Unstoppable
USA Today‘s Anthony Breznican is basically saying that esteem-wise Paramount’s G.,I. Joe (8.7) is all but dead, dead, deader-than-dead. Meaning that the cool cognescenti have either written it off or will soon enough. All of which has zero bearing, of course, on the millions of suckers out there who will pay to see it opening weekend no matter what.
Yes, because an ostensibly pro-military summer action movie based on a line of action figures is typically expected to garner nothing but rave reviews…
It’ll probably be a hit, how MUCH of one and whether or not it has “legs” will depend almost-entirely on the “Geek set;” and on that front I’d say they have reason for cautious optimism.
The water-temperature of the “fanboy” demo has mostly shifted from “looks bad” to “looks like dumb fun, can’t wait to laugh at it” which is usually code for “I’m expecting to like this but just in case lemme fire some irony across the bow.” And if it somehow turns into a popular bludgeon with which to bash Transformers… look out, it’s “cred” goes nuclear.
Sue me, but I’m actually looking forward to this thing. It cannot possibly be worse than TRANSFORMERS 2.
The problem with most of these people that measure “buzz” is they are from the inner Hollywood circle jerk and don’t have a fucking clue about what the majority of the country (yes, flyover country) wants to see.
I give the reports from these tools about which films a 15 year-old from Oklahoma “wants to see” about as much cred as a Dr. Manhattan thesis on the advantages of human emotional responses to trauma.
Tomorrow “Phatang! v. Bilge” will be filed in L.A. Superior Court.
If BD’s doing so well, why are Paramount + Di$ney forcing me to wait to own DVD now? http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118006671.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
Ron Howard’s going to ruin another book.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118006665.html?categoryid=1236&cs=1
Apatow interview.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118006637.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
Last year to see movies @ LACMA.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118006618.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
Bilge: I think the only reason it appeals to me is that it doesn’t have Shia in it.
Well said, MovieBob…. I like the cut of your jib.
Yeah, geeks like to attempt ass-covering by saying things like “I’m gonna go on opening day just to see how stupid it is and to laugh at it”. Point is, they’re seeing it.
Isn’t it kind of sad that we seem to have gotten to the point where a movie like this is even up for discussion? It’s a kid’s movie. Big budget, sure, but a fucking kid’s movie.
I know guys in their 30′s that are going to see this, (or films like it). I can’t imagine my Dad or Gramps seeing movies like this when they were in their thirties. They were seeing things like “I Am A Fugitive From a Chain Gang” (grampa) and “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” (Dad).
Travis-
I only speak from what I know. I’M going to see it, I’VE still got quite a bit of not-entirely-ironic fondness for the franchise, etc.
As for prior generations – the material had different origins, but the “big movie for ostensibly adult men based on stuff that excited them as children” has been with us for a long time. Hell, it was probably most of the basis for the massive popularity of the Western at one point… and let’s not forget that the “fanboy” culture itself probably originated with the obsessive Sherlock Holmes fanatics waaay back in the day.
Plenty of our grandfathers who went to see movies about Robin Hood or Daniel Boone did so in the same spirit as guys in their 30s lining up for GI Joe, and I garauntee you the lines for Bruckheimer’s “Lone Ranger” will heavily feature gray-haired men fighting back a visible reaction to their misty memories of watching the original show plastic cap-gun in hand, hat on head from their livingroom floor. When they had that Nancy Drew revamp a year or two back, the older women I saw in line looked MUCH more interested in seeing it than the grandchildren accompanying them.
Looks like the Entourage writers read Jeff’s blog. http://omg.yahoo.com/news/entourage-vs-seth-rogen/25766?nc
Seems that Daniel Z still likes to hijack threads. http://getyourownblog.com/stophijackingothers
does DeeZee really think anyone enjoys it when he posts a pile of non related links in every friggin’ thread?
I haven’t seen it, but I hear it’s pretty good. And Devin Faraci from CHUD just gave it a good reviews (8.5/10)
The problem with Sommers is that he just throws things at you all at once, never creatively unfolding the visual treats or plot points… this was especially a problem with “Van Helsing”. No special effects sequence or dangerous moment was more or less important than all the others; it was just, “Hey, look at this… now look at this… now look at this…, etc. I just can’t sit through that again with “G.I. Joe”, which I’d otherwise be open to giving a chance.
love me some sienna
Fake D.Z. – that’s the best you can link to nowadays? omg.yahoo.com?
That’s pathetic. And it’s practically a 2 week old story. Try a litlte harder next time to come up with something even more meaningless to contribute.
Sometimes Devin just can’t help himself — he did give “Punisher: War Zone” the same score in an early review — doesn’t exactly validate the film.
Man, people think WAY too much about opening weekend BO.
This will open big, as did Transformers. Anything – especially a “franchise” with explosion-filled trailers – can take the opening weekend and make some money.
But it won’t LAST and it certainly won’t last in the “zeitgeist” if it’s no good.
So, #1 next weekend? Sure.
Unstoppable? Hardly.
The end of civilization? Please.
I eagerly await BIG JIM: THE MOVIE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXRyxuW-g0I
“love me some sienna” … is actionman’s way of saying “I’m there! Opening Day! But not because of the stupid movie, because Sienna….yeah, that’s it. Sienna!”
(btw…congrats on the wedding… saw the pics…you seem like really cool people… I’ll still bust your balls, it’s just that I’ll feel shittier and even more self-loathing when I do now)
Great link, Prager… (but I HATE when people who post stuff like that to YouTube feel the need to add their own bullshit…i.e. “Brokeback Mountaint” har har)
Heh, Chase, but it’s also Latino Review and Aintitcool right now…Geeks/genre movie sites seem to back it up a lot
Speaking of bad movies, I’ve never heard Jeff talk about ‘The Room’, which many people call the worst movie ever made. taking on a cult following now with sold out shows in L.A.
http://www.examiner.com/x-5388-Manchester-Movie-Examiner~y2009m7d28-The-Room-the-best-worst-movie-ever
G.I. JOE’s still a sporadic topic on Twitter–namely “why didn’t Paramount show it at ComicCon” and “why doesn’t Paramount screen it for all the press.”
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