Halloween Weekend Thread (10/28-30) | Weekend Estimates: Adam 27.7, Paradise 10, Devil 7, Smile 5, Ends 3.8

[Cmasterclay]

Just now, Ericstein's Monster said:

This right here is why "dark" movies do so much more for me emotionally. People will try to say things will get better and to stop focusing on the cruelties of the world, but it all rings as hollow attempts to distract from the fact that global warming is killing us and fascism is still on the rise, with so much progress that was once made completely tarnished and thrown away by a growing disdain against intellectuals and scientists (congrats to Brazil though for waking up from all that trash, though who knows for how long). Trying to create movies that exist to give happy thoughts, that try to tell us things will get better because Tom Cruise will save the day, isn't close to reality. It's all a lie that doesn't make me feel better over the fact that the world is set to collapse before I even retire. With a sad movie, I may be bummed, but it at least lets me think about what's going on in real life. That's so much more rewarding than a farce with a smiley face on it

Don't get me wrong -I still love a crowdpleaser, Top Gun included. I just don't like a crowdpleaser that feels like content instead of earned emotion. It doesn't please me to see Jim from the Office show up as Mr. Fantastic.

[filmlover]

6 minutes ago, grim22 said:

 

A lot of arthouse theaters have closed down during the pandemic as well. 3 major arthouse theaters in OC closed in the last 6 months and the Landmark in LA which was a major arthouse hub shut down as well. The smaller movies now have to go into the broader engagement theaters.

That's why a lot of theaters experimented with their specialty titles by releasing them in hundreds of theaters last year. That's likely why Babylon just said "screw it" to its limited Christmas Day/wide January 6 plans and will now take advantage of the holidays as much as it can (that rumored runtime is obviously going to restrict the number of shows per screen it gets each day).

[Cmasterclay]

The reason I care about empty theaters for most films and the move to streaming is not just my own edification or love of tracking box office. I genuinely believe that a diverse theater-based experience was essential to the communal American experience for many years, and that the siloing of entertainment and the move to in-home viewing is causing us to drift farther and father apart and grow more divided as a nation. Just like the silos we have in our news sources, and how we watch sports at home on Sunday Ticket instead of out in public, or watch one the thousand Netflix Christmas movies instead of gathering in the town circle to experience the lights and watch Elf or something. We are growing distant as a people and it is leading to the political ramifications we have today. Streaming is one symptom of that. For a young hip liberal I am quite a technology skeptic.

Edited October 31, 2022 by Cmasterclay

[misterpepp]

5 minutes ago, Cmasterclay said:

I genuinely believe that a diverse theater-based experience was essential to the communal American experience for many years, and that the siloing of entertainment and the move to in-home viewing is causing us to drift farther and father apart and grow more divided as a nation. Just like the silos we have in our news sources, and how we watch sports at home on Sunday Ticket instead of out in public, or watch one the thousand Netflix Christmas movies instead of gathering in the town circle to experience the lights and watch Elf or something. We are growing distant as a people and it is leading to the political ramifications we have today. Streaming is one symptom of that. For a young hip liberal I am quite a technology skeptic.

 

I do feel similar to this, and I think I'd also be classified as a "young hip liberal" (well, may not hip). As great as it is to order stuff off Amazon, I miss the days of hanging out at the mall with my friends. I'm sad that Netflix killed video stores as well, I have great memories of browsing the covers of the new releases with my family and deciding on a movie to watch that night. Used to love visiting book stores and comic shops too.

 

And of course, I say this as I'm making an online order right now. I hate convenience sometimes! 😩

[Flopped]

Anyone got Sunday numbers plz & thx

[The Wild Eric]

31 minutes ago, Cmasterclay said:

The reason I care about empty theaters for most films and the move to streaming is not just my own edification or love of tracking box office. I genuinely believe that a diverse theater-based experience was essential to the communal American experience for many years, and that the siloing of entertainment and the move to in-home viewing is causing us to drift farther and father apart and grow more divided as a nation. Just like the silos we have in our news sources, and how we watch sports at home on Sunday Ticket instead of out in public, or watch one the thousand Netflix Christmas movies instead of gathering in the town circle to experience the lights and watch Elf or something. We are growing distant as a people and it is leading to the political ramifications we have today. Streaming is one symptom of that. For a young hip liberal I am quite a technology skeptic.

I mean I watched movies at home and watched tons of football games in my house when I was a kid and I turned out fine as a "young, hip liberal". Just because Netflix is popular doesn't mean people at large refuse to socialize or are total shut-ins. And if we're talking "a divided nation", as somebody on the spectrum and bisexual, I really don't want to feel connected with people who hate my very existence.

[BadOlCatSylvester]

All this talk about general audiences moving away from dark and gritty storytelling makes me very curious about Wakanda Forever's performance in a couple of weeks. That one looks to be pretty downer by Marvel standards because of Chadwick's absence. I'm sure the fans are happy to see a serious story after the franchise's recent barrage of goofy humour, but I'm a little worried about the average Joe/Jane/whoever finding it too depressing to stomach with all the turmoil in modern society as of late.

[BoxOfficeFangrl]

5 hours ago, Ezen Baklattan said:

TAR is weird because it's definitely not the kind of film that would have done well even before COVID, but like @Cmasterclay, you could at least get $25m out of it if all went well. Then again, Tammy Faye still won an oscar last year with a worse total than what TAR already made, heh.

 

 

Till is definitely the one I'm more surprised at. I definitely understand the apprehension at another film focusing on black trauma, but I think between the strong reviews and the more affirming take on the story than people expected, it might have done better. At least it has some time to build that WOM before Black Panther takes every screen.

 

I think $25 million for Tár would have always been extremely optimistic. Blanchett may be getting Blue Jasmine-level reviews, but IMO Notes on a Scandal or Carol might be better reference points for potential audience appeal. Even the power of the Weinstein machine (they even tried pretending Carol was a thriller!) only got it to $12.7 million domestic back in 2015. Todd Field’s last movie, Little Children, made less than half that.  Best Actress buzz drives internet traffic and awards podcasts, but the box office track record on Actress frontrunners is much more mixed.

 

*

 

For me, the box office for Till is completely unsurprising. It was advertised well enough, but it's about the horrific death of a real-life child due to racial violence. Even if the violence is offscreen, people of several demographics will find that subject too traumatic/intense for a trip to the movies in 2022. There was also a miniseries about Emmett Till's mother earlier this year on ABC. For many, the story is already well known and too heavy to revisit, regardless of how well done this latest iteration may be.

 

 

 

Edited October 31, 2022 by BoxOfficeFangrl

[charlie Jatinder]

3 hours ago, grim22 said:

It was cancelled by Indians in 2008.

Actually never heard anyone disliking it here and it did quite well at BO as well $7.5M which is like INSANE for such film.

[Torontofan]

5 hours ago, charlie Jatinder said:

Actually never heard anyone disliking it here and it did quite well at BO as well $7.5M which is like INSANE for such film.

 

I more go annoyed at white people telling me Jai Ho was their favourite Indian song for the next 10 years

 

XD 

 

Thats why I feel indians in north america have a love hate relationship with the film 

Edited October 31, 2022 by Torontofan

[Torontofan]

I been on these message forums since 2003 (on and off) an the biggest difference is then before...there was far less personal anomosity and more goodfaith and there was a lot more communal experience of music, movies and culture as a whole.

Rarely did movies have poliics attached to them apart for high profile exceptions like Micheal Moore films or Passion of the Christ etc.

 

Now everyone is being siloed in seems to be in different realities and seems every movie has some political angel or issue attached to it (even if the film has no politics).

 

So I think you guys have a valid point, music and tv has become very siloed and now movies are being so as well now leading to less communal experiences.

Edited October 31, 2022 by Torontofan

[charlie Jatinder]

14 minutes ago, Torontofan said:

 

I more go annoyed at white people telling me Jai Ho was their favourite Indian song for the next 10 years

 

XD 

 

Thats why I feel indians in north america have a love hate relationship with the film 

Jai Ho is solid song tho. Was a rage back then, became anthem for whenever anything good happen with India for a while, though Chak De India toppled it.

 

This theme from Swades reused in slumdog tho

 

[The Wild Eric]

5 minutes ago, Torontofan said:

Rarely did movies have poliics attached to them apart for high profile exceptions like Micheal Moore films or Passion of the Christ etc.

 

Now everyone is being siloed in seems to be in different realities and seems every movie has some political angel or issue attached to it (even if the film has no politics).

[filmlover]

5 hours ago, BoxOfficeFangrl said:

Even the power of the Weinstein machine (they even tried pretending Carol was a thriller!) only got it to $12.7 million domestic back in 2015.

 

That "Carol is a thriller" TV spot remains one of my favorite hilariously false pieces of advertising I've ever seen for a movie. If Harvey wasn't such a completely revolting human being who finally got what he deserved not too long ago it would be easy to make a meme out of him for his ridiculous marketing attempts.

 

Edited October 31, 2022 by filmlover

[Torontofan]

7 minutes ago, Ericstein's Monster said:

 

Not sure why you laugh, can ask the older users, very few films had poltical discussions around them on these forum pages.

 

Seems this trend started around 6-7 years ago. 

 

( i know i am part of this trend lol) 

Edited October 31, 2022 by Torontofan

[RichWS]

Seeing Tar today. Odds I'm the only person there? 

[JustLurking]

36 minutes ago, Torontofan said:

 

Not sure why you laugh, can ask the older users, very few films had poltical discussions around them on these forum pages.

 

Seems this trend started around 6-7 years ago. 

 

( i know i am part of this trend lol) 

Not having (as many) political discussions and not having politics in them are two very different things.

Edited October 31, 2022 by JustLurking

[GOGODanca]

https://twitter.com/TheRock/status/1587067219317497856?s=20&t=UlyrP0KfbzH2yUwuvi967A

[BoxOfficeFangrl]

1 hour ago, filmlover said:

That "Carol is a thriller" TV spot remains one of my favorite hilariously false pieces of advertising I've ever seen for a movie. If Harvey wasn't such a completely revolting human being who finally got what he deserved not too long ago it would be easy to make a meme out of him for his ridiculous marketing attempts.

 

"Honor the man, honor the film" is the underlying campaign of almost every biopic (especially musicians), Harvey was just more brazen about it. His exile from the industry was long overdue, but sometimes I've wondered how he would have handled different awards season scenarios, had his fall from grace not happened. Would he have acquired CODA or been behind Power of the Dog, and what takedown angle would he have tried on the other? Which is not to say the Oscars were purely about merit until Weinstein came along: awards campaigning goes way back.

 

*

The more that The Rock tries pumping up Black Adam's success, the more I see how similar he and Vin Diesel are. No wonder they didn't get along...

 

[Cmasterclay]

I unanimously hear from my friends, almost all of whom are liberal but not to the degree I am, that movies are too political these days. That is a real, pervasive thought that is affecting box office, I gotta agree with that guy. Now, I think it's a dumb, ahistorical way of viewing art (of course movies have been political forever, even moreso than now) - but just because I think it's stupid doesn't mean I should ignore it as reality.