Weird love's better than no love.

Buffy ,'Dirty Girls'


Buffista Movies 7: Brides for 7 Samurai  

A place to talk about movies--old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.


le nubian - Dec 16, 2009 5:41:36 am PST #5648 of 30000
"And to be clear, I am the hell. And the high water."

However, don't some big $$ movies make $$ overseas? There would be a lot more failures if only the US market were considered.

I think whatever happens to Avatar in the US, it is going to make BANK overseas.


Jessica - Dec 16, 2009 5:44:38 am PST #5649 of 30000
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset

Cleopatra continued to make money in theaters longer than it would now, because there wasn't the quick turnaround from theaters to home media.

But home video sales have a higher margin than domestic box office, so if Cleopatra had made money in that market, it would have been even more profitable. It doesn't make sense to say "fortunately, this movie only had one way to make money as opposed to the several options available today!"


megan walker - Dec 16, 2009 6:13:41 am PST #5650 of 30000
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist

However, don't some big $$ movies make $$ overseas?

Hollywood has relied on the overseas markets for profitability since the 1920s, but especially since WWII.

But home video sales have a higher margin than domestic box office, so if Cleopatra had made money in that market, it would have been even more profitable. It doesn't make sense to say "fortunately, this movie only had one way to make money as opposed to the several options available today!"

I think he's saying that if it flopped now, it wouldn't sell in the home market. So it was better that it was released when people didn't have so many other entertainment choices, although that might be a hard argument in the early 60s (I'm not so sure of audience stats then).


Jessica - Dec 16, 2009 6:25:23 am PST #5651 of 30000
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset

DH's review of Avatar is up: [link]


tommyrot - Dec 16, 2009 6:33:54 am PST #5652 of 30000
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.

Well, I guess I'll go see that....


Strega - Dec 16, 2009 6:39:19 am PST #5653 of 30000

Yeah; if home sales could be substituated for a theater release without being dependent upon it, Avatar would be straight to DVD.


§ ita § - Dec 16, 2009 6:45:20 am PST #5654 of 30000
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

if home sales could be substituated for a theater release without being dependent upon it, Avatar would be straight to DVD.

Except for that whole pesky 3D will-only-look-really-good-in-the-cinema thing.


§ ita § - Dec 16, 2009 8:16:00 am PST #5655 of 30000
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

IO9's 20 greatest SF movies of the decade. Avatar and Serenity and Slither and quite a few I'd never heard of on the same list. Geekery indeed.


Jessica - Dec 16, 2009 8:18:25 am PST #5656 of 30000
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset

Nice to see Moon, Sleep Dealer and Primer on there.

Pity about Pitch Black and Donnie Darko (ptui, let us never speak of them again).


§ ita § - Dec 16, 2009 8:25:53 am PST #5657 of 30000
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

I'm a big Pitch Black fan, but I'd never think to include it in a best of list. I really didn't dig Donnie Darko at ALL. But I am willing to use the movies I haven't heard of on that list to populate my over-inflated Netflix list. They at least sound interesting. I'm especially interested by Primer's description. And I agree with the myriad comments bemoaning the lack of Children of Men.