The Roundup with Jeff Stockton (SEASON 36 ROUND 5)

 

We're officially at the halfway point of Season 36, but the season still all over the place. There have been enough quality films to keep me engaged, but the box office has been living paycheck to paycheck. Here's The Roundup....

LUKE CAGE: THE PURPLE MAN

This is how you make a sequel. One of the easiest mistakes filmmakers make is simply trying to recreate what worked the first time. Dwight Gallo, Jimmy Ellis, and George Tillman Jr. wisely avoided that trap. The first Luke Cage embraced the gritty blaxploitation feel of early-'70s Harlem. Instead of repeating themselves, Luke Cage: The Purple Man shifts into the flashier disco era, and the movie's entire personality changes with it.

That's a risky move.

Change too much and audiences reject it. Change too little and they accuse you of making the same movie twice. Somehow this team threaded the needle. The new aesthetic feels fresh without abandoning what made the original work, and the Purple Man himself gives the sequel a completely different type of threat. It's a sequel that evolves instead of imitates, and that's exactly what franchise filmmaking should strive for.

ECHOES OF RED

Here's the frustrating thing about Echoes of Red: It's so close. The foundation is incredibly strong. The cast is loaded with talent, the central mystery keeps you invested, and Cate Blanchett finally gets an LRF role worthy of an actress of her caliber. It's been several seasons since she's had material this substantial, and she absolutely takes advantage of it. This feels like one of those performances that's going to linger in the awards conversation all season.

I have my issues with the movie—and we'll get to those in a minute—but when a film gives an actor like Blanchett room to really work, that's worth celebrating. Sometimes a movie doesn't have to be perfect to remind you why certain performers remain among the best in the business.

PROFITS

Now let's talk about the elephant in the room.

Less than half a billion dollars in total profits through fifteen releases. That's... concerning.

Season 36 still has time to recover, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to imagine this slate reaching the billion-dollar profit mark unless the back half catches absolute fire. The problem isn't the blockbusters—they've done their job. The problem is that too many films are merely breaking even or losing money outright.

This season has produced enough quality movies. It just hasn't produced enough profitable ones.

1016 WEST MONROE

Jazz is fertile ground for drama. Chicago is fertile ground for drama. Put those elements together and you should have something rich, emotional, and alive. Instead, 1016 West Monroe never seemed to figure out exactly what story it wanted to tell.

Quitessa Swindell simply wasn't able to carry the weight of the film for me, and while Lewis Pullman and Diana Silvers both have talent, neither performance provided the spark necessary to elevate the material. More importantly, the screenplay itself felt oddly small. Not intimate—small. The story drifted from idea to idea without ever building much momentum, leaving the entire experience feeling unfocused and strangely underdeveloped.

Honestly, when the box office numbers came in, I wasn't surprised.

ECHOES OF RED

Yes...

It somehow lands in both columns.

Because this is exactly the kind of movie that frustrates me. The story is good. Cate Blanchett is excellent. Most of the cast works. The atmosphere is terrific. But then the screenplay occasionally gets... sloppy.

Whether those rough edges were intentional or not, there were moments where the mystery seemed less interested in logical progression than in simply arriving at its next twist. It's never enough to derail the movie, but it's noticeable.

And then there's Jessica Barden. I like Jessica Barden as an actress. I did not buy Jessica Barden as a detective for one second.

Maybe that's superficial, but casting is about credibility. The second she appeared in that role, I found myself questioning it instead of believing it. Does she even meet the police department's height requirement? I'm only half joking.