Friday Estimates by Len of the Doldrums
Okay… so it looks like 500,000 to 750,000 extremists are going to see 2012: Obama’s America this weekend. It was advertised and promoted relentlessly—like every single commercial break—on rightie talk radio this last week and so they found people to come see the film. Why would anyone be shocked?
Only your basic “this is why I got it wrong… it wasn’t because I was using completely unreliable metric so I have to make excuses every Saturday morning” idiot is really surprised. This is the crowd that doesn’t tend to go to the movies a lot… the group that had The Passion of The Christ averaging about $25m a day for its first five days. It’s also the same kind of political hysteria that drove Fahrenheit 9/11—a movie I have always said was so extreme and unfair that it may have helped Bush win reelection—to a $24 million 3-day opening on 868 screens.
Fiscally, it’s an almost identical opening to Big Miracle, this year’s Free The Whales flick that was distributed by Universal and hailed as a forgettable flop commercially. But put those same numbers on an extremist right-wing rant and it’s NEWS! (Especially if you to give Matt Drudge a reacharound for driving 40% of the traffic your site gets to you.)
Personally, I wish more people—especially Independents—would see this film so they could more clearly understand the difference between the reality of Obama and the fantasy that the loudest right-sellers project upon him. Seriously, if they could tie him to Jews sucking the blood out of babies, they would… only that would interrupt the consistency of the lie that he hates Israel and is out to sell out the country to Iran.
I said in 2004 and I say today, if Michael Moore used that giant brain of his—and he is a brilliant guy, seriously —to seriously create change instead of mocking guys like Bush, he could change some things. But when the level of discourse is about raging at the guy for how he reacted while reading a book to kids at a school on 9/11, you are only preaching to the long-converted. Ha ha. Big laugh. But there were so many real things to be angry at Bush about and none were “My Pet Goat” or his family’s relationship with Saudi Arabia or how someone combs their hair with spit. We NEED Michael Moore out there… but we need a Michael Moore who hasn’t lost his shit.
And The Right could use some leadership that doesn’t want to sew women’s vaginas shut or to give corporations the rights of individual human citizens or who want to take The White House at any price just to service the richest 1% of the country until we become a revolutionary culture again.
But I digress from box office boredom…
No real surprises in the weak tea this weekend. Expendables 1 was off 63% on the second Friday. The rest are about average, though it’s clear that Bourne 4 isn’t getting very excited word of mouth. The new movies are all about where they should be. The two studio movies are dumps. It’s a bit shocking to see a Joseph Gordon-Levitt movie being thrown out like old meat, but Sony did just that. There were some TV ads, but they were confusing and hyperactive. And Open Road didn’t have much budget for their Dax Shepard comedy. Apparently, The Apparition isn’t a movie about a ghost who wants to finger Ashley Greene’s nose and feel up her breasts… but you wouldn’t know from the ad campaign. (Maybe there will be a surprise, but right now, it looks like a Summer 2013 Playboy spread followed by stints on Survivor and Go Daddy ads.)
The funny thing is that if you look at last August, you can hear the recording of the meetings where these release decisions were made. Premium Rush for the Colombiana slot ($10.8m opening) Open Road’s Hit & Run in for TWC’s Our Idiot Brother ($7m). And The Apparition in for FilmDistrict’s Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark ($8.5m). Repeating mediocre is not a great business model.
And by the way… WB is dumping TWO movies this weekend. Very aggressive. Not only is Apparition disappearing, but Thunderstruck is getting the ‘ol 245-screen heave ho.
Not a lot of excitement on the indie side. Samsara opened to $12,300 per screen, easily the best of the day.
Did anyone catch that hilarious Finke headline yesterday that declared 2016 number one, followed by a story reporting numbers showing 2016 behind Expendables 2, thus completely contradicting the headline? And all the Drudgebots commented in reaction to the headline without reading the story? Classic Nikki.
Great start for Samsara. I wish I knew which theatres have the ability to screen in 70mm…
ETG, producer Mark Magidson writes: “We have chosen to output SAMSARA to DCP for digital projection rather than creating 70mm film prints… There are many reasons… but the bottom line is we believe a digital output from the high res scan of our film negative yields the best possible viewing experience. It is a combination of a 50-year-old camera system and cutting-edge digital technology that works for our kind of filmmaking. When we produced the Baraka Blu-ray in 2008, we were amazed at the level of detail that we obtained by undertaking an arduous, frame-by-frame, high-resolution scanning process at 8K resolution on Fotokem’s renowned Bigfoot scanner. The 8K file for the whole film came in at a massive size, in excess of 30 Terabytes. Dropping the output down to Blu-ray resolution, we were able to retain a level of detail that was beyond our wildest expectations, and the Baraka Blu-ray has been widely regarded as a reference-point disc for home viewing. It became clear that the benefits of capturing high-resolution imagery on the large 65mm negative were embedded in the digital file. Using this approach in SAMSARA, but this time outputting to DCP for theatrical exhibition, was a great way to go for us, and the conversion of theaters to digital, and now 4K projection has been timely… We are not an effects film but we were able to do things like remove unwanted artifacts in shots that otherwise would have been rendered NG, such as a pixelated bird here or there in our time-lapse shots, negative scratches, or smooth [out] bumps in some of the aerials… Every theater gets a perfect first generation viewing “print.” The reality of theatrical distribution is that film prints are inevitably scratched or damaged, get dirty, and experience widely variable projection conditions. Because there is not a mechanical component to film passing through a gate the image has a steadiness digitally that we do not get with film projection… The resolution and fine detail from the scanned 65mm negative combined with the perfectly steady projection via DCP provides stunning intimacy.” [More at the link.]
Good to see The Revenant finally opening – a great horror-comedy that deserves a broad audience it may finally find on DVD.
Thanks so much for that, Ray. It answers a lot of questions! (And I have to say when I saw “Samsara” it did look pretty terrific.)
Sad news Ray, hopefully I’ll be pleasantly surprised though. Thanks for the info.
watched Bernie last night. brilliant.
bachelorette tonight.
love HD On Demand…so many options at the moment…
Not terrible for The Apparition, all things considered. WB probably could have at least doubled their screen count, earn some dough before it collapses next week.
I get into the conversation about 70mm with the Samsara filmmakers in the DP/30 that just posted.
Awesome:)
I’ll pretend to be Sanj for a moment and request a DP with the makers of Obama 2016. I don’t live in the US, but if I did, I’d definitely be on the left. It would be interesting to see them answer questions about their film making process from someone who can ask real questions instead of persons who belong to the tea party choir.
I would be interested in doing that. Of course, they tend not to make themselves available for unbiased journalists. But I will look further into it.
I can already hear the Fox News anchors talking about “an anti-Obama documentary is more popular than movies featuring THE STARS OF The Hangover, Twilight and Harry Potter” in my head.
Michael Moore documentaries always made me kind of angry. Not because of the subject matter. I lean left. But i never got his logic. He didn’t make well thought out documentaries. He took swings at icons. That doesn’t require a lot of thought. Nor does it do anything to solve a problem. In Bowling for Columbine he tries to get Dick Clark to comment because an employee at an American Bandstand themed restaurant had to cross town for her shitty job leaving her kid alone who finds a gun and gets killed.
What kind of connect the dots shit is that?
He takes a complicated scenario and tries to find the hook. Dick Clark was his hook. What if she’d worked at an Arbys? Is Dick Clark somehow complicit. In Moore’s weird world view, he is.
And the end with Charlton Heston. Again, finding the icon. When he leaves and puts the picture of the dead little girl at his front gate. Such a sad, pandering moment. Because in affect all Moore has to say is ‘blame the most recognizable person’ for the issue.
Moore actually handed the right wing crowd the model. All you need is to take broad swings at the icons. The truth is less important than manufacturing blame. And that’s all Moore was ever capable of. A shit stirring huckster.
You didn’t just imply you’re an unbiased journalist, did you?
2016 is different; maybe because it’s an election year, but we’ve seen other right-wing docs (I Want Your Money, The Undefeated starring Sarah Palin) flame out and disappear. Haven’t seen it, just saying strictly box-office-wise, it’s a success. Although I have seen Joe Leydon getting the crap kicked out of him for reviewing it objectively for what it is.
On to more important things.
Bourne Legacy might be able to limp across the $100 million domestic line, but it’ll be the last $100 million movie of the summer. Expendables 2 won’t come close and neither will anyone else. When the top two summer movies gross over $1 billion by themselves, not as much room for everyone else.
I had to look up Thunderstruck. Forgot that Kevin Durant-Jim Belushi movie existed.
Calling Thunderstrck “a dump” feels apt. It very much looks like the product of a bowel movement.
Since Thunderstruck was a Warner Premiere production, I wonder if it wasn’t dumped so much as just given token theatrical play to drum up interest in the upcoming DVD release. Sort of like Pure Country 2 a couple years back.
I’m supposed to be the 2016 target audience, and I haven’t seen it, and probably won’t. I haven’ watched any of the rightie “docus”, because like Moore, they’re agitprop first.
When the conclusion is drawn beforehand, you’re not “documenting” anything. You’re cobbling footage to reach a conclusion that makes your statement under the guise of factual. It’s why I don’t care for Spurlock and Kirby Dick, either. I am a fan of Gibney, though. And I’ll give Kirby the benefit for being honest about his intentions.
Bulldog – anyone who wants to interview Dinesh and his people could pretty easily. The guy went on Currant just last week, so he’s not ducking. You’re not seeing standard film interviews because people don’t want to be seen as legitimizing the project.
if 2016 holds >-30% or better, obama loses in november
no surprise to see DP defend/celebrate michael moore…i’ll agree tho, he’s some kind of genius, his bo receipts for his magnum opus F911 say it all… capitalism: a love story
big miracle’s pa spend at least 20mil, it opened on 2000+ screens
EDIT: dp, i did LOVE the nikki reach around reference… she’s laughin all the way to the bank meanwhile what are you doing? praising michael moore? christ (try the reach around next time, it’ll be best for MCN and i like your blog… genuinely, your film analysis and interveiws, best in the game)
As a black guy i can relate to the ‘all of them look alike” stereotyping, but I just googled Dinesh DeSouza, and man does he resemble Adhil Kalyan, the Indian guy on Rules of Engagement.
Dave an unbiased journalist? You have the balls to claim that in a comment section of a post where you claimed that Republicans want to “sew women’s vaginas shut”? That’s the funniest thing I’ve read in a while but not really surprising. Why not go all the way and say we want to put people back in chains as well. That makes you look the buffoons on Fox News or MSNBC who also claim they are unbiased. It also shows the level of arrogance of Obama supporters.
“President Obama’s great political talent has been his knack for granting his admirers permission to think highly of themselves for thinking highly of him.”
“President Obama’s great political talent has been his knack for granting his admirers permission to think highly of themselves for thinking highly of him.”
Monco: What successful politician hasn’t followed this game plan?
Re: THUNDERSTRUCK, I wonder if WB was banking on Durant and co to beat LeBron, hence the theatrical release?
When did I say I was unbiased?
Of course, I have biases. But I think I am pretty fair to both sides.
And there is clearly a wing of the republican party, currently exerting a lot of control, that believes abstinence is the only legit birth control and women’s right to choose what is best of themselves is not legitimate. Can you claim otherwise? Can you claim that Paul Ryan is not of that belief, in light of his policy wishes and not just that he loves his mom and grandmom?
The funny thing about your comment, right_wing_idiot is that I made that whole comment about how Michael Moore went off half-cocked with wild and unfair accusations about Bush and somehow you – I guess because I said he is very intelligent – turned it into praise of Moore. Wild.
If 2016 holds at 100% next weekend after doing $7m this weekend, you’re still talking about under 2 million people going to it, with a tea party base of what, at least 25 million?
2016 will have ZERO effect on the election. When it gets to $60 million, call me and I might flinch a little. Moore’s film, in my opinion, backfired more than anything else.
AH! Now I see where I called myself “unbiased.”
Here’s the deal. In an interview, I am not me. I am an interviewer welcoming someone into my space who is gracious enough to give me some time. I have interviewed people whose work I love and many whose work I dislike… even hate.
But yes, these guys are selling propaganda and any serious questions that don’t start with, “So, since President Obama is a radical America-hater…” are not likely to ever be put to them in the context of this film.
I believe D’Souza has been on Maher a number of times. Would love to see him show up in the next couple of weeks.
Joe – No one really does that anymore. There must have been a theatrical commitment in the deal.
The weird thing is, there wasn’t even an opening-day ad in The Houston Chronicle, the only major daily here, for Thunderstruck. (And, of course, no opening-day review.) I mean, hell, there was an opening-day newspaper ad for The Janky Promoters — and that one opened here at a suburban second-run house.
http://www.movingpictureblog.com/2009/10/review-janky-promoters.html
“President Obama’s great political talent has been his knack for granting his admirers permission to think highly of themselves for thinking highly of him.”
Wow that is some astute political analysis right there. I pat myself on the back every day while reminding myself how smart I am for admiring the president. That quote really cuts to the core of me. It’s like they’ve read my diary or something. And boy am I arrogant. Please tell me more Monco. You know so much about me.
> I have interviewed people whose work I love and many whose work I dislike… even hate.
DP – one of these days you should put out some names ..
since you watch more movies than most people – do the people who hate come back and you have to deal with it or do you stop trying to interview them … DP the only super clear thing you seem to hate is everything over at deadline …but are there any LOOK AT HER!!! actresses you hate but have to interview anyways ?
the guy behind 2016 movie already has several interviews up on youtube ….at least 1 hours worth of videos – so how much more can DP add to this topic ? dude is smart guy and everything but doesn’t speak in plain english to get his points across…
Moore’s movie didn’t backfire. It achieved its number one goal: making Michael Moore filthy rich. Congrats to everyone who contributed.
As a HUGE Ashley Greene fan, I find Poland’s comments about her and her career prospects offensive.
She’s a natural movie star.
David – did you see 2016? Any chance for more of a review than this post?
That is weird about THUNDERSTRUCK. They should be able, at least, to score some cash in Oklahoma City, DC (his hometown) and maybe Seattle. But not without ads…
Awesome rant Dave. Now my two cents. All this teaparty hooha is just old white folks realizing that the American Dream they’ve been sold ain’t happening for them. Anyone born after 1961 has realized it already, these old farts have been sheltered from it. I’m thinking the housing market helped keep reality away from them. My personal experience, and I’m sure that of many folks my age and under is we went through a couple of years of unemployment/odd jobs when we were in our twenties and this latest round of economic crap is no big surprise.
I’m thinking once the idiot teabaggers get done with their thrashing around and holding their breath, we can move on and progress. There’s a lot of old inefficient infrastructure that needs to be replaced, we could be turning the corner into something wonderful.
….and I’m predicting a 75% drop for 2016 next weekend.
the american dream still exists… for people who come to this country and are thrilled with existing within a middle class that Americans now consider to be some kind of prison. I have a few friends ive made over the years that have come to America from the Ukraine, from Palestine, from Africa, from China, and they’ve opened convenience stores or small businesses. And they do the kind of frill free hard work that has made them successful. They send money back to their families. They have nice affordable houses and their kids get a good education.
The American dream is alive and well for those who see it an an aspiration and not an entitlement.
Dave has never been a Moore cheerleader. Kirby Dick, yes. Not Moore.
2016 will have ZERO effect on the election. When it gets to $60 million, call me and I might flinch a little. Moore’s film, in my opinion, backfired more than anything else.
It’s a lamented point of fact on the right, from top W people to the name pundits, that when no one from the admin refuted the charges of F9/11, it filled a void of knowledge with independents.
2016 does the same thing as F9/11, but by using personal past as prologue. The box office headlines will help bridge it over to DVD/VOD rollout, and that’s where, if it has cultural impact, it will hit.
It’s recouped its cost. There’s now nothing stopping Dinesh from dropping it on iTunes or VOD for .99. The number of people who could potentially see 2016 before the election versus F9/11 is higher because the rollout is now quicker with more platforms.
doug r
So are you implying that there’s no one in the Tea Party that was born after 1961?
“2016” is playing here in Petaluma (home of the damn near Little League champs!!) and I didn’t know what it was. Then, when I found out, I thought about seeing it. then I realized it would just piss me off and I’d have nowhere to vent my frustration aside from Facebook or Twitter which is akin to screaming into a void. So I stayed home and watch “The Ambassador” on-demand.
That’s the “doc” about the Danish journalist who poses as an African diplomat in order to legally transport blood diamonds. It’s evidently not all that difficult to arrange that, if you have some start-up cash and the movie shows that. Sort of. It was entertaining and insightful but I was kind of so-so on it.
I liked it o.k….very clever premise. I like the way the filmmaker shot everything with hidden cameras and how much of an all around clusterfuck Africa is. But I needed to know more about the filmmaker as I went into the film. Or, rather, a little background on what I was getting myself into, who this filmmaker was (he’s in every shot) and what his background was, etc.
“We NEED Michael Moore out there… but we need a Michael Moore who hasn’t lost his shit.”
I don’t need an overweight multi-millionaire hypocrite with selective editing skills Andrew Breitbart envied. Let’s not forget MM’s integrity with his “interview” of Charlton Heston in Bowling For Columbine (presumably when he hadn’t lost his shit). Heston clearly had dementia and Moore destroyed him nonetheless. It was completely unfair but Hollywood gave him an Oscar and he became the Chris Nolan of “documentaries.”
As for the abortion rant, do you seriously believe Romney will overturn Roe v Wade? Or dismantle key tenets of pro-choice legislation (planned parenthood, etc)? For one, it woudn’t stand a chance with the Supreme Court (SCOTUS passes Obamacare then starts supporting anti RvW bills?). Secondly, the gop couldn’t get the votes – even in a very conservative Congress should that ever happen – for whatever batshit legislation they toss around. Why? Because conservatives like Ryan know abortion (and gay marriage) are election issues, ways to prove you’re “on the team.” Waving the abortion flag is a great way to elicit fear in potential voters (for both sides), so I digress. For the record, I support any women’s right to third tri-mester termination of pregnancy.
If we want to continue talking about our leaders politicizing issues solely for the purpose of personal gain, can I suggest Obama’s “evolving” views regarding gay marriage? It’s a wonderful narrative about playing both sides.
martin do you think independents are likely to pay to see 2016 at home? And is it likely to influence their opinion of the president in the manner the makers hope? I haven’t seen it so I have no idea how persuasive it is.
“If we want to continue talking about our leaders politicizing issues solely for the purpose of personal gain, can I suggest Obama’s “evolving” views regarding gay marriage? It’s a wonderful narrative about playing both sides.”
Similar to Romney’s “evolving” views on, well, pretty much everything?
Pete, what percentage of tea partiers were born after 1961? Educated guess?
I would take issue with the claim — widely disseminated here and elsewhere — that Fahrenheit 9/11 somehow “backfired” and led to Bush winning re-election. Of course, if we’re going to debate cause and effect, or play the “What if?” game, we could argue forever and never be certain — all of history seems inevitable because it has gone to the trouble of happening. But consider: In 2004, George W. Bush’s victory margin (less than 3 million votes) was the smallest of any sitting president since Harry Truman in 1948. And there are some historians and analysts who still insist that Kerry could have won the Electoral Vote if he’d made more of an issue of alleged voting irregularities in Ohio. (And before someone dredges up 1960 as counterpoint — yes, it’s entirely possible Nixon might have been declared winner if he had raised more hell about that election’s irregularities. As I said: We’ll never know.) What does all of this mean? Well, for openers, it underscores just how close the 2004 election was (a fact that many people, here and elsewhere, seem to forget). If a candidate more charismatic (and, yes, less vulnerable to swift-boating) than Kerry would have been the Democratic nominee, who knows? Maybe now we’d all be saying how Fahrenheit 9/11 actually helped defeat Bush. As it stands — well, again, who knows? I think it’s valid to say Michael Moore’s film did the Kerry campaign more good than harm, in terms of galvanizing independents, and people who might otherwise have stayed home on election day. David obviously feels otherrwise. And I’m sure each of us could point to anecdotal evidence, or quote campaign observers, and blah, blah, blah. But here’s the thing: We’ll never know for certain which one of us is right.
“just old white folks realizing that the American Dream they’ve been sold ain’t happening for them”
Report: America Lost 2.7 Million Jobs to China in 10 Years
Maybe that explains what happened to the American Dream.
“There are roughly 5.1 million fewer American manufacturing jobs now than at the start of 2001. And China is to blame for more than one-third of that loss, says a new report…Wages of American workers have also suffered due to the competition with cheap Chinese labor, EPI says. A typical two-earner household loses around $2,500 per year from this dynamic.”
One more thing: Fireproof made $6.8 million* during its opening weekend in just 839 theaters. And well over a decade ago, The Omega Code made $2.3 million* in just 304 theaters. It’s not exactly shocking that, with the right grass-roots marketing, a conservative-themed movie (sorry, that’s an awkward phrase, but I don’t intend it to be denigrating) will find an audience. And yet, everytime it happens, it seems to drive many people batshit crazy. Like, “Oh my God, look at that!!!!” Why?
It kinda-sorta reminds me of how amazed most b.o. observers were when Diary of a Mad Black Woman posted strong opening-weekend grosses. Obviously, these people had no idea that Tyler Perry had been developing an audience with his touring plays for years and years beforehand.
*Figures from Box Office Mojo.
Joe, you’re identifying marketing and showmanship. And product that appeals to an underserved audience. Things big marketing seems to have forgotten, except in small, colorful examples like the barnstorming screenings of The Master in 70mm.
Also, Romney doesn’t need to overturn Roe v Wade. If you’d look at that article I linked to about Missouri, all he has to do is make it so difficult to get an abortion that abortion becomes unobtainable. The Supremes don’t even need to get involved, if Missouri’s any indication.
Ray: Right on. I know that some people tend to reach for their guns when you talk about My Big Fat Greek Wedding as a very successful indie — “No! No! No! It wasn’t a real indie! Wah! Wah! Wah!” — but I can recall seeing posters for that flick in small Greek restaurants throughout Houston before, and long after, it opened.
…or maybe not:
“The flames are threatening to jump the Roe v. Wade firewall. In 1973 the vote was 7 to 2. Now, eight Republican and four Democratic appointments later, it’s down to 5 to 4. A Romney appointment could make it 4 to 5. Until Todd Akin came along, no one was paying much attention.”
And “Because of Roe v. Wade, there was never much danger that a woman of means would have serious trouble arranging a safe, discreet end to an unwanted or dangerous pregnancy. If she thought that her marginal tax rate was too high, she could vote Republican secure in the knowledge that her right to choose would not be affected. The Supreme Court would protect her from Akin and his ilk.”
So if Romney did happen to swing the Supremes in his direction, the next step would be to require a vaginal inspection of every female American reentering the U.S., just to make sure they didn’t visit some heathen nation to obtain an abortion.
Paul D/Stella
This is just from a quick Google search but according to Gallup, Tea Partiers were split 50/50 around age 50…
http://www.gallup.com/poll/127181/tea-partiers-fairly-mainstream-demographics.aspx
Am I the only one who keeps confusing THE APPARITION with THE AWAKENING? Two horror movies with similar titles facing each other. Dumb move on somebody’s part.
Re Michael Moore: Nobody’s perfect. Yes, what he did to Heston was a chickenshit move, but on balance, he does far more good than harm. SICKO, in particular, opened an awful lot of people’s eyes to how badly they were being screwed by the insurance and drug companies.
@Sam, I imagine you fall into a camp that despises Romney, detests Bain Capital, considers the GOP racist bigots, etc.
Surely, if Romney is as pernicious as he is commonly portrayed, I would think his greed alone eclipses in importance any moral convictions he has on the abortion issue. After all, fewer pregnancies = fewer people to sign up for gov’t entitlements = more money for his 1% buddies, right?
Pete B^ Yes. “”Tea Party supporters are likely to be older, white and male. Forty percent are age 55 and over, compared with 32 percent of all poll respondents; just 22 percent are under the age of 35, 79 percent are white, and 61 percent are men. Many are also Christian fundamentalists, with 44 percent identifying themselves as “born-again,” compared with 33 percent of all respondents.”
Read more: http://digitaljournal.com/article/289821#ixzz24hPU8ORj
R_W. 1. Don’t assume to know when I think MM loses his shit. It’s a moving target. As for the rest… yeah… but also, bullshit.
2. The Supreme Court is moving closer to overturning Roe. Many think 2 more Justices may turn in the next 4 years. And it’s not just changing law… throwing it to the states will kill women.
3. Obama finally went public with what a majority of Americans believe is fair. Not much of a talking point. Romney has no position on which he hasn’t or won’t flip, coincidentally including gay marriage and reproductive rights.
Joe –
You’re right. We will never really know.
My issue is as much with riling up the Republican base and shooting the load on the left. Embracing F9/11 was a way of assuming Bush away for the left. “How could such a buffoon win again?”
We had our own buffoon. That was certainly the biggest cause of the loss. But I believe F9/11 and its snotty, holier than thou attitude led a lazy arrogance on the left that Obama finally overcame in 2008.
By the way… the remnants remain. In a still weak economy – not the depression we were so close to thanks to The Right – Democrats arrogant enough to whine about Obama’s lack of fulfilling their dreams in public is f-ing pathetic.
MBFGW was a REAL indie. No question. It wasn’t art. But it was indie.
I wish there were a history of the distribution of BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING, even as a longreads-type ebook… so much there. Including the HBO pre-buy, which tossed up all sorts of potential problems that instead became golden opportunities (such as the too-early airline run that was recognized instead as free word-of-mouth over a long, family-oriented holiday weekend).
“– Democrats arrogant enough to whine about Obama’s lack of fulfilling their dreams in public is f-ing pathetic.”
Too much of that “what have you done for me lately”. Maybe these guys should watch “I’m a Bill” again and realize how Capitol Hill works.
Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a documentary in theaters. Ever.
RWI, my father was a Republican who would’ve voted for the elephant if it was on the ticket, yet he was pissed when the state voted to end Medicaid funding for abortions. His logical, right-leaning reasoning? “Three hundred bucks for an abortion is a deal compared to the hundreds of thousands of my tax dollars it’ll cost to raise an unwanted kid.”
Oh, and the easy way to deprive Bain of its income is to unionize the retailers and fast-food chains they’ve “acquired” (remember back in the day when a “leveraged buyout” was still called a “hostile takeover”?). The only way they’ve been able to squeeze out any dividends is to cut overhead, meaning the pay and benefits of the workers. But since the right has done such a smashing job of demonizing unions we could accomplish the same result by raising the minimum wage to a decent level and placing every American citizen into the same health plan. (Haven’t the insurance companies been telling us for years that larger membership reduces costs for everyone?)
(BTW, my hostility for Bain actually started a few months ago when I stumbled across this page: “List of defunct retailers of the United States“. I was stunned to see just how many of the stores and restaurants I grew up loving were doing quite well until some company bought them out, saddled them with debt and sold them into bankruptcy…which amazingly enough just happens to be Bain’s SOP. For that alone I wish a fiery death upon everyone associated with “acquisitions”.)
Whenever one of these right-wing movies comes out and does some money (almost any amount), it is hailed as some unpredicted, stunning gross. Basically it doesn’t fit in with the construct of movies leaning liberal.
This Obama documentary will ultimately have no effect on the election because it is preaching to the converted. Anyone who believes in it already did when they went in, and the filmmakers made the film that way knowing full well that they would sell more tickets if the message was to the converted and not the masses.
I think what’s missing in politics now are facts. We let so much fibbing slide when we have the greatest access to information in history and can simply reveal when someone has blatantly lied or changed positions. It’s not hard, and if Jon Stewart made a documentary like that, I’m sure it would not only be eye-opening for many people, but it would make a lot of money AND possibly change the election by edu-taining people.
People believe what they want to believe. Hell, I just spent some time arguing with a guy who just CANNOT believe that Green Lantern was a flop, becuase $220 million is bigger than $200 million. No ammount of math or evidence could sway him. He had become utterly entrenched over a movie he didn’t even like. But there was no fucking way anyone was going to tell him what he “knew” was wrong. Apply that mentality to issues that people DO care about, and it’s easy to see why things fall apart.
1. You’re so ambiguous on MM, only you get to make assumptions about people whose political opinions differ to your own. Your site, fair enough.
2. Completely disagree w you re RvW. Repubs voting for Romney don’t want him wasting time/resources overturning a precedent that turns 40 two days after inauguration. Want a women’s health crisis? Let’s talk about the 40 million obese women in this country. Who pays for the 1/3 of America that’s obese and pose significant risk for heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes? Not sure, but let’s sign everyone up for healthcare.
More on fiscal, you said 2016 was fiscally similar to Big Miracle. I definitely saw plenty of street + billboard print for BM. Trailer addict has 5 pages of studio marketiing assets – including several TV spots (I imagine a healthy TV buy to support outdoor). 2016 had no outdoor to speak of (saw poster online ~2-3 weeks ago), and Trailer addict has 2 assets for the film, trailer + poster. 1st wknd…6.4 on 1k screens vs 7.7 on 2k screens…and these are fiscally similar? Now your politics make sense.
EDIT: Politics aside, you’re still top notch.
Here’s some perspective:
Let’s say “2016” tops out at $16 million. At an average ticket price of $8, that means two million people will have seen it, which is about 4% of the number of people who will vote for Romney.
RWI, right-wingers are OBSESSED with controlling womens’ bodies. They have so much in common with the Muslims they supposedly hate and fear that you get the impression they’re like the angry guy who hates gay men because they all look so, uhh, attractive.
And creating an obesity epidemic is something you could easily see a right-wing cabal plotting in a Bond movie because they benefit from every part of the problem. They get to sell lots of cheaply-made food loaded with terrible additives that taste amazingly great to people in the lower end of the economic spectrum who have shitty health insurance they still pay dearly for that provides little help to end a chronic problem that will send them to the grave before they can collect a penny of Social Security.
“Let’s talk about the 40 million obese women in this country. Who pays for the 1/3 of America that’s obese and pose significant risk for heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes? ”
Yes, let’s talk about it. Lets start with when Michelle Obama made fighting obesity one of her priorities as First Lady – and how the right went apeshit and accused her of controlling people.
” Let’s talk about the 40 million obese women in this country. Who pays for the 1/3 of America that’s obese and pose significant risk for heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes?”
Didn’t Sarah Palin equate Michelle Obama’s fight against obesity to restricting American freedoms.
I think repubs are just talking themselves into knots. Why don’t they want to get rid of Romneycare as much as Obamacare when they are basically the same the thing. Aren’t all the criticisms leveled at Obamacare not applicable to Romneycare as well? If Romney was such a great Governor and his signature imprint was Romneycare, doesn’t the same thing apply to Obama?
Bulldog: Romneycare is named after a great, upstanding American. Obamacare is named after a Kenyan Muslim terrorist. That’s the only difference.
@storymark, overweight kids in schools with high-calorie junk food, 35.5%; overweight kids in schools (embracing Michelle Obama’s philosophies of) banning of junk food, 34.8%. I wonder how much money KFC or Jack in the Box makes in EBT receipts each year.
@Sam, overturning RvW will cost 100+mil, probably a multiple of that, there’s no money for that fight. yes repubs obsess over women’s bodies, here’s more evidence for your argument http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/23/politics/tampa-gop-strip-clubs/index.html
THEN AGAIN, we like money a whoooole lot more than say… an unwanted prenancy with a rental we just paid full freight for
@bulldog, romneycare may have worked when he was gov of MA (population 6+mil) but with 300+mil population? raise the marginal to clinton rates, the revenue is like $55bil, that’s nothing compared to our deficit spending under O. listen, i hate that romeny pays 13%, that’s bullshit, but i don’t see obama (and his corporate ties) addressing it anytime soon
@cadavara, 2016 will hit 16mil before it expands to 1800 theatres friday, that’s 400 fewer than what BM, it’s apparent fiscal equivalent, opened on opening wknd. congrats on the other comment btw, brave stuff.
Wow.
So, becuase she didn’t magically shut down fast food chains, it’s okay to attack her for trying to do something about the issue you think is so pertinent.
Yep, you are living right up to your name. Idiot.
RWI: Obviously I wrote that before they made the decision to expand to 1800 theatres.
Paul – Sorry, stepped away. Hard to read this thread.
martin do you think independents are likely to pay to see 2016 at home? And is it likely to influence their opinion of the president in the manner the makers hope? I haven’t seen it so I have no idea how persuasive it is.
IMO, accessibility and a low price-point is going to get anyone to watch it because it’s actually generated pop culture headlines. That’s how F9/11 found such a wide, non-documentary audience.
I have a million other things I’d rather watch, but yeah, a 1.99 pop on my VOD would probably catch me, out of the sheer curiosity for George Obama.
If it rolls our like a traditional DVD, then no. People will flip right past at the Redbox. But a lowball PPV price, will get a lot of “I’ll wait for the disc” home viewers.
Joe – F9/11 filled an information void. When things went south in Iraq during 2005, the movie was seen as “the truth” which help lead to the ’06 Congressional overturn. You can’t leave these things unanswered in this level of mass, instantaneous communication.
Quite alright martin. And it doesn’t appear to be going away. I saw Rupert Murdoch just endorsed it. I imagine he has a lot of Twitter followers and a lot of sway with them. Did that Palin documentary do well on VOD?
I have often wondered whether we should have recognized the b.o. fizzle of The Undefeated for it was — the first indication that Palin’s 15 minutes definitely were up, and she would never, ever, be a serious Presidential candidate. Yes, she continues to attract a following of diehard loyalists. But, hey, even the GOP overlords felt safe in pointedly NOT inviting her to their Tampa shindig.
@storymark, EBT is an entitlement, right wing idiots like myself would prefer to curb entitlements. i struggle with the notion that providing access to fast food via EBT to the less privileged is somehow noble or good. as for michelle o’s programs, dietary habits are formed based on the home environment, period — throw all the money you want at them while at school, they’ll still get their cheetos and pespsi
@cadavera, you presented a hypothetical, my fault – if it falls >30%, 1800 screens will be a mistake, guess we shall see. others have pointed to VOD, i think that could have some serious mileage for this title.
Yes, VOD will definitely be a factor. But in any event, this is a film with a ticking clock: If Romney wins, then no one will ever watch it again; no need to. And even if Obama is reelected, it’s still a lot of whining about an election than is done and over with. And come 2017, Obama will return to the private sector.
By contrast, Moore’s documentaries will remain relevant as long as people are being killed with guns, screwed by pharmaceutical companies and Wall Street, being thrown out of their homes, and worrying while their children are in the Middle East dying in an unwinnable war.