A2 WEEKEND THREAD | 134.1M DOM OW | Thurs 17m / Fri 36m / Sat 45m / Sun 36m

[cookie]

I'd argue Gravity and Life of Pi are closer to RotK's successors than something like Argo even though they didn't win. Large budgets, filled with stellar VFX, big name leads for the former, huge international grosses, etc. Both were pretty much the runner-ups of their respective years.

Edited December 17, 2022 by cookie

[JustLurking]

1 minute ago, MovieMan89 said:

Oh geez, was that really same year as Spotlight? Dear god what a miserable fail on their part for not going with Fury Road in that case. 
 

Inception and TS3, both from the same year unfortunately, I think were also worthy blockbuster choices. Would have been perfectly happy with Coco or Endgame winning BP as well, but neither were ever ever going to happen.

Yeah - It was Spotlight, Mad Max, The Big Short, Brooklyn, Bridge of Spies, Room, Revenant and The Martian.

 

Like...I have absolutely nothing against Spotlight, it's solid, but really?

[Maggie]

5 minutes ago, The Dark Alfred said:

 

Disagree. The HURT LOCKER was a beautifil film.

Agree with this. Love The Hurt Locker. So tense and thrilling.....like TG2

Edited December 17, 2022 by Maggie

[NCsoft]

1 minute ago, cookie said:

I'd argue Gravity and Life of Pi are closer to RotK's successors than something like Argo even though they didn't win. Large budgets, filled with stellar VFX, big name leads for the former, huge international grosses, etc.

If we count Gravity as a blockbuster (definitely should)

It's the closest to BP win for a blockbuster since ROTK, it has the PGA+DGA combo with a locked director win and a sweep of the tech categories.

 

Edited December 17, 2022 by NCsoft

[MovieMan89]

1 minute ago, The Dark Alfred said:

 

Disagree. The HURT LOCKER was a beautifil film. It was at least original, wasn't a POCAHONTAS story. Think they got it right, AVATAR won deservedly art direction, cinematography and VSX.  I think even Jimbo happy that Bigelow got BD.

I couldn’t care less about who the better human is, it’s supposed to be about the movies. I don’t remember anything at all about THL at this point, even though I saw it. A true BP shouldn’t be that way. And Avatar’s execution of its basic hero’s journey is done well. I have never been convinced otherwise. The astonishing spectacle and technical achievement of it mixes very nicely for something that was BP worthy imo. 

[MovieMan89]

4 minutes ago, cookie said:

I'd argue Gravity and Life of Pi are closer to RotK's successors than something like Argo even though they didn't win. Large budgets, filled with stellar VFX, big name leads for the former, huge international grosses, etc. Both were pretty much the runner-ups of their respective years.

Ah yes, also excellent choices they could have went with for a blockbuster BP. Really they’ve had plenty of chances.

[titanic2187]

14 minutes ago, Porthos said:

I know we're in the middle of Oscar Talk, but since I just caught up with the thread, I want to swing back to something that was discussed about an hour ago.

 

 

 

As a not quite charter member of Wait For Boxing Day To Really Say, but a strong subscriber to the newsletter, I understand this comment.

 

I really do.

 

At the same the world is a *LOT* different now than it was in 2009.

 

We've all listed the reasons, but one major thing that isn't quite getting the attention it deserves, IMO, is social media.  WOM, buzz, call it what you will, discussions about things happen so much more quickly than they did in the past.  To put it simply, WOM can (though not always) spread faster than it ever used to.

 

One of the reasons I was somewhat withholding judgement on A2's legs is that I wanted to see if there was any sign whatsoever in legs starting to develop in a higher than expected from pre-sales Saturday number.  Initial signs from the Tracking thread are... Well, let's just say that if WOM is going around this movie it isn't translating in to more purchases now.  

 

Isn't going to write the whole story of this film.  Dec 26th is still on the horizon, after all.  But I was on record (many many times on record as a matter of fact) of wanting to wait 'till I saw some Saturday numbers before I started to commit to things.  And, well...

 

===

 

Now all of this is complicated by what the WOM might be.  If it is getting really positive WOM (as it seems to be) BUT that's being loosely translated to: "See it in PLF or don't bother", then that's gonna put something of a cap on what I'm looking for when it comes to immediate growth.

 

Having a stronger run on PLFs but a weaker run on standard tickets (2D or 3D) is gonna play hell with a lot of patterns.  Stronger than expected weekdays, even when accounting for the calendar, for instance might be in the cards.  But it's also going to play merry hell with patterns from 2009, as while IMAX was growing, all of the other PLF formats were either just launching or not-yet launched.  

 

So "But this started just like this in 2009" doesn't quite say as much to me, simply because the entertainment landscape is more different now than a lot of us like to admit (and I'm not just talking about our fav boogeyman — streaming — here, but lots and lots and lots of other factors).  

 

tl;dr: If too many people aren't paying attention to the lessons of 2009 when it comes to how a film like Avatar plays (plausible), I also think not enough people are paying attention to just how much the world has changed in how it consumes and discusses movies since then.

I know I maybe selling a hope here but neither TGM, Elvis or Where the Crawdad sings show significant sign of leggy run in their IMx during OW.

[M37]

57 minutes ago, titanic2187 said:

I think EEAO is wining the Oscar race. It has every necessary element to win the race. 

1. Huge Indie hit

2. Critically acclaimed

3. A showcase to the public that Academy can award a naughty, sci-fi action film. Make Oscar cool again!

4. Diversity

  

That would be my bet too, if only because it was the only art/specialty release that had any semblance of commercial success. Voting for Banshees or Fablemans is a tacit admission that the Oscars has basically become non-relevant culturally, almost a steaming award

 

Also, Elvis was better than TGM (IMHO), but has no BP buzz, only actor 

[Ozymandias]

9 minutes ago, Ozymandias said:

 

rank all the best picture winning blockbusters in the last 30 years

 

1. ROTK

2. Gladiator

3. Forrest Gump

 

lmao I forgot Titanic

 

1. ROTK

2. Gladiator

3. Titanic

4. Forrest Gump

[MovieMan89]

6 minutes ago, JustLurking said:

Yeah - It was Spotlight, Mad Max, The Big Short, Brooklyn, Bridge of Spies, Room, Revenant and The Martian.

 

Like...I have absolutely nothing against Spotlight, it's solid, but really?

Outside of BoS, those are actually all some damn good movies. It’s no wonder everyone hates the Academy for being out of touch when you consider stuff like this. 

[Verrows]

10 minutes ago, XXR Tulkun Rider said:

Has to be top 100 DOM to be a blockbuster.

For me, "blockbuster" is sort of relative.

 

Like, to me a Conjuring movie that grosses over $100 is a horror blockbuster. Or Halloween 2018. This comes down to a combination of IP and low budget.

 

Whereas a high budget fantasy epic that only grosses $100 doesn't feel like a blockbuster at all.

[Ronin46]

8 minutes ago, JustLurking said:

Yeah - It was Spotlight, Mad Max, The Big Short, Brooklyn, Bridge of Spies, Room, Revenant and The Martian.

 

Like...I have absolutely nothing against Spotlight, it's solid, but really?

 

Fury Road was ground breaking. I was in awe watching it at the cinema. Top 3 film in the last 25 years. 

[ZeeSoh]

1 hour ago, Korra Legion said:

Even as 100 pages nears, there has been zero Rth. #notAnEvent

 

Because no one posted a shirtless dude's pic. Here let me try and entice him

 

[The Dark Alfred]

4 minutes ago, MovieMan89 said:

I couldn’t care less about who the better human is, it’s supposed to be about the movies. I don’t remember anything at all about THL at this point, even though I saw it. A true BP shouldn’t be that way. And Avatar’s execution of its basic hero’s journey is done well. I have never been convinced otherwise. The astonishing spectacle and technical achievement of it mixes very nicely for something that was BP worthy imo. 

 

Didn't say anything about personality. AVATAR was a groudbreaking film, but it had its flaws. The story was cliche. At Oscars story matters a lot, Best Picture and screenplay usually go hand in hand.

 

THE HURT LOCKER was well-acted, intensely shot, action filled war epic, and was considered the best of the recent dramatizations of the Iraq War. It got much better reviews as well. And you know how Oscar loves a bit of politics, at the time the Iraq war was still a hot subject. It was a no brainer imho that THL won.

[Verrows]

9 minutes ago, JustLurking said:

Yeah - It was Spotlight, Mad Max, The Big Short, Brooklyn, Bridge of Spies, Room, Revenant and The Martian.

 

Like...I have absolutely nothing against Spotlight, it's solid, but really?

The Academy loves being the smartest person in the room when it comes to best picture. They get cute with picking the winner even when another film has a ton of momentum.

[CaptNathanBrittles]

10 minutes ago, cookie said:

I'd argue Gravity and Life of Pi are closer to RotK's successors than something like Argo even though they didn't win. Large budgets, filled with stellar VFX, big name leads for the former, huge international grosses, etc. Both were pretty much the runner-ups of their respective years.

 

The fact that GRAVITY won Best Director, Editing + Cinematography - the corner stones of filmmaking and not Best Picture was a travesty.

[CoolioD1]

10 minutes ago, JustLurking said:

Yeah - It was Spotlight, Mad Max, The Big Short, Brooklyn, Bridge of Spies, Room, Revenant and The Martian.

 

Like...I have absolutely nothing against Spotlight, it's solid, but really?

not even a spielberg dick rider like some here but bridge of spies best of this line up easily.

[Nero]

6 minutes ago, Ozymandias said:

 

lmao I forgot Titanic

 

1. ROTK

2. Gladiator

3. Titanic

4. Forrest Gump

1. Titanic 

2. ROTK 

3. Forrest Gump

4. Gladiator 

 

 

 

[Eric S'ennui]

5 minutes ago, MovieMan89 said:

Outside of BoS, those are actually all some damn good movies. It’s no wonder everyone hates the Academy for being out of touch when you consider stuff like this. 

Or maybe they just have an opinion different than yours.

[Ipickthiswhiterose]

For what it's worth In the last 30 years, with my ranking 

 

1. Unforgiven ***

2. Parasite

3. LOTR: ROTK*****

4. Schindler's List***

5. No Country for Old Men

6. Titanic*****

7. Argo

8. 12 Years a Slave

9. The Departed***

10. Gladiator*****

11. Spotlight

12. Hurt Locker

13. Shakespeare in Love***

14. Slumdog Millionaire

15. Green Book

16. Million Dollar Baby

17. A Beautiful Mind***

18. Birdman

19. The English Patient

20. Nomadland

21. The Shape of Water

22. The Artist

23. American Beauty***

24. CODA 

25. Braveheart*****

26. Chicago ***

27. Crash

28. The King's Speech***

29. Forrest Gump*****

 

*****  = Was a blockbuster

 

*** = Wasn't a blockbuster but a very mainstream wide major release all the same 

 

Whoops, left Moonlight out sorry - would be 7 or 8.

Edited December 17, 2022 by Ipickthiswhiterose