Movie Year 2017's Headline: More Than A Billion Bucks: The Movie (UK Version) · 8:16pm Dec 19th, 2017
[Published in place of ON THE CHARTS: THEN AND NOW for this week]
Movie Year 2017's Headline:
More Than A Billion Bucks:
The Movie
Summary by Jesse Coffey
2017 was a year full of interesting occurances. Here were its surprises:
- The Emoji Movie was a big hit at the box office despite the critics agreeing with most of the folks who went to see it, and it is possible that the more than $200 million that the movie made on a $50 million budget stemmed from the audiences being curious about it because of its trailer and the fact that it got dislike-bombed heavily. Sony Pictures Animation followed it up with the Star, and while the critics didn't exactly come out of the Christmas picture with their hearts warmed, at least it was able to get better reviews than the Emojis ever did when their movie came out.
- Comic book characters setting box office records. Who'd have thunk it in 2002, when Spider-Man got his own movie? The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the first franchise in Hollywood history to make more than $11 billion. All three of the MCU's 2017 installments opened to over $100 million made domestically and well over $800 million made in total.
- - In terms of franchises, a bad guy (Universal's Despicable Me) made more money than an heroic ogre (DreamWorks' Shrek). It was hard to believe that in 2013. This gives Comcast, who acquired the rights to that ogre upon its purchase of DreamWorks Animation in 2016, an opportunity to beat itself out of the water at the box office, as Comcast is also the owner of Universal Pictures.
- Over $1 billion was made on the year's three highest-grossing films: Beauty at the Beast (#1, Disney BUA0276901), The Fate of the Furious (#2, Universal 831 524 1 for DVD, 831 152 5 for Blu-Ray, 831 232 0 for UHD), and Despicable Me 3 (#3, Universal 831 369 3 for 2-discs, 831 152 9 for single disc, 831 153 0 for regular Blu-Ray, 831 257 4 for 4K UHD). Despicable Me 3 is the 4th highest grossing feature-length cartoon. The trio is comprised of the 10th, 11th and 24th highest-grossing films ever made.
- - A film that isn't from Hollywood is one the year's most successful motion pictures. Wolf Warrior 2 (not yet released on home media in the UK) is Chinese and was directed, written and produced by its star Wu Jing. The film is presented in Mandarin with an occassional English inflection. It was the year's fifth-most-successful picture.
- Disney announced it was acquiring most of the assets of 21st Century Fox; the details of that announcement are best explained elsewhere.
- I'm sure we all have yet to forget about another big story of the film year 2017, the one about the #MeToo movement. The details of the #MeToo movement are also better explained elsewhere, mainly because it started in the movie world then lept its way into other worlds.
In lieu of a real top-10 movie list, which we'll leave to those who actually did see all the pictures that came out during the year, let's explore the relationship between people on Rotten Tomatoes and the average filmgoer, especially since this was a year where that relationship grew ever more curious. The movies with low scores presented here are ONLY the big-budget films or those with high-profile actors and actresses in them; this is so that little known people who made low scored films won't go after me and complained that I cyberbullied them. The policy of Siskel & Ebert was after all was to only go after the big, heavily ballyhood movies on their worst-of shows, and that will be the policy I will stick to.
We will list catalogue numbers for titles thusly, for the benefit of our audiences:
SD: One-disc DVD
DD: Two-disc DVD
BR: Blu-Ray
UD: Ultra HD Blu-Ray
It should be noted they are used if I know the number, which I can get from eBay listings.
MOVIES PANNED BY CRITICS IN 2017
THE BOOK OF HENRY
SD: 831 255 6
Audiences (63%) admired this critically-trashed (at 21%) drama about a young genius trying to rescue a pretty dame from her abusive stepfather.
THE HOUSE
SD: 1000636257 / BR: 1000636258
The trailer made it sound like a win-win situation for critics and for audiences, This comedy is about how mum and dad (recent comedy greats Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler) blew their daughter's college fund and dedicated an area of their basement to an illegally operated casino so that they could recoup their losses. But in the end the picture did not prove to be a source of amusement either for critics (17%) or for audiences (36%).
A FAMILY MAN
SD: GEM0816
Drama film about a Wall Street businessman whose life is put to the test as a conflict grows between his business life (which is quite successful) and his family life. The Gerard Butler vehicle (he co-produced it as well) was panned by critics (13%) but was well-liked by audiences (64%). What is hilarious about this movie is the fact that this movie made NO MONEY AT ALL at the domestic box office. It is funny because it is true. For proof: https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Family-Man-A-(Canada)
THE EMOJI MOVIE
SD: CDR2326 / BR: SBR2326 / UD: SBR2326UV
Despised by both critics (9%) and audiences (40%), this Sony CGI 'toon about a multi-expressional emoji living in a teenager's phone and finding himself still made a ton of cash at the box office. The pitch meeting must have been unbearable for the Sony execs who ended up being the ones to greenlight it:
- Tony Leondis, director: Hello there. I've got a new picture for you to make. It's about pictures.
- Sony exec: Yeah, but what is it about?
- Mr. Leondis: That's what it is about. It's about pictures.
THE LAST FACE
SD: LID95515
According to critics, the one way to tell if a picture failed at Cannes is if everybody booed, heckled, jeered, talked, texted, played games like ANGRY BIRDS and/or made funny faces or sounds during the picture. Last year, that's exactly what happened. Needless to say, this didn't bode well for critics' (5%) or audiences' (36%) viewpoints on the first film to be directed by Sean Penn since 2007's widely hailed INTO THE WILD. [Paramount PHE9425/BSP2105]
THE NUT JOB 2: NUTTY BY NATURE
SD: 1000653497
In the words of the no-longer-awarded Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, this was the sequel nobody was clamoring for. This as can be told from the audience (44%) and critic (9%) scores for the picture.
THE DARK TOWER
SD: CDR3066 / BR: SBR3066 / UD: SBR3066UV
Premiering the week after THE EMOJI MOVIE, and doing no better either with critics (16%) or with audiences (47%), the Stephen King series of novels was viewed as deserving better than these sloppy seconds of unfaithfulness to the source material. It also made a lot of money, $111.8 million at a cost of $60 million.
FLATLINERS
Not yet released on home media in the UK and Ireland.
FLATLINERS was a 1990 cult classic about medical students trying to conduct experiences that almost end in death. FLATLINERS was also a 2017 Ed Wood film in terms of the way critics (5%) and audiences (37%) perceived it. With three failures to please both bases during 2017, it was a rough year for Sony Pictures. Let's hope that 2018 is a better year for that company.
GEOSTORM
Not yet released on home media in the UK and Ireland.
This was a $120 million case of bad timing among critics and audiences (respectively 13% and 41%). In it, satellite designer Gerard Butler tried to save the world from a climate controlling experiment gone wrong in the form of a big storm, and Warner Bros. should have saved the film from being issued so soon (in fact one month) after Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
THE SNOWMAN
Not yet released on home media in the UK and Ireland.
All critics (8%) and audiences (20%) have to say about it is this: stick to the unrelated Raymond Briggs cartoon adaptation of the same name.
ALL EYEZ ON ME
SD: LID95524 / BR: LIB95524UV
A biopic on the life of Tupac Shakur, audiences (54%) were mixed on the movie. There were some excited about this adaptation of the rapper's life story, named for his fourth studio album. There were others, though, who agreed with critics (18%) who felt that if any eyez were to be on the picture, they'd best be blind. No offence.
BAYWATCH
SD: 8311756 / BR: 8311757
Talk about crash and surf! This transition of the TV show to the big screen came across to professional critics (18%) as absolutely painful to complete. Audiences (56%) were a bit more mixed in their opinion.
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: THE LONG HAUL
SD: 8068001000 / BR: 8068007001
This picture puts the WIMPY in DIARY OF A WIMPY KID. That's not just according to audiences (34%) who tweeted #NotMyRodrick when they saw someone else in the lead role, but also according to critics (20%).
RINGS
SD: 8310926 / BR: 8310927
The good news is the poster and DVD cover were correct about evil being reborn. The bad news, according to critics (7%) and audiences (24%), is that evil was reborn in the form of this reboot of the RING franchise.
TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT
SD: 8312287 / BR: 8312288
Audiences and critics must have had one word to describe what they feel is an unneccessary installment of the franchise: "SERIOUSLY?!" The critical score stands at 16% and the audience score at 45%.
CHIPS: LAW AND DISORDER
Undetermined release catalogue numbers.
No one saw this adaptation of one of the most successful television programmes of the 1970s coming . . . or just as quickly going amidst poor notices. (17% critics, 45% audiences)
THE CIRCLE
An impressive cast of distinguished names, Emma Watson and Tom Hanks being in the lead for this one, led the thriller for the digital age into . . . surprisingly no direction at all! Critics (16%) and audiences (22%) dismissed this film.
THE MUMMY
SD: 831 153 1 / BR: 831 153 2 / UD: 831 153 3
It is fun to have fun with this sort of dark universe, but you have to know how. That is the lesson to be learned by Alex Kurtzman about this Tom Cruise headliner, according to critics (16%) and audiences (36%).
FIFTY SHADES DARKER
EXTENDED CUT - SD: 831 092 8 / BR 831 092 9 / UD: 831 093 0
Critics (10%) feel that this, unintentionally, is much funnier than the Marlon Wayans spoof FIFTY SHADES OF BLACK [Signature SIG422] from a year ago. Again, audiences (49%) were mixed.
MOVIES PRAISED BY CRITICS IN 2017
BLADE RUNNER 2049
Not yet released on home media in the UK and Ireland.
A sequel to Ridley Scott's original classic, 81% of the audience and 87% of the critics felt that it was worth the 35-year wait for a sequel about a new blade runner searching for the old one who had been missing for 30 years.
THOR: RAGNAROK
Not yet released on home media in the UK and Ireland.
The best of the series, in the minds of both the audiences (88%) and critics (92%), the movie makes the most of the character, with most praising it for having sense of humor, stellar performances, and an intriguing choice of music for the soundtrack, from the WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY theme to having its score composed by Mark Mothersbaugh, who wrote various pieces for Rugrats and was part of DEVO. Fans say this is an impressive first mainstream Hollywood film directed by indie filmmaker Taika Waititi.
WONDER WOMAN
SD: 1000636263 / BR: 1000636264
What mattered most about this theatrical film debut for the superheroine is not that it has feminist overtones or that the main character is played by an Israeli or that some of the screenings were women-only. Rather, it was the fact of its source material faithfulness, charisma and heart that endeared this WONDER WOMAN to critics (92%) and audiences. (89%)
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, VOL. 2
SD: BUA0274701
Although professional critics feel its a bit of a stepdown from VOL. 1, VOL. 2 still satisfied 83% of them enough to have them give it a positive review. The audience liked it a bit more than the critics, their score standing at 88%.
BABY DRIVER
SD: CDR4277 / BR: SBR4277 / UD: SBR4277UV
In this inovatively choreographed actioner (the actors' movements and actions are in sync with the soundtrack) a young getaway driver and music lover (Ansel Elgort) worked for a kingpin in helping perform several heists alongside seasoned robbers, putting himself and his waitress girlfriend under increasing danger. While at it, he helped give Sony its best marriage between critics (93%) and audiences (86%) during 2017.
IT
Not yet released on home media in the UK and Ireland.
Last seen as a TV miniseries, about seven children in Derry, Maine being terrorized by the eponymous clown and have to face demons of their own, 2017 was the year this 1986 Stephen King novel hit the big screen. It was worth it, to both critics and audiences. The score for both stands at a whopping 85%!
LOGAN
SD: 6978701000 / BR: 6978707001
Both fronts, critical and audience, were satisfied with this last bow for Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. His performance, gritty and nuanced as put by the RT consensus, made this picture what it was.
THE BIG SICK
SD: OPTD4080 / BR: OPTBD4080
A comedy with serious overtones from Amazon Studios, whose films are released through StudioCanal in the UK, follows an interracial couple who must deal with cultural differences after Emily (played by Kazan in the film) becomes ill. 98% of critics enjoyed one of the most successful films of the year, as did 89% of audiences.
GET OUT
SD: 831 151 9 / BR: 831 152 0 / UD: 831 274 3
A horror film from comedian Jordan Peele, it's about a black man who goes to the home of his white girlfriend and encounters black servants of weird mannerism. It was loved by critics (99%) and audiences (87%) not because of its purported politics (unless you're Armond White) but for its being quite the original film. Hats off then to Mr. Peele, a gentleman who apparently is among the few who make it look easy for comedians like him to attempt serious fare - and among the few able to pull it off.
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI
Not yet released on home media in the UK and Ireland.
The eighth installment of the franchise was warmly greeted by critics although audiences (55%) are a bit more mixed. One enthusiastic fan of the Star Wars franchise liked it though, and we have his take on it right here.
DUNKIRK
SD: 1000636255 / BR: 1000636256 / NEW RELEASE IN THE UK AND IRELAND
Critics (92%) and audiences (82%) warmly greeted this story of the Dunkirk evacuation of World War II thanks in part to director Christopher Nolan's bright idea to let the cameras and Hans Zimmer's score do the talking on the all-star cast's behalf. A similar 1958 Ealing Studios film of this name during the year has been made available from StudioCanal [OPTD/OPTBD4052] in light of the Nolan pic.
WONDER
Not yet released on home media in the UK and Ireland.
85% of the critics and 91% of audiences felt this drama about the attempts of child with Treacher Collins syndrome to fit into society more than lived up to its title.
GIRLS TRIP
SD: 831 230 7 / BR: 831 230 8
This 15-cert raunchfest won over critics (89%) and audiences (80%) with the ingenious power of its all-star cast. It depended on Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith, Larenz Tate, and Tiffany Haddish, who makes her film debut in this picture, to carry the story of four friends on a trip to New Orleans to reconnect with each other at a music festival.
SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING
SD: CDR2291 / DD: CDR2291PRE / BR: SBR2291UV
Spider-Man did not need to build a franchise for itself even though he was in the MCU. He just needed to be as colorful and fun as he always came across to his fans. And that's exactly what he did in Reboot No. 2 for the man whose great power came with great responsibility. 92% of the critics like it, and so do 88% of the audience.
STRONGER
Not yet released on home media in the UK and Ireland.
Critics (93%) and audiences (85%) feel that Jake Gyllenhaal carried his all as Jeff Bauman, who lost his legs in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and tries to adjust to his new life. It is rumored that this is coming to home media in the UK and Ireland. Until the rumors are confirmed, a suggestion would be to import the Region A Blu-ray from America provided you have an all-region (ABC) Blu-ray player. It was released today.
Thank you for joining us on our summary of Movie Year 2017. May you have a happy Movie Year 2018.
