SPEARE'S TIPS - The Films of 7/25

[JohnErle]

that ScarJo apparently shoots an innocent cab driver for no good reason.

I thought I was the only one that noticed this. "You don't speak in English in China, random taxi driver? Enjoy your death."

I brought this up to a couple of people I went to see X-Men with, and the general consensus was: So?

You need to stop hanging out with sociopaths.

Then again, I strongly disliked Kick-Ass after the scene where Hit-Girl murders a prostitute who's running for her life, so maybe the general audience doesn't care if their violence is justified?

I don't remember that scene, but I didn't like the movie either, and since it only earned $50 million, and the sequel earned half that, so it seems the general public didn't like it any more than we did.

And I'll never forget a scene in Total Recall where Arnie grabs a total stranger on an escalator and uses him as a human shield while the bad guys riddle him with bullets. Even as a kid I thought that was messed up and I knew that's not how a hero is supposed to behave.

It's probably taken out of context, and in fact those are two evil cab drivers who work for the vilain Choi Min-sik, which then makes it totally ok that she shoots him.

After watching the trailer a couple times I also figured that was a possibility, and there was another trailer, or maybe it was a clip of the escape sequence, where it appears she shoots the cabbie in the leg, which isn't so bad, but in any case the trailer makes it seem like random and callous murder, which makes it a very poorly edited trailer.

[Geezer]

I assume its because she uses her vastly above average brain power to know he is lying to her, and he must be made an example of so the other guy will help her.

[BanksIsDaFuture]

I don't remember that scene, but I didn't like the movie either, and since it only earned $50 million, and the sequel earned half that, so it seems the general public didn't like it any more than we did.

It's Hit-Girl's first scene in Kick-Ass (at 2:52):


Killing a hooker who's effectively running away just rubbed me the wrong way. But Kick-Ass sucks, as a whole, and its sequel is unbelievable, simply by the fact that I didn't think they could do worse than the first.

[BanksIsDaFuture]

By the way, I'm sure the PTA points for Wish I Was Here is done because Zach Braff mentioned on Twitter that it's getting 600+ screens this weekend.

[JohnErle]

Killing a hooker who's effectively running away just rubbed me the wrong way. But Kick-Ass sucks, as a whole, and its sequel is unbelievable, simply by the fact that I didn't think they could do worse than the first.

The first one was so bad I couldn't be bothered with the sequel, so I'll take your word for it.

I assume its because she uses her vastly above average brain power to know he is lying to her, and he must be made an example of so the other guy will help her.

So shoot out his tires. Or shoot out the back window of his cab. Or better yet, use your newfound brainpower to think of something really clever to say to get what you want. Only a sociopath makes the leap straight to shooting a guy in that situation, and only people with limited intelligence use violence to solve all their problems.

As Chien pointed out, it's possible that the scene plays better in the context of the movie if we know the cabbies are in cahoots with the gangsters and were involved in Lucy's abduction or something, but as presented in the trailer it's just wrong.

[BanksIsDaFuture]

two evil cab drivers

Now here's your movie!

[Chienfantome]

I pitched the idea to Luc besson but he wasn't hot for it. I see he changed his mind and put it in his film.

[Walleye413]

I've been a ScarJo fan since Lost in Translation, and I really like what she's down with Black Widow. What could have been eye candy only she turned into a very interesting part of the team. But I can't say that Lucy interests me much at all. When I first saw the previews I thought it looked silly and cheesy. BO is predicting 35+ million? That seems incredible to me. Maybe it'll be great, and again because I like her so much, I hope it does well. But I won't be seeing this one in theaters.

And yes, I'm with JE on the idea of a glorification of violence simply for the sake of it. Violence and/or action in a movie can be plot driven and challenging, or I think often it's done to just be titillating. Sadly, I think we're seeing more of the later all the time.

[JohnErle]

Check out that theatre count for A Most Wanted Man. 300+ this weekend and probably 600+ next week. Anyone expecting it to be a PTA juggernaut might have to consider a last-minute change, and it might even be worth the $2 in BO.

[W]

Deadline's weekend estimates:
1. Lucy $42.8-$44.5 M (13488 PTA-14024)
2. Hercules $28-30+ M (7872 PTA-8344+)
3. Apes $16-17+ M
4. Purge 2 $10.3 M
5. Planes 2 $8.2-9 M

6. Sex Tape $5.8 M

"Noteworthy"
A Most Wanted Man $6011 PTA weekend
Boyhood $14430 PTA weekend
Fluffy $2777 PTA weekend
Magic in the Moonlight $22408 PTA weekend

So, PTA looks like:
1. Magic $22048
2. Boyhood $14430
3. Lucy $13500-14000
4. Hercules $7800-8400
5. A Most Wanted Man $6000

The only one to with a decent change would be Boyhood and Lucy if the next couple days do a little better for ScarJo.

[Chienfantome]

Wow. Unbelievable numbers for Lucy. I'm glad I've put it on so many slates after all.

[transformers2]

Glad I took Lucy off my Bankrupts slates, holy shit.

[BrocksterDuex]

Happy times for whomever picked that in their FY Draft.

I picked Hercules in mine, I'm not disappointed in a 30M opening at all. The Rock sure does have some draw power, b/c that movie looks terrible.

[Shrykespeare]

Friday Estimates

Lucy, $17.1M
Hercules, $11.0M
Dawn, $4.7M
The Purge 2, $3.4M
Planes 2, $2.8M
Sex Tape, $1.9M
And So It Does, $1.4M
Transformers 4, $1.3M
Tammy, $1.1M
22 Jump St., $1.0M

Fluffy Movie, $513K



Weekend Projections:

Lucy, $46M
Hercules, $30M
Dawn of the Planet, $16.5M
The Purge 2, $10M (-66%)
Planes 2, $9.5M
Sex Tape, $5.5M
Transformers 4, $4.6M
And So It Goes, $4.0M
Tammy, $3.5M
22 Jump Street, $3.2M
Dragon 2, $2.1M
Fluffy Movie, $1.3M


What a horrible drop for all of last week's new films. Usually kids' movies and comedies hold pretty well, but Planes 2 and Sex Tape are fading faster than I thought. I never thought Purge 2 would beat them both in two straight weekends.

[BanksIsDaFuture]

So shoot out his tires. Or shoot out the back window of his cab. Or better yet, use your newfound brainpower to think of something really clever to say to get what you want. Only a sociopath makes the leap straight to shooting a guy in that situation, and only people with limited intelligence use violence to solve all their problems.

As Chien pointed out, it's possible that the scene plays better in the context of the movie if we know the cabbies are in cahoots with the gangsters and were involved in Lucy's abduction or something, but as presented in the trailer it's just wrong.

I saw Lucy last night and they added in a line of dialogue to alleviate the asshole-ness of shooting a cab driver.