Weekly Box Office and Film Discussion Thread

[brkndwnbus]

While I don't usually take someone else's word for something (though I do on occasion), now I'm really excited. I really think Warner Bros can actually pull this off this time, and give us the Superman movie franchise they've been trying to do since the 80's. Let's face it. With the exception of Batman, DC films didn't really have much luck. Green Lantern's bloated budget and bad word of mouth made sure that film went under. And who even cared about the Jonah Hex film? Megan Fox was in it, it was released opposite a big Pixar film (make no mistake, there's going to be strong competition between MOS and Monsters University), and no one outside of a comic shop even heard of Jonah Hex. I barely did, and that's because I watched a Batman TAS cartoon.

I didn't agree with my wife that it was better than the Batman trilogy, but that could also be because of the fact Batman is my favorite comic book character and I loved those movies. But I really felt like MOS delivered on everything I wanted from the movie.

 

[Scooterforever]

There's rumors that they either will or won't. I'm sure there's some inspiration in there, and that stuff really should be given a good look. The mystery surrounding this film is astounding. Any other film, we would basically have an entire script leaked by now. I'm actually glad that we don't know every single detail. We know that about the next Muppet film, and it's going to ruin every surprise. Like the cameo guest stars for instance. They're doing a good thing keeping any details about Star Wars as underwraps as possible.

J.J. Abrams is a true master of keeping his projects under wraps. Oh, there will always be speculation, but I didn't know for sure Khan was the villain in Into Darkness until I saw the movie. To contrast, Amazing Spider-man 2 is under way, and there's been so many "leaked" set pics, either they have no security on set or they just don't care. Seriously, we now have pics of Jamie Fox as both a pre-Electro Max Dillon and post-transformation, a slew of pics of Paul Giamatti as Rhino, and Emma Stone in Gwen Stacy's "death dress." It's ridiculous and a little upsetting; part of the fun is being surprised. Abrams' mastery of keeping secrets in this day and age is truly amazing to me. I wonder what's his secret to keeping his secrets.

 

[Muppet fan 123]

Couldn't go to Man of Steel last night, but I'm going to catch the first showing today. Can't wait! I'm huge Chris Nolan fan!

Well there were a lot of people who weren't racist, it's just that their voices weren't always listened to by the influential in society.

But I would agree that the '40s was certainly a dark time for everyone during the war and all.

Thanks for sharing about the movie, I might check that out!

Yeah, I was specifically thinking of the War. Then we come over to America, a place you'd think is perfect, but has it's racist problems of it's own. The only place in the movie that looks good is Montreal.

Make sure you catch it before it leaves theaters! It's only playing in select theaters at this point!

 

[Drtooth]

J.J. Abrams is a true master of keeping his projects under wraps. Oh, there will always be speculation, but I didn't know for sure Khan was the villain in Into Darkness until I saw the movie. To contrast, Amazing Spider-man 2 is under way, and there's been so many "leaked" set pics, either they have no security on set or they just don't care. Seriously, we now have pics of Jamie Fox as both a pre-Electro Max Dillon and post-transformation, a slew of pics of Paul Giamatti as Rhino, and Emma Stone in Gwen Stacy's "death dress." It's ridiculous and a little upsetting; part of the fun is being surprised. Abrams' mastery of keeping secrets in this day and age is truly amazing to me. I wonder what's his secret to keeping his secrets.

The fact they gave away that much in Spider-Man 2 is disgraceful. I know it's the internet where everything gets leaked because everyone is curious, but film studios have to draw the line somewhere. it's killing the movie going experience, and no wonder films are getting reviews saying such and such was disappointing. You get all the information, and you wind up picturing something differently. Not to mention there are no surprises in the film and you come to expect everything. Not even the old saw it coming a mile away. Someone told you about it several miles away.

It's kinda like what B.P. Richfield said in the Refrigerator Day episode... if you expect the bonus, it's not really a bonus.

And what's worse is when the merchandise gives everything away. I don't mean the junior novelizations and sliding scale of kiddy books (picture books, easy readers...) I was very happy that when The Dark Knight came out, there weren't any Two-Face toys (except for a Pez, but there was also a Riddler, and he wasn't in the film), but I remember looking at Shrek 3 merchandise and saying, uh... isn't the fact that he's going to have babies supposed to be a surprise, and yet the merchandise of the babies is most prominent?

 

[Muppet fan 123]

Just arrived back from Man of Steel.
Well, it’s definetley a different take on the movie, not always necessarily for the better, though. The acting was great, action, and music were all fantastic, but the story was terrible.
Not spoiling anything, but I will say that you’ll be let down if you were a big fan of Chris Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. They should’ve just given him the entire directing job too. I’m sure he would’ve handled that much better. There was no character development, or story. It was basically just non-stop action, which is great, but by the time of the final battle, you’re already thinking “Haven’t we already seen enough building smashing and jaw punching?” This worked for The Avengers, only because there were movies focusing on each character leading up to the movie. In this brand-new Superman movie..it just doesn’t work. Dark Knight also changed the character, but it at least had great story as well as great development.
They don’t change the actual Superman character, which is great. Everything around him is darker, which I don’t mind, but they could’ve handled it well.
You’ll be satisfied as soon as the first two scenes are over but when it gets to the time where it ends, you’ll be agitated in your seat and just hoping it ends soon and they wrap it up well.
No one will ever beat Christopher Reeve’s Superman, but they didn’t try hard enough.


(There’s some great hidden Smallville easter eggs! Keep your eyes open! I was told there’s a “Wayne Enterprises ad somewhere in the movie too. Didn’t catch that one though.)

 

[CensoredAlso]

There was no character development, or story. It was basically just non-stop action, which is great, but by the time of the final battle, you’re already thinking “Haven’t we already seen enough building smashing and jaw punching?”

That is the trend lately for action films, it's a shame.

 

[jvcarroll]

Man of Steel: 1/2

This is Superman. While there are a few uneven moments, I consider this to be the first full-fledged comic book movie featuring a hero with super powers. I love Avengers too and I appreciate the tongue-in-cheek nature of that world, but this film succeeds without the shtick. I think that's precicely why some critics have a problem with this telling. Man of Steel goes forth with legitimacy instead of the usual wink and nod and I love it for that. For me, this film rates right underneath Dark Knight and slightly above The Avengers. And this did have a lot of touching moments too.

FYI, the 3D is pretty much useless here. Save the money and see it without the glasses.

 

[brkndwnbus]

Man of Steel goes forth with legitimacy instead of the usual wink and nod and I love it for that. For me, this film rates right underneath Dark Knight and slightly above The Avengers. And this did have a lot of touching moments too.

I like Batman Begins the most from the Nolan trilogy, but I think - need to see it again, though - that Man of Steel will rank right below that for me, and right above The Dark Knight Rises.

And I very much liked that the film stayed away from the wink and nod.

 

[Drtooth]

Ol' Supes managed to nab 21 million on Thursday's Midnight showing alone. That's a very good sign.

I think...

 

[Oscarfan]

Man of Steel was a tad confusing at times (both in the way the scenes were presented, but also some plot errors), but it wasn't too bad. Acting was great (though Amy Adams seemed to be just Amy Adams, but sterner), effects were great and the plot was fine too. The sequencing when he first lands on Earth was a tad confusing for us, but I get it in retrospect.