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[SCULLIBUNDO]

Stardust is fantastic, you haters :|



He gonna phone in that shit like a muthafucka

I hope not. Despite War Horse being massively disappointing and the music being present far too often, what he did compose for War Horse was pretty fucking good. But my main hope for Lincoln lies in the fact that it seems like a Munich reunion with Spielberg, Kushner, Williams and more serious fair. Munich was his last really, really good score.

 

[kame-sennin]

John Carter opened with over 30 million. There are numerous movies that opened in that range that went on to have good legs and gross over 100mill.

John Carter had absolute shit legs, which doesn't do much for backing up the good WoM argument.

Absolutely. And according to BOM, John Carter had a 55% drop in its second week. The movie had poor word of mouth because people didn't like it. The marketing excuse just doesn't hold up.

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

When a movie is designed to be an at least $60 mill crowd pleaser, $30 mill is nowhere near a good opening. And the 2nd weekend isn't going to do well if the marketing got that many people in weekend 1, no matter the WoM.

 

[kame-sennin]

When a movie is designed to be an at least $60 mill crowd pleaser, $30 mill is nowhere near a good opening. And the 2nd weekend isn't going to do well if the marketing got that many people in weekend 1, no matter the WoM.

It made 39 million its first week. And bad marketing doesn't explain a huge drop, if WoM was strong, the drop would have been less severe. It lost its chance of being a huge blockbuster after its opening weekend, but it was its short and feeble legs that made it one of the biggest bombs of all time.

 

[Prologue]

Anyone read the books? worth a read?

 

[Mondriaan]

Anyone read the books? worth a read?

The books are pretty good and you can read them for free on the gutenberg site.

I'm a little sorry that I didn't read them as a kid because I didn't want to read anything called "Princess of Mars".

 

[dantares]

Absolutely. And according to BOM, John Carter had a 55% drop in its second week. The movie had poor word of mouth because people didn't like it. The marketing excuse just doesn't hold up.

People definitely liked the movie it got a B+ cinemascore which is kind of like an exit poll for people that just watched the movie. In test screenings the movie got a 75 rating which means that 75% of people either liked it or loved it.

JCOM lack of legs was a combination of weak opening debut, Hunger Games hype and the critics giving it mixed reviews. It's rottentomatoes review was 48% when it opened and since then it's climbed to 52%. Most of the critics hated it before they even watched it. was the movie perfect? absolutely not. but I just don't believe there was no bias, how in the world do any Transformers or Pirates of the carribean movies score higher than John carter? Sadly, hollywood is so cynical they would rather see a big budget movie fail because it gives them something to talk about.

Let's wait til the DVD/Blu-ray release to see just how much the people that watched the film in theatres really liked it enough to buy it. We can also tell by the rentals to see how many people who heard JCOM was good but waited for it on home video to see it.

 

[Darth Kupi]

This movie is underrated.

Sad to see it bomb, I really, really enjoyed it.

Just looking at JC's history in terms of sci-fantasy literature, its amazing.

Its the grand daddy. It needed more love at the Box office. :/

How can the transformers films make even MORE obscene amounts of money with each sequel, yet this bombs, I cannot understand.

Do people have money to burn?

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

Sadly, hollywood is so cynical they would rather see a big budget movie fail because it gives them something to talk about.

I'm pretty sure that's not how Hollywood works.

Also, for what it's worth, starting June 1 you can watch the movie on Jet Blue flights.

 

[CLEEK]

It's a mesmerising experience. I've never witnessed such cinematic folly before. It's deeply flawed film, incoherent and impenetrable at times, cheesy at others. The quality of the effects are all over the shop. The supporting human cast are all terrible, which just adds to the theatre of it.

From reading a bunch of articles that came from the high profile bombing of the movie, it seems like Andrew Stanton was a life long fan of the books, so had an intimate knowledge of the characters, races, lore, and technologies. I think the films biggest failure is how badly it explains all this.

So if you have no knowledge of the original, 100 year old book series, it just seems like a crazed, half-arsed $250m cross-over remake of Chronicles of Riddick, Cowboys & Aliens and the end of Attack of the Clones.

John Carter is better than WALL-E.

Hahahahahaha!

 

[Insane Metal]

It's entertaining. But could've been sooo much better. The acting is really really bad.

 

[brandonh83]

Finally watching this tonight. Can't wait.

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

I'm probably just as baffled by people who say the film is an incoherent mess as those who are baffled when they hear people like me who see it as pretty whole, complete film that balances it's shit well.

 

[brandonh83]

I'm probably just as baffled by people who say the film is an incoherent mess as those who are baffled when they hear people like me who see it as pretty whole, complete film that balances it's shit well.

Honestly I'm optimistic because you and guys like Sculli seemed to like it and I find myself agreeing largely with you lot on a bunch of things.

Maybe the Giacc will blind me to the actual quality of the film because his music puts me in a state of nirvana. But I'll try my best to be reasonable.

 

[CLEEK]

The acting is really really bad.

That's a big part of the problem. All the supporting, non-CGI cast just come off like they're pantomime characters, due to the performances of the chumps playing them. The actor who plays the evil dude who wants to marry the princess is so woeful, I wasn't sure whether he was meant to be a genuine threat or comic relief.

The lead was great though - one of the few high points. In fact, all the scenes on Earth* are all top notch. It just goes to shit once he lands on Mars and a local amateur dramatic society is roped in to play all the Martians.

So I would certainly recommend everyone to watch this, as it's such a monument to bad film making. It's entertaining, up to a point, in the same way a straight-to-DVD film can be. It's not the worst film I've seen by a long shot. Just a dull, unfocused mess. But when you factor in the budget and the previous work of the director, it is astonishingly bad and an enormous failure in trying to tell an interesting, coherent story.

*

Spoiler

I did like how they made no effort what so ever to age John when you see him at the end in the scene with Ned. Just before that scene, John says in his journal that he has spent 10 years back on Earth, searching for another amulet. They must have run out of budget with all their CGI money shots to hire a make-up artist.

 

[brandonh83]

I liked it enough. I thought it was too long but I found the story surprisingly good, so that helped. Action was okay, effects were good and intentionally cartoony I suppose. I thought Kitsch was fine as were most of the main characters.

Music was by far the best part though. No question. It turned what is otherwise a just okay movie into a pretty damn great audio-visual experience. So yeah, some things about it were clearly mediocre and I felt it had a bit of an identity crisis, but on the whole it was pretty enjoyable with a cool story and a fantastic soundtrack.

 

[ShipTheCheese]

Unless it's a free rental then don't. Honest to God it's not worth your time.

It honestly is. Obviously people have differing tastes since many in this thread have loved John Carter.

Well I love Andrew Stanton and thought it was rubbish.

And I thought Stanton's previous films were completely mediocre, yet really dug John Carter.

So many opinions!

But yeah, will download it first. If I love it, I'll buy the br.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

So many opinions!

But yeah, will download it first. If I love it, I'll buy the br.

Fuck you.

 

[ShipTheCheese]

Fuck you.

Sorry, mang. Got bills to pay and all that. Can't just be spending 30 dollars on a movie I haven't seen yet.

edit: especially one where I have been biased about it being crap, based on the promotional footage I've seen.

 

[Team Filler]

Sorry, mang. Got bills to pay and all that. Can't just be spending 30 dollars on a movie I haven't seen yet.

edit: especially one where I have been biased about it being crap, based on the promotional footage I've seen.

That's some absolute bullshit. Stop acting so fucking entitled and just redbox/rent it if you're interested.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

Sorry, mang. Got bills to pay and all that. Can't just be spending 30 dollars on a movie I haven't seen yet.

edit: especially one where I have been biased about it being crap, based on the promotional footage I've seen.

Then you should wait till you can afford it and then decide.

 

[Cyan]

lols. That dude's lucky no mods liked this movie.

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

Lol what the fuck.

 

[ShipTheCheese]

Hmm. Didn't know GAF was so anti-torrents. Oh well, lesson learned.

 

[Stallion Free]

That's some absolute bullshit. Stop acting so fucking entitled and just redbox/rent it if you're interested.

Yeah, it's like 2$ for a Bluray redbox? That is a ridiculously low bar of entry.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

*

Spoiler

I did like how they made no effort what so ever to age John when you see him at the end in the scene with Ned. Just before that scene, John says in his journal that he has spent 10 years back on Earth, searching for another amulet. They must have run out of budget with all their CGI money shots to hire a make-up artist.

Very-early book spoiler:

Spoiler

In the book he's more mysterious. He seems to be immortal or have great longevity, as he can only recall having been his current physical age, and having been that physical age for a century or more. So it could be that this was still intended to be the case in the film, just something that didn't come up.

 

[Dead]

From a poster on blu-ray.com

Oh no! It says Mars on the cover!!!

 

[Good Job Bob]

Original 4 minute opening:

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/05/31/john-carter-original-opening/

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

Original 4 minute opening:

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/05/31/john-carter-original-opening/

Cool, but it's a good thing it was cut.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Fancy lenticular cover to grab attention. Cover it with stickers.

 

[The Outsider]

The fucking Blu-Ray covers. The final insult.

 

[SUPREME1]

HATE the fact that John Carter's image is on the cover twice.

I'm one of the few that enjoyed the movie, but fuck... what a shitty cover they came up with.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

Somebody is going to have to make a cover for us out of that mondo poster.

 

[JB1981]

Original 4 minute opening:

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/05/31/john-carter-original-opening/

It's much better. I got more out of that scene than I did almost the entirety of the movie.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

I guess if you can't trust your audience to piece things together on the go, it would make sense to include that awkward intro. I mean, it's not like John Carter is LotR complex with backstory.

 

[VistraNorrez]

Glad that intro was cut, didn't care for it.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Original 4 minute opening:

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/05/31/john-carter-original-opening/

Damn, so this movie had FOUR prologues and none of them were the right choice.

 

[Good Job Bob]

Damn, so this movie had FOUR prologues and none of them were the right choice.

ViewtifulJC

ViewtifulJohnCarter

 

[krypt0nian]

So ready for this Blu-Ray!

 

[Christopher]

got it for 20 bucks on amazon it might be bad but I'm a lenticular whore

 

[bengraven]

Somebody is going to have to make a cover for us out of that mondo poster.

This is going to the first time I ever print out a "real" cover for a movie. I can't do this shit.




Edit: well, I did once replace my Wind Waker cover with a much better one from EGM but that doesn't count.

 

[jey_16]

I finally got around to watching this and I have to say I enjoyed it, it's a solid film and I'm surprised it bombed that hard. The score really stood out for me, as well as Woola, I wish we got to see more of him. Also, Deja (Lynn Collins) looked stunning. One of the few films I have seen this year where I actually cared about the characters. Loved the play on the title at the end, they really should have stuck with that.

Sucks that we will probably never see a sequel now

 

[The Elite]

Fuck the idiots who blew the marketing campaign. This is one of the best films I've seen this year. I went in expecting complete disappointment too.

 

[Count Dookkake]

Sorry, mang. Got bills to pay and all that. Can't just be spending 30 dollars on a movie I haven't seen yet.

edit: especially one where I have been biased about it being crap, based on the promotional footage I've seen.

Then pay your bills and wait.

 

[Good Job Bob]

Fuck the idiots who blew the marketing campaign. This is one of the best films I've seen this year. I went in expecting complete disappointment too.

Yup.

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

Saw a commercial today that was actually good, thought I was dreaming.

 

[Diablos]

Wow, this movie came out? I didn't even know until I saw this thread. Cool poster in the OP, too bad they were dumb and didn't use it.

gg Disney :lol

 

[Future Foundation]

Is it me or have the DVD/BR commercials been slightly better than the movie ads?

 

[Team Filler]

Fuck the idiots who blew the marketing campaign. This is one of the best films I've seen this year. I went in expecting complete disappointment too.

Welcome! Don't forget to look into the Original Score, especially the fifth track.

 

[joshcryer]

Most underrated film of the year, imo. Surprised it bombed.