Oh, good lord, here comes the nitpicking.

When you consider the fact that he reviews damn near every notable wide and limited release week in and week out - and has for decades now - yes, of course he's going to like *some* blockbusters. I didn't say he hates all blockbusters. I said he "almost always despises" them. Though, yes, every so often an Avatar or Predator movie or whatever will win him over.

Point is, he's notorious for being a curmudgeon. On social media, on his podcast, etc. That's his whole thing.

Regardless, beyond him, I'm continuing to read glowing reaction after glowing reaction after glowing reaction. It's getting insane, and I don't know if I've quite ever seen anything like it. So y'all can pick apart my Ehrlich claims here all you want, for no good reason, but the immense wave of positivity is so undeniable now that there's no way it's just a bunch lib critics or whatever who are going to love this thing.

It isn't nitpicking, I just know you like to make extravagant claims that aren't necessarily supported and this appears to be one such case. Last truly rotten rating he seems to have given a"blockbuster" was Superman last year. Even He-Man got an ok review.

You're just desperate to prove the odyssey is so amazing before having seen it while simultaneously ranting at people who thinks it will be awful without having seen it. Same coin.

Movie will be fine more than likely. Even nolans meh movies in my mind aren't objectively awful.

And he doesn't stop and consider what will be said about the first mainstream critic who dares to pan it.

This screams of "inauthentic" promotion for The Odyssey.
Every insider is posting the same photo from inside the theater, just different angles depending on seat position.
Everyone is posting the same generic positive comments with no substance.
Everyone is an industry insider,… pic.twitter.com/c8f3BruZaW

— Emerald Apple (@AI_EmeraldApple) July 13, 2026

In recognition of us reaching Page 79 I thought I would post the trailer to The Warriors (1979) which is currently free on YouTube. People often attribute its storyline to The Odyssey but it's actually an adaptation of Anabasis.

Fenrir said:

---

It isn't nitpicking, I just know you like to make extravagant claims that aren't necessarily supported and this appears to be one such case. Last truly rotten rating he seems to have given a"blockbuster" was Superman last year. Even He-Man got an ok review.

You're just desperate to prove the odyssey is so amazing before having seen it while simultaneously ranting at people who thinks it will be awful without having seen it. Same coin.

Movie will be fine more than likely. Even nolans meh movies in my mind aren't objectively awful.

---

It's not "extravagant" to claim that David Ehrlich is a notoriously curmudgeon critic, when that's exactly what he's been known as for years. I'm sorry my phrasing didn't perfectly encapsulate the exact nuance you required on a ****ing internet message board, but, by and large, he's not a blockbuster guy. That's just a fact.

Either way, it *is* nitpicking when you consider the fact that it's ONE reaction in the hundreds released so far. To that end, I'm not "desperate" to prove anything, when the facts are on my side. Desperation is you guys picking apart every last post in the face of those facts. Seeing as literally thousands of people have seen the movie now and not a *single* negative reaction has surfaced yet. Not one. Simply relaying that info isn't a "desperate" act.

Cliff.Booth said:

---

And he doesn't stop and consider what will be said about the first mainstream critic who dares to pan it.

---

Because this isn't a thing that happens.

You make it sound like all of Hollywood is part of some vast, pro-Nolan cabal, or because *you guys* deem the movie as "woke," the pitchforks are going to come out when someone doesn't like the movie.

I'm sorry, but that's your own delusion.

Because here, in reality, plenty of critics **** on Nolan movies all the time. Go look at his Rotten Tomatoes scores if you don't believe me. And if you think this time's different because of the cast or because he's "gone woke" or whatever, you're just flat out wrong.

The idea that the first person who gives this movie a negative review is going to get crucified just isn't a thing. At all.

CheeseSndwch said:

---

In recognition of us reaching Page 79 I thought I would post the trailer to The Warriors (1979) which is currently free on YouTube. People often attribute its storyline to The Odyssey but it's actually an adaptation of Anabasis.

---

cliff out there clinking empty beer bottles together.... TC, come out to playayyyyy

You realize those all are all different angles right? And not the same photo? And that maybe only like 15% of reactions so far have posted from inside their screenings like that? Also, that dude simply hasn't read all of the reactions so far if he thinks "everyone is posting the same generic positive comments with no substance." That's just not even remotely true, especially when reactions are in the hundreds now, from all over the globe.

It really is weird the lengths you and others are going to to deny at this point what is so clearly a good movie. It just screams being in denial.

The only thing that could make this thread better is to have the movie come out, be amazing ,and TC turns heel and starts just blasting it with criticism nonstop.

TCTTS said:

---

Fenrir said:

---

It isn't nitpicking, I just know you like to make extravagant claims that aren't necessarily supported and this appears to be one such case. Last truly rotten rating he seems to have given a"blockbuster" was Superman last year. Even He-Man got an ok review.

You're just desperate to prove the odyssey is so amazing before having seen it while simultaneously ranting at people who thinks it will be awful without having seen it. Same coin.

Movie will be fine more than likely. Even nolans meh movies in my mind aren't objectively awful.

---

It's not "extravagant" to claim that David Ehrlich is a notoriously curmudgeon critic, when that's exactly what he's been known as for years. I'm sorry my phrasing didn't perfectly encapsulate the exact nuance you required on a ****ing internet message board, but, by and large, he's not a blockbuster guy. That's just a fact.

Either way, it *is* nitpicking when you consider the fact that it's ONE reaction in the hundreds released so far. To that end, I'm not "desperate" to prove anything, when the facts are on my side. Desperation is you guys picking apart every last post in the face of those facts. Seeing as literally thousands of people have seen the movie now and not a *single* negative reaction has surfaced yet. Not one. Simply relaying that info isn't a "desperate" act.

---

You trying to dress up a critic as somehow neutral at best about nolan (despite absolutely nothing but glowing reviews) and anti-blockbuster (despite positive reviews for just about every middling blockbuster slop) is something.

Quote:

---

It really is weird the lengths you and others are going to to deny at this point what is so clearly a good movie. It just screams being in denial.

---

Probably will be good which is why it's all the weirder you put effort into dressing up a critic as some sort of artsy type that bemoans blockbusters and even they were just enamored with the magnificence that nolans newest creation has reached all the while they liked He-Man.

so....let's just chat about some facts regarding the potential box office for this sucker...

what it has going for it:

- it's got a lock of IMAX theaters for 4 weeks...that's insane
- it doesnt have much for competition for the first few weeks until spiderman comes out
- it's a christopher nolan film
- it's based on an extremely popular historical epic


what it's got going against it:

- heavily rumored to have been based on a book that was written as a modern interpretation of the original story with a more feminine perspective
- odd casting choices for several characters
- odd dialogue given the time period
- actors recent comments seemingly confirming my first point above
- heavily ratioed negative reactions from online trailers


so...the question is which of these issues overtake the others and how will this affect the box office...if at all...

currently, it's projecting somewhere around 98 million to 132 million in its domestic opening...i'm going to guess it'll be around 115 - 120 million...here's what'll be interesting...

oppenheimer: 43.4% drop 2nd weekend / 37.6% drop 3rd weekend / 35.4% drop 4th weekend
33.8% domestic BO / 66.2% international BO

dunkirk: 47.3% drop 2nd weekend / 35.7% drop 3rd weekend / 36.5% drop 4th weekend
35.7% domestic BO / 64.3% international BO

interstellar: 40.4% drop 2nd weekend / 45.8% drop 3rd weekend / 2.6% gain 4th weekend
27.6% domestic BO / 72.4% international BO

see a trend?

what's going to decide the fate of this thing will be the following...

- how much legs does it have with keeping IMAX theaters as long as it does? can it keep the same legs like other nolan films?
- how much will the questionable items in this film affect the international box office? other countries aren't as accepting of certain things as the USA is...
- how much will initial reactions have an affect of the performance of the box office on this film?

if the current projections hold, this film should have the 3rd best opening weekend for a chris nolan film behing the dark knight and the dark knight rises...not a bad start and i expect those projections to hold...

the bigger question will be if it will have the same leg out based on initial reactions and will the same international box office show up as they did for other nolan films in the past...

we'll know if there's trouble if any of the following happen:

1. the box office split between US and international is within 45% / 55% or worse from opening weekend
2. the 2nd weekend drop is worse than 50% ... EXTREMELY bad if its worse than 60% but i simply don't see that happening

if neither of the above happen then it's quite likely this movie will do at least 750 million world wide...but studios im guessing are expecting over 800 million bare minimum and anything less than that would fall below expectations...

time will tell...very soon...

Dude, what in the hell are you even talking about?

I'm not "dressing him up" as anything other than how he's perceived by damn near everyone who knows who he is. As far as critics go, he's as notable as they come in the online film community, has a popular podcast, hosts big/public Q&As with directors and movie stars all the time, etc. He's very well known in certain circles for having a very specific curmudgeon "brand," and anyone in that world would laugh their ass off at you trying to tell me I'm not accurately characterizing him, when you clearly had no ****ing clue who he was two hours ago.

That, and he objectively does NOT have "positive reviews for just about every middling blockbuster slop." You're straight up exaggerating based on three minutes of internet research you did, which you then applied to his decades of being a critic.

Good lord, why are some of you the way you are, constantly so threatened, always speaking with such authority about **** of which you have no clue.

I have no data to back this up, and it's just a gut feeling, but one thing I've noticed over the years is that early reviews seem to skew positive. I think it's just good business. Movie studios are only going to give early access viewing to critical who are likely to have positive things to say about their movies. Additionally, I do think some critics try to be overly dramatic in their reviews (especially on Twitter) in hopes of getting the studio to push their tweets and give them more views. It's the same thing with product reviews. Apple notoriously doesn't give early access to journalists who have written negative reviews of their products.

I think it's best to ignore the random Twitter reviews and find two or three critics who have similar tastes as you, and just go with them.

jokershady said:

---

what it's got going against it:

- heavily rumored to have been based on a book that was written as a modern interpretation of the original story with a more feminine perspective
- odd casting choices for several characters
- odd dialogue given the time period
- actors recent comments seemingly confirming my first point above
- heavily ratioed negative reactions from online trailers

---

You forgot the boats!!! How can you forget the boats?!?!

Everything you're saying is absolutely true.

But what I'm trying to say is that this is far beyond that.

Usually those types of early reactions are way smaller in number, contained to a certain type of critic or influencer, etc.

This, on the other hand, is a huge swath of critics, journalists, filmmakers, premiere attendees, Average Joes, etc, numbering the hundreds. That's not typical at all, and far beyond anything Universal can control.

Never mind that, again, thousands of people have seen the movie by now and we haven't seen a single negative reaction yet. That never, ever happens. That's not to say there won't be negative reactions - there absolutely will be - but after a week of screenings, it's shocking to see such unprecedented positivity.

Thanks chatGPT

No "average joes" have seen or reviewed this yet. This first wave of reviews has been as astroturfed as it gets. Like I said before, at this point in time, if you give any credence to mainstream media, critics, Hollywood "insiders" etc, you are 100% out to lunch. Your shilling for this so hard when you haven't seen it is just more proof of that.

Nope that just me buddy

AustinAg2K said:

---

jokershady said:

---

what it's got going against it:

- heavily rumored to have been based on a book that was written as a modern interpretation of the original story with a more feminine perspective
- odd casting choices for several characters
- odd dialogue given the time period
- actors recent comments seemingly confirming my first point above
- heavily ratioed negative reactions from online trailers

---

You forgot the boats!!! How can you forget the boats?!?!

---

Meh….close enough to this version….

Oof, not good.

Gonna struggle to give The Odyssey more than a mixed review cause it suffers from many issues, including lighting, pacing, and a muddy sound mix that made it tough to understand anything or anyone. Best parts were the ones involving things like Circe and the Cyclops.

— Edward Douglas (@EDouglasWW) July 14, 2026

Cliff.Booth said:

---

No "average joes" have seen or reviewed this yet. This first wave of reviews has been as astroturfed as it gets. Like I said before, at this point in time, if you give any credence to mainstream media, critics, Hollywood "insiders" etc, you are 100% out to lunch. Your shilling for this so hard when you haven't seen it is just more proof of that.

---

Dude, per usual, you have no ****ing clue what you're talking about.

Average Joes have ABSOLUTELY seen this movie. Over the past week there have been press screenings, critic screenings, multiple premiere screenings in a number of countries, industry screenings, and a military screening. For a number of those, plus ones were allowed. Meaning Average Joes from LA to Mumbai, who don't work in the industry, who Universal has zero control over, who could tweet out a negative reaction at any time.

Never mind that Universal couldn't possibly sway/own the hundreds of critics who have already seen the movie either. That's not a thing that is even possible, and to believe as much is asinine.

Again, THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE have seen the movie by now. THOUSANDS. All over the world. That is an undeniable fact. To think that ALL of those people are somehow part of some vast "astroturf" campaign is bat**** insane, and grasping at straws like I've seldom seen on this board.

Not to mention, it's hilarious how you can claim I'm "shilling so hard" for this thing when your actions - day after day after day in this thread - objectively point to you being DESPERATE for this thing to fail. There is literally no way you can argue otherwise.

I know Ed. I literally used to employ him. He's a good dude, and while I don't always agree with him, he's definitely a straight shooter. In other words, I would say this is the first legit negative reaction. Now, according to Cliff, Ed's going to get crucified by all of Hollywood. Let's see how true that actually is (hint: it won't happen).

I'll wait until a few days after release when honest reviews start to appear, until then, mostly bull**** glazing. I'm not even saying that I expect honest reviews to say it is terrible. In all likelihood it has its merits and is a good movie in ways, but this initial wave of reviews read like they were written in advance of seeing it. All the usual horse***** "I was left speechless!" "Simply daring in every way." "A spectacle unlike anything we've experienced." Lmao

Tonight's LA press/critics screenings have now let out and have me more excited than ever.

I've seen maybe 50 new reactions in this latest wave, with only two negatives and one so-so. But the positives feature some of the most effusive praise I've seen yet, and not the pull quote, lip servicey kind, but rather from more voices I truly trust, who aren't usually prone to exaggeration, yet are still saying this is an all-timer.

The one consistent note I've seen is that while the middle might lag a bit, the last act is incredible, and features one of the best, if not the best endings of Nolan's career, as it's also apparently his most emotional.

To that end, someone posted a brief cell phone recording of the end credits (not a scene, the literal credits), featuring the Travis Scott / James Blake / Ludwig Goransson single, and it's not at all what I was expecting. No rap whatsoever in the snippet I heard, and instead a very somber/ethereal vibe that sounded awesome and matched the "emotional" aspect people keep mentioning about the ending. Remember how each movie in The Lord of the Rings trilogy ends with a somber/ethereal song over the credits? It's kind of like that, but the 2026 Nolan/Scott/Ludwig version. I really like it.

Anyway, we're now on like the fourth or fifth wave of press who have seen this thing - well into the hundreds - and somehow reactions are getting better, not worse, as some here predicted. Universal simply can't have this many shills on the "payroll" or whatever, and we've moved well into the pool of critics who would never do that **** anyways, and could not care less about peer pressure. This is the real deal, and I'm guessing a 95% or so Rotten Tomatoes score come Wednesday if this keeps up.

Cliff.Booth said:

---

I'll wait until a few days after release when honest reviews start to appear, until then, mostly bull**** glazing. I'm not even saying that I expect honest reviews to say it is terrible. In all likelihood it has its merits and is a good movie in ways, but this initial wave of reviews read like they were written in advance of seeing it. All the usual horse***** "I was left speechless!" "Simply daring in every way." "A spectacle unlike anything we've experienced." Lmao

---

Again, you haven't read anywhere near half the reactions if you think that's all there's been. Yes, there's been plenty of that, but also so much more, to the point where it's beyond obvious that it's not "mostly bull**** glazing."

Ranking Nolan's filmography was harder than I thought, and I could still probably switch a couple of these around, but ahead of this weekend, this is where I stand. What about everyone else?

1) TDR
2) Interstellar
3) Oppenheimer
4) Dunkirk
5) Inception
6) The Prestige
7) Tenet
8) Batman Begins
9) TDR Rises
10) Memento
11) Insomnia

Lol- We've even got Damon and Nolan bickering.

Quote:

---

Christopher Nolan reportedly "grimaces" when told Matt Damon's viral quote about making The Odyssey and what it meant for cinema's future.

The Oscar-winning director was being interviewed about his mythological epic, which is open this week, when The Telegraph asked about a recent comment by his film's leading man.

Damon had said he had a nostalgic feeling while making the epic feature "because it felt like the movies when I started working and I know that that's going away." The actor added, "I knew that this was the last chance I was going to have to do something like this" and "I don't think people are going to be given the resources to shoot movies that way for much longer."

But Nolan who is also currently serving as the president of the Directors Guild of America had a different take.

Related Video

"I think I know what [Damon] was driving at, because it does seem like a long time since somebody made a film like this in this type of way, where you travel the world, get together a cast of thousands and so on," Nolan said. "But there's a defeatist aspect of viewing it that way that I don't agree with. I think cinema is vital and essential and continues to transform itself we've got all these great new young voices in movies, making the medium their own and moving it forward."

---

That's very light bickering…more of just an opinion difference on the industry.

FWIW, that cut out Nolan quote does no do much to address what Damon was bringing up either.

1. Dunkirk
2. The Dark Knight
3. Inception
4. Batman Begins
5. Insomnia (very underrated)
6. The Prestige
7. Interstellar
8. The Dark Knight Rises
9. Oppenheimer
10. Memento
11. Tenet

Haven't seen Following

Rigs said:

---

Lol- We've even got Damon and Nolan bickering.

Quote:

---

Christopher Nolan reportedly "grimaces" when told Matt Damon's viral quote about making The Odyssey and what it meant for cinema's future.

The Oscar-winning director was being interviewed about his mythological epic, which is open this week, when The Telegraph asked about a recent comment by his film's leading man.

Damon had said he had a nostalgic feeling while making the epic feature "because it felt like the movies when I started working and I know that that's going away." The actor added, "I knew that this was the last chance I was going to have to do something like this" and "I don't think people are going to be given the resources to shoot movies that way for much longer."

But Nolan who is also currently serving as the president of the Directors Guild of America had a different take.

Related Video

"I think I know what [Damon] was driving at, because it does seem like a long time since somebody made a film like this in this type of way, where you travel the world, get together a cast of thousands and so on," Nolan said. "But there's a defeatist aspect of viewing it that way that I don't agree with. I think cinema is vital and essential and continues to transform itself we've got all these great new young voices in movies, making the medium their own and moving it forward."

---

---

TCTTS reportedly "grimaces" when told Cliff Booth's viral quote about making F13's The Odyssey thread and what it meant for TexAgs' future.

The record holder for most posts in 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 2 hours, 4 hours, 6 hours, 8 hours, 12 hours, and 24 hours on TexAgs was being interviewed about his Entertainment Board, which is already full of cow dung this week, when The Maroon and White Report asked about a recent comment by his arch-nemesis.

Booth had said he had a nostalgic feeling while contributing to the thread "because it felt like the message boards when I started posting and I know that that's going away." The legendary stuntman who once murdered his wife at sea and also threw Bruce Lee into the side of a car added, "I knew that this was the last chance I was going to have to do something like this" and "I don't think people are going to have the time sink to grow threads that way for much longer."

But TCTTS, who is also currently serving as the self-elected president of the TexAgs Entertainment Association of TexAgs, had a different take.

Related Video (Billy Liucci Breaks Down the Booth / TTS matchup)

"I think I know what [Booth] was driving at, because it does seem like a long time since somebody made a thread like this in this type of way, where you travel the full gamut of people saying they're not racist while also telling you that nobody is attracted to women with dark skin, freaking out over a gender-swapping actor that's probably in 1% of a 3-hour movie and isn't even playing Achilles, you idiots, political ranting, name-calling, being pissed off about armor that existed 3,000 years ago, showing anger about boats that basically look exactly like other boats, and woke/anti-wokeism and getting together a cast of thousand of posters and so on," TCTTS said. "But there's a defeatist aspect of viewing it that way that I don't agree with. I think F13 is vital and essential and continues to transform itself we've got all these great new young posters on TexAgs, making the medium their own and moving it forward as long as they all STFU and understand the Odyssey is the greatest film in human history. "

Reached for comment, Academy Award winning director Christopher Nolan said, "I've been on that thread a couple of times. It makes me wish I had made Blue Thunder instead."

Gore's reaction is about what I was expecting from people willing to be honest. "NOT a disaster, but...." No spoilers in here, just discussing their likes and dislikes.

People always complain about the audio mix for Nolan, but other than Bane in TDKR, it's never been a problem for me. It truly makes me wonder what audio range people have going in and how much that plays in these issues.