The Panda

Films can have more than one lead

But even a smaller (yet significant) amount being attributed to astroturfing both hurts theaters at the margin and in tight BO competitions allows them to take credit and positive press for reaching number 1 at the BO for example.

It can be true that SoF both has an audience that is seeing the movie and that it’s numbers can be inflated through astroturfing as a push for higher coverage. Criticizing astroturfing doesn’t mean im denying it has a real audience.

the suspicion comes from the fact that: 1. Right wing pacs and politicians have a history of astroturfing in attempts to inflate numbers on NYT’s best seller lists. 2. Film creators state the astroturfing as a goal in their message at the end of the movie by encouraging audience members to buy up pay it forward tickets. If it doesn’t end up inflating ticket sales down the line, it’s at best a grift taking advantage of a manipulated audience. 3. CM is a terrible comparison to make if you’re trying to do a “What aboutism”. SoF is a political film with ideological aims from the filmmakers made by a new movie studio that has a goal of producing ideological content which pierces into the mainstream. CM is a Disney superhero movie that’s biggest “political statement” was to have a woman in the leading role. It’s obtuse to act like people’s suspicions of astroturfing are fringe thinking.

yes but my impression was tickets are already “bought” from the donations at the end of the film. Whether they’re redeemed or not they’re still bought? A redeemed ticket of course wouldn’t be a no show. That would imply 7% is people who redeemed and showed?

7% on which day? I’d imagine no shows are more likely on the weekdays where it’s been having particularly strong holds

I’ve seen a lot of reports that large portions of SoF’s audience are no shows, particularly in the cities (due to the “pay it forward” astroturfing campaign). That’s pretty terrible for theaters. A sold out theater with nobody in it is a concessionless theater. It also crowds our showings for movies that actually have real people showing up for them (and buying popcorn, etc). I hope this doesn’t encourage future marketing strategies to copy it.

One additional thought: astroturfing campaigns is terrible for theaters. If most of the audience are no shows, they’re losing concession money and end up keeping a movie they otherwise might not have a lot longer. SoF’s “put it forward” marketing strategy is terrible for theaters and if you are a supporter of theaters you shouldn’t be cheering this shit on.

My thoughts I sent Cap last week. Sharing them here: ”It’s a push to make mainstream-like media content that gateways people to dangerous conspiratorial thinking. Where the BO gross is coming from is also inflated by the core base buying a bunch of unused tickets in order to get “#1 at the BO, toppling Indiana Jones!” As headlines to drive more mainstream interest It’s using the summer tentpole / action movie as a push for a louder cultural footprint.” Some broad thoughts I’d like to add onto that: - This movie fits alongside an evangelical trend to push out more “mainstream appearing” content in order to gain a larger cultural microphone. It’s in line with The Chosen, the Museum of the Bible (on the National Mall), and the “He Gets Us” advertising campaigns. None of these things are as blatantly ideological as some past evangelical content like “Unplanned” or “God’s Not Dead” or “The Creation Museum”, but they’re funded by the same people. That’s important. This material is meant to ease audiences, who wouldn’t be receptive to the more ideological extreme positions of past content, into potentially accepting a more toned down version with a much higher production value than some past pop cultural pushes. - Is the movie itself extreme in ideology? Probably not, from what I know (I refuse to support it financially so will only see it if it’s available for free). But the director is, and the director opens the door by breaking the third wall at the end of the credits. He uses the movie as pathos to make the audience sympathetic to what he has to say, and then encourages them to listen to him outside of the theater (which will be more ideologically extreme and conspiratorial) and/or support his movie’s Astroturfing campaign - This type of content is dangerous because it presents itself as moderate and high quality content. However, the makers and supporters behind it are often extremists looking to regain and reclaim a stronger cultural relevance for the evangelical ideology that they perceive as waning in power. Buying up theaters worth of unused tickets to gain positive box office press gives power to and presents Angel Studios and their filmmakers as alternative mainstream content worth taking seriously. I personally find it worrisome that the astroturfing campaign is working and giving the extremist director a platform he wouldn’t otherwise have.

SpongeBob is canonically queer and is the lead character. Patrick wears a bra in the movie. Count what you want it but it’s staying my list

FYC My full list: 1. Everything, Everywhere All at Once (2022) 2. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) 3. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) 4. Cabaret (1972) 5. The Matrix (1999) 6. The Handmaiden (2016) 7. Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001) 8. The Power of the Dog (2021) 9. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) 10. Disobedience (2017) 11. Rebecca (1940) 12. Blue is the Warmest Color (2013) 13. Tar (2022) 14. You Won’t Be Alone (2021) 15. Mulholland Drive (2021) 16. Jennifer’s Body (2009) 17. Moonlight (2016) 18. Climax (2018) 19. But I’m a Cheerleader (1999) 20. Some Like it Hot (1959) 21. The Favourite (2018) 22. Philadelphia (1993) 23. Call Me By Your Name (2017) 24. Brokeback Mountain (2005) 25. Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001) 26. Cloud Atlas (2012) 27. Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018) 28. The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie (2004) 29. Luca (2021) 30. Tangerine (2015) 31. Tick, tick… Boom! (2021) 32. Fear Street: 1666 (2021) 33. The Color Purple (1985) 34. Midnight Cowboy (1969) 35. Carrie (1976) 36. Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) 37. The Green Knight (2021) 38. Carol (2015) 39. Booksmart (2019) 40. Pray Away (2021) 41. The Matrix Resurrections (2022) 42. Precious (2009) 43. Clue (1985) 44. Rocketman (2019) 45. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) 46. Milk (2008) 47. Love, Simon (2018) 48. Fame (1980) 49. Fear Street: 1994 (2021) 50. Boy Erased (2018)

Flash might not even break 200m DOM imo. ASV is O/U 300m DOM You’re overlooking Barbie and MI:DR-P1 has contenders

I think Gen Z’s Star Wars is simply Star Wars

you think I’m joking but I think the Mario movie is an unabashedly great piece of pop art. If I were a film scholar I’d write a paper about it.

what are you talking about? The Mario movie is head and shoulders better than I2

1. Goodfellas (1990) 2. Before Sunset (2004) 3. Life of Brian (1979) 4. Blade Runner (1982) 5. Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) 6. A Star is Born (1954) 7. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) 8. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) 9. Unforgiven (1992) 10. The Exorcist (1973) 11. Gravity (2013) 12. Dune (2021) 13. Swordfish (2001) 14. Heat (1995) 15. Her (2013) 16. Chariots of Fire (1981) 17. Casablanca (1942) 18. The Last of the Mohicans (1992) 19. Barry Lyndon (1975) 20. The Searchers (1956) 21. The NeverEnding Story (1984) 22. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) 23. Malcolm X (1992) 24. Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) 25. The Shining (1980) 26. Mean Streets (1973) 27. The Dark Knight (2008) 28. The Right Stuff (1983) 29. Crazy Rich Asians (2018) 30. Ocean’s Eleven (2001) 31. The Matrix (1999) 32. A Clockwork Orange (1971) 33. The Color Purple (1985) 34. Zodiac (2007) 35. Empire of the Sun (1987) 36. Excaliber (1981) 37. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) 38. Purple Rain (1984) 39. National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983) 40. In the Heights (2021) 41. Blade Runner 2049 (2017) 42. Dunkirk (2017) 43. Speed Racer (2008) 44. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) 45. Full Metal Jacket (1987) 46. Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) 47. Cloud Atlas (2012) 48. Free Willy (1993) 49. The Batman (2022) 50. The Terminal Man (1974) 51. A Star is Born (2018) 52. Prisoners (2013) 53. Magic Mike (2012) 54. The Fountain (2006) 55. Beetlejuice (1988) 56. Blazing Saddles (1974) 57. House of the Flying Daggers (2004) 58. Interstellar (2014) 59. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001) 60. Happy Feet (2006) 61. The Maltese Falcon (1941) 62. The Departed (2006) 63. Batman Returns (1992) 64. Pokemon: The First Movie (1999) 65. The Prestige (2006) 66. Gremlins (1984) 67. Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) 68. Scooby-Doo (2002) 69. The Matrix Reloaded (2003) 70. The Aviator (2004) 71. Demolition Man (1993) 72. Mad Max 2 (1982) 73. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011) 74. The Goonies (1985) 75. Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011) 76. Batman Begins (2005) 77. Dial M for Murder (1954) 78. The Fugitive (1993) 79. Eyes Wide Shut (1999) 80. The Jazz Singer (1952) 81. L.A. Confidential (1997) 82. The LEGO Movie (2014) 83. The Matrix Resurrections (2021) 84. Contagion (2011) 85. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) 86. Inception (2010) 87. Superman II (1981) 88. Caddyshack (1980) 89. Twister (1996) 90. It (2017) 91. Little Shop of Horrors (1986) 92. Inherent Vice (2014) 93. South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut (1999) 94. Creed (2015) 95. Beowulf (2007) 96. The Secret Garden (1993) 97. Interview with a Vampire (1994) 98. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) 99. Friday the 13th (1980) 100. Kimi (2022)

Both of the doomerisms that AI is going to destroy the world and the AI homers are sounding quite silly in this thread imo. Both coming from a misunderstanding of what current AI models actually are, and what their current limitations are. In context of the writers guild: The risk is not that AI can outright replace the job of a writer, but that they'll be misused making it easier to worsen compensation for writers and worsen the quality of sceenplays. The point is to provide protections to ensure that AI is used appropriately as tool (which is potentially helpful for writing quality). AI used inappropriately probably looks like base sections of a script being written by ChatGPT and then cleaned by a lower compensated writer. This would probably be used most often by a streamer trying to get cheap content produced to fill out their catalogue for a month. This results in more lower quality scripts and provides worse compensation / benefits for the writer. Premium projects probably wouldn't have the same level of AI contribution (at least not in their current state). The above scenario isn't great, but it's a far cry from some of the scenarios y'all have brought up in this thread. Those read more like fearmongering to me, at least with the current state of the tech and my knowledge about how current AI models work.

5/5

EEAAO should rightfully sweep

Hey All, Sorry for the delay in getting these up! The categories are the same as last year. Instead of doing a short list, some categories we'll allow you to vote for up to 10 (only 6 will be chosen as official nominees so you'll be voting for more than will ultimately make it. This is for the few categories that are harder to define specific nominees for or tend to have more spread out votes that results in many ties) The categories we are asking nominations for: (rank up to 10 choices) BEST PICTURE (rank up to 6 choices) BEST DIRECTOR BEST ENSEMBLE BEST ACTOR BEST ACTRESS BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS BEST VOICE PERFORMANCE BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY BEST ANIMATED FEATURE BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY BEST EDITING BEST VISUAL EFFECTS BEST COSTUME DESIGN BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP DESIGN BEST SOUND DESIGN BEST ORIGINAL SCORE BEST SOUNDTRACK BEST ORIGINAL SONG BEST STUNT ENSEMBLE MOST EPIC BOX OFFICE RUN MOST SOUL CRUSHING BOX OFFICE RUN BEST COMEDY FEATURE BEST MUSICAL FEATURE BEST HORROR FEATURE BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE BEST TV SHOW/MINISERIES – COMEDY BEST TV SHOW/MINISERIES - DRAMA (rank up to 10 choices) WORST FEATURE BEST BREAKTHROUGH (filmmaker, actor, writer, etc.) BEST YOUTH PERFORMANCE (any actor under 20 y/o when film was shot) BEST OVERLOOKED FEATURE (Film without “serious” awards consideration and made under 25m at the Box Office DOM) BEST HERO BEST VILLAIN BEST SCENE FUNNIEST USER MOST VALUABLE USER BEST FORUM MOMENT

Sounds like you are trashing what you started because you didn’t like how well TLJ did.

What are you talking about? I love Star Wars!

Sounds like you should have sent in a list if your opinion was this strong!

My working list. Trying to remove the more populist stuff (Ghibli, stuff that made our top 100 list, etc). I’ll only submit a list of 50 because I don’t think I’ll see enough for a solid 100 list Ikiru Wild Strawberries Tokyo Story Rashomon Harakiri Quest for Fire The Passion of Joan of Arc The Devil’s Backbone Oldboy Minari Ran The Act of Killing Fanny and Alexander Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… And Spring Aguirre, the Wrath of God The 400 Blows The Battle of Algiers You Won’t Be Alone Stalker Disco Dancer Solaris Come and See Alexander Nevsky Hero The Handmaiden Y Tu Mama Tambien Quo Vadis, Aida? Raw Tag (2015) Brazil The Good, The Bad, and the Weird Blue is the Warmest Color The Farewell Night of the Kings Chungking Express The Red Balloon Das Boot Amour Hard to be a God Nosferatu Throne of Blood Baahubali Part 1: The Beginning Baahubali Part 2: The Conclusion Yojimbo Persepolis Amores Perros Incendies Train to Busan The Disciple I Lost My Body movies on my watch list (obviously won’t see them all) High and Low Red Beard The Bad Sleep Well The Hidden Fortress 8 1/2 mother Cinema Paradiso Pather Panchali Autumn Sonata M Late Spring Persona Portrait of a Lady on Fire RRR Titane Mandabi The Umbrellas of Cherbourg The Young Girls of Rochefort Enter the Void Let the Right One In Ugetsu The Seventh Seal Possession Mishima Death by Hanging The Flowers of St Francis Three Colours Trilogy Once Upon a Time in China Police Story Trilogy The Human Condition Series Perfect Blue YiYi Blood of Satan’s Claw Felini Satyricon Bruce Lee Movies The Passion of Anna Face to Face Army of Shadows The Wages of Fear The Devil’s Doorstep Tokyo Twilight Dreams Children of Heaven Shame Ordet Farewell my concubine Umberto D The Secret in their eyes Your name Le samourai

In case y'all want another reason to join the telegram, we revealed the list of all the Telegram user community. @IronJimbo would be ecstatic about the top choice The Telegram List