Posted on 11/19/2007 5:59:55 PM PST by topher
The antiwar movie Lions for Lambs is definitely a bomb/dud at the boxoffice. More people give this movie a flunking grade than all other grades combined.
The opposite of Lions for Lambs is the movie Bella, which is only playing at under 500 theaters -- despite some good numbers from the box office with nothing but a grassroots mode of telling people about the movie.
In the case of Lions for Lambs, the liberal left loonies of Hollywood wanted to come up with an Anti-war movie to hurt the conservatives in time for the 2008 Election.
Seems they have instead created an expensive bomb.
Bella, on the other hand, is a first movie for the director, and takes on some controversial material.
The leading lady is pregnant, and that is how the movie starts off.
Both the leading man and leading lady have problems in their lives. They spend some time together to try to get through a tough day for both of them.
I found Bella to move fast enough to keep me closely watching the movie. I found any noises while watching the film annoying -- it was a great experience for me.
But let us get back to why Lions for Lambs is a good thing for the movie Bella. Basically, Lions for Lambs is playing at over 2,000 theaters.
Now those theaters must find another movie or something else to help sell popcorn and candy.
With the numbers that accountants watch being so positive by Bella, more theaters will mean more dollars in the Hollywood pie -- the boxoffice gross.
And it is an important movie season coming up -- the Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years Holidays.
One has, on the left/liberal/loony hand a stinker called Lions for Lambs that is so bad that people just get up and walk out of the theater. I figure they just got taken for the $10 ticket for the movie, but they don't want to be tortured anymore.
On the other hand, the right hand where one finds people praying to God, and a solid family environment displayed at one point, you a movie that will brighten your day.
I am speaking about Bella.
I literally rode a bicycle in the rain to see Bella and I am not disappointed that I did.
I found it to be a great experience. Sort of like a Singing in the Rain experience.
And maybe that is the truth of Bella, for there are some dark troubles that some of the characters are dealing with.
I was kind of surpised by the ending. But that is a good thing.
If you like love stories, then you probably will like Bella. If you like children, you will probably like Bella. And if you like movies that will have you crying towards the end, then you might like Bella.
I don't know why I liked the Bella movie so much, but it did agree with my Christian beliefs. It did agree with the beliefs my parents taught me. And it did agree with what I have learned in the real world.
Bella, on the other hand, has 4 showtimes each day -- which means even though Lions for Lambs is at two theaters, there are more showings for Bella each week in the one theater it is playing at.
Of course, the marketers of Lions for Lambs probably bought the two theaters for a period of time, and it is a way to fulfill the agreement.
But a stinker is a stinker, and a good film is a good film...
It's A Wonderful Life -- the famous Jimmy Stewart/Frank Capra film bombed at the box office... Later it became legendary...
He offered the following theory as to why film makers (like Redford) make such films: It's not about the green (money), it's more about the Progressive/Liberal views they hold. Of course they'd like it if the films made money, but to them, espousing their views is important.
...My view is this: I will not spend one Red Cent on any piece of crap which denigrates the honorable men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces. Period.
Interestingly, the last movie to get major awards recognition and major audience approval simultaneously was The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, a movie based on the novels written by J. R. R. Tolkien, a devout Catholic himself.
It was grossing a paltry $40 per day theater in the United States.
However, it seems to be doing well overseas as an Anti-American film in other countries made by Americans (how truly sad!)
The foreign gross is much more than the domestic gross for this movie.
This movie may help to endanger the lives of Americans overseas...
...Of course this is a rather warped viewpoint, since Hollywood is in a world far removed from reality anyway.
You definitely have a valid point, although there are probably some among those shareholders who may have the same twisted world view. And these people probably figure that if the film doesn't play well in the theaters, DVD rentals and sales will make up for the losses.
And don't forget the political motivation of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (aka Oscar).
To paraphrase Rush Limbaugh, the Left has a penchant for rewarding failure, and 'Lions for Lambs' probably will not be an exception.
But you can only make these “statement” movies so long before constantly losing money starts to affect the bottom line of the entertainment company distributing the film.
I think the Box Office Gross includes how much the movie took in -- which is also the cut the theaters receive.
This movie has taken in less than $40 million, but I imagine it might have to take in $75 million to make a profit...
I would have to know how much of a cut the theaters get...
Sounds like the production company is out about $5 million to $20 million or more at this point. There may also be marketing charges for going into both domestic and foreign markets.
So I imagine that Redford and others might have sunk $50 million or more into this bomb...
Being heavily marketed as a children's film in the same vein as 'The Chronicles of Narnia', 'Compass' is, at least according to the release from CMI, an atheistic screed dressed up to distract parents and their children from the author's anti-God message. Mr. Knight also cites an Op-ed written by a secularist Liberal in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Some say the movie is not bad, but the book is very slanted and has the views of the atheistic writer...
And therein lies the rub...at least according to Mr. Knight: If 'Compass' rakes in good box office, there are plans to film the second and third books by the author, with no effort to camouflage his unchristian views. If you have children, perhaps you'd better tread slowly with this one...
Golden Compass is having trouble with just its opening weekend.
Lions for Lambs, on the other hand, is about to disappear from American theaters. It is now playing at just a handful of the theaters that it opened at a few weeks ago. It has gone from playing at 2200 theaters to now around 350. At this rate, it will not be playing at any theaters by Christmas.
Bella, on the other hand, seems to be steady about the number of theaters it is playing at (almost) since peaking at 457 theaters around November 19. It is now playing at more theaters than Lions for Lambs but not by much.
Both Golden Compass and Lions for Lambs will have to rely on foreign sales after this weekend to make almost any money.
Both are now associated with the word bomb in terms of its US BoxOffice gross...
Leave it to the Elites to attempt to prop up this Paper Tiger.
It will be a take off on W.C. Fields famous line but geared to the marketing effort being done for Golden Compass.
You might feel like a stupid sucker after seeing the movie...
There is even better news on Bellas that is offical:
Bella is grossing about twice the dollars/theater as Lions for Lambs, and now Lions for Lambs is playing at fewer theaters than Bella.
One interesting thing about Bella was that about a month ago, Bella was doing better on Sundays than Friday or Saturday. This was the strong drive by Churches to get people to see the film, and many saw it after their pastors/ministers/preachers told them about the movie on Sunday...
That is sweet, Poetic Justice. Especially to those Corporate Moguls who agreed to spend upwards to $200 million in marketing for 'Compass'. And in the case of 'Lambs', a huge victory for our Military, and a slap in the mug for Robert Redford.
...Looks as though the Catholic League and the Troops did get the last laugh.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.