My Studios

[16] I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. $119,677,000. An original idea, if you ignore the glaring Odd Couple analogy.

Nope, they couldn't even make this from an original idea. Look up the Australian film "Strange Bedfellows" starring Michael Caton and Paul Hogan, and thell me Chuck and Larry was an original idea...

Fair enough, ann... And, of course, you're making my point. [Grin] I love it when I can be wrong and still proven right. That's the sort of Star Trek anti-logic that makes life so worth living.

...And, I know I've been bagging on Trek a lot, lately, but I really am a fan. You can only insult something this fully when you really, really adore it. (Really, guys, you should be praying for Nicomissus. She has to put up with me every day, and in person, no less.)

I remain, as always...

Nico.

Whats with all the wild hogs haters. At least I have the decency to see a movie before I talk crap. And I wouldn't really call them washed up actors. They're just in a different category of acting than what we are used to them being in. The punisher. Seriously. Did Travolta really looked washed up in that. Tim Allen isn't as good as he used to be. But just like most his age he moved on to the family comedy genre. Anyways. Wild Hogs isn't in my top ten for the year. But it comes to no suprise making over 100 after seeing it.
I voted oceans 13. I wasn't expecting that one to do that good at all. I never saw it so I can't really say it sucked. I heard it was good. Just not a big fan of those movies. Another suprise for me would be fantastic four 2. I loved the first. But after hearing it being trashed so much by pretty much every one I know I really wasn't even expecting a second one to be made much less make that much.

cRAzY wrote:

Whats with all the wild hogs haters. At least I have the decency to see a movie before I talk crap. And I wouldn't really call them washed up actors.

I was one of those that bashed Wild Hogs before I saw it. I finally saw it, (but didn't pay for it), about 2 weeks ago. I must say, I was correct in the fact that it is pure crap. It's schlocky more than anything. It's a bloated middle aged, 21st century Easy Rider.

I think that the idea is a great concept, but it wasn't pulled off well. Literally, every scene is a one note joke. There is no real character development. We learn a little bit about each character, but nothing worth knowing. William H. Macy is the only one that you feel for.

Dr. Drew on Loveline talked about his one scene on the movie. He said that in the script, they didn't even know how to write a "heart attack" in medical terms.

They're just in a different category of acting than what we are used to them being in. The punisher. Seriously. Did Travolta really looked washed up in that. Tim Allen isn't as good as he used to be.

John Travolta wouldn't have a career again if it wasn't for Quentin Tarantino. That's a given. I don't think Travolta has a set audience, which can make a difference. I agree about Tim Allen.

Bottom line: I think Wild Hogs was made for all the actors to work with each other once. Plus, money talks.

cRAzY, I hope you don't think my post was dissing the movie. For what ever it is worth, I do actually want to see it at some point, probably when my wife and I can't find something else to watch together. (Eh, such is the perils of relationships, mediocre movies. But the cuddling is fun.)

My point was simply this- good ,bad, or otherwise, Wild Hogs is the kind of prepackaged, fancy wrapped mediocrity that studios make because, as Nico so eloquently described, people go to it. The names were 'franchise' titles plugged into a formula where STARS + SAFE AND 'UNIVERSAL' STORY= GOOD BOTTOM LINE. I like many plug and play movies. I just am not above calling what they are.

And cRAzY, the acting wasn't the only problem in The Punisher. That movie had many little problems, all adding up to one big mediocre BLAH.

jameydunne
-I was looking forward to playing Fun with Tazers today but nobody around wanted to. Any volunteers?

jamey, not to get too off topic, but you have become quite a "regular" regular, and yet you've yet to join any of our Regulars Ultimate Leagues. Is there anything I can do to talk you into joining our next one?

I've ripped it without seing it, that said, I know my taste in movies, and that is not it. I actually rarely see a movie that I do not enjoy because I deliberately stay away from movies that look bad (Rollerball being the glaring exception, as well as the name of my Bankrupts studio). So maybe I miss out on a movie that might surprise me. It also saves me a lot of time that I could spend watching crap and hoping for a surprise. I will not watch Wild Hogs. Life's too short to waste on crappy movies.

Life's too short to waste on crappy movies.

Agreed, in principle, and yet, I'll bet I've spent at least a year of my life watching 'em. Sometimes, even when I KNEW they were crap. (That's called apathy, or self-loathing, or, very possibly, a brutally indiscriminate masochistic streak. However, I digress.)

After all, I'll watch Coneheads whenever it's on. Mips... MIPS... MIPS!

I remain, as always...

Nico. (Maintain low tones!)

Shryke42 wrote:

jamey, not to get too off topic, but you have become quite a "regular" regular, and yet you've yet to join any of our Regulars Ultimate Leagues. Is there anything I can do to talk you into joining our next one?

What's a "Regulars Ultimate League"? Is that supposed to keep your digestive system healthy?

Shryke, if you want to forward me a way to join the next one, go ahead, I tried using one of your tags in a thread and apparently you never got the message. So definitely try again. I am interested.

And not to deflate the conversation any, but isn't passing 100 mil not that big of a deal any more. Beowolf better pass 100 mil or there are going to be some very unhappy shareholders. Spiderman 3 (allegedly) cost around 500 mil to make so if it didn't clear the mark, the studio's may crush under a blow like that. I would suggestg that the old 100 mil mark is probably closer to 150-175 mil nowdays if you factor budgets, ticket prices and inflation.

jameydunne
-Spoon!

I don't know Jamey, 100mil is still a pretty big deal. Actually, even more so nowadays.

Think about it...illegal downloading, bootlegs that you buy on the street, waiting for it to be offered on netflix. These are problems that the movie industry didn't really face 5-10 years ago.

According to IMDB's usa archive...only a little less than 400 movies have made more than 100mil in the usa. 400 movies in like 100+ years? That's not really a whole lot by any standards when you consider how many movies are made. (especially today) My point is, the industry is flooded with alternatives to spending money at the local multiplex which means the movies that are fortunate enough to make a good amount of money have to have a little something. People don't go see something unless it is something that appeals to them. I have a distant acquaintance who on his own free will paid almost $10 to see (and loved) Epic Movie.

I'm just saying that 100mil is still kind of a big deal. We wouldn't be discussing surprises in the category if it wasn't.

That being said, I agree with pretty much everyone else...
I was expecting Wild Hogs to be in theatres for about a weekend, and then be given out with a tank of gas at the shell stations, but I severely underestimated the box-office draw of it's stars. (I think Travolta and Allen did most of the work) Macy's my favorite of those guys, but he's not exactly Box Office Gold.

And sure Martin Lawrence has appeal to a wider audience, but National Security? Rebound? Big Momma's House 2? Although, thanks to Hogs it looks as though he's gonna do a travolta and have a pretty good comeback in the next few years.

Anyway, I'm just saying.

500 mil??!! you can't be serious!!!! a studio spent 500 mil on a spidey movie??!! remember studios only get about 50 % of the total grosses, so i can't see any studio taking for granted that spidey 3 would definitely cross 1 bil in grosses....

yeah. That's a lot of money.

Ya'll don't get me wrong. Wild Hogs isn't even in my top twenty for the year. I just don't think it was a million dollar surprise. Who did you think the target audience was. The movie hit its target dead on. A bunch of middle aged guys who grew up watching the actors. And they just happen to take their families.
p.s. John Travolta kicks ass. and so what if he made his career with pulp fiction. You obviously didn't see broken arrow or face off. Besides others of course. Punisher kicked ass. John Travolta kicked ass. I thought wild hogs was an okay movie for what it was intended to be.

so i checked and spidey 3 does have the largest budget ever commissioned for a movie, but it's only 258 mil....

which makes sense since the worldwide gross was about 800 mil and the studio would have lost about 100 mil if they had spent 500 mil on the movie and got only 50 % of the returns.... which is what usually happens....

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