New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

Scott Lumley: I think Jamie succinctly said it better than I could have. The only point he brings up that doesn't really make sense to me is releasing the film in late December so that it can get some awards consideration. I think Jamie is right in his assessment in that this might be the reason for the release date, but there has been little to no Oscar buzz at all for this film so I don't understand why they even went that route.

I'm reminded of the "Full Retard" Discussion from Tropic Thunder when considering this film. I don't think you can go "Full Nazi" and get awards consideration. I've been wrong before when offering opinions, but I just don't think putting a swastika on your shoulder is the best way to nab a little bald gold guy.

Kim Hollis: I've got to agree with Reagen on this one. All of you who are saying this is some sort of disappointment are crazy. This movie had potential disaster written all over it. Seriously, a Nazi history story at Christmas? With Tom Cruise? How the hell are you going to sell that? And yet, somehow, wherever I went, I heard friends and family talking about it, so they did just that.

As for release date, the initial plan might indeed have been for awards consideration. I think the bigger plan in the end was to clean up on the big business that Christmas week can bring with great buzz. The fact that it did so well early on was enough to get a lot of people who might have been on the fence out to see it. Had it been released during the summer or even any other season, it would have been dealing with the drops that instantly come after debut weekend. This way, it can trudge along to a very decent take within only a couple of weeks. Yes, it's up against a massive, massive budget at $95 million. But it's sure not insurmountable and it's sure to be profitable by the time it's all said and done.

Continued:       1       2       3       4       5       6