The Big Picture: The Numbers

[bdcjacko]

Last time I went to the movies, it was cheaper to buy good beer and a good pizza for $23 than for 2 tickets to see Thor at $27. That is kind of why I don't go see movies in the theaters. But Scott Pilgrim is amazing, I wish I saw that in theaters.

 

[Wireframefool]

Aw, that's really, really lame. That movie sounded amazing!

 

[CronoT]

This is the same exact reason that they made 7 SAW films: because gullible people with too much money and not enough sense/taste kept going to see them.

The original SAW film was a masterpiece of psychological suspense and horror. It kept you guessing right up until the end, literally. The second one was decent, if a little rushed. All the rest were just a filthy cash grab.

If we're lucky, Bob, Nintendo or MS will greenlight that as a game, a la Eternal Darkness. A guy can dream.

 

[DearFilm]

Depressing. This is probably as pure an example as there is of capitalism simply not working.

Actually, this is an example of good capitalism. People demand crappy movies, the studios supply crappy movies. Studios compete to see who can release the crappiest cash-grab.




OT:
Bob, the sooner you realize that people like crap and there's nothing you can do about it the sooner you'll lose those headaches. It's not worth worrying about.

I feel like if people liked "crappy movies" Scott Pilgrim would have out-grossed Avatar.

Also, Inception would have been a BO failure. We can't keep assuming that people who dislike a film are just out for garbage. Sometimes a film we love for personal reasons just isn't that good.

 

[Needs Moar Crowbar]

wow. That is rather depressing. This isn't exactly a movie that would be a product placement thing either. How did Scott Pilgrim fail?

All the meat headed movie goers went to go see the Expendables which opened on the same weekend instead of Scott Pilgrim.

I heard about Del Toro's Mountains of Madness movie getting axed a long time ago and I'm still pissed about it. I really hope the movie still gets made eventually.

 

[DearFilm]

I totally agree with this apart from:
1. The expendables was actually a pretty good film.
2. Scott pilgrim was an incredibly poor film.

1. Expendables very unoriginal film
2. Scott Pilgrim is a very original film

That my friend is a fact, ask anyone here and they will probably agree with me. Originality should be celebrated and supported in the arts, while unoriginal cookie-cutter trash should be forgotten.

Originality is not a panacea for bad storytelling and flat characters.

 

[AquaAscension]

Depressing. This is probably as pure an example as there is of capitalism simply not working.

Actually, I'd argue that it's a perfect example of capitalism working, just working in a very negative way. Capitalism is about making that which makes the most money for the least effort (a lazy man's economic system really) and so movies that are lazy but make tons of money succeed like mad. Perhaps movie studios need to try and find a line between atrocious money grabs (looking at you, Pirates 4) and movies that are mass appeal.

More Scott Pilgrim bullshit? Also The expendepals was not that bad. There are worse movie out there like Twilight

Intentional misspelling of Expendables?

There are worse movies out there, but it seems that they share their bad traits. Predictable plot, bad action, bad acting, poorly written script, awkward character dynamics, etc, etc, etc. Having not seen Expendables, these criticisms are based solely on Twilight which is a fan pandering mess if I've ever seen one.

 

[Zenron]

It's kinda sad how such a great movie like Scott Pilgrim did so badly at the box office, but even worse that it got crushed by the utter garbage that was the expendables. The thing is though, I didn't see Scott pilgrim when it was out at the cinema either. The first time I watched it was when I bought it on DVD. Makes me feel kinda guilty about it now.

I still refused to watch a crappy cash-in movie like Fast and Furious 5 though so I guess that makes it a little better.

Good episode bob, I'm not going to lie, I like your episodes like this more than I do the ones about comics and superheroes.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

You'll have to excuse me, I have to go beat me head against a wall for several hours.
*wham wham wham wham wham wham wham wham wham wham...*

 

[darthotaku]

Damn. any Lovecraft movie at all would be good enough for me. the only time I wouldn't pay 20 bucks to see one in threaters would be if Michael Bay directed Call of Cthulhu. which is a reaccuring nightmare for me.

 

[DearFilm]

To everyone claiming this is proof of capitalism favoring the stupid and mentally diminished, I have one word:

Inception.

Original and thought provoking movies make money, but $85 million movies targeted to a exclusive, niche audience with an uncharismatic lead will never make their money back.

 

[kayisking]

First half= geek out
Second half= on the verge of tears

Fuck you general population, fuck you very much.

Welcome, you have now truly become a member of the escapist, the most bitter forum in the world.

 

[DearFilm]

True, but i'm tired of him prasing Scott Pilgrim like it's the spawn of Jesus. Do you want to know why it failed? It has a very small demographig who would go see it.

I went to see Scott Pilgrim twice and each time I saw a wide variety of people in the audience. From 12 year old girls and even an old man. The film's intended demographic may be small, but it's charms extend way beyond that demographic. I blame poor advertising in the critical summer period for Scott Pilgrim's downfall, as well as a refusal to use 3D as a selling point.

I don't know how you can possibly blame poor advertising. I thought, if anything, this movie was a victim of oversaturation. I couldn't get away from it.

 

[NKnight]

Wow, that was plain, simple, brutal truth. So awesome and painful at the same time! Kudos for you Bob.

To everyone claiming this is proof of capitalism favoring the stupid and mentally diminished, I have one word:

Inception.

Original and thought provoking movies make money, but $85 million movies targeted to a exclusive, niche audience with an uncharismatic lead will never make their money back.

I think that's a bad example. Inception is brilhant from a business point of view. It achieves the same things The Matrix did. It's clever and tought provoking, but at the same time have a lot of shiny lights, things blowing or falling apart! It pleases greeks and trojans.

Truth is: money, for the most part, does not come from the hands of intelligent people, but their kids. And in the kids category I'm including teenager and young or immature adults.

 

[Frybird]

My only thought after watching this was "...and the exact same can be said for gaming." It's always about the bottom line.

Oh yes.

Still wish for a Mirrors Edge Sequel.

But yeah, sad that Universal has finally given up on pleasing the geek crowd. After all, they not only took the respectable risk of greenlighting the Scott Pilgrim Movie, they also took the astronomical risk of doing Serenity, wich, may i remind you, is a multi million dollar sequel to a failed tv series that still belongs to another big Movie/TV powerhouse and was destined to fail from the get go.

Problem is, for any change to happen, not only do movie studios finally need to look beyond the opening weekend incomes, but viewers also need to get tired of "safe" movies.

And the latter thing won't happen because most people don't take movies THAT seriously. Not that this is an entirely awful thing, it's least its better than being bitchy like self proclaimed "core-gamers", but it's still kinda said since those moviegoers adopt the same "safe" stance as the studios that produce the movies for them, even though many wouldn't probably feel too uncomfortable outside of thier "safe zone"

 

[CaptainChelt]

It's very sad to see stuff like this happening

We have to sit though so much stuff thats familiar and safe rather then seeing where the imagination can take us

Let's hope that this doesn't last forever