Just looked on Box Office Mojo and as to movies actually released in 2022, in terms of domestic grosses, Clerks III is currently ranked # 77...

Maybe I missed it, but I just heard about Amsterdam opening October 7th and caught the trailer. It has an all-star cast and might be a decent comedy mystery, but it's another one of those that might also be too intentionally quirky to find an audience. I didn't hate the trailer from what I saw, but films with these actors rarely work for me.

Bad signs are Christian Bale doing some sort of an affected accent routine, Robert De Niro who will take any part for a check, and Margot Robbie who also looks like she is taking anything she's offered. With new movies not being great right now, this one could do well slipping into the void. Or maybe the studio is just dumping it before the holidays kick in.

So the New York Post just printed a review on "Amsterdam". It says "Star-studded "Amsterdam" the worst movie of the year" and gave it zero stars. Almost makes you want to see it, doesn't it?

Ohhh Taylor Swift!!! I'm IN!!!

One reviewer said "A must see for smart adult audiences"

At least if I don't like it I will know what my problem is.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mykdude,

Smile was a hit this weekend while the comedy Bros bombed

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
Smile was a hit this weekend while the comedy Bros bombed

The only thing I have to say about "Smile" is that, didn't anyone see the underrated "Fallen" with Denzel Washington?

Smile looks creepy as hell....going to see it on Wed.

Went to see Smile yesterday afternoon, along with two others we were the only people in the theater. Except for supporting a few horror film formulas it was overall pretty good.

Why are people who are rattled or freaked out go home and sit in the dark??

It was nice to see Robin Weigert from Deadwood and Judy Reyes from scrubs. Did not realize the lead character was played by the daughter of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick.

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:
Went to see Smile yesterday afternoon, along with two others we were the only people in the theater.

Did you all "Smile" at each other on the way out?

Sometimes people would rather watch scary horror movies at home alone because they don't want to sit next to the other people who watch them.

I like horror films, just not crazy about gore.

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
while the comedy Bros bombed

Despite all the changes in the world with respect to gays in the last 20 years, many of them for the better, the average straight guy's reaction to a gay rom-com is still "ewwwww".

Regarding "Bros", I think there just wasn't enough interest in the subject matter.

This was another movie by Judd Apatow, and he hasn't had a hit since "Trainwreck", the Amy Schumer film from back in 2015.

The same could be said of Clerks 3. Another film by a guy now in his 50s whose time may have passed.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Mullins:

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
while the comedy Bros bombed

Despite all the changes in the world with respect to gays in the last 20 years, many of them for the better, the average straight guy's reaction to a gay rom-com is still "ewwwww".

The part that ticks me off is when films like this bomb the people involved start blaming some opposing social viewpoint and never consider that they just made a bad movie.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:

Did you all "Smile" at each other on the way out?

It's like you KNOW me or sumthin!!

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
I like horror films, just not crazy about gore.

Given what this could have been the gore factor is actually moderate to low. It seemed to be utilized only as needed.

The problem is there is often an emphasis on gathering the stars and not on the writing. They bring them all but don't give everyone much to work with. Some people are going to want to go just to see all those actors and actresses together.

Yeah, some movie reviewers hate everything that most people enjoy.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
So the New York Post just printed a review on "Amsterdam". It says "Star-studded "Amsterdam" the worst movie of the year" and gave it zero stars. Almost makes you want to see it, doesn't it?

I think most people are more mature than that especially these days but maybe the bigger thing is that a comedy no matter the subject matter has to be funny. I saw Apatow and at least one of the actors on recent talk shows promoting the movie and they wanted to stress that while it is the first gay rom-com made by a major studio they tried to make the story relatable and funny to everybody. If a movie is funny, word-of-mouth will carry it to success even from a slow start. In this case it appears there was not enough emphasis on making it funny for everyone.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Mullins:

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
while the comedy Bros bombed

Despite all the changes in the world with respect to gays in the last 20 years, many of them for the better, the average straight guy's reaction to a gay rom-com is still "ewwwww".

[QUOTE]Originally posted by catskilleagle:
I think most people are more mature than that especially these days . . .

I agree, a good movie is a good movie in any genre and people will go to see it. The fact that it may not be a carbon copy of your life is often what makes it enjoyable and thought provoking.

What does happen a lot is that film makers wind up with not such great movies and then look around for reasons why they didn't do well, besides them not being very good I mean. So they blame the audience and/or the internet for being prejudice or ignorant of their creation's worth because there is some element in it where they can claim "haters have to hate".

While there may be some fractions of opposition in everything, that doesn't make a good movie bomb all on its own. I hated the rebooted "Charlie's Angels" and "Ghostbusters", and it had nothing to do with the female casting. They were both awful movies from start to finish in my opinion.

The "Bros" comedy doesn't seem to have gotten much support from the LGBTQ community, never mind anyone else. Maybe it's just not that good. I remember the first time I saw the original "La Cage aux Folles" in the French version. It was a commercial success and I thought it was hysterical, poignant too. That was a time when people were very closed minded, and it was a wonderful film.

"Smile" holds on to the Number 1, proving why every producer loves the modestly budgeted horror film. It's very hard to lose money on it. "Smile" pulled in 17.6M this week and 36.5M globally last week on a cost of only 17M. Compare that to this week's big flops.

The star studded "Amsterdam" cost 80M and made 6.5M in the opening box office. That's terrible, but they did hire De Niro and he will take anything. I'm told Taylor Swift is every bit as good here as she was in "Cats". So she is getting quite the acting resume.

"Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile" did a little better coming in 2nd place with an 11.5M take on a 50M budget. From what I saw of the trailers, it's "Howard the Duck" material and I'm surprised it made that much.

"Bros" dropped to 7th place with a grand total of 8.8M for both weeks.

"The Woman King" and "Don't Worry Darling" are in number 4 and 5, but beyond knowing the actors, I really haven't heard a lot about them at all.

"Halloween Ends" should take this bunch easy.

I am a fan of Robert DeNiro but all of his great films came out between the 1970s and 90s. Since the early 2000s he has just been embarrassing himself with horrible movies. I think that over the past 20 years he has done more films than he did before 2000, and aside from a few rare exceptions like Joker, all have bombed. Clearly he has no shame anymore and everything must be just for a paycheck. Very sad.

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
Clearly he has no shame anymore and everything must be just for a paycheck. Very sad.

DeNiro himself has blamed his need for taking constant work on having to pay off his ex-wife, so that's his excuse for his lousy choices.

It'd be impossible for Deniro to match his pre-2000 output with the work that's followed over the past 20+ years, but in that span the "Meet The Parents" trilogy did well for him. I also liked "Silver Linings Playbook", "American Hustle" and "Joy", all of which he did with director David O. Russell, who also did "Amsterdam", which seems to be the first real misfire for that teaming, although I still plan to see it.

Beyond that, "Dirty Grandpa" had some laughs, and "Stardust", "Machete", and "The Irishman" were all good movies, too, so I don't think this century's been all that bad for him, but then again, an actor of his caliber signing stickers for autograph cards which he's recently done probably isn't the best look.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: chesspieceface,