posted
OK, I don't understand this movie. From the trailer it seems like a bad action flick. The marketing seems to confirm that it is a bad action flick. It doesn't even look like a humorous parody of a bad action flick.
But everywhere I turn, I'm being told how everyone is so excited to see this movie, and how if I don't see it I'll be the only one on my block to have missed it. And this is way beyond your normal "see this and you'll be cool" type of hype. This movie is being hyped everywhere it seems. I've heard celebrities not even in the film talking about how great it is. G4's coverage of ComicCon was a complete love affair with the movie. So I have to ask:
Are any real people even planning to see this movie? Is anyone remotely excited by it? Is anyone going to rush out to buy tickets on opening night?
It looks to me like they know they have a terrible movie on their hands and this is all a desperate plot to hype the movie into a big box office weekend. But the studios don't normally go to this length to save the other turkeys they fling out every summer. Anyone know why this movie? Anyone (outside of the Hollywood hype machine) think this will actually work?
posted
I'll be seeing this movie. Not on opening night perhaps, but definitely in theater.
A lot of the hype for this movie started on the internet; it's almost a grass roots movie promotion. I've seen a couple commercials and theatrical trailers for this movie but everything else has been done by third parties.
Aside from that, there was also a sort of grass roots involvment in the actual moviemaking process. Snakes on a Plane was just the working title and was changed to Pacific Air Flight 121. It was changed back after widespread online protest and (or so I heard) Samuel L threatened to walk. They also did some reshooting to add content that fans seemed hopeful for including (again, that I've heard) a line for Samuel L that goes something like "I've had it with these motha****in snakes on this motha****plane!"
Not to mention the best title ever.
Posts: 2907 | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
Yeah, I want to see it just because of the changes that they made specifically for the internet fans--some lines even written by them. Also by Samual L. Jackson's dedication to the original title. Who cares if it's a bad movie? That's kind of the point.
Posts: 2880 | Registered: Jun 2004
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posted
I'm definitely going to see this movie in the theatre. The only reason is to satisfy my curiosity, which has made me watch some pretty horrible movies before now. Plan 9 from Outer Space, for example.
Posts: 993 | Registered: Jul 2006
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posted
Hadn't heard of it until now. If we buy it, it'll likely be for the mock factor. I mean, seriously, that's the only reason we get Steven Seagal movies. And, I have to add, that's all Fahim's idea. Not mine. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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You see... /shame/ my grandfather actually loves Steven Seagal movies...he thinks Seagal is the best living actor ever...an inch ahead of Van Damme /shame/
Posts: 1785 | Registered: Oct 2003
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quote:Who cares if it's a bad movie? That's kind of the point.
Um, I do. I definitely will not be seeing this, even if it's the worst ever in the 'so bad it's good' category.
I have a limited amount of disposable income, and I surely won't be wasting it on a movie I know will suck. Half the time movies that are supposed to be good end up sucking, so I feel like I've already contributed to that pot.
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
I doubt I'll be seeing this movie, but it still cracks me up for some inexplicable reason everytime I see the title. One of my friends even got me a "Snakes on a Plane" t-shirt for my birthday. I really don't think it will be a good movie, or at least not one I would enjoy in the slightest, but something about the title and the fact that people are actually talking about it, and that there is a shirt for it at Hot Topic, makes me crack up.
Posts: 2827 | Registered: Jul 2005
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It can't be any worse than the recent Pirates of the Caribbean.
SoaP is pretty much wysiwyg. It's not Shakespeare, or family entertainment, or art. It doesn't have a message. It's a plane crash movie that has snakes. How can you go wrong with that concept, really?
I'll probably see it at the dollar theater.
Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
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See, this is the best arguement around for actually developing long-term internet relationships. I'll be surprised if the Studios don't have a whole crew of internet posers who's entire job is to register at selected sites and post hype as if it were an average Joe's honest opinion. I inherently distrust "internet hype" because it's so easy to pretend online. We already know at least one studio isn't above adding completely ficticious "review" quotes on their movie posts, even attributed to non-existent reviewers for non-existent papers, but I know no studio is desperate enough for my movie dollars to make up a Noemon or a twinky to chat with me for years only to get my guard down so I'll go see a bad movie on their say-so. Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
Oh yeah I'm gonna see this movie. It's called Snakes on a Plane and it has Samuel L. Jackson in it. 'nuff said. It's odd though. I've never wanted to see a movie based almost solely on its title. I hope whoever gave it that working title gets a raise. Also, I'm gonna see it at the Alamo Draft House, so I can get good and drunk while I watch, and enjoy it even more.
aaah, gotta love cinemas that serve alcohol in the theater.
Posts: 2596 | Registered: Jan 2006
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"In Amsterdam you can get a beer at a movie theatre. And I don't mean no paper cup either. I'm talking about a glass of beer..."
Posts: 993 | Registered: Jul 2006
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I'm going. But I'm going for the experience, not necessarily for the movie itself. We're putting together the goon squad - basically 20 or so male idiots who are well prepared to enjoy a movie like Snakes on a Plane in like company.
Posts: 10177 | Registered: Apr 2001
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quote:Originally posted by Katarain: Yeah, I want to see it just because of the changes that they made specifically for the internet fans--some lines even written by them. Also by Samual L. Jackson's dedication to the original title. Who cares if it's a bad movie? That's kind of the point.
I was just gonna let this go at face value, but it turns out I just can't. To me this clinches it. The studio knows this movie is just a huge pile of crap. They know there is no saving it as a serious attempt at entertainment. What director with any real vision listens to and incorporates the ideas of a bunch of people who 1. have not read the script. 2. do not know anything about the movie that can't be gleaned from the title alone, and 3. have no way of putting any suggestions into any kind of context. These are the things you do in a brainstorming session before shooting, not after the fact. I could maybe see a director getting one or two fun ideas by perusing the buzz around his film, but 5 whole days worth of additional filming? No, clearly the studio doesn't care at all about the film itself at this point. It's relying purely on hype hoping to sucker 10 or 15 million people on opening weekend so they can pretend they've tapped the zeitgeist, or something.
Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
By the way, no one has actually given a reason why this movie is going to 'suck'.
If I were to guess, I would say that this is a movie that isn't going to suck for its target audience, which is basically young(ish) males. It's an easy movie to make well. Again, how the hell can you go wrong with snakes on a plane?
I think people are saying that the movie sucks because they want the movie to be something it isn't.
Bitching about SOAP as bad just because it's SOAP is like bitching about Titanic being basically about a big-ass sinking ship, or Pirates of the Caribbean being basically about pirates with special effects. Most people (particularly most men) didn't really give a rat's ass about the love story in those movies, k? People went to go see those movies for the spectacle, which is exactly why people will go see SOAP.
Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
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Leaving that question aside, do you disagree that most of the people who will enjoy SoaP will be men?
Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
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No. But I would qualify that with the statement that most who enjoy it (of either sex) will do so largely because they go into it with really low expectations.
I don't think encouraging movie studios to make movies that everyone in the social consciousness knows will suck is something I should support.
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Katarain: Yeah, I want to see it just because of the changes that they made specifically for the internet fans--some lines even written by them. Also by Samual L. Jackson's dedication to the original title. Who cares if it's a bad movie? That's kind of the point.
I was just gonna let this go at face value, but it turns out I just can't. To me this clinches it. The studio knows this movie is just a huge pile of crap. They know there is no saving it as a serious attempt at entertainment. What director with any real vision listens to and incorporates the ideas of a bunch of people who 1. have not read the script. 2. do not know anything about the movie that can't be gleaned from the title alone, and 3. have no way of putting any suggestions into any kind of context. These are the things you do in a brainstorming session before shooting, not after the fact. I could maybe see a director getting one or two fun ideas by perusing the buzz around his film, but 5 whole days worth of additional filming? No, clearly the studio doesn't care at all about the film itself at this point. It's relying purely on hype hoping to sucker 10 or 15 million people on opening weekend so they can pretend they've tapped the zeitgeist, or something.
It's like a Wikimovie.
Posts: 246 | Registered: Jul 2006
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posted
Why would it suck? It's a movie about snakes on a plane. If you want to see a movie about snakes on a plane (which I do) then it should be pretty good. I don't think the special effects will be lacking, or the action acting, or the one liners, or the explosions. It should be a pretty good action movie. Granted, if you really love romantic comedy, avante garde(sp?) or foreign films, this probably isn't the movie for you.
But this movie isn't pretending to be anything it isn't. It purports itself to be an action movie about snakes on a plane. That sounds like fun to me, and apparently a lot of other people, so it will be seen by lots of people. I don't think the movie studios are making this movie knowing that it will suck, or that everyone that wants to see it thinks that it will suck (though I'm sure some do).
Posts: 2596 | Registered: Jan 2006
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posted
I don't see where you can get that from my post, Rivka. The only thing I said which approximates your response was that it wasn't going to suck for most youngish males, which I think is true.
Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
I don't know. I see it as similar to going to watch a professional sports game. Kinda stupid , but if approached correctly and in the right company, a whole heck of a lot of fun.
Granted, there won't be any tea drinking or long talks about our feelings and no one is going to discourse about the role Satre's work had on shaping the ouevre, but there's different types of fun.
I'm not looking for high-brow entertainment. I'm looking for a group of rowdy gents, Samuel L. Jackson, and mfing snakes on an mfing plane.
Posts: 10177 | Registered: Apr 2001
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posted
Maybe it won't suck. The closest comparison I can make is to the movie Eight-Legged Freaks, which I enjoyed. The difference is that there wasn't all this over-the-top hype about that movie and it really didn't pretend to be anything more than what it was. For all the pretense of SoaP being straight-forward ("It's about snakes. . . on a plane. 'Nuff said.") The hype certainly belies the studio's hope that significant numbers of people will think it's something more.
Maybe another good analogy is Napoleon Dynamite. I'd probably have loved that movie if I had seen it in the theaters before the hype. Instead I saw it after having seen the name and characters thoroughly saturate the culture. When I finally did watch the movie, my reaction was mostly "meh". I do think it was a fun, quirky movie, but there was nothing about it to justify all the T-shirts, lunch-boxes, bumper stickers, dolls, etc. One thing it did have, though, was the fact that all that superflua came about after the movie touched a core audience. SoaP is wearing out its welcome even before the film has hit the theaters.
Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
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No, no it's not. It's wearing out its welcome for you. Which is fine, but don't put how you feel on other people.
Also, I haven't really been too aware of the studio pushing this either as something it's not or amazingly hard. Most of the stuff I've seen about it has been through third parties and I don't think anyone is confused about what the movie is going to be. It (and the hoopla surrounding it) just appeals to them more than it appeals to you.
Posts: 10177 | Registered: Apr 2001
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posted
I'll prolly see it just so I can hear Samuel L Jackson's voice.
It really depends on if my hubby wants to see it. If he doesn't want to see it, I won't push (I'm not that excited to see it) and I'll watch it on HBO instead.
I tried watching Napoleon Dynamite but couldn't get through the first 5 minutes. It was boring and made me uncomfortable.
Posts: 7085 | Registered: Apr 2001
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posted
I don't think I'm ascribing my feelings to others any more than you are. I think it should be pretty obvious to all readers here that what I've writting is my opinion, forceful and curmudgeonly as it may be.
And many of my friends are just as baffled by the hype as I am, and it's definitely getting a lot of pseudo-grass roots hype. It's all over the pop-culture shows on TV and I suspect very little gets that kind of hype without studio money behind it.
Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
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quote:Originally posted by Storm Saxon: Bitching about SOAP as bad just because it's SOAP...
:: laugh :: My initial response to this was "Huh. I thought that SOAP was fairly well received in its day. But why is Storm Saxon brining up a sitcom from the late 70s or early 80s?"
quote:Oh yeah I'm gonna see this movie. It's called Snakes on a Plane and it has Samuel L. Jackson in it. 'nuff said. It's odd though. I've never wanted to see a movie based almost solely on its title. I hope whoever gave it that working title gets a raise.
I think that whoever cooked up the "It's called Snakes on a Plane and it has Samuel L. Jackson in it. 'nuff said" meme is the one who deserves the raise. It's interesting to see the legs that that thing has. That exact phrase (or almost identical phrases; sometimes you hear it without the Samuel L. Jackson part, and it isn't uncommon to see it without the word "called", and with elipsis between "snakes" and "on a plane"), usually complete with the "'nuff", is being typed out far too frequently to be anything other than a particularly virulent pop-culture meme.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
You're trying to speak for everyone. But you're obviously not. There are plenty of people who are interested in seeing this movie. I'm one of them.
I get that you are not interested. As I said, there's nothing wrong with that. However, I don't think that saying that everyone isn't interested or acting like people who are are inferior to you is right or true.
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I don't so much watch the pop-culture shows on TV, but I might suggest that, when something gets a lot of third party attention (which, regardless of how much juice the studio put behind it, you can't deny that SOAP has), it's going to show up on these shows, if their people are at all competent. When a fad catches on, it's important for these shows to feed people's interest in this fad. For example, when the new Star Wars movies came out, I don't imagine that Lucas and Co. needed to spread much juice around to get them picked up by the shows.
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As I said, it's like being excited about the Super Bowl and rooting for a specific team to win or whatever. Yes, it's kinda dumb and pointless, but it's fun. With your approach, you're not receptive to that fun. But I'm planning on having a good time with it, and a chunk of this good time comes from appreciating and participating in the "Snakes + Plane = Snakes on a Plane" hype.
Posts: 10177 | Registered: Apr 2001
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posted
You know, thinking about it, I don't even care if the hype comes from the studio or not. If they did all this, the enjoyment I've gotten out of it is worth the $8 I'll be paying for a ticket.
The first reference I saw of this movie was in "The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny". As I was checking out the references that I didn't get, I noticed a not about the movie, which, at that moment, sounded awesome. Then I saw some other flash about it that were pretty funny. And then me and some of the guys talked about it and agreed it was a goon squad movie.
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