Last Flag Flying | Sequel to The Last Detail | Richard Linklater | Cranston, Carell, Fishburne | November 3, 2017

[TalismanRing]

1 hour ago, Ethan Hunt said:

who cares about reviews... It's Linklater 

Critics love Linklater though.  His last movie under 85% on RT was Fast Food Nation in 2006

 

 

[Jake Gittes]

Vadim Rizov who's the biggest Linklater fan you'll find among serious non-fanboyish critics wasn't too hot on this either, though according to him the movie is pretty solid for its first hour with problems arriving near the end. Think I'll adjust my expectations accordingly.

http://filmmakermagazine.com/103523-nyff-2017-last-flag-flying/

Edited September 29, 2017 by Jake Gittes

[Cmasterclay]

More like Last Flop Flying!!

[SLAM!]

I've been thinking about which small film might have a chance going wide on Thanksgiving weekend, and I've come to the decision that Last Flag Flying would be an excellent candidate. If I were Amazon, I'd start on the Nov. 3rd platform release and work my way up until it's a wide release alongside Coco. Because If there's one thing Americans are thankful for, it's our veterans.

[babz06]

4 minutes ago, slambros said:

I've been thinking about which small film might have a chance going wide on Thanksgiving weekend, and I've come to the decision that Last Flag Flying would be an excellent candidate. If I were Amazon, I'd start on the Nov. 3rd platform release and work my way up until it's a wide release alongside Coco. Because If there's one thing Americans are thankful for, it's our veterans.

Amazon is planning to go wide with this on Thanksgiving already. 

[SLAM!]

1 minute ago, babz06 said:

Amazon is planning to go wide with this on Thanksgiving already. 

I guess great minds really do think alike.

 

Question- Where can we find the release plans for platform films such as this?

[babz06]

20 minutes ago, slambros said:

I guess great minds really do think alike.

 

Question- Where can we find the release plans for platform films such as this?

The two places I check are Deadline and Indiewire. 

Deadline will sometimes have release plans in their BO articles about the specialty films. 

Indiewire's BO reporter, Tom Brueggemann  has info about roll outs on specialty films when he does his BO reports for the week. 

http://www.indiewire.com/t/box-office/

Edited November 1, 2017 by babz06

[Jake Gittes]

Given the reviews are barely on the above-average side this might not even end up having enough juice for a wide release. Lady Bird and Three Billboards would overshadow this on Thanksgiving anyway if they went wide or semi-wide (I definitely expect LB will). 

[SLAM!]

54 minutes ago, Jake Gittes said:

Given the reviews are barely on the above-average side this might not even end up having enough juice for a wide release. Lady Bird and Three Billboards would overshadow this on Thanksgiving anyway if they went wide or semi-wide (I definitely expect LB will). 

 

Bases on the subject matter of the films, I disagree. This film will get a Veteran's day boost- the holiday is on a Saturday this year. Not every film needs outstanding reviews to succeed, and not every small film has to have Oscar buzz to succeed, so I definitely still think Last Flag Flying will be able to survive even amidst films like Lady Bird and Three Billboards, based on the fact that LFF is much more important than the other films in the eyes of many American filmgoers.

 

"You wanna see a movie?"

"Sure, which one?"

"I'll check the new releases... Lady Bird?"

"I heard it's good, but we're not in high school anymore."

"Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri?"

"I heard it's good, but I also heard that it's hard-R."

"Roman Isreal, Esq.?"

"I heard it wasn't as good."

"Last Flag Flying?"

"Oh, that one! That's the film with the most important subject matter of the bunch! Let's see that one!"

"I was thinking the same thing!"

"Oh, and remember to bring the tissues, Larry!"

 

This isn't to say Last Flag Flying will topple over Lady Bird and Three Billboards in an unseen manner- I just think Last Flag Flying will be able to carve out its own niche during its release.

[filmlover]

Just now, slambros said:

 

Bases on the subject matter of the films, I disagree. This film will get a Veteran's day boost- the holiday is on a Saturday this year. Not every film needs outstanding reviews to succeed, and not every small film has to have Oscar buzz to succeed, so I definitely still think Last Flag Flying will be able to survive even amidst films like Lady Bird and Three Billboards, based on the fact that LFF is much more important than the other films in the eyes of many American filmgoers.

 

Considering how many Oscar hopefuls that ended up not having the buzz have fared this fall (Breathe, Goodbye Christopher Robin, Wonderstruck) have fared, I wouldn't be so sure.

[SLAM!]

Just now, filmlover said:

Considering how many Oscar hopefuls that ended up not having the buzz have fared this fall (Breathe, Goodbye Christopher Robin, Wonderstruck) have fared, I wouldn't be so sure.

 

Even then, I could call out Wind River and Victoria & Abdul.

[Jake Gittes]

17 minutes ago, slambros said:

 

"Last Flag Flying?"

"Oh, that one! That's the film with the most important subject matter of the bunch! Let's see that one!"

"I was thinking the same thing!"

"Oh, and remember to bring the tissues, Larry!"

No offense but do you live inside a decades-old TV commercial? 

 

Most filmgoers won't even be aware that this movie exists. And Veteran's Day did nothing for Billy Lynn last year. This won't yet be wide during the holiday anyway. 

[That One Guy]

Three Billboards, Shape of Water, and MOTOE will probably be the primary choices for adult audiences over November/December.

[filmlover]

Yeah, this is definitely gonna get lost in the shuffle. All of the other November specialty releases (Lady Bird, Three Billboards, Darkest Hour, Call Me by Your Name) all have a ton more buzz than this.

[SLAM!]

2 minutes ago, Jake Gittes said:

No offense but do you live inside a decades-old TV commercial? 

 

Most filmgoers won't even be aware that this movie exists. And Veteran's Day did nothing for Billy Lynn last year. This won't yet be wide during the holiday anyway. 

 

That's a cool idiom you used there!

 

But anyway, I know awareness is low for now, but I don't think all hope is lost just yet, especially in the internet age where the trailer was #1 on YouTube trending for a little bit of time. Even if it pulls in disappointing numbers, I have a feeling this has no chance of being another Billy Lynn, at the very least.

[Ezen Baklattan]

2 hours ago, Jake Gittes said:

Given the reviews are barely on the above-average side this might not even end up having enough juice for a wide release. Lady Bird and Three Billboards would overshadow this on Thanksgiving anyway if they went wide or semi-wide (I definitely expect LB will). 

The art house I used to work at is getting 3 billboards  on the 22nd, and they’re usually not ones to get stuff until they’re pretty wide. I imagine it’ll be at least moderately wide for sure.

[Jake Gittes]

Just now, spaghetti! said:

The art house I used to work at is getting Bullboards on the 22nd, and they’re usually not ones to get stuff until they’re pretty wide. I imagine it’ll be at least moderately wide for sure.

Yeah it'll be a missed opportunity not to get that wide before Thanksgiving especially since it sounds like a crowd-pleaser. 

[Barnack]

4 hours ago, slambros said:

 

Even then, I could call out Wind River and Victoria & Abdul.

Wind river had significantly above average reviews from a guy with a very nice box office track record, Victoria&Abdul is getting that older audience that do not care (or even know) about RT. Linkater always score very high with the critics without doing much at the bo generally (outside school of rock he never did Wind river numbers, 75% of is movies didn't reach 10m), and average score for him is really a bad sign. 

 

Thank you for your service didn't show much appeal for the veterans type movies either.

Edited November 1, 2017 by Barnack

[Plain Old Tele]

I finally got around to seeing this and it’s a nice, sweet, melancholy movie. Nothing revelatory, and it’s very low-key, but all three actors are very good (and fun to watch together), and I’m glad I spent some time with them.