Weekly Box Office and Film Discussion Thread

[jvcarroll]

You know what I mean, the strong girl rescues the weak boy, and then the girl reluctantly goes with the boy on an adventure, the girl starts to warm up to the boy who has had strong feelings for her from the beginning, they fall in love the end. I do not care how good their animation is, because if they are reusing that old cliche story.

Um, that's about the weirdest comment I've read in a while. And no, I don't know what you mean. I'm not sure you do either.

You do know there's only a handful of stories to be told? That isn't a cliche. It's a formula. And nothing about the boy in the Boxtrolls ads seems weak to me. And the idea that masculine means strong to you is disturbing. Are you implying that he's somehow weak or less of a "real guy" because he has an adopted family? I just don't get it. It all seems like small-minded prejudice to me.

 

[Drtooth]

You do know there's only a handful of stories to be told?

FINALLY!!!

Yes, basic story structure has always been used since storytelling began. That just happens over time and things become similar by accident. Everything has been subverted, parodied, and twisted since the old days, and the only thing left is nonsense. And nonsense is a cliche too.

That said, I agree. I don't see masculine or feminine and gender roles in these previews. I see weird kid and uptight class system that represses filthy things. Yes, that story has been told, but there's a different spin on it every time. This has a truly weird spin on it that gets me very excited, aside from the wonderful animation.

 

[Drtooth]

Heh Heh Heh. Dolphin Tale 2 slid all the way to fifth in its second week. And a weak week at that. Guardians of the Galaxy has officially made more money than Iron Man 2, and it's still managing to pull in some money a week shy of 2 months after its release.

Though I bet they're still going to make Dolphin Tale 3.

Yet another crappy YA book movie, The Maze Runner, made a pathetic 35 million opening at number one and still getting a sequel.

 

[Slackbot]

I just saw GotG. and now I understand why it's stuck around as long as it has. That was one fun film.

 

[Drtooth]

GOTG is the darkhorse of the MCU. I think the movie's green lighting was by all means an exercise in how far they can push the Marvel film brand. And it paid off. Not only did they take one of the most obscure, off beat Marvel comics and dump the movie in the dumpiest of dump months, but it's the domestic sweetheart of the year so far. Weak box office year or not, an August released movie making what it did on opening day in its entire run is almost unheard of. It made May money. Best part is, it wasn't even a Super Hero movie. It was more of an action comedy Sci-Fi movie. And...a successful one that people actually like. By all means, this film had everything going against it. Now Groot and Rocket are household names!

Turtles is barely hanging on by the name of the franchise alone. Thankfully the current cartoon is more popular.

 

[mr3urious]

The Boxtrolls is at the #2 slot today at over $17 million, dethroning The Maze Runner but still trailing far behind the Denzel Washington flick The Equalizer. Hopefully it would at least make back its budget someday, which I figure is around the $60 mil. mark going by the last 2 Laika films.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/?sortdate=2014-09-28&track=laika2014.htm

 

[Drtooth]

Seriously?! I know movie theaters are pricing themselves out of the business, but this is getting ridiculous. I'm sure that the average "I don't wanna blow 10 bucks per person so I'll wait for the download"-er will have spent twice that getting the super shiny maguffin in some terrible app based game anyway. Jeez. Yeah, September is a dump month and all, and I'm sure parents aren't wanting to bring their kids to the movies this time of year, but really?!?! It's like NO family film did well this year besides Lego. And that POS about the Squirrels.

And it's a shame too, since Boxtrolls was brilliant film. And not for the lack of trying, they did market the heck out of the thing. Laika films are just going to have to stay niche and make no money until they hit home video/Netflix.

 

[mr3urious]

Seriously?! I know movie theaters are pricing themselves out of the business, but this is getting ridiculous. I'm sure that the average "I don't wanna blow 10 bucks per person so I'll wait for the download"-er will have spent twice that getting the super shiny maguffin in some terrible app based game anyway.

I really hate those microtransactions that are infecting the game industry. Those iPhone fanatics aren't willing to spend money on movie tickets, but they're A-OK being nickeled and dimed into bankruptcy over Candy Crush?

And it's a shame too, since Boxtrolls was brilliant film. And not for the lack of trying, they did market the heck out of the thing. Laika films are just going to have to stay niche and make no money until they hit home video/Netflix.

I hope this won't discourage Laika from making any more stop-motion films. They may be more time-consuming than CGI, but they're no less expensive, sometimes they can be even cheaper.

 

[MuppetSpot]

Seriously?! I know movie theaters are pricing themselves out of the business, but this is getting ridiculous. I'm sure that the average "I don't wanna blow 10 bucks per person so I'll wait for the download"-er will have spent twice that getting the super shiny maguffin in some terrible app based game anyway. Jeez. Yeah, September is a dump month and all, and I'm sure parents aren't wanting to bring their kids to the movies this time of year, but really?!?! It's like NO family film did well this year besides Lego. And that POS about the Squirrels.

Yeah, this year been lacked buster for animated film expect the two above you mention.

And it's a shame too, since Boxtrolls was brilliant film. And not for the lack of trying, they did market the heck out of the thing. Laika films are just going to have to stay niche and make no money until they hit home video/Netflix.

Their Commercials for boxtrolls, but no stuff like figure sets and fast food toys.

 

[jvcarroll]

There are so many misconceptions [particularly in this thread] about box office numbers and what they mean.

The Boxtrolls $17.2 million projection actually marks Laika's biggest domestic opening. Coraline opened at $16.8 million, ParaNorman at $14 million. And while stop motion is a time consuming, painstaking process, these films cost about $60 million to make compared to CG films that more than double or triple that pricetag. I wish people would appreciate these films more than they do, but the sky isn't falling! This is actually a modest win. Factoring in global receipts, they've recouped over half the budget in the first three days. The Boxtrolls is a success!

That brings be back to Muppets Most Wanted, once again. Disney was undoubtedly disappointed in the box office take that lacked the luster of their 2011 film. Aside a few notable exceptions, it's been a soft year for movies all-around. Considering the lucrative advertising tie-ins for Toyota, Yoplait, Subway and Lipton, the Muppets and their film actually fared well this year. The only problem is that, given these things, they should have fared even better than they did. This probably means the cinematic Muppets have been benched in favor of smaller venues and that's okay. Usually films are the payoff after successful smaller ventures. They kind of handled this backwards. That's the truth of the matter - without overblown optimism or pessimism.

So, back to the Boxtrolls. It will not be everyone's taste. Not at all. But it's amazing to look at. Here's my brief review:

“The Boxtrolls” is a beautifully animated, quirky tale about the absurdity of the adult world and its societal norms as seen through the eyes of a child. The story gets a little shaky at times, but the stop motion visuals and textured stylization are stunning. 3.75/5 Stars!