My recent introduction into "vs" movies was "Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus," and I have to say I am hungry for more. This looks spectacular. #dinocrocvssupergator
We need a series of movies that put "land" infront of underwater creatures.. Landlobster, landshark, landwhale.. Please continue. #dinocrocvssupergator
Annalee, aren't you tired of cheaply-CGI'd giant predator movies following the same Jaws-derivative story arc? If it's not a snake or a dino-croc-o-saur, or a bear or a hybrid lemur-bat-landshark, they all use the same interchangeable characters:
1) The dim-witted Polyanna mayor ignoring the evidence, lest it spoil the local vacation business development
2) The unscrupulous industrialist or military scientist who causes the problem by dumping toxic chemicals in the water supply
3) The unscrupulous real estate developer who covers up the evidence
4) The hottie biologist spouting pseudo-scientific gibberish who ends up heroically saving the town / base or ship by teaming up with the only man who will listen:
5) Sargent I-work-alone who has a problem with authority - but is the best of the best, and medal of honor winner almost booted out of the Special Forces / State Troopers / Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Lazy Writers.
@BadUncle: I am not tired of it. Because a giant monster makes everything good. I would watch one of those annoying yogurt commercials with the women in yoga outfits widening their eyes freakishly as they check out the calories on the yogurt boxes if a dinocroc came into the picture and ate somebody. #dinocrocvssupergator
I love #4... the guy is screaming and looking high above the head of the GIANT ALLIGATOR ABOUT TO BITE HIS HEAD OFF. It's like the director was all, ok, act scared, look up, scream. good.
Just got finished reading the post where everyone complains about the marketing for The Fourth Kind, now we're all mad at the marketing for this film too? These are commercials we're talking about here still, right? I know they do play a role in the way people consume media to an extent, but it really has nothing to do with the thing itself. The people who make the two -- the film etc and the marketing -- often have competing goals, don't interact, don't share the same artistic mindset etc. Since when did this become sci fi Adbusters over here? #jennifersbody
In any case, it's more than a little disgenuous to talk about how this movie was sold, considering that Io9 cheerfully played up the sexy aspects of the movie.
The movies that have been surprise successes this year - District 9, Zombieland, Paranormal Activity, even Where The Wild Things Are - have one thing in common: pitch-perfect trailers. I agree that the material for jennifer's Body did not make me want to see it. But I don't know if selling it as Heathers with gore would have been any better. You can't make a cult movie on purpose, #jennifersbody
@Wookie1972: You know, this movie SHOULD have appealed to women. It is, in part, a revenge fantasy. But I wasn't getting that from the advertising. It should have appealed the way Heathers appealed. #jennifersbody
@tammygarrison: I guess my point about Heathers was that it's very, very difficult to promote a movie as a cult movie, if not impossible. #jennifersbody
If Megan Fox wasn't such a bad actress the movie would have been much better, but I would hardly call it smart. It was barely a horror movie, every time she killed a boy it would move away, the movie should have been PG-13 for not having nearly enough blood and guts. #jennifersbody
I'm sorry, but I call into question the entire concept of this and the previous article. It claimed that more women than men watch horror movies. Now, I have asked several women who are hardcore moviegoers in general and genre film fans in particular if they were going to see Paranormal Activity, a relatively mild (in terms of gore, anyway) horror movie. To a person they said they "don't like that kind of movie." I realize that this is an unscientific survey that I'm doing, but it seems to me that the female audience for horror movies is being greatly exagerrated here. #jennifersbody
@Wookie1972: I think the point was that the movie itself was more of a woman's tale.. Not necessarily that more women watch horror movies... #jennifersbody
@burlybax: I was referring to the previous article ("did stupid marketing kill Jennifer's Body?"), and, actually, it said that very thing, It based it on statistics about five movies and some anecdotal evidence, and was not very convincing, IMHO. #jennifersbody
@Wookie1972: I read the same article, and I think the facts about women and scary movies was being used to back up her point that the movie was aimed at women, and therefore poorly marketed. No offense, but I would take her statistics over the asked some friends method.. May be exaggerated, but still, I think her intentions were to point out that the movie is more relatable for women.. That was just my take.. #jennifersbody
@Wookie1972: The statistics I referenced were from an analysis of gender and actual box office receipts, which was reported in Entertainment Weekly (I provided a link to that article in my post). #jennifersbody
@Annalee Newitz: Again, however, the article only cites three movies (The Grudge, The Ring 2, and Exorcism of Emily Rose) with female leads, and provides only anecdotal evidence about the others. It hardly warrants the idea that horror is a genre where the audeince is predominately female. #jennifersbody
"If the marketing droids at Fox had just been smart enough to realize that the movie was aimed at women - not unlike most horror movies"
I still say that's questionable. And I freely admit that my own survey was unscientific. But the fact is that I've known more women to reject horror movies out of hand, and more men to be the first in line when the latest Saw comes out. (Heck, one girl who has a serious love of zombies said that she didn't like horror movies). I think the idea that somehow it's a no-brainer that horror is a genre with a mostly female audience is, well, pushing it. #jennifersbody
@Wookie1972: I just want to say that when I ask my own female friends about horror movies, all but one love the genre, and two of them actually prefer the horror genre over any other.
Does that mean my anecdotal, non-evidence based experiences nullify your own anecdotal, non-evidence based experiences?
Horray for mindlessly "proving" your point by asking your friends as opposed to using statistical samples and surveys. I think I'll trust actual data over your anecdotal rantings. #jennifersbody
@Mann42: And again, I point out, the original article referred to a sample of exactly FOUR FILMS. Three of which had female leads (I dunno, does Jessica Biel count for Texas Chainsaw Massacre). The original article could not exactly be called statistically valid. In any case, the article was about how it was a surprise that women watch horror movies. It seems churlish to say "stupid marketers, everybody knows more women watch horror movies." #jennifersbody
@Shaftoe: As it seems for a lot of people, which is why I admitted it was unscientific. My point was that the somehow common knowledge that more women watch horror movies seems to be... less than common.
I'm not completely surprised if it's true. I work at a bookstore and the readership of true crime books is definitely more female. My point was that 1) the statistics quoted in the article seemed a little inconclusive and 2) in any case, it's hardly common knowledge. Maybe marketing people sh0uld know better, but i don't know for sure. #jennifersbody
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It's hitting SyFy in January I'm told. #dinocrocvssupergator
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1) The dim-witted Polyanna mayor ignoring the evidence, lest it spoil the local vacation business development
2) The unscrupulous industrialist or military scientist who causes the problem by dumping toxic chemicals in the water supply
3) The unscrupulous real estate developer who covers up the evidence
4) The hottie biologist spouting pseudo-scientific gibberish who ends up heroically saving the town / base or ship by teaming up with the only man who will listen:
5) Sargent I-work-alone who has a problem with authority - but is the best of the best, and medal of honor winner almost booted out of the Special Forces / State Troopers / Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Lazy Writers.
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umm ... please tell me that's in a real movie and what the title is so i can watch it. #dinocrocvssupergator
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zing. #dinocrocvssupergator
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IS THERE NO JUSTICE IN THE WORLD!?!?!? #dinocrocvssupergator
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The movies that have been surprise successes this year - District 9, Zombieland, Paranormal Activity, even Where The Wild Things Are - have one thing in common: pitch-perfect trailers. I agree that the material for jennifer's Body did not make me want to see it. But I don't know if selling it as Heathers with gore would have been any better. You can't make a cult movie on purpose, #jennifersbody
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Pretty sure I enjoyed it more than I'd like this movie, though. #jennifersbody
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Does the name of the day end in "y"? #jennifersbody
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"If the marketing droids at Fox had just been smart enough to realize that the movie was aimed at women - not unlike most horror movies"
I still say that's questionable. And I freely admit that my own survey was unscientific. But the fact is that I've known more women to reject horror movies out of hand, and more men to be the first in line when the latest Saw comes out. (Heck, one girl who has a serious love of zombies said that she didn't like horror movies). I think the idea that somehow it's a no-brainer that horror is a genre with a mostly female audience is, well, pushing it. #jennifersbody
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Does that mean my anecdotal, non-evidence based experiences nullify your own anecdotal, non-evidence based experiences?
Horray for mindlessly "proving" your point by asking your friends as opposed to using statistical samples and surveys. I think I'll trust actual data over your anecdotal rantings. #jennifersbody
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I'm not completely surprised if it's true. I work at a bookstore and the readership of true crime books is definitely more female. My point was that 1) the statistics quoted in the article seemed a little inconclusive and 2) in any case, it's hardly common knowledge. Maybe marketing people sh0uld know better, but i don't know for sure. #jennifersbody