Friday Estimates by Klady Jaxx
Well, that was a shitty Friday.
Madgascar 3 held okay, though as an animate film, really for kids, Fri-to-Fri numbers are not as much of an issue and this 50% drop is not likely to fall much.
A 73% drop for Prometheus hurts, though the suspicion last weekend was that there was a big Friday must-see and that it equalized over the weekend. So the drop could come down to the low 60s for the weekend. Still not a thrill for Fox.
Rock of Ages and That’s My Boy are the big openers this weekend, though calling them “big” would surely inspire a crass penis joke from Adam Sandler’s writers. This weekend’s two openings represent – even though it seems like summer’s been going on for eons already – wide studio openings #11 and #12 of the summer of 2012 so far. Toby Emmerich’s Rock of Ages will take the #9 slot, besting WB’s other bomb, Chernobyl Diaries, and SummitsGate’s What To Expect When You Are Expecting.
And Sandler’s That’s My Boy will also outdo the Paranormal Activities Goes to Russia/Love American Style With Babies combo of flops… but it is just as much a horror show, as it will under-open Jack & Jill AND Little Nicky, surely revving up the field for a ton of “Is Adaam Sandler Over?” not-think-too-much pieces.
So is Adam Sandler over? Well, his two movies before these two flops (2010/2011) were both over $100m domestic and $200m worldwide, and one of them was his biggest worldwide hit ever. And both were more gentle, mainstream comedies with family elements. So Adam Sandler may have been Eddie Murphy-ied, more than killed. Grown Ups and Just Go With It are both still Sandler movies, in terms of broad, stupid comedy… but both involve wives and kids and love. So it’s not exactly Murphy getting into Daddy Day Care/Shrek mode.
Little Nicky was the last really bad landmark in Sandler’s box office career… and like TMB, it is tonally different from the more commercial work he’s done. Having seen about 2/3 of the movie now, I think it’s some of the most interesting work he has done in his career. This is much more his Cable Guy than his Pluto Nash. It feels like he tried here to throw his hat in the ring with the rougher comedians working today… Ferrell’s Funny or Die side… Ted, which is not so dissimilar, but in plush, and will be a big hit… last summer’s Horrible Bosses.
Having seen most of the movie, I am a little embarrassed for the critics who were so angry in attacking the film. It is certainly raunchy and stupid. Masturbation jokes almost always are. But there is a kinky intelligence behind this film that is more Ulrich Seidel than a fart joke. I’d be hard pressed to call it a “good movie,” but I laughed out loud repeatedly. The fat woman on the stripper pole was not only funny, but calling her obese is close to misogyny. Adam Sandler being legitimately turned on by an 70+-year-old is a daring and subversive act showing fearlessness on a level that you won’t see in any other studio movie anytime soon. And while not always skillfully presented, there are a ton of very interesting, subtextually challenging ideas presenting in this film. all too easily dismissed as “fucking Sandler.” It’s a classic example of critics seeing what they expect and not what’s in the movie.
I don’t know what this all means for Sandler. Budgets will have to come down. But he also has the Grown Ups sequel coming next year. There has been a restlessness in his work in the last few years, after his attempts at higher quality films also flopped. A lot of what happens will be in his control. I don’t see Sony jettisoning him. But I think he’ll have to go back down to the $50m range to have the freedom he’s had. And will he choose to pander for dollars or push himself even harder to find new turf? Or will he end up on a sitcom? Or doing small roles in other people’s movies?
I see these last two films as very different kinds of commercial misses. I don’t think there is an overall Adam Sandler Problem. This is a hard-R movie with him doing a harsh accent and an unwillingness to market the parade of cameos. J&J was sold as slapstick for children, but the Sandler edge means parents don’t want to send their kids. So where will he go from here?
In other box office news…
Nothing much worth noting. Marigold is now over the hump and will play out, though it may be a long play out. And the slower spreading Moonrise Kingdom is likely on too slow a track to catch up with Marigold, though it could beat out Fox and Aquatic to be Wes Anderson’s #2 domestic career grosser domestically.
SLUMP!
Im all seriousness though, while the focus on under-performing studios has been on Universal this summer due to “Battleship,” WB is probably batting 0 for 3 now on profitability with ROA, “Dark Shadows” and “Chernobyl.”
Sony isn’t much better with probably just over break even, best case on “That’s My Boy” and MIB 3.
Add scheduling issues at Paramount, and other than Disney, and maybe Fox (though “Prometheus” seems to be under-performing as well), the majors are feeling some pain this summer so far.
I loved THAT’S MY BOY, and I pretty much laughed all the way through it, once it got going. I think it’s Sandler’s funniest movie since ZOHAN, and one of the best Happy Madison movies in general. It has genuinely weird and strange things going on in it, like a lot of his best film and comedy work, and Sandler fans of a particular age, especially those weaned on his comedy albums, are going to be in for a treat.
I think it’s pretty important to note that his recent “disappointments” are both outside his general wheelhouse, rated both too low (PG) and too high (R) for his typical audience. GROWN UPS 2 (ugh…) and the Ferrell movie will be huge, as someone else here wrote recently. Saying he’s going to have to retreat to the wilderness and rethink his career is absurd. I hope this doesn’t make him shy away from the R rating, though, since I think he creatively benefited greatly from being able to go so raunchy and out there with the material.
I assume the Sandler section was at least partly directed at me. But let’s look at the (domestic) numbers: JUST GO WITH IT was a $59 million drop from GROWN UPS, and JACK AND JILL was a $29 million drop from that. THAT’S MY BOY will drop another $30-40 million. That’s not a slump; that’s freefall. You can only fool people–even stoopid teens–so many times before they finally figure out they’re being sold the same tired schtick in new packaging.
Both WB and Sony will rebound with “TDK 3” and “Spidey 2.0.”
Whatever losses they may have incurred earlier this summer will ultimately prove irrelevant.
Right?
Right??
We’re usually pretty in sync, JKill, but I have to disagree with you on “TMB.”
I was genuinely looking forward to it.
I’ve liked more Sandler movies than I’ve disliked over the years, and was hoping for another crazily subversive, brazenly non p.c. R-rated romp like the wacky and wonderful “Zohan.”
But “TMB” just felt “off”–the pacing is downright narcoleptic. It actually made me appreciate the rudimentary level of craftsmanship Dennis Dugan usually brings to the party.
While I was delighted that Sandler & Co. “went there” in the final act (was soooo afraid they’d pull their punches), it was too little too late as far as I was concerned.
Leighton Meester remains a total sweetheart, tho. Even when she’s playing a heartless gold-digging b**ch like she is here.
R-rated Sandler has never done well at the box office. Funny People = $22M opening and $51M total. Reign Over Me = $7M and $19M. Punch-Drunk Love = $19M total. Bulletproof = $6M and $21M.
Grown Ups 2 and Three Mississippi seem like sure hits. Not so sure about Valet Guys, but I wouldn’t bet against the pairing of him and Kevin James.
“Amazing Spidey” is one of those movies (like Abraham Lincoln killing vampires) where I think it’s impossible to predict profitability until opening day, especially if rumors of a $220 million budget are true. What’s bizarre is everyone that seems to want to see it skews older…which could be terrible or great. Also “Total Recall” could fly either way for Sony.
TDKR…of course will break out for WB, though I still think it’ll be off 20% from TDK. Still, while they’ve had smaller profitable movies pre-summer, only a single $100 million domestic grosser this year (Journey 2) with none on the horizon until December. “Magic Mike” is another tough one to predict…an 80%+ female audience. Will the mommy porn crowd show up, or be too ashamed?
Besides being R-rated, the box office of THAT’S MY BOY wasn’t helped any by the previous Sandler outing being regarded as a total turd for the typical moviegoer.
Dave is right. Focus is leaving money on the table with the foolish way they are rolling out MOONRISE KINGDOM.
“Having seen about 2/3 of the movie now, I think it’s some of the most interesting work he has done in his career.”
Why only 2/3? And which 2/3? I thought the opening and close were painfully unfunny, but some strange Vanilla Ice cocktail made me laugh during the extended bachelor party.
Aside from its no-brainers-TDK series, Potter- what huge hits has WB been able to deliver in the past couple years out of their development? Hangover. First Clash of the Titans. And… what else? Universal gets swung at, but at Wb there are a hell of a lot of major, expensive misses, franchise killers, Snyder ink-bleeders, and mid-level budget total wipeouts. What’s going on?
I don’t feel like getting out the cudgel this morning, but I have been tough on WB over the years. They have had Potter and Batman protecting them… but that cover is almost all gone now.
Focus is also showing a big lack of confidence in “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World” by dumping it in 1,400 theatres next weekend, a number that is usually the kiss of death. Yeah the marketing campaign has been meh and Keira Knightley is wide-release poison but still…
I’d say Focus is smart to get as much money as they can early on “Seeking.” Carell is great in it and it has a terrific final line but…
Focus pretty much killed Moonrise Kingdom with their idiocy. It should have opened wide this weekend, and Focus lacking the balls to open it wide. Represents why LIMITED RELEASING SHOULD BE DEAD IN THE 21st CENTURY! It may indeed be a case by case basis, but opening a Wes Anderson film this piss poor is ridiculous
Aside from that, WB has the Hangover and Project X aside from the Bat and the Wizard. Unlike other studios though, they usually find something that hits. They will figure something out if not, DOOMED!
Finally, Ethan, the way international has matured over the last 4 years means TDK-R should be up by 20 percent. Unless it’s a shit film. If it’s not shit, it should probably do as well or slightly better than the Avengers.
MK is released domestically by Focus
Yeah it’s called the EDIT function. HELLO FRISCO!
I’ll be glad the Carell/Keira movie is out just so I can stop seeing that fucking trailer in front of EVERY movie… I’ve gotten it before every movie– EVERY SINGLE MOVIE, including The Chernobyl Diaries– I’ve seen at an AMC or Laemmle’s since BEING FLYNN, which was what, March?
It has long since surpassed I GOT STABBED! THAT’S AWESOME! as the trailer to annoy me in the last 6 months from sheer saturation.
“Project X” was a nice surprise, but it’s by no means a major hit. WB has had more misfires (Happy Feet 2, Dark Shadows, ROA, Chernobyl, Joyful Noise, Extremely Loud, J Edgar, New Years Eve) than profitable films (Wrath…barely, Project X, Lucky One, Sherlock 2, Journey 2) recently. It’s a studio that has long relied on a sheer multitude of releases that, as said, have been supported largely by Potter and Batman. It also, with “Wrath of the Titans” and “Sherlock 2” (at least domestically the latter) did a pretty good job of destroying two successful franchises.
TDKR may have the international bounce Avengers got…it may not. International audiences have been slower to embrace Batman, and we will see if that’s reflected once it’s released or not.
Really Lex…I saw it at “Moonrise” and that was it. Bizarre if they’re releasing it in 1,400 theatres and they’re saturating marketing…then again you live in LA.
Also on the numbers:
ALL DAY yesterday, Hollywood Reporter was saying ROCK OF AGES was doing a healthy 7 or so Friday for a surprisingly decent 19-21 weekend.
Then at nigh, NIKKI declares it’s a bomb. How does that change in an instant?
Really IS sort of a drag how people who parse box office and DON’T EVEN GO TO MOVIES, DON’T EVEN LIKE MOVIES, take such glee in pronouncing the new movies DEAD ON ARRIVAL every single FRIDAY NIGHT.
Really sets up this ugly atmosphere where it’s like, oh, MOVIE A *only* did 10-15 for the weekend, it’s a turkey, it’s dead in the water… That rubs off and at least some people (to the extent your regular person perceives box office in any way) write the movie off within HOURS of its release.
It’s everything that’s opposed to the concept of loving movies. Nikki and her commenters– and to a lesser degree, some people in this very blog– ACTIVELY ROOT for things to bomb, spike footballs when things bomb, out of some weird schadenfreude and sense of personal disillusionment with Hollywood.
I bet TARANTINO, or SCORSESE, or TOM HANKS, or TOM CRUISE, or anyone truly successful or talented, don’t sit around reading DEADLINE and rubbing their hands with GLEE that all the new movies are bombing and “showbiz is going to hell!” and “they don’t make ’em how they used to!”
This box-office shit is borderline evil and is a total enemy of what movies are all about.
When the movies are disjointed garbage like this weekend (and I loved Zohan, Wedding Singer, Happy Gilmore etc) I think movie-lovers have an obligation to root for their failure. Otherwise movies like “Avengers,” “Prometheus” and “Moonrise Kingdom” will never be made for summer.
Nikki and her hoard go way too far…snarking at Prometheus and most indies. But trashing the trash is an obligation….because most movies this summer SUCK so far. And I don’t want more in 2013 and 2014.
Yeah I’ve seen next to nothing about Seeking a Friend, and I’m not just talking about a trailer/TV spots. Meanwhile I feel like I’ve read 50 stories a piece about Safety Not Guaranteed and Lola Versus and Your Sister’s Sister. Where’s all the press for a new Focus release starring two pretty recognizable names?
Rock of Ages is better than Avengers.
I’m of the constant opinion that 90% of all movies are at least B-minus/decent/pretty good or better. Anyone who hates 50% or more of the movies they see– or who sees fewer than 40 or 50 movies a year in theaters– isn’t a real MOVIE FANATIC like a Scorsese or even a Harry Knowles.
At that point it gets into fussiness and this idea that “criticism” is about “being critical” based on these impossible fucking standards… And really, box-office shouldn’t have anything to do with how the actual movies are liked or not.
“Trashing the trash is an obligation”? For who? Does TOM HANKS TAKE TO THE AIRWAVES trashing other movies? Does Quentin Tarantino?
Maybe some of you guys should try something simple, just a little thing, called LIKING THINGS and being ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT MOVIES, instead of ACTIVELY ROOTING AGAINST EVERYTHING then working backwards toward enjoying it grudgingly.
Just a thought. And I don’t know who “EthanG” is, or why he allegedly speaks for me like the fucking LORAX, but that round argument is like saying ETHANG, BOX-OFFICE FUSS BUDGET, DOESN’T LIKE IT, THUS ZARDOZ IS SPOKEN. Or Poland all being SMUG when he undersells Avengers or gets a boner for something else… who made any of you guys the authority that you can CAVALIERLY crush MY enjoyment or IO’s enjoyment or Armond Douche White’s enjoyment or the enjoyment of the family of Filipinos at Battleship that have a good time?
It’s fucking mean, it’s cold, it’s numbers crossed with a disspirited tone toward movies, which are magical and everyone goes to them to have a good time, not to check off box-office points or ROOT AGAINST THEM.
God what a JOYLESS way to look at things.
Idk where you guys see movies, but in LA, at the AMC chain, at the Arclight, at the Laemmle’s NoHo, SEEKING A FRIEND has been attached to literally–literally– 75% of all movies since at least March. Everyone groans when the trailer comes on because it’s attached to every movie of every genre.
I’ve seen 62 movies in a theater this year, and at least 30 or those (the last three months) have had the Carell/Keira trailer, with Patton bragging about getting laid and Carell going I HATE MY LIFE and the boss telling everyone to go home and WELCOME TO FRIENDSY’S with TJ Miller in the ref costume and the girl kissing Keira and the police office pulling them over.
Every fucking movie, every romcom, every comedy, every indie, even horror movies, have shown this trailer. I realize it’s probably only “attached” to Uni or Focus stuff, but AMC chain in particular has it as a 21 JUMP STREET level go-to.
Maybe it’s a regional thing. I haven’t seen it once here in flyover country.
Please…you don’t have to like Hollywood to like movies. I can’t name the number of awesome films I’ve seen this year…”The Hunter,” which came out the first week in January was f’ing EPIC. “Mr. Lazhar,” “Deep Blue Sea” “Chico and Rita” all masterpieces released this year. “Coriolanus,” the best action film of the last 3 years!!!
And I like my garbage deep fried too. “Piranha 3D” is f’ing AWESOME. “Teeth” is the best feminist film of the last decade. “Get Him to the Greek” and “Cedar Rapids” are batshit comedic craziness. “Kill List” is my most recent example of lust for insanity.
Nothing this year is beautifully revelatory or balls-crazy enough to be great released by Hollywood so far. Period..I liked Hunger Games, 21 Jump, Avengers and Chronicle. Love? Nah.
Also long as everyone’s gonna RAIN ON MY PARADE for my enthusiasms, maybe it’s time to DIAL IT DOWN just one notch on Moonrise Kingdom.
Which I liked a lot, borderline loved… but by the end, didn’t anyone else think Wes was pushing it TOO HARD? Like the church at that rainy climb up the tower, and godawful Tilda Swinton’s godawful wardrobe… the end pushed the whole thing just a notch– not much but a notch– into the precious/arch/weird-for-weird’s sake Anderson realm where it goes from precocious to enough’s enough.
Also I’m GENUINELY surprised nobody found bits of the middle third a little pervy? If Larry Clark or the HICK guy or Catherine Hardwick or Polanski had directed that midsection, there’d be more than a few groans about how appropriate that all is. Some of the objectification of those two kids was a little icky.
Coriolanus was last year.
Piranha 3d? Sorry, I don’t go for that jokey snide bullshit. I hate irony and I hate shit that’s “intentionally” whatever. Be real and go big or go home.
Be real? “Piranha” is the bloodiest theatrical movie of the last 30 years….and its not even close. If the goriest movie since Peter Jackson’s “Dead Alive” is your idea of jokey and snide…you’re in trouble.
“Coriolanus” had a two-week run in NY and LA so the rest of the world got to see it this year. I live outside of those cities.
“Really IS sort of a drag how people who parse box office and DON’T EVEN GO TO MOVIES, DON’T EVEN LIKE MOVIES, take such glee in pronouncing the new movies DEAD ON ARRIVAL every single FRIDAY NIGHT.”
God, I agree with this rant. I find a lot of this stuff so gross I can barely even stomach websites and message boards that traffic in this stuff. I have no problem with people finding the topic interesting, and I look at it too as someone with an interest in the industry, but this single minded commercial focus and the mean spirited anti-cheer leading which comes along with it, often by people who don’t seem to like movies at all, disgusts me.
On a more positive note, in addition to the Sandler (which, movieman, I actually thought was also the best directed and made film of his in a good while), I highly recommend Richard Linklater’s odd-ball, fascinating, sad, funny, and, most of all, humane BERNIE, which contains a stunning, award worthy performance by Jack Black. One of the highlights of the year so far.
Clarification: There’s some Gary Busey jokey horseshit out now called PIRANHA 3DD; I thought that’s what you mean. I saw Piranha 3. It was mildly amusing. It also was comedic and ironic, not SERIOUS. I don’t want any COMEDY in my horror, I want movies to feel like abuse.
Anyway, this is a pointless discussion, because when you have two smart people, and one likes something– doesn’t have to be a movie, can be a book, a sports team, a hot chick, a band, anything– and one DOES NOT like that thing?
The naysayer always wins, because all you do is make the other guy like something a little less, because you’ve clouded his enjoyment and perverted it into having to defend it. And it’s harder to defend something you’re enthusiastic about than it is to tear that thing down.
It’s why critics instinctively go negative; Negative is easy; Glowing over something is embarrassing and just sounds like a bunch of superlatives, and it sets everybody else up to wanna NOT like it that much.
It’s human nature.
I hadn’t seen trailers for SEEKING A FREIND… or NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH until I saw PROMETHEUS. Both films look like fun and I haven’t been bludgeoned with the trailers yet.
You always articulate your thoughts far better than I do LexG, and I can’t disagree. Not that it’s time for masturbatory praise…
I’m one of those weirdos whose tastes hew, critic-wise, to Dave White of Movies.com, who mostly loves indies and horror and comedy-gross outs in equal measure.
This year has supplied little of good product all-around, for me. But it’s TRUE I vent over frustration and dislike for a movie more than love for something. Probably because the movies I love tend to be off the radar.
But still, venting is definitely human nature.
Lex is essentially correct about this B.O. horseshit. It’s like saying if a movie is a big grosser, it must be great, and if it isn’t, it must stink. (My father was like that; the cheaper the restaurant, the more he liked the food.) But people follow sheep-like to the latest blockbuster, and then grumble afterwards about how it sucks. Any two minutes of HYSTERIA have more laughs than the entirety of Sandler’s film career, but it’s barely a blip on the radar. And the instant D.O.A. reportage on DARK SHADOWS surely had an effect. At over $200 million ww so far, it’s hardly a flop, but it coulda done more, especially had it been released in March…and with an honest campaign.
A bit apples & oranges on some of that ranting, Lex.
My underestimation of Avengers was not punitive or even unusual. And I am good with the film, just not the overstatement of its quality level.
I’m not here to quell your pleasure. I offer opinions on movies. I offer opinions on marketing. I offer opinions on box office. Sometimes they touch. Sometimes they don’t.
But your argument suggests that, somehow, I am not allowed an opinion. And the idea that some hold my opinions in greater authority is a function of choice, not, for instance, the built-in authority of my outlet.
You have to be extra enthusiastic about hating animation and foreign films to be a real movie lover.
P.S. David, I was not trying to imply anything you should be doing differently regarding the WB or any other studio. Just observing as you did that they have avoided scrutiny, protected by the big franchises, while making a surprisingly large bucket of films that neither critics nor audiences support.
At least we agree on “Bernie,” JKill.
It’s one of my favorite movies of the year (so far), and Black gives a truly revelatory performance.
I’m still trying to wrap my brain around why Linklater’s last two (totally wonderful) movies (“Me and Orson Welles” and “Bernie”) both had to wait an entire year after their film fest bows to open in theaters.
And why both (fairly commercial, definitely marketable) indies should have been relegated to third-tier distribs like Freestyle and Millennium.
I still get excited about movies. I was excited about Prometheus. It seemed cool and original. Even in spite if i had a hundred issues i had with it i didnt hate it. But to assert that prople hate on movies for no other reason than being a hater is ridiculous. There are those people. Like lex they represent the very loud and very small minority of film fans. If you find value in everything than youre doing yourself a disservice. Criticisn relies on analytical thought.
People like Avengers because it was a great experience. Even though there were flaws people loved the overall experience so much that tiny problems were forgiven.
Prometheus could have been forgiven if the flaws hadnt added up to such a monumental sum.
In spite of JS constant assertion everyone wants to like a movie when they see it. Why would i have paid thirty bucks to see Prometheus with my wife if we hadnt been excited to see it?
Calling out bullshit isnt an obligation, but you certainly cant fault people for it.
Good points…regarding Linklater (loved Bernie and Orson as all else), one of my favorites…I am upset about him doing Before Sunrise 3. Julie Delpy looks like she’s 75 at this point, Hawke looks 50 and emaciated, and Im getting the nagging feeling it’ll be called “Before Twilight” which I could not handle.
Focus has screwed “Moonrise Kingdom”, first by using a Peter Travers pullquote, now by not getting the movie into theaters that are easy to get to. AMC and Regal aren’t playing it (yet) around Philadelphia. The big Loews megaplex in Rockland County NY doesn’t have it.
@Paul D/Stella: “Reign Over Me” and “Punch-Drunk Love” were both aimed upmarket/arthouse, which explains their lower grosses for the most part.
@Don R: “Neighborhood Watch” will be released as “The Watch” due to the George Zimmerman murder case.
Rooting against Adam Sandler is a bad thing? Really? He can be funny, but he really needs to re-evaluate things. He has too much comedic talent, to be wasting it on nonsense like “That’s My Boy.”
Anghus said, “In spite of JS constant assertion everyone wants to like a movie when they see it. Why would i have paid thirty bucks to see Prometheus with my wife if we hadnt been excited to see it?” Yeah I am not the person who states everyone wants to like a movie when they see it. How you even associate that with me is pretty hilarious.
If you are excited to see something: good for you. I never go into anything with any expectations because they are for suckers. Hope, maybe an assumption, but never expecting to like something. That’s absolutely ridiculous but it’s apparently ridiculous to all of you, that I lack the ability to feel this way.
I meant the opposite. Your assertion that people shouldnt or dont go into movies with expectations.
Lex is of course dead-on about pundits lining up to scream ‘BOMB!’ at 4pm on Friday afternoon, no matter what the numbers actually say. As for Moonrise Kingdom, I kinda loved it. Yes it was very ‘Wes Anderson being Wes Anderson’, but the emotional through-line worked, and (no details), the arcs for the adult characters were if anything more potent than the kids. As for Lex’s inquiry, I actually liked that the film didn’t try to pretend that these two kids were completely unaware of their own sexuality. The camera work wasn’t lecherous and I didn’t feel it was the least bit exploitative (but then I didn’t have a problem with Hick either, however rambling its Wizard of Oz narrative was). My only qualm with the film is that the boy was a nebbishy, geeky-looking kid while the girl was… um… not. A minor quibble, but it would have been nice if the girl was less of a standard movie-babe. One of the things I liked about Terri and Thumbsucker (and to a certain extent Superbad) is that the respective female leads were ‘normal attractive’ rather than theoretical ‘dream girls’.
Hey, I definitely wasn’t complaining about it in “Hick.” But objectively, with both movies, I’m surprised not much was said about it.
Haven’t seen MOONRISE yet, but I can’t understand this “Wes Anderson being Wes Anderson” gripe. I don’t remember people complaining about “Howard Hawks being Howard Hawks.”
My god the trailer for “The Watch” played dead and uncomfortable. You can’t get away from the T. Martin case. It is a palpable awkwardness in the cinema.
Really? I got THE WATCH trailer a couple times now, and they’ve amped up the alien angle SO MUCH (and dropped the “Neighborhood”) so I don’t imagine many people making that connection. Especially since I’ve seen it in front of low-brow comedies; Maybe it’s a regional (again) thing– if you go to movies in LA where big boisterous ethnic families and douchey white hipsters go to movies, I don’t think Trayvon Martin is really on anyone’s mind at any particular time, or anyone associates four buffoonish comedians shooting up ALIENS with some case 2,500 miles away that (if we’re being blunt) I don’t really know ANYBODY is that worked up about it in my day to day life.
Not dismissing what you said, just I don’t know… in a movie theater, dudes waiting for an Adam Sandler movie to begin… are they that plugged in to the Trayvon Martin case and ready to be offended at a moment’s notice? Remember after 9/11 the collective “they” were worried that “we” couldn’t handle cop movies and DON’T SAY A WORD and ZOOLANDER and TRAINING DAY and that “we” would squeam and squirm at any sight of hostility or NYC on a screen? Then one after another, every one of those movies were hits?
I think most people don’t connect movies with real life at ALL. Like 99% of all Americans, if their son was killed in a freak lawnmower accident, like a week later they could watch a movie called LAWNMOWER KILLS A KID and make NO personal connection to it whatsoever.
I agree that the Seeking a Friend… trailer has been inescapable for months, at least for me. I think it’s because both the multiplexes and the arthouses are showing it.
What would happen if studios stopped releasing early box office projections until at least Saturday? Would Nikki and company just invent a number based on Fandango sales or something?
Oh I know Lex, but you’re right that Hick was the kind of movie that certain pundits make a fuss about and my point is I’m usually in the same boat as you in regards to stuff like that (I didn’t exactly start a letter-writing campaign after Hounddog, for example). As for ‘Wes Anderson being Wes Anderson’, it just came off like a very self-aware film in spots. Not always a bad thing (A Serious Man was very ‘Coen Brothers making a Coen Brothers film’), but I get why it might turn a few people off here and there. Even if you disagree with the statement, it’s a somewhat moot point as The Moonrise Kingdom is one of my favorite 2012 films (am really going to try to see Bernie this week before it leaves the local Laramie theater and yes Hysteria was pretty darn good).
It makes me sad that anyone could say any two minutes of Hysteria were more than the mildest of mild amusements, let alone funnier than anything Sandler (who has certainly made some crap movies over the years) has ever done. I’d say any two minutes of Funny People, even the dramatic parts, probably have a better laugh line in them than fucking Hysteria. And That’s My Boy, shaggy and unmemorable as it is, is way, way funnier overall. Good lord. Hysteria?! What a condescending, stupid-giggly, fake-smart, dorky, utterly square faux-comedy. And I adore Maggie Gyllenhaal, like Felicity Jones… please tell me what was good about this movie. Was it the way its characters were more sympathetic the more anachronistic they were?
I’m surprised that both the Cruise and Sandler movies are flopping. I thought for sure Rock of Ages would be Mamma Mia big.
I wonder if Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter will actually perform above expectations this weekend, then, or if it’ll be the fourth or fifth major underperformer of the season. A few weeks ago I would’ve pegged that movie as one of the only big movies to fail to get to $75 million; now it’s going to happen to a bunch of movies.
Rob – Studios don’t actually release Friday matinee numbers, which are what Nikki bases her Friday numbers on.
It’s one of those deals where she wanted a foot up, one of the studios gave her matinee numbers one Friday. And now, she owns the category. I’ve had them (occasionally) for years, but never used them because they are not reliable. I think I posted them once or twice in the cases of the highest profile summer films. But it’s bad practice for journalists.
The matinee numbers are kind of silly.
Based on friday matinee numbers they were projecting 60 – 65 million for Prometheus. And we all saw where those numbers ended up.
And unless school’s out, family films don’t do squat on Friday matinees.
Jesse: What can I say? I thought HYSTERIA was, well, hysterical. Maybe it’s the whole concept (Merchant-Ivory’s CARRY ON, DOCTOR). Maybe it’s the pitch-perfect performances. Maybe it’s the delightfully witty dialogue (in a movie that is literally all about vaginas, that word is never uttered even once). Maybe it’s the way it depicts supposed intellectuals as absolutely clueless about women. Maybe it’s even how it authentically recreates a Dickensian world for less money than is spent on hookers and blow on a Michael Bay movie.
Or maybe it’s just that I’m an old dude who finds his laughter in great storytelling and well-rounded characters and not the cookie-cutter adventures of arrested-development cretins whose idea of a great witticism is a belch.
How about we reserve the hate for movies that should’ve been self-contained but decided late in development to push for a sequel, resulting in a padded 2nd act and an abrupt, unsatisfying ending for the 3rd.