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The BFG flops: Has Spielberg lost his blockbuster touch? (Variety)

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ZackieChan

Member
Terrible title (sorry Roald), terrible art direction, not very exciting trailers, etc. Wasn't feeling this from the beginning.

The 'Berg's still got it, though. Bridge of Spies was excellent. Looking forward to his take on RPO and Indy 5.

And of course people under 25 are mostly not going to care about who directed the movie - aside from hipsters, director choice isn't really something that most people go to see movies for at that age.
 
K

kswiston

Member
BronsonLee said:
The only one I can think of who's recently done 2 movies in a year besides Spielberg is..

Yates.

OH MY GOD NO
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James Wan had The Conjuring and Insidious 2 in a two months release span. Again, they were shot about a year apart though. Also, those sorts of films are shot in like 3-4 weeks.
 
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More_Badass

Member
On one hand, Dahl's books were a big part of my childhood so a BFG adaptation is really cool

But on the other, I really really think it would have been in better hands with Laika or a Tim Burton. The former because stop motion would probably suit the story and imagery much better, and the latter because he could probably capture the imagery and weirdness of the world better
 
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Etzer

Member
Apart from the trailers being visually unappealing and just plain uninteresting, I think "The Big Friendly Giant" would've been a far better name for this movie.

Also, count me in the list of people who didn't know about the book. I read a lot of books as a kid, so I was kind of surprised that I never heard about this one.
 
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watershed

Banned
It's a bad movie. He's made bad movies before. That said, Bridge of Spies was a critically acclaimed film and Lincoln before it was both critically acclaimed and a big box office success for a period political drama. I don't think he's "lost" anything, BFG is just a bad movie.
 
D

Deleted member 1235

Unconfirmed Member
super sad that bfg isnt doing well. its such a great story
 
N

NateDrake

Member
More_Badass said:
On one hand, Dahl's books were a big part of my childhood so a BFG adaptation is really cool

But on the other, I really really think it would have been in better hands with Laika or a Tim Burton. The former because stop motion would probably suit the story and imagery much better, and the latter because he could probably capture the imagery and weirdness of the world better
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James & the Giant Peach movie scared the shit out of me when I was a kid.
 
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ZoddGutts

Member
kswiston said:
You act like Ready Player One would have been good otherwise.

The list of directors that turn out consistently good-great blockbuster films is pretty small. Most good directors get ground down by the creation-by-committee that usually accompanies a $150M+ film.

At least Spielberg has enough power in the industry to make the film he wants.
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Yet, still hasn't made a good film in a decade.
 
U

User 479360

Banned
I'm slightly interested in seeing it...eventually. But I don't feel the need to go out and spend money to do so.

I don't have any nostalgia belonging to the story, and simply don't know it. The trailers also made it look really bland. Plus, a movie with a CG giant doesn't do a ton for me.

Munich was really good - I agree. I saw that in theatres, then bought it on DVD.
 
T

ThoughtsOfSpeaking

Banned
American audiences aren't really going to see the appeal of the BFG, it was a very British story at heart.

I'm still surprised at Matildas success tbh. Even then, it only managed to break even in the states.
 
K

kswiston

Member
ZoddGutts said:
Yet, still hasn't made a good film in a decade.
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Personal opinion is personal opinion, but most disagree with you regarding at least Lincoln and Bridge of Spies. Both reviewed well. Both were acknowledged during end of season awards lists. Both had good audience scores. Both had good legs at the box office.
 
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draetenth

Member
What movie are you guys talking about? What does BFG stand for or is that it's name? I can't access the article in the OP (it says connection reset or something like that) and i don't really follow movies as they come out so I'm clueless here...
 
Z

ZoddGutts

Member
Edgar Wright should've directed Ready Player One, movie would've bombed but at least it would've been entertaining to watch. Spielberg is like grandpa trying to capture the old glory, when in fact you'll know he'll trip on his face.
 
T

ThoughtsOfSpeaking

Banned
BronsonLee said:
Matilda's concept is a much easier sell than BFG

BFG - ugly tall fuck Mark Rylance kidnaps child
Matilda - Cute white girl gets psychic powers, trolls her parents and crazy principal
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Yeah. I just think alot of Dahl era stories don't translate well to the big screen and especially to audiences that don't have the accompanying nostalgia.

Someone told me recently that a big budget version of the borrowers is in the works. I'd expect that to flop as well.
 
D

Discotheque

Banned
BronsonLee said:
The only thing Edgar Wright should do is stop fucking around and get his shit together if he wants to do studio pictures
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nahh, he's still got a bunch of stuff lined up. doing nicely for himself staying in his own lane surprisingly. Baby Driver will be the most fun movie of 2017 I bet. that cast with his script is almost too good.
 
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EatinOlives

Member
I didn't even know about BFG until it was just about to release, and even then I got a small handful of commercials/advertisement. Meanwhile, Dory was fucking everywhere, was reviewed really well, and is a sequel to a modern kids' classic.

I haven't seen BFG but I'm gonna wager the problem here isn't the movie, it was the marketing.
 
V

vinnygambini

Why are strippers at the U.N. bad when they're great at strip clubs???
Last Spielberg film I enjoyed was Tintin, didn't enjoy Bridge of Spies or Lincoln much.
 
B

BronsonLee

Member
ThoughtsOfSpeaking said:
Yeah. I just think alot of Dahl era stories don't translate well to the big screen and especially to audiences that don't have the accompanying nostalgia.

Someone told me recently that a big budget version of the borrowers is in the works. I'd expect that to flop as well.
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Sounds about right. BFG is a super hard sell, that's for sure.

Discotheque said:
nahh, he's still got a bunch of stuff lined up. doing nicely for himself staying in his own lane surprisingly. Baby Driver will be the most fun movie of 2017 I bet. that cast with his script is almost too good.
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Good keep that nerd in the mid-tier goddamnit :p
 
Z

ZoddGutts

Member
Bridges of Spies was an alright film but not something I'll remember much of. RLM some it up perfectly, "It's the most movie, movie ever made". Tin Tin was a pretty film to look at but that's pretty much it had going for.

Edit: I don't even remember if I've watched Lincoln, don't think anyone else does.
 
E

ElMexiMerican

Member
I just don't think the book it's based on resonates with kids today. I remember reading the book in like third grade and not liking it much. Not to mention it has to share theaters with Finding Dory, a kids film that's a sequel to a successful movie that's more recent and that resonates more with people.
 
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tanooki27

Member
it's a weird choice of source material, speaking as a Dahl fan. shoulda done Danny, champion of the world

shit, that prob wouldn't sell either
 
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mreddie

Member
Steven can just make the Burns biopic.

spielbergo.jpg


Steven is cool but yeah, he's on shaky ground. The age of directors and stars just carrying a film on their name are almost gone.
 
D

DontBeThatGuy

Member
ZoddGutts said:
Bridges of Spies was an alright film but not something I'll remember much of. RLM some it up perfectly, "It's the most movie, movie ever made". Tin Tin was a pretty film to look at but that's pretty much it had going for.
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It was a pretty film that had fun characters that played well off of each other, and a fun story, albeit old-fashioned in a way, but consider the source. It's a good film.
 
W

WhiteRabbitEXE

Member
ThoughtsOfSpeaking said:
American audiences aren't really going to see the appeal of the BFG, it was a very British story at heart.

I'm still surprised at Matildas success tbh. Even then, it only managed to break even in the states.
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More than anything, it's a family film that's not animated or a well established film property. In today's film market (at least in the US) that's instantly damning. Even ET probably wouldn't have come close to its original 1982 gross if it was released today.
 
D

Draconian

Member
Releasing this so close to Dory made little sense. I'm not sure what Disney was thinking, but it's pretty funny to me how the finger is being pointed at everybody but them.
 
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BronsonLee

Member
Draconian said:
Releasing this so close to Dory made little sense. I'm not sure what Disney was thinking, but it's pretty funny to me how the finger is being pointed at everybody but them.
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Disney's 2016 is so goddamn loaded that they don't fucking care

Alice got cannibalized by Jungle Book
BFG got cannibalized by Finding Dory
 
B

blamite

Member
Yeah I had no idea this as even a Spielbers movie until this thread. The movie just didn't look that good or appealing, at all.
 
M

menacin

Banned
killertofu said:
I didn't even realize Speilberg was directing this
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Ya maybe commercials and billboards should have mentioned that.

Directed by Steven Spielberg to try and get people interested.

So strange , even for his last movie bridge of spies I had no idea he directed that and was surprised to see that he did at the end of the movie and it said directed by Steven Spielberg.
 
O

OrangeGrayBlue

Member
I don't think children's movies that actually star children are often big hits anymore. Kids want to put themselves in the shoes of superheroes or animals or something fantastical, not other kids.
 
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WhiteRabbitEXE

Member
OrangeGrayBlue said:
I don't think children's movies that actually star children are often big hits anymore. Kids want to put themselves in the shoes of superheroes or animals or something fantastical, not other kids.
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Anecdotal as hell, but when I saw it the kids in the theatre fucking loved it.
Too much, because they were also annoying as fuck.

It's just kids aren't going to see the TV spot or poster and ask their parents to see it.
 
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