Predicting the Movie Hits and Bombs of 2017

Split #1 for the second week, and only dropped off 36%. The US total is now $78 million. The film cost $10 million.

Split (2017) - Box Office Mojo »

 

While also, ironically, the "we need some hit movies and fast" mentality is probably what led to a lot of this.

 

Just a tad of irony there. I thought Wahlberg's horribly flat acting was the worst thing about that movie. His very anemic"whoa" at one point generated giggles in the theatre I was in.

 

I think this is perhaps one of the funniest moments; I almost did a spit take the first time I saw this:

 

That scene eventually also resulted in this:

 

Good grief and I get ticked when my estimates are off by $10-20K...$962 million is a serious valuation **** up probably made up of several transactions, goodwill is usually recorded when a buyer acquires a business/assets at a premium over and above the book value of the business, the reverse can also happen and that's called negative goodwill. The $962M is probably a tax maneuver of some sort.

 

Sony is officially saying this:

“The downward revision was primarily due to a lowering of previous expectations regarding the home entertainment business, mainly driven by an acceleration of market decline. Underlying profitability projections of film performance were also reduced, but the adverse impact of that reduction is expected to be largely mitigated by measures that have been identified to improve the profitability of the Motion Pictures business.”

Sony Warns of $962 Million Goodwill Loss, Says Studio Is Not for Sale »

I think they're essentially saying, "nobody is buying home video software anymore, so our profits are way down and the company is worth less than it used to.

 

I wonder why? Maybe disc sales wouldn't be declining so quickly if they hadn't turned them into a dreadful consumer experience. With streaming, if I want to play a program, I just hit play and it actually plays.

Compare this with DRM infested discs. We get to enjoy forced ads/trailers - are you fricking kidding? That's on top of the 10 second unskippable FBI anti-piracy warning. Way to be rewarded for playing by the MPAA rules, right?

Then you have to battle through some stupid-ass title screen which you paid some 'designer' a good chunk of the purchase price of the disk.

In their zeal for control, media companies have made using legit physical media a frustrating nightmare. Consumers have noticed and are making alternative choices.

 

^I didn't know there was so much oppression generated
when spinning a DVD. I kinda still like my collection.
I have lots of viewing choices.

Seems as though there's just as many licensing and distribution
mechanisms with streaming as there is with BD/DVD to me, IMHO.
It's all media content control and ownership.

 

I'm glad I read someone feeling the same way, and it's getting worse as more and more they are authoring the discs so you can't even skip over all that crap. The previews should be skippable with one click. I didn't buy the previews and don't want to be forced to watch them. I can't even stand watching them in the theaters, after the fourth or fifth one my eyes glaze over as most of them are truly awful imo. I sure don't want it forced on me at home. What are they thinking? Worse still are overly complicated menus. Geez. I just want to put the disc in and hit play. I noticed the last couple of 3D movies I bought superimposed some stupid warning about cautioning to take a break after watching for X amount of time, and it just stays there until you press your remote yet again. You wonder what arrogant person at these studios think this is all a good idea?

 

Many execs at studios make many bad decisions, every day. Particularly in regard to home video and physical media. I'm more angry that 75% of most studios' libraries sit rotting in warehouses and never get released at all.

 

Don't let anyone tell you the First World isn't rife with inconceivable difficulties.

 

I watched Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) last night on a 2005 Region 2 DVD. The anti-piracy video couldn’t be skipped. On both discs (the second disc is a worthless collection of meagre extras). To say I was very, very annoyed is an understatement. At least there were no trailers. Entertainment In Video (I think they might now just be called Entertainment) are the worst for trailers you can’t skip, but are ‘kind’ enough to allow us to fast forward through them individually.


I loathe animated menus with a passion.

My review of Glengarry Glen Ross (1992):

Salesmen (Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Ed Harris and Alan Arkin) are threatened with losing their jobs unless they manage to sell plots of land by the next day. The problem with the dialogue is that most of its abstract nonsense. They talk large amounts of gibberish the audience can’t understand or care about. It’s a load of made up bunk they go on and on about. Very little of the dialogue is truly comprehensible. Also some of the dialogue Al Pacino said was plain meaningless crap. There was also the very fake sounding love of repetition which sounded deeply unnatural. So no, I did not like the film. It was a bit of a dull bore about boring people having boring, barley comprehensible conversations. It wasn’t my idea of good entertainment or drama. Alec Baldwin’s celebrated cameo was unimpressive – it wasn’t the blistering acting master class of reputation. It was watchable enough, and I didn’t squirm too much with boredom so it was more below average than bad. It’s a weak film (written by David Mamet from his stage play) that doesn’t deserve its heavyweight reputation.

 

Would've changing all that really have made a difference? They key to that answer is in your description of watching a movie via streaming; you just hit play and it plays. So little effort is required. The decline was inevitable and no amount of DRM or designer menu free discs would ever have changed that IMO.

 

DeNiro returns to the screen in The Comedian, opening widely this upcoming weekend. However, the "scores" it is getting on Rotten Tomatoes are no laughing matter -- a measly 27% (so far): The Comedian »

To play off the title of another movie -- also opening widely this weekend, I guess it should have been titled "I am not your comedian."

I do think the documentary on James Baldwin, I Am Not Your Negro, will be one of the best documentaries of 2017. He was writer and social critic, a man of staggering intellect, ahead of his time, with razor sharp perceptions on racism and sexism, who was disillusioned with America and went to live in France when he was only 24 years old: James Baldwin - Wikipedia »

 

The Irishman (2018) Good be good.

 

Your right, of course, and it's hideous.
One of the great benefits of ripping your discs to MKV files is that when you play the file -- the movie starts, no bullsh*t and it's instantaneous.

 

And you can watch it any time on any device platform.

 

You've clearly never seen a David Mamet film or Broadway show, because that's pretty much his style. Note that the play -- which had essentially the same dialogue -- won a Pulitzer prize and a Tony award. Just saying. (Also, this has nothing about the hits and bombs of 2017, so you might want to start a separate thread criticizing this film.)

 

I am going to hazard a guess that you aren't in sales, because if you were, that movie feels so real that you just cringe ( much of it in delight) and really relate to a lot of it. I love the film, but it is like any movie. If you can't relate to it, you simply can't get into it, no matter the subject imo. The acting is nothing short of superb. So is the writing. But if I weren't in a sales related industry, my response would equal your's.

 

You're probably right, but dvd's can still be a dreadful and frustrating experience. No excuse for it.

 

It might be too "American" for you to fully appreciate. I worked in advertising sale for a while so it hit home of me.

 

I kinda hoped it would be better than the previews, which make it look like a mediocre sit com. Apparently that's all it is.

Is this all DeNiro is being offered?

 

The Irishman (pre-production)
Frank 'The Irishman' Sheeran
2017-2018 Untitled David O. Russell Project (TV Series) (announced)
- Episode #2.8 (2018)
- Episode #2.7 (2018)
- Episode #2.6 (2018)
- Episode #2.5 (2018)
- Episode #2.4 (2018)
Show all 16 episodes
2017 Untitled De Niro - Ramirez - Jakubowicz Project (announced)
G.B.
2017 Untitled Edgardo Mortara Project (pre-production)
Pope Pius IX
2017 The War with Grandpa (pre-production)
Ed
2017 The Wizard of Lies (TV Movie) (post-production)
Bernie Madoff

 

No kidding. Those idiots are sitting on a goldmine & don't realize it. Or do they realize it & simply mine it for remake concepts? Hmmmm...