Conference bookie::movies

Supposedly this is about the "real" dinosaur haven ... the first 
movie focused on the man-made copy of that haven.

>    <<< Note 1247.1 by MRPTH1::16.34.80.132::slab "labounty@mail.dec.com" >>>
>
>Supposedly this is about the "real" dinosaur haven ... the first 
>movie focused on the man-made copy of that haven.

Lost World is about an island that contained the real 'factory'
where the dinosaurs for Jurassic Park were produced....Jurassic Park
was the showplace, and this island housed the factory.  When the park
was destroyed, the factory was abandoned...and the dinos were left to fend
for themselves.

     I believe the old guy(Richard Attenborough..sp?) is in this as well. I 
    guess Golblum knows a good thing when he sees it. 
    
     This movie should be fun..

Key players this time, besides Goldblum and Moore, are Vince Vaughn from
Swingers (recommended, BTW); Arliss Howard from Wong Foo; Peter Stormare,
the white-haired killer from Fargo; and Pete Postlethwaite, from lots of stuff
(but possibly most relevant, the lawyer Kobayashi from The Usual Suspects).

That's not true, though; the key players are really the new dinosaur species.

I thought Arliss Howard was great in "Plainclothes".

    
    Re: -1 "Plainclothes"
    
    Great flick... seen it at least 3 times and it never seems to lose its
    appeal. Good one.
    
    
    Chris D.
    
    

    I read the book and not nearly as good as the first but like was said
    earlier the dinosaurs and special effects will be the stars.  I'll be
    standing in line!!
    
    			Bart

Spielberg has said that he took a couple ideas from the book and threw the
rest away, so whether the book was good or not will have little to do with
the movie.

>     <<< Note 1247.8 by QUARRY::reeves "Jon Reeves, UNIX compiler group" >>>
>                             -< Forget the book. >-
>
>Spielberg has said that he took a couple ideas from the book and threw the
>rest away, so whether the book was good or not will have little to do with
>the movie.

Who wrote the screen play for this one (and the first one)?

- tom]

David Koepp wrote both screenplays; Crichton has a co-writer credit on the
first (not clear who did how much there).

Koepp said somewhere that it will say on his tombstone "he took too long
to get to the island".  Presumably he won't make that mistake this time.

    
    Somebody here saw it at a special screening.
    Lots of people get eaten, lots of gory stuff. He said
    not for little kids. 
    
    Sounds great to me.
    
    Dave

    It beat all other box office weekend openings with a total of 86
    million!?!
    
    But the reviews I've heard from average Joe's hasn't been overwhelming.
    
    	Jay

$86M?

Doesn't that beat the previous record by about $30M?

    I'm not sure but it's about 4 million away from breaking even, I think?
    
    	Jay

Yeah, and they'll make that off of the McDonald's Happy Meal toys 
alone.

    We saw it on last Friday.
    
    When compared with the original this movie is disappointing.
    However, it is enjoyable.
    
    The book was more interesting.  I didn't like the way
    major portions of the movie were reset into a different
    environment.
    
    Especially disappointing was how poorly the movie adapted
    the scene where the lawyer gets his just deserts.
    
    And the ending is a tad lame-brained too.
    

>        <<< Note 1247.14 by POLAR::TYSICK "Prying Open my Third Eye" >>>
>                            -< After one weekend! >-
>
>    I'm not sure but it's about 4 million away from breaking even, I think?

No, not by a long shot.
The "box office take" is retail ticket revenue.  From that subtract
the theatre's share, the distributor's share, and the producer's marketing
expenses, and you're getting close to the mythical "net" that is what
is needed to offset the producer's production budget.

I have no idea how big those slices are.

- tom]

>The "box office take" is retail ticket revenue.  From that subtract
>the theatre's share, the distributor's share, and the producer's marketing
>expenses, and you're getting close to the mythical "net" that is what
>is needed to offset the producer's production budget.

On a big movie on opening weekend, the theatre gets maybe 10% (which is why
the concessions are so expensive: that's where they can make money).  Though
I believe there is a "nut" figure that they get to keep on top of the 10%.

P&A (prints and advertising) is paid by the distributor out of their share.
Reportedly, almost 5000 prints of The Lost World were struck (this may be a
record).  Tyngsboro, for instance, is running 3 prints on 6 screens (using
interlock projection).

I'm told that my earlier estimate of $2000/print is low.  At 130 minutes, the
print is 7 reels; it's probably more like $4000-5000/print, so that's
$25 million, plus shipping costs.  Plus advertising, which is probably
in the same ballpark (I notice they cheaped out on newspaper ads, but the
posters were more expensive than usual, and I don't watch TV, but I'd guess
it's been advertised heavily there).

So it'll be another week before TLW breaks even :-).  Of course, foreign and
ancillary income will be huge.  This may be the first billion dollar movie.

    I couldn't stand the scene where the cow was been eaten alive and was
    screaming his tail off in the Jurassic Park (first one).  I didn't have
    much problem with the man-eating scenes for some reason.  Does this one
    have really hair-rising scenes?  I'm actually more interested in the
    special effects than anything else.  

    Well I saw this film last night and I have some questions...I'll put
    these questions/comments behind a form feed so as not to spoil the
    movie for those who haven't seen it yet....
    
    
    I wasn't sure if it was necessary for Jeff Goldblum's character to
    have his daughter in the movie....a lot of questions were raised
    regarding the mother. And how can a girl who was so visibly shaken and
    frightened earlier in the film have anough courage to perform that feat
    later on?
    
    I think they should have subtitled the movie "The Perils of Sarah" as
    Julianne Moore's character had at least 9 lives. I still can't figure
    out how she could hold on to that roof with one hand while dismantling
    the roof with the other hand.
    
    Then there's the mystery of the ship's crew. How did they die? The
    T-Rex was in the cargo hold. I don't remember...did the T-Rex jump out
    of that cargo bay? Right!
    
    I guess regarding continuity one of the problems I had was when Jeff
    Goldblum hurt his leg and was visibly limping. Boy he was moving pretty
    good when dodging those rapters. I guess Fear heals all wounds.
    
    The ending was kinda shakey...the T-Rex nudging his son to do
    the killing? Boy that fist-sized brain was really working overtime.
    
    I'd also like to know what happened to that girl on the beach. Guess
    they saved her huh? Yet that guy (blood in the stream) couldn't survive
    the attack.
    
    I won't get into the rope/trailer thing. I was thinking about that
    happening BEFORE it did but figured that Spielberg would do something
    to make it credible. I felt bad for that guy...talk about giving
    everything you've got. And why did those T-Rex parents come back?
    
    How about the guy who was stomped on by the T-Rex. The animal carries
    the guy on the bottom of his foot for a few paces then the guy falls
    off and is still alive...although he obviously is a goner.
    
    I got the feeling that a lot was left on the cutting room floor. It
    will be interesting to see if the home video version will be longer and
    have footage not shown in theaters.
    
    MJS

Overall, I thought it was fine for what it was. I went in not expecting
much in the way of story, and I wasn't disappointed. :-)

On the technical side, the sound and picture were great.

Spoiler follows
    
        
: Then there's the mystery of the ship's crew. How did they die? The
: T-Rex was in the cargo hold. I don't remember...did the T-Rex jump out
: of that cargo bay? Right!
  
My son and I immediately thought that raptors had somehow gotten on the
ship. Perhaps this is the setup for the sequel? :-)

>On a big movie on opening weekend, the theatre gets maybe 10% (which is why
>the concessions are so expensive: that's where they can make money).  Though
>I believe there is a "nut" figure that they get to keep on top of the 10%.
    
    
    Per Entertainment Weekly's report on skyrocketing ticket prices:
    
    Where does your $9 go? For a major-studio blockbuster like The Fifth
    Element, studios can get as much as 80 percent of ticket revenues (or
    $7.20) for opening weekend, leaving 20 percent (or $1.80) for
    exhibitors. Over the film's run, it gets closer to 50 - 50. But
    exhibitors often get a juicier cut of low-budget films to entice them
    to take chances. And they keep the loot from Skittles sales.
    
    E 
    
    

>    <<< Note 1247.18 by QUARRY::reeves "Jon Reeves, UNIX compiler group" >>>
>                      -< Some back-of-envelope economics >-
>I don't watch TV, but I'd guess
>it's been advertised heavily there).

Actually, it hasn't been advertised so much, because the free PR has been so
extensive.

    
    saw it yesterday and enjoyed it.Story line isn;t really as good as the
    original but the effects are better(if you can believe that)
    
    
    
    
    						ian

> Spielberg has said that he took a couple ideas from the book and threw the
> rest away...
    
    And used "King Kong" for the rest of his ideas.  At least it's more
    watchable than DeLaurentis' (sp?) remake.
    
    I like Jeff Goldblum pretty well, but in this movie he seems to be
    struggling to "find" his character from the original JP.  He seems
    to drift between that character and the one he played in "Independence
    Day".
    
    There were enough inconsistencies and disbelief-suspension-busters
    here to be noticeable in "real time" while watching the movie, and
    that detracted from the experience for me.
    
    As it turns out, my favorite scene in the movie was (behind spoiler
    warning):
    
    
    
    ...when the T-Rex angrily chomped off the red traffic light.  :-)
    Any motorist can eagerly identify with that...
    
    It was nice to see the kids from the original film again, albeit a
    bit jarring.  I didn't realize how much time had indeed passed since
    the first film.  Ouch...
    
    Chris

    Question: How did the crew of the ship bringing Mr. Rex into the city
    get killed (or should I say, chewed) off???  I thought Mr. Rex was the
    only beast on board...  The infant wasn't on board and wasn't old
    enough to do that kind of damage by himself...That was the only part I
    couldn't figure out!!!  HELP

    Spoiler warning regarding the previous reply:
    
    I believe it had something to do with the fact that there was
    a hand gripping the remote control for the cargo bay door.
    
    Beyond that, I haven't figured it out yet, and I probably won't
    bother pursuing it much further, having already spent four hours
    watching this movie twice.  (First time was to "check it out" to
    decide whether to bring the younger kiddos.)  I did get more out
    of it the second time, mostly dialog that I'd missed the first time
    through.
    
    Chris

    Possible explanation behind spoiler warningf:
    
    
    
    When discussing the whole "how the hell did the Trex run amok on the
    ship?" scenario, it was posited that 
    
    a) the T-rex was woken from its slumber (as mentioned by one of the
    Ingen cronies on the dock).  This must have been done with Cargo Doors
    open.
    
    b) T-rex broke free of its restraints, then stomped up out of the cargo
    bay to trundle around the ship and eat almost everybody.
    
    c) somehow, it was lured BACK into the cargo back and the Last Guy (the
    hand on the remote) managed to mostly close the doors before the T-rex
    got him.  As seen, the cargo doors didn't shut all the way, for some
    weird reason (maybe T-rex was banging on them).
    
    I didn't think this sounded plausible because
    
    a) T-rex has been shown to be careless about containers holding food
    items.  (witness: smashed cars, exhibits, trucks, gas stations, etc.)
    T-rex would not so delicately stomp around deck of ship without
    damaging the superstructure--the ship's deck looked pretty pristine.
    T-rex wasn't so delicate of an eater to daintly  reach into pilot house
    and remove crewmember from his hand without damaging the door, the
    windows, etc.  It's head was too big just to reach in and snatch the
    guy and I find it hard to believe the crew member was standing
    conveniently outside the door to be snatched up.
    
    b) Arm With Remote to Cargo Doors seemed much to far away from them to
    have managed to be part of whoever lured T-rex back into the cargo bay
    and yet, still managed to get mostly eaten. 
    
    c) It didn't make sense that the cargo doors were opened in the first
    place to let him out -- the humans could have used human-sized doors to
    go down to the cargo hold to wake him up or whatever they did.  
    
    Of course, it was all very silly by this time, so maybe we really were
    supposed to believe the T-rex was the one who killed the crew, then
    piloted the out of control ship neatly and exactly where it was
    supposed to be doing anyway. 
    
    My theory:  Some raptors snuck aboard the ship and wrought havok among
    the crew, escaped to San Diego while everybody was chasing the T-rex
    (or rather, being chased BY the T-rex) and thus, provide handy-dandy
    sequel material.   :)
    
    
    kim

A fun movie. I especially liked the "Godzilla" take-off.

    When I saw Mr T. Rex going into the city, I'm yelling, where is King
    Kong when you need him.  They replaced his heart, he should be here
    defended the city...

I think T. was in the cage-like thing on the main deck.  Which removes
quibble #3.

This was a really really REALLY disappointing movie.

"Cheesy" is probably the best word I can find for it.

If Spielberg just wanted to show off how neat he could do dinosaurs,
he should have done a SIGGRAPH electronic theatre reel or a PBS special
on animated effects and not tried to distract us with what should have 
and easily could have been a good movie.

While I believe that the Lost World book was inferior to the Jurassic Park
book, there was plenty there to make a good story, almost all of which
was ignored for the screenplay.  Plot holes aside (and I can understand
a certain need for deux ex machina or artistic license), there was virtually
no STORY left.  Also NO suspense, and almost NO surprises.
And the cheesy Godzilla rip-off was insulting.

The screenwriter, whose name I can't spell despite asking about it 
in an earlier reply, is also listed in the credits as one of the assistant
directors and the "unfortunate bastard" among the actors.
I think the last title says it all, and the ticket paying public deserved
co-billing on that score.

I won't accept the "mind candy" excuse for movie drivel of this type.
This wasn't a student reel on composition or lighting or directorial
technique or even special effects, this was a big-budget separate-the-fans-
from-their-money exercise and the fans deserved better.

I'll be extremely reluctant to see any future Spielberg movies,
even those reputed to be on par with his Schindler's List.

- tom]

(Does the second weekend gross indicate that this movie will have no legs,
no good word of mouth and repeat business?)