With RANGO, I guess it is all about expectation. When I first saw the trailers I thought it looked splendidly weird. I assumed it was going to be as well reviewed as HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON or TOY STORY 3, which had a 98% and 99% score respectively from rottentomatoes. After all, UNSTOPPABLE and ALICE IN WONDERLAND received an 86% and 80% R.T. score respectively, and I would not exactly call those films well praised.Sonic Youth wrote:Rolo, are you sure you're not exaggerating a little in order to fit your narrative? You've read varying reviews on Rango's quality? A film that has 88% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 75 on Metacritic? "I cannot tell you how many times I saw this trailer in theatres, and by the end of it the audience was usually laughing." Really? Not only have I not seen the audience laughing, I'd be hard-pressed to remember the last time an audience laughed at any preview other than for a comedy.
FWIW, although my anecdotes are no more valuable than yours or anyone elses, the audience I sat with at "The Adjustment Bureau" broke out into applause at the end, much to my surprise. (I thought the film was ludicrous.)
I was not too far off with my opening weekend predix though. I read the film received a C+ Cinemascore from audiences. That seems pretty bad for a family film. I guess it was just too strange for folks. I am still looking forward to it.
As for THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU, I saw the trailer in theatres before INCEPTION and THE TOWN. Both were smarter than usual action flicks, so I would think the audience would be more welcoming to high concept films. I think it was a combination of the strange premise, the silly hats, and the ridiculous title, but there were most definitely laughter by the time the trailer ended. I assumed if this was the reaction these audiences were giving it, the Adam Sandler-Michael Bay crowd probably thought it looked really weird.
I definitely underestimated the opening gross, most likely because I was thinking about the reaction of younger audiences. Apparently the film was a big hit with the over 40 crowd. I just assumed they would all be seeing THE KING'S SPEECH and THE FIGHTER this weekend.
I swear Sonic Youth, I have no nefarious agenda. I do not look at any of the studio tracking before posting my predicitons. I just go off of the trailers, reviews, internet chatter, and general hype for a film. I look at past grosses for similar films and then do my best to predict where each film will end up.
I admittedly have a very different taste in films than general U.S. audiences (whom I lovingly refer to as the "idiot masses"). The film I am most looking forward to out of this entire year is THE TREE OF LIFE. The only big budget Hollywood film I am eagerly anticipating is SUPER 8. I will probably also check out X-MEN: FIRST CLASS and THE DEATHLY HALLOWS on the big screen, but mostly just due to childhood fondness for the X-men and Harry Potter universes rather than love for the films themselves.
Usually only MovieWes joins me in this thread. It is great to have you contribute as well Sonic Youth.