Weekly Box Office and Film Discussion Thread

[Muppet fan 123]

They are actually planning a fourth movie to go with it.
I hate these DreamWorks movies, (Shrek,Monsters Vs. Aliens, Madagascar) their humor is just plain weird. There were some good jokes in Europe's Most Wanted, but it was mostly just plain dumb.
I don't know if any of you seen the movie, but some stuff were waaay to stupid. I need to rant about it somewhere. ( Minimal spoilers here, it won't ruin the expierience for you, the movie will do that by itself)
I don't know why that stupid French lady would chase them halfway across the world, and she hides a gun inside a big #1 finger to shoot Alex, but I don't understand why she would hide a gun if she was going to shoot him in front of a crowd of about 300 people.
And the fact that the tiger can jump through a hoop the size of a ring the whole movie is just dumb and makes no sense.
They wrapped up the series well by the end though. If they make a fourth movie in the end, I'm going to yell. Really loud.

 

[jvcarroll]

I love DreamWorks' contribution to animation! How To Train Your Dragon and the Kung Fu Panda movies are as beautiful as they are engaging.

Of course I like Pixar too, yet they have become a little stuffy and formulaic in recent years. Even the better films seem to lose their way and sag in the middle. Even though Up and Wall-E have great first acts, I stop caring half way in. I'd almost go so far to say that I don't like Pixar as much as I like Brad Bird films because I haven't been completely satisfied with one of their films since Ratatouille.

I guess it's a matter of taste. DreamWorks thinks outside of the box. Sometimes it works. Other times it really doesn't. Calling a film weird is a compliment in this marketplace because it's so hard to get anything interesting past studio executives.

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I just saw Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and enjoyed it very much. It's not the greatest film and it appears to be missing a layer of development. I can't quite pinpoint what it is. Nonetheless, an enjoyable B movie with a budget.​

 

[Drtooth]

They are actually planning a fourth movie to go with it.

If they do, there's not much more to the story they can add, since (mild spoiler, but you saw it anyway)



They basically abandon the zoo completely and have found a more satisfying venue.


I'm sure they will try for it, but it's best for the film series they don't. Just give us the Penguin movie.

I love DreamWorks' contribution to animation! How To Train Your Dragon and the Kung Fu Panda movies are as beautiful as they are engaging.

Of course I like Pixar too, yet they have become a little stuffy and formulaic in recent years. Even the better films seem to lose their way and sag in the middle. Even though Up and Wall-E have great first acts, I stop caring half way in. I'd almost go so far to say that I don't like Pixar as much as I like Brad Bird films because I haven't been completely satisfied with one of their films since Ratatouille.

I guess it's a matter of taste. DreamWorks thinks outside of the box. Sometimes it works. Other times it really doesn't. Calling a film weird is a compliment in this marketplace because it's so hard to get anything interesting past studio executives.

Like I said, Brave does manage to get out of Pixar's rut... I love Up... Wall*e I enjoyed, but got up on a soapbox for most of the movie.... other than that, they've pretty much been doing sequels lately. Dreamworks has managed to become quite a deal smarter with their films, especially when they realized how idiotic SharkTale was. And I'm absolutely convinced that was a stab at Pixar for not wanting to do the bad version of Toy Story. You know the "edgy" one where Woody intimidates and threatens the other toys with bad puns? I found Shrek 3 to be sloppy, but the fourth one to be strangely more mature, relying less on farts and pop culture references and actually focusing on intriguing story telling. Like I said before, Shrek 3's biggest problem was that the 2 best concepts of the film got pushed aside for Puss and Donkey capering.

Meanwhile, Megamind was a brilliant film that went to a psychological level of cartoon standby super villainy, as well as find a new angle in the dusty, overused Super Hero parody genre. I deeply regret missing out on "How to Train your Dragon," but hear nothing but good things. And I'm completely intrigued by their November film about the Guardians. Unfortunately I can't say the same about some of the upcoming ones....

The Croods about cave people. This was originally developed for the long dissolved Dreamworks/Aardman partnership. Originally, the film was written by John Cleese and delayed a bunch of times before they decided to make it on their own... and it got delayed even more.

Turbo.... a film about a snail that wants to be a Nascar racer.... I kinda want to break something for even discovering it's existence...

Then there's Peabody and Sherman, which doesn't sound too good from the plot line. It has a lot to do with screwing up the time space continuum... even though true Bullwinkle fans know that the WAYBAC machine is a "What if" machine, not a true time machine (as revealed in the first cartoon, where it was rebuilt for JUST that purpose). Plus Robert Downy Jr. dropped out of the project, so that lost my interest...

There's something called Me and my Shadow that doesn't even have a plot yet...

and then I found this...

On June 22, 2010, DreamWorks Animation announced plans to create a film based on the toys, under the direction of Tim Hill. The brother-sister writing team of Adam Wilson and Melanie Wilson LaBracio will write the screenplay, and Dannie Festa of Festa Entertainment will executive produce.[5] In June 2012, it was reported that Chloë Moretz will voice the female lead, while the role of the male lead, Masklin, had been offered to Jason Schwartzman.

yeah.... Now I REALLY gotta break something. And they had me at Tim Hill.

 

[Hayley B]

It seems like a movie Disney would have made on their own, if they weren't so destined to follow the formula, as aptly explained by the Warner Brothers and Sister...

I'm always thinking of this Animaniacs skit when I'm currently watching a Disney movie. Love to point out alot of the similarities to them. Tangled's ending made me think of Beauty and Beast's for one. Lion King made me think of Bambi in the past.

 

[Drtooth]

My dislike of Pocahontas around here is well known. It was the Princess film that broke the mouse's back, and it started the slide to non-princess stories (even though Mulan is considered one). And they had mixed results since, with the best success being Lilo and Stitch... a movie that was so popular, it had a record 3 DTV sequels... 2 of the cartoon series alone. Make that 4, if you include the video board game. But Brother Bear and Home on the Range, they're basically forgotten (even though Brother Bear got a sequel).

The problem is, Princess movies are a formula, but a time tested one, and in a good movie, you can't see formula and cliche. Pocahontas wasn't. It made everything stick out like a sore thumb. Which is why it took them until Princess and the Frog to do another princess film.

Brave is a princess film, but I wouldn't say it was a Disney princess film. Sure, it was a princess who didn't like her lot in life... but... it wasn't her singing a bunch of songs and looking pretty while doing it. The mother/daughter relationship IS the key to the movie, and it adds levels that weren't in other Princess films. It was even deeper than the Father Daughter relationship in The Little Mermaid (that stood as a template for the princess movie formula). In fact, if anything, Merida's father is pretty supportive and (I don't know how much of a spoiler I could call this, since it's the first thing that happens in the movie, but Highlight to read anyway) her father even gives her her fist bow for her birthday. The mother doesn't come off too much of a beast, either... but that goes into more spoilers...

 

[Muppet fan 123]

I love DreamWorks' contribution to animation! How To Train Your Dragon and the Kung Fu Panda movies are as beautiful as they are engaging.

Of course I like Pixar too, yet they have become a little stuffy and formulaic in recent years. Even the better films seem to lose their way and sag in the middle. Even though Up and Wall-E have great first acts, I stop caring half way in. I'd almost go so far to say that I don't like Pixar as much as I like Brad Bird films because I haven't been completely satisfied with one of their films since Ratatouille.

I guess it's a matter of taste. DreamWorks thinks outside of the box. Sometimes it works. Other times it really doesn't. Calling a film weird is a compliment in this marketplace because it's so hard to get anything interesting past studio executives.

I do enjoy some Dreamworks movies. Shark Tale, How To Train Your Dragon and MegaMind especially. I also like Kung Fu Panda
What I don't like is the path DreamWorks decide to take. I don't find their humor funny in Shrek, Madagascar, Monster Vs. Aliens and all those movies. Dreamworks does have good movies, I can't deny that, but certain movies that they released, one, too many.

 

[Drtooth]

Most of those movies are in Dreamworks' past, however...

Though Turbo sends shivers down my spine.

 

[Hayley B]

Never saw Brother Bear or Home on the Range. I remembered someone I use chat too, got disappointed with how much Brother Bear got at the box office. He loved Brother Bear. As for the ones that saw Home on the Range. Alot of them said don't bother seeing this one.

My mother refused to see Pocahontas. I saw it, it's pretty much a meh to me when I think of it. But thinking of similarities again. They always seem to have a little bug or a little animal along with them for a sidekick.

 

[Drtooth]

Never saw Brother Bear or Home on the Range. I remembered someone I use chat too, got disappointed with how much Brother Bear got at the box office. He loved Brother Bear. As for the ones that saw Home on the Range. Alot of them said don't bother seeing this one.

My mother refused to see Pocahontas. I saw it, it's pretty much a meh to me when I think of it. But thinking of similarities again. They always seem to have a little bug or a little animal along with them for a sidekick.

Brother Bear wasn't as bad as everyone let on. Sure, it wasn't one of Disney's best... but it did Native American legend better than that certain other movie. Plus having the McKenzie brothers as Moose pretty much held my interest in the film.

Home on the Range?.... uh... I can't explain it without a drug reference. I still wonder if I liked the film or not. It was stylish, and I liked how it looked.... but it was just weird. And not funny Gonzo enjoyable weird... jarring, almost disturbing, weird.

Yeah, every Disney character has some sidekick animal... but what made Pocahontas dull for me was how painfully unfunny those characters were, and the refusal to make them talk.

Think of it this way.

In Aladdin, are you prone to thinking more about Genie, Abu, Iago, the befuddle sultan, or Aladdin and Jasmine themselves? When you think Lion King, I'm sure Timon and Pumbaa pop up even before the Lions. I can't even remember the name of the humming bird and Racoon in that film.

 

[Hayley B]

I remembered the Racoon was called Meeko. I remembered the little pug was named Percy.