quote:

Originally posted by Hedgehog Witch:
For me Suchet IS Poirot.

Suchet, you say?

Expendables 4 with Stallone came out this weekend with very little fanfare and it is expected to gross a mere 10 M. Reportedly it cost 100 M to make and Sly is only in it briefly

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Tommy C,

This was reported to be the worst weekend box office of the year. Nun 2 took in 8.4M in its third week for #1. Expendables 4 scrapped up only 8.3M in its debut.

Not surprising Expendables has run out of steam as a franchise. If it's not going to be believable, it has to be fun, and seeing the same old men, saying the same old lines, in the same old movie, just makes you feel old too.

Maybe they will drop the testosterone and re-engage the Expendabelles project? Especially now that the writers need something to do.

I saw 'The Creator' this afternoon. Not too sure how well it will do at the box office. It has high production values but the script is nothing special, the acting is average and the storyline is quite depressing. It steals a few ideas and, to some extent, some of the visuals from 'I Robot' and 'Bladerunner' but without their better qualities. It is pretty slow moving, is totally predictable and, by the end of the film, I really couldn't care less what happened to any of the characters. The stars of the film were the various CG SFX teams who produced some really amazing work. So I'm not going to recommend that anyone go to see it.

Yeah, I heard a radio review today that gave it 2 stars and pretty much said everything you just did. The trailer looked good, even if it was obviously repetitive of stuff like "I, Robot" and "Bladerunner". I was going to go see it, but now I think I'll just pass. Not terribly interested in the deluge of holiday horror lined up.

To be honest, I don't really see that much for me in theatres until maybe 2024. I caught the trailer for "The Marvels" when I saw "Haunting in Venice" and it was so sickeningly sweet with all that girl power, it looked worse than Blue Beetle's gun totting Granny. I think I might settle for just catching up with all the Netflix junk I've been neglecting.

Paw Patrol 2 beat Saw X this weekend but both only made about 20 M each

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
Yeah, I heard a radio review today that gave it 2 stars and pretty much said everything you just did. The trailer looked good, even if it was obviously repetitive of stuff like "I, Robot" and "Bladerunner". I was going to go see it, but now I think I'll just pass. Not terribly interested in the deluge of holiday horror lined up.

The only reason I went to see it in the cinema was that I had a free voucher for a ticket to watch any film at Cineworld that ran out the following day. 'The Creator' was the only film showing that I knew next to nothing about and looked vaguely interesting, so I watched it rather than waste the ticket. Suffice to say, I'm glad I didn't pay to see it

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
To be honest, I don't really see that much for me in theatres until maybe 2024. I caught the trailer for "The Marvels" when I saw "Haunting in Venice" and it was so sickeningly sweet with all that girl power, it looked worse than Blue Beetle's gun totting Granny. I think I might settle for just catching up with all the Netflix junk I've been neglecting.

I did get to see the trailer for 'The Marvels' while I was at the cinema. It looks like it will at least be quite entertaining, so I will see it at some point. The trailer that got me interested though was for the forthcoming second season of 'Loki'. Now that looks like it really will be fun, though my Disney+ subscription ran out on Saturday and I'm not going to renew it just to watch one programme/series no matter how good it might be.

quote:

Originally posted by Kevin F:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Raven:
Yeah, I heard a radio review today that gave it 2 stars and pretty much said everything you just did. The trailer looked good, even if it was obviously repetitive of stuff like "I, Robot" and "Bladerunner". I was going to go see it, but now I think I'll just pass. Not terribly interested in the deluge of holiday horror lined up.

The only reason I went to see it in the cinema was that I had a free voucher for a ticket to watch any film at Cineworld that ran out the following day. 'The Creator' was the only film showing that I knew next to nothing about and looked vaguely interesting, so I watched it rather than waste the ticket. Suffice to say, I'm glad I didn't pay to see it /QUOTE]

So it is October and all the horror movies are popping up, both in the theatres and on streaming channels. A high percentage of them are actually some manifestation of the horror/sci-fi apogalactic end-of-world plot. "The Creator" picked on AI, but it's just as easily Aliens, Demons, Zombies, Plague, Dinosaurs, Climate Change, Meteors . . . did I forget anything?

A surprising number of these "entertainments" result in no good solution. The world often does end, along with everybody in it. If by chance it doesn't, then the main characters are certainly likely to meet their heroic ends anyway.

I find these stories very unsatisfactory these days. I didn't always use to, loved Mad Max types, but I think the whole Covid thing did something to me. I find it hard to believe that people who have now lived through the uncertainty of an actual plague are really enjoying this fictional misery. I know I'm not, but I could be in the minority.

Regardless, I have lost my taste for it and would rather stick to mysteries and comedies for my enjoyment. I can find plenty of real things to be depressed about, why make more up?

This Christmas, John Woo's "Silent Night". A film without any dialogue whatsoever. If you ever saw Woo's work, you know what you're in for.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
This Christmas, John Woo's "Silent Night". A film without any dialogue whatsoever. If you ever saw Woo's work, you know what you're in for.

With writers screwing up so many movies (why did we want them back?) maybe talkies are over-rated.

I did finally see Indiana Jones....good acting, great action....death by script.

In its second week, Expendables 4 barely made the Top 10. Not good.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
This Christmas, John Woo's "Silent Night". A film without any dialogue whatsoever. If you ever saw Woo's work, you know what you're in for.

I expect doves to be flying by in slow motion, and a Mexican standoff with two characters holding guns pointed at each other.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Mullins:

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
This Christmas, John Woo's "Silent Night". A film without any dialogue whatsoever. If you ever saw Woo's work, you know what you're in for.

I expect doves to be flying by in slow motion, and a Mexican standoff with two characters holding guns pointed at each other.

You betcha! Gotta love those doves, although they could be pigeons.

"The Exorcist: Believer" opens this weekend and I really hope that in this season of horror films, it bombs big time. As far as I can tell from the trailers, all they did was double the possessed kid story. It's even got the exact same Demon makeup that made Linda Blair's head spin, but that's not what's got me ticked off.

The director says it's a trilogy. It hasn't even opened yet and the director says it's a trilogy. If anything, it's the end of the Exorcist trilogy, having had two related films done before it.

Who thinks there is enough of a story left for more of this stuff? I don't. Who thinks with the current levels of paranoia in some people, that this is a dangerous premise to keep pushing for no reason besides making unending sequels? I do.

Early reviews have been bad. Maybe if they lose a fortune, it will end all trilogy talk, but it still has name recognition and Halloween going for it. Hope people are smarter than that.

Heard on the radio that in another week there is a Taylor Swift concert film and it has already grossed over 100 M in ticket pre-sales.

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
Heard on the radio that in another week there is a Taylor Swift concert film and it has already grossed over 100 M in ticket pre-sales.

She and her team are really smart. It's been a long time since a concert film had enough fans to make for a theatrical release. Her ERA tour is selling out all over and her following is geared to this sort of party event.

I do like a few of her songs, but as an act, Swift is way too Gen something for me.

Just coincidentally she has managed to get even more exposure lately with all this football business. Now I'm not saying she's using her Tight End boyfriend for publicity, but it's nice that it's working out that way for her.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
"The Exorcist: Believer" opens this weekend and I really hope that in this season of horror films, it bombs big time. As far as I can tell from the trailers, all they did was double the possessed kid story. It's even got the exact same Demon makeup that made Linda Blair's head spin, but that's not what's got me ticked off.

The director says it's a trilogy. It hasn't even opened yet and the director says it's a trilogy. If anything, it's the end of the Exorcist trilogy, having had two related films done before it.

Who thinks there is enough of a story left for more of this stuff? I don't. Who thinks with the current levels of paranoia in some people, that this is a dangerous premise to keep pushing for no reason besides making unending sequels? I do.

Early reviews have been bad. Maybe if they lose a fortune, it will end all trilogy talk, but it still has name recognition and Halloween going for it. Hope people are smarter than that.

The same team just squeezed a trilogy out of "Halloween" and it ended up making some pretty good money.

The home invasion classic "The Strangers" was also just announced as a forthcoming trilogy, and this even after the long-delayed sequel to it finally came out, was terrible, and made no money.

But with "The Conjuring" series continuing to do so well (well over 2 billion banked so far after 10 movies, and the next one will be the biggest yet), the producers are going to keep throwing money down the blood-soaked horror hallway hoping for the next big franchise.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
Heard on the radio that in another week there is a Taylor Swift concert film and it has already grossed over 100 M in ticket pre-sales.

She and her team are really smart. It's been a long time since a concert film had enough fans to make for a theatrical release. Her ERA tour is selling out all over and her following is geared to this sort of party event.

I do like a few of her songs, but as an act, Swift is way too Gen something for me.

Just coincidentally she has managed to get even more exposure lately with all this football business. Now I'm not saying she's using her Tight End boyfriend for publicity, but it's nice that it's working out that way for her.

All I can say is I am glad I jumped on her $20 signed CD deal during covid season. Gave one to my niece and she loved it!

The reason why horror movies can be so profitable for studios is because they are cheap to make and there is a built-in audience that will go to see just about anything scary and/or with a body count. Dollar for dollar they are a great investment, even for junk, as long as the cost is kept down.

This actually works out fine for "The Exorcist: Believer", since it only cost around 30M to make. There are no big star salaries and effects and makeup are cheap. Even though it pulled in 27M at the opening, which was less than expected, it will easily make money before it disappears. Good right? NO!

In order to get the rights to "The Exorcist" story and make this new trilogy, the producers paid $400M. Now these movies have to earn that back, plus all normal production costs with the first in the proposed trilogy looking like 100M will be a stretch.

Why couldn't they make a similar horror film without the tie in and without a 400M anchor attached? This is when franchise does not work, and somebody selling the rights made out like a bandit.