skillzdadirecta Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 Ouch. ‘Amsterdam’ Stands To Lose Nearly $100 Million: What This Means For Upscale Movies DEADLINE.COM 'Amsterdam' Stands To Lose Near $100 Million: What This Means For Upscale Movies Again... Ouch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bacon Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 Never even heard of this but I also never hear about almost any movies these days. Guess that's what happens when you don't watch tv and have UBO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greatoneshere Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 It's a shame, this is a David O. Russell film (Spanking the Monkey, Flirting with Disaster, Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees, The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, Joy) but it's been getting wrecked by critics and audiences alike. Apparently it's just not that good a movie. I love all his other films (except American Hustle, which was forgettable, and Joy, which I haven't seen) but he's become a bit of a toothless filmmaker since Silver Linings Playbook, and that's a shame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Air_Delivery Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 Didn't help that it got terrible reviews. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercury33 Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 What is an “upscale” movie? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLeon Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 6 hours ago, Mercury33 said: What is an “upscale” movie? I think they mean expensive, non-franchise movies aimed at adults. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwinIon Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 The article hardly addresses the headline, but it doesn't matter because it's a stupid headline. This year we've had The Woman King, Everything Everywhere, Where the Crawdads Sing, and Elvis, all being more adult focused films that had various levels of success. The article also mentions how the budget went from $50M to $80M thanks to Covid moving the production location. That's a huge cost increase that this film faced right out of the gate through no fault of its' own. On the other hand, you can very much blame the film for being bad. I went to see it as a fan of most of O. Russell's other films, but this one wore me down. It takes some big leaps, but doesn't land any of them. The performances feel almost at odds with each other. The language is off-beat enough to be grating at times, without the whimsy I think it's aiming for. It's a film that wallows in it's own self-importance, but can't justify it. My screening on opening night was mostly empty, and a couple patrons left in the middle. It's no surprise to me that both audiences and critics panned it, and seeing it bomb at the box office seemed inevitable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skillzdadirecta Posted October 11, 2022 Author Share Posted October 11, 2022 18 minutes ago, TwinIon said: It's a film that wallows in it's own self-importance, but can't justify it. I've found that that is MOST of O' Russell's films to be honest. I only like maybe one or two films he's made. I'll never forget seeing him talk live back in the day after a screening of I Heart Huckabees. He was such a self important blowhard. Plus I've heard he's a dick on set. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 4 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said: Plus I've heard he's a dick on set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skillzdadirecta Posted October 11, 2022 Author Share Posted October 11, 2022 9 minutes ago, sblfilms said: Yeah this incident and another one on that same set. Also when George Clooney decked him for being abusive to an extra on the set of Three Kings. Fuck that guy for real. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 My wife and I were going to venture to the theater to watch it since she likes these type of movies. Unfortunately, we are old and decided the 9:35pm start time was too late and we watched HGTV instead. #Oldaf 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greatoneshere Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 David O. Russell is a pretty bad guy - he allegedly assaulted his trans niece as well. But I always separate the art from the artist, and I can admit I've loved most of his films (like Mel Gibson, Roman Polanski, Woody Allen, and so on). Dude's got problems though and should be held accountable, like anyone should be, good artist or not. 'Amsterdam' Constantly Reminds the Viewer of David O. Russell's Abhorrent Behavior COLLIDER.COM David O. Russell's behavior makes a bad movie downright insulting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CayceG Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 I read this article the other day that I thought was good. Amsterdam, for all its failings, is basically a reimagining of the Smedley Butler/Business Plot story. Did American Business Leaders Really Try to Overthrow the President, Like in Amsterdam? SLATE.COM How David O. Russell’s movie messes around with the story of the Business Plot. The article was written by the guy who wrote about Smedley Butler's story, "Gangsters of Capitalism." His take on what is and isn't factual (and what the movie misses on) in the Butler story is really good. For a history fan, it's neat to see that, but I don't know that that really made for a bad movie. It seems like Russell's other issues are more cause for the movie bombing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 9 minutes ago, CayceG said: I read this article the other day that I thought was good. Amsterdam, for all its failings, is basically a reimagining of the Smedley Butler/Business Plot story. Did American Business Leaders Really Try to Overthrow the President, Like in Amsterdam? SLATE.COM How David O. Russell’s movie messes around with the story of the Business Plot. The article was written by the guy who wrote about Smedley Butler's story, "Gangsters of Capitalism." His take on what is and isn't factual (and what the movie misses on) in the Butler story is really good. For a history fan, it's neat to see that, but I don't know that that really made for a bad movie. It seems like Russell's other issues are more cause for the movie bombing. I saw something about someone complaining about the plot being on the nose re: January 6, but the script would have been finalized before the insurrection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LazyPiranha Posted October 12, 2022 Share Posted October 12, 2022 20 hours ago, Greatoneshere said: David O. Russell is a pretty bad guy - he allegedly assaulted his trans niece as well. But I always separate the art from the artist, and I can admit I've loved most of his films (like Mel Gibson, Roman Polanski, Woody Allen, and so on). Dude's got problems though and should be held accountable, like anyone should be, good artist or not. 'Amsterdam' Constantly Reminds the Viewer of David O. Russell's Abhorrent Behavior COLLIDER.COM David O. Russell's behavior makes a bad movie downright insulting. I find separating the art from the artist to be a cop out most of the time, but I find it especially hard to swallow when the problematic behavior is literally the making of the art in question. It would be different if he made great films and was a terrible husband and father but no, he’s actively abusing and mistreating his actors and crew. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 12, 2022 Share Posted October 12, 2022 That is a meaningful distinction @LazyPiranha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greatoneshere Posted October 12, 2022 Share Posted October 12, 2022 1 hour ago, LazyPiranha said: I find separating the art from the artist to be a cop out most of the time, but I find it especially hard to swallow when the problematic behavior is literally the making of the art in question. It would be different if he made great films and was a terrible husband and father but no, he’s actively abusing and mistreating his actors and crew. I agree - like I said, if he's done things on set that are breaking HR or on set rules or the law or whatever, apply the appropriate responses. But I can't deny I like his films, that's the extent of what I'm saying in terms of art and artist. I mean, I sort of assumed he was fucked up over 20 years ago before all of this came up when he made Spanking the Monkey, which deals with some pretty thorny family potential incest issues (but is a pretty good movie). Flirting with Disaster, his second film, is also very weird and indicates a man probably dealing with some stuff. He said once he found out his young son had developmental disabilities made him a much "softer" person according to him. You can tell because once the third act of Silver Linings Playbook kicks in (this is around the time Russell had his "change"), his films since have become significantly toothless. Sounds like he's still pretty bad in private though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skillzdadirecta Posted October 12, 2022 Author Share Posted October 12, 2022 1 hour ago, LazyPiranha said: It would be different if he made great films and was a terrible husband and father but no, he’s actively abusing and mistreating his actors and crew. That's my biggest issue with him. I mean if this dude was willing to call Lilly Tomlin a cunt in front of everyone imagine what he's capable of doing to a P.A. or a grip or a gaffer. It's the whole reason Clooney stepped to him. The shit we know he's done should have his ass blacklisted but that's another issue in this industry that has gone on far too long without more coverage and action and that's the abuse that people in power heap on the rank and file workers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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