Fall Flicks!

[Grand_Director]

If you like comedy and SNL's Will Farrell, then Elf may be for you. Basically, it's about a human who as a baby left abandoned and was taken in by elves (Santa's helpers). He grew up (tall) thinking he is an elf.

hmmm. There was this movie with Steve Martin who played a character who grew up with a black family, so he thought he was black. It was called The Jerk.

 

[Ranger REG]

So that movie in which he co-starred with Queen Latifah, a sequel to The Jerk?

 

[reapersaurus]

Grand_Director - you're right, in that not many of those films are "mainstream" - what I meant more is a general statement about movies today, in that if any person can't find some movies that they like this year at the movies, than I do feel sorry for them.

If you liked X2 and PotC, than you're not hopelessly out of synch with Hollywood...
(course I have only hear of a few of the movies you mentioned, but that doesn't mean much)

 

[Shadowdancer]

Come on man! Nothing on that list is "mainstream". Joe Nobody has no clue about "Kill Bill" or "Bubba Ho-Tep". The only reason I do is because I read "Ain't it Cool News".

I disagree. Several of the movies on that list are mainstream.

Elf = mainstream
Dr. Seuss = mainstream
Last Samurai = mainstream
Matchstick Men = mainstream

And Joe Nobody does have a clue about Kill Bill without reading AICN because A) it's received a lot of publicity lately about it being split into two movies and B) Tarantino directed it, and it's the first thing he's directed in a long time.

 

[John Crichton]

Just for the sake of arguement, the only film on there that isn't mainstream is Bubba Ho-Tep and maybe Big Fish (the new Tim Burton film). I guarantee you that if you watch TV or go the movies you will see trailers for all the films I listed - some more than others. Sony is really pushing Underworld and by the time it gets closer to the release dates we will be seeing more and more hype for the other filims. Once Upon a Time in Mexico is going to do well, too. It has been marketed and trailers/ads/commercials have really been ramping up for it. Sure, none of these will get the same attention of say a Matrix Reloaded but that's a summer release and those typically are overadvertised beyond belief.

 

[Grand_Director]

So that movie in which he co-starred with Queen Latifah, a sequel to The Jerk?

Yes...yes. Very Good.

 

[Grand_Director]

I disagree. Several of the movies on that list are mainstream.

Elf = mainstream
Dr. Seuss = mainstream
Last Samurai = mainstream
Matchstick Men = mainstream

And Joe Nobody does have a clue about Kill Bill without reading AICN because A) it's received a lot of publicity lately about it being split into two movies and B) Tarantino directed it, and it's the first thing he's directed in a long time.

Elf? People on this board didn't know what it was! I will grant you Dr. Seuss though. But even Matchstick Men, No one heard of this movie before the summer.

This is how I define "mainstream"; if I asked my mom about it, would she know it? Would my in-laws go see it? They LOVED pirates. Anything Disney is mainstream. Big Fat Greek Wedding became mainstream.

See, a problem with mainstream is that many movies do not reach that status until they have run for two weeks and people tell their ignorant friends to go see it. The only way a movie is going to appeal to the masses prior to any screenings is if it has an identity separate of the movie. Movies based on comics or old TV shows. Famous characters or events in history. See, my mom could hear something about Kill Bill on TV and it would make no connection. But if she heard a blurb about Dr. Seuss then she would make a connection an anticipate its release.

I realize that using my mom as a measuring stick is anecdotal, but is the best I could wrap my mind around to illustrate my point.

 

[Shadowdancer]

Yes, Elf is mainstream. It doesn't matter that people on this board didn't know what it was -- it's not marketed toward them. It's a family comedy with a Christmas angle, coming at at Christmas time -- you can't get more mainstream than that. If you saw any family movies this summer, including the Disney movies (Pirates, Freaky Friday, etc) you should have seen trailers for this. There are young kids all across the country who can't wait to go see this movie.

And yes, Matchstick Men is mainstream. They have been running TV ads for this for at least a month on the networks, in primte time. This means the studio is aiming for a mainstream audience. They might not hit it, but they are marketing it to the mainstream.

 

[Shadowdancer]

See, a problem with mainstream is that many movies do not reach that status until they have run for two weeks and people tell their ignorant friends to go see it. The only way a movie is going to appeal to the masses prior to any screenings is if it has an identity separate of the movie. Movies based on comics or old TV shows. Famous characters or events in history.

Your definition of mainstream seems to be linked to a movie's box office success. That's waaaaay too limiting. As is your requirement that it have an identity separate of the movie. There are lots of mainstream movies, i.e. movies marketed by the studios to a mainstream audience, rather than a niche audience (such as scifi geeks, or horror fans, or people who only like action adventure movies), which fail miserably at the box office.

There also are plenty of directors and performers who can attract a wide potential audience to a film -- make it mainstream -- no matter what the film's source or "identity" is prior to the screenings. Steven Spielberg. Tom Hanks. Julia Roberts. Ridley Scott, because of his recent track record, is one of those directors. That's one of the reasons why Matchstick Men should be considered mainstream. Tarantino is another director, even though he's only directed a handful of movies. He's notoriety makes his movies marketable to a wider audience than you would otherwise expect. So do the actors he is able to attract to his movies.

 

[frankthedm]

I am waiting for "At the Mountains of Madness" directed by Del Toro based on the book by H P Lovecraft