Why the love?

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  • #61
    Re: Why the love?

    There is a lot of negativity on the internet. No doubt. But I don't know if a mainstream film really needs championing. An indie film or something you saw at a film festival (little known stuff) but a mainstream Summer hit I don't think you have to go to the wall for. There are films that are gems that no one knows about or even heard about and I completely agree they need your love & support (if you like 'em). I saw a film called "Shimmer Lake" on Netflix the other day. Never ever heard of it and it was newish. It held my attention. It had tons of known actors. Some of the dialogue was clever. I mildly liked it (it was a tad boring). It even made me smile a few times. I don't know a single person whose seen that or that has heard of it. On the other hand our culture (not saying on this board) is people seem like they would rather see IRON MAN 4 so if I suggested a different type of film they not only are not likely to see it but if they do they might expect spandex and capes...

    Remember that movie LET THE RIGHT ONE IN? The kid vampire film from Holland or Sweden (?). They ended up remaking it. Anyway I saw the original at a film festival slightly ahead of most people. I liked it a lot. It was a different take on being a vampire. I had these co-workers that claimed they wanted to see a cool horror movie and that horror films suck of late (this was about 10 years ago). I said they should look for LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. They seemed psyched. Someone got a hold of it and they saw it. They didn't like it at all. They must have had whole conversations about me that night because somehow it was my fault for suggesting they watch it. What they really wanted was SAW 6 or whatever was out at the time. Not their fault or mine just different opinions.

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    • #62
      Re: Why the love?

      As I posted I realized there was a film that people were championing and I ignored for a while... IT FOLLOWS. It was on everyone's must see list. I was suspect because I didn't think the theme was my cup of tea (it rang like a raunchy teen comedy from 20 years ago to me) and some of the sources that claimed it was brilliant were usually people that jump on the band wagon. I avoided it for a while then it was on Netflix I saw it... Man, I was pleasantly surprised. I liked it a lot. My favorite horror film recently. That did take championing so you are right because I would have avoided it based on me disliking the premise and it was a really good film in my opinion.

      I always tell people to watch THE WITCH and few do. What can I say?

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      • #63
        Re: Why the love?

        Originally posted by purplenurple View Post
        But I don't know if a mainstream film really needs championing. An indie film or something you saw at a film festival (little known stuff) but a mainstream Summer hit I don't think you have to go to the wall for.
        In the past you'd probably be right. Even as recent as ten years ago that may have still been the case. In the age of Netflix films can no longer rely on Home Video for additional revenue. Any film that comes out now lives or dies by the success of its theatrical release.

        So let us take a a look at Baby Driver. On the surface it seems to have done well, positive reviews etc. As of writing it has took just under $80 million worldwide. Not bad, not a world beater but not bad. Decent especially off a $34 million budget. Now it is disputed how much the exhibitors take of each ticket, but the going figure is around 40-50%. Already half of that 80 is gone. That is before many different fees and taxes eat into it and you're left with a very slender amount of profit. In a world where Marvel almost get a billion each time you begin to understand why the studios are so risk averse. Baby Driver is a risk, and no amount of mainstream attention will change that. Baby Driver's taking is starting to dry out and it can't rely on a Home Video release to make it a true success. So maybe they become a little more cautious to the filmmakers and people involved. In the case of films that set themselves up for sequels those sequels will never materialise. The hardcore fans turn up but most people will be on the fence. They need somebody to convince them to spend their time and money.

        Films like this, The Nice Guys, Dredd, they need people to fight for it because the studios are scared of the mid budget film. The low budget ones offer a small risk, the big budget usually have a brand that ensures success. Original (or at least semi original) mid budget films need people to fight for them so we can get more of them. Films like Se7en don't really exist as much anymore and we're worse off for it.

        P.S. I've had It Follows recorded for a while now but haven't gotten around to it. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it.

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        • #64
          Re: Why the love?

          The problem I see with the Marvel movies is that might come from a business standpoint - not a fan standpoint - is that they have to ramp up the characters and action in each film since THE AVENGERS. When they did stuff like IRON MAN and THOR and CAPTAIN AMERICA those made a ton of money and the heroes were stand alone and had stand alone adventures. Now they have to jam various heroes into each film. That takes scheduling and a bigger budget. I don't know how much Robert Downey gets from showing up in SPIDERMAN HOMECOMING but I'm sure it's nearly if not 8 figures. Is Iron Man really needed in a Spiderman movie? Sure to us fans. The more the merry and it makes the universe fun. I never grasped how NYC could be attacked and one of the thousand heroes living there didn't come out to join the tussle. Now we have various Marvel stuff coming out and it's loaded with characters. How much does it cost to have Chris Pratt & Chris Evans not to mention their co-stars in one film? I think the profit margin is getting narrower and eventually they will have to make simpler stories.

          That's just me reading the tea leaves. I personally love additional characters in these films and that the universe is intertwined. Just must be a head ache in accounting and to producers. One gripe about superheroes of late is they have a million villains to pool from. Seems more action is good hero on good hero. That comes straight from the comics where their events seem to be fights amongst superheroes. An interesting trend and at times fun but they really have a lot of cool villains that could utilize. Just saying.

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          • #65
            Re: Why the love?

            If you take the most extravagant Marvel film to date in Avengers 2 you'll see it still made more than enough money to justify it. Even the lowest grossing recent Marvel film (Ant-Man) made over $500 million. The traditional studios see this and try to emulate it, hence there's more films with huge budgets and less of the mid level ones. Until those huge films stop being profitable nothing will change. In all honesty I don't think the dip in comic book films is going to happen any time soon, especially when the likes of Logan and Wonder Woman have done so well commercially and critically this year alone. The only thing that can flop are the lazy imitations at huge budget, shared universe films. Maybe they'll give way to more mid budget films.

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            • #66
              Re: Why the love?

              BABY DRIVER right now is in Entertainment Weekly who I might add push that film even more then you have ranked that movie #5 in their top 10 things about the Summer of 2017. A main stream Summer film has the backing of the studio whose reach into various media and magazines goes a lot beyond a person's word of mouth. You are right about profit margins, but the problem is in this business the deals have been made even long before you and I squabbled about the quality of that film. Meaning BABY DRIVER has already been bundled into some streaming and cable deal and beyond probably before it hit the theater or after the first week. The studios have that whole side of the business down to a science. Yes, it's gravy if they can squeeze an extra couple of million at the box office at this stage in BABY DRIVER's theatrical release, but even Edgar Wright would be confused at the championing of his film at this point. You can't get better championing then to constantly be in Entertainment Weekly. Edgar Wright is already onto the next project and BABY DRIVER is locked in with Amazon or Netflix & HBO or whatever with probably options for at least one sequel. And the dvd/Blu-ray market is not what it used to be. So much so they don't even waste a dime advertising for it so they get maximum profit.

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              • #67
                Re: Why the love?

                Best superhero movie, in my opinion, was DEADPOOL. Caught me off guard. Loved the action. Wasn't massive dimensional hole over NYC. Just a simple story. I like superhero movies. That one really rocked and was different.

                You are totally right superhero stuff isn't going anywhere. And they make a ton of money. I was just saying if just the budget for the cast alone is over a 100 million it's getting pretty crazy. The only way in a few years they can keep the "cast" budget below a 100 mil is if actors age out of certain roles and are replaced by newer ones who initially will not cost as much as say a Robert Downey.
                Last edited by purplenurple; 07-15-2017, 01:23 PM.

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