Weekend Numbers: Fantastic Beasts 75M, Strange 17.6M, Trolls 17.5M, Arrival 11.8M, Edge of 17 4.8M, Bleed 2.35M, Billy Lynn 930k

[Jack Nevada]

2 minutes ago, Noctis said:

 

That's wonderful, Jack. I've always found you to be extremely intelligent, and it's really no surprise that the vast majority of films released today don't have an impact on you.

[Eric is Quiet]

Just now, cannastop said:

All the Idris Elba movies? Even the latest Star Trek?

Yeah. Beyond was awesome and might be my favorite of the Trek reboot trilogy, although it and '09 are kinda interchangeable and depend on what mood I'm in.

[Noctis]

God, Farrell was so good to look at in FB.

[Noctis]

1 minute ago, Jack Nevada said:

 

What?

[cannastop]

1 minute ago, Noctis said:

 

What?

Why do serious?

[Jake Gittes]

7 minutes ago, Noctis said:

 

That's wonderful, Jack. I've always found you to be extremely intelligent, and it's really no surprise that the vast majority of films released today don't have an impact on you.

 

The vast majority of films released today don't have an impact on you either cause you don't watch them.

[Noctis]

Just now, Jake Gittes said:

 

The vast majority of films released today don't have an impact on you either cause you don't watch them.

 

Well, if I had the time, I would. It was a lot easier for me a few years ago to watch more films. 

[vc2002]

6 minutes ago, Jack Nevada said:

 

 

[grey ghost]

 

There are years where I feel bad for movie critics but this year isn't one of them.

 

There were alot of "meh" movies but not too many "worse than eye cancer" movies like Fantastic Four or Mordecai. 

 

 

[Arlborn]

This was fantastic, best blockbuster of the year, she truly did it again. I can't wait for the next movies! I sure hope to see all four main characters back cause they were all and every single one of them absolutely enchanting in their own singular way. 

 

I'm going for another watch tomorrow.

 

 

[Ozymandias]

1 hour ago, Jack Nevada said:

Hell yeah. Just embrace the void and get ready for the Trumpocalypse. 

 

[Jake Gittes]

5 minutes ago, grey ghost said:

 

There are years where I feel bad for movie critics but this year isn't one of them.

 

There were alot of "meh" movies but not too many "worse than eye cancer" movies like Fantastic Four or Mordecai. 

 

 

 

Sandler and his gang have gone away from movie theaters. That helps.

[Jack Nevada]

I don't think I'd ever want to be a critic, especially in Finland. Watching horrible Finnish comedies all year round sounds like hell to me.

[Jake Gittes]

19 minutes ago, CJohn said:

 

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It was hilariously bad. I was all sadness and tears. No more Farrell. Because he was turning into a CGI Depp.

 

 

Lmao

[Clef Ment]

No way Beasts spawns four sequels.

[RyneOh1040]

If you've seen Fantastic Beasts....

 

Spoiler

I've been trying to think about what things from FB stuck out.  Like what didn't align with the potter universe.  The big one for me is the obscuras.  How in 7 years did we never hear of that.  Then I thought maybe as time passed it would have made sense that wizards didn't have to hide as much and therefore didn't suppress their magic (a la something like being a Jew in WW1.). But then I couldn't reconcile what happened to the obscuras from before ,what became of them? and then it hit me:  DEMENTORS!!!!  I've read the books many times over and I can't ever remember their origination being talked about.  Do you think obscuras become dementors? 

 

[CJohn]

33 minutes ago, WrathOfHan said:

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There were some moments in the final fight where I was scared Farrell would die. I even murmured "DON'T KILL FARRELL!!!!!" The reveal was more than worth it.

 

Spoiler

Farrell should have been the main villain of the franchise.

 

[WrathOfHan]

1 minute ago, CJohn said:

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Farrell should have been the main villain of the franchise.

 

Spoiler

Nothing is stopping him from returning. The real Graves could be out there like Mad Eye Moody was.

 

[CJohn]

1 minute ago, WrathOfHan said:

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Nothing is stopping him from returning. The real Graves could be out there like Mad Eye Moody was.

 

Spoiler

I doubt it lol. Plus, I doubt he would return as a villain if his character was back.

 

[The Futurist]

My hot, boiling take :

 

We re living a golden age when it comes to blockbusters, I could list you dozens of films that were blockbusters in the 80's, 90's & the 2000's that were absolutely terrible & dreadful  films on almost every level.

The current average quality is way better, some could argue the peaks of the past were better but it s easier to impress people when you are the first to do something :

first Space opera done right, first Fantasy-Tolkien done right, first superhero done right, first destruction porn done right, first sci-fi comedy done right, first epic Car chase movie done right etc

 

Idealizing the past by being selective about it is an exercize in futility, my 30 favourite movies of the last 15 years are better than the movies of today so today's movies SUCK BALLS !

That s not how it works.

 

Blockbusters are the new norm now, there never has been so many sci-fi/fantasy/action/superhero movies released per year in history, it s beyond ridiculous, we have 25 tentpoles films released every year battling to capture people s imagination so of course people are getting jaded & bored & numbed.

You can't create completely new imagery or storytelling  with every film when you play in the same sandbox so of course the trailblazers films (you know the ones) and directors (you know the ones) of the blockbuster genre (I know blockbuster is not a genre but you get the point anyway)  are difficult to surpass  or equal.

With each new blockbuster, it s getting more & more difficult to impress people or feel fresh or original.

Of course Deadpool was a behemoth because it used a tone in a superhero movie that had never been done before, but there aren't 50 different tones to apply to the superhero sandbox either.

Logan feels fresh to people because it looks like a deviation from the current norm but the movie looks basic AF to me.

 

People are easily impressed by super average, competent little movies like Deus Ex Machina or Hell or High Water or Hacksaw Ridge or Sicario because there are little deviations from the current norm I was just talking about.

But these 4 particular  movies had nothing new to offer to me, I ve already seen it all in other movies, done way better and I was politely bored by these 4 raved films.

Deus Ex Machina was Sci Fi for the Dumb 101 and it s the thinking sci fi film of recent years ? Ok, if you say so.

 

Doing a great BvS is twice as hard as doing a great Manchester by the Sea or Whiplash, that I am convinced.

Doing these little dramas with little scope or ambition is the easy way, they could be plays in theaters.

You have easy, simple effective drama, few characters. Get great actors and rent your Drama 101 book at your local library and you ll do a great movie. ( PS : I know EVERY movie is hard to make, from Uwe Boll to Christopher Nolan & everything in between)

When you do a BvS, the scope  & the complexity of the story you are trying to tell is enormous, plenty of characters , a story that invoves a city, a country or the world, not a family or a few friends that have struggles between them.

Also, how to manage the action and the visual aspects of the film which are a big part the storytelling that adds layers of complexity.

You have to expose a mythology, the internal logic of the world you've created, exotic concepts to explain.

There are so,so many ways to go wrong.

Super hard to write an affective & compelling story in a blockbuster setting, so many more moving parts than in a crime/Thriller/Biopic/Family drama setting with a small scope.

 

There is a reason why so many screenwriters and directors, while lauded as great with their nice little gritty dramas, completely crashed and burned when they tried the blockbuster game.

 

Also, being a Cameron or a Nolan or a Tarantino or a Peter Jackson or a Spielberg, I think these people that are just uber brilliant in so many areas are just super rare.

You can only allow a director with a voice (which tingle the fancy of the cinephile) with a 150m-200m budget to go his way to a certain degree : The Wachoswkis, Zack Snyders even George Millers (read some Amazon reviews, you d be surprised by the reaction of lots of Joes & Janes to Fury Road)  of the world are just too out there for some part of the GA.

That's just the way it is.

 

Which leads me to my last point, nobody cares about directors having a voice  for the most part, GA just want to be entertained and have a good time at the movies, they couldn't name 10 directors to save their lives.

Tell them a great, compelling & effective story with great, charismatic good looking actors, visual spectacle with good pacing & action and people will come back at the movies, with their popcorn ready.

That s what Marvel is doing so incredibly well in the Blockbuster sandbox, something I find super hard to achieve & yes,

NOBLE.

Make no mistake, I like the nerdy movie talk (rankings, favorite directors & actors , Deakins > Chivo, X or Y should have been nominated, JLAW > ALL) but you must have the time &  will to do so, most people just see a movie, assess in their heads in 2 minutes if they liked it or not, maybe discuss about it 15 minutes with their friends and/or significant other and then they move on with all the things that are going on with their lives.

 

Yup, Golden Age, from a certain point of view.

 

While I agree with most of you that the 2016 s blockbuster crop wasn't very good, it wasn't as bad as some people say either.

I still enjoyed most of them & adored two (Civil War & Star Trek Beyond).

 

I understand where some of you are coming from, I do, but you re are just an educated cinephile minority, growing old, & life is mostly unfair.

 

 

 

Edited November 20, 2016 by The Futurist