Weekly Box Office and Film Discussion Thread

[Drtooth]

Box Office is why film geeks complain that they've made 4 Transformers and why Scott Pilgrim was made for a cult audience. Movies that make more money tend to get made more. Personally, I'm glad Laika defies those trends and seems to be making films for the art of it. We need more film companies like that who don't mind that their films make back just over their budget. Boxtrolls was done simply for the love of making those stop motion pieces.

 

[mr3urious]

That Book of Life movie doesn't look too bad, at least visually. Doesn't seem like anything crude or crass, either.

 

[Drtooth]

Book of Life's written by Doug Langdale. One of the writers of Darkwing Duck and the head writer of the Earthworm Jim cartoon. That alone got my interest. And I like the distinct look. Something tells me this might just get an audience with the Latino/Hispanic crowd since it deals with Dia De Los Muertos. The commercials are also tying it in to Halloween to get a broader appeal. I'm not quite as excited for this film as I was Boxtrolls (or even Big Hero 6 for that matter), but I'm genuinely enthused about seeing it.

Still, that Ouijia movie... It's like, I knew it was coming, I knew it was going to be idiotic, but you just can't prepare yourself for something that dumb. They're trying to make it a serious teen thriller. That's like if the Monopoly movie was going to be a political conspiracy thriller about Mr. Monopoly buying votes for deregulation. Really seems they missed a golden opportunity to make it tongue in cheek.

 

[jvcarroll]

Yeah. I honestly can't fathom why the Muppets weren't hip anymore, but Steve Carrel getting kicked in the crotch by a CGI kangaroo is endlessly hilarious. The audience sucks, sure. But Disney's going to see this as a huge success, and we'll no doubt see more of these awful family comedies. A lot more.

I know it seems like a cheap shot to blame the audience, but I really think they've grown dimmer. I've said it before and it deserves repeating: Modern audiences seem to have trouble with humor that is both silly and sophisticated. In other words, I don't think the classic Monty Python parrot bit would go over so well if it were introduced today and I find that sad. Films like Alexander are for the vapid America's Funniest Home Videos crowd. No layered humor or subtlety allowed. Just a wiffle bat to the crotch.

Eh, I'm done with box offices numbers at this point, lol. If you guys enjoyed MMW, then you enjoyed it. End of story. I saw The Judge the other day, my entire theater really got into it. They could care less how it ranks. Box office is like when kids in school say, "Don't talk to her! Nobody likes her!" Not only unlikely, but just shallow. (Not saying that's anyone here. You guys put actual thought into your posts ).

With all due respect, I'f you're not interested in Box Office numbers, then why would you even contribute to a thread titled Weekly Box Office & Film Discussion? That's kind of like popping up on a fan fiction thread and disparaging the art of fan fiction. I completely appreciate why the performance of a film should have no bearing on individual enjoyment of it, but that's not what we're talking about here.

The Box Office charts trends and popularity, but it's also an indicator if we're going to get more of the good stuff (or another wretched Transformers movie). And that's the purpose here. That's why I created this section - to discuss the harmony and disparity of a film's quality and its performance.

I personally think auds were completely wrong about MMW. Even Brian Henson considers it as something his father would have made. TM, not so much. Yet audiences responded contrary to that. Like it or not, movies are a business and Jim Henson completely understood that. In a free market, everything is a commodity - particularly films. In fact, even most moderately successful films don't turn much of a profit until hitting the home video market. The movie industry is a strange beast and it's decisions can be even stranger.

In case there was any confusion, that's why Box Office performance is discussed here. It's not a judgement of creative merit. On the contrary, it's a study of seeing which films get their due. which ones don't and the crap that somehow becomes successful. Again, with all due respect.

 

[Muppet Master]

Seriously, I still do not understand why MMW got lower returns than the likes of Alexander and Planes. It is revolting, are there really that few muppet fans out there who would rather take their kids to a dumb planes movie.

 

[KremlingWhatnot]

Seriously, I still do not understand why MMW got lower returns than the likes of Alexander and Planes. It is revolting, are there really that few muppet fans out there who would rather take their kids to a dumb planes movie.

It's basically because Ricky Gervais was in it , that's the reason it bombed, the sad part is though, is the fact that Ricky Gervais really wanted the acting part and he got it, and audiences were ticked off by it, but he really fitted the criminal role more than Christopher Waltz, so there's that, in order to have a criminal character, you've got to make him ugly.

 

[Oscarfan]

It's basically because Ricky Gervais was in it , that's the reason it bombed, the sad part is though, is the fact that Ricky Gervais really wanted the acting part and he got it, and audiences were ticked off by it, but he really fitted the criminal role more than Christopher Waltz, so there's that, in order to have a criminal character, you've got to make him ugly.

That's not really the reason it underperformed.

 

[jvcarroll]

This overlooked article about Kick-A** 2 demonstrates why the box office is so important. Before anyone goes off on a tangent about whether or not they like the idea of this particular franchise, that's not the point. Audiences do, but too many of them chose to pirate the film and wait for the home video market rather than boost it's theatrical numbers and that spells death for a franchise.

I think it bears repeating that the reason I began this topic was not to praise the popular films, but to discuss how movie trends and box office numbers impact the current state of motion pictures. A lot of films get overlooked in theaters and it's a shame. A lot of crummy movies make money and that's a shame too sometimes.

The one thing that I know for certain is that if you profess to love a particular film or franchise - get your butt to a theater and see it! I see too many people on these forums complain about the lack of good films in the theaters only to wait for video. Movies are like elections - we vote with our dollars and the box office is our voting booth.

 

[Drtooth]

I know it seems like a cheap shot to blame the audience, but I really think they've grown dimmer. I've said it before and it deserves repeating: Modern audiences seem to have trouble with humor that is both silly and sophisticated. In other words, I don't think the classic Monty Python parrot bit would go over so well if it were introduced today and I find that sad. Films like Alexander are for the vapid America's Funniest Home Videos crowd. No layered humor or subtlety allowed. Just a wiffle bat to the crotch.

And like I said, it's a shame that Henson has to resort to funding crap like that. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, since they were behind the film the whole time and it was probably a different film at Fox than it is at Disney. Wasn't it supposed to be animated or something at one point? If Henson can mine some publicity and money out of this thing, then good for them. As long as it doesn't lead to more 1990's family sitcom style humor based movies. There's enough out of date, soft paw, idiotic humor in Disney Channel's line up as it is.

It's basically because Ricky Gervais was in it , that's the reason it bombed, the sad part is though, is the fact that Ricky Gervais really wanted the acting part and he got it, and audiences were ticked off by it, but he really fitted the criminal role more than Christopher Waltz, so there's that, in order to have a criminal character, you've got to make him ugly.

Other than the fact Waltz was supposed to be in Ty Burrell's role, I'd say that's one of the factors. I hate this thing where celebrities have an expiration date and are considered unhip if they make one bad movie. Like Michael Cera. Yeah, we hate him so much because of something...uh... Year One, I believe? It's like some jerkwad hipster dictates which celebrities are still cool or not and the audience blindly follows them. I'm sure Ricky scared off hipsters and the self righteous religious family crowd. And it's a shame, since this was a dream project for him. He's a fan.

This overlooked article about Kick-A** 2 demonstrates why the box office is so important. Before anyone goes off on a tangent about whether or not they like the idea of this particular franchise, that's not the point. Audiences do, but too many of them chose to pirate the film and wait for the home video market rather than boost it's theatrical numbers and that spells death for a franchise.

That's right. No one can see every movie, and too many of them are released at once. That was the overlying problem with the Summer movies. And when everything comes out at once, the audience winds up being burned out. I'm sure that's another factor for MMW, but I'm talking overall. May was filled with so many blockbusters that when June rolled around, no one bothered to see anything except 22 Jump Street (which was awesome). And other than that one comedy, all the comedy movies tanked. Probably because they wouldn't look any different from Home video/streaming. The most successful movies this year were big and had to be seen on a big screen. Action films with special effects, that is.

I'd say a bit of Kickanus 2 might have been that "celebrity expiration date" bit. Jim Carrey's kinda box office poison now. Which sucks, because he was genuinely funny in Burt Wonderstone, yet didn't take up as much screen time as the Wolverine Publicity he had in the trailers would suggest. Or maybe because the guy who wrote the actual comics is a freakin' jerk.

Still, I'd say the problem is more due to streaming services than pirating. I agree that pirating does take money away from studios... but that money is in the hands of someone who doesn't go to the movies anyway, so the money wasn't there in the first place. Streaming's going to make sure movies are made on the cheap (unless they're big budget things) for the streaming viewers. It's whiffing through home video sales and Redbox rentals.

 

[CensoredAlso]

With all due respect, I'f you're not interested in Box Office numbers, then why would you even contribute to a thread titled Weekly Box Office & Film Discussion?

I said I'm done with them, as in, I'm done giving them any legitimacy in my judgement. That doesn't mean I have no interest in the phenomenon of the box office. I think you misunderstood me.

See The Judge, btw, (and not just because of my avatar !) It was an interesting blend of humor and drama. I was surprised at how much my theater got into it.