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kayumanggi

Weekend Estimates (4-day): TL 41.7 M | PP II 38.5 M | MM: FR 32.1 M | A:AOU 27.8 M | POLTERGEIST 26.5 M

By kayumanggi, in Numbers and Data

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Catty Indie Sensation

Catty

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Posted

I am more and more convinced that the San Francisco Bay Area loves sci-fi and that these genre films that underperform nationwide do disproportionately well here.

I know I'm using a reference pool of one showing at one theater, but at Regal Hacienda Crossings (who has one of the real full-size IMAX and occasionally makes the top 20 weekend engagements), my opening night 7pm PLF showing of Pacific Rim basically sold out, my opening night IMAX of Interstellar sold out, and my 7pm of Tomorrowland (in the biggest non-IMAX/non-PLF auditorium) was definitely more full than I expected. And it got a little applause too. Of course, it's opening night, and I have no idea how the rest of the showings sold, either on that day or the rest of the weekend (I do know that I bailed out of a 6:30 of Tomorrowland full of kids, because I didn't realize it was in one of the smaller auditoriums).

Oddly enough, I heard the theater staff talking about how Poltergeist had nobody in it (and surmising that it would fill up with 13 year olds by the time the movie started).

Just interesting.

I think it's logical - I would think people from Silicon Valley would be very interested in Sci-Fi

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Harpospoke Box Office Gold

Harpospoke

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I like the wide-eye raw optimism themes. To me, this movie fails on implementation, not on the themes. I wish this movie didn't have such a crappy 3rd act because these themes need to be heard. I'm not saying that we should go back to believing the the future will be some utopian because that's a flaw idea. But we need to see the future as bright and take action. Frankly, I'm sick of all the dystopian nonsense spewed by general audience movies. 

I was going to go through the releases a couple of years ago to count how many were built around "we are doomed!".     There were so many I got overwhelmed and quit counting.

 

We are definitely obsessed with the idea that we are doomed.    We base religion around it.  (even new religions like environmentalism)

 

That's what is refreshing about Star Trek....they don't assume "everything is getting worse" like we see everywhere else.    

 

So really there is no "going back to believing the future will be a utopia" because we've never done that.   Movies like 1984 are the norm.  (how wrong was that one?)   But truthfully, if anyone made any movie about the future over the past 150 years....reality would have exceeded the most optimistic scenarios most of the time.    We never seem to notice how much we've improved our existence.....like...doubling our lifespans in 150 years.    We could definitely use more optimism since that's how it's actually played out.   The doomsayers have been wrong 100% of the time.

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Blankments Global Phenomenon

Blankments

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Which are...? :P I dunno anything 'bout this movie besides names behind it.

"Dystopian sci-fi is poisoning our minds and making us become too depressed and thus, we need to bring back optimistic sci-fi so that way the world doesn't go to resigned shit"

 

I like the wide-eye raw optimism themes. To me, this movie fails on implementation, not on the themes. I wish this movie didn't have such a crappy 3rd act because these themes need to be heard. I'm not saying that we should go back to believing the the future will be some utopian because that's a flaw idea. But we need to see the future as bright and take action. Frankly, I'm sick of all the dystopian nonsense spewed by general audience movies. 

 

I like raw-eyed optimism, don't get me wrong. In fact, even though he hasn't seen it yet, Spaghetti has hit the nail right on the head in the Box Office Discussion thread: LEGO Movie and Interstellar do a much better film built around the theme of the triumph of optimism in a depressing atmosphere.

 

What Tomorrowland suggests is that movies such as these and in fact, fiction such as Fahrenheit 451 are a bad idea to teach kids, because by showing a dystopian future, we are making a self-fulfilling prophecy. What it fails to mention is that Emmett saves the day, Cooper finds us a new planet, and Guy Montag lives onto a new society where the dystopia can be fixed. When hope triumphs in a dark atmosphere, that builds hope in today's society. Hunger Games is popular not because of dystopia, but because Katniss gives hope to a dystopian population.

 

Basically, Bird and Lindelof are both angry old people on Twitter who hate the new way of sci-fi and want to go back to the old way. That's not a bad thing; what's bad is them calling for the end of an entire sub-genre of science fiction, a sub-genre where hope still lives on, perhaps even more than in other science-fiction subgenres.

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Dementeleus Cinematic Universe

Dementeleus

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"Dystopian sci-fi is poisoning our minds and making us become too depressed and thus, we need to bring back optimistic sci-fi so that way the world doesn't go to resigned shit"
 

Basically, Bird and Lindelof are both angry old people on Twitter who hate the new way of sci-fi and want to go back to the old way. 

 

I don't agree with this sentiment at all... but in terms of your first sentence it's worth pointing out there are plenty in the SF world who're pushing for more interesting/optimistic stories (including some of the best writers in SF these days). Part of their point is that dystopian used to be the new, fresh concept, but now it's relatively tired and all too often seems to be a used as a crutch (a crutch built upon referencing older, better takes on dystopian societies).

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Louis Lux Indie Sensation

Louis Lux

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I was going to go through the releases a couple of years ago to count how many were built around "we are doomed!".     There were so many I got overwhelmed and quit counting.

 

We are definitely obsessed with the idea that we are doomed.    We base religion around it.  (even new religions like environmentalism)

 

That's what is refreshing about Star Trek....they don't assume "everything is getting worse" like we see everywhere else.    

 

So really there is no "going back to believing the future will be a utopia" because we've never done that.   Movies like 1984 are the norm.  (how wrong was that one?)   But truthfully, if anyone made any movie about the future over the past 150 years....reality would have exceeded the most optimistic scenarios most of the time.    We never seem to notice how much we've improved our existence.....like...doubling our lifespans in 150 years.    We could definitely use more optimism since that's how it's actually played out.   The doomsayers have been wrong 100% of the time.

 

1984 is a novel written in 1949 that used its dystopian future to staunchly criticize totalitarian regimes, it was not really meant as an accurate predictor of life in 1984. Even so, the novel remains very relevant to this day with issues such as mass surveillance and let's not forget that totalitarian regimes still exist and life there is not so great.

 

I do agree that in fiction writers seem to overstate modern day problems just to make things a bit more interesting without inserting something truly meaningful in their work like in 1984.

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Blankments Global Phenomenon

Blankments

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I don't agree with this sentiment at all... but in terms of your first sentence it's worth pointing out there are plenty in the SF world who're pushing for more interesting/optimistic stories (including some of the best writers in SF these days). Part of their point is that dystopian used to be the new, fresh concept, but now it's relatively tired and all too often seems to be a used as a crutch (a crutch built upon referencing older, better takes on dystopian societies).

Tele, maybe the angry old people on Twitter is a bit harsh, but if you see the movie

There is literally a scene where Hugh Laurie rants that putting dystopian imagery out there in books and movies has been a plan of Tomorrowland's to try to scare people away from the future when in fact, it's making a self-fulfilling prophecy.

There's nothing in TOMORROWLAND that suggests that dystopia is a good idea ever; it uses Fahrenheit 451, 1984, and Brave New World in film as an example of dystopian fiction that is making the world a worse place.

 

I also don't understand how Bird can say he's excited to watch Fury Road when it goes directly against everything his new film poses as an issue in society. Which is why I want to rewatch Fury Road again lol :P

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Dementeleus Cinematic Universe

Dementeleus

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I'm not going to click on your spoiler because I'll probably see the movie at some point. I have a sense that you're over-reading his point, but I can't really say until I see the movie, obviously. (FR wouldn't appear to go against his thesis, since it's very much a movie about hope).

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abra Sleeper Hit

abra

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I noticed that box office mojo hasn't updated its number chart since Friday. Anyone know what's going on or is this another site shutdown scare again?

 

it would be a shame

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