The Panda

I definitely would not compare it to Ice Age, it's about as similar to Ice Age as Shark Tale is to Finding Nemo. Also, I'd say this movie is getting a lot of undeserved backlash. If it had been WDAS that made the film instead of Pixar it would have gotten the same or better critical praise than Big Hero 6, Wreck-It Ralph, and Frozen. It's also a heck of a lot better than Cars 1 and 2, Brave, and Monsters University. It's on about a Bug's Life or Monster's Inc. level of Pixar quality. The narrative is rather simple, but everything is told through the visuals, and those are beautiful. Visually, it is the best animated film I have probably seen. It's absolutely gorgeous, and I didn't find the cartoonish characters to be that much of a clash to the photo-realistic environment. There's a lot of simple heart in the movie, and there's one particular heart-wrenching scene that would have made me tear up if the theater wasn't filled with obnoxious screaming children. It honestly reminds me more of a classic disney film than a Pixar film, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. If you go in expecting an animated film for adults that kids can enjoy as well (Inside Out) then you'll be very disappointed. It's not Inside Out, Up, Wall-E, or Finding Nemo in those terms. But it's a lot of fun, and tonally feels very down to earth. There's some very funny parts, but the film is all simplicity, heart, visuals, and an adventure home.

We're not talking about people choosing to not see a movie two months prior to save for Star Wars. My argument is that because all of the hype is for Star Wars, people were less hyped for the other event movies and payed less attention. They cared less about them because Star Wars marketing was kicking into full gear and that's all they cared about. Because of that there was less hype built up for films like MJ2 so instead of them being, "We have to go see that film!" It was more, "Oh yeah, that's coming out too." Which would lead less people feeling motivated to go and buy tickets for the movie. Without a 4 quadrant film like Star Wars you might have had a larger amount of people more hyped for a variety of films that didn't have the type of appeal it has. Just think about it, are people really talking about anything other than Star Wars when it comes to film right now?

That might be a better way to put it. People didn't care as much about Bond or Hunger Games because they're pumped for Star Wars.

Btw, I'm not saying it's the sole reason for each case, but I'm saying I believe it has had an effect on each movie in terms of anticipation building which would lead to box office gross. No Star Wars hype and I see all of these movies opening and doing a bit better.

I think this is worth discussing. My point: Ever since The Force Awakens third trailer released, started selling tickets, and kicking it's marketing campaign into gear there hasn't been a movie that's even been able to perform to modest expectations (with a possible exception of Creed) October was a complete bust minus the Martian (came out pre-Star Wars), but that happened last year so no big deal right? Well, Spectre also underperformed and Peanuts has done well but it's been a smaller hit. Mockingjay Part 2, the Hunger Games finale, is a disappointing at a pretty spectacular level. And now Pixar's the Good Dinosaur could potentially be their weakest box office performance since Cars 2. This is a movie that was supposed to be a sure-fire smash after Inside Out's success and the Dino craze JW caused. So my question is, has Star Wars monopolized on the hype, or are all of these disappointments simply coincidences from over expectations? Now, there's legitimate reasons for many of these disappointments, but maybe not to the level they are disappointing on. And certainly it's strange how it's been a string of weak performances. I think there's a high probability that the unprecedented hype Star Wars has right now is killing the hype for other movies and leading to weaker performances. People aren't getting excited for the new Bond, Hunger Games, or Pixar flick because Star Wars is right around the corner. It's not that people are saving their money for Star Wars, but that they don't care about any other movie coming out this season because all of the eyes are on Star Wars. Add in a hectic world situation taking away the focus of people, that people just aren't caring to show up to see anything right now.

I can only hope that Dino pulls through this Friday.

I watched this and wow. This was an excellent example of documentary filmmaking. It is riveting, fact-filled, shows its sources, and objective. It not only exposes Scientology as the crime against humans as it is, but it offers a full picture of how a cult can be formed and how it imprisons people. While this is mainly done by showing the case example of Scientology, it is a relevant comparison to many other cults. Some of which had been able to perpetrate mainstream religions (such as the television ministries of the 80s that focused on trapping people into their way of thinking). It shows how a man can manipulate people into practically selling themselves to them, one step at a time, and imprison them by their own will. In many ways it parallels with dictatorial rises, and how people go all in on a person who knows how to manipulate the thinking of others. It not only exposes the atrocities of Scientology but presents how such an atrocity could be possible in the first place. How it could happen. Have there been more relevant documentaries than this, on more important issues? Yes. But few are able to be so clear cut and brilliant in their craft. I'm very critical and harsh on my grades for documentaries. Much more so than I am for fictional film, and it's because in a way a good film documentary has to do so much more. It has to be well-crafted, it needs to be objective or it risks having a null point, and it needs to prove relevance on why the watch was worth it. Going Clear does that. A

I can be entertained from pure cinematography is it's good enough. I'm just hoping there's substance to it as well for a great film.

Each LOTR movie was beloved though. Catching Fire, the best received of the HG, still wasn't close to that level of reception. The Hobbit is a better small scale comparison to Hunger Games in that regard. At least their finales compare well. BOFA and MJ2 both proved that a film being a finale doesn't mean an increase if you don't market your film, and if people didn't like the previous film. Finales will only provide that boost if you can make your audiences want to see the conclusion. I don't think Harry Potter or Twilight were ever good comparisons. DH1 was still well-liked and the franchise had been going on for a near decade, that's 10 years of build up for one big finale. Twilight had a dedicated fanbase that had roughly the same people turning up for every movie. They all averaged close to the same minus the first one. Hunger Games lacked the build up for the finale Harry Potter had, and lost the general audience that allowed it to reach 400m by poor marketing and making the last two films total bores.

2016 could be possible to break the record, but it also looks more stacked like this year. 400M 1.Batman v Superman 2.Finding Dory 3.Rogue One 300M 1.Batman v Superman 2.Captain America: Civil War 3.Finding Dory 4.Suicide Squad 5.Moana 6.Rogue One 200M 1.Deadpool 2.Zootopia 3.Batman v Superman 4.The Jungle Book 5.Captain America: Civil War 6.Finding Dory 7.The Secret Life of Pets 8.Star Trek: Beyond 9.Suicide Squad 10.Doctor Strange 11.Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 12.Moana 13.Rogue One 100M 1.Kung Fu Panda 3 2.Deadpool 3.Zootopia 4.Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice 5.Miracles From Heaven 6.The Jungle Book 7.Captain America: Civil War 8.Neighbors 2 9.The Angry Birds Movie 10.X-Men: Apocalypse 11.Alice: Through the Looking Glass 12.TMNT 2 13.The Conjuring 2 14.Warcraft 15.Finding Dory 16.Independence Day: Resurgence 17.Central Intelligence 18.The BFG 19.The Secret Life of Pets 20.Ghostbusters 21.Star Trek: Beyond 22.Bourne 5 23.Suicide Squad 24.Storks 25.The Magnificent 7 26.Inferno 27.Trolls 28.Doctor Strange 29.Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 30.Moana 31.Rogue One 32.Assassin's Creed 33.Sing 34.Passengers

I think Part 1 was more of a combination of poor marketing, and it being the part 1 of the franchise. Part 2 had to do with a mixture of poor marketing (about as bad or worse than MJ1) and MJ1 sucking. Audiences clearly weren't interested in the story MJ1 was telling and saw no need to show up for part 2.

1.Inside Out 2.Anomalisa 3.Shaun the Sheep 4.The Good Dinosaur 5.The Peanuts Movie / When Marnie Was There Good Dino should get a nom as long as there are 4-5 slots.

The test isn't going to be it's legs now, I'm sure it can manage smaller drops from a smaller weekend. The test is whether it collapses or not when up against SW.

I've skipped out on most of the newer Rocky movies. I'll see this one because of Coogler though. The guys a great director

I'm also wondering if critics are being slightly harder on it, simply because it's following Inside Out.

Color me hyped. That poster is excitement.

What if Inside Out manages a win? A man can dream right?

Just to be clear I gave The Martian a B to begin with and stick by it. Its a fun, feel good film, but it's really nothing special. However, that might be enough to be one of the best of the year. So far this year I've only seen 5 films I thought deserved an A, and two were borderline. I haven't seen a lot of smaller films though, so when I start seeing them that might change.

1.Star Wars 2.The Good Dinosaur 3.Spotlight 4.Creed 5.The Revenant 6.Krampus 7.In the Heart of the Sea 8.Finding Dory 9.The Big Short 10.The Hateful Eight

You're right, it will be in theaters.

Star Wars would have to be an F level movie then. Because anything at a D and Id still watch it over MJ2. It's why that even though I hate Phantom Menace, I still watch it when doing a SW marathon.

Except the more I think about Mockingjay Part 2, the more I realize that it's not a good movie. I think I'm going to lower my grade to a D+. It spoils faster than Milk.

Especially since all of the show times will be sold out before the weekend starts anyways.

Just tell them to give the money to me. I'll be sure the money goes towards many tickets...

Yeah, a hit song with a movie honestly helps. Guardians of the Galaxy utilized songs that had already been a hit, not a direct example but also applies. The Great Gatsby's music helped it out, as did Safe and Sound for the Hunger Games. And that Fifty Shades of Grey song could have helped out. You also have things like Let it Go propelling Frozen, Skyfall helping Skyfall, and so forth.