Future of Movie Stars: Who Will Shine? Who Will Fade Away?

[xaxat]

20 hours ago, Serena said:

What was Depp's last non-franchise hit, critical or commercial? The Alice sequel flopped. Pirates #343 will probably do well, but other than that, what does he have?

My question is, when was the last time he was actually an actor? 

It feels like every role he takes now is just and excuse to cobble together a set of affectations. Weird hat, white makeup, cane, weird accent. . . mix and match.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

To be fair, I was impressed by Depp's portrayal of Whitey Bulger in Black Mass because it was such a departure from kooky and mostly benign. But I've always enjoyed movies about organized crime, and I'm not sure how much money it made at the box office, so what do I know?

[Rick Kitchen]

I agree, Black Mass was very good, as was his performance.

 

I read yesterday (can't find it now) that the next Pirates movie was postponed because he had hurt his hand, and the recent "speculation" is that he hurt it hitting Amber Heard.

[raezen]

On 01/06/2016 at 1:47 PM, xaxat said:

My question is, when was the last time he was actually an actor? 

It feels like every role he takes now is just and excuse to cobble together a set of affectations. Weird hat, white makeup, cane, weird accent. . . mix and match.

Other than Black Mass which has been mentioned above, Finding Neverland. And that was a long time ago. 

Edited June 4, 2016 by raezen

[slf]

God, those Lincoln commercials drive me insane. Reminds me of that scene from The Golden Girls:

Hi, Ma. What you doing?
Thinking.
About what?
About wind, water, rocks. Man's place in the delicate balance of nature's harmony. Where we're going. Where the road ends.
Gee, Ma, I never knew you were so philosophical.
I'm not. It's those damn Infiniti commercials. They're driving me crazy!

[slayer2]

On 31/05/2016 at 9:32 AM, Cobalt Stargazer said:

Two things, and then I'm gonna shut up about it, because this is probably the most I've thought about these two in months.

Did you know who Amber Heard is before this happened? I did, but that's because ten years ago she was in an episode of the TV show Criminal Minds playing an actress who was being stalked by a crazed female fan. Aside from that association, though, I'm not sure I could pick her out of a lineup, because she leaves almost zero impression. I'm not the one who called her a duller version of Kristen Stewart, but it's a fairly apt description.

As for Johnny, my educated guess is that he's already been tried and convicted by the court of public opinion, at least if the posts I've seen here about this whole mess are any indication. And maybe that's fair, I don't know. He's no longer the bright young thing, he hasn't made a decent movie in long enough that whatever general good will he might have had has long since faded, and if nothing else there's so much guilt by association because of the link to all those other over-privileged Hollywood types who have gotten away with a lot worse than throwing a cell phone at someone that he could be totally innocent and it still wouldn't matter. So maybe this will stick a fork in what's left of his non-Pirates career and he'll end up like Matthew McConaughey, annoying us until the end of time with nonsensical commercials about cars.

That doesn't speak to any of the questions I raised while playing devil's advocate. Also as I previously mentioned, this won't do a damn thing to hurt his career as per the examples I gave. Unfortunately we likely have many more years of boring, bizarre, befuddling Depp movies to come.

Edited June 3, 2016 by slayer2

[slf]

I stand corrected: apparently Amber Heard once faced charges over hitting her girlfriend's arm. The charges were dropped. It seems this ex-girlfriend is the one that Heard reconnected with and Depp got paranoid about.

[DollEyes]

One actor who seems to have a bright future is Tye Sheridan. He played Brad Pitt & Jessica Chastain's son in The Tree Of Life, had co-starring roles in Mud  & Joe, is the lead in The Scouts' Guide To the Zombie Apocalypse, plays the young Cyclops in X-Men: Apocalypse and will star in the big-screen version of Ready Player One, an upcoming movie produced by Steven Spielberg. 

Edited June 9, 2016 by DollEyes

[methodwriter85]

Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin are in this place right now where the movie they starred in isn't a major phenom that instantly turns them into household names, but it could be a step up to something better. I hope they capitalize well on Me Before You's modest success. I do think Sam might get a lot more male lead roles thrown his way as a result of the success, but at the same time, they get at least a little breathing room because it's not a phenom, either.

Hopefully this does for Sam what being Finnick didn't quite do.

[Danny Franks]

I like Emilia Clarke. She seems like a lovely, bubbly, warm person. I just don't think she's a very good actor. Granted, she barely gets anything to work with on Game of Thrones, having to stand there impassively and deliver clunky dialogue (of course, that never did Jennifer Lawrence any harm), but her projects outside the show aren't showing much more ability. I hope I'm wrong, and she soon finds real success.

Having said that, she does seem to give Daenerys an edge of instability that I like to think is intentional. If it is, then she's probably paying more attention to her character's natural arc than the writers are, which is good.

[topanga]

I'm watching Heathers with my kids (pretend you didn't hear that), and it makes me wonder, what happened to Winona Ryder's acting skills? She was so good in this, and I've seen almost no movies since where I've enjoyed her performance. I wonder if her kleptomania is related to depression, or if there's something else that makes her impersonate a wooden puppet when she acts. 

[UYI]

1 hour ago, topanga said:

I'm watching Heathers with my kids (pretend you didn't hear that), and it makes me wonder, what happened to Winona Ryder's acting skills? She was so good in this, and I've seen almost no movies since where I've enjoyed her performance. I wonder if her kleptomania is related to depression, or if there's something else that makes her impersonate a wooden puppet when she acts. 

 

She has always talked about how Veronica is probably her movie role ever, to the point where she will watch the movie like she isn't even in it. She's always wanted to do a sequel. She wanted the role even when other actresses were actively avoiding it (and her then agent told her she would never work again if she took it). That excitement about the part may have brought something to her acting there where it hasn't in other roles (although I love her in Mermaids, personally).

 

Here's the article I'm talking about, BTW (the stuff on Shannen Doherty is particularly interesting):

http://www.ew.com/article/2014/04/04/heathers-oral-history

[Cobalt Stargazer]

7 hours ago, topanga said:

I'm watching Heathers with my kids (pretend you didn't hear that), and it makes me wonder, what happened to Winona Ryder's acting skills? She was so good in this, and I've seen almost no movies since where I've enjoyed her performance. I wonder if her kleptomania is related to depression, or if there's something else that makes her impersonate a wooden puppet when she acts. 

And Ryder was only sixteen when she played Veronica, since she had her birthday while the movie was filming. I think Heathers was both one of a kind and ahead of its time enough that almost no one would have wanted to take on the burden of being in it, since it wasn't until later that the wannabes like Jawbreaker and Mean Girls and even Cruel Intentions depicted high school as the equivalent of a Dynasty episode. Today, such black comedy is commonplace, but back in the 80's the most biting teen movies were being made by John Hughes and maybe Amy Heckerling, who directed Fast Times at Ridgemont High in 1982. As for Winona's acting, I really enjoyed her in Black Swan, but that was mostly because her character seemed fairly Winona-like: the "older" dancer who was maybe a little off-balance because of being gradually eased out of the spotlight.

[JBC344]

Also Winona is playing the mom (I know how old do you feel) in the new Netflix series "Stranger Things".  I have been reading interviews and she really seems excited about this role.  Hopefully her enthusiasm will show in the role.

[methodwriter85]

I think her two best roles were Veronica Sawyer and Jo March. Both were awesome characters, but they weren't too similar.

I feel like Wynona basically checked out after Girl, Interrupted failed to reignite her career and instead introduced the world to Angelina. THAT has to have stung that you had this labor of love that you wanted to bring to screen for so long, and manages to be a critical hit (if box office bomb) because of your co-star who gets signaled out for all the rewards love.

Edited June 18, 2016 by methodwriter85

[Bruinsfan]

On 5/22/2016 at 0:14 AM, Cobalt Stargazer said:

Ah! I misinterpreted "looking like little girls playing dress-up" as a comment on their respective ages, and I do agree with you. They're both attractive women, but they're not conventionally "hot".

I don't know, to me Emma Stone has that kind of iconic 60s siren look like Raquel Welch or Kim Novak. I don't think it's looks that stand in the way of her being a bombshell, it's strictly an intangible quality of her personality.

On 5/30/2016 at 10:24 AM, methodwriter85 said:

There was no better casting than Heather Langenkemp as Nancy Kerrigan, so anything else will fall short.

I'll say that if they had filmed the story in the immediate wake of it happening Diane Lane would have been an eerie doppelganger, and she has the acting chops to pull off any role. Of course, she's five years older than Kerrigan herself so that ship sailed back in the 90s.

Edited June 19, 2016 by Bruinsfan

[PepSinger]

I LOVE Winona Ryder. Heathers and Mermaids are two of my favorite movies ever. Girl, Interrupted did introduce me to Angelina, but I loved Winona in that movie. I definitely related to her character, and the monologue she has with Whoopi Goldberg's character toward the end of the film breaks my heart every time. 

[festivus]

I love her too and I've missed her. I'll be checking out her new show on Netflix.

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 6/18/2016 at 9:55 PM, Bruinsfan said:

I don't know, to me Emma Stone has that kind of iconic 60s siren look like Raquel Welch or Kim Novak. I don't think it's looks that stand in the way of her being a bombshell, it's strictly an intangible quality of her personality.

I'm surprised to hear this.  She looks to me like she lost about a third of the body weight she had when she first came on the scene in Superbad (and when I thought she was cool and had an attractive way about her)  Now she's  a Woody Allen muse, a waif, like early Mia Farrow.  I don't find her conventionally attractive - guess she's like a thinking man's beauty or something...  I find her really odd looking now.

I love Margot Robbie.  I think she's beautiful and sexy and while I don't yet understand the Tonya Harding casting, she was fantastic in Focus.  A lot of star quality.  I liked her with Will Smith in that.  That and Wolf of Wall Street made a lot of money.  I like the Charlize Theron comparison.  Two actors I enjoy even though I'm jealous of beautiful blondes who make it in Hollywood.  The ones who are atrocious actors haven't lasted as well as Charlize has.

I think there are a lot of people from Gen X and older Gen Y who really pull for Winona.  Edward Scissorhands is one of my favourite movies. (There's also Reality Bites, but it was a tiny bit before my time, and I constantly keep giving it more chances to grow on me.)  She's still gorgeous.  She was in Black Swan in 2010.

Edited June 21, 2016 by Ms Blue Jay

[UYI]

On 6/18/2016 at 2:05 AM, methodwriter85 said:

I think her two best roles were Veronica Sawyer and Jo March. Both were awesome characters, but they weren't too similar.

I feel like Wynona basically checked out after Girl, Interrupted failed to reignite her career and instead introduced the world to Angelina. THAT has to have stung that you had this labor of love that you wanted to bring to screen for so long, and manages to be a critical hit (if box office bomb) because of your co-star who gets signaled out for all the rewards love.

Not to sound too picky, but her name is spelled Winona (she was named after the town of Winona, Minnesota--she was born near there). The only one I can think of who spells that name with a "y" is Wynonna Judd, and that's not even her birth name. :) 

[methodwriter85]

Jai Courtney actually did a decent enough job as Boomerang in Suicide Squad. He really should think about being a quirky character actor. I think if you put him in quirky hair and make-up (in this and in Divergent), he's not half-bad. The problem is trying to make him into a leading man, particularly a romantic leading man. His lack of charisma or sex appeal is a major problem with that.

[Ambrosefolly]

On June 21, 2016 at 0:50 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

I think there are a lot of people from Gen X and older Gen Y who really pull for Winona.  Edward Scissorhands is one of my favourite movies. (There's also Reality Bites, but it was a tiny bit before my time, and I constantly keep giving it more chances to grow on me.)  She's still gorgeous.  She was in Black Swan in 2010.

I am happy that her career has gotten a bit of a resurgence with Stranger Things. Same with her Heather's costar Christian Slater with Mr.Robot. 

With the younger generation, I am also happy that Teresa Palmer's Lights Out has turned into a sleeper hit.

Edited August 21, 2016 by Ambrosefolly

[Princess Sparkle]

On June 21, 2016 at 11:50 AM, Ms Blue Jay said:

I think there are a lot of people from Gen X and older Gen Y who really pull for Winona.  Edward Scissorhands is one of my favourite movies. (There's also Reality Bites, but it was a tiny bit before my time, and I constantly keep giving it more chances to grow on me.)  She's still gorgeous.  She was in Black Swan in 2010.

Winona Ryder is someone I'm so incapable of being neutral on, because I love her so much. I watched so many of her movies when I was a kid and I wanted to be her so badly - I legitimately started writing in a journal specifically to copy Lydia Deetz, and my middle name is Jo (after Jo March), so I think I saw her version of Little Women about 30 time as a kid (I am very positive my parents regretted the "Jo" naming decision around watch 7).  I read an article about her recently over at The Cut and it was great: http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/08/winona-ryder-c-v-r.html

I'm so glad she's getting recognized again for her work on Stranger Things.  I do think her range is probably a bit limited, but when she has roles in that range, she's so good. 

[Bruinsfan]

I used to love Ryder from Beetlejuice onward, but then I found out she was responsible for inserting all the extraneous love story crap between Mina Murray and the title character in Bram Stoker's Dracula. That burned up all the brownie points she'd earned from me and then some.

[methodwriter85]

On 8/21/2016 at 0:32 PM, Princess Sparkle said:

I'm so glad she's getting recognized again for her work on Stranger Things.  I do think her range is probably a bit limited, but when she has roles in that range, she's so good. 

I think of Wynona Ryder as like the Gen X answer to Kristen Stewart. K-Stew is so limited, but she can be really good within those limitations. (The Runaways, Adventureland, etc.)

I do wonder if the Godfather Part III wouldn't have been received so badly if she had played the daughter like she was supposed to have done, instead of Sophia Coppola. I haven't seen the movie, but her performance is apparently so bad that it was what made her (correctly) decide to be behind the camera.

It is really cool how Netflix has resurrected a lot of careers.

[UYI]

On 8/22/2016 at 8:13 PM, methodwriter85 said:

I think of Wynona Ryder as like the Gen X answer to Kristen Stewart. K-Stew is so limited, but she can be really good within those limitations. (The Runaways, Adventureland, etc.)

I do wonder if the Godfather Part III wouldn't have been received so badly if she had played the daughter like she was supposed to have done, instead of Sophia Coppola. I haven't seen the movie, but her performance is apparently so bad that it was what made her (correctly) decide to be behind the camera.

It is really cool how Netflix has resurrected a lot of careers.

Sorry, I know it's nit picky, but it's Winona Ryder. No extra "y". :)

(And actually, it's Sofia Coppola.)

And I do wonder what would have happened had WR appeared in GFIII instead, too, even without having seen it. For that matter, Rebecca Schaeffer was set to audition for that role the day she was murdered.

[NutMeg]

What is GFIII?

[Wiendish Fitch]

11 minutes ago, NutMeg said:

What is GFIII?

The Godfather III.

[NutMeg]

Of couse it it! Thank you, Wiendish Fitch!

[JBC344]

I don't find K-Stew and Winona to be similar at all.  I say this as someone who really likes Kristen Stewart and find a lot of the hate she receives to be totally unwarranted (not saying your throwing hate). With Winona I find that she displays a lot more charm in her performances.  They seem to get labeled as dark and moody but I also found her earlier roles to be a realistic portrayal of teens/young adult; dark, moody, funny, exasperated, charming, smart, etc.

[millennium]

I never had any use for Winona Ryder.   Still don't.   I started watching Stranger Things, then stopped cold after a couple episodes, I think because of Winona Ryder.   Overrated, undertalented, frequently inserted in movies where she never belonged (Alien Resurrection, etc).  She must have had a hell of an agent, or a powerful relative, or both.  

When will Seth Rogen fade away? 

[Cobalt Stargazer]

On 8/22/2016 at 7:13 PM, methodwriter85 said:

I do wonder if the Godfather Part III wouldn't have been received so badly if she had played the daughter like she was supposed to have done, instead of Sophia Coppola. I haven't seen the movie, but her performance is apparently so bad that it was what made her (correctly) decide to be behind the camera.

I've seen all three Godfather movies, and yes, Sofia Coppola was particularly awful in the third installment. I actually laughed out loud when

her character, Mary Corleone, gets shot when her father was supposed to be the target

because she was just that terrible as an actress.

I'm looking forward to seeing what else Sofia Boutella does in the future. My lingering feelings about Anton Yelchin's untimely death have kept me away from Star Trek Beyond thus far, but Boutella has a couple of things in the works, and I'd like to see her do well.

[amaranta]

I've read back five pages in the thread, so am hoping I'm not repeating.

I think Michael B. Jordan is the real deal and, if he makes good choices, could have a long career and is likely to win an Oscar at some point.  And when I say long career, I  mean Denzel or Tom Hanks long; he's already more of a character actor than many his age.

As for Jennifer Lawrence, I think her career so far has involved a lot of luck.  First, that her start was in a bad sitcom and it was quickly cancelled so she wasn't trapped in a long TV contract.  Second;  getting the Hunger Games franchise.  So far she is making good role decisions, but I'm still unsure of her range.  And I didn't get the Oscar nomination for Joy at all.  She's a time will tell story to me.

[slf]

16 hours ago, millennium said:

I never had any use for Winona Ryder.   Still don't.   I started watching Stranger Things, then stopped cold after a couple episodes, I think because of Winona Ryder.   Overrated, undertalented, frequently inserted in movies where she never belonged (Alien Resurrection, etc).  She must have had a hell of an agent, or a powerful relative, or both. 

When will Seth Rogen fade away?

I never got the hoopla over Ryder. She worked in some of her earlier roles but around Little Women she started to show her limitations, imo. She's one of those actors who has a distinctive (in her case croaky) voice but never learned to work with it so I can never forget it's Winona Ryder. She can give such wooden deliveries too. It's always bothered me how defensive her posture is, even in roles that don't call for it at all.

Rogen isn't a dramatic actor and even as a comedic actor he lacks versatility, and has been hit-or-miss with critics. I mean, so long as he's friends with Apatow, writes his own stuff, and can get the studios to back him he's going to have a career but I think in about ten years he's going to start having serious problems. His schlubby everyman schtick is getting tired and he's bound to be replaced. Though maybe I'm letting my dislike for him cloud my judgement.

[dusang]

On 8/28/2016 at 5:03 PM, amaranta said:

As for Jennifer Lawrence, I think her career so far has involved a lot of luck.  First, that her start was in a bad sitcom and it was quickly cancelled so she wasn't trapped in a long TV contract.  Second;  getting the Hunger Games franchise.  So far she is making good role decisions, but I'm still unsure of her range.  And I didn't get the Oscar nomination for Joy at all.  She's a time will tell story to me.

I think being cast in Winter's Bone was JLaw's greatest piece of luck.  It generated a lot of buzz for her, including her first Oscar nom.  And, although I admit I haven't seen it, what I have seen of her "award worthy performance" suggests to me that she played a role that required blank stoicism very well, thus masking the fact that blank stoicism is really all she can do.  It's kind of like how Keanu Reeves is great in movies where he's required to be confused and/or emotionless.

[Athena]

On 2016-08-30 at 9:39 AM, dusang said:

I think being cast in Winter's Bone was JLaw's greatest piece of luck.  It generated a lot of buzz for her, including her first Oscar nom.  And, although I admit I haven't seen it, what I have seen of her "award worthy performance" suggests to me that she played a role that required blank stoicism very well, thus masking the fact that blank stoicism is really all she can do.

I was impressed with Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone. She has a raw style to her acting which is great for characters who are put into extreme situations in that role and the Hunger Games. The two characters are very alike so I was not surprised at all when she got cast. Since then, I see how limiting her range is and her other weaknesses as an actor. A large part of Lawrence's appeal and star trajectory is how funny and honest is she is interviews, she taps into that particular demographic and as a ingenue, she was considered refreshing. Hollywood really took to that. Maybe too much.

[raezen]

10 hours ago, dusang said:

I think being cast in Winter's Bone was JLaw's greatest piece of luck.  It generated a lot of buzz for her, including her first Oscar nom.  And, although I admit I haven't seen it, what I have seen of her "award worthy performance" suggests to me that she played a role that required blank stoicism very well, thus masking the fact that blank stoicism is really all she can do.  It's kind of like how Keanu Reeves is great in movies where he's required to be confused and/or emotionless.

No doubt. I just saw Winter's Bone recently  (it's also a really great book too, incidently) and it is a good film definitely, and she does a good job, and it also could be seen as a audition for The Hunger Games. Maybe seeing it after The Hunger Games is what leaves me a little less in love with the performance then a person who saw it when they could have said "Jennifer Who?"

Edited August 31, 2016 by raezen

[pivot]

I think her acting in Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle and Joy shows that she is anything but limited. There's a reason she is the most acclaimed actress of her generation. She has great range and has a real ability to elevate sub-par scripts. 

[methodwriter85]

The thing is, right now, it looks like people go to movies that she's in. As long as that keeps happening, they'll keep giving her work.

[Chas411]

After watching Terminator Genisys last night...

Jai Courtney - I can't decide what I think of him. He's a non entity in Suicide Squad and could be considered a movie curse considering any franchise he's part of bombs but after watching him in the Terminator reboot I think there's potential there. I blame bad writing and the miscasting of Sarah Connor for the failure of he film more then I blame him..

Emilia Clarke - horrendously miscast in Terminator. Great in Game of Thrones but kind of overacts in everything else I've seen her in..

[JBC344]

11 hours ago, pivot said:

I think her acting in Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle and Joy shows that she is anything but limited. There's a reason she is the most acclaimed actress of her generation. She has great range and has a real ability to elevate sub-par scripts. 

I think the "limited actress" criticism, for which I agree with on a lot of levels comes from the fact that Jennifer has been the benefit of playing "outrageous, temperamental, "crazy", loose cannons".  Nothing wrong with that necessarily but there is a definite pattern in the roles that she takes. These roles tend to be very "showy, look at how I display rage with no filter" performances. Women who are put in extreme situations and have to fight there way out.  In her roles where she is required to be more subtle and nuanced she hasn't done as well.  She also benefits from her partnership with David O. Russell who casts her as these voracious women.  That is why a lot of people may feel that the real test to her acting chops is what she has upcoming because it won't rely on a franchise (Hunger Games, X-Men) or a David O. Russell film.

Now with that said I find Jennifer to be a good actress and I think she deserved the Oscar for SLP, but that doesn't mean that she isn't limited in a lot of ways.  And with all due respect to Jennifer she herself has admitted that she is limited in a lot of ways.  She did an interview during American Hustle I believe where she admits that she is still learning the craft of acting and that she doesn't have a proverbial set of tools that she sees others actors use when she is on set with them.  Because she hasn't had any formal training she can feel at a disadvantage in certain roles.

To me that was the most honest self examination that I have ever heard from an actor and I respected her more for her honesty.

[dusang]

2 hours ago, JBC344 said:

I think the "limited actress" criticism, for which I agree with on a lot of levels comes from the fact that Jennifer has been the benefit of playing "outrageous, temperamental, "crazy", loose cannons".  Nothing wrong with that necessarily but there is a definite pattern in the roles that she takes. These roles tend to be very "showy, look at how I display rage with no filter" performances. Women who are put in extreme situations and have to fight there way out.  In her roles where she is required to be more subtle and nuanced she hasn't done as well.  She also benefits from her partnership with David O. Russell who casts her as these voracious women.  That is why a lot of people may feel that the real test to her acting chops is what she has upcoming because it won't rely on a franchise (Hunger Games, X-Men) or a David O. Russell film.

Now with that said I find Jennifer to be a good actress and I think she deserved the Oscar for SLP, but that doesn't mean that she isn't limited in a lot of ways.  And with all due respect to Jennifer she herself has admitted that she is limited in a lot of ways.  She did an interview during American Hustle I believe where she admits that she is still learning the craft of acting and that she doesn't have a proverbial set of tools that she sees others actors use when she is on set with them.  Because she hasn't had any formal training she can feel at a disadvantage in certain roles.

To me that was the most honest self examination that I have ever heard from an actor and I respected her more for her honesty.

I've also heard her say that David O. Russell thinks "screaming" and "acting" are synonymous - which seems to work for the Academy but I find absolutely tedious. And personally, I despised everything about SLP, including her performance.

[ruby24]

12 hours ago, dusang said:

I've also heard her say that David O. Russell thinks "screaming" and "acting" are synonymous - which seems to work for the Academy but I find absolutely tedious. And personally, I despised everything about SLP, including her performance.

She said that? Wow, if that's true I'll give her some points for self-awareness, because I can't stop thinking that whenever I watch any of his movies.

I pretty much agree with Jennifer Lawrence's lack of range. To me it seems she has two notes- the screaming and the blank stoicism. I also think she's mostly been REALLY lucky with the franchise stuff. That's the difference between someone like her and say, Julia Roberts back in her day, where it was obvious that it was her and her personality in her movies that drew people in and made her a star. Now the franchise makes the name.

I wonder how Passengers is going to turn out.

[gator12]

Passengers as of right now will open a week after Star Wars, that stupid scheduling to me.

[JessePinkman]

1 hour ago, gator12 said:

Passengers as of right now will open a week after Star Wars, that stupid scheduling to me.

And it doesn't even have a trailer yet, which is insane in this age of teaser trailers for teaser trailers. They're lucky that the movie stars two of the biggest stars in the world right now in Lawrence and Chris Pratt.

[raezen]

Eventually, the studios will have the same realization they did after the 90's; names don't guarantee box office anymore. Supposedly Joy made some money but not SLP'S or AH money. And it cost a lot to make for a little domestic that didn't travel well overseas. That part really surprised me considering how famous Jennifer Lawrence is abroad with The Hunger Games. It benefitted greatly from being PG13 with a Christmas Day release and a ton of marketing. 

Technology is mostly to blame. It's made everyone's home a private theatre and simultaneously everyone is becoming a 'celebrity'.

Edited September 1, 2016 by raezen

[gator12]

2 hours ago, JessePinkman said:

And it doesn't even have a trailer yet, which is insane in this age of teaser trailers for teaser trailers. They're lucky that the movie stars two of the biggest stars in the world right now in Lawrence and Chris Pratt.

I'll gave you Lawrence but Chris Pratt, nah. No one went to see Jurassic Park and Guardian of the Galaxy b/c of him.

Passengers have a big potential to be a flop. A space drama with what sounds like a creepy romance competing directly against one the biggest space drama around. Like what are they thinking? They should have release it on October like Gravity and The Martian were or save it for the summer of 2017.

[topanga]

22 hours ago, dusang said:

I've also heard her say that David O. Russell thinks "screaming" and "acting" are synonymous - which seems to work for the Academy but I find absolutely tedious. And personally, I despised everything about SLP, including her performance.

Me, too. I thought SLP--and Jennifer Lawrence--were over-hyped. But the screaming comment reminds me of Al Pacino, who used to be an incredibly nuanced actor--Godfather II, Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico. Even Scarface, where he screamed a lot, still required him to portray a character who evolved from a wide-eyed Cuban immigrant to a manic drug king-pin. So why does he scream so much now? Why does he always scream, even when his lines of dialogue don't call for it? 

[JessePinkman]

1 hour ago, gator12 said:

I'll gave you Lawrence but Chris Pratt, nah. No one went to see Jurassic Park and Guardian of the Galaxy b/c of him.

2

I disagree, Jurassic World's success was partially because he was coming off of the success of Guardians. He became the new "It" boy (even though he's nearly 40 and no boy).

[gator12]

I don't agree with that, people would have gone seen Jurassic World even if he wasn't in it. It was all about the Dinosaurs and nostalgia.