La Binoche Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 RT audience scores: AC: 77 Pass: 65 Sing: 81 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That One Girl Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Whether or not you like their films, from a financial standpoint, Illumination is fucking genius. They create the most widely appealing films possible, launch a massive marketing campaign, and keep the budgets low to save for marketing the film. I don't think they've lost money on a film yet. Hell, even Hop probably broke even. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Panda Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 3 minutes ago, Christmas Baumer said: I look at it differently. Their budgets are always under 100 million. This is more responsible and they seem to put their money into other things besides the animation being top notch. When we were kids, Tom and Jerry and The Road Runner and Scooby Doo wasn't the best animation out there but it entertained the hell out of us. I think this is kind of what Illumination is doing. I have no doubt that what they're doing is great from a business perspective. If I could profit share from any animation studio they'd definitely make me think twice before going with Disney. I haven't really hated any of their movies, and like you said, kids obviously love them because they do well. It's just hard not to shrug your shoulders when there's studios like Laika, Ghibli, and WDAS/Pixar producing mesmerizing work. Laika ans Ghibli also work on small budgets, and they produce great films, with great technical quality. Illumination is fine, and if I were the CEO I doubt I'd change anything because some Panda on the Internet only thought my studio's movies were okay. They obviously do well, I just wish small studios like Laika that make passion projects like Kubo would be able to succeed more than the generic stuff. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Futurist Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 1 minute ago, That One Guy said: Whether or not you like their films, from a financial standpoint, Illumination is fucking genius. They create the most widely appealing films possible, launch a massive marketing campaign, and keep the budgets low to save for marketing the film. I don't think they've lost money on a film yet. Hell, even Hop probably broke even. The guy behind Illumination is the marketing guy behind the Ice Age franchise at Fox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyGossamer Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 28 minutes ago, La Binoche said: Harrison has a few underrated gems (underrated in the sense that they're overshadowed by Star Wars, Indy and his bigger blockbusters like The Fugitive). Witness The Mosquito Coast Frantic Presumed Innocent Mosquito Coast and Witness are outstanding. Peter Weir's the man. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitik Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 2 minutes ago, cannastop said: Tom and Jerry wasn't bad animation by any means. At least the stuff that was made in the 40s and 50s. It's funny how in a lot of cases, older Popeye is far better than "newer" (though still many decades old) Popeye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennaJ Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 1 minute ago, ThePanda A Star Wars Story said: I have no doubt that what they're doing is great from a business perspective. If I could profit share from any animation studio they'd definitely make me think twice before going with Disney. I haven't really hated any of their movies, and like you said, kids obviously love them because they do well. It's just hard not to shrug your shoulders when there's studios like Laika, Ghibli, and WDAS/Pixar producing mesmerizing work. Laika ans Ghibli also work on small budgets, and they produce great films, with great technical quality. Illumination is fine, and if I were the CEO I doubt I'd change anything because some Panda on the Internet only thought my studio's movies were okay. They obviously do well, I just wish small studios like Laika that make passion projects like Kubo would be able to succeed more than the generic stuff. This. Laika's movies are so wonderful, I really wish they got even a fraction of the success and recognition that these mediocre Illumination movies get. Kubo deserved so much better at the box office. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cannastop Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 I don't think Illumination is putting downward pressure on the budgets of Pixar or WDAS. Part of their brand is making the movie look great on some level, so getting rid of extra polish would be cutting off their nose to spite their face. And if cheaper animation became the norm, that's not to say that it would last forever. A studio could later venture the extra millions and market as "Remember when these movies looked great, too?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Futurist Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Illumination or when Americans use fench people as slave workers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LonePirate Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 47 minutes ago, Christmas Baumer said: Try dead gain and shattered. Also if you have not seen Basic Instinct find that one for sure. It's too bad the internet (as we know it today or even in the late 1990s) wasn't around when Basic Instinct was released. The film had some massive buzz thanks to Sharon Stone's remarkable performance, both inside and outside of that police interrogation room. It's held up fairly well after almost 25 years. I definitely second Baumer's recommendation if you have not seen it. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomCat Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 20 minutes ago, yjs said: Sing's RT score is slightly dropping again. now at 70%. I was mildly excited and mostly curious when its first TIFF reactions were out, and now I've been thinking about what that Indiewire critic said the other day how Illumination is lowering the standard and expectations for animated films and I get what he means. Their formulas are working a little too well for them, which is both a blessing and a curse. Illumination is not a follower anymore and in fact it is the leading studio of the market now with the highest gross average, and their decidedly cost-effective approach to filmmaking could drive other studios to follow the similar steps. People are more willingly giving them a free pass than they are to Pixar (some might counter-argue this point) because their target audience is much younger and they are pandering to them so well, but it spawns the idea that kids movies don't deserve that same artistic integrity in their narratives or aesthetics and are okay to be seen as a complete product. I feel somewhat cautious saying this as a Disney/Pixar fan that it would come off as obnoxious or double standards but I do feel it'd be good if Illumination steps out of their comfort zone and try something different once in a while, making something that is more than "it's fun and kids love it", at least raising the budget a bit (cause they can totally afford it) and developing a new rendering tool and experiment with their looks or something. Cause otherwise their movies would be the same a decade from now. These two points I'll disagree with. I'm one of the bigger proponents of Animation is just as good as any live action film. That being said, Animation, by the critic, is clearly being held to a higher standard than any live action film. The fact of the matter is, if Sing was live action, it’d be a perfectly ok Christmas holiday film that would appeal to children and adults as something non-offensive and enjoyable two hours. Since it’s animated, it has to become like Pixar, or it’s lowering standards. Sing isn’t incomplete. It’s light, it’s fluffy. Not everything NEEDS to be art. Sometimes entertainment is just fine. We don’t have to give our children art in everything they watch. It isn’t lowering standards or destroying anything elses potential quality when a movie is just entertainment and not art. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XO21 Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 10 minutes ago, La Binoche said: RT audience scores: AC: 77 Pass: 65 Sing: 81 AC fans doing their thing. Someone should alert the J.Law squad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yjs Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 2 minutes ago, hw64 said: There is literally nothing wrong with this. yeah this part kinda made me contemplate too, this would bring us to certain complicated topics like if the quality of arts can truly be measured or if the idea that "well-made" movies should be more rewarded by financial success makes sense or if we need to support and protect indie arthouse films from washed out of the market or not, yada yada.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yjs Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 well actually I just realized why can't there be both. Entertainment and art. Maybe I was more worried about one exiling another, which wouldn't be really possible. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fancyarcher Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 2 hours ago, RandomJC said: Sing? Yeah, I think it'll be big, have strong WOM. It's a feel good crowd pleaser, and better than everything else out this week. It makes a good counter balance to a darker film like RO, and better Christmas watching. It doesn't look like it'll have much adult appeal, but it'll still probably be big anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babz06 Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Are those good numbers for the openers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrestrial Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Quote Among the three, Illumination Entertainment's and Universal's Sing has the best shot of toppling holdover Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, although many are betting on the latter to stay No. 1. On Tuesday, Lucasfilm's and Disney's Rogue One topped the chart for the full day with nearly $18 million. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-sing-beats-assassins-creed-passengers-tuesday-previews-958235?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomCat Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 2 minutes ago, Fancyarcher said: It doesn't look like it'll have much adult appeal, but it'll still probably be big anyway. I think it'll have less, but it's probably more appealing than Passengers or AC for a film to go see if you don't want to watch RO again. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fancyarcher Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 (edited) 2 minutes ago, RandomJC said: I think it'll have less, but it's probably more appealing than Passengers or AC for a film to go see if you don't want to watch RO again. That's not really saying much, considering that both Passengers and AC aren't kid-friendly at all, but with a lack of real family options aside from RO, it'll very likely make more then 200m. Edited December 21, 2016 by Fancyarcher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FantasticBeasts Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 But then again, even the acclaimed animations are kind of cliched. Was Zootopia's meaning original? We have seen it like a hundred times... I 'll call this again, but the last time I saw a really original animation it was Inside Out. I can't really think of another one that came lately.. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
