new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

[thecomicbookguy]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

Nah, the 3rd Matrix really was a letdown, particularly after the excellent first 2. I mean, the Zion Ewok Party? Really???

It's just a metaphor - and it works for me, because I didn't think the 2nd one was anywhere near as good as nearly everyone else. So, the drop-off between those two is about the same for me as between KB1 and KB2. The Matrix movies just started at a lower point.

 

[The Paragon of Virtue]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

People liked the second matrix movie? That thing sucked worse than the 3rd.

They both sucked and added nothing to the first movie. Who cares which one was worse?

 

[St. Clown]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

So an article on Rotten Tomatoes (link) lists The Phantom Menace as the worst block buster of all times. The catch to their list, The Phantom Menace scored a 63% rating - a Fresh rating.

Now don't get me wrong, I can't say I'm entirely impressed with the movie. In fact, I'd rather the movie wasn't made, but still, how could they have listed it as the worst block buster made when their own site lists it as a recommended movie?

 

[The Paragon of Virtue]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

Now don't get me wrong, I can't say I'm entirely impressed with the movie. In fact, I'd rather the movie wasn't made, but still, how could they have listed it as the worst block buster made when their own site lists it as a recommended movie?

Revenge of the Fallen didn't even make the list with its massive gross and awesomely horrible rating?

The Cat in the Hat only made $101 million. How is that a blockbuster?

 

[St. Clown]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

Revenge of the Fallen didn't even make the list with its massive gross and awesomely horrible rating?

The Cat in the Hat only made $101 million. How is that a blockbuster?

Transformers 2 was on the 6-10 list. You can click around to see the rest of the list. It's either a top 20 or 25 list.

Block buster movies were, I think, qualified by any movie that had a $100 million box office take.

 

[The Rube]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

Transformers 2 was on the 6-10 list. You can click around to see the rest of the list. It's either a top 20 or 25 list.

Block buster movies were, I think, qualified by any movie that had a $100 million box office take.

They also probably had some equation having to do with hype/expectations/budget for movie, too.

 

[The Paragon of Virtue]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

Block buster movies were, I think, qualified by any movie that had a $100 million box office take.

Yet its domestic take was less than its production budget. I think it qualifies more as a bomb, personally.

 

[Foxton]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

So an article on Rotten Tomatoes (link) lists The Phantom Menace as the worst block buster of all times. The catch to their list, The Phantom Menace scored a 63% rating - a Fresh rating.

Now don't get me wrong, I can't say I'm entirely impressed with the movie. In fact, I'd rather the movie wasn't made, but still, how could they have listed it as the worst block buster made when their own site lists it as a recommended movie?

RT's rating's aren't done by them but are based on reviews from critics. That also doesn't look anything like Rottentomatoes, that's moviefone.

 

[Kepler]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

First, no "worst" list can be taken seriously if "The Departed" isn't #1.

But nothing says Phantom Menace can't be both a bomb *and* terrible (although plenty of bombs score well -- such is the power of hype and the adolescent taste of people who vote 75 times to push their movie up). Personally, I'd just call it a Payday -- mailing in a sequel to cash in on a franchise without even the attempt to make a decent movie.

 

[The Rube]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

First, no "worst" list can be taken seriously if "The Departed" isn't #1.

That's a bold statement. I really liked The Departed.

Waterworld, on the other hand.........

 

[The Paragon of Virtue]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

First, no "worst" list can be taken seriously if "The Departed" isn't #1.

Has someone thrown you a shovel yet with how far you've driven this into the ground?

 

[Kepler]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

Has someone thrown you a shovel yet with how far you've driven this into the ground?

I may have mentioned it before, yes. It was a scarring experience.

(Good reaction time, BTW.)

 

[Kepler]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

That's a bold statement. I really liked The Departed.

Waterworld, on the other hand.........

It's sort of a running joke. Not that it* wasn't execrable overhyped, scenery-chewing self-parody, but several people here get very, very angry if you suggest it might not be the Godfather of Their Time.

* WW also qualifies, although at least it had the decency to also be a flop at the box office. No such luck with TD.

 

[The Rube]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

It's sort of a running joke. Not that it* wasn't execrable overhyped, scenery-chewing self-parody, but several people here get very, very angry if you suggest it might not be the Godfather of Their Time.

* WW also qualifies, although at least it had the decency to also be a flop at the box office.

I won't (and can't) say it's the best movie EVAR!!111!!!11!!FTWBBQ but I thought it was very good.

Jeez, best movie (IMO of course) in the past 10-20 years? I have my personal favorites that I thought were very underappreciated like Natural Born Killers, and The Prestige, but to name a best? Hard to do. I prefer a grouping of 5 or so, with no definite ranking within that 5. Hard to compare different genres of movies (drama, comedy, suspense, whathaveyou).

 

[Kepler]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

Block buster movies were, I think, qualified by any movie that had a $100 million box office take.

I think of a blockbuster as defined by the budget, not the take.

Big B + Big T: Successful blockbuster
Big B + Small T: Flop
Small B + Big T: Sleeper hit
Small B + Small T: Everything else

None of these categories correlate in any way with quality.

 

[Kepler]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

Hard to compare different genres of movies (drama, comedy, suspense, whathaveyou).

Comparing across categories leads to madness, agreed.

It's also very difficult to judge a movie without about 20 years behind it. There are trash piles of movies that people hyperventilated over when they came out but within a decade were badly dated or just exposed as dreck. Comedies, High Concept Art Movies, and "toy movies" are notorious for this -- part of their appeal is topicality, and once that's lost, it's over unless they someday become cult campy hits.

 

[The Rube]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

I think of a blockbuster as defined by the budget, not the take.

Big B + Big T: Successful blockbuster
Big B + Small T: Flop
Small B + Big T: Sleeper hit
Small B + Small T: Everything else

None of these categories correlate in any way with quality.

You have to add hype/expectations. Very inexact, I know, but you just have to. I mean, look at Godzilla (the new-er one). TON of hype. BIG budget. Flat. On. Its. Face.

On the other hand, IIRC 10,000BC (or whatever it was called, from a couple years back) had a big budget, but the hype died really *ing quick on it, as the open date neared, and everyone knew it would flop.

 

[Kepler]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

You have to add hype/expectations. Very inexact, I know, but you just have to. I mean, look at Godzilla (the new-er one). TON of hype. BIG budget. Flat. On. Its. Face.

On the other hand, IIRC 10,000BC (or whatever it was called, from a couple years back) had a big budget, but the hype died really *ing quick on it, as the open date neared, and everyone knew it would flop.

The Alan Smithee Effect.

Much of hype is Astroturf deployed by the entertainment conglomerate to recoop their investment. Some of the remainder is selective fanboy interest. Maybe that's just a long way of saying that expectations exceed results 99% of the time because they are overinflated by a variety of sources for both cynical and naive reasons.

 

[St. Clown]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

RT's rating's aren't done by them but are based on reviews from critics. That also doesn't look anything like Rottentomatoes, that's moviefone.

I didn't really read the link. I got to the list through a left side pane on rottentomatoes.

Yet its domestic take was less than its production budget. I think it qualifies more as a bomb, personally.

All I know is that all the movies they listed had box office takes of greater than $100 million. In fact, the one constant is the RT score and the box office proceeds. A few times the budget was mentioned, if you read through the list, but mostly it had to do with the list author griping about movies that did well at the box office, but were still of bad quality in terms of the actual quality of the movie.

At the start of the list:

We crunched the box office receipts and weighed them against our esteemed assessments, and what we've come up with is a list of the most profitable movies that aren't worth the celluloid they were printed on -- or at least the millions they earned at the box office. (Minimum take to make our list: $100 mil.) Looking for some themes? Start with sequels, superheroes and scientific inaccuracy ... -- By Adam Duerson

I think of a blockbuster as defined by the budget, not the take.

Big B + Big T: Successful blockbuster
Big B + Small T: Flop
Small B + Big T: Sleeper hit
Small B + Small T: Everything else

None of these categories correlate in any way with quality.

I always thought it was defined by the box office take, but it doesn't matter much to me. I just thought it was interesting that the only movie on the list to score high enough to get a fresh rating on RT (63%) was picked as the worst block buster of all time, with a $336MM box office.

 

[The Rube]

Re: new/rented movies: DEVASTATOR!!!!!

The Alan Smithee Effect.

Much of hype is Astroturf deployed by the entertainment conglomerate to recoop their investment. Some of the remainder is selective fanboy interest. Maybe that's just a long way of saying that expectations exceed results 99% of the time because they are overinflated by a variety of sources for both cynical and naive reasons.

And then you get a movie like The Dark Knight, which lived up to expectations, IMO. I was ready to be a little disappointed, but I was far from that. I was extremely pleased with the movie.