The Da Vinci Code

[Alex]

Only on Thursdays. Unless they're Daybreakers.

[Snowflake]

Well, I've got a freind here who is a total fanatic for the book (I thought it was eh, okay). Upshot is, we'll be going to see this thing on Sunday. I just bought tickets and will be doing my least favorite thing, seeing a film on it's opening weekend. There are some great casting choices, McKellen, Molina and Audrey Tatou. So worst case, it will be fun. I do like (overall) Ron Howard's films.

[scaeagles]

I heard that the critics at the Cannes film festival were less than impressed. Of course, that's true about most movies that they see at Cannes, but I guess they really disliked it.

I don't frequntly agree with most movie critics. I am not a movie critic, so what seems old to them is usually not to me, because I don't view a lot of movies.

I am just wondering how the reception at Cannes bodes for the movie at the box office.

[Moonliner]

Damn, I meant to post this before any reviews came out so I could look all prophetic.... Oh well just pretend you read this a few days ago when I was thinking about it...

The "critics" are going to hate The Da Vinci Code simply because they have to. It's the same cycle that just about all overly hyped movies go through. Lots of good press leading up to the opening and then when the movie turns out to be just a movie and not the second coming they pan it.

So I expect lots of bad press, followed by a bit of wait and see and then if the numbers hold they come back with how great it is totally ignoring the bad reviews otherwise it just fades away....

[Alex]

Past history (as opposed to future history I guess) suggests that a movie's reception at Cannes has little impact on how well it will do at the Box Office in the United States.

For example, of the last 10 winners at Cannes, only four have made as much as $35 million in the United States (Farenheit 9/11 and The Pianist). A third (Dancer in the Dark) made a bit over $30 million. None of the rest topped $15 million. Four didn't even make it to $1 million.

[scaeagles]

Alex, you watch a lot of movies if I recall. Do you find that most reviewers are snobbish? Seriously. It seems like most don't relate to the common, average movie watcher. The movie reviewer in the paper I get cannot review a movie without referring and making comparisons to at least three others throughout the review. If I haven't seen those other movies, I have no common frame of reference.

I don't see many movies, so I guess my expectations are lower? I don't expect art or a perfect story as most reviewers seem to. I expect to be entertained.

Perhaps it is not unlike things in life that I consider myself to be knowledgable about. For example, I hate seeing poorly coached basketball games, when many who watch basketball casually wouldn't notice it.

[Alex]

Some are. Movie criticism is ultimately about one person sharing what they like or don't like and trying to explain why (and hopefully writing well in the process). It isn't so much about trying to tell you whether you will like it. To the extent that you are influenced by critics, part of that process is determining which critics seem to share tastes with you.

Yes, see a couple hundred movies in a year as I do and you can't help but begin to view them as part of a larger tapestry and ponder on that. If you only see one movie in your entire life then you'll probably be entertained by sixteen minutes of watching a man ride his bike in a circle (as people in the earliest days of cinema were).

Because of the reviews I write for MousePlanet I will see pretty much every single movie released by Disney's three labels this year. I can't help but be affected by the fact that this means that fully a third of the Disney releases I see are sports related and therefore tend to draw on similar themes. If you only see one sports movie then you'll probably think that The Mighty Ducks is pretty good, but if it uses the same themes and plot elements of another, better movie why not mention that and hopefully you'll watch the better movie instead.

A lot of people say to me "why don't you just shut off your mind and go with it? It is just stupid entertainment." My response is that I can't imagine why anybody would ever want to just shut off their mind and go with stupid entertainment. I do my best to explain why I don't like or do like something. There are almost always factors entirely internal to the movie that make it, in my view, bad or good but there are also frequently external factors. Perhaps movie B in complete isolation isn't all that bad but movie A covers the exact same territory much better? Deep Impact needs to be reviewed on its own terms but it also wouldn't make much sense to review it without mentioning Armageddon.

When I review a movie I do try to review it in the context of what it is trying to be. It is unfair to use the same criteria of quality in judging an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet that you would use for a Hong Kong action movie. But I don't think a movie gets a pass just because it is aiming for the lowest common denominator.

Bottom line, though, if you find that a critic (or all critics) aren't a good indicator of what you personally will like then they are of no use to you and you shouldn't rely on them. It is all subjective. You'll find that a good critical response to a movie is not much of an indicator of what will do well at the box office. That said, it is a much better indicator (but not perfect) of what will still be remembered as a "classic" 30 years down the road.

[flippyshark]

Well said, Alex.

I don't go to a lot of movies anymore, and when I do, I seem to spend a lot of time thinking, jeez, I've seen this before, MANY times.

I like to read movie criticism, but it has nothing to do with making a decision to see a movie. I just enjoy hearing other points of view. I particularly like it when a critic either lambastes something he or she despised or rhapsodizes about something that worked. As long as the writing is good, I'll keep reading, even if I don't agree.

Before any given trailer is over, I know if I want to see something or not. If I am really jazzed about it, no number of poor reviews will keep me away. Oh, and if its a shark movie, I'm going. (*sigh*)

I am only mildly curious about Da Vinci Code, and really mostly about how much of the controversial stuff gets left in. It's most likely a rental for me.

Spoiler:

I admit I AM curious about how much of the "shocking" ritual orgy flashback will be in there.

[Not Afraid]

I'm curious about seeing the film but, God help us all if I actually get to the movies. Hell might freeze over.

[wendybeth]

The only thing I'm curous about is if they'll actually show:

Spoiler:

the curator doing the full-frontal naked guy thing. I'll bet they wuss out and have him in a thong or something.