Weekly Box Office and Film Discussion Thread

[charlietheowl]

I ignore the heck out of these "based on a real story" prestige films. I just hate how they warp the facts to make the film more interesting. I think the film that pushed me off that edge was that horrible movie about football with Sandra Bullock as coach that she undeservedly won the award for. They basically turned the film into "White Man's Burden" (white woman, in this case) and made the family she helped out to be buffoonish for that extra manipulative heart tug. Especially when in real life the athlete she was saving already played football, but just needed the extra guidance. Now, the "Million Little Fibers" episode of South Park was on the other day, and while it's not a great episode it made a bold statement about how James Frey's lies were thrust upon him by the book publishing company. How come we go after that guy for lying about a book that actually helped people with those lies, but we eat up these big budget Oscar Bait disaster films?

The football player in question, Michael Oher, has come out and said that he didn't like the movie and that it arguably hurt his career, since teams and other players associate him with the movie and not his football skill set. It can't be fun to see yourself portrayed for the world to see as helpless and in need of rescue.

 

[Drtooth]

That's why they really don't need to keep making these "uplifting" sports underdog movies over and over. They have some great films already, and instead of being inspirational, these new films come off manipulative, formulaic, and in the case of "The Blind Side" insulting and unintentionally racist. I swear, Sandra Bullock got a pity Oscar for that one.

That said, I swear I read somewhere that the real life person the antagonist of Rudy didn't mind that they tweaked the truth, especially in reality he couldn't have been more supportive.

And also, when it comes to sports underdog movies, I kinda have a bias due to my favorite sports film, where the underdog actually loses. Yep. Rocky. Freakin' love that movie. And the Third one where they got Jim Henson to redub Kermit. Stopped watching the fourth one when the cartoonish robot popped up.

 

[mr3urious]

The football player in question, Michael Oher, has come out and said that he didn't like the movie and that it arguably hurt his career, since teams and other players associate him with the movie and not his football skill set. It can't be fun to see yourself portrayed for the world to see as helpless and in need of rescue.

Ditto the real-life Patch Adams, who didn't like how his film portrayal Flanderized him into a clown.

 

[charlietheowl]

That's why they really don't need to keep making these "uplifting" sports underdog movies over and over. They have some great films already, and instead of being inspirational, these new films come off manipulative, formulaic, and in the case of "The Blind Side" insulting and unintentionally racist. I swear, Sandra Bullock got a pity Oscar for that one.

I really think that sports movies could be so much better if they weren't pigeon-holed into the inspirational zone. Like I've always thought that the story of John Brisker would make an amazing movie. Here you have a player who was a brilliant scorer, a complete hothead on the court, a player so divisive in the locker room that one of the best basketball minds of all time in Bill Russell couldn't get to him while in Seattle, yet someone who was actually regarded as being a good, charitable person off the court. Top all that off with the fact that he disappeared to Uganda in 1978 and hasn't been seen since, and then there are persistent rumors he successfully faked his own death and started a new life somewhere in Africa. Or was killed by Idi Amin. Now that's a story.

But instead you get the uplift movies (there's one coming out in a couple of weeks about a University of Texas player who got cancer while in school in the late 60s, and another religious-themed one about the University of Alabama's athletic integration in the early 70s), because studios want to play it safe. The only ways to see stories that don't have happy endings or convey all sides to the game are documentaries, sadly enough (not that there aren't great ones out there).

 

[Drtooth]

I think they're just interested in making the same story over and over with tiny little changes to adapt for environment and emotional pull. Somehow I find the ones not based on reality a little better as far as storytelling is concerned. They're actually the ones that are supposed to follow a storytelling formula, and are oddly more varied than the supposed true stories. And it really seems they're playing up the Mighty Whitey angle with MacFarline, USA and last year's bomb with Jon Hamm going to India to recruit a Cricket player for baseball.

Moving on from that, I keep seeing that Moby Dick, but it's the "real" story film TV Spots all the time now, and all I can think of is either "The Legendary Wailing Whale, Maybe Dick" or...well...

UGH! I wish I had WMM and a place to download videos from again. That trailer is begging to have that audio spliced in.

 

[D'Snowth]

Am I the only one who thinks the upcoming movie SISTERS should really just be called THE NEW TINA FEY/AMY POEHLER MOVIE? I mean really, those two always co-star together in everything to the point it's hard to accept them playing different characters . . . it's like when Kenan and Kel did GOOD BURGER: funny movie, but Dexter and Ed were essentially Kenan and Kel with changed names, they pretty much played the same kind of characters.

 

[mr3urious]

Looks like The Peanuts Movie is holding on real well, and is close to breaking even. Spectre isn't doing so bad, either.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/?sortdate=2015-11-14&track=peanuts2015.htm

Newcomer Love the Coopers is clinging on to 3rd, but it's the critics who really don't love them if Rotten Tomatoes is anything to go by.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/love_the_coopers/

 

[mr3urious]

The Hunger Games is on top, no surprise there, and Spectre is a distant 2nd. Meanwhile, The Peanuts Movie has more or less much made back its budget.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2015&wknd=47&p=.htm

 

[MuppetSpot]

was the Scout Zombie movie pull from theaters? I was going to review but wasn't able to find it.

 

[Muppet fan 123]

I'm guessing the studios clearly don't have any faith in both Tina Fey and Amy Poehlers Sisters movie or the new Alvin and the Chipmunks film by putting it up against Star Wars. They both look dreadful and I can't see why any studio would want to waste such an investment on basically allowing it to be so easily crushed.

It'll be demolished no doubt, but I really hope that will lead to the death of these two ongoing films.