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Go Tell the Spartans Spoof...
...That
it apparently eked out a box-office battle against the new (and for
god's sake, hopefully last) Rambo flick:
In a close and bloody box office battle, the bumbling warriors of the spoof Meet the Spartans edged out aged mercenary John Rambo of the franchise flick Rambo to win the weekend box office by a tight margin of just $575,000, according to Sunday's estimates. Meet the Spartans grossed $18.725 mil while Rambo brought in $18.150 mil, but we'll have to wait for the final numbers to come out on Monday before officially declaring a winner. Still, this is good news for both films - well, good news for the Greek fighters and really good news for the Vietnam vet.
I dunno. If one of the things going through bin Laden's head was that America was a soft country incapable of defending itself against theologically motiviated suicide bombers, having a satire of one of the most famous battles in history starring Carmen Electra be the biggest movie in the country might kick off a whole new round of attacks. Then again, it may be a sign that all is right with the world again. Or, more probably, it means nothing beyond the good news that Kevin Sorbo won't be be collecting Social Security at age 67.
More weekend B.O. news here. And look for Jesse Walker's take on the new Sly Stallone joint at reason online later today.
Taktix®|1.28.08 @ 8:15AM|#
Two Things:
1: Parroting does not = Parody. Judging from the previews this is
just another thoughtless, lowest-common-denominator crap
movie.
2: Studios dump all their crap movies in January. The fact that MTS
won this weekend is indicitive of people having had better things
to do...
Jozef|1.28.08 @ 8:37AM|#
2: Studios dump all their crap movies in January. The fact
that MTS won this weekend is indicitive of people having had better
things to do...
...except of the approximately 1.8 million Americans who were
willing to spend $10 to see the movie...
Episiarch|1.28.08 @ 8:51AM|#
Did Cloverfield run out of steam?
These spoof movies are popular with teh teenagerz. Put together
one, throw in some scantily-clad hot chicks (or in this case,
ripped dudes wearing loincloths), and you are going to pull in 20
mil the first weekend. It's a given, and that's why these spoof
movies come out every six months.
Scary Movie started it all. It was actually pretty funny.
But like all movie trends, all the copycats suck.
|1.28.08 @ 8:53AM|#
Judging from the previews this is just another thoughtless,
lowest-common-denominator crap movie.
Like Airplane or Blazing Saddles? ;-)
Gosh, I'm in a chipper and contrary mood this AM.
ktc2|1.28.08 @ 8:57AM|#
Like Amazone Women on the Moon?
Or for the futurama fans among us:
Amazon Women in the Mood!
|1.28.08 @ 9:27AM|#
Or, more probably, it means nothing beyond the good news
that Kevin Sorbo won't be be collecting Social Security at age
67.
No what it means is, Hollywood has no reason to make good movies,
because crap pays so well.
New World Dan|1.28.08 @ 9:29AM|#
Hey, Kevin Sorbo gotta eat too, you know. Shampoo commercials can't carry you forever.
Taktix®|1.28.08 @ 9:33AM|#
...except of the approximately 1.8 million Americans who
were willing to spend $10 to see the movie...
Considering movies cost about $20 million* to make (I can't find
the exact figure for MTS, but it's probably less than $20 million),
only making $18 million isn't that stunning...
*this is from a random sample of movies I just looked up and
therefore has little basis in actual "fact"
|1.28.08 @ 9:36AM|#
Pooro Sorbo. When the best item on your resume is a 7 episode stint on The O.C., it's time to think about going into seclusion.
Episiarch|1.28.08 @ 9:43AM|#
When the best item on your resume is a 7 episode stint on
The O.C., it's time to think about going into seclusion.
Are you saying Andromeda was an insipid, idiotic show that
made no sense, and that Hercules was a super-low-rent
goofball version of Evil Dead's humor? I can't imagine
you're saying that.
BakedPenguin|1.28.08 @ 9:47AM|#
Taktix™ - $20 million would be cheap for most movies, but I'd
say Spartans probably came in under that - it doesn't have any real
stars, for one thing. Box office is almost gravy at this point. DVD
sales and rentals are where the big bucks are.
Your "parroting" line was good - I'm starting to feel old, I can
remember when parodies used to have actual jokes.
|1.28.08 @ 9:49AM|#
Considering movies cost about $20 million* to
make
I wonder how much they spent on HGH.
Episiarch|1.28.08 @ 9:54AM|#
Episarch, I'm sayin' that.
I'm shocked. Shocked. Next you'll be saying that Kull
the Conqueror was a cheap attempt to cash in on Hercules'
popularity. It's all just so offensive.
Taktix®|1.28.08 @ 10:00AM|#
Box office is almost gravy at this point. DVD sales and
rentals are where the big bucks are.
Not sure why I didn't put this together before, but it all makes
sense now. This film (and others like it) is probably right up the
alley of your average Wal*Mart shopper.
Mass distribution works. Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer are the
McDonald's of the movie industry...
|1.28.08 @ 10:02AM|#
I gather that it is probably better to see these as a double feature than to see 10 minutes of One Missed Call.
|1.28.08 @ 10:11AM|#
indicitive = indicative
Yet another typo that is better than the correction.
If we have Joe'z Rule for typos in posts criticizing other people's
spelling/grammar, can we have R.C.'z Rule for typos being better
than corrections?
|1.28.08 @ 10:27AM|#
Episiarch,
You read between the lines so well.
[waiting for someone to mention Xena]
Taktix®|1.28.08 @ 10:49AM|#
Yet another typo that is better than the
correction.
Damn this false prophet known as Firefox Spell Check!
|1.28.08 @ 10:55AM|#
Like Airplane or Blazing Saddles? ;-)
I looooooove Airplane, and I love inflicting it on my
friends.
kinnath|1.28.08 @ 11:05AM|#
Blazing Saddels was far better. It is the pinnacle of genre-spoof movies in my opinion (with Young Frankenstein coming in second).
Taktix®|1.28.08 @ 11:06AM|#
Like Airplane or Blazing Saddles?
Yeah, I guess MTS is like Airplane and Blazing Saddles.
Well, except for the witty dialogue. And the humor. And the lack of
reliance on fart jokes. And Mel Brooks.
But besides, that, they're very similar...
kinnath|1.28.08 @ 11:14AM|#
All right, we'll give some land to the niggers and the chinks, but we don't want the IRISH.
|1.28.08 @ 11:19AM|#
I find this far more disturbing:
And on another historical note, Alvin and the Chipmunks reached
the $200 mil plateau
On that note, OBL is well within his rights to attack us.
JayDubya|1.28.08 @ 11:21AM|#
The stupid are a large market, and there's nothing wrong with cashing in.
Barnum|1.28.08 @ 11:26AM|#
You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, and that's sufficient for most purposes.
Episiarch|1.28.08 @ 11:35AM|#
If you want to try an interesting experiment, go to a video
store that has been around for a long time and still has their
entire collection. You should be able to get lots of 80's movies on
video, from when the store was first filling its collection.
What I have found is that the average level of quality of these
films, even ones you've never heard of (I'm not talking about Troll
3 or something like that), is surprisingly high. Far higher than
the average movie of today. You go in with the expectation of these
unknown films being shitty, because most movies today are shitty,
and the unknown straight-to-DVD stuff is almost uniformly awful.
But you will be pleasantly surprised by the basic competence of the
acting, direction, editing, and pacing.
Try it; it's very interesting.
penxv|1.28.08 @ 12:21PM|#
I remember watching some human interest story a few years ago
where some community named a park after Kevin Sorbo.
But that was when people thought he was Hercules.
|1.28.08 @ 12:35PM|#
Hey now, the first half of the second season of Andromeda was pretty good, with occasional decent episodes before and after. What really wrecked it was the Sorbovision of 'Hercules in Space.' Jerk. And the android chick was damn hot too... not hot enough to keep watching it, but still.
Episiarch|1.28.08 @ 12:47PM|#
And the android chick was damn hot too... not hot enough to
keep watching it, but still.
If you're going to bring in hot chicks to save your show, you
better make sure they're hot enough to keep you watching. If you
can't even stack the deck properly, you need to stop.
This guy apparently thinks Ram|1.28.08 @ 1:17PM|#
This guy thinks Rambo won. I dont think I buy his explanation (
when I was 15 or 16 I never did this, I just bought the R
tickets)but it could count for something,
John C "Acshun" Jackson the 3rd
|1.28.08 @ 1:26PM|#
Lots of people flock to see these movies because they've got
intriguing 'high concepts.'
The movies seldom deliver on promise, but by then the producers
have our money, so why bother with quality?
|1.28.08 @ 3:14PM|#
having a satire of one of the most famous battles in history
starring Carmen Electra
Speaking of which did any of you guys ever read the Mini series
comic book "Elektra: Assassin"?
Man the late 80s were sure wierd
Ventifact|1.28.08 @ 7:00PM|#
Your "parroting" line was good - I'm starting to feel old, I can remember when parodies used to have actual jokes.
Indeed. Today, it is fitting when we say of a movie which was
terrible that "it was a joke."
When movies are already self-parodies (like 300 -- which,
while we're on the subject, I personally consider the worst movie
I've ever seen), intentional parodies of those bad movies don't
have to make jokes because all the jokes are already in
the original movie. The main difference between the original and
the spoof seems to be that the original takes itself seriously.
That, to me, makes the original funnier. Why pay to see the
spoof?
Airplane was a great spoof that also featured that weird
brand of literal-8-year-old humor where showing poop actually
hitting a fan is funny (and I think it is...).
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