Last movie watched...

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

On the subject of Rom Coms:

I watched The Proposal and thoroughly enjoyed it. Much to the sneering disdain of my wife, and a little bit of the geek in me did wither and die by the end. But - it was Christmas and I was full of good cheer (and Amaretto).

[JOE SOAP]

Well, the old man decided he wanted to see 'The Last Stand' ... the only thought in my mind was: WHEN did audiences decide that this sort of garbage was acceptable quality for entertainment?

The Last Stand

Budget                           $30,000,000

Worldwide Box Office       $37,183,273

Domestic DVD Sales:        $3,751,068

Interesting to know, but it doesn't really answer the question I posed. So it sells? Great. But that doesn't change the fact that it's a woefully awful movie.

There's nothing surprising about that situation at all. But, really, we're living in an age where the quality of popular mainstream entertainment is really and truly in the toilet. I despair of any audience that laps this sort of thing up.

It answers your question in as blunt a fashion as possible. As previously noted, it's a low box-office take which most certainly means the studio ended up losing money. Out of that $37 million from box-office the studio only gets 45% which has to pay for budget and marketing (around $20 million for domestic US) so the studio is well into the red.

No one lapped up The Last Stand at the box-office or in the home market.

It's a total write-down.

[HdE]

Durr! I'm reading the numbers wrong! That's what I get for surfing the net with a double whiskey in my hand!

[SmallBlueThing]

Conan The Barbarian (2011 Marcus Nispel one) on fast forward.

Last night, I put on the VAM from the UK edition of Conan, to take my mind off the DEATH-DEALING HURRICANE OF DEATH outside my window. While watching, I thought "do you know, this doesn't seem as bad as I remember. Maybe the kids might like it."- so, fighting against the onset of a codeine-induced coma, I watched the movie itself on 10x FF, stopping to watch some sequences at normal speed to see if they were too intense for the boys, and/or too sexy.

Quite a bit ended up watched, actually- and I found myself liking it far more than I did previously, or probably should have done. So, with minor snippage, it will be the next movie me and the boys watch, I think (unless something else comes along). I think they'll love it. I did.

SBT

[Mabs]

I also liked Conan, it's not a classic by all means but it's still a lot of fun and way better than Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter and the piss poor Jonah Hex.

As for me, I watched Snow White and the Seven Dwarves last night with the kids. I just forget what a marvellous film this is, with a lot of heart and the animation still looks amazing. The Queen still makes my heart flutter, what a beauty! 

[JudgeE1M1RT]

Apocalypse Now, one of the darkest and one of the most disturbing films I've ever seen. Watching it right after Requiem for a Dream was a bad idea. Also got watching Life of Brian, excellent film. 

[Charlie boy]

Just had something of an unplanned sequels weekend with
Crank: High Voltage
Starring Jason Statham, an actor I tend to place beneath Danny Dyer (I can usually laugh to myself on watching a Dyer film but I can't with Statham) so I try to avoid his films. But then a mate brought this to mine and said I should watch it, explaining how the director/writer/producer team hadn't wanted to make a sequel but the studio kept asking them to, so the creative team said they would but only if they had final say on the script/final cut etc and the studio agreed. Apparently, the creative duo were more than happy with this agreement and kept daring one another to put something ridiculous into the script to see what it would take for the studio to say "You can't do that" and it never happened. Because of this, Crank 2 appeared as a strangely hypnotic film to me and if I tried telling you of some of the things that occur as Statham rushes around, trying to keep his artificial heart charged until he gets his real heart back from the gangsters that have taken it, you probably wouldn't believe me. Oh, and Mike Patton is responsible for the soundtrack. I immediately went to Google on seeing the name, turns out it is that Mike Patton.
Scream 4
Nowhere near as easy to write on this one. I've now seen all Scream films once (I remember enjoying the first one when I watched it but that was surely almost 15 years ago now and I've never had the urge to watch it again, so not sure what I'd make of it now) and with the years there is between parts 2 and 3 and now 4, I can't tell you whether this last installment is as bad as the previous or not. I've as good as forgotten all of it already. If it ever came down to it, I'd pick High Voltage over this for a repeat viewing.

[pictsy]

Crank and it's sequel are highly entertaining films.  I like watching Statham films, though.  Sometimes he's in pretty good ones like The Bank Job.  Crank and Crank: High Voltage are stupid films, but seem to know it and run with it.  They are parodies of action films, stripped down to bear essentials.  A handy bloke has to run around a lot causing all manner of mischief.  It's like a fare ground ride.

[Professor Bear]

I suspect that tale of behind-the-scenes one-upmanship is just PR flim-flam as by then everyone knew what they were making, though I recall not getting very far into Crank 2 despite enjoying the first one.  Statham is one of those actors like Jackie Chan that people in the media love to be snobs about because of their ethos of churning out films on a low budget that make their cash back from a steady body of fans, as in movie-making terms this is practically being working class.

He's done some good films, all the same.  The Transporter 1 and 2 are great fun, though it's probably for the best he never made any other sequels to it.  Death Race is a laugh, too, as is the so-dumb-it-hurts prequel (though Statham isn't in that one).

[Goaty]

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - never see this film before as thought it one of animated films with some actors add their voices to.

So watch it on tv this weekend, and what a so funny film to enjoyable!!! I like the characters, even monkey and rat-parrots! Chicken fights! and the best bit is Snowball fight!

brilliant funny film!

[radiator]

I just don't get the whole Statham thing - never have, never will. He was OK in things like Lock, Stock, but as a leading man or action hero? No thanks.

I just find him an incredibly unconvincing screen presence. And his American accent? Holy crap it's awful.

[Richmond Clements]

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - never see this film before as thought it one of animated films with some actors add their voices to.

Isn't that every animated movie..?

[pictsy]

I don't think that anyone could claim that Statham is the greatest actor ever with any credulity.  I am glad that he seems to be giving up on trying to an American accent as it is truly horrendous.  He does strike me as a hard working (insofar as actors can be), jobbing actor who puts his all into his performances.  Really why I like Statham is I've seen plenty of films with him in that I rate as being good enough to stick on if I don't really want to think about what I'm watching.  He's been in some real utter shite as well.  The Expendables 2 is an atrocious piece of cinema.

I really don't blame anyone for not really liking his films.  I would probably get worried if people started saying they really hate him or really love him though.  He's not Marmite.

(btw I hate Marmite.  It doesn't taste of Twiglets - I've been fooled by that before!)

[Professor Bear]

There are only two kinds of people who can enjoy Statham films on a regular basis: those who possess a working vagina as part of their biological makeup, and the most manly of men, who in another reality would probably be Klingons, or whatever it is on the planet Klingon that eats Klingons.

Me, I like him because he makes old-fashioned action vehicles - and ever since Kelly Brook dumped him he's dated a string of low-maintenance page 3 girls, which I think is just adorable.

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

The Transporter 1 and 2 are great fun, though it's probably for the best he never made any other sequels to it. 

I don't know if you're denying its existence because you thought it was terrible, or you just didn't know...but he did