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Hurt Locker v Avatar: A film no one saw beat a film everyone saw.
Yes, I know Best Picture shouldn't equal biggest box office. And rarely does it. But movies are about entertainment. And a lot more people were entertained, enthralled, enchanted, amazed, etc by Avatar than by Hurt Locker.
Anyway, that was a weak year (like this year is) with no clear Best Picture. Perhaps there should be 'jackpot' and next year's winner gets two trophies... 
Hurt Locker v Avatar: A film no one saw beat a film everyone saw.
Yes, I know Best Picture shouldn't equal biggest box office. And rarely does it. But movies are about entertainment. And a lot more people were entertained, enthralled, enchanted, amazed, etc by Avatar than by Hurt Locker.
I'd argue that movies are about storytelling, and that Hurt Locker told a better story.
I'm still bitter from the six months when I was ostracized for being the only person I knew who didn't like Avatar.
I'd argue that movies are about storytelling, and that Hurt Locker told a better story.
I liked both Avatar and The Hurt Locker, but the story of the soldier sent to an alien land who begins to sympathize with the locals and question his mission was definitely better than the one about the soldier sent to an alien land who begins to sympathize with the locals and question his mission.
They're both White Man's Burden movies, except in one the burden was blue. 
Anyway. The Oscars are the one night a year when Hollywood gets all dressed up and we pretend we're classy and smart. King's Speeches and Hurt Lockers are always gonna have an advantage over Avatars and Star Warses when it comes to Best Picture. Titanic and Return of the King are the only pop phenoms I can think of that bucked the trend within the past few decades.
Well, and Silence of the Lambs, still THE biggest outlier Best Picture in modern Oscar history, methinks.
I'm still bitter from the six months when I was ostracized for being the only person I knew who didn't like Avatar.
I know how you feel... I'm pretty sure I'm the only one in my crowd who did.
Hurt Locker v Avatar: A film no one saw beat a film everyone saw.
By this logic, some of the biggest Oscar "snubs" of the last decade have been REVENGE OF THE SITH, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST and SPIDER-MAN 3.
rtambree wrote:Hurt Locker v Avatar: A film no one saw beat a film everyone saw.
By this logic, some of the biggest Oscar "snubs" of the last decade have been REVENGE OF THE SITH, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST and SPIDER-MAN 3.
Yes, yes, I realize it shouldn't be about box office, but that year it was an extreme difference. I can remember Hurt Locker had the lowest box office of any winner and it happened to be up against the all time box office champ. So the fact that so many more people went to see Avatar and enjoyed it and saw it again (like Titanic) must say something about its appeal (after all, what are movies about if not to entertain people?) compared to a movie that very few people were interested in.
Personally I wouldn't have given out a winner to any film in that year, but if I had to, then Avatar's achievement as a movie was the more impressive. To me anyway.
Neither film deserved to win imo. I remember being surprised that Avatar was even nominated, it's just not a very good movie.
When do you think it justified (other than financially) to make sequels to a film? In the current sequel happy enviroment, when writing a script, do you try to leave openings for the possibility of sequels, or instead try to put up roadblocks to prevent this and protect your original vision?
When do you think it justified (other than financially) to make sequels to a film? In the current sequel happy enviroment, when writing a script, do you try to leave openings for the possibility of sequels, or instead try to put up roadblocks to prevent this and protect your original vision?
Sequel? "That's sacrilege"... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR4TD6lgcCU
Adaptations - Books, TV, Comics to film
Box Office - Where does a movie's budget go? How does a studio determine marketing strategy? What is considered a box office success?
Biggest Oscar upsets/snubs
Movie Trailers - Who makes/gives the okay on them? Do directors ever get a say? What are some of the 'best' or 'worst' trailers you can remember?
Favorite foreign films - They don't come up very often on DIF
Film Critics - What makes them qualified? How seriously do you take their opinions?
Worst/Most hated movies
Also, regarding the Box Office, what your thoughts are (if any) on the current slump, and the possible causes.
Also, regarding the Box Office, what your thoughts are (if any) on the current slump, and the possible causes.
They're still making tons of money (ticket prices), it's just that fewer people are going to theatres. The audience they have been mining for the last two decades (teenage boys, who buy the most concessions and keep the exhibitors happy) have been split against additional ways to be entertained.
Last edited by paulou (2012-01-28 22:31:33)
The fact that fewer people are going to the movies is what I mean by "slump".
The fact that fewer people are going to the movies is what I mean by "slump".
What slump? The international market is increasing every year as formerly poor countries become rich countries. And even the UK box office is at an all time record high... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16810021
rtambree, Hi Welcome to the forums!
I know atleast in the UK that the numbers are down in terms of bums on seats. You absolutely right that the box office is at an all time high but it's because they are charging less people more money.
rtambree, Hi Welcome to the forums!
I know atleast in the UK that the numbers are down in terms of bums on seats. You absolutely right that the box office is at an all time high but it's because they are charging less people more money.
That's actually not the case, there were 171.6m tickets sold last year, up slightly from 2010.
lab276 wrote:The fact that fewer people are going to the movies is what I mean by "slump".
What slump? The international market is increasing every year as formerly poor countries become rich countries. And even the UK box office is at an all time record high... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16810021
The domestic market is in a slump.
The domestic market is in a slump.
Slump or slightly down off an Avatar all-time high? We'll see what happens this year with Dark Knight Rises, Prometheus, and The Hobbit.
Over time I expect the USA domestic market to become less important as the international box office gets an ever larger market share. The studios will still be making healthy profits and they'll be fewer studio-wrecking bombs than there used to be due to the ever-growing international box office, blu-ray, streaming, cable, etc.
An 'intermission' on adaptations, and more specifically, comic book adaptations would be awesome.
The creative process behind it, why some are better than others, is it mostly the studios fault when its rubbish?, what makes a good comic book movie?
lab276 wrote:The domestic market is in a slump.
Slump or slightly down off an Avatar all-time high? We'll see what happens this year with Dark Knight Rises, Prometheus, and The Hobbit.
Put it this way, 2011 was the least attended year since 1995, and the first year since then to go under 1.3b tickets. If that's not a slump, I don't know what is. 2010 wasn't exactly pretty either.
Thankfully this year has so far shown much improvement of 2011, so it could be the start of a turnaround.
Why should we care about theatrical ticket sales as opposed to overall revenue? That's like worrying that sex is in a slump even tho births are up just because fewer people are doing it missionary style.
/was planning on making that analogy about cars
//not sure what happened
The cinemas make most of their revenue from concession sales. The less people that attend, the less money they make.
In any case, I can't see how it's a bad thing to want more people going to the movies.
I think an intermission about adaptations would be swell as well. As far as whose fault it is when they bomb, I tend to think that 50% of the time, the thing being adapted just isn't the sort of stuff that would make for a good movie, and the additional 50% of the failures you can chalk up to bad writing and/or studios altering the stories to try to make them more 'mainstream'. I always thought that was funny, considering that most of the time they were adapting them because they were already popular.
To help illuminate the tangential theatrical release conversation:
I would like to hear about moments in film or TV that totally shocked you. I mean, un-spoilered, real time surprised you.
I have two, and they are kind of girly, but I will never forget how amazing it felt to experience these moments. Both, actually, are TV moments that took place before the Internet or twitter were a big deal.
(That is another interesting topic: how does social media change and alter how we watch. I am watching Breaking Bad mostly because my twitter feed, comprised of people who like stuff I like, went nuts one day about something that happened on that show.)
Anyway, mine:
1. Kimberley takes her wig off and reveals the huge scar (Melrose Place. I know, dumb show, but ask anyone who watched it, that was a crazy awesome fucking scene.)
2. ER, S5, Carter is stabbed in the back and falls, and sees that Lucy has also been attacked. This one is
almost totally due to the Lo Fidelity All-Stars song 'Battleflag,' which gets louder and louder as the episode progresses.
My reaction to both these scenes was to call a friend and say "DID YOU SEE THAT!!?!!!?!!!?" And they were like "YES OH MY GOD!!!"
I would love to know what made you guys feel that way.
I remember the ER moment. I was shocked.
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