It’s not like they aren’t good movies. (Well, one really wasn’t in a big way.) But Amazon Studios has released five movies in 2018, and they have all been financial disasters.

The latest is “Beautiful Boy,” starring Timothee Chalamet as a drug addicted college student, Steve Carell as the father who dives in to save him. “Beautiful Boy” is based on two memoirs, by fahther and son David and Nick Sheff.

When I first saw the trailer, I put it up on this site and declared that I was sure it would be a big hit on the level of “Ordinary People.” It sure seemed like a tearjerker that would hit home with families going through similar traumas.

But “Beautiful Boy” seems to be a bust. In almost five weeks it’s earned just $5.2 million. This weekend it made $1.4 million playing in 776 theaters. By comparison, “Can You Really Forgive Me”– playing in 391 theaters– earned $70,000 more. The latter film is on the way up. The former is not taking off.

Even awards and nominations may not help “Beautiful Boy.” In four weeks, when the Golden Globes and critics groups in other cities announce their winners, “Beautiful Boy” won’t be in too many theaters if any. It will have run its course and moved over to Amazon Prime, where it may be confused with another movie with the same title from 2011 which was about a teenager who shot up his school and how his parents grappled with the outcome.

All together, Amazon Studios’ five films released since January 1st have made a total of $15 million. Two of them starred Joaquin Phoenix (“Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot” and “You Were Never Really Here”). One of them was from the maker of the TV hit “This is Us” (“Life Itself”). One of them was from the director of last year’s critical hit “Call me By Your Name” (Luca Guadagnino’s remake of “Suspiria”). And then there’s “Beautiful Boy.”

Amazon has played its Oscar cards. The only one they have left is a Polish film called “Cold War” directed by Pawel Pawlikowski. It will undoubtedly be nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, but it faces steep competition from films like “Roma,” “Capernaum,” and “Never Look Away.” It’s also in black and white and an economic 90 minutes. Right now, “Roma” — from Amazon’s rival Netflix– has the PR lead, but that could change.

Amazon, which had a major success two seasons ago with “Manchester by the Sea,” is struggling. Last year they struck out completely with three films by auteurs– Woody Allen, Todd Haynes, and Richard Linklater. They swung at the fences but it didn’t work out.

The critics tried to kill it. But it’s time to break out the Moet Chandon.

“Bohemian Rhapsody” crosses the $100 million line today. The Queen-Freddie Mercury biopic made it there in just 10 days.

At the same time, the original soundtrack is in the top 10. Queen’s Greatest Hits 1 &11 Platinum Edition is number 3 on iTunes, and the regular Greatest Hits is number 5. Two more albums are in the top 10.

Queen also occupies 14– fourteen– slots on the iTunes Top 100 songs. That’s pretty amazing. “Radio Gaga” is doing better than Lady Gaga!

If the Academy ignores “BR” it will be a gigantic mistake. Rami Malek should be in the Best Actor category with Viggo, Willem, Bradley, and Ryan.

And no, “BR” has no director really although it does have Dexter Fletcher, who finished the film when Bryan Singer was fired. Critics are angry at the movie because of Singer, but that’s ridiculous. Just enjoy. We’re not Under Pressure.

Morgan Neville’s documentary about Mister Rogers, called “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” won the Critics Choice Documentary Award tonight at the 3rd annual affair held in Brooklyn at BAM offshoot BRIC.

“Neighbor” is turning into the crowd favorite for the Academy Award. It would be Neville’s second Oscar, after “20 Feet from Stardom.” Other winners included Quincy Jones, Judd Apatow for his Garry Shandling doc, plus Nat Geo films “Free Solo” and “Science Fair.”

What’s changing is that award winning docs are now popular films about cultural subjects. This has shifted from hard hitting news, social commentary, and so on. I can’t say it’s bad, but it’s a change that needs to change back in the next couple of years.

Here are the winners:

Best Documentary: Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Best Limited Documentary Series: The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling

Best Ongoing Documentary Series: Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown

Best Director: Morgan Neville for Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Best First Time Director: TIE: Bing Liu for Minding the Gap, and Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster for Science Fair

Best Political Documentary: RBG

Best Sports Documentary: Free Solo

Best Music Documentary: Quincy

Most Innovative Documentary: Free Solo

Best Cinematography: Free Solo

Best Editing: Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

On the evening before Ruth Bader Ginsburg fractured her ribs and had lovers of justice everywhere praying for her speedy recovery, Felicity Jones and Armie Hammer coincidentally participated in a Q&A at the SVA Theater following a screening of “On the Basis of Sex,” their new film which focuses on the formative years of the judge’s career and marriage.

The spotlight in particular is on the one case — on gender discrimination — the Judge argued with her husband, Marty, an esteemed tax attorney and an adoring husband and ardent supporter to his wife. It’s a good courtroom drama that hinges on some tension at the end. The film is equally divided between the early uphill battle of Ginsburg’s career and a loving and inspiring portrait of the Ginsburg marriage.

Both Jones and Hammer have a terrific onscreen chemistry and give a winning performance although the one complaint is that their Jewish identity is downplayed, which is glaring particularly in the light of recent events, including the midterm elections. Imdb.com says Hammer has some Jewish ancestry although neither actor seems remotely Jewish. In the film it’s only fleetingly mentioned of Ginsburg that she’s Jewish and that’s in a disparaging remark by one of her Harvard professors. Ginsburg was one of very few women admitted in her Harvard class and one of the pleasures of the film are the several digs at Harvard for its disgraceful treatment of women. Ginsburg ended up receiving her degree from Columbia when she had to move to New York where her husband was treated for testicular cancer. (Marty died in 2010.)

“On the Basis of Sex” is directed by TV producer-director Mimi Leder, who is returning to the big screen — “The Peacemaker” and “Deep Impact” — from her more recent television hits like “The Leftovers.” The screenwriter is Daniel Stiepleman, RBG’s real-life nephew, who is making his feature screenwriting debut.

Jones said of taking on the role of Ginsburg, especially as an English woman: “I knew of Ruth. I knew the punk image that she had – she’s such an icon. But I didn’t know the detail and the depths of her story. I didn’t know about her relationship; I didn’t know about her family. So, that all came from reading the script, and when I read the script, it was just an absolute no-brainer. It was so wonderfully written. It was all on the page.”

Of Stiepleman’s screenplay, Jones said, “He did an excellent job of portraying someone who obviously has such a high standing in the US Courts. But also he found all the nuances. He found – he obviously knows his aunt intimately, so he has access to her as a human being. And to all the moments that were really difficult, and when stuff didn’t go as planned, and constantly she was coming up against these obstacles. So, it was very much someone who was from a very modest background. So, the odds were constantly against her. And I always think of her and Marty, they were real fighters. They were constantly fighting in a situation that wasn’t always on their side.”

Armie Hammer said the film takes a “look behind the curtain” and that he “loved the idea of a female superhero who changed the face of the world we all live in, without having superpowers. As the father of a daughter, I loved the idea of a story being told of a woman who changed the world using nothing more than her brain and an incredible amount of willpower.”

He was also moved by their relationship. “Especially Marty, being willing and able, and also so adept at defying gender norms. In the ’50s and ’70s, when this movie really takes place, you’d be really hard-pressed to find another guy who would be willing to stay home and cook and deal with the kids and all that. And it wasn’t a done thing, but he did it because he believed so much in Ruth. And also they existed with such symbiosis. You would have no Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg without the support of her husband. And then you would have no “Party Marty”, as I like to call him.”

The idea to write the screenplay came to Stiepleman at Martin’s funeral. Said Hammer: “Someone got up to eulogize Martin and talked about the only case that they’d ever fought together. And he thought, “My god, That’s amazing. I would love to write this story.”

“So, he approached Ruth and he said, “You know, Aunt Ruth, I would really love to write this story. Because it seems like such an amazing story. Would you mind if I did that?” And she paused for a second and said, “Well, if that’s really how you want to spend your time, I guess.” The audience roared.

Both stars of the film met with RBG. So, what was it – what do you say when you meet Ruth Bader Ginsburg?
“Well, the first time we met her, she couldn’t take her eyes of Armie,” replied Jones to laughter.

Photo 2018 Showbiz411 by Paula Schwartz