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QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 30, 2013 -> 04:37 PM)
There was no reason for him to make that sacrifice. He could have escaped. That is why it was silly, to me.

 

Didn't he want to take out the "leader" zombie so the girl and the kid could escape? It's been a few years.

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Is "After Earth" the worst movie ever made? asks Joel Morgenstern below.

 

"Mr. Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, are producers on "After Earth," which suggests that there was no one on the production who could really say no to him." NY TIMES

 

12% positive reviews, charges of nepotism...his son's acting getting hammered, not going to be a good week for Will Smith.

 

 

 

wsjonline.com/movies

Is "After Earth" the worst movie ever made? Maybe not; there's always "Battlefield Earth" to remind us how low the bar can go. But that's the wrong question, since it implies that this bizarre enterprise is a movie in the conventional sense.

 

At first the production exhibits movielike characteristics, a sort of "Star Trudge" crossed with a hero's journey by way of Joseph Campbell. The story begins on a planet that has served as humanity's refuge since Earth became uninhabitable. Will Smith is Cypher Raige, the commanding general of a U.N.-sanctioned peacekeeping group—I'm only reporting what's on the screen—called the United Ranger Corps. Mr. Smith's son, Jaden Smith, is the general's son, Kitai, a painfully earnest 13-year-old who's desperately seeking approval from his authoritarian father, even though the old man seems to have no approval to give. Despite the sci-fi trappings, and dollops of almost literally unspeakable dialogue—"Graviton buildup could be a precursor to mass expansion," someone warns someone else—"After Earth" is basically a two-character study of what happens to father and son after their spaceship crashes on a quarantined planet that is, in fact, Earth, but Earth infested with exceedingly cheesy digital monsters.

 

Here again, the action conforms to a recognizable movie template. With his father gravely injured and unable to extricate himself from the ship's wreckage, Kitai must summon the courage to go forth on his own and fight whatever demons come his way in order to find the electronic beacon that will bring lifesaving help. In other words, a familiar tale of a boy surviving vicissitudes to become a man. Yet this variant of the template, as directed by M. Night Shyamalan from a script he wrote with Gary Whitta—and based on a story by Mr. Smith—soon takes the form of turgid pontifications that Cypher lays on Kitai at every step of the poor kid's way. (They're connected by a fancy communication system that only emphasizes the disconnections of the quasi-dramatic structure.) "Every single decision you make will be life or death," the general intones. Or, rather, "Every...single…decision…you…make…will…be…life...or...death," because every…single…word…the…general…speaks…is…spoken…slowly…for…emphasis. It's gravity without gravitas.

 

I've never seen a movie that moves so slowly, or takes itself so seriously, which is why it doesn't seem like a movie at all, but a sermon whose central subject is fear: "Danger is real," the father tells the son, "but fear is a choice." So a right question might be why "After Earth" was made. The sermon echoes a central theme of Scientology. Is that the production's subtext, or are there reasons yet to be uncovered why humor and humanity have been essentially banished; why everyone looks pained; why the very notion of entertainment has been banished in favor of grinding didacticism, and why Mr. Smith, who has been such a brilliant entertainer over the years and decades, looks as if he has undergone a radical charismaectomy? It…is…all…very…mysterious…and…deeply…dreary.

Edited by caulfield12
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Saw The Way, Way Back the other day. Loved it. Just a fun, adorable "coming-of-age" summer movie. Sam Rockwell has some great, funny dialogue, and it was kinda cool to see Carell as an asshole.

 

Saw The Internship today. Eh. I'd honestly rather watch The Wedding Crashers for the 50th time...

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QUOTE (SleepyWhiteSox @ May 31, 2013 -> 01:53 AM)
Saw The Way, Way Back the other day. Loved it. Just a fun, adorable "coming-of-age" summer movie. Sam Rockwell has some great, funny dialogue, and it was kinda cool to see Carell as an asshole.

..

 

Good to hear. I want to seek that and Kings of Summer.

 

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Watched Jack Reacher last weekend. Decent movie, but having read most of the Reacher novels, I just can't accept Tom Cruise as Reacher. However, he played the part pretty well (aside from the fact that he's about 8 inches and 90 pounds smaller than the real Reacher), and he had some good one-liners.

 

Also caught The Impossible and Side Effects. The Impossible was great. Emotional, terrifying, good effects. Side Effects was a very good, quiet thriller.

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QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ May 31, 2013 -> 08:40 AM)
Watched Jack Reacher last weekend. Decent movie, but having read most of the Reacher novels, I just can't accept Tom Cruise as Reacher. However, he played the part pretty well (aside from the fact that he's about 8 inches and 90 pounds smaller than the real Reacher), and he had some good one-liners.

 

Also caught The Impossible and Side Effects. The Impossible was great. Emotional, terrifying, good effects. Side Effects was a very good, quiet thriller.

The Impossible was indeed great.

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QUOTE (Brian @ May 31, 2013 -> 07:03 AM)
Good to hear. I want to seek that and Kings of Summer.

 

Yeah, I got the invite for Kings of Summer for the same day after I had gotten the one for the internship :/ Definitely woulda preferred the former.

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Friday Update #3: Revised numbers are helping out After Earth and Now You See Me. AE is now looking at $21 million-$22 million, while Now You See Me could hit $24 million.

 

Friday Update #2: Sources tell BoxOffice that early numbers are not promising for After Earth. The sci-fi flick could end up with around $7 million on Friday, which means it might struggle to hit even $20 million during its debut frame. AE will need to do well with families on Saturday if it wants to post a stronger opening weekend. These are VERY early numbers, so a surge is still a real possibility.

 

Now You See Me should hit $7 million on Friday, and it's looking at a $20 million start. That would be a solid result for the magic-themed flick considering that the market is full of spectacle films right now.

 

Fast & Furious 6 will have no problem repeating as the #1 film this weekend. The same sources tell us that it is "way out in front." No numbers are available yet.

 

boxoffice.com

 

 

Saturday Update #2: Sony's After Earth grossed $9.8 million on opening day. The film is on pace for a disappointing $27.3 million debut weekend. AE really needs to step it up overseas now in order to make up for this lackluster debut. It's important to remember that while star Will Smith's drawing power might be waning in North America, he remains one of the most trusted stars globally. Case in point: Men In Black 3 made $446 million overseas vs. $179 million in North America.

 

While Smith should be able to bounce back, it will be difficult for director M. Night Shyamalan to shake off this failure. Shyamalan's reputation has been in steady decline ever since The Village was hit with a wave of audience scorn back in 2004. Shyamalan has been talking about sequels to Unbreakable and The Last Airbender in interviews while promoting After Earth, but it might be an uphill battle for him to get anything made at a major studio now.

 

AE will also hurt the budding career of Jaden Smith. Even a tweet from Jaden's pal Justin Bieber couldn't help After Earth:

 

 

The young actor better hope that The Karate Kid II happens soon. 2010's Karate Kid reboot--which featured J. Smith opposite Jackie Chan--earned a healthy $359 million globally.

Edited by caulfield12
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QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 2, 2013 -> 08:50 AM)
http://www.nextmovie.com/blog/will-jaden-s...w-weird-quotes/

 

Will Smith getting the Tom Cruise treatment by some writers these days...we seem to love to knock celebrities off their mountaintops, only to have them redeem themselves again (see Robert Downey, Jr., or Ben Affleck).

So not true. If celebrities fall on hard times or start making garbage movies, we pounce. That said, there's 20 celebrities we never jump on for every one that gets this type of negative attention for continually disappointment.

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Robert Downey Jr really never was given the Tom cruise treatment. He partied his way out of the Hollywood A list and needed a break (iron man) to get himself back into the good graces of casting directors.

 

Tom Cruise did his own little crazy act and his connection to Scientology magnified things. Affleck made like 4 terrible movies in a row and had to go into hiding and do some directing before he righted his ship.

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