Weekly Box Office and Film Discussion Thread

[charlietheowl]

Just got back from Monsters University and it was amazing! I can't remember the last movie that I was so raptured with, it was interesting enough just looking at all the different monsters created and designs of the on-campus buildings. Also, the gang at the Oozma Kappa fraternity was great, I especially loved the design and voice of Art, Charlie Day was perfect. Aubrey Plaza also did a great job as the Council prez. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad I went to see it.

 

[Drtooth]

Lemme just say to those that think Pixar had a slump because of Cars 2 and Brave being a disappointment. They're completely out of it with that film. MU is a brilliant film the more I think about. It subverts every lame college movie trope and gives you that amazing twist ending.

Unfortunately, said twist ending makes the promotional material a little...uh... sad in hindsight.

 

[Oscarfan]

So, the Lone Ranger was pretty good. As you'd expect, Johnny Depp does pretty much own the film. There's one gag toward the end that's so cartoony, I can't believe they did it.

 

[Oscarfan]

Not to double post, but even though I didn't hate Lone Ranger, I had a feeling the movie was going to flop and it turns out it's kinda doing so.

 

[jvcarroll]

Not to double post, but even though I didn't hate Lone Ranger, I had a feeling the movie was going to flop and it turns out it's kinda doing so.

Me too. There's still hope that it could still fare well in international markets.

That's what makes the Muppets such a strong property for Disney. They spend $45 million on the picture, another 30 or so on marketing and they're almost certain to get a quick return on their investment. Plus there are endless licensing opportunities. I hope they take full advantage of that next year. Anyway, what I'm saying is that any $100-250 million film, like the Marvel films, Pixar movies, Pirates franchise, John Carter and the the Lone Ranger, are gambles. Not all of them are destined to reap a box office reward. At the end of the year, a solid Muppet performance looks very good to shareholders.

I'll go see the Lone Ranger. I'm not stoked about it and nobody wants to come with me, but that's never stopped me before.

 

[Drtooth]

Other than bad word of mouth, it seems the thing holding this movie back is that (even on the best efforts of retro television stations) the Lone Ranger is a franchise no one under the age of 50 cares about. You'd think Gore Verbinski's star power would have sold this better. I mean, if there's 2 directors that overuse Johnny Depp (you know who the other one is), you get the best Johnny out of Verbinski. You just can't hate Jack Sparrow. He's essentially the one that broke the long line of pirate box office failures (though, sadly, Aardman's film wasn't immune).

Not to mention it opened up opposite a family movie. Unless said family movies are terrible to the point of no one wanting to even see it, not even 4 year olds (cough... Marmaduke), a Family Movie will usually out perform (or be a strong second if it goes up against a heavy hitter). Monsters University was number one for 2 weeks. Now there's Despicable Me. Now, remember when I was complaining about the price of the toys? Target got them in for slightly cheaper (still off) and they're having trouble keeping it in stock. That's a sure fire sign DM2 is a hit.

And while I wouldn't mind seeing Lone Ranger, just the sight of those wonderful, maniacal little Minions, be it a McDonalds ad, Progressive Insurance ad, or just a cereal box, makes me hyper excited about the film.

I just hope DM2 prevents Turbo from taking off. The more I see of those previews the more my soul feels shattered. Why, oh, why didn't they just shelve this and keep Me and my Shadow going? It looks worse than Shark Tale.

 

[robodog]

I've noticed that Cartoon Network has ads for Turbo every single commercial break. It's made me hate the thing even more than I initially would have.

 

[Drtooth]

Despicable Me 2 was Awesome, as I expected. I'd love to rave about it, and those freakin' Minions ... but I want to get this out of the way.

I was subjected to the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 trailer.


AAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!! GAW! REALLY?!?!?! I didn't think it would be that bad. Every 2 seconds was another horribly tortured food pun. Now, I like groaners. I'm a Jay Ward fan. But these were soulless, horrid, and completely predictable. I regret saying that Sony Animation ruined the Smurfs. They didn't ruin them an iota as terrible as the Cloudy books. It looks like they made a worse movie. It's like Toriko that's heavily lobotomized to the point where it just looks out the window and drools.

Gah... now I'm mad. Think of Minions... think of Minions...now what was really good in DM2 was the Anti-minions. I won't spoil that one for you.

 

[Drtooth]

Wow... Mad Props to Despicable Me 2

 

[KremlingWhatnot]

Wow... Mad Props to Despicable Me 2

GOOD! I'd rather see Despicable Me 2 over than that new Lone Ranger anyday.
This has no offence to people who were fans of the movie.