This Weekend at the Boxoffice - 06/21/2004

[Mark]

Hal's got a girlfriend...

Hal's got a girlfriend...

 

[Sarigar]

That is not fair and rude to everyone who went to see it....

Some reasons:

1) I went to see it and enjoyed it, I like Stiller.
2) It is PG-13 and it was Father's Day weekend, so a possible older family movie
3) I work full time as a state law enforcement officer and Dodgeball made me laugh in a time where I get terror level increasing e-mails and more stress every day.
4) The female I was with did not want to see Riddick etc..., she wanted a comedy.


It is a good, easy no brainer laugh and for that it worked great.

It may be just what America needs a no brainer silly comedy!

I would say that comedies as a genre are too often overlooked by serious moviegoers because of their nature. I don't think it helps that there is such a glut of "no brainer silly comed(ies)". I have not seen this movie, so I don't know where it would fit in compared to other comedies, but from your description I would not be far off on my assumptions. I like silly comedies occasionally, but I like smart comedies better. We don't see smart comedies very often, and part of this is because of the Dodgeball's coming out every other week. I expect a movie like this to make around $15 mil, but $30 mil? I recently watched 50 First Dates and I really liked it. I would consider this a "silly comedy" and probably thought the same thing about it when it was number one at the box office. Stiller's funny, but he's getting old real quick. He needs to make another Royal Tanenbaums flavor movie just to mix it up. And yes, I will watch Dodgeball on video in 6 months after a stressful day at work to take my mind off of reality. I'm still surprised that it took in $30 million. It just shows how weak the Summer movies are at the moment despite there being at least 4 out that I want to see after seeing one every weekend for the last three weeks.

 

[Enchantress]

4) The female I was with did not want to see Riddick etc..., she wanted a comedy.

Why anyone would rather see Dodgeball then Riddick is way beyond me.

 

[barsoomcore]

We don't see smart comedies very often.

Primarily because pretty much nothing is as hard as smart comedy. Dumb comedy's hard enough, smart drama's hard enough, but smart comedy...

Yikes. You don't get very many of those.

Obviously, people's definitions of "smart" and "comedy" will vary, but if we set up a continuum with (just for sake of argument) The Royal Tannenbaums towards one end and Dodgeball nearer the other, I think we can all agree that the former are much, much more difficult to create successfully than the latter.

I would say Dodgeball's big score is: people presumably get hit in the head on a regular basis. Always big laffs when you hit people in the head.

*runs over, hits Hal in the head, runs away*

See? Big laffs.

 

[Enchantress]

*runs over, hits Hal in the head, runs away*

See? Big laffs.

Poor Hal.

 

[Celtavian]

re

I like parodies. Dodgeball looks like a pretty funny movie. I know Ben Stiller is a funny guy, and this looks like one of his hits. The preview trailers may look stupid, but I crack up everytime I see that old man in the wheelchair throwing things at his team.

 

[Enchantress]

Though the trailers do indeed look stupid, the part that does make me laugh is:

"Nobody makes me bleed my own blood....NOBODY!!!!!!!!"

 

[DaveStebbins]

If you look at the list of movies that are out right now, Dodgeball is the only adult comedy out right now.

Dumb comedy's hard enough, smart drama's hard enough, but smart comedy...

Yikes. You don't get very many of those.

I've heard good things about The Terminal. My 12-year-old daughter unfortunately isn't interested in seeing it, so I won't see it until this weekend after she returns to my ex's care. From what I've heard The Terminal qualifies as both smart comedy and adult comedy, despite it's "G" rating. A movie doesn't have to be rated R to be adult entertainment.

Of course, if the movie stinks, I'm just blowing smoke; so take this with a grain of salt.

-Dave

 

[Enchantress]

I've heard good things about The Terminal. My 12-year-old daughter unfortunately isn't interested in seeing it, so I won't see it until this weekend after she returns to my ex's care. From what I've heard The Terminal qualifies as both smart comedy and adult comedy, despite it's "G" rating. A movie doesn't have to be rated R to be adult entertainment.

Of course, if the movie stinks, I'm just blowing smoke; so take this with a grain of salt.

-Dave

I'm not saying that a movie must be rated R for an adult to find it funny. In fact, I would bet money that Dodgeball is a comedy that will attract more teens than it will adults. I think that teens need to go to those types of movies to give them ideas and keep them up to date on the current sexual slang in order to cover up the fact that they are still virgins.

 

[Fast Learner]

If you look at the list of movies that are out right now, Dodgeball is the only adult comedy out right now. Everything else is basically meant for kids as well.

Around the World in 80 Days is no more of a kids' movie than Dodge Ball. It's got lots of good Jackie Chan fighting action, a hot actress, and a reasonably charming lead.