Obsessions with Box Office

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Pacific Rim is Sharknado with a big budget. It's honestly one of the worst movies I've seen in years only somewhat redeemed by the robot vs monster scenes. I like Charlie Hunnam but there isn't much he could have done better provided with such a horrible script. Google Pacific Rim with the words "worst ever" and you will see a lot of opinions that mirror mine.

No, it isn't. Sharknado is a cynical cash grab made by hack frauds who were given a little bit of money and a former B list celebrity, and what they produced was unengaging, patronising schlock.

I realise that everyone's tastes are different, but if you're going to tell me that Guillermo del Toro put the same level of care and effort into Pacific rim that Hack Fraud 1138 put into Sharknado, I'm going to say you're wrong.

This is actually a microcosm of what's wrong with film criticism these days... And possibly why we so often look to box office returns to judge a film. Because a movie can't just be a fun enjoyable evening out. It's either the best thing to ever hit celluloid or it's the worst thing since Sharknado.

At best, the script for Pacific Rim is utilitarian. But it isn't insulting to our intelligence, it isn't cynical, and in the context of The movie's universe, the story elements work.

Unless you couldn't get past the use of giant robots as a defence? Like, wouldn't bunker buster bombs and cruise missiles just obliterate an organic life form even if it was as big as an aircraft carrier? I mean that's a valid point, but that's not the point of The movie, so... I dunno?

Having seen every major blockbuster that came out this year, this and iron man 3 were the only ones that had me leaving the theatre having enjoyed the experience. Oh, and 'Now You See Me', if that counts as a blockbuster.

It's been a really rough year for movies...

[trackercowe]

Have to agree with most of what you posted, especially the part about people calling so many movies "the worst thing they've ever seen". But I disagree with your assessment of movies, as Iron Man 3 and Now You See Me were on the lower end of spectrum imo.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

Have to agree with most of what you posted, especially the part about people calling so many movies "the worst thing they've ever seen". But I disagree with your assessment of movies, as Iron Man 3 and Now You See Me were on the lower end of spectrum imo.

I can understand why people were irritated by Iron Man 3. He's not in the suit very much, and the everyone bit hard on the Mandarin thing. I would counter that showing Stark without all his gadgets and forcing him to be resourceful and creative to figure out a solution to his problem makes the movie way more interesting and engaging than Iron Man 2 ("Hey, let's build a particle accelerator in my living room and discover a new element!"). And the Mandarin thing works for me. For one, the switch at least attempts to do something unique with the material, and when every other film is a comic book adaptation with 'Bad Guy' as the foil, it was nice to see them change things up in an unexpected way.

Now to that, I'm sure you'll point to all the people who bitched because Mandarin is Iron Man's greatest villain or whatever. This is from his wikipedia page.

"The Mandarin is portrayed as a genius scientist and a superhumanly skilled martial artist. However, his primary sources of power are ten power rings that he adapted from the alien technology of a crashed space ship. Each ring has a different power and is worn on a specific finger."

Oh my Jesus, how boring is that? I mean thematically, I'm sure the fights would have looked cool. But this isn't a Joker/Batman thing where two completely opposing ideologies are competing for the same real estate. It's not a Superman/Lex juxtaposition where each character is essentially the opposite of what he should be. I'm sure as a comic book villain the Mandarin is fearsome, but we're now into the 4th movie with this character.

Next movie:

Now You See Me's last act isn't nearly as good as the first two thirds of it, and I think that holds it back. But the lead actors are very good, even if they're not breaking new ground with the choices they're making with their characters. The direction, editing, and the score are enthusiastic and done with a good amount of style. Much like Iron Man and Pacific Rim, this movie is fun. It's about magicians pulling off a heist.

None of these are perfect by any stretch. Running down the list of their competition, however...

Man of Steel- Violent, depressing disaster that misses the whole point of the character.

Star Trek: Into Darkness- Violent, nonsensical depressing disaster that misses the whole point of the movie it ripped off I mean was inspired by.

The Wolverine- Violent, boring disaster that I could not have cared less about. The train fight was well done though, and it's better than Origins.

Thor: The Dark World- Disappointing. I actually really enjoy the first Thor. This felt really lame.

I just want to leave a theatre not rubbing my temples and wondering how what I just saw was able to happen. That's all.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

^^^ I really hope you're watching some movies outside of big blockbuster types, because otherwise you will be eternally disappointed.

I think there's been some exceptional films this year, but sadly none of the big summer movies delivered. Then, all of a sudden, 7 or 8 amazing films come out within a couple weeks of each other around (American) Thanksgiving and you're scrambling to catch up on the ones actually worth watching.

My biggest complaint with the film industry these days is the large periods of time throughout the year where there is just nothing worth watching…I mean zero. Then they jam it all in at the end of the year for the awards season. Granted, that's when most people go see movies, but if they just released a great movie in, say, January, when everyone else releases crap, they could walk away absolutely dominating the box office. There are plenty of people who like to see movies once every week to 2 weeks that are starved for something decent to go see for months on end. And then they have the gall to give us summer blockbusters that don't deliver on anything besides special effects (and even then not always) in an effort to grab dollars.

There's a reason that TV series are having a huge resurgence over films these days. The quality has been poured back into TV, and it also has to do with the ability the ability to binge watch.

[darklord700]

The size of the marketing budget has direct relationship to the box office gross. So you'll see Hanzel and Gretal out gross 12 Years of Slave and Blue Jasmine. I never saw any kind of 12 years of Slave promotion until the award season. And frankly Woody Allen films do not make big box office. The top grossing films are generally event movies nowadays.