Weekly Box Office and Film Discussion Thread

[Drtooth]

I just can't help but think there's a better story to be told than this bland and predictable fight fest for modern kids who don't know a Ninja Turtle from a Snork. 2.5 / 5 Stars

Actually, that statement's kinda weird. The new series is very popular, and I swear I overhear kids talking about it when I walk by the toy aisle in stores. I just don't know if they'd dig these turtles over the Nicktoons series.

But it makes me think of TMNT movies past, and how they went for altered versions of the comic book versions of the characters, causing some odd awkwardness for kid fans of the 80's cartoon seeing Raph as an angry teenager instead of Rob Paulsen's sarcastic jerk (he could really play those sarcastic jerks amazingly, huh?) I know it was a weird transition for me, I'm sure I'm not the only one that felt a little lost when they first saw it.

Then came 2K7's CGI movie, and it felt like a larger budget OVA with the same exact characters from the then current, 4Kids produced cartoon. Karai wasn't even given an introduction for older fans who didn't read the comics, but didn't need one as she already rose to main villain status in the cartoon series at the time. It felt like a bigger budget, celebrity voiced, 90 minute story from the cartoon.

well... a couple celebrities anyway, and they were using Californian Union voice actors, rather than 4Kids' usual non-union New York based freelancers.

Strangely enough, this new movie seems to have the turtles (at least Donny and Mikey) with the same personalities s the current series. In fact, they gave a little...well, I'll just say warning... about what the characters could look like in a video game that came out a while before the film was in production stage:

While not exactly the same, the faces did manage to take that look, as if that was their plan to have them look like that all along. Kinda wish they looked more like that than what they do. But I actually don't mind the designs. I mean, look how Scooby-Doo and Garfield turned out.

 

[Mynameisdean]

So, do you think the upcoming "The Giver" movie will be the latest Young-Adult Book Adaption Flop? I bet it will. I remember reading the book, and it was a good book. The movie looks awful though.

 

[MuppetSpot]

So, do you think the upcoming "The Giver" movie will be the latest Young-Adult Book Adaption Flop? I bet it will. I remember reading the book, and it was a good book. The movie looks awful though.

Hopefully It will bomb, It looks crappy.

 

[Drtooth]

So, do you think the upcoming "The Giver" movie will be the latest Young-Adult Book Adaption Flop? I bet it will. I remember reading the book, and it was a good book. The movie looks awful though.

They all do, and they look all the same. It's bad enough that they make films based on current crappy, poorly written, repurposed fan fic YA novels, but they repurposed this book and that Sci Fi thing written by the crazy Mormon to look like these horrible films.

 

[Mynameisdean]

They all do, and they look all the same. It's bad enough that they make films based on current crappy, poorly written, repurposed fan fic YA novels, but they repurposed this book and that Sci Fi thing written by the crazy Mormon to look like these horrible films.

EXACTLY. It would be enjoyable if they kept the original concept, but guess who made this movie: THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY! Seriously, it's definitely their fault this will be absolutely horrible.

 

[Mynameisdean]

According to Box Office Mojo, there are are no major releases scheduled for the Halloween weekend. Will it be the worst weekend all year, worse than Super Bowl Weekend? Or, will it be an average Fall weekend, and everything holds real well? We will see when it aprroaches Halloween.

 

[jvcarroll]

So, do you think the upcoming "The Giver" movie will be the latest Young-Adult Book Adaption Flop? I bet it will. I remember reading the book, and it was a good book. The movie looks awful though.

I don't know. It has some impressive cast members, but the marketing of the picture is so bland and lifeless.

 

[Drtooth]

I don't know. It has some impressive cast members, but the marketing of the picture is so bland and lifeless.

Yeah, but these films tend to be bland and lifeless, so....

 

[FunnieGuy]

The book was good,the movie will suck.That's generally how things work out in the universe...

 

[jvcarroll]

Yeah, but these films tend to be bland and lifeless, so....

I'm not a bandwagon guy, neither pessimistic or optimistic, so I'll reserve judgment until later - or at least having more information. The facts are that the book has been around for twenty years. It's not a flavor of the month. Also, it is Jeff Bridges who has reportedly shepherded this project for a decade, not some tween fanbase. Also, the writer seems to be enthusiastic about the results. The reviews, however, haven't been great. The irony is that the main complaint is how the film abbreviates the source material. It's an unassuming and short one-off film that probably should have been a trilogy to cover all the ground in the book.

So will this film be good? I don't know, but I'm curious to find out.