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R. Dittmar
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
420 Posts |
 Posted - 01/28/2008 : 4:35:53 PM
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It looks like people are fleeing theaters showing Cloverfield as if they were running away from a giant monster. A nearly 70% drop probably means word of mouth is pretty poor:
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/
Given its small budget it looks like it will turn a profit, but it's no Alvin and the Chipmunks. |
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Ericb
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
648 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2008 : 06:23:06 AM
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or it could mean that anyone who had any inclination to see it went to see it but the film didn't have any appeal to the general population. It's like when Thomas Pynchon gets on the best seller list for a week, the fan base all runs out to buy it the first week but no one else does so it drops from the list after a week or two.
"I reserve the right to look as well as be boring." - Robert Fripp |
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nshumate
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
464 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2008 : 06:30:37 AM
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Or maybe -- just maybe -- no one wants to see shaky camcorders ON THE BIG SCREEN.
Nathan Shumate
http://www.coldfusionvideo.com |
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zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2008 : 10:20:33 AM
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| Didn't hurt Blair Witch Project. |
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Ericb
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
648 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2008 : 10:30:33 AM
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Well when Blair Witch Project came out the shakey camera was a bit of a novelty so it just added to the mysterious hype that movie had. It may have hurt Cloverfieldas the shakey camera thing is no longer new, just annoying. But I'm not sure it the camera thing rather than that giant monster movies just aren't that popular any more. When was the last sucessful one?
"I reserve the right to look as well as be boring." - Robert Fripp |
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RossM
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
427 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2008 : 11:54:48 AM
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| Blair Witch was witty and origional. It created something out of absolutely nothing. Cloverfield is just a copy. We have seen it all before. |
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Food
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
342 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2008 : 1:17:02 PM
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**staggers out of the theater and over to the lobby garbage can**
Shakey-cam on a big screen....oooohhhh....
**VVOOMMIITT!!** |
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Flangepart
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
2329 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2008 : 3:34:40 PM
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Ah,rats!...with this thread title, I envisioned a Kaiju driveing a mutant M-1 Abrams...Drat!
Marvin the Paranoid Android to Buzz Lightyear "Too infinity and beyond-i've been there, its rubbish!"
"Hoody Hoo, i waste 'em with my cross bow!" Bob Herzog- KODT
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Flangepart
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
2329 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2008 : 3:37:01 PM
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Ah,rats!...with this thread title, I envisioned a Kaiju driveing a mutant M-1 Abrams...Drat!
Marvin the Paranoid Android to Buzz Lightyear "Too infinity and beyond-i've been there, its rubbish!"
"Hoody Hoo, i waste 'em with my cross bow!" Bob Herzog- KODT
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Sardu
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1126 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2008 : 5:34:59 PM
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Friends I know that have seen it are sharply divided. You've got:
Monster movie lovers that love it
Monster movie lovers that hate it
Mainstream movie lovers that thought it was great
Mainstream Movie lovers that thought it was "meh"
I know at least one of each and there's no consensus. I'm not bothering until it hits DVD.
"Meeting you makes me want to be a real noodle cook"
--Tampopo |
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TheFoywonder
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
833 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2008 : 6:11:14 PM
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"CLOVERFIELD TANKS!" is a pretty stupid headline for a thread devoted to a movie that made back its own budget and then some on its opening weekend alone. It may have had a big drop-off its second weekend but it's already done been pretty darn good for a niche film.
Now Playing in Foyeurism at Foywonder.com: AVP-F - AVP-R, Showdown at Area 51, & the 2nd annual Foybles kick-off 2008
Plus: B-WARE THE BLOG is alive at http://www.livejournal.com/users/foywonder |
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zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2008 : 8:10:59 PM
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Simple questions for those who've seen it (let's keep it spoiler free, please, 'cause I haven't):
Is it entertaining?
Are the characters likeable?
Smart dialogue or dumb?
Predictable?
People splitting up, wandering off by themselves, and dying stupidly, or do these characters actually have brains?
Scary? Awesome?
Does it have a vague, inconclusive ending like Blair Witch or does it come to a definite conclusion?
I mean, other than shakey-cam, what's the beef? Would an old school approach to this movie have worked, or was the shakey-cam the whole gimmick? |
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TheFoywonder
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
833 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2008 : 9:34:57 PM
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Is it entertaining?
Very much so unless you're completely turned off by the camerawork.
Are the characters likeable?
They're pretty vapid but not hateable.
Smart dialogue or dumb?
A bit of both. Nothing really extraordinary about the dialogue one way or the other.
Predictable?
Not really.
People splitting up, wandering off by themselves, and dying stupidly, or do these characters actually have brains?
I'd say the problems in this department are less a case of the characters doing something stupid so much as the film stretching the credibility of certain happenings. But if you're asking if they do the typical horror movie acts of stupidity, then no. They pretty much stick together from start to finish.
Scary? Awesome?
It definitely has some intense moments. Pretty much the whole conceit of the film is that it's a Godzilla movie told from the point-of-view of the people at ground zero.
Does it have a vague, inconclusive ending like Blair Witch or does it come to a definite conclusion?
No, but it doesn't answer all your questions either.
Now Playing in Foyeurism at Foywonder.com: AVP-F - AVP-R, Showdown at Area 51, & the 2nd annual Foybles kick-off 2008
Plus: B-WARE THE BLOG is alive at http://www.livejournal.com/users/foywonder |
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CDiehl
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
361 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2008 : 9:53:45 PM
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quote:
Is it entertaining?
It sure is. Even the stuff before it all hit the fan held my attention.
quote:
Are the characters likeable?
Yes. Far from perfect, but as likeable as people can be in this kind of situation.
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Smart dialogue or dumb?
About as smart or dumb as real people would be under the circumstances.
quote:
Predictable?
In the sense that there are tropes that turn up, one could call it predictable. In the typical pejorative sense of things being blatantly, stupidly telegraphed, not really.
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People splitting up, wandering off by themselves, and dying stupidly, or do these characters actually have brains?
Nobody does anything so blatantly stupid as the cliche "wander off into a dangerous area" but people are far from perfectly intelligent all the time.
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Scary? Awesome?
I think both words apply, considering the premise of the movie.
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Does it have a vague, inconclusive ending like Blair Witch or does it come to a definite conclusion?
If there's one thing that ending isn't, it's inconclusive.
You know Grand Funk, don't you? The wild, shirtless lyrics of Mark Farner? The bong-rattling bass of Mel Schacher? The ... adequate drumwork of Don Brewer? |
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R. Dittmar
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
420 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2008 : 05:53:47 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by TheFoywonder
"CLOVERFIELD TANKS!" is a pretty stupid headline for a thread devoted to a movie that made back its own budget and then some on its opening weekend alone. It may have had a big drop-off its second weekend but it's already done been pretty darn good for a niche film.
Now that we appear doomed to a repeat of the Clinton years, I can defend myself by saying that it depends on the meaning of the word “tanks”. (And “is” and “at” and “the” for that matter!)
There’s no question it’s a profitable movie, but it has one of the worst post-opening drops in movie history (#59):
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/weekends/drops.htm
and I’m just wondering why. There are so many outright fiascos like Gigli on this list that it’s hard to make comparisons. If we just look at the movies that made a lot of money out of the gate – Eragon and The Hulk (Uh, oh) – for example, I think we can talk about bad word of mouth sinking same. If we look at tightly tailored niche films like Saw IV, then I think you can argue for extreme front-loading. But did the makers of Cloverfield make it with the intent that it flame out spectacularly after all the Godzilla nerds saw it opening weekend? Given all the work they did marketing it, I find that unlikely. The fact that it didn’t find a broader audience must be a big disappointment to them in a way that the failure of Saw IV to go mainstream wasn’t to the makers of that “film”. |
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Ericb
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
648 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2008 : 06:09:48 AM
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OT
"Now that we appear doomed to a repeat of the Clinton years"
Oh, don't be so pessimistic. I have the feeling if the Repos nominate McCain he would beat Clinton. I know that if Hillary is the Demo nominee I'd seriously consider voting for a Republican in a presidential contest for the first time in my life.
"I reserve the right to look as well as be boring." - Robert Fripp |
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