This Weekend @ the Boxoffice: 2008.May.27

[Mallus]

...so I really can't judge.

Nope.

But where the Wachowski's are concerned, I find critics are more or less on the mark when the bad reviews start rolling in.

Take a gander at Metacritic. Note that while the film's overall rating is quite low, the critics from several prominent publications, like Corliss in Time, Ansen in Newsweek, and the reviewer for my hometown rag, the Inquirer, did take notice of the film's ambition and/or achievement. Corliss called it 'the future of movie making'.

The film's polarizing. I'll give you that.

For the record, I still haven't forgiven the brothers for the crapfest that was The Matrix Revolutions.

Artists make bad art sometimes. Why take it personally?

So you'll have to pardon me if I don't pony up my hard earned cash for their latest offering, which has been repeatedly slammed by the critics.

Spend your money as you like. It's summer, so my recommendation would be on live music and gin drinks.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

Artists make bad art sometimes. Why take it personally?

That's for sure. As much as I disliked The Village, I still really love The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable.

 

[justinbot]

That's for sure. As much as I disliked The Village, I still really love The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable.

Ditto.

 

[horacethegrey]

Take a gander at Metacritic. Note that while the film's overall rating is quite low, the critics from several prominent publications, like Corliss in Time, Ansen in Newsweek, and the reviewer for my hometown rag, the Inquirer, did take notice of the film's ambition and/or achievement. Corliss called it 'the future of movie making'.

The film's polarizing. I'll give you that.

But all the ambition and achievement in the world won't mask the fact that it's a bad movie (according to the critics). I don't watch a film to behold a filmmakers ambition, I watch a film to be entertained.

Hell, I'll use one of the Wachowski's works as an example. Back in 1999, there was no denying what a groundbreaking film The Matrix was. From the action sequences to those bullet time effects, everything about it was revolutionary. Yet for all these achievements, what kept me watching was this compelling story of a guy who wakes up and finds out the world around him is an illusion. A great story plus characterization will always trump visual effects (which are there to help enhance the story). Nothing in Speed Racer convinces me that'll be more than just a mindless excuse in CGI overload.

Artists make bad art sometimes. Why take it personally?

Perhaps I am taking it a tad too personally. But hey, I can't help it. The brothers really dropped the ball with the release of the final part to their 'trilogy'. All that promise and buildup was reduced to nothing with that crapper of an ending. I wasn't just disappointed, I was offended as well.

 

[Hand of Evil]

My feelings on why Speed failed are such:
...Subject matter - don't care what anyone says, racing & car movies just are not going to draw people in
...Lack of a big name star - not all movies need them but this was released as a summer block buster
...Marketing - it sucked, how the movie was presented, it was hard to get a good feeling about it

 

[Krafus]

Why don't you see Speed Racer --on video, at the very least-- before concluding that? Or are we only talking money here? If so, my bad...

Money only. Well, that and critical opinion (and at 35% on rottentomatoes with 168 reviews, it is a failure with movie critics), though of course critics are understandably a distant secondary concern to money for studios. And on that account, regardless of whether or not I happen to like the movie, I believe there's little doubt it will be considered one of the big bombs of 2008, perhaps the biggest.