TServo2049

That wasn't my point. My point was that WB is taking away the right lessons from GOTG's August breakout (you DON'T need to schedule your el primo franchise tentpole between the first weekend of May and the penultimate weekend of July just because it's your el primo franchise) and Paramount is taking away exactly the WRONG lessons from TMNT's (a film overperforming in an "off" frame, in part BECAUSE it's in an "off" frame following a weak May-July, is "proof" that the sequel "deserves" to be "rewarded" by being "promoted" to a "prime" May-July "franchise blockbuster slot" - and yes, I am using all those scare quotes for a reason, because none of this "conventional" "wisdom" holds after the summer we've just had...)

Like many of you, I don't understand why TMNT was rewarded for breaking out in August by having its sequel slotted for June. Even though the first film, and this year in general, have showed that 1.) movies can succeed anywhere and 2.) success is not guaranteed in May-July, they still immediately thought "its breakout in an 'off' slot shows that it's ready to play with the big boys in the REAL summer season!"Putting TMNT2 in June seems to be proof that the studios (at least, the studios other than Disney and WB) are not learning the lessons of 2014 and are still stuck in the mentality of "May-July are the most prime blockbuster real estate of the year, and anyfranchise who's anyfranchise HAS to be in those months!" Same mentality that motivated DreamWorks to "reward" HTTYD1 for legging it in March by "promoting" HTTYD2-3 to June.To summarize:GOTG breaking out in August -> WB scheduling BvS in MarchTMNT breaking out in August -> Paramount scheduling TMNT2 in JuneOne studio gets which way things are going, and the other doesn't.

It WAS the strongest point. Just like what we got of Woody/Buzz together (particularly the scene in Al's office where Buzz is trying to get Woody to come back home) was some of the strongest stuff in TS2.I just wonder if the film would have done BETTER if it had been MORE about Hiccup and Toothless. The family stuff was great, but my audiences were often dead silent during that stuff. The serious dragon-war stuff seems to have been a bit too intense for some kids - and even I detect a bit of muddle in that stuff. (It could have been a turn-off in the domestic market, where comedy and "heart" drive animated successes, and action-centric ones have a history of underperformance unless they deliver something more.)And THAT SCENE would have probably benefited from a clearer reconciliation denouement between Hiccup and Toothless at the end. Something has hampered its performances overseas. Even with the World Cup sucking off Latin American sales, even with TF4 and Apes kneecapping it, no matter when/how well it has opened, no matter what's against it in weekend two (sometimes NOTHING), in almost every market it dropped O/U 50% from OW. Something is common - not sure if it's mixed WOM from people who saw it, or kids not wanting to see it a second time. It's confusing to me. One of the biggest HTTYD Tumblr fangirls was visiting relatives in Spain and saw it on its opening week, it was full of kids, they cried, her...cousin's?...son cried the worst his mom had seen him do at a movie, but after it was over he was talking about how he couldn't wait to see HTTYD3. But I wonder if that kid, or other kids like him, were actually eager to see it again so soon after. In Spain, it dropped 60% - admittedly, against TF4, but it still dropped hard.I enjoyed the movie, make no mistake, but perhaps it needed a bit more story/script polish? I sometimes mull over whether the film would have been stronger if Chris Sanders had co-written and co-directed again, he was just as important to the first film as Dean DeBlois was (and Lilo and Stitch was also a collaborative effort between the two). I WISH he could come back for HTTYD3, but he's doing Croods 2.I hope Dean and Bonnie Arnold and co. learn from whatever contributed to HTTYD2's underperformance, and use that knowledge in the making of HTTYD3. The only thing I somewhat worry about is if Katzenberg or others at DWA will be pushing for the next film to be more juvenile in reaction - sort of like how when George Lucas took a more active role in Return of the Jedi, he watered down the mature stuff that Lawrence Kasdan, Irvin Kershner and Gary Kurtz had brought to The Empire Strikes Back. I know that Katzenberg and Bill Damaschke were two of the biggest supporters of both HTTYD1 and HTTYD2, but I still feel a little nervous is all.That's part of why I wanted a breakout market. Maybe if it breaks out in China, that could provide some reassurance that the direction they're taking will pay off SOMEWHERE?

I enjoyed HTTYD2, it deserves better, but I do agree that it lost something from the first. There wasn't enough of the Hiccup/Toothless dynamic - those dialogue-free scenes between the two were the best part of the original. It's like how I can't bring myself to say that Toy Story 2 is better than Toy Story 1, because as good as TS2 is, it's mostly missing the Woody/Buzz dynamic that was the beating heart of the first movie.I really feel like there needed to be more between Hiccup and Toothless. Some reconciliation after THAT scene would have softened its blow...

Hitchhiker's is fun, my dad and I will watch it if we catch it on TV. Martin Freeman is a great Arthur Dent, and Alan Rickman was awesome as the voice of Marvin. (His voice is the voice I will hear in my head whenever I read the books again.)I will say that Spy Kids 1 is not in any way a bad movie. Based on his performance as Floop, I think Alan Cumming would have made a better Willy Wonka than Johnny Depp did. (Unlike you, I didn't care for the Charlie remake - I liked the IDEA of Burton adpting Dahl, but it didn't work for me. Johnny Depp playing Willy Wonka as Michael Jackson was way, WAY too on-the-nose for me - especially considering tha ths wasn't long after the second round of child molestation accusations...)But anyway, Cumming as Floop already feels Burton-esque - for crying out loud, Danny Elfman wrote his theme song! Also, for some reason, the Fooglies actually creep me out MORE as an adult than they did when I first saw it 13 years ago.

I can't understand scheduling, it seems like everyone lost their minds sometime this year.And I saw the MMPR movie on opening night.

I seriously forgot that this was the Power Rangers movie thread.

I know Bronies who are NOT insane. The guy who did the fan edit of The Thief and the Cobbler is a Brony. CR on That Guy With the Glasses is a Brony (and he's how I learned about the show in the first place). But most Bronies do seem to be nuts.

Hear, hear. I LIKE the show, but I just like it AS a TV show. I've seen the first four episodes, been meaning to watch more, it's cute and fun in that Powerpuff/Dexter way, but I am not a Brony. Bronies are like one step down on the insanity ladder from furries.

Pokemon isn't the insane kid pop culture behemoth it was when I was in middle school, but the show still runs new episodes on Cartoon Network and the video games still sell. It's...there.

Ask the Japanese costume designers. Each "season" was a completely different show with completely different designs.This doesn't even have to be based on the "classic" seasons. It could be anything as long as it's five color-coded costumed heroes with helmets with black visors and silver mouth plates, piloting five robots that merge into one giant robot.

$48.2M US. Actually LESS than DM2 - and keep in mind DM2 apparently had fewer presales? So obviously this doesn't mean it will automatically do better than DM2.

I guess I meant that its style dates it. Even with the Genie's anachronistic pop-culture references, Aladdin doesn't feel distinctly "90s" to the same degree as Shrek feels "early 2000s."

If we're only counting presales up to 00:00, does that mean it squeaked by Frozen?

Actually, Animal House has the same issue to a lesser degree - the parts that focus on Tom Hulce are IMO the least funny parts. But I still dislike Danny Noonan more.But enough about Animal House/Caddyshack. One film I will argue has aged quite badly? The first Shrek. That movie is like a time capsule of that pre-9/11 "Y2K period" of American pop culture right at the turn of the millennium. Smash Mouth, Matrix riffs, Riverdance jokes (hell, that was old IN 2001!). And snark, snark everywhere.

I don't think Caddyshack is AS funny as Animal House, but I do agree about the lack of structure. I always remembered a collection of disparate, disconnected scenes, but when I went to a theatrical screening in honor of Harold Ramis, and saw it from beginning to end in a theater, I was amazed to realize that it wasn't just my memory; the film really IS a collection of disparate, disconnected scenes!Maybe that's for the better - IMO the film stops dead whenever the focus shifts back to Michael O'Keefe. He is THE weakest part of the movie, and I prefer the collection of disconnected scenes of the supporting cast hijacking the film from him that we actually got, to the idea of a Danny-centric coming-of-age story that the film started as.

I was going to bring that up also! My folks LOVE Joe Versus the Volcano.I chose not to list it because I haven't seen it as many times as they have. But I do enjoy it, no question - can't figure out all the hate. Roger Ebert has had plenty of opinions I disagree with, but his praise for this movie was spot on.

Drop Dead Fred. It feels like everyone hates this movie except for my parents and me. We rented it when I was a kid, blissfully unaware of how it was a critical and commercial dud, and we loved it. Quoting it still causes my mom to crack up - absolutely serious. If I say "And then we'll POO her all over the table!" she'll just lose it. Every time.Oh, and that film was also my introduction to Rik Mayall. 13-year-old me was right pissed when he was cut from Harry Potter, and his scenes didn't show up among the deleted scenes on the DVD (or any of the later DVD/Blu-Ray releases). I thought he was going to be a perfect fit for Peeves, based solely on his performance in Drop Dead Fred. But I digress...

And now it's 14025. Holy crap, could it BEAT Frozen's presales?!

In the last 15 minutes, was updated again to 7963.

7503! Another 442 in less than an hour.Update: Just a minute later, it's been updated to 7747!

Those aren't CGI. They're actually models.And you couldn't actually see the garbage mattes around the TIE fighters in the theater, at least not clearly. That was only a big problem on TV/video.

6567. Over 400 presales in just an hour, is that good?Update: 6843. Another nearly 300 in just over 20 minutes.

There are films that I will acknowledge as being great films, but which I don't actually LIKE. I don't like The Graduate, at all (except for the music), but I would never deny its artistic quality.

I'm sure I'll see it and find out for myself. I just never got around to it (I didn't even see HTTYD1 until right before HTTYD2 came out, I never really followed DreamWorks)