Weekly Box Office and Film Discussion Thread

[CensoredAlso]

I wasn't going to see Ender's Game irregardless of the author's views. Just not my thing. But anyway this is what makes America great. An author has freedom of expression and audiences have the right to buy his work or not.

In general I think it's important to separate art from artist. The art will always be better. But I can understand how hard it can be to do so.

 

[jvcarroll]

Due to another one of Orson Scott Card's latest stupidity stunts, (there are ones worse than this) I have decided to NOT see Ender's Game in theaters, or probably not at all. Wasn't that big of a fan either way, but I was planning to go with a friend to see it, but after recently reading about Card, I will not go to see or purchase something that he is behind.
I can't support any of this idiots nonsense. Therefore, I, and I suggest you all not go to see Enders Game when it hits theaters this November.

..and that's my speech.

That's good to hear. I'm not a big fan of boycotts and such, but I don't like the idea of supporting a project that would help further the career and agenda of a dangerous person. It's a big world. There's room for everybody. There's no need to vilify or marginalize those who believe differently in order to validate our own views. People like him don't believe in sharing or that we can choose to respectfully disagree on anything. He believes we must all fall in line with his narrow point of view. It is his fundamentalist intolerance, not his religion, that is poisonous. And that's why I can't support "Ender's Game" either. The actors have already been paid, so a financial failure wouldn't harm them. A poor box office performance would signal to studios that Card is bad business. That's what I hope happens.

 

[Drtooth]

I wasn't going to see Ender's Game irregardless of the author's views. Just not my thing. But anyway this is what makes America great. An author has freedom of expression and audiences have the right to buy his work or not.

Dude... you said "irregardless."

But there's a difference between free speech and hate speech. There's a lot of right wing celebrities that really hate the president (example: Kelsey Grammer set up a terrible right wing channel no one watched just because he thought Obama was a terrible president), but I can separate that from the actors and still really like them. He's still Sideshow Bob, dagnabbit.

But Card, as cute as his like of certain cartoons and sci-fi is, wanted treasonous actions against the government because he doesn't like gays. And then he wrote far right conspiracy theory garbage and started to believe it. Besides, we already have enough Glen Becks, Ann Coulters, and Rush Limbaughs that express their freedom of speech that only they can have. And they express it by not shutting the heck up ever.

That's good to hear. I'm not a big fan of boycotts and such, but I don't like the idea of supporting a project that would help further the career and agenda of a dangerous person. It's a big world. There's room for everybody. There's no need to vilify or marginalize those who believe differently in order to validate our own views. People like him don't believe in sharing or that we can choose to respectfully disagree on anything. He believes we must all fall in line with his narrow point of view. It is his fundamentalist intolerance, not his religion, that is poisonous. And that's why I can't support "Ender's Game" either. The actors have already been paid, so a financial failure wouldn't harm them. A poor box office performance would signal to studios that Card is bad business. That's what I hope happens.

Just watch a whole bunch of far far right people Passive Aggressively crowd to Ender's Game to support a fellow "victim" that does nothing but victimize others. His new "Obama iz teh Hitlerz" exercise in Godwin's Law falls deeply into the relm of "I'm not racist" racism and "the only people suffering are Middle Class White People for having to be politically correct" stupidity. I, too, hope that the studio loses a crapload of money, and thankfully,the more anticipated Thor 2 comes out the next week. I just feel sorry for every actor who's career will be destroyed by this film.

And yet, Jim Carrey is whining about Kickbutt 2. Why aren't any of the actors saying "we regret being in something related to a poisonous kook."

 

[jvcarroll]

I wasn't going to see Ender's Game irregardless of the author's views. Just not my thing. But anyway this is what makes America great. An author has freedom of expression and audiences have the right to buy his work or not.

In general I think it's important to separate art from artist. The art will always be better. But I can understand how hard it can be to do so.

I can follow that only so far. I liken Orson Scott Card to KKK leader David Duke. Racists have the right to make films. Can we separate art from artist in that case? I guess. Good luck finding a wide-release distributor in our free market. It won't happen. Card not only helms an organization that opposes marriage equality, he also wants to make it illegal to be gay! He wants to turn back the clock and make second-class citizens out of 10% of the population. He basically wants to turn back the clock and return the country into what he sees as a "traditional America." There's no ambiguity as to what that means.

So, even though I usually don't like boycotts, I support this one because it informs the public about who this writer is, what he believes and what much of his writing is about. Studios, theaters and moviegoers can then decide whether they want to support that.

Is there a point that we can separate art from artist? This artist says, "Heck, yes!"

 

[Muppet fan 123]

And yet, Jim Carrey is whining about Kickbutt 2. Why aren't any of the actors saying "we regret being in something related to a poisonous kook."

I actually am pretty impressed by Jim Carrey and his comment. He could've just taken his big-fat paycheck and waited for the next sequel, but he decided to make a stand against this. A smarter choice would've been not to film even from the start.

Not saying making it illegal for these things, but these genres of movies have gotten out of hand lately.

 

[jvcarroll]

I actually am pretty impressed by Jim Carrey and his comment. He could've just taken his big-fat paycheck and waited for the next sequel, but he decided to make a stand against this. A smarter choice would've been not to film even from the start.

Not saying making it illegal for these things, but these genres of movies have gotten out of hand lately.

I can respect Carrey's change of heart, but not the way he dealt with it. It's irresponsible of him to star in a picture and denounce it later. His are hollow words unless he publicly donates 100% of his multi-million-dollar paycheck to victims of gun violence. In other words, he needs to put his money where his mouth is.

I loved the first "Kick-A**" film and I'm looking forward to this one too. I've never been a big Jim Carrey fan and didn't really want him in this movie anyway. Most fans were upset to see him in the trailers. Even so, his view on movie violence doesn't hold much weight. Movies are fantasies. They're not real. Where do we draw the line? "The Godfather" films contain gratuitous violence and also perpetuate stereotypes. Does their critical reception lend them the artistic merit to transcend Carrey's morality? Don't get me wrong. I value his concern quite a bit. I wish more stars would think of others. I just find his behavior ambiguous and hypocritical.

Chloe Moretz (AKA Hit Girl) says it best:

"It's a movie. If you are going to believe and be affected by an action film, you shouldn't go to see 'Pocahontas' because you are going to think you are a Disney princess. If you are that easily swayed, you might see 'The Silence of the Lambs' and think you are a serial killer. It's a movie and it's fake, and I've known that since I was a kid ... I don't want to run around trying to kill people and cuss. If anything, these movies teach you what not to do. Each to his own."​

 

[charlietheowl]

I can respect Carrey's change of heart, but not the way he dealt with it. It's irresponsible of him to star in a picture and denounce it later. His are hollow words unless he publicly donates 100% of his multi-million-dollar paycheck to victims of gun violence. In other words, he needs to put his money where his mouth is.

I could not agree with you more, it's not like he didn't know that the film wasn't violent before he signed on to it and started reading the script. This just smacks to me of him trying to get himself disassociated with a film he thinks stinks and look good while doing it.

 

[jvcarroll]

I could not agree with you more, it's not like he didn't know that the film wasn't violent before he signed on to it and started reading the script. This just smacks to me of him trying to get himself disassociated with a film he thinks stinks and look good while doing it.

Unfortunately, the Tomatometer seems to be reflecting exactly that. A Kick-As* 3 is unlikely. I'm gonna see it anyway.

 

[Drtooth]

I can respect Carrey's change of heart, but not the way he dealt with it. It's irresponsible of him to star in a picture and denounce it later. His are hollow words unless he publicly donates 100% of his multi-million-dollar paycheck to victims of gun violence. In other words, he needs to put his money where his mouth is.

I loved the first "Kick-A**" film and I'm looking forward to this one too. I've never been a big Jim Carrey fan and didn't really want him in this movie anyway. Most fans were upset to see him in the trailers. Even so, his view on movie violence doesn't hold much weight. Movies are fantasies. They're not real. Where do we draw the line?

I'd chalk it up to hollow Hollywood activism, but he does seem genuinely shaken by the Sandy Hook event. He was okay with the movie and his role up until that point (it was filmed way before, in case anyone wants to know). He released a scathing Funny or Die segment that makes this seem a little too genuine to be the same hollow words of most celebrities. But I am far disappointed in his attitude towards this film. Of all people, he should know that fantasy is fantasy, and the "it's the media's fault" is the same pass the buck the NRA uses to remain blameless. If I were Jim, I'd be far more upset with some really stupid individual that tried to reenact the drill a hole through his head scene from The Amazing Burt Wonderstone (if anyone besides me actually saw it).

Now...

I could not agree with you more, it's not like he didn't know that the film wasn't violent before he signed on to it and started reading the script. This just smacks to me of him trying to get himself disassociated with a film he thinks stinks and look good while doing it.

You are kidding, right? We're talking about Jim Carrey. Jim denouncing a film that stinks is like George Lucas saying the enhancements to the original Star Wars Trilogy were a stupid mistake. Jim starred in some downright terrible stuff, Mr. Popper's Penguins... that movie where he was obsesses with a number... nah. If he didn't speak out about any of those, he's not going to speak out about a movie that, at worst, looks meh. He genuinely lost it after Sandy Hook. But then again, he used to hang around with Jesse "Inoculations cause Autism" McCarthy, so....

Still, the fact he's speaking the heck out about a movie with gun violence (his character never even touches a gun, reportedly) and the stars of Ender's Game only kinda saying the story is good, but the writer's views aren't ours (Harrison Ford did say something to that extend) kinda sucks.

Hey. I think Archie should write a story where Jughead wants to see Ender's Game and Kevin Keeler says, "Nah! Thor looks much better," like their newly rewritten story arc where they travel the world except for Russia. That'll learn Scott. The blandest, most innocuous comic that's so litigious about the purity of the characters they've sued rock bands that are named like one of the characters being acepting of gays.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Dude... you said "irregardless."

Lol, sorry I just felt like it in the moment.

Sure, the guy's probably a jerk. I'm not defending him. And if people boycott him, that's great, that's our right as Americans. I'm just thinking of the big picture, a lot of authors and artists are horrible people. That doesn't mean people are evil for enjoying their art. I've talk to very liberal friends who support gay marriage but also like this story and don't want it to suffer just because the author's a jerk.

Furthermore our government is not going to make it illegal to be gay. We shouldn't make this author more important than he is by taking his blusterings seriously.

That's the last I'll say on the subject so as not to be misunderstood.

But I am far disappointed in his attitude towards this film. Of all people, he should know that fantasy is fantasy, and the "it's the media's fault" is the same pass the buck the NRA uses to remain blameless.

I completely agree. Violent movies are not what causes school shootings. Period. I can't think of a bigger waste of time than vilifying action movies.