Macleod

What does this movie have that Gladiator doesn't...except Morgan Freeman in dreads? And Gladiator was essentially an update on...Ben Hur...and had Oliver Reed, Russell Crowe, Ridley Scott, Lisa Gerrard and Mr. Phoenix... Hrmph.

Going to see a matinee of this in a bit...excited to endure the hopefully laugh-out-loud pain. I say this as a devoted fan of Proyas' work since the beginning...so this is all a disappointment to me, as it is to many who know his work.

Talk about boffo box office...this thing definitely surprised me, and everyone, I think. Although I think I enjoyed all the creative and relentless promo more than the actual film.

Agreed -- they should have embraced that meta-joke, as well. But I'll tell you, first-hand at the end of my screening tonight, overheard a group of guys talking, one said how much he liked that character, another one had to tell him who Colossus was, because he didn't know. I don't think Singer/Cudmore's version really registered with much of the general audience...and he's definitely not remembered. So this version really is like seeing him for the first time!

Quoted for truth. This is bril.

It's great to hear a filmmaker actually being honest with himself and us. So rare these days...

I'm no kid, just to clarify. ;-) I'd be interested to hear your perspective on how this film looks significantly better than the last two, and why?

1. What's up with Kirk's hair? 2. So the Enterprise presumably gets destroyed in the first half-hour by a horde of giant alien gnats? 3. We hear Idris Elba's voice...but we don't see him. ...Or do we? Please tell me they didn't hire Elba then completely hide him under makeup?! 4. "Sabotage"...yeah, I get the reference...still a bold departure where no Trek marketing has gone before... 5. The uniforms look like Lost in Space re-do's. 6. Too many people wearing red, I can't tell who's going to die and be resurrected five minutes later in this one. 7. Once again, the thing that seems to work best, from the beginning, is Urban as "Bones." Bonus: Kirk keeps a spare bike on the Enterprise so he can trail around the hallways on Saturdays??

NEVAH.

So a flash-edit montage, then? Too bad there isn't a "2" in front...

People also need to remember and recognize that Warner Bros. (and most other majors) are not fully funding their own productions anymore...groups like Ratpac/Dune and Legendary Pictures are often putting up 50% or more of the budget, so the studios' risk/failure are not quite as damaging as widely stated. (And Legendary's upstart nature is also proving to be a bit problematic, with most of the of the strongly Tull-backed projects underperforming or bombing -- coincidentally, both of GDT's last two films). And of course....pre-sales mitigate risk, as well.

Projected to "take a dive" by Variety...ouch. http://variety.com/2015/film/box-office/in-the-heart-of-the-sea-box-office-flop-1201656532/

This film K.O.s all others right now. I don't care. Saw it tonight, nearly sold out, and the audience was with it the whole way...I haven't heard screams and claps (during the fights) like this in a movie for a long, long time. In agreement with everything said above. And as great as MBJ and Stallone are (you've never seen Sly this humble and vulnerable)...the score is almost better!! Amazing themes.

This film K.O.s all others right now. I don't care. Saw it tonight, nearly sold out, and the audience was with it the whole way...I haven't heard screams and claps (during the fights) like this in a movie for a long, long time. In agreement with everything said above. And as great as MBJ and Stallone are (you've never seen Sly this humble and vulnerable)...the score is almost better!! Amazing themes.

THIS IS KING!! Thanks! Will be catching Creed sometime this weekend!

They tried that with Prometheus...and panicked late in the game, tried to link it, and it still felt contrived and awful!

Started at the beginning this past weekend and last night tackled Rocky IV and V again. Rocky Balboa on tap for me today as I work my way up to Creed. I have only read a couple of reviews, as I'd like to go in as unspoiled as possible...but it's great to hear all the stellar buzz, and yes, it would be nice to see Stallone get recognized by Oscar (and Coogler and MBJ, for that matter, would be a nice karmic return after Fantastic Flop...which wasn't his fault, of course.)

This is the first time in my life that I've even been asked to think about EW and politics in the same sentence. So... Are you talking about QT's recent MSNBC interview? I just watched that today -- he suitably shrugged off what a Texas congressman was saying because it's all overblown hyperbole... I get it, you're one of those "I hate liberal media" types. I don't really see the correlation here between your DC example and QT, other than this nebulous, polarizing thing called "politics," but whatevs... I'm not interested in arguing this point further.

Popcorn, indeed. With a stiff vodka tonic. Pretty disgusting statement. Real adult. What are they going to do, leak the movie? Like that doesn't happen very often. He's already had the script leaked, I'm sure QT won't really care. Just perusing EW's comment section shows how this "statement" automatically gained the film at least 100 more tickets.

A WTF that I liked very much, thank you. ;-) She and Elfman's score were the best things about the movie, for me.

This looks great, to me. More interested in this than I could ever be in 'Joy.' This is the kind of film that will linger in different ways than Star Wars, glad Ronan did this instead. I don't think she'll regret it.

From what I can see, they both squeaked by at approximately three times their budget WW (which is usually more than reported), but not including whatever they spent on marketing...with a very mixed critical and audience reaction. Not sure on home video/VOD. But reception-wise: first one: 40% on RT, second one 30%. And the second one cost more and grossed essentially the same as the first. So yes, I'm being serious.

I don't understand how this got a second movie...let alone a third!

Was just about to say the same thing. I'm a big fan of his work, having spent a significant amount of time writing about it for a thesis. But this is Lionsgate, right? Never a good sign... by the way...anyone think Lionsgate is actually worse off without Carl Icahn around??

Do you really think Damon deserves an Oscar for The Martian? I love him and think he's great in a lot of stuff, but I just don't see it in this role, not complete enough...