After I finished undergrad :P
OOO! You started posting again. lol! yipeee! & I don't know any of the movies on your list... except Tron LOL
lol yeah… I’ll start posting some photography stuff too maybe
Films that should have made more than it did
This is in response to Steve’s blog post: http://movieswithsteve.blogspot.ca/
In the post he talked about the top 10 grossing movies. It kind of made me think what films have done critically well but didn’t follow up with a great box office performance. So I made a list of films that should have made more than it did.
#10: Tron (1982)
Budget $17,000,000
Box office $33,000,000
Probably not the best way to start off my list, but I feel it should be on here. Yes it did make almost double its budget, which is good. But I think it should have made more just because of the breakthrough that it provided in computer-generated imagery for the film industry. It really demonstrated the pinnacle of visual technology for its time and should have exceeded $50 000 000.
#9: Idiocracy (2006)
Budget $2-4 million
Box office $495,303 (original run)
One of Mike Judge’s films (creator of Beavis and Butthead, King of the Hill) about a guy who travels forward in time to a future where everyone’s pretty much an idiot. It’s the kind of humour you’d expect from Judge and although not spectacularly insightful, it does have effectively bring to the light the issue of future generations continually dumbing down due to video games and television.
There was literally no advertising effort behind this film’s release so of course you’re going to expect a low box office return!
#8: Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Budget $30 million
Box office $46.3 million
This was one of Stanley Kubrick’s works (yeah, you heard of him? 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange to name a few…). It’s got laughs, violence, and an exploration into the human psyche during a time of war. R Lee Emery’s performance as the drill sergeant is unforgettable and will leave you with a whole bunch of quotes that you’re going to want to reiterate to all your friends.
Yes the film did make a profit but I felt it should have made more (comparing to the crappy films of today that still somehow manage to make money… I won’t name names). My speculation to why it didn’t do better in the box office is due to its extremely vulgar language and Vietnam war setting, holding potential audience members back from seeing the film.
#7: Office Space (1999)
Budget $10 million
Box office $10,827,810 domestic[1], $2,000,000 international[2], $6,000,000 in DVD and VHS sales[2] since February 12, 2006
Absolutely hilarious film that really just sums up what any average joe employed in a cubicle job goes through… work sucks. The humour in this film has got Mike Judge’s fingerprints all over it and it’s no surprise that this film follows the same sleeper-hit, cult-following patterns as all his other films.
My guess for why it didn’t pull in at the box office… people probably just didn’t get it. Which explains why it reaped in a lot more through home video sales.
#6: What Dreams May Come (1998)
Budget $85 million
Box office $71,485,043
A beautifully artistic film that follows a man’s adventure into the afterlife. The imagery, the imagination, the creativity that is encompassed in this film is truly an awe-inspiring, mind-boggling spectacle for your eyes. This is a film I highly recommend people to watch, if not for the story then for at least the artistry. It won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, so I’m not kidding here when I say beautiful.
For films to do well in the box office they’ve gotta have big names, amazing story, viral marketing, and a franchise behind it. This film had only one of those things… Robin Williams in the starring role, and Cuba Gooding Jr in a very minor role.
#5: Pleasantville (1998)
Budget $60 million
Box office $49,805,462
Like What Dreams May Come, this is an also beautifully artistic film. The film follows a brother and sister who get sucked into the world of a typical 50s black&white sitcom and need to learn how to cope with both their unusual situation and the townsfolk. Randy Newman also provides a beautiful cinematic score for the film, something I listen to on an almost daily basis.
This was a sleeper hit that should have at least earned its budget but failed to do so. They had the star power with young stars like Tobey Mcguire and Reese Witherspoon, along with veterans William H Macy, Jeff Daniels, and TV-favorite Don Knotts. The problem I think here was they just didn’t have the marketing to back up the film’s release.
#4: Donnie Darko (2001)
Budget $4.5 million
Box office $4,116,307
Both Gyllenhaals star in this movie. It’s one of those films that’s a little bit twisted, and kind of makes you think after-the-fact. It’s got one of the most memorable endings in cinematic history, something I won’t spoil for you. You should grab a dvd and find out for yourself ;)
It was released on October, 2001… just a month after the 9/11 attacks. There’s a plane that crashes in the film, and thus the unfortunate timing of the film’s release hurt its box office performance.
#3: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
Budget $6 million
Box office $5,617,391
Fans still call this the greatest batman film ever made (yes even after the release of The Dark Knight… and probably even after the release of Dark Knight Rises). Voiced by the longest-serving (and in my opinion greatest) actor to ever play the caped crusader, Kevin Conroy. Also the visuals are absolutely spectacular, displaying the night landscapes of a dark Gotham City. It’s appeal is certainly comparable to Japan’s anime film, Akira.
Because the film was a spin-off from the TV’s cartoon animated series, it was regarded as a children’s film and thus did not garner the attention that it deserved. It had a dark plot that was probably a little too dark for children and could have made much more with a better marketing effort from Warner Bros. to try and persuade people not to disregard it as a children’s film.
#2: The Iron Giant (1999)
Another potential gold-mine for Warner Bros. to reap in the benefits! But like Batman, Warner Bros also managed to screw this one up. The film had the starpower with Jennifer Aniston, Dustin Hoffman, Patrick Swayze, and they even had Vin Diesel voicing the iron giant himself (granted it was just merely groans, and copying words… probably all that he’s capable of… but still the high-priced Vin Diesel nonetheless). The film also had a heart-warming story between the Iron Giant, a boy he encounters, and the town that he grows an attachment to.
Again like Batman, they did not market this film well in the time of its release. Unfortunate considering its great appeal to people of all ages. It perfectly reflects the times of the story’s setting: the height of the cold-war, a concept that would be better understood by older people than the children the film was released for. This is one of my favourite films of all time, and I highly encourage people to watch it.
#1: The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Budget $25 million
Box office $28,341,469
Do I really need to say anything? If you have not watched this film GO SEE IT NOW! It’s rated #1 on IMDB.com, but even if it wasn’t, it’s still a very, very GOOD film. This is also a rare film where it’s actually better than the book it was based on (Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King in his anthology, Different Seasons). I’ve read the book and I know.
Now, it did make more than it budgeted for, but the reason why it’s #1 on this list is because it should have made so much more AND it should have won Oscars (nominated in seven categories). The reasons why it didn’t do as well as it should was because 1994 was a very difficult year since it was packed with great films and blockbusters such as Forrest Gump, Pulp Fiction, The Lion King, Speed, True Lies, and The Mask. Forrest Gump itself simply overshadowed everybody, making this film an absolute sleeper.
This list only covers movies I’ve watched or know about that hasn’t made more than it should. I hope you found this interesting, and I highly recommend watching the films on this list!
I found this pretty interesting… this was the cover for each Time magazine released in their respective continents for the week of February 27. Look at where the focus of attention is.
The fact that the centre of attention is focused on Kim Jong Un in all the continents except the one where you’d expect he’d receive the most attention considering their proximity to his country of origin is kind of odd. I just find it weird that Asia’s cover is centred on something of minuscule concern, and it just looks odd when juxtaposed with covers dealing with world politics.
It just kind of looks out of place…
I consider The Mission soundtrack to be the best film score of all time. Sorry Hans, try again next time.
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