Why didn't Three Billboards do better in the box office?

@therealjrn I was careful not to include any. It wasn’t what I expected, it was so much better. That’s all you get. Now go see it.

@RiotDemon That’s true- I thought the trailers were cool, but they really didn’t do it justice

@Pantheist
Never heard if it till thus moment.

Is this release a limited “nomination-eligibility” release? They may expect the traffic after the 1st.

I think maybe some other film kinda opened and sucked all the O2?

@f00l it was released on november 10th, but had a slow roll out. It was pretty much everywhere the first weekend of December, but it’s already pretty difficult to find anywhere now.

@Pantheist

Maybe they should have done a limited oscar-release now and then waited till Jan to go wide.

I dunno.

If it’s a good, serious, well-made well-written film, that could be reason enough for zero attention to be paid.

@f00l True. If you want I can tell you about it privately, but if I were you I’d just go see it. It’s great.

@sammydog01 I kept screening it there because of the cast and who made it. Didn’t help me any either.

Agreed, if @Al_Coholic had heard of Three Billboards and thought the title was interesting it would have been an unmitigated box office success.

@Al_Coholic Well now you have, no more excuses.

@elimanningface Exactly. I am the most powerful moviegoer ever.

But seriously, the reason I have never heard of it is because I never saw any ads for it, never heard anyone talk about it before now. And if I haven’t it stands to reason that a lot of other people likely haven’t either.

@Pantheist Actually if you check out my second sentence that is my excuse. The title sounds so boring that I’m not even compelled to look this movie up to see what it’s about.

@Al_Coholic your loss

@Al_Coholic Here you go.

@Pantheist and theirs.

@Al_Coholic Not a great title.
I think mentioning ninjas or spaceships or unicorns would have helped the title.

@daveinwarsh Yeah it probably would have. Or dinosaurs. Lots of people like those.

@Al_Coholic I love dinosaurs.

@elimanningface I’m betting on the first one but time will tell.

@sammydog01 I saw maybe eight movies last year so I have a large enough sample size to reasonably conclude Thor: Ragnarok will win everything.

@elimanningface Interesting. I thought the complications were the reason it was so good.

@Pantheist, @sammydog01 - did either of you see Thor: Ragnarok? They re-released Three Billboards in the theaters. I’ve now seen both. I enjoyed both but I thought Thor was better.

@elimanningface I saw most of Thor-had to leave a few minutes early. I liked it but it probably would have been better if I had seen any other Thor movies. I preferred Three Billboards.

@elimanningface I don’t like comparing movies, there’s so little in common between them. I did enjoy the violence and abs in Thor a great deal more than in Three Billboards, but the latter was more emotionally engaging. I’m glad I saw both.

I know @sammydog01 is a lady and may I assume you are too, @moondrake? At the risk of sounding sexist (so likely this will be a sexist comment), I think women probably enjoyed Three Billboards more then men. A strong female lead surrounded by men with serious character flaws. Mildred had her flaws (the drinking, quick tempered, etc) but they seemed overshadowed while you couldn’t ignore those of the men (Chief Peters (minor character) and Robbie (though a semi-major character, I thought they effeminated him during the bar pool game scene…even though I am pretty sure he was straight or at least bisexual since he was checking out his coworker in the early scene)) being exceptions).

I am with you @moondrake, I thought both movies were great and worth the ten or so bucks for admission.

@elimanningface Yes, female, and quite a fan of Hemsworth’s fine form. As for strong female leads, while I approve of the trend as social progress, they don’t increase or decrease my enjoyment of films or books. I like men. I like looking at attractive male characters, generally while they kick ass and blow shit up.

I felt like all the major characters in 3 Billboards were deeply flawed, her no less than the men, in some ways even more so. Her towering rage was in large part displacement of her guilt at her own part in events. Yet each of them found their own measure of grace in the end.

@moondrake hmm…no. Willoughby I can understand. He had pancreatic cancer and unfortunately that usually means death within months because identifying it early, and treating it once identified is difficult because of it’s location. Mildred and Dixon reverted to primal behavior after the viewer started to see some appreciable growth in each. Maybe that is the appeal, that they are real human beings who have difficulties in actualizing and achieving their full potential.

Thor did. The movie told us so (sorry Sammy, it was in the last five minutes you missed).

@elimanningface NOOOO! I missed an important plot point? Oh well. Like I said starting somewhere in the middle of the Thor saga was not really a good idea- I wouldn’t have gone to see it except for MoviePass. I actually paid cash to take my teen to Three Billboards. I enjoyed the characters. And I liked the ending- sort of up to interpretation.

@moondrake I do like me some Hemsworth (either one will do).

@pitamuffin

@sligett

@hems79 Here’s more detail:

http://vnrc.org/resources/community-planning-toolbox/tools/billboard-and-sign-control/

@Lighter Neither am I. I did not find any of the violence funny. It was profoundly sad to me. And I must say that every violent scene serves a narrative purpose and, while there’s supposed to be a certain dark humor for the audience in some of the violent scenes, the characters generally react in very human and humane ways, sometimes surprisingly so. It is compassionate in unexpected ways. What I found funny-sad were the complex relationships between the characters, especially McDormand and Harrelson. Unless you just can’t tolerate the violence, which some people cannot, I really recommend the film.

Showing violence is a director/writer choice. There are other choices which might require more work on behalf of the director/writer. The actors in this movie are certainly capable of acting those other choices. Nevertheless, this will be on my BooRay buy-list because it will be an important movie. Playing a BooRay - I can exercise my choices.

@RiotDemon smuggle in a can of Coke- I saw someone else do it

@sammydog01 I’m already going to smuggle in a bag of sour patch kids. What am I? Some kind of rebel?

@RiotDemon one.

Jesus. This movie made me sad.

@RiotDemon Aw, didn’t like it?

@Pantheist very mixed emotions. Terrible human beings in this. I cried a lot. I wasn’t a fan of the open ending.

I cried, too, especially for woody harrelson, though I get his decisions and I loved how he managed to influence everyone throughout the film, like the weird sisters in Macbeth.

I loved the ending. Things don’t really get resolved, but everyone grows a little. That’s life. Few things end cleanly and it’s hard to move past your flaws.

Perhaps that realism is part of what makes it such a polarizing film. People don’t usually go to the movies to see life in its unpolished, open-ended, raw state. They often go to escape from life, which is important, too, but I don’t think that’s what this movie was meant for.

I loved every moment of it. Every part of the film and all of its characters felt real and flawed and wonderful, even if nothing was truly resolved. I thought it was refreshing to see something end messy. I’ve got Jane Austen for tidy endings.

While Three Billboards is not a something I’d watch over and over again when I’m battling insomnia, I still think it’s one of the best films I’ve ever seen. I loved watching the characters deal with guilt and grief and rage. I loved watching them find themselves, forgive others, and struggle with the best and worst parts of their natures.

This movie made me laugh, cry, and cringe. I’m happy to have seen it.

I wish I had recorded the rest of @PolkSaladAnnie’s response about how great this was, but I guess the post here will have to do for the rest of you.

@PolkSaladAnnie

We would like to hear more of your thoughts on all sorts of topics.

And we would like cookies.

@f00l She laughed, then said, “No.” And then she drank more rum. (She added that last part- I think it’s a hint for me)

@Pantheist

Follow the hint. Follow the rum.

@RiotDemon I enjoyed the open ending- you get to decide how it ended. I went with happy.

@sammydog01 What would a happy ending be in this case?

@PolkSaladAnnie I think they had a little trip with some nice bonding time and didn’t murder anyone.

@Pantheist
@PolkSaladAnnie

Did she say:

“No” to cookies?
Or, “no” to thoughts?

I want the thoughts way way more.

@f00l Well, I can try to drum up some thoughts, but you’re not getting the recipe for the cookies.

@PolkSaladAnnie

I wasn’t asking for the recipe. Just the finished product.

But I still want the thoughts more.

@sammydog01 You have an interesting interpretation of happy, though I suppose your ending is the least damaging for everyone involved.

@f00l send @pantheist your address and I will make you cookies.

I’ll send some thoughts with it.

@PolkSaladAnnie C O O K I E S ! ! ! ! ! ! !

@PolkSaladAnnie

Ahhhhhh. Thoughts and cookies!

I’m feeling as much anticipatory bliss as @Pavlov and @MrsPavlov feel when they are “getting along well together”.

@Pavlov

Now those look tasty.

Q for the knowledgeable:

If I ever go near weed again:
how does one avoid being instantly and thoroughly wasted way past any possibility of attempted rationality?

@f00l If you are that high you won’t care nor will you remember, so therefore the question is moot. Plus, one can never be too high. Therefore also, the question is moot.

I am of course meaning moot in the mid-19th century sort of way when people began to look at the hypothetical side of moot as its essential meaning and they began to use the word to mean “of no significance or relevance.”

@Pavlov

I guess I should attend weedmoot?

: )

Travolti da un insolito destino nell’azzurro mare d’agosto, AKA Swept Away… by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August. The remake, titled simply Swept Away, didn’t do so well at the box office!

Ok, I’m just being difficult. Blame @CaptAmehrican while we still have the chance!

@quieteidolon I Know What You Did Last Summer.

@ACraigL It was my favorite of the academy award nominee films I’ve seen.

@ACraigL @sammydog01

Since I have seen exactly none of them, I guess I’m a little behind.

Ok that star wars thing was prob nominated for cinematography or effects or something. I did see that.

The rest will have to wait until I resume my quest for cinema/video literacy.

Up until the mid-80’s I tried to see everything. Including the art house and foreign stuff.

Then (the already time-sucking) computers and digital stuff and unread books took over the remainder of my attention span (as attempted-blockbusters took over and ate the theaters). And I quit bothering. Now I’m film-illiterate. This is a source of shame. Minor shame. : (