Top 5 Films of Winter 2013

[JasonEvans]

My point is that assessing box-office take is a nihilistic way to approach a work of art.

You think movies are art?!?! Ha!

You clearly did not see Lone Ranger this summer

-Jason "just kidding" Evans

[Blue in the Face]

2) Someone would inevitably ask me how much money it made, as though that were some sort of yardstick for whether it was any good, thereby angering me.

Your ability to whine about posts people haven't even made is impressive.

[davekay1971]

Like most people on this poll, I thought there were 4 relative locks:

Hobbit 2: Elves Being Jerks but Good Jerks Eventually
Thor 2: Elves Just Being Plain Bad
Hunger Games 2: Probably No Elves
Frozen: Santa's Elves Possibly Appearing (Alternate Title: The Only Real Kids Option)

So, clearly only movies involving elves and or a Hemsworth are clear cut locks. The fifth movie is a total guess for me. Anchorman 2 was tempting for name brand recognition...but Will Farrell has been on a bad run for a while now, and the promos are basically "hey you remember the first one was funny right...so it's more of the name". Ender's Game was also appealing because the book is amazing...but something about it (that something being a bored looking Harrison Ford) makes me feel very uncertain.

I went with Chris Pine and the Jack Ryan reboot. Probably a bad choice in terms of box office (Chris is a fine actor who just hasn't delivered at the non-Star Wars box office...and Jack Ryan's franchise is an old one, even if they are trying to reboot it as a more successful Jason Bourne reboot than the actual Jason Bourne reboot.)

[davekay1971]

The business of Hollywood is like any other big business, in that it has a lot of perverse incentive structures. Movies get made or don't get made, or narrow-released or wide-released based on craven business concerns rather than on artistic merit. One of the main concerns is "what are middle class white people of median income willing to look at on screen?" Art is subordinated for business.

I won't say any more, so as not to get too PPB-ish.

I'll jump in because my current infraction point score is 0 and a good "too close to PPB" wrist slap feels overdue (kind of like when the last point slides off my drivers license and I feel a little empty inside). Movie making, both in and out of Hollywood, is a business. In order for any movie to get made, money is required, and for most movies to get investors, there must be some expectation of income to exceed all the related expenses of making and distributing the film. Sometimes movies are made with the expectation of losing money...passion projects or experimental films (loss leaders). But even for those movies to get made, the producers must be either making profits on other movies, or must have funds outside the movie industry they are willing to sacrifice. I applaud movies that are made on the faith that quality will be rewarded...but the reality is that the mediocre crap that generates hundreds of millions for the studio is frequently what pays for higher quality art.

The twice yearly DBR poll about box office revenue is fun and, yes, it is relatively fluffy fun. It's not a poll that gives any insight into quality. Heck, looking at domestic box office isn't even a good way to look at profitability. We could look at worldwide box office, raw dollar profit margin, or percent profit...all of which would be fun polls although probably harder on Jason to run.

I think quality is a great discussion, and a quality poll would be a great one. How about an annual best Metacritic score poll, or an end of the year debate about the merits of the top 10 movies based on Rotten Tomatoes or Metacritic scores? As Jason mentioned, there's no stopping anyone from putting up a poll like that, or a simple best-movie thread.

[throatybeard]

Metacritic isn't infallible but it's a good proxy. I'll take it.

It's way better than the brain-dead metric of money made.

A "best-movie" poll on a bulletin board won't result in a list of the best movies, because the power structure in Hollywood suppresses the best films. So we can't see the best films. We're not aloud to.

[Duvall]

Might as well put this here - Jack Ryan pushed to January.

[davekay1971]

Might as well put this here - Jack Ryan pushed to January.

Well I'm sitting at 4/5. Lovely.

[JNort]

-Thor ----> LOCK
-Hobbit ----> LOCK
-Hunger Games ----> LOCK
-Ender's Game ----> Wildcard (Not gonna watch it till I read the book)
-Frozen ----> Unless another kiddie movie emerges this is it.

[JNort]

I'll jump in because my current infraction point score is 0 and a good "too close to PPB" wrist slap feels overdue (kind of like when the last point slides off my drivers license and I feel a little empty inside). Movie making, both in and out of Hollywood, is a business. In order for any movie to get made, money is required, and for most movies to get investors, there must be some expectation of income to exceed all the related expenses of making and distributing the film. Sometimes movies are made with the expectation of losing money...passion projects or experimental films (loss leaders). But even for those movies to get made, the producers must be either making profits on other movies, or must have funds outside the movie industry they are willing to sacrifice. I applaud movies that are made on the faith that quality will be rewarded...but the reality is that the mediocre crap that generates hundreds of millions for the studio is frequently what pays for higher quality art.

The twice yearly DBR poll about box office revenue is fun and, yes, it is relatively fluffy fun. It's not a poll that gives any insight into quality. Heck, looking at domestic box office isn't even a good way to look at profitability. We could look at worldwide box office, raw dollar profit margin, or percent profit...all of which would be fun polls although probably harder on Jason to run.

I think quality is a great discussion, and a quality poll would be a great one. How about an annual best Metacritic score poll, or an end of the year debate about the merits of the top 10 movies based on Rotten Tomatoes or Metacritic scores? As Jason mentioned, there's no stopping anyone from putting up a poll like that, or a simple best-movie thread.

The bolded part is so true just by looking at the Twilight saga (Huge $$$ garbage quality).

Anyway I would rather have a comparison thread of the top 10 biggest $ earners vs top 10 highest rated with a "friendly" discussion following.

[CameronBornAndBred]

So we can't see the best films. We're not aloud to.

We were aloud to see "The Artist" and the silence was deafening in that movie. It even won awards.

[dball]

We were aloud to see "The Artist" and the silence was deafening in that movie. It even won awards.

I get it. "a-loud"...silence...deafening.

Of course allowed could be viewed as all owed referring to the profit motive.

Never mind. My picks:

Hunger Games
Hobbit
Thor
Ender's Game
Frozen

[brevity]

Well I'm sitting at 4/5. Lovely.

For now. Jason has said in the past that you can change your mind before the deadline. The disqualification of Jack Ryan: Shadow Ghost Protocol Recruit is an excellent reason for you (and Cell-R and NashvilleDevil) to post an alternate 5th film.

[NashvilleDevil]

I picked Jack Ryan and I'm going with The Wolf of Wall Street. It's being released on Christmas Day now.

[JasonEvans]

For now. Jason has said in the past that you can change your mind before the deadline. The disqualification of Jack Ryan: Shadow Ghost Protocol Recruit is an excellent reason for you (and Cell-R and NashvilleDevil) to post an alternate 5th film.

Yup, if you went with Jack Ryan, you can change picks. Just post in this thread with your new pick.

-Jason

[davekay1971]

Yup, if you went with Jack Ryan, you can change picks. Just post in this thread with your new pick.

-Jason

Okay...so then...to go with the popular fifth choices of Ender's Game or Anchorman 2...or go with something else? Ender's game with an early 75 percent tomatometer...slightly deceptive given the 5.7 average rating. Anchorman 2 just smells like a turd waiting to happen. Think I'll roll the dice and go for a win, rather than being part of the multi-way tie that I think Enders Game gets me.

So I'll go with the interesting looking Clooney vehicle: Monuments Men.

[hurleyfor3]

47 Ronin? I had to do a stupid kabuki play about the 47 Ronin once. I wanted to be Oshi, but they made me Ori.

[Udaman]

A few things:

First - I'm the guy who voted other. Going out on a huge limb here. My top 4 are (I think) locks:

Thor, Hunger Games, Hobbit are 100% locks. They all make $250M plus. The latter make $350M or more. My fourth is Frozen. A kids movie always makes the top 5, always. This opens on Thanksgiving and is going to dominated those under 12 because there simply aren't any alternatives.

Second - what's my fifth. Well, I don't think it will be Enders Game (it's going to flop, I predict), or Anchorman (though I'm nervous about that), and all the other's are too artsy or too out there. so...I'm going with "About Time." It opens next weekend, and is the only real romantic comedy out there. If it gets good word of mouth it could have legs. Yes, it's a risky, risky pick, but you don't win this thing being safe.

If it's not About Time, I predict it will be Anchorman 2 or The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

Last - in response to Throaty....I get that lots of people don't like talking about box office, but I would say not to confuse a movie that makes a lot of money with one that jus the masses go to see. Everyone is different. You say Titanic was mediocre. I know lots of people who feel the same. Personally, I would put it in my top 15 movies of all time. I loved it. You said Winter's Bone was amazing. Again, lots of people agreed. I found it slow, boring, pointless and banal. Does this mean you're right and I'm wrong? Or the other way? Nope - neither. We're both right, and we're both wrong. Kind of like Denzel and Hackman in Crimson Tide (another movie I loved).

[NashvilleDevil]

Okay...so then...to go with the popular fifth choices of Ender's Game or Anchorman 2...or go with something else? Ender's game with an early 75 percent tomatometer...slightly deceptive given the 5.7 average rating. Anchorman 2 just smells like a turd waiting to happen. Think I'll roll the dice and go for a win, rather than being part of the multi-way tie that I think Enders Game gets me.

So I'll go with the interesting looking Clooney vehicle: Monuments Men.

I believe Monuments Men was pushed back as well.

[davekay1971]

I believe Monuments Men was pushed back as well.

Fine. I give up. If that's true I'll go with Ender's Game. Bored washed up Harrison Ford over desperate washed up Will Farrell.

[SoCalDukeFan]

Heard it is great.