The BJMDDS General Discussion Thread......

[Omega]

Big O, there are 9 SW films, including Rogue One. Where do you rank this Last Jedi film in numerical order?

it’ll take some thought, down in the prequels. Not sure I’d rank it worst although it didn’t leave me anticipating the next movies at all.

For all that was wrong with the prequels, bad droid slapstick, Jar Jar, wooden acting, plot holes, horrible use of CGI and low resolution (think Lucas filmed in 1080p instead of film to make cgi easier), Lucas at least had fulfilling stories moving the narrative forward. But he forgot a lot of his promises too.
Padame was supposed to lead the first battles against the empire and Vader, losing her life on the field of battle, which was why she didn’t raise Luke and Leah, also why she might have been the driving force to have Luke save his father. This was in the episode one novelization which changed to lost the will to live in the final movie.

Hamill criticize Lucas prequels too, although he is now walking back his criticism of Rian Johnson, think Disney pulled him aside and told him he doesn’t get millions of more dollars if the film doesn’t make $2 billion.





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[bjmdds]

Broccoli's film gets released in the USA this Friday I hope it does not cut into The Last Jedi's box office Maybe FBF can see TLJ even more times to counter Broccoli's minions turning out for her US debut

[Kristatos]

Yeah, I really don't see that being much of a threat to The Last Jedi, Broccoli or no Broccoli. It seems like one for the arthouse crowd. Nothing wrong with that, I doubt that anyone involved is expecting it to be a $billion-grossing movie.

[Omega]

I doubt her movie will be a blip.
Looks like JL was pulled for local theaters looks like they are stuck at $647.6 million, now that’s a flop, where Star Wars is just a decline in attendance from unhappy fans.
Force awakens sold around 108 million tickets in North America and Canada made about a billion. I’ll wait to see where TLA finishes.
It’s already $178 million behind TFA, just a quick glance at foreign markets and it behind TFA in almost all of them so far.


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[Atticus]

Prime Minister Theresa May wants a female James Bond.

http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/12 ... ames-bond/

Fictional Cold War warrior James Bond should be played by a woman, Theresa May has said, hailing the new female Doctor Who as a victory for “girl power”.
Speaking on a flight to Cyprus last week, where she gave a Christmas address to troops at RAF Akrotiri, the prime minister revealed she was a fan of the BBC science fiction show Doctor Who, and lauded the public broadcaster’s decision to cast Jodie Whittaker in the iconic time traveller’s role.
“I think it’s a great move forward for girl power that there is going to be a female Doctor Who. And one day there should be a female James Bond,” she told reporters.
May added she had heard that actor James Norton was tipped as the next actor likely to play the fictional spy and Royal Navy Commander created by writer Ian Fleming in 1953.
Famed for his womanising, hard drinking, and explosive action sequences, James Bond has been played by seven male actors, from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig since 1962.
Meanwhile, Doctor Who’s outgoing head writer Steven Moffat earlier this month revealed that Brexit voters delayed the protagonist’s gender swap, stating that he feared the change would alienate “Daily Mail-reading viewers”.

[Atticus]

"Tanked at the box office" LOL

In a universe far, far away, compared to TFA, you bet your light saber this film is tanking big time. I thought it would top $1 billion in the USA alone. It might struggle to get to $800 million here. That's a big number, but not SW proper numbers, in this environment. My friend just saw it and said it was OK.

Wouldn't surprise me if studio execs are in emergency meetings to figure out what the hell happened with the numbers. Sure, Last Jedi is making money. But there's also something amiss. This is a major franchise with a built-in guaranteed audience, and they still get lukewarm numbers when compared with TFA. Personally, I think there's just a general sense of fatigue for this franchise. At least that's what I'm getting from people I know who've seen it. Saw it myself and thought it was bland, corny, even tired. I'm done with this series. They've milked it to the fullest and there's nothing new to me. Again, that's just me. But it's the reaction of my grandkids and their friends that I find interesting. I don't see them as interested as when TFA was released two years ago. They don't want to see Last Jedi. The mood of society has changed to some extent. Then there is a bit of the political fallout. Not a big factor but the film probably took some hits from it. I've heard people at Christmas parties say they didn't like the blatant emphasis on multiculturalism and the preachy environmentalism. Factor in the idiot political rants from Hamill, which would only alienate a segment of the audience. An article from The Washington Post summed all this up and states that the film is “the most divisive "Star Wars" film.”

A piece over at Brietbart (published Dec. 18) highlights the disturbing numbers:

Star Wars Stumbles
Even The Last Jedi, while still a smash, is under-performing. After eight days, the eighth chapter in the iconic franchise has grossed an impressive $321 million, but that is $120 million behind The Force Awakens, and even trails Jurassic World by $4 million.
The Last Jedi looks to be on pace to squeak over $600 million domestic, some $300-plus million behind its predecessor. Moreover, when you adjust for inflation, chapter eight will fall way behind the much derided prequel, The Phantom Menace ($807 million), and way behind The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi ($877 million and $840 million, respectively).

http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/ ... -problems/

[bjmdds]

O'mighty Atticus,"them's terrible numbers" for a SW film in 2017 If they keep throwing in politics into these Hollywood films, people will stay away for sure Just like Bond, we want action and escapism, with no hint whatsoever of political undertones Just like the empty stadiums in the NFL this past Sunday, these entities just don't get it, and never will

[Omega]

BO Mojo estimated attendance U.S.A. & Canada in millions tickets.
Some of these might be off because of the 80s prices and rereleases. But there is a pattern of attendance dropping after the first of a trilogy.


New Hope 178 (???)
Empire 98
Jedi 94
Phantom 90.3
Clone 53.5
Sith 59.3
Force 108
Last 47.7 so far


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[bjmdds]

Big O, do you follow the NFL at all any longer?

[bjmdds]

Tom Hanks says he would refuse an invitation from Trump to screen 'The Post' at The White House. Who cares? Hanks is a liberal puppet of Hollywood and is as clueless as the rest of them. You wonder why the USA box office is dramatically down this year Do the people here from the UK give a hoot about the so-called Prince Harry marrying Markle? The media are trying to 'Oh-bamasize' this couple and it's pathetic

[Kristatos]

If they keep throwing in politics into these Hollywood films, people will stay away for sure Just like Bond, we want action and escapism, with no hint whatsoever of political undertones

I'm not sure that's even possible any more. People will read political subtexts into films if they're determined to see them. There are people who seem to go out of their way to look for things to be outraged by, and they exist on both the left and right. I remember when The Muppets came out and Fox News got its panties in a bunch because the villain was a cartoonishly evil oil baron. Whereas on the other side, I recently read an article claiming that the Hallmark Channel was Trump propaganda, based on little more than the fact that their audience seems to be demographically similar to Trump's base (white, rural/suburban and blue collar).

[Omega]

Big O, do you follow the NFL at all any longer?

No but I quit caring years ago. 2004-6ish was the last I wanted a season somewhat regularly, the NFL started falling apart back then.


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[Omega]

I don’t think Star Wars was trying to be political, whereas recent bonds have and even kingsman 2 had fun with a W Bush Trump mix of a President.


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[Omega]

Went to last Jedi again, some subtleties to be caught but all the jokes that the audience laughed at opening weekend didn’t get a chuckle.
[spoil]Story has the same problems, take episode 8 off the title and make it a force projecting Luke fading and it’s fine, not good or great. Problems with the story still bug me this Johnson guy had no business writing this story[/spoil]


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[Kristatos]

Box Office Mojo predicts The Last Jedi to become the biggest grossing film of 2017 domestically: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4356&p=.htm

[Omega]

Box Office Mojo predicts The Last Jedi to become the biggest grossing film of 2017 domestically: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4356&p=.htm

yes but it only has to beat $505 million to take the title which the force awakens did in less than 10 days.


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[Atticus]

O'mighty Atticus,"them's terrible numbers" for a SW film in 2017 If they keep throwing in politics into these Hollywood films, people will stay away for sure Just like Bond, we want action and escapism, with no hint whatsoever of political undertones Just like the empty stadiums in the NFL this past Sunday, these entities just don't get it, and never will

Agree with you, BJ. In an ideal scenario, I'm for movies that simply tell a good story, pure escapism and all that. The thing is, a person's political views obviously shape how that person views the world. So in movies, especially these days with liberal Hollywood so blatant in their stance, even fanatical, the politics of these filmmakers are bound to creep in. Then we as audiences react with our own experience and political views. Of course, with these entertainers, the disconnect with the public is there, just as we've seen in the NFL games. There's an interesting article over at CNN about how The Last Jedi leans into politics: http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/18/entertain ... index.html

The other thing is, Disney lately has been political, at least with this social justice hoopla. They've got a show on the Disney Channel called Andie Mack (yeah, I know this stuff because I got grandkids) and recently, they had an episode for a character, a teenybopper, who did the coming-out-of-the-closet to declare he's gay or pansexual or whatever they call it these days. I monitor what my grandkids watch, and you can see reviews online from liberal outlets praising the direction of the series. I'm trying to be delicate here because this discussion is probably better off in one of the political threads. But, yeah, if Disney keeps going down this path, let's just say they're bound to experiment with more social justice in these Star Wars films.

[bjmdds]

It goes back to Konrad Lorenz and imprinting. These liberals want to expose this stuff to the young at heart and hope it imprints into their psyches Disney is a diseased political operative of the left wingers that will stop at nothing to push their agendas. The only way they will stop is with poor ratings/box office.

[Kristatos]

The only way they will stop is with poor ratings/box office.

Yeah, good luck with that.

[Omega]

The only way they will stop is with poor ratings/box office.

Yeah, good luck with that.

Disney majorly panders to the Christian community, I don’t think they are being too political. Maybe more SJW than they were but if they lose the family friendly (Christian friendly) image they know all of their enterprises will suffer. Maybe why they bought Fox to own a studio as a outlet for more serious movies, or maybe they only wanted the marvel and Star Wars rights and will gut the company.


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