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away from “Springsteen,
faded blue jeans and Ten-
nessee whiskey”).
Other songs contemplate
sex in the type of language
that adults use — not showi-
ly explicit but with a casual
knowledge of bodies in close
spaces. “The old Taylor”
may be dead, as Swift de-
clared on 2017’s “Reputa-
tion,” but Old Taylor now
clearly walks among us.
Yet it’s not just these
totems of maturity that
make “Lover” feel so attuned
to an older mind-set (even
as pop is in the midst of its
youngest moment in years).
Nor is it merely the sound
of the album, which moves
past the precision-geared
synth-pop for which Swift
has been known since
2012’s “Red” into choppy new
wave (“Paper Rings”),
Mazzy Star-like dream-folk
(“Lover”), even humid ’80s-
era R&B (“False God,” com-
plete with saxophone).
“Reputation” did some
of all that too, albeit in the
context of the singer’s vari-
ous celebrity feuds, which
generally do more to infanti-
lize famous people than to
convince anyone they
should be taken seriously.
Rather, Swift demon-
strates a kind of emotional
wisdom on “Lover” — co-
produced by her and studio
wizards such as Jack
Antonoff, Joel Little and
Frank Dukes — that feels
like the simple, if hard-won,
result of nothing but experi-
ence. “False God” invokes
religion to ponder how eagerwe are to fool ourselves
with promises of perfection;
“Soon You’ll Get Better,”
inspired by Swift’s mother’s
cancer diagnosis, offers the
bitter taste of hope in a hos-
pital room (and cuts only
deeper for featuring the
Dixie Chicks on pinprick
backing vocals).
Then there’s “Miss
Americana & the Heart-
break Prince,” which ap-
pears to be ... a full-on de-
nunciation of the good ol’
U.S.A.? “My team is losing,
battered and bruising,” she
sings, finally picking a side
in the culture war she once
tried to float above.
Elsewhere, the song
layers on some pat high
school imagery, enough that
anyone who might want to
discount the allegory could
reasonably do so. But little
about the clear-eyed “Lover”
leads you to believe that
Taylor Swift is one of those
people.SINGER-songwriter
Taylor Swift, now 29, is
showing artistic growth.Evan AgostiniInvision / APSwift exploring
mature themes
[Swift, from E1]Warning: The following
story contains minor spoil-
ers for the horror thriller
“Ready or Not,” in theaters
now. There will be another
warning before discussion
of the film’s ending.
The highbrow specialty
studio Fox Searchlight
doesn’t often delve into pop-
corn thrillers, but the stu-
dio’s latest, “Ready or Not,”
is a revenge picture with a
specific demographic in
mind.
“It’s definitely hating on
the 1%,” said star Samara
Weaving with a laugh.
The film follows former
foster child Grace (Weaving)
on the eve of her wedding to
Alex Le Domas, the billion-
aire heir to the Le Domas
Dominion’s gaming fortune.
The family has managed to
build generational wealth
via board games and sport-
ing goods. And maybe one
small deal with the devil.
Before accepting new
members into the clan, the
family follows the tradition
of choosing a board game at
random to play with the
newlyweds. Only one option
— hide and seek — comes
with deadly terms.
Screenwriters Guy Bu-
sick and Ryan Murphy (not
to be confused with the pro-
lific TV mastermind behind
“Pose” and “American Hor-
ror Story”) were intentional
in casting a glare on the trap-
pings of wealth and privilege
when drafting the script.
“We are fascinated by the
idea that the uber-wealthy
just kind of live in their own
world,” said Busick. “It’s a
world that the rest of us just
aren’t allowed to see.”
“One of the big questions
we are hoping the movie is
asking is if extreme wealth is
in and of itself a deal with
the devil,” said Matt Bet-
tinelli-Olpin, who co-di-
rected the film with Radio
Silence collaborators Tyler
Gillett and Chad Villella. “Is
there something intrinsi-
cally wrong with it? For us,
the fun of the movie was bal-
ancing all of the big set
piece-y things with getting
to comment on wealth in-
equality in the country and
privilege and abuse of
power.”
For Adam Brody, who co-
stars as Daniel, the second
in line for the Le Domas for-
tune, the timing of the film
couldn’t be better. “We’re
having a real moment in our
society where we’re looking
at where all our money
comes from and at capitalist
structures and trying to
shine a light on what’s fair,”
he said. “And really trying to
reckon with some of the un-
fairness of it all.”
“Right now culturally,
socially, a lot of people are
screaming at the heavens,”
Gillett agreed. “And with
this movie, we hope there’s
some catharsis. We hope
that it can maybe be a
megaphone in the mouth-
piece for those screams.
Something about this genre
lets people in and lets them
get close, there’s a real prox-
imity with the story. People
need an outlet, they need an
escape. But in that escape
they also want some real ca-
tharsis and we hope ‘Ready
or Not’ does that.” After
playing a villain in the Net-
flix thriller “The Babysitter,”
Weaving relished the oppor-
tunity to play a fully realized
horror protagonist.
“Because a lot of films
where there’s a female pro-
tagonist are sort of laughing
at them, I really wanted you
to laugh with[Grace],” she
said. “She was really strong
and in all the fight se-
quences, we made sure that
she could handle herself and
that she was making logical
choices about her survival.”
“Samara was rightfully
interested in making sure
Grace had a real scrappi-
ness to her and a core
strength and that she was
never just going to be the
damsel in distress,” said
Bettinelli-Olpin. “That was
something that Samara was
just really, really conscious
of that we loved.”
“She gives such a mon-
ster performance in this,”
said Brody of his costar.
“She’s a lovely, really funny,
self-deprecating person, but
she’s got pathos to spare. I
couldn’t have been more
impressed.”Weaving’s previous
American credits include
“The Babysitter,” the Starz
TV series “Ash vs. Evil Dead”
and a supporting role in
“Three Billboards Outside
Ebbing, Missouri.”
The Australian actress
says her experience in the
horror genre has made
watching scary movies more
palatable.
“I really struggle watch-
ing horror movies, but
they’re so much fun to
make,” she said. “I can now
figure out the math behind
it and know ‘OK, that’s just
syrup and there’s probably
going to be a jump-scare
there.’ ” Though the film is
over the top in scope, the in-
spiration for the story came
from the “very relatable and
terrestrial” anxiety that ac-
companies meeting the in-
laws, Busick said.
“We also had fun looking
at how family traditions are
passed down,” Murphy add-
ed. “Do we really believe in
the same things as our par-
ents and grandparents? Or
are we just sort of going
through the motions for
their sake with things like re-
ligion and whatnot?”
Despite the serious
themes of wealth disparity
and privilege explored in
the movie, the filmmakers
primarily intended to make
a film that was more wacky
and fun than heavy and
condemning.
“I think a lot of films out
there right now try to get
a little too serious,” said
Gillett. “And with this one,
we wanted to touch on all
these different things but
also remind people that you
can have fun going to themovies and enjoy them while
also thinking about the
themes in them later.”Warning: Major spoilers for
“Ready or Not,” including
discussion of the film’s
ending, follow.“This is just a really fun
hour and a half at the mov-
ies,” said Busick. “And I
think there’s a catharsis in
the ending when these truly
selfish and evil people get
their comeuppance in a
sinister and spectacular
fashion.”
The film’s Grand Guignol
climax ends with the entire
surviving Le Domas clan
spontaneously combusting
after they lose the game of
hide and seek by failing to
capture and sacrifice Grace
before dawn.
“We wanted to end those
monsters in the most satis-
fying way possible,” Busick
said. “On the page, it was
very tricky to say, ‘And then
they explode,’ because that
can sound very goofy. We
just felt that they needed
to, in rapid succession, go
out with a bang.”
“It’s ridiculous, it’s shock-
ing, it’s funny, it’s obscene,”
Bettinelli-Olpin said. “That
tone just felt like the right
way to end it.”
That ability to make out-
landish choices while keep-
ing the audience’s attention
is one of the biggest draws of
the horror genre, the film-
makers said.
“The wonderful thing
about the genre is you can
take real-life situations like
getting married and meeting
your in-laws and you can
just dial it up to 11,” said Mur-
phy. “It’s tapping into uni-
versal fears. We all get scared
when going out into the
woods, but it’s not every day
that you’re actually being
hunted by a killer.”
“Once you’re just one
step removed from reality,
everyone is just more com-
fortable talking about diffi-
cult things,” added Busick.
“You’re getting the audience
to experience something
by proxy that they don’t
want to experience in life
so it’s an easy way to com-
municate ideas without
scaring people off.”
Additionally, the genre
allows filmmakers to com-
ment on the major issues
of our time in a way that
doesn’t alienate audiences.
“What attracts us to
filmmaking and genre story-
telling is the opportunity to
have a conversation you
wouldn’t normally maybe
have in person,” said Gillett.
“Because of the tools of
the genre, you get to really
have a heightened way of ex-
ploring the range of that
conversation.”
“We really love that this
project gets to be so many
things,” Gillett said. “It gets
to be a commentary on the
privilege and wealth in-
equality and about family
and about faith. But it’s also
just a really ... good time.”AUSSIE ACTRESSSamara Weaving plays a fully realized horror protagonist in the film “Ready or Not.”
Eric Zachanowich‘Ready or Not’ revels in
bloody laughs at the 1%
The film’s principals
explain class/income
disparity themes as
well as that ending.
By Sonaiya Kelley
“I REALLY STRUGGLEwatching horror movies,
but they’re so much fun to make,” said Weaving.Luis SincoLos Angeles TimesPerforming above expec-
tations, Lionsgate and Mil-
lennium’s “Angel Has Fall-
en” opened in first place
with $21.3 million, according
to estimates from measure-
ment firm Comscore.
The third film in the ac-
tion franchise, it stars Ger-
ard Butler as a Secret Serv-
ice agent who is falsely ac-
cused of attempting to as-
sassinate the U.S. president,
played by Morgan Freeman.
It was directed by Rick Ro-
man Waugh and also stars
Jada Pinkett Smith, Piper
Perabo and Nick Nolte.
Analysts anticipated it
would earn $13 million to $15
million, less than previous
series installments “London
Has Fallen” ($21.6-million
opening in 2016) and “Olym-
pus Has Fallen” ($30.4-mil-
lion debut in 2013). The mov-
ie received a mixed recep-
tion, with an A-minus Cine-
maScore but a 40% “rotten”
rating on review aggregation
site Rotten Tomatoes.
At No. 2, Universal’s
“Good Boys” added $11.8 mil-lion in its second weekend.
At No. 3, Sony and Af-
firm’s “Overcomer” opened
with $8.2 million. Written
and directed by and starring
Alex Kendrick, the movie is
about a coach whose faith is
tested as he mentors a trou-
bled teen. Audiences ap-
proved with an A-plus Cine-
maScore.
At No. 4, Disney’s “The
Lion King” added $8.2 mil-
lion. Rounding out the top
five, Universal’s “Fast & Fu-
rious Presents: Hobbs &
Shaw” added $8.1 million.
Fox Searchlight’s “Ready
or Not” opened at No. 6, tak-
ing in $7.6 million over the
weekend and $10.6 million
since its debut Wednesday.
At No. 7, Sony’s “The An-
gry Birds Movie 2” added
$6.4 million in its second
weekend. In eighth place,
Lionsgate’s “Scary Stories
to Tell in the Dark” added
$6 million in its third week-
end. At No. 9, Paramount’s
“Dora and the Lost City of
Gold” added $5.2 million.
Rounding out the top 10,
Sony’s “Once Upon a Time ...
in Hollywood” added $5 mil-
lion in its fifth weekend.BOX OFFICE
‘Angel’ soars
above estimates
By Sonaiya KelleyEstimated sales in the U.S. and Canada:Movie
(Studio)3-day
gross
(millions)Percentage
change from
last weekendTotal
(millions)Days in
release
1 Angel Has Fallen
(Universal) $21.3 NA $21.3^3
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 Good Boys
(Universal)$11.8 -45% $42.1 10
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 Overcomer
(Sony)$8.2 NA $8.2 3
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 The Lion King
(Disney) $8.2 -34% $510.6^38
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 Fast & Furious Presents:
Hobbs & Shaw
(Universal)$8.1 -43% $147.7 24-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6 Ready or Not
(Fox Searchlight) $7.6 NA $10.6^5
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7 The Angry Birds
Movie 2
(Sony)$6.4 -39% $27.1 10-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8 Scary Stories
to Tell in the Dark
(Lionsgate)$6 -40% $50.5 17-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9 Dora and the Lost
City of Gold
(Paramount)$5.2 -39% $43.1 17-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10 Once Upon a Time...
in Hollywood
(Sony)$5 -35% $123.2 31-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Industry totals
3-day gross
(in millions)Change from
2018Year-to-date
gross
(in billions)Change
from
2018Change in
attendance
from 2018
$108.7 4.5% $7.6 -6.4% NA
Sources: Comscore
Los Angeles Times