Weekly Box Office and Film Discussion Thread

[CensoredAlso]

And I agree with Doug Walker in that his voice was quite exaggerated, which at times was pointless because he'd be speaking to people who already knew his identity.

When I saw The Dark Knight I couldn't help but laugh in the theater every time he spoke; I mean what were they thinking? To try so hard to affect this over the top tough voice just makes it sound like his own voice must not be adequate and needed enhancement. It felt like an emperor's new clothes deal; everyone afraid to admit there's something wrong here, lol.

 

[Drtooth]

Voice didn't bug me at all. A little over the top, sure. But I'm sure if he talked with his natural voice, it would be worse.

I saw the Dark Knight Rises a week or so ago and the thing that stood out to me the most was the LACK OF BATMAN. We don't see him for about a half-hour-forty five-minutes, then he's gone 20 or so minutes later, and doesn't show up until the last half-hour again.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that was the point. It really was an ensemble piece, and the film seemed to be equal parts about Gordon, Selena Kyle, Bane, and Bruce coming to terms with needing to be Batman again.

Actually, I do have one complaint. They spent a little too much time in the pit for my taste. They should have shown his failed attempts to clime out in smaller "montage" style segments, with that prisoner's dialogue overlapping it. The second and third failed attempts did drag the movie's pace down. I don't mind that it took that long for Batman to enter the film, but a good 5-10 minutes could have been shaved from that part.

I was personally disappointed in this last bat-installment. I'd personally like to see a quazi-real-world version of Batman: The Animated Series. Something that's in between Burton's visuals and Nolan's grit. No need to reboot. Just hit the ground running with compelling stories of the classic graphic novel version of Batman t at different places on the time line. They only have two hours to tell a story, so they should just cut to the meat.

Just imagine the classic Joker and Harley Quinn with their henchmen and hyena pets. That relationship has never been done in live action. Imagine something kind of like the Arkham Asylum video game. That could be fun too. There are endless possibilities with Batman that I feel were squandered in this last film. The first two were pitch perfect.

I'd rather something in the style of Arkham Asylum than Batman TAS. TAS was a great version of the character, but it's really time to give it a rest. Mark Hammil retired from voicing the Joker, which is something that I both am a little disappointed in and also completely agree with.

I want to see them try something with multiple villains all working together, sort of like the 1966 film, only for more sinister purposes. Something with one or two major Batvillains and one or two obscure ones. Maybe not Joker, though... give Two-Face another chance and make him an underworld Kingpin this time. I don't know if it's possible to add Robin in there without it being goofy.

But I want something that takes us in the middle of a story. If it's one thing both sets of Batman films got perfect, it's that the origin was told in flashback form in a matter of minutes. Imagine if they took Green Lantern fresh into a battle with Sinestro? Much better film than they had.

But that brings me to the next Superman movie. Looks like a LOT of that's going to be origin and him growing up. Dude, we had 9 years of that on Smallville. Sheesh... talk about Batman showing up halfway through the film... took 9 years to become Superman. I'm almost glad it's over. He would have been in his late 40's before he became Superman.

 

[KremlingWhatnot]

Here Are This Weekend's Box-Office Results!!
1 1 The Dark Knight Rises WB $62,101,451 -61.4% 4,404 - $14,101 $287,112,810 $250 2
2 2 Ice Age: Continental Drift Fox $13,352,646 -34.6% 3,869 -17 $3,451 $114,899,860 - 3
3 N The Watch Fox $12,750,297 - 3,168 - $4,025 $12,750,297 $68 1
4 N Step Up Revolution Sum. $11,731,708 - 2,567 - $4,570 $11,731,708 $33 1
5 4 Ted Uni. $7,353,150 -26.6% 3,129 -85 $2,350 $193,618,750 $50 5
6 3 The Amazing Spider-Man Sony $6,701,111 -38.4% 3,160 -593 $2,121 $241,953,721 $230 4
7 5 Brave BV $4,305,153 -28.5% 2,551 -348 $1,688 $217,329,672 $185 6
8 6 Magic Mike WB $2,619,128 -39.0% 2,075 -531 $1,262 $107,625,983 $7 5
9 7 Savages (2012) Uni. $1,838,215 -45.9% 1,414 -922 $1,300 $43,983,785 $45 4
10 9 Moonrise Kingdom Focus $1,434,904 -21.7% 853 -42 $1,682 $38,641,403 $16 10
11 8 Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection LGF $1,308,870 -41.9% 1,111 -429 $1,178 $62,736,167 $20 5
12 10 To Rome with Love SPC $1,000,279

 

[Beauregard]

Just saw Batman (Finally!) and here are my thoughts (may contain spoilers) written as a series of glaring omissions:

#1 Batman
#2 Any kind of darkness
#3 Any feeling that Gotham is anything other than New York/Chicargo
#4 Any normal people to care for (were we supposed to care for Miranda?) What were we supposed to feel that Batman even came back for? Was Alfred even in Gotham when it broke down? Why did we never get to see that?
#5 Anyone taking control of the city (When Bane took over and handed "back" the power to the people, Penguins and Riddlers and all sorts would immediately be taking to the streets and civil war would have broken out)
#6 Oracle (Sure, she's never existed in movies, but how the heck does Batman just happen to know exactly where everyone is situated at any given time without someone like her? i.e. Selena Kyle and "John"?)
#7 Violence (Sure, they went for a low rating (12A here) but surely for Batman to truly be Batman is needs more bone-crunching and less long-distance-shootings?

Things that I did actually think were awesome and realistic:

#1 Jim Gordon

Yup. Just that.

 

[jvcarroll]

Just saw Batman (Finally!) and here are my thoughts (may contain spoilers) written as a series of glaring omissions:

#1 Batman
#2 Any kind of darkness
#3 Any feeling that Gotham is anything other than New York/Chicargo
#4 Any normal people to care for (were we supposed to care for Miranda?) What were we supposed to feel that Batman even came back for? Was Alfred even in Gotham when it broke down? Why did we never get to see that?
#5 Anyone taking control of the city (When Bane took over and handed "back" the power to the people, Penguins and Riddlers and all sorts would immediately be taking to the streets and civil war would have broken out)
#6 Oracle (Sure, she's never existed in movies, but how the heck does Batman just happen to know exactly where everyone is situated at any given time without someone like her? i.e. Selena Kyle and "John"?)
#7 Violence (Sure, they went for a low rating (12A here) but surely for Batman to truly be Batman is needs more bone-crunching and less long-distance-shootings?

Things that I did actually think were awesome and realistic:

#1 Jim Gordon

Yup. Just that.

Also, the streets of Gotham were extraordinarily clean even after the criminals took over and of course garbage service would have been canceled. This movie didn't make much sense. I liked it, but it's my least favorite of the three. Batman Begins gave me high hopes for Nolan's vision only to end in this half-baked finale.

 

[Beauregard]

Also, the streets of Gotham were extraordinarily clean even after the criminals took over and of course garbage service would have been canceled.

Exactly! And the PEOPLE. Where are the dirty clothes, the haggard skin, the sunken eyes? Everyone looks practically airbrushed. Where is the dirty poverty that sets Gotham apart and makes it often forgotten by the rest of America?

 

[jvcarroll]

This is is the Batman that I'm looking forward to...​

 

[Drtooth]

Anyone actually dragged to Ice Age? If they saw it in 2-D, does it have the Maggie cartoon, or was that 3-D exclusive?

#5 Anyone taking control of the city (When Bane took over and handed "back" the power to the people, Penguins and Riddlers and all sorts would immediately be taking to the streets and civil war would have broken out)

I really wish there was more time for the Arkham Inmates to go nuts and escape, rather than all that time blown with Bruce Wayne in the hole. They could have had the potential for some nice Easter Eggs and nods to characters they couldn't fit in the movie otherwise. Apparently, there's an aside in the novelization where they mention the Joker escaped (could have been a deleted sequence). But also, that would have cost another couple million.

Could have been a little more mob rule, though.

Still, I find this film better than the first. I really enjoyed the first, but there was something the second one brought to the table that improved upon it. The entire Joker angle was better than anything in the first.

Still, here's the reasons I liked this film:

• Bruce didn't randomly travel back in time to Feudal Japan
• Bruce didn't have crazy cartoonish emo- dance moments
• No Big Lipped Alligator moment where a computer entraps a woman and she becomes a robot and is never mentioned in the movie ever again
• And... uh... well, I kinda dug Batman Forever, so... eh, let's say Batman and Robin. Slightly disappointing is still better than devastating.

 

[jvcarroll]

Total Recall 2012​

/​

(1 star out of 5)​

​

Unless you're a Colin Farrell fan, and he's not bad to look at, then avoid this boring, pointless, humorless remake. I had such high hopes. The critics are right. It blows.

On the other hand, Ice Age 4 was actually really fun! Wanda Sykes steals the movie!

/ (3 stars out of 5)​

 

[Drtooth]

Total Recall 2012​

/​

(1 star out of 5)​

​

Unless you're a Colin Farrell fan, and he's not bad to look at, then avoid this boring, pointless, humorless remake. I had such high hopes. The critics are right. It blows.

Total Recall was a movie that wasn't that good in the first place, and became a cult hit for being campy and ridiculous and having AhhNold as the star. Why would anyone even try to remake that? The first one managed to capture some unintentional goofball lightning in a bottle. Trying to give something an edgy reboot that doesn't need edge, in fact, can get hurt by edge just proves that Hollywood will run to familiar ideas rather than risk losing money... and TOTALLY losing money in the process. \

Seriously... a serious remake of Total Recall is like making a Rocky Horror Picture Show, removing all the music, playing Dr. Frankenfurter off straight, and just upping the Horror aspect. Which would also be played straight. Makes no sense.

What's next? A gritty reboot of Plan 9 from outer Space?

On the other hand, Ice Age 4 was actually really fun! Wanda Sykes steals the movie!

/ (3 stars out of 5)​

I'm forcing myself to see that today. It seems less and less likely there will be a Maggie cartoon, since I can no longer find the film in 3-D in theaters. They said that was exclusive. Personally, I'm just a little intrigued by the Gorilla Pirates.