Weekly Box Office and Film Discussion Thread

[Drtooth]

Saw Godzilla today, and I have mixed feelings. The effects were nice, the story didn't have any of the logic holes that action movies often have (see Promethius) and the acting was actually decent. But the destruction was just overkill, it seemed like every single building in California was taken down by the end of the movie. After awhile it sort of lost its impact.

Yeah, but that sort of thing is pretty much Godzilla's trademark. Probably did it a little too much, but it seems like they made a genuine effort with Godzilla in the US this time. I didn't see it, but it seems that people actually like the American Godzilla this time. That makes 2 sucky attempts (including that ghastly Hanna Barbera cartoon) and 2 actual decent attempts (the Sony cartoon, which was supposedly actually good).

Then again, the Japanese Godzilla franchise started off with a thought provoking message about atomic warfare and turned into "Hey, kids! Let's see Godzilla beat up another monster" until it got goofier and goofier.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I didn't see it, but it seems that people actually like the American Godzilla this time.

I didn't see it either, but I'm more and more wary of masses of fans liking something. It's just not a guarantee of quality anymore. Anymore than the critics are.

 

[charlietheowl]

Yeah, but that sort of thing is pretty much Godzilla's trademark. Probably did it a little too much, but it seems like they made a genuine effort with Godzilla in the US this time. I didn't see it, but it seems that people actually like the American Godzilla this time. That makes 2 sucky attempts (including that ghastly Hanna Barbera cartoon) and 2 actual decent attempts (the Sony cartoon, which was supposedly actually good).

Then again, the Japanese Godzilla franchise started off with a thought provoking message about atomic warfare and turned into "Hey, kids! Let's see Godzilla beat up another monster" until it got goofier and goofier.

I went into this movie knowing little about the Godzilla movies of the past, so perhaps that was part of my problem. I'm not really one for action movies, but my dad really wanted to go and offered to pay for my ticket, and there are few movies I wouldn't see if someone's paying for me, lol.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I went into this movie knowing little about the Godzilla movies of the past, so perhaps that was part of my problem.

I doubt the problem is with you. In my opinion, Hollywood rarely makes decent action movies anymore. It's all just "How much stuff can we blow up?!"

 

[Drtooth]

I went into this movie knowing little about the Godzilla movies of the past, so perhaps that was part of my problem. I'm not really one for action movies, but my dad really wanted to go and offered to pay for my ticket, and there are few movies I wouldn't see if someone's paying for me, lol.

Well, there's always that Super Mario Super Show episode with Koopzilla that had this immortal line by Toad:

"Mario may save the city, but there's no city left." (or something to that extent)

I doubt the problem is with you. In my opinion, Hollywood rarely makes decent action movies anymore. It's all just "How much stuff can we blow up?!"

Let's be honest. Action movies were always a crapshoot. We remember the Die Hards, the Predators, and Escape from New Yorks. But there were so many forgettable ones made in the same era with X-list celebrities who were pigeonholed into making such, terrible movies. It's a crapshoot now, but a good half of them are in the middle of very good to popcorn. The rest of them are as quickly forgotten as the ones from the 80's that never found an audience (minus and ironic, snarky one).

The films I'm personally sick of seeing are these Young Adult action/romance novel/serious fairy tales (with the wrong aspects being dark). They never get them right.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Let's be honest. Action movies were always a crapshoot. We remember the Die Hards, the Predators, and Escape from New Yorks. But there were so many forgettable ones made in the same era with X-list celebrities who were pigeonholed into making such, terrible movies. It's a crapshoot now, but a good half of them are in the middle of very good to popcorn. The rest of them are as quickly forgotten as the ones from the 80's that never found an audience (minus and ironic, snarky one).

Not saying action movies all used to be brilliant. But in my opinion I have yet to see the Die Hard of the modern era. Nor am I expecting to see one. That's not Hollywood's priority anymore because audiences are willing to settle for less. That's what I mean when I say I don't trust fan reactions.

The films I'm personally sick of seeing are these Young Adult action/romance novel/serious fairy tales (with the wrong aspects being dark). They never get them right.

Agreed, it's the same problem, different genre.

 

[Drtooth]

I agree we'll never have another Die Hard. Mainly because we weren't going to get a Die Hard in the first place. The only time they even tried to make a Die Hard film an actual Die Hard film was the last one... and we all know how that one turned out. Everything is done so far in advance, there's no room for happy accidents like Die Hard, Roger Rabbit (a Chinatown sequel), and George of the Jungle (a generic Tarzan parody that captured the most Jay Ward spirit out of the entire live action line).

Aside from that though, ehhh... fan reactions are kinda iffy. I rarely trust the ones that find something trivial so offensive while ignoring the multiple problems of the original. But other than that, I find that movies with terrible reactions because the film is straight out terrible usually turn out to actually be pretty terrible.

This Godzilla film seems to have a degree of love and aspiration behind it, unlike the 1998 disaster where they just wanted to make a Jurassic Park ripoff and try to make it as campy as possible (and failing). I have to admit, I want the American Kaiju movement to be a thing. Pacific Rim confounded the mainstream audience that flocked to Adam Sandler acting like a man-child, and it's pretty disheartening that another one of his films is released the same time as this. Pacific Rim was excellent, and managed to find a divine balance between seriousness and not taking itself too seriously. And it became an underrated cult gem, instead of the main hit it should have been because it wasn't 90 minutes of Adam Sandler proving that he's too freaking old to be in those kinds of movies ever again. I admit, I'm liking the possibility of a Power Rangers movie (even though I'm one of the last people you'd expect that out of), but I'm kinda bummed we won't have an American Mazinger Z film. Mainly because that would lead to merchandising and someone actually licensing the classic Anime on DVD.

But back to Adam Sandler... ugh. I love Terry Crews, but he seems to be the only one with measurable talent in that film, all wasted. Everytime I see that ad on television, I wanna punch the screen.

 

[mr3urious]

At least Blended is the only Happy Madison movie released this year.

 

[Drtooth]

How can Happy Madison produce such terrible movies, and yet give us The Goldbergs, one of, if not, the best sitcom from the 2013-2014 season?

I guess even a broken clock is right two times a day.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Hey, Godzilla might be amazing. I'm just saying I've had enough experiences where fans complimented a movie to high heaven...and then I was sitting there in the theater wondering why I came, lol.