sabrecmc

I really want to go back and read The Force Awakens thread for that first couple of weeks of release. I remember the weekend was huge, but maybe not quite as huge as some had hoped, and then Monday hit and it was this behemoth that would not stop. Aaaaanyway. Good for Dory. Little fish that could. Is that a good number for The Shallows? Seems like a decent number, but I don't really follow horror or whatever category you want to put that movie in.

Saw the 2:30 show with a surprisingly packed theater. Like, almost all the upper seats sold out and a few of the bottom rows. Enjoyed it, overall. The ending got some laughs, but I think some of that was tension release (some was what happened though, because...yeah). There were some parts that made me side-eye it, but I guess there isn't anything more ridiculous that what's in Jaws. Certainly not more ridiculous than what was in Jurassic World. Lively did a really good job, I thought. She wasn't superwoman, didn't do stupid things just for the sake of drama, etc., but was smart and quick-thinking. I was entertained. The trailers in front of it, though. Ouija? Some movie about kids getting stuck in a house with a blind maniac? Some chick with Horror Movie Hair of Evil (TM) who lives in the dark? I don't see many horror movies, so I guess I'm totally out of it, but really?

Going to see this on Sunday. Glad to hear it is entertaining!

I once read an article that argued that Alien 3 was a perfectly good monster movie that somehow got turned into a terrible part of a franchise. That kind of made sense to me. I remember leaving the theater and just wondering, what the hell were they thinking?

I love Alien and Aliens. They are so different, but work incredibly well as a complete story. I still ship Ellen/Dwayne and it has been how many years? Yeah, I'm still bitter. I just happily pretend the other movies don't exist. I finally did watch Prometheus, and I think it says something that I was rooting for an alien to come kill everyone. Apparently, in the future, we become blindingly stupid.

I think people are just prone to comparing b/c it is shocking (to most) that Zootopia could possibly come out ahead of BvS. Most people did not see that coming at all, so there is some wow factor to it, even though they are very different films. One of my issues with BvS is that I can't take my daughter to see it, but something like Zootopia, we can both enjoy, so I guess maybe it shouldn't be surprising that Zoo could outperform, but I did not expect that. Glad to see the love for Zootopia though. Great movie.

Finally realized that the premise reminds me of Cujo. Could not think of it, but I knew there was some other movie where there was an animal between the person and where they had to be. Anyway, teaser still looks neat to me.

I find this strangely interesting. I like survival stories, man vs. nature kind of things.

I keep thinking that if they get that close...970ish...they'll do something to push it over. Add a deleted scene or stinger at the end, maybe. Re-release it for May the 4th with something new. I don't know. Something. But, Disney has shown a heap of not caring about round numbers, so maybe not.

Saw this while my daughter went with a friend to see TFA again. I think she got the better deal, though Leo was good, as always. Not his best film in my opinion, but very good. The film really dragged for me in the middle. And the ending was just sort of unsatisfying. I don' t know. It was good, but it isn't something I would see again or really quite recommend, though I don't hate it or anything. Just didn't quite work for me. Leo will probably win the Oscar for this, but I'll just consider it sort of a lifetime achievement Oscar.

I don't get all the squabbling over TFA and Avatar. Both are huge. That's wonderful for both of them and just for fans in general. Though I'm personally more of a fan of Aliens/Terminator-era Cameron, I admire him for putting his money where his mouth is with Avatar and pushing technology and the movie experience forward. We need more filmmakers willing to do that kind of thing. Star Wars clearly still resonates with a lot of people. Nostalgia is a factor, sure, but the best part to me was my 9 year old daughter in the car on the way home from our first viewing expressing surprise that the girl was the hero "because usually, its the boy." There is a whole new generation that is getting excited about SW and a generation finding its way back. That was a nearly insurmountable task, but JJ and Disney/Lucasfilm pulled it off. We should be celebrating these achievements all around, not fighting over which amazing accomplishment is the most amazing-est thing to ever amaze. 'Course, it would'be the internet if everyone didn't find something to bicker over, I suppose.

I think it will have a good weekend. A lot of people want to see it (or see it again) before school starts back on Monday (for many). Playoffs are a big deal where I live, so not sure about today. I plan to see it tomorrow, since none of the bowl games interest me. Theater was pretty full when I bought my ticket yesterday. Maybe 50% sold? And that was for 2D at 10:30 on New Year's Day. This thing is a beast.

I am hugely thankful to George for creating this universe, and I don't hate the prequels or anything, but honestly, he needs to just hush now. He sounds bitter that this movie was made to be something that fans would enjoy. Oh my! A crowd-pleasing film??? Say it ain't so. It just reeks of being butthurt that the prequels are not as well-liked as this one by a lot of people (or so it would seem). This movie's box office is still just absolutely amazing to me. I'd hoped it would do well, but it has blown past every single hope/wish/expectation that I had. I've seen it 4 times and it gets better and better, I swear. And everyone I know who has seen it seems to want to see it again (or again and again). My 67 year old dad enjoyed it, and he NEVER goes to the movies, let alone spends time on the phone talking to his friends about how entertaining a movie was. My 3 year old nephew wanted a BB-8 for Christmas. My daughter has a Rey costume and wants to be her for Halloween. We got a friend's little girl a set of these shopkins things for Christmas and my friend texted me that she took them back to the store, but knew I wouldn't be upset b/c the little girl exchanged them for a Kylo Ren sleeping bag. Tumblr is full of Star Wars in a way it never has been before. This thing just reaches so many sets of people. Astounding. Seeing it again on New Year's. Gotta ring in 2016 the right way.

Yep. You should have seen the SW aisles at the two Targets I visited on Saturday. Totally destroyed.

I just bought a ticket for tonight and the 6:30 show had 1 seat in the top row or seats on the edges in the first and second. That's...I don't know what that is. Crazy.

I can't believe we are actually having a non-insane conversation about $1B domestic. I still don't believe (sorry) that will happen, but just to have it in the mix is exciting. Way to go Star Wars! I would love to see it dethrone Avatar, since that is probably one of my least favorite of the blockbusters, but I'm honestly just thrilled to see SW back so popular again.

I was going to say that seeing Han again was impossible, but, um... http://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-news/star-wars-producer-kathleen-kennedy-confirms-that-entire-cast-will-return-for-eighth-film-a3139911.html Flashbacks?

Funny thing...Kylo actually did find out Luke's location when he was probing Rey's mind. the island in the ocean. He just doesn't know what that is. Oh, Kylo, you messed up emo-child. When in Rey's vision, Luke puts his hand on R-2...was that somehow triggering R-2 to wait for Rey before revealing he had the rest of the map? It just seems like a lot was set up for Rey. The ship making into the hands of the junk dealer, the piece of the map ending up on Jakku...I don't think all that is coincidence. Han said if he could track the ship, others could as well. There are just a lot of little hints in there, but maybe I'm reading too much into this. I need to go hang out on Reddit for awhile where reading too much into things is what they do.

That's amazing. I mean, the Saturday before Christmas is THE single biggest shopping day of the entire year. Bigger than Black Friday. That's just absolutely fantastic. And wow at the worldwide total without even having China in the mix!

I thought he was punching at the wound 1) to tell the audience he had been hit by Chewie's crossbow thing that we'd already seen knock stormtroopers off their feet and heard how powerful it was (nice, JJ, I see what you did there); and, in story, 2) to sort of gird himself/use the pain, like you see sometimes characters hitting themselves to get ready for a fight kind of thing. Read the article linked above with some JJ-splanation. So, it was Yoda and Obi-Wan's voices that Rey heard. Interesting. Her being left with some junk dealer, while, okay, a good way to hide her, does seem kind of awful though. I mean, at least Luke was left with family who cared about him.

I remember walking out of ST09 with my brother, and we both really liked it, and he said something like, "It felt more Star Wars than Star Trek though." So, one of my "WWR's" is that they got the right director for what had to be a ridiculously demanding job, bringing this saga back and introducing a whole new generation, and he and his team found the right cast and got a story together that has me interested and invested in what will happen to these people. Kudos also have to go to Disney's marketing team. Damn. Just...well played, Disney. I think a lot of their "marketing" was actually from other companies paying THEM for the licensing rights, which is just amazing. Keeping a lid on spoilers got things to a fever-pitch without all the fanboys going negative without even seeing the film.

After my third viewing, I like it more and more. So many things I missed the first time that really help build the story. I kind of feel at some point, Rey is going to ask Luke why he didn't come get her and he will be like, "I sent you a map, a ship and a lightsaber!" Clearly, there was something or someone driving a lot of this. Any consensus on Max Von Sydow's character? Clearly knew the family. Anyone catch what the voice says during Rey's vision? Is it Yoda's voice? Obi-wan's? I couldn't tell. I thought I heard something about "first steps." Rey totally had an X-wing pilot doll. Loved the look she gave the old woman who was across from her cleaning scraps. You could see Rey wondering if that would be her fate. The scene with her and KR was so well done. Great job by both actors. I loved how her whole expression and voice shifted when she really tapped into the Force. Just so much to take in! Weirdly, I still think KR is not all bad, though I think he has to die for any kind of redemption. I don't want Leia to have to lose him, too, though. Maybe the end game is Rey and KR taking down Snoke.

I know this thread is about how much the film will make at the box office alone, but my God, the Star Wars aisle at the two Target stores I visited today was absolutely decimated. Everyone I know is seeing it this weekend. Kids were in school until yesterday, so most people are shopping and seeing it over the weekend. I'll make it to my third viewing tomorrow. Then again Christmas day with the entire family of 14 people. Yay!

I didn't have a problem believing a child of Anakin's age could win a podrace at his age or fly a Naboo fighter into battle. I didn't have a problem believing farm-boy Luke could pilot an X-wing into a dogfight and make the one in a million shot. I didn't have a problem believing Rey, in a life or death situation, has Force abilities that enhance her normal range of abilities. We saw her kick ass with that staff back on Jakku when those people tried to steal BB8. KR was injured, fairly significantly since they made a point of how powerful Chewy's weapon was, plus Finn's hit on his shoulder (?). Not even clear he was entirely trying to kill her. We saw the moment Rey's abilities "awoke." She was calm, focused and centered, like Qui-Gon and Yoda said to be(did someone teach her that at some point? didn't KR mention an island when he was pulling thoughts from her head...hmmm...). We know that is the best way to tap into the Force. Honestly, that was one of my favorite parts. I find your lack of faith...uh, disappointing.

The more I think on it, the more the ending felt a bit like the ending of Fellowship? Like, I know there is a much larger story to tell that is coming, so yes, it was a bit of a, I don't know, "aaaaaaaand STOP" point, but it didn't really bother me. The first time I saw ANH, when Vader lived, I remember not at all understanding because I had no real concept of a sequel. Not so much a cliffhanger as that the true story is now really beginning. We know these people. We care about what happens. All the set-up is done. The characters who need to be together have come together. There has already been a big loss of a guiding character. The remaining characters are fully committed now and know what has to be done. So, yeah, very FotR for me. That is a positive thing, at least from my point of view.