Jump to content

excel1

Free Account+
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    6,577

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by excel1

    Box Office Theory Forum's Top 100 Warner Bros. Movies

    in List and Countdowns

    Posted

    12 hours ago, Jake Gittes said:

    The Bourne Supremacy killed off the well-established love interest earlier than both, and did it with more gravity and ramifications for the hero's character and story.

     

    yeah but nobody cares about those films lol Batman >>>>

     

    14 hours ago, Ipickthiswhiterose said:

     

    But your first point demonstrates the issue, doesn't it. It wants to have its "I'm a superhero movie and therefore am just silly fun and don't need to adhere to logic and have a villain that is essentially magic" cake and eat it in a manner that says "I'm a gritty realistic crime drama like Heat".

     

     And you can go with that, or not go with that. But the same people who try to claim it's sophisticated on moment, then turn round when it's held up to scrutiny and say "ah, come on suspend your disbelief it's a blockbuster".

     

    As for comparability: X2, Unbreakable and The Incredibles were all superhero movies released before The Dark Knight and for differing reasons were more thematically rich.

     

    The Rocketeer, Spider-Man 1 & 2, Batman and Returns, Blade 2 and SMTMP were all superhero movies released before The Dark Knight that have a smooth, consistent, efficient vision without the dissonance at the core of TDK.

     

    But I think the best comparison is Jurassic Park. Specifically Michael Crichton in general. He managed to sell "here is some completely made up bull science that I'm pretending is a deep and rich cultural issue but is actually just kind of some hokum to make it feel like this hugely fun populist stuff is actually a lot deeper and closer to 'proper' sci-fi than it actually is." and he did it perfectly. IMO a lot better than Nolan does, but it's very much the same trick that Nolan employs in TDK. It becomes a matter I suppose of how much do you think that trick is genius and how much do you think it's cheap. 

     

    So I experience Jurassic Park as being much, MUCH better at pulling that similar trick than TDK (and also at providing the outright-fun part, but that's personal). But is that cause it's better or is because I watched Jurassic Park for the first time when I was 11 and Dark Knight when I was 26? 

     

    Oh and...for someone who really, really went hard at James Bond for 'ripping off' beats of The Dark Knight you spend an AWFUL lot of time waxing lyrical about how brave and original it is for TDK to kill off it's Damsel in Distress......given that Casino Royale had come out two years earlier (and PS not a Bond fan and there are other examples as well, just thought your oversight here is particularly indicative of not very objective claims).

     

    TDK is still very believable at its flimsiest. Jurassic Park requires a much larger suspension of disbelief. And Casino Royale isn't the first Bond film to the kill the girl LOL and did so at the end of the film. 

     

    Apples and oranges. TDK GOAT 

    Box Office Theory Forum's Top 100 Warner Bros. Movies

    in List and Countdowns

    Posted

    2 hours ago, 4815162342 said:

     

    It's an immensely entertaining and thrilling ride but several segments of the film are held together by duct tape and chewing gum.

     

    meh what similarly sized budget film doesn't have the occasional suspension of disbelief requirement?

     

    2 hours ago, 4815162342 said:

     

    Makes most superhero films look like child's play, but it's not one of the titans of WB

     

    Most? other than Batman Begins, what else is even comparable?

     

    Box Office Theory Forum's Top 100 Warner Bros. Movies

    in List and Countdowns

    Posted · Edited by excel1

    51 minutes ago, Eric Reyes said:

    #2

    The Dark Knight

    2261 points, 30 lists

    "Let's put a smile on that face!"

    MV5BMTMxNTMwODM0NF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwODAy

     

    Its Legacy: Forced AMPAS to expand their Best Picture category from 5 to 10 nominees. Redefined what a superhero movie could and should be. The blueprint for many future superhero movie productions. Gave the late Heath Ledger a posthumous Oscar. The first feature film filmed with high-resolution IMAX cameras. The highest-grossing movie of 2008, the highest-grossing superhero movie, and the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time on its release. Considered one of the best films of the 2000s and of all time. Submitted into the National Film Registry in 2020. Gave Aaron Eckhart a paycheck.

     

    The most influential film since 2000, and maybe even earlier if we started going backwards. This movie told all of entertainment to think outside the box, to take creative risks, to be different, to make films the break the formula film rules that all movie goers subconsciously know. For example, out of every big film I have seen on the big screen, and that is a LARGE number, the death of Rachel Dawes in the middle of the film remains by far the most visibly shocked I have seen a major audience in a tentpole film. I saw TDK 7 times and the first several all had just stunned silence when she is blown up. Audiences had been conditioned by the numerous superhero films over the years to think she would be saved at the last minute, or she would show up at the end and be OK, etc. But no. They actually blew up the damsel in distress- in the middle of the film! The entire first half of the film was tense, but when they actually killed Rachel, it was legitimate "shit just got real" moment where nobody knew what was going to happen moving forward. 

     

    "Welcome to world without rules" was the initial tagline for the film and couldn't have been more accurate. The hero doesn't save the girl, she gets blown to bits. The hero doesn't save the city and get the glory, he instead takes the blame and becomes the villain while the true villain is the spotlight. The hero doesn't get any further towards personal happiness by the films end, instead he is even further away from it. We all actually love watching the primary villain, who is both hilarious AND terrifying. There is no giant doomsday set piece in the end, its just some people on 2 boats and we have to see if they will turn each other. Such a positive, inspiring message is buried within the morose, gritty substance of the film. This isn't just a standard popcorn superhero film, it's commentary about society nature and contemporary nurture, it's got something to say about the inherent human condition as well as contemporary results of 2000s foreign policy in America.

     

    TDK was creativity unleashed. An all-time great artist thinking with zero restrictions. 'Game changer' is an overused term (especially with clearly 'of their time' films like Matrix), but it fits here perfectly. It was amusing to watch the years that followed where we get films clearly borrowing from TDK in terms of story or tone (or both) such as Skyfall (which is laughably obvious ripoff, but still awesome in its own right), Man of Steel, Godzilla, Star Trek 2, The Winter Soldier, among many others. 

    • Like 1

    Box Office Theory Forum's Top 100 Warner Bros. Movies

    in List and Countdowns

    Posted · Edited by excel1

    22 hours ago, Eric Reyes said:

    #6

    Inception

    1820 points, 27 lists

    "Musn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling."

    MV5BMjAxMzY3NjcxNF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNTI5

    Box Office: 870.7M

    Rotten Tomatoes: 87%

    Metacritic: 74

    Awards: 4 Academy Awards and 4 nominations, 1 Grammy Award nomination, 3 BAFTA Awards and 6 nominations, 4 Golden Globe Award nominations, 1 MTV Movie Award and 6 nominations

     

    Its Legacy: When Christopher Nolan became Papa Nolan. Considered one of the greatest movies of the 2010s. Referenced in hip hop and pop tracks, as well as parodied on The Simpsons, South Park and Rick and Morty. Caused the "-ception" meme. Considered the most overrated movie of 2010 according to an informal Los Angeles Times poll. #51 on BBC's Best Films of the 21st Century. Gave Ken Watanabe a paycheck.

     

    Commentary: This was the film where Christopehr Nolan became Papa Nolan. The ultimate chad director who could bring in the masses just on his name. While his Batman movies had the DC branding, all Inception had was Nolan, Leo, and a dream. And what a dream it was.

     

    The film was perhaps a bit too convoluted on a first viewing, yet that weirdly meant audiences wanted to see it again and again. To analyze every detail, understand how the concept of extraction, inception, and dream layering even works, and what the hell was even going on. And it was thanks to the fact that, even if you don’t pay too close attention, it’s still a rollicking good heist adventure.

     

    An incredible ensemble cast full of Papa Nolan’s reliable players. Incredible action set pieces. A fun, high-octane storyline that keeps people invested. And by all accounts, this has all of Nolan’s unique ideas and concepts as an auteur placed into one slick and cool package. Nolan's ideas of time, the metaphysical, and cinema itself are all in this package, and the director was given all the money to make his wacky ideas a reality. And in a world where "one for you, one for me" doesn't exist for directors anymore, this really does feel like a breath of fresh air. A swing for the fences tentpole blockbuster that doesn't try to sell you toys or build a franchise. Something legit risky and out there. And it largely works more often when it doesn't. We deserve more movies like this.

     

    A lot of todays 20-28 crowd weren't able to properly follow this film during development and release. Nolan was coming off the film of the century in TDK, but was not a true household name yet. He had a couple of really smaller films, a super high quality popcorn blockbuster in BATMAN BEGINS, and then this insane "superhero crime epic" with one of the greatest performances in Hollywood history. Leo was the much larger draw of the with the general public heading into release.

     

    Nobody had any fucking clue what this movie was about until the final weeks leading up the release. Yes, we knew it was about "dream stealers" but that's super vague and again, other than 2 Batman films, Nolan had directed a bunch of smaller tier stuff. The teaser just showed water tilting sideways in a glass, the hallway fight, and the dreidel type thing spinning. Go through the KJ thread and read the initial predictions, nobody knew what to expect.

     

    Then were get the final trailers and see cities folding onto of each other, snowmobiles fleeing explosions, cities crumbling into the ocean...and we realize we are getting something completely unique & original, made by a filmmaker firmly in his prime given a seemingly unlimited budget. It was such a unique project. I distinctly remember a TV spot ending with the girl architect walking towards the bridge which builds itself and pops up in front of her she walks and thinking "WTF am I about to go see?".

     

    The concept could have been so ridiculous and absurd and created an unintentionally horrific film, but instead it was an instant classic which over-performed expectations from day 1 and then held brilliantly. 

     

    Nolan choosing such a creatively unique, commercially risky concept as TDK follow up and then utterly crushing it beyond belief solidified him as a mega draw. 

    • Like 2

    The Box Office Buzz, Tracking, and Pre-Sale Thread

    in Box Office Discussion

    Posted · Edited by excel1

    1 hour ago, Megajohn01 said:

    The social media reactions are oddly mirroring that of Shazam 2 so I wouldn’t hold my breath on big boost. If reactions didn’t help The Flash, they ain’t helping Blue Beetle. 

     

    Honestly, BB and Flash are on opposite ends of the spectrum approaching review release. FLASH was still predicted for $100m-140m range on THEORY prior to the start of critic review releases which was abnormally early in their cycle. If anything, BB is poised to benefit from extremely low expectations. 

    • Like 1
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Guidelines. Feel free to read our Privacy Policy as well.

  I accept